“You dare laugh at the Mighty Tiger Sect!”
The leader of the group shouted again, this time unleashing the full force of his spirit on them and managing to achieve nothing. Lee’s clothes had been designed to shield him from High Cultivators while Lisa was half step into the Master realm. So, the full power of a peak Neophyte’s soul simply washed over them harmlessly.
“My apologies, honoured cultivator,” Lisa bowed. “We are simply passing and have not heard about the strength of the Mighty Tiger Sect.”
Lee stared at her, feeling mild shock. That was just about the last reply he had expected from her. A notification blinked in front of him, and he opened it to find a text from her.
‘Just play along.’
So, he shrugged and let her take the lead, curious to see what her plan was. This was the most enthusiasm she had shown in a while, so he was glad regardless.
“Hmph. Country bumpkins,” the leader managed to say with even more disgust, wrongly assuming they were ignorant villagers. “The Mighty Tiger Sect is one of the most powerful sects in the city. We have three Master realm experts. and even our lowest disciples are mid Neophyte.”
Lisa widened her eyes in fake shock, looking for all the world like a village girl whose world just expanded greatly. Lee had to admit her acting was truly impressive. Something the leader must have agreed with, considering the victorious glint in his eyes.
“Good. You at least understand that. You will follow us to the sect and let an elder decide what your punishment for laughing at the sect will be.”
Then he turned and walked out of the bar, leaving them to follow after him silently.
The journey to the sect was mostly uneventful. It seemed like the leader had been right about the sect being one of the most powerful. Most of the people, even other sect members, treated them with deference. There was nearly an incident when they met some disciples from one of the few rival sects of the Mighty Tiger Sect, but Lisa skilfully dissolved the tension with the seeming innocence of her fake persona.
They finally arrived at the Mighty Tiger Sect after spending a few minutes on the road. The sect compound was not particularly interesting, with a few large buildings and a lot of smaller ones scattered around. They were all built to be functional, forgoing the artistic styles that the sects of Xenus so often used.
They finally got to a section within the compound that had its own gate. It was a rather unassuming entrance and the only implication that tit was special were the words written at the top of the gate.
‘CORE DISCIPLES’
The leader they were following knocked on the gate and a bored looking woman opened it shortly after. Her eyes narrowed when she saw them.
“Occil,” she said sternly, not hiding her disapproval. “Why are you bringing outsiders to the core sect. Have you even confirmed their cultivation levels?”
Lee had to stop himself from smiling at that. His clothes also had a privacy feature built in that hid his cultivation while Lisa, like most Lasvanians, kept theirs completely hidden by default. Something that was supposedly a feature of the absorbers.
Yet throughout the way no one in the sect had seemed to notice it, perhaps convinced of their invincibility as sects often were. He turned to Lisa, and she nodded softly. So, he shrugged and released his spirit gently, feeling multiple senses scan him. The woman seemed to relax slightly, perhaps glad that he was not actually a threat.
He turned to Lisa, curious about what she would do, and was only mildly surprised when the spirit of a peak Neophyte exploded out of her. Considering what he had seen so far, it was not exactly farfetched for the absorber to be capable of limiting a person’s realm to fool others.
The guard finally relaxed fully and let them pass, shaking her head at them as they went in.
The core sect was like a completely different location. Rows of neat, two storey houses, each surrounded by lush fields of grass stretched out across a few kilometres. From what he could see, each house also had a pool and a small fence, likely just for demarcation.
Farther away, there was a large stadium that dominated the landscape. It’s combined area likely matching the entirety of the rest of the property. They walked until they got to one of the houses before stopping. Loud music in a style he could not recognise was coming from the ground floor. Occil opened the door confidently and led them to a side entrance, after which they took the stairs to what he assumed was the top floor.
Sitting comfortably on a very ostentatious throne-like chair in an open lounge, was a man Lee assumed was a core disciple. He wore a buttoned-up suit and enough jewellery that made it clear to anyone who looked that he was full of himself. At least if the literal throne was not enough to make it obvious. The man’s cultivation was also very obvious, though he suspected it was by design.
A Journeyman, Lee realised. He was not completely sure, but he was likely at the mid stage of the realm.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
“Occil,” the man said with a decidedly cruel smile. “What have you brought for me.”
The leader of the small group that brought them here gave a small bow before speaking.
“Senior brother, you said you felt a presence in the main city and asked me to locate its source. I have traced it to these people here and brought them as you asked.”
Just then, a group of five people he also assumed were core disciples entered the room. They saw the all the people present and hesitated.
“Are we intruding, Zeel?” one of them asked.
“Oh no. Absolutely not. I am about to have a little fun and I wouldn’t want you to miss. You know how little fun we get these days.
“Of course,” came the reply and they shuffled into the room, each conjuring seats to lounge on.
Lee noticed one of the women among them staring at Lisa with a strange expression.
“Thank you for your service, Occil,” the man, Zeel, continued. “Now, where are these fine people from. And how did such talent escape any of the sects.”
“They are not from here and did not know about the Mighty Tiger Sect before, even laughing when I mentioned it to get them to come. Of course, they immediately followed when I told them of our strength.”
“Good,” Zeel said then turned to them. ”Now Occil here tells me you laughed at our sect. That is a great offense you have committed. One that requires punishment. What have you to say about that?”
“Apologies senior brother. We did not know about the strength of the Mighty Tiger Sect.”
Le had to commend Lisa’s dedication to the role, if nothing else. Though he was still not sure what she wanted out of it. Or perhaps she was just having fun with the whole thing.
“Then you will see that strength now. I am a forgiving senior, so I will show you the strength of the Mighty Tiger Sect and give you pointers. Perhaps you will even achieve enlightenment from the experience.”
The laughs that came from the group around him suggested it was not the first time that joke was used.
Zeel waved his hands and a portal opened up in front of them.
“We will be going to the training grounds, where you will show us the strength of those who can laugh at our sect. Now go.”
Lee took note of the portal and could not help but smile at the man’s space qi. He looked at Lisa and noticed that her expression mirrored his own, likely coming to the same conclusion.
The training grounds, which he assumed referred to the stadium they had seen in the distance, was even bigger from the inside. While it was as large as a small town from outside, it was clearly big enough to contain a city or two inside.
They were quickly led to one of the many training booths, which were simply large open spaces contained by a transparent barrier.
“This is the highest training field we have. No one below master can get through the barrier, so do not worry about breaking anything. You can come at me together and go all out. Feel free to come and show me the strength of the people so great our sect is nothing to them.”
He said the last part very loudly, and Lee noted people around suddenly paying attention. There were a lot of rather unpleasant smiles.
“I will go alone,” Lisa said confidently and followed Zeel into the training field, standing on the opposite side from him.
They both stood leisurely, each seemingly waiting for the other to attack. It only took a few moments before Zeel got tired of waiting and charged.
Lee could barely follow what happened next. One second the core disciple was standing and the next he was almost on Lisa. It took him a moment to realise that the only reason he could suddenly follow what was happening was the fact that he had slowed dramatically. Something that he quickly attributed to a field around Lisa.
The man continued slowing down till his fist was directly in front of Lisa and refused to move any further.
“Is this the true strength of the mighty Tiger Sect?” Lisa asked mockingly.
Lee stared at a side of his friend he had not seen before and smiled. She really did seem to be enjoying it at the very least. He could see Zeel continue struggling to move when Lisa simply flicked a wrist, and he landed on the other side of the field.
He attacked again, looking desperate to restore his honour but was rebuffed just as easily. Everything he tried, from raw power to techniques was easily extinguished. A crowd had formed at this point and news that a strange Neophyte was beating supposedly their strongest core disciple was spreading.
Lisa continued to pommel the man, likely taking out all her previous frustrations on him. Lee couldn’t particularly judge her for it. He had also taken part in beating an opponent to relieve stress and other negative emotions before.
The fight continued till a presence he identified as a Master washed across the crowd, causing everyone except him and Lisa to kneel. The presence increased its intensity, which predictably had no effect. Lisa did unveil her spirit in challenge, which pushed back the Master significantly, despite the realm difference.
“Who dares challenge the Mighty Tiger Sect?!”
“I dare,” Lisa said nonchalantly. “Your sect is not particularly impressive.”
“Perhaps you should show me then.”
“No, I don’t think I will. I think our time here is at its close. Don’t you, Ascendant Xiao Lee?”
He noticed how she made sure to emphasize on his name and title and smiled. Two could play that game.
“Yes, indeed it is, Lisa Feltham.”
He would be lying if he said he did not relish the moment the Master realised who they actually were. The woman’s eyes widened in disbelief, and he heard her take a sharp breath. It was a testament to her intelligence that she immediately realised the implications.
The proud Master quickly bowed till her head touched the ground in apology.
“This ignorant elder apologises for the foolishness of her sect. We are yours to do as you see fit.”
Lee noticed Lisa’s barely concealed distaste as she simply shook her head and left the field.
“I don’t care what you do. Just do your best to be more careful when you see cultivators you don’t know. The next ones you meet might not be as forgiving.”
She left with that, and he flashed the sect elder a smile before following after her. They were outside the sect before she spoke again.
“That was anticlimactic.”
“Yes, it often is,” he confirmed. “But you enjoyed it.”
“I did,” she admitted. “I haven’t had this much fun in a while. I just wish they didn’t fold so easily.”
“It is the way of the sects,” he shrugged. “They often lord over everyone weaker than them and expect deference. Doing the same to those stronger is only logical. There are exceptions, but most accept the rule of the strong. Plus, I’m sure the elder figured out we were guests of the emperor. In that case, the sect might be dead at this point if it's found out.”
“Well, I’m not particular interested in telling the man. I doubt I’ll be a fan of him from what I’ve seen so far.”
Lee shrugged again, he would normally give the man the benefit of doubt, given his origins, but his file had not been particularly flattering. Still, he would hold off on final judgement till he actually met the man.
They went back to their living quarters, both more satisfied than they been in a while.