The bystanders from the other sects were struck speechless. They never wouldâve dreamed that a mere fifth level origin realm disciple of the Regal Pill Palace would possess enough of a temper to actually tell a venerated elder of the Sacred Sword Palace to eat shit! Elder Chen Shizhen was ranked in the top three in the Sacred Sword Palace, and was a top existence of the Myriad Domain. Now, a junior had told him to eat shit?! The spectators couldnât help but admire Jiang Chenâs courage.
Chen Shizhen was livid, but the next moment, he burst into heavy laughter as killing intent flooded his eyes. âGood, very good! Iâve lived for a few hundred years, but itâs my first time meeting such an arrogant and unbridled junior! Elder Yun Nie, your Regal Pill Palace has such good manners, huh!â
Elder Yun Nie didnât back down either. âElder Chen, are you implying that your Sacred Sword Palace is allowed to oppress Jiang Chen, but he canât try to defend himself? Even if my sect wasnât a fourth rank sect, we still wouldnât be under your jurisdiction, much less when all of us are on the same level. What right do you have to force my disciple to do something against his will again and again?! Last time, you wanted to test his bloodline, and this time, his storage ring. Next time, if you want his life, does he have to docilely hand over his head!?â
Obviously, Elder Yun Nie had gone beyond mere irritation. As the highest ranked among those participating in Mt. Rippling from the Regal Pill Palace, he was well aware that his words held the most weight. He was also aware of the ramifications to the Regal Pill Palaceâs reputation if he didnât stand out to protect Jiang Chen this time. Jiang Chen may eventually have to accept the inspection if the situation warrants it, but the Regal Pill Palace would brook no nonsense from the Sacred Sword Palace.
Elder Chen rolled his eyes, ignoring reason as he started to mock Jiang Chen. âThis ole man only knows that itâs foolishness to go against the crowd. Even a sage realm genius Wang Han is willing to show everyone his storage ring, so how dares a mere fifth level origin realm cultivator show such attitude?â
âSo what if heâs a sage realm genius? Does being in the sage realm grant him greater status?â Elder Yun Nie refuted coldly. âFurthermore, Jiang Chen is only in his early twenties. How do you know he wonât break into the sage realm in a few years? How about I ask what level origin realm Wang Han was at when he was Jiang Chenâs age?â
In all honesty, reaching the fifth level of the origin realm with Jiang Chenâs young age and poor origins was already considered a miracle.
Tristar Sectâs Elder Tan Lang gestured placatingly, âElder Yun Nie, this bickering is unbecoming of the both of you. Inspecting the storage rings a little isnât a big deal. If it turns out to be a misunderstanding, then at least everything will be cleared up.â
âHeh heh, Elder Tan Lang, Iâm surprised that you havenât exhausted yourself from meddling in matters that donât concern you. Just let things go if itâs a misunderstanding? Do you treat our Regal Pill Palace disciples like puppets on a string, free to dance at anyoneâs pleasure? Will a single phrase of âitâs a misunderstandingâ be enough of an apology after an unwarranted inspection? Do you not understand that continuously making things difficult for a junior will affect their dao heart?!â Elder Yun Nie bellowed, the very picture of indignant fury. He might not be able to overturn the collective opinion, but he could not easily allow others to freely inspect the storage rings of his sectâs disciples.
âThen how do you want to go about this?â Elder Tan Lang asked with furrowed brows. In response, Elder Yun Nie looked to Jiang Chen, silently asking what his bottom line was.
Jiang Chenâs reply was carefree and light. âThis is already the second time the Sacred Sword Palace has publicly accused me. It is said that one shouldnât bully the young when theyâre poor, and this situation seems to be a perfect example of everyone bullying me in my destitute youth. I donât want much, but even if my cultivation level is low, I will not yield to the Sacred Sword Palaceâs constant provocation. How about this? You can inspect my storage ring, but if the results prove Wang Han was slandering me, Wang Han has to eat shit as an apology.â
A cold glare shot out from Wang Hanâs eyes when he heard this. His hand instantly moved to his sword, ready to attack.
Jiang Chen sneered. âWhat? If you can talk shit, then you can eat it. Wang Han, each bit of spittle from a man is like a nail. If you dare talk shit, then you should be prepared to eat shit as well. If you donât want to eat it, Iâm fine with anyone from your Sacred Sword Palace substituting for you.â Though the truth of the matter wasnât known yet, many people in the audience still admired Jiang Chenâs courage and demeanor. If they put themselves in his shoes, Jiang Chen really did have a reason to be indignant.
Theyâd previously claimed his bloodline was problematic and had forcefully tested his blood. Now they wanted to inspect his storage ring. Which young geniusâ temper wouldnât flare up at this sort of behavior? Thus, Jiang Chenâs words resonated with some of the young geniuses present.
âKid, not only do I think that youâre hiding a guilty conscience, but you also seem to want death in the worst of ways. Do you think that your Regal Pill Palace is capable of going up against the entire Myriad Domain?â Wang Han threatened coldly.
âDonât make me laugh, why would we go up against the entire Myriad Domain? The only question that matters here is, Wang Han, since youâve dared to accuse me, do you dare bet with me? If you find the thousands of Sage Fledgling Grass on me that you accuse me of hiding, then Iâll absolutely agree to evenly share it with everyone present. Without complaint. However, if you canât find it, then it means you were deliberately slandering me with dishonest motives. Do you really think your face so great that you can slander me willy nilly?â
Jiang Chen earnestly cupped his hands at the surrounding elders. âEveryone here is a heavyweight of the Myriad Domain and should all understand that I, Jiang Chen, am not a junior who will make something out of nothing. I only have a single reasonable request: if the Sage Fledging Grass is not found on me, Wang Han must eat shit. Only then will the resentment of my heart be resolved. If he dares not shoulder the consequences of slandering me, but still wishes to inspect my storage ring, then I, Jiang Chen, would rather die than submit!â
With those words, the pressure was now all on Wang Hanâs shoulders. There was always a price to pay for attempting to incriminate another, no? One couldnât just open their mouth and freely dump a crock of shit on someone.
A Dark North Sect elder chimed in, âWhile I donât know how everyone thinks, Jiang Chenâs request sounds very reasonable. There has always been animosity between the Sacred Sword Palace and the Regal Pill Palace, and the constant nitpicking wonât sit well with the younger generation. I donât believe thereâs anyone here who wishes to take unfair advantage of the young, right? Moreover, anyone who wishes to stir up trouble should be ready to shoulder the consequences, correct? Otherwise, if I accuse you and you accuse me right back, then wonât we dissolve into chaos? What say you, ole brother Xiang Gan?â
This elder from the Dark North Sect was rather sly. He was able to speak up for the Regal Pill Palace while also drawing the Great Cathedral into the fray,, forcing them to stand out and make their stance clear. Although Elder Xiang Gan also wanted to inspect Jiang Chenâs storage ring; objectively speaking, Jiang Chenâs rage was reasonable. After all, Jiang Chen had been the passive defendant from beginning to end so far.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
In addition, the Great Cathedral had recently bought the Longevity Pill personally refined by Jiang Chen. Burning the bridge after crossing it was indeed inexcusable. Thus, Xiang Gan could only nod his head and ask, âOle brother Chen, how certain is your Sacred Sword Palace about this? If youâre not confident, then it is indeed not appropriate to recklessly accuse someone. Why donât you display some sincerity as well?â
By the side, Tristar Sect Elder Tan Lang only cared about finding the Sage Fledging Grass. He couldnât care less about the grievances between the Sacred Sword Palace and the Regal Pill Palace. Thus, he nodded his head in firm agreement, âWhen it comes down to it, Jiang Chenâs request isnât unreasonable. Although, âeating shitâ seem to be words spoken in anger. No one can really eat feces. Why donât we change to a different method?â
âRight, letâs use another method.â Many also agreed.
This really depressed Wang Han. Him exposing Jiang Chen was obviously something that would benefit all of them, but he alone would have to bear the consequences. However, how could he back down now? If he shrank back here, everyone would only assume he had falsely accused Jiang Chen and wasted everyoneâs time. This would in turn cause the Sacred Sword Palace to become the butt of public criticism.
âSage nephew Jiang Chen, how about switching to a more moderate method? For example, maybe some kind of compensation?â chuckled Elder Xiang Gan.
Jiang Chen shook his head, âBuddhas fight for faith, while men fight for honor. I donât need any sort of material compensation. Either he eats shit, or else he slaps himself in the face twice and publicly apologizes for slandering me.â
Though this request was indeed certainly milder than eating feces, it was still very hard for a top genius to accept slapping himself. However, this was already Jiang Chenâs bottom line.
âEveryone, donât try and urge me to concede even more. This is my bottom line. We all know that If someone else was continuously trying to slander and find fault with you, your anger would burn several times hotter than mine!â Jiang Chen stoppered any further entreaties of mercy with iron words. He would not budge a single step more. Thus, everyoneâs gaze moved from Jiang Chen onto Wang Han.
Wang Han was now unable to dismount from the tigerâs back, caught between a rock and a hard place. Though he had guessed Jiang Chen was the one whoâd harvested the Sage Fledging Grass, he had no evidence. At the end of the day, he was simply gambling on the outcome. However, if he lost this bet, slapping himself in front of so many people would hardly be any better than eating shit. Unfortunately, he no longer had anywhere to back down to now that everyone was staring at him.
Elder Chen snorted, âEveryone, arenât we all mistaken about something here? Just a few pestering words from this kid Jiang Chen and now our Sacred Sword Palace is somehow the public enemy? That doesnât seem fair!â
âFair?â Jiang Chen laughed coldly. âAre you qualified to talk about fairness? When your Sacred Sword Palace wanted to test my bloodline, did you think about fairness? When you were interfering with my Longevity Pillâs auction, where was fairness then? Now youâre accusing me of monopolizing thousands of Sage Fledging Grass, what is this fairness you speak of?â
Elder Chen was dumbfounded by Jiang Chenâs unexpected eloquence.
âWang Han, scrub that sour expression from your face. You keep yapping about how youâre a sage realm young genius, acting as if youâre a notch above everyone else. Does your so-called geniusâ demeanor lack even this bit of courage?â
Wang Han erupted with anger. âSure I can agree, kid! But do you dare to let us search your entire body? Who knows if youâll hide the Sage Fledging Grass somewhere else on your body and offer a decoy storage ring?â
Jiang Chen scoffed lightly. âJust say it. If you canât find the Grass, are you willing to slap yourself?â
âWhy not?!â Wang Han had been completely riled up.
âWords are cheap. Swear a heavenly oath.â Jiang Chen had steadily reeled in Wang Han to this point.
Wang Han was now completely devoid of ways out after these words dropped into the situation. Xiang Qin from the Great Cathedral could not help but ridicule him when he hesitated, âWang Han, Iâve long since felt that youâre no man at all! If youâre a man, then act like one! A man should repay kindness with grace and return animosity with revenge. Be more direct about it! If you dare make the bet, then make it. If not, then admit your loss! What are you dithering about for?â
âRight, well spoken! The Sacred Sword Palace is full of sissies. Speaking of sissies, where the heck is that idiot Du Lihuang? How come heâs not here yet? I still need to collect a debt from him!â Yue Baize, another Great Cathedral genius, added on.
Compelled by this string of mockery, Wang Han gritted his teeth, âFine! We have quite a few elders present here. If Jiang Chen is willing to submit to a full body search and no Sage Fledging Grass is found, then I, Wang Han, am willing to slap myself and apologize to him. If I renege, may the heavens strike me down with lightning!â
Hearing this oath, everyone turned their attention towards Jiang Chen and he smiled lightly, âVery well.â
Following this, he once again performed a cupped fist salute towards everyone, âThe Great Cathedral, the Dark North Sect, and the Tristar Sect can search me. As the plaintiff, the Sacred Sword Palace cannot search me. Who knows if theyâll try and frame me by planting something on my body? Also, I donât like the Walkabout Sect, so if they want to search me, they must do so under the supervision of Elder Xiang Gan and Elder Yun Nie.â
Jiang Chen obviously did not trust the Walkabout Sect one bit, purposely singling them out.