Chapter 9: If He Wasn't Ordinary, He Should Walk His Own Road

The name Cloud Quinny, Young Master of the Profound Heaven Sect, had spread through the Lorton region long ago. Every time he went out, at least one or two Elders accompanied him. What no one understood was this: Cloud Quinny's talent was mediocre at best, yet from top to bottom, the Profound Heaven Sect treated him like something fragile, something precious. Once, Cloud Quinny had vanished by accident. The entire Profound Heaven Sect mobilized and turned Lorton upside down searching for him. From that day on, he gained a nickname everyone in Lorton knew by heart. Sect's Protected Boy. "If he were some genius, fine," someone muttered, unable to swallow it. "But a useless brat like that? Why does the whole Profound Heaven Sect back him?" "Maybe his background isn't ordinary." "You've listened to too many storytellers. How many people in this world have some 'extraordinary background'?" Seated high above among the Beast Taming Sect's honored seats, Luna Lyson watched Cloud Quinny pass below, surrounded by a cluster of Elders. A thick strand of contempt flashed through her eyes. Trash was still trash. Besides hiding behind the Elders and disciples of the Profound Heaven Sect and living as a Sect's Protected Boy, what else could he do? Even if he became Sect Master of the Profound Heaven Sect one day, he would never be able to hold it together. He would end up miserable all the same. She was different. She already ranked tenth on the Lorton Earth Ranking. She was also a Quasi Sect Heir. With her future, she had every chance of becoming a Sect Master Candidate for the Beast Taming Sect. Her road ahead was bright. "Senior Munger," Luna Lyson said, clinging to Borden Munger's arm with a sweet, coaxing voice, "you promised me. You said you'd help me kill every last Profound Heaven Sect disciple…" "Junior Lyson, don't worry." Borden Munger smiled easily. "The Profound Heaven Sect has only one disciple on the Lorton Earth Ranking, and he's some nobody sitting at sixtieth. For someone like that, I only need one slash. As for the rest of that trash, I can cut them down with a flick of my hand." The Sect Master had already spoken to him, hinting that he wanted Luna Lyson to marry him. Borden Munger had no objections. Luna Lyson's potential and strength were both solid. Sure, she had once been Cloud Quinny's fiancée, and she might not have been untouched, but he did not care. He had plenty of women. A woman with this kind of potential, though? Only Luna Lyson. When Luna Lyson saw him agree, her smile brightened. Still, the moment her gaze landed on Cloud Quinny being escorted like royalty by a crowd of Elders, irritation pricked at her again. Because she could not kill Cloud Quinny to avenge her father. But it did not matter. When the Ten Sects Assembly began, she would slaughter the Profound Heaven Sect disciples. Consider it collecting interest. As for Cloud Quinny, she could deal with him slowly later. On the highest seat of all, the Python-Robed Young Man flicked his eyes toward Cloud Quinny. The corner of his mouth tugged, not quite a smile, not quite a sneer. He turned to City Lord Shadboult beside him. "Which sect is that brat from, acting so arrogant?" "He is Cloud Quinny, Young Master of the Profound Heaven Sect," City Lord Shadboult replied at once. "A mere young master from some small sect, and he puts on this kind of show?" The Python-Robed Young Man's expression darkened. If not for the fact that the female disciples from the various sects were easy on the eyes and he could not be bothered, he would have dealt with that clown already. … After the ten great sects gathered, City Lord Shadboult spoke a few ceremonial words and then announced the Ten Sects Assembly had begun. The disciples of every sect, already prepared, filed into their assigned areas to wait for the final entrance to the arena to open. The rules of the Ten Sects Assembly were simple. The disciples of the ten great sects would enter the arena for Flag Capture. In the end, rankings would be determined by the number of flags seized. The more flags you held, the higher your place. "Where's the Young Master?" The Grand Elder turned, then abruptly realized Cloud Quinny was gone. Cold sweat burst across his back. He had clearly seen him seated behind them just moments ago. "The Young Master said he had a couple words for Wing Looske," the Second Elder answered, pointing toward the corner ahead. "He took him over there to talk." It was only six steps away. With the Second Elder's cultivation base, he could reach it in an instant. "So that's why he disappeared." The Grand Elder exhaled, but still grumbled, "The Young Master is too reckless. Flag Capture is about to start, and he drags Wing Looske off for a chat. He's going to delay Wing Looske from competing." "If the Young Master wants it, let him," the Second Elder sighed. "You spoil him…" The Grand Elder started, then his expression shifted. Something felt wrong. He snapped his head toward the Second Elder. "How long has the Young Master been over there with Wing Looske?" "About thirty breaths…" The Second Elder's face tightened too. They both shot to the corner. The moment they saw Wing Looske sprawled on the ground, unconscious, and Cloud Quinny nowhere in sight, the Grand Elder and Second Elder went deathly pale. It was over. It was over! Cloud Quinny had vanished right under their noses, and they did not even know how. Had someone abducted him? Was it something else? If he had been taken and anything happened to him, the Profound Heaven Patriarch would slap them to death with one palm. Sweat streamed down the Grand Elder's forehead. He whirled on the Second Elder, who stood frozen, and roared, "What are you standing there for? Send everyone. Find the Young Master!" "Don't panic yet." The Second Elder forced himself back to his senses. "Wake Wing Looske and ask him. He might know where the Young Master went." "That's right." The Grand Elder's eyes sharpened. He drove a boot into Wing Looske's stomach. Wing Looske jolted awake with a strangled gasp. When he saw the Grand Elder and Second Elder looming over him with faces like they wanted to eat him alive, he immediately understood. His words spilled out in a rush. "It was the Young Master! He knocked me out! He said he wanted to join Flag Capture and told me to give up my slot to him. Then he punched me once and I passed out…" "You think we're that easy to fool?" the Grand Elder snarled. "Wing Looske," the Second Elder growled, eyes bloodshot, "you'd better tell the truth, or I'll kill you." "I am telling the truth…" Wing Looske's face drained of color. "The Young Master is only at the Seventh Level of the Energy Refining Realm." The Second Elder looked ready to explode. "You're at the Eighth Level of the Circulation Realm. You're telling me he knocked you out?" "Second Elder, I swear it!" Wing Looske's voice cracked. "The Young Master's strength was terrifying. My Protective True Energy got smashed apart…" He looked like he was about to cry. He was telling the truth, yet the Second Elder refused to believe him. "I'll believe you when hell freezes over…" The Second Elder raised his hand, ready to strike. The Grand Elder caught his wrist. "Why are you stopping me?" the Second Elder snapped. "Later." The Grand Elder kicked Wing Looske once. "Get back." Wing Looske did not dare linger. He scrambled away, half crawling, half running. If he stayed another second, the furious Second Elder might tear him apart. "You let him go. How am I supposed to question him?" the Second Elder glared. "No need." The Grand Elder's face softened, a strange relief settling in. "The Young Master may have awakened." "Awakened what? Speak clearly." The Second Elder's jaw clenched. "Are you getting senile?" the Grand Elder shot back. "Did you forget the agreement the Sect Master made with us seventeen years ago? And what he told us then? Those two lines, you didn't forget them, did you?" "Oh…" The Second Elder's eyes widened. "I remember." He swallowed, then recited slowly, as if the words had been carved into him. "The Sect Master said: if the Young Master was ordinary, we would guard him for life and let him live out an unremarkable existence." "If he wasn't ordinary," the Second Elder continued, voice low, "then we would let him walk his own road…" "That's it." The Grand Elder nodded. "The Young Master must have become extraordinary. That's the only way he could knock Wing Looske out." "But isn't that too big a leap?" the Second Elder said, shaken. "He was only at the Seventh Level of the Energy Refining Realm. And yet he can contend with the Eighth Level of the Circulation Realm…" "Others might not manage it," the Grand Elder said. "But he's the Young Master." He lowered his voice, eyes flicking around as if the air itself might be listening. "I don't know exactly what the Young Master's relationship with the Sect Master is, but haven't you noticed? The Young Master resembles the Sect Master in certain features. They could be blood kin." The Grand Elder's voice trembled. "And you haven't forgotten, have you? What happened seventeen years ago, when the Sect Master brought down that single palm." The Second Elder's heart lurched. Awe flooded his eyes. Forget? He would remember it for the rest of his life. A hundred-mile stretch, flattened in an instant. Cloud City's number one sect, the Blood Fiend Sect, had not even had time to react before it was wiped out. Even after all these years, that scene still made the Second Elder's blood run cold. "If the Sect Master was that terrifying," the Grand Elder said, "then once the Young Master became extraordinary, how could we measure him by common sense?" The Second Elder nodded slowly, agreement settling like stone.