Black Qi

"Alright I will follow you then." James said nervously. Although the girl in front of him did seem to be scary and powerful he would much rather use her as a cover to reach his home than to end up in another situation like with Ricard.

As James accepted Cara's help in his mind there was a small thread of black Qi that left his body and entered Cara's with neither of them knowing what happened.

This black Qi slowly invaded Cara's body before resting in the middle of her dantian slowly turning some of the other Qi inside black.

After this happened James accompanied Cara through many different areas which she explained to him were the living areas of different disciples.

In addition, while the two were talking and even getting along with each other many people quickly began spreading rumors about how one of the strongest people in the sect defended a brand new Outer Disciple.

*****

"CARA DEFENDED A MAN?!" A man shouted in shock as he sat in his lavish home. The man had never received such a shock in his life despite living for many years.

"That's correct sir. This subordinate saw it with his own eyes. She led this new Outer Disciple to his living area in the outer court and are even chatting in a friendly manner." A person kneeling before the man said.

"A new disciple? Is there something special about this boy or his origins?" The man asked confused about why someone he had tried to court for years was suddenly talking to someone despite never giving him the time of day.

"From what we have gathered he seems to have no background and was only invited recently from the outside." The subordinate explained making a smile appear on the man's face.

"Good~ We will keep a watch for now but we will definitely handle this boy~ In the meantime get some of the others to bully him~" The man ordered before the subordinate left to get to work.

*****

As the sun was slowly going down Cara and James finally made it into the Outer Disciple area. The area seemed to be quite rundown in comparison to the rest of the sect but was still a thousand times better than anything James had seen before, "Wowww! Am I really going to live in one of these?!" James asked in excitement as he pointed at some of the houses.

Cara chuckled at this, "I've never seen someone so excited for these houses. Normally they will complain saying how bad they are but you're quite different." Cara laughed.

James was confused by what she said, "How could someone complain about this? This is a thousand times better than what I had before!" James said with excitement.

"Oh really?~ If that's the case why don't you just live with me?~" Cara said with a taunting smirk on her face.

"Oh- well- thank you for the offer but I wouldn't want to intrude. I think I will stay here for now, thank you for bringing me. You better get back home before it gets too dark." James said turning down Cara as his token began vibrating in the direction of a house nearby.

When James turned down Cara he felt a little embarrassed about it so he made sure to turn around and head to his new house as fast as possible. When he reached the door the token automatically went to the middle of the door opening it and letting James inside as he turned around and waved bye to Cara.

Although James thought Cara's offer was good and appreciated his new friend he was still unsure about everything that had happened that day. He thought he needed time alone in his own space to digest everything and spend some time in his own thoughts. Plus, from what Patriarch Colton said something like that wasn't even possible due to their status difference so he thought she was more than likely joking.

The room that James was given was by no means terrible. The room was furnished with a table and a large comfortable bed for him to sleep on. There were even many fruits and small snacks placed on the table for him to snack on when he had the time.

'I think I could get used to this, mom, dad, sister. James thought to himself as he pretended to be talking to his family in his mind.

*****

'He.... rejected me? What is this creeping feeling? I was only joking with him, right?' Cara thought to herself as she walked back to her home.

Despite her clearly realizing her invitation was a joke there was an aching feeling in her heart at the thought of his rejection. Every time she thought of it, it was as if a burning rage took over her entire body wanting to reverse the words and bring him home with her.

'This- this anger is driving me insane.' Cara thought to herself as she began making her way back home. The more she tried to suppress her thoughts the more it seemed to empower her mind to think of James.

Right when she was about to turn around to ask James to reconsider a voice met her ears, "Senior sister Cara! Why did you treat me like that earlier?" A voice said suddenly making Cara turn to meet the eyes of Ricard.

'It seems someone has delivered themselves so I can soothe my anger. Thank you very much~' Cara thought to herself as a sudden bloodlust overtook her entire body.

"Cara? What are you doing? Wait! Wait! AHHH-!" Ricard shouted in agony as his cries were muffled and his life was taken from him as the day turned into night.

*****

As Cara was having an emotional crisis James was sitting in his bed in a lotus position cultivating just as First Elder had taught him. While doing this he was watching his dantian very closely as it slowly filled up and hit the max of the dantian once more.

'I should break through!' James thought to himself in happiness but his happiness was cut short as the explosive feeling he had the first time wasn't there.