"Elder Li, what do you think?" A man standing in the middle of a hall asked.
There are chairs on the two sides of this hall. Out of many chairs, four chairs are occupied right now. Including the man standing, there are a total of five people here.
"We need to remove Elder Chi, he is a danger to our authority."
Speaks a man named Li Wei.
"I think so as well, we need to remove him. Even though he is just a rank 4 peak-stage cultivator, he is able to stand his ground against a rank 5 cultivator for a few moments." Said another man sitting on a chair.
"Elder Tian is right, he is about to advance to rank 5, and if we don't do anything, he can for sure rival us and even vie for your position, clan leader Wang." Another man said.
This man's name was Ming Hao. He was quite skinny compared to an average man. The man he called out to was the one standing in the middle, the clan leader of the Luo sect, Wang Lei.
Elder Chi Lein was a rank 4 peak-stage cultivator. His name was quite known in the surroundings. In a battle against the intruders in the past, he was able to hold his own against a rank 5 cultivator for a while before the reinforcements arrived.
As such, he came to be known as the Hidden Tiger of the Luo Sect. Recently, whispers have circulated of his ambition to ascend to rank 5. Due to this, these five people convene to contend against this.
However, there was something strange here. Among these experts sat a rank 3 cultivator.
"Clan leader, that's not the problem right now where our focus should be. We should be focusing on Yang Zhai." A boy spoke.
"Oh, you mean the one who is said to be in the possession of a powerful inheritance? He is said to be missing for a month," said Wang Lei.
"Yes, that is the one I am talking about. If he really is in possession of a powerful inheritance as mentioned by the Bai clan, we need to capture him before others do," the boy said.
"Jun Yi, I get what you are saying, but this world is quite vast. We don't know in which direction or where he went. Sending out a group of cultivators randomly would be foolish. He might not even be traveling in our sect's direction."
Wang Lei said.
"But still, we should at least be prepared in case he does appear around our sect and should dispatch a group to search the surroundings at least."
The boy spoke hurriedly. His name was Jun Yi, and he was at rank 3. His tone and the urgency in his voice suggested that he was quite anxious to capture Yang Zhai for some reason.
"What are the chances that he will appear in our sect? Forget about that, I don't think he will even come near the surroundings of the Luo Sect." Elder Tian Yu voiced.
"Even so, we should at least be prepared! What if, by chance, he does appear in our sect, we should at least be able to capture him before he leaves…"
"Calm down, Jun."
Jun Yi was starting to get anxious, and his voice was starting to increase, but he was stopped by Ming Hao.
The others looked at Jun Yi, it was clearly visible that he was desperate to capture this Yang Zhai kid.
"Jun Yi, you should go and get some rest. We will talk about this later. Also, don't worry, if Yang Zhai does arrive in our sect, he will be captured by the guards standing at the village gate."
"But…"
"No but, go and get some rest, we will talk about that later."
Wang Lei was unwilling to listen to Jun Yi. He could guess why.
Ever since Jun Yi heard about this Yang Zhai kid, he has been acting weird. It seems that he is jealous of how a boy of his age could reach rank 4, while he is still at rank 3 Peak stage even after using our sect's resources: Wang Lei contemplated.
These were the thoughts of the other three elders as well.
Jun Yi stood up and respectfully bowed¹ before leaving.
…..
Meanwhile, Yang Zhai came out of the shop. He saw the other four waiting.
"Let's go," after saying this, he walked in a certain direction.
I already have the strength of 16 bulls because of the Strength Ka, but I will need to get it to rank 4 for me to truly benefit from it. Otherwise, advancing would get very difficult from here on out: Yang Zhai was reflecting while walking.
He had been using Strength Ka to constantly increase his physical strength. However, its second ability was useless to him now.
The reason was that it had the ability to strengthen the essence water, but now that he was at rank 4, its second ability had become useless. Now, he was using rays, not the essence water.
As such, he was thinking of advancing it to rank 4.
Just like how it advanced after absorbing spiritual energy from the Spirit Garden back at the Bai clan, I think it can also advance to rank 4.
While he was thinking, he saw a boy walking in his direction. He moved to the side and allowed the boy to pass.
As the boy didn't care for Yang Zhai and arrogantly walked straight without the fear of smashing into Yang Zhai, it seemed like he was the son of a higher-up.
Yang Zhai looked at the boy with calm eyes till the boy took a turn and disappeared.
Yang Zhai heard the boy murmur when he was walking past him.
As I expected, they have been informed by the Bai clan about me: Yang Zhai thinks with indifference.
The boy who just surpassed Yang Zhai was Jun Yi. He was muttering about Yang Zhai in anger. This anger was not on Yang Zhai but on the higher-ups of his sect.
He sees someone following the boy. The one following the boy seemed to be guarding him.
Yang Zhai ignored him and went to an inn. He bought two rooms: one for the others and one for himself.
I will be in this sect for a while; I can't share the same room with them. Yang Zhai sat down on the floor and began to cultivate.
"I need to use the Spirit Garden of this sect, but the moment I use it, there would be an intense reaction and I won't be able to avoid the gazes of others, I need to think of something"
Spirit Garden was where the spiritual energy was the most intense. Almost all the sects and the clans would build one. There was no way that the Luo Sect would not have one. In his previous life, he even visited the Spirit Garden of the Luo Sect for cultivation.
He was thinking of letting the Strength Ka absorb the spiritual energy of the Spirit Garden but had to be careful. Even though the others could not recognize him right now, he would still attract attention.
/!*****!*****!/
1- When I say 'bowed,' I don't mean a full prostration; it simply refers to a slight lowering of the head as a gesture of respect.
2- Also, the publish time for the chapters is between 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM GMT