“That’s about it. And since I’m already talking, let me introduce myself. My name is Qin Long, and I was a recruit for five years before being promoted. I’ve never had a sect and never will. I’m a few months away from breaking through to Foundation Establishment, so let’s work hard and earn some Valor Points.”

Chen Hao and the rest joined in as Yang Ming began to clap and excitedly whistle. He stopped with the drums and began a low, haunting hum as Qin Long turned to the creepy girl. As she opened her mouth to speak, the wind ominously howled all around her. The background music really added to the ambience of them being in mortal danger.

“Hey! I’m Ning Mei. Super excited to meet the two of you. You don’t know how awfully droll this place is. Just make sure that you ask for customised armour when they give you one—the regular one looks so boring. Also, I feel like your hair could use some accessories. What do you think of a tarot card motif? I’ll give you an extra reading if you feel like it as well,” she said in a high-pitched voice, startling the two. The low hums faded as the bard laughed, and he quickly imitated peaceful bird noises and a folk song.

“Mei. Get to the point,” Qing Long said.

“I’m from the Nine Yin Sect, seventh layer, shadow and wind elements. Is that good enough? First impressions are more than just bragging about your cultivation stage,” she grumbled back at him. Then, the music stopped, and the bard began to talk.

“We are already acquainted, but it never hurts to be properly introduced. Yang Ming, at your service. I’m a bard from the Harmony Sect, specialising in every instrument and able to recreate any sound you throw at me. While I may only be at the sixth stage of Qi Refining, my techniques in battle can make you fight at more than your best,” the man said, giving an elegant bow to the boy.

Then, everyone’s attention turned to the blue-haired disciple, who had not moved during this entire time. Their leader gave a quick cough, and when that didn’t work, he grabbed the man’s shoulder.

“Wha- I’m here. Ready for anything,” he said, dragging out every word. When it was clear that he didn’t understand what was going on, Qin Long whispered to him again.

“Oh. I’m Wu Zheng. Celestial Sword sect. Eighth stage.”

With that quick introduction, he went back to zoning out, hugging his sword even closer.

“Don’t mind him. He’s much more reliable in battle than it might seem. The sword skills that he has are not to be belittled,” Yang Ming said, taking out a tiny harp and strumming a few strings in an upbeat tune. A cheery background for Chen Hao’s words.

‘This is like those school introductions. Name three hobbies and sit down. You can do it.’ Jun thought to himself, not wanting to ruin the boy’s moment.

“My name is Chen Hao, and I’m from the Abyss Treading sect. I’m at the fifth stage, specialising in water and wind techniques, alongside various knife skills. And here, beside me, is Jun. He’s… a regu-”

Before Chen Hao could even finish his sentence, Jun’s fur began to burn with a golden flame. A few seconds of silence passed before he made it stop. Chen Hao had a defeated expression on his face.

“Fuck you. I’m one step ahead of your plans,” Jun barked, already predicting what excuses the boy would use to potentially leave him behind while he went on dangerous missions.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“A spiritual beast. Still young and weak,” the boy continued, laughing as he petted the dog. Jun gnashed his teeth at his loss, unaware of how others now looked at him. Yang Ming, in particular, eyed his storage pouch with some interest, smiling at the spectacle before him.

“We’ll see more about that when we spar. True teamwork will require years of effort, but a few fights won’t go amiss. Now, let’s see you to your room and get your armour ready.”

And then, they did exactly that. It was mostly Qin Long doing the talking, explaining more about the devils, the missions, and what he was expected to do. Making their way to the armourer, the magical craftsman altered an already existing set to perfectly match Chen Hao’s height and build. Thanks to Ning Mei’s constant talking and “fashion advice,” his armour ended up looking lean and almost futuristic.

When put on, the whole thing adjusted itself to not leave any gaps that could be broken through. Any regular metal would’ve made him blind, but instead, a myriad formations allowed him to breathe clean air and see through the purple crystal visor like it wasn’t there. As for Ning Mei’s modifications—his vambraces were thick, covered in thousands of spikes, designed to catch opponents’ blades and magical artifacts, and the pauldrons with blue crystals that rose like flames were just for style points, but they looked cool as hell.

Complementary, he received two crystal daggers, which, after long deliberation, he put in the storage ring. They were good for armour piercing against devils that had specific bloodline abilities, but his two knives were still better.

When they went to spar to get a feel for everyone’s techniques, Chen Hao looked genuinely terrifying. His techniques were sinister by nature, and, now that the armour was enhancing all of his capabilities, he truly moved like the wind. Instead of a young man, it was a wild monster of black crystal that rampaged through the battlefield.

Well, for all of the praise, he still lost against everyone but Yang Ming, who wasn’t a solo fighter in any way, shape, or form. Perhaps he would be able to defeat them if he used all of his artifacts or set a trap, but it was a friendly spar, so what did it matter?

At the end of the day, the duo entered their new room, which already had various formations pre-carved into it. A proper water qi gathering formation worked wonders with Chen Hao’s already monstrous cultivation speed, which came from his dual roots and the Art of Gluttony, supplemented with Foundation Establishment crocodile meat.

The boy’s paranoid habits made it so that he spent hours setting up mechanical traps and placing down formation flags. Only after everything was done did he collapse onto the bed, beginning to snore almost immediately. With a sigh, Jun lay on the bed next to him, chewing crocodile bones, watching the door, and immersing himself in cultivation.

“This one room is nicer than our entire house. Shame all these military perks involve frequent combat,” he thought glumly, reminiscing about home. In a way, it wasn’t that dissimilar.

Truth be told, Jun hadn’t fought in a long time —he couldn’t even place himself on the cultivation scale if asked to do so. Yet, for some reason, he still believed he could easily beat Chen Hao. Perhaps it was the hubris of a man who thought he could take on a kangaroo in a solo fight back on Earth. For the record, he totally could have done it at his peak condition.

When he went to sleep, Jun was even a bit excited about fighting devils. What was the point of practising a move called the “Disemboweling Claw” when you weren’t going to disembowel someone? Ridiculous.

The next day, their leader announced that their next mission would be in a week. Thus, three times a day, vigorous sparring sessions would occur between the team, and every day, they would have to fight wild, captured beasts. After the first day, Qin Long called a meeting, unsatisfied with their teamwork thus far. Thus, he devised something called the “fast-track friendship plan.” Essentially, besides training to fight, each of the team members would spend an entire day with Chen Hao in an effort to bolster morale, cohesion, and all that. Not wanting to waste any time, the very first day of the plan was to be spent with Yang Ming, and it began early morning with a conversation like this.

“Now, we could go on all these fun activities, but we know each other already. What’s the point? We’ve got the greatest teamwork there is. Instead, how about this? I will teach you how to get any girl to swoon over you with a song and a gift after I’m done visiting all of my mistresses. Trust me, it will be a blast.”