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"Junior Brother, now that you better understand the situation in the Southern Continent and the Fragment Sect, when would you like to begin? I don't mean to push this matter, but it's something teacher instructed, so…"

One week later, Zue Yin was no longer present in Keasal's mountain abode, the peak called 'Blue Peak' due to the ice and blue mist that covered most of the mountain year-round.

Zue Yin was made a sect elder immediately on account of her Spirit Core Realm cultivation which she obtained at a shockingly young age, combined with her talent for alchemy. Whilst it was entirely possible to reach the Spirit Core Realm at a younger age, it was rare to do so, since almost all Qi refiners would choose to maximise their potential in the Qi Temple Realm by building their Qi Temple to as high a layer as possible.

On a side note, when Yaan learned that Zue Yin actually possessed a 9 Layer Qi Temple, he was genuinely shocked. Such a thing was basically just a legend in the Ghu Province! However, in the Southern Continent, this was simply considered an excellent foundation; it was rare, but not unheard of. It was this achievement combined with her young age that made Zue Yin exceptional enough to be granted the position of elder, despite her youth and lacking strength compared to most elders in the Fragment Sect.

All of that said, she had only been permitted to stay within Blue Peak to begin with because like Yaan, she was an outsider from the North. It was imperative that she understood how to act, and what to keep a secret from others, before she was permitted to mix with the outside world.

Yaan quickly realised that Old Thief sent Zue Yin along with him because she was a capable alchemist who had learned many of the body tempering pill recipes within the inheritance. In the South, body tempering was not practised at all, so naturally, body tempering medicine recipes and alchemists with the ability to refine these medicines were basically non-existent.

That old man robbed Yaan of his resources, then sent a helper to assist him with his future cultivation endeavours…it was really strange, Yaan could only assume that he was some sort of crazy eccentric.

Usually, Keasal would not allow others into his mountain abode, but Yaan was different. Zue Yin was just another lower ranking elder of the Fragment Sect, she was sent away after it was confirmed that she knew what to say and what not to say to others. Yaan, on the other hand, was Keasal's fellow disciple brother - they had a connection due to their shared teacher.

That said, the old man couldn't help but bring up a certain pressing matter. Yaan already knew about this, as Keasal had mentioned it carefully before…

Apparently, their teacher left Keasal with instructions regarding Yaan's position and responsibilities in the sect, but also with a 'reason' for him being here in the first place.

Keasal had been told that Yaan was to become an instructor for the more talented disciples…an instructor specifically in the art of battle and survival.

The righteous path had many merits, such as a sense of camaraderie, superior interpersonal skills, and an abundance of resources which were all but guaranteed if your talent was sufficient. However, the righteous had always fallen short of the demonic in one crucial area…

Experience in life and death battles. That, and survival skill in general outside of the safety net of their sect and other righteous lands.

The demonic tended to mature earlier, developing keen senses and a cautious but firm mindset that allowed them to survive in this world on their own. The righteous were often sheltered from danger until a certain point, but even then, even when they were sent out to gain experience, they still lacked a certain something…

A scheming mind combined with ruthless determination.

In Keasal's mind, it made some degree of sense that Yaan would be brought into the sect for this purpose, after all, he was a demon from the North. He was a true member of the demonic races and someone who managed to overcome his poor talent in Qi refining, reaching a rate of progression that surpassed even the most elite disciples with the highest of talents. The fact that Yaan could reach this stage without relying on talent, was testament to his ability as a member of the demonic path. It was also proof that his life experiences had been nothing ordinary, and that he was, in all likelihood, very much qualified to teach the younger generation the art of survival.

However, Yaan felt nothing good about being put in this position of responsibility. In all honesty, he wanted nothing more than to flee from this whole Southern Continent, getting away from this place and travelling as far away as possible…seriously, even the dangers of the outside ocean would be better than here!

He was dragged into this place by a strange immortal man who clearly had some purpose in mind for him, so how could Yaan possibly feel at ease in this sect? Not to mention that he was a fiend, he would be persecuted by the entire righteous faction if his identity was exposed!

"Senior brother, I'd like to return to my mountain peak and rest for three days before heading out to the main sect. After that, I'll happily take on the role of a teacher." Yaan smiled at the old man, who was wearing an expression of struggle, like he really didn't want to force his junior brother to do this.

Compared to Keasal, Yaan's demeanour was more polite and formal, but Yaan did not see this as a good thing. He had to admit that Keasal's ability to deal with other people far exceeded his own. Yaan's own skill when it came to interpersonal relations handling was limited to being polite, and frankly, somewhat stiff, but Keasal made others feel at ease.

Yaan sighed in his mind. He understood his own shortcomings, but this was something that could only be improved with practise. Keasal had lived for hundreds of years, he had much more experience when it came to dealing with others, as was typical for elders in the righteous path.

Well, Yaan was still only 26 years old, nobody would expect him to possess polished high social abilities anyway. In fact, his politeness was already much better than the arrogance and hot-blooded nature of most righteous youths.

"Of course, of course. Junior brother, you were trapped in the evil inheritance for so long before coming here, and ever since your arrival, I've been keeping you far too busy! Sigh, I apologise for not taking note sooner, you should definitely go and rest up first. I will come and visit you in three days time, how about that?"

"Thank you for understanding senior brother. I'll see you in three days." Yaan nodded and clasped his hands in thanks, then flew out from Blue Peak, heading across to his own 'Black Peak' swiftly and without pause.

He briefly glanced back as he flew through the night sky, thinking to himself:

'Keasal has a warm personality, but he actually cultivates such a freezing, ice-based technique. He entertained me in the lowest mountain cave with the most moderate temperature, but even that caused me to feel quite cold, despite my strong body. In all likelihood, Zue Yin was only able to endure comfortably thanks to her bloodline. The top of Blue Peak would probably freeze me completely…Keasal is very committed to cultivation, to willingly endure such an extreme method.'

Compared to body temperers and demonic race members, orthodox Qi refiners had no need to endure harsh and painful or dangerous cultivation practises. For a Qi refiner to willingly embrace a cultivation technique which required them to perpetually endure freezing temperatures beyond their limits despite this showed that they had a very determined mindset.

After turning to look ahead, Yaan cleared these thoughts from his mind. He flew for some time, then passed through the black mist which covered his own mountain peak, but showed no change to his expression. Keasal had already introduced the strange nature of these three mountain peaks centred around the central mountain, so he wasn't surprised at all.

Usually, only Blue Peak and Red Peak were occupied. Red Peak could be considered the opposite environment to Blue Peak, it was hot year-round and covered in varying degrees of flames which never extinguished.

Black Peak was usually unoccupied and Keasal knew less about this peak. All he could tell Yaan, was that the black mist, like the grey mist which covered the central mountain, made it impossible to see past. Unlike the grey mist however, the black mist did not stop others from flying through.

Yaan actually found a good use for this mountain peak which was submerged under eternal darkness quite quickly. As it turned out, like the caves in Blue Peak and Red Peak, Black Peak also had caves where the environment became increasingly extreme further up the mountain. At the top of this mountain, one would have all of their senses completely deprived, sending them into a state of extreme confusion and fear if they were not well prepared.

Even Yaan struggled to endure for long when he ascended close to the peak of the mountain. The feeling of having zero sense of his surroundings was disconcerting to a level that was difficult to understand until experiencing it for yourself.

It was like being engulfed in nothingness.

That said, half-way up the mountain, the black mist was at a level where Yaan could at least sense his own body, albeit to a dulled down level compared to usual. Whilst the feeling of having his body dulled like this was not what Yaan desired, the deprivation of almost all sense of the outside world was actually quite useful for helping him focus without becoming distracted by anything else.

It would be effective to train in sword arts in this environment. At least, Yaan believed this would be the case once he adjusted properly.

For now, he entered the lowest cave, which was still elevated far above the majority of the sect hundreds of feet below. At this level, Yaan could still see across his cave abode.

He was not accustomed to living in a cave. At first, he thought that this way of living was slightly primitive, until he understood the benefits of isolating oneself within a superior cultivating environment.

Compared to better cultivating conditions, what else really mattered?

Yaan stood at the entrance to his cave abode and stared out into the black mist. He felt incredibly isolated here, separated from everyone in the Fragment Sect, the Southern Continent, and really, everything he had ever known.

Truthfully, Yaan often felt this way, but the environment within Black Peak amplified the emotion.

A lonely, desolate feeling spread out from Yaan's body, but it was subdued from spreading out too far by the black mist. Having this emotion confined to his immediate vicinity only made the bitter feeling in Yaan's heart deepen.

He was too detached from others in general, but the detachment he felt from those in righteous sects had a very clear reason. This situation…reminded him way too much of the time he joined the Heavenly Path Sect…and when he took on his first teacher.

"I ended up joining another sect…and taking on another teacher with dubious motives…" Yaan muttered to himself with a bitter smile.

Suddenly, he felt something that he had not felt in a long time. As he stood here, alone and in an unfamiliar land, Yaan had the desire to go home, back to the devastated Lightstone Village…

Even though his home had been destroyed, even though he knew that nobody was waiting for him, he just…wanted to go home.

Unfortunately, his old home was located on the other side of the planet.