In a matter of hours, the news had spread far and wide. While Jin couldn't care less and was in his room. He could finally start absorbing spiritual energy into his core, he had no reasons to delay his progression. He lit a candle, ate the dots and began to use the spear hands to direct them into the core. And it turned out that he would need far more dots than he thought... It didn't scale. It seemed like the dots sizes were reduced even further as they entered the core... Why? He knew not. One thing he knew was that this would take him much longer than expected. But it was fine. He would just go for it.

The news of his deed however didn't require long to travel to the ears of powerful people. Core Elder Tae-Yeon was more than two thousand years old yet retained the appearance of a handsome young man. Perfect build, perfect face. He had long dark hair reaching his ass and tied in a low ponytail.

Right now, he was in his villa built on a peak past the core region of the sect, in a place where stronger monsters were residing. He was sitting close-eyed on a flat rock in his garden. The gentle breeze caressing his face and waving his hair around lightly.

The entire garden was filled with spiritual energy that revolved around him yet the surroundings remained peaceful. It was truly the sight of an immortal cultivator. Grandiose yet solemn. But all that tranquility broke as someone rushed into the garden and kneeled in front of the man.

It was another young-looking man. This one wore the silver robes with the red belt clearly showing his status as a core elder. Yet, this elder of the highest level was kneeling in front of the others. Even though they had the same position. Hierarchy was like so. Sometimes, fellow colleagues weren't your equals. This was the case here. A few centuries of training clearly enough to create a wide gap in power.

The man kneeling waited anxiously. As he did so, he was obviously noticed by the sitting elder. Being interrupted was rather annoying but he was used to it as subordinates brought him news all the time. He had to manage his interests after all. He sighed as he opened his eyes. They were blue, deep and piercing into the kneeling man. Just with his gaze, he could force his colleague to sweat buckets.

This was true power.

He looked at his kneeling subordinates before sighing once more and asked him: " What's up this time? " and the subordinate, already fearing for his life due to the nature of the news he brought back, swallowed hard before explaining: " I-It's about your commission related to the secret manuals of Taurium's Lord, Eminence"

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Tae-Yeon nodded. He did indeed ask for this to be retrieved. Did the subordinate came here solely to report that the disciple accepted the request? It was an obvious matter and shouldn't need to be reported. Was this old subordinate of his seeking attention now? He could only sigh once more. Why were all the lower ones always trying to grab benefits from thos higher? Couldn't they work for it themselves? Still, it did help that there were fools ready to do anything simply to get on his good books.

He didn't even ponder about rewarding the guy. He moved his hand as if shooing him away as he said: "Good, you may leave" but the subordinate remained there. This time the subordinate bowed all the way with his face on the ground and said loudly: " The disciple rejected your commission, Eminence! I am deeply ashamed and shall go punish him right away! "

As the words were heard, the calm expression crumbled. Tae-Yeon murmured: "How dare a mere disciple reject my commission" and as he looked at this old subordinate of his, he couldn't hide his anger. With a wave of his hand, the right arm of the subordinate flew away. Yet the subordinate didn't even dare move and remained facing the ground.

Tae-Yeon got up and told him: "Make sure that he understands his place. Sullying my name comes at a price. And go get me the manuals. I won't tolerate a second failure!" The subordinate replied fervently and hurriedly with a loud "Yes! Eminence!" then got up and left speedily.

He didn't even take his arm that had been cut off. Not like Tae-Yeon would have let him. This was the price to pay for failing his simple task and sullying his eminent name. As he thought of the fact that a mere disciple was cheeky enough to reject his demands, his anger rose to a new level and the entire garden began to warm up. It was to the point that all the greenery burnt. The arm of the subordinate wasn't spared either.

He murmured: "Have I been so low-key that even disciples dare trample on my name nowadays?"

At the same time, the core elder who had his arm cut was running away as fast as he could. It was his greatest misfortunate to end up as a subordinate of this fucker. Who knew that a few centuries later he would be such a douchebag? He had been so nice back when they were both younger. And now that he became much stronger...sigh...Was there a need to cut his arm?

Sure, the kid rejected the commission but it was obvious he would. I mean, guts aside, if he had agreed to it, he would have lost his entire future. Remaining more than five more months at the entrance of the first stage of refinement? It was a death sentence. Even more so, the rewards this lousy stingass offered were truly worthless.

Oh, how much he wished he could go serve another senior... But if he tried to leave from this one? He would be killed mercilessly. It had happened to all his colleagues and friends after all. Life sometimes was tough. If he had known that he would end slaving away for centuries after reaching such a realm...Sigh... Never mind.