But their ignorance of when and how the Forging Pathway was stolen is not an excuse for them not to be incensed at him for bringing up such a sore subject. They immediately began shouting insults at him.
Someone asked him in anger, "Who do you think you are to ask that question? Do you think just because your mouth is big enough to say something, it means that you should say it? Have you ever wondered if your teeth can withstand the blowback from those words?"
Loki didn’t reply, but someone else from the Myriad Phenomenon Sect replied, saying, "Of course, he has never considered the consequences of his actions. The foolish people from their sect don’t think that far."
A third person said, "Even if he can think about the consequences of his words and actions, I’m sure that he will come to the wrong conclusion that he can withstand it. The people of the Four Directions Sect are stupid that way."
They said many more things to ridicule him and the Four Directions Sect. What they said made him sigh and say, "Where is Greg when you need him?"
Just as he said this, someone on the airship said, "Stole what? We didn’t steal anything. They gave it to us free of charge. The people of the Myriad Phenomenon Sect are foolish that way. They give away valuable things for free without thinking."
It was Amu who spoke. Apparently, this so-called daddy’s boy couldn’t stand the Myriad Phenomenon Sect’s jeering anymore.
But he wasn’t the only one. Another disciple of the Four Directions Sect stood out and said, "That’s not right. I heard that we begged them to take something from us in exchange for the pathway. Didn’t we give them a handful of magic beans for their pathway?"
Someone else chuckled and said, "No, you’re mistaken. We are not that callous. We gave them a pot of magic beans for the pathway."
So the eyes of the person who brought up the magic beans lit up as they said in understanding, "No wonder they cooked the magic beans and turned them into soup. I was wondering how they could make soup out of a handful of beans."
A fourth person sneered and said, "That’s just the Myriad Phenomenon Sect for you. They are gullible enough to be swindled out of their valuables with some fake magic beans. Not only did they believe that the beans were magical, but instead of planting them, they cooked them into soup."
"So even if the beans were magical, they wasted them to satisfy their hunger. They are short-sighted and foolish people, the bunch of them."
This set off a verbal confrontation between the two sects. The two sides traded barbed words and insults like missiles.
Their words created casualties on both sides in the form of the self-respect and honor of their sect. But instead of backing off, they dug in and made sure to smear each other’s sect with the most ridiculous thing they could say.
Not everyone was engaging in the trading of insults from the side of the Four Directions Sect. Some people thought that it was beneath them, so they didn’t participate, and the ones who were participating were doing so to have fun.
There was indeed a lot of fun to be had because the people from the Myriad Phenomenon Sect took the insults and the loss of their pathway seriously. They also took their honor and intelligence seriously, so they were not willing to back down from a war of words with the people of a sect that accepts just about any riffraff with a pulse.
While the two sects were dishing it out at each other, the warriors of the Martial Body Sect stood to the side watching. They were entertaining themselves with the sight of the two strongest sects insulting each other.
So instead of standing up to mediate or stop the fight, they stood back to enjoy themselves. Unfortunately, the trade of insults couldn’t continue forever because the people of the Four Directions Sect got tired and gave up.
Since the Four Directions Sect had given up, it meant that the Myriad Phenomenon Sect had won. That’s what the people on the floating mat believed and wanted everyone to believe.
They also wanted everyone to know that they were superior, so they kept ridiculing the Four Directions Sect even after their so-called victory.
But even the most obnoxious and prideful of them got tired of beating a dead horse. So they eventually gave up, too.
The area quickly returned to silence after both sides stopped arguing. Everyone focused on doing whatever they needed to do before they had to go and kill each other.
For Loki, there was nothing he needed to do. So his mind was free to contemplate what had just happened. In particular, he was wondering why the exchange of insults had happened in the first place.
He said to himself, "It was a silly fight that we didn’t take seriously. I can tell that no one on our side took it seriously. They were just doing it to have fun. Which is reasonable."
"But the people of the Myriad Phenomenon Sect took it seriously. They took it as a task to defend the honor of their sect. Why would they do that?"
"Why would they care about the honor of their sect? Aren’t they supposed to be intelligent? What benefit is there to fight for the reputation of their sect like this?"
"Is there something else about this that I am missing? Or are we in the Four Directions Sect, the abnormal ones for not caring about the honor of our sect?"
If the Four Directions Sect were to lose a pathway today, he is sure that only those who would lose access to the pathway that they’ve cultivated all their lives would care about the loss. No one else would care.
At the very least, he hasn’t met anyone who wants to uphold the dignity and reputation of the Four Directions Sect.