Nangong Xuanhe and Duanmu Yan stood against each other.
The wind blew, lifting their hair.
Nangong Xuanhe was prepared to fight, taking the first step forward.
Duanmu Yan could immediately tell he was focused.
It was like standing before prey that wore a predator’s mask.
It amused him.
To see his victim dare to try to fight back, after a few days, he had been suppressing him.
It was a feeling he enjoyed and one he would enjoy even more.
In his hand, he held 2 wooden swords, fitting his style of combat.
Nangong Xuanhe made the first over, swiftly appearing before Duanmu Yan, who had already noticed him.
With swag, Duanmu Yan maneuvered out of the way, kicking Nangong Xuanhe in the face!
Bang!
The force nearly broke his nose, but he was able to get back up.
‘Damn it!
Even [Iron Body] isn’t enough!?’ He thought.
He tried to attack again, using another basic swing of the blade as well as increasing in speed, but it failed as well.
Duanmu Yan didn’t even bother to give him any respect, throwing him around as if he were a child.
He grabbed his tunic and threw it over his shoulder.
At this point, Nangong Xuanhe was starting to think the weapons were there purely for aesthetics.
He hadn’t used it so far.
“Come on, don’t tell me this is all you can muster?”
“But then again, you are C-grade talent, so I can’t be too surprised…”
Nangong Xuanhe clenched his fist in anger, getting tired of being told this!
He already knew he was a C-grade talent; no need to rub it in!
Despite his frustrations, he looked at nothing once again.
“Alright, time to test out this new technique I got.”
Nangong Xuanhe smirked, lifting his wooden blade.
He then lunged forward once again.
“Seriously?
You’re doing this again?”
His arrogance was on full display, not even bothering to put his guard up.
Thai gave him the perfect chance to feed his sword Qiang Qi, not only reforming it but also making it stronger.
He had also modified his own body slightly, his muscles bigger and stronger than before.
Duanmu Yan had noticed this far too late.
He had tried to block the attack, but he was not successful, suffering an attack to his shoulder!
He fell backwards, aching in pain as he clenched his shoulder!
“You damn…!”
With murder on his mind, Duanmu Yan ran towards Nangong Xuanhe, intending to really put the wooden sword in his body!
He wanted to stab him with it and inflict as much pain as possible!
Nangong Xuanhe felt murderous intent, trembling and trying to parry.
But at the end of the day, he was but prey wearing a mask.
He was not strong enough to handle him.
Bang!
He was thrown to the ground and had a sharpened wooden end dangled above his head!
Duanmu Yan craved blood!
Nangong Xuanhe couldn’t block in time, feeling as if he were actually about to die when…
Woosh!
Crack!
The wooden weapon was destroyed by the sudden attack from Zhao Chensheng, who had arrived as swiftly as the wind blew.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk.
He spoke with a strong pride, his gaze calm.
In a swift motion, he had Duanmu Yan in his grasp, throwing the man into the air!
“Gaaaah!” He screamed in fear, trying to regain his balance, but without any ground to collect himself, he began to panic.
Zhao Cangsheng then smirked, harnessing the Qiang Qi in the air.
With it, he would use a basic technique, delivering a powerful punch infused with the power of a lion!
[1 Star Lion Fist!]
This technique allowed the user to deliver a straight jab with extra power from before.
Of course, it was very situational, and you needed to set up the situation right, but when it is set up, the damage can leave any mortal with a gaping hole.
But this only refers to mortals; with cultivators, it only leaves them severely bruised, but the bruises are still significant regardless.
Duanmu Yan was now left on the ground with a significant bruise on his chest.
Zhao Cangsheng looked down at him with pity, feeling embarrassed that this man was his senior.
To be an outer disciple, yet this man was an inner disciple.
He felt he was being mistreated.
Just then, Xu Changfeng arrived to figure out the source of all this commotion.
“What is going on here?
The sect leader has complained about a commotion involving multiple of our buildings being destroyed.”
Xu Changfeng looked over at the destruction, two buildings left in debris, and a broken floor.
Xu Changfeng sighed, knowing he would have to use his money to fix the damage.
“You can explain the situation to me tomorrow.
Right now, you should have been with me, Zhao Cangsheng.
Don’t forget, you are my personal disciple.”
Zhao Cangsheng nodded, bowing to his master.
“I apologize, Elder Xu Changfeng.”
Everyone looked at each other, realizing that two of the greatest of their generation had been made personal disciples.
This made it easier for them to reach past their first stars since, with the help of their master, they could easily access advanced martial techniques.
“Gu Xuanming also became a personal disciple of Qing Yuru…”
Xu Changfeng heard Nangong Xuanhe say that, looking at him.
“Qing Yuru?
Accepting a disciple?
But…”
He pondered while his fingers were on his chin, deciding to drop the matter for now.
“Disciple!
Focus on your martial arts and cultivation!
No slacking!”
“Yes, sir!”
…
Zhao Cangsheng sat by himself in his dorm.
It had been 5 hours since that had happened, and right now, he wanted to finish mastering a martial technique he was currently training in.
His dorm was quite big, the biggest in fact, being the most spoiled of the sect.
Unlike other dorm rooms, which were relatively moderate in size, his was large!
It was enough to have 2 beds inside, with multiple dressers and windows for him.
“I’m pretty sure I’m supposed to meet with Sect Leader Jiang Haotia today, right?”
He thought to himself, trying to recall if that was true.
After some thought, he remembered.
“I was!
Hopefully, he forgives me.”
He would then leave his dorm, stepping out to breathe in some nice, clean air.
“That’s a nice feeling as always.
I’ve already been blessed greatly, yet I still feel wary.”
Zhao Cangsheng thought back to when he first gave Gu Xuanming a stone.
The moment he did, he could feel a swirling abyss slowly creeping closer to him, an aura that felt suffocating.
He did manage to regulate himself and keep up appearances, but deep down, he was worried.
He had heard rumors of a demonic cultivator of this generation, and after being near Gu Xuanming, he suspected that he was the person they were talking about.
Regardless, he sucked in his unease, heading straight to the building where Jiang Haotia was staying.
It was a tall tower with multiple floors, with Jiang Haotia at the very top.
Taking a step inside once again, he saw the same people who were doing paperwork.
These people were responsible for managing the funds and identification of all disciples of the sect.
They also made sure to record any techniques that are developed and assess their level.
After all, while you can learn techniques that already exist, creating a technique is an even greater achievement and instantly earns you inner disciple status.
Of course, creating one isn’t easy, which is why Xu Changfeng had taken Zhao Cangesheng as a personal disciple to make him strong enough to create his own technique and advance his learning.
Zhao Cangsheng arrived at the door of Jiang Haotia.
It was a decorated door, golden symbols representative of the Scarlet Bones sect.
Zhao Cangsheng pushed open the door, a gentle breeze brushing against his face once again.
‘Wow.
He really never closes the window, does he?’ Zhao Cangsheng thought.
Jiang Haotia sat at his desk, rummaging through papers, when his gaze went up, noticing him.
“Oh, Disciple Cangsheng.
You’re late, but I will let it slide just this once.”
“After all, we have bigger things to worry about.”
Zhao Cangsheng’s expression went cold.
“Right… You want me to investigate the Bai clan, right?”
Jiang Haotia nodded.
He pulled out a few papers from inside the drawer of his desk, throwing them down.
“From what I learned, they’ve been extorting lower clans in order to feed resources to Bai Zhenyu and Bai Wuxin, 2 core disciples of our sect.
While Bai Wuxin seems to care less about said resources, even willing to give half of it to us, Bai Zhenyu is quite lazy.”
“He relies too much on his high B-grade talent.
In fact, I’ve never seen him train once, focusing purely on meditation, which has halted his progress since it is impossible to go past your first stars unless you use the Three Flowers Dantian technique, which is an advanced technique.”
“He’s only reached Adept and has stayed at that level for the past 8 months.
I want to kick him out, but with the Bai clan’s influence, it’s impossible.”
“That is why I’m calling you here…so you can expose and humble the clan.
If you manage to make them confess, then I will teach you an elite-level technique.”
Zhao Cangsheng thought over the offer.
To learn such a strong technique at his current level, it was tempting.
He had always kept to himself most of these days, cultivating, but also socializing to some extent since, as he saw it, it was also good to have friends to rely on in this world.
Of course, he had to choose his allies carefully so they wouldn’t stab him in the back.
There’s also the fact that most people practically worshiped him.
No one wanted to be his friend, seeing him as some unreachable god despite still being a mortal.
Zhao Cangsheng bowed to Jiang Haotia in understanding.
“Don’t worry, I will do my best, sect leader.”
“I hope you will.”
Zhao Cangsheng left the room, leaving Jiang Haotia to himself.
Looking out the window, he spotted Qing Yuru and Gu Xuanming on the training grounds.
‘…I will need to find a way to suppress him.
If he truly is the demon of this generation, I cannot allow him the freedom to do as he pleases.
Luo Jingyuan better keep him in check.’