Xiao Ji had to admit, he had never felt anything quite like what he was currently experiencing.

In all the time he had spent around Mei and his fellow disciples, he generally could not sense them as his qi senses were not well developed. He had managed to get a vague estimate of the wolves’ power the previous day, a first time for him. Both Qian Shi and Ruo Long had confirmed that it was a normal thing that all cultivators could do. Most cultivators of course had ways to protect against it. Which was why he could not sense his fellow disciples.

What he felt when he looked at the snake was completely different, however. It was his first time meeting an awakened with a Beyond grade breathing technique since he unlocked the System. He felt a certain kind of pressure. It was not physical, instead a supernatural force seemed to be pushing him to outdo the one challenger who claimed to be his equal.

A strange feeling indeed.

From the way the snake turned to stare at him suddenly, he reckoned he was not the only one that felt it. Regardless, there was a fight about to start, so neither of them could do anything about it at that moment.

The human on the other side of the field took a deep breath and exploded outwards all of a sudden. Moving at speeds Ji could only barely follow, she rushed the snake punching her arm out towards them.

The snake, unfazed by the speed, dodged the strike with contemptuous ease. The same thing happened again for the next few seconds, with the human lashing out with explosive speed and the snake weaving smoothly around the human’s hands.

Ji was far from an expert at fighting, but it quickly became obvious that though the snake had not attempted to land a single hit, they controlled the fight. This clearly became obvious to the human as well, as she screamed in frustration.

“Fight me, Bai Lin!. Do you look down on me so much that you toy with me?”

The snake let out a sigh. When she spoke, it was with the tone of someone who considered the entire situation beneath her.

“You are not my match, Qin Yufei. That was never in doubt. The only person who believed you stood a chance was you.”

The human screamed again, something she seemed to have a penchant for doing, and lashed out. This time, though her fist did not hit the Bai Lin, the snake was still sent flying.

Confusion filled his mind for a brief moment before he realised what had happened.

External qi.

The Foundation Building Realm was where one could start manipulating external qi to a very limited degree. It was likely that the woman released qi out of her hands in a burst that hit the snake. Not for the first time he wished his senses extended further. Then he would be able to actually sense what was happening instead of simply relying on deduction.

“Who is your match-”

Qin Yufei did not get a chance to finish what she was saying before the snake’s tail was wrapped around her wrist. Before she could react, Bai Lin pulled hard, and the human flew through the air in a somersault before landing on the ground in a crumpled heap.

Not satisfied with simply ending there, the tail hit the woman’s chest hard, and Ji was sure he heard something crack.

“Like I said, you are not my match.”

The field was dead quiet for a long moment before an excited shout of ‘Bai Lin’ broke the tension.

Qian Shi ran to the field, completely disregarding what anyone thought, and picked the snake up with his paws. Ji saw the snake tense up before relaxing.

“Welcome back, Shi,” the snake known as Bai Lin greeted.

“That was really cool!” Qian Shi exclaimed. “We definitely should spar before I go. You’ve improved a lot.”

“I suppose I have.”

The snake’s voice was soothing, yet haughty. Ji thought it sounded like a calmer version of Ruo Long. One that sounded smooth and natural compared to the dragon’s attempts. Ji felt himself tense as she looked at him before turning back to Qian Shi.

“I see you have made a friend, Shi. Would you introduce me?”

“Oh yeah. That’s Xiao Ji. Master’s new disciple.”

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The snake looked at him with a strange expression before questioning Qian Shi.

“His name is actually Xiao Ji?”

“Yes. It was the name Senior Brother Xie Sun gave him.”

Once more, Ji cursed the universe for its unfairness. Why would anyone be so cruel as to name him Xiao Ji? He turned and locked eyes with Ruo Long for a moment before revising his position.

It could always be worse.

The rest of the conversation between Shi and Bai Lin was mostly quiet, and Ji chose to largely ignore it in favour of checking out the sect. It was his first time in any sect, which meant he was interested in seeing as much as he could.

Ruo Long had already gathered a group around him, once again being the centre of attention as he boasted about some exploit of his. He had noticed the way the dragon drew stares even in the city. More so than any of them .He supposed it was to be expected. From what he understood, dragons, even impure one’s, were legendary and not often seen.

A brief glance at the other disciples showed that some of them were watching him with curiosity. Another thing that was to be expected. He was an unknown variable after all. Not to mention the fact that Bai Lin had clearly expressed interest in him. Simply by listening to a few conversations around him, it was easy to see that the snake was very highly regarded in the sect. The disciples spoke of her with a certain amount of reverence. Not dissimilar to how the others spoke of The First Disciple.

One of the people finally seemed to gain the courage to approach him. It was a broad shouldered man who wore the uniform of the inner disciples.

“Has the Great Divine Master Fan Guo taken a new disciple?”

Ji decided there was no harm in being polite, so he answered.

“Yes he has.”

“I heard the Mighty Rooster Xie Sun went missing. Are you his replacement?”

That the news of his uncle’s disappearance could be common knowledge was not something he had considered. He was not sure he liked the human’s tone, but he still tried to remain calm.

It was what his uncle would do.

“I am my own chicken and Uncle Xie Sun is his own. None of us has replaced the other.”

That was not particularly true and Ji was not so stupid that he did not realise his uncle had raised him as a replacement of sorts to appease his Master. That did not mean he wanted random people to share that opinion though.

“They say the Mighty Rooster is resplendent and captures hearts with his might and charm wherever he goes .You don’t seem like that, Xiao Ji.”

Of course Qian Shi had gone to shout his name out loud for everyone to hear. He supposed it could never have been hidden for too long. The man in front of him was seriously starting to annoy him though.

“I am not Xie Sun and I will appreciate it I was left alone.”

The man laughed loudly, too loudly. Like he was trying to draw attention to them.

“So the new disciple of The Great Divine Master is a coward that cannot face the truth.”

“Leave,” Ji said, his tone openly hostile now.

“Why don’t you make me. Fight me right now and prove that you are not a coward.”

Qian Shi was between them in an instant.

“Back off,” she growled.

The disciple smiled even wider.

“So it is true you are a coward, Xiao Ji. Hiding behind your senior sister.”

Qian Shi was not impressed by that.

“You are in the Foundation Building Realm challenging someone in Qi Condensation and you talk about bravery.”

While they argued, Ji was facing a dilemma. His first thought was to ignore the human that clearly wished to provoke him. It might have been difficult to do alone, yet he had both of his fellow disciples here, which meant he was safe.

Yet something stopped him. The same thing that stopped him from running when he faced the wolf in the village. He was a chicken. A species that was close to the bottom of the chicken. They were hunted by everything from humans to foxes to dogs. Chicken were prey.

Xiao Ji did not want to be prey.

He did not want to shrink back from humans. Early on, he had already realised that his only true competition would be awakened. So why should he hide from this human now. From what he knew, the difference between the Foundation Building and the Qi Condensation Realms was not so large.

The human from what his rudimentary senses could pick up had to be new to the Foundation Building Realm. He had a Beyond grade breathing technique. He had suffered through intense pain for a Beyond grade body strengthening technique. That should have counted for something at least.

He thought about the decision yet came up blank. So he turned to Ruo Long in question. The dragon was already looking at him, and he knew he did not need to ask his question out loud.

For all that he was often self absorbed, Ji had watched Ruo Long enough to know that the dragon had keen perception. Which meant he likely had a better idea of Ji’s chances than anyone else.

The dragon nodded slightly, and his mind was made up.

Qian Shi was in the middle of telling the human off when Ji interrupted.

“I will fight you,” he said. He hoped in his heart that the dragon’s judgement was correct.

He noticed the man’s eyes widened in surprise. Clearly he did not expect Ji to actually agree. That was okay. The decision truly could have gone either way.

Qian Shi merely gave him a long look, then nodded. At that moment, he was thankful for the faith his fellow disciples had in him.

Which meant he could not disappoint them.

They went into the field, where Qian Shi laid out some ground rules.

The spar was supposed to be till one side surrendered or was knocked out. Neither side was supposed to use lethal attacks. The human was restricted from using external qi to add some amount of fairness.

Finally, the rules were called and they faced each other on the field where Bai Lin toyed with her opponent just a short while ago.

Xiao Ji breathed in the qi of the world, his Beyond grade technique taking in much more qi than any technique should have been able to. In the sect, where qi was far less than what was on the mountain top, the amount he took in was actually noticeable.

He saw his opponents eyes widened with shock. From somewhere in the crowd, he heard someone whisper, ‘Beyond.’ At that moment, he could not resist the urge to feel smug.

Qi filled his dantian and flowed to his body in a completely even spread. At that moment, all his attention was on his opponent. The human who had thought him prey. Xiao Ji charged at the man with the intention to correct that notion.

No one raised by Uncle Xie Sun could be prey after all.