On the tform, after defeating Chen Liong, Alex swayed once then his body gave out.
Every muscle in him had reached its limit. His arms trembled uncontrobly. His
chest burned as if it had been torn open from the inside.
Pain screamed through his bones. He had pushed himself far beyond what his body could endure.
Then everything went ck.
Eight Fatty reacted instantly. He rushed forward, grabbed Alex before he could copse to the floor, and supported his weight with both arms.
Carefully—almost urgently—he pulled Alex away from the center, shielding him from the eyes of the crowd.
The other Fatty brothers hurried over and gathered around Eight Fatty and Alex, their faces tight with worry.
"Don''t tell me he died dramatically and left us some legendary inheritance," Fourth Fatty blurted out, eyes wide.
"Shut your mouth," Third Fatty snapped, smacking him on the back of the head. "Don''t curse him, you idiot. He''s not dead."
He leaned closer, listening carefully.
"...He''s snoring."
The Fatty brothers froze.
Four Fatty rubbed his face in disbelief. “Unbelievable. The guy nearly tore two factions apart..... and now he''s sleeping like he just won a pillow fight."
At the same time, First Fatty stepped onto the tform.
His heavy footsteps thudded against the stone, each step deliberate,manding attention. The echoes rolled across the courtyard and silenced the murmurs.
"Dear brothers and sisters," he announced. "As you can see, our Ninth Brother has already reached his limit. The fight ends here."
His gaze swept over the crowd-sharp, warning.
"And we don''t want any trouble. So I ask every one of you to swear on your Dao Heart that you will never speak a word about this fight to anyone outside this ce.”
He paused, letting the weight of his words sink in.
"We don''t want the outer disciples being humiliated by a servant to be aughingstoc."
Silence fell.
Everyone understood.
This fight had crushed the pride of both the Dragon Group and the Tiger Group. If word spread, their reputations would be destroyed. And if anyone dared to cause trouble for them because of gossip...
They might not live long enough to regret it.
Excitement wasn''t worth dying for.
One by one, the spectators stepped forward.
"I swear upon my Dao Heart."
"I swear."
"I will never reveal this matter."
The words echoed solemnly across the tform.
For cultivators like them, the Dao Heart was everything.
A pure heart. A clear mind. Alignment with the will of nature.
To swear upon the Dao Heart was no small thing. If they broke that oath, it would
leave a stain—a dark blemish buried deep within their spirit.
That stain would grow into a w, and that w would be a demon when they
tried to break through to higher realms of cultivation.
Once they swore, they could never cross that line.
And so, every single one of them swore.
Meanwhile, far above the tform, at the peak of the highest mountain, a solitary building thrust out into the open air like a de cutting through the sky.
It clung to the cliff''s edge, suspended between earth and clouds, as if it ruled everything below.
Inside stood two figures.
One was an old man.
The other was Li Chingxue.
The old man had a full head of white hair that flowed down his back, yet hisplexion was ruddy and vibrant. His eyes glittered with sharp intelligence and quiet power.
He stood at the edge of the structure, hands sped behind his back, looking down at the scene unfolding below.
His gaze was calm.
But within it flickered unmistakable interest.
"What an interesting child you brought back to the sect, Qingxue." The old man chuckled, low and amused.
Li Chingxue felt a faint headache forming at her temples. She lowered her gaze slightly. "Sect Leader, I only brought him here to protect his life. I never expected him to stir up this kind of trouble inside the sect. If you wish, I can have him expelled immediately."
"Oh? Did he poison the elders?" the old man asked.
"No."
"Did he rob the treasury?"
"...Not that we know of."
"Then what terrible crime did hemit?"
"He defeated two elite disciples and humiliated both factions."
The old man chuckled. “Qingxue, if we expelled everyonepetent enough to
cause trouble, this sect would be empty."
"Yes, Sect Leader." Li Chingxue bowed.
"That kid is extraordinary," he said calmly. "His cultivation level is very low, yet he dismantled opponents stronger than him by analyzing them. weaknesses. He reads people. He calctes. He turns ws into weapons. That is not talent you see every day."
As he spoke, he pulled out a small cloth pouch and opened it.
"Try this."
Li Chingxue leaned closer and saw a food pill resting inside. She picked it up and swallowed it without hesitation. For cultivators of her level, food pills weremon -mere sustenance to rece ordinary meals.
But the moment it dissolved on her tongue, her expression changed.
The energy was pure. Dense. Shockingly refined.
"This... is high quality," she said, unable to hide her surprise.
"Yes," the Sect Leader replied. He flicked one of the pills into his mouth and chewed it as casually as if it- wered roasted peanut. The man you brought rewrote the form. Our food pills are now twenty times more effective than before.
He let that sink in.
"He took a recipe that hasn''t been altered in fifty years... and improved it."
Li Chingxue blinked. "So he''s a genius?"
“No,” the old man corrected calmly. “A genius improves things slightly. This one makes everyone else look unemployed."
The sect Leaderughed hard.
"Chingxue, you have done this sect a great service by bringing him her. The Pill Refinement Department already requested him," the old man said calmly. "They want to take him under their wing."
Li Chingxue straightened. "Yes, Sect Leader."
He nced at Li Chingxue, his sharp eyes unreadable.
“I stopped them. For now, let that young man enjoy his time in the Wudang Sect.
There''s no need to rush."
His tone shifted slightly, firmer this time.
“But if he ever steps into the ranks of the outer disciples, remember this-send him
to the Pill Refinement Department immediately."
It was not a suggestion.
It was an order.
The next morning, Alex woke up in his room.
The soreness was still there, buried deep in his muscles. His body felt like it had
been beaten with iron rods. But the pain wasn''t what bothered him most.
It was regret.
He stared at the ceiling, jaw tight.
He should never have gone out like that. Never should have stepped onto that tform. He had painted a target on his own back. In a ce crawling with cultivators stronger than him, showing off was the fastest way to die.
He had wanted to stay hidden. Quiet. Invisible.
He only needed time-time to find a way out of this world and return to Xia, to
Estoria, even to Prussia if he had to.
"I came here to live," he muttered bitterly. "Not to die like an idiot."
He knew the truth. He was still weak. This ce was full of monsters wearing
human faces. People far stronger than him were everywhere. He was supposed to
be a shadow no one noticed.
Not a shooting target.
"Fudge!" he snapped, sitting up abruptly.
"I''m not stepping out of the kitchen anymore. Not unless I have to."
His eyes hardened.
"And I''m going to cultivate. I''m going to get stronger. I''ll take back my former power."
He clenched his fists.
"When I reach that level again, I don''t care who stands in my way. They won''t be
able to stop me from walking out of here."
He jumped off the bed, grabbed several pills from the kitchen storage, and swallowed them in quick session. Then he sat cross-legged on the floor, closed
his eyes, and immediately began to cultivate.
This time, there would be no showing off.
Only growth.
Only power.
And the long preparation for escape.