Xue Wei gave the pills that helped with a breakthrough from Sky Warrior to Heavenly Warrior to Hei Gou.
Although his physical strength had reached the Heavenly Warrior level, his Qi was still a bit off.
Having these pills would let him smoothly advance, especially since he was given quite a few of them.
The pills to stabilize one’s foundation were split between Xue Wei and Hei Gou. The former had just reached the first layer of the Heavenly Warrior realm and the latter would do so shortly. Both needed them.
The herbs and spiritual fruits were distributed according to the same idea of ‘who needed them the most’. Xue Wei gave a few herbs and spiritual fruits that benefited spiritual energy cultivation to Bai Tianyi.
Bai Tianyi had previously said that all he needed was the Rainbow Pill, but he did not decline the herbs and fruits offered to him.
After portioning out the items, Xue Wei also gave them some of his essence stones, giving Bai Tianyi and Hei Gou a hundred each. It was not that he being stingy, but that it would be a waste to give them more. It would take them a long time to use all of those essence stones – in fact, they were pretty useless to Bai Tianyi, so giving him a hundred of them was merely a courtesy on Xue Wei’s part.
“Although they are useless to me, I am keeping them as currency,” Bai Tianyi snickered. Xue Wei just nodded his head. He was not going to take something back he had already given.
“Here is some gold.” Xue Wei also handed some gold he had to his two friends. “Okay, now we have split the things, we might as well spend the next couple of months to cultivate and have as many breakthroughs as possible.”
“Since we are going to be doing closed door cultivation, we might not see each other for quite some time, so make do with the gold and essence stones in the meanwhile.”
Bai Tianyi gladly accepted the gold coins with a big smile on his face, but Hei Gou hesitated. “Is it really needed?” he asked, confused. Xue Wei nodded his head, “Yes.”
Because Xue Wei sounded so decisive, Hei Gou barely accepted the gold. “Now you two can start your cultivation. I’ll go to the desk and pay for three months worth of rent here, and then I’ll pay a visit to the Cerulean Starlight Sect. They have been searching for me for half a year, after all.”
Bai Tianyi and Hei Gou both nodded their heads this time. They did not insist on accompanying Xue Wei. They were both eager to raise their strength as soon as possible.
Seeing their eagerness, Xue Wei smiled and took his leave afterwards, after which they both quickly went into seclusion in their rooms.
“You want to rent those three suites for three months?” The manager was dumbstruck when he heard what Xue Wei said, but Xue Wei just smiled at him and nodded his head.
“Three months is expensive!” The manager tried to make him understand, but Xue Wei had already accepted this fact. Still, he had no other option because the inns had denied him and his team entrance, either on the orders of the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect or because they did not want to be drawn into a conflict.
“Each day is one gold coin, so three months is around ninety gold coins a suite. Two hundred and seventy gold coins in total!”
Xue Wei did not hesitate and took out two hundred and seventy gold coins, which he placed on top of the counter.
The manager finally understood that he was serious. He quickly noted down that the suites had been paid for three months. Xue Wei confirmed it before leaving the hotel.
When he walked down the street, however, he noticed that he had become a walking spectacle. Every person on the street looked at him with undisguised curiosity while whispering to their companions.
After spreading out his spiritual energy, Xue Wei could hear what was being said as clear as day.
“He is the one who the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect has warned us about.”
“I hear he left a tavern after threatening to kill everyone inside and didn’t pay for his meal.”
“I heard that he is the reason for the mysterious murder back in Golden Crow City. He might even be an accomplice of the beasts.”
“Watch out or your children will be killed by him. He is a murdering maniac who has killed humans before.”
“I hear that the only reason he is still alive is because that genius from the Skyward Empire, Wan Qiang, stood out for him.”
It was clear that the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect had done a great job at giving him the image of a cold-blooded human murderer who stopped at nothing for personal gains.
The truth was that the ones who spoke were not incorrect so he could not even get mad at them.
He wondered how everyone knew his face, but the answer came to him moments after when he stepped on a painting on the ground. It was a picture of Ye Xiao’s plain face. There was a long list of the atrocities he had committed written on the back.
So they were trying to turn him into the public enemy by distributing flyers throughout the city. Xue Wei understood this now.
The citizens saw him pick up the paper, and all of them expected him to be become violently angry, so they held their breath while fearfully watching Xue Wei.
Never did they expect that he would just smile and shake his head as if he did not take it seriously at all.
There were a few Heavenly Warriors affiliated with the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect in the crowd. They were waiting for him to make a fuss so they could step in righteously, but his lack of reaction caught them all by surprise.
Xue Wei held on to the flyer and continued his stroll to the Cerulean Starlight Sect’s residence within the city.
The Grand Elder of the city’s Cerulean Starlight Sect’s branch had asked to meet him half a year prior, but he was unaware if they sought to maintain the relations.h.i.+p after his long absence. The lack of a response for so long could possibly have turned them off.
As he reached the complex that belonged to the Cloudsoar City’s branch of the Cerulean Starlight Sect, he found that the sect disciples standing guard outside the gate were at the Heavenly Warrior realm. Even the auras of Ordinary Knights were close by.
Xue Wei approached one of the Heavenly Warrior guards. “h.e.l.lo, I am Ye Xiao,” he said, introducing himself. “I was informed that your branch’s Grand Elder was looking for me.”
The main sect had a patriarch, however he was sitting in the center of the continent. Under him were various Grand Elders. These Grand Elders were in charge of the branches they belonged to, and worked as the daily leader instead of the Patriarch. Although their rank sounded high, when it came to the actual sect, they did not have much say.
The guard looked him over and gave a nod. He gave a whistle, after which a Heavenly Warrior walked out from inside. It appeared they were changing spots while the other went inside the compound. The one Xue Wei had spoken to gestured with his hands that they were to wait here before heading inside.
Silence prevailed outside of the Cerulean Starlight Sect’s grounds, but the inside was different. Every person who walked by the entrance and saw Xue Wei looked him over curiously and whispered to their fellow disciples with smiles – and some with jeers.
The people from the Cerulean Starlight Sect were also aware of what had happened. Some of them looked at Xue Wei with disdain for his alleged actions while others believed the rumors spread by the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect had been blown out of proportion.
“I am sorry. The Grand Elder is currently occupied.” The man who had gone in to announce Xue Wei’s arrival returned after a bit of time.
His speech was apologetic, but there was a gleam in his eyes that seemed wicked and contained disdain.
Xue Wei instantly caught on. He had been told that they were waiting for him, but now they did not want to meet him? He felt annoyed and disappointed in the Cerulean Starlight Sect.
He had a good relations.h.i.+p with the few of their disciples he had met so far, and he had been expecting that the rest of the sect possessed the same mentality as them, but now he understood that this sect also had different opinions internally.
Where the Skyward Empire’s branch of the Cerulean Starlight Sect was eager to befriend him, the ones in the Chengzi Kingdom were not.
Although he was a formation master, he had bad blood with the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect and the Argent Moon Sect.
If this Grand Elder had a good relations.h.i.+p with just one of the other two great sects, then he might go against a formation master.
Xue Wei sighed. He had hoped that the Cerulean Starlight Sect could be a possible ally, but reality finally clocked in for him. He could not rely on anyone but himself and his team. He came to that understanding the hard way.
Shaking his head, he gave one last glance at the guard that was giving him a disdainful look. He scoffed, almost sneering. This was their loss.
Xue Wei rubbed his chin for a while, wondering what he should say now that he had been rejected. In the end, he simply flicked his hand and threw something towards the guard. He turned to leave without speaking a word. When the guard caught it and looked at the item in his hand, it was the token of authenticity granted by the grand elder from their branch in the Skyward Empire.
The elder in charge of the Chengzi Kingdom branch had not dared to openly and directly refuse to work with Xue Wei because he could not handle the repercussion of turning away a formation master, but now it was too late.
They had not foreseen that declining to meet Xue Wei for no reason other than to mock him would end in him immediately cutting his ties with their sect.
The disdain in the guard’s eyes vanished in lieu of surprise, but he was quick to regain his composure.
He had never seen the wonder of a formation with his own eyes, so to him it was a foreign item that others had grossly glorified. He did not believe that they were as wonderful as the rumors said.
So to him, it was no big deal. “We won’t see you out,” the guardsman said coldly and snorted. Xue Wei’s only response was a smile over his shoulder before he smoothly turned his head away and left.
He was currently famous all over Cloudsoar City. Everyone had seen his face and they used him as the stuff of nightmares to scare the children.
Whenever they saw him, every adult became alert, even the Golden Chambers reconsidered if they could let him stay.
“Don’t cause problems for me,” the director said to the manager as they conversed through a long distance communication bracelet.
“He is a formation master, so his worth is more than the branches of the three great sects.
If they want to put pressure on you, don’t hold back.”
The manager was surprised. Usually, he would never be allowed to use his power to pressure the other sects or factions, but the director allowed him to do it this time.
Just how amazing was this budding formation master?
Xue Wei was unsure what stance the Golden Chambers would take, but he knew that his reputation as Ye Xiao was ruined in the Chengzi Kingdom.
However, Xue Wei did not care. Ye Xiao was just a character he had created. What happened to it was completely unrelated to Xue Wei.
Not to mention, his own reputation was already down the drain. He was known as a Primordial Beast and a ma.s.s-murderer.. His two ident.i.ties were not far from each other in terms of infamy.
When he entered the hotel again, to his surprise, Xue Wei was met with a smiling manager who greeted him with renewed ardor.
“I can understand that you are in a rough position right now, rumormongers spreading false information about you. I just want you to know, that we, The Golden Chambers, value the friends.h.i.+p we have built with you. We will not cancel your rental, even if the three great sects try to threaten us!”
Having been a.s.sured of this, Xue Wei smiled and cupped his hands to him. “Thank you, manager.”
“No need to be so polite!” The manager beamed back at him while waving his hands.
It was clear that he was immensely satisfied with the young man’s behavior.
Xue Wei felt rea.s.sured that they would not run the risk of being evicted from their rooms. He went up the stairs to his suite and laid out all his pills, fruits, herbs, and essence stones.
Considering that he had only recently broken through to the first layer of the heavenly warrior rank, Xue Wei picked a pill called the Flamethorn Pill.
It was a pill that was refined by using the Flamethorn Herb as the base and ten other supplementary herbs as stabilizers. The Flamethorn Pill a.s.sisted in strengthening one’s foundations and solidifying the user’s cultivation base post-breakthrough, so it was a perfect choice for him.