The White Herb Sect

"Hey!" I shouted. "What about my Ghost Iron ore? You still owe me the Ghost Iron ore!"

Jian Shen blatantly ignored me and flew away on his flying sword, disappearing from sight. Around me and Lan Bei Er, fellow cultivators clicked their tongues and shook their heads in disapproval.

"Dare to bet but don't dare to lose. He shouldn't have gambled in the first place then!"

"Are all of the Ten Thousand Sword Pavilion disciples like that? Refuse to keep promises, insult and slander people for no reason, then throw a tantrum when they are proven wrong? That's the height of shamelessness."

"Maybe it's not the Ten Thousand Sword Pavilion but people from the Jian family."

Lan Bei Er placed a hand on my arm, her expression somber. "I'll go look for Senior Jian Shen later and ask him to hand over the Ghost Iron ore. He can't just renege on the bet like this. A gentleman should keep his word."

"Don't waste your time, he's clearly no gentleman. Also, I don't really care about the Ghost Iron ore. If I don't get it, then so be it. Let's not waste any time here and proceed to the next recruitment trial."

"Okay, husband. If you say so." Lan Bei Er looked unsure, but she conceded that I had a point. She was aware of how stubborn Jian Shen could be, and that it would be a futile effort to attempt to persuade him to see reason. In fact, it was likely that he would avoid her altogether just to get out of paying up the Ghost Iron ore that he bet away.

His dishonesty and deluded nature was impressive in a way. Typical cultivation story antagonist. I had never met anyone like him in reality.

We proceeded toward the Five Element Mountain recruitment venue, but before we could reach there, we were waylaid by a few people in white and blue robes with a yellow trim. The uniform of the White Herb Sect, identical to the one my wife was wearing right now.

"Junior Lan Bei Er, the sect patriarch would like to see you and your husband."

"Huh? My husband too?" Lan Bei Er was surprised. Then she raised her guard. "If he also wishes to tell me to divorce him, then tell him that I refuse…"

"I don't think the sect patriarch has any intention of telling you to divorce," her sect senior replied. "He seems more curious about the man you've chosen to marry and wishes to meet him in person." She then turned to me. "Sir, if you don't mind having a word with our sect patriarch…"

"Um, I don't mind, but…" I snuck a peek at Lan Bei Er. She met my gaze, and then shrugged.

"If you don't mind, then let's go together."

So we allowed ourselves to be escorted by the group of White Herb Sect disciples, diverted away from the direction of the Elemental Mountain Sect and toward the recruitment venue of the sect renowned for its healing and alchemy techniques.

I wasn't surprised to see Lan Bei Er's master, Yao Guai, among the elders present in the venue for recruitment. She jumped up and flared when she saw me following the disciples into the temporary temple crafted for the recruitment event.

"You still have the face to come here, you trash!"

"Trash?" One of the other elders blurted out, stroking his beard. "Are you sane, Yao Guai? Didn't you hear the rumors that he has black potential, is already at Innate Realm, and was coveted by the old rascals at the Ten Thousand Sword Pavilion that they were willing to discard their pride and bow to him to beg him to join them? If he's trash, then what does that make the rest of us? Worse than trash?"

"You…you…!" Yao Guai spluttered. "Those are just rumors! They are definitely false! Have you gotten so senile, Lao Wai, to the point where you believe everything you hear? Don't listen to fake news!"

"The irony of you labeling information fake news when you believe the nonsense from that Ten Thousand Sword Pavilion brat about this guy being 'trash.' So that's not fake news?"

"It's real!" Yao Guai screamed at him. "Are you so deluded that you can't differentiate between what's real and what's false?"

Seriously, some people only believed what they wanted to believe. Whatever they didn't want to believe, they labeled it as fake news. I still didn't know what vendetta Yao Guai had against me, even though I hadn't met her before, but she was intent on believing the worst of me while ignoring all the other evidence to the contrary. Maybe it was because I ruined her plans to marry Lan Bei Er off to Jian Shen so that she could pander to the Jian family and cement an alliance with Ten Thousand Sword Pavilion.

"Did you bring me here just to listen to that bitch screaming slanders about me?" I asked the White Herb Sect disciple, who looked very embarrassed.

"I apologize for the…commotion."

"Why are you apologizing to that trash? You should be kicking him out instead!" Yao Guai stormed at the poor disciple. Then she turned to Lan Bei Er. "Divorce him! I want you to divorce him right now!"

"SHUT UP!"

At the powerful command, everyone fell silent immediately. Even I found myself pressured by the mere words, uttered as they were by a peak Innate Realm cultivator.

Everyone turned to look at an old man in flowing white and blue robes, sitting in what resembled a throne at the back of the temple. Given how everyone bowed their heads deferentially when they faced him, I figured that he was the patriarch, and I copied their movements. My wife nodded and confirmed what I already knew.

"That is the patriarch of the White Herb Sect."

"I'm Bai Yao Cai," the patriarch of the White Herb Sect said, introducing himself with a smile. He studied me, intrigued. Pondering thoughtfully as he stroked his beard, he nodded in approval. "So you must be Hei Ye, Lan Bei Er's husband?"

"That is correct," I said, inclining my head respectfully. "It is an honor to meet you, sir. Is there a reason why you called me here?"

"Yes, I wanted to see for myself," the patriarch explained. He paused for a moment, and then appeared to make his decision. A grin spread across his wrinkled face. "And also…I would like to invite you to join our White Herb Sect."

At first, I wasn't sure if I had heard him correctly. I wasn't the only one. Yao Guai flared up in protest.

"Patriarch, you can't be serious?! How can you invite a trash like him…?"

"Would you shut up?" Bai Yao Cai snapped at her, losing his patience. "Trash this, trash that…is your mouth full of trash?"

Yao Guai blanched, but she didn't say anything. She simmered in the background and looked to other elders for support. A few of them looked at me skeptically, their doubts not lost on the patriarch. He cleared his throat.

"Of course, you'll have to prove yourself first. A few people here aren't convinced of your strength, so I hope you don't mind persuading them through your performance of your abilities."

"Um, even though I don't agree with my wife's master calling me trash, I do have to admit that she has a point. I'm not suitable for White Herb Sect, I don't have any affinity for healing techniques or any knowledge of alchemy."

"That's perfectly fine – those can be learned. And even if you have no interest in them, there are other divisions in White Herb Sect for you to specialize in. We can't all be healers and alchemists – in fact, what White Herb Sect lacks the most right now are martial artists or warriors to protect our sect. We have focused far too much on healing techniques that our combat potential is fairly weak."

He then regarded me.

"For better or for worse, you are now a son-in-law of the White Herb Sect, so it will benefit us both if you join us. I'm sure you would like to protect your wife, right?"

"Yeah," I agreed. "Unfortunately, I think the only role I can do is…combat."

"That's good enough. We'll give you two tests. First…" Bai Yao Cai clapped his hands. From out of nowhere, a group of experts in black robes jumped in, lining up in a row. He gestured toward them. "These are our martial experts in White Herb Sect. We have a specialized combat division dedicated to security called Blood Blades. Basically we enhance their combat capabilities through the use of elixirs and spirit pills, and they fight to protect us. They are an elite fighting force within White Herb Sect."

"So basically Blood Spear of Armament Sect from Spirit Realm," I said without thinking. Everyone stared at me. I then cleared my throat and pretended I didn't just say that. "Um, isn't that bad? Doping is bad, you know. If they become overly reliant on drugs and steroids, there will be serious side effects in the future."

"Don't worry, I guarantee that the elixirs and spirit pills that White Herb Sect produces do not have side effects. We use traditional medicine and naturally grown herbs instead of chemicals and hormone-inducing drugs. So the effects are slow, but the benefits will show in the long term. It's not some instant pop a pill into your mouth and suddenly you breakthrough or rise through several realms like you see in those fraudulent advertisements. Unscrupulous alchemists prey on people's greed or need for instant gratification to deceive them into buying steroids with serious side effects."

"That makes sense. All right then…so um, they're conducting the test then?"

"That's right." Bai Yao Cai waved for the oldest and strongest among them to step forward. "This is Xue Ren. He's the leader of the Blood Blades. He'll be in charge of your test. So…Xue Ren, what do you intend to do?"

"We'll have him duel one of the Blood Blades." Xue Ren was a stocky, muscular man with dark hair and a square jaw. He nodded toward one of the biggest Venom Blades. They were all dressed in black and red robes, with a single sword emblazoned across their chest as a mark of their elite division. They looked really cool, if you asked me. As an aside, I was surprised that his name was Xue Ren and not Lang Xie, but that might border on copyright violation. "Qiang Zhe, you'll test his strength. If you can exchange at least a hundred blows with him without being defeated, we'll consider you as having passed."

He then turned to Yao Guai. "You won't have any complaints about that, right? Qiang Zhe is a peak Core Formation Stage cultivator."

"No, not at all." Yao Guai smirked. On the other hand, the other elder who argued with her before, Lao Wai, raised a hand.

"Why aren't you testing him yourself, Xue Ren?"

"Because I'm already at Innate Realm. It wouldn't be a fair test."

…if only he knew…

Qiang Zhe nodded toward me, and the both of us stepped onto the stage in the middle. We cupped our hands and bowed, and then Xue Ren gave the signal for us to begin.

A red, bloody aura suffused Qiang Zhe. The burly, muscular Blood Blade lunged forward at incredible speed, throwing a punch. I danced to the side, neatly avoiding it, but he then spun about and swung his leg down in a devastating axe kick that smashed a hole in the arena.

"Oh, not bad," I said as I retreated, pushing up my glasses as I observed his movements. I didn't recognize any of his techniques, but it was clear that it was a strength-based technique. His muscles rippled as he whirled around to throw a barrage of punches, forcing me to the defensive. I blocked and parried, holding my ground and deflecting his fists to the side.

He then rammed his knee against my solar plexus, but I twisted my midriff away to avoid it. I then prevented an elbow strike to my temple but striking his forearm away. Ducking under his follow-up hook, I then delivered a roundhouse kick that he parried.

Red qi bubbled around him, forming a protective aura that absorbed the impact of my kick. I winced, feeling as if I had just hit a truck.

Then Qiang Zhe smashed both elbows down onto my shoulders, intending to hammer me into the ground. I leaped away and watched as the blows pulverized the ground, leaving twin smoking craters. Skidding a couple of paces back, I took a deep breath and wiped the perspiration from my face.

If I could use Heaven and Earth Formula, then perhaps I would be able to win in short order. However, I couldn't afford to reveal my true nature here. Ironically enough, being forced to keep my actual abilities a secret was what led to everyone thinking that I was trash. But I didn't have a choice – never mind the orthodox cultivators persecuting me for being a demonic cultivator, I would also drag my wife into trouble.

So I was stuck using whatever orthodox cultivation techniques and martial arts that I had learned so far.

"This is going to be difficult," I murmured to myself.