"What's going on with you all? Didn't I tell you to rest and recover for the past three days? Why do you all still look so pathetic?" Zhu Zhi asked, puzzled.
The others who had followed Zhu Zhi also stared at them with confused expressions.
The nine Ming Long Army members were speechless, wishing a hole would appear in the ground for them to burrow into.
Zhang Yang suddenly grinned at them.
"It's nothing. To enhance our friendship, we had a friendly sparring session for morning practice. Since we had just woken up and weren't fully alert, there were quite a few bumps and bruises."
"Ah, yes, yes, yes. We were sparring for morning practice, and then our old injuries flared up." The nine Ming Long Army members quickly chimed in, echoing Zhang Yang's words, spewing nonsense!
This...
Zhu Zhi and the others were speechless.
They knew exactly what had happened, even if they used their toes to figure it out.
These people's injuries were clearly emotional ones, even worse than three days ago.
And they expected them to believe this was caused by morning practice?
Go tell that to the ghosts!
"Sigh, I'm truly speechless with you all! One lesson wasn't enough, and you had to keep trying?" Zhu Zhi chided.
The nine Ming Long Army members quickly lowered their heads, not daring to meet Zhu Zhi's gaze.
In fact, Zhu Zhi had already instructed them three days ago.
Once their injuries healed, they would need to do something for him.
Although the nine had listened at the time, they believed that with their full strength, ganging up on Zhang Yang would be an easy task.
Who would have thought.
They tried to outsmart others but ended up being outsmarted themselves.
Not only did they fail to get revenge, but they were also dealt with by Zhang Yang.
"Elder, we know we were wrong and are willing to accept punishment," the nine Ming Long Army members said in unison.
"Hmph, punishment? Is punishing you useful?" Zhu Zhi snorted.
He was very angry but also helpless.
Zhang Yang, who had been listening, thought briefly and then curiously asked, "What is it that you need the Ming Long Army to do? Why didn't anyone tell me beforehand? Are you treating me like an outsider?"
"Besides, if you had told me earlier, I could have held back. So, please don't blame them. I was the one who beat them up, so I'll take responsibility."
Zhang Yang, with great righteousness, was willing to bear all responsibility for the Ming Long Army.
This made the other nine feel immensely grateful.
They wished they could give Zhang Yang a hug on the spot and acknowledge him as their elder brother.
Zhu Zhi and the others were also stumped by Zhang Yang's question.
This was indeed their oversight; they hadn't considered Zhang Yang.
They had assumed that as long as the other Ming Long Army members didn't proactively provoke Zhang Yang, there would be no conflict between them.
However, Zhu Zhi wouldn't admit his mistake and simply waved his hand, changing the subject.
"It's too late to talk about this now. You all come with me. Sigh, what a waste of resources."
Zhu Zhi shook his head and led the group away.
Soon.
The group arrived at the Imperial City Hall on the central island, next to the Junzi Sword.
"All of you stand below the Junzi Sword," Zhu Zhi ordered coldly.
The nine Ming Long Army members quickly stepped forward. Zhang Yang blinked at the sight and decided to join the fun.
"What are you doing? You're not injured, come back here," Zhu Zhi called out.
Huh?
Zhang Yang was taken aback.
He then feigned a pained expression.
Clutching his head with one hand and his chest with the other, he wailed.
"Who says I'm not injured? So many people beat me up, I'm in pain all over now. Oh! My head, oh! My stomach, my thigh."
Zhu Zhi and the others' mouths twitched helplessly as they watched Zhang Yang's performance, with only one thought in their minds.
This acting...
It was truly abysmal!
Such a person could never be a spy.
"Fine, if you want to go, then go," Zhu Zhi waved his hand in exasperation.
By the time Zhang Yang was feigning injury, he had already moved his feet to stand below the Junzi Sword.
Seeing this, the others could only give up.
Once everyone was in position, Zhu Zhi's aura suddenly changed.
A powerful surge of Yuan Qi erupted, and he extended two fingers, activating the Junzi Sword.
Buzz!
Immediately, the Junzi Sword vibrated.
The noble and righteous energy that had piqued Zhang Yang's interest reappeared, enveloping all ten of them.
Zhang Yang quickly circulated the Yuan Qi Golden Core within his body, greedily absorbing the noble and righteous energy from the Junzi Sword.
However.
As Zhang Yang increased his absorption rate, the faces of the other nine Ming Long Army members immediately showed strange expressions.
Their noble and righteous energy was gone; it had all flowed to Zhang Yang's side.
This scene.
Zhu Zhi and the others were also stunned.
They hadn't expected Zhang Yang to be so compatible with the noble and righteous energy.
He had absorbed it once just a few days ago, and now he could absorb it on such a large scale again.
Moreover, he had even absorbed the noble and righteous energy from the nine Ming Long Army members.
This...
"What are you all standing around for? You couldn't beat him in a fight, but can you not even compete in absorption? When did the Ming Long Army become so useless?" Zhu Zhi shouted.
This shout immediately reminded the nine.
The nine gritted their teeth fiercely, quickly activating the Yuan Qi枢纽 within their bodies, competing with Zhang Yang for the noble and righteous energy.
But!
The effect was still poor.
If this noble and righteous energy were divided into ten portions, Zhang Yang alone would take nine portions.
And the nine of them would only be left to fight over that meager one portion of noble and righteous energy.
This was simply too much bullying!
The nine Ming Long Army members felt wronged and turned to look at Zhu Zhi, hoping he would intervene.
Zhu Zhi looked at them with disappointment, wondering why they were so valiant and arrogant before Zhang Yang appeared, acting as if they were the only ones in the world.
Now that Zhang Yang was here, their presence was so weak?
It was truly a case of comparing people and feeling dejected!
"Hmph, useless things," Zhu Zhi said irritably.
Then, he began to interfere manually, immediately cutting off Zhang Yang's connection with the Junzi Sword and channeling all the noble and righteous energy to the Ming Long Army members.
Zhang Yang, who had been closing his eyes and absorbing the noble and righteous energy, suddenly opened his eyes.
Seeing Zhu Zhi's actions, he looked speechless.
He was so stingy!
After thinking about it.
Zhang Yang chose to move away from the Junzi Sword, no longer forcing the absorption of noble and righteous energy.
Sometimes, a little greed could avoid provoking others' resentment, but one shouldn't go too far.
However, he still had to voice his complaints.
"So stingy, can't even spare a little more? This old man is really boring," Zhang Yang said, disappointed.
"Haha, you kid, you've really opened my eyes. I never thought you could even snatch the noble and righteous energy." Hu Han Tian laughed.
"Zhang Yang, you absolutely shouldn't speak like that about the Grand Elder. In fact, he's been quite good to you. The noble and righteous energy within the Junzi Sword isn't infinite. For him to let you absorb it twice in such a short period is already being very good to you," Hong Tao explained with a smile.
"That's right. At least in my memory, my father has never allowed anyone to absorb the noble and righteous energy twice. You're the first person to receive special treatment," Zhu Tai also explained.
"Ah, is that so? Then the Grand Elder is actually quite generous, not stingy at all." Zhang Yang grinned.
His contradictory remarks left Hu Han Tian and the others speechless.
They secretly grumbled about Zhang Yang, thinking that despite being a master of the Hunyuan realm, he acted like a street thug who loved to take advantage of others.
Without Zhang Yang's competition, the nine Ming Long Army members absorbed the noble and righteous energy more smoothly.
In about five minutes.
Their internal injuries were completely healed.
This demonstrated just how powerful the noble and righteous energy was.
Subsequently.
Zhu Zhi stopped the operation of the Junzi Sword and instructed.
"Strike while the iron is hot. Since your injuries are healed, it's time to get down to business."