Xu Que was very surprised. The incident had just happened today, and he didn't expect that all the disciples of the Tianwu Sect already knew about it and were even discussing it.

Before I truly entered the world of the martial arts, my legend was already known!

Not bad, not bad, this is a good omen!

Xu Que's vanity was satisfied, and a smile appeared on his face.

Not in a hurry to leave, he simply leaned against the wall pretending to wait for someone, while his ears perked up, secretly listening to the conversation of the disciples of the Tianwu Sect.

"It is said that the great figure was once renowned across the Eastern Wilderness Continent, and even our sect leader was wary of him."

"No way? What's the background of that big shot?"

"I heard he's called Duan Jiude."

"That's right, this afternoon when someone from Luoyang Sect came to our Tianwu Sect to find the sect leader, I was standing guard at the gate. I saw our sect leader's expression was very surprised when he heard the name Duan Jiude, and he even called him Senior Duan. Just think about it, how powerful must someone be for even the sect leader to address him as senior?"

"Could it be that the person we're hunting is actually that Senior Duan's disciple? This... this is going to be a big problem!"

"It's true, I'm quite familiar with that disciple from the Luoyang Sect who fled back. I found out from him that the person is indeed Senior Duan's disciple, there's no mistake about it."

"Ding, congratulations to the host 'Xu Que' for successfully showing off invisibly, rewarded with ten points of show-off value!"

Hearing this, a sudden system prompt sounded in Xu Que's mind.

Suddenly froze for a moment.

Damn, does this count as successfully showing off?

It seems that as long as you make a name for yourself, once others start talking about you, it's as if you've already shown off.

However, the conversation among these people also gave Xu Que a bit of an understanding of what was going on.

It turns out that the rumors were spread by those two disciples from the Luoyang Sect who fled back today.

At that time, Elder Liu and the others mistakenly assumed Xu Que was Duan Jiude's disciple. Everyone else heard it, and as soon as they fled back, they immediately reported it, resulting in this ridiculous rumor.

However, Xu Que had no intention of explaining or clarifying. His eyes had already begun to shine, as if he saw another great opportunity to show off.

"Duan Jiude, someone even the Sect Master of the Lian Tian Martial Sect has to call senior, is rumored to be my master? Haha, if I don't take advantage of this, wouldn't I be letting you down?"

Xu Que's lips curled into a smile as he stepped away, making the most of his time to procure supplies.

At the same time, far away in the Tianwu Sect's council hall, several sect elders and leaders, including the sect master of Tianwu, were seated inside, engaged in discussions.

Their topic was still related to Xu Que, but more of it was about Duan Jiude.

"This matter is no small affair. That Senior Duan has an eccentric temperament, and his reputation... ahem, you all should be well aware of it. If we truly harm his disciple, given his temper, I'm afraid the consequences would be unimaginable," an elder from a small sect said, stroking his beard.

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"Nonsense, it's easy for your Lieyan Sect to say that since you suffered no casualties or losses. But our Luoyang Sect lost so many disciples, and two of our Golden Core elders have fallen. If we just let this matter go, how can our Luoyang Sect continue to stand in the Fire Origin Country?"

"That's right, our Huoyun Sect has also suffered great casualties, and we absolutely cannot let this go."

"That guy was so vicious, how can we just let it go like this? Please, Master Zhang, stand up for us."

"Please, Sect Leader Zhang, make a decision for us!"

Immediately, the heads and elders of several sects stood up one after another, bowing to a middle-aged man seated at the head, requesting him to step forward.

The middle-aged man wore a white satin robe with a python pattern, his eyes sharp and commanding respect without anger. He was none other than the master of the Tianwu Sect, Zhang Danshan!

Zhang Danshan has been in the Infant Transformation stage for many years now, currently at the fifth level of this stage, only one level weaker than the Emperor of the Huoyuan Kingdom, yet his strength is not to be underestimated.

The reason Tian Wuzong could become the main sect affiliated with various factions is naturally due to his formidable strength.

At this moment, his thick eyebrows were slightly furrowed, as if he also felt that this matter was somewhat difficult to handle.

Duan Jiude's great name was already known to Zhang Danshan when he was young, and they had even met several times.

He was well aware of how terrifying the strength of that senior Duan was, but that senior hadn't appeared on the Eastern Wilderness Continent for hundreds of years. Now, a young man suddenly claiming to be his disciple made Zhang Danshan somewhat skeptical.

It is said that the young man possesses various strange treasures, capable of shrinking the ground to inches to escape from the hands of Nascent Soul elders. He also set up a grand formation in Panshan Village, and with a cultivation level of the Core Formation stage, single-handedly slew dozens of cultivators, among whom were several Core Formation elders.

Zhang Danshan immediately dispelled his doubts and was almost certain that the young man was Duan Jiude's disciple.

Looking across the world, only the disciple of that senior could possibly have so many methods, and their style is remarkably similar, enjoying stealing from others' treasure troves and showing no mercy in killing.

After a moment of contemplation, Zhang Danshan looked at the leaders of the small sects seated below and finally spoke.

"This matter is indeed no small affair. Many of you have more or less heard of the deeds of that Senior Duan. Now that his disciple has come to us, we should, in principle, treat him with courtesy. However, he has not visited us beforehand and has stolen from a small treasury of our Tianwu Sect, causing harm to the disciples of various factions. It is indeed unreasonable not to demand an explanation."

Zhang Danshan paused slightly before continuing, "How about this, everyone can stay at the Tianwu Sect for now. Tomorrow, I'll have someone bring that young man here. If he's willing to apologize to all of you, then let's consider the matter settled."

Just apologize and let it go?

If it were under normal circumstances, not a single person present would be willing.

But now, after Zhang Danshan spoke, no one present opposed him. Instead, they all nodded, finally bowing and saying in unison, "This matter will be entirely decided by Master Zhang."

After all, they are just small sects. Although they were furious and spoke harshly just now, it ultimately comes down to not being able to save face.

But if they were truly asked to kill Duan Jiude's disciple, they probably wouldn't dare even if given a hundred times the courage.

Now that Zhang Danshan had spoken, it was as if he had given the smaller sects a way out; they had no reason not to take it.

However, just when everyone thought the matter was about to be resolved, a discordant voice rang out.

"Master, the old woman disagrees with this matter."

An old woman stood up and said loudly.

It was precisely the elder of the Tianwu Sect who had previously attempted to kill Xu Que, Tang Xueru's master—Sun Jueli.

"Elder Sun, do you have any objections?" Zhang Danshan glanced at her, his brows slightly furrowed, and asked calmly.

The old woman said coldly, "That little beast has so much blood on his hands, how can we let him go so easily? Besides, this person may not necessarily be Duan Jiude's disciple, after all, he has never revealed his identity. Moreover, when I saw him a few days ago, he was impersonating the prince consort of the Huoyuan Kingdom. This person might just be a fraud. Even if we kill him, if Duan Jiude comes looking for us one day, we would still be in the right."

As the words fell, everyone's expressions turned strange.

Not only did they not doubt Xu Que's identity, but they were even more convinced that Xu Que was Duan Jiude's disciple.

Assuming a false identity, isn't that exactly what Duan Jiude loves to do? It's perfectly normal for his disciple to have this hobby.

Zhang Danshan waved his hand and said, "Whether he is Senior Duan's disciple or not, I will naturally find out when he comes to Tianwu Sect tomorrow. Send someone to Panshan Village to invite him over tomorrow, and that's that."

After speaking, his figure gradually faded, like a drop of water falling on paper, slowly blurring, and finally disappearing in the council chamber.

Such magical abilities, the people had long become accustomed to them.

They also understood the meaning of Zhang Danshan's last words.

How to deal with that young man actually depends on whether he turns out to be Duan Jiude's disciple tomorrow.

If so, then of course we cannot kill.

If not, then there's nothing more to say; it is certain to die in Tianwu Sect.