Where there are people, there is martial society; and where there is martial society, endless conflicts are inevitable. This is especially true for the Wenxin Sect, a gathering place of geniuses.
To set foot in the Wenxin Sect, even as the most ordinary disciple, requires extraordinary qualities. Such a person would be treated as a precious treasure even in smaller sects.
Today, however, Jiang Xiao had not only smoothly entered the Wenxin Sect, but had also inexplicably been branded with the title of a genius. In truth, his heart was quite uneasy.
Though he had Senior Wuming by his side and possessed an extraordinary cultivation manual, his experiences in the Library Pavilion during this period had given him a clear and profound understanding of himself. He had also fully grasped the deeper meaning behind Wuming's words: "It is good to enjoy the shade under a big tree."
Putting aside the boundless cultivation resources of the Wenxin Sect, even the information recorded in some of the sect's ordinary texts would be considered guarded secrets elsewhere, yet here they could be perused at will. Thus, merely in terms of vision and perspective, the disciples here far surpassed those of minor sects and rogue cultivators—to say nothing of the countless cultivation resources within the Wenxin Sect.
In such a resource-rich environment, Jiang Xiao's path of cultivation would undoubtedly be much smoother, but conflicts were certain to follow as well.
Proud and arrogant youths, upon learning of his situation, how could they willingly let him ride above them? Putting himself in their shoes, Jiang Xiao felt he would not be reconciled to it either.
At this moment, facing several youths who had deliberately blocked his path, Jiang Xiao felt a surge of irrepressible anger at their provocation. Yet, having long been on guard and fully capable of understanding such behavior, he merely offered a calm, detached smile at the troublemaking youth, made no reply, and turned to take another route back to his residence.
However, Jiang Xiao's indifference led the others to mistake him for cowardly and timid, causing them to shout even more arrogantly, "Kid, you might dodge it today, but after a few days when Senior Brother Song steps into the realm of a Third Realm cultivator, let's see where else you can run! Now obediently hand over your cultivation resources and follow our Senior Brother Song—there will certainly be no shortage of benefits for you!"
Jiang Xiao sneered at this raving lunatic. To prevent new disciples from delaying their cultivation due to infighting, the sect strictly forbade fighting between outer disciples and handymen; only when one's cultivation reached the Third Realm and one became an ordinary disciple were they permitted to spar in the arena. Yet, judging by this fellow's words, was someone among them about to break through to the Third Realm?
Jiang Xiao had previously considered that if veteran ordinary disciples came looking to spar, he could use his short cultivation time as an excuse to brush them off. What he feared most was a challenge from his peers of the same intake, which would indeed become rather troublesome.
He could only speak up, "My friends, my surname is Jiang, given name Xiao. Jiang merely had a bit of good fortune to become a genius of the sect, and now I only wish to focus on my cultivation to avoid bringing shame to the sect in the future. Gentlemen, the broad road stretches toward the sky, and each takes his own side. How about it?"
Upon hearing these words, the person opposite him wore a look of utter disdain. "With your aptitude, rather than wasting the sect's cultivation resources, you'd be better off contributing bricks and mortar to Senior Brother Song. I advise you not to be ungrateful. For a wild kid who popped up out of nowhere to latch onto Senior Brother Song as a towering tree, it's like smoke rising from your ancestors' graves!"
Listening to this man's endless chatter, Jiang Xiao knew today's matter would not end easily. His gaze swept over the group opposite—they were all dressed as outer disciples, with one particularly conspicuous figure surrounded and fawned upon by the others like the moon among stars.
This person was young, with an arrogant expression, and his entire attire bespoke an extraordinary background. Pondering slightly in his heart, Jiang Xiao spoke, "Junior Brother, this Senior Brother Song you keep rattling on about—which genius disciple is he? Let me witness it."
Hearing this, the crowd opposite all focused their gazes on the haughty youth in the middle. The youth tilted his head up slightly and said imperiously, "I am Song Cai! Kid, though I don't know how you broke through the great array, from now on, as long as you're willing to follow me, I naturally won't treat you unfairly!"
Jiang Xiao inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. So it really was this fellow; as long as he didn't belong to the ranks of true genius disciples, that was fine. He would deal with the immediate crisis first and worry about future matters later. Therefore, he said to Song Cai, "If my eyes don't deceive me, Senior Brother Song Cai's attire suggests you should be an outer disciple. For me, an ordinary disciple, to run errands for Junior Brother Song—I'm afraid the rest of the sect wouldn't approve!"
Song Cai let out a cold snort. "Kid, you don't need to play dumb. I came here today precisely to meet you, this so-called sect genius. If you know what's good for you, fine; but if you fail to appreciate the situation, I don't mind stepping on you hard!"
Hearing this, Jiang Xiao felt a deep sense of helplessness. It was clear as day that this person had come specifically for him, a "soft persimmon," and hiding from it was impossible. A nameless fire suddenly ignited in his heart, and he sneered, "Junior Brother Song, whether I am a genius or not is for the sect to judge, not for you to decide. If your aptitude really were so outstanding, why weren't you bestowed the title of genius by the sect? Let me offer you one final piece of advice, Junior Brother Song: if you want to cause me trouble, first become an ordinary disciple. Fighting is forbidden among outer disciples, and the senior brothers of the Law Enforcement Hall are not ones to be trifled with!"
Song Cai was scion to an aristocratic family, with an ancestor who had already stepped half a foot into the Upper Three Realms. Possessing the best aptitude among his peers in the family, he was deeply favored by that ancestor, and his path of cultivation had been plain sailing. He had originally thought acquiring the Wenxin Sect's genius title would be as easy as reaching into a bag to take something, yet never had he imagined that even a fellow like the one before him could attain it while he himself had not!
As for the news regarding Jiang Xiao, it was Song Cai who had spread it in the first place.
Normally, information about disciples was not allowed to be leaked, and outsiders shouldn't have known about it.
However, he had a paternal cousin who had entered the Wenxin Sect long ago, and while chatting idly during the admission process, the cousin had mentioned it to Song Cai as a piece of gossip.
In truth, his cousin only understood half of it. After all, the Wenxin Array had been active at the time, and many disciples with low cultivation were unable to see what was happening inside, forcing them to inquire through various channels.
The disciples present at the time, mindful of Elder Xuanyuanzi's face, had spoken evasively and dared not state the truth outright. Consequently, the various disciples pieced things together and came up with many different versions.
The most convincing and widely circulated version was this: the sect master's two junior brothers had engaged in a fierce battle right outside the sect, causing the grand array to shake and allowing a trial-taker to break free from the illusion—a disciple who originally had no hope of entering the sect whatsoever.
It was only because the sect master himself had ultimately appeared in person to clean up the mess left by his two junior brothers that he had been forced to reluctantly acknowledge that this trial-taker had broken the array on his own.
Upon hearing this, Song Cai had flown into a towering rage! It was bad enough that he couldn't become a genius of the Wenxin Sect, but why should some punk who had simply stumbled into blind luck deserve it! Egged on by several sycophants, he had come here specifically to waylay Jiang Xiao.
His cultivation had already reached the perfection of the Second Realm before entering the sect, and he could actually break through to the Third Realm at any time; he had simply held back to consolidate his foundation. Having gained further insights from this trial, his breakthrough was imminent. He was going to let Jiang Xiao see what a true genius was!
Yet this wild kid who had popped up out of nowhere kept playing games with him. Not only did he fail to show gratitude for the olive branch being extended to him, but his final words had deeply pierced Song Cai, pushing his fury beyond restraint. With a single step forward, he lashed out with a ferocious palm aimed straight at Jiang Xiao's chest!
"Law Enforcement Senior Brothers, someone is fighting privately ahead!" A shout rang out from the distance, jolting Song Cai out of his blinding rage.
Song Cai hurriedly pulled back his stance and withdrew his palm, though the fierce wind of his strike caused Jiang Xiao's garments to flutter violently!
Hurrying away as fast as he had arrived, Song Cai cast a cold glare at Jiang Xiao and snapped, "Senior Brother Jiang, we will meet again. Junior Brother will engrave today's events in his heart! One year from now, regardless of what realm Senior Brother has reached, I dare ask Senior Brother to grant me guidance. If by chance my realm is higher than yours, Song will naturally suppress his cultivation to fight you!"
Buffeted back repeatedly by the force of the palm wind, Jiang Xiao finally let out his long-suppressed emotions in a complete eruption. He sneered, "Junior Brother Song, Senior Brother has also firmly etched today's events in his mind. When the opportunity arises in the future, I will certainly measure myself against you!"