Give a gift

The elder handed over the ring, and upon receiving it, Bao'er’s little face finally revealed a smile. She seemed to have thought of something, and turned to look at the outer sect disciples below. Her expression immediately turned cold again. "Old man, I’m not a spoiled brat. But these disciples not only refused to give me energy stones, but also wanted to kill me and shut me up. Such disciples have poor character, far worse than even the minor servants!"

"Yes, yes!" The round-faced elder quickly nodded, then spoke softly, "Well then, Bao'er, let’s just end this matter here, okay?" The reason they were trying to gather energy stones was to make Bao'er happy and take back her previous words. They couldn’t afford to offend Fu Feng!

"No, I’m going to find Grandpa and have him deal with this. You are all done for!" Bao'er glared at the round-faced elder angrily. She had never been bullied her whole life, and today these outer sect disciples actually wanted to kill her and silence her—she couldn’t let this go!

Hearing Bao'er was going to find her grandfather, the four old men on the stage all twitched in their faces. They thought to themselves: How dare you do this after receiving a gift? Isn’t this just bullying?

Suddenly, the round-faced elder turned his gaze to Yang Ye, who was standing next to Bao'er. After hesitating for a moment, he walked over to Yang Ye, patted him on the shoulder, and said with a smile, "So you are Yang Ye, truly a hero of youth, managing to defeat Duan Jun, a practitioner of the eighth grade of Xuan... impressive..."

Yang Ye's expression became somewhat strange. He recognized this elder. His name was Feng Yu, and he was a very influential elder in the outer sect. It was also this elder, along with the other two, who had once mocked him as the first waste of the Sword Sect and ridiculed Elder Qian for being blind. But now, this same elder was here complimenting him.

Yang Ye glanced at Bao'er, growing even more curious about her identity. He knew that Feng Yu was clearly trying to get him to persuade Bao'er, but Yang Ye wouldn’t easily intervene. He decided to let Bao'er have her fun tormenting these old men for a while.

"Of course, just look at who my friend is," Bao'er said, walking up to Yang Ye and nodding at the round-faced elder. "Old man, you might look ugly, but you do have good eyes. My little servant is really powerful. Your disciples are all fools for not believing in him. They are so stupid!"

This was working!

All the outer sect elders except Elder Qian exchanged looks with each other, and each of them was overjoyed. Feng Yu smiled and said, "Yes, yes, he is a genius! Defeating an eighth-grade Xuan practitioner with a sixth-grade cultivation, he’s a genius, a real genius!"

"Elder Feng, weren't you the one who said I was blind and that I recruited the first waste in history?" Elder Qian suddenly interjected mockingly. He remembered how, back when Yang Ye hadn’t even become a practitioner, these elders had mocked him, and now he was getting the chance to retort.

Upon hearing Elder Qian’s words, the other four elders froze. Feng Yu looked at Yang Ye and asked hesitantly, "Y-You are the Yang Ye? The one who didn’t become a practitioner for a whole year?"

Yang Ye nodded.

When they saw Yang Ye confirm it, the elders’ faces became uncomfortable. They had indeed made those remarks in the past, and they often argued and bickered among themselves. If Yang Ye wasn’t friends with Bao'er, even if he had now reached the sixth grade of Xuan, they still wouldn’t care much about him. But now, the one who had once been the first waste of the Sword Sect was Bao’er’s friend and the most likely person to make her take back her words!

The elders were caught in a dilemma—should they ask for forgiveness or not? They couldn’t bear to lose face, but if they didn’t, Bao’er would report this to her grandfather, and the outer sect would be finished.

"Old man, you said Yang Ye was the first waste?" Bao'er’s gaze turned sharp as she looked at Feng Yu. She had just praised him for having good judgment, but now she realized that he had once called Yang Ye a waste. She was slightly angry.

Feng Yu awkwardly smiled and said, "No, no, it was us old fools who were wrong. We apologize…"

"Yes, yes, it was a misunderstanding. We were just arguing among ourselves, don’t hold it against us, Elder Qian…"

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"That’s right, Yang Ye reached the sixth grade of Xuan in such a short time. He definitely has a genius-level talent. We were just old fools, Elder Qian, please don’t take it to heart."

"Old Qian, Yang Ye is also considered your disciple, and he’s Bao’er’s friend. So we’re all family, haha..."

"Yes, all one family! It was all a misunderstanding, just a misunderstanding…"

The elders clearly couldn’t apologize to a mere servant disciple, so they could only apologize to Elder Qian instead.

Seeing the elders apologize, Yang Ye couldn’t help but laugh. However, he didn’t feel proud. He knew that these elders were only apologizing because of Bao’er. If not for her, even if he had reached the eighth grade of Xuan, he would still be regarded as just another insignificant disciple by them.

To truly earn their respect and make them acknowledge their past mistakes, Yang Ye knew he had to prove himself with his strength—he had to demonstrate his abilities during the outer sect trials.

Elder Qian didn’t gloat either. He understood this logic as well. If it weren’t for Bao’er, these old men would never have bowed to him. Despite that, he was still greatly relieved. Over the past year, he had suffered a lot under these elders’ ridicule.

Seeing the situation was going well, Yang Ye grabbed Bao’er’s hand and pulled her aside. "Bao’er, how about you take back what you said just now?"

"If I take back my words, won’t they stop looking down on you?" Bao’er asked, blinking at Yang Ye. She wasn’t stupid and realized the elders’ sudden apology was likely due to her influence.

Yang Ye nodded with a smile. "Yes, if you take back your words, they’ll remember this favor and treat me better in the future."

Bao’er thought for a moment, then smiled and nodded. She grabbed Yang Ye’s hand and walked up to the nervous five outer sect elders. "You old men, let’s call it quits this time, but I’m telling you, I’m only doing this because of my little servant. If any of you dares to bully me again, hm, hm!"

With two huffs, her threat was clear.

The outer sect elders immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Feng Yu quickly said, "No, absolutely not! If anyone dares to disrespect Bao’er, I’ll slap them to death!" With that, Feng Yu flicked his wrist, and a long sword appeared, which he handed to Yang Ye. "Yang Ye, this is a high-grade Yellow-tier Xuan Iron Sword. I have no use for it, so I’m giving it to you."

Seeing Feng Yu hand over the sword, Cao Huo also took out a piece of iron armor and handed it to Yang Ye. "This is Yellow-tier Xuan Iron Armor. I don’t need it, so it’s yours."

"This is ten Protecting Vein Pills. They’ll help you strengthen your veins and better endure intense training. Take them."

"This is a Yellow-tier Sword Manual, a copy of the Spirit-Link Sword technique. You can practice with it..."

In less than a moment, all the outer sect elders, except Elder Qian, had gifted something to Yang Ye. Yang Ye hesitated for a moment but accepted everything. He knew that these elders were trying to ingratiate themselves with him. If he rejected them, they would think he held a grudge and cause trouble for him in the future.

After accepting the gifts, Yang Ye looked at Bao’er, who was smiling beside him, and became even more curious about her identity. He knew that the identity of a Symbol Master was incredibly prestigious, but these elders were clearly afraid of Bao’er’s grandfather. Was her grandfather a Ground-level Symbol Master? Or even a Heaven-level Symbol Master?

Seeing Yang Ye accept the gifts, the elders all smiled. Yang Ye’s talent might not be the best, but his friendship with Bao’er and the fact that he had influenced her decision made it worth maintaining a good relationship with him. From the way Bao’er was smiling, it was clear that they had made the right choice!

"You old men aren’t so bad!" Bao’er nodded at the elders, then glanced at the outer sect disciples below. "What are you going to do with them?" She wouldn’t let those disciples off so easily.

At this point, Yang Ye also fell silent. The outer sect elders hadn’t done anything harmful to Bao’er, so he had stepped in to persuade her. But those outer sect disciples had tried to kill Bao’er and silence her, and Yang Ye couldn’t stand for that. In his heart, Bao’er was already his friend.

After some hesitation, Feng Yu’s eyes flickered with a hint of ruthlessness. He turned to the outer sect disciples and said, "All outer sect disciples who participated in the gambling, go to the Law Enforcement Hall and receive a hundred lashes. Afterward, go to the Star Mine for a month of labor. All the materials you mine will be handed over to the sect. Now, go!"

The outer sect disciples below immediately turned pale. A hundred lashes wasn’t too bad—it would hurt for a few days—but working in the Star Mine... that was a place where even if they didn’t die, they’d lose a layer of skin!

Seeing the disciples' expressions, Feng Yu hesitated slightly. However, he knew that if the punishment was light, Bao’er would be unhappy, and if she reported this to her grandfather, even the outer sect elders would suffer. In the Sword Sect, even the Sect Leader wouldn’t dare to offend Bao’er’s grandfather.

"Hmph!" Bao’er was still dissatisfied and was about to say something when Yang Ye quickly grabbed her hand and led her away.

Yang Ye knew that this punishment was already extremely heavy. If Bao’er was still not satisfied, it might provoke a backlash from those outer sect disciples, and things could get out of hand. He didn’t care about the outer sect elders, but he cared about Elder Qian. He didn’t want this incident to cause harm to him.

Seeing Yang Ye lead Bao’er away, the outer sect elders finally relaxed. Feng Yu looked at Elder Qian and said, "Old Qian, this time we owe this young man a favor. No need to say anything more."

The other four also nodded in agreement. They knew that if Bao’er had been dissatisfied, things would have become very difficult. After all, those outer sect disciples were still disciples of the Sword Sect. If the punishment was too harsh, it could cause resentment and even alienate them.

Yang Ye led Bao’er away, having solved a major problem for them, and the mood in the arena finally calmed down.