The Zombified face of the skeletal elder twitched almost imperceptibly, yet he managed to hold his peace. After all, if Wan Gui hadn't truly been wronged, why would he bother showing up to stir up trouble?

“Yes, Ancestor,” Lei Dong continued his performance, appearing earnest and meek as he floated his Meiying Sword over to hover near the three Golden Core Ancestors. He seemed barely able to withstand the oppressive might radiating from the elders, his frame trembling continuously, fighting desperately to remain seated upon his flying sword.

Seeing this, Ancestor Wan Gui felt a bizarre mixture of amusement and annoyance. How had he managed to recruit such a disciple? Though he knew Lei Dong was only putting on an act, Lei Dong's utterly cowardly appearance was grating to look at. The Ancestor had no choice but to play along, launching into a wrathful, sham rebuke: “Insolent wretch! How have I been instructing you? As members of our Demonic Heretic Sect, you can be wicked, you can be arrogant, you can even be wild! If you continue to be so timid and subservient, bowing and scraping, you might as well go back and have your Dianhun Lamp extinguished. Lest you completely disgrace me.”

Instead of straightening up after such a reprimand, Lei Dong merely shrank his head further, his body shaking uncontrollably. He stammered out, utterly terrified, “Ancestor, please quell your anger! Your disciple will speak, will speak now.”

Head bowed low, not daring to look at the three Golden Core Ancestors, he recounted the entirely fabricated story in a trembling, halting voice. Though his words were sometimes disorganized and his speech wavered, the narrative was delivered clearly enough for all present to grasp the essence of the events.

The moment Lei Dong finished speaking, Ancestor Wan Gui, following the plan, did not wait for a reaction from the others. He immediately adopted an aggressive posture, his face contorting into a sneer as he roared at Ku Gu: “Ku Gu, did you hear that? Hand over that Bai Li Yun at once so I can flay his skin and refine his soul to vent the hatred in my heart!”

Ku Gu inwardly cursed. It seemed highly likely that this mess had indeed been caused by Bai Li Yun. However, he had only just managed to recruit a disciple of such exceptional aptitude, intending for him to inherit his legacy. There was no way he would hand the boy over. He could only make his skeletal face twitch a couple of times before beginning his obfuscation: “Wan Gui, based only on the words of your disciple, a man whose appearance is repulsive and who is stuck at the sixth level of the Qi Refining stage—you expect me to hand over my direct disciple for your disposition? Isn’t that utterly ridiculous?”

Lei Dong seethed internally. While his Ancestor Lei might not possess striking good looks, he was certainly above average in appearance! How could he be called repulsive? It was Ku Gu, the old skeleton demon, who looked neither human nor ghost, who dared to utter such nonsense. Of course, Lei Dong could only complain in his heart. A Golden Core Ancestor was not someone he could openly offend.

Upon hearing Ku Gu resort to stalling, Ancestor Wan Gui was ecstatic; it was exactly what he had hoped for. He chuckled inwardly, thinking Lei Dong’s mischievous plan was rather good. Outwardly, however, he erupted in fury, summoning his peak-grade Ghost General: “Ku Gu, are you deliberately trying to humiliate me?” He then laughed with extreme rage: “Very well, very well. If you won't hand him over, I’ll take it upon myself to capture him. I’d like to see if your Ku Gu Peak is truly some impenetrable Dragon’s Lair or Tiger’s Den!” With that, he drew his Wan Gui Banner, preparing for battle.

Just as expected, Elder Tu, who had arrived intending to mediate, changed his expression drastically and rushed to intervene: “Brother Wan Gui, don’t be rash. Let’s talk this through calmly.”

“Elder Tu, it’s not that I, Wan Gui, disrespect your seniority,” Ancestor Wan Gui snarled, his face contorted with malice as he glared at Ku Gu. “The rights and wrongs of this entire affair, I believe you, Elder Tu, already know clearly in your heart. Ku Gu knows it too, yet refuses to give me a satisfactory explanation. Could it be that you, old demon Ku Gu, truly take me for a lump of dough that can be molded however you please?”

“Calm down, calm down first.” Elder Tu was also profoundly frustrated. Ever since becoming an Elder, he spent his days acting as a peacekeeper between various caves and mansions; his very temperament had changed. He smiled placatingly at Wan Gui, then abruptly shifted his expression to one of sternness as he admonished Ancestor Ku Gu: “Brother Ku Gu, you are decades older than me. I shouldn't be scolding you, but you are far too indulgent toward your disciples. How could he dare trespass onto Wan Gui Cave’s territory to steal spirit beasts and injure someone? And now you refuse to give Brother Wan Gui an explanation—aren't you bullying him?”

“Elder Tu, it’s not that Ku Gu refuses to explain,” Ku Gu’s stiff face twitched a few times, guilt coloring his tone. “It’s just that Bai Li Yun used a blood escape to return and is still unconscious. Relying on just one side of the story, how can we arbitrarily determine Bai Li Yun’s fault? Ku Gu suggests that perhaps we should wait until he wakes up before questioning him thoroughly.”

“Elder Tu, listen to this, listen!” Ancestor Wan Gui interjected, feigning grief and indignation as he attacked again: “He is clearly trying to muddy the waters! Questioning that little brat? I guarantee you, given that scoundrel’s shameless viciousness, he will certainly turn around and accuse Ding Wan Yan! I propose we directly perform a Soul Search on him to extract the truth.”

“Spit out your nonsense! If his soul is searched, what use is my disciple then? Why not search the soul of your repulsive disciple? A disciple of that caliber is useless anyway!”

Lei Dong felt an intense urge to fling a handful of Yinsha Thunder at that old scoundrel. Useless?

“Jie jie, Ku Gu, you push people too far! Your direct disciple counts as a disciple, but mine is not considered human?” Ancestor Wan Gui burst into manic laughter, his aura surging as he prepared to strike again.

Elder Tu was beginning to feel dizzy from their quarreling, yet he leaned slightly toward Wan Gui’s side. It was evident that Ku Gu was stalling. But then he considered Ku Gu’s predicament: he couldn't possibly hand over Bai Li Yun, the only disciple the Yinsha Sect had produced in ten years, over such a matter. However, Wan Gui’s Ding Wan Yan seemed even more promising than Bai Li Yun. Regardless of who was right or wrong, neither disciple could be allowed to suffer ruin; they might both become pillars of the sect in the future. After weighing it all, Elder Tu felt that stalling was the only viable path.

Yet, what Elder Tu never suspected was that while Ku Gu wanted to stall, and he himself wanted to stall, the most active participant in clandestine stalling was actually Wan Gui…

“Elder Tu, as an elder of the sect, you practically watched this junior grow up,” Ancestor Wan Gui began his appeal again. “You must do me justice! Think about it, since I established Wan Gui Cave over seventy years ago, every subordinate I’ve gained was someone else’s leftovers. Now, I finally acquire Ding Wan Yan, only for her to be sneak-attacked and nearly killed! I cannot swallow this insult!”

This plea elicited genuine sympathy from Elder Tu toward Wan Gui. If the antagonist hadn't been Bai Li Yun, but some lesser disciple, Elder Tu would have already ordered Ku Gu to hand the boy over—letting Wan Gui deep-fry him or skin him alive, as long as he got satisfaction.

But Bai Li Yun was different; the old fellow Ku Gu would never agree. Furthermore, eliminating him would mean losing a future rising star for the sect. After much deliberation, Elder Tu could only offer an apologetic response: “Brother Wan Gui, is that girl Wan Yan alright? Getting hurt is a small thing, a lesson learned. It will make her more cautious in the future. We cultivators defy the heavens; our path is bound to have bumps and scrapes. How can we expect smooth sailing all the time? Moreover, Brother, you shouldn't coddle that child too much. Although she is a good seedling, being knocked around is often how they mature best.” Seeing Ancestor Wan Gui’s face darken, Elder Tu quickly tried to soothe him: “Of course, we can’t let Wan Yan suffer this loss for nothing. How about this: since nothing serious happened between them, and it was only an injury, I, Tu, will make the decision. Ku Gu, as the Ancestor, you failed to discipline your disciple properly, so you bear the responsibility. Let Wan Gui choose two peak-grade magic artifacts from your treasury, plus one hundred thousand spirit stones, as compensation for Bai Li Yun injuring Wan Yan.”

“What? Two peak-grade magic artifacts?” Ku Gu’s skeletal face twisted in fury as he roared, “Impossible! This is absolutely out of the question. The spirit stones are negotiable; I’ll give you three hundred thousand.”

“Ku Gu, are you showing a lack of sincerity?” Elder Tu also became irritated, inwardly wishing he weren't an Elder so he could just kick Ku Gu. What kind of person was this? He had smoothed things over, and it still wasn't enough?

Seeing Elder Tu’s face darken, Ku Gu felt a pang of apprehension, but the thought of losing his treasures caused him great pain: “Two artifacts are too many. I will give one peak-grade magic artifact and two hundred thousand spirit stones.”

“Wan Gui, what do you say?” Elder Tu shifted his gaze, smiling warmly at Wan Gui. “In my opinion, venting anger is meaningless. It’s better to gain something tangible.”

“Two artifacts. One less is unacceptable,” Wan Gui was inwardly overjoyed. Lei Dong truly was a lucky charm! Peak-grade magic artifacts! He possessed maybe only two or three in his entire life. If Wan Yan could be satisfied with this, he was getting rich while lying down.

(Thank you, brothers and sisters, truly thank you! We succeeded, successfully reaching the weekly recommendation list. However, there are many great authors out there, and they are powerful. We cannot let down our guard. If you have recommendation tickets, please continue to bombard me with them, so we can climb a few more spots. Thank you all~)