" Okay, what do you need to talk to us about ?" Asked Jian.
" As I already told you before, you've become Huang Lei's little brother. You are his follower now, which means that you will be protected by him and in exchange you will help him whenever he needs help. The thing is, most of the powerful Inner Disciples recruit as much followers as possible for another reason." Said Peng Fu, his tone much more serious now. Jian and Li Kuo shared a look, before motioning Peng Fu to continue.
" There is no Inner Tournament. You don't become an elite disciple by fighting against other disciples. To become an elite disciple, you need to create your own little army to become the strongest. Only when you have reached the summit can you possibly become interesting in the eyes of the Elders. For an elite disciple is only considered Elite because they are being taught by Elders. Tian Zhou per exemple is an Elite Disciple but became Jin Wang's follower, and that is for a simple reason.....Jin Wang has the potential to become the disciple of a Founding Elder." Said Peng Fu, shocking both Jian and Li Kuo.
" Really ?! I mean yeah he is strong , but is he really that interesting ?" Asked Jian.
" Jin Wang is already a Half-Step Mortal Realm Cultivator, even though he is only 18. While he is not the most heaven-defying genius the world has seen, he is still a genius with as much talent as the Sect's patriarch." Said Peng Fu. This time only Li Kuo was shocked. Jian on the other way sweatdropped.
' If they were made aware that I am only 12, I really wonder how they would react.' He thought.
" Huang Lei on the other hand is not as powerful as Jin Wang, however he possess something that would make him much more interesting than even Jin Wang. The problem is that he joined the race a bit too late. All the Founding Elders already have expressed their views on who they considered as potential disciples, and Huang Lei came too late to be included. To become an Elite Disciple of high caliber he will need to provoke the fall of another inner disciple. His targets are Zhi Li and Jiang Men. The first because she solely relied on flattery and bribery to get into a Founding Elder's good graces, and the other because he is the weakest. If I am telling you this, it's because Jiang Men will soon go on a mission and Huang Lei want someone to go with him. He doesn't want Jiang Men to be killed or anything, but since this mission was given by the Founding Elder who favors Jiang Men, Huang Lei wants one of you two to steal the limelight from that guy. You aren't interesting enough to get into this Elder's good graces with this, however said Elder will know that this was Huang Lei's plan and reconsider him. " Said Peng Fu. After this he started to drink some tea while Li Kuo looked dumbfounded.
" But...I am Zhi Li's follower ! I can't do that for Huang Lei !" Exclaimed Li Kuo. Jian on the other hand looked uninterested. For now he only wanted to tame the Diamond Fangs Wolf, sell the boars to get some money, and reach the 4th step.
" That is exactly why you should do it. Zhi Li doesn't care about you. If you did that for Huang Lei, he would reward you handsomely. And you are in need of Body Restoration Pills, aren't you ?" Asked Peng Fu, his trademark fox-like smile on his face. Li Kuo shook, shocked that Peng Fu knew this.
" Peng Fu, don't push it too far." Warned Jian, angry that Peng Fu would use Li Kuo's problem to force the noble's hand. Peng Fu nodded since he couldn't afford to anger Jian. Jian was someone who was seen as interesting by a lot of people due to his mysterious Soul Heritage and his ability to never tire.
" It's okay. If Huang Lei can give me those pills, I would gladly help him a bit. Though I don't really see how I could steal Jiang Men's limelight." Said Li Kuo. He wasn't all that strong, so it would be insanely difficult for him to do that. However Peng Fu merely laughed while putting his sleeve in front of his mouth.
" The mission that the Founding Elder gave is the following: Go to a demonic forest located at the south of the mountain, and kill the Demonic Beast that has been terrorizing the villages around the forest. Now Jiang Men is stronger than you, however he is quite a reckless guy. If you could make it so that he made a mistake during the mission, and you would arrive to save the day with your Zero King Sutra, it would be perfect." Said Peng Fu. Li Kuo nodded albeit reluctantly, as Jian got up.
" Well it was nice and all, but I have some stuff to do. Li Kuo don't push yourself too far, I don't want to see you die so early. And Peng Fu.....I might need your help for something. It's about Beast Taming, but we will see later." Said Jian. Li Kuo nodded and walked away, while Peng Fu looked at Jian with interest before walking away too. None of them were aware that a certain female disciple had been under the table, listening to their conversation.
A few minutes later, Jian could be found at the shopping district of the Inner Court. Disciples made way for him to walk, having heard what he did to Lil' Lu. They didn't wanted to get close to someone who was sure to be killed soon. Angering Zhi Li was a very bad thing to do if you wanted to live.
He soon arrived to a certain stall that sold various equipments.
" Ah ! You must be Jian ! I heard about you from a friend, what are you doing here ?" Asked the stall owner. Jian merely took out the boars, which shocked the stall owner a bit since he didn't have any spatial ring on him. The stall owner looked at all the boars and then smiled.
" With all this, you should get around 1200 Sect Tokens. " Said the stall owner. Jian nodded and the owner gave him the tokens before taking the boars.
' With this I have around 2000 Sect Tokens...' Thought Jian.
" What can I get for 2000 Tokens ? I need some equipments since I only have a sword. " Said Jian. The owner turned around and looked at his products before smiling, a greedy look on his face.
" It should be enough to get you QI Core 1st Step Gauntlets, Boots and a Ring. " Said the owner. Jian frowned , thinking that this wasn't really what he thought he could get. However just as he was about to accept, a shoe came flying and landed on the owner's face. It was sent with such force that it made the Owner's bleed.
" Who..." Jian turned around and saw a woman walking towards him. She was quite the dark-skinned beauty, with perky breasts, a great body with all curves in the right places, pouty lips, and a face devoid of any imperfections. She also had long silky dark green hair, and a little mole under the right eye. Jian could feel his face heating up a bit seeing her. The woman coldly smiled at the owner and stuck out her hand.
" My shoe....Give it back." She said. The owner nodded, nursing his forehead, however the woman did something incredible when she got the shoe back.
" Return !" She yelled, throwing the shoe again, but this time with even more strengh. The owner fell to the ground, completely knocked out as Jian guwaffed.
" With 2000 tokens you can get a full set of Qi Core 2nd Step equipments. Take them, I will pay for you." Said the woman. Jian stared at her in shock but still took the things, and put them on his body. Equipments like those were reinforced through arrays, spells and even Martial Spirits to protect the user or enhance his abilities. A full set of Qi Core 2nd Step equipments would help Jian fight against Qi Core 4th Step even though he was only a 3rd step. They weren't extremely resistant, but were still good enough to be bought.
" You're really going to pay for me ?" Asked Jian.
" Of course. I am a woman of my words." Said the woman with a haughty expression. Jian smiled at her and bowed before running away, leaving behind a slightly blushing woman. A girl appeared behind the woman and kneeled in front of her.
" En...I will pay this liar with a kick to the family jewels." Said the woman, smiling cruelly at the owner on the floor. The girl behind got the message and nodded.
" Yes Mistress Zhi." Said the girl before she dragged the owner away.
***************
( Unknown Location, at the same time )
Located at the bottom of a deep ravine, surrounded by dead trees and gigantic bone spikes protuding from the ground, was a magnificient tower made out of gold and all the types of jewels that existed in this world. This tower was so shiny it could be used as a beacon.
This tower was known as the Gorudenryu Knight Order's Headquarter. At the top of this tower, a lonely figure stood, watching the horizon. The figure then saw something coming towards the Tower, and grabbed a hammer. He then crashed the hammer hard on a huge golden bell.
The whole tower now in alert, countless figures dressed in golden armors left the building in a hurry. They waited until they could make out what was approaching them, and when they saw it was a soldier wearing a black armor similar to theirs, they relaxed.
The lonely figure at the top of the tower jumped from the top and landed in front of the soldiers, creating a huge hole due to how fast it fell. All the soldiers went back inside while the lonely figure, wearing a golden O-yoroi, waited for the soldier to arrive.
Once the soldier arrived, he saluted, and introduced himself.
" Lieutenant Xie Yu of the Kuroryu Knight Order ! I have an important message for you, General !" Exclaimed the soldier, still saluting. The General motioned for him to stop and the soldier nodded.
" According to a group of scouts, it seems that the situation at the Li Zhang Kingdom's Demonic Forest is much more complicated. The amount of Demonic Qi there has become insane and many villagers living around the forest died in their sleep for no apparent reasons. The General of the Kuroryu has ordered a group of Knights to go at the forest and examine the situation, but he asked for your views on that situation. " Said Xie Yu while looking at the ground, clearly indicating that this General in front of him commanded a high amount of respect, even in the eyes of General Kuroryu.
"Hmmmm....My views on the situation ?" Asked the General, his voice so profound and majestic it stunned the soldier in silence for a few seconds.
" Ah...Yes ! That is what the General asked for." Said the Soldier a second time. The General looked at the horizon, his completely pitch-black eyes akin to a pool of never ending darkness, and a smile bloomed on his face, a deranged smile.
" It is not a Demonic Beast....Then it's most likely....An Asura !" Exclaimed the General in a powerful tone, his voice being heard across the whole ravine, as thunder striked the ground behind him.