Reaching The Tower.

  Jing, Li Li, and Wenling arrived at the entrance of the Great Tower. Jing was quite impressed looking at the tower up close. She had to force herself to look up to really take in the greatness of the structure. It rose far into sky and penetrated past the clouds.

"Some say that the Great Tower pierces into the Heavens themselves." Wenling shared also taking in the beauty.

"With how old this thing is, I'm not surprised that it has such legends about." Jing replied.

"Do you know what lies at the top of the tower?" Wenling asked with a cheeky grin.

"No. I knew absolutely nothing about the Treasured Plains before I came inside here. There wasn't any information written about it anywhere inside the sect." Jing answered.

  Hu Tao was literally no help when she tried to find out information for the Treasured Plains. The mutt's brain was like a walnut when it came to anything not related to fighting. That was starting to change a small amount after his near-death experience with a 9th stage Qi Consolidator. Hu Tao started sending her messages about those he killed and a small amount of information regarding them or the people around them.

  Jing was surprised at the important details he managed to sniff out from these people before they died or when he targeted them. Hu Tao could use his brain when he wanted to. He had surprisingly sharp senses when it came to finding out critical information about people. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that Hu Tao was currently the best at information gathering out of her entire group so far, results wise.

  Maybe she could use the Wolfeng Gang to fix that in the future... They'll be her group for gathering information, possibly selling it to certain powerful people, and other matters. If things stayed the way they were now, it would be quite hard for Jing to singlehandedly take over control of the Wolfeng Gang. Despite being filled with rapists, murderers, and all sorts of other terrible scum, the Wolfeng Gang share an unexplainable bond with one other. Even if they can't see eye to eye with each other or share the same passions with another member, they have a core belief that they all share together. They have something that holds and keeps them together as a group.

  It isn't a lie to say that Jing is somewhat jealous of that bond that they all share. Something like that can't be forced or made intentionally. It's something that happens by chance and with great leadership. Jing hopes to one day have her followers share a similar link. But that day would be a long time from now. She still has several other basic steps as a leader that she's yet to accomplish with them. But once the Plains are over, it is time for a new beginning in how she will lead her group.

"It's said that once you reach the top of the tower, you will be granted any wish you desire." She smiled.

"Any wish?" Jing wanted clarification.

"Any wish in the world." She clarified. "It's said that our own Sect Leader reached the top of the tower and gained a wish that allowed them to rise to the top in one fell swoop. The Golden Serpent Sect wasn't always part of the Three Great Sects we know today. A few hundred years ago, the Golden Serpent Sect didn't even exist. Back then it was solely the Nine Swords Sect and the Blossoming Water Palace. But then all of a sudden, our sect leader came out of nowhere and took on both the sect leaders of the Nine Swords Sect and the Blossoming Water Palace in a duel. Our sect leader managed to match both of them in strength despite them teaming up on them. After that match, it is said our sect leader began to make the Golden Serpent Sect." Wenling shared.

"How do you know all this?" Jing asked bluntly.

  From what she knew, Wenling didn't seem like the historic type. Nor did Jing believe that she was educated at all. Her first name was literally the word Little. She couldn't have come from an educated background and ended up as a bandit somehow.

  Just as she was thinking this, Jing quickly put a stop to those types of thoughts. It wouldn't do well for her to assume anything about Wenling just because of the small amount of time they spent together. She would just be falling into the same routine she had before with that monkey. Jing had to change something deep inside her that made her want to underestimate and believe she knew everything about a person just because she had information on them. If she didn't, it wouldn't be long before she dies from her own ignorance.

"Surprised?" Wenling grinned. "Back when I was a little girl, I regularly hung outside the school in my city and secretly listened in to the teacher's teachings. My family couldn't pay lessons for me, so I decided to take matters into my own hands and get myself some free knowledge." She proudly stated while puffing out her sizeable chest.

"Did you want to learn that much?" Jing asked. She herself knew that knowledge was power but did these people who valued strength and face so much, also know?

"Well, all my friends back then were in the class. I hated feeling left out whenever they talked about what they learned in school when we were playing together. So, I didn't really care about learning until I got older really. I liked the feeling of knowing stuff that other people didn't. I liked learning about things I had no idea about. It felt like my world was enlarging every day." Wenling said with passion in her voice.

"I misjudged you entirely. I apologize." Jing told her before walking inside the Great Tower.

"Huh? Wait, what do you mean?! How did you think of me before!? You're still my apprentice remember?! You have to respect me!" Wenling quickly followed behind Jing.

  The two of them came face to face with several hundreds of eyes watching them come inside. Jing's eyes were immediately drawn to two people and a certain group with one sweep of her eyes. Tang Wuying and Gong Jun being crowded by several girl cultivators with Tang having an annoyed look on his face and Gong with a gentle smile on his. Their group started hollering and yelling once they arrived and quickly came scrambling towards them in excitement.

  Jing noticed one thing in particular about them all. They all had different colored lotuses on top of their heads.

"Commander! You're alive!"

"Sweet heavens above, Jing is alive too!"

"Last time we saw ya, you had a gaping hole in your gut!"

"How the fuck are you alive!?"

"I got lucky." She replied mildly.

"Yeah, no shit! Holy fuck, I can't believe you two bastards are still alive." Ears said, stepping up front.

"Sounds like you're eager to replace me, Vice Commander." Wenling grinned as she crossed her arms.

"I wouldn't dream of it. You don't know how glad I am to see you still alive." He shared honestly.

"I'm glad to be back." She responded back. "But uh... what's with the new look? Did you all fall in love with some Fearsome Garden girls? Why do you all have flowers on your heads?" She wanted to know.

"The fucking vice commander fucking gave it to us."

"Piece of shit infected all of us with his stupid lotus."

"Bald asshole couldn't keep it to himself and had to spread his plant shit to us."

"Oi! Do you fucking bastards want to die!? You think I tried to do this?! I can't control this fucking thing! You keep talking shit and I'll fucking kick all your asses!"

"You wanna test that Vice Commander?" Du Zihao asked with his lightning blade sparking on his back.

"It's us vs you. You still think you stand a chance against all of us?" Scars spoke, feeling confident in their group's new strength. The lotus also boosted their strengths just like it did for the Vice Commander.

  They gained a lot ever since Jing teleported them into that treasure room. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that Wenling's squad was the most decked out group out of all the groups here. They had enough magical treasures and gold accessories on them that they could be mistaken for rich young masters. That was also why everyone's eyes were greedily eyeing them. Ears and Wenling knew that they would be the biggest target around for quite some time with this much loot on them. And since they didn't have storage rings, it was impossible to hide most of it.

"Cocky little bastards huh? Alright! Commander Guotin hasn't been satisfied with some of you lazy bums anyway. I'll beat you bastards into shape until you're all black and blue." He cracked his knuckles.

"You can have your roughhousing session when we get to the first floor. For now, hold it in." Wenling told them. "We have a couple guests coming towards us." Their rivals walked towards them with their own small groups equal in size to Wenling's.

  The Huan clan and the Fearsome Garden.