You're That Lu Yang Who Even Dared to Beat Up the Judges?

Brother Zhao was a seasoned wanderer of the martial world. While the young ladies of the Ye and Wenren families were roaming the jianghu for the first time, he had already been traveling for two or three years and was rich in experience. Throughout their journey together, his ample experience had made him the big brother of the trio. Yet he never could have imagined in his wildest dreams that out of three fine sworn brothers, he would end up being the only man! If word of this got out, how was he supposed to hold his head high? Lu Yang patted Brother Zhao on the shoulder to offer some comfort. Brother Zhao didn't feel comforted in the slightest. His living corpse was better after all—it would never deceive him. With reddened eyes, Miss Ye looked at the others with lingering reluctance. "I left home with my family's permission, but they demanded that I must not reveal my identity as a woman. Once exposed, I had to return home immediately." Originally, she had thought that even if her identity were exposed, confessing her feelings to Brother Wenren would make it worthwhile. If Brother Wenren accepted her confession, she could have had him marry into the Ye family to enjoy a life of wealth and status. Now it seemed she had been dreaming far too fondly. Not only was her identity blown, forcing her to return home as promised, but her confession had also failed, rejected right on the spot. Her cheeks burned bright red. Even if her clan hadn't required her to go home, she would have been too embarrassed to remain here. The young lady of the Wenren clan wore a similar expression as she bid a reluctant farewell to everyone, her tone subdued. "I'm from the Wenren clan of Liangzhou, and my situation is much like Miss Ye's. The clan elders told me that my thumb ring was a spirit treasure of exceptional quality that could never be seen through—that my identity would only come to light if I revealed it myself. Now that I've voluntarily disclosed it, I have no choice but to go home as well." Back when Lu Yang had asked, "Which of you three is a woman disguised as a man?", her face had also drained of color. Thinking Lu Yang had pierced her disguise, she had been just about to take off the thumb ring, drop the concealment, and confess to Brother Ye. Who could have expected Brother Ye to beat her to the punch and expose herself first, leaving her a step behind? Though the outcome was much the same. The Wenren clan of Liangzhou... Lu Yang had heard a bit about them. They were an offshoot branch that had split from the Barbarian clan, changing their surname from Man to Wenren and migrating to Liangzhou. Anyone who visited the vicinity of the Western Regions would discover plenty of bronze-skinned people living there. Technically speaking, this Miss Wenren might even share distant kinship with Man Gu. "You're from the Wenren clan?" Miss Ye was surprised. As a fellow Liangzhou clan member, she naturally knew of the Wenren clan. "Yes, my name is Wenren Hui." "Would you like to head back together? We could look out for each other on the road." "That would be wonderful." "Do you need me to escort the two of you?" Brother Zhao asked. As their leader, despite having been deceived, he still possessed the magnanimity of a big brother. "No, no need!" The two women hastily declined. Having deceived him the entire journey, they felt too ashamed to trouble Brother Zhao any further. After seeing off the two young ladies, only Lu Yang, Brother Zhao, and an unresponsive living corpse remained. "Right, I haven't had the chance to introduce myself yet. I'm Lu Yang, from the Dao Seeking Sect." Shaking off the shock of the two women disguised as men, Lu Yang finally remembered he had yet to introduce himself. Brother Zhao's eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at Lu Yang. He hadn't expected the other party to have such a formidable background. No wonder he had seen through the disguises that Zhao himself had failed to notice all along. "You're from the Dao Seeking Sect?!" "Wait... Lu Yang? You're that Lu Yang who showed off his prowess at the Grand Qingzhou Festival, overpowered the contenders, snatched first place, and even beat up the judges?!" Brother Zhao was thoroughly astonished. Among the younger generation in the cultivation world these days, who hadn't heard Lu Yang's name? Disciples of the Five Great Immortal Sects already drew widespread attention, and Lu Yang's legendary exploits—fighting Foundation Establishment cultivators as a Golden Core and beating up the judges—made it impossible not to take notice. Lu Yang had spent recent times purely focused on cultivation without leaving the Dao Seeking Sect; otherwise, he would have realized long ago that the outside world was abuzz with discussions about him and Meng Jingzhou. "Hold on, what do you mean I even dared to beat up the judges...? Though, come to think of it, that's not technically wrong either." He had clearly been challenging fellow chosen talents of the immortal sects. How on earth had the rumor morphed into him beating up the judges as it spread? Who started this rumor? Such a masterstroke of defamation! "Senior Brother Lu might not have heard of me. I am Zhao Po of the Corpse Driving Sect," Zhao Po said modestly. He was considered exceptionally talented among the younger generation, but compared to Lu Yang, he still fell somewhat short. "I just heard about you recently—number two of the Corpse Driving Sect." Lu Yang recalled the largely useless intel he had purchased at the chamber of commerce: the Corpse Driving Sect's grand competition had concluded, with the winner being Huang Ming, newly eighteen years old at the early Golden Core stage, who had been taken in as a closed-door disciple by the Corpse Driving Sect Master; in second place was Zhao Po, newly eighteen, also at the early Golden Core stage. "Second place in the sect competition," Zhao Po corrected. "Same thing. Come, my brother Meng Jingzhou is up ahead. You've probably heard of him," Lu Yang said with a smile. Meeting someone from the Corpse Driving Sect here was an unexpected stroke of luck that would save a lot of trouble. Zhao Po's eyes lit up. He never imagined that a random passerby pulled from the roadside would turn out to be the wildly renowned Lu Yang, and that the equally famous Meng Jingzhou was waiting just behind him. Even if his own little squad had dissolved the moment Lu Yang showed up. "Aren't high-level experts clashing up ahead? Can we get through?" "What clashing? Old Meng got cursed so that all women are driven away from him! That's why you guys couldn't make any progress!" Lu Yang found the tragic situation so absurd that he burst out laughing. Zhao Po was visibly taken aback by such a curse. "A curse like that actually exists? Did Seven Emotions Valley cast it? No, that can't be right—how would Seven Emotions Valley dare curse someone from your Dao Seeking Sect?" "It's a bit complicated to explain. We came to Huangzhou specifically hoping to resolve this issue." The two made their way over to the carriage. The rain had ceased, giving way to clear skies. Meng Jingzhou had already completely cleared the road blocked by the mudslide, and was now happily feasting away with his grilling gear out. "Haha, Old Meng, I'm back! I ran into quite a few adventures along the way. What's that? You're asking what happened? Well, let me give you the full breakdown!" Without waiting to see if Meng Jingzhou had actually asked, Lu Yang launched straight into his tale. "Let me tell you, it's a real shame you didn't go. Right after setting out, I came across two noble young ladies who had been kidnapped. I stepped in, played the hero saving the beauties, and they insisted on giving themselves to me in marriage! Then I ran into a female martial artist whose escort cargo was being ambushed. I rescued her, and she was so grateful she dropped heavy hints for me to come marry her at the escort agency. After that, I stumbled upon a martial contest to win a bride—and honestly, the young lady was quite a looker! "Once I reached the nearby city, I saw an obnoxious young master harassing a woman in the street. Could I let that slide? Of course not! I intervened decisively, beat up the young scoundrel, beat up the elders who backed him, and brought their whole family thoroughly to heel. The rescued woman said she couldn't possibly repay my great kindness, so she insisted on marrying me too! "Can you believe how eventful this whole trip was? Wouldn't you say so, Old Meng?" Lu Yang shook his head with an air of lingering satisfaction. Meng Jingzhou's eyes turned red with jealousy. Zhao Po kept quiet off to the side, contemplating whether he should stand by as a spectator or step in to help if the two started fighting in a moment. He had heard both were at the early Golden Core stage, and he was at early Golden Core as well. If they really came to blows, he ought to be able to pull them apart... right?