A young man in peach-colored robes hurried through the brightly lit corridors. He avoided greeting others and swept past as if in a bad mood. Eventually, he arrived at a nondescript door and unlocked it. Once inside, he let out a long sigh and slumped into a nearby chair.

“Welcome back, Master Deng.” A youthful voice greeted him.

It belonged to a boy of around eleven or twelve. He was dressed simply and had a bright, intelligent expression. There was no one else in the large living area that was occupied by bookshelves and several desks covered with stacks of scrolls and papers.

Deng Lun, the one who had just come into the room, glanced at the boy briefly before waving his hand, “Xiao Shu, are there any letters for me.”

The one named Xiao Shu was not Deng Lun’s disciple but a servant assigned to him by the Lotus Tower. He would have preferred a cute servant girl but the rule within the tower was that servants were not allowed to be female. Disciples like him were still allowed to have relations with other women aside from Immortal Gentle Lotus but they had to do it outside of her domain.

The boy nodded and handed over a letter, “Congratulations, Master Deng. I heard the news already. Dao Genius, that’s so amazing. I wish I could have been there to see you defeat the other three geniuses. From now on, you are the undisputed leader of the younger generation within the Eastern Sanmu Metropolis!”

Xiao Shu had a sweet mouth. His flattering words would have satisfied even an immortal but he was too unlucky.

Crash!

An expensive teacup smashed into pieces against the stone floor.

“Get out!” Deng Lun shouted. His hand which was clenching the half-open letter was shaking uncontrollably.

“Master…” The boy was stunned.

This was the first time Deng Lun had lost his temper like this. He was usually calm and kind. It was a pity that the boy didn’t know the reality of what had happened.

“Shut up and get out!” Deng Lun threw another cup which shattered against the far wall.

The door opened and slammed shut. Quiet returned to the room. Deng Lun stood, slouched over, breathing heavily. The letter was still in his hand, now crumpled into a ball.

He was furious… at himself. The anger, and the letter, were the result of the same thing. His title of Dao Genius was such a joke. He didn’t deserve and he knew it. The news had not traveled too far but by this time tomorrow, the whole city would agree with his sentiment.

The Dao Genius of the younger generation was supposed to be Zhou Ziyun. She had beaten all of them and conquered the title in a single morning. Yet she had abandoned the Great Dao Preaching Convention without care, humiliating all of the participants there and even the organizers.

But who could do anything? Her talent of comprehension had stunned everyone to the point of disbelief. Who could complain? Her master was the undisputed troublemaker of the subcontinent. He even dared to go up against Spirit Kings. Who was bored enough to make trouble this pair of master and disciple?

The title had been reluctantly awarded to Deng Lun in the end. It was a wholly unconvincing victory. He wasn’t proud of it. Nobody was.

And to add to the misery, there was this letter… this letter from his master. He flattened out the piece of paper and read it again just to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating.

“Xiao Lun, I am sending you to the Aiqin Mystic Archipelago. Your performance during the Great Dao Preaching Convention was fine and I don’t blame you for losing to that Zhao girl. However, I didn’t need you purposefully antagonize her. My affair with Chen Wentian is my own business. I have told you all time and time again. I don’t need you or the other disciples trying to stand up for me on this matter.”

“You can stay at the Aiqin Mystic Archipelago and learn from my junior sister’s daughters. You are smart enough that you don’t need my guidance to reach the tenth level of the Spirit Initiate Realm. But as punishment, you don’t have to return until you have reached the first lesser realm of Spiritual Growth. These are my orders. You can leave tomorrow morning.”

Deng Lun stared at the paper blankly and then slumped into a chair.

“Why… master, why…” He muttered to himself.

Being banished to the southern archipelago was a famous punishment among the disciples of the Lotus Tower. It was often reserved for those that offended the immortal greatly but their crime was still redeemable. It often lasted decades and those that got sent away would almost never have a chance to regain her favor.

“Don’t act so glum.” A female voice interrupted his thoughts.

“M… master!” Deng Lun scrambled out of his seat and knelt down before the person that had suddenly appeared.

Immortal Gentle Lotus Gong Liyun looked down at the young man who she had favored for the last few years. Her gaze was impassive but still contained a hint of disappointment. To someone of her status, Deng Lun wasn’t worth much but she held onto a little bit of hope.

“It’s not like I am sending you to die.” She said lightly, “The Sapphire Mystic Empire gets a bad reputation around here but it can be a good place for you to cultivate if you are willing to give it your all. Don’t misunderstand me. I am not really sending you away because you offended Ten Thousand Flower Valley. I don’t really care if my disciples do that but you were too arrogant.”

“Although you like to pretend to be gentle and cultured, you let my favor get to your head. You haven’t realized it but your cultivation has already started to stagnate and I have no use for someone like that. My junior sister won’t mistreat you too badly and it is also an opportunity. Remember the story of your second senior brother, Immortal Lotus Hero Qiao Fengyi. He not only survived his banishment but emerged as an immortal that can stand by myself for the rest of his life.”

Deng Lun nodded obediently. Every disciple knew of the second-ranked disciple, Qiao Fengyi. One of five Spirit Lords under Gong Liyun’s command and the second strongest.

The rumors about Qiao Fengyi were as numerous as they were unbelievable. Some said that he was able to single-handedly slay a thousand ferocious deep-sea beasts during the last war there. Others said that he had laid with a hundred daughters of the southern queen in a single evening and managed to satisfy all of them. Whatever the story was, the reality was that he was one of the few that managed to survive the banishment and emerge even stronger.

However improbable, becoming the next Qiao Fengyi was his only chance for redemption. The Gentle Lotus was notorious for being finicky. She had so many handsome and talented men vying for her attention. He had no other choice.

Gong Liyun let out a small sigh, “You may think I am cruel. The reality is that the cultivation world is even more ruthless. You have to fight for everything, for the right to simply live and survive. I fought my way up from nothing to where I am now. My junior sister, who is now queen of the Aiqin Mystic Archipelago, also fought her way up for nothing. She’s even better than me. She didn’t want to bow down to the Immortal Association so she delved into untamed lands by herself and established a human territory. She even defeated two Spirit Kings in the process.”

“People of the Eastern Sanmu Subcontinent have grown too weak and contented. Disciples like you of the Lotus Tower are no different. The way you are now, you won’t be able to achieve anything by my side. Only once you have achieved something for yourself can you come back. Do you understand?”

 Deng Lun bowed down, striking his forehead against the floor, “Yes, master!”

“Hmm. Good, come.” Gong Liyun strode towards the adjacent bedroom and beckoned him to follow, “Since I might not see you again for a long time, let’s make some lasting memories.”

She laughed at her own joke and leaped onto the bed.

Deng Lun could only obey, putting away his reluctance one final time and steeling his heart for an uncertain future.

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