Challenge

Others couldn't believe what they heard just now. After all, indirectly, Jiang Hao had also insulted them too.

The disciple who spoke became red-faced. He had mixed feelings of anger and shame right now. He wanted to take the initiative in provoking Jiang Hao, but it backfired on him.

"You're right, but now that you're free, you wouldn't mind attending to uninvited guests, right?"

One of the stage 9 Qi Refinement cultivators spoke as he saw Jiang Hao didn't seem flustered by being surrounded. If he were in Jiang Hao's place right now, he would have been shaking.

Since provoking and imitation wouldn't work on him, it was better to just challenge him directly. Only cultivators at stage 9 or below could do that.

If he succeeded in beating Jiang Hao, his reputation would soar to the heavens in the sect, and he might receive some expensive gifts and resources from the seniors who wanted to see Jiang Hao's downfall.

So he took the initiative to be the first to challenge Jiang Hao. When the previous Foundation Establishment disciple saw that, he nodded his head in approval. He had already lost face, and this timely intervention would make others pay less attention to him.

Fair enough, others paid attention to the new development and waited for Jiang Hao's response.

Jiang Hao looked at the guy who spoke. He looked quite young, maybe about 19 or 20 years old. It was easy to figure out that he was at stage 9 of the Qi Refinement realm.

"Of course, but what do you want me to do? You know I am new in the sect, and I still haven't read the rules of the sect.

Let's not pretend, shall we? We all know why you guys are here, so how about you drop your pretense of being good guys and come clean with your real intentions?

You want me to reveal what those intentions of your are? Very well, I will do so. Aren't those the feelings of jealousy and inferiority you guys have against me?"

Jiang Hao laid the facts bare in front of everyone, and this was the truth. Although some people had just come to watch the show and didn't have any hostility toward him, they were only about 10% of the whole crowd.

When others heard what Jiang Hao had said, they fumed with anger internally. This was even more true for Foundation Establishment and Core Formation realm disciples, as Jiang Hao had just told them they felt inferior to him. This was somewhat true, but who would accept it?

They were stronger than him in cultivation realm, how could they admit it calmly? Zi Xuan looked at Jiang Hao and spoke.

"Junior, not everyone here is against you. Some of them are here because they wanted to see the new supreme genius of the sect. You can't just blatantly accuse them."

Zi Xuan said that with an innocent face, as if he had been wronged.

Jiang Hao smiled when he heard that. He didn't know who this guy was, but of all the disciples present, he was the most dangerous one.

When he stepped outside of the pavilion, he felt a faint killing intent. With how sharp his instincts had become, he was able to figure out immediately who it was. It was this guy, who looked so innocent with that face that even Jiang Hao felt the need to give him some sympathy.

"Senior, I don't know how many disciples here aren't against me, but I definitely know that you are not one of them."

There was pin-drop silence when others heard that. Zi Xuan was one of the top geniuses in the sect. He also held the top position in the Core Formation realm ranking, which was why many disciples wanted to befriend him.

Although his status as the grandson of a supreme elder couldn't be used to show his supremacy, it still allowed him to get some exclusive resources from the sect that were not available to everyone.

Even Zi Xuan hadn't expected this kind of response from Jiang Hao. He didn't lose his composure and still maintained his smile, but internally, he really wanted to rip apart this meager Qi Refinement realm cultivator.

When Jiang Hao felt that killing intent, he smiled even more. He really hated these types of guys who hid their real faces behind a facade. Since he didn't like them, he wouldn't mind making enemies of them.

"Junior, that's just your baseless assumption. To think I admired you and visited to see your greatness, but it looks like my judgment was wrong. You should remember that the mightiest tree falls the fastest when its roots are weaker."

"Oh... that might be true, senior, but you should remember something too, not all mighty trees fall. Some find strength in their branches when roots are lacking."

Zi Xuan smiled when he heard that.

"We'll see how strong the branches are, then."

"You definitely will."

Jiang Hao looked around to spot all those who felt dangerous to him. They were all in the Core Formation realm. As he was spotting them out, he saw that someone was moving in his direction. He knew this person.

"Junior Brother Jiang, we meet again."

It was Xin Yan, and she looked quite exhausted right now.

Jiang Hao had already seen five other people in the crowd with whome he had gone on a mission previously, but Jia Li and Xin Yan were missing.

Associating with him was not a good choice, so he didn't mind if they wanted to maintain distance from him. In fact, he had no doubt that it was Jun Jie who had spread those rumors that led to this situation.

He looked at Xin Yan and greeted her.

"It's good to see you again, Senior Sister Xin."

"Junior Brother Jiang, you shouldn't worry too much. None of them can touch you if their cultivation realm is higher than yours. Only similar and lower cultivation realm cultivators can challenge you, and only one person at a time. Although they won't need your permission to attack you, they also can't ambush you from behind. Also, every battle must have half an hour of rest if the battles are within the Qi Refinement realm."

Jiang Hao was surprised when he heard that. It was quite a fair rule. The only thing he was worried about was the presence of Core Formation realm cultivators, but since they couldn't interfere, he wasn't worried about anything now.

"Thank you, Senior Sister Xin. That was really helpful information for me."

"You don't have to thank me, Junior Brother. It wa-...s only right for me to say."

Xin Yan sighed internally as she had almost mentioned Senior Sister Ming Yue. It would have been troublesome if she had let it slip.

Jiang Hao understood what Xin Yan was about to say. After all, she had just come running from somewhere.

He shook his head and looked at everyone present with a smile.

"Those who have arrived with good intentions, please move a little further away so that you won't get implicated in what is about to happen. You won't get a chance to do so later, please don't pretend to be innocent like a certain someone if anything happens."

Although Jiang Hao didn't say it clearly, everyone understood that he was taking a jibe at Zi Xuan.

Zi Xuan just smiled when he heard that. He really couldn't do anything to Jiang Hao unless Jiang Hao directly insulted him.

Others got stunned again. Anything else aside, why did Jiang Hao sound so confident? It was like he didn't care if he made enemies of the whole sect.

Rules could protect him inside the sect, but what about outside? Many disciples came from big families and clans,making enemies with everyone was not a good idea.

Some disciples who had truly come just to watch moved a little away, as they really didn't want to get implicated in this mess. But many, like Zi Xuan, didn't move from their places. If they did, it would look like they were following Jiang Hao's orders, and they couldn't allow something like that.

So, many of the disciples who had come to watch didn't move from their places. They were mainly Core Formation and Foundation Establishment realm disciples.

"Looks like we don't have to wait any longer. I hope you are prepared, lest you say that I ambushed you."

Jiang Hao looked at the stage 9 disciple when he heard that.

"You want to challenge me?" he asked with a smile.

Since he was already in the Foundation Establishment realm, he couldn't challenge someone of a lower cultivation realm, but it would be a different matter if a lower cultivation realm cultivator challenged him.

Jiang Hao really didn't want to let this busybody go away easily, so he asked. He knew that this guy was eager to fight him, so he wouldn't say no. As expected, he replied.

"Of course, I want to challenge you. You are a supreme genius, after all. It would be an honor for an ordinary cultivator like me to learn from you."

He said in a sarcastic voice, and when others heard that, they laughed openly. Jiang Hao also smiled, but for different reasons.