The crowd turned around to see who was the owner of the voice. They then proceeded to split like the red sea for him to pass through.
Huang Huangfu Song glared at Li Chengfeng, the corner of his eyes began to twitch in anger as his face turned crimson red. Although it had only been a few days, the memory of his embarrassment was still burning in his mind.
How was he so foolish to believe that this punk was the young master of the Zhan family?
Fireballs of fury were almost shooting out of Ji Chunhua’s eyes as she laid them upon
Chengfeng. She who had always been proud of her charisma and beauty could make any man move to the beat of her drum until she met Chengfeng, the King of Troublemakers. The humiliation she had endured left her gritting her teeth every time she dreamed of the embarrassment he had caused her. She would skin him alive if she could!
When Grand Senior Brother laid his eyes upon Chengfeng, he was quite shocked. He subconsciously thought to himself, ‘It seems all of these troubles had started in Cangjian Court from this Chengfeng’s arrival.’
Qin Mieqin was in despair until he heard Chengfeng say what he said, those who were still standing on the platform seemed to be hesitating about leaving now. Having seen Chengfeng, Ouyang Nan gritted his teeth and was prepared to charge at him in anger. Qin Mieqin quickly blocked him and gave him a stern look. He then swiftly grabbed Grand Senior Brother’s arm as he whispered, “It doesn’t matter what happens, we must stand firm!”
Grand Senior Brother quickly snapped back to reality. He looked at Chengfeng with confusion in his eyes as he nodded. He then tried to convince the rest who still stood on the platform, “A brother disciple who had just arrived has decided to stay with us in such critical times, yet all of you who had joined the Cangjian Court for so many years…”
These disciples who still stood hesitantly on the platform did not leave because they felt a strong sense of reluctance in leaving. Hearing what the Grand Senior Brother had said to them, they immediately felt shame. Their resolve to continually stay in Cangjian Court solidified.
Chengfeng brought Yuehan and Xiaobao along as they stood behind Grand Master Senior, the rest who stood on the platform soon followed. Their final decision was now clear to see.
Huang Huangfu Song looked at Chengfeng as he gritted his teeth, almost losing his cool in front of everyone, but he didn’t want to let anyone know about the embarrassment that he had faced. Holding in his anger, he glanced towards Grand Senior Brother and said, “Grand Senior Brother, stop struggling. Do you want to lead them all to inevitable deaths too?”
Grand Senior Brother replied calmly, “Cangjian Court will not be destroyed under my care!”
Chengfeng looked at the Grand Senior Brother who stood all alone against Huang Huangfu Song, suddenly feeling a strong sense of empathy and pity towards him as something similar had happened to him as well.
Both of them were burdened with the heavy responsibilities of protecting their clans, facing the same danger of being in poverty and stripped of resources. Both of them also had to face an enemy that they could not defeat, holding onto the same belief and stubbornness of not accepting defeat! Not to mention, they both had a strong sense of pride and honour!
As he thought of this, Chengfeng looked in the direction of Grand Brother Senior, Ouyang Nan, Qin Mieqin, Qiu Chuqiu and An Tong, he no longer felt the strong sense of hostility towards them as before. They were just trying to protect their Cangjian Court. Not to mention that he only appeared after leaving Cangjin, if he were in their shoes, he would do the same as they did as well.
Huang Huangfu Song looked at Grand Brother Senior and sighed, “Grand Senior Brother, we joined the sect at the same time. However, you had cultivated the longest, not to mention you’re the oldest, yet you still haven’t made a name for yourself! Your abilities are the lowest among those of your age too! If I were you, I would have quit a long time ago!”
Grand Senior Brother was as calm as water, his eyes were determined as he spoke, “Us disciples from the Cangjian Court had never relied on just ourselves to fight, we are always united as we are stronger together! If you dare, try defeating our Heavenly Swords Array!”
Huangfu Song let out a guffaw, “With just you lot? With these weaklings? HA HA HA!”
Qin Mieqin calmly retorted, “Senior Huangfu, what’s the use in talking when you can’t walk the talk?”
Huangfu Song’s expression immediately changed, he quietly let out a sound of disapproval and turned towards those who stood behind him, “Everyone, follow me. With only these few left, let them continue to rot along with Cangjian Court!”
Before Huangfu Song left, he suddenly turned his head to look at Chengfeng, giving him an insidious glare before nodding to him, as if he was greeting him.
Chengfeng’s expression quickly turned distasteful, his mind screaming, ‘This f*cker! He can’t even leave without giving me a nasty look!’
Chengfeng glanced towards Grand Brother Senior and the rest, only to realise that Ouyang Nan and Qin Mieqin were looking at him with hostility and suspicion in their eyes.
But at this moment, all Grand Brother Senior could focus on was watching the former disciples of Cangjian Court leave the hall with Huangfu Song one by one. He couldn’t have cared less about Chengfeng’s identity as he watched their silhouettes disappear, his heart filled with immense pain.
Only those like Qin Mieqin who was as close to the Grand Senior Brother would know how much effort that the Grand Senior Brother had painstakingly put into the Cangjian Court. But now, it seemed to be over for them.
Grand Brother Senior looked at those who stayed as he counted, including Chengfeng, there were only a total of thirteen people left.
This number gave Grand Senior Brother a quiver in his heart. Could this be fate? Why would there be precisely this many people left?
But, even if they had thirteen of them to form the Heavenly Swords Array, the exact number of people needed, what use would it do?
Cangjian Court… is finished!
Grand Brother Senior did not say this out loud, but his heart had already accepted the fact. In front of the others, he continued to keep up his act of possessing a strong sense of pride and determination. But as the pressure kept building, he felt more and more hopeless.
Qin Mieqin looked at the Grand Senior Brother worriedly. “Grand Senior Brother?” he whispered.
Grand Senior Brother looked as if he had just woken up from his painful memories. He then turned his head to face Chengfeng, and he slowly asked him, “Tell me the truth, what is it that you truly want?”
Chengfeng looked straight into Grand Senior Brother’s eyes as he replied, “To be strong!”
“Why do you want to be strong?” asked Grand Brother Senior, his eyes lifeless as they drifted once away. His expression was devoid of hope and confidence.
“To protect my family and to protect myself! To change their fates and to change mine!” said Chengfeng.
“Then you should never have left Cangjin Court! As you could see from us Cangjian Court… Cangjian Court… is finished!” Grand Senior Brother said as he lifted his head, hot tears started streaming from his eyes. He then sadly sighed as he exclaimed, “Martial Uncles, I have failed you all!”
“Grand Senior Brother!!” shouted Qin Mieqin and Ouyang Nan in pain, their eyes were red with tears while they clench their fists tightly.
Grand Senior Brother looked at them, tears still flowing down his cheeks as he apologised, “I have let you all down! It was all my fault!”
Ouyang Nan gave himself a hard slap, the side of his face swelled as he cried, “No, Grand Brother Senior, it was your Junior Brother who was too rash! It was my fault for getting you involved!” as he finished, he then started to slap both sides of his face with much strength. In an instant, his face was now extremely swollen as he apologised further, “It was me who made you say things you didn’t mean!”
“Enough!” sighed Grand Senior Brother. “It was not your fault, time waits for no man, and this was probably destined to be, there was nothing we could do about it!”
Listening to their wails, the rest of the group fell silent. The atmosphere was heavy and depressing.
Chengfeng couldn’t help but smirked, “So, this is the Cangjian Court, huh? I’ve finally seen it now! Today, I’ve finally experienced what Cangjian Court is really like! It seems like Huang Huangfu Song wasn’t wrong, those people SHOULD have left Cangjian Court!”
Ouyang Nan immediately turned his head, blood dripped at the side of his mouth as he yelled, “WHAT DID YOU SAY? DO YOU WANT TO DIE?!”
Chengfeng showed no signs of fear as he smirked, “But am I wrong? Look at yourselves, as if you’ve just attended a funeral! Are you going to die tomorrow? If you’re not going to die, why do you look so hopeless?!”
Qin Mieqin sneered, “You don’t know our pain! Do you even know anything about cultivation? Do you even understand the dire consequences of this outcome? Do you have any ideas on what we should do to overturn this horrible situation? If you have an answer to this, we’ll immediately crown you as the head of Cangjian Court! Following each of your bidding!”
Everyone looked at Chengfeng, but his expression did not change. Without hesitation, he answered, “I have no answer!”
But before anyone else could react, he immediately continued, “So what if I don’t have an answer? All I know is that if I don’t train my cultivation, I won’t be able to become strong. Then my family and I would be eternally doomed! I do not know if anyone here has people they absolutely need to protect, but I do! For the sake of protecting them, I must become stronger!”
A furious Ouyang Nan retorted, “Do you think we don’t want to?! Just look at the state Cangjian Court is in right now! We have nothing! How are we going to be stronger?!”
Chengfeng angrily replied, “So what! At least you’re here! At least Cangjian Court still has living and breathing disciples!! Don’t tell me that Cangjian Court is in worse shape than my Cleansing Moon Sect! My ancestors from the Cleansing Moon Sect used to fight alongside Emperor Gaozu while they conquered the South and fought the North, we were even given the nickname “Li, The Emporer of Heavens”! During that time, the Cleansing Moon Sect was regarded as the number one sect in the world! But look at us now, I bet none of you has ever even heard of the Cleansing Moon Sect haven’t you!”
Chengfeng’s sudden outburst had shocked the others, all they could do was stare as he continued to let out his frustrations. “For the past five generations, the patriarchs of the Cleansing Moon Sect had all endured vigorous cultivation training in an attempt to revive our sect. However, all five of my previous patriarchs went insane from cultivating! Yet I was still determined to join the Spiritual Mountain Sect, I still wanted to challenge the path of cultivation! Even if I was the only heir left of the Cleansing Moon Sect! If I were to die, the Cleansing Moon Sect would forever disappear from the cultivation world, and if all of you died, the same fate would lay upon Cangjian Court!”
“It will all lead to death! Whether it’s going to be us sticking our necks out or curling up into a ball, we will all be dealt with death! I’m not afraid of it, and neither should you! If it’s too challenging, the worst case is that we will die, however, if we don’t die, we’ll eventually be able to get through it!”
Only
Chengfeng spoke harshly as he roared, “Just look at your sorry selves! Are you really part of Spiritual Mountain Sect’s four heavenly courts? Are you even worthy of calling yourselves the disciples of Cangjian Court?! Are you?!”
“You!!!”
Ouyang Nan had been irritated to no end, his blood was boiling. Just as he was about to strike, Grand Senior Brother immediately disappeared in a flash and reappeared beside Chengfeng. Grand Senior Brother stared at Chengfeng dead in the eyes, after a while, he said to him, “Alright, from today onwards, you are accepted by the Cangjian Court! I will personally train and teach each and every one of your homework! I will also be responsible for all of your missions! I will be watching all of you like a hawk. As long as you are willing to do your best for Cangjian Court, Cangjian Court will definitely open its arms to you!” Looking up towards the others, he spoke, “The same goes to all of you!”
The rest of them shrugged as they whispered to each other.
Chengfeng coldly replied, “I can do my best, but I will not do it for Cangjian Court, I will be doing it for myself, for my Cleansing Moon Sect!”
Grand Senior Brother slowly nodded his head, “Good! But if I ever find out that you have ulterior motives or are trying to sabotage our court in favour of another, I will personally make sure that I destroy your body and soul, rendering you unable to reincarnate for eternity!”
Chengfeng and Grand Senior Brother stared at each other in the eye. Without hesitation, Chengfeng firmly replied, “Come at me with all you’ve got!”
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