Prologue

"Patriarch, we found a spy among the outer disciples. This one asks for guidance on how we should deal with him."

Five muscular men wearing black clothes dragged a much smaller man in shackles and dumped him in front of an old man with long white beard, long white hair and even long white eyebrows. While the muscular men looked barbaric and violent with their imposing manner and giant weapons, their almost visibly bloody auras seemed to melt when it met the refined and elegant atmosphere surrounding the old man who was calmly sitting down and drinking tea from a jade tea cup, his demeanor aloof as if he was separate from the scene in front of him.

He calmly took another sip and slowly asked, "A spy?" as if he was tasting the words and found them extremely bitter.

One of the five men who had spoken earlier spoke again, "Yes Patriarch! We were performing our yearly census when we noticed an anomaly. This disciple came in with the new recruits five years ago but he is unregistered at the outer disciple ranking list. As far as we know he hasn't received any pills or elixirs for his cultivation. He had no guidance from a master. He is rarely seen around the training or sparring areas. He has also never taken any missions for contribution points or money. As far as we can tell, he is like a ghost that only appears to take his meals and go to the library."

The old man finally put down his cup and looked down at the man dumped before him. The first thing he did was to use his soul to search the man's cultivation. He found that the young man had plentiful qi in his body, enough to qualify him to be a peak qi gathering expert on the cusp of breaking into the soul conception realm.

"Hmmm...you say that he has never gotten any cultivation resources or guidance? Do you expect me to believe that he got this far by himself? Ridiculous! And why is he still wearing that mask? Take it off at once!"

The man on the floor was rather unremarkable. He had a very mediocre build, he was thin and looked almost sickly when compared to the robust men around him. The only thing notable about him was that he had an iron mask covering his entire face except for his eyes.

"Sir, he says that he was afflicted by spirit boil disease when he was a child. We are afraid that it would spread if we take his mask off."

The old man looked at the man who spoke with a thoughtful expression. His long slender hands reached from his waist and took out a light bamboo and silk fan from his fan before he suddenly disappeared and reappeared in front the man. Without warning the elegant and refined old man used the light bamboo fan to hit the muscular man's head again and again.

"You ignorant dog! Are you a member of the heavenly way sect or are you a superstitious housewife? Do you really think that a disease that is spread just by looking at somebody exists?"

Strangely enough although the old man was only using a light, almost weightless bamboo fan, by the end of the beating the strong looking muscular man was lying on the floor coughing up blood but the seemingly fragile bamboo fan in the elder's hand was completely fine.

After the old man was satisfied that he had done enough, he turned back to the masked man on the floor and asked politely, "Why are you really wearing that mask young man and what was your purpose in coming to my heavenly way sect?"

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For the first time since he had been thrown on the floor, the young masked man looked up at the old man. His face was covered by the unadorned mask so his expression was hidden but his honey amber eyes were swimming with some unknown emotions.

"Why else patriarch? Of course I came here to learn the way of soul cultivation."

His voice was gruff and scratchy as if he was suffering from a cold, his deep voice completely at odds with his slight frame. His voice contained humor which seemed quite inappropriate considering his condition.

The patriarch wasn't happy with the man's flippant attitude but he decided to remain civil.

"Cultivate? Without pills? Without guidance? Do you think I am a fool?"

The masked man chuckled before saying, "You don't want me to answer that Patriarch."

The patriarch's old and wrinkled face got even more wrinkly as he frowned when he heard the masked man make fun of him. He was the Patriarch of the heavenly way sect, sure it wasn't a among the most powerful sects but it still had a decent reputation among the righteous sects and the Patriarch himself was a mid-soul crystalization expert making him a very powerful man. People were usually respectful when speaking with him, even people from big sects gave him face but this little qi gathering punk was making fun of him?

The patriarch eventually calmed himself down and ignored the masked young man's disrespectful words. Instead he reached his hand out to grab the iron mask to see what was underneath. He had bent down and the tips of his long slender fingers had almost touched the edge of the mask when the masked man's bright amber eyes flashed brightly. Since the Patriarch was right in front of him, he was blinded for a second.

The patriarch had been careless. He was an almighty Soul crystalization expert facing a measly qi gathering expert so he didn't think it was important to stay alert, his soul power lay dormant in his dantian. The attacks of a qi gathering expert could not hurt him so he didn't take any precautions. He never expected such a trick from the masked man. The patriarch circulated his energy once around his body and into his eyes and immediately got his sight back only to see five bewildered men and a pair of empty shackles on the ground.

The patriarch's first impulse was to shout in rage and order a massive man hunt but then one of the bewildered men asked,"Patriarch? Did you get rid of him? What a powerful technique. You just touched him and he disappeared."

The Patriarch considered the situation. If he ordered a man hunt then he would have to reveal what had really happened. A Soul crystalization expert being outsmarted by a qi gathering expert? He and his sect would lose all of their reputation and become a joke. He couldn't let that happen so he suppressed his rage and his it deep into his heart before answering,

"Humph, it is only natural. I am much more powerful than the snotty little brat. I need but a touch to get rid of him."

As the confusion in the muscular men's eyes turned into awe , the patriarch prayed that the masked man never resurfaced again.