Disciple Fo opened his eyes and shook his head, looking around confused. He didn’t remember falling asleep, he didn’t remember many things, actually. Where the last few hours went, for example. They were just missing from his memory, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t recall what happened.
“Fo, let’s go.” He heard his Master calling and immediately forgot what he was thinking about. He turned and ran towards the source of the voice.
“Coming, Master.”
The Grand Elder Ge Ting wrapped him in a layer of protective energy and they lifted off the ground and flew high above the Sect. It was not the first time Fo experienced flight, yet every single time it was a pleasant and thrilling experience.
His Master was powerful. He knew how to manipulate Space, he could twist it, fold it, and break it apart. But among all the techniques Fo had seen, the flight one was his favorite. He couldn’t wait till he reached the Spirit Realm and could finally learn it. The secret knowledge. He was excited.
They flew over the Ancient Ironbark Timberland at great speed, enough to tear a man apart, yet inside the protective energy shell, he was completely fine. His Master was a great man.
Soon the forest beneath them changed, replaced by vast prairies that stretched for as far as the eyes could see. They flew further than he had ever been, and seeing his home disappearing in the distance, anxiety gripped his heart. The Sect’s mountain range had long since disappeared behind the horizon despite the heights they flew at.
“Where are we going, Master?” He asked.
“Some fools bullied one of ours and stole from us. We are just going there to retrieve the item and teach them a lesson. It shouldn’t take too long.” Grand Elder Ge Ting answered while keeping his eyes locked forward.
“Oh…” The anxious grip on Fo’s heart lessened and he enjoyed the travel much more. They were just going on a short trip, there was no need for concern.
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They reached another forested area, though this one was much lesser than the magnificent timberland back home. The trees were small and weak, easily breaking with a little squeeze. Mortal wood. It couldn’t even keep itself from being eaten by tiny insects. Utter garbage.
They soon spotted a settlement on a small hill. It was the tallest place around, yet compared to their home Sect, it was tiny.
“Here we are, the Joyous Weed Sect.” The Elder murmured.
Fo looked down incredulously. How could that be a Sect? It looked more like a Mortal village than a place for Cultivators. The Qi in the air was also incredibly thin, even as they neared the peak.
As they landed, Fo scrunched his nose and frowned. The place stank. They stood at the peak of the hill, yet the stench from the filth he could see further down was brought there by the wind.
He flipped his hand downward and a hurricane blew past him, carrying the stench away with it.
Grand Elder didn’t say a thing and simply scanned the entire Sect. Fo could feel devastating energy pierce everything as his Master used the Eyes of God. It was a powerful technique, and nothing could escape his notice. A single look of his could be deadly if he so wanted, and it wasn’t even a fighting technique.
The Grand Elder disappeared and a nearby house exploded. As the dust settled, two figures were revealed, standing in the air. Grand Elder Ge Ting was holding another person by the neck. It was an old woman.
“I’m looking for a man. An idiot… No, Ixiot, I believe is his name.”
“I… don’t know… what you are talking about…” The old woman croaked as the grip was choking her. “There is no man... with such a name... in our Sect.”
The Grand Elder scoffed.
There was another explosion and the old woman was lying in the middle of a crater, limbs twisted in the wrong direction as blood started to pool around her. She was still breathing though. A Spirit Realm Cultivator was not that easy to kill.
“Damn liars…” Fo heard his Master grumble. The man then disappeared again and another fancy house on the peak exploded. The same thing repeated a few more times with similar results.
“I’m looking for a man…” Grand Elder said flatly as an old man with white hair and a scrawny body knelt on the ground before him.
“He’s… He’s not here anymore! He’s been gone for a long time. We tried to stop him, but he killed one of ours and managed to escape. But he is wounded!”
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Elder Ge Ting lifted an eyebrow. “Do you still have his Soul Lantern?”
“Yes! Yes, we do. It’s hidden in an underground chamber, I can show you.”
With a small nod from the Grand Elder, the old man quickly got on his feet and ran to open a secret passage under their main hall. Fo and his Master followed.
The stairs spiraled down quite deeply until they came to a hallway. The old man went first. He quickly ran in front until he came to a door while Grand Elder Ge Ting and his Disciple Fo slowly followed.
Suddenly Fo felt energy come alive in the walls and a presence pressed down on him, flattening him to the ground in an instant. It was already almost enough to kill him, and it barely just began powering up.
“Hahah! Fools! You thought this Sect Master would be so easy to bully? You will die here, and I’ll use your bones to fuel my Cultivation! Hahaha!”
However, as quickly as it came, the pressure disappeared. Fo looked around in surprise and noticed his Master’s energy pushing against the outside pressure. His face was calm, if somewhat annoyed.
“Pathetic.” Grand Elder said flatly. “To think an ant would dare to have such thoughts. A third-rate Sect daring to scheme against us, you must be tired of living.”
He began walking forward and Fo quickly followed to stay inside his protective barrier.
“Impossible! This Formation can easily crush a Sky Realm Cultivator! Who are you?!” The old Sect Master shouted in panic and started unlocking the door behind him with shaky hands. He appeared to be trying to escape.
“I’m not just any Sky Realm Cultivator. I am the Grand Elder Ge Ting of the Myriad Beasts Sect.” The Elder introduced himself. He extended his hand and punched the ceiling. A Formation flashed through the hallway brightly and then cracked, and the pressure disappeared.
“I always get what I want.” He said and stopped a step away from the old Cultivator. “And you are getting in my way.”
The following silence was disrupted by a loud slap, and teeth and blood splattered against the wall. The old Sect Master collapsed against the wall, moaning in pain with his broken face.
Grand Elder Get Ting pushed the locked vault door and with a single flash of Qi, the metal barrier broke and fell off its hinges. Any arrays protecting it were instantly destroyed.
He entered the room and looked at all the Soul Lanterns inside. A trembling Elder was crouching in the far corner, his eyes wide as saucers yet he didn’t dare release a single sound.
Fo Followed his Master as they entered the room, slowly reading the names of various Cultivators to whom those Soul Lanterns belonged.
“Here…” Grand Elder took one of them and examined it. “This is the one.” He took a small circular contraption and locked the two together. The tiny Soul Fragment from the lantern was sucked into his device and then the outer shell was discarded. A small needle almost immediately spun around and pointed in a certain direction.
“We are done here.” Grand Elder stated and they left the room. He didn’t even spare a glance at all the other treasures in the room. He was not there for that. But just as he was about to leave, he stopped, leaning down to the broken Sect Master.
“Just to confirm, the item is with Ixiot?”
“Yeees, yeees…” The broken man sobbed as blood spilled from his mouth.
“Hmm.” The Grand Elder nodded and tossed over a large pouch. “Thank you for your cooperation.”
The cloth bag hit the ground beside the old Sect Master, and Spirit Stones spilled out. The two left, and the old man cried.
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Fo watched with interest as the needle on the Soul Compass moved slightly when they had to avoid a particularly large flying beast. The ground was quickly changing beneath them and they were catching up to whomever his Master was chasing.
Fo had never before been on a manhunt. And he never wished to be on the other side of it either. His Master was brutally efficient and fast. Whoever angered him would suffer a fate worse than death. His master especially didn’t like liars. Weak beings that thought they could escape his all-knowing gaze.
He was so glad he could be his Disciple. He had learned so much in the decades he had followed him. And now, another opportunity.
They soon noticed a small figure walking on the ground. Fo disregarded it. It was too slow to be a powerful Cultivator, but then his Master descended and as they spiraled down, the needle went wild. It was their target.
They landed not far away, in the man’s path.
“Ixiot, you have something that belongs to us.” Grand Elder stated as he stood in place, hands behind his back.
Fo noticed the man in question breathing heavily and his robes were full of blood. Some of it was fresh, but most was not. He carried a small box in his grasp, even if he tried to hide it.
“Damn it…” The man cursed.
“I see you haven’t consumed it. Good.” The Elder said. “Extracting it back from your flesh and Soul would be quite lethal.”
The Grand Elder took a few steps forward and came to the wounded man. He extended his hand and flashed his Aura.
“The box or your life.”
The man collapsed on his knees and groaned in pain. Blood began to flow out of his old wounds and he barely managed to lift his limbs. He struggled, but with difficulty, he lifted the box and placed it in the Elder’s hand.
The pressure disappeared in an instant.
Elder Ge Ting opened the box for a split second and then closed it again, a thin smile forming on his face. “Very good. Let it not be said that members of the Myriad Beast Sect are thieves.”
He tossed him a pouch. “A thousand Spirit Stones. More than enough to pay for our Junior’s debt. Farewell.”
Fo watched his Master dominate the other man and his eyes shined like stars. His Master was so amazing, the other guy couldn’t even resist in the slightest. He was so massively outclassed that he handed over the item immediately and without complaint.
“We are done here. Let’s go back.”
“Yes, Master!” Fo smiled and stepped closer, letting the gentle energy envelop him. They were back in the sky, flying towards the Myriad Beasts Sect. It had been a good day.
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The week was over. I had been Cultivating the entire time and actually achieved a significant improvement. A 0.4% improvement! Woah! Or maybe it was even less. It was so freaking tiny I barely noticed. I had to calculate it backward based on how quickly other people advanced.
I wasn’t even sure if that was as fast as I could go since it took time for my Qi to recover. Still, it was better than nothing.
Just as I was lamenting the slow speed of Cultivation, a young Disciple approached me.
[What is it, Brother?]
“Madame Purple would like a word with you if you would follow me.” He said and turned around. I followed. It appeared it was finally time for me to get some answers.