Weaver felt a moment of panic when he faced Austin's violent attack, but he quickly regained his
arrogance when he learned that Austin was only at the sixth-level of the Energy Gathering Realm.
He readied his fist and swung at Austin's fist with all his strength. He had expected to defeat Austin
with his attack.
"Crack!"
Their fists traveled the short distance between the two men and met in the air.
To Weaver's surprise, he felt like he was punching solid stone. Several of Weaver's fingers fractured
because of the strong energy wave.
As a sharp pain radiated from his arm, Weaver's face contorted.
He lost his balance and was knocked back a few steps.
Weaver shook his head in disbelief and wondered, 'Is he really at the sixth-level of the Energy
Gathering Realm? How is it possible that his vital energy is stronger than mine?'
Before he could recover, Austin rushed toward him with an angry cry.
"Check this out!"
With that, he swung his fist and aimed at Weaver again.
"Wait! You..."
Angry and scared, Weaver didn't have the time to pull out his weapon. He had no other choice but to
wield his fist in defense again.
"Crack!"
The sound of breaking bones filled the air. In the next instant, Weaver's arm twisted in a strange
position.
Weaver's face paled when he felt overwhelming pain. Beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
"Get out of my face!"
After venting his anger, Austin commanded in a cold voice.
Despite his resentment, Weaver understood that it was impossible for him to fight today.
Even though he was at the seventh-level of the Energy Gathering Realm, he lost to Austin in just two
rounds.
Raymond's other followers had lower refining levels. None of them would be able to defeat Austin.
Since Raymond was still unconscious, they lifted him and left the alley with their heads hung in shame.
Before Weaver turned to leave, he glared at Austin with hatred.
"You son of a bitch! You'll regret this!" he said viciously.
Denali stood aside and watched Austin as he defeated the men.
She was pleased to see Raymond pay for his impudence, yet she was worried about the aftermath.
"Austin, maybe you shouldn't have acted out against them. That young man might be an important
figure," she said with concern.
"Maybe you're right. But what would have happened if I didn't? Do you think that they would let us go
unharmed?"
Austin replied flatly as he shot Denali a calm glance.
Denali fell silent. She understood that Austin was right. Raymond had ordered her to go with him and
had threatened to break Austin's and Evan's legs. It was Raymond who had forced Austin to fight back.
"In the world of martial arts, nobody will show mercy when you make concessions. On the contrary, the
weaker you act in front of others, the more you'll get bullied. Only by getting stronger can you gain
people's respect and have the right to speak for yourself."
After finishing those words, Austin turned and walked toward the Lotus Tavern with Evan, leaving
Denali dumbfounded behind them.
She stared at Austin's back and thought, 'He's right. Maybe I should learn to be tougher.'
By the time she snapped out of her trance, Denali found that Austin was already very far away. He
showed no intention of waiting for her. She pouted as she thought, 'You don't have to be so distant
even though you're smarter than me!'
She then trotted off and quickly caught up with the two men.
After entering the Lotus Tavern, they picked a table and settled down. Austin looked over the menu and
felt worried—even the cheapest dish would cost him 300 vital energy crystals!
Most of the dishes used the meat of edible beasts as their ingredients and supplemented them with
fresh herbs. This kind of food was both beneficial to the martial cultivators' physical fitness and helpful
in their martial refinement.
Of course, they were no less delicious than ordinary dishes.
But due to their high cost, most people could barely enjoy them.
Finally, they had a sumptuous meal, which cost over 3000 vital energy crystals. Austin felt his heart
break when he paid the bill.
Evan was reluctant when they left the tavern. On their way back, he kept asking Austin when they
would eat at the Lotus Tavern again.
Four hours later, in a VIP room of an upscale inn in Peace Town.
A young man reclined in bed. Two girls in revealing outfits applied ointment to his injured nose with
great caution.
Moaning with pain from time to time, the man kept scolding and complaining with resentment.
He was Raymond, the foolish man who had been punched on the nose by Austin earlier that day.
After a while, Weaver pushed open the door and walked up to the bed.
"Young Master Raymond, I've discovered the identity of the three bastards. They were grunt disciples
of Sun Sect, but they were promoted to outer disciples today."
"What? Grunt disciples? Are you sure? How is it possible that the lowly pleb who dared to hurt me is a
grunt disciple? There must be some mistake!"
Raymond spat angrily, reluctant to believe Weaver's words.
It was difficult for him to accept the fact that he had been knocked senseless by a grunt disciple—the
lowest member of Sun Sect.
"There has been no mistake, my young master. I ordered a disciple of Sun Sect to check the
information for me. He can't be wrong.
The brute who hurt you is Austin, the other man is Evan, and the woman is Denali."
"Outer disciples of Sun Sect. Let me see... Contact Chaz and ask him to kill Austin. Tell him that I'll give
him a befitting reward after he terminates that bastard!"
Raymond became hysterical as he finished those words. His grudge against Austin was already
beyond description.
"Okay, young master. I'll do it right away."
Weaver replied respectfully before he turned to leave.
The next morning, Evan went to Austin's house and woke him up at a very early hour.
Today, they would be officially registered as outer disciples.
From now on, they were no longer grunt disciples of Sun Sect!
"Tin, Ophelia keeps winking at me. She's been doing this since learning that I've passed the promotion
test. She also asked me to visit her when I have time off!"
Evan said smugly. He enjoyed being flattered by other grunt disciples, not to mention the female
disciples who showed him affection.
"Winking at you? I'd describe it as ogling. She is trying to pursue you. What are you going to do about
that?"
"I think I need to work harder in my martial arts refinement. So, I'll concentrate on that at present. As for
love-related matters, I don't want them to distract me before I become powerful enough."
"I'm glad that you've found your way, bro."
They laughed happily and kept chatting away.
Austin and Evan walked to Merit Hall to collect their new Jade Badges before heading for the living
district of outer disciples.
They arrived at Sun Mountain and joined 70 to 80 disciples. All of them would have registered as outer
disciples today.
After everyone arrived, an expressionless steward led them to a wide residential area. All the cottages
had been built of timber and bricks. Over time, wind and rain had left their mark on the exterior of the
cottages.
Thousands of cottages had been built across the mountainside, crisscrossed by paths. The scenery
was spectacular.
A board with a number hung over every cottage door, distinguishing them from each other.
"There are two kinds of living places for outer disciples. The sect provides the first kind for free. The
cottages in front of you are the free accommodation provided by the sect."
The steward stopped and cleared his throat before continuing.
"The second kind is those villas over there."
As he pointed his finger in one direction, all the disciples turned and studied the villa area. Some of the
buildings were elegant in appearance, while others looked magnificent.
"Those villas are separated from each other and have beautiful surroundings. They are ideal places for
living and refining.
What's more, the leaders of our sect have ordered a group of array experts to arrange a small-sized
Energy-gathering Array in every villa. For this reason, the air in that area contains much richer vital
energy than the cottages here.
However, only inner disciples are allowed to live here for free. If you want to move to that area, you
need to pay 1000 vital energy crystals annually."
"What?"
Everyone gasped in astonishment when they heard the figure.
As grunt disciples, they lived on the meager allowance provided by the sect.
For most of them, 50 vital energy crystals was a large amount of money.
"Don't worry. This is just your first day as outer disciples. If you apply for missions and work hard to
earn money, you will soon be able to afford the rent of those villas."
Knowing what these cash-strapped disciples were thinking about, the steward comforted and
encouraged them.
He gave each of them a paper with a number before he left. Once he had left, the disciples began
finding their new houses according to the numbers on their papers.
"The Energy-gathering Array..."
Austin muttered as he pondered over the steward's words.
He had heard about the Energy-gathering Array in the past. When an array expert arranged an array in
one place, the vital energy around would gather in the range of the array and create an environment
with rich vital energy.
If a martial arts cultivator practiced in that kind of environment, he would improve dramatically due to
the richness of the vital energy.
After studying the Golden Sun Scripture for some time, Austin realized that it required a large amount
of vital energy to employ this martial arts method.
In his estimation, the amount of vital energy he needed now was 10 to 20 times more than when he
learned about the Purple Yang Formula in the past.
Although he had restored the energy of the seven earth spirit fruits in his vital energy stone, he would
soon run out of his energy reserve after a few days' usage.
In conclusion, Austin was now in urgent need of refining resources.
If he could move to the villa area, he would achieve greater progress when practicing the Golden Sun
Scripture.
'Aside from that, I'm only at the sixth-level of the Energy Gathering Realm. I haven't even recovered my
lost strength from several years ago.' He thought dejectedly.
After pondering over all these issues, Austin decided to move to the villa area. He was willing to spend
his money to strengthen himself.
For now, he would stay the night in the cottage area and then rent a villa with an Energy-gathering
Array the next day.
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