BANG! CRASH! Before anyone could react, Cheng Sheng and Ling Yun were gone.

"Ah!" Ling Yun cried after Cheng Sheng pushed him to a wall while holding his collar in a tight grip he almost choked. He guesses, if Cheng Sheng only doesn't need him to speak, he would've already choked him.

"Who are you?" Cheng Sheng dangerously narrowed his eyes as he raised his other hand, reading to pierce Ling Yun at any time.

Ling Yun's eyes widened. "Senior! I am Ling Yun!" he said.

"Are you threatening me?" Cheng Sheng asked.

"No!" Ling Yun shook his head. "I am only your fan!" he told him. "I admire senior, and I found that the color of senior's soul is really beautiful, so… so…" he said with a red face.

Cheng Sheng froze. "… a fan?" he muttered and looked at Ling Yun's good-looking face. Instead of looking pale because of fear, the young man instead is blushing furiously. "… you are my fan?" he asked. His voice sounds strange.

Ling Yun nodded. "I once met senior when you saved us from the demonic cultivators. I admired senior since then." He answered. "I always come to the Yunxiao Inn since I heard that senior sometimes go there. My father has died five years ago so it was my uncle, his younger brother, who is raising me. He is overly protective of me so he doesn't let me leave the Zhongyang for fear of me meeting danger. So, I can't go to the East Region to look for senior, and I can only go to the Yunxiao Inn." He explained. "This is how my uncle, and our sect leader, found out about master Qie's and master Sun's information network." He finished.

Cheng Sheng finally understood. This child… is just really a child.

"Also… I saw a sliver of senior's aura on that demon, that's why I chased it with my fellow disciples!" Ling Yun added. His eyes are bright as if he is expecting for a praise.

Cheng Sheng coughed, feeling embarrassed that he overreacted. "Yes. You are really good." He said.

Ling Yun's eyes widened and he suddenly looked shy. "Senior… senior is overpraising me." He said.

Cheng Sheng secretly sighed in relief. Then, he smiled as he patted Ling Yun's head. "Ah." He muttered when he remembered something. If Ling Yun can really see one's soul… His face suddenly turned serious. "Ling Yun." He called. "Can you tell something for me?" he asked.

"Shizun!"

"Cheng Sheng!"

"Ling Yun!" the others called when they finally found them.

Cheng Sheng and Ling Yun turned. "We're fine. Just a misunderstanding." Cheng Sheng spoke and smiled as he patted Ling Yun who blushed. Then, he turned to Fei Yinzi who looked tense. "And that's 'shifu' for you!" he told him.

Everyone sighed in relief. In that flash of a second, they saw that Cheng Sheng's expression is murderous. They are afraid that he might kill Ling Yun.

"Senior's martial arts is really strong!" Ling Yun spoke with his eyes shining. "In just a blink of an eye, I was suddenly here! Senior is really great!" he said as he smiled.

Everyone. "…" this is bad. Ling Yun turns into a brainless fan because Cheng Sheng is here… where did that calm and courteous Ling Yun go? They thought as they looked at Cheng Sheng with blaming gazes.

Cheng Sheng coughed as he looked away. Don't blame me. I'm not the one who made him my fan. He thought and sighed. "Let's go back and plan how to capture that demon." He said.

"Yes." They answered.

Night.

Ling Yun reluctantly left. He looked at Cheng Sheng one last time before he ran away, lest he would change his mind and insist of staying the night in the Yunxiao Inn and be scolded by his uncle tomorrow for spending the night outside.

"That child is really pure." They said. Why did that child fell for Cheng Sheng, this scum? They thought as they looked at each other. Their gazes speaking.

Ling Yun said that his eyes are good, but they now think otherwise for being a fan of Cheng Sheng. Cheng Sheng didn't comment and just silently drink his tea. He knows that they are badmouthing him again, but he couldn't care. He has some things in his mind.

"Cheng Sheng." Qie Shi called. "Here is the other thing you asked me to look for." He said as he handed Cheng Sheng a scroll. "The Intersect Competition details." He said and winked.

Fei Yinzi heard what Qie Shi said and he froze. "Shizun…" he called as he looked at Cheng Sheng, wide-eyed. He thought that Cheng Sheng came here only for that demon. He didn't think that Cheng Sheng was actually also looking into the Intersect Competition.

Cheng Sheng took the scroll from Qie Shi, only to hit Fei Yinzi in the head with it.

"OW!" poor Fei Yinzi cried and covered his head with his both hands.

"Speaking of Intersect Competition, this reminds me…" Cheng Sheng spoke.

Fei Yinzi suddenly froze and he felt a bad feeling.

As expected, it really isn't anything good. "Starting tomorrow, you go with Ling Yun and practice your martial arts. At night, you will practice with Sun Rong to test your mage skills." Cheng Sheng said as he turned to Fei Yinzi who was frozen on his seat. "Don't reveal anything to the others, so just test your martial arts against Ling Yun. He will be a good sparring partner. I already told him earlier about this." He told him. "As for Sun Rong, he may be a civilian but he knows spells and talismans. I already paid him with wine and magic pills, so don't waste my efforts, kid." He rapped Fei Yinzi's head to wake the other up from his daze.

"Shizun…" Fei Yinzi called in a small voice.

"And call me 'shifu'." Cheng Sheng added.

Fei Yinzi pursed his lips.

"What?" Cheng Sheng spoke when he saw the other's aggrieved expression. "Am I being harsh? Then, don't go participate in the Intersect Competition, lest you just get killed if you can't even do these things I am asking you to do." He said. "It's for your own good." He added.

The others saw Fei Yinzi's eyes reddened as he held back his tears. They wanted to say something, but they also know that Cheng Sheng is correct. This cultivation world is harsh. Only the naïve ones would think that it is peaceful and beautiful. It is because they haven't seen more of it, its other side, yet.

"… I understand." Fei Yinzi answered. Then, without waiting for anyone to speak, he left.

"Teenage rebellion. Tch." Cheng Sheng shook his head as he read the content of the scroll that Qie Shi gave.

"Cheng Sheng…" they called.

"What?" Cheng Sheng lazily asked. "Fei Lin didn't even say anything after he gave me his distant cousin. Do you want to tell me to be soft-hearted to Er Zi?" he asked.

Sha Yan, Fei Yinzi's father, is actually Fei Yan, a cousin of Fei Lin's and Fei Yin's father. In order to seize the power of the Fei Clan, Fei Lin's and Fei Yin's father framed Fei Yan's father, making Fei Yan's family flee, away from the reach of the Fei Clan. Then, they reached the Southmost Region and changed their surname to Sha (sand).

Fei Yan's son, Fei Yin, although has the same name as his cousin Fei Yin – Cheng Sheng's lover, but his name has a different meaning. Cheng Sheng also knows this, but he still added the 'zi' at the end of the child's name to remind himself that the child isn't the reincarnation of his dead lover. He notified Fei Lin of his relative, of course. But, Fei Lin doesn't care about the Fei Clan anymore, and he can't take care of the child, so he left him in the warm and close-knit family of Xinfaxian Sect.

The others helplessly sighed. They think that Cheng Sheng is extremely harsh towards Fei Yinzi. But, they can't deny the fact that Cheng Sheng is right, too, since Fei Yinzi has to be strong as early as possible for him to protect himself, now that his master is weakened and might not able to protect him at any time. In fact, he will become stronger than his master, and so he has to protect his master, too.

Fei Yinzi will hold two lives in his hands, then. One is his, and the other is his master's, although there also will be others who will protect Cheng Sheng in his place. But, if Fei Yinzi wants to protect his master, too, aside from himself, then, he has to accept Cheng Sheng's unkind treatment towards him. He also won't be a child forever, and so he has to act as an adult as soon as possible, since Cheng Sheng, this scum, there isn't a word 'soft' in his vocabulary.

This is just how Cheng Sheng is.