Jeet was trapped in a dilemma. What should he do? Should he kill this boy, or throw him out of this place?

  But in either situation, the Death Hall would gain nothing. Instead, it would only suffer losses only.

  On top of that, if the any other Halls, Sects, Clans, and Elders found out that a boy had been living on the hill behind the Death Hall for so long, and that too without anyone noticing, then the whole Death Hall would face severe disgrace within the Crimson Heaven Society members!

  Along with the Death Hall, Jeet himself would also be disgraced. At that time, the Death Hall was going through a very difficult phase. Compared to the other Halls, Sects, Clans, and Elders, it was not powerful at all.

  Shivansh knew this very well.

  That was why earlier he calmly told Death Hall Master Jeet that he was the one who had hidden the boy here. He knew that once Jeet saw the boy for himself, he would be forced to keep him. And now his plan was working. It just needed a little more polishing.

  “Master, you can see it yourself. This boy has tremendous talent. That is why I kept him hidden here behind the mountains for the past two years, so that no one else could come into contact with him. Master, I know I made a mistake, but I did it for the sake of the entire Death Hall, not for any selfish reason!”

  Shivansh said to Jeet. Jeet remained silent for a long time, still lost in thought. Seeing his silence, Shivansh spoke again.

  “Master, I have a suggestion! This year, the entrance trials are about to begin. Just a few months from now. If you were to give him a seal of recommendation, then…?”

  ‘?!’

  Hearing this, Jeet’s eyes widened.

  Why had this thought not come to his mind earlier? What his disciple Shivansh had just said would solve all the problems at once.

  A seal of recommendation, just as the name suggested, could be given by any Hall Master, Sect Leader, Clan Patriach/Matriarch, or Elder of the Crimson Heaven Society to an outsider.

  With this seal, that outsider could participate in the entrance trials even without any prior connection to the Crimson Heaven Society.

  And the most interesting part was this.

  Whoever issued the seal of recommendation would take responsibility for that person. After the trials ended, that person would return directly to the one who had given the seal.

  For example, if the Death Hall Master gave a seal of recommendation to this boy; Saksham, then after the entrance trials ended, this boy would return straight to the Death Hall Master.

  No one else would be able to take him as a disciple.

  Each Master, Leader, Patriach/Matriach or Elder within the Crimson Heaven Society could use a seal of recommendation only once.

  Because of this limitation, most people never used it. Other reason was also that, it was rare to find someone talented enough to use it on.

  Second, most of them already had plenty of talented disciples under them, so they did not really need it. And saved it for very very special individual for future purposes.

  But the Death Hall’s situation was very different. It was going through its most difficult period. It lacked both strength and talent. And it needed both.

  In the end, Jeet gave Saksham a seal of recommendation. Until the trials began, he was assigned as Shivansh’s assistant.

  After everything was settled, Shivansh finally let out a sigh of relief. His plan had succeeded. This was exactly what he wanted.

  He had carefully thought through this strategy so that he could bring Saksham inside without breaking any of the Crimson Heaven Society’s rules.

  “Now all you have to do is pass the entrance trials. You can do it, right?”

  Shivansh asked Saksham. Saksham smiled and replied,

  “Yes, big brother! Don’t worry.”

  Shivansh smiled and patted his head.

  Before anyone realized it, the months passed, and soon it was time for the entrance trials. When the other Halls, Sects, Clans, and Elders found out that the Death Hall had used its seal of recommendation to bring an outsider into the trials, someone with no connection to the Crimson Heaven Society, they all mocked the Death Hall.

  They said the Death Hall should never have used such a precious seal.

  But their laughter fell silent the moment they saw Saksham perform in the trials. At that moment, everyone realized that the Death Hall Master had made the right move this time.

  The entrance trials came to an end, and Saksham took first place. As decided by the seal of recommendation, he became a disciple of the Death Hall under Death Hall Master Jeet.

  That night, Shivansh and Saksham were extremely happy. Aditya, Manish, and Vansh were happy as well. On the night Saksham officially became a Death Hall disciple, they celebrated all night long.

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  Slowly, years passed, and Saksham began learning martial arts within the Death Hall. His talent was truly remarkable.

  In just five years, he opened his second and third chakras as well. This meant he had become a first rate martial artist.

  On the other hand, Shivansh was not lagging behind either.

  After five years of hard work and relentless effort, he finally opened his fourth chakra, the Anahata (Heart) chakra.

  This was no small achievement!

  As a martial artist cultivates and opens more chakras, the new chakra allows a much greater amount of prana to be stored and cultivated.

  Because of this, filling a new chakra to a full 10/10 prana takes far more time than the previous one.

  The first three chakras, the Muladhara (Root) chakra, the Svadhisthana (Sacral) chakra, and the Manipura (Solar) Plexus chakra, are where most martial artists remain stuck.

  Opening each chakra means entering a new realm. However, the gap between the Manipura (Solar Plexus) chakra and the Anahata (Heart chakra) is extremely vast.

  Because of this, many martial artists cannot even completely fill their Manipura (Solar Plexus) chakra.

  Even those who do manage to fill it must cultivate an enormous amount of prana, otherwise they will not be able to open the next chakra.

  And if something goes wrong in between the opening of the next chakra, then it is even possible for a martial artist to lose the prana stored in their previous chakra.

  Due to this risk, many martial artists hesitate to attempt opening the Anahata (Heart) chakra out of fear. As a result, they remain stuck at the initial three chakras only.

  Beyond this point, only those with immense courage, unwavering preservence can move forward.

  Without these qualities, one can never cross that threshold.

  When a martial artist opens the Anahata (Heart) Chakra, they are called a Master Realm martial artist. Shivansh was now one of them, a Master Realm martial artist.

  “Senior Brother! Congratulations on opening the Anahata (Heart) Chakra!”

  Saksham, Aditya, Manish, and Vansh congratulated Shivansh together.

  Over these five years, Shivansh had changed a lot. He was no longer a young boy. He had become a twenty five year old man, and a thick beard now covered his entire face.

  “Thank you, all of you.”

  Shivansh replied calmly. He had just come out of closed cultivation when his junior brothers rushed to meet him.

  “Damn! Senior Brother, your face looks really manly now!”

  “Yeah! Especially that beard. It suits you perfectly! Hehe!”

  Aditya and Vansh teased him. Shivansh touched the beard on his cheeks. During closed cultivation, he had focused on nothing but cultivating, so his beard had grown wild.

  “You two… will never stop, huh?!”

  Shivansh shouted and pulled Aditya and Vansh into a tight hold with his arms. Saksham and Manish had already stepped back. They knew exactly what was coming.

  “What were you saying? More manly? Beard looks good on me?!”

  Shivansh said while tightening his grip. Aditya and Vansh’s faces started turning red.

  The thing was, Shivansh liked a girl, and that girl liked Shivansh too. Almost everyone in the Crimson Heaven Society knew that.

  But there was one thing most people did not know. Only Shivansh, that girl, and Shivansh’s junior brothers knew it.

  “Devika does not like guys with thick beards.”

  Saksham said casually while looking at Shivansh, who was still holding Aditya, and Vansh.

  Manish let out a long sigh and added,

  “Yeah, she is fine with light stubble, but she absolutely hates thick beards on men. So much that she has forced even her own father to shave daily. These two idiots know this very well, yet they still tease Senior Brother about keeping a beard. Seriously, when will they learn…”

  Manish then turned his gaze toward Saksham and said,

  “And you… you are planning something too, right, Saksham? What is that you are hiding behind your back?”

  Saksham laughed.

  “Oh, this? This is nothing. Just keep watching. Hehe!”

  ‘I have a really bad feeling about this…’

  Manish muttered inside his head and took a few steps back from Saksham.

  “Please forgive us, Senior Brother!!!”

  Aditya and Vansh shouted together. Only then did Shivansh release them. Both of them immediately breathed in relief.

  “Huff… Huff… Senior Brother, we were just joking. Huff! You took it way too seriously…”

  “Huff… Huff… But still, getting beaten by you after so many years... Huff! Huff! Actually feels kinda nostalgic, Senior Brother…”

  Aditya and Vansh said while catching their breath, then burst out laughing. Seeing them after so long, Shivansh also felt his heart warm up, and he laughed as well.

  Saksham walked up to Shivansh and handed him a bucket and some shaving tools.

  “Here you go, Senior Brother.”

  ‘?!’

  Question marks practically popped over Shivansh’s head. He raised an eyebrow and asked,

  “Are you also joking with me now? I do plan to shave, but not this soon. At least let me reach Death Hall and meet Master Jeet first.”

  Saksham titled his head and gave a strange smile.

  “Ah! sorry, I completely understand... But ‘she’ is waiting, not too far from here.”

  “‘She’…?”

  Shivansh thought for a moment, then realized Saksham was talking about Devika!

  “Haha! Well done! You are quite sharp! Give it here!”

  Shivansh took the shaving tools and bucket, he turned walke some steps and then splashed water on his face, and was about to start.

  But then…

  “Bastard! What the fuck is this?!—Saksham! I will kill you!”

  Shivansh suddenly chased after Saksham in rage.

  His hands were completely stuck to his beard, as if someone had glued them there.

  And that was exactly what had happened.

  Saksham had mixed glue into the water instead of using plain water. Because of that, Shivansh’s hands were now firmly stuck to his beard.

  “Hahaha! Sorry, Senior Brother! You were going to shave it anyway, so what difference does a little glue make?”

  Bam!

  Saksham shouted while running away.

  Clench!

  “You asshole! If my hands are stuck like this, how am I supposed to shave?!”

  Shivansh gritted his teeth. He tried pulling his hands away, but doing so tore some beard hair out, making him yelp in pain.

  “Ahhh! Run as long as you can! But once I catch you, then I will teach you a proper lesson!—Hey, you three, help me!”

  Shivansh shouted. But when he looked at Aditya, Manish, and Vansh, all three of them were laughing.

  Shivansh glared at them.

  “If you laugh, remember this. I will be worse than a nightmare for you.”

  He said that to scare them, but it did not work at all. Instead, their laughter grew louder, and they started laughing uncontrollably, holding their stomach.

  “You three are dead!”

  Bam!

  Shivansh kicked forward, and his foot flew straight into Manish's face.

  Tak! Thud!

  Manish's cheeks puffed up as he flew straight into a tree and collapsed.

  Aditya and Vansh immediately stopped laughing. They finally realized that their Senior Brother was still terrifyingly strong even in this state.

  “W-we are sorry, Senior Brother…”

  “Y-yeah… we will help you get unstuck right away!”

  They stammered, sweat dripping from their foreheads.

  Saksham had already escaped, Manish was down and out, or maybe pretending to be unconscious to avoid further beating. He is smart.

  But now... Now only these two remained.

  “Forgive you?! Fuck off you all! I will teach you all of a lesson. Just let me get my hands on you!”

  Shivansh chased after them, trying to kick them. Seeing this, Aditya and Manish ran for their lives, screaming and cursing Saksham in between for dragging them into this mess.

  And just like that, another joyful day of these friends came to an end. But good days never last forever.

  Bad days always come in between.

  And what was about to come next… not Saksham, not Shivansh, and not even the entire Crimson Heaven Society was prepared for it.