CSMCDB - Chapter 140
Chapter 140
"A… a match…?" The old master looked at the young man. In their entire martial hall… he was the only one at the first layer of the Star Spirit realm. Was this person… here for an old man like him?
"Yes!" Wen Yuncheng pulled out her flag and waved it. "I wish to walk the path of invincibility, so naturally, I must challenge the younger generation of every power!"
The old master caught the words "younger generation" and breathed a sigh of relief. After all, these old bones of his couldn't take much of a beating. But while he was relieved, the expressions of the instructors and the disciples who were eavesdropping on the commotion changed. What?! The younger generation?!
A Star Spirit is challenging us?! The most powerful senior disciple in their martial hall had only just broken through to the Star Lord realm! And he was already twenty-seven years old; they weren't even sure if he counted as part of the "younger generation"…
Wen Yuncheng: He counts! They all count! All who come are welcome!
"We… we're just a small, local martial hall…"
"It's fine. Didn't I bring my own drum?" Wen Yuncheng smiled. "Besides, I'm not too hung up on formalities. Rest assured, everyone, it's just a spar. We'll stop before anyone gets hurt."
The master had no choice but to welcome Wen Yuncheng inside. However, as they walked toward the dueling ring, he couldn't help but ask, "Don't those who walk the path of invincibility usually challenge the major sects and great schools?"
"They do, but when it comes to challenges, it's best to start from the easy and work your way up to the difficult, accumulating experience step by step." Wen Yuncheng lowered her head and rubbed the tip of her nose. With her curved eyes, she looked rather gentle and innocent. "After all, I'm not a disciple of some great sect. I still need to build my foundation."
"…" A young Star Spirit was telling him about needing to build a foundation. The old master felt his chest tighten, as if he couldn't breathe. He turned his head and quickly pressed the acupoint under his nose to catch his breath. "I don't believe I've caught your name…?"
"Oh, my name is Wen Yuncheng. I have no sect and no school."
"…" The old master stared at this young man, who was smiling with such a humble and innocent expression. At first, he thought it was some thick-skinned disciple from a prominent family, but it turned out to be… the champion of the Youth Tournament. He had heard she was a girl, and one who was to be married to the young sect master of the Flowing Cloud Sect.
Wen Yuncheng pretended not to notice their gazes and leaped directly onto the dueling ring, accepting the stares from all directions.
Was face important? Yes. But compared to experience, what was it worth? Back then, she had even managed to grit her teeth and speak those embarrassing, dramatic lines. Now, she was just being stared at for a bit!
Xiao Shi'er, on the other hand, couldn't handle it. She had adamantly refused to come inside with her and insisted on waiting outside. Wen Yuncheng couldn't even tempt her with salt-baked chicken. Alas. How much was face worth? Could face get you salt-baked chicken? This little fox clearly hadn't been humbled by life yet.
"I ask for your guidance. I will stop before anyone gets hurt."
Wen Yuncheng stood on the stage while the disciples below whispered among themselves. She heard words like "shameless" and "bully," but she paid them no mind. She simply raised a finger and pointed at the young disciple who had called her shameless, then cupped her hands. "Big Brother, I ask for a match."
The disciple who was called "Big Brother" turned green. In an instant, he became the center of attention. He was only at the second layer of the Star Master realm. Go up there… to get beaten up?
He gritted his teeth and went up anyway.
The moment the match was declared to have started, Wen Yuncheng used the Mountain River Seal to smash him off the stage. She didn't even use a skill.
After casually picking off a few more people like this, the martial hall's senior disciple finally couldn't take it anymore and stepped onto the stage. "Miss… Miss Wen, I am the senior disciple of the Zhongyi Martial Tower. Why don't we let the outcome of our match decide this sparring session? The younger generation in the hall… are no match for you."
Wen Yuncheng didn't want to offend them too much, so she nodded. "I have been presumptuous today, but it is only because I wish to build my momentum of invincibility. I hope you can all be magnanimous." With that, Wen Yuncheng bowed to the crowd below before turning to the senior disciple. "Please, make your move."
A first-layer Star Lord.
Wen Yuncheng raised her hand and fired a magnetic projectile, then suppressed him with the Mountain River Seal. She won the round with ease.
She had actually wanted to beat up every disciple in the martial hall one by one. Although the 50 experience points from the Heart of a Victor weren't much, they would add up to a considerable amount. But in the end, she was afraid of getting stuffed in a sack and beaten, so she had to painfully abandon the idea.
After defeating the senior disciple, 8,000 experience points were in her hands.
Host: Wen Yuncheng
Race: Human
Age: 21
Class: Mechanical Overlord
Level: 53
Experience: 51935/56000
Points: 16256
The words "Zhongyi Martial Tower" appeared before Wen Yuncheng's eyes, and then a massive cleaver violently shattered the four characters! The mission template popped up, and the sundered words merged into the mission details for the path of invincibility, marking the first power to "acknowledge" Wen Yuncheng.
One month later.
The Empire received a joint complaint from the minor sects… that is, the third-tier sects.
However, they were aware of Wen Yuncheng's mission for the path of invincibility. Although she had started with these minor powers… now that she had begun, they would not obstruct her. They would even provide protection in secret to prevent anyone with ill intentions from trying to cut her path short.
Thus, when the Empire received these joint petitioners, they merely paid them lip service, agreeing that Wen Yuncheng was a junior who didn't know the rules and was going too far, but they took no action to intervene.
The Empire wouldn't get involved.
At this, the minor sects were utterly helpless. Even if they didn't have a drum, that scoundrel Wen Yuncheng brought her own and beat it at their gates, so loudly that the entire city could hear. Damn it all, and it was a Profound-rank great drum! She was wasting a Profound-rank Spirit Treasure like that… Even if a sect closed its doors and refused to see her, it was completely useless. Refuse to see her? Wen Yuncheng would drum until you did.
Wen Yuncheng wouldn't let a single one on the official register go. She didn't follow any particular order; instead, every morning, she would randomly pick one that caught her eye, and after finishing the challenge, she would put a checkmark next to its name. As Wen Yuncheng challenged more and more places, Xiao Shi'er became less concerned about losing face. After all, news traveled fast. The story of the shameless rogue and her shameless fox challenging sects had already spread throughout the entire Empire. Even if Xiao Shi'er squatted at a sect's gate pretending to be an ordinary little fox, no one would believe her. She would just attract a crowd of onlookers.
The third-tier sects went from anger to panic and worry, and finally to just lying flat and accepting the mockery, all in the span of a single month. The sects that hadn't been visited yet were all preparing to have their faces slapped, since there was no escaping it. They just hoped the face-slapping would come sooner rather than later, just to get it over with. Otherwise, they'd have to constantly wonder which day Wen Yuncheng would show up at their door. Sigh. Because of this, a few sects actually started to envy the Zhongyi Martial Tower, since it was the first one Wen Yuncheng had visited.
The second-tier sects felt a faint sense of worry. If this path of invincibility continued, it would probably be their turn eventually. But that was still a long way off, so they weren't in a hurry. Instead, they used it to motivate the disciples in their sects to cultivate diligently.
The first-tier sects were speechless. They had no idea what had gotten into Wen Yuncheng, but if she were to challenge them… hmm, thinking back to the incident with the Flowing Cloud Sect, it would probably be quite troublesome. But there was still time. For now, they could still use Wen Yuncheng as a goal to inspire their disciples.
Many elites, seeing what Wen Yuncheng was doing, were also itching to try. They wanted to walk the path of invincibility too! However, they didn't have the nerve to start with the third-tier sects. For a time, the war drums of the first-tier sects were frequently being struck.
The people from Fu were annoyed with Wen Yuncheng, and some wanted to ambush her. But sending a Star King was useless, and they feared that a Star Venerate might be countered by a Protector secretly guarding her. Although they kept an eye on her movements, they ultimately hesitated to act.
As for lying in ambush… they studied her itinerary but couldn't figure out any pattern to her choice of minor sects. It wasn't that they hadn't tried to set up ambushes in secret, but they always bet on the wrong place. They would be waiting for her to show up, only to hear a short while later that she had challenged another sect, leaving them waiting in vain.
Speaking of which, when the third-tier sects jointly petitioned the Empire for justice, the Empire did consider telling Wen Yuncheng to tone it down a bit—stop picking on the small sects! Whose path of invincibility was built on bullying the weak?
But they soon learned that Wen Yuncheng had successfully broken through to the second layer of the Star Spirit realm after her battles. After a brief discussion, they brushed off the minor sects and gave Wen Yuncheng their full support.
Over a month of challenging sects had caused Wen Yuncheng's experience to skyrocket. Her EXP had never risen so quickly; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she had truly struck it rich.
The only downside was that her reputation had taken a bit of a nosedive.
First, she was the champion of the Youth Tournament, and then she introduced the Mechanical Wings. Wen Yuncheng had been on the verge of becoming the leader of the younger generation. Before she started her challenges, the youth of the continent admired her as much as Fu wanted to capture her. But now?
Now, the youth of the continent despised her as much as Fu wanted to kill her.
Even Cheng Jiangliu and the others found it strange that Wen Yuncheng would suddenly pull such a bizarre move. Although their image of her wasn't tarnished, they were still curious. Wen Yuncheng explained the path she wanted to walk and spoke of the insights and breakthroughs she'd had since she started her challenges, and her friends quickly took her side.
…It was just that she didn't have many friends, so her reputation remained rotten.
By the second month, many people were secretly placing bets on which unlucky sect Wen Yuncheng would challenge next. Because of her path of invincibility, the Empire hadn't received a single registration from any new minor sects in two months.
Just as Wen Yuncheng successfully completed another challenge, happily bullying a small sect for 8,000 experience points, she received a communication from Lin Jinyu.
On the other end, Little Ice Mountain very tactfully asked if she needed the Flowing Cloud Sect to do some publicity for her to salvage her reputation.
"Ah, no need to trouble yourself. I don't care about that," Wen Yuncheng said, scratching her head. "Let them talk. It's not like I'll lose a piece of flesh over it. I'm already at the second layer of the Star Spirit realm, you know. The path of invincibility suits me very well. I think I'll be able to break through to the third layer soon!"
"Then…" Lin Jinyu paused before asking, "Should I go and issue challenges too?"
"Challenge what?" Wen Yuncheng was stunned for a moment, then realized Lin Jinyu might be trying to take some of the heat off her. "Don't, don't. You won't gain any insights from fighting minor sects. But if you want to, you could challenge a major sect, like the Blood Fiend Sect. I still remember what happened in the Xuanhuang Tomb. I've never liked that sect. If you want, you can go give their young master a good beating."
"Okay, I understand." Lin Jinyu nodded, making a mental note of the Blood Fiend Sect's young master.
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