He extinguished the fire, freeing the three who were clinging together, shaking to their bones with tears of terror in their eyes. "Take me to his family," he instructed them.

The city Lord hurried to stop Ren from making what he thought would be a mistake. But he knew that if the matter was not solved today, more incidents like these would occur. Liuyue loved her father, there was no doubt. If she hadn't, Ren would have chosen to look the other way instead of getting involved in petty fights.

Like a teacher bringing in naughty children to their family, Ren rode their carriage into their residence. The unconscious boy was made to lie on the floor while the other three cowered in a corner.

"W-w-we... we're-"

"Carry him out and take me to the person who makes the decisions in this place."

He had to choose his words carefully since some of the vocabulary he knew would make no sense to them. It had been difficult in the beginning, but he always prided himself on his ability to accustom himself to his surroundings since he had been a traveling doctor on Earth.

"DILIGENCE. HONESTY." The words were curved in a plague pinned above the hall doors Ren was being led into.

He had noticed and ignored the curious eyes of the members in the courtyard busy learning sword skills from their instructor.

The spiritual energy in the air made his dantian all cozy, leading him to seduce that they had a spiritual vein or a large source of raw energy within the residence.

After leaving him by himself in the hall, they hurried off to get the head of the family who was also the boy's uncle.

"Decent enough," Ren complimented looking around at the polished wooden seats that were on either side of the path that led to the dais. He stared at it for a while just before the heavy footsteps reached his ears. "Where is that fool who touched my nephew?" A manly voice boomed right before he strode into the hall, accompanied by four family elders.

They stopped a small distance from him, taken aback by his youthful appearance and his innocent-looking face that bore no emotion.

"You...where is the ignorant fool who does not value his life? Has he run away already?"

Ren lifted his hand and waved a little. "I'm the 'fool' you're looking for. I beat up that good-for-nothing nephew of yours, and I'm here for compensation."

The elders exchanged surprised gazes and whispered to each other about how the boy was making fun of the family head.

"You? A small boy without a breath of qi in their body destroyed a family treasure and wounded my nephew who was in Core formation?" He chuckled amused. "Did he send you here to entertain me?"

Ren exhaled, wondering why everyone talked too much without saying anything constructive. He had come here to collect compensation since he realized that the city lord's resources would not be enough to run a sect when he established it. If he could find more weak families like these and rip them off, that would be killing two birds with a single stone.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

He knew that the real challenges were waiting for him ahead. For that, he intended to have well-fed and taken care of disciples. There was no use in being powerful and starving.

Even immortals consumed something.

He helped himself on one of the seats and threw one leg over the other, waiting for them to either attack or sit down for a mature conversation.

One elder whispered something to the family head's ear and he nodded.

"We do not bully the weak. Our family highly values morals. If you can take one hit from this old man who has a broken foundation, then we will let you go," he offered walking closer to Ren. "What do you say?"

"As you wish." 'Such nonsense. If I was a mortal and got hit by an old man with his four hundred level, wouldn't I lose my life?'

It was a polite way of telling Ren; Blame your foolishness for covering for the perpetrator. Now you'll have to die.

The elder lifted his right fist, channeling his qi into it until it was covered in white energy. He intended on ending Ren with a single blow so he put all the qi he could gather in it.

"Die!" He groaned sending his fist straight for Ren's chest to shatter his crucial organs and give him a quick yet painful death.

Just as the heavy blow was about to make contact with his ribcage, a black hole appeared and the hand went right in it.

Suddenly, the hall went dead silent with nothing but shocked stares to go around.

"Huh!" The elder looked into Ren's eyes growing. "What...what is this?"

He tried yanking his hand out but the grip the blackhole had on his wrist was firmer. It was as if a god had grasped it.

He had fully mastered the skill to trap physical things within the void and had just used it to test how far it could go. The last time he had done it was when the willow wanted to devour him. He had no manual and had acted on his instincts. But this was different. The Void manipulation technique was a compilation of all uses of the void, thoroughly researched. His future self must have done so much before he could create something so powerful just for him. The disciples as well. How many years had it taken his future self to find, test, and trust them? A lot knowing his current self.

"You wanted to kill me? That is a lot of energy for someone with a broken foundation."

"Let him go!" The family head yelled realizing that something was off about the boy he had just insulted. He could feel a trace of Ren's breath now that the void was open. And it was terrifying for him who was only eight hundred and was easily considered the strongest in the family.

"Let us talk about this."

"Big brother! What are you saying? Why should we talk with a little brat who-"

He shot the elder a glare that immediately silenced him. "I'm the head of this family. Who are you to question me?"

They backed off bowing, letting him proceed with his plan. Being the head of the family demanded absolute respect. Even without their talentless cultivation, there would still be punishment for those who defied whoever was in charge of the family matters.

"Big brother, I can't get my hand out."

"Tsk! You said you would only use a little qi."

'Hypocrites,' Ren cursed, fed up by the never-ending drama between them.

"Do you want to lose your hand or your cultivation? Choose one."

"What? Why should I choo-"

Ren began closing the void hole while simultaneously sucking the elder's energy. "Gaah! Wait! Stop! It hurts."

"Good. Cause I'm growing impatient right now."

"Can't we talk about this?" The family head asked trying to intervene for his younger brother. "If you let him go, we are willing to add to your compensation."

The offer piqued Ren's interest.

"Okay. Sit down, I'm getting dizzy with you all standing around me."

Staying true to his words, Ren released the elder and the old man fell on his rear from the sudden freedom, holding the hand that had been in Ren's void.

The fabric had been eaten away and his skin was covered in black bruises.

"He's a monster," he cried before scurrying off the floor and out of the hall entirely.

#############

"One...one thousand gold bars!" The family head squealed astonished.

According to Ren's calculations, one gold bar was worth one thousand silver coins and one coin was equivalent to fifty dollars. This compensation would earn him at least one million silver coins which was roughly...fifty million dollars.

With this kind of money back on earth, he could have lived a comfortable life to his death.

"And a marriage termination. My disciple had no plans of marrying that arrogant and abusive boy."

If one could paint horror, theirs would be the perfect model to use. It was written all over their faces, inked in their eyes, and in the air they were breathing.

"Dis-disciple?" The family head stuttered.

Ren did not answer; he pulled out the hard piece of red paper, and one of the elders shot to his feet to fetch it. "Liuyue has already signed it. Someone from your family needs to sign it in the boy's stead. I won't wait for him to recover to end the relationship."

The contract was passed on to the head of the family.

"As for the compensation, when can I get it?"

"Um...that...that... Could you please give us a few months to gather-"

"Four weeks. I'll come back after a month. You better have the money ready. Both in gold and silver. I don't know if they offer change here," he mumbled the last sentence to himself.