In the courtyard, five disciples were drinking and playing a game of "guess-finger". When they saw
Austin enter the yard, they all stood up, stupefied, and stared at him with their mouths agape.
With a plethora of thoughts surging through their minds, they whispered anxiously among themselves.
"But I heard he was stuck in the outer range of Grand Desolation Mountains and wouldn't come back."
"What should we do now?" ...... ......
The outer disciples quietly exchanged ideas, careful not to raise their voices. Their palms were sweaty
and their eyes were averted.
One of them was slinking toward the gates, prepared to slip away the moment he saw an opportunity.
However, the outer disciples didn't know that Austin had a strong spiritual sense with which he could
observe everything within a four-hundred-meter radius. From the very beginning, Austin was aware of
everything they did and said, and their concealment meant nothing to him.
Austin looked at the disciples in front of him in displeasure. Anxiety grew in his heart when he thought
of Evan, who was nowhere to be seen. If these outer disciples dared to misuse his sacred compound
like this, they would certainly have dared to do something to Evan, too.
"If I remember correctly, this compound is mine. I rented it. Will someone please explain to me what all
this is about?" Austin asked.
The expression on his face was cold as ice and his tone was even colder. The vital energy force in his
body was surging and billowing with rage.
His strong spiritual power swept the yard, exerting great pressure on everyone there. The disciples
facing him found it hard to breathe.
Numerous strands of vital energy grew concentrated in Austin's hands, ready to charge an attack.
Finding out that his courtyard was occupied and that his friend was missing had lit a spark of anger in
Austin's heart.
He was in an uncontrolled state of destructive madness.
And once someone drove him to this state, he wouldn't spare them until he got his revenge.
The five outer disciples were merely at the sixth level of the Energy Gathering Realm. They weren't
able to stay calm and composed in front of Austin's overwhelming demeanor. In the face of his rising
anger, they began trembling in fear.
"I guess none of you is going to open your mouth? You, then! Yes, you! Tell me what's going on here!"
Austin suddenly stretched out his hand and pointed to one of the outer disciples.
The outer disciple was already terrified. His teeth were clattering and his body was shaking.
Unable to form a complete sentence, he yelled in horror, "It - it's none of my business!"
Scared out of his wits, he turned around and ran, wanting to get away from the scene as soon as
possible.
Eyeing his receding figure, Austin snorted, a Spiritual Sense Flying Needle darted from his mind.
Just when the outer disciple reached the gates, he suddenly felt an unbearable pain, as if a blade was
being twisted in his brain. His feet came to a halt, and he started to cry miserably, with his hands on his
head.
While he was in this trance-like state, he saw a black blade flash by and chop off his right arm. The
amputated limb seemed to move in slow motion as it floated back into the sight of the other outer
disciples.
At the same time, his body was thrown back into the yard like a rag doll.
Slowly, the haze surrounding his mind cleared. He recovered and immediately felt a sharp pain. He
glanced beside him and saw that his right arm had been severed from his body and was lying on the
ground next to him.
"My - my arm! You cut off my arm!" the disciple yelled, horrified.
He fumbled to pick up his amputated limb, only to find his right sleeve empty. He reached out with the
limb that he still had.
Austin's face remained frosty, as if he hadn't heard the outer disciple cry out in pain.
These people had aroused Austin's anger. And once Austin was angry, he had to vent it out and get his
revenge even if it meant overturning the whole Sun Sect. He would hunt down his enemies one by one!
There was an old but vulgar saying that went, "If you make yourself an ass, don't be surprised to be
ridden." Ever since Austin had woken up in this body, he had tried to keep a low profile and avoid
offending others. But these people just didn't know when to stop. He had gone out for a while and his
rented compound was already occupied by other people.
If he just let it go again, what would happen next? Would someone slip in while he was sleeping and
cut his throat?
Three years ago, when Austin had still been the top outer disciple of the Sun Sect, no other disciple
even dared to raise his voice to him. All of them behaved extremely deferential before him and were
careful not to offend him.
As another proverb went, "An awe-inspiring reputation is the best self-introduction." It was now time for
Austin to build up his reputation again.
Austin didn't have to think too much to figure out who the culprits behind this incident were. There were
only two people who could be behind this—one was Marvin, and the other was Billy.
Both of them had gone to the valley where the celestial energy ginseng grew and had been captured
by the Soul Collection Array and imprisoned by the Ghost Sect. Later, they had been rescued by the
elders and the stewards of the five major sects and returned to the Sun Sect earlier than Austin.
Since there was no way they could defeat Austin, they were pouring their anger on the courtyard he
had rented and on Evan, his best friend.
But they had gone too far this time. If Austin forgave them again, they would keep trying to lay hands
on him in the future. He had to send them a clear message now.
"No one leaves the house until the matter is made clear. Otherwise, what happened to him will happen
to every one of you."
Austin's eyes were cold and indifferent. But beneath the frosty surface, there was rage and hatred.
"Austin, yes, we are to blame for this mess in your yard. But how can you hurt your fellow disciples in
the Sun Sect? Aren't you afraid of being punished?"
asked one of the disciples in a shaky vice after he risked a glance at Austin's furious face.
He had hardly finished his words when Austin stood in front of him.
All of a sudden, he felt a hard slap on his face.
He was knocked backward into the air and flew across the yard, hitting the wall with a thud and falling
into the mud. Everything happened so fast that he didn't even have the time to cry out. His body
twitched once in pain before he blacked out.
"I'm not going to ask again. One of you, tell me what happened here," Austin said coolly.
His eyes darted to the other three.
The other three outer disciples stood there trembling in fear. They'd all seen how the other two outer
disciples hadn't even been able to fight back against Austin.
It was obvious that Austin could kill them all with a wave of his hand if he wanted.
"Have - have mercy on us! We have nothing to do with this! We were told to stay here... Oh! Marvin!
Marvin and Billy! They sent us here!"
stuttered one of the horrified outer disciples. He was so scared that he couldn't even form a complete
sentence.
"I see. Are you one of Marvin's men? Or are you with Billy?"
"Both of them are in the same force now, sir. Billy has honored Marvin as his boss."
Then it all made sense. Austin nodded his head.
"And it was all their fault. Marvin explicitly asked us to do this. He even said that you were stuck in the
habitat of level-three demonic and diabolic beasts and would never come back alive, so we all
assumed that you were dead.
And because of Evan's friendship with you, he became a target of Marvin and Billy too. Marvin
commanded us to pick on him all day long with various reasons. Later, when they were tired of playing
with him, they chased him out of this compound and made us occupy it."
Everything seemed to align with Austin's guess now.
In the valley where the celestial energy ginseng grew, Austin had hidden in a remote corner and hadn't
been spotted by Marvin. So, Marvin must have assumed that Austin had died under the attack of the
demonic and diabolic beasts.
After returning here, Marvin had taken out his anger on Evan and sent the outer disciples to take over
Austin's compound.
After connecting all the pieces, Austin thought to himself, 'It seems to be the right time to display my
strength. These people are snobbish and their respect comes only from fear. It's only when they are
afraid of me that they will respect me. And I have to do this for Evan's sake, too. If I don't punish Marvin
and Billy, other people will bully Evan the next time I'm not around.
And more importantly, I think I now have enough strength to protect myself and my friends!'
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