Chapter Thirteen: Rumors Stir, Chang Feng Breaks the Deadlock
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In the tests that followed, Dong Changfeng was unstoppable, displaying astonishing talent and strength.
Like a wild horse breaking free of its reins, he raced across the arena, leaving the other contestants far behind.
His valiant bearing and formidable power won everyone’s admiration and praise.
In the end, Dong Changfeng successfully passed the outer-sect disciple selection and stood victorious. He proudly puffed out his chest, savoring the glory that belonged to him.
The surrounding crowd cheered and applauded thunderously, as though they meant to overturn the entire arena. The applause surged like crashing waves, one after another.
When he stepped into the brand-new residence for outer-sect disciples, he found carved beams and painted rafters beneath a haze of spiritual energy. Dong Changfeng drew a deep breath and caught the faint fragrance of that energy in the air. Everything here was unfamiliar to him. The road ahead was still long—what awaited him in the future?
“Junior Brother Dong, you’ve finally arrived. Senior Brother has been waiting for you for ages…”
A voice came from behind him, carrying a trace of strangely excessive enthusiasm.
Dong Changfeng turned and saw a burly man with a face full of coarse flesh walking toward him. A chilling smile hung upon his features.
Dong Changfeng merely nodded, betraying no emotion while remaining vigilant.
“Junior Brother Dong, you’re truly amazing! You crushed all the other contenders in the outer-sect selection. You’re a once-in-a-century genius!”
Senior Brother Liu continued speaking, though his tone was laced with veiled sarcasm.
Dong Changfeng smiled faintly. “Senior Brother flatters me. I was merely fortunate.”
Over the next few days, Dong Changfeng began familiarizing himself with the outer sect. He had expected to cultivate in peace, but soon discovered that the atmosphere around him was rather strange.
He often heard people discussing him behind his back, their voices filled with suspicion and disdain.
“Have you heard? That Dong Changfeng apparently cheated!”
“Really? No way. He looks like such an honest fellow!”
“Hmph, you can know a man’s face but not his heart! I heard that during the spirit-root test, he secretly used some kind of forbidden technique to fool everyone and scrape through.”
When Dong Changfeng heard these rumors, he froze, utterly dumbfounded.
When had he ever cheated?
It was complete nonsense!
He was furious and wanted to drag out the rumor-monger at once and demand an explanation, but he had no idea where to begin.
The gossip spread among the outer-sect disciples like a virus.
Even those who had originally been friendly toward him began keeping their distance.
Dong Changfeng felt as though he had been isolated. The air around him seemed to grow heavy.
The mastermind behind it all was Senior Brother Liu.
Hidden in the shadows, he watched Dong Changfeng struggle in frustration, a sinister smile spreading across his face.
“Junior Brother Ma, you’ve done well. Keep it up. You must make everyone believe that Dong Changfeng is a fraud!”
Senior Brother Liu patted the shoulder of a short, thin man beside him, his voice brimming with smugness.
This Junior Brother Ma was Senior Brother Liu’s lackey. Cowardly and timid, he nevertheless had no choice but to obey Liu’s orders.
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He nodded obsequiously.
Dong Changfeng had no idea that everything was part of Senior Brother Liu’s scheme. He only felt a blazing fury rising in his chest.
Clenching his fists, he swore inwardly, “I will uncover the mastermind and clear my name!”
He found Junior Brother Ma and asked coldly, “Were you the one who spread these rumors?”
Junior Brother Ma’s face went pale with fright. Stammering, he said, “N-No… it wasn’t me…”
“Hmph. It had better not have been you!”
Dong Changfeng left him with those words and turned away.
He went to a secluded corner, sat cross-legged, and tried his best to calm himself.
He knew that the most important thing now was to find evidence proving his innocence.
As Dong Changfeng walked along the road, he felt the eyes around him pricking into his skin like needles.
The senior brothers and sisters who had once treated him warmly now avoided him as though he were the embodiment of a plague.
At the cultivation-resource distribution office, the senior disciple in charge cast him a sidelong glance and casually tossed him several inferior spirit stones without even bothering with a polite word.
Dong Changfeng clenched the spirit stones in his hand until his knuckles turned white, his heart filled with conflicting emotions.
The afterglow of the setting sun spilled over him, stretching his lonely silhouette and making him appear even more desolate.
He felt an unprecedented pressure, as though a mountain were pressing down on him and leaving him unable to breathe.
“Ugh, what kind of mess is this? Who have I offended?”
Dong Changfeng raised his head to the sky and let out a long sigh, his heart filled with helplessness.
Yet he did not collapse as others expected, nor did he go around complaining to everyone like a professional sufferer.
Dong Changfeng drew a deep breath. He decided to take the initiative and break this deadlock.
He walked straight to Elder Song’s cave dwelling and said firmly, “Elder Song, disciple Dong Changfeng requests an audience!”
“Come in.”
Elder Song’s voice remained steady, revealing no emotion.
Dong Changfeng entered the cave dwelling, bowed deeply to Elder Song, and spoke without arrogance or servility. “This disciple has heard that the outer-sect disciples question the results of my selection. To set the record straight, I request that Elder conduct the test again so that I may prove my innocence!”
Elder Song stroked his beard. He had not expected Dong Changfeng to be so forthright—or even to request a retest of his own accord.
This was entirely different from the disciples who were always eager to defend themselves.
“Have you thought this through? If your results are worse the second time, this old man will punish you.”
Elder Song’s tone was stern, as though he were testing Dong Changfeng’s resolve.
“This disciple understands. But my conscience is clear, and I am willing to face any trial!”
Dong Changfeng’s voice was firm, without the slightest hesitation.
At that moment, Senior Brother Liu and Junior Brother Ma were hiding outside the cave dwelling, eavesdropping.
When they heard Dong Changfeng’s words, both their expressions changed dramatically.
“Has that brat… gone mad?”
Senior Brother Liu gritted his teeth and cursed inwardly.
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Junior Brother Ma was trembling all over, his face as white as paper.
“Elder Song, this disciple is ready. The test may begin at any time.”
Dong Changfeng’s voice rang out again, interrupting Senior Brother Liu’s thoughts.
“Very well. I shall make the arrangements at once…”
Elder Song nodded.
Senior Brother Liu and Junior Brother Ma exchanged a glance, each seeing the profound fear in the other’s eyes.
They knew that the situation had already slipped beyond their control…
Elder Song immediately arranged a retest at the outer-sect square. Many disciples gathered to watch, all waiting to see Dong Changfeng make a fool of himself.
Before the spirit-measuring stone, Dong Changfeng took a deep breath and placed his hand upon it.
The spirit-measuring stone blazed with light, nearly dazzling everyone’s titanium-alloy eyes!
The mortal spirit root everyone had expected now emitted a radiant glow that shot straight into the heavens!
“What the hell is going on?!”
“How… how is this possible?!”
The watching disciples erupted into an uproar, voicing their disbelief.
Senior Brother Liu and Junior Brother Ma turned deathly pale, nearly dropping dead on the spot.
When the test results were announced, the entire square fell utterly silent.
Dong Changfeng’s spirit-root rating was astonishingly—
Transcendent!
The disciples who had previously doubted him now wished they could crawl into a crack in the ground. Their faces had been slapped again and again.
Dong Changfeng, meanwhile, remained perfectly calm, as though he had known all along that this would be the result. He smugly mocked them inwardly: “Hmph, you little amateurs. You’re still far too green to challenge me!”
“Elder Song, this disciple dares to suggest that this was no accident. Someone deliberately framed me!”
Dong Changfeng spoke with righteous conviction, his gaze blazing as it swept toward Senior Brother Liu and Junior Brother Ma in the crowd.
The two men trembled with terror, wishing they could vanish on the spot.
Elder Song was no fool. He immediately sensed that something was amiss.
“Investigate this matter thoroughly. Show no mercy!”
At Elder Song’s command, the law-enforcement disciples immediately escorted Senior Brother Liu and Junior Brother Ma away. The onlookers cheered, shouting that justice had finally been served.
Although the conspiracy against him had been settled and Dong Changfeng’s reputation had soared as a result, the road to becoming stronger was destined to be anything but smooth.
He knew that Senior Brother Liu would not let the matter go. The upcoming outer-sect disciple assessment would be the true battle.
“Hmph. If soldiers come, I shall block them; if floods come, I shall dam them. I, Dong Changfeng, was not raised to be frightened!”
As night fell, Dong Changfeng sat cross-legged, tightly gripping a jade slip in his hand. Recorded upon it was…
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