Stealing Luck from the Heavenly Dao's Favorite

The disciples from Kunyu City stayed silent, all waiting for the Wei family to speak up first.

Wei Yunxi glanced at the man who had stepped forward. He had reached the fourth layer of Qi Refining—enough to act with an air of superiority.

Wei Yunting stepped up and offered a respectful cupped-fist salute. "We are newly recruited disciples from Kunyu City. I am Wei Yunting of the Wei family. May I ask how Senior Brother is called?"

Upon hearing her introduce herself, the man's gaze flickered. His tone turned perfunctory. "I am Chen Feng. Congratulations to you all on entering the sect."

The others returned the courtesy with polite gestures, but no one answered further.

Wei Yunting had no choice but to keep things moving. "If Senior Brother Chen has no other matters, we'll take our leave. We have early lectures at the teaching hall tomorrow."

Chen Feng's expression soured. "What, am I as a senior brother already such a nuisance to you?"

Wei Zonghan gave a neutral cupped-fist salute and said, "Does Senior Brother Chen have something to teach us?"

He stopped just short of outright saying, Do you have a problem?

Chen Feng's face darkened. "In the outer sect, you need to pick the right backer. Don't assume entering the sect means you've made it."

Wei Yunxi rubbed her chin thoughtfully and whispered to Wei Zonghao, "Brother Zonghao, is he trying to get us to treat him as our backer?"

"Seems like it," Wei Zonghao muttered, rubbing his hands awkwardly.

"Is he strong?"

"I can't really tell, my cultivation isn't high enough."

"But he's just an outer sect disciple, right?"

"Should be. His robes are the same as ours."

"Then why don't we rely on Uncle Ling Kai instead? At least he's an inner sect disciple. He should be stronger than this Senior Brother Chen."

"You mean Uncle Ling Kai?"

"Yeah, but we don't know which peak he's at in the inner sect."

"Ask Big Sister Yunting. She'll know."

Their back-and-forth "whispers" were anything but subtle. The moment their gazes shifted to Wei Yunting, Chen Feng was already glaring at the two of them with a dark expression.

Wei Yunxi immediately acted startled and hid behind Wei Yunting. "Elder Sister, he's glaring at me. Did I say something wrong?"

Wei Yunting understood what they were doing and responded calmly. "You didn't say anything wrong. Someone's just trying to throw their weight around."

As she spoke, she took out a message talisman from her storage pouch, spoke a few words into it in full view of Chen Feng, then sent it off.

Once the talisman flew away, Wei Yunting stood firm and said without yielding, "Does Senior Brother Chen have any more advice? The Wei family does not seek trouble, but we don't fear it either. We joined the sect to cultivate and gain skills, not to bow to anyone."

Chen Feng's face twisted. "Fine! Very well! I, Chen Feng, will remember this!"

He threw out the threat, flung his sleeve, and left.

After he was gone, Wei Yunting finally frowned and addressed the others, "When the forest is big, there's all kinds of birds. You're bound to meet more people like Chen Feng in this sect. In the future, try to travel in groups. Avoid going to sparsely populated areas alone.

The outer sect is fiercely competitive. He was probably eyeing the cultivation resources we just received. Don't underestimate those five low-grade spirit stones and two bottles of pills. For ordinary disciples, that's a considerable fortune."

Wei Yunxi had already figured out what Chen Feng was after. Why else would he wait here to intercept new disciples?

"Elder Sister, isn't that just trying to take something without working for it? Doesn't the sect care about that?" she asked.

Wei Yunqing shot her a glance and said, "He already said it himself—he has a backer. Who knows who it is? He's definitely going to come for us again. We can't always move around as a group. You spoke too much just now!"

Wei Yunying immediately snapped back, "Our Wei family has our own backing. Why shouldn't we say so? Are we supposed to hand over our resources every time someone asks? If you're willing to be someone else's lackey, go ahead, but don't drag the rest of us with you. We're not that spineless."

Wei Zonghao and Wei Zongjin both nodded in agreement.

Wei Zongyu added, "Just focus on cultivating. Once your strength surpasses his, he won't dare act up again."

Wei Yunting exchanged a look with Wei Zonghan. Aside from the timid Wei Yunqing, the others had all responded well.

Wei Zonghan spoke up, "No need to argue. Elder Sister Yunting already sent a message to our uncle. I'm sure he'll come check on the outer sect soon. People like Chen Feng won't dare act up in the open if they know we're connected to an inner sect disciple.

"Zongyu was right. The only thing that matters in the end is cultivation. As long as your strength rises, no one will dare look down on you. Still, be careful moving about in the outer sect."

"Yes, Brother Zonghan!"

The remaining fourteen disciples stayed silent. They knew very well that this time they'd benefited from the Wei family's presence. Next time, they wouldn't be so lucky. Their best option now was to cultivate diligently and reach the third layer of Qi Refining as soon as possible to secure their place in the sect.

After that brief encounter, no one was in the mood to wander around anymore. They'd already seen the important places anyway. It was better to go back and rest—tomorrow, their true cultivation would begin.

Once again, Wei Yunqing was left out by the group. She gritted her teeth in frustration. She had only meant well. Starting conflict right after entering the sect was clearly unwise, but now they had twisted her intentions. It was infuriating.

Back at the courtyard, she wanted to explain, but no one gave her a chance. Everyone returned to their rooms and activated their isolation arrays. Left standing alone, she could only stomp her foot and retreat to her own room.

Wei Yunxi, on the other hand, sat cross-legged on the mat in her cultivation chamber and began practicing the Qi Refinement chapter of the Soul Refining Art. What Wei Zongyu said was true—only strength mattered. If you were strong enough, no one would dare threaten you.

Meanwhile, over at the inner sect's Sword Peak, Wei Lingkai had just finished practicing his sword forms when a paper crane flew toward him. He caught it and listened to the message. A rare smile broke across his usually stoic face.

So, the Wei family juniors had successfully passed the sect's entrance assessment. Judging by the timing of the message, something must have happened. He decided to pay a visit to the outer sect the next day.

Back in Chen Feng's courtyard, he ignored his fellow residents and stormed straight into his room.

"What's with him?"

"Heh! Got slapped in the face, that's what. Tried to be like those useless thugs who rob new disciples of their resources, but turns out the newbies had an inner sect backer. He had no choice but to slink back."

The ridicule in the speaker's tone couldn't have been more obvious.

"Chen Feng wasn't like this before. His own resources were stolen back then. Why is he doing the same thing now?"

"What else? He snapped. Wants a shortcut."

Another person frowned. "You think it's because of Junior Sister Tang?"

"What else could it be? Who else could get to him like that?"

"Junior Sister Tang chose to become a concubine to a Jīndān Zhēnrén of her own free will. She's a four-root talent. Getting into the outer sect was already a blessing. Advancing further would be hard, but a few scraps from a Jīndān Zhēnrén would be enough to push her to Foundation Establishment. It was her own choice."

"But Chen Feng doesn't see it that way. He thinks he was the one abandoned. He can't swallow that. So he's trying to force his cultivation up by any means—using pills and spirit stones. The sect's allocation isn't enough for that, so now he's set his sights on new disciples."

"What's the point? Steady cultivation is always better in the long run."