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"If you kill the Fang Clan's Fang Yun, I will reward you with resources so that you can make another breakthrough into Core Formation." These were the words that tempted the old woman they called Old Qing into betraying her kind and benevolent young master.

She had given up her family, her friends, her comrades, all to have the chance to rise and become stronger.

She was prideful at a young age due to her strong Spiritual Channels which allowed her to topple over her peers at the small village she lived in, but all that changed after she experienced the world of cultivation and felt just how insignificant her life was when compared to true geniuses.

When she joined a Sect, she could only be disdained as an Outer Disciple due to her age and lack of true talent.

When she left that Sect and joined the Mercenary Union, she found that there was nowhere safe on the Azure Sky Continent since only the strong could be in charge of their own fate.

Eventually she grew old and could only give up, becoming a servant at one of the Fang Clan's residences. Hiding her ambitions as she slowly rotted away due to her lack of spiritual medicines.

As her hair gradually turned white, she became less talkative and started a hobby of knitting in solitude. She ran away from all her problems as her life grew more stable than it was before.

It was only when she was given some Marrow Cleansing Pills did she finally feel that she could maybe she could control her own fate. After breaking through to the peak level of the Internal Root stage, she accepted the mission to kill her benevolent young master without a trace of hesitation.

Although he helped her find a job when she was in need, a Cultivator had to be more open-minded and calculative if they wanted to survive to see another day. The hidden enemy that wanted to kill her young master wasn't someone she could offend, so it was only natural that she would choose herself over him.

She hadn't watched her young master grow from a young age but the information she acquired over the few months she worked at the Grand Elder's residence was enough for her to feel admiration for him. Fang Yun was a Mortal born without Spiritual Channels, and in a Clan that thrives off nurturing Cultivators, his existence was akin to insect among human beings.

Although most Rogue Cultivators like her didn't have disdain towards Mortals due to their origins being closely linked to mortal society, the word Cultivators raised by Clans would use to describe those who couldn't cultivate their Qi is 'incompetence'.

With that being said, she could imagine her young master's harsh childhood clearly. Most in his situation would become timid and cowardly over time due to their lack of courage to fight back against bullies who are stronger than them, yet surprisingly, Fang Yun was able to move forward in life despite his hardships in order to do whatever productive things he could do in life.

Since the Alchemy Dao and the Martial Dao were unsuitable for him, he decided to embark on the Medical Dao.

With his grandfather's connections, it wasn't that hard for him to find people who were willing to impart their teaching to him. Even though he hadn't become a disciple of a renowned Medical Expert, he still found ways to increase his knowledge and experience through reading books or helping others. When she decided to attack him, she made use of his thirst for knowledge and feigned an injury.

She pretended she had injured her ankle and obtained Fang Yun's sympathy through deception. Although her plan was quite rushed, it was enough to trick the sheltered Young Master Fang into helping her recover.

If she hadn't been truly injured by the young servant that was suspicious of her actions since the beginning, she wouldn't be in such a rush to leave.

She wasn't able to completely finish them off, but the injuries she gave them should be enough to kill them if they were unable to find help in time. Her employer only wanted Fang Yun to miss his wedding date anyway so there wasn't anything to be scared of.

As she was making her way out of the Fang Clan's territory within Blazing Sun City and into the Dong Clan's territory, she found that she had been surrounded by dozens of guards who were eying her suspiciously.

"Is there something the matter?" She asked with a calm voice as she didn't believe that anyone could have found out about what she did in such a short span of time. It was only when the guards summoned their Spiritual Artifacts did she realise she was wrong.

'How...?' Her heart skipped a beat as she manifested her Spiritual Artifact in return. A deep fear rooted in her heart as she felt the guards combined aura.

After the nine levels of the Nascent Forging stage, one would be able to completely forge a Spiritual Artifact out of the Internal Qi refined within their Spiritual Channels, thereafter entering the Internal Root stage where they would focus on their chosen Dao.

As someone on the peak level of the Internal Root stage and was one step away from a breakthrough. She wasn't content on just dying by their hands and held her sword type Spiritual Artifact with both of her hands. Just as she was about to charge and slaughter herself a path of escape, she felt a tingling sensation on her skin as she turned to see the man she feared most.

"Did you think you can escape after harming my grandson?" A bald man covered in a blazing Fire Qi walked towards the old woman with killing intent that seemed to manifest into a skull over his head. The light in the old woman's eyes dimmed as she realised there was no longer any path of escape.

If it was just a few dozen guards attacking her, she might have been able to escape with heavy injuries, but there was no way she could fight against an expert who was an entire stage higher than her. The Grand Elder was practically one of few the strongest individuals the Fang Clan had to offer.

After being locked down by the Grand Elder Fang Yang's gaze, she could feel a pressure weighing down on her very soul. This was the difference between their cultivation levels and the disparity of strength lower levelled Cultivators had towards those stronger.

"None of you are to act, I'll deal with this traitor by myself." The Grand Elder gestured towards the guards before pulling out flaming hammer from his spirit. The Spiritual Artifact he had refined over the many years wasn't something the old woman can stand up to. One swing of his fiery hammer was enough to smash her head into paste.

"Grandfather, since I was the one who was harmed by this scum, I want to be the one to end her myself." A calm but chilling voice resounded into the ears of the woman called Old Qing and the Grand Elder who was ready to kill.

The both of them shifted their gazes to the once timid youth who never shown any signs of anger in life, Fang Yun.

When the woman called Old Qing heard his words, she felt like the person in front of her wasn't the young master she had been serving all this time, but a ruthless killer who had lived for many years. His eyes seemed dauntless as he glared at her with thick killing intent.

As for Fang Yun's grandfather, he was ecstatic to see his grandson showing signs of change. The former Fang Yun may have been modest and good-natured, but his timid personality is what caused many people look down on him. In a world where strength mattered most, those who don't show any physical or influential power are targeted by those with ill-intentions.

Although Fang Yun was a Mortal through and through, he still had influence due to his status in the Fang Clan. This was why his grandfather wanted him to become more courageous, rather than smiling and trying adapt to others when he is being exploited by shameless individuals.

"Then let me give her a good beating first." As Fang Yang spoke, he charged towards Old Qing with blinding speed and smashed his hammer on her sword. The old servant felt terror down to her very core as her Spiritual Artifact cracked in many places. She then coughed up a mouthful of blood as her entire body gained some new wounds.

A Cultivator's Artifact is intricately connected with their body, making it so when one is destroyed, so will the other. Her Spiritual Weapon dissipated as she fell powerlessly in despair.

The guards watching by the side weren't surprised by how she was instantly defeated without even having the chance to fight back, since although those at Internal Root stage could be considered Cultivators, those that truly stood out in the world were either Core Formation stage experts or higher.

"Looks like my grandson is finally going take his first step into the world of adults. Here's something to make cutting her skin easier." Fang Yang then handed over an Tempered Weapon he personally crafted with an excited tone in his voice. A bloodlust that would make all psychopaths on Earth shiver in fear burned in his eyes.

Fang Yun took the knife from his grandfather's hand without a word and walked over to the old servant who lay helplessly on the floor. He flipped her over with one hand and saw how she was still trying to struggle despite losing all hope of survival the moment his grandfather caught up to her.

"Please... have mercy...!" She begged with tears in her eyes, trying to gain Fang Yun's sympathy. She didn't understand how he survived or how he escaped her locked room but she knew that only Fang Yun could save her from her fate. She buried all the pride she had in her heart and tried her best to gain the mercy of the once kind young master she had served all this time.

"You're probably thinking along the lines of: 'My young master is kind and doesn't even have the heart to hurt a fly, there's still a chance he'll forgive my actions if I make myself sound pitiful.' If I was still the naive youth from a few minutes ago, I may have wavered upon seeing that pitiful expression of yours, but now, things are different. There's no longer any right or wrong in my eyes, just enemies or allies. Since you repaid my favour of hiring you with vengeance, you can regret and reflect on your actions in your next life." These were the last words she heard before he cleanly slit her throat without giving her the chance to respond. As a Cultivator who had almost crossed into the Core Formation stage, her flesh wasn't something a Mortal could cut with an ordinary knife. However, with the Tempered Weapon his grandfather had personally augmented from a normal steel knife, killing her was no problem.

The guards who had been isolated the place so no one could see what they were doing felt a cold chill run down their spine as they saw how indifferently he killed the old woman.

They wouldn't have been surprised if their Young Master Fang killed the old servant in anger, they also wouldn't have been surprised if he decided to torture her on the spot, since she DID try to take his life after all. However, it was beyond any of their expectations that he was give her such a clean death.

Ordinary people who haven't seen conflict wouldn't be able to recognise his skill, but how could they be ignorant despite their vast experience as mercenaries? They could infer just from how he handled the knife and how he cut her throat that he had somehow practiced killing beforehand.

As for when he had the time to train in killing so mercilessly... None of them had the answer. They have been the guards of the residences within the Fang Clan's territory for a long time and it was the first time they saw such a merciless youth. As for how Fang Yun's grandfather interpreted his change, he saw it as Fang Yun unearthing his hidden talents in the midst of danger.

It was only unfortunate that his grandson didn't have Spiritual Channels and could only rely on weapons he tempered using his Fire Qi to defend himself against anyone who'd try to eliminate him from the shadows.

The Grand Elder of the Fang Clan then burned the body to ashes before ordering the guards to hide the incident from other members of the Fang Clan. He didn't understand why the old servant betrayed his grandson but he wanted to find the mastermind of this incident as soon as possible.

"Little Yun, from now on I'll be personally protecting you. So you can be at ease tomorrow. I'll find out who was the one behind this and skin him alive!" Fang Yang reassured his grandson with great determination in his eyes. He then noticed that the disciplined young servant who usually followed Fang Yun everywhere wasn't accompanying him like always.

"Grandfather, I need your help to save Lou Meng." Fang Yun's eyes softened as he ignored the fact that he just killed for the first time and told his grandfather about how he survived.