Before Bai Ruo could answer, Thud! Thud! Sounds of footsteps echoed as a young woman appeared in Su Yang’s vision. She had a playful temperament and radiated cheerful energy. She noticed Su Yang and asked, "Master..." She scrutinised him. "Is he my junior brother?"
Su Yang nodded. "Master accepted me as a nominal disciple."
"Nominal?" Jia Xin muttered as she glanced at Bai Ruo with playful eyes.
Bai Ruo threw the question to Jia Xin. "Your junior brother here asks why we are so poor." She pointed to the sect’s name. "And are we even a sect?"
Jia Xin sighed. "Master, that’s why I told you to change our image." She rubbed her forehead. "Junior brother, we are..."
"A hidden sect?" Su Yang cut her off. "I read that many powerful sects like to hide and not show off."
’This one likes to read novels as well?’ Bai Ruo mused, nodding to herself. Jia Xin smiled and gave her master a look of ’Didn’t I say?’
"Not bad, junior brother." Jia Xin nodded, folding her hands behind her back playfully. "We are one of the strongest sects in the entire world." She patted her biceps. "And we are a powerful hidden sect!" She blinked at Bai Ruo, who was struggling to maintain her plain face.
"I’m Jia Xin, the second personal disciple of Master..." Jia Xin introduced herself.
"Personal disciple!" Su Yang murmured. He asked, rubbing the back of his head, "How strong are you, Second Senior Sister?"
Jia Xin tilted her head with a slight smile. "You shouldn’t ask a lady about her strength!"
"Huh?" Su Yang’s eyes twitched. ’I heard of not asking someone’s age and salary... But strength?’ He couldn’t figure it out as he scratched his head.
Bai Ruo said, "Your second disciple is an alchemist, so you shouldn’t ask her strength."
’No wonder...’ Su Yang understood. Jia Xin glared at Bai Ruo and waved her hand. "Let’s meet everyone, junior brother."
Su Yang entered the sect with the duo. He stepped onto a muddy paved road. He noticed the grass on both sides, and a few metres in, to his left, were four small wooden houses, around four metres on all sides. ’Small rooms.’ He estimated they would match the micro rooms from his past life. Just a little next to them was a dwelling made of wood, but three times the size. On the opposite side was a small box. It had the word ’Toilet’ written on it.
"The big one is Master’s," Jia Xin explained. She pointed to the last one among the small houses. "And it will be yours."
"Fine." Su Yang agreed, clicking his tongue. ’I can only suffer for cultivation.’ He was from one of the top clans. Where did he suffer? Due to being weak, even walking for a few hours would cause his parents to call a doctor to check on him multiple times.
"Now let’s meet your senior brothers." Jia Xin waved her hand as Su Yang and Bai Ruo followed her. ’I hope you informed them to act.’ Bai Ruo prayed that her second disciple had made her other disciples understand that they needed to maintain an image.
They covered more than a few hundred metres. ’This mountain top should be at least five kilometres,’ Su Yang estimated. They had entered a grassy field with raised trees.
Thud! Thud! A loud slamming sound echoed as Su Yang finally spotted a muscular man getting slashed by a slender, handsome young man’s sword. Bai Ruo’s mouth hung open for a moment. She cried internally, ’My good disciples... I’ll buy you a gift. Keep up the act!’
"Body tempering!" Su Yang hissed, his eyes gleaming. ’I need to get one technique to make my weak body stronger.’
"Hmm!" Jia Xin hummed to get their attention. Both men stopped their cultivation and stepped forward. Su Yang finally scrutinised them. One young man was muscular, with bulging muscles, standing over 6.3 feet tall and bare-chested, with sweat covering his body. The other was a handsome young man with a sword in his hands, clad in a plain white hemp robe, standing at 5.10 feet tall.
Bai Ruo pointed at the muscular man and introduced him. "This is your third senior brother, a body cultivator, Li Ming, and my personal disciple." She then moved to the handsome man. "He is your first senior brother, a sword cultivator, Lei Feng, and my personal disciple."
"Everyone, I’m Su Yang, a nominal disciple of Master." Su Yang bowed and introduced himself.
Both brothers locked their eyes with Bai Ruo, who coughed as they smiled at Su Yang. "Junior brother, don’t worry. You’ll soon be a personal disciple. Isn’t that right, Master?" They raised their voices at the last words.
Bai Ruo moved her lips. ’Don’t cause trouble.’
"How strong are you, senior brothers?" Su Yang asked, repeating the same question. ’I want to know just what cultivation stage they are at.’
Everyone fell silent.
Caw! Caw! A crow’s cry broke the silence. They didn’t know what to answer. Were they supposed to say they had high cultivation? But they lacked knowledge. Or a low or medium-level cultivation? They were afraid Su Yang would run away.
Lei Feng placed his sword over his nape and grinned. "Junior brother, you are too weak." He raised his head, glaring at the sky arrogantly. He added, "Even my realm name and strength can cause a mental breakdown." He paused, sheathing his sword. "Until I feel you are strong, I won’t tell you our strengths."
Bai Ruo and Jia Xin, from the back, gave him a thumbs-up. Lei Feng’s teeth shone as he grinned.
’Mental breakdown?’ Su Yang stared at them in disbelief. ’How strong is this small, poor sect?’
He rubbed his hands and pivoted towards his master. "Master, then let’s start cultivating. Can you teach me a cultivation method?"
Bai Ruo went blank. ’I have all normal cultivation methods.’ Her lips curved up, and she folded her hands behind her back. "What kind of technique do you want?"
"Kinds?" Su Yang tilted his head. "Master, aren’t all first-realm Blood Qi cultivation techniques the same in essence?"
His question caused Bai Ruo to stop panicking. ’Yes! All are the same. Just pick one technique randomly.’ But her relief didn’t last long.
"No!" Jia Xin shook her head. "We are Myriad Dao Sect and one of the strongest hidden sects!"
"You should learn everything from the start." Lei Feng chimed in, rubbing his sword’s edge and shaking his head in astonishment.
They attracted Su Yang’s attention. "Can you explain?"
’What the heck! Stop now!’ Bai Ruo’s eyes turned crimson. Both Jia Xin and Lei Feng felt a chill down their spines. "You should ask Master." They silently tried to slip away.
"There are differences, of course." Bai Ruo went along with it. "So what type do you want?" She barked in her mind, ’Plan something. I cannot let him run away!’
"Hmm!" Su Yang folded his hands. "I need something... which can strengthen my body and increase my talent."
"Sure!" Bai Ruo nodded. "Wait for a few hours!" She waved to Su Yang. "You can rest in your chambers until then."
Su Yang smiled, clenching his fists. ’Finally, my cheat can be put to use.’ He cheerfully went to his room with a wide grin.
In his new room.
He lay down on a rough mattress. "It’s too hard," he decided. "I’ll donate money to the sect for betterment."
He checked his room. It was just plain and empty except for a reading desk, a chair, and a bed.
"Now!" Bai Ruo pulled Jia Xin’s and Lei Feng’s ears. "He had said himself that all Blood Qi-realm techniques are the same." She scowled. "But you..." She twisted their ears as they screamed, "Sorry, Master! Sorry, Master!"
She let them go and asked, "Lei Feng, you struck Li Ming with a sword..." She narrowed her eyes. "How come he wasn’t injured despite being a normal human?"
Li Ming grinned innocently, rubbing the back of his head as he replied, "The sword is fake."
"Huh?" Bai Ruo pulled Lei Feng’s sword and checked it. She flicked its blade with her fingers. It felt soft like cotton. "Yup!" Her lips twitched at the corner. "You all prepared even fake props?"
"Yes!" They all nodded. "If not, junior brother might run away."
"From now on, you’ll deal with your own mess." Bai Ruo declared, "And now help with this current mess."
Jia Xin covered her mouth as she grinned evilly. The surroundings turned cold as everyone backed away a few metres. "Master, you need to dump a fake technique!"
"Fake?" Bai Ruo didn’t get it.
"Master, just throw out a made-up, powerful, extraordinary technique!" Jia Xin explained. "Make it sound as broken as it could." She spread her hands wide. "And when he fails to cultivate, as he will, tell him he lacks talent..."
"And give him an ordinary technique." Bai Ruo cut her off.
"Yes, as expected of someone who has read many novels." Lei Feng patted Jia Xin’s shoulder.
In Bai Ruo’s room.
Bai Ruo picked up a quill, and a scroll was placed on the reading desk as she sat in the chair. Her disciples peeked in from the sides.
"So this technique’s name will be..." She started to brainstorm, taping the quill on the desk.