Chapter 1854: Chapter 1854: Told You Not to Provoke, Got Slapped, Didn’t You

"The one named Zhou Kewu, the Right Priest of Qingning Temple, cultivates the Light Divine Skill. That one named Fang Donglai, the Penalty Priest of Lingyu Divine Hall, cultivates the Earth Divine Skill. And that one named..." Anyway, nothing better to do, might as well watch the excitement. Wen Gaoren started introducing those priests who stepped onto the high platform to draw lots to Mu Hanyan.

Earlier, not knowing the rules of the competition, he thought Mu Hanyan would physically contend with these priests, so Wen Gaoren spent a whole day collecting their information. It turned out to be a waste of effort.

As he was speaking, he saw Long Wucuo walking onto the platform. To show respect, every priest would bow to the Master Priests after drawing lots, and Long Wucuo was no exception. However, when bowing to Mu Hanyan, he distinctly paused, looking at Mu Hanyan with extreme arrogance and disdain. His lips moved viciously several times.

Although he made no sound, Mu Hanyan clearly understood his meaning: you’re lucky, narrowly escaping disaster for now.

With a slight contemplation, Mu Hanyan understood the situation.

Long Wucuo probably did not know the rules beforehand and thought the Master Priests would participate directly in the competition. Perhaps he had already manipulated it to ensure they would be in the same group during the drawing, catching Mu Hanyan off guard. With a change in the rules, his chance to compete against Mu Hanyan became minimal. It seemed he didn’t know about the Chaos God Sword incident, leading him to believe Mu Hanyan had escaped a disaster.

The other Master Priests weren’t blind. Even if Long Wucuo didn’t make a sound and didn’t understand his lip movements, it wasn’t hard to detect his provocative attitude. Nonetheless, they originally disliked Mu Hanyan, so they didn’t bother. Pretending not to see, they secretly found it amusing that a dignified Master Priest was being provoked in such a manner without recourse.

"Let you be the center of attention, bet you’re feeling frustrated now." The other Master Priests couldn’t help but gloat internally.

The close followers behind them displayed mocking expressions.

"Audacious!" Just then, Mu Hanyan suddenly reached out and slapped Long Wucuo’s face.

"Smack!" With a crisp sound, five fresh red finger marks appeared on Long Wucuo’s face, his whole body spinning half a circle on the spot.

Mu Hanyan had put full force into the slap, swinging her arm in a circle, and he was caught off guard, barely avoiding being knocked to the ground.

Silence enveloped the stage and below, watching the bright red marks on Long Wucuo’s face, everyone was struck dumb. The laughing expressions on the faces of close followers behind the Master Priests also froze.

"Which temple’s priest are you? Daring to insult a Master Priest and infringe on authority!" Mu Hanyan berated furiously.

"You’re spewing lies!" Long Wucuo’s reaction was quicker than Long Wudang’s, immediately shouting angrily, his hand gripping the sword hilt.

"What, infringe might pass, but here, at the ritual of worship, you dare raise your hand against me?" Mu Hanyan sneered.

Long Wucuo hesitated slightly, releasing his grip on the sword hilt. A few days ago at the Heavenly Sun Temple entrance, he dared to provoke Mu Hanyan into action as he’d made arrangements, surrounded by his own people, sure to find a way out if he killed her. But now, before so many outsiders and priests from various temples, he wouldn’t dare make a move against Mu Hanyan.

After all, each temple has its laws. Some private conflicts are acceptable, but openly, the dignity of a Chief Priest must not be challenged.

"Priest Mu, what’s going on here?" asked Long Aoli gravely.

Long Wucuo was his son, and being slapped in front of so many people demanded his intervention.

"Dragon Chief Priest, who is this brazenly disrespectful fellow?" Mu Hanyan inquired knowingly.

"His name is Long Wucuo, my son," answered Long Aoli with a dark face.

Long Wucuo’s previous trouble with Huayu Temple was known to him, and Mu Hanyan surely recognized Long Wucuo. She was obviously feigning ignorance.

"Ah, Young Master Long, now I remember. I seem to have seen him. Given he’s Dragon Chief Priest’s son, I won’t hold his past rudeness against him. Off you go now, don’t repeat such actions. The prestige of a Master Priest is not for anyone to disrespect." Mu Hanyan patted her head in faux realization, then admonished a bit, waving magnanimously.

"Priest Mu, haven’t you provided an explanation for what just happened?" Long Aoli’s face darkened further. His precious son was slapped in public, and that was the end of it? Mu Hanyan seemed to completely disregard him.

"What’s there to explain? Long Wucuo was arrogant and disrespectful, insulting and slandering me. Didn’t you hear it? For Dragon Chief Priest’s sake, I’m overlooking it." Mu Hanyan replied, indifferent.

"Priest Mu, my son insulted and slandered you, why didn’t I hear it?" Long Aoli scoffed coldly.

"Dragon Chief Priest didn’t hear? How’s that possible? Qing Lan, Yu He, surely you heard it?" Mu Hanyan looked at Long Aoli in surprise, then turned to ask.

"Heard it, heard it. Despite being Young Master Long and Prayer Priest of Heavenly Sun Temple, he disrespected the hierarchy, insulted and slandered our Huayu Temple’s Master Priest. If our Master Priest weren’t magnanimous, this would surely call for Dragon Chief Priest to ensure justice." Sikong Qinglan and Shen Yuhe secretly chuckled, nodding like pecking chicks, speaking with righteous indignation.

"I heard it too. Though Huayu Temple has declined for years, we’re still one of the Continent’s oldest temples. Our dignified Master Priest was publicly insulted, where’s heavenly justice? Where’s justice?" Wen Gaoren was pounding his chest, with tears flowing, face flushed, lamenting loudly, almost out of breath.

Sikong Qinglan and Shen Yuhe secretly worried for him. Merely following the Master Priest’s lead with a few false words, why this level of emotional investment? He’s not young anymore, what if he gets so worked up and suffers a stroke?

The other Master Priests watched Wen Gaoren’s heartfelt performance, also filled with exasperation. Wen Gaoren was once the foremost Array Master of Lingyu City, whom they knew well. Yet in their impression, he was always proud and reserved, hardly smiling. How did he become so shameless today?

They figured it out; Mu Hanyan was blatantly being unreasonable. Wen Gaoren, aware, was crying out with dramatic flair. Were they not nearby, they might have misunderstood, assuming Long Wucuo had said something extremely disrespectful, thus enraging Huayu Temple.

Sneaky, shameless, impressive!

Ou Dechuan’s face sank deeper. Despite being a registered priest of Lingyu Divine Hall for years, Wen Gaoren never agreed to assist Ou Family despite cajoling. Now, joining Huayu Temple to curry favor with Mu Hanyan, he shamelessly abandoned his dignity, clearly never having taken Ou Dechuan seriously before.

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