Chapter 338: Guo Ren Breaks Down
These words made many thoughts run rapidly through Jiang Chen’s mind. When he looked at Master Fang again, he saw that the keeper’s eyes were clear, without the slightest hint of schemes or duplicity. On the contrary, there was a bearing of perfect impartiality.
Had he possibly mistaken Master Fang’s intentions?
Master Fang sighed lightly, “That an ordinary disciple has such talent as yours is truly uncommon. However, it may not be a good thing for you to rise so swiftly as you lack foundations within the sects. As the saying goes, even the strongest will break easily when faced with numerous enemies. It’s not necessarily a bad thing to suppress your momentum for a bit.”
Master Fang explained patiently when he saw that this young man didn’t possess a stubbornly hotheaded temper. He was also doing this out of good intentions to truly succor such a secular genius so that Jiang Chen could develop smoothly and not attract endless oppression in his rise.
With Master Fang’s understanding of the sect disciples, if this secular genius hogged too much of the limelight, the sect disciples would think of ways to move against or suppress him if they felt threatened.
Even though Master Fang was one of the sects, he had no desire to see this happen.
Jiang Chen was silent as he bowed, “Master Fang has expended much effort and thought on my behalf, but I have tried to measure your stature by my own desires. Please forgive me if I have given offense.”
Master Fang smiled dashingly, “Good, it’s rare for a young man to have such a demeanor as yours. Remember, a great man knows when to yield and not to yield. I have heard of your grievances with the Purple Sun Sect disciples. I can promise that I will not favor any side. Your old scores can be settled in the ring, and I will absolutely not interfere.”
“You know everything?” Jiang Chen was greatly surprised. He’d thought that Guo Ren had conducted his business completely unknown to anyone.
Master Fang said faintly, “Although I don’t know much, I know the general sequence of events. Don’t worry, no one will make trouble for you if you are able to exact your revenge in the ring.”
Jiang Chen had indeed had his head clouded by enmity over the past couple of days.
His mind cleared as he heard Master Fang’s words.
Indeed, it was not too late if one of noble character took his revenge ten years later.
There was plenty of opportunities within the three months, what was the need to be in such a hurry?
After he took his leave of Master Fang, Jiang Chen had thoroughly calmed down by the time he returned to his residence.
Ever since the events of that night, Dan Fei started to keep a purposeful distance away from Jiang Chen. They always returned to their own rooms after the day and never visited each other.
It wasn’t that Dan Fei was putting on airs, but that she knew if she went to his room after this matter, she would distract him.
Dan Fei didn’t want to be that selfish. She was even less willing for Jiang Chen to see her in a bad light feel that she was a frivolous woman of loose morals.
……
The Purple Sun Sect disciples who had schemed against Jiang Chen also lived through a torturous existence over the next couple of days. Cheng Lan and the others didn’t dare return to the residence at all. They didn’t even have the courage to approach.
They were worried that if they returned, they wouldn’t even know how they died.
Therefore, they all depended on others for shelter over the next couple of days. Although this was quite irritating, there was nothing to be done about it.
They wouldn’t dare go back no matter how much courage they borrowed.
Even Guo Ren was on edge, much less than Cheng Lan and the others. He was constantly fretting about whether or not he would be selected by Jiang Chen.
It wasn’t that Guo Ren was afraid, but that no matter how he thought about things, he felt that this secular disciple was rather mysterious. He really couldn’t understand how the effects of the Goddess Smile had been nullified.
All sorts of mysteries abounded on this candidate.
Thus, Guo Ren felt uncertain, and honestly speaking, the other had used one move out of the “Obscure Seal of Life and Death” to bring out 45 consecutive victories — as confident as Guo Ren was, he was aware of the differences between the two of them.
Now that things had developed to this point, he couldn’t naively think that the other only knew this one move. How was that possible?
As much as he might lack in techniques, it was impossible for him to only know that one move.
The days of great anxiety passed for the next four to five days. The anxiety in Guo Ren’s heart didn’t decrease, but grew stronger instead.
He knew that if he didn’t settle this matter, it would always wind around in his heart and become an internal demon.
The more he was afraid of meeting the other in the ring, the more likely this would become an internal demon after days and months of accumulation!
He lost quite a bit of his appetite for food and drink over this.
“No, this can’t continue. I will surely break down when an internal demon forms.” Guo Ren knew full well that if this dragged on, his own mentality would collapse even if he didn’t meet that secular genius in the ring.
The internal demons were unable to be seen or felt, but something incredibly frightening.
Once a thought was born, it was impossible to stop the formation of an internal demon.
One had to eliminate the source of the internal demon in order to fully exterminate it.
“I need to either pull this secular genius into my camp or kill this him. Resolute and effective measures need to be taken to resolve this as soon as possible.” Guo Ren was well aware that the source of his internal demon was from this secular genius.
“From previous experiences, the chances of killing him or scheming against him are all low, unless even stronger senior brothers from the sect descend upon the mystic quadrant to kill him.” Guo Ren knew that he was daydreaming. This was impossible.
“If I can’t’ kill him, I can only use strategies to mollify him and buy him off.”
“This fellow’s temper is stubborn and nasty. He’s completely dismissive of my sect. How easy will it be to buy him off? We’re now as incompatible as fire and water, I would only make things worse if I try to bribe him.”
Guo Ren suddenly thought of someone at this time.
He arrived at the examiners’ section after fifteen minutes and knocked on a door.
There was a Purple Sun Sect examiner instead. Although he wasn’t the main keeper, he was still someone with a bit more influence.
The examiner opened the door and was slightly surprised to see Guo Ren. “Guo Ren, what are you doing here?”
Guo Ren was vexed after closing the door, “Uncle-master Daoyan, this disciple is in great trouble.”
“What happened?” Uncle-master Daoyan valued Guo Ren quite a bit and thus was filled with expectations towards the latter.
“Everything is because of that secular genius.”
Uncle-master Daoyan sighed, “Guo Ren, if you’re here to ask me to cheat for you and suppress this character, that is likely not going to happen. The four great sects are a mutually restraining and supervisory force on each other in the great selection. I will surely be censured by the other examiners if I abuse public power for my own gains.”
Guo Ren hastened to say, “How would this disciple ask the uncle-master to do such a thing?”
“Then what would you ask me to do?” Daoyan relaxed a bit when he heard that Guo Ren didn’t want him to cheat.
“Uncle-master, I’ve formed a grudge with that secular genius and he’s proclaimed that he’ll have me end up in a state worse than Cheng Zhen if we meet in the ring. I plotted against him first in this matter and so this has already become my internal demon. This disciple is worried that if this continues, the internal demon will consume me.”
Guo Ren didn’t dare play any tricks at this moment and speak candidly.
Daoyan emitted a long sigh after hearing these words, “Guo Ren, ah Guo Ren. What do you want me to say? What did you have to provoke him for?”
Guo Ren spoke, depressed, “I’d been anticipating the title of champion of the mystic quadrant with all my heart, but then some animal comes out of nowhere, throwing a wrench into my plans. Uncle-master, do you think I can endure this?”
Uncle-master Daoyan sighed, “Lack of forbearance in small matters upsets great plans. This secular genius has extraordinary potential and all examiners are expecting him to be the champion. Since this is unstoppable, why be a mantis trying to stop a chariot? If you truly dislike or hate him, why not wait until he reaches the earth quadrant and ask other stronger peers to take care of him? Besides, this fellow is overly dominating and is too fond of the limelight, but doesn’t know the meaning that even the strongest will easily break when faced with numerous enemies. When he reaches the earth and sky quadrants, the premier geniuses there will absolutely not tolerate him. His fall is just a matter of time.”
Guo Ren wasn’t in the mood to listen to this. His only thought at the moment was how he could resolve this internal demon!
“Uncle-master, please give me guidance on how I should react?”
Daoyan was silent for a while and asked, “In your estimations, how much guarantee of success would you have if you faced off against him in the ring?”
Guo Ren smiled ruefully, “To be honest, I had thirty to forty percent assurance of success before the internal demon appeared. But now, I haven’t the slightest bit of confidence.”
Daoyan wasn’t the least bit surprised by this answer.
“How confident are you in ambushing or scheming against him?”
Guo Ren smiled wryly, “I had felt completely assured of success before, but I’d still failed. This fellow is exceedingly odd and I truly cannot obtain a good measure of him.”
“Then this means that you can neither win in a fight or in the darkness. Then there’s only two choices.” Daoyan smiled ruefully.
“Which two? Please shed some light, uncle-master.”
“One, voluntarily admit defeat if you meet in the ring. This is a chance to triumph over yourself. If you can remember the humiliation of surrender and become stronger after tasting defeat, it will be a strengthening experience. However, there is also risk in taking this action. If you admit defeat in the ring, you’re certain to face mockery from all sides. If you cannot endure the jeering, that will in turn become an even more stubborn internal demon and thoroughly destroy your dao heart.”
Guo Ren thought for a while and felt that his dao heart wasn’t that strong. He smiled wryly, “Uncle-master, what is the second option?”
“The second option is merely a choice, but it’s unknown if it will prove effective.” Daoyan also seemed uncertain.
“Uncle-master, please express your views.” Guo Ren was trying anything in a desperate situation.
“The second choice is that I contact this secular genius privately and tempt him with various conditions to first steady our side with him. The best would be to spend a bit of money to buy him off, appease him, using logic and emotion to close on a deal and neutralize his enmity towards you.”
This was actually the plan that Guo Ren had thought of before, and he’d come precisely to ask uncle-master Daoyan to speak on his behalf.
As an examiner, Daoyan’s presence was more convincing than Guo Ren, and he was even more stronger representative of the Purple Sun Sect.
“Uncle-master, let’s choose the second option. I didn’t bring much to the selection to this time, but I am willing to share my blade of Millennium Brightfire Grass with uncle-master upon our return to the sect.”
Guo Ren also knew that it was impossible to not put forth some principle if he wanted uncle-master Daoyan to try his best.
“Mm, I’ll do my best.”
Guo Ren nodded firmly, “As long as uncle-master can reach an accord with him and stabilize our situation, I will absolutely rally together the other senior brothers to take back all we have lost and more when I reach the earth and sky quadrants.”
Guo Ren gritted his teeth. He’d chosen to temporarily compromise, but he truly didn’t want to. He only wanted to have the situation in hand. With Guo Ren’s personality, once he made it past this hurdle, he would absolutely make the other spit out their bones and flesh for compensation!