"Are you afraid, ant?" Wun Xia Ja chuckled, his teeth showing through his smug smile. The shining sun reflected through his ugly eyes and Aiden wished he could punch this motherfucker and force him to eat his own bloody teeth.

Suddenly, Aiden felt the surrounding air going stiff, and an invisible pressure settled on his chest. It was thick like cotton, and if he couldn't fight back against it, he might choke out on his breath. His internal organs stirred, and the metallic taste of blood appeared on his tongue.

System: You are under a suppression effect. Your mana regeneration is reduced by 20% for the next ten minutes.

"Elder Pan, please stop doing that." Elder San's voice broke the tension in the air and Aiden felt the pressure vanishing from him.

Aiden spat at the bad blood accumulated inside his mouth.

Aiden looked up, staring at Pan Shang. That motherfucker. He was trying to suppress him with his cultivation base. One day, Aiden would return the favor back a hundred folds.

"Are you afraid, or the heat has made you mute?" Wun Xia Ja mocked him, his hands folded on his chest. Only available on RoyalRoad.

Hatred surged through Aiden, a visceral rage born from old man Li's memories. This fury, the very reason for his current predicament, threatened to overwhelm him.

He exhaled deeply. He was in the mess because of old man Li's hatred, but he didn't care about it anymore.

Either way, he had enough confidence to trade through this mess.

Stretching his neck, he glanced at the girl he was about to sacrifice. He wanted to go easy on Wun Xia Ja, but by provoking him, Wun Xia Ja had touched his bottom.

"Senior Wun, why would I be afraid to fight with a cripple like you?"

"Who is cripple, motherfucker?"

"You couldn't even conjure a blob of fire, what else can I call you otherwise?" Aiden sneered. This guy hated it when someone insulted him, and Aiden could keep insulting him all day long if he wished to.

"Motherfucker, watch how I burn you alive." He pointed his palm at Aiden. "Fire Tornado."

However, no flame came out of his palm.

"What the fuck is happening with me?" Wun Xia Ja tried to shoot fire again but nothing came out of his palm.

"See, you can't even conjure common fire." Aiden chuckled.

"Wun Xia Ja, what are you doing?" Pan Shang's palm produced a small fire that grew to become a large tree. He must be testing his own skill.

"Elder, I don't know, but this isn't working." Wun Xia Ja extended his palm forward and Pan Shang held it carefully.

"Channel your fire little by little. I'll see the issue."

Wun Xia Ja inhaled deeply, his chest expanding as he focused intently on channeling his mana. Everyone stared at him with anticipation.

Without warning, a violent eruption of flames burst forth from his palm, like a volcano suddenly coming to life. The scorching tendrils of fire lashed out wildly, their heat palpable in the air. In a heartbeat, the uncontrolled blaze found an unexpected target: Pan Shang's long, wispy mustache. The elder's facial hair ignited instantly, the acrid smell of burning hair filling their nostrils as tiny embers danced in the air between them.

"Impudent fool.” Pan Shang cried out loud, trying to cut the fire from his mustache, but with Aiden present, how could he let him do that? The fire raged as if possessed, racing across the full length of the whiskers. It devoured the facial hair with a savage hunger, mimicking a wildfire of the western region in the USA before the nuclear war. After the war, the fires rampaged through the lands and burned it for a hundred days. Along it burned humanity's hope as well.

The momentary lapse in focus disrupted his mana flow to the Heart Fire skill, ending the wildfire burning into Pan Shang's face.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Wun Xia Ja, what did you do to our elder?" Aiden asked, pretending to be angry. "You insolent beast. Are you trying to burn the elder to death? You deserve a thousand deaths. Aren't you with me all?" He glanced at other disciples, and they all shouted the same.

Pan Shang cast a nasty glare at him, about to say something but elder San stepped in between them.

"Elder Pan, are you all right? Your skin is charred. These disciples. They can't even control their fire." Elder San shook his head in disappointment while looking at Wun Xia Ja.

“I think you must go back and heal your injuries with Face Altering Pill quickly, else you will have a scare for a long time. After all, Wun Xia Ja used his spirit beast to burn your skin. It won’t go away that soon.”

"Wun Xia Ja must be plotting this for long," Aiden said, keeping his voice low, but he made sure Pan Shang would hear it.

Pan Shang glared at Wun Xia Ja and then at Aiden before turning away and rushing toward the exit.

Wun Xia Ja glared at elder San and Aiden before he too ran behind Pan Shang.

”Junior, you have painted a target on your back.” Elder San spoke to Aiden after the duo vanished from their eyes.

Aiden sneered, not hiding it from elder San. “I was only following your steps, elder. Did I do anything wrong?”

Elder San stared at him with a meaningful gaze and turned away.

"Everyone, as long as you can show a good enough fire control to me, I’ll let you pass this exam in your pre-chosen category. Yellow card, a normal fire control, blue card show me shape manipulation, and red card should show me Fire Giving Birth,” Elder San said to everyone present.

"Elder, can I choose a red card now?” The fatty who had fallen out of the red card exam early asked.

"There would be no more changes allowed. You all will come forward in ten’s group and I’ll judge your fire control.”

Aiden’s tensed muscles eased up. If elder San had asked everyone at the same time, he would have been in trouble. The mana usage would have sky rocketed. Although as per elder San’s words, he could have stopped manipulating the fire, he couldn’t really do it. If he stopped now, it would mean someone was just doing it because of Wun Xia Ja and Pan Shang, and the suspicion might fall on elder San, or everyone, and especially him. So, he could only let everyone display a Fire Giving Birth and get done with this exam.

It was the wisest choice for now.

***

In a dimly lit room inside a cave, Wun Xia Ja kneeled in front of the elder Pan Shang, his eyes scraping the red tiles.

"Elder Pan, please punish me. Only then I can have an ease of heart."

"It wasn't your fault," elder Pan Shang said from the armchair in the shadows. "This was a trap for me. You fall for it."

"A trap?" Wun Xia Ja looked up, trying to see through the shadows.

"I'll investigate the carefully. I heard all hundred people passed through the exam and each one conjured a perfect Fire Giving Birth."

"But that’s impossible." Just the thought of a hundred people conjuring Fire Giving Birth was terrifying. Wun Xia Ja shuddered. Until now, he couldn’t understand why and how could this all happen?

"There are no impossible things in this world. Cultivation is everything." he sighed hard.

"Elder Pan, please give me a chance. I’ll put my heart and soul to it," Wu Xia Ja said resolutely. The entire thing was a slap on his face, and he had a lot to prove now.

"Good."

"Elder Pan, I’ve one question. Why didn’t you kill that insolent Li An? He is just a labor disciple and he dared to call you by names. Even if you kill a labor disciple, no one would dare to blame you."

Elder Pan Shang sighed hard. "This is the reason I couldn't kill him. He and San Gu plotted against me, and I fell for it."

"I don't understand, elder."

Xia Ja, how many years you are working for me?”

"Three years, elder Pan."

"And yet you failed to understand this?" Elder Pan got up from his chair as he was done with the Face Altering Pill. It was a miraculous pill that could change the skin, or regrow a patch of skin, and it was used after dissolving in Qi Water.

"Please help me understand it, elder Pan. This is a big lesson for me."

"It is indeed. I couldn’t kill him because he is a labor disciple, and San Gu wouldn't let me do that."

"You could easily kill a labor disciple, elder." Wun Xia Ja didn't understand his reasoning.

"Xia Ja, we are holy realm people, and even if we don't hold it in our heart, we have to wear the righteousness on our collars. I can't kill a dog just because his master let loose of his leash."

"So, you mean because of elder San, you let him go?"

"Yes, and no. I couldn't kill a disciple. If I kill him, the neutral faction will create an issue out of it. San Gu put him forward as a trap, and we both fall. We were in between a rock and a hard place. There was no escape. Well played, San Gu."

Wun Xia Ja pondered. If elder Pan killed the motherfucker, neutral faction would have sought justice from the hall master, and by not killing him, he got humiliated.

It was indeed a trap. A big trap played by elder San and Li An. Those hateful bastards.

"Junior understands.” Wun Xia Ja was amazed at the elder’s thinking. Elder Pan Shang was always like this. Thinking ten steps ahead. It wasn’t a bad thing he joined under his wings after the hall master kicked him out. That old foggy. It was just one daughter. Why did he have to ruin Wun Xia Ja’s career for one daughter?

"But don't worry. He is joining the Alchemy Hall. Although I can't kill him openly, I've thousand and ten ways to kill him in the alchemy hall." Elder Pan Shang laughed whole-heartedly.

Wun Xia Ja joined in his laugh. Once he entered alchemy hall, even Wun Xia Ja would have many chances to humiliate him.

"San Gu used him as a pawn, but I'll use the same pawn to bring him down." Elder Pan Shang chuckled. “Make sure he passes the third exam. He want to be a red card disciple, then I’ll let him be one. Contact the people from Song clan who are joining as red card disciple and make his life hell."

Wun Xia Ja sneered. This Li An was trouble, but with the elder Pan marking him, he didn’t have too many days left to live. Elder Pan Shang was like a snake who strike at the right time, and Li An wouldn’t survive through this.