The rest of the week could not go any faster.

Under normal circumstances, Xiao Ji might have found himself excited to see all the things they did. From visiting the City Lord who was in the Core Formation realm, to blacksmith forges that made cultivator weaponry for influential spirit beast families. All things that were novelties to him, who had grown on a farm.

Unfortunately, the circumstances were anything but normal. Throughout all the trips and Qian Shi’s helpful additions, his mind kept going back to a certain pill bottle. One that could hold the key to fulfilling an old childhood dream. It got so bad that they stopped taking him.

That, of course, managed to bring its own set of problems. Namely, the fact that it left him with nothing to do. Bad as the trip was, it still meant he was at least doing something. Now, though, he was stuck with nothing at all.

He eventually went to seek out Bai Lin, if only to stop himself from being overwhelmed by anxiety. The snake was sparring with another disciple when he got there. It was a light sparring, and he could see that both sides were fighting very casually.

Even then he still found himself struggling to even keep up with what was happening. Bai Lin, graceful as ever, blurred around the field, turning into a blur of black scales. The other disciple, however, was clearly no slouch and did not seem any slower, dodging strikes and counter attacking regularly.

As he watched them, he was once more reminded of his lack of martial skill. There was no doubt that he would lose to either of them instantly because of their much higher cultivation. Yet he also suspected that he would still lose to them even if they were at his level. It was hard to describe, but there was a certain smoothness to their movements. Like each blow and dodge were purposeful, and each swing was practised and refined. It was something he had started to get a sense for after watching his fellow disciples and even his Master for months.

The fight finally ended a while later, and he found himself strolling with Bai Lin once more. Their talk this time was about much lighter topics, however, and Ji found himself learning a lot more of the sect’s daily happenings than he would have expected.

Not that he was complaining. It was something to help distract him from the anxiety, so he found himself spending more time with the snake. He had thought about how it would feel to have another Beyond grade awakened on the mountain top. Now that he finally had access to one, it felt disappointingly mundane .

Sure, she gave him some interesting tips on cultivation and fighting, but he found that their identities as awakened with Beyond grade breathing techniques was merely a footnote in their blossoming friendship.

Though that did not mean their status didn’t affect other parts of their lives. Nowhere was this made more apparent than in the sect, where he noticed the reverence the other disciples showed to Bai Lin. They lowered their heads when she passed, or bowed in reflex when she focused her attention on them. If they were in a group, she was generally always deferred to. It was a strange experience, though not quite as strange as when he started to experience it himself.

His first fight had given him a little bit of a reputation as a prodigy. He still wasn’t sure what he did was so impressive, but that did not change the fact that they also started showing him a certain amount of respect. Of course most of it was probably because of the fact that he was a disciple of a Divine, but he liked to think he had earned just a little of it on his own merit.

One of the things his conversations with Bai Lin had showed him was that though the disciples’ reactions to the snake was a little over the top, it was not unwarranted. The Divine Judgement Sect, regardless of how pompous their name seemed, was a small sect. A Beyond grade awakened was capable of changing the fortunes of even the big sects in the capital.

Master Fan Guo’s protection was the only reason why Bai Lin had not been taken from the sect. That in itself raised the sect’s potential by a lot. Apart from the fact that people came from outside the city to become sect disciples for a chance to cultivate alongside the Awakened, there were also tournaments and competitions Bai Lin could win that would get her sect a lot of resources and fame.

He knew little about tournaments, except that the First Disciple was currently participating in one. He was generally considered a top three favourite to win, according to Bai Lin. Empire wide tournaments where cultivators of the younger generation fought against each other to prove themselves were very famous and respected. With their winners often becoming powerhouses in the future.

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The whole idea of getting disciples to fight on display struck him as odd, but he supposed the fights could be interesting to watch, and the older cultivators needed some entertainment.

Ji felt rather bittersweet when the day of their departure came. On one hand, he had found it exciting and very revealing, opening him to new places and people. His time with Bai Lin had been interesting too, and he was glad for it.

Unfortunately, all of that was largely superseded by his eagerness to go home. So when he finally left the city, it was with a strange melancholy mixed with relief that he was finally gone.

The road was surprisingly busy on their way back, and they saw lines of caravans with people carrying wagons pulled by oxen. There was even a massive boxy object pulled by what looked like horses with wings that was completely enclosed and floated in the air.

His first thought when the carriage landed beside them was that the world was truly unfair. He generally believed he had overcome the urge to complain about his inability to fly but this was pushing it too far. It was fine with dragons, because they were legendary beasts, but horses too?

“The horses can fly,” he pointed out, not even sure how to react.

“Yes, they can. Tianma are horses with faint draconic bloodlines. They’re usually used by important people too. Wonder who this one is.”

When Ji squinted, he noticed what looked like scales on the bodies of the four horses that pulled the boxy object. Other signs of draconic ancestry quickly made themselves known, from their slightly reptilian faces to their tails that looked a little different from the horses he had seen in the city.

Looking behind him, he noticed Ruo Long staring at the horses intently. There was some amount of hostility in his gaze, enough to make Ji start to worry.

Just then, one section of the box which had oddly stopped beside them, opened up. A human male dressed in the type of complicated clothes Ji had come to recognise as expensive stepped out. He seemed young, though that was hardly an accurate measure of age with cultivators. He could not identify their exact cultivation level, but it was certainly in the Foundation Establishment realm.

A woman came out of the box after the man. She was wearing simpler clothes, and he could not sense her cultivation realm at all. Something about her made him worry though. Though his attention quickly went back to the youth who now spoke with a voice that dripped with arrogance.

“Spirit beasts,” he labelled them incorrectly. “I am Laio Ming, from the Liao Sect, one of the top twenty sects in the empire. I am looking for a dragon to give to one of my juniors as a familiar. Though your bloodline is impure, you will do nicely. We will leave when I am done with my business in the city.”

The way Ruo Long’s become progressively more rage filled over the course of the speech might have been funny in another situation. In this case, Jo simply hoped the dragon could restrain himself. He was not particularly worried about the man with Qian Shi’s presence, but the woman who was simply watching from the side made him feel threatened in a way that unnerved him.

“I apologise, Young Master, but we will have to decline your offer. There are important matters that await us.”

Ji noticed a certain change as Qian Shi spoke. The mastiff was more serious than she had ever been, and there was a certain air of nobility around her.

She sounded like a cultivator.

The man, on the other hand, remained arrogant and dismissive.

“Did I give you permission to speak, beast? I would expect that even spirit dogs should understand obedience.”

From the breath Qian Shi took, Ji could feel the anger starting to boil within her. As it was, the situation was getting to the point where it would be too tense.

“First of all, I am not a spirit beast,” she said with false calm. “Secondly, I bit off the head of the last person who told me to be an obedient dog.”

The woman finally spoke, flexing her qi as she did.

“Now, now, there will be no threats made to the young master. The Liao Sect will not tolerate disrespect from spirit beasts.”

She said the words with disgust, punctuated by the flexing of her qi, which had to have reached the Core Formation Realm. Ji was not too sure, but given its strength, there was no way she was in the Foundation Building Realm.

For a moment, he froze, scared at the prospect of the woman’s overwhelming power. Yet the same realisation he had before facing the wolf came to him once more. He wished to be a predator, not a prey, and so there was no way he would give up at the first sign of conflict. Not when he still had a hidden weapon.

None of them could stop the woman, but they did not need to. For a moment he considered simply letting Shi or Long handle it, yet seeing their expressions, he knew that was not a good idea. So he spoke, gaining confidence in his decision the moment the words left his mouth.

“We do not mean to offend your sect seniors, but we did not start it. And Qian Shi is right. First of all, we are not spirit beasts.”

Taking inspiration from the woman’s actions earlier, he took a deep breath, drawing in qi along with the air. The amount of qi his breathing technique took in was clear to see for anyone with a qi sense and he heard a sharp intake of breath from the woman.

“Beyond grade awakened.”

There was a glimmer in her eyes as she spoke the words, and he knew she was likely already planning on how to capture them. Which was why he spoke his next sentence with gladness.

“Secondly, there are not many awakened beasts in this area, but all of them are under protection from my Master.”

“And who is this master of yours?”

The man still seemed dismissive, not yet piecing the clues. From the wide eyes of the woman, she had likely already gotten it.

“Master Fan Guo, Lord of the mountains and the Divine patron of this town and its surrounding environs.”

At that point, Xiao Ji had to admit that though it was a strange encounter, the look of panic on the arrogant man’s face as he finally understood the situation was well worth the experience.