Chapter 45: A Pretext for a Vicious Hand

“He declared that he wants to compete for the position of Sect Master, saying that neither Zhang Kuang nor Li Jing are his opponents… and he also said…” At this point, Zhang Yang deliberately paused, looking at Gu Xiaoyun with a troubled expression, as if hesitant to continue.

Hearing this, Gu Xiaoyun could only sneer internally. This Zhang Yang was truly an expert at spouting nonsense. He had been coveting Qin Haoxuan’s Spirit Spring land for days and had spies watching him constantly. If Qin Haoxuan had really said such a thing, he would have heard about it long ago.

“He also said that the nephew of the Ancient Cloud Hall’s master, Gu Xiaoyun, doesn’t even dare to act arrogantly in front of him. That you tried to trade land with him several times and were harshly rejected, and that now you’re as withered as the corn in our fields!” Zhang Yang said slowly, watching Gu Xiaoyun’s expression. He saw his fat face turn from pale to red, and finally to a shade of green.

Gu Xiaoyun was angry. At least, in Zhang Yang’s eyes, he had successfully enraged him.

It was true that Gu Xiaoyun’s face was a mask of rage, but inwardly, he was ecstatic. He had been wanting to cause trouble for Qin Haoxuan to get that land, but he lacked a good excuse.

And now, just as he was getting sleepy, someone had delivered a pillow. Since Zhang Yang had come to him with these lies, all he had to do was act enraged. In the future, after he had beaten up Qin Haoxuan and taken his land, if the Discipline Hall came knocking, he could just blame it on Zhang Yang.

Gu Xiaoyun glared at him. “Are you telling the truth? He really said that?”

“I wouldn’t dare lie to you, Senior Brother Gu! You are my master’s own nephew. I will need to rely on you a great deal in the future; how could I possibly deceive you?” Zhang Yang declared loudly, feigning innocence. Seeing that Gu Xiaoyun was mostly convinced, he laughed inwardly. Qin Haoxuan, oh Qin Haoxuan, just you wait.

“That bastard dared to say I’m like a withered corn stalk? I’ll show him withered…” The enraged Gu Xiaoyun began to smash the spiritual herbs in his own field, pretending they were Qin Haoxuan. After his temper had cooled slightly, he pretended to notice the damage he had done to his own painstakingly grown herbs and flew into another rage, placing all the blame on Qin Haoxuan. “Damn you, Qin Haoxuan! You made me destroy so many of my herbs! I’m going to trade fields with him right now. If he refuses again, I’ll destroy all the corn in his field tonight!”

His plan having succeeded, Zhang Yang was delighted, but he put on an aggrieved expression. “That Qin Haoxuan is despicable. Destroying his corn is letting him off too easy. For the insults he has spread behind your back, you must take his land to compensate for the damage to your reputation!”

“Hmph, that goes without saying!” Gu Xiaoyun sneered, his eyes glinting with a cold, determined light.

“Then this little brother will wait for Senior Brother Gu to stand up for us.”

Following behind him, Zhang Yang sneered to himself. Although Gu Xiaoyun’s aptitude was average and he was impulsive, his Seventh-Leaf Spirit Sprout Realm cultivation, plus the backing of his uncle, was more than enough to give Qin Haoxuan a serious headache.

Just as Gu Xiaoyun’s group was heading off to find Qin Haoxuan, the trio was walking towards the fields. He calculated that after watering the fields this afternoon, he could fill the last of Xu Yu’s vats tomorrow, and then he could go to confinement with a clear conscience.

Seeing Qin Haoxuan approaching, the furious Gu Xiaoyun rushed forward and grabbed him by the collar, looking as if he wanted to eat him alive.

“Kid, I’m asking you one last time. Are you going to trade this land or not?” Gu Xiaoyun’s face was ferocious, the fat on his cheeks trembling as he spoke.

“Not happening! I’ve also told you many times, I am not trading!” Being grabbed by the collar the moment he arrived would have angered a clay Buddha, let alone Qin Haoxuan. He shoved Gu Xiaoyun’s hand away and replied angrily, “Give it up. Even if your uncle, Master Guyun, came here himself, he wouldn’t be able to make me trade.”

“You ungrateful bastard! You dare to speak my uncle’s name directly? Have you no respect for your elders? Watch as I beat you to death today!” Gu Xiaoyun raised his fist, and Qin Haoxuan braced himself, ready for a fight.

Suddenly, Xu Yu darted in front of Qin Haoxuan, her eyes burning with a silent rage as she stared at Gu Xiaoyun.

His fist was just an inch from her face. With his strength, even without using spiritual energy, he could have sent the slender girl flying. Seeing her shield him again, Gu Xiaoyun hastily pulled back his punch.

Beating up Qin Haoxuan was one thing, but if he hit Xu Yu, he wouldn’t just be sent to confinement; he would likely have his cultivation crippled and be expelled. The words “Unsurpassed Purple Seed” carried immense weight in the cultivation world.

“Coward! You hide behind a woman every time there’s a fight. I think you should go back to your mother for milk. With no guts, what are you doing cultivating immortality?” Although he didn’t dare to hit her, Gu Xiaoyun’s foul mouth began to spew insults. As more and more people gathered, his insults grew louder, and his followers joined in. Only Zhang Yang remained silent, a smug look on his face as he enjoyed the show.

After watching for a while, seeing that Zhang Kuang and Li Jing had also gathered, Zhang Yang finally spoke up. “Alright, alright, Senior Brother Gu. What’s the point of cursing at a freeloader? Let me have a word with him.”

Seeing Zhang Yang standing behind Gu Xiaoyun, Qin Haoxuan understood at once. He must have been the one to instigate this.

Zhang Yang stepped forward, though not too close. “Qin Haoxuan,” he said from a safe distance, “my master, Hall Master Guyun, guided you in your cultivation, allowing a mere weak seed like you to complete the Rooting Stage in 20 days. Logically, you should be grateful. But my master is magnanimous and enjoys guiding the weak so they can find their footing in the sect. Now, Senior Brother Gu Xiaoyun is his own nephew. He wants to plant a batch of spiritual herbs and your Spirit Spring land is more suitable. You have refused him time and again, and today you even started a conflict with him. You are in the wrong.”

His long speech was a masterpiece of inverting black and white. In just a few sentences, he had painted Qin Haoxuan as an ungrateful villain while covering up Gu Xiaoyun’s extortion. Gu Xiaoyun, greatly pleased, loudly agreed. “Yes! It’s just as Junior Brother Zhang Yang says!”

Qin Haoxuan’s face darkened. If Murong Chao hadn’t been holding him back, he would have already leaped forward and given Zhang Yang a sound thrashing.

Xu Yu shot a cold glare at Zhang Yang, then fixed her gaze on Gu Xiaoyun’s fat face. “Are you done? If you are, we have work to do. Please get out of our way.”

Even though she was a Purple Seed, Gu Xiaoyun was still a Seventh-Leaf expert with a powerful backer. To be spoken to like this by a little girl in front of so many people was a huge loss of face. He glared at Qin Haoxuan. “I’m asking you one last time, will you trade this land or not?”

Qin Haoxuan’s eyes were locked on Zhang Yang, who was so unnerved that he took a few steps back, hiding behind Gu Xiaoyun. Qin Haoxuan just laughed. “Heh heh…”

The simple sound was filled with endless mockery. Gu Xiaoyun felt as if he had been slapped in the face twice. He gritted his teeth and threatened, “Fine! Fine! You’re something else! If anything can grow in this field, I’ll eat the dirt myself!”

Qin Haoxuan sneered, his face unprecedentedly serious. “If anything happens to this field, Gu Xiaoyun… however I dealt with those senior brothers with their leaves, I’ll do a hundred times worse to you.”

That night, under a dark, foggy sky, a few shadowy figures holding torches made their way through the fields towards Qin Haoxuan’s plot. Finding the path inconvenient, they trampled through the other disciples’ cornfields, crushing countless seedlings underfoot.

They laughed and joked without a care. “Boss, should we destroy Xu Yu’s and Murong Chao’s fields too? Especially that woman Xu Yu, she’s always opposing you.”

The leader of the group, a stout, shadowy figure, smacked him on the head. “Are you trying to get me killed? Don’t you touch a single stalk in their fields, or I’ll skin you all alive, you hear me?”

“Yes, yes, boss!”

These figures were, of course, Gu Xiaoyun and his followers.

After being rejected again, he had lain in bed, tossing and turning. This Qin Haoxuan was known as the “strongest weak seed,” but with three Purple Seeds and two Gray Seeds in this batch, he wasn’t particularly valued by the sect’s higher-ups. If he destroyed his field, the worst he would get was a scolding from his uncle. It was a small price to pay for venting his anger and getting what he wanted. He, a dignified Seventh-Leaf cultivator and the nephew of a Hall Master, couldn’t even handle a new disciple. How could he establish himself in the sect? Besides, he coveted that Spirit Spring land.

So, he had decided to destroy Qin Haoxuan’s crops that very night.

They arrived at his plot and began to uproot the corn, which was already half a person tall and would soon be ready for harvest. They snapped the stalks in half. Soon, the field was a scene of total devastation.

Looking at the mess of broken corn stalks on the ground and imagining Qin Haoxuan’s tearful, helpless expression the next day, Gu Xiaoyun smiled with satisfaction. Now, all he wanted to do was go back to bed for a good night’s sleep and wait for Qin Haoxuan to come crawling to him tomorrow, begging to trade the land.