“Prince of the Moon!” Sung Ming stood up in an instant, expressing respect to the newcomer. “I… Sung Ming greet the heir to the sacred Misty Peony family!”

“Calm down, boy. There is no need for such formalities. Contact me, Gao Shen,” the young man reasoned with Song Ming.

“You didn’t address me so formally,” Tian Zhe complained about the unfair treatment.

“Brother Shen, humble Yun Yongru welcomes you.

“Modest means,” Gao Shen smiled puzzledly, turning his gaze to Tian Zhe.

“You just can't imagine the limits of Yun Yongru's modesty,” Tian Zhe complained.” Anyway, what did brother Gao Shen need?

“It’s nice to know that you have taken up your mind and appreciate the time,” Gao Sheng could not help but notice how the arrogant boy he remembered had changed.

“So, what do you want?”

---

It was getting dark, and the sun had not yet reached the horizon. Meanwhile, Tian Zhe devoted all of himself to training with the sword-dao and archery. Maybe it's a matter of spiritual perception or the cultivation's brain is undergoing structural changes, but one way or another, Tian Zhe's archery skills have risen to a level that he could not even dream of in his past life.

To hit the bull's-eye from a hundred meters is not a problem. Hit your own arrow with the next shot? As easy as pie! Cut the distance in half and hit the bulls-eye while running? Jump with a rotation to the right or left for three hundred and sixty degrees, and during the jump, shoot at the target?

Everything that he had previously seen only in videos on "Youtube" became available to him a few weeks after the start of training.

“At this rate, I can defeat demonic beasts by shooting them in the eyes,” the young man could not help but smile at his progress.

---

“Are you serious?” Tian Zhe did not believe his words.

“Of course.” Gao Shen was confident in his words, showing Tian Zhe the map. “I found a map of the Amber Kingdom, among my grandfather's junk, and if the map is correct, then among the ruins of the city of Ice Rock, you can find countless treasures of the Dark Ages.” 

“Remind me, how long ago did your grandfather die?”

“Ten years ago.”

“And how old was he?”

“Seventy-eight.”

“If everything is so, then why do you think that for all his long life, he left these ruins unattended?”

“This is…” Gao Shen did not expect skepticism from his friend.

“Hidden treasures!” Yun Yongru exclaimed, seeing her, anyone would think they saw the greedy sparkle of precious stones in her eyes.

“My family will become rich...” Sung Ming spoke thoughtfully out loud.

“…” Tian Zhe lost the thread of the conversation.

“…” Gao Shen also lost the thread of the conversation.

“Are you sure they can know all this?”

“Of course!” Gao Shen smiled smugly. “If they really became disciples of the esteemed Tian Zan, they became my friends the day they became your named brother and sister.”

“You know, I am not pleased with the named relationship with this pervert.”

“Hey!” The girl exclaimed. “Brother Zhe, you are so cruel. It was only once.”

“Once?” Tian Zhe did not hide his indignation. ”Who went to spy at the women's baths last week with your uncle and Sung Ming?”

“This was for stealth training!” the blushing Sung Ming made excuses.

“Did you spy on girls?” Saying that Gao Shen was shocked is like saying nothing. The girl was engaged in lewdness, not alone, but in the respected Tian Zan company, one of the most respected adherents of the Jade City. Only the city lord and legendary Li Shoushan are held in higher esteem than the leader of the Red Wings. The image of a holy warrior in Gao Shen's mind crumbled with a clink of broken glass.

“Brother Shen, don't tell anyone about this.” Yun Yongru folded her hands pleadingly.

“Eh ... yes, that is, you saw sister Tian Lan... teacher naked?” Gao Shen hesitated, looking embarrassedly from Yun Yongru to Sung Ming.

“Sister Lan, although she teaches in the Ice Lotus, we live in the family's estate,” Tian Zhe intervened in the conversation of these two because of fears of an increase in the number of sources of headache. “Brother Shen, this is certainly none of my business, but you are walking on incredibly thin ice.”

“Walking on thin ice?” Gao Shen could only guess the meaning of this expression.

“If Lan's little sister finds out that you are interested in how she looks without clothes, she will first bury these two under the nearest bush, then drown you in the Ice River, and then pick up Uncle Zan in the garden of the estate in front of her aunt,” Tian Zhe returned to reading.

While the troubled girl dedicated the Misty Peony's heir to the philosophy of peeping, Tian Zhe remembered what he had come for.

“Are you sure that your adventure will bear at least some fruit?”

 “Yes!” Gao Shen smiled confidently. “Among the records of my grandfather, there were references to a monument with mysterious symbols. One glance at this monument could be enough for the adherents of the earthly kingdom to be able to overcome the stagnation in their development.”

“Stagnation?” Song Ming, as the only commoner in the company, did not understand Gao Shen's words.

“This is a situation when the development of an adept slows down or stops,” explained Tian Zhe. “Gao Shen, if this is really so, then why are there so few adherents of the heavenly kingdom in the Misty Peony family?”

“The fact is that this stone does not allow breaking through to the heavenly kingdom. The breakthrough occurs only in the earthly kingdom.”

“I see,” Tian Zhe pondered, weighing all the pros and cons of the Prince of Stars proposal. “Why did Brother Shen decide to share his family secrets and invite me to go with him?”

“I will travel to the Ice Rock Ruins as a test to prove my maturity!” Gao Shen slammed his fist on his chest. ”I would also like to help you with development...”

“Not for nothing, right?”

“Yes,” Gao Shen didn’t beat around the bush.” Help me define my attributes.

---

“In this world, the line between material and spiritual is thinner than a sheet of paper.”

Tian Zhe sat in the lotus position after finishing his body training, breathing in the pre-sunset external xie-qi energy. The sun had not yet disappeared over the horizon, and the sun's positive yang energy was mixing with the negative yin energy of the night.

“People, plants, and animals can freely transform and transfer energy among themselves.”

Tian Zhe did not use development techniques for his spiritual practice. Instead, he repeated the postulates highlighted by himself in order to strengthen them in his consciousness. The young man assumed that he could accelerate his development if he could suppress the remnants of his worldview from a past life.

“In that world, the material prevailed over the spiritual, but in this one, you can create a blade from spiritual energy and cut a material object with it, or use spiritual energy to strengthen your physical body.”

The boy reasoned, delving into a philosophical understanding of spiritual practices. In his university courses, he remembered the basics of Taoism, but his experience in this life said that cultivation was only of practical importance for the locals.

“As expected from the descendants of the military, no scientific approach to research,” Tian Zhe complained about the content of half of the books in the library. Sometimes the water is necessary for the text so that any fool with insufficient knowledge could understand the meaning of the text and improve the ability to analyze it. Such questions were not raised in the books of the Academy.

“And yet, what are they up to?”

---

“Why didn't you go to the house of the Snow Wisteria?” Tian Zhe looked into Gao Shen's face trying to read his mind.

“Li Xue agreed to share her thoughts, but her methods are too costly, painful, and time-consuming, unlike yours.”

“I’ll think about your invitation,” Tian Zhe evaded a direct answer. “Is Li Xue involved in your expedition?”

“I’m participating,” the figure of a young girl appeared in the doorway.

Tian Zhe did not care much about the political motives of the heads of the sacred families who agreed to let their children go on a theoretically dangerous expedition. He was more interested in how he would benefit from this journey.

“I hope I can get hold of the cultivation technique on this hike and form a bronze cloud.”

After finishing his meditations, Tian Zhe lay down on the grass, falling asleep.

---

“Hi,” Tian Zhe greeted a classmate. “Overheard, then?” 

“I didn't eavesdrop at all,” Li Xue stamped her foot. “I hope you haven't forgotten, but we have classes in the library!”

“And that's true.”

“Well, I am glad that we have come together, you will help me with the definition of attributes, and then we will discuss further plans.”

“Agree.”

“We’re in agreement or something,” Tian Zhe complained, after which he turned to Yun Yongru and Song Ming. “You two are not participating in the discussion because you will not go on the expedition.”

“Why is this?” Yun Yongru protested. She craved adventure from an early age and simply could not give up the idea of participating in this campaign.

“Your development is very weak, and you will only get in the way,” Tian Zhe explained the reason for his decision.“ Li Xue is almost bronze, and although I am lagging behind her in development, not as much as you.”

“Did he notice that I am two steps away from the bronze rank?” Li Xue was shocked. To her, Tian Zhe was an eccentric classmate, sleeping in class and whose knowledge of cultivation theory was ahead of everyone in the class, but now the girl was looking at the young man with interest. Not only was his knowledge ahead of the level of his development. The young man's skills also gave the impression that the young man was born a genius.

“If you disagree with my decision, then ask your uncle's permission.”

“Good!” Yun Yongru, feeling relieved, grabbed Sung Ming by the scruff of her neck and ran out of the room.

“You don't know where your uncle is now.”

“Double attribute of water and wind, the shape of the spiritual core in the form of a cloud,” Tian Zhe finished Gao Shen's check.

“And what does that mean? Gao Shen drilled Tian Zhe with curious eyes.

“This means that you need the strongest development technique with the attributes of water and wind,” Tian Zhe answered. “Your soul form allows you to merge with any demonic beast, so you should concentrate on a suitable development technique and find a demonic beast with water and wind attributes before breaking through to the golden rank.”

“Thanks for the advice,” Gao Shen expressed his respect.

“Tian Zhe, can you help me with advice?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“The Snow Wisteria has a lot of celestial adepts, the Misty Peony, on the contrary, has the largest number of adepts at the peak of the earthly kingdom, while the Fire Orchid is distinguished by the fact that with fewer fighters in the earthly and heavenly realms, we have more qixings,” Tian Zhe pondered ...

“Even a fool understands that Li Xue and I were called on an expedition to find out more information about the attributes, not to mention that the position of the Snow Wisteria in the city could be weakened by the strengthening of the Fire Orchid and Misty Peony families.”

---

“How long did I sleep?” Tian Zhe woke up due to the coolness of the night, surprised to find that he slept in the training area until late at night. “It's good that demonic beasts are not allowed into this area.

Tian Zhe looked around. Apparently, no one disturbed him while sleeping. After making sure that his things were safe, Tian Zhe went to the exit of the training area, but he stopped after a few minutes of walking.

Tian Zhe felt no threat, but what caught his attention was the presence of another person. After analyzing the fluctuations of spiritual energy and making sure that the outsider was of iron rank, Tian Zhe went in the direction of the fluctuations of spiritual energy.

“And what idiot decided to spoil his foundation?”

Thinking about whether to warn the stupid student, Tian Zhe went to the border of the clearing and froze. Under the light of two moons, a girl was sitting in the center of the clearing. Despite the fact that the light from the two-night lights was not enough to determine the exact color of the girl's hair or clothes, Tian Zhe could not help but recognize his classmate.

“And how long will you spy on me?” the girl called out to Tian Zhe.

How long will you mutilate yourself? Tian Zhe ignored the girl's question.“I think I spoke in plain language about the dangers of night training.” 

The girl didn't answer.

“You have every right to hate my family, but if you want to change your fate, then do not do what will ruin your future,” Tian Zhe did not notice how he began to scold his classmate.

The girl did not answer again. Silently collecting her things, a classmate headed for the exit of the training area.

“Xiao Ning,” Tian Zhe did not want to let go of the girl. “I want to talk to you!”