“It's time to wake up.” Jing’s soft voice flowed into the ears of the captured disciples.

  Ju Ju immediately rose from her sleep and attempted to strike out at the voice. Upon trying this, she realized that her arms and legs were bound while her qi was completely drained. Wen and Yi woke up soon after she did and they all realized they’ve been captured. Jing lightly clapped her hands to bring their attention to herself.

“I’m Jing. If you haven’t realized yet. I don’t know why you came for me or how you found me but I’m sure you’ll be very willing to explain everything I want to know in just a moment.” Jing spoke.

  They were inside a building. A building that definitely didn’t belong inside the Immortal Forest. The three captured cultivators wondered where have they been taken and how long were they out? But mostly importantly what did Jing plan to do to them?

  Jing initially planned to kill them all in the forest just like she did with the others that were careless enough to get caught by her without any life-saving treasures. But she recognized the green-haired girl. She was very well-known in the Inner Court because of her skill. It would be a waste killing someone like this, plus she would be very useful to her. Jing only had 2 followers of hers in the Inner Court. Hu Tao and Wan Qing.

  Gaining a Great Prodigy to her side would help move things along when she eventually starts trying to take over the Inner Court just like she was doing with the Outer Court now. But maybe she was getting ahead of herself. She’s yet to take complete control over the Outer Court but was already looking to control the Inner Court as well.

‘One step at a time. There’s no rush.’ Jing told herself.

“You. Why were you looking for me?” Jing pointed to the black-haired guy.

“I’ve come to make a challenge.” Yi answered confidently.

“Oh. Interesting. With me or one of my Angels?” Jing asked.

“You.” Yi didn’t know what angels she was talking about.

“Alright. What’s this challenge and why should I accept it?” Jing humored him.

“Duel me in an official dueling ring. If I win, you will become a certain elder’s student. If I lose, you are compensated with 10 middle-tier spirit stones for accepting the challenge.” He explained as if she had no choice but to accept such a great offer.

  His face slowly turning into a scowl after she burst out in laughter wasn’t a surprise. She made sure to laugh good and long just so he could understand just how ridiculous the offer he just made to her was. But it seemed he didn’t understand that at all and only thought she was making fun of him. Jing was laughing at him but she was mostly laughing at his master for thinking she could be tempted by a measly 10 middle-tier spirit stones.

“You’re stupider than I thought.” Wen commented.

“Idiot.” Ju Ju added.

“Shut it! What’s so damn funny!? It makes sense to me! In fact I'd say that 10 middle-tier spirit stones are more than enough for a simple Qi Gatherer like you!” He yelled.

“Another one that wasn’t told everything about me. You won’t hold much use to me but I’ll ask just to be polite. Who is the elder that wanted me as his student?” Jing asked.

“Hmph. Defeat me in a dueling ring and I'll tell you.” His head was swiftly removed from his neck by a whip.

“Ah shit. I’m going to die.” Wen realized.

  Jing let his head roll down his body and stop at her feet. She picked it up and saw that his eyes still held the same arrogance as before. He didn’t even realize he was moments away from death. Completely confident that she’d accept his absurd conditions. Poor idiot didn’t even realize he was being used and in such an inefficient manner as well. The ignorance of some of these elders truly made her brain crinkle in confusion. With how old they all are, shouldn’t they be a bit wiser?

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“I don’t plan to kill you all. I believe that killing is a waste of...” She paused. “Valuable resources. You see, people can be used in all sorts of ways while they are alive. Even the idiotic, ignorant, and disabled. I killed him because he would be more useful to me dead than alive. I don’t know much about you.” She pointed to Wen. “But you... are very famous.” Jing smiled at Ju Ju.

“So tell me why you’re here.” Wen already accepted in his heart that he was going to die to this crazy Qi Gatherer.

“I came to watch you. My master sent me here to observe you and everything that goes on around you.” He honestly shared.

“This master is?”

“Elder Sun.” He told her.

“That’s a new name I haven’t heard yet...” Jing muttered.

  Jing has recently learned of many elder names ever since she came out of the Treasured Plains. She was genuinely surprised at how many elders there were in the sect and how elders were ranked in the first place. It was probably negligence on her part but she never really thought much of the elders at all because of how they treated her when she first joined the sect. The only elder she had a positive opinion of was Elder Lang, her previous spellmaster teacher. It turns out he was a Minor Elder, someone that didn’t hold much influence, connections, or power either. Above a Minor Elder was a Major Elder and then above them was a Pillar Elder. Pillar Elders were the sect’s key figures. They were the elders that made sure everything within the sect was running smoothly along with increasing its strength. The only ranks above the Pillar Elders were the three Head Elders, the Supreme Commander, and then the Sect Leader.

  Most of them seemed kind of worthless to her since there were so many disciples in the sect without someone guiding them. Hell, they let someone like Hu Tao and Wan Qing run around for who knows how long without someone guiding them. Hu Tao was one of the strongest disciples in the Outer Court only second to a disciple named Manchu. Hu Tao said that Manchu was his only rival in this life which naturally made Jing interested in this Manchu. She planned to investigate him more deeply in the future but for now, he wasn’t something to worry about. It must be known that he also didn’t have an elder as his master or teacher.

“He’s a Major Elder on the cusps of becoming a Pillar Elder.” Wen said.

“Now tell me why should I let you live and run back to your little master to tell him all about me?” Jing teasingly smiled, looking like a mischievous devil who just found a new toy.

“I am willing to betray Elder Sun entirely if you don’t kill me.” This statement made Jing’s eyebrows raise slightly.

“What use would you bring to me?” Jing questioned.

  He was a strong cultivator no doubt. He was at the 8th stage of the Qi Consolidation realm. A higher cultivation rank than any of her followers but something like that wasn’t enough to make her want him. Everyone one of her Angels would reach his stage eventually if they didn’t somehow die. She probably had enough resources to drown someone to the peak of cultivation. Cultivation stages weren’t something she felt that she needed to care about in the long run.

“I could work for you and give you information on Elder Sun.”

“Interesting idea but the thing is... I have no interest in Elder Sun. All I needed to know of him was his name and ranking. You see, I tend to remember everything someone has done to me and try to process why would they do that. He wanted to watch me for some reason and when I encounter him in the future, I'll be sure to bring this up.”

“He wanted to make use of your talent, I remember. If you managed to survive and somehow prove yourself useful to him, he wanted us to recruit you.” Wen added.

“There are more of you?”

“Yes. There are 4 others sent by Elder Sun to watch you at all times. I was the only one to track you out here.”

“So, he just wanted to use me. How typical.” Jing laughed.

“Alright. You gave me a lot of useful information. Most disciples don’t talk as much as you do unless I make them. That was a nice deviation from the usual.” Jing said. “While I can’t just let you go free just yet, as I have something I wish for you to do, you can rest easy now as I don’t plan on killing you anymore.” Jing eased his worries.

‘She was planning on killing me too!?’ He cried in his heart.

  Jing moved her gaze over to Ju Ju. She proudly held out her chest and stared back.

“I come on behalf of my master, Elder Tu. He wishes to bring you over to his side with the items inside the storage rings I brought.” Ju Ju explained in a concise manner.

“Oh, those were gifts for me? Well, I have to say that this Elder Tu is quite kind. I can’t say that I'll join under him but we can form a partnership of some sorts. Tell him to meet me in my home and we can discuss this more intimately.” Jing told her.

‘Are you insane? Does she think she’s on par with a Pillar Elder like Elder Tu?! That he would be willing to sit down and discuss with someone in the Qi Gathering stage!? He might hold a liking to you right now but the amount of disrespect you’re showing him is too much!’ Ju Ju thought Jing was out of her mind.

“Understood.” But it wasn’t her place to say any of that.

“Follow me.” Jing broke the illusion formation she created.

  Making them realize that the bindings they felt and the lack of access to their qi was all in their heads. They never left the Immortal Forest and apparently Jing was a talented spellmaster as well.