Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Meanwhile…

After Cheng Xingchu excused himself from the council hall, he did not head straight to his spiritual site to rest. Instead, he took a detour around the inner yard for a long stroll.

“This is really odd. Why have I not seen a single person around? Is this Tiansang Spirit Palace inner yard merely a decoration? Why are there so few people?”

He thought of the letter seeking help.

“Could it be that they have all gone into hiding?”

“Tsk! If it is the case, then the Tiansang Spirit Palace is surely overrated.”

Cheng Xingchu had a cynical smile and decided not to loiter any further.

Although there was n.o.body in the inner yard, there were still people in the outer yard. There were so many people out there when he arrived, and they possibly had not received any instructions to hide. It was probably why there were still many people having fun outside.

He remembered being mocked by those sc.u.ms who had reached the Acquired Stage. The memory of it provoked him, but he could not find a place to vent it out.

As for the reason they mocked him, Cheng Xingchu had deliberately wiped it from his mind.

As he walked past the Spiritual Library Division toward the outer area, he soon reached the threshold between the outer and inner yard.

He thought to himself—the guards of this Spirit Palace are seriously weak. I have seen no disciples around. Are they also short on personnel for the law enforcers? There were only a few at the council hall.

He wondered, how could there be no one guarding the inner yard entrance?

Dhak! Dhak!

A slow and rhythmic knocking sound came from around the corner, and Cheng Xingchu tilted his head to look over. What he saw gave him a huge scare.

“Oh, my G.o.d, what an ugly blind man!”

It was a man with a badly scratched face. It looked like someone had cut him up badly in a frenzied knife fight. It was impossible to tell his exact age just by looking at his face.

Oh, no!

It seemed someone had undoubtedly cut up the man's face!

Cheng Xingchu felt nauseous looking at his face as the man walking toward him was not merely ugly—he was exceedingly hideous!

As he watched, he noticed that the man was using a walking stick, and that was the source of the knocking sound.

The walking stick was thin and light-purplish. There were also some carved lines on the handle. The walking stick was the only delicate item on the hideous blind man covered in dust.

“How did you enter the Spirit Palace?” asked Cheng Xingchu.

He was curious and wanted to know if the Tiansang Spirit Palace did not care about its prestigious status. How could they take in such a disciple?

Regardless of how a Spiritual Cultivator could alter the works of Heaven and Earth and manipulate the essence of the Sun and Moon, n.o.body could salvage such a sorry-looking face!

The blind young man with the walking stick seemed oblivious that someone was talking to him, and he continued to tap on the road and went on his way.

However, the entrance to the inner yard was only that wide, so Cheng Xingchu blocked the blind man by standing in the center of the road.

“Are you deaf as well as blind?” he mocked.

As his eyes rested on the man's hand holding the walking stick, Cheng Xingchu raised his eyebrows in surprise.

In contrast to the dusty robe he was wearing, the little deaf and blind man's hands were surprisingly clean. His fingers were slender, and each knuckle was well-defined. It would appear that the man did not do hard ch.o.r.es at all.

This is a pair of hands only a woman could possess, he thought. Even then, it would take a great deal of careful maintenance. Such delicate fingers… how could such a face match up to these?

Cheng Xingchu was feeling conflicted and out of sorts.

With his observation of specific details, such as the man's hands and the walking stick, his extensive training and experience told him that the man standing before him suffered from mysophobia.

But such people… mm…

How could he possibly tolerate the dirt on his body and the sorry state of his face?

“Excuse me.”

The young blind man spoke. To his surprise, the man had a pleasant voice, and it was rich and slightly deep.

Cheng Chuxing frowned as his intuition warned him to leave immediately, but he stubbornly refused to heed it!

The man had zero cultivation potential and probably belonged with the sc.u.ms milling outside—presumably, newbies just recruited to the Spirit Palace.

Excuse me?

Did he think he could enter the inner yard?

Did he even have any clue about the rules of this world?

And even more important, was that the proper att.i.tude to show toward a semi-Master expert?

It annoyed Cheng Chuxing to no end. He thought of how Ye Xiaotian had bullied him because of his background. He was so scared that he even peed in his pants.

So, what gave this ordinary man the right to be so calm in front of him?

He had been on the lookout for the few Outer Yard disciples who mocked him. Since he could not find them, this sc.u.m would do perfectly…

Ho, ho! It seemed like the blind man ran out of luck for Cheng Chuxing needed to vent out his anger.

“Not this road!” Cheng Chuxing said harshly.

The young blind man finally stopped moving. If he had not done so, they would have crashed into each other.

“Excuse me.”

The man tilted his head and blew out some air from the corner of his lips. His long hair, which was partially covering his face, blew to the side. He spoke in the same tone, and there was not the slightest change in emotions.

Cheng Chuxing was now even more provoked, and his anger sent him into a frenzy.

He despised people who had no actual strength or talent but were pretty good at putting up a show! It was the number one item on his hate list!

“What if I say no?” Cheng Chuxing said as he looked at the man scornfully.

“If you say no? Then, die.”

The occasional night breeze added to the bizarre scene, and the blind man's unbound long hair tossed about, giving him a charming appeal. If one did not look at his disfigured face, he would have been a perfect sight to behold.

Cheng Xingchu seemed amused as he laughed out loud. He asked, “Die? Who gave you the courage to talk to me like this?”

His eyes focused as if possessed by the haunting memories of Ye Xiaotian. He planned to bring the man down with an almighty force.

At that moment, all he could think about was crus.h.i.+ng the blind man's kneecaps on the ground and shattering them to pieces.

WHACK!

However, after delivering his blow with intense force, the young blind man remained standing in the same position. Cheng Xingchu felt like he had struck at a piece of fabric and there was little effect.

He was speechless.

He focused once again!

WHACK!

He threw another powerful blow at the man.

How could it be possible? Why is there no reaction at all?

He tried to focus one more time.

He could not do it anymore. His eyes narrowed into two slits. If he went any further, he would have to shut his eyes tight.

The situation was awkward. The silence felt like lethal poison, slowly spreading out in the air.

Cheng Xingchu moved the corner of his lips and realized he did not know what to say.

Silence prevailed.

The blind young man waited for a long time and realized that the man in front of him was just a paper tiger. He stayed his ground briefly, then he tapped his walking stick around.

Dhak! Dhak!

It was not an attack. The man was probing to find his way.

He also said nothing. Since the guy in front of him decided not to continue his attack, the blind man treated him as a pa.s.ser-by.

The young man took a detour, feeling his way around Cheng Xingchu with his walking stick, and walked past him quietly.

“d.a.m.n it,” Cheng Xingchu muttered to himself.

His head was burning with fury, and it made his brain feel like it was about to explode.

The feeling of being ignored was far worse than being pranked by Ye Xiaotian. On top of it, the blind man in front of him was an ordinary man with no cultivation power!

“You are asking for it!” Cheng Xingchu roared.

His low, growling voice came out of his clenched mouth. Overwhelmed with anger, Cheng Xingchu threw out a punch infused with spiritual power, and he aimed it at the back of the young man.

SWOOs.h.!.+

Instantly, the blind young man did not turn around at all but squatted. Cheng Xingchu's fist went wide and slipped over his opponent's shoulder.

By the time Cheng Xingchu realized that something was off, the blind man had pulled his hand forward and threw him to the front using his momentum.

“Huh? He is not an ordinary man!”

Cheng Xingchu's pupils dilated as the smooth counterattack shocked him. Although he had a rough gauge of the man's power, it was still a shock to him when he experienced it firsthand.

How did the blind man evade the Spirit Observation Technique—the hidden skill of the Holy Divine Palace?

He had observed the man earlier, and he did not possess any cultivation power for sure. What was this?

Cheng Xingchu did not have too much time to ponder, and it was a bad idea to expose his back to the enemy. After Cheng Xingchu regained his balance, he immediately turned around.

Dhak!

The light-purplish walking stick was pointing at his heart.

Cheng Xingchu swallowed his saliva with much difficulty. The walking stick had become a long sword instead of a harmless stick.

If he had used more force?

“Ugh!”

Before he could apologize, the blind young man had already put down the stick. Then he started probing around again and turned to leave.

It astonished Cheng Xingchu.

“What is going on?”

“Why did he not put an end to me?”

“Ptui! As if he could put an end to me!”

Cheng Xingchu was feeling terrified at heart. The blind man was positively creepy. He resembled a G.o.d of Death who was merely pa.s.sing by and was not interested in taking his life at all.

Was he a Spiritual Cultivator?

But if the man did not have any skills, how could he dodge the attack? He even countered flawlessly.

Why did the man let go of the opportunity to end his life?

Cheng Xingchu was in awe as he stared at the blind young man's back. He wanted to catch up to him and save his face.

However, his legs felt unusually heavy, as if laden with lead. He could not even move a step as he stood rooted to the ground.

BAM!

Suddenly, a spirit tree exploded from approximately thirty meters away, and it scared the h.e.l.l out of Cheng Xingchu. He felt a chill running down his spine.

The tree was right on the attack trajectory of the blind man's walking stick just a while ago!

Was the man trying to warn him?

Crack!

A cracking sound came from his waist. Cheng Xingchu looked down in horror and realized that his protective jade had cracked up.

It was a protection jade that could withstand a full-power strike by a Master Stage expert!

“I…”

Cheng Xingchu fell on his bottom as he stared in disbelief at the blind young man from afar.

He was not dumb and immediately realized that the man probably possessed the power of a Master Stage!

But looking at his age, the man was probably only twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old!

“Are the people from Tiansang Spirit Palace all this powerful?”

His murmurs could not hide his shocked state. All Cheng Xingchu could feel was despair as he picked up the shattered jade. He was in a daze.

It seemed he would have died already.