Wen Ning looked at his pupil in surprise.

Lan Wei with his shabby clothes, with no aptitude for martial arts. He had scoffed at Lan Wei at the start. He taught him sword skills out of pity. At least he would have a chance to defend himself.

But over the weeks, he became more enthralled by the look of burning fearlessness in Lan Wei's eyes. He had thought at the time - if only if this boy had high talent level! Then, he could officially take him in and become bonded as a True Teacher and Student.

He lamented the loss of such a good talent. No matter how good your innate talent was, it was useless without determination and persistence. Without that, you would find yourself at a stalemate. Worst comes to worst, you would die before you even reached that bottleneck.

But.. the energy currently flowing out of Lan Wei. It was-!

The faint orange wisps flickered around Lan Wei's body, fading in and out of existence as he stood still, back straight, facing Wen Ning with that same look of determination.

Wen Ning sighed and bowed his head.

"Come inside." He said softly, just barely enough for Lan Wei to hear.

Lan Wei nodded excitedly and followed him into his study.

He had only trained with the swordmaster outside, and occasionally inside the training room whenever it was raining. He did not expect the swordmaster to live in such squalor at first, but he was proved wrong.

The outside of the house certainly seemed shabby, coupled with the fact that the swordmaster had no servants and no maids. Lan Wei had heard the gossip when he had first snuck around.

People called the swordmaster a failure.

A fake.

But the inside was as luxurious as it could be for a small house. Treasures were stuffed everywhere.

If the outside of the house was like this, then the swordmaster would be regarded as a tycoon.

The room was airy and had the soft afternoon sun streaming down through the open windows. A low tea table was set in the centre, with Wen Ning already preparing the tea. Soft, muted peonies surrounded the windows.

Freshly cut, fragrant jasmine flowers were scattered around the floor. Parchment was everywhere, stacked in neat piles that towered over Lan Wei. Exotic paintings and treasures were displayed carefully and protected.

Lan Wei recognised a purple ginseng plant inside a glass box. Little flashes of bright lightning flashed across the branches, making him recoil back.

This was not a normal purple ginseng!

He turned his attention back onto the swordmaster.

Wen Ning heated the pot with a flick of his wrist.

Lan Wei felt his jaw drop, and Wen Ning chuckled lightly.

"An added perk of being strong. You always have hot, piping tea." Wen Ning exclaimed lightly, a thoughtful look on his face.

He gestured towards the embroidered cushions.

"Sit."

Lan Wei gingerly tiptoed over to the cushions, avoiding as much of the parchment as he could. He accidentally stepped on a jasmine flower stem and jumped back, stumbling. The piles of parchment tottered as he fell back.

However, before he crashed, a deft hand reached out and pulled him onto the cushion.

"...Thanks." Lan Wei mumbled, still starstruck.

All was quiet. Wen Ning poured the fragrant tea into two delicate porcelain cups and handed one to Lan Wei.

Lan Wei nodded in thanks and took a sip of the tea.

To his surprise, a rush of warmth went through his veins. He felt his energy instantly boosted up to the 4th level of orange.

Wen Ning's eyes flickered slightly at his bewildered expression.

He set down his teacup.

"Lan Wei. I would like to take you in as an official student." He said, a firm look in his eye as he raised his head and stared at Lan Wei.

Lan Wei coughed a bit, and nodded briefly.

"I will make the preparations later." Wen Ning said, coughing slightly into a handkerchief. The pristine white handkerchief was dotted with spots of bright red blood.

Lan Wei looked at him in shock and concern. He reached out gently to the swordmaster, who brushed away his hand and smiled lightly.

He reached into a cabinet beside the table, and brought out a light green orb the size of an eyeball. He passed it on to Lan Wei.

"This will allow me to know wherever you are, and sense when you are in mortal danger." Wen Ning said.

"If the worst happens, this orb will block one hit from a black level."

"I understand. Thank you, Teacher."

"Now go. You need all the time you can to practise. I will let you use the room next door."

Lan Wei clutched at the orb tightly and made his way into the room next door, which was a stark contrast to Wen Ning's study. Apart from the flooring, there was absolutely nothing inside, not even a window.

Is this what they call tough love?

Lan Wei sighed and sat down in the centre.

Suddenly, a bright circle appeared around him. The edges of the circles seemed to flicker with bright white fire, their tendrils barely touching him. Mysterious runes swirled around the base, and slowly flowed around him. He reached out, but found his fingers went straight through.

He could almost see the particles of pure light floating around.

Lan Wei settled down into a lotus position and concentrated. The amount of energy he felt rushing through him was twice the usual.

His newly acquired Teacher was certainly full of surprises.

At this rate, it would be a simple task to pass the trials.

He wasn't worried. After all, his goal now was to ruin the rest of the Lan family, and continue growing!

The plan was almost complete.

There was no point in spending a lot of time to hunt them down, like Jia Xinyue had vividly described. After all, they were nothing but insects, clamoring for his attention.

He still had to be careful. Lan Fei was at 3rd level of red.

No rush.

In the other room, Wen Ning stared at the wall which separated him from his new student.

He was strong enough for this world, but would he ever be strong enough for the battle that awaited him in the future?

Wen Ning sighed.

Lan Wei was his last chance of going back to that realm. He was everything the younger Wen Ning was not.

Wen Ning coughed once more.

Staring at the blood spots, a faint tear fell down. Time was running out, not for him, but for the rest of his family.