Wuliang Xianweng stared at the screen of light in the center of the main hall for a moment, then said slowly:
"Junior Brother Shen's true form is a startled-thunder leopard. Although he has never used his innate talent within the sect, the startled-thunder leopard clan is renowned for its speed. Therefore, it is not strange that he can move faster than Junior Brother Qingxu Daode. As for Junior Brother Qingxu Daode..."
At this point, Wuliang Xianweng's tone paused slightly, a complex look flashing through his eyes. After hesitating for a moment, he continued:
"Over the years, Junior Brother Qingxu Daode has been obsessed with external objects, actually growing somewhat slack in his own divine arts. Otherwise, he would not be utterly unable to fight back at this moment. Therefore, I believe the current situation is primarily because Junior Brother Shen's traits happen to counter Junior Brother Qingxu Daode."
Hearing Wuliang Xianweng's explanation, Yuanshi Tianzun nodded with satisfaction:
"What you said is true. The reason Shen Gongbao is now able to suppress and beat Qingxu Daode Zhenjun is mainly because his innate talent happens to counter Qingxu Daode Zhenjun. If any of you among us had stepped into the arena instead, the current situation would never have arisen."
"But Master, that is still no reason for Shen Gongbao to make a move against Qingxu Daode Zhenjun! For a mere second-generation disciple to dare attack Qingxu Daode Zhenjun—where does this place the rules of our Chan Sect? I implore Master to severely punish him!"
Judulsun wore an expression of righteous indignation.
"Master, Shen Gongbao dared to attack Qingxu Daode Zhenjun simply by relying on his innate talent. If he is not severely punished, what will other Chan Sect disciples think? How can our Chan Sect disciples hereafter rest easy and immerse themselves in the cultivation of the immortal Dao, making unremitting progress?"
Chijingzi also spoke with earnest sincerity, every word uttered for the sake of the greater whole.
Yuanshi Tianzun frowned slightly. He had always looked down upon creatures with fur and horns, and the greatest advantage of those with fur and horns was precisely their innate talent.
If he allowed this situation to continue to develop, wouldn't it be equivalent to him accepting, or even encouraging, his disciples to emulate creatures with fur and horns?
The moment this thought arose, it filled him with displeasure.
Meanwhile, on Shen Gongbao's end.
As Shen Gongbao kicked Qingxu Daode Zhenjun flying once again, he reached out and plucked a pure white feather from Qingxu Daode Zhenjun's Five-Fire Seven-Fowl Fan, the quill radiating an icy-blue chill.
This feather was a white crane feather, and its original owner was none other than Baihe, the boy attending Wuliang Xianweng.
This feather had been forcefully stripped from Baihe's body by Qingxu Daode Zhenjun, who had used his seniority to bully him.
Looking at the crane feather in his hand, Shen Gongbao said in a chilling voice:
"Qingxu Daode Zhenjun, you are even shameless enough to strip a younger disciple's natal quill to forge magical treasures. You are truly unworthy of being one of the Twelve Golden Immortals of our Chan Sect."
As Shen Gongbao's words fell, an icy-blue system prompt directly appeared before him:
[Congratulations to the host for completing Optional Task 2: Unity and Friendliness (89/100). Bronze-tier draw unlocked.]
This sudden system reward was completely unexpected to Shen Gongbao. Prior to this, task rewards had only appeared after he completed all the disciplinary tasks in full.
He had not expected that this time, simply seizing a white crane feather from Qingxu Daode Zhenjun would count as completing a task.
It seemed Qingxu Daode Zhenjun was truly worthy of being one of the Twelve Golden Immortals of the Chan Sect; his status far surpassed that of the ordinary third-generation disciples of the sect.
However, the moment this thought arose, Shen Gongbao couldn't be bothered to dwell on it.
Because the rewards for the bronze-tier draw had already materialized.
All rewards from the bronze-tier draw consisted of personal cultivation; the only difference was the duration of the cultivation gained.
Shen Gongbao's luck was quite decent this time, as the rewarded cultivation amounted to a full eight years.
His cultivation grew out of thin air, and at this moment, Shen Gongbao had only one target in his sights: the Five-Fire Seven-Fowl Fan in Qingxu Daode Zhenjun's hand.
Three minutes later, a roc's feather intertwined with dark gold and dark black fell away, and Shen Gongbao's cultivation increased by another four years.
Five minutes later...
...
Inside Yuxu Palace,
Wuliang Xianweng's expression turned grave:
"Did you all notice? Shen Gongbao's cultivation is actually increasing out of thin air. I can see that his cultivation is about to break through to the Late Mysterious Immortal realm."
Judulsun sneered:
"Eldest Senior Brother, I admit that Shen Gongbao has good natural talent, but he lacks respect for his teachers and the Dao. The higher his natural talent, the greater the harm he poses. He is currently only a Mid Mysterious Immortal and he already dares to attack Senior Brother Qingxu Daode. If his cultivation advances any further, where will this end?"
Chijingzi chimed in repeatedly:
"Indeed, Eldest Senior Brother! Moral character is the foundation of a cultivator. If the conduct of a creature with fur and horns like Shen Gongbao is not strictly restrained, there is no telling what kind of disaster he might bring upon our Chan Sect. You must not condone his actions simply because he is gifted with extraordinary talent, feeling that everything can be forgiven. If that were the case, how would our Chan Sect differ from that Jiejiao?"
Hearing this, the surrounding people all nodded in agreement.
Their Chan Sect considered themselves a cut above Jiejiao precisely because the Dao of enlightenment practiced in their Chan Sect vastly surpassed that of Jiejiao.
For a creature with fur and horns like Shen Gongbao, who fundamentally lacked human nature, if they didn't even pay attention to later moral education and transformation, wouldn't that fail the illustrious reputation of their Chan Sect?
Observing the reactions of his junior brothers and junior sisters, although Wuliang Xianweng did not feel that Shen Gongbao had committed an overly grievous error in this specific matter, raising a hand against one's own senior brother was a grave offense in itself.
Thinking of this, Wuliang Xianweng nodded and said:
"Since this is everyone's consensus, we indeed ought to pay more attention to guiding Shen Gongbao. We cannot let him truly stray onto the wrong path!"
At this moment, Shen Gongbao lunged forward once again, snatching out the very last quill from Qingxu Daode Zhenjun's Five-Fire Seven-Fowl Fan.
As the final phoenix feather fell into Shen Gongbao's hand, the system prompt appeared:
[Congratulations to the host for completing Optional Task 2: Unity and Friendliness (100/100). Bronze-tier draw unlocked.]
The five spiritual objects containing different primordial flames, along with the seven quills from different avian demonic beasts, directly provided Shen Gongbao with twelve task completion counts.
As another six years of cultivation flooded in, Shen Gongbao waved a hand at Qingxu Daode Zhenjun and said:
"Scram out of my sight right now. If I ever catch you using fellow disciples' spiritual objects to forge magic treasures again, I won't be as polite as I am today."
Qingxu Daode Zhenjun was so infuriated by Shen Gongbao that his teeth itched, but after spinning around in defeat for so long, he realized he was simply no match for Shen Gongbao. Staying behind would only bring him further humiliation.
"Shen Gongbao, you just wait for me! This isn't over!"
Leaving behind a harsh threat, Qingxu Daode Zhenjun slunk away in disgrace.
Seeing that Qingxu Daode Zhenjun had departed, Shen Gongbao sat straight down.
Upon seeing this, Nezha immediately crowded around him:
"Junior Uncle Shen, you're something else! You even dared to beat Qingxu Daode Zhenjun. Aren't you afraid he'll go straight to Heavenly Lord to lodge a complaint?"
Yang Jian at his side also wore a worried expression:
"Junior Uncle Shen, just now Senior Uncle Qingxu Daode left you with those harsh words. Given his temperament, he certainly won't let this rest. Perhaps you should hurry up and catch up to him to offer an apology? Otherwise, this matter surely won't end well."