Chapter 54: Zhang Zhiwei, Have You Ever Lost?

"It's a pity. I should have brought a camera before coming here..."

Two minutes later, Wu Xian, mingled in the crowd and munching on a cantaloupe in his hand, looked ahead at the open ground where Lu Jin was staggeringly half-kneeling on the ground, and then at Zhang Zhiwei standing innocently behind him. A trace of regret could not help but show in his eyes.

Although half a year ago, he had already achieved the feat of slapping Lu Jin to tears during the exercises of the Sanyi Sect, experiencing such a thing firsthand and watching it as a bystander were two entirely different feelings.

Other things aside, if this iconic scene could truly be recorded through photography, and when Zhang Zhiwei or Lu Jin celebrated their hundredth birthday in the future, he presented this photo as a gift, one could imagine that their expressions at that time would surely be magnificent.

Happy.JPG

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"You scoundrel! Look at the good deed you've done!"

On the other side, looking at Zhang Zhiwei's innocent expression of "I haven't even used my strength yet, why did you fall down," Zhang Jingqing was instantly furious, his lush sideburns even showing a tendency to stand on end.

This was the Lu family's estate! On the very second day of the old patriarch's birthday banquet, you acted so heavy-handed and knocked their young master flat with a single slap. How was this any different from stripping the Lu family of their dignity?

Fortunately, it was the Lu family, and Lu Jin was a disciple of the Sanyi Sect. If this were replaced by the Wang family, the Lu family, or even most of the sects present, how could they not hold a grudge in their hearts after seeing their own outstanding younger generation—regarded as the future backbone of the community—easily defeated in such a nearly humiliating manner?

In fact, this was also what gave Zhang Jingqing the biggest headache regarding Zhang Zhiwei.

Although this kid had excellent character and would never conceive of malicious intentions, his personality was truly boundless in its wildness.

Usually, he only cared about keeping his own mind clear and was infatuated with cultivation matters, showing zero interest in learning other trivial matters like social etiquette. He had unintentionally offended who knows how many people, and even his fellow apprentices in the Celestial Master Mansion felt somewhat displeased with him in their hearts, let alone outsiders who had suffered losses at his hands.

If he were merely a disciple of an ordinary sect, that would be one thing, but Zhang Zhiwei was a high-ranking disciple of the Celestial Master Mansion bearing the adopted surname "Zhang," carrying the high hopes of everyone on Mount Longhu, and extremely likely to inherit the position of Celestial Master in the future.

As the Celestial Master of Mount Longhu who commanded all disciples of the Orthodox Dao, how could he simply be a reckless brute who was good at fighting but understood not an ounce of worldly sophistication?

After all, no matter how formidable one's protective methods were, one was ultimately just a single person. Even if Zhang Zhiwei could become invincible in the world in the future, could he possibly beat the entire circle of practitioners into submission?

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Zhang Jingqing simply rolled up his sleeves, intending to personally discipline this ungrateful brat who knew neither the immensity of heaven nor earth, so as to give the Lu family a proper explanation.

Seeing his master flare up, Zhang Zhiwei instantly stiffened all over, and then, as if driven by a conditioned reflex, knelt down on the ground, completely lacking the imposing demeanor with which he had easily defeated Lu Jin just moments ago.

Right at that moment, a figure stepped in front of Zhang Jingqing and persuaded him with a smile, "Why does the Celestial Master need to get so angry? Zhiwei showed mercy just now, and this is precisely the effect that the Lu family and I desired. We should be the ones saying thank you."

"That's right. It's just that my martial arts skills were lacking; it has nothing to do with Senior Brother Zhang. Please do not blame him, Celestial Master."

Lu Jin, who had already recovered from the dizziness, also hurried over to persuade him.

Interestingly, this time he did not burst into tears like he did in the manga. Presumably, having experienced a similar ordeal once before, his psychological tolerance had greatly improved, preventing his mentality from exploding and making a fool of himself in front of everyone.

"Haha! Celestial Master, you saw it too. My little Jin also said it's fine, so stop blaming Zhiwei."

As the host, the old patriarch Lu laughed very magnanimously, while bantering with Zhang Jingqing, "Speaking of blame, though, I really do need to say a couple of words. To think you were hiding such a precious disciple, Celestial Master, it's truly astonishing. If not for today's event, we probably would still have been kept in the dark."

"Hehe, Old Lu flatters me..."

Zhang Jingqing's face was covered in dark lines, but inwardly he felt a burst of secret pleasure. He then glared fiercely at Zhang Zhiwei kneeling on the ground and scolded, "What are you dazing for? Apologize to Young Master Lu right now."

"Yes, yes, yes, Master, you're right. I'll apologize to Young Master Lu right away."

Hearing this, Zhang Zhiwei nodded like a pounding pestle, then stood up, bowed to Lu Jin with cupped fists, and prepared to express his apologies.

However, before Zhang Zhiwei could bow, Zuo Ruotong raised a hand to support him and said with a smile, "Don't rush to apologize just yet. Zhiwei, you still have another fight ahead. If you can defeat that person as well, not only will you not need to apologize, but I myself will personally say thank you to you."

"Hey! Another fight?"

Hearing this, Zhang Zhiwei was slightly stunned at first, and then he recalled the white-robed youth he had seen at the birthday banquet last night, his gaze subconsciously sweeping toward the crowd.

At the same time, Wu Xian, who had just finished eating his melon, curled the corners of his lips. Without waiting for Zuo Ruotong to speak, he took the initiative to step out, making a formal揖 (yi) bow to Old Patriarch Lu, Zhang Jingqing, and the other senior figures in the circle.

"Sanyi Sect disciple Wu Xian pays his respects to all the seniors."

After saying this, he looked toward Zuo Ruotong and, amidst the latter's helpless expression, grinned broadly, "Master, if I'm not mistaken, you must be intending to have Senior Brother Zhang and me have a match."

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere at the scene suddenly grew quiet, and then gradually became noisy as everyone around began to get curious about Wu Xian's identity and background.

"Another disciple of the Sanyi Sect? Is the Sect Leader Zuo trying to win back some face?"

"Brother, do you know this person?"

"Never seen him, and I can't sense a shred of threat from him, but I somehow feel he's not simple at all."

"Judging by his age, he's about the same as Lu Jin. Can he really fight against that disciple of the Celestial Master with the adopted surname..."

"However, since he can be specially called out by Sect Leader Zuo, he must have some tricks up his sleeve."

"Whether he can fight or not aside, that face of his is truly handsome!"

"Hmph! The most important things for a man are strength and substance. What's the use of just looking good!"

"Haha! Young Master Wang, are you jealous of him?"

"Get lost!"

The geniuses of the younger generation whispered among themselves, full of anticipation for the upcoming battle. Most of them favored Zhang Zhiwei, because the slap that had dazed Lu Jin earlier was simply too stunning.

With such strength, he could definitely suppress all the younger generation present, and no matter how formidable this Sanyi Sect disciple named Wu Xian was, surely he couldn't be more outrageous than that, right?

On the other side, after receiving warnings from their respective masters to "mind your boundaries," Wu Xian and Zhang Zhiwei walked over to the open area where the juniors had been practicing earlier. Maintaining a distance from each other, they gazed across at one another—a scene mirroring the previous night.

"To be honest."

Zhang Zhiwei looked at Wu Xian with a slightly peculiar expression on his face, "The first time I saw you yesterday, I had a special feeling that I might soon have a fight with you, but I didn't expect it to happen so soon."

"Ha! But I'm different. At that time, I was certain that I would face Senior Brother Zhang today no matter what. After all, wanting to find someone to teach me a lesson isn't something my master thought of just today or yesterday."

Saying this, Wu Xian tilted his head to glance in the direction where Zuo Ruotong was standing, a playful smile blooming on his face as he slowly walked forward with the leisurely pace of strolling through a courtyard.

"Senior Brother Zhang, a friendly reminder."

Mid-speech, wisps of white Qi began to steam from Wu Xian's body, quickly covering his entire form.

"Huan Shang Dan is of no use against me. If you don't want to lose too miserably, you'd better use the Golden Light Spell right now... Besides, I have one more question I'd like to ask you."

"What question?"

Hearing the preceding remarks, Zhang Zhiwei's expression instantly grew somewhat solemn, and he countered by following up on Wu Xian's inquiry.

"Zhang Zhiwei... have you ever been defeated?"

As the final word "defeated" fell, Zhang Zhiwei felt a sudden trance wash over his vision, as if the world had instantly grown much darker.

By the time he snapped back to his senses, a large hand was already infinitely magnified in his field of view, moving at an inconceivably fast speed, allowing him only enough time to release his Golden Light out of his body before...

Bang————！！！