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Jung-Su didn't expect that and didn't react right away. He paused. He thought he might have misheard. The fact was that his brother Owl did tell him to crush the guy's balls. He had reasons behind this act too. What was the most painful, physically and mentally, to a man? The answer was a heavy hit to the jewels. If Jung-Su went and punched him, would he start fearing him? Not really. He might think the kid got lucky. But what if he crushed his manhood in public? This would be something he would forever remember.

It was unfortunate that Jung-Su didn't quite understand such a fact. He ended up staring blankly at the other without doing anything. And it became too late as other disciples began to separate them. This wasn't the kind of place one could hesitate at. They were in public. Taking too much time was risking someone else meddling. Especially in a sect. And that's what happened as a Senior Brother interfered and separated the group. In the end, nothing happened to anyone.

On the way back, Owl kept on 'teaching' Jung-Su about proper etiquette when dealing with this kind of people. Beating them once was never enough, one needed to entirely crush their ego as well. Only then would they end up not even daring enough to act in revenge.

Unfortunately, there was nothing Owl could do anymore. While they were in the sect, it was too dangerous for him to murder someone. It would without a doubt be investigated, outer or inner disciples didn't matter. A murder within the sect needed to be answered. 'Within' being the crucial word there.

Now, if he wanted to deal with that group, he would need to get them outside… He could only sigh as the opportunity to make quick cash disappeared. Owl was certain the kids had quite the goods in their spatial rings… Right… That gave him an idea.

He asked Jung-Su about where the group of them lived. However, Jung-Su, for the first time, refused to comply. He said earnestly: "I can't have you implicate yourself further into my problems, brother Owl! If something happened to you because of my past, I wouldn't ever be able to forgive myself!"

The kid refused to speak regardless of how he coaxed him. Jung-Su seemed to be scared of retaliation and losing him… Owl wondered how he could end up thinking like that. Wasn't it obvious that they shouldn't be the one fearing him? He was the danger here. Still, since Jung-Su refused to tell him for the moment, he wouldn't push it. It's not like he needed their resources right now and they would come knocking on his door soon enough.

That aside, he finally had the treasure required to breakthrough to the 10th stage. He only needed to absorb it and fuse the elemental properties contained within with his core, then he would have the opportunity to breakthrough. Unfortunately, he would need a few days for the transition to happen and stay in seclusion.

The breakthrough from the 9th to the 10th stage was very different compared to the entrance into the spiritual realm. He would need time and peace in order to succeed. Many cultivators ended up never crossing over and remaining stuck at the 9th stage for life. It was not a laughing matter.

Certainly, he had previous experience about this stage and that was precisely why he took it so seriously. Back then, he fused his core with a different element, it would be vastly different. The test was no longer to face one's inner demons. It was to face the element itself. And such a thing could happen in many ways. He needed to keep a stable mind at all times during the process.

If they had dealt with the group of thugs in the morning correctly, he wouldn't be facing such a problem. It made him slightly irritated every time he thought back upon it. He didn't really care about Jung-Su's well-being but if he was killed or crippled, their contract would be voided. If that happened, he would go back to his status as a wild beast. A wild spiritual beast in a sect, what would be its fate? Not a glorious one! As such, he was forced to take this situation seriously.

That put him in a bad mood.

As he was eating alongside the kid at the cafeteria, he spotted a cute young girl approaching. It was Sun-Mi. She didn't even hesitate to place her food tray next to Jung-Su's and with a bright smile greeted the both of them: "Hello Jung-Su, brother Owl!"

She was a bright one. It was unexpected considering Jung-Su's state. He decided to check and surprisingly, it turned out that she was at the sixth stage of spiritual accumulation. Owl was curious about why she didn't help Jung-Su considering how much she seemed to cherish him. He decided to directly satisfy his curiosity by asking him through their link: "She's at the sixth stage, why did she not help you?"

Jung-Su who had been in the middle of the conversation with Sun-Mi paused before he smiled wryly as he answered his brother Owl: "I did not tell her"

It wasn't difficult for Owl to understand. Pride stopped him from asking for help from a girl. Just because she was a girl, did it mean she was less strong? Not at all. And yet, baseless assumptions brought about from pride made a lot of men think in ways that belittled the strength of women. They weren't stronger than men but neither were they weaker. To Owl, gender didn't matter. If he needed help, male or female, he would ask anyone who might lend a helping hand. In his heart, he rebuked Jung-Su. He had someone so close to him capable enough yet didn't make use of it. That was foolish.

What's more, it was quite likely that the girl had been aware of it for some time. After all, she had been waiting for his return at the gates back then. Would she had done so if she had been unaware? Owl sighed. It was obvious that the girl had good intentions and only waited for him to make the first step forward, yet Jung-Su did not.

Owl was unable to feel the kind of happiness Jung-Su was rejecting willingly. He couldn't help being both saddened and angry about it. The more he looked at this 'host' of his, the more he began to dislike him. He was a prideful coward unable to see what was in front of him.

He jumped on the table surprising both of the youths before he turned to Jung-Su and slapped him hard, pushing him down his chair to fall on his butt. The kid was looking at his brother Owl with surprise. He wasn't even able to understand what was going on. Then, Owl took out a pen and paper and began to write while facing the girl: "Forgive this idiot on my behalf, young miss"

Sun-Mi chuckled as she read the paper. Jung-Su hurriedly got up, blushing in shame. All the other disciples had been attracted by the sound of the spiritual beast getting up on the table and most of them witnessed the slap. It brough them a lot of enjoyment to see a stranger being slapped. One's pain is often the amusement of another.

Jung-Su felt wronged and he hurriedly asked: "Brother Owl, what's the meaning of this?!"

Sun-Mi was laughing cutely with a hand over the mouth as she watched the skit. By now, the owl had already taken back the paper and was glaring at his Master. To every disciple around, it seemed a spiritual beast was rebelling against its tamer. It was one of the greatest shames to beast tamers and a very funny situation to witness for others.

As for Owl, he berated the kid through their spiritual links, telling him how he was stupid not to see what was in front of him and taking the most important things for granted. The argument went on for a few minutes until Sun-Mi said: "Brother Owl, Jung-Su, we are attracting attention"

Jung-Su coughed before sitting back on his chair, trying to stop the argument. Brother Owl turned around towards the girl, bowed and went down onto his own chair before continuing to stuff himself. The food served in this cafeteria was miles apart from the crude raw meat he ate in the wilderness.

At first, he missed such meals when he began his new life. Soon, he had gotten used to raw meat and such, forgetting about it. But now, as he tasted it once more, he felt like he could never get enough of it.