"Scared the hell out of me! Thank goodness I didn't look down on Ning Huan and deliberately make things difficult for him."
"Otherwise... even as a Soul Ancestor myself, I still wouldn't have stood a chance against him."
As soon as he finished speaking, Ning Zhen shuddered unconsciously.
Only then did he realize that cold sweat had soaked his back, and a light breeze brought a chill over him.
Coming back to his senses, he couldn't help feeling secretly grateful for his caution, while also feeling a trace of regret.
Smack!
Ning Zhen suddenly raised his right hand and slapped himself hard.
His slightly cunning face was now filled with remorse.
Why hadn't he noticed this up-and-coming young man before?
Before he had been assigned to Tianluo City, the sect's stewards had repeatedly warned him never to underestimate any weak Soul Master.
During his orientation, his seniors had also repeatedly recounted examples of Soul Masters turning the tables over the past ten thousand years.
In the end, he hadn't taken any of it to heart, and had wasted a golden opportunity to rise to the top along with someone powerful.
Fortunately, years of experience sucking up to whoever held the reins let him pull himself together in the blink of an eye. He scrambled up from the floor and sat back down in his chair.
"No! It's never too late to mend the fold after the sheep are lost!"
"I absolutely can't just sit here and wait for disaster!"
"At least I've never treated him poorly over the past few years. I still have a chance to build some goodwill before he leaves."
"If he happens to remember me someday, wouldn't I still be able to rise to great heights?"
Murmuring urgently, Ning Zhen thought carefully about how he could make up for this relationship that had never existed.
Money?
He might be in charge of all the sect's businesses in an entire city, looking prosperous on the surface.
But Tianluo City's location was what it was: his father didn't care for him, his mother didn't love him, and there was barely any profit to skim.
Besides, he had to grease palms above and below him. After several years, he hadn't managed to save much at all.
Giving that away would only be embarrassing.
Resources?
Ning Huan had managed to cultivate to such a level all on his own, with no one paying him any attention. Ning Zhen simply couldn't believe he didn't have some special connections.
A twelve-year-old Soul Ancestor wasn't something one could achieve through talent alone.
Besides, there was no way to fake a Soul Ring.
It wasn't as if Ning Huan had gone to the Star Dou Forest to hunt every single one himself.
Clearly, powerful people had to be helping him from behind the scenes.
What if Ning Zhen reported this up the chain without permission, only to find out that the young master's backer was one of the three elders—or even the sect master...?
Wouldn't he explode right on the spot?
After thinking it over and over, Ning Zhen realized that the only thing he had to offer was a little semi-public information about the sect.
"Ugh, what's done is done. I might as well give it a try. It's better than waiting around until I retire."
"Someone! Prepare a banquet with the finest dishes! I'm hosting... Young Master Ning Huan!"
Unfortunately, he never imagined that the more generous he was now, the more it would hurt when he had to pay the bill later.
Half an hour later, Ning Huan arrived at the invitation and sat at one side of the round table, eating heartily.
Meanwhile, Ning Zhen sat opposite him, close to tears, his heart bleeding with every bite.
But this time, he was the one who had gone out of his way to spend money and win the boy's favor. No matter how much it hurt, he had to endure it.
I knew there was someone backing him!
Otherwise, how could a mere child afford to eat at the best restaurant in the city with only the monthly allowance the sect gives him?
And he's only ordering the expensive dishes... You don't know the value of a penny until you're the one running the household!
On the other side, Ning Huan, whose mouth was slick with oil, had also noticed something was off, and couldn't help quietly laughing to himself.
In fact, he had more or less guessed what Ning Zhen was thinking as soon as he received the invitation.
He simply wanted to take this last opportunity to curry favor with him, then use their connection to get promoted and make a fortune.
Ning Huan didn't mind much.
Although he had always hated trouble, he wasn't stupid.
In his view, favors and connections were necessary.
Especially while he was still weak, it never hurt to leave himself a way out.
Besides, the man was going to such expense, spending most of his savings to treat him to a meal.
It would be a waste not to come.
And so, the two men, each with their own thoughts, sat there in an extremely bizarre atmosphere: one eating, the other watching, neither saying a word.
At last, when only a few scraps of food remained on the round table, Ning Huan stopped eating and wiped his mouth.
Then he regarded Ning Zhen coldly, giving off an air of utter indifference.
"Steward Ning Zhen, go ahead. What is it you want?"
At those words, Ning Zhen, who had been aching with heartbreak, suddenly froze in place. He stared at the boy before him, dumbfounded, his mind going blank.
This didn't seem to be how it went in the script.
Was this how things normally worked?
Shouldn't I painfully empty my pockets, while you politely refuse again and again before reluctantly accepting?
Why did you start asking as soon as you put down your chopsticks?
Could it be that I'd been stationed at the border too long and had fallen behind the times?
"But one meal isn't enough."
"Go on, what else have you prepared?"
Huh!
Now we're talking!
That's more like it!
If you don't hold out your hand, how am I supposed to climb the ladder?
Clearly, Ning Zhen found this bossy attitude quite reassuring.
Combined with his shifty, ratlike features, it gave him a strangely comical air.
"Young Master Ning, one of my reasons for hosting you today is naturally to see you off."
"As for the other, I'd like to tell you everything I know about the sect's general situation, of my own accord, as a way of building some goodwill between us."
Ning Huan still wore an expressionless face, but inwardly, he was quite pleased with Ning Zhen's attitude.
Direct and honest, with nothing held back.
And... no one disliked hearing nice things.
He knows how to read the room. I might find a use for him in the future.
"Mm. Go ahead. I'm listening."
Ning Zhen immediately grew unusually excited, his face flushing red.
He knew he had passed!
His departure from Tianluo City was just around the corner!
And in the not-too-distant future, he might even be summoned back to the sect and placed under the young man before him.
"Yes! I'll start with the sect's organizational structure..."
For the next two and a half hours, Ning Huan once again relived the boredom of sitting through long lectures in his previous life.
From the sect's structure, rules and regulations, daily activities and requirements, all the way to the personalities and interests of the various elders, the sect master, and the elders who served as protectors.
Everything Ning Zhen knew, he recounted without leaving out a single word.
The sheer thoroughness left Ning Huan dumbfounded.
No, seriously!
I have nothing to say about the earlier stuff!
Where did you learn about the sect master's and the protectors' preferences?!
You're just a Soul Ancestor dispatched to some remote backwater. Are you even qualified to know that?
As if he had noticed his future master's confusion, Ning Zhen scratched his head sheepishly and explained:
"Young Master Ning may not know this, but to ensure the sect's long-term stability, it's especially strict with its management staff—particularly its stewards, who make up the largest group."
"Before taking up their posts, they have to undergo systematic training. The goal is to prevent them from offending the upper ranks or bullying the disciples."
"What I told you about earlier is all part of the curriculum."
Ning Huan: "..."
With this sort of cautious approach, it seemed the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect had good reason for having been passed down for ten thousand years as a family built around an auxiliary Martial Soul...
Ordinary factions really couldn't manage that!
Before you continue