The night sky was chilly and beautiful as always, Zhi Rui's talking habit was in part because of the scenery. She smiled all the way back.

Suddenly a strong wind passed by her. and a known stench that she couldn't stan to be neat arrived ahead of her.

Xu Fenguying, the ex- sect leader, the one who tortured her throughout her whole life. Wa standing in front of her ina isolated place.

She looked at him coldly. He had was holding a level four hostage, which already brought down her forces by a ridiculously big amount. yet here he was again.

"What do you want this time?" Zhi Rui asked.

Only for an enraged smirk appear on his face.

"What the hell are you doing!?" H asked.

Zhi Rui frowned. He kept on.

"Every single one of your enemies is hurrying with their task, and yet her you are digging a hole on a dead swamp. Falling way behind, how the hell will you win this game like this?"

"Release my subordinate and my overall force will increase."

"Kill Ren Zu, then I'll release the little girl." He countered.

A cold rage overtook Zhi Rui's heart. Her emotionless eyes looked at him with a kind of disgust that she couldn't hold back anymore.

"You're sabotaging yourself. I already made an oath, even if Ren Zu acts on my will it'll still count as acting against you. What more do you want?"

His eyes were gloom but suddenly shone with a white halo.

"I want congruency, Zhi Rui. I can't see how you're going to win this game, by falling behind."

She couldn't hold it in any longer.

"That's because you're an incompetent, dumb, motherfucker. Should you have a little more intelligence, you wouldn't even be here right now. I'm the competitor here, how I'll compete, and what I want to do is my issue, I never swore to tell you every move I made. If you truly don't want to fail then leave me alone and give my subordinate back."

Her despise and disgust was evident, it left no room, for anything else. She despised him to her core. And that was shown clearly with her words right now. It peeved him. It irritates him that he was the passive one in their relationship. The rage bubbled in his veins and he decided to be ruthless as well.

With a wicked grin, he went away without another word. Making Zhi Rui frown and curse for his uselessness.

----

----

----

After arriving at her base, Zhi Rui continued to study method of cultivation. Right now she was studying about the soul, remnant spirits and full spirits.

Her crystal clock announced midnight, and she went out of her hole and went into the bedroom, where a knock resounded.

"Enter"

A trembling Ren Zu came in and laid a half meter long square wooden box. She was hesitant, but spoke regardless. "The one to deliver this is, the Ex-sect-leader Xu Fenguying.

immediately Zhi Rui thought thrice before opening the box. But she pictured he wouldn't do anything to harm her life or plan so hse simply opened it.

The smell of blood spread in a second.

Ren Zu's cheeks blushed with thirsty. Zhi Rui's eyes remained calm and cold. She closed the lid of the box and close her eyes.

Inside the box was a folded arm. It's the size and imbued energy matched with Fan Ling perfectly.

She took the note and read it.

[Show some progress by the end of the month, otherwise you'll b seeing her other arm.]

Zh Rui burned down the paper.

'A monkey clown that keeps dancing, without knowing the circus is over for the night...'

Looking a the arm, there weren't any more bruises, she wasn't suffering, a least physically, the cut-off arm was just petty revenge for despising him. Zh Rui reckoned and can be fixed after She got the girl back.

'But still I cannot let this pass freely, or he'll try to use it again."

She thought about going to the temporary sect leader, but that'd be useless. as he hated her as well.

Thinking about tomorrow's commitment, Zhi Rui left the thought of the sect leader for later, she had no resources to punish him. Without hurting herself in a way that'll cost her plans.

'Things are going disarray...' Zhi Rui believed.

First is the emerging of a fifth level subordinate, and although he is being tied down by the rules applied especially to him. Zhi Rui was a case apart, where nobody would care if whatever attack she was receiving was fair or not.

Second is Xu Fenguying's self-destructive mind.

Third is that Zhi Rui was weak. She got weapons and a strong crew, but that was that. they were of one-time use. if one died she didn't have another to replace.

Contrary to her, if she kills any of the other Geniuses' level four subordinates, they'll just be replaced by the end of the day. And that's without counting on the risk of them finding her an eyesore and decide to crush all pretension and simply gang up on her. should that be the case, not even Bianca can save her, ad the other five Dao protectors were also at the second level.

Things were grim....

With a sigh, Zhi Rui opened the manuscript for the Salomon method. She had trained her body enough for now. Now it comes the part of training conscience. And How would she do that?

On the book, it clearly stated that to train the consciousness you have to work with it and depleting it. But it had no guidance on how exactly do that.

Then she remembered the on the second and third time she entered in her astral form. She lasted several times more than the other before.

A light went bright in her mind and she understood. The Method of Lust was also boosting her should, and her own small travels in the astral body had exercised her mind.

Zhi Rui decided to try to see if it was true, she sat down cross-legged, fused her consciousness with her own ethereal energy and became an astral body.

Suddenly everything went blinding white. Zhi Rui couldn't cope with it.

But slowly, hs managed to identify what was the light, it was a pure, condensed, spirit remnants. nothing like what she extracted from her enemies, but pure, purified remnant spirits. Zhi Rui didn't know how it was there but she could feel it got denser the deeper it was.

Her mind was growing. in form and strength. Just by standing there. This way her healing would take only half of the amount of time, she thought.

She enjoyed the feeling of the energy until she snapped and entered her own body again, she looked the time. It way passed four AM.

Her adventure with her genius peers will start in the noon. Although she was curious to what was down there. she couldn't use time on that right now.

With resolute eyes, she thought of the smaller details of how everything will go tomorrow.