Chapter 44

Lin Yiming finally saw a familiar figure among the crowd that had come to recruit disciples in his village.

"Senior Brother Song Liang."

Lin Yiming quickly walked up to the person, calling out his name with joy. Senior Brother Song Liang was one of the few people in the sect who had the best relationship with him. Song Liang had entered the sect in the same year as him, just a little earlier, so he called him Senior Brother. At first, when he was still a genius, he had taken good care of Song Liang.

Later, when he became just another ordinary person, even being called a good-for-nothing, Senior Brother Song Liang still remembered the kindness he had shown and continued to take good care of him.

He never thought he would see Senior Brother Song Liang today.

Song Liang looked at the smiling man in front of him, and his face instantly lit up with joy: "Yiming, it's you! Right, I remember now, you are from this village. I didn't expect that after half a year, we would meet again as master and disciple."

"Really didn't expect it. But, Senior Brother Song Liang, what are you doing here? Did you also join the Wan Kong Sect? What's going on?" Lin Yiming quickly noticed that Song Liang was wearing the same clothes as Lu Tao and Sun Bao.

Hearing Lin Yiming's words, Song Liang's eyes dimmed, and he sighed. He pulled Lin Yiming to a secluded place, shaking his head and sighing: "It's a long story. Our Shuiyao Sect no longer exists."

"No longer exists? What do you mean?"

Song Liang's somewhat tanned face turned silent for a moment. After a long time, he opened his mouth as if gathering his strength, and sighed: "The Shuiyao Sect was wiped out, by the Wan Kong Sect. To be honest, it was our Shuiyao Sect's bad luck. The Wan Kong Sect is a much stronger sect than ours. It's said that their sect's patriarch is a Thousand Realm giant.

It seems that the Thousand Realm giant's lifespan is almost up, so he wants to expand the influence and resources of the Wan Kong Sect before he dies. So they started attacking the surrounding sects, and our Shuiyao Sect was the first to be attacked."

"This..." Lin Yiming had already heard from Sun Bao that his sect had been wiped out. Now, hearing it from Song Liang's own mouth, he still felt a sense of sorrow. The Shuiyao Sect was actually wiped out like that. He had originally planned to join the Shuiyao Sect. But if his master were still around...

Thinking of his master, who had always been good to him, Lin Yiming asked anxiously: "How are you doing now in the Wan Kong Sect? And what about my master? Where is he?"

"We? What can we, the defeated, do? Almost all those who resisted in the Shuiyao Sect were killed, and those who surrendered have no status in the sect. The current sect is very chaotic. The ones who are thriving are those who are good at flattering and fawning.

I am from a simple farming family. Everything I have is from the Shuiyao Sect, and I feel guilty towards it. The Wan Kong Sect is the one who destroyed my sect, yet I joined them. But I had no choice. I'm not just one person. If I were alone and had no ties, I would have fled with your master and the deputy sect leader long ago. Even if I didn't flee, I wouldn't have joined the Wan Kong Sect.

But I have the villagers, my parents, brothers, and sisters. For the sake of my village, I must stay in the Wan Kong Sect. Only by staying in the Wan Kong Sect can my village avoid being bullied by other villages."

"You can't be blamed for that." Lin Yiming sighed deeply. He understood Song Liang's situation. They had become good friends because of their similar backgrounds. Like him, Song Liang was from a small village. After becoming a disciple of the Shuiyao Sect, his village gradually became prosperous.

It's easy to imagine that if Song Liang left the sect, the same fate that befell his village would likely befall Song Liang's village. So, for the sake of his village, Song Liang had to stay in the sect he hated.

Song Liang, feeling understood by Lin Yiming, continued after a while: "As for your master, the sect leader was killed by the Thousand Realm giant of the Wan Kong Sect. Your master and the deputy sect leader, despite being heavily injured, managed to escape with a few uncles and fellow disciples. It's said that they are trying to leave and go to another country."

Lin Yiming's heart tightened when he heard that his master was heavily injured, but he felt relieved when he heard that his master was still alive: "You said they are going to another country. Do you know where?" Lin Yiming continued to ask.

"I don't know. Yiming, are you going to look for your master? That's not realistic. You know how vast the Great Peng Dynasty is. Even if we just talk about the Great Qi Kingdom, it's vast. Even if you walk for several years, you might not even leave the Great Qi Kingdom, let alone knowing where your master is going."

Song Liang sighed: "If I knew where they were going, I would have followed them long ago. The current sect is too chaotic. Unfortunately, in such a vast Great Qi Kingdom, where can we find your master and the deputy sect leader? I've heard that if you can enter the Qi King Academy, you can buy information inside the academy, which might tell you where your master is. After all, the Qi King Academy is the largest academy in the Great Qi Kingdom, and even the Qi King supports it. But the Qi King Academy is not a place we can aspire to enter."

"Qi King Academy..." Lin Yiming looked into the distance. If he could enter the Qi King Academy, he could find out where his master was. He must enter the Qi King Academy.

However, he didn't know where the Qi King Academy was. Many people knew of the existence of the Qi King Academy, but few knew its true location.

Logically, a Thousand Realm giant should know where the Qi King Academy is. He knew one Thousand Realm giant, the president of the auction house.

But how could he meet a Thousand Realm giant just because he wanted to?

When he went to say goodbye, the president didn't even see him. Perhaps he could seek out the people from the Appraisal Alliance. Elder Qin and the others were knowledgeable and might know where the Qi King Academy is.

But before he went, he needed to say goodbye to his sister and the villagers.

Lin Yiming thought about this and turned around, but his brows furrowed again when he saw Lu Tao and the others approaching.

"Great genius Lin, what are you doing here?" Lu Tao deliberately teased, and Zhu Feng immediately chimed in: "Do we even need to ask? Great genius Lin, you want to return to our sect. No, I should say, the former great genius Lin."

"That's right, the former great genius, now a good-for-nothing. But I see this good-for-nothing still has some ideas." Wang Lei walked up to stand directly in front of Lin Yiming, arms crossed, looking at him like a common dog they could play with, his eyes full of mockery.

"You've been standing here, not moving, definitely because you've seen that our sect has changed and become stronger, so you want to join us."

"That makes sense." Zhu Feng nodded, pretending to be profound: "The Wan Kong Sect is much stronger than the former Shuiyao Sect. I think the former great genius Lin fell because of some reasons. Perhaps, if you join the Wan Kong Sect and get the sect's resources, you might rise again and become the genius you once were!"

"That makes sense, really makes sense. Great genius Lin, is that what you're thinking?" Lu Tao pretended to sigh and shook his head: "But it's not that easy to join the sect now. However, since you were once our fellow disciple, we can't just ignore you. How about this: if you crawl under our legs and bark three times like a dog, we'll recommend you to the sect. What do you think?"

As Lu Tao spoke, the three of them spread their legs in unison, looking at Lin Yiming with mocking smiles, laughing: "Maybe, with your talent, you could even cultivate to the Wu Dao Ling Xin stage after rejoining the sect. Then, we would have to rely on Brother Lin to tie our shoes. But before that, Great genius Lin, you need to bark like a dog and crawl under our legs."

Lin Yiming's smiling face gradually turned cold. These three were really outrageous. The sect had been wiped out, yet they still came out to show off. He didn't want to argue with them, but they kept纠缠.

"Hmph, you still dare to call yourself a former member of the Shuiyao Sect and appear in front of so many people. I really admire your courage. To be a person like you, with no self-respect, no sense of shame, and no conscience, is truly difficult!"

A faint trace of anger appeared on Lin Yiming's handsome face as he stared at the three coldly: "What you three were like, you know very well. You are just ordinary children from rural areas. Without the sect to teach you martial arts, you would be nothing.

But when the sect was in trouble, even if you didn't die in battle, you could have escaped, right? But you stayed and became captives. As captives, you not only felt no shame but even took pride in it, fawning and groveling before the people of the Wan Kong Sect, and now you strut around outside. People like you don't deserve to be called human.

Even beasts know to repay kindness and save their masters. You are even worse than beasts! I don't want to waste my time talking to scum like you. I'm afraid it would taint me!"

With that, Lin Yiming turned and walked back to the village. He really didn't want to talk to such scum.

"Brat, you're really asking for it!"

Lu Tao and the others were filled with anger. To be spoken to like that in front of so many people, how could they continue in the sect? How could they save face after this?

"This brat must be taught a lesson, to show him our power!" Lu Tao glared at Lin Yiming's retreating back and said fiercely.

"Not just a lesson, I want to kill him!" Zhu Feng, the most impulsive of the three, clenched his fists, making a cracking sound.

"Zhu Feng, don't be impulsive. We can't act now, at least not let others know it was us." Wang Lei, hearing this, quickly covered Zhu Feng's mouth, looking around cautiously, and then whispered: "A few children from their village were recently recruited by the sect. We can't openly punish him, but when no one is around, we can do whatever we want to him!"

"Good, then tonight, we'll sneak into their village and give this brat a good lesson."