Questioning Heaven, Desiring the Way

Xiexin zhenren chewed on You Hantian’s words for some time, then let out a long sigh. “I’m the one who overthought this and doubted you, I’m really sorry for being rude. I hope you can pardon me for being impatient.”

“It’s not your fault. What happened to Yuan’er was too big of a blow to you.” You Hantian had a saddened look as he patted his junior brother on the shoulder to console him. Then, he smiled frostily and said, “Well, if all fails, then we’ll split ways. Junior Brother, I hope you still remember that we have something good on our side.”

Xiexin zhenren’s discouraged gaze suddenly lit up. He narrowed his eyes and said, “That’s right. Demon Abyss is not a place to be treated as a joke.”

The two men looked at each other with a smile. They could see the determination and ruthlessness in each other’s eyes.

Meanwhile, Liu Ming was emptying a magic storage bag onto the floor. Several Spiritual Stones came tumbling out of the bag, putting a big smile on the young man’s face.

He turned to the ordinary-looking broken knife on the table and started talking to the equally ordinary weapon spirit inside the knife.

“Senior! What should I do next?” asked Liu Ming politely with a gleam in his eyes.

The weapon spirit shifted its metallic self smugly and said slowly, “You’ve just finished cultivating in the first level of the Extreme Ra-Asu Breach, and you only have a little more than a hundred Spiritual Stones here. That’s not enough. You’ve got to continue amassing more wealth and cultivate so that you can reach the Qi Activation stage as soon as possible.”

“But I’ve already beaten all those people who used to bully me to a pulp, so there’s nobody left for me to bash up. How am I going to amass more wealth?” Liu Ming grumbled. He had already done his best to gather this many Spiritual Stones. All the errand runners who used to bully him and call him names had already been thrashed so severely by him, and they even avoided him whenever they saw him. But he wasn’t good enough to fight or even offend a disciple, so this would be a problem.

“You really don’t know anything, do you?! Have you read the sect rules carefully?” yelled the weapon spirit without holding back. Its voice was clearly filled with disdain for Liu Ming.

The weapon spirit knew very well that besides getting lucky, another reason for Gu Suihan’s meteoric rise was how he had scrutinized all the sect rules and made use of loopholes to successfully turn the Way Seekers Alliance’s Mo Yuluo against him, then used her anger to his advantage.

“Sect rules?” Liu Ming looked at the yellowing little book in the corner of his table and had a somewhat puzzled look on his face.

The weapon spirit wished it had hands to wring this boy’s neck as it sighed heavily. Why were some people born so bright and others so dull? It really wondered if an idiot like Liu Ming could turn his situation around.

Besides despising Liu Ming in its heart, it also berated him heartlessly, “Is there something wrong with your brain or something? Read the sect rules carefully and find a loophole to exploit! Use it to benefit yourself! For example, you can check if you can stop being an errand runner and become an external disciple.”

“Oh! OHHHH! Senior, you are very learned indeed. Your junior is filled with great admiration!” Liu Ming was enlightened and expressed his admiration for the weapon spirit’s intelligence before quickly opening the sect rules book to study it carefully.

“Great admiration, my foot,” grumbled the weapon spirit to himself. This was just something it had concluded after watching what Gu Suihan did.

“Ooh! Senior! Take a look at this!” exclaimed Liu Ming as he pointed a trembling finger excitedly at one line in the book. “Errand runners get the chance to challenge an external disciple once a year, and if you win, you can replace that disciple’s place in his Compound.”

“That’s great!” said the weapon spirit excitedly as it kept trying to goad Liu Ming into challenging someone from the East Compound so that he could become an East Compound disciple, then use that chance to become an internal disciple.

Unfortunately, Liu Ming wasn’t that dumb. At the very least, he didn’t take the bait. After carefully estimating what he was really capable of, he decided to start with challenging a disciple from the South Compound, then focus on cultivation for a while, then slowly make his way up.

“By the way, if you manage to successfully become an external disciple, it would help to get your family out of its current crisis. You’d be able to hold your head high the next time you meet that unreasonable fiancée of yours,” said the weapon spirit, as if it had suddenly thought of this.

These thoughts made the weapon spirit shudder, not because of how crazy Liu Ming’s situation was, but because of how scarily accurate Gu Suihan had been. It had no idea how Gu Suihan had managed to guess Liu Ming’s current situation with just one look.

Gu Suihan had told the weapon spirit that a “perfect MC” had to be one with an unreasonable fiancée, a mysterious grandfather, and an aptitude so poor that he was as good as trash.

Oh my god, thought the weapon spirit as it trembled. Is Gu Suihan able to read minds? How could he have guessed all of it right?

Liu Ming didn’t know any of this at all. After he had bought this broken knife after being strangely attracted to it, he had brought it back to observe it more carefully, only to find that there was nothing special about it. He grabbed it in disappointment and was about to smash it when he accidentally cut himself on the blade and blood seeped into the knife, and an elderly figure leaped out from it.

The senior taught him a cultivation technique, and Liu Ming had cultivated for a few days. He finished using whatever pills and Spiritual Stones he had, then went through an excruciating process where his body was transformed from the inside out. The next day, he felt like he had a brand new body, and it only took a couple of kicks and punches to send all his bullies sprawling.

Liu Ming suddenly felt that God was fair after all. He had been bullied for a few decades and suffered all these years quietly, but now, it was his chance to prove himself. He could finally turn his situation around and fight back. All of this was thanks to this senior, who seemed to care for him like a son and had taught him this technique without even asking for anything in return.

“Jin Yudie, just you wait! You annulled our engagement with such fanfare and embarrassed my parents so badly back then. It won’t be long before I make sure you suffer the same sort of humiliation!” Liu Ming’s eyes were bloodshot as he stared straight at the neatly folded annulment letter on his table and gnashed his teeth.

“We must not delay any longer. We shall move this very night. Your lousy little room leaks when it rains, so it’s not suitable for cultivation at all.” The weapon spirit stopped thinking about Gu Suihan and spoke very energetically.

Liu Ming nodded resolutely in response and began to pack his things swiftly. He wasn’t going to run from this anymore. He was going to defeat an external disciple and take his place in a Compound.

“Miss, do you really intend to make up with that Gu Suihan?” whined Xiaomei as she made a face after hearing what Mo Yuluo told her. She sounded extraordinarily dissatisfied as well.

“Why do you dislike him so much? I don’t think you’ve seen him more than five times and you’ve never spoken to him,” said Mo Yuluo exasperatedly as she rolled her eyes.

“But…but…but…Miss, don’t you find that you treat him differently from others?” said Xiaomei as she seemed to recall something, and her eyes widened.

Mo Yuluo’s lips twitched, and she glared back at Xiaomei. She whacked Xiaomei on the head and said even more exasperatedly, “I’m just curious to find out why he’s entered the Seven Kill Sect. Also, everything he’s done so far is clearly pointing to a particular purpose. I’m sure he has some other plans, and that’s why he suddenly gave up competing to become an internal disciple. I’m afraid that he might do something out there and ruin my plans. My mother has her own plans as well, and she seems to have her eye on Gu Suihan and Feng Ran too. You can’t blame me for getting worried.”

“Oh…I think Madam is just interested in finding out more about your potential life partner, so she’s keeping tabs on them,” said Xiaomei with a cheeky smile.

“You are really getting out of hand!” Mo Yuluo slapped Xiaomei angrily on the butt, making Xiaomei yelp and run out of the room while clutching her pained behind.

“Life partner?” Mo Yuluo leaned back in her chair, and a conflicted look appeared in her eyes. She suddenly remembered Gu Suihan’s expressionless gaze when she attacked him with her sword. Her heart trembled.

“SIGH!” A long, quiet sigh echoed within the pretty little building where Mo Yuluo lived.

After Gu Suihan’s lousy attempt at pretending to be badly injured and using that as an excuse to bow out of the competition, the internal selection eventually came to an end.

As all the spectators sighed sadly at having nothing to watch, they were also very puzzled by the actions of promising disciples like Gu Suihan and Feng Ran.

However, none of the Peak Leaders said anything, and their expression remained calm but authoritative. Most of the internal disciples did not pay these external disciples much attention and focused on cultivation. The three factions had taken up all 36 vacancies. They had successfully kicked the least powerful internal disciples out via the competition.

On the surface, everything had ended well, and everyone was happy that they got what they wanted. But there were some who smelled a rat. However, everyone was more concerned with protecting themselves from harm, so they did not say anything. Everyone continued to focus on cultivation amidst this nerve-wracking environment.

Time passed quickly, and leaves began to fall even more rapidly from the trees they once belonged to. The luscious greenery had become ugly, as the trees had bald branches sticking out in all directions without any leaves or flowers on them. It didn’t help that the entire sect was already filled with an oppressive feeling in the air.