Nine Heavens Martial Emperor

As Lin Hao headed for the second floor of the Scripture Pavilion, the disciple who had just attacked him on the first floor was complaining to the guards.

"Guards, I have a report! Someone is breaking the rules and has gone up to the second floor of the Scripture Pavilion without permission."

The Heaven-Stepping Sect had a rule: trespassing in the Scripture Pavilion would result in severe consequences.

Minor offenders would be expelled from the sect. Major offenders would have their cultivation crippled and be enslaved to the sect for life.

Lin Hao had not only snuck into the Scripture Pavilion with a shabby wooden token, but he’d also gone to the second floor. This was a grave offense.

He thought about how Du Ping of Celestial Dui Peak, the Ten Great Vajras, and even Zhou Wu had all tried and failed to get Lin Hao expelled from the sect. The disciple’s face lit up with excitement at the thought that he could easily succeed where they had failed.

He was already daydreaming about the scene: Qin Tianlong, in front of everyone on Celestial Dui Peak, announcing that he would be accepted as his new Closed-door Disciple.

However, the guards’ reaction was not what he expected.

"Oh? What’s his name?" one of the guards asked nonchalantly, without a hint of the fury the disciple had anticipated.

"His name is Lin Hao, an insignificant—"

"Silence!" The guard cut him off before he could finish. Then, narrowing his eyes, he asked, "Do you know why we just threw that other disciple out?"

"N-no, I don’t."

"Because he offended Lin Hao!"

"Ah, Guards, I was only trying to help the sect... uh... I’ll be taking my leave now." The disciple was sharp enough to get the hint. He turned and bolted, wishing he’d been born with more than two legs.

As the main character of this incident, Lin Hao was naturally unaware of this little interlude.

He had already reached the second floor of the Scripture Pavilion.

All the disciples on the second floor gave him strange looks when he appeared.

Lin Hao paid them no mind and began browsing the shelves on his own.

As always, he flipped through the books at an incredible speed.

Some disciples looked on with contempt.

But unlike the disciples on the first floor who kept their disdain to themselves, these Inner Sect Disciples made no effort to hide it. Some even began to whisper among themselves.

"Look at that. The ’Chief Disciple’ is here at the Scripture Pavilion, trying to make his presence felt."

"If you ask me, he’s just putting on an act. At that speed, I doubt he’s even reading the titles."

...

Lin Hao turned a deaf ear to them and continued on his way.

Before long, Lin Hao had already finished browsing three entire shelves.

As he approached the fourth shelf and was about to pick up a martial arts manual, a hand shot out and snatched it away.

Lin Hao frowned and looked up to see a familiar face.

"Scared by Senior Brother Qin’s challenge, were you? And now you’ve run off to the Scripture Pavilion to pick out a martial art?" The newcomer taunted, waving the manual in his hand.

Lin Hao didn’t reply. He simply turned to grab another manual.

But that one, too, was snatched from his grasp.

Lin Hao’s frown deepened, but he still said nothing.

"My, my. Now that you’re the Chief Disciple, you don’t even recognize old acquaintances? It’s me, Chu Sheng," the man chattered on.

Lin Hao treated him like a buzzing fly, waving his hand dismissively before walking away.

Chu Sheng had been in an excellent mood.

Although Lin Hao had defeated him with a single finger on the God-Proving Platform, Chu Sheng had used his connections to become Qin Tianlong’s Closed-door Disciple.

For the past few days, he had been training diligently, hoping to avenge that single-finger defeat.

Just yesterday, he had awakened his bloodline in the Regeneration Pool.

His first thought had been to seek revenge on Lin Hao.

But after hearing about Lin Hao’s recent accomplishments, Chu Sheng had second thoughts.

Today, Qin Tianlong had returned in a furious rage, but Chu Sheng, with his silver tongue, had managed to calm him down in no time.

Once Qin Tianlong’s mood improved, he had actually lent his personal token to Chu Sheng.

With the token in hand, Chu Sheng had immediately rushed to the Scripture Pavilion.

On the way, he happened to run into a senior brother returning from the Pavilion. After a brief inquiry, Chu Sheng was overjoyed.

Someone had gotten to the second floor of the Scripture Pavilion with just a shabby wooden token, and the guards had even turned a blind eye.

Hearing this, Chu Sheng grew excited.

He had been wracking his brain for a way to deal with Lin Hao.

Tossing the golden token in his hand, Chu Sheng raced to the Scripture Pavilion.

He found Lin Hao easily enough, only to be ignored time and time again. Chu Sheng was not pleased.

Lin Hao’s fly-swatting gesture, in particular, had infuriated him.

He saw Lin Hao’s gaze fix on a book, his eyes suddenly lighting up as he reached for it. Chu Sheng immediately snatched the manual Lin Hao had been eyeing.

Chu Sheng brandished the manual, ready to taunt Lin Hao, but what Lin Hao did next nearly made him lose his mind with rage.

Lin Hao’s outstretched hand didn’t go for the shelf at all. Instead, he used it to scratch the back of his head.

Then, Lin Hao stared at Chu Sheng as if he were looking at an idiot.

The smile on Chu Sheng’s face instantly froze, and his face turned beet red.

’Dammit, Lin Hao played me again!’

Now, Chu Sheng was utterly livid.

He whipped out the golden token, flashed it in Lin Hao’s face, and snarled:

"Lin Hao! You lost your nerve after Senior Brother Qin’s challenge, so you came running to the Scripture Pavilion for a new martial art, huh? Open your damn eyes and look! This is a golden token! Do you understand what that means? Compared to that shabby wooden thing of yours, this gives me priority over every manual here! With me around, I’d like to see you pick anything!"

Without waiting for a response, he tossed the manual aside and continued his tirade. "My golden token gets me up to the third floor, where the martial arts are leagues better than anything down here. How about this? You get on your knees and beg me. If I’m in a good mood, maybe I’ll go up and pick a few out for you!"

For the first time, Lin Hao looked Chu Sheng straight in the eye and coldly uttered a single word: "Idiot."

"What?! Idiot? You dare call me an idiot! Are you fucking blind?!" Chu Sheng went berserk, raising his hand to slap Lin Hao across the face.

SLAP!

A crisp slap echoed through the room.

Lin Hao stood motionless, his expression unchanged.

But it was Chu Sheng, the one who had thrown the slap, who was clutching his own face in disbelief.

He spun around, roaring in frustration and rage, "Dammit! Who?! Who the hell dares to hit me?!"

The slap hadn’t come from Lin Hao, but from behind him.

SLAP!

The moment he turned, another slap landed on his face.

This one was terribly heavy, sending Chu Sheng spinning around twice on the spot.

Before he could even steady himself, his attacker struck again with a backhand slap.

After three slaps, Chu Sheng was completely dazed.

Clutching his face and seeing stars, it took him a long moment to regain his senses.

Only then did he finally get a clear look at his assailant.

Before him stood a disciple who was utterly filthy. His clothes were covered in dust, and his disheveled hair obscured his face.

Everyone on the second floor of the Scripture Pavilion was an Inner Sect Disciple, so Chu Sheng wasn’t afraid.

Seeing the state of his attacker, Chu Sheng clutched his swollen face and roared, "Dammit! What kind of fucking lunatic are you? How dare you hit me! You’re dead today!"

The fact that an Inner Sect Disciple dared to slap him filled Chu Sheng with a murderous rage; he felt the urge to kill.

Just then, the "lunatic" he was yelling at slowly pushed his hair back, revealing his face.

"S-Senior Brother Wu Kui." Suddenly, Chu Sheng’s eyes went wide, and he could barely get the words out.

Of course, Chu Sheng knew Wu Kui. Before joining the Heaven-Stepping Sect, he hadn’t feared him, as he was unaware of Wu Kui’s true identity.

But upon entering the Heaven-Stepping Sect and learning who Wu Kui was, Chu Sheng understood that if Wu Kui wished it, crushing him would be as easy as squashing an ant.

Now that he knew his attacker was Wu Kui, all the fight went out of Chu Sheng.

He dared to act arrogantly in front of Lin Hao because he believed Lin Hao had no backing. But the person standing behind Wu Kui was the Sect Leader of the Heaven-Stepping Sect.

"Do you know why I hit you?" Wu Kui asked with a grin.

Chu Sheng lowered his head and answered weakly, "I know. I shouldn’t have been shouting in the Scripture Pavilion."

SLAP!

The slap landed the instant the words left his mouth.

"Wrong. Try again."

Chu Sheng was on the verge of tears. "I... I shouldn’t have cursed at you."

SLAP!

Another slap.

"Still wrong. Again."

"I... I shouldn’t have been bothering Lin Hao."

SLAP!

Yet another slap.

"Congratulations, you got it right."

Clutching his face, which was now swollen like a pig’s head, Chu Sheng protested weakly, looking pitiful. "But I got it right... why did you still hit me?"

"Heh, force of habit," Wu Kui said with a malicious grin.

Chu Sheng was beyond tears.

"Senior Brother Wu Kui, I... can I go now?"

Wu Kui didn’t answer, looking instead to Lin Hao.

If Lin Hao still wasn’t satisfied, Wu Kui wouldn’t even mind twisting Chu Sheng’s head off.

"S-Senior Brother Lin Hao, please, just think of me as a fart and let me go." After so many slaps, Chu Sheng’s only thought was to get away from this place.

There was no way he could reclaim his dignity today. His only option was to hurry back to Celestial Dui Peak and ask Qin Tianlong to stand up for him.

"Your legs are your own. Why are you asking me for permission to leave?" Lin Hao said with a grin. "If anyone should be begging, it’s me. I can’t get to the third floor without that golden token. Why don’t you lead the way?"

"Keep the golden token! You keep it!" Chu Sheng took out the token and held it out with trembling hands, as if it were a hot potato. Then he turned and fled.

As he ran, he stepped on the manual he had thrown away earlier. His foot slipped, and he went down, flat on his face.

Scrambling back to his feet, Chu Sheng once again cursed the fact that he only had two legs.

Once the annoying fly was gone, the previously imperious Wu Kui instantly transformed into a docile little lamb in front of Lin Hao.

"Grandmaster... I mean, Senior Brother, I’m sorry. I was a step too late. You were almost wronged," Wu Kui said, his face a mask of terror.

The thought of what might have happened if he’d been any later caused cold sweat to instantly drench his robes.

He had clearly lost his composure in front of Lin Hao. It wasn’t as if a mere Chu Sheng could have caused any real trouble, even if he hadn’t shown up.

’To be honest, I preferred the old Wu Kui,’ Lin Hao thought. ’I’m really not used to him acting like this.’

"It’s fine. I’m just browsing. Don’t mind me, go on with your business," Lin Hao said, shaking his head. He hadn’t taken the incident to heart at all.

Hearing this, Wu Kui breathed a sigh of relief, and his eyes immediately lit up.

"I’m not busy, Senior Brother. Besides, I came here specifically to find some martial arts for you. I just searched the entire third floor and found a few. You should go take a look."

’Wu Taichu had previously found some martial arts for him as well, but he had refused without even looking. To be honest, a part of him still regretted that.’

’Now Wu Kui had gone to such lengths to pick out manuals for him... it would be rude not to at least take a look.’

So, Lin Hao followed Wu Kui toward the third floor.

But as soon as he set foot on the stairs, he ran into more trouble.