the multi

Chapter 29

Su Yuchen didn't cultivate that night.

After the sword training, the medicinal powder given by Senior Brother Li was applied on his wounds to heal them. When he first applied the medicine powder on a cut on his hand, it caused an intense stinging pain in the applied area.

Su Yuchen felt a sword stick through that cut. The applied area produced small foams over the area.

Su Yuchen held his hand still, clenching his teeth to bare while bearing the pain. In a few seconds, the pain vanished, but his hand was frozen in place for quite some time.

His whole upper body became numb to pain after applying medicine to all the cuts on his body.

At night, Su Yuchen held the "Cultivation Notes" book and read through the entire book. He wanted to read it and increase his understanding of the Meridian Refinement Realm.

Su Yuchen completed read the book in one night. He had more understandings about the eight extraordinary meridians that he needs to refine.

Su Yuchen compared the knowledge in the Cultivation Notes with what he learned from the lectures and Senior Brother Li's teaching. He came to the conclusion that the knowledge from the Cultivation Notes volume should be enough for him to perfect his cultivation realm.

His cultivation method of enduring mental pain and forcefully completing the circulation of astral energy through all the twelve primary meridians was already backed by the insights contained in the book.

The main concern was to be extreme focused and not letting the connection with the life essence to break off.

He was confidence about that part.

The extra knowledge from Senior Brother Li and the lectures were regarding medicine that he needs to know as general knowledge and common sense in the cultivation world. This medicinal knowledge was also the root of Senior Brother Li's concern and resistance to Su Yuchen's cultivation method.

After sorting out everything, he went to sleep.

The wounds didn't let him have a healthy sleep that night.

Pain relentlessly killed his dreams in the middle of the night.

..

.

[Ding! Daily sign in completed. Rewarded "Rudimentary Healing Mark Rune Crystal".]

Su Yuchen was surprised by the reward. The system was lending a helping hand to him. He removed his upper garments and immediately took out the rune crystal and placed it on top of the right side of his abdomen, below the ribs.

Su Yuchen eagerly took out a stellar rock and tapped it on the rune crystal. The rune crystal absorbed the astral energy from the stellar rock and shone brightly.

A golden symbol appeared inside the rune crystal. Su Yuchen was excitedly looking down at the rune crystal, he saw the appearance of the golden symbol and immediately identified it as the rudimentary rune of healing illustrated in the "Rune Ancestor's Notes Volume 01".

The golden rune of healing slowly began to shine by absorbing the astral energy from the stellar rock. It gave off eye blinding light within a minute.

Su Yuchen began to feel prickling pain in his abdomen, at the place where his liver should be. A rune mark began to appear on his skin that was in contact with the rune crystal.

Within a few moments, the rune of healing was engraved on his body.

Su Yuchen's body began to act, astral energy in his liver was instantly supplied to the root of the rune of the healing mark. The rune mark poured its power into Su Yuchen's body.

Su Yuchen started to feel a relieving sensation on the wounds and cuts. The pain from the cuts was immediately alleviated by the healing power of the rune mark.

Su Yuchen's face radiated with a smile after feeling the healing power. His face immediately showed a look of gratitude, "Thank you, system!" He said gratefully in his mind.

The pain that torment him since yesterday was alleviated in a few minutes by the system.

..

.

"Senior Brother Li, there is no need for torture like yesterday. We can just have a normal training session today." Su Yuchen stared at Senior Brother Li and spoke his words attentively.

"No. We will continue from where we stopped yesterday." Senior Brother Li replied indifferently.

"I am not going to participate in the sword training if we have to continue from yesterday. I was already inclining towards skipping today's practice." Su Yuchen declared bravely.

"Your performance in yesterday's sword training doesn't support this. An intense and rigorous training will make you more qualified to speak those words and also support all your decisions." Senior Brother Li stated in a gloomy tone.

"Senior Brother, you are speaking like a sword maniac. Please stop it. Let's sit down and discuss like normal humans. I liked the way you tried to inspire me on the day I treated you, that you were more inspiration and emotional. You touched my heart with your life story. Your life experiences motivated me to cultivate with a newfound strictness." Su Yuchen pushed out whatever nonsense that came out of his mouth. He furrowed his eyebrows, tried to show a melancholic expression, and spoke in a sad tone, "That strictness was a magical feeling, it even led me to bear all the pain from the complete twelve meridian circulation of astral energy. It was your motivation that made me to break through my mental limits. I wasn't injured in this expedition, you don't have to become agitated because of this."

"Senior Brother Li, you are capable of changing my views again with just your words. You don't have to come up with these unwanted training programs."

Senior Brother Li smiled lightly, he narrowed his eyes and asked, "If I remember correctly, you are following your present cultivation method since you started cultivating. How did it change to a result of my motivational words, Junior Brother?"

Su Yuchen immediately shook his head, "I was experimenting. That was all my experiments with cultivation. Your words just inspired me and resulted in a more successful method. If you are saying my experiment is a failure, I will surely stop my thoughts in this direction. You can be rest assured from now, Senior Brother."

Senior Brother Li laughed and patted the shoulder of Su Yuchen, "I am very happy that you are willing to listen to me, Junior Brother. I will ease up on the training, let's practise swinging the sword today."

Senior Brother Li took Su Yuchen's hand and examined the cuts on them. He only saw minor scars on them and nodded for speed of recovery. He looked at Su Yuchen and said gently, "I was also reluctant to follow that training program, Junior Brother. Injuring you also made me feel the pain you felt. I hardened my heart and still did it to teach you that the path you chose was wrong. Let us practise normally and safely from now on. Let me look after your mental health and protect it."

Su Yuchen quickly expressed his gratitude, "Thank you for your care and concern, Senior Brother. Your promising brings a lot of warmth to me. I will be in your care."

Senior Brother Li smiled and led Su Yuchen to practice.

Su Yuchen cursed his Senior Brother in his heart while swinging the sword.

All the mental preparations he made were wasted while speaking with Senior Brother Li. 

He decided to bow his head to the pain. No way could he bear the pain of sword cuts daily.

Now he needs to rely on Advisor System to hide from Senior Brother Li.

Chapter 30

When he returned to his room, Su Yuchen focused on the golden bead and then asked the system, "System, is there any way for me to hide my Cultivation progress and realm? Like an item or a rune crystal?"

[There are many items that can be used by the cultivator to hide his cultivation realm in the Energy Condensation Realm.]

[The system can reward a "Rudimentary Concealing Mark Rune Crystal" to you.]

Su Yuchen immediately pointed to the system, "That rune mark can't conceal my cultivation progress if Senior Brother Li checks my meridians. Is there any better way?"

[Upon analysis, the system recommends a solution to the cultivator.]

[Li Zhaoyun never examined your meridians.]

[There is a 0.001 percent chance that Li Zhaoyun will probe into your meridian after analysing his personality.]

[Remain quiet and make your remarks on cultivation according to common sense of this region.]

[It is recommended to you to keep silent and be reserved when speaking.]

[Li Zhaoyun will not probe too much if you don't make abnormal statements.]

Su Yuchen became silent after hearing the suggested solution from the system. "Thank you! I will follow this suggestion."

The golden bead became dim.

..

.

Su Yuchen was cultivating in the cultivation room in his place.

The oculus in the cultivation room was not opened because of the possession of Yin Stellar Rock.

Su Yuchen held a yin stellar rock in his hand.

Su Yuchen completed a full circulation of primary meridians and collected all the astral energy in his meridians and stored it in his meridians. When the life essence pulled all the astral energy towards it, his body absorbed the Yin astral energy from the yin stellar rock in his hand.

Su Yuchen meridians were freezing with the yin astral energy flowing in his body. The yin energy and astral energy are blended equally to become yin astral energy, nearly ten percent more presence of yin energy than in lunar astral energy.

The Yin energy also nourished his body and mind. He quickly began to circulate the yin astral energy before it could harm his mind.

He needed to quickly circulate the life essence and store yin astral energy in the dantian, before storing the yin energy in the Ren Mai. The life essence should not be over nourished by the yin energy present in the yin astral energy, it is already sufficiently nourished by the Yin Essence in the Ren Mai.

Su Yuchen quickly completed his cultivation and laid down on his bed to sleep. He was fortunate to have yin stellar rock to cultivate. His mind was relieved from the fatigued sooner because of the nourishment from the yin energy, but he also needed to deposit that yin energy into the Ren Mai faster to stop it from affecting his state of mind.

..

.

[Ding! Daily sign in completed. Rewarded "Rudimentary Concealing Mark Rune Crystal".]

Su Yuchen engraved the rudimentary rune of concealing on the left side of the chest.

The rudimentary rune took root in his heart.

The rune mark will passively conceal a part of his cultivation stage when his aura becomes more remarkable in the future.

When he actively uses the rune mark, no one at the same cultivation realm could find his aura, unless he stands in front of them.

Su Yuchen was very satisfied with this reward, but didn't feel any need to use it.

..

.

"Senior Brother, I will take Liao Feng with me to the local law enforcement office." Zhang Dali requested the leader of their team.

"Okay. Look after your safety." The team leader accepted Zhang Dali's request.

"Thank you, Senior Brother." Zhang Dali bowed.

Zhang Dali took Liao Feng with him to the local law enforcement office and quickly found a task suitable for Liao Feng there.

"Xiaofeng, this task should be good for you to show off. This middle aged thief who started to kill the victims of his previous thefts is your target. We are only staying in this town for tonight. You need to get him before sunrise." Zhang Dali showed the portrait of a burly middle aged man to Liao Feng and explained more details about him.

Liao Feng listened to him carefully and asked a question, "Will you lend me any help, Senior Brother?"

Zhang Dali replied, "I will give answers to all your questions in about the thief and also help you when your life is in danger. Remember, this is just a small test for you by me, we don't want you to hurt yourself because of taking too much risk."

Liao Feng nodded.

Liao Feng found a quiet place and looked through the information on his target. Because of his limited literacy, Zhang Dali explained all the information to him.

Liao Feng asked after thinking for a long time, "Is there any gang of thieves or a group of criminals in this town? Do we have any information about where they gather?"

Zhang Dali took Liao Feng to a gang of thieves based on his choice.

The street was filled with noises in the night. After beating most of the thieves, Liao Feng chased after the leader of the thieves gang.

Liao Feng decided to take a chance, and aimed his spear at a leg of the running thief leader in the distance. He gripped his spear firmly, stabilised the tip, positioned his body and launched the spear with a great burst of force.

The gust of wind from the spear pushed the small body of Liao Feng.

Liao Feng sat down on a chair, covered in sweat. His eyes were filled with excitement after winning his first real fight. He questioned the impaled thief leader and learned of all the three possible places his target could be at.

He handed the thieves gang to the patrol guards and chased his target.

Liao Feng was a Meridian Refinement Realm Sixth Stage Cultivator. He completed three meridian system refinements.

The Seventh rank Meridian Refinement cultivator, Liao Feng had plenty of energy and flashed through the streets of the town. He didn't find his target in the first location, but encountered him in the second location.

The small body of Liao Feng stepped on the burly middle aged criminal after he was defeated.

"Cut off his head. We can take it to the law enforcement office." Zhang Dali said as he looked at Liao Feng. He wants to know the decision of the eleven year old boy.

Liao Feng hesitated at first when he left his team, but by the team he caught his target, he reaffirmed his belief.

Liao Feng kicked at the temple of the burly criminal with great force, causing him to lose consciousness. He turned towards Zhang Dali and said with a childish smile, "Don't look at my small body and doubt me, Senior Brother. I can carry this man easily."

"Dead or alive, there is going to be no difference. Are you sure you want to leave him alive?" Zhang Dali narrowed his eyes and asked Liao Feng.

"I am sure." Liao Feng carried the burly man on his shoulder and started running towards the local law enforcement office.

Chapter 31

[Ding! Daily sign in completed. Rewarded "Sun Muscle root x 5".]

Su Yuchen stared at the uneven shaped roots in his hands. He did not know anything about that herb. He opened the "Alchemy God's Notes Volume 01" book from the system space and checked the whole book. He finally found the information on that root after searching for ten minutes.

From the name of the herb, he guessed that the reward might be useful for strengthening his body, and it is. According to the alchemy notes 01 the roots could be consumed to strengthen the muscles of a human. Furthermore, grinding the roots and mixing with the honey made by Ice Spiral Bees, will have a better effect.

Su Yuchen kept the sun muscle root inside the system storage space. When the system rewards the honey, he will mix it with the roots.

Su Yuchen looked at the information of the honey made by Ice Spiral Bees in the alchemy notes 01. The honey has mild coldness properties which has a refreshing effect in humans.

Both the sun muscle root and the honey are combined to make an elixir called sun strengthening elixir. Sun strengthening elixir is a very basic elixir from the elixir section in the alchemy notes 01.

Su Yuchen quickly read the whole thing about the sun strengthening elixir and got ready to start his exercises in the morning.

..

.

"Tonight, we will catch a gang, they are harassing the unmarried girls in this village. You don't have to worry about killing them, but they have a bit of cultivation, you need to take care." Zhang Dali informed Liao Feng. Liang Yu was also following them. "Liang Yu will help you if you can't handle them."

Liao Feng read the information and said, "I can do it, alone. The strongest in the gang is only a Fifth stage Meridian Refinement Realm cultivator. I can handle him, easily."

"Liao Feng, all the gang members are cultivators. They will attack together. It is definitely not going to be the same as normal people grouping together to fight you." Liang Yu refuted him gently.

Liao Feng didn't say any more words.

The three of them searched for the target gang.

When the gang members were indulged in gambling, a large tree trunk fell on them from the sky.

Some gang members were hurt badly when the large tree trunk fell directly on them, while others had minor injuries. Few of them escaped unscathed.

The tree trunk rolled forward and crushed the walls of the house behind them.

Looking at his surroundings, the leader of the gang cursed loudly, "Son of a bitch, who dares to attack us? Show yourself!"

Liao Feng sprinted quickly, lunged forward and attacked the face of the gang leader. The gang leader quickly dodged the attack and stabbed with a dagger.

There was no chance to stop suddenly, putting pressure on his ankles, Liao Feng spun around, while pulling the spear away from him. He captured the head of the gang leader in his eyes, now pulling the spear forward, he attacked the head of the gang leader with the flat end of the spear using his full strength.

The dagger of the gang leader failed to penetrate Liao Feng's chest upon contact. The gang leader was knocked by the hit from Liao Feng, there was a visible sound of skull cracking, the gang leader lost consciousness. His head was dripping with blood.

Liao Feng pointed his spear at the gang members and shouted loudly, "Don't take a step forward. Or you will face the same fate as your leader!"

The unscathed gang members looked at the badly injured companions and the fainted gang leader. They stared at the child in front of them with fear in their eyes. But still thought of resisting him.

Liao Feng released his astral energy to surround him, and stared intently at a gang member, "Do you dare?"

All the gang members were frightened to fight back when they felt the aura of the Sixth stage Meridian Refinement Realm cultivation on the child in front of them. They gave up.

Liang Yu and Zhang Dali appeared in front of them and praised Liao Feng.

Liang Yu slapped Liao Feng's abdomen, the armour underneath made a thumping sound. "You are quite daring! I was worried about your life and was going to take action."

Liao Feng asked while removed the three armours protecting him, "How did I perform? Is it great?"

Liang Yu nodded, "You are the best. When I was in a similar situation, I couldn't even defend myself properly. You subdued everyone quickly and efficiently."

..

.

[Ding! Daily sign in completed. Rewarded "Ice Spiral Bee Honey x 5 bottles".]

Su Yuchen immediately grounded the sun muscle roots. He mixed the fibrous root paste with the honey and slowly mixed them.

After mixing the root paste, the honey didn't have the same golden colour. He tasted the mixture. Although the coarsely ground root paste interrupted the sweet taste of honey with the root fibres, the whole mixture tasted sweet, and it was edible to consume. Su Yuchen waited for the elixir to take effect.

Su Yuchen completed his morning exercises, but he still didn't feel any effects of the sun strengthening elixir.

He focused on the golden bead and asked the system, "Why does the elixir have no effect on me? Did I fail in making the elixir?"

[The making of the elixir was successful.]

[The elixir is slowly showing its effects on the cultivator.]

"So this elixir shows its effects slowly." Su Yuchen asked the system, "Are all basic elixirs the same?"

[Yes.]

"This should have been included in the book." Su Yuchen said.

[The information is written in "Medicine God of Humans Notes' Volume 01".]

[The cultivator can read more information from this book.]

"Tch! I will look into that book at another time. The "Rune Ancestor's Notes Volume 01" book is already hurting my memory capacity. I can't begin two more books anytime soon." Su Yuchen said with annoyance.

..

.

"Did you want to catch criminals today?" Liang Yu asked Liao Feng.

"No. I already asked everything about the journey when we set off. So, I knew we are going to sleep in wilderness for the next few days." Liao Feng answered.

Liang Yu said, "I think it will be better for you to practice your skills tonight. You don't need to skip a day."

He asked, "Let's hunt beasts in the forest."

Liao Feng quickly nodded, "If you are coming with me, I will absolutely accept."

Liao Feng, Liang Yu and Zhang Dali entered the forest to hunt beasts.

..

.

"Senior Brother Li, can we focus on hand to hand combat more than sword practice? I am bored with sword practice." Su Yuchen asked Senior Brother Li after completion of a practice battle.

"Junior Brother, weren't you enthusiastic about swords a week before? Did you already lose your interest?" Senior Brother Li smirked.

"There is too much going on with the sword. I already can't handle the basic training, I am not going to fare better with a sword in the long run." Su Yuchen answered Senior Brother Li while rubbing his aching shoulders.

"Okay, let's try another weapon until we find a suitable weapon for you." Senior Brother Li asked.

"Senior Brother, let's focus on unarmed martial arts. I don't want to learn other weapons. It is enough for me to learn to handle a sword." Su Yuchen said seriously.

"Su Yuchen, mastering a weapon is a life saving trick. It is better for you to at least master the sword." Senior Brother Li advised Su Yuchen.

"That is also my intention, Senior Brother. I will master the sword slowly. It is better to raise my mastery of sword steadily than waste my time on finding a suitable weapon for me." Su Yuchen answered Senior Brother Li.

"You are not going to waste too much of time trying to find a suitable weapon." Senior Brother Li stated.

Su Yuchen shook his head, "Whatever weapon it may be, it is just going to be wasted by me. Fist is better than everything else."

Chapter 32

"We already caught and killed the fifteenth remnant of the Twilight Crane Sect. Are you still sulking about their death?" Zhang Dali asked Liao Feng with a sneering smile on his face.

Liao Feng's face was dark, he was in a terrible and shameful mood. He tried to speak with Zhang Dali on the day they found the first remnant to leave the remnant alive. However, he wasn't successful. He later tried to speak with Zhang Dali about excusing the remnants from death. Zhang Dali reprimanded him.

Liang Yu then discussed with Liao Feng about the need to kill the remnants.

Liao Feng argued with Liang Yu but couldn't convince him with his words.

Liao Feng was in a bad state of mood, he was ashamed of not being able to rescue the lives of the remnants of the Twilight Crane Sect. His fighting ability plummeted with every death of the remnants. The outer disciples in the team were dissatisfied with him and condemned him for his way of thoughts.

Liang Yu felt bad looking at Liao Feng, he said to him, "There are tens of teams like us, more than a thousand remnants have been killed by now. By killing them, we avoided the deaths of thousands of our sect disciple. Liao Feng, we are doing an honourable work, we will be saving thousands of lives. You should stop sticking to those naive ideas of yours. You are causing a lot of dissatisfaction among the team members, and your performance is also not up to par to the expectations. This is not good for you."

Liao Feng showed a bittersweet smile and said, "Wasn't it me who actively caught four of those remnants? It was because of me those four remnants died! Is requesting to stop killing those remnants also a reason to be dissatisfied with me, Brother Liang?"

"You nearly fought with one of the team members, Liao Feng! Don't be stubborn! Try to understand why your behaviour is troubling others." Liang Yu said as he stared at Liao Feng with some anger in his eyes.

..

.

"Su Yuchen, I will be leaving the Mount Stable for some time. If you have any needs, you can ask Junior Disciple Chen. He will be in charge of the Mount Stable in my absence." Senior Brother Li informed Su Yuchen. He was clad in a dark battle armour, a sword was hanging on his waist. A helmet covered his head, making it impossible to see his face.

Su Yuchen nodded, "Okay, thanks for the care, Senior Brother. But where are you going? Why are you suited up for a battle?"

Senior Brother said to Su Yuchen, "The discovery of the Star Blaring Secret Realm, attracted a lot more attention from other sects. Many sects stronger than our sect also showed their interest in exploring this secret realm. The sect is already preparing to activate all the sect protection formations and keep them active at all times. I was tasked with joining the sect members at the secret realm. We need to be prepared for any conflicts that may arise during these periods."

Su Yuchen frowned after hearing the information from Senior Brother Li. He asked him with an uneasy expression, "How dangerous can the conflicts escalate to? Is there any possibility for a war?"

Senior Brother Li shook his head, "There should be no possibility for a war during the time period the Star Blaring Secret Realm is opened and explored. But I can't rule out the possibility of a war if unexpected things are discovered in the secret realm. The big sects are involved in this event. We can't expect what will happen."

Su Yuchen mood turned gloomy listening to the answer of Senior Brother Li.

Senior Brother Li looked at the gloomy Su Yuchen and said, "You don't need to worry about something that only has a slim chance of happening. The sect leader and elders are not going to choose a solution that might lead to war. They will try to pacify the overall situation. We should be avoiding a war because of the state of affairs our sect is in."

Su Yuchen was slightly relieved by the answer of Senior Brother Li. He shook away all the thoughts in his head and decided to not worry about the situation.

Su Yuchen asked Senior Brother Li, "What will happen to me and others in my situation if there is going to be a war?"

Senior Brother Li answered Su Yuchen, "You will be thrown into the logistics department. You will not need to fight in the event of a war. Also, don't worry yourself by overthinking about the possibility of a war."

Su Yuchen stared at Senior Brother Li, "You already mentioned that there is a slim chance of the war to happen. According to my prejudice of the cultivation world, that slim chance is the most probable event that is going to come true."

Senior Brother Li gave a wry smile and shook his head in resignation.

..

.

"Senior Brother Chen, can we focus more on practising fist and palm techniques? Archery is too boring." Su Yuchen asked Senior Brother Chen while lowering the bow.

Su Yuchen didn't expect Senior Brother Li to find Senior Brother Chen to help him with training. Moreover, Senior Brother Chen was only motivated to teach him about archery. Su Yuchen was not very fond of this idea.

Senior Brother Chen shook his head and said with a cheerful expression, "No! You should be spending more time to practice archery, Junior Brother Su. You have a natural talent in archery. Your aim is good, and your accuracy will improve more with constant practice."

Su Yuchen looked at the clean target board in the distance and felt the encouraging words of Senior Brother Chen too unbelievable.

He stared at Senior Brother Chen, "Senior Brother Chen, I have only hit fourteen arrows onto that target board in this week. Half of them only had contact with the board before falling. I don't think we should waste more time on this."

Senior brother Chen looked at the target board in this distance, "The distance of 100 meters is hard to hit in the early stages. But your body stance is good. Your body position and focus before shooting the arrow is appreciable for a newcomer. You will do better in the future if you practice more."

Su Yuchen just showed a bitter smile, "You are making me shoot an arrow at a target 100 meters away from the beginning. Am I going to improve in archery?"

Senior Brother Chen patted Su Yuchen's arms and gave a laugh, "We are just playing around for a while. You will start shooting targets at smaller distances from tomorrow."

Chapter 33

The arrow missed the target board by a long shot.

Senior Brother Chen pinched his brows and asked Su Yuchen, "Su Yuchen, why are your hands so shaking? Where did you keep your mind? What are you even thinking before releasing the arrow?"

He exhaled his breath and said, "Just stare at the target. Breathe in and breathe out. This is all I am asking you to do."

He stared at Su Yuchen, "It doesn't matter if you don't even hit the target board. Just stop your distracting thoughts and try to improve your form."

Su Yuchen answered in a dull tone, "Senior Brother, I am trying to follow what you are saying, but I couldn't relax my mind before releasing the arrow."

Senior Brother Chen patted Su Yuchen's shoulder, "If you can't control your mind, just let the arrow go on an impulse. Don't think about the perfect time, do it when you had the thought. Your nervous mind will slowly become calm and get used to the action."

The arrow missed the target board by a long shot.

"Tch! Why is your hand trembling, Su Yuchen?" Senior Brother Li sat on a chair and relaxed, he was only staring at Su Yuchen when he was practising. He asked him, "You are distracted while practising! You are thinking about something else! What are you thinking about?"

Su Yuchen shook his head, "I am bad at archery. I think that is the reason."

Senior Brother Chen raised his hand and waved it in the air, "No! Your aim and form is good. You can become a good archer with practice and hard work. I can vouch on this. Can you make an oath that you are practising wholeheartedly?"

"Senior Brother, I can't make an oath." Su Yuchen said in a resigned tone, "But, I am doing exactly what you said. I am not even hitting the target board at 10 meters distance. I should be hitting the target board after this much training."

Senior Brother Chen stood up and said, "Follow me, Junior Brother. Let us practice some fist techniques. Try not to be distracted, or you will hurt your muscles."

Su Yuchen put the bow aside and followed him, silently.

..

.

"Why are you not joining in the practice sessions these days, Junior Brother?"

Senior Brother Chen asked Su Yuchen when he came to pick the storage bags for feeding the beasts.

Su Yuchen felt awkward and didn't know how to answer Senior Brother Chen, "Senior Brother Chen, I am reading the books on alchemy and medicine. I am very much interested in them and wasn't able to make time for practice. I am sorry, Senior Brother Chen. I didn't know you were looking forward to practice with me."

"There is no need for a sorry, Junior Brother Su." Senior Brother Chen smiled and said, "I was looking forward to teaching you more about archery, that's all. Moreover, Senior Brother Li also requested me to guide you in your practice. I want to fulfil my heart to help and also complete the request of Senior Brother Li."

"Thank you very much, Senior Brother Chen!" Su Yuchen bowed and thanked Senior Brother Chen. He said, "I will try to spare more time to practice martial arts from now on."

"Just try to practice more, this is the best time for you to hone your skills. In the future, you won't have much time to care about other things." Senior Brother Chen said to Su Yuchen.

"I will, Senior Brother Chen." Su Yuchen nodded.

"Junior Brother Su, your work hours will be adjusted for a few days. There is a great demand for mounts during these days, and we are expecting an increased flow in the coming days. We might have to work hard for a few days." Senior Brother Chen took a paper and gave it to Su Yuchen, "This list has your working hours. Don't tire yourself out. Relax a little."

"Okay, Senior Brother Chen." Su Yuchen nodded quickly while keeping the paper inside his storage bag.

"I hope you can also make some time to practice your archery skills. I want to teach you a lot before Senior Brother Li returns." Senior Brother Chen said in a gentle tone.

"I will try, Senior Brother Chen." Su Yuchen replied with a fake smile.

..

.

Su Yuchen gathered his courage and asked Senior Brother Chen, "Senior Brother Chen, are you going to take any missions in these days?"

Senior Brother Chen wiped his forehead and then answered Su Yuchen, "I am not going to take any missions for now. Why are you asking me this question, Junior Brother Su?"

Su Yuchen immediately replied in a nervous tone, "Recently, I heard that a lot of Senior Brothers in the sect are taking missions that requires a disciple to leave the sect. I want to know if you are aware of any information regarding this matter?"

Senior Brother snickered and said, "You seem to know the reason, Junior Brother Su! Why are you still asking me?"

Su Yuchen became still, he answered slowly in a dull tone, "I only have some guesses. They might be impolite to the Senior Brothers. So I wanted to know an answer for the recent trend."

Senior Brother Chen stared at Su Yuchen with a half smile, "What are you going to do after knowing about the reason?"

Su Yuchen instantly replied, "Nothing. I am just trying to relieve my anxiety, Senior Brother Chen. That is all."

Senior Brother Chen laughed mockingly, "A group of cowards are slipping to hide in the mortal world, fearing that they might be caught in a turmoil. That is what happening. This is all to the recent trend. Do you also want to follow them, Junior Brother Su?"

Su Yuchen shook his head, "I am not planning to leave the sect, Senior Brother Chen. There is also no place for me to go if I leave the sect. And my home is thousands of kilometres away from here."

Senior Brother Chen showed a big grin on his face, "You need to be brave in these times, Junior Brother Su. You also won't be affected by any turmoil. Don't overthink too much and practice your skills more. You performed a lot better today and hit 21 arrows at the target board. The elder will also begin to support you, if you show your excellence in combat skills."

Su Yuchen nodded.

..

.

Su Yuchen failed to hit 10 arrows at the target board in a row.

Senior Brother Chen didn't care much about the results. He patted Su Yuchen's shoulder to comfort him, "Senior Brother Li will not get any better just because you are standing here and worrying about him in your heart. Try to relax, Senior Brother Li already regained his consciousness. His life is out of danger."

Chapter 34

Liao Feng and Liang Yu walked side by side. They were silently returning to their dormitory rooms after handing over the mission.

Liao Feng was remembering everything he had gone in the outside world for over a month. His memories sank his gloomy mood.

Liang Yu was thinking about how to explain to others and make a decision about Liao Feng. He felt Liao Feng's abilities were of no concern, but the nonsense beliefs were pulling the legs of Liao Feng.

Liao Feng was immersed in a world of his own, recalling the deaths of all the remnants. He clenched his spear, ignoring the pain in his right shoulder.

Liang Yu saw the spear in Liao Feng's hand trembling and looked at him. He immediately held Liao Feng's hand and tried to comfort him, "What are you angry about? Is that angry worthy to hurt yourself?"

Liao Feng relaxed his hands over the spear.

Liang Yu slowly took the spear and put it inside his storage bag.

"Are you still brooding over their deaths? They may have died unjustly, but we can't defy the mission. The mission is also meant to safeguard the lives of our sect disciples. You must care about the lives in our sect." Liang Yu said to Liao Feng in a low and soft voice. "We should use every chance we get to protect our lives. If we gave a chance to the remnants and let them escape, they will return to take our lives next time."

"Your choice to let them live will kill people that could have been saved in the first place."

Liao Feng just lowered his head and listened everything Liang Yu said.

In the bustling street, Liao Feng only listened to the words of Liang Yu.

Until the bustling sounds changed to angry shouts and deranged curses.

Liao Feng gaze followed the noise. His steps changed their direction towards the crowd. Liang Yu followed his gaze and also moved towards in that directions.

Two men were beating a young man. The young man was pinned to the ground, his right leg was stepped on by one of them.

His left hand was on fire, burning fiercely.

The other man knelt beside the young man, like a madman he was screaming in the face and slapping the young man. He spat on his face and also punched him in the guts. "Can trash like you even qualified to speak with my sister? Can a maggot clan like yours think of coveting my sister?"

The young man was not resisting, there was no sound coming from him. The man, who was stepping on the hand, lifted his leg and stomped on the stomach of the young man. The young man's body leaned forward with a groan. He once again fell silent after the only shout of pain. His left hand was sizzling in the flames.

The sect disciples were just watching the fighting in the centre. The crowd wasn't big, disciples gathered together and stood in groups around the quarrelling men. A gap was made in the crowd to let the busy disciples to walk between them.

Liao Feng looked at the unresponsive young man, and the crowd, who were entertaining themselves with the brawl. His heart shook with panic.

That unresponsive face and the mad dog's leg hovering over the young man's head frightened Liao Feng.

In the next moment, the young man might die under that foot.

Liao Feng's muscles tightened, he lunged forward, drawing back his clenched fist, and quickly appeared in front of the foot hovering in the air. His left leg landed heavily on the ground, his tightly compressed iron fist was unleashed, the punch struck the thigh with devastating force.

The thigh bent with a heavy cracking sound. The man shrieked loudly because of the piercing pain.

He rapidly lifted his right leg and kicked the man kneeling beside the young man on the jaw. His leg hit the arm of the man who defended himself.

Then looked down at the unresponsive young man. The battered face, filled with blood and torn skin, enraged him. He wanted to ask if he can respond, but decided against it. He quickly gathered astral energy and covered his left hand.

Liao Feng turned his head to look at the two men who assaulted the young man.

Holding his thigh, a man fell down. The other man looked at his companion and his face darkened, "Brother Yu, wait for a few moments!" He howled crazily.

The man turned his head sharply towards Liao Feng and shouted like a madman while taking out a sword, "You bastard! How dare you attack us!"

He leaped forward and slashed at Liao Feng with a sword.

Liao Feng quickly dodged the slash, but the sword grazed his left arm.

Liang Yu immediately came forward to help Liao Feng while cursing him. He knew that a fight couldn't be avoided any more.

The crowd's attention peaked with the joining of two more figures in the quarrel. Whistles and unruly howls erupted from the crowd. They were engrossed in the screams of the fallen man and the violent punch.

Those men who were just crossing the crowd stopped and fixed their focus on the five men in the centre.

The fallen man gathered astral energy in his hands, he screamed loudly, "Brother Lin, kill that brat! Skin that brat!"

Brother Lin swung his sword fiercely at Liao Feng's head. Liang Yu was hit by flames from the hands of the fallen Brother Yu. Liang Yu rolled to the side to escape from the fierce fires.

Liao Feng successfully dodged and punched Brother Lin in the chest. Brother Lin was unfazed. Liao Feng's fist pained.

Liao Feng quickly moved his foot to put some distance between them.

Brother Lin face turned into crazed expression, his lips were stretched, and he smiled madly, "A skinny brat daring to even touch me. Just lie down and die from my sword without suffering."

"No! I must skin you. I must skin you alive."

Liao Feng mind was shaken. He quickly focused himself while dodging the slashes of Brother Lin's sword.

Liao Feng tilted his head to dodge the sword slashing his neck.

He realised that his life was threatened. A maniac is after his life.

Liao Feng closed the distance and punched the smiling mouth of the maniac Brother Lin.

He pulled his own head back and smashed Brother Lin's head with force.

Liao Feng's head buzzed.

Brother Lin shook his head and slashed at Liao Feng's chest with his fingers covered in astral energy.

Liao Feng caught the arm, but still failed to stop it from cutting his chest. He took in a sharp breath and bit his lips to stop screaming in pain.

Brother Lin began to unleash countless sword slashes at Liao Feng.

Brother Lin's unending sword slashes sliced Liao Feng body tens of time in a quick period.

Liao Feng was in an agonizing pain.

"Don't hold on your tears, brat. Cry as much as you can. Let me listened to them."

Liao Feng dodged and punched the guts out of Brother Lin whenever he can.

Liang Yu was troubled by the attacks of Brother Yu. He couldn't hold on for longer from the powerful attacks of Brother Yu. He dodged and dodged. The air began to fill with dust and smoke from the explosions of Brother Yu's attacks.

When Brother Yu's attacks lessened, he quickly took time to throw the spear to Liao Feng.

Liao Feng caught and held the spear with only his left hand.

Liao Feng put some distance and parried the slashes of Brother Lin's sword.

Brother Lin began to close the distance and stab at Liao Feng.

Liao Feng dodged and caught the hand of Brother Lin with his right hand. He slid the spear in his left hand backward and then stabbed at Brother Lin's abdomen.

The spear pierced an inch into the abdomen of Brother Lin.

Brother Lin held the spear with his bronze coloured hands and broke the tip. He stared closely into Liao Feng's eyes, "Are you dumb, you son of a bastard? I can treat you!"

Liao Feng's right hand was numb from pain. His body was oozing with blood.

Brother Lin didn't care about the silence of Liao Feng.

He unleashed an even more frenzied sword strikes at Liao Feng.

Liao Feng's spear dodged the sword strikes like a flexible snake. He focused on blocking the sword strikes.

The crowd quickly moved aside and gave space to them.

Like a madman, Brother Lin assaulted Liao Feng.

The skin of Liao Feng's fingers opened up with sword slashes. Blood dripped down from them. His teary, red eyes couldn't cover the crippling pain he was feeling.

The assaulted young man with his battered eyes barely opened them to look at Liao Feng. He slowly struggled to raise his hands and aimed at the shoulder blades of Brother Lin. A flaming ball of fire gathered in his hand.

Before Brother Lin could feel the danger, his right shoulder blade was blasted from behind.

Liao Feng looked at the young man and a smile blossomed on his face.

Liao Feng fiercely bashed the spear at Brother Lin's head. Brother Lin quickly dodged it by rolling on the ground.

He grabbed the soil and threw it at Liao Feng's face. Liao Feng instantly closed his eyes when he saw the sand in Brother Lin's hand.

Brother Lin changed the sword to his left hand and slashed at Liao Feng's right leg.

The sword cut deeply into the leg of Liao Feng's right leg.

Liao Feng's legs nearly gave out.

"Die! Die! Die!" Brother Lin cried crazily.

Liao Feng screamed in pain, "Can't you shut your mouth!"

He immediately launched a full blown attack in front of him. Brother Lin could dodge them at first.

But when the dust cleared and Liao Feng opened his eyes, it was like a spirit of god possessed him.

Liao Feng battered Brother Lin with the broken spear.

Brother Lin cowered on the ground instinctively. He protected his head with his arms.

Liao Feng thrashed mercilessly, unhinged and frantic.

Brother Lin tried to crawl away, feeble helpless cries barely leaking from his blood filled throat.

Liao Feng clobbered the arms of Brother Lin. His hand bones collapsed and broke. They pierced out of his skin and then sleeves.

The fight ended. Liao Feng was also at the end of his wits.

'I will not fall.' He thought in his mind.

He stood tall, trembling.

'No one in the crowd will kill that man. I will stand tall!'

Chapter 35

A team of Star Falcon Sect disciples entered the nearby woods as part of a practice session. The team was led by a lady in red clothes. All the disciples in the team were discussing their plans and some disciples even asked the lady for guidance.

The Lady in red clothes stopped suddenly, prompting others to stop their discussions and become wary of the sounds of footsteps coming from afar.

"Bai Yuhua!" A handsome man in red robes called the lady's name. Everyone's focus in Bai Yuhua's team landed on the tall and elegant figure at the front of the team, drawing near to them.

"Wang Ruilin!" Bai Yuhua called the man's name contemptuously. Jin Tianlong saw the animosity in her eyes and held her hand loosely.

Wang Ruilin grinned widely to speak, "How unfortunate is it that you have to be released from your punishment at this period! Doesn't everyone say that your master loves you deeply? Did his love die down? Doesn't he know that you won't return from the secret realm?"

"Damn you, gigolo! Did your elder sister give you any new tool? You are daring to challenge me!" Bai Yuhua snapped at Wang Ruilin. Jin Tianlong tightened his hold on her hands. Bai Yuhua's mind regained some clarity. "Get lost! Don't appear in front of me."

Wang Ruilin's smile deepened, he stared at her viciously, "Since your sect only punished you lightly for your actions, our sect can do a better job and teach you a lesson for them."

Bai Yuhua smiled like a blooming flower, attracting the attention of Wang Ruilin. She asked in a flattered voice, "Do you want to give me a massage? I don't mind, your soft hands should be very good for that. Do you want to wash my foot? I don't mind a handsome man serving me. I can't think any more, can you explain your jobs to me?"

Wang Ruilin's face blackened, he turned towards his team, "Junior disciples, the star falcon sect is obviously taking our sect too lightly by letting this vile woman walk freely. Shouldn't we teach them a lesson and show how things should be done?"

The teammates shouted loudly, "Yes, Senior Brother. We must teach her a lesson."

Bai Yuhua removed Jin Tianlong's hand as she stared at Wang Ruilin coldly. She stepped forward and asked him in an icy cold tone, "Wang Ruilin, are you looking for a fight with me?"

"Hold still!" An authoritative voice rang in the ears of everyone present.

Then they were forced to kneel down under a humongous pressure.

Bai Yuhua knelt on one foot while also covering Jin Tianlong with her power.

Two men appeared in the middle of the two teams out of thin air.

The pressure on all the disciples was relieved as the two men covered their sect disciples.

"Greetings fellow disciple." The man protecting the Star Falcon Sect disciples greeted.

"Greetings fellow disciple." The man opposite him returned the greetings.

"Greetings, Senior Brother Yang!" The Star Falcon Sect disciples bowed.

"Greetings, Senior Brother Liu!" Greetings were heard from the team opposite.

"It's okay if they just exchange some words, but don't you think fighting because of it is taking the things too forward, fellow cultivator?" The Star Falcon Sect disciple Yang Yuhan spoke with a smiling face.

"Aren't we here to stop them from taking things too forward, fellow disciple?" The man opposite him, Liu Qin, answered with a warm smile.

"I hope you can guide your sect disciples about the line they shouldn't cross. It will help you in avoiding more work." Yang Yuhan suggested in a gentle voice.

"Discussions will hone them, fellow disciple. We should let them be." Liu Qin rebuked the suggestion in a gentle tone.

"Then we can let them discuss when a suitable opportunity is found, fellow disciple." Yang Yuhan proposed friendly.

"Of course, fellow disciple!" Liu Qin agreed.

..

.

"Liang Yu, why did I send you on this mission? Didn't I say to look after Liao Feng? Why did you even let him fight inside the sect? Did you forget your task after entering the sect?" Wang Daming shouted at Liang Yu.

"I took care of everything he did? I was even explaining to him about the problems in his stupid idea of not killing while we stumbled up in that situation. I just followed him to see the situation and didn't get enough time to stop him before he suddenly took action." Liang Yu looked into Wang Daming's eyes and defended himself.

"You should be ignoring his stupid thoughts, he will learn his lesson eventually. Why are still stuck up on changing him?" Wang Daming stared at Liang Yu with a deep frown. "Look at him now, how does he look to you? His whole body had more than a hundred cuts, and his hands became nearly useless! Except for his face, his full body is covered in medicine! Did I send you to accompany to him to bring him back like this?"

Liang Yu eyebrows furrowed with frustration, he raised his voice, "Liao Feng fell out with the mission team, do you know that? Your friend, Zhang Dali, was mocking him on the road, do you know that? I was consoling Liao Feng to make him feel better. I tried to let him know and change his ways quickly to avoid such situations in the future. Did you see me doing all that? What were you even expecting me to do? Be his bodyguard and to protect him silently?"

Wang Daming became silent for a moment, he answered, "Don't say things like bodyguard. If I wanted a bodyguard, I would have gone myself to protect him. But I couldn't and the mission is also not to protect Liao Feng. Those remnants are the perfect targets for him to practice. There must be someone to guide him, and you are the perfect person for that."

Liang Yu sat down and replied to him, "I taught him whatever I knew along the way. I was also fighting alongside him to capture the remnants. Zhang Dali helped us at first, but he was also troubled by Liao Feng's constant interruptions in killing the remnants. No one looked after us after Liao Feng's routine. Do you think I should still remain calm?"

Wang Daming sighed, he sat in front of Liang Yu and replied, "The situation we are in might escalate, and we might have to kill someone. We are already tired of controlling the situation to avoid that, but if we have to deal with more people because of some unwarranted fights, we will not get any chances to live in the sect. Death will become our fate. I just wanted us to avoid more conflicts in this situation, that's it."