The Beginning of Humiliation

A huge crowd of people gathered near Yang Ming's courtyard, yet none of the clan members could overcome their fear and enter the courtyard, except for three people - the patriarch, Shui Han Yin and Bai Lin.

When the patriarch arrived first, he wanted to beat that son of a bitch, Bai Lin, to death, but he could understand that Bai Lin's punishment would come soon anyway and would be many times harsher than any of his blows.

But that did not mean that the patriarch could forgive him for such impertinence. As the man on whom the whole clan relies, he could not leave a potential threat to his house alone. Bai Lin had already offended a man from the higher realm by slandering him. The patriarch certainly could not forgive such an offense.

Bai Lin not only slandered the man, but also dragged the patriarch and Shui Han Yin into his lies, only their roles were different: Yang Ming and the patriarch were the villains, while Shui Han Yin was the innocent victim.

But Bai Lin didn't seem to have spread enough fire, so he decided to drag the entire Shui Clan along as well, that was what gave the patriarch a horrible headache. He clearly knew the situation of cultivators from lower realms so he was trying not to stir any problems with the higher realms. If his ancestor was around right now, with him, he would definitely say that if there was no support from higher realms, this place could be considered hell.

Even though he didn't know, he could easily guess what it was all about. The world was a lousy place, where without enough power you were considered a nobody and could easily be killed, for fun, for example. He felt a huge mountain weighing on his shoulders that grew heavier with each breath.

If before the patriarch still blamed himself a little for wanting to break off the engagement, now he didn't care about it at all. Now there was no way he would let Shui Han Yin marry him, even if she reciprocated Bai Lin's feelings.

Even if Bai Lin regained his ability to cultivate or became one of the clan's strongest geniuses, the patriarch could not allow that. Besides breaking the engagement, there was one other thing the patriarch had to do directly as a leader of a renowned clan.

There was only one punishment for slandering the patriarch and the man of the higher realm. Although it was not considered very cruel, a person at the end of it could only regret the transgression for the rest of his life.

And that punishment was to cripple the offender's meridians and expel him from the clan. Indeed, such punishment was fully provoked by the actions of Bai Lin.

While the patriarch was deciding on the punishment of Bai Lin pertaining to his actions, chaos erupted among the members of the Shui clan outside Yang Ming's courtyard. It involved not only ordinary disciples, but even the elders.

"This idiot has no brains at all, has been trash since childhood, and as soon as he was cured, he immediately challenged someone who even our patriarch wouldn't dare to offend!"

"I heard that the sixth elder took Bai Lin to the mysterious doctor. I thought it was a lie, but now I'm sure the rumor was true. Bai Lin can now cultivate."

"Shui Han Yin was lucky not to marry him. If that had happened, I would have been the first to kill that idiot."

As conversations similar to those were taking place, chaos from confusion and lack of understanding quickly turned into ridicule and mockery of Bai Lin, there were many people in the clan who did not like Bai Lin. There were many reasons, and it certainly wasn't because of looks or cultivation, as his looks were average, and his cultivation was nonexistent at all until this point, unless you count his childhood.

His background was one of the main reasons. Born not into any ordinary family, but the son of the sixth elder himself, many were jealous and furious. While they trained twenty-four hours a day for many years, oftentimes being on the brink of life and death, Bai Lin did not apply even a modicum of persistence during this time.

Bai Lin spent only a couple of hours a day training, and the rest of the time he locked himself in his room, justifying himself with an excuse of having a weak body and the need for more sleep. As soon as the hardest-working students would find out his reason, instead of being sympathetic, they would become enraged.

They thought: if he really has a weak body, why do they give him the best defense artifacts and quality pills, while they themselves have everything of a common quality? They felt it was too unfair. Because of this, all they could do was to mock Bai Lin daily for him to finally leave the Shui Clan, as this was no place for a waste.

If this reason could still somehow be omitted, the second reason was impossible to omit. Bai Lin had been trash since childhood, a fact everyone knew, starting from the patriarch, ending on the clan servants, but there was a hidden marriage contract between Bai Lin and Shui Han Yin or more like an agreement between the patriarch himself and the sixth elder.

At first it was a secret, but after the patriarch saw Bai Lin as a child and he seemed like a rather promising boy, the patriarch decided to no longer hide the fact that when Shui Han Yin grew up, she would have to marry Bai Lin.

At first everything was fine, but after a couple of months, a rather surprising fact came to light: Bai Lin could no longer cultivate, which shocked literally everyone in the Shui Clan. And this was a kind of trigger: instead of constant flattery, Bai Lin only heard curses directed at him.

It had been quite a while, but it still hadn't subsided. If he lived a comfortable life in the clan despite remaining trash, then okay, that could somehow be forgiven, but the fact that such a man could marry such a beautiful and talented girl as Shui Han Yin threw many people off.

There was no way for this wedding to take place. If it did, Bai Lin would become the patriarch of the Shui clan, which made the hands of those people who imagined it tremble slightly. In everyone's opinion the clan would fall apart without a strong and respected leader who would unite the clan.

Although they did not like Bai Lin, they respected the clan and could not betray it. Considering that they were raised and given the strength to defend themselves by the clan, they could not allow a man like Bai Lin to become the head of the clan.

And today, it seemed that their dream had been realized: Bai Lin had slandered not only the patriarch, but the man whom no one dared insult. They could guess how it would end, so they did not hold back their smiles. They devoted themselves entirely to insulting Bai Lin.

*Ding!*

[ The Hero, Bai Lin lost 200 life points. User gains 400 life points ]

Suddenly, Yang Ming received a notification from the system, which stated that he gained some points, and he didn't even do anything yet.

"I think these insults are starting to take a toll on you!"

Yang Ming seemed to be talking to himself, but only he could understand who it was addressed to. Being separated just by a wall, he could hear Bai Lin being constantly insulted.

He could have gone out at once, but he didn't: he had to wait for the fish to catch on the hook first, and then pull the rod when the time was ripe. And for that, Yang Ming didn't have to wait long, Bai Lin had already lost his temper, so Yang Ming decided to make his move.

********************

Cultivation levels: Lower realm.

Initial Ascension(1) — Initial stage — Middle stage — Late stage.

Earth Ascension (2) — Initial stage — Middle stage — Late stage.

Heavenly ascension (3) — Initial stage — Middle stage — Late stage.

Mortal ascension(4) — Initial stage — Middle stage — Late stage.