How to build a Sect?

[Pind_Ala]

The grand New Year's Eve feast had finally reached its natural conclusion. One by one, the satiated disciples began to take their leave. Stepping out into the biting winter chill, they respectfully bowed to Zani before disappearing into the snowy night.

Some of the youths reside right here in Big Wheat Village, while others face much longer journeys, traversing the snow-covered roads back to their respective settlements or the bustling Grains City.

Many parents and relatives had already been waiting out in the cold. As Zani personally escorted his students to the gates, the crowd gradually dispersed until the grounds were completely empty.

Due to the profound importance of the New Year festival, the Iron Core Gym will remain closed for five full days.

In the end, as the courtyard fell quiet and the festive noise faded into the howling of the winter wind, Little Leo was the last person remaining. Standing near the grand iron gates, she adjusted her thick winter cloak, her veiled face obscuring her expression.

"Will you be alright traveling alone in this weather?" Zani asked, his tone carrying the genuine concern of a master. "The roads are already freezing over. Should I escort you?"

"There is no need, Master Zani," Leo replied, her voice maintaining its usual aristocratic calmness, though softened slightly by the warm feast they had just shared. "My mother will be picking me up from just outside the village borders. She is already waiting."

Zani nodded slowly, a profound light flashing in his eyes. He still knows very little about Leo's mysterious Immortal background, so he can only accept her words. "Very well. Have a safe journey, and take care of yourself."

As Leo respectfully bid her farewell and vanished into the swirling white mist, Zani let out a long, foggy breath. Than firmly grabbed the heavy iron handles of the main gates, pulled them shut, and slid the massive wooden locking bar into place with a resounding... THUD.

The gym is now completely silent.

In the past, the nighttime silence of the courtyard was always broken by the heavy grunting and shuffling of the Mud Boars. However, currently, only Zani and his head chef are left in the entire compound. The massive Mud Boar pen has been entirely relocated to another recently purchased plot of land due to the extensive construction of the outer walls. The hired caretakers, have naturally moved along with the beasts to look after them.

Turning away from the freezing gates, Zani walked across the snow-dusted yard and headed back inside, toward the warm glow spilling from the main hall.

Inside the massive, newly renovated dining hall, the lingering aroma of rich spices and roasted meat still hung heavily in the air. There, sitting hunched over a small, circular wooden table in the corner, was Julian.

The head chef was currently drinking, entirely alone.

"It is only the two of us now, Julian," Zani said softly, his footsteps echoing lightly on the stone floor as he moved toward the table.

"Yes, Master," Julian replied, his voice uncharacteristically hollow. He didn't look up, choosing instead to quietly take a long, agonizing sip from a large clay jug of cheap, fiery mortal wine.

Zani's eyes narrowed slightly as he deeply observed his head chef. "Are you absolutely certain you have nowhere else to be? No family to return to for the New Year? The gym is closed for five days; you are entirely free to leave."

Julian paused. His calloused fingers tightened fiercely around the neck of the clay jug until his knuckles turned entirely white. "I am certain."

Confirming the deep, unresolved melancholy swirling in the young man's bloodshot eyes, Zani quietly pulled out a wooden chair and sat directly beside him. "Pour a cup for me as well."

Startled out of his depression, Julian hurriedly set his jug down. "Of course."

He scrambled to find a clean ceramic cup, his hands trembling slightly as he respectfully served his Master.

Although Julian is twenty-five years old, technically older than Zani, the brutal hierarchy of the martial world is absolute and unquestionable. Zani is his employer, his savior from the freezing streets, and an unfathomable martial expert.

As the cheap, burning wine flowed down his throat, Zani found his own mind drifting into the silent void of the dining hall.

He thought about the passing months, his gaze tracing the empty chairs where his disciples had just sat. He wonders just how many disciples have officially graduated from his gym by now. Honestly, he has completely lost count. After hosting the very first official graduation ceremony months ago, he quickly realized the grand fanfare is simply no longer worth the effort.

Since graduating from the gym merely requires a disciple to physically lift 150 kilograms, a feat easily achieved after two or three months of training with pure iron equipment, many youths have successfully graduated. Some join the only Dojo or the Mayor's Manor, others simply stop due to financial difficulties, and some ambitious one left for other cities to try their luck.

"I wonder if any of them will ever return to visit?" Zani mused silently, staring into the amber liquid in his cup. He swirled the wine gently. Well, who cares? As long as they don't cause trouble for me or tarnish the gym's name, their paths are their own.

"Who will come back...?"

Julian's slurred, heartbreakingly fragile voice suddenly interrupted Zani's internal monologue.

Turning to look at his chef, Zani was taken aback. Julian's face was flushed bright red, and thick, unrestrained tears were streaming freely down his cheeks. He stared blankly into his empty cup, his voice cracking violently as if the question was meant for the heavens rather than for Zani.

SNIFF... SNIFF...

"Julian, what happened?" Zani asked, his tone filled with genuine, grounded worry.

"Nothing... it's nothing, Master..." Julian choked out, violently shaking his head in denial, though the tears only fell faster.

Then, with trembling hands, the broken man poured himself another entirely overflowing cup of wine, downed it in a single, desperate gulp, and completely broke down.

WAAAAAHHH!

The twenty-five-year-old man slumped entirely over the wooden table, burying his face in his arms, wailing openly like a lost, broken child who had just had his entire world shattered.

"Hey, hey. Easy now," Zani sighed softly, gently but firmly patting the crying man's shaking shoulder.

And so, Zani spent the remainder of his New Year's Eve playing the unexpected role of a consoling therapist. Through an endless stream of drunken tears, heavy hiccups, and broken sentences, the tragic, heaven-cursed past of Julian finally poured out into the open.

He had not always been a filthy beggar on the streets of Grains City. Julian had once been the legitimate Young Master of an incredibly wealthy, prominent clan in a distant, prosperous city.

In his vibrant youth, he had been the pride of his family, destined for greatness. But fate is a cruel mistress. He had fallen madly, hopelessly in love with a breathtakingly beautiful girl, a true jade beauty of the city who was tragically suffering from a mysterious, terminal illness.

Blinded by his young, desperate love, Julian had secretly embezzled and completely squandered the vast majority of his clan's hoarded wealth. He drained their treasuries to invite renowned physicians, alchemists, and traveling doctors. He purchased outrageously expensive, miraculous spirit herbs in a desperate, ultimately futile bid to cure her withering body.

When the elders of his clan inevitably discovered his massive financial crimes, the retribution was swift and merciless. He was ruthlessly stripped of his status, brutally beaten, and unceremoniously kicked out into the streets, branded forever as an unfilial waste who had doomed his own family for a dying woman.

Tragically, the woman he gave absolutely everything to, his wealth, his status, his martial future, and his family, only stayed by his side in the slums for a few meager months.

One cold morning, Julian woke up in their dilapidated shack to find her gone. She had vanished entirely into the mist, leaving behind nothing but a single, hastily written note:

"I have no choice but to leave. Please, wait for me. I will come back."

And so, the foolish, broken boy had waited.

He waited there for five agonizing years. He degraded himself, living like a filthy, starving beggar in the gutters, enduring beatings from local thugs and the biting cold of winter, all just in case she returned to that exact spot looking for him.

Finally, a year ago, the undeniable weight of reality forced him to move. He had been drifting aimlessly from one city to another ever since, wandering the world, desperately trying to see if he could find a trace of her. But it was all to no avail.

Eventually, entirely broken in both body and spirit, the tides of fate washed him up in Grains City, right to the doorstep of the Iron Core Gym.

Amidst wet tears and heavy snorts, the sheer emotional exhaustion and the cheap alcohol finally claimed him. Julian fell asleep right there on the wooden table, his breathing steadying.

Thankfully he did not vomit, Zani thought pragmatically, eyeing the pristine floor of his new dining hall. But this story... huh. Wait a minute. If he was a pampered Young Master who immediately transitioned into a starving street beggar... then where in the absolute hell did he learn to cook like a master chef?!

Zani could only shake his head in sheer wonder at the bizarre plot holes of this martial reality as he hoisted the sleeping man over his shoulder. Carrying his head chef, Zani walked out of the kitchen and headed toward the newly constructed living quarters to put the man to bed.

As he walked through the snow, Zani's eyes naturally evaluated the sprawling architecture of his developing establishment.

Originally, the System had only required a total of 12 accommodations to facilitate the Level 2 upgrade: 2 rooms for Core Disciples, and 10 rooms for Inner Disciples.

However, Zani's initial blueprints had spectacularly failed. About two months into the massive construction project, as the foundations for the new outer walls began encroaching near their pens, the Mud Boars became violently agitated.

This unexpected complication had not only put the entire construction operation on hold, but it had also forced Zani to bleed his funds to urgently purchase a completely new, adjacent plot of land to relocate the pens.

But this massive headache had a silver lining. Moving the beasts completely washed away his initial, cramped ideas. Because the massive pens are gone, Zani suddenly finds himself with vastly more usable space within the compound's original territory.

Instead of settling for the bare minimum, the accommodations are redesigned to be significantly larger and far more comfortable. Furthermore, extra rooms are added, bringing the initial 10 dormitories up to a grand total of 20. Out of those 20 new rooms, two are specifically allocated as private quarters for his chefs, Julian and Lady Tassy.

And this count of 20 does not even include the 3 large rooms constructed in the right wing of the main hall, designed specifically for himself and the future instructors, currently occupied by his core disciples.

Laying Julian down on a comfortable bed in his designated quarters, Zani pulled a thick blanket over the sleeping man.

Stepping back out into the freezing courtyard, Zani looked up at the perimeter of the gym. Right now, the only thing left, the final hurdle stopping the complete activation of the System's Level 2 upgrade, is the grand outer wall. Due to the heavy winter snow slowing down the laborers, it is not fully completed yet.

Just one more week's worth of work is left on it, Zani thought, crossing his arms. Once the snow clears and the final stones are laid, the Iron Core Gym will officially step into a completely new era.


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[Question: How do you see Julian: miserable, foolish, or just a sucker?]

[Author Note: you can read chapter 31 and 32 free on my patreon. https://www.patreon.com/c/unpaid13]

 

[Pind_Ala]

The Next Day

By the time Zani finally opened his eyes, it was approaching noon.

With the gym officially closed for the next five days, the usual morning chaos is totally absent.

Moving out of his private quarters to freshen up, he leisurely strolled into the main hall. To his surprise, the room was not empty.

Julian, clad in a loose set of training clothes, was vigorously lifting a pair of heavy iron dumbbells in the center of the hall. The chef is entirely committed to his workout, his breathing steady and his focus absolute. He did not even notice Zani quietly moving closer to him.

"Hey, Julian," Zani called out smoothly, breaking the silence. "How are you feeling?"

THUD!

Startled out of his deep concentration by the sudden voice, Julian lost his grip. The heavy iron dumbbells crashed violently onto the stone floor.

"Master Zani! You finally woke up," Julian gasped, catching his breath, before gesturing toward a seat nearby. "Come, come! Sit down and tell me what you would like for breakfast... oh, wait. Look at the time. I mean, what would you like for lunch?"

Zani narrowed his eyes, hearing that. "Yeah, yeah. It's hilarious to make jokes about your boss, right? Just continue with your training. I am going to wash my face."

Seeing that the man is in high enough spirits to crack jokes after what happened the previous night, Zani let out a quiet sigh of relief and went on his way.

Later That Day, During Lunch

The two of them sat at the table, enjoying a hearty, quiet meal. The food, as always, is utterly spectacular. Julian's culinary skills are genuinely heaven-defying.

As they finished the last of their plates, Zani wiped his mouth. He decided it was finally time to ask the burning question that had kept him awake late into the night.

"Hey Julian, can I ask you something?" Zani said, leaning forward slightly.

Julian, currently chewing on a piece of roasted meat, simply nodded in response.

"Where exactly did you learn to cook so well?" Zani asked directly. "You mentioned last night that you were a pampered Young Master before you ended up on the streets."

GULP! GULP!

Julian hastily swallowed his food and took a long drink from his water cup. Wiping his chin, he replied with a casual, fond smile. "From my wife."

Zani froze, his mind screeching to a halt as he tried to connect the dots from last night's conversation. "Your wife...? You mean the girl who fell terminally ill? The one who left you in the slums?"

Although Zani inherently knows it is dangerous to approach the incredibly sensitive topic from last night, Julian was the one who had brought her up! So, he merely pressed on to clarify the timeline of events.

But suddenly, something horribly weird happened.

The chef's face, which had been bright, relaxed, and full of fond smiles just a second ago, entirely froze. The color rapidly drained from his skin, replaced by an ashen, horrified gloom. His eyes widened in sheer, unadulterated panic.

Julian suddenly dropped his cup. His hands flew up to grab his own head, his fingers digging fiercely into his scalp as he began shaking his head back and forth furiously.

"Hey, Julian? Are you okay?" Zani asked, his tone dropping in alarm. He raised his hands defensively. "Let's just forget what I said, alright? You do not need to answer me!"

But Julian was not listening. The man was completely trapped in a violent, waking nightmare. He curled inward, covering his face as a rapid, glitching stream of broken words spilled aggressively from his lips.

"Wife. Left. Left. Wife. Wife. Girl. Girl. No. No. Return. Wife. Left..."

Seeing his head chef having a full-blown psychological breakdown right there, Zani started panicking. What happened? What should I do?!

Julian's frantic muttering grew louder, his fingernails nearly drawing blood from his own face.

"What should I do?!" Zani panicked, before finally slamming his hands on the wooden table. "Damn it, wake up, JULIAN!" he roared, releasing all his built-up anxiety and worry into a single, booming shout.

The sheer volume of the shout miraculously snapped the chef out of whatever hellish trance he was trapped in. Julian violently flinched, blinking rapidly as the color slowly returned to his face. He looked at Zani with total confusion.

"Master Zani? What happened?" Julian asked, rubbing his ears. "Why are you shouting?"

Zani stared at him, his chest heaving as he took deep, measured breaths to calm his racing heart. He doesn't remember a single thing, Zani realized, his mind racing.

Hmmm. Zani stared at the utterly oblivious chef for a long moment. Between the drunken wailing last night and the terrifying psychological glitch just now, Zani made a firm decision. He is going to completely bury this topic. In fact, he will lay down a strict rule to all the disciples to never, ever speak about such things with Julian.

Meanwhile, Inside the Cuby Clan's Ancestral Estate

Thousands of miles away from the humble Big Wheat Village, inside an estate so luxurious it defies mortal comprehension, a certain veiled girl was deeply asleep.

Little Leo, who from childhood had been strictly taught the importance of a proper sleep cycle, had always slept and woken up on time. Well, that is before a certain lazy gym master's habits had rubbed off on her.

To the sheer bewilderment of her prestigious parents, it was almost lunchtime when the young miss of the Cuby clan finally rolled out of her silk sheets.

Entering the grand courtyard, Leo yawned quietly. "Good morning."

"Good morning, my sweet daughter," Leo's mother replied, her face blooming into a warm, beautiful smile. She was simply happy that her little girl was greeting her properly. She gracefully stepped forward to ask what rare delicacies she would like to eat for lunch.

But someone just had to ruin the fun.

"It is already the afternoon," a deep, authoritative voice echoed from the stone pavilion. "Is this what you are learning while staying outside in the mortal world? To have such an undisciplined, unhealthy sleep cycle?"

Leo's father, the grand Patriarch of the Cuby Clan, sat by a stone table. Although he loves his daughter more than anything, as the Patriarch, he feels a duty to guide her onto the righteous path. After seeing her wake up so scandalously late, he simply could not hold back his strict impulse to point it out.

He did this while fully knowing the immediate consequences. He could already feel his wife's piercing, murderous gaze locking onto the side of his head.

But the Patriarch had already done the mental arithmetic. He is perfectly safe. In four to five days, there is a highly important sect meeting he must attend, meaning he will be leaving the estate right alongside Leo. When returning from his trip, he simply needs to purchase an expensive artifact as an apology gift, and his wife's anger will be completely settled.

Because his survival is mathematically guaranteed, he can comfortably act like a proper, strict father for the time being.

Later That Evening

The sun had set over the grand estate. Inside the inner halls, Leo was enthusiastically sharing stories with her older brother, chattering endlessly about how much fun she was having with her new best friend, Elisi.

Hidden discreetly in the adjacent tea room, the Patriarch and his wife were shamelessly eavesdropping on their children's conversation while sipping premium spiritual tea.

"Should I go out there and ask her?" the Patriarch suddenly whispered, barely holding himself back. He tapped his finger anxiously against his teacup.

"No, let me do the talking later," his wife whispered back, narrowing her eyes. "But are you absolutely sure about this?"

"Yes!" the Patriarch hissed, his voice trembling with suppressed excitement. "The last time I checked her from afar, I mistook her skin tempering for a Mid-Grade manual. But now, seeing her up close? Feeling the purity? I can tell for sure... it's a Top-Grade breathing manual. It is something only vaguely mentioned in some texts, even I have never seen the actual thing!"

While speaking, the great Patriarch's eyes were shining brightly like literal stars.

"Is a Top-Grade manual really that important?" Leo's mother asked, furrowing her elegant brows. Despite her high cultivation, she still cannot fathom what could possibly hype up her stoic husband to such an embarrassing degree.

"You do not understand!" the Patriarch whispered frantically. "Even our mighty Earth Sect does not possess such a breathing technique! It is only rumored to be present within the core inheritance of the Five Elements Sect! Can you understand the level of foundation we are talking about now?!"

Understanding what this truly represents for her daughter's future, Leo's mother gasped softly. Her curiosity was instantly ignited.

"Okay, okay," she conceded. "You can ask her about it tonight. And make sure to tell her a bit about the Earth Sect, too. After all, she will be officially joining it after she reaches the peak of the Body Tempering realm."

Later That Night

A massive, incredibly lavish feast was hosted by the family. Although, according to clan traditions, the entire extended family and all branch elders must celebrate the New Year together in the grand hall, because Little Leo hates having strangers look at her, her parents had strictly kept the celebration isolated to just their family of four.

The huge, circular table was heavily burdened with glowing delicacies, roasted spirit beasts, and fragrant immortal wines.

If only Elisi was here, Leo thought silently while enjoying the incredible meal, her best friend naturally came to mind. Looking up, Leo said, "Mother, please remember to pack me some of these good things to eat when I go this time."

"Of course, my darling," her mother smiled warmly.

After a while, as Leo leaned back in her chair with a deeply satisfied smile, the Patriarch decided it was the perfect tactical moment to strike.

COUGH.

"Leo," the Patriarch said, clearing his throat to gain his daughter's attention. He put on his best, most authoritative face. "Leo, have you finally broken through to the Skin Tempering realm?"

Due to Leo's absolute hatred of people perceiving her, the entire family is strictly forbidden from casually sweeping her with their Spiritual Sense. Thus, she always wears her veil, even inside the protective formations of their home. Only the Patriarch, being at a vastly higher realm, is able to effortlessly see through her without using it.

But there is absolutely no way he is ever going to let her know that.

Leo dabbed her lips with a silk napkin. "Yes, Father, I have for a while now," before answering casually.

Then, before her father could steer the conversation toward the Earth Sect, Leo tilted her veiled head and beat him to the punch.

"Thinking of it..." Leo muttered, her voice laced with genuine curiosity, "Could you tell me if you know anything about Top-Grade breathing manuals?"


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[Question: Same question, now what do you think about Julian?]

[Author Note: Support me on patreon. https://www.patreon.com/c/unpaid13]