Long Chen’s cold shout shook the thousands of powerful experts within the hall. They hadn’t expected the High Firmament Academy's dean to be so young and so domineering.

“The High Firmament Academy is the number one academy beneath the heavens, possessing the oldest inheritance within the nine heavens and ten lands. And yet, it treats its guests so poorly! Is this how the High Firmament Academy treats its guests?” At this time, a bald man with a strange horn on his head stepped forward.

This person was a Divine Venerate. Based on his aura, he had just advanced, and his Blood Qi fluctuations were extremely intense. Judging from the Heavenly Doyen energy circulating around him, Long Chen was sure that he was an eight star Heavenly Doyen.

“Guests? You think you count as guests?” Long Chen snorted.

Long Chen’s words were still echoing when a translucent three-flower shield appeared above that bald man’s head. The bald man was prepared, and with a shout, he launched a fist at it, concentrating all of his power.

However, it was as if all of his power vanished into an abyss. The shield warped around his fist, and his body smashed into it.

A loud sound then came from inside the shield. The bald man was shocked to sense the power of his attack to bounce back at him.

Like a stone from a slingshot, he was sent flying and instantly vanished from sight. No one knew how far he went, but he might have flown far out of the High Firmament Academy’s domain.

Seeing this scene, the old attendant of the academy smiled inside. This fellow’s mouth had been particularly irritating during this time. As expected, evil people should be handled by evil people, and Long Chen was the perfect bane for them.

“If you know that the High Firmament Academy is the oldest academy within the nine heavens and ten lands, shouldn’t you have some respect in your heart when you came, instead of swaggering about so arrogantly? If you had come sincerely to study, we would have opened our gates and welcomed you warmly. But if it was just to show off your might in an attempt to suppress the academy, hehe, perhaps things won’t go as you please,” said Long Chen contemptuously.

Long Chen had noticed that these people’s auras were off, completely different from those he had encountered. The laws and fluctuations of the Heavenly Daos from their bodies were different.

“We merely seek an audience with the academy so that we can call any of our people over, yet your higher-ups refuse to see us. What are you intending to do with this?!” shouted a gray-robed elder with a sword on his back.

This elder’s aura was unclear, and his fluctuations could not be seen through. Despite this, his gaze pierced through the air like a honed blade, marking him as a formidable Sage King.

However, Long Chen remained undeterred as he asked, “You should be from the Cassowary race, correct?”

The elder was a bit surprised that Long Chen could see through his identity, but he continued to look at Long Chen arrogantly. “Correct. I am here to bring back the Cassowary race’s disciples to the Sovereign Emperor Heaven. For me to first greet the High Firmament Academy instead of just taking my people and leaving is already showing great courtesy toward the academy. But your High Firmament Academy continues to act so coldly to its guests. Don’t you think that this is too rude?”

“That’s right, the High Firmament Academy is far too rude, far too uncivilized!”

“The number one academy actually lost the etiquette part of its inheritance.”

Many experts took this chance to criticize the High Firmament Academy and Long Chen.

Standing beside Long Chen, Bai Xiaole was anxious. If he were the one being criticized by so many people, he wouldn’t have been able to think of anything to say out of panic. But he saw that Long Chen was completely unperturbed.

“Great courtesy? You don’t seem young. Has all your years of cultivation been used on thickening your face?” Long Chen snorted disdainfully.

“And what is that supposed to mean?” demanded the elder, his expression sinking.

“When all of you came to ‘offer a greeting’ to the academy, did any of you present a formal name card?” asked Long Chen.

No… but I—”

“Did any of you present a formal gift?” asked Long Chen.

This time, everyone was left at a loss. Regarding the name card, perhaps they could make an excuse by saying that they were in a rush. However, they couldn’t just bullshit their way through regarding gifts.

As long as they weren’t enemies, a visit to a sect required a gift, and it didn’t need to be anything overly precious. It was just a simple good gesture toward the sect.

The sect could judge the other side’s sincerity and intentions based on the gift. When they left, as long as they didn’t cause trouble, the sect would give them a parting gift in return. The parting gift might not be as precious as the original gift, but it also wouldn’t be something so lacking that the other side had lost out. Otherwise, it would make others call the sect miserly, affecting their reputation.

To put it frankly, people would receive as much as they put in. This was the meaning behind the reciprocity of gifts, which was a way to promote communication and social exchanges.

Seeing these people’s expressions, Long Chen knew that his guess was on point. He disdainfully said, “To come empty-handed yet still talk about courtesy, your faces really are thick!”

His words turned all those experts red, leaving them speechless. Bai Xiaole gazed at Long Chen worshipfully, finding his sharp retorts just as satisfying as crushing the powerful enemies before the gate to the ninth heaven.

Meanwhile, Little Nine arrogantly held its chin aloft, disdainfully regarding the others below. Though it found the posture somewhat taxing, it persisted, determined to look down on them.

Other than the attendant, there were three other elders of the academy there, in charge of steeping and pouring tea. At this moment, they almost clapped for Long Chen.

“Dean Long Chen, it was our fault. We have been rude, but we did bring a formal name card and a gift. It’s just that things were rather chaotic when we first entered the gates, so we just followed the flow inside. I apologize. This is our name card and gift.” At this moment, a woman walked forward, holding a gift with a name card on it with both hands.

Seeing this woman could be considered at least somewhat smart, Long Chen’s tone softened slightly. “It’s too late. For you to only bring them out now, it damages your prestige. It also makes my High Firmament Academy appear forceful and tyrannical, like we’re not magnanimous enough. Just tell me what you want. As long as it isn’t some rude request, my High Firmament Academy will do its best to satisfy you.”

“We acknowledge our wrongdoing and will try to make it right. Who would persist in error without seeking correction? Please accept our apology.” With both hands extended, the woman offered up her gift.

“Fool, what are you staring at? Take it! Are you waiting for your boss to grab it himself? Your head is empty!” transmitted Little Nine.

Bai Xiaole hastily ran over and took the gift, handing it to Long Chen. When Long Chen saw their name card, he was startled.

“It’s them!”