Jian had many things to think about when he got back home. His little experience that morning with the Unholy Being was more than scary. However said being seemed to be pretty pacificistic for now, as such Jian didn't think about this matter more than was necessary.
His meeting with Luo Tu had allowed him to get some important knowledge on Beast Taming. He had learned that when a Beast was tamed, it could become many things. A cultivator could transform it into a Martial Spirit, he could also learn techniques from it, or even imbue it's soul in an object. Though most cultivators would just keep them as pets.
Thinking about it, Jian remembered the Diamond Fangs Wolf he had encountered in the Thousand Flowers Forest. He didn't have a Martial Spirit, so he really wanted to have the Diamond Fangs Wolf as his first one.
Actually keeping it as a pet was a bit better, but he couldn't just have the Diamond Fang Wolf around, it would get him some unwanted attention. He knew the Sect was just too greedy.
Fortunately, since the Gate Elder was generous he also let him take a Battle Skill. Jian was quite smart so he took the most useful battle skill. It was called Poisonous Envy Mist. A battle skill that allowed the user to apply a devastating poison on his enemy. This poison, that is being shot out from the user's mouth in the form of a grey mist, would weaken the enemy, and it's effect would become greater the more powerful the enemy was compared to the user.
Considering the fact that Jian had some basic Talent, he was bound to fight people stronger than him a lot. This battle skill would be vital to ensure his survival. It would give him an advantage against Geniuses like Zhao Shu, and that was something Jian needed more than anything.
The system had assured him that while it couldn't change his Talent, it could very well help him grow faster than any geniuses. However Jian knew that when it came to the System, everything depended on his luck.
He could just sell a lot of materials to the system and use the Lottery a ridiculous amount of time, unfortunately the System broke his dream by telling him that the stronger he got, the better the materials he sold the system would need to be.
Then again, he already had gotten some incredible rewards from the system, and said system would help him even more after evolving.
Since he was now an Inner Disciple he needed to be strong enough to contend with the others. He didn't have to go to the Inner Court immediately, so he decided to train with the sword a bit at the usual waterfall.
After a few hours he decided to change and started to practice the battle skill. The forest around his little wooden house was filled with Qi Core 4th Step Beasts. He could kill them with his sword if the battle skill didn't work correctly.
He soon found out that the battle skill wasn't working correctly, it was working perfectly.
" Poisonous Envy Mist" He said in a low voice while he was hiding behind some bushes, a straw in his mouth. With the straw he shot out the mist with precision and directly hit the boars that were just a few meters away from him.
The boars all started to behave crazily, running around and hitting their heads on trees. Jian could feel that their power had gone down, but the change wasn't extreme, which was normal since they were just a bit more powerful than him. He leaped out of the bushes and slaughtered the boars with his sword. He had gotten a lot better with it, since he actually started to copy the style of other disciples. That was why he had been so focused while watching the matches during the Outer Tournament.
He had remembered all their movements and copied them, which allowed him to fight with it like a real swordsman, though he still needed a lot of training. He killed around ten boars before he got back home. He had decided to eat at least one of them, since he was tired of eating soup.
That was pretty all he ate ever since he got into the Sect, since that was all the Sect had given him. Disciples had to hunt for their own food, or buy it.
This continued for three days. Jian would go in the forest, hunt Beasts, weaken them by using his Battle Skill and then slaughter them with the sword. He would also cultivate, however he could feel that he needed a lot of time to reach the next Step.
After three days he finally decided to go to the Inner Court. He had to see Li Kuo and sell the remaining Boars after all.
When he arrived at the Inner Court, the difference between this place and the Outer Court was pretty obvious. Everything looked much more expensive. The arena in this court was much bigger , while there were at least three times more shops in this court than in the Outer Court.
And yet the biggest difference came in the form of the Inner Pavillion. The Outer Pavillion was already quite impressive, but this....This was clearly made to show off the ressources of the Sect.
When he got in front of the Pavillion's entrance, the guards immediately let him in since they already knew who he was. The little unknown guy who had forced Zhao Shu to use his Martial Spirit and who had incredible stamina had become a bit famous in the Sect. There was also the fact that both Jin Wang and Huang Lei seemed to have set their sights on him. Though the other powerful Inner Disciples had yet to express their views on him.
When he entered he asked a nearby disciple where he could find Li Kuo and that disciple answered him while chuckling. Jian was a bit confused but he thanked the disciple and went to some sort of cantine that was in the Pavillion.
There he instantly saw something that made his blood boil.
" Li Kuo ! Why aren't you licking faster, huh ?" Asked a female disciple, sneering at Li Kuo who was licking the rests of a soup on the ground. He actually had a leash around his neck and the female disciple was pulling on it. The disciples around were laughing while watching the scene, no one was trying to help him. Li Kuo was covered in bruises and was bleeding a bit from a busted lip but endured and continued to lick the ground.
The female disciple laughed at him and pulled on the leash harder while pushing his head on the floor with her foot. Her laughter died down when she heard some gasps behind her. She turned around just in time to see something coming her way....It was a chair !
" He....He actually dared to hurt Lil' Lu ?!" Exclaimed another female disciple who was sitting besides Lil' Lu.
Li Kuo who had watched the scene had his eyes wide, his mind blanking for a second. He stood there, jaw agape before he understood that he wasn't dreaming and that Jian had really just threw a chair at Lil' Lu.
" What are you doing ?!" Screamed Lil' Lu as she got up. She was nursing her bruised arm while glaring at Jian. He had put all his strengh behind his throw, so it hurt Lil' Lu like hell.
" You were forcing my best friend to lick the ground while laughing....So I ask you..."Said Jian, quickly walking towards her while she tried to get away. The other disciples were gloating inside and didn't let her the chance to escape, forming a wall to stop her.
Jian got in front of her and lifted her by her throat.
" What were YOU doing ?!" Yelled Jian, before he threw her on the ground. He then grabbed her foot and dragged her towards Li Kuo. He then forced her head against the ground and said loudly.
" Now you lick the ground !"
The female disciple was looking at him with wide eyes. Not because he had dared to say something lile that, but because he was Li Kuo's best friend ! He was Jian ! Now he wasn't really someone she was scared of, but she was scared of who was backing him. Jin Wang and Huang Lei weren't exactly backing him up with everything they had, but they would be quite angry if she hurt him. Which was something she wanted to avoid.
" You must not know who I am, Jian....So let me enlighten you. I am Zhi Li's protegee, Lil' Lu ! If you let me go, I will drop the matter...But if you don't, you'll have to deal with her wrath, and Li Kuo too !" Said Lil' Lu. Jian looked around, quite confused as to who she was talking about, but Li Kuo tapped on his shoulder.
" Bro, I let this girl humiliate me because Zhi Li isn't someone I can offend. I became her follower but she became angry at me after I told her I didn't want to use the Zero King Techniques due to how dangerous it was. She said that if I could take Lil' Lu's punishment for a month she would drop the matter and help me grow in strength without having to use the Zero King Sutra, though I kinda doubt her words. She is too powerful for me to offend...." Said Li Kuo, looking quite scared. It was clear he wasn't scared about Lil' Lu, however this Zhi Li must be terrifying if Li Kuo was so scared of her.
" Tch...Scram !" Said Jian, and Lil' Lu nodded before running away. It was at that moment that a snicker was heard. It wasn't loud but since no one was making any noise, they heard it quite clearly.
" I had come here to eat before heading to the Arena, but it seems I found something really interesting. " Said someone who was behind Jian. The boy turned around and gasped, it was actually Peng Fu !
" Peng Fu ?!" Exclaimed Jian. Li Kuo was a bit confused but kept quiet.
" Of course, it is I ! I must say, you surprised me Jian. You became an Inner Disciple so fast, and now you're actually making an enemy out of someone like Lil' Lu. If you could breakthrough the fourth Step in less than a week I would say you are a bit too shocking for me. Then again you are my Boss' little brother , so you can afford to offend a mere Lil' Lu. Huang Lei likes you a lot, so he won't be angry when he knows you used his protection to offend that girl. Well if that was indeed what you intended. Maybe you just didn't care about who she could be, and what the consequences of your actions would be." Said Peng Fu before he sat down where Lil' Lu had been sitting, scaring the hell out of the other female disciples who had been sitting besides the girl.
" Someone dared to hurt my Best Friend, of course I wouldn't care about the consequences. We are in the sect after all, she can't kill me even if she wants to. If we were on the street I would think twice before acting recklessly. " Said Jian. Peng Fu laughed while Li Kuo shook his head. Since the fun had ended, the other disciples had already walked away, so there were only Li Kuo, Jian, Peng Fu and that random female disciple around the table.
" Well then....Hmmm, random girl who I don't even know the name of, can you scram for me ? I have some serious things to talk about with those two."