A stern voice sounded across the pavilion, a middle-aged man along with an elegant woman came into his view.

"They are the two Sect Masters of the Two Swords Sect located in the Western Province of the Seven Grand Empires.” Young Master Gu, who was beside Li Daozi, spoke in a neutral tone. Li Wenqing similarly went quiet and silently nodded her head.

The Mount Yaluo Sect is located at the Northern Province and the Sect Masters of Two Swords Sect which is located in the Western Province coming in this grand occasion shows how ‘grand’ the matter is. The issue of selecting the right successor for a sect is no joke.

“Mount Yaluo Sect welcomes the Sun Emperor!”

“Mount Yaluo Sect welcomes the Head of the Fang Family!”

“Mount Yaluo ....”

...

Gradually, almost all of the big shots of the Northern Province gathered in the inner Silver Pavilion and were conversing among themselves. Li Daozi had an uninterested expression in his face but he was dragged by Gu Han to accompany him as one of his lackeys.

“Young Master Gu’s elegance is rightfully portrayed in his elegant attire.” A female Outer Sect Disciple coquettishly said.

Young Master Gu laughed lightly, then turned to Li Daozi. “Why don’t you go to the Inner Hall?”

Li Daozi immediately understood that they would discuss some private matters and immediately left.

Inner Hall.

Even though loud discussions were commonplace in the hall, it wasn’t enough to the point of being chaotic. Everyone maintained a humble and gentle demeanor. Here, even when a person disagreed with the other party’s opinions, they would laugh it off by giving an understanding expression to the other party’s opinions. In this rough dog-shit world, this was quite a rare sight. Li Daozi acknowledged and swept his eyes comfortably.

Slowly, his eyes stopped at the spot where a graceful young lady, who looked about the same age as him, was surrounded by the members of younger generations of both sexes. His eyes narrowed as he recognised the woman.

It was Bing Yuxie. Unlike him, Li Daozi is an Outer Sect Disciple with a cultivation of at least 2nd Stage Qi Condensation. Although Li Daozi and Bing Yuxie couldn’t be called ‘friends’, they certainly knew each other. She was also one of the women he saw fighting a few days ago. Unknowingly, his interest was piqued as he too joined the fray.

“Young Miss Bing truly excels in both beauty and talents. Truly a fairy descended upon the mortal world.” A female disciple wearing the robe of Mount Yaluo Sect sighed as her eyes were filled with admiration.

Li Daozi’s face contorted as he cringed hard. Barely managing to maintain a calm expression, he asked the female disciple. “Senior. Would you be so kind as to tell this Junior who this Goddess is?”

“You don’t know who she is?” Her mouth went wide. Is this Junior living under a rock or what?

Li Daozi helplessly shook his head.

Seeing his helpless expression, the female disciple didn’t question further. “Listen well then! She is the newly appointed and only disciple of the Sect Master. It is rumored within a few days, she has already reached Foundation Establishment from a 3rd Stage Qi Condensation.”

Li Daozi jumped out in fright after hearing her identity. Just a few days back, I saw her... er, leave it be. Let’s not think too much about it.

“And who are the others surrounding her?” Li Daozi curiously asked.

As soon as he said it, the disciple’s mechanical voice sounded in his ears. “The guy with blonde hair and red robe is Xie Long, the only son of the Sect Master. The girl with huge assets is Xie Fenghuang, the only daughter of the Sect Master. The pretty boy courting her is Jiang Feng, the only disciple of the Sun Emperor. The female twins beside her are the daughters of Sun Emperor of Northern Brilliant Illusionary Sect.”

“I feel that one of Senior Sister’s descriptions wasn’t quite appropriate.”

“Is that so? Must be your imagination.”

“Does this Senior Sister know their strength?” Li Daozi asked with some curiosity.

The female disciple looked at her junior brother for a moment, then answered. “Xie Long and Xie Fenghuang are 9th Stage Qi Condensation. The female twins and Jiang Feng are 11th Stage Qi Condensation.”

“Would it be rude to ask Senior Sister’s cultivation?”

“Yes, but seeing that you are polite I will answer. My cultivation is 4th Stage Qi Condensation.”

Li Daozi didn’t shower her with hypocritical praises because he figured that it would be considered hypocritical if he called her a talent after learning the talents of the real talents. Therefore, he left after giving her a respectful nod. Just as he turned around, he saw a familiar figure in the crowd.

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It was Li Hanying. His Second Uncle’s youngest son. He was quite close with this cousin of his. There were two reasons. Their affinities matched. And their conditions were the same. Li Daozi was an Outer Sect Coolie and he was an Outer Sect Miscellaneous Work-boy.

He waved at him with a smile.

“Never expected you to find here. I thought you don’t like crowds.” Smiling, Li Hanying came to him.

“I don’t. I was forced to.”

“Huh? By whom?”

“Who else? That Gu Han. It seems that he is interested in making me his lackey.”

“You should be happy.”

“I know.” Li Daozi replied with a dejected expression. Somehow the idea of being someone’s lackey was a bit revolting to him. “By the way, what’s with this Bing Yuxia? How did she suddenly become such an important figure?” Regarding this point, he was extremely confused.

As mentioned previously, he was acquainted with her. She was the illegitimate child of the Head of the Bing Family. After she joined the sect, she was given the task to escort new disciples to the Outer Court. She had the same status as both of them.

“I was hoping to find some answers from you…” Li Hanying replied with an awkward smile.

Li Daozi sighed. “Forget it. How does it feel to broaden your views of the world?” Both of them were mere mortals. Forget about seeing so many “Great Masters” at once, they haven’t even met the Inner Court Elders in their lifetime.

“How should I say it… it feels unfair.” Li Hanying replied after some thoughts.

“When did we have the qualifications to judge the fairness of the world?” Li Daozi gave a half-smile and continued. “Of course, our strength may be million times lesser than those great masters but the most important thing in life is the heart. If your heart is strong, even the strongest man in the continent couldn’t defeat you. You may be killed but not defeated.” After speaking, he himself felt genuinely shocked at his capabilities to spout bullshits.

Li Hanying seemed enlightened but after a while, he sighed. “What’s the point then? We will die anyways.”

“The point is dignity! Which is priceless! Out of everyone you see in this banquet, how many of them could keep their dignified expression even when facing an expert stronger than them? Remember, there’s a higher mountain beyond every mountain.”

“Indeed!” Li Hanying nodded with a serious expression.

Li Daozi inwardly sighed and shifted topics. “How is the matter with Fen Qing going? Any progress?”

Li Hanying shook his head. “Father has proposed marriage to the Fen Family but they haven’t answered back.”

Li Hanying and Fen Qing were childhood sweethearts. Now that both of them were seventeen, they brought the issue of marriage to their family. The Li Family readily agreed but the Fen Clan didn’t give a direct answer.

Li Daozi consoled his cousin and chatted with him a little before he felt that it was getting late. Just as he bid farewell and turned around, his delicate body collided with a bigger body. From the impact of the collision, he staggered backwards and fell down. He was on the bege of cursing when he noticed an annoyed face. ‘Shit! It’s that sissy Jiang Feng.’

“How dare you block the Sun Child’s wa-” The lackey was interrupted.

“Please have mercy! This little one was ignorant!” Kneeling down in a stiff manner, Li Daozi shouted.

Stunned!

The lackey was stunned!

The Sun Child Jiang Feng was stunned!

Everyone was stunned!

But the one who was even more stunned than the others was definitely Li Hanying. His mouth went so wide that three eggs could fit inside his mouth.

“T-this…” The lackey was unable to utter a word. He looked towards Jiang Feng, who looked quietly with a stunned look.

“It’s fine. Take this.” Jiang Feng took out a pouch and tossed it to the kneeling Li Daozi, then continued. “Mistakes are committed by everyone. To apologise and admit your mistakes are commendable.” Saying so, he turned his gaze towards Bing Yuxia and smiled lightly.

Li Daozi had a shocked expression. “Worthy of being the Sun Child. This magnanimity is something extremely rare in this pugilistic world.”

“Very true. Sun Child is even more refined and magnanimous than the rumors say.”

Following his lead, almost everyone started flattering.

In the corner, Li Daozi wiped off the sweat from his forehead and secretly muttered. “I wonder what is inside the pouch.”

Opening the pouch, he nearly fell down in shock. There were high-grade Fatigue Pills! Even more, there were more than sixty!

“I should bump into rich and powerful Young Masters often in the future.” Breathing a bit heavily, he muttered.

Unbeknownst to him, his friend, Li Hanying, came near to him and got even more furious hearing his words. “What the hell are you speaking!? Where did your dignity go when you bumped into the Sun Child? Don’t tell me you were f*cking with me the entire time!?”

Li Daozi became a bit embarrassed. “Brother Hanying, dignity is indeed important but I can’t afford to die at a young age. I have to take care of my parents when they get old.”

“I ain’t buying that!”

Li Daozi started appeasing him. After a few minutes, he bid his farewell.

Just as he got out of the hall, he felt a soft body hugging him from behind.

“Are you just going to leave me alone?” A sweet coquettish voice entered his ears.

He sighed. Without turning back, he replied. “You hide it quite well.”

After a short moment, she responded. “I was forced by the circumstances.”

“I see. What are your plans for the future?” He asked in a nonchalant manner.

“I haven’t thought about it.”

“Hm… it’s getting late. Take care.” Removing her delicate hands from his waist, he walked away.

The figure stood there, unmoving. Looking at the back of the man she had relations with, she emotionally sighed.

Li Daozi’s hut.

Taking a bath, he jumped into bed.

“It was a tough day.” He thought about today’s events and thought about his future. “If I want to get stable in life, I have to become an Outer Court Elder at the very least. The minimum requirements to become an Outer Court Elder is 7th Later Qi Condensation… The Sect will take in Outer Court Disciples in the next month. To become an Outer Court Disciple, one must either be a second-grade talent or be a 2nd Layer Qi Condensation stage expert under 17… I’m sixteen this year, so this is my last opportunity to become an Outer Court Disciple. I have around sixty high-grade fatigue pills. But I have to exchange all of these pills with 600 low-grade fatigue pills simply because to keep my consciousness, I won’t even need a mid-grade pill. Low-grade pills would be enough…”

With a dazed look, he continued. “Last time, I lost my consciousness by completing a single cycle. From what I have heard from Gu Han, with a low-grade fatigue pill, I can persevere for three cycles. I would require around 170 fatigue pills to reach the first layer. Roughly speaking, I won’t need more than 430 fatigue pills to reach the second layer…” He released a mouthful of air.

The dazed look became focused once again. “I have got 28 days and that is enough!”

Li Daozi’s back was already dripping wet with sweat. His eyes narrowed as he bitterly smiled. “Is my life even mine anymore?”