In the several great eons of existence of Blue Sky Sword Sea, there had never been such a thing as tolls for crossing the bridge. The issue was, this was not Chen Xia's bridge to begin with, so what right did he have to collect fees?
As for this issue, Chen Xia also had his own simple three word response:
"Don't you mind."
Since he was sitting here, he was definitely going to collect fees, so don't ask why, just say whether you'll pay or not.
The formal disciples felt that Chen Xia was being utterly unreasonable. Wasn't this just randomly putting up a sign and then starting to rob people of money?
Of course, Chen Xia also had his own explanation, shaking his head as he said:
"I already said it's a toll for crossing the bridge, how is this robbery? It's completely justified to collect it, ok?"
"I'm a probation disciple, and you are formal disciples and elders, coming to the probation disciple area, shouldn't you give me money?"
Good grief, now even probation disciples had become the privileged party?
But given the current circumstances, Chen Xia's status as a probation disciple did seem to confer certain advantages.
He had not crossed beyond the probation disciple area, so the elders could not easily make a move. An elder randomly attacking a Great Emperor seedling would warrant punishment.
After all, how could an elder claim he was just comparing skills with a probation disciple?
It could only be bullying the weak.
Even if the bullying succeeded, the elder would still face punishment, although at least he'd have vented his anger and gained some notoriety.
But if the bullying failed, what sort of reputation would he earn?
Weak and aggro?
The elders were unwilling to take on this thankless task.
After all, elders were also ranked from one to nine. Elders directly promoted from Great Emperor seedlings were definitely the top rank, only a handful in all of Blue Sky Sword Sea.
Then there were elders with titles like Law Elder and so on. These titled elders had the highest status.
At the bottom were ordinary elders, most of whom were at the third or fourth layer of the Reverse Sea stage, with the honorary title of Supreme Seed making them slightly stronger than ordinary Reverse Sea cultivators.
As for elders like Old Fisherman and Third Elder, their status was a level higher, considered core figures in Blue Sky Sword Sea.
The current situation was deadlocked.
The formal disciples didn't dare come over, and Chen Xia refused to leave, just staying at the tip of Sword Peak cooking food.
After another two months, most of the formal disciples understood one thing: Chen Xia had blocked their path.
This could be ranked in the top ten bizarre events since the founding of Blue Sky Sword Sea.
Incidentally, in those top ten bizarre events, another one was also due to Chen Xia.
That was, moving the peak of Sword Mountain to solo kill the sixth layer Reverse Sea cultivator Qiong Qi.
A real achievement.
The problem the formal disciples now faced was that they couldn't beat Chen Xia, but they also couldn't get past him.
But where there's a will, there's a way. How could one person like Chen Xia stop so many formal disciples?
With the elders' assistance as well, they quickly came up with a solution.
Since you want to collect tolls for crossing the bridge, then I simply won't cross the bridge. I'll go from the sky, cross through Sword Sea, or even directly teleport over.
How could Chen Xia stop that?
He'd only be able to watch helplessly as the formal disciples displayed their abilities, entering the probation disciple area from all directions.
The key was stealth.
Chen Xia knew about this, but didn't stop them. He still sat outside the Heavenly Pavilion, taking medicinal pills from the stove, now cooked to blackness, and popped them into his mouth, wiping away the crumbs.
Shadows streaked across the sky above.
Waves churned incessantly in Sword Sea.
Formations flickered, figures blurred.
These were the abilities of the various formal disciples, hurrying towards the probation disciple area, infiltrating it, and beginning guerrilla attacks.
The plan was to grab and run, absolutely not lingering.
After about a quarter hour, Chen Xia got up, extinguished the stove, rolled up his sleeves, then turned around. His footsteps were unhurried, but each step spanned thousands of meters.
He truly couldn't stop all the formal disciples, but he could handle a few.
So it was best they not get caught by him.
Killing chickens to warn monkeys - he was going to catch chickens now.
Just after Chen Xia left the outside of the Heavenly Pavilion, several elders hurried to follow, rushing after him.
They were the backup plan. If Chen Xia really dared to use force, these elders would have reason to obstruct him.
A moment later, deafening sounds came from the probation disciple area, followed by miserable screams.
Chen Xia held a head in each hand, carrying two formal disciples like dead dogs. Below his feet were two more, and he shook his head and asked:
"With just Reverse Mountain stage cultivation, you dare sneak in here? Do you really think you're amazing, or did you think I'm easy to bully?"
The fallen formal disciples screamed, their eyes constantly looking in the direction the elders had come from.
Other formal disciples were also watching, not leaving at all.
Seeing this, Chen Xia knew something was off. He raised his head to look ahead.
Three elders stood in three different directions, coldly watching him. They angrily roared:
"Probation disciple Chen Xia, why do you dare to attack your superiors? Release your martial brothers immediately, or do you intend to murder your fellow sect members?"
"I've already killed some," Chen Xia nodded.
He was really too honest, leaving the others at a loss for how to respond.
The three elders' faces turned red, stunned for a good while, before angrily shouting again:
"Obtuse and stubborn! To have such a ruthless disciple is truly Blue Sky Sword Sea's misfortune, truly a disgrace to Blue Sky Sword Sea!"
Chen Xia nodded, agreeing very much.
"I also feel that way, so could you contact my master and have him expel me from Blue Sky Sword Sea immediately? Best if it's today, then I can tidy up and leave tonight."
The elders' eyes bulged wide, gritting their teeth tightly. Their faces were red as boiled pork, steam seeming to rise from them. Pointing at Chen Xia's nose, they cursed:
"No sense of shame! To actually have the gall to say such things, your morals and etiquette are completely ruined. Scum, utter scum!"
Chen Xia raised a brow, tossing away the two formal disciples he held, and impatiently asked:
"Could you just say whether you can expel me from the sect today or not?"
"We don't have that authority, but we can report to the Law Elders, or even the Three Elders, and on to the headmaster. When that time comes, you'll only be able to crawl away from Blue Sky Sword Sea in shame!" the three elders angrily rebuked, eyebrows slanted in anger, their auras surging.
"You don't have the authority to say all that here?!" Chen Xia was a bit unhappy now.
They'd really gotten his hopes up for nothing.
He flicked his toe, kicking up one of the formal disciples under his feet, lightly punting him. The disciple turned into a streak of light shooting towards the elders.
The elders didn't care, dodging aside and letting the formal disciple crash into the mountain range, smashing out a huge crater.
Chen Xia smiled lightly, cocking his head and cracking his knuckles loudly as he stretched his fingers. Meeting the elders' gazes steadily and confidently, he laughed:
"I'll beat your pensions out of you."