The general steward Tianzhong felt somewhat uncomfortable and held a sense of dislike toward Shui Miao.
Because Shui Miao used a substitution mirror, his displayed cultivation level was only that of a Xianweng realm practitioner. This made Tianzhong, who was at the Xian Emperor realm, think to himself, “How dare this lowly Xianweng realm cultivator, with mediocre character and poor cultivation, act as if he were someone important? Now he dares to give me orders?”
But he had no choice—his master had spoken, and what could a servant say?
Shui Miao, however, didn’t dwell on such thoughts. A steward should do what a steward is supposed to do—what was so wrong about that?
The private secret chamber of the venerable Tianji Master contained a vast collection of ancient texts, all sorts of confidential records, and numerous manuals on formations.
Shui Miao began casually flipping through them…
After browsing through a few books, he found them uninteresting and of no benefit to him. He then moved toward the bookshelf holding the formation manuals.
Formations were Shui Miao’s favorite. With a sweep of his spiritual awareness, he quickly realized that all the formations on the shelf were already familiar to him—nothing particularly rare or novel.
On second thought, it made sense. The real Tianji Master had long perished, and the impostor had been left half-dead by Shui Miao and sealed inside a magical artifact. Whatever treasures might have existed would have already been taken by them—nothing valuable would have remained until today. After putting down the formation manual, Shui Miao glanced around the walls. The room wasn’t large at all—just a small space of about a dozen square meters.
Was this really the secret chamber of the great Tianji Master? It seemed surprisingly simple.
Frowning, Shui Miao expanded his spiritual awareness to its fullest, carefully scanning the surroundings. Logically, there should be hidden mechanisms or secret chambers within the secret room of a master like Tianji.
He found it…
After fully focusing, Shui Miao soon discovered a hidden compartment, inside which was a bundle of something.
Opening the compartment and taking out the bundle, Shui Miao found that it was merely some pieces of “cloth.”
Looking at the cloth, he suddenly recalled the empty brocade bag that Laozi had entrusted to Ling Shuai for him. The material of this cloth was exactly the same.
“What kind of material is this cloth made from?” Shui Miao mused inwardly after collecting the cloth. Why would such cloth be hidden in the secret chamber of the Tianji Master? And why did the fake Tianji Master have no memory of it at all?
While pondering, Shui Miao placed the cloth into both a demonic artifact furnace and a celestial artifact furnace for smelting, but it remained completely unaffected. He then tried corroding it with the five elemental energies of Yin and Yang, along with the purple fortune energy and the most sinister and evil energy, yet the cloth remained undamaged.
“This cloth must have a special forging method. If it couldn’t be forged, how could it have been made into a brocade bag in the first place?”
“Wait… I think I figured it out!”
Suddenly, a thought struck Shui Miao.
“Perhaps this is Laozi’s way of reminding me that there are even more powerful beings in the world, warning me to be cautious and vigilant?”
“It must be that. There’s no other explanation.”
After much consideration, Shui Miao was convinced that this was the only possible reason.
“Whoosh!”
A gust of wind stirred as the old steward Tianzhong returned.
Detecting that Shui Miao had tampered with the secret chamber, Tianzhong’s expression immediately darkened. “Young man, don’t forget your place. It’s one thing to look around, but to actually touch things?”
Tianzhong had returned alone.
His tone was practically accusing Shui Miao of theft.
Shui Miao paused for a moment, then smiled faintly. “Old steward, it seems your hearing isn’t what it used to be. You didn’t quite catch what my elder brother, the Tianji Master, said, did you? If so, let me repeat it for you—my elder brother said that from now on, we are the masters here. Should a master be spoken to in such a manner?”
“Hmph! I have only one master. Who do you think you are? Didn’t you hear that my master was merely being polite?”
Deep down, Tianzhong held Shui Miao and Shui Tianyi in contempt, considering them low-level cultivators.
Though merely a steward, Tianzhong had been second only to the Tianji Master himself, with all the apprentices and celestial maidens under his command. If he was displeased, he could send an apprentice to the mortal realm to endure cycles of reincarnation. Now, being humiliated by two low-level cultivators, he found it unbearable.
“What do you think we are?” Shui Miao narrowed his eyes slightly, furrowing his brow. Suddenly, he summoned all his spiritual energy, activating the Dream Demon cultivation technique, directly peering into Tianzhong’s memories to learn his true nature.
After a moment, Shui Miao withdrew his spiritual force.
Tianzhong was shocked and immediately asked, “What did you just do to me?”
“Nothing much. Just checking what kind of person you are,” Shui Miao said coldly with a smirk. “Old steward Tianzhong, you sure were mighty. While my elder brother was away, you acted like the supreme ruler here, punishing apprentices and sending them to the mortal realm at the slightest whim. You truly were powerful!”
Hearing this, Tianzhong frowned. “What are you implying? You really think you’re the master here?”
“Of course. I am the master here. You wicked servant, flattering superiors while oppressing subordinates, acting however you please, driven by selfish desires. I hereby punish you to the mortal realm for reincarnation, to suffer the torment of being bullied by others, so you’ll learn what it means to reap what you sow.” Shui Miao’s tone was sharp and left no room for doubt.
It felt exactly like a master punishing a servant.
Hearing this, Tianzhong became furious. “Fool! Do you really think you’re someone important? Who do you think you are, lecturing me? I’ve served my master for thousands of years. Do you really think a few words from you can punish me? If it weren’t for my master’s presence, I would have already wiped you out. How could I let you spew nonsense here?”
“My authority doesn’t need your approval!”
Suddenly, the Tianji Master’s puppet reappeared, cutting Tianzhong off before he could speak. “Tianzhong, you’ve disappointed me greatly. Do you think you can act however you please here just because you’re old? I will treat you exactly as you treated those apprentices. Go immediately to the Thunder Division Sage for punishment, then report to the Reincarnation Bureau. They will send you to the mortal realm to suffer the torment of being bullied.”
“What…?”
Tianzhong was stunned. He couldn’t believe his master would punish him so severely.
“Have you gone deaf?”
The Tianji Master suddenly roared, causing Tianzhong to stagger backward in fear.
Coincidentally, at that moment, Xingtian Sage arrived.
Hearing the Tianji Master’s anger, Xingtian Sage immediately stopped in his tracks, realizing he had come at a bad time.
“Fine, fine! I’ll leave right away!”
Tianzhong turned to go back and pack.
But the Tianji Master’s puppet said, “Everything you have was given by me. You are not allowed to take anything with you. If you can reform after your reincarnation, there may still be a place for you here. If not, then never return again.”
Tianzhong staggered slightly. The blow he had just received was immense.
Seeing Tianzhong’s state, Shui Miao felt a pang of sympathy and spoke up. “Elder brother, no one is perfect. I think we should give him a chance. He has served you for many years—let the apprentices decide. If they wish for him to stay, then spare him this once. If not, then it proves his character is indeed poor, and punishment can still come later.”
This was indeed a chance Shui Miao gave to Tianzhong—let the people judge his character.
“Hmph! Fake sympathy! I don’t need your pity.”
Tianzhong angrily waved his sleeve and stormed off.
He knew in his heart that the apprentices hated him, so why would they plead for him?
Better to leave with dignity than to face humiliation.
“You ungrateful wretch! Still stubborn and unrepentant! You’ll only bring disaster to the mortal realm!” The Tianji Master’s puppet suddenly roared in anger, preparing to unleash his power on Tianzhong. But Shui Miao quickly stepped in, shouting, “Go! Reflect on your mistakes in the mortal realm! If you truly change, you still have a chance to return!”
Shui Miao had orchestrated this entire scene. Yet there was no doubt—he genuinely hoped that Tianzhong would change and treat his subordinates better in the future. After all, they were people too.
Tianzhong gave Shui Miao a complex look, then sighed and left.
“Xingtian Sage, you’ve arrived.”
The Tianji Master’s puppet stepped out of the secret chamber and greeted Xingtian Sage, who stood in the courtyard. Shui Miao followed behind.
Xingtian Sage smiled awkwardly and bowed. “City Lord, I seem to have come at a bad time?”
Glancing at Shui Miao with the corner of his eye, he didn’t even bother to look directly at him, sensing only a Xianweng realm cultivator.
The Tianji Master waved his hand. “No problem. I heard you had something to discuss with me?”
“Yes, something very important. Might we speak in private?” Xingtian Sage smiled and bowed repeatedly.
Xingtian Sage, too, wore a fawning expression.
This greatly displeased Shui Miao.
How could the Xingtian Sage of Punishment City be such a sycophant? How could someone like this ever be fair, just, and incorruptible?
At once, Shui Miao made a decision. If Xingtian was upright and just, insisting on reporting him, then he would promote him. But if he was a flatterer who changed his stance with the wind, then he would have to be removed. It would be better to let Lin Xue and Chu Miaoyi take over as Xingtian Sage than to allow such a person to remain in power.
“Hehe, making a police officer into the Xingtian Sage… that’s actually a pretty good idea!”
With this thought, Shui Miao shifted his spiritual awareness into his inner world planet…
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