Descending from the servant peak, Shen Changqing walked with a confident swagger.
On the system panel before his eyes, the experience bar was jumping wildly, like it had been poisoned.
[Gain +5 experience from Red Lotus Demon Sovereign's cultivation overflow...]
[Gain +5 experience from Red Lotus Demon Sovereign's cultivation overflow...]
This feeling of "getting stronger while lying down" was downright addictive.
...
A quarter-hour later, at the foot of Emerald Bamboo Peak.
This was the core area of the Hehuan Sect's inner sect.
Shen Changqing deliberately straightened the crimson robe Su Mei had given him. Made of top-grade "Fire Cloud Silk," with a dark golden lotus embroidered on the cuffs—this was the exclusive mark of the Red Lotus lineage.
Along the way, many female disciples kept glancing at him.
In the Hehuan Sect, the Red Lotus lineage held extremely high status, but because the Sect Master despised men, this red robe had never been worn by one.
Shen Changqing kept his eyes forward, heading straight for his residence.
"Stop right there! You in the red robe!"
A cold, sinister shout instantly silenced the noisy crowd around them.
From the enforcement pavilion at the mountain gate emerged three male disciples in black uniforms.
The leader had a gloomy face, a "Enforcement Hall" profound iron token at his waist, and a barbed long whip in his hand.
Shen Changqing halted, his heart sinking.
Anyone in the Hehuan Sect recognized that black uniform—Enforcement Hall.
Whispers from surrounding disciples drifted into his ears:
"Is that Zhao Wuji? That mad dog?"
"I heard he's a distant nephew of the Grand Elder. He hates pretty boys the most..."
"This newbie's in trouble."
"Grand Elder's man? Max aggro pulled..."
Shen Changqing inwardly cursed his luck, but kept a straight face.
Zhao Wuji walked up to Shen Changqing, staring coldly at the red robe as if trying to burn a hole through it.
"Kid, you're new around here."
Zhao Wuji lifted Shen Changqing's collar with his whip handle, sneering:
"Don't you know the Red Lotus lineage has a 'no men allowed' rule? The Sect Master has never taken a male disciple."
"A mere Qi Refining Layer 4 trash like you dares to steal and wear a Red Lotus robe, parading around like a fraud?!"
"Men!"
Zhao Wuji didn't give Shen Changqing a chance to explain, his eyes flashing with cruel glee:
"Strip him of that robe! I'll teach him that in the Hehuan Sect, not just anyone can wear red!"
"Yes!"
The two enforcement disciples pounced like wolves, their shackles glinting coldly.
The surroundings fell dead silent—no one dared speak.
Shen Changqing watched them lunge, his scalp tingling.
"Fuck! For real?!"
"No explanation, straight to violence? This is a demonic sect, alright!"
"I'm done for! I'm only Qi Refining Layer 4—I don't even have an attack skill! If they pin me down, I'll be flayed alive if not killed!"
Run? Too slow.
Fight? Can't win.
Just as the cold shackles were about to clamp his shoulders.
Shen Changqing's palms were slick with sweat. Instinctively, he reached into his pocket, fingers trembling as they found the cool jade token.
"Gotta bet on this!"
"If this token doesn't work, next year today is my death anniversary!"
He had no time for a dignified pose or lines like "blind dogs."
Pure survival instinct—he flung it!
Clang!
The dark red jade token was hurled like a hot potato, smashing heavily onto the nearest bluestone tablet.
No earth-shattering spiritual fluctuation.
It even bounced a couple times from the force, ringing crisply.
But the instant it landed.
The two disciples about to grab him froze as if petrified, their shackles stopping 0.01 cm from Shen Changqing's neck.
Not just them.
Zhao Wuji, who had been watching with vicious glee, turned deathly pale upon seeing the token, pupils contracting in terror.
The token was blood-red, carved with a lifelike nine-petaled red lotus.
Under the sunlight, the lotus seemed to flow slowly, exuding a soul-trembling pressure—the unique divine sense imprint of a Mahayana cultivator!
Seeing the token was like seeing the Sect Master herself!
The air froze.
The previously arrogant Enforcement Hall disciples now trembled, cold sweat soaking their backs, holding their grabbing poses without daring to move.
Shen Changqing hunched his neck, waiting two seconds.
No expected pain.
He偷偷 opened one eye, glancing at the frozen crowd and the token on the ground.
"...It worked?"
His heart was still racing at 180 bpm.
But he took a deep breath. His professional training as a top-tier male model kicked in—he instantly managed his expression.
Straightening his slightly hunched back, he hid his still-shaking hands behind him, switching his panicked look to... three parts cool detachment.
Zhao Wuji swallowed hard, voice trembling:
"S-Sect... Master's token? This... how is this possible..."
This token's weight was immense!
In the entire Hehuan Sect, besides Su Mei, this was only the second one!
It represented not just status, but the absolute protection of that demoness Red Lotus!
Let alone a small enforcer like him—even before the Grand Elder, seeing this token meant bowing!
"I... I..."
Zhao Wuji's legs gave out from soul-deep fear.
Thud!
Without hesitation, he knelt.
His knees hit the ground with a painful crack.
"Senior Brother Shen, spare me!"
Zhao Wuji buried his head low, voice sobbing:
"It was my blindness! My heart clogged with lard! I didn't know you were personally chosen by Her Excellency as an inner disciple!"
His two lackeys, seeing this, were scared witless and knelt too, kowtowing frantically.
Shen Changqing watched the line of kneelers, his tense nerves finally relaxing.
"Phew... scared the shit out of me!"
"Legs went soft..."
He didn't step forward to say harsh words or attack.
Not that he didn't want to—he didn't dare.
His hands were still shaking. What if he walked over and gave himself away?
Shen Changqing forced composure, slowly stepping to the bluestone tablet, bending to pick up the token.
He gently dusted it off.
Then, without glancing at the kneeling Zhao Wuji, he turned and walked into the mountain gate with somewhat stiff steps.
...
Only after the red figure vanished around the corner.
Did Zhao Wuji dare slowly raise his head.
By now, he was soaked in cold sweat, his knees aching from the hard kneel.
"Huff... huff..."
Zhao Wuji panted heavily on the ground, his once-gloomy face now flushed purple from congestion.
Humiliation.
Unprecedented humiliation gnawed at his heart like a venomous snake.
He, a dignified Enforcement Hall enforcer and the Grand Elder's nephew—respected by all in the inner sect—had knelt and kowtowed to a pretty boy who lived off women, in front of everyone?!
"Senior... Senior Brother Zhao, you okay?"
A lackey cautiously approached to help.
Slap!
Zhao Wuji backhanded him hard, face twisted in rage:
"Get lost! All of you, get lost!"
The lackey clutched his face and scrambled away.
Zhao Wuji stood shakily with the bluestone tablet's support, staring venomously where Shen Changqing disappeared. Fear faded, replaced by chilling resentment.
"Shen Changqing..."
He gritted his teeth, voice squeezing through:
"Just relying on a token begged from the Sect Master!"
"If he really had skill, he'd have had Enforcement Hall arrest us long ago. Why wave the token, bluff, say nothing, and run?"
Though terrified earlier, now calmer, Zhao Wuji felt something off.
A true elite direct disciple, offended, would just walk away?
"Hmph, guilty conscience!"
Zhao Wuji spat bloody saliva, eyes cold:
"I'll see how long that token protects you!"
...
Around the corner, alone.
The "profound" Shen Changqing in Zhao Wuji's eyes was now leaning on the wall, panting heavily without image.
"Hiss—ha—!"
Shen Changqing wiped cold sweat from his forehead, heart still pounding, unaware a venomous snake had targeted him:
"Holy shit... too thrilling! Way too thrilling!"
"Gotta wear this token around my neck from now on—better than a bulletproof vest!"
"But..."
He glanced back toward the gate, seeing no one but feeling chills down his spine:
"Did I overact earlier? Didn't even drop a harsh line before running..."
"Forget it. Alive is good!"
"Gotta hurry back to my mansion and calm down!"