Extorting an Acquaintance

The days passed by painfully slowly for Yaan. Compared to cultivating using some extremely painful method, he actually found teaching these disciples to be far more agonising. Their obstinance, their refusal to listen to any form of common sense, their irritating level of pride in their talent and family backgrounds…the list of their character flaws went on.

Not only that, but as the deadline for the survival trial drew closer, Yaan began feeling an ever-increasing sense of pressure. If a single disciple died, he would also lose his life…

Yaan was placing his life in the hands of some incompetent, idealistic and outright sheltered righteous path disciples. This did not feel good.

Whilst these disciples all had superb talent and almost all possessed a firm work ethic, they still didn't meet Yaan's standards. In his eyes, their intelligence and experience was far too lacking.

After class finished, Yaan sighed deeply. He rubbed his forehead as the class dispersed, feeling uncertain about whether or not these disciples would truly be able to make it through the survival trial.

"Elder Yaan…"

"Hmm?" Yaan looked up and saw that he had been approached by Ji Suzu. He glanced around briefly, but found that everyone else had already left, nobody stayed behind with her.

Ji Suzu was a loner in this class. Be it her personality which was always lacklustre and distant, or her status as a Ji Clansman whom was almost an outcast within her own clan, most people wanted nothing to do with her.

"Could you…give me…tips…for passing…?" She spoke extremely slowly as always. Yaan felt speechless when half-way through speaking, her body swayed slightly and she closed her eyes for a moment, almost falling asleep on the spot.

'Her dao comprehension into the dream dao is very impressive, but is that really a good thing…?' Yaan couldn't help but wonder. Ji Suzu made him realise for the first time that perhaps, dao comprehension could actually be detrimental to a person if not controlled properly…

"You want me to give you extra help for the test?" Yaan smiled. "Why, are you hoping that I might help you cheat now that nobody else is around?"

Unexpectedly, she actually nodded.

"Yes…if possible…but if not…just advice…is also…good…"

Yaan took a second look at this girl, feeling now that she was without a doubt the best student in this class.

Honestly, he had hoped that every single disciple in this class would ask him this, but until now, Ji Suzu was the first!

If he openly tried to give the disciples too much assistance in the trial, it could no longer be considered a trial and Yaan would be forced to make changes. These disciples didn't know how to keep their mouths shut, Yaan had experienced this all too well, as almost every single time he said something, some elder would approach him later on and ask him about it after their student or descendant parroted Yaan's words.

If he helped the class as a whole to easily overcome the trial, the whole core sect would know and the trial would become obsolete. However, what if the disciples approached him individually, asking for special help? Any person willing to attempt such a thing would definitely keep it to themselves, so he could indeed help them cheat!

That said, Yaan was aware that the Immortal Ancestor could be watching him at all times. He couldn't do anything too excessive, but so long as he didn't break the rules of the righteous faction, it should be fine.

That said, Yaan was curious to see how far he could push these rules exactly…he doubted that the Immortal Ancestor would execute him for probing this boundary a single time, and this was the perfect opportunity to do so.

"I won't help you cheat…" Yaan began. "But I will tell you this. If you start a fight that you cannot win, you will be penalised heavily. I advise that you find a safer region and hide there until the trial is over…here."

After saying this, Yaan flicked his wrist and passed a map to Ji Suzu. She caught it with a slightly surprised expression, then studied it closely on the spot. After a few seconds, she looked up.

She realised quickly that this map actually pointed out the safest regions within the area of the survival trial!

"Thank you…can I…keep this…?"

"No." Yaan shook his head, she should have memorised it by now anyway. He stretched out his hand, extending his Astral Power from his body and forming a large black shadow which grabbed the map from Ji Suzu's hands and brought it back into his spatial ring. She looked startled after seeing this show of power, but she didn't say anything. In the end, she clasped her hands towards him and then left silently.

Yaan waited for a while after she left, before letting out a breath of air. He smiled and his eyes shone with a brilliant gleam.

He knew that the Immortal Ancestor was almost certainly watching his every move, meaning that since he had not been contacted after his dealing with Ji Suzu, the Immortal Ancestor would not care if he pushed things to this level!

"Perhaps I could have even allowed her to keep the map…but doing so would be more risky. If the map was revealed, it would become too obvious that I had helped her." Yaan assessed to himself as he departed from this training field and left the Disciple Plaza.

He decided to push his probing of the immortal's bottom line a bit further, though he had been intending to do this for some time now.

Ever since Yaan arrived at the Fragment Sect, his cultivation was forced to take a backseat. Whilst one of the reasons for this was his lack of free time right now, he also lacked the resources to cultivate in the first place.

Not only were his current resources insufficient, but these raw resources handed out by the sect were simply useless to him. He could trade for more useful resources, but any of the resources exchanged within the sect were not particularly useful for body temperers at his level - the best he could obtain were demonic beast components.

No, compared to these meagre resources, Yaan had a better plan…a plan involving Zue Yin.

'The Immortal Ancestor claimed that he would provide me with a good cultivation environment to make use of the elixir within me so long as I pass this trial, but I can't rely on this.' Yaan's gaze flashed as he had this thought.

He headed towards the Elder Court, where he knew Zue Yin was currently residing, practising her alchemy within the Alchemical Tower.

There were many special places within the Elder Court which were available for use by the elders. Of course, not just any elder could show up at any sector without warning and expect to be permitted full access, but Zue Yin's talent in alchemy had already been recognised. Upon joining the sect, she was immediately assigned to the Alchemical Tower to practise her alchemy whilst she refined pills for the sect.

To Yaan, such an arrangement sounded like slave labor, but to an alchemist, it was the perfect situation they all dreamed of. All alchemists wanted nothing more than to have their expensive practise funded by someone else, even if it meant giving up all of their creations! The benefit that they obtained in return was the experience and practise of refining pills, but this alone made all of their efforts well worth it.

The Alchemical Tower rose up high above the other buildings in the Elder Court. It was not the largest building by any means, but it was certainly the tallest.

Yaan learned from Keasal that there were five levels within this tower, with elders of different abilities and statuses occupying each level. Naturally, as a new elder and a young person with only Spirit Core Realm cultivation, Zue Yin worked on the first level.

As Yaan stared up at the grey stone pillar that extended far above, he did not enter through the unguarded entrance, since doing so might get him in trouble. Whilst this trouble was nothing serious and would at most be limited to a light reprimanding, he wasn't going to annoy the alchemy elders for no reason.

Instead, he approached the formation beside the entrance. This formation was attached to the tower, whilst also being linked to the elders themselves within the tower. Whenever an elder entered the tower, their name appeared on a list, which was displayed outside of the tower next to the door.

There were many formations like this in the Elder Court, but also throughout the core sect as a whole. Yaan had not yet needed to use this system which was linked to the large formation covering the entire core sect, causing him too feel a bit curious, but also wary.

Wary, because it reminded him that he was also being monitored by that formation.

He found the name 'Zue Yin' on the list and pressed his index finger against it, then injected a trace of his Astral Power into the formation. He chose to use Astral Power, because he was still hiding his Vital Energy from others in the sect. Only the Immortal Ancestor, Keasal and Zue Yin knew about his true cultivation.

Astral Power was unheard of in the Southern Continent, but even if anyone did know about this power of his, it didn't really matter, since Astral Power was not strongly linked to the demonic races. It was true that demonic race body temperers were better suited to cultivating Astral Power compared to QI refiners, but since it wasn't a prerequisite, it wasn't problematic to display this power.

After briefly injecting the black Astral Power, Zue Yin's name lit up with golden light, before the light faded away over a period of a few seconds.

Yaan was patient as he waited outside of the tower for Zue Yin to arrive.

One hour passed by, then two hours, but Yaan showed no signs of impatience or being in a hurry.

He had already somewhat expected this. Since Zue Yin was inside the Alchemical Tower, there was a high probability that she was currently refining a pill. She would not be informed that Yaan had contacted her until after she had finished refining the pill. This was typical for alchemists - they could not be distracted during a pill refinement because it could cause the refinement to fail, which was both wasteful and potentially dangerous.

Three hours after Yaan arrived and interacted with the tower's formation, he finally saw Zue Yin emerge from the entrance. She glanced at him tiredly. There were clearly bags under her eyes, it was obvious that she had not rested properly in some time.

"You waited?" She asked.

"Mm. We need to talk, do you have time now?" Yaan nodded.

After pondering for a moment, Zue Yin sighed and gave a reluctant nod.

Yaan understood what she was feeling right now.

Zue Yin was back in her element, within the righteous path, being protected and nurtured by a large organisation. Even though this was not her home, it was vastly better compared to the 4th Trial Realm. By all logic, she should no longer have any reason to feel wary of Yaan or to accommodate his whims, right?

Well, there was one matter.

"Zue Yin, I assume you remember what that person said?" Yaan smiled strangely as he faced this acquaintance of his within Black Peak. They were currently within the mountain's lowest cave, the cave which was least affected by the black mist, but Yaan could see that even this was making Zue Yin feel ill at ease.

This was good, it would tilt their discussion in his favour.

"I do…how could I forget…" She replied grimly, clenching her fists for a moment before her body lost its tension and she sighed again.

Whoosh!

With a wave of her hand, two chairs appeared within the cave and she immediately sat down. Just this action of sitting down before Yaan, showed that she was more at ease within the righteous path and that she had less of a reason to feel apprehensive towards him. She knew that he would not harm her within the sect.

It's not that she mistrusted Yaan or that she really thought he would hurt her, it's just that he was too vicious in her eyes. After her life in the 4th Trial Realm, she had learned to always be on guard, especially against demons.

Now though, the only thing that was able to make her feel some lingering anxiety, was that damned old man!

'Old Thief…' Yaan thought to himself.

"So then, you remember that Senior Ancestral God told you to refine pills for me and to support my cultivation, yes?" Yaan asked with a faint smile.

Zue Yin showed a startled expression as her eyes widened.

"Senior Ancestral God…? Such an imposing name, is he really a god…?"

Seeing that she had instinctively believed in this name that Yaan randomly made up for the old man, Yaan felt pleased. It was definitely much better to use an impressive title like this compared to 'Old Thief' when trying to intimidate someone.

'Old Thief…I'm sure he wouldn't mind me making up a title for him, right? Since he even complained about his actual title back then, it should be fine…' Yaan mused to himself.

If it were anyone else with the strength displayed by that old man, Yaan wouldn't dare to do this for fear that they might take offence and kill him without warning. However, given that old man's personality, combined with the fact that they seemed to have some unknown relationship with one another, Yaan believed that it should be fine.

"You should know that the only reason you were able to escape the inheritance is because Senior Ancestral God sent you out to assist me." Yaan continued speaking slowly, finally taking a seat opposite Zue Yin. Her expression darkened slightly, but she gave a light nod, she knew that this was indeed the case.

In the end, were it not for that old man, who only helped her in order to help Yaan, she might have ended up stuck in the inheritance for the remainder of her life…

Owing Yaan like this made her feel complex, but she remained silent and decided to hear him out.

"The resources given to me by the sect are useless to me. I could trade them for some better things, but even then, there's nothing suitable for body tempering here, perhaps even in the entire Southern Continent. I need you to support my cultivation by refining pills for me." Yaan stated his objective directly.

Zue Yin sighed.

"You want me to fund you also?"

"Naturally." Yaan nodded. "I won't make things too difficult for you, just match the resources that I give you with an equivalent amount of your own."

"How is that not making things difficult for me exactly?" Zue Yin's eye twitched. "We're both new elders, but you're somehow the Immortal Ancestor's disciple! You definitely have greater assets compared to me, especially combined with the vast sum of wealth that you accumulated in the inheritance!"

Yaan felt bitter after hearing this. It was true that they were both new elders, but he did not receive any huge amount from his 'teacher', his earnings were likely very similar to Zue Yin's own. But more importantly, Zue Yin was still in possession of her accumulated assets from the inheritance, which definitely included many body tempering medicines!

Yaan, on the other hand, had been robbed before leaving…

But he wouldn't tell Zue Yin that. He wasn't even sure how to explain it. Most importantly, he didn't want to give away that 'Senior Ancestral God' might not be his perfect ally like Yaan was trying to make him out to be.

Yaan had repeatedly stated that the old man was powerful, and that he clearly had an agenda tailored towards assisting him. Yaan said all of this in the hope that the Immortal Ancestor was spying on their conversation right now. Perhaps, if that person believed that Yaan had a powerful guardian living in the shadows, he would be more hesitant to harm him.

"You have no use for those body tempering resources that you gathered in the inheritance, right? I know that you need to keep some complete medicines for alchemy research, whilst some of the natural resources are more valuable as ingredients for medicinal pills, so just give me everything else."

Zue Yin showed a bitter expression and her heart ached as she retrieved the many valuable materials from her spatial ring. However, she really was terrified of 'Senior Ancestral God', whilst Yaan's point that she had no use for these resources was entirely true. She only felt pained because she understood the value of these things, but truthfully, they were completely useless to her and there was no market for body tempering medicines in the Southern Continent.

It seemed that Zue Yin had already anticipated this meeting, as she threw Yaan a spatial ring without transferring any materials. Yaan raised an eyebrow, then showed a slightly surprised expression when he looked inside.

He raised his head and looked at Zue Yin for a moment, causing her to swallow. She stared back at him, almost sweating under his gaze.

"Haha…" Yaan laughed lightly, shaking his head. Zue Yin's heart lurched, but his next words put her at ease.

"Well, this is already plenty for now. Even if you are withholding more from me, I really don't intend to make things overly difficult for you. On the matter of you refining me more medicines…for now, there's no need, but you should focus on improving your body tempering medicine alchemy so that when the time comes, you can be of use."

"Huh?" Zue Yin looked dazed, causing Yaan to smile wryly.

"Is it really so surprising? Zue Yin, I have no desire to completely rob you of your wealth or to suppress you within the sect. If I had another option, I wouldn't even bother doing this, but I really have no other way to cultivate."

Truthfully, there was also the elixir within him and the promise from the Immortal Ancestor that he could use a cultivation chamber, but Zue Yin didn't need to know that. She was Yaan's assurance that he would have a means to continue cultivating in the future, incase he ended up stuck within the Fragment Sect for an extended period of time. He needed to maintain and even repair their relationship such that even if her apprehension towards him wore away, she would still continue to assist him.

Besides, she actually gave him far more than he was expecting already. As Zue Yin departed from Black Peak with a contemplative expression, Yaan grinned to himself.

This meeting was extremely successful.

He was able to procure more resources for himself, whilst gaining Zue Yin as a supporter from here on out. Not only that, but he had intimidated Zue Yin into following his wishes by using the name of 'Senior Ancestral God'. This also doubled up as a threat against the Immortal Ancestor.

Perhaps most importantly, Yaan had further probed his teacher's bottom line. Yaan knew that the Immortal Ancestor was almost certainly observing his actions, and yet, he had not stepped out to prevent Yaan from using extortion against Zue Yin, an elder of his sect!

From this, Yaan could make two deductions.

Firstly, that immortal would not bother interfering with Yaan's choice of methods for the most part, so long as he did not reveal himself as a demon to the world at large. He could use these sorts of underhanded tactics, so long as he kept his activities a secret.

Secondly…the Fragment Sect's Immortal Ancestor was a person who would allow a demon to enter his sect and to extort his fellow elders…

Clearly, the Immortal Ancestor did not care about the Fragment Sect's order, nor its members. Even for an immortal, this level of indifference towards such blatant improper treatment of the sect's members and its rules was not typical.

It was very likely that the Immortal Ancestor was, at heart, a demon.