On the paper, a request was marked:

" In the city of Taurium, in five months, there will be a grand festival. During the festival, the city Lord will preside over a contest for all youths who have yet to reach the first stage of refinement. The rewards for being in the top 10 are a secret manual of his family as well as the possibility to enter his guards. I am interested in those secret manuals and wish to acquire it.

Sect disciple Jin, being the only one at the required stage, is commissioned to go fetch one.

As a reward for success, he shall be given twenty pills of the second realm (10th to 20th stage) and a spiritual weapon of his choice.

Core Elder Tae-Yeon "

He was commissioned by a core elder... The faces of both Han-Bi and Sang-Min turned grim. This quest would require him to remain under the first stage of refinement for at least five months! And the rewards weren't even good. This was truly an elder scamming the disciple. A core elder relying on his position to force a bad deal on a disciple. Both Han-Bi and Sang-Min were repulsed at the thought of it.

But this was a cultivation world. Might was truth. And a core elder...They couldn't argue with such a figure. It was a being far from their reach. They didn't expect what came next. Jin tapped on the counter and called the elder: "Hey Elder, you there" it forced the elder to wake up. Not like he managed to fall asleep but still, he hated being awake. He was ready to get the paper and stamp it when the little disciple in front of him tore it apart.

Then the kid told him: "Tell that guy to go fetch his shit himself,I'm not a dog" and the kid turned around. There was a loud silence in the entire first floor. Due to cultivation, everyone had quite hearing. There was no way such a commotion would go unnoticed.

As Jin departed, Han-Bi and Sang-Min quickly ran to him and began to pester him about what he did. As it was getting on his nerves he told them: "Then what? I should just go along with it? Waste more than five months of cultivation? Of my life? Probably forcing me to lose my inner sect position at the end? Fuck this! And fuck him and his ancestors! There's no way I'm going to waste my time for this shit!"

They had never seen Jin being so angry and foul-mouthed. But they couldn't help but pursue: "Jin! This is a core elder's order that you went against! Do you not even understand what it means?" Jin turned around and seriously said: " So what? Would he be petty enough to go after a kid not even at the refinement stage?" and to those words, the duo agreed.

A core elder would likely not make a move himself. That being said, there were many people willing to get on the good sides of such people. And to those, bullying a kid was nothing if it could put them in that monster's good books. They looked at each other and both had the same idea. They truly needed to get Jin into their faction before it was too late. At least, it would stop some disciples from trying to go after him.

Even if their faction was at the bottom, it was only because of their time of entrance here. Most cultivators were smart and looked far to the future since they lived long. They wouldn't fight a younger faction randomly. And so, they began to ponder on how to have him join them... And had a good idea. In a few days, all the group would gather for an event. It would be the best time for this. They only needed to convince this idiot kid now... As for him angering the core elder, it was better not to spread it. Though the elders would jovially spread the rumor anyways. Those guys seemed to have nothing to do with their days except blabbering.

And about that, in the inner sect mission hall, the nodding specialist was being assaulted by his colleagues. They were very curious about which mission was torn up by the kid. Usually, commissions were private matters and secret. That being said, to this elder who only loved napping, he couldn't care less. He knew that his colleagues were a bunch of wolves who would never leave him alone until they got their meat. So he gave it to them right away, hoping they would him alone. He wrote the commission on a new paper.

As a cultivator, memory became reinforced further and further. A single look was enough for him to remember the entirety of the contents. He was lazy but remained an inner elder, he was strong. So, in seconds, the commission paper was recreated anew. And he gave it to those hyenas after stamping a big red rejected on it. It was rare to use this stamp and, even to him, it provided great pleasure to stamp it. This was a very rare moment in which he was able to reject a core elder's demand. It didn't happen in the past dozen years at the very least, maybe more. And so, he fell back into slumber with happiness.

Unaware of the commotion he created of course. The entire mission hall was aware of the core elder being rejected by the weakest disciple of the sect in mere moments. Inner sect elders seemed to have rejuvenated a few years as they discussed loudly and excitedly. Many even left in a hurry to spread the news to their old friends and laugh together. A lot of inner sect elders treated this as the news of the year. This was after all a rare event. Not only was a core elder rejected but it was by the weakest of all disciples.

Obviously, the contents were also discussed. It was quite clear to everyone who was made aware of it that it had been an outrageous and shameless request. And so, the news was spreading at a very frightening pace...