CHAPTER 127: NUMBER ONE

Stepping inside, Yu Xuan found himself in a wide, rectangular hall.

Along the rightmost side were rows of bunk beds simple and utilitarian. A refreshment area stood a short distance from them.

Most of the hall was empty space, but one corner caught his eye, shelves stacked with packaged food. A glowing panel nearby indicated the cost in sect points.

’So, not exactly great but more like a budget hostel’, he mused.

Across the vast room, Yu Xuan spotted nearly forty other disciples.

They varied wildly in size and appearance, gathered in loose clusters. At the center, two were fighting while the rest surrounded them like an audience.

A few figures stood out, leaning back confidently, surrounded by others, it looked like a rough hierarchy had already been established inside.

In quieter areas, Yu Xuan noticed loners or duos keeping to themselves, undisturbed by the noise or drama.

As the entrance doors slid shut behind him, several heads turned his way. Every inmate was male no surprise, this was clearly the male wing.

Yu Xuan ignored the curious gazes. Without hesitation, he made his way toward the corner where the food was stocked.

Tapping his medallion against the glowing panel, he retrieved a neatly packed meal.

The contents? Purely vegetables. No meat. Still, the quality was surprisingly high.

As he finished the last bite, he stared at the empty container with a blank expression.

’Did I just become a one-day vegan?’ he thought .

Just then, a disciple approached him and wordlessly gestured for him to follow.

Intrigued, Yu Xuan trailed behind until they arrived at the largest cluster of people, clearly the dominant group inside this holding hall.

Yu Xuan immediately assessed the situation.

There were four disciples at the center, each exuding authority. Mid stage Core Formation realm, he estimated. The rest, clearly their underlings, sat or stood around them like lackeys orbiting planets.

One of the bosses stepped forward and smirked. "Well, newbie, now yo—"

He never finished his sentence.

With a casual wave of his hand, the man dropped to his knees, his body held down by an unseen force.

Yu Xuan walked forward slowly, his expression calm and indifferent.

The other three moved, alarmed but before they could act, they too were forced down one by one.

Despite the cultivation seals still present, Yu Xuan’s [Telekinesis] paired with [Immortal’s Gaze] proved more than enough to suppress them completely.

The sealing cuffs might’ve restricted his Qi, but to him, they were now little more than weighted accessories, which now had taken place on his wrist like bangles.

He stood in front of the quite crowd, looking down at them like a bored king surveying peasants.

"I don’t know whether you’re into this kind of thing or not," he said casually, "but for today, I’m your supreme boss."

***

Yu Xuan now lay flat on one of the upper bunks, arms behind his head, looking completely at ease.

The so called "boss" who had first tried to intimidate him now stood beside the bed like a loyal attendant, his ability to adapt to changing power dynamics was, admittedly, impressive.

At the moment, Yu Xuan was listening to stories from the various inmates, mostly the former "bosses."

Their tales were remarkably similar: they had each tried to steal some rare treasure from a seemingly weak disciple, assuming the poor fool would be an easy mark... only to discover that the so called weakling was anything but weak.

In each case, the "victim" reported them with the backing of some senior brother who had influence in the Discipline Committee.

Since they had already used or partially absorbed the stolen treasure, the evidence was undeniable, and their voices were ignored in favor of the complainant.

Found guilty, they received a standardized sentence, one week in the holding cells and a thousand sect points penalty.

In essence, they were small time villains who had tried to rob some "weak looking protagonist" and failed spectacularly.

Oddly enough, this shared downfall had bred a strange sense of camaraderie between them. There was a lot of grumbling, but not much malice.

"Number One," Yu Xuan said lazily, not even looking at the man beside him, "tell me about the loners in here. What do you know?"

"Yes, Boss." The man — now dubbed ’Number One’ nodded immediately and began relaying everything he knew about the other isolated disciples scattered throughout the cell.

Yu Xuan listened patiently, but most of the information was bland, unremarkable, except for one duo.

That pair stood out.

Just then, Number One turned to him with genuine curiosity and asked, "Boss, if you don’t mind me asking... why were you brought here?"

He took a sip of water after asking, just in time to regret it.

"Oh, that?" Yu Xuan said casually, stretching slightly. "I’ve got a trial tomorrow. Apparently, I’m here for killing a fellow disciple."

Choke.

Number One sputtered violently, water spraying from his mouth as he coughed and gasped for breath. His eyes widened in horror or maybe admiration.

Yu Xuan gave him a sidelong look. "You good?"

Number One quickly composed himself. "As expected of Boss... You’re not some small time thief like me."

Yu Xuan sighed. "You can go now. I want to sleep."

"Yes, Boss!" Number One bowed slightly and walked away, inwardly reaffirming his earlier assessment the other party was no ordinary cultivator.

Even with his own higher cultivation, the suppression he’d felt earlier told him everything he needed to know. Better to follow than to provoke.

After Number One left, Yu Xuan closed his eyes, trying to get some rest.

Two hours passed.

He was still trying.

Four hours later...

He swore he was really trying. But apparently, the more he wanted to sleep, the further sleep ran from him.

It didn’t help that he had an unfinished dream hanging somewhere in the back of his head.

Finally, he gave up.

With a mild headache returning and nothing else to do, Yu Xuan got to his feet and made his way across the hall toward the one thing that had piqued his interest, the unusual duo.

They weren’t from the Elemental Heaven Peak.

They were from the Myriad Path Peak.

Now that was interesting.