Who would have imagined that Ling Han was actually telling the truth? He was truly the junior brother of Grandmaster Zhu Feng.
This was far too astonis.h.i.+ng, and his status was far too ill.u.s.trious. Apart from Celestial Kings, everyone had to give some face to Ling Han.
Ling Han raised his hand, and said, “There’s no need; you may rise.”
Only upon hearing this did Ma Yong and Chen Dong straighten their backs. They wore ice-cold expressions as they glanced at Ran Fei and s.h.i.+ Yong.
“Uncle Ma, Uncle Chen,” the two of them said in trembling voices. Their legs were shaking uncontrollably.
“Are you not going to hurry up and p.i.s.s off?!” Ma Yong roared in anger.
“Yes! Yes!” Ran Fei and s.h.i.+ Yong said with a hurried nod. However, they felt extremely relieved upon hearing this. Behind closed doors, everything could be resolved peacefully. They could easily transform a large matter into a small matter, and a small matter into no matter at all.
“Hold up!” Ling Han waved his hand, and said, “I still haven’t finished speaking, so why are you in such a hurry to leave?”
Ma Yong shuffled over, and said in a quiet voice, “Uncle, there are so many people here, so it’s best that we don’t wash the dirty linen in public,”
Ling Han scoffed, and said, “The three of them secretly tried to swap my alchemical pill out for an inferior pill. They’ve already stooped so low, so how can they be afraid of being punished in public?”
“Don’t take things too far!” Zhu Zijun said in a stern voice. Just then, Ling Han had only been targeting Ran Fei, so he had been able to endure that. After all, Ran Fei wasn’t an important person to him. Now, however, Ling Han was directly targeting him. He definitely couldn’t endure this.
Ling Han immediately lashed out.
Pa!
This was a solid slap. “You’ve been a young master for too long, so you reckon that you can view everyone as inferior to you?”
“You… You actually dare to hit me?” Zhu Zijun held his face with his right hand, and there was venom flas.h.i.+ng in his eyes. He had been a prodigy from a young age, so he had naturally enjoyed everyone’s praise and love. Since when had he ever been slapped before?
“I can’t hit you?” Ling Han asked in a calm voice. “If you weren’t Third Senior Brother’s grandson, I would kill you, not simply hit you.”
“Uncle Ma, Uncle Chen, you’re just going to stand there and watch this person humiliate me?” Zhu Zijun shouted. There was fury and bitter resentment in his eyes.
So what if Ling Han was Zhu Feng’s junior brother? He had never heard of him before! Moreover, the person most important to Zhu Feng was his esteemed master, Grandmaster Zi Cheng. Apart from him, it was his two senior brothers, Zhu Zijun had never heard his grandfather mention this junior brother before.
Meanwhile, with Ling Han’s young age, it was clear that Grandmaster Zi Cheng had only taken him as a disciple recently.
He conceded that Ling Han was indeed a prodigy. However, he was only on the same level as himself. Why did Zhu Zijun have to adopt a lower status? Why did he have to refer to Ling Han as senior uncle? Why did he have to listen to his reprimands, and even be hit in public by him?
Had he done anything wrong?
No!
He had done everything for the sake of the Zhu Clan’s reputation! Someone had dared to “impersonate” his grandfather’s junior brother, so how could he have endured this?
As the saying went, those who were unknowing couldn’t be guilty. Why was Ling Han so insistent on punis.h.i.+ng him?
Conflicted expressions spread across Ma Yong’s and Chen Dong’s face. They had also only just learned that their master had gained such a young junior brother.
It was only during noon today that Peng Huanian had reported the matters pertaining to Ling Han to Zhu Feng. As a result, Zhu Feng sternly scolded Peng Huanian for a long while. He then sent the two of them over to invite Ling Han. However, who knew that they would come across such an awkward situation?
In their eyes, this was a private matter for their own branch of alchemists. As such, there was no need to create a huge fuss about it in public. Otherwise, they would only be losing face for themselves. Indeed, they were extremely displeased with Ling Han for causing such a huge commotion out of this. However, what could they do? Ling Han was their senior!
Before heading over, Zhu Feng had reminded them several times to show respect to Ling Han. Thus, they had immediately bowed in utmost respect upon seeing Ling Han.
Right now, they could only try to persuade him.
“Fourth Uncle, perhaps we should do this somewhere else?” Ma Yong suggested.
“There’s no need!” Ling Han said in a resolute voice. “We can deal with things right here!”
“You’re nothing but a stupid brat, so what right do you have to become my senior uncle?” Zhu Zijun said. He was going all out. With how much Zhu Feng doted him, he believed that he would only suffer a scolding at most. How could Zhu Feng bear to punish him?
“Is this for you to question?” Ling Han said as he slapped Zhu Zijun across the face again. “I’m intent on punis.h.i.+ng you, so are you going to yield or not?”
Zhu Zijun straightened his neck, and shouted, “No!” His hair was already disorderly, and his expression of calm had already vanished. He appeared as disheveled as could be.
“No? Heh, then I’ll beat you until you yield!” Ling Han raised his hand and slapped Zhu Zijun again. “Are you going to yield?”
“No!”
Pa!
“Are you going to yield?”
“No!”
***
After each slap, Ling Han would repeat the same question again. It wasn’t long before Zhu Zijun was slapped silly.
“Fourth Uncle! Fourth Uncle!” Ma Yong and Chen Dong exclaimed. They were extremely anxious upon seeing this. However, this was a senior disciplining their junior, and this was as natural as could be. Unless they were willing to be expelled, how could they dare to interfere?
In any case, even if they interfered, there was no guarantee that they could stop Ling Han. Even though one of them was at the yang soul and one of them was at the yin soul, they still might not be able to defeat Ling Han even if they teamed up.
Thus, they could only try to persuade him.
However, Ling Han’s mind was set, and he refused to believe that he couldn’t beat this junior into submission.
If he didn’t discipline Zhu Zijun properly today, Zhu Zijun would only stray further and further on this incorrect path. He needed to take responsibility for his Third Senior Brother’s grandson, so he naturally wouldn’t back down. Of course, this was partly because he was p.i.s.sed off at Zhu Zijun as well.
This person actually dared to cheat him! Did he look like a pushover?
Everyone clicked their tongues in wonder upon seeing this. Most people here couldn’t compare to Zhu Zijun’s status. However, Zhu Zijun was now being slapped before them, and Zhu Feng’s two disciples could do absolutely nothing about it. They didn’t even dare to stop Ling Han.
However, thinking about this carefully, they realized that anyone would be p.i.s.sed off if their alchemical pill were swapped out for an inferior one. If Ling Han hadn’t noticed their ploy, he might have truly been screwed over.
Zhu Zijun only had himself to blame.
“Are you going to yield?” Ling Han asked again after slapping Zhu Zijun for heaven knew how many times.
He wasn’t simply slapping Zhu Zijun. In fact, he had even fused some Regulations of Flames into his slaps, causing the pain to be searing and bone-deep. This was a torturous pain.
Zhu Zijun’s willpower was fairly strong, yet he was still rendered confused and disoriented after being slapped several hundred times. His willpower started to weaken, and his only thought was to end this pain as soon as possible.
“…I yield!” he murmured. His willpower crumbled, and tears shamefully burst from his eyes.
Everyone gasped upon seeing this. Who could believe that a mighty king tier and a prodigious alchemist had actually been beaten to the point of tears?
They definitely, definitely couldn’t provoke Ling Han!
Just then, they had still wanted to visit Mo Shuang and Ling Han after everything concluded so that they could ask for some of their wager back. After witnessing this, however, they silently rid themselves of this thought.
F*ck! They definitely couldn’t provoke this person. Otherwise, they would be asking to be humiliated.
With a flick, Ling Han casually tossed Zhu Zijun toward Ma Yong. He then glanced at Ran Fei and s.h.i.+ Yong, and said, “Regardless of whether it’s cultivation or alchemy, the most important thing is one’s intentions. If one’s intentions are crooked, they’ll only end up ruining the reputation of their master.”
He didn’t say that he would expel Ran Fei or s.h.i.+ Yong. However, who was he? He was Zhu Feng’s junior brother, so Zhu Feng would naturally listen to his opinions. Thus, even if Zhu Feng only mentioned this in pa.s.sing, what would Peng Huanian do?
Ran Fei and s.h.i.+ Yong trembled in fright. They felt extremely aggrieved in their minds. Hadn’t they done everything for the sake of Peng Huanian? Why were they going to be expelled for this?
No, they had to immediately seek Peng Huanian!