Ice Phoenix Sect

Everybody in the room went tense, even the fatso wasn't sure of his safety when he was near the man with the chiseled physique. Han noticed Lian's breathing go erratic again, and he went beside her to hold her hand. It effectively calmed her down, but this action didn't go unnoticed.

Get that woman to my quarters fatty!" He scowled and narrowed his eyes at Han, "I won't tolerate any distractions."

Han couldn't do anything for her anymore. He could only hope that she would stay sane no matter what they do to her, what matters is that she doesn't forget how to make pills and elixirs. The more they make her suffer, the happier she would be when saved by him anyway.

"I promise, I'll come for you no matter what," he whispered.

"I'll be waiting," she replied. Her hands gave Han's head a gentle pat before moving away with the fatty. They paced through the hallway and back to the stairwell, up to the fourth floor. Once they were out of sight, Han's eyes went back to focus and he looked at the man with the chiseled physique glaring at him.

Han gulped and lowered his head in a show of subservience. This man was like an irritable beast, Han had to oblige unless he wanted to be the next guy with his head beaten to a pulp. The man with a chiseled physique scoffed at Han's cowardice and proceeded to tread in front of the group.

"It is always good to know your place." he said, "If you aren't strong then you better act weak."

He arrived at the girl on the opposite side of Han and glared. For each one of them, he stood in front and stared them down. The man reached Andrew, and Andrew instead of backing down took on the man's gaze. The man's expression revealed nothing as he continued on to Han. Han of course didn't dare challenge the man's gaze. The man with a chiseled physique glared at Han and scowled.

"If you aren't strong then act weak," he continued, "but if you don't even have the courage to face the strong then you will forever be weak."

'Fuck that shit! If you face the strong while you're weak then you're gonna die!' Han thought in his heart.

"Now all of you with you're heads lowered, look at me."

Han felt the man's aura being released at full force. His aura from a while back was already overbearing, now it felt like it was crushing Han's soul. At Han's current state it was demobilizing, even more for the others who were mere noncultivators. Andrew could challenge the man's gaze but now he was quivering.

"Look at me!" the man repeated.

Han withstood the aura and took a deep breath as he raised his head with all the force he can muster. It was never wise to challenge those stronger than you, but if that's what this lump of meat wants, Han wouldn't disappoint. His dull green eyes met the gaze of the man and he kept it there despite the pressure. The others also found the courage to look, and the sight of Han's small body having a staredown with a gigantic man of 6 feet and 5 inches, further strengthened their confidence.

The man smiled thinly and backed away. He returned to the center with his hands behind his back and stood tall.

"You have the honor of being the first disciples of the Ice Phoenix Sect! As the first, you have to be a model for those that come next! You will not show fear or cowardice!" he yelled out as if they were deaf, "You will address me as Patriarch, Understand?"

"Yes Patriarch!" the group replied,

"Good. If you fail me, you will suffer the same fate as you have seen earlier, but if you satisfy my expectations, mark my words, I will make you leaders of men." He raised a palm and a tinge of dark blue luminescence appeared. A cold breeze swirled from it and Han narrowed his eyes in recognition. On the man's hand was an ice phoenix with a crown of ice.

The elemental arts of the Ice Phoenix Sect, Frozen Nirvana. It existed in his world as one of the four prestigious sects of elements. It had thousands of branches, millions of disciples, and many cold beauties that attracted many to enroll there. Han was familiar with it, as he himself got into that sect once. He was tasked by a man to break out a beauty that was being prevented from going out. Of course, Han did the job, did the girl too.

Andrew and his other former classmates were gawking at the ice phoenix in the man's hands. The ice phoenix flew around the man's fingers and suddenly burst into the air. The man didn't hide his contempt at the sight of their amazement at such a simple thing.

"Don't be excited just yet. We need to prepare your body for the world's energy." the man said, "Your bodies are so weak that just a bit of energy will make it burst."

Even if the others were still in shock, they had no choice but to believe as they witnessed it with their very eyes. Han was a cultivator so the expression of amazement that he had plastered on his face was a mere imitation of what he was seeing from Andrew and the others.

The man taught them the basics of cultivation. Han had already done this, and so he merely acted along with the others. Martial level 0, breathing techniques, opening up paths for energy, and such. He only paid attention when the man gave them the cultivation method for Frozen Nirvana.

His blood art, The Masochist Avatar, was a body enhancement method while the Frozen Nirvana was an energy enhancement method. The difference was that The Masochist Avatar was mostly strengthening him internally, while Frozen Nirvana was for manipulating the energy of the world.

Cultivators would either be a body cultivator or an energy cultivator. It was very rare and considered foolish to split your focus on two of them. However, The Masochist Avatar wasn't something that needed effort at all, the only effort one will ever need for that blood art was the effort to keep one's sanity. Therefore, Han was able to be a dual cultivator. He had plenty of cultivation methods, but they were all above his level now.

This part of the Frozen Nirvana was tailored for Martial Warriors, and he was being taught it. It would be perfectly reasonable for him to use it without arousing suspicion. With both the power from The Masochist Avatar and Frozen Nirvana, his overall ability would be enough to rival a level 4 martial warrior.

The group of teens was sitting cross legged on the floor with cold aura oozing out of their bodies. Han had already comprehended all the levels of Frozen Nirvana but he kept silent until someone else at least comprehended level one. Soon enough, the girl from his class, Alicia, was the 'first' among them. She proudly created a tiny phoenix within her palm and presented it. The man picked up the tiny phoenix and his hand suddenly went blue from cold. It couldn't freeze his hand completely although it was able to slow down his hand.

He gave a nod. Next, of course, was Han. He stood and presented an ice phoenix the same size as Alicia's within his palm. The man picked it up just as she did with Alicia's and what happened was an exact imitation of what happened earlier.

The man eyed Han closely and merely nodded as well. Gradually, the others reached a level of comprehension. Andrew, then the two boys, Cole and Lewis. They all lined up with Alicia at the most left and Lewis at the opposite side.

"Good, you have not disappointed me yet. We are done for today."

He started to put on his upper clothing and proceeded to go out the door. Han peered at the man go up into the fourth floor, and later down came fatty. The fat thug met the eyes of Han and the others and he frowned, especially when he saw Andrew.

"Follow me to your quarters," he mumbled,

Fatty seemed deflated as he led their group through the third floor. Into a visibly different part of the prison. The walls weren't bleak at all, and it was clean, as clean as a prison can be at least and the prison cells along the way actually had steel doors. One by one he led them to their own respective quarters and when Han reached his own he was quite surprised.

What kind of prison would have a big luxurious bed, beautifully painted walls, there were even paintings of noble taste. A fridge, and a table with a bowl of fruits atop of it. Aside from the corpse hanging from the ceiling, it was a very splendid room.

"It pains my heart, but boss said to give you the VIP rooms," Fatty whined, "You lucky bastards."

Probably out of spite, the fatty didn't even bother to clean up the corpse. He simply closed the door and went on his way. The mere corpse didn't bother Han anyway, what he was thinking about was how to use this privacy given to him to the greatest extent.

They made him a disciple of a sect, perhaps it would be wise to hold on to such a position in order to claim what they had taken from him; his bag, Lian, and Amelia if convenient. It was a goal that he was sure to reach, especially since this place was a place where he could strive. They gave him the Frozen Nirvana and he had comprehended the nine levels of Frozen Nirvana already. Now he merely needed to practice it.

He created an ice phoenix in his hand and grinned as he turned to look at the practice dummy hanging from the ceiling.