"You're called... Cai Hui?" Su Xuan asked with a smile, looking at the sole of Cai Hui's raised foot.

"Is my name for you to address so casually?" Cai Hui said with a frown. "Since you're here to work, don't tell me you don't even know who I am? Don't you?"

"Are you going to lecture me on the sect's rules?" Su Xuan asked again, still smiling.

"As a newcomer, there are some rules you must know!" Cai Hui declared. "Lest you act disrespectfully when you see your grandpa here!"

"Very well. In that case, let me tell you my rules," Su Xuan said, his smile widening slightly. "Remember this: as long as you are in front of me, within my line of sight, your sect's rules mean nothing. I am your rule!"

Before the words had even left his mouth, Su Xuan threw a punch.

Cai Hui never expected Su Xuan to attack so suddenly. The speed was so incredible that he had no time to react at all.

THUD!

Cai Hui was sent flying backward off the rock. He crashed heavily onto the grass, his clothes instantly covered in clippings, and his longsword flew from his hand, clattering to the ground nearby.

"You dare hit me?" Gritting his teeth against the pain, Cai Hui struggled to his feet and bent over to retrieve his longsword.

The simple act of bending over, however, made his vision go black. A sweet taste surged up his throat, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

A sudden terror seized his heart! How is this possible?! Su Xuan gave me internal injuries with a single punch! Wasn't he just a new menial disciple? How could he possess such combat strength? Or did he just get lucky and hit a vital spot?

He hadn't sensed the slightest flow of Qi from Su Xuan, as if Su Xuan wasn't even a cultivator.

"You're dead!" Cai Hui took a deep breath, gripped his longsword tightly, and walked toward Su Xuan step by step. "I am an Inner Sect Disciple. By striking me, you have violated a serious sect rule. If you dare to resist further, you'll have to face the consequences!"

Before he finished speaking, Cai Hui lunged forward, his sword flashing in an arc aimed straight for Su Xuan's throat.

"Too slow."

Instead of retreating, Su Xuan advanced, stepping right through the arc of the blade. He grabbed Cai Hui by the neck and lifted him high into the air.

A bone-deep chill suddenly washed over Cai Hui. This time, he felt it: the flow of Qi from Su Xuan's body.

Pure, powerful streams of Qi are pouring into my throat from his palm! I'm sure of it—if he tightens his grip even slightly, my throat will shatter. I'll die without any chance of survival!

What terrified him even more was his inability to discern Su Xuan's cultivation realm. In that moment, Su Xuan seemed like a peerless, reclusive master holding him by the neck as easily as one might hold a chicken. The feeling that washed over him was one of utter... insignificance. He felt as small as an ant.

CLANG!

Unable to maintain his grip, Cai Hui's sword fell to the ground once more.

"Let me tell you one more thing." Holding Cai Hui, Su Xuan walked toward a nearby cliff edge and said nonchalantly, "I'm not a menial disciple, nor am I even a member of your Floating Cloud Sect. I am an honored guest. So let me ask you, what is the crime for an Inner Sect Disciple who offends an honored guest?"

"How can that be?" Cai Hui rasped. "If you're an honored guest, why were you assigned to the menial disciple area?"

"That's a question I'd very much like to have answered myself. I'm quite irritated about it, too."

Having reached the cliff's edge, Su Xuan extended his arm, dangling Cai Hui out over the abyss. "Right now, I'm thinking of venting my frustration by throwing you off this cliff. After you're dead, I'll probably get to meet your highest leader, right? As your honored guest, I can then take the opportunity to demand an explanation for myself!"

"You'd take my life just to demand an explanation?" Cai Hui trembled from head to toe. "And what kind of honored guest are you, that you can demand an explanation from the entire Floating Cloud Sect all by yourself?"

"My status is more exalted than you can possibly imagine," Su Xuan said slowly. "If I wished it, I could raze your entire Floating Cloud Sect to the ground with a single thought."

"You... You're bluffing!" Cai Hui simply didn't believe him; the boast was just too outrageous.

Su Xuan didn't bother explaining further. His hand began to slowly loosen. Cai Hui, held by the throat, started to slide over the cliff's edge.

"Stop... Stop!" Cai Hui's face was ashen as he shrieked in terror, "Please, spare my worthless life! I was wrong, I was wrong! I'll lick the soles of your shoes, how about that?"

"Hah! If only you'd had this attitude from the start." With a flick of his wrist, Su Xuan tossed Cai Hui back onto the ground.

Having narrowly escaped death, Cai Hui lay on the ground, gasping for breath, not daring to look at Su Xuan again. He did, however, sneak a peek into the distance. A group of figures holding logging tools—the other menial disciples—was staring, dumbfounded, in his direction.

Humiliating! Absolutely humiliating! I tried to act tough but got completely owned by this monster! What's worse, I promised to lick his shoe soles! What do I do? Do I really lick them? How could I ever show my face in the sect again if I do?

Suddenly, an idea sparked in his mind. Cai Hui clutched his neck, his eyes rolled back, and he promptly fainted.

"That spineless?" Su Xuan couldn't help but chuckle as he beckoned Wang Shanhu over.

"Brother Su, you... you're incredible!" Wang Shanhu stammered as he ran to Su Xuan's side, terrified by Su Xuan's actions and the fear of being implicated. "You actually beat an Inner Sect Disciple! Their cultivation is above the Spirit Condensing Phase! What's your cultivation realm? And now... now this has gotten way out of hand!"

"What do we do? What do we do?" Before Su Xuan could speak, Wang Shanhu began to pace anxiously, muttering to himself, "Cai Hui has suffered a major loss. When he comes to, he'll definitely report this to the higher-ups. The Enforcement Hall will surely come to hold us accountable. Maybe... maybe..."

Wang Shanhu's gaze fell on Cai Hui's prone form. "Maybe we should just go all the way and throw him off the cliff. Silence him for good! We can just say he slipped and fell by accident. There's no escape, the sect is under lockdown! No one can leave, so silencing him is our only option!"

"Don't... Please don't!" The supposedly unconscious Cai Hui instantly snapped awake at Wang Shanhu's words. "I promised to lick Brother Su's shoes, I'll do it right now, please don't kill me!" he pleaded.

Cai Hui scrambled to Su Xuan's feet and stuck out his tongue.

"Little Cai Hui, don't be so childish," Su Xuan said, looking down on him. "A little shoe-licking won't solve our problem. I need you to do something for me. Go to... the Enforcement Hall, and have them come arrest me."

"Are... are you serious?" Cai Hui asked, completely bewildered.

"I'm serious," Su Xuan nodded. "A guest of honor like me inexplicably became a menial disciple in your Floating Cloud Sect. Forget seeing your highest leader; I probably can't even get an audience with a minor head of some small department. So, let's have them come see me instead. I do, in fact, have some questions for them."

The truth was, ever since being assigned to the menial disciple area the previous night, he had wanted to find someone and figure out what was going on. But he wasn't a fool. He knew he had walked into some sort of conspiracy, and searching blindly for answers would be fruitless.

The current situation, however, presented an excellent opportunity. He might even get to see Qi Li and Lu Dongshan. After all, they were the ones who brought him here.

At Su Xuan's command, Cai Hui scrambled away from the back-mountain cliff and ran straight to the Enforcement Hall.

The moment he burst in, he started shouting at the top of his lungs, "I was beaten up by a menial disciple! You have to get justice for me!"

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