Their meals were soon consumed, and as they travelled with spacial bags, Zhi Mu even having a spacial ring, there were no further preparations needed.

As the five of them stood in front of the entrance to Han Tian's estate, ready to depart, the woman took out a faded red bag, that clearly contained some kind of rectangular boxes stacked on top of each other.

"You should all take a little something with you, for the road. All of you are still growing, right?" She presented the bag to them.

As they, except for Han Ting, stood around awkwardly, forming a half circle, the tall boy accepted the bag with a smile and slightly wet eyes.

Han Tian embraced him gently. "Don't cry little Ting, you are a big boy now, what would your new friends think, and it is not like we will not see each other again. So be strong for big sister, okay?" She whispered while they embraced each other.

"I will, big sister. I am more worried about you." Han Ting said, still holding her close to himself.

"There is no need for that, my next mission is still a few weeks off. And I can still hold my own against mortals." She said, gently removing herself from his hold. "Now go, they are already waiting for you. And don't forget to eat well."

Han Ting nodded and reluctantly left the embrace, swiping across his eyes with his right forearm.

As Ren and the other three were Cultivators with outstanding senses, they could hear each word, but chose not to intrude on the sibling's private moment.

Looking at the five prodigies running off, each activating a movement art as if it was only natural that children who did not yet celebrate their tenth winter could already move with the speed of a horse, left her to ponder her own decisions and achievements in life.

She was twenty years old, and already an Adept. Any outsider looking in would think that she was in fact also a talented Cultivator who could become a Master of the sect and with a few fortuitous encounters maybe even a Grandmaster, though the latter would obviously be a gruelling task.

Thinking about her situation, and how many expectations her failures resulted in putting on her brother, always made her melancholic.

"I am just not suitable for this life, always pushing, improving, fighting and enduring." She shook her head as she said it, wandering through her garden aimlessly.

"And they shouldn't have to be forced into this life, either. No one should!" Han Tian had a sudden fire in her eyes, her spirit blazing, and had her earlier visitors felt her now they would have perceived a completely different person standing before them.

"Now, now, dearest granddaughter of mine. Those are quite precarious thoughts, as you should well know." An all consuming pressure suddenly descended upon her shoulders, instantly crushing any thoughts of resistance.

Out of the shadows of one of the nearby trees stepped a well build man who held a mild expression, looking down on the slight woman who struggled just to keep standing under his mountain like presence.

Though his face and voice were casual, it were his eyes that gave her pause, they were hard like diamonds as he approached Han Tian.

"You. Are. Not. My. Grandfather." She forced out, panting and struggling desperately under the pressure, but it was no use with him being one of the strongest Masters of the sect.

The man only shook his head, and the pressure increased, forcing Han Tian down on one knee.

"So defiant, yet you mustn't forget that in this world only the strong reign supreme, dearest granddaughter. You might wish for others to not choose the path of the Cultivator and instead cower and hide themselves behind silly obsessions not worth any consideration, like you did."

He looked and gestured around at her garden.

"But with nothing to your name but failure, how can you change anything? Your own intent even collapsed from the weakness of your heart." The man looked disgusted at the mere notion of it, and continued talking, the pressure ever-increasing.

"These prodigies, nay, supreme genii of their generation you could even call them, will make up the future foundation of our sect. They will usher in an era of prosperity and conquest. Each and every one of them, a force to be reckoned with." He said matter-of-factly and gained a faraway look, making Han Tian's stomach drop with disgust.

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"They, they will see through all of this. The cruelty of this way of life, and any machinations of you old codgers! And don't call me your granddaughter." Han Tian almost spat out while she was forced down onto all fours and on the brink of passing out, the corners of her vision already going dark.

The old man looked at her with a disdainful smirk covering his face. "Of course they will, you foolish girl. They are not only savants of cultivation but are far more perceptive of the world than any I have seen before. They will know. That boy, Zhi Mu, might even have already deduced a large part of the darkness that lurks in our world. They will continue walking this path, though, as it is the only way forward for our kind. To glory or ruin, they will be sharpened and confronted with it, early even, to make sure that none of them end up a failure."

Like you, was left unsaid, but Han Tian could feel his judgement hanging over her, and like so many times before, since her fall from grace, she was found wanting. To her surprise, there was also regret etched into his gaze, but as soon as she tried to catch it again it was gone.

"Don't try to stir up trouble. You might be important to your brother, but don't overestimate yourself."

Before she could retort one more time, Han Meijiao turned his back to her, and with a thud she collapsed onto her stomach.

'I am sorry, little brother, I am so sorry for being such a useless big sister', she thought, tears forming in her eyes and her world turned dark.

The scenery was flying past Ren as he jumped around in a zigzag constantly. Shen Junan lead their group and was also the slowest amongst them, and he was not setting an extremely fast pace, making Ren want to still experiment with his movement art.

And so he did, fluttering around with Xin Jing on his tail, chasing him around as they laughed in exhilaration. The other three were quieter, and both Zhi Mu and Han Ting were deep in thought, not paying too much attention to the two of them playing around.

After a little over three hours, they came upon what Shen Junan had previously described to them. The entrance to the illusion division. It was built into the side of the mountain, and was towering over them.

They could look into it, bathed in the light of a giant formation as it was, rows upon rows of wide stone paths, looking like a network of criss-crossing bridges, were suspended in the air, leading deeper into the burrow that was the illusion division.

Now that they arrived at the gate of the division all of them looked at Shen Junan to guide them around, but the boy, surprisingly, Ren thought, looked a little lost on where to even begin.

"I guess it is my turn now, let's go and enter first, we can discuss what to do after we are inside." He paused for a moment, and looked ahead once more. "And there is already the first illusion right behind the entrance. Can you sense what it does?" Shen Junan said, first sounding unsure, but he had a mischievous glint in his eyes as he talked about the first illusion.

Ren and the others looked inside the entrance of the illusion division once again, this time straining their senses to their limits as most of them did not have extensive contact with illusion arts despite the sect's name being 'Heart's Illusion', except for Zhi Mu who only rolled his eyes at Shen Junan.

The glasses wearing boy gave the three of them a few minutes to try and figure out what the illusion he was talking about was doing. He was almost ready to simply explain it himself when Ren spoke up, though his voice was uncertain.

"I can feel multiple people moving around inside, but I can't see any of them, and sometimes small threads of spirit try to invade the disciples. One of them looked confused for a moment. Is that it, Brother Junan?" Ren said.

Shen Junan looked at Ren in astonishment. "I must confess, Brother Ren, that I had not seriously thought any of you would be able to gleam anything from simply observing the entrance at this distance. You are right of course, technically it is two illusions at work. The first will simply obscure what lies inside, and make anyone seeing the gate think that there must not be anyone in its immediate surroundings. The second on the other hand is far more intrusive, trying to muddle your senses instead of manipulating the environment, just like you said. It is a formation encompassing vast parts of the division to keep our members ever sharp and vigilant." The boy explained in a little more detail, sounding both impressed and proud.

"That is all good and dandy, but how are we supposed to protect ourselves from it? I personally don't wish to run into walls or stand around like an idiot." Xin Jing interjected, looking at both Shen Junan and Zhi Mu.

Zhi Mu shrugged and made a dismissive gesture with the branch he had picked up on the mountaintop, now functioning as a walking stick.

"Just circulate your cultivation art and stop anything from invading your system. As long as you can sense the attempt, or that your senses changed, it should be simplicity itself to dispel it. You are part of the heart division, shouldn't you know something simple like that already?" Zhi Mu said, not being very impressed with her question at all.

"Hmpf, I just thought that it might be prudent to ask before I act on hasty assumptions, Brother Mu." She said, crossing her arms and looking like a little princess who looked down on her subjects.

What she didn't say was that he question was also to the benefit of both Han Ting and Ren, who looked much more ready to enter now.

"Well, if that is so, Sister Jing, then I can both happily and confidently assuage your doubts concerning this oh so scary training formation that plagued your mind." Zhi Mu said exuberantly, the two of them obviously having a little fun.

"As it well should be. Now, please lead the way ahead, Brother Junan, I tire of this dreary scenery." She said, trying to stay composed.

Shen Junan simply rolled along with it. "But of course, please follow my lead, oh exalted Sister Jing." He said, even bowing as if he was a court servant.

Xin Jing couldn't hold it any more and started laughing, the others chiming in, and together they entered the famed illusion division.