"Hahaha! What an impressive fight from the youngsters!" one of the older guests laughed in a hearty manner. "But I guess the winner is decided now, isn't that right, Elder Yinghe?"

Many of the attendees present were representatives of influences that were under the Divine Storm Sect, but not this guest was not.

He might be here to offer his congratulations, but deep in his heart, he was secretly complaining that the Divine Storm Sect was putting on such an unnecessarily huge show for something as minor as a wedding.

Unfortunately, Dongquan Juewei's talent was real – that he could not deny. So he could not blame the Divine Storm Sect for wanting to show off the rare genius to the world.

But now, he finally found something he could pick on!

Chengban, a core disciple of the Divine Storm Sect, actually lost to a nameless martial artist three Origin Cycles below him!

His words shook the entire main hall of its daze, their eyes shifting from the stars of the match to Elder Yinghe.

That's right.

Lu Tianzi might not have been able to deal the final blow because of Elder Yinghe's interference, but her interference alone should be enough of an indication that the fight was over.

Now then, how would the elder of the Divine Storm Sect react?

Elder Yinghe took a deep breath to calm herself down before looking up at Chengban who was still hovering in the air. "Come down, Chengban. You have lost."

Chengban obviously already knew that, but hearing the words from his teacher's mouth was akin to rubbing salt in his wounds.

He obediently descended to the ground, but what he was feeling right now was not guilt from causing his teacher and his sect to lose face on a joyous occasion like this.

Instead, all Chengban felt was hatred as he continued to glare at Lu Tianzi.

The only thing in his mind right now was how Lu Tianzi had caused him to lose face in front of all the esteemed guests present today.

On the other hand, Lu Tianzi continued watching Elder Yinghe with caution.

Just a casual move from Elder Yinghe just now had already caused him light internal injuries. So he could not help but feel wary of her.

Seeing that she did not seem inclined to interfere again, Lu Tianzi's gaze finally shifted back to Chengban.

"You lost. Now it is time to honour our bet!" Lu Tianzi said.

Chengban's expression immediately turned dark, his fists clenched in rage.

Honour their bet?

That meant that he not only had to slap himself three times in front of everyone present, he even had to give up his treasure sword!

That would be a huge loss for him in both honour and material terms!

Elder Yinghe sighed upon seeing the look of indignanace on her student's face. She knew better than anyone just how Chengban was feeling right now.

Without any better options, she could only turn her gaze towards Dongquan Juewei.

It was obvious that the Tempest Overlord was intending to let the First Disciple handle all matters for the day, so there was no better person to turn to for help.

Catching her pleading gaze, Dongquan Juewei nodded calmly with a smile on his face.

"Brother Bayuen, it seems like you have been completely wrong this time," Dongquan Juewei laughed.

"Tch!" Bayuen clicked his tongue in response.

Ignoring Bayuen's irritation, Dongquan Juewei stood up to address everyone. "That was an entertaining and impressive performance from both parties, let's all put our hands together to thank them for their efforts!"

Dongquan Juewei started clapping.

With his lead, the members of the Divine Storm Sect quickly caught on as well, and soon a thunderous applause resounded throughout the main hall.

Even the invited guests could not help but laugh in their hearts as they followed along.

This Dongquan Juewei was truly something, to actually reinterpret a duel born of hatred and disdain into a mere performance!

What a way to disguise the shameful proceedings of the day from the outside world!

"What are you waiting for?" Lu Tianzi completely ignored the applause and said to Chengban.

"Hold on a second, this young brother. Tianzi, is it?" Dongquan Juewei spoke up before Chengban could reply. "No matter what, this is still my big day, why don't you give me some face and hear me out first?"

Lu Tianzi turned his attention towards Dongquan Juewei. "Are you trying to intercede for him?"

Not expecting such blatant lack of respect from Lu Tianzi, Dongquan Juewei's furrowed his brows a little, but he did not lose his cool.

"I know that there is a bet going on between you and Chengban, but I am here to offer you an alternative," Dongquan Juewei said. "If you are willing to disregard the earlier bet, I can offer you a place as a core disciple of the Divine Storm Sect! How about it?"

Dongquan Juewei smiled in confidence.

From his point of view, this was a generous offer that nobody would be able to reject.

The Divine Storm Sect was the absolute ruler of this region, and being able to join them was the dream of countless martial artists all over the world.

Not just that, but it was even a direct admission as a core disciple!

That was a status just below that of an elder!

How would anyone be able to resist such an offer?

As long as Lu Tianzi agreed, Dongquan Juewei would not only be able to resolve the awkward situation, but he would also be able to bring a young talent into the ranks of the Divine Storm Sect.

It was truly killing two birds with one stone – the perfect solution!

Hearing his words, a commotion immediately arose within the main hall.

Invited guests gasped in shock, and even members of the Divine Storm Sect could not believe what they were hearing.

A direct invitation to become a core disciple was indeed an unprecedented offer!

Then again, it was being offered to a martial artist who was capable of jumping three whole Origin Cycles to defeat another core disciple, so he more than deserved such special treatment.

All eyes turned towards Lu Tianzi, but what they saw was certainly not what they expected to see.

Instead of the gratitude and excitement that they were expecting, Lu Tianzi snorted in disdain.

"Ridiculous," Lu Tianzi said. "It is one thing if you want me to join the Divine Storm Sect, but why do I have to give up on the earlier bet because of that?"

This time, Dongquan Juewei was no longer able to keep his cool.

He was trying to be nice, but it was not his style to tolerate such disrespect from a mere Second Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist.

"I think you are misunderstanding something here," Dongquan Juewei's tone turned cold. "Right now, I am giving you an opportunity to escape your current path of an ordinary martial artist to join us in the world of the privileged. If you choose to stubbornly stick to your previous agreement and give up on my offer, then I can only say that you are too myopic to differentiate between what's important and what's not. If that's the case, then i assure you that you will soon realise one thing – talent alone is not enough for you to survive in this world!"

Lu Tianzi stared back at Dongquan Juewei, then turned his head to look in Mengxi's direction.

Before the banquet, Mengxi had already offered Lu Tianzi a place in the Divine Storm Sect under the Southern Faction.

Although her offer was not as good as Dongquan Juewei's – it was not to join as a core disciple – Lu Tianzi was not worried. He was confident that he would be able to make core disciple status sooner or later anyway, especially after seeing for himself exactly how strong Chengban was.

As long as Lu Tianzi mentioned that he had already been invited to the sect, it would be rendering Dongquan Juewei's earlier words completely meaningless, or as good as slapping Dongquan Juewei on the face.

But the problem was, would Mengxi be willing to support him here in front of everyone present?

To do so would be equivalent to backing him up against Dongquan Juewei. Such an action would gain her his utmost respect.

However, it would also mean drawing the animosity of Dongquan Juewei, the Northern Faction, and possibly even the Tempest Overlord himself!

Mengxi immediately stiffened up when she noticed Lu Tianzi looking in her direction.

She naturally understood the meaning behind Lu Tianzi's gaze.

In fact, the moment Dongquan Juewei offered Lu Tianzi a place as a core disciple of the sect, Mengxi had already started thinking about what she should do.

After all, if Lu Tianzi took up Dongquan Juewei's offer, he would be joining the Northern Faction and becoming part of the opposition camp!

Mengxi had remained seated, biting her lower lips in hesitation. But now, she no longer had the luxury of time.

She had to make a decision.

Mengxi clenched her fists in determination before standing up to speak. "You might not be aware, but it is not easy to enter the Divine Storm Sect. Since Senior Apprentice Dongquan is offering you a place as a core disciple, I recommend that you take up his offer as well."

Lu Tianxi let out a silent sigh.

Mengxi's meaning was simple – she had no intention to get involved in this matter.

Lu Tianzi turned his attention back towards Dongquan Juewei and clasped his fists towards the star of the day. "Thank you for giving me such a rare opportunity, Sir Dongquan. I appreciate your generous offer."

Dongquan Juewei smirked in satisfaction. "It's good that you have finally thought thi-"

"However, I regret to say that I would have to decline your offer," Lu Tianzi cut him off halfway through.

"Hmm?" a frown immediately returned to Dongquan Juewei's face. "What do you mean by this?"

"If this is how things are done here, having to give up on our deserved rewards just to please the seniors before we would even stand a chance at receiving benefits from the sect, then I would rather give up on this opportunity and, according to Sir Dongquan's words, be doomed to a path of an ordinary martial artist," Lu Tianzi continued. "Who knows? After seeing how the fight panned out today, I am starting to think that perhaps the path of an ordinary martial artist suits me best!"

Lu Tianzi was not clear about the politics within the sect.

But the moment Mengxi refused to get involved in the matter, Lu Tianzi realised that the Northern Faction was probably already the dominant faction of the sect by far.

Perhaps it was because of the existence of Dongquan Juewei, or perhaps it was because of some other reason.

Either way, it did not matter.

What mattered was that even if he joined the Southern Faction under Mengxi's invitation, his safety would not be guaranteed should the Northern Faction decide to act against him.

And with Chengban around, the likelihood of that happening was extremely high.

As for joining the Northern Faction, it was an even worse idea.

Being in the same faction would simply make it easier for Chengban to act against him!

Of course, all of that was secondary.

The most important thing was still the fact that he was already disillusioned by the attitude of the Divine Storm Sect itself.

This entire time, the rest of the Divine Storm Sect had allowed Chengban to insult Lu Tianzi and Nanlan Qianxue as he wished, as though treating an outsider this way was something that was completely normal.

With Dongquan Juewei's attitude added on top of that, Lu Tianzi no longer had any intentions of joining such an influence.

"Of course, as long as Sir Dongquan gives the word, I would still be willing to give up on my earlier bet with Chengban," Lu Tianzi suddenly flashed a radiant smile. "This is Sir Dongquan's big day after all, I have to at least give you some face."

"Insolent bastard..." Dongquan Juewei cursed in his head.

After hearing Lu Tianzi's words, instead of feeling like he had been treated with respect, Dongquan Juewei could only feel his cheeks getting hotter.

Now that Lu Tianzi had already said this much, if Dongquan Juewei still insisted on Lu Tianzi giving up his earlier bet, then wouldn't that be agreeing to Lu Tianzi's statement that the Divine Storm Sect forced their members to give up on their deserved rewards just to please their seniors?

That would really be gifting the invited guests a golden opportunity to make a laughingstock out of the Divine Storm Sect!

"What are you waiting for?" Dongquan Juewei shot a cold glance towards Chengban.

"This..." Chengban tightened his grip on the Cloud Splitter in reluctance.

"Do it!" Dongquan Juewei raised his volume this time.

Sensing the anger in the First Disciple's voice, Chengban dared not delay any further. He tossed the Cloud Splitter over with gritted teeth.

Lu Tianzi caught the long sword in mid air and stored it away in his spatial ring before smiling at Chengban. "Thank you for honouring our bet. Now then, all that's left is for you to slap yourself three times!"