A new Palace Chief

Shen spent some time at New Moon Profound Palace and got to taste the life of a regular disciple. In truth, he slightly regretted the persona he chose since he had to spend a lot of time socializing with the other disciples and helping them.

There were occasions where that Murong man tried to indirectly pick a fight with Shen however his plans were always trampled down by Shen. Not only that, since Murong was refusing to challenge him in a fight, Shen proposed another type of competition that involved literature, art, and music. Since Shen had to spend a lot of time at the palace, he at least decided to make use of his time there and learn more about this world, he also used this time to practice using a fan as a weapon.

He bought some martial book that consisted of several hundreds of moves with a fan as a weapon, unfortunately, he couldn't just "learn it" by using the system and had to put in the effort once in a while.

Unfortunately for Shen, almost everyone respected him by now and those who didn't, wouldn't dare to challenge him which left him only Murong who he could antagonize since their relationship wasn't good since the beginning. Thus the reason why he challenged him in other fields than the profound way. At first, he gave Murong the satisfaction of winning in every department, however as the weeks went by, he slowly started losing in all of them which brought Shen great satisfaction and entertainment.

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Profound Strength: 5th layer of Nascent Profound Realm + (5200 Death Energy)

Sanity: 52%

[63.070 Death Energy]

[6.470 Death Coins]

[Storage space level 4 + (600 Death Coins)]

[Grim Reaper passive level 5 + (19.200 Death Coins)]

Death Art: Death Blossom level 2 + (3.000 Death Energy), Netherworld's Traceless Steps level 2 + (10.000 Death Energy)

---

"Grrr, I demand a rematch next week!" Murong shouted at Shen before slowly leaving the music department with heavy steps.

"I will not hide from any challenge, senior brother Murong! Have a nice rest of the day!" Shen said, waving at him while wearing his innocent smile.

"Don't bully him too much, I am afraid one of you will take it too far one day" A figure that stopped right next to Shen said.

"Eh? No one is bullying anyone, senior sister Lan! We are just having friendly competitions." 'Who would have thought that the locals could appreciate a few of the modern songs adapted to the available instruments. At least they can recognize that their bullshit poems of immortality are too boring, haha'

"Friendly competitions, heeh? Don't try to fool your senior sister, I have long seen through your naughty personality. At least it's better than openly antagonizing others." Lan Xueruo said with folded arms and a fake strict expression before it got replaced by a charming smile that would bring peace to anyone's heart.

'Naughty? More like sadistic, my big sis!' Shen inwardly snickered at her words but on the outside, he just released a nervous laugh.

"If the senior sister is the first one to see through me, she must have used quite a bit of her free time to observe me...very closely. Does the senior sister have any explanation for that?" Shen leaned forward and asked while holding his chin and observing her reaction with a playful smile that would cause most of the women to blush.

"Uh...um, hehe, junior brother broke through already? Junior brother Shen is not only talented at cultivation but also at art, music, and literature, consider this senior sister very impressed" Lan Xueruo had to tear her eyes away from Shen before she could change the subject.

'You have already congratulated me before...in fact, you were the first one to do that...' Shen thought with a blank look in his eyes when he saw her reply in panic. He obviously spent some time with her in the past few weeks, which was more than enough to convince him that she is interested in his talent. Almost every time he got better at something, she was there to congratulate him which honestly made him feel like he has a stalker.

Thankfully, probably due to his talent, most of the female disciples didn't dare to approach him with any other intentions than befriending him. Still, Lan Xueruo liked to tease him because of his female admirers which almost made him feel like she was testing out the waters, discovering his character even further.

"Senior sister sure knows how to quickly change the subject, however, I will wholeheartedly accept the compliments" Shen said before he resumed walking, intending to leave the music department.

'I kind of want to move my plans forward, I have already wasted a whole month studying and practicing here. I mean, it wasn't that bad but I doubt I would be able to live this way for the whole year. As far as I know, cultivating takes a long ass time, I would need to find good entertainment to bear with it. It was enough when every elder was surprised that I had already broken through in just 1 month. Though, I will have to spend at least a year or so before someone from royalty will trust me a bit.' Shen has started feeling slightly frustrated since all he could do was to wait, however Lan Xueruo's following words caused him to wake up from his daydreaming.

"Are you aware that our New Moon Profound Palace will be accepting a new palace chief?"

"What? I haven't even met with the current one and we will be already getting a new one?!" Lan Xueruo could only release a light giggle upon seeing Shen's surprised expression.

'Is this because of me? It's highly probable, I would also send someone more capable to protect the rising star. I just wonder why is she telling me this.'

Sensing his curiosity, she decided to explain further.

"Since we will be accepting a new palace chief, we will hold a banquet to celebrate and the other great sects in New Moon City will attend to welcome a new palace chief." She explained with a slightly troubled expression.

"Obviously, how can a banquet full of martial artists end up in a simple banquet, is this what senior sister has been trying to say?" Shen frowned and asked which slightly surprised her, however, what surprised her even more was Shen's expression. She has actually never seen him frown at anyone, not even Murong who was actively provoking him.

"Yes...with your strength you will most likely come in second place in the same age category, however, there is one person you must avoid at all cost in case they will attend the banquet." Lan Xueruo said with an almost pleading expression which slightly surprised even the real Shen.

'I understand that Imperial family nowadays is not comparable to the greatest sects residing in the empire, however, she looks almost desperate to keep me out of harm. Would anyone look so desperate just for a single talented disciple? I feel like she is hiding something...'

[Attend the banquet and put anyone who holds profound palace in contempt in their place. Show the whole New Moon City who is the real boss of the city.]

"I apologize however I might be unable to fulfill senior sister's request. My late teacher had beaten into me what a sense of loyalty means. I am aware that the other disciples show a lot of contempt towards our profound palace despite being set up by the imperial family itself, I will beat that sense of loyalty into anyone who will dare to show us any contempt within our own walls." Shen firmly replied with narrowed eyes, it was the first time Lan Xueruo witnessed Shen being so angry.

Lan Xueruo had to stop walking and could only watch Shen's distancing back with a troubled expression. She decided to rather leave Shen alone for the time being.

'Was I too presumptuous back there? *Sigh* It's quite ironic that his only weaknesses I can see are his sense of loyalty and impulsiveness tied to it.' She released a slightly depressed sigh before slowly following after Shen.