"Ah! It hurts!" All the five outer disciples cried in their own way.
After Hua Mei's attack, they all vanished from her mindspace. When Xin Feng and Hua Mei came back to reality, they found the middle-aged disciples crying in pain. It was quite a sight to be empathetic for, since they didn't deserve to be demolished by a nascent level attack.
The sound of slaps echoed, as Hua Mei slapped all of them at their cheeks while yelling "Snap out of it!". When the disciples snapped back to reality, their painful cries from before changed into terrified screams.
"Sister Hua Mei, please spare us! We didn't do anything wrong!"
The outer disciples cried out similar sentences, begging in fear to not experience the same thing they did a few minutes ago.
"What nonsense are you all spouting! Since when was I that cruel?!"
The disciples looked at her with doubt, but the doubt disappeared within a second, as they began to praise her as if she was some type of mistress to them.
"Yes! Sister Hua Mei is the kindest of all! She will spare our live, and let us live in peace!"
"Nicely said… Stand up, and act like the cultivators you are."
…
"So… care to tell me what happened between you and them?" Xin Feng whispered to Hua Mei in interest. "Nothing much. It's just when they took their practical exams to become an inner disciple, they failed because they didn't meet my requirements."
"Oh… Anyway… What are we going to do with them?"
"We'll let them come with us, or they could stay in the villages. The Seven Soaring Swords would surely have no room for outer disciples."
The disciples who were full of praise a few seconds ago watched the two having a serious conversation, as they listened carefully what awaited them and what information they were missing. A few minutes later, when Hua Mei and Xin Feng had finished their conversation, the disciples followed them to a bloodied and abandoned village. Hua Mei explained to the disciples that they had done the slaughtering and what had caused them to slaughter the mortals, which traumatized them, since they had never killed a human and because they were unaware of it as well. Under Hua Mei's commands, they threw away the body in the forest, before Hua Mei cleaned the place with the help of her watering abilities. After the trails of blood were washed away, the place still reeked due to the water not being able to clean it very well. Still, it was bearable for the disciples to stay in.
"If ever charmed disciples come, hit them on their head to knock them out of their charm. If they're stronger than you all, all I can do is wish you good luck."
Hua Mei gave her advice to the outer disciple, before she left together with Xin Feng to scout for more charmed disciples within their proximity.
...
"On our left!" Xin Feng yelled, as he was able to sense an attack coming. Hua Mei became alert in an instant, and steered her mount downwards when she saw the figure of two long dragons flying in their direction. The dragons kept following them wherever they flew, as if it was determined to eat them.
"There! The source!" Xin Feng yelled out to Hua Mei when he saw the figure who was possibly controlling the fiery figure of the dragon. The technique used to attack him was familiar to him, which made it possible for him to guess the figure to be his father. As to not miss the chance to have a rematch with his careless father, he ejected his mount and activated his hot-hot ability with a boost of oxygen that came with the wind.
"Xin Feng!" Hua Mei yelled out to him while avoiding the dragon's touch. Xin Feng in return, gave a thumbs up, to signify that he was doing fine. He flew closer to the man who had his eyes closed, before he uttered, "Time to settle our score, old man!"
The old man opened his eyes, and when he noticed the grin on Xin Feng's face, he changed the target of his attack.
"Oh no you don't!" Xin Feng yelled as he delivered a strong punch to the old man's cheek. Xin Feng was able to estimate and control his strength without the help of Balance, thanks to his daily training. After his punch, the dragons were already near Xin Feng. Xin Feng avoided them by flying high up, and because the old man wasn't focusing on his attack due to getting punched, he wasn't able to steer it in the direction of Xin Feng. The dragons bit the ground and created a massive explosion on the ground. Xin Fan was affected by his own attack, as he was blasted away. Staring at the massive crater that had many flames burning on it, he wondered how he had made it alive through that attack in his first match against his father.
"Ha! Foolish!" Xin Feng mocked the inured Xin Fan who was gritting his teeth in fury. "I haven't even started, and you're already in such a state!" He continued, while a visible spinning star made of wind, was visible above his hand. When the star was thrown, it aimed for the old man's stomach, before it split then closed the ground below the old man's feet to lock him in place.
"Argh!" Xin Fan roared with boiling fury.
"Fury of the Nether's giant foot!" The old men yelled his throat dry, causing the ground around him to explode, and enormous flames to sour from the depth of the earth that reached the clouds. The old man's Qi was burning up, which was recognizable due to the flames on his body that had become unstable and red. The old man roared again, before he crouched a bit and rocketed in the direction of Xin Feng.
'Oh no…'
"Balance, overclock reaction time!"
Xin Fan missed Xin Fang with an inch, and flew right pass him.
"Mindspace! Expansion!" Xin Feng yelled out loud to get himself out of the tough situation.
The raging old man's consciousness entered Xin Feng's white mindspace, still angry due to his Qi that was affected by his berserk technique, causing his mind to be unstable. He charged at Xin Feng again, but this time he was weaker than in reality due to his weaker mind. After all, if he had a strong mind that had a strong will, he wouldn't have gotten charmed by ExE.
Because the old man was way weaker, Xin Feng dodge his attacks without the assistance of Balance. He delivered a wide sweep with his leg at the rampaging Xin Fan who charged in without thinking. A kick was enough to send the old man flying a few meters. Xin Feng didn't stop there, and continued by throwing an endless amount of fire balls at the old man.
"Is that all you got?" He mocked before he shot another flame upwards. As the old man staggered a bit from the continuous attacks, Xin Feng summoned a strong force of wind behind the man's back to bring him closer to him.
"Lazy piece of sh8t!" he yelled as he held the man's neck, before slamming him to the ground.
"If you worked harder, you and Liu Lue wouldn't have gotten charmed!" he continued, before slamming him once again.
"Find out your son is talented, but restrain his training!" He made one more remark before the old man woke up from his charm thanks to Xin Feng's last slam.
"What… hap-"
*Squirt*
Xin Fan couldn't even wake up properly, nor was he able to finish his sentence, as Xin Feng created a sharp spike made of metal to stab the old man through his skull.
"Vanish…" He muttered, removing Xin Fan's consciousness out of his mindscape.
[You know… You have unlimited power in your mindscape thanks to us]
[It all depends on your imagination]
"Why didn't you tell me earlier then?"
[I'm telling you now… Also, you did not ask]
"Well, that's… Rude."
[Look at your upcoming report… you shall see why I didn't tell you before] Balance uttered before popping up the character screen in front of Xin Feng's eyes.