Time waited for no one.

There were now only two months left before the festival’s official opening. Preparations in all the eight regions were in full swing, including the Sky Water Sect.

Suspense and speculations abounded about the four remaining nominees, not only in the Sky Water Sect but the whole alliance. Although this was a friendly competition on paper, in the end, it represented the dignity of an entire region.

During past editions, the alliance had always ranked seventh out of the eight regions. They would enter each session with high expectations, just for their hopes to be crushed each and every time.

However, upon hearing that the Sky Water Sect’s patriarch had already nominated a 3rd Qi Seeking Realm Cultivator, most instead began praying that they would at least keep hold of their seventh place.

Away from the festival’s affairs and furores, in the wildlands bordering the Sky Water Sect, a man wearing an unidentifiable robe was leaning against a small cliff. His eyes showcased a boundless abyss as he turned his gaze on an approaching silhouette.

Another young man had arrived. His black hair was in disarray, partially resting over his shoulders. He could barely speak as he struggled for breath.

“Tan Jingyi! I-I’m sorry. I was being watched, so I had to make an unexpected detour. I had to be sure that nobody was keeping taps on my movements.”

Tan Jingyi didn’t even bother to glance, grinding some rocks with his foot.

“Incompetent... I had high hopes for you, but it seems I overestimated these so-called geniuses of such a mediocre sect. I have no further use for you Han Cai. You’ve failed to live to my expectations.”

Han Cai trembled. “Tan Jingyi, please be considerate. I did manage to obtain some useful information. I’ve found some clues about the item you are searching for. I can safely confirm that the Sect definitely has one in store.”

“Then where is it? Why haven’t you delivered it?”

Han Cai stuttered. “That, it’s a bit complicated... it’s stored inside the Sect’s Treasury and heavily guarded all the time. Even for someone of my status, it isn’t easy to enter that place I—”

“Enough! I’ve had enough of your blabbering. You only have three more months to bring me what I want. If you fail, heads are gonna roll.”

Tan Jingyi then took flight, looking down at Han Cai with disgust. “And that includes yours.”

He turned into a prismatic beam that disappeared over the horizon.

Han Cai fell on his knees, slamming his fist on the ground. “Damn it! Why did it have to be me? Why not someone else?”

Anger swelled inside his heart. “Brothers, just wait for me a while longer. Once this entire nightmare is over, we will escape this place together. We have to survive before this entire region descends into turmoil!”

He clenched his fist and renewed his resolve, heading back towards his Sect.

***

Still inside the secret realm, Jack had long ended his cultivation session, instead focusing on learning the dimensional pocket technique and gaining more mastery over his essence.

He was now a proud cultivator of the 5th Qi seeking Realm, and a peak one at that. His power had progressed by leaps and bounds, and now he definitely had the qualifications to be considered an official inner sect disciple, even without the influence of the heavenly dice.

At this particular moment, he was staring at the 3rd Patriarch’s clone.

“For a spirit, you’re really stubborn, eh? If you behave well, I will remove some of your restrictions. I want you as my contracted companion, not as my servant.”

Jack sighed as he started channelling his essence. The Spectre began hardening and increasing in size. Soon, he was about half a human tall.

“If I can fully control him, he will become a great asset in battles and an additional layer of defence. Unfortunately, I can only supply this amount of essence for the time being. Anymore would leave my main body vulnerable and prone to exhaustion. If only he would cooperate with me...”

Bleep~ Bleep~

The inner sect disciple amulet inside his dimensional pocket began ringing, alerting his consciousness. He quickly summoned it.

“Hey Jack, it’s the old man. I will be transmitting coordinates that will descript a map on the white talisman I gave you previously. Follow the directions and come here. Don’t be late, the others are already gathering.”

Jack exhaled. “Looks like my training session is over—

ROAR~

An ear-piercing scream rocked Jack’s ears as a badass monkey appeared out of nowhere, jumping weirdly on the spot and banging its hands on its chests like a war drum.

“Eh?” Jack was dumbfounded. He was sure that there were no powerful demonic beasts inside this realm. From where did this towering creature appear?

The monkey was still bouncing around when it eyed Jack with an angry glance. “You say me stupid?! Me no stupid! Me intelligent super!”

The monkey didn’t give Jack any chance to react as it jumped high, its image disappearing from Jack’s line of sight. Accompanied by a tempest of winds, it then rocketed down from above with unfathomable force.

Jack could barely finish his cursing as he ditched the attack just before the impact. Flying rocks and debris littered the area as the monkey gazed at Jack, seemingly wanting to devour him with its flashing eyes alone.

Jack was visibly shaking as he took flight. Now that he was in the 5th Qi Seeking Realm, he believed that he could keep flight for around an hour.

“Hey, wait! I never said you are stupid! You have the wrong man!”

The monkey shivered. “You say me stupid again?!”

It roared forward, its body creating a beautiful arc of lights. Its fist was gaining momentum as it took aim towards its target.

Jack gritted his teeth, quickly producing a thick aerial barrier.

BOOM~

The explosion shattered the barrier into tiny fragments as Jack’s body was sent pummelling downwards, burying him deep into the ground.

“Ugh...” The stupefied Jack couldn’t believe this ridiculous strength. All of his overconfidence he obtained after breaking through the 5th Qi Seeking Realm was wiped out by that single hit.

As he struggled to stand up again, a grinning shadow was observing from a safe place.

“Hmm, maybe an 8th Qi Seeking Realm monkey was a bit too much for him?” The Creature cuddled its face, not wanting to admit any wrongdoing.

It observed Jack’s movements for a while, then narrowed its eyes. “This kid has good observations. He already realised that he has no chance, so he decided to flee. But will that work?”

Jack was fleeting erratically as he entered the jungle, with the hope of confusing his pursuer.

This was however only useful in further enraging the giant monkey, as its arms raged and rampaged through anything that stood in their way. Unwilling to let its target escape, it then opened its mouth and fired a small sphere of red coloured qi.

The orb quickly settled hovering over the jungle, producing a mysterious gravitational force that suppressed everything within a considerable amount of space.

Jack suddenly felt a mountain pressing on him as his movements crawled to the pace of a snail. Despair soon flashed in his eyes as he perceived the nearing presence.

BOOM~

The direct hit sent Jack flying like a projectile, shrieking with pain. If it weren’t for his solidified body, this hit would have been critical. Still, he was in a pretty much lousy shape and unable to hold much longer.

Benefiting from the acceleration created by the enemy’s own attack, he rushed forward in a wobbling path, hoping that he would arrive at the desired location in time. Unfortunately for him, the monkey’s speed was just ridiculous, slowly catching up after his trail.

Jack quickly made up his mind and summoned the spectre, sending him flying against the advancing creature.

The monkey noticed the incoming spectre, but it was too late. The hardened spectre slammed into its chest, sending it staggering backwards by quite a distance.

When it recovered, it roared with unrestrained anger as it spat blood, then resuming its pursuit shortly after.

This temporary distraction allowed Jack to widen the distance, soon arriving at the earmarked location. There, a talisman was hovering in the air.

Without wasting any time, Jack grabbed hold of the talisman and crushed it, instantly being teleported out of the realm.

Just before his vision faded, he caught a glimpse of a furry creature grinning back at him.

As soon as the teleportation effect faded, Jack found himself at the entrance of the Ancient Divinity’s temple. He immediately slammed the broken teleportation talisman on the floor with all force he could muster. “That bag of fur! He is supposed to protect me, not kill me!”

Fuming, he didn’t notice the number of eyes staring dumbfounded at him.

A golden-haired beauty was the first to speak. “So this is our new addition? This boy is quite rowdy.”

A crimson-haired cultivator couldn’t resist not passing a comment. “What a disgrace! Beaten to a pulp by the 1st Qi Seeking Realm beasts present in that realm! I would lock myself in shame for a year if I were him!”

“Shui Tao, I don’t remember you locking yourself in shame for one year after I had humiliated you.” These words were unceremoniously spoken by the Grand Elder’s disciple.

Shui Tao gritted his teeth. “That battle was two years ago, you little bitch. Now I am much stronger, wanna try?”

The Grand Elder was indeed puzzled with Jack’s current physical condition, but he didn’t pry any further. Instead, he frowned.

“Looks like you shits have some additional hormones to spare. If you want to quarrel, I am always available. Otherwise, get in line!”

When they perceived that the Grand Elder wasn’t joking, the group of inner sect disciples hurriedly formed a straight line, all facing him.

The first position was naturally occupied by the Grand Elder’s disciple, followed by Shui Tao and the golden-haired beauty.

Next was an elegant cultivator, his eyes closed and serene, his delicate skin enough to make most girls burn with jealousy. This was naturally Master Shi, the one who had commented on Jack when the Azure Fiery Realm’s talisman had appeared.

Adjacent to Master Shi was a shy girl. She appeared young, not older than fourteen. She stood in line tapping her index fingers, her cheeks also blushing a little.

Jack naturally stood at the end, embarrassed by his current appearance.

Surprising enough, another cultivator showed up and stood next to Jack. He had been keeping a low profile for all this time as he lowered his head almost facing the floor, shivering slightly.

Everyone noted this but most didn’t care. Unfortunately, Shui Tao was not someone who could keep his mouth shut.

“Hui Lang, sucking up already by allowing him to take your position? It doesn’t matter how many friends you make, if you lack strength, all you will ever amount is trash.”

Hui Lang was cursing Shui Tao inside his heart. “I stay wherever I want. I don’t need your stinky mouth to tell me what I have to do…”

However, he soon trembled when he sensed Jack staring at him. He didn’t even dare to make eye contact with him.

Now that he was in the 5th Qi Seeking Realm, Jack was no longer afraid of Hui Lang. However, Jack was still curious about how Hui Lang had escaped the villa and also wanted to ask him if he knew anything about that weird transformation. However, this was not the ideal time to do so.

Grand Elder had noted this anomaly but was more concerned about another matter.

There was an empty space between the 3rd and 5th cultivator.

The Grand Elder naturally asked, “Where is Han Cai?”