The sun has just risen, and the sunlight is piercing through the window to warm the room.
Yang Zhai stands up and sees that everyone is sleeping. Li and Si are sleeping on the bed, whereas Man and Jun are on the floor.
Yang Zhai passed them and came to the door. He opens it and sees two people guarding the room, whereas, the others are sleeping.
"Where are you going?" One of the guards asked.
"Hmm, I need to train. Don't worry, you have already been paid and my companions are also sleeping inside, so I am not going to run." Yang Zhai replied.
"You… are right about… that," the man said with embarrassment.
Yang Zhai had already paid them back, even if he lied, the rank 2 ire alone was more than enough. So why were they even keeping an eye on him? If he wanted to work with them, so be it: if not, what would they lose?
Yang Zhai came out of the inn and walked around the village. After an hour of looking around, he came to a secluded place and activated The One Ring.
After that, he came in front of a rock and examined it. This rock was around fourteen feet tall and then or so feet thick.
"It should do."
Yang Zhai punched it, not with his full strength though. He held back more than half of his strength. His focus was to increase the efficiency of his arms, so for the previous days, he had been practicing in the morning.
As for his legs, for now, traveling was enough for now. His arms bones were stronger than the other bones of the body because of the Brown Dacite, so his main focus was his arms from the beginning for now.
Yang Zhai started to strike the rock with his fists. He was slowly increasing his strength. He came to a stop putting more strength in his arm when he saw that the cracks were beginning to appear on the rock.
Of course, his hands weren't spared as well, they were also starting to bleed. But he didn't stop and continued. He stopped the moment he felt that the injuries were starting to worsen. He cleaned his hands and washed them. He tore a cloth from his robe and tied it around his hands.
After that, he returned to the inn and entered the room he was staying at.
"Brother, you are back. Did you practice again? Wait, let us heal them." Li Na rubbed her eyes and woke Si Yu.
"Stop, no need for that. You should avoid cultivating in front of others until you two can control your physiques completely. Also, make sure that nobody should know of your physiques' abilities besides the ones I allow to."
This was the reason Yang Zhai used cloth to cover up his hands: otherwise, Si Yu and Li Na would usually use their physiques to heal his injuries. As these injuries weren't serious, they could heal them.
He didn't want to create more problems by letting the strangers feel the benefits of their physiques. As for Jun Haru and Mah Qi, he had no choice, they were traveling with them, and he also needed Si Yu and Li Na to be able to control their physiques for them to benefit him, so he also couldn't stop them from practicing.
So, it was fine as long as these five were the only ones who knew about Si Yu and Li Na's physiques.
"Yes, brother."
"Good, let's go."
Yang Zhai came out of the room with the other four.
"Sir, we are ready, please tell us what we need to do." Yang Zhai said to a guard standing outside the room.
"Follow me,"
They began to follow the guards and came out of the inn.
"You guys take these two with you, as for these three, I will take them with me." One of the guards said.
"Brother… can't we come with you?" Si Yu asked anxiously.
Yang Zhai understood why Si Yu and Li Na didn't want to follow the others. These two hated every cultivator and were uneasy around others. They were traveling only because Yang Zhai was with them.
"No, just do as they tell you to, and don't worry, I am always watching you."
Out of the thirteen people here, nine took Si Yu and Li Na with them. Yang Zhai, Jun Haru, and Mah Qi followed the other four.
"I am Ji Hye, and I will be showing you around the village." The guard who had been giving instructions to the others said.
"These stalls you see are required to give one essence stone each month if they want to stay in this village: otherwise, they will be expelled. But we are allowed to directly ask them for the essence stones, so we always send someone who is not related to our group."
"What you need to do is to do this work instead of the others now. Every month, you need to take one essence stone from every stall. However, for this week, you need to do one thing and that is to collect a total of ten essence stones in any way you want."
"As all of them have already paid for this month, it will be difficult for you to collect ten essence stones from them. If you manage to collect ten essence stones, you will be allowed to join us." Ji Hye said with a smile.
It seemed like he was confident that Yang Zhai and the others would not be able to collect ten essence stones.
It's fine, though; nobody has ever been able to do that whenever they joined our group. It's enough as long as they put in the effort: Ji Hye contemplates.
"So, what do you say? Are you ready?"
"We will try our best."
So, they want us to get beaten by the villagers. They want to suppress and show us our place from the start: Yang Zhai didn't reject them.
He knew what these people wanted. Why would the mortal workers give them essence stones if they already paid for this month? These villagers would even ask for help from the mortal guards as they had already paid the essence for this month.
The guards left—or at least pretended to—while secretly observing them from a hidden spot.
"Brother, what do we do? Even though I don't know why you are obeying these weaklings, I will do as you tell me to. I am sure you must have something in mind." Jun Haru muttered.
Yang Zhai didn't answer and went to a stall.
"What do you need, sir?" the stall owner asked politely.
"Well, I wanted to ask if you need a slave?"
"Huh?" The stall owner was confused. This came out of nowhere.
Even Jun Haru and Mah Qi were confused. What was Yang Zhai saying and who was the slave?
"I am asking if you need a slave?"
"Cough… cough, sir, I don't know why you are asking me this suddenly. But I am too poor to buy a slave." The stall owner hurriedly shook his arms and rejected.
"You know as well as I do that a human slave is sold for at least a hundred low-grade essence stones. I am willing to give you that for only ten essence stones."
"Uh, no, sir, I don't think I need one."
Something seemed suspicious about this boy: why would someone sell a slave for only ten essence stones? The stall owner rejected him right away.
"I know you can't pay me much, and I also need essence stones, which is why I'm selling him to you cheaply. He can help you move your stall to the Luo Sect and handle house chores. If you don't need him, you could sell him for a higher price. Think about it." Yang Zhai said with a smile.
The stall owner hesitates. He had been shaken by Yang Zhai.
Now's my chance: Yang Zhai smiled.
"If you don't need him, I will go to the next stall then. I am sure someone will buy him, however, you will miss this opportunity." After saying this, Yang Zhai moved and was about to leave.
Yang Zhai pressures the man. He first shook him, then pressured him, giving him no chance to think.
"Wait, I am willing to buy him." The stall owner stopped Yang Zhai.
"Good,"
"Who is the slave?"
"The boy beside me, his name is Jun Haru." Yang Zhai says with a smile.
Jun Haru: "..."
Mah Qi: "..."
Ji Hye: "..."
This left Jun Haru, Mah Qi and the ones observing flabbergasted. Just what happened here?
"Have… I was sold…" Jun Haru mutters.
/!*****!*****!/