Chapter 238: The Humiliation of Li Ling! 1
The moment the word ’Ancestor’ was spoken, it was as if the entire hall had been struck by invisible heavenly thunder.
Ancestor.
In the Six Paths Demon Sect, this title was not something that could be thrown around casually like a greeting to a random old man with a long beard and a bad temper.
There were many elders, many Grand Elders, many old monsters, and many hidden powerhouses who had cultivated for thousands or even tens of thousands of years, but there was only one being who could be addressed as the Ancestor without qualification.
Tian Moshen.
Semi-Immortal Divine Deva cultivator.
A monster who had long gone beyond the peak of the ninth realm and placed one foot into the immortal realm, standing at that blurry and terrifying boundary where he was no longer fully mortal, yet had not completely ascended into the immortal level either.
Among the entire Tian Ming Continent, such beings could be counted on one’s fingers.
Even across Firmament Heaven itself, they were existences who could not be casually provoked, because at that level, the difference between a ninth-realm peak powerhouse and a Semi-Immortal was no longer a small gap in cultivation.
It was the difference between a mortal emperor and a man who had already begun to smell the fragrance of immortality.
Before Tian Moshen, not to mention the True Inheritors and Grand Elders present, even Ming Yue himself had to show deep respect.
This was not merely due to seniority, but also to power.
Absolute, suppressive, unreasonable power.
The kind of power that made all schemes seem childish, all formations seem fragile, all armies seem like weeds, and all arguments seem like noise.
If Ming Yue was the Sect Master who ruled the Six Paths Demon Sect, then Tian Moshen was the deterrent force that allowed the Six Paths Demon Sect to exist openly in the first place.
He was the reason why the righteous path, despite hating the Dyad of Malevolence down to their bones, still had to swallow their grievances and tolerate the existence of the Six Paths Demon Sect for so many millennia.
After all, a sect with a Semi-Immortal was not merely a sect, but was an apocalypse with a headquarters.
A normal righteous sect could denounce them, curse them, blockade them, fight them on the borders, assassinate their disciples, compete with them for resources, or scheme against them in secret.
But if they truly tried to erase them?
Then they had to first ask themselves a very simple question.
Who would stop Tian Moshen?
And if no one could stop Tian Moshen, then how many immortal mountains, righteous cities, ancestral halls, sacred lineages, and so-called innocent mortals would be buried with the Six Paths Demon Sect before the old monster finally died?
That was why, when this man appeared, even the Grand Elders lowered their heads.
That was why, when this man harrumphed, Ming Yue had to personally move to block.
That was why, even though he had just attacked the newly accepted personal disciple of the Sect Master in front of the entire upper layer, no one dared to question him first.
The atmosphere in the Ancestral Hall became extremely strange.
It was silent and suppressed, the kind of suppression that made one feel as though the air itself had become a superior lifeform looking down on them.
Ming Yue’s expression was ugly, though he hid most of it well.
He cupped his fists toward Tian Moshen, his tone respectful but carrying a trace of confusion that could not be fully concealed.
"Ancestor, why have you deigned to come out of seclusion for this little one’s discipleship ceremony?"
The ’this little one’ naturally referred to Li Ling.
For Ming Yue to refer to his newly accepted fifth disciple in such a way was not disdain, but rather a deliberate lowering of the matter’s importance in front of Tian Moshen.
After all, no matter how monstrous Li Ling was, he was still only a third-realm cultivator.
No matter how absurd his talent was, he had not yet turned potential into actual immortal-level power.
For an existence like Tian Moshen, personally emerging from seclusion for him was like a mortal emperor leaving court to step on an ant that had crawled onto the palace steps.
It was too much, too excessive, and too unreasonable.
Tian Moshen did not answer immediately.
Rather, the noble and resplendent elder slowly turned his gaze away from Li Ling and swept it across the hall.
He glanced at one person after another, from the True Inheritors to the Grand Elders, to Ming Yue’s personal disciples, and then to the various hall representatives.
The moment his gaze passed over them, most faces changed, either paling, lowering their heads, or stiffening as if a blade had been placed against their necks.
A few tried to maintain their dignity, but their eyes still trembled, betraying the fact that their Dao Hearts were not as steady as their posture suggested.
In the entire hall, only three people could truly maintain some form of defiance beneath that gaze.
The first was Ming Yue.
As the Sect Master, and as a peak eighth-realm monster who controlled the Six Paths Demon Sect in daily matters, he naturally could not lower his head like an ordinary subordinate, even if the person before him was the Ancestor.
The second was Jun Wusheng, Ming Yue’s first disciple.
Silent Heaven stood quietly on his platform, his golden eyes calm and his back straight, not provocative, not arrogant, but unmoving like a sword placed in its sheath.
The third was Li Ling.
He was able to resist not because he was stronger, nor because of his three rules, the Infinite Slaughter System, nor his Dao Heart.
No.
It was simply because Li Ling had never developed the proper instinct to worship old monsters.
Respect strength? Sure.
Avoid courting death? Naturally.
But worship someone?
Tremble before them?
Collapse because someone older and stronger glanced at him?
Pffft, what joke was that?
On Earth, Andrew Han had lived in a society where bosses, clients, officials, wealthy people, famous people, and politicians all liked to act as if their status made them gods.
Then, in Firmament Heaven, Li Ling had seen that cultivators were even worse.
Every realm higher came with the expectation that people below should bow their heads, clap their hands, open their mouths, and thank the heavens for being allowed to breathe the same air.
Unfortunately, while Li Ling understood the logic of hierarchy, his heart had long stopped possessing the sort of softness needed to be crushed by it.
Tian Moshen’s gaze finally returned to Li Ling.
Outwardly, his golden-red eyes flashed with coldness.
Inwardly, however, there was the faintest flicker of approval, so faint that no one present could detect it, not even Ming Yue.
After all, no matter how displeased Tian Moshen looked, he was still a demonic Ancestor who had watched countless generations rise and fall, so he did not hate arrogance by itself.
What he hated was arrogance without weight behind it.
After all, a dog barking at the moon was annoying, but a wolf howling in the dark forest was terrifying.
Unfortunately, approval and kindness were two entirely different matters.
Tian Moshen’s voice rang out coldly.
"If I had not come out of seclusion this time, I would not even know that my Six Paths Demon Sect had accepted such a mighty figure into its ranks."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"The mighty Demon Emperor, eh?"
The moment those words fell, the minds of many people in the hall surged.
Ah, so that was it!
The Ancestor did not seem pleased with Li Ling.
Or rather, he did not seem pleased with the title Li Ling had been given...?
The atmosphere changed almost instantly.
Previously, the gazes that had fallen upon Li Ling had been complex.
Some were curious, some were wary, some were interested, some were amused, some were calculating, and a small number were even faintly benevolent due to Ming Yue’s open claim over him.
At worst, they were neutral.
After all, Li Ling had just been accepted as the Sect Master’s fifth personal disciple.
No matter what they thought privately, no one with a functioning brain would openly show hostility at such a moment.
But Tian Moshen’s words changed everything.
The Ancestor had spoken, and he hadn’t spoken favorably.
Immediately, many gazes shifted as the warmth vanished and the neutrality thinned.
Eyes that had previously been measuring Li Ling as a future investment now began to measure him as a future risk.
Some of the True Inheritors lowered their heads, but their pupils moved slightly, whereas the various Grand Elders became thoughtful.
Even a few people who had admired Li Ling’s talent during the tournament now felt their attitudes cool down rapidly.
This was the terrifying effect of supreme authority.
Tian Moshen had not ordered anyone to hate Li Ling.
He had not even said that Li Ling was guilty.
He merely displayed displeasure, and the entire hall’s emotional climate changed like a sunny day suddenly swallowed by winter clouds.
In a single breath, Li Ling went from being the newly crowned Demon Emperor of the Six Paths Demon Sect to a lone man standing before an army whose blades had not yet been drawn, but whose hands had quietly moved toward their hilts.
Ming Yue’s expression became even uglier, but before he could say anything, Tian Moshen’s eyes flashed.
BOOM!
A wave of pressure erupted from his body and smashed down upon Li Ling.
It was a single concentrated column of force that descended like an immortal mountain, crashing directly onto Li Ling’s body, spirit, and soul.
CRACK!
The floor beneath Li Ling’s feet cracked faintly, despite the Ancestral Hall clearly being made from materials that could withstand battles between high-level cultivators.
His knees bent slightly, his bones groaned, and his potent blood surged violently in his veins.
The newly formed Dao-brand token in his heart blood trembled as if it wanted to activate protection, but the pressure came from someone whose authority over the sect clearly surpassed even the token’s intended safeguards.
Li Ling’s body was forced to remain standing, but only because the pressure pinned him upright.
It did not allow him to kneel nor fall, but rather to stand before everyone like a criminal being displayed for public punishment.
Tian Moshen’s cold voice thundered through the hall.
"This Ancestor is speaking to you. Are you mute?!"
The sound shook the entire Ancestral Hall, many people within looking at Li Ling with unreadable gazes.
Some pitied him, some sneered inwardly, some were excited, some were afraid, and some wondered whether this newly crowned Demon Emperor would lose all face at the very moment of his rise.
However, Li Ling himself was not infuriated.
Rather, he was puzzled.
Utterly puzzled.
This again?
No, seriously.
This again?
Li Ling’s thoughts moved quickly beneath the crushing pressure, not because he had the luxury to think leisurely, but because this situation was so familiar that it almost made him want to laugh.
Had this not happened before?
When he first entered the Six Paths Demon Sect, Tang Huo had suddenly jumped out to target him, suppress him, humiliate him, force him into a disadvantageous position, and generally act like the typical arrogant elder figure who could not tolerate a talented junior breathing too loudly.
At that time, Li Ling had later learned that Tang Huo’s behavior had a reason behind it because of the death of the sect’s Saint Son, the only empty seat in this current hall that was yet to be replaced.
On top of that, Cao Tian had manipulated the situation because she wanted to push Cao Xian toward him while also making Tang Huo offend him first.
So even though it was barely acceptable logically, there had been the calculation of interests and benefits behind Tang Huo’s seemingly erratic actions back then.
Fine, Li Ling could accept that.
He could even somewhat respect that kind of nonsense, because at least there was a proper cause-and-effect chain behind it.
But this?
He had just been crowned, his status had just risen, and his talent had already been publicly evaluated as monstrous to the point that even immortality seemed almost guaranteed in the eyes of many people.
And now, another elder figure had rushed out to antagonize him?
Did he have something written on his forehead?
Was there a glowing sign above his head that said, ’Please bully me now so I can remember your name later’?
Or was this the famous intelligence-debuffing physique that protagonists supposedly carried around, causing every old monster within range to suddenly lose three hundred points of wisdom and start courting death for no clear reason?
Seriously, what did Tian Moshen gain by antagonizing him without killing him?
If the Ancestor truly wanted him dead, that palm strike earlier could have killed him.
Ming Yue had barely blocked it, and that was likely only because Tian Moshen had not truly intended to force it through.
If he did not want him dead, then why create enmity?
Why humiliate a monster who was very likely to become immortal?
What was the profit?
What was the logic?
Was Tian Moshen secretly Kraven the Hunter, searching for the one beast that could finally give him a worthy hunt?
Or was he like Kaido, bored of standing near the summit and hoping that one day, someone interesting would become strong enough to kill him?
Li Ling truly could not understand.
Of course, not understanding did not mean he would act stupidly.
The pressure above him was real, the gap in power was real, and his current inability to resist was also real.
So, Li Ling slowly raised his head and looked toward Tian Moshen.
His face was slightly pale from the pressure, and a thin line of blood leaked from the corner of his mouth, but his expression was calm.
Then, with visible difficulty, he cupped his fists.
"Junior Li Ling greets the Ancestor."
His voice was respectful, with no mocking nor provocation within.
While it was not necessarily servile either, it was within the acceptable bounds of etiquette.
He even took half a step back, as if acknowledging the difference in status and power between them.
The hall’s atmosphere loosened slightly.
Ming Yue, whose expression had been extremely ugly, visibly relaxed by a fraction.
Good! Good!
Indeed, this Li Ling brat had a sense of boundaries to an extent.
Ming Yue had been worried that the boy’s arrogance would flare at the wrong moment, and that he would say something truly suicidal before Tian Moshen.
If that happened, even he might not be able to protect him fully.
After all, there were many people Ming Yue could offend in the Six Paths Demon Sect.
Grand Elders?
He could suppress them.
True Inheritors?
He could ignore them.
Hall Masters?
He could change them.
But Tian Moshen?
That was not someone he could casually oppose unless he wanted to shake the foundation of the entire sect.
Seeing Li Ling lower his head slightly, the others in the hall also breathed out inwardly.
A few were disappointed, some were relieved, and others felt disdain that he actually bowed his head like a dog.
The rest felt that Li Ling was indeed intelligent enough to survive in a demonic sect.
No matter how famous his madness was, no one with a functioning mind should provoke a Semi-Immortal Ancestor while standing beneath his pressure.
Unfortunately for Li Ling, the world was not obligated to reward good behavior, a painful lesson many learned too late.
Tian Moshen looked at Li Ling’s respectful posture with cold eyes, then he took one step.
No one saw him move, leaving not a blur, distortion, nor afterimage.
He was simply on his side of the hall in one moment, and in the next, he stood directly before Li Ling!
The distance between them vanished as if it had never existed.
Li Ling’s pupils contracted while Ming Yue’s face changed.
PAH!
A crisp sound rang through the Ancestral Hall.
Tian Moshen’s palm struck Li Ling full across the face!
It was not a heavy slap.
At least, not by the standards of Tian Moshen.
If he had used even a strand of true power, Li Ling’s head would likely have exploded like a watermelon struck by heavenly lightning.
No, this was casual, restrained, and almost gentle in his opinion.
Yet, Li Ling’s body still flew sideways like a broken kite, smashing across the polished black-white floor and carving a long scar through the surface before he slammed into the edge of the circular formation at the center of the hall.
BOOM!
The entire hall went dead silent.
Li Ling lay there for half a breath, his cheek swelling visibly as blood flowed from the corner of his mouth and one of his teeth cracked slightly under the force.
His new white-and-red robes fluttered faintly, still spotless because the token had automatically prevented dust and blood from staining them.
’How considerate,’ Li Ling thought grimly as he slowly pushed himself up with one hand.
His ears rang, his cheek burned, and his jaw ached.
His body trembled slightly, not from fear, but from the sudden shock transmitted through his flesh.
For the first time since his rise began, he had been slapped in public in front of Ming Yue, his new senior siblings, and the entire authority structure of the Six Paths Demon Sect.
For a moment, Li Ling’s dark blue eyes lowered, hiding everything within them.
