Chapter 154: Chapter 154: Terrifying Imaginations

Huang Xuantian sized up the people present. The expert Xiao Tianzan invited must be at least forty years old.

“You?” Huang Ming pointed at an old man and asked coldly.

“No, no, no, it’s not me.” The old man was so frightened his face turned pale.

“Then is it you?” Huang Ming then pointed to a middle-aged man standing with his hands clasped behind his back.

“Don’t get the wrong idea. I was just trying to look impressive,” the middle-aged man said, his legs already trembling.

“Then it must be you?”

“Ah!” An eighty-year-old man, seeing Huang Ming pointing at him, spat up a mouthful of blood and collapsed.

“Xiao Tianzan, where in the world is this person you mentioned?” Huang Xuantian asked, his gaze turning ice-cold as he looked at him.

Wu Tian, from the New Holy Land, had already appeared in the crowd, completely unnoticed.

Just then, he stepped forward, his handsome face drawing everyone’s attention. The soldiers didn’t recognize him, but Ye Tianshi felt a sense of familiarity. This man’s build is quite similar to the one who entered the New Holy Land that day.

“You? What are you doing here?” Huang Ming asked, clearly displeased.

“You know him?” Huang Xuantian inquired.

“Yes.” Huang Ming nodded. “He is the one I mentioned, the arrogant one who doesn’t know his place.”

“Oh.” Huang Xuantian nodded dismissively. He was only interested in the master Xiao Tianzan had brought; as for anyone else, he couldn’t care less.

Yet Wu Tian walked right up and stood directly opposite Huang Xuantian.

“What is he doing?”

“I have no idea.”

No one thought Wu Tian could possibly be the expert Xiao Tianzan had found. They were all baffled as to why he had gone up there. Why would he step forward at a time like this? What on earth was he thinking?

No one could begin to guess.

Only Huang Ming considered a certain possibility, and his face turned ashen. “So that was your plan,” he sneered. “How clever, how very clever. But let me tell you, you’re delusional.”

Wu Tian’s brow furrowed slightly. He had no idea what Huang Ming was talking about.

“Do you know what he’s trying to do?” Huang Xuantian was also puzzled.

Huang Ming looked at his master and nodded. He took a deep breath before speaking. “His aptitude is better than mine, I admit that. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be more skilled than me even though we’re the same age. I once told him that family background is crucial and that I would eventually surpass him. He didn’t believe it then, but I think he believes it now.”

“Hmm.” Huang Xuantian nodded. “And?”

“So, he came here today to ask to become your disciple,” Huang Ming said, looking at Huang Xuantian with concern. “Master, you can’t accept him just because his aptitude is good.”

Huang Xuantian nodded. The possibility Huang Ming raised was plausible. Why did Huang Feihong teach martial arts to people like Liang Kuan and the butcher back in the day? It was because the Huang Family was in a slump, with no talented successors in sight.

He took another, closer look at Wu Tian. This young man’s temperament is truly exceptional, quite rare. Huang Xuantian genuinely felt a flicker of an idea to accept him as a disciple.

The Huang Family’s martial arts were only to be passed down to Huang Family disciples; that was a rule set by the previous Family Head. But as the current Family Head, Huang Xuantian naturally had the authority to change it.

“You wish to be my disciple? It’s not that simple,” Huang Xuantian said, standing with his hands behind his back. “It’s not impossible for an outsider to learn the Huang Family’s martial arts.”

“Master!” Huang Ming cried out in a panic. If Wu Tian also becomes Huang Xuantian’s disciple, it will be impossible for me to ever catch up to him in this lifetime.

Suddenly, Huang Xuantian raised three fingers. “However, for an outsider to learn my Huang Family’s martial arts is no simple matter. You must fulfill three conditions.”

“First, you must recognize me as your adoptive father!”

“Second—”

“Forget about the second,” Wu Tian cut in, exasperated. He got straight to the point. “You’re all morons. You’ve completely misunderstood my intentions.”

What? Huang Ming was stunned. I misunderstood? How humiliating!

“This Huang Family descendant is always jumping to conclusions.”

“Yeah, and he dragged the Celestial Master down with him.”

Hearing the crowd’s hushed whispers, Huang Ming’s face turned livid. He knew he had angered his master and now shouted at Wu Tian, “Then hurry up and say it! What are you here for?”

Wu Tian looked calmly at Huang Xuantian. “Weren’t you the one who wanted to compete with me?”

Huang Xuantian’s brows furrowed slightly.

Huang Ming, however, burst out laughing as if he had just heard the joke of the century. “What kind of joke is that? My master is supposed to fight the expert brought by Governor Xiao. Who do you think you are? Don’t tell me you think you’re that expert? If you’re an expert, then I’m a eunuch.”

Wu Tian smiled at the thought of something. I promised the little one I’d leave Huang Ming for her to deal with. One shot from her Family-Ending Kick, and his vow will be fulfilled instantly.

“What are you laughing at?” For some reason, Wu Tian’s smile sent a chill down Huang Ming’s spine.

Wu Tian didn’t bother wasting any more words on Huang Ming and looked directly at Huang Xuantian.

“This young man is so rude.”

“How can he look at the Celestial Master like that?”

“If he doesn’t back down now, he’s going to get what’s coming to him.”

The people in the crowd were convinced Wu Tian was out of his depth. So young, yet he wanted to challenge one of the Seven Saints of Dragon Country and take Huang Xuantian’s place? That was pure wishful thinking.

Xiao Tianzan felt he had to step in. I need to tell everyone that Wu Tian is the expert I invited.

But just as he was about to speak, Huang Xuantian’s deep voice cut through the air. “The Seven Saints of Dragon Country are not people just anyone can challenge. If a common mortal challenges a Saint, they must pay the price for that challenge. That price is… death!”

Everyone froze. Some of them had also come here intending to challenge one of the Seven Saints, to see how far they still had to go. Hearing this, many sighed in relief, grateful they hadn’t been the first to act, or they would have forfeited their lives.

But they also lamented Wu Tian’s terrible fate.

* * *

“Papa, Papa!” the little one suddenly shouted.

“What? He’s your father, Sect Leader?” Zhang Jifeng was taken aback, and the other Wudang disciples also frowned.

“Yeah, what’s wrong?” the little one asked, her big eyes blinking.

“If he is the Sect Leader’s father, then we of Wudang cannot simply stand by and watch,” Zhang Jifeng said with a grave expression.

“But… even all of us together are no match for the Celestial Master,” another Wudang disciple said, his face etched with worry.

“No, we have to save him,” Zhang Jifeng insisted, gritting his teeth. He knew that attempting a rescue would mean another severe blow to Wudang’s strength, but he stood firm. “He’s the Sect Leader’s father. If we don’t save him, how will the other sects in Jianghu view Wudang? Won’t they think we’re weak and easily bullied?”

The Wudang disciples paused, admitting to themselves that Zhang Jifeng had a point. They too gritted their teeth, preparing to intervene and save Wu Tian.

“Don’t you dare move! Whoever makes a move, I’ll expel them from Wudang!” The little one was not pleased at all. I really want to watch Papa fight, how can I let them interfere?

Zhang Jifeng and the others were dumbfounded by her words.

After a moment, Zhang Jifeng recovered and asked, “Sect Leader, is he… not your biological father?”

“He’s probably her stepfather,” another Wudang disciple suggested.

“And a cruel one at that,” a third disciple added, his imagination running wild.

“Sect Leader, does he starve you?”

“No, I bet she’s constantly abused.”

“Who knows, he might even be a predator… Sect Leader, has he ever… done anything to you?”

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