Painting of the Nine Immortals Chapter 37

"I, too, want an explanation. If you can't give me an answer that is satisfactory, then… I will wash the ground with all of your blood."

A calm voice slowly filled the room. With his god-like presence and the dreadful atmosphere he created, everyone fell into a dead silence.

Not only were the upper management of Qi Zhen Pavilion astounded at his demeanor, but the entire City of Qing was also shaking with awe!

The wind started to blow hard, and thick clouds flooded the sky. Though it was daytime, there was suddenly no more light. The man before everyone created an atmosphere that was striking and imperious.

Every cultivator in the city could feel the subduing ambiance. The streets in the city were filled with citizens, who stood staring in the direction of the Qi Zhen Pavilion with fearful eyes. Each one of their hearts was trembling with shock.

The mayor of the city, the three clan leaders, all of those considered to be powerhouses of the City of Qing were bewildered and dumbfounded.

What an imposing and powerful presence!

The divine and monstrous presence that engulfed the City of Qing could only be achieved by masters who were in the completion stage!

The completion stage!

In a small city where there were barely any cultivators at the fundamental level, suddenly a master in the completion level appeared. What an outrageously shocking event this was!

To many people, this level of achievement was the same as successfully climbing the tallest mountain in the world by foot. While everyone wanted to achieve such greatness, most could only hold their admiration and respect while they looked longingly after those who were attempting it!

Traces of shadows rose to the sky and speedily dashed towards the direction of the Qi Zhen Pavilion. They were the most powerful figures in the City of Qing.

At that moment, hundreds of people united, and thousands of people watched!

Looking at the hundreds of silhouettes that were starting to converge, Ling Xian frowned and shouted, "This is between me and the pavilion. It is nobody else's business. Everyone step back 100 steps!"

Immediately, the cultivators on pilgrimage heeded their steps and looked up to the man in black in the middle of the garden. All of them bowed.

His short shout caused hundreds of cultivators to step back!

His simple sentence gained him the bow of every citizen in the city!

How strong of a man was he? What kind of scenery was this?

Every cultivator in the City of Qing was now staring at Ling Xian with heated gazes, wondering when they will also be in a position to gain this much admiration and respect.

"The completion level… I guess we provoked a strong one." The seductive lady smiled bitterly, but she showed no trace of fear. With Qi Zhen Pavilion's capabilities, they could easily deal with anyone, even those well-trained cultivators in the original level. However, most of their strong fighters were placed in their headquarter. It was not very reasonable to start a battle with a completion level cultivator in a subsidiary store in the City of Qing.

With her special identity and title, she could transfer some influential people from the headquarters. However, she was handed this job not too long ago, and now she has already found herself in this difficult situation. It was pretty clear that she will be punished for what was happening right now.

"Now, are you ready to give me an explanation?" Ling Xian's eyes were piercing.

"Please clarify." The lady in the red robe rose her eyebrows and tried concealing her dissatisfaction with the situation. Given her high-up position and her authoritative background, she has never been so offended. With Ling Xian demonstrating his undeniably strong capabilities, she had no choice but to lay off.

"This person here has been abusing his managerial position. He thought that I was easy to take advantage of, so he took my Qing Hua Dan but bailed on giving me spiritual stones in return." Ling Xian pointed at the flustered man, who was lying on the ground.

Qin Guang Zhi almost puked out another mouthful of blood. He thought that he was easy to take advantage of? It was clear that at the time he only had a Qi level of five. How come all of a sudden he was a master at the completion stage?

He knew that he has no other way out now. The only option he had to was to be resolute and lie. "No! I have been wronged! He is slandering me!"

"Slandering you?"

Ling Xian's eyes turned cold, scaring Qin Guang Zhi enough for him to back off. He did not change his statement, however. "He took advantage of the fact that he is better trained than me and insulted the Qi Zhen Pavilion. He killed all my guards and servants and beat me up. Manager, you have to believe me!"

As he spoke, he managed to squeeze out a few tears. Looking at how sorrowful he looked, those who didn't know what actually happened could've really believed him and thought that Ling Xian was the one who was bullying others.

As expected, the lady in red somewhat believed in what he said, "Elder, do you have any evidence? If what you said is true, then there is no way I will forgive him."

"Okay, if you want evidence, then I will give you evidence." Ling Xian waved his hand, and Qin Guang Zhi's pouch instantly flew into the lady's hand. "Open it. Inside are three ninth-realm Qing Hua Dans. There is the word 'immortal' carved on every one of them."

The lady in red did not speak nor panic. She opened the pouch and saw the three Dans with the word 'immortal' carved on them. Her expression then changed, and she stared at the dead-faced Qin Guang Zhi. "Tell me honestly, is what he said true?"

"I…" desperation flashed across Qin Guang Zhi's face as his heart filled up with regret.

Looking at his body language, the lady understood everything. Uncontrollable anger rose out of her chest, "Good god, you dare to do something so reckless and ridiculous!? Did you ignore all of Qi Zhen Pavilion's rules and regulations?"

At that very moment, Ling Hu appeared out of nowhere. He pointed at Qin Guang Zhi and screamed, "This isn't the first time he's done this. A few days ago, I came to buy a spiritual Dan at the pavilion with 20,000 spiritual stones. He told me he had none at the moment, but he needed my stones to place the order. The next day when I came to find him, he beat me up, and he threatened that if I ever tell anyone about what happened, he will make sure I die nameless and faceless!"

As soon as he finished talking, chatter broke among the crowd.

If Ling Hu had exposed him any earlier, nobody would've believed what he had said. However, because Ling Xian was able to provide evidence to what Qin Guang Zhi had stolen, it was likely that Qin Guang Zhi committed other crimes.

"Well well well, Qin Guang Zhi, how dare you! Qi Zhen Pavilion's reputation has been completely ruined by you!" The lady in red was enraged.

The other upper managers were also staring at him callously. It was as if they were looking at someone who was about to die.

"You! You two!" Qin Guang Zhi's face was rigid. He glanced at Ling Hu then looked over to Ling Xian. He realized something, and he bellowed, "You guys set me up! You purposely came to find me in order to ruin my life and watch me fall from heaven to hell."

"You are right. I guess I underestimated your intelligence. This was a scheme I set up since the beginning, one that targeted you. You have ruined so many cultivators' lives, and you should've been sent to hell a long time ago," Ling Xian admitted generously. He did not expect that what he just said would change people's view of the situation.

However, the lady in red frowned again. All her life, she hated those who were cunning and calculative. Upon hearing that Ling Xian was one that schemed and plotted against Qin Guang Zhi, she could not help but redirect her anger toward Ling Xian. She snickered coldly, "As a master who is in the completion stage of training, you stooped so low and used such a despicable tactic. You do not deserve your title as a completion stage cultivator. I have no respect for you!"

After she spoke, everyone who surrounded Qi Zhen Pavilion, even the powerhouses who were watching from afar, were in shock!

He was in the completion stage of training!

She dared to insult someone with so much training. What was this woman's background?"

"Hmm?"

Ling Xian rose his eyebrow and snickered. His spiritual energy roared again.

Click click click!

The woman stepped back three steps as a stream of blood rolled down her chin from the corner of her mouth. She did not lift her stubborn gaze away from Ling Xian, however. "A master of the completion stage only has so-so skills. All you know is how to take advantage of your posterity. If you have any real skills, then you should kill me!"

Ling Xian noticed that she used the word 'posterity' rather than 'woman'. He knew then of her stubbornness and couldn't help it but to admire her a little. However, he did not hesitate in insulting her. After looking at her upturned chest and then at her head. He spoke lightly, "I'll gift you four words: big chest, no brain."

"What did you say?!" The lady spoke fiercely as both of her brows rose.

"Am I wrong? You obviously have no capability yet you say words that provoke me. You are as dumb as a human being can possibly get. Am I supposed to compliment you for your courage instead of insulting you?" Ling Xian did admire her stubbornness, but he could not understand her thinking process. She called what he did a scheme and a plot? All he did was making someone pay for what they did.

How come when words came out of her mouth, he was the ruthless antagonist?

"You!" The lady was angry beyond how much she could bear, yet she could not think of anything to argue against him with. Standing before a completion stage master, no matter how strong of a background she had, she was required to speak with respect. If she doesn't, then she deserves to die.

"You say that since I plotted against him, I don't match my title as a completion stage master. Then I will ask you three question. If you can correctly answer them, then I will forego what happened today and leave immediate. If you can't answer my questions then I ask you to admit you were wrong," Ling Xian gaped at her.

"Alright, then go ahead and ask." The lady appeared confident. She thought that Ling Xian was going to ask her questions regarding Taoism. She has been interacting with cultivators and reading many books since a young age. Even though she couldn't call herself a genius who knew everything from geography to astronomy, she was still knowledgeable in most areas. She was not afraid of him.

"The first question. If I were him, a young cultivator with a Qi level of three, would I still be alive right now?" Ling Xian pointed at Ling Hu.

"Um…" the lady in red stiffened. She was not an idiot, and she was fully aware of the cruelty within the cultivation community. She knew that if the young cultivator came to find Qin Guang Zhi, then he would've been killed long ago by his guards.

"Excellent. Now the second question. If I came here as a completion stage master, with the sole purpose of battling and killing, would you have been able to stop me with your abilities? Wouldn't the Qi Zhen Pavilion lose even more face if you lost to me? To plot and to scheme is to let everyone know what actually happened. This saved a lot of misunderstanding for the Qi Zhen Pavilion. What is wrong with that?" Ling Xian continued his questions.

"I…" the woman couldn't find any words. She knew very well that everything Ling Xian had said has been true. If he really came to fight, then the pavilion would've lost very thoroughly by now. It was only because he set up a trap, are people aware of the root issue being that one man, which did help save the reputation of the pavilion.

Ling Xian grinned, "Now for the third question. You doubted my integrity and claimed that I am undeserving of my title. I could've killed you easily, yet I did not. Is this not a form of forgiveness? How could you still say that I should not be a completion stage master?"

"You…"

The alluring lady had no words to combat him. Her cheeks were flushed as she felt ashamed by the three questions Ling Xian asked.

"Everything you said is so right!"

A voice shouted. Following that stranger's exclamation, the entire City of Qing started clapping and cheering.

"This is what being powerful truly means! To not abuse his level of training by simply beating everyone with strength and to help save the reputation of the pavilion. How big of a heart does it require to achieve that?"

"Agreed. I have met a cultivator in the completion stage of training before. I can't even describe to you how arrogant he was! Everyone was trying to climb up his butt, and he happily accepted their admiration and made ridiculous requests. Look at the cultivator before us! He is using his words to convince others of why he is doing what he's doing. This is the type of person I want to look up to!"

"Now, it's time to take care of you." Ling Xian walked towards Qin Guang Zhi slowly. His murderous intention was boiling.

Qin Guang Zhi seemed to have lost his soul and his will to live turned to dust. He glanced over the wreckage that used to his personal garden as he reminisced the good times he had. Sadly, those times were history.

"If you knew today would happen, would you ever have behaved the way you did? It is time to pay for all the sins you have committed," Ling Xian lifted his arm and spiritual energy shot down and struck Qin Guang Zhi's neck.

Instantly, the head detached from his neck and fell to the ground.

Chapter end