When Liu Zhen learned the true identity of Jiang Feng's son, he was utterly dumbfounded.
The Young Master of Peacock Sacred Mountain — that was the most elite existence in the Upper Eight Domains! For a mere independent cultivator, that was a height he wouldn't even dare dream of!
And now, that very height, which he had never dared imagine, was right before his eyes, within arm's reach.
Liu Zhen was naturally overwhelmed with emotion, buzzing with excitement.
He knew this was a turning point in his life, the only chance he would ever have to reverse his wretched fate. If he seized this opportunity, he could rewrite his miserable story and even exact a full measure of revenge for all the humiliations he had suffered in the past!
That day, Third Master Jing suddenly rushed to find Jiang Chen in a hurry. "Young Master Shao, are you free at the moment?"
"What's going on?" Jiang Chen could see the urgency on Third Master Jing's face and knew something had happened.
"Captain Gu has run into some trouble..." Third Master Jing's tone was heavy. "He was beaten up in Frost Moon City."
Jiang Chen was startled. "Isn't Captain Gu a member of the Moon God Sect? And he's a captain of the Punishment Hall — for someone to lay hands on him would be treating the Moon God Sect's rules like they don't exist. Has the sect said anything?"
Third Master Jing gave a bitter smile and sighed. "That's exactly the problem — the person who hit him is also from the Moon God Sect."
"Where is he now? How badly is he hurt? Let's go check on him." Gu Xintang had put in tremendous effort to help Jiang Chen rescue his father, and Jiang Chen was not the kind of person to forget a debt of gratitude.
Even though this was an internal matter of the Moon God Sect and he shouldn't get too involved, the fact that Old Third Jing had come to find him meant he couldn't just sit by and do nothing.
"Should we bring the Peerless Emperor along?" Old Third Jing reminded him.
Jiang Chen understood — Third Master Jing coming to find him was really the same as going to the Peerless Great Emperor. After all, if it was a matter of fighting, and Captain Gu himself couldn't hold his own, then Old Third Jing certainly wouldn't be coming to Jiang Chen for help.
After all, on the surface, Jiang Chen's combat strength was no greater than Old Third Jing's or Gu Xintang's.
Jiang Chen nodded and walked over to the Peerless Great Emperor to relay the situation. The Peerless Great Emperor furrowed his brow. "Who did it? Young Gu is an honest sort — bullying an honest man like that?"
Old Third Jing smiled bitterly. "Around here, honest men are the easiest to bully."
As he said this, Old Third Jing actually blushed. Because he used to be one of the worst offenders when it came to picking on honest people — he'd practically made a name for himself as a bully.
If he hadn't suffered a lesson at Jiang Chen's hands that one time, Old Third Jing would probably have continued on his wayward path.
But recently, Old Third Jing had been showing real signs of turning over a new leaf. He wasn't nearly as rotten as before, and it seemed he genuinely intended to reform.
The Peerless Great Emperor was quite displeased. Gu Xintang was someone he looked upon favorably. Back in the Ten Extremes Zone, he had mentioned this before — though that was within the Black Prison Area.
In Frost Moon City, however, no one knew that Gu Xintang was someone the Peerless Great Emperor had taken a liking to.
Even so, the Peerless Great Emperor was thoroughly annoyed and angrily told Old Third Jing to lead the way.
Old Third Jing and Gu Xintang shared a deep bond. By factional alignment, they both belonged to the Azure Moon lineage. The person who had beaten Gu Xintang this time was from the Purple Moon lineage.
At the end of the day, beyond the personal grudges, there was also an element of doctrinal rivalry at play.
The Purple Moon lineage and the Azure Moon lineage were the two most prominent factions in the Moon God Sect at present. The Purple Moon lineage had the deepest reserves of heritage, while the Azure Moon lineage had produced Holy Maiden Qingxuan — widely recognized as the strongest of the current generation's holy maidens.
As a result, neither faction was willing to yield to the other.
The confrontation was taking place in a bustling area of Frost Moon City. At this moment, Gu Xintang was surrounded by a crowd at the center, and the subordinates he had brought along had already been knocked about until they could barely stand.
The people encircling Gu Xintang were clearly also enforcers of the Cold Moon Punishment Hall. However, their uniforms were slightly different from Gu Xintang's, indicating they belonged to a different squad.
A man with a hawkish nose stood with his arms crossed, directing the group that was ganging up on Gu Xintang.
Gu Xintang was obviously already injured, but he refused to submit and was fighting back with everything he had.
The hawk-nosed man sneered viciously. "Gu Xintang, I, Master Sun, warned you long ago to stay away from A-Li. Who do you think you are? Why don't you take a piss and look at yourself in the puddle — what about you is worthy of A-Li?"
Gu Xintang was being pummeled and couldn't spare the breath to respond.
But the grief and rage written all over his face made it clear just how deeply he despised this man.
"Come on, brothers, put some muscle into it! Give this punk a beating he won't forget. Unless we teach him a real lesson, he'll keep thinking I, Master Sun, am some pushover."
This hawk-nosed man was also a captain of the Cold Moon Punishment Hall — one rank above Gu Xintang, in fact. Moreover, his backing was powerful, and he had extensive connections throughout the Moon God Sect.
This had cultivated in him an exceedingly arrogant and overbearing temperament. The "A-Li" he spoke of had originally been Gu Xintang's cultivation partner. The two had been deeply in love and were on the verge of formally becoming life-and-death partners.
But then this Sun fellow had appeared out of nowhere, taken a fancy to A-Li, and without the slightest hesitation swooped in to steal her away — despite the fact that A-Li didn't have a shred of fondness for him.
However, shameless as he was, Sun harassed her relentlessly day after day.
A-Li could avoid him, but Gu Xintang and Captain Sun both served in the Cold Moon Punishment Hall and had to see each other every single day.
So every time Sun laid eyes on Gu Xintang, there was never a shortage of barbs and provocations.