122: Chapter 122 Loyalty! Honesty!

As the leaders of various major Sects arrived and took their respective seats,

"Then I announce that the Seventh Qingzhou Sect Assembly now begins!"

With Grand Cultivator Helan Yan's announcement, the drowsy bickering began inside Ziping Cave.

Xie Feng sat slightly behind and to the side of Sect Master Shen Du, his dark-robed hood concealing most of his face, and a rune-inscribed veil covering the bridge of his nose.

At first, Xie Feng thought he was merely here to observe. After all, when Sect Master Shen Du brought him along, he had said,

"Sit behind me. You don't need to speak; just let them see you here."

But hadn't Yog-Sothoth seemed to tell him last night to do whatever he wanted?

Hiss...

Tianque Sect Sect Master Lv Xu spoke up first, his tone extremely firm: "The Ranhuo City incident caused all of the Tianque Sect's earthly fire furnaces to extinguish, directly resulting in a loss of copper ingot supply that accounts for forty percent of Qingzhou's total production. For this year's Spirit Stone mine allocation plan, the Tianque Sect demands that the newly discovered vein on the southern foot of Cangyun Mountain be prioritized and assigned to the Tianque Sect to compensate for the losses in Ranhuo City."

Sect Master Shen Du held his teacup, his tone flat: "The mineral vein on the southern foot of Cangyun Mountain lies within the Qingyun Sect's jurisdiction. The matter of Ranhuo City has already been personally adjudicated by Governor of Qingzhou Lord Zuo, which means Xie Feng is innocent and the Qingyun Sect is exempt from liability. Due to the Tianque Sect's own negligence regarding its Seal, why should the Qingyun Sect be expected to fill the gap with a mineral vein?"

Lv Xu sneered: "Sect Master Shen, don't you know how many evil entities your Sect's Disciple summoned in Ranhuo City? Were it not for this Young Master bearing multiple—"

Do whatever I want, right?

Brain Matter heard this silent recitation in his mind and replied:

"What do you want to do right now?"

"I want to go up there and tear him apart."

Then Xie Feng muttered under his breath:

"When people get old, they really start talking out of their ass, saying whatever comes to mind."

Pfft!

The sound of countless people spitting out water echoed across the venue, followed by continuous coughing.

Lv Xu's hand holding his teacup hung suspended mid-air, unable to put it down or lift it further.

Grand Cultivator Helan Yan gave a light cough from the primary seat, his voice steady: "Young Master Xie, please exercise some restraint with your language during the meeting."

Xie Feng turned toward the primary seat, his tone instantly becoming extremely polite:

"Senior Helan is right. This Junior simply feels that Sect Master Lv might have some misunderstandings regarding the Qingyun Sect's Disciple, and wished to clarify them face-to-face."

Grand Cultivator Helan Yan picked up his teacup and took a sip, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly before he said nothing more.

"This Disciple is arrogant and rude! I propose—"

A leader from a Sect close to the Tianque Sect stood up, pointed at Xie Feng, and said to Grand Cultivator Helan Yan.

Then he shut his mouth.

A sphere of light slowly materialized behind Xie Feng, greeting this person as well.

Hiss... What the hell?

It seems I really do have a backing?

Xie Feng could feel his mark glowing intensely!

Yog-Sothoth was preparing to give him a hand? Because he had to work for Yog-Sothoth later?

What more was there to say?!

You bullied me when I didn't have a daddy, and you're still bullying me now that I do have a daddy?

Wouldn't my daddy have come for nothing then?

Private Xie Feng! Loyalty! Fidelity!

Amidst the shocked gazes of Sect Master Shen Du and the other Sect Masters, Xie Feng stood up and started spewing a stream of colorful profanities, turning back around to blast Lv Xu once more.

"May I ask which of those evil entities you find the most displeasing to the eye? Pick one, you old bag of bones, and I'll have it greet you again right now."

Sect Master Shen Du picked up his teacup to block the corners of his mouth, desperately suppressing his amusement with his Qi.

When he brought Xie Feng along, his original intention was merely to "let the various Sects know that the Qingyun Sect has a Disciple with a sufficiently formidable backing." However, he truly didn't expect this Disciple to be formidable enough to directly threaten the Tianque Sect's Sect Master right in front of a room full of high-level Cultivators at the Seventh and Eighth Realms.

What was even better was that everyone present knew Xie Feng was not just bluffing.

While Xie Feng couldn't see the sphere of light behind him, everyone present saw it crystal clear!

As Xie Feng disrupted the proceedings, this debate fizzled out and shifted to the next topic.

"Ahem, please ask the Qingyun Sect's Disciple to mind his wording."

The Chiwu Sect Sect Master spoke up, shifting the topic from the mineral veins to the matter of joint admissions:

"Regarding the joint admissions, the Chiwu Sect has already reduced its recruitment scale this year. Young Master Xie must be well aware of the outcome of Qiao Song's previous negotiations with your esteemed Sect. I heard that Young Master Xie resorted to physical violence in the Chiwu Sect's plaza. If this matter gets out, it might not look very good for the Qingyun Sect's reputation."

Xie Feng stood in the middle and cursed both sides.

"Who went pantsless and flashed you?"

Xie Feng turned toward him, the three-lobed pupils beneath his veil slowly rotating:

"Your esteemed Sect's Deacon Tang blocked the road and forcibly extorted four hundred Spirit Stones for booth fees and breach-of-contract penalties, and even openly cursed an imperial official in front of Loose Cultivators. How Lord Zuo judged the matter at the Qingyun Prefecture yamen—do you need me to recite that verdict to you word for word?"

The people currently present who were attempting to carve up the Qingyun Sect's interests were utterly disgusting.

If you want to debate, then just debate. Why do you keep sneaking in your own private agendas?

The most fatal part was that he was a suicide-bomber infantryman; if you actually blew up with him, you couldn't even out-explode him.

If you ignored him, you'd just have to sit there and take the abuse for nothing.

At this moment, Xie Feng had already secretly opened Tu Ziguan's phone.

Applying for external assistance.

Learning as he cursed, cursing extremely filthily.

Who could possibly keep their composure against this?

Sect Master Shen Du put down his teacup, his tone flat:

"Sect Master Qi, regarding Xie Feng beating people up in the plaza, the Qingyun Sect will formally issue a letter to your esteemed Sect later to explain the situation. Four hundred Spirit Stones is a minor matter, but as for the charge of your esteemed Sect's outer Sect deacon publicly cursing an imperial official, how does Sect Master Qi plan to explain this to the Qingzhou Governors Mansion?"

The Chiwu Sect Sect Master originally intended to argue with Sect Master Shen Du, but Xie Feng's profanities were incessant, constantly interrupting his train of thought and speech, leaving him with no choice but to sit down in the end.

Throughout the subsequent proceedings of the meeting, Sect Master Shen Du gradually mastered the method of utilizing Xie Feng.

That was, whenever they encountered a topic Xie Feng didn't know about and Sect Master Shen Du couldn't shake off,

Sect Master Shen Du would secretly kick Xie Feng.

Xie Feng would go up like a rabid dog to frantically tear into the opponent, making it impossible for the debate topic to continue.

One old man and one youth, they could be described as shameless to the extreme.

Grand Cultivator Helan Yan continued to chair the meeting, but the allocation plan for the Spirit Stone mineral veins remained deadlocked between the Tianque Sect and the Qingyun Sect.

Lv Xu adjusted his strategy, no longer directly attacking Xie Feng, and instead starting with the Qingyun Sect's contribution score for this year, his tone reverting to official business:

"Even leaving aside the specific responsibility for Ranhuo City, the Qingyun Sect's contribution score in Qingzhou's anomaly exterminations this year is at least twenty percent lower than in previous years. Distributing Spirit Stone mineral veins according to contribution scores is the rule of the Alliance; Sect Master Shen wouldn't deny even this, would he?"

"The contribution score Sect Master Lv mentioned refers to the contribution score of anomaly exterminations. May I ask Sect Master Lv, does Shituolin Swamp count as an anomaly? If it does count, Shituolin Swamp was resolved entirely by my Disciple Xie Feng. Converted according to the contribution score, how should this account be calculated?"

The entire venue fell silent for a moment. Shituolin Swamp was an anomaly surpassing the prefectural level. Converted into contribution scores according to the imperial court's standards, it was worth at least several years' total anomaly exterminations for the Qingyun Sect.

And this contribution score belonged personally to Xie Feng; he held a nominal Senior third-rank title, formally conferred by the imperial family, written in black and white on his merit record.

"Your Majesty's decree states clearly that Xie Feng only assisted from the sidelines—"

Sect Master Shen Du didn't even listen to his defense, kicking Xie Feng straight in the calf before turning back to hand Xie Feng a cup of tea.

"Here, moisten your throat."

Xie Feng stood up, took the tea from Sect Master Shen Du's hands, took a sip, rinsed his mouth, and swallowed it.

"That donkey doesn't do a damn thing all day except kick you in the head. Assisting from the sidelines means I didn't do any work, right? I fucking—"

The meeting lasted from morning until afternoon, with all parties barely reaching a preliminary allocation agreement amid bickering and tug-of-war.

It was finally posted outside for public announcement.

"This meeting has been beneficial.

The various Sects conducted heated and enthusiastic exchanges and discussions.

Many new advances were achieved, though some contents still require further discussion and deliberation."

After the meeting adjourned, Sect Master Shen Du patted Xie Feng's shoulder as they walked out of the venue, his tone much lighter:

"That mouth of yours works better than mine did back in the day."

Xie Feng followed closely alongside, leaning on his blind staff, and pushed his veil up slightly:

"Sect Master, does this count as me exceeding the task assignment?"

"It counts! I'll raise your contribution points when we get back."