Chapter 114: The Menacing Old Man
Not so long before these events, they were all arrogantly calling Lin Feng a beggar.
At that moment, not only had the beggar slapped Zuo Qiu and humiliates Bai Ze but he had also slapped all of them, indirectly. All of them had lost face from their arrogant words.
If Lin Feng was a beggar, what were they?
“You are all a band of arrogant and presumptuous brats. I don’t know if you are even able to learn from your mistakes.”
These few words made the rich and wealthy cultivators even more furious.
“Shut the hell up. Let me fight against you.” said a cold voice suddenly which surprised everybody.
“Rong Yan, don’t challenge someone who’s stronger than you as it will surely lead to death. What do you think about having a fight against me?”
People in the crowd were starting to argue. At that moment, the old man said: “Let me talk!”
Everybody stopped talking when they heard the old man’s voice. In the Celestial Academy, every teacher was extremely strong. The wealthy and noble cultivators didn’t dare make teachers lose face.
In the Imperial City, there were a great number of wealthy and noble cultivators. There wasn’t a single teacher of the Celestial Academy who didn’t previously have a great reputation or wasn’t famous in the past. After all, these teachers educated cultivators coming from the extremely wealthy and noble families. They could only be the highest class of individuals.
“Stop making a scene. Don’t forget what day it is today.” said the old man glancing at the crowd. Everybody quieted down.
The old man walked towards Bai Ze and coldly said: “Stand up.”
Bai Ze raised his head and looked at the old man. Bai Ze looked ashamed. After all, he had been defeated by a single finger. He had completely lost face. Everybody would laugh at him for the rest of his days because of this event.
“Teacher.” said Bai Ze while standing up. He was looking at the ground. He really had completely lost face.
“Hmph, you still have the face to call me teacher.” groaned the old man making Bai Ze turn even a brighter shade of red. The teacher despised him for causing such a humiliating scene.
“The path of cultivation is partially about being strong and being a good fighter but that is not the only goal of cultivation. Another important aspect is to be strong in one’s heart. In the continent, there is a myriad of extremely strong cultivators. Nobody should ever consider themselves as the strongest cultivator in the world, no matter their natural abilities or how strong they are. There will always be someone stronger than you. The most important is to be strong in your own heart and true to yourself. Winning a battle isn’t about glory, it’s about one’s personal goals and achievements, losing isn’t about being humiliated, it’s about learning how to improve yourself. Even in case of defeat, one should remain determined and not give up. Especially after losing a battle, one should be even more determined to become stronger.” said the old man to Bai Ze. Bai Ze’s heart started to beat faster. These words were resonating in his heart like the evening drum and the morning bell.
“Teacher, I understand.” said Bai Ze while bowing in front of the old man as a sign of respect and gratitude.
“If you understand then that’s good. Please go back for now and don’t forget to search your soul. Introspection is essential.” said the old man indifferently. Immediately after, the old man turned around and looked at Lin Feng.
Lin Feng was also staring at the old man and was surprised. These teachers were extremely wise and would benefit the students greatly. He had only said very few sentences and he had easily made Bai Ze change his state of mind. If he had not done so then Bai Ze may have struggled to advance on his path of cultivation.
However, even though the old man was an amazing teacher, he was still working for the academy and Lin Feng wasn’t a student here. Besides, he had humiliated students of the academy.
“During our registration day, you come here and cause trouble. I would like to ask you, what is your motive behind all of this?” said the old man while looking at Lin Feng. Lin Feng was surprised.
Lin Feng had been causing trouble? He had been trying to ignore these evildoers from the beginning.
“Why do you come provoke and insult my students in front of the academy?” asked the old man again on an extremely cold tone.
The wealthy and noble cultivators had a smile on the corner of their mouth. The teachers of the academy were not only teachers, they were also normally members of wealthy and noble clans.
Lin Feng was out of luck. He had made the teacher angry.
The students who came from ordinary clans and families knew that the teacher was trying to turn things into a bad situation. They knew that he was trying to accuse Lin Feng of things he hadn’t committed. However, nobody could say anything. After all, the old man was a teacher at the academy and he was much stronger than all of them. His social status was much higher as well. All they could do was observe how Lin Feng would be dealt with after reaching the end of his luck.
Lin Feng looked exasperated. He thought that the old man was ridiculous. He looked at the old man and said: “I remember that when Zuo Qiu said he was going to teach me a lesson, you said that it was possible because I didn’t have a letter of recommendation. You didn’t have any objection when he decided to attack me… and now you are saying that I came to cause trouble and that I humiliated the academy… I would like to ask you, is this what you teach to your students? Unfairness and injustice? You teach them to bully the weak?”
“How audacious.” shouted the old man. He looked furious and said: “I know exactly what I’m doing. Who do you think you are? Do you think that you are my teacher? What do you intend to do? How insolent.”
Lin Feng was smiling coldly deep in his heart. Only because the old man had the strength to do so, he wanted to bully Lin Feng.
Initially, the old man thought that Zuo Qiu could defeat Lin Feng so he hadn’t prevented him from fighting but Lin Feng had won so that was a humiliation for the academy. Therefore, the old man was angry.
“Old man, how can you be so unfair? The others provoked him first.” said Duan Feng. He was going to be spend a lot of time in the academy in the future and obviously hoped that it was a good place to study. He hadn’t thought that there would be a conflict on the first day.
Besides, the teacher himself was causing the trouble.
“You shut up! Don’t forget that you are also a student of the Celestial Academy, or could it be that you do not wish to be one of its students anymore?” said the old man coldly looking at Duan Feng and threatening him.
Duan Feng was about to say something else when Lin Feng interrupted him and said: “Duan Feng, you are also a student of the Celestial Academy. This thing has nothing to do with you.” When he finished talking, Lin Feng looked at the old man and said: “So, after saying these things, what do you intend to do?”
“Damaging the reputation of the academy is a serious crime and you should die for that. However, because today is the registration day, it is an auspicious day, therefore I will just cripple your cultivation.” said the old man sounding like he was saying something normal but his eyes revealed murderous intentions.
Lin Feng was a genius and had extraordinary natural abilities but how was he supposed to compete with the old man. He was still young and too weak. The old man could easily cripple Lin Feng’s cultivation if he wished.
Lin Feng was extremely gifted and he wasn’t joining the academy, this made the old man want to cripple his cultivation even more. This way, the academy would have one less rival in the future. Lin Feng might have wanted to go and study at the Holy Courtyard of Xue Yue.
“Cripple my cultivation? It sounds like a rather easy task when you say it.” said Lin Feng in an ice-cold tone. When these extremely strong people said such things, they meant it and usually applied what they said without hesitation. If they wanted to kill, they killed, if they wanted to cripple someone’s cultivation, they crippled their cultivation. There was no way to change their mind. In front of such people, no matter how gifted someone was, if that person wasn’t useful to them then they would dispose of those people without hesitation.
This world was about being the strongest. Academies, sects, etc. were all the same. Only strength mattered. But Lin Feng didn’t feel scared anymore since Meng Qing was with him. She had already shown him that she could protect him. She was incredibly powerful. Therefore, Lin Feng was not even slightly worried.
Besides, Meng Qing had promised Lin Feng that she could protect him. Meng Qing didn’t like talking, especially to say superfluous words. So when she said it, she definitely meant it.
“Teacher, is it necessary to be so furious?” said an indifferent voice at that moment. A silhouette came out of the crowd and continued: “This young man is a real genius. If he agreed to join the academy, he could definitely become an extremely strong and powerful person.”
It was a young man. He had beautiful long hair. His voice was soft and gentle which surprised a lot of people. Besides, his face looked graceful and delicate to the extent that the word “pretty” could be used to refer to his facial features. His face looked even prettier than that of an ordinary woman.
His name was Wen Ao Xue.
“What are you doing?” said many of the crowd when they saw Wen Ao Xue. They were surprised. When the old man saw and heard Wen Ao Xue, he nodded at him.
“And you? What do you think about what he said?” asked the old man to Lin Feng. Everybody was stupefied. Wen Ao Xue said a single sentence, it had been sufficient to change the old man’s mind.
“What? About me joining the Celestial Academy?” asked Lin Feng to Wen Ao Xue. Lin Feng immediately shook his head and said: “I’m not interested.”
“Huh?” the old man was astonished. He glanced at Lin Feng and said: “You are definitely not able to recognize what’s good for you. I gave you a chance, the chance to join the Celestial Academy and you refused it. Well, since it’s like that, don’t blame me.”