Away from the currently busy training grounds and the bustling dining hall, near where the sect's personal forest began, beneath the canopy of a pine tree, nestled among moss-covered stone benches and broken meditation pillars, the same, older disciple who had watched Siu and Tian fight stood there lazily.

  Toban, as most knew him, lazily flipped a coin between his fingers, waiting, knowing this was one of the spots from where braver outer disciples would enter the forest for either to hunt or forage... as some resources were cheaper to get by your own two hands than by buying them. He turned his head when he finally heard approaching footsteps and gave a lazy salute.

  “There you are, Boss!" He smiled in a sly, almost crooked way, "You’re not gonna like what I saw.”

  From between the trees, Nue Toah walked out with a slight tiredness on her face, caused by the days she spent inside the forest. Her robes were darker than before she entered, having a pretty big spot on her side, smelling copper and iron... But the blood wasn't hers, but from the animal carcass she was holding in a tightly closed bag, flung over her shoulders.

  "Calling me boss yet extorting me for money... Very funny, Toban."

  “The moment you paid me, you became my Boss,” he replied with a chuckle, brushing back a strand of hair as he watched Nue step into the clearing.

  "..." Her eyes narrowed a little, but she held back her temper, knowing that Toban was always like this. No allegiance towards anybody, just towards money, “Talk.”

  “There was a duel this morning,” he said, “That kid you asked me to follow…? The one from your job. Siu.”

  "Yes?" She spat, getting a tiny bit impatient, "The details, please."

  “He fought the loud one from their dorm, named Tian. Put on a whole show at the field... I looked up the Tian guy, he is nobody, don't need to worry about that, welp.”

  “What do you mean by show?” Her tone was still mild, ignoring everything about Tian as she indeed didn't care about anybody, but Siu, wanting to teach him a lesson for how he swindled her... even if it was her who attempted to do it first.

  “He’s broken through, for sure." Toban shrugged, "First marrow cleansing, I’d bet my left nut on it! I saw the way he moved... Total amateur, off-balance and raw... He should have lost. Yet... nothing that Tian fella did left a mark on him. His bones are already denser than a normal mortal, and you know what that means.”

  Nue’s face twitched, a momentary shock going through her before reigning in her emotions.

  “…He just got here,” she said slowly. “He arrived... what... A few weeks ago? When were they accepted?”

  "Hell if I know!" Toban shrugged, “I haven't been following the newcomers since I got in. We must focus on ourselves; who cares if new blood comes? If not for your offer, I would not have even looked into them. Anyway, he either had previous training or is a fucking genius, Boss. Sooo... Yeah. That's that.”

  She turned, ignoring his comments as she dropped the sack from her shoulder with a nasty squelch, and began pacing in a tight circle.

  “Impossible,” she muttered. “He was fresh meat... I felt it in his aura. No strength, no spine, just fucking words... I felt it! If he had gone through a breakthrough before he came to me, he would have fought as we would have been equals...”

  “You felt it wrong, then.” Toban scratched his chin, his voice indifferent now.

  "No, I did not!" She snapped at him in response.

  “I’m just saying… don’t go rushing in." He shrugged, "If you hit him now, there is a chance he will hit back. Well... not with the technique I saw, so maybe he fooled you because he has no clue how to fight.”

  “I'm not going to hit him openly,” Nue muttered, then smiled with a thin, measured, venomous grin. “I have a better idea. If he indeed hid his true strength before me... Maybe he is hiding other things. I need to see them first... Information is strength, after all.”

  Toban didn't answer this time around; he just kept watching, flipping his coin between his fingers. After a minute or so, Nue Toah stopped pacing and tilted her head toward the mountains. The sunlight made the edges of her face look almost pretty, but her smile was all teeth, chasing all that charm away.

  “He’s at the first marrow cleansing? Good. So am I... Took me years to get there, and he stumbles through it like it’s nothing?” Her voice dropped to a whisper, “No background? No family? Attending open classes like a common fool? He is a sly little fucker... Hiding amongst nobodies...”

  "Could be." Toban nodded while Nue continued her almost crazed monologue.

  “He made me look like a joke...” Her hand flexed once, then twice, before finally smoothing out as the idea she was playing with finally took its final form. “I know what I will do.”

  "Don't forget to do it in a duel. Hurting him without that will have you disciplined. You already got into trouble two times, a third, and you will be in serious shit."

  “I’m not going to hurt him.” Nue said in a voice that was a mix between a kind girl and a raging maniac, “Not without... rules. But I will make sure he gets to soak in a medicinal bath for a week before he can walk again.”

  "Here is some free info. For a returning customer: He began studying the basics."

  "And?" She turned to look at Toban again, her voice low and going chilly, “Who cares… I’m not like the rest of those orphan-beggar trash in the open lessons. I have a real technique. I paid four hundred Flame-grade Crystals for it! Hmph... My style originates from the archives... It has pure destruction as its basis, and that is what I will do with this... Siu.”

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  "Sure." Toban raised his brows, unfazed by her vicious tone, “You’re still learning it, though.”

  “I don’t need to master it!" She snapped at him, "I know enough to break his bones when I get the chance. He will help me with my training even if he thinks he outplayed me, ahaha...” She chuckled, “And I will get the last laugh. The sect is a large organization, but its lower disciples often end up crossing paths; some may even fall off. That is how the Inner Disciples select their members... You’ll see.”

  “And what if he grows faster than you, and it will be you who falls off?”

  “What if I break your hands now?” she asked, and her voice was sweet, almost musical.

  "Point taken." Toban smiled at her, and there was no fear in his eyes, "So? How are you going to do it?"

  “I need a reason for an official challenge. Maybe a rule he broke... Or an insult... Hm... A job dispute? Something....”

  "Want more info on that part?" He asked suddenly, and Nue's eyes looked at him flatly, already knowing what was coming next, "For a prize... I can fill you in on how to provoke him most effectively. I have been tailing the boy and... I think I know what would set him off." He finished, putting his hand out and waiting for Nue to start putting CC into it.

  ...

  ....

  .....

  The kitchens were always busy at midday, especially with so many Outer Disciples coming and going. While the Sect prided itself on self-sufficiency, it was still a logistical nightmare to feed thousands of people. For those like Neya, who lacked resources or background, working shifts in the kitchen was an easy and honest way to earn Cultivation Crystals and gain favor with the quartermasters, who often handed out leftover ingredients, sometimes even some actual advice. Since taking on the job, she has also acquired a few additional resources that she could utilize, having a beneficial effect on her approach to overcoming her first barrier of cultivation. Not to mention, she was learning how to handle spirit ingredients, which she knew would be a valuable skill in the future.

  Considering everything... life felt good. With that in mind, Neya was already elbow-deep in vegetable preparation when someone called her name from the hallway.

  “Neya? Is there a Neya in here? There’s a delivery for you! From one of the senior disciples.”

  "Eh?" She looked up, blinking her eyes, “Me?”

  “Yeah,” the boy shrugged, someone she had never seen before. She didn’t know his name, only that he wore the outer disciple robes. “He said you agreed to a job this morning. Something about preservation work?”

  “Oh!” her eyes lit up, wiping her hands on her apron, “Yes, I remember! I did agree to help clean and prepare a beast carcass. It was a rush job, I think...”

  “Then you better hurry,” the boy said, already turning. “It’s just outside the northern prep yard! They said you’d know what to do.”

  She bowed quickly to the others and slipped out of the kitchen at once. The northern prep yard was more of a side courtyard to the kitchens, meant for airing meats and drying herbs, rather than working on carcasses... but, she didn't see an issue with it. When she arrived, two more outer disciples were already there, an older, rougher-looking pair, standing beside a wooden crate half-covered with a cloth.

  “You’re late,” one of them scoffed, “Beasts like this are losing their essence every minute.”

  “I’m sorry,” Neya bowed, her nervousness kicking in, seeing so many more experienced disciples than her, “I came as fast as I could. I wasn’t told when to meet with you for the job...”

  “No matter,” the other said, waving a hand, “Do your assignment. Instructions are simple: Get off the fur, cleanly. Then, soak the organs and prepare the bones for essence extraction. That’s all. Got it?”

  “Got it.” She nodded quickly, as she already did it, although... not on an untouched, complete one, but... it shouldn't be that hard.

  Without thinking much of it, she lifted the cloth and recoiled immediately.

  Inside was the bloodied carcass of a mid-sized forest beast, maybe a deer or something... It was hard to tell as its hide was torn up jaggedly from a fatal blow, its head half-missing. The kill had been done sloppily; the bones were sticking out, and the spiritual energy was already fading, because if she could sense it, anyone else could. Neya’s nose wrinkled at once as... this... was a mess. The person who hunted it didn’t know what they were doing, or they were simply lost in a frenzy... It would take effort to salvage anything at all.

  Still, she bit her lip and got to work. A job was a job.

  By the time she had finished, her hands were stained, her arms sore, and her nerves frayed as she had to concentrate not to gag or puke. The task was more challenging than she thought, not because of the difficulty, but because of the amount of blood she was handling... and because the tools she’d been given were wrong for the job. Still, she’d done her best to clean and preserve what remained, but she had a sinking feeling that this wasn’t going to end well.

  Sadly, that feeling became reality when the door slammed open behind her.

  “Well, well... Look what we have here.”

  Although Neya didn't know who the woman was, Nue Toah’s voice was dry, and she could sense the danger in it.

  "Um... This is a private partition of the kitchens..."

  “Not for a customer! I heard,” Nue continued, walking slowly into the yard, her robe fluttering a little, “that someone in the kitchens was entrusted with preparing my beast. My meat. Funny, I don’t remember authorizing anyone to do that... But imagine my surprise when I come back from reporting my hunt and hear your name. Stealing from a senior? Tsk-tsk-tsk...”

  “I... I was told it was part of my job,” Neya stammered, her voice trembling. “A delivery came and...”

  “A delivery?” Nue interrupted her, “Where are the delivery orders? Show me. Or did it come... To you? A low-tier, bottom-rung kitchen hand?” She took another step forward, her voice sweet and cruel at the same time, “You, who doesn’t even know the value of the creature you just butchered like a pig? Creatures at this level would be handled by experienced cooks, not some little bitch!”

  “I-I tried to preserve it,” Neya said, shrinking inward, her confidence wilting under the pressure Nue was putting on her. What she didn't realize was that Nue was also using her cultivation base, which was higher than hers, to amplify that feeling, making Neya almost cry on the spot, “I was doing my best.... I...”

  “Your best?” Nue’s tone turned harsh, “Your best ruined a rare forest beast worth more than thirty Flame-grade Crystals... Do you understand what that means?”

  Neya looked around helplessly, as if someone, anyone, might step in... But the few onlookers at the door were already backing away, sensing the tension and wanting nothing to do with this. No one wanted to be caught in the crossfire of an older disciple’s wrath, especially not for a nobody.

  “I didn’t mean to...”

  “Intentions mean nothing!” Nue snapped at her, “You interfered with my personal resources, damaged them, and acted without clearance! Do you want to be reported? Punished? They may even throw you out!”

  By then, tears began to form at the edges of Neya’s eyes, but she held them back with visible effort, not wanting to give in to the rising panic.

  “I was just doing what I was told...” she whispered.

  “And who told you?” Nue pressed on, intending to break her.

  “I... I don’t know their names...”

  “Oh, how convenient.” Nue turned her eyes to the skies as if speaking to the clouds above, “No names? No authorization? Just you, blundering around, thinking you were important enough to handle a senior disciple’s kill. Wonderful. I’ll be taking this mess,” Nue said, lowering her head and gesturing to the ruined crate. “And you will be lucky if I don’t drag you to the Elders and demand compensation. No... You know what? I will do exactly that...”

  “I don’t have...”

  “Of course you don’t,” Nue said with a smirk, stepping closer, lowering her voice so only Neya could hear, not letting her finish. “You’ve got nothing. No power... No status... And no protector." Neya, unable to say anything or look away, kept staring into Nue's eyes, by now actually crying, and that was when Nue delivered the final punch. “If you don't want to get expelled... which means you will also be crippled, you will from now on work for me, until your debt is paid... Do you understand?"

  "Y-yes..."

  "Good girl... Whatever I tell you... You do it... If not? I am going to make you regret it..."