Bao Tie went to the sect merchant district, an area filled with shops sanctioned by the sect to sell all kinds of cultivation resources like pills and treasures.
Bao Tie felt that Xiao Shan's current cultivation speed was very fast, but even if it reached the same level as his, he knew Xiao Shan would be no match. Xiao Shan was lacking in combat experience, spells, and treasures. This made him uneasy as he knew that combat played a big role in the examination.
He went to several shops, looking for a suitable treasure like a sword or a dagger. However, with his current finances, even the cheapest dagger he found gave him a heartache. He decided that it was better to try at the family treasure pavilion.
That afternoon he arrived at his family estate, a villa on top of a mountain with various pavilions and pagodas.
As he was getting close to the pavilion, a whistling sound startled him. He felt a warm sensation on his left cheek as a drop of blood rolled down from a cut.
His brows furrowed as he looked back, when a voice called him out. "Little brother Tie, what brings you back to the family house? I thought you had exiled yourself." A young man, around ten years younger than himself with a long face and thick eyebrows, bore an eerie resemblance to Bao Tie.
This was Bao Fan, his younger brother, whom the family considered a genius. He had already reached the seventh level of Qi Condensation. It was said that he was on track to become a family elder in a few years if he could break through to Foundation Establishment.
Bao Tie gripped his hand hard enough to draw blood. "My business is my business. Why would esteemed brother care?"
"I heard an interesting rumor, so I came to give you a hand," Bao Fan replied derisively, his face twisting with a devilish smile as he made a grasping motion with his right hand.
Bao Tie's pupils shrank and he immediately lunged to the side, barely evading a flying sword that grazed his robes.
"What is the meaning of this!?" Bao Tie demanded. However, the only reply he got was another swipe from the flying sword. The slash opened a gash in his left arm as he just managed to avoid getting hit in his vitals.
Normally Bao Tie wouldn't dare to enter into conflict with his brother. However, all the pressure he was under broke him. He had enough.
He roared as he threw a flying dagger with his right hand while his left hand flashed a series of hand signs.
The dagger was blocked by the flying sword and sent back a dozen feet.
Bao Tie's hair fluttered as a flame swirled in front of him, forming the shape of a phoenix.
"Oh?" his brother chuckled as he copied Bao Tie's spell, materializing a larger flame phoenix.
Bao Tie gritted his teeth as he pointed to his brother. The flame phoenix lunged with a screech as Bao Tie followed behind. His brother launched his own flame phoenix to overwhelm the incoming attack.
However, just as the phoenixes were going to make contact, Bao Tie roared viciously, "Explode!" His phoenix detonated violently, sending waves of flames and pushing his brother's phoenix back.
Bao Fan's brows furrowed as he tried to do an incantation to block the incoming flame wave. However, from the flames lunged Bao Tie, throwing a punch that sent Bao Fan staggering back several steps.
Just as Bao Fan recovered his foothold, Bao Tie followed up with a slash from the flying dagger. However, before it could connect, Bao Fan finished his spell. A roaring wind picked up behind him. A whirlwind blocked the flying dagger, then with a hand sign from Bao Fan, streams of wind slashed at Bao Tie, opening several small injuries around his body.
Bao Tie's eyes were red from impotence. He had tried to launch a spell previously but realized that his qi was depleted. After the wind onslaught, he stood stubbornly; however, he looked more like a corpse.
Bao Fan then threw a pair of daggers, impaling Bao Tie at the shoulders. With that, Bao Tie lay on the ground, defeated and pummeled into a pulp. Exhausted, bleeding, unwilling.
"I always wondered why your cultivation was stuck," Bao Fan mused with a sigh as he walked away.
"I thought you only needed a hand, but quite frankly, not even my full attention can help you," his voice called from afar.
Bao Tie remained still for a few hours, watching as the sky darkened. "So that is how it is. No wonder nobody came out even with the ruckus." He felt true helplessness and closed his eyes.
As the night fell, a familiar voice whispered, "What a pity, this child. If only..." A middle-aged man shook his head as he sighed. This was Bao Yan. He took out a small bottle from his bag of holding and put it beside Bao Tie before leaving silently.
Bao Tie opened his eyes and looked at the bottle. Struggling to sit up, he grabbed the bottle and checked its contents.
A medicinal smell wafted from the bottle as he opened it. He saw three white round pills and immediately recognized them as qi recovery pills. Even low quality ones were enough to help him recover from his injuries. He bowed while in pain toward the direction where Bao Yan had left.
He struggled to get up, taking a pill to begin his recovery. This barely helped him enough to drag himself down the mountain, where he found a spot to sit and cultivate.
He spent the night consuming another pill and cultivating. Slowly his wounds healed, and he was able to pull out the daggers lodged in his shoulders.
The next day, after healing some more, he took a look at the daggers. He found that neither of them had an imprint, which made them ownerless. Bao Tie gripped them tight before putting them in his bag of holding.
He spent the rest of the day walking back to his abode, where he spent the next day cultivating and healing using the last pill Bao Yan gave him.
Finally it was morning and Bao Tie used up the last pill. He was mostly recovered with his cultivation back at peak condition.
He opened his eyes. They were calm like deep pools of water as he stood up.
---
Xiao Shan had spent the last couple of days stabilizing his cultivation after breaking through to the second level.
Although he could more clearly feel the spiritual energy in his body, he was not too sure what to do with it.
In his mind, immortals could fly, use powerful magic, and command magical flying swords. However, he felt clueless as to how to achieve any of that.
He tried circulating his qi in various forms, jumping and running, but nothing special happened. He just felt like he had more stamina.
Finally he tried throwing a punch at a boulder. His hand ended up sore and bruised. Xiao Shan sighed. He had not figured out how to make use of his cultivation.
After thinking for a bit, he decided to look for Da He. His senior brother was already at the second level and maybe he had more insight.
Xiao Shan descended from his cave. The previously ordinary breeze now felt different as he was able to see how it carried a hint of spiritual energy.
Xiao Shan looked back at the mountain and focused his eyes. His sight seemed to be able to see farther and with more detail. He could see a massive mist swirling slowly around, "dense spiritual energy!"
Just with the thin energy on this mountain, Xiao Shan was able to cultivate. He shuddered at the thought of what others could do deeper in the sect with access to that richer pool of spiritual energy.
Finally he continued descending. He visited the new disciples' grounds and asked around for Da He.
Other disciples usually were dismissive of Xiao Shan, but today they felt he was a different person. He had an aura, similar to Da He.
Many new disciples were members of small cultivation families, so they immediately recognized the signs of Xiao Shan's cultivation.
They answered politely to his inquiries, informing him that Da He had departed the previous day. Nobody was sure where he went, but he was no longer on the new disciples' mountain.
Xiao Shan sighed as he walked back to his cave. He started to think about Bao Tie and tightened his hand.
"Maybe I should tell him that I'm not ready. He already gave me a spirit stone, so maybe I can try asking for a technique?" He gritted his teeth, thinking already of the ways Bao Tie would try to make it hard for him.
"Then why give me the spirit stone and method? Something is not right, but I can't really point my finger at what." Xiao Shan remained pensive as he arrived at his makeshift cave abode.
As he was lost in his train of thought, a voice called to him. "Xiao Shan." Dread filled his heart as he thought of Bao Tie's mocking face.
However, as he turned back, the sight shocked him. He saw a man in tattered gray robes who exuded a refined aura like an immortal. His face was calm with thick brows that adorned eyes that looked like clear pools of water that could drown you if you stared at them too long. The man was Bao Tie!