Remembering how all of them were looking at him, it indeed made some sense. 'But if that was the case, why did he go there to just beat them up and not more?' He deeply pondered over that. But he quickly figured that for that to make sense either Jing's father was in the wrong, or just because they weren't particularly close friends for the old man to start wantonly killing inside of the sect.

Suddenly, a bold idea appeared in his mind. He slightly hesitated whether to say it or not, but after witnessing the old man's rage in his eyes, he decided that he had to.

"I know him," Jing interjected. "Although I've never seen him, I've been thinking about his existence for as long as I can remember. When all of the other children had fathers who went hunting with them, I went on my own. So when I saw those fuckers who killed him, I had to act even though I didn't know him."

An intense silence ensued after that, and Jing was uncomfortably wriggling inside of his mind. 'Did I say too much? Was this out of place?' He didn't know. All he knew was that his existence was closely tied to the strong old man before him, and he had to salvage the relationship between the two.

Fortunately, it indeed seemed to work. Li Yan sighed once again and just said, "I understand, but next time you need to be careful." His eyes randomly darted around the room before he slumped back on his chair quietly talking to no one in particular, "I shouldn't have brought you here to begin with."

Jing was about to ask why, but the old continued in his helpless speech, "Frankly, I just brought you here as a joke to surprise your father because I knew how much he hated responsibility. I thought it would be funny..." He quietened down once again before he shrugged and continued, "Well, it is funny, it's just that things have changed. When what he did was found out, Zho Gen ambushed and killed him. And frankly, I don't blame him. But you're the biggest victim in all of this, Zho Gen won't allow the child of a man he had just killed to remain alive."

Jing's mouth widened in shock after he heard everything the old man had just said. He could finally understand why all of them in that family looked at him with such viciousness and anger in their eyes.

Li Yan straightened down once again and looked deeply into the youth's eyes. "Listen," He said with a solemn voice. "This mission is your only chance of survival. I am old and frail, and though I have easily bested Zho Gen, a single man's strength is incomparable to a whole peak. You need to make the sect leader notice you and take you under her wing, and that's the only way you can guarantee your survival. The sect master is destined to rule over the whole southern continent, it's only a matter of time, if you play your cards right you might climb on her shoulders and rise to greatness."

Jing mirrored the man's seriousness as a show of respect and nodded, "I understand, master!"

Hearing his words, the two men looked shocked before Li Yan chuckled and dismissively waved his hands, "I am not your master."

Jing's eyes widened, their interactions thus far had led him to conclude that he was indeed his master. Feeling embarrassed, he stressed, "I was just kidding... to lighten the mood."

Li Yan acted as if he didn't hear anything and changed the subject, "Rest well today, tomorrow will be the day we depart." Finishing his words, he brought out two wooden cups from nowhere and handed them to the two boys.

Smelling the rich strawberry flagrance, Jing figured he was treating them to a glass of juice, and so he gulped it down in one mouthful.

The duo looked at him with an astonished expression before Li Yan began laughing, "Good, Good! I like your resolve."

'Oh no!' Jing thought as a bad feeling crept up his heart when he heard that.

Shen Yun looked deeply at the cup, and finally gritting his teeth, he downed it in one gulp as well.

Then, a silence stretched out as all of them looked at one another. Jing's heart was loudly beating in his chest, not only in nervous anticipation but also because he could feel a shocking process unfolding inside of his body.

When he closed his eyes, a profound stillness enveloped him, and the world seemed to fall away, leaving only the pulsating energy of his inner energy. Within the depths of his consciousness, he observed an ethereal figure made of light, feeling a connection that transcended mere physicality. The figure was sitting in a position that was eerily like his own, and when Jing moved his arms, the figure mirrored his every movement.

The white figure of light had two nodes of dark red swirling energy, one slightly above his crotch, and the other in his solar plexus. As he delved deeper into meditation, the nodes of energy within began to resonate with the world outside, pulsing with the rhythm of his breath and the flow of foreign energy that roamed around unfettered. In this state of profound mysticism and stillness, his senses seemed to sharpen, and he became acutely aware of strands of energy that he was previously blinded to.

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With each breath, the strands of Qi moved closer to the swirling nodes merging with the luminous figure in a beautiful dance. Suddenly, the energy all around him turned chaotic, and the swirling nodes stilled in a violent manner before their rotation moved in its opposite direction as it gushed out with energy.

After a few seconds, a popping sound echoed that even the duo could hear as the first knot unraveled, and a gush of vital energy seeped out of his own body like a stream. Jing could feel the strength leaving his body with every second, and this feeling terrified him to no end. However, as he gazed at their understanding expression, he knew that it wasn't anything unusual given the unique circumstances.

A few minutes later, another pop echoed, and even more strength left his body. However, this time, the change seemed to be qualitative as his whole mode of living seemed to go through a shift. The first thing he noticed was the fact that could no longer tap into that ethereal anatomy of his, when he closed his eyes all he could see was the darkness behind his eyelids. His senses also felt more dull and worn out, and of course, his strength became incomparable to how it was previously.

Swiftly glancing at his Status Window, his eyes focused on a single element.

Cultivation: Body Tempering(8)

Li Yan suddenly spoke, "Perfect, Body Tempering 8, and 9. Your cultivation base was also untangled, and in this way, our sect's demonic cultivation manual won't be sensed by anyone."

Standing up, he left them one final note before he made way for the door, "Rest well, and prepare yourself for what's coming tomorrow." His voice turned slightly serious and warned, "Remember, survival will be difficult but hold on with everything that you have. I have faith in the both of you to go through it."

Jing suddenly felt vulnerable after losing that much strength all of a sudden, and as much as it was unexpected, he knew that it was unavoidable. The old man's last hears bounced off the edges of his mind for a few seconds, the severity of his situation sinking in deeper.

His eyes moved to the ridiculously handsome and tall Shen Yun and asked something that had been puzzling him, "Why is he called peak master? There are no peaks."

"You've asked me that before," Shen Yun replied with a faint smile, his back comfortably leaning against the chair with two arms stretched out above it and one leg above the other. "It's because we used to have a whole spiritual mountain, but something happened years ago and we fled underground."

"I see," Jing replied appearing deep in thoughts. But he quickly sobered up and gazed at the man once again, knowing that this was the perfect opportunity to get some answers he asked, "Why did your master go attack the other peak master?"

"It's simple," Answered the young man. "The sect is very competitive, and the one with the biggest fists is the most respected. And if people don't respect you they will make things hard for you, and have ulterior motives about things that belong to you. So, instead of just chasing one dog after the next, it's always better to deter them in one fell swoop. But the exact reason Master went to attack Peak Master Zho Gen was because he had killed your father who was associated with our peak, and so he had to save face and overpower him in front of all of his disciples and family. At the same time, this will also make the disciples who will be coming with us in the mission tomorrow treat us better. But..."

Reaching there, he didn't finish but his meaning was clear. "But you ruined it and you humiliated all of us."

Yet looking at his expression, he didn't seem to hold any sort of resentment which surprised Jing. As he was deep in thought, the handsome young man suddenly moved and came to sit down in the same chair he was sitting in.

Startled by this change, Jing squeezed to the side and gazed at the man's face which was very close to his with a confused expression. Though he wanted to say something as this was making him uncomfortable, he was afraid of getting too out of character for the original Jing, something that his memories still hadn't delivered yet.

"The journey ahead is gonna be very difficult Jing'er," Shen Yun said with an affectionate voice, his hands around Jing's shoulders. "But we can depend on one another."

Thinking that he was just assuring him of their alliance on what was to come, Jing nodded with a big smile, "Of course!" However, it was then that he noticed the young man's hand that was previously around his shoulders had already begun to sneak down his back. His smile stiffened, and when he turned to glance at Shen Yun, he noticed a lustful expression on his face.

Petrified by this turn of events, he swiftly pushed him aside and protested angrily, "What are you doing you fucking creep?!"

Shen Yu also stood up with a confused expression on his face and innocently answered he shrugged his shoulders, "Nothing."

"Don't ever do that again." Jing angrily yelled and walked out of the door, leaving Shen Yun all alone gnashing his teeth in hatred after the door snapped shut.

'What the hell was that?!' Jing thought, his heart still beating after the previous confrontation as he leaned against the door. 'Were they some kind of couple or what? I really hope not... This mission they've been talking about is already dangerous enough, and adding an 'Ex' to the mix would make it even more challenging.'

Memory Integration... 27%

Another tearing pain cut through his brain as he scowled, and new memories appeared inside of his mind. After he went through them, his mouth parted wide open in shock.

'What the hell did I just see?' He thought, slightly terrified. It was the darkest and most twisted scene he had ever seen in his life. The original Jing after becoming the only cultivator in the village, was looked at reverently by all. However, as someone who had no father in a village that was filled with close families and traditional values, he was looked at as the bastard, the village whore's son.

Needless to say, this brought him never-ending issues and sources of conflict with the other village people, and there was a bully in particular that affected him the most. But what terrified Jing as he looked at those memories was scenes of the original Jing raping a young woman in front of her brother's eyes, the bully, as a form of revenge.