1 Crisis

It was raining heavily, and two young men were standing on the battle arena in the training ground of silver lining sect.

The stands of the arena was filled to the brim with sect disciples and elders. Since this is a battle between two of the best among the disciples, it gained a lot of attention from both disciples and elders.

Hao Ren is generally acknowledged as the most talented of the younger generation in the sect but the previous number one disciple in the sect challenged him to a battle due to his pride and jealousy the moment he made a breakthrough to the same cultivation stage as himself.

Wu Chen has always been the number one genius of the sect but it all changed with the arrival of Hao Ren, a complete stranger to everyone in the sect, his father was a local hunter who had once helped the sect leader and the sect leader was indebted to him and was looking for a way to repay the favour so the sect leader invited both Hao Yi and his son Hao Ren to come visit his sect the Silver Lining sect.

After the visit, Hao Yi decided to leave his son Hao Ren in the sect when he was going on a hunting trip. He wasn't sure when he'll return so he wanted to ensure Hao Ren's safety, so he thought of the Silver Lining sect leader he helped and thought it'd be better if he left Hao Ren there to cultivate till he returns.

At the end Hao Yi went for his hunting trip and ended up not coming back for a year. Since Hao Yi had been gone for so long, most of the sect elders have already concluded that he had met with an accident and is probably dead.

Some of the elders of the sect were angry that they were spending the sect resources on a complete stranger who might leave anytime. In the space of one year that Hao Ren has been in the sect, he has shown his high talent by moving from Qi Gathering Stage Two to Qi Gathering Stage Six which is the fastest cultivation speed in the history of the sect.

Elder Wu was very angry seeing his son facing such an obstacle and thought that since Hao Ren's father is most likely dead it would be best to eliminate him, but because of the sect leader he didn't get a chance.

When the sect leader entered secluded cultivation to try to breakthrough to a higher realm, he saw his chance and decided to instigate Wu Chen into fighting with Hao Ren and probably kill him if the chance presents itself.

"Hao Ren you think just because the sect leader thinks highly of you and your father you can do whatever you want in the sect" Wu Chen said

"Little boy, come on let I Your Father teach you some manners. After this your father will probably come and thank me for helping him educate his stupid son" said Hao Ren

Elder Wu's face turned red due to anger and a hint of killing intent exuded out of his body when he heard what Hao Ren said.

"I'm just joking, having a stupid son like you will be a disgrace to me. I'm surprised your father hasn't disowned you yet. Maybe after I beat you up today he'll start thinking about doing it" said Hao Ren

"Nothing has been heard about your father for a year now. He's most likely dead, I see no reason why you're still so proud" said Wu Chen

"I have every reason to be proud in front of you because you're three years older than me yet we're in the same cultivation stage and also unlike you dumbass, I don't depend on my father for everything" said Hao Ren

"You" Wu Chen roared in anger but was interrupted halfway before he could finish his statement by Hao Ren

"Enough chit chat, let's get started" said Hao Ren

Hao Ren has never been bothered about everything they've been saying about his father being dead, because he knew his father is still alive. So he doesn't care about their comments and never even bothers to tell them because he knew that apart from the sect leader, the rest don't really care about him so he just turns a deaf ear to everything they say or do.

Hao Ren had a nonchalant expression, he just stood there and looked at Wu Chen running towards him with rage and all his strength giving it all he got.

Wu Chen formed a fist with right hand and a claw with his left hand directed towards Hao Ren, at the end Hao Ren made a slight movement shifted to the side after calculating Wu Chen's movement letting Wu Chen pass by him easily, then he bumped into Wu Chen with his back without even facing Wu Chen. Wu Chen lost control of his body due to his speed and stumbles before falling face first using his hands as support so he won't hit the battle platform with his face.

Hao Ren looked at Wu Chen and shook his head with his hands behind his back while walking towards Wu Chen, Hao Ren was not bothered because he was certain that this battle was an easy win for him. Especially after seeing how rage took control over the actions of his opponent.

"Your Foolishness, please can you be more serious, am getting tired". Hao Ren made a gesture like he was feeling sleepy.

"I will give you three chances to attack, Your Foolishness" said Hao Ren looking sleepy.

Wu Chen stood up feeling devastated, he roared and started moving towards the calm looking Hao Ren. In less than Ten breaths they've exchanged three move. Wu Chen attacking with Hao Ren effortlessly defending, as soon as the three moves where over Hao Ren attacked Wu Chen. Hao Ren formed a fist with his right hand and landed it on Wu Chen's chest, Wu Chen stumbled backward fell down with his back facing Hao Ren and vomited a mouthful of blood, Hao Ren walked over to Wu Chen with a mocking look on his face.

"Son the time is now, get ready" Wu Chen heard his father's voice on his head and knew that the time for his father to make a move has arrived.

Wu Chen calmed down, immediately reaching into the storage belt given to him by his father and brought out a rank two middle tier dagger with no one noticing him. Hao Ren who was walking toward Wu Chen was hit by a spiritual attack and went blank for a moment, before he could snap out of it he saw Wu Chen directing his hand holding a dagger aimed towards his abdomen.

Hao Ren reacted quickly but Wu Chen was faster and stab Hao Ren with full force directing the blow at Hao Ren's dantian. Hao Ren used all the power he could muster to deliver a kick on Wu Chen rids ending up destroying more than half part of Wu Chen's ribs, Wu Chen flew backwards with the blood stained dagger falling from his hands. Both Wu Chen and Hao Ren vomited several mouthful of blood.

The entire sect was shocked to the core, at the turn of the event. They never expected that Elder Wu will give Wu Chen his storage belt that contained most of his treasures including the small dagger. After Hao Ren delivered the fatal blow to Wu Chen, Wu Chen immediately fell unconscious.

Hao Ren barely stood up, blood dripping from his mouth and abdomen. He glanced through the crowd then his gaze fell on Elder Wu. Elder Wu's face was filled with rage, madness, killing intent that could not be hidden but he couldn't make a move in him because of the sect rules. Hao Ren watched Elder Wu and recalled what his father told him about always being observant.

'If I had reacted a little slower then I would have been dead' Hao Ren thought.

"Wu Chen" Elder Wu roared when he saw that Wu Chen lost consciousness on the arena. He immediately jumped towards the arena to check on his son.

"You little beast, I'll kill you" Elder Wu roared towards Hao Ren on seeing the severity of Wu Chen's injuries. His eyes had turned blood red due to anger

When the rest elders finally came back after the shock, they immediately went over to hold back Elder Wu from violating the sect rules

'Elder Wu calm down, your son isn't dead. With a month or two of recuperation he'll recover, his condition is far better than Hao Ren's condition. From what I can see his dantian is cracked and he'll probably never be able to advance in his cultivation again. I think this is even better than killing him. You know the sect leader will be angry with you if he dies' Elder Wu heard Elder Yun's voice in his head.

While the rest Elders went over to Elder Wu's side, Elder Li went to check on Hao Ren. When he saw how bad the situation was he was both angry and sad. He never expected that the father and son duo would be this shameless to sneak attack Hao Ren during the battle. He immediately took Hao Ren away to see if he could find a way to help him as there was a crack on his dantian. Although he wasn't totally crippled but currently he was no different from a cripple because there is no way for him to make any future advancements and because of the crack his spiritual essence will gradually decrease over time till he'll turn to a normal person.

After trying everything he could and still couldn't work anything out, he decided to take him to the Grand Elder to see if he has anyway to help Hao Ren

"Sigh, Li Feng I'm sorry there's nothing I can do about this" Grand Elder Meng said to Elder Li

"I'm sorry to tell you boy but you're currently crippled, only a few natural treasures could help you now. But there is no way to find any of them in this little part of the continent we're currently in" Grand Elder Meng said to Hao Ren

Elder Li looked at Hao Ren feeling regret for not being able to help him. Hao Ren felt despair on finding out that for him to make a complete recovery will be almost impossible for the current him, he felt down but believed once his father returned he'll find a way to help him recover.

At night Hao Ren sat on his bed looking out the window at the full moon.

"When will you return father, I don't know how long I can keep going on alone. I'm so lonely"...