Chapter 98

"Long Ao, why are you here?"

Zhou Xinghe's face darkened, sensing something was amiss. Among all the inner disciples, the one he feared the most was Long Ao. Despite Long Ao's carefree appearance, no one doubted his strength.

Long Ao wasn't much older, around eighteen, while Zhou Xinghe was already in his late twenties. In the past, Zhou Xinghe was the senior disciple, but he was first defeated by the current second senior sister, and then by Long Ao, relegating him to the third senior disciple.

"If I don't show up, some people's tails might just reach the sky. Now, I want you to say it yourself: among the inner disciples, are you the boss, or am I the boss?"

If Zhou Xinghe was previously very assertive, then Long Ao was somewhat of a troublemaker. In the entire inner sect, perhaps only Long Ao dared to be a troublemaker to Zhou Xinghe. If it were anyone else, they would have been dealt with long ago.

"Don't be unreasonable. We've always kept to ourselves. Why are you causing trouble for me?"

Even though Zhou Xinghe had the greatest influence among the inner disciples, he didn't dare to do anything to Long Ao. Long Ao was a freak of nature. As the saying goes, two fists can't fight four hands, and a hero can't withstand a crowd, but Long Ao broke this rule.

In the past, Zhou Xinghe controlled the largest faction among the inner disciples, and a conflict arose with Long Ao over an incident. At the time, they fought, but Zhou Xinghe was no match for Long Ao and was naturally defeated.

After that, Zhou Xinghe, to avenge his defeat, gathered many inner disciples. He thought that if one person couldn't defeat Long Ao, surely a group could. He even considered using a sea of people to overwhelm Long Ao.

Unfortunately, reality was cruel, and Zhou Xinghe could never forget that battle. He thought that having more people would be effective, but Long Ao showed him the power of a single person, comparable to a thousand soldiers. Even if Zhou Xinghe brought twice as many people, they were still no match for Long Ao.

"Brother, didn't I tell you? If anyone dares to bully you, just mention my name, and I'll scare them into peeing their pants!"

Last time, Long Ao did say that, but Ling Dao didn't take it to heart. In Ling Dao's mind, he never thought of relying on others. He had a token given to him by Deputy Sect Leader Zhuang Xin, but he never used it.

"Senior Brother called that guy a brother?"

"Could he be Senior Brother's brother?"

"No wonder he's so arrogant. With Senior Brother as his backer, he can indeed act without restraint in the inner sect!"

"Who would dare to go against Senior Brother? He is the top disciple in the entire inner sect!"

Many inner disciples still knew about the past. Even when Zhou Xinghe led a group to deal with Long Ao, he returned defeated. In terms of personal strength, Long Ao was undoubtedly the best in the inner sect.

Even many of the elders of the Sky-Splitting Sword Sect gave Long Ao some face. They had all witnessed his strength. Even the sect leader of the Sky-Splitting Sword Sect praised Long Ao, saying he would surely become a Sky-Soaring Realm martial artist.

"He and you are brothers?"

Zhou Xinghe's brows furrowed tightly. If Ling Dao was related to Long Ao, this matter would be truly difficult. Even if he opposed the elders, Zhou Xinghe didn't want to oppose Long Ao, as this guy was simply a freak.

"That's right. You bullied my brother, so I can't just ignore it!"

Even Ling Dao didn't expect that Long Ao would stand up for him at this moment. He and Long Ao had only met once, and it was under those circumstances. He never thought that Long Ao would come to his aid in his time of need.

"Let's do this: apologize to my brother and compensate him with a low-grade sword artifact, and we'll consider this matter settled!"

The inner disciples watching from a distance were even more stunned. A low-grade sword artifact was extremely valuable, but in Long Ao's mouth, it was like a common cabbage. Using Ling Dao as a pretext to openly extort Zhou Xinghe, only Long Ao could do such a thing in the entire inner sect.

"Long Ao, don't go too far! This kid first injured my brother, then my subordinates, and now he has severely injured another subordinate and disrespected me. You want me to apologize to him? Why should I?"

Zhou Xinghe's words clearly showed some retreat. Ling Dao couldn't help but sigh; in this world, strength was paramount. To talk about reason, one's fists had to be strong. Zhou Xinghe didn't show any reason to Ling Dao, but he didn't dare to do so to Long Ao.

"Why should I? Because I'm stronger than you. What, do you want to fight?"

Having been a disciple of the Sky-Splitting Sword Sect for so long, Long Ao knew Zhou Xinghe all too well. Zhou Xinghe must have attacked Ling Dao first, and then Ling Dao defended himself. Now, Zhou Xinghe was the first to complain, which was truly ridiculous.

Moreover, for Long Ao, the details of the incident and the truth didn't matter. If he felt that Ling Dao was a good match, he was willing to befriend him. If he didn't like Zhou Xinghe, he was willing to cause trouble for him. It was that simple.

If Long Ao were to argue, Zhou Xinghe had absolute confidence in making him speechless. Unfortunately, a scholar meeting a soldier can't reason. Zhou Xinghe not only lacked reason but also encountered a troublemaker like Long Ao, making any argument useless.

"How can a mere True Qi Realm martial artist make me apologize? Are you joking?"

Given Zhou Xinghe's status, he would never do such a thing. He hadn't fought Long Ao for over a year, and he didn't know how strong Long Ao was now. In the past year, his strength had improved greatly, and perhaps he could defeat Long Ao.

"You must apologize, or I'll cut off your ten fingers! You'll never be able to practice swordsmanship again!"

Previously, Long Ao always had a carefree appearance, but now he was extremely cold. Once he became serious, he exuded an extremely terrifying aura. He was like an ancient beast, ready to devour, terrifying and deep!

"It seems that kid really is Senior Brother's brother; otherwise, why would Senior Brother be so serious?"

"Today was worth it. I saw Third Senior Brother in action earlier, and now I might see a battle between Senior Brother and Third Senior Brother. I'm incredibly excited!"

All the disciples present were excited and agitated. The final battle between Long Ao and Zhou Xinghe would surely be spectacular. If they could witness it, it would be a great fortune. They wished Long Ao and Zhou Xinghe would start fighting immediately, so they could feast their eyes.

"Long Ao, don't go too far!"

Zhou Xinghe's face became increasingly grim, and he gritted his teeth.