The group strolled down an old street. Thousands of tiny cracks were enough to turn the road into a mosaic piece of art. Meanwhile, the faded paint of stores was just as old as the roads.
Store owners and pedestrians alike were not bothered by this. They knew all too well the incompetence of the city lord to manage the city.
Zhang Qiang munched on a fried dough stick that was dipped in a green sauce. His eyes darted around as he eyed the next source of delicacy to snack on. Lu Ning accompanied the girls to every stall that was interesting enough to win attention.
To Zhang Qiang, it felt like shackles to follow the three. He knew he had no chance with the girls, especially when right next to the glorious, handsome Lu Ning. Even the Solar Eagle on Rose's shoulder had a higher chance of being closer than Zhang Qiang.
Zhang Qiang looked at the two girls who bamboozled him with the way they communicated. Every time Rose was interested in something, her eyes would sparkle, but it was something that neither Zhang Qiang nor Lu Ning could see. Only Lu Lan could understand Rose's language.
After having something catch her eye, Rose, being the quiet girl that she was, would be led by the other quiet girl, Lu Lan. There weren't any exchanges of words but just being there was enough.
A friendship was quickly being formed as the two would quietly walk towards a store and examine the goods. If either one of them liked what they saw then the other would pay for the item.
Zhang Qiang looked on with contempt at Lu Ning, a foolish lapdog who put on a warm smile and followed the two. As if to prove Zhang Qiang's opinion, Lu Ning walked over to a random street hawker that sold jewelry.
"Senior martial sister, look! A jade bracelet with flower decorations."
Lu Lan took a glance but wasn't interested. However, Rose's eyes gleamed, and Lu Lan knew what to do in a flash.
Soon, the bracelet was already worn by Rose.
Touched by this action, Rose gave a rare smile, "Thank you."
She admired the bracelet as she held out her hand. A feeling arose in Rose. She didn't hate it. It was a warm feeling, the same feeling she got from her master.
Finally, Zhang Qiang couldn't take this pathetic scene of Lu Ning anymore.
"Lu Ning, I think I want some time alone."
"Ah? Oh," Lu Ning realized that it probably wasn't very fun for Zhang Qiang to be a lackey. "Sure."
Zhang Qiang unhesitatingly walked away. Now, he could stroll freely and take in the antiquity of the city. Unlike before, his pockets were full of Ye Tian's money. He could now enjoy the luxuries that he had once drooled on.
'Life is good'
He thought as he munched on his next snack. But his enjoyment was soon cut.
A kid, around the age of 12, ran through the crowd and headfirst into Zhang Qiang.
The impoverished kid was wearing rags and covered in dirt, but, most importantly, he was covered with sawdust. By crashing into Zhang Qiang, the kid had left him covered in sawdust.
The kid immediately got back up and left, "Sorry!"
Zhang Qiang felt the bag at his waist. The money was still there. As a former guard, Zhang Qiang knew all the tricks of these thieves. The old bump-and-steal trick didn't work on him.
"Come back here!"
A middle-aged man covered in animal blood chased after the kid with a cleaver. Zhang Qiang turned around to look at the scene of cat and mouse for one last time. Finally, he moved on. It was none of his business.
But it had left a sour taste in his mouth.
Zhang Qiang took a whiff of the sawdust on his body.
One he knew all too well.
***
Ye Tian closed his book and went to his room while Ji Xuan entered the room next to him.
What is she doing…
Ye Tian could feel Ji Xuan's spiritual sense locked onto him. He couldn't take his daily painkillers with her watching, so he blocked the spiritual sense.
'!'
Ji Xuan looked at the wall that divided the two.
'There's nothing you should be hiding.'
Ji Xuan decided to lightly prick the wall with her lightning sword to form a pinhole. At first, she hesitated as this went against her morals and also labeled her as a perverted peeping tom, but she comforted herself that she would turn away the moment that Ye Tian did anything such as taking off his clothes.
She looked through the pinhole and almost let out a shriek of surprise.
Ye Tian had taken off his mask. He had already swept his spiritual sense throughout the room to check for anything. Even though there was no point, he knew that if he didn't get into this habit then one day he would die to an ambush without knowing anything.
However, he hadn't expected Ji Xuan to be so persistent in her duty to observe him. Ye Tian had only scanned his surroundings right before Ji Xuan made the pinhole.
Ji Xuan looked at Ye Tian's face, the only exposed area of his body. Red streaks ran through his face which resembled a cracked plate. She finally knew why Ye Tian's eyes were red. The red streaks had run all the way into the eyes.
Without knowing he was being watched, Ye Tian let out a grunt of pain before taking medicine pills. The abnormally strong smell of herbs stung Ji Xuan's nose, and the potency astonished her.
'Are those painkillers?'
Ji Xuan stopped looking through the pinhole. She had found Ye Tian's secret. But what should she do now?
By her father's orders, she was to bring Ye Tian to light should he have any abnormalities. Was Ye Tian one of those devil sect cultivators who enjoyed modifying their body?
Ji Xuan shook her head. Throughout the month-long journey, she had fought demon beasts alongside Ye Tian. He was a rational man who made smart decisions in battle. Nothing like those crazy, self-destructive cultivators.
Besides, she had seen Ye Tian buy a cultivation technique for one of his disciples. Something that devil cultivators would never do for their own.
Eventually, the bond of camaraderie had triumphed over Ji Xuan's suspicion, and she decided to examine Ye Tian further.
'Perhaps it's just some wound.'
***
"Get back here!"
An angry shout drew the attention of Lu Ning and the girls. They saw an impoverished, little boy who had been caught by a meat shop butcher.
The butcher held his cleaver in a threatening manner while grabbing the little boy, "You little bastard! Stealing from my store again?!"
"No, I didn't!" the little boy cried out. "Help!"
To the boy's dismay, people only gathered to watch. The clothes of the two had already told the story. It was a beggar who had stuck his hand past the boundaries of the law. No one was coming to his help.
The butcher growled, "You're coming with me."
Seeing the overly aggressive butcher, Lu Ning couldn't help but step in, "Mister, can you please let the boy go?"
The butcher looked at who was interrupting him, "Who the hell..."
He stopped midway. Lu Ning's exquisite clothing was something that only powerful nobles or cultivators would wear. For the butcher, neither of the two were people that he could offend.
"Sir, please seek justice on my behalf!" the butcher wailed and pointed at the kid. "This rascal has been stealing for days and I've finally caught him today."
"No, I wasn't!"
Lu Ning frowned and took out some gold coins, "This should be enough right?"
The butcher gaped and did some mental calculations with his malfunctioning brain. He had never seen such wealth with his eyes. He'd only heard of gold in the myths and gossip of neighborhood housewives.
'100 copper coins is 1 silver coin. 100 silver is 1 gold coin. My god… this is years worth of salary!'
"Of course, sir! I'll leave you to this rascal," the butcher took the coins and quickly left.
Shaking his head, Lu Ning approached the boy, "Are you okay?"
On closer inspection, Lu Ning noticed the sawdust on the boy's body. He was a woodcutter, an impoverished one too. While wondering how the boy's thin arms could even lift an ax, Lu Ning took out some more gold coins and gave it to the boy.
"Thank you..." he whispered.
"No problem," Lu Ning smiled.
The crowd that had gathered around began to disperse, and the little boy thanked Lu Ning one more time before scurrying away.
"Oh? I was wondering what interesting commotion had appeared, but it was just Rising Phoenix disciples. Boring." a mocking voice came from the distance.
Lu Ning and the girls turned to see a group of cultivators dressed in blue and purple robes. At the forefront, a man wore a wide grin and he continued, "How have you been? Rose."
The first thing that caught Lu Ning's eye was the different colors of the man's eyes. One was purple and the other eye was a normal black.
"Nothing much. And you?" returned Rose.
"Nothing much either, we just arrived moments ago."
"You guys are..?" Lu Ning asked.
"Oh?" The man looked with surprise at Lu Ning. "Who's this?"
"Lu Ning, the second disciple of Elder Ye, and this is Lu Lan, the first disciple of Elder Ye." Rose introduced. "This man before us is Ijilner, a common name from the Kausk province. He's one of the most powerful disciples of this year's batch from the Auskier sect."
"Rose, you're mistaken. I'm not one of the most powerful disciples. I AM the most powerful disciple."
Suddenly, one of the Auskier sect's disciples whispered to Ijilner a few words.
Ijilner grinned, "Well, we'll be going now to see if any dark horses appear out of this year's beginner competition."
"I thought the beginner competition starts a week or two from now?" Rose asked.
Ijilner shook his head, "For some reason, the date was moved forward. Not only is the beginner competition moved forward, but ours is too."
Rose frowned, "No one told us anything."
"That's because we got the intel first. Luckily, the guide got the information while leading us to our residence."
A giant bell sounded thrice throughout the city.
"Well, that should be the starting signal. We'll be going now," Ijilner started to lead his group away. "This year, our Auskier sect will beat you guys just like the last competition!"
The other Auskier disciples let out a shout in unison as if agreeing with Ijilner's last statement.
Lu Ning watched the group disappear into the crowd, "What's that guy's deal?"
"The Auskier sect was formed by our founder's friend. Ever since then, the two sects have always had a rivalry." Rose grumbled. "Last time, we lost pretty hard and were in third place."
"Who was in the last place?"
"Yu Fei sect, they aren't exactly combatants, and the Dark Wind sect is full of battle maniacs so they naturally get first."
Lu Ning looked once again at the direction that Ijilner disappeared to. Ijilner's confidence in victory had stung Lu Ning's pride. His hands clenched as he resolved himself to win for the sect.
Lu Lan looked at Rose's sour expression before trying to look around to find distractions to cheer Rose up. Lu Lan's eye's caught something out of the blue, and she grabbed Rose to pull her.
"Huh?" Rose let out a cry of surprise before allowing herself to be pulled.
The next thing Rose knew was that she was in a pet shop. She looked around and her eyes twinkled. The tiny animals had enraptured her.
Lu Lan looked on with delight as Rose pet every single furry creature that she could find. For some reason, Lu Lan felt a slight sense of sorrow, but that was soon drowned out by joy as Rose pulled Lu Lan to play with the animals.
"Do you like any of them? I'll buy one for you." Lu Lan smiled.
Rose pondered for a moment before shaking her head, "It's too inconvenient to take one with us. We'll be traveling again once the competition is finished."
Lu Lan felt it was a pity, but she suddenly had a brilliant idea as she stuffed a hamster into Lu Ning's hands.
"Always standing there. What are you waiting for? Join us."
"Wha?" Lu Ning awkwardly stood there with a hamster in his hand. He looked down at the hamster who looked back with confusion.
Lu Ning looked at the smiling Lu Lan and Rose before he too joined with a smile.
***
Zhang Qiang looked up at the sky. The sun was beginning to set, and the skies were stained orange. He needed to make it back to the sect's residence, but he had walked too far off.
Now he was in the middle of the slums. Zhang Qiang looked around. Nighttime wasn't the best time to hang around. Still, Zhang Qiang wasn't worried. When was the last time that a soul stage cultivator walked out of nowhere?
As he walked around, he passed countless bodies that huddled against each other on the streets. The dense city population had a counterweight to increased prosperity.
Zhang Qiang felt irritated by this lackluster scene but also a sense of pride that he had climbed out of the lower classes. He was different. He was a powerful cultivator, the third disciple of Elder Ye, and an important disciple of the Rising Phoenix sect.
Zhang Qiang felt his pouch, still full of coins, by his side. Yes, he was different.
Suddenly, he heard a yelp of pain in front of him. He looked up to see two men beating up a small kid. The people on the streets had already distanced themselves from the scene.
He'd seen the kid before. It was the same one that had bumped into him earlier today.
'Such crappy luck that I have today...'
Zhang Qiang walked towards the scene, "Hey, stop that."
All eyes turned to Zhang Qiang. He felt uncomfortable under dozens of gazes but also an amazing sense of feeling as if he was the protagonist.
'Was this what Lu Ning always felt?'
One of the men turned to look at Zhang Qiang. Immediately after seeing Zhang Qiang's clothes, the man grabbed his other buddy who had been too busy pummeling the kid.
"A busybody we can't afford to offend! Quick, grab everything! Go! GO!"
The two men scurried away as Zhang Qiang arrived at the kid's twitching body.
Zhang Qiang nudged the body with his foot.
"Are you still alive?"
"Help..." the kid weakly groaned. His heavily-bruised eyes couldn't see who had approached.
This was just a random life that Zhang Qiang had no inclination to save. But a whiff of sawdust changed Zhang Qiang's mind. He was too irritated by this sight.
He crouched beside the kid and took out a pill. After he shoved the pill inside the kid's mouth, the bruises quickly began to recede and open wounds began to close.
'That was a rank one healing pill.'
Zhang Qiang felt some pain from the loss as he watched the kid get up.
"Thank you."
"What's your name?"
"Shi huashen."
"What happened?"
The boy grit his teeth, "The two guys saw that I had money on me, so they took everything from me."
He felt his rags at the chest area. Feeling nothing, he started to weep, "They took the food too!"
Zhang Qiang felt further irritation, "Stop crying. I'll get you food."
"No… It was for my grandmother."
"Where is she?"
"We live in a small shed on 57th street."
Zhang Qiang realized that he didn't actually know the city. It was the reason why he was lost in the first place.
"Let's go get some food, and I'll escort you to your grandmother, okay?"
The boy sniffled, "Okay."
"Now, where's the nearest market?"
"..."