“It’s all here,” The gun-wielding man says after counting the money.

“Do you have any leftover product? I’ll leave you a grand if there’s enough; otherwise I'm not interested. I won't pay more than that,” The man who seemed to be in charge of this operation says with a mischievous smile, watching as Daryl shakes his head.

“I got rid of what was left after I found out someone was asking around about me,” Daryl admits, still bitter about this whole ordeal.

“Smart,” the leading man responds before gesturing to the gun-wielding man. “Let’s go,” he continues to say, but after the gun-wielding man led the way out of the door, he seems to hesitate. The leading man turns around and decides to offer some consolation, “Kid, I know you got burned this time, but it was better us than the cops. And although I’m not suggesting you continue dealing, because you’re clearly not aware of the situation, you shouldn’t stop the hustle. This world is eat or be eaten and you’ve got more spunk than the rest of the sheep.” The man takes out a card from his pocket and hands it to Daryl. “If you ever have business with the Demon Heart gang, contact this number and ask for Dice. Here’s hoping we never meet again,” he says before leaving and closing the door behind him.

After he leaves, Daryl looks to Taylor, and Taylor looks to Daryl.

“You’re fucking lucky we’re alive,” Taylor says frankly before going to the living room to lie on a couch. “I’m passing out here, and I don’t give a fuck what you say,” Taylor says before closing his eyes.

Daryl sighs and also heads to his bedroom. He was also tired.

…

…

Taylor missed work the next day and slept in until late in the evening. After waking up, Taylor and Daryl promptly picked up some beer and proceeded to get drunk.

…

…

A few days later, Taylor received a call from the cultivator who kidnapped him. He was told to wait to be picked up and to bring his cultivation book.

…

…

“There’s nothing in here,” the man says as he flips through the book. “And the title is in a weird script,” The man says confused, before turning to Taylor. “Are you fucking with me? Kid, I’m not going to steal your cultivation book. I just want to see if you’re associated with any of the cultivators from the association,” The man says frankly.

“No, that’s the book. I don’t know why you can’t read it; do you want me to read it to you?” Taylor asks, bewildered.

“No, I don’t’ want you to fucking read it to me,” The man says, insulted by the idea before thinking the matter over. “Has your blood ever touched this book?” The man asks, taking a shot in the dark.

“Yeah, I cut my finger on it when I bought it,” Taylor answers, unsure why that mattered.

“Fuck,” the man exclaims. “You’re an Inheritor,” The man states, confusing Taylor even further.

“What does that mean?” He asks, curious as to what he inherited.

“There are a lot of different ways one can cultivate and many Daos to abide by. But you’re an inheritor; this means that you’re Dao is set and no matter how hard you try, you can only cultivate according to that Dao. This could be good or bad, depending on the Dao, and your character's compatibility,” The man explains, thinking that the matter was quite interesting. “Have you fully read this book?” The man asks, curious as to what Dao this child was cultivating.

“I haven’t gotten around to it,” Taylor answers honestly. And if Taylor was being completely honest, he wasn’t a very avid reader.

“Unfortunate. But it matters not,” The man says before closing the book and handing it back to Taylor. “I’ve been tasked with showing you the way cultivators operate in this world. After a few lessons, the association will assign you a small domain; probably somewhere inhospitable, but that’s not my problem,” The man says trying to stay on topic.

“You mean I’ll have to leave the city?” Taylor exclaims with wide eyes. Taylor began to get anxious. I can’t leave the city; my whole life is here, Taylor thinks to himself.