Chapter 641: Coward
The old man in the green robe heard the shouting voice behind him, immediately stopped in his tracks, and turned his head to look back.
The inner sect disciples following behind the old man in the green robe also came to a halt.
A rather thin young disciple caught sight of Zhang Ruochen's figure and said in a low voice, "Uncle Master, it's Senior Brother Lin Yue."
The old man in the green robe, Zhao Yibing, let out a cold snort and said, "Ignore him. Let's go. The Liangyi Sect has no such disciple."
With a look of disgust in his eyes, Zhao Yibing flicked his sleeve and led more than ten Liangyi Sect disciples forward at a brisk pace, completely ignoring Zhang Ruochen.
Back outside Qingyun Commandery City, Lin Yue had been so terrified by Zhang Ruochen that he knelt and begged for mercy, utterly losing face. Even the junior junior sister who had always admired and secretly loved him now held him in deep contempt.
Moreover, Lin Yue had betrayed Zhao Yibing, causing Zhang Ruochen to seize Zhao Yibing's treasure-hunting compass. Naturally, Zhao Yibing held Lin Yue in even lower regard. In fact, upon returning to the sect this time, he planned to report Lin Yue's behavior to his master and have him expelled from the sect.
Seeing "Lin Yue" again, everyone wore sour expressions. They turned away without a word, unwilling to associate with him.
Zhang Ruochen naturally understood the reason, but he shamelessly pursued them anyway.
He had no choice. Although he had taken on Lin Yue's appearance, he had no idea about Lin Yue's specific identity within the Liangyi Sect—where he lived, under whom he trained, or who his friends were.
If he didn't gather some information first, his identity would easily be exposed.
How to gather it?
He had to rely on this group of people.
Zhang Ruochen quickly caught up to them, flashing a sunny smile. "Uncle Master, Junior Sister, why are you avoiding me? I rushed as fast as I could to catch up with you."
"Hmph! Lin Yue, you killed the Black Market First Class Hall's Youlan Star Envoy. With your fame, I, this poor Daoist, dare not claim to be your uncle master." Zhao Yibing let out a cold laugh.
The news that Lin Yue had killed the Youlan Star Envoy had spread across the entire Eastern Domain, making him famous throughout the world.
But those who knew Lin Yue simply didn't believe it.
The Youlan Star Envoy was a figure of great stature, a tyrant of the evil path. How could an inner sect disciple at the Heavenly Extreme Realm Great Perfection possibly contend with him?
Including Zhao Yibing, everyone felt that Lin Yue had merely been lucky enough to find the Youlan Star Envoy's corpse and then shamelessly claimed to have killed him.
To achieve fame by any means necessary—such a person was truly nauseating.
Pretending not to understand Zhao Yibing's words, Zhang Ruochen smiled. "Even if my fame is great and my strength is immense, you will always be my uncle master."
"Shameless."
A crisp voice rang out from behind Zhao Yibing.
Zhang Ruochen followed the sound and fixed his gaze on Zhao Han'er. Imitating Lin Yue, he put on a dashing demeanor and smiled. "Junior Sister, it's been a while. I've missed you very much."
Zhang Ruochen knew that Lin Yue and Zhao Han'er had a good relationship, so he naturally tried to strike up a rapport with her first.
Zhao Han'er appeared to be about sixteen or seventeen, with a rather clear and beautiful face and a pair of round, sparkling eyes that made her look very cute.
In the past, if Zhao Han'er had heard Lin Yue say "I've missed you very much," she would have been excited for days.
But she had witnessed with her own eyes Lin Yue kneeling before a evil path expert, showing a cowardly and fearful demeanor. All her previous admiration and infatuation with Lin Yue had instantly crumbled.
Now, hearing "Lin Yue" say he missed her only made her feel that she had been blind before, falling for such a spineless coward.
Zhao Han'er crossed her arms in front of her chest, glanced sideways at Zhang Ruochen, and said coldly, "Stay away from me. Don't call me junior sister—it makes me sick."
The several inner sect disciples gathered around Zhao Han'er immediately sneered, looking at Zhang Ruochen with contempt. Their hearts were filled with indescribable delight.
Before, Zhao Han'er's eyes had been solely on Lin Yue. Neither their talent nor their appearance could compare to Lin Yue's, so they dared not compete with him for Zhao Han'er.
But now it was different. The junior sister had clearly stopped being infatuated with Lin Yue, so they naturally had plenty of opportunities.
Everyone deliberately kept their distance from "Lin Yue," even mocking him mercilessly. Yet "Lin Yue" seemed completely unfazed, still shamelessly tagging along.
Zhao Yibing led the group of inner sect disciples out of Shentai City and headed toward the Liangyi Sect's mountain gate.
The Liangyi Sect's mountain gate consisted of two yellow stone peaks standing side by side. From a distance, the two peaks looked like a pair of open doors—both majestic and exuding a powerful ancient aura.
In front of the two peaks, nine long lines of human figures stretched out, all disciples returning to the sect in an unending stream. Among them, most were outer sect disciples in white Daoist robes, with a few inner sect disciples in blue Daoist robes.
To be accepted into the Liangyi Sect and train at the main sect, even outer sect disciples carried themselves with an air of dignity and extraordinary bearing, displaying a spirit of active striving.
"Greetings, Uncle Master Zhao."
The disciples guarding the mountain gate recognized Zhao Yibing and immediately bowed with clasped hands.
Because Zhao Yibing was leading the way, the disciples guarding the mountain gate didn't even check their tokens and let them pass directly.
Entering the mountain gate, a vast surge of heaven and earth spiritual energy rushed toward them. Ahead, a series of towering mountains rose up, with palaces and Daoist temples built on them. Powerful barbarian beasts flew among the mountains, emitting roars from time to time, presenting the scene of a sacred land of immortals.
"I have some matters to report to the Law Enforcement Elder. Zhao Han'er, Xu Chen, you two return to the Longevity Courtyard first."
Before leaving, Zhao Yibing cast a cold glare at Zhang Ruochen. Then he mounted the back of a rhinoceros-sheep beast, rose from the ground, and disappeared into the sky.
The Liangyi Sect's main sect was divided into three palaces and seventy-two courtyards. Zhao Yibing, Lin Yue, and Zhao Han'er were all disciples of the "Longevity Courtyard."
Zhang Ruochen walked up to Zhao Han'er, looking in the direction Zhao Yibing had gone, and asked, "What is Uncle Master going to report to the Law Enforcement Elder about?"
Zhao Han'er showed no kindness toward Zhang Ruochen and snorted coldly. "What else? Of course, it's to report to the sect about the Undying Blood Clan."
Zhang Ruochen's heart stirred. He guessed that the Cheng Yue Star Envoy had spread the news of the Undying Blood Clan escaping from Manji Island.
To confirm his guess, Zhang Ruochen deliberately put on a puzzled expression. "Undying Blood Clan? What Undying Blood Clan?"
Zhao Han'er rolled her eyes and turned her face away.
"Junior Sister, why bother with him? Let's go."
Xu Chen walked over, grabbed Zhao Han'er's sleeve, and headed toward the Longevity Courtyard.
Xu Chen was also an inner sect disciple of the Longevity Courtyard, with a cultivation level at the Heavenly Extreme Realm Great Perfection. His training talent was quite decent. Previously, he had always been a follower by Lin Yue's side, not daring to covet Zhao Han'er.
But now it was different. Xu Chen knew that Lin Yue had offended Uncle Master Zhao and would surely face consequences. He would likely be expelled from the sect soon.
Therefore, he no longer feared Lin Yue and planned to openly pursue Zhao Han'er.
Zhang Ruochen crossed his arms over his chest, shook his head with a wry smile, and followed again. Together with Zhao Han'er, Xu Chen, and the other junior brothers and sisters, he ascended the Purple Cloud Spirit Mountain of the Longevity Courtyard.
Purple Cloud Spirit Mountain ranked third among the four spirit mountains of the Longevity Courtyard, housing a total of 220 inner sect disciples.
It was worth noting that, except for a few exceptionally talented disciples, only those who had reached the Heavenly Extreme Realm could become inner sect disciples.
That meant that on just one Purple Cloud Spirit Mountain, there were over two hundred Heavenly Extreme Realm martial artists. In addition, a large number of outer sect disciples with considerable talent were also selected to train on the spirit mountain.
As they made their way to the mountaintop, they could see outer sect disciples practicing swords everywhere—some standing by cliffs, some on giant rocks, and some on the tops of pine trees.
To train on Purple Cloud Spirit Mountain, even outer sect disciples had to have cultivation at the Earth Extreme Realm.
Zhang Ruochen sighed inwardly. The Liangyi Sect truly lived up to its reputation as the foremost among ten thousand sects. Just one spirit mountain possessed such immense strength—it was truly astonishing.
Upon returning to Purple Cloud Spirit Mountain, the inner sect disciples dispersed and headed to their own small courtyards.
"Your residence is at Lingfeng Pavilion. Why are you following me?"
Zhao Han'er turned around and glared at Zhang Ruochen.
"So Lin Yue lives at Lingfeng Pavilion." Zhang Ruochen silently noted this to himself and nodded slightly.
Without saying a word, Zhang Ruochen turned around and released his spiritual power to begin searching for the location of Lingfeng Pavilion.
Zhao Han'er didn't know that Zhang Ruochen was using his spiritual power to find Lingfeng Pavilion. She only saw his somewhat dejected demeanor and thought that the group's ostracism had truly hurt him.
For some reason, she suddenly felt that "Lin Yue" was a bit pitiful and almost stepped forward to apologize.
"Junior Sister, let's go." Xu Chen came to Zhao Han'er's side, glanced at Zhang Ruochen's retreating figure, and showed a cold, sharp look. "Lin Yue is nothing but a coward. Don't just you—even I misjudged him before. Pah! Just wait and see. The Venerable Lord will definitely expel him from the sect."
As he spoke, Xu Chen spat heavily on the ground.
Zhao Han'er sighed. In the end, she didn't chase after him and left with Xu Chen.
Zhang Ruochen paid no attention to what the Liangyi Sect disciples thought of him. After all, although the former Lin Yue had decent talent and a handsome appearance, he was indeed a coward at heart.
Zhang Ruochen had more important things to do and didn't need to waste time on them.
"Lingfeng Pavilion."
Zhang Ruochen stood outside a courtyard covering about three acres. Looking up at the wooden plaque above the gate, he muttered to himself, "This should be the place."
Lin Yue was a martial artist on the Heavenly Ranking and the top expert among the inner sect disciples of Purple Cloud Spirit Mountain. Naturally, he enjoyed better treatment than other inner sect disciples.
Just this courtyard alone was enough to make other inner sect disciples envious.