Chapter 103 Trouble Comes Knocking

Li Xiaobai recounted his experience in Ancient Moon City, and Liu Jinshui understood clearly.

"Junior Brother, you must become a formal disciple of the Holy Demon Sect in the disciple competition three days from now."

"A Secret Realm in the Northern Region is about to open soon, and the Holy Demon Sect will select elite disciples to explore it. This is an opportunity for us that must not be missed."

"To my knowledge, many geniuses from Central Province have specifically come to participate in the competition at the Holy Demon Sect to secure this chance, aspiring to obtain an entry slot from the Sect."

Liu Jinshui said gravely.

Li Xiaobai had heard about the Secret Realm before from Xia Jian.

Thinking of Qin Lan, who was said to also come from Central Province, he couldn't help but ask, "Doesn't Central Province have its own slots for entering the Secret Realm? Why would these geniuses come to the Holy Demon Sect?"

"It's because there are too many talents in Central Province, and it's not their turn; naturally, they would think of other methods, and naturally, their eyes have turned to the Holy Demon Sect."

"The competition this time is likely to be extremely fierce. The geniuses from Central Province are not on the same level as those from the Northern Region; even our Eldest Senior Sister is feeling pressure. You must not be complacent or underestimate the competition," Liu Jinshui warned.

"Junior Brother understands. I will certainly give my all in this competition!"

Li Xiaobai was well aware, not expecting the disciple training to have so many twists and turns. Still, he was not worried; with the defense of the Indestructible Golden Body, unless he encountered an abnormal powerhouse like the straw-cloaked man, nothing would pose a problem.

After saying goodbye to his Sixth Senior Brother, Li Xiaobai returned to the peak of the mountain.

Noisy clamors pierced through the air.

"Enough with the nonsense. A mere training disciple, not even comparable to a menial worker, what right do you have to act tough!"

"Hand over the Spiritual Artifact obediently; don't make things difficult for yourself!"

What's going on?

Li Xiaobai frowned and quickly stepped forward. The area was blocked off by menial disciples, and it was at the center where a few lavishly dressed individuals stood, obviously the ones causing trouble.

Among these people, Li Xiaobai spotted Xia Jian from the Xia Family and Wang Ruoxian, the Immortal from the Wang Family that he had seen before.

It turned out that the backers of these two within the Holy Demon Sect were the disciples currently leading the trouble-making, not particularly impressive by the look of them.

These few were clad in gold and silver, clearly indulging in worldly possessions, forsaking their cultivation.

Li Ya was now prostrate on the ground, coughing up blood, clearly having sustained internal injuries.

"Xia Jian, Wang Ruoxian, we were supposed to be old family friends. I didn't expect you to show such true colors. I should have seen your true faces sooner!"

"Young Master Li, we already advised you not to go against Senior Brother Xu, you can't afford to offend him. If you hand over the Spirit Stones, Senior Brother Xu will keep you safe," said Wang Ruoxian indifferently.

"Exactly, Senior Brother Xu's actions are well-intentioned; we hope you can understand," Xia Jian also nodded and spoke calmly.

"Pfft!"

Li Ya was overcome with anger and spat out another mouthful of clotted blood.

The other party was too imposing, and for a moment no one dared to step forward; all the surrounding cultivators were angry but dared not speak out.

Ergouzi and Ji Wuqing burst out, frenziedly attacking a young man who was leading the group.

"Woof, pretentious scum, Lord Ergouzi is here to punish you!"

"Cackle, daring to strike my junior, today I shall teach you how to behave!"

A chicken and a dog fought wildly, a diamond embedded in the young man's shoe was bitten off, anger appearing on his face, "You damn dog, how dare you bite me, do you know who I am?"

He forced his foot down, kicking Ergouzi into the air.

Li Xiaobai was furious, damn it, just as someone pledged loyalty to him to become his junior, he was injured by someone else. If word of this spread, how could he continue to mix in this world?

He suddenly roared, "What the hell are you doing, even daring to hit Liangchen's dog? If you don't give Liangchen an explanation today, all of you losers are going to die right here!"

The crowd was startled by the sudden bellow.

Turning their heads, they saw a young man in coarse linen clothing, angry and pushing his way in.

In an instant, both Xia Jian and Wang Ruoxian's complexions changed; they hadn't expected to encounter each other here and quietly retreated a few steps, preparing to flee if the opportunity arose.

"Lord Ruthless, you've finally arrived!"

"These people are too bullying, forcibly demanding protection money and threatening us. Lord Ruthless, you have to stand up for us!"

"That's right, they're demanding two hundred lower grade spirit stones just to open their mouths!"

The surrounding cultivators, seeing Li Xiaobai, immediately found their backbone and began to lament to him.

Li Xiaobai quickly understood after hearing the gist; this was a common practice within large sects. The larger the sect, the more mixed the inner disciples would be.

Higher-level disciples would squeeze lower-level disciples, forcibly taking spirit stones and claiming it was for protection.

Inner Sect disciples would charge Outer Sect disciples a protection fee, and Outer Sect disciples, in order to make their money back, would charge menial disciples protection fees. As the lowest rung, menial disciples had no choice but to swallow their grievances.

Furthermore, the high ranks within the sect usually turned a blind eye to this, as it served to make these greenhouse flowers aware of the cruelty of the cultivation path and to stir up their competitive spirit.

Only by increasing their cultivation levels and shedding their low-tier cultivator status could they avoid being bullied.

At that moment, Yuan Fang was trembling with fear, hiding to one side, not even daring to breathe loudly. He felt he had it really tough.

On one side was the thorn in the side of the Outer Sect disciples, and on the other was the overlord of their turf—neither side was to be offended.

"Who are you to talk to me in such a manner?" Senior Brother Xu frowned and asked.

"Ye Liangchen is my name. If you're wise, hand over your Space Ring as an apology, and we can let this matter slide," Li Xiaobai said indifferently.

"You're with them?"

Six Senior Brother Xu's gaze sharpened with intensity. He'd been around for so many years, yet this was the first time he'd encountered someone so arrogant.

"Liangchen doesn't like to waste words. If you think you're strong enough to mess with Liangchen, I don't mind entertaining you," Li Xiaobai said, hands behind his back, impassively.

A powerful aura filled the space, and Senior Brother Xu became so angry that his face turned ashen. Had it not been forbidden by the sect to fight privately, he would have already struck.

"Do you know who I am? Menial disciples like you should act like menial disciples. Pay your spirit stones obediently. If you try to cause trouble, believe it or not, I can make all of you pack up and get out!" Young Master Xu said fiercely.

"Liangchen doesn't need to know who you are. You just need to remember my name, Ye Liangchen."

"From today on, menial disciples will no longer pay spirit stones, and you all won't need to come back here again."

"I'm from around here, and I have a hundred ways to make you unable to stay, while you can do nothing about it," Li Xiaobai said calmly.

His dismissive demeanor, coupled with his boundlessly arrogant words, sent the blood of the witnessing cultivators boiling.

True to his name, Brother Ruthless! So satisfying!