“Senior Brother, how long are you going to make us wait here”? whined Ye Wunchen

“Shut up you idiot, wait for it to take the bait” whispered Deng Che

The two boys sat in silence for another few minutes until Ye Wunchen perked up again

“By the way, what is our sect’s name? I never heard Master mention it-OWWW”

Unfortunately for the pair, the loud slap and subsequent yelp scared away the rabbit. Frustrated, Deng Che went to grab the bait of carrots.

“I told you to shut up, look at what you did” reprimanded Deng Che severely

“Well you shouldn't have slapped me so hard” answered Ye Wunchen as he smiled back cheekily. “We hunted enough food anyways, Master won’t be mad at us”

“That’s only half of it” though Deng Che as he gazed at his rotund Junior Brother. His real worry was that the bitch Chu Yuyan would outperform him yet again.

A few weeks after Master brought him back from the village, he went out again to all the different nearby villages and brought back a dozen new Junior Brothers and Sisters. As their senior brother, Deng Che felt an unprecedented amount of pressure.

In just a short two months, two of his juniors had already surpassed him in their Body-Tempering progress.

Thankfully, Master had clarified that Deng Che would remain as the Senior brother, stating

“Seniority takes precedence over Cultivation Base and combat power. There might be exceptions in the future, but it will be up to me to decide them.”

The relief had been short lived however. A few days ago, Master had convened all the disciples and announced that the three disciples that had reached the middle stage of body tempering would be able to compete for a ‘Coil Shedding Fruit’. According to Master, it would elevate their body tempering from the middle to the late stage. This would save them months of work!

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

To win the fruit, the three disciples Deng Che, Chu Yuyan, and Lu Zihao would compete to see who could hunt/find the most valuable goods from the Circular Valley. The value was determined by Cheng Hao, and the competitors were allowed to recruit fellow disciples to help them.

A week and half had already passed since the start of the competition, and only three days were left. The results would be calculated at the end, but so far Chu Yuyan held a commanding lead despite never having left her house; she used her beauty and charm to convince most of the other disciples to work for her, giving her a substantial lead. As for Lu Zihao, he announced that he wasn't interested in the competition, and therefore had also stayed at home cultivating.

Cheng Hao had done his best, but it wasn't going to be enough to match the output of the 8 disciples supporting Chu Yuyan. Only Ye Wunchen had agreed to help, but the smiling fatso hurt more than he helped.

“Senior Brother, I have a plan”

“Shut up and leave me alone, what sort of plan could you come up with?”

“Well listen to this idea”

________________________________________________________________________

“Master, Master! Look what I found” exclaimed Xiao Yumei as she held a colorful butterfly aloft.

“Isn’t it beautiful?”

Deng Che looked at his disciple’s beautiful face as a sense of exhaustion welled up within him.

“Yes it is, what are you going to do with it?”

“Well, Sister Yuyan is making us give her all the stuff that we find.” she answered sadly

“Ahh, not that I don't want to” she hurriedly clarified, bowing and scraping in apology. After a few more minutes of discussion, she turned to go, insinuating that Chu Yuyan would get mad her if she didn't.

Deng Che sighed as he watched the petite figure run away.

“This one’s the biggest schemer of them all. Isn't that right Wunchen?”

As if in response, a round figure detached itself from the shadows of the cave wall before answering

“Yes indeed, I wonder how long Chu Yuyan has left before she loses everything”

“Still, she probably won't make a move this time around. Xiao Yumei strikes me as a long term schemer.” Deng Che paused before continuing “Other than not telling the others about you joining the competition I won't provide you any additional help. Scheming is like cultivation, you won't learn if I hold your hand all the way.”

Ye Wunchen bowed deeply, his deep smile never leaving his face as he turned to exit.

“Thank you Master, that should be enough”