155: Chapter 155: Ling Jianfeng's Fury

Before the morning mist had dissipated, the scent of gunpowder permeated the mountain path of Qingheng Sect.

This scent did not come from a Pill Furnace, but from a giant banner that had just been hung in front of the Lingjian Peak gate.

The banner was made of the cheapest burlap, and on it, written in thick black ink, were six large characters in a crooked yet aggressive hand:

"Hengchuan Peak Wants to Eat People!"

Below the characters, a few skull drawings added a sense of absurdity and anger, like a grade-schooler's graffiti.

Shen Xingzhou stood at the entrance of Hengchuan Peak, looking up at the banner. The System interface unfolded rapidly before his eyes, and a bright red dashed line instantly outlined the path of the message's spread.

[System Monitoring: Information Flow Analysis]

Origin: The "Drunken Immortal Inn" outside the Sect last night.

Spreader: An Elder from a neutral minor peak (in a drunken state).

Original words: "I heard that Demon brat from Hengchuan Peak is pulling some kind of merger, wanting to swallow Lingjian Peak to use as cannon fodder..."

Spread path: Drunken Immortal Inn -> Early-rising sweeping Disciple -> Teahouse storyteller -> Menial laborers of various peaks -> Outer Sect Deacon of Lingjian Peak (processed) -> [Hang banner]

Current version: "The Demon Race accountant wants to swallow our peak; we're about to become human meat buns!"

"It spreads really fast." Shen Xingzhou watched the red line with some speechlessness as it fissured wildly through the Sect's gossip network like a virus. "It's only been a few hours, and 'merger' has already turned into 'eating people'."

Just then, a deafening roar erupted from the main hall of Lingjian Peak, shaking the gravel on the mountain path until it jumped.

"Bullshit! Absolute bullshit!"

Lingjian Peak Peak Master Zhao Lie stood before the mountain gate, his purple robes billowing without wind, his Face flushed red. He pointed toward Hengchuan Peak, his spit flying three yards away.

"What does Hengchuan Peak think it is? A broken scrapyard! A group of menial laborers picking up trash! How dare they think of merging our Lingjian Peak?!" Peak Master Zhao Lie was so angry his beard was trembling. "We are the Sect's main battle peak! The Face of the Sect! A sharp sword! Why should we be incorporated by a bunch of trash collectors?!"

Behind him, a group of Lingjian Peak Elders and Deacons were also filled with righteous indignation. Some waved their fists, others wept bitterly, as if they were about to be snatched by Shen Xingzhou to be made into soup the next moment.

The System interface silently popped up a character status table next to Peak Master Zhao Lie:

[Object Analysis: Lingjian Peak Peak Master · Peak Master Zhao Lie]

Current Emotional State: Furious / Panic / Overflowing sense of shame.

Face Damage Index: Extremely High (MAX).

Rationality Assessment: Null (Blocked by emotion).

System Note: He has no realization of the logic behind the merger. His focus of anger is not on "war debt," but on "class inversion."

In his view, being merged by Hengchuan Peak is more shameful than being liquidated by the Heavenly Dao—it is a devastating blow to his "Sword Cultivator dignity."

"Pass down my order!"

Peak Master Zhao Lie waved his hand violently, a fierce glint appearing in his eyes. "All Lingjian Peak Disciples, guard the mountain gate with your swords! Whoever dares to mention the merger, whoever dares to deliver that piece of bullshit document, just hack him down! Let's see if that Demon brat surnamed Shen dares to come and seize my territory!"

"Right! Fight to the death!"

"We'd rather die than enter a scrapyard!"

"Maintain the dignity of the Sword Cultivator!"

The Lingjian Peak Disciples drew their swords one after another, Sword Qi crisscrossing, blocking the mountain gate completely. A farce, seemingly for dignity but actually to cover up internal fear, was playing out in full swing.

The mountain path was surrounded by Disciples from other peaks who had come to watch the excitement. Some pointed and gestured, while others whispered.

"Are they really going to fight?"

"I heard Hengchuan Peak is for real, they want to take over Lingjian Peak's accounts."

"Peak Master Zhao is too anxious. There hasn't even been an official notice, and he's already hung a banner?"

"Sigh, can't blame him for being anxious. If I were made to work for a scrapyard, I wouldn't want to do it either."

The buzzing of discussions filled the air. On the System's "Public Opinion Panel," the waveform representing the public sentiment of Qingheng Sect began to oscillate violently. Various tags bubbled up like foam, then shattered, only for new ones to emerge.

[Real-time Public Opinion Panel]

Current Trending Tags:

#Hengchuan Peak Eats People# (Heat: Skyrocketing)

#Sorrow of the Sword Cultivator# (Heat: High)

#Scrapyard Turns the Tables# (Heat: Medium)

#Who is Lying# (Heat: Budding)

Overall Public Opinion Trend: Chaotic, gossiping, fear and curiosity toward Hengchuan Peak coexisting.

Just as this clamor was about to reach its peak, the crowd suddenly went quiet for a moment.

Senior Sister Xie Handeng had arrived.

Today, she was not wearing her old, tattered Daoist robe, but had changed into the new, standardized athletic wear issued by Hengchuan Peak. The black fabric was sharply tailored, with a dark red belt cinched at her waist, and she carried that long sword still wrapped in tattered cloth strips in her hand.

Behind her followed a squad of Hengchuan Peak Disciples, also dressed in the standardized attire, their expressions solemn. They did not draw their swords, but marched with neat, uniform steps, each footfall hitting the rhythm of the stone slabs and emitting a dull thud.

The two groups of people met on the narrow mountain path.

On one side, the "regular army" of Lingjian Peak, with Sword Qi soaring and Killing Intent raging.

On the other, the "menial brigade" of Hengchuan Peak, silent as iron, advancing steadily.

"Stop!"

A Lingjian Peak Deacon jumped out, pointing his long sword at Senior Sister Xie Handeng's nose. "Who dared to let you come here?! Take one more step forward, and don't blame the sword for having no eyes!"

Senior Sister Xie Handeng stopped.

She lifted her eyelids, her eyes, cold as an icy lake, sweeping over the sword pointed at her before landing on the Deacon's Face.

"Move aside."

Her voice was very light, but it carried far across the noisy mountain path.

"Why should I?!" The Deacon was stunned for a moment, then flew into a rage.

"Because you already owe eight million five hundred thousand," Senior Sister Xie Handeng said indifferently. "Because you don't even know how many of your own people have died. Because your so-called 'dignity' is piled up from the bones of those seven hundred missing Disciples."

The entire crowd was in an uproar.

"You... you're spouting nonsense!" The Deacon's Face turned pale, but his confidence was clearly lacking.

Senior Sister Xie Handeng ignored his rebuttal, simply withdrawing her gaze and continuing to walk forward, tossing out a sentence lightly.

"Peak Master Zhao, you ask why we dare to merge?"

As she walked, she said in a tone bordering on pity: "Because even we, this bunch of trash, know that dead people cannot earn money. And you, this bunch of 'elites,' still think you can shout away the Heavenly Dao debt just by yelling a couple of times."

"We may be trash, but we have started earning money."

"What about you? Can you only swing your swords?"

This sentence was like an invisible slap, striking hard across the Face of every Lingjian Peak Disciple present.

Swing swords? Can only swing swords?

We are the strongest Sword Cultivators in the Sect! How did we become people who can only swing swords?

But in the System's judgment, this highly lethal sentence was instantly captured and highlighted.

[System Judgment: Public Opinion Lethality]

Line: "We may be trash, but we have started earning money. Can you only swing your swords?"

Lethality Rating: Medium-High

Impact Effect: Exposed Lingjian Peak's weakness of "only knowing how to fight and kill, not understanding construction."

Utilized the realistic metric of "earning money" to harshly humiliate the haughty Sword Cultivators.

Saved to "Hengchuan Peak Reform Quote Library."

The crowd began to whisper, and the wind seemed to be quietly shifting.

"It seems... Senior Sister makes sense, too."

"If you can't even balance the accounts, what's the use of just being able to fight? Look at Peak Master Zhao, he really does seem a bit hollow."

"Hengchuan Peak seems to have really distributed money..."

Senior Sister Xie Handeng led her people, forcing their way through the forest of swords; no one dared to actually bring their swords down. Because everyone knew in their hearts that if they hacked Senior Sister Xie Handeng, that debt of eight million five hundred thousand would fall onto their own heads.

And on a cliff further away, under a crooked tree.

Su Ciyao was leaning against the trunk, holding a Projection Stone in her hand, smiling as she recorded it all.

From Peak Master Zhao Lie's flushed Face, to the characters "Eat People" on the banner, to Senior Sister Xie Handeng's cold "Can you only swing your swords?"

"Click, click, too perfect."

Su Ciyao turned off the Projection Stone and gently shook the wine gourd in her hand. "Conflict, opposition, class inversion, and the hidden truth of the debt. The material for this episode is even more exciting than I imagined."

She lowered her head and edited rapidly on the Projection Stone's interface, her fingers dancing as she spliced the most intense scenes together, setting them to a rhythmic, slightly satirical background track.

In the title bar, she typed a line of text:

"Episode N: When an Elite Peak Master Meets a Demon Race Accountant, Who is Really Eating Whom?"

At the end of the video trailer, Su Ciyao did not act goofy as usual, but faced the camera directly. The wind messed up her long hair, but her eyes were surprisingly clear.

She winked at the lens, an expression full of profound meaning.

"Everyone, don't be in such a rush to curse Hengchuan Peak."

"Who do you think... is eating whom?"

The screen froze.

And on the System interface behind Su Ciyao, this unreleased trailer for the episode had already been marked by the backend with a jaw-dropping predicted heat level.

[Live Streaming and Public Opinion System]

Object: "Daily Life of Working at Bankruptcy Peak" · Special Episode · Merger Turmoil

Predicted Heat: [Highest during Liquidation Month]

Potential Impact Analysis: This argument will be pushed in front of millions of Cultivators in the Nine Regions.

The "Eats People" label will be reversed through public opinion and eventually stuck back onto those who are truly bloodsucking.

Suggestion: Host, prepare yourself; traffic is about to explode, and this also means—the real battle is about to begin.