Now Isshin had the Strike of Jupiter.
As he went to receive it, he was suddenly stopped by the same faction that had been bidding against him.
A tall, bulky man stepped forward. He had a thick beard, a heavy presence, and a massive sword resting on his back. Several others stood behind him, all watching quietly.
He stopped right in front of Isshin.
Isshin immediately tensed. If something went wrong, he was ready to react.
"Congratulations on getting the Strike of Jupiter," the man said.
Isshin blinked, slightly caught off guard. That wasn't what he expected.
"T-thanks," he replied, still cautious.
The man nodded once. "I hope you put it to good use. We'll meet again."
Before Isshin could respond, the man turned and left with his group.
Isshin stood there for a moment, confused. He had been expecting hostility, maybe even a fight. Instead, it ended like that.
He thought about it briefly. Maybe they'd try something later, when he was alone.
For now, he didn't dwell on it.
He stepped forward and collected the Strike of Jupiter, storing it in his inventory. The payment wasn't an issue—Felix had already handled everything.
After some time, Felix walked over.
"We're leaving," he said.
Isshin followed without question.
They stepped outside, and Isshin started thinking about the journey. Even with Flash Step, it would take at least a day or two to reach the Divine Sword Sect.
But Felix suddenly raised his hand and pulled out a massive sword from thin air.
Isshin paused.
"Does he have an inventory too?" he thought.
"No," Raijin replied. "He compressed the sword into his body. He can bring it out whenever he wants."
Isshin looked at it again, this time more carefully.
Felix stepped onto the sword as it hovered horizontally. "Get on."
Isshin stepped up as well.
"Use your qi on your legs. Keep your balance," Felix said.
Isshin focused immediately, stabilizing himself.
The next moment, Felix poured qi into the sword.
They shot forward.
Isshin's body tightened. The speed almost threw him off, but he held his position, forcing his qi to keep him steady. The wind rushed past him, everything below turning into a blur.
This was on a completely different level.
About thirty minutes later, they arrived.
The Divine Sword Sect.
Isshin stepped off the sword and took a moment. That difference in speed alone told him everything about the gap between them.
In front of him stood a massive structure—the main hall.
Felix walked forward. Isshin followed.
As they entered, disciples lined both sides, bowing as Felix passed. Their eyes shifted toward Isshin, curiosity obvious. Some whispered, but no one spoke openly.
They reached the center.
A large throne stood there.
Felix sat down.
Isshin stood beside him, unsure where exactly he should be, but staying close felt right.
Felix looked across the room. He could already tell what everyone was thinking.
After a brief pause, he spoke.
"Today, I've taken in my first disciple."
Silence.
Then reactions followed.
Shock spread across the room.
One young man stepped forward slightly, his expression clearly irritated, like he was about to speak. But an elder beside him stopped him immediately.
Isshin noticed.
That was enough to understand. The man had probably been aiming for that position himself.
Another voice came from the side.
"Why is he mad? He wasn't getting picked anyway," someone muttered.
A girl beside him tried to hide her laugh.
An elder cleared his throat.
"That is all. You may leave. First-grade disciples will show him around."
The crowd began to disperse.
Isshin turned slightly. "Alright, I'll take my leave then… ma—"
"You can just call me Felix," Felix said.
That single sentence shifted everything.
The same angry disciple released a burst of qi, unable to hold it back. Not only had Isshin been chosen, but he was allowed to speak casually.
The tension rose for a moment.
Felix glanced at him once.
That was enough. The pressure disappeared instantly.
Isshin understood something from that. Felix knew. Maybe not everything, but enough to realize Isshin wasn't alone. That was probably why he didn't want the title of "master."
Raijin didn't say much, but he acknowledged it.
Soon after, two first-grade disciples approached.
It was the same guy who had made the earlier comment, along with the girl beside him. The angry one didn't come.
"Looks like we're showing you around," the guy said.
Isshin nodded.
As they walked, he took in the surroundings.
At the same time, far away, the lower-grade elders and disciples still believed Isshin had disappeared somewhere after running off from the forest.
They had no idea where he actually was.
Isshin was already a member of the ShenLou Sect, but he was only there for a couple of days, so he did not bother to go back or even remember it.
Now that he had become an inner disciple, his life became easier than before.
The two disciples introduced themselves to Isshin.
"i am yun, and he is feng. may i know where you are from?" the girl asked Isshin.
Isshin paused for a second.
He did not really have any proper introduction. He was not born in a city, just somewhere in a random countryside area far away in the Crimson Kingdom.
"i am from the countryside of the crimson kingdom, i am not too familiar with the cultivation world yet so i hope i can learn here. i am also a student of the verdant dragon academy"
The two of them were pretty surprised.
They did not expect Isshin to be from the countryside, and hearing that he was from the academy changed a few things.
"oh so you are currently on break then? the academy is quite far from here, i am pretty sure the academy is supposed to open again in 2 months"
Isshin realized he only had two months before he could probably meet his friends again.
Even though he did not socialize much, he was still looking forward to meeting Rune and Karin. If things went well enough, there should not be any issues.
After Isshin was shown around all the places in the Divine Sword Sect, including the medicine hall, alchemy hall, cultivation hall, and the various halls where students lived, he went to the alchemy hall out of curiosity.
"are you curious about alchemy?" Feng asked Isshin.
"well, i have cultivated for some years but i am not familiar with it, from what i have read in the academy, you need to mix different ingredients with your qi and a flame, then you use a good cauldron for it and there are specific techniques for different pills, and the higher tier the pill, the different calamities will fall upon you"
Feng nodded.
"you are right, however, the flames you use matter the most in some cases, without a flame, you cant make pills or refine anything, you can either burn your qi in a way and use your own cultivation flame, or find different flames across the world, either from auctions or just in a natural area, the best of the best flames are the heavenly flames that are ranked in the world, its insanely rare to find a heavenly flame, let alone multiple of them"
Isshin realized there was much more to learn.
His journey of cultivation had been a mess over the last few years. He had nearly died multiple times and survived through things he could not even understand.
He took a deep breath, taking it all in.
"do you think i should be good enough to refine the most basic pill as a start?" Isshin asked.
Yun thought for a second before replying.
"well, if you spend a couple of days understanding it more, you will be able to make a tier 1 soul condensing pill"
"uhh, what is the soul condensing pill?" Isshin asked.
Both Yun and Feng were kind of surprised.
They did not expect Isshin to barely know something like that.
"how did this guy reach the nascent soul realm?" they both thought.
"it is just a regular pill that increases your cultivation, the higher the tier the more effective it is in raising your realm, different pills have different results. you can learn alchemy from the beginning tomorrow when elder zhao is available here to teach"
"understood, thank you guys for your guidance i will see you later." Isshin replied.
Isshin returned to the room that was prepared for him.
As he lay down on the bed, he stared at the ceiling.
An internal voice came out immediately.
"you barely told me anything about any of this!"
Raijin replied right away.
"h-hey i try my best, i am just a cultivator not a teacher!, i am not good at alchemy either although it is enough for your guys standards"
Isshin frowned.
"just a cultivator? you are one of the strongest immortals for gods sake"