“Brother, you…” With blank eyes, Qin Wushuang stood stationary as his mouth hung wide open. His steady composure of a Sect Leader had wholly disappeared in the face of this perplexing situation.

Today, he had come to check on his sickly Brother Wei Wushuang. Yet, the only thing he saw was a heated battle between his Brother and his disciple. As he suppressed his Soul Energy, he retaliated at his disciple’s every move. With every single agile motion, his jet black hair fluttered in the air.

Befuddlement clouded his thoughts as he couldn’t believe his eyes.

How did Brother recover fully out of nowhere?

Just yesterday, Wei Wushuang was still treading along the gates of death. Yet now, he was lively and agile, leaping around like a monkey. His physical condition had taken an unprecedented turn for the better.

When questioned, he couldn’t put his miraculous recovery into words. Only Lin Qian could adequately explain the situation.

“Sect Leader, it was because of a life-changing dream. Last night, the teacher dreamt of this elderly man.”

“This elder, he is a superior being, a Medical God. Seeing our deep teacher-disciple bonds, our gracious and loving heart and last but not least, handsome appearances, he was touched. Owing to his merciful heart, he activated his Soul Energy and took control over my body.”

“Within the dream, he used my body and made the antidote to teacher’s poisoning. Most unbelievably, Teacher recovered immediately after taking the elixir!”

Looking at Lin Qian’s bright, innocent eyes, Qin Wushuang took a deep breath, “Lin Qian, previously when you fed Brother a potion, you said that an Elderly Medicinal Goddess entrusted the medicine to you through a dream. Now, an Elderly Medicinal God appears?”

“Oh, Sect Leader, looks like you are unaware. This Elderly Medical God is the husband of the Elderly Medical Goddess! She took a liking to me previously, liking my intellect and appearance!”

“As I mentioned previously, the Medical Goddess was very kind and gracious. I suspect the aid from the Medical God was a favour that was entrusted by his wife.”

“…”

Listening to the ridiculous explanation, Qin Wushuang simply shook his head, not probing any further. This disciple of his Brother always shrouded in mystery and was an expert in spouting nonsense. Still, Qin Wushuang was very impressed with Lin Qian, especially his various ingenious ideas.

Once, Lin Qian had said, a being, half God half Demon, had appeared in his dreams, advising him on how to carry out lessons. This celestial being was called Ban Zhuren. He had recommended separating the Sect’s disciples into various classes according to their skill. Teaching them in groups with the same skill level would ease the burden of teaching while accelerating their progress. As to the method of classifying the disciples, Lin Qian had also provided ample guidance.

Subsequently, he had even “dreamt” of two brothers, Qizhong and Qimo. They had taught him the best methods to carry out mid-year and end of year examinations to assess each disciple’s skills in the various fields.

While he definitely found the names of the two brothers highly suspicious, he had to admit. The methods suggested were instrumental. Following Lin Qian’s advice, the cultivation speed and efficiency of the disciples had increased by leaps and bounds.

“Since Brother is alright, I can finally be at ease.” Looking at Wei Wushuang, a sigh of relief escaped from the Sect Leader as his huge mental burden was lifted. Smiling, he suggested, “However, I suggest keeping Brother’s full recovery a tight secret for now.”

Wei Wushuang was in agreement. He knew the purpose of this decision.

Linhai Province had been divided to be under the control of three bigger sects and five smaller ones. Under each power, there were multiple vassal cities. Sandwiched between the eight most significant forces, several guilds had pledged their allegiance to one of the eight forces, surviving quietly.

Within the three bigger sects, the Victorious Heaven Sect was the leading power. Following them were Universal Phenomenon Sect and the Holy Sword Sect, as powers that were on par.

The remaining five were Tyrannical Blade Sect, Rejuvenation Sect, Imperial Beast Sect, Coastal Sect and the Flame Tempering Sect.

The Rejuvenation Sect was a guild of alchemists, specialising in Pills and Medicine. The Flame Tempering sect, on the other hand, is dedicated to Weapon Refinement and Production. Being the producers of crucial equipment for Soul Practitioners, they were not embroiled in the chaos of the world or on poor relations with any other powers.

Along the sea, the Coastal Sect had laid their claim. They were on good relations with the Universal Phenomenon Sect. Driven by high ambitions, the Tyrannical Blade Sect had craved to surpass the Swords with their Sharp Blades, usurping the position of the Holy Sword Sect. They had colluded with the Imperial Beast Sect and maintained a close partnership with the Victorious Heavens Sect.

In recent years, the Universal Phenomenon Sect had advanced at lightning speed. The steady snowballing of their power and influence had placed stress on the Victorious Heavens Sect, threatening their dominance within the region. Many times, close contacts had resulted in unpleasant friction, worsening by the day. Only when the Battle Emperor, Wei Wushuang returned, did the tense and alarming situation settle down into a stalemate.

Alas, the poison within Wei Wushuang’s body had relapsed, leaving him at the Gates of Death. Word of his imminent death had already spread across the Linhai Province like a wildfire. Learning of this news, the Victorious Heavens Sect had shown some unsettling signs, readying for action.

“Actually, I’ve another reason for coming down today.” Looking solemnly at Lin Qian, he sighed, “Regarding the conflict between you and Grandelder Lei’s grandson. Just an apology would be sufficient to call off the deathmatch between the two of you.”

Hearing this, Lin Qian’s expression dropped to jet black, his gaze cold as ice, “Sect Leader, do you think I will ever apologise for this?”

As though he had expected this answer, Qin Wushuang turned to Wei Wshuang, “Brother, what do we do?”

“My poison had just been removed, my power is still lacking and recovering. Should I be at my peak, I could smash that old thing with just one palm.” As he spoke, he lightly patted Lin Qian’s shoulders, “Now, you must be a real man. Take responsibility for your actions. Do not joke about with your life.”

Profoundly breathing, Lin Qian could empathise with the challenges his teacher and Sect Leader was facing.

The conflict began a month ago. Within the Universal Phenomenon Sect, there was a Grandelder, Lei Heng. He had two grandsons, Lei Qian and Lei Kun, both disciples of the Sect.

Owing to his Grandfather’s tremendous influence within the Sect, Lei Kun was arrogant and forced other disciples around with his bigotry. Then, he had laid his eyes on a beautiful female disciple, forcing himself onto her and tainting her dignity.

Losing her chastity to a domineering man shattered the girl entirely. Her emotions broke down, and she lost all hope in life, resulting in her rashly throwing herself off a cliff. Fortunately, her friend discovered her unstable mental state early, saving her life in time. Alas, the psychological damage was irreversible, landing this disciple in a traumatised state forever.

Learning of these unforgivable actions, Lin Qian interrogated Lei Kun upfront and challenged him to a fight. With both parties in the Materialised Vitality Stage, Lei Kun was no match for Lin Qian’s superior physique. The battle ended as a one-sided bashing of Lei Kun, leaving him with four broken limbs, and a permanently destroyed dantian, making him a disabled commoner.

However, Lei Kun was allowed to live. Do not misunderstand this. Lin Qian was not merciful. He just felt that scum’s like this should not be killed so easily. Making him handicapped for the rest of his life would be eternal torment, a more befitting punishment for scum like him.

Green veins popped as raw anger consumed him. He would not reduce Lin Qian to dust if Qin Wushuang and Wei Wushuang did not hover around him, keeping him under constant protection.

While Qin Wushuang was the Sect Leader, Lei Heng was not any less influential as a Grandelder. Qin Wushuang could not protect Lin Qian forever by himself.

Later on, Lei Kun’s elder brother, Lei Qian, challenged Lin Qian to set a Deathbattle agreement.

A death battle where until one party drops dead, the battle is not over.

Ever since then, Qin Wushuang had wracked his brain for ideas to convince Lei Qian to call off this absurd challenge.

After all, at a young age of twenty four, Lei Qian was already the 9th tier Nirvana Stage Powerhouse. Before this, he had even gone through Eight Round Nirvana before he broke through.

While Lin Qian possessed a superior physique that was comparable to a Nirvana Stage Practitioner. It was only the comparable was a Nirvana Stage Practitioner who broke through after three rounds. What’s more, a practitioner who was below the 4th Tier Nirvana Stage.

He was known as Young Emperor not because of his strength, but because of his teacher, the Battle Emperor.

It was especially so when the fact that Lin Qian could not Weapon-Soul Materialise was made known to the region. Several prodigies within his generation had looked down on him with contempt. Weapon-Soul Materialisation, it was a skill that demanded not just a Martial Soul, but a complete Martial Soul.

Utilising the Soul Weapon Core which was forged into a weapon’s shape, and the balls tempered from Soul Minerals, the Soul Weapons Piece, an enhanced Soul Weapon could be formed.

Under two conditions, a practitioner could not achieve this.

First, the Martial Soul was damaged. This would result in the Martial Soul being unable to establish a firm connection with the Soul Weapon Core and the Soul Weapons Piece.

Secondly, the practitioner lacked talent and had a mediocre Martial Soul.

In any of the above situations, the Practitioner was ill-fated, destined to be unable to breakthrough into the Nirvana Stage. He was trash, a good-for-nothing with no future.

While Lin Qian possessed superior physique, he was still a good-for-nothing with no future in the outsider’s eyes.

All in all, he was only invincible within the Materialised Vitality Stage, and able to battle the common Nirvana Stage Practitioners.

Within the entire Universal Phenomenon Sec, everyone’s thoughts were aligned. Lin Qian had no chance of surviving. Even the Sect Leader and his own teacher, Wei Wushuang, did not think it would go well for him.

But, was Lin Qian really courting death?