At this time, deep within the inner chambers of The Bloody Path Sect’s Inner Sanctum, a Deacon at the peak of Vessel Cleansing, was suddenly alarmed by a green candle light that was now merely a small spark.

  Just a few moments ago, it had been kindling six inches high. But now it was less than half an inch in length. With the Deacon’s encompassing perception that had been honed by his many years as the watcher of the Sect’s Life Candles, he immediately noticed this.

  He noted the name written into a jade tablet beneath it.

  ‘Ge Yifeng’.

  On a square indent adjacent to his name was the white stamp of a full circle.

  Amongst the many jade tablets, only a minority of them had half-circles. These half-circles meant that they were outside of the sect. A full circle meant that they were still inside the sect.

  And for Ge Yifeng’s candle to be on the verge of dying out like this…

  The Deacon naturally knew of Ge Yifeng’s reputation as Wu Jia’s right-hand man. Despite being a mere perimeter guard, due to his advanced cultivation and his infamous Green Whisker Green Rope, he was a feared opponent.

  If someone were to be trapped inside his rope, their fate wouldn’t be hard to guess.

  It wasn’t uncommon for fights to occur within the sect. The most common time for this to happen was during group training.

  So if someone had a grudge against another disciple, they would naturally do so in front of anyone else and would even gamble on it to net more than just the win itself.

  They happened a few times a week but the Foundation Establishment Supervisors wouldn’t allow the disciples to inflict any serious injuries to the other opponent. However, outside of training this was rare.

  The sect didn’t supervise any places outside the immediate area of the training grounds, dormitory, and mess hall. So, if one were to step outside of them, they would put themselves at risk of being ambushed.

  But the amount of people who did this were only a small number and those who did, did not care about their reputation. They would be isolated from others and be known as a wretched bandit hated by all fellow disciples.

  Over a thousand years ago, the sect had much harsher rules and basically ruled the entire place a free-for all where the strong ruled the weak. It was a beast cage where only the strongest animals survived while the rest died off.

  But in recent times it had changed and now there were several times the number of disciples. Apparently, there used to be only two hundred disciples in total because the allied clans associated with the sect had stopped sending them their youths. However, the individual cultivators themselves were far weaker. They didn’t know as much bloodshed as their past contemporaries and only the sect’s ancestor would know about this.

  So as the Deacon who supervised the Bloody Path Sect’s life candles saw Ge Yifeng’s flame almost extinguish despite being in the sect, he was alarmed.

  He immediately sent out a transmission talisman to notify a few important figures so that they could quickly investigate. However, a few moments after sending the talisman, he was surprised to see his flame suddenly rise back up at a visible rate.

  It had just been less than a quarter an inch in length, but now it was approaching two inches in length.

  Hadn’t he just been on the brink of death?

  He raised an eyebrow as he stood in front of the life candle, measuring it very closely. But as it kept on rising, he hesitated to send out another transmission talisman to call the investigation off.

  But then he worried about what his Seniors and Elders would think when they hear this. Would they think him to be incompetent, sack him, and then replace him with someone else? If even a single person in power doubted him, he could very well lose his position.

  Being the Deacon of the life candles wasn’t the most important or powerful position, nor was it the worst. Other than having to constantly have one’s spiritual sense spread out to observe the life candles, one was left alone in solitary for the majority of the time.

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  He was able to use this to advance his cultivation much faster than his peers who had much more demanding and taxing jobs! If he wasn’t the Deacon of the Bloody Path Sect’s life candles, he wouldn’t have ever reached Middle Foundation Establishment!

  The Deacon continued to mutter about what he should do until he eventually had a moment of realisation of what it could be.

  A demon could’ve possessed Ge Yifeng!

  And as Ge Yifeng saw the flame rise up to seven inches of height, his suspicions were almost confirmed. These could only happen if the strong bloodline of a demon were to enhance a cultivator’s strength, making their vitality stronger and thus the height and strength of their life candle.

  But who should he contact?

  He considered the options with a count of his fingers and quickly this was reduced to a single one.

  He sighed in despair. The only one he could possibly call to help for at this moment would be Elder Yang.

  With a shaky hand, he activated a transmission talisman…

  When Xing Yi smelled a familiar stench and saw a sticky black substance seeping into Ge Yifeng’s clothes, he almost passed out in frustration.

  “Fuck!”

  This bastard really just broke through a bottleneck!

  He helped someone who had destroyed his house into making a breakthrough!

  If Xing Yi could vomit blood, he would!

  He slapped himself on the face! If he had been just a little more careful with himself, all of this wouldn’t have happened!

  At this point, he noticed that Ge Yifeng’s complexion had turned healthier, compared to its previously pale colour. And he was now breathing in an even and consistent manner.

  Well, at least he was alive. He sighed as he searched through the wreckage and with his monstrous strength, waded through the debris with ease. He quickly found a large wooden cabinet. Seeing this was fully intact, Xing Yi gave a sigh of relief.

  If this guy had destroyed this, then he would’ve probably gouged his eyes out. He laid it aside of the wreckage and then found the Black Cauldron in the closet. Whenever it was regenerating, he would place it inside this closet and would cover it with a brown cloth.

  It wasn’t that elaborate, but it had worked.

  However, as Xing Yi pulled it out of the wreckage and beside the Herb-Holding Cabinet, he was confused at how the Black Cauldron still seemingly weighed the same amount, no matter how much stronger he had become.

  It was as if it adjusted its weight to whoever was lifting it. It was very strange, but he wrote it off to whatever machinations that governed it. It didn’t necessarily weigh a lot, but whenever he did, it always weighed a lot.

  It was one of the only things left that could really challenge his strength. Thinking about this, he suddenly realised he could use this to train himself, but he left this for later. Gradually, he dropped the Black Cauldron beside the cabinet, his tired muscles thankful that they were done.

  When Xing Yi turned around again, he was surprised to see Ge Yifeng already standing. His face was completely disfigured and bruised. His purple robes were covered in black goo that even from several meters away, assaulted Xing Yi’s nose with its horrible stench.

  Before Xing Yi could get in a word, Ge Yifeng bowed at an exact ninety degree at his waist and cupped his hands.

  “This one who calls himself Ge Yifeng will spell his name backwards if he doesn’t repay Senior Martial Brother Xing for today! Only because of Brother Xing’s kindness has this fool been able to break through to the 7th layer of Vessel Cleansing after five years of failure!”

  “Ok, Fengyi Ge. Do me a favour and fuck off!”

  His aggressive training and the hardship he had experienced over the last year had toughened up his personality. But it wasn’t just that either, Que Zhi’s straightforward personality had rubbed off on him.

  The man wouldn’t shy away from swearing when he wasn’t pushing himself and was quite harsh sometimes.

  Ge Yifeng wasn’t fazed and stayed in a deep bow.

  “Saviour,” Ge Yifeng started, changing his use of pronouns, “This one would like to say that if saviour has any troubles or needs help with anything, you can always contact this one for help in any matter. I would also like to apologise about your house…”

  Once Ge Yifeng mentioned Xing Yi’s house, he trailed off in embarrassment.

  His brief fight with Xing Yi was the first time he had teetered on the brink of death in his entire life. He had been on a few missions into the Western Forest before but on any of those occasions, he never travelled more than several dozen kilometres from Camp Black.

  He had survived death and truly been reborn. Right now, he felt like a phoenix that had experienced nirvana after a thousand years of falling within a black void. But now, he had escaped and been born anew!

  He was a new man. His qi revolved more smoothly and lively than every before. His tight muscles had loosened, and his dao heart had improved. Maybe Foundation Establishment really was possible!

  He wouldn’t have to be a mere perimeter guard anymore!

  “Just fuck off already!” Xing Yi exclaimed, still mourning over the loss of several medicinal pills. They had all gone to waste on someone he despised. His mere existence was an annoyance!

  “But Saviour—”

  Ge Yifeng’s voice was cut off as a suffocating pressure suddenly descended on both of them. Floating in the air without the assistant of any Armament was a blue-clothed cultivator. He had a short grey beard and an appearance that was reminiscent of a handsome youth.

  Elder Yang!

  Both Ge Yifeng and Xing Yi immediately recognised this lofty figure and entered deep bows.

  “Greetings, Elder Yang!” Chimed the two disciples in unison.