Wu Lingtian was dragged out of bed early the next morning. He was still slightly muddleheaded as the three disciples told him to bathe, told him to change his clothes, and even went as far as to help him tie his hair up. He was then rushed towards the dining hall, with one of his hands being tugged by Li Qing.

“Sect Leader says it is important to eat all three meals in a day,” Liang Jun wisely said as he plated Wu Lingtian’s tray.

Wu Lingtian glanced down at the tray he was holding and only let out a noncommittal hum as he was tugged over to a table.

“You three aren’t going to sit with your martial siblings?”

“Sitting with Martial Uncle is more fun,” Hua Anting sweetly said.

Wu Lingtian didn’t reply to her and only began to eat silently.

Wu Lingtian felt that he knew himself the best. He was so dry. He didn’t even speak that much. What did this little disciple mean that it was more fun to sit with him?

Although he didn’t speak, the three disciples really did speak enough to fill up the entire half hour that they were eating breakfast. When the disciples spoke to him, Wu Lingtian would answer, but when they didn’t, he would silently continue to eat. Like this, breakfast was quickly finished, but before Wu Lingtian could leave, he was stopped by Liang Jun’s stern gaze.

“Martial Uncle, are you doing eating? You still have pork and noodles left.

Wu Lingtian looked up at the innocent eyes that stared at him and silently went back to eating.

“Martial Uncle, even if wasting food isn’t bad, you shouldn’t leave anything behind. That’s energy that you could use later in the day,” Liang Jun wisely lectured.

“Stop lecturing Martial Uncle! He’s more than twice your age, do you think he needs you to nag him?” Hua Anting clicked her tongue.

“I’m not nagging him! I’m caring about him,” Liang Jun boldly corrected. “Master always says you could clear your plate so you have more energy to take on the day! Besides, Martial Uncle has a fight today, he needs to eat his fill!”

“Stop fussing! It isn’t like Sect Leader Hu is going to go all out,” Hua Anting rolled her eyes.

“You can’t know for sure.”

The trio looked up as Su Han sat down beside Wu Lingtian. He gently smiled at Wu Lingtian the way Fan Yi would normally smile at strangers. “Good morning, Martial Uncle.”

“Good morning.”

“What do you mean?” Hua Anting frowned, worry riddled in her voice. “With the other time he fought the Pillars, he was only fooling around!”

“Sect Leader Hu is an unpredictable figure. And, forgive me for being frank, Martial Uncle, but although he has defected, Martial Uncle hasn’t shown his face. He hasn’t proven his conviction to leave the righteous cultivators and his reputation amongst unorthodox cultivators isn’t particularly the best,” Su Han said. “I would not be surprised if Sect Leader Hu used this opportunity to teach Martial Uncle a lesson or to test out how great his abilities are.”

“Then…then do you think he’s going to be serious?” Hua Anting asked.

“There is a high possibility. But,” Su Han’s smile blossomed on his handsome face. “Martial Uncle is very powerful. Even if Sect Leader Hu is a crouching tiger, our Martial Uncle will be able to handle him perfectly fine.”

Wu Lingtian set his chopsticks down. “Sect Leader Hu has the upper hand.”

The disciples turned to look at Wu Lingtian.

“Then, Martial Uncle, just pull out of the competition!” Hua Anting said.

Liang Jun nodded. “Martial Uncle, health is more important the face. Face can be recovered, but if health is too damaged, it could be beyond repair.”

“Ling-gege,” Li Qing weakly tugged at Wu Lingtian’s sleeve and pursed her lips together.

Wu Lingtian patted her head. “Sect Leader Hu has his life-bound weapon—ManTian. That is his advantage against me.”

The disciples fell silent.

A life-bound weapon—who wouldn’t know what that meant? Something that is attached to not only the cultivator’s power, but also connected straight to their heart. Although a life-bound weapon was common, it was also exceedingly dangerous. To have a life-bound weapon, you must first make sure your cultivation is at a certain level and you are powerful enough to not let that life-bound weapon be a burden to you in the middle of a battle.

However, there were also perks to gaining a life-bound weapon. The power of the weapon will be exponentially greater than if it was a regular weapon or even a spiritual artifact. The weapon will also intuitively understand what its master wanted.

“Not to mention, his cultivation is most likely higher by a level,” Wu Lingtian said. “In this battle, I will surely lose.”

“That isn’t completely true,” Liang Jun frowned. “Sect Leader Hu isn’t that powerful.”

“What makes you say that?” Wu Lingtian calmly questioned.

“Just…we’ve seen him fight before. He doesn’t seem all that more powerful than Sect Leader.”

Wu Lingtian looked at Su Han. Su Han bowed his head in agreement.

Wu Lingtian let out a soft sigh. “There is not much I can teach you all, but keep this one saying in mind—in the world of rivers and lakes, there will always be crouching tigers and hidden dragons.”

The disciples nodded their head.

“In the unorthodox cultivation world, where shadows blur the truth and the truth is simply an illusion, it becomes even more obscure. Those that turn to this side are those who have been betrayed or abandoned by the righteous sects. There has to be a reason that came to be.”

“Isn’t it just because crimes were committed?” Hua Anting asked.

“That is what they wish for you to believe,” Wu Lingtian replied.

Li Qing reached out again and tugged on Wu Lingtian’s sleeve. “Ling-gege, just don’t fight Sect Leader Hu.”

“I can still handle him,” Wu Lingtian said.

“But you just said to not underestimate your opponent,” Liang Jun said. He found Wu Lingtian’s previous words and what he currently said to be an oxymoron.

“Never underestimate your opponent. But never berate yourself,” Wu Lingtian stood and straightened his robes slightly.

Su Han watched Wu Lingtian leave the dining room and turned back to his food when he felt the other disciples scoot closer to him. Their eyes drilled into his calm appearance until he looked up with a gentle smile.

“What’s wrong?”

“Cheif Martial Brother,” Liang Jun frowned. “Shouldn’t we…stop him?”

“If Martial Uncle believes he can handle it, then who are we to stop him?” Su Han asked.

“Chief Martial Brother, if Martial Uncle were to get hurt in Sect Leader’s absence, wouldn’t he become angry? This trouble would fall onto your head,” Hua Anting pouted.

“Martial Uncle has hands and legs. If he wants to fight, what can I do to stop him?” Su Han sighed.

“Chief Martial Brother, you haven’t even tried!”

“Mn! Chief Martial Brother, I didn’t think you were this much of a coward,” Li Qing quietly pouted.

“Chief Martial Brother, don’t you have responsibility to protect this sect right now? Isn’t Martial Uncle a crucial part of the sect?” Liang Jun added.

“How crucial can he be? He was only here for a few weeks and then went into seclusion for half a year,” Su Han said.

The three disciples scoffed and scooted away from him.

“Now what?”

“If you don’t try to talk to Martial Uncle, we won’t talk to you,” Hua Anting grumbled.

Su Han stared at the three kids in front of him and put down his chopsticks. “Fine. Fine. I came over to eat breakfast with you all, but now you’re kicking me out for your Martial Uncle. I see this Martial Brother is nothing in your eyes compared to Martial Uncle.”

The disciples remained unmoved.

Su Han let out a long sigh and stood. “I’ll go talk to him.”

“Chief Martial Brother is the best!”

“Chief Martial Brother, you’ve always had my respect.”

“Chief Martial Brother, take this piece of candy.”

Su Han rolled his eyes at the three little chicks and waved them off. He grabbed his sword from the table and went off to find where Wu Lingtian went.

This Martial Uncle of theirs was just like a ghost. He came without a sound and left without a shadow. Su Han spent a good half hour before he found Wu Lingtian, reclined on top of a tree with his eyes closed and resting.

As if sensing Su Han’s presence, the long eyelashes fluttered open and he looked down at the sect’s head disciple.

“Martial Uncle,” Su Han cupped his hands together.

“Mn.”

“Martial Uncle, could we speak a moment?”

Wu Lingtian rolled off the tree branch and landed swiftly on the ground. “What is it?”

“Su Han wanted to discuss the matter of dueling Sect Leader Hu with Martial Uncle,” Su Han said.

“Is there something to discuss?”

Su Han smiled. That was what he also wanted to know. He looked at the martial uncle before him that retained his youthful appearance and honestly felt that it was fine.

A cultivator’s greatest show of power was how young they appeared. The younger they appeared, despite the older their age really was, meant that their cultivation was quite high. Of course, there were still others—like Fan Yi and Tian Xiewen—who preferred to not look like they were extremely young despite their high cultivation. But for Fan Yi, who was well over a hundred, to appear to be in his thirties was already impressive for a layman.

“Master put me in charge of the sect while he and the other Pillars are away. He also gave me the job of making sure Martial Uncle remained healthy and safe within the confines of the sect until they returned, in the event that Martial Uncle left seclusion,” Su Han said.

“I am fine.”

“It would still be best for Martial Uncle to think thrice before going ahead with your decision,” Su Han said.

“I have thought thrice. It is only a duel,” Wu Lingtian said. “I can handle that much.”

“As Liang Jun said, face can be recovered, but a damaged health is detrimental.”

Wu Lingtian turned to look at Su Han. “Did those three tell you to convince me out of this?”

“Martial Uncle is brilliant,” Su Han bowed his head. “It was indeed them.”

“You tried your best,” Wu Lingtian said monotonously.

Su Han watched Wu Lingtian stroll off leisurely. Well, he did try. Was it his fault that Wu Lingtian was not easily swayed?

Su Han walked away to prepare the arena for the duel.

If Li Qing couldn’t move Wu Lingtian with her cuteness, what exactly made them think that Wu Lingtian would be moved by Su Han’s reason?

By the time noon rolled around, disciples from the Stygian Dragon Sect had arrived. Many of them were friendly, but a lot of them were also taunting. The Stygian Dragon Sect were known for their barbaric ways of pillaging righteous sects like pirates and stealing from the wealthy that they passed by. Although they were on good terms with the Screeching Sparrow Sect, the mild-tempered Screeching Sparrow Sect often had difficulty entertaining their special friends.

It was a good thing that, this time, they were only around to watch a show.

The stands were soon filled with disciples. The area where the Pillars usually sat contained Wu Lingtian, Hu Rongming, and Hu Rongming’s Head Disciple, Xiao Peiri.

“Screeching Sparrow Sect is as quiet as ever,” Hu Rongming noted as he stretched out his arms.

Wu Lingtian turned to look at the disciples on his side. They were loudly cheering and screaming back at the Stygian Dragon Sect disciples that were howling and causing a ruckus.

Wu Lingtian had always felt that his family’s disciples were on the livelier side, but after meeting the Stygian Dragon Sect, he learned what “rowdy” meant.

“Looking at your face, you don’t seem used to it,” Hu Rongming laughed. “That’s expected. You righteous sect people have always been stuffy with your rules and guidelines. What, don’t walk to fast and keep an even temper and what not.”

Wu Lingtian turned his steady gaze towards Hu Rongming. “I only recently exited seclusion. Any amount of noise is a lot of noise to me.”

Hu Rongming hummed. He turned towards Xiao Peiri. “A-Rin, why are you standing here for? Go play with Su Han.”

Xiao Peiri’s expression scrunched. “I don’t like speaking with Su Han.”

“Even if you don’t like, you still have to go. What are you going to do by yourself up here?”

Xiao Peiri glanced at Wu Lingtian. “Lord Immortal, you do not have disciples of your own?”

Wu Lingtian shook his head. “I am not fit to accept disciples of my own.”

Xiao Peiri seemed a tad disappointed, but after saluting to her master, she left for the stands as well.

After another few minutes a loud gong silenced the rowdy disciples in the stands.

Su Han amplified his voice with a spell and lightly cleared his throat to test out the sound. His voice echoed rather loudly over the expansive arena.

Obviously satisfied with the result, Su Han smiled. He gestured to the incense stick before him. “Rules are the same as usual. Whoever can be knocked out of the ring or rendered unable to fight back will win. The battle will take place in one incense stick’s time. May the players please enter the arena.”

Wu Lingtian gestured for Hu Rongming to enter first.

Without bothering with the pleasantries, Hu Rongming jumped from the tall stands onto the center of the arena.

At his entrance, the Stygian Dragon Sect disciples loudly cheered and clapped for their master while the Screeching Sparrow Sect disciples boldly booed and screamed out profanities.

While a majority of the disciples in the Screeching Sparrow Sect had yet to really interact with Wu Lingtian, this was all about their sect’s face. How could they allow the Stygian Dragon Sect to walk all over them in anything—especially in terms of showing support?

However, when Wu Lingtian flew into the arena, everyone went deadly silent.

Unlike the usually lethargic, detached aura that Wu Lingtian exuded while wandering around the sect, the Wu Lingtian in front of them now was brimming with a destructive energy. It was as if with only one twist of his wrist, he could completely flatten the entire sect.

The Yu Lan Sword Immortal from the stories had come to life.