Chapter 583: Asking For A Face Slapping
The bystanders from the other sects were struck speechless. They never would’ve dreamed that a mere fifth level origin realm disciple of the Regal Pill Palace would possess enough of a temper to actually tell a venerated elder of the Sacred Sword Palace to eat shit! Elder Chen Shizhen was ranked in the top three in the Sacred Sword Palace, and was a top existence of the Myriad Domain. Now, a junior had told him to eat shit?! The spectators couldn’t help but admire Jiang Chen’s courage.
Chen Shizhen was livid, but the next moment, he burst into heavy laughter as killing intent flooded his eyes. “Good, very good! I’ve lived for a few hundred years, but it’s my first time meeting such an arrogant and unbridled junior! Elder Yun Nie, your Regal Pill Palace has such good manners, huh!”
Elder Yun Nie didn’t back down either. “Elder Chen, are you implying that your Sacred Sword Palace is allowed to oppress Jiang Chen, but he can’t try to defend himself? Even if my sect wasn’t a fourth rank sect, we still wouldn’t be under your jurisdiction, much less when all of us are on the same level. What right do you have to force my disciple to do something against his will again and again?! Last time, you wanted to test his bloodline, and this time, his storage ring. Next time, if you want his life, does he have to docilely hand over his head!?”
Obviously, Elder Yun Nie had gone beyond mere irritation. As the highest ranked among those participating in Mt. Rippling from the Regal Pill Palace, he was well aware that his words held the most weight. He was also aware of the ramifications to the Regal Pill Palace’s reputation if he didn’t stand out to protect Jiang Chen this time. Jiang Chen may eventually have to accept the inspection if the situation warrants it, but the Regal Pill Palace would brook no nonsense from the Sacred Sword Palace.
Elder Chen rolled his eyes, ignoring reason as he started to mock Jiang Chen. “This ole man only knows that it’s foolishness to go against the crowd. Even a sage realm genius Wang Han is willing to show everyone his storage ring, so how dares a mere fifth level origin realm cultivator show such attitude?”
“So what if he’s a sage realm genius? Does being in the sage realm grant him greater status?” Elder Yun Nie refuted coldly. “Furthermore, Jiang Chen is only in his early twenties. How do you know he won’t break into the sage realm in a few years? How about I ask what level origin realm Wang Han was at when he was Jiang Chen’s age?”
In all honesty, reaching the fifth level of the origin realm with Jiang Chen’s young age and poor origins was already considered a miracle.
Tristar Sect’s Elder Tan Lang gestured placatingly, “Elder Yun Nie, this bickering is unbecoming of the both of you. Inspecting the storage rings a little isn’t a big deal. If it turns out to be a misunderstanding, then at least everything will be cleared up.”
“Heh heh, Elder Tan Lang, I’m surprised that you haven’t exhausted yourself from meddling in matters that don’t concern you. Just let things go if it’s a misunderstanding? Do you treat our Regal Pill Palace disciples like puppets on a string, free to dance at anyone’s pleasure? Will a single phrase of ‘it’s a misunderstanding’ be enough of an apology after an unwarranted inspection? Do you not understand that continuously making things difficult for a junior will affect their dao heart?!” Elder Yun Nie bellowed, the very picture of indignant fury. He might not be able to overturn the collective opinion, but he could not easily allow others to freely inspect the storage rings of his sect’s disciples.
“Then how do you want to go about this?” Elder Tan Lang asked with furrowed brows. In response, Elder Yun Nie looked to Jiang Chen, silently asking what his bottom line was.
Jiang Chen’s reply was carefree and light. “This is already the second time the Sacred Sword Palace has publicly accused me. It is said that one shouldn’t bully the young when they’re poor, and this situation seems to be a perfect example of everyone bullying me in my destitute youth. I don’t want much, but even if my cultivation level is low, I will not yield to the Sacred Sword Palace’s constant provocation. How about this? You can inspect my storage ring, but if the results prove Wang Han was slandering me, Wang Han has to eat shit as an apology.”
A cold glare shot out from Wang Han’s eyes when he heard this. His hand instantly moved to his sword, ready to attack.
Jiang Chen sneered. “What? If you can talk shit, then you can eat it. Wang Han, each bit of spittle from a man is like a nail. If you dare talk shit, then you should be prepared to eat shit as well. If you don’t want to eat it, I’m fine with anyone from your Sacred Sword Palace substituting for you.” Though the truth of the matter wasn’t known yet, many people in the audience still admired Jiang Chen’s courage and demeanor. If they put themselves in his shoes, Jiang Chen really did have a reason to be indignant.
They’d previously claimed his bloodline was problematic and had forcefully tested his blood. Now they wanted to inspect his storage ring. Which young genius’ temper wouldn’t flare up at this sort of behavior? Thus, Jiang Chen’s words resonated with some of the young geniuses present.
“Kid, not only do I think that you’re hiding a guilty conscience, but you also seem to want death in the worst of ways. Do you think that your Regal Pill Palace is capable of going up against the entire Myriad Domain?” Wang Han threatened coldly.
“Don’t make me laugh, why would we go up against the entire Myriad Domain? The only question that matters here is, Wang Han, since you’ve dared to accuse me, do you dare bet with me? If you find the thousands of Sage Fledgling Grass on me that you accuse me of hiding, then I’ll absolutely agree to evenly share it with everyone present. Without complaint. However, if you can’t find it, then it means you were deliberately slandering me with dishonest motives. Do you really think your face so great that you can slander me willy nilly?”
Jiang Chen earnestly cupped his hands at the surrounding elders. “Everyone here is a heavyweight of the Myriad Domain and should all understand that I, Jiang Chen, am not a junior who will make something out of nothing. I only have a single reasonable request: if the Sage Fledging Grass is not found on me, Wang Han must eat shit. Only then will the resentment of my heart be resolved. If he dares not shoulder the consequences of slandering me, but still wishes to inspect my storage ring, then I, Jiang Chen, would rather die than submit!”
With those words, the pressure was now all on Wang Han’s shoulders. There was always a price to pay for attempting to incriminate another, no? One couldn’t just open their mouth and freely dump a crock of shit on someone.
A Dark North Sect elder chimed in, “While I don’t know how everyone thinks, Jiang Chen’s request sounds very reasonable. There has always been animosity between the Sacred Sword Palace and the Regal Pill Palace, and the constant nitpicking won’t sit well with the younger generation. I don’t believe there’s anyone here who wishes to take unfair advantage of the young, right? Moreover, anyone who wishes to stir up trouble should be ready to shoulder the consequences, correct? Otherwise, if I accuse you and you accuse me right back, then won’t we dissolve into chaos? What say you, ole brother Xiang Gan?”
This elder from the Dark North Sect was rather sly. He was able to speak up for the Regal Pill Palace while also drawing the Great Cathedral into the fray,, forcing them to stand out and make their stance clear. Although Elder Xiang Gan also wanted to inspect Jiang Chen’s storage ring; objectively speaking, Jiang Chen’s rage was reasonable. After all, Jiang Chen had been the passive defendant from beginning to end so far.
In addition, the Great Cathedral had recently bought the Longevity Pill personally refined by Jiang Chen. Burning the bridge after crossing it was indeed inexcusable. Thus, Xiang Gan could only nod his head and ask, “Ole brother Chen, how certain is your Sacred Sword Palace about this? If you’re not confident, then it is indeed not appropriate to recklessly accuse someone. Why don’t you display some sincerity as well?”
By the side, Tristar Sect Elder Tan Lang only cared about finding the Sage Fledging Grass. He couldn’t care less about the grievances between the Sacred Sword Palace and the Regal Pill Palace. Thus, he nodded his head in firm agreement, “When it comes down to it, Jiang Chen’s request isn’t unreasonable. Although, ‘eating shit’ seem to be words spoken in anger. No one can really eat feces. Why don’t we change to a different method?”
“Right, let’s use another method.” Many also agreed.
This really depressed Wang Han. Him exposing Jiang Chen was obviously something that would benefit all of them, but he alone would have to bear the consequences. However, how could he back down now? If he shrank back here, everyone would only assume he had falsely accused Jiang Chen and wasted everyone’s time. This would in turn cause the Sacred Sword Palace to become the butt of public criticism.
“Sage nephew Jiang Chen, how about switching to a more moderate method? For example, maybe some kind of compensation?” chuckled Elder Xiang Gan.
Jiang Chen shook his head, “Buddhas fight for faith, while men fight for honor. I don’t need any sort of material compensation. Either he eats shit, or else he slaps himself in the face twice and publicly apologizes for slandering me.”
Though this request was indeed certainly milder than eating feces, it was still very hard for a top genius to accept slapping himself. However, this was already Jiang Chen’s bottom line.
“Everyone, don’t try and urge me to concede even more. This is my bottom line. We all know that If someone else was continuously trying to slander and find fault with you, your anger would burn several times hotter than mine!” Jiang Chen stoppered any further entreaties of mercy with iron words. He would not budge a single step more. Thus, everyone’s gaze moved from Jiang Chen onto Wang Han.
Wang Han was now unable to dismount from the tiger’s back, caught between a rock and a hard place. Though he had guessed Jiang Chen was the one who’d harvested the Sage Fledging Grass, he had no evidence. At the end of the day, he was simply gambling on the outcome. However, if he lost this bet, slapping himself in front of so many people would hardly be any better than eating shit. Unfortunately, he no longer had anywhere to back down to now that everyone was staring at him.
Elder Chen snorted, “Everyone, aren’t we all mistaken about something here? Just a few pestering words from this kid Jiang Chen and now our Sacred Sword Palace is somehow the public enemy? That doesn’t seem fair!”
“Fair?” Jiang Chen laughed coldly. “Are you qualified to talk about fairness? When your Sacred Sword Palace wanted to test my bloodline, did you think about fairness? When you were interfering with my Longevity Pill’s auction, where was fairness then? Now you’re accusing me of monopolizing thousands of Sage Fledging Grass, what is this fairness you speak of?”
Elder Chen was dumbfounded by Jiang Chen’s unexpected eloquence.
“Wang Han, scrub that sour expression from your face. You keep yapping about how you’re a sage realm young genius, acting as if you’re a notch above everyone else. Does your so-called genius’ demeanor lack even this bit of courage?”
Wang Han erupted with anger. “Sure I can agree, kid! But do you dare to let us search your entire body? Who knows if you’ll hide the Sage Fledging Grass somewhere else on your body and offer a decoy storage ring?”
Jiang Chen scoffed lightly. “Just say it. If you can’t find the Grass, are you willing to slap yourself?”
“Why not?!” Wang Han had been completely riled up.
“Words are cheap. Swear a heavenly oath.” Jiang Chen had steadily reeled in Wang Han to this point.
Wang Han was now completely devoid of ways out after these words dropped into the situation. Xiang Qin from the Great Cathedral could not help but ridicule him when he hesitated, “Wang Han, I’ve long since felt that you’re no man at all! If you’re a man, then act like one! A man should repay kindness with grace and return animosity with revenge. Be more direct about it! If you dare make the bet, then make it. If not, then admit your loss! What are you dithering about for?”
“Right, well spoken! The Sacred Sword Palace is full of sissies. Speaking of sissies, where the heck is that idiot Du Lihuang? How come he’s not here yet? I still need to collect a debt from him!” Yue Baize, another Great Cathedral genius, added on.
Compelled by this string of mockery, Wang Han gritted his teeth, “Fine! We have quite a few elders present here. If Jiang Chen is willing to submit to a full body search and no Sage Fledging Grass is found, then I, Wang Han, am willing to slap myself and apologize to him. If I renege, may the heavens strike me down with lightning!”
Hearing this oath, everyone turned their attention towards Jiang Chen and he smiled lightly, “Very well.”
Following this, he once again performed a cupped fist salute towards everyone, “The Great Cathedral, the Dark North Sect, and the Tristar Sect can search me. As the plaintiff, the Sacred Sword Palace cannot search me. Who knows if they’ll try and frame me by planting something on my body? Also, I don’t like the Walkabout Sect, so if they want to search me, they must do so under the supervision of Elder Xiang Gan and Elder Yun Nie.”
Jiang Chen obviously did not trust the Walkabout Sect one bit, purposely singling them out.