“Did you hear the rumor?”

“Yeah, I did. I was pretty shocked though.”

“Makes sense, considering how he acted.”

“Still, it’s kinda weird.”

“Hm?” Xieren looked around the dining hall. Everyone was whispering but their words were loud and clear to him. They were speaking about something or someone. Usually, he wouldn’t care but he couldn’t help but be curious. Perhaps it had something to do with him?

“Brother Xieren!?” The youth looked up to see a beautiful young lady wave at him. Her long dark hair and luminous eyes glowed under the afternoon sun. Unaware of all the stares she was receiving, she called him over. “Come, sit with me, brother!”

With a heavy heart, he did so, trying to ignore all the glares he received from those who yearned for this one sister's attention. It wasn’t like he wanted to be the center of attention. No, he wished he could just disappear until he was strong enough to prove himself to all of them. Instead, he ended up gaining attention for all the wrong reasons.

Sitting across from the lovely lady, he sighed as he felt the glares burn holes into his back. Their jealousy really was unwarranted. This girl, Li Xinyi, was really not worth all this fuss. She was an idiot.

“Brother Xieren, what’s the matter?” She asked, apparently unaware of all the stares they were getting. “Do you have a stomach ache? Do you wish for me to rub it?”

Her innocent words, broadcasted across the dining hall by her casual tone, brought upon him darker glares. The other disciples wished death upon him, both wanting to kill Xieren and wanting to be him at the same time.

As I thought, she’s an idiot. Xieren thought, shaking his head at her. Xinyi pouted, confused at his answer but soon nodded with understanding. Xinyi, despite being a genius at alchemy, was an idiot when it came to affection. She was so caring and sweet, many disciples wished to court her but her simplistic way of viewing others made it nigh impossible to get her to reciprocate. Everyone knew this about her and chose to just admire her from afar.

That changed when Xieren was accepted into the sect. No one was sure how the two met but they were soon seen together constantly. Whenever possible, Xinyi would visit Xieren, giving him gifts and having lunch with him. Many assumed they were close though Xieren denied this.

“I can’t control what she does.” He’d retort when confronted by her jealous fanboys. “If you have a problem with her visiting me, take it up with her.” This would usually lead to Xieren being beaten bloody and having to be carried to the infirmary, which would mean Xinyi would rush over to treat him.

Rinse and repeat.

This day, Xieren chose to ignore the stares. He was in a fairly good mood. It had been a good couple days since he last saw his Shizun and his absence meant he could relax and train on his own. While he wasn’t sure how well his cultivation was going, he knew for a fact he was probably getting more done without his Shizun’s so called guidance.

“Ne, Brother Xieren, have you heard the news?” Xinyi asked, eating her meal quietly. In front of her was a feast for at least three. While she had a huge appetite, he knew it wasn’t all for her.

“I’m guessing it’s what everyone is whispering about?” He asked, eating his meager meal. Due to his status, he wasn’t yet granted as much food as others. For whatever reason, he was given less. He didn’t mind. He could just go hunt for his own food.

“En, it’s been a crazy couple days!” She replied, shaking with excitement. This confused the young man since he knew few things interested Xinyi other than alchemy.

“Go on.”

“Master Shao went into seclusion.” She stated, placing some of her food onto his plate. Like, half of it. Whether she was aware of how much food he ate, Xieren wasn’t sure but whenever they ate together, she’d share more than half her meal with him. It was part of the reason why he ate with her despite all the trouble it brought him. Hunting was fine but it was hard to do so on a near empty stomach.

“Did he now?” He munched on his food. He thought back to the last time he saw Shizun, his impassive gaze watching him spar. While he’d wondered what he’d been doing since then, he didn’t think about why Shizun hadn’t appeared. He was used to Shizun not being around. The man rarely interacted with him to begin with.

“En, it’s not yet known how long he’ll be gone but most folk are on edge about it.” She said, pouting.

“How come?”

“Ah. Since he went into seclusion, Sect Leader Shuren has been in a foul mood.” She stated, sharing more food.

Xieren frowned at this. Even though he’d yet to meet the sect leader, he knew the man by rumor. It was said that Zi Shuren was stern, strict and just, letting little get to him, like a summer breeze against a mountain. To hear that their enigmatic leader was in a bad mood, possibly because of one man, sounded crazy to him.

“It might be because of something else.” He reasoned, cocking a brow. “I doubt Shizun has anything to do with that.”

“Perhaps. Oh, by the way, I've almost forgot, I met with Master Shao the other day.” Xinyi said, smiling at the memory. “He was very nice.”

“Nice?” He echoed, frowning. That didn’t sound like him. Shizun wasn’t nice or mean, nay he was indifferent to most. Xieren’s impression of Shao Liang Fei was minimal but he knew that much. The man was lofty, showing himself to be above others.

His mind wandered back to the event from a few days prior. When Shizun intervened with those bastards who cornered him. Who accused him of stealing. Not only did Shizun defend him but also allowed him defend himself. His touch, the first he’d felt from his master in months, was gentle and caring. Then he mocked at him.

“En, he and I spoke about my alchemy.” Xinyi replied, missing the darkened expression of Xieren’s face. “He seemed really curious about it. It was nice to have someone else to talk to about medicine. Master Shao-”

“Speaking of, how is the thing I asked of you?” He interrupted, not wanting to talk about Shizun anymore. Xinyi might be silly enough to trust him but Xieren knew better. “Is it done?”

“...No, not yet.” She sighed, closing her eyes. She might have missed his scowl but she knew Xieren disliked his Shizun so she chose to let it go. Perhaps it was a misunderstanding between them but it was none of her concern. “I still need some more herbs and I can’t request anymore from Master Zhihao.”

The way things went, alchemists in training were allowed to request the use of herbs at or below their level. The higher the level, the more difficult it was to nurture the plant fully. Xinyi was still a low level disciple despite her intellect due being too magnanimous to others. Luckily, the herbs she needed were low level but she had already reached her monthly limit.

Xieren knew how strict Fang Zhihao, the head of the Alchemist division was so he knew asking or even trying to steal the herbs wouldn’t work. But they needed them…

“I have an idea.” He stated, glaring down at the rice in his bowl. “Just leave it to me…”

***

Meanwhile, some distance away, Liang Fei was lounging in his room. His seclusion had only been going on for a few days and in that time, he’d gotten a much better understanding of the world he inhabited. He had made sure to secure some books on the world’s history before secluding himself and binge read through it all.

The world was weird.

Apparently, this world of cultivation was once ruled by demons. Many generations before, demons ravished the land, killing thousands and enslaving many. This went on until a select few managed to capture a demon and get the secret of the demons weakness. It’s unclear what that weakness was and there were some holes in the history at that point, but the one thing that was clear was that war broke out between the humans and demons. To get on equal footing, humans used qi, something they already used to lengthen their life to gain the strength to fight. A long battle ensued until the demons were driven the far reaches of the continent and imprisoned in a dungeon deep under the ocean. The resentful energy released by those still trapped made the land surrounding the entrance uninhabitable. To prevent the miasma from spreading, Special flowers are used to keep the resentful energy at bay. As long as they remain blooming, it won’t spread.

“Thats a bit precarious.” Liang Fei muttered, resting the history book down. He looked around, taking in the scene. Dozens of books scattered about the ground, blankets strew about the room from him laying down where ever he felt like and snacks littering the spaces in between. He grimaced at the sight.

“I really should clean this up.” He said to no one, stretching his stiff muscles. He hadn’t actually moved that much over the last few days, choosing to spend his time learning more about the world. He just didn’t expect how little time it’d take to do so.

“Who knew being left alone for half a week was enough time to learn about an country’s history?” He concluded, taking up all the trash. He had never been so at peace before. Usually, someone would bother him throughout the day, whether it was demands for him to ‘eat for the love of god’ or ‘get some fresh air, you hermit’. To be allowed to curl up and read for as long as he wished was like a dream come true. Not only had he learned the history of the world but he also learned a bit about cultivation from his original’s memory.

Cultivation required one to take in and utilize qi in order the strengthen the body and spirit. There were several steps to doing so. One was having the right body, one capable of cultivation. Most folks didn’t but those who do can become cultivators. How far they get is determined by their body’s ‘root’.

Shao Liang Fei’s root was decent, allowing him to be praised and looked upon as the hope of their clan. When he hit a bottleneck, frustration set in and it led to him not trying for fear of failure.

The current Liang Fei was content where he was. He felt no desire to get any stronger than he was now, since it was a decent place to be. Ranking wise, the original was in a good place for his age.

Had the original lived to hear such words, he’d spit blood and rage about how complacent his replacement was. Shao Liang Fei wanted to be the strongest but Liang Fei was just content to live long enough to return home. He very much wanted to see his family. He wanted to hear his sister rant and rave about her latest novel obsession. To listen to his aunt and uncle share bad jokes. To be dragged about by his best friend on some dumb ‘adventure’.

He missed all that.

He missed all of them.

Shaking his head, he pulled himself from that train of thought. It wouldn't do him any good to let those things bring him down. He just had to survive for an (unknown) amount of time and He could return.

With that in mind, he thought about the second part of his plan. After learning about the world, he realized two things.

1: He still had about a month left of his seclusion.

2: His current level of understanding of the world was not nearly enough.

A world was not just it's history but also it's people. He needed to interact with the inhabitants of this world so he could adapt better. But it couldn't be in this sect. There were too many unknowns and the originals memories was fuzzy at best. If he tried to talk to the other cultivators, they were bound to notice the gaps in his knowledge.

He briefly thought about system Q's ‘freebie’ but decided not to chance it. He wasn't sure how that worked and relying on it was bound to make him too complacent in his mission.

Considering all these factors, Liang Fei came to a conclusion. He had to go to a town.

It allow him an opportunity to get used to the intricacies of the world and its rules. He could learn much more about a place from the lips of a local than from the pages of a book.

That and he really didn't want to spend the next month or so rereading books when he could do something else. His body buzzed with energy and he needed to move.

***

Hours later, as the moon shined bright in the sky, Liang Fei looked over his appearance, still amazed by the sight.

In the simplest terms, he was lovely.

His features were beautiful but not enough that one would doubt his masculinity. Long black hair fell smoothly down his back, stopping just above his tail bone. Somewhat self conscious about the length, Liang Fei chose to tie it back.

The most shocking part of his appearance was his eyes. From the looks of it, his eyes from back when he was alive came with him. Vibrant violet eyes stared back at him, reminding him of Yang Xue Tian's words from long before.

Those eyes of yours are way too bright, man. It makes people think things you aren't willing to share.

Liang Fei hadn't understood what he'd meant at the time. He been told his eyes were attractive, yes, but to influence people's thoughts? He wasn't magical.

Setting that aside, Liang Fei finished getting ready, placing a mask over his face that effectively covered the top half of his face. He definitely didn't want to get caught sneaking about when he was supposed to be in seclusion. Especially if he had to then explain it was half because he was bored.

He left his dwelling, listening out for any guards or people. While his clothes were dark enough to blend in with the cool night, these were cultivators so who knew how good their senses were.

Armed with nothing but a light pack and a sword that rarely left his side (he'd tried to get rid of it but no such luck), Liang Fei managed to slip past the few people wandering about. He even spotted the youths from his first day, loitering about near the female disciples quarters.

Cold violet eyes stared down at the group. He could let them be but what kind of man would that make him? Plus, if they were planning to frame another innocent, he sure as hell wasn't going to make it easy for them.

He took the time to alert the guards and lead them to the youths. The group panicked and attempted to run away but were soon caught and dragged away. Despite that, the guards still looked out for the original intruder, being wise enough not to start a panic over it that he could use to cover his escape. Liang Fei was sure they didn't realize it was him but sticking around was not a good idea. Just as he was slipping away, he spotted Xinyi, sitting in her room.