Wei Dan flew into a rage. His voice rose an octave. “Little Ying, are you testing my patience? Are you courting death?”

“Courting death?” Old Mi smiled mournfully. “Who would choose to die if they could live?”

Zu An grew sad. Even though he was always worried that Old Mi might have some ulterior objective for helping him, they had known each other for so long. It was difficult to see him like this.

A sudden noise came from a distance away. The pitched battle had clearly alarmed the people within the Chu Estate, prompting a party of guards to investigate.

Zu An was contemplating whether he should ask the Chu clan members for help. In the end, however, he decided not to.

Even the most powerful experts in the Chu Estate had been killed by Old Mi, and this Wei Dan seemed to be even stronger.

Qin Wanru was only at the sixth rank, and she was in no condition to help out. Even though the guards of the Chu clan were elites, they were no match for a real monster like Wei Dan.

If Chu Zhongtian had been in the estate, he might have still been of some use. However, he only had eight ranks of cultivation, which was probably still not enough.

The only way they would even have had a chance was if the Chu clan’s Red Cloak Army was in the estate.

When Zu An first arrived in this world, there was one thing he couldn’t understand. If individual cultivators were so powerful, why did things like countries and armies still exist?

Only later, when he attended the academy, did he find out why. Even though the individual cultivation of the soldiers in these armies couldn’t match that of high level cultivators, large armies could employ certain special tactics to absorb the power of expert cultivators and spread it out amongst the individual soldiers, lessening its impact. At the same time, these soldiers could all concentrate their attacking force on a single enemy.

An individual cultivator would always lose when faced with an organized army.

This allowed a country’s organizational structure and the strength of its more powerful individuals to be balanced out.

While Zu An was feeling regretful, Wei Dan spoke up. “Hmph, I don’t feel like bickering with you over these matters anymore. The Chu clan’s men are already coming. I’ll capture you first, then decide what to do with you.”

Old Mi laughed. “You think I’ll let you?”

His figure rushed straight towards where Zu An was hiding. He grabbed Zu An, and then he rushed into the darkness while his quarry stared at him in shock.

Clearly, he had known all along that Zu An had been hiding nearby.

Zu An wanted to resist, but the gap in their strength was too great. Just one tap on the shoulder from Old Mi, and he had instantly lost all of his strength.

Zu An was dumbfounded. “I’m just a bystander!”

“Shut up!” Old Mi snorted coldly as he carried Zu An off into the distance.

Wei Dan exclaimed in surprise. There had actually been someone hiding over there! Why hadn’t he noticed him before?

Whatever the case, he didn’t have time to dwell on this. He chased after them right away. “Where do you think you’re going?!”

The guards of the Chu clan arrived just in time to witness Zu An’s capture, and erupted in startled cries.

“Huh? Isn’t that our estate gardener?”

“Who is that other old man?”

“Even though I don’t know who that is, I think I saw them kidnap the young master!”

An uproar broke out, with everyone standing around yelling that they had to save Zu An.

Cheng Shouping jumped out and said, “Nonsense! Our young master has miraculous talent and skills! How could he be so easily captured by those two old men? He’s obviously steps ahead of them, and is only pretending to be captured!”

“What brother Cheng says makes sense.” All those who had gathered nodded their heads. After all, their young master had killed Hong Zhong and Chu Tiesheng. In their hearts, he was immeasurably powerful. There was very little chance of him being kidnapped by two old men.

Cheng Shouping immediately grew smug when he heard the crowd address him as ‘brother Cheng’. In all his years in the estate, this was the first time he had ever been shown any respect.

This was all because of the young master. That was why he had to continue to cling tightly to this young master.

How dare anyone besmirch the reputation of the young master by suggesting that he had been kidnapped?! He had to nip these bad rumors in the bud right away. His own reputation was on the line!

Zhou Lujun pulled Cheng Shouping to the side, his expression dark. “Are you sure that the young master planned this? Those two elders are at least at the ninth rank.”

“Ninth rank?” Cheng Shouping was shocked. “Is that higher than the young master’s cultivation?”

“Of course!” Feng Daniu said with a strange voice. “Everyone knows that ninth-ranked cultivators can soar into the heavens. Those two elders clearly flew away with the young master in tow. How can you lack such common knowledge?”

“Of course I know that!” Cheng Shouping said stubbornly, but he was full of guilt inside. He immediately began to pray fervently to the heavens for his young master’s safety. If something were to happen, his own prospects for advancement in the Chu clan would go up in smoke!

Zu An found himself carried into the air by Old Mi. The houses below grew smaller and smaller. He swallowed and said, “You guys can keep fighting if you want. Why did you have to get me involved?!”

Wind rushed into his mouth as soon as he opened it, and his words came out a jumbled mess.

Old Mi snorted. “You’re involved in this matter too. You obviously can’t remain a bystander.”

“What does this have to do with me?!” Zu An suddenly realized that, since he knew the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra as well. Perhaps this matter did have something to do with him after all. “Please hold me tightly, then. I don’t want to be dropped.”

Old Mi smiled insincerely. “Don’t worry. If you fall, you’ll only be crippled at worst. You won’t die. Heck, it might even improve your cultivation.” 

Zu An was not amused.

He knew that the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra required him to be beaten up in order to cultivate, but he didn’t want to resort to this to increase his cultivation!

Wei Dan’s voice came from behind them. “Little Ying, I’m surprised you noticed this brat just now. I didn’t even know he was there.”

Old Mi chuckled. “I have my ways.”

Zu An was stunned. He thought that the difference in cultivation had made Mirror Mirage ineffective, but Wei Dan’s words just proved his theory wrong.

How did Old Mi notice me, then?

“I guessed as much. You probably left a spiritual imprint on him.” Wei Dan sighed. “I didn’t expect you to care so much about this kid. Did you pass on the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra to him as well?”

Old Mi didn’t reply. Zu An’s heart began to pound.

Who would have thought that even the sudden quickening of his heartbeat would be picked up by Wei Dan? 

“As expected. I wouldn’t have gone through such trouble if I’d known that this was the case. I could have just interrogated him.”

Old Mi snorted. “It’s too late for regrets now.”

“It’s not too late. I’ll just capture both of you for interrogation.” Wei Dan smiled. “I was worried that your mouth would be tightly shut, but this kid might not be as tough to deal with.”

Zu An really didn’t like being treated as though he were invisible. “Can’t the two of you talk after you land? Do you guys like it up here or something?”

His cultivation was far beneath the two of them. Little Zu An began to shrivel up from the cold.

“So, this youngster is scared,” Wei Dan teased. “I guess it can’t be helped. It’s only natural for ordinary people to feel afraid the first time they fly this high. You don’t need to feel embarrassed.”

Zu An wasn’t at all impressed.

“You think this bit of altitude scares me? I’ve flown ten thousand meters into the air without having to lift a finger! Do you see me bragging about that?” Zu An said with a sulk.

“Ten thousand meters?!”

Both Wei Dan and Old Mi were flabbergasted when they heard this number.

However, they quickly shook off their shock. Old Mi was so angry that he almost let go of Zu An. “Damned brat, aren’t you going a bit too far with your lies?”

You have successfully trolled Mi Lianying for 666 Rage points!

Wei Dan shared his feelings. “Little Ying, why did you choose such an unreliable kid to become your successor?”

You have successfully trolled Wei Dan for 666 Rage points!

What kind of joke was this? The higher you flew, the stronger the winds would become. Not even his majesty, the number one expert in this world, could fly that high, let alone a brat like this.

Zu An twisted his lips. “There’s nothing I can do if you lack experience. Summer bugs don’t know anything about winter.”

He really wasn’t lying. All the aircraft in his previous world flew at that altitude.

Wei Dan wasted no more attention on him. He let Zu An persist with his nonsense, and brought his attention back to Old Mi. “Little Ying, I’m curious about something. Why haven’t you used the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra yet?”