ARLQLCC chapter 29

Tu Yan froze completely in place, staring at Chu Zhaoye in front of him, who was rubbing and nuzzling around without any dignity, his expression extremely twisted.

Less than a month had passed—had his boss been possessed by something strange?

Otherwise, how could he be acting like this toward a human cultivator whose cultivation was only at the Soul Transformation realm?

What exactly happened while his boss was missing!!

And he had been staring for so long already, yet the other side hadn’t even given him a single glance!

For the first time, Tu Yan had the rebellious thought of describing his own boss as “useless.”

His mind was in full chaos when, on the other side, the Great Elder had been observing his expression the whole time. Seeing him look at the young man who had been trapped earlier with ever-changing emotions, he felt uneasy.

So this young man not only knew the Young Sect Master of Kunlun Divine Palace—could it be that he also had ties with the demon race?

If he truly had deep ties with the demon race, then the Second Elder had already offended him beyond repair. Not only would Xie Qinghuai be furious, but if the demon race also bore a grudge, when the Sect Master came out of seclusion, he might be held accountable.

Thinking of this, the Great Elder’s expression turned cold. Before Tu Yan could speak, he turned to the disoriented Second Elder and shouted:

“Explain everything clearly here in front of all sect disciples! Why did you form the Seven Stars Killing Formation on Lianshuo Peak? Why did you capture this little friend? Say it word for word!”

Chef Lin had been standing behind the Second Elder the whole time since his arrival, trembling as he watched everything unfold. Now, under the Great Elder’s ice-cold gaze, his legs nearly gave out and he almost collapsed.

He never expected that a random wandering cultivator setting up a stall would have such terrifying background connections—people of increasingly high status, even the Demon Venerable seemed to have some relationship with him.

The Second Elder rasped, still trying to think of how to defend himself, when hurried footsteps came from behind him. Turning around, he saw Yun Xicheng had broken free from his restraint and strode forward.

“If the Second Elder can’t explain, then I will!”

He clenched his fists and glared fiercely at the pale-faced Second Elder.

“Ever since Chef Lin took over, the disciples of Yunxian Sect have never had a proper meal. I accidentally discovered a cafeteria at Linggu Mountain and got to know Chef Su. But after everyone went there for only a few days, Chef Lin destroyed the teleportation array leading to Linggu Mountain!

After the teleportation array was repeatedly destroyed, a defensive barrier had to be added to the array before things finally calmed down!

Now that the Yunxian Sect is hosting the Sword Trial Tournament, I invited Chef Su to come and enjoy it. Since the dining hall food was too terrible, we set up a stall outside the courtyard to improve the disciples’ meals.”

He turned back, and Chef Lin—only just realizing that the stall owner was the same Chef Su from Linggu Mountain—instantly sensed something was wrong.

As expected, Yun Xicheng continued:

“Instead of reflecting on why no disciples went to the dining hall, he came to our stall, spoke rudely, and even claimed he was managing Lianshuo Peak on behalf of the Second Elder, forcibly adding a rule that stalls were forbidden on Lianshuo Peak!”

Chef Lin’s heart sank. He hurriedly tried to defend himself:

“Young Sect Master, you can’t slander me! What evidence do you have that I destroyed the teleportation array? And that rule—if you don’t believe me, ask the Second Elder! He just said there was such a rule! I didn’t lie!”

Seeing him still trying to use himself as a shield, the Second Elder was furious and wished he could kick him to death.

If this idiot hadn’t gone looking for trouble for no reason, how would he have ended up being questioned like this in front of everyone, losing all face? And looking at the Great Elder’s attitude, he might even face punishment!

Just thinking about possibly ruining his entire elder career made him want to kill Chef Lin with a whisk.

Chef Lin tried to speak again—but when he opened his mouth, he realized his lips were sealed and he couldn’t utter a single word.

He looked up in confusion, only to see the Great Elder staring coldly at him.

“Too noisy.”

Chef Lin collapsed onto the ground, as if his throat had been strangled, a chill rising from the depths of his body.

With him silenced, Yun Xicheng continued:

“After that, someone notified the Second Elder. In less than a moment, he arrived from Lianqi Peak. As soon as he came, he immediately tried to capture Chef Su and even sent five Law Enforcement Hall disciples against him. After that… is what everyone here saw.”

The surrounding disciples immediately spoke up in support.

“We saw it all! He was just setting up a stall and they tried to kill him!”

“So ruthless! I heard the Second Elder is at the Mahayana realm, yet he didn’t stop his disciples from forming a killing formation!”

“As the host of the Sword Trial Tournament, Yunxian Sect actually has such a murderous elder—it’s a disgrace to the sect!”

Xie Qinghuai stepped forward as well.

“Great Elder, with Sect Master Yun in seclusion, as acting sect master, are you just going to let this kind of scum continue harming the sect?”

Yuan Chenxin also stepped forward, pointing at the five unconscious disciples:

“If you hadn’t arrived today, Su Ji wouldn’t have survived that formation!”

The Second Elder’s alarm bells rang wildly. He knew if he didn’t speak now, he would truly be branded as a sect disgrace.

He hurriedly said loudly:

“Senior Brother, you cannot believe everything these juniors say!”

The Great Elder frowned and looked to him.

“Not believe them? Then explain it yourself.”

The Second Elder forced himself forward.

“There really is a rule that stalls are not allowed on Lianshuo Peak! They violated the rules, so punishment was justified!

As for those five disciples forming a killing formation—they acted on impulse! I never ordered it! By the time the formation was formed, I couldn’t stop it anymore!”

Someone in the crowd immediately shouted back:

“Setting aside whether such a rule even exists—when the formation wasn’t complete, you were clearly standing right there and didn’t try to stop them at all!”

The Second Elder choked.

He had been distracted entirely by that sudden pressure—how could he have had time to care about anything else?!

The Great Elder frowned.

The Second Elder’s words weren’t entirely unreasonable, but his actions were too reckless. Even if it was technically within rules, it would be hard to convince the disciples.

But if he punished him too heavily, it might alienate him from the sect.

Yet if he let it slide, Xie Qinghuai would not let it go, and the disciples who witnessed everything would be dissatisfied. The Sword Trial Tournament was still ongoing—if they weren’t satisfied, the sect would lose authority.

As acting sect master, he wouldn’t even know how to explain it to the Sect Master later.

And then there was the demon race…

He turned slightly. Tu Yan’s gaze had been fixed on Su Ji from the beginning. There was no way they didn’t know each other.

Before he could say anything, Tu Yan suddenly raised a hand, interrupting him.

“You’ve all been talking for so long and just left the person involved out—don’t you think that’s inappropriate?”

It’s over. They definitely know each other.

The Great Elder immediately turned to Su Ji.

“Little friend Su, you saw everything clearly. Why don’t you speak?”

Su Ji finally looked up, shifting his attention away from the sulking kitten in his arms.

“Great Elder, I have a good relationship with Yun Xicheng. As the Yunxian Sect Young Sect Master, he has never heard of any rule banning stalls on Lianshuo Peak. Not only him—many disciples here are hearing of it for the first time.”

All the Yunxian Sect disciples nodded in agreement.

Su Ji continued calmly:

“The Second Elder insists I broke the rules. But this rule was never written, never carved into stone, and never even verbally announced.

A rule that no one knows about—does it even count as a rule? If next time the Second Elder wants to deal with someone, he just makes up a rule on the spot and arrests them, can that also be called breaking the rules?”

His tone was calm and steady, but every word struck hard. Many disciples supported him immediately.

The Great Elder had no way to refute it and could only sigh helplessly.

“This matter… we indeed did not consider properly.”

Su Ji continued:

“I set up a stall partly for profit, but more importantly, for the Sword Trial Tournament disciples. For half a month of competition, eating low-quality, hard-to-swallow food with low spiritual energy—who could endure that?”

At these words, Chef Lin and the Second Elder both suddenly looked up.

Their eyes met Su Ji’s with shock and hatred.

The Great Elder caught the key phrase:

“Low-quality spiritual energy food? Little friend Su, that’s not something you can say lightly. Our Yunxian Sect would never reduce standards for disciples!”

The square fell silent. Suspicious gazes shifted between Su Ji and Chef Lin.

Su Ji said nothing. Instead, he turned and gestured toward the luxurious dining hall.

“Since you are the Great Elder, you probably haven’t eaten there yourself. It’s mealtime now. Whether I’m speaking nonsense—just taste it and you’ll know.”

The Great Elder turned back, looked at the already shaken Chef Lin and the forcedly calm Second Elder, and had already believed half of it.

Without another word, he strode toward the dining hall.

Several disciples dragged the nearly limp Chef Lin along, following behind.

The Second Elder, already defeated, followed numbly.

He still could not understand.

It was just a small rogue cultivator blocking his profits—how did things end up like this?

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