CHAPTER 4

Jang was sitting cross legged in the cultivation hall of the outer sect with a handful of other outer disciples like him. Jang was having a really tough time focusing on his meditation session. He tried not to think about the crumpled bit of paper laying in his apartment that made him want to spit fire out of his mouth.

It had been almost a year since Zhao had ascended to the condensed Qi realm and moved on to become an inner disciple, which really was no shock to anyone considering he had the backing of the powerful Li family. Jang had suffered all his petty insults and had acted as pretty much his errand monkey, especially in the last few days before the ascension in the hope that once he became an inner disciple, he might throw some resources his way. Even something that was table scrap for an inner disciple like him would've helped out Jang substantially.

There had been no communication from Zhao ever since he ascended. , So, last week Jang had put aside his pride and written a rather pathetic letter explaining his pitiable situation along with a plea for some aid. Zhao's reply had come in today saying that he was unfortunately unable to afford such a drain on his resources considering the fact that Zhao was at a very critical stage in his cultivation journey. Jang knew deep inside that he had only himself to blame for putting his faith in a bastard like Zhao to advance his cultivation. But, he really was running out of all options.

His conscription was only 4 years away and he hadn't made a break through in the last ten years. He had no hope of breaking through four layers and to ascend to the next realm in the next four years.

The supervising inner disciple of the cultivation hall promptly kicked Jang out of the hall as soon as the time allotted for him was over. So, once again he was broke and he needed to earn some more sect tokens before he could cultivate again. Jang grudgingly made his way towards the sect mission hall, hoping to pick up some patrol missions in relatively safe sect territory.

The mission hall of the sect was located near the eastern gate of the outer sect. And as Jang stepped in, he saw that the desk was manned by Mako today. Mako was another cultivator like zhao who had ample connections through his clan. Although, more than 15 years his junior, Jang was certain Mako was also going to surpass him and ascend soon enough. Jang directed his steps towards the board before more hateful thoughts could form in his mind. The boy really didn't deserve it to be honest. Maho was a far cry from the asshole Zhao was and had always treated him with respect.

Scanning the board brought a frown to the already troubled face of Jang as he found that the rewards for patrolling missions in relatively safe areas had dropped by more than 10% compared to last month. At this rate, not only would he not be able to step up his cultivation time, he wouldn't even be able to clock in as many hours as he did in the cultivation hall last month.

Throwing his usual caution to wind, Jang decided to pick a patrol mission in an area that really should have been done by someone in the late stages of vapour realm and came up to the desk.

"Good morning Brother Jang" Mako greeted him.

" Good morning brother Mako, I would like to get assigned this patrol mission". Jang said, deciding to skip any small talk and to get out of there as soon as possible. Mako accepted the poster with a smile , which soon morphed into a worried frown as he studied it.

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" Brother Jang, this patrol is a bit farther out from the area that you usually go to", said Mako with a tight smile. Even though Jang understood that Mako was essentially saying that the mission was a bit out of his league, he didn't feel any resentment he normally would have, had someone else been the one to say that to him. Jang knew that the kid meant well.

So, Jang plastered on what he hoped was a winning smile before leaning in conspiratorially to Mako.

"Brother Mako, I know I can trust you to keep a secret. I've had a major breakthrough recently and let me assure you that this patrol is Well within my abilities to handle it."

" Oh, that's great news brother Jang, you must be very close to breaking through. I'm really happy for you brother " . Mako said with a genuine smile.

Jang didn't delay for longer before setting out since it actually bothered him a little to be lying to the kid like that. But with any luck, this mission would go like most patrol missions and would be uneventful. Jang slowly made his way over to the sect transport section to catch a flying sword transport that would deposit him within a twenty li distance of his patrol area. His patrol area consisted of scouting the perimeter around a moderately sized city. It mostly involved a lot of running around looking for traces of demonic Qi in the environment ,especially near the forest that was fairly close to the western wall of the city. Jang had finished a fairly comprehensive scouting patrol around the perimeter by nightfall. Instead of heading for the city walls, Jang decided to take a little rest on a nearby hill. He had to report to the sect appointed watch commander of the city to show that he actually did show up there before claiming the reward. But, he had until midnight to do that.

Jang sat down in a meditative pose, more to quell the thoughts raging around in his brain than to actually cultivate. The heavenly Qi available here was marginally better than if you were to cultivate outside the sect cultivation chamber inside the sect compound. still, the energy available was so poor that Jang gave up the attempt to cultivate and collapsed backwards, just laying in the dirt while staring up at the sky.

No matter how he looked at it, he couldn't see a way out. In four years, he'd be forcibly conscripted as cannon fodder for the frontier wars with demons and his life would end , the same way it had for countless other sect members who lacked proper backing.

Jang let out a weary sigh as he let his attention wander to the endless expanse of the sky, cursing himself for ever thinking that he mattered for anything in the endless universe. Just as this thought had crossed his mind, he noticed a shooting star streaking across the night sky, as if it was the universe's way of saying,

' Hey at least the view is not so bad, right?

He chuckled at the thought, before noticing something alarming. The shooting star seemed to change it's trajectory and upon further observation, it seemed to be directly headed for him.

Jang jumped up in panic, ready to run for some cover, when suddenly, in the blink of an eye, a massive meteor seemed to have materialised just inches away from his face. Jang could do little but scream in panic before everything went black.