"Come up," Chen Ping'an said from the top of the well.

"No," Cui Chan replied with a shake of his head from the bottom of the well.

Chen Ping'an's voice was calm as he said, "Let's have a good chat and speak some reason first. We won't throw hands straight away. In any case, I have nothing but a bit of brute strength, so could I defeat you, Cui Dongshan, in a fight?"

"I refuse!" the young Cui Chan insisted as he shook his head in earnest.

"Why?" Chen Ping'an asked with a frown.

"I'm afraid of the heat, and it's cooler down at the bottom of the well," Cui Chan replied loudly.

Chen Ping'an took a deep breath before standing up. He started to slowly pace around the old well.

Cui Chan's voice quickly traveled over from the bottom of the well again, saying, "Chen Ping'an, stop pretending already. Even though you don't acknowledge me as your disciple, I acknowledge you as my master! So I can neither attack you nor do I dare to kill you. If you insist on throwing hands, then I'll definitely be the one who suffers the most. Also, your killing intent has almost filled up the entire well already! If I still go up to face a beating, then am I stupid or what?"

The young imperial preceptor chuckled as he spoke. As he stood in the gently rippling water, he reached over and ran his fingers along the wall of the old well. It was filled with dark green moss that was smooth and cold to the touch.

Even though his tone was calm, his mind was feeling nowhere near as relaxed. In fact, this was even more draining on his mind and taxing on his body than pretending to be a supremely powerful cultivator in the Great Water Palace.

This was because traveling through the groundwater to the well, Cui Chan had finally realized for the very first time that the young boy Chen Ping'an could genuinely threaten his life. Even though Cui Chan was unsure of what kind of frightening technique Chen Ping'an was concealing, his intuition had always been very accurate.

Chen Ping'an was walking in circles, yet he was unwilling to beat around the bush and go around in circles with the person at the bottom...