I stared at my reflection in the mirror, trying to come to terms with my current reality.

“Ha! I knew this brat was not worth much aside from his family, but who knew this guy was insane as well?”

“Right? He has to be brain dead to offend Junior Brother Xiao over something as trivial as a marriage contract.”

“Alright, enough about this fool. The tournament if going to take place in a month’s time and we need every advantage we can get. Let’s get back to Cultivating.”

I ignored the jeers and chatter of my supposed roommates who used to worship the ground I walked on just the day before and continued to stare at my reflection, trying my hardest to supress the creepy feeling I got from both the familiarity and unfamiliarity of watching this face in the mirror.

A face that could be considered handsome for a 16-year-old Asian. With black hair and eyes but nothing that stood out in particular along with an average if well-built physique.

But here is the problem, this body and face are not mine, at least, I think it is not mine.

I must admit, having two sets of memories is a really confusing situation. Thankfully, it is not the child that is in control anymore but a grown man that was getting ready for retirement.

The door to the room burst open followed by a group of three teenagers walking in arrogantly. Thanks to my memories, I already know who they are and why they have come here.

“Wang Xiang, you are being summoned by Elder Xu for your recent altercation with Senior Brother Xiao.”

I did not say anything and simply chose to nod, knowing that I could do nothing but follow their words, especially given my situation.

The Elder Xu that they mentioned, Xu Hui, is the Elder in charge of the ‘Hall of Justice’ a glorified police station/Judiciary run by the Sect.

It also goes without saying that he is a bigot and frequently uses his position to exploit the disciples. Although, it was usually other disicples that wound up being his victims. I never imagined that it would be my turn to endure his actions one day.

Seriously, fuck this stupid Xianxia world.

Truthfully, I wish my previous self had not awakened my set of memories, allowing him to cultivate and live according to the way of this world. Now, I am forced to endure the ridiculousness of this world while holding the values of my old world.

Hopefully, I can find a way to preserve myself after this debacle is dealt with.

I did not say anything and silently followed the three senior disciples who were walking faster on purpose, knowing that I could not keep up with them thanks to my current injuries and crippled cultivation resulting in a meagre reserves of Qi compared to what I was originally capable of.

And just as I expected, by the time we reached the Hall, they were already standing behind Elder Xu, exchanging hushed words that no doubt contained provocations about how I did not have any respect for him and other such nonsense.

I allowed muscle memory to take over and bowed as customary for these people.

“Disciple Wang pays respects to Elder Xu.”

“You are late disciple. Come in, your trial has been delayed long enough.”

Trial? You and I know that this is nothing more than a farce to push me out of the inner sect and back into the outer sect by your faction.

Not that I particularly mind, especially if my hastily cooked up plan works.

Truly, politics never change, whether it is in the modern world or in this place.

I silently walked in and kneeled down in front of a large group of Elders and the Patriarch, the man that is supposedly one of the most powerful men in this region, Heavenly Guo, of the Heavenly Sword sect. His real name is Guo Peng of the Guo family, the in-laws of the Yun family, the very same family as that is quite openly supporting that brat, Xiao Kai, a child from one of their branch families, that crippled me. They area also the ones that are secretly building up forces to push out the Wang family with the support of the Patriarch and other unaffiliated Elders in the sect.

Guo Peng is also one of the three Nascent Soul realm cultivators in the sect aside from Elder Wang, my great-grandfather, and Elder Yun.

Not like I care much about my family anyways and neither do they care about me. I am just one of the many children belonging to the Wang family and the only thing I had going for me was my connection to Elder Wang.

The very same Elder who is staring at me with a disappointed look.

Yeah, things are not looking good for me, fortunately, I don’t panic easily.

“Disciple Wang, you have been summoned here due to the accusation placed on you by Elder Yun.”

I simply followed up as politely as possible.

“May I ask the Patriarch to please enlighten this disciple on his crimes?”

“You are being accused of unjustly attacking the Core disciple, Xiao Kai. You are accused to claiming that his fellow disciple, Yun Xin, was ‘cheating’ on you by accompanying Xiao Kai and attacking them when they refuted your claim.”

So that’s the angle you are going for huh? Fine.

“The accusations are only partially true, Patriarch.”

“How dare you accuse me of lying!”

“Elder Yun, enough.”

The stern voice from the patriarch forced the enraged Elder Wang back onto his seat. Honestly, if I really was a 16-year-old, I really would have fallen for their bad acting and such as straightforward script.

“Elaborate, Disciple.”

“The Patriarch may not be aware, but the Yun family had long since established a Marriage contract between Yun Xin and myself when we were infants. Here is the certificate.”

I took out a parchment and placed it on the ground. Immediately, I felt the patriarch’s Qi envelop the parchment and bring to himself where he pretended to read it before setting it on fire. He also flared his Qi to suppress the surroundings before retracting it, acting as if his move to supress me through his power was an accident.

“Disciple, it would seem that you have been fooled by someone with malicious intent. This document is a well-made forgery.”

So, the document that was drafted into the Governing office of the Imperial Capital and signed between both the Wang family head and the Yun family head with the personal Qi signatures of my mother and Yun Xin’s parents is considered a forgery In your eyes? Then what would not be considered fake?

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

Even more disappointingly, Elder Wang did not even make a peep at the Patriarch’s words, which silently made clear that I no longer had the support of the Wang family.

If that is the case, I no longer have any hesitations about my following actions. Besides, the document has served its purpose in making both the Patriarch and the Elders nervous enough for me to enact my plan.

After all, if word got out that you burned an official document that was drafted through the official channels of the Yin Long Empire, the consequence will not be small.

And that is not the only threat that you lot would be facing soon enough.

I forcefully held back the grin threatening to split my face in half when I saw the panic within Elder Yun and Elder Wang’s eyes.

I bet you did not imagine me to carry that certificate around with me, did you? old man Wang.

Now, time to capitalize on this incident.

“If that is the case, then may I request your help in seeking justice?”

“…What do you mean?”

I put on a self-deprecating expression.

“ Xiao Kai has publicly humiliated me using his superior cultivation and crippled my spirit roots. I was originally planning on asking the Patriarch to seek justice on my behalf since I am just an unfavoured child of the Wang family while Xiao Kai is the beloved young master of the Xiao family. Now, I find out that the base cause for the conflict was false from the very beginning. I think I deserve to at least lodge a complaint to the Governing Office about these fakes being circulated by unscrupulous individuals. However, since the travel distance is too large and my family has already confiscated everything I own, including my special ring which contained all of my resources and spirit stones, I can only hope that the patriarch would help me solve this grievance.”

Well, the special ring that the family knew about anyways. Those fools did not know that I had another spatial ring hidden within my belongings which had the majority of my real resources since I never trusted the Wang family ever since I learned of my position in the family as a five year old child.

The twist in his expression along with the paling faces of the various Elders is already enough to prove the mistake the Patriarch made in his haste by burning the document. This is what happens when you don’t think about your actions before acting on them.

He immediately reset his expressions back to being neutral.

“There is no need for you to worry about that, I will personally lodge a complaint on your behalf. However, don’t forget that this trial is not about the forged document but about your guilt. Since you have already admitted to your part in the incident, we will bestow appropriate punishment on account of the fact that you have served the sect loyally for the past ten years and that you are the direct descendent of Elder Wang.”

“Of course, Patriarch.”

I saw a trace of surprise in his eyes.

No need to be so surprised, I am too tired to go along with this farce for too long.

“Then, as punishment, we will be stripping you of your rank in the Inner Sect. You will still be allowed to stay in the Outer Sect where you might still be given a chance to re-enter the inner sect if you work hard enough.”

“…If I may, Patriarch, can I make a request?”

“Speak.”

“I request to leave the sect and leave my status as a Disciple. I do not need any compensation or anything aside from having someone take me to the nearest city.”

This time, the shock in his eyes is very clear while the disdain on Elder Yun’s face and the surprised look on Elder Wang is equally as clear.

The response for my request is very swift, as if he was afraid that I would change my decision.

“Of course. I am disheartened to see that you have lost your heart after such a minor setback. In the end, if it is your wish, then so be it. One of the other Inner Disciples will lead you to the Starfall City.”

I bowed and left the Hall, heading straight for my room to pack up my things.

First step of the plan, success.

----------------------------------------

I hummed to myself as I used my knife to slowly carve out the Winged Tiger’s claws into the appropriate shape that I wanted. My Qi enhanced the knife made from regular iron so that it could carve the bones of a Foundation Establishment level beast. Although, given the rate at which the knife was visibly deteriorating, I could only do this for a few more minutes at most before the knife completely disintegrated.

This is why cultivators use weapons and tools made from spiritual materials. No mortal material can withstand the potent power of Qi without disintegrating into its base atoms. Such a wondrous concept, Qi.

When I first awoke in this world after nearly dying at the hands of assassins and received the memories of my previous self, I had already realized my situation and decided that I would put aside my curiosity for an appropriate time. That appropriate time came when I arrived within the Great Wilderness and made a home for myself.

“Quite the hypocrite, aren’t you? you use my knowledge of crafting tools, refining and other such disciplines, yet, you still condemn me as a monster and refuse to even entertain my ideas to progress your cultivation.”

“That is because you are a monster. What else would you call someone who kills and absorbs the life force of innocent people to further his own cultivation?”

“YOU KNOW WHY I DID WHAT I DID! YOU WOULD HAVE DONE THE SAME THING IF YOU WERE IN MY PLACE!!”

“..You know I would never stoop to such lengths. Because, I am already in the same situation as you were, yet, here I am, living a fulfilling life, unlike you who gave in to despair. Sometimes, I can’t help but wonder, are you really me?”

“….One day, you will realize how wrong you are. And when that day comes, I hope you are prepared for it. For this world loves nothing more than to destroy people’s hope and turn them into monsters so that the so-called ‘Heaven’s chosen’ can show off their abilities that they never deserve to have.”

“..That is something that I agree with you on. And yet, it is precisely the reason why I chose this place for our exile.”

“Whatever. Anyway, we have another prey to hunt.”

“What is it?”

“I am picking up a Qi signature heading towards the territory of the Winged Tiger. Based on the Qi signature, it seems to be a beast that uses Fire Qi and is in the Initial stages of Foundation Establishment. Shouldn’t be much of an issue.”

With a nod to myself, I continued working on my tools, knowing that if this beast is heading towards the Winged Tiger’s territory, it must already know that the tiger is dead and trying to claim its territory, or, it is looking for the tiger to fight it to either advance its cultivation or claim its territory.

In either case, I can afford to work on my tools before confronting that beast. As a being in the Foundation Establishment realm, it does not have the speed nor the strength to escape me even if it ran to the ends of this world.

According to my memories, the cultivation system of this world is fairly basic compared to the many different systems I remember from the many novels and fictions that I read throughout my life. Divided into various levels, starting from Qi Condensation and moving upwards to Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul, Soul Transformation, and Void Refinement. Supposedly, there are even more stages after Void Refinement but nobody in the territory of the sect had ever heard of anyone achieving such heights.

In fact, from what I can gather, it is extremely hard for anyone to break through Qi Condensation and reach Foundation Establishment. Those who do are labelled as having very high potential and are treated with respect in any place they go to. As for those who reach Core Formation, they are treated as VIPs anywhere they go. As for the Nascent Soul, there are only a handful of those people in the entire Eastern Territory of the empire.

Before my cultivation was crippled, I was at the last stage of Qi Condensation while Xiao Kai was in the initial stages of Foundation Establishment.

Finally, the knife in my hand disintegrated, unable to bear the power of Qi any longer. But it had already served its purpose.

With the final claw carved into the shape of a blade, my preparations were complete. Taking out the leather gauntlets that I made from tanning the Winged Tiger’s hide, I started inserting the bone blades in their place, just above the knuckles. Then, I used the strings made from the tendons of the Tiger to tie the blades and secure them in place while also tying them to the simple mechanism that I embedded into the gauntlets, followed by wrapping the fur of the tiger all around the gauntlets.

Channelling my Qi into the gauntlets to mimic the way that the Tiger would do if it were alive alongside the regenerative energy of the bead instantly caused the leather and the fur to combine together organically, significantly strengthening the defensive properties of my new equipment.

Wearing the gauntlets, I channelled my Qi into the mechanism, causing the strings to go taunt. Instantly, the blades retracted into the fur in the same way the claws of the Tiger would have retracted into its paws.

With this, my inner child and superhero nerd should be satisfied. Now, time to complete the other tools. Taking out another knife that I had prepared beforehand, I started carving the fangs of the Winged Tiger. This time, my aim was to turn the fangs into a variety of tools. Most importantly, a set of carving knives, a throwing knife, and a skinning knife. Pulling the Qi from my body, I once again enhanced the knife and got to work.

It did not take long before this knife to disintegrate, just like the one before.

Fortunately, I was already done carving out the fangs of the Winged Tiger into the tools that I wanted to make. Nodding to myself, I picked up the blades made from the fangs and put them away before putting on my simple robe and pants, preparing for my cultivation.

Nodded to myself for the decent equipment I crafted, heading towards the well to clean myself off the blood and prepare for the hunt. Much to my annoyance, I have to depend on this demon to detect any Demonic Beasts in the area due to the fact that I can’t sense Qi thanks to the crippled state of my spirit roots. Something that the demon does not fail to remind me of every time he informs me about a beast nearby, trying to win my trust.

Unfortunately for him, I will never trust a monster like him. Someone who is willing to commit the atrocities that he committed in his timeline while drunk on ill-gotten power.