Young Noble Be Monster Slaying

Chapter 379: I Took His Place

But when he met up with Elder Sun, whom he was now well-acquainted with, the elder appeared troubled.

"Young Hero Chu, Mount Shu is far away, and going through Taotie City... it's just too difficult," he said slowly.

Upon hearing this, Chu Liang fell silent.

Reading between the lines, it was clear that the distance to Mount Shu had already been acknowledged, so it wasn't the real issue. What the elder truly meant was the latter part of his statement—trying to go through Taotie City would be too difficult.

Could there be some resistance?

Seeing Elder Sun's reluctance to elaborate, Chu Liang didn't press further. Instead, he stood up and bade farewell. The Precious Pill Pavilion wasn't the only shop he had negotiated with earlier, so he decided to visit the others.

As expected, all the shops had backed out.

Although the managers of the shop wouldn't reveal the reasons why they had backed out, there were no secrets that could be kept forever. After some probing, Chu Liang managed to get a name—Huyan Bin.

Huyan Bin was the name of the son of Taotie City's city lord.

Chu Liang had heard of him before. Despite his young age, Huyan Bin was quite capable and had already taken charge of many affairs in Taotie City.

Who would have thought he would interfere with Mount Shu?

Logically, the market soon to be built on Red Cotton Peak did have similar functions to Taotie City. However, most people wouldn't see the two as competitors.

It was like comparing Chu Liang to Sword Saint Old Li Ba—the vast difference between them made the idea sound absurd.

For Huyan Bin to start suppressing the development of Red Cotton Peak now, it was likely because of a personal grudge or he had incredible foresight, predicting that Mount Shu would eventually become a rival.

But even Chu Liang wasn't so confident in Red Cotton Peak's potential.

Still, if the other party wanted to nip a potential competitor in the bud, now was indeed the best time. Taotie City's market was an ocean, while Red Cotton Peak was just a small pond. If he declared that anyone who chose Red Cotton Peak would be unable to do business in Taotie City, it was clear what choice people would make. After all, merchants were all driven by profit.

After pondering for a while, Chu Liang realized that this hurdle was unavoidable. He decided to pay a visit to Huyan Bin to discuss the matter.

It wasn't difficult to locate the City Lord's Residence in Taotie City, as it was the most imposing mansion in the city. Chu Liang went there alone, reported his sect and name, and requested to meet the city lord's son.

After the gatekeeper reported his arrival, an elegant and graceful maid promptly led Chu Liang to a waiting room, instructing him to wait there. She informed him that Huyan Bin would come to see him when he was available.

There were already two people in the waiting room: a middle-aged man with a distressed expression and an elderly man with white hair. Both of them sat in silence.

Chu Liang quietly took a seat behind them. Even after waiting for an hour, no one came to inform any of them about a meeting.

Feeling puzzled, he stood up and looked around.

The middle-aged man said, "You shouldn't wait anymore. No one will meet with you."

Chu Liang turned and asked, "Isn't it my turn after you two?"

"After us..." The middle-aged man smiled bitterly. "Then you'll have a long wait. I've been here for seven days."

"Hmm?" Chu Liang was slightly surprised and looked at the elderly man.

The elderly man slowly raised his head and cleared his throat, "Let me put it this way. My father started queuing here a year before I was born. I took his place."

What? Chu Liang was so confused.

...

Chu Liang finally understood that the purpose of this waiting room was to wear down visitors until they gave up. Even if a demon god had been queuing here since before it entered the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda, it still wouldn't get to see the son of Taotie City's city lord.

Realizing this, he immediately got up and left.

Although he couldn't think of any ways to counter Huyan Bin, the situation hadn't developed to the point where he would need to beg for mercy to ensure the growth of his business. Still, suppressing a potential competitor without giving any chance for negotiation was excessively tyrannical.

But since this was a business competition, he couldn't just summon his esteemed teacher here. If he had done that, it would change the nature of things and people would be even less willing to cooperate with Mount Shu in the future.

Upon closer consideration, Chu Liang realized that Taotie City might secretly harbor hostility toward the Mount Shu Sect, especially since this was a sensitive period with the Assembly of Immortal Sects approaching.

For the past several years, the Thunderbolt Stronghold and Taotie City had been looking down on the Mount Shu Sect. From their point of view, the Mount Shu Sect was just a declining immortal sect living off its past glory.

The feat of suppressing the demon god and saving humanity was indeed admirable, but it had allowed them to lead the righteous path for over two thousand years, which was more than enough. The disappearance of the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda was a wake-up call that it was time for them to step down.

If the Mount Shu Sect didn't hinder the growth of other sects, they could remain a well-respected immortal sect. However, despite their lack of capability, they continued to occupy a higher status. This behavior would eventually exhaust any remaining respect for the founding fathers of the sect.

The status as one of the Divine Nine symbolized not just honor but also significant influence within the Nine Provinces. Many privileges, occasions, and top-level resources were exclusive to the Divine Nine Immortal Sects. Matters of slightly lesser importance would be handled by the Terrestrial Ten Sects.

In recent years, Thunderbolt Stronghold and Taotie City had been developing rapidly. With no more room for upward growth, they could only ambitiously set their sights on this prestigious position. In fact, they were already very close.

When the Divine Nine and Terrestrial Ten were established in the past, the various immortal sects and the imperial court jointly set a charter.

One of the rules was that if a sect in the Divine Nine continuously ranked below the top ten in the Assembly of Immortal Sects for five consecutive sessions, it would lose its status as one of the Divine Nine. Similarly, if a Terrestrial Ten sect fell out of the top twenty for five consecutive sessions, it would lose its status as one of the Terrestrial Ten.

In the world of immortal cultivation, the law of the jungle ultimately prevails. No other sects could tolerate one relying solely on its past glories.

The rules of the charter were not very harsh. After all, the Divine Nine and Terrestrial Ten should be exceptionally powerful. The rule of being in the top ten prevented any lower-tier sects from suddenly rising to prominence in any given year.

Considering that some sects might have very powerful elders but weak disciples, it might have been inaccurate to determine the status of a sect based on the performance of young disciples. The five consecutive sessions of the Assembly of Immortal Sects spanned a total of sixty years. If a sect still failed to nurture outstanding disciples over such a long period, it would have been fair to judge it as declining.

This rule also encouraged the elders in the Divine Nine and Terrestrial Ten to focus on nurturing young disciples, preventing situations like those in diabolical sects where the higher-ups were selfish and treated the lower-level disciples as less than human.

But as of now, the Mount Shu Sect has fallen out of the top ten for four consecutive sessions.

Mount Shu's last moment of glory in the Assembly of Immortal Sects was during the generation of Jiang Tiankuo, Daoist Yan, and Di Nufeng. The three of them defeated everyone in the Divine Nine and the Terrestrial Ten, sweeping through the competition to take the crown, marking Mount Shu's final triumph.

Since that generation, Mount Shu hasn't produced any outstanding talents.

Thus, between the peak masters and the newest generation of disciples like Chu Liang, there were almost no exceptional young talents in the Mount Shu Sect. Nevertheless, this session of the Assembly of Immortal Sects was crucial.

There were rumors in the world of immortal cultivation that this session of the Assembly of Immortal Sects would be exceptionally competitive.

In the past, a fifth-realm genius disciple would be considered a top expert in the Assembly of Immortal Sects.

But this year, many prodigies seemed to have achieved breakthroughs, reaching the fifth realm. This meant that this session of the Assembly of Immortal Sects would be even more competitive in terms of cultivation level than in previous years.

"Haaaa." Chu Liang sighed as he sat on the back of the Golden-Furred Hou.

This world is too competitive, Chu Liang thought. I must achieve a higher cultivation level as soon as possible. I can't always be challenging someone of a higher cultivation level and hope that I can win.

In actuality, he had made great progress in his cultivation at a speed faster than anyone in the Nine Provinces. Unfortunately, he just wasn't talented enough for cultivation. Even though he had these rows of Large-Headed Dolls working tirelessly for him, he had only reached the later stage of the Golden Core Realm, still some steps away from the pinnacle of the fourth realm.

Fortunately, he still had time.

By the time he returned to Mount Shu, it was already late at night. After running around so much lately, Chu Liang planned to settle down at Silver Sword Peak for a while.

Starting tomorrow, I'll live a leisurely life, tending flowers, growing fruit, and dealing with wine-jar monsters. I will wake up facing Mount Shu and enjoy my peaceful days.

But the next morning, an unexpected guest arrived.

"Heheheh!"

The visitor arrived with a hearty laugh as he landed outside the small wooden cabin.

As Chu Liang pushed the door open, he saw what he had expected—Lin Bei with his bushy brows and big eyes.

"What's up?" Chu Liang asked.

"Bro, I'm finally about to achieve a breakthrough. I need to start preparing to make my Golden Core Pill," Lin Bei said with a proud smile. "I came to ask for your help."