Sirius stretched her limbs, welcoming the morning sun, before stepping outside her small courtyard in the Inner Sect.

  Unlike the Outer Sect, the Inner Sect dwellings, all of which could be called small manors, weren’t squeezed together. Instead, the estates were scattered across Purple Gem Mountain, with paths, some short, some long, leading to the wide staircase that led up and down the mountain.

  Walking down the staircase, Sirius rubbed her side, where she had taken the claws of a spirit beast due to a moment of distraction in the last mission. “Maaan… These two losers who couldn’t listen to simple advice. Whether it be from Faust or me…” She complained.

  Mue Dian and Persius’s estates were close to the mountain's base, Sirius wasn’t worried about the two of them hearing. She still went on basic missions with the two, but their poor, rushed foundations were showing their weaknesses. She had to constantly keep an eye on the two.

  “Fine Morning, Junior Sister.” A voice called from behind. Sirius whipped around.

  “Senior Brother, Satheon!” Sirius responded happily. “It’s a great morning! You must be even better since I heard you managed to kill a beast rivaling someone at the peak of the Open Palace realm!”

  The man, with a lion's mane of black hair and sapphire earrings, robes loose enough to see his gleaming abs, smiled wide in response. “Of course! Naturally! With my level of body refinement! No beast could match me in the same realm!” He patted his chest, pointing his nose to the sky.

  “Wow! No wonder! It’s just as the rumors say!” Sirius responded, letting Satheon catch up before bouncing down the stairs a bit behind him. She actually enjoyed Satheon as a teammate. He was an idiot that only needed some praise to stay motivated and would gladly lose an arm before putting his team in danger. With potential for the Golden Core realm, he was a much better prospect to the other two.

  For a while, Sirius conversed with Satheon, who began talking non stop about his most recent mission where he fought a powerful beast alone, offering all sorts of praise and encouragement.

  Soon, the pair reached the bottom of the Purple Gem mountain stairs, leading to a massive courtyard surrounded by peach trees and plum blossoms, with several benches and pavilions dotted around.

  In the distance, Sirius saw Persius and Dian dawdling, while to the side, sat several groups of Inner Disciples chatting away in the late morning.

  “Oh!” Sirius noticed two specific Inner Sect disciples she knew and bounded forward a few steps before turning her heel to give Satheon a slightly exaggerated bow. “I look forward to working with Senior Brother again!”

  “Haha! You as well Junior Sister!” Satheon responded, happily continuing through the courtyard, probably towards the Mission Hall on Diamond Mountain.

  “Good Morning! Junior Sister Sue Jane! Senior Brother Damarius!” Sirius greeted two people to the side of the large courtyard, skipping over.

  “Sirius! Good Morning!” Sue Jane, a woman with long black hair and gold painted lips, jumped up to greet Sirius, the two clasping their hands together like longtime friends.

  “Hmpf.” Damarius snorted in acknowledgment, sitting cross-legged atop a stone, a pitch black spear resting across his legs that matched his long hair that almost covered his face.

  “Are you alright! I heard you were injured on your last mission!” Sue Jane asked.

  “It’s fine Junior Sister! No need to worry about me!” Sirius put her hands on her hip and declared. “Just a minor injury saving a teammate!"

  “Wow! The mission was against a spirit beast pack who were only equal to Peak Meridian opening wasn’t it? How did your teammate nearly get injured?” Sue Jane asked, with her eyes betraying a complete lack of sincerity in her smile.

  Sirius resisted rolling her eyes. If Sue Jane wasn’t always hanging around Damarius, who most considered the strongest disciple in the Inner Sect right now, she wouldn’t even bother with her.

  Still, Sirius kept up the enthusiasm, acting as if she had no idea what she was saying. “Well! Persius and Mue Dian are both spear users, but they aren't as good as Senior Brother Damarius!” She paused.

  “Naturally.” Damarius spoke from his perch atop the large boulder, eyes still closed as if uninterested in the conversation happening right in front of him.

  Sirius smiled wider. This broody senior brother of hers loved any opportunity to accept praise despite putting on an act of being low profile. “So the two had to disengage and jump back. To let them make distance I had to jump from my fight to stall the beasts they were facing, but I got surrounded because they retreated so far! My Spirit Qi shield broke and I got a minor injury on my side.” She put on a pitiful face.

  “That’s horrible! How could Inner Sect disciples have such poor vision and leave you to suffer like that!” Sue Jane made a show of hugging Sirius, her far superior height making Sirius look like a child who only came up to her chest.

  “It's disappointing for Inner Sect disciples to make such a low level mistake.” Damarius affirmed, still with his eyes closed, still feigning disinterest.

  At the same time, Sirius felt two presences approaching.

  Freeing herself from Sue Jane’s hug, Sirius turned to see Persius and Dian approaching. They evidently heard what was said, not surprising considering their level of cultivation and the complete lack of subtlety between her and Sue Jane.

  Dian was glaring at Sue Jane, while Persius was looking away guiltily.

  Sirius sighed in her heart. She had been casually making conversation like this in order to set up this exact situation. Despite her feelings, she wasn’t risking her future for the sake of being Dian and Persius’s friend and teammate.

  “Oh? Glaring so fiercely after struggling against some minor beasts, not even considered as strong as an Open Palace cultivator?” Sue Jane pulled Sirius back into a hug.

  At the Mid Stage of the Open Palace realm, Sirius could have resisted being pulled in, but since the situation she had been aiming for had happened, she played along. Since Dian and Persius had ignored advice from Senior Brother, advice that took him countless years and diligent effort to obtain, given to them for free, they would eventually suffer the consequences regardless of what she did. In her opinion, letting the two realise while in a safe environment like the sect, was the final thing she could do for them as a friend.

  “...Our spear skills were lacking…” Persius bowed in apology. Damarius snorted on the side.

  “You think that's an excuse for letting a fellow sect member get surrounded by vicious beasts!” Sue Jane sneered, goading the two loudly. “Commoners like you who got lucky should at least have virtue if not talent.”

  “It's not their fault! They did their best!” Sirius protested, trying to push away from Sue Jane. But she didn’t use much strength, letting herself get pulled back in. So far, it was going according to plan, Sue Jane wouldn’t miss an opportunity to belittle those she saw as beneath her, purely for the fun of it. As far as Sirius could tell.

  Dian’s glare turned into a snarl, her mouth and eyes twitching.

  “That’s even worse! If they can’t even cover their teammates properly when trying their best, they should have stayed in the Outer Sect, where such inadequacy is tolerated.”

  By now, the whole courtyard had gone quiet. The sharpened senses of those at the Open Palace realm could hear a fly from all the way across the massive courtyard, let alone an unveiled argument.

  “...I have no excuse…” Persius, who avoided conflict like the plague, bowed even more while Dian’s expression became increasingly ugly.

  “Tch! At least one of you knows your place. Unlike this mute. I suppose it was her fault then for letting your martial sister be injured then?” Sue Jane directed her question to Persius, who was sweating so much Sirius could see it dripping down his face.

  “...” Persius didn’t answer Sue Jane, clearly determined to defuse the situation at all costs. It was the safest move in Sirius's opinion— but not the wisest.

  “Hmpf!” Sue Jane turned to Dian. “Mute Dian Is it? Are you not even going to apologise to your martial sister? Would she have to be crippled or die before you admit your mistake? Did you inherit your parent’s black hearts?”

  Her whole body trembling, Dian spoke, “It is… Mue Dian… Junior Sister.” She spoke through gritted teeth, in a voice so quiet one could tell she didn’t speak much if at all.

  “Haha.” Sue Jane chuckled hollowly, ”How amusing.”

  Sirius saw Dian’s knuckle going white. She was always the emotional type.

  “Perhaps your mother—”

  Clang!

  Silver flashed and a silver Spear had appeared in Dian’s hands, thrust at Sue Jane.

  With a deceased father and raised by a single mother among nine siblings, Sirius understood Dian’s feelings. But that didn’t make her actions wise. Far from it.

  Sue Jane smiled widely as she held a pale golden fan in one hand that deflected the spear to the side.

  ZING!

  Dian leapt back, landing in a well trained stance— of a common farmer's spear technique… She truly hadn’t taken any of Sirius or Faust’s advice.

  Persius also leapt away, only he was clearly trying to disconnect himself from the situation rather than assist.

  Damarius didn’t react, but his ears perked up and one eye cracked open to observe the fight.

  Sirius, now released from Sue Jane’s grasp, quickly inserted herself between Sue Jane and Dian. “Hey! Hey! Lets not fight! I’m sure Sue Jane didn’t mean it!” She tried to say, defusing the situation as ineffectually as possible. Besides, Sue Jane’s wicked smile and Dian's snarl said it all.

  Sue Jane walked forward, gently moving Sirius out of the way with her fan.

  Before, all the disciples in the courtyard had been looking away, pretending not to be eavesdropping, but now, they had dropped any pretence and watched the unfolding scene intently.

  Sirius covered her face with a sleeve and sighed deeply. Without using any arrays or external items to reinforce or help form their foundations, Dian and Persius were about to see the results. Something Senior Brother Faust was too soft to demonstrate to them.

  It was for their own good, Sirius told herself, subtly stepping back from the fight.

  …

  ??????????????

  …

  “Hmmm…” Clementine, the overseer of the Administration Hall, looked Faust up and down, before eventually nodding. “Good work, disciple Faust.” He eventually spoke.

  “I’m unworthy of praise.” Faust bowed in thanks, cupping a fist in one hand.

  “Hmmm… Hardly… Here, consider this a bonus…” The elder tossed something out his sleeve and Faust caught it, then, his eyes widened.

  “Overseer! This is too valuable!” Faust offered the small blue pouch, embroidered with intricate golden patterns, back.

  The overseer shook his head. “It is the duty of the Merit and Administrative Halls to appropriately invest in disciples with potential… Your efforts have not gone unnoticed by the sect.”

  Faust felt something catch in his throat and took a sharp breath. He withdrew his hands slowly. “I will remember the sect’s kindness.” He eventually said.

  Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

  “I look forward to when you eventually reach the Golden Core realm.” The old man waved Faust off.

  “I will do my best not to disappoint!” Faust responded.

  “...Now…” The old man turned his gaze to the other person in the room.

  Rozaline looked worse for wear. Hair out of place, missing earrings and with no Red Jade Fan in her hands. Yet despite that, she had a victorious smile on her lips.

  “While there were some… Complications… You have also done well, disciple Rozaline…”

  The person in question, still with the haughty air she had the last time Faust had met her, let her shoulders droop a bit, exhaling deeply.

  “Thank you, Overseer Clementine.” Rozaline bowed as well.

  “For breaking through and managing to incorporate a 4th level fire spirit into your foundation. Your family has sent you some rewards.” The overseer, Clementine tossed another pouch, one made of red and black fabric, with golden embroidery.

  A fire spirit? Faust couldn’t help but think. Of the 4th level moreover? Rozaline was truly worthy of being from a powerful clan. A 4th level fire spirit was around as powerful as someone in the Golden Core realm. Even if it was heavily injured, suppressed to the limit by arrays and formations and contained by much more powerful cultivators— to be able to use such a thing to forge a foundation…

  Faust suddenly felt inadequate. His own efforts paled in comparison. With no other cultivators in his family to rely on, he couldn’t even imagine using such powerful external items to establish his foundation. He smiled bitterly, subtly shaking his head. No amount of his effort would match a family with thousands of years of history.

  Clementine waved his hand, shooing the two off. With a bow, the two obliged, turning to leave.

  Outside of the frigid and freezing Administration Hall, Faust took a deep breath to collect himself. He had finally joined the Inner Sect. Now he had 10 more years to develop his inner palace and research the Golden Core realm.

  “Hmm?” Rozaline, who seemed to also be enjoying the warm sun in the sky, turned to face Faust. “Your foundation… It doesn’t seem much weaker than mine.” She spoke curiously, opening her fan up.

  “Thank you—” Faust began, bowing on instinct.

  “Stop.”

  Faust flinched, halfway through bowing.

  “Before you start bowing again, tell me what kind of foundation you’ve made. I’ve heard a lot about you, but you’ve disappointed me every time we’ve met.” She gazed at Faust, peeking at him from over her fan.

  “...” Faust stayed silent for a moment, straightening his posture as he thought the question over, matching Rozaline’s gaze.

  For a few moments, the two stared at each other, both trying to see the other's thoughts. Faust felt butterflies in his stomach and eventually looked away from the lioness gaze.

  “It’s a three twelve foundation.” Faust decided to speak, before turning away to collect his things. It wasn’t particularly important information now that he had entered the Open Palace realm. Unlike in the Meridian Opening realm where it could be used to accurately estimate his strength and push its weaknesses.

  The sounds of merchants and disciples quickly consumed the area as Faust pushed his way through Diamond Mountain road, covered in stalls, restaurants, shops and disciples as usual.

  “Oh? So that's how you matched that sheet of paper from the Redroot family? Despite the Open Palace realm’s vaster Spirit Qi? But— isn’t having so many nodes and channels risky?” Rozaline followed Faust. The crowd that Faust had to push through parted like water before her.

  “...May I ask why you're suddenly curious, Junior Sister?” Faust asked. He had done his best to stay out of Rozaline’s radar since she was from a particularly influential noble family in the empire. Even more specifically because his own family was in the region of the empire her family had the most influence. As such, he had bowed and offered pleasantries, just like everyone else in the Outer Sect.

  “If you must know in order to answer my questions. It's because your reputation paints you as the kind who doesn’t bow to juniors but who offers them advice for free. Moreover, you're supposed to be strong.” Rozaline began.

  “Yet… Everytime I’ve met you, I’ve been disappointed.” Rozaline shot Faust a disdainful look before it turned into a sly smile. “Yet today…” She continued, “I meet you again, only to find— far from suppressing your aura with my own— Yours actually matches mine?”

  “...Perhaps—” Faust started, attempting to give an excuse.

  Snap! However, Rozaline cut him off with a snap of her fan.

  “Fools believe cultivation is about talent, but the educated will know that it's about resources and patience. You—” Rozaline pointed her closed fan at Faust. “A mere potter's son from a town at the edge of my family’s territory… Have a foundation that matches mine.” She spelled it out clearly.

  “Tell me. Why should I not be curious?”

  For a few moments, everything was silent, even the disciples and merchants around Diamond mountain seemed to feel the atmosphere and went unnaturally quiet, giving the two a wide berth.

  Faust hardened his gaze. He realised he wouldn't be escaping Rozaline’s attention by now, so he took a deep breath, choosing his words slowly. “...Not everything is about backing… Someone had to start your family after all… Either by building from the ground up… Or by following closely someone who did.” Since Rozaline had gone out of her way to prevent him bowing and calling him out, he wouldn’t hide.

  Faust let the Spirit Qi in his channels churn, moving slowly, but with power. In response, the Qi around Faust seemed to become charged, moving slowly under Faust’s subconscious control without him consciously restraining himself. His aura rose, not sharply, not by a lot, but by a noticeable amount. Just enough that it stole control of the Qi around Rozaline.

  “Some things… Simply take diligent effort and patience…” Faust finished.

  Rozaline, who'd seemed mildly disappointed the whole time, grinned widely.

  “Finnally showing a self worthy of your reputation then.” Rozaline was forced to take a subtle, half a step back in order to regain control of the Qi around her.

  “If that is what you want, then why not?” Faust responded, continuing to walk through the crowd.

  Faust thought he had managed to satiate Rozaline's interest by adjusting his behavior, but unfortunately…

  “So, you took the calculated risk of a twelve node foundation, then used sect arrays and external resources to strengthen the channels as much as you could. But then, to seal the deal, instead of trying to form a divine ability with your inner palace foundation, you purely focused on the toughness, compensating for the weakness of having extra nodes and channels?” Rozaline spoke, continuing to follow Faust even as he made his way across Clear Jade Bridge.

  “That’s how your Spirit Qi can match, even surpass mine by a slight amount. By sacrificing one opportunity for a future one, you’ve established a foundation with the possibility of going higher. Or at least, that is what your aim must have been.” Rozaline continued to theorise out loud as they entered onto Jade Road.

  “But I can’t figure it out. Plenty of others have followed the same path, so that alone can’t be it. Even if you spent a decade perfecting every node and channel, my aura should still overpower yours.” Rozaline looked at Faust, covering her face with her fan while her eyes demanded an answer. At the same time, the two had reached Faust’s small abode on the side of Jade Road.

  Faust thought it over throughout the walk, opening the door to his now former home. He didn’t wish for a fallout with Rozaline. His family would undoubtedly be in danger if he did. At the same time, he wasn’t quite sure how he could please this eccentric either.

  “Why don’t you take a look yourself if you're so curious.” Faust sighed in resignation. Since she still wasn’t satisfied, he would just give her what she wanted. “I need to pack up before heading to the Inner Sect anyways.” He opened the door and with the flick of his wrist, two scrolls, filled with extra bits of paper stuck in and labels sticking out the side, flew into his hand, which he held out to Rozaline.

  “My own, self made, Meridian Opening diagram and Inner Palace Foundation laying method.” Faust declared. “All in pursuit of an Earth Golden Core, with the potential of a Heavenly Golden Core on the side.” He added sarcastically.

  Rozaline eyed the scrolls for a moment, then glanced between them and Faust, before taking the two scrolls and waltzing into the home as if she owned the place to sit down, opening the first scroll.

  Faust stared at the incredulous behavior for a moment, mouth slightly agape, then shook his head, he shouldn’t expect anything less from an eccentric heir of nobility— he was moving out anyways.

  Ignoring Rozaline, Faust took out the pouch that Overseer Clementine had given him.

  It was a spatial pouch. Opening the string that tied the bag together, there was nothing but darkness. Sending a wisp of Innate Qi into the bag, Faust found it was surprisingly large, the pouches space had been expanded by about… 50 times? he guessed, giving it the space of a small wagon.

  Inside the spatial pouch, there were several dark purple outer robes, each embroidered with golden thread. The uniform for Inner Sect disciples. Other than those there was a lavender jade token with Faust’s daoist name, Faust engraved in gold beside the sect’s name.

  Several formations somehow embedded into the semitransparent jade token. It was a far, far more expensive and elaborate identity token than the wooden Outer Sect ones. The mark of someone the sect actually cared about.

  Faust smiled lightly at the token, withdrawing it from the pouch and letting it rest in his palm.

  “I wasn’t aware you were so sentimental.” Rozaline commented on the side, not looking away from the scrolls.

  “I don’t compare my sentiments to the nobilities for a good reason.” Faust responded, feeling the mood ruined, withdrawing one of the Inner Sect outer robes while taking his Outer Sect over robe off.

  “Ohhh, I can see your elbows~”

  “You're free to step outside, junior sister.” Faust responded, swapping out the over robe and tying his new identity token to his belt, replacing his previous one.

  Faust hadn’t wasted money on a mirror, but either way, he felt like a transformed man.

  Without further comments from Rozaline, Faust went about sorting what he would leave behind and what he would be taking with him. Naturally his collection of accumulated resources and techniques, as well as all his research, notes and self created techniques would all be going with him.

  Pulling open the floor boards, Faust revealed more storage. He quickly realised, going through everything, may take some time.

  “My. What a hoarder you are.”

  “...” Faust had no rebuttal to Rozaline as he pulled out the 6th wooden crate from under the floor boards.

  Opening the crates, Faust found a lot of rice. Another held more techniques and failed attempts at creating his own techniques. Another held ore and basic forging tools from when Faust had created his own flying sword. Another was stuffed with countless maps purchased at local markets for an assortment of past missions.

  Emptying the boxes, Faust shoved everything into the spatial pouch, quickly approaching its limit. In the end, the small, three room house was quickly stripped of its clutter.

  As for the few spiritual plants on the windowsill, most were just low grade herbs that Faust had long outgrown. Only the 5 Element Dragonvine that had been growing for 5 years was still of any use, so Faust picked up the large pot, which wouldn’t fit in the spatial bag and turned to Rozaline, who was still looking through the scrolls with a serious expression.

  “I’m done packing, so I’m heading to the Inner Sect now.” Faust said, before starting out the door.

  “Hmmm.” Rozaline hummed in acknowledgement, before standing up and following Faust out, still buried in the second scroll.

  ??????????????

  “Pahh!” Mue Dian rolled and bounced across the ground, reaching out to try stop herself, but ending up crawling out of the dirt before struggling back to her feet.

  “Hahahaha! That’s all you can do? You’re even more pathetic than I thought! Did you learn those skills from a farmer?” Sue Jane suddenly paused, covering her mouth. “Oh my! It just occurred to me that those really are farmer’s skills. You're the daughter of one after all!”

  Dian had a split lip and a shallow gash on her forehead, otherwise, her body was covered in bruises, some wounds resembled split skin, traveling down a limb, signs of a bone fracture. Still, she stubbornly got into stance, her whole body shaking, not from fear, but from injury. Spirit Qi surged around her and even traces of Innate Qi began showing up, the usage of which would slow down advancement as one had to refine more of it, a tedious task.

  Persius had tried to intervene, but then took a bad blow to the elbow, causing it to turn the other way. He had then bowed out, opting to treat himself rather than keep fighting, now content to sit on the sidelines after feeling the pain.

  Sirius closed her eyes, covering her face with her sleeve and wincing every time she heard the sound of rendered flesh or cracking bone. She hadn’t meant to let it go this far, but while Persius looked sufficiently miserable, Dian kept getting back up and charging like a stubborn ox.

  The other Inner Disciples, who had initially been watching the fight, had mostly dispersed. It was hardly even a fight. Sue Jane dominated the fight with superior body tempering and external arts. But of course, the main reason— was her usage of external materials and usage of an array when she broke through to the Open Palace realm.

  Having almost more than double the force and pressure of Spirit Qi in her attack and defence, it was obvious that Sue Jane was dominating the fight, brutally beating Dian with her treasured fan. Being better in other aspects was just a bonus.

  Dian grunted, shooting forward towards Sue Jane, extending her spear.

  Again, for what must have been the fourth time in a row, Sue Jane rushed forward with her fan, opening it up and using it like a shield to deflect and control the spear tip. Dian tried widening her stance, pushing up the back of her spear while lowering the front in a block.

  As a swordsman, Sirius wasn’t sure how good Dian’s response was, especially considering she had tried the same attack and defence 4 times and failed everytime.

  “Senior brother?” Sirius asked.

  “An amateur. Not worth commenting.” Damarius spoke sharply, having stopped watching after the first few exchanges, continuing to meditate at his perch on the rock.

  Sirius didn’t press for more commentary from him, she saw the result first hand as Sue Jane lifted the fan up and the spear shaft along with it, landing a clean kick above Dian’s abdomen through the ineffectual defence.

  Dian was blown back a few meters, barely managing to stay on her feet but falling to her knees anyways as her breathing came out choked and desperate. Still, after a few moments, she stubbornly pushed herself to her feet, leaning on her spear.

  “Hahaha…” Sue Jane chuckled dryly. “This farce has gone on long enough, no?” She spoke. Spirit Qi bubbled up around her, before concentrating at the tip of her fan in a pale light. The pale light gained gold tinge before becoming a sharpened spike around her hand and fan.

  “Wait!” Sirius yelled out.

  Sue Jane closed the distance from Dian with a few, swift, steps.

  Even Persius’s eyes widened and Damarius shifted slightly, his eyes cracking open.

  Bang!

  A pebble shattered against Sue Jane’s fan, filled with enough Spirit Qi to dispel her technique and deflect her strike to just miss Dian, who was too delirious to even react to the strike.

  “My my, what happened here?” A melodious voice spoke from the entrance of the Purple Gem mountain courtyard.

  Sirius paused halfway to Sue Jane and Dian turning to the voice along with everyone else.

  Red and gold gleaming in the sunlight was the first thing to catch everyone's attention, followed by Rozaline’s smile as she tapped her chin with a scroll. Beside her, Faust lowered his leg, a line of cleaned stone on the stone tiles beneath him from where a pebble must have once sat.

  “Senior brother Faust!” Sirius shouted, quickly dashing up to him.

  “Really… What the hell is happening today.” Faust grumbled, holding a pot in one arm as he looked over the courtyard.

  Damarius’s gaze lingered on the newly arrived pair for a moment, before settling back down and returning to his meditation.