Coming back to the Sect, he decided to visit his cousin as he told him in the banquet that he would help her in alchemy in exchange for some Fatigue Pills. The ‘work’ was more than he expected. By the time the alchemy research his cousin was doing was complete, it was already midnight. Li Wenqing blamed herself for it. So she insisted on having him stay in her place for the night as his place is quite far from the Inner Court Li Wenqing lives in. At first, he was very opposed to the idea for obvious reasons but then, she went on the offense. After some thinking, he decided to stay here for the night.

“It is getting a bit cold outside…” Li Daozi said, looking out of his window, wiping off the frost.

“Yup, but I like cold nights like this!” A sweet voice entered his ears. It was his cousin, Li Wenqing.

“Do you not feel that the sudden weather change in the last three months of the year is a bit weird?”

“Weird? Not really. I guess that’s because I got used to it.”

Li Daozi nodded, approving her answer.

Suddenly, Li Wenqing changed topics and her face turned serious. “Right. You must be careful after you become an Outer Core Disciple. The Outer Court is not peaceful. You must not get into conflicts. If any problem arises, use my Brother’s name.”

Li Daozi didn’t know much about her aside from the fact that her brother is a Core Disciple of the Sect.

“Don’t worry about it. Do I look like a rash and ignorant person?”

Li Wenqing’s expression eased up and she sighed. “I’m telling you this because a few weeks ago, a good friend of mine, died during a death match.”

“I see. Oh, was it Pei Nuo?” Li Daozi thought back to the scene where Bing Yuxie, the top talent of the Sect, fought her.

She nodded.

Li Daozi sighed. “Her luck was quite bad. Out of everyone in the Sect, she bored a grudge against the new Young Sect Master. Well, can’t blame her though because she was ignorant of the matter.”

“Even so! There are no grudges in this world that are irreconcilable.” Li Wenqing muttered with a grieved expression.

“There are, in fact. But I can see where you are coming from. Even so, you have to understand that there is no fairness in this world.” Li Daozi smiled due to unknown reasons.

Hearing his reply, Li Wenqing revealed a confused expression. Although she wasn’t narrow-minded enough to get angry just because someone didn’t agree to her reasonings, she felt indignant. “Can you elaborate?”

Li Daozi blinked. Looking at the eyes of his cousin, he understood that he had to give her a proper reply. “Take the Celestial One Luo Kin for instance. He reigned supreme across all ages establishing prestige and fame. He started as a beggar and reached the absolute apex. Even after all these accomplishments, he was never arrogant and treated everyone equally. He even offended the entire Otherworldly Race experts for a couple of young cultivators. Despite this, he was hunted down by the United Alliance because he possessed a heaven-defying treasure. What do you think?”

Li Wenqing was at a loss of words. She furiously stomped her feet and replied, “They deserve to die!”

Li Daozi shook his head. “That’s not the point. Do you think this would have happened if he was more like the Devil Celestial? No! The only reason he got cornered is because he was naive enough to reveal the treasure and was too soft. So... was the United Alliance right? Of course not. They were despicable and shameless. In this world, the strong ones decide the rights and wrongs. So, they were indeed right. The concept of fundamental rights and wrongs are not applicable in this world.”

She didn’t reply. After a moment of silence, she opened her mouth slowly. “I… don’t agree. If that’s what we cultivators are, then how are we any different from beasts?”

Li Daozi smiled. “We aren’t. It’s our arrogance that led us to think that we are any different from beasts. I would even go as far as to say that we are only civilized beasts and that’s fine. In this pugilistic world, people should be allowed to have freedom instead of being forced by a doctrine of righteousness.” He paused, then found his cousin’s expression was dark. “Of course, my thoughts are just my thoughts. They can be disagreeable. The point I’m trying to make is - in this world, the concepts of fundamental rights and wrongs are not applicable.”

Li Wenqing nodded smiling lightly and then asked. “Then, where do you think that the concepts of fundamental rights and wrongs are applicable?”

Li Daozi gazed through the window, his lips curled up. “Perhaps in a world where all the human beings are mortals and are more or less, treated equally.”

***

So as to avoid rumors, he got up before dawn and went back to his place. Putting on the face-changing mask and turning into a middle-aged person, he headed to a marketplace located quite far from the Sect.

Shaman City.

After a few hours, a black-robed man with his face covered entered the city. It was naturally Li Daozi. Although he wore the face-changing mask, he still covered his face. The first thing he did after entering the city was looking around. “There shouldn't be a Second Layer Qi Condensation expert…”

He went to a nearby empty grocery shop. Seeing him, the shopkeeper instantly put on a harmless smile. “So what would you like?”

Li Daozi smiled. “I want to know where the Council of Elders of this marketplace are?”

The shopkeeper’s face dimmed when he realized that man hadn’t come here to buy but he still replied to his question. “They are in the City Hall.”

“Oh, thank you.”

The shopkeeper didn’t reply.

Reaching the City Hall, he saw a few guards. He went to them. “I wish to have a talk with the Elders.”

“I apologise. They are currently in a meeting.”

“I’m a cultivator.”

“Oh, forgive our manners. Please enter.” The guard then instructed another guard to lead him.

…

“Sir, is there anything we can do to help you?” One of the Elders smiled at Li Daozi and asked. There were other four Elders similarly giving him curious looks.

Li Daozi smiled. “I indeed wanted your help with something.”

“Please speak frankly.” The Elder’s smile didn’t fade hearing his reply. The others too showed expressions of understanding.

Li Daozi smiled and nodded. “I want your entire capital.”

In an instant, their smiles went stiff. An Elder hurriedly stood up and said, “Sir, please don’t joke.”

Elementary Grappling Method!

Thud!

His lifeless body fell down.

“Don’t think of running away. I’m a Third Layer. Do you think the four of you can escape if I wanted to kill?” He lied. Honestly speaking, there is less than 50% chance to kill all of them if they wanted to flee with their lives. Yes, they could flee but it doesn’t mean he can’t catch them. His main worries were the revelation of the matter. It could very well turn into troublesome if this incident was reported to the South Region’s Luxury House.

Hearing him, their hearts thumped. It was not to say that the four Elders were easy to fool. Just that they don’t dare to gamble on their lives.

He walked towards them nonchalantly. As he stood at a distance of half-metre from them, he said. “Will you give me the capital or not?”

They didn’t open their mouths. All of them looked down in fear.

Thud!

All of a sudden, two bodies fell to the floor. They lowered their guards thinking that he won’t kill them until they answer. They didn’t know that he came here with the intention to leave none of them alive. “I’m lacking patience.” He spoke again with a deep voice.

The other two Elders were scared out of their minds. They have never engaged in combat, much less killing. “We… we will give you our entire capital!” The dark-skinned thin Elder voiced out.

“Then what are you waiting for? But wait, don’t tell me you need to go out for that.”

The Elder’s expression went deadly. “Yes… Sir. The treasury isn’t in the Hall.”

“Oh, then die.”

Thud!

He looked at the remaining Elder who had no expressions on his face. “Give.”

The Elder sighed. “He was telling the truth-”

“Swear on the Nine Tribulations.”

The Elder’s face aged all of a sudden. With a bitter smile, he opened his mouth. “Kill me.”

Li Daozi sighed. “Why are you so eager to get killed? Don’t you wish to play with your grandchild anymore?”

The Elder’s eyes turned wide, then the corners of his eyes became wet. “What are you trying to say?”

Li Daozi suddenly laughed. “Previously, I randomly guessed that you have a grandchild. Now, it seems like it’s true. Yes, yes. I’m saying that if you don’t give me the entire capital, your grandchild along with other family members will die. Of course, even if you did give me the capital, I would still kill you.”

“Why… would you kill me?”

“One, you might report me to the South Region’s Luxury House. Even if you swear on the Nine Tribulations, they might still question you and it’s a matter of time before they catch me. Two, it is a much more straightforward reason - for my practice.”

“Practice!!? What sort of demon technique are you practicing that you need to kill people!?”

“Although I don’t want to explain that to you, I’ll do you a favor since you’re about to die anyways. Listen carefully, by killing people I get death energy and refine them. Death Energy acts as a sort of Experience Points for my technique. Hm, that’s the gist of it.”

It was unknown whether the Elder understood fully or not but the next moment, he nodded his head.

…

“This is the treasury. Everything here now belongs to you. Now give me a swift death.” The Elder brought him to a room full of Spirit Stones.

Without saying anything, he used the “Elementary Grappling Method”.

He died.

Li Daozi looked at the Spirit Stones. “Will all of these fit in five Spatial Rings?”

…

“Who do you think the cultivator was?”

“Dunno. Maybe a disciple from some sect.”

“He looked a bit intimidating.”

As the guards were chatting, the Hall’s main door suddenly sprang open. Immediately, the guards went alert. Then a thin old man with a bloodied abdomen came into their view.

“This… Elder, how did this happen!?”

“Don’t talk about it. That bastard did a great number on me…”

All the guards’ faces went pale. “Then… where is that cultivator now?”

“He got away killing others with the entire wealth of the market!”

Everyone held their breaths.

The Elder snorted. “I’m going to the South Region to report this.”

“Then… What do we do?” A guard anxiously voiced out.

“Do what you can.”

“But…” Before giving him a chance to reply, the Elder disappeared.

The guards looked at each other and bitterly smiled.

…

“Phew… now the only remaining is with the corpse…” Without taking off the face-changing mask, Li Daozi took out the corpse of an old man from his Spatial Ring. “I guess I should just burn him to ashes.”