"Isn't that interesting?" Elder Shi said with an amused tone as a faint smile tugged at his lips.

Shen Yun didn't say anything but simply continued looking down.

Time ticked by in silence as the Elder continued looking at the disciple before him, his eyes deep and full of meaning. "You can go," he said after a long while.

Shen Yun finally glanced up and their eyes met. He didn't know whether his words were believed, he didn't know whether they'd be apprehended, he didn't know anything, and that uncertainty tormented him. He briskly stood up and left.

After a few seconds, it was Wang Fei's turn.

Once he sat down, Elder Shi looked at him with a knowing smile and said, "Wang Fei, I wonder if the Wang bunch in the inner sect are your family?"

Wang Fei wasn't at all concerned like the others were, but still, he was in the face of a legendary figure in the sect, so he was terribly nervous. His chubby face was flushed and he spoke hurriedly swallowing every third letter, "Yes, yes... They are my cousins."

"Ho ho," Elder Shi chuckled. "Then you sure have some big boots to fill junior. They're really talented those brats."

Nodding politely with an awkward smile Wang Fei agreed, "Indeed, I can only look up to them."

"Haha, don't be too hard on yourself." Elder Shi comforted. "Maybe you can trespass them. Fate is funny like that junior, you never knew who's going to survive to see the next full moon and who's going to become the next Venerable Ancestor." His eyes shone with a strange glint as he continued, "Did you know that our ancestor only had a Silver talent?"

"He had?!" Wang Fei reflexively raised the pitch of his voice in a gasp.

"That he had," Elder Shi smiled until his eyes turned into crescent moons. "And when he was your age he didn't even start cultivating, he was but the son of a tailor in ancient Keepsake Mountain City."

"Was that the city under The Fiendish Sword Sect. of the old ten sects?" Asked Wang Fei.

"That's the one," Elder Shi nodded. "See, you're even more knowledgeable than your old ancestor was at your age."

Wang Fei blushed, and his usual smile couldn't help but morph into a wide sincere one.

"Now, unto the matter at hand, junior Wang." Elder Shi's tone turned serious. "Tell me how did you meet those two young fellas."

"Ah," Wang Fei murmured. "Me and Elder Zheng had just arrived at Golden Veil City at that time. He said that he had an old friend who used to work in the stables and he wanted to go visit him, so we went. But when we were still on our way there, Elder Zheng suddenly became alert and told me that he sensed a chaotic demonic Qi. Before I could even say anything else, he ran forward and that's when the fight ensued. When I reached there I saw fellow disciple Xie Jing squirming on the ground with an open throat and bulging eyes seemingly just one step away from death. Fortunately, Elder Zheng had left me a healing pill to take with me to the sect, and I gave it to him which managed to save his life. Elder Zheng killed the demonic cultivator, and then we all went to report it to the guards."

"Hmm..." Elder Shi murmured with a deep pondering look. "An open throat you said?"

"Yes," Wang Fei stressed with a wince as he reimagined the scene. "The ground was all bloody and it was quite a terrifying sight."

"Thank you, Junior Wang," Elder Shi smiled. "You may go,"

"Wait," Wang Fei suddenly blurted.

"What is it?" Elder Shi asked with raised eyebrows.

Wang Fei's face was getting redder by the second as he fidgeted in his place, trying hard to say something.

Elder Shi smiled amiably, "Just out with it junior."

"You see," Wang Fei explained. "Me and Xie Jing are on the verge of breaking through... But..." His voice trailed off.

Elder Shi smiled and asked, "Does it have anything to do with how you two look? All dirty, disheveled, and swollen? Have you been fighting a war?"

Wang Fei couldn't help but flash an awkward smile, "Yes... Some despicable disciples have banded together, ambushed us around the living quarters, and taken away our breakthrough resources."

"Is that right?" Elder Shi asked with a soft chuckle. "You're a knowledgeable junior so I imagine you know how we don't interfere with such matters between disciples too much. But, I have a favorable impression of you so I'll help you with this matter."

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Wang Fei stood up and bowed several times, "Thank you, Elder Shi, I will remember this favor."

"I'll make sure to call upon it when I need it then," Elder Shi said with a smile. "When you go out call Mo Li for me."

Wang Fei nodded and left. Once outside, he looked at the several white-robed men and said, "The Elder is asking for Mo Li."

One of them stood up. He had wild shoulder-length wavy brown hair, a thick mustache, and a long-sheathed sword by his side. Once inside, he bowed in the Elder's direction and asked, "Yes, Elder?"

"Go with those two juniors Xie Jing and Wang Fei to the treasury and tell Yao Xue to give them two bags each." Elder Shi said.

"Two?" Repeated Mo Li.

"Two, indeed." Elder Shi emphasized with a nod.

"That will be done," Mo Li replied, but before he left, he asked, "Have you found anything, Elder? You know now with the Red Jade Kingdom moving the demonic cultivators' threats should be squashed immediately."

"I have not," Elder Shi simply said. "But there is something."

"Something?" Mo Li asked with a confused tone.

Brushing his beard, Elder Shi said, "It'll be revealed when the timing is right young Li. Now go."

Mo Li bowed and left.

...

Jing finally stood up after being called by one of the white-robed men, "You can leave," He said. "But Xie Jing and Wang Fei should follow me to the treasury."

Jing was confused, 'Treaury?' He thought. That was when Wang Fei appeared with a wide proud smile and explained his request.

"You did?!" Jing asked with a surprised smile. "Damn, thanks a lot. This would save us a lot of trouble."

As they were going down the stairs, he and Shen Yun exchanged a look, and he knew that they had to discuss what had just happened. Jing merely nodded slowly indicating for him to wait. Though he could have used Aukhman to connect both of their minds once again, he didn't want to.

Displaying such a ridiculous power as a Body Tempering disciple was a dangerous affair, and he didn't want to entertain it in Shen Yun's mind for too long. In fact, he hoped that maybe he had already forgotten about it in the face of such an unexpected situation.

The group of four quickly reached the treasury, and the men with them directly cut in line and approached the counter. "Elder Yao," He spoke with a deep bow. "Elder Shi has asked you to give these two disciples integration bags."

The Elder who was comfortably sitting blowing off rings of smoke raised his eyebrows as he glanced at the disciples, and without even saying anything he merely nodded in the direction of the disciple who was waiting for his confirmation. The bulky disciple with strong forearms walked back and brought four of them without the robes this time, and gave a set of two to Wang Fei and Jing.

Witnessing the sight, the white-robed man Mo Li merely bowed in the elder's direction and left. Jing and the duo followed suit as well, heading for the dorms.

Along the way Jing felt liberated, and the cool air that ruffled his hair felt even more intoxicating after having such a close brush with death.

"The old man lost his horse, and he cried." Shen Yun said with an envious tone as the group marched along the main road. "But then it brought back a wild herd, and he rejoiced. Talk about luck!"

Jing jokingly hid his two bags from the boy's lingering gaze and continued the story, "His son tried to ride the wild horses but he broke his legs."

Wang Fei smiled and continued, "But the military came forcefully enlisting young men in the war, and he wasn't chosen."

Jing's eyes widened, "You know it?" He asked. This was a story he remembered hearing in one of Alan Watt's lectures on YouTube. About how unpredictable fate is and things we might deem fortune or misfortune might not be either, and everything is subject to change.

"It's a very well-known story," Wang Fei said.

"I am still going to steal resources from those disciples," Shen Yun said changing the subject. "I can't be the only one with only a measly 1kg of gold?"

Wang Fei supported his idea from the side, "Yes, you should. Once the gold gets refined by our energy breakthrough and gets filtered into the ethereal body, its size will reduce sharply. Depending on how pure your body and soul are I think 1kg of gold will only result in you being able to control a small egg-sized shield."

"I should?" Shen Yun exclaimed in surprise at being supported in such a reckless decision by Wang Fei. "We will go, don't you want your revenge fatty Wang?"

"That small?" Jing asked with a surprised tone. Understanding what the chubby boy was talking about. The Golden Mountain's cultivation manual allowed them to turn pure ores into liquidized Qi matter. Their gold would become refined to the point that its nature would undergo a qualitative transformation. It would become something that was both tangible and intangible, something that would flow through their skin as intimately as their blood does.

Wang Fei frowned at Shen Yun, "You said you wouldn't call me that."

Shen Yun amusingly raised his hands in defense, "Oh oh, calm down young bull. I was just joking."

Jing felt slightly proud seeing Wang Fei stand up for himself, especially against Shen Yun whose energy was very overwhelming.

Wang Fei flashed a smile of surprise as if he wasn't expecting that reaction, but he returned to the matter at hand. "Yes, that small." He said. "We need to find more and more precious materials to refine so that our shield will become both powerful and useful."

"How would we do that?" Jing asked.

"Explore the vast Dragon's Tail continent." Wang Fei smiled. "I heard that the Dragon's Chasm has the biggest mines and strangest mines in the world. Even to this day, there are still precious spiritual ores that are getting discovered."

"So things must be pretty intense there?" Jing asked.

"Of course," Wang Fei replied with a solemn tone. "But more often than not, only Core Formation cultivators can make a dent and steal some benefits for themselves."

"That intense?" Jing asked in a surprised voice. "Either way, forget about it, those seem like distant problems. What we need to do now is finish our break through and then we will go steal from those bunch of dogs."

Wang Fei added, "But we can just exchange sect merits for some other spiritual ores."

"Wait," Jing interjected. "Before that. You always make sure to add the word spiritual before ore, is there a difference?"

"Of course there is," Wang Fei replied with that stupefied tone, and he looked at Jing as if he was unable to believe how could someone be so unaware.

"Oh shut up with that," Jing waved his hand in dismissal and mock annoyance. "We're not all sons of great families and we had books."

Wang Fei felt slightly awkward and apologized, "I didn't mean it like that..."