The abrupt departure of their master’s presence certainly gave the disciples things to discuss.

“Why would he remove the First Disciple?” Quan Shi complained. “Senior Brother Xie Sun is the most talented awakened in many generations! Senior Brother Huo Lan is scary, but even he is still lacking.”

“Don’t let him hear you say that,” Ruo Long said quietly, his eyes searching as if he expected to find the first disciple. “Besides all this praise, have you even met Senior Brother Xie Sun? We have all heard the stories, but the master's decision is not ours to challenge.”

“Coward.”

“He is not wrong, Shi,” Mei stepped in. “The relationship between the master and Sun is different. I trust any decision he takes has reasons we cannot see.”

Xiao Ji looked at Mei with interest after that. He noticed that the old man explicitly did not mention her at all. What exactly was her position?

“Mei,” he called. “If you don’t take offence, what is your disciple number?”

“I do not have one,” was the simple reply.

Huh. That created more questions than it answered. Why would she have none?

“To further clarify, Ji,” she continued. “I do not have a number because I am not a disciple.”

“How?” was all he could ask.

“Well, master only takes awakened beasts as disciples. I am merely a human. Instead of a disciple, I am his heir, the one who will inherit everything when he decides to ascend. “

The concept of heir was something he was only vaguely familiar with. He could remember his uncle calling him his heir at a point, but the rooster always refused to elaborate. He also was not sure what she meant by ascension.

“How is an heir different from a disciple? And what is ascension.”

“Well, a disciple is someone whose master takes to teach and train them for as long as possible. When they have reached a sufficient stage of development, they can choose to go into the world and choose another master or become independent. The heir instead, learns everything the cultivator knows. But an heir cannot leave their master or become independent. They represent a cultivator's legacy. As for ascension, it is not something that concerns you for now. Just know at the peak of the Divine Realm, one can choose to go to a higher realm. Again, it is currently far above you ”

Ascension was something that seemed fascinating, and Mei’s answers seemed to raise as many questions as they solved, but he doubted she would answer him if he asked more.

“Being an heir seems like a burden,” he pointed out, then instantly regretted. Calling her position a burden was a mistake his uncle would not have made.

“It can be,” she agreed simply, much to his surprise. “But the benefits are more than worth it.”

She left it at that and he sensed he would be getting no more answers on that topic. He turned to his fellow disciples. Perhaps staying without communicating for months had left him eager to fill the lost time, but he currently felt like connecting with them. Perhaps, it was his uncle’s advice to try connecting with people.

“How long have you been a disciple, Qian Shi?” he asked, curious.

“Oh. Master picked me up just after I awakened my system nine months ago. He came with the Second Disciple.”

That piqued his interest.

“The Second Disciple?”

“He’s a stoic ox that is never fun. Always serious. He’s currently on a mission with the First Disciple. He doesn’t have a name, because he doesn’t believe he’s worthy of one. He’s really boring, but he’s strong.”

“What about the First Disciple? And what are their cultivation levels?”

“The First Disciple is scary. He’s a rat prince at the first stage of the Core Formation Realm. I saw him kill a spirit beast at the fifth stage of the Core Formation Realm like it was nothing. Second Disciple is at the peak of the Foundation Building while I am at the beginning of it. Ruo Long is at the eighth stage of Qi Condensation.”

She shuddered and Ji could not say he disagreed with her assessment. From what he read at least, Core Formation was two realms higher than Qi Condensation. It was also the realm where fighting across stages became much harder. For someone in the first stage to kill something in the fifth stage was a feat worthy of legends, according to the scroll he read, at least. No wonder, the others seemed scared of him. It was one thing for a master to hold so much strength, but a fellow disciple?

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“How did you awaken your system, if you don’t mind answering?” he asked. The book had mentioned something about no one truly knowing the trigger.

“That’s a long story. I used to live on the edges of the forest when I was a puppy. Until a kind human family took me in. They were very kind, even though they did not know I was intelligent. At least that was what I believed. I thought the whole family loved me and not just the hunter that found me. I was wrong. One day, after living with them for years, the man’s two children called a sect representative to come and buy me, claiming I was an awakened beast. The father tried to stop them but the man from the sect killed him. And the children did not even say anything. So I attacked. Thankfully the man from the sect was not powerful and I was able to bring him down. I was very injured at the end, but thankfully, the First Disciple came to save me.”

“What about the children of the man? The ones who called the sect?”

“Oh I killed them,” she says simply, in the same cheery tone she used to make fun of Ruo Long. “They killed my father, so I killed them. It was simple.”

Dogs were something Ji once envied, animals that got free food yet did not get eaten. Yet he had come to realise they were as helpless as him, even though he still found it hard to stop resenting them. Yet he noted how Qian Shi merely seemed like a dog the children of the man spent time fattening, only to sell them out. From what he had read in the scroll, Potential awakened beasts that were captured by human sects were bound to a truly horrible fate. Her situation was even worse than his own, as she was tricked by people she considered family.

His uncle had tried to get him not to hate all humans. He had also told him to take the killing of sentients seriously. He liked to think he would follow that advice and never be so casual about it. Even if his target was human. And yet…

Did he really think he would have shown more restraint than Qian Shi? Or would he have been even worse. He would be lying if he said he did not know the answer. He just hoped he wouldn’t disappoint his uncle too much.

“My awakening story is boring. Lets hear Ruo Long’s own.”

In the short time he had come to know his fellow disciples, he had already heard that tone used enough to identify it as Qian Shi’s ‘mocking Ruo Long’ tone. That certainly said something about the relationship they both shared. Ji was just glad there was something to distract him.

“Well,” the dragon said, likely thinking about ways to avoid whatever Qian Shi planned before getting the courage to speak. “My journey to Awakening was simply one of good fortune. I was but a humble lizard when I was born. It was in that form I lived most of my life, intelligent but reduced to merely eating and drinking and mating all the time. Until one day, some great fight in the sky rained down sheets of blood, a few drops of which belonged to a dragon. I merely consumed the blood and ascended my bloodline to become one.”

Ji thought that sounded fairly impressive. His uncle once told him that chance was a factor he should always keep in mind. Some people were blessed by the heavens and there was no way to influence that. Qian Shi, however, did not seem to be satisfied. Instead, she prodded for more.

“Was that how you unlocked your System?” she asked. From the certainty in her voice, he assumed she had heard the story before and the dragon was hiding something. “I couldn't help but notice you failed to actually include that in your story.”

A deep growling sound rumbled out of the dragon’s throat but he was unable to actually do anything, eventually resigning himself to his fate.

“As a newly ascended dragon, I claimed the surrounding territories after the fighting stopped,” Ruo Long said, his chest puffed out at his apparent feat. “I defended it for a few weeks. Until one day, when I decided to take a trip to the edge of my newly expanded territory to admire my lands. Alas, I crossed paths with the Se- First Disciple. Not even my draconic might was enough to slow him down. He slapped me aside easily and dragged me to this mountain, where I met Master Fan Guo.”

It only took a few moments for Ji to notice the issue with the story, though Qian Shi beat him to saying it.

“Ah, but Ruo Long, that still doesn’t say when you awakened your System. I remember the version you told us being a bit different. Or are you trying to lie in front of Sister Mei?”

The innocence in his fellow disciple’s voice was truly unbelievable. This Qian Shi was almost as devious as Ji’s uncle. In fact, he was sure the old rooster would be radiating pride if he was present.

“Fine,” Ruo Long gave up. “I will not forget this, Third Disciple. On a fateful afternoon, I encountered a fearsome opponent on my land. Though I tried to defend myself, I ended up being overwhelmed and had to retreat to the edge of my territory. The creature was black as the night with a hunting prowess that rivalled tigers…”

“It was a kitten!” Qian Shi interrupted. ”He ran away because he was scared of a regular kitten. The System unlocked because of his cowardice!”

By the time she reached the end of her sentence, fits of laughter had already overtaken her. Ji found himself truly surprised. There were only a few cats in the village and every chicken knew it was foolish to cross one. But kittens could be fought off by even a regular hen without chicks, provided they were fierce enough. For a dragon to run from a chicken. Perhaps he truly deserved his name.

Ruo Long. Weak Dragon.

“So you truly are Ruo Long,” he observed.

The dragon turned to him and sneered, perhaps thinking him a weak target.

“And you, how did you awaken then?”

“I fought off a panther that had broken into the first realm,” he said simply. “While I was a mortal. In the night with no vision.”

“Oh,” was the reply he got.

Qian Shi’s laughter increased and even Mei joined in. At some point Ji found himself also laughing at Ruo Long’s expense. They spent the rest of the night talking about mortal experiences and teasing Ruo Long.

He looked at their small group and the way he found himself easily engrossed in their stories. The way he laughed with them at one joke or another, usually about their resident dragon. For the first time since his uncle left, his heart felt truly warm.

Perhaps this was what his uncle meant by connecting to others. Maybe his master understood him more than he thought when he instructed them to bond. Whatever the truth was, it did not matter much to Xiao Ji at that moment. For he was too busy enjoying good company.

He went to sleep content, both in body, spirit, and mind.