(Warning - hardcore content near the end of the chapter)

Seeing that it was likely the same fox cub Li Meirong spoke of, the cultivators menacingly circled around both beast and girl, blocking their escape routes. Li Meirong might be a demonic cultivator, but they were larger in number, not to mention all the sect Grandmasters were at the Nascent Soul stage, far higher than Lei Meirong's level. The succeeding disciples were full of confidence as they grabbed their weapons, ready to battle evil.

As Captain Liang struck her bullwhip to attack, her lash was suddenly thrown aside.

She looked back to see Zhu Zhang using a streak of force to deflect the rod away from her very hands.

His eyes widened in shock. He didn't even bother glancing at her. Zhu Zhang was utterly entranced by the sight of the white fox standing atop the heap of crumbled tiles.

Liang Wang Yan's eyes burned with unshed tears. She couldn't believe that her Grandmaster had just flung her weapon aside. What did he mean by that?!

It was happening all over again, like all those years ago, ignoring her for the sake of another...

Captain Liang was carefully selected by Grandmaster Zhu Zhang after proving herself worthy by winning countless tournaments and promoting the sect's prestige throughout the continent, ultimately given the highest level of privilege and was admitted as a succeeding disciple under one of the most righteous cultivators known across the land, the Bestiary division's Grandmaster.

Liang had never stopped practising and pushing her body's potential to the limit all in the hopes of receiving even a shred of acknowledgement from her detached and aloof teacher, but the only attention he ever graced her with was on the night she had offered him the ceremonial drink of acceptance between disciple and teacher.

She recalled his stunning appearance when he faintly smiled as he handed her a collection of priceless cultivation scrolls. After exchanging basic pleasantries with her, he immediately departed, only to be seen years later.

That brief moment was enough for Liang Wang Yan's heart to be consumed by desire towards her teacher. The vision of him smiling at her had never once disappeared from her thoughts.

To Liang Wang Yan, Zhu Zhang was beautiful and mysterious like only a true immortal should be. His thoughts and expressions were always hidden, elusive. He was her ideal image of a man and a cultivator.

She was always under the impression that he sought something or someone and frequently left the sect searching for that special thing, but never spoke a word regarding his desires.

Their time together felt stale, unchanging throughout the passing years but Liang Wang Yan enjoyed every moment of it. It was enough for her to simply see her teacher from a distance, to watch him as he meditated peacefully under the sun and appreciate his handsome looks in secrecy.

Her tranquil time came to an abrupt halt fifty Lunar New Years later, she specifically remembered that it was on the new disciple's acceptance ceremony.

It was all the fault of that damned furnace...

Traditionally, the sect's Grandmasters had granted audience to all the newly arriving disciples one at a time, but Zhu Zhang had never shown any interest in anyone. At times, she even wondered if he was only pretending to be awake and was cultivating with his eyes open. She always stood at his side, enjoying his silent companionship.

On that fateful ceremony arrived a young boy with no accomplishment nor status. He came from a peasant family dressed in rags, reaching the sect's destination with his last breath. Miraculously, he possessed a single Lightning vein, making his potential in the cultivation realm boundless. His life instantly changed from rags to riches.

The moment he entered the ceremonial halls and Zhu Shang laid eyes on him was the exact instance Liang Wang Yan's heart was torn into pieces.

Zhu Zhang's full attention was directed at the boy he had never met before. His deep, obsidian eyes were filled to the brim with passion and wonderment.

He had never looked at her like he did that boy before, not even once.

Liang Wang Yan tasted the worst form of bitterness as she saw Zhu Shang declare the boy as the secondary direct disciple in front of all the Grandmasters and fellow disciples. Without earning merit, without even working as hard as she did. That boy received everything she shed countless blood, sweat and tears for on the spot.

Her teacher took the boy and allowed him to live by his side in his own mansion, providing him with everything he could ever possibly require and more.

Captain Liang stood by her teacher's side for decades and had barely received not even one whole smile, and the little boy that had just arrived and already taken everything away from her!

The situation took a turn for the worst when the boy was tasked with an outside expedition. As a Senior sister under the same Grandmaster, Liang Wang Yan joined him and by chance discovered his rare body type. He was a Furnace, or otherwise known as a Human Cauldron, capable of strengthening a cultivator's vital energy through vulgar practices, but what good would that do? The boy was male and can't possibly cultivate with another male.

Or so she thought.

Later as she researched, she discovered it was feasible to conduct dual cultivation between two men and her thoughts were led astray. Was her master interested in Human Cauldrons?

Would he do those special sorts of activities with his direct disciple?

Years passed without any incident. Her junior grew into a handsome youth. Liang Wang Yan had kept close watch over him under the guise of a dedicated senior. She tried to set her worries aside as nothing but impossible, her thoughts were brought to life as she witnessed the affair that shattered her mind.

It was a lightning-filled, stormy night when she rushed to Grandmaster Zhu Zhang's villa, requesting guidance in handling the unsettled beasts running amok in fright, only to discover her pure, sacred teacher entangled in a passionate embrace with her junior sect brother.

After seeing the couple, Liang Wang Yan vowed to never allow anyone to taint her precious master, even if it means that she would have to resort to despicable means in order to assure her master's safety. She was willing to shoulder the blame and sin.

The next morning at the break of dawn, Captain Liang brought her junior disciple, Liu Wei, for a morning ride with her loyal Tiger Spirit mount to a secluded island after travelling across the ocean. In a bout of unrestrained hatred, she secluded the naive, unsuspecting youth and had placed crippling talismans on both his arms and ankles, keeping him chained down. She stripped him of all his clothes and mounted him in a rage of madness, absorbing all his energy to the very last drop.

After assimilating Liu Wei's energy as her own, she let her Tiger mount tear him to shreds and devour his remains.

When Liang Wang Yan went to Zhu Zhang's side and reported the news of Liu Wei's death, her teacher looked as though he had lost half of his soul. His gaze was vacant, the light shining in his eyes like when he looked at the boy was gone. Without a reason to live any longer, he wasn't even suspicious about Liu We's death, as he was far too engrossed in his grief. She invented a tale of them being ambushed by demonic cultivators, as they discovered Liu Wei's special physique and used his Cauldron body until his final breath. It was close enough to the truth for her to tell the story without alarming her teacher.

Overwhelmed with despair, Zhu Zhang locked himself in his inner chambers in closed cultivation, and the dutiful Liang Wang Yan moved into his villa to watch and tenderly care for her teacher in his time of need.