There were three Embryonic Breath cultivators in Jiang Che's patrol. During their rounds, the other two cultivators were the ones he dealt with most.
The Ailin Outer Gate disciple paired with Jiang Che was named Liang Ci. He was two or three years older than Jiang Che, with regular features and a frank, brisk manner of speaking.
He did not stand on ceremony, either. A few casual exchanges were enough for him to lay out most of his background.
He was not an Ailin native, but came from Pinglu County, quite some distance away. He was also from a cultivation Lineage, with one living Qi Refining cultivator in his family: his great-grandfather.
As the eldest legitimate son, he should have had a promising future. But his mother had died early, and his father remarried. His stepmother bore three children after entering the family, and his father favored his younger brothers. His Qi Refining great-grandfather was not particularly fond of him, either.
And so, naturally, Pinglu County's place in the Azure Mystic Main Gate did not go to him.
Rather than remain at home, watching other people's faces for permission, he would carve out a future himself. Everyone knew Ailin was harsh and dangerous, but its Outer Gate was easy to enter, and it offered more Registered Disciple places than elsewhere. Even the age limit for entering the Outer Gate could be relaxed considerably. He had gritted his teeth and come here on his own.
In his two years here, both his cultivation and his merits had ranked fairly well within the Outer Gate. Next year, he had a seventy or eighty percent chance of securing a place in the Main Gate.
At this point, he added with a smile:
"Once I get my place next year and enter the sect,