Planning Far Ahead

Nine Provinces Small World.

At the entrance to the Heavenly Pool Sect on Changbai Mountain.

Wind and snow howled.

Zhao Han stood with his hands behind his back, a black mask hiding his disfigured face.

He was Zhao Jincheng, the man who had severed the meridians in Lu Zhen's leg thirteen years ago.

Zhao Han spoke evenly:

"Handle sect affairs according to the rules I've set. Anyone who breaks them dies."

"Yes, Sect Master!"

Several men in fitted fighting clothes knelt on one knee before him, their steady bearing matched by the awe in their eyes.

They were all trusted followers Zhao Han had personally promoted.

As Zhao Han looked at the men bowing at his feet, a flicker of distant remembrance passed through his eyes beneath the mask.

Getting this far had been anything but easy.

Back then, he had fled north with his face disfigured and scraped out an existence in the Heavenly Pool Sect's Outer Sect like a dog.

All to climb higher.

He had played the weak, pitiful man until he won the affection of Ruan Qingqing, the grand elder's daughter.

Through her, he had gained a vast supply of cultivation resources.

Then the Nine Provinces Apocalypse had arrived.

The Heavenly Pool Sect's leaders had foolishly backed the wrong side and died to the last in that catastrophe.

The sect had fallen into chaos!

Using his status as the "grand elder's worthy son-in-law," Zhao Han had entered the struggle for power.

At first, the true disciples with impeccable pedigrees had paid no heed to the disfigured coward. To them, he was an ant they could crush at any moment.

And what had happened?

Those self-proclaimed prodigies, so far above everyone else, had died without even knowing how. Every one of them had become a stepping stone