"Aren't you a bit too harsh? He's only about fifteen minutes late, surely he doesn't deserve death for it?" he said.

Liu Xing's words were motivated by a mixture of personal and moral reasons. He had taken a liking to Chu Zen and appreciated the boy's helpfulness in providing him with information. Besides, he didn't agree with the extreme punishment proposed for such a minor infraction. While he understood the importance of punctuality, the threat of death over a fifteen-minute delay seemed grossly unfair. He knew that he was potentially putting himself in danger by speaking out, but he couldn't stand by and watch someone who had helped him be treated so unfairly.

Shen Ye glared at Liu Xing. "Who are you? How dare you talk to me so casually?"

"My name is Liu Xing. I'm no one special in the sect, and you're no one special either. We're both outer disciples with the same status. If you're thinking about status, then I'm a senior outer sect disciple, so you should show me some respect."

Shen Ye snorted. "Hmph! We are not equal. My name is Shen Ye, and soon I will be an inner disciple. Senior disciple, you say? This Purple Moon Sect is great, but greatness starts as an inner disciple. A talentless person who stays in the outer sect is mere trash compared to me!"

"Is that so? But in reality, you're still an outer disciple, so by your logic, you're also trash."

Liu Xing honestly didn't think that Shen Ye was trash. After all, Shen Ye was younger than him and already at the seventh stage of the Lock Opening realm. A seventh stage cultivator in the outer sect was among the best, and Shen Ye's promotion to inner disciple was just a matter of time. That was why the disciples guarding the gate didn't dare to speak, let alone intervene. But with his gun, a promotion to inner disciple was also just a matter of time for him, and while Shen Ye's cultivation was higher, Liu Xing was confident he wouldn't be defeated by him.

"You dare to defy me, a prince of the Phoenix Empire?" Shen Ye growled.

"I dare. After all, that status is meaningless here. More importantly, this kid, Chu Zen, is just a mortal, and he's only fifteen minutes late. Trying to kill someone for that little thing is going too far."

"Hmph! Don't you understand how precious time is? A war can be lost if a messenger is five minutes late, let alone fifteen."

"But we're not at war, are we?"

"My life is war!" Shen Ye growled. "My fifteen minutes are more valuable than his fifteen lives."

Liu Xing's lips formed a tight line. In this world, he understood that a cultivator would consider himself superior to mortals. After all, cultivators had long lifespans; some could even live forever. But he didn't believe that a cultivator had the right to kill a mortal without justification, and he still thought that Chu Zen's lateness was not a crime punishable by death. "Look, if you spend your time arguing, you will waste even more of your time. Surely it would be faster to let this matter go than to try to kill him."

"That's because you are in my way."

"And I will stand between you and this kid forever if you try to lay a hand on him." Liu Xing turned his head to Chu Zen, who was pale and wide-eyed. "Chu Zen, your delivery is complete. Leave and never show your face in front of Shen Ye again."

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Chu Zen froze for a moment, then bowed, said "Thank you!" so fast the words were almost gibberish, and bolted.

Shen Ye glared at Liu Xing. "This means you are the one who takes responsibility for his mistake."

Liu Xing began to think about how to resolve this dispute. His main goal was to protect Chu Zen, and probably his family as well. While Shen Ye was blaming Liu Xing right now, there was still a possibility that Shen Ye still wanted to punish Chu Zen. So he had to ensure that Shen Ye completely forgot about Chu Zen, and the only thing he could think of in that short time was to make sure that Shen Ye became more enraged at him than at Chu Zen. This was actually a terrible choice but still a choice he intended to choose, though.

"You know, I think this whole thing is kind of fishy. You take the trouble to go down to a small town, visit a store owned and operated by mortals, and order just one sack of ordinary rice. It's as if you were trying to trick Chu Zen into delivering that rice, knowing that he would be late."

Shen Ye snorted. "I went to his shop because it was the first shop I saw in that small town, and when I ordered the rice and asked if he could deliver it on time, he said he could. There's nothing more or less to it."

Liu Xing grabbed the sack of rice from the ground and shoved it at Shen Ye. "Then here is your precious rice. I delivered it."

Shen Ye's face became red, and he vibrated as if he would explode. "What's your name?" he whispered.

"Liu Xing."

"All right, Liu Xing, it seems you want to die!"

"I don't want to die, actually. And we're on sect grounds. Killing other disciples is prohibited."

"We're not. The gate is still behind me." He pointed to his back.

Liu Xing nodded, activated his lightning cloak, and moved. The world suddenly blurred, and now, instead of being face to face with Shen Ye, he stood behind the gate with Shen Ye several meters in front of him.

"I'm on sect grounds now, so the rules apply."

When he said that, the two guards who stood beside the gate flinched and suddenly turned around with eyes wide and mouths open wide, as if they were seeing something truly incredible. Shen Ye turned around too, and while his expression was still angry, there was a hint of caution and calculation in his eyes. "I've killed other disciples on sect grounds before. You think I wouldn't do it again?"

"I don't doubt it, but let's just make this official. I challenge you to a duel. If I win, you will let this matter about Chu Zen slide," he said.

"But what if I win?" he asked.

"Well, what do you want? I'm broke. My sect points are in the negative. If you want a favor, then I'll give you one if you win."

He snorted. "I don't need your favor."

"So you don't want to duel then?"

Shen Ye was silent for a moment, regarding Liu Xing with serious eyes. Liu Xing guessed there must be a little doubt in his heart. After all, he was in the sixth stage, while Shen Ye was at the seventh stage. Normally, people with a lower realm wouldn't dare to challenge someone in a higher realm. The ones who did so either had strong backing or an ace up their sleeve to win a fight.

"All right, I, Shen Ye, accept your challenge. Tomorrow when the sun sets, I will wait for you at the arena in training ground one. If you win, I'll let this matter slide and won't harm that mortal or his family. But if I win, you will lick my shoes a hundred times and then cripple your cultivation. How about it?"

Shen Ye smirked, as if he already knew that Liu Xing would lose.

He realized that this duel had no favorable outcome for him. If he won, he would get nothing, and if he lost, he would lose everything. And all of this was just because of a mortal kid. In the corner of his heart, he thought that maybe backpedaling and abandoning Chu Zen was the most logical thing to do. But he didn't want to. Before he met Nui, he would have prioritized his own life, and everything else was secondary, but meeting Nui and getting the gun was a life-changing event. He would never forget his main goal, which was to defeat the darkness in this world, but he also wouldn't forget Joni's question.

What did he want to do? He wanted to be a legend. And no legend was ever born from someone who backed down and regretted his actions because he was afraid. True, this duel wouldn't immediately make him a legend, but he thought if he backpedaled now, then later, when hard times came, he would choose the easy way.

"Then it's decided. We will fight."

Shen Ye gave a small smirk. He couldn't decide what the meaning of this smirk was. Was he mocking Liu Xing, impressed by him, or just thinking that he was foolish? Either way, he understood that he needed to win tomorrow's battle to ensure his legend would be born.

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