I looked at the cozy home I’d built next to the inner library. This area used to be a bustling commercial district, so I notified Zun Gon I was “taking the first step in rebuilding it.”

That was just the excuse I gave him.

Truthfully, I was almost jealous. The house looked so cozy, and yet I wouldn’t be the one living in it. Polished woodwork, a small porch with room for a rocking chair, and even a quiet little herb garden in the back, the kind where the scent of mint and thyme lingered in the air. It was meant for my two new disciples. I just didn’t trust them enough to let them live in my own home.

I glanced behind me at the pair just as the House Array finished solidifying the last touches.

Technically, only Jiang Yeming was my disciple. But with her came Tingfeng like a buy-one-get-one-free sort of deal.

So far, he’d made a good impression. Quiet, respectful, and not the kind of troublemaker I was used to handling. Well, except for the part where he asked if he could try and cut me when we first met.

“Alright,” I said. “Let’s get to know each other a bit more than just names. My name is Liu Feng, and I’m currently the Inner Elder in charge of Martial Techniques. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. As for hobbies, I like reading, and I’d like to see a world where everyone gets to live up to their potential someday.”

Jiang Yeming’s left pinky twitched at that last part. That was the only reaction.

Was it a natural response? Or a tell? Did something in my words strike a nerve?

“Though I don’t care much about your backgrounds,” I added, “So you don’t have to share anything unless you want to. But I’ll share mine. I’m a member of the Liu Clan, a small family in the southwest region of the Blazing Sun Sect’s territory.”

“My name is Tingfeng,” he said. “I don’t care much about cultivation. I want to see how far swordsmanship can be pushed. I know a few mortal-grade techniques the local Sect taught us during the last winter beast wave. That’s when I realized I wanted to pursue the sword.”

“As for hobbies? I like practicing with my sword.”

Yeah… figured as much, buddy.

“As for my background…” he scratched his cheek awkwardly. “I was born in a bandit camp. Some people suspected I was the son of the bandit leader.”

Suspected? Then, his mother was either a hostage… or a prostitute. That couldn’t have been an easy childhood.

“I hope my background doesn’t cause any trouble. If it does, I’ll leave the Sect immediately,” he said.

“I don’t care about things like that,” I shook my head. “What happened to the bandit camp you came from?”

“It was wiped out by a monstrous beast the winter before the last,” he said.

He seemed honest. No signs of a lie. And as someone who’d lie over something like a bandit origin myself, I’d have noticed. I was a liar. I knew the tells. He probably wasn’t faking it.

Any elder other than me would have likely kicked him out with a bandit background like that. But I appreciated his honesty.

“Good. Don’t worry about silly things like your background anymore,” I said. “You’re my disciple now. That’s all that matters.”

He nodded. But the one who seemed most affected by his story was Jiang Yeming, who looked almost apologetic.

“I never knew,” she said, giving him an awkward pat on the shoulder. “If you need anything, don’t be afraid to ask.”

Why was she treating him like he was some kind of cripple? He’d grown up in a bandit camp, no big deal. It’s not like he turned out to be a bandit himself. I did feel a bit sorry for him too, but I was not going to be more preferential toward him because of this.

Once you reached the level of becoming an Inner Elder’s disciple, having a clan didn’t matter much. It’s not like mine was going to contribute anything to my cultivation at this point.

Speaking of clans, it seemed like my cousins had decided to stay behind. That was good. They would’ve just been pigs led to the slaughter if they came to the Blazing Sun Sect.

As for messed up childhoods? There were people like Song Song. Enough said. Tingfeng was clearly strong, so there was no need to baby him.

In these situations it was best not to treat someone differently just because of where they came from.

After becoming strong enough, I was going to make sure such ugly things would never happen under my influence. Children were going to be allowed to have a childhood and not whatever fucked up thing Song Song and Tingfeng had that could not be called a childhood.

“It’s your turn now,” I said, turning toward Jiang Yeming. Putting such thoughts deep in the back of my mind.

“Hi, my name is Jiang Yeming. I like reading and learning about monstrous beasts. My goal is to join, or create, a team of skilled people and learn a lot of techniques,” she said. “As for my background… I was born on a farm. At least, that’s what my neighbors said. I was orphaned during a monstrous beast attack not long after I was born.”

It would be a sad backstory if it was true. But unlike with Tingfeng, something about it felt off. Our dear scholar was probably hiding something.

While they spoke, I checked a few of the arrays I’d placed around their newly built house. Satisfied, I turned back with a smile. They weren’t just for protection; they were also for surveillance. These two were interesting kids.

“Good. Now that we’ve shared some basic information, it’s time for your first lesson,” I said. “First, I want to see you both cultivate. Well, Jiang Yeming, since she’s already a Qi Gathering Cultivator. As for Tingfeng, we’ll talk about some body training methods later.”

Tingfeng was still a Body Tempering Cultivator, and that limited the scope of what I could do with him for now. His best period for growth would be after breaking through to Qi Gathering. Still, that didn’t mean we couldn’t begin working together immediately.

I started with Jiang Yeming. She sat cross-legged on the porch and began circulating her Qi.

As a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, my senses had sharpened to the point that I didn’t need to touch her or inject Qi to observe her technique. Just watching, with focus, was enough to sense her Qi flow.

It looked normal at first glance.

I decided to mimic her circulation just to see if she was making any minor mistakes.

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But as I mirrored her pattern… my own Qi flow jumped by five, maybe eight percent.

Immediately, I recalibrated to my usual technique and compared the two.

Who the hell came up with something like this?

Did she create it? Or was she somehow doing it instinctually?

No, this wasn’t something that could be pulled off by instinct. It was too precise. Even the slightest deviation would cause it to fail completely.

An efficiency improvement of eight percent might not sound like much, but in the long run, it was monumental. Many cultivators died right at the cusp of their next breakthrough.

Over the course of a hundred years, that meant eight more years of cultivation. And when someone had the comprehension and foundation but simply lacked the time to gather enough Qi? That was the difference between success and death.

This seemed like the work of someone analytical but lacking raw talent, someone clawing for every advantage they could find.

I cataloged the method in my mind, then took out a scroll and wrote it down, just in case memory failed me.

As I rolled the scroll shut, I glanced back at Jiang Yeming, still unsure what to make of her.

“You really are talented,” I told her. “Both in cultivation and comprehension. There’s not much I can teach you off the top of my head. I’ll need a day or two to think about it and come up with a proper list.”

She carefully settled her Qi, then opened her eyes and nodded.

From what I observed, while this new method was more efficient, it was also much more volatile. One couldn’t just stop cultivating on a whim. You had to slowly settle your Qi and relax the dantian with care.

That explained why she was so meticulous about ending her session properly.

“Are you interested in arrays or anything else? I can find you a tutor for alchemy or even artifact crafting,” I offered.

“Arrays! I want to learn them from you,” she said without hesitation.

“Really?” I asked.

She didn’t seem like the type for arrays. It was a precise art, and while looks could be deceiving, she didn’t give off that vibe.

“Yes. Why wouldn’t I want to learn from someone who was so famous for his arrays?” she replied.

“I was?”

I hadn’t really gone out of my way to advertise that part of myself. But the word might have spread, perhaps due to incidents like the Whitewall Town incident or some of the other cases I’d been involved in.

Still, she had a strange way of phrasing things.

I didn’t dwell on it and turned to Tingfeng, who was still staring at me like a lost child.

“What do you think of all this?” I asked.

What was going on in his head?

“This all feels kind of useless,” he said flatly. “I’d rather be practicing with my sword.”

“Then how about a little sparring?” I asked.

Since he was still at the Body Tempering stage and couldn’t cultivate Qi yet, I needed to gauge his physical abilities before crafting a proper training schedule.

He nodded, unsheathed his sword, and pointed it at me.

“This wasn’t exactly what I had in mind,” I said. “No offense, but a Body Tempering Cultivator will have a hard time holding out against a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.”

I was being polite because a Body Tempering Cultivator really stood no chance against someone at Foundation Establishment. It was like a whole different world of speed, power, and perception.

“Show me the difference between us,” he said.

I stared at him.

Was he underestimating me?

No, he didn’t seem arrogant. He just genuinely wanted to understand the difference in power between us.

“Sure, begin whenever you feel like it,” I said with a shrug.

Tingfeng nodded, calm and focused, as he took a single step toward me.

In that instant, I activated Galloping Horse Power Technique.

To him, I vanished.

Before his eyes could even react, I was already behind him. I reached out with casual precision and grabbed the back of his neck.

“Dead,” I said flatly, my grip just tight enough to make the point clear.

A beat later, the wind caught up to us, rustling the air in the wake of my movement.

Tingfeng stood frozen in place, and his eyes widened as I let go of his neck.

Tingfeng stood frozen. His eyes widened slightly as I released him.

I smiled, remembering my own time as a Body Tempering Cultivator. The difference in speed and reaction time was just too significant; there was no way he could have kept up.

“You probably didn’t learn much from that,” I said. “So here’s an opponent more your level.”

A jade soldier formed beside me. I condensed the Qi, giving it more weight and density. Making it more real and less translucent.

He held just three percent of my Qi, but unlike the usual jade soldier, there was a flickering flame in his chest, right where the core of the array rested. This was like a hybrid between martial technique and arrays.

I layered in more detail, shaping the jade soldier into an old samurai, complete with a katana.

Without hesitation, Tingfeng turned and slashed at the jade soldier.

“Careful, swords are dangerous,” I said, stepping back to let them fight.

The jade soldier raised his blade and met Tingfeng’s strike with a ringing clash that stirred the air.

Despite having just three percent of my Qi, he matched the strength of a fresh Qi Gathering Cultivator.

They traded blows, and Tingfeng was gradually pushed back by sheer force. Then, I activated the array’s auto-response mode, syncing it to Tingfeng’s technique patterns.

I’d based it on the Level 3 Wooden Puppet Array from the inner library, typically used to guard ancient tombs. I’d twisted it into something new, enhanced with a mental-type technique. It worked surprisingly well.

Well… minus the occasional glitch. I was still ironing those out.

I turned to Jiang Yeming. She was still watching the jade puppet, her eyes narrowed. When she noticed my gaze, she turned to meet it.

“Shouldn’t you be paying more attention to that?” Jiang Yeming asked.

“It barely has the strength of a Qi Gathering Cultivator. Tingfeng should be able to win,” I said with a shrug.

But just as I said that, the world rushed to prove me wrong. I turned back to the duel between Tingfeng and the jade soldier.

Their blades clashed and locked, each pushing for dominance. The jade samurai gripped its sword with both hands, until it abruptly released one.

Tingfeng’s eyes narrowed; he expected the pressure to drop. Instead, his expression shifted to alarm. The puppet had conjured a second sword in its free hand and slashed at his neck.

I nearly ended the array with a thought but held back.

Tingfeng leaned back just in time, narrowly dodging the slash. The blade grazed his chin, and a thin line of blood slid down his neck, painting it red.

Jiang Yeming’s eyes widened. “I never thought I’d see the day Tingfeng lost in swordsmanship.”

“The puppet has the strength and speed of a Qi Gathering Cultivator, and it's nearly twice as fast as Tingfeng,” I explained. “He’s used to fighting people. Mediocre ones. That’s why he didn’t expect the counter. A puppet doesn’t have muscles. Two hands don’t mean more strength. That logic doesn’t apply.”

The duel continued. Steel rang through the air, back and forth, until the puppet’s relentless assault and bottomless stamina began to wear Tingfeng down.

That’s when it became clear. Tingfeng had never fought anyone truly skilled. His so-called talent had carried him… until now.

So far, he wasn’t all that impressive. A little disappointing. I’d expected more.

Even as a Body Tempering Cultivator, I’d hoped he’d push past his limits and land a hit, especially since his opponent was also a swordsman.

In the end, the puppet disarmed him and leveled its translucent jade sword at his throat.

“Well,” I said, masking my disappointment, “Looks like I’ve got my work cut out for me.”

But before the words could settle, a sharp crack echoed through the courtyard. The jade soldier’s torso jerked and then slid diagonally, split cleanly from shoulder to waist. The upper half toppled with a dull thud, shattering into neat chunks of jade as it hit the ground.