The flames of anger instantly blazed through Tang Jie’s body.
Gu Changqing!
How could you do such a thing?
Tang Jie stared at Gu Changqing, no longer hiding the light of hatred in his eyes.
He knew why Gu Changqing had suddenly mentioned this.
He wanted to provoke Tang Jie into admitting that he was Tang Jiye.
Even though he had had the people from Anyang come to confirm his identity, Gu Changqing still wanted to confirm who he was through his own methods.
From a certain perspective, it was even more reliable than those witnesses.
This was even more reason that he had to restrain himself.
But no matter how he restrained himself, the seething flames uncontrollably erupted from the depths of his heart and burned up his body.
His emotions made it almost impossible for him to control himself.
At this moment, someone shouted.
“Beast!”
Cai Junyang’s roar exploded in everyone’s ears.
Whoosh!
He pointed at Gu Changqing and roared, “Gu Changqing, are you even human? Digging up graves and destroying bodies is something reviled by both gods and man!”
It wasn’t just hatred that would make people take leave of their senses.
Fury against evil actions would also make people stand up.
Gu Changqing hadn’t expected that, right when he was about to succeed at provoking Tang Jie, Cai Junyang would jump out first.
He was slightly taken aback.
A moment later, Liu Hongyan, Ping Jingyue, Shu Mingyang, Li Yijing, and Yang Zhiyuan also stared furiously at him.
Liu Hongyan remarked, “What crime did the villagers of Little River Village commit? To be first slaughtered by bandits and then have their grave dug up? If you want to investigate Tang Jiye, investigate him, but what point is there in dragging in innocent people, not even letting people keep their bodies intact in death?”
Ping Jingyue angrily commented, “Hunting dogs will be hunting dogs, devoid of any humanity.”
The students all criticized Gu Changqing, probably believing that since they couldn’t beat Gu Changqing with their strength, they might as well scold him with their tongues.
Gu Changqing hadn’t expected this situation.
It wasn’t that he was stupid. Rather, after becoming Deputy Eagle Master, he had always been reprimanding others, not being reprimanded. Even if he did something wrong, his subordinates would tactfully remind him rather than bluntly stating it.
This was precisely why even the most talented individual would become immersed in their sense of superiority and believe that everything they did was right.
This didn’t mean that their intelligence had fallen, only that in this environment, they would slowly lose the ability to consider problems from the perspective of people who were “lower” than them.
…Because they didn’t need to!
As they didn’t need it, they didn’t train it.
Moreover, “considering from multiple perspectives” was a field of study of its own. Regardless of the era, the vast majority of people couldn’t do it.
As for Gu Changqing, he had been too focused on Tang Jie’s reaction and had completely forgotten about the reaction of others.
The result was that before Tang Jie could fly into a rage, Cai Junyang and the others were already furious.
In the face of this situation, Gu Changqing froze at first, and then his face darkened. “A bunch of ignorant juniors! Have you spent so long in this peaceful age that you have forgotten that the essence of our cultivation world is that the strong eat the weak? To disrespect an esteemed teacher for the sake of some dead mortal villagers, are you seeking death?”
At this moment, he finally revealed the dignity a Mortal Shedding Realm Spirit Master should possess. Spiritual pressure descended and rendered all the students motionless.
He looked at Tang Jie. “Tang Jie, you still think you can hide? Or do you think your schoolmates can protect you?”
These words made everyone look at Tang Jie.
Liu Hongyan asked, “You’re really the Tang Jiye they’re looking for?”
Tang Jie smiled. “Does it matter if I am? Look at how he’s acting. He’s clearly decided that it’s me, so it probably doesn’t matter what I say.”
Gu Changqing grunted. “Then you should just obediently submit yourself to capture. Why force my hand?”
As he spoke, ten-some men dressed in black rushed out and surrounded them.
The students were all stunned by this sight.
They had not feared Gu Changqing before because they believed that the school would protect them.
But it was now clear that the other party was willing to enter open hostilities, which somewhat changed the situation.
This meant that Godhead Palace no longer cared about the Basking Moon Sect!
Cai Junyang howled like a tiger, pushing back against the spiritual pressure and taking the large sword from his back. Pointing it at Gu Changqing, he said, “Gu Changqing, this isn’t Nadir Hill, and it’s not a place where Godhead Palace can do as it pleases. I don’t care if he’s the person you’re looking for. As a student of Basking Moon, I won’t let you have your way!”
“All by yourself?” Gu Changqing scoffed in disdain.
His eyes flashed as he suddenly grabbed at Cai Junyang’s sword.
He very simply made to grab the edge of the sword, and the sword failed to cut him. Cai Junyang pulled away the sword in alarm, but he found that Gu Changqing’s hand had closed on the sword like a vise, and there was no drawing it back.
Gu Changqing casually pushed with his grabbing hand, and the hilt of the sword rammed into Cai Junyang, slamming both the hilt and the hand that was holding it into his chest. With one strike, Cai Junyang instantly vomited blood.
A casual push had been enough to heavily injure Cai Junyang.
“Junyang!” Liu Hongyan shouted.
Tang Jie roared, “Gu Changqing, this has nothing to do with them!”
Gu Changqing darkly replied, “This is your last chance. Everyone else besides Tang Jie must immediately leave. I will spare you out of respect for the Basking Moon Sect.”
The students looked at each other, not knowing what to do.
Lin Dongsheng was the first to fall back, shouting, “This has nothing to do with me!”
He ran out, and those men in black didn’t stop him, letting him leave.
Gu Changqing pointed at Tang Jie. “Seize him!”
Whoosh! The men in black immediately rushed up.
One of them made to grab at Tang Jie. Tang Jie dropped his shoulder, avoiding the grab and firing back with an elbow. The man in black laughed and turned his grab into a slap aimed at Tang Jie’s elbow.
As elbow and palm met, bang! The two of them staggered in unison, the man in black yelping in surprise at Tang Jie’s strength.
Tang Jie stepped to the side and turned, thrusting his left hand at the eyes of that man in black. Using his finger in place of a sword, he used the stabbing form of the Twelve-Form Horizon Sword.
It was an extremely swift counterattack, and the man in black saw that he couldn’t dodge and dropped his head. While the finger didn’t stab his eyes, it jabbed into his forehead. At the same time, the man in black kneed Tang Jie in the stomach, causing him to shudder in pain. Meanwhile, he thrust out his left palm, which now glowed with a faint golden light.
Tang Jie also cast the Aquagel Shroud to take the attack, and fired off an Energy Needle at the same time. The man in black reacted quickly and dodged. In the space of a few seconds, the two of them had exchanged several blows, but the other men in black were in no rush to intervene. They just watched the battle play out with great confidence.
While these men in black were all no-names, they were actually experts of the Hawk Hall. They didn’t possess high cultivation levels, but they were well-tempered veterans. No matter how strong Tang Jie was, he was only at the Spirit Spring Tier, and he was dearly lacking in both cultivation and combat experience.
As the two exchanged blows, the man in black started to get worried about his inability to capture Tang Jie. He roared, and golden armor appeared around him.
Godhead Armor!
At the same time, he punched at Tang Jie, creating a whirlwind with the force of his attack.
But to his surprise, rather than dodging, Tang Jie punched back.
As the two fists met, the man in black felt an enormous strength surging up.
Oh, no!
The man in black instantly knew that this kid had been hiding his power, but at this point, this enormous strength had already sent him flying.
As he flew back, Tang Jie activated the Violet Lightning Lunge and rammed his head into the man’s chest. The man in black reacted quickly and thrust down with his elbow. His elbow exploded with energy and probably had the weight of five hundred kilograms behind it.
But Tang Jie took this blow head-on as he reached out his hand to grab the saber at the man’s waist.
Bang!
The two of them separated, but after being knocked away by the elbow, Tang Jie now had a bright steel saber that he had taken from that black-clothed man.
“I have a weapon now!” Tang Jie laughed as he massaged his shoulder.
Even with his constitution, that elbow blow had still been rather painful. As expected, any random soldier sent by Godhead Palace wasn’t someone that he could deal with through a few punches and kicks. Frankly, he had only been able to get the saber because his opponent had been looking down on him.
These people would have never been able to imagine that he would spend more than a hundred thousand coins to strengthen his body. In terms of cultivation, he truly was inferior, but when it came to his body, even a Spirit Master might not be able to match him.
“Bastard! Everyone, together!” The man in black who had had his saber stolen felt humiliated.
The men in black didn’t stand around this time. Ten-some men pulled out their sabers and surrounded Tang Jie.
Tang Jie laughed and charged up to meet their weapons.
As several of the men in black were about to attack, Gu Changqing shouted, “I want him alive!”
These men were startled and became hesitant to strike. Upon seeing that Tang Jie was about to run into their sabers, they were forced to move their sabers away. Tang Jie used this chance to swing his saber, unleashing a shockwave as he slashed at one of them. This man in black screamed as he was thrown back.
The men in black were shocked and enraged. Gao Fei arrived on the scene and shouted, “Use your armor!”
All the men in black revealed their Godhead Armor at the same time, but Tang Jie wasn’t afraid. He let out a laugh and charged.
In terms of strength, these black-clothed men were no match for him individually, but the gap wasn’t big, and they had the numbers advantage. However, Tang Jie was taking advantage of the fact that they didn’t dare to kill him to go completely on the offensive, making all his attacks lethal. As these men in black didn’t want to kill him, they were momentarily unable to deal with him.
Seeing what was going on, Gao Fei shouted, “You can’t kill him, but you can injure him.”
These words immediately changed the situation.
Tang Jie had just pushed a man in black back when he heard a howl of wind behind him, and then a bright saber light slashed his back.
This was a heavy blow, and even though Tang Jie had the defenses of the Formless Golden Body, he was still somewhat wounded. Blood splashed into the air as Tang Jie trembled. He immediately turned to counter with his saber, but the man in black who had attacked him had already drawn back.
At the same time, two more sabers stabbed at his left and right arms, striking at areas that were not fatal.
Tang Jie could no longer take these attacks directly, but just as he dodged, two more men in black charged up.
These people were used to working together and already had a well-developed order of battle. Despite their numbers, there was no disorder in their movements.
Tang Jie had originally wanted to use this chance to kill one or two, but all he had done was heavily injure one at the start.
He felt some regret.
If Godhead Palace was a tree, then he didn’t even count as an ant.
At his current level of strength, an existence like Godhead Palace was still too distant.
Fortunately, he had never placed much hope in this battle. It was just that if his foe was moving to capture, he had to at least put up some resistance and do what was expected of him.
The men in black constantly circled around him, clearly intending to tire him out.
Tang Jie thought to himself, Why not stop here?
With this thought in mind, he feigned exhaustion and opened himself up to the black-clothed men.
One of his assailants really did seize this chance to step forward and capture Tang Jie.
But just when he was about to succeed, there was a thunderous roar.
In a flash of sword light, the man in black was struck by a sword gale and sent flying.