Chapter 499: Chapter 488: Sword Cultivator Father
Ye Sheng saw them deliberately saying things that were neither here nor there in front of him, so he purposely said that cultivation is all about the heart, also implying that their hearts were impure. After finishing his words, he bowed his head and ignored them.
Whether it was the man who pretended to be amiable at first or the sole woman, as well as the two men who had been hostile towards Ye Sheng from the beginning, none of their faces looked good at the moment.
"Hehe, Junior Brother is right, cultivation is indeed about the heart, we really shouldn’t have listened to rumors." The man who was clearly the leader of the four said, acting as if the previous awkwardness didn’t exist, and he put his hand on Ye Sheng’s shoulder again, "Junior Brother Ye Sheng, my name is Zhao Guanshan, this is Yang Xianghe, and the other two with the bad tempers are Zhong Hai and Du Wei. But don’t worry, they have no ill intentions; they just believed some rumors, what do you say, shall we become friends?"
As soon as Ye Sheng heard his insincere words, he furrowed his brow, then shrugged his shoulders to shake off the other’s hand, smiling insincerely and curving his lips: "Senior Brother Zhao, sorry, I’m not used to someone putting their hand on my shoulder."
Zhao Guanshan laughed upon hearing this, feigning generosity: "No problem, no problem, it is the senior brother who was inconsiderate."
Ye Sheng turned his head away with a somewhat helpless look in his eyes. Although he was only ten years old, did he look so easily fooled? What on earth did these people want after beating around the bush for so long?
What he didn’t know was that the Tianyan Sect was no place for loafers. Some Outer Disciples needed to strive for their own cultivation resources. As the sole child of the Lonely Swallow Sword Lord and the Direct Disciple of Perfected Ming Shi, bearing the burden of both Hidden Sword Peak and Artifact Refining Peak, he appeared to others as a juicy piece of meat, laden with endless resources. Who else would they deceive if not him?
"Junior Brother Ye, I see there are traces of Poisonous Crocodile blood here, and you are meditating nearby. Did you come here to hunt Poisonous Crocodiles?" Yang Xianghe saw that Ye Sheng had no desire to converse with them and brought up a new topic. Upon hearing this, Zhong Hai and Du Wei, who hadn’t been very friendly to Ye Sheng before, also turned their heads.
Seeing Zhao Guanshan giving them a signal, they also put away their disdainful expressions, pretending to apologize: "Junior Brother Ye, sorry, we misunderstood you earlier due to rumors we believed. You’re right, the path of cultivation is about cultivating the heart, we were mistaken. How about being friends, we can make progress together?"
This had been their premeditated strategy, with two pretending to provoke Ye Sheng and two purposely defending him, to work their way into a good relationship with him. Second Generation Cultivators like Ye Sheng were the easiest to deceive. If they could gain his trust, they might reel in quite a few benefits.
Even if Ye Sheng’s elders found out about the deception later, what could they do but say that he was young and deceived willingly? Moreover, how would Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators have the time to bother with Low-level Disciples? Generally, they would not condescend to intervene, at most they would advise Ye Sheng to stay away from them. By that time, they would have already tricked some things away from him; they wouldn’t lose out in any case.
However, it was unknown whether Ye Sheng was naïve or clever, as he seemed unable to understand their instigating words. To think, a Second Generation Cultivator with more resources and talent than them, ruined by his character. Just the thought of it was gratifying, but too bad, he did not take the bait.
However, compared to that, it was still more practical to plot and gain something from Ye Sheng. Hence, Zhao Guanshan had another thought and spoke again: "Junior Brother Ye Sheng, since they have admitted their mistakes, why don’t you be generous this time? We’re all brothers of the sect, no ill intentions."
"Yes, Junior Brother Ye Sheng, aren’t you here to hunt Poisonous Crocodiles on Dangerous Crocodile Beach? It so happens that we have a task to hunt Poisonous Crocodiles as well, let’s team up." Yang Xianghe also chimed in to assist.
Ye Sheng’s large eyes stared at the group, neither speaking nor making any other action, as if watching a performance by these four people.
Being watched by his innocent and pure gaze, Zhong Hai and Du Wei felt quite embarrassed. Du Wei smiled awkwardly: "What’s the matter, Junior Brother Ye, do you look down on us?"
Ye Sheng chuckled along with them, somewhat puzzled and innocent: "Senior brothers, if you’re going to hunt Poisonous Crocodiles, then I won’t disturb you. I’ve already collected what I need, goodbye!"
Ye Sheng intended to leave after finishing his words, but the four people who didn’t gain an advantage from him became anxious. Yang Xianghe hurriedly said, "Hey, junior brother, even though the sect has cleared out this Small Secret Realm, being at the fifth layer of Qi Cultivation, it’s very dangerous for you to be alone. You should stay with us."
"Yeah, our Task of hunting Poisonous Crocodiles will be finished soon. It would be better if junior brother waited for a while to join us," Zhao Guanshan chimed in right after.
Ye Sheng grinned, pretending to be considering their advice: "No need, senior brothers and sisters, I am only worried that my low Cultivation will hinder you. Rest assured, my Master has told me where I can and cannot go. You are really good people. Junior brother thanks you again. After I return, I will definitely tell Master and the eldest senior brother about your kindness. Goodbye!"
Hearing Ye Sheng saying so, Zhao Guanshan and the others hesitated and did not follow him. After Ye Sheng’s figure had disappeared, their faces darkened simultaneously.
"Do you think he found out about something?" Zhong Hai asked somewhat worriedly.
"Will Artifact Refining Peak and Hidden Sword Peak come looking for trouble with us?" Du Wei asked fearfully right after.
"What’s there to fear?" Zhao Guanshan’s face looked the ugliest, "What did we do? Ye Sheng wasn’t injured or suffered any losses, who has a reason to trouble us?"
"But he is an Inner Sect Disciple, and we are Outer Disciples; isn’t it easy for an Inner Sect Disciple to find some excuse to trouble us?" Yang Xianghe worriedly said, "Did we overact just now?"
"Inner Sect Disciples care even more about their reputation. Don’t worry, there should be no problem," Zhao Guanshan finished, still feeling a bit nervous himself, and gritted his teeth, "At worst, we’ll take on a Task and go on an expedition for a few years. He doesn’t even know which peak we are from. Maybe in a few years, he will have forgotten our names."
Comforted by his words, the other three also gradually calmed down.
Zhong Hai was still indignant and grumbled, "Why do those second generations of Cultivators have endless resources? Can such idiots really achieve the Heavenly Dao? The Heavenly Dao is truly unfair."
"That’s enough, stop complaining. Hurry up and gather Spiritual Medicine. We spent twenty Low Grade Spirit Stones to get in here; how will we make it back if we don’t hurry?"
They were all Outer Disciples with neither family background nor support. Any resource had to be fought for by themselves. They had spent three days tracking down Ye Sheng, only to end up with nothing, which was indeed unlucky.
While they were resenting the injustice of the Heavenly Dao, Ye Sheng was being chased by a pack of Silver Moon Wolves. As he ran, he casually shrugged off his thoughts about Zhao Guanshan and the others. Always thinking of unorthodox methods is why they still linger in the Qi Cultivation realm despite being in their thirties—the Heavenly Dao is indeed fair!
Within two days, rumors circulated within the Small Secret Realm that Ye Sheng looked down on Outer Disciples. However, Ye Sheng didn’t care. As long as clear-minded people knew the truth, strength was what mattered most. Seeing how his father and Master were treated, who dared to utter any nonsense in front of them?