The Supreme God

Weaver felt a moment of panic when he faced Austin's violent attack, but he quickly regained his arrogance when he learned that
Austin was only at the sixth-level of the Energy Gathering Realm.
He readied his fist and swung at Austin's fist with all his strength. He had expected to defeat Austin with his attack.
"Crack!"
Their fists traveled the short distance between the two men and met in the air.
To Weaver's surprise, he felt like he was punching solid stone. Several of Weaver's fingers fractured because of the strong
energy wave.
As a sharp pain radiated from his arm, Weaver's face contorted.
He lost his balance and was knocked back a few steps.
Weaver shook his head in disbelief and wondered, 'Is he really at the sixth-level of the Energy Gathering Realm? How is it
possible that his vital energy is stronger than mine?'
Before he could recover, Austin rushed toward him with an angry cry.
"Check this out!"
With that, he swung his fist and aimed at Weaver again.
"Wait! You..."
Angry and scared, Weaver didn't have the time to pull out his weapon. He had no other choice but to wield his fist in defense
again.
"Crack!"
The sound of breaking bones filled the air. In the next instant, Weaver's arm twisted in a strange position.
Weaver's face paled when he felt overwhelming pain. Beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
"Get out of my face!"

After venting his anger, Austin commanded in a cold voice.
Despite his resentment, Weaver understood that it was impossible for him to fight today.
Even though he was at the seventh-level of the Energy Gathering Realm, he lost to Austin in just two rounds.
Raymond's other followers had lower refining levels. None of them would be able to defeat Austin.
Since Raymond was still unconscious, they lifted him and left the alley with their heads hung in shame.
Before Weaver turned to leave, he glared at Austin with hatred.
"You son of a bitch! You'll regret this!" he said viciously.
Denali stood aside and watched Austin as he defeated the men.
She was pleased to see Raymond pay for his impudence, yet she was worried about the aftermath.
"Austin, maybe you shouldn't have acted out against them. That young man might be an important figure," she said with concern.
"Maybe you're right. But what would have happened if I didn't? Do you think that they would let us go unharmed?"
Austin replied flatly as he shot Denali a calm glance.
Denali fell silent. She understood that Austin was right. Raymond had ordered her to go with him and had threatened to break
Austin's and Evan's legs. It was Raymond who had forced Austin to fight back.
"In the world of martial arts, nobody will show mercy when you make concessions. On the contrary, the weaker you act in front of
others, the more you'll get bullied. Only by getting stronger can you gain people's respect and have the right to speak for
yourself."
After finishing those words, Austin turned and walked toward the Lotus Tavern with Evan, leaving Denali dumbfounded behind
them.
She stared at Austin's back and thought, 'He's right. Maybe I should learn to be tougher.'
By the time she snapped out of her trance, Denali found that Austin was already very far away. He showed no intention of
waiting for her. She pouted as she thought, 'You don't have to be so distant even though you're smarter than me!'

She then trotted off and quickly caught up with the two men.
After entering the Lotus Tavern, they picked a table and settled down. Austin looked over the menu and felt worried—even the
cheapest dish would cost him 300 vital energy crystals!
Most of the dishes used the meat of edible beasts as their ingredients and supplemented them with fresh herbs. This kind of food
was both beneficial to the martial cultivators' physical fitness and helpful in their martial refinement.
Of course, they were no less delicious than ordinary dishes.
But due to their high cost, most people could barely enjoy them.
Finally, they had a sumptuous meal, which cost over 3000 vital energy crystals. Austin felt his heart break when he paid the bill.
Evan was reluctant when they left the tavern. On their way back, he kept asking Austin when they would eat at the Lotus Tavern
again.
Four hours later, in a VIP room of an upscale inn in Peace Town.
A young man reclined in bed. Two girls in revealing outfits applied ointment to his injured nose with great caution.
Moaning with pain from time to time, the man kept scolding and complaining with resentment.
He was Raymond, the foolish man who had been punched on the nose by Austin earlier that day.
After a while, Weaver pushed open the door and walked up to the bed.
"Young Master Raymond, I've discovered the identity of the three bastards. They were grunt disciples of Sun Sect, but they were
promoted to outer disciples today."
"What? Grunt disciples? Are you sure? How is it possible that the lowly pleb who dared to hurt me is a grunt disciple? There
must be some mistake!"
Raymond spat angrily, reluctant to believe Weaver's words.
It was difficult for him to accept the fact that he had been knocked senseless by a grunt disciple—the lowest member of Sun
Sect.

"There has been no mistake, my young master. I ordered a disciple of Sun Sect to check the information for me. He can't be
wrong.
The brute who hurt you is Austin, the other man is Evan, and the woman is Denali."
"Outer disciples of Sun Sect. Let me see... Contact Chaz and ask him to kill Austin. Tell him that I'll give him a befitting reward
after he terminates that bastard!"
Raymond became hysterical as he finished those words. His grudge against Austin was already beyond description.
"Okay, young master. I'll do it right away."
Weaver replied respectfully before he turned to leave.
The next morning, Evan went to Austin's house and woke him up at a very early hour.
Today, they would be officially registered as outer disciples.
From now on, they were no longer grunt disciples of Sun Sect!
"Tin, Ophelia keeps winking at me. She's been doing this since learning that I've passed the promotion test. She also asked me
to visit her when I have time off!"
Evan said smugly. He enjoyed being flattered by other grunt disciples, not to mention the female disciples who showed him
affection.
"Winking at you? I'd describe it as ogling. She is trying to pursue you. What are you going to do about that?"
"I think I need to work harder in my martial arts refinement. So, I'll concentrate on that at present. As for love-related matters, I
don't want them to distract me before I become powerful enough."
"I'm glad that you've found your way, bro."
They laughed happily and kept chatting away.
Austin and Evan walked to Merit Hall to collect their new Jade Badges before heading for the living district of outer disciples.
They arrived at Sun Mountain and joined 70 to 80 disciples. All of them would have registered as outer disciples today.

After everyone arrived, an expressionless steward led them to a wide residential area. All the cottages had been built of timber
and bricks. Over time, wind and rain had left their mark on the exterior of the cottages.
Thousands of cottages had been built across the mountainside, crisscrossed by paths. The scenery was spectacular.
A board with a number hung over every cottage door, distinguishing them from each other.
"There are two kinds of living places for outer disciples. The sect provides the first kind for free. The cottages in front of you are
the free accommodation provided by the sect."
The steward stopped and cleared his throat before continuing.
"The second kind is those villas over there."
As he pointed his finger in one direction, all the disciples turned and studied the villa area. Some of the buildings were elegant in
appearance, while others looked magnificent.
"Those villas are separated from each other and have beautiful surroundings. They are ideal places for living and refining.
What's more, the leaders of our sect have ordered a group of array experts to arrange a small-sized Energy-gathering Array in
every villa. For this reason, the air in that area contains much richer vital energy than the cottages here.
However, only inner disciples are allowed to live here for free. If you want to move to that area, you need to pay 1000 vital
energy crystals annually."
"What?"
Everyone gasped in astonishment when they heard the figure.
As grunt disciples, they lived on the meager allowance provided by the sect.
For most of them, 50 vital energy crystals was a large amount of money.
"Don't worry. This is just your first day as outer disciples. If you apply for missions and work hard to earn money, you will soon be
able to afford the rent of those villas."
Knowing what these cash-strapped disciples were thinking about, the steward comforted and encouraged them.

He gave each of them a paper with a number before he left. Once he had left, the disciples began finding their new houses
according to the numbers on their papers.
"The Energy-gathering Array..."
Austin muttered as he pondered over the steward's words.
He had heard about the Energy-gathering Array in the past. When an array expert arranged an array in one place, the vital
energy around would gather in the range of the array and create an environment with rich vital energy.
If a martial arts cultivator practiced in that kind of environment, he would improve dramatically due to the richness of the vital
energy.
After studying the Golden Sun Scripture for some time, Austin realized that it required a large amount of vital energy to employ
this martial arts method.
In his estimation, the amount of vital energy he needed now was 10 to 20 times more than when he learned about the Purple
Yang Formula in the past.
Although he had restored the energy of the seven earth spirit fruits in his vital energy stone, he would soon run out of his energy
reserve after a few days' usage.
In conclusion, Austin was now in urgent need of refining resources.
If he could move to the villa area, he would achieve greater progress when practicing the Golden Sun Scripture.
'Aside from that, I'm only at the sixth-level of the Energy Gathering Realm. I haven't even recovered my lost strength from
several years ago.' He thought dejectedly.
After pondering over all these issues, Austin decided to move to the villa area. He was willing to spend his money to strengthen
himself.
For now, he would stay the night in the cottage area and then rent a villa with an Energy-gathering Array the next day.