The door creaked, opening a small slit. Zhun Xuying narrowed her eyes at the smell coming from inside. She reached for the wooden door and slowly pushed it open. As the annoying creak of the door disappeared, Zhun Xuyings face contorted by the image inside the cave.

The same situation she saw before when entering Zhi Rui's bedroom on the general's manor occurred in front of her, only this time; it was even worse.

Zhun Xuying tiptoed inside as if the place had hidden traps all around. The only light came from the opened door, showing empty bottles of booze, bed sheets strewn all over the dirty floor, The cupboard Zhi Rui brought in was tumbled over and the clothes were all around the place mixing with the dirt of the unfinished cave. Plates with the waste of food. With dismay, Zhun Xuying spotted Zhi Rui pa.s.sed out on the ground beside a tumbled over the couch.

"W-What? H-How!?"

As the light hit her eyes and ZHun Xuyings muttering came over her ears Zhi Rui twitched her eyebrows uncomfortably. Slowly she raised her body and look at the dumbfounded Zhun Xuying.

She scratched her hair with a lazy smile. "I decided to take a pause from meditation and contemplating last night. I took a few bottles of wine and ate a few things."

She threw a playful coquettish smile at Zhun Xuying. "I almost called you to come to join me on the pond again."

Zhun Xuying looked at the cave around and with a wry smiled and blushed cheeks she spoke: "I'm sorry my dear young miss, but if you did call for me and the cave was in this state, then I'm sure that much like a man, I wouldn't be able to 'get it up'."

Zhi Rui looked dumbfounded at Zhun Xuying straightforwardness. They stared at each other, and Zhi Rui couldn't hold it in and laughed out loud Zhun Xuying, laughed together, her eyes warm, the path they took is filled with blood, yet they were laughing in the middle of a dirty cave like two innocent children.

As they caught their breath, Zhi Rui's nonchalantly asked."What happened?"

Feeling the difference in the mood, and realizing Zhi Rui knew it was serious Zhun Xuying spoke of what she just heard.

As Zhi Rui heard the air in the cave turned cold. Zhun Xuying could feel the hairs in her skin standing up.

"And Xunhue?" Zhi Rui asked as she turned around.

Watching as Zhi Rui sat in the edge of her bed and lay one leg above the other, in a pensive posture Zhun Xuying answered

"Since you entered in closed doors cultivation, she worked nonstop. Most of the outer disciples are acquainted with her, from my point of view she's better than most court officials in politics, she often talks with elder Aurelio. Recently she started going into the inner disciple's area freely. I think we should use her in a better way."

Zhi Rui frowned. Xunhue had made an oath on her soul to help Zhi Rui take over the sect. So she wasn't worried about her telling about what happened on the expedition. But Xunhue's action bothered her.

Shaking her head Zhi Rui sighed. 'Did Xunhue found a way around the oath?. 'She thought.

"Why not go see who arrived?" Zhun Xuying questioned.

"I already know who came. Although I did not expect it to be this soon."

There was a silent question in Zhun Xuying's silent eyes.

Zhi Rui sighed."Worst than the emperor himself are his eunuchs."

Zhun Xuying widened her eyes in understanding, "You Think the geniuses sent their servants first? but how could a Venerable accompany a bunch of servants?"

"Some things stays the same even if you're a cultivator. The rich are always worried about their appearance and don't mind spending. You said the people who came were strong. The geniuses itself are all at the fourth level, their dao protectors have to be stronger than them. they probably came here to take control of the sect and prepare the ground for their Young lords' incoming compet.i.tion. The single venerable is likely here to oversee their fight and ensure fairness."

Zhi Rui looked at Zhun Xuying's skeptical eyes and said "You don' need to believe me now. I'm the leader of the Disciplinary Division that's a kind of authority that'll put you ahead. Soon they'll knock on this cave's door and prove my words."

As Zhi Rui finished she turned around and jumped onto the pond filled with cold water and groaned in the pleasure of the temperature shock.

"You said it as if its a bad thing, but the first thing you do is to relax."

Zhi Rui did not need to look back to know that Zhun Xuying was talking about the mess around her. She laughed "It's bad because we'll have to go to the barbarian kingdom sooner than expected. Other than that, there's nothing to worry about."

With a resigned sigh, Zhun Xuying walked away.

As the door creaked and closed, Zhi Rui's eyes s.h.i.+ned an eery green light. Several insects appeared around her, crickets and moths s.h.i.+ning in the dark cave. As the insects flew around her Zhi Rui concentrated.

Together with the ghostly core, she used to pa.s.s to level two, and her own thoughts on the ethereal, She managed to control and influence the emotions of small beings like insects. And when she infused the insect with another remnant spirit turning it unto an undead She can hear and see, whatever the undead went, but instead of taking over the already existing undead as Roberta did on the paG.o.da, Zhi Rui can create her own as she isn't bound by righteousness. She learned how to influence emotions and how to control spirits more clearly.

Her mind came to the people that already reached the sect.'There's no time to focus on this now. I have o train my body.' As Zhi Rui got up with that thought, every musing she gained from her night of self-indulgence turned to nothing. Being forced by the circ.u.mstances is unpleasant and against l.u.s.t.

--

--

Out of the cave, Zun Xuying wasn't convinced, She unsheathed her sword and stood on it, slowly floating away in the direction of the inner sect.

The inner and outer sect was divided by a huge mountain peak, Zhun Xuying floated until she was on the top and looked at the other side from a distance.

A huge ten-meter blue circular portal shone brightly. Around its entrance, the inner sect elders stood still. In front of them, the tower maiden and the leader of the sect awaited to receive the guests.

Even Zhun Xuying who was looking from far away could see the Sect leaders' trembling demeanor.

Xunhue stood proudly beside Aurelio. Her posture imposing and her face stern like a warrior. Elder Huang, the one responsible for overseeing the disciplinary division stood beside them emotionless.

Slowly the portal started to tremble, from it, a bald man came out first. He was tall, nearly three meters in height, his eyebrows thick, he carried a heavy sword on his back with one look. you could see it exuding pressure as if the round would sink down at any second.

Behind him, five more appeared, a woman with long dark hair with a body so sinfully shaped inside a loose red robe that in a second all the eyes went from the strong bald man to the astonis.h.i.+ng woman. She chuckled and Her eyes squinted with a coquettish smile.

On her side, a more reserved and stern white-haired woman emotionlessly looked around.

Another three men stood with them, one had a warm smile and gentle curled blonde hair. A short old man with a long beard clasped his hand behind his back and another fierce looking scarred brown skin man.

The sect leader Hesitantly approached and clasped his hand in a bow to the bald man with the heavy sword.

"It's our honor t-Urrgh" The man took a step forward and shoved a punch in the sect leaders stomach.

As he kneeled down vomiting blood and spit with a pale white face, the bald man looked at him with disgust. "Sect leader Xun Fengyu, you failed to breakthrough to the venerable level, in the grievings of your failure you committed crimes against the Tower Maiden and the light sect, you forgot the ideals of the sect and acted on your own will and sated every impulse to sin. You're condemned to pa.s.s the rest of your life imprisoned to this sect as a guard.

Xun Fengyun forgot his poor state and quickly held the man's feet.

"Please, oh venerable, please, I'll do anything just let me go to another sect! ple"

With revulsion, the man simply touched the forehead of the sect leader with his finger, and he lost consciousness.

'So this is the difference between the ascended and the one on the top of the six levels.' thought Zhun Xuying.

The bald man kicked Xun Fengyun away and asked loudly. "The one responsible for the disciplinary division come forth and take this person away!"

Elder Huang's expression turned ugly. Zhun Xuying squinted her eyes feeling a bad premonition.

Xunhue' eyes turned nervous while Aurelio had a barely concealed malicious glint in his eyes. With a deep breath, he held Xunhue's hand an gave her a rea.s.suring smile.

"Leave everything to me."