"Hm? A senior tutor is opening a public forum…?"

Van grew excited. He checked the date and saw that it was happening this afternoon! He had not noticed the posters earlier.

[Perfect. It does not clash with my plans for the Mystery Object Sale at the Lantern Festival tomorrow.]

_____

[At the same time, elsewhere in the sect.]

"Please, Cousin Master, we beg you take pity on him!"

Klaus looked down coldly at the bedraggled figures before him.

A sprawled body lay on the floor between them. Klaus stuck out a foot and turned the body over.

Pale face and crazed eyes. Shaking pupils.

It was his cousin alright.

"Nathaniel," he drawled, "how the mighty have fallen."

Nathaniel, the figure being restrained on the ground, seemed to sober slightly. He saw his cousin's haughty features and growled.

"Who has fallen!?"

Klaus lifted a pale brow.

"Oh? Then what do you call this? Throughout my childhood, I recall Aunt bragging countless times about your talent for the martial way…and yet here you are with a severe case of demonic overdose! What kind of fool are you?"

Klaus did not feel an ounce of pity for this cousin of his.

Most Cedar Sect disciples watched their level of demonic influence carefully. If they consumed beast cores, they would immediately take a much lower level herb known as Angel Gra.s.s and dispel any impurity immediately. This was the cheapest and most logical option as Angel Gra.s.s cost only one hundred taels for one dosage. Smart cultivators never had a single incident with demonic influence even if they consumed hundreds of beast cores.

There were two scenarios, however, in which it was common for cultivators were caught out unawares.

One, if they consumed a very large beast core. Even if the concentration of demonic energy was low, it could acc.u.mulate inside the body and overwhelm the cultivator.

Two, if they consumed a high-ranked beast core with high levels of evil energy. This was self-explanatory.

If a cultivator encountered either of the above scenarios, they were at high risk of going crazy or being infected with demonic energy. No amount of Angel Gra.s.s could solve their problems even if they ate hundreds of kilos.

That was where the Blue Mist Ivy flowers came in. They were more expensive, yes, but if you wanted to go hunt higher level beasts and consume their energy safely then they were a must.

Obviously, someone who wasn't brain dead would have had some on their person before they attempted anything foolhardy.

Klaus figured that the Blue Mist Ivy flowers were why Nathaniel came to visit him today.

Indeed, Nathaniel lifted his head and crawled forwards. He grabbed onto Klaus' shoes.

"Cousin! I beg you, out of the fondness we had for each other in our childhoods, please, help me! I just need some Blue Mist Ivy flowers. I know you have been stocking up!"

Klaus pulled his foot out of his cousin's grasp and kicked him away.

"Fondness? That's funny. All I remember is you sucking up to my older brothers!"

Nathaniel crawled back.

"Please, cousin. I was blind and did not see Mt Tai. You have more talent in your pinkie finger than I have in my whole body. After all, you have only been here for just over a month and you are already in the 5th level of Qi Distillation…!"

Klaus smiled coldly. He knelt and grasped his cousin by the chin.

"Let me guess… you were so afraid of me surpa.s.sing you that you went crazy and then ingested all these demonic cores? And now you need my Blue Mist Ivy flowers too?"

He laughed loudly, his pale hair shook.

"You didn't even advance one level…!"

He laughed harder.

On the floor, Nathaniel's ingratiating expression froze. A flash of hatred appeared in his eyes. This cousin of his…! What right did Klaus have to lord it over him now? His older brothers were the geniuses and Klaus was just an afterthought.

Nathaniel was unwilling to accept this situation. Somehow, he was now below the level of this afterthought!

[How did Klaus advance his cultivation so quickly?]

Nathaniel had been certain that Klaus had been doing the same thing as him, and that's why he had such a large stock of Blue Mist Ivy flowers. And yet, Klaus seemed completely fine!

Nathaniel grit his teeth and continued to beg. Behind him, his subordinates had their forehead to their ground. They blocked their ears, unwilling to hear their Master begging.

Klaus looked coldly down at him.

"I thought your little red crows struck fear into the lives of the fresh outer disciples…Surely they could have robbed someone and gotten you the flowers. Or… did you finally overreach yourself? Did you bite into soft tofu only to find out it was a rock?"

Nathaniel lowered his head, "It is as you say, cousin."

Klaus found this all too amusing.

"Pray tell, who was it that batted away your little red crows and foiled your daylight robbery?"

Klaus imagined the Blood Crow gang being defeated by someone they thought they could bully and was amused.

"I-I don't know…" Nathaniel said.

Klaus looked at the Blood Crow gang.

"Do any of you know his name?"

"Y-yes, Cousin Master. His name tag said his name was Van."

[Van…?]

Klaus' eyes flashed with an unknown emotion.

"Good, good!" He said with no inflection in his tone. He might disdain this moronic cousin of his…but this was still his cousin!

"That pesky fly has been buzzing around since the start and now he's actively trying to humiliate me…" His pale eyes narrowed.

"What cultivation level is he now?"

The Blood Crow gang looked at each other.

"He easily defeated the 3rd level members and was able to destroy my Boulder Cannons with his axe.

He should be at the pinnacle of the 4th level, about to break into the 5th level of Qi Distillation."

When Klaus heard this, he was shocked.

One month ago, Van had no cultivation whatsoever. Coming from a remote village, he would never have encountered any cultivation ideologies before.

He did not have the benefit of growing up in a cultivator city and encountering aspects of cultivation in his every day like Klaus had growing up in Dragon City.

Klaus had also already broken into the 1st level of Qi Distillation before entering the sect. This first hurdle of understanding qi was the biggest wall for aspiring cultivators. Having pa.s.sed it beforehand, Klaus had the advantage of being able to put his head down and exclusively concentrate on advancing his cultivation level. However, there was a big difference between successive levels. Advancing to the 5th level and beyond was much harder than the early levels.

[His cultivation speed is only second-best to mine in the outer sect.]

Klaus' expression darkened.

[He is growing fast.]

[I must watch out for him as well as the top outer disciples during the Monster Mausoleum. To gain attention from the sect master, I must all beat them all. I will become the strongest disciple in the Cedar Sect!]

Klaus clenched his fists. He looked down at his cousin.

"Only in the 4th level and you, a 5th level, could not defeat him?"

Klaus smiled at him. It didn't reach his eyes.

"Trash."

Nathaniel's eyes flashed, "I could have beaten him easily if I was not in this state! The demonic energy has made the flow of my spiritual power unstable. I'm afraid if I tried anything I would explode and die!"

Klaus hmphed. He withdrew bamboo box from his sleeve and threw it to the ground.

Clatter.

The bamboo box spilt its contents over the floor.

Nathaniel was delighted. He crawled all over the ground and picked up the flowers like they were his precious children.

"Thank you, cousin!"

He managed to get on his feet.

Klaus watched him leave but his mind was elsewhere.

[I cannot let anyone catch up to me!]

His eyes narrowed.

[Van!]

_______

[The next morning]

Van arrived at the site of the public forum. The s.p.a.ce was open to the sky; a large stage stood at the far front with rows of seats arranged in a half-circle around it.

He had arrived half an hour before hand and already the seats were all packed. He walked over and stood quite close but left of the stage, so he wouldn't block anyone's view.

"Tutor Zhang has arrived!"

Excitement rippled through the audience.

Tutor Zhang walked slowly onto the stage. He was a very tiny, very old man with a walking stick. Despite his stature, only respect could be seen on the audience's face. After all, Tutor Zhang had been the tutor of countless geniuses and famous figures. Most famously, he had tutored the Frost Pill Sage!

Tutor Zhang had been in the Cedar Sect for over a hundred years and was very popular within it. He was almost the mascot of the sect!

[So this is Tutor Zhang,] Van thought. He stood a little straighter.

The little old man reached centre stage. He suddenly hit his walking stick on the stage.

BANG!

The audience felt a heavy vibration pa.s.s through their chests. A strong gust of wind nearly blew them away.

Van was the least affected; mostly because his five-hundred-kilogram axe was weighing him down. His body cultivation helped as well.

Tutor Zhang slightly opened his eyes and looked across the crowd. Seeing the fl.u.s.tered disciples – some of whom had to go run after a hat or fan that had blown away – he cackled.

Van smiled wryly. Why did this old man bear a similar feeling to Senior Ruskel?

Tutor Zhang was having a great time until he spotted a disciple smiling near the front. His wrinkled face squinted down.

[He's still calm enough to smile? Hmph!]

Van had no idea that the old tutor had already taken notice of him.

Tutor Zhang turned his attention away from the smiling brat. From his scan of the audience just now, he knew that there were around five disciples that were worthy of attention. Those had reacted quickly and summoned a treasure, or had erected a s.h.i.+eld.

The trash had tumbled away in the air blast like tumbleweed in the desert.

As this was a lecture focusing on those in the earlier stages of the Qi Distillation stage, Tutor Zhang did not have high expectations of this crowd. However, he had been pleasantly surprised by a young man standing right at the back of the crowd. He was stood alone; cold and aloof.

As for that smiling brat near the front – who knew how he had been able to resist!

Tutor Zhang looked at the audience.

"Welcome, disciples. I can say I am very impressed with all of you so far…"

The audience felt warmed by this sudden praise. Tutor Zhang continued on:

"Especially you fools who got blown out of your seats - You would make terrific comedians! HAHAHA!"

His barking laughter rang through the shocked audience.

Van couldn't help his chuckle. Tutor Zhang heard he chuckle and felt a little bit annoyed. This brat kept laughing!

He peered at the kid but quickly turned his head away.

"Alright. So, you guys are the dregs the Cedar Sect sc.r.a.ped from the bottom of the pot, eh? Time for this Old Tutor to whip you guys from tasteless, watery milk into thick and satisfying cream!"

Silence.

The disciples gave each other weird looks. Was this Tutor Zhang…normal?

"Ahem. I will start with an introductory lesson on the history of this continent…"

Van perked his ears and listened carefully.