Today marked the end of the first week of Wang Yang cultivating at Osmanthus Peak. But, unlike the first week, Li Muchen wasn’t here to watch over him. Even the three-hour journey between the two peaks was left up to the young disciple.

I only have another hour left. All Spirit stones placed in the slots had turned grey aside from one.

In the middle of this room with eyes closed, he started to breathe slow and steady till the air filled his lungs. The chest felt bloated, the lungs pressing down on the stomach.

Pushing the unpleasant feeling down he took in the Qi from the air into the half-filled Lung Meridian till it was full. Then using the already refined Qi as a path lighter. The rest traveled down the pathways to reach other meridians. Mixing and interacting with the Qi in his body, it reached the Dantian as the remaining air exited through the nose. The seven wisps of Qi settled down into the foot-deep pool in his Dantian. The remaining Qi from the pathways went back to the other Meridians to set up the next cycle.

Even after a week, Wang Yang had to be conscious of the process and not let the physical sensations get in the way. While meditating, his senses became much more sensitive. Goosebumps rose on his body every time, just like the very first time his dantian formed. It was a moment where he was floating in the dark, seeing clouds and specks of numerous colors in the distance. Conforming, collapsing, and exploding, it was a feeling that he couldn’t forget.

Weirdly, I can’t feel Master around even in that state. It always felt like his mind overlooked Li Muchen somehow.

But, that didn’t surprise him. He was the Second Peak Master of a Major Sect, while Wang Yang had barely started. Still, hearing no footsteps or not feeling any gaze only to find out someone reached behind him was a scary experience.

“Ah… My mind wandered off again.” With the focus broken, he had to restart.

Used to living on a farm surrounded by cattle and people, this silence prickled his skin. No matter where he looked, there were only walls with bright lines. Back to meditating, it took a few minutes but it came back without any issue.

One thing he liked about this was that time passed quickly once it started to flow. The concentration on the breathing was so heavy that the surroundings disappeared. Being in a room without windows also helped. There wasn’t a way to know how much time passed without stepping out or by the number of Spirit Stones used.

The Qi in the air started to disperse and get thinner. Looking back the last stone had also turned grey, unlike its usual shimmering light. Carefully taken out of the slots, they were gathered in a chest placed in the corner of this room.

The doors opened when the disciple token touched it, once again bringing him down an empty hallway. In the two weeks here, he had met people twice. One old and one young. Both seemed to have not registered his presence and walked on reading their books.

But, unlike when he was inside the Osmanthus Pavilion. Wang Yang received a lot of gazes on his way down the peak. This place was like the Outer Sect City, however, despite the crowd no one approached.

“So that is Second Peak Master’s Second Disciple?”

“He looks so-so.”

“I mean if you compare him to Second Peak Master then yeah. By himself, he looks handsome.”

“Must be lucky, huh.”

“Seriously though. Why would Second Peak Master do this? Wasn’t there a rumor that he would never take in any disciples and focus on cultivating?”

“I even joined the sect just to be his disciple, but couldn’t even meet him. I understand about Senior Sun, but surely he doesn’t have anything on me! How did he meet Second Peak Master before even entering the Sect!”

They seemed more interested in his Master than him. However, these were the people who spoke. The ones who watched in silence said things much harsher with their eyes. Not much he could do about that. If they had problems they could take it up with his Master.

With that in mind, he ran down the main path that connected the five peaks around the middle two, passing by Peach Peak and Chrysanthemum Peak’s entrances. To get used to the circulating Qi, Li Muchen made him run a lot. While doing so Wang Yang pushed the Qi from his Dantian through his body to increase his physical capabilities by three times.

Right now, I can only hold the flow for only 5 minutes. And it takes ten minutes for the Qi to gather back normally. To maintain the flow of Qi through his pathways, Wang Yang had to stay focused.

“Oi! Wang Yang!” But, things changed when he heard the familiar voice.

He looked ahead to see Xu Qiang on the stoned path, the blond rushed towards him like a bull. His hand slapped on Wang Yang’s back, but it didn’t hurt as much back then.

“How ya doin’? It feels like forever since the Disciple Selection Ceremony.” He grinned.

“It feels like a dream.” Wang Yang said.

“Is that so? I always knew you’d make it big ‘cause of yer boldness.” Xu Qiang hasn’t changed much of his approach.

“Hey brother Xu, why did take off su-Oh…” Three more men arrived running, their uniform the same striking red as Xu Qiang’s.

“Dis ‘ere is the brother I talked to you ‘bout.” He said before turning to Wang Yang. “The short one’s Hu Haomu, if you don’t call him short he is cool. The tall and smiley one’s Zhang Yesu, as long as you don’t take his food he’d stay smiling. And the one with gentle looking one’s Feng Huajun... I don’t know what ticks him off yet, so yeah. We joined the Tiger Peak together, so we hit it off.”

“Don’t call me short you loud mutt! I am still growing!” Haomu’s face turned red.

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“Aren’t you twenty, Haomu?” Yesu said.

“I am going beat you up.”

“Won’t you feel bad? I am only twelve you know?” Yesu was tall enough that at Wang Yang’s eye level, he could only see his chest. And that was while being the taller one in his age group.

“S-Shut up…” Haomu fell to his knees. Those words and height did more damage to him than expected.

“So, you are the Wang Yang he kept talking about. It is a real pleasure meeting you.” Huajun approached Wang Yang with a smile, one that reminded him of his father.

“How can I? Dis dude became the Disciple of The Second Peak Master from the start. How awesome is that?” Xu Qiang’s noticeable laugh and the mention of Li Muchen’s title brought a lot of gazes to the group that had huddled in the middle. And the gazes Wang Yang had gotten used to, fell on him again.

“Who are ya chumps giving the stink eye?” Xu Qiang however, scowled back. His rude words did get some strong reactions, but most chose to keep walking. “Ye, keep pushing it.”

“Why let ‘em look at ya like some chump?” He wasn’t happy with Wang Yang either.

“It's fine Xu Qiang.” Wang Yang said.

“Ya don’t get it, brother. If you an inch to ‘em, they’ll push a foot. You gotta be bold at times like these and put your foot down on their heads. If ya do that they won’t dare to look a second time.” He said with much passion.

“Although I don’t agree with his methods, the buffoon is indeed correct.” Haomu seemed to have recovered.

“I just didn’t want to cause trouble.” Wang Yang said.

“Well, that is more of a reason to not let it go. Your Master is the Second Peak Master. Not only that, he was the first disciple of the sect and the Senior Brother of more than half of the Peak Masters. As his disciple, the only ones you have to be respectful towards are the Sect Master, Grand Elder, and the other Peak Masters. But, with how close the First Five Disciples are, even they wouldn’t be that strict with you.” Huajun’s words were quite a surprise for him.

“Even we shouldn’t be talking with you this way. Most of the disciples in the inner sect only learn from general classes held by the Elders of their peaks. Only a handful of them learn directly from Elders, and even fewer learn from Peak Masters personally. Counting you and Senior Sun, the sect has only seen Nine Direct Disciples of the Peak Masters in three hundred years.” Haomu said, sweat on his forehead. “If it wasn’t for Xu Qiang’s pestering to treat you normally since forever, and you being as genial as he said. We would’ve also watched from afar without getting too close.”

“No height and courage, ya really got the short end of the stick on both.” Xu Qiang said.

“I am so gonna kill you.” Thankfully, Yesu grabbed Haomu before it turned into a fistfight.

“Leaving their shenanigans aside, you don’t have to worry. Ignoring them as you were is also a good move, but if someone takes it too far you can have them expelled in a day with a complaint.” Huajun’s words scared Wang Yang. Did he have that much power now? “Don’t look so surprised, you are the Second Peak Master’s Disciple. Just that alone has enough weight to get an Inner Sect Elder demoted to the Outer Sect, or expelled at worse. Of course, don’t do it without any reason or the Disciplinary Head won’t let it go unpunished.”

Wang Yang considered not leaving the Peak after this. This finally helped him understand why so many people were after this position, and why they’d be upset that he got it. After all, if his spiritual root was taken into consideration, he really shouldn’t have received this.

“You really don’t know anything about the Second Peak Master?” Yesu’s confusion about the matter matched Wang Yang’s. How was he supposed to know?

No news about his Master has ever reached Baihe city. Names like Chen Zhipeng, Gu Yue, Qian Yun, and Dharma were spoken of almost every other day with their achievements. These names are synonymous with Cultivation anywhere on the continent. But, he has never heard of Li Muchen once. He didn’t even know that he was the Second Peak Leader till they arrived back at the caravan.

“It makes sense that Wang Yang doesn’t. Unless you come from a cultivation family or join the inner sect it is impossible to come across legends from two hundred and fifty years ago.” Huajun said. “For normal people that is like nine to ten generations. And I doubt the Second Peak Master, with his tendency to lay low would speak of the tales on his own.”

“Can you tell me some of them?” This made Wang Yang curious.

He knew Li Muchen was amazing. People respected him even if he didn’t show up for long. The Osmanthus Peak’s Peak Master seemed respectful to him. Not to mention how many people wanted to learn from him. After all, a person with Immortal Grade Spiritual root also came to learn from him specifically.

“The most recent one in history was his match against the Xiao Miaorui, the current successor of the Divine Sword Valley. But, this happened when both of them were newly appointed Elders who entered the Golden Core Realm. It was the moment that made our sect’s name known to the world.” Haomu said with palpable excitement. He had only heard the tale recently and it made him want to do something similar.

“Who won the match?” The stakes of this match seemed really high. Even Wang Yang couldn’t help but get excited, although the match happened in the past and already had a winner.

“Second Peak Master lost after a thirty-minute-long match. But, it blew up because no one of the same major realm had ever lasted against the sword of Xiao Miaorui for more than three minutes.” Xu Qiang smirked. “Though I like the Jingyuan Pass battle much better. Tis clash of sword was special too.”

Wang Yang wanted to ask more about that, but someone approached them through the canopy of leaves above.

“How long do you four plan on being a bother?” It was Ming Chyou, riding on the flying sword with the usual stern expression.

The four started sweating not even daring to look back, even Xu Qiang showed fear for the first time.

“It is almost time for the Afternoon break. Many people will be using the path. If you want to discuss about Second Peak Master’s achievements in detail, do it while sitting near the trees over there, you won’t bother anyone else while using his name. I’ll let you off this time, next time will be a punishment.” Just like she had arrived, Ming Chyou left after taking a glance at Wang Yang.

“I really thought we’d be dead.” Haomu finally took a breath.

Wang Yang understood that she was scary, but she wasn’t that scary, was she?

“I envy you, Wang Yang. You won’t have to worry about Senior Ming ever.” Yesu’s words didn’t make sense to him, but now wasn’t the time for that.

“Well, Senior Ming does have a point. How ‘bout talking over lunch? What do ya say, Wang Yang?” Xu Qiang spoke only after they had moved to the right side of the main path away from the people.

“I don’t have anything to do this afternoon.” He said

“Looks like we’ll part ways here then.” Huajun said.

“You aren’t coming to lunch?” Wang Yang was the only one who didn’t know the reason.

“I’ll have lunch in the Outer Sect, we’ll eat together at the Peach Peak some other time.” Huajun smiled.

“You can go to the Outer Sect?” Wang Yang’s sudden question took them by surprise.

“As long as you have an issued Token, but with your disciple token, it shouldn’t be a problem.” Haomu’s answer changed a lot of things. But, after promising to have a meal together, Wang Yang hesitated a bit.

“Don’t dilly dally. Go an’ meet her.” Xu Qiang said pushing him forward. “Tell her I said hello. We can eat next time. Not like any of us are going anywhere.”

“…Yeah, let’s have lunch some other time.” Wang Yang said to the other two.

“It is fine. Do what you have to.” Haomu shooed him off as Yesu waved him goodbye.

“Then… Huajun can you help me this time?” Wang Yang turned to the man with a gentle smile.

“No problem.” Thankfully Huajun agreed to help.

Wang Yang could finally meet Kexin for the first time since the ceremony.