Fang Xing asked everyone to wait for him for a few moments before he covered himself with tattered rags and flew over to the other side of the pond to grab his belongings. He was wearing new robes by the time he returned, and as the saying goes, the value of horses is seen through their saddles and men through their clothes. Although he was still extremely thin and shriveled, he no longer seemed like a wild monkey now that his hair was neatly tied up and he was wearing new apparel, making him at least more presentable.

　　When the Head Exalt saw this, he said a few words of praise and everyone prepared to take Fang Xing back to the Hentian clan. While the others were readying themselves to fly off on their clouds, Fang Xing instead drew the red dragon close and sat on its head before the dragon excitedly thrust itself up into the sky. The Head Exalt felt some complicated feelings when he saw this; although this was a genuine true dragon, someone was riding atop it and a ring had been pierced through its nose as though it were some common farm animal. This was simply too shocking.

　　Those riding atop clouds rode their clouds, and the one riding atop his dragon rode his dragon. All of them flew towards the basin where the Hentian clan was situated.

　　The giant basin the Hentian clan was situated in was surrounded by mountains. Beneath the northernmost black-colored mountain range were the living quarters for the Hentian clan’s clan master, the clan elders, and all Exalts, while the other residences had a mixture of both cultivators and ordinary men. It was common outside the Guixu Ruins for cultivators and ordinary men to be separated with very little to no contact, but here it was mixed even though the status of ordinary men was still lower.

　　By the time the group arrived at the basin, the Hentian clan master had already received a message and was waiting in front of the main hall to welcome them. Fang Xing was treated with utmost respect and enthusiasm when he greeted the clan master, and even his red dragon was allowed to enter alongside him into the grand hall. After Fang Xing told them the red dragon couldn’t change into human form, they immediately arranged for an extremely spacious area with a banquet table for the two of them, and Fang Xing sat at the table while the red dragon lay beside him and suspiciously watched all the gazes checking it out.

　　During the banquet, the clan master mentioned inviting Fang Xing to join the clan, which Fang Xing had naturally known and expected. Although the clan master might have been making a request on the surface, Fang Xing didn’t actually have a choice in the matter, so he pretended to be extremely surprised and gladly accepted.

　　Fang Xing had earlier asked the Head Exalt during the journey and discovered it wasn’t rare to find others who’d entered the Guixu Ruins from outside. Such people had typically been chased and were left with no other choice but to flee to the Guixu Ruins, or they were deeply immersed in trying to seek the truth of the ancient Taishang Daoism and would enter for the one in a million chance of attaining it. There were all kinds of reasons, but there had always been people entering the Guixu Ruins now and again.

　　Those who entered would all become Exalts for different clans. Although they were unrelated by blood at first, it was only logical that after a few generations of descendants, they would become part of the clan and accepted as true clansmen. The few original large clans in the ruins were all descendants of those who’d entered very early on.

　　The Guixu Ruins was a place people could enter but not leave, and those inside naturally wanted to form a root and went on to have children and grandchildren. Furthermore, peril beasts roamed amidst the ruins, forcing the humans who entered to survive in packs which gradually evolved into the few large clans seen today. Each clan had their own territory in a manner similar to the world outside the ruins, and the Hentian clan was one of the largest of all the clans.

　　After Fang Xing accepted, the clan master—a middle-aged mid-Golden Core Stage man—stood up full of smiles and personally placed a pale-gold nameplate into his hands. “The entire clan is grateful you’ve become an Exalt of our Hentian clan, little friend. After you’ve paid your greetings to our great head elder of the clan, you will be considered as part of our clan. Any requests and needs you might have will naturally be provided for, and you will have Spirit Stones distributed to you each month as a high-tier Exalt….”

　　Fang Xing accepted the golden nameplate and didn’t see anything special at a glance, but everyone else who heard the clan master’s words were shocked. The payment newly-arrived Exalts received were based upon their cultivation level and usefulness towards the clan, broken into low, mid, high, and supreme tiers. Fang Xing was still only in Foundation Stage and would normally be considered nothing more than a low-tier Exalt, yet the clan master had unexpectedly prepared for him to become a high-tier Exalt—clearly because of the red dragon. It was important to know these tiers weren’t merely for show and were directly tied to how many resources a person would receive on a day-to-day basis.

　　Taishang Daoism had resided in a place with a large spirit vein of the southern seas. There originally wasn’t any lack for cultivation resources, but after the heaven’s thunder fell, the area was destroyed and the rules of the realm were changed. Very few Spirit Stones could be found within the spirit vein now, and instead all of the Guixu Ruins had become extremely rich in Qi; cultivators no longer needed to worry about ordinary everyday cultivation to maintain their state, but with so few Spirit Stones available to actually improve, it could be said resources had become scarce.

　　Quite a number of Exalts in the grand hall were all in the early Golden Core Stage yet were merely mid-tier Exalts. Although they understood a Foundation Stage cultivator like Fang Xing had become a high-tier Exalt only due to the true dragon, they still exchanged uneasy glances and could only helplessly drink.

　　While sitting at the table, the clan master turned to Fang Xing with a smile and said, “To say it plainly, the world outside the Guixu Ruins is one where only the strongest survive, and there are a number of fellow Daoists who were pushed to their last resort and were left with no other option but to enter the Guixu Ruins to flee the chaos. There is no need for you to mind, little friend; there is a rule within the Guixu Ruins that you are free to decide without consequences whether or not you wish to speak about the status you held outside. If you are unwilling to mention it, you can simply give yourself a new name. It is the difference between inside and outside; they are two different realms without any connection at all!”

　　Fang Xing laughed and replied, “Clan Master is such a good person. Put simply, if I hadn’t been bullied and left without any other choice while I was outside, I truly wouldn’t have entered this Guixu Ruins. My name is Xing Fang, and I belonged to the Colored Glass Palace of the South Sea. Our palace master made the Azure Sea’s Dragon Palace their enemy, resulting in an attack from the Azure Seas that caused the Colored Glass Palace to be destroyed and the palace master to go missing. Me and this guy were chased all the way to the outskirts surrounding the Guixu Ruins, and seeing that there was no other choice, we could only fly inside and hope to keep ourselves alive….”

　　Fang Xing’s lies were constructed well, intertwining truth and falsehoods without leaving anything that was traceable. Although it wasn’t rare for people to enter the Guixu Ruins, those inside only had a surface-level knowledge of what was going on outside and although they somewhat knew about the relationship between the Colored Glass Palace and the Azure Seas, they didn’t know the details. Whether Fang Xing’s words were true or false was not something they would know.

　　Fang Xing was aware the Hentian clan master was actually trying to fish out this red dragon’s identity, so he purposefully didn’t mention a single word about it. This left the clan master with the impression that even though this boy appeared timid, he was still well-reasoned enough to avoid revealing the secrets of something tied so directly to his life or death. Since that was the case, it would be inappropriate for the clan master to question any further and he could only give up on it for now.

　　Although everyone at the banquet was in high spirits, one person appeared quite upset: the Hentian clan master’s eldest daughter who enjoyed dressing in male clothing and forced everyone to refer to her as “young master”, an address typically for males. When she saw a mere Foundation Stage cultivator become a high-tier Exalt because of a dragon, she felt nothing but anger and anxiety. She wanted to sabotage him, but she was worried about being scolded by her father and so didn’t dare to cut into the conversation.

　　When she turned around and saw the newly-changed robes that were very fresh and bright with an extraordinary quality, she formed an idea. She secretly messaged an old Golden Core Exalt with a scar on his face who wasn’t far away, and hinted for him to speak as she’d directed. The aged Golden Core Exalt was a bit hesitant, but after mulling it over for a few moments, he rose to his feet and proposed a toast. “Congratulations to the clan master for receiving a powerful soldier,” he began before speaking towards the clan master, “However, rules cannot be forgotten regardless. Perhaps the clan master is able to ask Little Friend Xing to show us some of his prized possessions relevant to today’s celebration? Those that must be handed over to the clan shall be handed over, and those that can be left for themselves can be left for themselves. It would also be a good chance to increase all of our knowledge, so it would improve our spirits as we drink all these great wines today?” A few other Exalts shouted in agreement at these words, but Fang Xing was surprised and unsure what the man actually meant.

　　“Hmph, you didn’t know?” the female young master asked with satisfaction when she noticed Fang Xing’s expression had changed. “Did you really think it would be so easy to become an Exalt of our Hentian clan?” With that, she began to explain things to him with a smile. It was only then that Fang Xing knew that according to the rules of the clan, an Exalt would be given cultivation resources and protection, but they were required to present some resources from the outside realm when they were first accepted. The level of this gift was dependent upon the battle prowess of the Exalt themself, where those who were more powerful had to give less and some were even able to ignore the requirement altogether.

　　Although this requirement might seem overbearing, all of the clans within the Guixu Ruins were like this and so there wasn’t anywhere to complain about it. Although people joined clans as Exalts for the sake of assisting the clan, the truth was the clan was protecting them as well. It would be very difficult for someone to survive the harsh environments of the Guixu Ruins without support—most would either die in the mouths of peril beasts or be assassinated by the clans.

　　The clan master originally hadn’t mentioned this at all and had intended to waive the requirement for Fang Xing, but it was brought out into the spotlight thanks to the young master. The other Exalts had all been forced to hand in resources and naturally didn’t want to watch a Foundation Stage kid have such dog-sh*t luck to not only get a higher tier than them but also get to save his resources.

　　Fang Xing’s expression darkened a little as he observed the jeering crowd from the side, and he was able to tell this had been due to the female young master’s scheme. He’d pretended to be extremely harmless and honest, yet she was still being tenacious; this bi*ch of a woman really liked to cause problems.

　　He had no shortage of treasures, but if he were to truly show them without preparing in advance, it would likely alarm everyone and make it difficult to keep his identity a secret. It would be nearly impossible for someone to not know his name if they’d entered the Guixu Ruins within the past couple of years, and Fang Xing’s understanding of the ruins was too shallow to know if exposing himself would be a good thing or bad.

　　The young master was extremely pleased to see Fang Xing’s poor expression, and she smiled towards that scarred Exalt. She hadn’t targeted Fang Xing simply because of her personality, but because she was a bit cunning and knew she’d already offended him too much. Although this person might not show it on the surface, she believed it was very likely he hated her and if he was forced to take sides in the future, he would certainly stand on the same side as her younger sister nine times out of ten. The greater his status within the clan, the more misfortunate would fall upon her, so she went out of her way to try to suppress him.

　　When it came to cultivators, it went without saying that taking away their resources was like a heavy punch to the gut. Now that the old Exalt had brought it to the light, the others became quiet and turned to look at the clan master.

　　The clan master showed some hesitation before quietly pondering the matter, but no one was able to tell precisely what he was thinking.