Chen Yi soon arrived at his father’s abode, which had a large, weary crowd in front of it. Chen Hao was standing on a balcony, surrounded by stone balustrades in order to prevent him from falling. He began a rousing and patriotic “speech”

“Thank you for gathering here today on such short notice. I have great news for you all. We have informants within the enemy ranks that have informed us of the location of the treacherous members of our clan. I am requesting for everyone to help me conquer the enemy, to prove once and for all that we are not to be trifled with. Soon, we will battle the enemy atop mount Luchen, which we will be upon before the battle starts so as to get the upper hand in battle. We are not cowards, nor are we brutish barbarians. The opponents are the cowards, for they fled when they found that they were fighting a losing battle. Even now, when I have asked them to come back so as to forgive them for their mistakes, they are hiding in the forest. We must seize victory for all the comrades we have lost. I have issued an ultimatum to them for which I have the response to. They are refusing to come back. Therefore, we must rid this world of such traitorous and disloyal warriors!”

Cheers erupted!

The crowd erupted in cheers. Chen Yi left as soon as the speech was finished. He had for more important and relevant matters than raising morale in the rest of the clan.

However, when he was returning, he felt a sharp pain at the back of his head and he fell to the ground, unconscious. He could not cry out but in the last few moments, before he fell, he saw the same figure that was talking next to his room before he came to his father’s house.

When Chen Yi woke up, the first thing he saw was a fungus-ridden ceiling. If he had painted the walls black the room couldn't be any darker. The once frilly net curtains at the window were thick with over a decade of grime. The light that struggled through, failed to reflect from the once beige carpet that was more like a forest floor in both colour and texture. The walls could have been any shade at all, he couldn’t tell. There is no chance at all that taking another step further in without better footwear; one used hypodermic in his toe and it would be all over for his health, regardless of the system’s existence, as he had no points to spend. It stank of ammonia too. Five gold coins said that when the carpet was pulled back, it would be stuck in perfect round patches. Yet, “Derelict" is such a harsh word. The place had been abandoned for sure. It was home to only the wildlife that sheltered within, those tiny heartbeats and tiny legs.

Suddenly a masked man came in. Accompanying him was another clandestinely clothed person. They were both carrying sturdy sticks that had clearly seen better days and had probably seen bloodshed as well. He struggled to get up, still fatigued from the assault. He asked, “Who are you guys? What am I doing here? Where am I?”

Neither of the masked men responded. They had no reason to. Fewer things said, a lower chance of information being leaked and discovered. Chen Yi started to think and pieced together a few clues. They led to a specific individual.

He thought to himself,” This fits what had been said previously. The one who had said his father had grown senile, the one who said that his father could no longer lead the clan. There was no-one else that fit the criteria.”

He started to think of how he could get out of there. He was tied up in an abandoned home. However, he was not completely clueless in this sorta situation. None of his self-defence training in his previous life involved magic-wielding maniacs, but some knowledge would still be useful. However, he needed to get the people standing in front of him out of the way. He decided to think of a solution to this.

He decided to see if he could mentally use the god’s skills that he received. To his surprise and marvel, when he mentally tried to circulate energy around his body, it actually flowed. Then he tried a little experiment. Since he had a slight affinity towards the wind as a protege to the weather god, he decided to see if he could manipulate the wind outside via his consciousness such that the pressure would accumulate in one region, damaging the house. Furthermore, he could also bring the wind outside, and thus, he could see if he could knock the men unconscious.

Still circulating the energy, he tried to “feel” the wind outside. When he found that he could “feel” the form and energy contained inside the wind, he tried to see if he could influence its direction. After a few minutes of strenuous effort, he found that he could make the wind change its prevailing direction, from north to south and east to west.

He now brought the wind into the building, to where he was. He then spent lots of effort to condense the energy in the winds to one place. After around 10 minutes, he finally got the gist of what he was doing and effectively completed the task. One of the masked men said, “There’s no point in you struggling. You have been bound with magic sealing rope. You can’t escape anyway, with such a meagre cultivation realm.”

Just after he said that he and his friend were lifted into the air for a few seconds. Then, they were released, making gravity do Chen Yi’s work for him. To make sure the masked men fell unconscious, Chen Yi even used his skill: Electric manipulation. Soon, after being struck by 100-volt lighting a few tens of times, they fainted.

“Right,” he said, “time to leave this wretched place and prepare for battle.”