Seeing that his disciple chose to remain silent, the old man sighed before saying.

“You’re just like your Father. When he was your age, he disregarded the Sect’s teachings and indulged in worldly pleasures. I warned him countless times but what happened? He rushed his breakthrough into the Heavenly Realm and ruined his future cultivation. Do you want to follow in his footsteps? Are you going to ignore my best intentions? My disciple, let go of these distractions and wholeheartedly focus on cultivating.”

Even though his Master’s words were filled with good intentions, Haneul felt immense anger rise from the bottom of his heart, so much so all the blood in his body rushed towards his head.

His little brother even visibly softened under the sheet.

However, Hanuel managed to control his rage.

The old seemed to not have noticed Haneul’s emotions as he asked.

“How is your Buddha Intent still at the beginning stages of the Greater Mastery Realm?”

Haneul still had rage in his heart, but his words did not reflect that, instead, they were hesitant and filled with regret.

“Ma-Master, this disciple is useless. Even after secluding myself for half a year, I wasn’t able to improve my Buddha Intent to a sufficient level to please you.”

Haneul’s words might sound regretful, but if one had the right context to the type of relationship these two really had, one would realize these words were said out of mockery and spite.

The old man didn’t seem to realize this, and he sighed and said exasperated.

“My disciple, if you continue indulging in these distractions of course your cultivation will be hindered. The Tournament will be held in a month, if you don’t improve your cultivation and instead bring shame to the Shaolin Sect, would I need to find another disciple?”

Once again, the old man’s final words might have sounded like he said them out of exasperation, but when Haneul heard them, his heart sank, and all the rage in his heart vanished to be replaced by pure terror.

Hanuel immediately dropped to his knees and yelled.

“Master, please don’t say such things! I-I promise I will cultivate diligently in the future from now on!”

However, the old man had already vanished from the room even before Haneul’s knees had landed on the ground.

When Haneul realized this, the nervousness in his heart increased.

After a moment, he got up and tossed the sheet around him away. He then walked over to a chair that was against the wall and sat in a slumped posture.

Haneul then reached over to pick up a wine jug from the table nearby and put it to his lips.

As he drank, the wine slid down the corners of his lips and landed on his chest. However, he didn’t seem to care as he continued to drink.

After downing this slightly large wine jug in one go, Haneul viciously smashed it onto the ground.

“GOD DAMN IT!!!”

Haneul was unable to keep his emotions in check anymore and he grabbed at his bald head. His body was shaking nonstop, and tears appeared in the corner of his eyes.

‘Why me? Why is this happening to me? That bastard of a father just gave me away to this demon! I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die damn it!’

Haneul’s thoughts were chaotic, and his body continued to shake as terror and fear wracked his entire being.

It felt like the reaper’s scythe was at his throat and it was inching closer by the day. The anxiety, the pressure, and the torment of this situation would be enough to drive anyone mad.

However, Haneul’s trembling soon stopped, and his emotions returned to a calm state. He let go of his head and raised his gaze to look at the ceiling with listless eyes.

He then muttered under his breath.

“That bastard of a father destroyed his cultivation to get away from that demon. Will I have to do the same?”

After thinking for a moment, Haneul sighed and sat up.

“I’ve already suppressed my cultivation speed as much as I can, but if things continue like this then I might only have a few years left. Damn it, why am I so talented? If only I wasn’t in this situation, I could be living my best life as a talented Young Master of a Clan rather than suffering here. Would that bastard Byeong-Ho dare look down on me then?”

Being one of the most gifted prodigies if not the most outstanding prodigy of the Shaolin Sect, Haneul was confident in his talents.

If he wasn’t suppressing his cultivation speed and comprehension, he might not have completely suppressed Byeong-Ho, but the gap in their strength wouldn’t have been so great. Even that sword fool Yuji wouldn’t be able to act so arrogantly in front of him.

Haneul could only release a sigh filled with grief after thinking about this.

“Whatever, I don’t care about those things. I just have to survive the next few years somehow and take back control of my life. I refuse to have my fate controlled by the heavens let alone that demon. But… that Tournament, if I don’t achieve first place then things might go badly for me. What should I do? What can I do?”

Haneul felt despair creeping in. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place with no path of retreat or advancement.

“No.”

Haneul clenched his fists. Just because there was no path for him, he wasn’t going to give up. So what if he was going to die? He was going to die struggling until the very end.

He was going to make sure his death hurt that demon in the worst way imaginable. He thought he could control his fate? He was Haneul! How could he be controlled by someone?

Haneul’s eyes flashed with determination before he looked over at the unconscious girls who were waking up.

He looked down at his little brother and seeing the state he was in, he decided he had cultivated enough for today.

Meanwhile, on the Runes and Formations Pavilion Mountain…

Mar-Dule was currently in a predicament. He was staring at this seductress, who appeared out of nowhere, with a frightened expression.

“You-You actually snuck into my bedroom?!”

This beautiful girl dressed in the Dual Pavilion’s robes smiled coquettishly at Mar-Dule.

She was extremely familiar. She was the same girl who had almost assaulted Sol during his first time on the Central Mountain.

The girl walked towards Mar-Dule and placed a hand on his chest.

“You’ve been ignoring my messages, and when I came to visit you, you’re never here. Even when I finally meet you, you suddenly have to go back to your Eternal Desert? Do you think you can play with a girl’s feelings like this?”

Mar-Dule was so frightened that he took a step back wanting to get away from her.

However, seeing Mar-Dule’s reaction, the girl frowned before grabbing his robes and pulling him back.

Mar-Dule wore a stiff expression as he said.

“Who’s playing with your feelings? I really need to leave for the Eternal Desert! And did I ever say or give any indication that I reciprocate your feelings? I shouldn’t be responsible for what you feel!”

In response, the girl smiled coyly and said.

“Isn’t that you playing with my feelings? You know I’m pursuing you, but you still haven’t given me an answer?”

Hearing that and seeing this girl’s sad expression, Mar-Dule felt a headache coming on. He might be called Wild Demon for his aggressive and violent temperament, but when it came to these things, he was really meek.

Mar-Dule was ninety percent sure this was because of his twin sister always beating the crap out of him.

One would think he would know his way around a woman’s heart due to his numerous older sisters, but if they were normal girls then he, Mar-Dule, had three heads and six arms.

Growing up with his sisters caused his relationship pertaining to the opposite sex to be forever changed, becoming very skewed to seeing them as a trigger for his trauma, hence his meek attitude which was masked by avoidance and impatentience.

But Mar-Dule was a man! And he had his pride as a man!

So of course he didn’t like it when he became meek and submissive. So to avoid this he just avoided getting into relationships altogether.

However, this girl was extremely shameless and persistent in her actions. Ever since he had enrolled in the Academy, she had been hounding him down.

The moment he stepped foot outside of his courtyard she would appear mere minutes later. It was freaky.

It had gotten so bad that Mar-Dule had to start hiding in the Runes and Formations Venue on the Central Mountain to avoid her.

However, this time she had gone way too far! She had actually broken into his courtyard and waited in ambush in his bedroom!

Before he realized the situation he was in she had already blocked the exit of his room and completely cornered him.

‘Just what is this situation?’

Mar-Dule released a helpless sigh in his heart.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep