Death... and me

As Rean was busy with his Formations Master Study, Roan occupied himself with Alchemy. However, Roan had another duty that he couldn't ignore. As one can remember, he was the one who gave the girls of the Blue Orchid District the Death Style Manuals.

There was nothing much he could do about it. There were several moments that Amanda or the other sisters of the Blue Orchid District would get lost at what to do. Of course, Roan wasn't free every time they needed him. That being said, he and Amanda reached an agreement. Once per week, Roan would take three hours of his time to help the girls with their questions and training of the Death Style. Naturally, that was only the case if he was in the sect. If he were on a mission or sect duty, he obviously wouldn't be able to. However...

*Bang!*

Suddenly, a female cultivator of the Blue Orchid District was sent flying, crashing against the ground on the other side of the training field.

"Why the hell are you using the meridians on your wrist during the skill release?! Are you an idiot to that point? Or maybe you think you are so great that you can ignore what I taught you and do your things, uh? If you really want to do that, at least think about the output of Spiritual Energy, fool! To increase the power of the attack, you disregarded your elbow stability. It made it so easy to parry your attack that I might as well use my finger instead of a sword during the next time."

He then looked at the other girls waiting on the side and shouted with a cold voice.

"NEXT!"

Another female cultivator then entered the field. Too bad that she was trembling as she looked at the demon in the form of a 12 years old kid. Although it was them who called him over to help with their doubts, he would often use straight combat to show how it was done.

Because of that, his position in the girls' heart was quite complicated. On one side, they were happy since his instructions would always target the very essence of their abilities. Not to mention that he did all of that almost for free. One must remember that he exchange those teachings for permission to come to see Malaka when he or Rean felt like it. That was indeed a trade that was very disadvantageous to him.

On the other side, he was merciless! That was quite a strange feeling for those female disciples. Usually, the boys would try to please the girls of the Blue Orchid District. After all, Inner Sect Elder Zaia only recruited talented female cultivators. They were the perfect dao companions that most of the male cultivators of the sect dreamed about. However, it looked like Roan saw all the girls as nothing more than bags of flesh and bones. Well, they were right. Roan simply couldn't care less whether they were beauties or beggars.

It was a good thing that Roan didn't try to gain their favor. It was proof that he was more interested in their skills as cultivators than how beautiful their outlines were. Still... Roan really frightened them to their bones!

"Why are you taking so long? Attack me already!"

The girl then gritted her teeth and initiated her attack.

*clang, clang, clang...*

Roan exchanged a few moves with the girl when suddenly, he saw an opening. His sword moved in a ridiculous pattern, blocking her saber completely. Right after, he used his leg to kick the girl's one. The girl then lost her balance and fell on her butt.

*Swish!*

Suddenly, a sword made of black energy passed through her neck.

"Ahhh!"

She couldn't help but close her eyes as she screamed. Not only her, but the other female disciples outside the field cried as well, thinking that Roan would cut her head.

However, all that happened was that a tiny cut appeared on her throat. A little bit of blood came down from it, but that was basically the extent of the injury. A day would be more than enough for a cultivator like her to have it healed completely.

"Are you fucking kidding me? Who the hell would close their eyes in front of a killing blow? That will only make you die faster!"

Roan then turned to Amanda outside.

"What the hell are you guys teaching these girls? Sure, you all have very high talents, I admit this much. You were able to use my Death Sword Style quite well too. However, how come there is such a massive lack of experience? It's a miracle that these girls are still alive!"

Amanda couldn't help but get angry.

"It's not that they lack experience. It's just that your training methods are as scary as hell!"

All the other girls around nodded their heads unanimously. They weren't lying. If it was someone else, they wouldn't be trembling every time they heard the person's name.

"Yes! It's because it is you that we get like this!"

"You could be more gentle!"

"Don't you know how to treat ladies? What did your parents teach you!"

"It's because you are a demon!"

"I had gone out for mission several times. Obviously, I had my own share of fights, danger, and killing. But I've never confronted someone as terrifying as you!"

"I even started to have nightmares about you!"

All the girls then lost their patience and began to nag Roan without stopping.

Roan narrowed his eyes for a second when suddenly, he snorted.

"I didn't expect to achieve this result so early. That's great! This is enough for me to start the second part of my plan."

The girls got puzzled at those words. Amanda, as the leader of the girls, immediately asked while a foreboding feeling overcame her.

"What... second part?"

Roan coldly smiled as he looked at her.

"Oh! I just had an idea some time ago. I have a few contacts in the Mission Hall, you know? From now on, I'll check the reports of your missions when I come by for these training sessions. If I find out that you failed or performed badly... Hehe!"

The contacts were obviously none else other than Elder Hulian or even the Sect Master. Unless it was something secret, Roan was sure he could get ahold of all the reports of missions performed by these girls.

The girls couldn't help but feel a chill on their backs when they heard that, though.

Roan then continued.

"Pay attention. I want you to remember my face when you get into those life and death situations you talked about. I want you to ask yourselves, is this enemy as scary as what I'm going to do with you if I find out that you failed a mission? I'm really looking forward to the next training sessions. I'll make sure that the ones who do not perform to my liking will receive a very special... treatment."

Before Amanda or any of the girls could even reply, Roan looked at another two figures present at the moment.

"You two better not think that I will leave you aside. In fact, due to our long-lasting... friendship... I will require much greater performances from your tasks."

Those two just so happened to be Julio and Lenna. Roan had passed them his Death Sword and Spear Styles, so they could be said to be under his tutelage too. Still, he didn't want to waste too much time on other things, so he packed them together with those girls of the Blue Orchid District. Amanda couldn't really refuse it since that was his condition to keep these training sessions. Of course, she warned them to keep their mouths shut about anything they see inside.

At first, Julio and Lenna were quite happy to be able to participate. But they soon were forced to remember the time back in the Sect Entrance Exam. Too bad, though. They had already been dragged into this. In the end, they became fellow sufferers with the Blue Orchid District girls.

"W-w-w-we will do... our best."

Roan nodded and showed a faint smile.

"Of course you will. After all, I don't think you can survive what I have prepared for you two if you fail."

Julio and Lenna's faces became pale as ghosts. For some reason, they didn't think Roan was kidding at all.

Finally, Roan looked back at the Blue Orchid Girls and shouted.

"Why are you still wasting my time? NEXT!"

While the girls and Julio receive all of Roan's 'love' in the training field, Malaka had just returned from another cultivation session with her Sect Master.

"Master is just like Roan. She doesn't give me free time at all! All my bones are hurting already."

Together with Malaka, there was a woman who also served the Sect Master as a maid. When she heard that, she just shook her head.

"Sect Master had never taken a disciple before. You should be happy that she is putting so much effort into your training. Trust me, you will not regret it in the future."

Malaka looked gloomy but nodded in the end.

It was then that she noticed that she arrived in the training field. Suddenly...

*Bang!*

*Crash!*

Julio had just been blasted away by one of Roan's attacks, falling right beside Malaka.

"During the last attack, your Spiritual Energy wasn't in synch with your Element. It made you lose your balance when I applied just a little pressure on the spear shaft. Go back and ponder about it."

Roan then looked at the two girls who just arrived, and his eyes lit up.

"Oh, you are here. Great! Come insid-"

Before he could even finish his words, Malaka had already turned around and... fled! Not only that, but she was really, really fast! Her training sessions with the Sect Master were obviously showing concrete results. However...

"Inna Malaka! If you make me leave this training field to catch you, I promise that you will want to die!"

Well, Malaka completely ignored the warning. She just got herself free from one demon. How could she accept to fall on the hands of another one?

Roan saw that and snorted, though. Suddenly, his hair changed into a mix of white and dark colors.

'Life Style, First Form, Enhancement!'

Malaka was just about to disappear in the distance when suddenly, a hand appeared on her shoulder, bringing her body to a complete stop. Right after, a voice capable of freezing hell sounded in her ears.

"I told you, didn't I?"

So what if she was much faster and stronger now? In front of Roan and Rean's Life Style, escaping wouldn't be more than a pipe dream!

"Noooooooooo!!!"

The hand then began to drag Malaka back to the training field, completely ignoring her scream. Poor Malaka's lucky star had not been shining recently...