Mission: Seduce the Master!

As expected, Li Su's scream attracted the attention of many disciples who, out of curiosity, decided to take a look—perhaps there would be something entertaining?

But to their great disappointment, the elders had gathered there, preventing them from peeking. Therefore, the disciples were forced to leave in dismay.

***

"Haaah…"

Zhao Zedong, to be honest, felt angry. Li Su's actions had caused such a commotion and attracted too much unnecessary attention, especially considering that the sect was going through difficult times.

"This bastard is just like his foolish Master. They don't know when to stop?" Zhao Zedong rubbed his temples, looking at Li Su's lifeless body, whose eyes were still wide open in shock. The elder pondered, "What shocked him so much before he died? It's as if he saw a monster. Does this disciple have a protector? Strange, but I don't sense his aura.

That's unlikely…"

Zhao Zedong couldn't understand something. Why were Li Su's final moments so strange? He knew that Li Su and his Master's special technique allowed them to absorb others' Qi, life energy, and even steal talents.

However, this technique had serious consequences. With each use, one would become increasingly insane, and the chances of losing one's mind approached 100%.

Moreover, it severely depleted one's life energy, shortening one's lifespan—the body simply couldn't withstand the sudden increase in Qi.

"Everything written by the Heavens is absolute. Therefore, a worm like Li Su, who tried to take what was not given to him, is just a fool dreaming of the stars while standing in the abyss," thought Zhao Zedong and sighed. He was a bit saddened.

Due to his age, he had watched Li Su grow. Although this guy's character was, honestly, bad, he caused the least trouble and spent most of his time cultivating.

However, in the end, he was consumed by madness. Add to that the complexes from being unable to make a breakthrough for a long time, and it all turned into an obsession and reckless use of his technique.

"Ah!"

The elder shook his head. Finally, he rid himself of regrets and looked at the disciple who was currently being examined by the elders.

"Amazing. Apart from a slight depletion of Qi, he is unharmed. What luck!" thought Zhao Zedong, rubbing his chin with his index finger and thumb: "And his face… hmm. Isn't he that newcomer? I heard he entered the inner court in just half a year, on his first attempt. Although nowadays anyone can do that.

Tsk, tsk. The sect has completely rotted to the core…"

The Sect of Bone Circle was once an extremely strict sect. They studied dark arts, followed Death, and were meticulous.

However, over time, even the juiciest apple will eventually rot. Most of the elders simply decided to indulge in pleasures instead of diligently cultivating and attending to sect affairs.

The Sect Master was no exception—he spent his time drinking and entertaining himself. Despite being very strong, one cannot exclude the fact that Ma Lu had become very lax over the past few hundred years.

"That's why the Sect of Shadowed Blades is now ahead of us… ah!" Zhao Zedong sighed and shook his head.

What's the point in crying over spilled milk? It would be better to get to work.

***

As soon as Xie Qing woke up, he was immediately subjected to questioning.

"W-what? Elder Li Su is dead? H-how is that possible… ah!"

"The wise say it truly. The Heavens take the best!"

"What a tragedy… seniors, forgive me, this junior is a bit saddened…"

In reality… this interrogation was entirely unnecessary. It was more of a formality to check off a box in the report. However, the elders conducting the interrogation looked strange.

"Either this guy is an actor… or an idiot," they thought.

But, of course, they didn't care. After two hours, Xie Qing returned to his room. He sat on the edge of the bed, placed his elbows on his thighs, and rested his chin on his hands, looking thoughtful.

"To be, or not to be…"

Such wise words… but Xie Qing's expression quickly changed to that of someone barely holding back laughter.

"Pff… Hahahaha!"

He started laughing loudly, unable to contain himself any longer. In truth, it was utterly absurd.

His acting skills were still terrible. Remembering the expressions on the elders' faces, he laughed even harder.

"What funny faces they made. Well, I can't blame them, I was barely holding back laughter myself…" thought Xie Qing, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes: "Oh, what a good laugh. At least something useful came out of today."

The incident with the old man's death was unexpected—that much was clear. How he died was unclear.

Xie Qing could swear by the name of the Heavenly Emperor that he hadn't planned it. So it was strange that something like this had happened.

"Maybe…" the youth turned his gaze to his right hand and pondered: "The black dragon is sealed in my… well, stop. That's just cynical."

…In ordinary circumstances, someone would start to panic if a person suddenly died in front of them for no apparent reason. However, Xie Qing accepted this fact rather quickly.

"Well, he was old, maybe he had a heart attack," he thought.

…If Elder Li Su were alive, he would have died of anger.

***

Xie Qing's daily life returned to its usual routine. He spent his days cultivating, gathering information, and studying his surroundings.

And during this time, he managed to find information about the main court.

"One of the criteria is the cultivation level at Soul Integration—the ninth stage… what an absurdity."

In righteous sects, this requirement was much more lenient, probably because reaching such a level was very difficult.

However, in devilish sects, it was easier. There were a thousand and one ways to raise one's power to this level. The cost, however, was terrifying—almost the loss of the chance for reincarnation and the loss of one's mind.

And as you understand, all the efforts of a cultivator would become useless if they lost both the chance for reincarnation and their mind.

Therefore, Xie Qing felt a slight irritation.

"If I increase my power in a few months, they will treat me like a lunatic and try to eliminate me. This is not the outer world where, despite attempts at murder, most will not think of your death…" Xie Qing frowned.

He had limited time. And he couldn't spend it all on one sect. Therefore, he began to think intensely.

"I need to come up with a story!" he thought.

How else could he explain the rapid increase in his level? It's very simple! He just needed to spin a tale for the elders.

"Once, I was a warrior following the path of righteousness… no, bloodlust. In the end, I encountered my enemy who killed the grandfather of a good friend of my cousin's friend. And I decided to take revenge, but in the end, I received a severe injury and had to suppress my cultivation level. And now I have been able to restore it… damn, I even believe this story myself!"

Xie Qing smiled. What a genius he was to come up with such a perfect story.

"Could there be anything more suspicious in my story?"

No, dude… could there be anything NOT more suspicious than your story?

***

Six more months passed. Xie Qing opened his eyes after cultivating. His face looked expressionless.

"Now I've turned twenty-one…" he thought, shaking his head.

He was still young by cultivator standards—even if drawing analogies, he would be considered a child.

"But… why do I feel so old?" he thought, at a loss for words.

A slight feeling of melancholy overcame Xie Qing. He was filled with memories of how he had reached this point. In the end, all his emotions poured out in a sigh.

"My journey is just beginning. Years will pass, and I will become as old as the Master, but… I will always be young. Well, considering that Lady Zhang Mei, Miss Liu Yang, and the Master are as old as the world… hmm… damn, I am very young!"

It seemed that comparing himself to his elderly acquaintances brightened Xie Qing's face.

…Pray they never find out, buddy. Otherwise, not even I can help you.

Anyway. Xie Qing stepped out of his house, feeling light on his feet. There had been no breakthrough, but he had strengthened his power and cultivation base, making him even stronger.

His cultivation level, the fake one, had reached the ninth stage of Soul Nascent. Of course, this caused a stir, but the explanation about the injury helped to calm things down.

The elders were initially suspicious, but Xie Qing even showed them the wound on his chest, and they had to believe it.

…Of course, the wound was a fake, created with the help of a special pill from the system's shop. However, the elders didn't need to know that.

And as he walked… Xie Qing noticed something strange. For some reason, the inner court was unusually noisy today.