61. Indispensable!
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Amidst a mild sun, a bustling market, and a pleasant spring breeze, Luoyin dragged Xu Min out.
"Zhang Yin, the 2nd stage of the Junior tournament is in two days! Shouldn't we be preparing?!" Xu Min protested, but Luoyin simply pointed.
"What better way to prepare than stock up on pills?!"
Up ahead was the Pill Pavillion.
"Ah, you want to buy cultivation pills?" Xu Min rubbed his chin as they resumed walking. "But I hear the best ones are sold out or super expensive!! Aren't we a little too late?!"
"Ehehe, today I'm actually looking for a few basic pills!" Luoyin clarified. "One mustn't underestimate the power of low-level pil-!"
His words were cut off as they were suddenly surrounded.
They had reached the Pill Pavillion, but blocking them was Zhang Cheng, his usual crowd of disciples, and a few sect warriors.
'Hmph.' Luoyin's eyes narrowed slightly. 'I didn't seek you out, and you're hanging yourself here?'
"Yo." Zhang Cheng swaggered forward. "Isn't this the Zhang 'waste of space'? I came to teach the Pill Pavillion a lesson, but there's an extra bonus here! Zhang Luoyin, it's your misfortune to run into me today!"
"Tch. It's really a narrow road between enemies..." Luoyin shook his head, then leaned and mumbled to Xu Min. "Did you bring *salt?"
(*salt to banish weaker evil spirits. He's calling Zhang Cheng an evil spirit.)
"Pfft!" Xu Min swallowed his laughter.
"What did you say?!" Zhang Cheng demanded.
Luoyin beamed at him. "Nothing! But brother, today we must finally confirm if the thing above your neck is functioning? I dare you to insult me without using any of the words 'waste', 'trash', or 'garbage'. Quick! Start!"
"You-!" Zhang Cheng floundered. "You-!!"
Luoyin raised an eyebrow. "Aiya, you can't even beat Level One, and you're blocking my path? Such shamelessness... After being caught cheating, one should lay low and hide their face, but you're here making a spectacle of yourself?
"If you have nothing better to do, why not help farmers sift through the manure?" He looked away and shook his head. "Though I worry they might honestly mistake you as part of it..."
"Pfffft! Bwahahaha!" This time, Xu Min laughed aloud, and Zhang Cheng took a threatening step forward.
"Zhang Luoyin!" He raged, but,
*CLANG!*
A gong had suddenly appeared in Luoyin's hand.
"Come! Everyone!" Luoyin bellowed. "Dogs for sale! They bark the loudest! Two for the price of one!"
Snickers erupted as a crowd gathered to witness the spectacle, Zhang Cheng seemed ready to explode, and the angry auras of the disciples and Sect Warriors surrounded Luoyin.
But he boldly continued his onslaught.
*CLANG!* "You're guaranteed supreme quality! Ah, but this fine fellow..." He gestured towards Zhang Cheng. "He's the best one here! Tie him to the front of your gate, and his face can scare off every evil spirit!"
By now most of the crowd were in stitches, a few bent over and pointing.
"This Zhang Luoyin fellow...!"
"I thought he was the silent type!!"
"Wah! Look at that sign!" Someone pointed towards the Pill Pavillion doors, and everyone's eyes travelled to the sign which still read:
'ZHANG FUREN, ZHANG CHENG, AND DOGS ARE NOT ALLOWED!'
"Is 1st Young Master Zhang really a dog then?!"
By this point Zhang Cheng was impossibly livid, and he had turned purple with rage. "Cripple him!" He ordered, making the Sect warriors eye him with uncertain looks.
"Y- Young Master! There's a crowd!" One warned in a furious whisper, but Zhang Cheng was beyond reason.
"I DON'T CARE! DESTROY HIM!" He loudly barked, thereby proving Luoyin's words, and the Sect Warriors all leapt towards Luoyin, each poised to deal devastating blows...
But,
"WHO DARES DISRESPECT THE PILL MASTER ON MY TERRITORY!" A Loud booming voice rang out, and their surroundings vibrated.
There was a sudden burst of energy around Luoyin, and the Sect Warriors were all flung backwards.
At the centre, Luoyin stood confidently, and behind him was the Head Alchemist, arms folded behind his back, a furious smile on his face.
Beneath the Head Alchemist, a brilliant yellow seal spun in place, its two outer rings spinning in counter directions.
There were sudden gasps.
"Astral Martial Tier!"
The spinning seal was usually shown as a fast means of intimidation, but it was only acquired after a cultivator reached Profound Tier eight, and it appeared with only one outer ring.
Two outer rings meant Astral Tier!
"He's an Elder?!"
The Head Alchemist was usually mild-mannered, unless one threatened his Pavillion or business, and for the most part, he kept to the Pill Pavillion's refinement hall, overseeing the Alchemists and inspecting their pills.
So no one had ever associated him with regular cultivation!
The Head Alchemist smirked at a shocked Zhang Cheng.
"Little boy, didn't you say you were coming here to teach the Pill Pavillion a lesson?" He asked, and the Sect Warriors hastily stepped away from Zhang Cheng. "I was waiting for you to make the mistake of stepping in, but you dare try and harm my Pill Master??!!"
"P- Pill Master?! Are you mistaking?!" One of Zhang Cheng's cronies pointed at Luoyin. "That low-level trash?!"
"Heh! The Head Alchemist is certainly confused!" Someone else put in.
"Oh?" Another echoing voice jumped in. "Then am I confused as well?"
An older man suddenly appeared beside the Head Alchemist, a spinning green seal beneath his own feet, also with two rings!
"It's Old man Ye! the Head of the Yueyan Herb Garden!" Xu Min identified.
"I'm here as well..." A third elder silently appeared behind Luoyin! The seal beneath his feet was red, with two rings as well!
All the disciples instantly cupped their hands and bowed respectfully. "Greetings! Elder Du!"
This made Zhang Cheng stagger back a step.
Elder Du was one of the more reasonable Xu elders, and was one of the few who worked as both a Xu and a Sect elder.
He was a known recluse who rarely showed his face outside the Xu residences, Sect offices, or training grounds.
"First Young Master Zhang, I can't let you harm Zhang Luoyin." Elder Du declared. "He is currently developing several hunting techniques for the Sect."
"Nor can I let you touch him!" Old man Ye stated. "He's my Master!"
Luoyin had introduced Old man Ye to the uses of several herbs that had been considered useless and ignored for thousands of years!
"And I as well!" The Head Alchemist jumped in. "He's the Pill Master of this Pavillion!"
'M- Master?! Pill Master?!!' Zhang Cheng felt like he was within a sick nightmare.
"Simply put..." Elder Du was saying. "We might acknowledge the Zhang family, but,"
The three chorused, "Zhang Luoyin is indispensable!"
'It makes no sense!' Zhang Cheng scowled at Luoyin. 'Where did they even come from?!'
Luoyin grinned. The three elders were well aware of his enmity with Zhang Cheng and Zhang Furen, so to protect him, they had each cast a seal on him which detected danger, but he had pretended not to notice!
Xu Min's smile was the widest as he poked Luoyin and whispered. "Zh- Zhang Yin, confess! Who are you?!"
"Ehehe, things somehow turned out like this!" Luoyin whispered back.
Zhang Cheng took a step back. "Y- You all must defend me!" He ordered the sect warriors, but Luoyin pointed behind him.
"Are you speaking to the dust?"
Zhang Cheng frantically looked left and right, but only the wind surrounded him!
'When did they all run away?!!'
He himself didn't need telling twice, and he quickly used qinggong to leap far away!
He swivelled to face Luoyin from a great distance.
"Zhang Luoyin! Right now you're merely a fox borrowing the tiger's strength! I'll see you during the tournament!" He threatened, but Luoyin cupped his hands around his mouth.
"Oye! Older Brother! I can't hear you from all the way over here! Why not come closer?!" He yelled.
"You-!!" Zhang Cheng turned and disappeared, amidst laughter from the crowd.
"Shame has followed Zhang Cheng home today!"
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Zhang Residence...
That night, there was brilliant moonlight and a circle of hanging lanterns at the Zhang north pagoda, where a certain gathering of individuals sat in a crescent shape around Zhang Furen, Zhang Cheng, and Xu Linhua, while a qin was softly played to the side.
These 'guests' ranged from young men to elders, and were all strange faces in Yueyan, though Zhang Furen appeared to be familiar with them, as she was putting on her usual theatrics, sobbing softly and gently dabbing at her eyes.
"Elder brother!" She addressed one, amidst sobs. "Soon I won't even have a place in this sect anymore!" She wailed.
"Sister, please don't cry!" The man she addressed begged with a soft expression. "We are all here to help you vent your anger!" He was a handsome man about her age, wearing the red and white colours of the Huofeng Sect.
Amidst the rest, several were in the same white and red, several more were dressed in the leathery brown hues of Yunchi Sect, and a few wore random colours here and there.
Zhang Furen sobbed. "At first, I invited you all to simply teach Zhang Luoyin a lesson, but he has no limits anymore, and he's turning the entire sect against us!" She sniffed.
"I'm sure you've all heard what happened earlier today... It's not the first time, and thanks to him, even the lowest gutter rats can insult our family whichever way they like... All because of that *white-eyed wolf, Zhang Luoyin!"
(*ungrateful person)
Linhua nodded, adding her own sobs in, and the guests all muttered, clearly displeased by what they had heard.
"I can bear their embarrassment," Zhang Furen continued, "...but I'm simply worried. If Zhang Luoyin can insult us and we leave him be... If he continues like this with no repercussions, then isn't it only a matter of time before he dares to disrespect your own families?!"
"We'll clip his wings before they harden!" One of the elderly men spoke, pounding his staff on the floor.
"Hmph, exactly!" Another put in. "Since the lad doesn't know the sky is high, he can't blame us for being bullies!"
"Daring to disrespect one of us..." A young man began. "He's tired of living!"
"He lit his own funeral incense, so *let's send him on his way!"
(*kill him)
As the men discussed the next steps to take,
Zhang Furen sent a meaningful smirk at Zhang Cheng, who wore a matching sneer, both of them thinking,
'Zhang Luoyin is done for!'
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