“The Progeny of Combat is about to come out. Have you thought about how you are going to report that matter to him?”
An elder broke the silence in the surroundings.
“Let’s just report it straight to him as it is. What’s there to hesitate over?” a valiant middle-aged man dressed in a full armor said with a wave of his hand.
“Report it straight to him as it is? It’s not as if you don’t know the personality of our Progeny of Combat! Back then, despite the heavy injuries that he had sustained after clearing the Dragon Gate Formation, he still gritted his teeth tenaciously and held on just so that he could issue his first Progeny of Combat Decree to command all of the combat masters to treat his teacher with the utmost respect,” the elder replied with a frown. “Just think about the mess that has occurred! If we report the matter as it is to him, given how highly he regards his teacher, do you think that he’ll be able to remain rational? If he kicks up a fuss, it could end up utter chaos!”
“The Sanctum of Sages is a subsidiary of the Master Teacher Pavilion, so there’s no need for us to worry about them. The problem lies mainly with the Zhang Clan and the Glacier Plain Court. Those two might be major powers on the Master Teacher Continent, but our Combat Master Hall hasn’t grown so weak that we have to defer and explain our actions to them yet!” The armored middle-aged man harrumphed coldly. “Those powers have grown too accustomed to the peace, and they are already starting to rot on the inside. If not for the sweat and blood of our combat masters, do you think that they would be able to enjoy the prosperity and peace that they have today?”
“Elder Meng is right! When has our Combat Master Hall needed to explain our actions to others?” another middle-aged man remarked with a fling of his sleeves. “We have always used our strength to speak! Back then, the Soul Oracle Guild commanded countless Soulless Metal Humanoid, but they still ended up being completely eradicated by our forces! If I have to say, the Master Teacher Pavilion has simply been too soft on them. It’s because we give them so much leeway that they had the guts to question the judgement of the Master Teacher Pavilion… If it was me, I would have just ordered them to back down, and should they dare to refute my words, I would force them into submission!”
The elder shook his head and replied, “They are master teachers, not punks or tyrants. The reason the Master Teacher Pavilion has remained standing even after several dozen millenniums is by the virtue of its actions and not through forceful subjugation. If we force everyone into submission using brute force, how can we truly gain the respect of others?”
A middle-aged man standing not too far away sneered coldly. “Respect? Do you think we really need to win their respect? The people nowadays are so accustomed to peace that they have already lost their sense of danger and the valiance in their blood. They have already forgotten the wretched suffering of our predecessors under the despotism of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe.
“All they are interested in doing now is scrutinizing every last action committed by the master teachers so as to find lapses in their virtues. The moment they dig up the smallest of things, they cook up the largest of storms, as if a small lapse in one’s virtue will bring about the end of the world. Similarly, once the Master Teacher Pavilion makes a decision that is unpopular among them, they claim that the Master Teacher Pavilion has lost the virtue that it once embraced and is descending into corruption and nepotism.
“Just take the matter with Zhang shi for example—it’s actually not a big deal at all. However, just because it was committed by a master teacher, people will question the credibility and the principles of the Master Teacher Pavilion if he isn’t severely punished, and rumors about how the Master Teacher Pavilion is no longer the noble organization it used to be will start spreading around. But have they forgotten about the contributions that Zhang shi has made for mankind? For one, he single-handedly destroyed an entire Otherworldly Demon Emperor’s lineage, and that in itself should be more than enough to make up for all of his faults!”
This was simply how the world worked. The common populace was ignorant and cared not about how much one had contributed to the world. All they were interested in were the faults one had committed, and they would exaggerate it just to fulfill their desire for drama.
For example, based on what they knew, despite the huge fuss caused by the three powers, all Zhang Xuan had done was destroy a couple of buildings and formations. In truth, he had not claimed a single person’s life yet.
However, for some reason, the news that had been announced came across in a very different manner. It was shaped in a way that made it seemed as if he had exploited his strength to willfully wreak havoc and destroyed everything in his path.
And if the Master Teacher Pavilion could not inflict severe punishment on that black sheep among them, their rights as the leaders of the Master Teacher Continent.
The elder cut into the middle-aged man’s words and said, “I understand what you have said, but the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters have already announced their decision. Whatever decision they choose to make, it’s not our place to question it. All we have to think about is how we should report this matter to the Progeny of Combat!”
He also knew that much, but what could he do?
The purpose of the Master Teacher Pavilion was to protect mankind, so even if they were not understood by the rest of the world, they still could not watch as the entire world was reduced to ruins!
That was the inescapable responsibility and burden that they shouldered.
The crowd fell silent.
Despite the short time that they had spent together, they had come to know of the feelings that the Progeny of Combat had for his teacher. If he learned that the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters had issued an arrest warrant on him, he would surely fly into a state of fury!
By then, none of them would be able to predict what he would do in response to that!
It was not easy for a Progeny of Combat to emerge from their Combat Master Hall, so they could not bear to allow anything to happen to him!
“Elder Cheng, didn’t you say that you have thought of a solution to that?” another middle-aged man asked the elder.
The crowd swiftly gathered their eyes upon the elder.
“The solution that I have isn’t perfect either. Since the news concerning Zhang shi is already everywhere, there’s no way we’ll be able to hide the matter from the Progeny of Combat for too long. Since that’s the case, we should take the initiative to report it instead so that we can at least shape his perspective of the issue!” Elder Cheng said.
The Master Teacher Arrest Warrant had already made its way to the corners of the Master Teacher Continent. While the Progeny of Combat was still unaware of the issue because he was in seclusion, it would not take too long for him to find out about the matter once he was out.
Instead of having the Progeny of Combat blame them for hiding such an important issue from him later on, it would be much better for them to take the initiative to report the matter to him. This way, they would at least be able to hold some influence over how he viewed the issue.
Understanding this logic, the other combat masters nodded in agreement.
Honestly, if they felt that they were able to hide the matter from the Progeny of Combat, they would have definitely done it so as to spare themselves the headache that they were suffering from.
Elder Cheng hesitated for a moment before continuing on. “While we are relaying the matter to him, we should focus on the conflicts that Zhang shi has caused, and as for the arrest warrant and the others, we’ll just brush through it swiftly. I believe that the Progeny of Combat should also understand the severe implications of this matter and not act too rashly!”
Since they had no choice but to report the matter to the Progeny of Combat, the only thing that they could change was the manner in which they relayed the information to him.
“I think that’s the best we can do at the moment!”
The others nodded in agreement.
Jiya!
Barely after deciding on their general strategy, the doors to the chamber ahead of them suddenly creaked open, and a young man holding a spear walked out.
Despite his young age, he commanded an aura that felt so sharp that it almost seemed as if he would pierce right through the heavens. One could vaguely feel the overwhelming zhenqi churning within his body, ready to unleash devastating might upon his enemies at any moment.
“Congratulations on completing your cultivation!”
The crowd quickly clasped their fists and congratulated the young man.
“Un.” The young man waved his hand and walked up to the crowd. Even without any particular actions, he exuded a natural air of authority that prevented others from daring to speak loudly before him.
“For all of you to come over at once, what has happened?” The young man scanned the huge crowd before him, and his eyebrows shot up.
“Reporting to the Progeny of Combat, you instructed us to keep an eye on Zhang shi a while back, and just last night, we received news that he wreaked havoc in the Zhang Clan and injured dozens of elders. Following which, he headed to the Sanctum of Sages and injured the deputy sanctum head, Zhan shi, and many other elders. As if that wasn’t enough, he went to the Glacier Plain Court right after, destroyed their buildings, and even kidnapped their young court chief…” Elder Cheng swiftly stepped forward and gave the speech that he had carefully strung together beforehand.
He had made sure to first speak of the deeds that Zhang Xuan had committed so that the Progeny of Combat would not get too worked up after hearing the verdict made by the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters.
However, before he could finish his words, the Progeny of Combat interrupted his speech with a cold sneer. “Did you come up with those words yourself, or is that the news you have received from the Master Teacher Pavilion?”
“This…” Elder Cheng was taken aback by the Progeny of Combat’s abrupt question. “That is the news I have received from the Master Teacher Pavilion!”
“Pinning false accusations on others; is this how the Master Teacher Pavilion conducts its business?” the young man muttered beneath his breath before directing a cold gaze toward Elder Cheng. “You said that my teacher kidnapped the young court chief of the Glacier Plain Court, but do you know whom the young court chief is to dare spread such falsehood?”
“I-I… Please pardon my ignorance!” Elder Cheng heart skipped a beat as he hurriedly lowered his head and apologized.
“All my teacher has to do is say a word, and the young court chief would willingly abandon her identity and leave with him. Yet, you dare describe his actions with a word as vile as ‘kidnap’? Preposterous!” The young man waved his hand furiously.
“This… Pardon me for asking, but how would the Progeny of Combat know?” Elder Cheng asked carefully.
“That’s because the young court chief of the Glacier Plain Court…”
Holding his spear with a hand and placing his other hand behind his back, the young man raised his head proudly and said, “… is my senior!”
