Austin turned and looked at the outer disciple calmly, his face a mask.
The two gazed at each other for a long moment.
"Well?
I've asked you to leave in my capacity as the owner of this house. Why are you still standing at my
gate?" Austin asked.
"Okay. You're the former number one of the outer ring. You enjoyed that pseudonym for some strange
reason. And I, for yet another weird reason I don't know yet, have become interested in you," the
ordinary-looking outer disciple began talking.
"What are you talking about? Are you interested in me? I'm sorry but I'm only interested in women. You
need to look for someone else," Austin joked before pursing his lips to stifle a smile.
"The Top Ten Outer Disciples Ranking Challenge will be held in fifteen days. Will you be attending it?"
the outer disciple asked, ignoring Austin's jibe.
Austin was stunned.
Of course, he knew about the Top Ten Outer Disciples Ranking Challenge!
Three years ago, Austin had taken part in the Top Ten Outer Disciples Ranking Challenge. He had
defeated all other outer disciples and emerged victorious, resulting in being ranked number one.
It was in the past, but the memory of his experience and the resultant glory still brought joy to him.
However, Austin had now become less impulsive as he tried to start and live a new life.
What was most important to him now was to improve his cultivation base and his power.
In these three years, the people who had almost beaten him to death had been promoted to the
position of principal disciples, even their cultivation bases had been at the Earth Realm. If he was
content being an outer disciple, did it make sense to only fight for the fame that came with being
number one?
"Well. All that, for me, is in the past. If you want to attend this Ranking Challenge, you're most welcome
to. You can go directly there. I don't care and it has nothing to do with me anymore. Please leave me
be," Austin replied coldly.
He was wearing a cold expression when speaking.
"It seems like these past three years haven't been kind to you," the disciple said, nodding.
He maintained his calm as he sighed.
"But there is one thing I'd like to remind you. This Top Ten Outer Disciples Ranking Challenge is
different from what it was earlier. The disciples to hold the top three positions have the opportunity to
be directly promoted to become principal disciples. The Sect has always tried to choose the most
talented disciples. And once they have been chosen, they have a lot coming up. They will be sent to a
mysterious ancient location to try to wrangle a piece of good luck. And I believe you should be really
interested in this information," the outer disciple said, enunciating every word slowly.
He seemed to be sure that Austin would be tempted to take part in the Ranking Challenge after what
he had just said.
And just as he had expected, Austin looked excited.
If the challenge was only for the fame, Austin would hold it in high disdain because according to him,
fame would bring nothing but trouble.
But it would be a completely different matter if there was a chance to be promoted to principal disciple
attached to it. The Sect would use all the resources to cultivate him, as long as he was qualified to be a
principal disciple.
What he could achieve then was completely different from what he could do as just an outer disciple.
Austin's mind seemed to be whirring at this news.
Moreover, if he had the chance to visit the ancient mysterious place, as the outer disciple had put it,
there was a high chance for him to hit the jackpot and gain good fortune.
Austin believed that the ordinary-looking outer disciple was not lying to him, although he did not know
where this instinct came from.
"Oh? Sounds interesting," Austin said.
"Haha! Just as I expected! You are interested only if there's something practical there. These past three
years have changed you a lot.
But believe me, everything I told you is true," he said, his face too serious to be a facade.
Moments later, the outer disciple broke into a reassuring smile, still gazing at Austin.
"Okay. I have to admit that you know me well. And you have successfully gotten to me.
I promise that I will attend the Top Ten Outer Disciples Ranking Challenge in fifteen days. I believe you
will also be attending it, won't you? If yes, then we will face each other in the Challenge soon," Austin
said, quite resolutely.
"Me? Of course I will be there. See you at the Challenge then."
The outer disciple turned around and left without another word.
'Who is this guy?
He must be someone in the outer part, with such a high cultivation base!' Austin thought.
But he did put any further thought to it.
He would know the answer soon, now that he had made up his mind to attend the Top Ten Outer
Disciples Ranking Challenge.
Austin turned and went into the luxurious house that had belonged to Marvin a moment ago.
He slowly turned around as he let his eyes drift across the walls. He found that this one was much
better than the one he had rented before. This one was larger and higher ranked.
Compared to his earlier rental, that stood at three thousand vital energy crystals, Austin estimated that
this one's rent would be around five thousand vital energy crystals.
Austin was pleased to have grabbed this house as compensation, though his previous one had been
messed up by Marvin's followers.
Austin had decided to let Evan live in the first one since he would be living here. . . . .
The first thing that Austin wanted to do after he finished handling the house business was look for
Evan.
As Austin exited his house, he spotted some figures milling about outside. They seemed to have
something to say to Austin, but they held their silence.
Austin recognized that these seven outer disciples had been among the onlookers when he had fought
Marvin.
"What are you doing here? Do you have something to say to me?" Austin asked outright.
He wasn't scared of these ordinary disciples.
"Mr. Lin. Nice to meet you. We came here because we wanted to thank you," one of the disciples said,
visibly mustering up courage as he walked over to Austin.
"Oh? Thank me? You're joking, right? I don't even know all of you," Austin said, his confused eyes
raking all of their faces.
He seemed to be confused.
"There's a reason we are here. The seven of us had issues with Marvin's fellows, or followers, if you'd
call them. They had bullied us a lot in recent years. But we dared not fight back because Marvin
backed them up. We had to swallow our rage and accept whatever they did to us.
When you defeated Marvin, you gave him what our anger always wanted to give him.
That's why we came here. To express our gratitude," the outer disciple explained to Austin.
"I see. That makes sense, I guess," Austin said calmly.
"I fought Marvin because I have problems with him. That is just between the two of us. You don't have
to thank me because I defeated him," Austin said
as he shook his head.
"You still gave a means to our anger. We were delighted to see Marvin running away with his tail
between his legs.
We wanted to gift you a little something, just to express our gratitude. We hope you will accept it."
Saying thus, the disciple took the cloth bag slung across his body and handed it to Austin.
"We all are extremely thankful to you," the other six outer disciples echoed.
They headed over to Austin and bowed to him, their hands folded.
Austin took the bag and knew instantly that there were about one thousand vital energy crystals in
there.
"What you really want," Austin said, deadpan, "is for me to help you from being bullied by Marvin's
followers. Isn't it?"
Austin wasn't naive. He had deduced what they had wanted almost at once.
The first outer disciple was stunned. He couldn't discern how Austin felt about it.
After silently hesitating for a bit, he seemed to make up his mind to tell Austin the truth.
"Mr. Lin. We want to know if you are going to form your own team," he said, putting Austin's question
aside for the moment.
"What do you mean my own team?" Austin asked, unable to comprehend what the outer disciple was
talking about.
He raised his eyebrows as he studied the shrewd-looking outer disciple.
Three years ago, Austin had become number one on the outer part. Although he had held the greatest
power over there, he was always alone—attending trials, finishing tasks, and cultivating. He had gotten
used to it.
But other top disciples of the outer part did have their own small teams.
If anyone had asked him this question three years ago, he would have refused it without a second
thought.
But three years were a long time and Austin had changed a lot. He could see things differently. And if
he had his own small team, it would probably be more convenient for anything that he wanted to do.
And though he had great power himself, it would be better for him if he had other
helpers.
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