Hearing the loud voice from in the sky, Ge Yifeng looked as if he had received cold water shock. The teenager came to an immediate stop, turned around and bowed with his hands held together in front of him.

“Senior!” Wu Jia, Ge Yifeng, and the middle-aged man all chanted in unison.

Noticing this abrupt change, Xing Yi turned around to see all three cultivators bowing down to a black silhouette in the sky. Atop a black sword, blood-red eyes peering from beneath the straw hat he wore, did an old man with pale, ghost-like features stood.

As the old man lowered himself down to the ground, Xing Yi analysed the man’s face, feeling as if he was someone familiar. That he had seen him before…

Once the old man touched down onto solid ground- ignoring the middle-aged man completely- he strode towards Wu Jia and gave him a loud, hard slap to the face that sent him to the floor. He could’ve protected himself with his qigong, but to do so would’ve escalated into more than a mere slap.

“Who do you think you are?” The old man pulled Wu Jia up by the hair with a tight fist and got close, looking him straight in the eyes.

Wu Jia didn’t answer. His loud, boisterous attitude from before had disappeared and his eyes were now filled with dread towards the old man.

“Huh!” The old man gave him a yank, dragging his body across the stone tiling.

Witnessing this scene, Xing Yi didn’t dare walk away and bowed in place just like the middle-aged man and Ge Yifeng were. Unconsciously, he found himself quivering in fear.

At the same time, he heard Ge Yifeng mumble underneath his breath in fear,“I-It’s Master Wu Qing.”

“You are the most gifted disciple inside this entire sect, yet you don’t even give enough of a shit to train!” Wu Qing dramatically shouted into Wu Jia’s ear, causing him to close his eyes and grit his teeth in pain.

“What the fuck were you supposed to be doing right now, and where?” Wu Qing man asked in a spiteful mutter.

Wu Jia eked out with his eyes still closed, “Cultivating the Sanguine Secret Arts in my courtyard.”

The old man dropped the youth onto the ground, looking down on him with a disgusted look. He seemed to mutter something underneath his breath as he diverted his attention to the other three people standing.

“Who are you guys?” Wu Qing asked calmly, raising his hands into the air.

“Wang Kai,” The middle-aged man answered.

Ge Yifeng answered with his name too.

But when to Xing Yi, he hesitated for a moment but once he felt the man’s gaze on him he too answered, “Xing Yi.”

Hearing this, Wu Qing raised a brow, “Xing Yi? I swear I’ve heard that name before.”

A second later, Xing Yi felt a sweeping presence over him.

“Oh, you’re that damn mortal that was let into the sect over a year back. I almost forgot about you. What are you doing now, external cultivation? Bah, that is a useless thing that,” Wu Qing laughed.

He walked over to Xing Yi and patted him on the shoulder.

“You know Wu Jia, you should be more like Xing Yi, even if you have to be delusional of what is actually achievable and what isn’t,” Wu Qing smiled as he softly touched Xing Yi’s shoulder, much to his displeasure.

“Yes, Senior,” Wu Jia replied, now standing but with his head held low and his eyes staring at the floor.

“Xing Yi might be destined for great things one day. You never know! Anyone can be the next big nascent soul cultivator. You can’t really tell these days!” Wu Qing stated as he shrugged his shoulders.

He turned to Xing Yi.

“Isn’t that right?” Wu Qing asked.

Xing Yi replied with a nervous stutter, “Y-yes, definitely.”

Wu Qing surveyed the surroundings around him before he put his hand on his chin and questioned, “Say, Xing Yi. What was happening just now?”

Xing Yi gulped as he quickly made up a lie, “Just talking. And my uh… Seniors showed me some cool things. I most liked Senior Martial Brother Ge’s restraining rope treasure. I couldn’t escape it no matter what I did!”

If he dared tell the truth, he wouldn’t be let away quietly after this senior left.

“Is that so?” Wu Qing wondered as he turned to Ge Yifeng.

“Yes, yes! Let me show you,” Ge Yifeng hastily unfurled his rope but stopped as he saw the old man holding up his hand.

“There is no need. I have seen countless other treasures that operate the same as yours. There is nothing special about it,” Wu Qing explained.

Ge Yifeng complied and placed the green rope back onto his waist.

Wu Qing sauntered over to Wang Kai and inspected him before saying, “Wang Kai, what do you do?” Wu Qing inquired.

“I work at the Talisman Hall. It’s honest work, Senior. I’m responsible for creating the talisman paper that my seniors use to write their spells upon,” Wang Kai answered.

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“Interesting, how long have you been in the sect?”

“Thirty-two years, ever since I was a young boy and Elder Hu found me in Rising Dragon City.”

“Hmm, I haven’t even noticed your existence up until now. Anyways, nice meeting you all. And especially you Xing Yi,” Wu Qing gave Xing Yi a strange look.

Xing Yi panned up to see Wu Qing staring at him strangely, his intentions unclear and shrouded in mystery.

Xing Yi nodded.

Finally, Wu Qing summoned his flying sword and goaded Wu Jia on.

Thus, the two soared into the sky. Having made it away from the group of people down below, Wu Qing stood in front of Wu Jia with his hands held behind his back.

As the wind blew against his dry, wrinkly face and flapped against the loose fabric of his purple robes, he let out a long, dejected sigh.

Wu Qing spoke, “This will not happen again. Yes?”

Wu Jia replied with his head down, his eyes not even daring to glance over the man in front of him, “Yes, Uncle.”

Silently, Wu Jia closed his right hand so tight that his nails dug into his skin.

The rest of their trip proceeded in silence. No words were exchanged, causing Wu Jia to wonder what to expect when they arrived at their destination. He had messed up big time. His uncle was in a bad mood today. Well, he always was.

He hadn’t even seen him for the last three weeks and was planning to start training again a couple days later, but unfortunately, he overestimated how long he would be out for. Such was his luck.

Landing within a large garden courtyard with a small river running through it, a stone pavilion, and flowers throughout it, there was a brief moment of silence as Wu Qing tapped his foot on the lush grass.

“Please; at least tell me that you had Lou Zhou eat the Gafni Worm?” Wu Qing telepathically communicated to Wu Jia.

There was a gap of silence until Wu Jia replied in telepathy, “Yes, Uncle. I had his servant drop it in his food. He didn’t notice a thing.”

Wu Qing exhaled air and nodded his head in approval as he switched back to his normal voice, “At least you did that.”

“Now, how did it feel to grasp victory from your greatest competitor? Knowing that once he ate it, you will undoubtedly become the number one outer sect disciple and have your chances of reaching foundation establishment be certain?” Wu Qing inquired, a delirious smile on his face.

Wu Jia looked to the side and replied, “I-I don’t know. I just did it I guess.”

Wu Qing was surprised hearing this, “Wu Jia, do you still not understand? In the world of cultivation, you cannot play fair. You have to do everything you can in order to dominate over others. You must scheme, betray, and run away when the need for it arises. If not for that, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I’m just trying to communicate this to you. Wu Jia?”

Wu Jia muttered, “Yeah.”

“Once you achieve victory over him at the competition and claim your spot as number one, you will come to understand why I had you do this,” Wu Qing explained, firmly believing what said.

“Now, show me your Sanguine Art,” Wu Qing demanded.

“Yes, Uncle,” Wu Jia sighed before closing his eyes.

The teenager concentrated inward, circulating his spiritual qi throughout his seven open vessels according to the Sanguine Secret Art. His body elicited a slow rumble.

Then, he lifted his hands up as he if he was holding two wooden puppets with strings. Blue veins popped all over his bony hands and a crimson-red aura glowed over his body.

“Up!” Wu Jia shouted, causing Wu Qing who was nonchalantly standing opposite of him to suddenly strain against a force that was trying to lift him up into the air.

Fighting against the force, he summoned the exact same red aura and returned to normal, only feeling a slight pressure due to the shallowness of his cultivation of the art.

Wu Jia hopelessly kept trying to pull Wu Qing upwards for a few seconds until he ran out of breath and fell to the ground, huffing and puffing for air.

“Wu Jia. You have not improved at all since I last checked. An entire month just went by with nothing to show for. Even that fucking insect called Xing Yi would be doing more than you. So, it wasn’t just today, was it? It was the entire time I was out, huh?”

Wu Jia didn’t answer. He was still trying to catch his breath.

“There are three months until the competition. And until then, you will be in the basement, cultivating the Sanguine Art night and day. And by the end of it, you have better reached the 3rd layer! Because it’s not just yourself you’re holding back, you’re also compromising my chance at sacking Li Guoji and becoming Head Steward myself! Do you understand?”

“Yes, Uncle,” Wu Jia complied, dreading the next three months that were ahead of him.