Li Lang instantly glanced over at the source of the voice calling out his name. He spotted a figure sprinting toward him from the main road. After channeling some Qi into his eyes, he soon recognized the youthful face attached to the body of an adult.

He exchanged a glance with Wei Ping before he directed his Skyrunner back down onto the clearing.

Once they landed, the two kids watched as the man approached. By the time he arrived, he was heaving for air while leaning against the Skyrunner.

“Long Yi, what are you doing out here?” Li Lang asked. “And how did you know it was me?”

The man, or more accurately, the young boy with the appearance of a man, took a moment to catch his breath before he replied.

“Everyone…everyone in the sect is gossiping about how you got banished. It’s not hard to keep an eye out for a bland-looking mortal-grade Skyrunner.”

“So…Is there something you need from me?”

“Yeah, let me join you on your trip!” Long Yi declared with a bright smile.

“What? Why would you want to do that? What about the sect?”

“I quit the sect as well. That place is too dull and stifling for me! It seems way more fun traveling with you. I was hesitant about quitting before when I had nowhere to go, but hearing how you chose banishment inspired me to take a leap of faith.”

“And they just let you quit, just like that?”

“No idea. I didn’t bother informing them. I just tagged along with a senior heading this way because I knew you’d come here first.”

Li Lang suddenly felt a headache brewing. In hindsight, he maybe shouldn’t have revealed so many details about himself to another, but it was too late to regret the folly he committed while trapped in a cell with nothing better to do.

Then there was the problem of Long Yi deserting from the sect. It made it hard for him to decide if he should accept Long Yi or not.

The sect shouldn’t send out anyone to deal with just an outer disciple, right?

“Hey, you won’t regret bringing me along!” Long Yi added upon seeing Li Lang’s expression. “I got the strength to carry our luggage and I’m pretty good at fighting too!”

Li Lang let out a long sigh.

“...Sure, if you want to tag along, be my guest. We’re just going to settle in another city, though, so don’t expect anything.”

“Sounds better compared to cooping up in the sect and cultivating all day. Sign me up!”

With an extra guest, Li Lang once again took off into the skies around Xiang Yang. He gave one last look at the city he had frequented over this past year before departing in the Skyrunner. However, no matter how hard he tried to accelerate, the Skyrunner quickly topped out at its painfully slow top speed.

“This thing is pretty slow, isn’t it?” Li Lang couldn’t help but mutter.

“Hahaha, yeah, this thing is like half the speed of the Skyrunner I came on!”

“It’s n-not too bad. It isn’t l-like we a-are in a rush or a-anything.”

Are we even going a hundred kilometers per hour?

The trio continued their journey all day until the sun began to set. With nothing to do, the three passed the time by chatting. Long Yi shared much about himself, Wei Ping shared cool facts about Xiang Yang, and Li Lang quietly listened along while discreetly holding a red gemstone to the side of his head.

Just before the sun fell, they arrived in a small town and decided to spend the night there. There was no line at the gates of the town, and they quickly found an inn with free rooms.

“Pay for yourself.” Li Lang admonished.

“What! How come you’re paying for Wei Ping, but not me?” Long Yi cried out with undisguised injustice in his voice.

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“You’re a former disciple of a righteous sect like me. You should be able to afford some mundane coins.”

“I…don’t have any.”

“What? What did you spend your contributions points on?”

“...I left in a rush. I didn’t spend them at all.”

“...”

Both Li Lang and Wei Ping gave deprecating looks at the tall boy.

“Look, I just joined the sect not long ago, okay? I didn’t even know you could exchange those points for coins! I only have Qi stones.”

At this moment, the door to the inn swung open, and three young boys walked in. They appeared to be around fourteen years old and each wore pale purple robes.

The three boys wore arrogant expressions, but the most noticeable thing about them was how they each had identical features. While it was hard to tell them apart by their faces, they varied quite a bit in height. Their height all differed by at least a full head from each other, varying from short, average, and tall.

They sauntered straight to the innkeeper like they owned the place.

“Give us three of your best rooms!”

The middle-aged man took one glance at their clothing and replied respectfully.

“Of course. For disciples of the Violet Sword Sect, I’ll even give you a discount.”

“What discount? You said it yourself. We’re honored disciples of the Violet Sword Sect that keeps your town safe. How dare you ask us to pay!”

The innkeeper was a little taken aback by the forceful and unreasonable request but didn’t dare to immediately decline.

“...That’s…a little…”

“Good! Very Good.” Long Yi clapped. “Esteemed disciples from Violet Sword Sect are so mighty they can’t even afford to pay lodging fees.”

“What did you say, boy? I believe overhearing how you boys couldn’t afford to pay for your rooms. Seeing how pathetic you are, I don’t mind paying for your stay at the stables,” the shortest of the triplets retorted.

The tallest boy broke out into laughter at his brother’s suggestion.

“Ha, who are you guys? A traveling circus group? A boy wearing a freaky mask, a boy with a large head and small body, and a man with the face of a baby. Do some tricks, and I’ll even consider paying for your rooms.”

Before Li Lang or Wei Ping could retort, Long Yi signaled to them to let him handle it.

“Thank you for the kind offer, but we’ll be okay ourselves. If you have the coins, then please pay for your lodging properly.”

“What was that, you freak? You think you’re in any position to tell us what to do?” The largest of the three brothers aggressively marched toward Long Yi.

He only made a single step before being held back by the brother of an average height, who had stayed silent until now.

“Enough. I don’t care about the words from trash.” He directed a piercing look at the innkeeper. “Hurry up and ready our rooms. Do you understand?”

“I…Y—”

Before the poor innkeeper could finish replying, Long Yi forcefully stepped in front of him, shielding him from the three cultivators.

“I said you should pay for your lodging first. The innkeeper was already kind enough to offer you a discount. Why are you being so difficult when coins aren’t even that valuable to cultivators such as yourselves?”

Instead of replying, the middle brother suddenly lunged out at Long Yi. He immediately sent out a palm strike that contained so much Qi in it, that his hand shone.

“Heh, he pissed off big brother. He’s finished,” the shortest of the triplets snickered.

Li Lang and Wei Ping both tried to intervene but had reacted too slowly.

However, contrary to what everyone else expected to happen when a fourth stage Energy Gathering cultivator ambushed a third stage cultivator, the exchange ended with the Violet Sword disciple being slammed to the ground.

“He…! He deflected the Crescent Palm Strike!” The tallest of the triplets shouted out.

Li Lang was frozen in place as he had seen it too. Long Yi had displayed uncanny agility for someone of his size and accurately deflected the strike by the wrist before taking down his assailant by throwing him over the shoulders.

It was not a move a beginner could ever hope to pull off. It also coincided with the fact that the opponent with higher cultivation had focused all his Qi on a single point, leaving the rest of his body unprotected.

Perhaps Long Yi was aware he wouldn’t be able to hold down the man for long, he swiftly got off the boy after he had made his point.

“Everyone. The sun is setting, and we’re all tired. Can’t we just peacefully resolve this?” Long Yi said in an easy-going tone.

Despite repeating the same words from before, it had a much larger impact on the Violet Sword disciples after his display of strength.

The defeated disciple quickly uprighted himself and dusted off his robes. Without a word, he flicked a gold coin toward the shopkeeper with expert precision and began walking off.

“Let’s go. We’ll pick the room ourselves.”

“But big brother…Are we just going to—” The tallest of the triplets complained, but was cut short.

“Shut up and listen.”

As the triplet made their way up the stairs toward the room, the innkeeper seemed to have suddenly awoken from his daze.

“Thank you so much! Please wait here for a moment.” He swiftly bowed toward Long Yi before running after the brothers. “Dear guests! Please wait up. I have the keys, so don’t break down any doors!”

Li Lang’s group had been left behind, but they didn’t mind at all. Instead, Li Lang eagerly approached the hero of the day.

“So…Long Yi…That was pretty impressive. Do you have a unique physique or something that makes you so strong?”

That was so impressive, he has to right? Otherwise, he must’ve been trained as a fighter since he was a toddler…