Hao Tian shuddered violently, his body quivering like a leaf in an icy gale. His eyes darted frantically, like trapped butterflies behind glass. Retrieving a small pouch, he inhaled the scent from it deeply. It smelled like thick coffee, thickly brewed.

What was that pouch?

"How do you know that?" He growled, his aura pressing down on Aiden. "You are just a junior. You can't know about the bell and the rulebook. Tell me who told you that?" he asked in an overbearing tone.

Aiden chuckled. "If you don't retract your aura, I'll shout so loud that you will have no place to hide your face. Bullying a junior disciple in the administrative hall - how big of a mess would that be Hao Tian?"

Hao Tian chewed on his lower lip, but he didn't retreat the pressure from Aiden.

Aiden's lip turned into a sneer as he was about to shout with all the power he had in his lungs.

"Junior Hao Tian, what is going on?" A recognizable tone rang out from the rear, causing Aiden to scowl. An unpleasant taste filled his mouth, like finding an unexpected shard of bone lurking beneath a soft piece of meat.

"Core disciple Wun." Hao Tian smiled with his mouth wide open enough for a big egg to fill his mouth.

Aiden turned back to face his enemy. Wun Xia Ja. What the fuck was he doing here?

A tall figure draped in a deep red cloak loomed over them, his starry eyes fixed on Aiden. Danger glinted in those eyes - a silent challenge that seemed to mock Aiden, as if asking, "What's your next move, you ant?"

"Senior brother Wun, what a pleasant surprise." Aiden smiled. "I thought you would be facing the wall after burning elder Pan Shang's mustache," he said out loud enough that at least fifty people around them heard it, and an awkward silence prevailed, no one daring to break it.

Wun Xia Ja bit his lower lip, his eyes narrowing into a menacing glare that resembled a hungry lion. The muscles in his jaw clenched, causing a visible twitch beneath his skin. A low, almost inaudible growl slipped out of his mouth.

"Elder Pan is doing fine. You don't have to worry about him." Wun Xia Ja responded after a moment of awkward silence in the entire administrative hall. "You should be worrying about yourself, junior An. I saw through your aptitude test, and you only have a D grade aptitude. I'm worried about you failing to stand to the expectations of the alchemy hall. I bet elder San must be worried to death about your prospects."

Aiden sighed inside his mind. There it was. The aptitude test was a secret that only the elders taking the test knew about, and only the sect elders would get to see the test results. Wun Xia Ja shouldn't have been privy to that information, but somehow, he was. His connections and influence were clearly far-reaching. It made sense now why people refused to kill him when old man Li tried to execute him.

"Core disciple, Wun, is that true?" Hao Tian asked, his face breaking into a smug smile. "Junior An, if you have a shitty aptitude, then you shouldn't even think about using the simulation room. It's of no use. I would suggest focus on alchemy, and you might get to live comfortably by becoming an apprentice to someone proficient in alchemy."

"Senior Wun, I will say something once." Aiden focused on the main bastard, ignoring the lesser bastard.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Junior, if you want to apologize to me then no, I won't accept your apology." Wun Xia Ja's chest puffed forward and his tone changed completely. "Unless you bend down and lick my shoes. Then I might think of letting you go."

"I heard you were only at layer one Refinement Realm when you worked under hall master Li." Aiden said, without responding to his insult.

"Yes. Hall master recognized my talent in my early days, so he gave me a special care." Dark lines appeared on Wun Xia Ja's forehead, and he stepped back a little.

"And you married his daughter and killed her when you were in Foundation Realm, isn't it?"

Wun Xia Ja's face turned black as he looked around. "What nonsense. Are you slandering me? How dare you? Are you courting death, junior? I can kill you for insulting me."

"You are not an elder yet, so you can't kill me. And how am I slandering you by asking a question?" Aiden sneered. This guy got triggered by questions around old man Li's daughter, and Aiden was going to use it to his advantage. "Also, I heard you can't control your fire anymore, and burn elder Pan's mustache due to your lowly controls? I heard hall master Li punished you and crippled your spirit animal? Isn't that true?"

"What nonsense. How dare you slander me? How can I, great Wun Xia Ja unable to produce a spirit animal?" His palm raised in the air and a spirit animal lion burst out. "See, I can perfectly conjure my spirit animal. There is no fault in my fire control. Can you do this? Come on, don't be afraid and do it." He glanced around as if making sure enough people saw him doing his move.

Sneering, Aiden turned to Hao Tian. "Senior Hao, are you going to watch someone casting a skill inside the administrative hall? As per the rule 478 in the rule book hidden in the administrative hall, one will be punished for casting a skill in here. Even elders can't do that and yet a measly core disciple dare to do it. He is stomping on the administrative hall's pride and slapping you in the face. Are you going to do something about it?"

Hao Tian gulped, his face paler than a white paper.

"If you don't have courage, I'll ring the bell and invite an elder to intervene. I can't watch someone trample the administrative hall like this and justice need to be brought out." Aiden moved toward the hidden bell.

Hao Taian's face turned darker.

"Senior Wun, please…"

Wun Xia Ja suddenly realized what he had done, but he was too late, as four people had surrounded him from all the sides. They were the sect guards and they couldn't let anyone cast a skill inside the hall and get away.

"Please come with me, senior Wun." Hao Tian looked down.

"Do you know who am I?" Wun Xia Ja shouted, his right eyelash twitching uncontrollably.

"Senior Wun, please don't make this hard for me. I'll ask for leniency from the elder." Hao Tian pleaded.

"Li An, you bastard. I'll make sure you pay for all your sins," Wun Xia Ja shouted as he walked out along with guards and Hao Tian.

Chuckling, Aiden turned to the next attendant. Surprisingly, it was Jia Hana.

"Brother An, that was nicely done," she whispered, while maintaining a stern look on her face.

"I want to buy Flame Blade, Wood Armor and access the Simulation Room for skill Sword Dance. Can you arrange that?" He asked with a smile. Sending Wun Xia Ja to his judgment brought a smile to his face.

"Brother An, please forgive me, but I can't sell you any skill today. Only senior brother Hao Tian can do that."

Aiden arched his brows. He was sure Hao Tian wouldn't show up until he left the administrative hall, and even if he rang the bell, nothing would happen. This was something he couldn't do anything about.

"Then help me buy a simple furnace for practice." Aiden sighed. There was no other option, but he had to create his own pills, and he needed a furnace for the same.

"Senior brother An, please forgive me, but you don't have sufficient alchemy hall points to buy a furnace."

"Alchemy hall points?" Aiden frowned.

"Yes, you might not be aware of the new rules, but every new alchemy hall disciple needs to earn alchemy hall points to buy a furnace and materials."

"When did this rule come? It wasn't in the rule book."

"It came out last night from the hall master."

"Hall master Li? Did he really send the order?" Aiden pressed his palms on the edge of the counter, leaning on the girl.

Jia Hana stepped back, her body shivering a little. "I don't know, senior brother, but the order came from the higher-ups."

Aiden's frown deepened. It seemed like the Wun Xia Ja had done everything to stop him from doing anything in the sect.

How was he going to survive this?