It was deep in the night, and the brightness of the full moon illuminated the entire surface, creating an almost perfect reflection. A slight breeze blew gently, carrying with it the occasional leaf. Some of these leaves were however halted as they brushed against the solitary figure present.

She peacefully sat on the only stair of the Ancestral Temple. Her face staring blankly toward the stars, her expression reflecting the mysteries of the universe. A sense of serenity could be seen hidden in her eyes, blending perfectly within the surrounding environment.

It was then that she heard unexpected footsteps. When she turned to look inside the temple, she noticed the approaching shadow of a young man.

The man looked young. His upper half was completely bare, while the lower half was covered by long tattered clothes. His skin was perfectly fine without any scars, his long a hair a bit disorderly but still elegantly resting against his shoulders. He had a pair of eyes like an eagle, completely calm but evidently capable of equivalent ferocity if provoked.

When Jack noticed the beautiful fairy in front of him, his dominant air melted down, instead replaced by a feeling of surprise. Although two months had passed, he still couldn’t forget the appearance of this woman. She had clearly left a soft mark inside his heart.

Countless questions popped up. What was she doing here alone in the middle of the night? Was she waiting for someone? His thoughts were rushing like galloping horses, but he quickly suppressed them.

“I am Jack, an inner sect disciple of the sect. No need to be afraid of me.” Jack assumed that his current appearance might scare her away.

The young maiden glanced at Jack, her index finger on her lips, seemingly trying to figure out the man in front of her.

“An inner Sect Disciple? Why haven’t I seen you around before? Are you a new recruit?”

Jack let out a soft laugh. “Well, you can say that I am a new recruit if you put it that way…”

“Oh! You must be the infamous mortal recruited by Dai Jun?! But the others said that you had the appearance of a savage brute, you don’t look like that at all? And shouldn’t you be already dead?”

Jack smiled wryly. “That’s not a very nice thing to say...”

The girl giggled, clearly not showing any repentance for what she had just said. However, it was evident that Jack didn’t mind her teasing either.

“Young madam, you know my name, may I have the pleasure to know yours?”

“Chun Meili, but you can call me Sister Chun if you want, I really don’t mind.” Her voice and her beautiful appearance were enough to encaptivate any man one hundred times over.

Jack nodded, then paused to inspect the surroundings. It has been eight months already, and he realised that he had forgotten the way to the eastern district. He caressed the back of his head.

“Sister Chun. I may be an inner sect disciple, but I have forgotten the way to my house. Mind showing this clumsy brother of yours the way to the Eastern District?”

“Haha, you are a funny one brother Jack.” She snickered while pointing her slander fingers towards a stone pathway. “Head straight and follow the signs.”

Jack was hoping that she would lead the way, but he still nodded appreciatively. “Thanks, Sister Chun. I am sure we will meet again in the future. Take care until then.”

“Hmm, wait a moment.” The expression of the ever-smiling girl suddenly turned a bit stiff. “Two months ago, there was a big accident. The descendant of our Divinity Ancestor, the Ancient Divinity, had vanished in thin air and never reappeared again. This has caused great turmoil inside the sect. Even the Patriarch had ordered a thorough search, but so far, all results were negative. Since you were in the azure realm, maybe you’ve seen the creature over there?”

Jack couldn’t help but remember the moment he summoned the creature to the Azure Realm. “Ah, him? Don’t worry, he is doing fine. But he may have changed a little…”

A tremor ran through Sister Chun’s body as her eyes rounded wide. “Alive? Changed?!” Upon informing her of such news, Jack was expecting her to feel relieved. But not only her shaking didn’t abate, but actually increased in intensity. “Don’t tell me that it awakened its bloodline?!”

Jack shook his head. “Well haha, I don’t know what happened to him, but he is still full of life, that I can confirm. You will know better when you meet him. The reason he isn’t here is because he decided to stay inside the azure realm for some more time.”

“Great! This is great, this is great news!” Chun Meili started celebrating and almost dancing like a little girl. “Thanks, Brother Jack! I have to immediately go report this matter to the Palace!”

She saluted Jack, then elegantly levitated with a surge of qi, flying northwards towards the descending sky waterfall.

Jack didn’t move from his position, instead enjoying watching her fading silhouette. “I wasn’t expecting that she could fly? Doesn’t this mean that she is in the 3rd Qi realm like me? No, not even I have the ability to fly with that much ease… she is definitely in a higher realm… and here I was showing off myself as an inner sect disciple, stupid Jack.”

He laughed at himself as he headed towards the eastern district. There was not even a soul around, and his path through the gardens was completely uninterrupted. He decided to take it easy, strolling and enjoying the panorama. He never had the chance to experience such a tranquil walk ever since he came to this realm. The air around these parts also felt less claustrophobic than the azure realm.

However, midway, something unexpected occurred.

Jack blood felt like boiling, and his entire cultivation was thrown into disarray. He heavily grasped for breath as he almost fell unconscious on the ground, his remaining clothes half wet from sweat. Jack could only feel relieved that the sensation only lasted for a breath. Otherwise, he would have surely perished.

When he refocused his vision again, he saw a man standing tall before him.

The man’s appearance was around the early thirties of a mortal, his hair was short with a clean shaved beard that had a golden-brown shade. He wore a white robe of great elegance, different from the ones worn by the other sect disciples and the elders. His body was perfectly still, and it seemed that the surrounding breeze wasn’t reaching him as there were no signs of movement from his clothes.

“Don’t think of any funny ideas. She’s not someone you should be approaching.”

His words left his mouth in an unordinary fashion, yet were enough to cause deep-rooted dread. Jack could barely manage to make himself stand up.

“Senior, this young cultivator was just asking for directions. I had no ulterior motives.”

The man remained straight-faced. “Your acting may even fool the eyes of the gods, but you can never hide your lustful intentions from me.”

Jack was about to curse inside his heart, also wondering from where this crazed maniac appeared.

“Senior, I am not the one to question your judgement. But I swear that I only wanted directions, you can ask her—

“Shut up!”

The shout rocked Jack’s inner world, forcing him to stagger backwards a couple of steps.

“If I ever catch you within one hundred metres distance from her, I’ll turn you into a eunuch.”

Jack swallowed a gulp of saliva. He was angry at his luck, and by now he began suspecting that both the earth and the sky were making bets with each other to disrupt his moments of tranquillity.

“Now, bring out the Spectre. I want to know why he has chosen to abandon his role and turn himself as your soul protector.”

These sudden words were like multiple knives that stabbed Jack’s heart one by one. Spectre? How did he know about the Spectre? Wasn’t the spectre well suppressed inside his soul? Did he manage to sense him? Jack began questioning the identity of this man and quickly assumed that he must be an extraordinary being.

Streams of sweat were dropping like rivers all over Jack’ body, as his heart was beating erratically, seemingly wanting to come out flying from his body and avoid the impending calamity entirely.

“Senior but…”

“I’ll give you three breaths to pull him out. Otherwise, I will force him out myself from your dead body. Choose wisely.”

Jack knew that he found himself in a terrible predicament and couldn’t think of a way out. If he hid the soul, this monster would definitely kill him. On the other hand, if he allowed the Spectre to talk about the events of the Azure Realm, he didn’t even want to begin imagining the consequences.

When faced by two roads that led to his death, he decided to choose the one that prolonged his life a little bit more.

He took his time to extend his hand, and the soul of the 3rd Spectre materialised. The Spectre appeared calm, as he crossed his hands, radiating an imposing aura.

“For you to submit to an ordinary cultivator, I would never believe this if I am not seeing it with my own eyes. I am curious, was there a particular reason for you to abandon your dignity after all this time?”

The Spectre remained silent for a while, momentary glancing at the shivering Jack. He then straightened his posture and spoke with a carefree attitude.

“What reason is there need to be? I have taken a liking to this young man. Do I need to ask for your permission, just because you are now the Patriarch? No respect for your predecessors, hmm?”

The Patriarch appeared shocked, but even more stunned was Jack, who had a hard time digesting these words. Was he dreaming? Did something go wrong with the spectre’s trail of thoughts? Did he just call him the Patriarch, the leader of the sect? Jack’s mind was suddenly being overwhelmed with absurdities.

“Happy now? If you have nothing else to add, then don’t disturb me again.” The Spectre turned into several beams of light and disappeared inside Jack again.

The Patriarch looked strangely at Jack for a moment, but his presence never showed any sign of imperfection. He gave Jack a meaningful look.

“Inner Sect Disciple Jack, is it? I’ll be keeping an eye on you.”

The Patriarch’s shadow vanished as soon as these words were spoken. Jack was still dumbfounded as he let out a long sigh of relief and returned his conscious towards the spectre's soul.

He was curious why the spectre had lied. However, when he tried to inquire, the only reply he got was the usual barrage of insults. Faced by this weird situation, Jack had no other options but to suppress him again, still unable to make any logic out of this situation.

In reality, the Spectre’s hatred towards Jack had long surpassed the highest mountain. But how would he ever admit that he was subdued by a random cultivator? Wouldn’t he become the laughing stock of the entire realm? Wouldn’t his real self be eternally shamed for such a blunder? His pride would never allow for such truth to ever see the light! He was more willing to let himself suffer for eternity than admit his failure.

Jack didn’t wish to linger any longer, quickly making haste towards the eastern sector, afraid that he would encounter another impossible situation.

As he approached the eastern district, he could notice the ever increasing presence of cultivators scattered around; some were conversing quietly, others laughing loudly, and there was even the occasional romantic couple well-hidden from the eyes.

It was evident that some kind of event was unfolding in the middle of the night, which surprised Jack. He had lived around these parts before, and besides the occasional drifting cultivator during the day, it was generally a quiet place.

When he finally arrived at the familiar stream of water that separated the southern and eastern districts, his eyes widened up. He instantly double checked if he was in the right place, but there was no way he would forget the distinguishing features of this area. This was definitely the place where he lived before.

However, before him, there wasn’t just his pagoda, but an entire village bustling with activity.

The village was small, with around twenty different houses and a number of fields. Surrounding the village was a short stone wall, its only purpose seemingly to delineate its boundary. Shouting and celebrations could also be heard emerging from within the village.

Jack was visibly confused as he approached the two bulky guards standing before the only gate.

Upon noticing Jack, one of the guards snorted.

He had been a guard for several years, and he could easily distinguish between a civilised candidate and a troublemaker. His eyes moved rapidly as he scanned Jack, before a measure of seriousness entered his eyes. From the way Jack was dressed, it was quite evident that this young man was a drunkard looking for trouble.

The guard wasn’t in the mood and was about to unleash his large axe. However, he was actually afraid that if he caused a needless commotion, he might attract the ire of the Young Lord. That’s why he decided to take a step back and instead coldly greeted.

“Hey, you, today is Young Lord Yu’s birthday. You cannot enter without an invitation.”