CHAPTER 36: MEETING OF THE NOBLE FAMILIES

The next morning.

The air above the Phoenix and Dragon Dojo was heavy. After yesterday’s events, a faint unease clouded everyone’s mood.

Wang Chen stood quietly in the courtyard, his expression dark. The memory of those prying, unseen eyes still lingered like a curse.

"Damn it..." he muttered through clenched teeth. "Can’t they just leave me alone?"

He needed something—anything—that could keep those watchful beings from spying on him again. Whatever they were, they made his skin crawl.

Outside the library, Li Mei sat on the broad stone steps, her posture straight, her brows furrowed in focus. She scribbled on a small sheet of paper, noting down every detail she could recall from yesterday’s lecture.

Once done, she held the paper up, reading closely.

A cold gust of wind brushed past her, stirring her soft hair and fluttering the hem of her dress. Under the faint sunlight, the inked characters began to shimmer—then twist, distort, and fade, until the parchment was blank.

Her heart skipped a beat.

It wasn’t her imagination. Something was forcibly erasing the words.

And not just the words—the memories themselves. Since morning, fragments of yesterday’s lesson had begun vanishing from her mind, particularly the strange explanation Wang Chen had given about the world’s creation.

It was as if some mysterious power refused to let such knowledge exist.

An icy chill crept down her spine.

Could it be... what Teacher said was true?

The possibility terrified her. If it was, everything she thought she knew about cultivation, about reality itself, could collapse.

***

Across the dojo, Lin Huang wrestled with a different frustration.

"Damn it... I didn’t understand a single word of that lesson."

He dragged a hand through his hair, cursing under his breath. All his life, he had been a prodigy—quick to learn, quick to master. Yet yesterday’s lecture had left him completely baffled.

*Atoms, light, gravity... what in the heavens was all that supposed to mean?*

"The library," he muttered, his jaw firming. "I need to study. I can’t keep making Master lose face."

He remembered Wang Chen’s disappointed expression from the day before. It struck deeper than any sword wound. For Lin Huang, comprehension wasn’t just pride—it was loyalty.

***

Later that morning, Wang Chen and Li Mei sat face to face within the dojo.

The soft light of morning reflected faintly off the polished floor between them.

Wang Chen studied her quietly. Li Mei’s complexion was paler than usual, her spiritual aura slightly unstable.

Did this girl notice something?

After a contemplative pause, he spoke. "Li Mei, I noticed you refining pills before. You’ve made progress."

She nodded softly, though her gaze was still distant—some part of her mind clearly replaying the mystery of the disappearing notes.

"Here," Wang Chen said, reaching out his hand. "Take this."

A faint radiance flashed from his forehead as a rectangular rune materialized and floated gently toward her. "It’s a recipe that will help you ascend to a greater height."

Li Mei’s eyes widened as she absorbed the flood of information imprinted in the rune. The knowledge etched within it left her momentarily stunned.

"An improved version of the One-Star Spirit-Condensed Nirvana Pill..." she whispered in disbelief.

Compared to what she knew, this was revolutionary—a formula several stages beyond anything recorded in normal alchemy manuals. The only way someone could possess such a thing was if they came from the higher realms themselves.

Her gaze drifted to Wang Chen, growing uncertain. Could Master truly be from the upper realm...?

She didn’t dare ask.

Meanwhile, Wang Chen awkwardly turned his head away, his face slightly flushed under her wide-eyed stare.

Internally, he muttered, "I’m not that great..."

***

Inner Imperial City.

The day’s calm didn’t last.

Within the Imperial Council Hall, tempers burned as the heads of the five noble families gathered. The meeting had been called to discuss the chaos from yesterday—the incident that had shaken the entire city.

"The envoy from the Thousand Sword Sect could arrive at any moment," snapped a bearded elder. "And yet look at our situation!"

"The Fang Family is in charge of law and order," said a middle-aged woman sitting across from him, her sharp tone cutting through the noise. "And still the city descends into disorder. If they can’t uphold their duty, the Bu Family should take charge!"

Her words drew a furious glare from the Fang Family elder—a heavyset man with storm-gray eyes and a voice like thunder.

"The Blood Fang Gang is your family’s pawn! They’re the ones stirring up chaos, and you have the shamelessness to blame us?"

Murmuring erupted across the hall. The air itself seemed to vibrate as the two surged with spiritual power, their killing intents flaring.

It looked as though blood would spill within moments—until a cold, commanding voice silenced everything.

"Enough."

The single word reverberated like the toll of a divine bell.

Patriarch Song Ho of the Song Family—the city’s only Golden Core cultivator—sat at the head of the room, his presence suppressing every breath of hostility.

"The threat of demons is already at our doorstep," he said icily. "And you still waste time bickering over power? Have you all forgotten the last battle, a century ago? If my family hadn’t summoned reinforcements from overseas then, this city would have long ceased to exist."

A heavy silence fell. Shame darkened several faces.

Azure Dragon Continent was vast—twice the size of all ancient lands combined—but over eighty percent of its lands were demon-controlled. Humanity’s cities clung to the remaining scraps like flickering embers in the dark.

And now, even those embers trembled.

The Golden Core patriarch’s gaze swept across the hall. "If we can’t maintain unity now, we will perish together. Before anything else, we need to resolve the matter of the Blood Fang Gang’s destruction. The Sect’s envoy will arrive soon, and the Vice Head Zhang, whom he intended to accept as a disciple..."

His words trailed like a dull blade sliding across stone.

"...was killed in broad daylight, in the middle of our own city."