The atmosphere at the disciple recruitment square buzzed with anticipation.
Yet the eyes of the crowd weren't on the grand pavilions of the top sects. Instead, they were glued to a broken chair, a garbage-picked table, and a young man in white robes wearing sunglasses.
Above him fluttered a tattered cloth banner, painted in crooked letters:
Sanatan Flame Sect – A New Life Begins.
Among the many sects present, three in particular were itching to slap him down.
The Iron Eagle Sect on the left.
The Tiger Claw Sect on the right.
And directly ahead—
The Mist Cloud Sect.
Their leaders stepped forward together, smirking like hyenas encircling a lone rabbit.
"Haha! Look at this clown!" jeered Fei Yun, leader of the Iron Eagle Sect. "You dare call yourself a Sect Leader looking like that?"
"Sanatan Flame Sect?" scoffed Guo Tie of the Tiger Claw Sect. "Never heard of it. What kind of destitute sect can't even afford a booth?"
Then Xu Wansheng of the Mist Cloud Sect stepped forward, his tone dripping with disdain.
"A beggar like you dares to recruit disciples? What will you give them? A bowl to beg with on the streets?"
The three leaders burst into laughter.
The crowd chuckled along, enjoying the spectacle.
Shaurya didn't flinch.
He leaned back in his squeaky chair, lifted his sunglasses slightly, and gave them a lazy, pitying look.
"A begging bowl? Perhaps." He smirked. "But that's still better than feeding them defective pills and teaching them garbage techniques like you three do. Right?"
The laughter died instantly.
Xu Wansheng's face turned red. "You—!"
Before the confrontation could explode, a terrifying pressure slammed down on the square.
The air itself seemed to freeze.
The crowd parted like the Red Sea.
An Elder arrived.
He wore the fiery crimson robes of the Jade Fire Sect, dragging a bruised, limping disciple behind him like a sack of potatoes.
Elder Huo Ming.
The strongest expert in the city square.
He threw the battered disciple onto the ground.
"Where is he?"
The Young Master—the one Shaurya had crippled earlier—pointed a trembling finger toward the man in sunglasses.
"Elder! It's him! He humiliated us... and he destroyed my cultivation!"
The square went deathly silent.
Someone whispered, "Did I hear that right? That kid crippled a Jade Fire disciple?"
"He's a dead man walking..."
Sensing opportunity, Xu Wansheng hurriedly bowed, his voice eager.
"Elder Huo Ming! This boy insulted us too! I suggest we join forces to teach him a—"
Huo Ming turned his head slowly.
His eyes were cold enough to freeze magma.
"You're telling me what to do?"
Xu Wansheng turned pale and scrambled backward. "No! No, Elder! I meant no offense!"
Huo Ming's gaze shifted to Shaurya.
He took in the broken table.
The tattered banner.
The smiling young man.
"A poor boy... daring to call himself a Sect Leader?" he said slowly. "And what is this ridiculous name? Sanatan Flame Sect? I have lived over a hundred years, and I have never heard of anything so weird."
Shaurya blinked.
Then he leaned toward his terrified disciples, whispering loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Wait… a hundred years? Cultivators really live that long? No wonder this guy's face looks like a dried peach."
Silence.
Absolute, suffocating silence.
Elder Huo Ming's eyes twitched. Veins bulged on his forehead.
"You... You dare insult me? You crippled my disciple. Now, I will not just kill you. I will skin you, cripple your disciples, and erase your pathetic sect from history!"
Shaurya muttered under his breath, "To destroy my sect, wouldn't I need an actual sect first, System?"
The System responded cheerily.
"Then work hard, Host. Don't die."
Huo Ming roared.
His aura exploded outward.
"Die!"
He charged.
Stone cracked beneath his feet as his blazing Qi-wrapped fist shot toward Shaurya's head.
Shaurya's expression hardened. He crossed his arms.
BOOM!
He was blasted backward, his feet carving two deep trenches through the plaza. He stopped ten meters away, arms numb and shaking.
"System, what level is this fossil?"
Enemy Analysis: Elder Huo Ming
Cultivation: Qi Initiate Level 7
Warning: Enemy is 4 Levels higher than Host.
Shaurya spat blood and grinned.
"Four levels above me? Spicy. I love a challenge."
The battle exploded.
Huo Ming was relentless—a storm of fire and rage. Shaurya dodged, weaved, and parried, but he was being pushed back. The gap in raw power was undeniable.
"You rat! Stop running!" Huo Ming roared, unleashing a barrage of fire palms.
Shaurya ducked beneath a wave of flames that singed his hair.
The heat was suffocating.
And yet—
The corner of his mouth curled upward.
He was enjoying this.
Hidden Mission Completed: "Smile in the Face of Death"
Reward: +5 Dharma Points
Shaurya burst out laughing mid-fight.
"System! I have 10 Dharma Points now, right?"
"Correct, Host."
"Then use them all! LEVEL ME UP!"
Processing…
Level Up: Qi Initiate 3 → Qi Initiate 5
Divine Body Limiters Released
Energy Capacity Expanded
BOOM!
A pillar of golden aura erupted from Shaurya, blasting away the incoming flames. The air pressure in the square doubled instantly.
Elder Huo Ming froze.
"What... what is this power?! You broke through mid-battle?!"
Shaurya stepped from the golden light, wounds gone, eyes blazing with terrifying vitality.
"Round Two, Dried Peach."
He vanished.
Lightning-fast.
Before Huo Ming could react, Shaurya was inside his guard.
Bam! Bam! CRACK!
Bones shattered. Ribs collapsed.
"Impossible!" Huo Ming screamed. "I am an Elder! I am—"
"You are weak," Shaurya said coldly.
He seized the Elder's face, lifted him, and slammed him into the plaza.
CRASH!
A crater formed.
Huo Ming lay broken, blood bubbling from his mouth.
Shaurya planted one foot on his chest.
"What happened, Elder Huo Ming?" he mocked. "Weren't you going to erase me from history? Aren't you powerful or something?"
He lifted his foot, pausing for a split second above the Elder's head.
Then brought it down.
CRUNCH-SPLAT.
Not a crack.
A wet, sickening obliteration.
Bone collapsed. Flesh burst. The head vanished beneath his heel.
Shaurya ground down until nothing remained—no face, no skull, only red pulp embedded into cracked stone.
He lifted his foot.
Nothing recognizable remained.
Shaurya looked down coldly.
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
"He killed a Jade Fire Elder…"
"He's a monster…"
Xiao Rui and Xiao Lian stared at their Master in total awe.
Shaurya wiped his shoe on the grass and returned to his broken chair. Sitting down calmly, he announced:
"I'll say it again. If you want to achieve something in life, join the Sanatan Flame Sect. A new life begins here."
Hidden Mission Complete – "Punish an Evil Cultivator"
Reward: Divine Eye Technique
Description: Analyze any skill or object at a glance
Shaurya nearly cried behind his sunglasses.
"System… you're the best!"
Silence followed.
Then chaos.
"Master! I want to join!"
"Please accept me!"
"I'll do anything!"
People stampeded toward his table.
Form acquired through System Auto-Generate function.
Within minutes—
Mission Complete – Accept 10 Disciples
Current Disciples: 15/50
Reward: Sect Main Hall + Sect Infrastructure
Bonus Reward: 1x Divine Spin Wheel
Shaurya leapt up, throwing his arms skyward.
"YESSS! Finally! The mission is complete!"
He grinned at the heavens, robes fluttering, ignoring the corpse cooling nearby.
The Sanatan Flame Sect had just taken its first bold step… and the world was beginning to notice.
To Be Continued…..