"Aren't you too harsh? He's only about fifteen minutes late, surely he doesn't deserve death for it?"

Liu Xing's words were motivated by a mixture of personal and moral reasons. He had taken a liking to Chu Zen and had appreciated the boy's helpfulness in providing him with valuable information. Liu Xing felt that he owed Chu Zen something, and this was a chance to repay that debt. Besides, he didn't like the extreme punishment proposed for such a minor infraction. While he understood the importance of punctuality, the threat of death over a fifteen-minute delay seemed grossly unfair.

Liu Xing knew that he was potentially putting himself in danger by speaking out, but he couldn't stand by and watch someone who had helped him be treated so unfairly. His sense of what was right, combined with his personal connection to Chu Zen, compelled him to intervene despite the possible consequences.

Shen Ye glared at Liu Xing. "Who are you? How dare you talk to me so casually?"

"My name is Liu Xing. I'm no one in the sect, and you're no one either. We're both outer disciples with the same status. If you're thinking about status, then I'm an older disciple of the outer sect, so you have to show me some respect."

He snorted. "Hmph! We're not equal. My name is Shen Ye, and soon I will be an inner disciple. Senior disciple, you say? This Purple Moon Sect is great, but the greatness starts as an inner disciple. A talentless person who stays in the outer sect is mere trash in front of me!"

"Is that so? But in reality, you're still an outer disciple, so by your logic, you're also trash."

Liu Xing honestly didn't think that Shen Ye was trash. After all, he was younger than him, and he was at the seventh stage of the Lock Opening realm. A seventh stage cultivator in the outer sect was the best of the best, and Shen Ye's promotion to an inner disciple was just a matter of time. That's why the disciple who guarded the gate didn't dare to talk, let alone intervene in the matter.

But with his gun, a promotion to inner disciple was also a matter of time for him, and while Shen Ye's cultivation was higher, Liu Xing was confident he wouldn't be defeated by him.

"You dare to defy me, a prince of the Phoenix Empire?" Shen Ye growled.

"I dare, after all, that status is meaningless here. More importantly, this kid, Chu Zen, is just a mortal kid, and he's only fifteen minutes late. Trying to kill someone for that little thing is going too far."

"Hmph! Don't you understand how precious time is? A war can be lost if a messenger is five minutes late, let alone fifteen."

"But we're not at war, right?"

"My life is war!" Shen Ye growled. "My fifteen minutes are more valuable than his fifteen lives."

Liu Xing's lips formed a tight line. In this world, he understood that a cultivator would think of himself as better than mortals. After all, cultivators have long lifetimes; some can even live forever. But Liu Xing didn't think that a cultivator could kill a mortal without justification, and Liu Xing still thought that Chu Zen's lateness was not to be punished by death.

"Look, if you spend your time arguing, you will waste more of your time. Surely it is faster to let go of this matter than to try to kill him."

"That's because you are in my way."

"And I would stand between you and this kid forever if you try to lay a hand on him." Liu Xing turned his head to Chu Zen, who was pale and had wide eyes. "Chu Zen, your delivery is complete. Leave and never show your face in front of Shen Ye again."

Chu Zen froze for a moment, then he bowed, said "Thank you!" so fast the words were almost gibberish, then he bolted.

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Shen Ye glared at Liu Xing. "This means you're the one who takes responsibility for his mistake."

Liu Xing began to think about how to resolve this dispute. His main goal was to protect Chu Zen and probably his family as well. While Shen Ye was blaming Liu Xing right now, there was still a possibility that Shen Ye still wanted to punish Chu Zen. So he had to make sure that Shen Ye completely forgot about Chu Zen, and the only thing he could think of in that short time was to make sure that Shen Ye was more pissed off at Liu Xing than at Chu Zen. This was actually a terrible choice. Liu Xing didn't want to create an enemy, especially a talented cultivator with a prominent background, but it was the only choice he had.

"You know, I think this whole thing is kind of fishy. You take the trouble to go down to a small town, visit a store that is owned and operated by mortals, and order just one sack of ordinary rice. It's as if you were trying to trick Chu Zen into delivering that rice, knowing that he would be late."

Shen Ye snorted. "I went to his shop because it was the first shop I saw in that small town, and when I ordered the rice and asked if he could deliver it on time, he said he could. There's nothing more or less to it."

Liu Xing grabbed a sack of rice from the ground and shoved it at Shen Ye. "Then here is your precious rice. I delivered it."

Shen Ye's face became red, and he vibrated as if he would explode.

"What's your name?" he said sternly.

"Liu Xing."

"All right, Liu Xing, it seems you want to die!"

"I don't want to die, actually. And we're on sect grounds. Killing other disciples is prohibited."

"We're not. The gate is still behind me." He pointed to his back.

Liu Xing nodded, activated his lightning cloak, and moved. The world suddenly blurred, and now, instead of being face to face with Shen Ye, Liu Xing stood behind the gate with Shen Ye several meters in front of him.

"I'm on sect grounds now, so the rules apply."

When he said that, the two guards who stood beside the gate flinched and suddenly turned around. Eyes wide and mouths open wide, as if they were seeing something truly incredible. Shen Ye turned around too, and while his expression was still pissed, there was a hint of caution and calculation in his eyes.

"I've killed other disciples on sect grounds; you think I wouldn't do it again?" Shen Ye said after several moments, his tone lower than before.

"I don't doubt it, but let's just make this official. I challenge you to a duel. If I win, you will let this matter about Chu Zen slide."

"But what if I win?" he asked.

"Well, what do you want? I'm broke. My sect points are in the negative. If you want a favor, then I'll give you one if you win."

He snorted. "I don't need your favor."

"So you don't want to duel then?"

Shen Ye was silent for a moment, regarding Liu Xing with serious eyes. Liu Xing guessed there must be a little doubt in his heart. After all, Liu Xing was in the sixth stage, while Shen Ye was at the seventh stage. Normally, people with a lower realm wouldn't dare to challenge people in a higher realm. The ones who do so either have strong backing or have an ace up their sleeve to win a fight.

"All right, I, Shen Ye, accept your challenge. Tomorrow when the sun sets, I will wait for you at the arena in training ground one. If you win, I'll let this matter slide and won't harm that mortal or his family. But if I win, you will lick my shoes a hundred times and then cripple your cultivation. How about it?"

Shen Ye smirked, as if he already knew that Liu Xing would lose.

Liu Xing realized that this duel had no favorable outcome for him. If he won, he would get nothing, and if he lost, he would lose everything. And all of this was just because of a mortal kid. In the corner of his heart, he thought that maybe backpedaling and abandoning Chu Zen was the most logical thing to do. But he didn't want to do it. Before he met Nui, Liu Xing would think about his life first, and everything else was second, but meeting Nui and getting the gun was a life-changing event. Liu Xing would never forget his main goal, which was to defeat the darkness in this world, but he also wouldn't forget Joni's question.

What did he want to do? He wanted to be a legend. And no legend would be born of a guy who backed down and regretted his actions because he was afraid. True, this duel wouldn't become his beginning as a legend, but he thought if he backpedaled now, then later, when hard times came, he would choose the easy way.

"Then it's decided. We will fight."

Shen Ye gave a little smirk. Liu Xing couldn't decide what the meaning of this smirk was. Was he mocking Liu Xing, impressed by him, or just thinking that he was foolish?

Either way, Liu Xing understood that he needed to win tomorrow's battle to ensure his legend would be born.