Kong Ye was lecturing Yuen Zhou with a stern look on his face when Han Xuhan and co. arrived at his door.

"Disciple, in the scenario you've proposed, the chances of the appearance of an 'extermination level' heavenly tribulation is too high. Even if someone were to steal that much foreign energy and refined it instantly, the possibility of transcending to the soul reformation realm is still pretty much zero."

The appearance of the rest of his disciples didn't escape Kong Ye's perception. He immediately quit the discussion with one last warning directed at her.

"Put away thoughts of such evil methods to advance one's cultivation. Your cultivation speed can be fast, but the tribulation lightning is faster."

Mu Ran's breathing suddenly hitched for a couple of seconds, which both Han Xuhan and Xiao Wu noticed. But neither of them had any idea about what the two of them were discussing, except that it was something severely dangerous. The three of them tacitly chose to forego any attempts at digging into Yuen Zhou's business. It was a common habit by now in their mountain peak.

"Change into a new set of uniforms, disciple." Kong Ye waved a hand and out from his hut flew a package right into Mu Ran's chest.

"Someone from the Beasthaven sect, was it?" Kong Ye enquired, seemingly full of curiosity.

While Mu Ran went to the backyard to change out of his damaged uniform, Xiao Wu described the incident. To Xuhan's surprise, Xiao Wu hid nothing from their master, at least none he could distinguish. Kong Ye seemed quite touched at how honest Xiao Wu's account appeared to be.

"You've done well by confiding in me. Rest assured, unless the situation deteriorates further, the sect is obliged to provide your family with some means of protection. Otherwise, we would lose our hard-gained reputation as a powerful sect."

Xiao Wu gratefully bowed. "I'll be satisfied as long as you provide me with guidance as you see fit, master. I'll have to trouble you for the next few days to teach me the Shadowbeast Nurturing technique."

"What? What about my astral warfare methods? Are we not learning that?" Mu Ran made his return known loudly.

Han Xuhan wanted to add to that, asking when Kong Ye was going to guide him into cultivating the Snowfall Garden technique that was supposed to strengthen his dao foundation. Or even when he was going to treat his continuously deteriorating meridians. But the timing didn't seem appropriate. In the end, he and Yuen Zhou stayed silent, watching Mu Ran and Xiao Wu bicker back and forth trying to convince Kong Ye.

"Martial brother Xuhan, I have something to discuss with you. We should talk after the lesson." Yuen Zhou's sudden whisper nearly made Xuhan yelp out loud, because she was at least 10 feet away from him.

How the hell did her whisper reach TEN FEET?

And why didn't the other three people in the courtyard hear her? None of them had even spared her a glance.

...Was this the fabled voice transmission technique from xianxia stories?

Their eyes met for a brief moment where Yuen Zhou nodded meaningfully before looking away. Han Xuhan stood there trying to puzzle out what business she could possibly have with him. It was Kong Ye's loud, impatient voice that broke him out of his web of thoughts.

"Alright, alright. That's enough from both of you. Let me get this straight— Xiao Wu, you would like to learn the Shadowbeast Nurturing technique, while Mu Ran wants to master astral combat. Both of you want to attain the highest quality of proficiency in the least amount of time. Neither of you cares a whit about my warnings and the taboos of swift cultivation. You're being very difficult here, you know?"

Xiao Wu bowed very sincerely, replying, "yes, master. I want to teach those uppity assholes from the Beasthaven sect a lesson before I give away the manual. It's the least I could do to preserve my ancestor's dignity."

Realizing how convincing he appeared, Mu Ran immediately broke his character, going out of his way to bow to a perfect ninety-degree angle.

"I do not want to implicate the rest of you in my personal vendetta, which is why I'm trying not to give away too many details. But if I do not manage to master astral combat very soon, I'll be in grave danger, and may not survive long. I'm sincerely requesting master's help!"

Han Xuhan, Xiao Wu and Yuen Zhou were absolutely stunned, never having seen such a servile version of Mu Ran. His entire personality suddenly seemed different from usual. Gone was the pride and testosterone-barrage from his body, leaving bare a slick, slimy new persona that none of them could see through as easily as before. An uncanny feeling rose in Xuhan's heart as he took the scene in.

When did this protagonist undergo such massive character growth? How? Did a mini apocalypse happen without anyone noticing? How can anyone change so fast? Even he, who practised acting regularly could only dream of achieving such a high standard.

"Disciple Zhou, what's your opinion? I remember you wished to learn divination from me?"

Hesitating for a second, Yuen Zhou answered, "my pursuit can wait for now. Clearly, martial brother Mu Ran and Xiao Wu requires your guidance more than I do."

His face hard to read, Kong Ye turned to look at Xuhan. But contrary to his expectations, no questions came, rather, he made a statement that Xuhan could not deny.

"You require guidance on the Snowfall Garden technique."

Han Xuhan ignored the brief looks of curiosity from his fellow siblings. Kong Ye gazed vacantly at the sky for a second before he spoke again.

"Fine then. I'll teach all four of you, all four of the techniques, at the same time. Prepare the materials!"

* * * * *

"All of you have advanced ceaselessly to your current realms without actively consolidating your foundations, that is, without learning to synchronise between your newfound power and your mind that is used to being limited by its past weak vessel.

The realm you are in is called the Physique Transformation realm for a reason. Just enhancing your physique is not the entirety of its aim. You need to learn to use your enhancements, push past your previous limits, and discover the advantages of a vessel capable of nurturing a celestial. Every muscle, every fibre of your body must be under your full control for you to reach the real peak of your physique transformation realm."

Kong Ye had begun the lesson with a straightforward speech. His determined countenance was supplemented by his resolute tone, grabbing the entirety of his disciples' attention.

"Usually, if you were an apprentice of a normal elder in the outer court, they'd not make you refine your body that far. It's difficult, requires a vast amount of resources, and isn't very useful in the common paths of cultivation pursued by the upper echelon of the Crimson Snow sect. Unless you aim to be a body refiner who frequents lethal combat, you can cut corners in this aspect. So long as you enhance your physique to a degree passable under the heavenly tribulation, it is enough. And most of your seniors, as well as your peers are already treading this path as we speak. I, Kong Ye, do not approve of this practice."

Kong Ye punched a tree behind him to display his resolution. It was a very thematic addition to his lecture, he personally felt; making his aura as the speaker fiercer. Of course, had he genuinely punched the tree, there would be no tree in that spot anymore. And had he been at the peak of his power, he wouldn't even need to punch anything to wipe its existence off from regular sight...

"But now, things are different. Our sect master has given all of you the opportunity to pursue the peak of cultivation. In this preliminary round, all disciples are allowed to snatch resources from other sects, so long as they don't cross certain limits. That solves our problem of resources. In terms of the difficulty in guiding you to the peak of physical enhancements, I alone can take care of that. In this sect, no other elder can boast of this!"

Kong Ye's bluster almost matched Mu Ran by now, a fact that he was well aware of. But he was unafraid of any repercussions that his boasts might bring. No elder of the Crimson Snow sect had the balls to challenge him over his words anyway. In the back of his mind, he recalled the faint memories of his early life, where he had spent years perfecting his control over his fully enhanced body, just so that he would never leave a single weakness in his dao foundation. Many of his peers had jeered at him upon climbing past his realm, drunk on their powers.

He had beaten a dozen emotions out of them after reaching the soul reformation realm. Such pleasant days those were...

Sighing, he waved a hand at his attentive disciples. "Come, let us go take a walk. We're not learning anything here by just standing around flapping our mouths."

The four of them followed Kong Ye as he strode out of his courtyard, hands clasped on his back in a bossy pose. Today, he was going to go all out...

'System, is the augmentation complete?'

[ progress bar: 78% ]

[ System's remarks: Host, are you certain you want to do this? You might end up downgrading the quality of that Shadowbeast cultivation technique, as well as mutating the Snowfall Garden manual. Forcefully amalgamating so many different types of cultivation techniques into one will surely breed something hideous. ]

'Are you saying that you're not competent enough to perform the task? Or that I lack the theoretical knowledge necessary for this?'

[ The system is plenty capable of performing this task. But are all of your disciples capable of dealing with the repercussions? Don't try to answer that host, because both of us know that neither Xiao Wu nor Han Xuhan has the talent to comprehend a compound scripture.]

Kong Ye had nothing to say. In the end, he could only think of one outcome.

'All four of them seem to be in urgent need of my guidance. It will be my failure as a teacher if I show partiality to one or two of them while ignoring the plight of the rest. I'll do my best, which means making use of you in any way possible. If they fail to keep up, that will be their misfortune. You are not omnipotent, I am not omnipotent, their talent cannot be changed, and their plights are theirs to face. I cannot see what more I can do. My conscience will remain spotless regardless of the outcome of this experiment."

[...]

[ Congratulations, host!]

Kong Ye was stunned by the sudden off topic message.

[You've unlocked a new achievement! ]

[ Title: Neutral Fountain ]

[ As a fountain of knowledge, you are impartial, yet merciful; ruthless, yet selfless! You teach all equally regardless of their abilities. It's not a very good trait to have, but it comes in handy. ]

[ Reward: One A-tier, Two B-tier, Three C-tier cultivation manual augmentation token ]

[ Remarks: Well, that restores the all the currency you spent on the amalgamation and more. Nice! ]

Kong Ye had to suppress the uproarious laughter bubbling out from his heart. Truly, a wonderful surprise this was!

[ Alert! ]

[ Progression : 100% ]

[ Amalgamation complete! ]

[ New compound scripture has been successfully created. ]

[ Scripture Title: Tentacle Monster]

Kong Ye's countenance turned unsightly.