A Chaotic World

It was already getting late by the time Young Master Xuan Hao returned from the Grand Ember Hall, so the group simply returned to his residence to rest for the day.

Young Master Xuan Hao shared a house with his mother Taomie Lianhe and his younger brother who was away at the moment. Thankfully, it was a big house, and there were still more than enough spare rooms to accommodate the group.

After what happened earlier that day, Taomie Lianhe's impression of Lu Tianzi and Nanlan Qianxue took a drastic turn for the better.

She no longer spoke to them with the same half-heartedness as before, and had meticulously arranged for the servants to prepare the best rooms for them.

However, it was clear that her attitude towards Ruan Ling was still rather cold in comparison.

"Does his mother disapprove of you?" Nanlan Qianxue could not help but ask while the two of them were sharing a hot medicinal bath.

Ruan Ling let out a helpless sigh. "Brother Xuan Hao is an heir candidate of the Timeless Flame Sect after all. Even though I am the daughter of the Soft Stream Clan's Clan Leader, the Soft Stream Clan can't possibly compare to the Timeless Flame Sect. Moreover, my mother is only a concubine and not the main wife. Because of that, I think Aunt Lianhe does not believe that I am a match for Brother Xuan Hao."

"I see..." Nanlan Qianxue nodded.

This was the first time that she had heard Ruan Ling speak about her parentage.

She might not know what kind of an influence was the Soft Stream Clan, but what influence could possibly match up to the Timeless Flame Sect?

Not to mention that Ruan Ling was only the daughter of a concubine.

To a certain extent, Nanlan Qianxue could understand Ruan Ling's concerns.

"I have always believed that I will move Aunt Lianhe with my efforts one day, so I haven't been too worried about that. But now that the seniors are asking Brother Xuan Hao to get close to Linye Caixia, I can't help but feel awful," Ruan Ling sighed. "This made me realise just how lacking I really am. Linye Caixia is only a few years older than us, and she doesn't even have any connections outside of the Timeless Flame Sect. Even so, the amount of support she can provide to Brother Xuan Hao is something that I can't even dream of! Why are the heavens so unfair? Why can't I just have the same level of raw talent that she has?"

Nanlan Qianxue remained silent.

She had not expected her casual question to trigger such a huge reaction from Ruan Ling.

It was obvious that Ruan Ling had been hiding her indignance all this while, and hearing about the senior's instructions for Young Master Xuan Hao just made everything worse.

Nanlan Qianxue naturally felt bad for her, but she simply could not think of any words that she could console Ruan Ling with.

In this world where strength mattered the most, it was understandable that Young Master Xuan Hao's mother would want him to be paired with someone with a matching status.

This would not only provide him with additional influence and power in the future, but perhaps more importantly, it could also be a pillar of support in his fight for the position of heir.

It would be different if Ruan Ling was an unparalleled genius like Linye Caixia, but that was unfortunately not the case.

Even though Ruan Ling could be considered a small genius in her own right, her level of talent was ultimately still insignificant in the eyes of a behemoth like the Timeless Flame Sect.

"Sorry to ruin the mood, just pretend that I didn't say anything," Ruan Ling sighed yet again.

"Don't worry about it. Hardwork will not betray you. I'm sure things will work out in the end," Nanlan Qianxue said encouragingly.

Regarding this matter, there really seemed to be no other options but to try and slowly convince Young Master Xuan Hao's mother of her worth.

Nanlan Qianxue closed her eyes in deep contemplation.

She, herself, was struggling with a similar issue.

Young Master Xuan Hao might be a spectacular character in most people's eyes. But to Nanlan Qianxue, there was simply no comparison between him and the person in her heart.

The person she liked was simply far too dazzling, such that she had to struggle with all her might just so that she would not be left in the dust.

The last thing she wanted was to end up becoming a burden to him.

To someone as prideful as her, that would almost be a fate worse than death!

That was also the main reason why she had been working so hard on her cultivation, not letting go of any opportunity to cultivate.

She did not know if hardwork alone would be enough to bridge the gap between them.

But what she did know was that if she did not work as hard as she did, then she would definitely be left far behind!

***

"Brother Tianzi wishes to return to the skills repository?" Young Master Xuan Hao revealed a look of surprise.

"If that is not too much trouble," Lu Tianzi added.

"Of course not! It is not going to be a trouble at all! Hahaha! Let's go first thing tomorrow morning!" Young Master Xuan Hao answered gladly.

Ever since the meeting with Xuan Wen at the True Fire Tavern, Young Master Xuan Hao had been worried that perhaps he had not been a good host to his Brother Tianzi.

After all, he had not been able to offer anything valuable to Lu Tianzi.

Now that Lu Tianzi was making a request for something that was well within his means, Young Master Xuan Hao was more than happy to satisfy this request!

"What type of techniques are Brother Tianzi interested in? Perhaps I can ask for some from the other repositories as well," Young Master Xuan Hao asked.

"I'm mainly interested in manuals on the art of inscriptions and formations," Lu Tianzi replied with a smile. "That, and I also wish to take a look at movement techniques."

He could not possibly tell Young Master Xuan Hao that he wanted to look at Spiritual Essence Cultivation Techniques!

And what he said was not completely a lie either.

Lu Tianzi was truly interested in improving his knowledge pertaining to both the art of inscriptions and the art of formations.

Even though the Timeless Flame Sect did not specialise in artificing like the case of Sacred Cliff City, as an ancient sect, surely the Timeless Flame Sect would have its own deep heritage with profound insights into these fields.

If he could get his hands on those, then he might just be able to bring his expertise to a whole new level!

As for movement techniques, that was an aspect that he had wanted to improve on since a while ago.

"Don't worry, there are manuals on them in the skills repository. Brother Tianzi will be satisfied for sure!" Young Master Xuan Hao replied. "After we go to the skills repository tomorrow, I will ask around to see if other repositories have similar manuals that they could bring out as well."

"You have my gratitude then, Brother Xuan Hao!" Lu Tianzi raised the teacup in his hands.

"This is nothing, Brother Tianzi doesn't have to be concerned!" Young Master Xuan Hao did the same in return, and the two downed the tea in their cups.

"I will be refilling the tea," the servant standing by the side stepped forward and kept away the teapot and teacups before leaving the room.

Young Master Xuan Hao and Lu Tianzi were not bothered, and continued to chat about various matters.

As for the servant, she silently stepped out of the room.

After closing the door behind her, she stealthily sent out a message through her communication ring.

On the other side of the communication channel, Xuan Junwei rubbed his chin in contemplation. "Junior Apprentice Brother Hao is bringing them to the skills repository? Heh! I guess it's time to show them just who is the one in charge around here!"

***

As Young Master Xuan Hao promised, he brought everyone back to the skills repository early the next day.

"Senior Apprentice Brothers, I will be bringing my friends in again today," Young Master Xuan Hao politely greeted the two guards at the entrance.

"This..." the two guards exchanged glances. "I'm afraid that will not be possible."

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Young Master Xuan Hao did not expect such a reaction. "Didn't you allow us in yesterday? Is it because you are worried that the elders might blame you for this? Don't worry. As I said, I will take full responsibility if that happens."

"It's not like that, Junior Apprentice Brother Hao. The thing is that we received specific instructions that people who aren't members of the Blue Ember faction are considered outsiders, and are thus strictly prohibited from entering the skills repository," one of the guards replied.

"You suddenly received such instructions after we left yesterday?" Young Master Xuan Hao frowned. "Who is the one who passed down the instructions?"

No wonder the guards were unwilling to let him through.

For such instructions to be passed down right after he brought his friends to the Timeless Flame Sect, this was obviously targeted at him!

"This..." the two guards exchanged glances yet again.

But at this moment, a suave looking young man slowly stepped out from within the skills repository. It was a familiar face that all four of them recognised immediately.

"Wow, what brings everyone here so early in the morning?" Xuan Junwei said with his hands gracefully clasped behind his back. "We meet again, Lady Qianxue."

Nanlan Qianxue did not respond, but the two guards quickly took a step back to stand behind Xuan Junwei.

At this point, how could Young Master Xuan Hao not connect the dots?

Nevertheless, he asked just in case. "Senior Apprentice Brother Junwei, do you know who passed down the new instructions that strictly prohibit outsiders from entering the skills repository?"

"I did," Xuan Junwei answered nonchalantly. "The skills repository contains many secrets of not just the Blue Ember faction, but the Timeless Flame Sect as a whole. Allowing outsiders in will only jeopardise the integrity of the sect. That is why I passed down such an instruction. Is there anything wrong?"

"But exceptions have always been made for friends of the sect. As long as a member of the sect accompanies them and makes sure that they do not go to the higher levels, it has always been allowed. So why the sudden change?" Young Master Xuan Hao questioned.

"As the saying goes, better late than never. Times change, and we cannot afford to fall behind. These days, more and more surveillance and espionage techniques are being developed. We naturally have to be careful as well," Xuan Junwei answered.

Young Master Xuan Hao gritted his teeth in frustration.

"Of course, I am not an unreasonable person. I will give you some face since you already brought your friends all the way here. If your friends really wish to peruse the manuals within, that is not impossible either," Xuan Junwei added. "You just have to run these manuals through me before passing them to your friends. As long as I see that they are nothing sensitive, I will allow these manuals to be brought out for them to read."

"And what if I insist on bringing them in?" Young Master Xuan Hao retorted.

Run every manual through him?

That was just making things difficult!

It was one thing if they already had a particular technique or manual in mind that they wanted to check, but they were now trying to look through the repository to see if there was anything suitable!

If they really had to bring the manual out one by one for Xuan Junwei to check through before they could even start reading them, it would take forever for them to scour through all the different manuals within!

"Hmph!" Xuan Junwei scoffed. "By deliberately going against instructions and allowing outsiders into the skills repository despite the obvious risks, that can be considered rebelling against the sect! I'm sure Junior Apprentice Brother Hao will know better than to do something like that!"

At this moment, Young Master Xuan Hao was not only angered, but also perplexed.

His Senior Apprentice Brother Junwei had always been amiable and kind to him before this.

This was the first time that he had ever seen his Senior Apprentice Brother Junwei acting this aggressively, and it was also only now that he realised just how hateful his Senior Apprentice Brother Junwei could be!