"Ashamed? Why should I feel ashamed?"
Chen Ming looked at Hu Liena as if he were looking at an idiot. The undisguised contempt in his eyes deeply irritated her and completely enraged Yan.
Just as Yan was about to step forward and speak, Hu Liena merely shot him an annoyed glance. The previously aggressive Yan instantly froze in place and awkwardly revealed a fawning smile.
"You're a member of Spirit Hall. As a Spirit Hall Elder personally appointed by the Pope, instead of prioritizing Spirit Hall, you've been colluding with outsiders for your own benefit. Don't you think you've betrayed your own position?"
"Tsk..." Chen Ming shrugged and let out a dismissive chuckle.
"First of all, I'm an honorary elder of Spirit Hall. I do not possess actual authority within Spirit Hall. I only enjoy the privileges attached to the honorary elder title. I am an elder affiliated with Spirit Hall by name, not internal personnel of Spirit Hall."
"I respect Spirit Hall, admire Spirit Hall, and maintain my faith in Spirit Hall. But I myself am not bound together with Spirit Hall. As long as I have not violated Spirit Hall's iron laws, betrayed humanity, or harmed humanity, then whatever I choose to do is my own freedom."
"My interests are my interests. Spirit Hall's interests are Spirit Hall's interests. My interests are not Spirit Hall's interests, and you do not represent Spirit Hall's interests either."
"Hu Liena... if you were speaking to me as someone of the same generation, I'd politely call you Miss Hu. But since you came here to reprimand me, then as an honorary elder of Spirit Hall, I'll call you Little Hu."
"Come on then, tell me exactly which one of the three iron laws I swore to uphold during my investiture ceremony I violated. Did I stop believing in the Angel God? Did I become anti-human? Or did I become a fallen one?"
"Since the answer is none of those, then tell me—who gave a little Spirit Master without even an official position in Spirit Hall the right to try using 'righteousness' to suppress me?"
"Just because you call yourself the Pope's disciple, you think you can slander an honorary elder of Spirit Hall who has made tremendous contributions to the entire Spirit Master world without even distinguishing right from wrong?"
"Or perhaps you think your status is already high enough that inside Spirit Hall, you can twist black into white and forcibly claim that your personal interests are Spirit Hall's interests? That if I don't satisfy your interests, then I'm somehow harming Spirit Hall? Exactly who gave you that authority? Who taught you to think that way?"
"Little Hu, that mindset of yours is very dangerous. Those are not thoughts a Spirit Hall Spirit Master should have. Have you memorized Spirit Hall's rules and iron laws properly? Which one allows a mere disciple to publicly rebuke an honorary elder for absolutely no reason?"
"You... I..." Hu Liena staggered back several steps, the color draining from her face as she became visibly flustered.
Although Chen Ming had not even truly started putting labels on her yet, just his probing verbal assault alone was already difficult for the politically underdeveloped people of Douluo Continent to endure.
"You... these past few days you entered Spirit Hall's library, used Spirit Hall's resources... you..." Hu Liena pointed at Chen Ming as she stammered.
"Oh? I am Golden Crocodile Douluo's disciple. My entry into the library is a lawful right possessed by my teacher as a worship elder. As his disciple, I am naturally allowed to enter Spirit Hall's library."
"Furthermore, I also submitted a request to enter the library as an honorary elder of Spirit Hall, and the worship elders approved it. This was agreed upon by all the worship elders, including the Grand Worship Elder himself."
"What right do you have to question it? Are you questioning my teacher? Or are you questioning the Grand Worship Elder of the Consecration Hall? Or perhaps you're questioning Spirit Hall's own rules?"
Chen Ming pressed down the hand Hu Liena was pointing at him with, then stepped forward two paces and swept the three of them with an icy gaze.
Whether it was the outspoken Hu Liena, the previously furious Yan, or even Xie Yue, who appeared the calmest among them, all three shivered under Chen Ming's stare and unconsciously retreated two steps.
"What exactly are you questioning? Who gave you permission to question me? What qualifications do you have to question me?"
"As for resources? Yes, I used Spirit Hall's resources. But every single one of those resources wasn't something I took for myself. My teacher, Golden Crocodile Douluo, simply allocated a portion of the resources he was entitled to as the Second Worship Elder to me."
"I used what my teacher gave me. I didn't embezzle anything. So what exactly about that bothers you?"
"If you're dissatisfied, then come with me right now. I'll personally take you to the consecration hall. You can file complaints against me directly to my teacher, the worship elders, and the Grand Worship Elder himself. I would very much welcome hearing exactly what I supposedly did wrong."
Every sentence Chen Ming spoke was accompanied by a step forward, and every step he took forced Hu Liena's group to retreat two steps.
By the time Chen Ming finished speaking, all three had already lowered their heads, no longer daring to meet his eyes.
They had a strong feeling that if they refused to back down now, Chen Ming really would drag the three of them straight to the consecration hall to see the Grand Worship Elder.
Judging from the long list of accusations Chen Ming had just thrown out, even if the Pope personally appeared, she might not necessarily be able to protect them. Even if they avoided severe punishment, they definitely would not escape a great deal of trouble.
Especially because Chen Ming's current status across the entire Douluo Continent was extraordinarily prestigious and noble. If blame truly came down on them, the three of them simply could not afford to offend him.
In the end, the reason they had deliberately come to block Chen Ming today was because Hu Liena had learned that Bibi Dong was unhappy due to Chen Ming's lack of respect toward her, so she wanted to vent some anger on Bibi Dong's behalf.
This had been Hu Liena's own private decision. She had dragged along her older brother and her simp without informing anyone else. The whole matter itself was already extremely unreasonable and not something that could be publicly justified.
Of course, this was also because Hu Liena had absolutely no idea what Bibi Dong had actually said to Chen Ming, nor why Chen Ming refused to respect her. Otherwise, instead of coming to block Chen Ming, she would probably have gone out of her way to avoid him.
"Apologize to me," Chen Ming said coldly as his gaze swept over the three.
"I..." Hu Liena still wanted to stubbornly argue, but then Chen Ming pulled out two Pope's Decrees from his robes, holding one in each hand for them to see.
One was the current version of the Pope's Decree, the token Chen Ming had received after becoming an honorary elder of Spirit Hall. The other was the older version belonging to Golden Crocodile Douluo, publicly handed to Chen Ming before the entire hall during the ceremony.
Looking at the two symbols of supreme authority from different eras displayed together in Chen Ming's hands, the three members of Spirit Hall's Golden Generation felt cold sweat break out on their foreheads.
"We were wrong!" ×3
"As long as you know that. If there's nothing else, then hurry up and leave. I have no interest in chatting with a bunch of children."
The three of them felt veins bulging on their foreheads, but under the pressure of the two Pope's Decrees, they did not dare show even the slightest disrespect.
The slightly bolder one—more accurately, the one with the smaller brain—Yan swallowed nervously, stepped forward, and spoke softly.
"Um, Elder Chen... the three of us want to challenge you. May I ask..."
Yan had originally assumed Chen Ming would completely ignore such a request. Yet the moment Chen Ming heard the word "challenge," a smile appeared on his face, and he immediately put both Pope's Decrees back into his robes.
"Good! A challenge is great, very good. As Spirit Masters, you should have some fighting spirit. Empty talk is useless—Spirit Masters should know how to use their Martial Souls in battle."
"So? Are the three of you planning to come at me together, or one at a time?"
Looking at the three punching bags that had practically delivered themselves to his doorstep, the corners of Chen Ming's mouth curled into a grin.