After a month-long journey, Xingjue finally returned to the Wind-Riding Empire. Standing at the foot of Floating Cloud Mountain, gazing at the fairy-like mountain range before him, Xingjue felt a deep sense of homecoming.
In the past year, Xingjue had truly grown, both mentally and physically. He was no longer the naive boy he once was.
"Xiaohan, Four-Eyes, brothers, I'm back!" Xingjue looked towards the wide road ahead, where Wind-Riding Pavilion disciples in blue robes were walking to and fro. He spoke softly, then took a step forward and began to walk towards the Wind-Riding Pavilion that had been his home for so long.
After returning to his Inner Pavilion manor, Xingjue changed into the purple robe of the Inner Pavilion. There was a strict dress code in the Wind-Riding Pavilion—disciples were required to wear robes that corresponded with their rank.
Once he had changed into his new robes, he went to Four-Eyes' manor. He had really missed his brother. He imagined Four-Eyes and the others seeing him and their faces filled with joy. Anticipation filled his chest.
"What? Four-Eyes went to the Outer Pavilion?" Xingjue sat in the living room of Four-Eyes' manor, dumbfounded.
"Yes, Master Xingjue. My master went to the Outer Pavilion's Training Pavilion to train," the small maidservant of Four-Eyes' manor replied respectfully.
"Why would he train in the Outer Pavilion instead of the Inner Pavilion?" Xingjue asked confused.
"Master Xingjue, I don't know," the maidservant said, shaking her head.
Xingjue was filled with questions. Logically, once a disciple entered the Inner Pavilion, they wouldn't return to the Outer Pavilion. The training environment of the Inner Pavilion was better than the Outer Pavilion. So, what was the reason behind Four-Eyes' decision to train in the Outer Pavilion?
Still harboring those questions, Xingjue headed towards the Outer Pavilion's Training Pavilion. His arrival caused quite a stir among the Outer Pavilion disciples.
This was due to the purple robes he wore, a symbol of an Inner Pavilion disciple. In the eyes of the Outer Pavilion disciples, Inner Pavilion disciples were quite impressive.
Many of the Outer Pavilion disciples actually recognized Xingjue. Hearing them tell the new disciples about his past exploits, Xingjue experienced a wave of nostalgia.
He didn't know which level Four-Eyes was training on, so he just waited in the lobby. But as fate would have it, a group of bold female disciples came over to flirt with Xingjue. The most frustrating thing was that none of these girls was even remotely pretty. Xingjue was about ready to rip his hair out.
"Well, if it isn't Xingjue. What brings you to my humble Outer Pavilion?" An old man's voice startled Xingjue. His eyes followed the sound to see the Elder who managed the Training Pavilion. He had met Xingjue a few times in the past.
"Hehehe, Elder. I'm looking for Four-Eyes. Have you seen him?" Xingjue, who was at his wit's end with the swarm of girls, was saved by the Elder's timely appearance. He took two strides and reached the Elder, smiling as he spoke.
"Ah, that's it. He's training on the third level. Since you're looking for him, I'll go get him for you," the Elder said and led Xingjue towards the third level.
The female disciples were left staring, their eyes wide with shock…
"Elder, can you open the iron gate even when a disciple is training?" Xingjue trailed behind the Elder, puzzled. As far as he knew, no one could open the iron gate while a disciple was training, unless you forcibly broke through the gate.
"Hehehe, this is because of what happened last time when you mistakenly entered the training space. After that, the Grand Elder realized that the Training Pavilion wasn't perfect, so he decided to renovate it."
"After half a year of renovation, they finally implemented this plan. As long as the Elder has the special talisman key, he can forcefully terminate the disciple's training," the Elder explained with a smile.
Hearing the Elder's words, Xingjue laughed. He almost lost his life back then because he had entered the wrong training space.
"By the way, Little Three is also training in this Outer Pavilion's Training Pavilion. Do you want to call him out too?" The Elder asked with a smile when they arrived on the third level of the Training Pavilion.
"Oh? Little Three is here too? Yes, call him out too." Xingjue was even more confused. Of all his brothers, the two closest to him were Four-Eyes and Little Three. Why were they both training in the Outer Pavilion? There must be a special reason.
As he considered this, Xingjue became even more eager to find out the truth.
The Elder then took the talisman key and walked to two separate rooms. He swiped the key over each door. The iron gates of the two training spaces slowly rose shortly after.
"Damn it. Who shut off my training space?!"
"Elder, why did you shut off my training space?"
Two curses could be heard, followed by two familiar figures emerging from the gates. It was Four-Eyes and Little Three.
"You two rascals are in a bad mood!" Xingjue smiled slightly and said loudly.
Hearing Xingjue's words, the two trembled and quickly turned to him. When they saw Xingjue, they were overjoyed and immediately threw their arms around him, tears streaming down their faces.
"Brother Xingjue, you're back!" the two cried, sniffling.
"Hehehe, tell me, why are two Inner Pavilion disciples training in the Outer Pavilion? You're supposed to be above this," Xingjue chuckled and said.
"Uh…" The two remained silent.
"Spit it out," Xingjue saw their expressions and knew something was up. He asked sternly.
"Brother Xingjue, it's like this. Shortly after you left, people in the Inner Pavilion kept bothering us. They said that anyone who had any connection with you wasn't allowed to live in the Inner Pavilion."
"They wouldn't let us train in the Inner Pavilion's Training Pavilion. Many of our brothers couldn't handle the harassment and became depressed. That's when 'Gao Le', the sixth-ranked elite in the Inner Pavilion, spoke up. He said that if we cut ties with you and joined his faction, he wouldn't bother us anymore."
"So, everyone started declaring they were cutting ties with you and joined Gao Le, leaving only me and Four-Eyes. There was nothing else we could do but train in the Outer Pavilion."
"In the past year, we've been training day and night. We finally broke through to the Wu Zong realm. A few days ago, we even reached the mid-level Wu Zong realm, but it's still much too weak compared to Gao Le. He's a Wu Zun. Those guys are just too powerful," Little Three said slowly. He was obviously still emotionally hurt.
"Good. Good. Good. Gao Le, is it?" When Little Three finished, Xingjue nodded, saying 'good' three times, then his joyful face suddenly turned cold.
"Yes, as far as I know, Gao Le is also a disciple of the Second Elder of the Inner Pavilion. That's why the Enforcement Pavilion wouldn't dare intervene in any of his actions," Little Three added.
"The Second Elder again. By the way, haven't you told Xiaohan about your situation?" Xingjue asked, confused.
Xiaohan had made a statement, and the Second Elder wouldn't have dared to bother Xingjue again because of her. But why was he causing trouble again now?
"We don't know. It's only rumored that Sister-in-law entered closed-door training shortly after you left. Besides, Sister-in-law doesn't even know us. How could she possibly care about us?" Little Three said, a bit dejected.
They had only heard stories about Xingjue's incredibly powerful girlfriend. They had never met her.
Xingjue thought about it and realized this was true. When Xiaohan announced their relationship, it was only to protect him. Four-Eyes and Little Three were only spared because of their connection to him.
Once he left the Wind-Riding Pavilion, no one would have cared if Four-Eyes and Little Three ran into trouble. That was why the Second Elder had dared to target them. Xingjue was starting to worry about the Second Elder. He was just too insidious.
Back then, Xingjue had merely refused to be his student. It was such a trivial matter, yet he held a grudge this whole time.
"Four-Eyes, Little Three, you've suffered a lot these past few days. From today on, no one in the Inner Pavilion will dare to bully you any longer," Xingjue patted their shoulders and smiled. If he hadn't angered the Second Elder, they wouldn't have suffered so much.
After speaking, he walked toward Gao Le's manor. Little Three and Four-Eyes tried to stop him. After all, Gao Le was a beginner Wu Zun, the sixth-ranked on the Inner Pavilion's elite list.
However, after they learned of Xingjue's current strength, they suddenly became very confident and charged towards the Gao manor, following closely behind Xingjue.
Gao Le's manor in the Inner Pavilion resembled Xingjue's former manor in the Outer Pavilion. There were dozens of Inner Pavilion disciples in the manor, some chatting, some sparring, some relaxing. They were living a pretty comfortable life. Among these disciples, there were some who had been Xingjue's former brothers.
Moreover, even the gatekeeper at Gao manor was an Inner Pavilion disciple. Today, the gatekeeper was coincidentally two of Xingjue's former brothers.
"Look, it's Xingjue. Xingjue is back! " one of the disciples saw Xingjue first, and his voice trembled with shock.
Hearing this, the other disciple also spotted Xingjue and his expression grew complex.
When they had first entered the Outer Pavilion, they were often bullied. They had joined Xingjue's faction to escape the harassment. Xingjue had been incredibly kind to them.
Later, when they entered the Inner Pavilion, Xingjue had used his points to buy them martial arts skills to help them improve. And now, they had betrayed him, and they felt a deep sense of shame.
But Xingjue and his company had already reached the gate of the manor. Seeing his two familiar brothers, he smiled slightly and said, "Tell Gao Le to come out."
The two brothers immediately understood Xingjue's intention. They had spent time under his wing and knew him well. Xingjue never accepted a loss.
Seeing his former brothers so abused, Xingjue wouldn't tolerate it. One of the disciples rushed into the Gao mansion, while the other stood with his head down, unable to look at Xingjue.
Shortly after the disciple entered the manor, dozens of Inner Pavilion disciples rushed out. Almost all of them had reached the Wu Zong level. Several even reached the high-level Wu Zong realm.