"Zhenwu save us, what have those meddlesome morons done!?"

That's the thousand benefit question.

Jian Cheng forms two quivering fists, circulates his qi and calms himself. He forces himself to sit on his cherry rosewood pallet bed in Fatty’s small spare room. He assumes the lotus position and begins deep breathing... He needs to think through things rationally. The sky has fallen and he needs to understand all the ramifications and possible permutations to get adjusted as soon as possible.

Most of their plan was fine, cunning in fact, but little Fen Ling should never, ever have shown her third affinity...

The three of them cornered him, four or so hours ago, claiming they had everything all worked out. Surrounding him in Fatty’s kitchen, they suddenly shouted "surprise". Then laughingly, Fen Ling brought out her mahogany core disciple badge. Next, a beaming Fatty stepped forward and proceeded to tell Jian Cheng exactly what they’d recklessly planned and then irreparably done.

For some bizarre reason, Fatty began his tale at the end, explaining their successful experiments with the spatial belt... That part was actually brilliant and could bring about many benefits in the future... But when Fatty got to the details of how Fen Ling ascended, Jian Cheng’s face fell and hasn’t risen since...

There are so many other options for her ascension... She could fake breaking through to tier-six, before turning 13 that is impressive... If that isn’t enough, she could show-off her Icy Skies and claim she’d invented it, instantly identifying herself as a martial genius of the top order.

If she needs a tad more to cross the core disciple threshold, simply add in the Thundercloud technique and claim that one as well!

The two techniques are better than anything the sect likely has... What kind of genius came up with her own skill techniques before even becoming a teen?

No-one! Not one! But Fen Ling could credibly claim she did, who could call her bluff?

The two Thundering Tortoise techniques are literally not of this world... Even her Shock and Shove has real potential... It has been coming along nicely recently. She’d been showing much finer control than previously and it is well worth a second look... Anything but a third affinity...

They’ll never let her go now... She’s gone and made her own worst nightmare a reality, all over again...

It’s a recurring nightmare of Jian Cheng’s as well... Now he is, yet again, powerless to protect her... Furious tears pour down his face onto the quilt below...

Fortunately, he’s long ago chased his confused friends out of the room and locked the door.

There is no point in panicking them, and he desperately needs to think... However, he finds it hard to move beyond the numerous glaring mistakes they’d made... Let alone concentrate on any future adjustments he can engineer...

His ears blush red with hot, angry blood as he fumes. So many better and much more incremental options - ones that still hid their trump cards - had been passed up for this suicide attempt...

Make no bones about it, that’s what it was. Overnight, Fen Ling has gone from relative obscurity to fame. From being middle of the pack of the 200-300 inner court disciples, to the middle of the 15 infamous core disciples. Didn’t those cretins realise that such a gigantic leap will only invite a world of trouble into her little life?

If she paid her dues, by cultivating to a high tier, then entered from the bottom rung at an older age... That would be a different story... One that isn’t about a unicorn...

For her, it’s far worse than simply getting hammered as the nail that stands up! Much worse...

Now, Fen Ling not only has to deal with the fallout from the core disciples’ resentment that her sudden ascension will cause... A lesson that darned fatty should've learned a lot better after his own inner court bullying debacle ...

No, much worse than mere disciples, Fen Ling is now flirting with the danger that comes from the full attention of the upper echelon elders...

Aagh! Jian Cheng’s frustration boils over again. The four of them have been barely sufficient enough to see off a few inner court bullies... The core disciple level was way beyond their limited capabilities... It is also outside their sphere of influence...

Cultivators who come across a unicorn, don’t just enjoy its company, give it a pat on the rump and move on... No, their motives, sooner or later take on a sinister bent... Fen Ling is courting death... Or servitude of some sort, for sure... Exactly which twisted path she goes down, remains to be seen... The is the worst part, it is a great unknown, one he can’t plan specifically against...

However, Jian Cheng is prepared to pull out all the stops. He’ll flood this place in a lake of blood, before he let anything happen to her again... But he is still such useless rubbish... It is the same dilemma as before he met Benefactor Wang, simply taken to a much higher level...

No, not true! He has qi now! He even had a small amount of power and skills. And new knowledge... He is also on the inside not outside looking in... He has options....

One of which was on him right now, the six powerful Rising Sun pills Fen Ling handed to him. Her wrangling him the chance to enter the inner court was actually smart, and also an absolute must... A bare minimum achievement and the fifth tier is his first target for these next three weeks.

He can’t do anything from the outer court, he needs to stick close at hand to control all possible outcomes... Core disciples are known to visit the inner court occasionally. After all, it’s boring being around only a few other teens... Especially as they are all your bitter rivals...

It’s also an opportunity for them to soak up the adulation, attract followers or flirt with anything with a pulse.

Once on his way to the commissary, Jian Cheng saw a couple of these venerated students strutting about like peacocks in heat. Behaviour they wouldn’t dare in front of their powerful peers within the Misty Cloud Manor, no doubt... But still, their unguarded excursion means regular contact with Fen Ling is possible...

Though not ideal, the boys really need to find a way into that manor... Aagh, what is he even thinking?

He isn’t even officially in the inner court yet, and he is already trying to leapfrog over it into the Misty Cloud Manor!

Sighing, he pulls an orange-striped pill out from his purse and pops into his mouth, instigating the guixigong as he did so... Might as well make some cultivation progress while he plans...

Instantly, Jian Cheng feels vigour flowing down his throat like he’d swallowed a live eel. Inside, his accumulated qi rushes around his body as if it has been suddenly engulfed in a powerful storm. The absorption speed is at least twice as fast as any other pill he’d previously consumed.

Elder Zhu is holding nothing back this time... She has truly dug deep and delivered nuggets of pure gold. The giddy boy became almost drunk on the swirling sensations...

In a short few hours, he has absorbed almost three-quarters of the strong yet soothing energy. Jian Cheng, also has complete confidence that the clinking handful of pills clutched in his fist, will push him over the edge into tier-five within a few weeks. Whew! One less thing to worry about...

As the sleepless night passes by, Jian Cheng sits in the dark and amends all his plans. He does this a lot, and it is one of the main excuses the other two have for seldom listening to him. The other reasons oft cited are, he was " an insufferable bore" or "was being a bossy boots".

He has several irons in the fire already, maybe he can shift a few around and spark something new. There were two plans bubbling away on the back burner at the moment - their Elder Ownership project and the Senior Student Alliance scheme. They both need to be accelerated to produce tangible results as soon as possible. After ransacking Healer Wu’s mind for his precious techniques, Jian Cheng has realised you don’t actually need to own elders outright. It turns out you can simply rent them by surrendering a few benefits or preferably through blackmail... Surrendering benefits does not come naturally to him...

Elder Zhu seems to be firmly on Fen Ling’s side already, but she isn’t enough. The group need to expand their influence to garner extra protection. He’ll go through the other candidates again with fresh eyes and the current situation in mind.

Also, the cursory research into the various inner court dragons is now insufficient, he’ll have to trouble First Disciple Ma to thoroughly investigate the core disciple ranks via her maid network. It shouldn’t be too difficult, their famous names are never far from anyone’s lips.

Furthermore, he will take Fatty’s meddlesome demonic best forest plan further, much further...

Jian Cheng will invade the forest to secure precious resources - to get stronger or die trying...