"You better do something, Zhu Zeng."


    "Ask that boyfriend of yours. As for me I am sure it''s enough winning second ce in this tournament."


    "How could that be enough? Don''t you see how strong Alex was? I don''t believe Reina has any other n with him on her side."


    "I already reported to the higher-ups. I am sure they know what to do," Zhu Zeng said, but his calm face suddenly turned ugly, surprising Morgana.


    "Is something wrong?"


    "Nothing, I have something to do." Zhu Zheng replied than quickly leave the area.


    "Just where did he go? Bathroom? What a joke. We shouldn''t need to go to one."


    If Alex heard her thoughts, he would chuckle, as in most novels he read, cultivators didn''t need to do that, but they still took the time to take a bath to meet the MC.


    His chuckle would then turn toughter since he realized that also happened to him.


    ''Lazy author has no other plot to fill the word count,'' he would think.


    But he didn''t hear this; instead, he was now instructing ZhuZheng without moving.


    Alex had carved some runes into his body in secret while he was giving a smashing makeover to his face.


    "I am alone now. What do you want?" ZhuZheng replied while looking around in alert.


    The location he went to was pointed out by Alex, who knew what he had prepared there.


    "Why are you bothering looking around? It just makes you suspicious." Alex''s voice reverberated in his mind with a chuckle, but for ZhuZheng, it made him freeze.


    This meant he had a way to know what he was doing; it might be from his emotions or, worse, even hearing his thoughts.


    "What do you want?"


    "Is that a way to talk to your master?" Alex replied with a smug tone, then continued, "Well, you are a newbie ve, so I will forgive you this one time, but next time, you will know how creative I can get."


    Thest part was said with a chilling tone that made ZhuZheng shiver. With their contract, he knew Alex could do many things worse than death to him, and he couldn''t even fight back.


    With reluctance, he replied, "I am sorry, master. What can this humble ve help you with?"


    "Now you learn fast, as expected from someone''spdog. What can you tell me about your old master?"


    ZhuZheng''s fists clenched, but he tried his best to calm himself down. ShangXi Temple was not just his sect; he was born there. His family was also there.


    It''s his homnd, and with their teaching, almost every single member of the temple was very loyal to it. In Alex''s words, it would be patriotic thanks to brainwashing since they were kids.


    "There is nothing much I can tell you, master. I am just a core disciple."


    "Oh, a core disciple? So how many lies are there?"


    ZhuZheng began exining things he could say. Just like his contract with Alex, he also had a simr one with ShangXi Temple, and honestly, if possible, he would lie.


    But unfortunately, he couldn''t do that.


    Based on his exnation, ShangXi Temple was very organized. Alex felt it was managed more like a guild rather than a sect.


    The elders functioned like a group of councils that gave suggestions to the abbot, while the real tasks were given to those they could minister. Explore more stories at empire


    The elder''s task was only to make sure the abbot was not out of touch with the public while they took disciples to train. This resulted in inner politics but nothing for Alex.


    Inner politics had its benefits since it made thempete with each other, ensuring none of them had any ideas to rebel.


    What surprised Alex even more was that even ministers and elders coulde from normal people, further separating them into two groups.


    However, the abbot was famous for being skewed toward normal people when listening to their opinions.


    Compared to cultivators, normal people changed positions faster. They were also more in touch with the public, the majority of whom were civilians.


    ZhuZheng himself came from the cultivator faction. His father was one of the senior elders, giving him many privileges.


    This allowed him to act outside the rules as long as it wasn''t too over the line.


    "So you are saying you are a core disciple of your father?"


    "Of course not. It would break thew. An elder cannot take his own family or even extended family under them. So, I am a core disciple under another elder.


    A single elder can have a maximum of three core disciples, with as many outer disciples as they want."


    "Hmm... So basically, outer disciple is just a luxury word for your servant."


    "They have their benefits."


    "Well, that is all good, but I want to know the important stuff. How is the recent condition, and how strong is your abbot?"


    "My abbot? Of course, she is an immortal. Although I don''t know how strong, many of the elders are also immortal, although they barely join the council meeting."


    Alex frowned. He had heard some rumors from MingYue about the temple, but he thought it was true they had many immortals under them. The abbot''s strength was not something he could underestimate.


    "If the ShangXi Temple abbot is this strong, then what about the other sects and ns here?" Alex thought to himself.


    He then asked further about ShangXi Temple''s current rtionship with other groups.


    ZhuZheng didn''t hide it and directly exined things about the core region and outer area to Alex.


    ShangXi Temple came from the core region, but because of some conflict, they ended up migrating out to the outer area and then settled in the central region.


    They were also tasked with guarding the entrance with a few other sects from the core region. But outsiders would think they all came from ShangXi Temple with their uniforms.


    The more Alex learned, the more he realized that this was really MingYue''s world. With this confirmation, he also began adjusting his n.


    Alex also started considering what would happen if Ming Yue and the others sent here like him.