“To what do I owe this pleasure, Commander Han?” The sect master of the Thunder Cloud Tempest Sect himself came out to meet one of the commanders of the CSF.

The commander was a rank that was automatically given to a cultivator once they reached the realm of grandmaster in their cultivation. Of course, they had to be qualified, or else the position would be wasted on them.

But those who were truly strong and diligent could achieve that rank in cultivation so that problem never came up before.

As for why a commander of the CSF himself had come to meet the sect master? Well, it was because the sect master was also supposedly at the peak grandmaster realm. While the commander himself was in the middle realm, his strength was enough to warrant him respect even from the sect master.

“I doubt you’re feeling any pleasure,” Commander Han, a burly man with a beard said. There was ruthlessness on his face and one could tell that he wasn’t there for a friendly chat. While he was told not to be offensive to the sect master, knowing that his entire organization stood behind him, he was free to act however he wanted.

“Watch how you speak.” The attendant of the sect master interjected, upset at the fact that the sect master of his sect, a person everyone said ‘Yes, yes’ to, was being spoken to so rudely by someone who wasn’t even of the same rank as him.

Of course, if he, as well as the commander, knew the true cultivation rank of the sect master, they wouldn’t even be standing in front of him.

Alas, the real rank of the sect master was only known to one black-haired man and he was currently not available to the public.

“Get to the point,” The sect master said. If the other party was going to be disrespectful, then he didn’t need to treat them amicably.

“As you know, last night, a terrorist hacked the entire law enforcement system of the entire nation. Not only did they obtain data of great value, they even took the data that could jeopardize the national security.” Commander Han got straight to the point, beginning to relay how serious the matter was.

“My apologies,” The sect master said, no such sympathy in his voice as he asked, “But what does that have to do with me? With my sect?”

“We believe that one of your disciples is the terrorist. It makes sense as well, seeing that the moment he isolated himself for ‘Closed-door’ training, the biker appeared.” Commander Han, once again, got straight to the point and didn’t beat around the bush.

“You do know the consequences of your allegations, correct?” The sect master asked, his tone serious and devoid of any place for negotiations. The intent was clear. His sect was his territory where the empire had no authority. Any attempt to invade his territory would result in a war.

Granted the emperor had the military on his side and a supposed Qi saint, but even he wouldn’t want a war with one of the strongest sects when the situation with the gates was getting severe.

Commander Han looked at the sect master for some time quietly before he proposed, “Very well. I apologize for my rudeness. But you also know the scale of the matter at hand. We wouldn’t want the empire to be jeopardized by the outside forces, now would we? Why don’t we put our differences aside and you just grant us a visual confirmation of the said disciple?”

The sect master remained quiet, his silence stretching for a few tense seconds before he said, “I will concede for once even when you don’t have anything to offer in return.”

“I didn’t exactly say that.” Commander Han said before he signaled one of his subordinates who stepped forward with a briefcase in his hand. The subordinate opened the briefcase, revealing a glowing round orb.

“The core of an S rank beast. I’m sure this would suffice for such a favor.” Commander Han said. Although he had gotten permission to check Wei Jun’s status, the sect master mentioning that they had nothing in return meant the CSF would owe him a favor. He’d rather lose a precious core that was practically useless to him than owe him one.

The sect master looked at the lustrous robe. Although it would have been important to any other cultivator, to him, who was stronger to the point that such a core would barely make a dent in his cultivation.

However, rejecting something from the CSF would also be rudeness that wasn’t necessary in that case. He could just as easily give it to one of his subordinates in return for their loyalty.

‘Or…’ A certain young man came to his mind but his intentions weren’t clear. Nothing about him said that he would be loyal to him.

Even if he were to offer him a high position, for him, it might not be enough.

‘Top…’ That was the only word that came to his mind when he remembered the eyes of the young man who stood in his court, although with wariness behind his eyes, but devoid of any fear. As if he was used to facing someone far more worse than him.

“Then I wouldn’t reject such a precious gift.” The sect master said. Commander Han didn’t let it show, but he inwardly sighed. If the core was useless to him, then it would be all the more useless to the sect master who had access to more gates than the CSF.

He was relieved that his gift wasn’t rejected. With all the formalities done, Commander Han asked for confirmation which was swiftly carried out by taking him to a room that observed the status of the disciples behind closed-door training.

Although it looked like the room was close, it wasn’t actually so. One wall of the room was disguised to look like a wall while it was actually a material that was as tough as concrete but mimicked the properties of a one-way mirror, allowing the sect to observe the disciples from the outside to make sure they weren’t wasting time under the guise of hard training.

When Commander Han arrived in the observation room of Wei Jun’s training room, he could clearly see Wei Jun behind the mirror, his eyes closed and his expression devoid of any emotion. One could tell he was completely cut off from the world.

Commander Han remained to see if there would be any change but even after ten hours, when Wei Jun didn’t even move the slightest, only then he chose to believe the sect master and left.

“I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that this isn’t a visiting ward.” The sect master said upon Commander Han’s return. A subtle warning that this wasn’t a common occurrence. Although the sect master didn’t need to say it, still saying it showed how serious he was.

Commander Han simply nodded and left in his helicopter with his subordinates.

“Do you think that was true?” Commander Han’s subordinate asked.

“I doubt even one word he said, let alone what I saw. But he did what was asked so we cannot point that out.” There was no guarantee that it was indeed Wei Jun behind the screen and even if he was, then there was no guarantee that he was indeed cultivating. He could have just as easily been part of a scheme and retired there just for the show.

After all, the CSF wasn’t allowed a 24\7 surveillance of Wei Jun. What he did for the rest of the time when the CSF didn’t monitor him, no one knew.

And now that the CSF couldn’t confirm it anymore, for all they knew, Wei Jun left at the same time as them and was now terrorizing the city.

“Then what do we do?” The subordinate asked.

“What can we do?” Commander Han asked back before he sighed and said, “We need to capture him. I will have to return to the headquarters but I will keep an eye on this place. Make sure to report back to me instantly.”

“I will relay your words to Captain Rin.” The subordinate replied.

~~

“Is this how the world feels?” Xia Lu asked herself as she made her way to the lobby of her building. She was trying to go outside because she had this strange impulse to see the sun.

As she woke up from her cultivation, she didn’t know how long had passed but she felt something was different. And not just a small time difference but a big difference.

While she couldn’t tell, those on the outside couldn’t keep their eyes off of her. Her beauty, which was enchanting before too, was now at another level that couldn’t be explained by just natural God-given beauty.

While everyone else was admiring her, and she was basking in the glow of the sun, someone approached her.

“Hello,” A man called out to her. She turned to look at the man who was the ugliest and most obese man she had ever seen and if she wasn’t so kind-hearted, then she would have definitely made a disgusted expression at the look of that man.

“Yes?” Xia Lu asked.

“Are you Miss Xia Lu?” The fat man politely asked.

“Yes.” Xia Lu replied.

“Haha. You’re as beautiful as I thought.” The fat man creepily laughed and said before he added, “Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Tao Min.” Continue your journey with empire

The fat man paused and what could be said to be the most disgusted smile appeared on his face as he said, “I’m your new master from now on.”

“…”

“What?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep