When Ah Jun woke up, he let loose a breath of relief. He wasn’t dead! After courting death with someone far stronger than he was, he was still alive! And he even got a heaven-defying treasure after coming out of it as well.

Ah Jun wanted to do nothing more than just laugh but the pain his body was in was something that he could not ignore. Try as he might, this was the worst pain he’s ever been in. Every single part of his body cried out in pain. Who knew people really had the time to go out in the world and act like sheep while being wolves? He thought it was just a saying that his father told him so that he would act less unrestrained.

“I guess I can’t be as much of a wastrel now that I have this!” Jun grinned as his arm went right through his cover.

Because of this invaluable treasure, Jun planned to take his training a bit more seriously. Perhaps he had to thank Zhu Xin for beating him half to death and nearly crippling him. If it wasn’t for that, he could’ve never got his hands on that miraculous pearl that now lay within his dantian. But the question was, what kind of technique would work the best with something like this?

There was an empty cup on the desk near Jun’s bed. Jun painfully turned over and picked up the cup with his hand. He tried to make the cup and his hand go through the desk but the cup simply fell through his hand as his hand went through the desk, meaning as of now, he couldn’t use his new power with objects.

So, the type of martial technique he should focus on getting is something that will work with his body. Like a physical cultivator. But a physical cultivator wasn’t the type of cultivator Jun wanted to be. The only successful physical cultivators that Jun knew were all masochists that enjoyed torturing their bodies. There was no way he could enjoy hurting himself even if it was for strength.

Ah Jun rang the bell on his desk for one of the maids to enter. Instead of a beautiful young maid entering his room, a muscular baldy with a broad sword on his back entered the room with a bashful look on his face. Bile built up in his throat as he saw the grown man acting like a frail shy beauty in front of him.

“Guards! Servants! There’s an assassin in the house!” Ah Jun weakly cried.

“Master Jun, I am not an assassin! I am your new bodyguard chosen by your father.” He timidly poked his fingers together.

Hearing this news was more than enough to take out the wastrel playboy from his recent awakening. He coughed blood from his mouth before fainting. Ah Duan chuckled to himself as he went over to check the master’s body. Placing his hand on Jun’s stomach, he sent a small bolt of chi inside him.

This chi explored Jun’s body from head to toe, surveying all the damage inside. The look on Duan’s face didn’t look pleased as he found out the extent of the young master’s injuries. Hopefully, the master has already gained something to help the young master recover. Recovering from something like this would take several months even with the help of the best doctors in Purple Cloud City.

“How is he?” An aged and weary face appeared at the door.

“It’s not good master but it isn’t irrecoverable.” Duan bowed his head as he came in.

“I expected as much...” Ah Chun sighed as he walked over to his only son.

Ah Chun raised Jun ever since he was born. His mother died during birth and he was born with only himself as his sole parental figure. Since Jun was his first born and the only remaining family member left, he grew up quite spoiled. Perhaps it was his own fault that Jun turned out this way. Maybe if he was stricter and more controlling during his youth, he could’ve turned out to be an outstanding child.

It wasn’t as if Jun’s talent was trash or anything. The boy just wasn’t motivated to do his best compared to the other prodigies in Purple Cloud City. Ever since he saw that he couldn’t keep up with the other prodigies, he seemed to have lost all motivation to train and cultivate. He indulged in debauchery and alcohol during his sadness and never seemed to come out of it.

Ah Chun believed it wasn’t too late to fix Jun’s bad habits. He was only 17, still in the prime of his youth. Hopefully, after experiencing this near-death encounter, he would become stronger because of it and not delve even deeper into his wastrel ways. When he fully recovers, Chun vows to be much harsher on Jun going forward. It was for his own good after all. Ah Chun didn’t know how he could continue on if his only son left this world too.

…

Some months later, Jun was on the cusp of a full recovery. From time to time, his father would check in on him along with some doctors, or his new bodyguard. However, not a single woman was allowed to enter his room! It made his balls ache because his father didn’t let him walk around on his own or leave the manor until he was completely healed.

Realizing that he was completely trapped in the house, for the time being, Jun had nothing to do but practice martial arts and cultivate. His father gave him an order to learn three techniques by the end of the month to a satisfactory degree or he would be trapped inside the house for half a year. Surprisingly, Jun wasn’t that upset about being stuck inside because of his father. After getting the pearl and gaining further mastery of his power during his recovery, he had to be careful about which martial art he chose to practice.

Jun chose three techniques from the family’s library but was only able to practice two because he wasn’t able to leave the house for the third. Way of the Plundering Devil, Star Finger, and Illusionary Demon Steps were the three techniques he chose to learn. He purposefully hid the fact that he’s learned the first technique from his bodyguard and father as he knew they would refuse to allow him to learn it.

Way of the Plundering Devil took one on the path to the Dao of Lust. By indulging himself in lust, his power would rise until he could no longer do so. For someone like him, this was the perfect cultivation technique as it wouldn’t require him to sit around in silence and meditate for hours on end. Instead, he could be tumbling around with a woman or a few throughout all periods of the night. But if for some reason he ever had to go someplace where there weren’t any brothels, he should consider getting himself a woman to follow him around. And there was one woman that perfectly fit the bill despite her personality.

Mu Lina. Possessing unparallel beauty, inconceivable strength, and a divine immortal temperament that treats everyone as beneath herself. A cultivator already on the cusp of reaching the Dao Seed stage despite being the same age as himself. The Mu Family was undoubtedly the strongest of the Four Immortal Families in Purple Cloud City. Lina refused to be married off by her father and promised to kill either herself or her husband if he forcefully tried to marry her off. She told him that she would only accept a man as her husband if he was capable of defeating her in a fair duel and he was around her age and cultivation realm. Considering she was the most talented or one of the most talented youths around, it was hard for Mu Jinwu to refuse his only daughter’s wishes.

Ah Jun planned to challenge Mu Lina to a duel and defeat her with the power of his new pearl. While he might be at the Merging of Chi stage, that didn’t mean he was completely hopeless against Lina. Star Finger is a technique known for its highly destructive penetrative power that could pierce through the heavens. At least when fully mastered anyway. Before he goes to challenge Mu Lina and shake the city up, he needs to ask his father for some pointers on the technique. After experiencing that wolf playing as a sheep from before, Jun has become far more cautious when dealing with things. He only had one life. It would be too unfortunate if he lost it by not being able to recognize Mt. Tai when it appeared in front of him again.

...

“Father! I come to ask for guidance!” It was time for Jun to show his father how far he’s come in his martial arts.

“Hmph. Show me.” Ah Chun hid his surprise behind a cold façade.

Jun grinned as a bright pink light glowed from his finger. He aimed it toward the training dummy and released the energy that was building on the tip of his index finger. A pink beam of chi shot from his finger at speeds that cultivators would find difficult to dodge. Ah Chun saw as the beam completely bored a hole through the metal dummy and his face briefly twitched in shock.

“Is that all? I remember telling you to learn three techniques.” He reminded the boy.

“I’m not done yet, father. I remember your words all too clearly.” Jun chuckled as four different clones of himself walked out of his body.

Chun spread his spiritual sight outward and found it difficult to tell which Jun was the real one. However, once they started moving, he could easily tell which one was the real one as only one had any sound. The downside of Illusionary Demon Steps was that the clones were easily deduced if one tried to use them offensively as the clones had no substance. They could not affect their surroundings and they were only useful as a distraction.

“Why did you choose this movement skill?” Chun's eyebrows furrowed.

Illusionary Demon Steps was not a high-ranked martial skill. It was near the bottom in terms of usefulness compared to other movement skills. Not good for attacking, defending, or retreating. Chun couldn’t see the purpose of learning such a skill. He sincerely hoped the boy didn’t choose to learn this because of how easy it seemed. If he did, he’ll lock him up for an entire year!

“Father, I have a request.” Jun suddenly spoke.

“A request? Ask me after you tell me of your cultivation skill.” Chun would send him straight back to his room if he picked a low-ranked cultivation technique.

Jun shook his head.

“If I tell you now, you will definitely get angry. But hear me out first.” Jun wanted to kind of make a deal with his father.

Chun’s eyebrows became slightly scrunched up. He didn’t know what this brat was trying to get at. Was he really trying to delay the inevitable or did he really have something serious to ask of him?

“Fine, speak.”

“Father, can you send a marriage proposal to the Mu Family? I want to marry Mu Lina.” Jun asked with a straight face.

Complete silence took hold of the dojo soon after that question was asked. Jun watched as his father’s face changed like a chameleon in front of his eyes. His old weary face scrunched up, his jaw widened, his lips puckered, his eyebrows danced, all in all, it looked like he was having a stroke! Maybe keeping his new power a secret from his father isn’t such a good idea.

By the time Chun could properly react to the words his son just asked him, his entire body was red with rage. Did this foolish son of his truly just ask what he thinks he just asked him? Does he not know his own limits? Was there no end to the lust building in his lower regions? Just because a woman was beautiful, it meant she was someone to bed!? Right now, Chun wanted nothing more than to rip off his son's balls so that the thought of having sex could never appear in his mind again.

“Wait, before you get mad father! I’m not trying to get myself killed nor am I allowing my penis to take hold of my mind! Listen to me.” This seemed to have somewhat of an effect on his father to stop him from straggling him this very second.

“I received a heaven-defying treasure after nearly dying to Zhu Xin.” Jun revealed.