On the twelfth day after my return, the sect was thrown into chaos. All of the disciples panicked as a shadow fell over the entirety of Million Flowers Celestial Peak.

I was less overtly shaken, but definitely nervous. I could tell the shadow was cast by a colossal flying beast and had even sensed a few familiar presences on its back.

Nonetheless, the arrival of the White Demon Tiger King didn't ease my nerves. Even though I could feel Wang Ren was up there with him, there was no telling what had happened after I left the Blossoming Heavens.

My encounter with the tiger sage had been positive, but he had made clear how protective he was of Shuanghu. Hopefully my Senior Brother had behaved himself.

I wasn't sure how I'd expected them to descend, but it definitely wasn't this. I heard a yelp from above, followed by a blurry shape falling over the side of the giant flying beast.

After that, it flew off into the distance so fast it was nearly impossible to track. Within two breath's time I could no longer sense or see it.

The blurry shape gained speed as it fell towards the peak of the mountain, until I could make out a green robe and a familiar face stretched into resigned annoyance. Wang Ren was stoic despite being tossed overboard by the White Demon Tiger King.

I formed a sort of trampoline from my qi underneath him, bringing him to a gentle halt right in front of the Grasping Life Palace. The disciples who'd rushed up here in a panic gawked at the sight, while those who still lived nearby had poked their heads out to see what the commotion was.

Wang Ren stepped elegantly onto the ground, smoothing his robe and greeting me with a wave and a nod. "Thank you for the assistance, Sect Leader," he said as he walked over to me.

"Quite the entrance you've made. Scared the disciples a fair bit," I chuckled, waving a hand at the gathered crowd. Most dispersed seeing there was no danger, but a few curious ones remained to listen to our conversation.

"What can I say? I'm a stylish elder," he replied with a wink. "There is much to discuss, preferably away from prying ears and watching eyes. I have messages for you and some grave news."

The latter portion of his sentence turned my cheerful expression serious and I nodded in agreement. With a flick of my sleeve, the rest of the disciples dispersed, including Xiao Cui and Feng Mei who'd been peeking from their respective houses. "Let's go to my place," I said, leading the way.

Once we were seated in my house with cups of freshly brewed tea in front of us—the same leaf Wang Ren had picked up on his first adventure out of the sect, which I'd grown fond of—it was time to hear what he had to say. He took a sip, sighing in appreciation, then began to tell his tale.

He began by recounting the events inside the Blossoming Heavens after we'd parted ways. Learning how he brute forced his way through not only the mist array but also the walls of the Spring and Autumn Palace left me gobsmacked. It was so absurd, yet exactly like Wang Ren to do things in such a straightforward manner.

"Always the warrior, eh, Senior Brother?" I quipped.

His glare was enough to make me shut up, but I still had a smirk on my face. Such a stickler.

After that his tone turned serious as he told me the first portion of bad news. Learning that the Cloudy Falls Sect had sent disciples after the two of us to assassinate us inside the secret realm wasn't entirely unexpected, but still made me pissed.

This time Wang Ren had easily dispatched the bastards, but what about the next time? What if he'd run into disciples too strong to handle or the sect decided to send a few elders to Million Flowers Celestial Peak to wipe us out?

All this because of that deceitful Elder Jin. I couldn't wait for the day I was powerful enough to teach him a lesson myself, but for now we had to be exceedingly cautious in everything we did.

Finding out that Shuanghu and Longma had tried to warn him and help us out warmed my heart. I hadn't realised we made such an impression on our beast companions, but at the very least that had prevented the White Demon Tiger King from squashing me like a bug.

"That reminds me, the old tiger said I should visit the beast continent in future but never told me how to get there," I snorted.

"Oh, that shouldn't be an issue. He said he gave you a fang? Apparently you just need to show that to any feline beast and they'll help you out," Wang Ren explained.

"Huh. Smart. He gave me a bunch of cultivation resources too. I learned… many things inside that place. I can't tell you much but suffice to say the situation in this world is far more complex and dangerous than we ever believed," I said.

Wang Ren flicked a sleeve dismissively. "So what?" Seeing my confusion, he grinned before continuing. "Does that change our goals or our paths at all? We were always aiming for the peak of this world. That you know more about it changes little, unless you're more of a coward than I thought?"

"Never, you muscle-brained bastard," I retorted. He was right. Nothing had changed except the destination. My path was the same as it had always been, as was my determination.

"So, what about the final trial? Who ended up obtaining the key the tiger sage wanted?" I asked, eager to hear of what I'd missed.

"Well, funny you say that. Actually something interesting happened. I entered the inner sanctum with Shuanghu, Longma, and that scary spiked beast. Did you realise she was a female?" he said, snorting as he saw my jaw drop.

So the badgerhog was a girl. Well, she was a ferocious ally I'd be happy to adventure with again. Definitely wouldn't want to be on her bad side, that's for certain.

"Anyway, we found some valuable treasures in the first few chambers. Had to take on some powerful metal warriors powered by qi as well as other cultivators. Tough battles, but we emerged victorious. Unfortunately, that lizard beast didn't make it. That was the only other death, however, so we didn't do too bad. When we came to the fourth chamber, another cultivator from the Cloudy Falls Sect appeared before us."

Seeing as Wang Ren was here to tell the tale, clearly he hadn't lost against them. His odd expression told me there was more to the story, however.

"Do you remember the Mist Princess?" he said.

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My jaw dropped even further than it had when I learned the badgerhog was a female beast. The Mist Princess was one of the most famous core disciples in the Cloudy Falls Sect, the second most talented of all the disciples but the most popular due to her incredible beauty and kind personality.

I scanned my memories. Eyes like serene ponds, hair like a waterfall of silver, and skin like milky white jade. The perfect princess, with a personality that won over the people to match.

"She was Elder Ling's disciple I believe?" I replied.

"Right. Anyway, when she appeared in front of us I immediately went on guard. Drew my glaive and prepared to die. She was as talented as ever, having reached five-star Foundation Building and matching the elders. As you can probably tell I reached the Foundation Building Realm, but nowhere near her level. I told the beasts to flee. They refused at first, but I forced the matter. Thus I was left facing down the Mist Princess in single combat, ready to enter the cycle of reincarnation," Wang Ren continued, his story telling keeping me in suspense.

"Clearly that didn't happen. How did you defeat her, my genius guardian?" I asked eagerly.

"I didn't," he said, making my face scrunch in confusion. "She took me by surprise. Seeing my reaction she sighed, explaining how she'd seen me kill the first four ambushers. She told me that she had technically been given the same mission, but Elder Ling had instructed her otherwise in secret. Elder Ling and Elder Bang were always close. Given the strangeness surrounding Master Bang's death, Elder Ling developed a deep mistrust of Elder Jin and those who supported his story. She told the Mist Princess to investigate and try to meet with either you or I," he explained.

"So, what did you tell her? Not too much, I hope. Even if Elder Ling is sympathetic to us, I'm not sure I trust any Elder of the Cloudy Falls Sect," I said, fearing deception on their part.

"Don't worry, I'm not that foolish. I told her the truth of what happened in Three River City. She was shocked, to say the least. There were parts of the tale she didn't believe, but it's a fact that the elders descended to deal with a major threat, so the parts involving Guan Chaoxing were undeniable.

"Anyway, once she heard what really happened to Master Bang, she understood that Elder Ling's suspicions were correct. She promised she was going to do her best to rectify the wrongs done to us and even said she would petition the sect leader to get me back in the sect. I refused of course. What's done is done. I am the Guardian Elder of the Grasping Life Sect now. However, I wished her and Elder Ling luck in their conflict with Elder Jin. At the very least, if the Cloudy Falls Sect is embroiled in civil war they won't be able to focus on us."

"Damn it, you really are a bastard," I said, kissing my teeth. Seeing the hurt and confusion on his face I snorted and explained. "You've always been more talented in combat than me, but somehow you continue to stay ahead in wits and intellect too. Bastard son of the heavens."

He burst out laughing when he heard me finish. "We all have our own talents. As if you're one to talk, Divine Healer," he retorted.

I winced hearing the moniker a few of my patients had begun to call me. "Alright then, so things went mostly well. The final trial and the key?"

"Not what I expected at all. It began with a treasure hunt. Everyone who had reached that point had to find certain natural treasures and monster cores and reach a particular number of points to advance. As you probably guessed it turned violent as people realised they could just wait for others to gather treasures and rob them rather than wasting their own time searching," Wang Ren said, reminding me of what had happened the entire way through the Blossoming Heavens.

"How did you all do?"

"So of the group, only Shuanghu, Longma, the badgerhog, Meng Huo, and myself made it to the final trial. Meng Huo was nervous as he had to leave the little ape in the care of the others but he couldn't miss the chance to participate. Of those, only Shuanghu, Longma, and I passed the first trial," he told me.

"It was that difficult to find the treasures?" I asked, surprised they hadn't simply shared between one another.

He chuckled dryly at my response. "Not quite. We actually found enough between us to meet the point total, but the geezer who made the trial was a devious bastard. Those who had robbed others, along with those in our group who we'd shared treasures with to raise them to the correct point total, all failed. Only those who'd found enough on their own passed."

His expression grew confused when I burst out laughing. It took me a moment to stop long enough to explain. "Sorry, it's just that I met the sage who created the Spring and Autumn Palace and all the trials. That sounds exactly like the sort of thing he'd do," I said, thinking of the Spring and Autumn Sage's ridiculous trials I'd been through.

"I see. The Spring and Autumn Sage, right? He only appeared once, at the end of the trial. He seemed… weakened somehow. Likely related to what happened afterwards, but I'll get there. There were two more stages after the treasure hunt. The second was a battle royale. Very violent, lots of deaths. I excelled, of course," he said, puffing out his chest. "Shuanghu made it through, but Longma had a bad matchup near the end and suffered a grievous wound. Tough bastard survived, but had to withdraw to recover."

"You didn't help him?"

"We were split up and sent to different locations at the beginning. We tried to regroup but it was too chaotic," he explained.

"Makes sense. The last stage?"

"Actually the simplest of them all. All we had to do was land a single blow on the sage's apparition."

"Only one person succeeded?" I asked with surprise. Even though it was a sage, it was only an apparition. I was sure a few talented cultivators of the Foundation Building Realm could manage to land one blow.

When he shook his head I grew confused once more. "Four cultivators managed to land a strike on the apparition. Shuanghu, the Mist Princess, a guy who turned out to be one of the imperial princes, and this scary witch from the eastern sects."

"You failed!?" I exclaimed. Wang Ren was one of the most naturally talented warriors I'd ever met. That he failed when Shuanghu succeeded was unbelievable. I saw his face twist into a devious grin.

"It saddens me that you have so little faith in me, Sect Leader," he said, wiping a non-existent tear from his eye. "Of course, while those four talented cultivators managed to land one blow on the sage's apparition, the mighty Wang Ren landed not just one, not even two, but three blows," he declared, puffing out his chest and smacking it once.

"I expected nothing less, you gorilla. Well done. That means you obtained the key?" I asked, laughing as he winced at the gorilla remark.

"Don't talk about apes. I heard enough of that nonsense from the beasts," he muttered. "Yes, I obtained the key. It was actually a plain old metal key, utterly unremarkable. The White Demon Tiger King was convinced it was the real thing though, and he gave me a great reward for it."

"Oh? What did you get?" I asked.

"You'll see," he replied, tapping his nose and winking. "Anyway, that isn't important. Now we come to the grave news and the tiger king's message. First of all he told me that you got off this time, but you better tread carefully around Shuanghu in future."

I snorted at that, but internally I was extremely relieved. Facing down the beast sage had been terrifying. "And the grave news?"

"Well, it's two things really. After the final trial, the entire Blossoming Heavens was shaken by a series of colossal tremors, to the point cracks formed in the membrane separating it from this world. A few of the sages from outside had to step in to stabilise it. At that point the tiger sage appeared. As soon as he learned I had the key he gathered all of us and raced away as fast as he could. That giant lightning eagle took us out, as you probably saw."

I nodded, already knowing the likely cause of those tremors. The Spring and Autumn Sage had been preparing for a fight when he sent me out, which would explain the level of damage. Just who had come to hunt a long-dead sage and Shen Yaoguai?

"The grave news relates to what the sage told us. He explained a little about the situation and told us that he'd already sent you safely away. Apparently an ancient war between sages has started again and the world is going to be thrown into fire and chaos. He told all of us to be extremely cautious, especially in our dealings with sages and their subordinates or descendants. Also, he told me to tell you specifically to destroy the ring you looted from that shadowy cultivator. Apparently a terrifyingly dangerous opponent will be able to track you through it."

My eyebrows shot to my hairline at that. Well, fuck. I hadn't even looted the ring and I was supposed to get rid of it? It seemed it was time to pay Guan Jin the golden serpent another visit.

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