40: I wasn't bragging, so stop making things up!

"Su Qi!!!"

A roar, carrying endless grief and towering rage, exploded like a thunderclap from the Nine Heavens over Divine Son Peak, which was still shrouded in morning mist!

The voice was shrill and hopeless, filled with a destructive aura of someone driven to their wit's end.

Seventh Elder Su Qi, who was standing before the merit stele with his hands behind his back, high-spiritedly acting as if he were directing the world, trembled all over at the sudden roar.

He almost fell headfirst from mid-air.

The clinking of hammers, chisels, and engraving knives in the hands of the hundreds of Su Family Divine Craftsmen working in the air also came to a sudden halt.

Everyone looked over in shock toward the source of the sound.

A white afterimage was seen shooting out from the direction of the Divine Son Peak Palace at a frantic speed, almost as if burning its Divine Soul.

He wasn't flying, nor was he using any profound movement techniques.

He just ran, his legs moving so fast they created phantoms, carrying a Mortal's desperation in a brawl, as if he wanted to perish together with the entire world.

Wherever that figure passed, the air distorted violently and wailed!

"Chen... Chener?"

Su Qi was stunned for a moment after seeing who it was, and then his wrinkled old face instantly bloomed with the light of ecstasy.

"His Highness the Divine Son has come out of seclusion!"

"Look! His Highness the Divine Son has come out of seclusion so soon!"

Far from sensing Su Chen's almost tangible towering rage, he was so excited that his old face turned red, and he announced loudly to the surrounding Elders and Divine Craftsmen in an incredibly proud tone.

"Did you all see that! I told you His Highness the Divine Son is a Cultivation fanatic who is single-mindedly devoted to the Dao!"

"He's only been in seclusion for a few days, and he's already out!"

"He must have sensed that we are erecting a stele for him and, moved by it, specially came out of seclusion to... to inspect the work!"

Su Qi's words were like an imperial decree.

The faces of the Su Family members present instantly showed expressions of sudden realization.

Their gazes toward Su Chen became increasingly reverent and fanatical.

His Highness the Divine Son truly cares about the Family; he even thinks of us while in seclusion!

Meanwhile, Su Chen, who had already charged close, heard Su Qi's shameless and distorted remarks and was so angry that his vision went dark, nearly spitting out a mouthful of blood three zhang high on the spot.

[Inspect your granddaddy's coffin board!]

[I'm here to tear down this damn stele of yours!]

[You King of Overthinking! If I don't beat all the water out of your brain today, I'll write the name Su Chen backward!]

In the blink of an eye, Su Chen skidded to a halt in front of the merit stele.

His eyes were bloodshot as he glared fixedly at Su Qi, his gaze truly looking like he wanted to devour him.

"Su Qi! Who told you to erect this thing?!"

Su Chen's finger trembled violently with anger as he pointed straight at the golden, glittering stone stele that made his eyes ache.

"Immediately! Tear it down for me!"

His tone was filled with unquestionable command and a rage that was about to spiral out of control.

However, when these words reached Su Qi's ears, they were automatically translated and sublimated into another version by his brain, which was comparable to a Heavenly Dao computer.

Su Qi didn't show the slightest hint of fear; instead, he had an expression that said, "I understand, Chener, I understand everything you're thinking."

He approached with a fawning look, his smile as kind as a withered old chrysanthemum in full bloom.

"Oh, Chener, look at you, here you go again, right?"

"I know you've always been indifferent to fame and fortune, possess noble character, and are unwilling to let outsiders know of your achievements."

Su Qi spoke with earnest and well-meaning words, guiding him patiently.

"But you solved the eternal calamity of the 'Fallen Immortal of the Mortal World' for the Family; what an unparalleled feat that is!"

"As Elders of the Su Family, if we didn't even show this much appreciation, wouldn't that hurt your feelings and the feelings of the clansmen?"

"Don't worry!"

Su Qi patted his chest in guarantee.

"This merit stele, we've erected it for your own eyes, and for the future generations of our Su Family! Let them all take you as an example and learn from your supreme spirit of being single-mindedly devoted to the Dao and unmoved by external things!"

Su Qi spoke with such sincerity that it was deeply moving.

Su Chen felt as if his organs were being torn apart and incinerated from within as he listened.

[Who the hell is 'going again' with you?!]

[I'm talking business here! Can't you understand human speech?!]

[Example? Spirit? I'm begging you, just let me go!]

Su Chen felt as if there was a thick dimensional wall between him and this old man.

He forced down the urge to slap him into the ground and pin him down with the merit stele so he could never be reincarnated.

He decided to convince him with reason.

"Seventh Elder, I'll say it one last time, I haven't achieved any merit!"

Su Chen pointed at his own nose, enunciating each word as if they were being squeezed out from between his teeth.

"That day, I just went for a walk in the Forbidden Ground! That woman... that Senior, she wanted to come out for some fresh air herself; it has nothing to do with me!"

"I didn't do anything!"

"I'm just an ordinary Saint who likes to sleep! Can you all please stop overthinking things?!"

He tried to use the most direct, simple, and humble language to puncture the unrealistic fantasies of these people.

However, he still underestimated the miraculous structure of creatures like the King of Overthinking.

His heartfelt "confession," in the eyes of Su Qi and the surrounding Old Ancestors, not only failed to have any effect but also made them even more certain of their internal guesses.

"Listen to that!"

"Everyone, listen to that!"

Su Qi slapped his thigh hard, as if he had discovered some shocking Treasure Trove, and pointed at Su Chen, shouting excitedly to everyone around.

"What magnanimity! What humility!"

"Having achieved such an world-shaking feat, yet still calling himself an 'ordinary Saint'! Refusing to acknowledge even a bit of merit!"

"This is the true Heart of the Great Dao! Returning to simplicity! Remaining unruffled by either favor or humiliation!"

An Elder also stroked his white beard and chimed in with great emotion, "Exactly! His Highness the Divine Son's words seem to be distancing himself, but in reality, he is pointing the way for us!"

"His meaning is that true experts never brag about their merits! True Cultivation lies in the heart, not in external things!"

"We actually thought of erecting a stele for him, using such worldly things to highlight his achievements. It's truly... superficial! Too superficial!"

Another Elder with white hair and beard "realized" something on the spot, bowed deeply to Su Chen, and shed tears of emotion.

"Thank you for your guidance, His Highness the Divine Son! We have learned much!"

Su Chen: "..."

He looked at this group of old men in front of him, who were showering him with extravagant praise, each with a fanatical "I've realized it" expression on their faces.

A sense of powerlessness, strong enough to drown the entire world, swept through his body.

He was in despair.

He found that no matter what he said or did, it would be interpreted by these people with their strange logic as "profound" and "acting cool."

The more he explained, the more they felt he was "guiding" them.

The more angry he became, the more they felt he was "testing" their Dao Hearts.

This was a damn unsolvable infinite loop!

[It's over.]

[There's no hope.]

[These old men have gone completely mad.]

[I give up. Just destroy everything, quickly. I'm tired.]

Su Chen looked hopelessly at the giant merit stele, which shimmered in the sunlight with the light of "social death."

He felt that his future, like that stele, had been nailed firmly to Divine Son Peak, never to be overturned.

Just as he was in utter despair and ready to give up completely.

Su Qi's shifty old eyes flashed once more with a light of wisdom.

It seemed he had thought of another "brilliant" idea.

He approached Su Chen again, his face covered in a fawning smile, and asked cautiously:

"Chener, I see it now. You don't like being praised like this at home, feeling it interferes with your quiet Cultivation, right?"

Su Chen rolled his eyes weakly.

You finally said something sensible.

Su Qi rubbed his hands together and said in an enticing tone, as if about to open the door to a new world:

"In that case, I have a good suggestion."

"You see, instead of being annoyed by us old fogies surrounding you every day at home, why not... go out for a walk and change your mood?"