The buildings were wholly dilapidated. The plaque was even worse, hanging crookedly and covered in cobwebs, as though no one had cleaned it in a very long time.
Hua Yunfei looked beneath the plaque, toward the gate, where an old man sat slouched at an angle. His hair was gray, and he held a wine gourd in his hand.
The wine gourd bore the character "Chu."
Elder Chu of Backer Sect
After glancing at the shabby Backer Sect, Hua Yunfei headed straight toward the old man holding the wine gourd.
The old man was also a cultivator, but his cultivation was only at the Vein Opening Realm, barely a beginner in the cultivation world.
Hua Yunfei approached, startling the old man, who had failed to notice him in advance.
"I say, why didn't you make any sound when you walked? Sneaking over here like that—are you trying to steal something from my sect?"
The old man glared at Hua Yunfei in displeasure, his cloudy eyes fixed on him as though he were guarding against a thief.
"Is there even anything here worth stealing?" Hua Yunfei asked, glancing at the Backer Sect, which was so ruined it could hardly be any more ruined, as well as its cobweb-covered plaque.
"Why wouldn't there be? Every inch of land in my Backer Sect is worth its weight in gold! Countless people take pride in digging away even a clump of soil from our sect!"
The old man tipped his head back and took a gulp of wine. Like a proud rooster, he held his head high and said, "Why do you think an expert like me is guarding the gate? It's to keep petty men from coming to our door."
"You... an expert?" Hua Yunfei swept his gaze over the old man and