The Army

-FROZEN LAKE SECT'S DUNGEON, TRAINING AREA-

The warden, upon hearing what the kid has just said, approached us. "We're not allowed to disclose any information about our prisoners. We are already doing you a favor for even letting our prisoners have a practice match with you. Please, don't make unnecessary trouble for us." The warden doesn't look like it, but he insists upon adherence to every rule.

/Chitang Bing Fang 52

Frozen Lake Sect's Dungeon Warden

1st layer, mid-stage, of advanced body realm

2nd layer of spirit core realm/

Bowing to the warden, "I apologize on behalf of my student. He must still be mourning for his cousin's death." The instructor knows who he shouldn't provoke. This warden emits 2 layered blue energy aura. He must be a 2nd layer of spirit core realm.

/Bo Xuexi 32

Frozen Lake Outer Sect's instructor

8th layer of body refining realm

9th layer of pristine core realm/

"Tsk!" The brat is annoyed. It looks like the young masters of the Bo family have the same traits of being an asshole and attention seeker.

"Now, Er De, choose your practice partner. We came here for knowledge, not for revenge. Even for prisoners, they still had a life before they were imprisoned here. That means maybe some of them were once a disciple like yourself or even a famous warrior." This instructor sure is wise. You can't underestimate an opponent based on their cultivation.

"Since I have to pick, how about this brat? He looks fragile with a 3rd layer of body refining realm." He picked me! What lucky bastard... "How can such a youngster be imprisoned at such a young age? Did you steal a piece of bread and got caught? Haha!" He has a right to make fun of me though...

/Bo Er De 21

Frozen Lake Sect's Outer Disciple

5th layer of body refining realm

4th layer of innate realm/

I have no choice but to step forward. I don't have a good cultivation level nor the body realm to go against him. I would just let him attack me once and be done with it. We stepped forward but he doesn't seem to do his fighting stance. He's clearly underestimating me. Since he has 4 layers of energy aura, he's assured that he can win against me easily but... I want to test his abilities.

"I can defeat you with a single move." He said... It would be fun to watch him get disappointed.

Finally, the Wave Art fighting stance. He's going for... no... his attack has killing intent! He's going for the kill!

He leaped forward at me and, *SWOOOOSH!* So fast! He must have a higher body refining realm to even control his body this way. This isn't his first time fighting seriously but I have something behind my sleeve as well.

*SWOOOOSH* A powerful wave of energy was released upon swaying his hand to attack me. Some of the prisoners who got caught by the energy wave were pushed back a little bit. If I got hit by that, my bones all over my body would have been broken so easily!

His eyes can catch up to my speed but with the help of Endless Art, "I missed?! But how?!" his body couldn't keep up. Now, let me show you the Endless Art's attack! Swiftly moving sideway preparing a roundhouse kick. *BAAAAAAM!*

What?! An ice barrier?! I couldn't pierce right through it! Ugh... the pain in my leg... It's too much!

"Enough. Er De lost against this young man." The instructor must have used the law of ice to protect his student from harm.

Angrily, "But I didn't lose yet! Even with an attack like that, I still could have fought back!" The young brat couldn't see it but...

"Look at my ice barrier. Even I have to use full force to stop that attack yet cracks can be found. If it weren't for me, you could have hurt badly. How can I explain that to your father?" No wonder, I think I broke my leg from that though. Shit... it hurts big time.

"But... Fine..." The young brat couldn't say anything but accept the result of the fight. "We'll meet again. Next time, you won't be able to sneak up on me." I was just lucky that he was careless.

He stepped back and... "Kid, you did well. A potential such as yourself, what a shame..." The warden approached me and carried me. He knew that I have a few months left before the execution, that's why he feels sorry.

...

I was brought to my cell and one of the guards tend to my leg. Though with a high-grade healing pill, this would be done by now but instead, he's using his energy to heal my wounds slowly.

After a while, "You should be alright. Rest for a few days and the remaining wound will heal by itself." He said. So, even for him, he couldn't heal my internal wounds completely.

"..." He went out and locked my cell. I couldn't even watch the others fight.

Even so, I can hear them from here. A couple more fights happened for each student and after that, they went home.

*CLANG* Someone threw something at my cell from afar... Who could that be?

"Hey, kid. You're from the Liu family, aren't you?" It's the big guy. He has a good chance of guessing knowing there are only 3 families in the sect.

"..." I don't think I need attention. I want to be left alone since I have to get out of this place from time to time.

"I'm Liu Gong Lu and I think I've seen you before. You're my younger brother's adopted child, right? His name is Liu Gong Zhu." Wait, he's the brother of my old man?

"If that's true, how is it that I haven't met you since." No wonder they have the same brute force.

"We were friends with your parents and I saw you when you were a child. The resemblance is remarkable so I took a guess judging by your age. I was wrongly accused and imprisoned before my brother took care of you. He came here a couple of days ago. He said you were missing...He's worried sick. I didn't know I'll be meeting you here." Old man... I should tell you everything after the tournament. Now, it would be better to know that I was gone missing instead of waiting for execution...

"Please, don't tell my old man that I'm here." He's confused but he just let out a long sigh.

"You, kids, sure make bad decisions but since you're doing good, I'm sure you'll get out of here sooner or later. You were a badass out there against the young brat. Haha." Since he's stuck in here for more than 10 years... his cultivation must have been stuck as well. He's a good old man like his younger brother... so... I pulled a pill bag with 10 high-quality cultivation pills and a tier 1 energy suppressing rune.

"I think I should call you uncle now. Here, take this as a gift from me, uncle. But don't let anyone know that you got it from me." I successfully threw the bag between cell bars and landed on his cell.

"How did you manage to sneak a storage ring here? Now, I'm curious about who you really are." Upon looking at what's inside the bag, "These are... high-quality cultivation pills! These could be sold for thousands of gold and there are..." Counting the pills, "10 of them here with an energy suppressing rune as well... I don't deserve this kind of gift from you, nephew."

"Just take it, uncle. Cultivate carefully. Soon, I'll get you out of here too. Just forget that this happened." Fortunately, the guards don't patrol too often here since no one has ever escaped this place before.

"How can I forget such an event! With these pills, I could reach higher realms in a short amount of time. That "soon" you are talking about, give me a heads up. But... why are you doing this?" He's strong and I could tell that he's a good man. I could entrust him of protecting the others when the time comes.

"Just a couple more months. By that time, I hope you can raise more of your cultivation. Soon, I'll get you more pills and all I ask in return is protect the Liu Family." I could tell from his expression that he really wants to get out of here.

"So, you also know that our family is on the verge of collapse. But soon, I will protect our family. You got my word." That's what I like to hear.

"Now, I'll rest for a while, uncle. You should start cultivating soon." I've found a valuable ally today.

"Thank you! Today, you're now my young master!" Ohh... no need to go that far but since it all came down to this, I'll gladly accept.

"I'll see you later, uncle. I hope you reach higher realms soon."

"That was a wise decision, my young disciple." I know, master. I hope he could help me help the Liu Family rise.

Since I have high rarity armor and weapon, I decided not to practice blacksmithing for now. Master told me to cultivate as much as possible.

-2 WEEKS HAS PASSED-

My facial hair grew longer... I was so busy that I forgot to look after my image. Fortunately, below the dungeon, we have a small spring we used to clean after ourselves and clean our clothes but we're only allowed to go there twice a week.

From time to time, they gather us for weekly practice, and sometimes we also gather to meet the other prisoners. It became a small community but I distance myself with others since I will be leaving this place soon. Most of the crimes are related to theft and minor ones. Some have serious crimes like rape and attempted murder and such but there are only a few of them. Some are good people but mostly, they're terrible.

Sometimes, they gather a few prisoners with minor crimes to do minor jobs outside to help them lessen their sentence. Fortunately for me, since I have the worst crime here, they won't allow me to do that kind of stuff so instead, they only ask me to join the weekly gathering and practice. Although, no one has picked me to spar with after what happened last time.

With my undisturbed cultivation, I was able to take more than 20 of the high-grade cultivation pills while my soul and master consumed more than 40. I also gave my uncle a couple more. My law of fire is progressing nicely. My body is now more resistant to fire letting me cultivate while close to the fire. I was also able to use all the materials left and created a couple more pills for future use or to sell when I ran out of gold. I also visited Elder Zun Yan to sell some high-grade cultivation pills which profited the family by a lot. I asked her to exchange the gold for energy cores which I use to concoct the cultivation pills.

I managed to master the 2nd step of the Endless Art too. This should save my life when I fight against a stronger opponent just like against Er De. He was stronger than me but I managed to defeat him.

But the best result I have now is reaching the 4th layer of innate realm after 2 weeks of cultivation. My refining body realm reached 4th layer as well upon practicing Endless Arts.

...

Somehow, guards are approaching. It's the weekly gathering.

We were gathered outside the training field but this time, it's different.

A familiar face has appeared today, it's Elder Fen Nu, "Today, the Army Branch of the sect is looking for new recruits! I've heard that some of you have minor crimes but are good at fighting. If you can commit your loyalty to the sect, you can live as a new man and be a part of a greater force!" It sounds so good to be true...

Unlike the disciples of the outer and inner sect, the army is like the main force of the sect. They are composed of elite cultivators and their sole purpose is to protect the citizens of the sect.

I can hear random whispers from the prisoners, "I heard the last time they recruited here, those people who volunteered were now missing."

"Really? that's scary..." If the rumors are true, then they probably used the recruits in a different way instead of being part of the forces of the army.

"I heard there's a good warrior here from the Liu Family, his name should be Liu Gong Lu. How about you join the army?" Elder Fen Nu must be plotting something.