The reason why Zeng Fei’s master had told him to ask the Sixth Grand Elder for assistance was because while others may have been able to break down the barrier, there was always the risk that the creator could have set up traps that triggered on forceful entry, at worst destroying any resources inside that they wanted to keep out of the hands of gravediggers.

  The Sixth, however, could deal with this being the sect’s preeminent expert on formations, as well as the one with the most experience gravedigging ancient cultivators’ tombs.

  Perversely, this made him the perfect candidate for protecting the sect’s treasures too, which was why the Myriad Treasures Pagoda was located on his Hallowed Treasures Peak.

  It was also where the Hallowed Herb Garden was located as the Sixth was a master of farming too - if there was a link between these two specialisms, it wasn’t one that Zeng Fei could see. Maybe the Grand Elder used the formations to improve crop efficiency and regulate the environment or something like that.

  After Zeng Fei had made his way up, he was told by a senior that the Peak Master was currently out on some business.

  Thankfully, this senior allowed Zeng Fei to hitch a ride back to the Core Valley, which was the central hub between the sect’s peaks.

  As they flew, the senior made small talk with him, asking who he was under as no one in the Inner Sect wore black. Could it be a new faction or Dao School had been established in the sect?

  When Zeng Fei identified himself as the Eighth Grand Elder’s Fourth Disciple, the senior made a shape with their mouth like they were whistling.

  “Oh, is that so?”

  “Yes.” Zeng Fei gave a friendly smile. “I became her disciple two weeks ago, so I’m still very new to the Inner Sect.”

  For the rest of the journey, the senior didn’t say a word and pointedly avoided his gaze. Once they had dropped Zeng Fei off at Core Valley, they gave him a nod, then scooted off into the sky without a moment’s wait.

  As Zeng Fei watched the departing figure, he couldn’t help but wonder if this was the identity he really should be hiding…

  But even then, how was it that his identity as the disciple of a Grand Elder was more toxic than his identity as the successor of a literal villain the entire world had united against?! What on earth could his two senior brothers and senior sister have possibly done to have earned such a reputation…?

  Either way, there was nothing he could do if others chose to preemptively paint him in the same colours as his seniors.

  He cleared his mind and made his way towards the Customs Office, which was where Inner Sect Disciples received a monthly budget according to their rank. Qi Refining Disciples were allocated ten lower-grade spirit stones, five times what they would have received in the Outer Sect.

  Having exhausted the original’s savings during the training arc month, Zeng Fei was glad to have some money again. The qi inside the spirit stones could also be absorbed if you wanted, though the effect was lesser than consuming a cultivation pill.

  The most valuable items in the sect, however, could only be attained by exchanging contribution points for them, which forced the disciples to complete missions for the sect.

  Even if you didn’t want anything, there was no escaping this duty as disciples were forced to complete a mission for the sect every quarter year.

  This was what Zeng Fei was intending to do now, seeing as it a good way to stabilise his cultivation and earn some points seeing as he currently had a paltry 32 points, the original having exchanged 500 points for a cultivation pill a month prior to his passing.

  The other reason Zeng Fei wanted to do this was because of the types of missions available: they ranged from caretaking responsibilities, investigation missions, elimination missions, and so on.

  Whereas the original had always gone for the dull and poorly paying caretaking jobs, Zeng Fei was intent on completing a mission in the outer world as they were better paying due to the higher risk involved.

  Moreover, there were many missions to do with eliminating demon beasts, providing an opportunity to simultaneously collect demon cores for Pingu.

  Since Zeng Fei had needed to identify himself to receive his monthly allowance, it wasn’t long before the news spread across Core Valley about who he was.

  As expected, there were many who cringed away from him or sized him up as he searched the Task Hall for a suitable mission.

  What surprised him was that this wasn’t a universal reaction: there were also many who appeared to have a favourable view of him after hearing about his identity.

  Of course, Zeng Fei’s first thought regarding these lot was that they owed his goon-like senior brothers and sister money, and hence were trying to ingratiate themselves with him. But following a few interactions, he realised that no, these people genuinely seemed to be fond of the ‘Devilish Three’ (the collective nickname that he’d overheard).

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  After some time scouring the missions on offer, Zeng Fei eventually honed in on a particular one: at a village not too far away, there had been a spate of mysterious disappearances suspected to have been caused by a demon beast.

  Since it was targeting mortals and had only recently started, the guess was that the demon beast was within the Qi Refining realm. The completion reward of 400 contribution points reflected that details of the demonic beast were unknown, with room for more points to be awarded if additional complications cropped up.

  Zeng Fei took this to a senior working there.

  “That’s a good mission to start on. Do you have someone in mind to do it with?” the Senior Sister asked.

  “Hmm?”

  “We enforce new disciples to do missions in pairs for the first few times until they become experienced enough to reliably carry out solo missions. I know this is just a Qi Refining level quest, but we expect it to be more difficult than a normal one because of how the beast’s killings have sped up - that’s why this mission is being displayed here and not in the Outer Sect.”

  “Oh, right. Uh…”

  “If you don’t have anyone in mind, then there was someone else interested in this mission last week. If you’re happy to proceed with this mission, I can call her here for you.”

  “Yes, please do, Senior Sister. Many thanks.”

  In the time to brew a tea, she returned with someone in haul: a young beauty with rich auburn hair and now in aesthetically matching light red robes.

  Zeng Fei bowed towards her. “Sun Ru, it’s good to see you again.”

  Sun Ru returned his greeting, visibly stunned to see him. “Brother Zeng, you went from early Qi Refining to mid within a month, and now have reached peak Qi Refining in just two weeks... You must have been in intensive training until now to have made such mighty advancement!”

  “Yeah, something like that. Have you been keeping busy?”

  “I did some training, after which Fairy Hong advised that I was ready to move on to Foundation Establishment. So I’m currently building up the contribution points to purchase the Foundation Setting pill to assist with that.”

  Their senior assisting them returned then and handed them a scroll. “Okay, it’s been recorded down that you two are handling this mission. This here can be used as proof of your mission once you get to the village. Since you’re both at Qi Refining, I recommend you lease a carriage from the stables - the cost of it can be taken off the final contribution points, so you don’t have to worry about paying it now.”

  Following her advice, they headed for the stables whilst making conversation on the way.

  “Ah, by the way, Brother Zeng, there was something I was curious about earlier that I haven’t had the chance to ask you about yet.”

  “Hmm?”

  “During the Outer Sect Tournament, I was in my waiting room whilst you fought against Dong Fu. That’s when I believe I heard you yell out Pure Yang Phoenix Fist.” The bronze glints in her irises glowed faintly. “Could it be you know the technique?”

  “Oh, no. That’s my minion’s technique.” Seeing her excitement, Zeng Fei wondered if it was in fact a super legendary technique from ancient times - he recalled that Sun Ru practised the Phoenix Reemergence Technique. “Do you know of it?”

  “Somewhat. There are four different variants of Yang Phoenix Fist: the Cleansing, the Healing, the Enduring, and the Domineering. I’m able to perform all, though the Domineering variant is the one I’m the most proficient in. Since it was my first time hearing anyone use the Pure Yang Phoenix Fist, I’d been questioning if that was a fifth variant that I hadn’t known about.”

  The Emperor’s description of the technique had mentioned that everyone in the Creed of the Phoenix Tongue had used the technique, so it wasn’t surprising to hear that the technique was widespread in the present day, though it was curious how there existed multiple variants of the technique.

  Could it be those were more advanced techniques from the Creed of the Phoenix Tongue, or perhaps even forms of the technique that had evolved out of the pure version in recent times?

  Sun Ru interrupted his musing. “Brother Zeng, could I ask for a favour?”

  “Yeah, go ahead.”

  “Could you please have your summon perform the technique in front of me?” She gave a bashful smile. “I have this burning curiosity to find out how it differs from the other variants.”

  “Sure, that’s no problem at all.”

  It was then that it occurred to Zeng Fei: if the technique level corresponded to your understanding of it - which would explain why the level could be increased through repeated practice - surely you could also achieve this effect by receiving guidance from someone more proficient in the technique.

  “Sister Sun, just to preface, he is still a novice in the technique. Since you know it well, would you be able to instruct him on how to improve it as you watch him? I assume there’s significant crossover between the variants.”

  She nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, I’ll gladly give pointers where I can.”

  Without further ado, Zeng Fei summoned Pingu in front of her, causing her to stare in wonder at the giant fluffball. “Wow, is this your summon?”

  “Uh, yeah?”

  “But he’s so… adorable! How could he ever fight when he’s so cute?” She stepped towards Pingu and hugged him, rubbing the hair on his back. “And so warm!”

  “Brr, brr, chirp.” Pingu, meanwhile, asked his master why this human was huddling with him, and not with master.

  When Zeng Fei didn’t reply, Pingu wagged his beak from side to side and sighed. “Chirp, chip, noot noot.”

  Which could be translated as: “This is why personal hygiene is so important, master - notice how no one from your colony has huddled with you so far. You should really pick up on these signs without me having to tell you.”

  A vein cropped up on Zeng Fei’s brow listening to his insolent minion. He cleared his throat aloud to interrupt Sun Ru.

  “Oh—” She stepped back from the penguin, blushing. “Sorry, Brother Zeng. I don’t know what came over me - it felt like I was in a trance. He just looked so snuggly.”

  She paused. “But can your minion really use the Pure Yang Phoenix Fist? He doesn’t have a fist to perform it with…”

  Zeng Fei stared at her stupefied, unable to think of a response. Now that she mentioned it, how was Pingu performing a punching technique with his wings…?

  “Uh, yes he can. You’ll see how he does it now. Pingu, could you demonstrate Pure Yang Phoenix Fist for Sister Sun? She’ll be able to give you instructions on how to improve.”

  The penguin nodded, pulled his flipper back, then with zero hesitation threw a flaming fist right into her face.

  While there may well be multiple improvements that could be made to the execution of the technique, there was no questioning the power behind it, which Sun Ru could attest to first-hand; she dropped flat onto the ground, knocked out clean.

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