Li Jian had made himself comfortable in his new home; one that was much larger and grander than his previous.

This house had multiple rooms that were all bigger than the houses in the outer sect.

There was a bedroom, bathroom, living room, kitchen, meditating room, guest rooms, and even a servant room.

In front of the house was a large garden and pond, and enough open space to train and spar with others.

Li Jian was not overwhelmed nor excited about his new home.

He had taken care of one enemy, but had made an even more powerful enemy.

The little display of power from Elder Lu showed how small Li Jian was and had truly opened his eyes.

‘Just a little bit of pressure from Elder Lu and I couldn’t even move.’

Li Jian sighed and went to his meditating room.

Standing to the side of the hallway was a maid with her hands clasped in front of her.

She awaited instructions patiently as Li Jian walked over to her her, looking at her deeply.

With Li Jian staring at her so intently, she blushed and averted her gaze downward.

This girl was shorter than Li Jian and had short, black hair, which complemented her white and black maid outfit well.

“M-Master, would you like anything?”

Li Jian tried to sense her cultivation level, but wasn’t able to find a single trace of spiritual energy.

‘She’s just a mortal and is younger than me…’

“What’s your name?”

“M-My name is Wang Bei…”

“Okay Little Bei, just call me Li Jian from now on. Hearing Master sounds a little weird to me.”

“O-okay, Mas-big brother.”

Li Jian smiled, patted her head and began moving towards the meditation room.

“I won’t be needing anything for now, so you can go relax.”

“Are you sure, big brother?”

“Yes, that’ll be all Little Bei.”

Li Jian motioned her to leave as he had already opened the door to his meditation room.

The room was lit up with multiple candles with an incense in the center creating a calming and soothing atmosphere.

Li Jian sat down in the center and closed his eyes.

As he slowly drifted away into deep meditation, Li Jian began devising his new goals.

‘I’m in the 5th level of the Mortal realm, yet I’m still weak.’

‘If I’m going to survive in this world, I’ll need to get stronger more quickly.’

‘Elder Lu is in the Spirit realm...’

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The darkness and stillness of the night crept upon Jade Moon City.

“He’s a 5th level… the longer he lives, the more dangerous it becomes.”

“Don't be rash.”

“I am not being rash! I am looking out for the good of the sect.”

“I know.”

Patriarch Shui and the old man continued to watch Li Jian warily.

A knock came from Patriarch Shui’s door before being opened.

“Father, is something wrong?”

“No. How is Li Jian?”

“He’s in his new home in the inner sect.”

“Good. Well done, Bai’er. Keep watching him, but don’t intervene anymore.”

“I won’t father…”

Patriarch Shui looked at Princess Bai worryingly.

“What are you hesitating for, speak whatever is on your mind Bai’er.”

“Father, there’s been an increasing amount of reports of strange activity outside of the city.”

Patriarch Shui raised an eyebrow.

“What are the reports saying?”

“Many people traveling on the roads near the city have been attacked or killed…”

“Raise the defenses of the city and post a new mission for the inner disciples regarding this matter to investigate and handle.”

“This is too dangerous for inner sect disciples… These aren’t just mortals, they’re cultivators who’ve been killed, father!”

“Cultivators cannot be kept within a safe bubble for their whole lives, Bai’er. They’ll soon see the true wrath of the real world.”

“I understand, father.”

“Post the mission. Rank it S if you believe it is as dangerous as you think. You may leave now, go and get some rest Bai’er.”

“Good night, father.”

Princess Bai walked out of the room and headed towards the inner sect mission board.

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Li Jian had to wait a week before he was able to receive any of the inner sect benefits.

During this time, he had told the twins and Lee Gang that he was now an inner sect disciple.

“Look at you and your jade robes, big bro!”

“Congratulations, Brother Li!”

“‘Bout time Brother Li.”

“I’ll be waiting here for you three haha. Anyways, I’m going into closed door training for the next week, so if you run into any trouble you can stay at my house.”

Lee Gang frowned in depression.

“What’s wrong Fatty Gang?”

“I bet the food here is amazing… You even have your own maid!”

The group facepalmed and sighed as they should have known Lee Gang would be thinking about the food.

“Also, did you guys receive your mission rewards?”

“Yes! We’re rich in contribution points! Hahaha.”

“I’m going to spend mine on an amazing dinner!”

“We got amazin’ rewards, yet we did nothin’. We owe ya yet again Brother Li.”

“We all did our part, and we’re brothers are we not?! We don’t owe each other anything.”

Meng Jiao punched Li Jian’s shoulder playfully.

“We’ll be off then. Don’t forget about us Brother Li!”

“I’ll come over everyday so you don’t forget about me, big bro!”

“You guys are acting like I’ll never see you again haha.”

The group split and Li Jian went back to the meditation room.

‘I’ll reach the 6th level by the end of this week no matter what.’

During Li Jian’s closed door training, another huge commotion swept the sect into chaos.

An S rank mission had appeared and it belonged to the inner sect disciples.

Multiple groups of disciples accepted the mission and made their way out of the sect to investigate the outbreak of attacks.

By the end of the first day, the inner sect was empty.

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The end of the week neared and Li Jian continued to gain enlightenment in his new Spatial Fist skill.

He had broken through to the 6th level with monstrous speed.

No resources were used to aid him in this feat.

‘Spatial Fist… It seems I’ve named my skill properly at least.’

Li Jian exited the meditation room and called for Little Bei.

Little Bei rushed to Li Jian, scurrying as fast as she can.

“Y-Yes big brother?”

“I’ll need you to gather Lee Gang, Meng Jiao, and Meng Zhao.”

“Yes, o-of course.”

Little Bei’s face reddened as she fumbled her words yet again.

After a few hours, Lee Gang and the twins arrived.

“Big bro! Haven’t seen you in forever! Thought you forgot about us…”

“Didn’t I tell you that I was going into closed door training?”

“Yes, you did Brother Li. Fatty Gang probably didn’t expect you’d be training for the whole week haha.”

“He’s been busy spendin’ all his contribution points on food to notice anyway.”

The twins shrugged and grinned at Lee Gang.

Lee Gang looked at the ground and pouted his lips.

“It’s true big bro… I’m almost out of contribution points… Why must amazing food be expensive!”

“Wait, you're almos-”

Lee Gang, eyes wide, turned towards Li Jian.

“Big bro?! You’re in the 6th level already??!”

Lee Gang was still a 4th level along with the Meng twins.

The twins jaws dropped and froze.

The group could only think one thing:

‘A prodigy.’

Li Jian’s mouth tilted into a smile as he scratched his head.

“I just gained some enlightenment into my affinity is all…”

Li Jian didn’t hide anything from his brothers and they had known about his ‘special’ affinity, but had no idea what it was since Li Jian didn’t know either.

The group looked at Li Jian expectantly.

“Tell us, tell us! What is your affinity?!”

“It’s unique and doesn’t involve fire, wind, earth, water, or lightning. I believe it is a spatial affinity.”

“Huh?”

The three children couldn’t help but scrunch their faces.

“The hell is spatial?”

“It has to do with space, like the intangible. I don’t know, I’m still trying to figure it out.”

“I knew it was right to follow my big bro!”

“Amazing, Brother Li! You make the prodigy Huang Fang look insignificant!”

“Oh, by the way brother. You missed out on a lot while you were training. The sect has gone crazy.”

“What do you mean?”

“An S rank mission was released to the inner sect! An S rank!”

“An S rank? Fatty Gang, didn’t you say those were myths or something?”

Lee Gang avoided Li Jian’s gaze.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about… but anyways, most of the inner disciples have already taken on the mission. What about you?”

“Not sure, but I’ll decide after I take a look around the inner sect.”

“Also, Brother Li… the reward for the successful completion of the S rank mission…”

Li Jian’s ears perked as his anticipation peaked.

“...the disciple who completes the mission will become a core disciple…”

“Yep, Brother Li, you gotta become a core disciple. There hasn’t been one since Huang Fang the prodigy.”

‘If I can become a core disciple I’ll be able to receive a ton of resources…’

“With a standing like that, Elder Lu won’t be able to touch you.”

“You crippling Lu Bao and fighting people above your level is the talk of the whole sect!”

Li Jian tightened his fist when he was reminded of the strength of Elder Lu and how he had almost died. Anger and frustration welled up, but soon dissipated because Li Jian knew that his weakness was his own fault.

The four boys enjoyed the rest of the day together eating, laughing and having fun.