“You just did the one thing that you shouldn’t have done,” I said.

This single sentence of someone I once considered a friend was enough. 

In this world, in this new life of mine, I only had one thing that I valued above the rest. 

And it was my care for Mia. 

Maybe I was just a simpleton who fell for the first skirt that fluttered on the wind before my eyes. Maybe I was just so tired of the lonesome life that I latched to the first form of intimacy and idolized it beyond any reason. 

I was aware of how dishonest the foundation of my relationship with Mia could be. 

I was aware… but that didn’t mean jackshit. 

No matter what kind of dark or untrue feelings caused me to bring Mia to the pedestal of my life, I cared not. Because for the first time in both of my lives, I finally had someone to care about. 

“Still,” I shook my head, forcing all those thoughts to the back of my head. 

‘This isn’t the time to get all nostalgic,’ I thought, raising my cold eyes on Lucius’ face. 

“I don’t think you have any means to harm her,” I said, gently lowering my eyelids as I looked at Lucius with a sneer. 

Sure, some kinds of transporting formations were bound to exist. In a world with storage rings and general cultivation or magic, it was a convenience that was bound to appear. 

‘If I recall, the auction hall has one, but an imperfect one,’ I thought, looking at Lucius with pity. 

He had to be truly desperate to attempt using Mia against me. 

Because even if the Sect as a whole had the formations allowing for people to move between two places instantly… Neither Lucius nor the Logistic Center’s Clerk would have access to it!

After all, if it was something that the auction hall was struggling to obtain, there was no way people as small as the two of them could use it without a problem. 

In other words, they could only attempt to hurt Mia by actually reaching her. 

Any other scenario I could counter with the backing of the auction hall. And when it came to visiting Mia personally…

‘I guess we were separated for long enough,’ I thought, feeling my emotions firing up a little. 

Even though it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling to think about the reunion with my love, I still killed this emotion. 

Even if it was positive, excessive emotions would only bring an end to the dam I put on my feelings. And even after all this time, I still wasn’t ready to face it. 

“I wonder what makes you believe that,” Lucius sneered, shaking his head with amusement. “That you can reach that place before us,” he added, his lips trembling in joy. 

He clearly didn’t notice the look on the Clerk’s face. 

“Don’t tell me you think you can reach that place before us!” Lucius shouted before openly laughing out. 

“Yes, I think I can,” I replied, ignoring the idiotic amusement of my former partner. “Because you two will be too busy explaining yourself to the sect,” I said, rolling my eyes and turning around. 

There was no point in wasting a single second more of my time in this damned place. 

The one and only thing I could find there would be more disappointment and then rage to quell. 

It simply wasn’t worth it. 

“Explaining ourselves to the sect?” Lucius echoed my words, only to explode in yet another bout of ironic laughter. “And why would the sect take an interest in us?” he sneered. 

“To explain why I left the sect,” I replied calmly, turning my face back at Lucius. 

At this point, the only thing that I felt was shallow amusement. 

“You are just a contractor,” Lucius said as he stretched his back and seated himself deeper into his chair. “If you don’t want to end as an unaffiliated vagabond, you have little to no choice but to join us,” he added, reaching with his hand behind the office’s counter and pulling out a glass.

Judging from the rich aroma of the drink that instantly reached my nose, it wasn’t some cheap liquor. 

“I’m not unaffiliated,” I replied, putting a wide smile on my lips. 

This was much better than just smacking the hell out of this idiot. Even though I always cringed at the scenes of face-slapping in the novels I read, experiencing it firsthand?

Damn, it was a pretty nice feeling!

I shook my head and blinked my eyes as I cast another stare at Lucius’ face. This time, I was simply amused. 

“As of now, I’m a graduate,” I announced with a helpless look on my face. 

Because I was helpless. 

Helpless against the sudden change that occurred on Lucius’ face. 

“You are bluffing,” Lucius threw after quickly coming up to terms with the new situation. And this was the only way in which his experience allowed him to react. 

“My contract ends the second I reach the tenth stage, isn’t that right?” I said with a smile, rejoicing over this moment of triumph. “Then, for the last week or so, I’m a graduate already,” I added before shaking my shoulders over it as if it was a small matter. 

“You are lying,” Lucious changed his words but kept the meaning. 

“That also means my word is now far more valid than yours,” I said, my lips curving up in a satisfied smile. “Meaning, when I go and report this scam that you have going, I wonder who will be taken seriously,” I questioned. 

“You?” I looked at Lucius, a look of disbelief in my eyes. 

I then shook my head. 

“Bringing Mia up was your undoing,” I said in a soft yet cold voice. I then turned around and headed again for the doors. 

“None of that will happen,” Lucius muttered in a low voice. 

I glanced over with curiosity. The cornered animal was an unpredictable one. 

I was the most vulnerable right at the moment of my greatest triumph so far. And on the other side, Lucius was the most dangerous as well, being stuck at the very bottom. 

Even though he had his face lowered, I could see how the signs of panic quickly took over his mind. 

But the state of that man’s mind was no longer a concern of mine. With my wardens at the ready, I pushed towards the doors. 

“None of that will happen,” Lucius repeated, slowly raising his head. 

His eyes were hollow as if something drained all the life from them. But his movements were as swift as they were nimble. 

‘Huh?’ I thought, surprised when my former Overseer rushed ahead. 

“If you don’t leave this place!”  Lucius shouted, striking down with his fist. 

‘Huh?’ I shrugged in surprise again. I then cleared my throat and wiped my nose with my sleeve. 

I then stepped to the side, allowing Lucius’s fist to pass by. 

‘How the heck can he be so slow?’ I thought, stopping myself from activating my wardens. 

They were a card that I didn’t want to reveal unless absolutely necessary. 

‘Whatever,’ I thought, raising my hand and slapping the man through his back when his momentum carried him by my side. 

Lucius crashed into the wall on the other end of the room. 

‘So this is the difference of those few ranks,’ I thought, amazed by the results. 

And it was a display of my raw strength alone, as I didn’t deploy a single element of my new battle tactics!

‘I guess that’s what happens when one keeps on training while the other only do what’s absolutely necessary,’ I thought. 

It was a small thing that I noticed. Ever since I left the skyladder Sect, be it out in the forest with Lucius or in the Sect, I could hardly see anyone practicing martial arts. The closest I got to that kind of picture was by noticing a group of kids in the streets of the town playing around with cultivation cores. 

It felt as if every last cultivator above a certain level would stop moving and just cultivate with the resources someone else obtained. As if the path of fighting arts became completely irrelevant. 

And this could be a very well significant factor in the difference in speed and strength between Lucius and me. 

That, or the fact that I not only outranked him but also did so on the hardest ranks to cultivate!

For a moment, I looked down at Lucius’ powerless body before glancing over at the Clerk. 

During the entire encounter, he simply sat on his seat, too terrified to speak a word or act at all. 

“I have fulfilled my contract,” I announced, finally releasing the mental lock on my cultivation that prevented others from feeling my aura up. “Henceforth, there are no further obligations towards the Sect bearing on me,” I added. 

Back at the Auction Hall, I did my due diligence. With the Boss’ help, I learned about every little detail necessary to conclude the contract. 

“Obviously, I will be sure to submit the same announcement to the administrative office, along with my report of your corruption,” I added before decisively turning around and heading towards the doors. 

This time, no one interrupted me. 

As I reached the doorstep, I took one last stop. But I didn’t turn my head, opting to remain motionless within the door’s frame instead. 

“From this day onward, let it be known that there is no relation between me and the Tuxi sect!”