After Senior Brother Cui entered seclusion, I completely changed my schedule.

I trained as much as I could. It wouldn't do much in the short term, but I already saw some slight improvements.

Most of my time before was spent working at the smithy, but now I chose less time-intensive assignments. It would pay almost nothing compared to before, but I had to adapt.

I succeeded in paying back all my debits, though I had less than a hundred credits remaining.

The thing that concerned me the most was that I had to use more than three times the pills others used if I got injured. I got a few, but they would last one or two times depending on how much I got injured. I didn't plan to, but it was still worrying.

Anyway, I spent most of my free time loitering in the sixth district. I never wore the same face or clothes for two consecutive times to avoid attracting suspicion. I had also gotten a lot better after Elder Liu instructed me.

Not that it mattered too much here. Cultivators usually didn't loiter outside in the residential districts. The houses, though small, had a small walled garden in the front, and I couldn't see inside – and they couldn't see outside.

Also, most cultivators either cultivated or were out on assignments. Lower Outer Sect Disciples rarely had the leisure of wasting time.

This is another junction where the hearing enhancement shined.

I was just walking around when I clearly heard his voice coming out from one of the gardens. Outside the door were two disciples talking to each other. They were doing nothing other than chatting about some of the assignments. It was a strange place to have a conversation – logic told me they were accompanying Li Chu. Probably lookouts.

I didn't stop, obviously, but I did flinch when I heard Li Chu's voice. One of them seemed to notice it, but other than a curious glance, he didn't do anything else.

Fuck. Gotta be more careful.

When I rounded the corner, I leaned my back on the wall and listened.

I would stand out to anyone that passed by, but I didn't care.

After some time, I heard him coming out. I wasn't sure, but there may have been more people that came out with Li Chu. I didn't poke out my head until they were far away and confirmed it. There were seven, him included.

Damn, he sure likes to bring around a big group. If you can't do it with quality, use quantity, huh?

Well, an ambush now was out of the question. There had to be a time he was alone. At least they were easy to follow just by hearing.

I followed him to the fourth district, where he went inside a house. Unfortunately, the house was located in the middle of the street, and I couldn't get close without being seen since, as usual, there wasn’t much traffic at this time of the day.

While I couldn't hear what was said inside, I heard enough from the guys standing outside. It seems this was the Senior Brother that collected all the gains of the week. I think he may be the one that later brought them to the First disciple.

I was a bit nervous since, from what I heard, this district was mostly inhabited by middle or late Foundation Establishment Disciples. No one would say anything if I followed some guy around, but it was still a little nerve-wracking.

After he came out, I stalked them until they entered a restaurant.

I entered after a while and chose a place not too far from them, and started listening.

There wasn't much to hear, since they talked about trivial things. Still, I kept listening until they left.

Over the week, I gradually learned the paths they took, the places they visited, and when they did. Unfortunately, I never saw him alone. When he moved, he always had at least one person with him.

I was getting a bit dejected. I wasn't sure if I should just leave it be and keep going as I was. It was a bit uncomfortable to always live in a tent, especially on rainy days. For now, I could manage, but the winter would be harsher.

Maybe they would stop searching in a few months, I thought hopefully.

I actually didn’t know if they were still searching – or if they even had started to begin with.

My hands were itching to hit him, but I knew the risks were too much just for an act of small revenge. If he forgot about me, then it was for the best.

A few weeks later, though, just as I was about to desist, I heard confirmation of the contrary.

They were eating at a restaurant when I heard him ask a question. “You still haven’t found him?”

He seemed extremely annoyed. I suddenly concentrated on the conversation.

“No, Senior Brother Li. We asked a few people and looked everywhere, but we couldn’t find him. He never went to his house in the meantime. The plate is still there, though. He may have chosen to take an assignment outside the Sect.” The goon seemed vexed.

“No, I already told you, he doesn't have the skill. His meridians are damaged, it took him eight years just to enter the Qi Gathering Realm, so there's no way he has the ability to take one outside the Sect. The Elders also wouldn't pay attention to someone like that. The only way he could get out would be to take the war assignment – but I doubt it. The coward must be hiding in one of the ruined houses. Fitting for trash to stay in a ruin, I suppose. What's strange is that we didn't find him when he went for an assignment,” said Li Chu.

He then gave a few orders. “Take more people and search around the seventh district’s lower sections at night, and always keep some in the streets that led there. Also, keep some people in the assignment hall. He'll have to go there sooner or later. And spread the voice that I will pay a low-grade Clear Mind Pill for those that will give information on his whereabouts. Three if we manage to catch him.”

The others with him seemed a bit taken aback by his decision.

One of them spoke up. "Brother Li, wouldn't that be wasteful? From what you said, he should be trash as a cultivator. He won't have many credits we can use, and he'll drop out soon enough."

There was a pause and then a sigh.

"It doesn't work like that. I promised I would see him again, and I will." Li Chu was adamant on that point. "Besides, what do you think would happen if others heard of this? They'd think they could emulate the idiot, and skimp on giving credits. That cannot be allowed to happen. When we find him again, we'll make an example out of him. Beat him up, break his limbs, and tie him somewhere visible. That’s going to be enough warning for the rest of the lot.”

“That seems a bit overboard…” said another voice.

“It is not,” he said. “Call me when you find him. I’ll be the one to do it.”

The others folded after that.

Shit, shit, shit. Fucking little shit. I took a breath. Panicking wouldn’t do anything. I had to think.

It still wouldn’t be easy to find me.

Since I needed to be alone, I left the restaurant and thought of my course of action as I walked toward my tent.

I usually couldn't keep my techniques up while I worked, so, sooner or later, someone I worked with would speak. I needed to find a blacksmith that would take me as an assistant. Preferably an Inner Sect disciple, or at least a Middle Foundation Establishment one. They probably wouldn't be swayed by a few cultivation pills.

That would reduce my free time, but I would gain more credits, and, besides, I knew most of Li Chu's habits by now, so I didn't need to keep the small jobs.

I also had to choose if I should attack him or not.

The answer came to me almost instantly. Yes.

I had many reasons, but the most important and maybe the most foolish was my pride. Just imagining going to that bastard and meekly accepting his demands repulsed me. Same for running away until I was caught.

Maybe they would have been the better choices, but I didn't care at this point. Hearing what Li Chu wanted to do was enough to make me want to punch him until he begged.

I would be sure to do to him exactly what he wanted to do to me. With the interests. Never forget the interests.

I had much time to think while I was following him around. The consequences of my actions were one of the things that held me back, but I had also thought of many plans to circumvent the fact that I could never catch him out alone.

I had even thought of disguising as one of his pals or paying someone to help me. The first I discarded right away since my physique would quickly give me away – none of his people weer as big as me. The second was now impracticable since I couldn’t hope to match his price. Besides, even before it would have been hard to convince someone to risk it against him. It was highly probable the one I asked would plot to bring me to him.

I still had a plan that could work and that I was reasonably sure would work. It would cost me a bit, and it wasn't something that most looked up to, but I had no choice.

I also needed to make it as gruesome as possible to warn others to stay away from me. Cultivators didn’t seem the type to be deterred by half measures, after all.

There was a high probability it wouldn't end well, but I had to try. Just folding without doing anything wasn’t an option – however stupid that might be.

It was with grim determination that I began to implement my plan.

I took a job as an assistant to a smithy the next day. The guy was a late-stage Foundation Establishment Outer Sect Disciple. He may have been less talented than Senior Brother Cui in cultivation and forging, but he told me he had been doing it for five decades – and it showed.

He was a bit skeptical when he learned I had picked up the profession recently, but after the first day of work, he had been impressed. He also told me he wouldn't stop working anytime soon, so I had found a stable job.

Aside from buying all the things that I lacked, I also went in the Martial Repository to choose the Technique Elder Liu suggested, called “Localized Body Destruction Technique”, plus another one. Then went to the library to check a book for training with needles.

I passed the next two weeks practicing and working.

The Localized Body Destruction Technique was the one that Senior Sister Liu used against me. If one reached advanced mastery, it was possible to bypass the body defenses and directly strike the internal organs, as she did. At the beginner stage, it just punctured the qi layer of the opponent where the hit landed.

Usually, a cultivator always had some qi protecting the body, especially so when circulating. If a hit was strong enough, it would go through anyway, but there were methods to counter that protection.

In the Basic Martial Training course, I was taught to sync my qi with my movements to make them more fluid, fast, and powerful. The next stage consisted in releasing my qi as I hit the opponent, pushing back his own, and doing more damage. It was something that required timing and wasn't something easy to do as you moved, let alone when you fought. It took me weeks to get the timing right.

The Localized Body Destruction Technique required the practitioner to condense it right before the impact and forcefully shot that qi forward as the hit landed. Just the beginner stage was insanely difficult.

Also, technically it wasn’t a proper Martial Technique since it was just a method of qi control, so it wouldn’t get picked up by the bracelet. It was also more suitable to me than the one I learned at the Basic Martial Training since I didn't have much qi I could use.

I wasn't planning to fight, but I wanted to have all the insurances I could.

I spent many hours practicing without any results, but I persevered. I found nothing that I couldn't learn after I put in the required effort.

Most of my time, though, I spent training with the needles. The other Martial Technique I picked up was called the "Hidden Heaven Killing Technique" - it paired well with throwing weapons. This one was just about qi control too, so I could safely use it. It basically consisted in helping to align the weapon with the target and give extra speed when thrown. It wasn't as hard as the other Technique, but it wasn't a walk in the park either. Supposedly, at the peak attainment, one wouldn’t even need to move to shoot the weapon.

At the end of the second week, I managed to consistently hit a five-centimeter target from three meters away.

I still hadn’t mastered the Localized Body Destruction Technique, but it was time to start.

Everything was prepared. Only the execution remained.