After the experts withdrew, Huang Xiao slumped onto the Sect Master's throne. "They've finally left."
"Sect Master, you needn't concern yourself with them!" Ran Chou said. "Your bearing just then was quite good, though you still need greater majesty."
Hearing Ran Chou's words, Huang Xiao could not help smiling bitterly. "Senior Ran..."
"Sect Master, please mind your words and conduct!" Ran Chou interrupted him.
"Commander Ran, truthfully, if I hadn't been leaning against the throne just now, I'm afraid I couldn't even have sat steadily," Huang Xiao said.
"You'll get used to it in time," Ran Chou said.
"Get used to it?" Huang Xiao shook his head. "I know most of them still look down on me. Apart from the Heavenly Demon Sect's Sect Rules, the reason they appear to submit now is you, Commander Ran. Without you here, which of them would care about me as Sect Master?"
"Sect Master, you needn't think that way. Since you know your shortcomings, you should work hard. The You Family's girl will arrive soon, and then she can help you cultivate the Heavenly Demon Skill. One day, they will truly submit at your feet," Ran Chou said.
With that, Ran Chou bowed to Huang Xiao, who had fallen into thought, and withdrew.
Time flew. Five years later.
In a training chamber in the Heavenly Demon Sect, a man sat cross-legged on a rush cushion. His hands constantly formed seals, and the aura around him dispersed and gathered by turns. As that aura flowed in and out, it even produced hissing sounds around him.
After quite some time, he slowly opened his eyes. His gaze was extraordinarily deep, with sharp glints faintly flickering in those depths.
"I've only just broken through to the eighth stage. It seems stabilizing this realm isn't something