Early in the morning, Zhu Furong got out of the shabby house and found everybody in the village, from a baby to the elderly, extremely tired.

He instantly raised his vigilance, thinking the village must be under the influence of some sort of array and there may be enemies hidden nearby. But he soon found out that isn't the case—

A middle aged man grumbled, "I did not get a wink of sleep last night, whenever I closed my eyes I got haunted by ghosts. How the heck will I farm today?—Yaaawn… So sleepy."

A woman spoke while gently swinging her infant in her arms, "My child went to sleep only after the sun rose, he was staring at something the whole night without blinking. It looked as if he was too scared to even cry— There aren't any ghosts in the village are there?" She shivers.

Others were complaining about similar things, like not getting any sleep or having nightmares.

Zhu Furong has already checked the surroundings with his Divine Sense and didn't find anything suspicious.

'What is going on here?'

Looking at the confused Zhu Furong, Zhu Xingzuo explained—

"The Monster Race forms aura much earlier than other races and since you have the Monster Race bloodline, you also formed it way before others. Aura is a mixture of Divine Sense and Qi. Here the Divine Sense carries your emotions; and since it's Qi it will definitely be affected by your bloodline and have some bloodline attributes in it, like the prestige of a higher species!" "Yesterday night when you subconsciously released your aura, even though it was missing any negative emotions, for a fraction of second, you were absorbing and releasing Qi. At that time your body also released some Monster, Demon, Spiritual and Essence Qi, due to you having mixed bloodline— Since your Demon Race bloodline is the strongest, it may have had some negative effects on these poor people."

Looking at the innocent, weary people, Zhu Furong felt guilty.

Zhu Furong suddenly bowed to the people who didn't even know he was there, "Thanks for the hospitality, here is a small gift."

Dropping a small bag full of silver coins, Zhu Furong dashed out of the village, disappearing in the blink of an eye while the villagers stared at the small bag with confusion.

Everyone was thinking the same thing—

'Did the Cultivator just give us money? From when did the Cultivators become so considerate towards us common people? This is the first!'

"It's not some voodoo stuff is it?" The woman with the infant looked scared, she held her baby tightly.

All villagers also looked concerned. No one wanted to go nearby.

In the end, they sacrificed an old lady who while cursing them picked up the bag. Upon checking the contents, she fainted on the spot.

All the villagers took a step back subconsciously while a child ran to help the old lady…

That's what the villagers thought.

But the child instead helped the small bag filled with silver coins and emptied it on the ground making a small heap of coins.

Now—a brave man stepped forward.

He marched with big steps and started counting the coins.

After a while… 

"Guys— It's 500 silver coins!!" The man shouted.

"What? F-f-ffive hundred? Are you sure?" Someone asked with disbelief.

That's 1000 kg rice! For a small and poor village like this, it is enough to feed them for 4 months!

The villagers were overflowing with gratitude towards Zhu Furong.

…

While the villagers were in disbelief, our hero was running towards the southwest.

The journey from Basara City to the place where the Dragon Palace appeared is six days long. Zhu Furong took the chance to collect more information about the Dragon Palace on his way.

There are thousands of independent, itinerant and affiliated Cultivators who are traveling to the Dragon Palace. It wasn't much hard to acquire some information on Dragon Palace but unfortunately, he couldn't find anything new. A place like Dragon Palace which only appears once every 10,000 years and stays open for two days is hard to survey—The most important information is likely to be kept hidden by the top sects.

After looking at the number and average strength of the Cultivators on his way, Zhu Furong felt the need to raise his strength.

But without being able to Cultivate Qi he can only depend on his Body Cultivation.

...

From the dead Ghost Sect guy and the old man Zhu Furong had acquired some rank 5 to rank 8 monster cores and blood essence. The cores were absorbed by Zhu Xingzuo while Zhu Furong used all the blood essence to raise the purity of his Monster Race bloodline which still doesn't show any signs of change.

On the fifth day of his journey, inside an inn, Zhu Furong was observing the two small Divine Wood planks when they suddenly merged together to form a single wooden token.

The token retained the 5 by 3 inches size and the same thickness of a single Divine Wood plank but now there is an engraving of a man meditating with his hand on his lap, sitting on a large lotus.

The Divine Wood Token became a new mystery to solve for Zhu Furong.

During his journey, he also studied the water element runes he copied from the Imugi skeleton. Six days wasn't enough to get much progress but it was enough to master the 1st grade of water law proficiency, Feel.

He could now easily feel the presence of water droplets present in the atmosphere and surroundings, even the deep flowing groundwater!

The elemental runes only appear on the bones of Spiritual Beasts when their Elemental Laws Proficiency exceeds grade 5. That is, the Elemental Runes start forming from grade 6 and the information keeps increasing with the grade!

...

Dashing through a grassland, 5 kilometers away from his destination, Zhu Furong could see a black structure hovering in the sky. As he got closer and closer, the black structure took the shape of a building with towers.

A kilometer away he could clearly see a black castle with thick fortified walls and towers. The floor area of the castle is probably 3 million square feet—And this castle...

Looks more like a Demon Lord's castle than a Dragon Palace.

Even though he is quite far from the castle, Zhu Furong could feel a tickling in his Monster Race bloodline.

...

A radius of 200 meters surrounding the Dragon Palace is filled with Cultivators from various backgrounds.

Spirit Boats fueled by Spirit Crystals could be seen docked and flying. These can only belong to the top 10 sects or highly influential organizations like the Misty Eyes.

The Spirit Boat of Sunlight Sect is also docked nearby. Zhu Furong can recognize it since he had seen it four years ago during the time of the Inter Sect Competition. The participants were carried in the boat to another continent. Also, the symbol of the Sunlight Sect makes it easy to spot.

It seems, every sect, from first grade to third grade have dispatched one Pavilion Master and two Elders, or equal. They have arrived along with a group of promising disciples of early Revolving Core rank and below. These disciples will be entering the Dragon Palace. 

There is also a separate backup force with about 4-5 elite disciples in it.

...

This times Inter Sect Competition was held after Zhu Furong left the sect but the rankings of the sects hadn't changed—

1. Yin-Yang Sect, a co-ed sect, branch of the Yin-Yang Palace in the upper realm. They practice Yin-Yang Harmony and perform Dual Cultivation. It is an orthodox sect and the sect only accepts couples who are bonded by love.

2. Gentle Water Sect, an all girls sect which is proficient in water related Cultivation arts and techniques. Their elemental proficiency is at grade 2.

3. Sunlight Sect, a co-ed sect which practices a diversity of Cultivation arts and techniques.

4. Thousand Arms Sect, as the name suggests, they are proficient in the use of any weapon. They are also co-ed.

5. Ghost Sect, a co-ed sect which don't like to be pried on. Most of their Cultivation arts and techniques are a mystery but according to the rumors they are thought to be an unorthodox sect who practice Yin arts. 8 of the 10 top sects don't like them but cannot do anything to them due to the backing of Ghost Palace from the upper realm— Anyways, it's better to stay away from them.

6. Aerial Sect, a co-ed sect centered on Artifacts Refining and Array Art. They are also the ones who created most of the Spirit Boats sold in the market. It is amusing how Hao Bo won against them four years ago. That guy is really something.

7. The Rook Sect, an all boys sect and as you may have guessed it, it's all brawn, no brain.

8. The Howling Sect, a co-ed sect centered on Spiritual Beast taming. Not only do they form a Spiritual Bond with one beast, they can also tame others without bond.

9. Northern Wind Sect, a co-ed sect proficient with the wind element. Their elemental proficiency is at grade 2.

10. Alchemist Sect, co-ed, the fixed 10th place sect which is only in the top 10 because they won't refine pills for you if you don't worship them. Their nose is so high in the air that they get high sniffing the clouds.

...

Standing at the location, Zhu Furong can somewhat guess the height at which the Dragon Palace is hovering— about 500 meters.

...

Every disciple has to leave their sect someday for further growth. But it is usually done after they have learnt everything the teachers have to teach.

Zhu Furong left the sect prematurely, so he feels uncomfortable to approach any of the Sunlight Sect members. He hid himself in the crowd away from the familiar eyes.

...

Changing his disguise is an option, but the problems are his habits and Cultivation technique.

He had already caused a lot of trouble when he used to play Robinhood, wearing a wooden mask and black clothes. If people dig deeper and compare the fighting style and Cultivation rank of the masked man and Zuo Rong, it won't be hard to find out the truth.

The people are still unaware because they never suspected the possibility.

Now what happens if another stranger appears with similar traits? And after that another one?

People won't be able to stop themselves from being curious. This will lead to investigation and Zhu Furong's cover will be blown. If the worst comes, his real identity as the Young Master of Zhu Family may also get exposed— This... Cannot happen!

So it's better to not play too much with his disguise and work with the limited resources he has—It's safer this way.

...

"Early Foundation Establishment rank? What is such a weakling doing here? Get lost!"

Somewhere in the crowd a middle aged man got kicked in his stomach, making him roll on the ground.

The assailant is a disciple of Thousand Arms Sect and the victim is some random Cultivator.

The middle aged man stood up groaning, "You top sects always act unreasonable. It's like every treasure spot in the world is your grandfather's property!" He snorted.

The disciple sneered, "What to act about? This Dragon Palace is my grandfather's property! What can you do about it?"

Another individual from the side intervened, "This disciple from Thousand Arms Sect, you shouldn't act so boorish, you are only staining the reputation of the top sects!"

The man continued, "What's wrong with us itinerant Cultivators seeking treasures? We are not blessed with Cultivation Resources like you, we have to fight with our lives!"

As he finished his words, a gleaming sword blade passed through his chest from behind.

"Well said! Since you love fighting with your life, let me reward you for it." It's another Thousand Arms Sect disciple.

The disciple sneered, "How do you like my sword? You can have this treasure~"

The first disciple broke into laughter, "Senior Brother, you are so funny, how can your treasured sword be the same value as this trash's life?"

…

This event was witnessed by all the Cultivators present here. The faces of most people, especially the top ten sects except Thousand Arms Sect and Ghost Sect turned sour while some took joy in others misfortune.

The number of unaffiliated Cultivators are more than the affiliated ones but their overall strength is poor.

A single difference in Cultivation ranks makes a huge gap between two Cultivators. Moreover, the foundation of the members of the sects are way solid compared to the unaffiliated Cultivators.  Even if all the unaffiliated Cultivators join hands and fight the sects, they cannot win.

But it's not like they were going to stay quiet and get bullied. To become a successful Cultivator, the most important thing is to have guts. Which almost all Cultivators have.

But having guts doesn't mean you should jump in the fire without any protection. Knowing when to advance and when to retreat is also important.

...

Unfortunately, 50 unaffiliated Cultivators with strong guts but weak judgment skills were butchered by a group of three, Thousand Arms Sect disciples and three Ghost Sect disciples.

It seems that the two sects are not hiding their close relationship anymore. They are blatantly showing the other sects that they are working together.

A disciple from Thousand Arms Sect snorted, "It looks like people are getting the wrong idea after hearing those rumors. They think the Thousand Arms Sect is easy to bully."

Another Thousand Arms Sect disciple sneered, "Idiots! They are all idiots! They don't realize how wrong their assumptions are— If our Thousand Arms Sect was so weak, the Royals of Ming Dynasty wouldn't be cowering in fear." He spat, "They didn't even dare to send rescue for their own prince trapped in our area, humph!"

"Fucking Ming Zen, what's so great about him? Genius? Prodigy? Hahaha— He ran like a dog after getting beaten by our sect's Star Disciple. Fucking genius at running away. Hahaha."

A man hidden in the crowd muttered, "But that single dog alone bit the neck of an Elder, chewed the bones of several elite disciples and peed on the head of the Thousand Arms Sect's Sect Master before leaving, humph!"

"Who?" It was an Elder from the Thousand Arms Sect who came forward.

He held the hilt of his sword and glared at the crowd with murderous intent, "I dare you to say that on my face!"

No one in the crowd dared to make even a slight noise. All stood frozen.

The Elder snorted, "Just a bunch of cowards who only know to talk behind the back. If you are a Cultivator then show some guts!"

No one gave in to the provocation and everyone stayed silent…

Suddenly from the other side, within the top rank sects, a few Elders started snickering. This made the Thousand Arms Sect Elder embarrassed and he ended up slaying some independent Cultivators to soothe his anger.

This action further increased the scorn and hatred of the crowd. The Thousand Arms Sect's and Ghost Sect's image was never good but with today's chain of events, it is completely ruined.

Almost everyone present here is now looking for a chance to teach the Thousand Arms Sect a lesson and if the Ghost Sect butts in, they won't hesitate to shower them with some love as well.

…

Ming Zen…

According to Zhu Furong's estimation, Prince Ming Zen should be at least a peak Revolving Core rank Cultivator right now and given that he is a reincarnator, he must have some tricks to enter restricted places like these.

Someone like Ming Zen will never miss such good opportunities.

Zhu Furong tried to look for him and the two girls, Zhu Ling and Ming Lan in the crowd but to no avail.

With so many Cultivators around, it is impossible to search for someone without getting spotted. Zhu Furong can only give up for now. Also, Ming Zen is not someone stupid to stay in the sight, he must be hiding somewhere safe.

...

After that small battle before, now the Cultivators are divided into two groups. The affiliated ones are in the inner circle, while the unaffiliated ones are in the outer circle.

There are no movements in the Dragon Palace but it is almost the predicted time for it to open. Everyone is intently staring at the Dragon Palace.

...

"Does this old man also have to wait at the back?"

Suddenly an old man along with a young woman arrived at the venue.

A man in white hanfu, from the Yin-Yang sect saluted the old man, "It's an honor to have Venerable Lou grace us with his presence, how can we ask The Venerable to stand at the back?— If you don't mind, this Elder of Yin-Yang Sect welcomes you to join us."

...

Zhu Furong's eyes couldn't have become bigger than this.

'Venerable Lou? The one from the Auction House? I didn't know he was so great that even the Elder of the rank 1 sect respects him.'

'He doesn't hold grudges, does he?— I don't want to kill an old man who looks similar to Grandpa Bohai.'

Zhu Furong didn't think of 'troublesome', 'avoid' or 'danger' like he used to. Rather thought of how to 'get rid of'. This shows how much his mentality has changed after going through those bad dreams at the cemetery. Even though he is back to his normal self, his priority seems to have shifted to the progression of his strength. Everything else comes second.

He no longer thinks of avoiding troubles but is ready to face any challenges. Though he is by no means stupid enough to pick fights with no chance of winning, he still knows when to retreat— Tactical retreat!

10 years is not too late for a man to take revenge!

'Humph! Old foggy, if you make trouble for me, I may have to run away now, but I will definitely choke you to death after I gain enough strength. No one can save you then.'

It's as if Zhu Xingzuo can read his mind, "Can't you just change your voice? You guys haven't seen each other's faces and when you left the Auction House, you covered yourself in a cloak."

Zhu Furong nodded, "I already thought about it, but I don't think it is possible anymore."

"Why?" Zhu Xingzuo asked.

"Because I cannot use voice change in front of familiar people—Look there." Zhu Furong pointed with his nose while murmuring, "Well. I don't think I will be meeting them anyway."

...

"Ah Senior Sister Chu~" 

Suddenly the female disciple of Venerable Lou jumped with joy and ran to Chu Dongmei who welcomed her with a smile and a slight nod.