Chapter 4044: All Are Juniors

Everyone was watching with apt attention, wondering how Zhenyu would respond to the Clarity Peak Head.

Zhenyu tilted his head. "Would you prefer... little girl?"

High Elder Palm Saber abruptly coughed while several Wild Peak disciples turned their faces away. The Sword Peak Head’s eyes widened and even the Grand Elder’s eyebrow moved slightly.

The Clarity Peak Head’s previously serene aura fluctuated for the first time.

Zhenyu stroked his beard thoughtfully. "No, child is more appropriate. Little girl might be excessively familiar. I don’t remember teaching you."

"You insolent..." She stopped herself.

Lin Mu almost smiled internally. The old Zhenyu had possessed an extraordinary talent for provoking people while maintaining the absolute conviction that he was the reasonable person in the conversation.

Lin Mu was beginning to understand why as it was surprisingly enjoyable.

"You speak of seniority," Zhenyu continued, "while standing before someone who was cultivating in this sect before your Grand master’s Grand master was likely born."

The Clarity Peak Head stared at him.

"Perhaps even before his master was born," Zhenyu added after thinking about it. "The generations become difficult to count after a while."

High Elder Shatter Peak nodded solemnly as though this were profound wisdom which Daoist Bone Ruler noticed and nearly sighed again.

The Sword Peak Head stepped forward. "Even assuming everything you claim is true, the Grand Elder’s lineage and position..."

"Position?" Zhenyu interrupted and the Sword Peak Head stopped.

Zhenyu pointed toward his own robes. "What position am I wearing?"

"A Junior Elder’s robes."

"Excellent. Your eyes work."

Several disciples nearly laughed.

Zhenyu continued, "I disappeared as a Junior Elder. I returned as a Junior Elder. Apparently the sect decided death was sufficient reason to stop considering promotions."

The Sword Peak Head stared at him.

Zhenyu shrugged. "Understandable."

A few Wild Peak disciples failed to hold on this time and snorted.

The Sword Peak Head’s face darkened. "Do not twist my words."

"I haven’t touched your words. They arrived twisted."

Even High Elder Palm Saber’s mouth twitched.

The Clarity Peak Head inhaled slowly. "Your official rank remains that of Junior Elder."

"Correct."

"Then according to sect hierarchy..."

"According to sect hierarchy," Zhenyu interrupted again, "I am currently the Interim Peak Head of the Wild Peak."

Her expression changed and the Sword Peak Head immediately looked toward Daoist Bone Ruler.

Daoist Bone Ruler looked profoundly tired.

"Is that true?" the Sword Peak Head asked.

There was a long pause.

Daoist Bone Ruler eventually answered. "The Wild Peak has... made a decision."

"That wasn’t my question."

"I know."

"Was it legitimate?"

Daoist Bone Ruler looked toward High Elder Shatter Peak, then Palm Saber, then the gathered Wild Peak elders, and finally toward the enormous white-haired source of almost every problem he had encountered today.

"What do you want me to do?" Daoist Bone Ruler asked. "Fight all of them about it?"

The Sword Peak Head became speechless.

Zhenyu nodded approvingly. "See? Bone boy learns quickly."

Daoist Bone Ruler’s head snapped toward him. ’Bone boy!?’

Several Law Division elders suddenly became fascinated by the ground.

The Grand Elder finally moved and he raised one hand. That single gesture silenced everyone. Even Lin Mu became more attentive. The ancient elder stepped forward, his gaze never leaving Zhenyu.

"Mengli Zhenyu," the Grand Elder finally spoke.

His voice was quiet yet everyone heard it. Lin Mu felt the weight contained within those words and knew immediately that the old man was different from the others. Zhenyu turned toward him.

"Yes?"

The Grand Elder studied him for several long moments. "You claim to have returned after more than one hundred thousand years."

"I did."

"You claim you were trapped within the Mad Demon Depths."

"I was."

"You claim seniority over almost everyone standing here."

Zhenyu stroked his beard. "Claim?"

The Grand Elder’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Zhenyu smiled. "Junior, I don’t need to claim my own age."

The surrounding cultivators collectively froze.

He had done it... He had called the Grand Elder junior.

The Sword Peak Head looked ready to explode, the Clarity Peak Head’s calm expression finally cracked and Daoist Bone Ruler simply stared toward the heavens, wishing they would call him up right this moment.

High Elder Shatter Peak, meanwhile, looked incredibly pleased.

But then the Grand Elder did something nobody expected... He smiled.

It was very faint, yet Lin Mu saw it.

"Interesting," the ancient man murmured.

Zhenyu’s eyes sharpened.

The Grand Elder took another step forward.

"Then perhaps," he said, "this old junior should ask his senior a few questions."

For the first time since entering the Law Division, Lin Mu felt a genuine sense of danger. The others had challenged his strength but this man intended to challenge his story.

The faint smile upon the Grand Elder’s face lasted for only a moment before disappearing. Yet that brief expression was enough to make several people present realize that the situation had changed.

The Sword Peak Head and Clarity Peak Head had arrived expecting to suppress a disturbance, while Daoist Bone Ruler had already experienced enough of Zhenyu to know that directly confronting him was an exercise in frustration.

But the Grand Elder approached the matter differently.

He had no intention of competing through aura or authority. He simply stood before the massive white-haired elder and studied him as though he were an ancient scripture whose authenticity had to be determined one line at a time.

Lin Mu understood this immediately. ’Here it comes.’

This was the part he had expected from the beginning.

Strength could convince people that he was dangerous. Ancient knowledge could make them question their assumptions. The token belonging to Mengli Zhenyu provided physical evidence, while the records Lin Mu had memorized gave him enough information to survive ordinary scrutiny.

Yet someone of the Grand Elder’s position would know that every one of those things could theoretically be fabricated or stolen. If the old man truly wished to determine whether Zhenyu was genuine, he would ask questions that could never be answered simply by reading public records.

The Grand Elder folded his hands behind his back.

"Since Senior claims to be Mengli Zhenyu," he began, deliberately using the honorific, "I hope Senior will forgive this junior for being cautious."

Zhenyu stroked his long beard. "At least one of you understands manners."

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