《Shadow: Sovereign of Kings》 Chapter 1: Birth In a corner of the universe, a colorless and formless smoke condensed and swirled as if someone was mixing it in a cauldron. Eventually, it starts to have a pure black color to it. After several more rounds of swirling, an opaque sphere began to form, with several wisps of black mist coiling around it. After eons of condensation, a shock wave with unimaginable amount of force slammed against the sphere, causing it to tremble slightly. Once the wave subsided, traces of white mist was could be seen violently ramming into the sides of the sphere, as if it wanted to break out of its confinement. Instantly, web-like cracks started to form on the surface of the sphere and soon enough, it shot into the distance at an incredible speed, travelling passed several planets and galaxies in the blink of an eye with a trail of white mist behind it. Its speed was so fast that it caused the surrounding void to distort, but after crashing through several planets, it started to slow down, but still at a fast speed nonetheless. Countless years later. The spherical black mass started to speed up towards a planet as it was attracted by its gravitational force. Upon reaching the outermost surface of the planet, it continued its descend towards the planet with flames engulfing its exterior. It crashed into a mountainous area and upon impact, a loud BANG could be heard throughout the whole region as it devastated everything in its 100 miles radius. As the smoke and dust from the crash cleared, the shadow twirled up in a ball of pure black mist and silently floated there. The white mist was finally released.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. *** "My king, you summoned this old man?" An old man with a wrinkled face knelt before the Human Emperor. His silver beard and long white hair, together with his pure white robes, touched the golden tiles of the palace, emanating a sagely aura. "Heavenly Diviner, this king suddenly felt a chill down my spine. You have to know that no one in this continent can threaten me to this extent. Divine out what caused this," The Human Emperor replied with a commanding tone that befitted a king. He was draped in a golden robe with drawings of dragons all around it. "Yes, My King." Immediately, the eyes of the Heavenly Diviner emitted out a dazzling golden light, his hands started to form various gestures in the air. With each gesture, a golden light would take its place, slowly forming a circle with complex drawings in it. After a few moments, the golden circle flashed and disappeared. With a pale face, the Heaven Diviner once again knelt before the king and stuttered, "M-My King, t-this one deserves to die!" "Speak... I won''t punish you," The Human Emperor softly sighed with an annoyed look. "My King. The future showed that destruction will rain down on the Mortal and Immortal Realm. Those that stand in its path will face its wrath. All the kings will bow before it," With a single breath, the Heavenly Diviner rattled out like a machine gun. The atmosphere turned tense and it became deathly quiet. BOOM! The arm rest of the jade throne exploded into pieces. What replaced it was a tightly gripped fist that contained a terrifying force. The Human Emperor slowly stood up, with his hand behind his back, he glared into the distant, his eyes containing traces of fury. "Tell me. Who is it?" He softly spoke. Although his voice was soft, every word he spoke was intimidatingly loud in the Heavenly Diviner''s ears. Filled with trepidation, the Heavenly Diviner spoke, "Forgive this one for not knowing. But I know that it originates from the dark forest region." "Follow my orders. Gather the Elite War Generals and mobilize half of the palace''s troops. It''s time to clean the region." "Yes, My King." After the Heaven Diviner retreated, the Human Emperor recalled the time when he just ascended the throne, where he had to kill several opposing clans and sects, unifying the whole continent with fear. ''Another extermination...Let the blood turn the rivers red.'' Chapter 2: Chaos at Dark Forest Village Trees were incinerated into ashes, the ground charred. Heat waves dissipated into the surroundings, causing the temperature to rise sharply. The surroundings was void of any life forms. In the middle of the crater was a spherical ball of black mist, which levitated slightly above the ground while giving off a mysterious aura. Time to time, strands of dark mist could be seen flowing into the sphere. Under the cover of the night sky, a colossal lion with a purple mane prowled towards the sphere. Its body was glazed in black scales which occasionally reflected the moonlight and its claws were incomparably sharp. When the sphere was within jumping distance, it pounced towards the sphere and its face was filled with a look of surprise when it passed through the sphere without any bit of resistance. When the lion landed, it decided to observe the mysterious sphere at a distance. At that moment, the sphere started to distort and expanded in size. After the soundless transformation, a Shadow-colored lion was formed, slightly radiating coils of black mist. Startled, the lion let out a few thundering roars that were imbued with qi, as if telling the enemy that it was no pushover. Upon coming into contact with the pure white qi, the strands of qi invaded the Shadow lion''s body, causing it to become fainter. Seeing that its qi attack was effective, the lion continued its assault with qi roars, causing the Shadow lion''s black body to fade. It was at this moment did the Shadow lion felt something. It felt that its very existence was threatened, it felt danger. Based on its instinct for survival, its first reaction was to flee, yes, flee as fast as it could. Trying out its body for the first time, it tried to feel its legs as it saw the lion using them to pounce at him. After it felt its legs, the Shadow lion immediately escaped in the opposite direction, away from the lion. When it saw that the Shadow lion was escaping, the lion quickly gave chase as its pride would not allow another lion of the same species to threaten its authority in the forest. Upon sensing that the lion was slowly decreasing the gap between them, the Shadow lion''s footwork became frenzied, causing its speed to decrease drastically. Yes, it panicked.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. However, its flight for survival allowed the footwork to become in sync again and this time, it put in its maximum effort in running. After several hours of fleeing and chasing, it noticed that it was out of the forest and in the distance was a large wooden structure. As it got closer to the structure, the Shadow lion noticed that its path was blocked and using its somewhat meager amount of intelligence, it recalled the how the lion pounced on itself by crouching down before straightening its leg. The Shadow lion attempted to mimic the jumping motion while running and it flew into the air for a short while before coming down. However, since it planned to jump over the gate, it needed to put in more power in its legs. As it neared the gate, ferocious roars could be heard directly behind it. The Shadow lion exerted all its strength into it legs and leaped over the gate. It was a success. *** Dark Forest Village. Dawn. It was named that way due to its location beside the Dark Forest. The Dark Forest was home to the sacred profound lion and it was rumored to have slain a core formation upper stage cultivator due to its sacred bloodline despite the slight disparity in strength. The villagers stirred at dawn and dutifully carried out their daily activities. The children trudged to the village school while the adults opened their stalls or went to work in their laborious jobs. The village guards patrolled the streets to maintain order while some of them went to guard the village gates. Today''s gate duty was in-charged by Tian and Tu, both of them were at Soldier Rank 1, the lowest of the lowest rank. The village gate guards was the most relaxing job as bandits and trade did not flourish in this desolate location. "Hey Tian, wanna go to the brothel later? I heard The Fragrance Fairy is gonna dance later." Tu asked while leaning against the gate. "No. I''m married and we are currently on duty. Be alert." Tian, a man of few words, gently sighed in displeasure at his partner''s lust. "Awww...I was just teasing you. Don''t come then..." "AH!" Tian screamed and pointed. "I say, you don''t have to interrupt me right? Huh...AH!" Tu wanted to rebuke Tian when he was interrupted by Tian''s shout, but as he glanced at the direction that Tian pointed in, he shrieked along as well. "Q-quick, inform Righteous Sword Sect using the seal. I will gather the troops!" Tian broke out of his stupor and made a decisive call of action. Too traumatized to say anything, Tu nodded hastily before running towards the seal in the guard post. ''Holy crap, to think that not just one but two Sacred Profound Lion would appear... My sweet Fragrance Fairy, please bless me with your bountiful blossom!'' With that thought in mind, Tu clumsily bit his thumb and dripped his blood into the seal and performed a chant. The seal lighted up and Tu quickly transmitted the message across. The other party agreed and eventually, the light in the seal faded away. Chapter 3: Righteous Sword Sect Righteous Sword Sect. Core disciple training ground. A strikingly handsome young man with a jet black long hair was drenched in sweat, which glistened under the beaming rising sun. He was facing his master, also known as Patriarch Wei of the sect, with a pure iron sword in one hand and attached to his body was a qi restricting talisman. "Lin Fan, what''s wrong? Tired already?" Patriarch Wei heartily laughed as he easily directed the iron sword away with his palm. "No...I still can! Take this move Master!" Lin Fan lowered his body and adopted a horse stance. Next, he gripped the iron sword with both hands and swung it outwards. When Patriarch Wei was about to intercept the sword, it suddenly changed its trajectory and managed to hit the Patriarch''s shoulder, causing a look of surprise to surface. "Hahaha...Well done! Looks like I did not choose wrongly. The strength training is completed." Patriarch Wei praised as he smiled at Lin Fan''s apologetic look. "Now, time for qi..." Before the Patriarch could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by one of the six High Elders, High Elder Wu. "Patriarch, Dark Forest Village requested for help. Two Sacred Profound Lions were seen heading towards the village. What are your orders?" High Elder Wu respectfully bowed. "Two? This is going to be troublesome. Bring along two Core Formation High Elders and Lin Fan, follow the High Elders so that you can gain more experience from the fight. Usage of light gate is permitted. Make haste." Patriarch Wei decisively gave out the orders without the slightest shred of hesitation. "Yes Patriarch." High Elder Wu and Core Disciple Lin Fan obeyed in unison. ''As expected of my master. Using the light gate to travel...It''s going to put a burden on the sect''s treasury.'' Lin Fan thought as he followed High Elder Wu. After gathering the High Elders, the squad arrived at the light gate. The light gate allowed people to perform instantaneous travel from one place to another, the more the number of people and the further the distance, the more the number of spirit stones cost. "Are you sure the Patriarch allowed us to use the light gate?" High Elder Fang asked cautiously. He was a cautious man and always placed the interests of the sect above everything else. "It''s going to be costly." High Elder Qin added. He was a man of few words and only voiced out if it was a serious matter, other than that, he was so quiet that he gave people the impression that he was a mute. "Bloody costly indeed. It''s the Patriarch orders. Let''s go." Saying that, High Elder Wu took out 1 million spirit stones from his cosmic ring and offered them to the light gate. While watching the spirit stones disappeared just like that, complicated expressions could be seen on their faces. Once a portal was formed in the light gate, the squad hastily stepped into it, traversing space and time through the void that costed 1 million spirit stones. *** Dark Forest Village. As it landed inside village, the Shadow lion noticed a bunch of two-legged creatures with a terrified expressions on their faces, which where pointing at itself with a long and sharp pointy object. Roar! The real product swiftly landed on the ground and immediately pounced towards the ''counterfeit'' lion while ignoring the people around it. It was truly incensed at its own incapability to catch the ''counterfeit'' lion. It meant that the real lion could not even compare to a fake one. How infuriating was that! Upon seeing that the lion was still diligently coming after itself, the Shadow lion sprinted towards the bunch of two-legged creatures and when it was about to come into contact with the spears, it did a mighty leap over them. Boom! As the void forcefully distorted and churned, a portal opened out of nowhere and out came a squad of cultivators, flying above the platoon of soldiers. "High Elder Qin, deal with the black one. Lin Fan go assist him. High Elder Fang, come with me to take care of the second one." High Elder Wu quickly delegated the roles with a grim expression.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Without saying a word, the three of them nodded and headed towards their opponent. Woosh. With the help of High Elder Qin, Lin Fan propelled towards the black-colored lion and when he was within striking distance, he forcefully swung his iron sword at it. To his surprise, his sword was met with no resistance at all and completely went through the black lion''s body. "Hmm? Lin Fan, use your qi instead, I will restrict its movements!" High Elder Qin quickly activated [Thousand Sword Fortress], which is a Profound tier martial skill, trapping the black lion and Lin Fan inside a dome made of a thousand sword wills. [Thousand Sword Fortress] is made up of 3 layers, namely inner, middle and outer. As one tried to force their way from the inner layer to the outer layer, more and more sword wills will pierce their body and soul, resulting in grievous wounds or even death. Lin Fan removed the qi resisting talisman from his body and a gush of wild qi surged outwards. Lin Fan took in a deep breath and channeled his qi into the iron sword, causing the sword and user to merge and became one entity, known as [Human Sword Unity]. As man and sword merged, the sword control became unparalleled and its maneuver exceeded logic. Likewise, it was able to pierce through the body and soul. Shiingggg! As the sword flew towards the black lion, it screeched and formed air ripples along the way. The black lion felt an immense sense of danger and quickly dodged to the side, barely escaping from being pierced by the sword. The sword abruptly changed its direction and once again headed towards the black lion, causing the black lion to be scared out of its wits. Although the intelligence of the black lion was still somewhat pathetic, its danger instincts were heightened to the peak the entire time, causing a vague thought to be formed in its mind. ''What did I even do to deserve this.'' It quickly dashed away from the screeching sword, unknowingly running towards the sea of invisible swords. The screeching sound stopped. Curious, it quickly took a peek behind itself and discovered that the sword had disappeared and in its place was a two-legged creature staring at itself. Suddenly, it felt a towering force pressing down on itself and with every step it took, more and more sharp pains pierced its soul. Unable to retreat or advance, it could stay at its position, enduring the pain. However, its body was getting fainter and fainter, and unable to support the transformation, the Shadow lion body dissipated and what replaced it was the original black sphere. Before it changed back to the sphere, it saw the two-legged creature cupping his hands. Lin Fan stared at the transformation, contemplating. During the short battle with the black lion, he did not felt any evilness or impurities from the black lion and what''s even weirder was that its body was like a mist, unaffected by physical impacts. One must know that reaching a non-corporeal form was another dream of cultivators, able to phase through objects and immune to all physical attacks. There were only two ways known to mankind that could possibly come close to achieving the non-corporeal form. First was to strengthen one''s soul by tempering it, for example, one could use their will power to control their emotions when being provoked or resist the temptation from a seductress. However, this would leave traces of impurities in their soul. The second method was to train in [Devourer of Million Souls] which was considered a taboo and only the powerful devil sects contained the evil skill. This would taint the soul with impurities and caused the user to exclude an evil aura. The black lion belonged to neither category. At the last moment before it transformed, Lin Fan noticed its unwillingness to die just like that, like a newborn crying out its unwillingness. "High Elder Qin. Forgive Lin Fan for making this bold request but I think that we should let it go and bring back to the sect for the Patriarch to make the judgement." Lin Fan respectfully cupped his hands towards the High Elder. High Elder Qin gave a gentle nod and with a wave of his arm, the sword wills disappeared from existence and the sphere stopped fading away. High Elder Qin took out an imprisonment jade, which was used to trap mortals or anyone at the qi refining stage, to seal away the black sphere and he gradually floated down and spectated the other fight. High Elder Qin did not question Lin Fan as he trusted Lin Fan''s character and judgement. Otherwise, how could the Patriarch choose Lin Fan as his core disciple. "Thank you High Elder Qin." Lin Fan thanked. "Mmmm" *** "It''s time to end it. Heaven piercing sword!" High Elder Fang did a quick hand sign which caused several sleek and sharp swords to pierce towards the Sacred Profound Lion''s body, causing some bloody gashes to appear at its vulnerable places while other swords were deflected due to its body toughness. Roar! Enraged, it looked towards High Elder Fang and let out an anguish roar imbued with qi. "Origin Piercing Sword!" High Elder Wu confidently executed his skills. A miniature sword flew secretly towards the Lion''s reproductive organ, in this case, its pee pee. One must not judged its power by its size, this was incredibly true. With a spurt of blood from the Lion''s penis, it let out a painful roar and in the next moment it died due to embarrassment and blood loss. "..." Everyone. All the males shuddered a little just by watching the scene, some even secretly wrote down the name ''High Elder Wu of Righteous Sword Sect'' under their ''No matter what must not offend'' list for their decendents. "Hahaha! No need to thank me." High Elder Wu laughed sheepishly. After seeing the awkward silence, High Elder Wu gave a slight cough and shamelessly kept the body of the Lion in his cosmic ring, thinking of how much it would sell so that the sect would regain back its 1 million spirit stones. "Let''s go." After gathering the corpse, the squad flew into the distance, with High Elder Qin carrying Lin Fan as he could not fly yet due to his low cultivation level. Watching the squad disappear into the distance, the villagers offered their thanks and gratitudes while some sighed in relief. Chapter 4: Lin Fan Righteous Sword Sect. Main Hall. "Patriarch, we have slain the Sacred Profound Lion that has been ruling the Dark Forest. However, we have something to show you." High Elder Wu reported. Behind him was Lin Fan, High Elder Fang and High Elder Qin. High Elder Qin stepped forward and with a flick of his sleeves, the imprisonment jade appeared. Next, strands of black mist slowly emerged from the jade, forming a body-sized black sphere. This time round, it was Lin Fan who spoke. "Master, the other black lion transformed into a sphere after getting trapped in High Elder Qin''s Thousand Sword Fortress. Physical attacks have no impact on it and can only be damaged by qi attacks. However, I sensed that its soul is pure and it also has a consciousness of its own." Patriarch Wei stared at the black sphere for an interminable amount of time, his eyes flashed occasionally, no one knew what he was thinking about. "Bring it to the Pillar of Purity." Patriarch Wei commanded before leading the way. The Pillar of Purity was used by the sect to test the pureness of one''s soul. With a higher percentage purity, one could be categorized as ''valuable'' by the sect as they are people of righteousness. These people would then be chosen to lead the sect. This was also the reason why Righteous Sword Sect was able to stand strong under the passage of time. In front of the Pillar of Purity was a black sphere, floating ever so slightly. High Elder Wu then channel his qi into the Pillar, which lit up the runes inscribed on it. On top of the pillar was a purple crystal ball. After the runes lit up, a ''0%'' appeared on the purple crystal ball. Slowly, it increases to ''1%''... 10%... The Patriarch face remained indifferent. 50%... He gave a slight nod. 80%... His eyes widened. 100%! ''Holy shit! A 100%!? I did not see wrongly right?'' The Patriarch mind was in a state of ecstasy right now. What about the High Elders? They had long been scared silly. ''Too goddamn righteous. The most righteous person in history was only at 80%...'' "Ahem..." Patriarch Wei gave a slight cough and abruptly stood up straight. "Lin Fan. Since you found it first, this will naturally belong to you...unless...you don''t mind giving it to me. Hehehe," Patriarch Wei tried to sound as righteous as possible while hinting at Lin Fan. Looking at his master''s expression, Lin Fan couldn''t help but sighed inwardly. "Master, I will do my best to nurture the it to become the most powerful, most righteous person in history!" Lin Fan replied with determination.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Looking at his disciple''s determination and enthusiasm, Patriarch Wei nodded slowly. Next, he immediately turned around and walked away, while dragging the still dazed High Elders along. On this fortunate yet miserable day, a tear could be seen trickling down a grown man''s face. Not far away from the main hall stood a small villa. The small villa consists of 3 bedrooms, 1 dining room, 1 kitchen and a training room. Inside the training room stood a young man and a black sphere. ''Normally, to activate a treasure, one must first transfer their qi into the treasure...I guess that works too.'' Lin Fan gazed at the black sphere in front of him and pondered. Lin Fan took a horse stance and regulated his breathing. In the next moment, white qi started to course throughout his body and as he stretched out his palm, the white qi was directed to the black sphere. Boom. As the white qi entered the black sphere, the white qi became violent and started to clash with black mist, causing numerous shock waves. Lin Fan frowned and stopped pouring white qi into the dark sphere. ''Looks like white qi won''t work. What else...what else...Master said before, all objects have yin or yang or both. In this case, the black represents yin. But white qi is a yang type which would not work. If I remember correctly, dark qi is compatible with yin. Since I don''t have dark qi, I can only give it Dark Qi pills.'' Lin Fan took out several Dark Qi Pills out of his cosmic ring and carefully threw one into the dark sphere. In an instant, the pill dissolved into a black mist and merged with the dark sphere. Elated, Lin Fan decided to pour all his Dark Qi Pills into the black sphere, not even saving a single one. Boom. With the sudden increase in pills, the black sphere rapidly expanded and soon, it became twice as big as before. Silently, the black sphere dispersed into a formless black mist and slowly, a dark human shaped figure appeared. "!!!" Lin Fan expected the dark sphere to turn into the lion, but to his shock, it actually turned into a human figure, looking just like himself! The dark figure looked fixedly at Lin Fan, as if trying to recall something. When it remembered that Lin Fan was trying to kill it, it shuddered and retreated a few steps before stopping. It realized something. If the human in front wanted to kill itself, then why was it still alive? Gradually, it faced the human in front of it and tried to look as harmless as possible. Upon noticing its comical actions, Lin Fan gave a slight chuckle before walking towards the dark figure while smiling benevolently at it. "Hi! My name is Lin Fan. What''s yours? Where are you from?" Lin Fan excitedly blurted out, unable to control his emotions. "..." The dark figure silently gazed at Lin Fan and tilted its head to one side, not understanding a single word Lin Fan just said. "I''m so stupid!" Lin Fan murmured when he realized how dumb he sounded. How do you expect a dark figure who was just beast some time ago to understand human language. "I have to teach you the basics. Come, follow me." Lin Fan tried to hold the dark figure''s hand but to his surprise, his hand actually went through the dark hand. The dark figure stared at Lin Fan, and when it somehow understood what Lin Fan was doing. It concentrated its attention on its hand and soon, its dark hand materialized. It then grabbed onto Lin Fan''s hand, causing Lin Fan to shiver. Its hand was super cold. Of course, after consuming several precious Dark Qi Pills, the yin in one''s body would be incredibly high. It could also raise one''s cultivation or in the dark figure''s case, improving its sense of existence and control over its body. *** "This is my study room. Here are all the books regarding language." Lin Fan pointed to pile of books on the table and guided the dark figure to sit on the chair. On their way up to the study room, the dark figure had fully gained control over the new body and was able to materialize at will. Lin Fan then flipped open the first book, which was titled "Basic language for 3 year olds". Surprisingly, the book was filled with pictures with the name of the picture beside it. Curious, the dark figure slowly flipped over the pages and diligently memorized the pictures and the names. Intrigued by the influx of new knowledge, it silently took out another book from the pile after finishing the first one. This process continued on for half a day until it stopped, well, why did it stopped? It had freaking finished all the language books ranging from "A for Apple" to "The Strongest System", wait not that... It should be "Proverbs and Idioms" in just HALF a day. Lin Fan could only sighed at one corner. ''Sometimes, the difference between geniuses and ordinary people are just too much.'' "I finish," It spoke. Lin Fan immediately became alert, this was the first time it spoke! The voice sounded like Heaven with a tinge of masculinity. It was beautiful and extremely pleasing to the ear. "A-ahh...That''s good. Well done, hahaha...haha. My name is Lin Fan. What''s your name?" Lin Fan face turned red and subconsciously stuttered. ''Shit! I don''t swing that way...right?'' After a slight pause, the dark figure replied confidently, "My name is...Lin Fan." Chapter 5: Shadow "No, no...A name is something unique to humans. If you don''t have one maybe you can try to come up with one?" Lin Fan rejected the just-made-up name immediately. How can there be 2 Lin Fan in the same sect! "Then...Call me Shadow." Shadow pondered for a while before slowly articulating every word. "Good. Good. Good. Now lets meet the Patriarch. Remember to greet him later." Lin Fan emphasized the word ''good'' 3 times, afraid that Shadow will change his mind. As they were walking towards the main hall where the Patriarch resided at, Lin Fan explained that there existed 3 continents on this planet-Holy Continent ruled by the Humans, Lands of Despair ruled by the Demons and Lands of Eternal Blood ruled by the Devils. The king of the Human race was the known as the Human Emperor, with a cultivation level at the Spirit Ascension Middle Stage-The pinnacle of cultivation that one could achieve in the Mortal World. "Greetings Senior Brother Lin Fan." Along the way, they were greeted by several junior disciples which were gazing at him with adoration. After exchanging some formalities and introducing Shadow to the general knowledge of the current world, they arrived in front of the Patriarch. "Patriarch." "Master." Lin Fan and Shadow cupped their hands and greeted Patriarch Wei. "This is..." Patriarch Wei stared at Shadow with a confused look. "This is Shadow. This was his transformation from the black sphere after I fed him some Dark Qi Pills." Lin Fan quickly explained. "Dark Qi... Black sphere... It''s 100%!?" Patriarch Wei suddenly exclaimed when he realized that the entity before him was the 100% righteous black sphere. After noticing that he embarrassed himself in front of his disciple, Patriarch Wei briefly cleared his throat and assumed the indifferent look. "I won''t say much, just nurture 100%...I mean Shadow properly. Since Dark Qi is more superior than White Qi, it is also harder to absorb Dark Qi due to its scarcity and the yang characteristics of the human body. However, Shadow has a full yin body so absorbing Dark Qi would be no problem." "Take this token and bring Shadow to the 7th level of the Martial Techniques Building." Patriarch Wei spoke slowly and tossed a green token with 7 swords carved on it to Lin Fan. After that, he dismissed the duo and slumped onto the chair, his eyes were void of any energy. In that moment, the Patriarch seemed to have aged a considerable amount. Words like "100%", "gone", "If only" could be heard coming from his mouth time to time... *** "Lin Fan, what is this Martial Techniques Building?" Shadow finally broke the silence. Lin Fan was still shock at how casually his master just granted Shadow access to 7th level. One has to know that martial skills were the strength and foundation of the sect, without them, the sect would cease to exist.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Upon hearing Shadow''s voice, Lin Fan broke out of his stupor and explained, "Martial Techniques Building is the place where the sect''s martial skills are stored at. It has a total of 9 levels-Levels 1 to 3 contain Common ranked skills, level 4 to 5 contain Rare ranked skills, level 6 to 7 contain Profound ranked skills, level 8 contains Spirit ranked skills while the last level contains Secret ranked skills, which is only accessible by the Patriarch himself." Shadow sunk into a deep thought. ''Why did the Patriarch value him so much?'' At each level, there was a level guardian, they were in charged of guarding the skills stored on each level. After showing the token to the level 6 guardian, the guardian granted Shadow access to the 6th and 7th level. As for Lin Fan, he was the Patriarch''s core disciple so naturally, the 6th and 7th were automatically accessible. When Shadow walked into the room, several bookshelves were arranged in an orderly manner with a few Elders looking through the skills. When the duo came in, the Elders lifted up their heads and glanced at them briefly before going back to study their chosen skills. The Elders knew that as long as the level guardians did not stop the duo from coming in, it meant they were qualified to be here. Curious, Shadow browsed through the few skills that were closest to him. [Thousand Sword Fortress]-Profound tier control technique Description: Using White Qi to form 3 layers of sword wills, trapping the enemy within. Each layers will cause more damage to the target''s soul and body. Usable by: Core formation experts For some reason, Shadow had a slight shiver when looking at the skill. "Haha...Ah let''s go over there. That''s where the Dark Qi skills are located." Lin Fan gave an awkward laugh after noticing the skill. ''Holy cow...Why is this lying here?'' Lin Fan swiftly hid the skill away when Shadow''s attention was towards the direction of Dark Qi skills. *** At the Dark Qi skills section, the skills were covered with a layer of dust, evident that no Dark Qi user had appeared in the sect for a long time. Shadow immediately wiped away the dust and browsed through all the martial skills. "Remember to choose 1 cultivation technique, 1 killing technique and 1 defense technique." Lin Fan reminded. One could only borrow 3 books in total for one month before returning them to the building. A few hours later. 3 books were presented in front of Lin Fan. [Devourer of Night]-Profound Tier Dark Qi cultivation technique Description: Relax the mind and body at night and adopt any comfortable position. Regulate breathing to 2 deep and 1 short. Dark Qi will start entering the body after practicing this for 100 times. Circulate the Dark Qi within the body to retain it. Able to increase one''s cultivation stage. Usable by: Dark Qi user with any cultivation stage [Hidden Dark Swords]-Profound Tier Dark Qi killing technique Description: Place Dark Qi swords in the ground in a fixed area. It will be activated when target steps on the area. Target with lower cultivation stage than user will die immediately. Target with same cultivation stage than user will sustain grievous injuries immediately. Target with higher cultivation stage than user will experience a temporary decrease in cultivation stage. Usable by: Dark Qi user with any cultivation stage [Dark Qi Barrier]-Profound Tier Dark Qi defense technique Description: Forms a barrier at the user''s will using Dark Qi. Able to block Qi and physical attacks. Usable by: Dark Qi user with any cultivation stage "..." Isn''t this a bit too strong? Any cultivation stage?! Able to lower cultivation stage?! Holy! Lin Fan was stunned beyond words, to think that Heavens allowed this kind of skills to exist. Lin Fan sighed at the disparity in skills strength and approved the 3 Dark Qi skills. "Let''s go. Time for you to familiarize yourself with skills. We will check your cultivation stage in a few days time," Lin Fan said and brought Shadow back to his villa. "Yes Lin Fan," Shadow obediently replied. "Hahaha, call me brother Lin. From this day onward, we are sworn brothers!" Lin Fan smiled as he hang his arms around Shadow''s shoulder. "Brother... Yes brother Lin!" Shadow exclaimed with a tone of happiness. He felt a feeling that he had never felt before, happiness, so much so that he felt like...crying? So these are tears. Under the setting sun, 2 youths could be seen laughing and teasing each other like brothers. One of them was wearing the sect''s clothes while the other one was cover in black mist, his name is Shadow-brother of Lin Fan. Chapter 6: Qi Formation lower stage The moonlight dimly lit up a dark room. Dark Qi could be seen flowing towards a dark figure, though not at a fast rate. Shadow slowly opened his eyes and let out a breath of black mist. ''It has been a week since I came here,'' Shadow thought as he concluded his Qi cultivation stance. A few days ago, Lin Fan had to undergo Qi training to further improve his control on [Human Sword Unity] under the orders of Patriarch Wei. Hence, Shadow could only diligently train in the 3 Profound skills that he borrowed and at the same time, gained knowledge about the world by reading the books in Lin Fan''s room. The current world he resided in was one of the 5 mortal realms. Originally, there were 15 mortal realms but 10 were destroyed a couple of years later after the War of Gods, which happened a few million years ago. The War of Gods caused massive destruction on all the realms-The shock wave from the final clash absorbed almost all of the Qi from all the realms, causing the cultivation speed of cultivators to slow down due to the scarcity of Qi. Shadow also learned that in the mortal realm, there were a total of 4 cultivation stages; First stage is Qi Refining, followed by Qi formation, Core Formation and finally, Spirit Ascension. Similarly, weapons and beasts were also split into 4 stages; Common, Rare, Profound and lastly, Spirit. Martial skills were also ranked according to their strength, with the weakest one being Common rank, followed by Rare rank, Profound and Spirit. Secret ranked martial skills however, could not be ranked according to strength. Secret ranked martial skills could be created by all cultivators, only if they understood some secrets of the universe. However, only a few understood a portion of the secrets, resulting in an infinitesimal amount of Secret martial skills. Moreover, Secret skills progressed with one''s understanding of the universe, sometimes even causing Immortals from the Immortal realm to covet them. Ever since Shadow became self-conscious, he was able to control his body state to phase through objects. Shadow came to the courtyard after he phased through the wall of the house. It was said that Dark Qi was the most active at night and remained dormant in the day. Hence, Shadow activated his [Hidden Dark Swords] and [Dark Qi Barrier] at the same time to improve his Qi consumption when using the skills. Shadow had longed mastered the 2 techniques, in fact, it could be said that he mastered it on the second night of practicing. If other sects'' Patriarchs heard of it, they would shamelessly intrude the sect and steal Shadow away... *** 3 days later. Bang! "Morningggg!! Do you miss me brother Shadow?" Lin Fan kicked open the door and greeted Shadow with a huge smile, showing his dazzling white teeth.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! During the past few days of hell-like training, he often wondered if Shadow was doing alright by himself since he was just ''born'' not too long ago. "Morning." Shadow lazily opened his eyes and glanced at brother Lin before going back to sleep. Last night, Shadow sensed that he was about to breakthrough and decided to stay up the whole night to absorb Dark Qi, leading to his current state. "Argh... So cold. Anyways, quickly wear the sect''s disciple robe. We are going to test your cultivation stage later." Upon hearing ''cultivation stage'', Shadow immediately don the robe and stood before Lin Fan, smiling. "..." Lin Fan laughed sheepishly and brought Shadow towards the testing area. When they arrived at the testing area, Patriarch Wei and 10 High Elders could be seen standing around a statue. After greeting the Patriarch and the 10 High Elders, shadow gazed at the statue. The statue was twice as tall as him, with a sword in one hand and an empty scroll in the other. It was a statue of an old man with a sturdy figure, his eyes were incredibly sharp, as if nothing could hide from him. "This is the founder of the sect. Pay your respects, then place your hand on the sword handle." One of the High Elders sternly spoke. Shadow bowed before the statue before placing his hand on the sword handle. In that instant, the Dark Qi in his body started circulating automatically. The rate of swirling increased every second. When Shadow felt that his whole body was about to explode, the Dark Qi started to slow down and eventually, it went back to its original state. The empty scroll turned black in an instant. Slowly, the words ''Qi Formation lower stage'' surfaced. BOOM! Everyone at the scene felt their minds exploded. The cultivation speed was simply too fast...No, fast was an understatement, only monstrous could be used to describe the speed. "Oh...Qi Formation lower stage. I guess it''s okay. Right?" Shadow casually commented while asking the High Elders. "!!!" Everyone vomited blood at the same time. ''Even geniuses take 2 to 3 years to reach Qi Formation. What about you? Just cultivated for a week and reached Qi Formation?! If this is okay, then what are we?'' *** Dark Forest Village. "Kill everyone. Rape the women and kill them after that. Leave no survivors!" A middle-aged man with a huge scar across his face ordered. He was one of the 3 Elite War Generals, Elite War General Yi. He was under the orders of the Human Emperor to purge the Dark Forest region of humans. His loyalty to the Human Emperor was so deep, such that he would not hesitate to kill his loved ones if ordered by the Human Emperor. The Dark Forest region was split into 3 parts, with each of the Elite War Generals covering their own ground. After the soldier received the order, he gave the signal to charge into the village and kill anyone on sight. As the soldiers charged into the village, they killed anyone on sight-Even children were brutally pierced through their heads with their eyes wide opened. Chaos ensued. Fire and smoke rose from the houses, burning some of them alive. Upon seeing the merciless slaughter of the soldiers, some villagers fled in fear while some tried to retaliate in anger. However, even the weakest soldier had a cultivation stage of Qi refining lower stage, which was more than enough against normal people. Hence, everyone in the village was massacre. The air was filled with a bloody scent, even the beasts in the Dark Forest region was scared stiff. "Everyone except for a few women has been exterminated. Those who fled was captured and burned alive." One of the soldier reported. Elite War General Yi nodded with a straight face and pointed in the direction of the women. "Enjoy yourselves my soldiers. We will leave tomorrow morning. Kill them when you are done." Elite War General Yi said with a malevolent smile. "NOO!!! I will rather die first then let you taint me!" Before anyone could respond, an extremely beautiful woman ran towards a sharp pole that was sticking out of the ground, and impaled herself in the heart. That woman was Fragrance Fairy. "Wahh...Wahhh!" Wails of crying could be heard coming from a house that was surprisingly still intact. Elite War General went into the house and after a while, he walked out with a crying infant in his arms. As if he sensed something evil, the infant cried even more loudly. Snap! Suddenly, the infant stopped crying. The head was bend at a strange angle, tears was still flowing from his eyes. "That''s not everyone." Elite War General Yi coldly dropped the infant onto the ground and went back to his own tent. The soldier that reported the battle results was still shivering in fear and a warm liquid could be felt flowing down from his groin. The blood from the dead bodies dripped onto the stone pavement, dyeing them red. On this day, life ceased to exist in the Dark Forest Village. The next day, the group of inhumane monsters left the Dark Forest Village after killing the women, leaving behind them a ghost town stained with blood. "Let''s go. We will gather with the other 2 Elite War Generals at Righteous Sword Sect. That will be our final destination. March!" Elite War General commanded. His eyes were filled with blood lust as he licked his lips in anticipation. Chapter 7: Sect Extermination(1/2) Tents could be seen circling around Righteous Sword sect as the soldiers blocked off any entrance and exit. The atmosphere was exceedingly tense and silent, only the occasional sounds of birds chirping could be heard. 2 men could be seen floating in the sky, each carrying their own oppressive aura. "What is the meaning of this? Elite. War. General. Yi." Patriarch Wei suppressed his anger and steadily asked, he was on the verge of exploding in anger. "Hahaha... Are you deaf old man? Come, let me repeat again. Righteous Sword sect was found colluding with Devils to overthrow the Human Emperor. Under the orders of the Human Emperor, Righteous Sword sect has been sentenced to sect extermination." Elite War General Yi arrogantly said while throwing out the Emperor''s decree. "Colluding with the Devils? I don''t believe it..." Patriarch Wei voice trailed off as he caught sight of the Emperor''s decree. It was indeed the genuine Emperor''s decree. "HOW CAN THE HUMAN EMPEROR DO THIS! THE RIGHTEOUS SWORD SECT HELPED THE HUMAN EMPEROR TO ACCEDE THE THRONE AND REMAINED LOYAL THROUGHOUT THE YEARS! WAS HIS CONSCIOUS EATEN BY DOGS?" Patriarch Wei exploded, each of his words contained immense pressure, even some of the soldiers started to bleed from their ears. "Good, good... insulting the Human Emperor. You just wait." After saying that, Elite War General Yi turned around and flew towards the encampment. Although he was infuriated by the insults against the Human Emperor, Elite War General Yi knew that he had to wait for the other 2 Elite War Generals to take down Patriarch Wei. After all, they were only at the Core Formation upper stage, while the Patriarch was at Spirit Ascension lower stage. "Trying to go?" Patriarch Wei eyes were bloodshot as he grabbed towards Elite War General Yi. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! When his palms were about to reach Elite War General Yi, a translucent jade colored dome suddenly appeared, causing the collision. During the point of impact, runes started appearing on the dome one by one, with each rune containing a dragon symbol. This was the Imperial Jade Dome, a Spirit ranked weapon. "I set it up while you were looking at the Emperor''s decree. Enjoy your pitiful last days," Elite War General Yi nonchalantly said before tucking his hands behind his back and flew away. Only Patriarch Wei remained at the same spot as he stared at the dome in disbelief. To think the Human Emperor was so vicious that he blocked off all paths of survival. *** All of the disciples of Righteous Sword sect gathered in the middle of the sect, in front of them were the Patriarch, High Elders and the Elders. "I''m sorry that the Righteous Sword sect couldn''t protect all of you. As you all might have already known, our sect is going to be exterminated by the imperial army and all of our exits are blocked," Patriarch Wei paused and looked at the disciples.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. This time, murmurings could be heard coming from the crowd, some people even started to sob. The only one who remained calm was Shadow as he had no idea what pain and loss felt like. Patriarch Wei raised a hand for silence and continued, "In the upcoming battle, I, the 13th Patriarch of Righteous Sword sect, the High Elders, and the Elders will do everything we can to fight back. We will not find fault with you if you choose to hide." After a moment of silence, the crowd erupted. "We were born as disciples of Righteous Sword sect, even if we die, we will die as disciples of Righteous Sword sect! Never abandoning, never forsaking!" At the front of the crowd, Lin Fan shouted with tears flowing down his eyes. "That''s right! We are no cowards! Fight! Fight! Fight!" Someone else added. The words ignited the courage of the disciples, some of them who thought of hiding away decided to participate in the upcoming battle. "Fight! Fight! Fight!" Soon enough, the entire Righteous Sword sect resounded as one, causing the air to tremble. "Good! Good! As expected of disciples of Righteous Sword sect!" Patriarch Wei was moved by the scene, he did not expect all of them to be willing to fight for the sect. Following that, he gave out orders to set up the sect''s defense formation while calling Shadow and Lin Fan to follow him. The three of them walked into the Martial Techniques Buildings and went up level by level. They went past the 7th level and eventually, they reached the door to the 9th level. The level guardian respectfully bowed towards the Patriarch before disappearing into a million bright fragments. Upon seeing the confusion on Lin Fan''s and Shadow''s face, he explained, "The level guardians exist solely to protect the martial skills from intruders, however, once the secret skill at the 9th level is accessible by more than 1 person, they will lose their meaning in defending this place and thus, cease to exist." "Inside this room is the secret skill of Righteous Sword sect. Learn it and hide. Wait until the battle is over. The sect rests on both of your shoulders now," The Patriarch softly said with a tinge of guilt and sadness before walking away. ''I''m sorry to all the disciples of Righteous Sword sect, sacrificing your lives for the lives of 2 geniuses who will one day rebuild the sect. I''m so sorry that I''m useless. I have failed all of you.'' The guilt hung in the Patriarch''s heart, his hand tightened into a fist. Only Lin Fan and Shadow were left inside the room. Lin Fan glanced at Shadow and noticed that Shadow was oblivious of the seriousness and tension in everyone''s heart. ''Of course, he just came into this world 1 week ago. Even if a person is extremely intelligent, it is still impossible for them to understand emotions just by reading.'' "Hey Shadow..." Lin Fan tried to hold back the raspiness in his voice. "Yes?" Shadow asked innocently. "You know, I have to join the fight too. So you have to stay here and comprehend the secret skill." Lin Fan looked at Shadow with resolution. "But the Patriarch said..." "Don''t worry. I''ll be back before you know it." Lin Fan laughed sheepishly and patted Shadow on the back. "Alright. Take care," Shadow gave a genuine smile in return. "Oh and one more thing, if... if I don''t come back, go to my courtyard and dig under the third tree from the gate," Without giving Shadow a chance to say anything, Lin Fan rushed off. ''Lin Fan...'' Shadow thought before looking at the secret skill. [Holy Soul]-Secret tier killing technique Description: Project one''s soul onto an evil soul using Qi to eradicate them from the world. Side effects: One''s soul will weaken after use. Decrease in strength. Usable by: Disciple of Righteous Sword sect Shadow was amazed by how overpowered this skill was, imagine you could destroy your enemy''s soul just by using Qi. Wasting no time, Shadow quickly read the Secret tier scroll. In an instant, golden lights flooded his mind, as if a powerful force was trying to look inside him. Next thing he knew, his vision went dark and collapsed. When he fainted, his body became non-corporeal and passed through the 9 levels, eventually seeping into the ground. *** "Elite War General Er, Elite War General San, you have come," Elite War General Yi welcomed his fellow Elite War Generals. The 3 of them were at the Core Formation upper stage, almost stepping into Spirit Ascension lower stage. That being said, Elite War General Er was known for her cruel blood absorbing techniques, with just a taste of a person''s blood, she is able to absorb all the blood in that person''s body, regardless of distance. She was known as the Blood Queen. Elite War General San on the other hand, used a Spirit ranked sword, known as the Sword of Piercing Ghouls. Piercing Ghouls were a type of ghoul that used their incomparably sharp claws to hunt for preys, and the sword was made by merging 100,000 Piercing Ghouls'' claws using Qi for a total of 30 days. Of course, the sword would naturally inherit the unparalleled sharpness. As for Elite War General Yi, he possessed a Qi Devouring Chain. Once it was latched onto an enemy, it would drain the Qi from their body, causing them to become nothing more than stronger mortals. The 2 of them silently nodded their head before commanding the merged army to advance. With a quick wave of his, Elite War General Yi recalled the Imperial Jade Dome. Like water leaking in from all directions, the army gradually closed in on the sect. *** When the dome disappeared, Patriarch Wei frowned and signaled everyone to embrace the battle. In his heart, he really hoped that they were able to win. After placing a few things under a particular tree, Lin Fan noticed the disappearance of the dome and immediately made his way into the masses. Everyone clenched their weapons tightly, both sides were confident that the battle was going to be bloody; Both sides hoped that they could make it out of this alive. Chapter 8: Sect Extermination(2/2) The battlefield was in chaos. The Patriarch was soloing the 3 Elite War Generals in the sky while the High Elders tried to protect the disciples while fending against the imperial army. Although the imperial army only had 3 Core Formation upper stage cultivators, they still held an advantage due to their overwhelming numbers and a large percentage of the troops were at Qi Formation upper stage. After the initial clash, the 5 Elders suffered grievous injuries and 3 of them succumbed to their injuries. However, this does meant that the imperial army was completely unharmed. The imperial army lost one third of their Qi Formation upper stage soldiers. Upon seeing the death of their comrades and Elders, both sides broke off all restraint and rushed forward, putting their lives on the line. "Die!" One of the disciples fired off a flaming fireball at close range, blasting off several soldiers'' heads at once. However, in that same instance, several sharp silver swords pierced through his chest, causing him to cough out a mouthful of blood. After that, his body slumped onto the floor with his eyes wide opened. "Brother! AHHH..." Another disciple unleashed a killing frenzy after witnessing the death of his blood brother. With both swords in his hands, he weaved in and out of the battlefield, with heads toppling down wherever he passed by. But alas. He was still put down in the end by a Core Formation lower stage commander. The soldiers were all people with cultivation so how could they be easy pushovers. Lin Fan glanced in the direction of the High Elders. He saw that each High Elder was dealing with around 10 Qi Formation upper stage soldiers, rendering them unable to protect the disciples. Lin Fan closed his eyes and instantly, an aura of dominance swept over the battlefield, carrying traces of Qi with it. Some unlucky soldiers were hit by the Qi and coughed out a few mouthful of blood. It was the aura of a Core Formation lower stage! An extremely powerful one at that. A few days ago, Lin Fan broke through to the Core Formation lower stage during his Qi training, which resulted in an overall increased in power. "Human Sword Unity," Lin Fan softly said and a sword appeared in his original position, his body was nowhere to be seen. Exuding an unstoppable aura, the dazzling sword shot towards the battlefield. Several miserable shrieks and cries could be heard throughout the battlefield, sending a chill down everyone''s spine. A sword could be seen piercing through several soldiers at once like butter and its speed was unfathomable, at least to the Qi Formation upper stage. *** "Holy Soul!" Patriarch Wei shouted as a golden light beam shot towards the 3 Elite War Generals. The force was so immense that even the battle beneath them was affected. The 3 Elite War Generals slashed back without a tinge of hesitation, repelling the pressure, for they knew that if they were to be hit by it, even a spirit ranked armor couldn''t save them. However, the 3 of them still spit out quite a mouthful of blood. The secret skill costed most of Patriarch Wei''s Qi and he knew that he could only use that move one last time before the Qi in his body runs out.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. All of a sudden, his eyes widened when he took a quick check on the situation on the ground. ''Lin Fan, that idiot!'' For a second, he was so shock that he froze. Not letting go of this Godsend chance, Elite War General Yi slashed out with his Qi Devouring Chain and it wrapped around the arms of the Patriarch. When Patriarch Wei came back to his senses, he could feel that his Qi was draining rapidly. The situation was dire. When Patriarch Wei was still struggling against the restrictions of the chains, an incomparably sharp sword sliced towards his back, where his defense was the weakest. Unfortunately, the Patriarch could not block it in time and thus, he tightened his back muscles to embrace the pain. However, a second passed and he still did not feel any pain. Gradually, he turned around and the scene before he stunned him tremendously. High Elder Qin was standing behind the Patriarch with crimson red blood flowing out of the tip of the sword that had pierced through his abdomen. Grimacing, High Elder Qin softly said, "Patriarch, I will be going first. Take care!" With that, he took out a black ball and slammed it into his chest. The black ball exploded with 3 ring of fires, lighting up the whole battlefield and destroying the Sword of Piercing Ghouls in the process. "Miniature 3 Rings Bomb!!! My sword!" Elite War General San exclaimed in desperation as his beloved sword that he painstakingly created over countless years was utterly destroyed in just a second. BOOM! The void started to tear apart, which caused several air ripples to form. The Qi coming from Patriarch Wei exploded violently, causing the chains to break. Patriarch Wei had finally gone berserk after witnessing the death of his old friend. When they were still in their youths, they met each other while exploring the mysteries of the world and from then on, they became life and death buddies. "ARGHHH! DIE! DIE! DIE!" Patriarch Wei blindly swung his fist towards the 3 Elite War Generals, which they evaded it easily. "Hmph! Looks like the old fool has gone crazy! I''m going to make my move," Elite War General Er licked her lips in anticipation as she stared at the blood trickling out of Patriarch Wei''s pores. Soon enough, blood started to flow out of his skin, causing Patriarch Wei to look like an enraged blood demon. Elite War General Er blinked and instantly reappeared right next to the Patriarch. In that moment, her eyes constricted as she felt an immense sense of danger. "Impossible..." were the last word she muttered before her head burst with a golden light, causing fresh blood to shower down. Patriarch Wei gave a maniac laugh before pummeling down towards the earth. He had saved his last ''Holy Soul'' for this chance and his body was currently void of Qi. "Now!" The 2 remaining Elite War Generals recovered from their stupor and immediately chase after the Patriarch. Psschhh! Although their treasures were destroyed, they still have some Profound ranked swords with them, which they used it to stabbed the unconscious Patriarch in the vitals. Immediately, the life force of the Patriarch disappeared as his lifeless body that was filled with swords slumped onto the battlefield. "..." Both sides immediately stopped their fighting and looked at the lifeless Patriarch. For the imperial army, this was the moment they had all been waiting for while for the disciples of the sect, sadness, sorrow and fear overwhelmed them, including Lin Fan. "There, there. You all should stand still and let us kill you guys," Elite War General Yi nonchalantly said. With a swift slicing motion, he cut off the head of the nearest sect disciple. "For the Patriarch!" The remaining High Elders exploded with fury as they dashed towards Elite War General Yi. However, they were intercepted by hundreds of imperial soldiers and had no choice but to stop and attacked. Eventually, the High Elders were overwhelmed by the sheer amount of imperial soldiers and one by one, they followed the Patriarch into the afterlife. As for the disciples, their morale was low that some even knelt onto the floor, silently awaiting their deaths. "Bunch of cowards!" Upon seeing the scene, Lin Fan could not help but feel infuriated. He believed that no matter what, as a man, one should not give up even if they could not win. Instantly, he turned into a silver sword and shot towards Elite War General Yi. "Oh? Human Sword Unity? Interesting indeed. Soldiers, stop him!" Elite War General Yi was amused. "Argh..." Several soldiers poured in their Qi and formed a defensive barrier. However, in the face of ''Human Sword Unity'', it was all futile. The silver sword pierced through the barrier and continued to pierce towards the general. "Hmph ant! You are still too weak!" Elite War General Yi reached out and grabbed the sword with his bare hands. No matter how much the silver sword struggle, it could not the grasp of a Core Formation upper stage cultivator. Crush! The general''s fist tightened and the silver sword shattered in an instant. What remained in his grasp was a struggling Lin Fan. As he watched Lin Fan struggled, he slowly tightened his fist around Lin Fan''s neck, causing Lin Fan to choke. With his fingers, he accurately pierced Lin Fan in the eye, resulting in the formation of 2 bloody holes. "AH...AHHH!!!" The pain was so intense that Lin Fan let out a hoarse scream with tears flowing down his blood stained face. Crack! Lin Fan stopped moving after the sound, his neck twisted in a weird manner. "Hehehe! Where''s your scream brat! How dare you fight me! You ant!! HAHAHA! ANT!" Elite War General Yi roared hysterically, with his hair swaying in the wind. He looked like a madman. No. He is a madman. "Kill! Leave no survivors!" Elite War General San took charge and gave the command. The imperial soldiers obeyed and a one-sided massacre soon ensued. In just a few minutes, the massacre of the Righteous Sword sect was finally completed. The blood from the aftermath of the battle formed puddles on the stone floor, which eventually merged into a small river. Bodies were strewn all over the place, some died without a head, while some died with their eyes till wide opened. The scene was incredibly gory. On the bloody battlefield, a black mist could be seen slowly rising up from underneath a large rubble. Chapter 9: Emotions A black figure supported himself up by leaning against a large boulder. His movements were unsteady, he was slowly fading away. In front of him was a large horde of One-horned Devil. One-horned Devil resembled the shape of a human figure, however, their skin was blood red with strong visible muscles, representing their incredible physique. On their head was a large black horn, this represented the amount of strength they have. Similarly, Two-horned Devil which had 2 horns had a much higher strength. ''T-this is the 10th wave already... Is the wave endless?'' Shadow thought to himself as he gazed warily at the horde of Devils. For the past 9 waves, he fought with the ''Hidden Dark Swords'' and ''Dark Qi Barrier'', which almost drained his Dark Qi completely. The last thing he could remember was fainting after reading the secret skill, after that, he woke up in this desert-like place with waves of Devils coming after him. ''I wonder how long I took. Brother Lin must be worried, I have to hurry!'' Shadow quickly resumed his fighting stance and circulated his Dark Qi. It was then did he realize that only a minuscule amount of Dark Qi was left in his mist-like body. ''Against Devils... against Devils... Hmm? Holy... Soul? Was it?'' In the midst of his troubles, he suddenly thought of the secret skill back then. Trying his best to recall the details of the secret skill, Shadow exerted all of his energy into comprehending the nature of ''Holy Soul''. Righteous! Saintly! Exterminate all evil! In just a short period of time, Shadow grasped the essence of ''Holy Soul'' and with what little amount of Dark Qi he had left, he used it all up to execute the ''Holy Soul''. A dazzling beam of golden light shot forth into the horde of Devils, completely annihilating them, not even a piece of their ashes were left behind. This was simply to domineering!If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Soon, the dreamscape started to distort and cracks began to form all over. The cracks then broke into billions of shards which eventually disappeared. However, before Shadow was forced out of the dreamscape, a golden core shot into his body and unbeknownst to him, it merged with his mist-like body and dissolved into golden strands of mist. *** As the final strand of black mist floated into Shadow. Shadow regained his consciousness and opened his eyes, which contained flashes of golden color. "..." Shadow stood there for a while before his legs gave way and his body slumped onto the ground in shock. Bloody corpses filled every inch of the land, even a detached hand could be seen lying on one side. In the middle of the sea of corpses stood a figure. No. The figure was pierced through by a long spear, which hold the figure up. Shadow''s head was in turmoil. He had no idea what happened or why was he feeling like this. Slowly, he stood up and stumbled towards the figure on the spear. "T-the battle... We lost? But, why is it like this?" Shadow remembered the battle Lin Fan spoke of before and wondered by this seemed more like a massacre. "Brother Lin? BROTHER LIN?! WAKE UP! Wh-what happened?" When Shadow walked closer towards the figure, he recognized that the figure belonged to Lin Fan, which caused a searing pain in his heart. He quickly took Lin Fan down from the spear and laid Lin Fan on the blood stained ground. "Y-your eyes!? Brother Lin!! TELL ME WHO DID THIS! WHO?!" When Shadow had a clear glimpse of his dear brother Lin, he noticed 2 hollow bloody spots which once contained the eyes. However, no matter how much he shouted or hit, Lin Fan had no signs of waking up. At this moment, Shadow knew that Lin Fan was long dead. Shadow slowly hugged Lin Fan into his chest and tilted his head towards the sky. Somehow, black-colored tears were flowing down his face which dripped onto Lin Fan''s tattered shirt. "AHHHH!!!" Shadow gave a bone-chilling howl into the setting sun, his heart was filled with grief, pain and hatred. It was the first time that he felt this much...pain. ''So.much.pain...'' "Hahaha... You said don''t worry. You''ll be back. Where are you now?" Shadow softly said in a daze After the expressing all his emotions, Shadow solemnly dug a grave for Lin Fan and every single sect disciples, and knelt in front of their graves for 3 days straight. After the mourning period, Shadow happened to recall that Lin Fan said to look under the third tree if something happened. Immediately, Shadow glided towards the third tree and dug beneath it. Inside, was an envelope and a cosmic ring. Shadow steadily opened the envelope and discovered letter. It read: To my cold little brother. If you are reading this, then it means that I''m no longer in this world. Don''t be sad, don''t cry, real man shed blood but not tears, stay strong! Anyways, there are a few things inside the cosmic ring-there are 10,000 spirit stones, a black colored robe, a map of this Mortal world and a few Dark Qi Pills. Remember, do not seek revenge. The enemy is someone you cannot offend. You have to get stronger and stay safe. ~Your most awesome brother. Drip! Drip! Tears rolled down Shadow''s face but it immediately stopped. ''no tears, no tears...'' Shadow imbued his Dark Qi into the cosmic ring to activate it and after that, he placed the letter into the cosmic ring. At the same time, he took out the black robe. Don in a black robe, Shadow gave one last glance at Lin Fan''s tombstone before heading off into the distance. His eyes shinning with a cold glint and a faint golden light. ''I will avenge you guys!'' Chapter 10: Transformation Somewhere inside the Dark Forest stood a man and a beast. The weak sunlight shone through the dense canopy, which faintly lit up the Dark Forest. The weak sunlight, coupled with the pitch black clothes on the man, gave off a ethereal feeling. That man was Shadow. A beast stood facing Shadow. It was a wild boar that was thrice as big as Shadow. It''s grey fur was extremely tough and 3 sharp horns were situated on its head, giving it the necessary defense and offense. Its only weak point was at the underbelly, where the skin was easy to pierce through. It was a Rare rank beast, Grey Coat boar. As it charged towards Shadow, Shadow stood there unmoving like a deity looking down on mortals. Shadow slowly stretched out his hands towards the charging boar and in the next instant, several Dark Qi swords emerged from the ground and pierced the under side of the boar. The boar gave a sharp cry before collapsing lifelessly onto the floor, fresh blood seeped out of the several sword wounds. Shadow walked towards the boar and cleanly sliced off several pieces of meat before eating it raw. Shadow read in a book that eating a ranked beast meat raw would replenish your body with Qi and vigor. As the raw meat entered the black mist, it quickly dissolved and several weak strands of White Qi invaded Shadow. Alarmed, Shadow immediately entered his cultivation state to force the White Qi out. ''Oh right. It''s White Qi.'' Due to the recent trauma, Shadow had been aimlessly killing beasts and sometimes, eating their meat forgetting that the Qi isn''t compatible. The black mist soon conjugated back into a human form after dispelling the White Qi. ''Sigh... How am I going to kill the imperial army like this.'' Whilst thinking of a way to level up, Shadow was currently targeted by 2 Devil cultivators. Devil cultivators were once human and gone down the path of evil to seek more power. Basically, they were the enemies of both the Human and Demon race. The 2 Devil cultivators behind a large shrub eyed Shadow cautiously. "Scar Face, do we kill him? We are on a mission, we can''t let anyone know of this," An extremely beautiful woman with a pair of devilish eyes whispered worriedly. Scar Face frowned and warily whispered back, "I can''t sense his cultivation level, and he gives me the creeps...I think..." "Can''t sense his cultivation level?! How can this be?! You are already at Qi Formation upper stage!" The beautiful woman named Xiao Yao subconsciously exclaimed. Swiftly, Scar Face placed his hands on her mouth and dragged her down behind the shrubs. His placed his fingers on his lips, indicating that she was too loud. After waiting for a while and found out that Shadow did not detect them, they let a breath of relief. Xiao Yao then lowered her head, embarrassed at her own clumsiness. "I think that he must be using some treasure to hide his cultivation base, otherwise, he would have noticed us by now. Let''s do it." Scar Face ignored her and calmly made a logical judgement. Silently, Xiao Yao nodded her head and the fingernails on her hands extended, becoming 10 sharp needles coated with a deadly poison. However, Scar Face blocked her with his arm and walked forward while unsheathing his sword. "Let me do it. Back me up." "But-t..." Xiao Yao wanted to argue but after recalling her previous mistake, she immediately shut up. Scar Face poured his Qi into the sword and in the next moment, his figure blurred as he dashed towards the unsuspecting Shadow. Puuuu! Only the sound of fabric tearing could heard, other than that, the sound of the sword piercing the flesh was completely absent. In that moment, Scar Face knew that he did not pierce his enemy and immediately withdrew the sword. As Shadow was contemplating on the ways to increase his cultivation, he felt a destructive force invading him from inside. He immediately glanced down and saw that a thin sword that was coated with White Qi emerged out of his abdomen area. At the same time, however, the sword quickly sliced back out causing the White Qi to stop invading the black mist. The residue White Qi rained down destruction on the black mist as they tried to escape out of the dense black mist. At this moment, Shadow once gain felt that his existence was fading away and quickly used ''Devourer of Night'' to eject out the destructive White Qi. This time round, the invasion of White Qi was way stronger than the previous one. While ejecting out the White Qi, Shadow turned around to face his attacker. He saw a middle-aged man with a scar across his face staring at himself in shock, in his hands was a sword. The same one that had attacked him. Right behind him stood an alluring woman with her fingernails outstretched.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. After a moment of silence. Shadow asked, "Why did you attack me?" Looking at the mist-like figure with White Qi coming out of its body, Scar Face was completely on guard now, he realized that the figure in front of does not had a physical face. Gulping down a mouthful of saliva, Scar Face seriously replied, "We had to kill you. We are devils after all." Scar Face was betting that the mysterious entity would think twice before attacking them as the Devils were known for their strength and ruthlessness. Upon hearing that they were after his life, Shadow formed a Dark Qi barrier around him and stealthily placed a few Dark Qi swords in the ground. Since they are after his life, he has to fight with everything he got. Scar Face frowned. This situation in front of him was developing towards a life and death fight. After taking in a deep breath, he got into an attacking stance. His fingers secretly motioning Xiao Yao to make a sneak attack. With all the preparations done, Scar Face leaped forward with his sword in his right hand, getting ready to stab at any moment. Shadow immediately strengthened his barrier while leading him towards the hidden traps. However, an agile figure was making her way towards Shadow from his blind spot. Just when she was about to pierce his throat, several Dark Qi swords penetrated her body, leaving behind several gaping holes. Instantly, Xiao Yao died without making a sound. "Xiao Yao!" Scar Face screamed and ran towards her side. No matter how much he called out, she remained motionless. She had clearly died. "You''ll pay for this!" Scar Face charged forward, without giving a care about the traps. Dark Qi swords emerged wherever he stepped on, however, it was only able to leave a few slightly deep wounds on his body. However, he did not realize that his cultivation stage has decreased to Qi Formation middle stage. As he continued to advance towards the retreating Shadow, he felt that his injuries were getting more and more grievous. His vision blurred and soon enough, he fell, unconscious from the serious injuries. Shadow immediately stopped retreating and silently came over. Without a shred of sympathy, Shadow send waves after waves of Dark Qi swords through his body, eventually turning Scar Face into a bloody pile of minced meat. After confirming that there were no one around him, Shadow left into the distance while reminding himself not to let his emotions control him in the future. This does not meant that he will not kill those who destroyed his sect. After walking for a while, Shadow suddenly stopped. Without the myriad of emotions blinding him, he remembered the cosmic ring that Lin Fan had left for him. He immediately imbued his Dark Qi into the ring and took out a map. ''Looks like I''m closer to the perimeter of the Dark Forest, there is a village close by. Alright, I''ll find shelter there to increase my cultivation level'' Shadow thought while glancing at the few Dark Qi pills. *** When Shadow arrived at the gates of Dark Forest Village, the scene inside was the same as his sect; Dried blood was sprayed everywhere, crows were crowding together while devouring the corpses. With a bad feeling in his heart, Shadow carefully walked into the village while keeping his guard up. The deathly atmosphere caused him to feel immensely depressed, his soul slightly shivering. Then, he saw it. In middle of the village, where the corpses numbered to hundreds, a sinister black colored mist was floating above the bodies. When Shadow caught sight of it, a flood of memories soon invaded his mind, fragments of memories of the soldiers'' massacre of the village played before his very eyes. "Stop-p... Stop it! He''s just a baby... NOOO!" Shadow clutched his head while kneeling on the floor. The atrocities that he had just witnessed were the soldiers killing off the defenseless villages one by one. When it came to the scene of the baby, Shadow was bawling his eyes out; his mind could not take it anymore. Just when he was about to break, he mustered up what little consciousness he had left and whispered, "Holy Soul." This time round, instead of a beam of light, a circular wave of golden light expanded outwards with Shadow at the center. By using one''s soul as a weapon, it will be extremely powerful yet dangerous as the impurities could easily invade the soul and corrupt it. The black mist slowly dispersed under the brilliance of the light, turning into a ghastly white color which floated up into the sky. When the golden light faded, the deathly feeling in the village vanished, what remained was a ghost town. Shadow remained in his knelt position as the dark mist in his body conjugated and dispersed. If one looked carefully, they could see that a tiny amount sinister black mist merging with the dark mist. As Shadow continued to morph, the golden mist in his body also started to clash with the black mist. In the end, the golden and black mist were devoured by Shadow''s own mist. With that, Shadow''s facial features were completely gone. What remained was a faceless head with 2 eyes. When Shadow was feeling better, he quickly ate a few Dark Qi pills to replenish the Dark Qi in his body. He had no idea what his own dark mist was or how he came to be. However, these were matters for the future. Right now, he still have debts that needs to be collected; As what people said, an eye for an eye. When he opened his eyes, his right eye was gold in color while the left eye was red in color, giving the impression of a twisted God. Without realizing it, he glanced down on his map and took note of the imperial capital, where the imperial army resides. After storing his map, Shadow ran in a straight line towards the capital. As swift as the wind, his phased through every single object he passed by while maintaining his speed. He had advanced to the Qi Formation upper stage after the transformation, giving him an increased in speed, power and amount of Dark Qi. For the next 4 days, Shadow diligently sped through the Dark Forest region and consume 1 or 2 Dark Qi pills to replenish his Dark Qi. Soon, he arrived outside of a large city, it was the Phoenix City, known for its fire related martial skills. ''After this city, the next one would be the imperial capital. Looks like I could gather some information here before going.'' Shadow thought to himself before stealthily phasing through the wall; without having to pay the entrance fee. Chapter 11: Young Master Bai As night came, the streets begun to quieten down with occasional cries of children coming from the houses. The radiant moon hid behind the clouds, causing the city to submerge into a state of darkness. A dark silhouette was running soundlessly through the closed shops, its speed was so fast such that when someone noticed it, the silhouette would be long gone. Every time the dark silhouette exited each shop, its appearance would change little by little. Finally, the dark silhouette phased out of the last shop. Glancing at its newly gained comical hat, gloves and shoes, Shadow smiled in satisfaction. *** Earlier that day. When Shadow just phased through the wall, he accidentally bumped into a patrol soldier. After looking at Shadow''s face, the patrol soldier fainted on the spot without even uttering a single word. Shocked by the reaction, Shadow immediately found a small bucket of water and gazed into it. Puuu! The bucket of water was instantly destroyed by Shadow. Rooted to the spot, Shadow immediately touched his face to affirm it. As expected, he was without a mouth or a nose-just a pair of different colored eyes. ''Shit! My face is too darn scary, how did it become like this?'' With that thought in mind, Shadow quickly hid in a small alley and waited for the sun to set before making attempts to cover up his face. *** utilizing the cover of the shadows casted by the houses, Shadow stealthily arrived at a run-down looking warehouse with holes above it. Shadow accidentally discovered an abandoned warehouse earlier on and decided to take refuge in it after getting his disguise. Unbothered by the walls, Shadow passed through the walls and found an extremely dark and obscure spot to cultivate. Before closing his eyes, Shadow popped in a few Dark Qi pills and laid down comfortably on the ground, with swirls of Dark Qi flowing towards him. *** "Argh! So noisy." Shadow sleepily took off the comical hat that was covering his face and immediately squinted. ''Damn it! So bright.'' The sun had long risen when Shadow woke up and the light rays were beating down mercilessly on his face. With a feel of his cultivation, Shadow knew that he was still at the Qi Formation upper stage and without much progress in his cultivation base, killing the imperial army is out of the question. Careful not to phase out of the wall, Shadow fully materialized every part of his body and push opened the door. In front of him, was a sea of people, completely different from the scene at night. Although Shadow was fully clothed in black under the hot sun, it wasn''t abnormal as some powerful figures might want to remain mysterious and thus, disguising themselves. Except for a few glances from some passer-bys, the others remained indifferent about it. Satisfied by the lack of reaction, Shadow immediately wandered into streets, looking for methods on how to achieve Core Formation stage.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. "Meatballs! Selling delicious meatballs! 2 for 50 copper!" "Don''t know what to buy for your kids'' birthday? Fret not. My shop..." The streets were extremely crowded and shameless advertising could be heard coming from the vendors. Shadow, being newly exposed to such things, were of course curious. However, he quickly reminded himself of the main objective and shook the temptation from his head. "Profound... Weapon..." Shadow was using his Dark Qi to sharpen his hearing and happened to hear those 2 words. Shadow''s senses perked and immediately traced towards the source of the sound. When he reached the source, a large group of people was gathered outside a magnificent looking building. Shadow could sense that there were several Qi Refining cultivators and mortals mixed within that crowd. Unknown of the situation, Shadow lowered his head slightly and asked a Qi Refining cultivator in a rough voice, "Fellow cultivator, may I ask why is there such a large group of people gathered here?" "Huh? Can''t you..." The Qi Refining cultivator wanted to scold the man that asked the question for being blind but immediately stopped. He carefully gazed at the man''s clothing and concluded that this mysterious senior in front of him might have a higher cultivation base than him. Thus, he immediately changed his tone and smiled while replying, "Respectful senior, up ahead, the young master of the Bai clan, Bai Leng Mo, is selling a low grade profound ranked weapon for 10,000 spirit stones! This is simply outrageous! Daylight robbery! If it isn''t the Guild House giving the Bai Clan face, he would long been kicked out of their courtyard. Hmph!" "Much thanks," Shadow indifferently said before going forward to take a look at the ''outrageous'' young master. When Shadow squeezed his way to the front, he saw an average looking young man looking at the crowd with a gaze of profoundness. A sign stood beside him, ''A set of Profound ranked daggers for 10,000 spirit stones. No negotiations!'' Shadow could hear the people around him loudly criticizing the young man for his outrageous price, however, the young man silently stood there, unfazed by the criticisms. Suddenly, a thought occurred to Shadow and he stepped forward and spoke, "I am willing to buy this for 10,000 spirit stones." "..." Silence ensued. The young Qi Refining cultivator was flabbergasted. ''What was again the reason I explained to him? Why did I even...sigh...'' Young master Bai smiled and gazed at Shadow, however, he was unable to see Shadow''s facial features. With a nod of his head, he motioned Shadow to follow him into the Guild House to make the payment. Inside a room that young master Bai rented in the Guild House, both of them sat down on each side. "Here is the set of Profound ranked daggers. Please inspect. If you are satisfied, please make the payment." Young master Bai respectfully said, after all, getting someone to buy a Profound ranked weapon for 5,000 spirit stones is already considered overboard, what more 10,000. Shadow inspected the daggers carefully. Each dagger was about the size of his hands and was extremely light. The material it was made from was a mixture of the core of a meteorite and other metals, causing the quality to decrease by quite a fair bit. In total, there were 5 of them. "I will make the payment. However, under one condition." Shadow suddenly said, surprising young master Bai. Young master Bai frowned and contemplated for a while before saying, "I will hear about it. If it''s too absurd, then the deal is off." "Teach me how to get into Core Formation realm," Shadow went straight to the point. The cease of his eyebrows lightened as he nodded his head. Soon after, the payment was made and the 2 parties got what they want. "My name is Bai Leng Mo, call me Bai will do. What''s your name?" Bai suddenly remembered that he did not even get to know the other party''s name even after the trade. "Shadow," Shadow curtly replied, not caring about the formalities. Ignoring Shadow''s attitude, Bai smiled and said, "Shadow. I like the name. There are several books on Core Formation in my Bai Clan. I can get some of them for you. Let''s go." With that, both of them left the Guild House by the back door and stopped a carriage to bring them to the Bai clan. Chapter 12: Bai Clan "Here we are. Since you are not a member of Bai clan, take this token with you. I have some matters to attend to so take your time," Bai gestured at the top section of the library before taking his leave. Shadow walked into the ceramic-tiled floor library and gazed around curiously. There were only 2 stories and were slightly spacious than the Martial Techniques Building, despite the spaciousness, there were only a passable amount of books stored. It was evident that the clan wasn''t in a good shape. However, it was none of his concern; Everyone he cared about is now dead. Shaking his head to dispel the thoughts, Shadow advanced to the second level and skimmed through all the books, until he found books that were related to cultivation bases. He randomly picked out a book and glanced at the title, ''Qi Refining''. Upon seeing the title, he gently placed it back and continued his search. Soon, he found the book that he was searching for. It was called ''Core Formation''. Quietly, he found a place to sit and diligently read the book. *** "I see, so Qi Formation is like liquid state of Qi while Core Formation is solidifying the Qi into a sphere. To do that, one must either absorb an extremely large amount of Qi or possess a special treasure that can boost cultivation speed..." After a few hours of reading, Shadow finally understood the true essence of Core Formation and ways to get there. However, another problem soon presented itself. ''Where do I get a large amount of Dark Qi...'' Shadow gradually submerged himself into his thoughts and was totally unaware of the flow of time. *** After settling Shadow, Bai immediately went into his room and took out a cosmic ring, inside it was another 40,000 spirit stones. After throwing the 10,000 spirit stones in, Bai immediately left his room and excitedly headed towards the center of the clan. Finally, he reached the room of his grandfather, who was also the master the Bai clan. After he gently knocked on the door, a deep and rough voice gave the permission for him to enter.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "Bai er, why have you come to see this set of old bones? You should be diligently cultivating," Grandfather Bai laughed as he urged his grandson to make full use of his time. Bai knew that although his grandfather told him to go cultivate, his grandfather''s heart have always longed for Bai to visit him more often. After all, Bai was his only descendant. "Hahaha grandfather. Do I need a reason to visit you? How are you doing?" Bai obediently greeted his grandfather. "Hahaha...I''m good, I''m good," Grandfather Bai was extremely elated that his grandson was so filial. After the greetings, Bai got serious and stated his real purpose for visiting, "Grandfather Bai. I know that in order to advance to the Spirit Ascension stage, one needs at least 1 million spirit stones. Here, take this 50,000 spirit stones to aid your cultivation." "T-this...Bai er, you know that we can''t take from the Bai clan''s fund for personal use," Grandfather Bai was a bit surprised at Bai''s offer of 50,000 spirit stones. "Grandfather is wrong. This is my own money that I have earned. Although it may not seem like much but I believe that it will ease your stress by a bit." Bai softly said, he was determined to make even more spirit stones for his grandfather to advance. With that, Bai quickly turned and ran off before his grandfather could reject him. "Sigh, you could have use this to further your cultivation, why waste it on this old man..." Grandfather Bai sadly gazed at the back of his grandson, his eyes were watery, touched by the caring actions and stubbornness of his grandson. ''Looks like I can''t just give up like this. Not after my dear grandson did this for me. Human Emperor! Everyone in Phoenix City! You all just wait! I will not forget that day! NEVER!'' With a glint of determination and coldness in his eyes, his once sorry figure straightened his back, in an instant, Clan Master Bai suddenly seemed to have regained his vigor. Almost a decade ago, all the major powers in Phoenix City, which consisted of the Qin clan and the Fire clan, plotted against their Bai Clan, resulting in his son''s wife getting raped to death by the head of the Feng Family, which was the governing power that the Human Emperor had appointed to govern Phoenix City. In a fit of rage, his son assassinated the head of the Feng family which caused a huge ruckus in Phoenix City. Enraged by the audacity of the Bai clan, the Human Emperor ordered for clan extermination. However, the extermination only stopped when all of the talented members in the Bai clan was exterminated, leaving behind the ordinary Bai Leng Mo, and when Grand Master Bai pleaded for mercy by offering 90% of their sect''s resources to the Human Emperor. Ever since then, Bai clan had remained in a pitiful state, bullied and mocked by others. Why did the 2 clans formulated the plot? It was simple. Because the Bai clan was a rising power which was a threat to their existence. Currently, people with the highest cultivation level in Phoenix City are at the Core Formation upper stage. They were none other than the 3 clans'' Grand Masters and the new head of the Feng family. *** After settling the spirit stones, Bai went to find Shadow and discovered that Shadow was pacing around the library back and forth, pondering about something. Silently, Bai sat down on a chair and waited for Shadow to finish thinking. When Shadow suddenly caught sight of Bai, he looked outside and realized that it was already at dusk. Apologetically, he said, "Sorry. I was thinking of something, I did not realize that you were here." "It''s okay. I did not wait long, I bet you haven''t eaten yet, let''s go to a restaurant that serves several delicious delicacies. It''s my treat!" Bai laughed off and invited Shadow to dinner. For cultivators, they would only be required to eat once every few months without going hungry. Eating to them was just to enjoy the vibrant flavors of the food. "Sure," Shadow gave a short reply. From the time he came to this world, he has been wanting to try out those delicious food that were mentioned in the books. The 2 of them walked through the slightly crowded streets and eventually reached a 3 story building with a sign outside, ''Heavenly Food Pavilion'' Chapter 13: Talks... The interior of Heavenly Food Pavilion was filled with customers that have came to discuss about deals, go on date or just catching up with old friends, but either way, they were also here for a common purpose-To try out the famous 5 scorches bass. The bass was first soaked in white wine to ensure that the fire was ignited inside and outside the bass. Next, the chefs, or in this case food cultivators, which was basically cultivators using their Qi to cook, would then use their Qi to split the fire into 5 layers of hotness and from there onward, a beautifully crafted dish was born. Shadow followed Bai while looking around like an excited child going to the zoo for the first time. He had always wanted to know how delicious were the food described in the books taste like. Next, they entered a small private room and started taking orders based on the menu. "Shadow, tell me what you want! Order anything you like," Bai said in a carefree manner. "Erm, I don''t really know... How about you order instead," Shadow pondered and decided to leave it to Bai to settle. "Okay," Bai replied and motioned for the waitress to take their orders. He then started to point at the menu and quickly ordered 7 plus dishes. ''He seems to be quite familiar with this.'' Shadow thought while looking at the swift actions of Bai. "Is this your first time here?" Bai decided to start a conversation after he finished ordering. Shadow quickly responded with a "yes". "Hmm... Let me introduce myself again. I am Bai Leng Mo from the Bai clan. 23 years old. Qi Formation lower stage. Average talent. What about you?" Bai was shocked at how fast the previous conversation ended and his brain quickly churned and squeezed out another topic. "I am Shadow from Dark Forest region. Qi Formation upper stage," Shadow was struck with 2 problems. Firstly, he should not say he was from Righteous Sword sect as it had been exterminated. Secondly, his age. Should he say that he was only a few weeks old or a few million years old? "You have to say more. Like what''s your age," Bai unhappily urged Shadow to reveal his age.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "Uh...You guess," Shadow quickly came up with a sentence that Lin Fan had used on him before. It seemed to be quite effective as Bai started to scrutinize Shadow from top to bottom but he suddenly realized something abnormal. Why the heck was Shadow still wearing his hat? "Hey Shadow. Do you mind taking off your hat? Hahaha..." Bai gave a soft laugh as he was unsure if it might offend the other party. "!!!" Shadow lowered his head even more, evident that he wasn''t willing to show his face. Upon seeing Shadow''s reactions, Bai knew that he shouldn''t intrude anymore on the matter and went back to the previous topic. "Based on your voice, I think you are 18 years old," Bai said with an air of confidence. "That''s correct," Without refuting Bai, Shadow instantly agreed on his new age. Finally, one obstacle down. At this time, the door opened and a wave alluring fragrance assaulted their nostrils, both of them could feel their saliva inaugurating in their mouths. "This is stir fired potato, this is the 5 scorches bass, this is..." Bai got busy and intoduced every dish to Shadow. When he was done, a wave shadows fell upon the dishes, nearing scaring him off his seat. ''Damn! This kid is even hungrier than a poor child that survives on half a potato a day...'' It was the first time Shadow tasted such delicious stuff, and so many at once. The more he ate, the hungrier he got. In the end, he almost finished 2/3 of the food when he was done. Looking at how Bai was slowly enjoying the 1/3 of the food, Shadow gave a guilty look and apologized. With a laugh, Bai continue to indulge in the remaining 1/3 of the food. Although he seemed to be unaffected by the small amount of food left, he was actually crying in his heart. ''I should have just ordered for myself! Hmph!'' A minute later, he calmed his fragile heart and came up with a reasoning. ''I am just helping out a starving kid. It''s okay. Good deeds will be rewarded. Yes, they will definitely be rewarded.'' With that, he finished the remaining food and went to pay the bills. "Sir. The total bill is 50 gold coins." An average looking waitress respectfully said. Bai casually took out 51 gold coins and said in a swag manner, "Keep the change." "..." The poor waitress stood there for a long time, pondering the unexplainable things in life. ''Sigh. I''m just too charming. Looks like another one has fallen for me...'' Bai shamelessly shook his head while walking with Shadow into the distance. Unaware of what just happened, Shadow curiously asked, "Bai. What was that gold colored thing that you just passed the waitress?" "You don''t know?! It''s gold coins my friend. Have you not heard of those?" Bai''s voice turned squeaky in shock. ''How can anyone not know what money is?'' "Gold coins? A form of currency?" Shadow continued to ask, not understanding how it works. With a sigh, Bai took out a copper coin and a silver coin and explained, "1 gold coin equate to 100 silver coins, and 1 silver coin equate to 100 copper coins. Those are currency used by mortals. For cultivators like us, we use spirit stones instead." After hearing Bai''s explanation, Shadow finally comprehended the things he had heard in the morning. With a face of determination, he asked Bai once again, "Bai, where can I earn both spirit stones and mortal currency?" He wanted to try some more of the world''s delicacies, and as for his cultivation problem, it was pushed aside. For now. "To earn both currencies... You can try the Assassins Guild. Although I don''t recommend it since it can put your life risk, " Bai suggested after some thought. He continued, "I can bring you there tomorrow if you want." "Sure. I''ll give it a try. Thanks," Shadow replied with short sentences as usual. He heard that the Assassins Guild takes up all kind of assassination missions except for those in the imperial army and the Human Emperor himself. Slowly, two of them walked down the now empty street, heading towards the darkness. Chapter 14: Assassins Guild "Are you sure this is the right place?" Shadow asked skeptically. After yesterday night''s agreement, Bai led the way and brought Shadow to the Assassins Guild. In front of them was a dilapidated wooden building. There was nothing special about it, except for the fact that it was so run down that it made one question about its stability. Bai did not reply but instead, gave a smirk. After which, he pushed open the wooden door, making a creaking sound. In the next moment, he disappeared into the darkness. Still skeptical about it, Shadow hesitantly entered the doorway. After adjusting his eyes to the darkness, Shadow discovered that other than a seemingly new bookshelf at the corner of the one-story house, there were also a dusty dining table and a few chairs around it. Bai slowly paced to the bookshelf and after pulling out a few books in sequence, turning of gears could be heard. Soon enough, the bookshelf started to rotate and stopped when it has rotated 180 degrees. What replaced the books was a stone wall with a small box protruding outwards. Bai glanced at Shadow''s shocked face and casually said, "Cool right? There''s still more. Watch this." Next, Bai took out a jade pendant and tossed it into a small box in front of him. Immediately, the small box retracted into the wall and emitted a humming sound. Once the sound died down, a gush mysterious energy flooded out of the box, opening up a green colored portal on the spot. "Let''s go!" Bai shouted as he grabbed Shadow''s hand and stepped into the portal. Once both of them entered the portal, it immediately disappear and soon enough, the bookshelf returned to its original position. *** When Shadow reopened his eyes again, he witnessed that in front of him was a grand hall filled with people. The hall was still extremely spacious despite the number of people and 3 golden pillars were on each side of the hall, supporting the entire building. "This...is Assassins Guild." Bai sighed as he gazed at the spectacular of the hall. Every time he came here, the dazzling scene of pure gold pillars never failed to disappoint him. ''Ahh...Imagine selling all this gold, how rich would I be...'' Unknowingly, a glob of saliva slightly dripped out of its mouth. With a nudge to his side, Bai immediately awoke from his stupor. Shadow was looking at Bai with a disgusted expression, of course, Bai could not see it due Shadow''s hat. "Haha...you can go ahead and register at the reception counter over there." Bai sheepishly laughed and pointed towards a counter up ahead.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Upon hearing that, Shadow quickly turned and headed towards the counter. Meanwhile, he thought, ''Didn''t know Bai was so disgusting...salivating at the sight of men...'' Shadow could not help but shudder a little. Bai did not notice but several men were gathered at the golden pillar he was staring at which caused Shadow to misunderstand. If Bai was to know what Shadow was thinking, he would have coughed out a mouthful, no, a sea of blood, turning the golden hall into crimson hall. When Shadow reached the reception counter, the receptionist greeted him before asking if any assistance was required. The receptionist was a bald plump man in his late 30s, wearing a pitch black colored robe. Other than a small mustache on his face, there was also a small knife by his side with orange veins coiling around it. All this was extremely new to Shadow, as if it had opened up an entire new world to him. "This is my first time here. May I know more about the Assassins Guild?" Shadow decided to start off with the most basic question as he was entirely clueless about this guild. "Hohoho, a first timer. Let''s see." The receptionist was a bit taken back before gaining back his composure immediately. "The Assassins Guild was founded by the Lord of Assassins, also known as Instant Death, several eons ago. At that time, Instant Death was one of the gods that ruled over the god realm. No one ever saw his face before, well, those who did never make it to tell the tale. That was also how his name came about." The receptionist reminisced a bit before continuing, "Back to the guild. Assassins Guild is a place where individuals come to kill for money. Only death missions are listed here, meaning that all missions are about killing someone or something. Of course the rewards are generous too. They can be found at the board over there." Next, he pointed at the pillar where the group of men was gathered at, in the middle of the crowd stood a board filled with papers. "If you want to do a mission, tear of the related piece of paper and accept it here at the reception counter. Mission difficulties are classified into 4 levels, level 1 being the easiest and 4 being the most difficult. Next, is choosing your life weapon. Life weapons represent your rank in the Assassins guild, starting off with yellow, orange, red and finally, black. As your rank increases, the amount of missions available to you increases. As of now, a minimum of 1 level 1 mission is to be completed before choosing your life weapon. Now if you are ready to join the Assassins Guild, please give me your name." The receptionist briefly stated the general knowledge of the guild and sneakily prompted Shadow''s intentions. "Shadow." Shadow replied immediately. "Hmm..." The receptionist raised an eyebrow at such an interesting name. "Please place your hand on this jade pendant." Next, he took out a rectangular shaped pendant and presented it to Shadow. Upon seeing that Shadow did not move. He quickly added, "It''s your identification pendant, used for entering the guild." "Your cultivation stage will be recorded too. For security purposes of course. Don''t worry, your information is secure with us." He did not forget to add in the last detail. Slowly, Shadow reached out and placed his hands on the jade pendant. Nothing happened. "Sir, your gloves..." The receptionist responded in an awkward tone as he felt the tension in the air. Slowly, Shadow took out his pitch black hand and placed it on the jade pendant. The receptionist eyes widened but he did not make a sound, instead, he just stared timidly at the black colored hand. ''Fuck! What in the world is this!?" Soon, the jade pendant gave a small green glow before displaying a few things on it. Upon taking a closer look, it stated: Name: Shadow Cultivation: Qi formation upper stage Rank: No. of missions accepted: 0 No. of missions completed: 0 "Done. It''s all done sir! It will be 50 spirit stones." The receptionist expertly prepared the documents and details before asking Shadow to make the payment. "..." Shadow did not know that one has to pay when registering which caused him to not bring a single spirit stone, well, it''s not like he has any left after buying the daggers. When he was panicking, he accidentally made eye contact with the receptionist, scaring the daylights out of the poor man. When he saw Shadow looking at him with the gold and red eyes, he was scared shitless, almost peeing his pants. "Ah..ah...ah...S-sir, it''s...it''s f-free...ha...ha...ha..." The receptionist tried his best to force out the few words, he has decided to pay the fee himself than look at Shadow any longer. That person was out of this world! Confused, Shadow replied with a quick "Okay" before turning around and walking towards the still dazed Bai. Right now, many thoughts were running through Shadow''s mind such as, what is the god realm? Life weapon? And the indecisiveness of the receptionist. On the other hand, the receptionist could be seen running towards the direction of a toilet. ''Shit! It''s too scary! How am I going to sleep from now on! God! Help me!'' In the end, one left with a confused look, one left with a dazed look and one left with petrified look... Chapter 15: First Mission [Level 1 mission] board. Shadow and Bai had skimmed through the missions available to on the board. All sorts of assassination missions were listed there, some included killing an ordinary person to killing a manager of some inn or organization. Finally, Shadow chanced upon a particular mission that required them to kill the head of a small bandit group outside of Phoenix City. As compared to the other missions, this mission gave the highest reward, of course, its difficulty was proportional to its reward. "Interesting..." Bai voiced out his thoughts. Normally, people wouldn''t choose missions of this difficulty as their first mission as this might be first time they killed someone. Humans are adaptable creatures, when doing something for the first time, they might feel uncomfortable, however, after doing it repetitively, they will become numb to the feeling. Following what the receptionist said earlier on, Shadow brought the paper towards the reception counter. This time round, a beautiful woman had replaced the previous man. She was dressed in a black robe with a dagger hanging off her waist, it also had orange veins coiling around it. When the mission paper was presented to her, the receptionist gave a bright smile and swiftly find the documents related to that mission. After a short moment, another larger piece of paper was presented to Shadow. Almost immediately, she explained, "This list contained further details of the mission paper that you have chosen. Please take a look, sir." Shadow received the list and curiously shifted his gaze onto the list. It read: [Assassination of the leader of Laughing Knives] [Mission level]: 1 [Reward]: 100 gold/10 spirit stones [Further details]: Located 10km to the north of Phoenix City, can be easily identified by a black flag with 2 knives and a smile drawn on it. Cultivation of leader at around Qi Formation lower stage. 200 golds/20 spirit stones if the entire Laughing Knives is killed. Total population numbered around 100. After he finished reading the list, he accepted the mission without a trace of hesitation. The receptionist took back the list and said as she realized that Shadow does not have a life weapon with him, "Bring back the head of the leader for mission completion. If you managed to kill any other Laughing Knives members, bringing back their ears will do." Shadow nodded and just before he was about to walk away, he turned and curiously asked, "Previously, there was an over-sized male receptionist. May I know where has he gone to?" "Uh...Are you talking about receptionist Tang? He had requested to quit his job awhile ago. I have no idea what got into him." "Oh, I see...Thanks." Shadow replied with a bit of regret. He actually quite liked that guy. What a shame... After they left the Assassins Guild via a portal, the duo returned back to the dilapidated house. "Shadow, when are you going to carry out the mission?" Bai asked casually. He was worried that Shadow might be unsure of where to start. "Tonight. I''ll go prepare myself first and after that I will set off," Shadow replied after giving it much thought. "Alright, give me a heads up when you are leaving." "You are coming too?" Shadow asked, evidently surprised. "This is your first mission after all. I''ll watch your back if anything happens," Bai said as he slowly recalled his experience of his first mission. "By the way, Bai, what''s the mission level you can accept?" Shadow suddenly thought of something. "Hmm...Level 2. What''s wrong?" This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. "Is it possible for you to accept a level 2 mission and share it with me? We can split the rewards." Shadow wanted to gather more spirit stones quickly so as to advance to Core Formation stage. "It is possible. But I will only share it with you after your performance in the first mission." Bai sternly said. "Alright then. See you later." As Bai left, Shadow remained in the house. Since he had nowhere to go, he might as well stay in this house for now. After finding an obscure and dark corner, Shadow sat down and took out the 5 Profound ranked daggers. He controlled the Dark Qi and imbued them into the daggers. Slowly, the 5 motionless daggers vibrated and floated in front of Shadow, as if an invisible hand was holding them. Shadow observed that a layer of Dark Qi shrouded the daggers, giving off a deadly aura. With a will of his mind, Shadow controlled the dagger with his mind. One of the daggers immediately flew around the house, piercing through several metal and wooden furniture, it''s original penetration power was already quite good, when a Dark Qi was imbued in it, the penetration power came close to that of a Spirit ranked weapon. Satisfied, Shadow recalled the dagger and cultivated while controlling the 5 daggers to spin around him. The daggers were rotating so fast such that it created afterimages. *** As night fell, they city was covered in a dark layer of blanket. Two silhouettes could be seen running down the streets. When they arrived at the city gate, Bai flashed the Bai clan crest and the guards immediately saluted them, allowing them to exit the city. Upon exiting the city, they were greeted by a stretch of endless desert. Circulating their Qi, the 2 cultivators ran towards the North, the wind wiped against their faces as they ran at a pace of about 50 km/h. Around 10 minutes later, they finally reached a small hill. Below the small hill was the stronghold of Laughing Knives, several camp fire was lit in the middle and near the entrance. "I will stay here and watch. Call me if you need help. Remember, do not alert the whole Laughing Knives," Bai said seriously, his tone carried a tinge of worried. "Got it," Shadow replied with confidence. Shadow then made his way down the small hill and a few moments later, his figure emerged under the light from the fire torches. "Who goes there!?" One of the gate guards spotted Shadow and immediately shouted out. Puusch! In an instant, the guard that shouted slumped onto the floor, blood was flowing out of his forehead. "I-intrud...!" The rest of guards attempted to alert the whole camp upon seeing the scene. However, several daggers instantly pierced through their heads, silencing them. But alas! There were only 5 daggers, hence, it was not enough to silence everyone at once. Instantly, the intruder alarm sounded and the commotion outside woke the entire camp. "..." Bai stood there watching with his mouth agape. Which part of ''Do not alert the whole Laughing Knives'' does he not understand... Shadow slowly made his way into the stronghold, everywhere he walked, heads flew and blood splattered. The 5 daggers pierced through the bandits like toufu, swiftly cutting down one after the other. After all, most of them were normal people and only a handful of them was at Qi Refining realm. "Hmph! How audacious! Does he not know who I am?" A robust man wielding a twin battle axe spoke, his tone contained traces of fury. He was the leader of Laughing Knives. "Boss! Let me deal with him! I alone am enough!" One of the Qi Refining realm bandits said as he licked his lips. "Go! Make sure to cut him into pieces!" Upon seeing more of his members fall, the leader was truly infuriated. "Hahaha boy! Time to die!" The Qi refining realm bandit rushed towards Shadow, in his hand was a long chain filled with spikes. Before the chain even reached Shadow, Shadow stretched out his hand towards the chain and imbued his Dark Qi into it. Flowing along the chain, the Dark Qi flowed inside the body of the cultivator. Since Dark Qi and White Qi were like fire and water, the 2 forces clashed inside his body. In the next moment, his eyes constricted and his body convulsed. Before he could even utter a single word, his body exploded, splattering his body into pieces. "Qi Formation cultivator! Do not worry everyone! Join hands to kill him!" The leader was momentarily shocked but he quickly regained his composure and gave another order. Hmph! See how you deal 4 Qi refining cultivators! Bastard! The 4 remaining Qi Refining bandits immediately rushed out towards Shadow. However, Qi Formation realm and Qi Refining were separated by a huge gap after all. Shadow recalled his daggers and 4 of them immediately flew towards the 4 cultivators. ''Stopping us with a dagger! Foolish!'' That was what went through their minds as they raised their weapon to block. Pusch! Pusch! Pusch! Pusch! 4 bloody holes were created each on their foreheads. Their eyes were still opened when they die, hell, they did not even know how they died. They were sure that they blocked it, so how...But alas! They could only think about it under the yellow spring. The leader face turned grim. All of his subordinates were gone, he was the only one left. He has clearly seen how they died, the 4 daggers unbelievably pierced through their weapons! "We have no hatred between each other! So why! Why must you massacre the entire Laughing Knives?!" The leader knew that it was impossible for him to escape, much less win. Right now, all he hoped was to know why would someone massacre them mercilessly. Shadow looked at him emotionlessly and said in a cold tone, "Assassin''s guild. Mission." "Y-you!!" The leader could not accept this. He definitely could not! To think that they were all massacred by a piece of paper. The leader slowly stood up. His eyes were blazing red. All of his fear was converted into rage. Even if it caused him his life, he was going to take a bite off the opponent in front of him. At the corner of eyes, a dagger shot towards him, aiming for his head. The leader raised his axe and immediately spun it, causing the dagger to be deflected at an angle. After that deflection, he continued his advance towards Shadow. Shadow released the rest of the daggers and soon enough, they overwhelmed the leader. Eventually, blood started to seep out from his arms, legs and body. Knowing that his end was near, the leader laughed at the sky, his voice echoed out, "HAHAHA! You are like someone that I heard of before! I know! The imperial army! HAHAHA! Everyone knows that they massacred the entire Dark Forest region..." When Shadow heard his word, rage replaced the coldness in his eyes. Both of his eyes radiated red and golden light and his killing intent surged, in an instant, Shadow grabbed a dagger and impaled it into the leader''s head. His mouth in a laughing manner. The aftermath of the one man massacred was a sight to behold. The scene was extremely bloody with bodies strewn everywhere. Bai witnessed the entire scene in shock, he was surprised by Shadow''s strength, but he was even more surprised at Shadow''s ruthlessness and merciless actions. Shadow knelt before the leader. His breath was heavy, his eyes contained traces if uncertainty and guilt. ''Am I like the imperial army? What...have I done? Brother Lin, what should I do? Brother Lin...'' Thinking up to this point, Shadow broke down and quietly wept. Tears flowed out of his colored eyes and down his pitch black face. His emotional state had completely broken down, his mind was in turmoil. Suddenly, a hand was placed on his shoulder. Without looking, he knew that it was Bai. With the comfort and reassurance of the hand, Shadow cried even harder. He was unsure of where to go from now on. Chapter 16: Departure After a while, Shadow stood up and looked at Bai in the eye. Upon seeing Shadow''s appearance, Bai was startled at first but he quickly regained his composure and looked back at Shadow. Slowly, Shadow spoke, "Bai...what should I do now? I..." His tone contained traces of sorrow and regret. After thinking for a while, Bai replied solemnly, "Let''s give them a proper burial if you really can''t get over it." Silently, Shadow nodded. The duo then found 2 shovels from a hut and immediately began the digging process. Once the burial pit was deep and wide enough, both of them carried the bloodied bodies and placed them into the pit. As Shadow was placing one of the corpses into the pit, he glanced at the ears. However, he gave a soft sigh and continued placing the corpse into the pit. The overall process lasted nearly 2 hours. The last one to be placed in was the leader himself. At this moment, Bai suggested, "You can take his head. Otherwise, you really gain nothing this time round. Furthermore, this guy went to several small villages and raped the women there while sentencing their husbands to death." Hearing that, Shadow nodded and cleanly sliced off the leader''s head using the dagger. Shadow then kept the head inside a cloth bag that he prepared in advance. Soon, the duo left the bloody ground, leaving behind a pile of soil with a tombstone on top. 2 words were carved on it ''Laughing Knives''. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. *** Assassins Guild. Main hall. Shadow passed the head over to the receptionist while presenting the mission paper. The receptionist was still the woman from before After checking the details and accomplishment of the mission, she exclaimed, "So fast! It''s a pity that the extra reward could not be presented." Shadow remained silent. Seeing that Shadow did not reply, the receptionist moved on to the next question, "Do you want to your payment to be spirit stones or gold?" "Spirit stones," Shadow curtly replied. The receptionist proficiently took out 10 spirit stones and presented it to Shadow. She spoke up once again, "You are now available to choose your life weapon. Do you want to choose now?" If it was before, Shadow would have immediately said yes. However, he wasn''t in the mood to choose right now, in fact, he doesn''t want to do anything. "No. Goodbye," Shadow stored the 10 spirit stones and walked out with Bai. "What a weird guy..." The receptionist stared at the back of Shadow before shaking her head and attended to other assassins. *** Regarding Shadow''s decision of not choosing the life weapon, Bai did not question it. He knew that what Shadow needed right now was some time to be alone. "Shadow, do you have any place to stay? You can come to my house," Bai immediately thought of it and asked. "It''s okay. I have a place to stay. Can I ask you something Bai?" Shadow lowered his head and softened his voice. "Go ahead." "Am I...am I evil?" Shadow asked in a tone of uncertainty. "I do not know where you come from nor who you are. But there''s one thing I know for sure, you are not evil. I believe in you," Bai seriously said. Shadow''s shoulder rose up and slowly dropped back down. A small ''thank you'' could be heard under his breath. Shadow then turned to leave while waving his hand. Suddenly, Bai felt that this was the last time he was going to see him. Bai immediately said, "Here take this!" A coin pouch could be seen flying towards Shadow in a beautiful arc. Without turning around, Shadow caught it. He then continued to walk forward while waving his hand at Bai. "Goodbye Shadow," Bai hoarsely murmured. His eyes were red with warm tears, his fist so tightly clenched such that the knuckles turned white. When Shadow disappeared into the darkness, tears once again streamed down his face. He could not hold it back anymore, the ache in his heart was too painful to bear. When Shadow reached the city wall, his whole body dissolved into a cloud of black mist and phased through the wall. He then materialized and walked in a straight line towards a particular direction. He had no direction. For the next few days, Shadow continued walking non-stop. When he was tired, he would use Dark Qi to support himself. When the amount of Dark Qi left in his body became minuscule, he would consume Dark Qi pills to replenish the Dark Qi in his body. Unknowingly, Shadow walked into a dense forest and soon enough he could hear the sound of water flowing. At this time, the Dark Qi in his body was almost depleted and he opened his cosmic ring to take out a few Dark Qi pills. However, the small amount of pills could not stand up to his profligate behavior and was thus, completely depleted by Shadow. Without any Dark Qi supporting his body, the scene in front of Shadow blurred and soon, he collapsed on the ground with a loud thud. Chapter 17: Sword Devil The light in Shadow''s eyes flickered before they completely lit up. Still in his somewhat languid state, Shadow regained consciousness and started to observe his new surroundings. Large black trees with a dense black mist surrounded him. Shadow immediately became alert of his new environment and started to circulate his Dark Qi. ''Hmm?'' When Shadow glanced at his waist, he could see a vortex of black mist coiling around him, as if they were sucked into a black hole. Upon discovering that the black mist contained a large amount of Dark Qi, Shadow immediately sat down and started gathering more Dark Qi. Woosshh! The flow rate increased and Shadow''s body became darker and darker. Just when Shadow felt that he was about to explode from the amount of Dark Qi in his body, he imagined that the large amount of Dark Qi was compressed into a tiny dark core. When the Dark Qi gathered into one small area, the pressure increased sharply, causing the the core shaped Dark Qi to dispel. Again! This time round, Shadow increased his concentration and forced the Dark Qi together again. Hong! As the pressure from the gathering of Dark Qi was subdued, the Dark Qi was forcibly formed into a core. The residue energy was then released into the surroundings which caused the loud sound. A core was formed. However, it was still unstable with a few cracks here and there. ''It needs more Dark Qi!'' Shadow immediately utilized his cultivation technique again to absorb the Dark Qi. As the Dark Qi began to fill up the cracks, an extremely round dark core with a tinge of golden and red glow was formed. For normal cultivators at the Core Formation stage, the color of their core determined the quality of their core. Of course, those with a higher quality are naturally stronger. Starting from the lowest quality was white, followed by purple and red. As for golden cores, it was extremely rare such that it only appeared once in history. After spending all of the Dark Qi to form a core, the Dark Qi in Shadow''s body was once again, extremely lacking. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Sensing that there was not much Dark Qi left in the black mist, Shadow greedily replenished his body with the remaining Dark Qi. "Huuu," After the whole process, Shadow breathed out of a breath of putrid air. After advancing to the Core Formation stage, Shadow felt that his body and soul is now cleaner and purer. When the excitement died down, Shadow carefully evaluated his surroundings. The black mist was much lighter now which allowed Shadow to see further. A small waterfall could be seen at a distance and large tress stretched as far as he could see, causing the surroundings to be quite dark. Occasionally, thundering roars of ferocious beasts could be heard accompanied by sounds of laughter. This forest was extremely dark and creepy! Shadow shivered at the laughter as he could feel his scalp tingling incessantly. Shadow knew one thing for sure, it definitely wasn''t human. Taking out his map, Shadow started to find his location. ''By starting from the west gate of Phoenix City, I''ve walked across an endless stretched of dessert, which leads to...'' Shadow traced his finger on the map until he came to a large patch of dark-colored area. When Shadow saw the name of the place, he stared at it for a while longer before his gaze turned serious. Lands of Despair. Yes, he has came to the demons'' territory. Upon seeing that there''s no telling which was the way out, Shadow sighed before heading towards the waterfall. Using his Dark Qi in his body and the rotation of the core, Shadow steadily rose up and flew towards the waterfall. Thud. Shadow conveniently landed on a small stone in front of the waterfall. When he saw his own reflection in the waterfall, Shadow''s eyes immediately turned cold. Instantly, the previous tragic memories invaded his mind. The more he thought about it, the more erratic the Dark Qi in his body became. With a surge of killing intent, Shadow struck out at his own reflection. Instead of hitting a rock surface, a large cave was revealed when the water was dispersed. Shadow immediately came back to his senses and jumped through the waterfall. If one did not look carefully, they wouldn''t be able to realize that there was a cave behind the waterfall. The cave was about thirty meters deep with a height of around 10 meters. Walking along the cave, Shadow noticed that there was a lot of scratch marks on the rock wall made by a sharp object. Bracing for danger, Shadow advanced further. When he reached the end of the cave, Shadow saw a skeleton seating there. Observing the skeleton, Shadow saw that it was a skeleton of a male and a simple black cloth was draped over it. On the walls beside the skeleton, Shadow saw a few writings. It went like this: To whoever that find this place, To meet me here is fate itself and to learn from me, is a privilege. You must be thinking how laughable it is that a skeleton has such big words. Really laughable. I''ve existed countless eras ago, when the world was still in its primordial stage. Since you have met me here, I shall impart my sword skills to you. Sword Devil. Shadow''s gaze lingered on the name at the end. Next he turned to the other side of the wall, surprisingly, there was 3 swords and a wooden tablet planted into the ground. Shadow went to the first sword and read the words below it. "This was my first sword. It was so sharp and powerful such that I defeated all the geniuses from all the sects around the world when I was in my teenage years". The next item was a wooden tablet, when the Shadow saw the words, his eyes lit up. It went "The next sword was my second sword. This sword was extremely flexible and could cut enemies at various angles. However, I have used this sword to injure righteous men during my 20s which caused me to feel extremely remorseful. Hence, I cast it into a deep canyon". The next sword was a large metal sword that seemed incomparably heavy, below it was "This was my third sword. It emphasized on simplicity; killing with one strike. With this sword in hand, I roamed unparalleled under the heavens in my 30s". The last sword was a wooden sword. "My last sword was no sword. When I reached the age of 40, I have attained the highest comprehension of Dao of Swords. Anything can be my weapon, grass, leaves, rocks... With just a thought, a battle was over. Ever since then, I have never tasted defeat such that I longed for defeat. My wish was granted when I was defeated by the flow of time". Shadow let out a breath of air. One word. Domineering! Too domineering! When Shadow was about to explore the cave carefully, he saw a few words carved below the four swords. "Now. Which sword would you choose?" Shadow''s looked at the four swords and his heart skipped a bit. Chapter 18: Using Water Droplets to Sharpen a Sword Shadow did not think the Sword Devil would allow him to choose a sword and hence, he was momentarily surprised upon reading the words carved on the wall. Steadily, Shadow reached out his hand and gripped the handle of the third sword. Even without pulling it out, the large metal broadsword was already towering over Shadow. Firmly gripping onto the gigantic sword, Shadow lifted it up with both of his hands. However, it did not butch an inch. Upon seeing this scene, Shadow frowned and channeled Dark Qi into the sword. He then attempted to pull it out again, this time with the aid of Dark Qi. Boom! The layer of dust on the sword was dispelled into the surroundings by the Dark Qi, forming clouds of dust around the sword. When Shadow looked at the sword again, he realized that it only moved by an inch. ''F*ck!'' Shadow could not help but curse in his heart. Not willing to lose to a lump of metal, Shadow activated all of the Dark Qi in his body and his black core began to rotate. He was going all out! By using of all his might, the sword began to emerge out of the ground, inch by inch. As it was being pulled out, various spiderweb-like cracks started to form on the ground. Hong! As the sword was completely pulled out from the ground, it emitted out a deep and thundering sound. Marveling at the sword he was holding, Shadow could not help but feel intimidated by it. The sword was about 1 meter taller than Shadow and it''s width was extremely thick for a sword. Just by looking at it, one would shiver uncontrollably. Imagine getting hit by it... Suddenly, Shadow started to feel like fainting; The Dark Qi in his body was about to be depleted and the black core was churning rapidly, pushing it to the limits. Just by holding the sword upright, it required a core formation stage cultivator to use up all his Qi, what more about swinging it. Shadow instantly dropped the sword at a certain angle, causing a crater of 2 meters. Once he no longer needed Dark Qi to support the sword, the black core in his body began to calm down.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Boom! Without giving Shadow any time to rest, another incident soon occurred. As Shadow glanced towards the source of the sound, a giant slab of stone crushed down on the cave entrance, causing it to securely sealed the cave. Shadow eyes widened and immediately rushed to the entrance of the cave. Using the tiny amount of Dark Qi left, Shadow punched towards the stone debris. However, just when he made contact with the stones, an unknown force repelled his fist and completely dispersed the Dark Qi in his fist. All of a sudden, an ancient voice rang out. It was loud yet gentle, causing one to be mesmerized by it. "Do not fret. I am only a wisp of residual will left behind. When you found this cave, it was fate. When you pulled out the sword, you are qualified to inherit my legacy." It continued, "The third sword. It''s name is God Decimating Sword. To train in this sword, one has to stand onto the stone platform and swing the sword one thousand times sideways and another one thousand times vertically. When it rains, water droplets will drip from the top and onto the stone platform. Use the water droplets to sharpen the sword." "In order to master this technique, the cave would be sealed upon pulling the sword. Any form of attacks is useless. Only by mastering the sword would you be able to get out." "Work hard." After that, the voice faded into the abyss. "..." Shadow was speechless. ''Work hard my ass! Using water droplets to sharpen a sword, are you shitting me?!'' Shadow''s heart was in turmoil. How long must one take to sharpen a sword using water droplets? one century? Two centuries? To hell with it! Shadow was extremely frustrated, he did not have the time to stay that long, there was still something that has to be taken care. Shadow got up and once again, relentless landed several punches onto the stones. However, the result was still the same. At last, Shadow plopped onto the floor, he gave up trying to escape. Giving the large sword in the corner a glance, Shadow helplessly gave a bitter laugh. Putting everything aside for now, Shadow adopted a seating position and started to cultivate as the Dark Qi in his body was alarmingly low. *** As night dawned, the Lands of Despair plunged into a terror house. Various demons roamed the forest in search for prey while several bone-chilling roars could be heard coming from some frightening existence demonic beasts. However, Shadow was unaffected by it. The cave was surrounded by a layer of mysterious force, preventing anything it from going in and out. Slowly, Shadow opened his colored eyes. The Dark Qi in his body was almost replenished and his black core was in an extremely stable state. He was at the Core Formation lower stage. With only one way out of this place, Shadow decided to begin his training. First of all, sharpening the sword... "I wonder..." Shadow spoke to himself as he took one of the Profound ranked daggers and directed it towards the edge of the God Decimating Sword. Chiink! With the clashing between metals, the dagger shattered into a thousand pieces while the colossal sword remained the same as before, not even a single scratch could be seen. "..." Shadow could not help but gawk at the scene before him. Isn''t this way too ridiculous... With a sigh, Shadow looked around and found the stone platform. It was located at an obscure corner in the distance. Dragging the large sword behind him, Shadow trudged towards the stone platform. By doing so, he could decrease the outflow of Dark Qi to the minimum. When Shadow reached the platform, he saw several foot prints etched into the stone platform and upon glancing onto the stone walls, he was shocked beyond belief. The walls were riddled with countless small holes accompanied by deep slashes of various sizes. "Don''t tell me water droplets created the small holes..." Shadow stared in disbelief as he wondered who in the world was this terrifying Sword Devil. However, after giving it a thorough analysis, the end result was even more shocking. As the water droplets dripped from the ceiling, this senior wielded the colossal sword and directed all the water droplets to the side of the wall, not letting even a single droplet dripped onto the floor. Shadow gave a helpless sigh before picking himself back up. Stepping onto the stone platform and gripping onto the colossal sword with both hands. ''One thousand horizontal swings, here I come.'' Chapter 19: Shadows Will Day 1. Shadow''s gaze sharpened as he imbued his Dark Qi into the colossal sword and slowly, he lifted up the sword with much effort. Once the sword was at his waist area, his feet sunk into the stone platform, causing a shoe mark to be embedded in it. The Dark Qi in his body churned as he tediously swung the sword horizontally. Immediately after that, he retracted his Dark Qi and with the loss of support, the sword came crashing down and struck the stone platform, surprisingly, only a small crack formed on the stone platform. The momentum that the sword brought caused the whole cave to tremble, however, the mysterious force still repelled the force brought forth by the sword. ''One swing!'' Shadow''s eyes gleamed as he prepared for another swing. With that, he continued the swings for the rest of the day, without even resting for a single minute, until the Dark Qi in his body ran out. At the end of the first day, he completed 50 horizontal swings. After Shadow ran out of Dark Qi, he immediately assumed his cultivation state and prepared for another day of training. Day 3. With the passing of each day, Shadow realized that the amount of Dark Qi in his body has increased, even if it''s only by a minuscule amount. Within these three days, Shadow discovered that this cave seemed to have a Qi gathering array as whenever his Dark Qi was exhausted, wisps of Dark Qi would flow towards him, which increased the replenishing rate. At the end of the day, Shadow has completed 200 horizontal swings. Day 7. Rainy day. "998...999...ARGH...1,000!" With a loud groan, Shadow completed his first 1,000 swings. Upon checking the amount of Dark Qi left in his body, the corners of Shadow''s lips curled upwards. Despite finishing 1,000 horizontal swings, there was still one fifth amount of Dark Qi left. Just when Shadow was about to start on the vertical swings, he felt something dripping onto him. Drip...drip...drip... This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Startled, Shadow immediately looked up. From the ceiling, beads of water droplets could be seen dripping down onto the stone platform. ''Right! Sharpening the sword!'' Shadow immediately awoke from the stupor and assumed the horizontal swing stance. His previous thoughts about how ridiculous it was was cast beyond the nine heavens. Using the blade of the sword to deflect the water droplets on the wall, Shadow readied himself as he prepared to intercept the water droplets. With a swing of the colossal sword, a bunch water droplets were successfully deflected onto the walls and to Shadow''s amazement, it created a small depth. However, not all were deflected and some landed onto Shadow. Suddenly, Shadow felt a cooling sensation inside his body. Shocked, Shadow immediately checked his body. As the water droplets touched his body, it was immediately converted into a sparkling grey mist which was absorbed by the unknown dark mist in his body. Instantly, brightly twinkling spots appeared on the unknown dark mist giving off the impression of an extremely exquisite starry sky. "This is...Spirit Qi?!" Shadow could not hold back his shock and immediately blurted out. He had read in a book before that only Dark and White Qi could be found in the Mortal realm while those realms that were higher up in the stellar contained Spirit Qi, which was what cultivator above the Spirit Ascension used to cultivate. Logically speaking, if a cultivator that is at the Spirit Ascension stage and below absorbed Spirit Qi, it would only cause more harm to their body due to the difference in quality of Qi. However, Shadow was an exception. Since he could not figure out why he could absorb the Spirit Qi, Shadow did not give it much thought and focused his attention on sharpening the sword. Eventually, the water droplets stopped dripping and at the same time, the Dark Qi in his body was almost depleted. Swiftly, Shadow assumed his cultivation stance. Day 50. Within these past few days, Shadow could already complete 1,000 horizontal and another 1,000 vertical swings per day with half of his Dark Qi left. Based on Shadow''s assumption, it must have been the Spirit Qi in his body that caused his strength to skyrocket. Whenever Shadow''s Dark Qi fell below half of its initial amount, the unknown starry mist will harden, causing Shadow''s body to become completely corporeal which also granted him an immense amount of strength. Based on Shadow''s observation, the water droplets only dripped for about an hour every seven days, hence, each time he absorbed the water droplets, the Spirit Qi in his body would increase proportionally. After completing the swings, Shadow began his daily attack on the stone entrance. Despite not making a single dent in it, Shadow continued to strike at it, his gaze unwavering. During these 50 days, Shadow endured the boredom, loneliness, pain and suffering. He dedicated all of his effort into training with the sword, even striking at the entrance could be counted as a form of training. Day 70. A starry figure could be seating in the dark, occasionally, several glimmers of light could be seen radiating off the dark blanket. When Shadow woke up this morning, he felt that his was about to make a breakthrough again and thus, instead of sharpening the sword, he was waiting for the water droplets to fall on him. Drip...drip... ''Here it is!'' The black core in Shadow''s body churned as waves of Dark Qi circulated his entire body. As expected, when the water droplets were submerged into his body, the Spirit Qi was immediately absorbed by the unknown dark mist, causing his body to glow brighter and brighter. At the same time, the Dark Qi in his body began to swirl more violently, plunging his body into a state of chaos. Shadow had no idea about how to ascend to the next stage and he could only go with flow. As more Spirit Qi gathered, some of them was dispel into the waves of Dark Qi, causing clashes between the 2 forces. Shadow immediately puke out a mouthful of Dark Qi. Right now, his condition was extremely severe. All of the Dark Qi in his body was tainted with Spirit Qi and his black core was on the verge of cracking under the relentless assault of Spirit Qi. The unknown black mist was, however, perfectly fine. As Shadow tried to moved out of the stone platform, the black core in his body exploded, causing a tremendous wave of energy to be emitted out. Amidst the chaos, a dark figure was flung lifelessly against the entrance. Shadow wasn''t moving at all, the colored eyes dimmed as a large hole remained at his torso. Hong! As the cave quietened down, the colossal sword suddenly vibrated, causing the air around it to tremor. In the next moment, it hovered above the stone platform and slowly, it turned and its handle was pointed towards Shadow. Chapter 20: Nightmare Inside the imperial hall knelt the two Elite War Generals. Despite their ruthlessness and domineering strength, they still obediently knelt before the Human Emperor with their heads bowed. "Rise. How come there''s only two of you?" The Human Emperor plainly questioned. Both of the Elite War Generals gulped and one of them took the courage and spoke up. They knew that they had to face this sooner or later. "M-my King, Elite War General Er was unfortunately killed in the process of fighting with the Patriarch of Righteous Sword Sect," Elite War General Yi nervously spoke. The Human Emperor was silent before speaking up again, "Since both of you have succeeded in cleaning the Dark Forest Region, I will let this go. However, remember this. There won''t be a next time." The Elite War Generals sighed in relief as they thought that they have overcame this obstacle. However, another challenge soon presented itself. "In a week''s time, I want a hundred virgin girls and a hundred virgin boys to be brought before me. While you are at it, choose another suitable candidate for the Elite War General position. Do not fail me this time." "Yes, My King!" Both of the Elite War Generals replied without a shred of hesitation. Although they knew that the current Human Emperor was extremely inhumane, they dare not voiced out their objections in front of absolute strength. "Dismissed!" With that, the Human Emperor waved his sleeves and walked further into the imperial hall. Once the presence of the Human Emperor was gone, Elite War General San immediately cursed, "F*ck! This is way too cruel. How are we supposed to this?" As if he did not hear his question, Elite War General Yi gazed into the distance, with occasional flashes in his eyes. Upon seeing that Elite War General Yi was staring into space, Elite War General San gave him a small nudge before asking him again. "Hais... Capture the children from the village located outside of the capital." Elite War General Yi immediately awoke from his stupor and regained that ruthless look. After giving the orders, both of the Elite War Generals once again started to prepare for their next mission. *** Imperial Cultivation Chamber. In a spacious secret underground room within the palace, the Human Emperor firmly walked towards a stone platform with several mysterious runes etched on it. If one look closely, they could feel that the runes were giving off a sinister and devilish aura, causing one''s soul to tremble uncontrollably.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. The Human Emperor then placed his hands on the rune while infusing his Qi into the runes. Soon enough, the walls at the side opened before revealing several cages with naked humans in them. Upon seeing that they were summoned, the naked humans in the cages started to scream in fear while some begged for mercy. Only a few of them remained silent as they stared blankly at the floor, it was as if they had lost all hope. "Quiet!" With an intimidating roar, the prisoners were all suppressed by the force from the Qi. Next, with a wave of his hands, several cages opened and immediately, the chosen ones were then forcefully grabbed by an unknown force and after struggling for awhile, they exploded into blood pools, forming a river of blood. When the blood touches the runes, the mysterious runes glowed and started to absorb the river of blood at an increasingly fast rate. Without waiting for long, the river of blood was absorbed, leaving behind the stench of blood. Once the sacrificial ceremony was done, the Human Emperor then retracted all the cages and nonchalantly left the Cultivation Chamber. *** A dark figure was standing amidst the ruins, observing the surroundings; Whenever the figure tired to touch something, his hands would always pass through it. He was Shadow. All of a sudden, it struck him. Isn''t this Righteous Sword Sect?! Immediately, he ran towards the graves of the Righteous Sword Sect. His mind was in disarray; How did I get here?! What if... What if... When Shadow reached the graves, the scene in front of him caused him to froze. In front of him stood a large crowd of people with their backs facing him. Shadow could tell that they were disciples of the Righteous Sword Sect based on their clothes. "G-guys?" Shadow hoarsely said, his throat turning dry. Slowly, one of the disciples turned around. To be precise, only his head turned. However, what shocked Shadow wasn''t the illogical turning of the head but the face it belonged to. On the face was two bloody holes which had replaced the eye sockets and in that moment, it looked extremely terrifying. "L-Lin Fan?!" Shadow could not help but call out his name. Even though Lin Fan looked extremely terrifying right now, Shadow still wanted to run over and hugged him. However, Lin Fan''s next sentence stopped Shadow in his tracks. "Shadow... Do you know how terribly we died?! It was all your fault! Why have you not avenged us? Why..." Lin Fan''s tone was extremely cold and eerie. "I... I..." But before Shadow could reply, the rest of the disciples turned their heads around, each one of them died differently, however, one thing was common, they all died miserably. In the next moment, their mouths opened and started to chant. Words like "Why?", "We died so miserably!" and "Your fault!" flooded the space. As their voices resounded in Shadow''s ears, his heart started to ache with his hands trembling slightly. Eventually, Shadow''s right eye started to give off a golden light and slowly, he stretched out his right hand, which was similarly, emitting out a radiant golden glow. "Goodbye Lin Fan. Goodbye everyone." Shadow gazed at the crowd with sorrow. Just as they started to run towards him, Shadow softly murmured, "Holy Soul." In a flash, the entire scene was enveloped by a dazzling golden light which seemingly threatened to pierce through the heavens. When Shadow reopened his eyes again, he discovered that everything in front of him was quite dark. After adjusting his eyes to the darkness, he found out that he was still in the cave. ''So it was a nightmare...'' Shadow thought as he struggled to stand. After using the colossal sword as support to stand up, Shadow felt that something was amiss. Suddenly, his body gave a jerk before throwing the colossal sword into the distance. ''How did the sword end up in my hands? How am I still alive? And more importantly, how did I even manage to throw the sword?!'' Shadow''s mind was once again in chaos. After calming himself down, Shadow adopted his cultivation stance and to his horror, he realized that he could not absorb the Dark Qi at all. However, after checking his body carefully, he realized that the unknown dark mist had completely fused with the Spirit Qi and all of the Dark Qi had all been replaced by Spirit Qi. Shadow was dumbfounded. ''Did I just skip a whole cultivation realm?!'' However, he swiftly recovered from his daze and went forward to pick up the God Decimating Sword. As expected, he pulled it out of the ground with ease, it was as if there was a bond between the sword and Shadow. Shadow then carefully scrutinized the colossal sword. It was incomparably sharp while maintaining its previous thickness and size. Filled with anticipation, Shadow advanced towards the entrance and with a casual horizontal slash, an immense force was brought forth, completely obliterating stone walls into smithereens. Amidst the dust, a lone dark figure sauntered out with two distinct colors radiating from his eyes. In his right hand was a colossal sword that was firmly placed on his back. In whole, he was the epitome of Godly. When Shadow flew up into the sky, the cave that he previously resided in collapsed and a grand voice sounded out, "Congratulations, you have mastered the technique and received my legacy. Now, show the world you might!" With a grin, Shadow spread out his divine sense and soon enough, he located a Spirit ranked demonic beast. Demonic beasts were much stronger than ferocious beasts due to their demonic bloodlines. Spirit ranked Demonic beats usually had their own Demonic beats army and that was what Shadow was looking for. ''I will definitely avenge you guys!'' With that, Shadow flew into the direction of the Spirit ranked beast. Chapter 21: Spirit Ranked Demonic Dragon As Shadow glanced down at the forest of Lands of Despair, he could see several demonic beasts scouting the region and the amount of demonic beasts got denser and denser as he flew. ''Looks like I''m correct after all. If not for the Spirit ranked demonic beasts, all these demonic beasts wouldn''t be here guarding it.'' Once Shadow confirmed his thoughts, he quickly increased his pace and with a flash, he was gone. Finally, Shadow halted to a stop and swiftly landed. In front of him was an incredibly large clearing, which was almost as large as two villages. However, what made him stopped wasn''t the clearing but more of what was in the middle of the clearing. A colossal dragon laid on the soft grass patch, its body quivered from time to time due to its breathing. It had a 10 meter long scaly body that was laced with a shade of black, radiating off the weak sunlight. Suddenly, as if it has sensed an intruder, its eyes immediately opened and at the same, it gave off an oppressing aura. When the surrounding demonic beasts sensed the dragon-like oppressing aura, they immediately knelt down and dare not make a sound. Even other Spirit ranked beasts that were miles away immediately retreated back into their cave. Despite the fact that they were all Spirit ranked beasts, the Dragon species still reigned supreme over the other lesser species. However, Shadow was unaffected by the aura and with a sharp gaze, Shadow raised his left hand into the sky. With an imposing manner, Shadow tightened his fists and the once oppressing aura was suppressed by an even more terrifying aura, instantly, causing a few profound ranked demonic beasts to bleed from their orifices. The dragon hissed and immediately curled up into a ball. Unexpectedly, it spoke with a gruff voice, "What do you want?" As long as a beast achieved the Spirit rank, they would be able to gain intelligence and communicate, and once they have reached the upper stage of Spirit rank, they would gain the ability to turn into human form. In other words, they could become demons. Upon seeing that the dragon did not brazenly strike out at him, Shadow retracted his aura and calmly said, "I needed an army, one filled with demonic beast. And a Spirit ranked demonic beast as a mount." "Ridiculous! Your greediness will the death of you!" With that, the dragon immediately launched at Shadow, its mouth was opened, displaying two rows of impeccably sharp teeth. Without saying anything, Shadow raised his hands forward and in the next moment, several sharp spikes appeared out of nowhere, piercing into the flesh of the demonic dragon. The impalement caused it to be entangled in the air, rendering it helpless. "Haha... Go ahead and kill me! This sovereign here is not afraid of death!!" When the demonic dragon saw that it was impossible to injure this intruder, much less kill him, it decided to choose death instead. It would rather be dead than to suffer in humiliation. Seeing that the demonic dragon had given up all hope, Shadow dismissed the sharp spikes as they fade into nothingness. This skill was evolved from [Hidden Dark Swords] to [Void Swords], granting Shadow the ability to form swords made up of Spirit Qi wherever he prefer.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Without saying anything, Shadow gently paced towards the fallen demonic dragon. However, in the eyes of the demonic dragon, the figure in front of it was simply a death god, sending shivers down its spine. When it saw that the figure has stopped in front of him, the demonic dragon closed its eyes, embracing the impending death. However, after a short while, the pain and the torture did not come and instead, it felt an extremely refreshing and familiar sensation circulating in his body. Astonished, the demonic dragon immediately opened its beautifully colored eyes and the scene in front of it dumbfounded it. But before it could voice out its surprise, it heard the figure''s words. "Heal." Obediently, the demonic dragon shut its eyes and concentrated on regulating the dense Spirit Qi flowing into its body. It had never felt such a dense Spirit Qi before, even the immortal realm only has Spirit Qi in its gaseous form! To think that this figure standing before it possessed liquefied Spirit Qi. Too terrifying! However, the demonic dragon immediately frowned as it sensed an excruciating pain coming from its core. Just as it thought it was about to die from the torment of the pain, the flow of Spirit Qi stopped. The eyes of the demonic dragon opened in fatigue. Its body gave a slight tremble before obediently placing its head on the ground. It opened its mouth and spoke, "Thank you for sparing me! Although I''m extremely grateful to you, I cannot be your mount. I would rather die than suffer humiliation. However, I have no qualms about giving you my entire army of demonic beasts." Shadow gazed into the eyes of the demonic dragon and seriously contemplated. When the demonic dragon made eye contact with Shadow, it could not help but shiver in fear. That person''s eyes was too scary! It felt like it was really stared upon by a terrifying existence. "Then... Are you okay with being friends?" Shadow asked after much consideration. The demonic dragon was taken back but immediately replied, "Yes. I have no problem about being friends." A few patrolling demonic beasts heard that and they could not help but cough out a mouthful of blood. ''No problem about being friends?! Did the cold and arrogant dictator just said that? Then why are we still treated as something lower then slaves? F*ck!'' Shadow''s gaze lightened after hearing the other party''s confirmation. However, what he spoke next thoroughly shocked the demonic dragon. "When I was giving you my Spirit Qi, I felt that there were several hidden internal injuries caused by poisoning. Let''s make a deal. I will cure your injuries and in return, when I need help in the future, you shall come to my aid." Shadow proposed. The demonic dragon was once again thrown into a world of surprise. ''If this man can really heal my injuries, then I could get my revenge on those old fogeys!'' "I agree!" Without much hesitation, the demonic dragon replied with force. Shadow nodded his head and sat down on the grass patch before asking the demonic dragon, "Say friend. I''m Shadow. What is your name?" The demonic dragon''s mouth curled upwards attempting to smile, however, it very much looked like a starved beast that has found a prey. "Huo Long. It means fire dragon." "Huo Long... Nice name," Shadow softly sighed, the scene that was playing in front of him felt very similar to the past. A bitter smile formed on Shadow''s face as he closed his eyes and laid on the grass patch. Beside him, Huo Long coiled into a circular shape and gazed at Shadow''s face. He could see traces of sadness and regret in that bitter smile, he knew it all too well. In that moment, he felt a deep connection with the person lying on the grass. Behind them, the setting sun attempted to shine out its last rays of light, giving out the most dazzling rays it has ever given. However, immediately after that, the setting sun was soon engulfed by the night, turning day into night; Hope into despair. Chapter 22: Revenge of Bai Clan(1) The moonlight cascaded the dark room, manifesting a myriad of shadows in the dark room. In the dark room, large swirls of White Qi could be seen flowing into the pores of an elderly figure as the faint moonlight blanketed him, causing a slight glow coming from his body. In front of him was an astronomical amount of spirit stones. Suddenly, the glow from the spirit stones diminished at a visible rate which caused the amount of White Qi in the surroundings to surge. With a low roar, the elderly figure activated the Qi Condensing Formation, forcing the surrounding White Qi to flow into his body. As the immense amount of White Qi gushed into his body, the purple core in his body started to separate into 6 purple pillars. Soon enough, an enormous pressure enveloped the entire Bai Clan and eventually, it covered the entire Phoenix City. In that instant, all of the Core Formation cultivators in Phoenix City frowned as they warily glanced towards the source of the terrifying pressure, and at the same time, a thought appeared in their minds ''Bai Clan!'' However, the elderly figure was unaware of all this. All of his attention was focused on breaking through to the Spirit Ascension stage as beads of sweat dribbled down his forehead. Eventually, the pressure subsided and after a short while, the old man let out a breath of relief as he opened his eyes. His eyes were incredibly sharp as if it contained the will of the heaven. He had finally reached Spirit Ascension lower stage. During the Spirit Ascension stage, one is able to form a connection with the Immortal realm and after the connection stabilizes at Spirit Ascension upper stage, one is able to ascend to the Immortal realm. Of course, the Spirit Ascension stage also allows one to comprehend a certain path of the will. Wills include Sword wills, Spirit wills and many others; Depending on what one prefers. *** Lands of Despair. "Your poison is slowly eroding your Qi. Based on the rate at which it is eroding, you don''t have many years left," Shadow concluded after retracting his hand from the head of Huo Long. During the first time when he was transferring Spirit Qi to the dragon, he could vaguely sense the anomaly in Huo Long''s body. Soon after, information about the poison and the cure appeared in his mind and at the same time, the mysterious dark mist in his body began to undergo a mutation, as if developing a resistance to the poison. Upon his discovery of the change, Shadow was shocked beyond words. He knew that this kind of adaptation was unprecedented and he might very well be the first and the last to be able to do so. Since then, Shadow had decided to properly investigate his origin after his revenge.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "A few years?! Please, big bro. You have to save me... To think that I will die at such a young and tender age..." The wail of the demonic dragon woke Shadow from his thought. Helplessly, Shadow waved his hand and began to narrate the origin of the poison and its cure. "The poison in your body is the unparalleled Qi Corroding Nine Heavens, capable of eroding the Qi of any cultivators. There is only one way to cure it... And that is to force the tainted Spirit Qi out." "Force the tainted Spirit Qi out? Do you know how to do that big bro?" Huo Long asked with a curious gaze. "Yes... By beating you up." After Shadow''s sentence ended, his figure vanished before appearing right in front of Huo Long, bringing with him a gush of wind. Huo Long immediately panicked as he hurriedly retreated backwards while spouting out a bunch of words, "Big bro, we can always talk things out nicely. There''s no need for violence. My mother said..." Before Huo Long could finish his sentence, Shadow flatly spoke, "You have to concentrate on defending my blows by forcing the tainted Spirit Qi to mix with your blood. After the sparring, I will transfer my Spirit Qi to you while you force the blood with the tainted Spirit Qi to seep out of your wounds." After instructing Huo Long, Shadow began his relentless assault on Huo Long''s dragon body. Staring at the incoming fist, Huo Long could not help but shiver. However, he still gritted his teeth and with a glint of determination in his eyes, Huo Long circulated the Spirit Qi in his body to create a bubble of denfensive Qi. BOOM! Large cracks were formed on the sparking Spirit Qi barrier as Shadow''s fist came into contact with it. Instantly, Huo Long puked out a mouthful of blood and to his astonishment, he realized that the blood was black in color and was emitting out a faint strand of Spirit Qi. Fueled by the hope of recovery, Huo Long embraced Shadow''s merciless punches head on and this continued for the entire day. As night fell, Huo Long laid on the grass patch with various open wounds on its body, which was covered in a layer of black blood. He felt like his whole body was tearing apart. "This will be painful," Shadow silently warned before placing his hand on Huo Long''s body. As the dense Spirit Qi coursed through Huo Long''s body, streams of black blood began to flow out, inflicting an immense amount of pain on Huo Long. With an ear-splitting roar, Huo Long let out all of the pain that he was currently enduring. It was too painful! He felt like bottles of acid were dripped onto his open wounds, causing his flesh to burn and sizzle. After what seemed like an eternity for Huo Long, the torture finally ended. After regaining the tranquility in his eyes, Huo Long stared at his completely recovered body before saying, "Big bro, am I completely healed now?" Slowly, Shadow turned around and looked at Huo Long with a face of disbelief. Eventually, he spoke, "That poison has run too deep in your body. We will have to continue your treatment for about another nine days. See you tomorrow." With that, Shadow closed his eyes and began to stabilize the Spirit Qi in his body. "..." Huo Long was filled with an indescribable feeling of grief and despair. The despair that he was feeling right now could not be described in mere words. Chapter 23: Revenge of Bai Clan(2) Knock. Knock. "Come in." A gentle and grand voice sounded out. After taking in a breath of fresh air, Bai Leng Mo placed his hands on the wooden door and slowly pushed it open. "Grandfather," Bai Leng Mo respectfully called out. "Good grandson, your grandfather has finally broken through to the Spirit Ascension stage. However, the other three major powers will not let us go, especially after knowing that I have reached the Spirit Ascension stage," Clan Master Bai announced with a grave tone. After hearing the first sentence, Bai Leng Mo almost wanted to shout with joy, however, upon hearing the second sentence, his face immediately darkened. "Grandfather, I suggest we should do a pre-emptive strike," Bai Leng Mo suggested after some consideration. "Yes. However, now is not the time. Here comes the old fogeys." Once Clan Master Bai''s words ended, three elderly figures could be seen flying into their courtyard. When they landed, an enormous pressure was brought with them, causing several fissures to form on the stone platform. Clan Master Bai''s face immediately darkened. Despite that, he endured it and did not say anything. "Bai Zhang ah Bai Zhang, congratulations on reaching Spirit Ascension stage!" The first figure spoke with mockery in his eyes. He was dressed in a white robe with phoenix patterns imprinted on it while releasing an aura of royalty. He was the Head of the Feng family, Feng Zhi Yi. "Looks like we have to report to the Human Emperor about another existence at the Spirit Ascension stage," Clan Master Qin, Qin Wu, said with his eyes squinting into a line. In response to Feng Zhi Yi and Qin Wu, Bai Zhang remained calm and composed. Bai Zhang then turned his heads towards the Head of the Fire clan, Huo, motioning him to follow up with the two degenerates. Huo hesitated for awhile before opening his mouth, but no words could come out. After a tinge of internal struggling, Huo once again opened his mouth and genuinely greeted, "This one here sees the Clan Master of Bai Clan." This caught Bai Zhang off guard and just when he was about to speak, a voice interrupted him. "Just a mere Spirit Ascension and you immediately change sides, what a pile of dogsh*t!" Qin Wu immediately lashed out at Huo, not even giving him a slight bit of face. "Hmph! Let''s go!" Feng Zhi Yi coldly ordered. When the three of them came here, their original intention was to ridicule the Bai Clan of not knowing its place. Who would have known that Clan Master Huo would suck up to the other party. Just when Feng Zhi Yi was thinking of ways to punish the Clan Master Huo, a rough voice sounded out, "Is this where you could go as you please? Since the three of you have already come, then why not stay behind!" Instantly, an enormous pressure was brought upon the three Core Formation Heads, causing them to slam into the ground. "Bai Zhang! How dare you retaliate against the Feng family?! Do you want the Bai Clan to be exterminated?!" Qin Wu immediately shouted, his face flushed with anger. "Exterminated? HAHAHA... It''s not me that''s going to be exterminated. Why would I, Bai Zhang, be afraid of a mere Feng family?! How laughable!" Bai Zhang roared with laughter and in that instant, his figure was extremely imposing. "Y-you!" Both of the two degenerates were so infuriated that they could not even speak. Only Clan Master Huo endured the pressure silently.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. "Bastard! You will die a horrible death like your son!" Feng Zhi Yi sprouted without thinking. In that instant, he knew that he had f*cked up. Bai Zhang''s laughter immediately come to a halt and abruptly, the surrounding temperature became extremely cold. That was his bottom line; When Feng Zhi Yi brainlessly rattled out, his fate was already sealed. The pressure that Feng Zhi Yi was facing increased exponentially and soon enough, he felt an immense force pummeling entire body into the ground. He could not even lift a finger, what more about defending it. The distance between Spirit Ascension stage and Core Formation stage was just too great. BOOM! After the initial smash, Feng Zhi Yi bruised body was lifted out of the ground. Just when everyone thought that it would be over, Feng Zhi Yi''s body once again kissed the ground. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! After several more collisions, Feng Zhi Yi''s white robe was completely drenched in blood, turning it into a crimson red color. At that moment, everyone present held their breaths, not daring to mutter a single word, for fear of incurring the wrath of the madman. However, Feng Zhi Yi was still Feng Zhi Yi; A brainless fool. As if he did not know what death is, Feng Zhi Yi softly muttered, "Your grandson...will be...will be...the next to di..." Before he could finish, his whole body was ripped apart by a terrifying pressure, even the flesh exploded into tiny particles. Soon enough, everyone was drenched in a red color fluid. However, they did not dare to move a single person. The spectacle was terribly bloody and bone-chilling. With that, Bai Zhang sauntered away with a harumph. Upon seeing that they were free to go, the two remaining Clan Master immediately flew away, disappearing into the distance in a blink of an eye. When Bai Leng Mo and his grandfather returned into the room, Clan Master Bai muscular body suddenly swayed and instantly, he collapsed onto the floor. "Grandfather!" Bai Leng Mo immediately rushed forward to support his grandfather. "It''s okay, it''s okay. Killing one Core Formation while maintaining the pressure on the other two were still quite taxing after all. I just need some time to recuperate," Clan Master Bai weakly explained as he sat on his chair. As if remembering something, Clan Master Bai opened up a secret compartment beneath the chair and took out a black-colored book. The cover page of the black colored book was plain black without any writings on it. It''s pages were tattered and flimsy, as if it could turn into ash with just a touch. "Grandfather..." Bai Leng Mo felt uneasy looking at the book. Although it looked ordinary, Bai Leng Mo could vaguely feel that the book radiated out a faint yet sinister aura. Solemnly, Clan Master Bai spoke, "Bai Leng Mo, prepare to receive the Bai Clan''s inheritance!" In a swift motion, Bai Leng Mo knelt down on one knee and raised both of his hands to receive the black-colored book. When Bai Leng Mo made contact with book, he could not help but shiver a little. Clan Master Bai then spoke, "Even I do not know what it is. However, only use it when your life is in danger. You are, after all, the last hope of Bai Clan." "Last hope?" Bai Leng Mo was stunned for a second. However, he quickly caught on to what his grandfather was implying. "Grandfather! You can''t just go out there and kill them! You will die!" Throwing away all of his previous formalities, Bai Leng Mo immediately blurted out. "Where are your manners!" With a heavy slam on the table, Clan Master Bai immediately stood up and expectedly, the table was smashed into useless wooden planks. "B-but..." "Enough! Go and dismissed the rest of the servants. Even all of our elders have left, you should go too," Clan Master Bai sternly spoke, not giving a chance for Bai Leng Mo to speak at all. Silently, Bai Leng Mo turned around and pushed open the door. Clan Master Bai then added, "You know what the outcome is like. It won''t make a difference even if you stayed with me. What you can do now is to hide and grow stronger. In the future... Nevermind. Go..." "Mmmm..." Bai Leng Mo''s eyes turned red as he turned around, taking one last look at his grandfather. At the same time, his grandfather stared right back at him and gave Bai leng Mo a bitter smile. Abruptly, Bai Leng Mo immediately ran back and hugged his grandfather. His face was plunged into his grandfather''s clothes while he bawled his eyes out. While crying, Bai Leng Mo kept on repeating, "Grandfather, grandfather, grandfather..." "It''s okay, it''s okay..." Clan Master Bai patted Bai Leng Mo on the back while consoling him. He was extremely reluctant to part with his grandson too. But alas! Such is fate. After a period of time, Bai Leng Mo''s crying stopped and eventually, he took a step back and said while gritting his teeth, "Grandfather. I''m going! Take care... I will miss you." "I will miss you too..." Clan Master Bai affectionately said as one drop of tear uncontrollably rolled down his cheek. Upon sensing that he cried, Clan Master Bai immediately turned away from Bai Leng Mo. Bai Leng Mo felt that if stayed here any longer, he won''t be able to leave anymore. Hence, he immediately dashed away with his tears streaming down his face. At the same time, Clan Master Bai closed his eyes as those irrepressible tears flowed down. Both of their hearts were bleeding with pain, it was much more painful than ten thousand swords piercing their hearts. Chapter 24: Revenge of Bai Clan(3) Adorned in a silver armor that perfectly matched his long silver hair, Clan Master Bai knelt in front of the Bai clan''s ancestral tablets. With a respectful and sad tone, Clan Master Bai solemnly said, "Honorable ancestors, I have brought an unimaginable disaster onto Bai clan. I''m not worthy of the surname Bai. But...all I ask is to watch over and protect Bai Leng Mo. Please receive this bow!" With that, Clan Master forcefully placed his head on the floor, leaving behind a stain of blood. After bidding his farewells to his ancestors, Clan Master Bai steadily walked out of the ancestral hall with a rusty sword. "Heh, this will be our last battle¡­" As if it understood what Clan Master Bai was saying, the sword radiated with an even stronger blood thirst. Ever since Clan Master Bai''s first battle, it has followed its master through many other bloody battles, bathing in the blood of its enemies. Without delaying another second, Clan Master Bai leapt off the ground and flew towards the Qin clan. *** "Hurry up! Quickly send a message to the Human Emperor to ask for help. And you, Huo, help me with the Spirit Array!" After the death of Feng Zhi Yi, Qin Wu realised that if he continued to look down on Bai Zhang, he would probably end up in the same fate as him. As such, he immediately set up the necessary preparations to defend against the tyrannical Bai Zhang once he returned home. With an unsatisfied grunt, Huo went forward and channel is Qi into the Spirit Array. ''Tsk, just because I''m weaker than you doesn''t mean you can order me around¡­ I''m still a Clan Master!''. The Spirit Array is a type of trapping formation that confines an enemy in a fixed area and within that fixed area, the skill level of allies will be increased while that of the foes'' will decrease. In other words, buffing the allies and nerfing the enemy. It was granted to the Qin Clan by the Human Emperor for their support in helping him to ascend the throne. BOOM! As the two Clan Masters were busy setting up the Spirit Array, a tremendous force collided with the gates of the Qin Clan, causing it disintegrate. Amidst the clouds of dust, a valiant man garbed in a silver armor calmly sauntered out. Coupled with the aura of the battle worn sword in his right hand, each step of his caused the hearts of his enemies to palpitate. "Go! Kill him! Buy as much time as possible!" Qin Wu instantly recovered from his daze and commanded his guards to go forth. At the same time, the Huo Clan also provided reinforcements by firing arrows engulfed in fire Qi.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. The Huo Clan expertised in combining fire to practically everything; If one combines fire to Qi, then the outcome would lead to the formation of a Fire Essence which was several times stronger than normal fire or Qi. Once enough Fire Essence was gathered, a Spirit Fire would be formed, capable of injuring the physical body of a Spirit Ascension stage cultivator. Clan Master Bai''s cold eyes glinted as he welcomed the first wave of cultivators. ''Hmph, Core Formation middle stage cultivators¡­trash.'' Like the God of Death, Clan Master Bai danced with his sword as he displayed his agile footwork and lethal sword technique. With each wave of his sword, two or three enemies will fall and this continued after all of them have been wiped out. Stepping over the dead bodies, Clan Master Bai finally spoke, "Is that...all you''ve got?" Qin Wu stared at Clan Master Bai in hatred as he clenched his teeth. When Huo was about to flee, Qin Wu suddenly said, "Huo, send your whole clan to face that b*stard! I don''t believe that he won''t go down." Upon hearing what QIn Wu said, Huo exploded with rage, "F*cking hell! Why don''t you send yours too? HUH?!" ''Hmmm¡­an internal strife huh. This will be fun to watch.'' Clan Master Bai stood at one side as he regulated the Qi in his body. Unexpectedly, the previous battle has caused quite a bit Qi. "Are you defying my orders?" Qin Wu asked with an extremely cold tone. "So what if I am?" Huo rebelliously shot back at Qin Wu. "Good¡­ Then you will die along with Bai Zhang!" At this point, Qin Wu was filled with rage. ''This piece of sh*t dares to go against me! Then die!'' Engulfed by rage and hatred, Qin Wu lost all his reasoning as he ordered his clan members, "Qin Clan! Kill them! Kill everyone!" However, no one moved a single muscle. Any logical beings could tell that the Qin Wu right now was not normal and he was not thinking rationally. "You guys want to rebel too?! AHHHH DIEE!!" After seeing that his clan members were defying his orders, Qin Wu went havoc as he send waves of devastating Qi at his clan members. Due to the surprise attack, several of his clan members were immediately struck. Consumed by panic, all of the Qin Clan members started to flee for their lives. In their eyes, their Clan Master was a lunatic. Unaware that he was still connected to the Spirit Array, Huo started to feel that something was amiss as he felt his life force depleting away. In that instant, the Spirit Array suddenly turned red as various strange markings appeared on it. Clan Master Bai frowned as he gazed at the manifestation of the Spirit Array. He could sense a thick and dense aura of a powerful devil coming out from it. ''The Spirit Array is just a cover for this evil array¡­ What in the world is this?'' "AHHH!" Suddenly, two tragic screams rang out. Huo''s body was void of any life force and he struggled to even keep his eyes opened. Whereas for Qin Wu, his was slowly engulfed by a red liquid as it flooded into his five orifices. Several of the clan members stood rooted on the spot, watching in horror as their Clan Masters being engulfed by the evil array. Their Clan Masters were like the supreme being in their eyes and upon seeing the scene in front of them, they lost all hope and will to fight back. Eventually, the corpse of Huo collapsed into a pile of ash while Qin Wu...no, while that thing twist and distort, cracking the bones in its body. After what seemed like an eternity, the cracking finally stopped as the thing floated down. Right now, its face was extremely twisted with two pairs of bloodshot eyes and a mouth full of sharp teeth. It''s body was about three meters tall with red glowing markings all over it. There were a total of three horns on its forehead, making it seemed extremely intimidating. "C-clan Master Qin?" One of the Qin clan members asked timidly. Suddenly, its head twisted towards the voice and slowly, it stretched out its claws. Just when everyone was curious of what it was going to do, the Qin clan member that asked that question burst into a mist of blood. The masses were stumped, until some of them started to scream as they flee for their lives and soon enough, chaos broke out. As if it was toying with its prey, that thing gave a bone-chilling laugh as it continued to point its claws at the fleeing masses.