The man with the floral uniform had observed the fight from the city towers. He chomped on grilled pork, enjoying the cold breeze blowing through his long, grey hair. At first, he thought the fight would make for good entertainment with his warm wine, but stepped in when the two youths showed real intention to kill.

"Fei Chao, piss off!" The white-haired boy was the one who showed anger first; his face twisted like he bit into a lemon.

"Kai, I can't have you killing fellow orthodox cultivators. It's not that I wanted to move from my perfect seat, just that your Master would've nagged me to hell and back if I didn't do anything." Fei Chao used the flying swords under his control and pushed the two apart. "Also, I heard something that I couldn't ignore."

"A sword that can't cut is useless, you say?" Using his left hand to draw the straight sword on his back, Fei Chao looked right at the young swordsman.

A left-handed swordsman? Still cautious, Wang Yang observed the rare swordsman in front of him.

Left-hand dominant people were rare, even rarer in sword cultivators. But the moment he noticed the swaying right sleeve, Wang Yang thought that maybe the swordsman in front of him wasn't a natural lefty.

"Did I say anything wrong? A sword has to cut, what else can it do?" Kai, still pissed, glared at the man.

"That's the thinking of a third-rate swordsman." Fei Chao, however, let his qi run through the sword with a calm smile. The qi that dispersed from his sword like steam from boiling water soon changed to a grey hue and enveloped the sword, forming a sharp edge.

Wang Yang has seen Sun Lingling's sword qi training. But unlike the stressful session he had seen, Fei Chao stood still in the grass, balancing the wine bottle on his head. He extended his sword forward like holding a bouquet; a normal motion with no effort. In the sword's path was a butterfly, but it didn't fly away. It flew over, sitting on the sword's edge, unharmed by the sharpness that gave him chills.

Sun Lingling could cut solid iron blocks with that, but the butterfly wasn't hurt. Wang Yang looked at the blade, possessed. Even the vigilance he had for Kai had vanished, taken over by genuine curiosity.

"A sword that only knows how to cut can't distinguish between friend and foe. Such a sword can never nurture a good, just warrior." Fei Chao shook the sword and sheathed it. The butterfly flew over and perched on his shoulder as he took a swig of his wine. "Kyaa! Wine tastes so good after showing off."

"Doesn't your mouth feel stiff from all that righteous crap?" Kai felt like he could vomit. After all, the real Fei Chao was the last person he wanted to hear talk about good or bad.

"Tsk tsk, to think the future of Divine Sword valley is like this." Fei Chao shook his head and turned to Wang Yang with a chuckle. "I apologize, young one, I should've stopped him earlier, but he was so excited to fight Li Muchen's disciple that he ended up targeting the wrong one."

"Wrong… one?" Wang Yang blinked; he almost fell over.

"Yes, he wanted to fight Sun Lingling but mistook you for her." Fei Chao looked at Kai, who was trying to make himself smaller.

"All that talk about how you'd know your rival by aura alone; this is what you get for not listening when I was giving you the information. Never mind attacking someone else, you even got the gender wrong." Fei Chao's hysterical laughter echoed.

"…Piss off." Kai turned away, his voice quieter.

"Well, there you have it. I just wanted to bring this arrogant kid a peg or two down. So, I let him go at you. Forgive me for that." Fei Chao looked at Wang Yang and brought his hand up since he didn't have one arm; the gesture looked a bit awkward with the wine bottle balanced on the index finger.

"Well…" Wang Yang felt conflicted.

On one hand, Fei Chao saved him. But on the other hand, he let Kai do whatever. However, the other party was much stronger than him. The fact that he got an apology had already gone past what he would get as a weaker cultivator.

"It's ok, elder, you don't have to do that." He faked a smile and bowed, wanting to get away from this duo.

"Man, you're such a good kid. I hope some brat learns from your example." Fei Chao slung his arm around Wang Yang's neck with a smile, pulling him along. "Come with me, I'll treat you to some nice lunch and drinks, all on me."

"Huh?"

Before Wang Yang could even mutter a word of protest, Fei Chao dragged him into the city. This time, the grey-haired elder took him to a part he hadn't passed through.

"Come on, young one, have one drink with me and you'll get hooked."

"You look cute. If you come with me, I'll give you some special services on the house."

In the alley full of color and vibrance, beautiful women in short, snug dresses with bare shoulders stood around the shops. Their eyes gravitated towards the innocent-looking Wang Yang among the crowd of old, lecherous men; many even tapped his shoulders to get his attention.

"Well, aren't you a popular one. Just like me when I was young." Fei Chao slapped Wang Yang's back with a holler. "Go and have some fun!"

"Eh… Well…" Even someone like Wang Yang understood what type of establishments these were. So, while he stood there poking his fingers, the women took a shine to him.

"I am sorry… but I am too young for this," he said, trying to slip away.

"Don't worry, young man, we have plenty of milk if you prefer that." A woman chuckled, hugging his arm.

"He's cute, isn't he. So innocent." Another squealed.

"He's totally my type." A young girl peeked from the balcony above.

Even with his refusal, two women dragged him inside the store, their faces lighting up under his youthful charm. Under the dim light, Wang Yang sat on the cushion like a statue between the two women. The one with a flaming red dress with a front slit poured him a bowl of warm milk. The one in blue, with a tear mole under her eye, wrapped her arms around his. Surprisingly, the establishment wasn't what he originally thought; at least not as bad as he expected.

"I can see you're disappointed, kid." Fei Chao laughed; the women on his side fed him fruit and drinks with smiles, fawning over him.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"No… well… I wasn't really…" Wang Yang found himself in a tough situation. Even he didn't know if he felt relieved or disappointed in that moment. He knew such shops existed, but never had the chance to know more.

"This cutie has a naughty side." The woman in blue qipao chimed in, her grip on his arm tightened.

"He is a healthy young man, after all." The red dress smiled.

"Too bad for you, kid, the women here only join as drinking partners. If you want that type of thing, ask your master about it. He knows a lot about these kinds of establishments," Fei Chao said.

"My master does?" Wang Yang couldn't think of such an establishment and his Master in the same sentence; it didn't fit.

"Yeah. Women even paid him to drink with them. I envy him so much, if only I had his looks." Fei Chao shook his head, drinking down his jealousy.

"I don't think much would change even if you looked like me." The words floated over, attracting their attention. "Women don't just fall for the face, you know?"

Wang Yang froze. He looked up and saw his Master. The chatter around their table and the ones near them had stopped upon his entrance.

"Flashy as ever, aren't you?" Fei Chao smiled, seeing the four women at their table gawk at Li Muchen like they had seen a man for the first time.

"You're as carefree as ever. I thought you'd change after becoming a sect master, but here you are drinking instead of the meeting at City Lord's mansion." Muchen waved away the woman who guided him to the table with a pouch of spiritual stones.

"I don't like formal meetings; they make me hurl." Fei Chao looked to the woman beside him and coughed, opening his mouth for the chocolate-covered almonds. But the two didn't even notice him. He poured himself a drink and waved him away. "You always ruin my drinking time with your mug."

"Must be hard having an old face." Muchen smiled. "Now, would you go to the city lord's mansion, or should I follow you around to every establishment you go to?"

"Handsome bastard…" Fei Chao almost spat up his drink. If Muchen followed him, no woman would give him the time of day; he had experienced it several times when they travelled together.

"Time's ticking," Muchen said.

"Ok, ok. I give." With a heavy sigh, Fei Chao stood up.

"You go ahead. I'll handle things here." Muchen smiled at Fei Chao while he passed him. "Don't even think that you can hide from me in this city. I'll know no matter which shop you go into."

Fei Chao left the establishment, cursing and grumbling. Muchen gestured for Wang Yang to follow him and turned to leave. But the woman at the table, the one next to Wang Yang, grabbed his hand.

"Handsome, why don't you drink with us? We're running a special discount—thirty… no, fifty percent off!" The woman in the red dress leaned closer, her eyes sparkling like she had found a jewel.

In her line of work, she had dealt with plenty of snobs and tiresome drunks, but men like Muchen—elegant, refined, almost prince-like—were rarer than phoenix feathers in this city. Just this once, she would even sacrifice her commission for the chance to share a drink with him.

"Yes, yes!" The woman in blue added quickly. "Our shopkeeper is the kindest! If you drink twenty bottles, the rest will be free!"

Muchen chuckled softly, placing his hand gently over the woman's hand.

"I would love nothing more than to share a drink with you lovely ladies," he said, his smile warmer than the sun outside. "But I have urgent matters to attend to. When I return, I'll drink as many cups as you want as punishment for making you wait."

"You swear?" the red-dressed woman asked, her heart fluttering at his gentle tone.

"I swear."

Her cheeks flushed. "Then I'll be waiting. If you don't come… I'll jump from the rooftop."

Muchen stepped back, his gaze never losing its warmth. "And I'll be waiting below to catch you. Until then, see you."

Just like that, Muchen freed himself from the women in the establishment. He had learned that running away forcefully would do no good, plus muscle memory kicked in, so he fed her some cheesy lines to make his escape.

Following him out of the colorful street, under constant offers from women, he saw Muchen handle them with a smile. Wang Yang looked at his master with blinking eyes. Like he saw a ghost.

"If you have a question, you should ask," Muchen said.

"Is it true that Master went to a lot of such establishments before?" After seeing the scene from before, Wang Yang could see the truth.

"When I was on the western continent, yes. This culture is much stronger there; every inn had such services, so that wasn't much of a choice. Plus, the women there were great at gathering information." Muchen explained.

"Is it also true that the women paid you to drink and eat with them?"

"…I was robbed there, so I had to accept such offers. A human can't exactly survive on air and dew after all, especially when you cultivate." Muchen sighed; he needed to deal with Fei Chao properly after this.

That makes sense, even my appetite has increased threefold. Wang Yang nodded, confirming his curiosity.

"Leaving that aside, I heard you had a scuffle with Kai?" Muchen turned to his disciple.

Truth be told, he didn't expect such an outcome. The very fact that Kai came here went beyond his calculations. Not to mention him attacking Wang Yang like that. He could never predict that.

The two, who became lifelong friends and rivals after their first meeting, had met 20 years earlier and almost killed each other. Muchen still didn't know how or why Kai came to the Eastern Martial Meet. He was on the Eastern Continent last time, too, but he only stayed at Fei Chao's sect and didn't leave the place.

But this time, he followed Fei Chao and even attacked Wang Yang. More than the threat to his disciple's life, Muchen could see how the encounter had shaken Wang Yang. Fighting beasts and sparring with other cultivators was much different than facing real enemies that showed unbridled hostility. It was the turning point of what made or broke warriors.

"I am sorry, I couldn't do well and had to be rescued again." Wang Yang said, clenching his fists.

So, it is bothering him.

Wang Yang's earlier light-hearted question and his going along with Fei Chao were ways his brain tried to smother that uncomfortable truth. But it didn't last in front of Muchen's direct question.

Muchen had expected such feelings of inadequacy to hit Wang Yang soon, but his battle with Kai only quickened the realization.

In a cultivation society, fame came with pressure to perform. If the performance didn't match the title, the cultivator got crushed into oblivion by the jealousy and violence of the masses. Even someone as clueless and new to the cultivation society, Wang Yang, had become aware of his special position and the expectation that came with it.

Lei Feng made him realize what would happen to people related to him if he were weak, and Kai made him understand what would happen to him if he couldn't carry the weight of his title. Death would embrace him before he could even blink, and if he died, he'd only have his weakness to blame for it.

He felt his chest tighten. Fear. Like everyone, he too feared death. Wang Yang didn't want to die. He wanted to run away, back to his village and live peacefully by tending to the vineyards and cattle like he had before he took that test on a whim of his childhood friend.

But when he looked at his Master, the day this man saved him flashed before his eyes. Then Muchen took him as his disciple, even though he was lacking. Even if others gossiped, his Master never made him feel lesser. Muchen always treated him the same as his senior sister, the one everyone hailed as a genius.

However, that favor would run out if he kept making a fool of himself. No matter how kind a person was, no matter how much they wanted to help, if the person they helped didn't improve, they'd stop.

"I will become better. I won't let you down again!" Wang Yang shouted. It wasn't for himself; it was for his Master. He wanted to repay the trust that Muchen had in him, so that his time and energy weren't wasted.

Muchen looked at Wang Yang and nodded. Even though he knew the hidden potential of his disciple, he couldn't say it outright and coddle the young man. Wang Yang showed explosive growth for someone who had only started cultivating a few months ago, and Muchen could say that there was no need for him to compare with other geniuses at this point.

But he didn't, because the fire in Wang Yang's eyes was the only thing that would turn that potential into real power. Comparison was the thief of joy, people said. But Muchen thought that was the biggest limiter. Comparison was what pushed people to cross their limits and reach the sky; it made them go beyond the sky and become stars above the heavens.

Sure, one had to be cautious, sure, there was a risk of spiraling after failure, but that risk came with the pursuit of success, it came with the high of succeeding. Without risks, there would be no rewards, only average gains.

And Muchen knew that Wang Yang was the only one who could reap every reward from the jaws of risk.

"Do your best. I know you will succeed." He placed his hand on Wang Yang's shoulder. It wasn't sophistry; Muchen had every bit of his expectations placed on his disciple.

The same disciple who would become the hope of this dying world, that's what his disciple was. The one favored by the Heavens.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.