THE DAO OF LIES AND DECEIT

Chapter l

Jang was walking down an alleyway. To most of the
villagers who were observing him, he was the perfect picture of tranquility and grace. As expected of a member of the great cloudy mountain sect. His back was perfectly straight and he exuded an aura of serenity the way only a cultivator could.

But for those who knew Jang better they might have noticed the subtle tension in his jaw and around his eyes that might have told a different story

Yes, technically Jang was a member of the proud cloudy mountain sect. A fact that put him well above the majority  mortal population that inhabited the Southern continent.

But if you were to talk to somebody who was actually in the cloudy mountain sect, they'd be happy to tell you exactly who Jang was, a nobody going nowhere. Jang was an outer disuple of the sect who was still stuck in the third layer of the vapour Qi gathering stage. Although it was impossible for someone to tell exactly which layer of the four major stage a cultivator was in, most of his sect mates had made the logical conclusion that Jang was stuck in the lower stages of cultivation and was unlikely to progress much.

Showing any of these true feelings bubbling up inside him in front of the many mortal villagers who were gawking at his pristine sect attire was inconceivable for someone like Jang who had to fight and claw his way to the position he was in, however meager it might seem for others.

As he exited the alleyway and passed a butcher's shop with a child loudly advertising the cut of meats available for the day, Jang's mind was inadvertedly drawn back to the memories of his childhood village. Though Jang had tried his best to put it all behind him, they surfaced sometimes, especially when he was in a bad mood like right now.

Jang's father had been the village butcher and just like the boy before him, Jang used to advertise his father's wares. They used to live in a village on the northern part of the southern continent. Jang didn't have too many recollections from his childhood, but he had a vague idea that he was happy there. Until one fateful night, the demons carried away everything from their village: the livestock, their crop stores and the lives of pretty much everyone who lived in the village including his family.

The sect's forces had come and eventually driven away all the demons, but by then it was already too late. They had managed to salvage very little, but it included a frightened little Jang, who was found to have had above average talent for cultivation. At the time, Jang had foolishly deluded himself into thinking that he was something special. But he knew better now. Yes, he had above average talent for cultivation, but that was compared to a mortal. when it came to a classification among cultivators he was thoroughly average , Even still, he could have made it as a moderately successful cultivator if only he had some connections that would have given him access to much needed resources to advance his cultivation.

Unlike peasants who fantasised about cultivators moving forward by facing tribulations and trials, every cultivator worth his salt knew that half the battle lay in getting access to the limited cultivation resources that could boost your cultivation by exciting more number of nodes in your dantian. As an orphan who was not part of any of the cultivarator clans Jang naturally didn't have access to these resources that some of his sect mates did.

In fact, right now he was headed to attend a gathering thrown by one of his so called 'sect brother' Zhao who joined the sect long after he did, but would still be progressing to the next level before him while he was stuck in a rut. It would have stung Jang a lot less if zhao was actually more talented than he was. But, it was good old nepotism that would see zhao progress to the next level ..

Jang schooled his expression to a carefully neutral one before rounding the rent corner • It was one thing to relax a bit when he was only being gawked at by mortals. But facing cultivators required another level of resolve. Letting your true feelings show on your face was a death sentence for a cultivator. That was a lesson that was thoroughly drilled into Jang by the sect even before they started teaching him to cultivate properly.

Jang came to a stop before entering the establesment they had agreed to meet up in. His eyes parsed over the name before coming to a stop at the symbol of his sect. It was one of the many tavern /brothels that operated in this street and like all of them they were regulated and protected by the sect. As Jang parsed through the doors, he felt the familiar sensation of his dantian resonating with the array the sect had placed on the establishment.

Jang suppressed a shudder as he felt the familiar but uncomfortable sensation of his dantian and cultivation being supressed. There were 2 major reasons why the sect placed dantian suppressing arrays in an establishment like this.
First and foremost, it was absolutely required for an establishment like this, where mortal girls catered to the carnal needs of cultivators. Even a low level vapour realm cultivator like Jang was able to summon the strength of 20 men. If the array didn't limit and supress their cultivation, then there wouldn't be much left of this brothel by the time the cultivators were done with the place. Secondly, the array allowed the cultivators to actually get drunk and enjoy the mortal grade drinks that were available at a tavern like this.

It was a slightly frustrating exercise for most cultivators to have their dantian suppressed since it limited their enjoyment of the carnal act, but it was a measure that the sect had deemed necessary for the safety of the mortals. In Jang's humble opinion, it was a damned shame that this continent suffered from a dreath of female cultivators. Sex with a female cultivator was supposed to be an amazing experience , One that Jang was convinced that he was never going to enjoy. The ratio of male to female cultivators was supposed to be around 3:1 and Jang simply didn't have the sect tokens or strength as a cultivator to command or even hold the attention of a female cultivator.

Inwardly cursing all the lecherous sect elders and core disciples with harems of female cultivators, he made his way over to the table where the overly smug and arrogant face of Zhao was clearly visible. Plastering his face with a smile that he hoped was convincing, Jang greeted zhao and his 2 cronies Po and Fan.
" Greetings brother Zhao, Po and Fen" Jang said.
" Greetings brother Jang, please sit down, so glad you could join us ".zhao said with a smile that was no doubt as fake as the one Jang had on his face.

Jang noticed that each of the bastards were already well into their cups and had 3 mortal girls sitting with them. Getting started on festivities without waiting for him after inviting him was the height of insult. But since Jang already expected something like this from Zhao , he was able to successfully hold his tongue and not let his inner emotions show on his face.

" Thank you brother Zhao, It is an honour to be invited to celebrate your much deserved ascension to the greater echelons of the sect" Jang said with a bow.
Zhao and his cronies who were clearly watching Jang to see his response seemed satisfied with this bit of undeserved flattery and soon beckoned him to join them in their festivities by selecting a girl and a drink.

Jang picked a strong drink and a pretty mortal girl with an ample bosom as he settled in for what was undoubtedly going to be a long night.