The rest of the day proceeded fairly smoothly.

Despite his brief exercise in the morning, his master did not come to try and make him do body strengthening techniques, for which he was truly grateful. Instead he spent most of the day cultivating, not feeling in a rush to do anything else.

At dinner, his fellow disciples tried to awkwardly congratulate him on his breakthrough. He could see how much they mentally danced at the subject, unwilling to bring it up in case they caused him harm by accident. He was like one of those delicate human chicks they always seemed to be careful around.

He hated it.

Xiao Ji was no chick. Yet he could easily see how his attitude had led things to get to this level. Which meant he needed to correct it as best as he could.

“Thank you for your support over the past weeks. I know I might have come off as rude or hostile. For that I apologise. I am trying to get past all of this.”

Qian Shi simply shook her head before replying.

“Ji, we have all gone through body strengthening. Everyone has experienced what you are going through in some form. We don’t think less of you for any of it.”

“Yet none of you have taken it as badly as I have.”

He had heard their whispered conversations, spoken when they thought he was lost in space. They had all needed a little time to recover from their first breakthroughs, but it was always a few days, at most, not weeks. Likewise, none of them had ever decided to quit practising the art.

Ruo Long, previously content to watch in silence, suddenly spoke up.

“What grade was your body strengthening art,” he asked.

Ji found it a little strange that he was just being asked the question, but perhaps the dragon was only emboldened by Ji’s desire to get past the situation.

“It's Beyond grade.”

From the sounds of shock he heard, it was clear that that was something unusual. Even more surprising was the looks they both gave him. He was used to Shi looking at him with sympathy but he had at least expected Ruo Long to even be somewhat envious, since it was clear his technique was not Beyond grade.

“Master gave you that technique?” Shi growled, angrier than he had ever seen her. “How could he?”

He had gotten surprisingly good at decoding the expressions of his fellow disciples during his time on the mountain. Currently, the best he could say was that Qian Shi absolutely looked like she wanted to murder someone. At that moment he was reminded of the fact that she had once spoken about casually murdering her former human family after they betrayed their father.

Surprisingly, though perhaps it should not have been, Ruo Long was the one who seemed to be at utmost calm.

“Xiao Ji, do you know the different grades of skills?”

“No,” he admitted. He knew Beyond was very good, but little else.

“There are generally five levels of techniques recognised by most of the Empire. Common, Earth, Sky, Imperial and Perfect.”

That seemed oddly similar to the Title rankings. He also noticed the fact that Beyond was absent from the list.

“What about Beyond?”

“I did not mention Beyond because as far as most people are concerned, it does not exist. The more powerful families and sects know about it, but even for them, Perfect is the highest conceivable rank. Do you know why I am telling you this?”

He shook his head.

“To let you understand just how ridiculous Beyond grade techniques are. The breathing techniques of most Awakened are Perfect and that is enough for us to be considered immensely talented. The body strengthening arts Qian Shi and I learnt were only Imperial, and they were the limit of what we could tolerate. The First Disciple cultivates a Perfect body strengthening art and when I asked him about it, he admitted the pain almost made him quit. The First Disciple is someone who grew up used to pain! If you went through the pain of a Beyond grade body strengthening art and still wished to continue it, then I would have to start fearing you even more than the First Disciple.”

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Xiao Ji merely stood there, unsure of what to say. Although he had no plans to pick up the art again, there had been a nagging worry at the back of his mind pointing out his inadequacy. Telling him that his uncle and the First Disciple might not have given up. Even now it tried to discredit Ruo Long’s words, saying that the dragon might just be trying to cheer him up.

He rejected those thoughts. He had stayed with Ruo Long for enough time to know that his arrogance was real. To admit that he could not go beyond the Imperial realm was not something that must have been easy. It was certainly not something that he would lie about.

Qian Shi ended up confirming what Ruo Long said, pointing out that the pain of the body strengthening breakthroughs increased with the grade, and that she could not even imagine having to face Imperial. To put someone through the pain of a Beyond grade art was, according to her, a cruelty that she would not wish upon anyone who was not her biggest enemy.

Calmer and more assured in himself, Ji found himself flowing into the conversation more smoothly than he had in a while. They talked for a while until Mei came in. She seemed content to simply watch them though, so they continued as they were while she just sat down with a smile on her face. When she spoke suddenly, she caught them by surprise. That surprise increased the moment they heard what she had to say.

“So after much thought, Master has decided that his disciples need a break.”

Her declaration was met with looks of scepticism from all three disciples. Ji had not known the old man for a long time, but to give them a break out of the blue was very uncharacteristic of him. There was only one reason they might get a ‘break’ all of a sudden. He was clearly not the only one who was pursuing that line of thought as Ruo Long narrowed his eyes just a moment later.

“This is a test of some form. It is otherwise impossible for us to receive a break for no reason.”

“That’s a bit cynical Long, don’t you think?”

Unfortunately, Mei’s attempts to get support from the other disciples fell flat when she noticed that they mirrored the dragon’s expression of distrust. She sighed.

“Surely he’s not that bad.”

They simply stared at her, none of them bothering to mention the fact that Master Fan Guo would have gotten Ji to continue the body strengthening art the day after the breakthrough if he had not refused so completely. Mei already knew that.

“Fine. I know he would not give you a break normally, but I was able to get him to loosen up because of Ji. He truly feels bad about what happened.”

Qian Shi growled at that but did not say anything. She had already made her anger known. Ji, on the other hand, seriously doubted the old man felt bad. Perhaps he was just annoyed at his refusal to continue practising the technique. Though he had agreed to become his disciple, Xiao Ji held no illusions about the man he called his master. From the way the man talked, he likely saw all his disciples as little more than tools to achieve whatever purpose he wanted them for.

Ji merely hoped that purpose required him to be healthy and strong. He was actually starting to appreciate some of the advice his uncle gave him on relationships with other intelligent people. Everything he had learnt from those lessons pointed to his master not actually caring much about them as individuals.

“Somehow, I doubt we will be allowed to simply stay here and relax throughout the break,” Ruo Long commented.

Mei actually looked sheepish when she answered.

“Well no. Master thinks it will be good for Ji to see The Settlement. So you will be spending a week there.”

“And I don’t suppose you’ll be providing transportation.”

Ji had to admit he was enjoying Ruo Long’s attitude. He liked Mei, but he was not particularly interested in humouring his Master so easily if he could help it.

Once again Mei hesitated before answering.

“Well no. Since its Ji’s first time, you will have to escort him and show him the route.”

“Of course we do.”

“Look,” Mei said, finally fed up. “I tried my best and this was what I could get for you guys. Just be glad you even have a break in the first place. I am not Master Guo. You know I’m as helpless as you.”

“You are right Mei. I apologise for taking out my annoyance on you. That is not how a dragon acts.”

Ruo Long actually looked ashamed at the end of the rebuke, something Ji had not expected. The dragon had never seemed to care for the woman all that much. He also felt a little guilty truth be told. He had supported Ruo Long silent, even knowing that Mei was as helpless as the rest of them. His mind briefly went back to his deep rooted resentment of dogs .He had made progress in overcoming it, but it was clear he still had a ways to go.

“It’s nothing. You will be going tomorrow, so make sure you prepare tonight. Since it's a break, you will get a single spatial ring to put all your things. I’ll put food inside it for you.

They all cleared out of the dining room soon after that, and Ji went to his room to think about the break. He had no idea what The Settlement was, but he supposed he would see it in time. Thankfully, he did not particularly need to pack anything, considering his complete lack of personal property.

Well, except for one.

He took the painting that Rou Long gave him and simply admired it. He had lost count of how many times he simply looked at the painting for hours. Even with his limited knowledge of art, it was easy to see how much of a good artist the dragon was. Each detail was captured meticulously.

In truth, Ruo Long likely did not know just how much Ji valued the painting. It was much more than just beautiful art to him. It was the first piece of property he had come to call his own. That was worth much more than he could quantify, and it made the art all the more beautiful for it.

That night, like many others before it, Xiao Ji simply admired the only piece of property he owned for hours before falling into blissful sleep.

Once again, the screams did not come.