Time passed slowly. Xu Yang’s days were spent leaving late and returning early. With the five hundred silver he had obtained from Han Xing and Ji Jincheng, he ate Exotic Beast meat at every meal, and his cultivation steadily improved. In his spare time, he would also wander around Cyan Yang City, hoping to buy some Spirit Medicines for the Bone Marrow Cleansing Realm.

On this day, a group of people with imposing auras strode toward the main gate of the Purple Sun Sect.

Among them was none other than Kong Yu, ranked third among this generation of the Outer Sect’s Ten Heroes.

He wore the uniform of an Outer Disciple, his expression calm as he led the way. Only Shi Yong walked beside him; the other members of the Heroic Assembly followed behind the pair.

"Junior Brother Kong, are you satisfied with the haul from this trip?" Shi Yong asked with a smile.

This trip was entirely for a genius like Kong Yu to gather resources; the rest of them were just helpers arranged by the Heroic Assembly.

Kong Yu smiled. "I am. The Heroic Assembly truly lives up to its name as one of the top organizations in the Outer Sect. The membership benefits are even better than I imagined."

In just ten-odd days, he had already earned fifty or sixty contribution points.

If he had just done missions by the book, it would have taken him two or three months to accumulate this many contribution points. How could he not be satisfied?

This level of generosity was far greater than he had imagined.

Shi Yong laughed heartily. "As long as you’re satisfied. With a talent like yours, Junior Brother Kong, the Heroic Assembly will naturally treat you with importance. I just never expected your talent to be even greater than the rumors say. In my opinion, you should be ranked first among the Ten Heroes."

In just a few days, they had witnessed Kong Yu’s terrifying talent. Though he had only just broken through, he could already cut down experts of the same realm. It was frightening.

"Senior Brother Shi, you flatter me. How could I possibly compare to Du Chuan and Li Chuyang?" Kong Yu said.

Despite his words, a flash of self-satisfaction still appeared in his eyes.

He had heard such things from many people before, but Du Chuan and Li Chuyang came from backgrounds that were too powerful. He didn’t dare try to overshadow them, for fear of causing offense.

He still needed to join the Heroic Assembly for protection, but even the Heroic Assembly didn’t dare provoke those two. They only had to wait for their three years to be up, and they would be able to enter the Inner Sect directly.

"Junior Brother Kong, take a few days to rest. I’ll come find you again after that."

The group quickly entered the sect gate and went their separate ways.

Kong Yu smiled at the thought. If Shi Yong and the others took him on just a few more missions, he would have enough contribution points to redeem for a Vigorous Qi Martial Art.

’I wonder if Senior Brother Ji Jincheng has achieved Qi Cultivation Gang yet.’

Imagining how happy Ji Jincheng would be when he heard about this trip’s haul, Kong Yu couldn’t help but quicken his pace, heading toward the courtyard where his friend lived.

As soon as he stepped into the courtyard, he saw Li Xu’s grief-stricken face. Kong Yu’s heart sank, and all his joy vanished in an instant.

"Senior Brother Li, what happened?" Kong Yu asked in a low voice.

He glanced around but saw no sign of Ji Jincheng.

Li Xu said mournfully, "Something’s happened to Junior Brother Ji Jincheng and Han Xing. We don’t know if they’re dead or alive."

In a place like the Purple Sun Sect, "dead or alive" was just a euphemism. It meant the person was dead, but their body couldn’t be found.

Kong Yu felt his vision go black. His body swayed, and he nearly lost his footing.

His three senior brothers, who were as close as kin—Zhu Yang, Jiang Yi, and Ji Jincheng—had all left him, one after another. Worse still, both Ji Jincheng and Jiang Yi had vanished without a trace, unseen in life and their bodies unfound in death.

Ji Jincheng was also his master Ji Yun’s biological nephew. When they left Qingyuan County, his master had asked him to look after the boy. He never imagined that he would return from a trip only to be met with such devastating news about him.

"How did it happen?" Kong Yu asked through clenched teeth.

Li Xu shook his head. "We don’t know. We only realized they were missing when they never returned after leaving the sect. The brothers from the Eagle Society found a battle site at the foot of the mountain. We suspect that’s where Junior Brother Ji Jincheng and Han Xing were killed."

...

Greeted by the morning sun, Xu Yang, Lu Ren, and a third disciple finished their night of garrison duty. After the next shift of disciples arrived to replace them, the trio walked out of the Hundred Medicine Hall.

In their line of sight, a man and a woman were walking past the entrance of the Hundred Medicine Hall.

The woman was tall and slender, dressed in martial attire that accentuated her curvy figure and long, well-formed legs. Her features were delicate, but the most eye-catching thing about her was the longsword hanging from her waist. It was encrusted with gemstones that glittered with multi-colored light under the sun.

The man trailed half a step behind her, his back slightly bent. He was holding some snacks, following her like a lackey with a fawning look on his face.

"That sword... just the scabbard alone is worth over a thousand silver," Lu Ren said, his expression full of envy.

’If the scabbard alone is worth a thousand silver, how much must the sword itself be worth?’

’If I came from a family like that, I wouldn’t have to slave away for others. I’d have all the Cultivation Resources I could ever want.’

"Quiet! Watch what you say," Gu Haoming hissed. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"Anyone who can afford a Treasure Sword like that has to have a powerful background. They might even be the child of a high-ranking sect elder."

Xu Yang’s eyes narrowed slightly. He didn’t recognize the woman, and his attention wasn’t on her sword. Instead, it was fixed on the man with the fawning expression, because that man was none other than Xiao Chen, the son of Xiao Hua.

Xiao Chen had obviously noticed Xu Yang’s group as well. He subtly turned his head and shot a sharp glare straight at Xu Yang, the warning in his eyes self-evident.

"What are you doing?" Su Man asked, her expression turning sour as she noticed Xiao Chen’s furtive glance.

Xiao Chen hurriedly turned back, a smile plastered on his face. "I just saw a few junior brothers from the Outer Sect and was greeting them."

Su Man glanced back and saw Xu Yang’s group dressed in Outer Disciple uniforms. Only then did her expression soften. "Don’t associate with those mud-legs."

"I understand!" Xiao Chen replied, then followed the woman as she walked away.

Xu Yang remained completely unfazed. He’d lost count of how many times he’d heard such words. He was long used to it.

But Gu Haoming, the young master, couldn’t stomach it. He, a dignified young master of the Gu Family, had just been called a mud-leg.

While he felt the insult "mud-legs" might apply to Xu Yang or Lu Ren, it had obviously included him too.

He wanted to follow them and argue, but a large hand pressed down on his shoulder.

"Don’t be foolish. Compared to Miss Su, we really are just mud-legs," Hu Fengyi said in a low voice.

Gu Haoming had only recently joined the Purple Sun Sect, so he didn’t know who Su Man was, but Hu Fengyi certainly did.

"Forget you—even people like Cao Rong couldn’t afford to offend her. Didn’t you see the son of Outer Sect Steward Xiao Hua following her around like a dog, trying to curry favor?"

"Who is she?" Gu Haoming broke out in a cold sweat, realizing he had nearly caused a major disaster for himself.

He had never met Xiao Chen, but he knew how much clout Xiao Hua carried in the Purple Sun Sect.

Hu Fengyi said, "Her father is an Inner Sect Steward, and the Su Family is a Martial Arts Family from Cyan Cloud City with a century-long heritage. So, you tell me what kind of person she is."

Gu Haoming’s back was soaked with a fresh layer of cold sweat. He hastily cupped his hands in a salute. "Thank you for saving me, Senior Brother Hu."

He could already imagine the consequences of rushing over to argue. While he might not have been killed on the spot, the outcome would not have been good. Even the Dawn Association wouldn’t have cared about his life or death.

"Senior Brother Hu, what’s the relationship between Xiao Chen and that Su Man?" Lu Ren asked.

If he recalled correctly, Xiao Chen seemed to have some sort of ambiguous relationship with Lin Wei—he’d stumbled upon them once. But from the looks of it today, his relationship with Su Man was also anything but ordinary.

Hu Fengyi chuckled. "He’s trying to live off a woman and climb the social ladder. But from the looks of it, she’s not an easy meal ticket. Su Man doesn’t seem to think much of him."

A sneer appeared on Lu Ren’s face. ’Lin Wei thinks she’s successfully latched on to the Xiao father and son, but in their eyes, she’s just a toy.’

He thought of that once-heroic senior sister from Weiyuan Hall, how her personality had completely changed after arriving at the Purple Sun Sect, how she was now shamelessly throwing herself at a man. A look of contempt crossed his face.

’So it wasn’t that she was obsessed with the Martial Dao; she just looked down on all of us.’

He said quietly, "If you don’t want trouble, you’d best forget everything you saw today."

Xu Yang knew those words were meant for him.

Xiao Chen had a shady relationship with Lin Wei, but he was also trying to climb his way into the Su Family. If Lin Wei found out and made a scene, it would ruin Xiao Chen’s plans, and the Xiao father and son would surely retaliate.

He had no intention of meddling in these affairs. After all, he had no real connection to Lin Wei, and her father, Lin Cheng, had never done anything for him. He had no desire to offend the Xiao father and son, and potentially the Su Family, over something like this.

The only one who might talk was Xu Yang. After all, everyone knew that Lin Cheng had funded Xu Yang’s martial arts training.

Lu Ren’s warning wasn’t born from concern for Xu Yang. Rather, since all of them had witnessed the event, if word got out, who could tell whether Xu Yang had spread the rumor or one of them? At that point, the Xiao father and son would have no choice but to retaliate against everyone involved.

"You don’t need to remind me."

Xu Yang said, then quickly parted ways with the other three.