The sudden sound was like a muffled thunder in the summer; so abrupt that it could startle anyone.
Fortunately, both Chen Chao and Xie Nandu were not ordinary people, so they did not feel anything about it. Chen Chao ignored the voice and just looked at Xie Nandu as he said with a smile, "I remember the scenery over there is nicer, do you want to go and have a look?"
He chose to ignore.
Xie Nandu looked into the distance and nodded, "That's not a bad idea."
The two of them continued their conversation as if nothing had happened, which made the person even more annoyed. The person asked again in a low voice, "Are you Chen Chao?"
Chen Chao still ignored him, as if he had not heard the voice at all.
Xie Nandu also seemed indifferent and was about to leave with Chen Chao.
Soon, there were deliberately suppressed voices of discussion by the lake, but those voices made people feel uncomfortable.
They were students from the academy and many of them still harbored hostility towards Chen Chao.
Chen Chao frowned, "There are no cicadas today."
His words came a little suddenly.
Xie Nandu smiled and seemed quite satisfied with the mention of cicadas.
Seeing that the two of them were still chatting away, the newcomer finally could not hold back and mocked, "Before I came, I had thought that the young cultivators of the Great Liang Dynasty didn't know manners. But after coming, I realized that they are lacking manners to such an extent. Isn't the academy supposed to be a so-called land of sages?" "Looking at it now, if people like you can come and go as they please, then this place can hardly live up to the word sage."
After saying this, Chen Chao did not react, but the students by the lake frowned.
This person had actually insulted the academy along with them. They had some disagreements with them by the lake before, which was also due to the arrogant attitude of these few people. Many academy students were unhappy with them.
Now that they heard him say this, many voices immediately sounded out by the lake.
"Sure enough, everyone in the Great Liang Dynasty are all a bunch of uncivilized and uncouth martial artists."
The newcomer gave a cold laugh and continued to speak.
Hearing this, the students by the lake fell silent, the voices immediately dying down. Uncouth martial artists, it was not the first time that these words had been mentioned by the lake. In the previous debate by the lake, Chen Chao latched onto these few words to refute the academy until they could not respond. Who could have thought that such a thing would happen again at the lake of the academy just a few months later.
Although it was the same beginning of the story, could there be a different outcome?
Many students sighed and thought to themselves: that the youth in black could have pretended not to hear the words earlier. But now, this person brought up "uncouth martial artist" again. Could he still pretend that he did not hear it?
Sure enough, when Chen Chao heard these words, he subconsciously stopped. Looking at a distance not far away, it was his first time looking at the person who spoke.
There were several young cultivators dressed differently; three men and two women. Their clothes were different and their auras were not similar. They did not seem to be from the same sect.
The young cultivator who spoke was thin and small; like a little monkey. But his facial features were still relatively handsome. He wore a snow-white outfit, as if trying to exude a sense of suaveness, but he did not quite have the disposition for it.
When he spoke earlier, Chen Chao could hear the provocation in his words, so he did not want to respond. But he did not expect this person to be so persistent, deliberately mentioning the words 'uncouth martial artist' again at the lake. It was clearly full of provocation.
During the previous debate by the lake, Chen Chao had once said that foreign cultivators could use the words 'uncouth martial artist,' but none of the students, officials, or commoners from the Great Liang Dynasty say it. Now that the foreign cultivators had come and mentioned these words too, everyone was waiting to see how he would refute this foreign cultivator.
It was just that many of the students by the lake were frowning at this moment. There might be some among them who did not like Chen Chao, but more of them had no favorable impression towards those foreign cultivators who had intruded into the academy.
Chen Chao looked at the skinny young cultivator and was silent for a while before asking, "What did you just say?"
Hearing this, many people looked disappointed. They thought that Chen Chao's reaction would be more intense, but who would have thought that in the end, Chen Chao would be so gentle. One could even say that he was cowardly.
The skinny young cultivator sneered, "I called out to you, but you pretended to be deaf. That was rude. Since you were rude, what's wrong with me calling you uncivilized and uncouth?"
He paid some attention to using the word 'called'.
Chen Chao gave an "oh" and said nothing.
He did not hesitate and was about to walk past this person and leave.
Seeing Chen Chao like this, the students present were a little dazed. Why was this different from how they imagined it?
It was the same thing at the lakeside before, but Chen Chao was not so cordial to talk to.
Could this person in front of them really be the one rumored in the academy before? He was merely a bully who was afraid of the strong, but bullied the weak? He was eager to bully the students of the academy, but once he encountered someone tough, his temper deflated?
However, many people quickly realized that when he defeated that genius He Yi who was on the Latent Dragon List at the royal banquet, he did not back down either. Why was he like this today?
For a moment, there were many emotions at the lakeside; confusion, disappointment, anger, and resentment. Countless emotions were generated here in succession, which was very complicated.
"Turns out that you're not only rude, you're also a coward."
The short young cultivator laughed, his voice somewhat arrogant and full of undisguised mockery.
Chen Chao stopped in his tracks, looked at the short cultivator and asked, "May I ask for your name?"
The short cultivator was taken aback but quickly said arrogantly, "Kong Xiang from Ironriver Mountain!"
As foreign cultivators, they naturally had an inherent arrogance.
Hearing the words Ironriver Mountain, the students around the lake did not react much. Although this foreign sect had some reputation, compared to the top sects of the current era, it was far inferior. Although the academy was located in the mortal world, it was still the holy land of Confucianism, with a high status, and on par with the Deercry Monastery. They did not have to envy Ironriver Mountain.
"I wonder where your esteemed self came from before you started cultivating?"
Chen Chao was patient as he asked with a faint smile, as if he really wanted to know the answer.
"I've already stepped onto the Great Dao, everything of the secular world is naturally cut away. Everything in the secular world isn't worthy of remembering." Kong Xiang replied calmly, without any emotion in his eyes.
Chen Chao was absorbed in thought and said, "According to your meaning, that means the moment you begin cultivation, you could also abandon your parents and forget their kindness in raising you, right?"
Kong Xiang said calmly, "Of course."
Chen Chao said an "oh" and continued, "Since the kindness of raising you isn't important, then your master who imparts knowledge, passes on their techniques, and guides your cultivation, is actually not important either. One day, you should also abandon them when you no longer need them, right?"
His question seemed ordinary, but everyone by the lake was lost in thought.
The kindness of your parents raising you and the kindness of your master teaching you were both extremely important. If Kong Xiang said that the former was not worth remembering, what about the latter?
Kong Xiang's expression became somewhat unsightly and he could not give an answer.
Whether he admitted or refuted it now, Chen Chao would still have words to refute him.
"I don't want to argue with you about this anymore!"
Kong Xiang stared at Chen Chao and said, "I came to the academy to see what kind of person that guy who talked big at the imperial banquet is like!"
Back then, Chen Chao had said some words at the imperial banquet. The general meaning was that since losing to the Great Liang Dynasty's cultivators would be shameful, he would make them all lose face.
"Now that you have seen it, what do you think?"
Chen Chao looked at him with a smile still on his face.
"I thought that someone who could defeat He Yi would be considered a young genius no matter what. But I didn't expect him to be just someone with a shrewd tongue."
Kong Xiang's face was full of ridicule.
Chen Chao looked at the short cultivator in front of him and smiled.
"You came to the academy just to mock me? If that's the case, what's the difference between you and me?"
"Of course I'm different from you, I came to the academy to fight you!"
Kong Xiang stared at Chen Chao who was in front of him, his anger fully released at this moment.
No matter how much he said, nothing was as good as a battle to determine who was superior. Everything would have a result.
Chen Chao looked at Kong Xiang and was deep in thought as he said, "I've heard of Ironriver Mountain, but I really haven't heard of your name. Don't worry, I'll go back and check the Latent Dragon List to see if your name is on it."
Hearing the three words "Latent Dragon List," laughter suddenly erupted from the lakeside. Some students suddenly realized what was going on and could not help but laugh.
Kong Xiang's expression suddenly turned extremely ugly. This Ironriver Mountain cultivator was not stupid either, he quickly understood what Chen Chao meant by that.
After cultivating bitterly for many years, he had always hoped that he could step onto the Latent Dragon List one day and become a world-renowned genius. However, no matter how hard he worked these years, he could not make it onto the list. Thus, he had always had a knot in his heart. Now that Chen Chao brought it up, it undoubtedly stabbed him in the heart.
Latent Dragon List three words hurt him deeply.
Furthermore, Chen Chao's words had a profound meaning.
He had once battled with He Yi and won against him. He Yi was a genius on the Latent Dragon List. He could defeat him and did not fear him either. How could he possibly be scared of a cultivator like him who failed to make it onto the Latent Dragon List?
Since he was not afraid and still chose to act this way, it could only mean that he was looking down on him.
As Kong Xiang thought about this, his expression naturally became increasingly ugly.
He did indeed come to the academy because of Chen Chao's victory over He Yi at the imperial banquet. He was extremely angry about it, but his initial anger was not directed at Chen Chao, but at He Yi. He could not accept that He Yi who was on the Latent Dragon List was defeated by an ordinary martial artist like Chen Chao.
To Kong Xiang, the Latent Dragon List was a dream that he could never reach in his lifetime. Those geniuses on the Latent Dragon List were also the targets of his lifelong pursuit.
He would never allow an uncivilized martial artist like Chen Chao to defeat those kinds of characters.
"Chen Chao, I want to fight you!"
Kong Xiang furious to the extreme. However arrogant he was previously, he was just as embarrassed at this moment.
This kind of reversal came very quickly; virtually not giving too many people time to react. Many people at the lakeside were still feeling confused and did not know what happened earlier.
But the students who understood the implied meaning looked at Chen Chao with a different feel.
Actually, the debate by the South Lake before proved one thing: this young warden who came from a small place was totally not a naive youth who only knew how to kill demons.
He was a meticulous thinker, his character calm, and he planned because taking action...
He was an intelligent person in the true sense.
Chen Chao glanced at Kong Xiang and gave an answer that was reasonable, yet also out of everyone's expectations. He shook his head and said, "I refuse."
Kong Xiang asked angrily, "Are you scared?"
Chen Chao did not answer this question, but asked, "How do you compare to He Yi?"
He was very indifferent, showing no emotions, as if he was asking a trivial question.
But when he asked this question, people already knew the final answer. Kong Xiang had no answer to reply to Chen Chao.
If he said he was stronger than He Yi, Chen Chao would surely ask him why he did not make it onto the Latent Dragon List. If he answered that he was not as good as He Yi, Chen Chao would ask him what qualifications he had to fight with him since even He Yi was defeated?
Kong Xiang's expression was very ugly. But at this moment, he could not say a word.
It was currently like that question Chen Chao asked earlier.
The kindness of raising you and the kindness of teaching.
At that time, Kong Xiang could not answer. Being asked again now, he could not find an answer either.
It was another question that could not be answered and it also put Kong Xiang in a different and helpless position.
The youth in black who was in front of him had no emotion from start to end.
Just when everyone thought that this matter was going to be left like this, Chen Chao stared at Kong Xiang and said with a cold smile, "If I fight you and win, the world will say that I am bullying someone who hasn't even made it onto the Latent Dragon List, and it's meaningless. Since that's the case, why should I fight you?"
"If you want to fight me, sure. When you make it onto the Latent Dragon List, come and look for me again!"
The last two sentences hit Kong Xiang's sore spot perfectly. The words "Latent Dragon List" were too important to him.
Hurting him this way worked like a charm every time.
Chen Chao had long seen through his weak spot. When he spoke at this moment, every sentence naturally revolved around the three words 'Latent Dragon List.'
Kong Xiang was rather out of sorts and extremely angry.
Chen Chao looked at Kong Xiang whose expression was livid with rage and felt great. A few days ago, he made that hag vomit blood in the hall of the Ministry of Penalty, and he made all the students in the academy speechless. How could he have no way of dealing with Kong Xiang?
His previous show of weakness was merely a tactic.
Kong Xiang stood there, unable to say anything. At this moment, he became very confused too. He did not know what to say at all.
"So what if you defeated He Yi? You merely used some tricks. If you really have the ability, why would you avoid a fight?" "At the end of the day, you're merely scared of failure and losing face. It's a pity that the Great Liang Dynasty is full of people like you. How can it prosper?"
Just as Kong Xiang stood on the spot in a daze, another voice sounded out.
Chen Chao looked up and saw that it was one of the two women who had come with Kong Xiang, but had been silent all along.
She wore a light yellow dress, her figure slim and delicate. At this moment, her thin eyebrows were raised and she had an indifferent look.
It was precisely her who spoke.
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