One person: Senior brother Zhang Zhiwei, the Celestial Master begged me to descend the mountain.

The highest point of the training ground.

This is the best viewing platform and the center of power for the entire Luotian Grand Ritual.

Several of the Ten Elders were sitting upright in grand chairs, sipping fine pre-rain Longjing tea while looking down at the masses below.

Compared to the restless audience below, this place was unusually quiet.

The only sounds were the whistling of the wind through the awning and the crisp clinking of the tea lid against the teacup.

But beneath this calm, the undercurrents are even more turbulent than those below.

Grandpa Lu Jin was dressed in a sharp suit. Although his hair was completely white, he stood up straight and exuded a sharp and piercing aura.

He held a match schedule in his hand, his fingers tapping lightly on it.

Boom, boom, boom.

The rhythmic tapping broke the silence.

"Old Celestial Master".

Lu Jin didn't turn around; her gaze remained fixed on the disheveled figure walking away from the sidelines, a playful smile playing on her lips.

"We've been friends for so many years."

"Tell me the truth."

"Where did this little guy named Zhang Chu come from?"

Zhang Zhiwei, the old Celestial Master, who sat in the main seat, didn't even lift his eyelids.

He was peeling an orange, slowly tearing off the peel and placing it in a small dish beside him.

"Old Lu, what are you saying?"

Zhang Zhiwei popped a segment of orange into his mouth, chewed it a couple of times, and mumbled:

"The Celestial Master's Mansion is so large, with several thousand disciples."

"I can't possibly recognize everyone, can I?"

"He's just a distant relative who came up the mountain to beg for food after his family suffered a misfortune."

"Just trying to make a living?"

Lu Jin turned her head, her sharp eyes fixed on Zhang Zhiwei's calm and composed old face:

"Even I misjudged that slap just now."

"No Qi is used, no technique is used."

"Pure physical strength, coupled with exquisite control over one's power."

"To send someone flying that far, and still manage to land precisely in a sandpit without breaking a single leg."

Lu Jin sneered:

"You call this 'just getting by'?"

"If this were outside, it would have been fought over by various forces long ago, wouldn't it?"

"Old Zhang, that's not fair of you."

Zhang Zhiwei, still smiling, popped another segment of orange into his mouth.

"That's because the kid is strong; he developed that strength from doing farm work at home."

"This farming skill is hardly worthy of being presented in a refined setting; please excuse its poor quality."

Upon hearing this, the lips of several powerful figures from surrounding sects twitched involuntarily.

A skilled farmer?

What a crazy farming expert!

If farming can develop such skills, then these old guys who have practiced hard for decades are not even as good as farmers.

"Hehehe..."

Just then.

A sinister laugh came from the side.

An old man, dressed in a dark red Tang suit, short in stature, and leaning on a cane, slowly straightened up.

Wang Ai, the head of the Wang family.

He was also known as the most ruthless and vicious among the Ten Elders.

His cloudy eyes gleamed with a venomous light as he stared intently at Zhang Zhiwei.

"Old Celestial Master, this isn't very interesting."

Wang Ai gently tapped the ground with her cane:

"We're not three-year-olds anymore."

"This time, the Luo Tian Grand Ceremony has attracted quite a few monsters and demons because of Zhang Chulan, the successor of the Eight Extraordinary Techniques."

"And now this seemingly unfathomable Taoist priest has suddenly appeared."

At this point, Wang Ai paused, her tone becoming even more sinister:

"This kid's methods are pretty ruthless."

"Whether it's those three who got knocked into the wall yesterday, or this one who's stuck upside down today."

"Although no one died, that ruthlessness he displayed didn't seem like something a reputable sect would teach."

"Old Celestial Master".

Wang Ai leaned forward, a malicious smile spreading across her face, which was covered in age spots.

"Could this be a covert measure you prepared specifically to protect Zhang Chulan?"

Or perhaps...

"Is this another remnant from back then?"

These two words were uttered.

The atmosphere on the entire observation deck instantly plummeted to freezing point.

Lu Jin's smile vanished, and her brows furrowed slightly.

The other bigwigs also put down their teacups, their gazes sweeping back and forth between Zhang Zhiwei and Wang Ai.

The term "remnant" is a taboo in the world of supernatural beings.

Especially bringing it up in front of the old master, it's practically a public slap in the face, or even a provocation.

Zhang Zhiwei paused for a moment while peeling the orange.

But it only lasted for a moment.

next second.

He popped the last segment of orange into his mouth and patted the juice off his hands.

"Wang Ai".

Zhang Zhiwei's voice was calm.

But the moment he opened his mouth, an invisible sense of oppression enveloped everyone's hearts.

"You can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want."

Zhang Zhiwei turned his head, his seemingly cloudy old eyes showing no emotion whatsoever.

"Whom does my Celestial Master's Mansion recruit, what they do—when did outsiders have the right to interfere?"

"If you have evidence, then produce it."

"If not..."

Zhang Zhiwei smiled, picked up the teacup on the table, and gently blew on the floating tea leaves:

"Then shut up and watch the show."

"Don't get so angry that you hurt yourself before the show is even over."

Wang Ai's face instantly turned extremely ugly.

He gripped his cane tightly, his knuckles turning pale from the force.

But he dared not retaliate.

Faced with this peerless master, even if he was one of the Ten Elders, he could only swallow his anger.

"Good...very good."

Wang Ai nodded with a forced smile, her eyes practically overflowing with resentment:

"That was just me being nosy."

"However, Old Master."

"This grand Taoist ritual isn't over yet."

We'll see.

Done.

Wang Ai stopped looking at Zhang Zhiwei, turned around, put her hands on the railing, and looked coldly at the figure below who was about to enter the contestant passage.

His eyes were filled with scrutiny, greed, and... murderous intent.

"No matter who you are..."

Wang Ai thought maliciously to herself:

"Since you've appeared at this critical juncture, blocking my path..."

"Then don't blame me for being ruthless and pulling you out like a nail!"

Below the martial arts training ground.

The moment Wang Ai's malicious gaze fell upon him.

Zhang Taichu, who was walking, suddenly stopped.

His previously relaxed body tensed slightly.

That feeling.

It's like being watched from afar by a venomous snake hiding in a ditch.

It was damp, cold, sticky, and nauseating.

"Tsk."

Zhang Taichu stopped and rubbed his neck.

"Why does this awful smell permeate everything?"

He turned around and slowly raised his head.

My gaze traveled dozens of meters, through layers of crowds, and landed on Wang Ai on the high observation deck.

boom!

Although there was no sound.

But in the instant their eyes met...

Wang Ai felt as if a thunderclap had exploded in her mind.

His originally sinister gaze trembled involuntarily the moment it met Zhang Taichu's eyes.

An indescribable chill instantly shot up his spine to the top of his head.

"this……"

Wang Ai's pupils contracted sharply.

He instinctively tried to look away, but his body seemed frozen, unable to move.

The terrifying feeling of being locked on by a ferocious beast caused his hands, which had held power and the power of life and death for many years, to tremble uncontrollably.

Click.

A very faint, crisp sound.

The priceless purple clay teacup in Wang Ai's hand.

A fine crack appeared during his unconscious spasm.

The scalding tea seeped out along the crack and dripped onto his expensive Tang suit, making him shiver.

"Um?"

Lu Jin, who was standing next to her, noticed something was amiss and glanced at Wang Ai with some surprise:

"Old Wang, what's wrong?"

"How could such a fine Yixing teapot be broken?"

"Is it because you're getting old and your hands and feet aren't obeying your commands anymore?"

Wang Ai suddenly came to her senses.

He was breathing heavily, and a fine layer of cold sweat had appeared on his forehead.

He hurriedly placed the teacup he was holding on the table to hide the trembling in his hands.

"No...it's nothing."

Wang Ai's voice was somewhat hoarse, and she managed a weak smile:

"It's possible that there was a flaw in the firing process of this cup."

"I was distracted just now and didn't pay attention to the force."

That's what they said.

But he dared not look down even once more.

That sense of dread that came from the depths of my soul has not yet subsided.

That look...

That look in his eyes was terrifying!

That's definitely not the look a 18 or 19-year-old kid should have!

What's hidden inside... is even more unfathomable than the Old Celestial Master!

Off the field.

Zhang Taichu looked at the old man who had shrunk back and a disdainful sneer curled at the corner of his mouth.

He looked away and spat on the ground.

"Pooh."

"To be old and not die is to be a thief."

Zhang Taichu dusted off non-existent dust, turned around, put his hands in his pockets, and slowly walked into the dark passage.

"Just wait and see."

"This is just the beginning."

"Now that the platform for this grand Taoist ritual has been erected..."

"I'll make you old fogies cry for your parents..."

"This play isn't over yet."