Shen Qingqiu could feel the huadian burning itself onto his forehead as he made eye contact with his former disciple. The little beast had apparently crawled his way out of the Endless Abyss with the sole purpose of making his shizun's life even more difficult.

For decades, ever since he was only a slave child, Shen Jiu had jealously guarded the blank patch of skin on his forearm, trading his threadbare wrappings for a proper covering when he was accepted as a disciple of Qing Jing Peak. He cared little for protecting his own reputation -- that was a fool's errand -- but this one thing he had been able to keep to himself, away from the judgement of others.

It was just like Heavenly Demons, he thought sourly, to be so obnoxious even in this.