It was a starry night, and Sun Mountain looked more imposing, majestic, and solemn now than ever.
The awe-inspiring scenery at the beautiful evening impressed Austin as he lay quietly on the ground.
After a while, he glanced at the slopes of Sun Mountain not far away, where the outer disciples of Sun Sect lived.
With his eyes fixed on the mountainside, he noted several soaring and magnificent palace buildings, countless pavilions, terraces, and towers dotted with exotic flowers and rare herbs.
Under the glow of moonlight that just then was shrouded by light fog, these structures looked like palaces inhabited by gods.
The scenery stirred a myriad of emotions that engulfed his entire being. 'I was once the top disciple there, and everyone looked up to me back then.
One day, I will return to that position again!' he vowed to himself.
With a bitterness that surprised him, Austin thought, 'Those villains who set me up and attacked me will have to wait awhile to endure the burning flame of revenge.
And I promise all of them that day will come soon!'
As these thoughts crossed his mind, his pulse raced wildly.
Suddenly a noise caught his attention and interrupted his thoughts. Austin snapped back to his senses.
"Someone is out there," he muttered.
'Why was someone still outside in the middle of the night? Was it only a person who needed to relieve himself?' Austin wondered.
After several minutes, Austin discovered a man stealthily making his way towards the window of a dorm for grunt disciples and then crouching down to peek inside the dorm.
Searching his memory to pinpoint which dorm it was, he suddenly remembered that it was the facility that presently housed female grunt disciples.
His spiritual sense quickly floated inside the dorm and confirmed his earlier thoughts. Four girls were sleeping in their beds, all of them very young.
It was summer, and the weather was quite hot. Thin quilts, meant to cover the sleeping occupants, had been cast aside.
All four were wearing pajamas, which outlined their delicate figures.
The sight painted a seductive picture in Austin's mind, which made the man blush embarrassingly.
Silently, he thought the girls were totally exposed, and they didn't even tuck themselves properly under the quilts before sleeping.
After Austin assessed the situation in the dorm, he immediately controlled his spiritual sense to check on the Peeping Tom.
Under the detection of his spiritual sense, he saw the man uncomfortably crouching under the window, his face flushed, and gasping heavily in lust.
Several seconds later, Austin recognized the culprit.
He was one of the Sun Sect's grunt disciples. His name was Trent, a loyal follower of Matias, who was a young bully among the grunt disciples.
It was Matias who knocked Austin into a coma a few days ago, and Trent was one of his accomplices.
Once he recognized the lewd man, he felt a surge of disgust inside and had to control himself.
He thought, 'You bastard! Instead of sleeping quietly in your bed, you're peeping inside the girls' dorm in the middle of the night.'
An idea suddenly flashed in Austin's head. 'Hah, wh
ile you're enjoying your peeping activity, what would happen if I suddenly throw a stone at the window?
The sound will surely wake the girls. I want to watch how the girls will punish you, ' he smirked in delight.
As soon as the idea formed in his mind, Austin picked up a stone and tried to sneak closer to the window.
But he suddenly felt a presence nearby. Quickly, he put his prank on hold and checked out his suspicion.
Again utilizing his spiritual sense, the man saw a figure clad in black clothes rushing to take cover behind a tree in the distance.
It surprised Austin to see the figure floating, as if weightless, silently moving behind Trent, who continued to enjoy watching the sleeping girls.
Since Austin was standing in a corner, out of sight, the man didn't notice him at all.
Although the figure in black was moving quite fast, he never made a sound.
So Trent, who was completely engrossed, didn't realize that someone was approaching from behind.
The man's speed alarmed Austin, who was grateful for being able to detect the intruder.
If it was not for his spiritual sense, he wouldn't have been able to track the man quickly.
A black cloth covered the man's entire head, so Austin was unable to make out his appearance.
He did note the man was tall and thin, wearing a plain gray cotton shirt. Quietly, he approached Trent and was behind him shortly.
Such lewd behavior exhibited by Trent disgusted him, and the man let out a low-tone evil snort.
As fascinated as he was with the sleeping girls in pajamas, Trent's ears picked up the snort.
His face instantly turned pale. Startled, he wanted to turn around and look who was behind him. But before he could make out the figure, a misty black smog blew towards his face.
Suddenly, his surroundings turned dark, and Trent couldn't see anything. Slowly, he collapsed and fell unconscious. The mist that met him as he turned around was apparently toxic.
With Trent now in a coma-like state, the intruder carefully opened the window and floated into the girls' dorm like a withered leaf blown by the wind.
Austin was horrified to see the man spreading black smog everywhere in the dorm and realized it was the same cloudy mist produced by burning a poisonous powder that was capable of putting people in a coma instantly.
The moment the man in black entered the girls' dorm, Austin knew he was bad.
A man sneaking in the middle of the night into a girls' dormitory was definitely not good. It wasn't hard to imagine he had some nasty plans to harm people.
Judging from his creepy and impressive skills, Austin surmised the man's cultivation base was not low, and at that moment, he would not be able to find out his real level through spiritual sense alone.
Sighing, Austin resolved, 'With my strength at the third level of Energy Gathering Real, the chances are high that I can't beat him, so I'd better wait and see what will happen.'
Besides, when he previously was severely hurt, became a fool and was demoted to being a grunt disciple, none of the female counterparts had looked at him kindly. In fact, most of them were either disgusted with him or scorned him.