ã€ŠImmortal Ascension Tower (OLD)ã€‹


 Book 1: Reborn - First Arc: The Child And The Dragon - Prologue

    Humanity has always wondered and pondered about what would come next. So when humanity experienced death, the thought that formed in many people''s heads was one and one only... What next? What comes after death? Is it the extermination of the soul? Reincarnation? Or is there a completely different world altogether?

    Well, people say that men create their own gods, and just like that, those thoughts became a place where rivers of souls and consciousness flowed. Countless souls of countless creatures, some would disappear, some would enter a new world while some would drink the old lady Meng''s tea and forget everything about their past lives, allowing themselves another chance in the same world.

    It was such a place. There was no ceiling and yet no sky could be seen. The ground was completely black, nothing would ever be able to grow in the black dirt as it had been in the presence of Death for far too long to bear Life.

    Long rivers flowed. What flowed was not water though, after all Water is also, in a way, the source of life, no water would be able to flow in a world of death. Countless bright ethereal bodies were what took the place of the water and formed those long rivers on the black dirt: souls.

    Countless souls passed every single moment on those yellow rivers of death... Those rivers... Were the Yellow Springs!

    In that hellish place thoughHewas different. He simply stood there, alone, in the dark, looking upwards towards where the sky should have been. He was special. Souls had no bodies, thus they also didn''t have eyes to see. But He could see, meaning that He was not a soul... He was something else!

    He had no memories... No memories of Himself nor of any others. He just laid on His back and looked upwards, as the time flowed on, and on, and on.

    When He had arrived in that place, information had appeared in his head, instantly wiping away everything else: this information told Him that He simply... wasnot.

    Although something might have made Him suspicious as He was clearlynotnothing, the same presence that had wiped away His memories had also took away his Logic and Intuition, leaving nothing left except for the one fact: he wasnothing. Hewasn''t.

    It remained that way for a long, long time... All was black and the darkness in his mind showed no sign of going away. He noticed the passage of time, but He didn''t give it a thought. He couldn''t. All was the same for a full thousand years...

    Until the Light finally reached His eyes. In the black dirt of this world of death, a crack appeared. From the crack, a pellet came out: completely golden in color, it couldn''t be described as anything else but a Spark of Light for it was just so bright!

    It appeared suddenly, the dazzling Light... A Light that would then proceed to dispel all the Shadows!The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    With a flash, hazy memories that shouldn''t have existed, wiped away and erased, reappeared as clear as the day. After a full thousand years,Heknew, He knew where Hewas.

    He was in the world that came after Life, a World of Death, so to speak. He was at the entrance of the Yellow Springs, cursed to never reincarnate nor pass on, cursed to watch the starless sky until the end of time.

    He had died but His death had been sealed... Much more of a curse rather than a blessing, but now... He would use that same curse against that same person that had imprisoned Him within His own mind!

    Since His death was sealed He could have gone back in the world of the living any time He wanted... Unfortunately, that darkness in His head didn''t allow that. It had taken away His consciousness, the knowledge that Hewas.

    It only gave Him the knowledge that He didn''t exist, that He had no body and wasn''t really there... Truly something that contradicted itself, but His muddled mind could only accept it as He had no way of knowing.

    The Light flashed again and more shadows got dispelled. He finally knew, after a full thousand years, He knew who He was.

    He was Xu Ling, He was the Evil Saint. He was the one who challenged the Heavens, the one whom brought chaos to the Nine Heavens of Tian...

    Once again golden flashes reached Him and more shadows also disappeared.

    A thousand years wasted, a thousand years stolen away, a thousand years Hewillpayback! Because, right then, at that time, He knew. He knew what Hehadto do.

    He smiled with a mouth that his mind had insisted wasn''t there, He laughed even though he should have known that His vocal chords shouldn''t exist. He stood up on His legs when He shouldn''t have had any, and took the golden light in His hands.

    He had no hands right? Yet He could hold it, no mouth yet He swallowed it. He didn''t exist yet He also did. All didn''t exist and that was why He couldn''t see, yet all still was there so He Could see.

    If He was nothing He would not do anything. If He did anything He wasn''t nothing. If He wasn''t nothing He did. If He did He wasn''t nothing.

    Hedid,therefore Hewas... That was an undeniable fact. Tobeis todo, because something can''t be thought to exist unless it had a need or did something. But hedid. Therefore hewas!

    Understanding that, the deepest shadow in his mind also faded away and the invisible shackles that bound him to this place broke down. It was then. That this fake image of Death couldn''t hold Him anymore.

    After a full one thousand years of blankly staring at the starless sky, the stars reappeared and then He knew. He knew that they had been there all along, it was just Him that didn''t have the power to do that final step and see them.

    The black dirt beneath Him turned back into the cold ground and the once still air now brushed in waves against His skin. The sky... The earth... The wind... He lifted a small hand. At first He was taken aback as the hand was really small, but then He smiled.

    The golden light pill that He had swallowed let out a feeling of warmth from His stomach. The warmth comforted him as He enjoyed the feeling of laying on the cold ground instead of the black dirt.

    He breathed in the cold air of the night. It was cold and when it reached His lungs it burned a bit... Although He felt pain, He still laughed. A small pair of golden eyes blinked as a small mouth opened.

    The long black hair fluttered in the night wind and the eyes focused on the beautiful starry sky above him.

    "I have returned!"

    Note: an original Xuanhuan by yours truly! Name''s Cookie, nice to meet ya!

 Chapter 1 - The Dirty Eight Years Old Boy

    The Heavens and the Earth. Two completely different worlds that rarely had anything to do with each other, yet tales and legends of the Heavenly Realm, the Jade Emperor, the might of his powerful guardians and the battles against powerful foes caught the ears of the mortals nevertheless.

    Especially tales like the one of the Evil Saint that tried to destroy the world which, by the way, was also every mother''s favorite if their child didn''t refused to go to sleep.

    If that happened, they would say stuff like "If you don''t go to sleep soon, the Evil Saint X¨± L¨ªng and his army of monstrous beasts will come and eat you!" At that, the child would tremble in fear and immediately go to bed.

    This... ''Evil Saint''... was actually a person whom the heavens had angered. A man that, together with his army of Heavenly Beasts, humans and many kinds of monsters who also had grudges against Tian''s Nine Heavens, fought for all other living beings'' freedom and rights!

    He had no intention on destroying the world, but it happens quite often that History is laid down by thewinners.It didn''t matter what had truly happened: in the eyes of the common people, what those in power said, it would be the truth!

    The losers had no say in this, and X¨± L¨ªng had, unfortunately, lost. Following that, his righteous ideals were distorted and he turned into the enemy of all that lived beneath the Heavens.

    His nickname, Evil Saint, which was bestowed upon him many years prior, also didn''t help on restoring his image and he was thus branded as a criminal.

    After all, while people would also fear those who had power they would at the same time bully those who hadn''t. Xu Ling had lost and had been killed, so mortals immediately started to distort the truth even more with fake stories about his cruelty and ruthlessness.

    He was branded as weak and was thus slandered, as that is the way both human and all other corruptible living beings have lived, live andwilllive for many more years.

    People, though, would also admire and encourage those that went against the odds, as they would pity the weak, but once that person won, their actions would make a 180 degrees change: admiration would turn into envy and their encouraging would turn into scorn.

    One of the many reasons, apart from the lack of talent or external support, that true geniuses are rare is that some of them couldn''t endure this change of attitude and would subconsciously restrain their abilities. If reasons like that didn''t apply to a person, then that person would undoubtedly rise higher than anyone else in the world. Rise higher and then dominate every single being besides him.

    If a person with unmatched talent, a willpower capable of shaking the Earth and make the Heavens tremble and apathy towards the envy and scorn of others existed... What then?

    Would such a genius be restrained by the Heavens? By Death? By Age? What can any of these weak shackles do in the face of insurmountable power?

    ...

    A black blur shot through the forest at speeds at the very limit of what a human body could handle. It kept speeding down the mountains and running through swamps for at least half a day before finally slowing down.

    When it finally stopped on top of a tall cliff, the figure could finally be seen a bit more clearly: it was a young boy. He was wearing ragged clothes, and carried a huge backpack on his shoulders.

    His skin and clothing were so dirty that he appeared completely black. If it weren''t for the pair of bright, golden eyes and the two rows of perfect, white teeth, one could easily mistake him for a shadow.

    The child wasn''t panting and didn''t seem all that tired even after going through half a day of traveling at his full speed. If it weren''t for the slightly rugged breathing, he would have looked like he had gone for a simple walk to the park near his house and just came back.

    Looking in the distance below the tall cliff, a gigantic fortress whose walls kept going for tens of miles could be seen.

    Inside the fortress there weren''t just houses made of stones and buildings. Instead, there were many lakes, forests and even whole mountains. The fortress looked like it was built somewhere else and them placed on top of them all. It was as if the one who built it didn''t want to harm the environment more that he already had.

    The boy grinned at the scene and spoke a few sentences, seemingly speaking to himself.

    "This seems to be it. So, what do you say? What would have happened if I had turned left at that time, uh? From now on,Ikeep the map! Anyways, this was a pretty hard journey, even I feel a bit of pressure after running for half a day..."

    The boy stretched for a bit, his body emitted crackling noises, and then asked "Shall we head down?"

    Surprisingly, a voice answered him. It seemed to be the voice of a middle aged man, yet it carried a hint of ancientness "Yes, let''s hurry, wouldn''t want to be too late, right? Especially after running so much to get here on time!"

    The boy looked at the valley beneath the cliff and nodded. Suddenly, his eyes glinted and the pupils within seemed to transform into golden coins as they glittered with greed.

    "Absolutely, sinceIdid all the running! But enough of that, look over there!" The boy exclaimed "What a fat sheep!"

    The boy rubbed his two hands together grinning "Are you thinking the same thing I am?"

    The mysterious voice responded dreamingly, as if intoxicated "It is indeed a beautiful scenery..."

    "Not that, damn Goldy! Look at those fat sheep! My pouch is empty right now and it seems reeeeally sad, look at how it''s bending downwards... We should really help him up don''t you think? Let''s head down!" At that the boy bent his knees.

    "What did you say? Did you just call G-Goldy? What the-" The voice replied enraged. Suddenly, it stopped and the same voice that seemed so terrifying before asked trembling "Uhm... You are not thinking of... Just wait a damn second!"

    The voice seemed to have understood something because it grew louder by the word but before it could say anything else the boy had already jumped.

    "Hey, you crazy boy, I told you to WAIIIIIIIIiiiiiiiit..."

    "YEEEEAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaah..." The boy soon disappeared in the valley below.

    ...

    In the Four Beasts Mountain Range, one of the longest chains of mountains in the Western Continent, many sects and schools have been built. Although they also taught common subjects like maths and literature, their main focus was Martial Cultivation, a way to enhance one''s strength through training and enlightening of special techniques.

    Those people who underwent Martial Cultivation were called Cultivators

    The core of these techniques were Spiritual Energy and Qi. The Qi was... Well, everything. Literally. Everything was made out of Qi with different kinds of attributes. At the same time, Spiritual Energy was a kind of Qi that could be openly manipulated through various scriptures and techniques.

    Cultivators used the Spiritual Energy of the world to enhance their power. At the same time, enlightening of the Qi allowed them to understand various aspects of the Qi more deeply, thus allowing greater control and strength over both the Qi and Spiritual Energy.

    Amongst the ranks of those powerful sects and schools was a single Sect called the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect.

    A thousand years ago, treasures, elixirs, pills, drops of blood holding within great power... anything a Cultivator could ever wish for fell from the Heavens upon the lowly mortal world. Thanks to that, many geniuses rose during that period of time and it was then called the Golden Age of cultivation.

    According to the rumors, a powerful expert had found a big stash of these treasures and thus had enough resources to build a first-rate sect, that same Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect. After his death and a thousand years after the treasure rained down, the Sect had prospered and housed millions of disciples.

    Right now, a group of twenty youths wearing the black and white clothing of the sect were standing together and were happily chatting with an older young man. The older man also wore black robes, but unlike the other younglings who only had on or two white stripes, the man''s robes had three stripes, signifying an Inner Sect disciple.

    "Senior, senior, is it true that you''ve successfully condensed your Core?" A person asked.

    "You stepped into the Advanced Martial stage at such a young age? Senior, please guide us, how did you do it?" A woman''s eyes glinted as she asked.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

    "Eheh, Senior will now have to treat us to a drink right? We have to celebrate!" A burly man laughed and patted the person in question on the back.

    The group of young people kept bombarding the man in his thirties with questions. He was one meter eighty tall and had long flowing black hair.

    He had a somewhat haughty air and his eyes had a bit of contempt in them, but he hid it very deeply "My, my! I am not such a genius, it took a full sixteen years to finally begin to condense my core, how can that be called genius? I am far from being talented..."

    "How can Senior say that!" A young man in his late teens grabbed the chance to flatter him even more "Very few people in the sect have such talent and those people truly are dragon within men, but seeing Senior''s strength, one day Senior will for sure be as powerful as them for sure!"

    "That''s right Senior, if your talent isn''t good enough to be called at the very least above average, then wouldn''t our talent be worse than dog crap?" Some disciple also laughed and jokingly hit the man''s shoulder.

    "Ahhhh, you guys..." the youth shook his head as he chuckled.

    Even though he seemingly kept dodging the praises that other people threw at him him, it was evident that the man actually felt really proud of himself! Stepping in the Advanced Stage at the age of thirty truly was something worth of praise, as some people might even not reach that level of profound martial cultivation at all in their whole lives.

    "Uuuu, seniors, is this the road that brings to the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect?" Just then a small voice could be heard.

    Everybody stopped talking and switched their attention towards the new arrival: the boy clearly wasn''t even in his teens as he was nine years old at most, most likely he was still only eight. He wore ragged clothes, had no shoes and his only belonging was a big, worn out backpack on his back and an empty pouch on his belt.

    The closest people immediately walked a few steps backwards disgusted. The teen was so dirty that even his face was indistinguishable and his long flowing black hair that reached the waist had black earth and mud attached to it.

    It really made one wonder wether black truly was the color of the hair or if it was simply so unclean that it had become like that.

    The worst thing though was that the boy was so stinky that many people had to hold their noses and breath through their mouths: the child seemed to have never taken a bath before!

    "Y... Young child, what matters could possibly bring you to come to my Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect? Is a sibling of yours studying there?" The man that was constantly being sung praises to annoyingly asked the small boy.

    The disgust on the youth''s face was hardly concealable as he clearly laid back and tried to put some distance between him and the dirty child.

    The boy''s eyes scanned the man in front of him and an imperceptible smile formed on his lips as he realized what kind of man he was talking to.

    "Junior has no siblings, relatives nor friends at Senior''s Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect. Junior came to join the sect and become a powerful cultivator just like senior! Senior''s strength can be seen simply by his air and demeanor, truly worth of a king between men" After noticing how much the man seemed to value face, the boy wasted no time and immediately started flattering him in front of the other disciples.

    Soon, the man''s expression turned from disgust to pride and self-satisfaction, as if he had just gained enormous face. He looked around, a big smile plastered on his face, as if he was saying ''See? I am so great even a small child understands how he should act in front of me!''

    He stepped closer to the kid and he waved his hand towards him: immediately, the air flow changed, an invisible pressure started to shake the child''s body and at the same time threw off all the dirt and mud on his figure.

    The boy watched in amazement as the previously dirty him suddenly turned into a clean, refined young boy: his beautiful pitch-black, straight, long hair and big, girly, golden eyes as well as his beautiful and handsome face immediately mesmerized some of the females on the scene that started to hiddenly think of methods to get closer to the beautiful youth.

    Although he had pretty girly looks, there was a hint of courage as well as pride in between his eyebrows. If he was this beautiful while still so young, how breathtaking would he become in the future?

    The boy looked really surprised, opening his mouth wide when he thought about what had happened, but more surprise made his mouth gape even wider when the man that was previously standing on the rock grasped his shoulder.

    The man grinned at the child "Good child! You sure know how to flatter others!" He looked up and the air surrounding them trembled as the two suddenly shot towards the sky.

    The jump was really high and they soon were a hundred feet off the ground. When they were about to fall though, the young boy realized that he was actually as still as a rock on the ground: he was fluctuating in the air.

    He turned towards the man at his side that was firmly grasping his shoulder who was sharing his power of flight with him. The man looked at him and seeing his shocked face he explained.

    "This, little junior, is my power. You were absolutely right, your senior is indeed powerful, junior really has good eyes... This is the power of an Advanced Stage Cultivator!"

    "This younger brother sure knows his ways with words, recognized my strength and even allowed me to show off in front of those ignorant people. As a reward I, Liu Biao, will personally escort you to the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect!" With that, the man that called himself Liu Biao turned towards the tall walls in the distance.

    He smiled and the boy felt a strong pull as they suddenly sped up, moving so extremely fast that the trees beneath them could not be clearly seen and the people below seemed even more like colored blurs.

    In less than twelve breaths they had travelled quite a distance and reached the tall walls of the gigantic fortress. The fort spanned for many miles in both length and width and it was absolutely massive, so big that it could easily house at least a few million men while still having plenty of space left over.

    "Young boy, Senior has given you his name, what is this little Junior''s name?" As they landed and started approaching the tall walls, Liu Biao also started to ask the youth beside him a few questions.

    "Senior, this Junior is called Cheng Hao and he comes from a mountain village in the south. This Junior truly thanks Senior for his assistance and hopes to one day be able to repay kindness with even more kindness. For Senior is so strong, this measly junior truly doesn''t want to waste the great Senior''s precious time and thinks that for Senior''s best it is better to part ways here..."

    Flattery was crystal-clear in the boy''s words, yet the older youth had already fallen for the young man''s soft schemes and sweet praises so much that he actually couldn''t bear to part with the boy. Because of that, he quickly disregarded the boy''s suggestion.

    "Hahaha, this Junior can call me big brother Biao and I will call you little brother Hao, how about it? No need for worries when we are brothers right? Onwards, let big brother help you easily pass the exam for the vacant disciples!"

    Cheng Hao kneeled and his eyes glittered with excitement "Big... Big brother Biao..."

    Seeing that, Liu Biao lifted his head upwards and laughed loudly to the sky. By doing so, though, he also missed the grin as well as the greedy expression that appeared for a really short time on the child''s face.

    "Not yet..." Without being seen he hurriedly closed his front pocket where, for a moment, a golden blur could be seen...

    ...

    A short while later... "Little Bro'' Hao, you wouldn''t by any chance have already started to cultivate, have you? Those trashy cultivation methods that ordinary peasants use could really harm your talent, as it is really difficult to change one''s method midway..."

    "Sen- No, big brother Biao" Cheng Hao stuttered "How could have I? I am so young, how could I possibly have started to cultivate?" The child chuckled before his expression darkened.

    "Our mountain village only had one cultivator, and that cultivator didn''t let even his closest of friends look at his cultivation method, let alone a small, poor and..." the child sniffed "Orphan child like me..." At that he gradually started to slow down and began to sob, a stream of tears also didn''t wait long before falling down the sides of his face.

    "You... You are an orphan?" Liu Biao panicked when he saw Cheng Hao cry even more "Do not worry, you may have no parents, but now your big brother is here! Big brother will protect you from now on!" After saying that he tightly hugged Cheng Hao and let the boy cry his heart out on his robes.

    After a long while, the child seemed to have finally calmed down and he looked at the older man "Big brother, thank you!"

    Liu Biao grinned and pat the boy''s head "Now let''s go... I will make sure you pass that exam! Youwilljoin the Sect" Cheng Hao also looked determinately at the wall that was now only a few dozens step in front of them and nodded before starting to walk again.

    ...

    "What do you mean hecan''tjoin???" Liu Biao furiously banged his fist on the table that immediately got crushed into splinters. Thanks to his actions and fiery temper, all the people nearby had given up on their intentions and steered away as far as they could from the terrifying thirty-years-old young man

    Sitting at the table was a middle aged man: he wore a white uniform with a single black stripe on it. The white robe meant he was yes, an Elder, but that single stripe showed he was only a Vacant Sect Elder.

    Right when the table was destroyed, he found out that the power of this arrogant disciple was higher than his own so he could do nothing but pray that he would let the matter go.

    "E-e-esteemed inner disciple, this boy is too young, we can''t possibly allow such a young kid in our sect, let alone the fact that we wouldn''t be able to measure his talent as martial power usually blossoms once a person reaches his teens!" The Elder tried to explain.

    "Does it seem like I, your grandfather, gives a dog''s crap about your rules??? If I say crawl, you crawl, if I say bark like a dog you bark and bring me back the stick I throw at you while at it, if I say my little brother will join the sect. He. Will. Join. The. Sect. Am I clear?" Facing Liu Biao''s, an inner disciple''s, cursing, the vacant Elder could only shut his mouth and not retaliate, hoping that he would eventually calm down...

    "B-big brother, you don''t have to go as far... I-I will come back in a few years, how about it?" That much attention was unwanted. Cheng Hao also started to tug at the bigger boy''s clothing and urged him to stop, in vain...

    "Look here, you WILL make Cheng Hao a sect disciple now, understand?" Liu Biao yelled.

    "Big brother!" Cheng Hao urged

    "Senior... I-I..." The Elder stuttered as he shook his head.

    "Are you not listening to meeeee?" Liu Biao was on the verge of exploding.

    Cheng Hao gritted his teeth and finally spoke "Big brother, I will just take the test! There will be no problems if Junior can pass the new disciple acceptance exam, right?"

    "Uh?" Both the examination elder and the Liu Biao looked at him and stopped arguing.

    Finally, the enraged Inner Sect Disciple seemed to have calmed down "Little brother, you should know that there are traps and monsters waiting for you if you take the test... Are you willing to throw your life away???"

    "I-I won''t die! Please big brother, just stop arguing!" Liu Biao was stunned and before he could say anymore, Cheng Hao walked towards the area besides where the middle aged vacant elder was sitting, stepped on the teleportation hexagram laid on the ground, the one that would bring him towards the test''s location, and vanished. Both the elder and Liu Biao looked at the fading teleportation hexagram blankly.

    "Does he actually have strength even if he is so young? W-what cultivation does your little brother have?" The Elder managing the examination asked Liu Biao.

    The black robes man paled "He... He... HE DOESN''T HAVE ANY!!!!!"

    Both Liu Biao and the elder looked at the now almost completely gone hexagram with fright.

    "NOOOOOOO!!!" Liu Biao tried to step on the hexagram before it disappeared but failed miserably and landed on the ground fiercely.

    "STOP! Stop the new disciple acceptance exam!"

    "I cannot! There is no way to access an occupied examination room once it is full! Now that it already holds a disciple in it, the exam has already started and unless he dies nobody else can go in!"

    "Nooooooooo! Little Hao!!! Noooooooooooooo!"

    Liu Biao started weeping on the ground and, while drowning in his grief, he didn''t notice that his belt had actually gotten lighter...

 Chapter 2 - Goldy Your Grandfather!

    The examination room was actually a huge floor of what seemed to be a castle: columns of marble stood every few steps and no light filtered from any window as there was none. Only a small crystal on the ceiling let out a bit of radiance. In one corner of the room, an hexagram glowed and let out a dazzling light.

    Soon after that, the light disappeared and on the place where the hexagram previously was, the young 8 years old boy stood instead.

    Cheng Hao threw the huge backpack on the ground. He was holding his stomach and his eyes were full of tears as if he were in great pain. Suddenly he threw his head back.

    "Ahaha! What a fool!" Cheng Hao was literally ''rolling on the flor laughing'' as he clutched in his right hand a belt pouch. On the belt pouch were several glittering runes and it was actually a Heaven&Earth Pouch, a Dimensional Pouch. It could store many objects within while completely removing the weight.

    However, it could not hold within living creatures.

    As soon as he saw that on Liu Biao''s body for the first time, Cheng Hao had already fabricated a plan to get it and it actually succeeded so easily.

    "An Advanced Martial Cultivator, robbed by a child with no cultivation... Your ancestors must be so angry that they must have arisen from the grave just to slap themselves for having such an idiotic descendant!"

    "Now, now... What do we have here?" As he looked inside the pouch his grin got even larger and larger and an expression of shock and pleasant surprise soon followed that "A fool like him actually had such a treasure on him!" He put his hand in the pouch and took out a small blade, less than a foot long. It was transparent and had a lightly golden color.

    It radiated an otherworldly light and, when Cheng Hao let go of the tiny crystal sword, instead of falling on the ground, it floated soundlessly, slightly moving up and down every few breaths.

    As Cheng Hao saw that, he smiled and cut his finger, letting a drop of blood fall on top of it. A bright light suddenly flashed, and the sword grew to be three meters long.

    The object was entirely made of a transparent crystal-like substance that was slowly growing a bit more opaque as the drop of blood flowed on the glittery surface. Suddenly, Cheng Hao clenched his hand and the three meters sword actually seemed to melt and collapse on itself as it became a small marble that could be grasped within two fingers.

    "Where could such a fool possibly have gotten a drop of blood with such a high cultivation??? Is that guy actually from some incomparably high-status family? Amazing! Could I have actually robbed the son of an emperor? Unless... he just stumbled into this single drop by chance and thought it was just a small sculpture or some random object, truly a fool. Don''t you think, Goldy?"

    As he talked he let go of the marble which kept hovering there. Seeing that Cheng Hao nodded pleased and kept checking the content of the Dimensional Pouch.

    "Goldy your grandfather! Cheng Hao, why did we come to such a place? This sect of theirs is so pitiful that it makes my heart bleed" suddenly a golden yellow snake-like creature crawled out of his only front pocket. He looked like a small dragon cub, about a third of an inch tall and a foot long, his body sinuous and covered in golden scales, he had five clawed paws and his head slightly resembled a snake.

    The small snake also had a few short, pointy horns on the back of his head and red hair that went from the top of his head down his neck like a horse''s mane "By the way, while you might want to change your name in this life, don''t you dare do the same with mine! Goldy? What kind of name is that???"If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    "Sorry, but Goldy is so cuuute... I wonder why I didn''t think of that before I died..." Cheng Hao grinned and changed his ragged clothes with a long blue robe from Liu Biao''s Dimensional Pouch "You also need to remember that even though I grasp powerful methods, right now I am indeed in need of resources, so a low profile sect like this is exactly what I need."

    Hearing that the golden dragon-snake glared annoyed at the boy''s back as helped him move all his belongings into the magical pouch.

    "Do not call me Little Gold either! When I was at my peak I was so big that a finger could crush mountains and create oceans! Call me by my real name!" The small beast seemed to pout and at that Cheng Hao couldn''t help but chuckle.

    Seeing the glare of the snake though, Cheng Hao sighed and looked at it with a pained expression "Alright, I will call you by your true name, for this once... I don''t even know if I remember it correctly... Wasn''t it Blindlight Alldevouring Stormchallenger Thronebreaker Allknowing Rebellious Devourer Starextinguisher Notforgiving Amazing Killightning Ender-of-Kings?... Jeez it''s such a pain and quite an ugly name, who in the world came up with it, it''s such a mess of titles... In the end you are just a B-A-S-T-A-R-D S-N-A-K-E, right?"

    "AAAAAGH! Shut up, shut up! Don''t you dare joke around with my name! How do you even get Bastard Snake from my incredibly mighty name at all?"

    Cheng Hao shrugged his shoulders "Learn the humans'' written language and you will see it''s quite the acronym, I still can''t help but wonder wether it was intentional or not... Anyways, it is not my fault your too lazy to learn how read and write in the human tongue... If I remember well, didn''t I catch you exactly because you were so lazy to hunt for food that you nearly died of starvation? A mighty king of the heavenly beasts dying of starvation, I laugh every time I think about it"

    The small golden snake suddenly turned red from embarrassment and purple from fury "Y-you shut up! If it weren''t for me, you wouldn''t even have DREAMED of besieging the three Outer Heavens!Iwas the one that taught you and made you able to use my cultivation method of the Golden Gates of Old as well as allowing you to mount me!" The snake tried to regain some of its lost face.

    Cheng Hao''s face though turned cold "You also are the one that said that Lord Tian was only as strong as me and urged me to fight him with a weaker cultivation base! You probably only did that to sleep for this thousand years, thousand years that I spent looking at the empty sky of the underworld! If it weren''t for that strange golden bead of light that I swallowed, I would have still been there wasting my death away!"

    Recalling the starless sky and the cries of the agonizing souls, he couldn''t help but shudder and put his hand on his stomach, where the Golden Bead of Light was previously located. It had now been long consumed into his body.

    "Mph, you are still thinking about such insignificant treasures while you have a first, no, top rate heavenly beast, a Golden Heavenly Devouring Dragon with you!"

    "What heavenly dragon and dragon, you are just a B.A.S.T.A.R.D. S.N.A.K.E!"

    "Aaa, Cheng Hao, you!!! I..." The two started to brawl, they rolled on the ground as Cheng Hao tried to catch and squeeze the snake while it kept trying to bite with its small head a portion of exposed skin...

    "Ahem!" At that, the duo immediately stopped their movements, Cheng Hao still holding the snake''s lower body with his left hand as the reptile bit with its teeth-less head the same hand, and turned to look towards the sound. A figure resembling that of a human was standing three meters behind them.

    "Uhm... Are you ok buddy? You have been talking to yourself and said some really weird things... Something about a weird blood and a bastard snake..."

    "I''m NOT a bastard snake!" Goldy yelled.

    "Shut up! He can''t see you, let alone hear you! You are an Heavenly Beast, only those connected through Karma with you can notice you" Cheng Hao hissed.

    The figure asked again "... So... are you ok?"

    "He''s not! He''s a son of a b**** and an ugly bastard!"

    "I told you to shut up Little Gold!"

    "Ouch! Cheng Hao, let me go!"

    "Uhm, should I come back later?"

    The creature was a two meters tall humanoid Spirit Beast. It resembled a human but had the head similar to that of a rat, it wore some kind of leather armor and clutched a wooden club in his hands. Counting the fact that both the club and the armor were dirty with blood, its appearance wasn''t really pleasant to the eyes.

    It apparently was supposed to be some kind of obstacle for the new disciples acceptance exam but seeing the way Cheng Hao was acting it was actually pondering whether the weird human in front of him would go crazy anyways before it even lifted a finger...

 Chapter 3 - Bloody Message

    Spirit Beasts were actually creatures which could cultivate so they were really intelligent. Many tipes of Spirit Beasts exist, and they are mainly divided into Humanoid, Monstrous, Evil and Mysterious Beasts. Heavenly Beasts were, instead, lords above all other spirit beasts and the Primordial Heavenly Beasts also, referred to as Lords amongst the Heavenly Beasts, were above all other spirit beasts in both strength and inborn Unique Abilities.

    While some couldn''t because of physical restriction, most Humanoid Beasts could indeed speak the human tongue. This type of spirit beast was one of them and it was usually called the Ironskin Manrat, as it had appearance similar to that of a humanoid rat and had quite a hard skin, making him quite the dangerous beast if provoked.

    "Cheng Hao, you traitorous bastard, did you bring this beast with you so you could beat me with sheer numbers? I never expected such cowardly actions from you..." Goldy chuckled.

    Cheng Hao coldly threw the cursing golden snake behind him where it landed headfirst on a pillar.

    "Goldy, you should know what to do... " The youth said that, took the yellowish crystal marble from his pocket and turned his head towards the snake "You, Bastard Snake, won''t disappoint me will you?" The cold glare made the small dragon tremble and it immediately shot forward.

    ''This, this is the true Cheng Hao!'' Seeing the bloodthirsty aura surrounding the young boy, the snake shivered and hurried towards the exit.

    At that Cheng Hao smiled and turned towards the evil beast once again, his bloodthirsty expression turned once again into the ''innocent-child-Cheng-Hao'' face "Sorry, did I make you wait?"

    "Did you eat something weird before coming here?" The monster was still a bit confused and he seemed to feel pity for the child in front of him.

    "Nah, I just had to listen to a small golden snake that wouldn''t stop talking for twelve whole hours while running under the fierce sun and passing through swamps and climbing mountains..." the small boy whined.

    "Woah man, that sucks!" The Ironskin manrat seemed to feel the pain coming from Cheng Hao as it shrugged its shoulders "You really want to do this man? You could, like, rest a few more hours if you want?"

    Cheng Hao suddenly smiled and waved his arm. The golden marble in his hand seemed to melt as it turned into twelve golden crystal longswords which started hovering behind him like twelve bloodthirsty flying beasts. In this world of cultivation, there are many kinds of weapons a person can use.

    However, once one reaches a certain level, he will find that simple weapons made out of iron won''t be enough. That is why, cultivators created Flying Swords. Made out of countless precious materials, these blades were capable of splitting mountains apart with a single slash!

    However, flying swords are extremely expensive and rare! Only experts can afford them, while those low grade flying swords that can be bought on the market are no different than simple blades enhanced with some kind of magic.

    Right now, Cheng Hao was using the golden drop of blood as if it were a Flying Sword. As the drop was of extremely high quality, it was way stronger than normal flying swords! Most probably, there was not a single Flying Sword in the whole plane of existence that could keep up with those twelve golden blades!

    "Sorry, but I gotta hurry and leave this place before that snake comes back, maybe this way I''ll seal it here..." Cheng Hao winked at the Ironskin Manrat.

    "I heard youuuuuu! Cheng Hao, you bastard, you dare do what?!?" Goldy''s voice could be heard off in the distance.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

    Even before a battle, Cheng Hao showed no concern and he relaxedly kept bickering with his snake companion on the other side of the room.

    Cheng Hao sighed and finally turned towards the ironskin manrat and spoke again "Thanks for your offer buddy, but I REALLY can''t stay here. Do not worry you will die a peaceful death..." Suddenly the childish eyes of the young boy turned completely cold, visions of mountain of corpses as tall as the skies and a golden sun appeared deep in his pupils.

    The soil in the vision was so impregnated with blood, a blood ocean had already formed on top, the mountains of corpses were just small islands here and there... The golden sun was in no way warm and relaxing like the usual yellowish-orange shiny ball hung in the sky. Instead, it was cold to the extreme and everything around it seemed to lose color as their essence flew towards the golden ball...

    The previously cheerful and happy expression on the child''s face also turned scary as his mouth arranged into a fiendish grin. Massive waves of killing intent started emanating from his whole body and the air began to tremble.

    His hair started fluttering, making him look like some killing god, and, before the evil beast could even say anything, it had already almost passed out from the fear on the spot: what it saw wasn''t a young boy anymore, but a giant made of black and white smoke, the facial features distorted into a fiery grin, tens upon thousands of mouths appearing all over its body as golden flames devoured everything surrounding it leaving nothing but ash... The Ironskin manrat''s legs went limp and he fell on his knees.

    Cheng Hao''s eyes returned to their childish appearance and the waves of killing intent also started to subside as he approached the shocked evil beast. He lifted his hand and one of the twelve hovering swords flew into his palm.

    From its previous longsword-like shape it showed some changes as the blade enlarged and it turned into something more similar to a butcher knife than an actual sword.

    A beautiful butcher knife with breathtaking engravings of lotuses and flowers, a beautiful and refined weapon used to turn bad beasts that didn''t listen into pork(or whatever kind of meat an Ironskin Manrat is) cutlets.

    The child played with the butcher knife, the weapon in his hands seemed to slowly turn into a disc as the boy made it twirl like an expert. Light danced on the edge of the blade as he kept rotating the blade even faster. When it reached the point where there was no more knife but only a spinning golden disc, Cheng Hao threw the blade in the air.

    "I hope you enjoy your staying in the underworld... That place truly is a... living hell!" At the terrible pun, the manrat''s seven orefices started bleeding even though he had already passed out.

    Cheng Hao spun on himself, cleanly caught the blade in midair and fiercely slashed the air in front of the kneeling evil beast. Even though the blade didn''t cut into the flesh, a single drop of blue liquid fell from the blade''s tip. The beast stood there as if petrified and it didn''t move a muscle.

    Cheng Hao landed beautifully, his back as straight as a spear, his legs and feet completely nullifying the force of impact as his long black hair fluttered behind him. He waved his hand as he turned around, the other eleven swords fused with the one in his hand and consequently turned into a beautiful lotus hairpin.

    He put it in his hair just like a normal hairpin and headed towards what seemed to be the exit. As he walked, Cheng Hao closely observed the floor and with an approving gaze he looked at the golden snake that had just returned on his shoulder

    "You really dismantled them all! You actually did your job for once!" The boy chuckled.

    "Mph, how could puny traps like these possibly inconvenience a powerful and handsome Heavenly Beast like me?" The tiny dragon couldn''t help but push his chest out: what the snake had been doing up until now was none other than dismantling the traps laid on the route leading to the exit!

    After he said that, the snake turned his head to look at the situation behind the young boy. When he did, he suddenly got angry and then furiously said to the youth "Cheng Hao, you bastard, did you really have to destroy the whole room to slay an Inferior stage Humanoid Beast? You madman!"

    Hearing that, Cheng Hao''s expression turned into a fiercer one, the same grin as before found its place again on his face.

    "I had to warm up, didn''t I? There''s an old fella up there waiting for me, I can''t show myself as rusty now, can I?" With that, Cheng Hao walked towards the Teleportation Hexagram in front of him as the golden snake kept staring with pity at the part of the room behind the evil beast.

    As soon as the two stepped on the portal and disappeared the room suddenly collapsed, the evil beast''s head fell off its neck and everything close by was dyed blue with the monster''s blood. The liquid spurted nonstop in a chaotic fashion.

    Yet, the blood seemed to draw letters on the ground... Slowly, those letters finally spelled out something for a few breaths before being completely buried by the rubble. ''I, your grandfather, is back for your long awaited smacking, Tian!''

 Chapter 4 - Twin Stars

    As the sky began to darken, Cheng Hao finally stepped outside the Teleportation Hexagram and found himself in a vast courtyard. It was a few miles wide and occupied the space in between the sixth and seventh layers of the walls.

    Off in the distance were many small huts, each occupying a small area of a few meters in both width and length. An old man with white hair sat on a chair, looking down and thus making others unable to see his face.

    In front of him was a desk, much like the Vacant Elder that Cheng Hao had met before when he was travelling together with Liu Biao. He was probably some sort of gatekeeper, behind him was a small cart full of black robes as well as hundreds of keys hung on its side.

    As soon as he stepped out, Cheng Hao saw the old man sitting behind the desk whom also lifted his head to look back at him. Cheng Hao''s eyes gleamed and he started to walk towards the stall the man owned and bowed as soon as he neared: the man purposefully hid his cultivation to others so very few people would know, but he was actually a peak Reverend Martial expert.

    He could escape other people''s eyes, but how could Cheng Hao possibly be fooled by such trickery? Him, who had once been a being at the peak of existence... How could a mere cultivator from such a lowly plane possibly fool his eyes!

    "Junior offers his respects to his elder" He respectfully exclaimed, his voice fawning but not to the point it seemed too flattering.

    The old man was baffled: very few people would be polite to him and would instead treat him as nothing more than a delivery man, urging him to hand over the sect robes and hurry away soon after.

    Few would show such respect to him unless their nature was that of a polite person... or if they had seen through his cultivation and attempted to flatter him to gain favors off of him. The old man despised those kind of people the most so he hid his real power, but... Had it just got seen through by a child?

    His previous nonchalant expression turned serious, he sent a strand of Reverend Will towards the young boy. A Strand of Will, a strand of spiritual energy containing one''s consciousness. Being in the Reverend stage, only those on the same stage or above would be able to sense it.

    Of course, a few exceptions are everywhere, but for a child so small to be able to see through the power of a man having a cultivation of the Reverend stage was just unthinkable!

    Seeing the old man''s actions, Cheng Hao laughed in his mind and completely ignored the Strand showing confusion at the older man''s change of expression: if he had reacted to the Strand in any way, the old man would have found out that he had actually seen through his real cultivation...

    It would mean he was able to see through a Reverend Martial cultivator while still not yet having stepped into the realm of cultivation... It would bring countless problems to himself as well as there being the chance of offending that same cultivator.

    Seeing no reaction from the boy in front of him, the old man couldn''t help but smile ''Such a polite young boy...'' Being fooled by Cheng Hao''s methods, in his heart he really thought of Cheng Hao as an exemplary child!

    "Is Elder alright? Did Junior offend you in any way? If so I, Cheng Hao, would gladly amend and give his life!" Cheng Hao immediately kneeled, seeming worried but at the same time determinate to carry his burdens and pay off his debts.

    The old man''s heart warmed seeing such dedication and respect towards the older generation. He quickly helped the young man to his feet, reprimanding him "Men have gold under their knees. One shouldn''t kneel lightly but only to their parents and to their master."

    Seeing that his deception worked, Cheng Hao couldn''t help but smile in his mind. The snake also sighed "Humans are so easy to fool..."

    The old man, of course, couldn''t be aware of either of the things, and his good impression towards Cheng Hao kept getting better.

    "Young child, you said your name was Cheng Hao? You do not have to call me elder, everyone simply calls me Old Lao, why should you not?" The old man inquired.

    "Junior Cheng Hao doesn''t know. He simply can''t shake off the feeling that Elder is an amazing person that can split mountains and fly to the ninth level of the skies! And... I also have a strong feeling... like there''s more than it meets the eye to elder''s strength!"

    At that, Lao shuddered and pondered ''This boy didn''t see through my cultivation so to know of my strength he could... Could this young boy possibly be connected to me by karma?'' He looked at Cheng Hao again, seemingly pained by an internal conflict, but in the end decided to wait a bit before making his decision.

    He smiled and then began to speak.

    "Junior Cheng Hao, I formally congratulate you on joining the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect. Unfortunately, this is but the beginning! You joined the sect, sure, but you are now simply a Vacant Disciple, even lower than Outer Sect disciples! Every year, there will be a contest between disciples to enter the outer sect. Fortunately for you, it will be in just a month from now!" Old Lao explained.

    At the man''s words, Cheng Hao first feigned happiness, then confusion, then anxiety and then happiness again (of course he already thoroughly knew many of the details regarding the sect he chose to join).

    Seeing the innocent expressions on the child''s face, the old man nodded and continued his explanation.

    "Remember! While the castle housing our sect is enormous, you can only go to certain places: a Vacant Disciple can freely walk inside the are in between the Seventh and Sixth Wall, the also referred to as the Sixth Ring, but can''t go any deeper. Penalty, Decapitation! There are really few resources and cultivation techniques that you can acquire with your current status, so be sure to climb higher quickly."This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    Cheng Hao nodded and innerly thought ''No shi* buddy... i am just gong to stay here and feed on dog crap even though there is an all-you-can-eat banquet right there!''

    "An Outer Disciple can instead go anywhere in both the Sixth and the Fifth Ring, so in between the Seventh and Fifth Wall, but not any deeper. Penalty, sealing one''s connection with the heavens and the earth, thus loss of cultivation. An higher tier of resources and techniques are acquirable here, as well as the possibility to form and join an alliance. You will find out more about this later."

    "An Inner Disciple can go anywhere from the Sixth to the Fourth Rings, penalty from going any deeper is the inability to cultivate for ten to twenty years. Even better resources can be acquired, and the first few martial skills can be found and cultivated here!"

    "Even higher status than Inner Disciples are Core Disciples. They can roam pretty much anywhere in the castle, except for the first and second rings which are reserved solely for Elders and the leading positions. Inner Disciples can also search for a master to get them under his wing" at that, his eyes gleamed strangely as he looked at Cheng Hao.

    "Finally, the highest status that a disciple can reach, the Twin Star Disciples!" The old man''s expression turned serious.

    "They can only be two, the Light star and the Shadow star, and have not appeared again except once, a few hundred years ago, since the requirements are incredibly strict: they must join the sect together before theirtenthbirthday, reach the Superior stage before theirfifteenthand stand on equal ground as a core elder before theirseventeenth. In the sect, as of now, there are no Twin Star disciples." At that even Cheng Hao frowned

    ''Crap! These requirements are way too strict!''

    "But" the old man continued "The benefits are worth the efforts: assistance from the school for anything possible and doable ten times a day as well as unlimited resources from the school treasury, being able to explore the castle and its secrets to its outmost and even accept one of the top two School Protectors as a master!"

    "Cheng Hao, you MUST become a twin star disciple! This castle isn''t as easy as it seems, it might even contain otherworldly treasures!" The golden snake suddenly shot out from his pocket and landed on his shoulder, looking incredibly excited.

    Cheng Hao acted as if there was a fly on his shoulder and swatted the snake a few meters away ''I don''t need a snake to tell me that!''

    "As for the Elders... They are disciples that stayed for more than fifteen years in a certain rank, an exception are Honorary Elders, whom stayed fortenor more years as a Core Disciple, without being able to become a Twin Star. For example, an Outer Elder might not definitely beat an Outer Disciple, but a powerful core disciple would very, very rarely lose to an Inner Elder."

    At that, Lao Jianghu paused before saying "As for me, I am not an Elder, just a self-proclaimed gatekeeper... So I might be a cultivationless mortal just like I could be a mighty Reverend Martial cultivator!" At that he chuckled for a bit and Cheng Hao also smiled in his mind.

    "Here are your sect robes. Your copy of ''Basics to Martial Cultivation'' should be on the table inside your room. I wish you luck" the self-proclaimed gatekeeper finally gave him the sect''s Vacant Disciple robes (a long black robe with one white stripe running from the right shoulder to the left ankle). "The key should be in the hut. The hut is number #5742, good luck!"

    "Thanks for your work, Elder" Hao Cheng cupped his hands and bowed to the old man before turning around and leaving, walking slowly while observing his surroundings, drawing a mental map of the place. The old man looked at him, a weird smile on his face. It was neither happy nor sad, it was a smile that came from his heart that wished the boy good luck.

    When he couldn''t see the small back anymore he began speaking to himself "If he could get into the sect with his current status as an eight years old boy, his only way would be to pass the exam. To be able to do that at such a young age, it should be fairly obvious that he either had some help... Or has some outstanding talent. If it was the first it will become clear as time goes on, but..."

    The elder''s eyes gleamed "If it is the latter, it seems like my Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect got quite the genius this time, maybe... Just maybe a Star has appeared. But a single Star isn''t enough for the Sect to shine. A single Star is incomplete, as its ambition would surely tone down, having no competition or goals. That is why there must betwo. I do not want to ruin his future because of some senile old fools'' thirst for power! I won''t let him become a lone Star!"

    The old man lifted his head and, seeing the sky turning dark, decided to close his stall and go to sleep but then...

    "Elder, elder, can you wait a bit more before closing?"

    As the ''Old Man Lao'' turned, he couldn''t help but be slightly startled: in front of him, a panting young boy, also eight years old, had approached him. The man was absolutely shocked.

    The boy was dressed incredibly well, with expensive clothes adorning his whole body. He had shoulder length purple hair with blue strands in the middle, a girly face and long, purple eyelashes. His green eyes looked like two emeralds and they were really beautiful. He had an oval and symmetrical face and small red lips. If it weren''t for the men''s clothing he was wearing, one would without a doubt have confused him for a female!

    "Young boy, could it be... you passed the new disciple entrance exam???" the old man Lao couldn''t help but suck in a breath of cold air: had the sky fallen down? How could this be? Two heaven-shaking genius in the same day? That was simply not possible!

    The young boy stopped gasping for air and then innocently nodded and replied "I did. Can I now enter the sect? I am not to late am I?" The young boy seemed to be extremely worried.

    The elder was a bit surprised but when he got over the shock he pointed his chin upwards and a loud laugh releasing both frustration and indecisiveness came out. He grabbed the youth''s hand and felt his pulse and incredible excitement and euphoria became visible on his face. The young boy was so startled that he fell on his back.

    When he got up the old man was jubilant and extremely happy. In fact, he excitedly smiled as he handed the young child the robes and was about to give him another room key from the wall behind him when a thought flashed through his head. He cast his gaze upon the young boy and grinned even more.

    "You see" he said "You are really young... I think it would be better not to live alone at such an age. Coincidentally, another young man that has the same age as you has also passed the exam, so how about living together with him?"

    The child''s eyes instantly brightened and replied "Of course! Father said that on the road to martial cultivation, the more friends one has the better!"

    Old Lao subconsciously thought that the child had a good father.

    The elder chuckled and said "Hurry then! The other child was here up until a few moments ago and was walking pretty slowly, so if you run you might actually catch up to him! He''s in hut 5742. Here''s a spare key, do not lose it!" At the words of his elder, the child nodded resolutely and ran on the paved road in the direction the old man was pointing to.

    "Kings between men or kings of fools? Twin Stars or Twin Jokes? Only time will tell..."

    The old man closed the stall and then, suddenly... Disappeared.

 Chapter 5 - Third Protector Lao Jianghu

    Later that night, the figure of the old man appeared once again, sitting on a chair on the sides of a big, round table. Although the round table symbolized fairness and equality, his chair was much, much more refined and of higher quality than the other people''s, shattering that image.

    "... And that is why I am focusing on helping the talented fighters instead of less talented ones. I mean, wouldn''t that help us grow quicker? And we must remember that Zhao Bu is a potential enemy! If we do not act fast, in a few years..." A hot debate was taking place in the room.

    The person arguing was standing up, on his white elder robe there where 4 black stripes went from the left shoulder to the right ankle, meaning he was a Core Elder. When this Elder finally noticed the presence of the newly arrived old man he couldn''t help but immediately shut up and bow.

    "Third Protector Lao! We are happy to see you are in good health! What brings you here today, to listen to our worthless chatting?" The man cupped his hands and respectfully bowed to the old man he referred to as Third Protector Lao.

    "I am here because I, Lao Jianghu, am in quite the good mood today..." at those words, every single person in the room''s face lit up.

    The Elder couldn''t help but enthusiastically ask again "Senior Lao, could it be... A good disciple has actually come into our school? A talent has been discovered? Is he perhaps incredibly powerful?"

    Lao Jianghu leaned back into his chair and muttered "Indeed... Not only that. Three words: eight years old..."

    At that, the face of the Core Elder couldn''t help but change as his expression turned into a surprised, hesitating, happy and disappointed ones all at the same time. "Elder Lao, it might be that the person simply used some..." He scratched his neck "Specialmethods to..."

    Lao Jianghu only smiled a bit before adding "Two of them. Both of their bodies show no trace of having consumed elixirs or strength enhancing pills"

    His voice lowered but could be heard clearly anyways "Twin Stars have appeared in the night sky that is our Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect..."

    Hearing this, every single person in the small room stood up "Twin Stars??? The legendary Twin Stars???"

    Everyone was excited, doubtful and hopeful at the same time and some couldn''t help but shout and yell, letting out all the bottled feelings inside themselves.

    Some rotated their cultivation base and strong wind currents sent all the papers on the round table flying through the air: they would not let paperwork hinder this happy moment!

    "Everybody, you are esteemed elders, please, show some respect towards Third Protector Lao and tone down a bit!" The man that had stood up previously tried to stop the cheering to no avail. As he looked towards Lao Jianghu and bowed slightly in apology, he could only sigh as he, like the others, seemed extremely happy and allowed himself to also smile.

    Fortune had truly struck them big.

    +++

    That room was actually what seemed to be a worn-out warehouse in the middle of a vast courtyard: two tall walls could be seen in both directions and they were so tall they either seemed to be the waves of a tsunami, ready to rain havoc amongst the lands or they looked like tall mountains, rising to touch the sky.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

    At the moment, Lao Jianghu was standing on top of one of these tall walls. His gaze was lost in the multitudes of small houses and huts that were built in the castle, seemingly searching for someone.

    *creak*

    The door of the warehouse opened for a brief time before closing again. The Core Elder that was trying to calm the situation also stepped out from the madness inside the room and allowed himself a chance to take a breather.

    When he noticed the old man standing on top of the tall walls, he smiled and kicked off the ground: he flew like an arrow, whistling through the air and soon landed next to the older man.

    The Core Elder patted away some dust off his robes and then asked at once, his heart throbbing "Third Protector... Is this informationtrulyworthy of our trust?"

    Lao Jianghu smiled, warmth clear on his face, and nodded "I verified personally. How long have you been following me for, Bi Liang?"

    "Thirty years, Protector" the man answered. Sadness flashed through Bi Liang''s eyes but he hid it very deeply.

    The old man nodded and then said "I''ve got my eyes on one of the two kids. It looks like he karma connected to me and he seems incredibly sharp as well as polite... He is the perfect disciple for an old man like me to pass down my knowledge to..." he closed his eyes and sighed.

    "I have to give it my best, just like him, and become the Top Protector, so that I can accept him as a personal disciple. But to do that, I have to go into seclusion and perform closed-door training, and I won''t be able to come out any time soon. Even though I hid my strength, it doesn''t mean that those two old monsters didn''t..."

    "Bi Liang, I have always thought of you as my son, and now you will soon have a younger brother to care for... I ask of you... Is that really fine with you?" Hearing Lao Jianghu''s question, Bi Liang''s face immediately brightened, his expression turning happy and he immediately nodded.

    "Please, Protector! No, Father! Tell me where I can find my new younger brother!" Bi Liang was truly happy: he was raised as an orphan and he was picked up by the already aged Lao Jianghu that raised him just like a true son.

    He became a core disciple at the age of twenty and was now an honorary elder at the age of thirty-six... To now have a new brother, he would do anything in his power to help and protect him!

    "Looking from up here, I think you will probably soon find out... About now..."

    Just then, a pillar of energy emerged sending the nearby clouds in disarray.

    It emanated faint black, white and purple light and it had risen from a certain house in the sixth layer... Although it was not that large, it could still clearly be seen from a long distance away!

    Bi Liang was shocked: a Qi Sensing apparition! Only once someone with incredible talent senses the Qi for the first time will such a powerful apparition appear in the sky!

    That kind of power was something that he could never expect from a Vacant Disciple, let alone, from what he understood from his master, an eight years old boy!

    Bi Liang gaped and then excitedly spoke "This is... A great understanding of the Way! An enlightenment over the martial arts, Dao Enlightenment!!! Only such an understanding of the Sensed Qi would allow such an Apparition to appear!"

    Lao Jianghu suddenly frowned, as if he had eaten something sour. He then relaxed, laughed and then exclaimed "This was the other kid... Not bad, but I expect the oneIhave chosen to do better! Here comes... the second!"

    Another pillar of light, this time a completely golden pillar, extremely dazzling and blinding to the sight, rose beside the first black pillar. Simply comparing the radiuses, it could clearly be seen the superiority of the second pillar over the first, which was by no ways low on energy output or small in size.

    Lao Jianghu stroked his long white beard "I think you may have quite some trouble with those two kids... But now you will havetwoyounger brothers. You will soon find out that having a brother is not always so easy!" With that, Lao Jianghu left, leaving behind a still wide-eyed and absolutely shocked Bi Liang.

    The old man flew into the air and muttered to himself "They must be two. Two friends, two comrades, two rivals. To help each other, to aid each other and to surpass each other until they reach the pinnacle. One must rely on themselves on the road to immortality and cultivation... This does not mean though, that they cannot receive help from external resources, for one''s connections and luck are still part of one''s power! Two beings completely compatible and at the same time completely different, yet still the closest of brothers... That is the true meaning of Twin Stars!"

    The two pillars of energy finally shrank down and the starry night sky returned to its former appearance.

 Chapter 6 - He Can See Me?

    "Cheng Hao, what do you think about that elder?" The snake was lazily resting on the young boy''s shoulder, his mouth gaping and yawning, his eyes squinted, without the slightest worry.

    With a grin, Cheng Hao shrugged his shoulders (also sending the one foot long golden snake flying at the same time) "He can be used. That guy''s cultivation is incredibly high, probably one of the highest in the Sect. He should at the very least be a Sect Protector, and a high ranked one at that. Seeing how I made quite the lasting impression on him, he should already have eyed me as a potential disciple"

    "That old fart has a high cultivation? He is still in the Mortal Realm! How could you say that?" The snake climbed back on Cheng Hao and rested atop his head "You and I have both seen the might of those who hadpower! That ten million years old Mysterious Beast, the Blood Soaked Flood Dragon, was a beast at the Pseudo Immortal Martial stage, it could erase this continent with little to no effort! And remember, a Heavenly Divine Beast like me would have little problem erasing this whole plane of existence, once it also reached the Pseudo Immortal stage!"

    "This plane of existence you say..." Cheng Hao pondered aloud. The Golden Snake nodded, and seeing that, Cheng Hao asked "What about other ones?"

    "A lot more effort would be required, but with my former power I did completely erase a plane hundreds, thousands of times bigger than this. I had to sleep for a ten thousand years after that though..." The snake smirked as he remembered the glory of his youth, when he was just a few million years old youth in his early ages, slaughtering his way through the never-ending conflict that had been the Endless Slaughter.

    "So, I have never asked you this... But in your eyes what would have my strength have been before I died?" Cheng Hao was suddenly interested "I mean, I DID slay thousands, millions of heavenly guards and generals, and even though I didn''t beatHimin the end, I did battle evenly with Lord Tian himself! That should make me quite strong, right?"

    The dragon looked back in his past and saw flashes of his memories of Cheng Hao''s battling figure...

    In both his hands were two flaming gases, one black and one white. Deep in his left eye, the illusion of a battlefield appeared, an ancient battlefield where corpses piled up in mountains and the blood formed oceans. Within his right eye instead, a black mouth with no body kept biting the the space surrounding it screaming and yelling at the human to let it go slaughter.

    With a movement of his hand, a golden current surrounded by black and white rays of light materialized and a hundred soldiers, thousands of meters tall, fell on the ground ,letting out screams of pain as their bodies withered and their bodies'' strength was forcefully absorbed...

    With a sharp gaze, a wheel that was the true form of the mighty golden sun appeared behind Cheng Hao''s figure and a thousand black flying dragons hundreds of meters long couldn''t resist at all as they faded from existence, absorbed by the metallic rays on the golden wheel''s surface.

    He kept fighting like that until, for some reason, his usual calm look turned into rage and his eyes blazed from fury. With a slap the air trembled, and an excited black mouth appeared in the battlefield.

    As soon as the mouth appeared, the entire opposing army cried in fear, as they knew their ends were near. The black mouth opened its jaws as much as it could as it began to turn golden and transformed into a gigantic golden gate.

    The gate hundreds of meters tall materialized, holding within millions of screaming monsters chained inside. The screams were horrifying to the extreme and hearing their shouts, the entire army of millions of beasts trembled and became one big puddle of blood...

    Mountains of corpses and an ocean of blood formed. Suddenly, the man''s left eye brightened and the image of the battlefield in his left eye overlapped with reality. The corpses and the blood disappeared in the real world to become even more corpses and even more blood in the illusion. The golden sun kept withering and absorbing the corpses, making the man''s strength grow exponentially to the number of enemies he killed and absorbed, a never-ending cycle of slaughter...If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    "If I remember correctly, my strength at my peak should be classified as that of Immortal Realm, Supreme Stage, am I right? However my true potential was way beyond that..."

    Goldy pondered for a bit but then nodded.

    "Exactly, that was indeed your previous cultivation. While cultivation is dived into stages, there are still three realms: the Mortal Realm, the Ageless Realm, and the Immortal Realm. Mortal being divided into Inferior, Basic, Advanced, Superior, Sung and Reverend stages; Ageless dived into Royal, Saintly, Empiric, Ancient and God stages; Immortal divided into HighGod, Supreme, Eternal and, finally, Immortal stages. Each stage divided into many levels, these stages are used to distinguish cultivators'' power and skill level."

    "Why did you just tell me all that! I know it already, you have already told me this in this lifetime hundreds of times to show off your strength as a fallen Eternal Heavenly Beast!" Cheng Hao was clearly pissed off and had a splitting headache ''What''s more, you only told me about Tian''s true power less than a month ago, if I had known Tian was a being at the peak stage of the Eternal I wouldn''t have attempted to fight him, even with the support of my heaven-shaking, unique abilities..."

    "You did, but the readers didn''t!" The snake replied and at that reply even its human companion couldn''t help but jump.

    "Don''t break the fourth wall like that! Who do you think you are, frigging Deadpool?" Cheng Hao''s headache got even worse.

    "Ahem, anyways! The Golden Blood Drop in your possession is probably a drop of a Supreme or maybe even an Eternal Being''s blood, as for that Spark, it is most likely the essence of a really powerful being... So powerful that death could not completely dissipate its soul but only its consciousness!"

    The snake shook his head.

    "Even I do not know what rank that may be. It might be the essence of an Eternal beast as much as that of a legendary Immortal beast... I can''t think of a better explanation"

    Suddenly, Cheng Hao slowed down "Somebody is following us... And he seems to be a child. He''s pretty clumsy seeing how he trips on the air every few steps... Up until now he mostly completed the distance separating us rolling instead of running."

    Both the young boy and the snake cringed as the child following them tripped again on his face.

    "To be inside the walls of the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect''s fortress at that age he must have passed he exam... How in the world did he frigging do it? Did he make his opponent laugh to death?"

    Bam. Another fall and another face-print on the paved road.

    "Cheng Hao, should we go to him instead? I''m afraid he won''t survive the blood loss, it''s already a miracle how he hasn''t passed out yet!" The young boy also frowned and then shook his head

    "We do not need weaklings for friends. If he makes it to me then I will at least hear him out!"

    +++

    "Thanks so much for waiting for me! I was seriously about to die there!" The bleeding figure was lying on the ground a few meters from where Cheng Hao stood. His previous tidy and expensive clothes now nothing more than strips of cloth, he now resembled a beggar much like Cheng Hao did when he first met Liu Biao.

    "Do you need anything? Like medicine and stuff?" Cheng Hao eyed the newcomer ''Damn, he''s handsome, maybe not as stunning as me but he''s a lot more feminine...''

    "Cheng Hao, what are we going to do about this brat?" The snake suddenly came out of his pocket and landed atop his head. As he saw the snake, the newcomer let out an extremely high-pitched shrill and jumped backwards.

    Seeing the boy''s actions Cheng Hao smiled: he also had the same reaction when he had first woken up and saw the reincarnated Primordial Beast Blindlight... Wait... What?

    Both Cheng Hao''s and Goldy''s eyes became as round as four moons and their jaw dropped to the ground: no living being not connected through karma with the golden dragon would be able to feel, let alone see, the small creature, that was the first thing the dragon had told him in his past life and he had had many chances to verify this. To be able to see him it meant he had to have a ridiculously high-quality karma thread connected to the dragon Blindlight.

    Cheng Hao was able to see him as the dragon had once accidentally killed one of Cheng Hao''s arch-enemies while it was sleeping, unconsciously building a strong friendly karma thread and thus allowing Cheng Hao to meet him and build a friendly relationship with him. Although the beast had endlessly regretted his actions in the future, it must admit that after millions of years passed doing nothing but watching the sky, a breath of fresh air such as this was really appreciated.

    There is no doubt that without the golden dragon''s help in his past life, Cheng Hao would have had no chance to reach even a hundredth of his cultivation and thus battle evenly against the Lord of the Heavens, Tian.

    So it all began because of a single mistake in the part of a sleeping Heavenly Beast and, thanks to that, Cheng Hao and the golden dragon Blindlight could meet.

    But this child that Cheng Hao had never even seen before could actually see the golden dragon... As far as he knew, the dragon had deeply hid itself after their defeat by the hands of Tian, so there had been zero to no chance of him meeting anyone or making any kind of Karma connection while Cheng Hao wasn''t around so, if he had made any, it would have to have been prior to that. Yet the boy CLEARLY didn''t look like some thousand-years-old monster... What sorcery was this?

 Chapter 7 - Big Brother Shows The Way

    "Fellow disciple! Fellow disciple! There''s a snake on your shoulder! Watch out!"

    Hearing the boy''s panicked yell, Cheng Hao had to think fast.

    ''This guy... Is he a friend or an enemy? Karma thread... Snake... Hide... Snake... Danger... Snake... Dangerous Snake... A snake is dangerous!''

    Cheng Hao sucked a breath in and... Suddenly turned around the snake flying with a palm "Eeeeeek, snake!"

    Fury and bewilderment raged across Goldy''s face as it began to curse at Cheng Hao in his mind.

    Of course he understood what the boy was trying to do, but he couldn''t help but frown at the palm full of killing intent that he had thrown at him.

    The boy actually didn''t hold back in the least... ''Damn Cheng Hao... I will screw you over once I have the chance! (Yes ISSTH references... Ah, I loved that parrot... Have faith in lord fifth!)''

    Cheng Hao was panting, acting shocked and terrified, he turned and bowed to the young man in front of him.

    "Cheng Hao thanks fellow Disciple for his aid, may I know Disciple''s name and what business he has withthishumble Disciple?"

    Although Cheng Hao''s face was full of gratitude he had already secretly grasped the golden hairpin in his hand, ready to strike at the minimum notice of any danger.

    Shocked to see such courtesy from Cheng Hao, the young boy didn''t hesitate to bow and respond as humbly as possible "This disciple is called Xiao Li, First Master of the Xiao family!"

    Cheng Hao suddenly felt a tingling pain in his head, as if he had forgotten something important but quickly disregarded it.

    Xiao Li continued "I was assigned to hut 5742 from elder Lao, to live alongside brother Cheng Hao in his stay in the Sixth Ring!" Xiao Li bowed even more "Please treat me well!"

    "To live... Together with me?" A thought suddenly flashed across his mind and he grabbed the young boy''s shoulder so firmly that the other almost let out a scream.

    When the youth lifted his head though, Xiao Li saw that Cheng Hao had actually closed his eyes, a solemn expression that somehow didn''t look strange in the least even on his childish lineaments. The young Xiao Clan member hesitated at first but then decided to trust the boy and let him keep going.

    ...

    Just as Cheng Hao closed his eyes, a strand of his consciousness separated from his body and flew towards the child''s. As soon as it touched him though, a huge amount of pressure appeared, as if a huge hammer had begun to hit his body nonstop.

    Cheng Hao shuddered and spit out a mouthful of blood but he kept going: after getting past the first wave of attacks with his reborn soul, stronger than the norm, he couldn''t help but feel astonished as he saw what was lying in the child''s consciousness, hidden from prying eyes...

    ''So that is why I had that sensation, this one might be a descendant of that Xiao Lan! Just like him, he has potential... Withthis, you are indeed worthy to travel alongside me as brothers...''

    The boy smiled as he opened his eyes. He stared deeply into the other child''s pupils, searching for something to confirm his theory with.

    After the space of a few breaths Cheng Hao let his hand go and instead held it in front of him.

    "I am Cheng Hao, and here and now I propose you this. I shall call you brother and as a brother I will act. As a brother I won''t hesitate to walk over seas of fire to come to you. I won''t hesitate to block arrows with my body if it means that they won''t harm you. I won''t hesitate to give my life to save yours. I will call you brother and you shall also call me brother, from now on we will be brothers!"

    Suddenly, Cheng Hao frowned as he noticed something. The young boy then winked to the other in front of him and smiled "But being brothers also means you must not use fake names, doesn''t it, brother? Or should I call you... Sister?"

    ''Xiao Li'' staggered back a few steps astonished but didn''t bother to hide anymore.

    Her dumb look turned into a sharp gaze as her airhead attitude disappeared.

    She smiled and winked back "Of course. But you will help me. Oh, and tell your snake that it can come back, I don''t mind reptiles!"

    Cheng Hao laughed "Hear that Goldy? We just found a new sister! Mm, although it doesn''t seem that clear, you might trust me if I say that you should call me big brother, as I am much, much older than you" Cheng Hao''s eyes turned into two black holes as they seemed to hold a lot more knowledge than a boy barely eight years old should.

    "Ooo, shut up Stupid Hao! If anyone should be the big brother amongst anyone in here, that should be me!" The golden snake triumphantly jumped back on Cheng Hao''s shoulder and made sure to slap the child''s cheek with its tail.

    A vein popped on the boy''s forehead. He turned his head and bit the tail. The snake cried from the pain and also tried to bite Cheng Hao. Unfortunately the boy had already run beside the girl and the snake fell on the ground.

    "Ahahah" the pristine laugh sounded out and the feminine face turned even more into that of a beauty.

    ''How could one even mistake her for a male? She''s so beautiful that they must have all been blind!'' Cheng Hao mused.

    The little Xiao master, looked at the young boy in front of him "Alright, big brother. From now on we are brother and sister! But if you are the big brother, doesn''t that mean you must protect your little sister... Do you have the ability?"

    Goldy sighed as he looked towards Cheng Hao "Against my will, I must admit that he is the most qualified person to protect anyone amongst anyone I know. If not now, in the future for sure! At least, you will get a demonstration tonight"

    As the small snake spoke, Cheng Hao looked with surprise at the usually cursing small mouth spit out praises nonstop. His heart warmed a bit, a layer of his frost slowly began to melt and he allowed himself an heartwarming smile to appear on his face. That smile made him become infinitely more handsome.

    ''This snake... I might actually start to treat him better. After all he did help me countless times and has always been by my side when nobody else was...''This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

    As the warm smile appeared, a slight breeze began to blow, sending the child''s hair fluttering. The absolutely heart-warming scene was so beautiful that, if a painter were to be asked to paint it, he would refuse, claiming that he would be unable to draw such a masterpiece!

    Finally, as Cheng Hao turned and smiled, the snake continued "But he is an annoying cunt like no other and he bullies me! Please sister, help this poor snake!"

    *crack*

    The beautiful image was ruined and before anyone could say anything, the snake was no longer on Cheng Hao''s shoulder but he was under his stomping foot. The slight breeze surrounding the youth turned into killing intent and fearful chilliness, even his beautiful face turned into a demon''s ugly grin as he stomped down as fiercely as he could.

    When Goldy''s screams couldn''t be heard anymore, Cheng Hao stopped and panted for a while before recovering.

    After a few moments, Cheng Hao looked up, a warm smile on his face... That same face that had looked like some demonic creature from the fiery depths up until moments ago...

    The young boy''s smile widened as he extended his hand again "My name is Cheng Hao, please treat me well!"

    Holding her laugh in the girl took his hand "My name is Xiao Wu, please treat me well!"

    The two smiled and embraced each other as tears of joy slowly poured out from their eyes. They broke from their embrace, grabbed each other''s shoulder, looked at each other''s eyes as warmth surfaced in both of their pupils: in the loneliness of an unfamiliar place that is a sect, they had found someone to rely on.

    "Cheng Hao, don''t fall for it! She''s only 8!"

    "Don''t spoil this moment of brotherly love, you frigging Bastard Snake!"

    ...

    The two children had just arrived in the hut. After entering, they found out that hut 5742 was actually not that bad at all. It was spacious, had plenty of pieces of furniture as well as a big toilet and two separated rooms with one big bed each.

    It was dark at the time, but the big windows hinted that during the day the small house would be pretty bright. The big table in the middle of the dining room had a single book on it, titledBasics to Martial Cultivation.

    After taking care of their physiological needs and once Xiao Wu had removed her special make-up, probably meant to make her look more masculine (fortunately without success), the two finally began to talk about martial cultivation.

    "First of all you must NOT listen to what this book says" saying that, Cheng Hao threw the copy of Basics To Martial Cultivation out of the window "From now on, you just need to rely on your big brother! In exchange of course, you will cook for everyone!"

    Xiao Wu sweat dropped and hiddenly thought ''Are you sure you just don''t want someone to cook for you? I wouldn''t have minded you just saying so, but why would you throw that boom out of the window? Did it harm anyone? He was simply there, basking into the sunlight during the day and bathing in moonlight during the night...''

    "Now, to begin on the road to martial cultivation there are multiple steps: to sense the Qi, the source of cultivation, to draw in the Qi, to form and shape the Qi into the Qi Sea and to condense that Qi Sea into the Pseudo-Core"

    Xiao Wu frowned as she heard those words. They were different from what the elders of her clan usually told her.

    "Brother Cheng? Weren''t the steps just Sensing and Absorbition? Also, are you sure you didn''t mistake the Qi Sea for the Qi River? I mean, isn''t forming the Qi River the requirements to enter the second stage of martial cultivation, the Basic stage? And isn''t forming the Core the way to enter the third stage, the Advanced stage?"

    Cheng Hao smiled and said "Pick something to write with, because this will be long and it will be full of important stuff to note down." Cheng Hao took a long sip from the tea Xiao Wu had prepared him.

    Xiao Wu did as she was told and picked a strange pen and a few sheets of paper from her own Heaven&Heart Pouch: she decided to put her faith in this new brother of hers. She trusted him and it wouldn''t harm to just listen anyways

    "Experts have divided cultivation stages in Inferior, Basic, Advanced, etcetera, in accordance with the requirements needed to enter the corresponding stage. Inferior is Qi Sensing, Qi River is for the Basic stage, Core is for the Advanced stage and so on. That is not wrong, but it is not right either. Think about it: what is it that really changes with each stage? It is thepurityof one''s Qi"

    At that even Xiao Wu''s eyes glinted as she started speculating. Cheng Hao sat down in a chair and took another sip.

    "But is it really, absolutely, certainlyimpossibleto form a Qi River or the Core, even without such a pure Qi, while still not forcefully skipping stages?"

    Cheng Hao grinned "Of course not. That is why we won''t enter the Basic or Advanced stage by creating a Qi River right now.... Because our Qi won''t be pure enough! That is why we will do something different. Instead of forming the Qi River we will form something else that is much easier and more stable to make and maintain with such a low-quality Qi. I will now ask you a question. In a cold and harsh winter, which is more likely to freeze first, a lake or a river? Mind that the water mass we''re interested in is the same..."

    Xiao Wu''s expression flickered as she answered "Isn''t it the river? I mean, even though the water mass is the same, the river still isn''t as wide as the lake, it is instead smaller. The cold would be more focused and..."

    Seeing Cheng Hao''s mocking smile, Xiao Wu suddenly stopped speculating embarrassed. She then bowed and asked "Please tell me the answer, brother Cheng!"

    Cheng Hao said "Which is easier to freeze? Moving water... OrStillwater?"

    Xiao Wu''s eyes glinted as she came to the realization "The lake will freeze first... Wait, so we are not making the Qi River because then we wouldn''t be able to condense it into the Core as we wouldn''t have much control over impure Qi... But if we make a Qi sea instead... It will already be much easier, because it will be easier to freeze, or in our case condense, still Qi instead of moving Qi!"

    Cheng Hao nodded happily, seeing that Xiao Wu was so quick and smart "Now for the Core, why is it so difficult to form the Core?"

    Xiao Wu quickly answered "Because the Qi is so dense that it is difficult to compress..."

    Cheng Hao''s eyes glittered "Why is it dense?"

    Xiao Wu smiled as she knew the answer "Because it is really pu..." Hearing her own words, the girl stopped and frowned "...re"

    "Exactly. What then, if we tried to condense a sea, easier to condense than a river, with impure, thus really light and rarer than it would have been hai it been purer, Qi, thus making this Pseudo-Core much easier to make. I say Pseudo-Core because it won''t be the real Core. No, it is fake and fake it will remain. But you need not worry, for in the future it will almost have as much of a big use as the real one if not even more!"

    "We will still be able to create a real Qi Sea, not a Qi River for we already determined the Sea is a better choice compared to a River, and also a real Core. Actually, this experience will make it even easier for us to build the real thing later on, for we will already know the process"

    Cheng Hao drank the remaining tea and put the cup on the table "And we will profit a lot. Since it isn''t as pure as the real deal, it won''t last as much and it will be much more unstable, but the power will be about the same. With some help, Inferior stage will battle Advanced stage! Inferior stage will beat Advanced stage! Inferior stage will fly in the sky! Showing the might of the Advanced stage as an Inferior stage cultivator!"

    Xiao Wu had long since been unable to speak, staring wide eyed, her jaw nearly touching the ground, the sound of her blood pumping pounding in her ears. Forget about taking notes! She branded every single word the young boy in front of her said in her mind, not forgetting a single word.

    Finally she recovered and after a bit of pondering she muttered trembling "Brother... Could you actually... Be a genius?"

    Cheng Hao grinned "And not only that. I will make you one too!"

    With a bright flash, a golden tower appeared over the young boy''s hand. It had a total of fifteen levels, the first six levels had bronze gates, the middle five levels had silver gates and the last four levels had golden gates. All the gates were covered in chains and locks, as if they were keeping something sealed within.

    Beautiful and domineering: if it were in its real size it would have been at least a few thousand meters tall, the gigantic gates, each bigger and sturdier than the previous level''s, would also be so big that a man would easily pass by the fissures below the door''s frame.

    It was not possible to see what was behind the closed gates, as if some strange magic was impeding it and concealing the interior. It really made one wonder what those big golden doors held, what terrifying beasts would be sealed within and what fearful power it took to seal them.

    "This is myMartial Way, the Immortal Ascension Tower. I have been working on it for two months and it is now finished. Today, I will step into the Inferior stage, and you will as well!"

 Chapter 8 - Pseudo-Advanced Stage

    "Uh?" Xiao Wu was bewildered.

    A Martial Way was something as rare as Qilin horns and Phoenix feathers, something that shouldn''t exist in the mortal world. The reason was simple: they were as rare as it was difficult to make them, a Reverend stage cultivator had nearly zero chances of creating one as it required deep understanding and great enlightenment.

    Even then, it would require incredible effort and years of meditation just to make one, years that could easily be spent in cultivation.

    But that child in front of her, a boy her same age had just achieved the impossible, he had condensed a Martial Way all by himself!

    And it was such a mysterious and deep Martial Way, the likes of which only one person in her entire clan could barely hold a candle to, the greatest secret weapon of the Xiao Clan. And it was done in only a few months!

    A Martial Way was essentially the foundation to one''s cultivation, the better the Martial Way, the higher the talent, and thus the chance to reach never seen before cultivation stages. But before Xiao Wu could be even more shocked, the last words the boy had just spoken reached her ears.

    One must know that, unless one had a Martial Way to aid breakthrough, another one of its wondrous uses, such breakthrough could easily take weeks if not months, years, decades! After all, if it were that easy, a Reverend stage martial artist wouldn''t be so rare at all, instead they would be at the very bottom of the food chain!

    But this new brother of hers had just said that tonight, they would break through... Together!

    "Brother, you must be joking! Although it would probably be no problem for a genius like you, I have no chance to do that! Let alone a Martial Way, I haven''t even have begun to sense the Qi yet! How could I even dream of breaking through?"

    Xiao Wu laughed bitterly.

    The boy slowly opened his mouth and slowly, syllable by syllable, he spelled out "Purple, Black and White... The Moon, The Dragon and The Tree"

    Xiao Wu shuddered at those words. Her eyes grew cold and she unconsciously put up her guard, before immediately pulling it back down. She trusted Cheng Hao, she helped her so much she had to, at the very least, trust him this much.

    "How do you know... Those words?" Xiao Wu looked at the eyes of the child in front of her.

    The boy grinned "Of course I know them. I was the one who wrote them, alongside your ancestor, Xiao Lan. But while we studied them together, I alone was the one to create the cultivation technique!"

    Xiao Wu was shocked and then started laughing "You shouldn''t joke on these things, brother Hao! Although itisindeed a mystery how you know that name! He is the secret weapon of our Clan!"

    ''But I really was the one who wrote... Never mind'' The boy sighed but then also laughed. Suddenly though, his face turned serious.

    "Sister Wu, you have indeed sensed something, and not just any Qi. You sensed a Qi so rare and powerful it might almost rival my previous Golden Gates of Old. Almost" He winked "And somebody has already aided you. It was probably that old fellow Lan, but it was probably done without you knowing. Calm down and breath as this might seem shocking"

    Xiao Wu skeptically followed the instructions without asking for an explanation. Seeing that, Cheng Hao inwardly praised her and thought to himself that he really chose a good sister. He smiled warmly and resumed. He said nine simple words. Those words shook Xiao Wu''s mind and, as she understood the meaning she unconsciously grabbed her head.

    "You have a Martial Way sealed inside your consciousness."

    Those shocking words came out so smoothly that it seemed as if Cheng Hao was just telling her his favourite colour is red.

    "Brother Cheng... Is that true?" Her eyes glowed and she was extremely shocked as well as excited. As if to answer her, C

    heng Hao approached and touched her forehead. His consciousness once again entered the girl''s, the mighty barrage was even fiercer than it had been in the past, as if it was enraged somebody could get past it. Unfortunately, Cheng Haowasn''tjust ''somebody'' and he easily pulled through once again.

    In the girl''s sea of consciousness, he once again gazed at the scene that had bewildered him a while ago: a gorgeous white tree as tall as the heavens stood proud, in the meantime, a black dragon thousands of feet long entwined around the tree''s branches as a purple moon hang high in a nonexistent sky.

    The whole scene looked like something straight out of a fairy tale and it was just as scary and shocking as it was beautiful and stunning.

    The whole scene was encased into what looked like a glass ball and it even seemed to emanate incredible pressure on what was located outside. Fortunately though, the glass sphere blocked that pressure, allowing Cheng Hao''s consciousness to approach.

    With the wave of the consciousness'' hands, the glass ball and thus the scene as well shrank and fit into the small palm...

    With a smile, Cheng Hao removed the finger from Xiao Wu''s forehead and, when he opened his palm, a glass ball was there.

    "Shatter" he whispered and the glass ball indeed... Shattered! As soon as it did, the tree, the dragon and the moon appeared on top of it. He let go and the whole thing hovered in mid air.

    Cheng Hao sat back on the chair and made a sign towards Xiao Wu to take the Martial Way in front of her.

    The boy''s face was pale while the girl''s was so red from excitement that an apple would be jealous.

    Without thinking, she flew at Cheng Hao and tightly embraced him, tears and brotherly love poured out like water during a flood "Thank you brother, thank you!!! I will be your sister from now on, so don''t worry about anything! I''ll stop the arrows aimed against you with my body, sacrifice my life to save yours and step over seas of flames to get to you!"

    Cheng Hao smiled weaklyThe story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    "That was the wrong order, sis! When I said that it actually was-"

    Xiao Wu embraced him even tighter "I don''t care! Brother, thank you!"

    Cheng Hao laughed.

    ...

    "Seeing how that Martial Way was made to perfectly match your sensed Qi, I feel like it was probably made after you reported you sensed the Qi, just before you left your clan to get here.

    It also probably was your ancestor, Xiao Lan, who made it so you should thankhimnotme. Even then, I guess he somehow knows I am back, otherwise he wouldn''t have hid it in your consciousness where only a few people, except for me, can get it out." Cheng Hao smiled.

    Xiao Wu had already adjusted to the ''egocentric'' Cheng Hao that liked to ''joke around telling tales of a mysterious past of his'', so she didn''t mind him and kept observing the Martial Way. The more she looked at it, the deeper her understanding of her Purple Moon, Black Dragon And White Tree Sensed Qi became.

    "Goldy, are the preparations ready?" The boy turned towards a spot in the middle of the room. Although the snake hadn''t been in sight for a while he actually had not stop working for a second and was instead inscribing a complicated formation.

    "Goldy your grandfather!" The snake cursed.

    "But mighty dragon, I really like that name... Can''t we please call you like that?" Xiao Wu acted all cute and girly making the snake uncomfortable.

    "F-fine! I guess it is a pretty good name..."

    Cheng Hao smiled and mocked as he sang a happy tune "Pedo snake... Pervy snake... In jail you go... In jail you go... For you no more sake... For you no more sake... Din... Don... Dan..."

    "Sh-shut up, Stupid Hao!" The snake coughed and then said "Yes, the formation is finished. It is called the Impure Moonlight Gathering formation. It will help you in gathering the Qi in your body and it will help a bit in preventing your body from refining it into purer Qi. It should activate when the moon is at its highest, so in about a few moments"

    Cheng Hao nodded and turned towards Xiao Wu "Remember. Sense the Qi, gather the Qi in your body and absorb it, form the Qi Sea and condense the Pseudo-Core!"

    Xiao Wu nodded and spoke herself "Moving water does not freeze as long as it moves. To freeze water, stop it. Make it into still water, turn the river into a sea. Turn the sea into the Pseudo-Core!"

    The two kids looked at each other and they could both see the determination in the other''s pupils.

    Suddenly, the symbols making up the formation lit up and both Cheng Hao and Xiao Wu nodded to each other, took out their martial way and sat cross legged into the glowing formation.

    ...

    As soon as Xiao Wu closed her eyes she entered the meditative state, a state where the mind and the consciousness swapped places. She was not able to feel her body any longer, nor was she able to see, hear, feel, smell or taste, instead she could ''see'' the Qi strands surrounding her.

    Usually, she would need at least a few hours maybe a day to find the right Qi strand, but thanks to the Martial Way she no longer had that problem.

    The Qi strands she sought for were naturally attracted to the treasure so the ''seeking'' part of the breakthrough was done. Now she only had to ''gather and absorb'' the Qi strands. In the past she had already gathered a few strands by herself, but while that took months of work, in just a few breaths worth of time her reserve of Qi strands, now they were more like balls of wool than just strands, had already doubled.

    In the time it would take to drink a cup of tea, she finished the gathering process. She was about to gather some more to have purer Qi, when Goldy''s voice reached her ears as the stream of Qi was suddenly interrupted.

    "Don''t! Stupid Hao may be a cunt but he is no idiot. Don''t you remember what he said about purer Qi being harder to condense? You must not gather pure Qi! In the Inferior stage, purer Qi means a much more difficult cultivation and no benefits! Once you reach the target amount of Qi, you must immediately stop absorbing! I will help you with the absorbing part but, as for the forming of the Qi Sea and Core, Stupid Hao told me that I must leave you alone for that part as it will help you in future breakthroughs!"

    Having said that, the golden snake''s form appeared on the shoulder of her own consciousness and, seeing some disturbances and trembling in her state of mind, he immediately added.

    "Don''t worry about Stupid Hao. He has already prepared a lot and I would just hinder him. He begged me to aid you instead..." A glint of warmth appeared for a split second in the snake''s consciousness'' eyes before disappearing immediately.

    Xiao Wu''s consciousness grew still again and, together with the golden dragon, she began to absorb all the gathered Qi. Streams upon streams of energy moved towards her sea of consciousness and suddenly she realized something was wrong.

    ''No! Those streams are not good! They are too fast! I must form a sea not a river!'' Unfortunately, she could not do anything as she could not stop the energy hurrying towards her consciousness. At the very last moment, a mighty golden energy smashed into the Qi strands, pushing them back towards the gathered Qi mass.

    "No good. Try again" the golden dragon''s voice reached her as she understood: he will aid her when she fails but she must push through these hurdles herself. She won''t have to fear failure, but success was up to her!

    She correctly guessed that was also part of Cheng Hao''s instructions, for her to grow.

    "Brother... Could you actually... Be a genius?"

    "And not only that. I will make you one too!"

    ''If he wants me to be a genius, I must be able to do everything with my own power!'' She might borrow power to avoid failing but she must succeed with her own skill!

    "Not enough"

    "That was too fast"

    "Too little"

    "Too much"

    "Good, you are getting the hang of it! A few more rounds!"

    After a few more attempts she finally succeeded in forming a small pond inside her consciousness. Slowly filling up the pond were three streams.

    A purple, wavy and near gaseous stream, just like a dreamy cloud.

    A black, sometimes weak, sometimes powerful stream, just like a waterfall.

    A white, sturdy and constant stream, just like a millenary river that had kept flowing nonstop for thousands of years, undisturbed by the events of the outside world.

    The three different streams then combined into the still pond that was sometimes white, others black and others purple. After two long hours, the Qi Sea was finally completely formed!

    "Good job!" The snake praised "Now for the easy part, the Pseudo-Core!"

    "E-easy part?" Xiao Wu staggered: many cultivators couldn''t proceed further into cultivation exactly because they couldn''t condense the Core, let alone her who was still without cultivation...

    Seeing the confusion on the girl''s face, Goldy laughed.

    "Remember, what, besides me, has helped you until now?"

    In the blink of an eye, Xiao Wu realised.

    Without needing Goldy to explain anything, she absorbed her Martial Way into her consciousness, letting it enter the Qi sea until it got into its very center...

    As she did that, her mind trembled, as if it couldn''t hold the Martial Way within for much longer.

    The moment the Martial way finally appeared in the center of the Qi Sea, a powerful gravitational pull made the vast amount of liquified Qi collapse onto the treasure.

    The Sea shrank in size until it became a transparent pellet not much bigger than a simple medicinal pill. It was see-through, meaning one could still see the tree, dragon and the moon hovering inside the pellet.

    Suddenly the scenery inside the newly formed Pseudo-Core lit up and a Black-Purple-White ray of energy shot in the sky as the crazy amount of energy made Xiao Wu spit out black blood: it was blood full of the impurities in the bloodstream.

    She knew what that pillar was: it was a manifestation of the power of her newly acquired Qi, something that would only appear when the sensed Qi was particularly powerful and the host had great talent! The pillar of energy slowly faded away and the night sky grew quiet again.

    "Alright. Now you can remove your Martial Way, but remember that when fighting, if you wish to hold power alike that of the Advanced stage, then you must put it back, otherwise the Core will collapse. No big deal, as Cheng Hao will know what to do then, but you will lose your Pseudo-Advanced stage power.

    "Remember that while in the future you will be able to actually fight Advanced stage with such a cultivation, right now both your true cultivation of the Inferior stage and the Pseudo-Advanced cultivation base are unstable, so don''t force it too much!"

    Goldy and Xiao Wu''s consciousnesses both went back into their golden dragon and human bodies. They were both pretty tired but also excited.

    However, when Xiao Wu saw the situation outside, she couldn''t help but shudder.

    The small girl asked with a trembling voice "This... What is THIS?"

 Chapter 9 - I Am The Master Of This Tower

    Just as Xiao Wu entered the meditative state, Cheng Hao sat down as well. However, he couldn''t help but cast a gaze at the snake resting on the table. He opened his mouth and spoke "Goldy... Could you..."

    The golden snake "I will take care of your sister just fine Stupid Hao. Just go."

    After assuring that the snake would help the young girl, Cheng Hao finally relaxed and threw himself on the ground, summoning the Martial Way in front of him.

    As soon as he sat down, Cheng Hao closed his eyes, grabbed the Immortal Ascension Tower and projected his consciousness into it: he only put a small part of his power in the heavenly treasure, yet he felt a strong suction force warping him somewhere else...

    As soon as the suction force appeared, the scenery surrounding him changed. The small hut suddenly vanished and he found himself suspended in a vacuum.

    In front of him was a majestic tower, thousands of meters tall made of bronze, silver and gold.

    The fifteen floors where all divided by golden rings in between, each ring brighter than the floor below''s. The Dazzling sight was enough to bewilder anyone. Anyone except Cheng Hao.

    Suddenly, the first ring cracked and it became a stream of light particles that merged with Cheng Hao''s body. He passed directly from the Qi sensing phase to the absorbition phase... As for his sensed Qi, even he did not understand it completely.

    In fact, he only knew it was related to that weird spark that had brought him back from the dead.

    The light stream suddenly divided into fifteen and, upon Cheng Hao''s command, these streams started to slowly flow towards his consciousness and turned first into the Qi sea then into the Cheng Hao''s Pseudo-Core.

    Here, he did not have the golden dragon to block berserk streams nor did he use the Martial Way to ease the condensation process... And yet, even then, both the actions were completed effortlessly and smoothly: he was way faster than Xiao Wu had been and he easily finished condensing the Pseudo-Core before she had even began the absorption phase.

    The golden Pseudo-Core wasn''t completely see-through but was just a bit denser, showing the vast amount of energy he had absorbed from the ring of light. It was at the very limit of what an Inferior stage cultivator could bear.

    The moment he had finished condensing, he had officially become an Inferior stage cultivator.

    The tall tower was his treasure.

    He had used the golden spark in his consciousness to build it, using up so much energy that it could have helped him break into multiple stages and even Realms consecutively. However, he knew better than anyone how detrimental that would have been.

    His body would have burst into flames and, even if he was so lucky that he survived, his soul would have been damaged and he would have become a cripple!

    That is why he had built this tower.

    This was a tower that wasn''t meant to be climbed. Inside though, it housed countless treasures and mysteries that would help him in his cultivation, sealed within the same level they would be usable at.

    The rings made of Martial Energy was one of them. They had just the maximum amount of energy a body could hold without side effects at the peak of each stage, energy that would help him every time he wanted to breakthrough a stage.

    However, if he wanted to breakthrough using the rings of light and had already gathered some excess energy by himself, those rings would disperse some of their Martial Power so that it wouldn''t harm him. This would also allow him to have great strength after a breakthrough, unlike other cultivators who would need to stabilise their cultivation bases.

    Him, on the other hand, would also receive a temporary boost from the excess energy, a boost that could possibly help him overcome gaps of whole stages. These rings however weren''t under his control. He couldn''t use them freely, instead, it was as if a mysterious law governed their actions: giving Cheng Hao their power when he needed to breakthrough, keeping it when that was not the case.

    Cheng Hao''s sudden breakthrough would already be enough to make those so-called geniuses spit blood from the envy, as even the shortest of breakthroughs would need a few minutes to complete. Him however, only needed a few breaths!

    But that wasn''t all.

    As soon as he finished condensing the Pseudo-Core, the projection of his consciousness became more definite: although his face wasn''t visible, his limbs were while he had previously only resembled a gaseous mass. His figure finally resembled that of a human as it grew in clarity with each moment that passed.

    The boy also felt two familiar powers in both his hands as well as in his left and right eyes. Smiling in reminiscence, the hazy Cheng Hao lifted his head towards the first gate.

    Hundreds of locks, thousands of chains, tons of seals and everything that could be thought of to keep something imprisoned, it was there, just to keep that one door closed... And Cheng Hao only knew why!The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

    He looked at the restriction on top of the doors and his magnified voice came out "You did well. Rest in peace" one of the seals suddenly grew opaque and shattered.

    Following it were one more, and another one, and another one, and another one, until every single seal had shattered. They then turned into energy, floating towards Cheng Hao, whom used it to feed the Pseudo-Core more energy, making his cultivation even more similar to a true Advanced stage expert''s.

    Following that, were the chains and the locks. One by one, the rings shattered and turned into energy until the first floor''s gate was held together only by a single golden blade.

    It was embedded where the two doors'' frames met and it looked quite fragile.

    The blade was completely made out of condensed golden energy, while the hilt was made of bronze and looked like a key. The blade alone would have been enough for Cheng Hao to breakthrough to the Basic stage instantly, but he decided to keep it for when he needed it in the future.

    He already had a ring to breakthrough to the Basic stage, he didn''t need more help.

    *Thump! Thump! Thump!* Suddenly, something began hammering the gate from the inside.

    Judging from the sound, it likely was a being with an incredibly massive body and the whole first floor trembled from the beast''s roars.

    The beautiful golden blade adorned with the designs of crosses and suns bent dangerously but, when it was on the verge of snapping, the gates suddenly stopped their advance and swung backwards!

    The sword also suddenly flung back into its original position as the gate also trembled back to its former appearance.

    TheThingbehind the door kept hammering constantly, each blow more powerful than the others. The sword even cracked a few times but repaired itself right away whenever the frames resisted the blow.

    Yes. No matter how much the door moved and all the effort thatsomethingput into breaking free, those two doors always held on by a breath. Cheng Hao smiled and slowly approached the gate.

    Step by step, walking on thin air... No, stepping on literally nothing, he slowly got closer and closer to the titanic golden gate...

    Feeling someone approaching, theThinginside stopped his attempts of escaping.

    Cheng Hao took the hilt of the sword in his hands and slowly... Extracted it from where it was embedded.

    He took the golden sword in his hands and its blade, as if liberated, turned back into energy which the youth absorbed and would then proceed to feed to his newly formed Pseudo-Core. What remained in his hands was a bronze key. It was extremely exquisite, it resembled a long black snake coiled around a tall mountain.

    Cheng Hao clapped his hands together and his hands began to make hand seals, moving so fast that the eye could not discern the movements. The key slowly expanded and soon grew to be hundreds of times its previous size, even bigger than Cheng Hao''s projection. He lifted one of his hands and made another mysterious hand sign as the key flew towards a key-hole that had materialized when the sword had been removed.

    The bronze key entered the key hole and, when it fit in completely, Cheng Hao''s hands moved again and, with a *click*, the door frames opened. The key lost its physical body and also flew towards Cheng Hao as a stream of energy.

    The massive gate slowly opened until a single, gigantic, golden eye could be seen inside. A rasping voice could suddenly be heard talking... It wasn''t emitted from a mouth, no.

    The being was speaking directly into Cheng Hao''s mind!

    "Who... Who are you, human child?"

    The eye looked around and seeing the empty space behind Cheng Hao it had no choice but stare at the blurry projection or not look at all... The projection now was clear enough to discern the apparent age of the boy but not enough to clearly see his face.

    "I am Cheng Hao, and I am the Master of this Tower. I am the Tower''s creator as well as its gatekeeper. I will not hide it, you are being held in here because of me. I built this tower to aid my own cultivation and you are a simple stepping stone that I will use to fly higher in the sky"

    With that, the eye widened in surprise as he heard the youth''s claims.

    "A stepping stone, uh?" The rasping voice seemed really tired.

    "Now, I shall make a contract with you. When I am in need of your help, you shall wait no time to help me and you will also act like my servant!"

    That cheerful and warm Cheng Hao that Xiao Wu had interacted with was no longer there.

    In its place was a cold and fearless King amongst men, a being superior to anyone else. His whole air had changed. His hair fluttered, his eyes turned completely golden and became the only thing visible of the consciousness'' true appearance...

    The consciousness started emitting the Golden Aura that spread around him, making him look like some descended War God.

    "You... Are you the one who imprisoned me here?" There was no trace of anger or rage in the eye''s expression, just surprise and interest.

    "Indeed. And I also plan to use you to get stronger faster. To do that I need your power!" The boy''s voice reverberated into the previously silent vacuum, as if there truly was air in there.

    Suddenly, a sharp glint appeared in the depths of the eye''s pupils.

    "If you are this tower''s master then you must be really powerful. If you are already so powerful that you were able to build this tower, why do you need to use such methods to gain even more power? Oh, you are still an Inferior stage cultivator... Child, where did you find this power?"

    The eye closed as a thunderous laugh sounded in Cheng Hao''s ears "AHAHAHAHAH!"

    "Very well... I won''t ask, but I don''t want to become one''s servant just like that... How about we play a game? I shall be your pet for a thousand years if you win but ifIwin..." The eye blinked "I shall be free and I will become this tower''s new master! You will be imprisoned in my place for ten thousand years! After that period, I will free you and leave this place! How about it?"

    Cheng Hao stared emotionless at the gigantic figure whose only thing that could be seen was its eye. Cheng Hao was actually laughing loudly in his mind ''Oh, you willsoregret this Little Black... No, from now on, I shall call you Blacky!''

    The child stayed silent for a few moments as if he were pondering, but in the end he sighed and asked "What game?"

    "It is simple. I want to get out, you want to keep me in, right? If you can keep me from coming out of this floor for at least twenty breaths, you win!" The eye blinked and the pupil glowed. It turned green for a bit and an hexagram appeared within.

    A glittering contract appeared in front of Cheng Hao, the terms the same as the figure had just recited. The youth nodded and then exclaimed:

    "I, Cheng Hao, Master of The Immortal Ascension Tower, accept your terms and declare that the game may begin!"

    Then he yelled "I now allow the creature residing within the first floor to pass the First Floor''s gates!" following that, the two gigantic frames that made up the golden gate opened wide. Even then, the monster was not visible, as if the darkness was intentionally hiding its features.

    Hearing the child''s voice, the previous calm appearance of theThingturned into a raging anger "You Mother F***** dare to f****** imprison me here??? Today I shall feast on your flesh! I said I will make you take my place but who said you will be alive then!

 Chapter 10 - (Title At The End)

    As the gates opened, the darkness inside the first floor dwindled a bit. Light slowly creeped in, thus allowing Cheng Hao to finally gaze at the figure''s outlines.

    Six glowing eyes followed by a long, snake-like body charged towards the outside world. Suddenly, a part of the creature''s face was inundated by the golden light from the Immortal Ascension Tower.

    The head resembled that of a dragon, a completely black dragon, except it didn''t have a mouth.

    Instead, a small opening similar to a hole was there, dripping poison. The six eyes were all glinting with fury and hatred. If looks could kill (Which in this beast''s case it wasn''t that far from the truth), Cheng Hao would already have been turned to ashes and would have been blown away by the wind.

    The young boy smiled in his mind and began to count calmly "1... 2... 3... 4..."

    Seeing the enraged expression on the monster''s face, Cheng Hao closed his eyes, smiled gently and waved his left hand: a stream of white energy appeared, it was just like a white flame and it looked as if it couldfreezetodeath anything that crossed its path.

    He waved his right hand: a stream of black energy appeared it was just like a black flame and it looked as if it couldburnto ashes everything in its path.

    After witnessing that, the monstrous head stopped where it stood, his expression one of terror. The beast''s disbelief and astonishment were clear from the fact its mouth kept opening and closing without making a sound, even its eyes had opened so wide they seemed to be about to fall out.

    "5... 6... 7... 8..."

    Cheng Hao lifted his head and the only thing now visible on his face were his two eyes.

    The left eye looked like a vortex to another world, wherein seas of blood, mountain of corpses and a cold golden sun appeared. The corpses were constantly withering, whereas the golden sun kept growing more and more majestic with each passing second.

    Cheng Hao''s left eye was something that could keep people awake at night and anyone who glanced in it would start withering just like those corpses in the vision... His right eye also seemed to change somehow, but it looked like the thing inside was still sealed and needed more strength to be able to break free.

    "9... 10... 11... 12..."

    Seeing that, the monster shrieked and jumped back into the tower, even going as far as retreating as much as it could into the room.

    Let alone coming out, it even closed the gate himself! The monster''s voice was now feeble even, as if it had run a long distance away!

    "Cheater! Cheater! Those black and white flame-like gases... That illusion in your left eye!" The black monster cried, its voice filled with despair and unwillingness.

    "13... 14... 15... 16..." Cheng Hao smiled, the laughter that he had kept repressed for the past few minutes needed all his control to stop it from bulging out.

    "It-It was youuuu!" The beast had long since forgotten that the person in front of him was only an Inferior stage cultivator and had been scared witless.

    "17... 18... 19... 20!" Cheng Hao''s smile grew even wider as a fierce grin found it way on his face. He waved his hands, blinked his eyes and the abilities disappeared.

    "Left White Flame That Steal Life, Glory, and Right Black Flame That Delivers Death, Oblivion! Even the Golden Sun Devouring Countless Corpses! And that right eye... Is that the Black Beast of Nightmares? You... you fooled me! You are no Cheng Hao!"

    The voice paused "Xu Ling! Evil Saint! What are you doing here???"

    Cheng Hao smiled and couldn''t help but feel a bit of pity towards the monster, locked inside the tower against his will.

    It had been given a chance at life but it would have never thought a thing like this would have ever happened...

    Cheng Hao smirked as the pity vanished, replaced by greed "I won, so you are now my servant for a thousand years!"

    "Xu Ling! How is it possible! You died that day by the hands of Tian himself!" The voice kept yelling nonstop. In its mind, it was repeating that it was impossible for Xu Ling to have survived Tian''s final attack, and yet... Here he was!

    Standing before him, the only thing separating the two were only the gargantuan frames of the golden gates.

    "That is right... I died... But I came back! I built this tower to gain back my own power and that is why you will now bow to me and fight by my side like the old days, Monstrous Beast, Hellish Nightmare Dragon!"Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    ...

    It was night and even then, one part of the starry sky was as bright as the day.

    There, two figures resembling two dancers entwined in the heavens, lightning crackling, the clouds roiling and the mountains crumbling to pieces...

    One of the two was a gigantic black dragon: it had no wings yet it could fly thanks to his cultivation, it had no mouth, just an aperture from which it could spit acid. It also had no limbs like arms, yet its attacks using the wind were just as effective as if the dragon had a huge pair of gigantic claws.

    The majestic beast was thousands of meters long and it was completely black, except for some wounds spurting golden blood and the six fearsome, glowing eyes.

    Whole mountains could be erased with a single glance, armies of millions would get so scared that they would be unable to stand up straight with just a blink. Those eyes and the python-like body truly made the beast look as if it had just come out from some hellish nightmare!

    Yet, this apparently extremely powerful gigantic beast was fighting someone and, noticing the blood gushing out from several wounds on its body, it could be deduced that it wasn''t really going that well for it...

    Its opponent was something that in its perspective would be any different than an ant.

    It was a human.

    But he was not a simple human: whenever that monster that seemed to have come out straight from a nightmare, a being that could barely be called a snake rather than a dragon, used his eyes to send a mental attack to his opponent''s mind, it would fail!

    Instead of shocking and terrifying the opponent, the dragon had actually started to wither, its life force absorbed by the human''s strange left eye.

    After it had found out its abilities didn''t work, the dragon was in full retreat but it couldn''t hold a candle to the human in speed. Even though it wasn''t the speed of lightning falling from the heavens, he truly did look like one as he attacked the humongous monster, not leaving it any space to breathe.

    The battle went on for twelve whole hours and, in the end, the dragon was subjugated and made into a mount from that one human.

    It was forced to free all the prisoners from the World''s End, second highest security prison in the True Heaven, and he even led them to fight Tian head on! The Hellish Nightmare Dragon would never forget the way the human had looked at him: it was as if, at the slightest slip up, it would become a roasted dragon for him to enjoy!

    Such a thought deeply terrified him.

    Not to mention the even more gigantic Heaven Devouring Dragon Blindlight that, if it weren''t for the fact that it was under that human''s control, let alone roast the black dragon, the golden beast could swallow the ''tiny'' snake in one gulp!

    Those trauma from the past which he had attempted to forget had actually never truly left him and had now come back to haunt him, and what could he do to escape that? Nothing.

    "I... I... Agh, fine! Just don''t cause too much trouble for me!"

    The beast gave up and a stream of golden light flew towards Cheng Hao''s right hand.

    At that moment, a single light tattoo appeared floating on top of the back of his hand. On it was a black dragon, it had no arms nor any mouth, but his long body was enough to wrap around the mountains and a single stare from its golden eyes were enough to stun weaker foes...

    The guardian of the first level of Tian''s dungeon for life-long sentences prisoners, the guardian of the World''s End, the Hellish Nightmare Dragon!

    The tattoo wasn''t imprinted on the skin but was actually a light hologram so it could be hidden or showed on the owner''s whim. However, this was just a temporary measure as it would soon disappear, absorbed in to the boy''s very consciousness.

    The golden gate closed. It had no lock but Cheng Hao was sure that the beast wouldn''t try any tricks with him there, especially since he had made a Soul Contract. He basically held control over that monster''s life and death.

    He decided it was time to turn back so, with a whim, the tower and everything surrounding him shrunk until it could be seen they were actually inside his Pseudo-Core all along!

    He put the tower in the very middle of the golden pellet and a heart-wrenching, Heaven-shaking roar could be heard as the Pseudo-Core finished absorbing all the energy it had been fed from the Immortal Ascending Tower... And Cheng Hao stopped holding back his cultivation!

    Suddenly, a golden pillar could be seen rising into the sky! It was many times larger than Xiao Wu''s and was even many times denser. It also gave people an uneasy feeling.

    It wasn''t the bright and cheerful golden color of the flames, it was the dark and uneasy golden color of the cold metal, and it looked as if it could suck souls away with just a thought! Yet, it was dazzling... This, this was the color of a golden emperor, cold and ruthless!

    Orbiting around the pillar where two gaseous masses, one black, one white. The two entwined and sometimes mixed together but passed by each other as if they weren''t in the same plane of existence altogether.

    As Cheng Hao opened his eyes, he saw his body surrounded by a glowing, golden illusory Avatar of his own Immortal Ascension Tower.

    The Tower was the exact copy of the tower in his Pseudo-Dantian. This time though, unlike when he had first materialized the illusory Martial Way, the first gate was open! Within the first floor, six big, golden eyes instilled fear and terror upon anybody unlucky enough to look into them!

    The illusory outline of a black, wingless, mouthless and limbless snake-like dragon could be seen wrapped around Cheng Hao''s wrist and, although it was small, it wasn''t any less terrifying than it would have been if it had been a thousand times its current size.

    Its black scales and cool aura gave it a somehow deathly feeling, as if such a beast shouldn''t exist in the world of the living. This was none other than the Soul Contract''s manifestation. It would only be visible by the two contractors and it would only fade away once the contract was completed.

    Suddenly, Cheng Hao''s eyes glowed and he dispelled both the golden pillar and the illusory Avatar.

    The dragon''s physical manifestation within the tower though, remained. It wrapped around Cheng Hao''s neck like a scarf. An illusory, yet at the same time growing more and more solid at each passing moment, black scarf.

    The scarf was just like a live, breathing dragon. Unfortunately though, it was asleep. Cheng Hao knew that, after it slept for a while, the dragon would grow real from illusory and would then fight besides him.

    He turned towards the wide eyed, slack jawed, Xiao Wu and Goldy with a smile "I have broken through!"

    Chapter 10- I Have Broken Through!

 Chapter 11 - Truly, Sowing Bad Karma

    Goldy stared wide-eyed at the youth making the victory sign in front of him. His clothes were now no different than burnt rags and the floor below him was now the same consistency of carbon.

    What was more astonishing though, was neither the charred clothing or the burnt floor, but the waves of power emanating from the youth.

    A faint golden aura could be seen glowing, emitted from the child''s body. It was constantly refining the energy surrounding him into the beneficial spiritual energy and constantly nourishing the body.

    Although no results would be seen in just a few days, in a matter of months, maybe even weeks, the body would be greatly enhanced.

    The impurities have already long since been expelled, while the muscles would have toughened up and the bones grown firmer and stronger. Let alone the progress of a few months, in ten or more years the body would then be no different than a steel weapon itself! An incredibly mightFleshly Body

    Putting aside this glow emanated from Cheng Hao''s body, the aura he now had was that of a noble, above the simple mortals.

    A faint golden light tattoo that couldn''t be seen orbited around his right hand just like some kind of satellite. On it where inscribed the words ''Nightmares Haunt All The Living'' as well as the drawing of a black, wingless, arm-and-legless and mouthless dragon.

    The monster in the picture seemed alive as it moved in the tatto in a circular fashion. Wrapped around Cheng Hao''s neck was now a strange black scarf. It wasn''t made of cloth, leather or any other common materials. Many small black hexagons covered the rough surface of the black scarf.

    Xiao Wu could tell at a glance. Scales. She tried to change her completely shocked expression into a milder one but it was no use.

    ''Just how many secrets do you keep from me, Brother Cheng Hao?''

    Before she could ask anything or he could get up suddenly something flew towards Cheng Hao and hit him squarely on the stomach. Thanks to the Golden Glow he sustained no damage however he still lost his balance and fell on his back.

    The red and purple as well as incredibly excited face of the golden snake, Goldy, appeared in front of Cheng Hao''s.

    The dragon stared into the human child''s eyes and then excitedly said "That scarf... Could it be... Little Black?"

    The black scarf suddenly seemed to shudder. It was not awake yet but a bad feeling still disturbed its sleep for a few breaths before it fell back into its slumber.

    Cheng Hao nodded, propping himself back up.

    "First Floor... Clear! We got our mount!" a wide grin found its place on the child''s face.

    His golden eyes were now even brighter than they were before. His left eye''s pupil though, seemed a slight bit darker than the other and it looked more like a deep well that could swallow someone whole, body, energy and soul alike.

    "Right now it is sleeping and resting to recover from living those two months in a cramped space without any Qi or energy to absorb..." Cheng Hao said.

    A hint of sympathy appeared in Goldy''s eyes: if it weren''t for him reverting back to his infant stage, he would also have been sealed in the tower. Fortunately, he Re-Lived just a few days before Cheng Hao came to be due to an extremely bad feeling, thus avoiding slavery by a hair''s breadth.

    Re-Life, somethings that all Heavenly Beasts reaching the stage of Supreme could accomplish. It was basically restarting from scratch once again, rewinding back one''s lifespan and cultivation for another chance at Immortality. After all, no matter how much martial training one can do, only upon reaching the rank of Immortal will one truly live forever, unhindered by the time and body altogether!

    Those Heavenly Beasts who felt that they would be unable to reach the Immortal Stage would then gamble it on their next life, again and again, until they either got killed or reached Immortality. Although they would revert back to their infant state, they would still keep their memories and experience which will, of course, aid them in future attempts.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

    Still, Cheng Hao couldn''t let such a source of knowledge and, he would of course never admit this, a great friend that had accompanied him for a lifetime already, go away. So he decided to keep him as a pet or, in Goldy''s words, an ''Animated Living Encyclopedia'', without caring about its low cultivation.

    After all, knowledge and cultivation can be acquired, however such a good friend is hard to come by.

    "How much time until it awakens? After all this harassment from you I need to pay it back! But since I can''t harm you, I can only let my feelings out on this Fake Heavenly Beast of yours!

    Cheng Hao smiled as he said in his mind ''Although you have grudges, that poor black beast has a much deeper hate compared to your childish revenge... And seeing how you bullied it in his first life, even giving it the name of ''Dreamy Animated Roasted Meat'' (Why do all your made-up names contain the word ''animated'' within?), it would probably spare no time to give it all back...''

    Seeing the happy and somehow perverted smile on Goldy''s face though, he couldn''t help but put aside the thought of telling him that.

    After all, he should give the Hellish Nightmare Dragon a chance to vent his anger, otherwise...

    Remembering the enraged glowing eyes Cheng Hao shuddered a bit as he thanked the Heavens, of course not the Nine Heavens of Tian but the original, True Heavens, that his bluff worked.

    Fortunately, it seemed like the figure of the Evil Saint had left quite the impact on it. Since he could barely use the abilities for around twenty seconds so he thought that, as he had no other choice, he might as well bet on the fact that he was so cold blooded and ruthless as Xu Ling that he ''traumatized'' many of his... ''subordinates''.

    Although few knew, many of the army of Pseudo-Heavenly Beasts and Heavenly Beasts were actually monsters he had fought and defeated on his journey to the Ninth Heaven to battle Tian. Little Black, for example, was the jail keeper of the Nine Heavens'' highest security jail.

    Following Blindlight''s suggestion, he had attacked the prison and freed the captured criminals. Although some had immediately ran away, most decided to join his army and get their revenge against the people of the Nine Heavens.

    During the jailbreak he had fought many minions of Tian, but the most formidable was none other than the jailkeeper of the World''s End, the Hellish Nightmare Dragon.

    He challenged it to a duel, the terms being if the dragon won, then Xu Ling would have followed him as its slave for ten thousand years, while if Xu Ling won it would become His mount for a thousand years. The battle was long and harsh, but Xu Ling completely dominated the flow from the very first move and only had trouble because of the drastic difference in size.

    The pact was a Soul Pact, just like the one Cheng Hao had made in his consciousness with the same Hellish Nightmare Dragon, meaning the winner would hold the loser''s life in its hands and, if the loser didn''t comply to the terms, the winner of the pact could destroy the other''s soul.

    Following the massive jailbreak were many other events which made Xu Ling''s group grew more and more until it could cover the sky with just its members'' frames.

    During the thousand years Xu Ling passed in that state of neither being alive nor dead the contract also expired so the dragon was set free. Little did it know then that it would one day wake up locked inside a huge tower and, judging from all the other roars coming from above him, it found out it wasn''t alone. At first it thought of uniting its force together with those beings aside from himself.

    When it was about to do that he suddenly heard the roar of an incomparably mighty Heavenly Beast and immediately gave up on the thought. After all, it was sure the person that imprisoned him wouldn''t have done that just for fun so it deduced it only had to wait some time, maybe a few dozens of years of most, and that person would then show up. The dragon would deal with him then.

    Unfortunately it was just so unlucky to have been imprisoned from the one person it didn''t want to meet again in its life the most.

    It thought that it could only be called bad luck that Xu Ling (no, was it Cheng Hao now?) had found it, but little did it know that the karma threads that had been connected to Xu Ling after striking a Soul Pact weren''t something that would disappear with time. On the other hand, they would instead grow even brighter and clearer. For a Heavenly Beast like Goldy that specialized in Qi manipulation and Karmic detection it had no chance to escape the moment the deal was stricken.

    It Truly was ''sowing bad Karma''.

    ...

    "Xiao Wu, how was it? Did you successfully breakthrough?" Cheng Hao had already changed into a new set of clothes.

    "Yes" she nodded cheerfully "And it was all thanks to Goldy uncle and Brother Cheng!" At the ''uncle'' part Goldy could only scoff as he technically Was already over a few millions years old. It would take more time to say all the ''great''s in ''great great great great ... grandfather" than it would take for him to live an average human''s lifespan of eighty years. It was already enough that she didn''t call itself grandpa...

    "That''s great! Now, I will teach you two things. The first is how to use your martial way in battle and the second is..." Cheng Hao''s mouth formed a crescent moon as his eyes glinted "The first scripture of the Purple Moon, Black Dragon and White Tree scriptures!"

 Chapter 12 - Two Martial Ways!

    "Purple Moon, Black Dragon and White Tree scripture!" Xiao Wu stared wide eyed at this mysterious ''brother in all but blood'' of hers

    "Does brother Cheng possibly know the secret techniques that my clan has guarded for centuries???" She chuckled.

    ''Even then... Why did he say first scripture? Isn''t it just a whole?''

    Cheng Hao''s smile grew even wider "Of course I do, and it is even an improved version! For now though, you and I will focus on the most important part for now. Do you know why Martial Ways are special?"

    Xiao Wu nodded and answered automatically, as if it was something she had already said multiple times before.

    "Martial Ways can not only gather its corresponding Qi strands from its surrounding, it can also aid cultivation, speed up enlightenment and, most importantly, appear in battle to fight as an asset for its master"

    Cheng Hao whistled and clapped in admiration.

    "You truly did study a lot" Xiao Wu blushed at Cheng Hao''s remark and quietly accepted the praise that her brother was giving her.

    "But you forgot one thing..."

    Cheng Hao''s whole countenance grew mysterious as he got closer to Xiao Wu, as if he was about to tell her an important secret.

    "Martial Avatar and Martial Way Visualization!" Seeing Xiao Wu''s confused expression Cheng Hao guessed.

    ''It probably hasn''t been discovered yet in this continent... After all I did learn this from some caged guy in the Nine Heavens...''

    Cheng Hao tried to keep it simple "Do you remember that weird tower that surrounded me before? Try remembering the pressure and your impression of it"

    Xiao Wu looked into her memories. Yes. She remembered the ridiculous pressure that made it hard to breathe. She remembered the oppressive feeling the tower gave off, as if IT was the master of life and death and, with just a single thought, she could be blown away. She remembered it...

    "From your expression, it seems you do. Good, it will be much more easier to explain this way! Now, one of the reasons in my previous explanation I said... No, no need to look into your notes, I will repeat myself for this once. Take new notes instead!" Cheng Hao waited for his sister to take out the utensils needed and resumed

    "Why should we risk so much just to form a Pseudo-Core? Well, normally the fact that you get an understanding on how atruecore formation works might already satisfy most people, but it would not be enough for geniuses like us! Ok, first! The Pseudo-Core will keep remaining there even after the real Core is formed, so it might as well act as a life saving treasure. Since it will keep accumulating impure energy and Qi expelled from your body and the real Core... Oh? Didn''t notice? Check it out later! Now keep listening carefully!"

    Cheng Hao cleared his voice and took a sip from a gourd full of wine.

    "Aaaah! Where was I? Oh, since it will keep accumulating Impure Qi it won''t hold as much power as the real deal, but the difference is that while the true Core must be kept safe at all costs, the Pseudo-Core can be Detonated! This will give you a huge boost in power temporarily!"

    Cheng Hao''s leaned back and looked upwards

    "Think of it, months and years of accumulated power that burst out in a single moment! This now of course won''t be as drastic as blowing up the real deal, at least it won''t injure you permanently. Of course it will leave some internal injuries, but your life and most of your cultivation will be kept intact and you can just form another Pseudo-Core later... Unfortunately the body can''t hold more than one Pseudo-Core and it gets harder to rebuild and it takes longer to regenerate each time"

    A sip and the lecture resumed.

    "Second! While the Core cannot, the Pseudo-Core can hold inside it objects made of Qi or other kinds of energies... Think of the Martial Way! It evenneedsit to be inside during a fight or else it would implode! So it is also a storage for impure energies, Martial Ways and who knows what else!"The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    "Third and the most important! We sacrifice our ability to use the true body of the Martial Way in battle until we reach the Advanced stage, where we can finally rely on true Cores, sure, but it still gives us even more benefits than a Martial Way alone can give you!!"

    Although Xiao Wu previously didn''t know a single thing about what Cheng Hao was explaining, she understood it all without any problem. That wasn''t just because she was smart enough to do that, but because Cheng Hao was incredibly great at explaining things in a way other people would understand them easily.

    Well, after all, you can only say you have learned something when you can explain it to other people, and Cheng Hao clearly knew a lot.

    "A martial way outside the body cannot absorb energy as the strands are too dense and too packed to choose the right ones, so it becomes difficult for the treasure to pick them, thus making it automatically unable to collect any energy. Inside the body though, it''s a different story... Think about it, I only kept it inside for a few minutes, and yet once its manifestation, its Avatar, came out it was already this overpowering! Of course mine is a bit of an exception, but I''m sure that right now if you, a total noob at controlling it, were to battle a weak cultivator of the Basic stage just by using the power of your Martial Way... There are very few chances you would suffer defeat!"

    Cheng Hao lifted his left palm and a golden tower appeared on top of it "I can suppress its power so it might look like an innocent little glowing toy. But the moment I channel my energy into it..."

    *Boom*

    The Immortal Ascension Tower Avatar appeared surrounding Cheng Hao once again, the strong pressure reappearing. The gate on the first floor slowly opened and three pairs of arrogant eyes could be seen looking outside. They subconsciously pressured any living being that looked into those pupils and even though the attack wasn''t aimed at her, Xiao Wu still had to squint her eyes when she tried to look at the six glowing golden lights.

    With a *whoosh* the tower shrank back in Cheng Hao''s palm and faded away when he turned his hand over.

    "Our consciousness can''t hold such a powerful energy like a Martial Way inside it before it reaches the Reverend Stage, even then it would take quite the toll on the body! I think you should remember having such a feeling when you were building your core... That is why our Pseudo-Cores are so important and such great gifts to us..."

    Cheng Hao finally stopped talking and took another sip from the gourd. He already drank two bottles'' worth of wine yet there was no sign of him being drunk in the way he behaved. Even the smell of alcohol was suppressed since he found out Xiao Wu didn''t drink and didn''t want to displease her.

    "Now for the control part! To be able to create an avatar or at least an illusory manifestation of the Martial Way is quite the hard work. I''m a genius and you are not bad at all yourself, but I still think it is better to start from the basics. Extend your palm. Good. Now, picture your Martial Way on your hand. Don''t picture it coming out of the Pseudo-Core, just it appearing on your hand. Try it!"

    Xiao Wu extended her left hand and did as she was told. The purple moon appeared but, although she kept imagining the other two beings, the white tree and the black dragon, appearing above her palm, she couldn''t do it at all. She lifted her head and threw a questioning glance at Cheng Hao. He simply smiled and gave a thumbs up, pointing at her other palm.

    Her mind roared in disbelief ''Impossible!''

    She looked at her right palm and, no doubt at all, the White Tree and Black Dragon were there!

    On the other hand though, they had not appeared alongside the Purple Moon at all as if... They weren''t of the same kind? Suddenly, she was enlightened! The Purple Moon, Black Dragon and White Tree wasn''t actually a single scripture... Remembering her doubts from before she couldn''t help but smile. It was not the Purple Moon, Black Dragon and White Tree Qi she was trying to gain enlightenment of... It was the Purple Moon AND Black Dragon and White Tree Qi!

    She turned towards the smiling Cheng Hao. He truly looked happy... As if he had designed a difficult treasure hunt and somebody had actually held out until the end and found the treasure... He felt proud of having such a talented little sister!

    "Good going there! The first time that I entered your consciousness and saw the two scenes blended together as one I admit I was a bit shocked myself but then it occurred to me... That your ancestor IS Xiao Lan after all, he wouldn''t make such a mistake as unconsciously putting two Martial Ways as one!"

    Cheng Hao pointed at her hands

    "It was because he knew you had the power to control them! That''s right, you have the talent of Split Cultivation, the power to divide your attention during cultivation to cultivate different kinds of Qi and thus using two kinds of Qi in battle as well! The person I chose to be my sister should at the very least haveThismuch talent shouldn''t she?"

    Xiao Wu was stunned for a moment then a malicious smile appeared on her face "Brother, brother... Could you possibly jealous of your sister''s talent?"

    Cheng Hao also chuckled and then with a casual wave of his hands, a total of fifteen Immortal Ascension Towers had actually appeared hovering around him.

    Xiao Wu''s previous laughter was blocked off and she couldn''t help but stare in stupor at the scene before her. Although it was only one kind of Qi, to create so many illusory Martial Ways wasn''t something she could do right now!

    "This is what you must be able to do. I will now teach you the scripture for the Black Dragon and White Tree... As for the most difficult and challenging Purple Moon... You will have to the same I did back there by the end of the month! If fifteen is too much, then go one or even more lower, though if it is lower than ten I will consider it a failure, for the number nine is a number that I despise, and anything below that would be too easy!"

    Cheng Hao smiled "Consider it a test for your patience!" His smile turned cold and his eyes were even colder "And revenge for underestimating your big brother..."

    Xiao Wu shivered.

 Chapter 13 - Dao Enlightenment!

    "There are many possible ways a Martial Way can be used in battle. One example is the Martial Avatar that you saw before, a supporting ability that weakens your enemies and enhances your strength. Some Martial Ways though, can be used in accordance with some secret skills and cultivation techniques as a weapon. Your Xiao clan''s Purple Moon and Black Dragon and White Tree Scriptures are an example of the latter category..."

    Cheng Hao winked "Just so you know mine has both categories!"

    Seeing Xiao Wu''s pout the boy quickly added "Although I may be able to, once you reach an higher cultivation, you should then gain the ability to modify your own Martial Way to be both as well, so don''t worry!"

    Xiao Wu laughed seeing her brother''s struggle at her pout and then asked "Then how can I use my Martial Way in accordance with the Purple Moon and Black Dragon and White Tree Scripture?"

    Cheng Hao smiled and mysteriously said "That is something you will have to discover yourself! I cannot help you with that or it will lose any additional effect you might gain through self enlightenment!"

    Goldy yawned and pointed out "Your just tired of explaining all this, aren''t you"

    Cheng Hao''s mysterious countenance became one of anger as it threw the snake inside a pot. The snake struggled for a bit but was unable to lift the lid and thus could do nothing but insult the youth "Cheng Hao, you bastard! Release me at once!"

    A red faced Cheng Hao sat on top of the the pot''s lid and resumed his lecture "Now, for the scripture! You better note it down because I won''t repeat it a second time! Very well! Now listen carefully!"

    Cheng Hao jumped down from the pot and entered a meditative stance. From then he raised his right arm and pointed his opened right hand upwards, the left arm instead was bent downwards so that the tips of his fingers touched the ground. A hazy black dragon appeared coiled around the right arm while the youth''s body seemed to turn into the white tree itself, the fingers of his left hand being the roots, the arms the trunk, while the right hand pointing upwards where the branches.

    Xiao Wu observed and noted his every movement and suddenly she began writing because, although Cheng Hao''s mouth didn''t open and his eyes were hazy as if he was sleeping, words could still be clearly heard and the voice was undoubtedly the boy''s.!

    "The Black Dragon that is Pride, The White Tree that is Forgiveness.

    Two opposites are not equals, yet one can be both.

    The Black that is Anger and the Dragon that is Power, The White that is Kindness and the Tree that is Strength.

    Two opposites are not equals, yet one can be both.

    To Avenge and to Forgive, To use power for oneself, To use your power for others.

    Two opposites are not equals, yet one can be both.

    To be the Dragon and devour the offenders, To be the Tree and forgive any harm.

    Two opposites are not equals, yet one can be both.

    Power and Strenght, Anger and Kindness, Black and White.

    Two opposites are not equals, yet one can be both.

    Power and Anger, Strenght and Kindness, no more Black, no more White.

    Two opposites are not equals, yet one can be both.

    Black. White. Black And White.

    Two opposites are not equals, yet one can be both.

    Use your power for yourself. Use your power for others. Use your power for both yourself And others.

    Two opposites are not equals, yet one can be both.

    Because the White Tree is White. Because the Black Dragon is Black. Because it is the White Tree And Black Dragon.

    No opposites are totally different, they are just the other face ofacoin. To be one is to also be the other. To be Black is to be White. To be White is to be Black.

    To be the Dragon is to be the Tree"

    The supernatural aura that the meditating Cheng Hao was giving off suddenly started to retract and Xiao Wu sighed in admiration: Cheng Hao truly was a genius! To know so many things and remember them all was nothing short than incredible! But to be able to know that much, what kind of price did he have to pay?

    As soon as she relaxed though, Goldy''s, whom had, by the way, already escaped the pot trap, voice reached her ears "You better keep watching. This was the basic White Tree and Black Dragon scripture. Now it''s time for Cheng Hao to add in the part he has created himself after examining and finding some mistakes!"

    Suddenly the aura rose up again so Xiao Wu sat back on the ground in front of the young child and prepared to write again. Cheng Hao didn''t make anyone wait as his lifeless eyes continued to stare blankly in front of him and his voice resumed.

    "Yes,even ifthe two are different, they are opposites. That is why they are two.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    The Black Dragon that attacks the other, the White Tree that protects the self.

    Two different entities that complete each other.

    Not two halves that form a whole. They are wholes to begin with and yet they complete each other.

    Because to be the Dragon is to not be the Tree and to be the Tree is to not be the Dragon.

    That is why they are not one but two, Black Dragon And White Tree.

    Two Wholes that complete each other!"

    Cheng Hao''s lifeless eyes regained their vitality and the strange aura as well as the Black Dragon and White Tree illusions disappeared. He was about to speak up when he noticed Xiao Wu''s eyes were lifeless and a weird aura had surrounded her...

    ''This is Dao(the Way) Enlightenment! This girl..." Cheng Hao was astonished as he assisted to an eight years old girl going through what all experts from the Ageless Realm and below couldn''t even dream of achieving... Dao Enlightenment! The understanding of oneself, one''s path and also enlightenment on one''s sensed Qi...

    "Truly, a heaven defying genius...Her talent is superior to mine by leaps and bounds than when I was her age..." Cheng Hao smiled and with a movement of his hands, a strand of Inferior Will took the shape of a three inches tall Cheng Hao and sat on Xiao Wu''s shoulder, in the case she needed any help: although he didn''t look like it, the young male was really tired after that one demonstration of the Black Dragon and White Tree scripture and he needed to rest for a while to recover.

    In the meantime, that one Inferior anthropomorphic Qi strand along with the golden dragon, Blindlight, would be more than enough if the girl needed any help

    Cheng Hao sat on his bed and started rotating the Pseudo-Core inside him to recover his energy...

    ...

    Xiao Wu found herself in an unfamiliar place:

    it looked like she was in the middle of a mysterious space and she was standing on top thin blue layer that seemed to be made of crystal. She could see countless stars in the distance while below the thin surface, chaotic gaseous masses struggled to break free.

    On top of the crystal layer there where many versions of herself, each doing something different than the others.

    One was constantly summoning the Martial Avatar, the image of a White Tree appeared on top of her, the Purple Moon orbited around it and the Black Dragon twisted and coiled around the white trunk and branches. It almost didn''t look illusory at all so pure and perfectly executed it was.

    Another one again was doing the same thing that Cheng Hao did before and was splitting her cultivation summoning ninety nine Purple Moons and Black Dragon and White Trees that orbited around her in an orderly fashion. The three types were all going in a different direction, some up some down, while the Purple Moons just orbited randomly around the illusory Xiao Wu''s body... The sight was shocking to the most!

    Those moving upwards brightened all at once and when they lit back down it was then the turn for all the illusory martial ways moving downwards to brighten and so on, in a never-ending cycle.

    The control was perfect, even better than the current Cheng Hao''s, and Xiao Wu was sure that she could have obtained a much deeper understanding if she tried to observe it for even a bit more.

    Unfortunately, she instinctively knew that, if she tried to do that, this state of enlightenment would collapse and she would lose any chance to do that in the future. Since that was the case, she could only ignore this Other Xiao Wu and search for the one thing she could obtain insights of.

    As she turned, she then noticed the hundreds upon hundreds of copies of herself, each doing different things all regarding martial cultivation. Amongst them, after a few minutes of searching, she found the one she was looking for.

    This Xiao Wu was sitting crosslegged, her eyes dazed as she looked at a Black Dragon and White Tree Martial Way hovering in front of her. Sometimes the dragon disappeared and only the tree remained while others the tree disappeared leaving the dragon coiling on empty air, at others, even the whole scene disappeared leaving behind nothing but a faint Qi...

    Around the sitting Xiao Wu, three more illusory Martial Ways appeared and began to orbit: each of them showing each of the three possibilities showed by the bigger Martial Way, except for the one where the Black Dragon and White Tree were a whole.

    The copy waved her hand, dismissing the bigger Martial Way, and focused on the smaller ones orbiting around her.

    It looked like the three incomplete illusory martial ways tried in every manner to be as bright as the complete illusory Martial Way without succeeding. No matter how they tried, a half could not compete with a whole, let alone nothing trying to compete with something.

    The sitting copy of Xiao Wu dissolved the illusory Martial Way that held neither the dragon nor the tree and instead focused on the two remaining ones while the real Xiao Wu watched intently to see what she would do next.

    The copy then made the two incomplete Martial Ways head together towards the complete one but even then they could not rival the brightness and the pressure of the complete one.

    At that, even original Xiao Wu furrowed her thin brows and her small mouth turned into a thin line as she stared unblinking at her other self''s following actions. ''The two of them together can''t rival the original... Why? Aren''t they the same? They both have a Black dragon and White Tree... They are both wholes!''

    The other Xiao Wu was as calm as ever and her lifeless eyes'' expression didn''t change. Suddenly, she mouthed a few words...

    "Wholes... Are... They... Really... All... The... Same?"

    At that, a bolt seemed to strike down the real Xiao Wu as she immediately sat down. She took out her own Martial Way, the Black Dragon and White Tree and she poured her power in it.

    Prior to then, when she tried this, its power was nowhere as close as Cheng Hao''s Martial Way. At first she thought it was because the quality of her Martial Way was just that much inferior but she was wrong. After she heard her other self''s words she understood.

    "Two halves that are able to complete each other form a whole. Two wholes that complete each other form a whole. Are they the same nonetheless? That''s a fool''s thinking! Two wholes are not always equal! Just like a whole dragon cub and a whole adult dragon have different power, this Martial Way is no different! Its power as a whole is the power of the firmest tree and strongest dragon... How can it possibly be weak?"

    Following her insights, incredible might surged forward and two floating Martial Ways appeared: they were two illusory figures of the Black Dragon and White Tree. The two illusory martial ways then brightened and, in their place, a black blade and a white shield appeared in front of her.

    The blade was like the black dragon, ready to jump on its prey with its unstoppable might, while the shield was just like the white tree, firm and nearly-indestructible!

    The two floating objects were none other than the might of the Martial Way as a weapon and shield, theirtrueMartial forms!

    The weapon was a meter and a half long, only the tip and one of the edges were sharp. It had no guard and the handle bore the design of a dragon''s head. The shield was two meters wide and had the shape of a circle. It was decorated with patterns of leafs and a big oak was drawn in the middle.

    The other Xiao Wu''s eyes regained vitality as if she had awakened from a trance and she smiled at the true Xiao Wu. She summoned back the four Martial Ways and, after nodding to her original, she walked off to the orison, turning into many dots of light at each step.

    Xiao Wu bowed in her direction and she also recalled her Martial Way along with the two weapons inside her Pseudo-Core. She then smiled and opened her true body''s eyes. These eyes were now a lot maturer than before, and Goldy as well as Cheng Hao''s Inferior Qi strand could both feel the change. The meditating Cheng Hao also smiled in his mind before resuming cultivation.

    Xiao Wu had broken through Low Inferior stage into Middle Inferior stage!

 Chapter 14 - Blame The Heavens, To Have Weaved Such A Terrible Destiny For You!

    "Brother, where are we going?" Xiao Wu and Cheng Hao were currently walking down a paved road.

    Cheng Hao had suddenly woken her up at half past four in the morning and thad old her that she had to quietly follow him. It had been two days ever since they had broken through into the Inferior stage.

    After the recent events, she had learned to trust and do whatever her brother might instruct her to do. This time was no exception so she changed the mundane clothes she used to sleep and wore in the hut with the Sect''s clothing.

    The clothing was actually a simple black robe white one white stripe going from the right shoulder to the left ankle, where it also faded into the black. The robe also had a hood that could be used to conceal one''s face, so they both hid their features as they came out of the house.

    Before they did though, Cheng Hao had to wait for Xiao Wu to apply some makeup to make her looks a bit more masculine and tie her long blue-purplish hair into a ponytail. He still did not ask the reason she decided to dress and act as a male but he did not care. It was her decision and it did not bother an open-minded person like him. He had travelled with companions with much worse habits...

    Of course when Goldy had, one night, secretly applied makeup on Cheng Hao''s sleeping face so that when he went out he had looked like a stunning beauty, he had tied the damned snake to a rock and threw it in a river. It was a mystery up until then how it had managed to survive...

    Still, he couldn''t help but wonder why she would disguise herself as eventually she would grow up and she would go through puberty and, at that time, everything would be revealed...

    ...

    After walking for an hour, Cheng Hao finally stopped. He turned and asked "Do you remember the way up to here?" The girl nodded.

    The boy smiled and removed the hood as he pointed to a nearby abandoned tower "Every day, for a month, you will run here before dawn breaks and sit on that tower. You will then be sure to absorb all the Purple Qi from the East into your Purple Moon Martial Way... And trust me if I say that if you skip a single day you won''t get to eat for a week"

    "But brother" she argued, her snickering hidden beneath the shadow of her hood "Aren''t I the one who is preparing the food to begin with?"

    Cheng Hao''s smile froze as he realized that what the other had said was true... He straightened himself up and coughed twice to clear his voice.

    "Ahem, I meant... You will have to wash the clothes and clean the house for a we-"

    "But brother, aren''t I the one washing the clothes and cleaning the house to begi-"

    "You understand what I mean! Just do it! Dawn at this period of the year usually comes at around six in the morning. You will know the time from the water clock in the house. Just know that this is incredibly important for cultivating the second scripture!"

    Cheng Hao turned and, as he headed back, he thought to himself ''At least you can actually sleep at night...'' He couldn''t say that of course or else she would have worried, or worse, done the same.

    A human body can''t survive for long without sleeping but thanks to the golden aura absorbing the energy from his surroundings, Cheng Hao could barely scrape by with a short nap in the evening every day. In the future, when his body would have turned into a weapon itself, even eating might not be an issue anymore! Truly, a divine ability! Of course, it was that the ability the Heaven Devouring Dragon, the Eternal stage Beast Blindlight, had given him!

    "I will go back to the house. Oh right! When you go out at night, remember to watch out for a guy with a mask! He wears blue robes and has apparently attacked a few disciples ever since we got here!"

    Xiao Wu''s expression flickered, but with his back towards her, she was sure that Cheng Hao couldn''t possibly have noticed it.

    Cheng Hao smirked to himself as he thought of the blue robe and the mask hidden underneath his sister''s pillow. He sighed:it seemed that although she had enough faith to follow him at a moment''s notice, she still didn''t completely trust him yet.

    Oh well, he also had his secrets so he should probably call it even. And it wasn''t like she was the only person that didn''t stay idle at night!

    Cheng Hao rotated his Pseudo-Core and sprinted down the paved road. As the tall tower disappeared from his view, he suddenly made a sharp turn and headed towards a forest surrounded by ''danger'' signs.

    It was the so called ''Beast Lakes Forest'' and it was a dangerous place where many beasts with cultivations at the High level Basic stage and higher gathered.

    The youth didn''t slow down as he entered the forest. It was only two miles long and four miles wide so it was one of the smallest forests in the Sixth Ring.

    Within the forest were many lakes where packs of monstrous beasts and animals alike gathered. In the past two days he had come here each day and spent quite a few hours in there while his sister was either still sleeping or not in the hut due to her... ''Nightly business''.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    Aside from the Monstrous Beasts, there were also many valuable herbs and elixirs that could be refined into pills useful for cultivation. Truly, a haven for cultivators!

    Although to normal cultivators the thought of those treasures would undoubtedly make them at the very least feel their hands hitch and go try and search for some, they would soon find out that the most precious herbs grew in the deepest parts of the forest and only those with a cultivation of the Advanced Stage or higher would dare go any deeper than one mile in.

    Of course, Cheng Hao was an exception. As soon as he saw a Monstrous Beast, he would immediately take out the twenty four (the number had doubled ever since he broke through) golden blades made from the mysterious drop of blood. As soon as that happened, rains of blood would appear and severed limbs would fall to the ground.

    Cheng Hao would then fetch the Monstrous Beast''s core and give it to Goldy for him to feed on it. Although it had little effect, the essence of Basic stage beasts were still enough to make Goldy regain back an incredibly minuscule amount of his former power. What''s more, Cheng Hao could refine the beasts'' bodies with the Golden Aura technique to strengthen his own body.

    After two days of hunting and more than a hundred Monstrous Beast cores, Goldy had finally stepped into the Basic stage!

    Since Heavenly Beasts required tens of times more cultivation resources than normal Monstrous Beasts, that was nothing short of light speed for Goldy!

    In its life previous to its Re-Life, Blindlight had needed about twenty years to reach the first Inferior stage, and it could be said that it would have normally needed from fifty to a hundred years to reach his current cultivation... Meaning, he had basically fit those fifty-plus years into two days.

    After it broke through, the golden snake had grown up to a meter long and finally sharp, white fangs sprouted from its previously teeth-less mouth. Sharp claws grew from its five limbs and the horns as well as the red hair on its head grew longer.

    It didn''t look like a small snake any longer, he now truly looked like an infant golden dragon. Its voice changed too as it became that of a youth from its previous middle-aged voice, as if by gaining the cultivation base of the Basic stage the snake had somehow completed the process of Re-Life and had gone back to his teenagers years.

    "Aaa, Cheng Hao, I feel it! I can finally fly! Yes! I can fly again! Ahaha!"

    Although divine beasts had much slower cultivation progress, they had many more benefits, such as their growth in size as well as the ability of using powerful abilities with lower requirements, compared to humans. For example, to humans, only Advanced stage cultivators could fly, but for a Heavenly Beast it would only take the cultivation of the Basic stage.

    "I have hunted many beasts and absorbed their body with the Golden Aura too. I feel like I will soon have a breakthrough with my fleshly body as well!"

    Cheng Hao was also happy that his companion had gotten stronger. After all it would mean they wouldn''t have to fear stronger foes if they had powerful allies, right?

    When Cheng Hao was about to call it a day he heard a few voices talking loudly behind him.

    "Man, what was all that crap about this forest being filled to the brim with monsters? We haven''t encountered one even after a whole hour of search. Senior Zi, should we turn ba-" a man emerged from the bushes behind Cheng Hao and saw him sitting there, his back towards them.

    He completely ignored the group: they were a bunch of two low and three mid levels Basic stage cultivators. Although their leader was actually a peak level Basic stage cultivator, about to step into the Advanced stage (he was most probably that ''Zi Senior'' they were talking about), even with him there, they posed no threat to Chemg Hao so he decided to ignore them.

    "Hey kid, what are you doing here?" The group approached "Maybe you need big brother to show the way back?"

    Although their motives seemed kind, their eyes said something different than their mouth did: ''This kid probably has some treasure on him, otherwise he wouldn''t have dared to come this deep in the forest! He is so young that he should not even have a cultivation base yet!''

    And such a fragile-looking child was right in front of them, so why not take the treasure and then run, leaving the kid behind? There where no rules that prohibited Vacant Disciples to kill each other, let alone rob! The kid was just unlucky!

    "I advise you not to step closer than three meters from me" Cheng Hao kept ignoring the group and was about to stand up and leave when the group exchanged glances and charged towards him at the same time.

    Seeing that Cheng Hao didn''t react, their smiles grew even wider. When they had kicked off the ground, the six had been about five meters from the child. Four meters. Three meters and half. When they got to three meters, the peak level Basic stage cultivator finally noticed something was wrong... but by then it was too late!

    Their body began to wither as soon as they stepped over the three meter mark!

    Following their bodies'' momentum, the group of six approached Cheng Hao but the closer they went, the faster the withering became. More than simply the process of withering, this looked a lot more like that of absorbing.

    That''s right, Cheng Hao was absorbing those people''s fleshly body with the Golden Aura from a while ago! He usually kept it laying dormant within his body, but when he went out hunting he would let it rampage as much as it liked.

    With a *clack* six piles of dried-up bones fell to the ground. Goldy jumped down from Cheng Hao''s shoulder (both it and the black scarf were immune to the Golden Aura thanks to either their higher cultivation or their Heavenly Beasts status) and proceeded to absorb their souls to enhance his cultivation base even more.

    Another trait of the Heavenly Beasts was that, thanks to their experience from their previous life and powerful bodies, they had no trouble with consecutive breakthroughs. When the dragon was finished with the remains of the six cultivators, the bones turned into dust and they scattered into the wind.

    With a sigh, Cheng Hao sat back down and began to throughly absorb the fleshly energy that he had gathered from those unlucky cultivators. He was perplexed for a bit but the perplexion suddenly turned into joy as, with a loud *boom*, Cheng Hao''s body trembled and glowed.

    He felt great pain: it was as if his muscles and bones were currently being destroyed and then reconstructed at a rapid pace.

    Finally, the feeling stopped. Black matter began to come out of his pores, so he took out a gourd of water from the Dimensional Pouch to clean his body and then changed his clothes with new, clean ones from the people he had just absorbed.

    "You broke through to Copper Fleshly Body so fast? That is quite amazing!" Even Goldy couldn''t help but praise.

    "Yes. That peak level Basic stage guy had quite the right to act arrogant: he had a cultivation technique that improved the body. Thanks to that, my own fleshly body cultivation increased to the Copper stage!"

    As he glanced to the remaining clothes on the ground he said "I guess luck is also part of someone''s strength... You guys were just meant to be nourishment for my body so don''t blame me, blame the heavens to have weaved such a terrible destiny for you!"

 Chapter 15 - Entering Secluded Meditation

    "Goldy, could you repeat what did it take to reach Copper Stage Fleshly Body? I would like to know exactly what kind of cultivation this thug had..." Cheng hao asked.

    The hovering dragon ignored Cheng Hao and was still coiling around in the air. It took a few moments for it to stop spinning and a few more moments for it to recover from its dizziness. Then he did it time and time again...

    Time that Cheng Hao spent turning the weapon that formed from the golden drop of blood into a dragonslayer (two handed sword with a gigantic blade. Berserk references, anyone?) and lifting it up.

    "Itwastwohundredbodies!" It immediately yelled.

    "FromwhatIhaveseenyouhaveabsorbedthebodiesofaboutahundredandfifteenMonstrousBeasts. Alongwiththosefiveotherguysitmakesforatotalofaboutahundredandtwentybodies. Meaning..." The snake hurriedly spoke as it did his best evading Cheng Hao''s sword strikes "That guy was worth eighty normal Initial stage Fleshly Bodies!"

    Cheng Hao stopped swinging and just as the snake was about to put down his guard, Cheng Hao punched it to the ground. He then stood up and pondered.

    "So that guy had such a powerful fleshly body... Almost halfway through to the Copper stage. With such a body and cultivation he would be undefeatable under the Advanced stage and could put up a good fight with most peak Advanced stage cultivators... Did I actually involve myself with some guy with a huge background again? Ugh, this is a pain..."

    As he was speaking, the golden dragon wrapped around his neck and tried to get him in a chokehold. Result? The black scarf nullified its efforts as his attempt at choking the boy failed. Cheng Hao smiled and turned towards the golden snake. Before it could say anything, the boy axe-kicked it back in the dirt.

    "But still... I finally have the Fleshly Body cultivation necessary to use the Black and White flaming gases at their lowest for a whole minute!"

    Although only at their lowest level, they were still incredibly powerful! Using them, Cheng Hao would have no problem defeating peak Advanced stage cultivators and even low level Superior stage cultivators would have to bow down to him if he truly tried.

    Of course, truly trying would mean blowing up his Pseudo-Core, thus losing most of his power, so he would prefer not to engage such existences.

    Using just his Fleshly Body though, was totally different. Fleshly Body fortification was similar to Martial Cultivation in many ways, even the ranking system was similar just that the stages were twelve instead of fifteen and instead of the Mortal, Ageless and Immortal realm they were called the Mortal Metal realm, Precious Ore realm and Divine Gem realm. Another difference was that there was no low, medium or high level, just the cultivation stage.

    The stages were, from the lowest to the highest, Mortal Metal Realm: Initial, Copper, Iron, Black Iron and Black Gold stages; Precious Ore Realm, Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum stages; Divine Gem Realm, Sapphire, Ruby and Diamond stages.

    [Note: Mind that the names of these stages were selected due to the material''s hardness in the del world, overall worth or stuff like that. The stupid author just liked it that way, so it IS that way!]

    Anyways, although this kind of division is similar, the two kinds of cultivations are not the same:for example, while the Fleshly Body still depends a bit on one''s cultivation or else the body wouldn''t be able to wield its newfound power and would explode, Cultivation did not depend on the Fleshly Body, as cultivation power didn''t affect muscles, organs and the likes but mainly affected one''s Soul, Mind and Core.

    Meaning that, while a peak stage Mortal realm martial artist might have a low stage Mortal Metal realm fleshly body, a low stage Mortal realm cultivator cannot have a peak stage Mortal Metal realm fleshly body.

    If you are confused, think of it as a relationship between a boy and his girlfriend. While the girl may try her best to look sexy, appealing and all in front of other boys, if the boy tries to appear hot and beautiful in front of other women, the girl will slap him.

    Now that Cheng Hao stepped into the Fleshly Body Copper stage, he would have to wait until he reached the Basic stage cultivation before breaking through again, otherwise even he would have a major backlash at the time.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    So at that moment, Cheng Hao could do nothing but go back and cultivate until he did just that ''I am confident I can breakthrough in a few days at most, but the Outer Disciple exam is coming up in less than two months... If I want to make a lasting impression on the Elders I should be able to fight my opponents with no strange abilities, just my cultivation. Otherwise there might also be the risk of them killing me to search the secrets to my strength in my body...''

    Cheng Hao imagined himself cut up, his muscles being slowly removed, his organs... Yuck!

    Cheng Hao shook his head and looked at the spot he axe-kicked the snake at before and he was just in time to see the snake slowly crawling back up. Sensing Cheng Hao''s gaze, Goldy trembled as he realized that even with his higher cultivation and potential as a Heavenly Beast, hestillcould not evade Cheng Hao''s casual attacks...

    "Talk about plot armor..." he lamented.

    Cheng Hao''s ear twitched "What did you say Goldy?"

    "I said we should go back! The little girl should have finished by now..."

    Hearing his companion''s response Cheng Hao''s eyes went wide: he had totally forgotten that at that moment he was supposed to be at home! He immediately rotated his cultivation base and ran as fast as he could towards his hut.

    "Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!!!"

    He was so fast that after-images were left behind and yet, when he got to the small hut, his sister had already arrived and was waiting for him pouting, with her hands on her hips and a scary look in her eyes.

    "Where have you been, big brother?" she didn''t look all that angry and was instead smiling, however anyone with experience could easily tell that shewasangry. Alot. Much more than that Hellish Divine Dragon had been.

    "Sister, I just strolled off for a bit, I did not go anywhere!" Cheng Hao tried to find an excuse but the little girl that was not nine years old yet easily saw through his lies. Finally an impish smile came to be on her cute face.

    "If Big Brother..." she put an emphasis on ''Big Brother'' "Is off to meet some...Girl-FriendsI wouldn''t mind. Were you off to meet some...Girl-Friends?"

    Cheng Hao had no time to think so he quickly answered "Yes, I went to see some acquaintances and-" he was suddenly cut off from her martial sister''s cold voice.

    "No breakfast, lunch nor dinner for you today!"

    Goldy had just arrived but was already rolling on the ground after those few words, its voice broken by his laughter. It suddenly stopped and asked "Big Sis, might I have his portion instead?"

    Xiao Wu was at first taken aback at Goldy''s changes, especially its increase in size, but soon recovered and nodded, her voice a lot warmer than when she was speaking with her bigger brother "Of course you can! After all, you have been dragged around by him all this time"

    The smug look on its face though, changed immediately when he heard a familiar *whoosh* sound.

    He subconsciously dodged the golden sword''s edge by a hair''s breadth. He gulped and before he could curse the one holding the blade, another swing and another choked cry came out as Cheng Hao kept swinging and swinging.

    "Big brother what are you two doing?" The sweet voice coming from within the kitchen came out and Goldy almost deluded himself that he was safe!

    Cheng Hao though, spoke first "We are just training ourselves Sis, no need to mind us"

    "Okay, I will be cooking the goose I caught today so hurry up!" she seemed to have already forgotten her previous words and didn''t look like she would truly keep him the boy from eating the food.

    Goldy''s face turned red from the rage, but before it could retort the speed of the swings rose drastically leaving it barely the time to dodge, let alone speak!

    It lifted its head and saw Cheng Hao''s amused and ruthless expression and it knew that if it didn''t keep dodging he would most likely get to be on the plate instead of the goose...

    ...

    "Sister, I will now begin cultivation. I ask you not to disturb me during meditation unless it''s extremely important. As soon as I come out I will teach you the Second Scripture." Cheng Hao''s countenance was incredibly serious.

    "But brother, didn''t I have to reach your level of splitting attention by the end of the month andthenobtain the scripture?" Xiao Wu looked at her brother''s face questioning him "Did something happen?"

    "No, no! I just thought that with the outer disciple exam coming up in less than a month it would be best for us to increase our strength accordingly!"

    Although he said these words in his mind appeared the boy with such a powerful Fleshly Body and shivered: if the boy and Xiao Wu were to meet, at that moment, he wouldn''t be sure wether she would be able to escape alive, let alone defeat him...

    And, what''s more, there was nothing that indicated there weren''t other geniuses like him amongst the many Disciples in the Sect.

    "Brother, did you also hear of the prize for the first ten ranked disciples in the exam? Is that why you decided to increase our overall strength?" Cheng Hao nodded again. That was indeed another one of his reasons for wanting to increase his power. Powerful opponents would appear, fighting to obtain the prizes!

    "That is also why I am entering secluded meditation. Please keep cultivating the Purple Qi from the East and Splitting Cultivation in the meantime!" The boy smiled "I am sure that when I come out you will be a lot more outstanding than you are now!"

    Cheng Hao stood up and headed for his room. Like the last time, he left a strand of Inferior Qi behind, however this time he also called Goldy in. He turned one last time "See you sis!"

    "Good luck brother!" the girl nodded and smiled.

    The boy with the black scarf on his neck and the dragon hovering beside him walked into the room and closed the door!

 Chapter 16 - The Blue Robed Night Challenger

    It had been three days ever since Cheng Hao had entered secluded meditation: respecting her brother''s wishes, Xiao Wu had been diligently training the Purple Qi from the East every day at dawn, practiced Split Cultivation in the afternoon and also kept challenging other disciples with her identity as the Blue-Robed Night Challenger during the night.

    Right at that moment, the sun had just gone over the horizon and there were still a few bright colors in the sky.

    Seeing that, Xiao Wu removed her sect robes and put on her blue robes as well as the mask that she had hidden under her pillow.

    As soon as the bright light in the sky disappeared and her surroundings grew dark, she ran out of the house at the quickest speed she could muster and went to challenge her first target for the night.

    She ran for twenty minutes at full speed until she reached a solitary hut. The number was hut #182645. She had left a challenge letter here a few nights ago and tonight it was time to keep true to her word.

    She stopped a few meters from the door and waited. As soon as the first few stars came up, a young man walked out from the house. He was in his late teens, had a muscular body and carried an heavy battle-axe. His cultivation was not that good, being at Mid level Inferior stage, but he was the perfect opponent for Xiao Wu.

    Seeing that the figure in the blue robe was wearing a hood and the mask covered his face, the man couldn''t make any guesses about his identity.

    "I apologize in advance for any trouble I might cause to you" the figure in the blue robe bowed respectfully. Seeing that, the man''s expression warmed up and he also saluted.

    Seeing that the other was polite and as he had already decided to accept the challenge, even if only to give his own judgement on this ''Night Challenger'', he was going to try his best during this fight also to show his respect towards the opponent.

    "I also do. I wish you luck in our fight" the man removed the battle-axe from his shoulders and firmly grasped the handle as he breathed in and out regularly from his mouth. A faint white mist began to appear around the axe''s edge...

    Seeing this, Xiao Wu smiled kindly beneath her mask. As this man was going to comply with her terms she couldn''t be more happy and seeing such a polite teen she also decided to give it her all in this fight, so as not to dishonor him.

    She apparently did not have any weapon and, seeing that, the boy was stunned for a bit.

    He was about to awkwardly put the battle-axe away as well when... *Clang!*

    Suddenly, something hit the edge of his weapon''s blade, dispersing the white mist.

    The blue figure had charged with extreme speed towards him, not leaving him a chance to counterattack!

    Floating behind her were one shield and one blade: one white and one black, they charged together towards the youth with the battle-axe and he had to use the weapon to protect himself.

    The girl mover her right hand and, following the movement, the Black Dragon Sword let out a shrill cry as it charged towards the youth. The boy was able to lift his weapon barely enough to block the blow but he lost his balance at the same time.

    ''Does he control these things just by moving his hands?'' The man was astonished: although the blue robed night challenger had a cultivation base similar to his own, there was still this much of a difference! Were those two objects some kind of treasure?

    Xiao Wu wasn''t concerned that the youth had parried her first blow as she jumped over him, throwing a punch with her left towards his back.

    Seeing that, the youth turned to parry the blow and was about to counterattack when horror filled his face: the white shield had appeared, protecting the girl from his attack.

    The positioning of the shield was such that it stopped him from blocking her own strike.

    As he saw her right hand moving, he shivered as he guessed that the hovering Black Dragon Sword at that very moment was right behind him, about to pierce his flesh...

    At that he closed his eyes and waited for the two blows to connect.

    He stayed like that for two breaths before realizing that the strikes were stopped. The hand was about to hit his abdomen and the black blade had also made a small cut on his neck but the blows had both stopped before inflicting any serious wound.

    The Sword and Shield moved back behind Xiao Wu as she also retracted her right and left arm.

    The man bowed happily "I thank senior for your guidance and for giving me a chance at life! Is it possible to know senior''s name?" The man asked hopefully.

    Xiao Wu''s pristine laugh came out and she spoke "If I could give my name away, I wouldn''t wear a mask, don''t you think? Also you should not call me senior, I am younger than you by quite a bit. If you want to know a name, then I will tell you the name of a person you should never offend and instead befriend at all costs. Remember the name Cheng Hao. Remember it and if you become stronger, come seek him, I will be there!"

    The man bowed once again, his mind roaring ''Cheng Hao? Who could he be, I never heard of him...''

    He was about to ask again, however when he lifted his head he saw that the blue robed figure had already disappeared.

    Seeing that, flames of determination blazed in his pupils as he immediately picked up his axe and began to train again ''For a person as powerful as this ''night challenger'' to respect someone so much he must be an outstanding person. If he participates in this year''s Outer Sect Exam then he will most likely be there, I wonder if I will be able to see him... I really am curios as to what he will look like!''If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    "Aaaaaah! Back to training!" The sound of an axe cutting through the wind could be heard as the youth began to swing the axe as fast as he could...

    ...

    Xiao Wu''s next stop was an house ten minutes from the previous one. She once again stopped in front of an hut, hut #82628, and waited patiently.

    After a few more minutes a man in his late years came out. He was about to turn eighty and he had decided to come to this Sect after his friends had congratulated his strength and had suggested to join some kind of School or Sect to enhance his cultivation.

    Unfortunately for him, unless he had a cultivation of the Superior stage or higher, the Sect would pay no mind to an old man like him and, since he was still only at the low level Basic stage, he did not have much hope for his future.

    The old man was not arrogant and saluted the blue robed figure just like the young man did. After all, to fight a mysterious expert was a rare chance and if he lost nobody would be there to laugh about it so it was a win-win situation!

    The man didn''t carry any weapon and instead used a mysterious technique called the Five Flashes Claws: he had found a tome containing it laying in a cave and had attempted to train it.

    However, he couldn''t unlock the technique''s full potential even after so many years. A waste of potential: had it been handed to some genius of the current generation, he might have rocked the world!

    Xiao Wu had already done some researching prior to the fight and thus she knew the man didn''t use any kind of weapon when he fought.

    As she knew that, she did not summon the white shield and black sword and instead called out... the Purple Moon! Her second Martial Way orbited around her body.

    In the few days she had absorbed the Purple Qi from the East, she had noticed that whenever she took out the Purple Moon, her five senses would be enhanced. From that, she also came to guess that the next secret Scripture Cheng Hao was going to tell her would also be related to the five senses.

    After the Purple Moon appeared she took her stance, with her left arm behind her back and her feet forming a ninety degree angle. Just as she did, the old man also finished his preparations: his right hand rose and each finger lit up, the pinky finger being the darkest and the middle finger being the brightest.

    He also got into a stance. It was strange, as if his fingers were daggers or swords of some sort, yet, no matter how weird it was, Xiao Wu didn''t dare to underestimate it.

    ""Please treat me well!""

    The two kicked off the ground and the battle began! The old man started with a single finger attack from his pinky but, thanks to her enhanced senses, Xiao Wu dodged to the left.

    The finger passed a few inches away from her nose as she kicked with her right leg towards the man''s temples.

    Sensing the power of the kick, the old man frowned and decided it would be best not to attempt to block it and instead bent backwards: the kick hit only air, and he sneaked past the leg doing another finger attack to the Robed Challenger''s defenceless chest.

    This time he had used three fingers, so it should mean that the power had tripled! However, as each finger was almost twice as strong than the previous, it had actually increased as much as seven times!

    Xiao Wu''s expression grew serious as she made a single rotation of her Pseudo-Core, kicking off the air with that very leg she used to previously attack the old man: her foot seemed to have hit something solid as she was able to twist her body to the left.

    She had dodged the blow and this time the old man was shocked for a second, allowing Xiao Wu to connect a fist at his left shoulder.

    But being shocked was being shocked. The old man quickly got back to his senses and kicked off the ground, jumping backwards.

    He could not imagine how the blue robed figure could evade the blow, but he had no time to think. He entered a new stance where the legs were aligned towards his opponent, one in front of the other. His legs bent ninety degrees and his hands turned into sharp claws.

    The right hand suddenly shot out and five blinding rays of light charged towards the blue robed figure. The strength of this blow was more than thirty times the power of his first strike. Let alone defeating Xiao Wu... No, it was much more powerful than that, enough to obliterate a human body with little to no effort!

    ''Crap!'' The old man''s face changed into terror and he shouted in his mind as he realised: that attack had more than enough power to kill if it connected! He wanted to cut off the power, but it was too late! The illusory hand charged towards Xiao Wu...

    Seemingly unhindered by the powerful attack from the old man, Xiao Wu rotated on her right leg, the Purple Moon shining bright and and the Pseudo-Core rotating at great speeds... And kicked off the ground!

    Xiao Wu had dodged the blow! The illusory hand flying only a few breaths away from her body, she charged towards the shocked old man!

    Before the man could understand what was going on, her punch was already in front of his face. It had stopped a few inches away from his nose, however it was still clear whom the winner of the duel was.

    Just like before, she left behind Cheng Hao''s name and then left without adding anything more.

    "This junior... He said that this Cheng Hao is really outstanding, so much that his voice seemed to wander off when he spoke... I think I will take a look at this year''s exam, it might just get interesting!"

    Following that, five more people were challenged and lost to Xiao Wu, three high level Inferior stage disciples, one low level Basic stage disciple and a medium level Basic stage disciple.

    Those who had weapon were outsmarted by her intelligent use of the unbreakable White Tree Shield and the powerful Black Dragon Sword, while those that fought without were defeated by her through the power of her hand-to-hand combat techniques along with the aid of the Purple Moon.

    Of course, she restrained the aura of the Martial Ways so the people she fought mainly thought they were either treasures or some strange cultivation techniques.

    Although her opponents mainly lost because of her superior skills, the last opponent required her to attack with a Pseudo-Advanced stage power more than a dozen times so it might be said that while she had superior techniques, she still needed the aid of a powerful cultivation base to fight such people.

    In just five days that she had been here, the Blue-Robed Night Challenger had already defeated more than thirty people. Each time the challenged''s strength would be higher than the power of those she had challenged the previous day. By then, many people were discussing this Night Challenger as well as the mysterious Cheng Hao whomshehad told everyone about.

    That''s right, the night challenger was ashe.The last person to fight her was barely able to catch a glimpse of her face after he had broken her mask with an all-out attack. Although he was defeated in the end, he became famous in that area of the sixth ring and every day there would be people who wanted to hear what she looked like. To them, he would then answer like this:

    "I am pretty sure she is still not in her teens, still, she is as beautiful as a goddess, with piercing green eyes, soft lips and a small nose. Her purple and blue hair is also really rare, it''s the first time I had seen someone with hair such as that! Although she is really young, maybe not even ten years old yet, in the future countries and empires may flip over precisely because of her beauty!"

    Hearing those words, some thought that he exaggerated. However he, who had seen her personally, was sure about it and thus didn''t mind the scorn of others. He had already decided to aid this new idol of his on spreading the name of Cheng Hao as well as her impressive feats.

    Although he was already twenty-five and he had been defeated by someone who was still so young, he really admired her and was proud of being challenged by such a genius. He knew that in the future he would be able to tell his children and grandchildren that he had been defeated bythegoddess of the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect!

    He was absolutely right about that, but he missed on one thing. And that was none other than Cheng Hao, whom he himself had helped spread the name around. If this so-called goddess was this powerful, how powerful would this Cheng Hao possibly be?

 Chapter 17 - Do What You Want With Her!

    As soon as Xiao Wu got home she changed her blue robe into the Sect Robes. She washed the blue clothes and put it underneath the pillow just like she had done in the past few days. This had become a routine ever since she had kept challenging disciples as the blue robed night challenger.

    "Oh, come on!" When she picked up the mask and saw it though, she couldn''t help but curse: deep cracks covered the wooden, plain mask and she did not have a spare. Fortunately, she could make another one but it would waste time!

    She sighed and applied pressure with her fingers, crushing the mask into powder. She walked out of the house and stretched before going back in again. It was still five in the morning so she could wait a bit more before running to the tower so she checked the door to Cheng Hao''s room.

    It was still closed from the inside and she felt spiritual energy fluctuations, meaning Cheng Hao was still meditating. Although she couldn''t shake off the feeling that something might have happened for someone likehimto take so long to breakthrough, she could do nothing as the room was sealed by a golden, fluctuating seal.

    "Good morning brother..." she caressed the door before walking out.

    Without making a sound, she ran to the tower in order to cultivate the Purple Qi from the East. She sat down in a meditative state, but instead of meditating, she focused her Qi to her seven apertures and looked east.

    Suddenly, light came from the horizon and the sky started to light up. Seeing that, Xiao Wu started to breathe in as slowly as she could. Purple gases started to be inhaled together with the usual air...

    She kept inhaling for a total of two minutes and, when she could not hold it in any longer and felt that she was about to faint, she exhaled.

    Instead of purple though, the gases were now a faint green. She repeated the process a total of ten times until there was no more purple gas to absorb and then circulated the Purple Qi she had absorbed, adding it to her own reserve of Purple Qi in her Pseudo-Dantian.

    She stood up, her long blue and purple hair fluttering in the wind. She slowly ''walked'' back home, jumping from roof to roof enjoying the beautiful dawn.

    When she arrived at the hut, her cheerful expression immediately turned into a frown. She touched behind her head and realized she had forgotten to tie her hair in a ponytail and she remembered that she also didn''t apply make up to mask her own appearance.

    Right now she looked like her true self, the handsome little girl that could make goddesses grow red with envy because of her beauty.

    Why would she worry about that now? Because in front of her hut there were a total of 20 figures wrapped in black cloaks.

    One had just walked out from the house and had spoken with another figure whom looked like the leader. He was a middle aged man. He already had white hair although he was in his early forties, his expression was that of anger and grief and he was also the only one that did not hide his face.

    "Sir Zi Luo, it is of no use! Even I cannot break the barrier and if we use any more power those old fools will notice us... We have tried to break in from other walls but they are all protected by that mysterious golden light. Instead of damaging them, the strange seal is actually absorbing what we are throwing at him to replenish its own Qi! If we keep going like this it is likely we would just end up helping out the person inside..."

    The middle aged man had a hand on his chin and was ripping strand after strand of hair out in anger. Initially, he had beautiful mustaches and a long beard. However, he didn''t seem to care about appearances as he removed another strand of hair.

    "Useless fools! That boy... That boy killed my Zi Yao! How could I possibly let him go!" He stomped on the ground and a footprint a few inches deep appeared.

    Xiao Wu frowned. Each of those men had higher cultivation than any of the opponents she had fought so far!

    ''These guys... Are they searching for Cheng Hao!?!" Anger and sisterly love appeared on her face as she jumped from the roof she was standing and landed in between the house and the black clothed men "Who are you, and what business do you have with big brother Cheng Hao?"

    The twenty one figures were shocked: that kind of jump wasn''t possible without having the cultivation of the Basic stage or higher. Yet, the girl in front of them was clearly only at the Mid level Inferior stage!If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    Twenty of the black robed men advanced and entered fighting stances as they did their best to protect their master. They had already lost the young master of their family, they couldn''t afford to have the head killed as well!

    Still, they couldn''t help but be shocked at the girl''s beautiful features and some even drooled under their hoods and had evil thoughts.

    "I will repeat myself. Who are you? What business do you have with my big brother?" Xiao Wu also took out both the Black Sword and the White Shield. The Purple Moon appeared hovering behind her and her pupils constricted as purple veins appeared in her green eyes. They weren''t their true bodies, but even an illusory Martial Way would give out strong pressure.

    "Who is this girl? Why is she here?" The man at the far back asked to his subordinates "And who is Cheng Hao?"

    "Sir, throughout our investigations we have found out that the target didn''t live alone and instead lived together with a young boy who had bluish-purple hair and green eyes... It seems this girl might be the sister of this young boy, seeing how she has his same purplish-blue hair and green eyes!"

    "As for Cheng Hao sir, that is a name that has been coming up a lot in sixth ring and it seems like that same brother of hers might be the same Cheng Hao of the rumors... It seems like his sister is a genius too, maybe she is the Blue Robed Night Challenger seeing her appearance and beauty!"

    At that the middle aged man''s expression softened and he said "Little girl, I have no mean to harm your brother or you. You are a talent and a beauty and since you and your brother are also talented enough that the whole sixth ring doesn''t stop talking about you, I will gladly let you go... Do you by any chance know how to get past that barrier? If you tell us we will reward you..."

    Xiao Wu was even more enraged "Cheng Haoismy brother! But he is also the person you are looking for, so piss off before he gets angry or he will wipe the floor with you! I will also do the same if you are still in my sight after I count to ten!"

    Seeing how the girl had pushed aside his kind intentions and hearing her words the middle aged man frowned. His face grew cold and he ordered "Capture her alive. We will use her as an hostage to get the rat out of his hole!"

    The twenty people jumped towards Xiao Wu and their hands turned into claws... Xiao Wu breathed in and stepped forwards two times. She breathed out and jumped, twisting in the air and thus avoiding the first of the twenty cloaked attackers. She grabbed his body and used it to block the second and third men that couldn''t stop their blows.

    The man in Xiao Wu''s arms coughed up blood and the girl waved her right hand, the Black Dragon Sword whistled through the air, piercing the heart of the wounded man as well as that of one of the other two men.

    "Watch out everyone, she has some kind of treasure!"

    She let go of the corpse and waved her left arm: the white shield appeared behind her, blocking another one of the attackers''s blows.

    The man lost his balance and Xiao Wu jumped in front of the shield, punching with her left arm. Although the man caught and blocked the small hand, the shield also followed the movement of the girl''s limb. It crushed with all its might on the man''s face, shattering his skull into splinters.

    Xiao Wu kicked off the ground and retreated back in front of the house. Her breathing was a bit rushed and her eyes were calm but her mind was reeling with both fear and shock.

    ''I... I just killed three people!''

    She tried not to vomit as she defended from the second wave of attackers. The first few black robed men had the cultivation of the high level Basic stage and hadn''t been a match of Xiao Wu at her full power, even more so as she had taken them by surprise.

    This was also why she could deal with them easily.

    Unfortunately, things didn''t go as easy as before since now the remaining seventeen cloaked men were completely enraged. Shouting, yelling and cursing this little girl in front of them, they charged all at once!

    Xiao Wu moved her hand as fast as she could and the Black Dragon blade began its slaughter but, as they say, two fists cannot fight four fists, let alone thirty-four.

    Her first few strikes through the Black Dragon Sword hit two of the men and they fell on the ground, lifeless. The shield also hit a man on the nose, making him pass out, however she wasn''t able to do any further as twenty-eight hands grabbed onto her limbs and threw her down on the ground.

    "Cough!" Xiao Wu coughed up blood which stained the earth red.

    "This little monster!" A black robed person touched his left cheek, where a deep cut had been inflicted by the black sword "She was so fierce! We actually lost six of our men to capture a girl still not in her teens!"

    "She had such weird techniques... She even seemed to predict the future as she dodged so many of our strikes!" One of the men holding her arm said.

    "Really, a true demon! If she is so strong now, what about in a few years! Sir, we should just kill her now, or else many of our brother and sisters will be killed by her in the future!" Another man added.

    The middle aged man was also pale, but being scared was being scared and being shocked was being shocked so he recovered soon.

    "Wait! We must use her as an hostage for Cheng Hao! We will kill her once we kill him!" The man suddenly thought of something "But I won''t stop you if you want to have some fun with her! You are twisted bastards but I have no prejudice against those who help me! Do what you want with her! Her... ''Brother'' will also come out faster this way!"

    Hearing that, Xiao Wu that had been blindfolded immediately screamed "Brother! quick, run aw-!"

    Her screams were cut off as she was gagged. Her robes were torn off leaving her with only a t-shirt and a pair of pants on.

    She started to cry and one of her tears touched the ground.

    One of the black clothed men''s hand approached the remaining clothing to rip it away and show the white skin below it...

 Chapter 18 - (Title At The End)

    "Wait! We must use her as an hostage for Cheng Hao! We will kill her once we kill him!" The man suddenly thought of something "But I won''t stop you if you want to have some fun with her! You are twisted bastards but I have no prejudice against those who help me! Do what you want with her! Her... ''Brother'' will also come out faster this way!"

    ...

    In a dark space protected by a golden wall of light, a body was sitting in the middle of the room. His mouth was open and he kept chanting something. The speed was incredibly fast and in the space of a breath, he had already chanted a few phrases at once. He had kept going at it for days, so how much had he been speaking already?

    Following the rhythm of the countless sentences was a vortex of black and white gases. It moved at the same speed of the figure''s chanting, completing one turn each time the silhouette said a word.

    ...

    Hearing the middle-aged man''s words, Xiao Wu that had been blindfolded immediately opened her mouth to scream.

    ...

    The figure seemed to have reached an important point as the speed slowed down and the words could finally be heard clearly

    "... So, black and white, death and life are opposites.

    Two opposites, two faces of a medal, two worlds."

    ...

    Xiao Wu screamed in pain as tears welled up in the corner of her eyes "Brother! Quick, run aw-!"

    ...

    "Death does not scare me and Life does not faze me"

    Because Death makes me want to Live.

    Because Life makes me want to not Die"

    ...

    Her screams were cut off as she was gagged. Her robes were torn off leaving her with only a t-shirt and a pair of pants on.

    ...

    "Life is also not Death so Death is also not Life.

    Two opposites, yet the same! Life! Death!

    I am Life. I am Death! I am Life AND Death!"

    ...

    She started to cry and one of her tears touched the ground.

    One of the black clothed men''s hand approached the remaining clothing to rip it away and show the white skin below it...

    ...

    The chanting finally stopped as did the swirling black and white vortex. The gases entered the closed eyelids, the black gases went into the right eye while the white gases went into the left one.

    Two eyes opened in the dark. The right eye was black while the left eye was white. Two eyes glowed in the darkness of the room. Although the hurricane of black and white gases had been absorbed, a new hurricane formed... It was composed fully of killing intent!

    ...

    "Aaaaagh!" The severed hand flew up in the sky and fell back down. A flash of black and white light appeared and something caught the chopped hand in midair. That blur turned into the figure of a young boy. The child slowly lifted his head...

    His figure was totally black as if it had been in the darkness for so long that it couldn''t live in the light anymore. On its head there was no nose or mouth but there where two closed eyelids from which faint white and black gases fumed out.

    Slowly but surely the two eyelids started to rise. This took a few breaths to happen, but during this time nobody was able to understand what was going on, let alone retaliate.

    Xiao Wu''s gag and blindfold had long since slipped off. Shocked, she also stared wide eyed at the scene...

    The eyelids... were now finally fully opened!

    Two blinding lights appeared, one white light on the left side and one black light on the right. Although the black light was a paradox in itself, the eye was just so dark that it eclipsed all darkness, making it look like a blinding light itself!

    Everything in their surrounding lost its color and only the outlines remained. Aside from Xiao Wu, everything had lost color and turned either black or white. Only then did the people finally realize what was going on, but they were just too scared to move, even the one who had lost his hand had long since forgotten his pain due to fear.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    This black demon was way shorter than they were, smaller than they were, and yet he emitted such a pressure that it made it difficult to breathe, as if a mountain had been placed on their back and the only thing they could do was to try lifting that same mountain... without succeeding!

    Every person clad in black clothing spat out black blood one by one and began to turn black as well...

    *Blink*

    The figure closed his left eye and everything living that had been turned white disappeared, turning into ashes. Cries of pain sounded out for a split second before the pressure came back and choked down the screams.

    More blood appeared on the ground, now also completely black in color.

    The right eyelid began to slowly move down... The group of sixteen people who had survived Xiao Wu''s strikes began to fade away as they cried black blood and black liquids poured out from their other five orefices...

    The pain was unbearable, cracks appeared on their skin and their body slowly started to break down even more the longer it stayed in that monochromatic state!

    The people on the ground were now looking at the closing eyelid as if they had just seen their savior, the one that would free them from their pain and suffering to give them a peaceful death...

    *Blink* as the left eye closed and the people clad in black turned into ashes, the veil of darkness that was surrounding Cheng Hao vanished as well, allowing Xiao Wu to look at her brother once again after the few days she hadn''t seen him.

    His hair had actually grown so long that it touched the ground, as if what had passed inside the room weren''t days, but years. He didn''t change much except that now he was a bit thinner and thanks to how he carried himself, as if he was above everyone else, he looked a lot like some kind of Demon Lord.

    He opened his eyes once again and the two black and white colors slowly faded away until the two eyes went back to their original golden colored state. Cheng Hao saw her sister''s clothes thorn into shreds so he quickly removed his own robe and used it to cover her body.

    In front of Xiao Wu and Cheng Hao was a wide-eyed, wide-mouthed Zi Luo. He had come here with his subordinates searching for revenge. However. Now they were all dead!

    What''s more they were single-handedly slaughtered by a child still not in his teens who only needed to blink his eyes once to slay them all!

    He shivered in fear and kowtowed on the ground. He knew that he wouldn''t be able to run away so his only choice was to hope that this mysterious monster would let him live.

    The boy pulled out another robe from his Heaven&Earth Pouch and put it on. His previous demonic appearance now looked a lot more like that of a scholar and the Golden Aura came out. It helped him regain all the nutrients and intake the energy that he hadn''t received for those three days that he had been in secluded meditation.

    Although he was still only eight, one could could still be shocked if he were to find out just how much knowledge and power Cheng Hao held...

    "Who are you? And why did you come here?" Cheng Hao''s voice was cold and devoid of any emotion and it implied a single thing: lie to me and I will let you meet your servants again immediately!

    Seeing how easily he had murdered fifteen people without blinking...

    ...

    Well, yeah he did blink but that''s how he killed them in the first place!

    Anyways, the middle aged man trembled and cold sweat appeared on his forehead "My name is Zi Luo, I am the father of Zi Yao and also the master of my Zi family. He has told me over Soul Communication that a boy eight years old with black hair and golden eyes was the one who killed him..."

    His face showed terror but in his mind there was only fury ''F***! Although that idiot son of mine told me that, he didn''t tell me that this guy was such a monster!''

    Cheng Hao tried to remember whom this person''s son might have been, then the figure of the young man with the special fleshly body popped up in his memories. He smiled to himself as he finally understood everything.

    The boy was most probably from a clan that specialized in body enhancing techniques and close combat. He was probably a never-seen-before genius in the family, but had the horrible luck of stumbling upon Cheng Hao and thus died...

    Once he was about to get killed by Cheng Hao, he had somehow found enough time to communicate his appearance to his fellow clan members via some technique called Soul Communication... From what he understood, it allowed a dying soul to send out a last message to another soul.

    Truly a helpful ability! Not that Cheng Hao was interested in learning it. He hadnointentions of dying, so such an ability would be pretty much useless to him...

    Cheng Hao sighed and said "I have killed enough people today... Go"

    The man looked up and stared at him shocked "Really? Will you let me live?"

    Cheng Hao smiled and pointed out towards the paved road behind the kneeling man "Hurry, or I''ll change my mind"

    The middle aged man propped himself up, backed away a few steps and then began to run with all the speed he could muster. Xiao Wu moved to intercept him but Cheng Hao raised his arm and blocked her.

    "Brother! How could you let scum like him live?" Xiao Wu protested "What if he comes back to kill you?"

    Cheng Hao pouted and crossed his arms "Who said I let him live? I only told him he could go, didn''t I? I didn''t say where though... For all we know, he might have gone to hell. You know, people get lost pretty often..."

    Xiao Wu stopped before a smile blossomed on her face "Brother Cheng Hao, you are such conman!"

    Cheng Hao''s eyes glowed with killing intent and his robes fluttered "Those who dare touch my family... Are as good as dead!"

    ...

    "Aaa! Aaa! Aaa!" The man cried "You idiotic bastard, son of a dog Cheng Hao! I will be sure to come back! Just wait for me you fuc*er! Wait for-"

    *Crunch*

    His scream was cut off by a golden blur.

    Zi Luo stopped and realized he could not breathe anymore. He touched down at his neck and felt the hardness of the bone: his throat had been carved out! His eyes rolled up showing white and he collapsed on the spot, dyeing the ground red.

    "The only one who can insultStupidHao..." A voice sounded out and Goldy gulped down the piece of flesh "Is me!"

    He then proceeded to absorb the guy''s energy. As he did that, in his eyes there seemed to be pity.

    "Your bad luck... Who told you to touch Xiao Wu? If you had just waited a bit more and left her alone, Cheng Hao might have forgiven you. He bears almost no ill intent towards those who attack him and him alone. He only uses his power for revenge or to protect his comrades."

    The dragon shook his head "That''s why, those who touch Cheng Hao''s close ones are as good as dead. He challenged the Heavens themselves because of that, why would he care about dirtying his hands with your lowly blood?"

    Chapter 18 - Those Who Touch My Family Are As Good As Dead!

 Chapter 19 - Follow Me And Live, Become My, No, Our Enemy And Die!

    "So you have broken through to Basic stage already big brother? That''s amazing!"

    Xiao Wu had just inspected Cheng Hao''s cultivation and had found out that her brother had broken through a whole stage in just the few days he had been into secluded mediation.

    She had gone up by a level in a few hours as well when she first met Cheng Hao. However, that was an exception as she had been enlightened thanks to the special scripture the boy had given her so it was partially also thanks to Cheng Hao.

    He, on the other hand, didn''t have any help and had broken through multiple times in three days by himself! That was simply godly! In five days, he had grown from being a cultivation-less young boy into an Heaven-shaking, Earth-rending, genius!

    "Yes. I had created this unique scripture in an Ancient Temple after being enlightened on Life and Death by its murals a long time ago. It has the power to rise my cultivation by a bit for every chant I can perform without committing a single mistake. One mistake means the loss of cultivation but it is no matter if you remember it all!" Cheng Hao grinned.

    ''I also used some residue power from my first breakthrough, but if I say that she would be even more confused and shocked. After all, there aren''t many people able to store pure, formless, energy in their consciousness..."

    Cheng Hao grinned and Xiao Wu also smiled. She had long since grown aware of how weird this brother of hers was and few things he did would be able to shake her more than what had happened on that first night.

    His power when he had saved her from the cloaked thugs was no exception. That time she hadn''t just been shaken. She had almost been flung out of her shoes from the shock. It was different.

    She had later learned that the incredible power he had shown had been thanks to a momentarily increase in cultivation. After coming out of secluded meditation and being surrounded by so much White Life and Black Death Qi, his cultivation had experienced a temporary boost.

    At first she had thought ''Of course, a Basic stage cultivator couldn''t be THAT powerful''

    However, she later realised her thinking had been foolish. ''If this is his power at a certain stage... Once he reaches an even higher stage than that, wouldn''t he become even scarier?''

    Xiao Wu shuddered and had never been happier that Cheng Hao was her martial brother and not her arch-enemy. Still, memories of the black demon with pitch black and pristine white glowing eyes kept haunting her memories...

    Cheng Hao seemed to have suddenly remembered something as he clapped his hands together. He looked at her straight in her eyes and with an excited voice he yelled "Show me!"

    Xiao Wu was in a bit of a loss until she connected the dots. Her green eyes turned purple as they glowed.

    "Brother, watch closely and prepare to amazed!"

    Smilingly, she brought out the two Martial Ways, each one hovering above one of her hands. She focused for a bit and two illusory copies of the Martial Ways appeared. This new Black Dragon and White Tree orbited clockwise while the new Purple Moon orbited counterclockwise.

    The two illusory copies of the treasures started to orbit around her in a circular way and when they reached ten laps, they both divided in two.

    Four Martial Ways projections appeared around her. Slowly, the Martial Ways became first eight from four, then sixteen from eight. At that, the girl opened her eyes and looked at the boy with an arrogant gaze as if to say ''I''ve beaten you, now what?''

    Although her talent was not as high as the reborn Cheng Hao and her might was still nowhere as close as his, she still had the right to be arrogant. To multiply her cultivation separation skill by four in less than four days truly showed her talent.

    Even Cheng Hao himself had presumed that it would take at least a month for it to happen.

    Few times had he ever been so happy that he had miscalculated. Unfortunately, she didn''t have enough control over the two Martial Ways and thus could not use them in battle. If that weren''t the case, the dozens of Black Swords, White Shields and Body-Enhancing Purple Moons would surely have defeated the Zi clan''s members without any effort.

    Unfortunately, she still didn''t have enough concentration to keep each of the sixteen Martial Way copies in their Black Sword and White Shield and Purple Moon forms. That was why she steeled with just one for each type.

    Cheng Hao smiled with satisfaction, he ignored the gaze full of arrogance and instead focused on the quality of her True Martial Ways. They were both solid and real. That was the basic requirement for the transformation of the Martial Ways into the weapons and the moon, being tangible.

    After all, it was pretty difficult to cut down enemies with illusions. He nodded and then instructed her "Sis, sit down" she complied and looked at him enthusiastically.

    "You did what I asked so now it is my turn to keep my end of the bargain! With a slight smile he touched the girl''s forehead and a strand of Basic stage cultivation surged and entered her consciousness. The girl of course didn''t block it and instead guided it into the core of her consciousness by herself.

    When she did that, burning pain came from her forehead as unfamiliar knowledge appeared in her mind but she endured it as she saw a stream of information appearing in her head all at once. They were tens of characters and the biggest of them all read out ''Purple Moon Scripture''.

    Cheng Hao couldn''t use this method earlier due to his cultivation being too low, but now his Basic stage cultivation base made up for the problem, letting him use the technique. This way, neither did he need to chant nor did the girl have to note the scripture down.

    Xiao Wu immediately entered the cultivation state, her eyes grew lifeless and her breathing slowed down, as if she were sleeping. The young boy of course knew that wasn''t the case and left her cultivating in the room, leaving without disturbing her in the slightest.

    He didn''t leave a strand of his will behind this time, but instead also headed to his room, laid on his bed and played around with his own Martial Way.

    The tower was hovering above his palm, letting out bright rays of light that lit up the room. The first floor, freed from the chains and the locks that kept it close, had been available ever since he stepped into the Inferior stage... Now, with his newfound cultivation of the Basic stage, he could make an attempt at the second floor!

    "Immortal Ascension Tower... Second Floor... My friend, I will make you wait a bit more as I have more important things to do!" A fierce expression appeared on his face as his eyes grew cold and killing intent filled the room.

    A mask appeared in his left hand as he dismissed the bright tower. The mask only covered his mouth and the tip of his nose, but in their place a mouth with sharp teeth and blood trickling down was depicted. As he breathed, black and white fumes came out from the mouth''s sides. His hair also turned red due to the weird mask''s ability, while his eyes lost their golden color to turn back into their black and white appearances.

    He got up and took a red robe from the wardrobe before flying out of the window and hurrying south: he was heading to the Zi clan mansion!

    ...

    The Zi clan was actually a division of a pretty big clan, the Zhao Clan, and it was located only a few miles away from the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect. It was basically an outpost to keep an eye on the said Sect, as some of the Main Branch''s Young Masters were disciples there.

    In exchange for tributes and subservience, the Main Branch of the Clan would aid the Smaller Branch, so their relationship with the Main Clan was actually pretty stable. Due to that, few dared to clash their swords with the weak Zi Clan, as doing so would mean angering the monster that stood behind them.

    That was also one of the reasons that, when a figure appeared in the middle of the Zi clan grounds and began slaughtering every person he crossed, the members were both astonished and terrified.

    The person was small and looked like a child. Quite a few people, in fact, would have already either laughed at his attire, that seemed to have just come out from a horror stage play, or dismissed it as a child''s prank. Of course, that would have been so if the already red clothes hadn''t now turned even redder from the blood of the hundreds of people who had approached him.

    His terrifying black and white eyes as well as the similarly black and white mist would have haunted the demon child''s victims''s nightmares. Why would? Because that would have only been if they had survived the encounter, of course.

    At that moment, Cheng Hao was sitting on top of the throne located atop a long set of stairs in the Zi Clan Mansion''s Main Hall. He wasn''t sitting as much as he was laying on top of the golden chair, as relaxed as one could ever be.

    As he did that, he couldn''t help but secretly praise in his mind.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    ''This Zi clan sure has quite the sense of style... These halls and buildings are similar to those of the most conspicuous clans from a thousand years ago. I guess now these would be called vintage, uh? A thousand years is quite a long time after all...''

    He turned his gaze towards the person next to the throne. He was really old, in his late eighties or early nineties, and he was currently looking at Cheng Hao with a concerned gaze.

    Although Cheng Hao had chosen to wear red, mainly because it would match the color of his hair after he put the cursed mask on, any kind of robe would have been dyed red after bathing in the blood of so many.

    The old man was the only survivor out of the massacre of the Zi clan, the only reason being that this old man was only the Zi clan''s groundskeeper, thus Cheng Hao had no enmity towards him. Furthermore, the old man had no cultivation, so he didn''t pose a treat and he spared no effort helping the young child after knowing Cheng Hao''s motive was to kill the Zi family.

    The old man had a head full of long, white hair. Both his hair and white beard almost touched the ground, his brown eyes were sharp while his straight nose and big mouth gave him a somewhat heroic air.

    Although his age was nearing the end of his life expectancy, his body was as straight as a spear and his muscles still bulged from beneath his clothes. Even though he didn''t have a cultivation, his frame could still be referred to as that only those who had trained for their whole life could ever hope to compare to.

    "Young Master Cheng Hao, is something the matter?" Seeing the complicated gaze in Cheng Hao''s eyes the old man asked, worried.

    The boy''s expression grew soft after hearing the concern in the man''s voice. They had talked quite a bit in the few hours that had passed after the massacre and he had come to know the old man''s situation.

    Apparently, he was once the owner of this mansion, known as Lu Fang. He had a cultivation of the mid Sung stage and was also a local lord in the area. Unfortunately, he had offended the Zi Clan after refusing to marry his only daughter to the Clan''s young master. Thanks to the help from the Zhao Clan, the Zi Clan suppressed his own Lu clan.

    This caused the current situation, where he had lost his cultivation and his whole family was exterminated. All except for his daughter whom got lucky enough to run away. Even his own mansion which had been passed down to him generation after generation was taken over by the greedy Zi Clan and he was humiliated when they gave him the position of groundskeeper.

    Basically, he would have to throw out the trash that the people accumulated, clean their rooms the courtyards and the training grounds, wash their clothes and all sort of things not befitting of a previous Noble.

    He still didn''t know up to today wether his daughter was still alive or not, so when he found out that Cheng Hao also had deep enmity with the Zi clan and wished for revenge, he spared no effort to aid him in his quest.

    He even brought him to some secret chambers where Zi clan members had hidden, thus gaining Cheng Hao''s trust and friendship. Although the boy insisted not to, Lu Fang insisted on calling him ''Young Master Cheng Hao'' anyways.

    "Nothing. I was just thinking about how your ancestors had good taste when it comes to buildings and rooms. These things, I, Cheng Hao, like them a lot" the child chuckled as he propped himself up, smiling at the old man.

    Hearing that, Lu Fang also nodded with enthusiasm "Young Master Cheng Hao truly has good taste in architecture! You see, these are palaces built a few hundred years ago, following the same pattern of those ancient buildings from a thousand years ago!"

    ''So I was right... It is indeed in the same stile...'' Cheng Hao got his confirm that they were the same as what he had seen in his past life from the man''s words. He sighed reminiscing the past.

    Finally he stood up and told to the old man beside him "If you give this palace for me to use, I will help you in gaining back your cultivation. You know what? Scratch that, I will also help you in breaking through!" The child smiled knowingly, a hint of amusement flashing deep into his eyes.

    "Ahahah, my sides! Young Master Cheng Hao truly knows how to make jokes..." Hearing those words, the old man laughed at first, taking it as a joke before seeing the boy''s eyes had no hint of being amused and his voice was as serious as it could ever be.

    "Young Master... Are you serious?" Lu Fang''s voice trembled in awe but also excitement.

    "Do I have any reason to lie to you right now?" The young boy removed his mask and his red hair turned black again. His black and white eyes turned back into their golden appearance, the irises and the pupils becoming clear again.

    A warm smile spread across his face as he spoke with the older man as if he were trying to convince a stubborn junior in believing in his words. Which, in his case, was actually not that far from the truth.

    The old man trembled and bowed to the young man in front of him "If you really can do what you said, I, Lu Fang, will forever remember his debt with Young Master and follow the Young Master until my bones decay and my organs rot!"

    Seeing such a devoted old man, Cheng Hao smiled "Stand up my friend"

    As soon as the old man did, Cheng Hao put a hand on the older man''s broken cultivation base. Or should it be said sealed? That is right, the Zi family didn''t destroy old man Fang''s Dantian. Instead, they had actually dared to seal it!

    It was probably because they thought that would humiliate him even more, as if they had still left him with an escape route but it was just too high to reach. Unfortunately for them, Cheng Hao had noticed this small detail as soon as he had shook the man''s hand when he had met him.

    So, as soon as his hand touched the man''s abdomen, he poured wave after wave of his own Basic martial power. At first it had little effect and the old man''s previously excited expression had turned into disappointment. Nothing happened for more than ten breaths when the face of Lu Fang... lit up!

    He could remotely feel the power of his cultivation base again! After ten more breaths Cheng Hao removed his hand and a golden mass of geometrical symbols hovered above it.

    Every day ever since old man Fang''s cultivation had been sealed, he had been constantly trying to cultivate by meditating however all that had turned out to be useless, as the Qi would just accumulate without a chance for him to refine it.

    Now that his cultivation base was slowly being unsealed, all that unrefined Qi in his cultivation base had begun to pour into him, making his cultivation slowly rise again! From the middle Sung stage to the high Sung stage and even to the peak Sung stage!

    That was not all because with one final, big, push he had reached low Reverend stage!

    "UUUUUOOOOOOOOOHHHH!!!" the old man''s body lit up with blinding light and the air trembled, as if to recognise the power of a man that would be revered by mortals and cultivators alike.

    As it was a forced breakthrough, one without any sort of enlightenment, he wouldn''t be as powerful as those powerhouses that had instead broken through after understanding the mysteries of the world. However, he had still broken through!

    It was such a pleasant feeling, as if he had gone to sleep as a beggar and had woken up as the Emperor of a country!

    After all, even in the current Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect, the strongest individuals except for the head were mid Reverend stage martial artist!

    This cultivation base that Lu Fang now held was such that virtually any power would try to lure him in! And all of this was thanks to the young man before him!

    While tears streamed down the old man''s cheeks, Cheng Hao pat his back as a wide grin appeared on his face. Seeing the boy''s expression was clearly saying ''I told you, didn''t I?'' Lu Fang trembled and kowtowed on the ground.

    In His heart, Lu Fang secretly promised himself ''From now on, I will leave for the only sake of helping this youth! Cheng Hao you have my deepest gratitude! This old man will not hesitate to risk his life to help you!''

    ...

    In a battlefield a very long time ago, a man was humming an happy tune under the moonlight as he walked in a battlefield full of corpses. The stench of blood and the wails of the wounded seemed to have no effect on the man as he stepped over the dead bodies as if he was stepping on grass.

    His steps followed the cheerful tune and, as he hummed, he also began to speak. The words were powerful and each sentence seemed enough to to shake one''s soul.

    "Those who make an enemy out of my family, even for the smallest of things, shall not think of having any chances of escaping my surging wrath! Death and pain will stalk those who think of harming my friends and family! I will forgive those who harm me because of grudges, but I will leavenochancesto those who harm those close to me!"

    He lifted his head upwards as if the words that has just been spoken were a warning to the Heavens. He inhaled deeply and his golden eyes turned from menacing to gentle, as warmth and reminiscence appeared on his face.

    "However. For those who follow me, I shall drink with them as brothers, no matter who they are, beast or human, I will call you brothers and sisters! We are brothers and sisters, and as brothers and sisters we will rule the world together! What is mine isyours, what is yours isours.If you die, I will live for you. If I die, you will live for me! We are brothers and as brothers we live together and for our fallen comrades!"

    A loud roar sounded out. A Golden Dragon thousands of meters long landed besides the man, blowing away the nearby corpses as it approached.

    The wind currents, though, didn''t seem to affect the man at all as he looked up, a kind smile on his face. The Heavenly Beast bowed and let the man climb on top of him.

    The man''s blue eyes narrowed as he muttered "Let us go, Blindlight, to save our brother."

    As soon as he heard that, the dragon kicked off the ground and flew in the air at incredibly high speed as the youth resumed his speech. His face was calm and composed and as he spoke, his words were warm and forgiving.

    "Follow me, live as brothers and risk our life together. Resent me, I shall forgive you, for grudges cannot be resolved without corpses piling up and blood falling to the ground. I will let you vent your anger down, if it means dissipating the seemingly never ending-cycle of harming and being harmed..."

    Fury and incredible rage appeared once again, his right and left eyes lit up, two flames of the opposite white and black colours appeared in his hands. In his left eye a battlefield appeared while in his right eye a black, bloodthirsty beast pleaded for blood as its body composed of a single set of shadowy jaws snapped open and close.

    Two white and black lights appeared in the man''s left and right eye respectively, at the same time they did they also fused with the two images. The battlefield lost all color as only white outlines could be distinguished from the surrounding void.

    The bloodthirsty beast seemed to have disappeared as the pitch black shadow surrounded it. Yet it did not vanish. No, it had instead fused with the pitch black darkness and had grown along with it. Where there was darkness,itwas also there. The beast finally became so huge that black snapping mouths made out of gases came out from the man''s right eye, biting the air in front of him.

    It wrapped around the tall figure as it transformed into a living cape made out of darkness itself, darkness that came from the man''s right eye itself.

    The golden sun was the only thing that still retained its color in the illusory battlefield as it also moved out, becoming a huge golden wheel floating behind the man. At that moment, the man riding on the dragon looked like a mortal no more... He had become another being altogether, only a bit short to a true, warring deity!

    "Resent my loved ones, live in terror for I, Xu Ling, will make sure: by the end of the night you won''t be breathing anymore, the dogs will be eating your corpses and your broken soul will flow on the yellow rivers of death! You Ran Swordsmen had been warned once before, and now I shall exact punishment!"

    The voice could even be heard thousand of miles away. It wasn''t loud, yet it contained a weird power that didn''t let it fade away.

    He then spoke "Follow Me And Live, Become My, No,OurEnemy... AndDie!" The words came out so easily that it seemed as if he had already said them thousands of times already.

    Such cold-hearted yet kind and heartwarming words were one of the traits Xu Ling was known for. It was his signature. It was also one of the many reason recognized him as both a demon and a saint... AnEvilSaint!

 Chapter 20 - Triumph Over The Older Generation

    "What exactlyisthissituation?"Cheng Hao held his laughter in as his gaze lingered on the scene in front of him: Lu Fang was on the ground, his nose bleeding, his Reverend stage self knocked out. On top of the unconscious Lu Fang, a concerned Xiao Wu was... Apologising.

    As the she waved her hands, the black sword and the white shield followed the movements and kept hitting the old man''s body creating even more bruises. Seeing that, she apologized even more and evenmorebruises formed.

    At one point, even Cheng Hao couldn''t hold his laugher in as he followed his partner Goldy and also ROFTL-ed, holding his abdomen.

    Just how did this situation come to happen?

    ...

    Lu Fang had followed the crimson robed Cheng Hao back on the road to his hut in the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect''s ground. At one point, the old man had deliberately decided that the journey had tired the young boy too much and had thus picked him up off the ground.

    No matter how much the child resisted or threw attacks at him, the old man wasn''t fazed a bit and instead expressed his admiration for his young master''s attacks and flattered him nonstop. Although Cheng Hao could easily handle mid level Superior stage opponents and put up a fight with high level Superior stage cultivators, Reverend stage was still way out his league.

    The situation was just so comical that the people who crossed them started laughing nonstop. Of course they got their asses handed to them by the old Reverend stage cultivator, angered of their mocking towards the boy in his arms.

    At one point, Cheng Hao had grown so enraged by the ridicule he was receiving and hit the old man on a pressure point, sealing his cultivation base back to the Superior stage. By doing that, he was able to break free from the old man''s restraint but by then they had already arrived to his house...

    Cheng Hao ran straight in and the old man soon followed.

    It was at that time that Xiao Wu had appeared. She was still dressed as a man and was still wearing make up to harden her soft, feminine features.

    With her new cultivation of the peak level Inferior stage (Achieved thanks to the Purple Moon Scripture) she reacted fast. Seeing the old man chasing after Cheng Hao she misunderstood the situation and was enraged: she immediately called out her illusory Martial Ways as she also readied her True Martial Ways located in the Pseudo-Core.

    Thanks to the Purple Moon and her newly acquired Purple Moonlight Senses Enhacing Technique, her five senses were enhanced by a dozen times, time seemed to have dilated. She pounced towards the newcomer and her strength was enhanced straight to the low level Advanced stage when she rotated her Pseudo-Core.

    Xiao Wu had stabbed her hand towards a bewildered Lu Fang whom wasn''t able to react in time as the White Shield slammed head-on on his face, breaking his nose in the process. If he had gotten the chance to use his true cultivation and possessed the might of a Reverend martial cultivator, those full-power attacks would have had little to no effect on him.

    Unfortunately, Cheng Hao had sealed his true cultivation and it had gone down two whole stages so he only had the strength of a Superior stage cultivator.

    He was lucky the strike hadn''t broken his skull, but it had easily sent him in the land of dreams. After all, a surprise attack made by an enraged Xiao Wu going at her full power truly wasn''t weak, as demonstrated by the fact that Lu Fang had been knocked out...

    Cheng Hao had to stop her from attacking him anymore and tried to explain the situation as fast and as clearly as he could before she used the Black Dragon Sword. When she learned of her mistake, she began waving her hands around as she apologized. Unfortunately, her two weapons followed...

    Lu Fang''s cultivation had been restored to the Sung stage during the time Cheng Hao and Xiao Wu had spoken so her strikes weren''t enough to kill him, however they still left purple bruises on his body.

    All that led to the current situation and it took at least half an hour for Cheng Hao and Goldy to stop laughing as, whenever they turned their heads and gazed in Lu Fang and Xiao Wu''s direction, tears would well up in their eyes and they would start to laugh again. It was the first time that Cheng Hao had thought that death by laughter didn''t look like an impossible feat anymore...

    ...

    Goldy was currently laying on the ground. It was unclear wether he was dead or he had simply passed out. What was clear though, was that the stupid grin on his face and the tears and spit on the ground showed that if that had been its end, it would have been a happy one.

    Lu Fang had finally woken up, his cultivation fully restored. When he saw his reflection, the old man wanted to faint again: his whole body was covered in purple, blue and yellow bruises, his nose was crooked and he had two big, swollen, panda eyes. He had no internal injuries, but he still spat out blood when he realized how close to death he had been. If the girl had possessed a slightly higher cultivation, he would without a doubt have already become a ghost.

    Cheng Hao bowed "I apologize for my younger martial sibling''s actions..." When he lifted his head and saw that the old man had disappeared he was momentarily confused. He looked right, left and behind him. He wasn''t there so he lifted his head upwards...The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    "Hiss!" The old man, a prideful Reverend stage cultivator who could turn mountains into valleys, was hanging from the ceiling and hissing like a scared cat. It seemed like he had been heavily traumatized after the events of that night...

    After a single ''I apologize'' he already became like that... Most likely, the two words had been turned into two codewords that would trigger certain actions...

    In his mind, Cheng Hao thought ''It will besoamusing to live with this guy and Goldy... That little golden dragon is really nothing but a big bully!'' Although he treated his dear ones as the closest of brothers, he couldn''t help but smile when he thought of that.

    Goldy was unconscious, thus the snake couldn''t harass the old man until he woke up. Up until then...

    "...I apologize..."

    "HISS!!!"

    ... He would have fun by himself!

    ...

    "So this is how I got a Reverend stage cultivator to protect us. Although this has not started the best way, I hope everyone will get along!" Cheng Hao sighed "Of course this speech would have been much better if you had actually listened to me first..."

    Xiao Wu was currently jabbing the Black Dragon Sword and smashing the White Tree Shield at a mocking Lu Fang. The old man had his arms crossed and bore the strength of the attacks with his bare body. A Reverend stage quality Fleshly Body.

    As he did that, he kept mocking her with stuff like "Is that all you''ve got?" "Is that a sword made out of cotton?" "This shield should be used as a rug to wash my hands, it''s just so soft!" "C''mon young girl, hit me with all you got! Oh? Is that all? I thought we were just arming up!"

    The two kept going at it as Cheng Hao and Goldy watched over them. They sipped tea in coordination, each of their movements synchronized with the other''s.

    Whenever Cheng Hao sipped, Goldy also drank the liquid. When he munched on a biscuit, the snake also did. When he sighed the snake also relaxed and let out a loud sigh. When he put in salt instead of sugar, the small dragon also did. When he acted as if he were drinking, Goldy drank for real, almost choking on the salty tea.

    The scene in the room was as such: the young boy and the dragon sipped tea as they looked at Xiao Wu and Lu Fang glaring, hitting and mocking each other. One side of the large room was as peaceful as it could be, sipping tea and eating biscuits, while the other half kept lighting up as Xiao Wu showed the might of her abilities against Lu Fang.

    It was truly as peaceful as it could ever be... If it weren''t for the fact that the side of the room been thrown into chaos was Cheng Hao''s part of the small hut, it would probably have been much better.

    Seeing another one of ''his''vases crumbling as it fell on the ground, a vein popped on top of Cheng Hao''s head and as he stood up he yelled. "Xiao Wu! Lu Fang, cut it the hell out!"

    Seeing no reaction at all, instead the duo''s action even rose in intensity, Cheng Hao''s eyes grew cold. His killing intent seemed to manifest as mist as it was so dense it seemed solid. He sat back down, opened his mouth slowly and... His voice was as low as it could get, a whisper that could not have been heard, had one not been listening intently.

    "Lu Fang,I apologize. Xiao Wu, youforgot to dress as a man..."

    Two bodies immediately stopped in mid air, turned and then disappeared to reappear in opposite corners of the room. Old Fang was hissing and hunching his back as he clawed the air in front of him. Xiao Wu on the other hand, had turned to face the wall and had hidden her face in her arms while muttering nonstop "I''m a man, for real. It''s not what it seems... I''m a man, ..."

    As they both returned to their senses, Xiao Wu noticed that she hadn''t forgotten at all to put on her make up and men''s clothing while Lu Fang also stopped hissing as he recovered.

    They were about to turn towards the boy and ask what was the matter but when they saw the heavy atmosphere surrounding Cheng Hao, they immediately shut their mouth and gulped. Cold sweat also appeared on their foreheads.

    "Good!" Cheng Hao''s face turned back into his usual calm and composed expression and he went back in sync with Goldy as they sipped their tea. A few moments later, the two had finally finished drinking.

    Cheng Hao and Goldy sighed in satisfaction and then the boy lifted his head "Seeing that the two of you have finally calmed down..." He put a cookie in his mouth and bit on it.

    "... We can finally begin talking about stuff!" The golden snake finished his drinking partner''s words and also ate a cookie.

    ""..."" The two people sitting on the ground cringed at their actions that seemed to have just come out of a random relief chapter. It truly looked as if the author had gotten tired of writing...

    "So, Xiao Wu, you broke through and are now a peak Inferior stage cultivator, am I right?" Cheng Hao asked.

    Lu Fang widened his eyes and looked to the child standing beside him. Xiao Wu smugly showed a mocking smile on her face and answered "Yes, big brother. I feel like I may breakthrough to the Basic stage any time soon now!"

    ''Such strength and she is still at the Inferior stage? She can rival peak Advanced stage cultivators! Her full-on attack even hurt me when I had a low level Superior cultivation base, what sort of power did she wield to be able to do that?'' He looked at Cheng Hao ''Maybe this kid isn''t even that exceptional when compared to her, with a cultivation as high as his after all-''

    "Brother, where did your black scarf go?" Xiao Wu asked, interrupting Lu Fang''s thoughts.

    ''Mh? Scarf?'' the old man pondered.

    Cheng Hao looked confused for a bit then he smiled "Oh, Blacky? He is still sleeping but I decided to leave him at home when I went out to eradicate the Zi clan. He will wake up when I reach a high level Basic stage cultivation base. I am still low level Basic stage, so I still need to wait a bit more until I am powerful enough. If I leave it at home, there would be no danger of harm bearing down on it!"

    Lu Fang''s train of thought was interrupted. He stood still as two streams of tears poured down from his eyes ''F*** it, I saw this guy rip apart Superior stage expert with his bare hands, and now you tell me he is still a low level Basic stage??? Am I really the only normal person here? Wait! There is still that snake-''

    "Cheng Hao, I broke into high level basic stage today. Those essences you provided me were enough to break through! It has only been three months ever since I Re-Lived, this is pretty fast! Also, those Superior stage bones weren''t as hard to chew as you said, you should get me Sung or maybe Reverend stage bones!"

    Lu Fang smiled happily as tears of blood fell on the ground. The snake had just dealt the finishing strike to the confidence of this man in his late years.

    ''F*** these monsters... I really regret regaining my cultivation and showing off in front of that little girl now... This time, I truly was a beggar showing off his only coin to a wealthy noble...''

    Seeing the desperate Lu Fang, Cheng Hao, Goldy and Xiao Wu secretly winked at each other. The ''young''(apart from the thousand years old reborn soul and even older hundreds of millions years old dragon) generation had triumphed over the older generation!

 Book 1: Reborn - First Arc: The Child And The Dragon - Epilogue

    The child headed back to the village. Right now, the place where he had lived for the past eight years was burning, the few valuable things the villagers had managed to gather during their poor life pillaged as the cries of women and children broke the quietness of the night.

    Roofs and walls came crushing down and slowly turned into ashes as the fire burned the wooden buildings to the ground. The cold night heated up thanks to those flames. The child smiled as he walked in between the flaming debris, as if the fire posed no threat to him.

    Step by step, he headed towards the only part in the village that had yet to burn down: here, the houses weren''t built with wood, instead, all the building were made out of stone. Although this may have saved many villagers from the fire, it would not save them from the biggest threat: the bandits.

    At the moment, dozens of people clad in black were rushing down the paved roads, each held a sack in one hand and a weapon in the other. Some let go of the loot to grab women instead, but one thing didn''t change: if you were not gold, silver, some precious ore or a beauty, you would get cut down on the spot.

    In between all this chaos of people screaming and buildings falling, the child kept smiling as he headed towards the one place where he remembered the people of Stonewood Township would be able to defend themselves from the bandits'' raid: the major''s mansion.

    He walked up to the town plaza and no one seemed to notice him. It didn''t matter if it was a bandit looting a house, a rogue raping a woman or one of the criminals drinking stolen wine, they all didn''t notice this shadow that swept by them. And, of course, they didn''t notice when their heads fell on the ground, their visage still contorted into feral grins and sadistic smiles...

    One by one, the noise quieted down, leaving only the cracking sounds coming from the flames. The people that had hid themselves in the mansion were now even more scared: did the bandits leave? Or were they only preparing to attack them? Or did something even scarier come in their place?

    Finally, after a few minutes, one of the bravest hunters in the village stepped out of the safe haven that was the major''s mansion. People waited the news anxiously and every second that passed seemed to last hours. After ten minutes, the man came back.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

    There was no trace of the usual courage on his face, the only expression was terror, pure terror. He was shaking from head to toe, and only after he drank some of the best whisky did he tell everyone else of what had happened outside.

    "Death. Outside there is only death. Pools of blood, countless dead bodies, headless corpses whose heads are still grinning, as if they still haven''t realized that they are dead..." Although he could speak, he still shook as he remembered the scenes "But... This is nothing. In the plaza, I found the cause to all of this. It was... a boy. No more than eight years old and he was wearing nothing. But that was no problem, because his body was so dyed in the red blood that it worked as a robe itself!"

    "When I stepped into the plaza, I didn''t make any noise, yet he turned towards me, as if he had somehow...Sensedme. ''Uncle, what is my name?'' He had asked. I got closer and closer... Maybe it was a rush of adrenaline, but I wasn''t so scared anymore. Anyways, when I got closer I was even more shocked..."

    The man turned towards a couple holding each other close in a corner of the building "Master Fen, please brace yourself... It was Hao'' Er! But his eyes were totally different, they were ruthless, cold, as if he hadn''t just killed a hundred people by himself! Those were not the eyes of a child... They were the eyes of a demon that had fought countless battles and slaughtered millions!"

    The man curled up in his chair as everyone patted on his back and poured him more alcohol. In the corner, the two people, a man and a woman, trembled. The man was called Cheng Fen, the woman Ning Rong and they were Cheng Hao''s parents. Cheng Fen was also the town major.

    "At that time, I couldn''t help but answer truthfully ''Child, your name is Cheng Hao, you are this town major''s son'', I said" the man shook his head "Hao'' Er pondered for a while, I did not dare interrupt him, since my instincts told me that if I did I would most likely end up like those people on the ground..."

    "After a while, the child had smiled and had nodded at me ''Cheng Hao, uh? Good name... Since I have technically stolen his body, I will make sure to use his name to repay him! Thank you for telling me, Uncle! These dead bandits are my way to thank you and the village of everything you have done for me up to today!''"

    Cheng Fen was shocked: was that person truly the same foolish child of his that couldn''t hurt a fly? How could he not be surprised when he found out that the one person that had cleared the village of the bandits... Was his own kind and gentle son! He shook his head in disbelief but then he still asked "And then? What happened? Where is Hao'' Er?"

    The hunter shook his head "I''m sorry, I don''t know..." He lifted his head towards Cheng Fen and his wife "H-He just... disappeared!"

 Book 1:Reborn - Second Arc: The Gears Slowly Start To Move - Prologue

    The seven walls of the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect were built more than a thousand years ago to resist attacks from the monsters and provide a safe haven for the Disciples of the soon-to-be Sect.

    The castle was built upon one of the so-called ''Holy Lands'' for cultivators, a place that the Heavens had blessed with powerful martial energy [Note: Martial energy and Spiritual energy will from now on be interchangeable] and with a high density of Qi.

    This had been one of the reasons that the founder had decided to build the sect there in the first place.

    Those walls were made out of a special kind of rock, the Oraum, a rock whose durability had been boosted by the martial energy in its surrounding over the period of several thousand years. The founder had found a large amount of this rock in the Four Divine Beasts Mountain Range and had mined it all out to build these walls.

    He had chosen the place with the highesy density of martial energy and Qi and built the gigantic castle there: he did not harm the environment too much and instead kept many lakes, forests and rivers inside the gigantic fortress, as to not give the impression of a prison and instead make it look more like a paradise to future Sect Members.

    In the present, a cold night about a thousand years later the founding of the Sect, on top of the largest of the more than a thousand feet tall Walls, the Seventh Wall, two people looked towards the horizon: the first was an old man, his back stood straight and he had piercing yellow eyes, a long white beard and hair and, although he didn''t seem to have a cultivation base, he still gave off a weird feeling of unstoppable might.

    Behind him stood a man in his late thirties: he had shoulder-length blonde hair, brown eyes and wore a white robe with four black stripes going from the left shoulder to the right ankle: a Core Elder!

    The Core Elder turned his head and spoke "Father, is everything proceeding as intended?"

    The old man moved his attention from the thin line that was the horizon and instead focused on the middle-aged man next to him.

    He sighed and he shook his head "Unfortunately, things are moving too fast for me to keep up. Still, we might consider ourselves lucky: we have finally found the last piece we needed, now we only need to place it on the chessboard before we can truly begin. I will only need a few months at most and we will finally be able to show ourselves after all those years of hiding ourselves and our true strength!"Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    The middle aged man also nodded "These years were harsh and I almost felt like giving up at some point... But soon, all those years of effort will show their worth!"

    The old man also emotionally nodded "Bi Liang... My son, I am sorry for all these years of pain that I have forced you to endure and I apologize again-"

    "Father! There is no need. It was my own choice that I went along with your plan, as you know, since I started riding the tiger, it is now too hard to get off!" The thirty-six years old man chuckled.

    The two men smiled and the blonde male bowed "Lao Jianghu! I, Bi Liang, see you as my father, master, friend and also comrade. I cannot repay you for having picked me up and even raised me as your own son, so such a thing is only me repaying a part of the huge debt that I owe you!"

    The old man shook his head and he warmly rebuked "Just like you truly see me as a father, I also see you as my own son, you are my son in all but blood, you are my friend that I enjoy drinking, play chess and spending my time with the most and you are also the comrade that went along with this old fool''s plans for all these years! There is nothing that you need to repay me for!"

    The old man''s previous soft expression hardened and he clenched his fist "But now we have almost all the pieces on our palm, we only need to wait for two more months to make our move! At this time, I will make one last foolish request!" The old man turned and bowed before Bi Liang could stop him.

    "Bi Liang, my son, from this day on you and the Core members of the Faction will keep staying in the Outer Sect for these two months. However, while they will only need to hide themselves,youneed not hide your cultivation or your status as a Core Elder. Just stay in that single hut and wait! I have already left your key and the map to the new place in the hideout! Bi Liang, this is my last request!"

    The old man sighed emotionally as he turned towards the man beside him and told him:

    "Remember, Bi Liang! Remember thatthe last piece hasn''t been set!" Before Lao Jianghu could hear Bi Liang''s response, he kicked off the ground and floated in midair, disappearing into the night leaving only those few words behind.

    Bi Liang recovered from his shock and smiled bitterly to himself "Do I even have a choice?"

    He turned and look towards the horizon "But, after all these years of scheming... The chess board only needs one piece, the most important piece, the Star of the show, the King! Once that one piece is set..." Bi Liang smiled "The match will start! The Plan... Will begin!"

    The wind blowed on the one figure standing on the tall wall but it did not show any signs of giving up and instead it stood as straight as a spear, his hair fluttering and his white robes dancing with wind...

 Chapter 21 - A Month Has Passed

    A month had passed ever since Xiao Wu had joined the sect. She was now eight and a half years old and her cultivation had also reached the peak level Inferior stage.

    In that one month since she had been together with Cheng Hao, she had come to notice a few strange things about the mysterious boy: sometimes, he would easily be enraged with strangers for the smallest of things, other times his eyes would suddenly grow dim and he would start to cry, as if he had remembered something painful. Others even, he would simply stare blankly at the ceiling lazily, murmuring to himself for hours.

    He was with no doubt weird, eccentric even, yet he did nothing to hide that. When she asked where he had met Goldy, he would smile and then say.

    "Oh him? I was kind of running for my life and then I met that bastard. Oh maybe I shouldn''t say anything about him being on the verge of starving... He probably wouldn''t be able to...stomachit!" At that he would suddenly laugh as if he had heard the best joke in the world.

    Still, there was no doubt that Cheng Hao was a genius. Decades and hundreds of years worth of memories seemed to reside within his mind and, after thinking about it for quite some time, Xiao Wu had no choice but decide it was simply some kind of inborn memories, something akin to a person''s memories from a past life or something.

    Still, this eccentric boy was the person she trusted the most. The reason was simple: he spared no effort to aid her and Lu Fang, even if it meant risking his own life or getting in trouble. During the month, Cheng Hao, Goldy and Xiao Wu had gone to the Sixth Ring''s marketplace to check the place out...

    ...

    Ten men hiding their faces with masks suddenly jumped out from the bushes onto the road: they all held large knives which they swung around to intimidate the two children that were trying to get back home.

    "Now, now, leave all you have here and we will let you leave alive!" The biggest of the group of bandits walked towards them and pointed the knife at Cheng Hao''s face.

    The boy had quickly put himself in between the attackers and Xiao Wu, thus the small girl couldn''t see the ruthless expression in the boy''s eyes "Fellow disciples, don''t bite more than you can chew. You can take whatever you want from me but leave the girl alone"

    Seeing that, the bandits laughed and attacked. Thug #1 jumped in the air and brought the knife down towards the boy''s head. Cheng Hao sidestepped dodging the weapon with ease as the blade embedded itself into the ground. The boy lifted his right leg and kicked the knife, breaking it into countless shards.

    He then proceeded to block the next two attacks by blocking the edges with his index and middle finger of both his hands. He pulled hard and the bandits lost their weapons to the child. He kept dodging and breaking the weapons for a full minute, and after that minute, the only people panting and out of breath were none other... Than the nine bandits that had attacked him!

    Cheng Hao only defended and didn''t answer killing intent with his own, instead he just parried or dodged the blows, which was also humiliating for them.

    Finally, the rogues got pissed off and charged towards the ''defenseless'' Xiao Wu, those who still had their weapons slashing madly, those who didn''t throwing the heaviest punch they could throw.

    Xiao Wu backed away and was about to summon the Black Dragon Sword and White Tree Shield when a shadow blew past her.

    "You guys know what? I reallyhatethe number nine... I should fix that so that you are not nine anymore, shouldn''t I?"

    A few flashes appeared and disappeared, moving at extremely fast speed and the eight heads of those who had attacked Xiao Wu fell on the ground.

    Standing in the middle of eight corpses was the young boy with long, black hair and pure golden eyes, his hands dirtied with blood as his Copper Fleshly Body allowed him to tear apart flesh of those bandits of low cultivation with ease.

    The only two people of the group of ten left alive saw the scene and they immediately threw themselves on the ground kowtowing. Fortunately for them, they didn''t attack Xiao Wu and the killing intent that Cheng Hao had shown while killing their other eight comrades had already dissipated.

    After they begged and offered all their belongings to Cheng Hao. However, the boy gladly let them keep their things as a repayment for their comrades'' lives and let them go. The bandits bowed and tears of joy fell from their faces as they ran away, swearing in their heart not to anger this monster again!

    ...

    From that one could see that although Cheng Hao harbored little to no killing intent against his own enemies, he would still snap in rage whenever someone attacked his friends. Leave my friends alone, you shall be spared. Attack them, you won''t die with intact corpses.

    You could trusts someone with that philosophy more than you could trust someone related to you by blood. After all, although blood is thicker than water, your family might betray you but someone that places more value on your own life than his own, is somebody that will never betray you no matter the circumstances.

    Anyways, Xiao Wu was currently meditating on her bed. She had just come back from her ''Blue Robed Night Challenger'' nightly routine and was currently recuperating the energy she spent while fighting as her second identity. Observant people would notice that the blue robed night challenger''s opponents had slightly higher cultivation every day that passed.

    Although the Night Challenger might struggle against an high level Basic stage cultivator one night, the next she may effortlessly defeat low level Advanced cultivators!

    It was that kind of genius that made others sigh in envy and hit their thighs in admiration. Such a genius kept growing and growing each day, every day slightly stronger than the day before.

    At the moment, the few people still able to hold their own against the Night Challenger in the Sixth Ring were less than a hundred and most of them were old cultivators at the end of their days.

    It could be said that, except from Cheng Hao, in her generation Xiao Wu was the strongest, nobody having the same age as her could hold a candle to her in a fight.

    Still that was, after all, without counting Cheng Hao. The little child''s cultivation had already reached the high level Basic stage, meaning few people below the Superior stage could hold their own when going against him unless he used the golden blades or fought while the temporary buff gained after a breakthrough.

    A particularly weak low level Superior stage cultivator might find himself in trouble when fighting against him.

    Genius? At eight years of age, most children would be playing outside, let alone cultivate. They would be geniuses if they could hold a sword with one hand and swing it properly.

    Monster? An eight years old monster, what would he be able to do? Fight and adult equally, even though a child is way weaker and less experienced than a full grown man is? Now, that could be considered a monster!

    Still, Cheng Hao could almost slay people two whole stages above him and much older than he was with only a small amount of effort.

    Such titles were worthless to someone like him. He was no genius. He was no monster. He was a Demon in human form!

    Xiao Wu''s cultivation was, instead, at a peak Inferior cultivation, just a few steps below the Basic stage. Although a month had passed, she had close to no progress in cultivation as Cheng Hao had suggested her to train her newfound abilities instead. The Black Dragon Swords and White Tree Shields were powerful weapon when fighting up to the Advanced stage, but after that she would have no more cards up her sleeves.

    That is why Cheng Hao had told her to focus on the Purple Moonlight Senses Enhancing Technique. The technique itself was a body enhancing skill, but its secrets didn''t lay only in the strengthening of the fleshly body.

    If cultivated constantly, after only a few years of hard work, it would get to a stage where you could enhance your five senses by dozens, even hundreds of times! If one reached that state, time would seem to slow down and one would be able to easily notice the slightest changes in the air surrounding them, literally, a god-tier(Note:notGod stage) skill!Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

    Let alone head-on strikes, even surprise attacks coming from a blind spot would be easily dodged if one could fully cultivate this technique. Of course, it had its detrimental effects, some of them being rapid exhaustion due to the massive amount of energy spent to keep up the skill and greater weaknesses to attacks aimed to block or damage the five senses.

    Still, its power should not be underestimated. Although she just barely could not defeat Superior stage cultivators like Cheng Hao could thanks to his powerful fleshly body and unique skills, it also meant that anyone under that stage would have to be many times more careful than when facing ordinary opponents.

    That was why, although the process was slow and not constant due to enlightenment being random, she could slowly challenge stronger and stronger cultivators just like tonight''s last opponent.

    +++

    Zan Tai Long, twenty five years old, the genius of the Zan clan, officially recognized as one of the most powerful Vacant Sect members of the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect. A renowned genius that would be considered as having pretty good talent even in the Inner Sect, was defeated in a single strike.

    Advanced stage defeated in a single strike... What power would be needed to do that? Since Zan Tai Long was a mid level Advanced stage cultivator himself, the cultivation to knock him out with a single strike would have been at the very least a peak level Advanced stage expert. But such a powerful expert would have already have become well known in the Vacant Sect''s Sixth Ring in no time at all.

    But the shocking news was that the cultivation of that expert was neither peak Advanced stage neither Superior stage. It was peak Inferior stage. When the following morning he woke up from his comatose state, Zan Tai Long finally shone light on the mystery regarding the cultivation of the Blue Robed Night Challenger!

    As he hid his head in shame, he spoke and his exact words were these: "I could have never imagined such a monster was hiding itself in the Sixth Ring. I have nothing to say: yesterday, Advanced stage lost to Inferior stage. That is right, the Blue Robed Night Challenger is a cultivator at the Inferior stage! I feel no frustration or anger, only a bit of shame, but that doesn''t matter. Why? Because I know that yesterday I got to fight a true genius!"

    Although everybody knew of Xiao Wu defeating Tai Long with one strike, Xiao Wu and Xiao Wu alone knew how difficult that was. She had prepared in advance, bringing out the Purple Moon as soon as the fight started. With that, her vision had become many times sharper than it had been before, meaning she could see all her opponent''s openings and weak points.

    After knowing that, she just needed to dodge the first strike and throw out her own full power punch at the closest weak point she could hit, the temple. That knocked out the opponent immediately but it also told her one thing.

    She could take by surprise her opponents and defeat them with one hit if she aimed well, but her own full power strike at an opponent''s weak point only managed to knock him out! If the enemy had a body strong enough to resist the strike just like Lu Fang had, she could do nothing but endlessly throw punches at his or her body, yet she would not be able to harm him in the least!

    Fortunately, she hid her abilities deeply, so nobody knew that her strength was, thanks to her senses being enhanced during the battle, so most people still thought that her physical strength greatly surpassed the norm, leaving her the advantage of surprise.

    ...

    "Xiao Wu" A raspy voice came from behind the door. Xiao Wu''s eyes lit up and she ran straight to the door and as she opened it she also opening her arms to hug the person in front of her.

    Cheng Hao had spent most of the last month away in many trips around the region of the Four Divine Beasts mountain range. Last time, he had only come back for two days and had left for more than a week, only to apparently come back now.

    "Big brother Cheng Hao, you are b-" Xiao Wu stopped for a moment before smiling and then telling the old person in front of her "I will not fall the same trick twice! Take your mask off, Brother!"

    In front of her there was an old man with an hunched back and long white hair. He had decaying teeth and his fingers were so bony they looked like a skeleton''s fingers. The old man looked surprised for a bit but then suddenly laughed.

    Xiao Wu crossed her hands in front of her chest, faked a pout and looked at him as if she had been wronged "If you play such games on me again, I will really stop cooking for everyone!"

    "Kukuku... Hihihi!"As he chuckled, the old man''s hunched back straightened, his fingers became a young man''s healthy hands, his fake lower jaw full of decaying teeth fell off revealing two perfectly sane and straight white rows and even his voice went back from the aged and unpleasant raspy chuckling to a young child''s hearty laugh.

    He threw off his beggar clothes and revealed the Sect Robes. Only then did he hug Xiao Wu and laughed with her.

    "You are finally back!" Although she previously faked anger, as soon as she felt Cheng Hao''s body in her arms she couldn''t help but be happy. He wasn''t just a friend for her. He was also her big brother that she never had, a caring father and also a kind teacher!

    Although she was too young to truly feel attracted by Cheng Hao in that way, she still loved him much more than a sister would love her big brother.

    "So... where''s Goldy?" Asked Xiao Wu. Cheng Hao shook his shoulders "Sealed him in a collapsing Ancient Temple..."

    Xiao Wu was startled for a bit and then she yelled "Wha-?"

    "Ssssh" Cheng Hao smiled, a really cold smile, hugged her tighter and then patted her head "He survived being thrown in a river while tied to a rock, he will be ju~ust fiiine~"

    ...

    An ancient looking temple was slowly sinking underground. Suddenly, the main gates made of rock which had been closed shut by a certain someone burst open: pieces of rock and marble flew everywhere and a cloud of dust rose. Soon after that, a black and grey blur shot out.

    It was a snake, a meter and a half long, and it was covered in debris and dust which had turned its once golden scales completely grey and black.

    "Cough cough!" The beast coughed out dust and even small rocks and then lifted his head. As soon as it saw the surrounding bare land without a single tree present, it trembled and let out a loud yell of rage "CHENG HAO, YOU FU***** CUNT, HOW COULD YOU LEAVE ME BACK THERE!!!"

    Suddenly, the sound of dozens of wings flapping came from above and the Heavenly Devouring Dragon, a prideful Primordial Heavenly Beast looked up frightened and annoyed "Fu**! They are back! Damn, Cheng Hao, I will kill you later!"

    It shot towards the horizon at full speed and a pack of winged baboons followed. They had golden fur and carried harpoons made out of bones. They were only two meters tall but they all emitted the aura of a Sung stage monstrous beast. Dozens of such monkeys varing in low, mid, high or even peak Sung stage cultivation were a group that even powerful families would not dare anger under any circumstances.

    "You frigging monkeys! Just leave me the hell alone you idiot baboons, you retarded, furry pests, can''t you understand who I am? Bow down now!"

    "Aaaaagh! Aaaaaagh! (Monkey''s screeches)"

    "Aaaaa! Cheng Hao you will pay for this!"

    ...

    "Yeah, I''m sure he''s fine" Cheng Hao finally broke the embrace and once again grabbed Xiao Wu''s shoulders "Xiao Wu. Did you make any breakthrough in an higher stage?" The girl shook her head and Cheng Hao sighed in relief.

    "Fortunately you didn''t... Ok, sis! Do you know what will happen a few days from now?" Cheng Hao questioned.

    Xiao Wu nodded and then replied "It will be time to take the Outer sect exam, the trial to join the outer sect! Only then will we be true Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect disciples!"

    "And that is exactly why" Cheng Hao said "I will help you breakthrough now!"

    "But brother!" The girl replied in confusion " With the help of my Martial Ways I can easily beat most of the powerful genius around he-"

    "And that is the exact problem! Right now, you rely too much on your Martial Ways! Tell me, apart from the techniques from the Purple Moon and Black Dragon and White Tree scriptures, what else do you have?"

    Xiao Wu wanted to protest but she knew her brother was right. Except from the skills that needed the two Martial Ways or at least even only one of them or its illusory projection to work, she truly had no other way to defend herself!

    "But why, brother? Why can''t we use our Martial Ways? Wouldn''t that make everything else much easier?" The girl inquired.

    Cheng Hao shook his head as he smiled and then asked "Sister, did you grow dumb the few days I was gone? If we use the Martial Ways in front of a crowd, it is highly likely someone will recognize them for what they are and send people to capture us to keep them for themselves! Remember that they are Heavenly Treasures!"

    Xiao Wu looked down and she was embarrassed after Cheng Hao explained everything to her. He was right, she should have indeed thought of that!

    "That is why I have prepared a special method just for you!"

    The boy hit his chest with his palm.

    "You practiced fighting with that... Black Dragon Sword, was it?" Cheng Hao asked and seeing Xiao Wu nod, he sighed happily: finally, he could rest! His rigid shoulders finally relaxed and he spit out a mouthful of black blood.

    He lost his balance due to a sudden burst of weakness and almost fell on his back.

    "Brother!" Xiao Wu grabbed him and tried to drag him to his bed but he shook his head

    "Don''t! I''m not injured see?" He pointed at his body as he smiled.

    "I''m just... a bit tired! Now I still have things to tell you before the exam starts! First of all... the... technique I am going to teach you is not that much different from when you condense... the Martial Way''s illusory copies, it just has a few inconsistencies... in the... power source. Now... Cough! Cough!" Two more mouthful of blood were spat out and Cheng Hao''s face turned pale.

    Xiao Wu caught him before he could fall on the ground and, as she did that, Cheng Hao gritted his teeth, almost passing out from the pain and the blood loss, and pushed his middle and index finger on the girl''s forehead, .

    Then and only then did he allow himself to lose consciousness and pass out in Xiao Wu''s arms. The girl at that moment was actually trying to hold her scream in as burning pain came from her forehead. She suddenly could not resist anymore and cried out.

    "Yaaaaaaagh!" She yelled for a few minutes before passing out as well...

    She finally calmed down and when she came back to, she saw Lu Fang''s broad back as he nursed Cheng Hao. He was currently making the child eat a green pellet smelling of medicinal herbs such as the prickling aroma of Green Qilin Roots(Note: original. Precious plant used to heal internal wounds and ease Qi circulation) and the like. His expression was severe and when he turned towards her, he mouthed: "Internal Injuries, pretty serious"

    His expression then softened, pointing at her forehead and mouthed "Don''t let him go through all this trouble for nothing"

    Xiao Wu nodded and bowed "Thank you"

    She turned her back to Cheng Hao and tears streamed down from her face and she held her hands on her bosom. Her eyes glimmered determined and she sat on the floor as she examined the information Cheng Hao risked his life for.

    In her mind, strings of words had appeared, just like with the Purple Moonlight Senses Enhancing Technique, this time though, three big words were spelled out, standing out from the rest: External Aura Manipulation.

 Chapter 22 - External Aura Manipulation

    "External... Aura Manipulation..." Xiao Wu read out aloud the flaming words that had been embedded in her mind. Xiao Wu frowned: she had never heard of this technique before. However, since her brother had risked his life for this piece of information she had no choice but believe in him.

    She looked around for a bit unconsciously, checking if someone was there, and then sat down on the floor.

    "Let me see what''s so great about you that my brother had to risk his life to get it!" Xiao Wu breathed in and entered the cultivation state. The time was seven in the morning and there were exactly three days left to the Outer Sect Exam.

    ...

    Xiao Wu had been sitting crosslegged for three whole hours and finally, a hint of understanding flashed across her face. She opened her eyes and massaged her temples.

    "This External Aura Manipulation... Is indeed quite useful!" Xiao Wu stood up and put her hand on her chin just like Cheng Hao used to do when he pondered himself.

    She thought out aloud "Basically, I can manipulate the air surrounding me by letting out gaseous Qi... The Aura. By doing so, I can manipulate it to create various shapes, the easiest being basic objects, like geometrical shapes, while the hardest being living creatures, such as gigantic monsters and such. There are many levels to Aura manipulation, the lowest being Student followed by Scholar, Master, Grandmaster and, finally, Sage! Though, it is still unsure wether the Sage level is truly the end to Aura cultivation, as everybody reached a bottleneck at the Sage level..."

    Xiao Wu paused as if to recall something and then continued "The way I should let out gaseous Qi is really similar to the way I create the illusory Martial Ways, so that won''t be a problem. The only thing that I''m worried about is that I need to thoroughly understand the internal structure of what I am about to create, otherwise it would be nothing but an empty shell..."

    Xiao Wu smiled and then said "That is probably the reason brother asked me wether I practiced using the Black Dragon Blade... If I practice with it daily, I would naturally come to understand it more and more!"

    "If an Aura Manipulator is able to manipulate Aura into stable, two-dimensional figures, then he will officially be recognized as an Aura Student. Making more than one, two-dimensional figures would count as graduating to a Scholar. Making a single three-dimensional figure would be on the level of a Master, more than one would be a Grandmaster and, finally, manipulating the Aura into a living being would make one a Sage"

    Her previously happy expression turned discouraged as she said "Does that mean brother wants me to jump straight from Student to Master, to create three-dimensional copies of my two Martial Ways? That is simply asking for the impossible..."

    Xiao Wu pondered and suddenly her foggy eyes cleared "Unless... He wants me to create a two-dimensional Black Dragon blade! Although it is referred to as Two Dimensional, it isn''t truly two dimensional as it has a very thin surface. But, as it still has an edge, it can still cut!"

    Xiao Wu sat back down and began to move her hands in the air as a faint layer of coloured gases surrounded her. Her hands seemed to draw a figure in front of her and the gases slowly began to flow and follow her hands'' movement. After four hours of weaving the Qi, the faint outline of a long sword appeared.

    Its shape was odd, one edge was sharp while the other wasn''t, it had no guard and the handle resembled a black dragon: this was the Black Dragon Sword!

    Xiao Wu opened her eyes and wiped away the sweat from her face "This is much harder than I thought! After four hours I have barely scratched the surface of the technique! I have already expended most of the power in my Core, yet I could only draw the outline of the blade... This will take at least three times the effort if I want to finish this before the exam starts!"

    Xiao Wu sighed and drew the gaseous Qi back in her body and the manipulated Aura in her Pseudo-Core: once she had recovered she would continue to manipulate the Aura as it would retain its shape. After all, wouldn''t it be useless in battle if she needed hours and hours to build it every time? Of course, she could still dissipate it any time she wanted.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

    This is also one of the reasons the amount of objects made out of Aura showed the strength of a Manipulator: as the amount of Aura one had was limited, only thecontroldiffered. Once one could control Aura well enough to make more than one shape, that would make a person rise in rank.

    Although the ranks were only five, in the world as of today, only a few people had been recorded reaching the rank of Aura Grandmaster and the Aura Sages had been no more than a dozen and they had been people who shook the Heavens with their talent. Most of them though, had not been humans: only one human has been recorded to have ever successfully managed to reach such a stage. His name was Feng Mu, but he had disappeared soon afterwards... Some rumors claimed that he had actually found a level beyond the Aura Sage, but it was regarded as mere rumors, as there was no physical evidence of that.

    One of the reasons Aura Manipulation experts were so rare was the fact that one needed to start from a low cultivation base, when Qi was rarer and thus easier to control. As one rose in rank, the control over one''s Qi would slowly get harder. If one did not have the chance to practice when Qi manipulation was easier and thus didn''t know the basics, it would be impossible to successfully manipulate Aura.

    That was also why Cheng Hao was so happy that Xiao Wu hadn''t broken through as she would gain the most benefits this way.

    Another reason was that the art of Aura Manipulation was so rare that there were just too few Aura manipulators for a true genius to appear often.

    ...

    Xiao Wu meditated and rotated her cultivation base to restore the Qi she had spent while manipulating the Aura into the Aura Black Dragon Sword.

    Her forehead was full of sweat and her face pale: any other eight years old girl would have long given up. She hadn''t though, instead, she persevered and now her efforts would be rewarded!

    Her mouth''s corners moved upwards as she smiled. Her eyes showed both satisfaction and tiredness as well as a sense of accomplishment. She lifted her right hand and a Black Dragon Blade appeared. This was the illusory blade created from her Martial Way.

    She lifted her left hand and suddenly, another sword appeared. It looked flat and resembled the true Black Dragon Sword, it was slightly thicker than a piece of paper and could only be seen if you looked at it from the sides. She moved both of her hands and, although the fake black blade made of Aura was slightly slower, it was still easy to control.

    Xiao Wu threw herself on the bed. As she laid down she couldn''t help but smile and relax as she had finally added a new weapon to her arsenal, a weapon that she could usein front of others!

    "Oh..." As she looked at the ceiling she seemed to remember something "I didn''t cultivate the purple Qi from the East today... Brother will be angry"

    Her eyelids slowly fell down and she fell asleep. The time was seven in the afternoon. Two days and eleven hours left to the Outer sect exam.

    ...

    Cheng Hao was still unconscious but even though his body was badly injured and he couldn''t move, his consciousness hadn''t just taken a nap for these last few hours. As soon as he had passed out, his projection had once again appeared in the space inside the Pseudo-Core.

    Once it had fully formed, the projection started walking towards the Immortal Ascension Tower hovering in the hidden place in his Pseudo-Core.

    The first and second halos of light had already been consumed when he had broken through the Inferior and Basic stage respectively, so the first two floors were slightly darker than the other thirteen. However, although the second ring of light had been absorbed by Cheng Hao, the second floor''s gates were still shut.

    This time, there was no such thing as locks and chains to bind the doors, only one big keyhole. Cheng Hao lifted his hand and a stream of Basic Qi approached the Tower.

    As soon as it got close enough, the Qi changed into a gigantic bronze key which hovered in mid air. Chang Hao''s expression couldn''t be seen as his blurry figure wasn''t clear enough, but it could still be seen that his eyes looked regretful and had an apologetic look in them.

    The figure on the key was that of a gigantic bird: its wings spanned hundreds of times the size of the body and it was completely white, except for the black claws at the ends of the wings. This beast hadn''t been seen for millennia but still many tales about its might had spread, tales of the bird that flew nonstop for thousands, millions of years at the highest level of the sky.

    Cheng Hao sighed in reminisce and waved his hands. The key followed the commands imparted by Cheng Hao and slowly approached the keyhole before fitting in and turning...

    *clack*

    The massive gates opened wide, allowing Cheng Hao to look at what was inside: the floor was large and completely white in color. In that ocean of white, an old man also wearing white turned his head to look at Cheng Hao: he had white eyes without pupils or irises but they still exuded kindness, long white hair that was dragged on the floor behind him when he walked, a trimmed beard and white mustache.

    He was currently holding a book and staring with mixed feelings at the boy before him. Overall, he looked like an amiable old man.

    "Boy... You are?" He asked nonchalantly.

    Cheng Hao stepped forward "I, Junior Xu Ling, pays his respects to Uncle White! I apologize for locking you in here for the past two months and hope that you will forgive me!"

    The book that the old man was holding fell on the ground and the expressions on this ''Uncle White''s face settled into ones showing excitement and happiness. The old man''s eyes brightened up and he couldn''t help but stare with shock at the young boy for a while.

    "Xu Ling... You have survived!"

 Chapter 23 - The Exam Begins!

    "Hey, did you hear? The Blue Robed Challenger publicly announced that she will be participating in this year''s Outer Sect Exam! It seems like she really was someone from the Vacant sect! I hope we will finally be able to see this genius tomorrow"

    "Don''t forget about that Cheng Hao! After she defeated her last opponent last night, she announced that she was actually weaker than this Cheng Hao in both cultivation and fighting strength! According to her, he has even higher talent than she does!"

    Two young men had just come back from their morning routine of a ten kilometers dash, a hundred push ups, a hundred sit ups and a hundred squats... Apparently some expert had told them that it would help their body become superhuman in just three years!

    Anyways, the two were walking and gossiping about recent events when a blur passed by them.

    One of them turned.

    "What''s wrong?" The other one asked.

    "Nothing, I just... Never mind, lets go eat breakfast and remember, no Air Conditioning!"

    Hearing that, both men sighed and headed over their own house. If the person who had turned were to know that the one blur he had just seen was actually the same person they had been talking about just then, the Blue Robed Night Challenger, Xiao Wu, who knows what they would have done!

    The eight and a half years old girl had just come back from her own daily routine of absorbing the Purple Qi from the East and had just made another breakthrough in her Purple Moonlight Senses Enhancing Technique.

    Now, she also got a speed boost for a short period of time as well as heightening her already powered up senses even more. Right now, she had an increase of about five times a normal person''s senses when not going all out. When she did, it was slightly less than a dozen times a normal person''s senses.

    As soon as she got home, she walked straight into Cheng Hao''s room. Right at that moment, Lu Fang was squeezing a wet towel and putting it over the child''s forehead. When he noticed the girl had come in, the Reverend Martial Artist shook his head and pointed at the untouched bowl full of delicious food by the bed.

    "Still hasn''t woken up, uh?" Xiao Wu sighed as she realized that her brother still had yet to recover. According to Lu Fang, he had already completely recovered the internal injuries last night but he still hadn''t woken up.

    "Maybe his consciousness is elsewhere, maybe he is just tired, I don''t know" the old man had told her when she had asked.

    Meaning? The only thing they could do was to wait. Still, she couldn''t help but worry ''The exam starts in less than twenty four hours, if he doesn''t wake up, no matter how much of a genius he is, he will not graduate to an Outer Sect disciple before next year''s exam... Brother, please, recover soon!''

    ...

    Xiao Wu walked out in the backyard and called out her Black Dragon Aura Sword. She let it cut the air around her as she did complicate hand signs. At first it was a still a tiny bit difficult to control it, but now she got the hang of it and could use it almost as easily as she could control the true Black Dragon Sword.

    Since she had broken through in the Purple Moonlight Senses Enhancing Technique that morning, she also tried to break through to Basic stage with the new amount of insight she got from her battles and the deeper understanding of her techniques!

    She successfully accumulated the nearby Qi with the help of her Martial Ways and then proceeded to accumulate the three Qi seas (Note: each one for the different types of Qi she had sensed).

    She guided the strands of purple, black and white energy into her sea of consciousness where they slowly turned first into small drops and then proceeded to enlarge until they became the same size as the one she had condensed before.

    Finally, she created three Qi Seas, each purer and bigger than her previous Qi Sea that she used to condense the Pseudo-Core. After all, this tier of Qi was a whole stage higher than the previous Sea had been. Even without Goldy''s help, she still successfully created three Qi Seas for all of her three sensed Qis.

    ''If big brother had seen this, he would undoubtedly have been proud...'' She sighed and focused on the matter at hand.

    "Right now I am an Aura Student. Since I have broken through, I should now be able to at least control double the amount of Aura I could while still in the inferior stage" she nodded to herself "I think this is the right time to create my second Aura Manipulated Object... A replica of the White Tree Shield!"

    Xiao Wu waited no longer and sat down in the backyard. Sure, it wasn''t as hidden as her own room. There was still the chance of somebody seeing her if he came behind the house. However, staying in her room right now wouldn''t help her: whenever she tried, she would start to think about the wounded Cheng Hao, thus limiting enlightening and improvement due to her distraction.

    That is why she chose to cultivate in the backyard instead of her own room.

    Xiao Wu immediately sunk into the meditative state, gaseous Qi surrounded her: her Aura. It was the same color as her hair, both purple and blue, and occupied the space of two meters in every direction from her body. Since she had broken through, she could now control twice the amount of Aura.

    She began drawing the outline of the shield and the gaseous Qi followed her movements. Slowly but surely it condensed into the shape of a round, two-dimensional shield.

    What could be considered as only two dimensional in Aura manipulation? Simple, if one used only onelayerof Aura to condense an object it would be counted as two-dimensional, if more where to be stacked it would turn three-dimensional. Of course, the increase in difficulty increased greatly as it would be basically turning ''square numbers'' into ''cubic numbers'', turning a flat surface into an object with volume, the difference was insane!

    A few hours passed. Finally, hovering in front of her was a glowing circle with the drawing of a white oak depicted on it. Although it was really simple and was only a meter long, half of what the real White Tree Shield was, it looked sturdy nonetheless. It also slightly curved towards the outside so that it could be also used as a blunt weapon instead of a simple flat orbiting disk.

    That simple change in the two-dimensional structure had actually been the most difficult part in the whole process. The girl grimaced ''Simply changing a two-dimensional object a little was so difficult... How difficult is it going to become when I am going to actually create objects with three-dimensions?''

    Xiao Wu had exhausted virtually all of her aura and she would have to wait the Advanced stage to be able to manipulate anymore.

    She stood up and in her eyes was excitement! She had graduated from an Aura Student to an Aura Scholar just like that! She waved her right hand and the Black Dragon Aura Blade appeared hovering behind her beside the White Tree Aura Shield. She bent her knees and threw a rock one meter in front of her.

    In a flash, Xiao Wu quickly appeared two meters away from her previous position. When the stone fell on the ground, it split in three pieces and then broke into splinters. The cuts from the sharp Aura Sword were clean and elegant, while the brute force from the blunt Aura Shield that broke the rock into splinters was just that: a strong unrefined force that bore great might.

    Xiao Wu looked at the aftermath of her full power attack and smiled ''Although these are not as powerful as the real deal, they alone are more than enough to fight high level Basic stage cultivators! This should be just enough to pass the exam!''

    There were only a few hours left to the exam and she was happy to have another ace up her sleeve!

    She walked back into the hut and threw herself on the bed, almost falling asleep immediately, barely having the time to recall the two Aura Objects back into her body.

    "Tomorrow morning... It will start soon!" As she was about to fall asleep, she couldn''t help but think about her brother whom still hadn''t regained consciousness "Brother... Please get well soon!"

    With those thoughts in her head, her mind clouded and she fell asleep, hoping to sleep comfortably throughout the night.

    Unfortunately, panic and fear would not help her in sleeping peacefully. Instead, nightmares haunted her dreams: she dreamt of failure, she dreamt of being unable to protect those she cared about and she dreamt of Cheng Hao waking up only to find her as an Outer Disciple and thus resenting her for not waiting for him...

    ...

    Although it was still four in the morning, the outer Ring of the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect, the Sixth Ring, was bustling with activity and virtually all of the disciples were heading toward a special location in front of the Sixth Wall, the barrier dividing the Sixth Ring from the Fifth Ring.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    Here, hundreds of thousands of cultivators had gathered already and even more were coming. Soon, most of the few millions of Vacant disciples living in the Sixth Ring would get here.

    Most were cramped as there wasn''t much space, only those few people that had reached the Advanced stage could fly in the air, unhindered by the chaotic situation below them. There were still two hours before the event that moved so many disciples to join together started.

    In her room in hut 5742, Xiao Wu opened her green eyes as she woke up. She got up from the bed, ate breakfast and showered. She put on her sect robes, tied her hair into a ponytail and hardened her features with the special make-up.

    During that one month he had disappeared from the sect, Cheng Hao had also used that hide his true appearance: it was truly miraculous. She also checked her expression and changed her voice a bit to make her look a bit more masculine.

    After having done all that she relaxed and headed towards Cheng Hao''s room and the hope that had filled her eyes got washed away when she saw Cheng Hao still hadn''t woken up. She headed towards his bed and knelt beside it, so that her face was on the same level that Cheng Hao''s was.

    She kissed his forehead and with a trembling voice, she began speaking "B... brother... I-I..."

    "Go." Someone responded.

    ''Uh?''

    The voice came from above so it was most definitely not Cheng Hao''s. It was also bit deeper and seemed more like the voice of a boy in his late teens.

    She looked up and saw the golden dragon, Goldy, hovering in mid air above Cheng Hao''s figure. Since it wore glasses with golden rims and small lenses, coupled with the long, red beard, it somehow resembled an old man.

    It was reading a book and was so completely engrossed with the story that at times it would laugh, while others tears would well up in its eyes. The Golden Snake finally sighed and lifted its head from the book.

    "That was what he would have wanted, don''t you think?" The Golden Snake smiled and removed the glasses. A warm wind blowed and carried them along with the book, putting them on the table next to Cheng Hao''s bed.

    On the cover of the book, there were the words ''How I Sealed My Master In An Ancient Tomb For Revenge And Got Away With It''.

    Seeing the Golden Snake was serious, Xiao Wu smiled. She bowed and was about to live when the bright voice of a young child reached her ears.

    ''Be careful, sister!''

    She stopped in her steps, a shocked expression on her face: that voice... was Cheng Hao''s!

    She looked back but the child was still in deep slumber. Goldy also didn''t seem to have noticed anything unusual as he kept reading.

    She sent a last glance to the sleeping Cheng Hao and hurried outside towards the crowd of people gathered around a tall stage.

    The Golden Snake''s expression warmed up and then spoke with the child laying on the bed "Cheng Hao, Cheng Hao... You better wake up, or that child will regret her decision for her whole life..." the snake changed the wet towel on top of the young man''s head with a new, fresher one.

    He smiled and he sent another stream to pick up the book and glasses from the small table "Just know, I still haven''t forgiven you..."

    After a while it muttered under its breath "If you help her though, I will. Wake up Stupid Hao, don''t leave me alone... My Friend" A single tear dropped on top of the child''s sleeping head...

    ...

    "Join us, the Tigers Of The Mountains! Together we will conquer this Outer Sect exam and form our Alliance in the Outer Sect!"

    "Don''t listen! Join us the Wolfgang and become a part of our pack as we make our name known in the Outer Sect!"

    "Only fools would join weaklings such as them! Join us, the Golden Blades, and aim much higher! We look for comrades that will accompany us in our journey to the Inner and even Core Sect!"

    "All women come with us sisters and join our Heavenly Flowers Alliance! Come, so that we can show that we are in no way inferior to those good for nothing men!"

    Men and women, young and old, were currently shouting out loud, trying to lure in people to join their group. If they passed the exam and joined the Outer Sect, they would form their own Alliance there.

    In the path of cultivation, if you were weak there would be no other choice than joining with other powers, these Alliances were just that: a group of cultivators whom banded together to fight together against more powerful foes and pass challenges that they would not have been able to pass alone.

    As Xiao Wu pushed her body towards the stage, easily squeezing in because of her small frame, dozens, hundreds of people kept recruiting fellow Disciples to join their own Alliance. Suddenly, a young man in his late teens or early twenties, his cultivation in the low level Basic stage, noticed her sneaking around.

    Her steps were accurate, she moved without wasting any movement and her age above everything else shocked the young man. He immediately stepped forward and called out to her:

    "Hey, young brother over there! Are you interested in joining our alliance? We are called the All But In Blood Alliance!" He also bowed in her direction giving her a lot of face.

    Xiao Wu stopped and examined the young man in front of her: he was tall, he wasn''t that handsome but he was in no way ugly, his face was pleasant to look at and his manners as well as his straight figure gave others the impression of a well-mannered youth. His long, straight brown hair were also tied into a ponytail and in between his eyebrows there was a hint of courage and valor.

    Xiao Wu could see that the youth had no bad intentions and seeing that he also mistook her for a male, she thought that he probably shouldn''t have approached her for her body...

    She bowed in return, also giving the man face "May I ask what Senior''s Alliance is like?"

    Seeing that the other had not ignored him and had even given him face by calling him a Senior the youth was elated.

    He immediately walked up to Xiao Wu and explained "Just like the name suggest, we are all brothers in all but blood! We treat each other as brothers and help each other when our brothers need help. If one of our brothers is bullied, of course we will help them! You, as a Junior, are really polite and generous. If you don''t mind this senior''s request, I would truly be happy if you could call me ''Brother Lai''. My name is Fan Lai, may I ask for Junior''s name?"

    Xiao Wu pondered for a while then smiled and nodded "That is but an easy task, I have no qualms about that. Big Brother Lai, my name is Xiao Li and wouldn''t mind if senior wants to call me Junior Brother Li!"

    Fan Lai smiled and exclaimed "I welcome Junior Brother Li to our All But In Blood Alliance! From now on, we are brothers in all but blood!"

    Xiao Wu suddenly looked conflicted as she asked "Brother Fan Lai, you see, I have an older martial brother. He isn''t here right now but you wouldn''t mind if..."

    Fai Lai hit his chest with his left fist "Of course! The brother of my brother is also a brother of mine! Why should he not be? If he wants to, he can join our alliance the next moment we meet!"

    Xiao Wu''s complexion eased and she also smiled at Fan Lai''s words: even if she would not have the same feelings for him as a true family member as she did for Cheng Hao, she would treat him as a big brother anyways.

    After all, he looked like he didn''t harbor any ill intent and his ideals closely resembled Cheng Hao''s, even though in a slightly less fierce way...

    Suddenly, the sun rose in the sky: soon it would be six in the morning and the exam would begin. Although thanks to her cultivation she could still see in the dark, Xiao Wu still breathed a sigh of relief when she saw her surrounding slowly lighting up.

    Unfortunately, she could not absorb the Purple Qi from the East. Still, she was sure that it wouldn''t be too much of a problem, as she would gain many more benefits from entering the Outer Sect. Cheng Hao had also told her that, if it was only for a few times, it wouldn''t bring too much harm, especially since she had already laid the foundations.

    Suddenly, a bolt of lightning descended from the sky and two people clad in white robes, each robe having a few black stripes running from their shoulder to their ankle, appeared on the tall stage... They were two Sect Elders!

    The first was the youngest amongst the two, his age in the late thirties, and was an Outer Sect Elder, he slowly walked forward, eyeing the Vacant Disciples below he shouted out "You trash! Right now you are nothing more than trash, am I right? Well, here is your chance to graduate from trash to slightly less trashier trash!" Murmurs expressing their discontent at the man''s words could be heard virtually anywhere.

    Xiao Wu wasn''t one of them and was instead intrigued by the man''s words: he reminded her of Cheng Hao a bit and she was sure that he would not say such harsh words unless there was a reason. The man ignored the crowd and resumed his speech.

    "That''s right. Some of you won''t have the chance to reach the top and will only be a stepping stone for the strongest! I know what it feels like to be left behind and this is why I tell you... Don''t! Be the one that surpasses all others! I am sure that somewhere in this crowd there are true Dragons Among Men, so why hide yourself! Show your abilitieshere, in the Outer Sect Exam and rise to the top!To the top!" The Elder shouted and lifted his right hand pointing to the sky.

    "TO THE TOP!" The shout from the crowd of hundreds of thousands was so loud it echoed for tens of miles. Everyone''s blood was boiling and it could be seen that, although he had said harsh words, the Outer Sect Elder actually did that so that people would give their best and also to rise everyone''s moral. This Elder would give everything for his sect, even if it meant playing the bad guy.

    If Cheng Hao was here, he would have nodded with appreciation: this kind of man was a true example of a loyal subordinate.

    The younger Elder stepped back and bowed respectfully to the older man clad in white. While the first Elder only had two black stripes on his robe, showing his status as an Outer Sect Elder, the older man was an Inner Elder! It''s white robes actually had three lines on them! This man''s cultivation was also pretty high as it was that of the mid level Superior stage.

    Although not as powerful as Sung or Reverend experts, that old man alone would probably be more than enough to defeat all the disciples below with one strike!

    The old man also spoke, his voice was a bit weaker than the young man''s but the words could still be heard clearly "You young disciples are the hope of our sect! Break your limits and fly! Don''t let your body be your prison, build your wings to fly higher into the vast sky that is the world of cultivation and martial arts!"

    He waved his hands and a transportation hexagram a hundred feet wide appeared below the stage.

    "This is the entrance to the Examination grounds! The first ten people to reach the end to the maze inside it will receive an additional reward! Beware of the dangers, for we won''t save you even when you are about to die. Good luck!"

    The formation on the ground lit up and everyone dashed towards it. Fan Lai grabbed Xiao Wu''s hand and also ran as fast as he could "We will meet with our brothers inside! We have already done this trial in the last few years, so we more or less know the structure of the maze within! We are ten ourselves, but there is someone that doesn''t wish to get the reward, so there is a reward for each of us!"

    Xiao Wu nodded and also dashed with her full speed towards the glowing hexagram. At first, Fan Lai was a bit surprised at her speed but surprise soon turned into happiness as he understood he had unknowingly befriended a true genius!

    Xiao Wu and Fan Lai stepped on the glowing hexagram and felt her surroundings change: the sun disappeared and she was now in a large room. They were probably underground but she was not too sure and instead of pondering on their whereabouts she followed Fan Lai inside the maze.

    Xiao Wu trembled with excitement as her eyes blazed with determination ''The Exam has begun!''

 Chapter 24 - Meeting A New Family

    Xiao Wu and Fan Lai dashed through the corridors, the hundreds of people surrounding them soon got left in the dust.

    The two youths turned left and right, climbed a few sets of stairs and finally found themselves in a wide room.

    There were a few tables as well as a dozen or so chairs. Most of them already had a few people sitting in them: inside the room there were eight other people beside Xiao Wu and Fan Lai.

    At first, the group of people inside had been startled. Still, they immediately relaxed when they saw it was just Fan Lai. One of them stood up and walked towards Fan Lai and Xiao Wu.

    He was taller than Fan Lai was but wasn''t that beautiful. He was a lot manlier though: his ripped muscles could be seen from beneath the sect robes and a large katana, two meters long and thirty centimetres wide, hanged from his back.

    Below the robes he wore a crimson leather shirt and black pants, a black scarf fluttered behind him although there was no wind. His frame and blood-red clothes made him look quite domineering.

    His red hair, fierce expression and grey eyes together with the massive weapon, his fierce attitude that made him look like some kind of Demon God... This all led to the people secretly dubbing him the Fiery Hound. Whose Hound? Fan Lai''s of course. The man had been Fan Lai''s servant ever since he had been able to walk and speak.

    "Young master, you have arrived!" The man knelt on the ground.

    Fan Lai frowned deeply when he heard that. He hurriedly helped him up and affectionately sighed "Get up Salomon. Here we are neither master nor Servant. Here, we arebrothers"

    Fan Lai lifted his head and pointed to Xiao Wu "Everybody, this is our new brother! He is called Xiao Li and although he looks pretty young, he has the cultivation base of the Basic stage! This time I was lucky, and now such a genius is our junior brother! Xiao Li, please, go ahead and greet your new family!"

    Xiao Wu stepped forward and bowed "Name is Xiao Li, nice to meet all of you!" One by one, the seven people who were still sitting walked up to her and also greeted her.

    "Hello handsome, I am Yan Rui! I won''t mind if you want to... ''Meet up'' later at my hut!" A beautiful woman with the cultivation of low level Basic stage stepped forward and hugged Xiao Wu, pressing the child close to her prominent chest.

    "Of course, it will be fine even if you would like to get to know each otherrightnow..." She hugged the girl even tighter as she pushed her already bountiful chest out.

    She was nowhere as beautiful as Xiao Wu, but she was a beauty nevertheless. She wore slight makeup around her phoenix eyes and had soft, red lips. Her long, black hair was tied into long braids and she had snow-white skin.

    Xiao Wu was about to suffocate as the woman held her in between her ''pillows''.

    Just as she was about to run out of breath, a strong hand picked her up and dragged her in front of a tall and muscular man. He was even more buffed than the peak level Basic stage Solomon, however his cultivation was a lot lower, being in the low level Basic stage

    "Don''t just hog all of him for you, you damnwoman"The voice wasn''t deep as his body would suggest, instead it was really soft. However, it still held some kind of masculine tone that couldn''t be removed.

    He spat out the word ''woman'' as if it was the worse insult he could make at that moment "You nymphomaniac will suck him dry!"

    He then turned towards the ''boy'' in his arms. The man''s face was not that bad to look at: his big nose, eyes and mouth strangely weren''t at all ugly when put together. His green hair wasn''t tied and instead fell down his shoulders freely.

    He would have been pretty beautiful... Had it not been for the fact he was wearing heavy makeup and alotof red lipstick.

    He was also wearing girly clothes and trying his best to look like a woman in the way he moved as well... As much as he could with that big body of his of course.

    "Are you alright, dear?" His face was now really close to her own and Xiao Wu could feel a faint fragrance of roses coming from him. Once again, someone grabbed her.

    This time it was a woman in her thirties, wearing the long Sect Robes that covered everything, from her neck to her calves.

    At the moment, her face was completely red as she stuttered "Y-y-you guys! H-h-how could you eventryto do these kinds of t-things in broad daylight! Do you feel no shame?" The girl was blushing and it could be seen by her embarrassment that she was a very pure woman.

    She looked at the young child she was holding and pointed at the burly man "Watch out for that guy! He is called Tai Long-"

    She was interrupted by Tai Long''s remark "I do NOT have amasculinename like that!" He spat out "Call me Rou Rou or Mei Mei!" The man jumped up and down just like a child begging for a new toy

    The woman nodded, evidently used to this. She smiled kindly. "Uuuu, sure!"

    She then immediately turned to whisper in Xiao Wu''s ear "Watch out, she is a nympho and he is gay. Be careful of both of those two, they are just like two wolves drooling over a piece of succulent meat... You never know when they will attack and take a bite!" the woman told her.

    Her talent wasn''t pretty high as she was actually only a mid level Basic stage cultivator. However, it wasn''t all that weak either as that cultivation in the outside world would be more than enough to live comfortably.

    "They are not the only ones they should watch out for" a thin guy walks up to them and interrupted her "Su Tan, have you forgotten to tell her about the evil spirits? They are everywhere!"

    Up to that point, the small person had been sitting in a chair, hugging his legs the whole time. At times, he would gaze at seemingly random spots into the room and hiss, as if to scare away something.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    He was incredibly thin and was only a meter and forty centimeters tall. He wore green clothes plus a green hat and had the cultivation base of the mid level Basic stage.

    The girl, whom was apparently called Su Tan, turned towards Xiao Wu and told her "Nobody in here is normal, just like that guy. He is called Da Bing and he claims he can see evil spirits. Everybody is either crazy or plain weird. Everybody except for me of course! I have only one thing to ask you..." She threw herself on the ground "Step on me please! Step on me! Now! I can''t hold it!"

    The woman''s expression was one of pain and lust as she layed on the ground, grabbing Xiao Wu''s ankles. The image of a pure, rightful woman was instantly shattered as the small and innocent Xiao Wu almost broke that one connection keeping her from turning insane.

    Xiao Wu took a step back and almost fell, when a child in his early teens appeared and caught her just in time.

    "Watch out, princess" a teen''s voice reached her.

    Xiao Wu blushed and propped herself up. She immediately turned and bowed "Thank you... Agh!"

    However, when she looked up she almost screamed: her savior''s skin was a pale blue, he had sky-blue, lifeless eyes, and countless stitches on his face and even his mouth had scars on the corners.

    Still, even though he looked like that, his face was still handsome! It was weird: his appearance was a bit scary, but he was still really beautiful even though he was scarred and wounded. Truly strange...

    He had shoulder-length, messy, white hair and two metallic nails were embedded in both of his temples. His white robe was dirtied with blood and dirt and, as the two sides weren''t tied, it showed an abdomen that was also covered in stitches. He wasn''t that muscular, however he also wasn''t out of shape, the six packs and healthy chest sticking out made him look both firm and flexible.

    He looked at her and the previous cold and lifeless blue eyes turned warm "My name is Fu Yin. Nice to meet you!" He helped her on her feet as she looked at the woman laying on the ground, begging to be stepped on.

    He noticed Xiao Wu''s strange gaze and he smiled bitterly as he explained "Oh, Su Tan? She is a masochist. Don''t worry, you will get used to it, even thoughsheshould worry. No matter who she ends up fighting, she always toys around with her opponent, trying to make him hit her in non vital spots so she can satiate her lust... And she isn''t pretty good at that, you know? Almost half of our funds are spent on healing her after each fight!"

    "Ph-Pahaha" Xiao Wu broke out in laughter and Fu Yin also smiled.

    He patted her back and added "Yeah. Even then, I can''t say I am normal. However, what Icansay is that I am not as weird as them. At least my weirdness mostly resides in my physical appearance... I think."

    As Fu Yin acted as if he were pondering, Xiao Wu kept chuckling and the boy soon joined her.

    The young girl nodded in approval in her mind ''This boy, he doesn''t seem that bad!''

    This ''weird'' teen seemed to be the one that she could trust the most out of the whole group, except for maybe Fan Lai. This was why Xiao Wu decided to listen to him as he told her about the two remaining members.

    "Liang Ran comes from a tribe that resides in the western plains. He is pretty normal, without taking into account the fact he is addicted to eating snakes. Also, he doesn''t know our language, so we have to communicate through gestures and drawings" Fu Yin pointed at a man in his late teens: he had dark skin and long black hair reaching down his back.

    His body was covered in what looked like tribal tattoos. When Fu Yin pointed at him, the dark-skinned youth bowed slightly before munching off the head of the snake he was holding.

    Xiao Wu looked at the man with interest and was amused when Liang Ran began eating more furiously, as if to show that the snake washisand he wouldn''t share that kind of delicacy with Xiao Wu. He had the cultivation at the peak of the Inferior stage and carried a spear made of bone.

    ''Asnakebone, perhaps? Guess it was too hard for his teeth so he kept it...'' She mused and smiled.

    "And finally, Ba Bai, or just ''Baba'', for friends! He has a special condition and if he speaks too much, his tongue will fall off. He also cannot eat, and can only drink energetic drinks. We still have no idea how he got this fat on energetic drinks..." The boy smiled at Xiao Wu and pointed at a fat man in his middle twenties. He was half as wide as he was tall and seemed like he would have a few difficulties walking.

    "Fortunately, he has a cultivation of the low level Advanced stage, so whenever he needs to move he can simply fly to his destination. Although he isn''t as experienced in battles as Solomon and isn''t as agile, he can still hold his own in a fight against him thanks to his superior cultivation and above-the-norm flight ability" Fu Yin nodded in appreciation.

    That was right: this fat man was the third strongest out of the group of nine, followed by Solomon... And the first being the young white-haired boy himself! Fu Yin, with the cultivation of mid level Advanced stage, he was actually the strongest member of the small Alliance! The boy was actually a genius!

    "As I said before, anyone in this Alliance has circumstances he can''t speak of or..." He winked at Xiao Wu "Secrets they can''t reveal easily, right...b-r-o-t-h-e-r?"

    Xiao Wu paled and, seeing that, Fu Yin chuckled knowingly, a sharp glint flashing by his eyes.

    Seeing that, how couldn''t Xiao Wu guess that the young man had seen through her facade: he most probably was a hundred percent sure she was not a man!

    Her mind trembled: this young man gave her the same feeling that Cheng Hao gave her, a feeling of total helplessness, as if he could see through her with a single glance.

    "Now that everyone knows everybody" Fan Lai clapped his hands "Let us hurry towards the exit! We have given up four years for this one chance for today''s reward, we won''t let anyone get it before us, right?"

    Everybody nodded and Xiao Wu understood: this group was just too powerful to stay in the sixth ring, it would be a force to recognized with even in the Inner Sect. It turns out they had actually only stayed there because of the special reward that the Sect offered every five years... But why? Was this reward truly worth so much?

    Seeing her confused expression, Fu Yin smiled and explained "Oh? No, it''s not about the reward actually... It''s just that if we were to pass this trial with record time, we would most probably be scouted as potential disciples by some powerful Inner Elders! We might even get the chance to skip the Inner Sect Exam and become Inner Sect Disciples just like that!"

    Xiao Wu sweat-dropped as she nodded: this group of people was actually quite crafty!

    Suddenly Xiao Wu noticed something was wrong... When they were talking, Fan Lai had told her that, counting her, there were actually a total ofelevenpeople in the All But In Blood alliance. However, just now, there were onlyten!

    Once again, Fu Yin smiled and seemed to read her mind as he answered her question "Our eleventh brother is actually quite the mysterious person... He has only joined a little while ago and showed up in the meetings only a few times. We were supposed to meet here, but since he is very powerful I am not all that worried about him... He is pretty well known in the Sixth Ring nowadays, so you might have also heard about him. He will probably join us later on, now we have no time that we can waste, do we?"

    Xiao Wu was once again bewildered at how Fu Yin could apparently know what her line of thinking was and couldn''t help but allow a surprised expression to surface on her face.

    "Now again, this time for real though, my name is Fu Yin, it is a pleasure to meet you, littlesis!"

    Xiao Wu nodded "Name''s Xiao Wu. That is my true name, I assure you! Nice to meet you!"

    "Great! Now we truly know each other! So..." Fu Yin''s eyes glittered "Would you like to know a secret?" The young man asked. Seeing Xiao Wu''s nod, the youth smiled "Would you believe me if I told you that, up until two weeks ago, I was actually still in the high level Basic stage?"

    Xiao Wu opened her mouth wide: itwaspretty hard to believe. But she did not doubt his words, she just asked one simple question... "How?"

    Fu Yin smiled and told her "It is all thanks to our eleventh comrade! You are pretty talented so I am sure he will also happily teach you! After all, he has helped all of us brothers. I simply was faster than the others. Either way, almost everyone climbed at least a level if not two!"

    Xiao Wu was once again shocked, and in her mind, she couldn''t help but wonder...

    ''If this mysterious eleventh member and Cheng Hao could meet and their resources and knowledge pooled together, what sort of miracles would they be able to bring out?''

 Chapter 25 - A Traitor!

    Ten figures ran through the corridors and halls of the gigantic maze where the Outer Sect Exam was held.

    At the front were Tai Long, the burly man that dressed as a woman, Fan Lai, holding a map and guiding the way, and the servant Solomon who followed his master like a shadow.

    Behind them were Xiao Wu, Fu Yin the blue-skinned teenager, the busty woman Yan Rui and the snake-eater Liang Ran.

    Finally, watching their backs were Ba Bai, the fatty, the older woman Su Tan and the short man wearing green, Da Bing.

    As they dashed through countless corridors and stairs, they saw no other groups such as them or heading towards their same direction.

    ''So, we are actually the only ones that seem to have greatly prepared just for this moment...'' Fan Lai pondered as his lips arranged into a bright smile.

    He looked around and then turned to speak "Okay everyone, when I tell you to, follow my exact footsteps! There are mechanism hiding in the walls, so be careful!"

    After a few more turns the boy stopped, at the same time raising his hand to stop those behinds him as well "Look! If we are not careful, we might end up like that!"

    The corridor was at least a thousand meters long, yet, mountains of corpses lined up near the entrance and after a few steps, there were no more piles except from some rare cases a few tens of meters in.

    The only exception was one body, laying a few meters from the exit of the death trap, just a few meters before the corridors stopped.

    Seeing that one corpse hundreds of meters from the piles of dead bodies, Fu Yin furrowed his brows and smiled amused "It seems we are not the only ones with this piece of information..."

    During the time she had ran through the maze, Xiao Wu had the chance to speak with and come to know this strange boy in front of her.

    Due to her conclusion, she knew as a fact that the words he spoke were most likely true: while speaking with her or others, Fu Yin had never lied. Even if he had, she did not notice it in any way, so she believed him.

    Solomon spoke up "Why do you think that,JuniorFu?" The burly man wearing crimson clothes looked at the young boy, his eyes showing a bit of discontent and, also, fear. Although he referred to Fu Yin as his junior, it could be seen that he still deeply feared the pale blue-skinned boy. More accurately, he feared his strength.

    The boy ignored the gaze, simply lifted one of his hands and pointed towards the one body laying on the ground, much further than the others.

    "It is because of... him. I find it highly unlikely that a lone man would be able to gain this much information. Even with our cultivation and large numbers we had to spend two whole days to get through this trap the first time. We also lost a few friends in the process..." the boy''s face darkened when he said that: it could be seen he had a few bad memories of the event.

    "As for him... He is not only alone, he is also much weaker than any of us here, are you telling me he was able to decipher this death trap in only a few hours? I can''t feel clearly from here, but..." Fu Yin put his hands on the two nails sticking out from his temples.

    Sparks appeared and his eyes suddenly turned a brighter shade of blue as two inverted triangles appeared in them "I can see weak Inferior power fluctuations on his body. He is most likely no more than a mid level Inferior stage cultivator..."

    At that, Fai Lan''s face also turned darker as he furrowed his brows. Solomon still either didn''t understand or didn''t give up as he gritted his teeth and asked "So what? Couldn''t he just have been lucky to find a map to this place?" The man waved his hands "Maybe one of the senior that passed this trial before gave him one! Or, much simpler, they just flew there! Flight talismans aren''t all that rare..."

    The white haired boy shook his head "There is something suppressing our ability to fly in the Maze. Baba, an expert on controlling the air around him to fly, barely has enough strength to leap at our same speed. An Inferior stage kid would never be able to fly across that distance, even with a talisman."

    "As for the first question... Only we know the way to the other side. This is a shortcut that we found by chance, just like those poor souls..." The boy looked at the bodies laying on the ground, hundreds of arrows piercing their bodies and spikes helping the sharp darts in their job.

    "The first time we attempted the Trial, we had the luck to stumble upon this place and make a map of this while everyone else simply followed the main route. We are the only ones that are able to pass through this place. You should know that, right?" Fu Yin looked at Solomon with his piercing gaze and he smiled strangely.

    Solomon trembled but noticed that the white haired boy had lost all his interest in him.

    "Now that begs the question..." Fu Yin looked at Fai Lan.

    "... Who gave him the information? No, nothim. Who gavethemthe information." Following his junior''s train of thoughts, the brown-haired young man thought aloud for everyone to hear it.

    "If he were alone he would have been many times more careful, he wouldn''t have fallen for an easy trap such as that one,especiallyif he had a map with him. He probably was part of a group and was unlucky enough to accidentally trigger the trap that killed him"

    Fu Yin nodded, also agreeing with Fan Lan''s thoughts "Thankfully for us, we are lucky that once one gets to the other side they can''t come back through this route, thus the body could not be removed. Truthfully, a chain has the same strength as its weakest ring... He was careless, so he unconsciously betrayed the whole group by dying here" the boy with pale-blue skin shared his thoughts.

    "Now, as Leader said before..." He looked at the nine people standing in front of him "Who gavethemthe information?"

    Silence filled the room as each and every person looked at each other: some gazes showed incredulity, others ridicule and others hostility. Solomon''s gaze lit up and looked at the young ''Xiao Li'' that had just joined them, his eyes looked like they were about to spit out flames.

    Xiao Wu was about to say something, however Fu Yin was faster "Xiao W- Ahem, Xiao Li doesn''t know anything about the map, so she just cannot be the traitor. That only leaves us nine brothers, oh what a dilemma this is! Da Bing! Liang Ran! Yan Rui! Tai Lon-"If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    "Don''t call me with such a manly name! Call me Mei Mei! Or Rou Rou!"

    "... They also didn''t know the location ofanyof the traps, as we had decided as a group to only give information to some of our members. That leaves only me, Leader, Solomon, Su Tan and Baba"

    Fu Yin lifted his head towards the four people he mentioned beside himself "Baba and Su Tan also aren''t the culprits, as they only knew the location of a third of the traps and there aren''t any corpses on the other parts of the information they didn''t receive. Only me, Fan Lai and Solomon knew the complete layout. Me because I am the strongest in the group, Fan Lai because he is our Leader and Solomon because he is the second strongest (Sorry Baba your practically useless in combat) as well as Fan Lai''s most trusted servant..."

    Fu Yin closed his eyes and pondered for a bit before opening them again "Both you and I have no way of knowing or proving which one of us three is the real culprit or wether we are in this together, so this is my suggestion" He smiled.

    "Da Bing, Su Tan and Baba will guard Solomon. Liang Ran, Yan Rui and Tai Long-"

    "Call me Mei Mei or Rou Rou!"

    "Will guard over Fan Lan. As for me..." Xiao Wu furrowed her brows ''He won''t be asking for me to watch him, right? On the other hand, there is nobody else!''

    The boy winked at the crowd and his next words completely blew away Xiao Wu''s previous thoughts "You can only be trust me and hope I wasn''t the traitor. After all, we have no people here with enough strength to suppress me anyways!"

    The girl sweat-dropped ''So eccentric and cheerful... I bet you and Brother would go along pretty well...'' She lifted her head and listened to Fu Yin as he finished his speech.

    "Also, have Xiao Li guide us with the map. He''s the only one you can fully trust as of now! Of course, all these precautions will be useless if one or more people have banded together to do this. Still, if that were the case, we would probably have no chance to survive this anyways..."

    Fan Lai nodded "Fu Yin''s arrangement is the one that I believe is the most correct in a situation such as this, especially" he looked towards the white haired teen "since I trust you are not the betrayer. I am sure you won''t let me down...This time, right brother Yin?"

    Xiao Wu was confused: did something happen between Fu Yin and Fan Lai in the past?

    Fu Yin laughed and nodded "Of course! You can count on me, I won''t make the same mistake twice!"

    Although she felt she had just missed something important, Xiao Wu looked at the white haired boy in amazement: the boy had seen a fault in their opponents'' schemes, calmly analyzed the whole situation and gave out a seemingly reasonable solution, all that simply after seeing a single dead body!

    It almost looked like... He had prepared everything beforehand! But that couldn''t be it, right?

    "Stop right there!" Solomon suddenly shouted as put his hand on his katana''s hilt "You think I will just agree with what you said! Master, don''t trust that guy! Remember that he already betrayed us once! Master shouldn''t-" Fan Lai interrupted Solomon by raising his hand.

    He turned towards this servant of his "Solomon, if he truly is the culprit, we will deal with it then. I''d like to think that even a monster likehimisn''t able to take care of all of us at once..." The young man sighed "Of course, I hope things won''t have to come to that..."

    Fu Yin bowed to Fan Lai "Thanks for giving me a second chance. I won''t fail you!"

    The leader of the group nodded and smiled gently. Finally, he hit his chest "Okay! Let''s go! Keep the formation that Fu Yin told us. Xiao Li will be in front and will guide us through the rest of the exam! Good luck everyone!" Fan Lai handed the map to Xiao Wu and then gestured her to go.

    Xiao Wu dashed through the corridors, each of her step accurate and gentle, her body moving like the wind: she had learned to move like this by jumping on the rooftops each time she would come back from absorbing the Purple Qi from the East.

    Her upper body also didn''t stay still as she waved her arms around, enabling her to change direction as well as switching the position of her body''s center of gravity.

    Her feet would barely touch the ground before she leapt again. She felt no pressure from the fact that she was essentially walking over a deathtrap. Instead, she was even calmer than she had been when she had been running on the roofs in the Sixth Ring.

    "Xiao Li! Slow down, we can''t keep up!" She turned in mid air and she saw her eight companions struggling to keep up with her speed.

    She smiled in her mind ''I am proud of my speed and flexibility, I would be more shocked if there was anyone whocouldkeep up with me. To me, this is a walk in the park!''

    ...

    Wait,eightcompanions?

    "Man, you sure are agile! If you weren''t a little girl, I''m sure somebody would have mistaken you for our secretive eleventh companion!" Fu Yin was standing right beside her, his left foot barely stepping on the safe spot.

    Had it been just a few millimeters off to the left, he would have already turned into a pale-blue kabab. It truly looked as if... he had learned the locations ofalltraps beforehand! He surely never ceased to surprise her...

    "Wait... Didn''t theynotknow what he looks like? So, how doyouknow that he is a boy?" Xiao Wu hid her surprise and instead questioned the boy beside him.

    The youth smiled as if he had just remembered a funny story "You see, the first time he showed up he was wearing some kind of mask, so we couldn''t see his face. At the time, he had only showed Fan Lai his true appearance. When he had told us he was a boy and someone asked if he could prove it to us, he pulled his pants down and nonchalantly showed his thing... Yan Rui almost went crazy and raped him on the spot. Had it not been for his incredible strength, right now he would probably be lying somewhere in her hut all dried up!"

    Xiao Wu''s cheeks reddened as she thought of the scene. She still was a kid but she still knew that there were somethingsthat shouldn''t be shown to others.

    ''I could totally imagine brother Cheng Hao doing it though... Knowing him, that would be nothing for that eccentric brother of mine...'' She imagined the boy pulling down his pants and...

    "Nooooo!" Her whole face turned red and apparently Fu Yin found her reaction funny as he laughed out loudly.

    "As for me... I somehow grabbed his attention, so he taught me in private and made me his disciple. Of course now I also know what his appearance, histrueappearance, not the one he showed Fan Lai, is! I am sure that if I were to tell you what he looked like, you would probably pass out on the spot!"

    Fu Yin smiled and Xiao Wu also chuckled.

    Solomon''s brows furrowed as he watched the two people at the front laughing and chatting together. After pondering for a while, he turned and told those nearby "Those two seem pretty close! Don''t you think that maybe they might be the traitors? After all, we don''t know anything about this Xiao Li..."

    Fan Lai was a bit in the front but he still heard his words so he shook his head "No, it is not like that. I only got to recruit brother Xiao Li by chance, there is no way he could have expected this to happen. Also, remember that they are just kids, brats tend to get along!"

    The boy laughed out loud and soon everybody also chuckled and even rebuked Solomon for looking too much into it. Of course, that stopped when the burly man almost picked up a giggling Da Bin and a chuckling Liang Ran and threw them on top of the closest trap.

    After a while, Solomon''s face darkened but he did not speak anymore. He lifted his gaze and looked at Fu Yin''s face a few meters away. The pale boy noticed his gaze, fiercely grinned and looked back. The boy mouthed pretty quickly ''Got... Them... Uh? That... Fan... Lai... Put... His... Trust... In... The... Wrong... Person!''.

    In less than a breath, he had already spoke out all these words, however the Fiery Dog picked them up nevertheless. Solomon trembled and turned but nobody except for him had seen the white haired boy''s actions... As if he had planned to only show him and him alone!

    He inhaled, enraged at the taunt and began emitting killing intent. Two hurricanes of fiery bloodlust emerged in his eyes as he muttered "If you dare to do anything to block us and make years of planning and sacrifice go to waste, I will kill you myself!"

    During that chaos of people jumping, laughing and sprinting, nobody noticed that Fu Yin had actually thrown a piece of paper behind him. The paper flew as if a mysterious force dragged it, and it landed near the entrance without touching the ground. On the piece of paper, a map was depicted. It was incredibly detailed and showed the position of all the traps laid in the corridor.

    On the paper''s back there were also a few words: "As promised, the correct route is shown on the map. I will go with them, but there has been quite a bit of trouble... Might have been discovered. Please, hurry up, Master!"

 Chapter 26 - The Beast Residing In The Second Floor: The Roc

    Cheng Hao and Uncle White were sitting on chairs and drinking happily: Cheng Hao had just narrated the events that had happened ever since his battle with Tian, to his rebirth and up to now.

    The old man clad in white sometimes frowned, sometimes smiled and at others he face palmed at how absurd the boy''s methods were. After Cheng Hao finished telling his story, the older man lifted his head and spoke:

    "Xu Ling... No, Cheng Hao. I understand that you might feel embarrassed or even sad for sealing me in here, but you see" he lifted his head and it could be seen in his eyes that he wasn''t lying.

    "I don''t mind. The place is spacious, I have many forms of entertainment like the book you have just seen. My only regret is not being able to fly into the sky again, after all, I was born to be the one and only ruler of the sky, unfazed by anything."

    The old man sighed "But the situation wouldn''t have changed much: after my attempt at rebellion towards him, Tian has branded me an enemy of the Nine Heavens, I doubt I would be able to fly as unhindered as in the past... But I guess, that after flying for millions of years, stopping for a short while shouldn''t do any harm, right?"

    "As you know, during your battle with Tian, due to my peaceful and cowardly nature, although I wielded great strength, I didn''t fight nor aid you or Blindlight. First of all, I would like to apologize for that!" The old man bowed and Cheng Hao helped him to prop himself up "Uncle White, you needn''t say any longer: you have helped us considerably even though you were in a neutral faction!"

    Cheng Hao bowed as well "Without you, we wouldn''t have been able to reach the Ninth Level of the Nine Heavens safely. I, in the place of my comrades, thank you wholeheartedly!"

    The two smiled at each other and began to laugh... After all, when they thought about, their meeting truly looked like too perfect for it to be a coincidence...

    ...

    About a thousand years ago, while ravaging and pillaging the Nine Heavens Of Tian, a huge army had gathered: it was composed of humans, beasts and monsters alike, and it was both huge in terms of size and powerful in terms of strength. Most of all, almost each and every one of them had a grudge with Tian!

    Although he called himself the Ruler of the True Heavens, he only seized the position by killing the Jade Emperor. He was only a lowly servant then, and by stealing the Jade Emperor''s cultivation he gained strength, created the Nine Heavens and proclaimed himself the ruler.

    At that time, he had announced that the Emperor had fallen and he had given him his power as he was the one the Emperor had trusted the most.

    Nobody doubted the ''Emperor''s words'', so they firmly believed all that Tian said. Millions of years of peace under the kind and war-hating Jade Emperor had clouded their judgement and, before they knew it, Tian had already become a tyrant.

    A tyrant that was one of the strongest beings under all heavens. Most of those who had greater power had already been enticed to join him or had been forced to make contracts that denied them the strength to fight directly against the Nine Heavens.

    Few in the Heavenly Realm didn''t have grudges with Tian, but most who did had already pledged their submission to him and had no way of fighting back. This period of tyranny went on for thousands, even millions of years and seemed like it would never happen. That was until, an unlikely incident happen...

    Humans, who had been deemed as unworthy to stand on the same ground as the Heavenly had the biggest impact on the Nine Heavens themselves, even declaring war to the Tyrant. One man in particular showed burning hate and raging fury towards the Heavenly Lord Tian. His name... Was Xu Ling!

    Back to a thousand years ago: after marching for more than thousands of miles, slaughtering their way up to the borders to the highest level of heaven, the leader of that group, the human Xu Ling, had no choice but to stop.

    "What''s the matter, Evil Saint?" A spirit beast with the body of a lion and the head of a python asked "Is something the matter?"

    Xu Ling nodded, his expression warm and his smile kind "Yes, brother Lazka. In front of us is the last obstacle that separates us from Tian. There''s a powerful array that blocks the way to the ninth level, it is one of the Nine Heavens'' triumph card. According to my information, it negates the ability to fly as well as not allowing anyone to enter before being expelled right out by the array. As of now, I can''t think of any way to get past it... Tell everyone to rest, we will camp here!"

    Grunts and sighs of relief could be heard behind him and Xu Ling smiled. Beasts of all shapes and colors, monsters that could shock humans to death with their terrifying appearance, humans that carried the most bizarre weapons... In this chaos of countless figures, people that could have come from completely different world from how different they looked, all were sitting, drinking and chatting happily together.

    There were no such things as groups: everyone spoke, laughed, drank with everyone else. Well... Everyone except for a man in his late forties. He wore black, scaly armor and a young boy in his early twenties was teasing him.

    The older person had thin mustache and a pointy beard that kind of made him look like some stereotypical villain from any fantasy book.

    The young boy suddenly jumped on his back and pulled his ears "C''mon, Blacky! Why the long face? Is it that beard? Shouldn''t you cut it then?"

    The boy had pure golden eyes, even shinier than Cheng Hao''s in his current life. Still, although he looked young and powerless, those who knew his real identity unconsciously treated him as well as they could...

    That boy was actually the human form of the one and only Heaven Devouring Dragon Blindlight (Who would in the future be referred to as Goldy by Cheng Hao), one of the first being to have ever been created in the world together with the True Earth and the True Heavens.

    He was the Primordial Heavenly Beast, also referred to as the Crown-less Emperor of the Dragons, a being on the same level as the Four Primordial Emperors, the four rulers of all beneath the heavens before the Jade Emperor had separated the true Heavens from the true Earth!

    Seeing that everyone''s mood had recovered back to normal after the exhausting trip, Xu Ling decided to ignore them and turned to look at the transparent membrane above him. He looked for a long time and the more he looked, the more his expression brightened until he began some kind countdown "163... 162... 161..."

    "Has boss gone crazy?" A human carrying a sword over a hundred meters long asked. He waved the weapon and its size reduced dramatically until it was only as big as his pinky finger. He waved it again and it became a few thousands meters long, not caring wether he hurt anybody in doing so.

    Blacky, the Hellish Nightmare Dragon shook his head "He was not sane to begin with... Ouch, master Blindlight, please stop pulling my facial hair out. Uh? Yes it hurts, of course it does! Ehi, why are you pulling even harder now! You frigging old thing!"

    Xu Ling was well over a hundred years old, but thanks to his cultivation he would have no problem to live up to a few tens of thousand years. A human at the Reverend stage would usually be able to live for a hundred and twenty or so years.

    Cultivators'' lifespans varied depending on the race, with humans being at the very bottom.

    Beasts such as the Heavenly Beasts had a pretty much unlimited lifespan. If they actually reached their limit, they could just Re-live, thus the only way they could die was due to external causes.

    Xu Ling had long black hair, wore black and white robes with designs of black and white flames on them. His eyes were also black and white, but it was clear that it was not their natural color. At times, the monochromatic hue would lift, revealing a pair of beautiful, blue eyes.

    He wasn''t too buffed, however he could effortlessly destroy mountains with only a finger just by using his Fleshly Body''s strength!

    Ignoring the opinions of others, Xu Ling stood still and looked at the world beyond the membrane until his eyes shone with excitement.

    "... 14... 13... 12... Quick! Everybody, move aside!"

    The human-form golden dragon Blindlight looked at the membrane and then grinned in understanding.

    ''This brat... Is he thinking of catchinghim? Ahah, good luck, our, no,yourrevenge depends on that, you know? Go for it kid, show the Nine Heavens, show Tian your resolve and how that resolve gave you the strength to protect and fight for those you love!''

    Xu Ling rolled up his sleeves and charged forward "... 3... 2..."

    ''Show the world how much you have grown by catching the Emperor of the Skies, the Primordial Beast ruler of the Sky!'' Goldy grinned widely as his eyes glittered.

    "Everyone, move aside this instant!" Blindlight bellowed.

    Everyone was surprised but still did as he said.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    "...1..."

    Xu Ling kicked off the ground and grabbed the empty air...

    "0!!!!!"

    Suddenly, a gigantic white blur appeared and Xu Ling was just in time to grab a hold of it before it disappeared once again, dragging Xu Ling along with it.

    "W-Where did boss go?" A man asked, shivering from the shock.

    Blindlight yawned as he turned back into the golden dragon form and began coiling in the air.

    He kept on for a while before stopping. When he saw the worried faces of the people in front of him, he felt a warm feeling appearing in his chest.

    He sighed ''These people, our brothers, we have met all over the world and countless Planes of Existence. Still, you convinced them all to join you, kid. To think that when I first met you you were nothing but a human running away from a the patriarch of a small family... So little time has passed, only a little more than a hundred years, and look now: you are an existence everybody knows about, that everybody fears and respect!''

    Goldy sighed and smiled. He turned towards the crowd of confused beasts, monsters and men and answered "No need to worry. That poor excuse of an Hellish Nightmare Dragon is too slow for the great Evil Saint, so he decided to find someone else to ride. He''s cheating on Blacky and gaining a new mount..."

    Hearing that, everyone relaxed and also laughed out loud, ridiculing the black robed Hellish Nightmare Dragon that almost choked in rage "Youuuuu... Blindlight! You old thing, I''ll get my revenge later!"

    Far away and getting even farther, Xu Ling held himself on the white blur as tight as possible: to fall at such high speeds, even he would be hurt a bit! His body was bashed by strong winds as he stabilized himself on the head of the flying beast.

    "Senior! Can you please slow down? I am Xu Ling, I wish to ask you to help us do something!" The man asked and although the wind was going incredibly fast it was unable to dissipate or carry away his words. The white beast slowed down a bit and looked around before stopping.

    "Uh? Where are you?" It asked.

    Xu Ling jumped on its head and then floated before its eyes "Senior, I am here!"

    The white beast was shocked for a second and then exploded with a self-depreciating laugh "Ahaha, to think that ahumanwould be the first being able to catch me while going at my fastest speed... Still, for a human to have so much power... You are really rare... Unique I would say, you know? This is really intriguing! Who are you, child?"

    Xu Ling bowed "Senior, my name is Xu Ling. Right now I am leading an army of millions of beasts, humans and demons to rebel against the Nine Heavens. Unfortunately, we can''t get past the barrier at the Ninth Level, can senior please help us with that? I saw that you could fly in and out of the magical array without any trouble, so could you do us a favor and help us in our journey?"

    The white beasts stood silent for a second "Boy... I am a being that wishes no harm to fall on those around me. I am the most peaceful existence and have never been part of any war as I despise violence and you ask me, the Roc, the Primordial Sky Emperor, to help you in your own war? You have guts kid!"

    Cheng Hao faked shock: of course he would be a powerful guy to fly so fast so he already had his own theories on this guy''s identity. However, how could he brace himself for this?

    "Senior is the almighty Roc??? Please, forgive this junior for his lack of respect towards the might of one of the Emperors of the Primordial Heavenly Beasts!"

    Ever since ancient times, Heavenly Beasts were divided into three main categories: the most ancient beings, Primordial Heavenly Beasts, the first generation.

    The primordial beasts that had existed ever since the origin of the world were given the title of Primordial as they were the first beings, the first generation of all living beings.

    After that, there were four beasts that were born from the four Primordial Emperors, the four most powerful beings in the world.

    Those four would then be called the four Divine Beasts: they were none other than the Azure Dragon, the Black Tortoise, the White Tiger and the Vermillion Bird. Being the sons and daughters of the four Primordial Emperors, they were given the titles of the four Divine Kings!

    After that came countless generations of beasts. That was why, people would simply refer to them as Heavenly Beasts: only the Primordial Beasts and the Divine Beasts had titles unique to them.

    The Roc shook his head "You need not worry... Also, as a Heavenly Beast, only those connected through Karma with me should be able to sense my existence... How can you see me, boy?"

    Xu Ling shook his head "I do not know, that was also the reason I didn''t show Senior Roc respect, because I didn''t understand Senior''s might as a Primordial Heavenly Beast!"

    The Roc pondered "I have been traveling basically nonstop for thousands and even millions of years, the times I have stopped in the last few millennial can be counted on one hand, I should have no Karma threads attached with any human, except for..."

    A spark of understanding flashed by in its huge eyes "For the human those four younglings had adopted! You said you were Xu Ling, wasn''t Xu Ling also the name of the-"

    "Yes, I am Xu Ling, adopted by the four Divine Kings. Senior, how do you know me?"

    Hearing that, the Roc demanded excitedly "Little kid, do you by any chance know of Ren Hong? That''s right, the Vermillion Bird is my daughter!"

    Xu Ling was startled and he looked away, as grief, true grief, surfaced in his previously mild expression...

    The Roc opened his mouth in confusion and then rage burned in its pristine white eyes "Who was it? Who dared to harm my girl! Tell me, who was it? Was it another one of the Primordial Emperors? Tell me! Was it the Water Emperor? The Fire Emperor? The Earth Emperor? Who was it! Tell me!"

    Lu Xing had fire burning in his eyes "Senior... The fault was mine. I will receive any kind of punishment, because it was for my sake that my sister blocked the blow of the Heavenly Emperor Tian for me!"

    Although the words seemed to say that the fault was his, it actually made most of the blame fall on Tian, and the Roc, a beast that had close to no contact with other beings for most of his life, was easy to fool.

    As expected, the Roc was angered "TIAN! YOU DARE HURT MY REN HONG?" The gigantic beast stopped in mid air, its wings spanning for hundreds of miles and every time he moved them, he generated the winds that would blow in the lands below! This was the Primordial Sky Emperor, the ruler of the sky and the one that creates the wind itself by flapping its gigantic wings!

    "Little human, I will aid you! I will help you wipe away Tian, I will assist you in destroying him! No matter who harms my daughter, he will not live! Unfortunately, us four beasts can''t fight directly with Tian as he is the Heavenly Lord, us Primordial Emperors can''t lay our hands on him because a contract had been signed, however I will help you and your companions get past the Ninth Sealing Array!"

    Xu Ling had nodded his head "Senior... We won''t let your effort be in vain! Even if we can''t kill Tian, we will make sure that he gets such a beating that he will not recover in less than a million years!"

    The Roc bowed his head and Xu Ling also bowed. The boy then lifted his hand and the palm touched the forehead of the flying beast: from now on, the two of them would be allies!

    Things though, didn''t go exactly as planned...

    ...

    "So... Cheng Hao, what are you planning on doing now?" The old man asked. His previous carefree manner had rapidly changed and he had become serious and cold.

    Cheng Hao nodded decisively "Uncle White, we are family that have fought together for a year, shared life and death situations, I trust you like few others and this is why I will tell you exactly what I want to do"

    Cheng Hao waved his hand and explained "At first, I had gone after Tian for revenge, for the so called... Justice. But, I have understood. I know what I will have to do. From now on, I won''t live to beat Tian, I will live to usurp his throne! I will become the new Heavenly Emperor and I won''t allow any more people to get hurt! No one will die, no one will fight! I don''t know how I will do that, but I am sure that I will find out how! That is why, I need your help, Primordial Sky Emperor, White Roc!"

    Cheng Hao stared intently at the human-form Roc and he added "I need to get strong and stronger so that I will be able to protect those around me, so I beg of you" Cheng Hao bowed "Please give me your power, please give me your speed!"

    The old man stood silent for a second and pondered. Cheng Hao kept staring in his eyes but he could not understand what the Primordial Beast was thinking. Finally, the man let out a sigh and looked towards the chaotic space outside.

    "You once told me... A Friend for a day, a Brother for a life. You are my friend and a brother, I will follow your decision and help you in your path, wether it is right or wrong I will aid you, it is your job to find out. Yes, I will aid you!" The old man stood up and looked into Cheng Hao''s eyes "Xu Ling or Evil Saint, it doesn''t matter who you have been, it matters what you will make of your present to build a better future! Come, receive my blessing and become faster than the wind, as fast as the Roc!"

    The old man waved his sleeve and a current of hot air blowed towards Cheng Hao, slowly refining his body and greatly enhancing his speed.

    When the Roc flew, it used its powerful gigantic wings to bend the space in front of him, scattering the particles in the air surrounding him that slowed him down, and pushing them back to become even faster! This way, it would be able to fly for countless miles unhindered by attrition and going at unimaginable speeds.

    Meaning, what Cheng Hao had just received was not only a boost in speed, but also the ability to negate attrition and move faster than the eye could see, an ability that could very well rival teleportation!

    Cheng Hao smiled "Friend, I assure you that I will defeat Tian and bring peace across this land!" Cheng Hao turned and walked away.

    The old man nodded "Of course you will. Because you were prophesied to!"

    Cheng Hao stopped for a moment, his teeth gritted and finally he shook his head "Prophecies do not exist, they are just bullshit. It is people who make them for other people and no one is able to predict the future!"

    Cheng Hao walked towards the exit of the fake world holding the Immortal Ascension Tower. He was about to step out when the Roc''s voice reached him "And that is the reason that people strive to make them come true, wether in their favor... or not."

    Cheng Hao blinked as a few memories swiped over him. Red hair and flaming pupils, her skin was warm to the touch. He remembered her pristine laugh and the white teeth arranged into a smile... The image of a beautiful woman appeared in his mind before slowly fading away, devoured by the darkness...

    Something broke in Cheng Hao''s mind, his train of thought changed, he himself started to change! The compassion that he previously held towards his own enemies disappeared replaced by ruthlessness and evil. Now people would not call him a Saint anymore.

    Gone was the forgiveness towards those who had grudges against him. Gone was the pity towards those who hurt him or blocked his way towards his goal. What now remained in their place... Was nothing but cruelness.

    "That is right" Cheng Hao''s ruthless and incredibly cold voice startled the Roc. Those few words were enough to make him lose balance and fall off his chair, the words were like blades cutting directly through its mind.

    The old man cheered inside ''Did this boy snap? Yes! My revenge, accomplish it! Accomplish it and free us of the Tyrant!''

    "I initially had no conflict with Tian. But afterthattime, I decided that I wouldkillTian. He almost seemed tostriveto fulfill the prophecy that predicted his own doom, so I won''t spare myself and also help him on my end..."

    ''That''s right, kill him, erase his very existence from this world, torture his soul!'' The Roc grinned, but there was no trace of playfulness in this grin of his, only hate and resolution.

    "He killed my loved ones, but by doing so, he also made the prophecy come true because I will spare no means to killhimback! I will drag him down from that comfortable throne and sit on it myself, to understand just what he saw that he would sacrifice his whole life to maintain!"

    Uncle White, the human-form Roc, also shouted "That is right. Go, my friend, go get revenge for my Ren Hong, KILL TIAN!" ever since his daughter had been killed, the once peaceful Roc had completely changed, he would not permit that such a crime would go unpunished!

    Cheng Hao nodded as dense killing intent swirled around his body and stepped forward: each of his steps carrying him dozens of meters forward as if space itself was bending. He stepped out of the space inside his Pseudo-Core and the consciousness dissipated...

    The golden-eyed boy that had been unconscious for three whole days... Woke up!

 Chapter 27- Catacombs Death Game

    Xiao Wu finally stepped on the last ''safe'' tile and got out of the death trap. Looking over her shoulder and seeing her eight companions struggling made her smile unconsciously.

    ''I... I have become stronger!''

    Suddenly, someone grabbed her shoulder. She turned and saw a smiling Fu Yin "You sure did!"

    Xiao Wu stared blankly for a moment before rolling her eyes: she still hadn''t gotten used to neither Fu Yin nor Cheng Hao... Those two mind-reader freaks...

    Thinking about that, the figure of her unconscious big brother also appeared in her mind ''I wonder if he will be mad at me since I am attempting to pass the exam without him knowing...''

    "Man, that was hard!" Yan Rui''s cheerful voice reached her and she knew that the whole group had safely passed the dangerous death trap. She turned and could see that a translucent barrier had already been put in place. The membrane was almost transparent and had a slight blue hue, it blocked the way back to the corridor.

    ''Does it really stop you from going back?'' She approached the membrane and she tried to touch it...

    Before she could, Fan Lai stepped forwards and grabbed her hand "Brother, don''t touch the barrier if you don''t want to lose your whole arm!"

    Xiao Wu shuddered as Fu Yin threw a rock at the translucent membrane of light and it fizzled before turning into powder.

    Xiao Wu stepped back: she wouldnottouch the barrier.

    "Okay, now that we are all here, let''s go through everything again!" Fan Lai clapped his hands and a scroll appeared in mid air "We have gotten past the first trial. We are about one to two days faster than those guys that took the main route. However, we must not forget that there is still that mysterious group waiting for us!"

    The young man turned to the white haired youth "Fu Yin, what was the next trial?"

    The blue skinned boy stepped forward and began to draw on the ground with a white rock.

    "Alright! If we are here..." he drew a map of the place and put on it ten ''x''s and the corridor they had just passed. He barred the corridor and instead pointed with a finger to another hall "We passed the ''Corridor of Death'' trial. Including this one, there are a total of three trials. The next one should be the ''Dark Room'' trial"

    Fan Lai frowned: apparently, this trial wouldn''t be as easy as the previous one. He pondered for a bit and then nodded.

    "Xiao Li, there is no need for a map from now on. If we follow the corridor on the right, we will join up with the people from the main route, while if we follow the one on the left we will take part in the next trial!"

    "Ok!" Xiao Wu nodded and dashed towards the corridor on the left. The group soon followed leaving behind Solomon and Fu Yin.

    The red haired man turned towards the younger white haired teen "You better not interfere. I won''t let all our efforts go to waste!" Having said that, the red haired man also kicked off the ground and ran towards the corridor.

    Fu yin smiled and picked a white rock off the ground. He threw it against the wall on the left were it embedded.

    "Fu Yin, hurry up or we will leave you behind!" Su Tan''s voice reached him. The white haired youth smiled and also dashed towards the corridor on the left.

    "This trial of the dark room, what is it? Why was Fan Lai so worried about it?" Xiao Wu asked Fu Yin as soon as he approached her in the front.

    The boy seemed to be pondering for a while before shaking his head "That''s the problem! We don''t know! It is the only trial that changes every time. The first time it was a treasure hunt with our lives at stake, the second a weird game he called ''dodgeball'' with our lives at stake and the third was a one on one match against a guardian-"

    "Let me guess..." Xiao Wu interrupted "Adeathmatch"

    Fu Yin nodded "You get it. The only good news is that... We know that we will play a game with our lives at stake. The bad news is that we won''t have any prior information about it!"

    Xiao Wu was confused "But if it was a death game, didn''t someone..."

    Fu Yin seemed to have understood as he answered "Yes. A lot of people died to let us continue the trials. At first we weren''t only ten, we were at least a few dozens..." His expression turned cold "But they all lost their lives every time we went into this death hole..."

    His penetrating blue eyes held grief and sorrow in them: it could be seen that Fu Yin truly seemed to care for his comrades, no, his brothers.

    "What about last time? Did anybody die? After all, wasn''t it only a one on one match?" Xiao Wu asked again. Although she was smart, she was after all, still a child and was thus pretty curios.

    Fu Yin smiled and patted her head once "It is better if we don''t talk about these things now... Look, that''s the place where the second trial is held!"

    The girl lifted her head and she did indeed see that the corridor opened into a tall hall: it was pretty dark and the only light was the one coming from the dark corridors. As soon as the last person in their group got in, the doors all closed automatically.

    Xiao Wu was instantly surprised: thanks to her cultivation and her special skills she should have no problem to see in the dark but now, a special kind of force impeded her to see for more than a few meters in front of her.

    She turned and calmed down when she could still see her companions but an uneasy feeling still slowly well up...

    "Kishishishishi..." A strange sound came from above. Xiao Wu immediately backed away and lifted her head. There, she could barely see two eyes looking back at her. The eyes were completely yellow except from two vertical black lines, the pupils. His figure could barely be seen in the darkness but Xiao Wu could still tell one thing: thatthingwasn''t human.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    "Catacomb! Skim through the presentation and just tell us what this game is about!" Fan Lai stepped forward and yelled at the mysterious figure. Although he looked fearless, he was actually tightly squeezing his hand beneath his robe''s sleeves.

    "Ku? You are that boy from the last three years... That''s right, Fai Lan, was it? Aren''t you tired of losing your comrades?" The eyes stared at Fu Yin "Especially withthatguy beside you... It seems like you haven''t learned your lesson after all..."

    A glint of anger and uneasiness appeared in Fu Yin''s eyes as he heard theThing''s words. TheThingwas the guardian of the ''dark room'', the trial''s supervisor. Its name was Catacomb, or at least that was the name he referred himself as.

    "Catacomb, just shut up you fiend and give us the test!" Fan Lai shouted once again.

    The being named Catacomb''s eyes turned into two slits as they observed closely the group below them. Suddenly, he noticed Xiao Wu!

    "Kishishishi... This is interesting! Fine, I will play a game! And it will be quite the entertaining game!" Suddenly, even the few meters Xiao Wu could barely see before darkened for a few breaths before lighting up again.

    When she looked around she couldn''t see her companions anymore. Before she could panic, a dot of light appeared in the distance: it was a candle.

    She hurried to the light and when she saw the scene in front of her she couldn''t help but put one of her hands on her mouth "What are you doing! Leave them alone!"

    In front of her, there where a total of eight people, a mannequin and something dressed with a robe that hid its features. They were all seating in strange chairs on top of a stage. It was also surrounded by the same weird membrane as the one from the corridor..

    The formation was as such: there was a mannequin which gave its back to the robed figure which in turn gave its back to Fan Lai.

    Both Fan Lai and the robed figure were so tightly bounded that they couldn''t even move. Fan Lai could see the robed person''s back while the robed person was also facing the mannequin (Note: Basically, Fan Lan looks at Mysterious person anditlooks at the Mannequin while the Mannequin shows its back to everyone. FL-->MP-->M)

    Behind them there were seven people: they were the remaining members from her group, all except from Fu Yin. They were also gagged and tied to chairs. The chairs were connected to weird mechanisms that would activate if they used the slightest amount of power from their cultivation base. Everyone looked scared and in pain. Well, everyone except Su Tan, but she wasn''t exactly the one people should be worrying about in such a situation.

    Xiao Wu looked around and finally found who she was looking for a few steps away from the stage: Catacomb was tall, twice as tall as a man usually was, and thin, really thin. Its bones stood out, it had a pale sick yellowish skin and sharp claws instead of nails. Its head was grotesque, as if somebody had picked a skull and then stretched a small piece of skin to fit on it. It had long, black hair and a large mouth that had countless sharp white teeth.

    It was currently sitting on a tall throne and sitting beside him was a robed figure but, just like the other one, his face and features could not be seen, not even a single piece of skin was showing.

    "Kishishishi... We will now start the game!" A round of applause rang out as if they were in some kind of talk show "Now! I will tell you a riddle. If you guess right, you and your friends can go. However, if you get it wrong..." Catacomb licked its lips.

    "Your comrades will turn into my dinner. I will let you go of course and bear the fact that your friends died because of you!"

    Xiao Wu trembled and looked at the mysterious being opposite to her in fright: it was many times more powerful than her and, she was sure, this whole room was under its own control so she could not escape.

    She inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. She lifted his head as she regained her cool "Please Sir Catacomb, tell me your riddle!"

    "Kishishishi! I have finally found someone that actually listens to me at the first try! Listen Fan Lan? You should learn from him... Or is ither?" Catacomb laughed and then pointed at the two guys wearing robes.

    "It is simple. On that stage there are three figures. A puppet, your friend and then..." The Thing''s smile turned cruel "Who might it be? A puppet of a friend? Who knows, even I have forgotten!"

    Catacomb lifted his and laughed loudly. It finally stopped laughing and turned towards Xiao Wu again "I will ask, in between those three, can we say for sure that one of your friends looking at a puppet?"

    Xiao Wu was shocked for a bit.

    No, I don''t have enough information.

    Or at least, that''s what her intuition told her and she was about to say it out aloud when she realised.

    Seeing her confident expression turning into pondering, Catacomb frowned and thought ''It seems I was unlucky and picked the sharp person in this group...'' It sighed and watched as Xiao Wu finally got the answer.

    "The answer is yes, I can say for sure that a friend of mine is looking at a puppet!" Xiao Wu shouted out loud. Hearing her words some of her friends immediately thought ''What the hell are you saying! This is obviously impossible to know for real!''

    "Well said!" The pleasant voice that Xiao Wu had heard plenty of times during this expedition reached her ears once again.

    The figure wearing the robe on the stage removed his hood. Fu Yin propped himself up and winked "I knew you would get it right, Sis!"

    "Your answer is indeed correct" Catacomb annoyingly waved its hand and one of the doors opened "that door will bring you to the final trial! You were lucky this time. I would like to say you won''t be so lucky next time, but you probably have no intentions on coming back here, right? A person has already passed this trial" the voice grew quieter "He''s waiting for you right now" as it hid its hands, no one could see the ugly grin on the thing''s face...

    ...

    "Fu Yin, please tell us, why was Xiao Li''s answer correct? We were lucky this time becauseyouwere sitting there so you were looking at the puppet but we only had a fifty-fifty chance at getting this right, how could we possibly be sure?" Su Tan asked.

    Fu Yin smiled "Xiao Li will gladly explain, right?". Xiao Wu nodded "Brothers, think, what would have happened if Fu Yin was not the one sitting on the chair? Who would it have been?"

    Su Tan and her group answered all at once "The puppet!"

    Su Tan pondered for a while. "Oh? I see, it was indeed quite a tricky question..."

    "Su Tan, don''t keep it from us, what is it that you understood?" Yan Rui asked aloud.

    Xiao Wu smiled "If therehadbeen a puppet, wouldn''t brother Fan Lai be looking at a puppet then?"

    Hearing her words the group felt as if an electric current had passed through their body as they finally understood. Yan Rui then quietly spoke "It would have been the same result either way..."

    Fu Yin smiled and then patted Xiao Wu''s head "This child wasn''t as easy to trick as Catacomb thought... I bet he is cursing his bad luck in choosing people, after all our Xiao Li is a genius!"

    Everyone except for the quiet Baba and the silent Salomon laughed: this time they had indeed been quite lucky... Lucky that Xiao Wu had been there for them in times of need!

    The group rested for a bit and then proceeded to the next hall, the final trial awaited them.

    ...

    Catacomb was fiddling his thumbs as the door opened once more. It was elated until it felt the aura that person gave off: it wore a black robe hiding his features but the demon could still feel the sharp killing intent surrounding the man''s body.

    "S-senior, if you are looking for that fellow Fu Yin, he is behind that door, taking the third trial. Senior really shouldn''t bother with a lowly being such as myself, please, make yourself comfortable!" that person was Fu Yin''s master.

    The boy had left a note behind once again. This time however, it had been to the monster Catacomb. It said that if a if powerful person were to search for him, Catacomb would have to show him great respect and treat him well. It was Fu Yin''s way of showing his gratitude for the ''easy'' trial.

    The man in the hood nodded and lifted his head: he wore a mask that covered his whole face. Due to the hood and the mysterious darkness in the room, even Catacomb couldn''t discern what he or she looked like.

    The person was tall, two meters tall, and long hair fell down to his waist, unfortunately, just like with the mask, it was impossible to say which color they were. The voice of a middle aged man rang out "Demon Catacomb, I thank you for your assistance. I will try not to bother you during my short stay here..."

    Contrary to his words, the man actually sat on Catacomb''s throne and began pondering.

    The monster Catacomb of course could do nothing but let him do what he wanted: it felt that it wouldn''t live much more if it didn''t...

 Chapter 28 - The Traitor Is Revealed...

    Xiao Wu dashed through the corridors of the Maze. She could hear panting and heavy breathing coming from behind her so she turned: pretty much everybody except for Fu Yin and Solomon were tired from the long journey.

    "Everybody, stop! We need to rest in order to get ready for the ''pressure'' trial!" Fan Lai shouted and everyone stopped and threw themselves on the ground. Su Tan fell down especially hard and ''by chance'' fell beneath Xiao Wu and let out a delighted scream.

    "Brother Yin" Xiao Wu dodged to the side and spoke to the white haired boy "Is this ''pressure'' trial connected to the pressure from martial cultivation? Will they now test our cultivation?"

    Hearing that, the boy nodded

    "Indeed. You seem to be slowly understanding the structure of this maze: the first challenge was the ''Corridor of Death'', a way to test one''s resource gathering and concentration; the second trial was the trial of the ''Dark Room'', it would force one to play with the pressure of having your life on the line. These two mainly test one''s wits and state of mind. The last one, however..."

    Fu Yin threw her a gourd full of water "Is to test our overall strength! But this is by far the easiest of the three trials. If a person passes, everybody does as well! So relax and enjoy the show as this is my time to shine!"

    The boy with pale-blue skin grinned and winked at her. Xiao Wu stuck her tongue out but also smiled: she really enjoyed staying with this new big brother... She was hoping that Cheng Hao could also give him a hand, with such talent, he should have no problem reaching the Reverend stage or, perhaps, even the legendary Ageless Realm! A Realm that hadn''t been seen in their continent for hundreds of years...

    "Fu Yin, stop flirting and get over here! We have to study some countermeasures in case we meet those guys from before!" Fan Lai''s voice rang out.

    "Sure thing, Leader!"

    Fu Yin winked at Xiao Wu "Will be right back, Sis!" He then leaped towards Fan Lai and Solomon who examining a piece of paper with a map showing a special section of the maze. As soon as he approached, Fu Yin smiled smugly towards Solomon as the red haired man gritted his teeth.

    A few hours passed and Xiao Wu spent most of that time chatting with her companions. She spoke a bit with Da Bing about spirits which, being still a kid, fascinated her, talked with Yan Rui and Tai Long about what they called ''the spring of youth'' and then approached the guys she hadn''t got the chance to speak with.

    She found out that Liang Ran spoke a different language, so she had no choice but draw symbols on the ground to communicate. He did the same and they soon began a debate wether a sword or a spear would be better in close combat.

    The dark skinned boy was a huge fan of the spear while Xiao Wu''s weapon of choice was the Black Dragon Sword, so the debate soon grew to be an elaborate argument.

    Although Liang Ran assured Xiao Wu that a spear would be three times as strong than a sword in one on one combat, Xiao Wu retorted that the longer edge of the sword''s blade would allow one to attack multiple opponents coming from multiple directions with much more ease compared to a spear.

    Although they only used hand signs and pictures drawn on the ground, the debate went on for a whole hour before they both agreed that the two weapons were too different in their specialty to truly decide which one was better. Liang Ran and Xiao Wu both laughed out aloud as they looked back and saw meters upon meters of the ground had been drawn on by them.

    They then shook hands and drank a cup of wine together (Although Xiao Wu drank juice) to consolidate their friendship.

    She also got the chance to speak a bit with Baba, although she was the only one speaking, and tried to approach Solomon without succeeding.

    "Don''t worry, Puppy there isn''t all that bad... Except he will probably not be enough to satisfy a woman wit that sorry thing..." Yan Rui mocked.

    Solomon''s cheeks heated up and his whole face turned red "What are you saying you witch!"

    "Ohohoh, you aren''t even denying it..."

    "Aaaargh, you damn woman!"

    ''Have I seen this situation before?'' Looking at the two people arguing, Xiao Wu thought of Cheng Hao and Goldy and smiled ''Yep, they are the same.''

    "Ahahah" Fu Yin''s laughter rang out from behind her and she turned to see that both him and Fan Lai had finished planning.

    "So, did brother Yin find out anything?"

    Fu Yin''s expression turned dark and he put his hands on the two nails by the side of his head. His eyes turned a lighter shade of blue, an electrical blue, and the two inverted triangles appeared.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    He nodded and said "It seems like those mysterious people have given up the second challenge and instead went to the main route... Apparently, there is a single person, though, that kept going as there are some fluctuations in the surrounding Qi,however that person didn''t seem to belong in that group..."

    Fu Yin removed his hands and his eyes turned back into their normal appearance.

    "We don''t know if he is a friend or a foe, after all, even though Catacomb said he was waiting for us, he didn''t say he was a friend. Sealed Devils such as him almost never lie, but it doesn''t mean they must speak the whole truth... Instead, they love when people fall for their twisted words!"

    "Okay everyone! This trial should be a piece of cake. We will stay close to the entrance, where the pressure is at its lowest and Fu Yin will complete the challenge for us!" Fan Lai spoke out.

    The group walked up to a big door and Fan Lai opened it. "As soon as you step past this door, you will feel pressure coming from above. It shouldn''t be too strong but be careful anyways, am I clear? Now, are we ready to get our first prize?"

    "Yes!" Everyone shouted, even Xiao Wu yelled as much as she could. "Good I will count to three! One, two... Go!"

    Ten blurs flashed as they all entered the room. It was a hall, a thousand meters long and it was completely white. There where a total of ten barriers each a hundred meters apart but they didn''t seem to be the same type as the ones in the corridor of death or the dark room.

    Fu Yin smiled and dashed forward. Although his first his expression was serene, when he got past the first barrier it changed into a frown. He turned "Fai Lan! The pressure didn''t decrease even though I made a breakthrough! It seems like it varies in accordance to our cultivation! Most probably, it is made to test one''s battle prowess, not strength like we thought!"

    Fan Lai also frowned "So I guess it doesn''t matter which person we send, the pressure will be the same. Suddenly, Su Tan dashed forward and got past the first five barriers. She then stopped and threw herself on the ground "Aaaah!"

    She curled in pain as pleasure filled her face. She rolled on the ground as she screamed "Aaaah! My god, this place is heaven!"

    Fan Lai sighed and turned to face the remaining seven companions "Why don''t we have a race? The first one to get to the other side will be the one to choose his prize first!"

    "Fine to me!" Yan Rui smiled and then whispered in Xiao Wu''s ear "I will help you out if you come to my room tonight!"

    Xiao Wu gulped and impatiently asked "Senior Fan Lai, when do we start?"

    Fan Lai smiled "Fu Yin, you cannot move before we reach you! Ok, Three... Two... One... Go!"

    Xiao Wu madly dashed as she tried to run away from the chasing Yan Rui. She was so fast that she arrived at the first checkpoint before anyone else. She gritted her teeth and prepared to bear the pressure... Pressure? Xiao Wu was confused: she had passed the first barrier but she didn''t feel much pressure.

    She didn''t notice at first but after a while she understood that the so-called ''pressure'' was actually steadily being absorbed by the two Martial Ways in her Pseudo-Core.

    ''Lucky me!'' The girl smiled and kept speeding down the hall.

    "Hey sis, you look comfortable! It seems like the only one who can keep up with you is me!" When she passed the second checkpoint Xiao Wu looked to her right and smiled "Brother Yin, what are you talking about? I still haven''t used my full speed yet!"

    Now the distance to the end of the room was much closer: third checkpoint, fourth checkpoint, fifth, ..." When she reached the ninth checkpoint she still didn''t feel any pressure, Fu Yin also looked pretty comfortable and they both run to their limits, passing through the last checkpoint together. At that, the barriers disappeared allowing everyone to reach them.

    Fu Yin smiled at a freaked out Fan Lai "Leader truly has good eyes. This child is no genius, he is a true monster!"

    Xiao Wu pouted and punched Fu Yin in his gut "Who are you calling a monster!"

    Although the girl acted angry, both her and Fu Yin knew that she wasn''t. Instead, they both began to laugh. Xiao Wu''s laugh was really pleasant to the ears and mostly anyone closed their eyes and focused on listening to it.

    "Ahem!" Fan Lai interrupted "Let''s keep going. The exit is in front of us, after we pass by one last room, we will be Outer Sect disciples!"

    Everyone in the group nodded as they trembled from the excitement: they have been preparing for years just for this one moment! Fan Lai opened the door and they all walked past it.

    When the group got int the room though, their expression changed: in front of them there was a man wearing a black robe, he wasn''t tall, he was only a bit taller than Xiao Wu was.

    "Senior! We have arrived!" Fan Lai bowed deeply "We knew that those few trials wouldn''t stop someone as mighty as you!".

    Xiao Wu approached Fu Yin and asked "Is that outer mysterious eleventh comrade, your master?"

    Fan Lai heard her question and he was about to answer "Ye-"

    "Ahahah!" Fu Yin''s laughter interrupted both of them " You are finally here! Now, Die!"

    Fu Yin''s voice was cold and ruthless. He looked up and waves upon waves of killing intent emanated from his body, forcing everyone to back away from him. He kicked off the ground and grabbed the air. When he did so, streams of gaseous Qi appeared from his body condensing into two drill-like spears.

    ''Aura! Fu Yin is an Aura Grandmaster (Note: Aura Student < Scholar < Master < Grandmaster < Sage)!'' Seeing the two, three-dimensional objects condensed from aura, Xiao Wu stared wide eyed.

    The two cold blue eyes devoid of compassion stared down at the robed person as he approached at high speeds.

    Before anybody could say anything, he had already flown in front of the person as the flight limit had been apparently removed.

    "Y-you?"

    Fu Yin ignored the exclamation of surprise from his victim and stabbed both his troath and his upper left chest, where the heart was, completely piercing through his body.

    "Stop! What are you doing!" Fan Lai finally shouted out. Everybody was shocked and they realized that they couldn''t react in time before Fu Yin had already killed their apparent friend.

    Fu Yin slowly turned, his white robe now completely drenched with blood. When he removed the two spears from the body, it fell down and a fountain of blood shot out from the two wounds.

    Solomon grabbed Fan Lai''s shoulder with one hand and removed the massive blade from its sheath with the other "Watch out master! He is the traitor!" At those words, Xiao Wu breathed in ''Brother Fu Yin was the traitor??? But why, he was so kind to me! And wasn''t that guy Fu Yin''s master? Why would the disciple kill his master, especially such a kind master that helped him so much!''

    Fu Yin''s cold and ruthless eyes stared back at Solomon as he shook his two spears "I betrayed no one, he was simply not my comrade to begin with. He hasd never been. I killed him and that''s it. And now..." He lifted one of the spears and pointed at the group "You are next!"

 Chapter 29 - (Title At The End)

    Two ruthless blue eyes stared in their direction, the same blue eyes that Xiao Wu had come to recognize as those of theelder brother that would kindly help her whenever she would find herselfin trouble. Yet now, those eyes had such a scary expression that she couldn''t believe that they were the same!

    Fu Yin kicked off the ground and charged towards the group: Xiao Wu was in front of them all and she would also be the firstvictim! She knew she could not dodge the blow from Fu Yin''s spears now, it was too late to summon her Martial Ways too!

    She could not bear to look at the tip of the spear getting closer and closer so she shut her eyes and waited...

    Suddenly, she heard a voice in her head. It probably was just her imagination but she still listened to it.

    Why? Why did you close your eyes?

    She answered dejectedly ''I am waiting...''

    For what?

    She bit her lips and answered ''For pain''

    What pain?

    ''The one that I am feeling right now''

    What are you feeling right now?

    ''...''

    Xiao Wu''s eyes snapped open: she was fine! She turned just in time to see Fu Yin''s fierce expression as she passed by her. She was confused: he did not attack neither her, nor her companions, why would he do that?

    ''He''s heading straight for Fai Lan! Does he want to kill him first?'' Xiao Wu noticed and was about to yell "Stop, don''t do it" when...

    *Clang*

    Fu Yin''s spears changed directions and headed straight towards Salomon''s head and torso, before getting blocked by his large blade. Fu Yin turned in mid air and put himself in between Salomon and the group, his eyes once again turning lifeless from its previous fierce expression.

    Fai Lan felt a sharp pain on the back of his neck and when he checked he found a small cut. The cut was made by a sharp object with an edge, yet Fu Yin didn''t have any weapons such as that...

    "Leader, watch out, this guy is not Salomon! That guy also wasn''tour eleventh comrade, they are both imposters!" Fu Yin yelled and once again kicked off the ground to chase after Salomon.

    Hearing his words, the tall red haired burly man grinned as he peeled off the fake skin covering his face: the fake Solomon was actually a thirty-something years old man. He had the same brown hair as Fan Lai did and his facial features were also similar.

    "Very smart of you, Fu Yin, it seems like you really do have a bit of ability to stop my blade with so little time... I am impressed" the man burst out laughing and blocked another blow from Fu Yin''s spears.

    "Fan Zai! What are you doing here!" Fan Lai''s expression turned fiercer as he gritted his teeth "Where is Solomon?"

    Fan Zai smiled "Oh, your dog? Right now he is in the clan''s basement, scheduled to be executed soon! It seems to me that you care more about your little pet than your elder brother! Now..."

    Fan Zai''s smile disappeared and his cocky attitude turned into a ruthless gaze as he lifted the blade in his hands "Prepare to die, my junior brother! I will be the heir of the clan, not a snot faced brat like you!"

    Fan Lai exhaled to calm himself down and analyze the situation with a bird eye''s view. Finally, he slowly spoke.

    "We both know that you have no chances right now to fight me directly. You are still in the low level Advanced stage. You are hiding your cultivation but I remember clearly the strength of anypotential enemies in the clan! You don''t have enough strength to get past Fu Yin!"

    Fu Yin grinned and rubbed his nose "I see you place great value in my skill! You can count on me then, boss! You forgave and placed your faith in me so I will repay your effort! This piece of trash should not evendreamof laying his filthy hands on you a second time!"

    Xiao Wu recovered from the shock and smiled: yes, this was the Fu Yin he knew, the young teen that would put his life on the line and do his best to protect his brothers and sisters.

    Fan Zai grinned and snapped his fingers "Of course that would be the case... If I were alone!"

    When he said that, more than a hundred figures wearing robes appeared: they didn''t conceal their cultivation and they were all either peak Basic stage or low level Advanced stage cultivators!

    They slowly approached them and when Xiao Wu tried to back away, she realized that she didn''t have anymore space to do that: they had been cornered! Seeing the dozens of black figures in front of her she realized that there was little to no chance of her being able to escape...

    "Fu Yin! How many do you think you can take on all at once?" Fan Lai''s voice wasn''t trembling, howeverit was clear that even he didn''t see much of a chance of survival in this situation.

    "Isthis a bad moment to show off saying that I can take on twenty of them all at once? I''m a genius after all" Fu Yin joked but tightened his grip on the two spears "Everybody, get behind me! If you are too scattered I will have no chance to help you!"

    Xiao Wu looked at the situation she got herself in and realized that there was virtually no way that Fu Yin would be able to protect the lot of them alone, especially if the opponents decided to attack all at once.

    "Brother Fu Yin! Let me help you!" Xiao Wu stepped forward and summoned the sword and shield made out of Aura "Leave those below the Basic stage for me to deal with, but don''t let anybody stronger pass through!"

    At first, Fu Yin was taken aback but then smiled and nodded "An Aura Scholar at that age... You are talented sis! What a surprise!"

    Xiao Wu pouted "Speaks an Aura Grandmaster that most powerful families dream of engaging..."

    They both chuckled and then focused on the task of holding back the army of hundreds of black robed people. In her mind, Xiao Wu was secretly calculating.

    ''I can take care of those below Advanced stage with my two Aura projections just fine, even ten at once shouldn''t be a problem. If I go full power, then thirty of them should be my limit, but I would have to blow up my Pseudo-Core to do that so that''s a no-no. Let''s keep the Martial Ways hidden for now...''

    "What are you brats laughing for?" Suddenly, the voice of a middle aged man sounded out and a particularly bulky black robed person stepped out of the crowd.

    He removed his hood and a pressure superior to that of the Advanced stage emanated. At that moment, Xiao Wu knew that she would not be able to defeat such an existence, no matter how much she tried!

    "Superior stage!" Xiao Wu shouted out loud. Her voice trembled and her tightened fists began to sweat. The two Aura weapons also began to tremble as the flow of Qi got distorted and their owner''s emotions grew unsteady.

    Fu Yin gritted his teeth and cursed "Damn, why is such an expert here! I could have fought evenly with him if he were an high level or even peak Advanced stage cultivator, but now even if I use all of my strength I would barely be able to resist for a few breaths!"

    The tall man laughed out loud and mocked "Now, now... Children should just go to sleep... You shouldn''t be left alive... You shouldn''t eventhinkof leaving here alive! After all, you have threatened my disciple..."

    The man smiled fiercely: he only had one eye and had short black hair, his appearance was quite ugly, but few would have the guts to tell him that.

    All in all, he was pretty buff and his scary face together with his frightening expression gave off the feeling of a being that shouldn''t be angered.

    Fan Lai''s eyes widened and he almost yelled from the surprise when he saw what the man looked like "Fan Zu, Second Uncle, you are here as well! Second Uncle why are you doing this?" Fan Lai couldn''t hold it anymore and yelled "Aren''t we family? Why must we kill one another?"

    The young Fan Zai smirked and swung Solomon''s sword around. He then pointed the weapon''s tip at Fan Lai''s chest "Family? What family? We stopped being part of your family when the elders decided to makeyouthe heir! Second Uncle is the same as me, he was refused to become the sect head by the foolish elders!"

    "Now, I will show them who the true heir of the esteemed Fai clan is! How, you ask?" Fan Zai grinned "By making you disappear!"

    Fai Zai then pointed at Fu Yin "Uncle, I suggest taking him out first, otherwise it will be a lot more difficult to kill them all. He is the strongest person in their group and wields quite a few dangerous abilities which even I have not seen yet..."

    The tall Fan Zu put his big hand on Fan Zai''s shoulder "Don''t worry Zai'' Er. They won''t live this place alive as long as I live!"

    Fu Yin smiled grimly "Sister Wu, I may have a method to hold him down for a while, during that time, please slaughter your way through with the others and escape! As soon as we can notify the elders they will kick out these people as they are not from the Sect. I will stay alive until then so don''t look back and useallyour abilities"This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    He stabbed the two Aura Spears in the ground and inhaled deeply before letting out a loud yell "G-Gaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

    His surroundings changed and dark smoke appeared behind Fu Yin, blocking the view. In that darkness, one bright red eye appeared and gazed murderously at the robed men.

    The black mist covered Fu Yin''s back and it morphed constantly, sometimes turning into weapons, monsters and sometimes into scenes of humans crying in pain.

    The smoke looked like a flame burning from Fu Yin''s body and it was slowly corroding even the stone below him. At the same time though, Fu Yin was not even slightly harmed!

    The boy lifted his head and the white space surrounding the irises had turned black with black gases fuming out from the pupils. The mist finally morphed into a monster that had no legs as it was attached to Fu Yin''s body, was completely black, had no face and only had a gigantic mouth with no teeth and a red eye in the middle of its face.

    The monster was truly terrifying and whoever looked into the red eye''s pupil would unconsciously back away in fear.

    Fu Yin turned and the monster that looked like a demon from the depths of hell followed Fu Yin''s gaze "Dear sister, this is my power, my sensed Qi is called The Legacy, I am able to form contracts with ancient beings to acquire their power! The only downside" he smiled "Is that I have to let them eat part of my soul in exchange!"

    Xiao Wu stared blankly as she thought ''Soul? Eat a part of the soul? But wouldn''t that shorten the lifespan!?!''

    Fu Yin shook his hands "But you needn''t worry, master prepared a cure for me! He also said that he has another method to summon beings without the need of a contract! This guy, I called himFaceless, is such a being: my master summoned him and gave him something else instead of my soul! So, I''m really strong with no backlash, you can go, we will be alright! Trust your big brother!" the white haired teen grinned "I will see you then!"

    Fu Yin turned back to face Fan Zu. Xiao Wu looked at his back which looked like it was burning from black flames and her mind trembled as the face of her brother, her blood brother, appeared.

    ...

    The two brother and sister of the Xiao family had just come back from a long trip and they had decided to rest in a close-by inn instead of continuing on the road at night. It turned out to be a big mistake...

    They were surrounded by the assassins and the two of them were the only ones left alive out of the original group of a hundred people.

    "Wu'' Er, run! I will hold them back! Don''t worry, I won''t die, we will regroup at the clan mansion!" The young man had the same green eyes and purple-blue hair as Xiao Wu. He was slightly taller and was in his late teens.

    The man grinned and then said "Trust your big brother Dan! I will see you then!"

    Xiao Wu had followed her brother''s orders and escaped to find some help. When she got back with her clan''s soldiers, she had seen her brother laying on the ground, his body cleanly sliced in two at the waist. Surrounding him there were tens of corpses, each covering their faces with a black hood...

    ...

    The two scenes imposed each other, she saw her brother''s incomplete corpse and it soon turned into Fu Yin''s then back into her brother''s and so on. She found herself in a world of blood where everything was dyed crimson.

    She heard someone cough behind her and she saw Fu Yon struggling to keep standing as his body was full of wounds.

    ""Trust your big brother!"" Although he was forcing himself to smile happily, Fu Yin''s eyes were crying tears of blood, two large streams also began to fall from his mouth''s sides.

    The mouth opened and black blood splurged out ""I will see you then!""Fu Yin''s body fell on the ground and turned into her brother''s corpse, the two halves of his body sinking in a pool of blood...

    ...

    "NO!!!" Xiao Wu''s loud shout startled Fu Yin who looked back to see an enraged and crying Xiao Wu.

    "I will not let my brother die on meagain!" She threw caution at the wind and called out the two Martial Ways. The two object started to orbit around her giving off enormous pressure: she had never used both of their true bodies in battle before, as she always kept at least one in her Pseudo-Core to keep it stable, now, the true might of these symbiotic Martial Ways would finally be shown to the world!

    The Black Dragon blade and White Tree Shield also appeared and they hovered behind her together with the two copies made out of Aura.

    Her eyes turned purple from their previous emerald green color and Xiao Wu''s five senses were enhanced as the power from the Purple Moonlight Senses Enhancing Scripture kicked in: at that moment, Xiao Wu was at her optimal condition!

    The two Martial Ways'' true bodies slowly began to let off light and, as soon as that happened, the black robed people began to feel great pressure coming from the two treasures.

    "What are those! How are they giving off such powerful pressure!" Someone in the middle of the group of the black robed people shouted "Are they some kind of heavenly treasures?"

    Fai Zu''s eyes widened "Martial Way! And two of them at that!" Hearing that, many people from the crowd were bewildered. Although they might not have seen one before and didn''t know the details, they knew that a Martial Way was a priceless treasure!

    "Ahaha, it seems like this little sister of mine really isn''t someone to underestimate! Alright sis! Together we can do this!" Fu Yin had long forgotten to hide the fact that Xiao Wu was a girl but she didn''t care. Fu Yin grabbed the two spears that he had stabbed on the ground and they were soon also covered in the black mist.

    Countless black snakes formed from the black gas also wrapped around the Aura Spears, which would definitely enhance the attack with their corrosive bites!

    ''If I use the Martial Way''s true body I should be able to just barely match that guy''s strength for a while. Unfortunately, that would also mean that my Pseudo-Core will collapse... I just hope that I will be able to defeat him before that happens!'' Xiao Wu''s purple eyes had been looking for weak spots on Fan Zu''s body when her eyes widened: there were none!

    But that was impossible, anybody within the range of her abilities has weak points, so she should be able to see them effortlessly... That is,within the range of her abilities...

    "Ahaha, these kids are truly exceptional! One has the power of a mysterious beast inside him while the other has two Martial Ways of the top tier! Truly, a pair of geniuses. If it were a few days ago I would probably have to shed a drop of sweat or two on you... But now!"

    Fan Zu''s muscles contracted as his burly figure became even buffer and his cultivation rose: first it was low level Superior stage, then it became peak low level Superior stage and, suddenly, the bottleneck was broken through as Fan Zu got into mid level Superior stage! The man smiled smugly as the two children''s faces fell.

    After seeing that, even Fu Yin couldn''t help but curse "Damn! He hid his strength! I can''t hold him even for the space of a breath now! He is simply too strong!"

    The young teen turned and hurriedly spoke to Xiao Wu "Sister, don''t think about us, run! Run and survive! If you can survive, you will be able to get revenge!" Fu Yin''s voice was loud so everyone could hear it. The black robed men busted out laughing when they heard it.

    That was until, somebody stood up from the people of the Fan family''s ranks.

    "Mph, Fu Yin, you never change. Always thinking of others, trying to make amend to that one error by sacrificing yourself... But tell me now, my dear apprentice, what would you need revenge for?"

    The powerful voice rose from the ranks of the black robed men. It was the voice of a middle aged man but it held great power. The people hiding their features in the black hoods were startled so they quickly made some space and soon, a person appeared.

    He also wore black robes, but he hid his features behind a strange mask, was over two meters tall and had long flowing black hair.

    The boy with pale blue skin barely looked at him before an electric-like current went through his body as he was almost literally shocked

    "Master! You are here!" Fu Yin knelt on the ground and his expression couldn''t be any happier. He finally felt that they had some hope. After all that person was...

    "Senior! Please help us!" Fan Lai''s voice also rose up as he bowed to the new arrival. His voice that previously didn''t have a trace of hope sounded as if he had been blessed by fortune.

    "Senior? Is he the eleventh comrade you were talking about?" Xiao Wu questioned.

    Fu Yin nodded "Yes. Although right now he is hiding his true features, I can indeed say it is him as his aura is undistinguishable! Master, I would like to present our new companion. She is called-" "No need."

    The man nonchalantly waved his hand to block the boy''s explanation and turned his head towards the girl "Xiao Wu, right?" the man finished for him and chuckled.

    Fu Yin lifted his head and was bewildered "Master... How do you know her name?" The man smiled and with a flick of his wrist, two pieces of wood and plastic fell on the ground and his height turned from its previous two meters tall frame into the height of a child.

    Other pieces of wood and plastic fell down and his wide frame turned into that of a really young boy. The man then lifted his head at the burly man standing next to Fan Zai.

    "Fan Zu, right?" Everyone but Fu Yin and Fan Lai was startled: the voice was not that of a middle aged man anymore, it was now that of a young child! "You said that you will kill them because they have threatened your disciple, am I right?"

    The child removed his hood and long black hair fell down his back.

    Fan Zu was confused and frightened: although the boy looked pretty young, he felt that this junior''s strength was probably not any lower than his own! Such a talented and powerful person should not be offended!

    "Fellow cultivator, that is indeed it. I apologize for any inconvenience this might have caused but I didn''t know that they were associated with someone as great as you, fellow expert! You have no bad feelings towards us, so I hope you can give me face and let the matter slide?"

    "Oh?" The child put his hands on his mask and slowly removed it. At that moment, the people could only see two perfectly sim metrical lips arranged into a fierce grin...

    "But according to you, I do have enough reason to kill you!"

    A straight nose appeared and the boy stuck out his tongue and gave him the middle finger "You see you didn''t only threaten my own disciple..."

    The mask fell on the ground with a thud. At that moment, almost every person in the room was shocked by what they saw.

    Killing intent swirled like a storm and at its very core, two golden fiery eyes appeared! The boy lifted his right hand and a glowing tower appeared floating over his palm. The tower had fifteen floors and the first two floors'' gates were opened.

    Seeing the familiar object, Xiao Wu''s eyes widened and she gaped in shock. She recovered before anybody else and burst out in laughter. Everybody turned towards her confused.

    Xiao Wu simply put her hands on her hips, smiled and chuckled.

    "I see, so it wasyou..." Xiao Wu said and smiled and the young boy also stepped forward smiling.

    "Youwere Fu Yin''s master!Youwere our eleventh comrade!" The people wearing black cloaks heard her and turned to look towards the boy with black hair and golden eyes, a bad feeling swelling up in their hearts...

    The boy smiled and his smile became as warm as it could get when he saw Xiao Wu was smiling at him. The youth smiled and walked towards the group of ten, of course, nobody blocked him. "Sis..." He stepped forward and hugged the young child in front of him. Xiao Wu''s eyes filled with tears as she spoke "Brother! I was so scared!"

    His complexion suddenly twisted as unseen before anger appeared. Winds battered everywhere in the room and the black robed Fan clan members found it hard to remain standing.

    "No, you did notonlyalmost attack my disciple" the golden eyes burned with the flames of rage and everybody who looked into those globes filled with anger and hate felt weak in their knees. One man in particular began crying "It''s the end! A Demon has come to bring us to Hell!"

    "YOU ALSO THREATENED MY LITTLE SISTER!!!" Cheng Hao''s shout was so full of with fury and rage that the people wearing the black robes couldn''t help but step back.

    "Brother Cheng Hao, I''ve missed you!" Xiao Wu hugged the boy even tighter and cried her heart out as he held her close and stroked her hair.

    Fu Yin''s already shocked face became even more beautiful as he understood what was going on here. He finally sighed and rubbed his nose ''I guess it is no surprise then that sister Wu is such a genius... To have a person like Master Cheng Hao at her side, she is truly lucky!"

    Fan Zu''s voice suddenly rose "Who are you? Do you know whom you are talking to?"

    Cheng Hao ignored him, smiled and looked at Xiao Wu by his side "Sorry I am always late, sis! This one time, though, I seem to have come at the right time..." His smile turned fierce. Bloodlust emerged as the child looked venomously at Fai Zu "Cheng Hao kicks some ugly bastards'' ugly asses Time!"

    Chapter 29 -YouWere Our Eleventh Comrade!

 Chapter 30 - Rivers Of Blood, Cries Of Pain

    "Don''t you dare ignore me! Who are you!" Fan Zu''s face grew red as he felt he lost face to this child that, judging by his age, could be his grandson "If you don''t answer now I will eradicate nine generations of your family!"

    Cheng Hao''s back trembled as the room suddenly grew a lot colder.

    Cheng Hao lifted his head and his two cold eyes finally focused on the old man''s face "What... Did you just say?" He blinked once and looked at the man in his eyes. Suddenly, the space surrounding him seemed to distort and his body disappeared together with the figures of everyone surrounding him.

    Fan Zu was the only one left in the room. Just that the room wasn''t a room anymore. In front of him there was nothing, everything was black. There was nothing, except for the Black Shadow, its sharp fangs opened and closed as if they wanted to taste his flesh, its body was so black that it looked like it was bright compared to its surrounding.

    The shadow got closer and a large mouth filled with sharp fangs opened as thethingapproached... "N-no... I didn''t... I am sorry!!!" Fan Zu wanted to run but was tied in place.

    Whenitbit down, the man screamed in pain as it was so painful, like a million needles being inserted and removed in his whole body repeatedly, that he started crying tears of blood. This went on for hours repeatedly and supposedly one would start to either grow accustomed or grow numb to the incredible pain, yet he didn''t, as if there was some curse that didn''t let him.

    The only thing that grew was the pain he felt with each bite.

    The world twisted and the black shadow disappeared. He was now lying in an ocean of purple blood, surrounded by never ending mountains of corpses.

    The ocean was only half a foot deep but it seemed like it would never end as it stretched over the horizon and beyond. Fan Zu still felt pain but sighed in relief as he saw the monster was no longer there. It was still night but there were no stars up above.

    Suddenly, a golden sun rose into the sky. It shone down on the purple ocean and the old man couldn''t help but cry tears of joy when he saw the sun, as he finally saw something that he looked like it would be safe. He bathed in the golden light and wished to remain like that forever, safe from all harm.

    Unfortunately, Life wouldn''t be so easy on him. Fan Zu suddenly felt his limbs growing cold, he frowned but decided to ignore it. At one point, the chilliness was so unbearable that he sat up to examine his body. When he looked down, he saw that he was slowly disappearing.

    His very essence was being devoured by the golden sun''s light: he was fading from existence!

    Tears fell down once again as the pain surged and he felt abandoned, by the world, by the heavens!

    He yelled until his lungs burned and the vocal cords seemed to jump out but nobody was there to hear him. He was alone with the pain of notbeing!

    When he was about to fade completely, everything twisted once again, the purple blood, mountains of corpses and the golden sun disappeared and turned into two eyes... Cheng Hao closed his eyelids and when he opened them again, the scenes of the black beast and the golden sun appeared once again in his pupils.

    Cold shivers ran down the old man''s back. He trembled, his knees gave out and he fell down on the ground trembling, grabbing his head and crying like a scared child... "Aaaaah... AAAAAAAH!" His figure flickered and then disappeared to reappear a few meters away, grabbed Fan Zai, and then run through the door leading back in the maze.

    Right at that moment, the young man was standing in the exact same position as before, his eyes glowing and killing intent could be seen swirling around him like a hurricane

    "You said that you would kill my disciple and brother. I would have given you an easy death but it seems like that wouldn''t be enough for someone like you, so you threatened me with the murder of my family..."

    Cheng Hao stared at the door from where Fan Zu had escaped from "Now you will be able to live, sure, but I don''t know if such a life will be much better than death would be..."

    A smile flashed and then disappeared on Cheng Hao''s face. It was not a kind smile: just by looking at it, one would tremble in fear and fall down on the ground kowtowing, begging for forgiveness.

    Even killing oneself would be possible if the person wasn''t strong enough mentally. But he was giving his back to Fan Lai and his group so the only person to see such a smile was Fu Yin.

    The pale blue skinned boy trembled as he felt his blood surging at Cheng Hao''s look. His knees grew weak and he almost fell to the ground ''I see... This is Strength... This is Power!''

    "Xiao Wu, I am sorry, but you will have to sleep for a while... I am going to punish these guys and wouldn''t want to scare you!"

    Cheng Hao whispered in Xiao Wu''s ear and she widened her eyes at first before nodding. Cheng Hao poked a pressure point and Xiao Wu fell asleep.

    "Yin ''Boy, take care of her" he whispered. Fu Yin widened his eyes and nodded "Yes, Master!" He gently picked up the girl and layer her on his lap as he kept staring at Cheng Hao''s every action.

    Cheng Hao turned and began walking towards the group of black robed people. Fan Lai frowned, approached Fu Yin and asked "Is Senior Cheng Hao going to do something? They are still people from my Fan family, I can''t just watch them get hurt..."

    Fu Yin smiled as he waved his hand "Don''t worry... He had such a kind smile on his face that he looked like he wouldn''t hurt a fly. You can relax and go through that door for now!"

    Fu Yin pointed at the exit. Fan Lai hesitated for a bit but then nodded and bowed towards Cheng Hao "Senior Cheng Hao, I wish you luck! When we get in to the Outer Sect, I hope you will continue to be a part of our Alliance there!"

    Cheng Hao turned: his expression was kind and his smile gentle and Fan Lai couldn''t help but breath out a sigh of relief, after all, those people were still his own Fan family members!

    "Don''t worry, Leader. I am and will remain a member of the All But In Blood Alliance, please go ahead as I settle matters with these guys!"

    Fan Lai nodded as gratitude filled his eyes: this person that he had barely met before had saved them and even engaged with a mid level Superior stage cultivator for their sake! He would never forget this favor and he remembered to carve his debt towards this person in his heart!

    "Everybody, let''s go!" Fan Lai led the way and, one by one, everybody from the All But In Blood Alliance but Cheng Hao, the sleeping Xiao Wu and Fu Yin had left the room.

    "Yin ''Boy... Have they all left?" Cheng Hao smiled gently but he was clenching his hands so hard that they had long turned completely white.

    Fu Yin nodded "Yes, master, once someone goes through that door, they can''t come back so you can drop with that fake attitude of yours and kick some ass for your big brother here!"

    Fu Yin grinned: although he referred to Cheng Hao as master, it could be seen by the way he acted that he still preferred to think of him as a brother. A really troublesome and fiendish brother.

    "My apprentice Fu Yin, right now I will teach you something. You need to remember everything I do from now on..." Cheng Hao removed something from his Dimensional Pouch and held it in his hand.

    Fu Yin was startled and then asked "Master, what will you show me? I am excited!"

    Cheng Hao''s fake smile turned into a fiendish grin and his two golden eyes turned demonic as he waved his sleeve: he was holding a single black knife, it was a knife that could be found anywhere, a simple kitchen knife from hut #5742 but right now it looked like the most lethal weapon in the world.

    Cheng Hao inhaled before grasping the weapon tighter in his hand "The world''s most efficient torture methods!"

    Fu Yin clapped "Wow, master is truly knowledgeable! Please do show this disciple and brother of yours your great skills!" Cheng Hao''s fiendish appearance turned back into his usual one as he bashfully said "Well, if you insist..."

    "Shut your trap! I do not know what you did to senior but I checked your cultivation and it''s not even in the Advanced stage yet! I, Pan Gao, will take care of you right now!"

    A person took off his hood and stepped forward, his body wasn''t as burly as Fan Zu''s but he was still quite buff and his height was even taller than Fan Zu was.

    "Master, you are so lucky! Someone to show your skills on has stepped forward! I guess it is because he feels that being used by you would be an achievement in and of itself! I can''t blame him for that though!"

    Cheng Hao nodded at Fu Yin''s statement, his bashful attitude still there "Yes, yes, I really am lucky! Your luck is also really good because this way you will expand your knowledge even faster!"This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    "You brat, you will now see what comes from looking down on me!" The man yelled. He was about to charge over when his pupils widened in shock and horror.

    Cheng Hao''s voice sounded out right by his side "Oh? But I though that I had all reasons to look down on you since I am simply so much stronger..."

    The man was startled and couldn''t help but turn his head upwards: the youth that had been a few tens of meters away from him was now standing on his shoulder.

    He was juggling with something but he wasn''t touching them, no, he was catching them with the knife, throwing them up, cutting them in midair and catching them again in a cycle.

    The man felt a sharp pain in the area where his crotch was and looked down. A small pool of blood had gathered below him as even more blood flowed.

    "Sigh... It seems like you wouldn''t be able to satisfy girls now... Oh well, seeing the size, they wouldn''t have been satisfied before either..." Hearing the boy''s words, a bad feeling welled up in his heart and he gulped.

    The tall man put aside the matter of Cheng Hao standing on his shoulder, looked in his pants and checked his Jonny... Nothing. There was nothing there except from a small fountain of blood dying his clothes red.

    His face was expressionless when he lifted his head and looked at thethingsthat Cheng Hao was juggling with: they were a dark pink and were also a bit bloody.

    With each moment that passed, Cheng Hao had cut them in smaller pieces until they had become nothing more than meat paste. "Mph, it seems like this knife isn''t sharp enough, otherwise there wouldn''t have been the slightest trace of blood... Did you get that down Yin ''Boy?"

    "Aaa... Aaaaa... AAAAAAAAAA!!!" Looking at the meat paste on top of the black knife, the man yelled out and, while one hand went to cover his crotch, the other sped towards Cheng Hao''s legs on the man''s shoulder.

    "Do you see this Yin ''Boy? Very well, now watch what I do with it" Cheng Hao easily dodged the blow and landed on the man''s other shoulder.

    "Bon appetite! Enjoy your meal!" He kicked the man in the guts which made him open his mouth and spit out blood. Cheng Hao didn''t miss the occasion and stuffed the ''meat paste'' inside.

    After doing that, the boy blocked the man''s mouth forcing him to swallow. Although the man wanted to spit it out, he couldn''t and thus could only gulp as tears streamed down... He had eaten his own root of life!

    "Cough, cough!" The man coughed until blood came out but he could not spit it back out no matter how much he tried... The man knelt and started crying.

    Cheng Hao''s voice came from the man''s side"Oh? The food wasn''t to your liking? Oh well, we can fix that right now, can''t we?"

    "I''ll KILL you!" The man swallowed his own tears and threw a strong punch towards Cheng Hao but it was, once again, easily dodged. The boy jumped and landed gracefully on the ground, right in front of Pan Gao.

    He landed a fierce kick on the jaw and the man fell on his back. A cruel smile flashed on the child''s face as he wielded the knife in his hands.

    "Here, I will help you take it back right now! Having said that, he sliced open the man''s tummy and, when he removed the blade, blood as well as his intestines came out. The man screamed in pain and Cheng Hao sliced off his stomach.

    "Here you are, sir! Please take it!" Cheng Hao flicked the knife and the man''s stomach fell down. "Aaaa!" The man unconsciously crawled to take it but, when he was about to lay his hands on it, Cheng Hao squashed it under his foot.

    Blood and juices splattered everywhere on the man''s face. Now what fell from the man''s eyes were no longer the watery and salty tears... It was blood!

    "Oh my, oh my! I am so sorry, I slipped! Oh, we wouldn''t want you to go around looking like that? Don''t worry, I will take care of you and make you look even better than you were before!"

    Cheng Hao grabbed the man''s hair and lifted his body up. As screams of pain rang out, the man''s ears, eyes, nose, lips, tongue and teeth all fell on the ground.

    Although blood splattered everywhere, not a single drop of blood was on the blade of the knife Cheng Hao used: this showed only one thing, and that was that his skills with the knife were just too superb and his cuts were so clean that not even blood stained the edge of the weapon!

    At that, even Fu Yin gulped "Xiao Wu... You are so lucky that you didn''t see this, otherwise you would have already thrown up several times over... That Cheng Hao is a sadist... No,the Sadist, he is this world''s most cruel sadist!"

    Although he said those words, his eyes were wide open, catching every single action Cheng Hao made as a cruel smile hung on both of their lips as well "But I don''t dislike that..."

    "Ugh... Cough! Cough! Blergh! Aaaa..." In between the barfing, coughing and the screams of pain of the man''s, his scalp also fell on the ground, leaving the skull wide open.

    Cheng Hao smiled satisfied "You see... Torture is an art and it must be not done rashly. You must torture the victim both mentallyandphysically. The man grew from the tiger cub that doesn''t know of the world to a man that seeks death but never obtains it! He seeks death, but torture is just that, pain with no death involved! He wants to die and yet he can''t!"

    Cheng Hao waved his knife a few times and a section of the skull separated from the rest and fell next to the poor guy''s foot.

    "Yin ''Boy, now pay attention! Ok, if you poke with a needle here likethis-" "Aaaaaaaagh!"

    "He will feel as if he were being burned by the hottest of the flames. If I dothisinstead-" "Yaaaaaaagh"

    "His senses will react as if he were so cold that he is freezing over! Oh! This is so much fun! If I poke here-" "Gaaaaa!"

    "It will feel as if I was digging his eyeballs out, even if I already did! Isn''t it strange, Yin ''Boy?"

    Fu Yin nodded as his eyes didn''t look away from the scene for the slightest moment "It indeed is Master! Oh, what happens if you stick it there? No, a little bit to the left, a bit closer to the other needle... There!"

    Cheng Hao frowned "My dear apprentice, I''m afraid you don''t have a lot of talent in torture... Instead, you would be a great Sadist! Because you see... If I press here..." "Glogh!"

    The man''s face (or what was left of it) slowly grew purple as he began to claw around.

    "His body will react as if he were underwater. His troath will also contract and he won''t be able to breath unless I release the pressure! Death by drowning is one of the most painful deaths as you realize the more get closer to your death, that youaredying.

    You feel your lungs burning, your mouth searching for oxygen and only finding water... At first you will still have hope but the more you feel the water enter your lungs, your eyelids falling down and your consciousness disappearing you will know... Youwon''tbe saved. It will be when you realize this, that you will finally die, falling into the abyss of death..."

    Cheng Hao took another needle and excitedly said "Alright, back to work! Now if I... Oh? He''s dead..."

    Cheng Hao put the knife down disappointed, acting like a spoiled kid who had just broken his new toy...

    "Master has simply such amazing skills! Can you show me a few others?" Fu Yin asked, his sadistic nature now fully showing up as he licked his lips.

    Cheng Hao shook his head as he sighed"But Fu Yin... I was so engrossed in our lecture that I forgot that he couldn''t breathe... Our volunteer for the lecture is dead now, what can we do?"

    Cheng Hao bashfully smiled when he suddenly looked as if he had come to a realization. He hit his palm and made a ''Aha!'' sound. "That''s right! Maybe those other uncles wearing the black robes might help us!"

    Hearing that, the crowd of people that had been staring shocked and terrified at the young child torturing their comrade finally came to their senses. They immediately began to dash towards the exit, but noticed that a seal had already been placed.

    Some tried to break through, but the seal had been laid by the mid level Superior stage cultivator, Fan Zu, in an attempt to stop Cheng Hao from chasing after him.

    "My, my! Master, it seems like they are so excited that they can''t even think straight! They probably feel that they are unworthy for you to show your abilities on them! I can understand after all, I am the same" Fu Yin spoke seriously as if he truly believed the words he spoke.

    The crowd trembled and dashed towards the exit leading outside: they would be killed for sure but at least they wouldn''t land in the hands of the small fiend in front of them. They came to a stop when they noticed a seal had also been placed: it was many times stronger than the seal placed on the other exit.

    Many of them couldn''t help but curse in their mind ''Fu**, which bastard laid this seal? It''s so fu**ing broken(Note: broken as in overpowered)''

    ...

    "Cough, cough!" At that moment, in a room in the Zhao clan mansion, the expert that had sealed Lu Fang''s cultivation in the past, the head of the Zhao family, suddenly coughed.

    "Sir, are you alright?" A guard approached and asked as he knelt.

    The man''s figure straightened and waved his hand "Yes, yes, I am fine. So, were you saying?"

    +++

    "Ohohoh" Cheng Hao''s voice rose in the middle of the crowd. Everybody took a step back as they looked with terror and astonishment at the small figure that had appeared suddenly in the middle of their ranks "Where are all you uncles going? Come here, I will also show you my modest skills, don''t be shy!"

    Crying sounds came out from beneath the hoods and everyone thought of different things ''Fu** you and your modest skills... Why did I have to fall in the hands of this demon...'' ''I wanna go home!'' ''Mommy!!!''

    "Oh, you don''t have to worry, although I only have a few days at most, by the end of this period you will all be enlightened in the art of torture!" Cheng Hao smiled gently as the knife he held in his hand seemed... Well, a bitlessgentle.

    "Here, here! I will go really fast so that I will create after images and show you how it is done in detail through them, what do you say?"

    Fu Yin nodded enthusiastically as he wrote down his master''s words (he had long removed a pen from his own dimensional pouch and noted down Cheng Hao''s actions in detail)

    "That would be perfect master!" Hearing the Sadist Duo''s words, only a thought passed through the robed people''s minds... It was: ''Sob sob! I want to dieeeeee!''

    Cheng Hao smiled and he dashed by disrupting the air in front of him reducing the attrition to an extremely low level. Add his cultivation and his usual speed and after images truly started to appear.

    "Here, remove the nails in this matter so that..." "Aaaaaaagh!" "Don''t do the usual stuff, be creative! Don''t stretch their limbs until they snap off, press them in this matter and crush them instead!" "Yyyyyyaaaaaaaaaagh!

    "Also, don''t forget the most horrifying pain a person can feel... Walking on legos!" "Master, you are so cruel! Oh, I know! How about also stubbing his pinky toe on this table''s legs?"

    "Ohoh, my dear sadistic apprentice, you really make me proud when you have such good ideas!"

    "Well, Iamlearning from the best there is, right Master?"

    "You sure are... Now, check this out! This is called the Flying Panda Eats Bamboo But He Get Sick And Has Diarrhea..."

    ...

    Two days passed in such a manner. During the first day, the cries and screams rang out constantly. They were so gruesome that simply by hearing them would make one have nightmares for weeks.

    The second day was much calmer as the people had long since dried out their vocal cords and shed all their tears.

    After the two days had ended, three figures walked out from the Maze''s exit: Xiao Wu was still sleeping peacefully as Fu Yin gave her a piggy ride, the white haired boy had an expression of excitement as if he had been enlightened about something while Cheng Hao smiled and playfully joked around with the boy.

    The only thing that betrayed the happy atmosphere were the drops of blood on Cheng Hao''s shoes as he had only switched his clothes but left his shoes on!

    ...

    Back in the room! Everything was clean and perfect, as if all that had just happened was nothing buta dream. Not a single drop of blood could be found, let alone broken corpses and severed limbs!

    Although, if one were to search carefully, they would find a knife embedded in a rock. Even though it looked like a plain kitchen knife, if one were to listen closely he would able to hear painful cries and horrifying screams coming from the blade as if dozens of souls were wailing and screaming of their pain.

    In the future, nobody would ever know who had created it or why had it been embedded there, the only thing they knew was that anybody who touched the knife would grow insane from the wailing of the Souls residing in it...

 Chapter 31 - A Monster!

    "Senior Cheng Hao! Brother Fu Yin! Brother Xiao Li!" Fan Lai dashed towards the group as soon as he saw them step out of the teleportation hexagram: for the past two days he had been worried sick as he had no news about the three of them.

    Since the Maze was in another place altogether, he could not hear the screams not the cries coming from behind the light formation.

    "Senior Fan Lai, we meet again!" Cheng Hao smiled and bowed to the approaching Fan Lai "I need to thank you for helping my sister! It truly was a lucky instance that you came across her, this truly is good karma!"

    Fan Lai hurriedly bowed back "Senior Cheng Hao, Thank you very much for your help! About your sister... Wait... Sister?"

    Fan Lai lifted his head and looked at the sleeping Xiao Wu: at the moment, the make up had been removed by Cheng Hao and her ponytail had also been freed.

    "Ahaha, Fan Lai, our little sister apparently enjoys crossdressing, I was a bit surprised at first too!" Fu Yin patted Fan Lai''s shoulder and grinned "Don''t you have bad thoughts about her now! Let alone Cheng Hao, her alone would be enough to castrate you!"

    Fan Lai gulped and Cheng Hao also laughed out loud "Ahaha, you are right on that, Fu Yin! Also, Senior Fan Lai, I am younger than you are (At least that is what I would like other people to believe) so you don''t have to call me Senior... Just call me little brother!"

    Cheng Hao also approached Fan Lai and threw an arm around his neck. The three men stared at each other before bursting out laughing. At that moment, Xiao Wu slowly lifted her eyelids.

    "Sister, you are awake!" Cheng Hao exclaimed. Fu Yin let her down and the girl yawned a bit before adjusting to the light.

    "Brother... Where are we... Brother Fu Yin! Brother Fan Lai!" Xiao Wu exclaimed.

    Fan Lai smiled "Did you have a good sleep miss Xiao Wu?"

    Hearing that, Xiao Wu trembled and smiled innocently "What is big brother Lan talking about? I am a boy! My name is Xiao Li, not Wu!" The girl began to feel exposed so she denied the man''s claims.

    "Xiao Wu, before you say that you''d better check your appearance first!" At Cheng Hao''s remark, her face turned red and she dashed to find a mirror. Cheng Hao removed one from his Dimensional Pouch and threw it at her.

    "Now!" Cheng Hao clapped his hands and the pointed out "Shall we proceed? If I remember correctly, the entrance to the Outer Sect is right there!"

    Following Cheng Hao''s finger, the group of nine turned their heads to see a massive teleportation hexagram. It was even larger than the one leading to the maze, probably because, this time, they would no longer be measly Vacant Disciples and the elders decided to make it a little bit fancier.

    "Brother Cheng Hao''s right! Let''s go!" Fan Lai instructed and they slowly stepped on the glowing symbol. First were Fan Lai and all the former members of their soon-to-be Alliance except for Fu Yin. The group teleported away. Following that, Fu Yin bowed to Cheng Hao and waved at Xiao Wu "See ya on the other side!"

    The white haired boy that had aided Xiao Wu so much during the Exam stepped on the hexagram and also faded away.

    "Xiao Wu, go. I still have something to do here!" The girl nodded and stepped on the formation as excitement appeared on her face: she was, from then on,trulya member of the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect!

    After all, a Vacant Disciple can''t be really considered a member of the sect. It is just someone lodging on the sect''s grounds, only by becoming an Outer Disciple can one truly call himself a Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect member.

    She smiled and turned towards Cheng Hao and, before she disappeared, she was able to say "Thank you, Brother!"

    Cheng Hao smiled then turned towards the entrance of the Maze. He stood still for a while, his eyes scanning the area in front of him.

    Cheng Hao nonchalantly waved his sleeve and yelled towards some bushes "Senior, may I humbly ask you to come out?"

    Nobody answered but, hiding in the shadow of those same bushes, a figure trembled ''How can this be? I''m a low Superior stage expert, how could this child possibly sense me?''

    "Senior, I know you are there. I can tell you that you are not a person from the sect, please hurry out!" Cheng Hao bowed once, the action hiding his smirk at the same time.

    ''Fool... How could you possibly escape my eyes? Such a low level stealth technique and you wish to hide from me? Ah, You wish!''

    The air trembled and a person clad in red appeared: he wore a long robe, his head was covered by a wide bamboo hat and he had a strange knife in his hands.

    The only thing visible of the man''s face, his mouth, trembled and then asked "Child... Who are you? How did you notice me?" The man was wary.

    He was also angry, angry that a small child could see through his disguise. If the word of that got out, he would become a laughing stock!

    "Oh? I thought you people would know who I was as after all... You were searching for me..." Cheng Hao smiled and the smile turned into a devilish grin.

    ''T-this child... Could it be...'' The man tightened the grip on the knife and entered a fighting stance. He felt a slight current pass by him and then a voice sounded out from behind him.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    "Oh! Quite a stance you''ve got there! It is just too bad that the knife is a few millimeters too short to bring out its full power..."

    ''What!'' The man turned and kicked off the ground to back away: Cheng Hao, who was standing a few meters away from the red clad man had appeared right behind him.

    Only now did the afterimage fade away... ''Scary... Too scary! I''m out of here!''

    The man attempted to kick the ground to run away but he suddenly noticed a big, red object in Cheng Hao''s hands. It was contracting and blood was slowly flowing out.

    The man looked down and he could see blood trickling down on the red clothes and a large, gaping hole on his left chest. He lifted his head just as blood surged in his throat. He spat it out and collapsed on the ground.

    His consciousness was about to fade away and he looked at Cheng Hao. His lips were moving and the man heard a few words "Zhao family... Zi family... Doesn''t seem to change much, they are trash all the same!"

    The man''s eyelids closed and all went dark. The last thing he saw was the boy crushing the heart in his hands and a golden blur opening its fanged mouth to bite down on him...

    +++

    In the highest grade facility in the Outer Sect, the Outer Tower, an old man was calmly sipping tea. He was fat, had a short trimmed beard and a beautiful pair of handlebar mustache: it had been at most three days since the exam started and he was pretty confident that he would be able to enjoy at least a few more days before the reports began to fly in again.

    Unfortunately, that was not the case. As the unspoken rule said, as soon as he entered the bathtub... Well, the phone didn''t ring, but somebody still called for him "Sir, we finally have the reports on the Outer Sect Exam results!" The voice came from behind the closed door.

    The old man in the room was shocked and then answered "So early? Is it true?"

    "Yes Sir, a few people have passed the hidden tests. Would you like to have their files?" The voice asked. The old man hurried, wore a pair of pants below, put a robe on top and opened the door, reaching out for the paper in the boy''s hands.

    He skimmed through it and he was pleasantly surprised: these people were pretty talented altogether so there didn''t seem to be cheaters. He was surprised at Fu Yin''s report. He asked "How old is this boy?"

    The youth bowed and answered "We have no clear information on his actual birthdate, but unfortunately he has already passed the fifteen years mark"

    The old man''s surprised face turned into one of pity as he put down the paper and sighed "Didn''t make it again... Damn, why can''t they make the rules a bit less strict? I mean, this is already the fourth person in the twenty years that I had been scouting disciples that have barely passed the fifteenth year mark! They are still heaven-defying geniuses, for goodness sake!"

    "If I can''t find another candidate soon, then the First Protector will kill me! His adopted grandson has enough talent but we can''t have a single person be a Twin Star, we need two! That old fart..."

    The other man stood as still as he could, but it was still a bit clear by the tears in the corner of his eyes that he was holding his laughter in... "What is it, Nu Zong?" The older man asked.

    The man coughed "Nothing sir. Here, please read the information regarding the last two!" The man pointed with excitement.

    Following his subordinate''s actions, the older man looked down... Before jumping from his seat in fright "E-eight years old... mid level Basic stage???"

    The elder turned and scolded the man beside him "What nonsense is this! Nu Zong! You have been my subordinate for three years, I didn''t expect a respectable man such as you to make a mistake like this!"

    The old man was about to rip the report when Nu Zong''s voice reached his ears "Sir... Senior Bai Tong has checked it himself. It is no error nor is it a joke, it is the truth!" Hearing those words, the old man stopped instantly and tears began to swell up in his eyes.

    Bai Tong was that elder at the Superior stage that had opened the portal to the Maze, if someone with his cultivation had scanned someone weaker with his Superior Will, there would be no chance of making a mistake.

    The old man picked up the report from the desk as if he had seen the light at the end of the tunnel "After twenty, long years... I have been rewarded! A star! The missing star has appeared! Ahaha, I wonder, how will I be rewarded by the First Protector after this!"

    The old man was jumping up and down from joy as he read the report again and again...

    The younger male smiled and his eyes turned towards the last report from the original pile ''This old fool truly has eyes but can''t recognize Mount Tai... He actually skipped the most interesting person in the group...''

    Nu Zong man picked up the report and then flashed away. When the old man turned, he noticed that the young man had disappeared but didn''t notice the missing report, happy as he was.

    +++

    A few miles away, in the first ring, there were a total of nine great towers: they were called the Nine Knights and their King. That was because nine smaller towers surrounded a bigger one in the middle. In the nine smaller towers, also each one slightly bigger than the previous, resided the mysterious Nine Protectors of the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect while the Sect Head resided in the central tower.

    They were huge and each one was made out of different materials. One was made of crystal, one was completely carved out of wood and another still looked as if it had been built out of human bones.

    Each year, the nine protectors would have a private sparring match to decide the hierarchy, although some refused to participate, the strength of the nine protectors were pretty much about the same, meaning that even if the strongest wanted to act as a tyrant, only two more protectors would be needed to chop him down.

    That was of course, except for the top two protectors, true dragon''s amongst men. One of them alone would be able to fight on equal terms with more than six other protectors! Although together they would be invincible, they did not get along at all.

    One of the nine towers, which was also the third in size, was quite peculiar: it was completely made out of golden weapons. They varied from short swords to great swords, from knifes to spears, from bows to war hammers... All in all, it looked pretty domineering and it looked as if, with a single command, the tower would gain life and turn into a rain of slaughter.

    Atop the tower was a single room. The decorations inside were pretty much nonexistent except from a few extremely fancy weapons hovering in the air. Everything was completely made out of gold, so almost everywhere one would turn he risked to blind him or herself.

    In that single room, the air trembled and a figure appeared and sat on the throne. The young male from before snapped his fingers and his appearance turned into that of an old man. He had long, white mustache, white hair and sharp, penetrating, golden eyes.

    As soon as he did that, a knocked out Nu Zong also regained his consciousness elsewhere.

    "This Cheng Hao... He surely doesn''t stop to amaze me! To think that he has reached the mid Advanced stage so soon... If I don''t hurry as well I will be left behind!"

    He waved a hand and his outer sect elder robe turned into a golden robe. On the back, words were written in a vertical manner: Lao Jiang Hu - Golden Tiger (N: Laohu means Tiger. It''s a wordplay on his name)

    "Still... To think he would be that much of a..." The man threw the paper in front of him. The paper fluttered a bit before falling on the ground:

    ''Name: Cheng Hao;

    Age: Eight Years - Nine Months old;

    Cultivation: Low Level Advanced Stage

    Clan: Unknown;

    Description: Unknown;

    Special Notes: unable to see through his cultivation by normla means, had to rely on a special method; killing intent of a bloodthirsty beast; fighting power unknown''

    The man smiled and continued "... Monster!"

    ''Conclusion/Comments: Sir... He is a motherf***ing Monster!''

 Chapter 32 - Turning Into Trash

    After passing the exam, each of the people forming the All But In Blood Alliance headed their own way but promised to meet up two days from then to formally join the Outer Sect together: Fan Lai would go back to his clan to report the events and to free Solomon, Liang Ran went back to his homeland while everyone else also had a place to go back to or people to visit.

    Even Lu Fang had matters to attend to, such as training himself, meet some people and search for his daughter.

    Only Cheng Hao and Xiao Wu stayed in the grounds of the Sect, so they were also the first to notice the letters sent to them. To sum it up, it was just of formalities and informing the owner/s of the huts would have leave the wooden houses to come live in the fifth ring.

    After a day of resting and cultivating, Xiao Wu and Cheng Hao woke up early (although Cheng Hao knew that neither of them truly slept much anyways) on the second day to put all their belongings in their Heaven&Earth pouches to carry them over to their new house.

    "Yeah, I will definitely miss this place!" Cheng Hao threw himself on the comfy bed and happily laid down. Xiao Wu pouted and then reprimanded "I won''t! I nearlydieddied a few times in here, you know?"

    The girl put her cosmetics in the pouch and proceeded to clean the rest of her room "Also, if you have other apprentices I don''t know of, please tell me now!"

    Cheng Hao chuckled "I''m sorry for not telling you about Fu Yin and the other guys, but man, that entrance, it was so worth it! I was so cool back there, wasn''t I?"

    The girl sighed and then began packing her stuff "C''mon brother, we need to leave this place soon! We have got our new home in the fifth ring!"

    Cheng Hao nodded and looked at the ceiling ''It''s all going so smoothly... Everything is just so easy, it seems like it''s going to be smooth sailing from now on...

    ...

    ...

    ...

    Ok, I admit it, I just want to fight and am really bored, so I raised a death flag, ok!''

    "Brother, where is your dimensional pouch?" Hearing the girl''s voice, Cheng Hao looked around and then said "It''s on that shelf, above theQi: its mysteries and its secrets tome" "Found it, thanks bro!"

    Some time passed and Cheng Hao sighed. That ceiling under which he had met new people and gained new allies would soon turn into another one, an unfamiliar ceiling, in the Outer Sect...

    "Now then..." Cheng Hao gets up and pats his clothes "Time to go! Thanks for packing my things as well sis!" "Oh,please! If I hadn''t you would not have moved from that spot! You are no genius, you are just a lazy bum!"

    Cheng Hao acted as if he didn''t hear and shouted "On we go! To the Outer Sect!" The two stepped out of the house and they bid a last farewell to hut #5742 before heading towards the walls.

    They were in no hurry and happily looked around at the sceneries they would probably not see unless it was by chance, as there would no need to go back here!

    They walked for a bit, chatting and listening to Cheng Hao''s stories, when someone called them over. "Sister Wu! Master Hao! Over here!" Fu Yin waved as he grinned happily, his blue eyes squinted and his mouth smiled from one ear to the other. He almost didn''t seem human and looked kind of like a certain anime character with whisker marks on his cheeks...

    Xiao Wu still found him handsome though: he just seemed to have that kind of charm that made him beautiful no matter the situation he was in.

    Behind him were also Fan Lai, Da Bing, Baba, Yan Rui, Tai Long, and pretty much everyone else from the All But In Blood Alliance except for Solomon. Fan Lai had told Cheng Hao when he had come back in the evening of the first day that he had been freed but still needed to rest for a couple of days.

    "Brother Fu Yin! We are coming!" Xiao Wu grabbed Cheng Hao by the collar of the robe and dashed towards the white haired boy, dragging the young boy around like a drag. They reached the small group of nine in a flash.

    "Xiao Wu, couldn''t you, by any chance, act a bit more like a woman? A woman doesn''t grab someone still in the middle of a one sided conversation with a patch of grass and drags them for tens of meters without showing any kind of effort..." Cheng Hao dodged to the side "Oh! That''s a nice blush! Good job!"

    "Ahah, still as cheerful as ever!" Fan Lai approached and bowed to the two martial siblings "It is all thanks to you that we are able to stand here now! Thank you for everything, Xiao Wu and Cheng Hao. I, Fan Lai, would now formally want to invite you to join the All But In Blood Alliance!"

    Both Cheng Hao and Xiao Wu frowned "Leader!" Said the girl "Did you go ahead and register yourselves without waiting for us?" The girl glared at the boy but the youth just smiled and shook his head "I did not. Apparently, someone already registered all of us. Only brother Cheng Hao was left out!"

    Cheng Hao''s eyes widened before calming down and he began to ponder ''Why would that be... It is easy to figure out how and why someone would register them, to gain a favor, as registering takes up a pretty long time. As for who, it would need to be at least an Inner Sect Elder, or... The Exam Supervisor!''

    Having reached that conclusion, Cheng Hao couldn''t help but furrow his brows "But why... Why did he not register me? He either knows or does not know of my strength. If he knows, he either chose not to register me for some reason or it was a mistake. If he doesnotknow of my strength...''

    Cheng Hao lifted his head and whispered "Someone is hiding me from those Sect Elders'' eyes..."

    Goldy that had been hovering a short distance away approached after hearing those words and he nodded "You''ve come to my same conclusion, I see that great minds truly do think alike... And I think we both know who and why would do this"

    Cheng Hao nodded ''It was most likely that Reverend stage cultivator, as for the reason...'' He smiled coldly It would be because he wants me all for himself ''I don''t mind, as long as that old guy helps and protects me, I am willing to pay this kind of price!''This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

    After coming to his conclusion, the boy shook his hands in front of him "It is no problem, no problem at all! We can just go and do it now can''t we? As for joining the alliance..." Cheng Hao eyed Xiao Wu and seeing her moving her head up and down frenetically, he also nodded "We accept!"

    Fan Lai laughed "Ahaha, great! Let''s go registering you and then we will formally have you join the sect!" He turned towards the guys behind him "Let''s go!"

    Fan Lai dashed towards the doors leading to the Outer Sect''s fifth ring and was soon followed by the former members of his group plus Xiao Wu and Cheng Hao.

    +++

    They came to a stop by the door where an old man was sitting in a chair inside a stall, he was not wearing any set of clothes from the sect, which would put him in quite a bit of trouble if he were to do that any deeper than the fifth ring.

    Still, the man''s golden eyes followed the group as he sat on the chair with his hands joined on top of the table. Behind him were clothes and keys of all sizes and shapes.

    ''This scene looks awfully familiar...'' Cheng Hao lifted his head and then his complexion changed ''It is really him!''

    Xiao Wu also cried out in shock "Senior! Is this Senior, by any chance, the Elder acting as the gatekeeper of the sixth ring?"

    The old man looked over and he was also surprised "Oh, those two polite children! You are so fast, to think you have actually gotten through the exam for the Outer Ring at your first try! This old man wonders what kind of cultivation you children have now. I won''t ask of course, but I am sure I would be pretty shocked"

    The old man chuckled for a bit and then eyed Cheng Hao who also smiled grimly ''Pretty words. Of course you don''t need to ask, for an expert that is currently using his Reverend Will to look at our cultivation, why should he ask for something he already knows?''

    "Anyways, I guess you have come here to register yourselves and to get the sect robes as well as the keys to the huts, right?" The old man asked. Fan Lai stepped forwards and bowed "Senior-" the old man interrupted him by waving his hands in front of him.

    "Ohoh, you juniors need not treat me with respect, just call me old man Lao. I am just a gatekeeper, speak your mind! It will also become easier for me that way!"

    Fan Lai straightened and then asked again "Elder Lao, I have a request. We apparently have already been registered, only our little brother here needs to register, could you please take care of that? As for the sect robes, on the contrary, we need them as well."

    Elder Lao nodded as if he had expected such a situation to happen and then held up his hand "Wait a moment" before taking a few clothes of varying sizes and offering them to the youths in front of him. After they all changed their previous robes into the new ones, Cheng Hao exchanged a glance with Elder Lao.

    Seeing that he needed to tell him something, Cheng Hao nodded. Seeing the child had understood his intentions, the old man asked Fan Lai "May I please have a word with this child over here, alone?"

    Cheng Hao also smiled at the group "Everyone, the registration will still take a few minutes to do, so don''t wait for me, I will catch up to you soon!"

    Hearing his words, Xiao Wu frowned but nodded: she was sure that Cheng Hao had his reasons to do that "Alright! Brothers, let''s go directly to our new hut! We will wait for big brother Hao there!" The girl turned towards the old man "Elder Lao, will it be the same as last time? With us two living together?"

    The old man shook his head, leaving Xiao Wu confused. Fan Lai smiled and explained "Since we are now an Alliance, we have our own building just for our Alliance members. I already have the key" the youth turned towards Cheng Hao "Junior Hao, we will be waiting at our Alliance building. It should be pretty easy to find and easy to remember, its number is #1000. We will walk so you should have no problem catching up anyway"

    Cheng Hao nodded "Don''t worry, I will try to wrap it up fast!" The group of ten all nodded and waved at him "See you later, cutie!" "Yan Rui, stop flirting! Brother Hao, would you mind testing your knifes on me? You see, I''d make a pretty good targe-" "Let''s go!"

    Fan Lai interrupted Su Tan and Yan Rui and then began to walk towards the fifth ring.

    They all followed him and soon vanished from sight. Cheng Hao sighed and the turned to face the old man "Elder Lao, what exactly did you want to speak to me about?"

    The old man''s previous bright and cheerful face turned cold "Disciple Cheng Hao, I will ask you to do one thing. It will sound pretty strange, but if you do it, I promise that I will reward you deeply for it" old Lao looked at the boy in the eye.

    The child already had an idea of what the old man would ask, it was probably related to him hiding his strength while in public. Still, he asked anyways "What is Elder''s request? If I can, junior will carry it out!"

    Elder Lao smiled and then placed his fingers on top of Cheng Hao''s forehead. The boy didn''t react in time and felt something bind his cultivation down ''Crap! He actually dares to do something like this!''

    The child was about to struggle free when the bit of rationality in his head told him not to. He wouldn''t be able to react in time anyway and it would only make Elder Lao more suspicious if he could get away either way...

    The child gritted his teeth as he felt a seal forming in his sea of consciousness: the old man had sealed his cultivation base!

    "I am sorry for doing this so suddenly... But I must ask you one thing: do not reveal your talent. You will act as if you have only made it this far by relying on your companions. Do that, and I will owe you a great debt"

    He shook his head in apology "I cannot answer your questions now. You only need to know that this concern both my interests and your well being! Don''t worry, in the future, everything will become clear. Please..." The old man bowed to the child in front of him "... Trust this old man just this once!"

    Cheng Hao was a bit shocked as his cultivation regressed back into the Basic stage, Inferior stage and until he became a person whose cultivation was nonexistent: he had become a puny mortal, a piece of trash!

    Cheng Hao swallowed the urge to break free of his seal and punch the man in the face but then calmed down: if someone at Elder Lao''s level of power insisted on doing something like this he must have had his reasons.

    The child inhaled slowly and then exhaled "Fine. I will trust you elder" he smiled as much as he could to give the impression of a kind hearted person who would gladly put his faith into others.

    Elder Lao nodded happily and then pointed to the doors "From the moment you pass those doors, you become a new person: the strength you displayed was actually all because of a forbidden medicine that allowed you to enhance your strength through horrifying methods, but you didn''t know of the aftereffects that would wipe away your cultivation. Here, eat this!"

    Elder Lao offered him a pill. When he took the pill in his hand, Cheng Hao could feel that the medicinal pill was pretty strange. He lifted his head questioningly and the old man answered "This is a fake Forbidden Pill. You will call this pill the Last Piece Has Been Set, remember this name! If somebody asks you about about it, tell him that!"

    "It has the same aura as a true Forbidden Pill, but has no effect whatsoever. This way, when you meet somebody that is suspicious of your story, he will just have to look in your Dantian (Note: Yes, Dantian, this is not the Core, it''s something else, see the note at the end) to find the remains of this strange aura"

    Cheng Hao nodded once again and swallowed the pill: it didn''t taste of anything, it was just like drinking water. He soon felt the fake aura from the pill reaching his stomach then moving towards the Dantian and stopping there. He gasped in admiration at the old man''s methods and also cursed him in his mind.

    "Now go. And remember, you are no genius. You are a piece of trash, the scum that would use his comrades to step even a bit closer to the top!" The old man nodded "Yes, you are trash! From now on, you are the worst, am I clear?"

    Cheng Hao looked silently at the old man in front of him before picking up his clothes. He annoyingly said "What are you doing old man? Give me my clothes and disappear from my sight! A puny gatekeeper wishes to speak with me? Dream on!" The old man backed away at the sudden change in attitude, before smiling excitedly: this kid truly was a good actor, it even startled him!

    To do this, not only would he need to know how to change his expressions and manners at will, he would have to hold great knowledge about how to speak and such... Truly, a genius!

    "If it is him... We might win!"Elder Lao nodded and smiled looking at the sky above him "Let''s break free!"

    The child wore his robe and headed towards the fifth ring "You wanna play a game, old man! Oh, I''ll show you how this game is played! Turning into trash? Nice game, I praise you for that, butImake the rules, not you! I will show you what human scum truly looks like!"

 Chapter 33 - You Are No Brother Of Mine!

    "Cheng Hao, why are you complying with that old man''s foolish demands?" Goldy hovered in midair as he reprimanded the golden eyed boy "Do you have any idea how many cultivation resources you will lose access to? Just rip off the seal!"

    The young boy ignored the snake as he headed towards the place his comrades were going to.

    He took a small shortcut, although he did not have a cultivation base anymore, his fleshly body was still outstanding and the Roc''s blessing allowed him to move even faster. Right now, there was close to no difference to the speed he had when he still had his cultivation than now.

    Still, he didn''t dare to move at high speeds as he feared it would harm his body if he didn''t reinforce it with his cultivation base.

    [Note: Speed without Cultivation Base: Fleshly Body (<1%) + Roc''s blessing(>99%);

    Speed with cultivation base - Cultivation BaseandFleshly Body(still less than <1%) + Roc''s blessing(>99%).

    Basically, most of his speed comes from the Roc''s ability, not from his Cultivation Base or Fleshly Body, so missing one isn''t a big deal. Right now, he has a weak fleshly body so he can only use a small percentage of his true speed until he either has a breakthrough in cultivation or powers up his Fleshly Body. Unfortunately, since his cultivation is sealed, he can''t do either of those things.

    Also, the Roc''s blessing is a part of him, not a borrowed power, as it is simply the knowledge of how to manipulate the air and reduce friction and propel himself forward by using the particles that were supposed to slow him down to move faster. This is why, even without cultivation base, he is able to move at incredible speeds]

    Cheng Hao jumped on a wall, contracted his abdominals and kicked off the stone wall, somersaulting on a nearby rooftop. He landed on the surface and then began to run on top of the buildings, cutting by more than half the time needed to join up with his comrades.

    He leaped from rooftop to rooftop like a shadow, twisting and turning in the air just like an expert gymnast. Finally, after a few minutes of running and jumping, he finally saw the group of ten below him.

    He gulped and then prepared himself for what''s to come. He breathed in and a out a few times and finally, when he had completely calmed down, he jumped.

    He dropped down from a building five meters tall and cushioned the fall by rolling on his side before jumping back up again.

    "Brother!" Xiao Wu was the first to notice Cheng Hao. Her expression though, soon turned from joy to shock: Cheng Hao looked really tired, and no cultivation could be sensed on his body.

    "Brother, what happened to you!" Xiao Wu dashed but, as soon as she got close... *slap* Cheng Hao slapped her! "Don''t come closer! You fool, this is all your fault!" The young man yelled as the people walking by them stopped to look at the commotion.

    Xiao Wu rubbed her cheek "Brother... What are you?" *slap* The sound of skin hitting skin rang out again. This time, it was even louder than before. Cheng Hao''s shoulders moved up and down as he yelled.

    "Why did you tell him about the Forbidden Medicine! I told you not to tell anyone about that! Now look, I have lost my cultivation because that Elder removed the pill by force! Are you happy now?"

    Cheng Hao was completely enraged and even Xiao Wu was shocked by his behavior as she tried to recall when she had done anything like that. "Brother... What do you mean Forbidden Medicine?"

    Cheng Hao trembled "You bitch! That medicine gave me my cultivation and my talent, it was a divine Pill! So what if I relied on draining other cultivators'' cultivation bases? It was a godly item! I even raised these pieces of trash..." Cheng Hao pointed at Fu Yin, Fan Lai and the people from the All But In Blood Alliance.

    "... To the point I gave up precious time and resources, and now, all that is ruined!"

    Hearing those words, a few gears clicked in the minds of a few bystanders and one said aloud "Did I hear correctly? This guy wanted to steal those guys'' cultivation? What scum!"

    Fan Lai stepped out "Junior Cheng Hao... Are your words true? Don''t joke with us...". Cheng Hao turned and confronted the youth in front of him "Shut up! You damn bastard, I should have just let you die then!"

    He gritted his teeth "You fools, of course it''s true! Why else would I help you otherwise? Such good natured people that give something for nothing do not exist in the real world!" Cheng Hao yelled as he pointed at Fan Lai.

    He saw a shocked Fu Yin with the corner of his eyes and he also yelled at him.

    "And you! You bastard, why would I help you so much! The descendant of a friend? Are you stupid??? I am just eight years old, how could that possibly be?" Cheng Hao laughed hysterically.

    "There are no good naturedrichpeople! There are no good naturedpowerfulpeople! Somebody wouldn''t be rich if he had been kind enough to share his wealth! Somebody would have died long ago before he could become powerful as he tried to protect the weak!"

    As he snapped, Cheng Hao kept yelling at the stunned group and the crowd of people began to look at him, enlightened but also disgusted. Enlightened by this new view of the world and disgusted by the person who taught it to them.

    Fu Yin gulped and put his hands on top of the nails embedded in his temples. His pupils turned into two inverted triangles and he examined Cheng Hao: what he found was no longer the cultivation he usually emitted, but a light blocking his view. Furthermore, a strange black mist lingered in the boy''s Dantian. That was the aura left behind after consuming a forbidden pill!

    Seeing, Fu Yin first widened his eyes in surprise as a sharp glint flashed by them. Then, his expression turned fierce as he also said "I see... So you really only got your strength because of that pill! To think that I, Fu Yin, had regarded you as both a master and a brother, it is truly something of which I will be ashamed for a long time!"

    "Brother Fu Yin! Don''t say that! Brother Cheng Hao isn''t usually like this, he might just have some circumstances and-" "Xiao Wu! Can''t you see? The Cheng Hao you knew was only a fake: this is his true personality!" Fan Lai interrupted Xiao Wu.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

    He walked up to Cheng Hao and looked at him in the eyes. Cheng Hao backed away at first but still glared at the tall man. Finally, the older youth sighed "To think I really fell for your tricks..."

    Cheng Hao''s eyes widened and he spit out a mouthful of blood as Fan Lai punched him in the gut "You are nobrother of mine anymore, don''t you dare step close to us or to our sect or we will exterminate you. You are just a weakling now, do you think you would be able to defend yourself? Get out of our sight, now!"

    Hearing those words, Cheng Hao''s heart pained but he nevertheless gritted his teeth and produced some saliva as he punched himself in his own head for what he was about to do...

    Cheng Hao stood up and he spit straight in Fan Lai''s eye. "You bastard!" The tall youth cursed and threw another punch at the eight years old child. "No!" Xiao Wu blocked the strike with her own palm. Fan Lai was shocked at first but then backed away.

    "Brother, please apologize and tell everyone this was just a prank! I have never heard of this medicine, just tell them! Tell them you have made this all up!" Cheng Hao stood still, his eyes cold, stared at him the girl in front of him and shook his head.

    "Why bother hiding things,sister" He hissed "After all, I am only a useless mortal, why bother?"

    Xiao Wu shook her head and stuttered "B-brother? W-What are you saying? Why aren''t you telling them?"

    Fu Yin grabbed Xiao Wu''s shoulder and picked her off the ground just in time to dodge a strike from Cheng Hao "Sister Wu, he won''t tell us because hecan''t.He has a weird aura in his Dantian as well as not a single strand of cultivation in his sea of consciousness..."

    He gritted his teeth as he clenched his fist "It is probably the residue from that pill he took. My guess is that, as long as the pill is in his body, it will do no harm and instead allow him to consume other''s cultivations. But if it removed..."

    Fu Yin looked at Cheng Hao "They lose their ability to cultivate altogether. You may not have noticed as you were unconscious, but during the two days me and your brother had been killing those people from the Fan clan, no cultivation base was left on the corpses. I noticed it by chance and I didn''t give it much a thought at the time, but now I understand everything"

    Cheng Hao stared expressionlessly at Fu Yin as the though of the golden dragon absorbing the cultivation base to increase its own popped in his head. He smiled at his luck and then he shouted "That''s right! You should thank Xiao Wu, because by telling that Elder she saved your fu**ing asses you bastards!"

    He turned towards the confused eight years old girl "Remember this, I, Cheng Hao, will never forget what you have done for me! I will carve it deep in my heart, never to forget it! Your... Kindness!"

    Fu Yin was seemingly angered by the boy''s words and he summoned one of the drills made out of Aura. He charged towards Cheng Hao and stabbed straight through his stomach.

    Fu Yin brought his mouth to Cheng Hao''s hear and murmured "I will wait for you to redeem yourself" Fu Yin dissipated the spear and backed up.

    Fu Yin''s surroundings darkened as a faint black smoke could be seen rising from underneath his robes "You dare say anything about Xiao Wu, and your life will be next!"

    Cheng Hao spat out blood again and he smiled grimly as he looked at everyone on the scene "So I can''t insult her? Then, what about I tell everyoneyourlittle secret?" The white haired boy trembled and he was about to pounce again at the child when Fan Lai stopped him.

    He shook his head "There is no reason to worry about trash like him... Let''s leave" he gestured with his hand for the group to move on and the also crowd dispersed after a short while. Only Fan Lai and Cheng Hao remained. Cheng Hao could barely stand and had a hole gaping on his stomach.

    Fan Lai sighed and threw a pill at him "This is a special pill that can regenerate serious wounds in a month or less. Consider this your reward for passing the exam in the tenth place!" The man was about to leave, when Cheng Hao threw the pill back at him "Don''t need your compassion... You cattle!"

    The boy sighed, turned and walked off together with the other members of the All But In Blood Alliance. Xiao Wu turned her head to look at the boy that up she had treated as a brother for more than a month, with whom she had shared life changing moments and that had helped her and that had saved her many times.

    Xiao Wu at one point couldn''t bear it anymore, she run away from the group and headed back to Cheng Hao.

    She looked at him, still standing in a pool of blood. She lifted her head and he also looked her in the eye. Her expression was one of pity, his expression was one of rage... Suddenly, a hint of apology and regret flashed by in Cheng Hao''s eyes, but it disappeared as soon as he blinked.

    Xiao Wu caught it and forcefully hugged the boy. Cheng Hao tried to escape the hug and even pushed her forehead away. She was shocked for a while but then smiled gently. She hugged him even tighter andkissed him on top of his head.

    She smiled and in her eyes suddenly there was understanding and forgiveness. Cheng Hao looked down and streams of tears fell down as he turned and left, dragging behind him his wounded body with each step.

    Goldy sighed and stayed on Xiao Wu''s shoulder, but nobody except for the two siblings could see that.

    Xiao Wu turned and also headed her own way. Fan Lai looked at her face and nodded "That''s the spirit, Sister Xiao Wu. We are brothers, and as such we do not betray each other. Your expression tells me that you understand, good!" Fan Lai turned and spoke "Let''s move out!"

    Xiao Wu''s eyes were ruthless and her lips were pressed together in a thin line. Goldy also looked angry and he wrapped around her neck like a scarf and fell asleep, its face contracted in an unsightly frown.

    Anger burned deep into Xiao Wu''s eyes, hatred that could not be dissolved easily. Yet, the target for that hatred didn''t seem to be Cheng Hao at all.

    Fu Yin noticed that and looked at Cheng Hao''s retreating figure ''A master for a day, a Father for a life. I will be waiting for you, my master!''

    +++

    The sun was falling down and it was already late in the afternoon. Finally, the air trembled and a figure appeared a few steps from the place where the confrontation between Cheng Hao and his previous comrades took place.

    The figure was only wearing robes identifying him as an Outer Sect Elder, but he also had the strength of the late Superior Stage, which could have easily gained him a place in the Core Sect.

    The figure was a fat old man with brown eyes, white short hair, a white trimmed beard and a pair of handlebar mustaches. The Exam Supervisor stepped out from the shadows and took a look at the reports he had in his hand.

    "I only noticed that these reports had a person missing so I was about to go back to ask, but it seems like I have only lost my time. Well, I guess that boy is lucky! If he had also been a candidate for the twin stars, he would most likely have died! After all, there is already a candidate, and he is the son of the first protector nonetheless!"

    The man grinned.

    "Why would that lustful young man prefer a boy over a girl as his partner? That brat would have have had no chance of survival if that had been the case, luckily for him, he was rendered powerless before that had happened... Truly a lucky bastard!"

    He lifted the hand holding the blank report he was about to ask to fill with the boy''s information and it was immediately shredded by a strong gust of wind. "Now then..." The old man turned towards the first ring "Time to report to Master First Protector!" The old man disappeared.

    A few moments after the fat Elder had disappeared, he reappeared again suddenly and looked around intently, looking for abnormalities in his surroundings. Noticing nothing put of place, he smiled and then went away, for real this time.

    Twenty breaths later, the air trembled once again and the old Elder Lao stepped out. He was still wearing mundane clothes and his amiable face would make people mistake him for a nice old man without a shred of cultivation.

    Unfortunately, those people would not survive for long if the old man decided to attack with his Reverend stage power.

    "It seems like I was just in time... Cheng Hao, I hope you will forgive me. From now on, you will live in the shadows, until I posessenough strength to fight back" the old man gritted his teeth and tightened his fists "Soon... Wait for me just a bit longer, I only need a bit more to finishit! Cheng Hao, you will have to hold on until then!"

    Having said these words, the old man also disappeared in the night. A strong wind blowed away the clouds and the starry sky was revealed, many shining stars glowing on the dark background...

 Chapter 34 - Brother

    Cheng Hao slid down the nearby wall and gritted his teeth. The pain from his wounds heightened as he bumped on the stone wall. He had gotten a new key from the mysterious Elder Lao together with his clothes back then and he had finally reached the hut the Elder had prepared for him.

    He closed the door and took out the magical seal that had been sealing Lu Fang''s cultivation base and set it up to block all entrances to his room. Since he now didn''t have the slightest trace of cultivation any longer, unless he lifted the bindings on his cultivation base, he could not use his own power to lay a seal and had to do things like this.

    First thing first, he ate a Flesh Healing Pill to heal himself and a Sense Numbing Pill to diminish the pain. He had gotten those pills way back when he had stolen the Dimensional Pouch from Lu Biao when he first arrived at the sect.

    The wound began to close, and after a few hours that Cheng Hao passed crosslegged absorbing the pill''s energy through his Dantian, he finally threw himself on the ground and laid on his back for a while.

    He looked at the ceiling of his new hut: the small stone house was a tad bigger than its wooden version, but that might have been just his impression since Xiao Wu wasn''t there. Still, it was tidy, neat and, most importantly, isolated, just what he wanted!

    He ate a Blood Replenishing Pill and stood up to see what the hut was like. It was already finely decorated, the bed already had mattresses as well as the shelves already holding some books. There was also a guy lying on the bed beside of him, his snores were also pretty realistic...

    ...

    Cheng Hao took out a wooden bat from his Heaven&Earth pouch and approached the figure lying on the bed lifting the blunt weapon above his head "Who the hell are you???"

    The man slowly opened his eyes showing no concern whatsoever about the current situation. He yawned and stretched for about a minute completely ignoring Cheng Hao. When he had finished his stretching, Cheng Hao smiled gently and asked "Would you also like a cup of tea, by any chance?"

    The man yawned "Sure. Add In two teaspoons of sugar, and pour in half a cup of milk as well. If there is no milk, then prepare some coffee instead and add in four teaspoons of sugar...".

    Hearing the man had actually answered seriously, a vein popped on Cheng Hao''s forehead but he still put away his bat and sat on the bed on the other side of the room.

    "Now brat, could you tell me why I woke up with an eight years old child brandishing a bat in front of my bed?" The man was probably in his late thirties or early forties, he had brown eyes and his wavy, blonde hair fell on his shoulders.

    He wasn''t really the definition of handsome, but he wouldn''t displease the female population in any way if he tried to flirt with them.

    "Senior, I am Cheng Hao. I have been assigned to live here by the Elder guarding the gate. As for why you woke up with a bat lifted above your head is because I was startled to find someone in the same hut as the one I had been assigned to..."

    The man pondered for a bit and then sat up on his bed, staring at Cheng Hao "You don''t seem to have a cultivation... How did you get here, in the Outer Sect, with your strength? No, never mind. It''s not my business and I don''t wanna ask anyways" the man looked at the brat in front of him

    "Cheng Hao... Was it? Ok. Do you by any chance know of two children about eight years old with frightening power and talent? I am looking for them"

    Cheng Hao frowned "Why is senior looking for such people? Is it only because you want to get close to have them as friends when they grow up in the future?"

    The blonde male shook his head "It''s something like that, just a slight bit more... Complicated. I''ll just tell you that my father is a big shot in the sect and while he has described their talent in detail, he hasn''t told me about their appearance, meaning, I am stuck until I can find out what they look like!" The man threw himself on the bed and began to stare at the ceiling.

    Cheng Hao gulped and then asked "What are senior''s plans if youdofind out who they are?" The man examined the child lying on the bed and then answered without thinking about it "Oh, it''s easy... Maybe harass them? Or pamper them? I don''t know, it''s my first time doing this..."

    Hearing those words, Cheng Hao''s stare turned cold and ruthless. He grasped the golden drop of blood, the only weapon strong enough to fight against Cultivators that he could use, and prepared to slice the man in two.

    Still, all that was done without the blonde man knowing any of it and Cheng Hao still wore a mask of confusion "Sir, why would you do that?"

    The man pondered a bit and then smiled "Well, it''s not easy to explain... I will see once I meet them!" The mysterious man looked at the closed door.

    "Right now though, I think it would be better to deal with the imminent threat rather than thinking about the future" the man got up and removed the clothes he was wearing, showing his toned muscles below.

    Cheng Hao almost whistled when he saw the man''s body: it was not bulky or too thin, it was a body forged through fighting, not exercising. This was the body of a true Martial Artist.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    He opened one of the wardrobes in the room and removed a white cloak from inside it. He put it on and he turned towards Cheng Hao "I will be done in a moment..."

    Cheng Hao though, didn''t notice his smile or the ruthless glint in his gaze, instead he only had eyes on one thing: at first, the white robe seemed like a normal robe, but through a deeper investigation, one would find that on the robe, going from his left shoulder to the right ankle, there were a few blacks stripes.

    Seeing them, Cheng Hao gulped "Damn! Those black strips... They couldn''t be three or two? No, they just have to be four! I have openly disrespected and even almost attacked a Core Sect Elder!"

    The man''s eyes glinted in the darkness of the room and ...

    +++

    Outside of the stone hut, a few dozen people had gathered "Alright, everyone, be careful! We will act fast and that shameful guy will be dead before he could even say ''help''!"

    The man speaking was tall and burly, carrying a two handed sword on his back. He drew the sword from its sheath and signaled the people to prepare to break in.

    "Charge!" At the yell, forty people charged towards the house, some had powerful skills that enhanced the body, some used some kind of ability to strengthen their blows and some others relied only on their physical strength.

    They had a varied cultivation ranging from the Inferior stage to the Advanced stage. The leading person''s cultivation was the highest at the low level Advanced stage.

    The burly man was about to kick the door open, when the door slid and opened by itself. A man in his late thirties walked out, he was tall, had medium length blonde hair and brown eyes. He looked calmly at the large group heading his way "May I ask what you disciples might be doing?"

    "Shut up! Who the hell do you think you a-" the voice was cut off as his eyes widened and his mouth gaped at the sight of his clothing. He immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed

    "Esteemed Elder, I humbly apologize for my rudeness! We simply have grudges with a person that has been reported to have been sighted here! He is troublesome and a danger for everybody in this sect!"

    The blonde man nodded in appreciation "I see, so you were only thinking of the sect... But you need not worry. Because that person..." He lifted a bloody head "Is already not amongst the living!"

    "That''s... That''s him! Elder is really wise, to have understood with a single glance a potential threat, Elder is a dragon amongst men!" The man bowed flattering the man even more.

    "Oh, oh, thank you for the praise, young man. Very well, you can go back now" the blonde man turned and headed back inside the hut. As soon as the door closed the young man lifted himself up and yelled "What are you doing still here? Scatter!"

    The forty people kicked off the ground and ran away, scared that if they were even second late in leaving the area surrounding the hut they would without doubt die, just like that person they were chasing that got beheaded.

    Soon, not even a shadow could be seen in a hundred meters radius around the hut.

    +++

    "So... I hope that now you will tell me what is going on here and why those people were chasing you..." The blonde man walked to his bed and sat on it "... Disciple Cheng Hao?"

    Cheng Hao sat on his own bed and looked in interest at the head covered in blood thrown on the ground before him "Useful technique... A bit bloody though"

    "Ahaha, you''re right. It''s actually pretty not that hard to learn with the right attitude" the man waved his hand and the illusory head disappeared, leaving behind not even a stain of blood "Now, you better tell me your story. Or else, I won''t use my illusions to scare away those who come next and I will use the original instead"

    Cheng Hao trembled "I have a past I prefer not to talk about, at least, not to strangers. If Elder wishes for me to speak, then please, tell me both your and your father''s name"

    The man nodded his head "The first is an easy matter, I will tell you once you tell me your story. Unfortunately, I am afraid I cannot tell you my father''s name"

    Cheng Hao nodded in understanding and sighed.

    "Then... Elder-" "Call me Senior. It won''t matter if you are respectful or not as there is a slight chance that I might kill you afterwards" the man smiled but there wasn''t any hint of warmth on the man''s face.

    "Senior..." Cheng Hao resumed "You see, it all started a few months ago. My village was raided by a few bandits and I run away and fell into a hole in the ground. It was there that I found the pill. It was a divine treasure: it allowed me to enhance my cultivation by robbing other people''s cultivation. At the time I thought that it might have been a blessing..."

    Seeing the blonde man''s sharp gaze, he didn''t lie and told him his story... Well, at least he didn''t hide any of the detail from the story that Elder Lao had told him to tell others if asked about his past.

    He spoke for about a few minutes and then finally got to the part of the confrontation with his ex-comrades and how he dragged himself here.

    "... And that is how and why I came here" Cheng Hao concluded as cold sweat appeared on his forehead. ''He bought it, didn''t he?''

    Although his mind was a bit chaotic, his expression and his face didn''t show that at all.

    The man stayed silent for a second and pondered before rising his head "You didn''t seem to have told me any lies, nor are there inconsistencies in your story, just one problem..." The man lowered his voice.

    "My father sent me here but he should have covered for me and tried to let as few people as possible know about me, let alone live together with me... This doesn''t make any sense!"

    Cheng Hao cursed in his mind ''Damn, if that old guy has really screwed up because he picked up a random key I''m gonna frigging castrate him!''

    The blonde Elder suddenly seemed to have been enlightened and asked "What was the name of that pill?". Cheng Hao gulped and prayed in his mind "It is called the... Last Piece is Set"

    *boom* the blonde Elder fell from his bed and when he got back up, he rushed at Cheng Hao and grabbed his shoulders. ''Crap! This guy is actually a peak Sung stage cultivator! Even if I had my cultivation back I wouldn''t be able to compete with him!''

    Cheng Hao gritted his teeth ''Rei Hong... I am sorry...'' He closed his eyes but then he opened them in shock as he heard the question that the man threw at him "Was that elder that you spoke about''s name possibly be Lao Jianghu?"

    Cheng Hao blinked a few times but then nodded "I don''t know about the Jianghu part, but he did refer to himself as Elder Lao..."

    The blonde man jumped up and down from the excitement and tears even fell from his eyes "Father, you did it! You found our last piece, you found the King! The chessboard is now full and the match will soon start!"

    Cheng Hao was now even more confused, but while he was shocked he could still understand a few things: apparently that man knew the mysterious Elder Lao, and they had a close relationship and it was possibly a father and son relationship!

    "Senior... What is going on?" Cheng Hao finally asked. The blonde ignored him "This means that, in about two months, the plan will be able to start!"

    Now Cheng Hao was even more confused but he waited, waited for that man to vent out his feelings, otherwise who knows what he could do.

    After a few moments, the man recovered and smiled at Cheng Hao "My name is Bi Liang. You can call me just Bi Liang or brother Liang, there is no need for formalities, because from now on, we are on the same side! And..." The man grinned "Call me brother!"

 Chapter 35 - Three Factions

    ''What did I get myself into this time?'' Cheng Hao sighed as he followed Bi Liang outside of the house. The man dashed at high speeds and the boy had problems keeping up with the man''s speed.

    Although the Core Elder had already restricted his speed so as not to lose the boy, he was still going pretty fast, at the very limit of Cheng Hao''s potential of his fleshly body without using the Roc''s blessing.

    They ran for about an hour, suddenly Cheng Hao sped up and approached Bi Liang, the sudden burst of speed shocking even the Sung stage cultivator. Cheng Hao panted for a while and, when he finally regained his breath, he asked "Brother Biang... That skill from before, was it by any chance an imitation of Aura Manipulation?"

    Bi Liang was shocked for a second before nodding pleased "You have good eye and good knowledge little brother! That was indeed a Pseudo-Aura Manipulation. It has a few different concepts from the original, but about anybody with a decent cultivation would be able to do it after training for a bit"

    Cheng Hao also nodded "From what I have seen, you analyze the surface of the object, create a layer of Aura and then pump air inside the object to give the impression of a three dimensional object. Truly ingenious, if other materials could be added inside it, then with the reinforcement of the Aura outside they could be turned in powerful weapons!"

    Bi Liang chuckled "That is the basic concept behind the technique. It is mainly used for illusions and deception though, truly a waste. I must say, little brother, that I am surprised! How do you know about Aura?"

    Cheng Hao calmly inhaled and explained "Oh? An expert told me, I stayed under his guidance for a few months and he imparted me with most of his insight and knowledge on Martial Arts and Cultivation" of course he couldn''t go around telling everyone that he was a thousand years old reborn soul of a person that supposedly almost destroyed the world once.

    "An expert? Man, you are truly lucky! To have known about Aura, it means that he must have been either quite powerful or have a huge background!" Bi Liang commented "Still, I can''t help but think of this as the true version as there would be no other explanation for your knowledge and strength... Also, we are here, you can slow down"

    Cheng Hao slowed down as instructed and looked ahead: in front of him there was a warehouse with barred windows and a chained up door. The boy looked confused, so Bi Liang took out a small round rock with a pattern of runes on top of it and spoke a few sentences.

    Just beside the door, the wall slid to the side: a secret passage! Cheng Hao and Bi Liang looked around and then crawled in. As soon as the boy and the blonde man got in, the door behind them closed and artificial light from the torches shone from the walls and the ceiling.

    Although it wasn''t really big, the warehouse was still spacious and the twenty or so people that stood here could easily stand and had a few cubic meters of space all for themselves.

    There were a total of nineteen people sitting on chairs in the room, not counting Cheng Hao or Bi Liang, they were mostly middle aged or old men and all wore the white robes of the sect, the four black lines showed that they were all Core Elders.

    "Everybody, this child here is called Cheng Hao! From now on, he is our companion and also our leader in the absence of Third Protector Lao as per his orders. Cheng Hao, please come forward"

    The boy nodded: him and Bi Liang had already discussed this beforehand while they were still in the hut and the older man had explained to him the general situation.

    Apparently, Lao Jianghu belonged to one of nine warring factions in the sect, each faction lead by a School Protector. According to Bi Liang, the Sect Head had fallen hill quite a few years ago already and is currently on his death bed, this was of course a chance for the Nine Protectors to rise in position and they had thus recruited subordinates and made allies in this free for all match for power.

    Although on the surface there were a total of nine factions, actually only three big groups existed: the Yin Hei group, the Wu Rou group and the Lao Jianghu group. Also, the Lao Jianghu group was neutral and had hidden his strength for quite a while so that even the other two groups were unaware of its existence.

    These two groups were respectively the Shadow Dragon faction led by the First Protector Long Yin Hei and the Moon Goddes faction led by the only woman among the nine protectors, Wu Rou the Second Protector.

    This civil war mostly unknown to the Sect had weakened the two warring factions, so now the group led by Jianghu, the Golden Tiger faction, had decided to take action. They had been sharpening their fangs for too long now and it would soon come the time to strike, they only needed to wait a bit more for the Third Protector Jianghu to rise in power as to be able to fight those two monsters retaking the #2 and #3 position in the sect, second only to the sect head!

    +++Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

    Back in the hut before they headed out to the warehouse, Bi Liang had explained it to him:

    "Although they are almost all in the Reverend Stage, the Nine Protectors have very different levels of power, the weakest being at the high Sung stage, the strongest being at the mid Reverend stage, almost one whole stage of cultivation! Although father only had a cultivation of the low stage, he was still able to keep the third spot in the rankings simply because he was invincible in the low level Reverend stage" Bi Liang proudly pushed his chest out as he showed off his father''s might as if it were his.

    "Unfortunately, even that kind of power isn''t enough to fight the two mid Reverend stage cultivators evenly as at that stage, one single level more or less would be the same as the difference in between Heaven and Earth, unsurmountable unless one had incredible talent and aptitude."

    "So, we are patiently waiting. Waiting for father to also reach the level of power of his opponents to enter the war openly with our heads raised high, without needing to hide like we were now"

    Another thing that the Golden Tiger faction had been missing before was a seed that they could grow to become the tree with the sturdy roots that the group needed. Someone that would take the place of Third Protector Jianghu when his time would come.

    "The Shadow Dragon faction has the First Protector''s disciple and adopted grandson, a young man not yet fourteen years old, Zhao Bu. He is a potential Twin Star as well as a remarkable genius, there is no doubt that he will be able to reach the Sung stage in his lifetime and possibly aim for the peak Reverend stage as well"

    "His current cultivation is high level Advanced stage, and in a year he will step into the Superior stage even if he doesn''t rush. Seeing that the First Protector also doted on him a lot, he will have no problem becoming a twin star, it is only a matter of time"

    When Cheng Hao had first heard about this he had unconsciously shuddered: with his present cultivation, he would have had no chance to fight for the title of Twin Star if a mid level Reverend cultivator stood in the middle of the road blocking him.

    Most likely, amongst him and Xiao Wu, the two talents that could threaten his position as a Twin Star,hewould have been killed as he was more talented and more of a danger to his grandson''s position as one of the future Stars rather than the younger girl was.

    What''s more, Xiao Wu would soon grow up to be a beauty and a man in his teens like Zhao Bu would most probably choose a beautiful woman as his companion rather than a man.

    Also, Cheng Hao couldn''t help but notice that the young child''s surname was Zhao, meaning that there was a high probability that he was affiliated with the same Zhao Clan he had enmity with ever since he had slaughtered the Zi Clan.

    It truly seemed that the Heavens (again, thetrueHeavens, not Tian''s Nine Heavens) wanted him to clash with the Zhao Clan, truly amusing. Bi Liang had interrupted his pondering when he continued his report on the current situation:

    "The Moon Goddess faction has the Second Protector''s disciple, a girl by the name of Sou Rou, also a talented cultivator in her late teens, unfortunately for her but luckily for us, her talent blossomed when she had already turned fifteen, thus closing her path to becoming a twin star"

    "Still, she is not to be underestimated and has in fact already surpassed the Advanced stage and stepped into the Superior stage at the age of sixteen years and nine months. Now she was eighteen and was about to break through to mid level Superior stage"

    "They are both your rivals and enemies, so you needn''t show compassion towards them. If possible, lure them into our faction, if not capture them or even cripple them, we will take responsibility. For now, we will hide your true strength and the fact that you even exist: that is also one of the reasons father made you act as trash, so that people wouldn''t remember you as the genius Cheng Hao but as the trashy cultivator that has lost his cultivation base, which nobody would remember, thus aiding us in hiding you!"

    Bi Liang had firmly grasped Cheng Hao''s shoulders "Don''t worry, once this all ends, I assure you that you will be free and above all the rest in this sect, I promise!"

    +++

    The people in the warehouse stood silent and stared intently at the child that did not look ten yet. Cheng Hao stepped forward and cleared his troath "Cough! Cough! From now on, we are companions but you are also subordinates. My subordinates. Show loyalty and hard work and your efforts will be rewarded. Disloyalty and slacking off will be punished by death"

    After hearing his words, someone stood up enraged: he had lost his left arm and carried a heavy blade with a qilin carved on top of it.

    "Kid! Those are some big words, especially from someone as weak as you! You don''t have a strand of cultivation, do you think that the people here, people that have been hiding their strength and fighting together for years, veterans of many battles would follow you just because you told us that? F*** off! I, Ran Min, will show you now who is the subordinate!"

    The man spat on the ground in front of Cheng Hao and even wanted to charge towards Cheng Hao!

    Another man stood up and blocked Ran Min and tried to calm him down: his name was Ge Bing. He had long hair and his eyes were covered by a piece of cloth: he was blind! "Brother Min, please, don''t! He is our superior now, although he is a kid, I am sure that Third Protector has his reasons for doing this!"

    Looking at the situation, Cheng Hao smirked and a cold glint flashed by his eyes. He pointed at the two men and then at the spot on his right "You and you, come here, in front of me!"

    Ran Min hesitated at first but then he was convinced by the younger Ge Bin: while Ran Min looked like a middle aged man, Ge Bin only looked around twenty five or thirty years old at most. The blind man approached first and got to Cheng Hao''s right and while he kneeled, his companion only halfheartedly bowed.

    Cheng Hao waved his hands and told them to get up "Oh, dead men need not worry about respect, you needn''t bow, stand up and just do as you like!"

    It took a while for the words to sink in but Ran Min was the first to argue "What! You bitch, are you fu**ing with us! What the hell did we do? I know that I acted rashly and that I was disrespectful, but was that truly enough to sentence a man to death?"

    Cheng Hao coldly glared at them "Yes, they would. Showing disrespect to someone with a higher rank than you would mean death. But I am a forgiving person, so I gave you a chance to life, after all, we are comrades. It is just too bad..." Cheng Hao smiled ruthlessly as his eyes glittered "That I seldom give second chances to enemy spies!"

 Chapter 36 - If Only It Had Been Different...

    Ran Min and Ge Bin trembled and they both lifted their heads, their mouth gaping and their eyes (well, Ran Min''s eyes... ?), widened. Everyone else in the room also had the same reaction, even Bi Liang couldn''t help but be slightly startled and take a step back.

    Cheng Hao smiled "Your plan was truly excellent, it would most likely have been a success: thug #1 would be the bad cop and thug #2 the good cop. I would have a bad impression on #1 which would change due to him actually not being bad in the future and occasionally giving out incredibly useful info while #2 would be branded as loyal and also kind and respectful deep in my mind, truly smart! Too bad..." Cheng Hao''s smile turned into a grin and his eyes glinted "... That your own disguises fooled you!"

    Ran Min opened his mouth about to say something when he realized that Cheng Hao was no longer in front of him. He heard the sound of metal hitting the scabbard and Cheng Hao reappeared holding the older man''s blade in his hands

    "Remarkable weapon. Ran Min, descendant of the Ran family, a powerful family of legendary swordsman, their swords impeccable and incredibly sharp due to the mysterious ores used during the smelting process..."

    Cheng Hao looked at the blade and then turned towards the pale Ran Min who was still searching for the blade in his scabbard. Cheng Hao continued.

    "You have made two mistakes: the first, a Ran swordsman''s weapon is composed not of metal but of special ores smelted in the lava in the craters of an active volcano. They would be tempered over and over which would give them a special luster and make it similar to iron"

    Cheng Hao played with the weapon, executing tens of beautiful strikes as he continued his explanation. It almost looked like he had been practicing with that sword for years.

    "The only exception would be that these ores would not rust as they are not iron and they would be many times as durable as this blade of black iron, these scars may have fooled other people into thinking that the blade might have gone through many battles, but it only makes it more obvious that it is not an original blade"

    Cheng Hao threw the weapon in the air and let it fall down embedding in the floor for a few centimeters. He lifted his hand and Li Biang, also understanding the child''s intentions, materialized a knife made out of Aura.

    Cheng Hao smiled and nodded "Thanks elder brother! Now, let me tell you a tale! About a thousand years ago, the Ran family was suddenly attacked by a mysterious expert of that time. He slaughtered his way through the Family''s castle and when he got in front of the gates to the main hall, the few soldiers standing there deserted, leaving their swords behind to run faster"

    Cheng Hao chuckled and thought in his mind ''You children, you better listen to your teacher, this tale comes from first hand experience! I still remember the rivers of blood of the Ran Family flowing on the roads like water during a flood, the bodies piling up on the sides of the road... And their lives getting extinguished with but a wave of my hand!''

    He slashed at the blade horizontally and the sword embedded in the ground divided in two.

    "To avoid that to happen again, they imprinted each of their swords with a special symbol, a qilin, their family''s mark. Every weapon had then been enchanted with magic and connected with their wielder''s life, meaning that if the sword broke, the person swinging it would die too... Now, does this Ran Min look dead to you? Also... Every swordsman in the Ran family is left handed!"

    Everybody in the room turned to look at an ashen face Ran Ming and they saw that his right fist, his only fist, was tightened so much that it had turned white.

    Cheng Hao laughed "Ahaha, truly, your disguise might have given you a mysterious past that might have saved you from inquiries by your new targets, and kept your past safe for a while. Unfortunately for you, it is just your bad luck that I stumbled here, you see..."

    Cheng Hao turned and pointed at a stunned Bi Liang "I actually didn''t want to come in the first place, this guy forced me to! Although I might actually thank him later as this is getting interesting!"

    Cheng Hao turned towards the blind man that was still patiently kneeling on the ground "Now... Ge Bin... The blind, loyal dog of the Golden Tiger faction. Ops, sorry, you are not actually blind, how silly of me! Sorry, it was a mistake, I hope you won''t mind..."

    Ge Bin almost paled after hearing his words and kept his poker face, only showing a glint of fear and admiration as the corners of his mouth twitched. Of course, that was noticed by both Cheng Hao and Bi Liang.

    A person in the crowd stood up "That is impossible! I have checked his eyes'' reactions many times, they don''t react at all! Even their Qi passages are blocked and..."

    Cheng Hao smiled "Oh really? Would you like to make a bet with me? If it is as you say, then I will bow down, call you grandfather and apologize to you all, if it is not..." Cheng Hao chuckled evilly "Then bark as a dog for a day"

    The man paled and trembled for a bit: he was the doctor and expert in medicine in the group and he had analyzed Ge Bin way back and confirmed that the man truly was blind and it was not a mere act. He inhaled, gathered his courage and headed towards Cheng Hao and Ge Bin, Ran Min still standing there not daring to move.

    "E-excuse me!" The man approached Ge Bin. The man kneeling on the floor lowered his head and apologized "I am sorry, La Dan...". La Dan shook his head "No, it is not your fault, it is that brat that-" "No, I''m sorry for making you bark like a dog for a day..." Ge Bin interrupted.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    La Dan paled and he hurriedly removed the cloth covering Ge Bin''s eyes: when he removed it, Ge Bin looked at him and innocently said "You lost the bet because of me, I apologize!"

    "How... How can this be... I-I checked him way back and the meridians around the eyeballs didn''t hold an ounce of Qi inside them, they... They were destroyed! And why should he act as if he were blind in the first place?" The man yelled.

    Cheng Hao patted his shoulder, although he had to stand on the tip of his feet to do that, and told him "He fooled you into thinking that because men unintentionally lower their guard around people they judge inferior to them. Could anything be better for a spy than to be ignored?"

    Cheng Hao smiled seeing that La Dan was absorbing information like a sponge, listening intently to his explanation "There are many ways to fool a man as trusting as you. For one, it would be if two twins swapped places, another one would be to use some special medicine to block the Qi flow in a special section of one''s body, you see..." Cheng Hao specified.

    "Qi not flowing doesn''t mean that the meridians are destroyed... To make sure of that, you need to check wether the Qi is gathering on their ends or is flowing on as if those meridians had never been there: the first case would be our case, that the medicine blocked the Qi flow in the meridians but only stopping it, making it gather there with only a tiny bit continuing on its path. That is because, when the effect of the medicine vanishes, it would begin to flow back as before!"

    La Dan listened to his words and pondered, taking mental notes, and then kowtowed "Senior Cheng is so considerate and generous! To give me this much information although I have erred and put the safety of my whole faction at risk I, Da Lan, will gladly act as a dog for a day, hell, even for a year or for my whole life if it means to repent!"

    Cheng Hao nodded and lifted him placing his small hands on La Dan''s large shoulder "I see your vigor and loyalty! What dog and dog, just reflect on your mistakes and do not make them again! Cultivate and get stronger and if you will I will forgive you and even help you in your cultivation the moment you tell me so!"

    La Dan cried and bowed nonstop "I will! I will! Thank you, young master! Senior Cheng, no, Master Cheng, I will be in debt with you for my whole life!"

    Cheng Hao nodded satisfaction and told him that he could head back in the crowd where he sat, fire burning in his eyes and his hands itching to cultivate and get stronger in order to gain Cheng Hao'' favor!

    Ge Bin knelt on the floor in silence and Cheng Hao nodded in appreciation "Ge Bin, get up, I can''t bear to see someone as loyal to your master and as kind to both enemies and allies as you kneel on the floor like a dog! Please stand up!"

    The young man stood up and bowed with gratitude towards Cheng Hao "Thank you Leader Cheng! First of all, I apologize for betraying the lot of you... Well, I didn''t actually betray as neither me nor Ta Yun, the guy you called Ran Min, nor I actually were in this faction for real from the very beginning. Still, I apologize!"

    In the crowd, an old man stood up "You little bastard! Have you forgotten how Third Protector Lao helped us? He was like a father to us, how could you betray him!"

    Ge Bin ignored him and then turned towards Cheng Hao "My true name is Na Mu. I apologize, but before I die, may I know which were my mistakes? I thought that I had hid the fact that I could see quite well..."

    Cheng Hao nodded "Well, unlike Ran Min I wasn''t too sure at a first glance and you only truly got my attention when you stood up to stop Ran Min: I told you to get in front of me but yet I pointed with my hand to my right and you followed the command given by the hand you could not see instead of that given by my voice like any true blind man would have"

    Na Mu shook his head in disappointment "What if I had extremely developed senses? What if I had heard the air moving or something? Wasn''t this more of a guess then?" The man looked at Cheng Hao, thirsting for an answer.

    Cheng Hao smiled "Not a chance! You see, before I moved my hand, I had swiped with my other arm first, interfering with the sound. It would have been impossible to notice the movement of my arm pointing to the right without using one''s sight. I received my confirm when I kept tapping my fingers on my back to attract your attention, it would have raised some sort of reaction when I suddenly tapped them a lot louder than before and even going as far as sending a sound wave, you would have at least lost your balance for a sec..."

    Cheng Hao winked "You see, it is difficult to find yourself in a place that changes suddenly, it would have been like pointing a torch at point blank in someone else''s eyes: he would immediately swat it away and lose his balance for a moment as his eyesight would have been suddenly robbed for a bit! For someone relying on his hearing it would be have the same effect"

    Na Mu whistled "Wow, so smart! This Golden Tiger faction is truly lucky to have found you! Maybe I have truly chosen the bad side in this war..."

    Cheng Hao sighed "Unfortunately, a loyal man such as you wouldn''t betray others because of a slight change in the war''s balance. It is a pity, if you had not been in the opposing faction we could have been brothers!"

    Na Mu also chuckled "Unfortunately, you are right! On the other hand, I also think so! You are small, cute but also smart and knowledgeable, which would not need me to waste my time to explain things and could instead play and joke with, my perfect type of smaller brother!"

    Cheng Hao nodded and he hugged Na Mu "Well, we can only blame fate. Goodbye, brother that I have never had a chance to have..." Cheng Hao broke the embrace "It was nice meeting you!"

    The other boy smiled happily and bit something in his mouth: black blood started flowing from the mouth''s corners. He looked at Cheng Hao one last time "I know that I shouldn''t say this, but... Good luck, brother!"

    Cheng Hao also nodded "Good luck to you as well, Na Mu!"

    Tears rolled down Na Mu''s cheeks and fell on the ground as his body fell back wards and got caught by Bi Liang. He also nodded in admiration "Truly, a worthy young man. Cheng Hao, although he was not able to be your brother, I will also take his place as your one, big brother! We can only wish him luck on his journey to the next world!"

    Cheng Hao also nodded. Behind them, Ta Yun also fell on the ground. Unfortunately he had no one to hold him so he fell face-first in a pool of his own blood.

    ''Fate... What is Fate? Is it a white page that we write ourselves? Or is a book that has already been written and only awaits its characters to do what they are told to do... But if that were to be so, what about me? Was that bead of lighttrulydestiny? Was me coming back to life actually planned beforehand? Did it have a meaning? I don''t know right now, but the only thing that I can do to find out is to look for more clues and rise my strength!''

    In Cheng Hao''s head, the faces of many men dying by his hand, men that he respected and admired, only because they had different beliefs and belonged to a different faction in a war embedded themselves deeply inside his mind.

    ''I will find a way... A way to carry out justice, to break fate!'' He lifted his head ''I will break Fate and destroy the very idea of Destiny! I will break down the chains that bind us, that makes us crawl on a harsh path and instead let them build their own wings and fly free into the sky! We... Shall all experience freedom!'' Cheng Hao looked up "This I, Cheng Hao, swear!"

 Chapter 37 - Opening The Third Floor!

    After a few minutes of silence, Bi Liang disposed of the two corpses. Cheng Hao looked at the faces and the bodies of the deceased and branded themselves deep into his mind, as if, by not forgetting him, Na Lu would never fully die!

    Sighing, Cheng Hao clapped his hands together ''Since I don''t have a cultivation base right now, I will just have to improve in other aspects! Strengthening my Fleshly Body should be one of my biggest concerns right now!''

    Cheng Hao raised his head and then asked Bi Liang "How many members are the three factions composed of?"

    Bi Liang took out a note from his Dimensional Pouch and answered "Shadow Dragon has three School Protectors, one of them in the peak Sung stage, one in the low Reverend stage and one in the mid level Reverend stage. They also have recruited fifty-three Core Elders either at the peak Superior stage or low Sung stage and a thousand inner Elders with various cultivation."

    Seeing that Cheng Hao was about to ask something, Bi Liang specified "We do not count Outer Elders and lower or the students because they are never allowed to interfere with sect matters, except for the Outer sect Exam Supervisor who has a cultivation of the Superior stage. He has also joined hands with the Shadow Dragon group."

    "The second faction, Moon Goddess also has three Protectors, their cultivation the same as the ones before, only thirty-six Core Elders either peak Superior stage or low Sung stage but has over twenty-five hundred Inner Elders with varied cultivation.

    "Finally, we, the Golden Tigers, have two Protectors, both low level Reverend stage, twenty, no, eighteen core Elders and about seven hundred Inner Elders... Honestly, I don''t really get how father can be so cheerful given the data we have at the moment..."

    Bi Liang sighs and was about to close the notebook when Cheng Hao grabbed his hand "Wait!" The man looked at the child and he asked "What is it brother? Did you think of something?"

    Cheng Hao nodded "Although he only broke through by Accumulating Qi, I have a friend (Although he actually sees me as his younger master) at the low level Reverend stage. Also..."

    Cheng Hao lifted his hand and pointed upwards with his middle and index finger "I am confident that in two months, I will be able to fight with those two disciples from the other factions as well as any Superior and low level Sung stage opponent!"

    Bi Liang almost spit out blood: two months? Breakthrough a whole level? Cheng Hao had told him that, although his cultivation had been sealed, his true cultivation was at the low level Advanced stage... That by itself was amazing but did this brat say that he could get that much stronger in just two months? That was just a fool''s wishful thinking!

    "Brother Cheng Hao... To break through a whole stage is-". Cheng Hao raised his hand to interrupt him "Who said that I will raise my cultivation? With my actual cultivation I am able to fight mid level Superior stage cultivators, let alone in two months! Don''t worry, I won''t be seeking for short term benefits nor will I use some sort of prohibited technique, I am just that talented!"

    Cheng Hao smiled cheerfully and his calm attitude also helped the few people in the room sigh relieved: they had just lost two ''friends'' that had turned out to be traitors, but they had also gained such an outstanding young man as well as another Reverend stage cultivator, how could they not be excited?

    ...

    Cheng Hao walked into the only room in the warehouse: he was now the boss so he would have his own room while other people would have to rest together in the common room.

    Currently, Cheng Hao was holding a black weapon in his hands: it was only one foot long and three centimeters wide. It was a simple iron dagger that could be used as a hidden blade to strike opponents without them noticing.

    Right now, Cheng Hao was carving a few words on the weapon with the sharp blades made out of the golden substance from the drop of blood: he could not let others find out about that drop as it was his hidden triumph card! So, since he could not use it, he could only rely on a new, disposable weapon!

    The words didn''t look like they were in some kind of language and instead were a bunch of complicated symbols: they were Runes!

    Cheng Hao didn''t have the same gift as Xiao Wu: he could not emit any External Aura, although he couldmanipulateExternal Aura if others summoned it for him thanks to his great control over Qi.

    His Golden Aura is actually a manifestation of a technique, given to him by Blindlight in his past life, which had principles somewhat similar to that of Aura, but Cheng Hao used his great control over his cultivation base toabsorbAura from his surroundings.

    By doing so, he would gradually and constantly strengthen his muscles and bones.

    He could not control it and turn it into weapons and such because it is not meant to be Manipulated, instead it is meant to be Absorbed, thus Goldy had at first called it the External Aura Pseudo-Manipulation Through Absorbition.

    Of course, Cheng Hao changed its name into Golden Aura as it would be much faster to say it and sounded a lot better than its previous name.

    That was also a reason he had to go look for the technique to Manipulate Aura, even risking his life, as he did not study it as much as other things in his past life.

    But what he could not have, he would find something to replace it: Runes!

    WhatwereRunes? They were like a spell that could greatly enhance weapons, armors or objects. They imparted a command and altered the material''s stats but, while it gained great power in one aspect, it would lose just as much in other that would be required to diminish as if the real structure of the object itself had changed.

    For example, if one wrote on the edge of a blade ''Durable'', the edge would become less sharp than it was before because if an edged weapon were to be durable, it''s edge would also require to be wider and thus duller.

    Also, there is notrueRune for each inscription, instead it is different for every inscriber depending on their insights, also allowing the masses to distinguish a certain inscriber''s work from another''s.

    Cheng Hao had just inscribed the Rune "Sharp" but on the other hand it also means the blade had just gotten "Fragile" as, for weapons, sharp also meant really thin and fragile. An equal exchange, more sharpness for less durability.

    Cheng Hao cut his finger and blood began to drip as the boy moved his hand over the sword, letting the few drops of blood fall on top of the Rune. The small engraving slowly began to bright up, blue light surrounding the short sword''s edge.

    Cheng Hao lifted the glowing short sword with his right hand and took a small rock with his left. He then proceeded to peel the rock as if it were an apple. The blade cut through the tough stone as if it were cutting through butter!Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    Cheng Hao nodded satisfied with his new weapon and put it away in his Heaven&Earth Pouch: it would be another ace up his sleeve! An enchanted sword such as a that would be able to cut through Superior stage cultivators that haven''t focused too much in training their bodies without too much of an effort!

    The young child then stood up and activated the Golden Aura, strands of energy began to replenish any energy that he had wasted and channeled it back into his body: since he now was in the Advanced stage, he could upgrade is Copper Fleshly Body to the next level, the Iron Fleshly Body!

    Technically, to enhance one''s Fleshly Body, one would need to also have the required cultivation base. Well, Cheng Hao was different. The Golden Aura acted as a substitute for the Cultivation Base, so he could strengthen the Fleshly Body by activating the technique. It would be a lot slower, but the result would still be the same.

    It was a nice perk of the technique that not even him had noticed up until a short while ago: by transforming the Aura absorbed directly into energy he would be able to sustain his powerful body and satisfy the huge requirements for energy that an higher ranked Fleshly Body needed so that the cells composing his body won''t die.

    Cheng Hao breathed in and then lifted himself up with his arms, his body upside down, the only thing keeping his body from falling to the ground were those tiny arms that were as thin as a baby''s fist.

    He stood in that tiring position for a few minutes. Suddenly, when he was about to fall down from the strain on his muscles, his body glowed, the golden aura absorbed energy from Cheng Hao''s surroundings and the torn muscles cicatrized back together and recovered, slightly stronger than they were before.

    He kept going like that for a few hours, finally, the Aura kicked in once more, his whole body glowed and got brighter for a few breaths before going back to his usual appearance. Cheng Hao sighed. He propped himself up and stood on his feet, groaning in pain "Damn, all this effort and pain and I only got rewarded with less than a 1% increase in the toughness of my body?"

    Cheng Hao massaged his arms and chest which were currently almost crying from the pain themselves.

    "AND, I still ain''t even on the verge of breaking through to that 1%? I will need at least three months doing this exercise nonstop if I wanted to enhance my Fleshly Body like this, and I don''t have that much time..."

    Cheng Hao threw himself on the mattress lying on the floor that was given to him by Bi Liang, and then smiled "Well, since I have few things to do and a lot of time on my hands, I should open the Third Floor of the Tower! I might even get lucky and power myself up some more!" Cheng Hao looked at the ceiling and pondered.

    His expression gre dark "That is, of course, ifhehas forgiven me..." The boy sighed "It matters not. Ihaveto meet him, not because I need his power but because I cannot escape my past. The only thing I can do is to seek forgiveness, not run away!"

    Cheng Hao sat up on the bed and entered a meditation stance: he focused his mind into his sea of consciousness.

    There, two spheres hovered in the middle of his consciousness. They were the Core and the Pseudo-Core! When he had received the Roc''s blessing, he had also broken through to the Advanced stage.

    He projected his consciousness past the first sphere, the Core, and then into the Pseudo-Core and finally into the space containing the Immortal Ascension Tower, where his clone made of faint Qi appeared. It was now almost fully formed, although some disturbances could still be seen on its surface.

    The tower made of bronze, silver and gold glowed when his consciousness approached as if it was happy to meet its master. Cheng Hao slowly walked towards the third floor of the tower.

    This was chained up unlike the second floor but its restrictions were much fewer than the first floor''s. It could be seen that although Cheng Hao trusted the being trapped inside, he still was not completely sure wether it was a friend or an enemy.

    Cheng Hao walked up to the third floor gate and he looked at it, reminiscing of the past. He sighed and then approached, he lifted the seal blocking his cultivation base for a second, just enough time to let a strand of Advanced Qi to pass through the restrictions before sealing it back as fast as he could: he could not let anyone but Bi Liang know of his true cultivation!

    As soon as that single strand of Advanced Qi appeared, he guided it towards the third floor where it took the shape of a bronze key: it was slightly smaller than the Roc key had been, but it was still a lot bigger than the first floor''s had been... ''Speaking about the first floor, I wonder how did Goldy deal with Blacky? Did he bring it together with him when he left with Xiao Wu or did the damn thing just escape?''

    He shook his head ''I have found it once after it had hid itself for a thousand years, a few months shouldn''t be a problem, I''ll let him run away from a while...''

    Cheng Hao opened his eyes wide and guided the key towards the keyhole. Unlike the previous times, he had to spend quite a lot of effort, as he didn''t have a cultivation base and could only push it by using the outstanding control over his Qi. The previous floors were also designed so that, to open them, you needed to use power at least at the limit of the respective stage.

    In the previous floors, he "cheated" as he used power similar to the Advanced stage by using the power in his Pseudo-Core, thus disregarding that rule. Now though, he didn''t have such methods and could only rely on his own cultivation to do it and that same cultivation had been sealed.

    He would have no problem lifting the seal, but that would mean letting everyone know about his status as a cultivator instead of the mysterious mortal that could apparently suppress powerful Martial Artists without effort. Oh, of course he also enjoyed the challenge.

    Still, after about one hour, Cheng Hao''s true body was drenched in sweat and the apparition in his Pseudo-Core was also much more unstable. Finally, the key entered the keyhole and the door finally opened with a click!

    Black smoke fumed out as the massive bronze gates slowly opened. In the darkness of the big room, two pairs of white eyes opened and stared at Cheng Hao. He shuddered under the pressure that those gazes have him but he still didn''t look away.

    Finally, two voices, one deep and powerful, one high pitched and hissing unpleasantly spoke together ""Child... Who are you? Why have you imprisonedusin this place? Do you seek death?""

    Cheng Hao braced himself. He inhaled and exhaled slowly and finally his eyes brightened. He spoke out, every word coming out clearly and fluently "My current name is Cheng Hao, but that would probably not ring any bell. My real name was lost and forgotten, and it was you four brothers and sisters of mine that gave me a new name!Xuasempty,Lingassoul!"

    Cheng Hao patted his chest as his eyes shone with black and white lights.

    "I am Xu Ling, I am the Fifth Divine Beast! I am the human born from no one, the being that appeared out of empty air in the Heavenly Plains, the one destinedsoulthat would turn these lands of battles from its current chaotic state back into calm and peaceful lands without any war!"

    The four eyes glowing into the darkness widened as many kinds of emotions flashed by them: anger, sadness, fear, surprise, happiness as well as both love and hate.

    ""Hey you! Wait a second!"" The four eyes narrowed as the voices rang out again. Cheng Hao ignored the cries of the beast and continued: "I am the destined child, destined to bring down Tian and his reign of terror, to rule all under Heaven! Now, Ren Hei, do you know who I am!"

    ""Fifth brother, Xu Ling! You dare come back! Have you forgotten about fourth sister Ren Hong??? How dare you show your face in front ofus! Wait and see ifwedon''t kill you now!""

    Cheng Hao laughed at the beast''s reprimands and he retorted "I fear not death, I fear dying without accomplishing anything! I have already been killed once but I didn''t die! I have a destiny to fulfill and that is why you, eldest brother of mine, won''t kill me! I hate myself many times more than you hate me, but do not forget that you were the first to stand aside and allow Tian to try to kill me! "

    Suddenly, the creature shot forward: it was a gigantic turtle that almost hit the ceiling of the floor where it was residing in. It''s whole body was covered by black scales and the shell on its back was black as well.

    It was so big that it looked like a mountain, there were even rivers flowing down the shell and trees growing on top of it. A snake much bigger than the Hellish Nightmare Dragon was, lived in a symbiotic relationship with the turtle and they formed together the single identity known as the oldest Divine Beast, the Divine Earth King!

    The beast moved at great speeds despite its size and it got in front of the projection in the fraction of a second. The pair of eyes on the gigantic turtle''s head, and the giant snake''s head all focused on the boy in front of them and stared ruthlessly ""It was notourfault! It wasouronly choice!!!""

    Cheng Hao pointed at the the turtle and reprimanded "If it wasn''t for elder sister, I would have died! Right now though, I live and I won''t waste this life that she gifted me dying at the hands of one of those who allowed Tian to kill her! That''s right, she may have died to protect me, but you also greatly helped Tian in his intent! Now tell me, big brother, does the eldest of the Divine Beasts, the Divine Earth King, the Black Turtle, only know how to put blame on others?"

 Chapter 38 - The Divine Earth Kings Blessing

    "If it wasn''t for elder sister, I would have died! Right now though, I live and I won''t waste this life that she gifted me by dying at the hands of one of those who allowed Tian to kill her! That''s right, she may have died to protect me, but you also greatly helped Tian in his intent! Now tell me, big brother, does the eldest of the Divine Beasts, the Divine Earth King, the Black Turtle, only know how to put blame on others?"

    Hearing Cheng Hao''s argument, the Black Turtle frowned and backed away: in a sense, the boy was right, Ren Hei had been the first to allow Tian to pass, even going as far as guiding him to where Ren Hong and Xu Ling were playing.

    Obviously Cheng Hao had enlarged by quite a bit the role the Divine Earth King had in their sister''s murder, but the boy was not going to point that out.

    The serpent and the turtle looked at each other dumbfounded: they could not attack Cheng Hao because it would mean they were in the wrong, but they also felt that they were in the right and thus had to prove that!

    Yet, they obviously could not keep up with Cheng Hao''s ingenious arguments: even if he told no lies, he actually hid the truth and only pointed out the flaws of the other person''s point of view!

    That was something that even the oldest of the four Divine Kings could not do as it had spent too few time in the presence of the cunning humans!

    This problem could also be seen in Cheng Hao''s conversation with the Roc: although these beasts were millions and some like the Primordial Heavenly Beasts even billions of years old, they didn''t communicate much as they didn''t find the reason to do so if they were as powerful like they were!

    On the contrary, the weak humans didn''t have great strength, so they could only evolve by using their heads. Tian had been a lowly servant, weak and fragile, this also allowed him to rely on other means than just brute force to defeat his opponents.

    This weakness of the powerful Heavenly Beasts was also the main reason that Tian could fool them all: they simply didn''t even put in their minds the possibility thattheycould be fooled, a narcissistic complex that brought the Heavens of the Jade Emperor to their doom...

    And now, Cheng Hao was doing just that! He was using complicated arguments to make the beast''s mind waver and think of way to defend itself by those contorted words rather than to attack Cheng Hao physically, because it still thought that it was right buthadto prove itself superior.

    Cheng Hao smirked as the Black Turtle and the Gigantic Snake stood silent and then headed towards them "It''s quite tiring chatting out here, let''s go inside!"

    The Black Turtle couldn''t retort as its mind was already occupied with the previous matter and it subconsciously retreated and turned back into its human form. Before he knew it, he was sitting at a table with Cheng Hao drinking tea and chatting about random stuff.

    When he finally realized the situation, it''s black cheeks turned red as he hit the table with both palms ""You dare try to foolus?"" he had already turned into a middle aged man, but the two voices still imposed each other: he had dark skin as black as carbon, long white hair tied into braids that went down his back, a prominent chin covered in trimmed white beard and his two eyes had black irises that fused with the pupils.

    He wore some kind of leather armor and from his back a snake coiled around his shoulders staring at Cheng Hao. The snake was green and it was exactly the same as the one on the Black Turtle''s true body except it was much, much smaller.

    Cheng Hao calmly sipped his tea and spoke "What do you mean? Was anything I said a lie? Did I lie to you? Tell me, brother, how could I fool you if I haven''t lied to you? Or..." Cheng Hao''s eyes flashed "Are you trying to dodge my claims and simply kill me before anyone else gets to know about them?"

    The dark skinned man trembled, his expression clearly showing on his face. Cheng Hao''s face was calm, but inside he was so amused that he almost laughed out loud ''This guy... I would never want to team up with him for a poker game, he doesn''t even know what a poker face is!''

    Finally the human form Black Turtle sighed and sat down glaring at Cheng Hao ""What do you want, boy? Have you come here to destroyourreputation? To take overourthrone? To breakourwill? Why are you here?""

    Cheng Hao put down the empty cup on the table in front of him, leaned on the table with his elbows and crossed his hands in front of his nose, hiding his expression "No, brother. I have not come to attack you... For now, I have only come here to ask you for help... If you aren''t too proud to lend me some!"

    Hearing that, Ren Hei gaped and then fiercely grinned ""Oh? So first you threatenusby not allowingusto hurt you in any way, then you askusfor help, implying that the threat is still in place... Quite sharp!""

    Cheng Hao almost rolled his eyes hearing that and his mouth''s sides twitched ''Don''t look so proud if you only figured that out now...''

    Cheng Hao continued "Brother, I plan to kill Tian...". Hearing that, the Black Tortoise shook his head ""So? You already planned to,weknew already. Nothing has changed no-"" "... I plan to kill Tian and to claim the throne!"

    The Black Turtle stood silent for a while before realizing what Cheng Hao had just said. He trembled and his expression was one of surprise as well as hope ""Y-you mean it? You are not foolingus?""

    Cheng Hao nodded "I have embraced my destiny. It was foretold and I have finally come to understand. Prophecies do not predict the future. They shape it. By predicting a good future, everybody will subconsciously be happier and feel everything to be better than it really is. By believing something bad will happen..." the boy''s projection shook it headIf you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    "Beings with intelligence are scary creatures: they will try to eradicate all threats that come in their ways, but they do not understand... That by eliminating many smaller ones, they make way for a much bigger threat. If you kill off one enemy, a new one will appear, stronger than the one before, otherwise it would not come after you, seeing how you defeated your previous foe"

    The black King pondered at the boy''s words and listened quietly.

    "That is the same thing with Prophecies: you try to eliminate all threats indicated in the prediction, but one will escape, and that one will be the biggest threat of them all, the one you couldn''t remove to begin with!"

    Cheng Hao stood up: he was much smaller than Ren Hei was, but at that moment, the human form Divine Beast felt that, under the gaze of the one human child, he was just an ant, as he would be nothing in his eyes.

    The thing that was being stared at wasn''t wasn''t him. By staring at him, the child was looking at the whole world through him!

    Ren Hei fell on his knees powerlessly and laughed ""Ahaha, Tian! You unlucky fool! You have angered this thing, now nobody can save you! He has embraced his destiny and he will sit on your throne as the true Emperor of Heaven, the Ruler of All. What can you, a mere usurper do in face of the might of the one destined to rule? Tremble, tremble Tian, and have fun as your last days are coming closer!""

    The Black Turtle laughed foolishly ""Wewere wrong, it wasourfault that Fourth Sister died!We, the eldest brother, could not protectouryoungest brother and youngest sister...Weare such a delusion! What Divine Earth King,weare nothing but the Divine King of Fools! Ling'' Er come here!""

    The tall, burly, dark skinned man lifted his hand and pointed at Cheng Hao ""I,We, the Divine Earth King grant youourblessing, human! The power of the earth, the strength of the greatest mountain and the defense of the most sturdy tree,wegive it to you!"" The man began to expand and emit dark mist. The snake also enlarged and the plate armor turned into a huge shell.

    The gigantic Black Turtle appeared, it stood tall and proud, in its eyes, in all four of them, was newfound resolve, the will to fight! To get revenge! It opened his mouth and a black spark flew out. It shined black, yellow, green and brown, the essence of the earth!

    The spark floated in midair and even Cheng Hao was stunned when he understood what had just happened. He gaped and recovered only after a long while "Brother! What are you doing, quick, put it back!" His usually calm demeanor turned into horror as he knew what that object was.

    "This is a shard of our Soul, we give it to you as an apology. Within this spark lies great power, consume it and you will become stronger than any other before you for you will hold part of the strength of the Ruler of the Earth! This strength... You will have to fight for it! Now though, I will bless you with a small portion of it. When you feel your life or the life of those you love is in danger don''t hesitate to tap into its power! You will have to conquer it, to make it yours, but when you do, you will hold the strength of the Divine Earth King, the power of the whole world through it!"

    Cheng Hao looked at the hovering object in front of him and his expression grew slightly warmer ''Brother... To think that you would love your younger siblings so much that you would give your own life away... It seems like I have misjudged you. When I get stronger, I will repay you for sure!''

    The black turtle trembled and its eyes began to grow dull "Wetrust... That you... Will... Get revenge, for sister!We...Weneed to rest... This is probably... A goodbye...Wewill sleep... For a very long time, go... Ling''... Er..."

    The great beast drew his four limbs and head back in its shell while the snake gently wrapped around the hard surface of the shell and also fell into a deep slumber. Trees and vegetation began to grow at rapid speeds on the Turtle''s back and the Divine Beast turned into a tall mountain inside the Immortal Ascension Tower''s third floor.

    Cheng Hao smiled and caressed the black shell. He then lifted his head and looked at the spark hovering in mid air: he approached it and slowly picked it up with both hands. It was only as big as the smallest pebble, but Cheng Hao knew that to make something like the Soul tangible from a state where it couldn''t even be felt, a large amount of one''s life force had to be used. For the Black Turtle to awaken in the next millions of years it would be nothing short than a miracle!

    He opened his mouth and swallowed the spark. It didn''t reach the stomach, instead it moved towards a region about five inches below the navel, the Dantian, the pill-like object that could be used for refining medicine and special objects.

    As soon as the spark entered the Dantian, Cheng Hao was forcibly removed from the meditative state resulting in him spitting out blood from the sudden action: he felt pain, great pain!

    Although it wasn''t of the worst physical pain that he had ever felt it was still enough that, even with his great control over his own body, he almost yelled out aloud.

    His muscles seemed to be constantly ripping and then mending back together in a never ending cycle, his bones broke apart and then reconstructed at such speeds that in less than a second, the whole process had been repeated more than a dozen times and even his nerves seemed to be forcefully cut off before being connected together to one another so the pain came in waves.

    Cheng Hao rolled his eyes until they showed only white, foam began to form at his mouth''s sides and weird sounds kept coming from his body as he contorted unnaturally. His meridians, veins where the Qi flowed, were constantly pumped with energy and kept enlarging until they were about to break and then recovered, this process also repeating lots and lots of times in the fraction of a breath.

    In ten seconds, Cheng Hao felt pain superior to what a human would usually feel during his own life all at the same time, magnified by several times! Yet, he did not utter a single word, let alone yell as he understood that would only have worsened the situation.

    After those ten seconds though, pain was replaced with pleasure as the process suddenly ended. The same principle as the question: ''Why would you hit yourself in the head with a hammer a hundred times? Because afterwards, you would just feel just too well [Note: don''t try this at home]!''

    The pain had gone away and he could feel the changes in his body, it felt as light as feather and yet as tough as iron and as flexible as a bow. Truly, this feeling was too amazing!

    Cheng Hao opened his eyes and spat out black blood: that blood was full of impurities both from his flesh and bones but also from the meridians.

    He lifted his right arm, waved it around and then punched the ground! A crater was formed from the power of that single punch which had no cultivation backing it, only the Fleshly Body.

    This power that he didn''t hold up until a few moments ago meant only one thing: he had skipped two levels and had broken through to a Black Iron Fleshly Body!

    "Brother... You need not worry. I promise to destroy Tian. When all is done, us five brothers and sisters will all drink together under the starry sky, free from the oppression of the Nine Heavens andfreeto live!" He lifted his hands "I swear on my very existence, Iwillkeep my word! Ren Hong! Don''t worry, I will avenge you, what is death in the face of destiny? Fate is what guides my hand, Destiny what swings my blade!"

    Cheng Hao lowered his head as he reminisced scenes of the past, the memories of a girl dressed in red, her body dancing like a flame and her hugs the warmest and most comfortable in the world.

    In the depths of his mind another sentence formed but he didn''t notice...

    ''And Love... Is what started it all!''

 Chapter 39 - Devil!

    "Oh, brother! What brings you here?" Bi Liang noticed Cheng Hao coming out of the room and rushed there at once. He lowered his voice and asked "Did you breakthrough?"

    Cheng Hao shrugged his shoulders "I did, but it wasn''t a breakthrough in cultivation..." Hearing that, Bi Liang was confused and didn''t ask for more.

    Instead, he questioned about other matters "Brother Hao, do you think that the other two factions know about our existence now?"

    Cheng Hao nodded "Most probably, they do. But I think that they only know that, nothing more. You are the only one knowing about the full plan... At most, our opponents now are aware that there is another piece on the board, but they don''t know which piece it is..." The boy smiled "For now, we can only hope for the best!"

    Cheng Hao took a chair from a corner, dragged it to the front and sat down. When he did so, all the people in the warehouse lifted their heads and shut up, turning their attention towards the young boy.

    Cheng Hao inhaled and exhaled and finally spoke out "Everyone, I am going to ask you to please reveal your skills and cultivation techniques. Please form a line and show me, I know this might sound rude, I assure you that it will be for your best!"

    Silence. Nobody in the room dared to curse or speak their thoughts aloud as their thoughts were most likely stuff similar to ''You motherf***er, you wish!''

    "Bra- ahem, Sir..." A man walked out. He had a long beard and short hair. He was thin and wore the sect robes which had four black lines running from the shoulder to the ankle. Just like every other person in the room except from Cheng Hao, he was a Core Elder.

    "Would you please repeat that? I think I didn''t hear well enough..." The man pointed at his ears as he looked at the Cheng Hao sitting on the chair.

    "Reveal your skills and cultivation. You may begin now" Cheng Hao unemotionally said "Hurry up"

    The man''s eyes widened as he was angered "I have put up with this for too long! Although this may have been an order by Protector Lao, I will not listen to this kid talking garbage any longer!"

    Cheng Hao''s eyes flashed "Oh? You dare to oppose me?" He crossed his arms in front of his chest and laughed "You have guts, I appreciate them... Why would you think that I am inappropriate to lead you bunch? Looks like the dog has to be beaten at least once to understand the owner..."

    The man gritted his teeth "We are experts that have cultivated for most of their life, our strength is incredible and our experiences far more than a brat could ever hope to live!"

    Cheng Hao smiled playfully "So... What you mean is that you have more knowledge than me, right? Then tell me... Why didn''t senior find out about the two spies?"

    The man''s face turned a deathly white at once "Th-that''s-!"

    "I understand. You are simply not as knowledgeable as me so you couldn''t, no need to explain... Now, as for my strength I still think that I may actually surpass you..."

    The man''s face turned purple "Bullshit! You, a cultivationless brat from the country have no rights to slander an expert such as me!"

    The man stared at the child sitting on the chair, looking down on him as if he was his King. Cheng Hao only stared at him, but the man felt as if he was being gazed at by an ancient and terrifying monster and he could get swallowed at any moment.

    He gritted his teeth and comforted himself ''This is all fake, an illusion! Don''t fall for it, he''s only a brat! Look at how I humiliate him now...''

    The Core Elder arrogantly pointed at Cheng Hao and yelled "If you truly have such might, then come! I will accept one of your attacks and if it makes me move back a step, you win, how''s that? If you lose, you become my subordinate, if I win I will listen to everything you tell me and execute them whatever request it is!"

    "Ahahah" Cheng Hao laughed "I must thank you, I hoped for a chance such as this to show my power and I finally got it! Humans are simple creatures: they fear the unknown and therefore either call themselves heroes and band together to destroy it or cowardly try to weaken it. You seem to be the latter as you fear my authority, after all it can be seen by your reactions that you are nothing but a coward!"

    He jumped down from the chair and rolled his sleeves "Let''s change the rules a bit... If you manage to stay conscious after my one hit, then I will call you grandfather, if not..." He grinned "You shall walk on your hands and bark as a dog for ten days! The only words you will be able to speak will be ''I''m a coward''! What, you scared now,coward?"

    The man trembled from the rage and clenched his fists "Brat stop talking and punch! My name is Tan Fu and I cultivate the Armored War Elephant Transformation scripture, I accept your terms!" Tan Fu stood up straight and put his hands behind his back. It looked like he was going to allow Cheng Hao to land a clean hit on him. Let''s just say, it was not the smartest decision...

    Cheng Hao simply waved his sleeve "Name is Cheng Hao, I don''t cultivate any scripture, nice to meet you, I accept the terms! Brace yourself!" Cheng Hao bent his knees with the left leg facing the opponent and the right one forming a ninety degree angle with the left.

    He bent his waist slightly and clenched his right fist... He looked up and two golden eyes stared right at Tan Fu''s pupils, seemingly poking directly at the man''s consciousness and looking at his memories...

    Tan Fu gulped ''This brat is not as simple as he seems. Especially that speed that he had shown before is not something that a human without any knowledge of Martial Arts is able to obtain, he has some card up his sleeve for sure! But, unfortunately for him, my Armored War Elephant Transformation technique isn''t as easy as he might think!''

    He grinned and clenched the muscles in his abdomen ''If cultivated to the highest stage, I will be able to wield the strength of a powerful war elephant, tear lions apart with bare hands and become impervious to all weapons, what can a child like him possibly do to hurt me?''

    That rhetoric question though, had an answer and the answer was quite simple. Cheng Hao pumped power into his fist as his Fleshly Body tensed up, he stepped forwards and the air seemed to tremble, his body seemed to have met some kind of membrane that blocked his movements and his punch wasn''t able to move forward...

    Suddenly, the membrane was shattered with a *bang* and the afterimage of two ruthless gold eyes remained behind as Cheng Hao''s punch broke through the sound barrier!

    The previously calm and collected Tan Fu felt that something was wrong but the punch was even faster than his thoughts: Cheng Hao''s speed was granted to him by removing all attrition with the air surrounding him and propelling himself forward by pushing those air particles behind him.

    His punch carried the strength of a Black Iron Fleshly Body. What did that mean? It meant that it was powerful enough to shatter steel bars with a simple flick of the wrist and crush stones into powder by simply clenching his fist! With that plus his speed, Cheng Hao effortlessly punched so hard that he broke the sound barrier which exploded into a sonic boom!

    Tan Fu could only watch as the boy that was four meters away before punched him hard in the face in a fraction of a second. His skull creaked and his face seemed to deform as that full power punch shook all his internal organs damaging them badly.

    The man was thrown back like a kite with his string cut, blood splattering from his mouth like a fountain and his body already unconscious. Cheng Hao still held his arm extended in front of him and looked perplexed "Mm? What, didn''t you activate some kind of Glamoured War Doggy Watchacallit Impersonation? Sorry, I used half of my strength because I thought that I might not defeat you, I didn''t imagine that you would be this weak, sorry!"

    Except for the sound of Cheng Hao''s laughter, nothing else could be heard as everyone in the room held their breath in, everyone including Bi Liang.

    Suddenly a scream rang out "Second brother!!!" A person from the crowd rushed out to help the injured Tai Fu. He fetched a pill from his own Dimensional Pouch and gave it for Tai Fu to eat.

    ''Oh? A Purple Restoration Pill, quite the high level of medicine you got there...Anotherguy with a great background uh? Why are they all coming at me, is somebody messing with me on purpose?'' Cheng Hao frowned in his mind but still showed a calm appearance to those looking at him.

    After a while, the man regained consciousness, spat out black blood and soon lost consciousness again from the pain. The man that had given him the pill was relieved and covered the man with his own robe. Below the robe, he wore black garments that hid his whole body except for his hands, feet, neck and head.

    The man entered a Horse Stance, his fingers crooked resembling a dragon''s talons and his whole body tensed up ready to strike at any moment "Tai Zu, Dragon Manipulation technique, I challenge you! If you can survive ten strikes of mine, I will bear the burden of my brother''s punishment together with him!"This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    Cheng Hao laughed "Ahaha, so I beat the younger brother so the elder brother comes out... What next? Your father will appear here?" Cheng Hao looked at the crowd and saw that an old man was about to barge in but when he heard Cheng Hao''s words he looked down embarrassed.

    ''Oi, Oi, for real???'' Cheng Hao rubbed his temples and then decided to forget about it. He lifted his head and laughed "Oh well, it''s not like a grandfather would- ARE YOU FRIGGING KIDDING ME!" An old man much older than the one before looked away and fiddled his thumbs as he whistled nonchalantly.

    ''What the hell is this, some kind of factory focused on reproduction of Tai family members? Are they an endangered species?'' Cheng Hao wanted to bang his head into a wall but knew that wouldn''t hurt him in the slightest with his powerful Fleshly Body so he didn''t bother trying.

    He simply sighed and looked at a concerned Tai Zu in front of him "I accept the terms" he nonchalantly stepped forward and, without putting up any stance, he pointed his right hand''s index finger at Tai Zu "Attack whenever you feel ready!"

    Tai Zu gritted his teeth and stepped foward with his right leg. Although he made the motion for his left leg to also step forward, he actually kicked off the ground with his right leg again! When he was about to fall down, his left leg kicked off the ground propelling him even faster, the whole process smooth, Cheng Hao secretly praised the timing for the sudden attack as well as the execution.

    If it had been somebody else, he would have been killed before he had realized that the opponent had gotten close!

    Tai Zu flew through the air like an arrow leaving its bowstring, his left and right hands seemed to turn into two dragon talons as they slowly but surely headed towards the child''s neck and the extended arm.

    He was secretly rejoicing: this move of his was a skill he was really proud off, called the three steps strike. He had created it himself and had trained his right and left leg to be able to execute the skill smoothly one hundred percent of the times. Combine that with his Dragon Manipulation technique, where he trained it so that it made his fingers to be as hard and strong as a dragon''s talon, he was absolutely sure that he would be able to easily win the fight in one move!

    Seeing the opponent''s hands clawing their way towards him at rapid speeds, Cheng Hao simply smiled. Tai Zu finally clutched Cheng Hao''s arm with his left hand ''I won!''

    Once his two ''Dragon Talons'' catches the opponent, not even people a whole level above him would be able to break free, let alone this little brat with no cultivation. He would snap the boy''s arms and twist his neck without any effort, then Cheng Hao would drop on the floor and his eyes would grow dull as his consciousness faded away... Okay, we all know that probably didn''t go as this guy imagined, right?

    As soon as the left Talon clutched on Cheng Hao''s right arm, the boy''s limb seemed to be turn into jelly and easily slipped out of the opponent''s clutch. He jumped in the air, grabbed the opponent''s arm, tightened his belly muscles and flew over Tai Zu''s shoulder also evading the man''s second attack.

    He lightly kicked Tai Zu''s back to stabilize himself and the opponent fell face first into the ground. Cheng Hao landed gently on the ground and straightened him clothes. He made all that look as if it was as easy as turning over one''s palm. On the other hand, Tai Zu spat out blood as he crawled on the ground.

    In his mind he was denying what had just happened ''I-Impossible! I-I must have slipped, that''s right! It was my fault, I did something wrong and that brat was lucky, he won''t have a second chance!''

    He pushed off the ground with his hand and kicked with his legs, somersaulting backwards to put some distance between him and Cheng Hao. Unlike the confidence he had shown when he had first attacked, this time Tai Zu was trembling and in his terrified eyes, fear replace courage.

    "Your skill is good and the execution was great! I would suggest though, to use a spear hand with one arm, then turning around and slap with the other instead of clawing the opponent! As you can see, by simply blocking the enemy you give him a chance to evade, or even worse, counter your attacks"

    Cheng Hao took the chance to give a hint to Tai Zu: the man was only forty years old and still had a chance to improve, unlike those old things at the end of their life that would cling on traditions instead of pursuing different paths.

    "But that is not all! To condense the Qi into your hands to make them as powerful as claws, isn''t it a waste? Wouldn''t it be better... To enhance thewholebody? Of course using Qi to enhance it all at once would be impossible, but what if you constantly changed the place you reinforced?" Cheng Hao smiled and suggested once again.

    Tai Zu trembled once as he pondered on Cheng Hao''s words and he made the motion with his arms "To pierce... To slap... The whole body... To change the place..." The man danced in the air as his face grew brighter and brighter

    "I see... So that''s it! My interpretation of the Dragon Manipulation technique was wrong! It is not to have the strength of a single dragon''s talon in my hands, it is to manipulate this strength into changing the whole body, to show multiple attacks, each of them bearing the power of the almighty lords of the sky!"

    His eyes almost began to shine as his motions began to change: his punches grew heavier and he only reinforced them when he was about to strike, his legs slashed through the air like sharp blades and left behind afterimages, he palmed the air and with little effort formed powerful currents.

    Slowly but surely, the outline of a dragon began to form coiling around Tai Zu''s body. Its body sinuous like a snake, it was completely black and the fangs in its mouth looked ferocious, when Tai Zu spun on himself, the dragon coiled from his left leg to his right arm. Tai Zu slammed his foot on the ground and slapped in front of him with his right hand and black ripples expanded out.

    The dragon let out a powerful roar and flew through the air, following the palm''s shockwaves. Someone from the crowd couldn''t help but tremble "Such power! Up until a few minutes ago I would have had no problem in defeating Tai Zu, but now not even I am completely sure of resisting such an attack!"

    Coming from a low Sung stage expert, this remark could not be ignored: in fact, from that day on, Tai Zu would probably become one of the top fighters exactly because of his new Black Coiling Dragon Manipulation technique!

    The man laughed with delight as he felt his power increase, and it was all thanks to that boy that he previously envied, despised and didn''t believe in his strength. Sure, he helped them uncover two spies which would have stabbed them in the back at the critical moment, but only relying wisdom would not take you far on the road of cultivation.

    From today on though, his opinion had completely changed. Screw being a slave for ten years, he would follow the orders of the little mysterious boy with golden eyes and sharp mind for his whole life! He turned to thank the boy when his face suddenly changed.

    "Crap, watch out!" Tai Zu screamed. The attack that seemed to have the might to shake the earth was directed straight towards Cheng Hao! The dragon roared as it flew closer to the child and its eyes seemed to shine with bloodlust.

    Cheng Hao smiled and simply waved his sleeve: he kept twisting it until it reached the rotation speed of the coiling dragon heading towards him and then he jumped in the air. He matched his arm''s rotation with the dragon''s and begun to slowly wear the attack down. Cheng Hao gritted his teeth: such a powerful attack, especially when it had been powered up by himself nonetheless, was not something that he could just take on without cultivation!

    Still, his face was calm and he kept his cool. He suddenly bent backwards, his body arching like a bridge and at the same time rotated his sleeve up so the attack was pointed slightly upwards. He felt the dragon brushing right next to his nose and cold sweat trickling down his back: even he had problem handling such a powerful attack through his Fleshly Body only.

    He breathed out in relief, tightened his belly muscles and pulled himself up. He sighed and straightened his clothes "I''m sorry for the delay, would you like to go on?"

    Tai Zu almost burst into tears seeing that he was fine. He ignored the fact that his attack had been once again blocked, he couldn''t care less about that, he almost killed his benefactor, he would not have been able to live his life if he had done that!

    "This Old Idiot was wrong, oh, he was wrong! Screw it, who dares oppose him? If anybody has anything to say to him, then come tell it to my Coiling Black Dragon Manipulation technique!"

    Cheng Hao secretly cheered in his mind ''Yes, random Tai guy number one acquired! As for the other...'' Cheng Hao approached the fainted Tai Fu and pressed an acupuncture point on the man''s chest which made him jerk awake at once.

    "W-w-what happened? Who are y-You! Why areyouhere? What happened? Brother, what are you doing?" Tai Fu looked around only to get even more confused. Tai Zu approached "Brother, this Cheng Hao is incredible! He helped me improve my skills, with the insights I have gained I think I may just be able to have a breakthrough and get past the bottleneck to the Sung stage!"

    Tai Zu narrated what happened up until Tai Fu woke up and he smiled "If we can live as subordinate of such a genius..." Tan Fu nodded after a while "I will have no complaints! I hope he will help me as well!"

    "Oh,but I already have!" Cheng Hao had approached them at some point during the conversation "Your cultivation of the Armored War Elephant Transformation had reached a bottleneck, right?"

    Tai Fu nodded "That''s right, but how did you..." Cheng Hao ignored him and continued "Before you woke up I pressed an acupuncture point. It is the Iron Blood Meridian, by opening it, it allows Qi with a permanent physical enhancing attribute like yours to advance by leaps and bounds. I estimate that in a few years without putting in too much effort, you will effortlessly reach the peak Sung stage. As for your elder brother, he will have to put in a little more effort, but he should also have no problem having the same achievements during that same period of time!"

    Tai Fu looked at Cheng Hao as if he had just looked at an angel: he had already forgotten about the humiliation that Cheng Hao had put him through and was already imagining himself at the peak of cultivation, unstoppable under the heavens and earth.

    At the same time, the crowd of people were watching with envy at the two people that had just been helped so much although they had showed hostility at first, they were rewarded at the end nevertheless! What kind of fu***d up luck is that?

    Cheng Hao seemed to notice that "Oh, you guys needn''t worry. Just like those two, I am sure that I have some way to help you... I had told you when we first started to show me your techniques and that it would be for your, and the Golden Tiger''s Faction''s best!"

    Everybody in the room felt like crying ''Such a kind master! We will follow you, we will show you out techniques, our skills our *****, whatever you want as long as you truly give us power!''

    Cheng Hao smiled "Of course, it won''t be as easy as you think... I said that in a few years, you would be able to reach the peak Sung stage, but we don''t have a few years have we? In a month or two, I will like it if you could become peak Sung stage experts! Of course, since we don''t want to harm our body because of short term benefits, we will have to do some nice and pretty...Training.Of course, I will also train those nice Inner Elders for a change, after all, no pain no gain, so a lot of pain means a slight improvement on the gain, right?"

    When they heard the word ''training'', nobody could help but shiver ''Fu** the kind master, this bastard is the devil, why the hell is he here, was he sent by Yama (Note: Yama is the King of Hell in Chinese culture) himself to torture us?''

    Cheng Hao smiled, but to the crowd, it looked like the most evil grin a living being could ever pull off "Perhaps? After all, Ididcome from what you guys callHellin a certain sense..."

    ''What theHell! He can read our minds, he really is the devil! Third Protector, save us! Ah, you bastard Bi Liang, when did you manage to sneak up to the exit? What''s with that"good luck, you are on your own"expression? No wait, don''t leave! Noo! How dare you leave us alone! Aaaah, now that devil is looking at us and his eyes are glowing, GLOWING I tell you! I wanna go home, mommyyyyy!!!''

 Chapter 40 - In All But Blood

    Smoke and dust rose from the arena made out of stones. It was outside the territory of the sect, a few miles away from the castle.

    On the stony plateau, more than five hundred bodies laid on the ground. They were full of bruises, cuts, and both light and heavy injuries, some were even on the borders of life and death! Countless moans and cries of pain could be heard coming from the many bodies laying on the ground.

    They were a few hundred people wearing white robes, Inner and Core Elders of the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect.

    In the middle of such chaos, a single person stood: he was a young child, about eight years old, almost nine. Unlike everybody else, he was standing still and instead of injuries he only had some dust and dirt on his clothes.

    He looked almost relaxed as he watched the people crying and screaming from the pain surrounding him "Ahhhh, nothing is as good as good old-fashioned beat-them-up! It really tempers the body!"

    Suddenly his cheerful expression grew angry "Ehy, you lot! Did I say you could rest? Hurry up and get back to running and fighting!" He stomped on the ground and released a powerful shockwave, blowing the unlucky people lying close to him up a few meters in the air before falling back down. Falling back downhard.

    A person crawled his way up to the body of a man pretending to have fainted: he wore a white robe with three black lines going from his shoulder to his ankle. He was an Inner Elder.

    As for the man laying on the ground, he was none other than the Core Elder, Tai Fu! "Senior Fu, wasn''t Master Hao a human with no cultivation? How is he able to hurt us as such?"

    Tai Fu only slightly moved his lips, scared that the distant Cheng Hao would notice that he wasn''t unconscious anymore "Don''t ask me questions that nobody can answer. That guy is a monster! Look around you, all these bodies laying in the dust and crying tears of blood, would you be able to do something like that?"

    Tai Fu looked in Cheng Hao''s directions. "If you want my opinion, that guy is the Devil himse-" He saw the boy looking straight at him and stopped talking altogether as he shuddered.

    "Tai Fu! You seem to have recovered, good! Come here so I can verify the fruit of your training up until now!" Cheng Hao smiled and crushed the longsword he was holding in his hand into splinters.

    Tai Fu gritted his teeth and punched the ground. He lowered his voice and cursed "Go****it! See what I mean! How can thatthingpossibly be a human?"

    Cheng Hao smiled and waved his harms "Everybody, Core Elder Tai Fu says that this amount of training is nowhere near enough and I should increase the difficulty a bit! Alright, a thousand squats-push ups and palms sets for ten times! The last person to complete them shall repeat the sequence another five times, so hurry up!"

    Hundreds of groans and cries could be heard at the same time as the whole crowd of injured people turned to look at Tai Fu, bursting with rage.

    "Brother, you idiot, don''t you know that Bastard Devil can hear you no matter where you are! That little brat is not one you should joke around with!" A bloody Tai Zu crawled over and smacked Tai Fu with a stick.

    "Still not enough I see... I guess you shall do all that without using your hands, use your teeth instead!" Cheng Hao''s voice reached them and they almost coughed blood when they heard the words.

    Everybody couldn''t help but groan after hearing that "You idiotic Tai Brothers, did your dog parents ever teach you how and when to FRIGGING SHUT THE F*** UP!!!"

    A couple composed by a middle aged man and slightly younger woman panted and then the mother protested "Ehy, we are here, you know! Don''t casually curse us when we are right here!"

    The father also looked angry but then nodded his head in approval "But you guys are right, those twoareidiots..."

    "Wow, you guys are so energetic! Ok! We will do everything I told you earlier... At the same time, I will also try long ranged attacks, so act like good targets!" Cheng Hao took out a short sword, on it were carved the Rune "Long".

    He began to slash the air but the blade acted strangely so that sharp air currents followed the strikes, going on for hundreds of meters before disappearing.

    Everybody immediately shut up and began training like madmen, not daring to anger the Demon Brat any longer. They would do the inhuman sets, eventually dodging the occasional sword strike, but nobody dared to voice any kind of complaint as they knew that would only worsen the situation. Running away wasn''t an option either as there was Bi Liang patrolling outside.

    Wait... What?

    "Wait a second...Whyis Bi Liang stopping us from running away?" Somebody stopped and asked. Seeing that, Cheng Hao smiled and slashed again in his direction.

    The man paled seeing that and dodged Cheng Hao''s strike before immediately going back to train.

    Another person turned and asked "What do you mean, Ho XiaoLi? Of course he would stop us, otherwise we would all run away"

    The person referred to as Ho XiaoLi gritted his teeth and spoke again "That ain''t what I mean you idiot Ran Gu! What I mean is, why isn''t that Devil there making him do all this like u- Ugh!" The man barely evaded a sword strike and fell hard on his face.

    Ran Gu thought for a bit before his eyes lit up "It might be... That even Master Hao is not able to force him to do this! After all, he has a peak Sung stage cultivation! Everybody, if you get to the peak Sung stage you will be able to escape this madness!"

    "What?" "Is that true?" "Make way, two months? One will be enough!" "Hellish training here I come!" "Oh, I want so smack that boy''s face so badly, I shall get to the peak Sung stage before anybody else!" Cheng Hao simply smiled at the crowd of people surrounding him.

    In the meanwhile, Bi Liang was patrolling around the group of people engaged in the hellish training. He was concentrating hard on his job and thus didn''t hear what the people were yelling.

    "If I let anybody through I will join the training with the bunch of them..." Bi Liang gulped and trembled terrified "But why did brother Cheng Hao allow me to rest while everybody else is working their asses off?"The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

    In the middle of the chaos of people yelling and moving around, Cheng Hao simply smiled ''The carrot and the stick, good old trick, what''s more, it always works! Now... What technique should I practice?''

    Cheng Hao''s eyes gleamed as he stepped forward. Nobody saw the motion, but at some time during that step, Cheng Hao had slashed. Yet, Sung cultivators, powerful Martial Artists that had been training for decades couldn''t figure out the secret of the move as Cheng Hao simply walked around to slash the air surrounding him.

    ''Sword Intent!'' Cheng Hao smiled ''To slash the air without using a blade! Or at least, that is what the user''d like other people to think!''

    He stepped forward and he slashed the air once again as he hid the weapon from the eyes of the people looking at him. It was a really difficult technique that required extremely good control and knowledge of the body, as it would need the user to manipulate the shadows and twist the body in a way that would hide the blade from prying eyes, thus making it look like the air was slashed apart just by moving around!

    It was also a perfect skill for assassinations and ambushes and powerful against big groups!

    Also, now that the he strikes would linger on, it was even more deadly! The blades of wind formed by the powerful slashes would travel for hundreds of meters before fading. Although it wouldn''t be enough to kill those powerful cultivators, it would still injure them to some extent.

    A crazy child with an edged weapon, what''s more, an incredibly powerful crazy child with a weapon that can cut through the air itself and form wind blades... Who would dare disobey him?

    Everyone on the stony plateau silently did the exercises they had been ordered to do by the Devil Brat of the Golden Tiger Faction.

    Cheng Hao finally stopped after two whole hours, allowing the group to rest, and looked up ''It''s been a week... Sisters, Brothers... Xiao Wu, Fu Yin, Fan Lai... How are you doing right now?''

    Tai Fu gaped as he stared wide-eyed at the boy "Did that Devil''s expression just turn into belonging and nostalgia?"

    Before he could investigate any further, he was forced to roll to the side to evade a wind blade full of killing intent. He lifted himself up and shook his head ''Nope... Definitely the same ol'' Devil Brat Cheng Hao...''

    ...

    Xiao Wu squinted her eyes and dodged to the right: a sword slashed the same spot she had been standing on up until a moment ago and swiftly hurried up to chase after her.

    Xiao Wu gritted her teeth and moved her left hand in front of her: the Aura Shield moved and the incredibly thin yet durable shield of Aura appeared right in time to block the blow.

    A man wearing loose clothes and missing an eye frowned as he saw his attack being blocked. This was an attack in which he poured most of his power in, yet the shield didn''t even budge, let alone crack!

    He was about to back away when the girl spun on herself hitting his blade with her Fake White Shield. She squatted and sweeped her legs horizontally, making him lose his footing. He lost his balance and a black gleam flashed by as the girl landed behind him, her right arm still thrusting in front of her.

    The man''s eyes widened to look at his chest: a black, incredibly thin sword was hovering just a hair''s breadth away from his left chest.

    He gulped and then lifted his hands "I surrender!" Xiao Wu waved her hands and the Aura Sword and Aura Shield seemed to break into countless bright shards as it dissolved into gaseous Qi and flowed back into her body.

    She bowed to the man and said "Thanks for Senior''s guidance! I have learnt a lot from my battle today!"

    The man looked around forty years old, had long curly black hair and dark skin. He sheathed his sword and also bowed "I am also grateful for Junior''s kindness. It seems like I still have a lot to work on!"

    He reluctantly tossed her some kind of badge which she caught in midair. He sighed and looked for someone to fight to win back a badge for himself.

    Xiao Wu turned, headed towards the counter and announced the result of the mock battle, also handing in her badge. Apparently, with that victory she had leveled up from a Rank One fighter to a Rank Two fighter, not that she really cared about it...

    After dealing with the formalities, she left the Fighter''s Haven. The building was five stories tall and more than a hundred meters wide. Inside it there were facilities for training, body building, dueling and even Seniors that gave guidance to disciples during their daily lectures.

    Apparently, this kind of building existed in every Sect, School and Major City and one''s ranking could be shared.

    Xiao Wu sighed and then spoke to the snake curled on her shoulders "Hey Goldy! How is it that now you are small again?"

    The golden dragon opened his eyes and yawned "After reaching the Superior stage, us Heavenly Beasts can switch our body sizes, didn''t I already tell you, Stupid Hao?"

    Xiao Wu shook her head and pouted "No you did not, you didn''t even tell me that you had already broken through! Also... Uhm... Youdoremember I amnotCheng Hao right? I am Xiao Wu..."

    Goldy looked confused for a bit. He looked up and saw Xiao Wu''s face "Oh Xiao Wu! Of course I remembered, ahaha..." The girl glared and the snake looked down in shame "Alright I had forgotten, sorry..."

    The girl sighed and looked up "I wonder... What is brother doing right now..."

    ...

    Xiao Wu approached the wounded boy: the gaping hole where the stomach should have been looked really painful and she couldn''t help but want to cry. But she couldn''t, it would make the boy feel even worse!

    She moved and tried to hug Cheng Hao but was met with a firm resistance by the boy. But she could tell, that he was not truly trying to push her away... Understanding that, she hugged him and kissed his forehead.

    Cheng Hao closed his eyes, gritted his teeth and pushed Xiao Wu''s own forehead to keep her away. At the same time that the hand made contact with her forehead, a single, thin, string of Will left Cheng Hao''s fingers and entered her consciousness.

    At first, the girl was confused: if Cheng Hao had no cultivation, such a thing should have been impossible! In the Will, there were instructions on what to do to become even stronger and... Seven words.

    After she examined the content of the will, the girl smiled in understanding and hugged the boy even tighter. She now knew why the boy did what he did and she would not blame him. He was his brother, friend, master and savior: if he were to do something wrong, she would bear through it with him!

    If he were to walk through a sea of flames, she would gladly use her body to shield him from the heat! If he were to get shot, she would gladly throw her body in the trajectory of the projectile and take the hit for him! Because she was his sister! She had told him that! A night more than a month ago, her life changed because of that person.

    "I will be your sister from now on, so don''t worry about anything! I''ll stop the arrows aimed against you with my body, sacrifice my life to save yours and step over seas of flames to get to you!"

    Those words, she had told them to him once and has not regretted them ever since. She would keep true to those words and not betray her one brother!

    She turned and headed towards Fan Lai. He ignored his appreciating nod and completely disregarded what he told her, her eyes burned with anger and in her mind was only one thought: to avenge her brother against those that forced him to lie to his brothers and friends, to make himself look miserable and to bring him away from her!

    ...

    "Sister, I am sorry. Please, trust me!" Xiao Wu recited the words that Cheng Hao had branded in her mind that time. She pondered for a bit as she walked back towards the Alliance''s main building. Finally, she lifted her head and her eyes burned with the flames of determination.

    "Brother, I know that what you have said was the truth. Don''t worry, I will help you when you need it... Because, we are brothers! We are brothersin all but blood! This alliance with the same name will wait for you for your return, our phantom member, our brother, our leader!"

    "You are perfectly right" somebody clamped her shoulder. (Fortunately, Goldy had already started to float around) She was startled and found a pair of blue lifeless eyes staring at her. Fu Yin smiled.

    "Well... I had long ago thought this through. Actually, I have never thought that Cheng Hao had betrayed us in the first place! As for that spear blow, it was all but lethal and it helped make his performance more credible!" He laughed nervously.

    Xiao Wu lifted one of her eyebrows and looked at him skeptically. The boy trembled and then sighed "Alright, I admit I exaggerated a bit as I wasn''t sure at that time, but I''m sure he will forgive me!"

    The white haired boy stepped forward and looked upwards "If master comes back I will apologize to him, but first..." He grinned and offered his hand to Xiao Wu "I will have to get stronger, to soar higher! For our friend, for our master... Let''s go Sister!"

    The girl grabbed and lightly squeezed the boy''s hand as she nodded as shealso looked at the azure sky "For our brother in all but blood!"

 Book 1: Reborn - Second Arc: The Gears Slowly Start To Move - Epilogue

    A figure wearing a black cloak hurried up a set of stairs as he laughed in excitement "What luck! What great luck! Have the heavens blessed me?"

    He kicked the ground at each step, jumping over tens of steps at each leap, all this done without any enhancing by any Cultivation Base, it was merely through the man''s power.

    After several minutes of running and jumping, the man finally arrived in front of a large black door. It was really tall and, on the top, there where several demons depicted out of the same black material.

    The man smiled and waved his hand: the cloak fell down revealing a completely black robe. It looked just like the sect elders robes, a single robe with few decoration, except this was black and had a few sprinkles of gold here and there.

    On its back, the words Long Yin Hei - Shadow Dragon [Note: Like Lao Jianghu (Laohu - Tiger), a play with words: Long - dragon, Yin(yang) - shadow. All protectors hold similar titles which are wordplays from their name] were depicted in large, edgy characters.

    The font made it look like the words had been carved by the claws of a mysterious beast and they were crimson, the color of blood.

    He was tall and thin, he had long wavy hair that fell below the shoulders and his eyes were yellow, a golden yellow with a black vertical pupil, like a snake''s.

    He casually waved his sleeve again and the black door faded away, as if it had never been there, as if it was only... A shadow.

    The man walked into the large room: it was completely black, without a single ray of light shining inside: it was the tower of the First Protector, Long Yin Hei, a tower made out of shadows!

    He casually stepped forward and sat on the black throne. He trembled and then grinned excitedly "I have found a treasure, and at such a convenient time too! Now, not even that annoying woman will be able to stop me, I, the Shadow Dragon, will soon return!"

    He clenched his fist as he stared at the ceiling "After so much time... I will free myself of this curse, of this seal! Chu Sai!"

    The air trembled and another figure appeared. He wore black clothes that covered every part of his body except for his eyes and carried five katanas on his back and sides.

    He kneeled and lowered his head "You have called me, Sir?"

    Yin Hei smiled "Chu Sai... For so many years you have followed me, for so many years you have protected me from the shadows... Now, all that work will be rewarded! Because, you see, we have won! Nobody can stop us now! Even if somebody had the strength of a god, he would be unable to stop us!"

    He sighed and abandoned himself on the throne "Such a great feeling... A feeling that all my effort have not been wasted, do you know what I mean?" He looked up "The fated battle will soon begin. We have waited for years for this chance, now that the heavens have decided to help us, we are going all out! Call back the Shadow Legion and tell them to prepare. We will head out in a week!"

    Chu Sai silently listened to his Lord''s speech but then nodded and propped himself up. He put a hand on his left chest and spoke "Yes, my lord! I will head out right now!"

    The air trembled once again and Chu Sai disappeared, transforming into a black blur shooting through the night sky.

    Yin Hei chuckled "You foolish Tiger, foe of mine, do you finally understand? I am the strongest! In one week, I will erase the remaining opposition in this school and destroy the seal that has been holding me down for centuries!"

    The black robed man gritted his teeth and his eyes gleamed "You, who have not yet awoken, have no way to stop that, I would love to see your face trembling in fear, as you finally realize... That I am stronger! I will free myself of this world and fly to the ninth level of the sky! Ahahahahah... Ahahah... Ahah... Ah... Ah..."

    He stopped laughing and banged his fist on the throne made out of shadows "How dare you imprison me! I will have my revenge, you puny Tiger, I am the lord of the shadows, the bearer of the Night! I am the being of the darkness, unlit by light! I am... The Shadow Dragon!"

    As he shouted, the roar of a dragon also sweeped outwards and the outline of a black, snake-like dragon coiling around Yin Hei could be seen.

    ...

    In a dark room, a figure stood up. He wore golden robes and had long white hair as well as sharp, penetrating, golden eyes.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

    On his back were the words ''Lao Jianghu - Golden Tiger''. In front of him, a golden cloud hovered in midair. In the middle of that cloud was the faint outline of a sword... Suddenly, the blade flashed and began to glow.

    Lao Jianghu excitedly waved his hand and a sword fell on the ground, the golden cloud also disappeared. It was golden in color and looked like a completely common long sword. The old man grabbed the blade, the fruit of his effort.

    A single drop of sweat fell down his nose and he wiped it away "I have finished! After two months, I have finished! Bi Liang... Cheng Hao... We have made it! I have successfully completedit!"

    He smiled and fell on his back "Such a long time, so much effort, such hardships, all for these... Worth it or not, I will find out in a week! Cheng Hao! I trust you have not been idle and have spared no effort to aid my comrades! I have put my trust in you, don''t fail to repay me back!"

    He looked at the ceiling above him: it was the familiar ceiling he had been in for most of the last two months, the ceiling made out of golden weapons of the Third Protector''s Tower. Suddenly, a loud dragon''s roar reverberated and the man lifted his head calmly.

    He sighed "It seems... Like my enemy has also finished his preparations. This won''t be an easy fight! But I have to win! For the fate of this Sect... This continent... And this world!"

    He stood up and grabbed onto the golden longsword. He blinked once and examined the blade: it was perfect, not a single scratch could be made out on top of it.

    "And you... You will be my tickets to victory!"

    ...

    Cheng Hao opened his mouth wide "How can this be?" He gulped and he gaped. He muttered to himself "Is this... Possible?"

    Seventeen men were lined up in front of him, each of them wearing a worn out Core Elder robe. The four black stripes had long faded away, washed away by the blood, sweat and tears.

    The white robe had also gotten dirty with all sort of stuff, from dirt to blood, making it look quite unsightly. Yet, the people stood tall and proud, their faces full of cuts and bruises yet firm and righteous as they stared at the stunned child in front of them.

    Cheng Hao lifted his head and his expression darkened "To think that in two months... Two months... You..." The boy angrily looked at them "Only reached up to the high level Sung stage! What the hell! You talentless lot, how is this possible! Explain it to me right this instant!"

    Hearing Cheng Hao''s yell, seventeen people looked down and trembled from the rage: some of them only had the strength of a peak Superior stage cultivator up until a while ago and yet they have almost advanced a whole realm in less than three months. Let alone talented, if someone had documented this they would have been labeled as monsters!

    Cheng Hao then turned at the crowd of people behind the eighteen Core Elders. Their cultivation varied, but few were still in the Superior stage and most of them had a cultivation of the low Sung stage!

    There were even a few who had reached the mid level Sung stage! Such a powerful group would be able to completely eradicate a whole country in a few weeks!

    "You guys did well. To reach the peak Sung stage was just wild speculation as it would have been basically impossible. If only I had more time..." Cheng Hao sighed.

    Hearing those words, everyone trembled: although they had gained an unbelievable increase in strength, those two months were without question, the harshest two months in their whole life!

    "... Unfortunately, we don''t" Cheng Hao continued and then turned "You have two hours to clean yourself up and gather your things. After this time is up, meet up at the main gate. We are going back"

    Bi Liang smiled and stepped forward "Brother... Could it be-"

    "Yes!" Cheng Hao smiled. He looked at the hundreds of people in front of him, each of their eyes burning with courage and will to fight. From the weakest to the strongest, from the youngest to the oldest, they were all elite warriors. Fighters he had trained himself.

    Seeing this scene, Cheng Hao''s smile turned into a fiendish grin "It''s time to go back. The conflict may be about to start! So... How about we join in?"

    He lifted his hand pointing to the sky "For victory! For our brothers and sisters, for wealth and fame!"

    "For victory! For our brothers and sisters, for wealth and fame!"

    It began with one loud shout. Then followed with another one, and more and more people began to join in until everyone was yelling the same thing

    "For victory! For our brothers and sisters, for wealth and fame!" "For victory! For our brothers and sisters, for wealth and fame!"

    "For victory! For our brothers and sisters, for wealth and fame!"

    Cheng Hao smiled when suddenly, an even higher yell could be heard "For our one mentor and master, Devil Brat Cheng Hao!"

    Cheng Hao turned and saw the two brothers Tai Fu and Tai Zu clapping at him. They grinning at him and winked. He sighed and smiled.

    "For our one mentor and master, Devil Brat Cheng Hao!" Somebody else also shouted and began to clap. Cheng Hao stared blankly as even more people joined in.

    "For our one mentor and master, Devil Brat Cheng Hao!" Soon, all Core Elders shouted these words and clapped.

    "For our one mentor and master, Devil Brat Cheng Hao!" The Inner Elders also shouted and clapped until their throat got hoarse and their hands ached painfully, some whistled and cheered at this boy that had helped them so much.

    "For our one mentor and master, Devil Brat Cheng Hao!" Bi Liang also laughed as he clapped eagerly: this was all thanks to his work and effort, they all knew that, deep down, he saw them all, both the young and the old, as little brothers. For that reason, he wasted no effort in helping them, he more than deserved this applause and cheering!

    Cheng Hao couldn''t help but widen his mouth. Then his expression changed into dejection. He looked down and murmured "That is right, you got into the hands of this Devil Brat and endured such harsh training... Wouldn''t it be a shame if it all turned to waste by dying? How about we give up?"

    Nobody started it this time, everyone shouted at once "Oh, F*** No!"

    Cheng Hao chuckled and smiled fiercely "Then let''s go... Let us go and kick some of those bastards'' asses! Get revenge for your abuse and vent out your anger! TO VICTORY!!!!!"

    "TO VICTORY!!!!!"

    This shout was so loud that the earth seemed to tremble, the clouds disperse and the oceans surge. It was a shout full of resentment, anger...

    And The Will To Fight!!!

 Book 1: Reborn - Third Arc: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - Prologue

    "Xiao Wu, what''s wrong?" Fan Lai asked. He yawned and looked at the young girl in front of him. It was way past three in the morning, still, she was wearing the sect robes and looked like she was about to sneak out.

    He had come down from his room to drink some water and read some books and she found her sneaking around.

    "W-Well... T-That''s!" She stuttered. Fan Lai tilted his head in confusion when suddenly he heard noise coming from upstairs.

    "Damn girl, going ahead without waiting for me!" A boy with pale blue skin stepped into the room, he also wore sect clothes and his Dimensional Pouch was hanging from his belt. When he saw Fan Lai, his expression froze.

    "W-Well, hello Alliance Master, what a beautiful night, isn''t it?" Fu Yin smiled and looked around.

    Fan Lai sighed "Could someone please explain what is going on here? You know full well you cannot go out after midnight, it is one of the Alliance''s rules".

    Fu Yin and Xiao Wu exchanged a glance and then smiled "Sorry leader, you will have to go to sleep for a while!"

    Fan Lai blinked once "What do you-"

    His questioning was interrupted when Fu Yin and Xiao Wu kicked off the ground and each of them landed a solid kick on the older male''s temples.

    An unconscious Fan Lai fell to the ground, his eyes showing white.

    Xiao Wu exhaled and nodded "This should keep him out of the picture for a few hours..."

    Fu Yin tilted his head "I think that might have been enough for a few days actual-"

    "Let''s just hurry!" The girl snapped.

    Xiao Wu sighed and then smiled. She kicked off the ground and flew out the window.

    When she was about to fall back down, she summoned her Aura Sword and stepped on it.

    After that, she pointed in front of her and the blade sped up. By doing so, she flew at high speeds towards the Great Walls separating the fourth ring from the third ring.

    Fu Yin''s eyes glinted "This girl... She never ceases to amaze me! She can actually go so fast!"

    He grinned "But she is not the only one knowing that trick..." Fu Yin summoned the two Aura Spears and comfortably sat on them as he sped up, following Xiao Wu.

    After a few minutes, they finally reached the Wall. Xiao Wu and Fu Yin stopped. The boy inhaled and gulped to calm down and then asked "Sis, are you still sure about doing it? I have a bad feeling about this... After all, would those old fools truly let their disciples fight it off? I think there might be something hiding beneath the surface..."

    The girl laughed "What are you saying! The Nine Protectors'' disciples are about to duel for the rights for their masters to become the new Sect Head, how could we possibly miss it!"

    Fu Yin looked at her and sighed "I still don''t even know how you got hold of this news, I was sure I had tapped all information from coming in... If you get hurt, big brother will skin me alive! Oh well, the dice has been cast, no need to worry about what mistakes we may have done, let''s keep going!"

    The girl nodded "Great! What''s more..." She clenched her fists "Brother might be there!"

    The girl turned "Brother, it has been two months, I can''t wait to see you again and show you my newfound strength!"

    Her black sect robes fluttered, on it were three, white stripes going from the right shoulder to her left ankle... Not one, not two, but three! She was an Inner Disciple!

    ...

    The Falling Moon Tavern. The biggest Inn in the whole Mysterious Light Shadow Sect. Over ten stories tall and a quarter of a mile wide, it was absolutely gigantic.

    This Inn had a total of three major rules that all customers had to abide to.

    First, no fighting allowed within the Tavern unless the two people fighting pay for the damage plus an additional fee.

    Second, no Elders are allowed in the Inn unless they remove the Sect clothing and act as disciples, forfeiting their rights as Elders during this time. This rule may be changed by the owner based on the circumstances;

    Last but not least, offending the Inn or anyone working for it in any way also meant offending the expert backing the Inn.

    It was unknown which power it was, but to be able to support such a grand building and carry out justice for many years it would most likely be a really powerful expert.

    Some claim it was an old man, some a youth others a really beautiful female, others a kid... Sure, there were many rumors going on about it.

    But what few people knew was that there was indeed an expert backing up the whole thing, but that person changed overtime.

    Every six months, a tournament would be held, only the most secretive and powerful experts would be invited and the winner would receive as a prize the control over the whole inn...

    It has been two months ever since the two heaven-shaking geniuses, Xiao Wu and Fu Yin appeared. They had since long caused quite the uproar in the sect after going from Vacant Disciple to Inner disciple in less than three months.

    Now there were countless Elders, seeking them out to be their master, but all were rejected. It was said that they had also been asked out by a Sect Protector, but his request also got denied.

    Still, it has now been two months ever since that commotion in between the now famous All But In Blood Alliance and the mysterious youth that had attempted to strip them of their cultivation.

    Now, in a dark corner of a large room on the first floor of the Inn, a figure wearing a black cloak covering his or her features sat down at a table alone.

    He sat still leaning back on a rocking chair, not doing anything, seemingly listening to the scattered pieces of information coming from all around him.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    He had been sitting there for a while now and didn''t order anything to eat or drink he just shifted and turned, his face covered by the black hood.

    It was bound to happen that a few people would grow suspicious, even annoyed of such actions. It was pretty obvious that he was only here to eavesdrop on other people''s conversations.

    Hearing the discontent coming from the people around him, a young man grinned ''What a chance! This is the perfect occasion to let the whole world know of my strength!'': he wore tight leather clothes, had two sword shaped earrings, each at least as large as his hand and bound by chains, and had spiky green hair.

    He punched the table really hard smashing it into splinters and the noise around him died down until the whole floor grew silent.

    Hearing that, the man lifted his head and glared at the robed man. He stood up and walked towards the figure dressed in black.

    He spat on the ground and then asked "Who the hell are you? Why aren''t you ordering anything? I know, you areeavesdroppingaren''t you? Well you see..."

    The man gritted his teeth as he faked anger and acted like the good guy "I don''t like that!"

    He took out a gold coin and tossed it at the closest attendant "The additional fee. Now, let me crush you so that you will think about it twice before you eavesdrop ever gain!"

    He rotated his cultivation base and an Aura of the mid level Advanced stage emanated outwards.

    "Wow, an Advanced stage at such an age! Isn''t he like, barely in his twenties? That boy is a genius, who is he?" Some people in the crowd thought out aloud.

    Hearing the words of praise from the crowd, the man grinned ''My time to shine!''.

    He pointed at the black robed man''s face and yelled "My name is Shu Chen, give me your name, you scum!"

    After doing that, Shu Chen smiled in his mind: he had long since waited for an opportunity like that to appear!

    The black robed person ignored him and kept staring in front of him. Seeing that, a vein popped on top of Shu Chen''s forehead.

    "You dare ignore me!" The man snapped "Well then, don''t blame me for being impolite!" He removed his earrings, breaking off the chains tied around them: as soon as they were freed from their restraints, the blades enlarged until they became two large greatswords.

    They were about two meters long and half a meter wide, each of them would be more than enough to cleave a man in two with a single strike.

    They had a supernatural glow that dyed the surroundings in green: it was obviously a magical weapon of some sort. Some speculated that it might be a legendary Flying Sword!

    The man grinned and picked up one of the blades with both of his hands.

    He then threw the other up with his foot and kicked it, sending it flying towards the robed person.

    During this time, the man in question, the figure wearing black clothing, didn''t even shift a bit and he looked like he didn''t even notice that he was being attacked.

    ''He''s not moving a muscle! He must be scared stiff! Ahah, such a great first kill, it will sure make me popular!'' Shu Chen licked his lips and his green hairs fluttered in the wind as he dashed toward his target.

    The greatsword cut down towards the figure''s neck and it slowly got closer and closer... "Dieee!!!" Shu Chen screamed.

    *Clack* the weapon stopped in its tracks as if it had hit an impenetrable wall.

    "What!" Everybody who had seen the scene couldn''t help but be shocked, because... the black robed figure had just blocked the blow with his index finger alone!

    Shu Chen''s eyes widened as the tip of his sword cracked and the blade fragmented in shards. The weapon that he had kicked before had also been stopped with the same method and was now nothing more than fine powder on the ground.

    The man trembled in fear as he took a step back, his previous happy expression twisted into horror "How... How is this possible! Those were blades capable of slaying the superior stage!"

    The Inn grew loud again

    "Who is he?"

    "What kind of cultivation does he have to stop such a blow?"

    "Is he an Elder?"

    "Sure he might be, but then, why would such a powerful expert eavesdrop on such bland conversations?"

    The black robed figure finally stretched and stood up. The voice of a young male sounded out "Oh, gosh, I was sleeping so soundly back there, why did you wake me up?"

    "What! He was just sleeping!" The crowd''s eyes widened and their mouth gaped as they couldn''t help but shout "Wait, how could he be sleeping? He blocked those powerful blows... In his sleep!?!"

    "Boy, who are you?" Shu Chen asked as he trembled: the voice indicated that the robed man was actually really young.

    The person wearing black lifted his head and smiled "Oh? Who am I..." The boy looked down at his clothes "Well, I am the owner of this Inn. Nice to meet you!"

    """Ahahahahah!""" even though they had seen his strength, the people who heard this couldn''t help but burst out laughing. A middle aged man stood up and shouted, indignant "What are you spouting! This Inn is over a few centuries old, how could a young boy like you be its master! You sound like a brat in his teens!"

    "That''s right" A young woman intervened as she charmingly winked and gulped down a glass of wine. She pointed at the cloaked figure with the glass in her hand and yelled "That''s a blatant lie! What will you do when therealmaster comes out and punish you for tarnishing his name!"

    The boy shook his head and yawned "I don''t care about what you guys think of me, just letting you know what you asked. As long as you keep bringing in money, that''s fine..."

    Shu Chen and the crowd were about to retort when the door swung open. Three figures walked in, they all wore the clothing of the Sect Elders and the four black stripes running from the left shoulder to the right ankle showed their statues as Core Elders.

    What''s more, the pressure they gave off was that of incredible might, it far surpassed the strength a usual Core Elder should have.

    "What is this, they shouldn''t be able to come in! They are still wearing their clothing! What is happening, Al?" Somebody shouted at a nearby attendant.

    The person called Al turned and looked at the three people "Oh, they are exceptions. Master has said that they can come in whenever they like... However they like." he pointed at the boy wearing black robes. Seeing that, the crowd was dumbfounded.

    In the meanwhile, the three men stepped forward and knelt on the ground.

    "Master, preparations have been completed. According to our information, the conflict will start in a few hours at most!"

    The boy walked forward and laughed "Oh, you have finally arrived! Bi Liang, Tai Fu, Tai Zu!" He ignored the stunned crowd and leaped towards the three men.

    "Let''s go then" the boy grinned "This will be quite the show! Oh!" He hit his palm "First, though, I should probably do something... I probably won''t be coming back here anytime soon, so I''ll give them a gift!"

    He turned towards the closest attendant and tossed him a sack full of coins "Hei, Al'' please offer everyone a drink. It''s on the house! Whatever is left, you can keep it, thanks for your hard work!" Having said that, Cheng Hao walked out and the three Elders followed.

    The crowd went silent as they were all stunned. "He-He was the real deal, wasn''t he?" The middle aged man asked. The young woman trembled and nodded "Yes. Let''s just grab that drink and forget about this, hoping he won''t seek revenge for disrespecting him..."

    The green haired youth trembled as his knees felt weak. He fell on the floor, his back drenched with sweat "I... I have just attacked such an expert... What have I done?!?"

    ...

    Outside the inn, the moon up in the sky and the countless stars brightened up the beautiful night. There was not a single cloud to be seen and the air held only a slight chill.

    The group of four walked forward and soon reached an isolated building, an abandoned warehouse. When they walked inside, hundreds of people looked at them as they emitted bloodlust and their eyes burned with the will to fight.

    Bi Liang turned to look at the boy wearing a black cloak and chuckled "Little Brother, shouldn''t you take that off?"

    "Oh?" The youth exclaimed "That''s right, I forgot!" He pulled down the hood and removed the black robe: he was a young child. He looked eight, maybe nine years old, had long black hair, golden eyes, a small mouth and a straight nose. There was a hint of courage in between his eyebrows and it made him look even handsomer than he already was.

    Cheng Hao smiled and spoke at the crowd "We have waited, endured and trained a long time for this moment..." He turned and he grinned fiercely "Let''s go, everyone! The duel that should decide matters peacefully will begin soon, but both us and our enemies won''t stand still and let everything go as planned, would we? Let''s go!"

    The boy turned and opened the door. The light of dawn shone in and turned the warehouse bright and colorful. The light fell on the child and seemed to wrap around him like a cloak, he looked like some kind of deity descending on this world... A deity of victory!

    The boy smiled as he looked towards the rising sun and his eyes shine with bright light, his eyes also glinting with a burning will and his pupils holding inside many emotions.

    His eyebrows fell as his smile turned into a fiendish grin and his whole atmosphere turned brighter as his will to fight rose. He lifted his arm "For our Sect and for ourselves...

    "WE SHALL WIN THIS WAR!"

 Chapter 41 - The Sect Protectors

    "Xu Ling... What do you think of us?" The voice of a girl sounded by his ears. The child turned and looked at the woman sitting beside him with a smile. She had a red skin and red hair, her features were incredibly beautiful, her curves generous and her red lips alluring.

    The child look confused and asked "You are my brothers, my sisters, my friends, what could I ever think of you?"

    The woman grinned, showing off twoperfect rows of white teeth, and nodded "Of course you would!"

    The boy hesitated then said "But...".

    The woman tilted her head "What is it?"

    "Well... Do you ever have the feelings that you would want to become more than friends with anybody?" The boy looked at the scenery in front of him: at the moment, they were sitting on the border of a flying island, looking at the sun setting down over the horizon.

    The boy gazed the colored sky and pointed "A feeling that you would want to share such beautiful things with somebody? I have... Recently I have been feeling a bit strange..."

    The woman hesitated and then explained "Well, that is called love, and it is something that is perfectly normal!" She smiled and patted the boy''s head.

    "Love?" The boy''s eyes widened "How do you know if it is really love?" The child tilted his head and laid on the woman''s lap.

    She smiled warmly and caressed him as she looked at the horizon "The feeling that you would want to be with that person forever, that your heart would jump out of your chest whenever you meet that somebody, that you want to protect this person, that you would pay any price for her to be safe from all harm... This feeling shows that you Love that person. Who is this person that you become like that around to?"

    The boy closed his eyes and muttered under his breath "Well... It is Sister..."

    "What was that?" The girl asked but she was met with silence so she looked down "You silly boy... To fall asleep like this". She chuckled and kissed him on the forehead "Sleep tight brother, good dreams!"

    ...

    A man walked up a hill cursing. He had white hair tied in braids and dark skin, a snake coiled around his shoulder and two voices sounded out ""Damn, where did those two run to? Look and see ifwedon''t give them a lesson!""

    He walked past the last step of a long set of stairs and he froze. His previous anger turned into tenderness as he saw the two figures sleeping on the grass while hugging each other.

    The woman held the boy close to her chest, her forehead and nose touching with the boy''s. The man sighed ""How couldweever ruin such a scene...""

    He walked up to the two and caressed the both of them with his tow large hands ""Ling ''Er... Hong ''Er... A Human and a Divine Beast. This is just amazing, for the two of you so different, yet to be so close...""

    He turned and looked at the sleeping child with gratitude ""That girl, she never smiled before, she never joked, played or spoke with anybody ever since her mother died... It was as if her time had been stopped and her world turned into black and white!""

    The man sighed ""But now, thanks to you, that time began to move again, her monochrome world has now become full of colors.Wecan see she is now happy. Thank you, Xu Ling, you have the gratitude of us three brothers for letting Hong ''Er enjoy her life!""

    ""We, The Black Turtle, thank you for that!"" Rei Hei smiled and headed back.

    Xu Ling yawned and opened his eyes. He saw that the girl was still sleeping so he didn''t dare move. He smiled happily when he saw the girl''s soft lips were also arranged into a happy smile.

    He closed his eyes and fell asleep again, he dreamt of flying in the night sky, the stars shining around him as he walked hand in hand with the red girl until the end of time...

    ...

    "Brother? Cheng Hao? Brother Cheng Hao?"

    The boy opened his eyes wide and looked around him. He yawned ''Wow, I really fell asleep! Not sleeping for two months is finally paying the toll on my body...''

    "Brother, are you okay? You fell asleep back there, are you sure you are fine?" Bi Liang asked.

    Cheng Hao shook his head "I am fine. You needn''t worry about me, just focus on the task ahead" the boy stretched and yawned. Surrounding him, he could see an ocean of people. Some talking, some meditating, some playing around.

    He shook his head to wake himself up but couldn''t help but ponder "What did I dream of? I cannot remember, I feel like it was something important..."

    ...

    Cheng Hao and the Golden Tiger Faction''s other members were in the Grudge''s End valley in the third ring, an area in the Core Sect of the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect. Although people in a lower position should not be able to visit an higher ranked Ring, this valley was the only exception.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    Located just a few minutes away from the entrance to the Third Ring, the Core Sect, it is the only place where Inner disciples can roam around in the Third Ring.

    There was a gigantic Arena in the middle of the valley with a lot of seats built around it. Most of them were occupied by now as tens of thousands of people had flown in to look at the match that was about to take place.

    They had been stationed here for a few hours now already. The reason was simple: a few minutes from then, the Nine Protectors would appear, each with their disciple, and they would have a showdown in between the younger generation to decide whose master would become the Sect Head.

    The Golden Tiger Faction were mixing with a crowd of a few tens of thousand people or so: the news had been disclosed to a few disciples in the Inner Sect and above and to the Elders in the Inner Sect and Core Sect, so there weren''t just a few people watching the fight.

    Instead, most of the Inner and Core Disciples and Inner and Core Elders were present. Now, the only people left were the Nine Protectors and the stars of the show, their Disciples!

    The crowd had begun to gossip and dispute on who had the highest chances to win. Cheng Hao listened to the opinions of those surrounding him to get an overall view of the situation.

    "There is no need to discuss: it is already clear as who the winner will be, it will of course be Lady Sou Rou! Matchless talent and beauty, who else should you cheer for!" A man nodded and explained excitedly.

    "What are you saying!" Another disciple retorted "If you wish to talk about matchless talent it will of course be young lord Zhao Bu! I heard he has already reached the peak Advanced stage! Soon, he will step into the Superior stage!"

    "Talk about talent and cultivation all you want, but remember that what is most important in a fight is experience!" An old man wearing the Elder Sect robes shook his head "Disciple Fang Lu will of course be the one to win! He is in his late twenties with a cultivation of the low Superior stage. He is not an Heaven defying talent but his experience is greater than both Zhao Bu and Sou Rou!"

    Many people discussed but in the end, the only thing they could do was wait, wait and see for themselves who the true strongest of the younger generation was!

    After five minutes passed, suddenly someone stood up and yelled "Everyone, look! Isn''t that Fourth Protector Mu Gu?"

    "So the Ancient Tree is the first to step into the battlefield! [Note: Mu - Wood, Gu - Ancient, Old]" someone shouted "I bet that boy beside him is his disciple, Fang Lu! I heard he has reached the peak low Superior stage a few weeks ago, he might break through to mid Superior stage at any moment! Being only in his late twenties, that is quite the achievement!"

    Mu Gu was a thin man in his late sixties, with a head full of green hair falling down his back. He had sharp eyebrows and a pointy nose. He wore a green robe and on his back were the words Mu Gu - Ancient Tree.

    The robe looked like it had been weaved with hundreds upon hundreds of leaves, each slightly different in color and shape, by a golden thread. Overall, it looked really fancy and beautiful.

    Fang Lu, instead, was a chubby youth. He wore the Core Sect robes but had a gigantic scroll hanging from his back and his brown hair was tied into a single ponytail. He was an amiable youth who smiled easily, still, he was by no means foolish, some even said that his go-lucky appearance was all a farce to hide his genius and abilities.

    The two, master and disciple, headed towards one corner of the arena and expectantly looked up, waiting for their fellow Sect members to arrive.

    "Look, Fifth Protector Shui Jing is here as well!" A man and a young woman descended from the sky and somebody hurriedly pointed that out "His disciple Te Rin, is here as well! She is really a beauty as rumors say. It seems like Fifth Protector really has a good eye for both talent and beauty!"

    Fifth Protector Shui Jing looked quite young compared to the rest. His appearance was that of a forty years old man, but those who knew better wouldn''t be fooled as he was actually an old man in his early seventies. He wore light blue clothes and on his back were the words Shui Jing - Lord Crystal [Note: Shuijing - Crystal]

    The cloth looked magical: with every movement, it would change in color. Sometimes it would be a bright electric blue, others the darker purple.

    Te Rin instead, was a pretty, young girl. Although her figure wasn''t too prominent, nor did she use too much make up, she was still a beautiful girl, a natural beauty.

    She had phoenix eyes, her hair was tied into two buns and she wore the Core Sect robes, unlike others though, she had cut off the sleeves, showing fair skinned, toned arms and the hood was replaced by a cloth mask which she currently wasn''t wearing.

    Although she looked beautiful, her current appearance was slightly ruined by the slight frown and painful expression on her face.

    They headed towards Mu Gu and Fang Lu, exchanged greetings with them, and then also stood beside them.

    "Eight Protector Fa Guan has come as well! Uh, that is his disciple? Isn''t he a bit too old?" A man asked. Eight Protector was an old man in his early sixties. He wore a grey robe with the words Fa Guan - Great Judger [Note: Faguan - Judge] printed on its back. It was a plain gray robe, without any decorations.

    His disciple, on the other hand, wore loose robes and had an unshaven beard. If one were to judge only by his looks, he would mistake him for a man in his late forties.

    "Don''t be fooled by appearances! Dan Yang is actually barely in his middle thirties, he simply cultivates a technique that make his features appear older! He isn''t too much of a genius, but he is somebody to watch out for!"

    "Here they come! Lord Sixth, Lord Seventh and Lord Ninth have come as well! Oh? It seems that they did bring their disciples but are not going to fight? They are not wearing their personalized battle clothing!"

    A group of three young and old men also flew down from the sky and moved towards the other Protectors that had arrived before them. Although they looked calm on the surface, they were actually cursing in their minds .

    ''So what? Because we didn''t bring our disciples here to fight we don''t get an introduction? Isn''t that a bit too cruel?''

    One by one, all the other Protectors had come, the only ones left being those occupying the first three spots. Although they all came, only the Fourth, Fifth and Eight Protectors brought along their disciples, the Sixth, Seventh and Ninth evidently only came here to watch the show.

    "But where are the three remaining Protectors? Aren''t they a bit late?" An Inner Disciple asked confused.

    A Core Elder smiled and explained kindly "Those two old things, the First and Second Protectors, are always competing and deem themselves above others. It isn''t surprising that they will show up after everybody else! As for Third Protector, well..."

    The old man shook his head and sighed "Well... Nobody has seen him for a few years now, it is almost as if he didn''t exist! Some say he died, others say he is on some kind of secret mission, but there are countless theories and speculations about him"

    He pondered for a bit and then shook his head "Well... This is quite the important matter, so he may just show up this time!"

    "Everybody, look up! They are here!" A man shouted.

    The Inner disciple and Core Elder shut up and focused their attention towards the sky. That was right, the two strongest Protectors and their proud disciples had finally showed their face!

 Chapter 42 - I Have Found Someone Worthy...

    Four people dropped from the sky.

    Yin Hei wore his black Protector robes with the words Long Yin Hei - Shadow Dragon on his back. His dirty and oily black wavy hair fluttered in the wind as he flew down from the sky, his yellow eyes looking down on the crowd below.

    Wu Rou was an old woman. Although she was in her late fifties, her beauty was such that it could take breaths away even though she was way past her prime. With no doubt, when she was younger she had stolen the heart of many young and older men alike.

    She wore a gorgeous pink dress, her own Protector robe: on her back, the words Wu Rou: A Soft Dance [Note: Wu - Dance, Rou - Soft] were drawn in beautiful streaks of silver and gold.

    The two flew down from opposite directions, glaring at each other while descending. Behind each of them, a youth could be seen: following Long Yin Hei was the famous Zhao Bu, the greatest genius that the Sect had seen in more than a century, the potential Twin Star!

    He looked nothing like a thirteen years old kid: he held his head high and emitted the presence of a lord that made people unconsciously look down and gulp. He was tall, about one-hundred-seventy centimetrestall and had beautiful features.

    His grey eyes looked sharp enough to cut deep into the soul, his long black hair fluttered behind him making him look like a descent war God. Powerful! Domineering! He made people tremble with but a gaze and was absolutely terrifying to look at directly in the eyes!

    On the other hand, Sou Rou was the complete opposite: she was a beautiful woman in her late teens. Although she was still pretty young, she looked really mature and gentle, just like a fairy.

    She had straight, black hair, green phoenix eyes and fair, white skin. She had a small straight nose small and small, soft, red lips that made people want to bite them.

    She was a natural beauty, but her looks were on a totally different level than the cute Te Rin was. Add her bountiful figure and mature demeanor and she left all other women present in the dust. Even Cheng Hao couldn''t help but praise her looks in his mind.

    The two youths also glared at each other just like their teachers did, it was clear that they also shared their masters'' views on their opponent.

    When they landed on the ground below them, they stared at each other for quite a while. It was Wu Rou that smiled and spoke first "What happened, Short Snake? Did you grow afraid enough to actually avoid a direct confrontation and instead let our disciple fight it out?"

    Long Yin Hei rolled his eyes and sighed "You, better than me, should know the answer to that. To avoid casualties on your side and thus weakening the sect I had no other choice..."

    Wu Rou''s right eye twitched as she smiled and she retorted "Oh? That is so... kind of you. After all if we slay all of the people on your side and only us are left there will be trouble, especially if we have great casualties in our ranks... You are actually pretty kind, aren''t you, Shorty?"

    A vein popped on the the man''s forehead and he gritted his teeth as he faked a grateful expression and smiled back "To hear that from someone so kind as you that you lost all fights against us is really comforting, Meatball [Note: Rou can also mean Meat in Chinese]..."

    Sparks flew in between the two until they both snorted and turned their back towards each other and went to seat on opposite sides of the Arena. Yin Hei waved his hand and a throne made of shadow took form.

    He sat on it and then looked arrogantly at the other Protectors sitting on the stone seats of the Arena.

    One by one they stood up, their faces red, and they also created their own personal seat. After a small while, eight gigantic thrones could be seen: a throne built completely out of shadows, a throne composed of many lotuses and in the shape of a gigantic flower, a throne made of vines and grass, another one made of crystal, then one made of metal, another one made of blue flames, one made of glass and finally one made of strings.

    The crowd was amazed: to be able to create something like that by waving their hands was nothing short of amazing. Only Cheng Hao rolled his eyes and thought ''Really? That is all you are going to do? If I were you I would have built a whole palace, the manifestation of Qi is like waving a hand after reaching the peak Sung stage...''

    Yin Hei straightened himself on his throne and then shouted "Everyone, thanks for listening to this old man''s foolish request and coming here for witnessing this match! As some of you may know, our Sect Head isn''t in the position to lead the sect any longer, so much that he hasn''t come out in more than a decade... We all know that this cannot go on, we must do something!" He looked at Wu Rou and made a sign for her to continue

    She nodded "Us protectors don''t get along as many of you probably know, but if there is one thing that we all share..." She looked around "Is the love for this sect! That is why, we have decided not to fight ourselves and hurting our sect members in the process and instead hold a competition!"Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    Yin Hei nodded "We deemed it better for the younger generation to fight for it" He pointed at the five youths standing in the middle of the arena "This way, it will not only show who will be more likely to become the Sect Head in the future... But also the ability of the master to train the younger generation, who else but the Sect Head should have these qualities the most?"

    After listening to their speech, many people began to understand why didn''t the Protectors fight themselves and even nodded as they also thought that it was a valid reason.

    Suddenly, somebody from the crowd exclaimed "Esteemed School Protectors, hasn''t Third Protector been missing for a few years now? Didn''t the Sect Head impose the rule that for us Protectors to decide something they should all be in favor?" The voice paused.

    The First and Second Protectors frowned when they heard those words. Yin Hei shook his head and retorted "Sect Head also said that if the person didn''t explicitly show opposition then it would count as being in favor"

    "Oh, senior Protectors, I apologize for being so narrow-minded and thank First Protector for showing me where I was wrong!" The man that spoke before bowed.

    The First Protector smiled and shook his head "You needn''t worry. To see that a person would actually speak against the Protectors for the Sect''s good being makes me happy!"

    He then looked at the crowd "Now, as we were going to announce before this interruption, we hereby announce that the match can begi-"

    "Wait a moment!"

    Yin Hei stopped and looked around searching for the person that dared interrupt him "Who is it the person that grew enough guts to actually dare to interrupt me a second time!"

    The figure smiled when he saw the people sitting beside him shifting away. After only a few breaths he was all alone, tens of thousands of pairs of eyes looking at him with surprise, shock and fear: he was an old man.

    He had a long white beard and piercing yellow eyes. He was currently playing around with his mustaches as he smiled.

    Yin Hei stood up from his throne and rotated his cultivation base, letting out his mid level Reverend stage pressure "Who are you? You... Are those robes you are wearing..."

    Wu Rou also frowned and then widened her eyes "That... Aren''t those the robes of Third Protector Lao Jianghu?!?"

    The crowd was shocked for a moment and then burst out with cheering and yelling "The mysterious Lao Jianghu! Few people have ever seen his face, the only thing known about him is his strength!" A person stood up and introduced the newcomer "It is said that he is absolutely invincible against those in the same level of cultivation!"

    Yin Hei frowned "Lao Jianghu, my old friend, what happened to you? Why are your features so old? Shouldn''t you be in your early seventies, why do you look like you are much older than a man in his late eighties?"

    The old man looked up and smiled "Oh? The Shadow Dragon actually lowers his head to ask something to the lowly Golden Tiger, now this is something you don''t see everyday" he chuckled.

    ...

    Cheng Hao frowned: Yin Hei and Wu Rou''s reaction to Lao Jianghu''s appearance was too perfect to be just an act. He smiled pleased and relaxed a bit.

    ''It seems like..." He muttered "We have been lucky!" He chuckled and couldn''t help but feel relieved in his heart.

    Bi Liang turned and asked "How so?" His eyes filled with hope.

    "Look at them" the boy pointed at the two Protectors "They look like none of them had imagined Third Protector to be here, meaning, those spies either didn''t have the chance to tell them anything, but I find it unlikely since it has been more than a decade already ever since they had infiltrated, or..."

    Bi Liang widened his eyes and excitedly said "Do you possibly mean..."

    Cheng Hao smiled and nodded after looking at the Zhao clan child "Yes. The spies weren''t theirs! And it looks like the one in charge for their espionage might have not reported the details to his master..."

    At the moment, Zhao Bu was pale and his eyes were wide. Although it looked like it, it was not surprise, it was regret. At the moment, his mind was in chaos.

    ''Damn, I should have told him about that Wannabe Faction a while ago! If I do that now, I will lose a lot of face and there will also be the risk of him getting angry for this''

    He looked at the man sitting on the throne beside him and could see from his clenched hand that he was already pissed off quite a bit.

    He gulped and endured ''There is no medicine for regret! Either way, I think it won''t be a huge deal anyway, I just have to calm down! A dog can bark when hit but he can''t grow stronger just by yelling loudly!''

    Cheng Hao grinned watching the young teen going through his internal struggle "It looks like Fate is pulling the strings for me again... Well, this time around, I won''t mind!"

    ...

    Lao Jianghu looked at the Eight other Protectors in front of him "I thank you for trusting in my strength and keeping my role as the Third Protector although I did not fight for it"

    Mu Gu smiled "We know better than anybody else what your strength is. We couldn''t be so selfish as to remove you of your title just because of a... slight absence"

    Lao Jianghu grinned and spoke "If you can call more than ten years a slight absence, then that is fine by me. Come here, my old friend!"

    The two people bear-hugged each other and patted themselves on their back, just like two old friends that haven''t seen each other for a very long time...

    "Where the hell have you been" Mu Gu asked "We were only a few votes away from declaring you dead!"

    The yellow-eyed old man grinned "That''s... Comforting? You see... This whole time I have indeed hidden myself, but I was still in the territory of the Mysteriously Light-Shadow Sect"

    The Fourth Protector frowned "What! Why did you hide yourself at all then? Was there some special reason that you had to do that?"

    Lao Jianghu looked over towards Yin Hei and Wu Rou''s direction and he smiled "Let''s just say... That I have been working hard to find somebody worthy enough to lead this sect..." He grinned as he focused on Yin Hei''s figure "And sweep away some overgrown snake..."

    He flew in the air and shouted "I, Third Protector Lao Jianghu have been absent from my duty for a long ten years... I apologize for that!" He bowed to the crowd "But it was not in vain! I have found a person, a boy, that I judge as worthy enough to become a Twin Star!"

    A potential Twin Star!

    Those words shook the minds and souls of everybody present as they all gaped in shock. The two strongest Protectors also frowned: such a person actually hid themselves so deeply that even they didn''t find out about it until now?

 Chapter 43 - A Crimson Blur

    Xiao Wu and Fu Yin gaped at the sight of the six Sect Protectors. It is known to everybody after all, that the Reverend stage is the peak stage for a cultivator! There are speculation of a realm beyond that, but they are more like myths and legends!

    At that moment, they were laying their eyes on existences that were at the very peak of their strength!

    "But... I can''t see brother Cheng Hao! Shouldn''t he be here, somewhere?" Xiao Wu asked. Fu Yin also looked depressed as he shook his head "I also can''t sense him at all! Where could he have gone? There are too many people in this crowd!

    The boy and the girl had sighed and decided to focus on the show that was about to unravel in front of them. That was of course, until they saw the old man, the Third Protector Lao Jianghu!

    "I-It is him!" Fu Yin stuttered. Xiao Wu also gaped and her eyes widened: that old man... Was the gatekeeper, the mysterious Elder Lao!

    Xiao Wu''s eyes brightened "Could it be... That day?"

    Fu Yin also gaped "It can''t be right? Brother, that is just too monstrous even for you! To actually catch the eye of a Sect Protector! Or should I say, as to be expected?"

    Xiao Wu giggled and picked up a small stone: on it there were some strange symbols. She poured some of her cultivation into the stone and it began glittering. Many people around them were doing the same thing, so not many people noticed them in particular.

    Some would be stunned by their age and power, but then they would think stuff like ''They might be geniuses, but those monsters on the plateau are much more talented, why bother with these guys?'' And not care about them anymore.

    Xiao Wu whispered "Hello, Sister Yan Rui? Yeah, I still haven''t grown male genitalia overnight, so don''t bother asking. More importantly than that, go wake up Leader and bring everyone to the Arena... Sorry about that, we kind of beat him up. Yeah, I will treat everybody to a meal! Yes, Grudge''s End, hurry up! Things are just getting interesting! If what we think is right, then you are in for a treat! What treat? A golden eyed treat!"

    ...

    Yin Hei nervously chuckled "Ahaha, Third Protector sure knows how to make a good joke!"

    Although he looked cheerful, it could be seen that there was uneasiness under that mask of cheerfulness.

    Lao Jianghu suddenly frowned and pondered. Everybody grew anxious by seeing his expression of concern as a bad premonition swelled up in their hearts.

    "No, actually... Scratch that..."

    Everybody sweatdropped when they heard him speak: so it was not true after all... After all for a person such as that to actually appear seemingly out of thin air...

    "His person is just too superior for us to compare him to the experts of old. I propose him to become the highest rank in the sect!"

    He raised his right arm and pointed to the Central Tower of the Castle. Seeing his actions, Yin Hei, Wu Rou and all the other Protectors paled and gaped together with the crowds.

    Finally, they almost fell of their thrones when they heard the following words. Lao Jianghu pointed at the Central Tower, the most important building in the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect.

    "I propose my young friend and disciple to become the Sect Head!"

    Yin Hei, Wu Rou and most of the other Protectors''s faces reddened and they almost spat out blood.

    Mu Gu was the first to recover and cautiously said "Third Protector, what you say is a bit... Over the top..."

    Lao Jianghu smiled and simply waved his sleeve. A few bright dots appeared in mid-air and condensed into a few Golden Weapons. They then assembled together like a puzzle and also took the shape of a throne, the only difference being, that this throne was much, much taller than the others were... And that was by quite alot. From up there, he seemed to look down on everybody present.

    Cheng Hao''s eyes widened when he noticed that. He laughed loudly and his eyes began to tear up "Oh? Ahahahahah! So direct! I am beginning to like this old man..."

    Suddenly, his mouth trembled and he frowned "Still... There is something wrong in this picture, but I can''t quite put my finger on it... Like I am missing something important..."

    Lao Jianghu sat on the tall throne and waved his sleeve "Everyone! I am here today for a very important matter! This Sect is declining! Ever since the Head has fallen hill, there has been no one here to lead us. What is a dragon without an head? A dead dragon! The same principle works for our Sect!"

    He yelled passionately, capturing the hearts and souls of those listening to him and all who did felt their blood boiling and their spirit burning with the flames of passion!

    He then looked at the Eight Protectors "Your choice to choose a new Sect Head was a right one, but the methods were wrong! This is a rushed decision and it was not thought through!"

    Yin Hei and Wu Rou frowned: after all, the idea to fight for the title had been theirs, for Lao Jianghu to call their ways wrong was like slapping their face in public!

    "How so..." Yin Hei hissed "ThirdProtector" he emphasized theThirdas if to remember that he was below him in both rank and skill.

    "Do you think that this Sect only has had this problem today? In the last century alone, the Sect has changed Sect Head more than five times! More thanFivetimes! That is less than twenty years each! Why is it you might ask..." He patted his chest somewhat proudly but also dejectedly "It is simple. Look at us! What are we?"

    Yin Hei tilted his head in confusion. He then shook his head to clear his mind and spoke out aloud "Isn''t it obvious? We are Sect Protectors, of course!"

    Lao Jianghu shook his head making Yin Hei frown. He looked at the black haired Protector and he disdainfully scoffed "That is not it! We areold! It matters not our strength, in the end, we end up either dying or being incapacitated due to old age!"

    The other Eight Protectors frowned but some also nodded their heads as they began to understand. Mu Gu nodded, his eyes glinting "We have always been appointing an Head from the older generation... So that iswhereit went wrong!" He smiled and he rested his head on his hands "Truly, it was a big mistake..."Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

    "We have all been fools, the only thing in our minds was quenching our thirst for power! It is time that this foolishness ends! And itwillend today!" Lao Jianghu stood up and emanated the pressure... of a Mid level Reverend stage cultivator!

    Yin Hei and Wu Rou paled: Lao Jianghu, an expert unbeatable in the low level Reverend stage... Had just broken through tomidlevelReverend stage! His cultivation did not waver in the least so he had actually broken through quite a long time ago and his power had already stabilized.

    Now that he had broken through to the middle level, he wouldn''t be able to suppress them like he suppressed the opponents on the lower level before, would he?

    "I propose..." He shouted "For the younger generation to step forward and bear this burden, for one out ofthemto become the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect''s one and only Sect Head!"

    Yin Hei almost spat out blood and Wu Rou paled when they heard their words. On the other hand, their two disciples'' faces brightened up: they had been forced to fight for no benefits, but if this situation unfolds, then the one to benefit the most would be none other than them!

    "Furthermore, I already have my eyes on a youth. If you are not satisfied with him, then feel free to test him!" Lao Jianghu grinned and pointed his thumb downwards "Give him all you''ve got! I am sure he will be able to take everything you throw at him!"

    At this point, Yin Hei was actually about to vomit blood for real. Su Rou and Zhao Bu''s faces also grew darker as they realized that this solution might also not be one benefiting them...

    Unexpectedly, Wu Rou was the first to speak up. After pondering for a good while she nodded at Lao Jianghu "What you say make sense. I agree with what you told us and admit that we have been too narrow minded..."

    "Wu Rou!" Yin Hei shouted "How could you say that! This is obviously a ploy for him to gain more power in the Sect, how can you not see that?"

    The Second Protector ignored him and kept speaking "But there is one thing that I do not agree of. We Protectors have always been impartial. Well, more or less..." She trailed off before resuming "To only give a chance to your own disciple to become the Sect Head is nothing short than unfair!"

    Lao Jianghu''s eyebrow rose as the corners of his mouth twitched. The previous happy smile turned into a fake one, his mouth twitching clearly as he tried without success hide his annoyance.

    "Oh? Then how about this?" He pointed at the five youths standing in the middle of the Arena "Let''s consider this a challenge for him as well! Whoever remains the last youth standing wins! But of course..."

    His eyes glinted dangerously as he stared into the woman''s eyes "There won''t be anyone complaining later no matter who it is, right? Youwillsee to that, am I clear? No matter who it is!"

    Wu Rou trembled at the gaze and gulped "Of course! I swear on my honor as the Second Protector!"

    "Good!" Lao Jianghu smiled happily and nodded "Then I authorize you to come out! My little treasure, you are free! Show no restraints and show everybody your might!"

    The tone was majestic and somewhat overbearing. Some even began to look around, to spot this outstanding genius!

    Bi Liang turned to look at Cheng Hao excitedly "Brother, he is talking about you! Hurry up and g-" he stopped "Oh?"

    Cheng Hao had disappeared!

    ...

    At the same time, on the other side of the Arena, a figure appeared. The seat that had been empty up until a moment before suddenly gained an owner, how couldn''t the person sitting on the nearby seat not freak out?

    He jumped back frightened and pointed "He-He appeared out of thin air!" He yelled getting the attention of those nearby.

    The figure tilted his head: he was wearing crimson robes and a fierce mask. On the mask there were few decorations, the only thing present being a bloody mouth full of sharp teeth, blood trickling down from the sides.

    He had long, straight, red hair and his eyes were devoid of color, his left being completely white and the right completely black. Black and White mist appeared when he exhaled, as if he were constantly expelling smoke from his mouth... It was nothing less than creepy but also overbearing!

    Slowly but surely, the figure looked up. His cold eyes stared at the people surrounding him, his appearance instilling fear into the hearts of the young and old alike.

    He leaned back and stretched "Man... It''s been a while since I got to show off, that is unforgivable! Lao Jianghu, I hope you had some great reasons!" He tilted his head and his demeanor clearly showed annoyance "This Sect Head thingy doesn''t look too much like a big deal, why did you bother in hiding my power for so long?"

    Hearing those words a man paled and distanced himself from the youth. He trembled from head to toe and his whole figure was shaking.

    "What''s wrong brother?" A person asked at the trembling youth "What shocked you so much?"

    The man tried to speak but couldn''t, as his voice seemed to have disappeared. He gulped and took a deep breath and pointed at the crimson robed man in front of him with a trembling finger.

    He shrieked "I-It''s him!!!" His voice captured the attention of the people around them and they all had the same reaction after looking at the youth dressed in red.

    After but a short while, most of the attention had been focused on the figure wearing clothes the same color as fresh blood. This caught the attention of the people on the plateau.

    "Master Yin Hei, over there!" Zhao Bu shouted pointing at a spot behind the First Protector. Yin Hei frowned and he had to dispel the throne to look behind him. There, he could see the object of all the commotion.

    In the meanwhile, other seven thrones disappeared, leaving only the Golden Throne where Lao Jianghu was trying his best to hold his laughter in ''Good brat! You really give face to your master!''

    Feeling that something was wrong, the First Protector turned and saw that Lao Jianghu was still sitting on his throne! As it could change its shape at any time, he had no need to step down or dispel the throne to look behind him. The man wearing the black Protector robes paled seeing that, as he realized he had been toyed with!

    The other protectors also noticed this. Mu Gu simply sighed and shook his head. He smiled bitterly at the old man dressed in gold and exclaimed "Same old Jianghu... If I remember well, ever since a few years ago you have always loved messing around with people, especially those with both power and brains!"

    Yin Hei gritted his teeth and turned once again to look at the red robed boy "Youth! Who are you! You are not wearing the Sect Robes, do you know what the penalty for that is?"

    Zhao Bu paled as he saw the mask and crimson robes ''A mask with a hideous grin on it... And robes the same color as freshly drawn blood! His breath makes his surroundings look devoid of color and his black and white eyes, as different and as mysterious, as the yin and the yang, instill deep terror into those gazing into their pupils... There is no doubt, it''s him!''

    He turned to look at his master "Master Long, I am almost completely sure that that guy... Is none other the person that eradicated the Zi clan!"

    Yin Hei frowned when he heard those words but still acted high and mighty. He raised his head and pointed his finger "Answer me youth! Who are you!"

    Long Yin Hei emitted a powerful pressure, enough to severely injure Advanced stage cultivators.

    The boy tilted his head as he smiled beneath his mask "Oh? But I thought that I didn''t have to wear the Sect Robes after all... Master Lao Jianghu, did you lie to me?" He acted like a spoiled child that had just lost his new toy as he crossed his arms and showed his back to the Arena.

    Not only didn''t the child quiver under the powerful pressure, he even acted as if nothing had happened! This fact absolutely stunned the First Protector: the voice of the boy made him sound like a kid still not yet in his teens, how could that be!

    Lao Jianghu smiled and shook "I didn''t lie to you, but to gain such a privilege you will have to become the Sect Head... It won''t be a problem for you, will it?"

    The boy turned and played around with his crimson hair "I guess not! I just need to beat these few pieces of trash down there, right?" He hinted at the disciples below.

    Zhao Bu trembled from the rage and pointed at the boy "Shut your mouth, who do you think you are calling trash! Just who the hell are you?!?"

    The masked youth looked at the Zhao clan young master silently he then stepped forward... And disappeared! When Zhao Bu had blinked once, the boy wearing the red robes was still there, but when he blinked another time he wasn''t anymore!

    "Let''s just say that I am the Sect Head. If this is all you people from the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect have to offer, it will probably turn out like that soon!"

    Zhao Bu trembled as he turned his head: the crimson robed youth was standing on the same arm Zhao Bu had been pointing at him with!

    "What speed! What control! He was a crimson blur, I was unable to see his features at all!" Mu Gu praised. He, as a Reverend stage expert could barely react to that speed. Although he didn''t see the details, he was sure that the mysterious boy had just used a mysterious bodily skill!

    He was half correct and half wrong, as it was a technique but it was no bodily skill... It was the blessing, the blessing of the Primordial Emperor of the Sky, the Roc!

    And Cheng Hao to them, while using such a skill, was nothing else but a Crimson Blur!

 Chapter 44 - Who Am I...

    "What... What speed!" Fu Yin trembled.

    Xiao Wu nodded "I could barely catch a glimpse of it by using the Purple Moonlight Senses Enhancing Technique! That speed is just too scary!"

    Fan Lai nodded "What power! His speed alone is probably comparable to Sung or even Reverend stage experts! How could anybody possibly hope to fight a monster like that?" The brown haired man massaged his temples and then maliciously spoke "Maybe a kick to the temples might be a solution?"

    Xiao Wu grew red from embarrassment and lowered her head. She immediately turned and bowed "We are really sorry Leader. We unconsciously did it, we absolutely didn''t do it on purpose!"

    Fu Yin hurriedly nodded although he inwardly thought ''Of course we didn''t do it on purpose... We just happened to slip on some invisible banana peel and land two perfect kicks on the temples of the guy that had just caught us sneaking out... Who wouldn''t believe this perfectly logical story?''

    "Hey there, beautiful!" The voice of a woman lingered over as well and the sound of smooching and passionate kissing reached their ears. Yan Rui then appeared, licking her lips and dragging behind her a dried-up body "This guy is delicious! Can we keep him?"

    Fan Lai sighed "Yan Rui, please stop flirting with people!"

    He then turned to look at the Arena and pondered "But... Just who is that man? His figure is somewhat familiar and this situation... It feels like I have already seen something like it before..."

    Fu Yin and Xiao Wu looked at each other in silence and said nothing but their amused smiles told many things...

    ...

    Yin Hei nodded in admiration: although he didn''t like the boy''s attitude and arrogance, he realized that he had all the rights to act like that... To have someone by his side would mean one more card up his sleeve!

    He smiled kindly and locked away the despise in his heart "Child, your body maneuvering skill is incredible! May I know your name?"

    The Crimson youth jumped down a stunned Zhao Bu''s shoulder and turned to look at the Eight Protectors. When they stared in those two black and white eyes though, the eight people couldn''t help but shuddering and breaking a cold sweat.

    "Oh! So now you want my name..." Below the mask, the boy''s lips arranged into a mocking smile.

    He threw away the red clothes leaving underneath the robes of the Outer Sect. Seeing that, many frowned: an Outer Disciple! That incredibly powerful boy was actually an Outer Sect Disciple! It was truly a crouching tiger hidden dragon, this world!

    But that was not all: the main dish was about to be served, and it would pack quite the punch!

    "Well,MySect Protector, you better remember my name from now on, it would be a bit troubling for my subordinates not to know about it!" The boy looked down and removed the mask. He threw the hideous mask aside and lifted his head.

    The mysterious mask fell to the ground and the red hair turned dark, turning into a cascade of straight, long, blackhair. The youth looked around him.

    He sensed countless stunned gazes and breathed in "Ahhh, I love this scent! Do you feel it? It''s the smell of shock, fear and natural submission!"

    Up in the stalls, Xiao Wu and Fu Yin trembled and shouted excitedly "It really is him!" They excitedly jumped up and down when they saw the young boy''s hair turning black and the boy''s voice, finally free from the mask distorting it a bit, could finally reach them...

    When that happened, they could not contain their excitement. After all, they could not be more familiar with that voice!

    Fan Lai frowned and asked "What is wrong you guys? Some idol of yours?" He couldn''t recognize the boy down on the Arena plateau, after all, it has already been two months... But Xiao Wu and Fu Yin couldn''t possibly not recognize him!You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

    The boy looked up and two fiery golden eyes stared at the crowd of tens of thousands of people surrounding him. Two thin lips arranged into a smile and the crowd was shocked once again: a child... That incredible genius was just a child!

    Yin Hei trembled and looked at the boy''s age and recalled his power "This... How can this be!"

    In his shock, he could only see the mocking smile of the boy and sensed his gaze. The pair of golden eyes looked down on him, their stare made him want to dig a hole and crawl into it...

    ...

    Another man, in between the crowds of many people was currently staring, shocked, at the young child down below. He was an old acquaintance of the boy, a thirty years old man called Liu Biao, a man that had been swindled out of his items by the same boy standing down there a long time ago.

    At the moment, on his face was stupor but also happiness "Brother is that amazing!?! It looks like I worried over nothing... Now, the only thing left to do is to look for the thief who has stolen my Dimensional Pouch!"

    He gritted his teeth and stared around him fiercely "If I find out who he is, I won''t let him off! Even if he is one of the Nine Protectors'' disciples, I will waste him!"

    ...

    A fat old man was currently searching for air, his features contorted in horror, fear and stupor. He was unwilling to believe what was going on at the moment!

    "What the hell happened! I already sent those guys to get rid of that boy! They reported that he had died, did they possibly lie to me?" He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

    He shook his head and widened his eyes "What''s more, I saw with my own eyes that this child had no cultivation at all, how come that now he is this much of a monster? This doesn''t make any sense!!!"

    The old man was the supervisor for the Outer Sect Exam. He had his eyes on Xiao Wu from a long while ago, ever since he had seen her over the top report. He had noticed a report missing but found out that the person in question was a cultivation-less trash and didn''t care about him anymore...

    He didn''t even report about his existence to his lord, Yin Hei!

    Right now he was feeling like going back in time and punching himself in the face a hundred times. He had thrown away the chance to get the favor of the First Protector and, if the boy had truly disappeared, the future Head of the Sect!

    ...

    "Senior... I feel like something is wrong... Doesn''t that guy look exactly like the piece of trash that Lord Examiner had told us to kill?" A person asked.

    A man with a big build and a greatsword strapped to his back trembled and turned to look to his side: a fat old man was staring at him, glaring daggers. If looks could kill, the huge man would have been turned into ashes long ago.

    He turned to look to the puzzled junior by his side and gulped "No! No, you don''t need to worry! Oh! I forgot, I have to do something! See you!" His body slightly trembled and then he vanished: a bodily technique!

    The junior was confused when suddenly a fat old man appeared above him and landed a heavy kick on the same, exact spot where the bulky man was standing up until a few moments ago.

    The stone steps fracked and split apart under the great strength of the fat old man. He gritted his teeth and glared "You dare lie to me! You bastard, do you know what you have done? Come back here!"

    His figure trembled and then vanished, following right behind the younger man''s tall frame. Soon, the two of them could not be seen anymore and the junior sat down confused "What the hell just happened there?"

    ...

    On the other hand, the most beautiful expression on anybody''s face was by far Fan Lai''s.

    His mouth was open so wide that one would be able to fit a few apples in there, his legs were trembling, his eyes moving back and forth from the boy to the smiling Xiao Wu and Fu Yin that were making a victory sign.

    He remembered himself slapping that child just a few months ago, tossing him away without any second thought, and shivered at the mere thought of it!

    Fu Yin grabbed Fan Lai''s shoulder and comforted in "You don''t need to worry, he won''t resent you for it! After all, we are brothers! And that boy over there..." He looked at the youth wearing the Outer Sect robes "Is none other than our most powerful and intelligent..." He trailed off.

    On the plateau, the boy with fiery golden eyes and long black hair smiled and then asked back to Lao Jianghu, his visage showing confusion "Uh? Who am I?" His hair fluttered and his golden eyes glinted with amusement.

    Seeing that, Xiao Wu also grinned and continued were Fu Yin had left off "... Most beautiful and kind... Big brother!"

    The golden eyed, white haired old man smiled and scratched his head, as if to ponder, his expression growing thoughtful. "Aha!" Suddenly, his eyes flashed with understanding and he acted mysterious "Boy... Are you asking me who you are?"

    The boy nodded, serious. His eyes glinted once again and he smiled "I ask for Master to enlighten me! Please tell me Master, who am I?"

    Lao Jianghu shook his head and laughed loudly.

    "Ahahahahah!" He raised his arm pointing up "You, boy, are none other than the most outstanding genius that this world has ever seen!" Lao Jianghu nodded at the young male "Do you now happen to remember your name?"

    Black hair fluttered and two bright, golden eyes glinted amused "I do! Thanks for enlightening me Master, I now remember!"

    The boy grinned and looked up at an enraged and incredibly annoyed Long Yin Hei. The man''s teeth were about to crack and his fingers about to break from how much he was gritting and clenching them.

    "... my name..." The boy opened his mouth and inhaled... And then yelled from the top of his lungs "...IS CHENG HAO!"

 Chapter 45 - Soul Crystal

    Cheng Hao smiled mockingly, but people didn''t blame him for being arrogant: he more than had the qualifications for it!

    Suddenly, Wu Rou trembled and noticed Lao Jianghu was trying hard but still failedto keep his wide grin off his face.

    "You old fox, you had this all planned out! Right now I cannot take back my word so..."

    The message was simple and clear: "Sou Rou, you cannot afford to lose!"

    Her lips barely moved, her words got compressed into a string and only her young disciple, Sou Rou could hear them: this was a mental message, a way to communicate without anyone else knowing what was being told!

    The young girl nodded when she heard the voice by her ear. She gracefully bowed at her master and headed towards the center of the stony plateau. When she walked up to there, she turned to look at Cheng Hao ''Just you wait... I will gain face back for my master and become the Head! To become the Sect Head, I won''t hold back even if you are only a kid!''

    Yin Hei was fuming "Damn them! Those two have played me for a fool! And now, that old monster is a mid level Reverend stage cultivator as well, I can''t pressure those two as much as before!"

    The First Protector turned to look at Zhao Bu and sent him a mental message as well "You have to crush that boy, understand? That technique is just something he used to scare us, I am sure he cannot use it too often, or else it would harm the body!"

    Long Yin Hei was right: a technique that allowed a body to reach such speeds would indeed harm the body, but Cheng Hao had a Black Iron Rank Fleshly Body and the Roc''s blessing made him able to manipulate the air surrounding him!

    It would do absolutely no harm at all to him even if he were to keep going at such speeds for half an hour, the only problem would be the great consumption of energy which he could also ignore thanks to his Golden Aura.

    Still, there was no way that Yin Hei could know that, so he was sure that his deduction was correct.

    Zhao Bu gulped: he was the only one that felt the horrible killing intent when he had looked at the young boy on his shoulder and the child had looked back. He felt as if the one standing on his arm was not a boy younger brother than he was, but a vicious God of Death instead!

    Still, he could not disobey his master, so he reluctantly bowed as well and also headed towards the center of the Arena. Once there, he glared at the boy with pure golden eyes ''I''ll destroy you and gainmyface back! I will show you the strength of one surnamed Zhao!''

    Cheng Hao looked at the two youths glaring at him and he smiled back. His eyebrow twitched and a vein popped on his head ''These punks... I thought of letting them off, but they are actually glaring at me! Just wait and see if I don''t mess with you properly!''

    The beautiful girl Te Rin looked towards her master pleadingly. Shui Jing smiled playfully and shook his head pointing at her forehead. The girl bit her lip and clenched her fists.

    Te Rin looked at Cheng Hao, observing the mysterious youth with despair and fear. Cheng Hao felt her gaze and turned. His eyes scanned her body and brightened with surprise and horror. He knitted his brows and he stared at the Fifth Protector with disdain.

    He disappeared and reappeared right beside the young girl. He smiled kindly and extended his hand "Hi, my name is Cheng Hao, what is yours?"

    Te Rin was startled but she soon recovered. She gulped "Name is Te Rin... Ni-nice to meet you..." She grabbed the boy''s hand but as soon as she did so, Cheng Hao tightened his grip and tapped on her forehead. His fingers began to glow as they seemed to sink in the girl''s body.

    The girl''s eyes widened and she started to feel an intense burning pain coming from her temples. "Aaaaaaaaagh!" She tried to shake Cheng Hao away, but he stood firm, not budging in the slightest.

    "What!" Shui Jing trembled with rage and dashed towards the boy, applying pressure on him. Although he did that, Cheng Hao completely disregarded him: he had an ally he knew he could count on!

    As he expected, Lao Jianghu''s eyes glinted when he looked at the young girl and his mouth opened slightly "Oh... What sight you have, kid!" He waved his hand and a Golden Blade materialized right in front of the Fifth Protector and embedded itself in the ground, blocking his way.

    "Shui Jing, old friend, why are you in such a hurry? Can''t you see my disciple is helping your dear flower?" He asked and smiled gently. The crowd was astonished: clearly, that was definitelynotwhat was going on!

    Cheng Hao smiled when he heard that and concentrated on his task: slowly but surely, a speck of light began to flow out from the girl''s forehead and the young boy grabbed it as soon as it came out completely.

    Te Rin fell on her knees and tears began to fall from her cheeks "Thank you, thank you!" She tried to bow, but Cheng Hao was faster and kept her back straight. The girl looked at him confused but smiled when she saw his wide grin.

    "Don''t mention it!" He smiled and turned towards the fifth protector "Such trash that uses his own disciple to craft a Soul Crystal is actually one of my subordinates? I wouldn''t mind if it were an enemy, but your own disciple? A master for a day, a father for a life! You do not act as a father towards his daughter, you have no right to be her master!"

    The crowd was shocked: a Soul Crystal? That was nothing more than a really powerful Elixir, a great cultivation resource! It is usually condensed out of a spiritual beast''s dead body, but there were some cases where it was refined from live humans, and the result was none other than death!

    It would slowly but surely drain the body''s Qi, the spiritual energy, and condense it into a crystal but, by doing so, it would also harm the soul and in light cases the person would become a vegetable for their whole life, unable to regain consciousness, a death in all but the body. In most cases though, it would mean death!

    Shui Jing trembled and his previous playful countenance had already been washed away "Wh-What are you talking about! Lao Jianghu, Third Protector, what is the meaning of this?"

    Cheng Hao turned towards Wu Rou and threw the speck of light at the beautiful woman "My Second Protector, here is the Soul Crystal! I am sure you will help disciple Te Rin in gaining back her cultivation and, most importantly, help her find a new master!"Stolen story; please report.

    The boy turned to look at the girl "Of course, if you wish you could also decide to follow me and become my disciple, how about it?"

    Te Rin, still stunned from the previous events stared at the youth in front of her, her eyes red from crying and her lips trembling from the shock.

    "But I guess that would be way too weird for you! How about I become your brother instead? Of course though, I will be the big brother!" The boy smiled and bumped his fist into her shoulder, looking at her in the eyes.

    "I will let you meet your younger siblings later, please take good care of them! I am sure that they wouldn''t mind such a young, beautiful and well mannered girl such as you!"

    He stared deep into her pupils and she also gazed back: the boy''s black pupils seemed to hold incredible knowledge, there were traces ruthlessness, and killing intent burned deep into the black balls but the brightest flame, the one that caught her attention the most, was that of care, affection... And bright love!

    Without knowing why, she felt that she could trust this boy, that he would never betray her! She nodded dazed and almost let out a loud cry when the boy nodded and looked away. She felt cold now that she was not looking into his eyes, as if those flames could somehow warm her heart and melt away all her problems.

    She looked at the boy''s back and smiled: she would have nothing to fear now that he was here!

    "Well?" Cheng Hao asked at the Second Protector "You finished?"

    Wu Rou gritted her teeth, ignoring the arrogant tone, and she nodded "I am sure. This is a nearly completely formed Soul Crystal. In less than a day, it would have been completed, and disciple Te Rin would have died just like that! Actually..."

    She shook her head" After the consumption of spiritual power and Qi in this fight the Crystal would have formed already and it could have been simply decided that she had been killed during the battle, allowing Shui Jing to pick up the Crystal from her body without anybody having any suspicions!"

    "Shui Jing" Eight Protector Fa Guan, the Protector in charge of maintaining order and making sure that people followed the Sect Rules coldly spoke "Explain yourself!" His eyes glittered dangerously and a glittery chain appeared in his left hand.

    The Fifth Protector sighed and then turned "There is nothing to explain! I just wanted to breakthrough! I feel my death getting closer with each year that passes, yet my cultivation is not increasing in the slightest bit! What would you have done? Her Qi was perfectly compatible with mine, I could not resist the temptation!"

    Mu Gu frowned "Compatible? I heard that Fifth Protector''s Qi is the rare and powerful Crystal Phoenix Revolution... Could it be that Disciple Te Rin..."

    "No" Cheng Hao shook his head "Her Qi is the Diamond Phoenix Revolution, a Sensed Qi even above Shui Jing''s Crystal Dragon Manipulation but of the same Treasured Phoenix branch. By consuming a Soul Crystal with such an attribute it would have probably helped him breakthrough to mid level Reverend stage..."

    Mu Gu''s eyebrows rose and he turned to look at a pale faced Shui Jing as he stared shocked at the youth. The trash Fifth Protector gulped "Child... How do you know all of this? Who are you?"

    The boy smiled "I told you, I am Cheng Hao!" He smirked "For trash like you, I will give nothing more than that information!"

    ...

    The crowd bustled and discussed. "Was that all real? How did that brat find out about something like that? Even the Protectors didn''t notice!" A man asked.

    The woman standing by his side shook her head "No idea! Maybe he really is worthy to become the Sect Head! If he is that knowledgeable, then it would probably help this Sect flourish even further!"

    The man pondered "I am still not sure about his strength though. Sure, his speed is astonishing, but he may have used some kind of method that only works a few times, you never know! Let''s keep watching before passing on our judgement!"

    Many such conversations took place all over the Arena, only one group was not too surprised about the events.

    Xiao Wu sighed "That Cheng Hao... Why does he always flirt around? Will he never grow tired?"

    Fu Yin''s eyes glinted "Brother, as soon as you come back you will have to teach me your playboy skills! I also want to be as confident and smart as you, how should I do that?"

    Xiao Wu lifted one of her eyebrows and glared at him "Oh really? Well, if you are fine with it go on, I will surelynotstop you!"

    Fu Yin trembled "I-I didn''t mean it like that Sister, I swear!"

    Yan Rui laughed and let go of the man she had been kissing up until a few moments ago. The body fell on the ground and it was abnormally dried up "Little Yin, you might be strong, but you will not get any girls if you are this dense!"

    The boy tilted his head in confusion as Xiao Wu looked away "What are you talking about?"

    Yan Rui frowned and looked at Xiao Wu, seeming to say ''How do you put up with him?''

    The young girl sighed and turned to look at the Arena "Still, brother has become so powerful, I wonder if I am too much weak compared to him..."

    Fu Yin shook his head "Don''t worry, I am sure he won''t be disappointed! You have been training all day for the past two months, you are already amongst the peak Inner Disciples, the legend of the Blue Robed Night Challenger has already spread to the Core Sect and there are already many Core Disciples itching and waiting to fight you!"

    Xiao Wu grinned at the boy and he also smiled back. The two people turned back to look at the situation below.

    ...

    "I think we have made the audience wait enough!" Cheng Hao suddenly said "How about doing this? We will take care of the Shui Jing matter later!" He turned towards the Eight Protector: the old man nodded and took the Fifth Protector under his custody and bound him with the silver chains.

    Lao Jianghu also nodded and yelled "Cultivators from the Mysterious-Light Shadow, thanks for your patience! We will now begin the fight! Those disciples of the Nine Protectors who wish to fight, please head to the center of the ring!"

    Cheng Hao turned to look at Te Rin behind him and made a victory sign "''Be back in a bit!" He started walking towards the center of the Arena: there were a total of five people there: Zhao Bu, Sou Rou, Fang Lu, Dan Yang and another youth that Cheng Hao had seen standing by the side of the Seventh Protector earlier: apparently, he had also decided to join.

    Te Rin hesitated at first but then mustered up courage and asked "H-How can you be so sure that you will win? That you won''t die because of a mistake on your part? Do you not fear death?"

    Cheng Hao stopped in his tracks and his face darkened "Do you know... What happens after death?"

    She shook her head "I don''t. Nobody does, that is also why people are afraid of dying, because they don''t know what will happen to them afterwards!"

    Cheng Hao lifted one of his eyebrows and smiled "That is correct. Now I will ask you..." He leaned in and whispered by her ear "If you were to know what would happen if you were to die... Would you be scared then?"

    Te Rin gaped and stared into Cheng Hao''s amused eyes shocked. The boy smiled playfully and turned as she fell on her knees... She was speechless: what was Cheng Hao implying? If what he said was true, then...

    The boy shook his head and pointed at the sky "Besides... I won''t die! Let''s just say that I simplycannotdie unless I realize what I amfatedto do! After all, there is a guy up there... And he is waiting for me! I cannot just make him wait in vain!"

    The girl looked up and questioned "Somebody close to you who died?"

    Cheng Hao''s smile turned into a fiendish grin and a murderous aura surged out like a hurricane, with his body being at the very eye of the storm "You couldn''t be more wrong my dear... He is alive and well, and that is the very problem!"

    Te Rin''s eyes widened and Cheng Hao walked towards the five people in the middle of the ring. They could all feel powerful killing intent coming from the young boy and they couldn''t help but take a step back.

    Cheng Hao looked at each person around him: Zhao Bu looked at him hatefully and was gritting his teeth; Sou Rou was staring at him a bit fearfully but still showed determination; Dan Yang raised his eyebrows and didn''t speak, instead gathered his strength into his body, ready to fight at any moment; the new kid trembled under his gaze but didn''t back off and courageously glared back; finally, Fang Lu smiled at him and lightly bowed.

    Cheng Hao smiled and bowed back: he would always repay favors with favors, respect with respect... And an insult with decapitation!

    "Everybody, get ready!" Yin Hei''s voice sounded out and he lifted his hand up.

    "Be-" Wu Rou also lifted her slender arm up in the air.

    "-GIN! AHAH! FIGHT FOR THE SECT YOUNG ONES, FIGHT FOR YOUR DESTINY!" Lao Jianghu loudly yelled and laughed, the three mid level Reverend stage Protectors'' hands fell down, indicating that the fight had started!

    Cheng Hao smiled and stepped forward...

    The fight for the title of the Sect Head hadfinally begun!!

 Chapter 46 - Martial Sister

    As soon as the shout came out,five figures kicked off the ground and distanced themselves from one another. Only Cheng Hao stood still, not moving a step from where he was, wearing a mocking smile on his face.

    Zhao Bu scoffed at the sight and looked at his other five opponents: Sou Rou had already entered a fighting stance, three big symbols floated behind her.

    One was a rose, one was a lion and one was a picture of the ocean. Zhao Bu, who had fought her countless times due to their rivalry, knew full well the power of those three glowing seals.

    Sou Rou glanced his way and he nodded. He didn''t wait any longer and rotated his cultivation base: the power of the peak Advanced stage rushed out applying pressure on his surroundings...

    Breaking through the Superior stage didn''t need much effort but talent and enlightnening had a major role in it: becoming Superior meant knowing more, understanding more.

    After doing that, you would turn those enlightenings and knowledge into Qi, this Qi would then condense and become like a Satellite that would orbit around the Core!

    It would generate a lot more energy as it both rotates on its axis and orbits around the Core, so it could be said that the Core is only a tool, used to nurture the Satellite. However, it is still needed: just like a man needs water or food to survive, the Satellite needs to orbit around a Core to exist.

    Zhao Bu rotated his Core, pushing it as fast as he could, to the brink of collapse. His whole body tensed and a gigantic spearhead appeared hovering behind him.

    Cheng Hao''s eyebrow rose "A Phalanx... Quite the nice Sensed Qi you got there. It won''t miss as long as it is aligned with the target and it would grow bigger and bigger the closer it gets to the opponent until it becomes as tall as a mountain..."

    He turned to look at the three floating seals with interest "The three seals of the Animal, Plant and Nature. You seem to have chosen the Strength Lion, the Retaliation Rose and the Ever-changing Sea... You truly have good intuition, this is among the best two hundred combinations possible among hundreds of thousands"

    Hearing those words, the Second Protector Wu Rou scoffed: even she didn''t know what her own disciple''s Qi''s three attributes were and now this youth came out of nowhere claiming to know them...

    She turned to look smilingly at her apprentice, ready for her to slap him in the face, face as in pride not the actual face, but her smile froze when she saw Sou Rou gaping.

    "H-How did you know?"

    Cheng Hao smiled "If you are talking about cultivation techniques, there is nobody in this plane as knowledgable as me who has read all seven-million seven-hundred-seventy-seven-thousands seven-hundred-seventy-six-books of the Tower of Babel!" He smiled amused "And even got the chance to gaze upon the Sealed Prohibited 7,777,777th book on the top floor!"

    Sou Rou''s eyes opened even wider: she didn''t know what that boy in front of her was talking about at all, but it seemed like a completely colossal feat...

    And it really was.

    Back when he had been Xu Ling, he had the occasion of entering the mighty tower... However, it had only been for seven-hundred-seventy-seven-days. To accomplish that and read all those books and manuals in less than seven-hundred-seventy-seven days it took all of his resources and knowledge on Space-Time dilations and restriction techniques. But it was worth it. What one reads in the Tower of Babel he remembers, no matter the language or the text it is written in, he would remember it.

    And such a lowly cultivation technique such as the Three Mirrored Seals and the Phalanx, shouldn''t the apparent omniscient being who created the tower be ashamed if such techniques weren''t recorded down?

    The two youths gritted their teeth and entered a fighting stance. Cheng Hao looked at their body once and then smiled "Stances... Useless, unless you wish to let your opponent know of your movements beforehand! I learned this lesson the hard way, when the Glacier Old Man almost ripped my heart off! Using a stance won''t help you once you reach the pinnacle of power!"

    His eyes glinted and he put his arms behind his back, showing his defenseless front: the two older geniuses seeing this were enraged and charged at him. Sou Rou waved her hand and the Red Lion seal began glowing. Her beautiful figure turned red and she looked as if she had just gotten strong enough to rip an elephant apart with a mere finger.

    Illusory red lions began to appear around her and roar at the people surrounding her. They began to circle around her slim body just like clothes made of fiery flaming lions.

    Zhao Bu wasn''t any less showy. He bit the tip of his index finger and a drop of blood flowed out: he took out some kind of talisman and let his own blood fall on the talisman where the character for ''undodgeable'' had been noted down.

    Talismans were somewhat like runes, except their strength was much weaker and there were less varieties of them too. They also were consumableonly, a one-time itemunlike Runes that, if wanted, could last forever as long as they were kept in good conditions.

    Still, when Zhao Bu strapped the glowing talisman on top of the spear, it began to glow. At that moment, it glowed just like a weapon only a god should wield, yet now the mortal young master of the Zhao family was clearly no god, still that weapon would make anyone who was facing its might head on tremble and gulp.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

    Cheng Hao showed no reaction to either of the two young cultivators'' strength, instead he took out a plain-looking shortsword. If it weren''t for the fact that there was a weird and complicated symbol on the blade making it glow slightly blue, it would look like the same weapon you could buy at the cheapest weapon store for the lowest price.

    Cheng Hao threw the weapon in the air and it landed blade-first into the ground, embedding itself up to the hilt. Seeing that, everyone couldn''t help but shiver: such a weapon was sharp enough to cut the stones of the Arena like butter, it would be pointless to think what would happen when it met with the soft skin and tender flesh...

    Meanwhile, behind Cheng Hao, the Seventh Protector''s disciple that had joined in the fight had also finished his preparations: his body had turned slightly yellow and sparks were going on and off at times and brightened his surroundings, making him look like some kind human-shaped electric bulb. It was also difficult to look straight at him as the light was truly blinding!

    Still, Cheng Hao showed no sign of fearing the young man in any way and instead let out a frightening amount of killing intent. The young man shivered and wished to squat down and beg forgiveness at once.

    Suddenly, he couldn''t bear the pressure any longer and snapped, he charged at Cheng Hao headfirst. The child felt the older male approaching and he sidestepped, turning on himself and grabbing the youth''s head with his palm.

    He turned and sent the boy crashing into the ground, sending many bits and pieces of rock flying everywhere and raising a lot of dust in the impact. When it fell back down, everybody couldn''t help but shed a drop of cold sweat at the sight of the Seventh Protectors''s Disciple''s face smashed into the concrete.

    Cheng Hao smiled and lifted himself back up as he stomped on the ground. When he did that, the shortsword embedded into it flew up and the boy snatched it in midair.

    Lao Jianghu smiled ''This brat, just what is your true strength?''

    Cheng Hao slashed the air in front of him and a strong current made his robe flutter "I''ll take you on all at once! Come at me!"

    Zhao Bu, Sou Rou and the old faced Dan Yang exchanged a glance and they all entered into strange and mysterious stances.

    Seeing that, Cheng Hao sighed "You never listen, do you?" He pointed his sword towards Zhao Bu, turned his body towards Sou Rou but didn''t even take a glance at Dan Yang.

    Yin Hei looked at the boy surrounded by the three disciples and couldn''t help but frown "No openings... I can''t see any openings at all! If I had his same cultivation base I would be unable to beat him even once out of a thousand times!"

    Mu Gu smiled bitterly but his eyes held no malicious intent "Lao Jianghu, this kid reminds me of you. Unbeatable in your own stage. However, he is not only like our Lao Jianghu, he even surpasses him! Even more powerful opponents are unable to fight on equal terms with him! Even Sung experts would have to watch out for this child!"

    Sou Rou pursued her lips and then kicked off the ground. She disappeared and reappeared right beside Cheng Hao, the red seal resembling a roaring lion glowed and her body''s strength increased by many times. Unfortunately, the boy had already sidestepped so her punch only hit the afterimage that was left in the air...

    She was stunned for a bit but then regained her cool, the blue Ever-Changing Sea seal glowed and her body twisted as if it wasn''t made out of bones and flesh, but of running, flowing water.

    She feinted a punch with her right arm but then she turned and kicked the boy in the temples with his left leg. Cheng Hao lifted his arm and effortlessly caught her foot with his right hand as he palmed her chest with his left. The last of the three seals, the Retaliation Rose brightened up but it was a moment too late so it had no effect at all.

    Sou Rou''s expression changed and her face turned blue. She flew back like a kite with its sting cut and landed on the ground a few meters away, curling up and grabbing her tummy, blood trickling down from the sides of her mouth.

    Cheng Hao looked at her expressionlessly and simply jumped over. Wu Rou trembled in her throne and she looked at Lao Jianghu beside her in hope he would stop the fight. Howeverthe old man seemed just waytoointerested in the match as he showed no sign of noticing her pleas...

    Cheng Hao got closer and he kneeled beside the young woman. She looked at him enraged but also pridefully as she showed him her neck, ready to die.

    Cheng Hao smiled bitterly seeing that. For such a young girl to be able to accept death was both a good and bad thing. It was good as in the path of Martial Cultivation, wether one lives or dies is decided depending on luck. To know this is to be prepared, hats off to her master for teaching her that.

    However, it was also bad, because this would make people unable to bow their heads down one day to be able to survive and hold it up proudly another.

    He didn''t want to see another young person such as that dying in vain, especially such a beautiful and talented young girl, so he leaned in and whispered something into her ear. Her eyes widened hearing his words and they burned with excitement. She nodded and Cheng Hao poked with his finger in a spot on her forehead.

    The girl fell unconscious and the boy effortlessly lifted her light body up. He delicately brought her to one corner of the arena and nobody dared to do anything to hinder him.

    Seeing that, Zhao Bu blinked his eyes twice, trying to dispel the unconscious fear in his heart and preparing himself for the shameless action he was about to do. He clenched his fist and the image of the spear behind him began to rotate as it pointed towards Cheng Hao''s head... Then suddenly switched to the girl laying on the ground, the blood talisman with the words ''undodgeable'' on it shone with a bright, red light!

    The golden spear suddenly glowed as the child grabbed onto it and threw it, not aiming at the young boy that surpassed them all, but at the unconscious girl behind him instead! The blood red talisman brightened up, making the spear hurry up in a beeline towards Sou Rou.

    Cheng Hao noticed this. He turned to see the young girl right behind him and he smiled bitterly in understanding: if he dodged the blow, Sou Rou would die!

    Wu Rou paled seeing that: she could not interfere right now because Yin Hei would most likely stop her and Lao Jianghu would most probably not help her as, if Cheng Hai truly wanted, he could evade the blow effortlessly. She could do nothing but hope that Cheng Hao would have the heart to help her disciple.

    But seeing how ruthlessly the boy acted, he would most likely not do anything like that. She sunk into her throne powerless as she could only watch the fight in front of her with the eyes of a common spectator and pray in her heart that Sou Rou would come out of that alive.

    Although Wu Rou had correctly thought of the young boy as ruthless, she didn''t take one thing in calculation: it was his hatred for unfairness and the brotherly love he showed towards his friends!

    The moment the girl had nodded her proud head and accepted Cheng Hao''s mysterious proposal after he had defeated her, she had become a comrade of Cheng Hao and thus, his martial sister!

    And nobody, nobodycan think of eventouching Cheng Hao''s family!

 Chapter 47 - A True Cultivator

    Long Yin Hei.

    First Protector of the Mysterious Light Shadow Sect.

    The Shadow Dragon.

    Master of the Zhao Family prodigy, Zhao Bu, and leader of the Shadow Dragon Faction.

    A few days before, Zhao Bu had told him that he had broken through the bottleneck of the peak Advanced stage and had reached the Superior stage. With his skills, he should have had no problem defeating Sou Rou and he would have become the Sect Head.

    He didn''t want to throw away lives in a meaningless war. After all... He needed the life force of as many experts as possible to completely free himself of the seal imposed on him by his foe!

    So he made a plan. A plan to take Wu Rou by surprise by having Zhao Bu defeat her disciple in a battle amongst the younger generation, the stakes being the disciple''s master wouldbecome the Sect Head.

    He had prepared everything, from the seal that would make his disciple''s cultivation look like he had not broken through yet toeven going to the point of calling back his own team of powerful cultivators. He even got some people to help, led by his right hand man Chu Sai, in case something went wrong. And if even those weren''t enough, he still had his trump card!

    Up until that point, everything was going well and his plan looked like it would be a huge success!

    But.

    When that old man that he had almost forgotten, Lao Jianghu, had appeared... Everything had started going downhill!

    At first it was only a slight loss of face when he had toyed around with him for a bit. Yin Hei didn''t care too much about that, after all, if it meant freeing himself, he would not care about ''Face'' too much!

    But then, that bastard actually wished to change the rules of the match! What''s more, Wu Rou had agreed with him on the matter! And, the finishing blow, Lao Jianghu was actually a mid level Reverend stage expert!

    He had no choice but to give up and make the disciple fight for becoming the Sect Head themselves, but up until then there still weren''t so many problems that he couldn''t deal with.

    Zhao Bu was on his side and even if he became the head he could manipulate him to do what he wanted... But then, Lao Jianghu hindered his plans again! Long Yin Hei was starting to notice that something was wrong, as if this had all been planned to harm him. A slight suspicion of what that might mean rose into his mind, some of the pieces even seemed to fit together...

    But he had shaken off the idea. After all, he knew for sure that it wasn''t possible, after all,Hewas currently in the body of the Crippled Sect Head, not some Third Protector, and it was impossible for both him, the Shadow Dragon, and Him, his foe, to reincarnate into different bodies. Even a Sealing Master like the Tiger would be unable to find a loophole there.

    What happened next though, shocked him even more. A potential Twin Star? He may be talking about that girl, Xiao Wu, whom he had been alerted of some time ago, but she was still not powerful enough to even try to fight against either of his or Wu Rou''s disciple, so that probably wasn''t it either.

    Then thatyouth clad in red had appeared.

    And shit got screwed up.

    ...

    Cheng Hao swung his blade left and right and then put the blade horizontally on his right shoulder with a flick of his wrist. He raised his left harm, the one not holding the blade, in front of him, opened his hand and lowered his waist.

    He stood still and looked like he was prepared to bear the full power of the attack head on!

    Seeing that, the young male of the Zhao family smiled as he made a hand seal! The spear suddenly began to glow red, it immediately began to shake violently as it got even faster and the faster it became, the bigger it got! The previous Advanced stage quality Qi had suddenly turned into Superior stage quality Qi!

    Zhao Bu was actually a Superior stage cultivator!

    Cheng Hao''s eyes didn''t widen nor did he show any shocked expression when seeing that, instead, on his face his thin lips arranged into a mocking smile. Zhao Bu shivered when he saw Cheng Hao''s sword slowly rising behind his back, the blade glinting under the sun and emanating a blue hue...

    "It can''t be! He couldn''t possibly be thinking of..." Zhao Bu trembled and stepped back. He backed away as he felt that the blade Cheng Hao was swinging would be able to cut through all and everything, even if it was only because it was swung by Cheng Hao himself!

    That blue hue seemed to chill the bones, the blade looked like it would delve so deep into the flesh that it would cut out the soul and the young child''s eyes looked like two bottomless pits that could swallow people up effortlessly!

    The child smiled as the spear bore down on him like a mountain falling down on an ant: he looked just like a hero prepared to give his life in the face of an insurmountable enemy, all of that because he chose to save the young girl!If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    As, in the crowd,everyone thought of it like that in their hearts, nobody could understand why would Zhao Bu look so scared when he had just thrown at his opponent such a powerful attack!

    *swish*

    The javelin flew through the air leaving behind a bright red streak of light, the spearhead getting hot and hotter until it seemed it could catch fire at any moment.

    The crowd watched in amazement as the spear reached the small boy and pushed forward. There could only be one word to describe the attack: Death! Absolute defeat! Nothing could survive such a blow that bore down the strength of a mountain!

    A Core Elder shook his head in amazement "Such power... It is like a gigantic mountain is falling on that boy, it is regrettable that such a talent would be wasted, but there is nothing he could have done, the might of such an attack flying towards you is something beyond the power of man!" He turned and prepared to leave.

    The crowd sighed: indeed, such a genius''s flame had been extinguished just like that! The people watching turned towards Zhao Bu but the boy was staring ahead of him blankly, his eyes full of fear and his moth gaping as much as it could.

    The person who had spoken before suddenly could feela bad feeling swelling up in his chest: why was there no heart-rending shrieking? Why was there no cry of pain? The boy couldn''t have just disappeared into ashes, so fast that he didn''t even have the chance to utter a single word, right?

    Or maybe...

    He shivered and turned just in time to see the gigantic spear stopping in mid air.

    The proud and bright red fog that had been exuded by the spear up until a moment ago was nowhere to be seen, even the golden luster and the aura of a weapon belonging to the gods had disappeared, leaving nothing behind!

    *Creak* a series of creaking and crackling sounds sounded out as a single crack made its way through the weapon''s body...

    The spear fell down but when it touched the ground, it suddenly split in two cleanly. After a series of much more sinister cracking sounds, the spear suddenly shattered, turning into countless dust-like light shards that floated away.

    Zhao Bu spat out a mouthful of blood as his full power attack had just been destroyed and the Qi he had gathered had scattered away.

    "You dare to fight me in a contest of strength?" The voice of a child stunned all the people hearing it because it meant one thing: Cheng Hao did not only parry the attack, he was alive and well!

    The figure of the boy was standing firmly on the grown, his right arm holding the blade was still in the motion of swinging down and his whole body completely uninjured made the crowd''s blood boil as they heard their heart beating nonstop, like a drum,in their ears.

    The boy tapped his weapon''s edge and it could be seen that it had only slightly bent, not even a crack could be seen on its surface... That was just plain ridiculous!

    If one thought that the weapon Cheng Hao had used was a cheap shortsword with a slight enchantment and the one Zhao Bu used was the pure manifestation of his Qi, it was the difference between the lowly Earthand the divineHeavens!

    But even that difference couldn''t stop Cheng Hao: without breaking so much as a sweat, he cut the flow of all living things apart! The very essence of life, the Qi, cut apart with a plain blade anyonecould have bought for a few coins at the closest weapons shop!

    "You had your way, now it is my turn..." Cheng Hao grinned fiercely, his face contorting and resembling a bloodthirsty demon''s.

    He lifted his blade again and slashedit down! The strength behind the blow was so great that the sword shattered the moment the slash ended! It was way stronger than the slash he had performedbefore... And many times more powerful than Zhao Bu''s attack!

    A massive sword wave that looked like a dragon the size of a small mountain sped towards the crawling Zhao Bu. The boy had long before attempted to flee but his legs refused to move as he was scared witless in front of Cheng Hao''s strength.

    He clenched his fist and yelled, not caring for face any longer "Master! Help me!"

    When Long Yin Hei heard these words, his face turned uglier and his expression became sour. Still, he could not allow his own disciple to be killed right in front of him!

    He stepped forward, bombarding the attack with his pressure! The blade slightly slowed down but didn''t show any signs of stopping as it approached the First Protector. Yin Hei lifted his eyebrow and secretly admired ''What incredible power...''

    He waved his sleeve and suddenly an illusory fanged mouth appeared from his shadow, grew bigger and bit down at the gigantic sword slash.

    When it bit down, Cheng Hao''s attack struggled for a bit but in the end it couldn''t break through the Reverend stage expert''s defines. Both the attack and the mouth disappeared into shards of light and strands of shadows.

    Seeing he was safe, Zhao Bu sniffed and began to cry as snot flew out from his nose "Ma-Masted! He Tied do ghill bi! (Ma-Master! He tried to kill me!)"

    A vein popped on Yin Hei''s forehead as he turned angrily and slapped him hard on the cheek "You trash! You have to beg your master in front of all these people to save you from a child''s attack! What has become of your and my face?"

    *step*

    Cheng Hao stepped forward smiling "As expected frommy subordinate, he really does show the rights to bear the title of First Protector, to dispel my attack with so little effort, it truly shows his strength!"

    He looked around and saw that Fang Lu had already taken care of Dan Yang, the man with the face of a middle aged man was laying unconscious on the ground, his body showing no external injuries. When he saw him looking at himself, the chubby youth, Fang Lu, turned and bowed wholeheartedly, placing his right hand on his chest, a sign of subordination towards somebody.

    Cheng Hao smiled and nodded his head in his direction before turning to look at First Protector. Right now though, Yin Heiwas not angry but confused, as if he had just realized something was amiss.

    Cheng Hao''s eyebrow rose and the corners of his mouth twitched but then he smiled ''He has found out, hasn''t he?''

    "Very well, it looks like I have won this little skirmish... When is the ceremony for appointing the Sect Head beginning?"

    The crowd fell silent.

    Ruthless.

    Overpowering.

    Arrogant.

    Overbearing.

    These were all qualities that made people admire the strong... They were the qualities of a king! And they all showed up in the body of that Eight years old child!

    An old cultivator pondered and murmured as he had great insights on the path of a cultivator "Facing foes as strong as gods without batting an eye, holding incredible power and using it protect both the self and the others! Believing in one''s strength showing no sign of faltering, even towards those stronger than he is... Doing all of these, it can only be then that one can call himself... A True Cultivator!"

    Hearing those words, many felt enlightened and felt like they had understood what a cultivator truly was today! A true cultivator is one who faces the odds and comes out as the winner, protecting the things dear to him and getting what he sought after at the same time!

    And such a person... Cheng Hao was undoubtedly one!

 Chapter 48 - Threads And Golden Light

    About two months prior, Zhao Bu had informed Long Yin Hei that a certain branch of his Zhao Clan, the Zi Clan, had been eradicated by a single person wearing Crimson robes and a strange mask. The clan had sent an expert to investigate but he had also gone missing, so the Clan was debating wether to give up or keeppursuing this mysterious person.

    After all, that Crimson robed person might be a hidden expert or some powerful being, someone they shouldn''t offend, but they still hadn''t decided at the moment.

    Yin Hei had given the news little to no thought at the time, after all, why would he care about some little branch of his disciple''s family? Even though it was the Zhao Clan, it was not his business.

    Right now though, Long Yin Heiregretted not looking into it further. The reason? A person that might be the same Crimson Robed Demon that was such an headache for the prestigious Zhao family had just stood up from the Arena seats... And had confirmed himself as him being Lao Jianghu''s disciple!

    The First Protectorhad almost snapped at the time, it seemed like it was everything part of that old man''s plan, as if they were all chess pieces on a board and he was moving both the white and black sides as he liked!

    Fortunately for him, he was lucky enough to regain his composure. He had inquired "Youth! Who are you?"

    He had also thought of something when he had looked carefully at the eye-grabbing clothing the boy was wearing and an idea to foil Lao Jianghu''s plans had formed into his mind...

    "You are not wearing the Sect Robes, do you know what the penalty for that is?" the child would not leave this place alive, he had dug his own grave by not wearing the Sect Robes!

    At that time, a pale Zhao Bu had turned towards his master and had confirmed Yin Hei''s suspicions "Master Long, I am almost completely sure that that guy... Is the person that eradicated the Zi clan!"

    Yin Hei had slightly frowned when he heard that but nevertheless asked again "Answer me youth! Who are you!" Seeing the youth''s height as well as his build he had guessed that the young man could not have been older than Zhao Bu was, he was probably even younger.

    Seeing that, he had attacked the youth with a pressure powerful enough to endanger the life of peak Advanced stage cultivators. He had esteemed that it would be enough for such a young child, after all Zhao Bu was a really rare genius, a child such as that couldn''t possibly repel his attack.

    Boy, was he wrong.

    Seeming to not even notice the pressure, the child had actually ignore him once again! "Oh? But I thought that I didn''t have to wear the Sect Robes after all... Master Lao Jianghu, did you lie to me?"

    Impossible! Yin Hei''s expression had drastically changed. The voice was that of a child not yet in his teens, yet the boy had dismissed the pressure he had sent against him without even batting an eye, that made no sense!

    Worsening the situation, Lao Jianghu acted as if it were normal since he had simply smiled and shook his head "I didn''t lie to you, but to gain such a privilege you will have to become the Sect Head... It won''t be a problem for you, will it?"

    The boy had played with his hair for a bit and then answered nonchalantly "I guess not! I just need to beat these few pieces of trash down there, right?"

    Pieces of trash? Both Zhao Bu and Sou Rou were extremely rare geniuses, if Sou Rou was a genius seen only once in a few decades, Zhao Bu was the supreme genius of the Zhao Clan, a talent not seen often even in a few centuries!

    Obviously, Zhao Bu could not bear the insult silently "Shut your mouth, who do you think you are calling trash! Just who the hell are you?!?"

    What happened next had shocked Long Yin Hei more than anyone else present. Speed. Incredible speed and what''s more, such speed that even he had to pay attention to clearly see the Crimson Robed child''s figure dashing through the air.

    "Let''s just say that I am the Sect Head. If this is all you people from the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect have to offer, it will probably turn out like that soon!"

    Standing on Zhao Bu''s shoulder, the youth had both showed and proudly announced his power to the members of the Sect. Even if they felt indignant after being insulted, they knew that they could not retort because the youth was right: few people on the scene would be able to cope with that speed, and none of them were in the younger generation!

    And he proved that and even more soon after. After showing his face and stunning everybody on the scene with his young age, not only did he find out about the Soul Crystal in Te Rin''s body which not even the Nine Protectors had noticed, shaming them, he even removed it effortlessly and saved the girl from a horrible death!

    After that, he effortlessly defeated both the Second''s and the Seventh Protector''s disciples easily. He didn''t stop there though, as Zhao Bu shamelessly attacked the boy whilst he was standing in front of the injured Sou Rou.

    Yin Hei had nodded in his mind in approval of his disciple''s actions but he was stunned once again when he had seen his disciple''s attack, powered up by a powerful talisman, was cut apart with a cheap shortsword in one strike!

    Yin Hei had no time to be shocked again at the child''s action because he had to save his severely injured disciple from Cheng Hao''s fierce counterattack.

    "[...] is the ceremony for appointing the Sect Head beginning?"

    At the time, however, the First Protector hadn''teven noticed that Cheng Hao was speaking, nor hadhe noticed the stupor of the crowd. What he focused on at the moment was the flow of the Qi in his arm.

    He had parried the blow before by enhancing his arm with Qi and he hadn''tdared being careless. Thus, he had also put in a lot of his Spiritual Power and Qi.

    He had to use more than a tenth of his true power to be able to disperse the attack completely, something that would usually require a cultivation of the peak Sung stage at the very least...

    But.

    Something was wrong! Something was very wrong! His blood was surging and that was normal, after all he had just exchanged blows and parried such a powerful attack by using the same power as his opponent. It would cancel each other out but it would still require a bit of effort.

    When you do many,push-ups your arms would feelslightly weaker afterwards. It was the same principle.

    That was fine and alright. However, the problem didn''t lay in the blood, but in his meridians: there was no discrepancy at all in the flow of his Qi! That would be impossible in all cases except for a single exception, an option so rare that he couldn''t possibly believe it.

    But there was no other explanation. Right, the reason that his Qi wasn''t messed up in the slightest unlike his blood was because...

    That Strike...

    Didn''t carry even a hint of cultivation base!

    He looked at the child in front of him shocked: to have such strong methods without relying on cultivation, how could that be? But that was not the important thing because he had just found out the opportunity to get rid of the boy at once!

    ...

    "There won''t be any ceremony!" Yin Hei yelled as he laughed "Ahaha, you might have fooled everybody else in here, but you did not fool me! You have no cultivation! You are relying on some sort of treasure to power yourself up, you are not actually this powerful!"

    Hearing those words, many in the crowd frowned and were shaking their heads: what the First Protector was saying might have sounded reasonable before, but right now he seemed to be saying this only to make the genius boy look bad. They would obviously not fall for that, how could someone be so powerful without having a cultivation? It was simply impossible!Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    Hearing those words, Cheng Hao smiled bitterly "Got found out, uh?" He sighed and shook his head "Guess I shouldn''t have exaggerated and exchanged blows with someone as powerful and knowledgeable as First Protector..."

    When they heard those words, the people from the crowd were flabbergasted... Were the words of Yin Hei really true? They turned to look at the boy with indecisiveness in their eyes... After all, that could mean that mortal men would be able to fight cultivators! if such a treasure existed, it would mean the end of Martial Cultivation and the beginning of a new era of enhanced humans!

    Seeing the reaction from the crowd, Cheng Hao smiled and raised his arms as he shook his head "Everybody can calm down, although I have no cultivation currently, I also don''t have any treasure on my body that enhances my strength! It is just my body that is special, you can trust me on that!"

    "What''s more" He patted his chest "I am a cultivator!"

    Yin Hei''s eyebrows twitched "Didn''t you just say you have no cultivation? How are we supposed to believe that you are actually a cultivator, uh?"

    Cheng Hao grinned, his white teeth flashing "Of course I cannot prove that right now, why would I have not used cultivation before if I could have done so? You will have to trust my word!"

    Lao Jianghu chuckled "Of course we trust you! What''s more, there is no rule that states that somebody without cultivation cannot become the Sect Head, nor did we say that in this battle one had to rely only on cultivation alone, did we? Even if it was a treasure, he would have all the rights to use it, just like how your disciple..." His expression darkened and he jabbed with his sharp words.

    "... Used a forbidden Blood Talisman to lock on an unconscious disciple Sou Rou''s body" Lao Jianghu''s eyes grew dangerous and his whole atmosphere changed as it could be seen he was really angry at the moment.

    Yin Hei gritted his teeth and muttered "I see that Third Protector doesn''t seem to like the way my disciple behaves... Should I help you out with that?"

    Lao Jianghu smiled fiercely "Oh? You don''t need to worry about that, what you need to worry about though is to show respect to Lord Sect Head!" He turned to look at Second Protector Wu Rou and she nodded.

    Seeing that Yin Hei paled and he turned towards Fa Guan "Eight Protector, this is madness! You cannot allow this to continue! He is not a cultivator! He is amortal"

    "And are you not one as well?" Fa Guan coldly shook his head as Dan Yang sat beside him, tending to his wounds and meditating. He looked a bit down because his disciple had been defeated "We are all Mortals here. At the end, we will all turn into dust and scatter into the wind, what exactly makes us not Mortals?"

    "As Third Protector said, rules clearly state that there is no problem with a cultivation-less...Mortal... to become the Head. If somebody were to be in the wrong, it would be your disciple, using a Forbidden Talisman. Unfortunately, we have no proof of that so we cannot punish him. For Now."

    The Eight Protector humphed "Can you not see my disciple is recuperating? Leave us alone, or we of the Rules-Enforcing Department might change our mind!"

    Yin Hei frowned when he heard those words, but then an idea flashed across his mind ''Wu Rou has always fought with me to become the Sect Head, why would she allow a brat like him to become one?''

    He turned but his eyes, previously filled with hope, widened when he saw the woman bowing at Cheng Hao "Thank you for saving my disciple. I, Second Protector Wu Rou, thank you, Disciple Cheng Hao!"

    Wu Rou looked at Cheng Hao, her expression a bit sour, but overall happy as she didn''t hide her gratitude. She then shook her head at her own words "No, you are no mere Disciple anymore! Starting from today!"

    She straightened herself smiling, as if a great load had just been taken off her shoulders ''Maybe I didn''t even want to become the Head... Maybe I just wanted the Sect to be lead by a great person. I would have preferred Sou Rou to become the head, she even shares my name. I felt like it had been destiny when I had taken her in...''

    She looked up and a single tear fell from each of her eyes. Theywere not the bitter, salty and painful tears of sadness and emptiness, but the sweet and relieving tears of happiness.

    ''Only now do I realize though, that was just a fool''s thinking. My life was to bring up a genius, yes, a genius on par with Twin Stars! However, that genius would be nothing but another pawn... A faint light to make the realstar of the show shine even brighter! To have everything planned out like this... It could be nothing else butFate!''

    Suddenly, time seemed to stop as everything became much slower until everything grew still... The sound was cut off as everything began to turn dark and a green fog began to spread around.

    Wu Rou found herself in a dark version of the world. Everything was dark green and darkness was everywhere, only lit up by mysterious strings tied around every single thing in that dark world. They were packed together, and there were so many that it looked like a sea of threads.

    She was surprised at first but even greater shock came to her when she looked around.

    She looked at the child with golden eyes and black hair who was staring in front of him grinning, unaware that time had stopped, and she could almost swear that she could see light threads coiled around everybody at the scene.

    White threads, Black threads, Pink threads, Purple threads...

    But only those wrapped around Cheng Hao were golden!

    A figure seemed to appear, floating beside Cheng Hao...

    It was Cheng Hao''s own figure but he looked much more mature, his hair was white and he seemed to hold even greater wisdom, as if he knew everything of the world and of its inhabitants.

    She could not understand what that meant, but even if she felt that what had just happened was really important she couldn''t understand why.

    He noticed Wu Rou''s gaze and was not surprised. He winked at her smiling gently and put a finger on his lips that were sligthly curving upwards ''Shhh''

    Suddenly, she felt coughing coming from behind her. The man smiled and pointed in the direction the cough was coming from. A window appeared, a window of light, just like a mirror.

    She looked at the smiling white haired boy and she mustered up courage. She walked up to the mirror and looked down.

    She was shocked to find a copy of her, except this was much older. It was like seeing a play: she was the spectator and those in the mirror were the actors on a stage, except she understood that the story being narrated was not just anybody''s... Sheknewit washers.

    The other Wu Rou was alone in a solitary hut, gasping for air as she was about to make her last, dying breath, tears falling from her cheeks...

    She was feverish and kept muttering things like ''Have to breakthrough!'' and ''to seek the Dao, to find the way!''. Her eyes were muddled and they didn''t seemed to be able to see around her as they only saw the image of her own twisted world.

    She breathed in once and a black figure with a white mask leaned down on her, as if he was waiting for her soul to flow out. The mask was completely terrifying, there was a mouth depicted that had teeth that looked so sharp they could tear flesh off without much effort, the eyes were holes from which blood fell down, marking the white mask like tears.

    Two red lights glowed from beneath the holes that were its eyes, like flames at the end of a tunnel. If one looked more closely, he would find that these two were actually countless souls set on fire, burning and screaming their pain.

    Their shouts and their yells would never reach anybody.

    If Evil, if Death, if Hell, could ever have a physical depiction, this being would not have too much of a difference with the real deal.

    At the moment, the old woman was about to exhale her last breath, a green gas began to flow out of her seven apertures and to gather above her. The being opened his mouth from which saliva drooled down, and leaned in to take a bite of the soul flowing out of the woman''s body...

    Suddenly, that figure and the small house disappeared in a flash of blinding light. In the place of the hut, a room appeared, where the same old woman, surrounded by children and middle aged men, was also laying on a bed.

    They weren''t happy. They all more or less resembled each other and it could be seen they were relatives. At the moment, they were all trying hard to hold their tears in, even the small children felt something was wrong and were crying.

    She looked all the same as the previous Wu Rou did. On the contrary though, her eyes were clear and her expression bright. An old man walked in and hugged the old woman who hadthe same features as Wu Rou''s. A few tears fell, but the twodidn''t allow a sad moment to be the last memory of them together.

    They looked happy and they were both grateful to each other for being there for the other, for being loved to the end even if it was not for their whole lifetime, they had still loved each other so much that they had made up for that.

    Her eyes bright and her still alluring lips were arranged into a heartwarming smile as she looked at the man holding her and she hugged him even tighter...

    Suddenly, the old woman noticed Wu Rou and the white haired youth staring at her through the window of light. She was a bit taken aback at first. She looked around and noticed that only she could see them.

    Understanding that, she smiled and looked at the more mature-looking Cheng Hao and nodded in understanding. Her lips moved but no sound came out:

    Right, this had happened...

    On that day,

    Thank you for making my life bright again!

    The ''other'' Cheng Hao smiled tenderly and shook his head. His lips also moved and the old woman stared shocked when he understood what he had just told her:

    This is not the end.

    Seeing that, both ''Wu Rou''s were shocked: she was obviously dying, how could that not be the end?

    But when the current her turned, she understood. Cheng Hao moved aside and a bright door appeared in midair. He opened it and a golden light came out.

    It was blinding and it did not allow the younger Wu Rou to see what happened, but the older, dying version of her didn''t look away. Her eyes widened and her mouth gaped as she saw what was on the other side of the bright light...

    Her pupils grew golden and she lost her sight, yet she smiled. She now knew, what was on the other side of that door. The woman smiled and moved her lips.

    So this is what she-

    No, whatIsaw that day...

    The old Wu Rou kissed the man hugging her one more time and then exhaled and laid on the bed... The scene disappeared.

    The white-haired Cheng Hao turned to look at Wu Rou and pointed at the mirror that was now beginning to crack.

    See you then!

    He waved and disappeared, when he did the window of light also shattered. The threads disappeared and the world turned back into the previous one, but Wu Rou still remembered what had happened on the other side...

    And she wondered what that all meant.

 Chapter 49 - I Am Sorry

    ''Were those... Karma Threads?'' Wu Rou asked herself.

    She then remembered that, unlike the others, Cheng Hao''s threads were golden and shining with golden light. She smiled.

    ''For you to be blessed even by the Heavens, I have no feelings of regret! I am happy to have lived enough to see you!''

    At that time, Wu Rou didn''t know, but she had just had an insight on Fate, what she had just seen were not Karma Threads... It was Fate.

    If she had known this she would have been stunned, people would be unable to see the invisible hand of fate, they would be unable to look into the past, present and future... But she had not only done that. She had seen something more, something greater even though she did not realize.

    ''Is my family doing fine back home? My brothers, sisters... I wonder if mum and dad are still alive..." She pondered but then shook her head "Cultivation doesn''t allow for love... But I wonder if that man is doing fine? I wonder if I should visit him later, I miss his voice and the warm feeling of his hands...''

    Her face grew red but she shook her head once again ''For cultivation, I tossed him away and refused his love. He looked very much like the man in that scene... Could that have been the future? I wonder... Would he accept me now, that I am old and ugly?''

    She smiled remembering the old days, of the man with a scar on his lip, azure eyes as azure as the brightest diamond and the softest gaze...

    The encounter with Cheng Hao changed her whole life and discarded any Karma that had been attached to her, rearranging them. Without even knowing, Cheng Hao had changed her own destiny! Not only hers, many of the people on the scene would have had different endings, but now, with him there, everything has changed!

    ...

    Mu Gu smiled. He stretched his waist and the robes fluttered, the words Mu Gu - Ancient Tree flashed with the glint of gold. Beside him, Fang Lu followed.

    The two approached Cheng Hao and bowed. The old protector smiled "I have never seen talent such as yours before! Such power at such a young age, and what''s more such courage to go against powerful foes and the kindness to save those in trouble... You have my admiration and support!"

    He nodded at the child "I hope you will not forget to aid both me and my disciple! That old devil Lao told me you are quite knowledgeable! I have had a bit of trouble in my breakthrough, I wonder if you could help me with that" He winked.

    Cheng Hao smiled and scratched his head "Protector Mu Gu is just too kind! I simply repay kindness with kindness and favor with favor! Of course though" his eyes glinted "I show no mercy towards those who take from me!"

    ...

    Wu Row bit her beautiful lips once as she remembered the scene she saw before and sighed looking at the resting Sou Rou...

    She inhaled and then her eyes burned with determination!

    "As I said before, your position is that of a disciple no longer! Sect Head, that is your title!" She knelt on the ground. Mu Gu, Lu Fang and Lao Jianghu all knelt down as well, the other protectors and their disciples also followed and soon, seven Protectors and six disciples, all except for the already imprisoned Shui Jing, Yin Hei, Zhao Bu and the unconscious Sou Rou were kneeling in front of Cheng Hao.

    "Sect Head Cheng Hao! We pledge allegiance to the new Sect Head! May your meditation be full of enlightening, your strength summon the rain, your voice call down lighting!"

    ...

    The crowd was silent...

    Did that happen for real?

    For the Ancient Tree Mu Gu it would be no problem as he had always been an ally and a close friend with Lao Jianghu. The other Protectors also wouldn''t have too many qualms as they didn''t have too many thought about becoming the head, but Wu Rou had fought for a great amount of time for it.

    In the crowd, Bi Liang smiled ''Brother... You did it! You captured the hearts and the souls of so many! First it was one girl, Xiao Wu, your power but also your kindness made your figure shine in her heart like a true blood sibling!

    ''After that came the members of the All But In Blood Alliance! You gave your all to help them and your knowledge gave them the opportunity to rise to great heights! Unfortunately, because of our wishes, you had to leave, without a cultivation and alone, no friends were by your side... And even then, you mesmerized us of the Golden Tiger Faction as well!

    ''Now, you have the eyes of the whole Sect on you! They do not know of the hardships you had to go through, but they respect you nonetheless! They love you and they admire you! This that I am about to do is no repayment, how could I ever repay you in this lifetime for all the help you have given us? For theHopeyou poured into our empty hearts?''

    ''Still, if this can help you in the slightest, then I will gladly do it! Not because you are my brother, not because you are my friend, but because of all the effort and time you have given up for this Sect, its Disciples and its Elders!''

    The blonde-haired, brown-eyedman smiled and lifted his head, his will fiery and his eyes burning with determination.

    Bi Liang stood up, stepped forward and then also knelt on the ground. Those who saw him were stunned at first but then also nodded and fire burned into their eyes as well.

    Such a young child has shown such strength and knowledge, that cannot be acquired by being a genius, it was all through hard work! They all knelt down in acknowledgement and even more people noticed them and knelt down as well.

    Even more, and more, and more, and more! All the people present in the stalls of the Arena were kneeling. Bi Liang breathed in and led the way, shouting before anybody else with all his might:

    "Sect Head Cheng Hao! I pledge allegiance to the new Sect Head! May your meditation be full of enlightening, your strength summon the rain, your voice call down lighting!"

    Bi Liang smiled and proudly raised his head and looked with passion at the people surrounding him. They couldn''t help but feel their blood boil as they also followed in:

    "Sect Head Cheng Hao! We pledge allegiance to the new Sect Head! May your meditation be full of enlightening, your strength summon the rain, your voice call down lighting!"

    The members of the Golden Tiger Faction shouted louder than everybody else, their voices powerful and their chest filling with pride: they had been taught by the Sect Head in person, how many in the Sect beside them could say that? What''s more, that Sect Head was the greatest genius that this world has ever seen!

    "Sect Head Cheng Hao! We pledge allegiance to the new Sect Head! May your meditation be full of enlightening, your strength summon the rain, your voice call down lighting!"

    Then came the members of the Moon Goddess faction who respectfully shouted, grateful to Cheng Hao for saving their Lord''s disciple and also following their Leader''s wishes.

    Many shouts came from everywhere in the Arena, but the loudest one could be one, and one only...

    A beast''s roar came out as a gigantic figure made out of black smoke clapped his fists in the sky. Fu Yin floated in midair and the gigantic black phantom behind him copied his moves like a gigantic shadow. Xiao Wu flew beside him with her mask and Blue Robed Night Challenger clothes on.

    "SECT HEAD CHENG HAO! WE PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE NEW SECT HEAD! MAY YOUR MEDITATION BE FULL OF ENLIGHTENING, YOUR STRENGTH SUMMON THE RAIN, YOUR VOICE CALL DOWN LIGHTING!"

    The roar was so loud that even people in the Vacant Sect could hear it and they all looked at each other: did something happen? A new Sect Head, was that true? And he was called Cheng Hao? They had never heard of him before, who was he?

    ...

    Cheng Hao lifted his head and saw Xiao Wu and Fu Yin grinning at him. His expression grew soft and he smiled seeing that, after all, even if distant, the two of them had beenby his side all along!

    He disappeared to reappear in front of them soon after: he had no cultivation so he could not fly, so he threw himself in their arms, grabbing and hugging the young boy and girl "Brother! Sister! I have missed you guys!"

    The three hugged each other and laughed loudly. The other Sect members were shocked for a while and then some recognized the two: the rising genius, ''summoner'', Fu Yin and other remembered about the powerful yet mysterious Blue Robed Night Challenger. They soon connected the dots and began to understand a bit of the situation.

    So many of the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect''s most talented disciples tend to band together! They find and help each other, right? Wrong. It is a single person that they all gather around, their one and only big brother, their master, the greatest prodigy of them all!

    He is now no longer a disciple, he is none other than the new Sect Head, he is Cheng Hao!The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    ...

    "Shut Up!" The loud yell made everyone on the scene shiver. They allturned to look at the plateau where the sound came from. There, they found Yin Hei gritting his teeth and viciously staring at the three young children in the sky.

    He stomped on the ground and the stony arena crumbled into pieces!

    Every person on top of it had to jump on the stalls and counter the shockwaves of the blow.

    Above the barren land that previously was the majestic Arena of the Core Sect, Long Yin Hei floated, a strange black smoke came out of his seven apertures and made him look like a demon.

    He pointed at Cheng Hao and shouted "I refuse to accept this! I refuse to let a child like him lead our sect! Everyone, wake up, they have all been brainwashed! Pick up your arms and fight with me!"

    The crowd was stunned: what was the First Protector thinking? Take up arms? Fight? Why would they battle their own Sect Members? Cheng Hao had showed his abilities as a genius in both his great power and sharp wits, isn''t he the best candidate?

    What''s more, didn''t the First Protector already agree before to the terms?

    Lao Jianghu sighed and turned to look at the Black Robed Protector "I knew this would happen. Everyone, we owe you an apology on behalf of the Protectors for we let First Protector become like this.

    "Long Yin Hei is from now on a Protector no longer! He has shown greed and placed himself above the Sect!" Lao Jianghu scoffed and then waved his sleeve, releasing his powerful pressure upon Long Yin Hei.

    Fa Guan also stepped forward, his arms crossed and his grey robes fluttering behind him "On behalf of the Sect Head, I shall now repeat his words and the rule imposed on us Protectors of each generation by the Ancestor: ''Once a Protector shows not the will to protect and puts personal feelings above the well being of the Sect he is to be stripped of the title and kicked away from the Sect!'' The time has come, Long Yin Hei, leave this instant!"

    The Eight Protector waved his thin hand and a stone flashed into his palm. He clenched his fist and crushed the stone which burst into countless small shards.

    At the same time, the words Long Yin Hei - Shadow Dragon disappeared from the previous First Protector''s robes.

    Yin Hei widened his eyes at that and gritted his teeth "You all! You dare do something like this! That kid has toyed with your minds and you can''t see it? I''m the best decision for the Sect Head! I am! I AM! I AAAAAAAAM!"

    He yelled at the sky and the whole world began to darken, black clouds appeared in the previously completely clear sky. The man then pointed a finger towards the ground.

    Invisible attacks appeared and many began to pale and cough up blood as pressure was imposed on their bodies and their cultivation bases began to crack dangerously. Cheng Hao gritted his teeth and stared hatefully at the figure in the sky ''Sothiswas the reason that old man was so reluctant to fight head on!''

    Lao Jianghu''s eyes widened. He stepped forward and did a hand seal, he fought against the powerful strands of pressure not daring to let any slip by: if he allowed it to attack those on the ground, many people would die!

    With a loud yell, he waved his sleeve and the attack was repelled. He let himself fall on the ground, his golden robes fluttering and his back as straight as a spear.

    The Golden Tiger Faction that had been silent until then stepped out and gathered around the golden robed Protector. Bi Liang also appeared by Lao Jianghu''s side and looked up at Long Yin Hei in both fear and determination.

    All the other Elders and Disciples also looked up and at Yin Hei scared out of their wits: was that truly the power a human could hold? To summon the clouds and block the light of the sun as he wished was nothing short than a god''s power!

    The disowned Protector''s body began to glow and following that black smoke churned out of his body and rotated around him at high speeds.

    The black robes got shredded by the dark vortex and his skin began to turn black, as if it was being burned. Long Yin Hei''s face contorted into a mask of pain and cracks began to appear on his now charred black skin. Red light came out of the cracks and it made his whole appearance look monstrous.

    The man''s eyes turned even more golden and his hair fluttered behind him, messily waving around like black flames, his golden eyes were wide, showing the two snake-like thin pupils in them, his mouth opened and his teeth growled and turned sharper. His whole figure was enveloped by the black smoke, which made him look like some kind of ferocious devil.

    "ALL SHALL DIE!!!" An inhuman shout came out of the monstrosity''s mouth.

    He was no longer human. Would a being with such charred skin, sharp fangs and claws, black blood and yellow, snake-like eyes be considered a man? Would a man that growls and yells like a beast still be a person?

    The monster suddenly pointed once again at the group of people below and the gases surrounding him turned into countless small snake heads. They were completely black except for flaming red eyes and countless red eyes glanced at the countless terrified cultivators below.

    "Die" He coldly muttered under his breath.

    When he said that, the countless Black Smoke Snakes shrieked and then sped towards the people below, their jaws wide open and their red eyes glinting with hunger and excitement. Their speed was such that they would not be able to escape and their jaws looked like they would be able to bite through the toughest armor.

    Wu Rou stepped back "How... How could we possibly stop this? Am I going to die here... No! I want to live! I have someone I want to see and live together with!" She trembled, her breathing rugged and her eyes blinking nonstop, she couldn''t believe what she was seeing! She began to tremble and began to cry from the terror and the unwillingness she was feeling...

    A single tear fell on the ground "I... Don''t want to die..."

    "And while I am still here, you won''t!" Suddenly, someone grabbed her shoulder. She looked up and saw Lao Jianghu firmly standing on the ground, his golden robes fluttering and his expression one of determination. He waved his sleeve and an imposing golden light began to emit from the old man''s body.

    "An overgrown snake wishes to make trouble into my Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect? Dream on!" A massive golden seal appeared, it soon enveloped all the people present like a golden shield. It was not affected by the darkness outside and shined with bright light. As soon as the snakes saw the shield, they tried their best to steer aside but they couldn''t stop.

    Countless shrieks rang out as they exploded as soon as they made contact with the golden surface. Yin Hei''s eyes corners twitched and he frowned "What? How... Nevermind, that tiny shield won''t be enough!" He roared and even more black snakes appeared

    "Let''s see you stop a never ending amount of these babies!"

    Although it looked really thin, the shield was in reality really sturdy: it was a magical seal, just like the one Cheng Hao had used to block the entrance to his room when he cultivated, or the one Lao Jianghu had used to block his cultivation. They were all types of seals, but this right now was many times stronger than the other ones, it was simply the difference between heaven and earth. It made Cheng Hao pale: if the old man had bound his cultivation with that, he would be absolutely unable to fight back with his current strength. This power was way past that of a mortal and approached the realm of the gods...

    ... And even that seal would not hold much longer against the barrage of the dark flaming smoke of the Demonic Yin Hei!

    Everybody noticed that, but when they saw Lao Jianghu''s power, they felt like they still had some hope left!

    Wu Rou gulped me asked "W-What happened to Yin Hei?"

    Lao Jianghu turned to look at Wu Rou and smiled "Long Yin Hei is no more. He has never been. What you see, is just his true form. It is an ancient monster sealed long ago in here by another being, or more accurately, a portion of his will. Fortunately, his true self lies dormant, sealed deep beneath this Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect..."

    He turned to look at Cheng Hao whom was still floating in midair, not panicking in the bit. He sensed the old man''s gaze and his eyes brightened and smiled in admiration as he finally put the pieces together and completed the picture.

    The young child opened his mouth and muttered "Interesting..."

    The old man smiled noticing that but explained nonetheless "He is called the Shadow Dragon. The bearer of the night, he was sealed here a long time ago. This Sect is rich in spiritual essence and Qi because two mighty beasts have been sealed here. Your Sect''s founder noticed this, and made a pact with one of the beasts to protect the Sect in case the other being freed itself in exchange for possessing the body of the first Sect Head, and those who came after him, to watch over the seal with a physical body..."

    A look of remembrance appeared on the old man''s face "It seemed that all would go well, the contract was signed but, unknown to them, the other being, the Shadow Dragon had also awakened and made a similar pact with another person... The rival of that same founder!" Lao Jianghu gritted his teeth.

    "You must know that the Shadow Dragon is a being who specializes in chaos and destruction, theShadowof the Mysterious Light-ShadowSect! On the other hand, the other was the order and creation, theLightof The MysteriousLight-Shadow Sect! Light and Shadow, those two beings have fought countless battles and in these last thousand years, unknown to everybody, they have kept battling"

    Lao Jianghu waved his hand making a golden longsword appeared in midair and float behind him. It was completely golden and didn''t have a single scratch on it. It was beautiful and deadly at the same time, it resembled the weapon only a god should wield, so perfect it was.

    "Each few generations for a thousand years, they would possess a new body and would try to surpass each other in cultivation... And for a thousand years, the Light has always won. But..."

    His eyes flashed and his expression darkened.

    "In the last awakening something happened: the Shadow woke up much faster than the Light could. While the Shadow awakened more than forty years ago, the Light only revived ten years ago. This was a fatal mistake on the Light''s part... And a chance for his enemy to prevail!"

    He clenched his fist and gritted his teeth, his eyes burning with hatred towards the enemy and... Himself. Wu Rou was long rendered speechless, all those around him now couldn''t help but shiver as they realized that this hadall been happening without anybody noticing... And that such a frightening power was being released!

    Wu Rou stared shocked at the man with a long white beard, sharp golden eyes and fluttering golden robes "How... How do you know all of this?

    Cheng Hao fell on the ground beside Bi Liang and looked at Lao Jianghu expressionlessly "That was the reason... Why the... ''Light''disappearedforten yearstotrain, isn''t it? And to gather allies..."

    Lao Jianghu smiled kindly and looked at the woman "Wu Rou... I can see your destiny has been changed. This battle is not for you to take part in, it is better if you go away, lest fate shall change once again... And this time it might be for the worst!" He then turned towards one other person he owned more than a favor to...

    Cheng Hao crossed his arms and sighed "Bi Liang... You better brace yourself for this... I think our... Third Protector has something important to say to you too..."

    Bi Liang frowned and turned to look at the figure he treated like a father "Father? What does he mean?" He clenched his fist "Is it something important? Tell me!" A bad feeling swelled up in his heart.

    Lao Jianghu sighed "When this generation''s reincarnation of the Light was about to revive, the Shadow attacked the new Sect Head and injured him badly, rendering him nothing less than a cripple... To live in a body like that would be suicide and, due to the agreement, the Shadow would be free to do whatever it wanted during that time..." His eyes softened as he bowed to Bi Liang.

    The man shook his head in disbelief, his eyes widening and his breathing growing rugged "No... No! It can''t be! This isn''t right! You must be joking, Father!"

    Lao Jianghu bowed even more "I am sorry, I had no choice. The Light ended up breaking the agreement between the Founder and himself... It did not occupy the body of the Head only. And since it was only compatible with the body of a man, it could only occupy the body of your Father, Third Protector Jianghu... The most powerful male in the Sect aside from Yin Hei and the crippled Sect Head"

    He kowtowed on the ground "I apologize... Your father... Is no longer. This is all my fault because I didn''t take into consideration the fact that the Shadow Dragon might have had an accomplice that helped him prepare the body in advance and wake up earlier... A man called Chu Sai and a person at the low level Reverend stage"

    He looked down ashamed but then his voice grew firm "I am sorry... I am not your father anymore, I haven''t been for the past ten years!"

 Chapter 50 - Aura Tiger

    Bi Liang looked around him "Ahaha! What a joke! You are such comedians, your acting is formidable! I understand so please stop joking around! Please, tell me it was all a joke and... Stop... Now..." His expression slowly turned into despair as he noticed nobody was saying anything. He looked around him blankly and fell on his knees. Lao Jianghu expressionlessly bowed and apologized.

    "I am sorry. I have taken over the body of Lao Jianghu to protect this Sect, its Disciples and Elders, but also this world! Once the Shadow Dragon regains its full power, it will start to destroy all and everything because it is a creature of chaos, it will not rest until everything is plunged into darkness and destruction!"

    Bi Liang clenched his fist and hit the ground in despair. Suddenly, he looked up hopefully "When this battle finishes and the Shadow Dragon is defeated... Then... Will Father come back?"

    Lao Jianghu looked down and didn''t speak. The silence hit Bi Liang like a mountain falling on top of him. He couldn''t breathe and couldn''t even speak. He yelled and banged his head on the ground.

    "Uh-uaaaaaaa! Father! Father!" Streams of tears fell from his cheeks and fell on the ground. As he yelled some even rolled into his own mouth but he didn''t notice the salty beads at all as he drowned himself in grief. The Protectors, their disciples as well as the members of the Golden Tiger faction couldn''t do anything but watch silently as they didn''t know what to do.

    Only one person acted at this time and it should probably be pretty obvious who that would be...

    Suddenly, just as Bi Liang was about to hurt himself any further, Cheng Hao grabbed his shoulders before he could hit the ground another time. Bi Liang was shocked for a bit but then turned and glared at him angrily "Cheng Hao! Let me go this instant!"

    Cheng Hao coldly and ruthlessly slapped him on the face. Hard.

    Bi Liang flew a few meters back before he could get up. However, Cheng Hao hit him again. Hard.

    Bi Liang gasped for air but found himself eating dirt again. And the boy slapped him again. And again. And again.

    Bi Liang was completely stunned and powerless. He lifted his hands to protect his face but then realized that Cheng Hao had stopped his blows.

    The older man coughed out a small mouthful of blood and looked at the boy confused "Why?"

    Cheng Hao expressionlessly opened his mouth and asked "Is the ground your enemy? Why should you hit the ground? Shouldn''t you hit this Shadow Dragon instead? You can''t, right? Well, since you can''t, then kill that Chu Sai instead! He was also one of the reasons that your father is here no longer! Do not drown yourself in grief... Take revenge so that you won''t have a reason togrieve! You won''t, as you will know that your father''sspirit will be happy, knowing that he has been avenged!"

    Everyone stared at the youth speechless. How could such a boy speak of such stuff like killing and avenging someone so easily? As for the Golden Tiger Faction, they were more surprised by the fact that Cheng Hao was thought of as a kid at all.

    Some even laughed in their minds and smiled bitterly ''Try a week, no, a day of training with him and you will soon forget his age...''

    Bi Liang looked at the boy with shock. Then he recovered and his eyes grew red from the rage "Of course! That is right!"

    He got up and looked around "Where is he? Where is that bastard? I will kill him!"

    Bi Liang waved his hand and a gigantic bow appeared. It was over ten meters long and Bi Liang effortlessly picked it up. Cheng Hao smiled in his mind ''Aura Grandmaster... As expected from the disciple of an Aura Manipulation expert like Lao Jianghu?''

    Suddenly, Cheng Hao trembled.

    The child''s eyes''s eyes widened and he looked at Lao Jianghu''s figure ''Aura Manipulation expert?!? Why would I think of him as such... I never even saw him..." Suddenly he remembered the scene of the old man waving his sleeve, creating the throne made out of golden weapons.

    In the meantime, Lao Jianghu stepped forward and grabbed the golden sword hovering behind him. He smiled at the crowd "It is now time for the Light to banish the Shadow!"

    Cheng Hao''s mind reeled as it tried to fit all the pieces together until... He got to an unlikely conclusion ''Could it be...''

    As soon as he came to thisconclusion, his eyes glinted with amusement: that throne was not the manifestation of Qi, but was actually made out of Aura!

    Quite unlikely, sure, but it all fit! Or at least it would... If Lao Jianghu or, more precisely, the so-called ''Light'' had been none other than...

    "Ah... Ahah... Ahahahahah!" Cheng Hao laughed hysterically.

    "That was what was wrong! That old man, I can''t believe he was actually such a figure! As to be expected from the Light? Wait... No... Not the Light..."

    The crowd of people backed away as the child laughed while Xiao Wu and Fu Yin frowned, confused. Cheng Hao kept laughing nonstop as the puzzle completed itself and, in his mind, everything became as clear as water!

    ''To think I would meet such a person in a lowly plane such as this! Acreationof the Primordial Heavenly Beast, the Aura Dragon, the first Primordial Heavenly Beast to manipulate Aura!''

    He looked at Lao Jianghu''s back and grinned ''Golden Tiger, uh... I should have understood this earlier! He is actually not a simple Heavenly Beast, he is anAura Beast, theAuraTiger,oneof theTwelve Aura Beasts, anHonorary Heavenly Beast! Ever since its disappearance a few million years ago, it has become one of the biggest mysteries of the Heavens where it had gone to. Only its eleven brothers, who had a shared mind with it, knew about its whereabouts and did not tellanybody. It has been so far from its creator for more than a million years so its power has been diminished so much that even I could not sense it!''Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

    The child smiled and threw himself on the ground panting from all the laughing "You fooled me you big cat... I didn''t notice it at all! I guess this Shadow Dragon won''t be an easy opponent as you had to seal him here together with you... Aura Tiger!"

    Godly suddenly flew out from Fu Yin''s robes and landed beside Cheng Hao "He had me fooled as well... What a crafty feline! He hid his presence so that nobody would find out about either him or the Shadow Dragon!"

    Lao Jianghu, no, the Aura Tiger turned and smiled. The illusory image of a golden tiger appeared behind him: it had golden fur and countless bright dots hovered around it. If one were to look more closely, he would notice that the fur wereactually many golden weapons and even the tiger itself was made out of countless weapons of all kinds. The bright dots as well were none other than smaller, flying tigers, these ones made out of Aura as well!

    Lao Jianghu smiled too "And only now do I fully understand as well... That Golden Dragon, he is none other than the Primordial Heavenly Beast, Blindlight, am I right? And such knowledge and talent... Little human, we will have a long talk after this! My brothers and I have a shared mind, I saw everything that has happened a thousand years ago, you will need to explain a lot of things, Cheng Hao! Or should I call you..." His voice got compressed into a string and only ChengHao and Goldy could hear it "Destined Emperor Of Heaven, Evil Saint Xu Ling?"

    Cheng Hao smiled "I am called Cheng Hao now, so call me that!"

    The Aura Beasts smiled "As carefree as my brothers have told me... Well then, call me Lao Jianghu as well. Now..." He turned "I require your assistance in defeating this overgrown snake... Will you help me?"

    Cheng Hao smirked "You mean... Assistance to block his minions? Sure! He is all yours, leave your back to us!"

    Cheng Hao turned to look at the confused crowd behind him.

    Fu Yin was muttering under his breath "A thousand years ago... Talent... Knowledge... Could it be..."

    ''Whoops, forgot about how sharp-witted and sharp-minded this one was... Danger! Danger!'' Cheng Hao gulped.

    Cheng Hao bowed to everybody behind him "I am sorry, but I will explain this to you all later! Now though, we have to destroy that being! For even that tiger to fear it, it is a menace to the world and maybe even the Heavens themselves! Will you follow me? Those not of my faction, you are free to leave! We brothers of the Golden Tiger have lived for a long time together and will all move as one and not leave each other behind... However,you do not need to throw away your lives!"

    The nineteen Core Elders including Bi Liang stepped forward "For our Leader, we will gladly fight!"

    Bi Liang gritted his teeth and his eyes were brightred from the anger "Chu Sai... Just you watch!"

    After that, the Inner Elders also nodded and yelled "Of course! We will be glad to throw away our lives if it is in the name of peace and victory!"

    Cheng Hao smiled seeing that and then he turned towards Xiao Wu and Fu Yin by his side "Guys... My brother and sister, I am sorry for everything that has happened and what i have gotten you in. I will make one last request... Would you please follow and trust me on this?"

    Xiao Wu and Fu Yin looked at each other smiling. Xiao Wu took off her mask and her Blue Robed Night Challenger robes and revealed the clothing of the Inner Sect.

    "Sure!"

    Fu Yin grinned "Sure. On one condition though..." He leaned in and whispered in Cheng Hao''s ear "Teach me how in the world do you pick up girlsso fluen-- hiiii" Xiao Wu pinched and tiwstedthe boy''s cheek.

    Cheng Hao smiled at the scene "Of course I will!"

    Xiao Wu gritted her teeth "Don''t encourage him! He''s already bad enough by himself, let alone if you help him!"

    Fu Yin massaged his cheek and smiled "I will be waiting the end of the battle for sure, for you to tell us your story! Don''t go dying on me now, brother!"

    Cheng Hao sweatdropped "If you really meant that, you wouldn''t raise such a death flag so casually..."

    Xiao Wu grinned "Oh, come on! What could possibly stop us three siblings?"

    Cheng Hao shook his head and pondered "I don''t know... Still, Fu Yin, how did you get her to stop wearing men''s clothes and hiding her appearance?"

    Fu Yin smiled "It was no real deal! I just put in some pepper in the damn thing and she just-"

    "So it was you! You bastard, you told me it was Su Tan who did it and I beat her up for two days! I will have to apologise to her later... Still, I looked like a red balloon with legs for seven days straight!"

    Fu Yin''s expression suddenly turned into terror as he dodged a powerful kick from the little girl "Su Tan didn''t seem to mind! Andit worked!"

    Cheng Hao chuckled "It looks like you guys have many things to tell me... But now we have to hurry, they have arrived!" He pointed in front of him.

    The crowd turned to look at where Cheng Hao was pointing to and a crowd of more than thirty thousand people appeared, their cultivation varying from the peak Advanced stage to the mid level Sung stage. They were all dressed in black and wore ninja-like clothing.

    The one leading them all was a medium-height and thin man. He had six katanas on his back and two sides, eighteen in all. He stopped and made a sign for the people behind him to stop as well.

    The thin manlooked up and, seeing all the people from the Golden Tiger Faction, he couldn''t help but lift one of his thin eyebrows in surprise after seeing their overall cultivation: it was much higher than theirs. With that, their vantage from the highernumbers was from then on nonexistent. Nevertheless, they still had some cards up their sleeves...

    He stretched his neck and revealedhis power as a Reverend stage cultivator!

    Cheng Hao turned towards Bi Liang "Low lever Reverend stage... Something tells me that man is Chu Sai... What do you say, wanna go?"

    Bi Liang gritted his teeth and veins popped on top of his head "Oh...Hewants to go somewhere! In a coffin. Three feet below the ground! He doesn''t seem to care wether alive or dead... I will not fail to satisfy him!"

    Cheng Hao smiled and stepped forward. He drew another one of his enchanted shortswords from his Dimensional Pouch and lifted it up "I am Cheng Hao, the Sect Head! And, as the Sect Head, I do not tolerate any offense against the Sect! These intruders have marched into our territory, what should the penalty be, my Eight, no, Seventh Protector?"

    Fa Guan smiled fiercely and his usual calm and contained appearance was all ruined by his current sadistic smile. He licked his lips and then yelled back "It is Death, sir!"

    Cheng Hao pointed at the group of black robed men with the sword "Then what are you guys waiting for? Shouldn''t we go?" About five thousand people, those who had decided to stay, all yelled in agreement and felt their blood boil.

    The crowd roared and kicked off the ground, speeding towards the group of cultivators led by Chu Sai. The man with eighteen swords didn''t beat an eyelid and simply pointed forward with his own weapons "Go."

    Thirty thousand people kicked off the ground and threw themselves against the horde of the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect''s cultivators coming towards them. Lao Jianghu also flew towards the Demonic Long Yin Hei up in the sky, his white hair and beard fluttering, his golden eyes glowing and the illusory golden tiger roaring behind him.

    His features were no longer ancient and he looked no older than sixty years old while the way he carried himself made people think of him as an immortal war god that had fought countless battles and stepped on countless battlefields. He swung his golden longsword in the air and charged towards the demonic figure of his ancient rival...

    Cheng Hao also smiled and stepped forward, slashing the air in front of him. A man not wearing the Sect robes suddenly appeared from the empty space Cheng Hao had attacked and fell to the ground, his waist severed in two.

    Cheng Hao swung the blade left and right and not a drop of blood could be seen on the blade: the fight for the Sect begins!

 Chapter 51 - Ten Demons

    Bi Liang jumped up and was the fastest person to reach the attacking range out of the two armies. He floated in the air and his robes fluttered even though there was no wind.

    He stared down expressionlessly, his two eyes cold and his whole figureexuding the presenceof a war deity. He lifted one of his hands. A strange transparent fog began to churn and bright light began to condense in his palm from the smoke. It was a long pointy object that looked like a projectile for some kind of gigantic ballista.

    Bi Liang clenched the bright arrow that had just materialized beside him and pulled back the bowstring of his gigantic bow into a full moon. The Core Elder breathed in once. The weapon suddenly lost all the tension as the string was released!

    The arrow flew at great speed towards the crowd of cultivators in front of him like a predator hunting for its prey. It whistled through the air leaving behind a bright streak of light, as if what had been shot wasn''t simply an arrow but a long, shining blade of light.

    The arrow covered the distance of a few miles in between Bi Liang and the Shadow Dragon''s underlings in the blink of an eye. A man with the cultivation of the low level Sung stage stepped forward and swung a large battle axe with all his might towards the oncoming arrow. The axe glowed bright red as it slashed towards the oncoming projectile...

    The two clashed and the man was almost instantly blown away, flying backwards like a kite with his string cut: half of his chest was missing and every bone in his body was broken. The axe had been shattered into splinters while the arrow kept speeding forward, not fazed in the bit.

    Another man, this time a fat old man at the peak of the low level Sung stage, stepped forward and palmed towards the arrow of light. The attack was beautifully executed and it looked like a thousand oxes were charging towards the opponent. A powerful shockwave charged towards the arrow and Bi Liang''s attack seemed to slightly slow down.

    The old man''s face brightened up for a bit but it lost all color thereafter. He palmed once again and then countless times, each strike stronger than the previous one had been as he forcefully unlocked his body''s potential... But all was in vain!

    Suddenly, a scream could be heard as the fat old man fell to the ground clutching his right arm that was missing a hand. Tears fell from his eyes and blood stained his clothes. If one could look beneath the skin and examine the flesh, he would find that all the muscles of the man''s upper body had been torn apart!

    At the scene, everybody quivered: that arrow held incredible might, it was able to easily injure not only one but two Sung stage expert to the point that they would be unable to recover for their whole life. It was simply the definition of deadly!

    The streak of light kept piercing through countless other experts, leaving behind only blood and mangled flesh. Soon, Chu Sai could feel the wind from the projectile coming towards him.

    His mask covered the bottom half of his face as well as the nose, so people couldn''t see his appearance nor his expression, but by the way he acted he did not seem troubled in the least.

    He closed his deep black eyes and when he opened them again, nine red triangles appeared around each of his two pupils.

    He looked at the arrow that was now not more than fifty meters away from him and still increasing its speed. He breathed in and gathered the Qi in his eyes as he blinked nine times. Each time, a pair of the red triangles around his pupils would lit up with dark-red light.

    He let go of the two swords in his hand, now shining the same dark-red light, and they hovered in front of him whilst the other sixteen blades also flew out of the scabbards and began to circle around him like sixteen bloodthirsty demons. All the blades were emitting a dark-red hue and they all looked like they could cut steel as easily as a hot knife cuts through butter!.

    He coldly pointed forward and two words came out "Not enough..." One of the eighteen blades suddenly shot out to meet the white light and left behind a red streak.

    The two attacks met each other in the air and a powerful explosion sent out shockwaves towards their surroundings, blowing away everyone not far enough from the point of impact. For those who were standing too close from the point of impact, they only felt the sky turn into the ground and the ground into the sky, earth flew up and they breathed in dirt as tongues of flames reached their bodies and charred them black.

    Although this took long to describe, it all happened during the time it takes an arrow to... Well, reach his target!

    Both the arrow and the katana had been destroyed in that fiery exchange of skill, but Bi Liang wasn''t too concerned about that, the arrow was expendable, he could create a great number of them!

    The Core Elder coldly looked at the explosion below and at the seventeen blades hovering around Chu Sai. He didn''t waste any time and waved his hand again: two arrows appeared.

    Just as he did so, Chu Sai blinked one of his eyes once and another blade materializedin one of his scabbards and flew out to hover around him, together with its seventeenbrethren.

    Bi Liang narrowed his eyes, pulled the bowstring back and, just like before, two streaks of light shot towards Chu Sai... This time, Chu Sai didn''t even bother speaking and simply waved his hand. Two of the eighteen flying swords trembled and then shot towards the two incoming arrows.

    Just like before, the arrows were stopped and explosions rang out, killing a dozen or so cultivators on Chu Sai''s side which, looking at the size of the whole army, was nothing but an hair on the body of nine oxes. The two blades shattered into pieces and disappeared, magically reappearing intact by Chu Sai''s side soon after.

    Bi Liang calmly waved his hand again and four more arrows appeared and shot forward, just to be met by more of the glowing swords... Then eight... Then sixteen...

    Chu Sai''s pupils suddenly shrunk when Bi Liang waved his hand for the sixth time... And thirty-two arrows appeared!

    The Core Elder smirked and ridiculed "Are these still not enough?"

    Chu Sai narrowed his eyes, gritted his teeth in anger and grabbed two of the blades hovering around him, sending the other sixteen flying in the air.

    "Die." Bi Liang coldly spoke and then thirty-two streaks of light left the gigantic bow and headed straight towards Chu Sai''s body. The black-clothed man looked back, his eyes glinting, and waved one of his arms.

    Sixteen blades met sixteen arrows and got shattered. A new set of sixteen more bladessoon reappeared by the man''s side and shot right back towards the oncoming arrows. Like that, the thirty-two projectiles were blocked. Although this looked easy, Chu Sai was now finally taking things seriously.

    The proof? He had grabbed two of his weapons, ready to fight against his opponent at any given moment. Still, he couldn''t help but feel astonished: he could feel that the person who attacked him was a man who had still not broken through the Reverend stage and was still at the Peak Sung stage, facing a bottleneck.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    Yet, why were his attacks so heavy that they were on par with his? He coldly looked at Bi Liang and landed on the ground. Bi Liang also floated down and fell on the ground. The two men stood still and silently stared at each other as thousands of men passed by them, charging towards the opponent.

    One minute. That was all the time the two stared in each other''s pupils, but in such a short time the two enemies had already understood many things about the other, but most importantly, they now knew. They knew that only one of them would be able to live through the day!

    Bi Liang tightened the grip on his Aura Bow making it glow slightly, whilst Chu Sai bent his knees, the eighteen blades flying around him rotated in the air and trembled slightly.

    They jumped in the air once again and tens of of red and white streaks of light met each other in the air, lighting up the darkness bearing down from the black cloud with bright explosions.

    ...

    Cheng Hao calmly walked towards the zone where the people were fighting and not a single hint of concern could be seen on his face. He soon reached the meat grinder, the frontline, and stood still.

    Many noticed the small child standing in the middle of the battlefield and the boy''s age as well as his apparent lack of cultivation made him a perfect target for their attacks.

    Tens of people charged towards the boy at once: if they could break through him they could then attack the enemies at the frontline from behind!

    Cheng Hao grinned as he saw blades slashing at his figure and heard the satisfying sound of the metal shattering against his own bare body.

    ''Sorry, but iron just won''t be able to harm me! After all, I am a Black Iron Fleshly Body owner!'' He lifted his head and smiled fiercely at the astonished group of people around him. He lifted one of his arms and his own blade slashed the air...

    A single streak of light appeared and then tens of men fell on the ground, their waist split in two. Cheng Hao smiled fiercely "Be thankful we are in the middle of a war, otherwise your death wouldn''t have been so peaceful!"

    He turned and saw the members of the Golden Tiger faction were overall much stronger than the enemy, so their losses were also much lower compared to the opponent: it was only a matter of time, but in a while the Golden Tiger Faction would win.

    Cheng Hao slashed once again and tens of people fell to the ground again, their bodies sliced in two.

    And with him there, that ''while'' would not be long.

    "Still, something doesn''t add up. These people aren''t from the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect, they are not members of the Shadow Dragon faction" Cheng Hao pondered "But then why? Why are they so weak? This can''t possibly be the trump card of Long Yin Hei, could it? Maybe..." Cheng Hao slashed once again and took away some more lives.

    Suddenly, his pupils shrunk and his teeth gritted. He kicked over a corpse and saw that, around his neck, was a metal necklace with a name and what looked like an IDembedded on it.

    "Shit!"

    He turned and his expression drastically changed "Everyone, quick! Regroup at once! These guys are only a distraction! Watch out behind us!"

    He kicked off the ground and landed right beside Mu Gu "Fourth, no, Third Protector! Tell everyone to stop fighting, these guys are only cannon fodder, mercenaries!" He threw the metal slip over.

    Mu Gu turned and caught the object. When he saw what it was, his expression drastically changed "EVERYONE! STOP FIGHTING AND REGROUP AT ONCE!" The man''s shout was heard by everybody on the battlefield but some couldn''t help but wonder: they were winning, why should they stop?

    And the facts answered them really soon. Up in the sky, the crazed Yin Hei and the human form Aura Tiger were battling fiercely up until a moment ago, but suddenly Yin Hei distanced himself from his foe and yelled "My Shadow Legion! Attack!"

    Lao Jianghu''s previous calm demeanor changed and he gritted his teeth "Damn!" He turned to charge below, but Yin Hei wouldn''t allow him to get past him so easily! No matter how much he tried, he could not get past the former First Protector.

    Down below, in the middle of the battlefield, ten gigantic teleportation hexagrams appeared in succession and ten shadows covered in darkness stepped out. It took some time for the darkness to lift and when it did, the ten figures were revealed to those watching them: they wore black armour and robes and they mostly wore black helmets, decorated so that they resembled the head of a bloodthirsty beast.

    Beneath the helmets and hoods covering their appearances, tenpairs of red eyes glowed like two lamps and made people shiver.

    Each had a weapon, either hanging from their sides, strapped to their backs or they were holding it in their hands. They looked nothing alike each other: there was one taller than five people put together and just as large, another one was as small as a newborn baby and held two daggers in his hands, another one had a long tail and a head growing two horns, and so on.

    "Dagger, are these the people we are supposed to kill?" the gigantic armoured man scratched his exposed fat belly and asked "Why wouldLeaderhave so much trouble with these small fries?"

    The short dagger wielder tilted his head and lifted his mask slightly, showing thin red lips and two rows of abnormally large teeth "Why ask question when we can finally have a good show,Mace? After going through more than a few days without tasting fresh human''s blood I have grown somewhat thirsty!"Daggerlicked his lips and grinned fiercely.

    The man standing in front of them all sighed "Remember that there are quite a few dangerous guys mixed in that crowd, don''t grow so excited that you grow careless..." he looked like the least imposingguy and also the only completely human being in the group of ten.

    Still, he also looked like he was the most important piece, the glue keeping them all together and preventing the ten man squad from collapsing.

    He had a greatsword strapped to his back and his helmet was kept simple, without any decorations. Although he looked in no way as powerfulas the others, he had a strange atmosphere, as if of a being who should not be angered. He blinked his eyes once and let out frightening killing intent as he glared at the people behind him "You would not possibly let your desires get the better of you, endangering your comrades and the success of the mission, would you?"

    Dagger and Mace gulped and trembled once under the man''s killing intent before they could recover. "But of course! We would not dare!" the small one said. He turned to another incredibly thin person to his side "Right,Needle?"

    The man did not have an helmet and only wore leather armour, hiding his appearance with a black cape. Below the hood, two red eyes rolled and he sighed. A raspy voice came out from under the cape "Don''t drag me into your own trouble, Dagger. And don''t just count me in as one of you bloodthirsty beasts... I am more human than beasts like you... Is what I would like to believe..."

    Dagger rolled his eyes "You are no fun! Kyah, Kyah, Kyah!" the being chuckled and then gazed at the shocked thousands of people in front of him "Greatsword, can we go?"

    The man with the greatsword strapped to his back nodded "Let''s go, everyone!" he stepped forward, and brought his hand to the weapon''s handle. He kicked off the ground and jumped into the sky where he somersaulted and wrapped his body into his black cape, hiding his body from view.

    When the cape fell back down, the man''s body had disappeared! The black cloth was about to touch the ground when, suddenly, it twisted in the air and a great sword appeared burning with black flames, slashing down upon the closest enemy, a low level Sung stage cultivator, and cleaving his body into two effortlessly. The two parts of the corpse then burned into ashes, dispersing into the wind.

    The battlefield fell into silence. Shock. Despair. Terror. Such power looked like it was in no way inferior to what Chu Sai and Bi Liang had showed earlier. And there were ten such people now who had joined the battlefield!

    Greatsword lifted his head up and two eyes glowing red could be seen shining behind the helmet, which instilled deep fear in the heart of those who gazed into the man''s pupils.

    Dagger chuckled and shook his head "Greatsword is so strong yet is always cautious to the most and does not dare to lower his guard unless he has at least annihilated or obliterated the enemy!" He clicked his tongue in disapproval "Well, I won''t be as cautious, but I won''t be any less flashy!"

    Two beams of light flashed and two cultivators coughed as two daggers pierced into the two men''s necks. Dagger jumped over and twisted the two weapons, making more blood splurtout. He then jumped in the air once again and stabbed the two weapons exactly in between their eyebrows!

    Their eyes turned white and their bodies fell back, slamming onto the ground as blood splattered everywhere, splurging out of the wounds on their neck like a fountain.

    He removed the blades from the corpses'' heads and somersaulted, landing on the ground briefly before dashing towards his next victims...

    Greatsword lifted his weapon and shook it, sending pieces of mangled flesh and blood flying. It was large sword as tall as a grown man, as wide as a man''s forearm and as thick as an adult''s fist. He looked around, looking at each and every opponent around him calculating the most efficient and fastest way to slay them all at the lowest price!

 Chapter 52 - Wrath

    Greatsword blinked once and his gaze grew firm. He lifted the sword in the air with his right hand as he made a hand seal with his left: when the blade slashed down, the earth cracked and the rifts spread around for a few dozen meters. From the cracks, black, flaming spikes flung out and stabbed those that did not protect themselves fast enough.

    Then, the man bent his knees and clutched the blade with both of his hands. The sword began to glow red and a black, flame-like aura surrounded the blade. Core Elder Tai Fu, who was pretty close to the armored man, had a bad feeling.

    "Everybody, move away!" He kicked off the ground but not everyone reacted fast enough.

    The armored man kicked off the ground and approached the closest group of cultivators, the sword blazing with dark red flames. He swung his blade with all his might, cleaving in half those standing too close to him while black and crimson flaming blades bore down on all those within a fifty metres radius. The dark red flames devoured all those they touched, annihilating them completely not leaving behind a single speck of dust.

    Similar scenes appeared all over the battlefield as tens of men were annihilated every moment that passed. The giant, Mace, held a gigantic mace which he used to crash those standing a few meters from him into blood puddles. The dwarf-like, Dagger, being danced into the crowd, streaks of light appearing here and there indicating another cultivator''s death, falling to his pair of twin blades.

    In just a few moments ever since the ten monsters had appeared, more than a few hundred people had died.

    Cheng Hao''s face grew dark and, from way up in the sky, Yin Hei''s voice reached his ears "Imbecille! A child like you hopes to defeat me? If you had let me become the Sect Head at that time and had flown low you might all have survived, but now you will all die! And it is all your fault, Genius Child! What''s wrong, new Sect Head? Why are you not answering? Why are you not retorting with that sharp tongue of yours?"

    Lao Jianghu gritted his teeth and slashed with all his might at the former First Protector. Long Yin Hei smirked and parried the blow with one of his hands: sparks flew and the golden blade was deflected, leaving behind only a slight scratch on the human form Shadow Dragon''s claws.

    "Damn" Lao Jianghu turned and yelled "Don''t listen to him, Ling''Er! Don''t let him toy with your mind, you should know full well that what he is saying is not true!" the Aura Tiger gritted his teeth and slashed at the chuckling Yin Hei roaring "Your enemy is me, don''t you dare take your attention off my blade, you vile beast!"

    Yin Hei dodged and flew back a few hundred meters in the air and at the same time shouted once again "You know I am right and you cannot retort, don''t you? Good! As you know that, cry and fall into despair! Despair as you see the people around you die... Because of you! Ahahahaha" Long Yin Hei laughed mockingly.

    Then he stopped talking and resumed his battle with Lao Jianghu. More sparks and flashes appeared here and there at each moment that passed, two streaks of light, one black and one golden, intertwined and clashed at high speeds in the dark sky.

    Suddenly, up in the sky where the black clouds were churning nonstop, a rumbling sound came out as lightning fell down. A single raindrop fell on Cheng Hao''s face. He was looking down and his expression was hidden by his hair.

    That raindrop slideddown his cheek, making the child look as if he was crying. Then another raindrop came and was soon followed by many others: it had stared to rain.

    Cheng Hao''s hair soon got damped with water and it hid his expression: his whole person exuded an impression of an abandoned child in the middle of a thunderstorm...

    "Sect Head? Are you alright?" Wu Rou leaned in and asked worriedly. Cheng Hao lifted his head slightly and nodded trembling, his two eyes blinking as they stared into empty space"Yes... I am quite alright... First Protector"

    Wu Rou''s expression softened: after all, the boy was still a child younger than ten years old! How could he possibly bear the burden of so many lives depending on him?

    Cheng Hao trembled once and then sighed as his expression grew blank, his eyes lost even more clarity as he recited "It is the law of the universe. Ones with power are allowed to protect those they love, those who do not can only watch as their loved ones die one after the other, this is... Fate!"

    The boy lifted his head slightly and spoke, his voice dreamy as if he were talking to himself "What is Fate? Is it book where every single page dictates every single being''s life, actions... A person''s destiny? If it something like that, can we humans truly not go towards Fate and thus are simply doomed to die? Like paper boats on a river, we are doomed to flow as long as the river itself flows, as we can not guide our way but simply follow the direction of the water stream..."

    The boy paused "But then, who is it that created the River? Other Rivers? Or is was it an incredible amount of Raindrops? Such as these?" He looked up and more and more drops of rain fell on his figure, wetting his clothing even more... He wiped away the raindrop from his cheek "Does the River perhaps form itself? The river flows into the sea and turns into clouds and then into raindrops and back into the River again... A Sea, a River... Is there truly an end to Fate?

    "Is there a beginning? Does the River ends into the Sea? No, it begins again, the River never stops, it never will as long as the water exists... And if that is it..." He looked at his own hands, his eyes slowly regain their clarity from their previous dazed state "If Fate is the River, what is it that created the Water?"

    Wu Rou stared speechlessly at the child ''What is with his view of the world... This is not what an Eight-something years old should have! This...!''

    Cheng Hao pondered "... Does this mean... We are actually meant to act as simple travellers on this River? Are we just enacting a play that presents itself over and over again? Just actors on a stage? But who is the one who wrote the play?" He looked at his own hand "Is there truly an end to cultivation? Is there an unfathomable realm way above our comprehension, even above Immortality? Something so mysterious and powerful, something like..." His eyes glinted with understanding "That... Spark..."

    "To become immortal is to become one with the Qi and live forever as the world itself... But what if there wasa realm that does not meanbecomingone with the universe and in the end succumbing to fate even once you reach the end, but it actually is... Taking control of the river,governingthe universe..." He clenched his fist as his eyes burned with bright light "AnddictatingFate yourself!"

    Suddenly Cheng Hao''s eyes brightened as his whole figure began to glow, but this could only be seen by him, as everybody else couldn''t notice anything. His whole appearance began to look mystical as the whole universe could be seen by staring at the boy, galaxies, worlds, even time itself! Everything flashed by Cheng Hao''s figure as it glowed with otherworldly light...

    Suddenly, Cheng Hao felt somebody speak in his head "Oh? Someone is getting it! Yes! Finally!" The voice was devoid of any distinctive traits, it could be a man''s, a woman''s, a child''s or an old man''s...

    "Wait.. This is... What?" The voice seemed troubled and it trembled for a bit, in peril. Then is grew silent as if it were pondering something and broke out into laughter "Ahaha, boy! This is just so funny! To think that this time it would be YOU!"

    Cheng Hao trembled when he noticed that all sound had been cut out and looked around him: everything was still and there was no trace of movement. Xiao Wu was staring straight ahead, Fu Yin was gritting his teeth and looked like he was about to rush into the battlefield. Even the Primordial Beast, Blindlight, was immobilised.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

    Cheng Hao trembled and tried to sense the flowing Qi... Nothing. Well, more accurately, he could sense it all around him, but it was completely still and he was unable to control it in any way, as if... It had been sealed away!

    Cheng Hao''s eyes widened, his mouth gaped and his heart trembled with deep fear and terror: this voice! Its owner had just frozen not only his surroundings, his friends, the air... It had frozen even... the Qi!

    What is the Qi? It iseverything! It is a code, the code with which reality is written in, it is the language of the universe! What cultivators do is to attempt to sense certain aspects of the Qi and then train to understand it more deeply! Reaching immortality was nothing more than becoming one with the Qi! Not a living being anymore, but a part of the Universe itself, Immortal and Omnipresent... a God!

    Yet that very Qi, right now, it was frozen still, not even showing signs of having noticed that, let alone rebelling! What did that mean? That what the owner of the voice did not stop only his surroundings, his friends, the air... No. He had just frozen...

    "Reality" the boy muttered astonished.

    "Oh, great Senior, might this lowly existence possibly know your name?" Cheng Hao trembled and his mind worked at high speeds, analysing and adapting to the situation as fast as he could and at the same time, trying to bid time.

    "A name?" the voice asked and it pondered. It sighed "A name is something given by another, those who created you, right? I have no one like that so I have no name as of now! Kukuku..." the voice didn''t sound sad or felt bad about it, it was instead amused as seen by his chuckling.

    Cheng Hao paled at the answer and knelt on the ground "This lowly existence was impudent, oh great one! I beg for forgiveness!" he closed his eyes and prayed in his heart: this being was the most powerful existence he had ever seen in both this life... And the previous! Let alone himself, the Four Primordial Emperors, the Heavenly Emperor himself... None of them could ever eventryto compare to this entity that had control over Reality itself!

    "Senior, may I know why you have lowered yourself to speak to this lowly being?" Cheng Hao inquired: if he had angered the existence, there would be no chance left for him anyways, if he was about to die, he would want to die knowing why and how he died!

    The voice stood silent for a bit and then replied kindly "You have nothing to fear, child, I will not harm you in fact... I wish to help you!" The voice was warm, just like a mother talking to her child or a father protecting his son from any harm.

    Cheng Hao was stunned and gaped "Help me? Why would..."

    "Of course you have not done anything that should make me want to help you, but you are amusing! You should not still be here, you should be lost forever! And yet you are here! That is why I won''t help you right now... But in the future though, I will aid you if you deem yourself worthy, well, again! The reason, you ask...?" The voice lingered off.

    "It is because you are... Well, unlike your predecessor, you are an anomal-" the voice interrupted when suddenly, the surroundings clad in grey trembled slightly and the Qi slowly began to move... As if the blocked time was on the verge of beginning to flow again. The voice stopped and then spoke hurriedly "I have no time, and that is not too important. I am not strong enough yet to change reality to this extent... That is also the reason why YOU exist, after all!"

    After what seemed some hesitation on the part of the mysterious being it spoke one last time "I might help you soon... But first, you will have to show me your strength, your power! If you can impress me I will help you, if you do not... Then I guess you will become just another failure on my part and I will simply have to move on to the next! Still, you are a lot more interesting than your predecessors..."

    It lingered off and Cheng Hao was even more confused "... After all, you are totally unlike me! I wonder if it is because you have developed... I will have to wait for now and find out"

    The grey surroundings suddenly regained their lost colour and time began to move slowly. Cheng Hao looked around him and found that the Qi was now back to normal.

    "I will leave you with one last piece of information! That Spark you used to create that Immortal Ascension Tower... It is not connected to me! Even I have no idea what that might be! In that Immortal Ascension Tower there are many secrets that even you, its creator, and even I are unaware of! It did not try to hide from you and yet, it was able to elude your attention all along! In the last four floors of the tower, you will find power greater than any other!"

    Cheng Hao recovered from his stupor and asked one last question to the fading voice "What kind of price would I have to pay for such a great power?"

    The voice was silent for a while and then spoke, the words hitting Cheng Hao like an hammer "Death. The price will probably be your Life! Now go ahead, show me your power! Fight and show me I was not wrong in choosing you and give you... Another chance!"

    ...

    "Head Cheng Hao..." Wu Rou asked concerned "Are you all right?"

    Cheng Hao looked at his hands and pondered on the words of that strange being from before.

    "That spark... My Immortal Ascension Tower... You mean I was not its true master all along? That the Spark... Is actually still there?" He closed his eyes and examined his sea of consciousness, searching for any kind of disturbance, but he found none.

    ''Could that guy have lied to me? But why would he?'' He pondered but then his eyes grew emotionless and cold.

    "Youwant to seemypower, right?Youwant to see wetherIam unworthy? Well, you are wrong about one thing..." Cheng Hao muttered.

    "You are WRONG!" He suddenly shouted and startled Wu Rou. The air around him began to tremble, as the seal that had locked his cultivation down for the past two months slowly began to lift... The air had long lost any resistance to his power, the space surrounding him had began to crumble and looked like it would shatter at any time.

    He turned to look at the sky "It is not you who will judge me, it is I who will judge you! I am not the one who needs your power, because I will own one even stronger than yours! So show me wether your strength is going to be enough to serve under me!"

    He stomped on the ground and cracks appeared around him in a radius of a hundred meters. The Earth then swelled up and turned into countless Earth Spears, this was none other than another perk of the Divine Earth King''s Blessing: the ability to manipulate Earth!

    The thousands of Earth spears rose into the sky and began to shoot towards the ten members of the Shadow Legion like thousands of sharp ballista arrows. Greatsword turned and when he saw the scene, his eyes widened and the pupils shrunk.

    He instantly dodged to the side and more than a dozen earth spears embedded on the same spot he was standing on before. Cold sweat run down his back as he slightly shivered wondering what would have happened if he had not dodged.

    He grabbed his great sword tighter and stepped forward, stomping on the ground with his foot. His eyes began to glow even brighter than the previous red light and a powerful black fire aura appeared on top of the large sword in his hands. The dark flames didn''t scatter and instead focused on one of the blade''s edges.

    He then slashed with all his might, a pillar of black fire shot towards the countless Earth Spears that were being shot towards him like tens of thousands of earthen spears.

    When the two attacks met, the spears slowly began to melt and only when they were about to pierce him did they got blown away from the powerful fire attack. Greatsword panted as he looked around, witnessing the aftermath of the clash: in a radius of a few tens of meters, everything had been burned and turned charred black!

    Such a frightening attack that he almost had to use his full power to block, was there truly such an expert here?

    The boy coldly waved his hands as he shattered a crystal in his hands.

    "Wu Row... I hereby strip you of your title as a Sect Protector and you are free from taking part in this battle. What I am about to ask now is not an order, but a request: please, leave this place and live your own life..." Cheng Hao turned and smiled kindly "Don''t you have someone to meet? Wouldn''t it be a shame if you died here?"

    Wu Rou gaped as she felt the fancy words on her back disappearing. She widened her eyes and then looked towards the battlefield and saw countless people, ready to give their life to protect the Sect, just like she should. She sighed and shook her head "How could I? So many people are here, fighting with their life on the line, how could I possibly do anything else and abandon them?"

    Cheng Hao sighed and then walked towards her and put his right hand on her forehead and the left on his own: a bright light appeared and passed from Cheng Hao''s left hand, to his left and right arms, reached Wu Rou''s forehead and then brightly shone. A strange pattern appeared on top of her skin and then sunk into the girl''s head...

    Wu Rou gaped in astonishment as she felt her cultivation was sealed down, without a hint of it flowing out! She stared at the youth in front of her terrified as, right now, she couldfeelsomething...

    "So... this was your true power?" She smiled and asked, because... She vaguely felt something move in Cheng Hao''s Sea of Consciousness, like a beast awakening from a deep slumber! A beast that should never have been awoken!

    Cheng Hao smiled and turned "Now you have no means to protect the Sect, do you? Just sit quietly... And enjoy the show!"

    His eyes glinted with hatred and his two thin lips arranged into a fiendish smile. He stared at the ten men wearing black clothing and armour "You dare block my way to Tian? To Fate? Even if that old guy hadn''t told me to show him my power and kill you, I would have slaughtered you nonetheless! Feel the Wrath of Xu Ling! Feel the wrath of the Chosen One! FEEL THE WRATH OF CHENG HAO!!!"

 Chapter 53 - An Extra Dagger

    A tall and thin man wearing black robes and black shins.

    One of the ten members of the Shadow Legion, numbered #8 out of the ten.

    Even though he might have looked like a man, he had four arms and an extra eye in the middle of his forehead.

    He had no weapon but was a being to be feared solely because of his hand to hand combat skills...

    And powerful punches capable of breaking past a whole army with a single blow of his powerful fist!

    Codename:Fist.

    His skill in hand to hand combat was mostly unmatched within the Legion and he had so far only met less than ten opponents who could beat him without using any weapons.

    At the first place was Long Yin Hei, the Shadow Dragon, who could rely on his superior cultivation. Second was Chu Sai, Yin Hei''s right hand man and on the same level as the Legion''s strongest. Last was Greatsword, the Shadow Legion''s ranked number #1: even if he used a greatsword, he was proficient with all kind of weapons and also a great martial artist when it came to hand to hand combat.

    Nobody, nobody, nobody could leave him with the impression of being so unreachable or unbeatable beside from these three: he still remembered himself lying face down on the cold ground as his body hurt from the blows of his opponents. Nobody else could, and it had been that way for quite a few years.

    Still, this had changed not more than five seconds ago. At the moment he was wide-eyedly flying through the air, his mouth spitting out blood and his features were contorted in shock, incredulity and... Fear.

    "Aargh!"

    With a loud cry of pain, the four-armed man crashed heavily into the ground, cracks spread outwards and blood splattered once more from the man''s mouth.

    "Cough! Cough!" Fist coughed out two more mouthfuls of blood before being able to recover. He stood up on wobbly legs and stared in front of him, searching for the attacker.

    Still, something was not right. Fist blinked, not daring to believe what he was seeing: around him, hundreds of cultivator had stepped back in fear, but they were not wearing Sect Robes... They were the mercenaries engaged by Chu Sai!

    Up until a short while ago, he was in the very middle of the enemy''s army, slaughtering as he pleased, yet now... Now he was almost in the rear of the mercenary army! He only remembered a blur pass by him and whisper something in his ear... What was it again?

    He frowned and wiped away the blood from the sides of his mouth ''What did that blur say? It was... It was...''

    Suddenly, his pupils shrunk and his eyes widened as he muttered "That guy said... ''You... are... first...''!"

    Following that, all of a sudden, he had found himself flying through the air and had been heavily injured... And he still did not know the attacker''s face!

    "Now, now... You are lighter than I expected!" The voice of a child reached his ears. Fist''s eyes widened and his appearance grew fearful as he turned: in front of him was a boy, not more than ten years old. He wore black robes with two white stripes going from the right shoulder to the left ankle.

    His innocent golden eyes and carefree smile were not something that you would expect to see in the middle of a war, his thin lips were arranged into a bright smile that made people''s hearts tense up even though it was clearly a kind smile. He was really beautiful, his looks were comparable to what people would imagine how Angels to looklike.

    Still, that same handsome child was no Angel to them as much as he was a Demon. After all, he had suddenly appeared beside them, carrying a heavily wounded Fist! And he did that with the same little hands that looked like they would have trouble holding a knife from how delicate they seemed!

    Fist entered into a combat stance as he brought his four hands in front of him, each of them clenched tight and as big as an adult''s head. He stomped on the ground and groaned as he felt the injuries in his body worsening, but he still didn''t hold back.

    A black flaming figure appeared behind him: it was a demon with three faces, forty arms and forty legs. Each of his limbs were chained with black chains and he was gagged as well as blindfolded, and evenstill,those who looked at it couldn''t help but tremble in fear!

    Fist grabbed one of the chains and pulled them, following that, all the chains began to emit creaking noises and breakapart. The scary being behind him screamed in excitement as the chains binding his body shattered. Fist''s red glowing eyes began to glow even brighter as the gag and blindfold were stripped off the thing''s face, revealing three bright, red eyes that had white pupils as well as three fanged mouths.

    ''UHOOOOOO!" the thing screamed and shouted as it felt itself being freed from its restraints. Fist''s robes fluttered and his whole appearance grew fierce, red lightning crackling on top of his body and the black clothing he wore slowly began to catch fire.

    Fist clenched his four fists and the being behind himself copied his movements. The red-eyed warrior stepped forward and threw a single punch out, then another and another, each of them accompanied by ten more frightening blows by the flaming demon hovering behind the man''s back.

    Hundreds of fist images sped towards Cheng Hao''s body and he simply stood there, not even defending himself, as if he was too scared to move.

    Fist grinned showing off two perfect rows of fine white teeth, his long, wild, white hair fluttered behind him as his hood got blown away by the immense power of his own attack: he was sure that there was no way a child could possibly survive this blow!

    The thousands fists finally reached the boy''s body and passed right through it, blowing huge holes on the child''s figure. When the torrent of blows had passed though, the boy still stood there, looking in front of him carelessly...If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    Fist looked at the situation astonishedly, as shock filled his face ''W-what the hell?''

    The man felt a light breeze on his back and the boy''s afterimage a few meters in front of him, the same figure he had just attacked,disappeared.

    "And you still do not learn... I guess you are so light because you are missing your brain!" The child''s voice sounded out again and the man widened in terror.

    Fist''s face distorted into a mask of pain as he got blown forward from a punch by the same angelic child that was now standing behind him. The flaming demon wailed in pain and then disappeared into smoke.

    "Ahaha" the child''s cheerful laughter chilled the bones of those who heard it "Well, that could be it! Then how about we find out whether you really are missing your brain?" The previous carefree expression on the boy''s face turned into a fierce one as he licked his lips.

    He stepped forward once more and disappeared again. He reappeared in mid air, above the terrified Fist. The boy clenched his own fist and yelled as he smiled excitedly "One punch will be enough for you!"

    The fist seemed to stop in midair as if it had met with a barrier. It seemed to struggle a bit but with a loud "Boom", the sound barrier was broken through! A streak of light appeared as Cheng Hao punched with all the might of his Fleshly Body... Straight through the man''s head.

    Sounds of bones creaking and flesh being torn apart reached the ears of the surrounding mercenaries as the fist left behind a gaping hole on Fist''s head. Unfortunately, they were numb to what had just happened as they had long since reached the maximum amount of fear a person could feel.

    Cheng Hao stood up and looked at the bloody object in his hand. He looked at the body in front of him somewhat disappointedly and shook his head sighing "So he had a brain after all... I guess that this is all you guys can do, even if you do have one, you are still just as useless... Still, I never thought it would be this easy to get an high level Sung stage cultivator''s brain..."

    He examined the grey matter in his hands and then tilted his head "Could it be... That this guy had only gotten to this stage by Qi Absorption and not Enlightening?

    [Note:

    Qi Absorption - when you break through because you have accumulated enough Qi, without any form of enlightenment. It requires more time and a lot more effort than enlightening and it results into the cultivator being much weaker than those in the same level who have broken through because of an enlightening. Most cultivators break through thanks to Absorbition but it israreto find powerfulhumanexperts beyond the Sung stage for it requires just too much time and they would die before they could make too much progress.

    Enlightening - when you break through after gaining insights about particular aspects of your Qi. It is much faster but requires great thinking ability, sharp wits and a great share of luck. Breaking through by Enlightening will make one much more powerful because it enables a person to explore and use deeper aspects of the Qi, thus enabling them to gain more powerful attacks, cultivate more profound techniques, etc, etc. Basically, if this was a game it would be like gaining one point to enhance your attributes when you level up by Absorption while gaining two or more points (depending on the quality of your insights) when you level up by Enlightening.]

    "So disappointing..." Cheng Hao clenched his fist and bloody pieces of grey matter flew all over the place.

    The crowd was astonished: a high level Sung stage cultivator, a dragon amongst men, had been killed just like that! They looked at the boy whose clothes were now dark red from the blood and they couldn''t help but tremble, praying in their heads that they would be able to at least die with a complete corpse.

    ...

    Greatsword suddenly flinched and his expression darkened "What!" He yelled astonished. He immediately distanced himself from his current opponent, a Core Elder with the cultivation of the high level Sung stage, and removed nine items from his Dimensional Pouch.

    They were a total of nine crystals, each had different shapes and color, but they all shonewith purple light. Or they should have. At that moment, one of the crystals suddenly lost all of his shine and with a loud CRACK it broke into countless shards.

    Greatsword trembled and his expression grew furious "Brother Fist!" He grabbed his weapon with both of his hands and looked to the south, where he saw a child wearing bloody, black robes standing beside a body whose head had been punched through.

    The child had fiery golden eyes and long black hair, his appearencewas really beautiful, stunning even.

    He seemed to notice the man''sgaze, ashe looked back at Greatswordwith a mocking smile and stuck out his tongue, as if he had just pulled a prank on him.

    Those two golden eyes seemed to swallow him whole, Greatsword trembled from fright and almost lost consciousness on the spot. His whole thought processes were in a mess and his mind was blanking out.

    "Die!!!"

    He regained his lucidity just in time to dodge a sword strike aiming to catch him unprepared. He parried the blow at the last moment and counterattacked with a diagonal slash which sliced the man into two.

    "Huff... Huff..." Greatsword panted and then gritted his teeth in fury.

    He turned and saw the boy was still staring at him. He felt great anger just by looking at the child but he did not grow careless: if he could defeat Fist so easily, he was probably not an easy opponent.

    "Legion! Regroup!" He yelled and then jumped into the air, floating a hundred feet of the ground. A few people were unlucky enough to chase after him but immediately got acquainted with the man''s blade.

    A total of eight black blurs dashed towards the sky, following after Greatsword and gathered in a circle around him. It looked just like it did when they had first appeared, demons wearing black cloaks, their eyes glowing red under their masks and helmets.

    The difference this time, was that there were only nine such demons and an evident gap could be seen in their formation.

    Dagger stepped forward, his previous carefree manner was now replaced by fury and incredulity. He had removed his mask showing everybody his appearance: he had pale white skin, a large mouth decorated with thin red lips and incredibly sharp white teeth.

    He had a pair of green eyes with a reddish hue which were trembling and fighting back to hold in the tears. Long, green hair also fell down his back. His appearance was that of a young boy and he looked like a little clown.

    His shoulders jerked once and the hand holding his pair of weapons trembled. His other hand opened and crystal shards were revealed for everyone to see. The shards were blown away by the wind and a single tear fell on the ground.

    "Eight brother... He..." His voice also couldn''t stay firm "Did this truly happen? How could he die in such a place? What bastard did this?"

    A fat man completely covered in battle armor stepped forward and patted Dagger''s shoulder "There is no meaning in grieving the dead, once you avenge them they will smile in the underworld, for their revenge will be complete! When all is done, they will be able to pass on peacefully!"

    Greatsword nodded "Flailis right. We cannot change what has happened... What wecando though is kill the bastard who dared hurt our brother!" He gritted his teeth and glared hatefully at Cheng Hao "He won''t be an easy target. We will have to move really carefully from now on and attack him all at once!"

    "RAAAAARGH!" Mace stepped forward and yelled "YOU HUMAN CHILD, YOU BETTER NOT THINK THAT YOU ARE GOING TO SURVIVE THE NIGHT!"

    Greatsword inhaled once and then nodded "Let''s all stay close, otherwise we might get picked off one by one! Separated we are weak but standing together we are strong!" He tightened the grip on his blade''s handle and his eyes burned with fiery determination "Let''s go!"

    Dagger wiped away the tears and put the mask back on "I will skin you alive, you bastard!" He clenched the two daggers "Eight brother always gave me an extra portion of every meal, saying that I needed to grow! I will now never enjoy such a thing anymore! I will make sure nowyou,bastard,get your extra portion... Notonebuttwodaggers stabbed in your face!"

 Chapter 54 - A Golden Tempest To Steal Life, A Golden Blade To Deliver Death

    Cheng Hao smiled seeing the nine figures speeding towards him. He looked around and saw the thousands of terrified mercenaries surrounding him and a vicious idea formed into his mind...

    His expression turned cold and ruthless as he yelled "Members of the Shadow Dragon Faction! You may blame me, but you must first blame yourselves for standing in my way! I firmly believe that it is your own choice that you stand here in front of me! I respect that, so I will give you a word of advice..."

    He smiled mockingly and lowered his head so that his extremely fiendish expression couldn''t be seen "Be careful not to get too close to afire, otherwise you will get burned!"

    Suddenly, his body flickered and he reappeared almost a mile away. Those who saw him immediately jumped back in fright, expecting some kind of brutal attack, but the child unexpectedly simply closed his eyes and stood still.

    The mercenaries looked at each other in confusion but they didn''t dare to lower their guards. Instead each of them prepared themselves to attack: some lifted their weapons, some began to chant strange scriptures, others ate mysterious pills and felt their bodies'' energy skyrocket...

    Just when they were about to charge ahead, Cheng Hao moved slightly, startling all the surrounding cultivators. Just like animals scared by the smallest noise, they jumped back a few meters, their legs trembling and their breathing became ragged.

    Cheng Hao opened his mouth and a faint golden smoke came out, coiling around him like a dragon made of golden mist. The faint golden glow began to gather around him and the boy began to rise into the air. Hovering in the air while surrounded by that golden aura, it made him look like some kind of divinity who had descended upon the world of the mortals.

    He opened his arms as if he was embracing the whole world and his expression was serene. When he opened his eyes, they glowed with a light so bright that it was almost blinding.

    He opened his mouth and muttered "I warn you one last time... Don''t get too close to me or you might lose some of your weight... Actually, you will lose all of it!" He smiled fiercely and a strong air current suddenly began to churn around him like a tornado, the current was completely golden and spanned a few meters in all directions from Cheng Hao''s body.

    Two of the cultivators were engulfed as soon as the aura expanded, they closed their eyes and awaited their death... Which didn''t come! Flabbergasted, they looked at their bodies and didn''t find anything wrong with them.

    They were enraged and their cheek were completely red from shame. They yelled and charged towards the eye of the golden storm without waiting any longer and they soon could not be seen anymore.

    The mercenaries looked at each other: their gazes grew firm and their expressions became determined. They were about to charge towards the boy when someone suddenly shrieked "My body! What is happening?"

    Hearing that yell, a man suddenly felt uneasy and soon after he began to feel cold. At first it was only a slightly chill and he ignored it but it soon became unbearable: it was as if all warmth was being sucked away from him, as if all his blood had been turned into ice.

    He looked down to see his hands. His heart almost bulged out of his chest: wrinkles were slowly appearing on his hands and they wereslowly losing their strength, the energy sucked away. He let go of his weapon to touch his face and, instead of the smooth skin of a youth he found the rough surface of an old man''s skin full of wrinkles.

    "Wh-What is this?"

    He looked around him and saw that the people around him were all aging at rapid speeds, those who were the closest to the center of the hurricane were now nothing more than dried up bones with a faint layer of skin covering them!

    Their pupils grew opaque and the glow of life that shined up until a few moments ago had already almost completely faded away.

    "How could this be?" He heard his voice that had already grown raspy, his tongue completely dried up and the previous moist and tearful eyes lost all lucidity. As he fell to the ground he had time for one last thought ''Do not get too close to the flame or we will get burnt... That is right, this time, we were nothing but moths...''

    Now nothing more than bones, the remains of the countless mercenaries soon turned into ashes, scattering into the wind and then disappeared completely from existence, thoroughly absorbed by the terrifying golden tempest.

    The faint yellow color of the small storm was now bright gold and the fierce winds had now turned into a huge hurricane, spanning for hundreds of meters: all the people inside it had either turned to ashes or were about to.

    Their life energy, strength and struggle served only to enhance the size and power of the golden hurricane which absorbed even more people into that continuous cycle of suffering and death.

    Up in the sky, Yin Hei and Lao Jianghu exchanged one last blow before distancing themselves from each other. The Shadow Dragon stared wide-eydedly at the scene below him "What the hell is that!"

    His skin was completely black and although it looked like it had the consistency of carbon, it was actually really durable. Beneath various cracks, faint red light could be seen coming out. Two yellow eyes with a vertical black pupils resembling those of a snake stared at Lao Jianghu with both fear and annoyance

    "Is it another one of your tricks, Tiger? That golden hurricane... Truly impressive, but don''t think that it will be able to defeat me! As I am now, nobody in this lowly plane should be able to eventhinkof defeating me! Look at me! A body with a peak Reverend stage cultivation!"

    His appearance was completely hideous and he looked like a man had been cut into countless pieces, had been thrown into lava and then each and every charred piece of his flesh had been meticulously sewn back together with red bloody strings.

    Right now, black blood was flowing from some of his wounds, they were in no way life threatening wounds, they were mostly scratches and bruises.

    "Humans have challenged the heavens and thus their path to immortality has been sealed! This is the peak of the life forms named humans! No human would be stronger than the Reverend stage! You would not be foolish enough to think that you will be able to find any help in this plane, where only human cultivators dwell and no beast of the heavens live, would you?"

    Lao Jianghu panted and then looked at the battlefield below unconcerned. He listened to the man''s words in front of him as he rested, not worried in the least that he would use some dirty trick as they spoke.

    It was a somewhat unspoken rule: both of them had been fighting each other for a very long time so they had grown somewhat... ''Affectionate'' to the other.

    Although this would not change the fact that they were going to ruthlessly murder each other later, the spirit of two rivals was born deep into their subconscious.

    That was why, although before the battle they would prepare with all sort of tricks, in this final battle they would not act cowardly and attack the opponents with sneak attacks or annihilate them while they were talking, they were proud creatures, they were Heavenly Beasts!Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!

    Kings among beasts such as them would fight to the death, exhausting all their means but they would also be more civilized about it and fight it out in a ''fair'' contest. Or at least, they would act fair during breaks and not gang up on the opponent.

    The Aura Tiger looked at the Shadow Dragon and narrated calmly "A bit more than a thousand years ago, a genius amongst geniuses appeared into a lowly realm of the humans. Nobody knew when, but he suddenly rose in power and became an expert! He was unparalleled amongst both mortals and the great beasts of the Heavens, the greatest prodigy this universe had ever seen..."

    Yin Hei rolled his eyes and then scoffed "Have you grown senile, you old feline? What does that have to do with that guy?" He looked at his hands and licked off a few drops of red blood from the top of one of the claws.

    "This prodigy... One day, he met the Primordial Heavely Beast, the Crownless Dragon Emperor, the Heaven Devouring Dragon, Blindlight." Lao Jianghu also wiped away a drop of black blood from his weapon''s tip. It was a beautiful golden longsword but evenitcouldn''t break past the human form dragon''s tough skin.

    Lao Jianghu tapped the weapon''s surface and then sighed as it cracked slightly. He blew softly on top of his fingers and a faint glow could be seen forming on their tips.

    "Do you know why Blindlight''s title is the Heaven Devouring Dragon?" Lao Jianghu asked as he touched the parts where the longsword had cracked.

    The cracks glowed slightly and then fixed themselves. The old man smiled and turned to look at Yin Hei.

    The Shadow Dragon frowned once but then smiled, showing off an ugly grin full of sharp, yellow teeth "Simple question. He found a way to manipulate Aura without condensing it. It would not use the Aura from one''s body but instead steal it from other people''s.As Aura is nothing more than condensed Qi, Blindlight would refine the bodies of their opponents directly into pure energy, also killing them in the process"

    He shook his hand free of a few shattered scales and scratched his chin "He then brought his technique even further: by using theenergy that he obtained over long periods of time, he then enhanced his Fleshly Body to the highest level and he turned into one of the most powerful beings aside from the four Primordial Emperors"

    He pondered "This technique was incredibly dangerous and frightening because it would use your own body''s strength against you. Its few weakness were that the energy could not be preserved for too long and you would have to either enhance your body immediately or it would disperse. What''s more, using weaker foes to weaken him would do the contrary, enabling him to absorb stronger foes as long he refined enough enemies..."

    "This is all without talking about the ability to summon beings and weapons from the highest realms by using that energy as a sacrifice... This allowed him to challenge even the grandest and largest armies" he sighed and stood up.

    "Hypothetically speaking, if he were to start by absorbing each and every being under Heaven he would probably become invincible even if he faced the Jade Emperor himself!" He shook his head "Unfortunately he''s soft hearted and lazy, only doing what he likes doing and you Heavenly Schmucks have never reached such a crisis yet, he would be my ideal partner otherwise..." He turned to look at Lao Jianghu who was still meditating "Why would you ask me such an obvious and meaningless question?"

    Lao Jianghu smiled knowingly and chuckled "That genius, after he met Blindlight, studied the dragon''s technique and made it his own! He even renamed it and called it the Golden Aura. Unlike Blindlight who had to open his mouth and swallow the being to absorb it, this new version would not be as fast..." the old man smiled when he noticed Yin Hei''s expression changing into stupor and fear as he seemed to understand what those words implied.

    He looked down at the dispersing hurricane and saw the figure of that annoying brat was still standing unscathed. This time as he glanced down though, in Yin Hei''s eyes there was not only shock and annoyance... there was also fear!

    Lao Jianghu grabbed the golden longsword with one hand and lifted the other in the air: the illusory paw of a gigantic tiger appeared around his arm and it left behind a seal resembling that paw''s footprint. The seal was then sucked into the weapon in his hands, which began to emanate a faint golden light.

    "Instead, he would refine everything in his surroundings... By absorbing it through a golden hurricane!" Lao Jianghu stepped up and entered a fighting stance, his longsword was now glowing as it appeared many times sharper than before "That genius who had long been thought dead after being killed by Tian himself is now walking amongst the realm of the living once again! His name was once Xu Ling..."

    Yin Hei shook his head as he stared shocked and terrified at the child below: he had just finished absorbing all the people in a radius of a mile and was holding in his hands what looked like two bright sparks, one was red and one was golden. He threw the red one in the air and it seemed to disappear as it was munched on by something that couldn''t be seen.

    Except, Yin Heicouldsee it and his expression twisted when he saw the golden dragon. It was more than five meters long, its body as wide as a grown man''s arm, he had a red mane and beard and many golden horns sprouted from the top of his head.

    Yin Hei trembled as he muttered under his breath "That appearance... Blindlight! It really is him! Although he looks like a dragon cub, I am sure it is him! He must have Re-Lived... But if that is really him, then is everything that kitten said..."

    The Shadow Dragon turned and awaited an answer by Lao Jianghu. The golden robed old man smirked as he kicked off the air and charged towards the terrified Yin Hei, his blade slashing down. Yn Hei tried to block the slash with his claws just like he did countless times before, but the blade cut through his arm like a hot knife cutting through butter and two of the bloody talon-like fingers fell down.

    A huge gash appeared on the man''s charred chest, the slash leftbehind a golden afterimage in the air. Black blood began to flow out of the wound: it was deep, much deeper than any of those Lao Jianghu had already inflicted earlier.

    "Xu Ling is not dead! Now, the man who once cast the Nine Heavens into chaos is but a young boy. Even though now he is nothingmore than a child, he still is a Star that is definitely going to shine brighter than any other!" He yelled at Yin Hei as he slashed the sword left and right, shaking off the black, putrid blood.

    "DAMN YOU! DAMN YOU, WHY CAN I NEVER BEAT YOU? WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS A STEP AHEAD?" Yin Hei yelled as he broughthis wounded hand to his wounded chest.

    Lao Jianghu ruthlessly stared down at him and fiercely yelled "That child is Cheng Hao! And the reason you can''t beat me is because you don''t think of the people surrounding you as your equals! You think of them as mere subordinates! I, on the other hand..."

    He turned his head and looked at Bi Liang fighting with all his might against Chu Sai and his expression grew soft. He then turned to look back at Yin Hei and he yelled "They are my family! They are my brothers!"

    He looked at a tired Mu Gu who kept making hands signs and moving all over the battlefield, not taking into consideration his fatigue at all. An illusory tree appeared above the few wounded, protecting them and healing their wounds.

    He turned to look below: Fang Lu wielded a large scroll that spat out blades of wind, caused earthquakes, called down lightning, created huge waves and summoned seas of flames whenever the youth made a hand seal;

    Wherever Te Rin passed, bright lights flashed as she summoned crystals to do her bidding, slashing the enemy and creating shields to protect her allies;

    Fu Yin and Xiao Wu were all over the place, looking like two angels of death engaged in a beautiful duet that made people want to stop fighting to look at them. Just like two deities of the underworld, dancing for the souls of the dead, they were both mesmerizing and deadly, their movements perfectly synchronized as if they could read each other''s mind.

    Lao Jianghu then turned to look at the last person, the one who made all of this possible. He looked at Cheng Hao grinning at Goldy by his side, and fires of determination burned into his eyes.

    "They are my friends! They are parts of me, and for their sake, I, Lao Jianghu, Fifth amongst the Twelve Aura Beasts will defeat you now, Shadow Dragon Long Yin Hei!" The weapon in his hands shined even brighter as he slashed once more towards Yin Hei.

    The man gritted his teeth and waved his hands: a scythe made out of a black metal appeared and clashed with the bright longsword. At first it seemed like it would be able to block the blows of the golden weapon, but after a few more exchanges it shattered in Yin Hei''s hands.

    He looked with shock at the blade in Lao Jianghu''s hands "What is that weapon? That is no metal! It was even able to cut my skin!" He gritted his teeth and summoned another scythe, except this time it was completely made out of shadows.

    Lao Jianghu smiled and then slashed once more "This is one of the hundreds of thousands of weapons that make myreal hide, a golden longsword completely made out of Aura of the highest purity! What metal could possibly hope to hold its ground when put in front of the Essence of a Heavenly Beast?"

    Yin Hei gritted his teeth "Still, you will not be able to defeat me with just that! My scythe is made out of one of the ninety-nine shadows hidden inside Yama''s treasured safe: Covet Life! Your weapon might just be on the same level as mine, but don''t think that you will be able to land a single clean hit on my body from now on!"

    Lao Jianghu gritted his teeth and then lifted his head "When did I say that this was all I got?" He dashed forward and slashed once again at Yin Hei''s figure, two streaks of golden and black light clashed in the cloudy sky above the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect...

 Chapter 55 - Sixth Leviathan, Megalodon

    Cheng Hao licked his lips and looked at the barren lands surrounding him: not a single corpse could be seen in a radius of a mile from his body, as if they had all disappeared from the face of the world.

    He lifted his left hand and a ball of light was revealed, the essence of a few thousand cultivators had actually been amassed in that small spot. The air trembled as electric sparks could be seen dancing on the sphere''s surface like snakes made out of lightning.

    Beside him, Goldy swallowed the red ball Cheng Hao had thrown him and then burped satisfied "Woah, Cheng Hao! We should go to war more often! A few more of these babies and I will break through the peak Superior stage and enter the Sung Realm! Do you know what that means?"

    The boy stretched his arms and waist and then shook his head "You have nagged me ever since you got beside me that you would be able to transform into a human once you surpass the Reverend stage and step into the realm of the Ageless, but you forgot to tell me anything about that... Are you finally going to be useful?"

    The golden snake that was floating in midair excitedly sighed "Even better! My, my... It looks like I need to tach you some new stuff, because you see... Once I step into the Sung stage..."

    He leaned in "I will be only two stages away from the Ageless Realm!" The snake revealed with glinting eyes "At that time, even those not connected through Karma with me will be able to feast their eyes on my magnificence! Mwhaha, Breaking through feels so good!"

    Cheng Hao "..."

    Goldy trembled "W-Why do you look so angry, brat?"

    The boy coldly spoke "Just absorb those cultivation bases quietly. If you make any noise I will be sure you reincarnate into the body of an old hag!"

    The dragon whimpered and then coiled around the youth''s feet "Please, don''t! If you do that I will be the laughingstock among the other Primordial Beasts for a thousand, no, for a million years!"

    Cheng Hao ruthlessly looked down and began counting "One... Two..."

    The dragon shivered and then dashed away "Alright, alright, your win, your win! I will just stand here, looking at you from afar! I am a simple bystander, don''t care about me!"

    The boy almost broke out laughing when he saw his companion''s fleeing figure but then his expression turned serious. He stepped forward and suddenly bent his body backwards.

    A large sabre appeared out of nowhere and slashed at him. The large body of one of the original ten, now nine, armoured men of the Shadow Legion appeared out of thin air.

    The blade passed less than an inch from the boy''s nose and the man''s shoulders shook once from the shock when he saw his sneak attack had been dodged. Cheng Hao grabbed some sand from the ground and threw it behind him. His expression had long since turned serious and he jumped off the ground.

    A thin man smiled beneath his own helmet as he also appeared behind the boy and prepared to attack with his own weapon. Suddenly, his vision was blocked by the sand the child had thrown behind his body before, making him lose his sight temprarilyand tumble.

    The man fell but regained his lucidity in time: before he hit the ground he slashed horizontally at the boy''s legs but the child was already in the air. The jump Cheng Hao had done before had been executed just in time to evade the attack by the man''s longsword with three blades aiming at his legs.

    Cheng Hao then turned in midair and beautifully dodged an arrow flying towards him. He landed on the ground, his whole figure tensed up as his right ear twitched.

    He suddenly turned, his right hand flashed and caught a silvery object out of thin air. He threw the needle back from where it came from and an exclamation of surprise could be heard a few meters away from the boy, the sound of the needle hitting steel rang out.

    Cheng Hao breathed once, twice and then lifted himself up, relaxing his tensed body.

    He smirked and then yelled in front of him "Sneak attacking a kid? Is that your sense of honour that I hear crying?"

    The air trembled again and a woman''s figure appeared behind a group of eight other people: her eyes were glowing violet and her orange-reddish hair was fluttering in the air.

    Although she wore a mask that hid most of the upper half of her face, it could be seen that she was beauty, although not on the same level as a matured Xiao Wu would be or Sou Rou was, she was still really handsome.

    Her extended arms trembled once, making the air shift slightly. She bit her purple lips and glared at the child once with her purple eyes as if she wanted to attack once more, but then the pupils turned back to their usual appearance, the typical Shadow Legion''s red glow, and her ginger hair fell back down as the illusion spell branded on the piece of cloth covering them faded away.

    She retracted her hands and the semi-transparent sheet of thethin, black cloth wrapped around her body like a cape, also covering her appearance once more.

    She wore dark robes that resembled what a priest would wear, except they were completely black. The black cloak helped her hide her face and just in case, she also wore the mask covering the top half of her face. Only the glowing red eyes were shown, everything else below the object was hidden.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.

    Although the twitching of her eyes and mouth was hidden by the mask and hood, it was clear she was not only a bit upset that her skill had been seen through...

    Greatsword waved his left hand at her and comforted her "Don''t worry about that,Veil. This kid is not simple. I didn''t think that he would go down so fast in the first place...Especiallywith a sneak attack like that, so don''t feel too down..."

    "Sure... I won''t be able to help you guys too much, from now on it is up to you! Avenge Eight Brother!" A young woman''s voice replied. Veil then stepped back and simply glared at Cheng Hao, the eyes beneath her hood glowed red and her gaze was full of killing intent.

    "..." Greatsword grabbed his weapon and his killing intent got augmented even more "You do not need to worry, Tenth Sister, we will not let that bastard over there go on unpunished!"

    Cheng Hao looked at the nine people in front of him, they were all much stronger than him individually when taking into account cultivation. His expression grew even more serious: this would be his firsttruefight in this new life. If he lost, he would probably not get another chance and he could not afford to die in this place.

    If he had gotten the chance to do this a bit more underhandedly and without too much of a risk he would have done it, but he highly doubted that the god-like being would be impressed by a measly show of his hit-and-run abilities. He had no choice, so... He had to give this his all!

    He couldn''t use the Golden Aura at the moment. Even a godly ability such as it had its weaknesses:

    First, if used in a large scale, once interrupted he would be unable to use it again unless he rested first. It was, after all, an incredibly powerful ability that could rival the rules of this world themselves, even the dragon Blindlight had to sleep for a few millions years after he used it to eradicate a whole plane of existence;

    Second, even if it was available, he could still only use it against those on the same level or weaker than his cultivation was, and, if possible, have some kind of gap in their Qi manipulation skill, otherwise it would be impractical to absorb their essence as it would take too much time. For people as weak as those below the Reverend stage, the first condition wouldn''t apply too much, as he could make up with his own skills, but as for those with greater power... Fat chance;

    Third, the greatest effect of the skill shows itself when there are a lot enemies, as it would strip the weaker ones of their strength first, thus enabling him to absorb those slightly stronger that he may not have been able to absorb, had he not fed on weaker people first to increase the Aura''s power. Then, he would be able to feed on those stronger than the ones before and so on. If there were just ten enemies and their cultivation were all way above his own, that would not allow him to slowly take them all on, starting from the weakest link and moving up, thus he would not be able to use that.

    As their cultivation bases were just too far above his own (Even if he had lifted the seal imposed on his own cultivation) he could not just rely on his superior ability in manipulating Qi so he had no choice but to fight them with some other method.

    And that was also the reason why he had used the Golden Aura in such a large scale before instead of only taking out the same number of enemies with other kinds of skills and saving it up for the last fight.

    It was alsobecause of the abovementioned weaknesses, but also because the energy he would have left over, absorbed from all the few thousand cultivators that he had slaughtered, would help him greatly, and very soon as well!

    The energy of the body, the energy of the mind, the energy of the soul... Every single type of powerful energy present in the bodies of the thousand cultivator were gathered in his hand! At the moment, the sphere held within itself the power of all these experts, the question was, what would he do with it?

    The boy stepped forward once, let go of the powerful object and did a hand seal. Suddenly, his expression grew serious and his demeanour turned solemn as the sphere began to emit rays of silvery light and the small electric currents on its surface began to intensify. Cheng Hao grabbed the sphere of lightning and light hovering in midair.

    A complicated seal formed in the air, seven huge beasts were represented on it, each looking imposing.

    "Lucky!" As he saw that, Cheng Hao''s eyes lit up and he excitedly clenched his fist. The light in his hands churned for a bit and then began to grow longer, until it turned into a long and imposing halberd.

    It was four meters long and its head occupied a fourth of its total length. Silvery lightning crackled around the blade while the body glowed with grey light. The design of the halberd was extremely refined, what looked like a monstrous Wale''s head was carved into the handle of the weapon and the blade had six dents on the dull side.

    Cheng Hao examined the weapon and then slashed the air in front of him satisfied "To actually be so lucky to summon one of the Seven Leviathans..." He lifted the halberd and the halberd began to emit powerful pressure and made everyone looking at it instinctively want to kneel down "Sixth Leviathan! Megalodon! Ruler of earthquakes, stormsand of all that ravagesthe land! The feared sinker of ships and king of the depths!"

    The nine members of the Shadow Legion shivered wen they heard those words. They did not know what they meant, but simply hearing them instilled fear and panic in their hearts. Greatsword gritted his teeth and stomped on the ground, dispelling the powerful pressure "Do not be afraid! We cannot afford to lose! Eight brother''s vengeance rests on us!"

    Dagger trembled once and then slashed the air twice with his two daggers. He looked at Cheng Hao enraged and killing intent surged. One by one, eight people stepped forward, each of them carrying a murderous aura behind them that seemed to cover them like a mantle.

    Cheng Hao tightened his grip on the halberd and stepped forward. Nine people began to dash towards their opponent/s, Cheng Hao carried the massive halberdbehind him while the eight members of the Shadow Legion each wielded their own weapons and also charged forward.

    Cheng Hao disappeared and reappeared behind Greatsword, Megalodon already swinging towards the man''s defenceless back. Greatsword shivered and hurriedly dodged to the right, turning his body just in time to see the halberd slam into the ground... "BOOOM"

    The sound of an explosion made Greatsword pale as he saw the spot where he stood before being totally annihilated by a single slash of the halberd. The ground had been reduced to rubble and a large crater had been formed into the previously fine terrain. Apparently, this weapon did not only look imposing, it was also really heavy!

    Only Cheng Hao knew how much... It was actually not as heavy as it seemed, but he could manipulate its weight as he wanted! It was none other than the manifestation of Megalodon: The Eidolon of Gravity, after all!

    Cheng Hao smiled as he bent his body unnaturally, his joints apparently did not seem to exist any longer as he crouched, twisted and bent to evade seven attacks coming from all directions. He waved Megalodon around, using the weapon''s weight to change direction while in the air and used the fact that the weapon''s body was really long to keep his enemies as distant as possible.

    Nine figures danced in a dangerous game of killing and not geting killed, and it looked like doing either would be incredibly difficult. A single strike would spell death, so none of the two sides could afford being careless as the dance became faster and faster until the figures became vague blurs and the weapons simple flashes of light...

 Chapter 56 - If You Hurry Down A Steep Path You Are Bound To Fall...

    With the ten monsters now gone, defeating the enemy became much easier for the forces of the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect and soon, less than a few hundred enemies were left standing. Being merely cowardly mercenaries, the lucky survivors either escaped or surrendered immediately, now that their hope for victory had been sealed away, they had no chance of winning.

    Soon, the battlefield began to grow silent as the fighting ceased. The few casualties of the Sect''s forces were those unlucky enough to be killed by the surprise attacks by the Ten Monsters which amounted to a little more than a few hundred, once they had left the battlefield, no more than a few careless or unlucky cultivators had died.

    That was not because the enemy was weak, but it was because the Golden Tiger Faction was just too strong! The weakest being at the high or peak level Superior stage and most being in the low level Sung stage, they were all powerhouses that could take on dozens of enemies all at once. The reason? Because they had been trained to look out for attacks from all directions, to judge the best way to attack the enemy and decide wether to dodge, parry or block attacks.

    All this had been drilled into their heads by Cheng Hao during his training regiments. At first, even though the people from the Golden Tiger faction were powerful, they did not dare to carelessly wonder about in the battlefield, but as time went on, they found out that few people were actually a threat to them.

    Due to this, they began to charge past the enemy''s front lines and attack the enemy from behind in a pincher attack, resulting in less casualties on their part! The fight had ended with the Sect having lost less than five hundred members out of their original few thousands or so, while the mercenaries, numbering in the tens of thousands at first now only had a few hundred survivors left...

    It had been a one sided battle the moment the Shadow Legion had left the battlefield.

    Up in the air, Bi Liang and Chu Sai clashed once again, the Core Elder slammed his big Aura Bow towards the opponent''s head and Chu Sai barely blocked the blow with his eighteen weapons. The sound of an explosion rang out and both cultivators were sent flying back a few hundred meters.

    Bi Liang somersaulted once, straightening himself, and then nocked another arrow on the bow. He pulled back the string as far as he could and then let go: the arrow was sent flying at high speeds towards the wounded Chu Sai.

    The time it took the arrow to reach the falling black robed cultivator was only a little bit more than what it takes for a spark to fly off a piece of flint. Chu Sai noticed the attackonly when the huge arrowwas only a few meters away from his body.

    He gritted his teeth and rocked his head to the side as well as swinging one of his swords to parry the blow. The arrow flew by like a ballista''s projectile and, even though it had been blocked slightly and its trajectory had been deviated, it still shredded the man''s mask and left a long scratch on the man''s cheek.

    Bi Liang landed and smirked ''What''s wrong, your movements got slow! Getting tired?" He summoned another arrow and prepared to attack once again. A few hundred meters away, Chu Sai clenched his fist and also summonedanother one of his katanas from the air.

    He was not getting slower, he had been in his top condition ever since he had started his fight, he had not gotten so tired that it would interfere with his reflexes. He knew, better than anybody, that it was not him who got slower, it was Bi Liang who was getting faster! If this went on...

    ''I will lose in less than half an hour...''

    Chu Sai''s eyes narrowed and he sent one of his blades flying towards Bi Liang. It intercepted the arrow speeding towards its master and exploded with a loud "BOOM"

    Another blade materialised beside Chu Sai''s side. This time, the red glow was a slight bit fainter than it was before ''I am also running out of Sword Qi... If I keep dragging this out...''

    Chu Sai''s eyes grew resolute and a plan formed into his mind. He smiled wickedly as he kicked off the ground and sped toward Bi Liang. The Core Elder''s eyes widened and then he grinned "Good! Come! I have been waiting for this moment!" His voice was devoid of rationality and it was full of rage and thirst for vengeance.

    Chu Sai smiled in his mind: this lack of rationality was going to be Bi Liang''s downfall! He picked one of the flying blades and sent it flying towards Bi Liang. The Core Elder laughed and destroyed it with one of his own arrows, generating a loud explosion. Suddenly, his eyes narrowed as the smoke from the blast blocked his view: a second sword, a third and then all the way to seventeen swords were now flying towards him!

    Bi Liang gritted his teeth and took out a piece of crystal from his pocket. He threw it towards the oncoming blades and nocked seventeen arrows on his bow: the crystal suddenly shattered in mid air and a mirror glowing with a mysterious blue light appeared. Unfortunately, it could only intercept one of the blades, stopping it from advancing.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    Still, it did not simply block it, the blade seemed to be swallowed by the floating magical object as it got absorbed into the glowing mirror. As soon as the sword''s hilt completely went through the mirror, the object suddenly began to glow red from its previous blue hue as the blade reappeared, this time flying in the direction it came from.

    It looked as if it had been reflected, and that was exactly what had happened!

    That''s right, the katana''s position had been reversed and it had been shot backwards! The mirror then let out a blue light as it reset to its previous stage, its glow turning from red to blue again

    Bi Liang smiled as he shot seventeen arrows at the remaining sixteen katanas. The explosion this time was only a few meters away from him so he was slightly blinded from the blast. When he opened his eyes again, he saw a blurry figure was dashing aroundhim, covered by the smoke of the explosion and wishing to attack him from behind.

    He waved his gigantic bow and slammed it at the approaching enemy, he felt the beautiful sounds of bones cracking and the flesh rending... Not.

    Bi Liang''s cheeks seemed to have lost all blood as his face grew pale: he had just noticed that what he had attacked... Was only a black robe!

    Behind him, Chu Sai reappeared from the smoke, wearing a victorious smile on his now exposed face: he was a middle aged man, but his features were those of a man in his young thirties. He might have also been pretty handsome, but his handsomeness was ruined by the fierce and fiendish smile on his face "Die, Fool!"

    He slashed the katana in his hands down, intending to chop Bi Liang''s head off in one stroke. He smirked and laughed in his mind ''You have been fooled! If only you had been more rational, you would have noticed than only seventeen blades had been thrown and would have been more careful! Unfortunately for you, this is my vic-''

    Suddenly, Bi Liang''s shocked expression disappeared... And he smirked.

    ''-tory?'' Chu Sai noticed the Core Elder''s action, but by now it was too late to react.

    *pierce*

    Chu Sai''s thoughts were interrupted when a flash of light pierced through his upper-left chest. Chu Sai''s expression froze as he turned just in time to see a glowing red mirror turning blue again... He looked down at his chest and the gaping hole where his heart should have been and then a voice sounded out.

    "You are the true fool. I wore you down making you anxious and showed an opening on purpose. I acted as if I had lost my mind due to anger and you fell for that. The one who had really lost his mind was you, who feared defeat by the hands of somebody weaker than you are, in a different stage, even!"

    Bi Liang scoffed "You did not even notice that the extra arrow I had shot was heading straight for the space-reversal mirror! Seventeen blades had been thrown and one had been thrown back and neutralised by the mirror... But then, why would I shoot seventeen arrows with only sixteen incoming flying katanas? You were defeated by your own rashness and foolishness! If you hurry down a steep path you are bound to fall! If you act without thinking you will fail!"

    Chu Sai''s mind reeled when he found out how exactly he got hit. He gritted his teeth and his eyes widened with surprise, anger, regret... And then he saw a single tear forming on one corner of Bi Liang''s eye. It slowly streaked down his cheek and fell to the ground "Father... Rest in peace! Be happy and pass on peacefully as I have taken care of matters here!"

    Chu Sai''s eyes widened once again in shock and then he bitterly smiled ''I see... So it was revenge that brought him this far... It truly is sowing Karma!'' He sighed "It is your victory..."

    Acknowledging that he had been defeated, not by the opponent''s power but by his sharper wits, Chu Sai chuckled. Bi Liang sighed and then his expression brightened "Want me to tell you a secret?" his eyes narrowed he leaned in and whispered into Chu Sai''s ear "You see... You did not actually lose to someone that much weaker than you..."

    Bi liang touched Chu Sai''s forehead and the man trembled as aReverend stageWill began to exterminate his consciousness. His eyes widened as he understood ''I see... So i have been playing on the palm of your hand all along... He had actually, already broken through, I was truly a fool... A fool...'' Chu Sai closed his eyes and his heart stopped beating as his brain was vaporised.

    Bi Liang straightened himself and his low level Reverend stage cultivation base replaced the previous fake peak Sung stage cultivation base as it emanated outwards.

    He flew towards the Grudge''s End and then fell down. He looked around and saw that the battle had already ended. He smiled relieved seeing that most of the people from the Sect were still alive.

    *clash*

    "Yaaaaaargh!"

    "Damn, this guy is so slippery!"

    "Ahaha, what is wrong guys? Weren''t you going to kill me?"

    Suddenly, sounds of metal hitting metal reached his ears and he noticed Cheng Hao fighting against eight of the members of the Shadow Legion. When he approached, Bi Liang was shocked at first when he saw the fierce fight taking place.

    His first thought was to interfere and help Cheng Hao, but then he sighed "I cannot help you in your battle... Right now, I barely have enough strength to stand firm, I would be nothing less than a hindrance.."

    Suddenly, the two sides broke out and backed away a few dozen meters from the other. Bi Liang noticed Cheng Hao''s firm and determined expression as he wielded a massive halberd. Looking at the child''s eyes, the Core Elder also discovered that he was deeply concentrating and tense, but also... Having fun?

    Bi Liang was shocked for a bit and then smiled "I guess you would not want my help either?" He sighed and sat on the ground. Oddly enough, the place where Cheng Hao was fighting was right on top of Grudge''s End Arena and Bi Liang was right on top of its stalls!

    It was as if this was going to be a fight decided by the heavens!

    Well, knowing him it wouldn''t be too strange, would it? After all, it washis, Cheng Hao''sfight, and he would not interrupt it even if he could.

    "I guess it would not harm to watch one of your fights once again... Good luck, brother. With Lao Jianghu temporarily gone, the fate of my brothers and companions of the Sect rests on your shoulders!"

 Chapter 57 - Newfound Power

    Cheng Hao firmly grasped Megalodon with his two hands as he stared towards the group of nine people in front of him. The blade crackled with lightning as the illusion of a gigantic whale appeared coiling around his body: it was none other than the illusory body of Megalodon, the Ruler of the Depthsand the sinker of ships!

    Great pressure forced the nine people to use all of their strength in order to be able to stand straight, and this was all because of the single weapon. It was not even the real one but a mere copy of the original, born through the sacrifice of thousands of souls.

    Dagger gritted his teeth below the helmet "Damn it! We can''t even hit him! He is not agile, he is not using his great speed nor does he have some sort of enhancing technique... He simply is at the perfect place at the perfect time, as if he knew exactly where he should be to dodge an attack coming from a blind spot! Our weapons cannot even hope to catch him!"

    Behind the group of eight, Veil clenched her hands "Damn... If only I could help..." her red eyes burned with anger... But it was not tied to the fact that one of her brothers had been slain! Strangely enough, she had long since forgotten all about Fist.

    No, the reason she was angry was because of something else: she only felt powerless and was angry against herself for not being powerful enough!

    Truth was that, although they called each other brothers, they simply were part of the same group. Some were closer than others, but only few were real siblings.

    Veil glared at the young boy with dazzling golden eyes and long black hair, her eyes full of hatred, envy and despair. She felt hateful because of her powerlessness, envy because of the power Cheng Hao was showing and despair because she knew that, if he were to target her, nobody would be able to stop him!

    Cheng Hao stretched his waist and then smiled "Well now, isn''t this just so much fun?" He chuckled and swung Megalodon once "This little guy is so amazing! The Seven Summoned Leviathans are just too great when fighting Mortals! They are simply above comprehension. After all, gravity, space, future, past, present, life and death are not stuff anyone with the lowly cultivation of the Mortal realm is capable of understanding..."

    Suddenly, his expression darkened "Still, it is not enough! I cannot attack, parry and dodge at the same time, and you guys are simply not giving me enough time to retaliate properly!" He sighed as he caressed the massive halberd "You are making this beautiful piece of art look like a useless stick!"

    He looked up at the battle in the sky and saw Lao Jianghu clearly had the upper hand, Yin Hei was giving it his all, but the Glowing Longsword was simply too overpowered, it cut through the monster''s tough hide as if it wastofu!

    Cheng Hao grinned "Looks like he is going to end this soon! Well, I guess I ought to stop playing as well..." he let go of Megalodon and made a strange hand seal.

    The weapon flashed with bright grey light and then it slowly began to fall apart, sparks of light flew up in the dark sky nonstop until the weapon had disappeared completely.

    Greatsword suddenly had a weird feeling and he clenched his weapon tightly "Watch out everyone! Something is wrong!" His red eyes widened as he focused his five senses into catching the slightest movement the boy could make.

    Cheng Hao smiled as he ripped off the upper part of his robe "This is quite comfortable, but it is way too impractical during battle, it slows down movement too much. I have to remember to tell Bi Liang about it..."

    When his toned muscles and well developed upper body appeared, it stunned the people looking at him: this was in no way the body of a eight years old... Well, actually, the only thing about Cheng Hao truly resembling a child was his face, height and tone of voice, so that was not too shocking.

    Whatreallyshocked them were the scars. Countless scars could be seen on the child''s otherwise fair skin. There where many that looked like the wound could have been life threatening, others were simple scratches. Still, they couldn''t help but tremble at the sight of such an amount of wounds.

    After all, Cheng Hao was only a child, yet he looked like he had gone through countless battles and fought countless ordeals... Which was true! Ever since he was reborn, he had been fighting nonstop and brought his body to break past its limits ever since he had awoken in this new body..

    Cheng Hao tensed his muscles as he breathed in and then relaxed as he breathed out. His eyes grew determined as he eyed Greatsword and he targeted him first.

    He kicked off the ground and appeared right in the middle of the Shadow Legion''s members group, his fist was incredibly pressuring and it was moving at great speed towards the Shadow Legion''s Greatsword at great speed. Suddenly, eight weapons flashed and closed in on the child''s body.

    Greatsword scoffed and dodged to the side, evading the blow. He then slashed with his weapon at the child in front of him ''Foolish boy... To actually lose your mind like this when you could win by tiring us down, you have simply signed your own doom!''

    One after the other, seven more people attacked: this time, their blows were well coordinated and didn''t show the slightest flaw, not even a god would be able to evade such a barrage of attacks!

    The great blade was about to hit the child''s body when, suddenly, Greatsword flinched and he jumped backwards. Veil also trembled and waved her sleeves, making the veil of black silk wrap around Greatsword''s waist.

    It was as if they could read each other''s mind: Greatsword twisted in such a manner that the cloth could wrap around him faster and then smashed the blade against the ground, making him fly backwards. The duo''s actions made it possible for Veil to swiftly bringing Greatsword away... From what?

    Meanwhile, six weapons - a needle, a sword with three blades, a mace, a spear, a battle axe and a flail - all charged towards and pierced, slashed, slammed into the child''s body.

    Finally, Dagger slashed down his own two daggers towards Cheng Hao''s neck, the blade whistled through the air and the short man finally smiled excitedly when he felt the edge of his weapon bite into the child''s flesh.

    Cheng Hao spat out blood and he fell on his knees, his body pierced by seven weapons, the red liquid spat out everywhere. Coughing out blood, the boy''s eyes grew hazy and he fell on his face.

    Everyone couldn''t help but feel great happiness: it was no illusion, it was no afterimage what their weapons had slashed in half, this time they had truly killed that troublesome brat!

    As he laid on the ground, the boy slowly closed his two eyes and, finally, stopped breathing.

    The seven people''s excitement and happiness, though, lasted only for a moment. Because, right when they had lowered their guard and the boy on the ground looked like he had truly passed away... A pair of eyes full of killing intent opened, each of them glowing with bright light just like before.

    Except this time, the golden glow was replaced with...

    "Life, Death, Two opposites, two faces of a single coin!" Cheng Hao muttered as he quickly lifted himself up, startling his seven opponents "As white as the glow of life, as black as the darkness of death! Glory! Oblivion! the two Flames of war, the Flames Of Life and Death!"Stolen story; please report.

    Two eyes, one white one black, shined as brightly as the sun, white light that was enough to blind at the slightest glance, a darkness so black that it was not darkness anymore and could be described as nothing less than a black light.

    Two gaseous masses appeared behind Cheng Hao''s back, they each wrapped around one of his arms and two flames, one extremely cold and one extremely hot, burned in Cheng Hao''s palm.

    "Yin and Yang Flames! Glory and Oblivion!" Cheng Hao yelled and smiled fierily and pointed at the seven men in front of him "... Devour!" The two gaseous flames seemed to turn into two fierce beasts as they rose up above Cheng Hao''s head. Two gigantic mouths with sharp teeth, everything made by the monochrome flames, shot down towards the astonished group of cultivators.

    Cheng Hao smiled and he grabbed onto the stunned Dagger''s arm. Dagger widened his eyes in terror when he saw that he could not free himself. He gritted his teeth and spit out some of his Life Blood. Life Blood was a special blood that resided in the heart of a cultivator and absorbed the Qi as the cultivator meditated. As it did so, it would be able to release great energy once that Qi is released!

    No more than a few drops of such blood would be created in a cultivator''s whole lifetime, in most cases they only had one, and if it was used one''s cultivation would decrease greatly.

    Cheng Hao smiled when he saw a huge tarot card appear behind the small guy''s back: an old man sat on a throne, although he seemed to be on his last breath, the pressure he exuded was that of a ruler of heaven and earth. In his hands were a sword and a scale made of rusted gold.

    Both items exuded an aura of ancientness and immense power, as if they had control over the world itself. The king looked down upon Cheng Hao and coldly scoffed, in front of him there were golden words floating in the air: "It Is Impossible To Tell When Law Stops And Justice Begins"

    The card acted as a shield that kept the flaming beasts at bay, allowing the seven people to get back on their feet and glare at Cheng Hao with hatred and shock.

    Dagger grinned as he felt his cultivation base rise and looked at Cheng Hao smirking "You brat, you are a fool! You thought you could defeat us with such tricks? Die! When I, Second in the Shadow Legion, Dagger, kill you, those beasts will disappear as well!"

    Cheng Hao smiled, blood trickled down the sides of his mouth and his face ws pale, but his smile was confident.

    He smirked "Oh? But isn''t the ''Fool'' the one that may be anyone he chooses to be? I would prefer to choose death than to live bounded by chains!" Suddenly, his eyes lit up "And I have no intention of doing either of them!"

    He made a hand seal and a speck of light appeared in front of him: it was one of the light sparks left behind from when he had dismissed Megalodon, he had kept it hidden. And now... Now was the time to unleash its power and disintegrate all his opponents in one, massive attack... Not.

    Cheng Hao only smiled as he simply opened his mouth and swallowed the speck of light whole.

    The sea of consciousness is a vast realm unique to each cultivator. It differentiated a normal person to the gifted cultivators, as someone with no such realm would be unable to cultivate, no matter how hard he tried.

    Cheng Hao''s sea of consciousness had been still for a few months already, his Core was completely still and his Pseudo-Core was no different. They both floated in the vast realm of emptiness in Cheng Hao''s consciousness, as still as millenary mountains, unmovable even by the fiercest of storms..

    Suddenly, Cheng Hao had swallowed the speck of light. That single spark slowly made its way towards the floating Core... It coiled around the great sphere of solid Qi for a while and then... It slammed into the floating Core, bursting into a flash of light and then disappearing!

    Nothing happened at first, but then, just like a sleeping beast poked with a stick, the Core suddenly twitched! Bright light emitted from the sphere as it rotated on itself at great speeds, revolving at such speeds that it looked like it was about to break apart!

    Cheng Hao grinned as he suddenly began to feel a faint Qi in the air around him and his cultivation began to show itself!

    He was not powerful enough to bind down a Reverend stage cultivator like Wu Rou with a seal, so how could he possibly do that? Simple. He used the seal Lao Jianghu had placed on him to seal her down... And at the same time freed himself!

    Ever since he had sealed down Wu Rou''s cultivation, the seal on his own cultivation had been lifted! All he needed was a single spark to enliven the dry wood!

    The seal had been suppressing the Qi absorption of his Core for over two months, so now that he was going to release it... It would be pretty pleasant!

    For him, of course.

    His opponents would most likely wish to have died beforehand.

    Cheng Hao grinned as his body suddenly began to absorb all the Qi and spiritual energy in his surroundings: he would absorb as much as the amount he had failed to during those two months!

    And since this place''s spiritual energy was pretty scarce due to the fact that many powerful abilities had been used during the battle, that would mean that he would absorb not only a part... but ALL of it!

    Dagger suddenly felt weak in the knees as his body lost all strength to fight back against Cheng Hao: cultivators focusing on Fleshly Body Strengthening were few amongst the few, only one would exist amongst thousands, that was why Cheng Hao had been so shocked when he had found out that the Zi clan brat he had absorbed was enhancing his Fleshly Body.

    Dagger was no exception to this rule, once the spiritual energy disappeared, his body became that of a mortal, anyone with a hint of cultivation would be more than enough to deal with him, as no technique, no matter how powerful or godly it might be, needed some kind of fuel to keep it going.

    That fuel was spiritual energy. Andallthe spiritual energy in the radius of a few miles had been absorbed by Cheng Hao. This pretty much meant that everybody without a powerful body in that area was pretty much screwed.

    Only powerful cultivators at the peak of the Mortal Realm would still be able to use their abilities, as they would have enough energy to fuel their own abilities, but only two such people were there. And they were both so high up in the sky that it would not affect them either way.

    Dagger trembled as he saw the card behind him had disappeared. Cheng Hao''s voice lingered over and the short warrior trembled in true terror for the first time "Your so called ''Justice''... is an illusion. In this world, the winner is king and the loser is thief, only power matters. I will now show you what that Justice of yours really is! Justice is power! And you have none! You felled my comrades and you thought yourself as just, but now I am about to kill you because of that, I am also just!"

    "We are both right so we are both in the wrong! So tell me, where is the Justice in that? We are both just and at fault, so who wins? I will tell you who!"

    Cheng Hao licked his lips as a satisfied expression appeared on his face "It is those who have the strength to support their claims!"

    Dagger whimpered and Cheng Hao stood still as Oblivion and Glory devoured the tiny man''s flesh. The two flames then disappeared and Cheng Hao''s eyes turned back to their normal, golden hue.

    He closed his eyes and felt the boundless spiritual energy orbiting around his Core. He smiled and began to model it in the shape of another Core, a lot smaller but also purer than the original... a Satellite!

    Suddenly, his aura jumped up! The cultivation that had staled for over two months at the low level Advanced stage jumped up and increased by an enormous amount!

    Low level! Peak low level! After that, he broke through to mid level Advanced stage! When he did that, Cheng Hao modelled the forming Satellite to make it look pointier and longer, somehow resembling... A sword.

    But it didn''t stop there, no, it kept going! Mid level! Peak mid level! High level Advanced stage! But even then, it stunned those watching him from close and from afar as it ignored the bottleneck once again and broke through from high level Advanced stage to peak level Advanced stage!

    At that point, the Sword-shaped Satellite was nearly completely formed, it only required sufficient spiritual energy to completely stabilise!

    Cheng Hao smiled satisfied for a bit but then yelled as he laughed cheerfully "Great! But I know you can do more! Give me more!"

    A crowd of people had been watching the fight between the child and the nine people wearing black robes from afar. They had been staring wide-eyedly and gaping each time the child made a move: a child had been fighting on equal ground as those crazy powerful demons, how could they not be shocked?

    Those people that had been looking at Cheng Hao with admiration were now on the verge of vomiting blood: more? He wanted MORE? Was breaking through a whole level not enough? Just die already!

    But then, their anger turned into shock once again and their admiration turned into veneration as the heavens seemed to obey Cheng Hao.

    Under the unbelieving gaze of thousands of people, spiritual energy gathered once again and was absorbed by Cheng Hao all in one go! The peak Advanced stage cultivation base wobbled dangerously once and then it jumped up again...

    The floating blade in his Sea of Consciousness shone with blinding light as incredible power could be felt coming from its figure, massive amounts of Qi and spiritual energy swirled around it like a hurricane and then got absorbed into the hovering satellite.

    Cheng Hao licked his lips and laughed happily "Yeah, I guess Goldy is right" he smiled cheerfully "It is good to breakthrough! Superior stage after all, is only three stages away from entering the Ageless Realm!"

 Chapter 58 - Aster and Iris

    "Impossible... Just who is he?" Greatsword trembled as he lifted himself up. His shaking hands grabbed onto the big blade as he placed himself in between Veil and the child.

    Veil also gulped and, beneath her hood, her two red eyes shone with shock. She stepped back and her shoulders trembled "Eaten... They all got eaten!" Now she was truly terrified: she knew that child was not normal, but this way above her expectations!

    Cheng Hao''s eyes gleamed and he turned to face the two remaining members of the Shadow Legion "Mh? You want something?" He twirled a strand of his hair around his finger and then shook his head "I thought we were done here?"

    Greatsword''s eyes widened in shock and then he sighed. He sheathed the massive weapon in his hands and then commented "You simply do not put us in your eyes, do you?"

    Veil looked at Cheng Hao surprised "You mean... You will let us go?" Her eyes shone with hope.

    Cheng Hao shook his head "As if! You have a lot of work to do... With starters" He pointed behind him "Look how much of a mess you and your companions have created! You expect this arena to rebuild itself?"

    Greatsword trembled once and then broke out into laughter "Geez, I knew you were powerful and eccentric, but this is just too much! Do you not fear that the heavens might be angered by all your sloppiness?"

    Cheng Hao shook his head as his eyes shone "Too late for that!"

    The childlaughed out loud for a long while before he could recover "Sorry" he apologised as he wiped away some tears "It just came out so well!"

    Greatsword sighed once more as he once again failed to see through the mind of the child in front of him. Then, he grabbed the sides of his helmet and removed it: a white haired, red eyed man in his late twenties breathed in as his tensed face relaxed.

    Although he was actually not that old, the battles and worries made him look older than his twenty-nine years old self.

    In the middle of his forehead was a single mark, resembling a Circle with seven triangles on its circumference.

    Veil gaped and then yelled "What are you doing, eldest brother! Quick, cover your face!"

    The man smiled bitterly and shook his head "Don''t worry, it won''t change anything wether we show or hide our appearance right now anyways. Take off your mask and hood as well, sister..."

    Veil shook once but then she also sighed. She removed her hood and her mask, revealing the features of a beautiful girl in her middle twenties: she had ginger hair and red eyes, her skin was pale and her purple lips were currently trembling. She also had the same mark as the man did below her left eye.

    Cheng Hao smiled and nodded "So this is what you really look like... You are quite the beauty!" the childchuckled as the girl''s pink cheeks flushed red and then turned towards the smiling Greatsword "Old man, are you two Ancients?"

    The young man trembled and his face tensed up but then he calmed down as he sighed "Don''t call me an old man, I''m still young... Well? What gave us away? I guess that the red eyes might and the mark may have hinted that something, but..." He shook his head in amazement.

    "That was nowhere enough! What''s more, few people would connect this mark or the red eyes to the ancients nowadays... Everyone in the Legion had them. Most would simply think of them as some special trait..." he lingered off.

    Cheng Hao grinned as he looked into the man''s eyes "This is how!" His eyes suddenly shone once with a bizarre glint that made the older man uncomfortable.

    Greatsword looked confused for a moment but then his expression twisted as he clenched his head and banged it on the ground "Get out! Get out this instant!" His red eyes glowed with fear, anger and humiliation. Cheng Hao blinked his eyes innocently once, and then went back to staring at him smiling.

    Veil looked even more confuse as she asked "Brother... What-"

    "His eyes!" The man interrupted "Don''t look into them! He can enter your consciousness!"

    Cheng Hao acted shocked then turned towards the girl and stared in her pupils for the fraction of a breath. The glint appeared once again and he then innocently shook his head "What are you saying, old man?Iris,do not believe him!I am doing no such thing!"

    The girl flinched and paled when she heard name being called just like that. Her mouth opened in shock but then she recovered and then looked away from the child''s eyes "Don''t! Don''t enter my mind!"

    Greatsword gritted his teeth as he looked down "But how? Humans don''t have the knowledge to enter a person''s consciousness! This technique has been regarded as the greatest secret of our race! Only an Ancient would be able to know that!"

    Cheng Hao smiled "The answer is pretty easy if you think about it,Aster. It isexactlybecause an Ancient taught me that I can do this!"Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    Greatsword flinched and his expression shifted from anger to shock "An Ancient... Taught you? But how? Ancients are supposed to be extinct! We twoare the last of our species! How could a dead person possibly have taught you?"

    Cheng Hao smiled "Once again, the answer is pretty easy to guess. Ancients are in no way extinct: as far as i know, their Main Clan Members are living comfortable lives in the Sixth Level of the Nine Heavens!"

    He touched his temples "Also, I cannot enter your mind as I please. I can only find out what you are thinking that moment, not delve deep into your memories... After all, I am still only a Superior stage cultivator, in no way on the same level of the cultivation monsters that are the Ancients!"

    Aster wanted to say something but then he felt great pain in his head. Talking with Cheng Hao meant getting a great headache, especially from how he seemed to talk about major problems and mysteries so casually!

    Iris also looked uncertain when, suddenly, an incredibly high-pitched shriek interrupted them: they looked up to see Yin Hei was missing an arm and a leg. The monster wailed in pain as Lao Jianghu slashed one more, taking away the beast''s left eye.

    "Shadow Dragon, Long Yin Hei... This is the end!" Lao Jianghu''s robes fluttered as he lifted the glowing golden sword way above his head and slashed down with all his might!

    The beast didn''t even have the time to scream as the slash cut its body into two halves and it fell down, spraying black blood on its surroundings.

    The golden-eyed, white-haired old man panted and then lifted his blade into the air "Victory... Is ours!"

    His figure was extremely heroic, he looked like a war god that had just defeated his most formidable foe... Which was, in a way, true.

    The crowd stood silent for a moment due to shock and confusion, but then the whole Sect reverberated with yells of celebration and shouts of victory.

    Cheng Hao looked at this situation smiling and then he turned to look at the two people standing in front of him. He seemed to ponder for a while and then a large smile appeared on his face.

    ''I will count this as repaying your favor, Master! Wait, I will definitely meet you again in this life and I will finish my training this time!''

    He waved his hands and two robes appeared from his dimensional pouch: they were plain white robes with a few golden decorations on the sleeves.

    He then threw them at the two stunned Aster and Iris "Put these on. In this confusion, nobody would have seen your real appearance nor would they know your identities as members of the Shadow Legion... Or even if they did, they would probably FORGET ABOUT IT!" He glared at the crowd of people behind him.

    The child''s eyes gleamed with murderous intent and the group of people felt chills going down their spines as they nodded nonstop and hurried away whistling, commenting on how beautiful the weather was despite all the black clouds...

    Cheng Hao glanced back at the duo and smiled cheerfully "I am sorry if I didn''t introduce you two to my friends earlier, Aster and Iris! You and I go way back and even helped me during the fight, didn''t you?" He smiled, free of all concern.

    Aster''s red eyes were wide with shock and his long white hair fluttered in the breeze as he shook his head in amazement "I think I might have never seen a person as carefree, vicious yet forgiving as you..."

    Cheng Hao grinned but then shook his head "It is not that I am free... It is just that nobody can hold me down!"

    His eyes gleamed "And I wouldn''t mind having a few badass big brothers and sisters! Especially if they act as bodyguards!"

    Aster stayed silent for a while and then smiled "How much are you willing to pay us?"

    Cheng Hao acted as if he were pondering and then asked "How about your lives?"

    Greatsword''s brow twitched once but then he sighed "Fair enough..."

    Iris glanced back and forth from her companion''s to the child''s face, howevershe still couldn''t help but feel even more confused the longer she tried to understand what was going on.

    Still, she was alive. And if she could become a companion of that mysterious child... Who knows, it might even benefit them! Seeing how, if they were to refuse, they would probably be killed, she had no other choice but to...

    "... agree..." She muttered.

    Cheng Hao looked at her and tilted his head "Mh? What did you say?" He smiled knowingly.

    Iris felt a chill going down her spine, but she had already decided "I said that I agree" She turned around and took off her black robe, leaving her wearing only in her underwear, and then wore the white robes.

    Cheng Hao stared at Aster, who had bright, red cheeks and was looking at Iris sighing, and smiled knowingly. He patted him on the back "Aren''t you a little bit too old, old man?"

    Aster winced and glared at the young boy "What are you talking about! And I am still in my late twenties!"

    Cheng Hao shrugged as he rolled his eyes "Still not old enough to be called an old man uh?" He chuckled.

    Then his expression changed and it became ruthless as he murmured, loud enough that Aster could hear it, yet still so low Iris couldn''t:

    "Remember this. While I may look forgiving towards my allies, I never forgive an enemy. I am not narrow-minded though: you are Ancients, thusI feel obligated to help you due to personal circumstances, but it won''t be for free..."

    He looked at Iris: she was examining her new clothes.

    He smiled warmly once but then his expression turned cold again "You do not abandon a brother nor a sister, never. You may not be blood siblings, but I saw that your feelings are even more than simple brotherly love. Just know that I am as vicious as few can be when it comes to my enemies and I will consider you as one if you play with her feelings. Protect her: if you betray her I will never forgive you! That is theprice I am going to set for your life!"

    As Aster felt cold shivers running down his spine, Cheng Hao''s eyes brightened up again "Oh well, guess I will have to settle with teasing Goldy... By the way, where is he?"

    The boy looked around and then saw the figure of the golden dragon flying towards him at great speeds. Cheng Hao smiled and he waved "Hey Goldy, look! I got two new serva-ahem... New brothers! Their names are Ast-"

    Suddenly the boy''s pupils shrunk and his expression twisted from his usual carefree and superior attitude, to one of... Surprise? Fear? No, it was something even more than that... It was pure Shock...

    And even purer Terror!

    "AHAHAHAHAH! Foolish Tiger! You really thought you beat me? The time you left me alone, the fact that you went as far as weakening the seal to be able to takethat weapon from your true body, the number of souls and essences that I absorbed during the battle as they died... It was more than enough for me to finally awaken!"

    Yin Hei''s voice rang out and silenced every other sound in comparison.

    Lao Jianghu''s eyes widened as he looked up. His face fell and fear could be seen everywhere on his figure "No way, could Yin Hei be still alive!?!"

 Chapter 59 - Once And For All!

    Lao Jianghu looked at the former first protector''s body on the ground: the body was still split in two and it was laying in a puddle of black, putrid blood, not moving in the least.

    "No, that guy is dead. This voice... Comes from deep down below the ground!" His expression turned serious and somewhat anxious as he made a hand seal.

    Clouds churned and lightning crackled, countless rays of golden light shone from the ground and rose in the sky. They danced in the air and then assembled into a seal: every other light was eclipsed by the great object that had just appeared in the sky.

    The gigantic golden seal towered over everything: it was enormous and incredibly complicated, with millions upon millions of words inscribed on top of it, each of them written in a mysterious and ancient language.

    The words and the geometrical shapes acted as bigchains of some sort to bind down two even biggerfigures: although they were apparently unconscious, maybe even dead, they still emitted an enormous amount of pressure!

    The smallest of the two was an incredibly mighty tiger, its hide was composed of hundreds upon thousands of small, golden, shining weapons. Its eyes were closed, his chest rose up and down rhythmically, as if it wassleeping peacefully.

    In front of the great tiger was an even bigger monster: it was a black dragon whose figure covered the whole sky above the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect. Its black scales shone with chaotic purple and blue light while its whole figure made one want to cower from the terror it instilled into the heart of men.

    He was terrifying to the most, thousands of sharp points made their way from the creature''s head all the way down to his tail. His head was thin and pointy and many whiskers and horns adorned the ugly face of the slumbering dragon.

    Suddenly, that mighty beast''s breath stopped and everyone shut up, scared witless. No sound rang out for a long time, it was so silent that people could hear their own heartbeat. If a needle were to fall right then, it would be heard several miles away!

    Cheng Hao gritted his teeth and turned towards the two Ancients and shouted "Quick! We have to run away! We have to get away from here NOW!" He kicked off the ground and grabbed the arms of his two new companions, dragging them away with him.

    Thanks to his incredible speed, it only took a few breaths to appear a few miles away from the position they were in before, but even then, the golden seal shone down on them. It looked like it extended for countless miles over the horizon

    "Damn! Can''t run away, uh?" Cheng Hao cursed and stopped. Aster and Iris fell face first on the ground. The man groaned and then opened his mouth to protest.

    No sound came out as his previously annoyed expression turned into terror.

    Up in the sky, a black eyelid slowly rose, revealing an evil, yellow eye.

    A vertical pupil shrunkas it readjusted to the light and then went back to normal. The beastblinked a few times as it explored its surroundings. It then looked down onto the sea of people below as if it waslooking at a fancy restaurant''s menu.

    It inhaled, an enormous nostril widened and then went back to its original sizeas the beast seemed to taste the air.

    The monstersmiled as it fully awoke from those countlessyears of slumber. It breathed in and then glanced down again.

    It opened its mouth and the crowd felt their blood turn cold from the terror.

    On the other hand, heseemed to be completely at ease, laying on the golden seal just like an emperor would sit on a throne. If it weren''t for the golden chains and the evil look on the dragon''s face, people would surely have mistaken him for a monarch of the heavens who had descended upon the world!

    "Hello..." a cold and evil voice said "Nice weather isn''t it?"

    It looked around and the people below stupidly nodded in response.

    The dragon was bound down by chains but it could still move enough to stretch his neck. The tinkling noise that the golden chains made when the beastshifted its positionstartled awake those who were still too shocked to move.

    "Now then..." it asked amused "Who shouldI eat first?"

    He turned to look at the two Ancients wearing white robes "You, perhaps? Traitors are the tastiest of them all!"

    The two of them trembled in fear as they felt the dragon''s gaze piercing straight through them. They both fell on the ground, clenching their head as tears began to fall from Iris''s eyes and Aster looked up in despair.

    Cheng Hao gritted his teeth as he stepped in front of Iris and Aster, putting himself in between the big dragon''s gaze and the two.

    He then turned to face the gigantic beast "Damn... You guys need to escape, I can''t let my efforts be wasted now!"

    He pondered for a bit and then touched the two Ancients'' foreheads.

    A single thread seemed to appear, connecting the two''s figures to Goldy''s. Seeing that, Cheng Hao nodded and then yelled once again "Goldy! Follow them! It will be the only way people will know they are on our side!"

    Aster and Iris were startled when they noticed the Golden Dragon floating in the air a few feet from them: he had not been there before, so where did it come from?

    Goldy trembled as he looked at the great seal up in the sky "So mighty... This seal would effortlessly bind down even the mightier of the Ageless Realm for eons... Wouldn''t this be able to bind down even powerful Immortal realm Heavenly Beasts? These guys were probably only a step away from the Supreme stage

    [Note: Mortal Realm: Inferior < Basic < Advanced < Superior < Sung < Reverend stages;

    Ageless Realm: Royal < Saintly < Empiric < Ancient < God stages;

    Immortal Realm: Highgod < Supreme < Eternal < Immortal stages.]

    !"

    Blindlight shook his head and recovered "Cheng Hao! Where did you put the golden drop of blood?"

    Cheng Hao paled as he shook his head "I-I don''t have it here! I also do not know where exactly it might be right now..." he bit his lips and his brows furrowed "What now..."

    Goldy also looked pretty terrified when Cheng Hao said that, then itseyes brightened up "Blacky! What about Blacky!"If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

    Cheng Hao stopped his pondering and then he asked in an extremely flat voice "You mean... He isn''t here with you?"

    Goldy smiled kindly "Yeah look, I can hold snakes so gigantic that they can blotout the sun in my tiny stomach just fine, right? No wait, can''t I simply create a pocket dimension to thrown in said snakes at will? Can''tI just do that?"

    The dragon''sgentle expression turned into fury "Of course I can''t! And even if I could, why would he even come with me? He hates me if not detests me from back when I harassed him in the old days, whenever I had the chance!"

    Cheng Hao sighed "Bad ending so soon? No! It cannot be!" He turned to look at the two beasts in the air "As long as that snake is still bound down by the seal, it will still be okay!"

    Suddenly, the dragon opened his mouth roaring and attempted to lift itself up. As he did so, with a loud crackling noise, the chains began to break apart.

    Goldy shook his head and yelled at the young boy in front of him "You did it on purpose, didn''t you? You just HAD to set off such an obvious death flag, didn''t you?" He gritted his teeth and he cursed "Damn! What now?".

    Cheng Hao also looked wide-eyedly at the scene above them "Shit! Why couldn''t I just shut up?" He slapped himself on the forehead.

    The dragon smiled fiercely and looked at the young boy like a predator would look at its prey "Ahaha, foolish genius child... I will eat you as well soon, you do not need to worry! Just lay back and enjoy as I massacre your friends!"

    Suddenly, above them, a loud Tiger''s roar could be heard as Lao Jianghu floated up above in the sky and the image of a golden tiger appeared behind him.

    A while ago, that illusion would look mighty, but when compared to the black dragon, it was the same as if a feeble flame was being compared to the sun. Still, the old man wit golden eyesdid not seem to mind about that, as he ignored the drastic difference in size and power.

    His hands constantly moved, making various hand seals, his demeanor was that of a ruler of the heavens and his presence that of an emperor of the earth as the powerful golden blade that he had used to kill Yin Hei floated behind him.

    It suddenly brightened up and shined even brighter than it hadwhen Lao Jianghu had beenfighting against the human-shaped Shadow Dragon. It grew several times in size and only stopped once it had grown to be a few hundred meters long. Even if it was incredibly huge, it still wasn''t even a thousandth, a ten thousandth or even a hundred thousandth of the humongous dragon''sbody.

    Lao Jianghu then pointed his finger towards the enormous black dragon and the gigantic blade magically followed, hovering parallel to the man''s arm, its tip pointing right at the spot in between the dragon''s eyes.

    The beast looked at the old man in disdain. It scoffed and then smirked "You wish to fight me with that toothpick of yours? Even if you were at your full strength you just might have beenable to fight me head on... But now!" it laughed "You can only wish to die peacefully!"

    Down below, the crowd of people followed the exchange of words between their one hope and the Shadow Dragon attentively. The light in their eyes hinted that they still had some hope about being able to live through the day, but what the old man said next extinguished that light completely.

    Lao Jianghu stood silent and simply looked up at the black dragon. He then sighed and the hundred-meters-long goldensword went back to its mild state, hovering behind him "You are right..."

    As his voice rang out, countless people''s legs gave out and they fell on their knees, tears streaming down their cheeks asthey simply stared ahead in despair silently: they did not even the strength to cry out aloud.

    "As I am now, a human, I do not have the power to fight you. I will die here and so will everyone else in this world and many others as well..." Lao Jianghu looked down and his expression was hidden. The Shadow Dragon up in the air smiled as it propped itself up, breaking some of the remaining intact chains in the process.

    It sighed and shook his head "My dear rival... These few hundreds of thousands if not millions of years have been fun... I wish we could do this again... If I wasn''t going to destroy everything, that is! Now then, where do I think should I start? Maybe the Liberis Plane? Those guys are just so fun to toy with, especially when they scramble around on their flying ships and try to fight back! Or maybe the Lakora plane! Half-men are just so much fun to squash! Or maybe-"

    "...BUT." Lao Jianghu interrupted

    The Shadow Dragon looked confused for a second and then it looked back down at Lao Jianghu, his expression one of annoyance "Tiger. You have been defeated. You are dead. You cannot turn this around. You reached a deadend. Game Over, you understand? Right now you are acting like a spoiled kid, nothing more"

    The beast looked down and it seemed somewhat angry "You are annoying the hell out of me, you have been a fun toy to play with before... But a broken toy is just not as fun anymore. Just die and let me enjoy my real passion: destruction and chaos!"

    Lao Jianghu smiled bitterly once but then he looked up: his eyes were not hazy in the least, they were clear and burning with passion, his determination was clear and his resolve as well as his confidence were even clearer!

    "You stupid snake... You really thought this was the end, didn''t you?" Lao Jianghu smirked and ridiculed Long Yin Hei "Too bad for you, I have long since prepared for this moment!"

    The Shadow Dragon tilted its head and looked confused.

    "I have a little quiz for you..." the old man looked at the golden blade that now hovered beside him and caressed it just like a doting father would caresses his beloved child

    "Question number one:" As a way to indicate the first question, he shamelessly lifted up his middle finger at the beast "Do you know how much time it takes to create one of these beauties?"

    Long Yin Hei looked confused for a second and then his disdain increased even more "Trying to buy time, are you? Hope your brothers will save your ass? Too bad I have already sealed this plane away from prying eyes! You should just give u-"

    "Slightly less than a minute. It takes from ten to fifteen breaths."

    The Shadow Dragon''s mouth hanged open and then the dragon gaped.

    Even Cheng Hao was shocked when he heard the man''s answer.

    After all, the weapon was incredibly powerful. Lao Jianghu smiled at the dragon''s reaction and explain "I am not truly creating them. I am merely extracting them from my main body, laying in the seal. That might also be one of the reasons that the seal has weakened a bit. Still, this means that it only takes little time to summon a single one of these powerful weapons."

    He smiled calmly and then he raised the middle finger on his other hand, flipping off the snake twice at once and at the same time indicatingthe number two "Second question. How much damage can one of these do to your true self?"

    Yin Hei felt uneasy and angry, but his pride refused to let him lose face and respond to the man''s provocations. The dragon grinned widely and answered proudly "One of them can, at most, stop me for a fraction of a breath!"

    Lao Jianghu''s eyes glinted "Even better than I imagined..." he muttered. He then looked back towards the center of the Sect, where the ten towers stood tall despite all the wind and pressure imposed on them.

    "Third question... My Protector Tower is made up of golden weapons... How many of them arereallymade up of gold?"

    Yin Hei''s brows furrowed as he felt something was wrong. Something wasreallywrong. He opened his mouth to speak but before he could Lao Jianghu smiled and then clapped his hands together "The answer is..."

    As he lingered off, Yin Hei looked at him intensively.

    Lao Jianghu grinned and yelled "None of them are!"

    Suddenly, countless golden streaks shot out from the center of the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect!

    If one were to look from above, he would be able to see the golden tower made out of countless golden weapons was being dismantled at great speed as the many golden blades, bows, axes and all other kinds of weapons suddenly seemed to become alive and shoot towards the old man wearing golden robes.

    Lao Jianghu smiled as an enormous hurricane took form around him and hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of weapons hovered around him like hundreds of thousands of bloodthirsty golden beasts!

    Lao Jianghu clapped his hands once more and then pointed towards the astonished Shadow Dragon. Lao Jianghu smiled as the countless golden weapons moved and all targeted Yin Hei.

    "Last question!" He shouted and then scratched his napeas if he had found a problem "If they are not made out of gold, what are they really made out of then?" His brows furrowed theatrically and he acted as if he waspondering.

    He snapped his fingers and the golden weapons banded up so that they began to resemble the faint outline of an enormous tiger. They all began to emanate the same blinding light as the first golden longsword and began to grow bigger and bigger until they each became a few hundred meters long.

    The illusion of the tiger became so huge that it was basically as big as the Shadow Dragon "The answer is..."

    Lao Jianghu smiled and explained ''kindly''.

    "They are Aura Weapons made out of the Essence of a Heavenly Beast! I did not use this technique in my previous lives as a human as it would take several years to prepare it, but you gave me enough time in this lifetime... You gave me ten years! For ten years you left me alone as you thought me as being in the crippled body of the Sect Head, letting me come up with all the countermeasures I could... All of this to finally, permanently, defeat you once and for all!"

 Chapter 60 - Slaying The Dragon

    The tiger roared loudly and then it glared at a now terrified Shadow Dragon.

    The beast squirmed as it tried its best to break the chains bounding him and flee "Damn! I have not yet fully recovered, I cannot possibly survive that blow! Break! Break! Why is this shit not breaking!"

    The chains seemed on the verge of breaking but managed to hold on, as if they were making an all-out effort and using every bit of remaining all their power now to keep the dragon still for a few more moments.

    Lao Jianghu smiled and whistled a happy tune as his eyes lit up "Hey, my old friend! Are you ready? Here it comes!" Lao Jianghu lifted his hand up in the air and the Golden Tiger, which had become as big as a whole country, mimicked him, lifting its huge front paw...

    The Shadow Dragon looked up in terror and began to squirm even more violently, pushing his body to its limits to break free of the golden chains. All was for naught as he could only watch as the tiger''s limb got closer and closer...

    "...HIGH FIVE!" Lao Jianghu yelled and smiled cheerfully.

    "...ROAAAAR!" With a loud roar, the tiger dashed towards the Dragon. The body of the tiger quickly morphed into one gigantic tiger''s paw, the single paw being many times the size of the sect and, as it slammed down, the Shadow Dragon couldn''t hope to resist it as it shrieked in pain.

    The Dragon tried to put up resistance against the attack but he couldn''t do anything to even slow down the massive attack. His eyes glowed with fear as he understood that he was about to die.

    With that, the beast found strength where there was none before, making an all-out effort and bringing its body past its limits, a fearful array of thousands of flaming black blades materialized and immediately shot to meet the oncoming paw.

    Although this counterattack was extremely fierce, even this was not enough to block the blow from the countless golden weapons'' attack and it also soon dissipated into nothingness as the paw broke through the array.

    The dragon watched on in despair as the golden paw grew bigger and bigger in his eyes as it got closer and closer...

    It slammed into the dragon''s body so fiercely that it seemed like it could crush the beast''s body into a bloody pulp effortlessly as it smashed down with all its might.

    Down below, Lao Jianghu panted as he grew pale and spat out many mouthfuls of blood: although this attack was used by gathering an incredible amount of Qi for the past ten years, it was still really taxing on his Mortal body.

    Had he been inside the true Aura Tiger''s body, an attack like that wouldn''t even need him to concentrate for even the fraction of a second to pull off.

    Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately as that would mean the Shadow Dragon would be free as well, he was not. The seal above also sealed the Shadow Dragon''s cultivation by a great margin: he could wield even less than one percent of his true power, otherwise he would have already killed everybody present.

    Had the beastbeen in that kind of stage, such an attack wouldn''t even be able to put a scratch on the dragon''s body. Fortunately, he was not, and thus the blow would gravely injure him in the least, killing him with one hit was also possible.

    Lao Jianghu wiped away the blood dripping down from the sides of his mouth. He smiled faintly and once again determination flashed into his eyes as he lifted his hand a second time, gritting his teeth and enduring when he heard his body making creaking noises in protest.

    The thousands of weapon lifted themselves up again, leaving behind a deeply wounded Shadow Dragon: he was covered by countless gaping holes, deep gashes and was greatly trashed.

    The mass of mangled flesh barely resembled a dragon right now and it even looked like it could collapse at any moment.

    Still, Lao Jianghu left him no time to recover: up in the sky, the countless golden weapons shone with bright light as they assembled, beginning to resemble a tiger''s paw once again.

    As the gigantic golden paw reappeared it immediately slammed down for a second time! This time, the old man''sface turned as white as a sheet of paper and he coughed up even more blood.

    Still, the attack was not in any way inferior to the one he had done before as it slammed down with even greater might than it had showed earlier.

    Countless drops of black, putrid blood began to fall from the sky as if they were part of a waterfall. Lao Jianghu looked up, his white beard now stained with his own red blood. When the first few drops of black blood fell, the land they touched began to wither and grow black.

    With a loud roar, Lao Jianghu''s body flew in the air and his eyes shone with intense golden light. He yelled once more as his eyes sparkled with determination and his robes fluttered in the wind "Your blood shall not contaminate this land that I protect!"

    He clapped his hands once and pointed up: a gigantic golden shield appeared in the sky, covering the grounds of the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect: as soon as the blood touched the glowing seal, it would sizzle and then disappear, not even leaving behind fumes or vapor.

    Lao Jianghu panted as he seemed to age over ten years, but his strained body and weathered face showed no sign of giving up: only once the last of the blood drops were destroyed did he finally dispel the shield and the spell on the golden weapons.

    They turned back from their huge hundreds of meters long form into their original appearance, just a few foot long each, and the golden glow began to fade away as well.

    They fell down from the sky and Lao Jianghu spent the very last of his strength to break their fall before they could harm anyone. He spat out another mouthful of blood and moved his hands making strange symbols.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    Veins popped on his forehead as he slowly but carefully guided the blades to land beside him and when they finally did, they embedded themselves in the ground firmly where they stopped glowing altogether.

    Meanwhile, up in the sky, the dragon''s figure was slowly crumbling away as it turned into countless black petals which then once again turned into dust and subsequently disappeared completely from existence.

    As Cheng Hao saw how Lao Jianghu had dealt with the dragon''s threat, he was stunned by the old man''s power. Still, he had no time to be shocked by what happened just then, that a thunderous roar sounded out by the thousands of cultivators below.

    "The dragon is dead!"

    "We won!!!"

    "We are alive! Protector Lao Jianghu, thanks for saving our lives!"

    "Dragon Slayer! Dragon Slayer!"

    Cheng Hao''s eyes widened when he heard those cries but then he nodded "Old Tiger... You did a great job"

    The young child smiled as he looked at the battered body of the old man with golden eyes, a long white beard, a pair of handsome white mustache and impeccable white hair.

    Lao Jianghu smiled tiredly at the crowd of people and felt the last of his strength leave him. Just as he was about to fall on the ground, four strong arms caught him.

    Bi Liang and Mu Gu were smiling bitterly when they looked at the battered body of the old cultivator and they gently laid him down. Mu Gu brought two of his fingers to his mouth and murmured a few ancient-sounding words. He then drew the figure of a tree in the air: it looked mysterious, as if it belonged to some lost era in the past.

    Soon thereafter, a tall, illusory tree also appeared above the old cultivator''s figure and began healing Lao Jianghu''s body.

    Lao Jianghu looked around himself surprised and then smiled "Mu Gu... I have killed the man responsible for your friend''s death... Bi Liang... I have avenged your father. Mu Gu, thanks for trusting me and helping out my companions... I am afraid that such a small sacrifice won''t be enough for you two to forgive me, but I apologize nonetheless..."

    The old protector, wearing bright green robes made of the most beautiful leaves, smiled and shook his head "You did much more than avenging that old fart. You saved us all. Thank you, Aura Tiger. I am sure that Lao Jianghu would have been more than happy to die knowing that his life would save many" he smiled and his gaze fell on the pale face of the wounded man "Now rest, we will take care of everything else!"

    Lao Jianghu nodded and looked at Bi Liang "I see you have defeated Chu Sai... Your father would have beenvery proud of you. At least I, who was so arrogant to think of myself as your father for these many years of planning and hiding, certainly am"

    Bi Liang smiled tiredly but it was a sincere smile that came from the heart. It was a bitter one, but it was in no way cold as he warmly shook his head "I also did, do and will think of you as a father. I am sure Lao Jianghu is smiling at us as he heads down his own path! Wether it is going to be an easy or an harsh one, he will give it his best, how can I do any less?"

    Lao Jianghu looked confused and surprised at the two men and a wide smile formed on his face as he sighed "Your words make me rest at ease. Thank you. If it was not for you, this all wouldn''t have been possible and Lao Jianghu would have died for nothing. He was a very lucky man, to have people as great as you by his side..."

    He smiled and closed his eyes as he began to rotate his cultivation base which had now gone back down to a mid level cultivation base and began to restore his strength.

    Back at Cheng Hao''s group, Aster and Iris were smiling excitedly "Yes! He did it! He is finally dead! We are free! We are alive! We won''t have to fear his threats any longer!" Aster laughed cheerfully as he grabbed Iris and hugged her tight.

    The girl also hugged him back, tears of joy fell from her eyes and her mouth was arranged into a happy smile. Cheng Hao looked at them smiling and crying: he could see that both the smile and the tears were genuine and they both were full of emotions. He concluded that Yin Hei had been somehow forcing them to obey him.

    He sighed relieved, as he now knew that the two of themdidn''t join their hands with a monster like that on their own. Instead, they had beenforced into it. Although this didn''t lessen any of their crimes, it still showed that they were not cold-blooded monsters. At least, the two of them weren''t.

    He took out a white robe from his Dimensional Pouch similar to those that Aster and Iris were wearing and put it on as well. He straightened his clothing and then smiled satisfied.

    Cheng Hao nodded at himself and was relieved that he chose not to kill the two Ancients together with the other seven of their companions: unlike the other eight members, he had sensed no true malice from the duo''s action, except for the thirst for revenge for their fallen comrade and the hatred towards their own weaknesses in front of his power.

    Those couldn''t be considered as bad traits alone. After all, revenge is what drives the man to act, to rebel against the powerful and struggle despite the odds. Hatred towards oneself and one''s weakness might break a man if too weak in the mind, but it is also what brings a person to break past the limits of their body and soar higher than anyone else.

    He had decided to give them a chance.

    They were extremelyrare exceptions: few have ever been given a second chance by him in his two lifetimes. This time though, he had decided to give the duo another chance, despite them acting towards him.

    Of course the fact that they were Ancients, meaning they were like his previous master, influenced the choicea bit, but that was but a mere excuse... What he did not want to admit was that, when he saw them acting like that before, ready to die for one another, it made him feel weak.

    When he saw them hugging each other with tears in their eyes, as if they had just been freed by the harshest of prisons, it made his heart ache so badly that he had almost wanted to grab his chest from the pain.

    Their relationship was clearly not that of a brother and sister, they were not even related after all, but they still cared about each other so much... This made memories surface again in Cheng Hao''s mind. Memories he thought erased. Memories that he would have wished to have forgotten, if it meant not going through those painful experiences all over gain.

    Unfortunately, it was impossible, he knew that as they have always been with him, surfacing from time to time when he thought he had finally got rid of them...

    But why would they come back then? Why now of all times? Why did they need to haunt him again after more than a thousand years has passed?

    He did not understand, the only thing he knew was that his heart skipped a beat when he recalled her red lips moving without making a sound, her red skinned body dancing near the bonfire as if she was the flame instead.

    She seemed to make the heavens silent as her dance was simply too beautiful. Her robes danced with hair and her hair fluttered behind her back and fell on her face... Her laughter who seemed to be able to turn even the harshest of winters into summer echoed in the child''s head as his chest ached...

    ...

    He sighed and looked upwards to the sky still covered in black clouds.

    ''Will I always see you in my memories as an ethereal flame? You burn, but your warmth won''t reach me, your light that may have been blinding before is now nothing more than a faint ember... Will I really... Be forever unable to reach you?'' He sighed and muttered "Rei Hong..."

    He looked up for some time, not seeming to care about the celebration below.

    Suddenly, Cheng Hao''s expression flinched, his face darkened and he cursed "Damn... Is that guy immortal? How could he not die?"

    Hearing his words, the two ancients looked at each other and then asked "Who? Sir Jianghu?"

    Goldy also glared upwards "Crap! Stupid Hao is right! All this happened and he still has not died, this is simply ridiculous!"

    Iris trembled as she felt a bad feeling swelling up in her heart. The two people broke their hug and the girl asked "Who... Who are you talking about?"

    Cheng Hao''s eyes grew angry as he felt the need to unleash his bottled up emotions on someone... And it seemed like he would get a chance, yes, but it might be more than hehad been looking for:

    "That Shadow Dragon...It is still alive!"

 Chapter 61 - Path Towards Calamity 1

    Lao Jianghu who had been resting up until a while ago suddenly opened his eyes in shock "No... This can''t be! How did he...?"

    Mu Gu was shocked by Lao Jianghu''s sudden actions and felt something was not right.

    "What-What''s wrong?" He then felt his hair standing as he looked up "No way... Is that thing still alive?"

    Bi Liang''s mouth opened wide as he also gaped in shock. He glared upwards as his expression changed into anger "Damn! Will this never end?"

    Lao Jianghu gritted his teeth and attempted to get up. Blood sprayed from his mouth and he felt weak, so weak that he fell on his back "I... Can''t... Fail..."

    Suddenly, a small hand clasped his shoulder and a faint golden mist covered his whole body. The old manfelt his wounds were beginning to heal and his damaged cultivation was slowly recovering as well.

    He looked up and saw Cheng Hao was glaring upwards as he healed Lao Jianghu through the use of his Golden Aura.

    "Old man, you have done what you could, do not push yourself any further" He kneltbeside him and grinned as Goldy hovered behind him "It is our turn now. We will take care of it, so rest and relax!"

    Two white robed people stepped up, releasing a pressure on par with the peak Sung stage and mid level Reverend stage respectively. They hid their appearance beneath the hoods so people couldn''t recognize them and proceeded to sit down and aid Mu Gu with the Healing Process by pouring their cultivation into the illusory tree as a way to fuel the technique.

    Lao Jianghu trembled once and then tears fell from his eyes as he gritted his teeth in anger "Kill him... Kill that bastard once and for all!"

    Cheng Hao smiled and nodded. He straightened himself and walked forward. After a few steps he lifted his head and was surprised to find Wu and Sou Rou were standing on his path, staring at him intensively.

    He walked up to them and made a slight bow "I apologize for what my actions may have caused to you. Right now though, I cannot pay you back, I can only offer you an apology..."

    Wu Rou smiled and she also bowed gratefully "You needn''t apologize, Lord Sect Head. I am really thankful of the boon you have given to me... As well as the help you have given to my disciple" She turned to look at Sou Rou and the girl stepped forward, determination flashing through her eyes.

    She knelt on the ground and kowtowed "Lord Sect Head, this humble disciple thanks you for saving my life! From now on, my life belongs to you, Lord Sect Head!" She banged her head on the ground before Cheng Hao could stop her.

    Her forehead bled and the blood fell on the ground "Please, Sect Head! Protect our Sect! This Sect is my home, its members are my family! I will selfishly ask you to win this fight: I am weak and do not have the strength to do that, but I believe that Sect Head does! Do whatever you want with me as a repayment, kill me, use me to refine a soul crystal, sell my body... But please, help them!"

    She closed her eyes and bit her lips trembling as she prepared herself for the worst. Big drops fell down from her cheeks as she cried. Cheng Hao looked down silently as his face showed no emotions.

    "What are you talking about? What repayment?" He finally asked grinning widely as she helped the beautiful girl up and gently grabbed her chin so she could look at him "If such a beautiful young woman such as you is willing to give up everything for others, how could I possibly decline her request?"

    The girl trembled as he looked at the boy in front of her. She felt as if all her troubles were nothing in the eyes of this child, as if they could be solved by a wave of his hand.

    "Also..." the boy smiled bashfully "Don''t call me Sect Head! Just call me Cheng Hao, would you? If you do not, I will consider this as you seeing me as a random person and not a big brother! You were my little sister ever since you accepted my terms back in the arena!"

    Sou Rou gaped as Cheng Hao wiped away the blood and tears from her face with his robes, kissed her forehead and pat her head smiling "I will be sure to stop that guy. Do not worry little sis, I won''t let him have his way!"

    The girl also smiled and she nodded relieved. The boy turned to look at Wu Rou and he nodded bowing his head "Wu Rou, go where you want. You are free, your place is not here, you may decide your own path."

    He then patted the head of the young girl in front of him "Sou Rou, your strength is a lot more than you might think, the fact that you are willing to give your life to save other is the proof. Get stronger and protect those dearest to you! You will truly be strong when the power you hold is able to protect everyone you deeply care about!"

    With those words he turned and walked forward, leaving behind the two women, young and old, feeling as if a great weight had just been lifted off their chest.

    Sou Rou smiled at Wu Rou and tears began to fall again, except they were not the sour and salty tears of sadness and grief, but they were sweet and gentle tears of joy and happiness.

    "Master... You know that I once told you I had no blood-related siblings nor parents? At first I was bullied in the Sect and resented everyone for that. Then, you came, and taught me the importance of friendship and family, to not resent people as they might share my same grief as well.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

    "That was the reason I decided to give it my all to protect my new family, this Sect! I only had a true mother, you, up until now! Well now, you know what?" Her eyes shone as the tears streaked down her cheeks and she laughed "Now I have a big brother! And he is so cute, handsome and strong that nobody will ever bully me anymore!"

    Wu Rou nodded and her eyes also grew slightly wet "That is right. And that brother of yours is going to save us all now! Let''s cheer for him and prepare to greet him as he returns victorious!" She looked at the child''s back that was getting further and further from them "As his sister, you must believe in him!"

    Sou Rou nodded and smiled "I will! Go for it bro! Kick their asses!"

    Wu Rou''s eyes widened and then she chuckled "Now, now, that wasn''t too ladylike, was it?"

    Sou Rou blushed "Master Don''t tease me! Else I''ll call big brother to beat you!" The two of them stared at each other''s eyes and then burst into laughter.

    "Ahaha" the two beautiful women laughed butthen their expressions turned serious as they stared up in the sky, where a single black petal floated. It looked intangible and yet it emanated incredible power, as if it could eradicate the whole world by simply wishing it. Yet, nobody could possibly get close to it as the pressure was just too strong.

    "Sect Head, No, Big brother... Go for it!" Wu Rou''s eyes brightened and she threw herself on the ground, where she began cultivating, following the instructions Cheng Hao had given her before she had passed out in the Arena. Soon, a faint mist appeared and a Red Lion, a Massive Ocean and an Imposing Rose slowly began to condense behind her.

    At first they were illusory, but they slowly became more and more realistic as the girl meditated and got enlightened...

    ...

    Cheng Hao smiled, feeling warmth in his heart as he recalled the way Sou Rou had begged him to save the people from the Sect: she probably knew that the child could run away pretty much whenever he wanted, but what she didn''t know was that his pride and his own principles wouldn''t allow him.

    He would never leave behind a friend, even less family and his martial brothers and sisters! If it was them, was he not willing to pass through oceans of fire if it meant saving them? So, how could he possibly leave them in the hands of that bastard Shadow Dragon?

    He walked on and looked up, where the petal was slowly beginning to morph, turning into a black and red cocoon. He did not even need to examine it to know that the cocoon would not be destroyed even if he made an all out effort, so he was in no hurry: he could only wait for the thing in the cocoon to come out himself, and then the final battle would begin!

    Soon, he had another unexpected encounter: Fang Lu was standing a few meters from him, his arms crossed in front of him and his back straight.

    He looked proud, yet not arrogant. Behind him hung the big scroll that he had used to slaughter his way through the mercenaries ranks.

    The boy''s eyes brightened up when he saw Cheng Hao approaching and he bowed his head slightly "Greetings, Sect Head Cheng" he then chuckled as he scratched his neck "Sorry, but I cannot call you by your name, Lord Sect Head! My master wishes for me to be respectful at all times!"

    Cheng Hao smiled as he bowed his head as well "Well then, I will have a small talk with your master later. I also thank you for both your assistance in the match and also your aid during the battle"

    Fang Lu blushed as he chuckled a bit embarrassed "It is not like Sect Head actually needed any of those. I also didn''t help out too much, so please don''t mention it"

    Cheng Hao smiled and he asked "So? What brings you here?"

    Fang Lu looked like someone had just declared a death sentence as he paled "W-Well... Uncle Sect Head, you see, I saw how strong you were back then. Teacher also told me you are incredibly powerful..." he looked at his toes while Cheng Hao cringed when he heard Fang Lu addressing him as an uncle.

    "I wondered if the Lord Sect Head''d mind giving me some tips? I feel so weak right now after witnessing that heaven-shaking battles that Uncle Sect Head and Sir Lao Jianghu fought. I am starting to wonder wether I should really be considered a talent after all this... So I have decided to muster up my courage and ask you this..."

    Cheng Hao''s eyes widened and then he broke out into laughter "Ahaha! Of course I don''t mind!" He nodded as he smiled "Also, don''t think about that battle too much, they are beings who are as old as the land itself, your talent is more than enough. As for me... Well, just think of it as me being just as old as well! Of course, that doesn''t mean that you can call me uncle! Call me Big Brother from now on!"

    His eyes gleamed "Still, as you asked me so straightforwardly and I now consider you a little brother, I cannot possibly decline!" He pointed at the mighty scroll "Could you give me that for a second?"

    Fang Lu seemed to hesitate for a bit but then he smiled and handed over the scroll ''Why should I refuse?'' He thought to himself ''You could take it whenever you want to anyways...''

    Cheng Hao received the scroll and slowly opened it: nine lines of ancient words were inscribed on the strange parchment: strange because it was clearly not paper or other simple materials.

    Cheng Hao''s eyes gleamed "This is made out of so many high quality ingredients! Flame dragon''s Hide, Storm Vulture''s feather, Toad Emperor''s skin... There''s even an Autumn Whispering Rainflower!" he elencated surprised "Such high-quality ingredients! This scroll has the potential to summon the rain and call down lightning!"

    Then his expression turned into disappointment "It is just too bad that the nine inscriptions have been written down hurriedly" the nine inscriptions he referred to were none other than nine lines of words that have been inscribed.

    They were also pretty strange: each line hadn''t been noted down with ink, but with what seemed the very elements of the world, such as fire, water and so on. They each had different properties: one had flaming words that looked incredibly hot, another was constantly changing and was at times blurry at times definite depending on how the wind blowed and many other were writtten withmysterious materials.

    Cheng Hao examined the scroll for a bit longer and pondered. Finally his expression brightened as he called Fang Luover. The older boy hurried towards him and the child made him hold the scroll.

    "I will point out the mistakes committed by the person who had wrote down the scroll, but it will be up to you how and when to correct them. The language is known as the P¨¡ramit¨¡, or completion, perfection: it is mainly composed of nine alphabets, each of them used to describe different aspects of the world... And the power and perfection of Nature!"

    Fang Lu nodded and concentrated as Cheng Zhao pointed towards the first row, whose letters seemed to be made out of running water "Here, the second marking is too hazy compared to the others. The reason is that the last stroke has been done rashly, thus turning the former word ''Torrent'', as in ''Flood'', into ''Stream''..." he lifted his finger and drew in the air a complicated mark and then made the same mark with a slight variation in the length of one of the strokes.

    "The difference in potential and possible power is pretty clear, isn''t it? Did you get it? Next! This word here might look appropriate as it balances these two terms to manipulate temperature and ice while still not harming the self, but..."

    Fang Lu looked on with wide eyes, not blinking even for the fraction of a breath, fearing that he might lose some knowledge from this once in a lifetime chance to grow stronger and understand his power more.

 Chapter 62 - Path Towards Calamity 2

    Finally, Cheng Hao nodded satisfied "This should be enough for the moment. I have to go on now, good luck with your studies! Let me see how much you improved later! Oh, and, if I won''t have the chance later, please say hi to your ancestor on my part. Tell him that Butterflies are not Flies that fell into Butter! He will understand!"

    The boy gaped when he heard Cheng Hao''s words but decided not to underestimate the young boy.

    Fang Lu panted as he made his best effort to remember every single thing that Cheng Hao had told him as he hurried to call forth his own Qi. This particular kind of Qi focused on the nine main and sub elements of nature - main being wood, fire, water, metal and wind and sub being electricity, earth, gold and void - the Qi was called the Nine Earthly Retributions Qi, a special Qi unique to Fang Clan members. Fang Lu began operating it to change the nine inscriptions according to Cheng Hao''s instructions.

    He couldn''t believe his eyes as, after just a few slight changes, the scroll''s aura changed completely as it grew many times more powerful and mysterious than before. He finished changing everything and then decided to test it out when he felt an aura of invincibility come from the scroll itself.

    He lifted his right hand and yelled "A Fire!" As soon as he finished speaking those words, the air trembled and a flame pillar five feet tall exploded upwards from his hand.

    Fang Lu paled as he recalled the small, trembling flame that he had summoned in the past using the same words and he smiled excitedly. The flame pillar burned and he felt as if he could keep it going for a whole day before tiring, a feat that would have been impossible just a few minutes ago, even if the only thing he had summoned was the small flame. He lifted his other hand and he laughed as he spoke "A Wind!"

    A blade of wind six feet tall appeared, looking absolutely imposing: if that was to be unleashed, even a small hill would crumble under its power!

    The scroll contained nine inscriptions. Each had nine tiers, few words that would call upon the power of the scroll. The more words, the highest the Tier, and thus the stronger the power!

    These words when called upon, would drain the user''s energy to fuel the ability and summon the respective element. The First tier would be accessible easily enough after some training, while the others would need an extraordinary cultivation base to unleash.

    Right now, Fang Lu was using power akin to what the Third Tier looked like when he had used it during the battle to slay countless opponents. And this was by only summoning the First Tier of the Fires From Hell inscription! With things being like this, he couldn''t avoid being anxious to see what the real third tier would be like!

    Before, he could summon four Tiers of each of the five main elements and from three to two of the sub elements. Right now though, that limit had been changed! What the changes in the inscriptions had brought forth wasn''t only a massive increase in strength, but also in efficiency! The way the energy was absorbed was that so he needed less energy for more power!

    He dispelled the two elements and decided to test his true power: Fang Lu put out his hand again.

    "A Fire" the pillar of flame appeared, just as imposing as before.

    "To Burn Tall!" The pillar grew to a staggering eight feet in height and two meters in diameter. Everything within the radius of the pillar turned into charcoal.

    "A Pillar Of Destruction!" The pillar began to rotate around itself and the temperature rose dangerously, the charcoal turned into dust that then got devoured as well.

    "Shall Devour The Land!" The pillar grew in size even more and turned into a gigantic fire serpent more than fifteen feet tall.

    The flaming beast roared loudly, scaring even Fang Lu himself, but then the shocked look in the young man''s eyes turned into excitement as he felt that he still had the power to continue: this was the Fourth Tier of the Fires Of Hell incantation... This that once had been his limit would now only tire him a bit if he wished to break past it!

    He controlled the flame dragon for a few breaths and then determination flashed past his face as he yelled "The Earth, but a Sea Of Flame!" As he said that, the air trembled, the clouds churned as he felt his energy draining at a rapid pace.

    In front of him, a sea of fire appeared: countless flaming serpents rose from the ground, ascending to the sky while burning everything in their path. The effort of these countless flaming serpents turned the land in a diameter of a hundred steps from him into an ocean of fire!

    The difference between the strength that he was wielding now and the strength that he had before changing the scriptures was the same as the one between the Heaven and Earth!This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    Fang Lu felt his energy being drained at an extremely fast rate so he dispelled the technique: around him, black, charred and scorched earth could be seen dozens of steps in each direction from him. The temperature itself also was so high it was unbearable.

    He turned to look at the direction Cheng Hao had been walking towards to and he kowtowed "Cheng Hao! I, Fang Lu, swear to live up to your expectations! Thank you for your help, I won''t let you down!"

    He prostrated on the ground for a full five minutes before sitting cross legged and beginning to meditate, enlightened on the mysteries of the heaven and earth, of Nature itself: the few doubts on the power of his technique, which had created ripples in his heart, in his self-esteem as a cultivator, had long since vanished, replaced by renewed belief in the path that he had chosen!

    ...

    Cheng Hao walked and walked, seeming not in a hurry at all, a carefree yet fierce expression was plastered on his face. He had crossed many people in his path:

    Some of the Protectors had asked for his help in protecting the Sect, even if not with the same enthusiasm and passion as Sou Rou had, but their loayalty towards the sect was all but crystal clear;

    The Core Elders of the Golden Tiger Faction also requested for his help, also asking for Lao Jianghu''s condition at the same time, or simply bidding good luck to the child, their friend and their last hope.

    After a whole hour had passed, the cocoon in the sky had begun to slowly unravel, as it did, eery black light creeped out and an evil presence found its way outside.

    Cheng Hao looked up and his expression flickered as he felt the strong power coming from within the object. He gulped and then he took one trembling step forward.

    "Ahem" Somebody coughed behind him. Cheng Hao''s eyes widened and then his previous fierceexpression got wiped away from his face as he smiled "I was just thinking wether you had forgotten about me or not..." He turned "Lil'' Sis! Lil'' Bro!"

    Xiao Wu and Fu Yin grinned and then both hugged him tight.

    The young girl was the first to crack up "Brother! I missed you so much! What happened? Could you please tell me why did you have to say such mean things to me back then? I don''t understand! At one point we were all happy and clapping, then stuff happened and we fought a huge battle! Then the huge dragon appeared... What is going on? Why do you always have to put yourself into danger for others'' sake?" Tears fell down her face.

    Fu Yin broke the group hug first and he rubbed his nose as he smiled bitterly "Big Bro... We have been waiting for you, at least we knew that you would come back thanks to the golden thingy-"

    "I''m called Blindlight, you idiot twerp!"

    "But we soon realized that, while you were gone, we would soon encounter many trials in our path, not all of them being easy to pass..."

    Cheng Hao said nothing as an apologetic look appeared on his face and he patted the small girl''s head comfortably. He looked down and pain as well as uncertainty could be seen in his lonely gaze "I..."

    "But" Fu Yin grinned "We knew it was for our best as well! What happened today provedit as well!"

    Xiao Wu wiped her tears as she looked up to the young boy who, in her perspective, was just a few months older than she was.

    "We are not stupid, brother. We may be foolish, but we are not idiots, we know what you have been going through. Both I and Brother Fu Yin do not resent you for not telling us..."

    Fu Yin nodded "That is right, Brother. We do hate you, on the other hand, for leaving us behind!" He shook his head and glared at Cheng Hao. He then raised his right hand and entered a stance, power concentrated in his fist.

    Cheng Hao looked at him bewildered but then he smiled bitterly and shook his head as he sighed "Both your stance and your punch are useless. I taught you the way to read an opponent''s moves by their stance, you should know better than most how futile these stances are. And your punch will be unable to injure me with the power of my body-"

    Fu Yin didn''t say anything and simply punched out while Xiao Wu tightened her arms around the boy''s waist, to block his movements. Cheng Hao did nothing to defend himself from the blow and simply prepared to accept it, he even lowered the defenses of his Fleshly Body, all to accept that one punch.

    Except, the powerful blow never landed. Fu Yin grinned as he punched the child''s shoulder lightly. He twirled a strand of white hair and chuckled "Still, you are our Big Brother! We cannot even begin to count how many times you have saved or aid us, you are simply the best brother in the world!"

    Xiao Wu also grinned and let go of the boy''s waist and stood on the side "Of course, we know that we wouldn''t be any help in the battle you are about to fight so we won''t hinder you... But you must promise you will come back alive! If not for yourself..." the girl turned to see that a huge crowd had gathered around them.

    Elders, Protectors and disciples alike smiled as they saw the scene that was playing out. Xiao Wu''s smiled widened "See? They are all here to wish you good luck! Many of them simply wish to save themselves, but they know better than anybody how much of a help you have been to them"

    Fu Yin nodded and inquired yelling at the group of people smiling "Wouldn''t it be a shame if the newly appointed Sect Head died just like that a few hours after being appointed assuch? So, would you want him to sacrifice himself for the Sect?"

    "NO!" The crowd yelled.

    Cheng Hao watched the scene unfold with wide eyes and his mouth gaping.

    "LORD SECT HEAD, DON''T YOU DARE DIE! "

    "Do you hear them, brother?" Xiao Wu asked grinning "Are you going to disappoint so many people because of your selfishness? We are all counting on you!"

    Cheng Hao''s eyes widened but then his expression turned calm again. He flicked his sleeve and his eyes turned back into their carefree yet vicious look from before he had sensed the powerful evil aura "Who ever said I am going to die? Are you implying that I will lose?" He laughed and the Sect members hurriedly shook their heads when they saw Cheng Hao''s expression.

    Even though he appeared so vicious on the outside, inside he was crying and laughingto the point of tears and thanking all the people that had supported him at that time.

    His aura changed as his right and left eyes turned respectively black and white. His white robes also fluttered and it seemed on the point of shredding from the powerful pressure emitted by the boy.

    ''Xiao Wu, Fu Yin, everyone... Thank you all!'' He said in his mind ''I will never forget that you had been there when I needed it the most! Thank you, I will be sure to repay you one day!''

 Chapter 63 - The Best Gift

    The crowd trembled but Fu Yin and Xiao Wu chuckled. The girl nodded satisfied "That is the brother I know! Now go and kick that bastard snake''s ass!"

    Cheng Hao turned and his robes fluttered as his eyes burned with fierce fighting spirit "Oh, you needn''t worry about that... I am used to do it after beating one incredibly though, scaly ass of a reptile every day!"

    "What incredibly tough, scaly ass of a reptile are you talking about, you bastard!" Goldy gritted his teeth in indignation, but it could be seen that in his eyes was relief as well as happiness.

    ''Fu Yin, Xiao Wu, thank you for easing Cheng Hao''s worries. What he is worried about is not death, but was worried about you all, how you would perceive him as after he shows his true face... And what you would think if he lost!"

    ''By rekindling his fighting spirit, you did more than you could imagine, you made him understand that although you trust him, the responsibility is not his and his alone to bear. Now that this is out of the way, we are going to see quite a show!''

    "Wether your name is Cheng Hao or Xu Ling..." Fu Yin approached and muttered so that only Xiao Wu and Cheng Hao could hear him "Wether this Cheng Hao is a real person or a fake identity, you are my, no, our brother. Don''t worry about us! Go ahead! If you fail, no one will blame you for that, but if you win we will all feast tonight!"

    Cheng Hao''s eyes widened in surprise but then he smiled bitterly and sighed "I am beginning to feel as if I had taught you too much..." his eyes then lit up "Very well! Wish me luck!" He turned and a fierce expression appeared on his face "I''m going to take care of that overgrown snake once and for all!"

    As he walked, he crossed Te Rin. The girl at first only watched him pass close to her silently, biting her lips. Then, she inhaled once trembling and asked, just as Cheng Hao stepped by her "Why do you need to do this?"

    The child stopped in his steps and his face darkened.

    The girl heard no reply so she continued, tears streaming down her cheeks "Why do you need to risk your life for other like that? You could run away, escape this madness!"

    "What''s more, you are doing this alone! How can you bear the loneliness? How are you this strong, how can you walk with death weighing down on your shoulders? Does your life mean nothing to you?"

    Cheng Hao''s shoulder shook as he turned, his eyes seemingly wrathful. Te Rin trembled when the child lifted one of his arms in the air, as if he was going to hit her.

    She closed her eyes but, as she felt no pain, she saw that he was simply scratching his neck as he smiled "But I am not alone! Whenever I had been, I suffered! It was then though, when I fought that final battle, that I found out that even the harshest of situations could be faced with a smile on my face if we are together!"

    "They fell like flies around me... Yet, they all turned and smiled, as if they had no enmity or bad feelings left. It was impossible, I know. Only now though, I understand! They died happily... Because they died with brothers by their side!"

    He chuckled and then patted his chest "Those guys right now, we may not be able to see or hear them, but their spirit, their wishes, their dreams... They all lingers on! And it is now my turn, as the living, to help making those dreams come true!"

    He looked up and a single tear streaked down his cheek "I always thought of myself as a person who loved his comrades like brothers... But I amfinally beginning tounderstand...That I wasn''t! If I had truly thought of them as brothers, then I would have died at that time by their side! But now..."

    "I will spare no effort to aid them as brothers, to love them as brothers..." he clenched his fist as he stared at Xiao Wu and Fu Yin "Toseethem as brothers!"

    The boy stood silent for a few breaths.

    "Te Rin, while I might seem like I am alone at the moment, I am only here because of everyone else. May it be a treasure they gifted me, an ability they taught me, their support, their simple existence... Wether they were a little speck of dust or a bright sun in my path, without a single one of them I wouldn''t be here as I am now!"

    He patted the girl and then proceeded to walk past her. He stepped a few meters away from the girl and, without turning, he spoke one last time "This Sect has been no speck of dust, it has been a place I could call home for a long period of time. Those who wish to harm what is connected by good Karma to me will know what it truly feels like to be the target of our wrath!"

    "No! Not my wrath! It is our wrath! It is the anger of all those who make up Cheng Hao, all those who have given their very best effort to make me reach this far! This is... The wrath of the Chosen One! But, I won''t walk alone anymore! I will walk alongside my comrades, not in front of them!"

    Te Rin trembled and she turned: in front of her, Cheng Hao''s figure was normal as it was before, but behind him was now the blurry image of a youth, his back on Cheng Hao''s back: he had black hair and sharp, golden eyes with a slight hint of blue in the corners, as if they had been turned into their current golden hue because of some circumstances.

    Around him were a few blurry figures with their back towards him, as if they did not even noticehim. Dangling from the man''sbelt, was a gourd. It emanated incredible pressure, as if it was a treasure of the heavens.

    It was a kind of pressure that made people shiver and then want to bow: it was the aura of an emperor. For some reason, Te Rin felt that whoever drank the whole bottle would obtain enough strength to topple the heavens.

    On the other hand, if he gave the gourd for other to drink, he would bring out even more power, but not to himself: this massive power would be shared by the whole group! And the man didn''t seem to accept not being superior to anyone else. He kept the gourd to himself.

    A face appeared on top of the gourd, as if it was mocking the man, but at the same time was excited to see the figure abandon his comrades.

    But now, as he heard Cheng Hao''s words, the man with golden blue eyes smiled, as if those words had enlightened him.

    Cheng hao smiled:

    I failed on my oath to defeat him once. That is why, I won''t walk the same path as before, but I will create my own path, a new path! A path where everyone I love is safe, where we are together and will never leave each other behind! Let''s create a path that the Heavens have refused to laid out for us... And smack Tian to the end of time!Stolen story; please report.

    Cheng Hao''sexpression grew warmer whilehis distant and cold past self soon began to look less lonely as the many blurry figures turned, smiling, and walked to his side, laughing and patting his back cheerfully.

    The mansmiled and looked up, his expression one of peacefulness. He turned and the expression of the gourd that dangled by his side had changed. It immediately began to whisper into his ear:

    Hurry, with your strength alone, you will never defeat him! You need to get more powerful! Drink me alone, and you will win for sure!

    Yet, the man ignored it and the gourd trembled as if a lightning bolt had passed through it. It began to exude great killing intent. The man trembled as his already hazy self began to fade way.

    He was on the point of collapsing, but then one of the blurry figures stepped up, to shield the blue golden eyed man from the gourd''s attack!The pressure was reduced by a slight bit, not enough to make a difference, but the gourd began to tremble as its fear manifested!

    More and more people stood up, looks of determination flashing on their face. The man smiled at the now stupefied gourd and shook his head muttering, both to the gourd and to himself:

    As you can see... i am not alone anymore! I don''t need your power!

    Hearing that, the gourd trembled and the face disappeared: apparently, thisfacehad only existed inside him all along! The gourd flew and landed in the hazy person''s hands, completely harmless.

    The man took it and threw it at one of the figures without a second thought. The other figure was surprised at first, but then nodded smiling, drunk the liquid inside and then passed it on to another. It went on, the countless figures drank and drank, until the almighty aura of the object had nearly disappeared.

    It was only then, that the man grabbed the gourd and finally drunk his share. His gaze then burned with determination.

    Behind him, so close to the blue-eyed man to see every strand of his hair, yet so distant that he could not even hope for his voice to reach him, Cheng Hao''sgolden eyes also burned brightly

    ''If I had made this choice back then... Things would gone differently! They... would have all lived!''

    The youth seemed to superimpose with Cheng Hao for a moment and, suddenly, the young boy''s presence grew stronger. It was as if he was not a small child anymore, but a being of incredible power, capable of turning over the heavens as easily as flipping his palm upside-down!

    The figure and Cheng Hao both inhaled once and then wandered on. The figure began to walk upwards, towards the sky, as if his opponent was up there, waiting for him. His eyes glinted and he smiled, as if he had realized himself. He walked into what seemed to be an invisible door and disappeared from view, the countless other figures by his side.

    Cheng Hao also walked on and, Te Rin noticed, his back looked even more imposing than when she had looked at it a few breaths ago. It looked as if, after superimposing with that figure, Cheng Hao had suddenly turned into a being as powerful as that otherperson had been!

    Yet now, that backdid not seem as distant as it did before... It was as if, if she tried her very best to reach him, he would turn, smiling, and offer her a hand to reach and walk beside him. No... He would do his utmost to help her surpass him!

    Te Rin looked on with wide eyes and then smiled. Suddenly, she trembled and words appeared in her mind, as if someone was talking through her "You cannot hinder his Path with your words, as his intention is clear and firm. His Mind won''t waver, as even the heavens themselves couldn''t dissuade him from threading the path he chose"

    Te Rin''s eyes widened as she felt as if an Ancient being inside her was using her body to manifest herself into the material world. It was the voice of an old woman and it was filled with affection, as if she was looking at her own child. Yet, this voice seemed... Distant. As if the owner was no longer alive, but dead.

    "His Heart is righteous, his Path that of destiny. Watch him, human child, follow him and you will rise to the heavens. For his Karma and Destiny have been written from scratch by him, Fate cannot interfere with him yet he can write over Fate... That kind of ambition, will it stop once he reaches the sky or will it go way up, into the starry seas... And become one with the Mountain?"

    Te Rin trembled and, when she realized she was in control of her body once more, she trembled "Brother... Just what is it that you seek that you went as far as changing Fate itself to accomplish?"

    Cheng Hao wasn''t too far away so he heard her words. He smiled and he spoke again "If I wish to reshape the Heavens, shouldn''t I change Fate first? What good is changing something if it means it will go back to a state you don''t wish?"

    Te Rin fell on her knees and another tear fell from her cheek as she gaped at Cheng Hao''s back that was getting further and further away and yet was still so close that she could reach it as easily as stepping forward.

    "Brother... I cannot stop you, all I can do will be wishing you luck! Brother, go kick that monster''s butt and come back alive! Promise?"

    In the distance, Cheng Hao smiled as he felt warmth rising in his chest: everyone that he had met, wether they wished to stop him or not at first, they all cheered for him now.

    As he felt the stares of thousands pairs of eyes on his back, he smiled even more, he felt his blood pumping and his heart racing. He raised his right arm and then lifted his index finger, pointing at the sky.

    The crowd of people understood: the child''s true goal wasn''t here on the land, it was up in the sky, it was the heavens themselves! If he truly wanted that, how could he possibly be stopped here?

    Simple.

    He would not!

    The sky rumbled and Cheng Hao''s robes fluttered while his hair was thrown into disarray from a powerful wind blowing from the mysterious black cocoon. He shielded his eyes from the wind and when it stopped for a moment before picking up again, he looked up.

    Cheng Hao straightened his figure as his eyes glared upwards, fighting spirit and killing intent flashed deep into his pupils. His body was battered by the wind, yet it did not bend in any way, refusing to bow down.

    Inside the cocoon, two red fiery eyes, so bright they looked like flames, opened and stared down towards the child. Sensing the gaze, Cheng Hao stared up as well. Sparks seemed to fly in the air as everyone felt the same thing: this battle... would shake the earth and make the heavens tremble.

    This battle, was a battle of two powerful beings: one was a genius the heavens had never seen before, one was the Shadow Dragon, associated with calamity itself because of its power and cruelty.

    And of this giant battle... Many would bear witness and, if they survived, they would tell the tale to their children, sing stories in the taverns and even write stories about the greatest battle their world had ever seen!

    ...

    As everyone cheered, nobody noticed a presence that seemed to be peeking down from the heavens themselves: he had no figure, no body, one could not even feel his presence, as if he was a part of the world itself and not an inhabitant or an intruder at all!

    "..." it didn''t speak for a long time, but then it finally seemed to be reminiscing "You really are one of a kind... Had it been anyone else of the Heavensborn, they would have run away, they would put their lives above anything else, and would not have cared about my gift..."

    It stood silent for a bit and then he resumed its speech "You have deemed yourself more than worthy. It would be my turn now to keep my part of the agreement..."

    The presence seemed to be smiling "I apologize... I will change our agreement snd act selfishly for a bit to see how you get out of this. Make it, and I will bestow the greatest gift you could wish for..." It wondered off as if he was grinning and he chuckled "And I think I know what it might be already... I''ll let you two reunite again, but only if you win!"

    A slight flash of red light appeared and a single red and golden feather appeared, floating in mid-air. The presence seemed to be contemplating and then the feather disappeared as the being concentrated once again on the battle that was about to unfold.

    That presence apparently was none other than the same ancient being who had promised Cheng Hao to help him if he showed himself as worthy of his power!

    Now though, he seemed to had changed his mind, but nobody, not even Cheng Hao was aware of that. He would not aid Cheng Hao but had decided on another reward, had the child heard this he would have been angered to the point of having smoke coming out of his ears.

    Still, if the reincarnated boy had been able to see that feather up in the sky, he would have been so shocked that he might have fallen in his knees and cried from the disbelief and joy.

    He would have probably started panting on the spot, a flood of memories would have flowed in his mind and thrown his thinking process into disarray... Even blood would flow from his eyes as there would be in no way enough tears to cry.

    The reason? It was feather was none other than... a part of Her.

    And that truly was the best possible gift anyone could ever hope to give him!

 Chapter 64 - A Flame of Reminiscience

    Cheng Hao didn''t lower his gaze, even when those two eyes that seemed to hold the flames of hell within looked down on him. They were seemingly attempting to eradicate his very existence by glaring at him.

    The two pairs of eyes stared at each other for twenty breaths until, suddenly, the pair of red flaming eyes shuddered: the two illusions of the shadow beast and of the mountains and seas of corpses had appeared in the child''s pupils, instilling great fear in the owner of the blazing eyes.

    The two flames suddenly broke contact as a deep roar could be heard from within the black cocoon.

    Cheng Hao smiled bitterly "Looks like somebody doesn''t like losing in a staring contest..."

    The cocoon slowly begun to unravel, the black silk didn''t fall down on the ground and instead began to morph into a gigantic pair of black angel wings.

    When the black thread had completely unveiled, the figure was still hidden within the two black gigantic wings. It looked as if, if itwere to spread them, he would have the power rule over all and everything!

    Silence ruled the whole Sect, those disciples and elders who had not witnessed what had happened in the Grudge''s End had already drawn some conclusions after the gigantic golden seal had appeared in the sky and the fierce battle had taken place.

    Now, they had seen that black cocoon,whichhad been exuding evil energy up until some time ago, suddenly change and turn into a pair of angel-like wings. The only difference between these and an angel''s being that these ones were black.

    These disciples and elders could feel that a great battle was underway and that the stakes would be much higher than their measly life. At this point, many other Sects and Schools were using special means to look at what was happening within the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect.

    Normally this shouldn''t be possible, but the restrictions of the Sect had long since been destroyed during the previous battles. Right now, countless Sect Heads and Sect Elders as well as some School Leaders were staring with both shock and disbelief at the events that were taking place.

    Everything was silent as countless people gulped, praying to whatever deity they believed in to allow them to live through the day.

    Suddenly, rumbling sounds could be heard as the wings... Spread open! Down below, countless people stared in shock and stupor as the figure of this new Shadow Dragon was revealed!

    Contrary to what his name would imply, right now the Shadow Dragon was once again in human form. Long, white hair fluttered behind him as red tattoos stood out on his pale white skin. The two wings were moving up and down and black feathers fell down on the ground: the thread had long since fused together and now the appendages were truly wings made out of real flesh.

    They were Yin Hei''s wings just like his limbs were Yin Hei''s arms and legs, they were a part of him.

    The man looked down to examine his body: his hands had sharp, red nails and purple veins stood out. Down below, his feet were also longer and pointier, the legs even resembled a dragon''s limbs.

    A red and purple dragon''s tail swished behind him and snatched one of the feathers from midair swiftly. His face and his torso were covered by red tribal tattoos that made him look even fiercer. Two big horns protruded from his forehead, red in color, and in between the two flickered a dense black flame.

    His eyes were still yellow and a single vertical pupil existed in each eyeball, resembling a snake''s. Deep in his pupils could be seen great arrogance as well as disdain towards the world itself, as if he was a being above all else.

    He opened his mouth and a calm, bewitching voice came out "This body... To think that your little attempt at killing wouldactually turn out to be a great gift to me. I actually have completely broken free of the seal!" He chuckled and his laughter traveled in all directions without dissipating. Soon, everyone in a few miles radius could hear that voice that seemed to come from the deepest of hells.

    "What''s more, this new form of mineactually has a potential superior to my true body!" This time, he laughed uproariously and he looked down below where Lao Jianghu was resting "Old tiger... To think that all your planning would end up with you actually aiding me! Don''t worry, I will be sure to torture your soul less than others when I completely destroy this plane..."

    His expression changed and he concentrated, accumulating energy in his fist: soon, black flames swelled up around his body like countless black dragons made out of black fire.

    He punched out and the air trembled: cracks appeared in space as what looked like a small black hole formed, destroying everything in the radius of a few meters from it before disappearing as if it had never appeared at all.

    Cheng Hao knit his brows when he saw that and he began to feel a great deal of pressure on him "He... Actually has broken past the Mortal Realm! He is... an Ageless Realm expert in the Royal stage! What''s more, his aura just keeps rising nonstop!"

    That was right, just a few moments ago Yin Hei had been into the Mortal realm, yet now he had broken through to the Ageless Realm, just like that!

    Humans who knew nothing of the Ageless Realm regarded his power as simply being at the peak of the Reverend stage, but the truth was that he was now actually an expert way above Reverend stage, in a whole other realm even.

    The proof other than his power was also the white hair: every single strand was white! This was a change that would naturally occur once a person made his first step in getting rid of his mortality, turning into a being to whom time was of little hindrance!

    There were exceptions, such as Primordial Beasts or the four Divine Beasts, but most of the Heavenly Beasts were also affected by this rule and had white hair while in the Ageless Realm, of course they could color them, but ther natural hue would be a pristine white.

    Once people reached the Ageless Realm, the stages would be divided slightly differently, simply because of the rift in strength between those in the same stage: the levels were referred to as infant, low, base, mid, high and finally peak of the said stage.

    Yin Hei laughed as he felt his power quickly rise from the infant Royal stage to the low Royal stage "Ahaha! Wonderful! This is power! Power that came after you sealed my destiny away for so many years, Tiger! Because of that, now that I am free, I am blessed by the heavens even if I mean to destroy them! Isn''t this situation just so comical?"

    With a loud roar, the ground shook once more and Yin Hei''s energy jumped up again as he stepped into the base level of the Royal stage.

    Cheng Hao gritted his teeth and his pupils constricted "Damn! If this keeps going, the plane will fall apart! Such a low level plane with such a low density of special fabric won''t resist so much power!"

    He looked up and his expression grew firmer "I have to destroy him before he gains even more power!" He stepped forward and his whole body glowed with eerie golden light: it was none other than the Golden Aura!

    Up in the sky, Yin Hei was still excitedly examining his body "Unbelievable, simply unbelievable! If I simply sit still, I will step into the Immortal Realm in nine days! In less than a hundred days, I will gain true immortality! I will become immortal! This... is my destiny! Immortal Destiny!"

    He then began to ponder "Shadow Dragon is a thing of the past! What should I call myself now? After all, I am a being that will bring chaos to the heavens... That''s right!" Yin Hei grinned fiercely as his eyes brightened "Chaos Dragon! That shall be my name! So imposing!"

    The Chaos Dragon looked around him and saw that the atmosphere was beginning to grow hot and hotter by the minute, as the black flame floating in front of his forehead grew hot and hotter.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    The temperature had already risen considerably in short time, if this all wasn''t stopped, the people below could give up fighting against the Shadow Dragon, now rebaptized as the Chaos Dragon, as they would evaporate or turn into ashes beforehand!

    Cheng Hao gritted his teeth and flew in the air. He stopped a few meters in front of Yin Hei and his white robes fluttered. He waved one of his hands and blinding light came out.

    When it dissipated, Cheng Hao stood there in mid air, his expression solemn and fierce

    In his hand he held what looked like a golden tower: the first three floors were open and they exuded a great deal of pressure that helped him fight off the power of the Chaos Dragon''s cultivation.

    He felt his robes were about to catch fire and he was also about to pass out from the heat: the pressure from the tower could help him protect himself from the powerful pressure of the Dragon''s cultivation base, but he could not resist the heat just as well.

    Him, being higher than anybody else and on the same level of the Chaos Dragon, felt much more heat than those standing on the ground.

    He paled but then he employed the full power of his cultivation to step forward again: inside his consciousness, the sword shaped Satellite was currently orbiting at great speeds and it also emitted sharp killing intent, as if it wanted to come out and battle the enemy as well.

    Cheng Hao blinked his two eyes once and then two scenes grew clearer in his pupils: in the left pupil a golden sun shone down on a sea of blood and countless mountains of corpses. The corpses were withering, their essence feeding the astral projection in the sky.

    The golden sun was incredibly cold and it soon proceeded to emanate a great amount of pressure.

    In the right pupil, a shadow darker than any other appeared, its mouth snapped open and close, as if it wanted to devour everything that laid in its path.

    It began to grow large and larger while the golden sun began to grow colder and colder... But they were still illusions, so they could not possibly affect the real world!

    Cheng Hao was about to completely pass out when, suddenly, his eyes burst open with never seen before energy! A wheel appeared behind him, in its center was what looked like the depiction of a sun!

    It had a total of ninety-seven rays and, at the moment, sixty-eight were glowing with an eerie light. The wheel began to rotate and started absorbing the heat around him as a sixty-ninth ray began to glow slightly.

    This was none other than the true body of the sun in the illusion! The atmosphere suddenly began to cool back down as the sun and the black flame began fighting back and forth for the control over temperature.

    The wheel began to turn at rapid speeds, feeding on the warmthin the air while the flame flickered with incredible intensity as it burned even more fierily. The temperature rose and then cooled as the heat replenished the golden sun.

    The Chaos Dragon''s expression flickered "What divine ability is that? It actually rivals my Burning World Flame!" He didn''t have more time to be shocked as what appeared to be smoke rose from Cheng Hao''s left eyelid: it looked like a black beast, except its body was only a mouth made out of shadows and smoke.

    The beast snapped at the air for a while before locking on Yin a Hei. It immediately let out an excited shrill as it opened its mouth wide. Soon, the mouth had grown to be ten meters tall.

    Then one hundred, then two-hundred, three-hundred...

    All the way to nine-hundred ninety-nine meters tall!

    With one final push, it then grew a meter more, turning into one thousand meters tall!

    This single meter might have looked like not much of a difference, however the difference in pressure that the beast was emitting before and after that meter was that of heaven and earth!

    The mouth then began to solidify... And it turned golden! It was a golden gate made out of black gold, encrusted within the black gold were countless gems and there were even many engravings depicting fearful demonic beasts drawn on the gate itself!

    The Chaos Dragon felt his hair stand on end and his skull tingle when he looked at the massive gate. He subconsciously wanted to run, but he was one step too late: the gate bursted open and the millions of chained beasts within screamed all at once, their roars turned into a sound attack that completely bewildered Yin Hei.

    He was dazed for a second and spat out a mouthful of blood while his skin began to crack. That was more than enough for Cheng Hao to close in: the two flames of Yin and Yang had already materialized and his two arms looked like flaming meteors as they slammed into the Chaos Dragon''s chest.

    "Cough!" Yin Hei''s eyes pupils shrank in shock as he spat out a mouthful of blood. His eyes widened but then his voice rang out as he furiously flapped his black wings "Are you looking to die! Die then, but it won''t be a peaceful death!"

    "Eighteen Controlling Triagrams!" Heroared.

    He blinked his eyes nine times and nine triangles appeared on the circumference of each of his pupils. At the same time, eighteen orbs of black flames surrounded by a red hue appeared: Cheng Hao recognized it as the same technique that had been used by Chu Sai back when he had been fighting Bi Liang. The exception was, of course, that its power now was much more intimidating!

    "Eighteen Meteors Destruction!" The beast called out once again and the orbs glowed with bright purplish light as they sped towards the young child in front of them.

    Cheng Hao gave a confident smile and stepped forward as the eighteen orbs of destruction floated towards him. He gritted his teeth and punched out with the might of his Fleshly Body as well as the power of the two flames Glory and Oblivion, now fused into a single, grey flame.

    The two attacks were both powerful enough to qualify as attacks capable of shaking the Heavens with their might. It could be seen by this exchange that both opponents were in a league completely different than the cultivators below.

    Cheng Hao heard creaking sounds come from his bones and muscles, as if they were about to break and tear apart, but he was still able to block the blows.

    He sighed in relief when he found out that his Fleshly Body combined with the two flames, Glory and Oblivion, was just enough to resist the barrage of destruction orbs. But still, they were not enough to repel them!

    If he kept going like this he was going to be defeated. He gritted his teeth and his Martial Way, the Immortal Ascension Tower, appeared once again.

    It was tens of meters tall, yet it looked as tall as a mountain, its might seemingly overshadowing even the heavens: this was only a tiny fraction of the true power of Cheng Hao''s Martial Way!

    This was the true body: as he was way past the Advanced stage, he no longer needed to use the Pseudo-Core as his main cultivation base, thus he could remove the Martial Way from within it to use it in battle!

    The glowing golden tower seemed to snort as the eighteen orbs shuddered and then broke apart completely, collapsing onto themselves.

    Cheng Hao panted as he put away the treasure: although it''s might seemed unparalleled, the energy consumption was just as high.

    The Chaos Dragon trembled when he saw the object in Cheng Hao''s hands, but it was not due to fear: it was due to excitement! "Such a treasure... I must make it mine!" He laughed to the sky.

    He lifted his hand and a single black ball of flame materialized in his hand. It began to grow larger and larger until it became more than ten meters in diameter. He lifted both arms in the sky to support it and sweat could be seen on his forehead "How''s this? Can you block this as well?"

    Cheng Hao suddenly smirked and... Disappeared! Yin Hei trembled and suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood as he saw a blade was piercing his chestfrom behind.

    Behind the shockedYin Hei, Cheng Hao''s figure appeared, the enchanted shortsword in his hands stabbing straight through the beast''s heart.

    Yin Hei let out a loud roar of rage but it soon turned into an agonizing howl when Cheng Hao twisted the blade "The first strike seldom kills... Twisting the blade usually does the job!" He muttered to himself as he smiled.

    "I''ll kill you!" Yin Hei''s eyes burned with rage. He turned and slashed with his claws at Cheng Hao''s body, but the child had already appeared a few hundred feet away. He was holding in his hand a sword snapped in half "Ugh! That thing''s hide sure was tough! It actually snappedwhen I spun it!"

    Cheng Hao looked at the Shadow Dragon and could see its hateful expression. He smiled knowingly and pointed "Are you sure you should be glaring at me right now? Don''t you have other things to do, like, surviving?"

    Yin Hei''s eyes flickered then his expression turned into shock when he looked up.

    His expression became even better when the massive orb of black fire, created by Yin Hei himself suddenly fell, crashing down on him. As nobody was holding it up, it descended and began to shine as it seemed on the verge of exploding.

    With a loud shriek, Yin a Hei was absorbed into the ball of flame and a loud explosion rang out, seemingly obliterating everything in its radius!

    The flame burned brightly and Cheng Hao smiled complacently "That should at least wound you gravely..." he smiled and suddenly his pupils shrunk when he had a sense of imminent danger!

    He turned but could not react as a single ray of red light came out of the bright explosion and sank into his forehead! Nobody else noticed the red ray of light except for Lao Jianghu.

    As soon as the ray disappeared in Cheng Hao''s skull, in his mind the black flame soon superimposed with another flame.

    It was a bonfire in a pitch black night, why he had suddenly remembered it he did not know, the only thing he knew was that he felt pain in his chest, as if somebody was squeezing his heart to the point that it was about to burst.

    The reason was not the bonfire, but the girl that was dancing next to it. The dance was bizarre, yet beautiful, as if every movement had a meaning and was needed to make the next one. When she moved, bright red afterimages were left behind, like a trail made out of fire, making her look as if she had become one with the flame.

    Cheng Hao gaped.

    This was... The person that he owed so much to, his own life even. This was the girl he turned over the Earth and the Nine Heavens for when he had beenXu Ling.

    And right now, she only existed in his memories. In them, she was a figure that danced for all eternity, a dance that he previously had loved but, with the passage of time, he had come to hate.

    He hated it because that dance was so beautiful and vivid in his memories, as if it would exist for the eternity... And yet...Shewas not amongst the living anymore! And it was none other''s fault... Than his own!

    He had let her die!

 Chapter 65 - Ren Hong

    Four moons, one red, one blue, one white and one black shone in the night sky above a certain clearance in a certain forest. The woods were located on the southern side of a floating island.

    The island hovered way up in the sky, so high the ground couldn''t be seen at all. It also was a sacred ground, a place that was told to exist in many legends and myths: it was none other than Worldlords Floating Island, the island where the four Divine Kings resided!

    In the clearance, a bonfire was lit and two people could be seen close-by: they were a young boy, no more than a child still not in his teens yet, and a young woman in her late teens or early twenties.

    The young boy had sparkling, blue eyes and long, black hair. He wore sky-blue robes which exalted his beautiful blue eyes even more.

    His eyes were now open wide and didn''t blink at all as he watched the beautiful girl dance near the fire.

    She had red skin, long, crimson hair, pure and dazzling red eyes and two rows of perfect, white teeth. On her cheeks were white markings of spirals and a lockof her hair was tied into a long braid that fell in front of her right eye.

    A single golden feather dangled at the end of the braid. It looked like a pendant and shone with a warm golden light.

    She wore a loose white undershirt, a pair of black loose pants, tightened around the waist. She had a generous figure: her bountiful chest perked up beneath the shirt while her rear end was enough to make countless grown men drool after a single glance.

    She wore an anklet from which dangled beautiful green and blue precious gems that twinkled and emitted beautiful crystalline sounds whenever the girl''s leg moved.

    She was dancing beautifully and beads of sweat could be seen on her forehead and on her exposed arms. Still, as she danced, the fire seemed to dance with her, swaying left and right, up and down...

    The girl''s dance moves were really strange: each step seemed to be made according to a specific scheme, with each movement done in a way to ease the execution of the next. It apparently had some kind of order as it was so perfect it couldn''t possibly be random, yet one could only guess where and how the girl''s body would move only when it had already done so.

    She made ninety nine steps, and then her body relaxed for a moment before resuming the beautiful dance that seemed to be able to shake the heavens the more her feet touched the ground.

    At one point, the boy smiled widely and clapped enthusiastically "You are so good sister! You dance so well! You look so happy and beautiful when you dance like that!"

    The girl stopped dancing and blushed as she wiped away her sweat and removed a strand of hair from her mouth. She thentucked the long braid, whichhad fallen in front of her right eye during herdance, behind her ear. She grinned at the young boyand latched her arm around his neck, grabbinghim into a headlock.

    "Why, thank you Ling''Er! Now, now, aren''t you just such a gentleman!" She chuckled and messed up his long, black hair with her hand.

    The boy pouted but didn''t try to free himself. He then looked up as his eyes brightened.

    "Sister... can you teach me that dance? It was beautiful!" The boy innocently tilted his head and his eyes sparkled. The girl seemed to hesitate for a while but then grinned and nodded "Sure!"

    She helped him up "This is a dance which I created! In this dance, you become one with the flame. As you can see, the flames burn, rise and fall seemingly at random, and although the speed constantly changes, it is all within a certain limit! The fact that there is a limit means that it is not random!"

    She lifted a finger and then explained "If there is a finite amount of possibilities, it means that there is a way to predict what would come out next! Taking into account the condition of its surroundings, it is possible to narrow down what a flame would move like and thus imitate it!"

    She explained enthusiastically "Every movement is not random, but follows some sort of law! I stared at the fire for a long time and noticed this! And then... I created this dance!"

    "Each movement is done so that the next step will be executed even faster! In the end, if you keep going even faster and each step is made so that the next would be even easier to make than the previous, you will move so quickly and smoothly that you will resemble a flame!"

    The boy furrowed his brows and his expression darkened "So difficult..." his eyes lit up "Sister is so smart, to be able to understand all of that!"

    "It is not that difficult, it just needs practice!" She smiled and lifted her right foot "Here! Look!"

    She twirled in the air beautifully, her feet moved nonstop, arranging their movements so that the next step would be done much more easily than the previous: her figure could be seen clearly, yet could not.

    It was as if she was leaving behind flaming afterimages, except they also danced with her. They did not seem to disappear, as the movements were so smooth that countless afterimages were created and then imposed on those that faded away, making them look like what was created was a single afterimage all along!

    It was as if the flames had come to life, which made the dance even more hypnotizing and mesmerizing than it was before.

    "Go on, try it!" The girl smiled as she danced near the bonfire.

    The boy tried to imitate it, but failed miserably as he fell on the floor after a few steps. The girl burst into a laughter that sounded as if thousands of pearls were falling into the ground, that was how much beautiful her laughter was.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    Meanwhile, the boy pouted "Ouch! Sister is so good, I cannot do it!"

    The older girl smiled warmly and threw herself down on the ground. She crossed her legs and then pat on her thighs "Don''t worry, you will get it one day! Come here!"

    The child''s eyes brightened with determination when she heard the girl''s encouragement. He walked towards her, muttering to himself about how he would definitely be able to do it as he sat in her lap and closed his eyes.

    The girl then proceeded to comb his messy, long, black hair into beautiful braids and she laughed when the child told her a few jokes and stories he had read in books his first, second and third siblings had gifted him.

    "Now that I think about it, I''ve still not given you a gift for your birthday! What would you prefer? A book? But I gave you a book last year when you first woke up..." she sighed and the boy in her lap shook his head "I don''t need a gift! Tell me some stories! Pleeease!!!"

    "You really like stories, don''t you?" The girl''s eyes brightened and she grinned "Alright! I will tell you the very best story there is!" She caressed the boy''s head and told him countless stories that she came up with on the spot, exhausting her imagination and knowledge to make it as original, funny and entertaining as she could.

    At some point, the child would ask for some explanations and the girl would smile and kindly tell him whatever the boy wanted to know. The scene was absolutely heartwarming, if someone were to interrupt it, he would probably be cursed by the heavens.

    That was probably why the three people hiding in the woods couldn''t help but look and not interfere as they smiled bitterly when they saw what was happening.

    The figure of a woman leaned on the trunk of a colossal tree. The woman seemed to be in her late thirties, yet her exotic and somehow feline traits made it difficult to guess her real age. Her figure was generous, although not quite on the same level as the girl with red skin next to the bonfire.

    She had white whisker marks that stood out on the dark skin of her cheeks. She had long white hair that had a slight black hue here and there, resembling black stripes. Her eyes were completely white and she wore a white tribal dress with animal bones adorning it.

    She extended her left arm and a bird with black and golden feathers landed on it. It was absolutely astonishing, resembling a feathered dragon and emanating a huge pressure that could make the clouds churn, the land crack apart and the heavens surge.

    Yet, that powerful entity was nothing but a small pet in the woman''s hands. It was as if he was but a mere subordinate, yet he harbored no malcontent and instead looked very happy to serve such a person.

    The girl smiled and scratched the bird''s neck as it rubbed its beak against the woman''s nose lovingly.

    She turned and looked at a bald man who was silently standing a few meters away from her. She patted her shoulder and the bird immediately obeyed, jumping from her left arm to her right shoulder.

    She approached the bald man: he looked like a man in his young twenties or even late teens, had bright yet complex blue eyes, that seemed to contain all the rivers and oceans in the world.

    An azure dragon had been tattooed on top of his bald head: it went all the way down his bare back and apparently continued below the clothing as it appeared once more way below, twisting around one of his ankles.

    He only wore few garments: one was a pair of pants that seemed to have withstood the test of time and emanated an aura of rot, yet did not dare to, as if it wouldn''t beable to rot in the presence of such an Heavenly Being.

    Another was a pair of worn-down, green, bamboo sandals. They did not seem special at all, but few knew just how much of a godly item they were: they could in fact teleport the wearer from a water surface to another, as long as no ripples appeared on the surface!

    He also wore countless necklaces and bracelets from which dangled a countless amount of perfect, sharp, white teeth. They were all simple teeth, and yet their aura was also one that could rock the land and summon lightning.

    It couldn''t even be imagined the power of the owners of those teeth, let alone the one who had supposedly killed them all. For some reason though, the teeth seemed to fear the bald youth and tried their hardest to contain their aura and act like good, harmless teeth.

    The woman approached and smiled "They are so cute, aren''t they, Little Three?"

    The bald youth''s gazegrew warm as he looked at the red woman together with the young child. He nodded "To think that we had made the right decision by saving that human..."

    ""Right Decision? Saved that human?"" A tall and burly dark skinned with white hair scoffed and two voices, one low and powerful, the other one high pitched and slithery, superimposed each other

    ""We did no such thing. It was Hong''Er, and her alone who acted at that time, we simply stood still and watched as she saved him from a destiny worse than death...""

    The bald youth''s face darkened as he sighed "That is right... And now she is happy. Much happier than she has never been with us before, you can see it simply by looking at her..." He shuddered "I wonder what would have happened had she not met him. I fear she might have lost her reason to live then, after she received the news that her mother, Lady Phoenix, had died... It had already been centuries, millennia even, but she had been on the verge of breaking apart ever since the , without showing any sign of recovery..."

    The bald youth looked at the young boy lying in the lap of the red skinned woman, affection and appreciation could be seen clearly in his eyes "It is all thanks to the child that she looks so well now. I really do not know how to thank him enough"

    As the three of them spoke, the red girl was laughing as she tickled the boy in her arms, oblivious to the three other people who were watching them.

    The woman with the bird on her shoulder shook her head "Yeah, I know that, and I feel thankful towards the boy. But... is this truly alright for her? I mean, heisa human. Won''t he just die in the future and scar her forever? Who will prevent her from breakingthen? And there is also the problem of that prophecy... Elder Brother, when will we remindher of the Prophet''s prediction aboutthatperson whocould very well be thatboy?"

    The dark skinned burly man shook his head ""Let''s just leave them alone for now. Even if only to leave a smile on her face for as much time as possible,Wethink we should let them do as they please. When the problem shows itself, we will deal with it then"" he lifted his head and looked upwards.

    ""Let their illusion of happiness go on for a little longer. After all, this is merely a dream, that a human and one of the Divine Beasts would get along like siblings is but an illusion that time will slowly unveil. Let them bask in happiness. Who knows? This dream might even turn into a good one, a pleasant memory that she would be able to wander in when she feels alone...""

    "Or a nightmare that would keep her awake at night..." the woman sighed with emotion.

    The bald youth and the burly man stood silent. The sound of the fire crackling and the snores of a child and a young woman could be heard in the clearing as the two fell asleep.

    ""Enough!"" Finally, the dark skinned man scoffed ""We should let her do as she wishes. She is, after all, our Fourth Sister! She is none other than Ren Hong, she is the Fourth Divine Beast, the Divine Fire King, the Vermillion Bird!""

    ...

    "... No... Stop..." Cheng Hao grabbed his head as the woman''s figure appeared in his memories over and over. His mind wavered as he struggled to keep those images out of his head but then he lost control...

    A bright red light appeared in his consciousness as his mind... Began to crack!

 Chapter 66 - An Empty Name

    A sleeping child laid on a bed covered by plain, white sheets. He looked really handsome, with long, straight black hair, a small, pointy nose and a small mouth. The boy was sweating profusely, as if he was having nightmares.

    A girl was kneeling beside the bed: she had red skin, beautiful crimson hair and scarlet eyes filled with concern. Hidden behind that concern tough, was great pain, grief and... coldness. It was as if her heart had been frozen and was encased in ice.

    "Aaaah!" The boy suddenly jerked awake. He panted for a bit before calming down, he brought one of his hands to his face as if to assure himself that it was still there.

    The girl''s eyes lit up and she immediately grabbed his other hand "Are you alright? What happened, why were you scared?" The boy was about to retract his hand when he saw the girl''s expression. The boy could see that behind themask of concern, her eyes were filled with sadness and what looked like grief.

    The boy tilted his head "Why are you so sad, miss?" He asked.

    The woman flinched and then her face darkened. The girl shook her head "It is nothing, you don''t need to worry about it. It will pass soon..." although she said that, it could be seen from her expression that something important was indeed bothering her.

    The boy pondered for a while then his eyes lit up "If you smile happily while you are sad, you will get better!" he grinned himself "Try it, miss!"

    The girl gaped for a while but then smiled bitterly.

    "Like... this?" She asked as her fake smile trembled.

    The boy examined her face and frowned, then he shook his head. He turned, giving his back to the girl. She tilted her head in confusion and, just when she was about to call out to him, the boy turned.

    "Booo!" His eyes were crossed as he looked down at his nose, his tongue sticked out of his mouth and he was pinching his cheeks, resembling a meat bun.

    Overall, his appearance was pretty funny and, the girl, took by surprise, stared in disbelief before bursting out with laughter.

    "Pffff... Ahahah!" She kept laughing for a full minute while the boy looked at her, mesmerized.

    "Not fair, you took me by surprise!" She pouted when she finally managed to calm down.

    The boy didn''t respond and suddenly seemed to snap awake from a dream. He then sighed and spoke "Wow, miss, you are so beautiful when you laugh!"

    The girl blushed and she felt something that she had not felt for a long time: happiness and peacefulness. Her trembling heart, troubled by the death of her mother seemed to have calmed down, as if someone had cuddled it and sent it to sleep.

    She stared at the boy gaping and then smiled warmly as she asked "Child... Do you remember anything? Like, where are you from or what is your name?"

    The boy opened his mouth as if he was about to speak, then his previous cheerful attitude changed as confusion took its place. He opened and closed his mouth numerous times, but no sound came out.

    He looked down at his hands and he could see that they were trembling "Nothing... There''s... Nothing..."

    He looked up to the girl, his eyes growing red and tears welling up. Suddenly, his eyes began glowing golden from their previous blue hue "Miss, I''m scared! The darkness! Everything is dark!" He grabbed his head and then began to yell as two goldenbeams came out of his eyes "Aaah! No! The void, it is coming! The Mountain! The Mountain! It is cracking! It is going to crumble!"

    The boy trembled as what seemed to be a goldenmist seeped out from his gaping mouth and then dissolved into the air.

    The girl was shocked by what happened and was cursing herself in her mind for asking that question "Child, calm down..." she caressed the child''s head and then hugged him tight.

    "You have nothing to fear: be it that darkness or that mountain you spoke about, you just know that you are safe here. No harm will come to you as long as I am here!" She smiled at him.

    The child sniffed and his eyes turned back to blue, as if what had just happened was nothing more than an illusion. He then looked up, his pair of deep blue eyes seemed to hold the night sky within.

    "Promise?"

    The girl nodded grinning "Promise! Why would this miss lie to you? Listen to your own advice, smile and you will get better!"

    The boy trembled once more and then he also smiled weakly as he relaxed.

    The woman nodded satisfied and then she spoke "I am Ren Hong! Ren as in ''Person'' and Hong as in ''Red''!" She pointed at her skin "As you can see, this is just right for me! I''m, after all, just a an ugly, red and old lady!"

    The boy wiped away his tears and then nodded "That is right, you really are a red person! So funny! Ahahah!" He chuckled and then his eyes came to rest on her face.

    "You are so beautiful though! You must be the most beautiful person under heaven! And you are no old lady!" He pouted "Why do you call yourself Ugly? Are you lying? Are you perhaps a bad person?" He crossed his arms.

    The girl smiled bitterly "Thank you child, but I am way older than you could possibly imagine... Also, I do not dare compare myself with the most beautiful ladies of heaven..."

    The child pouted. The girl''s eyes suddenly lit up "Well, since you don''t have anywhere to go and have no memories, how about you stay here?" She suggested.

    The child hesitated and then asked "Will I be able to call you big sister then?"

    Ren Hong gaped and then nodded enthusiastically "Of course! I''ll call you little brother then!" She grinned "From now on, we are brother and sister!"

    The child''s eyes widened and then brightened "A Sister... Brother... A Family..." he muttered "I''ve never had a family... I... Have always been alone... Blank... Empty... As ''she'' said, Blank just like my-" his eyes lit up suddenly "S-Sis!"

    "Yes? What is it?" She asked.

    The boy smiled excitedly "I rem-"

    Suddenly, the door of the small hut opened, blocking the boy''s words in his throat. A tall and burly man walked in: he had dark skin, a fiery white beard and white hair tied into a long braid. He wore what looked like a scaly armor and a snake coiled around his shoulders.

    He had a fierce expression and his big frame gave off the first impression of a very frightening person.

    Ren Hong''s flinched for a bit but then she spoke "Big Brother Hei. He woke up. It''s just... He has no memories of his past." When he heard this, the dark skinned man frowned.

    He walked towards the young boy. At first the child seemed scared, but then Ren Hong grabbed his shoulder grinning and shook her head "You do not need to fear, he is my eldest brother, Ren Hei! Beside him, I have two more older siblings, Big Sister Bai and Big Brother Long!"Stolen novel; please report.

    She smiled and looked into the child''s confused eyes "He is your big brother as well from now on! His voice is a little weird, but he is a good guy!"

    The man seemed shocked by the woman''s transformation and difference in treatment. Ren Hei''s eyes glinted as he pieced the puzzle together and smiled happily ""We are Ren Hei, just call us big brother Hei!""

    When he heard the man''s voice that sounded as if a vicious old man with a slimy and high-pitched voice was speaking together with a great warrior of legends, the boy burst out laughing before hurriedly covering his mouth, afraid of having offended him.

    The burly man smiled bitterly and then bowed slightly. He finally proceeded to pat the child''s head ""Your eyes are really beautiful, little brother! We have never seen such blue eyes, they are even bluer than your new third brother''s, Ren Long''s! I''ll present him and your sister, Ren Bai, to you later!""

    The child trembled and then smiled excitedly "Thanks, big brother Hei!"

    Ren Hei smiled at the boy and then turned to look at Rei Hong ""Little Sis, how should we call him?"" He looked at the boy ""We do not know what name the human race would go for, Ours were given to us by the Prophet. Before,Wehad no name, soWeare not proficient at this...""

    "S-Sis? B-Bro?" The boy interrupted. The dark skinned man and the red skinned woman were startled and then both turned to look at the child. The woman smiled kindly and then asked "What is it, Brother?"

    The child''s eyes gleamed with excitement "It is about my name! I think I remember a part!" The two people in the room looked at each other and smiled.

    The huge man threw his head back and laughed ""Ahaha! Now, that is a good sign""

    "Tell us brother" the girl looked at the child lovingly and pinched his cheek "Don''t keep it from us! What is it?"

    The child pouted as he massaged the now red cheek and smiled mischievously as he tickled the red girl "This is revenge for pinching me!"

    "Ahaha! Stop, Bro! I surrender! I surrender!"

    The child laughed as he stood on top of a panting Ren Hong "Weren''t you supposed to defend me from the bad guys who may come?" He asked laughing cheerfully "They could just tickle you!"

    The woman trembled but couldn''t resist as she kept laughing "Ahaha! That is my only weakness, I s- Ahaha! I Swear! Ahaha! It was my secret, how did you know? Ahahah" She was now on the verge of tears.

    The child stuck out his tongue and then replied "It is... a secret!" He then proceeded to slowly torture the girl "Please, Eldest Bro! Ahahah! Make him stop! Ahaha!"

    Ren Hei looked at Ren Hong flabbergasted: that Ren Hong that had been gloomily reminiscing of her mother, the GoldenPhoenix, up until a while ago was now on the verge of crying from the laughter.

    Sure, it was mainly due to the tickling, but that did not mean Ren Hei was any less shocked. After all, he had not seen the damn girl laugh in countless years.

    He bent over as well and started laughing uproariously ""Ahaha! Ren Hong, it looks like by saving that child you may have invited the wolf into the house!""

    "Ahaha! Shut up! Ahaha! Help me out here! What would Big Brother and Sister say if they saw me like this Ahaha!" Right now, tears were truly falling down the girl''s cheeks and foam was beginning to form by the sides of her mouth.

    Ren Hei sighed ""Lil Bro, spare her... this time!"" He winked at the young boy and the child grinned back ""Weren''t you going to tell us your name?""

    The child lifted his head and stopped tickling the girl below him.

    She began panting and gasping for air as she felt alive again "Ahhhh! Never doing it again!" She glared at the boy "Try it or tell anyone and you will receive the same punishment tenfold!"

    The boy shivered and immediately nodded his head. Then, his expression turned a bit more serious, although excitement could be seen deep in his eyes "I am not sure... But I remember someone calling me! And when he did, a single word had appeared in my mind!"

    Ren Hong tilted her head "What is it?" The boy looked around the hut and found what resembled a brush, black ink and a piece of paper. He then proceeded to make a few strokes with the brush on the piece of paper.

    Ren Hei furrowed his brows ""Child.Wehave noticed that some things, which you seem to have done times and times already in the past...""

    The boy stopped his strokes and turned to ask "R-Really?"

    The dark skinned man nodded ""Yes. Look at how you hold that brush"" he pointed at the child''s hand ""To many it might seem insignificant, butWecan recognize a calligrapher''s skill at a single glance. After all,Wehave studied it for many years and have gained quite the proficiency with it... ButWerecognise that yours is in no way inferior!"

    The child looked down at his hand and shivered "Is... This true?"

    Ren Hei smiled ""Who knows, maybe your memories haven''t disappeared, they have just been buried deep into your mind! You may not remember, but your body will! This will probably help you unlock them! Just keep going, and maybe some time in the future they will come back!""

    The child first stared blankly then nodded determined. He then lifted the brush again and finished the strokes: eleven of them in total. The word he had written down was...

    Ðé (x¨±)

    Weak, False, Humble, Empty, Void... As many other words in the many languages of the humans, it held many meanings. But the strokes that the boy had done seemed to hold no will, no emotions, as if it the word was nothing but an empty shell...

    That character''s meaning... Was that of emptiness! Empty!

    If those strokes were to meet a master''s eyes, he would gape until his jaw got dislocated. Afterward, he would praise the boy''s skills to no end for how he made those eleven strokes: they seemed ordinary, yet they clearly explained the meaning of emptiness.

    Ren Hei was such an expert, now though, the man was more concerned about what had been written down.

    ""Empty? Your name is... Empty?"" He frowned.

    The boy named Xu nodded "This, I remember. I feel like I have been called like this countless times, and it was always referred to me"

    Ren Hong pondered "Empty... X¨±... The name doesn''t ring a bell... Or, more accurately, way too many! Do you remember anything else?"

    The boy shook his head, dejectedly. Rei Hei pondered then his expression lit up ""How about we surname you X¨±... And name you Lan?"" He asked ""After all, you, have such remarkable blue eyes!""

    [Note: Lan - Blue]

    Ren Hong''s eyes lit up and she shook her head "That is not right! Although this might make him like us four brothers, getting our names from characteristics of our body, his ''Blue'' eyes are in no way ''Empty''! They are full of life and warmth!"

    Ren Hei frowned ""Isn''t this taking it a bit too far? After all, it is just a name..."" Seeing Ren Hong''s glare though, the man stopped talking and sighed ''Damn girl, you don''t speak for decades and then the firstthing you do once you do is argue over such a small thing!''

    Ren Hei shook his head ""I''m sorry, I have to leave! I''ll be back later, tell me what you have decided then! He walked out and the young boy was greatly shocked when he saw that the man took flight by simply kicking off the ground. He had then sped through the air, towards the horizon, and soon disappeared from view.

    He paled and pointed as he trembled "S-Sis... Big brother... Is gone... In the sky!"

    The girl turned around and was confused for a bit. Then her expression brightened as she understood what the boy meant "Oh, brother is a cultivator!"

    "Cultivator?" The boy asked in wonder "What does that mean?"

    The girl smiled "It means a person... Who wishes to reach immortality! And to do that, he cultivates scriptures, deepens his understanding of the world and breaks through various levels!"

    "Do you remember that brother just praised himself as being really skilled in calligraphy?" She asked "It is because he was enlightened about a certain aspect of his Qi, his personal ''special power'', and needed the knowledge of a calligrapher to deepen his understanding!"

    "Im... mortality?" The boy surnamed X¨± asked.

    The girl nodded "Yes, Immortality!" She drew in the air two characters: the character for person, ÈË(R¨¦n) and the character for mountain É½(Sh¨¡n)! The two characters floated in the air as if they had been written in magical ink then began to approach each other... And form the huge green character ÏÉ(Xi¨¡n!)! Immortal!

    "Those who stand above everything else, celestial beings that are higher than the tallest of mountains! These are immortals! The greatest existence in the world!" She nodded as she explained.

    Suddenly, her expression flickered as she saw a strange gleam pass by the child''s eyes. The golden mist that had seemed to have dissipated before reappeared and entered he child''s body.

    "No!"

    An ancient voice sounded out from the child''s mouth. It radiated an aura of ancientness, of rot, of death. But there was also a powerful will and a determination to do whatever he had decided to.

    No matter wether it meant living or dying, he would accomplish his objective!

    "Immortal, The Greatest? That Is False! I Must write... The One Truth!" Suddenly, the child swatted the character for immortal aside and divided the character for mountain and person again!

    It was as if the child had grown crazy, as if he was not himself anymore! And the golden glow in his eyes confirmed that: this was not the child surnamed X¨± anymore!

    "Did you think I would allow you to touch my brother?" Ren Hong''s attitude made a 360 degrees turn: her body seemed to suddenly burst into flames as the illusion of a gigantic and fiery golden flaming bird appeared behind her "I will give you to the count of three to leave him alone before I vaporize your very existence!"

    The boy turned and it could be seen that the golden glow in his eyes was growing weaker, yet the archaic voice was still there "Apologize... I Must Show... The Way... Of The Mountain... Please... True Destiny..."

    The child''s golden eyes burned with a fiery will, a will that was so powerful that it seemed like it could break space and transcend time itself!

    He then turned, almost as if he was seeking Ren Hong''s approval...

 Chapter 67 - A Warm Yet Painful Smile

    The girl stood silent for a minute then sighed "You have ten breaths!"

    "I Am Grateful... That Is More Than Enough!" The voice possessing the boy exclaimed as it grabbed the character for Person and Mountain.

    He muttered to himself "What You Have To Do... Is Not To Step On... The Mountain... It Is To..." he grabbed the two characters and put the character for Mountain above the one for Person.

    "Become The Mountain! To Become Its Soul, the Will Of The Person Must Burn Like A Flame, Because Your Will Has To Be Absolute! Become A Person With Such A Fiery Will And Then... Support the Mountain!"

    The character for Person wavered and caught fire. As soon as it did, the ancient voice muttered "A Will Of Fire... For That To Happen, The Person Shall Burn Brighter Than Anybody Else! The Brightest In The Sky! To Burn Forever, Yet Never To Be Extinguished!"

    The pictogram changed from the character Ren, ÈË, to the character Huo, »ð: Fire! And above it, stood sh¨¡n É½!

    Áé! L¨ªng! Support the Mountain with your Fiery Will! A mind that won''t accept defeat, nor losing! A Will of Fire!

    The Spirit! The Soul! The Mind!

    Not Immortal(xi¨¡n) anymore! It was now a Spirit, a Soul(L¨ªng)! Of what? The Mountain of course! Not suppressing the Mountain, but becoming the Mountain! Becoming itsvery Soul! Not ÏÉ... But Áé! Bearing the fate, the burden of the mountain itself, as a person to become the soul!

    Ren Hong stared on wide-eyedly at what was happening and she felt as if she was looking at a great truth. Then, her mind awoke "Time''s up, geezer!"

    The boy turned and then an expression of pity appeared on his face "Enjoy Your Life As Long As You Can..."

    The boy trembled once and then fell on the ground. Ren Hong caught him and then hugged him tight "You make me worry so much already, brother! And it has only been a few minutes ever since we have ever met!" She teared up "Don''t do that ever again!"

    The boy stared wide-eyedly for a bit then nodded, tearing up as well and begun crying in the red skinned girl''s lap. He didn''t remember anything, but he knew from his sister''s reaction that he had scared her, and he hated that.

    She then whispered something in his ear "L¨ªng... Uh? X¨±... L¨ªng! X¨± L¨ªng! After all, your headisempty!

    [Note: X¨± - Empty, L¨ªng - Other than soul, it can also mean mind, so she''s basically saying his name is just like him, an Empty-Mind, as he has no memories]

    "We should go fill it up and then, when we have made the best possible memories, we will change that X¨±, that Empty, into something better!" She smiled at the boy''s reaction and then she grinned "How about it? Do you like it?"

    X¨± L¨ªng''s eyes widened and then a smile broke on his face "I like it a lot, that is so awesome Sis! You are the best!"

    The girl smiled "Want me to walk you around the place?"

    X¨± L¨ªng nodded excitedly "Yes, please!" Then, after a while, he smiled "Sis?"

    The girl turned and tilted her head "Yes? What is it?"

    X¨± L¨ªng smiled, showing off two perfect rows of fine, white teeth "You are not sad anymore!"

    The girl gaped and before she could reply, the boy passed by her and ran outside the door "Catch me, catch me!"

    Ren Hong bit her lips, and then her heart that had been encased in ice ever since her mother had died millennia ago... Warmed up! The ice cage melted, and finally one beautiful, warm smile found its way towards the woman''s lips as she shouted back "If I catch you I will tickle you!"

    The boy shivered and then began running "No fair!"

    "Ahaha, who says that!"

    "Agh!"

    The two figures ran for hours nonstop, before finally throwing themselves on the ground, exhausted but with a bright smile in their face.

    ...

    "This" Cheng Hao widened his eyes "Has this truly happened? I had no memory about this... How come I remember now? My name... L¨ªng? Soul? Mountain?" He felt piercing pain again and grabbed his head once more yelling "Gh-ghaaaa!"

    In his previous life, he had gone through thousands of painful situations, even getting tortured multiple times, but none of those kinds of pain could possibly compare to what he was feeling now.

    It was as if someone was tearing apart his own mind and mending it back together by fusing the broken pieces with the flames of a volcano!

    He could only grit his teeth as he felt more memories floating up!

    ...

    It was almost the time for the sun to set in the Worldlords Floating Island... Well, the Last sun of course, as there were a total of four. One whole day here lasted 96 hours in total, during the first 48 with the Island being basked in the light of the four suns, while the other 48 were occupied by the night.

    "Hey, brother?" A red skinned girl asked a young boy walking by her side. She wore a loose, white undershirt and a pair of loose black pants tight at the waist. She wore an anklet around on of her ankles from which dangled many precious gems.

    Her hair was mostly left free to fall down her back and in front of her shoulders, with the exception being a few tiny braids on the left side of her face and one large braid on the right, covering up her right eye, from which dangled a golden feather. She

    The child looked over and tilted his head in confusion "What''s wrong, sis?"You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

    The girl bit her lips once and then spoke "Well... I... Just wanted to know... What... Do you think of me?"

    ...

    Cheng Hao gritted his teeth: he remembered this scene. It was the first time he had found out who Ren Hong really was... when intruders had fought their way towards Worldlords Floating Island.

    Their three elder siblings had all gone away on a trip, so only the two of them remained. To fight them, Ren Hong had to morph back into her Vermillion Bird form... And X¨± L¨ªng had stumbled upon her when she was about to change back and had witnessed her transform into her human form.

    Cheng Hao felt another painful headache was around the corner, so he clenched his fists and braced himself. After a few moments, which seemed like ages for him, the spasm arrived.

    ...

    "What do you mean?" X¨± L¨ªng asked innocently. In his innocent eyes, wether Ren Hong was a human or not it didn''t matter. She was his sister... And his best and only friend.

    "Aren''t you..." the girl inquired "Afraid of me?" She anxiously bit her lips and didn''t dare look at the boy in the eyes. She fiddled with the golden feather as if it was a good luck charm.

    She heard the boy stop and her heart skipped a beat ''It''s over... it''s all over... It is all because I am a monster!'' She felt tears well up in her eyes and her shoulders shook once.

    Suddenly, the boy poked her in the sides and she jumped back, yelling from the stupor "Ah!" She massaged the spot and, suddenly, she saw a small figure jumping on top of her.

    She fell with her back on the ground and before she could say anything, X¨± L¨ªng began tickling her!

    "Ahahah! God, I hate this! Ahahah! Why do I have to suffer so much- Ahahahahahahah! From tickling! C-Ahaha!" She gasped for air "Cannot breathe!"

    She felt her tears of despair disappear from her eyes, as if they could not possibly come out in that situation, and only then did the boy stop tickling her. She grabbed her arms and opened them wide, while he bent and rested his forehead on top of the girl''s "Why should I be afraid of someone that I can beat by simply tickling her?"

    He grinned and Ren Hong started blankly at the boy''s face less than a palm away from hers!

    Then, the boy leaned in and their noses touched "Also, I have no reason to fear you in the first place because you are my Sister!"

    The girl trembled and tears began to fall from her eyes. She sobbed and she closed her eyes. The boy let go of her arms and hugged her, resting his head on her shoulder. He let her cry because he subconsciously knew that it would be for the best.

    "Aren''t you... Angry?" She then said after she wiped away the tears.

    The boy seemed to ponder for a while and finally nodded "Of course I am angry! Why did you not tell me your real self is actually so cool?"

    Her eyes widened and she looked "But... I am but an ugly bird... Why would someone like me?"

    The boy gaped when she heard her words "Are you kidding! You looked totally badass and yet so charming back there!"

    She sniffed and then asked "F-For real?"

    The boy nodded enthusiastically "Yeah! And your feathers looked so beautiful and fluffy! C-Can I touch them?"

    The girl was startled but then decided to grab the bull by the horns. She closed her eyes and a bright red light inundated her surroundings, forcing the boy to shield his eyes from the bright light with his hands.

    When he opened them again, he saw a gigantic bird laying in front of him: it was more than a thousand meters tall and its wings that were currently closed, would reach more than ten thousand meters in wingspan for sure! She had beautiful red and golden feathers, her lower body consisted of a long, colorful, feathery tail.

    This bird looked like a mature peacock and was just as beautiful.

    Her face also resembled the animal''s own, with a sharp beak and glowing, red eyes. It had a mane mad out of what seemed to be red flames, a few shades darker than the plumage was. It fluttered in the air and she had one, big crimson braid made of scarlet flames with a golden feather dangling from the end.

    The feather and the anklet, that was now tied around one of the beast''s legs, seemed to have also grown together with the owner... No, more likely they had simply shrunk down when Ren Hong had been walking around in her human form.

    Her eyes were intelligent and proud, her golden beak was perfect, without a single crack, and was perfectly symmetrical. Flames blazedfrom the top of her head all the way down to her tail where they burned brightly.

    X¨± L¨ªng stared upwards with stupor but also amazement. He looked up and shouted "Sister, you are awesome! And your feathers look so fluffy and warm, can I sleep on you next time instead of the bed? The bed is so stiff!"

    Ren Hong was speechless and she only managed to ask "But... Didn''t you prefer when I was in my humanoid form?"

    Down below, X¨± L¨ªng pouted as he looked up "Of course I did! How am I going to tickle you now? With that, I am going to lose every time, no fair!"

    The Vermillion Bird was so shocked that she did not dare speaking anymore. Finally, she seemed to have given up and she shrunk down to the size of a tall adult human whilst still retaining her true form.

    "Is this enough?" She asked dejectedly as she avoided making eye contact with the boy "I cannot shrink anymore than this..."

    X¨± L¨ªng''s eyes gleamed and he threw himself on top of her. He hugged her and rubbed his head on her soft feathers "You are so soft, Sis!" The bird gaped for a second and then smiled "I am afraid though, that I cannot remain like this..."

    The boy looked up shocked and then asked "Why! We can play so many more games and do so much more stuff if you stay like this!"

    The girl looked down "I am sorry... But us four brothers have rules that a certain person has imposed on us. We can only turn back into our true form when we really need to and not for more than a few minutes... Even now I am sort of breaking that rule..."

    As she said that, her body glowed once again, turning into the red-skinned girl wearing the loose white undershirt and the pair of black pants.

    "A certain person?" X¨± L¨ªng pouted "He must be a stinking, shoe-faced old man!" He commented.

    Ren Hong chuckled and nodded "Yes, yes, that he is. But we cannot disobey him... After all, these are the rules and we have to obey them!"

    X¨± L¨ªng sighed. Ren Hong hesitated but then finally asked "Brother... So... After all, could I be your sister again?"

    X¨± L¨ªng stared blankly and then shook his head "Of course you cannot!" He said "You already are! Why would you want to become something if you already are?"

    The boy turned and saw Ren Hong. Currently, she was smiling. And it was the warmest smile he had ever seen on her face, which made her many times more beautiful than she had already been.

    He felt his heart skip a beat and his cheek flush red ''What''s happening? Why do I feel so hot?'' He wondered then discarded the thought.

    He looked towards the closest edge of the Floating Island and pointed "Sister, can we go watch the sky and the clouds there?"

    Ren Hong nodded and grinned "Sure"

    A few hours later, Ren Hei would find the duo had fallen asleep, the points of their noses touching each other and a happy smile on their face. He would not dare to wake them up and would instead smile and mutter a few words to the sleeping X¨± L¨ªng.

    He would then head back and leave the two siblings alone, as the starry sky imposed the fading lights of the sunset and the First of four bright moons, a black moon, shone down light on the Floating Island...

    ...

    "No... Don''t stay here... Run away!" Cheng Hao felt his mind fall apart as Ren Hong''s warm smile etched itself in his memory "Go!" He yelled "If you stay here, you will die! Run! Why aren''t you running?"

    Tears fell down Cheng Hao''s face "Go..."

    He could only watch in silence as the smile crumbled, the girl''s face turned into fire as a shadowy hand dismembered and crushed her until only a small ember remained "No! Why didn''t you run! Why!"

    "No..." The last flame fell down on the ground and transformed into a bright red feather. "That feather... Sister! Sister! I have to take it!"

    Yet, no matter how much Cheng Hao wanted to move X¨± L¨ªng couldn''t, and he could only look as that same feather got caught into a wind current and got blown away.

    After all, as he was in the present he could not change the past... As there was no medicine for regret in this world, he could only grit his teeth and cry salty tears. His mind then slowly began to crack, to fall apart!

    At first were his memories of what was happening now, of his identity as Cheng Hao: they shattered into countless shards. After that came the memories of his past as the Evil Saint. And finally...

    X¨± L¨ªng broke apart.

 Chapter 68 - In Need Of A Miracle

    Cheng Hao suddenly felt nothing: tears rolled down his face yet his eyes were now blank. His mind was in tatters, his identity broken into countless small pieces. Only a single memory remained, a single speck he had subconsciously kept aside, focusing on protecting that one fragment with all his might.

    Because that one fragment was the one thing that was important to him...

    But even then, it was in no way enough to restore a mind that had shattered.

    Cheng Hao floated in mid air, his expression blank. Down below, some people were starting to notice something was wrong.

    "What''s up with him?" Xiao Wu asked anxiously. Fu Yin bit his lips and furrowed his brows but he had no way to respond as he didn''t know either.

    On the other hand, Lao Jianghu''s eyes widened and his mouth gaped "No... This can''t be..." he muttered "His mind... Has shattered!"

    "What?" Fu Yin and Xiao Wu yelled simultaneously.

    "Gahahah, you foolish human!" The aftermath of the black ball of flame''s explosion dissipated and Yin Hei''s scorched figure was now visible. His whole figure was burned in more than one point, one of his horns was broken and black blood trickled down the corners of his mouth.

    His skin cracked and from each crack trickled down black drops of blood. Still, even though his figure was battered like so, his face was twisted into an expression of excitement and joy as his eyes burned with fiery killing intent.

    Yin Hei gritted his teeth and spat out a mouthful of black blood, then he flew through the air, aiming at the child''s body. As he sped towards Cheng Hao, he felt his cultivation had another breakthrough and was now at the high level Royal stage. He became even happier and he felt as if he had just reached the heavens in one step!

    He roared loudly and grabbed Cheng Hao''s robes by the collar. He then lifted the child up and looked at his face "You have opposed me for such a short while, yet youstillmanaged to piss me off even more than that Tiger down there!"

    The Chaos Dragon grinned and punched Cheng Hao in the guts but, although the boy spat out blood, the child made no sound nor did he retaliate!

    Yin Hei''s smile grew even wider as he lifted the boy once again, this time examining his face closer: his two golden eyes that had previously shone so bright were now hazy, lifeless like a dead fish''s! What''s more, their corners were full of tears that were now slowly sliding down his cheek.

    Yin Hei stared down at the crowd of people below: they had followed the battle up in the sky without blinking ever since the two opponents had exchanged blows for the first time.

    Now though, they were paling and couldn''t believe their eyes: that boy, so full of energy just a while ago, had suddenly began to mutter strange things, grabbing his head and yelling as if in pain and had finally stopped moving.

    After that, Yin Hei had appeared from within the ball of fire, heavily injured, yes, but still alive and ready to destroy some more!

    Yin Hei found Lao Jianghu in the middle of the crowd and then yelled "Tiger! Would you mind giving us some insights on what has just happened? It looks like my audience is a bit confused on just what has taken place!"

    The old man gritted his teeth as he explained "That shitty snake. He has just used a mental technique that caused Cheng Hao''s mind to begin doubting one''s self, to see the worst and happiest events that have happened in one''s life, inducing to a shattering of the consciousness..."

    After hearing that, Xiao Wu, Fu Yin, Sou Rou, Te Rin, Fang Lu, Li Biang... Pretty much everyone who had ties with the young child paled and couldn''t believe the words that had just been spoken.

    Lao Jianghu continued "This technique is only effective against people who have a difficult past... Or memories that haunt them to this day... It would barely temporarily stun a normal person, but as for Cheng Hao..." he shook his head dejectedly.

    Up in the sky, Yin Hei laughed uproariously and then nodded "That is completely right! He saw countless people fall because of him, die before his eyes... Even his loved ones! What better target for this technique is there, than the person that is hated by the Heavens themselves the most, the Evil S-"

    "Shut Up!" Fu Yin shouted.

    His yell hid what Yin Hei was about to say just in time "You bastard, don''t you dare laugh like that! You won with underhanded methods and still dare to boast about it!"

    "Winner is the king and the loser is the thief" Yin Hei shrugged his shoulders "And this guy lost. For the second time, the chosen one in the prophecy has failed! I wonder wether that prophecy still counts?" The man pondered "Mm... Although... I could have kept him sane so I could ask him just how he escaped Death? Oh well, guess it is just too bad!"

    He then looked down and licked his lips "Now then... We were interrupted earlier. Twice. This time is for real!" He opened his fanged mouth "Who... Am I going to eat first?"

    His figure flickered and he suddenly shot towards the crowd! His eyes darted around until he found Fu Yin and Xiao Wu from within the crowd. He grinned and flames of hatred burned into his eyes.

    He sped down and grabbed the boy and girl by the neck and clenched his grip. Fu Yin''s eyes widened as he spat out blood. Yin Hei coldly looked at him, his eyes filled with derision and disdain "You, a weakling, dare to talk back to me, you shall die!"

    He then seemed to think about something as his smile turned fiendish and he looked at Xiao Wu "But... Wouldn''t it be much better if you suffered a bit first? What if I dig out her eyeholes? Or dismember her limbs and then feed her toes to you?"

    Xiao Wu''s eyes widened and she trembled once.

    Fu Yin shivered and then his eyes turned red as he madly yelled "You bastard! Leave her alone! Let her go, I am the one you want! Punish me!"Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

    The human-shaped dragon with a broken horn turned and then smiled innocently "Oh... But Iampunishing you. You see, I think that I will keep you alive... As the second last person to die in this whole universe! The first spot goes to Tiger, unfortunately... But don''t worry!" He smirked "You will get to see countless people die before your eyes, I bet that at that point you would prefer death over life!"

    "Crunch"

    Suddenly, Yin Hei''s expression twitched.

    He trembled and he turned to see that the arm he was previously holding Xiao Wu with was now... Not there any more!

    He saw another golden blur and he reacted just in time to jerk his neck aside. The blur sped up and still managed to grab onto his left shoulder and bite away a piece of the flesh.

    "Raaaarg!" Yin Hei yelled with pain. He let go of Fu Yin who began to massage his neck. The boycoughed for a bit and turned to look at Xiao Wu: she was now a full one hundred meters away from him, and, in front of her, stood, or more specifically hovered, a golden dragon.

    It was more than three meters long and two feet wide. He was holding in his mouth a severed arm as well as a bloody piece of mangled meat; what could be assumed to be Yin Hei''s shoulder.

    He spat them out with a disgusted look on his face "Pwah! You chaotics'' black blood just doesn''t fit my taste!" He lifted his head up high and then he began to emit the aura of an emperor of the heavens.

    "W-Who... What is that!"

    "How did it get here!"

    "When did it appear? I couldn''t see!" Many cries of surprise could be heard coming from the crowd.

    Yin Hei paled and he kicked off the ground, flying in the air, an expression of terror visible on his face "B-Blindlight!"

    The golden dragon grinned and then it spoke to the people around him "You may have not been able to see me up until now, but I have always been here, with Cheng Hao at times, with Xiao Wu at others, others I was simply napping... Ahem!" It cleared his throat "Oh well, let''s not sweat the details!"

    He smiled amiably "Just know that I hate that piece of trash as much as you do. And even if I hate the taste of his flesh..." his eyes began to emanate killing intent on the same level as Cheng Hao''s "I shall devour him to the last bit!"

    A golden light began to surround his mouth, it looked in many ways similar to Cheng Hao''s Golden Aura. It soon transformed into a gigantic mouth made out of light, with three rows of sharp teeth snapping open and closed "It has been long since I have tasted the Brain of a Chaotic!"

    That golden mouth was none other than External Aura Pseudo-Manipulation Through Absorbition! The first version of the Golden Aura, an original technique created by Blindlight himself!

    Yin Hei gulped and then clenched his remaining fist around his mutilated limb "Damn... That bastard, I forgot he was here!" Then his expression grew placid as he remembered his last, trump card.

    He grinned "I think it is finally time. It is your turn, get rid of Blindlight and I will spare you as my servant! Come forth, dragon of the darkest nights and the scariest nightmares!"

    Goldy''s eyes went wide "Crap! He can''t mean..."

    He roared even louder and the golden dragon''s roar could be heard in a radius of a hundred miles from the sect.

    He then sped towards Yin Hei, his mouth opened wide as he yelled "Die, you crappy excuse of a dragon!"

    Yin Hei smiled and then waved his arm. Just as Goldy was about to bite down on the man''s neck, time seemed to slow down as a single rift appeared in the air behind the Chaos Dragon: from it, a man clad in black robes, a pair of black mustache and a pointy beard of the same color stepped out.

    He extended a single finger and it clashed with Blindlight''s illusory fangs of the External Aura Pseudo-Manipulation Through Absorbition technique. The dragon''s face fell, and it quickly retreated, just in time to escape the finger attack that broke through the illusory fangs as if they were paper.

    Goldy gritted his teeth and dodged to the side "You bastard! So that''s where you were! How dare you raise your hand on your master!"

    The middle aged man wearing black robes smirked as he completely stepped out of the rift made out of shadows. He flinched "Crap, I can only use up to a hundredth of my power in here... This plane is so weak! I am stuck at the peak Saintly stage!"

    Yin Hei frowned "Wouldn''t want to get caught in a spatial rift vortex, would we? Don''t try to rise any higher!"

    Blindlight gritted his teeth "Don''t you dare ignore me! Cease this all in this very instant, Hellish Nightmare Dragon! You son of a snake, Blacky! Come here so I can spank you! You dare break a Soul contract!"

    The mysterious black robed man was none other than Blacky, the Hellish Nightmare Dragon, who had been forced into a Soul Contract back when Cheng Hao had opened the first floor!

    The man scoffed "Mhe! Even if that child had not been turned into a retard and was unable to kill myself using the contract, you are still not included in the terms, so why should I obey you?" He smirked and his body began to change. Soon, it had become a three-hundred meters long, horrifying, black dragon.

    "Oh Blindlight, oh Blindlight..." the gigantic monster snickered "You have no idea just how much I have waited for this moment! The moment I squash you to death! All the humiliation I suffered, the pain! All this will be repaid today, no, now!"

    The golden dragon''s eyes widened when he saw the black, snake-like dragon flying straight towards him. He gritted his teeth and used the full power of his cultivation base to dodge to the left. Even then, the tail of the black dragon caught up and the golden dragon got sent flying, golden blood flying from his mouth.

    "Ahaha! So youdobleed, you bastard!" The black dragon sneered "Just you wait... You will bleed a lot more soon!"

    ...

    "Finished..." Lao Jianghu muttered "We are finished. The world will crumble... And all because I was incompetent enough to free the damn beast!" He gritted his teeth and began crying. Around him, many people fell on their knees and prayed to whomever they believed in.

    Unfortunately, unless a true miracle appeared, the chance of them escaping... Was zero.

    ...

    Up in the sky, a familiar presence stared at the battlefield down below. It seemed to be somewhat disappointed "So this is all a Heavensborn with actual feelings is able to do... Such a waste, if he had run away sooner, he would have survived! So, in the end, having emotions revealed itself as being his own undoing..."

    The voice pondered and then spoke again as he prepared to leave "I guess... I will wait for the next one to rise to prominence..." It suddenly halted and stopped speaking, as if he were listening to something "Wait!"

    "This presence... It''s muttering something... Is it coming from down below? What is it that he is saying exactly? My very existence is trembling by simply hearing it?" The voice this time was full of disbelief and shock.

    "Where? Where is it coming from? Where!" It frantically searched when, finally, his focus fell on Cheng Hao. It stood silent for a bit "No, it cannot be. His consciousness should have shattered so how... Wait, could it be?"

    The voice paused and then burst out laughing again "Boy, you never cease to amaze me! Not being able to see your future is indeed making this turn out as quite a show for me!"

    It seemed to be smiling as it summoned the red feather once more "Still... What kind of power will you bring out? Will it be enough to seal away your enemies? Or will you die and force me to start the Cycle all over again? Show me, little Heavensborn, show me! Make it, and thiswill be yours!"

    The feather shone with bright red light, as if the life force it contained was immense! If one looked closely, they would be able to make out a faint golden outline of an illusory, golden feather super-imposing with the true red feather...

    It looked just as if it was protecting it! Yet, the light was feeble and wouldn''t last much longer asit was already showing signs of decaying...

    The invisible being seemed to be holding the glowing red object in one of his hands and then... Let go. The feather fell, fluttering in the wind and falling down towards the battlefield below.

 Chapter 69 - Title At The End

    Yin Hei smiled and he descended, landing in front of Fu Yin himself once again. Except, this smile was not due to happiness, but due to absolute hatred.

    The man grabbed Fu Yin by the collar of his robes and then spat on his face "You... Thought that you had grown lucky? It is too bad the heavens owe me too much, so much in fact that you shouldn''t hope for miracles! I have all the favor of the Heavens in this Plane! Me, and me alone!"

    Fu Yin gritted his teeth in anger "You... Well, I won''t say you won''t succeed as that would be too clich¨¦... Howeveryoudorealize you are going through the old ''big and powerful bad guy gives away his plan to the world while raising countless death flags'' clich¨¦, don''t you?"

    Yin Hei gritted his teeth and punched the boy in the chest, so hard that the otherfell face first on the ground, spitting out blood: most likely, a few ribs had broken.

    "I told you not to talk back to me! Or did I? I do not remember! Ahaha! Still, you should get the gist of it and shut up... Or else..." Yin Hei grinned viciously.

    Fu Yin desperately looked around, in search of something that could help in fight... When suddenly his eyes widened and his pupils shrunk, as if the eye sockets were about to bulge out! He gaped, incapable of believing what he was seeing.

    He looked from Yin Hei to the thing that he had saw and he laughed even though blood splurged out of his clothes: his blue eyes filled with scorn and killing intent as he crawled up.

    "I dare you... To punch me again! First though, look behind you, if you don''t, you are a chicken!" He laughed and he spread his arms.

    Yin Hei frowned: did the child lose his sanity perhaps? He was about to turn when he thought about something: this was a trap.

    ''The boy probably had some kind of treasure that would enable to defeat me if I let my guard down! You actually tried to deceive me like that! You fool!'' The man smirked ''I would never fall for that!''

    "A living chicken is still better than a decaying dragon!" He said and charged a punch.

    Fu Yin''s smile grew wider and he even whistled a happy tune.

    Yin Hei furrowed his brows: the kid was a bit too calm about this... Was this actually not a trap? He was about to turn again, but then he slapped himself across the face ''Don''t fall for it you idiot!''

    He turned to look at the child with amazement: with just a few words, he had managed to confuse his mind... twice! Still, in the end, he had decided.

    ''I''ll kill him first and worry about stuff later!'' He charged his right fist once more and he punched out with all his might "Die!!!"

    Suddenly, Yin Hei had an eerie feeling, as if death''s scythe was resting on his neck.

    He wanted to stop his own blow, but he could not as he was already in full swing! The Dragon gritted his teeth and put more power into the punch: it was now only a single palm away from the boy''s chest, now it was half of that and half again...

    The man smiled and yelled "You are dead!"

    BAM!

    The sound rang out and a thick fog could be seen emanating outwards from the point of impact. The people from the Sect felt their legs grow weak: such power, there was no way Fu Yin could possibly survive!

    Then, their faces changed when the mist began to churn and fade away... Revealing an astonishing scene: Fu Yin was laying on the ground, but he was fine, meanwhile Yin Hei was still in the motion of the swing and, finally, a person clutched Yin Hei''s right hand within his...

    The blow had actually been blocked by someone! Who was that?

    Well... He wore tattered and bloody white robes, had bright golden eyes, a straight nose pointing slightly up, a small mouth and straight, long, black hair that were now fluttering in the wind...

    A single trickle of blood fell from the sides of his mouth and, while his eyes did not show any sign of life, they still burned with intense fighting spirit!

    "H-How! This... This isn''t possible!" Yin Hei cried out and jumped backwards. His own body was now in tatters and he had no more tricks up his sleeve... And now thisboyshows up!

    He braced for a counterattack, but none came. Yin Hei was astonished to see that the child was standing in the same exact position as before, his palm extended out to block Yin Hei''s blow at Fu Yin''s chest and his other hand pushing the same boy back to protect him from any shockwaves.

    Yet, there was no more fighting spirit, it was as if the boy had turned back into a mindless corpse. Yet, Yin Hei remembered the terror he had just felt from the child''s gaze.

    How was this possible? Evidently, Cheng Hao''s mind was shattered, so how did he do it?

    If one could see inside the boy''s mind, they would notice that everything had been thrown into disarray... except for a single, remaining shard that shined brighter than ever before...

    This shard was... A will. The will to find enough power protect his friends, his family, his loved ones, with all his might! After his mind had shattered, all that remained was this single shard! This was what he wished for the most!

    Yet now, another smaller shard flew up: if he was protecting his friends, doesn''t that mean that the one he was protecting was one? Who was he?

    This boy... Was Fu Yin! Now, if he remembered Fu Yin, why would he not remember the members of the All But In Blood Alliance... Thus also Xiao Wu?

    His mind shuddered and then, shard after shard, it began to piece itself back together.

    His mind was now about 1 percent complete!

    And if he remembered Xiao Wu, why should he not remember Lu Fang or Goldy? And why should he not remember everyone else and the fact he had gone through a long journey to get here?

    10, 20, 30, 40... 50 percent!

    Just like that, his broken mind began to mend together. Soon, it was more than that measly one percent that had recovered!

    Yin Hei trembled and anxiously called out "Hellish Nightmare Dragon!"

    His face contorted with fear as he stepped away from the boy: the child''s muddled gaze was getting clear and clearer by the second!

    Meanwhile, Cheng Hao remembered of his journey towards the Sect, of how it began... And that he was actually a reborn soul! He was the Evil Saint, he was X¨± L¨ªng!

    From 50... to 60 percent!

    Blacky turned and, when he understood what was happening, he shivered as well: after all, his life was in Cheng Hao''s hands. If the boy woke up, he would most likely die as soon as the child understood what was going on!

    ...This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

    The boy remembered himself slaughter his way to the heavens, killing countless cultivators and beasts alike, his abilities of that time came back to him as he shuddered.

    From 60 to 70 percent!

    Still, a question remained yet again... Why? Why would he do that?

    He then vaguely remembered a black figure dismembering a flame with his bare hands, while three more figures looked on petrified. Then, a bright golden light suddenly appeared and the black figure bent over, spitting out blood.

    He heard the roar of rage of the black figure as it was sent flying out of the flying island. He now remembered its name: Worldlords Floating Island.

    80 percent!

    What happened, why was he on that island? That''s right, he woke up, he was no one, then his name had beengiven to him! He remembered a person that stayed with him all the time... Wasn''t that the person the same that had been dismembered before while in her flaming form? Wait...Her?

    90 percent!

    Was the person a female? Who was she? The figure of three people appeared in his mind: a dark-skinned man with white hair, a bald youth with an azure dragon tattooed on his head and back, a woman with feline and exotic looks as well as whisker marks on her cheeks and a blurry image that he couldn''t quite make out.

    These four figuresthen trembled and changed into four gigantic beasts: a Black Turtle, an Azure Dragon, a White Tiger and a Vermillion Bird... Wassheone of them? Her figure remained a mystery... He could not piece together that final piece...

    99 percent!

    Blacky roared and flew towards the boy... Right now, he was only a few dozen meters away from him, his jaws ready to bite the flesh.

    Cheng Hao searched through his memory but could not find the real appearance of that mysterious person, but he knew instinctively that she had to be important, so important that he had to find out who she was to completely restore his mind!

    Suddenly, a single thing caught his mind... it was a red feather. It was a few steps away from him and it shone with bright red and golden light.

    It had just landed, as if it had been thrown down from above! It had probably been dropped by a passing bird, nothing serious, yet... Why was the call from the feather so intense?

    Suddenly, the feather crumbled away, as if it was only an illusion and it turned into a bright stream that entered the boy''s consciousness!

    Cheng Hao shuddered.

    Why?

    Because he had just remembered the flame torn apart by the black figure. The black figure... He knew his identity! It was none other than the person he hated the most, Tian!

    Back then, from the dying flame, one last ember had fallen down on the ground and had turned into a single feather, which had in turn gotten blown away in the wind... This feather belonged to that gigantic red bird he had seen before in his memories, right? But wasn''t the flame... The girl?

    99,9 percent!

    Suddenly, he remembered! He remembered it all!

    The conversation he had with that great bird about that being its true form and about it not being truly a human... Yes, the red bird was the girl! There was no doubt! But then, who was that girl! He remembered her face, her appearance but one thing was missing...

    It was a smile. The most dazzling smile he had ever seen.

    Two rows of fine, white teeth were arranged into the most beautiful of smiles. And with that single smile... He had finally put back the seemingly last, remaining piece. That girl... Was none other than his sister, best friend... And the person he had loved the most in the whole world! As of now, Cheng Hao''s mind was... 100% complete!

    Yet, Cheng Hao could feel that there was something still hidden deep in his mind, memories that had been sealed away. Unfortunately, this was no time to look any deeper into that!

    Time suddenly seemed to dilate as Cheng Hao felt something moving within his Sea of Consciousness.

    "Not bad... To actually thinking of leaving a single strand of will behind that would then create a cascade effect and make you regain your memories... Ingenius, indeed, but it would all have been for naught had it not been for that feather! Still, above my expectations!"

    The voice sounded out in his consciousness.

    Cheng Hao shivered when he heard that voice: it was archaic, ancient and, most of all, devoid of any emotion! It was on a totally different level than the strange presence that had promised to aid him before the battle, or even that being from his past as X¨± L¨ªng that had possessed his body.

    At least,theyhad emotions, but this guy... He clearly had none!

    "Senior... Who are you, if I might ask?"

    The voice seemed to ponder for a while and then answered with a single word "... Power"

    ...

    Blacky trembled at first when he sensed Cheng Hao''s aura had changed slightly, but then he gritted his teeth "I have a current cultivation of the peak Saintly stage and a true cultivation of the Supreme stage! I refuse to believe that he can defeat me!"

    He sped towards Cheng Hao when, suddenly, the child''s presence changed completely, as if he had become another person.

    "You hate the heavens... We do so too. We are the guardians of everything that is, is not, will exist and will not exist..." the voice spoke using Cheng Hao''s mouth "Immortality... Is the way mortals rebel against us, the rulers. That is unacceptable. The only way in which one should become immortal is not by surpassing the Mountain, but by becoming one with it..."

    "We do not require you to understand. We shall simply impart you with power... it will be up to you how you will use it, but you will find out that, in the end, you will use it for the sake of Her, the Mountain. Now watch, and etch into your mind the might of the Mountain. The might ofTrueImmortality. The Immortality that comes not with the enmity, but with the union of the Mortal and that which is Celestial..."

    Cheng Hao''s eyes changed and they became completely emotionless as they glowed with an otherworldly green light...

    "The union of the Man... and the Mountain!"

    Cheng Hao suddenly found himself losing control of his body to the Archaic Presence.

    "Do not strive to go higher than the tallest of Mountains" the voice seemed to lecture "Becomethe Mountain. Destroy the Immortals, trespassers of the Mountain. Become theSoulof the Mountain!"

    He put his two hands in front of him and a green character for Immortal ÏÉ appeared, weighing down incredible might.

    He then pointed at the oncoming Hellish Nightmare Dragon and the symbol followed the movement of his finger. Suddenly, as soon as the symbol aligned with the monster, the Nightmare Dragon felt as if a mountain was weighing down on it!

    It crashed down and felt all the bones in his body were starting to crack from the pressure of that single symbol!

    The beast tried to get up, but the ÏÉ symbol shone with even brighter green light, applying even more pressure. The beast could only watch powerlessly and tremble as it fell down. The mysterious being using Cheng Hao''s body said nothing as heflew upwards: he was not using any sort of cultivation base, yet he flew!

    It was absolutely mind-bending, still Cheng Hao did not wish to focus on that. He merely wished to know what the Archaic existence''s next move would be! He stared wide-eyedly from his consciousness, not daring to miss anything.

    The Snake-like beast trembled and it began to feel that his body was sinking in the earth. Then, as it thought that this would how it would end, he suddenly had a horrible feeling, as if the reaper''s scythe was resting on his neck.

    Cheng Hao clenched his fist that had been pointing at the symbol and the character for Immortal ÏÉ began to shrink until it became as small as an infant''s head. Suddenly, the mysterious being in the boy''s body lifted a finger and pointed at the sky:

    That one finger seemed to eclipse all else as it also began to shine with otherworldly green light. It had become an incredibly sharp blade, capable of cutting apart reality itself!

    "Look carefully, little boy surnamed X¨± and named L¨ªng... This, is the truth" The finger slowly fell down, until it touched the great symbol for Immortal: the symbol trembled, as if it was feeling that death was imminent.

    Then, Cheng Hao put his finger exactly where the juncture between the character Ren ÈË and the character Sh¨¡n É½ were.

    Cheng Hao''s green pupils suddenly shrunk as the boy''s expression turned into anger and solemnity, like a god that was about to deliver divine tribulation in the weak mortals!

    The boy opened his mouth and he loudly bellowed, the sound silencing every other in the heavens and earth for nine whole breaths!

    "SUNDER! THE! IMMORTAL!!!"

    His fingers cut through the imposing symbol like a hot knife cutting through butter and, as soon as they finished the cut, Blacky trembled once.

    Right now, the character for Immortal was cut apart, on one side was the person ÈË, on the other was the Mountain É½ and what looked like an insurmountable rift divided the two.

    The snake then began shaking as he began to gasp for air "You... What did you do? My power! My cultivation... I cannot feel it! The Qi is gone!" It fell on its back, completely powerless.

    As he stared from within his consciousness at the actions of the mysterious being controlling his body, Cheng Hao gaped, completely stunned: he understood a bit of what happened... But that was just too shocking!

    "Sunder the relationship between the Mountain and the Person! You dare leech your strength from Her, the Mother of all, the Mountain, and you actually bellow in rage when it is severed for you! Ungrateful Hypocrite!"

    As if its emotionlessness had been faked, the mysterious being snapped "Feel your powerlessness as the cultivator becomes but a mortal!"

    It yelled at the terrified Blacky and then began speaking to Cheng Hao, its tone now kind and full of emotion

    "Heavensborn, they call your kind. And yet, you are the very opposite of the definition of a heavensborn! You may not know what it means now, but you will come to know. This is my first gift to you for opposing the Heavens!"

    "This is for not clashing with the Mountain as your fate dictated! To go against the Immortal Will! For going against your own Fate and instead of traveling that path that many had thread times before, you didn''t choose at all! You made a new one!" The presence smiled.

    "That is what a true Heavenly Being, a Spirit of the Mountain should do and you fulfill all the requirements! And that is why you, although an Heavensborn, are still more than worthy of becoming my successor! To inherit my title as the Spirit of the Mountain!"

    Title: Chapter 69 - Sunder The Immortal, Become The Spirit!

 Chapter 70 - You Are...

    "''Sunder the Immortal'' is the power the Mountain blessed me with when I became her Spirit and turned into her Soul... Now, that power, I will gift it to you, as the Last Generation of the Spirits of the Mountain! This power shall sever the connection of your opponents from the Mountain for nine breaths!"

    "Although, with your current understanding of the Mountain and the laws of the Universe, you can at most keep it up for a single breath... That will still be more than enough to slay the wicked Immortal Leeches!"

    Cheng Hao felt his mind tremble and then he shivered as he felt great knowledge was entering his consciousness: it was as if a flood was raging in his mind as a single technique, spanning countless words and containing even more secrets within, burned like fire in his sea of consciousness.

    Soon, three big words appeared, floating within him:

    SUNDER!

    THE!

    IMMORTAL!

    Each of them seemed to contain great secrets within themselves, as if each and every word held astonishing power!

    Cheng Hao was now even more confused and he gulped as he asked "Senior... Who might you be?"

    The Archaic voice stood silent and then it spoke again "I found you down below, in the springs of death, as a cursed Soul. You, a Heavensborn had actually been cursed for rising up towards the heavens. It deeply intrigued me... I had no time, my life was coming to an end..." the voice wandered on "So I made a bet. I decided to pass on my legacy, wether you accepted it or not would have been up to you..."

    Cheng Hao frowned and then his face lit up with astonishment and understanding "The spark! It was you all along? It was you who saved me?"

    The voice confirmed his deductions "In a certain sense, you could say that. What you swallowed then... Yes, it was my Will. But also that of those that of those who came before me! It had laid dormant ever since you had exhausted its energy by creating that tower of yours..."

    Cheng Hao''s glowing green eyes glittered with appreciation as the archaic being seemed to approve "You created a path to Immortality that does not contrast with the Will of the Mountain! A path that does not conform with the laws of Heaven, I deeply respect that!"

    "Then, when your mind broke apart... You remembered a certain scene. A scene where you found out the origin of your name, as well as witnessing yourself write the unspoken truth of the Mountain..."

    The being looked up "When you recalled that scene... It was then that I awoke! I was shocked! This was proof that you had Karma towards the Mountain! My bet had paid off! And this is why I decided to give it to you, the Inheritance of the Mountain!" it yelled and an ancient and almighty aura began to spread out.

    "The Mountain blesses her Vassals with a single Dogma, a power to battle the Heavens, so to speak, to cleave your path through countless unkillable Immortals and bathe into their blood!"

    "My Dogma, it was a gift that followed my Will. When I was still a mortal, a cultivator slaughtered my family, friends, everyone that I loved. It was at that time that I swore... That I would destroy all cultivators and Immortals!"

    The voice seemed to remember scenes of his past and a single hint of emotion flew past his face "When I inherited Her will, this was my greatest desire... And it materialized as this technique, Sunder the Immortal! All those that stand before me who tinge power from the Mountain shall become as powerless as ants below my feet!"

    "Now you, my junior, have accepted the Inheritance of the Mountain... What is your deepest desire?" The voice asked as the green glow began to fade away "Is it to slaughter all under Heavens? To enslave the Gods?"

    It then muttered to himself "Or is it something even higher than that?"

    Cheng Hao stood silent as the green glow slowly faded away from his pupils. The symbol for Immortal then mended together and Blacky felt his power climbing up again, until it reached its previous state.

    However, he did not attack at that time: hetrembled and turned back into a middle aged man. He then immediately bowed his head as he kowtowed "This servant meets his master!" Cold sweat trickled down his back. He remembered the fear he had felt when the boy had severed his connection with the Qi, and would do anything to avoid suffering the same fate once again!Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

    Cheng Hao ignored the kowtowing Blacky and his eyes grew hazy as he daydreamed "My wish... My wish... What is my wish?" He looked down at his hands "My greatest desire..."

    Suddenly his eyes brightened as he was enlightened "It is... Freedom! To have all thread down their path! To not be hindered by the Heavens! For everyone to be Free! And to do that, I shall replace the Heavens as the Ruler to allow everyone to experience freedom!"

    He shook his head "This might sound contradicting, but it is what I wish for! To become the ruler of all! And becoming one with this... Mountain..." he looked down at his now clenched fists "It looks like it would give me exactly that! I shall become one with this Mountain and become an Emperor above everyone else!"

    The fading green glow within his pupils lit up again.

    "It looks like you have decided... Then it looks like you have also already decided what your personal technique shall be like, haven''t you?" The Archaic voice sounded by his ears. Appearently, it had not still completely faded away, but it was nevertheless really weak.

    The boy smiled as he nodded "Yes... I have decided! This shall be my technique!"

    The voice seemed to grow warmer "Good. You do not have enough power to show its true potential, so I will give you the last of my strength to do it! Come, use my power to show the world the might of the Spirits of the Mountain!"

    Cheng Hao smiled and his eyes began to turn blue... The same blue that they had been more than a thousand years ago! These were the eyes that had swore to wreck havoc amongst the Nine Heavens of Tian! And this time, the promise was the exact same!

    ...

    Yin Hei gritted his teeth as he clutched his wounded body. Suddenly, his expression brightened "Yes! Yes! Power! Ahaha! Breakthrough!" His body seemed to expand like a ballon and then it shrunk back down, black liquid poured out of his pores: they were the impurities in his meridians and blood stream!

    He had broken through! He had previously been at the peak Royal stage, but now he was... in the Saintly stage! As he broke through, his cultivation base as well as his body were restored by the surrounding Qi.

    "Ahaha! Amazing! Feel my power!" He spread his arms and his wings as well as his body began to burn with black flames...

    Yet, the fire did not hurt him but they actually nourished his flesh, strengthening his body! Soon, it reached a level that Cheng Hao''s Fleshly Body couldn''t hope to compare to.

    The man gritted his teeth and his head turned to look at the young boy not too far away "You damnable child... It does not matter what sort of trick you have used just now, you will die by my hands today!"

    He threw his head back and roared to the sky: black clouds that had previously been dissipated by the golden seal gathered once again, this time in the shape of a small hurricane.

    Lightning crackled and the earth was battered by thousands upon thousands of lightning bolts. In the middle of it all, like a sovereign, stood Yin Hei, his expression fierce, his eyes fiery infernos of killing intent.

    He glared at the child below with hatred and annoyance "You brat! Say your last words, ''cause today is the day you die!"

    Cheng Hao stood silent but his expression was carefree, as if what was happening would have no impact on him. His eyes also held hints of fiery killing intent, but it was barely discernible.

    The dragon smirked and let himself fall down. As soon as he landed... "Crash!" The earth caved in, as if a meteor had fallen down!

    It looked like Yin Hei''s body not only was extremely durable, but it was also really heavy as well!

    He stepped forward and then bent his dragonic legs "See now if I don''t skewer you through and through!" The earth below shattered and lightning crackled on his scales as he prepared to kick off the ground at his highest possible speed.

    He licked his lips one last time and then his figure flickered... and disappeared! Incredible speed! The man''s body seemed to be faster than lightning, leaving behind only barren land and cracked earth, he sped through the air.

    Cheng Hao was as carefree as usual, when suddenly, his expression grew solemn! His eyes glowed with an otherworldly green glow as he hovered in midair.

    He waved his two hands and the characters for Person ÈË and Mountain É½ appeared once more and then fused together... to form the character for Immortal ÏÉ!

    Then, Cheng Hao scoffed and the characters seemed to tremble as the Mountain É½ flew to land above the person ÈË.

    The Ren, ÈË, then trembled as flames burned the symbol to tinders, leaving behind only what seemed to be its essence: it was none other than Huo, »ð, the symbol for Fire! Together, the Fire »ð and the Mountain É½ formed... The soul Áé!

    This character was absolutely imposing, as if it was the very soul of the world itself, as if it could suppress each and every cultivator, no matter what their strength was!

    Cheng Hao lifted the character in the air where it began to grow many times in size and glow green. His eyes began to glow green as an Archaic voice sounded out once again "All that seek Immortality... Are defyingHerWill, the Will of the Mountain!"

    Space began to distort around the young boy as the character Áé, L¨ªng, trembled excitedly. The boy closed his eyes and a golden Áé also appeared on his forehead. When he opened them again, his eyes had no pupils, nor irises nor the cornea: they were golden through and through!

    They glowed with blinding golden light and the boy''s hair and robes began to flutter, battered by what seemed to be a golden breeze.

    "You are her Vassal! You are her Soul! You are the spirit of the Mountain! As for this mereworld..." the Archaic voice chuckled.

    Cheng Hao also smiled as the being spoke up excitedly, green winds battering the young boy''s surroundings like a small hurricane "YOU AREITSSOVEREIGN!"

 Chapter 71 - The Will Of The Sovereign!

    Cheng Hao floated in midair: surrounded by the golden breeze, his robes and hair fluttering, his eyes golden and the bright symbol for Soul glowing on his forehead, Cheng Hao resembled what an emperor amongst the gods should be like!

    He opened his mouth, and five voices imposed each other: they were the voice of a young child, of a boy, of a middle aged man, of an old man and of a man muttering his last breath.

    Each of them exuded incredible pressure but, the most extraordinary thing was that each of these voices apparently belonged to Cheng Hao! His past, his present and his future self all spoke together, making the whole world tremble from their might!

    "We Art The Lord. We Art Thou''s Sovereign. Art Thou Our Friend? We Shalt Free Thou Of Fate''s Chains!" The golden eyed Cheng Hao spread open his arms as if he was embracing the whole world within. He closed his eyes and his whole appearance becamethat of a benevolent deity, showing the way to the weak mortals.

    Then his eyes opened and they burned with anger "Art Thee Our Enemy? Dost Thee Dare Go Against Our Will? The Will That Burns So Bright That It Supports The Mountain?"

    His eyes glowed even brighter, and a green glow also appeared within its pupils "No! Wether Thee Art A God Or Devil, Life Or Death, Thee Dost Not Dare!"

    Cheng Hao clenched his fists and then spoke, his voice reverberating in each person''s mind like thunder. They knew that the words that were about to be spoken were going to shake the world!

    "No... Thou Dost Not! Because Ours Is..."

    Cheng Hao''s golden eyes shone with dazzling golden light while the character L¨ªng on his forehead seemed to catch fire as it transformed into a flaming crown of white and golden flames.

    "... THE WILL OF THE SOVEREIGN!!!!!"

    As soon as these words came out of the child''s mouth, the character for Soul, Áé, glowed even brighter and soon the whole whole world became a world of light, in the middle of it all being Cheng Hao himself!

    The air then seemed to crack open as the figure of Yin Hei reappeared in that ocean of light, his expression one of intense terror.

    "This... What is this?" He muttered as his eyes blankly stared ahead.

    He could feel Cheng Hao''s presence everywhere in that blinding golden light.

    He could feel the boy''s gaze, a stare full of disdain and anger.

    He could feel... the boy''s Will everywhere!

    And he felt... That if that Will were to command this world to shatter... It would do so immediately!

    "This is... Too monstrous... How could something like this possibly exist?" He trembled and tears even began to streak down his cheeks "Why? Everything was perfect, then YOU came and ruined everything! Why! Why! WHY!" Yin Hei yelled in despair.

    The child coldly turned to look at the figure crawling on the ground, crying his heart out. He pointed at him and then spoke, his voice extremely domineering "There will be no eternal rest for people like you. All that awaits is... Nothingness! You shall not enter reincarnation!"

    Those words seemed to carry some kind of law as the land shuddered. Then it shook nine times, leaving behind nine afterimages!Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

    Eight worlds and a single figure, Yin Hei''s, appeared. The eight worlds then mended back together while the figure floated there into nothingness until... it faded away into the darkness!

    Yin Hei''s eyes became blank and he felt himself getting separated from his surroundings, as if he was only there as an illusion... As if he was in another plane of existence altogether!

    "What... Is this? No! I don''t want to disappear! No! You bastard! I will kill you! I WILL KILL YOU!"

    Yin Hei roared as the space surrounding him began to shatter. He then palmed his forehead and spat out a total of ten drops of silvery blood: Life Blood!

    Yin Hei yelled in despair as he felt his body beginning to crack and wither. He had long since lost all reason and his body had long since grown numb to the pain. Gritting his teeth, he made a hand seal. The ten drops flew into his forehead and entered his sea of consciousness.

    There, they began to shine with blinding red light, like ten silvery supernovas. The red light blended with the silver glow and turned into a red, silvery light which was so bright that everything in the gigantic empty space that was his sea of consciousness was clad in it.

    As that happened inside him, Yin Hei roared loudly and his eyes shone with the same silvery red light: his body swelled up in size as his pressure also rose indefinitely!

    Soon, cracks appeared surrounding him, as if this plane couldn''t possibly hold this much power within and was rejecting him. Each of these cracks emitted what seemed to be infinite pressure: if one were to step in them, he would die!

    Still, that did not frighten Yin Hei at all as he kept absorbing the power from the ten scarlet suns in his consciousness. His cultivation rose nonstop: it soon reached from the infant level of the Saintly stage, the low, base, mid, high and peak level before directly breaking through once again into the Empiric stage!

    This kind of power was one that could shake all, the might of a King, an Emperor amongst the mortals! Yin Hei gritted his teeth and clenched his fist "More... More... More!"

    As soon as he did that, his cultivation climbed up once again and only stopped once it reached the low level of the stage, as if it had met an unsurmountable wall.

    Yin Hei''s features twisted as he cursed "Damn! So this is all I can do with this body of mine! That accursed Cheng Hao... It is all his fault!" His eyes burned red "I am definitely going to obliterate you!"

    Cheng Hao looked on coldly and then spoke once more "I did not grant permission to absorb the power of this plane, you lowly being that calls himself Yin Hei..." these words echoed in the human-form dragon''s mind.

    The man''s figure trembled as he felt cold shivers running down his spine.

    The golden eyes of the young boy stared down on him imposingly before smiling amiably "You should have just asked! Here is more! Consider it a gift on my part!"

    The boy smirked, his pair of golden eyes that had looked so gracious and beautiful up until now seemed to turn into the devil''s eyes as he pointed at Yin Hei.

    The man shuddered as he felt great amounts of Qi rushing towards him. One should be happy for such an occasion, but at the moment Yin Hei''s expression was twisted as he yelled in despair

    "No no no no! NO!"

    The man''s body swelled as countless strands of Qi entered his body. His cultivation rose even more: it soon broke through the base level Empiric stage and then proceeded to continuously breakthrough various levels.

    It was when it reached the peak Empiric stage though, that shi* went down.

    The space around Yin Hei that had been under constant stress until that moment suddenly... gave out!

    It shattered and, as it collapsed, terrifying rifts appeared, the seemingly infinite pressure that came out from each of them seemed able to collapse everything that they swallowed!

    Countless of these appeared, surrounding Yin Hei''s body. Soon, one of his limbs was caught into one of the gaping holes in the fabrics of space...

    "Yaaaaaargh!" The man yelled as the arm disintegrated into nothingness, devoured by the spatial rifts!

    Soon, he lost one of his legs. Then came his other arm, his tail, his wings... Yin Hei cried as he desperately attempted to run away from the jaws of the spatial rifts, but he could only watch as his body got eaten and disappeared bit by bit.

    "Shit, shit, shit, shit!" He screamed as he dodged to the right with his remaining leg: as soon as he did that, another gaping hole in the fabrics of space appeared on the spot he was standing on justa few fractions of a breath ago.

    Suddenly, the man''s eyes lit up as he saw an opening in the spatial rifts in front of him: it led straight towards Cheng Hao!

    A vicious idea formed into the man''s mind and he didn''t wait anymore before putting it into practice. He kicked off the ground and dashed straight towards the golden eyed child...

 Chapter 72 - Jin FengHuang

    Terrifying cracks appeared all around him, black blood fell to the ground as the rifts made deep gashes into the man''s thorn body.

    Yin Hei gritted his teeth. He ignored them as he sped with all his might: soon, he reached the child, however his body was missing huge chunks of flesh and only his head and a part of his torso remained.

    Cheng Hao''s eyes widened as Yin Hei smirked. The man opened his mouth as he let out a loud roar.

    "Catching Lightning!"

    Bolts made out of black light crackled around him and encased both him and the child in a cage of lightning.

    Following that, the cracks once again appeared around them. Cheng Hao''s previous calm appearance twisted as he trembled.

    "Damn you! If I am going to die, I shall bring you with me!" Yin Hei laughed and, as soon as he finished speaking, the cracks spread along the fabrics of space before... the space itself bursted!

    A hole of a few tens meters in diameter appeared, caught within were both Yin Hei and Cheng Hao! Like the jaws of a monstrous beast, it bit down on the two people and they soon disappeared from everyone''s view as... They got swallowed!

    Soon, the rifts disappeared as the fabrics of space mended back together... except there was no trace of either Yin Hei or Cheng Hao!

    ...

    Xiao Wu''s eyes widened and she fell on her knees "No... How? How is this possible? Brother... Is he alive?"

    "He... He..." Fu Yin gritted his teeth as he looked down: he knew that even Cheng a Hao couldn''t possibly survive that much pressure.

    In the end, he muttered "I... Doubt it..."

    Xiao Wu''s eyes began to tear up and she shivered uncontrollably "You... You promised that you would come back alive! You broke your promise! Brother! You CAN''T die! Why!" Tears streaked down her cheeks.

    "Waaaaaaaa!" The nine years old child wailed. Her green eyes were shut tight, her purplish-blue hair fluttered behind her.

    Around them, Lao Jianghu, Mu Gu, Wu Rou... Everyone in the late generation couldn''t help but feel great pain in their chest.

    Lao Jianghu''s eyes widened and then he gritted his teeth as he banged his head on the ground "It should have been me! It should have been ME! Please, forgive me, Xu Ling! I am so, so sorry..."

    His eyes darkened and unmeasurable rage burned within "I shall complete your quest... Heavenly Beasts cannot fight the Heavenly Emperor... But I am no Heavenly Beast! I''m a mere being made of Aura! And Xu Ling gave his own life to save this fake life of mine as well as everyone else''s! Tian... I shall destroy you in the child''s place!"

    ...

    Sou Rou opened her eyes from her meditation: they were red and tears fell down as soon as her eyelids rose. She touched her cheeks and felt they were wet "Uh? Am I crying?"

    She grabbed her left chest "Why... Why do I feel so much pain?" She looked up and a single raindrop fell down on her nose. Soon, it began raining but she refused to look down, her tears soon mixed up with the raindrops.

    She didn''t understand the pain she was feeling, nor why she felt such sadness. She thought of Cheng Hao, a child so young and bearing so many responsibilities on his shoulder...

    She could not simply cry without a reason! If she wanted to be like him, she would have to be strong!

    In her mind, Cheng Hao''s image appeared: his confident smile, his bright golden eyes and his firm gaze as he walked towards a battle that could lead to the world''s destruction...

    She smiled as she recalled him. If he could look so firm, she could as well! And as she thought of that, the child''s image in her head wavered and even more tears fell. She stared in shock as she looked at her trembling hands.

    "Could the reason I feel so sad be... Brother? Are you ok? Has something happened to you?" She curled up in a ball as a bad feeling swelled up in her chest...

    Standing beside her, Wu Rou couldn''t do anything but stare at the young girl laying on the ground, her lips trembling.

    ...

    The rain fell everywhere on the battlefield. Beneath the dark clouds, not caring at all about the raindrops battering its already worn out body, was a golden snake.

    Blindlight''s mouth trembled as a single golden drop formed on the corner of one of his eyes "Cheng Hao... How... Could this be..." his expression was one of disbelief and despair, as well as pain.

    Suddenly, a voice rose up from behind him "This... Has really happened? I am free??? Ahahah! The heavens are so generous! With this, that Soul Contract has no more value!"Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

    Blindlight''s pupils shrunk in shock, then, his expression twisted as great rage appeared on his face.

    He turned to look at Blacky: the middle aged man was staring wide eyedly at the exact spot the golden snake had, but it could be seen that he felt no sadness from what he had just witnessed.

    Unlike Goldy, his expression was one of excitement... and joy.

    Blindlight''s anger rose even more as the black-haired, middle aged man began to laugh "Ahaha! Serves you right, you golden eyed bastard! I am free, free! I can fly freely in the sky as I did before!"

    The man turned humming a happy tune and even began dancing "Oh, I shall feast tonight!"

    His dreamy expression twisted when he noticed Goldy''s expression. He shivered: he had never seen Blindlight so enraged yet so much in pain before.

    Although their cultivation bases were on a totally different level, the Hellish Nightmare Dragon couldn''t help but shiver in terror when he saw the golden dragon''s gaze.

    Blindlight opened his mouth and coldly spoke "Pray. Pray, Hellish Nightmare Dragon. If Cheng Hao is alive, you will be spared. If not..."

    Goldy''s eyes burned with fiery killing intent yet trembled as he struggled to hold down the tears "I shall feast on your corpse and devour your soul tonight! Pray. Pray that I won''t have to do that! Pray that your master is safe you foul beast!"

    Blacky trembled and he subconsciously stepped back: his power was much higher than the golden dragon''s, but he couldn''t help but feel that, if that anger was to be released, Blindlight would do all in his power to erase both his body and soul... and the heavens along with him!

    "Those hundreds, thousands, millions of years passed alone, looking at the sun rise and fall... I don''t want to go back to that ever again! Please, you were my only family! Just come back alive! I... I don''t want to be alone anymore... Gh... Ghaaa!" The voice of a young teen soon cracked as Blindlight began to cry.

    The scene of the golden dragon, such a beautiful and pure beast, wailing and crying beneath the heavy rain was heart-wrenching.

    It was like hearing the cries of a child during a funeral. Such a sad occasion, saddened even more by the cries of a child that could be the very son or grandson of the deceased... Who wouldn''t feel moved when facing that?

    Blacky hesitated and his eyes even flickered with killing intent for a moment, but then it disappeared as he sighed.

    He approached the wailing Blindlight and sat beside him. He lifted his hand hesitating, as if he wanted to pat the golden dragon on the head.

    Goldy turned and bared his fangs at him growling.

    Blacky hesitated, then lowered his hand, scratching his neck awkwardly. He looked up and sighed "You remember the old times? When we fought alongside that brat for a few dozen years? You used to bully me then, I guess that hasn''t changed..."

    Seeing Goldy''s glare, Blacky stopped talking as he looked down, afraid that he would incur the wrath of the dragon if he were to speak anymore.

    Goldy acted angry, and he only stopped growling a long time after the middle aged man shut up. Even then though, he looked somewhat... disappointed?

    Blacky noticed that. His previous frightened look disappeared, replaced by a look of... Pity? No. It was not pity. It looked more like... Powerlessness.

    Like an older brother having to care for his younger sibling, Blacky smiled comfortably and spoke again "Don''t worry. That kid is tough. He will definitely come back! After all, didn''t he beat the shit out of me?" the middle aged man with black hair patted the dragon''s back and grinned.

    Goldy''s eyes widened in shock and he was stunned for a second, as if unsure on what to do. Finally, the dragon smiled and nodded as he wiped away his tears "Yeah. That he did! You were so uncool back there!"

    Blacky sweat-dropped, his mouth twitched and a vein popped on his forehead "You didn''t have to agree to that!"

    "Oh? Didn''t I now?" Goldy grinned but then nodded "Still, you are right. He will!" He looked at the spot where the boy had disappeared "Please... Come back, my friend!"

    Blacky sighed and looked at that same spot as well, hoping... For what? That the boy would come back? That he had died? He didn''t know.

    He smiled bitterly "I guess... I did enjoy the old days. Going against Tian, devouring souls left and right and all that..." he chuckled as he muttered to himself.

    His eyes brightened up as he smiled bitterly "Come back, you freaking brat! I still have to get my revenge for sealing me in that freaking tower!"

    Goldy chuckled and his laughter reassured Blacky that the golden dragon was now fine. He smiled and knew that, although he might regret his choice in the future, it was the right one.

    ...

    Te Rin watched on from the distance. Her beautiful features were now twisted in a mask of pain, disbelief and hatred "You told me... You wouldn''t die... How are you going to protect me if you die?" She fell on her knees and large teardrops fell down on the ground.

    Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulders, as if it was comforting her. She turned, and saw the blurry figure of a woman. Her face was blurry, so her appearance couldn''t be seen clearly.

    What could be seen though, was that she had two bright, golden eyes and fiery, red hair. She had red skin and wore what seemed to be a dress made out of golden feathers.

    A voice resounded within the head of the young girl crying on the ground as the woman''s golden eyes brightened "Don''t cry child... If you really do see him as a brother, you should trust him, shouldn''t you?"

    The voice was the same from before: the distant voice of a woman, sounding so ancient and separated from the world that it was as if the owner had died long ago.

    "She... Saw something in him. I now know why. Such devotion and resolution to protect his dear ones... Wether he wants it or not, they all start to look up at him like a really important person in their heart" the voice lingered off and the figure seemed to smile when she noticed the action of both Blacky and Goldy.

    "And most of all" She looked upwards and her smile could now clearly be seen on her face as her mouth finally moved, her voice now reverberating through the air and not just in the young girl''s mind "Such great charisma that such powerful beings would be willing to give him a hand!"

    Up above, the air trembled as a powerful presence suddenly showed itself "Wow... Could it be... He has Karma with this person as well? Incredible, simply incredible!"

    The voice chuckled "To even have connections even with the Golden Demoness of the Tenth Level! You never cease to amaze me, kid!"

    The blurry figure of a man then also appeared in the sky and it slightly bowed its head as the voice rang out once again "This being is delighted to meet miss Jin FengHuang!"

    "To think that I would actually meet you, although on an ethereal form, in such a lowly plane of existence... Fate truly has quite intricate schemes!" the blurry man chuckled.

    The red woman nodded and smiled as well "It is my pleasure, Senior from the Ninety-Seventh Level!"

    The blurry man smiled and then looked down "To think... That not one, but TWO such interesting people would appear in this planary system in less than a few thousand years..." it smirked "The Demoness of the Golden Flames, Jin FengHuang... and the Heavensborn with a will of his own and carrying a mysterious legacy, Xu Ling!"

 Chapter 73 - You... Do You Consider My Choice Foolish?

    The rain fell even harder now but, although Te Rin''s clothes were now damp with water, not a single drop fell on the figure of the red skinned woman with golden eyes.

    The young girl stared upwards and down in disbelief. As she did so, her mind tried to fill in information so that she could understand what she was witnessing in that very instant.

    The two mysterious beings, the hazy man and the illusory woman stared at each other for a while as the earth turned into mud under the fierce assault of the raindrops.

    The woman was the first to break the eye-contact, sighing "That nickname, I don''t dislike it to the point of sowing bad karma between us. However, you should not try me..." the air began to heat up as flames appeared in her dazzling golden eyes "WORKER."

    The man''s blurry image trembled and, for a split second, a wide grin and two piercing eyes could be seen on the man''s face "Now, now... Of course we wouldn''t wish for that to happen, Miss Jin"

    The woman rolled her eyes and then her attitude turned back into her laid back appearance again "He is so intriguing..."

    The man nodded enthusiastically "Yeah! Isn''t he just... Beautiful?"

    "Don''t let me in your twisted sense of beauty, Worker. Your interest is born simply because you see him as a weapon with feelings, an animated object with a consciousness, capable of self-awareness..." Jin FengHuang glared upwards "He isn''t a sharp blade to be worn at the waist!"

    The man''s eyes widened "Of course not! Such a beautiful weapon should not be worn... It should be used..." Noticing the woman''s glare intensifying, the man smirked "Come on, I was just kidding, it was a joke! Don''t you trust me, Jin? Jinn? JinNY?"

    "Who would trust you, shrewd bastard?" She sighed but then looked up again "At first I wondered why my daughter chose him... I guess there was a reason! This boy is indeed quite charming..."

    The hazy man nodded, an excited grin the only thing discernible of the blurry figure "I understand the feeling. If I think that I almost lost my chance to witness such a spectacle..." he shivered, grabbing his shoulders as if he was cold.

    He shook his head, recovering "I will stay here a bit longer, to see what is going on exactly and what brought all these events to the current state. What about you?"

    The blurry woman pondered for a while then shook her head and bowed deeply "I am afraid I have to decline... You see, if she were to see me, I am afraid she would lose all motivation..."

    The man smirked but then nodded "That''s fine. Feel free to pass by my ''Level'' sometime. I will keep you entertained with a few jugs of bloodfire-liquor of the highest quality!"

    The golden eyed woman nodded and then bowed in the direction of the hazy figure in the sky. She then smiled to the spot where Cheng Hao had disappeared to and winked.

    "Just go easy on her, would you? I won''t hinder you, but she is my daughter after all" she put one of her hands on her chin as if she were pondering and then smiled.

    She looked up "I think a few kids would be fine, but please do not go over the three digits! Please tell them that, would you?" The red woman stuck her tongue out then she faded away, leaving behind a stunned hazy figure and an even more shocked Te Rin.

    The hazy man''s eyes grew wide but then he grinned and rebuked "Eccentric as they say, aren''t we..."

    He sighed and nodded "I shall deliver the message. Now... Let''s see what that boy is up to!" The man waved his hand and then slowly faded, as if he had been absorbed into his surroundings.

    Te Rin blinked a few times and then shook her head. She tried to recall what had just happened, and sighed with relief when she noticed all her memories were still there: what she witnessed was beyond the likes of her, for a lowly character such as herself to know so much was a lot already!

    She wasn''t an idiot, she could connect some dots, but most things were beyond her as she didn''t have enough information. She was even more confused than she had been before witnessing the strange scene!

    Still, she now felt calm. She didn''t feel the pain she had felt before, nor did she feel sad. Instead, she felt somehow reassured. It was a weird feeling, she didn''t know how to explain it.

    Still, yeah, she was now sure. In the whole world, at this very moment, she was amongst those few people who could say for certain that...This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.

    "Cheng Hao... Is alive!"

    ...

    ''Wow... Where exactly am I?'' Cheng Hao floated in some sort of void. The tyrannical pressure that had been so imposing before was somehow being held back by an illusory, golden tower.

    The boy turned to his right and stared at the single drop of bloody flesh that once was Yin Hei "I wonder... What would have happened if I hadn''t summoned the Immortal Ascension Tower back then!"

    Holding the boy within was what seemed to be a pagoda made out of precious metals: it glowed with strange light that blocked off the great pressure and at the same time looked breathtaking.

    Cheng Hao sighed in relief and looked around him: everything was dark, slightly brightened up by some stars up above, without any kind of light brightening up his surroundings, the glowing pagoda was like a lamp in the night.

    Cheng Hao looked around himself and his expression couldn''t help but change: gigantic beasts could be seen moving in the distance, each of them terrifying to the most.

    The boy stared in disbelief at these monstrous beasts swimming through the incredible pressure as if it wasn''t even there: the pressure here was nothing that should be joked about and he had a really bad feeling about his current situation.

    Suddenly, a bluish light appeared off in the distance and a loud roar reached the boy''s ears. He turned and his pupils shrunk: what appeared to be spectral giants were heading towards him.

    They were completely white, wore little to no garments and held in their hands, that were as big as whole continents, gigantic blades made of blue light.

    Although their huge frame would suggest otherwise, their speed was astonishing, each step seemingly shrinking the space between the beast and its target.

    Cheng Hao shivered as he felt an imposing pressure coming from the monsters... It was way more powerful than anything he had experienced previously, except for a few special occasions! Even the pressure from the void couldn''t compare!

    He backed away but soon realized that he was locked in place, without any way to run away. He began to sweat profusely and his eyes filled with terror as the distance between him and the giants decreased quickly.

    He heard loud roars coming from behind him and what seemed to be a gigantic lion with the head of a cow charged towards a whale that had crocodile legs instead of the fins.

    Although the lion seemed incredibly imposing, it could be seen that the whale''s power was much higher, both in terms of pressure and size.

    Each beast held incredible might and the fight drew the attention of even more beings as many powerful presences scanned the battlefield.

    Cheng Hao shivered as he witnessed the scene "So... Courageous, to actually risk its life against an opponent he knew he might die if he fought with..."

    "Courageous? So Foolish." a voice coming from behind him corrected "Courageous or coward, the winner is king and loser is thief. That monstrous whale comes from the third Level. Judging that cowlion''s cultivation, it still has not reached the second level!"

    As soon as the man finished speaking, the lion-cow wailed in pain as his lower body got bit away by the monstrous whale. The monster swallowed down the huge chunk of flesh and then howled in excitement.

    The lion couldn''t resist as it was thrown up. In its powerlessness it could only stare with terror at the row of white teeth the monstrous whale was exhibiting as it prepared for the finishing blow.

    The whale opened its mouth wide, and bit down again, fresh blood splattering everywhere. Its eyes glowed with excitement as it proceeded to swallow a whimpering cow-headed lion in one last, big gulp.

    Cheng Hao flinched and noticed a blurry figure standing beside him: his appearance was not clear and his expression couldn''t be discerned.

    The figure turned and stared deep into the child''s eyes "Why would he fight a battle he knew he would lose before he even began? Why not build up his strength and try again later? He wanted a glorious victory that would have allowed him to rise to prominence easily... To reach the Heavens in a single leap."

    The figure shook his head "Pathetic. All he got was a swift death!"

    Cheng Hao gaped and recognized the mysterious figure as being the same presence he had met earlier. He pondered as his expression darkened "You... Do you consider my choice of fighting Yin Hei foolish?"

    The person stood silent for a while and then tilted his head mysteriously "Possibly. Why did you do it? Why did you choose to risk your life in the process? Your gamble would have failed if I had not intervened..."

    Cheng Hao closed his eyes and then he tightened his fist as the image of the bright, red feather appeared in his mind "Sister... After everything that had happened, she is always the one that saves me at the end..."

    The boy stood still for a few breaths, as if to recall a memory to his mind and then his eyelids rose, revealing a pair of calm, golden orbs.

    They were like a pond of crystal clear water: once the ripples got extinguished and the water calmed down, you would be able to see your own reflection within...

    The eyes are the windows to the soul. Look in someone''s pupils and you will find their true self.

    At that time though, the hazy man couldn''t see nor guess any of Cheng Hao''s thoughts... Instead, he felt as if the boy was reading him.

    He could see himself within the pupils of the young boy: it was like looking into a mirror, a mirror of the self, reflecting not the physical body but the soul!

    "It is because of other people''s effort that I am here right now. They found the strength to aid me even in the worst situations and died with a smile on their face..." the boy smiled and the hazy man trembled inwardly and recovered from his state of shock.

    "I..." Cheng Hao sighed "I also want to experience that feeling..."

    The man gritted his teeth, embarrassed of losing himself at that time, and coldly scoffed "Experience what? Death?"

    The child nodded resolutely "If that would mean that the lives of my dear ones would be saved, yes. I would be more than glad to die for the sake of my loved ones! What use is power if you can only use it for yourself?"

    Silence.

    The hazy figure stared at Cheng Hao''s face full of determination and finally muttered, almost as if he was talking to himself "He... Is serious... He really defies all logic..."

    The blurry man grabbed his stomach and chuckling sounds could be heard.

    "Eh... Ah... Ahah..." the chuckle soon turned into laughter and it rose until it every other sound.

    "Ahahahahaha!!!"

    The laughter reverberated into the void...

 Chapter 74 - Dangers Lurking Within The Sect

    Aster and Iris stood by Lao Jianghu''s side. They did not look worried in the least. Instead, they looked calmer than ever, as if they knew that everything would turn out alright.

    "Brother... When is he coming back?" The girl asked as she looked over her shoulder at the spot where Xiao Wu was wailing and crying in pain "A child''s wails... Children with such pristine voices should laugh, not cry..."

    Aster shook his head and looked up, his red eyes glinting "That guy above seemed to be quite sure about the boy being still alive. That is both what I know and all I know. Unfortunately, that means I have no idea when he will be back..."

    Lao Jianghu looked at the two and sighed "I still can''t believe it... Two children such as you were able to witness this event that I, a beast with thousands of years of experience, couldn''t..."

    Aster turned and shook his head disrespectfully "Elder, the bodies of the Ancients have pretty special capabilities. One is an increased cultivation speed, another one is what I like to refer to as ''Farsight''" He smiled bashfully and then looked up, his expression growing serious.

    "Fortunately, the two speakers did not seem too incline on hiding their actions. Because of that, I was barely able to detect the vibrations in the air and, although unable to completely make out what the two beings were talking about, I could catch up to something: they seemed to be discussing something about Cheng Hao and not referring to him as dead. I believe... They somehow know he is still alive"

    "Although I call it Farsight, it is actually the ability to reorganize the information given from our five senses into a complete picture of our surroundings... This has saved me quite a few times, especially in that last battle against Brother Cheng..." he sighed and caressed the greatsword hanging from his back.

    The old man smiled "That sword slew countless people, it is impregnated with the blood of thousands. However, your soul is not, it is still is pure, much purer than most veteran warriors"

    "You killed because you had to, not because you found pleasure in it. As long as you take your time, you will be able to repay the dead with your actions!"

    Aster looked on wide-eyed, stunned by Lao Jianghu''s words. He chuckled "You guys, aren''t you a bit too forgiving? After all, I did slay many of your friends..."

    Lao Jianghu smiled kindly "Oh, but I do hate you to the bone! However, Cheng Hao considers you as Brothers, that means you are also Martial Siblings of mine! He trusts you and I shall follow his wishes and respect his decisions!" The old man''s golden eyes glinted with murderous intent as his smile turned into a dark grin "Believe me if I say, though, that if it had not been for that... You would be dead where you stand!"

    Aster shivered as he stared deep into the man''s eyes: there, he could see boundless killing intent as well as confidence! Aster believed in everything the old man had said and looked down, afraid to meet Lao Jianghu''s gaze head on.

    As the trio spoke, a certain figure sat up a few hundred meters away. The man looked down at his hands in disbelief: felt that the seal imposed on his cultivation had somehow been lifted!

    He looked up and saw the cultivator that had been guarding him wasn''t paying attention to his condition. The figure didn''t ask any questions, smiled fiercely, and thrust his hand right into the man''s chest, crushing his heart!

    The man didn''t even have time to scream before falling headfirst into a pool of his own blood!

    Even more blood splurged out from the wound and the figure licked his lips "You dare bind me, seal my cultivation? Very well then... Now that I am free I should get my revenge, shouldn''t I? After all, that is what all imprisoned bad guys say once they are released..."

    The figure knelt beside the cultivator''s corpse and tapped the man''s forehead "This won''t have as much of an effect on a dead cultivator than on a living one... Cheng Hao, you bastard! Had it not been for you, Te Rin''s Soul Crystal would be completed already and I would have broken through to the mid level Reverend stage!"

    The man gritted his teeth and his body began emitting powerful killing intent.

    "Only a handful people are able to create Soul Crystal from a person''s dead body... It is just your bad luck that I am one of those few people! The aftermaths of this battle is a heaven sent gift for me!" The man laughed madly.

    His eyes flashed and the fingers on top of the corpse''s forehead suddenly sank into the skull! No blood came out, however the man''s already dead body trembled.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    The figure seemed to be searching for something and, finally, his hand caught onto it! He grabbed the small object in his hand and then removed his fingers from the corpse''s forehead.

    He excitedly grasped the Soul Crystal in his hand: it was round, the size of a small bead and its surface had a bluish coloration.

    "Not bad... this guy actually cultivated a simple water-related scripture... It shouldn''t be too contrasting with my own Qi, I can begin absorbing!" The man sat down and entered a meditative stance.

    He brought the Soul Crystal to his mouth and bit down. He didn''t swallow though. Instead, he let it evaporate and then opened his mouth: a thin mist came out and began to swirl around him. He closed his eyes and began to absorb it through a breathing technique!

    "Just you wait... A few more of these and I will step into the mid level Reverend stage! After that, it will be time for the high level and, who knows, I might even get to the peak level!" He chuckled "Lao Jianghu... I am definitely going to kill you with my own hands! After that... It is going to be the turn of the whole Sect!"

    ...

    Hearing the blurry man''s deafening laughter, the spectral giants that had been approaching at astonishing speeds felt their blood turn cold. With terrified howls, they immediately turned around and ran away as fast as they could.

    All other beings also felt great terror from this mysterious being and hurried away, quickly disappearing from view. Soon, not a single being was left behind in a radius of hundreds of thousands of miles!

    "You just won''t stop entertaining me! This is amazing!" The figure of the man became slightly clearer as a pair of deep, blue eyes stared down on Cheng Hao.

    Eyes so blue the ocean would pale in comparison.

    Previously, Xu Ling''s eyes had been referred to as that, but now... These eyes were just as deep, mesmerizing and beautiful as Xu Ling''s own pair!

    "How about... We play a little game?" The pair of blue eyes turned incredibly cold and Cheng Hao felt a chill go down his spine.

    Reluctantly, he nodded, feeling that if he did not, he would end up like that cow-lion, swallowed by a much bigger power without a chance to resist.

    "I shall put at stake your life as the bet!" The figure revealed a fiendish grin "Prove to me... That your words aren''t as empty as your name would hint, boy named Xu! Win and I shall give you whatever you desire. Lose, and I shall dissipate your soul and throw you into oblivion myself!"

    He waved his hand and a bright door appeared: slightly taller than a human adult''s frame, it was kept simple to the most. What was astonishing though, was that beyond the metallic frame was a world of light!

    "Step in. Your friends are waiting for you, you wouldn''t want to make them wait, would you?" The man''s grin became even wider "Getting through my Trial as soon as possible would be for the best..."

    Cheng Hao frowned: as fast as possible?

    Why?

    Confused, he inquired "Why should I?"

    Worker grinned fiercely as he licked his lips excitedly "While you might have time, they don''t! Karma that isn''t sown will keep on existing and so will enmities... How was that boy called? Zhao Bu? Wasn''t he from some Zhao clan that you kind of angered before?"

    Cheng Hao''s eyes widened as great rage welled up within "You didn''t..."

    The man nodded bashfully "Yyyyeah... I might have just saved him and sent him back to inform his clan, who knows? They might just want to seek revenge, is your Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect powerful enough to resist the Zhao clan on their own?"

    "Also, I might just have A-C-C-I-D-E-N-T-A-L-L-Y freed that Shui Jing [Note: Fifth Protector, the one who attempted to refine a Soul Crystal out of The Rin] guy. As all Protectors with a cultivation of the Reverend stage are pretty much exhausted after that battle, he might be wrecking chaos in the Sect right now..."

    Noticing Cheng Hao''s enraged expression, the man simply shook his head innocently "Hey, I DID tell you it wasn''t on purpose, didn''t I?"

    Cheng Hao''s expression grew uglier with each word the man spoke. Soon, his eyes flashed with murderous intent and he clenched his fist "You... What are you after!"

    The man shrugged his shoulders and shook his head "Not a clue myself! By the way, as you probably realize, you don''t have much time, do you? Oh? Did I forget to say that time in this place flows half as fast as it does outside?"

    Worker grinned fiercely "One minute you waste over here, two minutes have passed over there... Which means that an hour here... Means two hours for that Shui Jing to slaughter his way in the Sect!"

    Cheng Hao''s eyes widened "Shit!"

    "However..." the man interrupted and pointed at the door of light grinning "If you go in, it will extend to a thousand times as fast as the outside world! Play my game, and maybe you will come out just in time to save your... Friends."

    Cheng Hao''s eyes lit up and he felt as if a glimmer of hope was there, after all that harsh treatment. He turned to look at the blurry figure and asked "Will you really... Grant me a wish? Any wish?"

    "I swear it on my nickname as the ''Worker''" Worker nodded seriously and he smiled knowingly, his blue eyes glinting "Who knows... I might even bring a certain... Bird back from the dead... But don''t think of pulling a fast one though, kid. One wish means one wish, I won''t allow you to wish for any more, nor will I allow any kind of power that would allow you to do so in any way! Meaning, I won''t give you a power that surpasses mine, nor will I harm others directly because of it!"

    Cheng Hao bit his lips and then nodded. He turned and walked up to the door of light. He only stopped a single step away from the frame and turned his head one last time.

    At some point, his previously enraged and anxious expression had disappeared, replaced by a knowing smirk...

 Chapter 75 - The Hunter Leaves The Hut

    "Worker... Was it? There is one last thing before I go..." the boy smiled "I would like to answer your question from before... Is my Sect powerful enough to resist?"

    He smirked "Why don''t you ask my Reverend stage servant, Lu Fang, where he put the drop of Supreme stage blood I gave him? I might need it later! Or wether the two Ancients have completely recovered their strength?"

    "From what you said, Blacky probably isn''t rebelling as of now, but I wouldn''t count on him too much... Still, I believe he won''t try to rebel and might even help us! Goldy should alsostep into the Ageless Realm in a short while... So tell me... Where exactly does the danger lie?"

    Worker''s eyes widened in shock and he suddenly thought back to the battle... That was right: Cheng Hao had a drop of Supreme stage blood! He didn''t use it though, it had bugged him then...

    Now, his pupils shrunk as he understood the reason! It was because... He didn''t have it on himself at the time!

    Crossing that out, there were still the two Ancients, with one of them having the cultivation of the Reverend stage! The golden dragon, Blindlight, also was incredibly powerful and would be able to help out if he didn''t have to hold back the Hellish Nightmare Dragon, Blacky!

    That was right, what would a little low level Reverend stage cultivator possibly be able to do? The only thing able to threaten the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect would be an attack by the Zhao Clan, but that was so far away the Sect would have long since recovered its full strength!

    Worker doubted the boy had predicted a situation such as this would unfold, but he noticed that the boy never gave up a chance to add another card up his sleeve!

    He had been completely fooled! He wondered what would a certain lady with golden eyes tell him if she were to find out?

    Worker immediately turned around waving his sleeve, applying great pressure on the young boy, and yelled "STOP RIGHT THERE!"

    "Remember your promise, old man! One wish!" The boy ignored the attack as it crashed down on the Golden Tower: it cracked slightly but was able to hold on! Another attack though, and it would mean the end of the existence called Cheng Hao!

    Worker''s face couldn''t help but fall when he saw his attack getting repelled by the illusory tower: he had no way of stopping the child as, if he were to break that tower, Cheng Hao would die immediately! He didn''t want that, and the boy knew it! He could not attack!

    In a beautiful game called chess, there is a particular situation that could be perfect to describe this situation: in chess, you win if you checkmate your opponent (plus a few other ways that the lazy author doesn''t wish to look into right now) but amongst skilled player, the chance of a game ending in a draw is higher than a half!

    There are quite a few situations in which checkmate isn''t possible or you are forced into a draw:

    [Note: Yep, yours truly has indeed done some research on the subject and lost quite some time because of it! Isn''t he such a good guy? Love you all ?]

    Insufficient Material!

    There is no way to checkmate against a lone King if one has on the board either: 1) a lone King; 2) a lone King and one Knight; 3) a lone King and one Bishop (One can still lose because the time might run out, but it is I-M-P-O-S-S-I-B-L-E to checkmate in these circumstances, no matter how good you are and how bad your opponent is).

    Draw by Repetition!

    Both yourself and the opponent find themselves forced into repeating the same exact moves for three times. Either player may point this out and claim a draw.

    Fifty-Move Rule!

    You and your opponent find yourself in a situation where you cannot move a pawn or make a capture (Also referred to as Irreversible Moves, as such moves cannot be reversed and repeated indefinitely).

    After 50 such moves, either player may claim a draw! In this case, no matter how many pieces more than your opponent you have on the board, you can''t do anything but hit yourself for not checkmating him earlier!

    Both Flags Down!

    If neither player has time left on the clock, either player may claim a draw (unless one of the players has already been checkmated or has resigned).

    Draw by Agreement!

    This is pretty intuitive: players may offer a draw at any time during a game, preferably immediately after making a move. If the opponent would like to accept the draw offer, he/she must do so before making a move, otherwise the draw offer expires! Draw offers may be repeated.

    And finally...

    [Note: If you ever played a chess game and this was used against you, then you would know how bad of a feeling it is, to have victory within your grasp and see it snatched away just like that! You would feel like going back in time and kick yourself in the balls for giving your opponent the chance to pull this off. It is that much of a pain. The same, if you do this to others, people are gonna hate you. A lot (more than they already do).]

    Stalemate!

    Stalemate: if a player during his or her turn, is not in check and has no move available... The game is over and the result is a draw!

    The opponent still has all his pieces on the chessboard and you only have one king? Doesn''t matter. If you cannot move that lone king because otherwise it would be under check, it''s a draw.

    This is also referred to as a Forced Draw by some!

    Cheng Hao laughed and stepped into the bright light. He felt a sense of incredible accomplishment welling up in his chest as he disappeared.

    Worker clenched his fist and gritted his teeth "Played... I have been played! Damn brat!"

    "..." the man relaxed and his blue eyes flashed with amusement "Fine... Have it your way then! You bought a few more days by going through the door, but if you don''t hurry up, your friends will die!"

    Worker smiled knowingly "I would really like to know... What exactly will you face within! It might be... I guess I will have to wait for his return to find out! Even I can''t interfere..."

    The man chuckled and stepped forward: his body seemed to blend with its surroundings as it disappeared...

    ...

    Zhao Clan Mansion, Main Hall corridors. Connecting the main hall to other parts of the castle was a long corridor, wide enough that it could easily allow five men on their horses to ride side by side without any hindrances.

    Before stepping in the Main Hall, one would first have to seek permission by announcing themselves to the royal guards protecting the chamber.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

    Two doors, each five meters tall, four meters wide and three inches thick barred the way. The doors were made out of of iron mixed with a strange mineral, oxidyte, which, other than being half as heavy as iron and twice as hard, also had the characteristic of absorbing force and releasing it right back against the offender.

    It is one of the rarest minerals in the Four Beasts Mountain Range, where owning only ten pounds could allow a family to live in comfort for forty years. These two doors, however, weighted together more than two hundred thousand pounds.

    A sixth of that, about thirty to forty thousand pounds, was the weight of the oxidyte present in one of the doors. Each of those doors could allow almost four thousand people to live comfortably for four decades! That was without counting the price of the iron!

    It was simply unimaginable wealth! Only a major clan such as the Zhao Clan could ever hope to ever gain such wealth in hundreds of years. Thinking about the fact that such a wealth was used to make two doors, this much money really showed off the wealth and power of the Zhao Clan.

    In front of those majestic gates, five soldiers wearing a golden armor guarded the Hall. The five of them were currently arguing amongst themselves.

    The youngest one was telling the others "Hey! I heard from a friend of mine that about two months ago, the Zi clan got completely wiped out! Apparently there was one survivor that had the brains to run away as soon as possible to notify the main clan!"

    Another one frowned upon hearing those words "So that is why Clan Leader has been so irritated recently... And also why the Generals have begun to move! It is because such a fact took place! I thought it was just a rumor..."

    "Everybody, I don''t know wether what I have heard at the time was true or not... But when that person from the Zi clan spoke about these matters to the Clan Leader, I was inside the main hall!" The first guard, the oldest of the five, finally opened his mouth. He had been silently listening up until now but he also decided to share the things he knew about with his four colleagues.

    "Really, eldest brother? Is that true?" The four of them asked at once. The old man nodded and his armor rattled as he leaned on the two frames "According to that man''s words, the massacre wasn''t carried out by any family or clan... Instead, according to him, the clan had been completely slaughtered by a single person!"

    The three of them sucked a breath in. Suddenly one of them spoke up "Was it that Sung stage expert? I heard his cultivation was sealed so, maybe, he found out the way to gain it back!"

    The oldest guard spoke up once again "Fool! The seal was laid down by the Clan Master himself! How could a cultivationless idiot like him possible break such a seal? The Clan Master who sealed that Lu Fang is a Reverend stage expert! What''s more, that was definitely not the case, because that man has seen the killer!"

    The four looked at each other and then spoke together "Please tell us! Who was it!"

    The old men felt as if he had gained great face and pointed his nose upwards and laughed. After he recovered he continued his story "You see... The fact that the killer was only one person is not what will surprise you the most!" The old man lowered his voice and the four got closer "The killer actually was... A child!"

    At those words, the four of them frowned as disbelief appeared on their face. Seeing that, the old man was slightly angered as he continued "It is the truth! The Clan Master even used the Soul Scan on the poor soul... He is resting even now, his Sea of Consciousness damaged: he has become a cripple and has no chance of recovery..."

    Hearing those words, the four guards were startled and did not doubt the man''s words anymore. Instead, they even listened more carefully and tried to remember his words to tell their friends later and gain some face!

    "The child was apparently really young, not in his teens yet. He wore a red robe, had red hair and wore a mask with a demonic mouth depicted on it. Although he had a low cultivation, he cut through Advanced stage cultivators with his bare hands like cutting tofu and slaughtered Superior stage experts!"

    "What''s more..." The old man added "Leader promised as a reward for his capture a Flying Sword of a Fourth Grade quality as well as a Reverend Grade Martial Pill!"

    Hearing this, the four people''s eyes widened and their pupils turned into gold coins!

    A Fourth Grade Flying Sword! The Clan Master only had a Third Grade Flying a sword himself, and it was enough to cut mountains apart! A Fourth Grade Flying Sword, what kind of might would it have?

    What''s more, Reverend Grade Martial Pills! They are Pills that contain Spiritual Energy on par with a Reverend stage expert! For people about to breakthrough to the Reverend stage or that have reached a bottleneck, this was a heaven-sent opportunity!

    The five of them weren''t guards of the clan''s Main Hall just in name: they each had a cultivation base of the mid or high level Sung stage, while the older amongst them had a cultivation of the peak level Sung stage!

    One of the four couldn''t help but think out aloud "Brothers... This is such an opportunity! If we go kill that bastard, we shall gain such great benefits! What are we waiting for!"

    The eldest guard spoke up again, this time his expression was serious "Do so if you seek death!"

    "You should know that the Zi Clan is, after all, a branch of the Zhao Clan. This means that not only were there Advanced and Superior stage experts... A few Sung stage experts were present as well! One of them even had the cultivation of the peak Sung stage, just in case that Lu Fang turned rogue!"

    The old man looked around and lowered his voice and the other four guards leaned in.

    "A golden flash for each of their necks! That was all it took for more than ten Sung stage expert to fall to the ground, beheaded! He said that this was the work of twelve, majestic golden blades! Judging by his description, those blades were on par if not superior to fourth grade Flying Blades! The man at the time had described him with two words... A Crimson Demon!"

    The four younger guards shivered and they looked down in shame: experts with cultivation on par or even above their own got cut down with a single slash, what could they possibly hope to do!

    Winning against such a fiend and getting the rewards... It was like a toad wishing to eat swan meat! It would simply not happen!

    "And that is not all!" The eldest guard spoke and, this time, his eyes were much more serious than they had been before "Young Master, Zhao Bu... Is back!"

    The third guard frowned "But why? Wasn''t he at the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect? Why would he be back with such timing?"

    The eldest guard''s face darkened "That is the problem. He doesn''t know. He was over there at one moment and in his room in the Clan Mansion the next! Even Clan Master is puzzled about this..."

    The guard shook his head "Anyways, do you remember that apparition in the sky? It came from the same Sect that young master went to! According to him, strange things happened but most importantly..."

    He smiled fiercely "The Crimson Demon was there! He is actually not only a child, but also the ex-disciple of the Third Protector protector!" He massaged his neck "My throats is dry, brothers, please, let me rest for a while..."

    The second guard spoke up, his expression one of confusion and respect "Ex-disciple? Why is that? Please tell me, Older Brother!" The man removed an alcohol flagon from his Dimensional Pouch and handed it over to the first guard.

    "Sure!" The first guard happily received the flagon and took a long sip. His throat burned from the alcohol, his tongue seemed to have become easier to move and he felt like he could speak for days nonstop.

    "As I was saying... Ex-disciple! The reason is because... He is now none other than the Sect Head himself! The disciples of the Protectors had a bout over the spot of Sect Leader and he won it easily!" The man took another sip.

    "This time though, he used no such thing as the Golden Flying Sword, it can be seen his combat capability is indeed high! What''s more, his scheming runs deep and his thinking capabilities are way higher than a child''s!"

    "Young Master also told Clan Master one thing. I was there at the time and, believe me, when Young Master described the child''s speed, he was incredibly pale, as if he was speaking of his encounter with a ghost. According to him..." the man sat down and lifted one of his fingers.

    "Even master Yin Hei told me he could barely make out his blurry figure, as the child was so fast he seemed to warp all over the place! Master''s cultivation is of the mid level Reverend stage, but I have the feeling that it actually goes way deeper than that!

    If even an old monster like him isn''t able to see that boy clearly, I doubt anyone below the Reverend stage would be able to bring him down! That bastard... Cheng Hao!"

    "...Is what he said" The first guard recited.

    "According to him, something big has happened in the Sect, a great battle has been fought. At that time, the child slaughtered thousands of cultivators with a single, mysterious technique! He then proceeded to slaughter ten Sung and Reverend stage cultivators on the spot!"

    The four guards felt a chill go down their spine: slaughtering the Reverend stage... Just what kind of power would be required to do that!

    "Hearing that, the Second Master, the Clan Master''s younger brother, has taken up the task of capturing this crimson demon... on himself!" It could be seen that the guard held great respect and admiration towards this Second Master.

    "The Second Master is a martial expert at the peak of cultivation, an expert at the peak Reverend stage, he even owns a fourth grade Flying Sword! If it wasn''t for his obsession towards cultivation, he would have long since become the Clan Master!

    However, he gave up the spot to his brother which was the ''Brain'' of the Duo back when they were still young and hunting people in Jianghu [Note: the ''world'' of the Martial Artists]..."

    The guard nodded his head knowingly and clenched his fist as his eyes burned with passion "Second Master is preparing to leave this mansion right as we speak! He is preparing to Hunt the Demon... And burn this Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect to the ground! There is no way this child, this Cheng Hao, can possibly hope to survive after offending the might of the Zhao Clan!"

 Book 1: Reborn! - Third Arc: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - Epilogue

    In the depths of the Xiao Clan Mansion was a certain room. It was a hall that bore the design of white trees and black dragons coiling around them.

    No natural light came in from any window as there weren''t any, instead, on the more than fifty feet tall ceiling, like a god looking down on the world, was a purple moon that shone down purple light on its surroundings.

    This hall had been used by the Clan Master for generations and it was referred to as the ''Inner Master Hall''.

    Right now, in that hall with no windows and lit up only by the purple moon on the ceiling, a figure ran towards the throne at the back of the room, his face pale and his eyes trembling.

    He wore purple robes decorated with golden threads, signifying the man was none other than a Purple Hall Elder. The Clan had three major Halls: the Black Hall, the White Hall and the Purple Hall.

    The Halls, of course, were named after the two main scriptures of the Clan: Black Dragon and White Tree scripture and the Purple Moon scripture.

    It had to be noted though that while the Black Dragon and White Tree scripture was one, single scripture to begin with, it had two different attributes, attack and defense.

    How to differentiate a cultivator cultivating the dual-attribute Black Dragon and White Tree scripture, focusing on enhancing their attacking power from one that instead decided to put their efforts on boosting their endurance?

    This problem was solved by dividing the previous ''Soldier'' Hall into the ''Black'' and ''White'' Halls.

    Also, while the two other Halls specialized in attack and defense only, the Purple Moon Hall had many hidden bonuses that it could grant to the cultivators practicing the homonymous scripture.

    The Purple Moon was also the rarest of three kinds of Sensed Qi that a Clan member of the Xiao Clan could sense on their breakthrough from a simple mortal to the Inferior stage. The Xiao Clan members having the Purple Moon as their sensed Qi were not even a hundredth of the total forces of the Clan.

    This was also the reason why the Purple Hall was also the most prestigious. For an esteemed Elder of the Purple Hall to be wearing such an anxious face meant something major had happened.

    "Clan Master!" The figure fell on his feet kowtowing and spoke frantically "This humble junior just received the news of a conflict in the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect! This junior is afraid... Wu''Er got involved!"

    There was a throne made out of purple crystals on the back of the room: it was more than forty-five feet tall, almost touching the ceiling. It had the shape of a tree with a purple dragon coiled around it: on top of the head of the crystal dragon, more than ten feet in the air was where a figure sat in meditation.

    The figure wore long, purple and black robes that fell on the ground, had long, blue hair that fell down his back like a waterfall, while his stern face exuded powerful pressure.

    His eyelids slowly lifted and two green eyes calmly examined their surroundings. The pair of orbs seemed to hold deep knowledge as well as looking extremely sharp, like an unsheathed blade.

    If one was to look within the eyelids and past the pupils, one would be able to see a sea of stars holding within a titanic black blade, sharp enough to cut through any and all metals and a purple moon whose purple light gave off an eerie feeling...

    The man breathed out once and a dense purple mist came out of his mouth, coiling around him like a Dragon while at the same time exuding the powerful pressure of the Purple Moon.

    The man then breathed in, the dragon seemed to be alive as it flew right into the man''s mouth and nostrils.

    The Purple Hall Elder looked up with admiration: those without knowledge would be unable to tell, but he recognized the technique as being none other than Black Dragon Becoming The Purple Moon, one of the most powerful cultivation techniques of the Xiao Clan.

    In the end, a single scripture might be powerful, but only when put together with the other would it truly bring out the power of the two symbiontic Sensed Qi. To be able to cultivate two aspects out of three of the two scriptures meant one was a genius, to be able to mix two of these aspects however, indicated a true monster!

    The man sitting on top of the crystal dragon''s head finally stood up and the long robes fluttered in a nonexistent wind as he began to emit a pressure that seemed capable of tearing the Earth apart and challenge the Heavens.

    "Speak" A single word caused countless changes: the Black Dragons in the decorations cried with delight and roared with all their might. At the same time, the White Trees bowed their branches in submission to their lord. The only thing that remained unchanged was the Purple Moon on the ceiling.

    The Dragons cry to welcome the lord of the Mortals. The Trees bow to the paragon amongst the Ageless. The Moon shall shine into the sky to accompany the rise of the majestic Immortal.

    This man had the cultivation at the peak of the Ageless Realm!

    This Hall had been a gift from the Jade Emperor, the one, True Lord of the Heavens before Tian usurped the throne:

    Ninety-nine-thousands-nine-hundred-ninety-nine Black Dragons had been trapped into the paintings.

    Ninety-nine-thousand-nine-hundred-ninety-nine White Oaks more than one hundred thousand years old had been also been refined and had their souls sewn into the paintings

    A single star had been plucked from the sky by the Jade Emperor himself and had been refined and cut into the Purple Moon.

    These guardians of the Xiao Clan shall accompany the Clan Master to war, protect the Xiao Clan during peace and only sleep once the Xiao Clan falls.

    The Purple Hall elder gulped and then spoke "Young Mistress went to the lowly Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect as per Master''s order, but who could have thought not one, but two beings of the Ageless Realm would suddenly appear!"

    "One of them even had a true cultivation of the Immortal Realm! Our guards stationed outside the Plane weren''t allowed access to the Plane and thus were unable to do anything..." the Elder panicked as he began to speak in a hurry "If we don''t hurry up-"

    "What?" The man interrupted, his expression calm "Are you saying that Wu''Er might have died in the clash?"

    The man lowered his head "No, Clan Master... But we are unable to check the situation inside..."

    The blue haired man''s mouth curved upwards "Do you know why our Clan was exiled from the Nine Heavens? Do you know why we were forced into this Second-Rate Plane?"

    The Purple Hall Elder nodded "Of course this junior knows! It was because of Lord Xu Ling! Our Ancestor, Xiao Lan followed Lord Ling into battle and, when the rebels lost, he was punished by Tian... Ancestor is deep into meditation right now, healing from the wounds he was inflicted at that time..."

    The Clan Master smirked and then chuckled: his laughter soon filled the entire place. Looking at the confused expression on the other''s face, the man smiled "Who sent Wu''Er to the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect?"

    The Elder frowned and pondered "This junior remembers that it was under Clan Master, your exellency, Sir Xiao Fang''s order... Was it not so?"

    Xiao Fang smiled and his green eyes brightened "While I did indeed pass the order, it was not me that decided this..."

    The man''s eyes widened as he finally understood "Ancestor... Clan Master! Is Ancestor..."

    Xiao Fang''s smiled widened and he nodded "Ancestor Xiao Lan will come out of meditation soon. Three months ago, I heard Ancestor''s voice as I meditated on top of the Xiao Throne..."If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    The man smiled "I sensed a presence... A presence that I never thought I would sense again after what happened a thousand years ago..." Xiao Fang recited "No teacher from this Clan would Xiao Wu learn more from. No Elder would be able to protect her as much as Him... Little Fang, go ahead and send her there! It is time... For brothers to reunite!"

    The Purple Hall Elder gaped "Who... Who might this person possibly be, for Ancestor to speak about him like that!"

    Xiao Fang closed his green eyes and then bathed in the purple light as he spoke excitedly "At first I was also puzzled, but then I realized! Such respect... Such admiration! For Ancestor to feel like that towards someone, that person could only be him"

    Opening his eyes and noticing the man''s confusion, Xiao Fang smiled once again and spoke, his voice trembling from the excitement and happiness "Who would''ve thought he would actually come back? For him to be Reborn, he really is the one the prophecy told of! The Destined One! The Fifth Divine Beast! The Evil Saint! That is right, Lord Xu Ling is alive!"

    ...

    Up in the Heavens there was a lonely mountain. On that mountain was a cage made out of the hardest crystals and the sturdiest ores.

    Two guards stood guard on that single cage: each of them had unfathomable strength and cultivation and wore armor made out of Heavenly materials.

    Within the cage that was so big it could house a whole town, was a single grass house. It was small and modest. All in all, it was something that you wouldn''t really expect to find within a huge cage on top of a tall mountain.

    Suddenly, the two guards woke up: their shoulders and they felt a shiver of fear go down their spines as they immediately entered a fighting stance.

    "Ahaha, relax. I am just going out for a walk, nothing serious. I might even come back who knows?" The voice of an old man came from within the house.

    As soon as the words were spoken, a noise of what seemed to be an old bed creaking could be heard and footsteps reached the guards'' ears.

    They couldn''t help but tighten their fists as their stance wavered slightly from the terror they felt.

    The door of the grass house creaked and slowly slid open: the house was dark and what was inside couldn''t be seen clearly. Only the faint figure of a person, slightly darker than his surroundings, could be made out.

    "You never learn, do you? After all those years that I told you, you still dare to hold a stance in front of my eyes? An old ''friend'' of mine, you would probably know him as the Glacier Old Man, understood this best..." from within the darkness, a hint of movement could be made out.

    "He based his whole technique on reading the opponent through the changes in their stances. Oh well, he is dead right now. Killed by a pupil of mine. The little brat almost got his heart ripped out that time though..." an old man only wearing a few rags, pieces of cloth that could barely be called garments, barefoot even, stepped out the grass house.

    Even though he appeared ancient, his skin didn''t have a single wrinkle, his back was as straight as a spear and his expression was mild and serene.

    However, no matter how much he acted, his red eyes would always emanate killing intent seemingly capable of annihilating whole nations with but a glimpse.

    Danger!

    Everything about this old man screamed danger: the way he moved without creating disturbances in the wind, his scary crimson orbs, the always present amiable smile on his face, the fact that his two eyes seemed to be able to read your thoughts... This old man wasn''t simple!

    His hair was white, the left side of the man''s head was devoid of any strand of hair while long braids fell from the right and his two sword-shaped eyebrows seemed sharp enough to cut through concrete.

    The man didn''t emit any pressure, however his manner and presence were suffocating, a single look at his figure and you wouldn''t be able to stand straight.

    It made people even wonder why they would create a cage to hold this being within: it simply seemed impossible! Not to mention the guards, they were even more useless! A single look and they would topple over, powerlessly.

    The pair of guards both gulped and then grabbed the empty air: soon, what looked like two cubic crystals appeared in their hands and began to shine a mysterious blue light.

    "Stop right there!" The tallest of the two guards yelled bravely as he wielded the shining crystal "I command you to fall back and go back into the sealing formation!"

    The old man flinched as if he had been hit by an invisible whip and then rolled his eyes "Damn, you are no fun..." he turned around and headed back to the grass house. He opened the door and spoke "Oh well, guess we will see each other again in a few decades when I wake up..."

    The two guards let out a sigh of relief when suddenly, the crystal in the taller guard''s hands burst open and shattered into countless specks of light. The two guards paled and their eyes widened in terror.

    "...NOT!" The old man smiled as he turned around and headed back to the walls of the cage, completely disregarding the broken crystals in the hands of the tall guard. He ignored the two as he examined the surface made out of divine materials and began to ponder.

    The guard that had dared to speak to the old man with such an overbearing tone gulped and then opened his mouth to speak "S-Sir..."

    "What is it?" The old man didn''t look away from the cage and instead begun to smile as if he had just found a nice puzzle to pass his time. He touched the surface of the prison and stared in amazement as his fingers couldn''t even approach it.

    "Y-You cannot leave the grass house... Please, go back in!" The first guard requested as he bowed slightly, the illusion of a majestic bird with lightning crackling on its wings appeared behind him: Heavenly Beast, Thunder Eagle!

    "It looks like the binding crystals have no more power on you, but it is impossible to destroy the cage! Please, obey us and go back, Lord-"

    "Wrong" the old man pointed out as his smile grew wider and wider with each passing second "That ''binding thingy''... Never had any effect on me. I was just too bored to go out and play that I just went back to the house after a little while... I don''t understand why you would expect such useless pieces of junk to work in the first place... Heavenly Beasts are such idiots at times..."

    The second guard''s face grew red as he was angered. Behind him, the illusion of a fiery bull with fire burning in the beast''s empty eye sockets could be seen gritting its teeth: Heavenly Beast, Hellfire Demonbull!

    "However... You are right! I cannot seem to be able to destroy this cage! You guys really did a good job, I would probably need to spend a few hours on it if I wished to break it all apart... It is too much of a bother though, I probably won''t!" the old man turned to look at the two armored cultivators and smiled.

    The two Heavenly Beasts in human form first paled at the man''s words: a few hours? This cage had been built out of heavenly treasures! It was hard to the extreme, few objects would be as durable as this cage!

    Still, when they heard the man say that he would not make any attempts at breaking the Heavenly Prison, they couldn''t help but smile smugly.

    "Then, why don''t you go back in the house?" The Bull asked as it trembled inwardly and cursed the Heavens: why did he have to be the one guarding this monster?

    "Uh? Why should I?" The old man tilted his head childishly, showing an expression of confusion. The Hellfire DemonBull and the Thunder Eagle wanted to spit out blood at the old man''s attitude. However, his next words shocked them deeply:

    "I said I wouldn''t destroy it, so I won''t. But why shouldn''t I go out then?" And just like that, space seemed to bend as the old man suddenly reappeared outside the cage, in his hands was a single crystal object that somehow resembled a key...

    The two Heavenly Beast felt their eyes bulge out their sockets and their jaws touched the ground as they gaped. They fell to their knees: they had guarded this place for more than a thousand years and then suddenly discover the prisoner had the key to his cell all along!

    The old man inhaled and exhaled. He then nodded satisfied "I guess this is what freedom is like... Not a bad feeling, but I was more comfortable sleeping in the grass hut..."

    He seemed torn between the two possibilities and finally sighed "I will miss you, fresh air..." he smiled, then stepped back into the cage and walked into the grass house, closing the door as he stepped in.

    The two guards only regained their senses at that time: what had just happened? They didn''t know but they fell on their knees crying and yelling their injustice to the wind: why, why did they have to go through this suffering?

    ...

    Within the grass hut, the old man sighed and then laid down on an extremely complicated formation: it was even more powerful and complex than the one set by Lao Jianghu back at the Sect.

    Such a powerful formation... should have the power to make any and all beings under the Heaven fall into a deep slumber for eons to come!

    And yet, this old man, in complete disregard to any and all logic, just laid there, staring at the ceiling, counting to himself "One-hundred-twenty-three Tasty Lambs... One-hundred-twenty-four Yummy Lambs..."

    He closed his eyes and then sighed "Can''t fall asleep..."

    If the two poor guards outside could hear him, they would probably commit suicide on the spot.

    He then narrowed his eyes, now glittering with a bright red light, and seemed to concentrate, as if he could see and hear more just by doing those two actions.

    "Let''s see... What is happening that I am not knowing abou-" The old man''s eyes then brightened up as he seemed to overhear something interesting "Mm? This is..."

    He opened his mouth in both stupor and excitement "True Immortal Destiny? How can this be? Jin FengHuang! She is actually alive!"

    "..."

    "..."

    "..."

    "Soul of the Mountain! Is this true?"

    "Pff... Pwahahaha!" He chuckled, the sound of his laughter echoing in the lone grass hut.

    He grinned "So interesting! To think something like this actually existed..." a reminiscing expression appeared on his otherwise always calm and collected face.

    "Good luck, my apprentice. Master for a day, Father for a life, I am and will forever be your Father and your Master as long as I live. Good luck, my aaprentice and son! Make it, and maybe you will be able to accomplish your destiny and rise to the stars!"

    The old man''s laughter roared once again, scaring the two already traumatized Heavenly Beasts even more. The old man''s hair fluttered as his laughter rose in intensity even more, soon the whole mountain seemed to be laughing.

    As the long hair on the man''s right half of the scalp wavered, a certain symbol was revealed... On the old man''s right temple was a red mark: a circle with seven triangles standing out from the circumference...

    The Ancient grinned as his red eyes filled with amusement "My disciple... don''t worry, this time I will be sure you are going to finish my training! I will wait for you, even if it means waiting forever, Xu L¨ªng!"

    END OF BOOK 1 - REBORN!

 Book 2: Beginning Of The Rebellion - Fourth Arc: Strong, Stronger! - Prologue

    Records of the Nine Heavens (First Excerpt)

    Records of the Nine Heavens - Overview of the Nine Heavens:

    A long time ago, Space ruptured and broke off into countless Planes. That is how the True Earth was created, followed by the True Heavens, all together within the same Plane...

    There was only one original Earth and only one original Heaven, however a seemingly countless number of Planes of Existence with characteristics similar to each other also held their own Earth and Heavens.

    Together with the True Heavens, a race of Beasts were born...

    The first generation of these Beasts of Heaven, born straight from the energy of the Heavens and the Stars, dubbed themselves as...

    The Primordial Beasts!

    In between many Primordial Beasts, four stood out amongst the rest, wether it was their fighting power or the terror they instilled in the heart of their enemies. Simply put, no one was above them.

    They were thus dubbed the Four Primordial Emperors! Each became a ruler of a portion of the True Heaven, they were to Primordial Beasts what gods would be amongst the mortals. Their undisputed power allowed them to bring all Beasts under Heaven together, forming the Heavenly Realm!

    Even then though, war did not end. Slaughter continued as countless factions formed, some rose one day just to be slaughtered the next...

    These four beasts, their existence way above the rest, not caring about mundane matters and tired of the never-ending struggles for power, left the world and disappeared from the True Heavens and True Earth. The other Primordial Beasts took this as a tacit approval for an all-out conflict and this lead to a war that would decide the Fate of the Heavens.

    The Endless Slaughter! Millions of years of struggle, many powerful beasts appeared and rose to prominence:

    At the beginning, it was nothing less than a pebble. Then, as the Heavens formed, this small rock was given life and found a way to condense energy into objects and even living beings. This beast dubbed this ability of his as Aura Manipulation and became the Aura Dragon.

    The Aura Dragon disappeared as soon as the first conflict started and went into seclusion. However he, who had hidden from the world ever since it was born, as the Endless Slaughter reached its apex, reappeared with twelve powerful monsters by his side, each made out of the mysterious Aura: the Twelve Aura Beasts!

    With a single wave of his hand, the sky would darken as countless gigantic blades fell like raindrops, blood flowed like rivers and the Earth trembled...

    [...]

    The Seven Leviathans, kings of the depths! Lords of the seven seas of the original Earth and capable of destroying the Earth and make the Heavens themselves tremble with their mighty roars...

    Their fused technique especially, capable of calling forth the true power of the Seven Hidden Mysteries of the Qi* (life, death, time, space, future, past and gravity), brought forth destruction as, just like seven meteors, the Seven brothers blotted out the sky with their massive figures and rains of blood...

    [*For Qi, it is intended the world, the very meaning of existence itself! The Seven Kings had such skill in the Qi that each of them nearly mastered one of these aspects, making them existences ever-close to deities!]

    [...]

    Of course, nobody should forget about him, the Golden-Scaled Calamity! A young Sky Dragon, completely normal for a Primordial Beast''s standards, some would even consider him weak, suddenly rose to prominence.

    How? His inability to control Aura didn''t allow him be on par with the Aura Dragon on that aspect and his capabilities in the Seven Hidden Mysteries were just about the same as any other Primordial Beast.

    It was when he first bathed in the blood of an enemy of his, that his thirst for blood grew so much his will alone seemed to be able to devour the sky! Before he knew it, he had discovered a way to absorb and then refine the energy of his opponents!

    He devoured and absorbed countless opponents and became so strong, the Heavens would tremble from his presence only. Capable of swallowing the True Heaven themselves if angered, he came to be known as the Heaven Devouring Dragon!

    In the future, mortals would refer to him as Blindlight for, his body, so powerful that it was capable of destroying the Earth and destroy entire Planes of Existence with its presence alone, had become so bright few could stare at it directly. This was because of the countless essences his body had absorbed during the War and the refined souls of the many experts who had attempted to block his rise in power!

    [...]

    [...] The Purple-Haired, Green-Eyed Demon, the Titan of the Sword Caves... Even the Demon of Blood and Death, Yama, who rose to such power he became King of the Underworld itself, rose to prominence during this period of nonstop war and slaughter.

    The Underworld, a Realm that appeared due to the need of a never-ending number of souls, which had dispersed into the atmosphere, to gather in one place... Yama became the Lord of such a Realm and made him one of the most feared Primordial Beasts in any Plane!

    [...]

    Countless Primordial Beasts rose and then died like moths drawn to a flame... This was until He came. Out of nowhere, apparently out of thin air, a young boy with red eyes and a strange mark on his forehead also joined the bloody war, the Endless Slaughter!

    A single triangle inscribed into a square, that same square inscribed into a circle.

    Extremely mysterious, holding countless mysteries within, this strange mark was right between his eyebrows: it represented the Underworld below the Earth and the Heavens above them both! The Heavens above all!

    A single finger attack, this was all it took for him to separate the True Heavens from the True Earth and the True Earth from the Underworld!

    The scission of their originals caused the countless Heavens and Earths to separate as well! A single finger created the world as we know it!

    Many people in the future would claim to have witnessed the power of that single attack: the versions vary from an extremely flashy finger attack, filled with the might to destroy everything that it pointed towards, to an extremely casual attack, yet containing such wisdom about the world that it was able to exterminate any resistance the Underworld, the True Heavens and the True Earth offered.

    Such power, it marked the end of all conflict. No one could believe the rift that had now appeared between the Underworld, the Heavens and Earth, apparently a rift that couldn''t be mended back together.

    After he had done that that, the boy had lifted his head, his voice reaching each and every being in any plane and every corner of any and all worlds:

    "You are brothers, you are above all else, yet we all slaughter each other for power! Now, you have witnessed my power, I am stronger than any of you! Now that we know no power can rival mine, let''s end this meaningless war once and for all! I shall become your ruler and assure you peace! This is what I, Hundredth X¨±, swear!"This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    Hearing that, the four Primordial Emperors reappeared into the world and then acknowledged the power of the newcomer as being:

    "As Tall as Heaven, yet so Deep that the depths of the Underworld can''t compare... All this while gaining awe from the Earth! These are the qualities a ruler of all that exist should have! We old things shall aid you in your intent of truly unifying all below your Rule!"

    The four Emperor, thus, returned and helped this unknown boy to become the ruler of the Heavens: this boy would grow up to become none other than the Jade Emperor. His mentors and friends, the four Emperors, soon grew accustomed to this boy with red eyes and the strange mark in between his eyebrows.

    He would gain their respect and friendship, becoming more than friends, they became brothers! As for his descendants... they would be referred to as Ancients!

    They would populate the Earth and, soon, many more of the powerful beasts would also descend to the Earth from the Heavens and rise to prominence there. The barren Earth soon flowed with life as many different races grew and evolved there.

    Years passed, a Second Generation of these Beasts of the Heavens appeared. Four Beasts, sons and daughters of the Four Primordial Emperors, they would be called the Four Divine Beasts and would become the Four Divine Kings!

    Four powerful Divine Beasts, they grew close just like brothers, abandoned by their parents.

    Left alone as the four Emperors disappeared from the Heavens once more, leaving the Heavenly Realm to the Jade Emperor, the four younglings banded together and very soon tales of their power spread out!

    In less than a million years, they reached power capable of being on par with the most powerful beasts under the Jade Emperor''s Heavens!

    Their fight against the Behemoth of the Sword Lake Mountains especially was described as dazzling to the eye! The might of the Black Turtle which gifted its body with the strength to split mountains, the reflexes of the White Tiger that allowed her to dodge any strike, the firepower and supporting abilities of the Azure Dragon and the incredible damage potential of the flames of the Vermillion Bird!

    The Earth shifted, Ancient Beasts fell to their knees, the Oceans surged and the Flames reached the Heavens! [...]

    Divine Earth King, the Black Turtle! The Eldest Brother amongst the four beasts, ruler of the Earth! The shield of the group and the one holding the title of the strongest under the Heavens! Proud son of the two Primordial Beasts who were the rulers of all Lands, wether these lands were in the Heavens or in the Earth they still were their lords, he grew up... [...]

    Divine Beast King, the White Tiger! The Eldest Sister, ruler of everything that is alive, ruler of all Beasts! No one can refuse her orders, as she is the ruler of all Beasts! Awakening her true power as she was ambushed by... [...]

    Divine Sea King, the Azure Dragon! The ruler of the True Earth''s Oceans, a true behemoth of the depths! He passed his youth learning cultivation from the Seven Leviathans, the rulers of the Seven Seas and thus his subordinates. As calm as a water surface with no ripples, yet at the same time as fierce as the hurricanes that sink ships and drown beasts! Noteworthy are his Evergreen Coral Sandals, a gift from the Jade Emperor himself, giving the Sea King the power of going through great distances in the blink of an eye! [...]

    Divine Fire King, the Vermillion Bird! The youngest and yet at the same time the most unpredictable of the four: like a flame, she would burn at her highest when she is given more fuel to feed on, thus the most powerful the opponent, the more she would turn into a goddess of destruction! Ninety-Nine Steps Burn Down The Heavens! This ability especially proved to be the... [...]

    Primordial Beasts, Primordial Emperors and Divine Kings however weren''t the only ones who populated the Heavens. That''s right: millions of years after the birth of the Four Kings, a new generation of beasts appeared....

    And amongst them, also appeared the one person who would, in the future, rule the Heavens with an Iron Fist and become the Lord of the Nine Heavens, Tian!

    Excerpt from the work: Records of the Nine Heavens

    Author: Unknown

    Records of the Nine Heavens (SecondExcerpt)

    Records of the Nine Heavens - Tian''s Rise to Power and Lady Jin FengHuang''s Rebellion

    As thousands of millennia passed, a third generation came to existence. From the third onwards, these beasts would no longer be called Primordial Beasts or Divine Beast but would be simply called Heavenly Beasts!

    Amongst them, a certain Heavenly Beast grew up, his greed for the throne of the Heavenly Realm unparalleled by any other... The weakest of the Heavenly Beasts, he thirsted for power: Tian, as he called himself (the word for Heaven), his true name lost in the ages, planned to acquire the throne!

    Through countless subterfuges, deep scheming and profound planning, he somehow managed to fool and murder the all-powerful Jade Emperor, who saw Tian as his own son. Had that been all, it wouldn''t have angered the Heavenly Beasts too much, after all, this world is the world where the winner is King and the loser is Thief.

    What Tian actually dared to do was to steal Hundredth X¨±''s power! Then, as the foolish Heavenly Beasts believed what they were told without any questioning, claimed the throne with the claim that the jade Emperor had died due to some bastard''s scheme... And left him on charge!

    Tian became the Lord of the Heavens! He then went on and, to demonstrate his power, cleaved the heavens in two... Then slashed once again and the Heavens were not two anymore, but three! Then they became five, seven and, finally, nine! He slashed the Heavens in half five times, creating the Nine Heavens!

    Fooled by his scheme, everybody pledged their allegiance through Soul Contracts, and the like, and were thus, from then on, completely unable to fight Tian! The four Primordial Emperors were banished from the Nine Heavens and the four Divine Kings were imprisoned on a flying island in the skies: Worldlords Island.

    Soon, his true self was revealed and his figure as a just and rightful Lord of the Heavens was torn apart as he became a Tyrant. He placed a seal on Heavenly Beasts and Mortals alike, blocking their path to Immortality.

    Unable to rebel against the Lord of the Heavens, the Four Emperors could only watch as they saw countless people get slaughtered if they didn''t comply with Tian''s demands...

    [...]

    A thousand years prior to the Saint''s rise to power, a person couldn''t hold it anymore... It was none other than Lady Jin FengHuang!

    This person was a Primordial Beast, to be more precise, she was the partner of the Primordial Sky Emperor, the Roc... She was none other than the Golden Phoenix! Born of the tears of the Primordial Fire Emperor, she and the Roc fell in love and as a result, the Divine Fire King was born.

    The Divine Fire King, the Vermillion Bird, technically had the most ancient bloodline amongst the four Kings as she had the blood of two of the Emperors. Amusingly enough though, destiny made her the youngest of the four siblings...

    [...]

    Lady Jin FengHuang attempted the impossible: to release the seal bearing down on the Humans and the Heavenly Beasts to allow them a chance against Tian! Such a seal, created through the power of the first, true, Lord of Heaven, the Jade Emperor, an existence akin to a God, was supposed to last through the ages!

    Yet, she didn''t give up: she, with her own low cultivation, challenged this seemingly indestructible seal, laid down with the power of the strongest Primordial Beast... And won! She actually succeeded in lifting it!

    According to some, this might have been because her talent and power was on par, if not higher, than the Four Emperors'' themselves! This was also due to her special body, as it allowed her to regenerate even if only a single speck of her existence remained.

    However, due to some twisted joke of fate, she did indeed successfully lift the seal... But she wounded her Soul and exhausted her seemingly never-ending vitality in the process!

    As time passed, she slowly began to fade into the world: her individuality gone with the fatal wound to her Soul, the Qi within her body wished to merge back into the world. One day, her seemingly transparent and already faint figure suddenly... Disappeared.

    The only thing that would be left behind would be a single silver feather... Grown dull due to the death of its previous owner, the only sign showing the great power of the glorious Golden Phoenix was the golden glow that emanated from within the silver body of the feather...

    Hundreds of years passed peacefully: although the seal had been broken, the power of the first ''God'' was no joke! Then... A certain human, the Heavenly Beast referred to her as the Prophet due to her ability of glimpsing into the future, prophesied of a person that shall bring chaos and destruction to the Nine Heavens, destroy the Tyrant and take the Throne as the Lord of Heaven!

    This person would be not from the Earth, not from the Heavens, not from the Underworld: he would not be given birth from the Heavens, he would be born from nothingness, and he will be the sign of a calamity that shall befall the Nine Heavens!

    The Prophet was a blind old woman who, for some twist of fate, had been able to interact with Heavenly Beasts. She was the one who gave the Divine Kings and the Primordial Emperors their names as well as preventing many catastrophes to fall onto the Heavens and Earth alike thanks to her ability of glimpsing into the future.

    However, when he had first heard this, Tian shrugged it off as the mere blabbering of an old fool... Time proved him wrong [...]

    Thus, he began to search all over the Nine Heavens, the Earth and even visited the Underworld, where Yama, King of Hell, was cheated out of a favor thanks to the Tyrant''s sharp tongue and mellifluous words.

    Even then though, he didn''t find any trace of this potential threat to the precarious state that the Nine Heavens were in after Lady Jin FengHuang''s actions... and a new hope for those who wished to rebel!

    Excerpts from the work: Records of the Nine Heavens

    Author: Unknown

 Cookies Q&A/Ramblings Session

    Hello everyone, and welcome to Cookie¡¯s Q&A session! Let¡¯s give a round of applause!

    I¡¯ll say this in advance: there might be spoilers so if you haven¡¯t caught up (Chapter 70 and onward should be fine), I strongly advise my audience to go do that first (After all, this Session isn¡¯t going anywhere!).

    Alright, now that we got that cleared up, we can begin! Here we have our first few questions! Note that, since some of them are similar/connected, I will answer them all at once, so as not to repeat the same answer all over again!

    Also I¡¯ll warn you¡­ I can be logorrheic¡­ A lot. It comes with being an author that has nothing to think about all the time except for trying to make his story more interesting...

    Alright then, first question:

    How did the story start out? Was Cheng Hao¡¯s name random?

    Well¡­ It all started out with a short story I never published, called "The Adventure Of The Golden Saint".

    This story told the adventures of a young man, rebelling against the heavens for their unfairness. By his side were his five thrust-worthy brothers: a Golden Chimera, an Azure Dragon, a Black Tortoise, a White Tiger and a Crimson Bird (Inspired by the Five Beasts from Chinese culture).

    These friends would then slowly build up their strength to challenge the heavens! This work was never finished, nor has it ever been published anywhere. Now that I think about it, it has been inside my mind for quite some time before I actually began writing.

    I read many books of a genre that can be referred to as Eastern Fantasy (Many call it Xianxia, others Xuanhuan which is technically more correct, I myself prefer to call it simply "Eastern Fantasy" so I won''t incur in the wrath of either side).

    I downloaded these novels from WuxiaWorld or similar sites and read them in my spare time on my phone. Days went on like this: wake up, go to school, play sports, meet with friends, read in my spare time, play games on my tablet... It could be called a normal yet boring and plain teenager''s life.

    Other times however, I began to write down a few chapters of "The Adventures Of The Golden Saint", just for the sake of it.

    It had no true ¡®story¡¯, no storyline, just a mass of random chapters that were none other than many separate episodes.

    As time went on, I felt that it was not a story anymore as much as it was a compilation of short stories, with each having the same cast of characters.

    Clearing that up, I changed a few things here so that it had a storyline that made sense and changed the title: "The Adventures Of The Golden Saint" became "Chronicles Of A Mortal''s Rebellion".

    Many characters were added: ¡®the Heavens¡¯ had now become now a single person, a ''Tyrant'' that gained that power by overthrowing the ''Jade Emperor'' (Again, another character from Chinese culture, also referred to as the ''First God'').

    At the time I didn''t have a name for this evil guy in mind, so I went with a random villainous name I recalled from the back of my head, Ji (ISSTH, anyone?).

    The story got more fleshed out, even more chapters were added to the original five-ish drafts and it became a story about twenty chapters long. The encounter with the Glacier Old Man, the MC''s meeting with Xiao Lan, member of a Clan that also had enmity with Ji, the fight against the terrible Hell Wyrm (which would in time turn into the Hellish Nightmare Dragon)...

    I went on for a while, it had become an hobby of mine: had spare time, waiting for the translators of "ISSTH" and other Eastern Novels to upload their chapters? Write "Chronicles Of A Mortal''s Rebellion"!

    However, something happened. Luck has it that, while trying to make some space on my phone by deleting some files, I accidentally deleted the app where I was writing on at the time.

    Of course, I installed it again but found out with horror... that I didn''t remember my password! As for the email to recover it... Well, the passwords were the same, so I was kind of screwed.

    All the effort spent on "Chronicles Of A Mortal''s Rebellion"... Gone, vanished!

    Time passed, I read some new books, never picked up writing ever again...

    ...

    Since I am writing right now, you should already know which part of the statement is bull****, shouldn''t you? However, I didn''t trust these sites again so easily...

    Just like that, in a few weeks, I found my phone''s notes full to the brink with one-shots of all kinds of genres. However, if there was one gender I didn''t pick up at the time, it was Eastern Fantasy.

    Have you ever played with lego? If you have, then you should know the feeling of building something incredible with your own hands, with your imagination... And stare in despair as it shatters into bits.

    "Just do it again! It might even come out better than the previous one!" your parents would say, but you, as a small child, a stubborn youth, or a person that has a lot of free time on their hands (I envy you so much), would simply grit your teeth and throw all the pieces into a box, hiding them from your sight.

    However...

    Let''s speak honestly... Who actually really never picked up legos again? That''s right, nobody. At least, I didn''t.

    The ecstasy of creating, we all felt it. I myself, could never bear to part with the little plastic bricks. The same was with my first ever story, whether it was the former "Adventures Of The Golden Saint" or "Chronicles Of A Mortal''s Rebellion", I never truly could forget about it.

    That is why, one day that I found the games on my old tablet particularly boring, I decided to give it a shot. The result? A catastrophe.

    I couldn''t write out a story, the vibe was very different than what I had wrote down in the past. My hands felt like they were moving within jelly and I couldn''t write properly.

    It was not a writer''s block. I was bored. Bored of my work, bored of a story I had already halfway-finished back then.

    I couldn''t bring myself to write it down. Writing down a story I wasn''t inventing, exploring, at the same time my fingers tapped on the screen, but was actually a fruit of the labor of my past self... Simply didn''t feel right.

    It was as if I had someone behind me, yelling "Write it down, write it down immediately!" It just made it that much more difficult.

    I was not in the mood. Still, I forced myself to write down a few chapters nevertheless, same old story, same old characters, same old dialogues...

    Then I made a mistake. It was this mistake that changed everything. What was it? Simple. I confused the name of the protagonist of my story back then, (Xu) Cheng Feng, with the one of ISSTH''s MC, Meng Hao! Guess out what came out?

    Cheng. Hao.

    I don''t know, maybe I was possessed at the time or it was just a coincidence. Simply put, the name Cheng Hao rang much better in my ears(mind) and I wrote down a chapter with a story I came up with on the moment.

    The protagonist of "Chronicles Of A Mortal''s Rebellion", a long time after the events of the previous chapters, wakes up in another plane of existence and has to fight a fierce monster, sealed in the depths of a Sect''s dungeon, to go back.

    Four of his five comrades are missing, only the Golden Chimera, not exactly his best friend at the time, is left. His identity cannot be revealed as it might bring down a catastrophe if Tian (Literally, the Chinese words for ''Sky'' or ''Heavens'' which, at the time, I found it would fit the antagonist perfectly) were to know of his location, as the MC''s strength had been stolen.

    A single chapter, a full 10000 words long, in a little over three hours of nonstop tapping the screen of my tablet!

    For those who don''t know, writing can be pretty tiring. Most authors on sites such as RRL usually take a break around the 1500~2000 words, a times even less.

    It usually goes on like this: have I reached 1500 words? Damn, I am missing a few hundred... Alright, let''s add a bit here, than there... Oh, 1600 words already!

    Good! Let''s make a cliffhanger and stop here! I''ll double check the grammar a bit and then I''ll rest for today... I''ll think about writing the next chapter tomorrow!

    Yeah... For those who also gave a shot or are actually authors, whether here on Royal Road or on other sites, I think you should know what I am talking about.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

    Sometimes, I was able to fuse multiple chapters together and came out with 3000 or so words within a single chapter. However, the problem here is that, to those who have a good eye, it can be seen the flow is different in the first and the second half. It just isn''t the same as writing it down all at once.

    To write a single, good chapter more than 3000 characters long all in one shot, it takes great inspiration and writing skills. To write a chapter more than 10000 words long requires an incredible amount of luck. Yes, luck.

    Why was it that, after that time, everything flowed perfectly? I don''t know, maybe it was just the name Xu Cheng Feng that didn''t work out at the beginning? I began to change all the Xu Cheng Fengs into Cheng Haos, however I soon found out that this defeated the purpose of the surname Xu!

    That is right my friends, while most of this story is fruit of intuition and the ideas that come to my mind as I write, there are quite a few things that I think of before-hand. The MC''s surname was one of them.

    However, I just couldn''t bring myself to change all the ''Cheng Hao''s back into ''Xu Cheng''s, so I played around a bit. I explored this ''Sect with an evil monster sealed within it'' setting a bit longer... It came to a point where these two stories began to form two different universes altogether!

    However, as soon as they did, they began to merge back again! Soon, it was not a nameless genius that challenged the dragon, it was a Reborn Soul of an expert who died fighting the Heavens! A Golden Beast (Now a Golden Dragon) is his trustworthy companion, his enemy is really powerful and his past self is surnamed Xu... Rings a bell?

    Yep, this is how Immortal Ascension Tower started out: two universes, two different concepts, a single story.

    And Cheng Hao kind of fell in there because the name sounded cool.

    How do you name characters?

    Many are random chinese names I can recall from all those cultivation novels I have read in the past. Others, however, have deep meaning. Xu Ling, for example...

    - I will be putting a ¡®Spoiler Alert¡¯ here, even though you should already know this if you have read all chapters up to Chapter 70 -

    X¨±, at least, one of the meanings for the character X¨± (Ðé) in the chinese ¡®alphabet¡¯, is empty/blank. Some of L¨ªng¡¯s (Áé) ¡®interpretations¡¯ can be Mind, Soul, Spirit, ecc, ecc. In our case, Cheng Hao¡¯s past self¡¯s name is basically Empty Mind.

    Just like that, Ren Hong (ÈË - R¨¦n, ºì - H¨®ng) can also be interpreted as a Red Person (After the color of her skin), while Ren Long (ÈË - R¨¦n, Áú - L¨®ng) is basically Dragon Person.

    Note that I am not a chinese native speaker, so to those who are or do know chinese, these names might sound awkward or unfamiliar¡­ I can only blame my ignorant self for that.

    What about the english names, like Blindlight and stuff? Well, you might already have noticed this, but I suck at naming stuff¡­ Those may as well be random as long as they sound cool.

    What is the process of forming the Satellite during the Superior stage? And why did the MC only form one Satellite? Can he form more later and can satellites be destroyed in order to be replaced by a more compatible or powerful one?

    Alright, so to answer these questions I will have to add things that have not been mentioned in the Main Book yet. I may actually make a glossary about this someday, but I am way too lazy to do that now.

    That out of the way, let¡¯s begin: each Stage has some kind of ¡®hidden¡¯ requirement. Why ¡®hidden¡¯? Because it is not truly difficult to find out, however people might not know about this and only be aware of the changes discernible at a first glance, such as the difference in power.

    It is common knowledge that to enter the Inferior stage one must first sense the Qi. However, few know that actually their Sensed Qi is not the same as what other have sensed. We, as the readers and writers, have followed Cheng Hao and have seen stuff from his perspective and thus are aware that there are different kinds of Sensed Qi and that there are actually countless variations.

    The Satellite is one of these requirements for breaking through the Superior stage. This is a huge bottleneck for those in the Mortal Realm as it does not require a higher quality of Qi, but instead it needs enlightenment. Without enlightenment it would be impossible to break through the next stage (This is also a reason the Twin Stars required a cultivation of the Superior stage, because that would mean that he or she would have the ability to gain insight on the world, one of the greatest requirements for cultivators).

    The Qi will then react and form a Satellite following the instructions the cultivators provide him, a bit like the DNA contains the information to ¡®make¡¯ proteins. After that, a Satellite will form, fruit of the enlightenment of the cultivator during his breakthrough.

    Theoretically, the most Satellites, the better, right? Wrong.

    More Satellites means that the power of each one is greatly diminished. The chain is only as strong as its weakest link, so if one Satellite is weak, the whole Core System (Just thought of the name, sounds cool. I think I¡¯ll stick with this!) will also diminish in strength and power.

    To have only one Satellite means that, while on the process of awakening, the MC was able to keep his focus on the whole rather than individual parts (Then again, his insights are from his past life as a Heaven-shaking expert plus the knowledge he got during his current life). In short, One Satellite > Many Satellites.

    Yes, Satellites can be changed, but that would require to break down the whole thing and go back to the Advanced stage. Cheng Hao already has one of the highest quality Satellites out there, why would he have to do that?

    I¡¯ll just borrow these questions to say this: Satellites can be used in battle, but that will need a sky-high cultivation to achieve.

    This may illustrate just how long it would take to be able to use it: when one is at the low level Superior stage, his control over the Satellite is about one percent. At mid level, he will be able to control two percent and at a high Superior stage he will be able to wield three.

    One will only be able to use it fully when it reaches one-hundred percent. To make a comparison and to show the power of the Satellites, it will be like having a built-in Martial Way, except for the fact it would be of a low quality and if broken it would also mean loss of cultivation and the cultivator would be crippled, forever blocked at the Advanced stage.

    Of course however, if one has more than one, he will still retain some of his cultivation but will be unable to climb up once again above the Mortal Realm. The reason is because the process to step into the Realm of the Ageless requires a fine cultivation, so having a crippled Satellite is a no-no.

    Even if it is removed, unless the other Satellites are extremely few and all of them high-quality (So that they are able to take on the burden of their broken comrade to some extent) or many and of extremely low-quality (As there would be little difference between having one or not), it would still be impossible to even challenge the Tribulation that will fall on those who attempt to break past the Mortal Realm.

    It doesn¡¯t require one to be too much of a monster to form only one Satellite, Zhao Bu also had one and Sou Rou (Although it has not been explicitly explained) only has a one.

    How sane were you when you wrote this? How drunk and/or high and/or over-caffeinated were you when you wrote this?

    Drunk? High? Over-caffeinated? Whatever might you be talking about? I¡¯m a pure and innocent underage teen, I would never do something like that¡­

    ¡­

    ...

    Alright, the cop that was looking at me is gone. So, as I was saying¡­

    And I am sane. I never had to take any kind of medicine. I escaped the lab before they could sedate me¡­ Ooops, that was a slip up, don¡¯t take it too seriously.

    Why did you pick cookie as your name?

    Meh, was on a whim. Looked and sounded cool. And I like cookies.

    Cookies are tasty!

    I am a cannibal, mwahaha!

    Are authors humans or cyborg/robots?

    It depends on your point of view. If you count coffee as an energy source akin to a battery then I guess we are kind of both. After all, could a robot alone piss someone off so much?

    Oh, wait, Siri can.

    Point withdrawn.

    We are robots that require caffeine to keep living and music to keep typing.

    What were the ''levels'' Jin Fenghuang and Worker spoke about?

    That¡¯s a massive spoiler, cannot answer it¡­ Yet. I¡¯ll only tell you this: they are not levels of cultivation. although they are closely related. The higher the level, the higher the strength one possesses.

    Have you seen Hentai?

    *Cookie Poker Face*

    Whatever might you be talking about, gentleman?

    I got the guess right. I deserve a cookie. Where is it?

    You¡­ Are you asking a cookie for a cookie? You got guts¡­ Congratulations, I guess, that¡¯s all you are going to get from me, you heartless bastard¡­

    ...

    Here you are. Be sure to savour it.

    What are Ancients? What¡¯s the meaning of the circle symbol on Ancients?

    I was conflicted whether I should answer these or not. In the end, I decided I would. However, this can be considered a - Minor Spoiler - if you haven¡¯t read the Prologue to the Fourth Arc (Prologue of the Second Book).

    If this Q&A chapter is up, that should be up as well, so you can just go read that and quickly come back here if you haven¡¯t done so already. This is the last question so you won¡¯t be missing anything else.

    Ready?

    Alright: as ¡®explained¡¯ in the Fourth Arc¡¯s Prologue (Not really, it is just barely mentioned), Ancients are the descendants of the being that called himself Hundredth Xu (The same Xu as in Empty, Body, Spirit, ecc, ecc).

    His appearance? Quote: <¡±Out of nowhere, apparently out of thin air, a young boy with red eyes and a strange mark on his forehead also joined the bloody war, the Endless Slaughter!

    A single triangle inscribed into a square, that same square inscribed into a circle.

    Extremely mysterious, holding countless mysteries within, this strange mark was right between his eyebrows: it represented the Underworld below the Earth and the Heavens above them both! The Heavens above all!¡±>

    This guy, who would in the future become the Jade Emperor, would be the Ancestor of the first humanoid beings, and thus these guys would be called Ancients.

    After that humans appeared as well and blah, blah, blah¡­

    Now that I think about it, shouldn¡¯t humans be an ¡®ancientoid¡¯ beast then? After all, if Ancients came first, they shouldn¡¯t be considered ¡®humanoid¡¯, instead they should be the very criteria for¡­ Whatever, let¡¯s keep going.

    As I was (not yet) saying, when Tian created the Nine Heavens, that mark, present on the body of each of the Ancients, changed.The Mark cannot be erased. If the flesh is carved out, it would appear elsewhere.

    The Mark initially meant the Heavens above them all, however now that symbol has changed into a circle with seven triangles inscribed on its circumference¡­ I wonder what it might mean? Feel free to guess but I doubt you would get it right as there isn¡¯t enough information to go on with...

    That aside, being an Ancients has its perks. One of these is the so-called ¡®Farsight¡¯ that allows an Ancient to piece together information he receives from his five senses together with his extremely developed sixth sense to see the whole picture of what is happening around me. The scope varies from individual to individual, it is not a question of cultivation as much as it is being able to become one with the world.

 Chapter 76 - Red Body, Empty Mind!

    Where... Is this?

    ""Ren Hong!"" A dark skinned, burly man with white hair bellowed.

    As he spoke, his fist slammed into the body of a human with scales growing on his forehead, blowing him into smithereens. The burly man then turned and yelled.

    ""Why are you spacing out in the middle of a battle! Hurry, your Elder Sister won''t be able to hold on of much longer!""

    ... What... This voice... What did he just say?... Did he call me... Ren... Hong?

    The red skinned boy opened his eyes: they were like two rubies, red just like his crimson hair and scarlet skin... he wore a white, sleeveless undershirt and loose dark pants. His long hair fell down his back, almost touching the ground, a silvery feather dangled from one of the locks which also covered his right eye.

    In those crimson jewels that were the young male''s eyes was stupor as well as confusion.

    He quickly surveyed the situation around him: in front of him were two people, battling their way through a seemingly never-ending army of cultivators. Off in the distance, in the middle of such army, was a complicated formation.

    Sealed within was a woman together with six other unknown figures. The six figures kept trying to catch up to the woman''s fast movements but in vain. As time went on though, the woman''s breathing slowly grew rugged, while the six men simply propped pills into their mouth, recovering their spent energy, and resumed their chase.

    Anybody else who entered the formation wouldn''t be able to come back out, so the seven were stuck in this game of cat and mouse until the felines, in this case the six cultivators, caught their prey...

    Such speed... Could that possibly...

    ""Dammit!"" The burly, dark-skinned man yelled once again as he bit his tongue: lightning crackled, mist began to churn as the man''s body grew in size and changed its shape. Soon, it had become thousands of meters tall. He kept growing, each moment that passed, his figure would be two times bigger than it had been before! However.. his shape was not human. It was a Turtle.

    A Black Turtle!

    After a few breaths had passed, the beast had become astonishing in terms of both size and the terror it instilled into people''s hearts: its two, no, four eyes glowed with otherworldly light as blazing killing intent burned within. On its body that seemed big enough to hold a whole country on its back, rivers flowed into lakes and trees grew.

    Even live animals such as boars and the like lived on top of the turtle shell, as if the Turtle wasn''t a beast all but was actually a mountain! This was none other than the Divine Earth King, ruler of the True Earth''s lands!

    The turtle bellowed in rage, its roars shook its surroundings, yet they did not harm the living beings on his back in the least.

    As the Turtle morphed, the red skinned boy with crimson hair stared in shock and disbelief at what was happening. From his expression, it was as if his world had been turned upside down.

    Eldest... Brother?

    "Youngest Brother! Hurry up! Those guys planned this very well... Sister can''t transform because of that sealing formation, we have to help her!" the voice of a male reached the red eyed boy''s ears.

    Youngest brother?

    Just as the red-sinned boy turned his head in disbelief, a bald youth sped past him, gritting his teeth as he did a hand sign "Eldest brother, I''m going to borrow your water for a bit!"

    The Turtle humphed, this simple gesture seemed to shake the world: the cultivators that found themselves in a radius of a hundred metres from his body were sent flying and exploded into a mess of blood and gore.

    ""Go ahead!"" the gigantic Turtle breathed in and then stomped into the ground. As soon as he did that, the lakes and rivers on top of the turtle''s body quieted until they became completely still.

    The bald youth''s body was battered in wounds as he ran straight into the army of cultivators ahead, all kinds of techniques and attacks landing on his body and soon most his clothing got blown into smithereens.

    The only garments left were a pair of worn out pants, necklaces and jewellery made out of teeth, fangs and bones, and a pair of sandals that were now emitting a strange homing sound...

    The bald youth spat out blood as an extremely fierce cultivator appeared in front of him: he had long, ginger hair that resembled a lion''s mane.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    Fierce flames covered his fists and his whole body was covered by a flaming armour. The cultivator grinned and shouted "So this is all the Four Divine Kings can do! Even the four Divine Beasts cannot fight back against Tian''s seal after all!"

    A tall yet extremely thin cultivator stepped forward: he had a crooked nose and piercing white eyes. His skin was full to the brim with wrinkles, his hair had long since decayed.

    His yellow teeth were arranged into a wide grin as he chuckled "Kukuku... That wench, Jin FengHuang, did indeed rock the Seal''s Foundation... She shattered the Sealing Formation, however you, who had been bathing into the Seal''s might for millions of years, will still be somehow affected even though it is now gone! The era of the Primordial Beast has come to an end! It is now the era of us Beasts! We shall rule the Heavens alongside Tian!"

    The bald youth gritted his teeth and simply ignored the duo as his two sandals began to emit an eery green light...

    The thin cultivator flinched at that. He turned and noticed that the Turtle had suddenly stopped moving, as if it was waiting for something...

    "Crap! Stop him!" the man yelled as he spat out a purple needle and sent it flying towards the bald youth''s head. This needle looked extremely terrifying and its decaying aura made people feel as if they were in the presence of Yama, King of the Underworld, himself!

    The ginger haired cultivator also blazed with killing intent as he punched out once more! This fist held an incredibly sharp intent, as if it could pierce past any and all defences!

    Both the blows struck their target head-on. However, the ginger haired cultivator''s fist didn''t bite into the flesh, the needle didn''t pierce the skull... They both met no resistance! The figure of the bald youth suddenly fell apart and turned into water!

    The red-haired cultivator cursed "Damn! Everyone, fall back towards the Sealing Formation! We have to take down the White Tiger first!" he tried to jump towards what seemed to be an extremely complicated formation, but was met with an earth spike that flew straight through his forehead!

    The Black Turtle snorted as he retracted his gaze from the red-haired man''s headless corpse: that blow had destroyed the man''s consciousness completely ""Take who down? Here, right under our nose? In your dreams!""

    On the Turtle''s back was a large lake... On top of that lake, standing on the water, was the bald youth, his eyelids closed, his hands blurry as he kept doing countless hand seals. Finally, his eyes opened and a flashy blue light emitted from within!

    "RAAAAAAAAAARGH!" The youth''s veins seemed to turn into countless purple snakes as they began to crawl under the man''s skin. Meanwhile, the azure dragon tattoo on the top of his head and on his back began to emit a blinding blue light...

    Nobody, not even the gargantuan Turtle could look directly at the light. The red-haired boy also had to look away. However, this time, his thoughts were thrown into an even bigger mess! What is happening?

    He had understood the identity of the Black Turtle, of the bald youth and already had a guess of who the female within the formation could be... However, this all didn''t make sense!

    Meanwhile, the bald youth''s figure had disappeared. Instead, a humongous Azure Dragon had taken his place: its body was long and sinuous, although much smaller than the Turtle was, its blue eyes as deep as the ocean and as chaotic as a tempest stared down on the now terrified army of cultivators below.

    The dragon''s whiskers and what seemed to be purple hair fluttered in the wind, an intense will of storms and tempests loomed on the battlefield. The countless scales were not perfect, being as they were, covered by countless scars. However, these scars did not in any way make the beast appear in any way less fierce or weaker...

    He floated in the air, the countless fins present on his body vibrating from the dense bloodlust of the Divine Beast, the King of the Seas!

    The dragon lifted its head and roared to the sky "Those that serve Tian are those that shall meet Yama tonight! These words are mine, Ren Long''s, do you perhaps doubt them? Then go ahead and experience my might with your own body!"

    Dense clouds appeared in the sky, blotting out the sun. Crackling and thunders could be heard as the lightning began to fall down.

    The Black Turtle snorted as, with a single glance, countless earth spikes, cracks and landslides eclipsed hundreds of cultivation from existence ""Always so flashy... Just kill them already! That seal binds down Elder Sister''s cultivation even more with each moment that passes, otherwise why would she worry about such measly cultivators attempting to catch her?""

    Ren Long, the Azure Dragon, humphed and then waved its two biggest fins, located about a quarter of the length of his body from the head, and its two eyes glowed "Rejoice! Rejoice in Death that I, the Divine Sea King, Ren Long, lowered myself to killing you with my real self!"

    The Azure Dragon''s body suddenly began to emit incredible bloodlust as the water forming the lakes near rivers on top of the gargantuan Turtle''s body began to rise into the air, each drop looking like an incredibly thin yet extremely sharp blade.

    Countless of these drops, enough to fill a sea, rose into the air and then assembled into the shape of a sea dragon made out of water: this dragon was bigger than the Azure Dragon was and it gave the impression of being as sharp as an unsheathed blade and at the same time holding a force superior to that of a tidal wave!

    Ren Long grinned fiercely and then looked down "... Die."

    Screams of pain and anguish echoed into the large battlefield as the water dragon swept through the large army like a hurricane sends wooden houses flying into the air. Soon, a path towards the sealing formation had been cleared and the two massive beasts stepped forward, speeding towards the light of the Seal.

    What... Is... Happening?

    The red boy hesitated. Attempting to shed light on his uncertainties... He looked downwards and examined his body.

    As soon as he did that though, his legs went limp. He fell on his knees as unparalleled disbelief appeared on his face, his mind reeling with shock: everything that was happening... Simply shouldn''t be happening!

    The red skin... The crimson hair... The silver feather, the loose undershirt and even the black pants! He had the feeling that, if he really tried, he would be able to control any and all flames at will!

    The only difference being that this was a male''s body instead of a female''s, for everything else this body was none other than... Divine Fire King''s own body!

    And the person that was now inhabiting such body...

    Was none other than the reincarnated Xu Ling, Cheng Hao!

 Chapter 77 - Qi Poisoning

    ""Just what is wrong with you, Hong''Er! Sister almost died back there! Look!"" The burly, dark-skinned Ren Hei yelled as he pointed at the figure of a woman: she was tall, her flowing long white hair held some black hue here and there, making the hair resemble a tiger''s stripes.

    Although the woman seemed to be in her late thirties, her exotic and feline traits made it difficult to guess her real age. Her generous figure as of then was bent over, her pale face contrasted with the dark skin, her tribal dress was ruined to the point it looked like rags.

    As she panted nonstop, the woman''s eyes showed trace of fear, her eyes were red as if she was on the verge of crying, her mouth trembled showing the trauma and terror she had just experienced.

    Three people stood in front of a crimson-haired, red-skinned, red-eyed boy. The youth wore a white loose undershirt and black loose pants, his body was toned and muscular, his traits were feminine, however no woman would feel that he wasn''t masculine due to his buff body and the hint of courage between his eyebrows.

    Currently, however, the boy''s eyes seemed devoid of life, his whole countenance was that of a dead man, he truly looked as if he could topple over at any moment.

    The three people, on the other hand, exuded unparalleled life force, as if they had lived with some sort of huge burden on their shoulders for a very long time and had only recently began to enjoy the taste of freedom.

    The one who had just spoken was a middle-aged man: he had dark skin as black as carbon, long white hair tied into braids that went down his back, a prominent chin covered in a trimmed white beard while his two eyes had black irises that fused with the pupils.

    His weird, high-pitched yet at the same time deep, voice was due to him not being a single entity: he actually lived in symbiosis with the snake that was currently wrapped around the man''s shoulders and neck like a scarf, thus explaining the two different ranges in the tone of his voice.

    Currently, the man''s expression was one of rage, however a hint of worry could be seen flashing deep in his eyes.

    The dark-skinned, exotic woman finally stepped forward, shaking her head "Eldest Brother Ren Hei... It was my carelessness that drove me into falling head-first into their traps... Youngest Brother has no fault for that!"

    The third person, a bald youth, also stepped forward, stretching his waist and arms "Yeah, what''s more, we even got the chance to do some exercise! As those guys said, we ware still under that bastard''s seal so people have begun to underestimate us... We should let these guys know that we are no pushovers!" The blue hue in his eyes shook bizarrely, as if a storm was about to form within.

    The dark-skinned man blushed before sighing ""You guys are spoiling Hong''Er too much... Fine, just don''t repeat the same mistake twice, else there will be punishment!"" He humphed and walked away, his cheeks red.

    The bald youth grinned and the woman smiled warmly: they looked rather amused by the burly man''s reaction. Once Ren Hei finally disappeared from view, the two finally edged closer to the red-skinned youth.

    The bald youth put an arm over the boy''s shoulder, making the young man shiver from the unexpected contact. Two red rubies full of confusion as well as terror scanned Ren Long''s face, apparently searching for any signs of the older male''s anger on his features.

    "Geez man, chill! Nobody got hurt! You had a bad moment back there, it happens to everybody!" The youth with the azure dragon tattoo sighed and let the boy go, patting his back.

    The older woman sighed as well and inched closer, her hand throwing the boy''s hair into a mess. She winked when she noticed the boy''s confused gaze "Consider it your punishment for leaving your sister all by herself back there!"

    The woman finally glanced at the bald youth and only then her expression flickered.

    She quickly hid any sign of it though and a vein popped on her forehead "Rather than that... How could you take that as an occasion for showing off, you frigging dragon! I was dying back there, you know!"

    She grabbed the youth by his ears and walked away as the man whined in pain.

    "OuchouchouchouchOUCH! Sister, let go! They are going to fall off, I feel it!"

    "Me and your big brother are going to have a looong talk! Don''t worry Hong''Er, nobody will harm you or any of us here on Worldlords Flying Island! See you later!" With that, the dark-skinned woman kicked off the ground and flew through the air, soon disappearing from view.

    The red-skinned boy simply stood there in silence, lost in his thoughts.

    I... Is this truly an illusion? A trial? How... How is this so life-like? Did this really happen back when I still hadn''t appeared yet?

    A tear fell from the boy''s cheek.

    Sister... Is this a world where you do not exist?

    How... Just how can I live here knowing that?

    Tears slowly began to fall from his eyes as he grabbed his chest, as if he wanted to assure himself that his heart was still pumping.

    What... Should I do, Sister?This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.

    ...

    Meanwhile, a woman grit her teeth as she sped through a forest. In her arms, a bald youth breathed frantically as sweat permeated his forehead. Suddenly, his face grew paler and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

    As soon as the blood fell on the ground, it died the earth black and began to slowly corrode it...

    "Shit!" The woman cursed and quickly landed on the ground in the middle of a clearance, laying the boy down in front of her.

    She put her thumb and index finger in her mouth, and then whistled. The sound could only be heard clearly by a few beasts as it traversed the whole Flying Island.

    A few breaths of time later, a black-golden blur could be seen in the distance and it flashed before appearing by the woman''s side: it was a majestic bird, its black and golden feathers made him look like a king amongst all kinds of birds.

    In its golden beak, the bird held what looked like a pill of some sort, completely white and yet surrounded by a multi-colored glow. It handed it over to the woman immediately and then flew into the air, scanning their surroundings to make sure that her master would be safe.

    The woman immediately threw the pill into her mouth and bit down on it before spitting it back out: the pill had become a gaseous, rainbow-colorer substance. As soon as it appeared, the gaseous mass entered the bald youth''s body.

    At some unknown time, a dark red mark had appeared on top of the man''s skin and had spread to cover more than half of his body. Ren Long spat out another mouthful of the acidic blood: that blood that could corrode the stone, what kind of pain would it bring if it were to flow in a man''s veins?

    From the degree of this strange illness, Ren Bai, the dark-skinned woman, judged that it had already began to act up ever since... The battle with those cultivators'' group a few hours ago! And yet, Ren Long had kept it secret and had acted as if nothing had happened for all this time!

    A rainbow-colored pattern began to appear on the bald youth''s body as the gaseous-form pill attempted to fight back against the dark-red curse marks. However, the marking almost didn''t seem hindered in the least as they kept spreading all around the male''s body, barely slowing down when they met the rainbow pattern before breaking straight through.

    Tears fell from the woman''s face and fell on the bald youth''s body as she kept changing the seals in vain. Soon, the power of the rainbow-colored pill began to fade away... A single drop of blood mixed with the tears as the woman''s grief and pain reached never seen before heights.

    "Why... Why didn''t you say anything..."

    The bald youth coughed out even more blood and his face grew so pale that just white wouldn''t be enough to describe it! He raised his head, tears of blood fell from his eyes. However, in his pupils there was no desperation, only regret and irony.

    "Ehehe... Brother... How could... I let him seem like thi- Koff! Kahg!" Another mouthful of blood dyed the ground black.

    The woman was now crying nonstop as she finally understood. She knew what the cause of all of this was: this was none other than the effect of the Seal imposed by Tian!

    Tian''s Seal had imposed one thing on the four Divine Kings: do not transform into your real forms!

    To the four Divine Beasts, this was like asking them to fight experts at martial arts with their hands and feet tied while blindfolded.

    Their power laid for the most part in their True Bodies: while beasts could take a human form, this was because it made it easier for them to do many things that required precision or simply for commodities, as their true bodies could span for entire Planes of Existence.

    However, the true might of a Beast of the Heavens only showed itself when they fought as Beasts, not as humans. This was because their immense power would be greatly diminished while in human form due to the huge difference in size, absence of abilities unique to the beast''s body and also the range of the attacks.

    The Seal was like a curse: those who broke the rule imposed upon them would die.

    However, after Jin FengHuang''s sacrifice a few days earlier, the Seal had been severely weakened to the point it could be considered broken.

    However, those beasts that had experienced the Seal''s suppression for thousands, millions of years, how could they not still feel the aftereffects?

    While it would not be an immediate death, if the four Divine Kings were to transform they would experience severe Qi Poisoning. This, in a world where everything is made of Qi, is akin to a degradation of the infected''s body, mind and even soul!

    While the Divine Earth King, Ren Hei, was both extremely resilient and could replenish his energy thanks to the omni-present forces of nature, the Divine Sea King, Ren Long, had no such benefit! Sure, the might of the ocean increased his power and cultivation speed, however it would not aid him in resisting Tian''s Seal.

    Thus, when Ren Hei and Ren Long transformed it was Ren Long only that had to bear with the might of the Seal.

    This could also be seen by how long it took him to unseal their true forms: the Divine Earth King''s transformation only took the time that he needed to bite his tongue and he immediately transformed afterwards.

    However, Ren Long had taken a much longer time, as well as the aid of many hand seals. While it might not have looked like something important, that was indeed a difference between the Heaven and Earth compared to Ren Hei''s flawless transition into his Divine earth King form.

    Ren Bai gritted her teeth.

    Of course she understood what had passed by Ren Long''s mind: Ren Hong had lost his mother just a few days ago, if he were to see his brother so severely wounded as well his spirit would probably have broken apart... However, this wouldn''t change anything!

    If Ren Long died...

    Ren Bai felt great pain in her heart.

    She hated herself for falling into that trap. Had she not, the four of them could have easily run away without the need to engage so many cultivators all at once, thus not needing Ren Long to transform and having to bear the Seal''s curse.

    Then, in her heart, she also began to feel betrayed... She felt anger towards the one that, in her eyes, was responsible for all of this: had Ren Hong also aided his two brothers in combat, they would not have had to transform and bear the backslash from the Seal''s aftereffects!

    That is right. At some unknown time, in her heart, she had began to hate Ren Hong.

    Tears of blood streaked down her cheeks, her eyes burning with rage as she recalled the red-skinned boy''s figure. Then, her expression lit up with hope as she remembered something. A crazed smile appeared on the girl''s lips.

    "Yes... This could work! Wait for me, Brother, I will save you!" She gritted her teeth and prepared herself for the worst as she made a strange hand seal: as she did the motion with her hands, they suddenly began to exude a sharp will, like that of an unseated blade.

    "Self-Cleaving Techni-"

    Swish!

    A figure that was nothing more than a blur suddenly appeared out of nowhere: the majestic bird didn''t even take notice about the new arrival as the figure headed straight towards Ren Bai. With a flash, that someone grabbed her hands and spread her arms apart, thus disrupting her hand motions.

    This, coupled with the shock of the sudden grab, was enough to stop the technique from activating as the sharp will disappeared completely. The woman stared in shock and disbelief as even she couldn''t sense the arrival of this person before it was too late.

    It was only when all this happened that the golden feathered bird noticed someone had intruded.

    He gave out a loud squak before charging towards the mysterious newcomer whose blazing eyes were full of contempt... and killing intent!

 Chapter 78 - If I Kill Him...

    The tall, dark-skinned woman, Ren Bai, looked on with shock at Ren Hong''s figure: the boy''s red eyes, previously lifeless, were now blazing with life, as if two flames were actually, truly, burning within the boy''s eye-sockets.

    "Foolish Sister, what are you trying to do!" The red-skinned boy scolded, his tone harsh as his grip around the woman''s wrist tightened "Why would you want attempt to divide your soul in half?!?"

    The woman gritted her teeth, the anger in her heart rose as the pain blinded her. Her whisker marks wavered as the woman began to tremble.

    "You... It was your fault that he is in this condition right now! You have no right to talk, you overgrown chicken! Let me go so I can save brother! Stand aside!"

    Ren Bai glared at the young boy, trying to shake her brother''s grip off. She wasn''t successful in any of her tries: the boy''s grip didn''t flinch a bit! A vein popped on the woman''s forehead as her anger was on the verge of exploding.

    "I said..." The woman stomped her foot on the ground, an illusory white tiger appearing behind her:

    "STAND! ASIDE!"

    Strange vibrations appeared together with the woman''s words. It was as if, by uttering them, she had activated some kind of strange power.

    However, whatever this weird power might have been, the red-skinned body didn''t even seem to register it.

    Seeing that, Ren Bai felt disbelief as she suddenly panicked: how did Ren Hong resist her order, the command issued by the Divine King of all Beasts?

    Each of the four kings had a domain that they could control as they pleased: Ren Hei had the Earth, Ren Long had the sea, lakes and rivers, Ren Hong had, apparently, Fire. As for Ren Bai, her domain... Was every single living Beast!

    Although she would not be enough to control those who had enough willpower or were from an earlier generation, and thus Primordial Beasts, most Beasts would still show some sign of struggle as long as theiy breathed and their heart pumped blood, because this would be the order of their ruler! Even Tian, had he not received the power of the first Ancient, Hundredth Xu, would have had to comply with her every demand!

    However, Ren Hong showed neither trait as he clearly was not being controlled nor was he struggling to retain his clarity. Instead, he simply stood there, as if nothing had happened. Finally, he took a step back, lifted his right arm...

    SLAP!

    The clear sound of skin-hitting-skin reverberated in the clearance.

    What!

    It was as if thunder had struck Ren Bai as her head went blank, her thought processes thrown into disarray.

    "My fault? Who was the one who rushed straight into the middle of the enemy''s army all by herself? Wake up, you bloody idiot!" In Ren Hong''s body, Cheng Hao gritted his teeth as he spat out venomous words.

    "Furthermore, dividing your soul in half will result in the both of you getting weakened severely! Even though brother might survive, most of your vitality will be exhausted! Do you think Brother Long would agree to that? Wouldn''t he want his sister to live on?" The boy shook his head as he walked past the tall, exotic woman.

    Under the other''s onslaught of words, Ren Bai could only stare in shock, her hand rubbing against her cheek where a bright red palm mark had appeared. Her eyes filled with tears and hatred as she turned around.

    However, although her pupils burned with fiery rage, the flames of her anger, no matter how tall and bright they appeared, were already on the verge of being extinguished at the slightest breeze.

    Like a candle in the wind, it was only a matter of time.

    "I-I... I am his big sister!" Unyielding pride appeared in her eyes "As an eldest sibling, it is my job to-"

    "And he''s your fucking smaller Brother! A brother who almost sacrificed his life to save you!" Cheng Hao yelled. His loud words rocked Ren Bai''s mind even more as the girl staggered backwards, struggling to stay on her feet and not to fall on the ground.

    "What? Don''t tell me that you didn''t ponder wether all of his efforts would have been in vain, had he woken up to find you severely wounded as well?" Disbelief as well as anger flashed deep within Ren Hong''s pupils "Don''t tell me you didn''t think how he would fall in depression, knowing he unknowingly hurt the very person he wanted to save?"

    He gritted his teeth grabbed the girl''s head with his hands, bringing her face closer until their forehead and noses touched. The boy banged his forehead against the girl''s "Once again..."

    "Open!"

    Bang!

    "Your!"

    Bang!

    "Fucking!"

    Bang!

    "Eyes!"

    Bang!

    Cheng Hao panted, a bruise had formed on top of his forehead as well as the woman''s.

    "You are a goddamn Divine Beast, for Heaven''s sake!" The boy yelled once again, his crimson hair fluttering and his red, ruby-like eyes burning with passion and determination.

    Having said that, he turned to gaze at the oncoming golden feathered bird: its claws were sharp to the point they seemed able to cut apart whole mountain chains with a simple wave and its pressure was enough to make the Earth tremble and the Heavens rumble.

    "You as well, Golden Sky Lord... Quiet down!"He glared as his eyes burned with fiery killing intent.

    The Majestic Bird didn''t seem like it would listen as it charged with all his might towards Ren Hong''s figure.

    "Is your stupidity so contagious that even your beasts are affected, Divine Beast King?" The red skinned boy simply glared at the bird, lifted his hand and, shockingly, a faint green character appeared in the air...

    SUNDER! THE! IMMORTAL!

    Ren Bai couldn''t make out what the character was, however the bird screamed in shock as it fell to the ground, completely powerless against this symbol''s pressure. The bird squawked, terrified out of his wits.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    "You as well should open your eyes, Golden Sky Lord... Do you not recognise me? You do? Then why do you attack me then?" The boy''s gaze resembled that of a sword as he glared at the squawking bird "Do not force my hand!"

    The crimson-haired, red-skinned and red-eyed boy then knelt beside the suffering Ren Long. The bald youth looked in disbelief at the red-skinned boy in front of him: a little while ago, this boy had looked like a dying ember on the verge of being extinguished, but now... He was a bright fire that could burn down the sky itself!

    "Bro... Ther... Hong... You..." Muttered the shocked Divine Sea King as his eyes widened.

    The boy''s crimson hair fluttered and his ruby-like eyes gazed upon the bald youth''s body. He sighed "Geez... You are always so anxious to show off that you get hurt to this extent! And you wonder why big sister is so stern at all times!"

    He tapped the youth''s forehead and a bit of colour came back to Ren Long''s face as another faint green character emerged, the terrifying pressure making the dark-red marks on the bald youth''s body shiver in terror.

    "Scatter!"

    The boy''s loud yell startled Rei Bai awake just in time to see the dark-red curse marks on top of Ren Long''s body cower in fear, before immediately trembling and turning into smoke.

    The two older siblings stared in shock at the figure of their younger brother: before, he had been on the verge of collapsing, now however, he was the one that saved them from falling into the abyss.

    Ren Long gaped when he understood what had just happened.

    He looked up and saw the crimson-haired boy was grinning at him and offering his hand. The bald youth sighed and then grabbed the red hand, propping himself up.

    "Brother... What happened to you? You look... Different." Ren Long chuckled bitterly.

    What happened to me... Uh?

    "Ehehehe..." The boy chuckled as his red eyes glowed with bright light.

    Nothing. I simply realised. I realised that, as long as I pass this trial, I will see you all again! Until then... I will live in this illusion of reality and do it so I won''t have any regret... This time!

    Cheng Hao smiled and then turned to look at Ren Bai, whose figure was now kneeling on the ground, unable to get up due to the shock.

    The boy sighed and he knelt beside her, patting her head "Sis? Sis? Look, everything is fine." His bright smile and sweet voice startled the woman awake.

    "It''s time to go. Night is falling!" Ren Long grinned and grabbed the red-skinned boy''s shoulder.

    After the two distanced themselves enough so that the woman couldn''t hear them anymore, Ren Long pouted.

    "You little... She''s your sister! How could you make an advance on her like that!" The bald youth hissed, his voice barely audible as the veins on his forehead popped "And I had my eyes on her for a longer time than you did! No fair!"

    "Ahaha... She''s all yours!" Cheng Hao chuckled. Yeah, he had missed this feeling... The feeling of being accepted. The feeling of a family!

    So this is why Big Brother and Big Sister had never been able to transform... Second Sister had actually split her own soul in half, giving the other half to Third Brother, this, added on the fact the shadow of the Seal had not disappeared completely, bound them in their human forms...

    Cheng Hao pondered.

    It looks like... This actually is an alternate reality. This appears to be taking place before I appeared as Xu Ling. But now that I am Ren Hong... What will happen? After all, theprophecy should still be there, but which of us wil it choose? This world''s Xu ling... Or me? Actually... Will there still be a Xu Ling at all?

    Or... Will everything be changed because of my presence here?

    He tightened his trembling fist as he did his best to conceal the look of excitement in his eyes.

    Will I... Be able to change what happened here? To change fate and kill Tian when he arrives here, in Worldords Flying Island? Will I be able to do it? If I take him by surprise, there is a chance!

    I already changed what happened once, will I be able to do it twice? Thrice? With my knowledge of what is going to happen in the future... Would I be able to save everyone? But then... What would happen to Xu Ling''s role as the chosen one?

    A sharp glint flashed deep within his pupils. However, as he concealed his expression, nobody took notice of it. The trio simply headed towards the middle of the floating land mass, where the four beasts'' homes as well as meditation rooms were located.

    With me here... Would Xu Ling still be needed?

    If... If I killed him... I would have more time to prepare and increase my strength, as Tian will not have any reason to come here a thousand years from now! If I kill this Xu Ling... Will I actually be able to kill Tian?

    In exchange for this world''s Xu Ling... That bastard, Tian, might die!

    At some unknown time, a grin had begun to form on Cheng Hao''s face... This expression, to those few people who had ever been able to see it, would still be ingrained deeply in their minds.

    Evil Saint. What is the meaning behind this strange title?

    There are many stories about its origin... Some of them true, some false.

    However, many people would locate it at one particular time: when he had reached the Saintly stage, Xu Ling had already surpassed the True Earth and the True Heaven''s greatest geniuses.

    At that time, a certain battle had been fought. Xu Ling''s opponents were none other than a certain Clan, known for its swordsmen and blades, the Ran Swordsmen! At the time, as mentioned earlier, he had been a simple Saintly stage cultivator, while the Ran Family''s powerhouses were existences at the peak of the Ageless Realm! Had it not been for Tian''s Seal, some of them might even have already broken through to the Immortal Realm!

    And yet, a single Saintly stage cultivator slaughtered his path into one of the Family''s Branches'' mansion... And killed every single member present! Rivers of blood had flowed, corpses had been piled into mountains... Truly, a massacre.

    This brought countless expert to acknowledge this rising star that shone brighter than most geniuses. At the time however, nobody knew his name. The only thing known about him was his cultivation base... The Saint stage!

    Thus, he was dubbed "The Saint", for nobody would refer at himself as a powerhouse of the Saintly stage as long as "The Saint" was in such a stage.

    However, his actions had angered the Ran Family''s Main Branch. Countless swordsmen, each holding a Ran Blade in their hands, prepared for an all-out war against this mysterious cultivator: the weakest person of the group would have been more than enough to slaughter his way amongst an army of Empiric stage soldiers, let alone a single Saintly stage cultivator!

    They had kidnapped one of his closest friend at the time, the Xiao Clan''s member Xiao Lan, and had tortured him to the brink of death. By doing that, they had attempted to lure this ''Saint'' out. However... all was in vain.

    Because...

    While this gigantic army was busy guarding Xiao Lan''s prison...

    The ''Saint'' marched into the Main Family''s Halls and slaughtered each and every member there!

    The Head with a cultivation of the peak God stage and at the very peak of the Ageless Realm! Family Protectors, hidden experts with unfathomable strength! The successors to the Family''s Head position! Grown men! Women! Children! Animals! Insects! Weeds at the sides of the road!

    Not a single living being would be called ''living'' or even a ''being'' anymore if he crossed his path! Hearing of what had happened, the massive army of the Ran Family quickly rushed back to the Main Family Mansion... Where they found him. The grinning demon, a nightmare that would haunt the living and the dead alike.

    Slaughtered.

    The Ran Family''s Main Branch was slaughtered, only deserters and Secondary Branches to the Main Family, located in other planes of existence, survived. In the future, these survivors were able to rebuild the clan, yes, but how could they forget the demon that had slaughtered his way through a whole army of cultivators? Who slaughtered the brethren simply because of the kidnapping of one of his closest of friends, a brother in all but bood?

    And all of that... While showing that terrifying grin on his face!

    At some point, when a person feels such incredible killing intent, he will be unable to remain sane. After all, how could he? At that time one''s only thought would be to slaughter his way through the Earth, tear the Heavens apart and then proceed to slaughter the souls down below in the Underworld! This madness was nothing compared to that demonic grin.

    A grin which contained such unparalleled bloodlust and killing intent that it even brought forth the destruction of the Main Branch of a Family that had existed for millennia!

    What ''Saint'' and ''Saint''! He was a Demon! He was the most accurate representation of Evil!

    However, how could they forget that he did all this while still at the Saintly stage? With the eradication of the Main Branch of the Ran family, the figure known as both a ''Saint'' and ''Evil'', the ''Evil Saint'' rose to prominence!

    In the past, this grin, a grin so fiendish it looked demonic, one that could invoke nightmares, would be the sign that Xu Ling, the Evil Saint, had lost all reason and would stop at nothing to achieve his objective. Each time this grin had been shown to the world, rains of blood had followed!

    And yet, that strange grin was on another person''s face right now, a being that had always shown kindness to the world. A being that had never shown an higher amount of viciousness against his opponents than needed.

    Who was this person? It was none other than the Divine Fire King, Lord of the Flames, Ren Hong, the Divine Beast with the blood of two Primordial Emperors running through his veins!

 Chapter 79 - White Dream Cauldron

    A figure advanced through what looked like an extremely vast, empty space. His features were hidden by a mysterious blur, only a pair of incredibly beautiful blue eyes could be seen.

    This pair of blue eyes were like two gems: at the same time as deep as the sea and yet as bright as the sky!

    Although the figure seemed to be going at a slow pace, each of his step actually propelled him at such speed that it would make one feel cold shiver down his back. Let alone seeing his true self, even the afterimages went so fast they couldn''t be made out!

    Suddenly, a lone building appeared off in the distance. It looked like a completely normal wooden hut, with only a few simple decoration here and there. Seeing this modest house that looked like a lowly peasant''s home, the figure couldn''t help but chuckle bitterly.

    "Seriously... After all these years he still has no sense of pride! If it meant saving up a single coin, he would already have started licking the seller''s boots... What the hell is up with this modest hut!" The figure sighed and then came to a stop in front of the door.

    He didn''t need to cough or to announce his presence: the door suddenly opened seemingly by itself, revealing the space within the small hut.

    "Worker... What a rare occasion! To actually come here in person and not sending one of your... toys. It truly is an honor!" An high-pitched voice came out from within the hut.

    "Those thinghs... What did you like to call them? Skylore? Highfallen? No? I don''t seem to remember... Oh well, it doesn''t matter! Please, come on in, come on in!" The voice invited.

    The blurred figure smiled bitterly and then walked inside. As soon as he did, the door closed by itself and a powerful smell of medicinal herbs wafted towards him. He ignored the pungent odour and looked around: the hut was a few meters long and had a total of two rooms.

    Currently, the only door separating the two rooms was closed. Worker sighed as if he was used to this and waved his hand: a simple, wooden chair appeared out of thin air.

    "Oh? You are such in a good humour you actually got off your lazy bum and used that unique power of yours to create a majestic and otherworldly chair! Really, something incredible must have happened while I was locked in here with my medicinal herbs!" The voice from before jokingly remarked.

    "..." Two blue eyes gleamed as the temperature seemed to rise and smoke began to come out from the cracks in the closed door''s frames...

    Following that, a loud explosion and a sharp howl could be heard.

    "It was a joke! A frigging joke! You are so dense! The materials used in this process cost me decades of services to bastards like you! I just recently gained a century of freedom and I will have to go back to work now to earn back what has been lost!"

    A figure walked out of the closed room "Just what the hell is wrong with you!"

    Tall, handsome, he had a pair of piercing grey eyes. Currently though, the youth''s beautiful face as well as his long, white hair and white robes had all turned black, charred.

    He was holding what looked like a mass of burnt herbs and elixirs in his hands, his expression was one of reminiscence.

    "Goodbye my sweet ingredients, I won''t forget you..." As he sighed, the objects turned into dust and got blown away. However, for some strange reason, as soon as the cloud of dust left the house it completely disappeared from existence...

    Worker looked on, his eyes cold, without the single trace of the warmth he had showed when he had spoken with Jin FengHuang, back in the Plane of Existence where he had met Cheng Hao. The unusual coldness sent a cold shiver running down the other''s spine.

    "N-No need to repay any of them, of course!" The white-haired man waved his hands anxiously. He hurriedly coughed to clear his voice and snapped his fingers: both his charred clothes and burnt body turned back into their original appearances.

    "So... What''s the matter, Senior Worker?" The man asked. An amused smile could be seen at the corner of his lips: has somebody been able to piss off this guy? Hats off to them and their corpse!

    Worker stood silent for a while before sighing. He looked down and crossed his hand in front of his face, hiding his expression "... Say, Caul?"

    "Mmm? Yeah, what is it?" Caul tilted his head and his expression grew serious: few times in the past had he ever seen this old buddy of his so serious before.

    "Let''s say... Hypothetically... Someone was able to con me-"

    "Con THE Worker? Are you for real!?!" The white-haired man stared in shock, his grey eyes widening. Finally, his thin lips arranged into a playful grin "Who was it? I gotta give my homage to them-"The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    "AND STILL HYPOTHETICALLY!" The Worker yelled as two patches of red appeared on his cheeks. The wooden planks trembled, some of the objects within the small hut even turned into splinters.

    "Yeah, yeah! Everything is hypothetical, of course, of course!" the white-haired man waved his hands, nodding seriously. Caul however, was still chuckling on the inside ''As if! Seeing your reaction, I really want to meet this guy now...''

    Seeing that, Worker sighed bitterly. He had fooled numerous people in the past and knew flattery when he saw it. He let it go however, and kept going with his explanation.

    "As I was saying... This guy hypothetically conned me and he kind of hypothetically got all the time he wanted within the door of the Hidden Inner Devils Gate... Should I be concerning myself about that?"

    "You mean if you should be concerned... Hypothetically, right?" Caul suggested, evidently very concerned himself.

    A vein popped on the Worker''s blurry appearance "Drop the Hypothetical stuff for now! Just say it! That, that... thing. Even I do know to which depts it can go! That door has been a mystery ever since it had appeared!" he looked deep into the other''s grey eyes and clenched his fists "So... Do you think this is a good or bad thing?"

    The blurry figure''s two piercing, blue eyes examined Caul''s face as the white-haired young man pondered. Worker shifted uncomfortably as he looked around.

    As more than one hour passed, another vein popped on top of Worker''s forehead once more.

    "What the hell! How much does it take to ponder wether it is a good or bad thing?"

    "Mmm? Oh sorry, got caught thinking how much I should sell this information for... THE worker got conned!" The youth''s lips arranged into a dreamy smile. Then, his expression grew serious again.

    "After all, the herbs you destroyed weren''t really the kind you could pick by the roadside... I need to consider both the potential gain, the demand... You know, it''s actually quite difficult to set the right price..."

    "White. Dream. Cauldron." Terrifying killing intent suddenly began to swirl inside the small hut: at its center were a pair of blue eyes, gleaming like the eyes of an angered beast.

    Hearing his full name being called out, the white-haired young man shivered, immediately swallowing "Y-Yes, master Worker? Would... Would you prefer to have a share? I can give you twenty percent... Alright, alright, I''ll be generous! Thirty at most! No? Thirty-five? Forty! That is as high as I will go!"

    "I am going to give you ten seconds to spill out everything that you know about that door. Else... I''ve been wanting to refine this piece of Azure Spectres droppings... I was just needing a cauldron to do the job, are you up for it?" Although the hurricane retreated, the killing intent in the blue eyes increased even more.

    Caul shivered and grew pale, even paler than he had been before. With his voice trembling and as he struggled to keep his mouth open he muttered "By droppings... You can''t possibly mean..."

    The blurry figure took out a dirty piece of cloth from empty air and waved it in the direction of the white-clad youth.

    "After that guy conned me..." Worker started, sighing in regret.

    "Is this still hypothetical?" Caul started but immediately shut up after seeing the other''s eyes were burning with killing intent "Please, do go on!"

    "After he conned me, I had to release my pent-up anger. Fortunately this small group of Azure Specters were close-by. Sure, it would have been much more pleasant if one of them hadn''t shitted himself..." Worker looked up and waved the dirty cloth around.

    Caul gulped and then asked, repressing the urge to vomit "Meaning... That thing you would want me to refine is..."

    Worker nodded "Ghost Poop."

    Barf!

    The white-clad man couldn''t hold it in anymore. With tears at the corners of his eyes, he looked behind him and saw Worker''s eyes held a clear hint of amusement.

    "You piece of shit! How dare you threaten me!" he yelled as he wiped his mouth with a piece of cloth.

    "Mmm? No, no, no... THIS" he waved the dirty cloth around " Is the piece of shit I want you to refine, not me. Oh well, if you want, I have more... Sky Whale Intestines, Bearded Pterodactyl Piss... Even Cauldron Vomit!" He pointed at the ground.

    Caul paled and he took a step back "Alright, alright I''ll tell you everything you want to know! Just ask, and I''ll tell you! Please, don''t make me refine those things! That, that..."

    "Ghost Poop, Sky Whale Intestines, Bearded Pterodactyl Piss... Even Cauldron Vomit!"

    "Don''t repeat it! I heard you pretty well the first time as you probably realised from the... The.."

    "Cauldron Vomit?"

    "..." The white-clad man mouth twitched "I hate you..."

    "I know, it is quite the popular trend nowadays!"

    "Just why would someone go around picking up those kind of stuff..."

    "Oh? You mean this stuff that I am about to force you to refine wether you want it or not if you don''t hurry up? The Ghost Poop, Sky Whale Intestines-"

    "I already said I am going to help you, just shut up already!"

    Seeing Caul''s appearance, looking as if he had just been on the verge of being forced to eat some nasty stuff, Worker smirked. Oh yes, this was a good feeling. He should be the one to con people, not the one being conned!

    ''Damn Cheng Hao...'' He smiled bitterly, crossing his arms as his eyes gleamed ''You bastard truly did a number on me... As to be expected from an Heavensborn, I guess?''

    "Also, make it fifty percent. Otherwise, I will spread all those bad stuff about you I have without any reason other than to serve as comical relief!"

    "..." Caul was on the verge of tears "Shut up. Please."

    ...

    The white-haired youth sighed as he laid back on his chair "That is all I know... Now can you just get going already? I need to go back to work, due to a certain someone ruining all my stocks!"

    "This might be bad..." Worker pondered out aloud "This might be REALLY bad" Below the cover of the magical blur, the blue-eyed figure clenched his teeth: from what the human-form White Dream Cauldron had told him, things might not be going as planned after all...

    "Was I... Too rash?"

 Chapter 80 - Golden Emperor Sect

    Caul took a sip from his tea cup as his unpleasant expression slowly grew calmer. Worker looked on from the side, pondering on what Caul had told him. The situation was not good, not good at all...

    "What''s wrong? Why are you so worried? Shouldn''t you be happy that bastard is probably going to stay locked in there forever?" Caul asked. He waved his hand and another cup of tea also appeared, hovering in front of the frowning Worker.

    "That..." The blue-eyed figure sighed "... Is the problem. No matter how much I might hate the guy, he is an indispensable pawn in my plan as of now..."

    Worker grabbed the cup and downed the liquid all in one gulp: "Mmm? Tea? Don''t you have any alcohol?"

    Caul felt as if he had been stabbed in the heart: he, who had originally been a Medicinal Cauldron, of course knew everything needed about all kind of herbs and thus could claim to be able to create the highest quality tea available. However, that tea, fruit of his efforts and one of his greatest achievements, had just been discarded for some alcohol¡­

    "Seriously... During the time you had been His personal cauldron, you should have come to know about quite a few particular parts of his plan..." Worker spoke as he grabbed the gourd full of wine that White Dream had just given him.

    "Mmm? ¡®Him¡¯? You mean..." Caul''s expression flickered and then he scoffed "You are still following that guy''s foolish demands? Just let it go. It''s not like he can do anything as of now. After he went missing..."

    "I have found... " Worker muttered, his expression serious "Who I was searching for... him."

    *Crash*

    Caul inhaled sharply and he immediately stood up, completely ignoring the shattered cup on the floor. He was trembling and in his eyes was disbelief as well as terror "You... what did you just say?"

    A hint of shock flashed across the pair of blue eyes: "You still fear him after all these years... incredible. I guess he really was was powerful and as domineering as they say..."

    The cauldron in human form shook his head, gritting his teeth "You cannot understand... He is beyond comprehension! Wether it is Mine, other people''s... Even yours!"

    "However... I do know one thing. Worker, please confirm a theory of mine..." Caul looked at the blue-eyed figure in the eyes "Please tell me. You are¡­ a ''Blank'', aren¡¯t you?"

    Beneath the magical blur, Worker''s expression flickered. However, even though only his eyes could be seen, Caul took notice of that. Worker looked to the side, as if he was remembering events of a distant past.

    "..." Caul looked at the blue eyes with amazement and then sighed in admiration and disbelief "From your expression, it seems I am right. All along you had been only... If you alone are actually this powerful, just what might did He hold?"

    The blue eyes suddenly focused once again, as confusion appeared in the pair of pupils "What do you mean? Didn''t you witness it first-hand? I mean.. You were his personal cauldron..."

    The white-clad youth''s eyes flashed with rage and then he gritted his teeth "Oh, I did witness it indeed... However, I cannot remember! That bastard wiped away my memories! Why else would I still be stuck at this stage otherwise!" the youth clenched his fists, the nails biting into the skin.

    Worker smiled as his expression warmed up "Don''t worry. We have all been abandoned. You, Me..." he looked out of the window "Them..."

    "..."

    "Thanks for your explanation, Caul... I''ll be sure to repay you someday!" Worker turned and headed towards the hut''s entrance, preparing to leave.

    Suddenly, the white-clad youth''s expression flickered "Will you really continue in your attempt? Even though I have no memories of what had happened back there..." He rubbed his hands on his shivering shoulders, as if he was cold.

    "My body can still remember! You can''t begin to imagine how high exactly was the amount of Immortal blood he gave me to drink... A crazy amount that gave even me, a lowly White Dream Cauldron, the chance to gain a consciousness... You are playing with fire: you might only getslightlyburned..." Caulwandered off:

    "¡­or Burnt! Burntinto charcoal."

    Worker smiled beneath his concealment and nodded:

    "I know exactly what I am playing with...aAnd that this is no fire. It is a freaking time-bomb. However, if I want to truly proceed with the plan, He needs to survive first!"

    "Him, uh?" Caul pondered "What was he called again?"

    Worker smirked:"Mh? That, he will have to decide for himself!" He stared knowingly towards the empty void outside:Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

    "After all, from what you said, I can already guess what his trial of the Hidden Inner Devils Gate is going to be..."

    "Really?" Caul looked surprised "What is it going to be like then?"

    Worker grinned, and two rows of fine, white teeth could be seen for a split second on his blurry face:

    "It is actually... Quite similar to mine. After all, don''t we have the same circumstances that we have to carry on our backs?"

    "However, at the same time it is different. As I cannot help anyways, it is up to him wether he will pass or not!"

    A hint of understanding flashed by the White Dream Cauldron''s eyes. He opened his mouth to seek his confirm, however Worker had already disappeared.

    To where?

    Only he knew that.

    "Worker! If you do succeed, everything as we know it will change! However..." Caul sighed and then picked up the shattered teacup on the ground. He then went back in the room from before, his expression one of uncertainty.

    "I still can''t help but pray that what you are going to free will be a demon, and not the guy you intend..."

    With that said, the man sighed. The door creaked as it closed. As soon as it did, the house seemed to shrink on itself as it suddenly sped off, disappearing into the void...

    ...

    Golden Emperor Sect.

    This was the new name of the former Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect as well as the name that had been in everyone''s minds for the past two month or so.

    The battle that had shaken the world those two months earlier had brought the Sect to a never-seen-before period of prosperity: countless Sects and Schools had come with fancy gifts to offer their respects to this new rising dragon.

    Powerhouses at the Reverend stage! Geniuses never seen before in hundreds of years! A huge amount of resources!

    Those facts alone would be enough to make those second-rate Sects cower and not dare to act against the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect. However, the current Golden Emperor Sect was a lot more than that!

    The Sect had gone through a great change.

    Low-grade Cultivation Techniques and Scriptures were available from the level of Vacant Disciple onwards.

    The ''Twin Stars'' had been disbanded. Now, what remained was the rank ''Successor'' for those who were able to step into the Superior stage before they turned seventeen.

    Successors would be taught from a School Protector himself, with the aid of the Four Guardians: these people were not officially part of the Sect, however they had good relationships with it due to them being friends of some of its core members.

    These people were the dragon Blindlight, a strange beast that could only be seen if one met certain criteria; a dark-haired, middle-aged man whom nobody knew the name and people simply referred to him as ''Black Robes'' and, finally, two white-robed, white and ginger-haired, red-eyed cultivators, Aster and Iris.

    Currently, only three people had the rights of being Successors.

    One was the fifteen years old, Superior stage cultivator, as well as an Aura Grandmaster, Fu Yin.

    The second was the genius child that, at nine years of age, could step into the Superior stage! Also known as the Blue Robed Night Challenger, she was none other than Xiao Wu!

    And finally, the last Successor was none other than the former Second Protector''s Disciple, Sou Rou! Due to her breaking through to the Superior stage at the age of sixteen years, her path as a Twin Star had been blocked. However, now that the Twin Stars were no more, she had become a Successor!

    At first, some had opposed such radical changes in the Sect. However, these people couldn''t do anything, as that had been an order from the First Protector Lao Jianghu himself, together with the support of the Second Protector Mu Gu, Seventh Protector Bi Liang and Eight Protector Lu Fang.

    The former Second Protector, Wu Rou had also showed no objection and had even given her approval before disappearing from the world of cultivation, heading back ''home''.

    With all those gifts from other nearby powers, Sects and Schools hoping to establish a good relationship with the Golden Emperor Sect, the rising Sect had also acquired a nice amount of wealth!

    However, what had been the greatest factor that allowed the Sect this huge rise in fame had been none other than the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect''s Head, the "Golden Emperor".

    Why ''Golden Emperor''? How could anybody forget the boy with golden eyes that had slaughtered thousands with but a wave of his hands? That had fought against the demon that had threatened to destroy all creation?

    The presence that he had exuded at that time together with his power and the golden hue he had let out while using the Will of the Sovereign had given others the feeling of looking at a Golden Immortal. To them, he had become an Emperor clad in Gold, a Golden Emperor! Thus, the name of the Golden Emperor Sect and its leader, the Emperor!

    This person, the Golden Emperor, had gone missing during the battle, however his power had led everyone to believe that it would have been better if they did not create enmity with the Golden Emperor Sect. Especially, they would have to be extremely careful not to anger the power of the Sect Head, the might of the Emperor Cheng Hao!

    ...

    Lao Jianghu looked up and nodded satisfied when he looked at Xiao Wu: the girl had finally managed to begin to condense a rough, three-dimensional copy of her Black Dragon Sword.

    That was the hard part: to switch from two to three-dimension, one had to change his point of view as well as his mindset. After understanding that, everything would become much smoother, as the only thing that would be needed would be a higher cultivation to control more Aura.

    After Xiao Wu had become a Successor, she would have had to go to a Sect Protector to seek guidance. At that time, Lao Jianghu had stepped up himself and had offered her to become his apprentice.

    After all, even though he did not have as much knowledge as Cheng Hao did, in the Aura Manipulation few people would be able to rival him, a beast whose true body was made entirely out of Aura itself.

    He had great expectation after having seen her talent, however he had soon been shocked: the girl''s talent in Aura Manipulation was something that made even him shiver.

    Let alone the monstrous Fu Yin who had already been an Aura Grandmaster back when was still an Advanced stage cultivator, Xiao Wu alone would be enough to cause a huge ruckus if she were to step into a Plane of Existence of a higher quality.

    Xiao Wu smiled, her forehead covered in sweat and her whole body trembling from the exhaustion. However, she was happy!

    She had been working hard every day to increase her control over Aura and had slowly but surely improved each day, disassembling and reassembling her two Aura weapons and trying to build them back again with the least time possible while using the least Aura possible.

    At first, the change had been minimal. Now, however... She had done it!

    She had broken through to the Superior stage a whole week after the battle and her Aura reserve had increased, allowing her to make her attempt at three-dimensional Aura Manipulation. And now, finally, after two whole months, she had graduated: from an Aura Scholar, she had become an Aura Master! The proof?

    The Black Dragon Aura Sword... Was now a three-dimensional Aura Projection!

 Chapter 81 - The Tournament Begins!

    The Grudge''s End had been restructured and turned from a place where people would come to resolve blood feuds into an Arena, to everyone''s enjoyment. After all, enough blood had been shed on top of that location, why shed more? At that moment, the stalls were full to the brim with people.

    Wether they were Disciples or Elders, everyone was hyped and couldn''t help but feel their blood pumping when they thought what was about to begin!

    The Golden Arena was made out by countless golden weapons. Few people knew exactly what kind of power this golden weapons held and even fewer had been able to witness those countless golden weapons smashing the gigantic Shadow Dragon into smithereens.

    Now, these weapons had been arranged into the gigantic Golden Arena, a place where competitions and tournaments took place!

    ...

    "A tournament?" Xiao Wu sat up on the bed. Her whole body hurt and she felt as if someone was striking her temples with a hammer.

    Lao Jianghu sighed "Yes. I''m sorry to ask you this after you have just woken up, however it is for the best." He waved his sleeve and a round object flew through the air "Eat this. It should heal your body back to your top condition"

    Xiao Wu grabbed the round object and examined it: it was a round medicinal pill. From the lack of any medicinal aroma wafting around the room, its grade seemed to be pretty high.

    "Just think of it as being a chance to try outyour new toy!" Lao Jianghu smiled and then turned around, heading outside "Come to the Golden Arena in two hours. Your two Martial Siblings will also be there!"

    ...

    Xiao Wu dashed through the air and then came to a stop above the gigantic building made out of golden weapons. She scanned her surroundings for a bit. Finally, her eyes lit up as she noticed a pavilion next to the stage where the fighting would take place.

    It was completely golden and a gigantic, golden eye was depicted on top of it.

    Xiao WU smiled. She kicked off the air and sped downwards. In the blink of an eye, she had already stepped into the tent.

    However, how could her actions go on unnoticed, especially in front os such a large crowd?

    "Wasn''t that the ''Princess'', Xiao Wu? Such speed! I could barely catch her from the corner of my eyes..." A Core Disciple exclaimed as he gaped.

    "Yeah, that was her! To think that such a young and beautiful lady would be so powerful..." An Inner Disciple whose senses were developed enough to catch a glimpse of the girl''s figure shook his head and sighed.

    Hearing their words, an Inner Elder nodded as he stroked his goatee "They say that she is the greatest genius this world has seen in centuries, millennia even!"

    "And they are not wrong! Nine years old and already at the Superior stage!" One of the Disciples from before, the Core Disciple, exclaimed. His eyes brightened as an expression of admiration appeared on his face.

    "Greatest genius? But... Wasn''t the Sect Leader, the Golden Emperor, also a child?" The other frowned.

    "No way! Those are just rumours, aren''t they? I mean, a child slaughtering the Reverend stage? Those people are at the very peak and are capable of inhuman feats!" The Core Disciple shook his head.

    "Stop talking you three! They are about to announce the order of the matches!" A Core Elder humped.

    The three immediately shut their mouth. It wasn''t because they were afraid of the other''s identity as a Core Elder, but because they also couldn''t help but feel excited for what was to come...

    A battle between the Sect''s top twelve disciples!If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    As soon as she entered the tent, Xiao Wu looked around, searching for her clothes. She headed towards one side of the room and took her robe from a hanger as well as a purple armband.

    The robe was purple, with tinges of black and white that slightly resembled a white tree and a black dragon. However, what truly showed her position as a ''Successor'' was the golden eye drawn on top of her armband.

    Each Successor would have personalised clothes, contrary to the plain, white-striped, black robes which normal disciples usually wore. However, other than that, Successors would also have a feature distinguishing their roles from the other Disciples.

    And that was the ''Golden Eye''.

    What the eye meant was that seeing a Successor was like seeing half of a Golden Emperor. As the title of successor also indicated one''s right to become the Head of the Golden Emperor Sect, or at the very least a Protector, to see a Successor was like seeing a Golden Emperor in the making! Thus, the single Golden Eye.

    "So... When exactly is it going to begin?" Xiao Wu asked as she put on the Sect Robes.

    In two other corners of the room, two more people also prepared themselves by putting on their own robes and fixing their appearance.

    "Anytime now..." Fu Yin said as he examined his own set of clothing.

    Just like Xiao Wu, his robes were different from the normal Sect Robes: plain black, the sleeves were red and a single, red hexagram was drawn on the back. The boy grabbed a red headband and put it on: the intimidating Golden Eye was depicted on it.

    The red headband also revealed his scarred yet beautiful face, usually hidden by his long, white bangs.

    "Seriously! Haven''t we fought enough lately? That Zhao clan has been giving us quite the hassle!" Sou Rou fixed her hair and then tied it in place with an hairpin. The hairpin, of course, was not a simple pin: just like Xiao Wu and Fu Yin''s head and armbands, a Golden Eye was represented on top of it.

    Her robes was blue and had what resembled an azure lion''s mane on the collar.

    The robes were quite generous, for it revealed a large portion of the girl''s skin, both on the chest and on the thighs. However, this was not only to show off her looks, but also to distract male opponents as well as to gain the appreciation from the audience and the... ''Support'' from fellow male Sect Members.

    After only a few days, her wealth had grown to be comparable to a small Clan''s yearly supply.

    Fu Yin smiled "I think the Protectors are doing this to show our strength and the power of the Sect to the Disciples. A boost to morale is never a bad thing. After all, ever since the Shuijing incident, some disciples have been questioning the authority of the Protectors..."

    He waved his hand and a pair of drills appeared out of thin air, exuding intense killing intent "My guess however... Is that they want to arouse their fighting spirit and competitiveness by showing to those without talent us, the greatest geniuses in the Sect, thus awakening their fighting spirit and making them work harder."

    "Ohhh.." Xiao Wu smirked "Aren''t we quite arrogant?"

    Fu Yin stuck out his tongue "I learned from the very best! Speaking of him, I wonder what is brother doing? According to Uncle Blacky, he is still alive, but then, why isn''t he back yet?"

    Xiao Wu frowned but then her forehead relaxed "No idea... Probably off, cultivating somewhere and didn''t notice the passage of time. Knowing him, this could very well be it..."

    Sou Rou bit her lip "Seriously... That child, at a first glance I would have never thought he was this amazing!"

    Xiao Wu and Fu Yin looked at each other and smiled: who would? Their big brother was simply a being they would probably never be able to understand fully... Now though, he wasn''t there.

    Thus, in his place, they would protect this Sect he had fought for with all his might defend. And they would start... By demonstrating their strength as the potential Successors to the title of Sect Head!

    ...

    The three of them walked out of the tent: as soon as they did, a huge cheer came from the crowd. Yells such as "Go, Fu Yin!" "Fight for us, Xiao Wu!" and "Show them how it''s done, Sou Rou!" were common.

    However, what happened next made all the commotion disappear: Lao Jianghu had appeared. No one dared to move, let alone speak. The guy was not only the First Protector: he was also the owner of the countless weapons that made up the very ground they were standing upon.

    Who on their right minds would offend such an entity?

    The old man wearing golden robes smiled amiably and then spoke: "Everyone, I am happy you have all gathered here! What''s with this creepy silence? Everyone, yell and scream to your heart''s content!

    Hearing those words, the Arena once again filled with loud yells and approving roars. Lao Janghu nodded and spoke once again. For some strange reason, his voice could be heard even amidst the chaos.

    "Very well! To see you all fired up, it makes this old man happy! Now, let''s welcome our competitors! You have met our three stars, the three Successors! You like that golden eye on their clothing? Then why not becoming a Successor as well? Us Protectors will be waiting for you!"

    The yells rose even higher in both intensity and volume, to the point that Xiao Wu was fighting against the instinct to cover her ears.

    After that, Lao Jianghu announced the tournament''s sheet to the audience who, unlike the participants, didn''t know what and when fights would take place.

    The crowd couldn''t help but feel their blood boil: the first fight would take place five minutes from then and it would be a fight between two of the top beauties of the Golden Emperor Sect. The fighters would be none other than...

    The enticing and mature Sou Rou versus the gentle and passionate Te Rin!

 Chapter 82 - She Has Grown

    Te Rin breathed in and then stood up from her seat. She glanced at Sou Rou and her expression grew cold as her whole body tensed up: this was a chance. A chance to let the whole world know that her power had grown!

    She walked forward, her hands were clearly shaking, however her expression was firm. Up above, circling on top of the Arena, Mu Gu couldn''t help but nod in approval.

    "The little jewel has grown... Her talent is a match to many geniuses. It is just too bad her age is not on par with the three monsters, otherwise she would have undoubtedly become a Successor as well..."

    The old man''s robes, green and made out of leaves, fluttered in the wind as he sighed in reminiscence "Shui Jing... If only you could see her now, you would regret your decisions without a doubt... You actually were able to teach such a genius!"

    The wind carried away the Second Protector''s words as the old man focused once again on the events below.

    Sou Rou pursued her alluring lips and stretched "Fu Yin, you were the luckiest amongst the three of us it seems! You got nobody in your group able to harm you... Te Rin. I will have to be careful with her!"

    Fu Yin''s eyes glittered and turned an electric blue as sparks went off from the nails embedded in his temples. The boy turned his gaze to examine the young girl on the other side of the Arena and his pupils, now a pair of inverted triangles, came to a rest on the girl''s hands "Yeah Big Sis, you definitely should... That girl, I didn''t think that she would actually be this smart!"

    Sou Rou frowned and turned to face the white-haired boy "What... Do you mean?"

    "Mmmm, I wonder..." the boy smiled enigmatically "I won''t spoil the fun. Don''t worry, you will find out soon... Sooner than you might think!"

    The older woman sighed "It''s almost as if you still don''t see me as a sister..."

    Fu Yin chuckled and Xiao Wu also couldn''t help but shake her head smiling. The young girl sighed and her green eyes glinted with flashes of purple light "Oh, no. It is exactly because he sees you as a sister that he isn''t telling you anything..."

    Xiao Wu''s expression turned into disgust as Sou Rou tilted her head.

    "Why?" Xiao Wu scoffed "It''s because towards those he does not care about he usually just gives wrong information..."

    Fu Yin chuckled bitterly "You sure know me well, Sis..."

    The two children began bickering and Sou Rou smiled warmly. Her gaze then turned serious as she also turned to walk towards the Arena: her blue robes fluttered and the air surrounding her couldn''t help but tremble under the pressure the young woman gave off.

    The crowds cheered and the people in the audience couldn''t help but feel excited: a face-off between the Sect''s top beauties? How often would they actually have the occasion to see something like this?

    That was why, when the two girl finally walked on top of the stage, the cheering suddenly stopped, the loud roars coming from the huge crowd of people slowly dissipated until the only thing that could be heard was the faint sound of the wind.

    Lao Jianghu then jumped on top of the stage and his usual laid-back countenance changed as his golden eyes glittered coldly...

    "Everyone! The first battle is about to start! Now, I would like to clarify something..." The old man yelled, each of the words crystalline and as clear as the day.

    "These fights are not without meaning! We are not hosting a tournament just because we wanted or could. It''s also because we felt that our top disciples have too little experience when it comes to fighting." Lao Jianghu waved his hands and, to everyone''s surprise, a corpse fell down on top of the golden stage.

    Most people there had either already seen blood or had even killed already, however very few people could hold in the exclamations of surprise and shock that came out of their mouths.

    Lao Jianghu paid no mind to the reaction of the crowds of cultivators surrounding him. He waved his hand once again and a badge in front of him.

    "This is a cultivator we have found in the Sect and he is not alone. There are many like him but they all committed suicide before we could find out anything, however one thing we do know for sure is that..." He pointed at the badge, a small metallic object that could be hidden in one''s palm.

    A large character, the symbol for Zhao, was carved on both sides.

    "These people have already been hiding in the Sect for three months. Theymost likely belongs to the Zhao Clan... Some of you might remember the young Zhao Bu. Back then, theZhao Clan had allied with the Chaos Dragon, the calamity this Sect had to face three months ago!

    "We shed blood and fought long and hard for our right to live! Now, these guys are challenging us to take away that one right!" Lao Jianghu yelled, his eyes burning with anger "Tell me everyone... What should we do?"Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    The members of the audience felt their blood boil as each and every person stood up and threw their executed their most powerful techniques upwards.

    "Kill them all!"

    "Kill! Kill! Kill!"

    "They shall all die!"

    Xiao Wu watched in amazement as the crowds of people yelled nonstop, their voices akin to the thunderous roars of an enraged beast.

    Lao Jianghu smiled fiercely and then turned towards the twelve contestants down below "Fight! Show that Zhao Clan that our Golden Emperor Sect isn''t someone they can bully without expecting repercussions!"

    Down below, Fu Yin''s eyes glittered "So it was like this... He actually only called us here to increase our fighting experience as well as give a boost to everyone''s morale..."

    Xiao Wu smiled bitterly "Seriously, I should have just stayed asleep... This looks troublesome!"

    Fu Yin flinched "Don''t take after Goldy''s laziness! It is literally the one thing that stops him from becoming one of the most powerful beings under the Heavens!"

    Xiao Wu rolled her eyes "Whatever... Let''s just focus on the match!"

    Fu Yin nodded and then turned to look at the two women facing each other, each of them staring in her opponent''s pupils as if they were having a staring contest.

    "Very well, everyone! We felt the warmth of your spirit! Focus everyone! The battle will start..." Lao Jianghu looked up and nodded. Mu Gu nodded back and then made a hand seal: a shield of green light appeared around the stage, enveloping the two girls and the golden-eyed old man within.

    "Now!"

    The two women kept staring into each other''s eyes, as if they hadn''t heard the words that had just been spoken. Finally, Sou Rou grinned and entered a fighting stance, her cultivation base exploded outwards revealing the strength of the mid level Superior stage!

    Three big symbols floated behind her: a lion, a sea and a rose. They were respectively the Strength Lion, Ever-Changing Sea and the Retaliation Rose!

    Te Rin, on the other hand, simply waved her sleeves and the air seemed to twist, as if a curtain had just been lifted and had revealed what was hiding underneath. After that, she blew in her hands and a thin mist covered the whole stage...

    After that, a shining object appeared above her head: it was a bird made out of crystal, its shape resembled that of a young phoenix.

    The girl then made a single hand seal and the bird cried... As it split apart! The two halves then both turned into another pair of crystal phoenixes and then split apart, the process repeating countless times.

    Soon, the whole sky had been blotted out by the countless crystal birds, each of their small, lifeless eyes gleaming hatefully. Te Rin closed her eyes and then changed her hand seals: the birds let out a loud crus as they all began to spiral around a stunned Sou Rou.

    The spiralling had a rhythm, as if all birds were moving in the same way...

    ''A Formation! They are probably setting up a formation!'' Sou Rou felt her body shake: a Formation would greatly increase the power of what makes up the Formation itself: the crystal phoenixes were already so powerful like that, how strong would they become if they were to set up a Formation?

    The girl regained her senses and immediately dashed madly towards Te Rin: the power of a single crystal phoenix, she would not have put it in her eyes. However, this was not a single bird. Their numbers were constantly growing and she already couldn''t make out her surroundings due to the birds blocking her view.

    Sou Rou gritted her teeth: she had been careless! She finally realised why Fu Yin had warned her not to let her guard down, this girl had indeed grown more powerful than she remembered!

    ''Tsk! She might have a powerful technique, however her cultivation base is inferior to mine! Let''s see how you are going to resist an head-on clash!''

    Thinking that, Sou Rou dashed forward as the Strength Lion Seal brightened up and the woman''s body began to glow a bright red!

    Fu Yin scoffed "Idiot... Fell right for her trap!"

    Xiao Wu frowned and turned to look at Fu Yin "What do you mean, brother?"

    Fu Yin grinned "Te Rin''s technique is indeed amazing... However what I a praising is not the power of the technique... If I wanted, I could break it by simply waving my sleeve!"

    Xiao Wu stared wide-eyedly for a bit and then shook her head chuckling "I know you are powerful, however you don''t have to brag in front of me..."

    "If I were you, I would be acting a lot humbler after witnessing such a complicated plan being executed so perfectly! This girl, she sure has grown!"

    Fu Yin smiled knowingly and looked at Te Rin... Not! What he was looking at was actually another side of the Arena, right beside Lao Jianghu. The old man at the moment was actually trying his best to hold his laughter in, his eyes sometimes darting to his right as his mouth''s sides jerked upwards.

    ''Brat, you really have outstanding brothers and sisters!'' The old man laughed in his mind ''To think so far ahead... Although not on your level, she is still a true genius!''

    Sou Rou gritted her teeth as she charged towards Te Rin''s location, pushing her body to its limit, her hands resembling a lion''s claws. She dodged the birds by jumping left and right, up and down, the Ever-Changing Sea Seal letting off a bright azure glow.

    At one point, she found herself fifty feet from Te Rin''s figure...

    Forty feet.

    Thirty feet.

    Twenty feet.

    Ten feet!

    The woman lifted her hand and clawed towards the woman''s neck, in an attempt to stop her spell and destroy the terrifying formation the countless birds had been attempting to set up, a formation that would ensure her defeat!

    The attack was incredibly fast, Sou Rou''s hands gradually approaching Te Rin''s neck...

    Suddenly, the woman''s expression changed as her eyes widened in shock.

    ''What?''

    Boom!

    The crowd watched in astonishment as a cloud of smoke rose up. When the cloud dissipated, they gaped at the scene: Te Rin looked down on the unconscious Sou Rou, her figure clean and without the slightest trace of any injury.

    Lao Jianghu stepped forward and announced "The winner of the first match... Is Core Disciple, Te Rin!"

    Silence.

    Fu Yin smiled as Xiao Wu gaped at the scene "Told you, didn''t I? The girl has grown... Wonder if I should worry for big brother in his stead? This one, even he might have to look out for, otherwise he might be in for trouble! Especially if she were to turn rogue..."

    Suddenly, thunderous roaring could be heard coming from the spectators.

    "A Successor is out this early on!"

    "Incredible! This fight lasted so little!"

    "Look! Sou Rou is completely unconscious! What in the world..."

    Shock. Fear. Respect. Envy.

    Many different gleams flashed through everyone pupils. However, no matter who or what they were yelling, what they were thinking or what they felt, a single question still passed through everyone''s mind at that moment.

    A Core Disciple, one of the remaining eleven participants, gave voice to everyone''s thoughts:

    "What has just happened?"

 Chapter 83 - The Dragon King Cries

    "What the hell has happened?"

    These words shook Xiao Wu and she snapped awake. She immediately kicked off the ground, heading towards the golden stage, a worried expression on her face. Lao Jianghu simply smiled as he dispelled the golden barrier separating the Golden Arena''s stage from its surroundings.

    Just as Xiao Wu was about to run into it, the barrier broke down and disappeared, not hindering the girl''s path at all. As soon as she landed, she immediately run up to Sou Rou''s unconscious body and examined her condition.

    She slightly relaxed when she saw the girl had no visible wounds, however she did not dare to sigh in relief: no external wounds didn''t mean that there wouldn''t be any internal damage present.

    "Don''t worry, young lady..." Mu Gu''s voice reached Xiao Wu''s ears as the green-haired old man with sharp eyebrows smiled amiably "She has only passed out. She is fine."

    Having said that, the Second Protector lifted his hand and pointed with his index finger: a faint green glow could be seen emanating from its tip.

    Mu Gu then smiled at Xiao Wu''s confused expression and tapped Sou Rou''s forehead. Soon, the beautiful woman laying on the ground frowned and her body moved slightly as her eyelids twitched.

    Finally, her eyes opened and Xiao Wu let out a sigh of relief.

    Sou Rou glanced around, her expression one of confusion: why was she on the ground?

    Finally, her eyes lit up with understanding when she noticed Te Rin standing a few steps away: the girl looked completely fine and there was no trace of any kind of wounds on her body.

    Sou Rou smiled bitterly as she chuckled self-deprecatingly.

    "I lost..." She sighed and propped herself up. She stared at Te Rin, a strange expression on her face...

    "This disciple thanks Elder Sister Te Rin for her guidance!" Sou Rou, to everyone''s surprise, clapped her hands together, lowered her proud head and bowed "You taught me many things, I am thankful for your guidance! I have no regrets about losing against Sister Te Rin!"

    Te Rin blushed slightly and then hurriedly bowed as well "Fellow Disciple, there is no need to speak such words! This Disciple is also thankful for Successor''sguidance!"

    Sou Rou smiled and then nodded to Xiao Wu "No need to worry, Sister, I am fine. Let''s go... I bet Fu Yin cannot wait to start his little lesson..."

    Xiao Wu raised one of her thin eyebrows and then chuckled.

    Te Rin also turned and began to walk towards the stalls, where the other eight Core Disciple attending the tournament were resting. As of then, the eight pairs of eyes held great shock within as well as admiration and acknowledgement.

    This girl, ever since the battle a few years ago, she had laid low, barely showing herself to anybody else. Nobody would have guessed that this girl had actually become so strong that she could rival the strength of one of the three Monsters of the Golden Emperor Sect!

    At that time, Te Rin had reached the Heavens in a single leap: from then on, nobody would dare to look down on her. Instead, they would look at her as if they were looking at Sou Rou herself as, even though she might not be a Successor, her strength was on par if not superior to one!

    Te Rin smiled from one ear to the other as she lowered her head to hide her bright, red face ''I... I have grown stronger! Alone, I defeated one of the Successors!''

    Her expression then turned into one of determination ''I will have to do my best for Sister Sou Rou''s sake as well! I will be sure to give it my best!''

    ...

    On top of a tall tower in the middle of the innermost Ring of the Golden Emperor Sect, a good distance away from the Golden Arena, two figures sat at a table. In front of them, a chessboard indicated they were having a chess match.

    One was a dragon, his body long and sinuous, red mane and a red beard fluttered in the wind as the spikes at the back of his head made his figure even more imposing! This was none other than the Heavenly Devouring Dragon, Blindlight!

    The other was a middle-aged man man wearing black robes. He had black hair and a black, pointy beard. He was the human form of the Hellish Nightmare Dragon, Blacky.

    The two of them were currently sipping tea and staring into the horizon. At one point, the middle-aged man had put down the empty cup and had smiled slightly as he spoke:

    "This girl... To think she would actually progress to this extent! It looks like she has decided which path she is going to thread! I like her choice! After all, playing with the mind of others is great fun!" Blacky chucked as he twirled his goatee with one of his fingers. He picked up a piece and nodded to himself as he ''checked'' his opponent''s king.

    Goldy yawned and then gulped down the cup he was holding all in one go. He then picked up a piece and knocked over the piece Blacky had just put down and proceeded to eat that as well.

    Blacky frowned and then cursed "Damn it, Blindlight! Stop eating everything for once and focus on the match!"

    The middle-aged man sighed as Goldy showed a confused expression and then turned his head to the right.

    "Speaking about Te Rin... Why did you, an Ancient, stoop so low and decided to actuallyteacha lowly mortal?" Blacky chuckled, a flash of disdain passed by his eyes as he gazed at a figure sitting on a chair.

    The ginger-haired girl lifted her gaze from the book she was holding and her purple lips arranged into a smirk:

    "Was going to ask you the same thing! Could you please tell me why an Heavenly Beast, a figure of such high rank, has decided toservea lowly mortal?" Iris smiled, her expression fierce.

    "Oh! Admit it, she got you there..." Goldy exclaimed and then proceeded to grab and then throw his opponent''s teacup in his mouth.

    "Shut up! You are in my exact situation!" A vein popped on top Blacky''s forehead.

    "Mmm... Where did I leave my Soul Contract clearly dictating my role as being Cheng Hao''s servant..." Goldy furrowed his brows and pondered "Oh, that''s right, I don''t have it! Can you pass me yours, Blacky?"The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    "Aaaargh!" The Hellish Nightmare Dragon roared. Iris covered her mouth as she giggled, her purple lips curving upwards and her red eyes flashing with amusement.

    Then, the black-haired man''s expression grew serious. He turned to look at the golden dragon and raised one of his eyebrows.

    Goldy noticed this and then gazed in Iris''s direction.

    "Iris, Aster..." The dragon opened his mouth and began to speak "What are you guys planning to do from now on?"

    Behind Iris, a man sat cross-legged, a large sword laid horizontally in front of him. This man had white hair and a fierce expression on his face. Unlike before when he had resembled a sheathed sword, unfathomable and impossible to predict, the current him gave off the same feeling of a sword already in the middle of the swinging motion!

    A single stare would kill! At the moment, Aster looked like a sharp blade even more than the greatsword on the ground!

    Suddenly, the thirty years old, white-haired man opened his red eyes and looked at Goldy with a self-deprecating smile:

    "Planning to do? We are tied here as we have been forced into becoming that brat''s brothers-"

    "Bodyguards! He clearly stated bodyguards!" Iris complained as she pouted "What would he need bodyguards for anyways? He is able to fight beings capable of destroying the world all by himself!"

    Aster sweatdropped and then resumed "Anyways, we don''t have any plans except waiting for that brat..." He chuckled bitterly.

    Goldy smiled and then asked "Iris... Did you read all the books I gave you? Do you remember their contents?"

    The ginger-haired girl turned to look down at the book she was holding: it was opened on the very last page. The finger she usually used to keep track of her progress was on top of the very last word: she had finished!

    "Yes. However, I still find it hard to believe that the world I grew up in is nothing but a copy of the True Earth, a Plane of Existence, and a low ranked one at that!" She shook her head as she closed the book and stared at its cover, where, in fancy, golden letters, the words ''Chronichles Of The Nine Heavens'' were depicted.

    "Had it not been for your identities as Heavenly Beasts I would have thought that you had grown crazy or were pulling off some sort of prank on me..." She chuckled bitterly and then waved her hands: the ring she was wearing on her index finger suddenly lit up and a flash of light appeared, blocking the view "When you gave me all these books that completely changed the way I perceive reality!"

    When the light shrunk back, a mountain of books appeared behind the beautiful woman: ancient history, lost cultivation manuals and countless records of lost eras... If it was related to cultivation, you could name it, and there would be a high chance that something similar would be there!

    Goldy nodded and turned towards Aster "What about you, sword-boy? You succeeded?"

    Aster grinned and he grabbed the sword laying in front of him. He then stood up and the feeling of danger he gave off multiplied by several times before... Dissipating! Yet, one could not help but swallow as he would feel death''s scythe grazing on their necks!

    Suddenly, killing intent appeared, swirling like a hurricane around the greatsword that Aster was holding: soon, what looked like crimson flames were burning on the blade''s edge. They were intangible, yet they could still slash, cut and pierce the flesh!

    What''s more, the pressure...

    "Peak Reverend stage! After this, we will only have to wait for the Tribulation!" Blackyexclaimed in delight. Goldyalso seemed to let out a sigh of relief.

    Aster chuckled and he lifted his sword: it seemed to act like a catalyst as the Pressure of the peak Reverend stage came not from the man, instead it came from the sword! On the other hand, the white-haired man had such a sharp will himself.

    It was as if the owner and the weapon had swapped places!

    "Sword Intent Scripture... Such a magnificent technique!" the man waved the blade and the air seemed about to shatter as incredible might poured out of the sword like a never-ending waterfall!

    Then, the boy''s two red eyes glinted as he turned to look at the two Heavenly Beasts "However... It hasn''t been given away for free, has it?" he chuckled bitterly and then the Pressure disappeared.

    Iris also nodded "Yes, uncle Goldy and uncle Blacky have indeed been kind to us two in the past months... However, it is now time to repay our debts, hasn''t it?

    Goldy and Blacky turned and looked at each other: the golden dragon tilted his head and the middle-aged man nodded.

    "Blacky, I''ll leave the honors to you..." Goldy started, his expression growing darker, as if he was about to do something he would regret in the future.

    The black-clothed man nodded and then waved his sleeve: his presence suddenly grew and even greater pressure than Aster had showcased earlier appeared, sealing away the top of the tower from the outside world.

    Aster and Iris stared in confusion as the two Heavenly Beasts sealed this location, preventing anyone from peeking or eavesdropping their conversation.

    Finally, Blacky turned and nodded to the golden dragon, his expression serious and his eyes full of determination.

    Blindlight nodded back and then turned to speak to the two Ancients:

    "Aster... Iris... Unfortunately, you are right. We are now going to request a favor from you. Please... Pay attention and listen very carefully to what I am going to tell you now, because this is extremely important" the dragon''s tone was extremely serious. Compared to the usual, carefree Goldy, the one that was talking was not the golden snake anymore... It was the Heavenly Devouring Dragon Blindlight!

    ...

    Goldy and Blacky looked down and gritted their teeth, their eyes full of helplessness. In front of them, Iris and Aster were frowning and the young woman couldn''t help but pursue her purple lips every now and then.

    The atmosphere on top of the tall tower was so heavy it seemed as if time was moving a lot slower, as if each hour that passed had actually been only a single second in the outside world.

    Finally, Aster spoke: "So... When?"

    Blacky looked at Goldy and then shook his head helplessly "One year. Soon. Too soon for us. Exactly one year from now,theywill come and we can''t allow them to know of our presence here!"

    "We have already covered matters with Tiger..." Goldy muttered, his eyes lifeless as if great grief was weighing him down "He will help cover up what happened."

    Blacky sighed in his head however continued his explanation: "If they find out we are here, if they find out about Xu Ling..." He shook his head "I am sorry.. To ask you to leave your birthplace, your home because of us... We apologize to our utmost!"

    "That is nothing you should be apologizing for... You saved our life, this is nothing..." Aster waved his hand reassuringly and then asked "What about Xu Li- No, Cheng Hao? He isn''t here, so what will happen if he doesn''t come back in time?"

    Goldy''s lifeless eyes suddenly flashed with a sharp glint as the golden dragon''s body jerked and began trembling.

    "One year minus one day from now, us four together with Xiao Wu, Fu Yin, Fang Lu, Lu Fang and Te Rin will leave this Plane of Existence..." The dragon swallowed as his eyes turned red.

    He turned and walked away, his whole body trembling, his expression hidden as he gave his back to the three other people present.

    "We willleave!" He yelled "WithorwithoutCheng Hao!"

    Having said that, the golden dragon gritted his teeth and flew off. Blacky waved his sleeve and the pressure blocking the way disappeared, allowing Blindlight to leave.

    He turned to look at where the other had stopped before flying away and notice circular stains on the ground...

    The Hellish Nightmare Dragon sighed and turned to look at Aster and Iris "I am sorry to ask you this... But we have no other choice" He looked at the stains and gritted his teeth as he also felt his heart tugging a bit.

    His shoulder jerked and a single tear formed on the corner of his left eye and streaked down his cheek "Blindlight... Understands as well... And will guide us to the best of his abilities..."

    ...

    Off in the distance, hundreds of miles from the territory of the Golden Emperor Sect, a single golden figure could be seen flying up in the sky.

    It was a golden dragon.

    A few meters in length, he had a red mane and a read beard. He had five claws and its presence was that of a powerful sovereign amongst dragons!

    And yet now, from the mouth of this sovereign of those powerful, flying beasts came out a silent wail.

    A wail that, while no sound could be heard, was still so full of grief and painful that even the Heavens themselves seemed saddened... Countless clouds gathered as if the sky was about to cry as well.

    Lightning fell and the rain poured as the figure of the lonely dragon let out its silent wail and cried salty tears...

    In front of such a scene, of this silent wail that conveyed such deep emotions, could anyone be considered human if not even a single tear streaked down their cheeks?

    How could anyone not be moved by the cries of the Dragon King?

 Chapter 84 - Sharp Tongue, Small Dong

    Xiao Wu and Fu Yin stared at the two contestants exchanging blows on the stage.

    One was the young cultivator who had also fought for the right to become the Sect Head, the one who had a body that shone like an electric bulb, Hu Song.

    The other was none other than the disciple of Sect Protector Fa Guan, Dan Yang. At the moment, the two were equally matched, however it could be seen that Dan Yang had the initiative over his opponent.

    His hands moved like lightning as what looked like silver threads whistled through the air, slashing towards the shining youth, attempting to trap him within. Hu Song gritted his teeth and dodged to his right, just in time to evade the threads.

    The two fighters both stopped where they stood: while Dan Yang seemed completely unhurt and looked perfectly able to go on, Hu Song was completely drenched in sweat and most of his clothing had been turned into straps of cloth.

    "Giving up already?" Dan Yang asked, his robes fluttering in the wind, his stern face made him look ever similar to his master, Fa Guan. Some who made the comparison had to hold in their laughter: the two were the exact same!

    "Whatever might you be talking about?" Hu Song inhaled as his grey hair fluttered in the wind and his handsome face showed a wide grin "I just finished warming up!"

    "Watch out not to heat up too much... You might end up burning yourself!" Dan Yang, smiled viciously and then waved his sleeve, five silver threads appeared, each connected to one of his fingers.

    He then grabbed the five threads and gave a light pull: suddenly, silver threads appeared in the air all around the young Hu Song, as if they had been laying on the ground, waiting only for that moment to show themselves!

    They were so dense that there was no escape route left available! Like a spider entrapping his prey in his web, Dan Yang had waited for the right moment to strike!

    Hu Song stared in shock at the countless threads: he now understood why Dan Yang had not finished him off before, when he could have done so with a little more effort... It was because he didn''t need to!

    Hu Song had already fallen for his schemes!

    Dan Yang gave a light pull and the threads, looking like countless thin blades hovering in mid-air, suddenly approached Hu Song and only stopped when they each drew a drop of blood from the boy''s body.

    Hu Song gulped and didn''t dare move too much "I... I forfeit!"

    Hearing that, Dan Yang wiped away the vicious smile from his face and then bowed "I thank fellow disciple for your guidance! Your technique is truly pleasing to the sight and this disciple had to use all his strategic planning to be able to break through it! It might have seemed easy at a first glance, but due to fellow disciple Hu Song''s sharp eyesight, this disciple had to be careful..."

    A single tear streaked down Hu Song''s cheek as the boy shouted in his mind:

    ''I don''t care about face, just remove these freaking threads! I can''t feel my legs anymore!'' He gritted his teeth "I know you are doing this on purpose because I was flashier, I apologize! Wu wu, why do you always have to be the center of attention?

    ...

    Xiao Wu and Fu Yin nodded at the same time in appreciation. The girl opened her mouth to speak but the boy was faster "To use threads like that... truly, an ingenious way to wear down the opponent and then give the finishing blow, straight outta nowhere!"

    Xiao Wu nodded "And such flattery! What technique!"

    Fu Yin smiled knowingly as he shook his head "I truly need to learn Senior''s art! Such skillful use of the tongue must be unparallelled in a radius of hundreds of miles! Truly, I cannot miss such an occasion to learn from the words of a true master!"This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    Xiao Wu sweatdropped "Are you sureyoushould be saying that?"

    Fu Yin chuckled "Everyone has their own perk... I have many of them!"

    "Modesty isn''t one I suppose..."

    "Haven''t been killed yet, that should be counted as quite the achievement!"

    "..."

    Sou Rou looked at the two bickering children and smiled in her head "You two... Shouldn''t you be paying more attention to who is going to fight in the next match?"

    Xiao Wu and Fu Yin both turned and tilted their heads in confusion.

    "Uh? Who?" Xiao Wu asked.

    "Fang Lu of course!" Sou Rou smiled knowingly.

    Hearing that, Fu Yin''s expression grew serious. He turned to look at the stage and, surely enough,hewas there. Xiao Wu also bit her lips as she looked at the chubby youth standing without a care in the world.

    If someone was to ask who she would want to fight the least in the whole younger generation of the Golden Emperor Sect, it would have to be Cheng Hao. However, aside from him, there were two more existences she feared just as much.

    One was Fu Yin: few beside her knew of the real strength of the young boy as well as how many cards he had up his sleeve. He also was really sharp and, in a fight, where a single misstep could spell life or death, those lifeless, blue eyes would catch them all!

    The other was none other than Fang Lu! After all, the chubby youth was a mystery to all and everyone! Few have ever seen him fight, but those who did would be scared speechless at the mere mention of his name! And nobody had ever seen him go all out!

    As the man had been smart enough not to fight at the time, Xiao Wu and Fu Yin didn''t have the chance to see him battle against Cheng Hao during the fight for the Sect Head seat, thus they had no way to measure his power. That meant, no one had ever seen Fang Lu get serious in a fight!

    And that was also the reason why Xiao Wu seemed so nervous: if she won the first round, which she had a good deal of confidence in succeeding, she would be up against none other than... Fang Lu!

    ...

    "Pfff, what am i looking at here?" The young man standing a few meters away from Fang Lu scoffed "What is such a lamb such as you doing here, in the wolves'' den? What''s up, fatty?"

    His Sect robes seemed about to burst apart from the tension as the man flexed his muscles and stretched.

    He was pretty buffed and had red hair that reached down his waist as well as a fiery, red beard. He looked no older than twenty, yet he was still so tall and large he looked like a small, moving mountain!

    What''s more, his fat belly and chest hair sticking out weren''t really too pleasing to the eyes. Especially the smell and his breath. Some of the members in the audience had to fight back the instinct to hold their noses from the strong smell of alcohol and urine.

    That was no cultivator! He was a gorilla with drinking problems! Even his lineaments recalled a monkey''s! However, no one would have enough courage to say this out aloud...

    "Are you... Really a cultivator?" Fang Lu chuckled as a vein popped on his forehead "You are more like a big monkey... A monkey that has drunk so much it forgot the only verses it should be doing are screeching and smooching sound when they lick their butts!"

    Up in the sky, Mu Gu sighed as he shook his head "Seriously Little Lu... You should stop getting enraged over something so small... Calling you a Fatty isno big deal, why do you have to get so angry over it?"

    "He actually went ahead and said it!" The crowd paled: that red-haired man, no matter how he looked like, seemed extremely strong! He was one of the Core Disciple that had joined the Sect after it changed its name into the Golden Emperor Sect, so few knew what his true strength was...

    And now, Fang Lu had actually dared to antagonize such an existence!!

    "You... What did you call me?" As expected, the man''s shoulders trembled as veins popped on his forehead "You dare call me, Tai Dong, a drunk monkey?"

    "Oh? So your name is Tiny Dong... Guess it suits the man..." Fang Lu crossed his hands in front of his chest, his eyes burning with a never seen before killing intent.

    "Ti-Tiny..." Tai Dong paled.

    "Pfff!" Fu Yin fell from his chair as he held his belly. As soon as he sat back up he began laughing uproariously and could not recover for at least ten breaths.

    "That... Was genius!" Fu Yin wiped away his tears "Genius, I say!"

    Seeing the scene, the girls in the crowd also giggled and the men roared in laughter as some particularly confident male members of the audience pushed out their chests in pride.

    Tai Dong''s face turned red, purple, green and then red again. He stomped his foot on the ground and roared, his cheeks red "Silence!"

    However, how could he possibly shut up the crowd of thousands of people all by himself? In the crowd, an old man who wore the Sect Protector robes was also laughing nonstop: had Tai Dong seen this scene, he would have probably stared in disbelief, because that man... Was his own master!

    With but a few words, Fang Lu had captured the heart of the whole audience, even the other''s master''s, as well as lowering the morale of his opponent!

    Xiao Wu stared in shock as she couldn''t help but snicker in her mind "Is he truly Fang Lu? Had I not known, I would have mistaken him for big brother!"

    Fu Yin also nodded as he wiped away the tears "Who was the first to claim that words hurt more than blows? Had he seen this scene, he would have died happily!"

 Chapter 85 - Five Phrases Shake The Heavens!

    "Such a sharp tongue you have there, fellow disciple..." Tai Dong paled, his eyes bloodshot "Let''s see if your strength is just as big as your arrogance!"

    Fang Lu''s eyes glinted again "Yes... Show me that your strength isn''t only as small as your dick!"

    "AHAHAHAH!" Fu Yin fell once more, his mouth foaming and his eyes showing white.

    "Sister, did Brother Fu Yin just pass out?" Sou Rou asked.

    "Leave him alone. I hope he drowns" Xiao Wu humped and then looked away: "He could have told me the trick that Te Rin used earlier instead of bragging!"

    Sou Rou sighed as Fu Yin''s body spasmed on the ground, tears streaking down his cheeks.

    Tai Dong roared and waved his hands: flames appeared on top of his body and they took the form of fiery, blazing tigers.

    "Too bad... I thought that this would be an amusing match, but I reckon it''s going to finish soon" Fu Yin nodded as he wiped away the drool from the corner of his mouth. His eyes were bloodshot and were back to their usual lifeless, look, but he looked fine otherwise.

    "Mmm? Why" Xiao Wu inquired.

    "Seriously? You aren''t going to ask how he recovered so fast?" Sou Rou scoffed.

    "No one whose cultivation revolves around the fiveelements will ever achieve victory against Fang Lu, unless they are on completely different stages." Fu Yin smiled knowingly as his lifeless eyes scanned the battlefield.

    Sou Rou stared in shock and looked at Fu Yin in disbelief "For real? Is that really true?"

    Fu Yin smiled bitterly and his eyes showed a hint of amusement as he looked at the scroll on the back of the chubby youth "Yes. Complete control over the nine main and subelements, the ability to counter strength with weakness..."

    "Think about it, Sis, what is the weakness of fire?" He asked

    "Water, of course!" Xiao Wu answered: this was amongst the basic of the basics.

    "Weakness of water?" The boy asked once again.

    "Wood!" The young girl smiled confidently

    "What about Wood?"

    "Wind!"

    "And Wind?"

    "Fire!"

    "Good. Finally what about Metal?" Fu Yin nodded.

    "Metal is strong against Wood and Wind but is weak towards Fire and Water!"

    "Correct. Now, if we think of weakness as only needing half the power to counter a full-power attack from the opponent, then what would that mean?" Fu Yin''s eyes glinted.

    "That he would always be a step ahead of an opponent that uses the five elements..." Sou Rou furrowed her brows as Xiao Wu''s eyes lit up:

    "As long as it is one of the elements, he can counter them perfectly!"

    The young girl then pondered out aloud "Senior Fang Lu''s ability is to control the Nine Main and Sub elements... Does that mean he will always be able to counter strength with weakness and attack the weak with strength?"

    "Right on point Sis!" Fu Yin nodded, his eyes narrowing slightly "And, as most low-level cultivators cultivate simple cultivation methods that stem from branches of the Five Elements'' scriptures, he would be unrivalled wherever he goes as long as he is careful..."

    As Fu Yin talked, Tai Dong roared to the heavens and the illusion of a fiery tiger appeared behind him: it was more than ten feet tall and had three, fiery eyes that seemed to be able to break a weak man''s mind.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    "Die!" He shouted as the blazing tiger roared to the heavens and dashed towards Fang Lu, leaving behind a trail of burning embers.

    The chubby youth smiled and simply tapped the ground with his right foot: a strange ripple sounded out as everything seemed to slow down. The scroll hanging on Fang Lu''s back suddenly slipped out of its case and began to float in mid-air.

    Then, a nine-colored flash of light seeped out as the gigantic scroll unravelled. As soon as it was completely open, massive pressure exuded out. Had Cheng Hao been there to witness the scene, he would have widened his eyes and then smiled bitterly while praising the youth''s carefulness in his mind.

    Why? Because this scroll wasn''t the same that usually hung from Fang Lu''s back, nor was it the one who the youth had shown the golden-eyed boy! It was instead something much, much scarier.

    It was a Martial Way! Yet, few if not nobody, would notice this, because the fake he usually showed to the public looked exactly the same as the one he was using now! The only ones who would notice something was strange would be those who had already experienced the might of a Martial Way, thus, very few people.

    After all, Fang Lu had no way of hiding it in his consciousness as he had no such thing as a Pseudo-Core, so where should he hide it? In plain sight! Right under everyone''s noses!

    If he wore the fake and the original at random, people might notice that the power of the two were different, at times being strong, much stronger than it should be... Yet, they would dismiss it as Fang Lu being at his peak, as other times the powerful pressure it previously exuded would be weak instead, and thus nobody would pay attention to that! Soon, they would not even notice it and dismiss it as it being normal!

    Truly, ingenious!

    Of course, the object being a Martial Way might have sounded shocking already... However that was still while the object was a Martial Way and a Martial Way alone!

    However, that clearly was not only a Martial Way... As, as soon as the scroll unravelled, nine phrases written in a mysterious language and made of strange materials were revealed for the public to see!

    What did that mean? That the power the Scroll would show would not be a ''simple'' pressure that Martial Ways naturally exuded, but also the strength of the p¨¡ramit¨¡''s nine truths about the Nine Main and Sub elements!

    Fang Lu smiled viciously and his eyes spit out fire as he opened his mouth "You and I had no enmity... But you called me fatty... That is a no-no! I am just slightly overweight you asshole!"

    He then opened his mouth and the words on the scroll behind fang Lu lit up: of the nine truths, one seemed to be written down in flowing water. At that moment... Five of the Nine Pictograms on the water''s section lit up!

    Mu Gu up above paled as he dashed downwards "For fuck''s sake, Lu! What the hell! Do you want to kill him?!?"

    Fang Lu inhaled to his utmost and then yelled at the top of his lungs:

    "Oh, Water! A Surging River! A Raging Torrent! You Shall Fear The Sea! Drown Under Its Fierce Assault!" Each words seemed to make the Earth tremble and the Heavens cower in fear as the p¨¡ramit¨¡n language showed its might!

    At first, it had only been a mass of water a few feet in diameter. With each verse though, it had first transformed into a river, then that river had grown in size dramatically, it had become half as big as the whole stage! The mass of water floated in mid-air, circling around the gigantic scroll.

    With the fourth verse, it had turned into a fierce water serpent almost twice as big as the previous torrent, its eyes scanning Tai Dong''s body as if it was looking at a tasty snack...

    However. With the fifth verse... That dragon roared as it turned into an illusory tsunami, as tall as the Arena itself!

    The flaming tiger summoned by Tai Dong? It had long since disappeared, extinguished by the fierce will of the water serpent, and its summoner had fallen to his knees shortly after that...

    All that without even having received the true attack! A strong(er) smell of urine emanated from the spot where Tai Dong knelt...

    At that moment, both Sou Rouand Xiao Wu paled in fright: was that truly the power a Superior stage cultivator should have?

    Fang Lu then inhaled once again. A sixth symbol began to glow slightly on the Scroll... The duo almost dislocated their jaws as they watched in astonishment: there wasmore?

    Bang!

    "You won already! Do you want to kill him, you idiotic disciple of mine?"

    Everyone from the audience gaped at the scene of Mu Gu slapping Fang Lu so hard he sent him flying.

    After that, Mu Gu stepped forward and caught his disciple before he fell down. Afterwards,he snapped his fingers, making a large sack appear. He threw his disciple in the sack and then waved his sleeve to collect the majestic scroll.

    Having done all that, the green-haired old man sighed and then bowed his head in Tai Dong''s direction: "I apologize for my disciple''s behaviour, but he can''t control himself when somebody calls him the f-word. Oh yeah, you lost. Please go wash yourself..."

    As Mu Gu stepped forward and headed towards the stalls, Fang Lu''s figure could still be seen squirming within the rudimentary sack but he couldn''t get out. At some point, a single arm managed to escape the prison of cloth and flip off the petrified Tai Dong.

    Twice.

    It then made gestures with his index fingers as if he was writing in the air: s-m-a-l-l-d-i-c...

    Bang!

    "Ouch! Damn it, old man!" the chubby youth''s voice could be heard as he lamented.

    "Shut the hell up Little Lu!" The green-haired old man punched the sack once more and the youth''s yells stopped...

    Xiao Wu and Fu Yin sweat-dropped: after all that, there was still no way Fang Lu could possibly fight back against a Reverend stage cultivator while having a cultivation of the Superior stage...

    For the moment, the title of heaven-defying genius still belonged to Cheng Hao and Cheng Hao only!

 Chapter 86 - The Greatest Genius!

    "Well... Good luck, sis!" Fu Yin grinned and gave a thumbs up.

    Xiao Wu smiled as she got up and gave a light nod. When she turned towards the stage however her expression turned serious and her gaze became as cold as ice. Her pair of green eyes lit up and purple veins appeared.

    The pupils then turned purple, her eyes seemed to turn into two beams of light as they examined her next opponent: his figure was not too buff, yet at the same time not too skinny, his hair was brown and he didn''t have any redeeming features.

    ''If I recall correctly, his name should be Ku Xong...'' Xiao Wu pondered and then nodded in her head ''I can do this!''

    The man''s brown eyes were trembling as they examined the young girl in front of him: of the three wild cards, Fu Yin, Xiao Wu and Fang Lu, and the black horse of the tournament, Te Rin, the youngest of the four was without any doubt the best pick out of the four geniuses.

    However, he still couldn''t help but be afraid of the little monster. After all, she might be young, yes, however her strength was no secret. The girl was only a low level Superior stage cultivator, however she was the Blue Robed Night Challenger!

    Few in the same stage had ever been able to rival this mysterious figure ever since she had joined the Sect. Who knows what tricks she could have, trump cards hidden in her sleeve, waiting for him to make a bad move to pull them out and blow the audience away together with his charred body!

    Still, how could he possibly give up? His opponent was only a young girl, no more than nine years old! Had it been Fu Yin or Fang Lu, he would have forfeited as soon as the match started, but that was not the case!

    He could lose, yes, but could not lose face for him and his Master!

    Thus, he had to fight!

    Xiao Wu stepped on top of the tall stage and walked towards the center, her purple robes fluttering in the wind as she emitted dense killing intent. Ku Xong gulped and then bowed respectfully "I seek guidance from fellow Disciple, Xiao Wu!"

    The girl nodded in response and bowed as well "You sure give me face, Senior! I will be sure to give back face to Senior by using all my strength!"

    ''Uhm... No thanks?'' The man wanted to yell, however he could not. Once one starts to ride on top of a tiger, it is difficult to get off!

    Lao Jianghu nodded "Good luck to the both of you! You may begin!"

    As soon as he said that, Xiao Wu''s amiable expression was replaced by viciousness and her eyes gleamed coldly, the purple glow even more evident than it had been before!

    She waved her hand and a long, black blade more than five foot long appeared in her hands: it was none other than the Black Dragon Aura Sword!

    Yet, it looked a lot different... It was as if it had gained life! At times, it looked like a black dragon, ready to attack at any given moment! Black scales, silver fangs, it looked imposing, a sovereign of the skies, a lord of the lands!

    This dragon had a white beard and many horns protruding from the back of its head, as well as a silver mane that went down its spine. Its five sets of claws looked sharp enough to cut countless mountains in half and the beast''s eyes seemed to be able to break through reality itself!

    In the dragon''s eyes, deep within his pupils... Was greed! Unextinguishable greed! Such greed, it looked as if it would be able to offend the Heavens themselves!

    Lao Jianghu stared in shock as did many other in the audience: few knew and had the chance to witness the events of the battle against the calamity known as the Shadow Dragon, but those who had been there couldn''t help but shiver when they saw the dragon that had taken form from the young girl''s weapon!This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

    Because, beside from the Shadow Dragon and the Hellish Nightmare Dragon, there was another winged beast who had shocked them deeply... And that was none other than their own Sect''s Guardians, the golden dragon Blindlight!

    The two, a beast of flesh and bones and the true body of Xiao Wu''s Black Dragon Aura Sword, they looked exactly the same! Only the color changed, everything else up to the slightest imperfection in the scales was the very same!

    Ku Xong gulped as he backed off: as he looked at the black dragon in front of him, every single particle of his body was screaming, as if they sensed great danger!

    He immediately gritted his teeth and took out a blank Paper Seal: he then bit his tongue and spat out a few drops of blood which fell on the blank paper sheet ordinarily, as if guided by some invisible hand.

    The man''s eyes were bloodshot as he took the new Paper Talisman, formed from the Paper Seal, and immediately threw it above his head. As soon as he did so, the paper trembled as it expanded and then folded like some sort of complex origami.

    Soon, it took the shape of a tall warrior, completely made out of paper. Bloody, red runes could be seen glowing on every inch of the Paper Talisman Warrior''s body, so close to the other that, if one was to look from a distance, he would think the paper warrior was not white but red instead!

    The Paper Talisman Warrior roared as he waved his hand and a paper blade appeared, looking extremely imposing as well as powerful. Winds rose and forced everyone below the cultivation of the Superior stage to narrow their eyes and shield them from the wind.

    Xiao Wu''s eyes widened as her fighting spirit was aroused: she had not fought a worthwhile match in a long while. After all, the people in the Sect with her cultivation were all either much stronger or weaker than her, it was hard to find a good opponent!

    Now though, even though it was thanks to a Talisman, she finally found the perfect target! The trembling that came from her right hand, controlling the Black Dragon Aura Sword, indicated... She could go all-out!

    She grinned and showed off two perfect rows of teeth as her eyes burned with intense fighting spirit!

    Quite some distance away, Goldy, Blacky, Iris and Aster were right in the middle of a certain conversation.

    At this point, Blacky lifted his gaze from the ground: others couldn''t, however he, as its creator, could see, hear, smell and feel past the strange barrier.

    Although to others it was like an impenetrable wall, to him it was like a transparent veil that barely blocked the outside world from the top of the tower.

    And right now, what he was seeing couldn''t help but make him smile.

    ''To think... You would actually choose him as your Black Dragon Sword''s Manifestation!'' He eyed the sorrowful Blindlight and nodded:

    ''One is a genius that will undoubtedly shake the Heavens, a talent that surpasses any other I have seen before... The other is the Primordial Beast with the highest potential under Heaven! These two both have the potential to become a Deity! No... AnImmortal!''

    Blacky nodded as his lips rose upwards ''You sneaky bastard... When exactly did you allow her to feel your essence...''

    Suddenly, his eyes lit up with understanding ''You... Don''t tell me...''

    The middle-aged man stared in shock and disbelief at Goldy, his eyes as wide as tennis balls.

    He compressed his voice to a string, only for Goldy to hear: "You... Accepted her as your Karma Disciple? You gave her your Legacy?"

    Blindlight saw Blacky''s shocked gaze and pieced the puzzle together. He smirked "Oh? The girl''s kicking butts out there?"

    Blacky sighed and nodded "How in the world... Did she manage to convince you?"

    Goldy''s eyes glinted with amusement "She didn''t. What you think is wrong..." he compressed his voice into a string "I have yet to accept any Karma Disciple nor have I given away my legacy yet!"

    Blacky felt as if lightning hit his body, he immediately turned to look at the Black Dragon Aura Sword and his expression changed "Don''t tell me... She understood it by herself?"

    Goldy nodded and smiled bitterly "She understood the Essence of a Primordial Beast just by glancing at its physical body... Of course, she has just barely grazed the surface, however this talent is in no way inferior to what the brat had shown back in the days... I would even dare bet that hers is even better!"

    The Primordial Beast smiled "Her talent is something this world, heck, even the True Heavens themselves, have never seen. This is why, this tournament will be the chance to slap her awake and show her that, no matter how much of a genius she is, there will always be something above you!"

    "Only once one realizes this, will he finally be able to become not an extremely talented individual, but the greatest genius the world has ever seen! Xu Ling, he understood that, but took this too far..." Goldy smiled and his gaze soon filled with sorrow as he sighed.

    As the two Beasts communicated, the two Ancients were confused: from their point of view, the middle-aged man and the golden dragon were competing in a staring contest. At times their eyes would flash with understanding at other shock and others even fear.

    They didn''t dare interrupt and waited peacefully...

    ...

    Meanwhile, Xiao Wu and Ku Xong were engaged in a fierce battle, the Black Dragon and the Talisman Warrior exchanged blows nonstop and looked like they had similar, almost completely identical, levels of power. However, to those who had good eyes, they would be able to see that, no matter how the other struggled, the winner had already been decided!

 Chapter 87 - Unparallelled

    Xiao Wu grinned fiercely and then the purple glow emitted from her emerald-green eyes intensified! She stepped forward and kicked off the ground, stepping on top of the black dragon and began to fly around the Paper Talisman Soldier, like a hunter stalking its prey!

    Ku Xong furrowed his brows and then made a simple hand seal: although the Paper Talisman Soldier looked imposing, it was, after all, just a single Talisman! What that meant was that it had no consciousness, it was up to its owner, Ku Xong to control its every move!

    He constantly changed hand seals, as if he was controlling a marionette, and the Paper Talisman Soldier was like a puppet pulled by strings, shifting its position and keeping its guard up all the time.

    Ku Xong did not dare underestimate the power of the Black Dragon Aura Sword: he was sure that, without the Paper Talisman Soldier, he would be unable to withstand even a single strike!

    He called himself a Talisman Puppeteer, as he borrowed the strength of a warrior created through a Paper Talisman to fight more powerful foes. He had been regarded as a genius Puppeteer ever since he had shown his talent in controlling Spirit Puppets and the ability to craft Paper Talismans earned him the title of Talisman Crafter.

    Thus he fused the two professions, creating the ¡®class¡¯ of Talisman Puppeteer.

    This meant that not only his body was weak, his overall strength was pretty low compared to a normal cultivator of the stage, but that did not discourage him: he still had his Talismans!

    And yet now, his biggest pride, the Paper Talisman Soldier, his greatest success after countless attempts to mix Talismans with Puppeteer skills, was being suppressed! Just a few breaths after the fight started, he was already on the defensive!

    He could only watch as his Paper Talisman Warrior¡¯s paper blade crumbled after the fierce assault of the opponent¡¯s Black Dragon Aura Sword¡¯s fierce assault! Like a bloodthirsty dragon, the Dragon charged and battled against the powerful warrior.

    Beneath the cover that was the Paper Talisman Soldier, Ku Xong felt shivers run down his back as he realized exactly how and why he was losing:

    ¡°She is¡­ Attacking the weak points of the Soldier before I can reinforce them!¡±

    He stared in shock.

    After all, paper was just paper, how could a few drops of blood change anything? Well, in this case, they could: those few drops of blood were a formation that would allow paper to grow more durable as well as sharper.

    However, those were after all only a few drops of blood! To be able to distribute the power equally on such a large sheet of paper, all the blood in the body of an adult would still not be enough, let alone a few drops! What Ku Xong could do however was change the spots where he reinforced the paper when he attacked or had to defend, leaving just a mild protection on others.

    However¡­ the girl seemed to be able to find those locations, and had enough speed to strike as soon as they appeared, leaving Ku Xong no chance to attack!

    The Black Dragon was so fast he could barely keep up with its movements at all! Let alone parrying, barely blocking the blow was already enough! Add Xiao Wu¡¯s ability to heighten her senses and detect her opponent¡¯s weaknesses, and Ku Xong¡¯s found himself in quite the predicament as his fingers tired, his hand seals gradually slowing down...

    On the other hand Xiao Wu kept getting faster, not leaving any time for Ku Xong to rest and catch his breath. Finally, Xiao Wu feinted an attack to the Soldier¡¯s head and instead lead the dragon stabbing through the paper giant¡¯s chest¡­

    The paper puppet¡¯s eyes, previously so full of fighting spirit, lost their glow and grew dim until they became completely lifeless. The warrior exploded and smoke rose from its remains as it burned into ashes.

    In the mouth of the Black Dragon, its sharp teeth barely a few inches from his neck, was Ku Xong, his face pale and blood trickling down from the sides of his mouth.

    He was smiling bitterly: ¡°Amazing power¡­ This Disciple truly expresses his respect and admiration!¡±

    Xiao Wu grinned back and then shook her head, drops of sweat appearing on her forehead ¡°You kidding? That Paper Soldier was awesome! You should totally develop it further! Be sure to show it to me that time!¡±This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    Ku Xong¡¯s eyes opened wide: was this truly the same cold, female warrior that had instilled such deep fear in his heart? He sighed and then let out a slight chuckle ¡°I will be sure to do so!¡±

    Xiao Wu nodded and her eyes glinted as the dragon turned back into a sword and her expression turned stern and impassible again.

    Right now, the fog lifted and the audience could finally see clearly: from their perspective, Ku Xong was laying on the ground, wounded lightly, while Xiao Wu was domineeringly standing on top of him, her blade pointed right at the man¡¯s chin.

    ¡°The winner of this match¡­ Is Golden Emperor Sect¡¯s Sect Third Successor, Xiao Wu!¡±

    The audience cheered as Mu Gu flew from the stalls where he was sitting and then waved his hands, drawing a tree in the air: soon, Xiao Wu¡¯s and Ku Xong¡¯s spiritual power started to recover and the man¡¯s wounds began to heal at rapid speed.

    Fu Yin smiled as his eyes flashed with acknowledgement: ¡°Essence¡­ You truly are a genius, Sis! What¡¯s more, to integrate with your own Qi, this talent is most likely unrivalled anywhere in the multitude of Planes of Existence that make up our universe¡­¡±

    He smiled, his scarred body tensing up ¡°No matter if their cultivation is higher than yours, would anybody aware of your circumstances dare to claim the position of number one genius for themselves, if you announced your spot as the number two?¡±

    The following battle was flashy, as the two fighters didn¡¯t hold back in the least.

    However, no matter which powerful techniques were exchanged, which mighty roars the cultivators emitted, the audience didn¡¯t give them the recognition they received. After all, after witnessing the might of true geniuses, would anybody be impressed by anything that is below that? Would you drink water once you tasted the finest of wine?

    Still, the two gave quite the good spectacle: one of the two cultivators used some kind of body-shaping cultivation method, allowing him to morph into the shape of many beasts and objects at will.

    His opponent on the other hand cultivated a method that allowed his body to duplicate, or at least, one that was not tangible, however that could still attack! It was a very strange technique, it was just his bad luck that his opponents was the perfect match for him, as he could freely change the shape of his body... And attack two opponents at once without too many problems.

    In the end, the body-shaping cultivator won and advanced to the next round. yet, he could not help but feel a bit dissatisfied. After all, his next opponent would be¡­

    Xiao Wu nodded and turned to look at Fu Yin.

    ¡°Bro! It¡¯s your turn.¡±

    The blue-skinned boy grinned, showing off his perfect row of white teeth. His expression was one of excitement: ¡°I guess it is my turn next¡­ Everyone gave such a great show, I can¡¯t fail you all by being any less flashy, right?¡±

    He grabbed his headband and slid it down all the way to his neck. It now looked more like some sort of scarf. As he did that, his white hair fell down, covering his expression...

    ¡°Just kick some ass for your sister here as well!¡± Sou Rou rolled her eyes: she had not yet grown used to this new brother of hers¡¯s theatrical style.

    Fu Yin grinned, his hideous grin hidden by the scarf as, beneath the long sleeves, his hands trembled with excitement. ¡®Been a while, hasn¡¯t it¡­ What do you think, Blood? You ready to rumble?¡¯

    As if to answer the boy¡¯s question, a wisp of crimson smoke came out of Fu Yin¡¯s forehead. The boy grinned ¡°You sure do look like it, you old guy¡­ Here¡¯s a chance to stretch those all limbs of yours!¡±

    As he walked on top of the stage, many people couldn¡¯t help but mutter in hushed tones:

    ¡°It¡¯s Fu Yin! I heard he defeated a peak Superior stage opponent in one blow!¡±

    ¡°Sixteen years old, only sixteen! And yet, he can rock the Earth and shake the Heavens!¡±

    ¡°Seriously¡­ I really feel bad for the guy he is about to face!¡±

    ¡°Unparallelled! He is the number one disciple in the whole Sect! No, the number one Disciple in the whole world!¡±

    Fu Yin smiled arrogantly and waved his fist to the crowd. Arrogant, yet he had the right! Why? Because he was, indeed, the number one disciple in the Golden Emperor Sect! The strength Fang Lu had showed was yes terrifying, but this gave people a way to gauge his strength.

    What a human fears the most is the unknown. Fu Yin, unlike Fang Lu, had yet to reveal his hand! He might actually turn out to be equal or even inferior to Fang Lu, however the difference in their age also paid a big role.

    Fang Lu was already in his twenties, Fu Yin was still in his mid-teens!

    Years!

    To cultivators of higher stages this might seem like nothing as years would pass by just like that, however to Mortals¡­

    A day was a single step. A month was a trip. A year was a journey!

    Time!

    To go above the restrictions of a body made of flesh and bones, to exist forever! The destination is Immortality! Many roads exist, but few reach the final destination!

    And because of the countless paths, right and wrong, one has to thread, time is one of the most important things in cultivation!

    Thus, years were an unsurmountable gap. A gap that could only be surpassed by talent! And Fu Yin had both talent and power that granted him the right to be arrogant as well as few rivals in the same generation!

    Thus, it was unanimous.

    Fu Yin had all rights to act overbearing or arrogant!

    After all, if Xiao Wu was the Sect''s number one genius, Fu Yin was without a doubtthe Golden Sect¡¯s number one disciple!

 Chapter 88 - Pat... Splat... Pat... Splat...

    <h1></h1>

    Lao Jianghu nodded and then waved his sleeve: just as it had donein the few battles before, a golden screen appeared, separating the Arena¡¯s stage from the stalls.

    Fu Yin and another youth stared at each other: the first¡¯s gaze was a full of confidence, the other¡¯s of wariness.

    ¡°Are the combatants ready?¡± The old manasked and turned to look at the youth standing in front of Fu Yin: he was a young man in his late twenties, with long, blue hair falling down his back.

    His two completely white eyes narrowed as he glanced at the young, white-haired, pale-blue skinned boy. He pursued his lips and then gulped before nodding: ¡°This Disciple is ready, Lord Sect Protector!¡±

    Fu Yin also nodded ¡°Ditto.¡±

    ¡°Then¡­ Begin!¡± The old man¡¯s golden eyes lit up as his robes fluttered.

    Just as Lao Jianghu spoke those words, the blue-haired youth¡¯s eyes turned red; he grabbed a few vials from his Heaven&Earth Pouch and threw them on the ground: as soon as they shattered, a pungent, metallic smell permeated the Arena.

    Fu Yin¡¯s eyes glinted with amusement ¡°Blood¡­ And not just any kind of blood¡­ This belong to the Sung stage! You are really resourceful!¡±

    ¡°So smug¡­ But for how long!¡± The other replied as he grinned fiercely. He made a mysterious hand seal and the blood on the ground transformed into a thin mist ¡°I, He Gon, will defeat you here and now!¡±

    ¡°He Gon¡­ Bad?¡± He muttered. He turned towards the crowd, a confused expression on his face ¡°Has He Gon-e bad by any chance? That would explain a lot...¡±

    The audience broke into laughter and some even fell from their seats. Xiao Wu rolled her eyes and sighed ¡°Seriously, you don¡¯t have to be the best at everything, you know?¡±

    He Gon ignored the trash talk and simply drew a large symbol in the air: the blood mist seemed to have been caught into a hurricane as it gathered in front of the symbol, taking the shape of a large scythe.

    The laughing members of the audience immediately shut up: the pressure emitted from the scythe was incredibly powerful, at the very peak of the Sung stage! Who would dare ridicule somebody that had power akin to the Sung stage?

    ¡°What is it now, great genius? Are you too scared to move?¡± He Gon chuckled, his now red eyes glowing brightly with the crimson glow of the fresh blood.

    Fu Yin raised one of his eyebrows and then sighed, seemingly in disappointment ¡°I was expecting more out of you¡­ After all that acting high-and-mighty you only bring out this¡­ This thing.¡±

    Fu Yin¡¯s eyes glinted and he brought his hands to the nails embedded into his temples ¡°What do you say, Blood? Should we show this guy how it is done?¡±

    As soon as he spoke those words, the air trembled as two inverted triangles appeared in his pupils. They shined an eerie pale blue light and seemed to hold countless mysteries within¡­ They were also sharp, seemingly sharp enough to delve into someone¡¯s soul and see their innermost thoughts!

    Those two triangles then lit up with blinding, blue light and black smoke suddenly appeared behind Fu Yin¡¯s figure. The crowd watched in amazement as that black smoke seemed to be gathering in an ordinately fashion, soon taking the shape¡­

    Of a humanoid figure!

    It had long, black hair that fell down its shoulders and wore thorn, crimson robes. His appearance was hidden below a metallic mask: the mask seemed to have been made out of wire ofsome sort. On the spot where the nose should have been, a fierce-looking beak protruded, resembling the beak of a demonic bird that thirsted for human flesh...

    He Gon looked on before smirking ¡°Why is that thing wearing such an ugly mask, hiding its appearance? Is it shy?¡±

    Fu Yin grinned ¡°Eheh¡­ Let¡¯s just say that it is for your sake¡­ Were you to see its true appearance, you would collapse where you stand, foaming from your mouth!¡± he tilted his head backwards and grinned ¡°Right, Blood?¡±

    The figure in questionsaid nothing, however his presence grew even more imposing, as if it being there alone was enough to make a weak-minded person grow crazy!

    ¡°You see¡­ Blood is what many would call a demon!¡± Fu Yin smiled as the two inverted triangles in his eyes began to shine with bright, red light.Stolen novel; please report.

    He turned his head and then looked straight at He Gon ¡°Long ago, he was called the Demon of War and Gore!¡±

    ¡°Blood died long ago and has not tasted a human¡¯s blood for countless years. He is also incredibly hungry¡­ Now, how could I possibly resist his will and not be devoured as his summoner?¡± He smiled and his whole appearance began to twist as he emitted fierce killing intent.

    ¡°Simple!¡± He yelled ¡°It is because I promised him the blood of my opponent! The battle three months ago barely served to quench his thirst for a short while, how about you also help by filling in your own share?¡±

    He Gon had a bad feeling and he immediately grabbed the blood scythe, entering a fighting stance.

    ¡°Seriously¡­ What is up with everybody and their stances?¡± Fu Yin chuckled ¡°It looks like brother was just talking to the wind when he explained that stances have no other use than to give away your next moves to your opponents!¡±

    ¡°Oh well¡­ It¡¯s too bad that you won¡¯t have another chance to listen to those lectures again¡­¡± Fu Yin smiled as he pointed at the shaking blue-haired man ¡°Blood¡­ I¡¯ll leave it to you.¡±

    The masked figure made out of black smoke nodded slightly as it waved the wide sleeves of its crimson robes: a blinding, red light flashed.

    The ground shook as black flames appeared, surrounding He Gon in a cage of heat and darkness!

    The flames then spread all over the stage, blocking the sight of the audience as well as cutting the top of the stage off with the outside world...

    Within the cage, the youth trembled and attempted to escape the prison made out of black flames but found out to his dismay... that he couldn¡¯t! Let alone escaping, even approaching the black flames proved to be nigh impossible due to the heat emanated by the fierce fires.

    It was like a nightmare he couldn¡¯t awake from! He Gon was sweating profusely as he looked around, his expression twisted into a look of terror.

    Tap.

    Splat.

    Tap.

    Splat.

    Suddenly, he heard the sound of footsteps approaching. At first it was faint, but soon thereafter, he was able to see a figure approaching slowly¡­ It wore red robes and itsexpression was hidden by a fierce-looking mask...

    With each step, the blood dripping from the crimson robes could be seen gleaming in the darkness before splattering on the ground, leaving behind a bloody trail wherever the robed figure passed.

    He Gon trembled as he stepped back, tightening his grip upon the blood scythe: ¡°Stay away! Don¡¯t come any closer!¡±

    The masked figure said nothing as it kept approaching, closing in the distance between the two with each step. After a short while, He Gon could almost smell the faint odour of blood on the body of the demonic figure.

    The figure approached and the youth could only stare blankly as it caressed his cheek, like a loving mother would caress her child¡­ Or just how a hungry man would look at a fancy meal!

    Tears streaked down He Gon¡¯s cheeks and fell down. Finally, the boy¡¯s knees gave out and he also fell down on the ground. His eyes were devoid of any light as he bowed his head.

    The masked figure seemed somewhat disappointed. It leaned in nonetheless however and extended his arm to touch the other¡¯s forehead¡­

    Swish!

    He Gon grinned as the blood scythe in his hands gleamed dangerously: the bisected corpse of the masked creature fell on the ground!

    You bastard! You thought you could defeat me, He Gon, in such a way? You fool, your punishment shall be your own death!

    The man¡¯s blood-red eyes shone with bright light as he looked at the deceaseddemon, laying on the ground, cleaved in two.

    Now¡­ Where did that bastard, Fu Yin go?

    He Gon smirked as he confidently turned around, his gaze wandering all over the place, searching for the next target that would feed his beloved scythe! Suddenly, the air trembled as he found himself in a different spot than he remembered being previously...

    This... isn''t this where I was standing when I got here?

    Tap.

    Splat.

    Tap.

    Splat.

    The sound of steps reached his ears. Drops of blood also splattered on the ground rhythmically¡­ It was as if he was reliving the same moment as before...

    This¡­ No¡­ It can¡¯t be¡­

    He Gon turned with horror and, certainly enough, he could see the masked figure inching towards him, wobbling at every step. Slowly, but securely, shrinking the distance between the two with each second. In his mind, he could almost imagine the fierce beak on top of the mask opening and closing, licking its lips with a decomposing tongue...

    ¡°Stay away! Stay away!¡± He yelled once again as his mind began to show signs of giving up. He tightened his grip around the bloody scythe and charged towards the masked figure, his expression twisted into pure and utter terror.

    Once again, the weapon made out of blood easily cut through the masked demon¡¯s figure¡­ And once more his surroundings twisted, as He Gon found himself in the spot he stood on before. Except, this time there was no such thing as excitement on his face¡­ Only utter and complete despair!

    He gulped and waited, praying in his heart that he would not have to experience that again.

    ...

    ...t.

    ...at.

    Pat.

    Splat.

    Pat.

    Splat.

    ...

 Chapter 89 - A Finger, A Fist, A Dagger!

    Fu Yin smiled and approached He Gon''s unconscious body. The crowd was astonished from what they had just witnessed: Fu Yin had only said a few words to the masked figure, then a flash of red light had robbed them of their sight.

    Finally, when they were able to see again, they had found, with a great deal of shock on their part , that He Gon had actually passed out! His eyes were showing white and his whole body was shaking, as if he was experiencing¡­

    ¡°Nightmares.¡± Fu Yin bent over and whispered into He Gon¡¯s ear.

    Of course, the other was still unconscious, so he could not hearnor understandwhat the other was saying: ¡°I lied. Blood is the demon of war and gore, yes, but he is mainly the demon of the nightmares that cause even the best warriors to crack, to break apart¡­¡±

    ¡°He is the demon that haunts the battlefield: like a crow that feast upon the dead, he feasts upon the despair and regret of the dead souls¡­ He doesn¡¯t eat human flesh, nor does he thirst for human blood. To be defeated by a dream, an illusion¡­ I wonder how that feels.¡±

    Fu Yin smirked and tossed a glance at The Rin, on the other side of the arena. The girl was also smiling slightly, her eyes glittering as she seemed to understand what had just happened.

    Fu Yin then turned to look at Lao Jianghu: the old man¡¯s eyes contained traces of amusement as well as admiration

    ¡°He should wake up in an hour.¡± Fu Yin stated as he stepped out from the stage, the eyes of the whole audience following him, wide in disbelief!

    ¡°The winner of this fight is¡­ Fu Yin!¡± Lao Jianghu announced, those words waking everyone up from their state of shock. Fight? What fight? Could this be considered a fight?

    Te Rin had shown a great and profound skill, mysterious to most. The little crystal bird would haunt the memories of many from then on!

    Fang Lu had dominated the opponent through his might alone and had hinted that there was even more to his strength than whatmet the eye!

    Xiao Wu had amazed everyone with her display of great skills. A mysterious technique at hand and a flying sword below her feet, she defeated the puppet that had emanated a pressure of the peak Superior stage!

    Finally, there was Fu Yin. He, who had defeated his opponent¡­ without even lifting a finger! What terror would this knowledge instill in the hearts of those who were told of this? If someone could knock you out with a single glance, with but a thought, wouldn¡¯t you be afraid?

    Terrified, even?

    ¡­

    Afterwards, another fight took place. Unfortunately, as the previous battles had been so flashy, the contestants, whether they won or loss, didn¡¯t catch the eye of the audience.

    Flashy skills were put into display, but when compared to those of the Sect¡¯s greatests geniuses, they could not compare in any aspect!

    ¡°Everyone, the first round of the tournament has been concluded! My sincere congratulations to the winners, and a word of thanks for the beautiful spectacles they have shown us up until now!¡±

    Lao Jianghu nodded and dismissed the crowd with a wave of his sleeve: they could now catch a break after having passed the whole morning assisting to the fight and cheering on the contestants. The Tournament would resume in the afternoon.

    After being dismissed, Fu Yin, Xiao Wu and Sou Rou headed back to their tent, changing from their ¡°Successor¡¯s Attire¡± into plain robes.

    Sou Rou sighed: ¡°Damn, to think that I¡¯d be eliminated in the first round! What bad luck¡­ I still don¡¯t get how that Te Rin could defeat me like that, in the blink of an eye!¡±If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    Fu Yin scoffed and then smirked: ¡°Had you listened to your brother and paid attention, you would have not charged straight in, leading to your demise!¡±

    ¡°Oh really!¡± Sou Rou pouted: ¡°Then tell me, how did she defeat me?¡±

    Hearing this, Xiao Wu also leaned in, perking her ears up: this was something she was also curious about. Sou Rou had higher speed, greater strength, faster reflexes than her opponent¡­ how did Te Rin couple with all that?

    The white-haired, pale-blue-skinned boy pondered for a while, without speaking a word, appearing conflicted. In the end, Fu Yin shook his head smiling apologetically:

    ¡°Sorry Sis, but I cannot give away a fellow cultivator¡¯s secrets! Especially if it is someone who has gained my deepest respect. All I can say is this¡­¡±

    He lifted one finger in one hand and asked: ¡°If I were to attack with a single finger, using all my might, it wouldn¡¯t be any different than using my fist. The power would be the exact same¡­¡±

    He opened his hand and then curled it into a fist: ¡°Now then, what if I was to attack with a fist using the power of a single finger? If I can make weaknessinto strength, why not make strengthinto weakness?¡±

    ¡°With that in mind¡­ what if my one attack held neither the strength of a punch, nor that of a single finger¡­ but was only a disguise for the hidden dagger to strike?¡± Fu Yin opened his hand and then blew on it: ¡°It is easy yet at the same time difficult to trick the mind, because humans are not perfect. Thus, we can both easily be fooled and hardly be tricked at all! One of the easiest types of disguise is not an head-on attack through ¡®deception¡¯, but instead a hidden strike via ¡®misdirection¡¯. Why attack when the mind is on alert rather than when it is distracted?¡±

    ¡°...¡± Xiao Wu raised one of her eyebrows, rolling her green eyes in annoyance: ¡°Really? Didn¡¯t you not want to tell us out of your respect for her? You basically just did give it away!¡±

    ¡°Ehi! You guys were the ones to ask for help in the first place, don¡¯t bash me down now!¡± Fu Yin chuckled.

    Sou Rou turned in shock, gaping as she glanced at Xiao Wu: ¡°You understood? I barely caught a hint of what he might be intending!¡±

    Xiao Wu shrugged her shoulders: ¡°Kinda¡­ I still can¡¯t help but feel that something is missing. There is just one piece that doesn¡¯t quite yet fall into place... whatever, I¡¯ll think about it when the time comes¡­ if it will come!¡±

    Fu Yin stood silent as his lifeless, blue eyes glinted. He then sighed, nodding: ¡°Fang Lu will be a hard bone to pick¡­ I doubt you¡¯d be a good match for him even if you find yourself at your very top condition.¡±

    He turned to look at Xiao Wu right in her eyes, maintaining eye contact: ¡°You remember what I told you this morning before the matches started?¡±

    Xiao Wu turned her gaze to the entrance to the tent, biting her lips. She hesitated for a moment then nodded: ¡°Yes. Now more than ever, after that display of skill, I realize you were right...¡±

    She looked down at her hands and summoned the black dragon aura sword. She smiled bitterly as she caressed the blade: ¡°I¡­ cannot defeat Fang Lu.¡±

    ...

    The first round had ended. Finally, after the ¡®brief¡¯ break which had lasted until the sun had fallen below the horizon, the second round finally began!

    Twomatches were about to take place: first would be the match between Te Rin and Dan Yang, while, as both second and last, would be the heated battle, the monstrous Fang Lu versus the young and talented Xiao Wu!

    Why had Fu Yin¡¯s match been cancelled? Simple: Fu Yin was a monster beyond their comprehension, his opponent was no big shot, the fight probably also wouldn¡¯t have held too much of a suspense to it.

    The challenger, a youth named Lu Bei, had also foreseen this and had already forfeited. After all, how could he possibly hope to compare with Fu Yin, one of the two strongest disciples in the Sect?

    To fight him would bring him no benefit and countless hardships!

    Battle Experience? Ah! Fu Yin had already spitted on that by ending the previous fight in the blink of an eye! What experience would being knocked out as soon as the match startedbring him?

    Face?Sure, like being annihilated in a single blow wouldn¡¯t lead to a just as strong blow to his face as well?

    Lu Beiwas no crazy pervert or masochist thatgot off the pain, he was a perfectly sane human being that had already faced similar situations before and hadn¡¯t hesitated in either of them to make the same choice as now.

    He had given up as soon as he had won his first fight in the first round!

    Lu Bei held a glass of wine in his hands. He sighed in delight as he noticed that, with that weight off his chest, his beverage tasted better than ever!

    I¡¯ll gladly stay here and enjoy my drink, thank you very much! I¡¯ll just leave the monster for the other beasts to deal with. I reckon it¡¯s going to be much more fun seeing them at each other¡¯s throats instead of just barging in the snake¡¯s nest!

 Chapter 90 - Mysterious Fog

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    Fa Guan said nothing as he stared at his disciple: Dan Yang looked completely calm, like the still water of a pond in a windless day. However, below the still surface, a few ripples could be seen as the boy¡¯s hands, hidden by his long sleeves, were curled into fists.

    ¡°Little Yang¡­ relax. It is not a matter of life and death, it is a competition.¡± Fa Guan¡¯s eyes gleamed sharply as he spoke: ¡°You shouldn¡¯t worry about winning or losing. Instead, focus on gathering experience!¡±

    ¡°In this tournament, where the path towards victory has been cut off, what is left is to turn utter defeat into a shallow victory. To turn pain into gain.¡± Fa Guan smiled and patted the younger man¡¯s back.

    ¡°My disciple, this will be a very important lesson for you. There are times when it is best to accept defeat and understand your opponent, so as to defeat him next time. This is a loss, yet, at the same time, it is your victory...¡±

    Dan Yang listened to his master¡¯s teachings without speaking a word. Finally, he asked:

    ¡°Master¡­ are Fu Yin and Fang Lu truly such terrifying entities? I know that they are stronger, but they don¡¯t seem so far away that they cannot be reached¡­¡±

    Fa Guan¡¯s eyes gleamed then he nodded: ¡°Yes, they are much, much more terrifying than you might think. The proof is exactly that feeling you have. Think about it, your cultivations are about the same, yet, the difference between your techniques is so massive!¡±

    ¡°They do not seem so far away¡­ however, that is only while looking at their cultivation base. Think about it: in a few months, would you be able to accomplish the same feats as them now? What about in a few years?¡±

    Fa Guan nodded: ¡°Unless some kind of divine blessing comes your way, I highly doubt it. Why, you might ask?¡±

    Dan Yang¡¯s eyes widened as he seemed to understand something: ¡°I¡­ I think I get it! It¡¯s because, even if I could match them in a few years, it wouldn¡¯t be in the Superior stage! To have such power in the Superior stage, that is unthinkable for me!

    What¡¯s more, after such a long time has passed, they would have also rose in rank and increased their strength even further!¡±

    ¡°Correct!¡± Fa Guan beamed as he revealed a delightful smile to his disciple: ¡°I think of geniuses and monsters such as those two as completely different things. Geniuses are people who defy common sense by having an higher cultivation base than those in the same generation. Zhao Bu was one with such a trait: enormous talent when it came to cultivation! However¡­¡±

    Dan Yang gave voice to his master¡¯s thoughts: ¡°...Monsters such as Fu Yin don¡¯t have such a heaven-defying cultivation. On the other hand, they hold much higher power than they are supposed to hold in their current stage!¡±

    ¡°If this was to be carried on in their breakthroughs, they would possess much greater strength, no matter which stage they found themselves in!¡±

    Fa Guan¡¯s eyebrows rose in pleasant surprise. He smiled and nodded: ¡°It looks like you understand. Te Rin might not be a monster on such a level, but she has quite good talent as well as the ability to defeat Sou Rou whilst on the same stage: she is definitely above average...-¡±

    ¡°I understand that I might not be able to defeat her, Master!¡± Dan Yang interrupted. He smiled apologetically: ¡°However, if I did not fight her while trying my best and lost, I wouldn¡¯t be able to sleep at night, not knowing how exactly I rank in between ¡®normal¡¯ geniuses!¡±

    Fa Guan¡¯s lips arranged into a complicated smile:

    My dear disciple, this will be a nice lesson for you: that Te Rin is in no way a ¡®normal¡¯ genius¡­ however, she has an unyielding will that has led her here!

    A few months ago, she was that girl who had fallen to her knees and cried due to her powerlessness. Now, she stands on the same ground as true geniuses, yet, she is not a genius...

    Compared to Sou Rou, her talent is worse, and yet she beat her. Where she lacked in talent, she would make up with hard work!

    Fa Guan looked up at the figure of Lao Jianghu: the old man floated in the air, his golden eyes brimming with respect and excitement as they focused upon the approaching Te Rin.

    Fa Guan smiled as he recalled the words of the Sect¡¯s strongest Protector, the golden-robed Lao Jianghu:

    ¡°For three months she has meditated, resting was not in her vocabulary. When her body was tired, she would read cultivation manuals. When her mind was dizzy, she would train her body incessantly. When she was about to pass out from the fatigue, she would start to cultivate!This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

    This has led her from her peak Advanced stage cultivation to break into the Superior stage!

    Only stopping to eat and drink for a period of three months... all of that to advance a single level and you still dare call her a Genius? She is no genius. She is a monster¡­ a monster of hard work and dedication!¡±

    ¡­

    ¡°Is everyone ready?¡± Lao Jianghu looked at the two contestants and asked as he lifted his arms.

    The old-looking Dan Yang nodded, his robes fluttering as he lowered his center of gravity slightly. His face was a mask of uneasiness and concentration as he spoke:

    ¡°Sir, I am ready!¡±

    Dan Yang approached the stage, his fingers, hidden by the long sleeves, twitching slightly as extremely thin, silvery threads fell from the tip of his nails, down on the ground.

    On the opposite side of the stage was his opponent: a beauty with phoenix eyes and with long, dark hair tied into two buns. Her robes were sleeveless, revealing a pair of exquisitely toned arms to the audience.

    This, added together with the cold and determined expression on her face, made her look like a powerful warrioress from the tales, an invincible heroine.

    On her right shoulder was a small bird, just a few inches tall: its body was completely made out of the purest of crystals, its azure eyes glinted menacingly as they noticed the approaching Dan Yang.

    Like an emperor of the skies, the aura it emitted even seemed to surpass its master¡¯s.

    Te Rin straightened her body and stepped forward, bowing her head slightly:

    ¡°I am also prepared!¡±

    Lao Jianghu grinned happily as he waved his hands: the glittery, golden shield appeared once more, separating the battlefield from the outside world.

    ¡°Then¡­ may this fight begin!¡±

    The shout awakened the dormant crowd: just as the echo disappeared and the two contestants on the stage moved, loud yells and even louder cheering silenced every other sound in comparison.

    Dan Yang nodded to himself, took a deep breath and then kicked off the ground. Seeing her opponent approaching at astonishing speed, Te Rin opened her left hand and waved it: as soon as she did so, a thick mist emanated outwards¡­

    Dan Yang¡¯s pupils shrunk as he couldn¡¯t avoid the mist at all. Soon, the dense fog had enveloped the whole stage! Te Rin pursued her lips and then waved her hand once again as she shouted:

    ¡°Senior, be careful!¡±

    The crystal bird¡¯s eyes gleamed and it suddenly cloned! In an instant, the countless, mysterious birds that had amazed the audience beforehand appeared once again!

    Like a profound formation from the ancient records, every single clone moved in unison, as if they had practiced it countless times. As soon as the awe-inducing array was completed, Te Rin¡¯s body flickered as she suddenly sat cross-legged, not moving at all.

    As she did so, the girl¡¯s presence suddenly disappeared, as if she hd merged with her surroundings¡­ had Dan Yang not been aware of her location beforehand, it would have been incredibly difficult to pinpoint it accurately. Most likely, he would have already been defeated by a sneak attack then.

    Ignoring the young girl, Dan Yang furrowed his brows as he examined his surroundings carefully, in search of any traps that might pose a direct threat to him. His mind was working at an astonishingly fast rate, even his thoughts processes were enhanced. His overall mind power had greatly improved due to the pinch he found himself in.

    In the world, individuals could be divided in three big categories.

    Firstly were those that, when in a pinch, would perform worse due to the pressure weighing them down. These were the kind of people who would mess up and lose their lives as soon as the situation got even slightly out of hand ;

    Secondly were those that would not let themselves be affected by the situation they found themselves in. It could be said they were both always at their top as well as their worse condition at all times. These were reliable people in the case one found himself in a pinch, however it would be foolish to expect a stellar performance from this kind of people.

    Why?

    It was simply due to the fact that their usual performance was also them being at their very best. On the other hand, they would not crumble under the pressure and would be able to think about the situation more coolly from the very start, making them the perfect kind of leader;

    Thirdly as well as lastly came those who, while in a pinch, would perform even better than normal, the pressure acting as a lubricant more than as an obstacle!

    Of course, Dan Yang, having chosen strings instead of a sword or a lance as a weapon, could not possibly be the first option. Cooly examining the battlefield and controlling a whole net with a simple twist of his fingers¡­ how could you possibly do that if you allowed panick to slow you down?

    On the other hand, he also was not the second kind. It was simply how he was: emotional and thirsty for battle!

    That¡¯s right, Dan Yang, due to the pressure, could process the information he was given much faster and more efficiently than before! The pressure given by a seemingly unbeatable opponent was enormous.

    Like adding oil to a fire, this only served to fuel Dan Yang¡¯s mind! Finally, he noticed quite a few details that had previously escaped his notice!

    This fog¡­ I am pretty sure it had filled everything in the arena, yet why now isn¡¯t there any fog where the birds are located?

    Think! Think! Think! Her ability, she has shown it before! Her sensed Qi allowed her the ability to control crystals! However, those birds had appeared from nowhere! To make something out of nothing is impossible!

    Thus, the only way she could have created those crystal birds¡­ is if she had changed the conformation of crystals that had already existed beforehand, but there are clearly none here! In here, the only extraneous object is that fog! Wait¡­ that¡¯s it!

    Dan Yang¡¯s eyes shone as he finally came to a conclusion:

    This fog... it is actually made up of countless small crystals!

 Chapter 91 - A Word For Wind

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    ¡°This fog is actually made of countless tiny crystals...¡±

    Dan Yang grinned as he straightened his back: ¡°Meaning, those birds are mere shells of their original! After all, even if she can change the conformation of those crystals, she cannot change its overall mass!¡±

    ¡°As the quantity of crystals in the mist is just too small, those birds are all just a tiny percentage of the power of the original bird that had previously been onher shoulder! They are like countless origamis! Imposing, yes, but extremely weak, as well as thin as paper!¡± Dan Yang gave a light pull at the silvery strings: they suddenly hardened, as if they had become extremely thin, sharp knives!

    ¡°However, to change all of these small crystal grains into full-fledged birds, she must have exhausted most of her energy!¡± The old-looking, thirty year old man grinned and bent his legs, preparing to attack: ¡°Which means¡­ if I can destroy all these fake birds then find the original one and, finally, avoid its attacks¡­ I win!¡±

    Dan Yang inhaled and exhaled, the strings connected to his fingers trembled slightly before flashing and disappearing! Ten streaks of light sped towards the ocean of crystal birds.

    Even though danger was approaching, the bird kept flying without a care. Their pattern was exactly the same, even the timing with which their wings flapped was identical.

    It¡¯s actually just a single opponent, the crystal bird! Although it is hiding in between all those clones, I can just destroy them all and lure him out! After the clones are gone, if I can avoid its attacks and then defeat its master, victory will be mine!

    ¡­

    Fu Yin¡¯s eyes glinted with appreciation: ¡°Not bad! He had almost got it all figured out!¡±

    Xiao Wu frowned. She had heard Dan Yang¡¯s words however, although her conclusion was similar to his, they were still quite different. Yet, Fu Yin¡¯s words had actually been in favour of the older man.

    Xiao Wu sighed: was her theory actually wrong? Well, after all, it had sounded a bit too strange to begin with so she shouldn¡¯t be too surprised¡­

    ¡°It is just too bad¡­¡± Fu Yin chuckled, his eyes glinting as he glanced at the frowning Xiao Wu ¡°That he has misinterpreted the function of the original Crystal Bird and the role that the crystals within the fog play in all of this!¡±

    Xiao Wu¡¯s eyes lit up as she suddenly beamed: ¡°Then, you mean¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, the theory you had come up with earlier is indeed correct!¡± Fu Yin grinned and laughed heartily: ¡°Had I not also found out about this beforehand, I would probably have discarded your theory as being utter nonsense! However, I also came to the same conclusion and I feelpretty sure about its correctness!¡±

    Xiao Wu sighedas she looked at Dan Yang with pity: "I''m afraid, brother Yang, that no matter your efforts, it mightbe all for naught if you do not figure thisout in time..."

    ...

    Dan Yang kicked off the ground as he bit his thumb, drawing out a drop of blood! He then lifted his thumb above his head and let the drop of blood fall on his forehead.

    ¡°Nine Days Is A Single Minute!¡± He shouted as the drop of blood fell on the skin, forming a complicated tattoo. As soon as that happened, his body suddenly seemed to lose all his energy, as if something was draining it.

    At the same time though, Dan Yang¡¯s body suddenly began to give off a feeling of wisdom as well as unpredictableness. His eyes suddenly brightened as he laughed:

    ¡°Fang Lu, I will be borrowing your might for a short while!¡±

    ...

    Hearing that, Fang Lu¡¯s mouth twitched slightly as his eyebrows rose in surprise:

    ¡°You little¡­ you actually dare use your ability to copy my battle prowess!¡±

    The chubby youth sighed helplessly as he shook his head and waved his hands:

    ¡°Whatever, I guess¡­ I guess now I can only receive this nine days worth of your life force and watch as you obtain my strength for a minute¡­ it''s not like I can do anything about it anyway...¡±

    ...A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    Fu Yin and Xiao Wu, on the other side of the arena, suddenly frowned.

    ¡°This¡­¡± the white-haired boy spoke in amazement: ¡°What a remarkable ability!¡±

    Xiao Wu was gaping as her green eyes glowed with a sharp, violet light. She turned to look at Sou Rou and asked: ¡°That Dan Yang¡­ sister, could you please explain what exactly is the extent of brother Yang''sability?¡±

    Sou Rou smiled knowingly and smirked, knowing that, for once, she held knowledge these two monsters did not possess. She nodded and spoke:

    ¡±Nine Days Is A Single Minute is the name of a mysterious scripture Dan Yang¡¯s master, Fa Guan, had stumbled upon by chance a few years ago. Dan Yang, who at the time had been a youth with above-average talent in the Inner Sect, was the only one who had a body compatible with such a scripture in the whole Sect!

    ¡°Thus, Fa Guan decided to take him in as a disciple. Of course, that would come with a cost: Nine Days Is A Single Minute was an incredibly profound scripture, sure, but it also had its shortcomings!¡±

    ¡°However, Dan Yang did not refuse. In fact, if I recall correctly, back then he even immediately began to cultivate following the dark method of the scripture as soon as he laid his hands on it!¡±

    As Sou Rou explained, her expression suddenly turned serious:

    ¡°This technique is what allowed Dan Yang to keep his spot as one of the Nine Protectors¡¯ disciple back when this Sect was still called the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect. The reason was none other than¡­-¡±

    Fu Yin cut off Sou Rou:

    ¡°The fact that it allowed to give up nine days¡¯ worth of life force - in other words, nine days of his lifespan - in exchange for borrowing a minute¡¯s worth of somebody else¡¯s strength!¡±

    Fu Yin¡¯s hands were at his temples, his palms on top of the nails embedded in his head. His eyes had turned an electric-blue as the triangles in his pupils were shining eerily with the same lively, electric-blue light:

    ¡°This would include, of course, Cultivation as well as the target¡¯s very Sensed Qi and even, to a certain extent, his Techniques!¡±

    He pursued his lips and removed his hands from the nails as he spoke: ¡°I also have a theorythat one of the reason why Dan Yang is the only person capable of practicing this technique is because of the fact that he has a ¡®vessal¡¯ kind of sensed Qi...¡±

    Fu Yin¡¯s eyes went back to normal as he turned to look at the pondering Xiao WU beside him: ¡°This allows any other kind of Sensed Qi to be compatible with his body, as long as it is not something beyond his understanding. This probably allowed him to utilizethis technique to useother people¡¯s Sensed Qi, despite it being different from his own!¡±

    ¡°...¡± Sou Rou paled as if she had seen a ghost.

    How in the world did youknow that? Youcouldn¡¯t have deduced that simply by looking at the technique once, could you? Then again, he had figured out Te Rin¡¯s technique with a single glance, so maybe that wouldn¡¯t be too much of a far-fetched thought...

    ...

    Meanwhile, on the stage, powerful winds were forming all around Dan Yang¡¯s body. He could hear Fu Yin¡¯s words of course and he could only smile bitterly as his very existence seemed to have been seen through by that pair of electric-blue, glowing eyes.

    However, while he smiled, within he was also a bit anxious:

    Sure, this technique is powerful, however it has many shortcomings! One of the most obvious ones is without a doubt the time limit: one minute is realy short! After the technique¡¯s effect runs out, I will probably be unable to move even a finger for a few hours at the very least! It is also quite taxing on my body¡­ after all, I did just sacrifice nine days of my remaining lifespan in exchange of power! This technique is to blame for mylooking like a middle-aged uncle...

    Dan Yang sighed as his aura kept rising, making the air tremble:

    It also has a charging time, however its benefits are not inferior to itsshortcomings! What''s more, althoughthe more the power I want to be able to wield in that one minute the more I¡¯ll have to charge up, it looks like that Te Rin is unable to attack! She probaby has no more strength left after the ¡®creation¡¯ of all those Crystal Birds!

    And this allows me to calmly borrow the strength of my target! Up until now, I had no problem borrowing someone¡¯s power as long as he was within my same Realm of cultivation! Fang Lu¡­ fortunately is no exception!I have to finish this fight as soon as possible, I cannot let her recover just to stab me in the back! Fang Lu, I will now use your power!

    Suddenly, a bright symbol appeared in the air! It was a square missing one of its sides, more precisely, it was missing its right side: ¡®ØÎ¡¯; in english, ''Wind''!

    This was none other than one of the symbols making up the P¨¡ramit¨¡nalphabet as well as one of the symbols that appeared on Fang Lu''s scroll in the section of the ''Wind'' element. There were no phonetics in such an alphabet, as it was not a language for man, instead it wasfor nature and nature alone! However, as humans were part of such ''nature'' as well, they would not just be locked awayfrom such power. Instead, users of the alphabetof the nature could simply shout it out loud in their own language¡­

    After all, the heart of the technique was the symbol, while the spoken part would only act as a trigger to the caster. The strange symbol looked as if it was composed of many swirling hurricanes as it emitted a powerful pressure. Finally, as the symbol got clear and clearer as it floated in the air, Dan Yang gritted his teeth:

    Damn¡­ so, with only this amount of preparation, I am only able to use a single symbol! What monster, that Fang Lu, to be able to use more than five, maybe even six! This amount of energy will in no way be enough to blow away Te Rin in a single blow. Plan ''a'' for direct ''attack is a no-go... I guess I¡¯ll have to go with plan ¡®b¡¯!

    ¡°A Wind!¡± Dan Yang shouted, action immediately followed by the symbol emitting a bright, green light! As he breathed in, thegreen light then made its way into his body in the form of a gentle breeze...

    He grinned and wiped his forehead from the blood as he pursued his lips.

    Plan ¡®b¡¯¡­ for ¡®buffing¡¯!

 Chapter 92 - A Light Display

    Dan Yang¡¯s body shifted slightly as it began to be battered by fierce winds: his clothes were thrown into complete disarray as his body suddenly sped up!

    The symbol glowed brightly up above, yet there was no powerful attack. Instead, Dan Yang had chosen to buff his body¡¯s speed by using¡­ the power of wind!

    As he did so, he waved his sleeve and the familiar ten silvery strings fell down on the ground, their long and thin bodies surrounded by fierce wind blades! Once more, Dan Yang smiled as he jumped into the air¡­ and began to twirl at astonishing speed!

    ¡°Be sure to watch out!¡± He yelled as he grinned¡­ and hell broke loose!

    Ten streaks of light danced in the air, slashing through the countless birds making up the array! Countless tiny blades of wind seemed to cut through the air at the same time as Dan Yang twirled beautifully, allowing his strings to reach their highest speed, achieving the highest possible burst damage!

    Slash!

    Slash!

    Slash!

    Countless birds were hit: each time the strings flashed they would leave behind streaks upon streaks of space devoid of the crystal birds! In the space of ten seconds, every bird had been slashed apart, without making as much as sound, by the sharp strings!

    Soon, the crystal birds had all been all but slashed apart, only leaving behind the dense fog.

    Dan Yang grinned as he saw a single, crystal bird flying a few feet above him: now that it was not hidden between its clones, Dan Yang would have no need to actually fear a surprise attack on its part.

    Dan Yang smiled and turned to face Te Rin. Suddenly, one of his ears twitched as...

    Pu!

    Beside the original crystal bird, another suddenly appeared!

    Pu!

    Pu!

    Then another, and another...

    Dan Yang gaped as, just as they had done at the beginning, the countless crystal birds began to appear one by one until every single bird had formed back!

    The array looked just as it had done earlier, each bird flying in the same strange pattern as before, completely ignoring Dan Yang as if he was an existence they had no reason to fear.

    Dan Yang felt his body ache as ten of the sixty seconds left for the usage of the technique had already passed, leaving only fifty more seconds for Dan Yang to defeat Te rin.

    Dan Yang¡¯s expression was hidden as he was looking down. Two more seconds passed before he finally lifted his head back up again. Sweat trickled down his forehead and he was panting, however he gritted his teeth and the fierce winds blowed once more!

    Slash!

    Slash!

    Slash!

    Once again, the countless crystal birds were easily dispatched¡­

    Pu!

    Pu!

    Pu!Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

    ...and immediately formed back.

    Slash! Slash! Slash!

    Pu! Pu! Pu!

    Dan Yang grinned bitterly as he gnashed his teeth: ¡°... Damn it¡­¡±

    Thirty seconds had passed. Only twenty seconds were now left¡­ and the countless crystal birds still flew through the air without a care in the world.

    What did I get wrong? What is up with all these crystal birds forming back? Just how much energy does she have left!!!

    ¡°Damn it!¡± Dan Yang cursed once more as he turned to face Te Rin.

    Screw it! If I cannot defeat her technique, all that is left is to defeat the cultivator instead!

    Dan Yang entered a strange stance as the wind blades focused around the ten strings¡­ like ten blades of dazzling, green light, the silver strands sped through the air as they cut towards Te Rin¡¯s meditating figure!

    Whoosh!

    Like an experienced predator stalking its unaware prey, the strings were so fast that they would be nigh impossible to dodge for most cultivators on the same stage! Dan Yang was confident that no one except for Fang Lu and Fu Yin would be able to dodge a blow that was going so fast!

    He had his doubts on Xiao Wu, but he was completely sure nobody else had enough skill to be able to actually evade the strings whose speed had been powered up with Wind!

    Te Rin¡­ will not dodge this blow!

    This thought passed through the mind of the audience as they stared in amazement at that one attack!

    However, Fu Yin¡¯s eyes gleamed as he smirked: ¡°What you are chasing is the illusion of power¡­ what hits you from behind is the cold, harsh reality!¡±

    A few dozen feet behind the attacking Dan Yang, Lao Jianghu¡¯s expression was one of amusement as he slightly moved his lips, apparently talking to himself¡­

    Just as everybody thought, the meditating figure of Te Rin was not able to react in time to the sudden attack.

    As soon as the strings had began their descent towards her defenseless figure, sha had immediately opened her eyes and had stood up, however, just at that moment¡­ the strings cut her figure in half!

    What?

    Dan Yang gaped as he saw Te Rin¡¯s figure suddenly burst apart, beginning from the point of impact, the wind blades scattering the figure¡¯s remains all around the arena¡­

    The shock on Dan Yang¡¯s face was not the horror of a person who had just taken a life, but instead an expression of complete astonishment: yes, Te Rin¡¯s body had just blown up, yes, had just been broken, yes, but what had appeared beyond the outer layer of Te Rin¡¯s figure was not the blood and gore...

    Instead it was completely empty, an hollow husk whose surface had been none other than countless pieces of paper-thin crystals! It was as if he had just shattered a three-dimensional mirror¡­

    Suddenly, the air twisted, as if a veil had been lifted, as a figure appeared beside Lao Jianghu! Surrounding her were many shining crystals that looked extremely alike those that had been making up the layer of the fake Te Rin.

    Te Rin smiled as she appeared out of nowhere and kicked off the ground at shocking speed, reaching Dan Yang¡¯s figure in the space of a breath! Her hair that had previously been tied into two buns danced madly as the strands broke free of their restraint due to the sudden burst of speed.

    In Dan Yang¡¯s dilated pupils, the image of a crystal glove on the woman¡¯s right hand grew clear and clearer as her punch approached him¡­

    As Dan Yang looked behind him in newfound horror, he found out that not only his sixty seconds were up, so he had no chance to dodge, but also due to his body still being in a swinging motion, he wouldn¡¯t be able to parry the blow! A perfect, undodgeable, unblockable, surprise attack!

    Dan Yang¡¯s pupils shrunk even more as a realization suddenly got to him: as he once again thought of the strange pattern of the crystal birds¡­

    So that¡¯s why they were flying following the exact same rhythm and at equal speed! Mirrors! This girl¡­ she used her ability to manipulate crystals so that they would reflect light however she wished! All those birds¡­ were simple reflections of the original all along!

    Dan Yang closed his eyes as he flinched from the pain of the crystal glove hitting his back. He flew forward for a few feet before finally hitting the glowing walls surrounding the stage. He spat out a mouthful of blood and felt his consciousness fade¡­

    Just as he was about to pass out, he saw a green-haired figure descend from the sky, approach him and smile bitterly. He turned his head and saw Te Rin smile at him apologetically and bowing in his direction. Dan Yang sighed:

    Seriously? Controlling the light emitted by countless tiny crystals in a space more than a hundred feet in diameter so that a whole audience mistakes reflections for the original? Damn it¡­ how can there possibly be space for ordinary geniuses in a world where such monsters exist¡­

    ¡°Seriously¡­ you youths never know how to hold back¡­¡±

    Mu Gu sighed as the illusory tree appeared and began to heal Dan Yang¡¯s battered body. His expression was one of pity as he stared at the youth.

    ¡°You have no idea¡­¡± Dan Yang smiled bitterly and coughed out another mouthful of blood before finally passing out.

 Chapter 93- Give Up!

    On the other side of the arena, Fu Yin smiled:

    ¡°What control¡­ I know that her Sensed Qi is so high quality and compatible that she can control even better that if she was moving her own body, but this is so freaky¡­ I am pretty sure even brother Cheng Hao would be nodding in acknowledgement!¡±

    Sou Rou sighed:

    ¡°I couldn¡¯t understand back then, but if I couldn¡¯t now as well would I still be worthy of my title as a Successor? Still, I must admit that girl makes me shake in terror! She is such a freak of nature!¡±

    Xiao Wu chuckled as she twirled a strand of her purple and blue hair around her index finger:

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t worry about that¡­ After all, how could one ever think that a person would be able to perfectly control thousands if not millions of extremely small mirrors and their reflections on such a large scale?¡±

    Sou Rou smiled bitterly and then leaned back on her seat. Meanwhile, Fu Yin was staring deeply at Xiao Wu¡¯s figure as a complex expression was showing on his face. A hint of some unknown emotion flashed by his eyes but soon disappeared as Xiao Wu returned the gaze:

    ¡°Oh¡­ looks like the next match is about to start!¡±

    Fu Yin¡¯s eyes gleamed as he pulled the attention towards the stage: there, Lao Jianghu waved his sleeves, requesting for silence. Seeing that, every other person in the Golden Arena, whether they were Disciples or Elders of the Sect, immediately shut up.

    Despite the male acting innocent, hiding his true thoughts deeply, Xiao Wu had still noticed that something was on the mind of the young boy. It was as if he had a thorn in his side, unable to be removed.

    ¡°The second match of this tournament¡¯s round will begin in a short while! Would the contestants please step forward?¡± Lao Jianghu called. Behind him, the damage that Dan Yang¡¯s strings had been able to inflict on the golden stage were rapidly healing. Soon, the surface turned as smooth as it had been before the other matches had began.

    Xiao Wu frowned, but stood up nevertheless. Her hands were trembling slightly, but she was able to hide the fact below the long sleeves of her robes.

    ¡°Remember. In this fight, nobody fights to kill. Nervousness will only hamper your progress¡­ a loss today is a victory tomorrow!¡±

    Xiao Wu turned as she heard these words: Fu Yin was smiling at her gently, as if he was telling her that there was nothing she would have to worry about.

    Fu Yin smiled as he removed his headband, letting his unkempt her fall on his forehead, hiding his expression:

    ¡°Then again, knowing you, I do not need to speak such words, do I?¡±

    Hearing that, Xiao Wu returned the smile. Then, she coldly turned around without saying a word.

    You are always like this¡­ do you not understand!

    As soon as Fu Yin couldn¡¯t see her expression anymore, a fierce gleam passed by the girl¡¯s eyes and she bit her lips, to the point that she could easily draw out blood if she applied any more pressure:

    ¡®I do not need to speak such words?¡¯, you say?

    Below the sleeves, Xiao Wu¡¯s hands began to tremble even more as they curled up in fists, her nails biting the flesh.

    These¡­ These are actually the words I need to hear the most!

    She was just a child, how could she possibly not be nervous, scared? Knowing that in a short while she would be up against a person that could easily wipe the floor with her, if she was not terrified, would she still be human? Why then would she not need encoragement?

    She clenched her curled fists, approaching the golden stage. Her steps were slightly wobbly, but only those with keen eyes would notice it¡­ yet, to Xiao Wu, it was as if she was walking on the plank of a ship in the middle of a storm!

    ¡®Knowing you?¡¯ ...If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    Xiao Wu swallowed the tears as she called out her Black Dragon Aura Sword: the blade, more than three feet long, hovered by her side, emitting an incredibly sharp killing intent.

    What did Fu Yin know! She was scared! She could conceal the fear in her eyes, however could not dispel the terror in her heart! She was not another fearless, invincible Fu Yin!

    What¡¯s more...

    She was almost completely certain that she would not be able to defeat Fang Lu!

    ¡­

    Back in the tent, just as the first round was about to start, Fu Yin had suddenly exclaimed:

    "Alright, let''s bring our minds to the matter at hand!"

    His eyes lit up with fighting intent:

    "A total of three one-on-one battles and then one final showdown between the three finalists! There are a total of twelve contestants including us. If we all win, we will meet each other in the finals!"

    Sou Rou nodded:

    "Be sure not to underestimate your opponents! Especially that Fang Lu. Ever since he broke through the Superior stage he has been defeating mid level and high level Superior stage cultivators one after the other!"

    Fu Yin rested his chin on his palm and pondered:

    "If I remember well, the one to face off with him first will be..."

    He looked to his right:

    "Sister Xiao Wu, on her second match. What do you think? Can you handle him?"

    The little girl frowned and didn''t say anything. However, she clenched her fists and her eyes trembled.

    Fu Yin sighed:

    "Thought as much. Be sure to forfeit once you feel like you are about to lose... Don''t do anything stupid! There is no thing such as shame when you lose against an opponent that is much older than you!"

    Sou Rou stretched:

    "What¡¯s with those unforgiving words, lil bro''? After all, this girl may be just a kitten, however a tiger cub is still a tiger nevertheless!"

    Fu Yin looked up and the shook his head:

    "Personally, I doubt she is going to last more than ten moves, and all that would be while Fang Lu is still using non-lethal attacks. From my point of view..."

    His lifeless blue eyes lit up and his gaze turned sharp:

    "Your only chance to grab victory will be... to take him by surprise and attacking just as the fight begins! If you fail at this initial attack¡­ you will be defeated."

    ¡­

    This thought of certain defeat had been instilled in her mind ever since the beginning of the tournament and had been tormenting her ever since: the power Fang Lu had demonstrated was something she knew was way beyond her, just like her strength had been far beyond her previous opponent¡¯s, Ku Xong¡¯s!

    Such difference between our strength¡­ such desparity, was it truly as such?

    Xiao Wu looked down at her hand: she had easily defeated Ku Xong, but¡­ was it truly not a fluke? Did she truly own the strength that she had shown back then?

    What had she been thinking? Attacking right off the bat, without taking into consideration that the opponent might have had some hidden trump card to blow her away in a single move?

    Xiao Wu gulped and felt cold sweat trickling down her back: genius? Was she truly strong? Her cultivation base was astonishing, but it was no different than her opponent¡¯s! Would she have the necessary skills to defeat Fang Lu?

    ¡­

    Lao Jianghu frowned as he looked at the girl. Noticing the fear lingering in her heart, the old man couldn¡¯t help but sigh:

    Pressure¡­ this amount of pressure is indeed just too much for her to bear!

    He switched his focus to Fu Yin: the white-haired child also had an extremely concerned look in his eyes. His expression was hidden by his long bangs, however his two blue eyes, usually lifeless and as peaceful as a pond, were currently extremely deep.

    Suddenly, the young man¡¯s lips parted as he whispered, allowing the wind to carry his words for Xiao Wu to hear:

    ¡°As soon as you feel like you are about to lose¡­ give up!"

    Although he could not hear what had just been said, Lao Jianghu¡¯s eyes gleamed with killing intent as he noticed the young girl freezing up. The old man screamed in his head:

    This young one, what is he planning? This old man isn¡¯t following you! If it keeps going, won¡¯t the child break?

    He moved his gaze at Xiao Wu and worry appeared deep within his eyes as he reluctantly erected the golden barrier.

    Xiao Wu was trembling, her expression hidden below her long, purplish-blue hair.

    Give up? GIVE UP?!?

    Xiao Wu''s mouth twitched as killing intent swirled around the black sword like a hurricane...

    I''ll show you exactly who is going to give up!

    On the other side of the battlefield, Fang Lu had also noticed that something was wrong, however his thoughts were a lot different from those of the golden-eyed, white-haired, old man.

    He sent a glance in Fu Yin¡¯s way and could vaguely see the other¡¯s thin lips arching up into a knowing smile¡­

    A vein popped on Fang Lu¡¯s forehead as his left eye twitched:

    You bastard, is this how you plan to deal with me? You demon! Do you have any idea how scary an hysterical woman can be! You actually dare to take out her anger on me! Damn it, as soon as I get off this stage, I¡¯m going to punch you so hard you¡¯ll see the stars despite the sun still being up!

 Chapter 94 - Gotta Love A Guy With Such A Calm Temper

    You bastard, is this how you plan to deal with me? You demon! Do you have any idea how scary an hysterical woman can be! Damn it, as soon as I get off this stage, I¡¯m going to punch you so hard you¡¯ll see the stars despite the sun still being up!

    As he thought that, Fang Lu gulped and hurriedly summoned the ¡®fake¡¯ scroll. He screamed in his head and wanted to go back in time and kick himself in the balls for not having brought the Martial Way instead.

    Why was he so worried?

    The answer was lying right in front of his eyes: her eyes glowing like a demon¡¯s flaming orbs, her robes fluttering madly despite the lack of wind and her ferocious grin as fierce as that of a bloodthirsty beast!

    You bastard Fu Yin, open your eyes and I¡¯ll show you exactly who is going to surrender!

    ¡°You have a powerful attack? Let this sister show you exactly how I don¡¯t give a fuck about it!¡±

    With the wave of her hand, a mighty shield appeared by her side, an oak depicted on top of it. Indestructible! Unmovable! It gave off a feeling that only a god would be able to break this shield apart!

    ¡°You have a sturdy defense? Open your eyes and see if you still dare utter such words!¡±

    In front of Xiao Wu, the air trembled and a black sword seemed to split reality apart as it appeared out of nowhere: a fierce blade, completely black, with the design of a bloodthirsty dragon coiling around the handle!

    ¡°Or perhaps you think you have superior reflexes? Tell that to the soles of my shoes!¡±

    Above, in the sky, the sun suddenly twisted as it turned into a purple moon! As purple moonlight shone down, the girl¡¯s eyes suddenly glowed violet as a dense fog roiled around her feet.

    The weapon of a death god, the shield of a war deity, the ability to make the day into dusk! The Black Dragon Sword, the White Tree Shield and the Purple Moon had been removed from the girl¡¯s Pseudo Core and were revealed for the world to see!

    All out! It was as if a dam had just been plugged open, Xiao Wu spared no effort into etching her domineering figure into the mind of the shocked audience!

    Swish!

    Before anyone could say anything, the hovering Black Dragon Blade disappeared and reappeared in front of Fang Lu¡¯s forehead¡­

    ¡°Gha!¡±

    Dodging at the last second, Fang Lu broke into cold sweat as the sharpness of the draconic blade seemed to wound his soul simply due to its presence!

    The blade however didn¡¯t wait for him to regain its cool¡­

    Swish! Swish! Swish!

    In what looked like a beautiful dance, Fang Lu dodged each and every blow! Despite his chubby body, was Fang Lu agile? Of course not! He would not be able to dodge forever! Unless¡­

    Up in the sky, five lines of ancient words were shining down upon the stage¡­ Fang Lu bellowed as, one by one, those five lines all lit up!

    ¡°A Wind!¡±

    The first line shone with a glowing, green light, looking extremely imposing!

    Blowing Above!

    Scarring the Earth Below!

    Slashing the Almighty Heavens Apart!

    Forth Comes the Hurricane that Steals Lives!

    However, as for the four remaining ones, they were all trapped within the youth¡¯s throat as he had to stop the chanting to jump out of harm¡¯s way.

    The Black Dragon Blade once more attempted to slash towards Fang Lu¡¯s body, but the youth, whose speed had been enhanced, even if only slightly, due to the winds, was able to jump out of harm¡¯s way.

    Once more, five lines lit up:

    ¡°A Fire!¡±The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

    The first line once more glowed with fiery light¡­

    To Burn Tall!

    A Pillar of Destruction!

    It Shall Devour the Land!

    The Earth But A Sea Of Flames!

    ¡°Cough!¡±

    And, once more, the remaining four lines all grew dark again, as only a pillar of fire burned for a moment before disappearing¡­

    Fang Lu wiped the blood trickling down his cheeks as he lifted his gaze:

    Xiao Wu shook the blade in her hands and then tightened her grip on the Black Dragon Aura Sword. Behind her, the White Tree Shield glowed with unparallelled might as what looked like a faint white armour began to cover her whole body¡­

    Swish!

    Slash!

    Just as the Black Dragon Sword appeared out of nowhere again, dashing towards Fang Lu¡¯s body, the girl kicked off the ground and slashed with the black sword¡¯s Aura counterpart.

    Fang Lu found himself in quite the dilemma: he could not use his five-chant-long abilities, because it would only take a moment for the two black swords with a dragon depicted on it to impale him through and through!

    However, if he kept going like this, under the fierce assault of the flying sword¡¯s surprise attacks and the girl¡¯s head-on charges, he was doomed to fall sooner or later.

    Had the young girl always been this powerful? This strength was something that made him want to cower, a single blow would be able to destroy him in both body and soul!

    What¡¯s more¡­ the pressure she emitted was such that it could possibly rival even the Reverend stage! Was Xiao Wu a Reverend stage expert?

    What the hell is up with this boost in spiritual power!?!

    ¡°You bastard¡­¡± As he dodged left and right, using what little was left of his wind-attribute, boosting his speed, to evade the oncoming attacks, Fang Lu couldn¡¯t help but release his pent-up frustration against the man, he assumed, was behind it all!

    ¡°Fu Yin, by angering this demon, are you fucking trying to kill me?!?¡±

    Slash!

    Swish!

    No matter how much Fang Lu struggled, he could barely dodge Xiao Wu¡¯s blows: if the girl charged from the front, he could be sure that the flying sword would already be dashing towards his defenseless back.

    He simply had no time to return the blows! He couldn¡¯t even attack back! Let alone retaliate, he was having trouble simply dodging!

    He gritted his teeth as he glanced in Fu Yin¡¯s way: the white-haired youth was laughing so hard that foam was forming around his mouth.

    A vein popped on Fang Lu¡¯s forehead as his expression finally turned serious. With a feral howl, the chubby youth suddenly turned in midair and stomped on the ground!

    Xiao Wu¡¯s eyes suddenly widened as she dodged to the side and erected her White Tree Shield. Every cell in her body was screaming, and she soon found out that it had been a good choice to trust her instincts!

    The whole world seemed to stop as space bent: a silvery blade formed, hovering just a few feet away from Fang Lu. This blade gave off a feeling of incredible sharpness, as if it could split mountains in half with but a light swing!

    Slash!

    Clang!

    The White Tree Shield and the metallic blade had clashed! A dense fog rose, blocking the view for the members of the audience!

    The blade had shattered, however Xiao Wu had been forced backwards a few steps! Scratch that, she had actually been blown back for at least a dozen feet, out of the mist!

    Fang Lu¡¯s voice suddenly rang out:

    ¡°Once I am done with this, let alone punching you, fucking blue-eyed asshole, you¡¯ll be thanking your mother for not having given you a pair of extra balls for me to crush!¡±

    The fog dispersed and the chubby youth¡¯s figure appeared. When the eyes of the audience gazed upon the scene below, they were immediately astonished.

    Why?

    Because, around Fang Lu¡¯s body, there where countless symbols swirling about. They were all copies of a single symbol. Composed of two parallel lines, it was none other than the character for Metal in the P¨¡ramit¨¡n language!

    It was a single character, yet there were so many copies of it that the chubby youth¡¯s figure could barely be seen!

    Just as the shards of the broken blade dissipated, one of the many symbols grew dim and disappeared¡­

    At that, the crowds gasped: that attack¡­ could it be that terrifying blade that had appeared out of nowhere had actually been just one of many? A single blow had been able to blow Xiao Wu back for more than a dozen feet, what would happen if all of those blades were to attack at once?

    Quantity over quality? Of course not! The fierce metallic blades were pretty abundant in both quantity AND quality!

    In the middle of that ocean of swirling symbols, Fang Lu was panting and looked completely spent. A long gash dripping with blood went from his left shoulder all the way down to his right hip: that had been the sacrifice required for him to set up his counterattack.

    He couldn¡¯t hope to dodge both blades, so he was forced to receive the attack of the Aura Sword head on, just barely managing to avoid getting cleaved in half, resulting in the bloody wound on his belly.

    As he hugged his chest and groaned from the pain, Fang Lu gritted his teeth and swallowed back the curses:

    Fucking assholes¡­ had I used my Martial Way I would not have been forced to such a state! Fortunately, I can still do voiceless incantation up to the First Tier!

    The chubby youth turned to look at Fu Yin. The lifeless pair of blue eyes glinted with amusement as the man¡¯s lips parted:

    ¡°Having fun?¡±

    Hearing the white-haired boy¡¯s words, Fang Lu¡¯s face became dark and his expression grew sour. His mouth twitched as he gritted his teeth so fiercely that a creaking sound rang out:

    Fu Yin, you bastard, I nearly died back there! If I get out of here alive, I¡¯m gonna fucking rape your ass with somebody else¡¯s dick!

 Chapter 95 - The Tower Of Babel

    <h1></h1>

    <h1></h1>

    Records of the Nine Heavens (ThirdExcerpt)

    Records of the Nine Heavens - Anecdote IX: The Tower of Babel.

    Appearing in the True Heavens at some unknown time soon after Hundredth X¨±¡¯s appearance, it was said to hold within the knowledge of countless lifetimes, almost as if a benevolent god had suddenly decided to give away his knowledge to the flimsy mortals.

    However, in a world where the strong triumphed over the weak, everything would come at a price.

    The gates of knowledge would only open to those who really needed it¡­ or that were deemed worthy. Almost as if having a life of its own, the tower would travel nonstop for decades, millennia, forever even, unless ¡®it¡¯ deemed that the time to impart knowledge was nigh.

    After countless years of research, the truth was revealed: the only ones that would be able to enter the tower¡­ would be the descendants of Hundredth X¨±! Bearing the blood of the Ancients, such a requirement for entering the tower already excluded most of the beings in existence.

    Due to this, some even hypothesized that the tower¡¯s mysterious creator was none other than Hundredth X¨± himself! These hypothesis would end up being discarded due to future events¡­

    That said, not all Ancients would be able to enter the tower. Even then, they would only have a total of seventy-seven days to fully read the contents within.

    The language the ancient tomes had been written in was extremely peculiar. Not only it could be understood by any person that laid his eyes upon the text, but it would also burn itself into the reader¡¯s mind.

    What was read would be learned. What was learned would not be forgotten.

    However, few have been recorded to have ever entered the tower. Even then, due to the time limit, they would only be able to read but a few of the millions of tomes residing within the gigantic tower¡­

    A total of seven millions, seven hundred seventy-seven thousands, seventy hundred seventy-seven tomes. Such were the words engraved upon the gates of the tower:

    ¡°Seven millions, containing the techniques that make the heavens cry.

    Seven hundreds of thousands, records of the Kings and Demons of old.

    Seven tens of thousands, the beasts that roam the skies

    Seven thousands, secrets that should never have been told.

    Seven hundreds, legends whose protagonists have long since died.

    Seventy, recording the tales of the globe.

    Six, Ancient Tombs whose riches make deities sigh.

    And at last, One¡­ the final truth that shall rock the world!¡±Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

    Hundred X¨± himself, once he finally walked within the gates, actually failed in the task of reading all the books in the span of seventy-seven days¡­ who was Hundredth X¨±? He was a deity! An overlord of the Heavens! An unsurmountable existence that could rival the might of the Four Emperors!

    Despite his skill in the manipulation of time and space, such a thing was not permitted within the Tower! Due to that, he failed! The Jade Emperor¡¯s defeat at the hands of the Tower would be an object of debate for years to come¡­

    After the Heavenly Emperor¡¯s failure, countless years passed. The Tower roamed the skies, appearing in random places at random times¡­ until, a thousand years ago, it suddenly stopped!

    At that time, a figure challenged the trial of the roaming tower! The red eyes and strange mark on their bodies, characteristics of Hundredth X¨±¡¯s descendants, traits of the Ancient Ones, if searched for, would not be found on his body!

    And yet¡­

    Seemingly without a care in the world, this person, whose name contained the word X¨±, stepped within the Tower¡¯s gates!

    He was told to have a pair of mesmerizing blue eyes, often inspiration of poets for their poems, and an object of study for artists to capture the essence of the color blue.

    Such eyes were said to have merely glanced upon the Tower¡¯s description for but an instant. By that time, the person¡¯s figure had already stepped into the unknown of the Tower of Babel!

    He was not an Ancient. The Tower of Babel did not reject the youth named X¨± L¨ªng, the Evil Saint, and instead welcomed his presence, almost like an object would greet its master.

    Conquering the Tower of Babel had, without any doubt, become one of the most important factors about his Heaven-defying cultivation speed.

    Space and Time would bent at his will. The restrictions imposed upon the almighty Hundredth X¨± seemed to have no effect upon the young X¨± L¨ªng as the countless years spent reading all those tomes were squeezed in just seventy-six days!

    [¡­]

    ¡°And at last, One¡­ the final truth that shall rock the world!¡±

    This was the linethe Tower of Babel¡¯s creator had left behind describing the final tome! The 777¡¯777¡¯777th book!

    Chosen of the Tower. Lord of Babel. All-Knowing Saint. However, despite all those titles, one book had remained untouched by the youth that would, in the close future, fall by the hands of the Tyrant.

    A Truth that could have rocked the world¡­ what could it have been? Why did the tower expel the Evil Saint, X¨± L¨ªng, even though the seventy-seven days available had yet to run out?

    To such a question, there would be no answer and at the same time too many. Apparently, the time for such knowledge to emerge, for the world to turn upside down, had yet to come¡­

    [...]

    Mentions of a white-haired old man suddenly emerging from within the tower one day attracted the notice of many historians of the time. Despite countless years of searching, nothing would be found¡­

    Here is a testimony:

    (Please, keep in mind the accuracy of such a testimony is to be doubted due to the lack of evidence proving its authenticity. This also is a testimony from thousands of years ago, so the content may vary from the original.)

    Red eyes emanating tangible killing intent! Moving without creating disturbances in the wind! The amiable smile on his face and the mild appearance contrasted greatly with his violent aura!

    His hair was white, the left side of the man''s head was devoid of any strand of hair, all the while long braids fell from the right part of his scalp. His two sword-shaped eyebrows seemingly sharp enough to cut through concrete. A single look at this old man¡¯s figure and I lose the ability to stand up straight!

    And yet, I could feel that this old man clearly had no cultivation! How in the world that could be possible, I have no idea. All I know¡­ is that I, despite his lack of cultivation, at that time, in the eyes of such an individual, I had been no different than a speck of dust.

    That old man¡­ I am now sure that he could not have been mortal! Wait! How did that phrase go? The one on the Tower¡¯s gates! Uh? One truth that shall rock the world? Wait¡­ could it be?

    [...]

    Excerpts from the work: Records of the Nine Heavens

    Author: Unknown

 Chapter 96 - Golden Touch

    Xiao Wu said nothing as she coldly stared at the many symbols surrounding Fang Lu¡¯s body. She knew just how powerful a single one of them was. After all, she had just experienced it firsthand.

    She looked up and the Purple Moon in the sky suddenly shuddered as it glowed even brighter! In the eyes of the young girl, everything the moon shone upon would slow down considerably.

    While bathing in the violet light, few things escaped her notice! The veins in her eyes glowed a bright purple as her two pupils turned violet. The green irises seemed to twist as the pupils began to emit a threatening violet light.

    In her left hand, Xiao Wu held the Black Dragon Aura Sword. The right hand¡¯s fingers were nimbly operating, controlling the White Tree Shield. Meanwhile, the Black Dragon Blade, almost as if it had gained life, fiercely attacked Fang Lu.

    Resembling a real life dragon as it bit the air, the blade tore through space at speeds invisible to the naked eye.

    And yet¡­

    Clang! Clang! Clang!

    With loud clashes, every attack would be repelled by the strange metallic blades summoned by the floating symbols! No matter how fast the blade travelled, a symbol would light up, the sharp edge of a metallic tongue condensing into existence before shattering against Xiao Wu¡¯s Martial Way.

    On the other hand, the recoil would be enough for another symbol to light up! It had turned into a vicious cycle where the powerful Black Dragon Sword was kept at bay!

    ¡°Finally, that bloody thing is taken care of!¡±

    A foot stepped out of the encirclement of the symbols. Fang Lu¡¯s robes were covered in the vermillion blood gushing out from the wound on his chest. His scroll floated right beside him, emitting a powerful pressure.

    Behind him, the Black Dragon Sword let out a fierce howl as it desperately threw itself against the cage of symbols. Needless to say, it was all for naught, as the powerful Martial Way found itself locked in a cage!

    ¡°Now¡­ shall we continue?¡±

    When he saw this, the chubby youth¡¯s eyes gleamed with amusement:

    Such a high-quality treasure¡­ it borders the aquiral of a consciousness! In the future, I am sure it will be able grow without stopping! At that time, I fear that few Attack-Type Martial Ways would be able to rival it in strength or speed!

    Still, it is too early for that! If you think mindlessly attacking now will bring any merit, you are nothing but a fool! Young one¡­ You are wasting the potential of your Martial Way!

    Fang Lu was not his usual mild and composed self. The amiable smile had long since turned into a serious expression, hatred and anger flashing deep in his eyes.

    Suddenly, his pupils shrunk as he sidestepped. The sword made out of Aura passed just a hair¡¯s breadth away from his neck.

    Xiao Wu twisted her body, evading the older man¡¯s palm. Stomping on the ground with her left foot, she twirled and once again her blade slashed towards the man¡¯s vitals.

    Whatever¡­ this is getting annoying!

    Fang Lu¡¯s simply smiled as he lifted his hand to block the blow!

    Clang!

    Xiao Wu¡¯s eyes widened in shock: this sound was the sound of metal clashing against metal!

    What in the world¡­

    As she gaped, the young girl¡¯s expression twisted as she felt her arm flare up from the recoil. It was as if she had just used a stick to hit a concrete wall.

    Lifting her gaze, her heightened sight picked up the fading symbol on the man¡¯s palm.

    ¡°Ouch¡­ that hurt!¡±

    Fang Lu was waving his hand and blowing on his palms as if they were burning.

    He lifted his gaze and it landed on Xiao Wu¡¯s face. Noticing her shock, he sent a grin to his astonished opponent and explained:

    ¡°What? Although I enhanced my body, it still hurts! After all, we are talking about Aura here!¡±

    He smiled:

    ¡°Feel free to try again!¡±This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

    Xiao Wu couldn¡¯t help but go blank for a second. Then, her mouth and eyes twitched as she gritted her teeth.

    It hurts? Being hit by an object made out of Aura ¡®hurts¡¯?

    Xiao Wu smiled grimly: it looked like, in the end, whether she hated it or not, she had to admit that she was way below Fang Lu in many aspects. However, deep within, the young girl was beaming with excitement:

    This guy¡­ he wants to take my attacks head-on!

    Xiao Wu smiled. Her green eyes shone as she breathed in and out, in and out, ignoring the pain coming from her arm as she clenched her grip around the blade¡¯s handle. However, this was a chance she had been waiting for a while:

    Let¡¯s see¡­ if you will still smile after this!

    Xiao Wu¡¯s body flickered and she appeared above Fang Lu:

    ¡°Yaaagh!!!¡±

    Following the loud battle cry, the Black Dragon Aura Sword turned into a flash of light as the young girl slashed with all her might!

    If I don¡¯t have to worry about you dodging...

    Clang!

    I can strike with all my might!

    This time, Xiao Wu smiled as she saw a thin, crimson line appear on the chubby youth¡¯s palm.

    Fang Lu¡¯s eyes widened: what had just happened? Xiao Wu grinned with excitement and immediately another attack followed! However, this attack was even more beautifully executed, barely leaving any room for dodging!

    Fang Lu¡¯s expression grew serious as he thought:

    This girl¡­ was she aiming for this?

    He ducked and bent his body, evading the sword¡¯s edge by an hair¡¯s breadth. Suddenly, his eyes widened, his pupils shrinking as the sharp tip of a blade appeared just a few inches away from his pupil¡­

    Clang!

    Once again, the striking sound rang out as the chubby youth was able to put up his guard just in time. This time however, he had to use his forearm to block the blow! A golden, glowing mark sizzled as it disappeared into the air, leaving behind a long, thin, crimson line on the skin below.

    Fang Lu felt cold sweat trickling down his back:

    This is getting quite dangerous!

    He gritted his teeth: up until a while ago, the girl¡¯s strikes had carried a great deal of strength to them. He had to admit he had been shocked at the great increase in her cultivation, but her strikes had all been easy to dodge due to the lack of precision on the girl¡¯s part.

    Xiao Wu smiled.

    The initial burst of speed had indeed shocked Fang Lu, not leaving him a chance to retaliate. However, this had been due to the fact that he had been taken by surprise from the girl¡¯s fierce attacks and great speed.

    After the Black Dragon Sword had been locked away, although it had required quite the price to do it, dodging those mindless swings didn¡¯t bring much of a challenge. Instead, Fang Lu had used that time to recuperate, to slowly wear the girl down.

    However, this time he had indeed made a mistake. Xiao Wu had seen the chance and had taken it.

    After all, at the moment¡­ her cultivation could rival the Sung stage and fight the Reverend stage! To receive a blow head-on as it carried such might, it was nothing short of foolish!

    Fang Lu evaded the blade once again, this time around however, his lips had become a thin line and his whole expression was one of regret: he had been once again caught into the girl¡¯s rhythm!

    He could, of course, wait a while, enough for him to recover the spiritual energy spent on the cage of the metallic blades so he could create another one. However, he had made the choice earlier on, that this would be a challenge for him! He would not back out now! He had to see this through!

    After all, since everything had been laid down so perfectly, why would he not give this new tactic of his a shot?

    ¡­

    Fu Yin was carefully observing the exchange happening in between the two cultivators on the stage. He was pensive: he had done all he could to unnerve Fang Lu and to boost Xiao Wu¡¯s performance, even if by a little.

    Now, he had no more tricks up his sleeve. Unfortunately, this time around he had lost. He leaned back on his chair and sighed:

    ¡°Damn it. Looks like my luck run out. That guy is such a pain¡­¡°

    Sou Rou lifted one of her eyebrows. She rolled her eyes and sighed:

    ¡°Oh, omniscient lord Fu Yin, what heaven-defying, world-shaking event might be troubling his most intelligent being?¡±

    Fu Yin ignored the girl¡¯s tone. He rubbed the bridge of his nose with his index finger and pondered out aloud:

    ¡°I thought that he would have chosen Earth to reinforce. Who knew that he would also be proficient with Gold?¡±

    His eyes lit up:

    ¡°Then again, Gold is closely related with Metal, so it shouldn¡¯t amount to such a great surprise. I was just foolish to not take that into account as I was planning a way that would allow Little Wu to win this fight¡­¡±

    Sou Rou stared at Fu Yin:

    ¡°Basically?¡±

    Fu Yin snorted as he pointed at the stage:

    ¡°Basically, we have been had. Sister lost.¡±

    Sou Rou suddenly realized the members of the audience had all gone silent. It was as if¡­ they had lost the ability to speak!

    She turned and her eyes widened in disbelief. On the stage, Fang Lu was wiping away the blood and sweat from his face. He turned to look at Lao Jianghu:

    ¡°I doubt you will have troubles dealing with gold-related stuff, right? I have no more strength right now to dispel that ability and it will harm her if we don¡¯t hurry.¡±

    The old man nodded and smiled at the chubby youth:

    ¡°Seriously, you young ones always find a way to keep us old people entertained!¡±

    Lao Jianghu smiled and waved his sleeve, dispelling the golden barrier. He stepped in and smiled, waving his hands dismissively:

    ¡°Go. I will handle the young tigress.¡±

    He walked towards the center of the stage where a golden colored fog was slowly dispersing.

    There, the golden statue of a young girl had appeared out of nowhere. The child held in her hand what looked like a sword and her expression showed no trace of surprise nor shock. After all, even up to the very last moment, she had been unaware of her fate.

 Chapter 97 - A Pyramid Of Corpses Shant Last, For It Is Bound To Fall

    As the Black Dragon Aura Sword clashed against Fang Lu¡¯s palm, the symbol on the youth¡¯s skin turned into mist and then dissipated. However, just as the girl sent out another powerful slash, the chubby young man¡¯s skin would glow once again and a new symbol would reappear, as if nothing had happened.

    This event brought no surprise to Xiao Wu, as she had already witnessed it happen numerous times in the last few moments of their duel. However, she could feel that each time she struck down upon the symbol, her opponent¡¯s spiritual energy would greatly decrease!

    If this exchange kept going, she would emerge victorious! However, she did not allow her excitement to interfere with her judgement. She still kept under her notice both the cage of Metal Marks, as she had come to dub them, as well as the youth¡¯s spiritual energy consumption.

    If Fang Lu were to decide to break off the encirclement on the Martial Way and attack her directly, she would only have to resist for a single breath. Within that time, her Black Dragon Sword would without a doubt be able to cut down Fang Lu¡¯s figure.

    She was sure that she would succeed. With the aid of her White Tree Shield, she was confident of being able to block the onslaught of the metallic blades¡­ long enough for her own attack to reach her opponent, that was.

    After witnessing first-hand just how powerful each of those Marks were, she knew she would only be able to hold them off temporarily. After all, a single attack had been enough to send her flying!

    However, what was troubling her the most had been none other than Fang Lu¡¯s crazy energy consumption! At first, his spiritual energy had greatly decreased due to him having summoned so many Metal Marks.

    At that time, his reserve had been basically sucked dry.

    Thanks to his great battle skills however, he was able to recover a little by dodging her own attacks without enhancing his body. However, that had ceased not too long ago.

    It had ceased exactly when Fang Lu had stopped to dodge her blows. Instead, for some reason, he had decided to take them all on, blocking the fierce blows of the Aura Sword with his bare body¡­ not.

    Xiao Wu had long since noticed the fading symbols thanks to her heightened senses.

    The Purple Moon in the sky wasn¡¯t just for show: the purplish moonlight shone down upon the battlefield. Each ray would then bounce off the surface and carry within them information regarding the object.

    Then, these rays of purple light would be arranged and absorbed by those cultivating Purple Moon Scripture. The information contained within would be dismantled and assembled until a complete picture, or, more accurately, a bird¡¯s eye view of one¡¯s surroundings was created in the cultivator¡¯s head, together with the sound and the smell of each and every object.

    If one focused, he would also be able to enhance his taste and even his sense of touch. It was similar to the way a bat used sound waves to ¡®see¡¯ the three dimensional map of its surroundings, except this technique used the much more efficient light as a vessel.

    As it could be deduced, using such a technique would bring great strain to the mind, as it required one to process an enormous amount of information. It was a double-edged sword, but the sharper side of the blade would without a doubt be the one directed towards the sides of the shortcomings.

    It was simply that efficient in battle that, within the Xiao Clan, the users of such a technique were treated with the utmost respect. After all, these users made up the strongest of the three Halls of the Xiao Clan, the Purple Hall!Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    Back to the heated duel, the two contestants were engaged in a beautiful dance: in a single breath, countless flashes would tear through space as the Black Dragon Aura Sword executed countless flawless slashes; on the other side, meeting the fierce attacks of the Aura weapon, Fang Lu¡¯s body would light up with mysterious symbols and silently endure the girl¡¯s onslaught.

    However, something was slowly changing. It was as if something was about to happen, the sixth senses of some of the members in the audience were all tingling. Something was underway. They could feel it. Yet, they couldn¡¯t notice anything unusual, let alone come to any conclusion other than it being nothing but a vague sensation.

    After all, how could Fang Lu possibly turn this around? His spiritual energy would be completely exhausted in a few breaths, the winner of this battle had already been decided! However by thinking that, they were gravely mistaken!

    Just as the black blade descended once more, searching for the finishing blow, and Fang Lu¡¯s lifted up his trembling, wounded arm to block, his spiritual energy all but gone, his tired body completely covered in long, thin cuts, his robes reduced to rags¡­ the unthinkable happened.

    Whoosh!

    A blinding, golden light! Each of them a beautiful golden color, coming in all sizes and intensities, countless mysterious Marks had suddenly appeared on Xiao Wu¡¯s body, completely concealing her figure! Covering her from head to toe, it was as if they had always been there!

    In such a short frame of time that few had the chance to process it, these golden symbols suddenly seemed to solidify as they adhered to the skin and turned into a sparkly, golden substance...

    Leaving but two holes beneath the nostrils, the young girl had completely turned into a golden statue!

    The audience stared in astonishment as Fang Lu exchanged a few words with the esteemed First Protector, Lao Jianghu, and then walked, or more accurately, limped, towards the stalls, heading for his master.

    ¡°Now, now¡­ look what we have here! A beaten-up brat who is arrogant enough to think that he would be able to defeat his opponent without using his most powerful weapon!¡±

    Mu Gu scoffed and waved his hands: an illusory tree appeared and inglobated Fang Lu within. The young boy said nothing as his gaze fell on his battered body. Under the recovery effect of his master¡¯s sensed Qi, the World Tree, his wounds were healing at speeds visible to the naked eye.

    Fang Lu smiled bitterly as the last wound closed, leaving behind a faint, white mark that also disappeared soon thereafter.

    Leave it to the annoying old man¡­ I will never cease to be amazed at your healing ability! As long as I am still alive, let alone a missing limb, this old man would probably be able to heal me even if I was cleaved in half at the waist!

    ¡°Little Lu¡­ you should never, ever underestimate your opponents. Not because it will most likely bring you to your demise someday, but because it will affect those that depend on you as well! And that day may come sooner than you might think...¡±

    Mu Gu¡¯s serious tone shook Fang Lu awake. The chubby youth tilted his head and showed a confused expression on his face:

    ¡°What are you talking about, Master? I have always been a lone wolf, why should anybody depend on me?¡±

    Mu Gu didn¡¯t answer, however, deep in his sharp, penetrating eyes a hint of some unknown emotion flashed by for a single moment¡­

    My disciple¡­ in this world where there is no limit to the power one can gain,only the wickedreign on top of a pyramid of corpses. Do you wish to slay countless and be remembered as a murderer¡­ or to save even more and be recognized as a hero?

    You will soon come to understand, that the true winners aren¡¯t those that walk upon corpses to rise higher. That is the path of evil, and evil will always be purged by those that are good.

    A true winner¡­ is one that kills when needed, that saves whenever he has the ability to. One that does not need countless corpses to rise, and instead, is lifted by the sturdy arms of his allies, people that he knows he can count on and that will never let go.

    A pyramid, like all buildings, is bound to collapse with time, whether it be build with stones, bricks or corpses. It is only the love between brothers, people that have undergone the harshest of trials and come out victorious together, that shall reign eternal.

    And that love is what shall build steps to a stairway that shall never fall. A stairway so sturdy that won¡¯t collapse even in death!

 Chapter 98 - Attack!

    The whole Arena was silent. The eyes of all onlookers were on the stage where two figures could be seen confronting each other¡­

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°Uhm...¡± Lao Jianghu was slowly growing impatient: he wasn¡¯t here to babysit a bunch of kids! He was here to watch those kids slaughter each other! Not too the point where limbs were sent flying, sure, but a bloody show was always entertaining to watch.

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°You two planning to stare at each other any longer?¡±

    Te Rin smiled as she saw the two majestic geniuses, the monstrous Fang Lu and the mysterious Fu Yin seemingly hold a glaring contest. If that had been the occasion however, the match would have been completely one-sided¡­

    The chubby youth had veins popping out of his forehead and his red eyes had swollen to the size of two tennis balls while a big, red, slap mark could be seen on his left cheek. Meanwhile, Fu Yin was holding both his hands on his mouth as he spasmed occasionally, his eyes tearing as he did his best trying to hold his laughter in.

    ¡°No need to worry sis¡­¡± Fang Lu¡¯s eyes twitched as he gritted his teeth:

    ¡°This won¡¯t last long¡­¡±

    Fang Lu suddenly bared his teeth and his veins bulged out even more on his chubby face. Fu Yin finally could not hold it in any longer:

    ¡°Pfff¡­ AHAHAHAHAH!¡±

    Fang Lu retracted his fierce expression and made a victory sign:

    ¡°Told ya. My victory.¡±

    Falling down on the ground, the white-haired boy couldn¡¯t resist the urge to laugh after looking at his opponent¡¯s appearance: it was simply too comical!

    As the white-haired boy had foam coming out from the sides of his mouth, his spasms slowly ceasing as he growed closer and closer to death¡­

    ¡°Woah¡­ first time ever I see someone truly ¡®ROFTL¡¯ing¡­ I must admit it is quite amusing!¡± Te Rin giggled at the scene. Then, she shook her head in disbelief:

    ¡°Who could have thought that brother Fu Yin had such a weakness¡­¡±

    Fang Lu nodded:

    ¡°Knowing this crazy bastard, if someone else did know, he would not be standing(?) in front of us right now. Instead, to see him, we would probably have to search somewhere very deep underground. His ability to make enemies is something to be admired!¡±

    Te Rin pouted:

    ¡°And you are confident that this cannot possibly be used in battle? Like, a hundred percent sure? This could very well turn out being a trump card like no other!¡±

    Fang Lu nodded:

    ¡°Definitely. This guy transforms into a whole different person if given the time to get serious. After all, else, would you believe that this guy is actually the most powerful disciple in this Sect?¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Te Rin¡¯s eyes opened wide as he heard the youth¡¯s words:

    ¡°You actually think of yourself as inferior to someone? That¡¯s¡­ rare. First time I¡¯ve seen this as well! It is true that you learn something new everyday!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t try me girl.¡± Fang Lu¡¯s cheeks flared up as he glared at the young woman:This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    ¡°The only way we can defeat that brute is by working together, otherwise we would not be talking like this. However, I wouldn¡¯t mind landing in a blow or two at the cost of your life if needed. You should not-¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah, about that offer of yours¡­¡± Te Rin interrupted by bowing, almost as if she were seeking forgiveness: ¡°Sorry, but I am afraid we can¡¯t work together after all!¡±

    ¡°Uh?¡± Fang Lu¡¯s mind went blank: ¡®can¡¯t work together after all¡¯? What did that mean? Could you eat a ¡®can¡¯t work together after all¡¯? Were they any good for your skin?

    Then, his jaw hit the ground as enough time passed for the words to sink in¡­

    ¡°WHAAAA?¡± Fang Lu¡¯s eyes were literally about to fall from their orbits as they had widened that much. It took a few moments, but he finally regained his mental capacities:

    ¡°What do you mean?!? We can¡¯t possibly hope to fight that monster alone! Listen, I already told you my plan! It might not be enough to guarantee victory, but without a doubt it¡¯s our best option! Do you think you, with your abilities, could actually be a match for him?¡±

    ¡°Uh?¡± Te Rin shook her head in confusion:

    ¡°No, nothing of the sort. It¡¯s the opposite. Just as you said, he already saw through my technique from the very start. We know he is able to see energy fluctuations due to your research, so wherever I hide, he would be able to find me. Even if I hid beside the First Protector, using his powerful presence to disguise mine as I had done before, he could just go through process of elimination to find me. At that time, would you risk your life to protect me? Nah, you¡¯d probably, use that as an opening. What¡¯s more, your techniques are mostly large-scale attacks, to use those against him would probably lead to me being caught up in a crossfire as well. Then, what if we followed this plan of yours? If this plan did, in fact, work, it would still require one of us to be gravely injured in the process. What if we fail? I¡¯m pretty sure that demon wouldn¡¯t let go of a single chance to torture us, so I would basically be throwing myself in the mouth of the tiger. Finally, even if we defeated him, what then? I would probably be either powerless due to running out of spiritual energy, as you have much more spiritual energy than me this would put me at a disadvantage, or simply be unable to fight due to the injuries incurred in the clash against Fu Yin¡­¡±

    Fang Lu felt his head ache as if someone had decided to pick him as a target for some warhammer training. Was this girl always this talkative?

    ¡°Wait! Slow down, so, basically, you are telling me¡­¡±

    Te Rin smiled: ¡°Yep, I quit our little ¡®team¡¯, not that there has ever been one in the first place. Since I am going to lose anyways, why should I help you and get hurt in the process? Thanks, but no thanks. There are people who actually use their brains here instead of coming up with some absurd plans!¡±

    ¡°Oh, snap! Man down, man down! He¡¯s got severe burns!¡± Fu Yin yelled as he rested on his back.

    Fang Lu and the audience both stared in shock as the young girl willingly walked down the stage and made a sign to Lao Jianghu:

    ¡°Esteemed First Protector Lao Jianghu, I give up! Please, feel free to start the match in my absence!¡±

    Those words hit Fang Lu like a mountain. What the hell had just happened?

    ¡°Oh, brother Fu Yin! Will you really tell me later how exactly Fang Lu got slapped leaving that palm mark as you promised?¡±

    ¡°~Sure~¡±

    ¡°Thanks!¡±

    Fang Lu¡¯s expression had turned into something unbelievable. If anyone were to eat crap as he watched his or her loved one be raped right in front of their eyes by their most hated person, his or her expression would still not match up to the display of emotions on Fang Lu¡¯s face!

    With a wave of the golden eyed, white haired old man, the golden, semitransparent walls appeared and glowed brightly. The old man nodded and loudly proclaimed:

    ¡°Very well. The fight may begin!¡±

    The audience exploded with countless yells and shouts. These bloodthirsty cries were so loud that they eclipsed those from the previous battles. Suddenly, however, these cries stopped.

    The reason was that a red fog had appeared within the golden shield, completely blocking the view from the outside world. Many members of the audience started booing: they were here to watch a show, how could they possibly see anything with that bloody fog in the way?

    However, Lao Jianghu¡¯s thoughts were vastly different¡­

    So¡­ it starts.

    However, what he was looking at was not the stage, but instead, it was the inner area of the Golden Emperor Sect. There, a total of four figures all stood up from their seats on the very top of the tallest tower in the innermost Ring.

    ¡°Let¡¯s head out.¡±

    The voice broken voice of a youth sounded out.

    And, just as the four figures disappeared, Lao Jianghu¡¯s voice echoed out, startling everyone present:

    ¡°ENEMY ATTACK!¡±

    At that time, the first thought to pass through the minds of the members of the audience most probably must have been:

    Uh? An attack? Enemies? Where?

    Just as the people from the Sect recovered from the shock induced by the shout, countless robed figures stood up from all over the stalls.

    The enemy¡­ had actually been there all along, mixing with the members of the audience up until now! Unnoticed, they had been lurking, biding for time!

    Their motive unknown, countless figures stood up and charged towards the stage!

 Chapter 99 - True Geniuses Leave Behind No Corpses... Unless Its Their Own.

    ¡°Very well. The fight may begin!¡±

    Just as those words were uttered, a red mist enveloped the whole stage, cutting it off from the outside world! Fang Lu suddenly felt someone¡¯s breath on his exposed neck: he shivered as a demonic presence spread behind him¡­

    He lifted his gaze: Fu Yin had disappeared from his previous position!

    ¡°You had pretty intense eyes while fighting with my sis, didn¡¯t you? Maybe you wanted to tell me something?¡± The other¡¯s amused tone sent a chill down the chubby youth¡¯s spine.

    Fang Lu gulped and kicked off the ground, reappearing a few dozen feet away. Once there, he turned around¡­ only to find his legs giving out beneath him!

    The whole stage was nowhere close as it had been in the past. Countless vicious, spiked thorns were erupting from the ground, a bloody grass had begun to grow and, as he walked on top of it, the countless small crimson blades bled whenever they were stepped on.

    Rivers of fresh, red blood floated in the air while countless, blurry, dark figures whose real appearance couldn¡¯t be seen either as small as an ant or even so big that they covered half of the entire battlefield, all stared at the chubby youth with vicious gazes¡­

    ¡°Welcome, everyone. Let me do the greetings!¡± Fu Yin spread his arms and winked at the terrified Fang Lu:

    ¡°This is my Qi: the Legacy! And such Legacy is none other than the strength of these demons, whom have passed away and now live within these new bodies I have granted them as mere shells of their former selves!¡±

    Fu Yin was smiling as he stood in between the hordes of monstrous shadows. The youth¡¯s two eyes were brimming with life as the two inverted triangles within glinted sharply.

    Finally, this pair of eyes feel upon Fang Lu¡¯s trembling figure. His gaze seemed somewhat disappointed:

    ¡°So, in the end, I am despised even among those who also wield immense power at their fingertips¡­ if even you, Fang Lu, the chosen to wield the P¨¡ramit¨¡n Scroll, actually trembles like so in my presence, what exactly is this identity of mine that induces terror in so many hearts?¡±

    Fang Lu stood up on his wobbly legs, his face extremely pale, as if he had seen a ghost. Yet, despite all this, is voice sounded calm, almost too calm:

    ¡°Who are you? You aren¡¯t human, your aura is that which the dead bear!¡±

    The chubby youth examined Fu Yin¡¯s body when his focus feel on the other¡¯s weird pupils:

    ¡°Those eyes¡­ in many languages, triangles symbolize the cycle of reincarnation. Life, death, rebirth, the cycle of the living and the dead. The top corner of the pyramid represents life, the bottom corners are death and reincarnation. By putting the two corners of ¡®death¡¯ at the top, what does it mean?¡±

    Fu Yin lifted his gaze and smiled bitterly, his inverted triangles shining just as bright as earlier, even if a little bit more melancholy. He lifted one of his hands and caressed the nails embedded in his temples:

    ¡°That¡­ is what I had hoped to ask you. However, seeing that you are also unable to answer it, I deem it would be useless to ask you any more¡­ at least, for now. We will have more time later¡­ a lot more.¡±

    ¡°After all, we will leave this place very soon. In just a few moments actually, so pay attention! I guess the Fang Clan should have given you more than enough information about the world, seeing that your sensed Qi is one that follows the nine elements and that you carry a Martial Way on yourself, so I¡¯m going to keep it short.¡±

    Fu Yin¡¯s eyes refocused:

    ¡°Under the guise of an attack on the part of the Zhao Clan, we will disappear from the Sect in a few moments.¡±

    ¡°After I receive the signal, we will all be heading towards the center of the Sect and we will leave this plane of existence to venture to another one¡­ more accurately, it is going to be an Ageless quality Plane of Existence.¡±

    Fang Lu paled:

    ¡°What¡­¡±Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    ¡°I know, it is quite shocking¡­¡± Fu Yin smiled bitterly:

    ¡°I too had been surprised when the old man first told me. Apparently, due to the little chaos a few months ago, some higher ups from the Nine Heavens found out that something was wrong¡­ you know what I mean, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Nine Heavens?¡± Fang Lu frowned.

    Fu Yin rolled his eyes and sighed:

    ¡°Dear lord. It means that an ambassador of Tian, lord of the Nine Heavens, is coming here in a few months! And trust me, we do NOT want him to know about our presence here! because of that, we will have to disappear!¡±

    Fang Lu paled:

    ¡°The Heavenly Emperor? Why would the Heavens focus on such a lowly Plane? And why should we escape?¡±

    Fu Yin ignored him and lifted his gaze:

    ¡°Now, it should be about time!¡±

    Just as those words were uttered, a loud bellow shook the ground:

    ¡°ENEMY ATTACK!¡±

    ¡°Is that¡­¡± Fang Lu turned and looked at Fu Yin.

    Fu Yin smiled: ¡°Yes, that was Lao Jianghu. Pretty loud, wasn¡¯t he? It looks like things are going to get hot out there! Now, shall we go?¡±

    Before Fang Lu could ask anything, be it where, how or why, the air trembled, emitting ripples like that of a pond. Then, what looked like a veil was lifted and a beauty with a pair of wise, red eyes and long, ginger hair falling down her back, suddenly appeared out of thin air.

    Her red eyes were faintly glowing purple, however the glow was slowly fading, replaced by the piercing red. As soon as she saw the two youths, she waved her arm:

    ¡°Come on boys, hurry! We cannot evade their gazes for much longer!¡± The woman waved her arm and a large veil spread in the space surrounding her.

    Fang Lu frowned as he followed Fu Yin and stood beside the young girl:

    ¡°Their?¡± The chubby youth asked.

    ¡°Overseers from the Nine Heavens. For some reason, up to now, they had been unable to pierce the cover of our Plane of Existence... however, soon they will ¡±

    She replied as she closed her blazing eyes and focused:

    ¡°They are still not aware what is happening right now. but they will be if we don¡¯t hurry! Stop talking to me and let me concentrate! Yin brat, you know what to do!¡±

    The white haired boy nodded. His pupils had gone back to normal, however his gaze was not lifeless at all, his expression being one of extreme focus and seriousness instead.

    Fu Yin waved his hands and two of the smaller demons in the red mist began to twist. Their sizes resembling that of a human in his growing phase and they slowly shed the dark, outer layers of their skin as their appearance turned into that of the young, white haired boy as well as Fang Lu.

    Fu Yin tapped his forehead and a tear in space appeared as the claws of a humongous beasts crawled out from within the cracks. Within the beast¡¯s curled hand were two golden swords¡­

    They were extremely fine, mesmerizing, even. The blue-eyed youth grabbed the pair of blades and threw them over to the fake Fu Yin and Fang Lu.

    After grabbing the weapons, the two copies turned simultaneously and stabbed each other in the heart with the two glowing swords.

    ¡°Got them from the Zhao Clan spies we captured¡± Fu Yin explained as beads of sweat rolled down his forehead:

    ¡°Should be able to fool them for a while, at least up until that tiger is able to cook up something better! I must admit, faking one¡¯s own death sure is exciting! Think of the big reveal!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, and you will die for real if you do not shut up.¡± The girl gritted her teeth.

    ¡°Uh, why do you say that Iris?¡± Fu Yin asked, confused. He saw nothing that could possibly threaten their lives.

    The girl¡¯s interrupted her chanting and turned to glare at the white haired boy: ¡°Because I¡¯ll end you. Kill you. Slaughter you. Lead you to meet your maker. You will stop breathing and be unable to move, ever, ever, ever again. Capish?¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    Fu Yin shut up. The ginger girl nodded and resumed the chanting of her technique.

    Fang Lu brought his hands to his mouth and choked his laughter. Had he not done so, he would have probably been choked himself.

    A few moments of awkward silence passed until¡­

    ¡°Ah-ah! I hope your red fog is as thick you said it was, Yin Brat!¡±

    Suddenly, the girl¡¯s purple eyes lit up with blinding violet light. The two youths couldn¡¯t help but shield their eyes, in fear of being blinded by such a bright light. Basked in the light, the woman didn¡¯t close her eyes and, instead, looked right ahead of her.

    She lifted her arms and searched for something in front of her¡­ suddenly, her hand grabbed on to something!

    ¡°Got it! Kids, grab on to me! And be careful at exactly what you grab. My offer to a one-way ticket to hell still stands.¡±

    The violet sea suddenly seemed to split apart as the frame of a completely white door, shining even brighter than the violet light, appeared in midair. What the ginger girl had caught with her hand had been none other than the knob to such a door. She turned the knob and the door of light revealed the inside of a large hall¡­

    The girl¡¯s eyes glowed a bright purple as she stepped forward, her hair and white robes fluttering madly, as if meeting an oncoming tempest: ¡°Hold tight!¡±

    Whoosh!

    The light immediately disappeared while the red fog began to subside, having been cut off from the ones fueling the spiritual energy to the techniques. As soon as the scarlet fog had completely disappeared, cries of shock rang out everywhere in the crowds as the images of Fang Lu and Fu Yin¡¯s bodies, the glowing, golden swords embedded in their chests, burned themselves into the minds of the audience...

 Chapter 100 - Beyond The White Door

    As soon as the fog lifted, revealing the gory scene, the countless robed figures all looked at each other and nodded. One person flew upwards, only to be met by Lao Jianghu:

    ¡°You scum!¡±

    A golden longsword flashed and the figure was cut in two¡­ however, the only thing that feel on the ground were the robes, the body was nowhere to be found!

    Seeing this, Lao Jianghu nodded satisfied and whispered with feeling, his voice compressed into a string, reaching every single robed person:

    ¡°Thanks for your hard work everyone¡­ go now. Hurry, do not get caught!¡±

    By the time it took to count to five, the robed figures were nowhere to be found¡­ and the corpses of Fang Lu and Fu Yin were on top of the stage, up for anybody to see. As people looked around, they were startled to notice¡­ that Xiao Wu and Te Rin, the tigresses who had shaken the hearts of the audience with their magnificent display of skills, had also disappeared!

    Only a pale Sou Rou still stood, surrounded by a grief-stricken Mu Gu, Fa Guan and a few more of the Sect¡¯s Elders. Her fists were curled up into balls as tears streaked down her cheeks¡­

    ¡­

    "One year minus one day from now, us four together with Xiao Wu, Fu Yin, Fang Lu, Lu Fang and Te Rin, will leave this Plane of Existence..." Goldy swallowed as his eyes turned red.

    He turned and walked away, his whole body trembling, his expression hidden as he gave his back to the three other people present.

    "We will leave!" He yelled "With or without Cheng Hao!"

    Having said that, the golden dragon gritted his teeth and flew off. Blacky waved his sleeve and the pressure blocking the way disappeared, allowing Blindlight to leave.

    He turned to look at where the other had stopped before flying away and notice circular stains on the ground...

    The Hellish Nightmare Dragon sighed and turned to look at Aster and Iris "I am sorry to ask you this... But we have no other choice" He looked at the stains and gritted his teeth as he also felt his heart tugging a bit.

    His shoulder jerked and a single tear formed on the corner of his left eye and streaked down his cheek "Blindlight... Understands as well... And will guide us to the best of his abilities..."

    After a few moments of silence, Aster lifted his head and asked once again:

    ¡°Wait¡­ why didn¡¯t he mention Sou Rou? Isn¡¯t she also coming?¡±

    The beast-turned-man was startled for a second and then sighed:

    ¡°No. After all, we cannot leave this Sect without leaving a Successor behind¡­ that would raise too much of an uproar. You know of our plan. It is already quite a mess with many holes everywhere, do you think that so many Protectors would be unable to protect even a single of the Sect¡¯s greatest geniuses.¡±

    ¡°Still¡­¡± The Hellish Nightmare Dragon smiled bitterly:

    ¡°We will tell her of the plan. She has the right to know exactly what is going on¡­ as well as the reasons for our decision. There is no need to worry about her progress: she has by her side many brilliant people such as Mu Gu and Lao Jianghu.¡±

    He sighed:

    ¡°This all¡­ is for their sake. I hate to involve humans into the matter of us Heavenly Beasts, especially children such as them. However, after all, this is a Rebellion!¡±

    ¡°To defeat the Tyrant, we have no other choice: we will have to use each and every card we have at hand! Be it beast or human children!¡±

    ¡­

    Sou Rou lifted her gaze:Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    I will not neglect my training and, when the time comes, I will be sure to be able to help you all! I will train twice, thrice, as many times as hard as I can! Cheng Hao¡­ the technique you left me, I will train in it until I can no longer breathe!

    She turned, heading towards Lao Jianghu. The old man¡¯s face was one of extreme anger. As soon as he laid his eyes on the girl he nodded:

    ¡°Are you ready? Your training will be harsh. Harsher than anything you have ever faced before. I will guide you in your breakthroughs, but I will not help you any further! And, in our spars, I will be using the full power allowed on your stage from the very start!¡±

    The voice, compressed into a string, reached Sou Rou¡¯s ears. The girl inhaled and then exhaled.

    Brothers¡­ sisters¡­ good luck! Thank you for everything! Xiao Wu, Fu Yin, Te Rin, Fang Lu, Cheng Hao¡­ I¡­ will not let you down!

    She nodded.

    ¡°Yes¡­ master!¡±

    ¡­

    The room was extremely spacious and had the shape of a large square. The walls were made out of a strange glossy material, while the ceiling, a dome made out of mysterious, dark bricks, was supported by many crystal columns located in the room¡¯s four sides.

    On each column, a torch calmly shone as the green flames burned silently, lighting up the room. Suddenly, the peacefulness of the room was broken!

    Whoosh!

    A bright, white light flashed in the large hall as the large frames of a white door appeared. As it opened, it revealed the figures of three people: a beautiful girl with ginger hair and crimson eyes shining a bright violet; a white haired, blue eyed youth, his face covered in scars, his lips arranged into a carefree smile; a chubby youth, his brown hair tied into a single ponytail, his eyes narrowed as an annoyed expression was shown on his face.

    Fu Yin stepped forward and looked around wide eyed, his mouth completely open as he gaped:

    ¡°Instant teleportation? This is actually possible?¡±

    Iris sighed in relief as she looked around: they were in the right place. Then, she turned to look at the white haired boy and nodded:

    ¡°I guess you could call it that. Basically, I bent the fabrics of space so that two points at different ends of the Earth actually touched. After that, I tore these fabrics apart. However, instead of creating the usual space rifts, as two ends of space were touching, these two points were connected and thus it allowed me to travel from there to here.¡±

    Iris looked behind her as the door shrunk and disappeared completely. As she thought just how close they had been to death, she felt cold sweat trickling down her back.

    ¡°Had I got the coordinates wrong, we would not be here talking. Fortunately, it seems like I calculated them correctly. I guess, after the sixth time doing this, it becomes much easier.¡±

    Fang Lu frowned:

    ¡°Sixth time?¡±

    ¡°Yap¡­ and soon, it¡¯s going to be the eighth...¡± Iris grimaced. She lifted her tired eyes and smiled bitterly:

    ¡°One back at the Sect and then from there I have to come here once more. Seriously, why does it have to be me! I already risked my life six times! I¡¯d like to keep it, thank you very much!¡±

    The voice of an old man rang out:

    ¡°That¡¯s because you, as an Ancient, what¡¯s more, one whose focus on their path of cultivation is actually the study of spatial fabrics, has a much deeper connection with the world. You are the one with the highest chance of success amongst all of us¡­¡±

    The two youths and the ginger haired woman all turned. Behind them, a middle-aged man dressed in black robes, a recently trimmed black beard and a goatee of the same color, walked forward, his expression one of helplessness as he stared at the young woman:

    ¡°Then, Iris, I will be asking you to do one last¡­ teleportation. Please?¡±

    The woman pouted. Then, her purple lips¡¯ corners rose slightly and arranged into a mischievous smile:

    ¡°What if I don¡¯t?¡±

    Step. Step. Step.

    The sound of steps reached the ears of the ones on the scene. Before anything happened, the young woman paled and both fear and extreme happiness flashed in her pupils.

    ¡°...Iris...¡±

    The single word seemed to cut the air apart. Everyone present felt as if a sharp blade had just been pressed against their jugular. An extremely sharp presence, like that of an unsheathed sword, spread across the room as another man walked in¡­

    The white hair were fluttering despite the lack of wind, his robes looked consumed, yet clean, almost as if they had been exposed to such a powerful pressure for so long that they had actually aged faster.

    A pair of the sharpest crimson eyes glowed as the man walked forward, a greatsword strapped to his back. The man apparently had no cultivation, instead the blade behind him exuded such powerful pressure that it made everyone present, save for the middle-aged man, pale with fright.

    ¡°H-Hi bro! Of course I am going!¡± Iris smiled tremblingly before immediately focusing. The purple light appeared once more and, soon afterwards, she stepped into the white door and disappeared.

    The hall went silent as the bright light dissipated. The white haired man shook his head:

    ¡°Seriously, is she still not past the rebellious phase yet?¡±

    ¡°Ah! Aster, thanks, you really helped me out there¡­¡± The black robed man with a goatee smiled.

    ¡°Ah, there was nothing to it, don¡¯t worry¡­ now, young men, I think we do not yet know each other. I¡¯m one of Cheng Hao¡¯s¡­ well, servants, I guess?¡± The man sighed. The man extended his hand.:

    ¡°Oh, whatever, that is not important. As you may have guessed, my name is Aster, Nice to meet you! I hope we will get along, otherwise these remaining nine months are going to be hell!¡±

 Chapter 101 - Where? And Why?

    ¡°I¡¯m one of Cheng Hao¡¯s¡­ well, servants, I guess?¡±

    Aster¡¯s lips stretched into a tired smile as he extended his hand.:

    ¡°Oh, whatever, that is not important. As you may have guessed, my name is Aster, Nice to meet you!¡±

    Up to here, nothing surprised Fang Lu too much.

    Teleportation? Yeah, he could bear that knowledge of that, especially since the way it worked was explained to him. The guy was the rowdy girl¡¯s martial brother? Happier than ever not to have defied the girl¡¯s orders and grabbed her somewhere else than her arms. Cheng Hao¡¯s servant? Man, that guy never ceases to amaze me¡­ This guy¡¯s name was Aster? Cool bro, name¡¯s Fang Lu, thanks, bye.

    ¡°I hope we will get along, otherwise these remaining twelvemonths are going to be hell!¡±

    However, the first thing that went through Fang Lu¡¯s mind as he processed those words was:

    TwelveMonths? What. The. Fuck.

    The chubby youth waved his arms around and shook his head:

    ¡°Waitwaitwaiwaitwait¡­ hold on a second! Did you just say-¡±

    ¡­Only to be interrupted by an excited Fu Yin.

    ¡°Woah! Lao Jianghu told me about you! You are an ancient, right???¡± Before anybody could react, Fu Yin had disappeared from his previous spot and had appeared in front of the white haired man, frenetically shaking the other¡¯s hand.

    ¡°The other girl didn¡¯t look the part, she was quite a brute actually, but you are the real deal! Oh, dear me, those red eyes are so cool! Please tell me, who a-¡± the boy¡¯s words were cut off as white light lit up the room once more.

    Whoosh!

    This time as well, three figures walked out from within the door of white light.

    In the middle was the ginger haired girl, her complexion even paler than before. Beneath her breath, as she panted, mutters of ¡°Never doing that again¡± and ¡°Gonna kill that Lao Jianghu bastard, devise your plans without counting me in next time!¡± reached the ears of those present.

    On the right, a beautiful girl with bright, phoenix eyes, her long, dark hair tied into two buns, held her right hand. The sleeveless robes showed the toned arms and fair skin as she smiled powerlessly and patted the ginger haired girl on the back comfortably.

    Finally, on the left, a young child, her green eyes glittering with excitement, walked forward, examining the familiar faces looking for the one she was searching for. Then, her eyes lit up as they landed on Fu Yin¡¯s figure:

    ¡°Bro! You really are here!¡±

    The boy immediately shut his mouth and turned to look at her, his excitement bordering on madness completely washed away as he waved at her smiling:

    ¡°Yo sis!¡±

    ¡°Brother!¡±

    The girl started running. Fu Yin couldn¡¯t help but feel touched as he saw the girl coming at him with her arms opened wide¡­

    ¡°Sis!¡±

    ¡°Bro!¡±

    The girl¡¯s purple and blue locks fluttered behind her as she ran towards the white haired youth, a broad smile on her face as she summoned the Black Dragon Sword...Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

    ¡°Sis?¡±

    ¡°Bro!¡±

    ¡°Sis, what are you¡­¡±

    ¡°How dare you keep me out of your plans, you dense bastard!¡±

    Slash!

    ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry! It was not my choice!¡±

    ¡°Oh? Then make it your own! You have the power, don¡¯t you!¡±

    Slash!

    ¡°But¡­¡±

    Slash!¡±

    ¡°No buts!¡±

    ¡°However¡­¡±

    Slash!

    ¡°No synonyms allowed either!¡±

    ¡°Oh come on, that ain¡¯t fair!¡±

    Slash

    ¡°But it does look fair in my eyes!¡±

    ¡°Hey! You said no buts!¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    Slash! Slash! Slash!

    ¡­

    Iris was staring wide-eyed at the unlikely situation unfolding before her. What was happening right now was something that was both shocking as well as ridiculous. Huge gashes were created on the walls, floor and even on the ceiling as the two small figures chased and dodged all over the place.

    The sharp black blade cut through the materials with which the room had been built in like a hot knife cutting through butter¡­ soon, the whole place was trembling with rubble falling from above as the room¡¯s foundation was shaken.

    She really didn¡¯t know how exactly she should act. Just as she was about to step in, Aster appeared beside her, grabbing her shoulder before she could make a move. Her red eyes, full of doubt, met his own.

    She saw the lack of fear and carefreeness of the man before her, a person that had been her big brother for longer than she could remember, reflected within the red orbs. She sighed and waited. For what she didn¡¯t know yet¡­

    Just then, a loud voice rang across the room, a vicious and overbearing presence spreading all over the place.

    ¡°WILL YOU TWO EVER STOP ACTING LIKE BRATS!!! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH TIME IT TOOK ME TO BUILD THIS PLACE?¡±

    An old man, bordering his eighties, had stepped into the room. His cultivation was one that made even the arrogant Iris gulp. She remembered him as being the first person she had transported here a few weeks ago to perform the task of securing a safe heaven for them to escape to on any given occasion¡­

    She shook at the thought of her having vented out her feelings of annoyance on the old man. Now, she deeply regretted it. After all, the feeling the old man gave off was not one bit inferior to what she remembered her brother had given off just a few weeks before reaching the peak of the Mortal Realm.

    The old man¡­ was actually an high level Reverend expert!

    The two children, however, did not even do as much as flinch at the appearance of the old man.

    ¡°Oh, come on old man¡­ we are brats!¡± Fu Yin replied as he dodged a vicious slash from the girl¡¯s blade.

    ¡°Wrong. You two are not just brats. You are the brats I am supposed to take care of!¡± The old man¡¯s presence flared up and both Fu Yin and Xiao Wu stopped in place, unable to move as they were locked in place by their opponent.

    Iris was staring wide eyed, gaping at the situation¡­

    ¡°You are no fun, old man!¡± Fu Yin chuckled.

    ¡°Senior Lu Fang! Please, let me go and kick big brother¡¯s ass! Pretty please?¡± Xiao Wu put up a cute appearance, her green eyes sparkling as she stared at the old man.

    Lu Fang sighed:

    ¡°I swear, if you two do not stop this¡­¡±

    ¡°Not even a little poke? I swear I¡¯ll try not to kill him!¡±

    ¡°Act your age Little Wu!¡±

    ¡°Oh, com-¡±

    ¡°Could everyone just SHUT THE HELL UP for a moment?¡±

    The whole room went silent as they all turned towards Fang Lu. The chubby youth¡¯s eyes were filled with bloodlust as he opened his mouth again:

    ¡°Listen closely and answer to my question¡­ I have no qualms about hurting people, and I am sure I would be able to take some of you down with me if I so wish. Where are we, and why am I here? Be sure to answer that truthfully, otherwise¡­¡±

    The scroll hanging from the youth¡¯s back suddenly slid out of its sheath and unravelled. It floated in midair and, when its content was revealed, even a few of the people with their cultivation at the peak of the Mortal Realm couldn¡¯t help but shudder.

    The reason for that was because, of the nine characters on the scroll present in each of the nine columns, seven each, for a total of sixty three characters were all lit up and shonean eery, multicolored light¡­

    ¡°... this shall turn into our tomb. Mine, and that of the unlucky members of this group whom Iwill bringdown with me!¡±

 Chapter 102 - Holy Fu**ing Shit

    ¡°Listen closely and answer to my question¡­ I have no qualms about hurting people, and I am sure I would be able to take some of you down with me if I so wish. Where are we, and why am I here? Be sure to answer that truthfully, otherwise¡­¡±

    ¡°... this shall turn into our tomb. Mine, and that of the unlucky members of this group whom I will bring down with me!¡±

    Domineering! The small, chubby youth had shouted those words, emanating such confidence that nobody dared doubt him. The members of the young generation present couldn¡¯t help but frown when they noticed the absurd power Fang Lu had access to.

    During the tournament, five words had shaken them deeply. Nobody would easily forget that tsunami that carried such force it had shaken the earth! Apparently, the youth had not used all his cards back then. That time, he had been about to shout a sixth, heaven-shaking phrase, only to be stopped by his master.

    However, they had never considered even in their wildest imagination that not only six was not his limit, but he had actually achieved such mastery that seven pictograms on each of the nine rows of characters had lit up!

    Sixty-three symbols!

    A single symbol of metal, despite being the most basic, had been enough to force Xiao Wu to such a dire condition. Even if the power was only additive and the strength of so many characters did not vary, sixty-three times the strength of a single metallic blades would have been enough to blow into smithereens every and all contestants of the tournament, maybe with Fu Yin and Xiao Wu being the only exceptions.

    After all, the strength of the White Tree Shield of the young girl and the mysterious abilities of the pale, white haired teen, was not something to be scoffed at. However, despite the shield not having as much as a scratch, a single attack had sent Xiao Wu flying back a few paces, let alone sixty-three times the strength!

    One such hit and, boom!

    It¡¯s a bird!

    It¡¯s a plane!

    It¡¯s a green eyed, flying brat!

    As for Fu Yin¡­

    ¡°Cool! So many of those glowing thingies!¡±

    The youth was all over the hovering scroll, rubbing his cheeks on the surface as his eyes reflected the multicolored light.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Fang Lu simply waved his hand and the scroll suddenly shook, attempting to throw the white haired youth off. However, Fu Yin did not budge as he commented:

    ¡°So this scroll allows you to directly channel the power of the nine elements without needing to chant? Peculiar, very peculiar! A good Martial Way! However, it looks like it requires a higher consumption of spiritual power compared to the other one¡­ I guess even though one is a heavenly treasure, the requirements can¡¯t be cast off entirely, can they?¡°

    Everyone in the room was silent, any words they would have said stuck in their throats. Even the Heavenly Beast, the Hellish Nightmare Dragon, was speechless.

    What the hell was the young one doing? What was rubbing salt on one¡¯s wound? What was poking the sleeping tiger? This was it and that! Was Fu Yin trying to enrage Fang Lu even more? They were already on the verge of fallout, what benefits would it bring if the youth suddenly attacked them?

    Black lines on his forehead, the chubby youth smiled weakly, the fake smile trembling as veins popped out and twitched all over his face.

    ¡°Fu Yin¡­ fellow disciple of mine, would you mind getting off my Martial Way?¡±

    The boy poked one of the words in the lightning section of the scroll¡¯s nine rows of characters. He chuckled as sparks ran through his body, making his hair stand on their ends as his finger passed through the first pictogram.

    ¡°Uh? I wasn¡¯t planning to? This is quite fun!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°So interesting! Studying those old books is nothing compared to the real thing!¡± Fu Yin examined the pictograms on top of the floating scroll like a renowned scholar, staring upon lost records of ancient times¡­ or an alcoholic staring at an enormous amount of bottles of the finest wine.

    It depended on one¡¯s point of view.

    This made everyone¡¯s expression turn sour: what the hell are you doing, Fu Yin!

    Fang Lu also couldn¡¯t take it anymore. Without a word, of the nine rows, eight all stopped glowing at once. Suddenly, in the remaining one, the one for water, an eight pictogram slowly lit up!

    Whoosh!

    Suddenly, like a ghost, a figure had appeared out of nowhere! A powerful presence spread in the underground room. Everyone felt their very life force flicker as the figure flashed by and stepped in front of the glowing scroll¡­Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    Fang Lu¡¯s expression changed greatly as a golden dragon, its body roughly the size of an adult man¡¯s arm but expanding with each passing moment, suddenly opened his mouth, revealing sharp, golden teeth within¡­

    Without a moment of hesitation, the youth began to pour all his cultivation base in the scroll, only to be met with a firm resistance!

    What?

    The golden dragon¡¯s mouth was like a black hole, sucking in all the spiritual energy in its surroundings, the pair of golden jaws devouring the youth¡¯s energy without leaving behind a single drop. Fang Lu¡¯s face fell as he found out that in his whole body, not a speck of spiritual energy could be found!

    ¡°Burp!¡±

    The golden dragon sighed with satisfaction:

    ¡°Been a while since I had the chance to eat such a fine amount of spiritual energy¡­ thank you, youth! Oh, and thanks for provoking him, Fu Yin!¡±

    ¡°Eheh, there was nothing to it. He¡¯s also much more docile now, isn¡¯t he?¡± The white haired youth responded with a wide grin on his face.

    He looked at the big scroll: without its supply of spiritual energy, the object lost the ability to hover and fell down. Fu Yin bent down and picked up the Martial Way. He then turned around and threw the scroll at the middle aged, black haired man:

    ¡°Blacky, store it somewhere! Can¡¯t be too sure with this guy! He has quite a few tricks up his sleeve! What¡¯s more, I also wanted to take a look at it, so I¡¯ll be looking for you later! Don¡¯t wander off! That is fine, isn¡¯t it Blindlight?¡±

    Goldy was picking his teeth for leftovers, but found none. He turned and nodded:

    ¡°Sure, just be sure not to cause trouble. Remember what happened last time when you tried to use Xiao Wu¡¯s sword? I won¡¯t be saving you next time you are impaled¡­¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡±

    The Hellish Nightmare Dragon turned human smiled bitterly as he witnessed the exchange between the youth and the golden beast:

    You little brat, so this was your goal all along? Bribing Blindlight to take possession of Fang Lu¡¯s Martial Way?

    Aster was also chuckling as, in his mind, he put Fu Yin on the same level as Cheng Hao when it came to the matters of the mind:

    This one¡¯s schemes sure run deep¡­

    Iris also had her opinion, although it differed quite a bit from that of her two other companions¡­

    Seriously? All this planning for that scroll? Couldn¡¯t you just have asked nicely?

    Meanwhile, Fang Lu¡¯s expression had long since turned into despair. After all, it had only taken a few words for him to be robed of his greatest weapon and for said weapon to be handed to the person he considered the greatest opponent in his generation.

    Seeing that, Aster sighed and spoke:

    ¡°Fu Yin, stop teasing him. Fang Lu, wasn¡¯t it? Don¡¯t worry, we will not only give that scroll back to you soon, we will also give you the information you were looking for¡­ as long as you promise not to cause trouble in the future.¡±

    Fang Lu¡¯s eyes lit up. He didn¡¯t speak and simply nodded, communicating his intent. Seeing that, Blacky stepped forward:

    ¡°Let me handle the explanation. Everyone, feel free to go ahead and rest. The rooms are over there, the beds should be enough for everyone. If you wish to go, I won¡¯t stop you. However, if you wish to hear what I have to say-¡°

    ¡°I¡¯m off, see you!¡±

    ¡°God, I am starving! Is there anything to eat?¡±

    ¡°¡­ I wouldn¡¯t mind having a bath¡­¡±

    ¡°Sister Te Rin, that is such a good idea! Old Fang, is there a bath here?¡±

    ¡°Uh? A bath? Sure, it¡¯s right down this way!¡±

    ¡°Mm? A bath? I¡¯m in!¡±

    ¡°In your dreams, brother!¡±

    ¡°Aw, come on! Ehy! I know! Sis Te Rin, could you use your crystals as a mirror to let me see what is happening in the bath while I¡¯m in another room?¡±

    ¡°¡­ such a brilliant mind¡­ wasted.¡±

    ¡°What did you say, old Fang?¡±

    ¡°I said, just go bottle yourself up somewhere and read some books or cultivate! For goodness¡¯ sake, just do something and leave me alone!¡±

    ¡°Ugh, whatever. Ehy, Lu! Once you have finished over here, I would like to speak with you! If you do, I will give your scroll back! You will find me at my room! ¡­ Old Fang, where is my room?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡­

    Everyone, feel free to go ahead and rest. If you wish to go, I won¡¯t stop you. Of course, those two phrases had been simple courtesy. After all, this was incredibly important! And yet¡­

    ¡°¡­ for real?¡±

    To Blacky¡¯s surprise, a few moments after those words had been spoken, the only two people remaining in the room were none other than him and Fang Lu. Taking Blacky up on his offer, everyone had gone off in different directions, leaving the two of them behind.

    Those bastards¡­ do they not know the meaning of sarcasm? Even you, Aster, Iris?

    Fang Lu asked:

    ¡°Well, what are you waiting for? Speak. I am also tired, if you have failed to notice.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    These guys¡­ do they even take a notice of who I am! Even amongst the fiercest beasts in the Heavens, they would tremble after hearing my name alone! Ugh, whatever, let¡¯s just get this over with!

    ¡°Little Lu, do you have any knowledge on the conflict between the Heavenly Emperor and the Evil Saint?¡±

    Hearing those words, Fang Lu¡¯s eyes widened. Of course he knew. Who didn¡¯t? The human who dared to challenge the heavens, such a story was not uncommon even amongst the mortals, let alone a cultivator like him! Of course, he didn¡¯t know about the details. After all, most information had been cut off after the end of the war, as to avoid any other rebellion by those who shared the same views of the Evil Saint.

    The only thing he knew was that, in the short span of a few hundred years, a man had risen to the peak of mortality and had challenged the Heavenly Emperor, resulting in a war, a full scale rebellion against the True Heavens!

    After pondering for a while, he spoke:

    ¡°I do. What does that have to do with me?¡±

    ¡°Well, to put it bluntly, me and the golden dragon over there kind of have fought in that war on the Evil Saint¡¯s side¡­ we witnessed first hand the battles of Xu Ling, the Evil Saint, against the armies of Tian, you should know of him as the Heavenly Emperor. To be more accurate, I am the Hellish Nightmare Dragon. They called me Blacky, I guess you did not hear about me¡­¡±

    ¡°Nope, never heard of you.¡±

    Did you have to be so blunt about it though?

    ¡°I was the Evil Saint¡¯s¡­ well, to be blunt, I was his mount. As for goldy, the golden dragon from before, I doubt you have not heard of him¡­¡±

    Fang Lu frowned:

    ¡°Uh? Why should I know who that little snake is?¡±

    ¡°Because¡­¡± Blacky smiled:

    ¡°He is the Heaven Devouring Dragon, Blindlight, the Primordial Beast with the highest potential amongst them all, the Dragon King...¡±

    Fang Lu gaped, his eyes becoming as wide as his fists as his jaw opened so wide it looked about to be dislocated. What was being shocked? Well, apparently, Fang Lu had found the answer to that.

    ¡°As for why you are here¡­ is because Cheng Hao kind of is Xu Ling, the Evil Saint, so Tian kind of is trying to hunt us down.¡±

    ¡°Oh, okay.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Too much to take in, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°You bet. I¡¯m still processing that last phrase, give me a while¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, ok. Meanwhile, want to go eat with the others?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Yeah, let¡¯s. I¡¯m pretty hungry¡­¡±

    Step.

    Step.

    Step¡­

    Slam.

    ¡°Well... HOLY FUCKING SHIT!¡±

    The door closed behind the figures of the chubby youth and the middle aged robed man.

 Chapter 103 - Help

    In front of a room situated on one side of a large corridor, two figures were talking. Apparently, one was about to send the other off as his hand was on the door¡¯s knob while the other was uncomfortably shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

    Finally, the voice of a middle aged man sounded out:

    ¡°Then, go rest young man. You are going to need it.¡± Aster waved his hand. The Ancient then smiled and winked to the youth in front of him:

    ¡°I will be going in seclusion then. Once I come out, I will be needing to hear some good news, so work hard!¡±

    Fang Lu smiled and nodded back:

    ¡°Uh¡­ sure. See you.¡±

    ¡°Oh, and you should practice those fake smiles of yours. This one was especially bad¡­¡±

    ¡°Mm, alright. Sorry you had to see that. I¡¯m quite annoyed at the current situation¡­¡±

    ¡°Ahah, no problem, all¡¯s good. Fu Yin¡¯s room is by the end of this corridor. It looks like you two have something important to talk about, so you should hurry.¡±

    With that, the white haired man closed the door.

    Fang Lu looked around and, seeing that no one was around, showed the middle finger to the door. Satisfied, he nodded to himelf before stepping into the corridor and walking away. He had spent the last few hours talking with Blindlight, Aster and Blacky. The topic of their conversation had been none other than laying out the plan for him to see.

    To sum it up, they would leave the plane of existence, a third-rate plane as it only allowed life forms to reach the peak of the Mortal Realm, and move into another plane. Once there, they would establish themselves in a local Sect or join a Clan of cultivators, laying low for the time being.

    The exact date would be exactly one day before the arrival of the Nine Heavens¡¯ ambassador. Why was that?

    In the first place, travelling to other planes was incredibly difficult. Most would not attempt it unless their cultivation was incredibly high or had treasure to grant them a safe passage. However, there would be a special situation when people would be able to travel between planes:

    When a Primordial Beast stepped into the Ageless Realm.

    This had been such a rare situation and the last time it had happened had been so long ago, that few would still remember this. However, how could Goldy, one of the strongest beings back in his prime, possibly forget that?

    Due to him going through Re-life and thus having his cultivation reset, he now once again had the chance to step into the Ageless realm, triggering the activation of this, mostly unknown, perk of the beasts of the Heavens.

    This begged the question: how could they say that it would take only up until a single day from the ambassador¡¯s arrival and not, for example, two or three?

    Could, Goldy possibly know how much he would take to break through? And, even if that was so, wasn¡¯t that too lucky? After all, had it been a single day after, everything would have been for naught!

    The answer was simple: Goldy had already stepped into the peak of the Mortal Realm. At the moment, his strength was unrivalled in this plane, excluding the true power of the Hellish Nightmare Dragon.

    He would only need a small push. In fact, he would even be able to breakthrough at that exact moment! However, he held back because¡­ well, the strength of the young ones, in particular that of Te Rin and Xiao Wu was not on par with that of those cultivators from the other planes.

    Especially in higher grade planes, were the density and quality of the Qi allowed people to not only cultivate faster, but also wield much stronger techniques. Of course, the talent of the four youths was mostly unparalleled even amongst the greatest geniuses. However, what about the older generation?

    In a higher quality plane, it wouldn¡¯t be strange at all to find people in their late eighties already in the early or even middle stages of the Ageless Realm. All that without talking about those monsters that have lived for centuries, thanks to the blessing of their cultivations which allowed them to lengthen their lifespan.

    Then again, the reason for such a long delay might just be because the golden dragon still couldn¡¯t help but hope, in his heart, that a certain person would come back. For that reason, he would wait until the latest possible time.

    Fang Lu scanned the corridor and his eyes finally landed upon a certain door. As soon as he saw it, he knew it was the one he was searching for. Who else would hang the sign ¡°Waiting for the fatty¡± on his doorknob?

    After turning the sign into powder and regaining his composure, Fang Lu stepped forward. He did not knock. Like he would need to, with that monster on the other side.

    Creak! Without anybody touching it, the door slowly slid open, allowing the youth to walk in unhindered

    Slam! Just as Fang Lu entered the small room, the door slammed close. A faint symbol glowed on the doorknob, probably some sort of technique to stop the sound from within the room to leak out.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    Within, a figure was sitting cross-legged on a mat laid on the ground. In front of him him, a fuming kettle and a few cups were aligned with expertize. Beside him, on the right, were carving tools, while on his left were a few piece of paper, a brush and a bottle of ink.

    On those pieces were many odd words, in a strange language. Fortunately, above each and every word, was the translation¡­ however, it was weird, to say the least. Why? Because, even in another language, the peculiar text would still hold some of its perks!

    Fang Lu sent it a sideway glance. Reading it, he felt amused.

    Not Free(W):

    We walk while we wish.

    We wish while wanting.

    We, when weaving wondrous worlds, will NOT wither without words.

    We want FREE will.

    Without will, we wither, waiting... wanting.

    Wishing.

    The only two words not starting with the letter ¡®W¡¯ made up the title of this short¡­ Poem? Hymn? How should one call it? Without minding that, it almost felt as if it carried a great truth within, but Fang Lu discarded that thought, concentrating on Fu Yin himself.

    In the boy¡¯s hands was an odd ball: it was made with metallic strings, making out the outline and skeleton of the sphere. The youth would bend these strings and the sphere would change its shape: from a ball it would become a cone, a cylinder, even going as far as straying from simple geometrical shapes and turning into full-fledged objects¡­

    As the boy played with the strange ball, it was almost as if he was holding a whole universe in his palms, bending and shaping it at his will. Lifting his gaze, the boy noticed the other party and put down the metallic ball in his hands, laying it on a desk beside a few pieces of metal and a bunch of bronze-colored strings, similar to those that made up the ball itself.

    Fang Lu said nothing as he noticed that the design for that very ball was on top of the desk. There were countless variations, some simpler, some more complex, but they all had one thing in common: they had all been written by the very same hand. Judging from the state of the paper, it had been not more than a few hours ago.

    The chubby youth¡¯s eyes widen slightly.

    He¡­ designed and built that thing himself? Wait¡­ was that text also?

    ¡°Oh, you found me! I wasn¡¯t sure you would, so I hang that message. Hope you will excuse my rude self¡­¡±

    Hearing the other young man¡¯s words, Fang Lu almost exclaimed from the shock: Fu Yin¡¯s voice was weak, nothing at all like the vibrant and energetic youth¡¯s tone that Fang Lu had grown accustomed to. It was as if he was talking to someone on the verge of death.

    Fu Yin bent forward . He grabbed the fuming kettle and one of the wooden cups in front of him. Judging by their state, they had also been recently carved, and quite well too. They were coated with a glossy substance, probably so as to prevent one from tasting the unpleasant taste of the wood from which the cups were made out of.

    Fu Yin poured himself a cup of hot, tea. The bittersweet, nauseating yet at the same time refreshing and captivating fragrance of medicinal herbs spread all around the room, making even Fang Lu gulp down the saliva.

    He was no expert in the field of herbs, nor had he even considered focusing on that field. To him, tea was just another drink, nothing more, nothing less. However, he had to admit that the fragrance was making him drool as he did his best to keep his gaze from landing on the cup of the hot beverage.

    Noticing the other¡¯s eyes, the white haired boy smiled tiredly, almost as if he was sick. His lifeless eyes showed a hint of warmth as he offered the cup in his hand to the older youth:

    ¡°Want a cup? I have plenty¡­¡±

    Fang Lu hesitated:

    What? No joke? No insults? No sarcasm? Who is this person? Give me back the bastard who stole my scroll!

    ¡°¡­¡± He warily grabbed the cup and slowly drank the tea¡­ not. As soon as the liquid entered his mouth, before he could notice, it had already long since gone down his throat! It was just that good! He lifted his gaze, amazed: such a good tea, this was a beverage of the gods! He would dare say he had never drank anything this good before!

    Fu Yin chuckled, his laughter barely audible, and waved his sleeve: a kettle appeared and he refilled Fang Lu¡¯s cup before pouring a cup for himself as well. He looked around and grabbed a chair, pointing as he sat on a stool himself.

    ¡°Don¡¯t just stand there. Come, sit over here.¡± He spoke tiredly.

    Fang Lu obeyed: something was indeed not normal. He was not close to Fu Yin. Had it not been for the fact that they were in the same circumstances, he would have treated him as his most deadly enemy. In fact, even then he thought of him as a rival, not a friend.

    However, he had noticed something abnormal in the youth¡¯s attitude ever since a while ago. He had also gotten the proof that something was¡­ weird during their ¡®duel¡¯, even though back then more questions had arisen than they had been answered.

    At that time, even he had been scared witless from the deathly aura that Fu Yin had been giving off, almost mistaking him for some kind of god of death.

    Thus, he obeyed and prepared to listen to Fu Yin¡¯s words. He trusted his instincts, and felt that what Fu Yin needed right now¡­ was help.

    And he, as a rival, also couldn¡¯t help but feel at least a slight sense of curiosity to know exactly what would afflict his strongest opponent. Of course, he also had a tinge of worry in his heart, however he would never admit that to either others or even himself.

    Thus, he sat on the chair and studied his surroundings, especially putting great care into examining the objects littered all around the room. There were countless of them, ranging from the simple tea set to mysterious articles such as the metallic ball.

    Fu Yin did not interrupt. In fact, he even seemed to give tacit consent, almost like a teacher waiting for his student to ask the question he was looking for. That was why, when Fang Lu did just that, he couldn¡¯t help but smile warmly:

    ¡°I once said you were not human. I was not serious at the time, simply speaking basing it off the deathly aura that had chilled me to the bones. Now, however, I can see that maybe, at that time I had not been too far off...¡± Fang Lu nervously bit his nails as he looked at the white haired youth.

    ¡°I can see¡­ that all these things are yours. You made, crafted, wrote them. However, mortal or cultivator, at your age, you should not be able to hold such experience and knowledge, even if these are but mundane matters¡­¡±

    ¡°However, it can be seen that you truly are the age you claim to be, as few would be able to fool even an Ancient¡¯s detecting skills, let alone a Primordial Beast such as Blindlight. Such experience, such knowledge¡­ are the memories from which you extracted them¡­¡± Fang Lu lifted his eyes, gazing into Fu Yin¡¯s own lifeless pair.

    ¡°Truly yours?¡±

    Fang Lu¡¯s question was met with an enigmatic smile as Fu Yin sighed.

    ¡°That¡­ is what I would like to find out myself¡­ and the reason I seeked you out is because I wish for help¡­ no, actually, scratch that. Let me rephrase this¡­¡± Fu Yin was smiling, however great pain could be seen lingering, pushed back but still visible in his eyes:

    ¡°I do not wantnor wish for help. I need help.¡±

 Chapter 104 - Kill Me First!

    Fang Lu was shocked. Help? Fu Yin needed help? What¡¯s more, he would ask him?

    He hesitated:

    ¡°You¡­ what exactly would you need my help with?¡±

    Fu Yin lifted his gaze, tears slowly streaked down his cheeks as he forced a painful smile on his face. Two inverted triangles lit up at that moment, disappearing soon thereafter.

    Fu Yin brought his hands to his pupils: they were filled with terror as he spoke:

    ¡°I am falling, Fang Lu, falling into a darkness without any hope of returning if I have no one to light up my path. I¡­ my memories are scattering, I am beginning to fail to see who I am¡­ and only take notice of whom I was.¡±

    Tears fell on the ground, staining it black. Each drop would sizzle like oil and then burn itself down, leaving behind a black mark on the floor.

    ¡°Lu¡­ help me. All these that you see, the tea, the carved cups, the poetry¡­ I have never done any of those before today! Take the bronze ball for example: I can assure you I would have never even dreamt of making anything like that! Everything else is the same: the memories holding within the actions needed to achieve something, simply surface and, before I notice it, I would already find myself in the middle of the process!¡±

    Fang Lu widened his eyes in disbelief: memories surfacing? Fu Yin actually did not have any recollection of any of these arts and crafts, but he would be forced into doing them nonetheless?

    However, this does not seem that much of a problem¡­ at most, he would find himself with a slightly more stuffed room. Why would he be so worried?

    The chubby youth started, his voice smooth and his gaze gentle as he got up and looked at the other in the eyes: within, the inverted triangles trembled as they shined eerily. Fang Lu gritted his teeth:

    ¡°Fu Yin, listen to me for a second-¡°

    ¡°NO! PLEASE HELP!¡± Fu Yin suddenly grabbed Fang Lu¡¯s arms, his grip so tight Fang Lu flinched as his bones creaked. The white haired youth¡¯s whole body was shaking, be it with fear or anger, unknown whether toward himself or to others, the youth spoke:

    ¡°These¡­ memories!¡± He spat out. He looked up as he grabbed his tummy, almost as if he was on the verge of vomiting from the pain: ¡°They are not mine! More importantly, they are not limited to crafting processes!¡±

    ¡°They rise! They arise from deep within my mind, like a thunderstorm, wiping away everything else! It is only once the tempest finally subsides, that those memories come back! But, by then, they would be warped! Lu¡­ I don¡¯t remember even the faces of those who took me in when I first joined our Sect!¡±

    ¡°At times, when I wake up, I fail to remember my own name! This¡­ this¡­ you have no idea just how harsh it is for me! From all I know, you could be my very brother, and yet I might not remember that, thinking of you as an enemy instead! These memory losses happen so frequently that I am slowly being locked out of reality, as I am beginning to distrust any and every other I come in contact with! What this means¡­¡± Fu Yin lifted his head, a sad smile on his face as more and more tears fell:

    ¡°Is that¡­ I could actually kill you any moment now!¡±

    Fang Lu¡¯s eyes widened and he unconsciously slid back a bit with his chair, putting some distance between him and the youth. However, as soon as he noticed his current actions, he cursed and immediately went back to his former position. He lifted his gaze apologetically.

    Seeing the other¡¯s eyes full of pity, Fu Yin simply smiled bitterly:

    ¡°I¡­ I know that I am dangerous. I know that you fear me, and, for goodness¡¯ sake, you have the right to be afraid¡­¡±

    Fang Lu gulped, saying nothing. This was much bigger than he had expected. Memory loss? How should he cope with that? And, what¡¯s more, why would Fu Yin bring him in? After all, there were more people out there who were much more knowledgeable and powerful than him. The white haired boy could have just gone ahead and asked them instead.

    However, suddenly a spark of insight flashed across his mind. He furrowed his brows as he pondered:

    Could it be¡­ because he is afraid of rejection? No, more likely, he is afraid the others would treat him as a threat. After all, he had just admitted himself that he could turn into a mindless killer any time soon, even though I deem it quite unlikely. At that time, would they sacrifice him for the greater good? He probably doesn¡¯t want to take the risk.

    Thinking up to there, Fang Lu finally lifted his gaze and spoke, his serious eyes reflecting his state of mind:

    ¡°I assume, you have a way out of this¡­ one that requires you to both be able to survive in the case something went wrong as well as save other people at the same time. I guess that I, a third party who has strength that barely rivals yours, should be the perfect choice, right?¡±

    Fu Yin stayed silent for a while. When he spoke, his voice was grave, as if he was about to speak words he hated himself before anybody else:Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    ¡°No. To be fair, I chose you because we are not friends, we are rivals, and, to be quite honest, I dislike you a lot. After all, this fear is going to be something I would have never asked anyone I hold dear. And¡­¡± He hesitated but then pushed through, gritting his teeth:

    ¡°I would very much rather have an enemy stab me in the back, than to see the one holding the knife was none other than those I loved. I dislike you, so I won¡¯t have to fear feeling betrayed, were the time to come.¡±

    The room went silent, only the sound of a drop of tea falling from the kettle¡¯s beak could be heard.

    Finally Fang Lu broke the silence:

    ¡°And? What might this plan of yours be?¡±

    Seeing the other not saying anything or refuting his arguments, Fu Yin looked somewhat relieved. He sighed with feeling and then spoke:

    ¡°You. You are the person I hate and my enemy, so I can use you as the pivotal point of everything without having to fear any repercussions. As long as you act like you hate me, I hope it won¡¯t be too difficult, from the reaction of those around me, even if I lose my memories momentarily, during that time, from you, I will be able to reconstruct my surroundings and recover my memories up to a certain level of accuracy at least until those memories come back.¡±

    ¡°One the opposite of the other. By seeing on which side people go over to, whether they follow you or me, I will understand the way they think. Everything else would be a simple puzzle that I will be able to solve trough logic. With that, I will know exactly what is my position in this world: I will know of those who despise me, I will know who is on my side, who is a friend and who is an enemy.¡±

    ¡°Needless to say, I did some experiments. It is indeed feasible. Despite losing most of my memories, certain actions or objects would still be ingrained so deep in my mind they would not disappear, no matter what. I want you to become one of those objects and, from then on, guide me.¡±

    Silence.

    Fang Lu raised one of his eyebrows in surprise:

    ¡°This¡­ was not quite what I was expecting. Basically, you would turn me into a villain, is that what you are saying? Quite peculiar plan, except for a single miscalculation¡­¡± the chubby youth scratched his chin and then shook his head:

    ¡°How would you know I am only acting? Why should you not attack me seeing how you would not remember me¡±

    Fu Yin smiled:

    ¡°As I said, while my mind is elsewhere, my body still remembers¡­ we will always be close to each other. We will talk to each other, drink with each other, essentially become ¡®fake¡¯ friends until my body remembers¡­ that you are not a threat.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    What the hell? This doesn¡¯t make any sense! Why not just be real friends then? Why should we hate each other?

    Fang Lu frowned and was about to ask something, when Fu Yin interrupted him:

    ¡°I already told you. I do not wish to become your friend. Simply because, otherwise, when the time comes, it would mean one more person I would grief over once he, you, died. I want somebody who will help me, that I will be able to kill anytime without suffering myself!¡±

    Hearing that, Fang Lu was shocked. It almost sounded like a joke, a bad one at that, however the seriousness in the younger boy¡¯s eyes was such that he hadn¡¯t seen anything like it before. He pondered for a while before finally gritting his teeth and scratching his back:

    ¡°Damn, I really can¡¯t seem to get along with you! I really don¡¯t know about this. It would bring no benefit to me, especially since I would become a primary target in the case you lose yourself. Sorry man, but you should probably ask someone else. I¡¯m sure there are quite a few people who hate you out there, so just go ahead and pick one!¡°

    ¡°NO!¡±

    Fu Yin¡¯s sudden shout startled the chubby youth to the point he almost fell from his chair.

    ¡°Even if I could go outside, which mind you, I can¡¯t, at least not until eight or nine more months pass, those who hate me are those who are jealous of my power or are afraid that I might harm them in the future! Trash or Elite! Either so far below or too above! None of them would do, as they would not be able to stop my rampage or would kill me in the process! Unless no other choice arises, I will live! I HAVE to find out what these memories are!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s more¡­¡± Fu Yin muttered, sending his gaze away as he wiped away his tears:

    ¡°You, despite being an enemy are a comrade. You are the best person to fit the role! Please¡­ if you aren¡¯t doing this for me, do it for them! My brothers, my sisters, whom I owe so much and love even more!¡±

    Fang Lu felt the boy¡¯s gaze poking holes through his body as the young, white haired teen knelt on the ground before fully prostrating before the chubby youth. Fang Lu had no words: he was astonished. When would he have ever thought that Fu Yin, that proud brat, would actually beg him to do something?

    He had to admit he had dreamt for such a situation to come ever since a while ago, however the current him wasn¡¯t feeling the satisfaction or the pleasure he had expected. He felt more¡­ as if he had been deceived. However, he also felt guilty, his chest hurt as he saw the shivering figure of the boy he had come to know as a demon with an ever present cocky grin on his face which created great contrast with the pair of lifeless eyes.

    ¡°PLEASE! I beg of you! I don¡¯t want to hurt HER! What would I do? What if¡­ I lose myself or my memories again and, when I regain my senses, I find her lifeless body in my arms!!!¡±

    Fang Lu inhaled a breath of cold air: even he had a limit to how much he could possibly hold himself back in the affairs of the heart. Familiar love, a feeling he had long forgotten¡­ he had finally found a father in Mu Gu, but had been once again forced to leave, without saying a word even! From what he knew, Mu Gu might even not have been informed that he was alive and well yet!

    For this, he had held it against Fu Yin and his group, for disrupting his life in the Sect! However, he could now see, that everyone else, starting from Fu Yin himself were just as lonely as he was, just as enraged against themselves for their own powerlessness, just as enraged towards fate for such diabolical machinations!

    Whoosh!

    He knelt down, his robes fluttering as he hugged the young man. After all, he was a man in his late twenties. The difference between them was a full decade, how could his heart not grow warm when looking at a child weeping?

    ¡°I tell you what you will do. You will kill me first and think about anything else afterwards, because it would mean I was neglecting my duties!¡± Fang Lu patted the youth on the back and smiled amiably.

    Fu Yin lifted his tear filled eyes and looked at Fang Lu with shock:

    ¡°You¡­ you actually agreed? Is today my lucky day or am I imagining this? That Fang Lu actually has a kind side to him as well!¡±

    ¡°What made you think I had not!¡± Fang Lu coughed as his ears turned red. He then looked around the room and asked, turning his face away from the young man to hide his blush:

    ¡°Anyways, can I have my scroll back already? How else are you expecting me to protect others from you if I am killed first?¡±

    Laughter filled the room.

    "I still hate you, you know?"

    "Well, the feeling is mutual, no surprise there."

 Chapter 105 - I Shall get Strong!

    ¡°That was nice!¡± Xiao Wu exclaimed. She was wearing a pair of fresh robes and had a towel wrapped around her head, as means to dry her hair. Beside her, Te Rin and Iris also wore a change of clothes.

    Curiously enough, Te Rin¡¯s hair was surprisingly even longer than Xiao Wu¡¯s, reaching below the waist. As for Iris, her ginger hair barely reached her shoulders, so she was no ¡®threat¡¯ to the two longer haired women.

    They had just come back from the bath. Having just enjoyed the experience, the young girl with green eyes had to admit that, while Lu Fang might have been an annoying, and somewhat fanatical when it came to Cheng Hao, old man, he really did come from a wealthy family.

    Not only was the bathhouse luxurious, it was big and comfortable as well!

    As expected from the head of a wealthy Clan such as the Lu Clan¡­

    Xiao Wu walked forward, her slippers barey making any noise as she stepped on the ground. Behind her, the two older women were conversing quite enthusiastically:

    ¡°Te Rin, my disciple, I see you have not neglected your training! The way you fooled that old looking guy was so skillful I almost cried from the laughter! As for the look on his face? Absolutely priceless!¡± The ginger woman was grinning happily. After all, what teacher wouldn¡¯t be happy that her student had excelled in what he had taught?

    ¡°Master, you are exaggerating! In that last match, even I had been helpless against those two, forcing me to give up before we even started!¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah, I remember the fatty¡¯s reaction¡­ you have such talent in making people go all ¡®what the fuck¡¯ that even I am envious!¡±

    ¡°Teacher, please don¡¯t be humble! After all, speaking of that last match, that ability you used to teleport us here was shocking to say the least! I¡¯ve decided! I shall follow the path of illusions and mind trickery just like you, master!¡±

    ¡°Well said, Little Rin! We shall show those annoying brats exactly who¡¯s the boss here! You have powerful arms? Now you are even weaker than a newborn! You think of yourself as the happiest man in the world? Go cry in a corner from depression! Tricking the mind is the path to greatness!¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    ¡°Now, my disciple, let me teach you the secret bewitching illusion I have created¡­¡±

    ¡°My eyes have never been any more open before master! Please, teach me!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s my disciple! Here, let me show you¡­¡±

    Xiao Wu ignored the racket and the lights flashing behind her as she pondered deeply:

    Fu Yin has been acting strange lately¡­ I mean, he has always been a bit eccentric, however it is as if his character has changed since we have ever met. The way they act and the way they talk are just like two different people! Brother, what exactly has happened to you? Why have you not told me anything?

    Xiao Wu sighed as she kept going forward, unhindered despite her stray thoughts. Lu Fang, in those few weeks he had been sent there, had built this whole place with the aid of the mysterious golden blood he had been given by Cheng Hao.

    Actually, they were not too far below the surface as the lack of windows in the whole mansion might have suggested. Instead, they were located just a few feet beneath a layer of some sort of crystal-like substance.

    According to Goldy and Uncle Black, this material was able to reflect some amount of spiritual energy, thus allowing them to be concealed even amongst the most prying of eyes. At least, that would be without counting the ambassadors from the Nine Heavens. They couldn¡¯t possibly hope to evade the sight of a beast at the peak of Martial Cultivation with their measly Mortal Realm bases, could they?

    However, in the meantime, they would live as they wished. Underground, that was. Thus, Goldy had put Lu Fang in charge of designing and building a place for them to escape to and live for a while in.

    Creak.

    Hearing the creaking sound of a door sliding open, Xiao Wu was shaken awake from her pondering. She looked up and smiled bitterly:

    Speak of the devil¡­

    Fu Yin stepped out and grinned as soon as she saw the three girls heading over. He waved and then spoke:

    ¡°Hey! Sis Wu, Bun Sis, Ginger Brute!¡±

    Iris smirked: ¡°Really? Ginger brute? You lack any naming sense, Zombie Pie!¡±

    ¡°Why Zombie Pie master?¡±

    ¡°Oh, those nails and the scars make up Zombie. As for Pie, he is a cutie pie, and I like pies, so he became Zombie Pie!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Hey sis, I found a rival in the bad naming sense league!¡± Fu Yin replied, his eyes flaring up, sparks appearing as the youth and the woman glared at each other. Xiao Wu rolled her eyes and ignored the two as she saw another person sneaking out of the room.

    Fang Lu had a dark expression on his face. It was an expression full of both wariness and fear, as if he had just found out something horrible that he wasn¡¯t supposed to uncover¡­

    However, Xiao Wu felt no pity as she looked at the chubby youth. Instead, she smirked knowingly as she headed over and asked, smiling stupidly and giving the impression of a child:

    ¡°Why is big bro Lu so sad? If you want you can tell me¡­ Little Wu will hear to anything you¡¯ve got to say!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    A moment of absolute silence passed. Fang Lu¡¯s eyes scanned the young girl¡¯s figure as he smiled bitterly.

    Little Wu your grandfather! Big bro Lu? Bitch, you were trying to skewer this big bro Lu just a few hours ago, don¡¯t expect me to actually think of you as anything else than a coldblooded, bloodthirsty motherfucker for anything less than a few months!

    Iris looked over and noticed the gigantic scroll hanging from Fang Lu¡¯s back. She smiled and spoke: ¡°Oh, I see you got your scroll back, fatt-!¡±Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    Before she could utter another sound, a cold presence spread across the room. Iris¡¯ expression fell, Te Rin gritted her teeth and immediately blocked the older woman¡¯s mouth with her hand. Lastly, Xiao Wu immediately spoke on the ginger girl¡¯s behalf:

    ¡°She, she was going to say fa-fa-fantastic! Not the F word, definitely not the F word!¡±

    Fang Lu¡¯s mouth was twitching as he turned around and spat out:

    ¡°Fu Yin, I¡¯d like to have a bath, let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°Uh, sure!¡±

    The three women stared astonished as the two youths walked away¡­ together.

    ¡°Oh?¡± Te Rin smiled, her gaze growing soft:

    ¡°Ever since when did those two get along well together? Last time I checked they were at each other¡¯s throats¡­¡±

    Xiao Wu was also shocked:

    Brother¡­ did not mock Fang Lu? No ¡°Oh? The fatty is taking a bath? The water¡¯s gonna cause a flood!¡± joke? What world is this? Ever since those two met, they have been like water and fire! Yet, right now those two are walking away¡­ together? Are they perhaps finding some place where they can beat each other up without anybody interfering?

    Xiao Wu shook her head:

    No. Knowing them, any place is fine. This is so weird¡­ now that I think about it, wasn¡¯t Fang Lu also acting strange? Could it be related to this unlikely situation?

    Turning around, she noticed that the door to their room was still open, or at least, it was not locked: Fang Lu had forgot to close it!

    She immediately walked up to the door, her heart rate rising as she placed her hand on the doorknob. She grabbed it and opened the door, her eyes widening as she saw what was inside¡­

    This, this is¡­

    ¡­

    Fang Lu removed his robes and put them on a small desk together with his scroll. Both him and the white haired youth were at the bathhouse of the underground hideout. After all, who wouldn¡¯t want to take a relaxing bath after everything that had happened?

    ¡°Oh, I forgot to lock the door!¡± Fang Lu exclaimed as he remembered. Fu Yin, shrugged his shoulders:

    ¡°Meh, no big deal. It¡¯s not like a person would actually leave compromising stuff in their rooms when they can just bring it all along, wouldn¡¯t they?¡± He eyed the Heaven&Earth Pouch hanging from his belt and shook his head in disapproval:

    ¡°That kind of stuff happens only to the villains in a book. Man, I could probably rant about the stupidity of those villains for days and still not get tired.¡±

    ¡­

    Xiao Wu pouted as she glanced at the almost completely empty room. Except for the bed and a few desks and stools here and there, there was nothing else.

    Damn it.

    ¡°Little Wu, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Iris sent an inquiring glance in her way.

    Xiao Wu sighed and closed the door. She turned around and shook her head:

    ¡°Uh, it¡¯s nothing, really! Let¡¯s go!¡±

    ¡­

    Fu Yin and Fang Lu sighed with feeling as they relaxed in the steamy pool. They looked at each other and then burst out laughing:

    ¡°Man, it sure does feel good!¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Didn¡¯t have the chance to try one of these, however it indeed is not bad at all!¡±

    Fu Yin and Fang Lu once again exchanged glances. The older man looked around and blushed as he muttered:

    ¡°This setting¡­ the author, he isn¡¯t planning to have anything weird happen between us, is he?¡±

    Fu Yin shrugged and yawned: ¡°Bathhouse, naked, laughing together, sharing secrets¡­ meh, might very well be. However¡­¡± his eyes glinted: ¡°I¡¯d put my bets on those two!¡±

    Fang Lu frowned: ¡°Those two? You mean¡­¡±

    ¡°Yep. The colors gold and black do look nice together after all¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Fang Lu shook his head: ¡°That¡¯s¡­ peculiar, I guess? Whatever, let¡¯s change subject. How you do still retain such useless information like that, but not the name of your very comrades is something I¡¯ll probably never be able to get accustomed to.¡±

    Fu Yin glanced at him with surprise and replied, his eyes filled with powerlessness as he looked upwards:

    ¡°Ahahah¡­ so you noticed? Man, what was that girl¡¯s name again?¡±

    Fang Lu followed suit and also looked up and relaxed, sighing as he felt the hot water washing away the fatigues of such a difficult day.

    ¡°Which? Iris or Te Rin?¡±

    ¡°I actually¡­ needed both. Oh well, thanks for telling me!¡±

    ¡°¡­ I feel these are going to be a long twelvemonths¡­¡±

    ¡°Indeed.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ at least I have a comrade by my side now. Thanks¡­ for everything. And good luck. You are going to need it.¡±

    Hearing those words, Fang Lu smiled as he felt warmth spreading throughout his chest. He sighed and shook his head:

    ¡°The one who¡¯s going to have to be lucky here is you, bastard.¡±

    ¡­

    Nighttime.

    Most probably, few people were sleeping. Most were unable to fall asleep due to the events of that day haunting them, others simply were not tired or did not need to sleep thanks to their powerful bodies.

    Finally, were those who wanted to sleep but chose not to.

    Slash! Smash! Slash! Smash! Slash! Smash!

    Xiao Wu¡¯s Martial Ways were both out and tearing through the air nonstop. The Purple Moon floated there, peacefully. After her fight with Fang Lu and having blown up her Pseudo-Core, she did not need to be stingy with her Martial Ways. She could use them for however long and however many she wanted! As for the reconstruction of the Pseudo Core, she would wait patiently for Cheng Hao to return!

    With each slash, the sound emitted as the Black Dragon Sword pierced through the air would get compressed to a string, only bursting out at the end of the slash once it broke through the sound barrier.

    With each attack from the shield, the air would tremble as deep craters formed on the wall of the large room despite the White Tree Shield actually stopping before hitting the battered surface.

    Sweat poured down nonstop, the purple hair danced around madly as the girl fiercely gritted her teeth and attacked with both Martial Ways. She held the black sword in one hand and controlled the shield with the other. It could be said that her control over her Martial Ways had reached the highest level possible for her current cultivation.

    However, as the White Tree Shield suddenly retreated backwards, instead of attacking, Xiao Wu twisted her body and a grabbed the Black Dragon Sword with two hands! The blade chopped down with such might the very space trembled! At one point¡­ the edge of the blade seemed to split into two as it turned into the twin fangs of a fierce dragon!

    Slash! Slash!

    Two vertical cracks, more than a dozen feet long each, appeared on the floor, wall and then all the way up to the ceiling. Just like the white shield, these imposing tears had been achieved by using air pressure alone! If anybody could see such a thing, he would be shocked to say the least!

    Xiao WU paused and looked up:

    ¡°This attack¡­ still isn¡¯t enough! With just this¡­ with just this¡­¡± The girl gritted her teeth so hard a creaking sound was heard. In her mind was the figure of the chubby youth, trapping her Martial Way into an encirclement and then proceeding to apply the golden marks, one by one, on her body.

    Then, the figure of the eight lines lighting up on the scroll appeared, burning like fire in her consciousness. She clearly remembered what she had felt back then. It had been¡­ powerlessness.

    Slash!

    A third tear, this time horizontal, appeared on the wall. This time, the tear was more than fifteen feet long! Xiao Wu was panting as she examined the once majestic wall, now reduced to nothing more than battered rubble. She ran her gaze on the three foot deep and more than a dozen feet long cracks and she clicked her tongue in disapproval.

    Xiao Wu closed her green eyes: ¡°With just this¡­¡±

    Eight marks lit up in her subconscious, haunting her like demons!

    SLASH!

    The violet orbs glowed like two suns in the darkness of the room as another crack appeared: ten feet deep and a hundred feet long, the horizontal line ran across the whole room! However, in her mind, those eight symbols were still whole, without a single crack showing up on top of them!

    Xiao Wu simply looked down at her hand, holding the Black Dragon Sword: a faint white gauntlet had appeared, bearing the design of a white tree. Pieces of full body armor also appeared faintly before disappearing soon thereafter. Such power, it even made her surroundings darker! However, she was not satisfied in the least!

    ¡°With just this, I would still lose against him!¡±

    ¡°I have to get strong!¡±

    ¡°I want to get strong!¡±

    Xiao Wu narrowed her violet, flaring eyes and tightened her grip on the Black Dragon Sword: ¡°I Will getStrong! I Shall get Strong,Stronger!¡±¡±

    She lifted the sword and stepped forward, the shield relentlessly bearing forward with all its might!

    No stance!

    No technique!

    There was no need for either, as her blade was simply too fast and the strikes of her shield too overbearing!

    A flash, lighting up the darkness. A flash, billowing out the light of life.

    With her blade in one hand and the shield in the other, Xiao Wu slashed and slashed, in the pursuit of strength.

    Only the future would show whether such efforts would be rewarded or turn out being all in vain. Until then however¡­

    SLASH!

    With an unbreakable will, she would slash with all her might!

 Book 2: Beginning Of The Rebellion - Fourth Arc: Strong, Stronger! - Epilogue

    The cold, dark sky was completely empty, without a single star in sight. It almost resembled a dark ceiling extending for countless miles, blotting out stars and other heavenly bodies alike.

    However, despite the lack of any source of natural light, an eerie glow illuminated a plateau on top of a mountain peak.The mighty mountain was so tall its height was unfathomable. Usually, when gazing up, one would see countless lanterns floating all around the massive mount. Many thin, skeletal figures, carrying gigantic boulders on their backs, could also be noticed if one was to look more closely.

    These beings resembled humans, however had much longer noses, deep eyesockets andsoulless, dark orbs of shadows in place of their eyes. They had bodies that looked like simple sets of bones covered in leathery, grey, decaying skin. Their bodies were barely covered in strips of cloths, the restof their head was concealedbeneath their hoods, held up by large chains.

    The boulders were inscribed with majestic runes, emanating a bright blue glow. The engraved symbols were fuming: the column of smoke would rise in spiral before joining in with countless others.

    Dragging their bare, long feet on the rocky ground, the skeletal figures wouldn¡¯t falter as they walked up almost the whole length of the mountain, stopping only slightly short from the top, before walking back down.

    It was unknown just how long a single full cycle would take. Whole eras would pass, and one would still be able to look up only to see such an awe-inducing distance to the top as when he had started.

    It was also unknown just how long these cycles had repeated themselves. For such a long time, these dried up husks would walk up and down, devoid of any other thought that was not completing their duty. They were mere slaves ofthevicious cycle and its long since gone creators.

    However, the Hollowed would not rebel. They were slaves, slaves to their own bodies. For so long they had been forced to walk with the gigantic stones on their hunched back that they had long since forgotten just who or what they were.

    There was only one word to describe the process these countless individuals had been chained to since ages long gone.

    Wicked.

    To steal someone¡¯s freedom such as so was nothing short of the utmost evil! It was the gravest of sins!

    However, in such an atmosphere of wickedness, of unholiness to its extreme, there was still something hinting to a greater, deeper scheme¡­ even in such a wicked place, a hint of sacredness could still be sensed.

    And indeed, the area at the very top of the gigantic mountain did look like a sacred place.

    Complex blue symbols were engraved on every single brick that made up a huge structure. It had no ceiling, as it seemed to have endured the test of time for countless ages, yet the walls still stood proudly, the floor looked still firm and only displayed a few cracks where the bricks had broken down.

    Countless alcoves and ruined statues could be seen situated on the outer perimeter of the circle-shaped room. Many seats were found when looking towards the center of the large structure, surrounding a circular room that was completely cut off from the outside world.

    The ancient aura lingering around the whole mountain peak was almost that of a spot where ancient beings would meet to discuss the fate of the world! If such place was to exist, it would without a doubt closely resemble this very one. Then, this mountain would surely be the resting place of gods and deities alike!

    At the moment however, such a godly place was ruined, an eerie, blue fire consuming the mountain whole!

    Above the tall mountain peak, clouds swirled nonstop. However, these were not the blue colored clouds made out of the fumes rising from the rune stones. No, the columns of smoke came from the fires that spread all over thelength of the tall mount!

    Countless skeletal bodies, stones strappedtotheir backs, had finally stopped in their weary endeavors. Their bodies burning, they rose to the sky as ash, dust, partciles, smoke, joining together in the making of those clouds. Finally, even though only in death, at least they would be able to look down on the mountain that had imprisoned their souls for so long... right?

    That could have been it indeed, but that would have needed to be so long ago it would not be recorded in history. Because, now that they were the Hollowed, beings whose souls had long since dried up along with their consciousness, even in death, they would be unable to find peace.

    More than ¡®killed¡¯, it would have been more accurate to describe them as simply having been ¡®switched off¡¯. Burned by such hot fires, they would have no time to scream that the blue flame would have already consumed their body. The fires almost looked like a gigantic beast, sinking its fangs into the body of a rock titan, devouring whatever happened to also land in its jaws.

    As for the culprit of such a chaotic situation, he could be found at the very top of the ruined mountain. Usually, the heat emitted from the flames would escape upwards, making being at the top of a burning object a pretty dangerous position to find oneself in.

    Yet, neither flames nor hot air would approach such a figure. In fact, they would not approach the top of the mountain peak at all! Such a powerful aura of ancientness from the stony plateau, not even the world burning flames that were eating away at the mount¡¯s body would be able to get close.

    Otherwise, would He have dared using the flames, risking to losehis precious toy in the process?

    The man simply stood there, his blurry figure standing out from his surroundings, almost as if an ethereal veil was covering his appearance from prying eyes. At the same time, the fear of the unknown that laid below the hazy cover would make one subconsciously feel great terror when laying his eyes on the single thing discernible: a pair of the most beautiful blue eyes.

    Those blue eyes scanned the mountain in its entirety, almost as if he could see beyond the limits imposed on him by his five senses. In his eyes, the mountain was nothing more than a small mound on the ground. With but a step, he would step over it and then some.

    The sacred atmosphere of the mountain had not disappeared yet, despite the mountain already having died figuratively. However, the glow coming from its top, a light that was such a bright shade of blue it seemed to eclipse the blue flames!

    The clouds swirling at the top of the mountain, made out of the thin ashes that had once been the Hollowed, were also colored the shiny, light blue due to the blue glow.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    Suddenly, the clouds of smoke parted as a massive object approached the tall peak. Enormous! Imposing! With a casual swish of its tail, the clouds parted and powerful winds blew! Having blown away the clouds, the appearance of this new arrival could be seen.

    ¡°Lord, this is the chamber of the Door. This humble one is so ever grateful of his greatness¡¯ favor! He will be sure to pay it back!¡±

    The speaker was an Hollowed. Or, more accurately, had been. Just a few moments ago, he had been carrying those stones just as he had done for so long before. Now however, the skeletal figure was no longer, having changed into the body of a flying fish so big it could be mistaken for the sun. And that had been thanks to the blue eyed man¡¯s abilities.

    The fish¡¯s body was covered in bloody, red scales, making him look as if he was covered in blood. Divine Skyfish, an ancient beast that roamed the skies, terrorizing all and everyone who laid its eyes upon it. To think that such a majestic creature could have been turned into an Hollow was already pretty hard to believe. However, to actually see it bow its proud head was even more astonishing!

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The hazy man said nothing as he simply witnessed the world burning flames rising to the sky. Finally, he closed his eyes and walked towards the center of the large plateau. Wherever he stepped, the stones would crack as the symbols grew dim, almost as if something or someone was draining them of their power.

    He turned around to look at the skyfish and the burning mountain one last time. He smirked, his motion hidden by the ethereal blur:

    ¡°I have grown tired after such a long journey. Let¡¯s see... Those flames of mine can bring enormous boost to your power if gobbled up after having lowered one¡¯s defense. This shall be a parting gift to you, as thanks for being my companion during our travels up this tall mountain. As for returning your favor, just forget about it¡­¡±

    Having heard those words, the Skyfish¡¯s eyes widened and he immediately turned to look at the blue flames.

    A power up? Is there really such a thing? And he¡¯s willing to give it away to me for free! Then, I won¡¯t be courteous!

    Itsped downwards and lowered his defenses before opening his wide mouth and sucking the flames in all at once! He inhaled, inhaled, inhaled for the time it takes a stick of incense to burn, until not a single flame was left on the mountain!

    At this moment, the Skyfish¡¯s scales turned a bright orange and began to fume¡­

    Yes! Yes! This heat, I can feel the power course through me! With this, I am invincible! Uh? Ugh, it¡¯s¡­ getting hot¡­ eheh, I can still bear¡­ can still¡­ can¡¯t bear the heat! Hot! Hot! HOT!

    BOOOM!

    Without even understanding what was happening, with a bright blue flash, the Skyfish burst into azure flames! The fire devoured the Skyfish in both body and soul, turning it into ash, scattering in the wind¡­

    ¡°Idiot.I guesshewas a bit too... fired up? Ahahah, at times I can''t help but laugh at my own jokes... they are just too good!¡±

    Worker laughed as he waved his hand. In a flash, the blue flame flew in his hand and glowed brightly for a second before turning into a complicated and blurry symbol. He examined the mark in his hand with satisfaction and then walked into the circular room at the center of the plateau.

    Finally, when he stopped in his steps, the hazy man extended his hand and grabbed the glowing symbol before storing it away.

    ¡°Now then¡­¡± Worker lifted his head, his gaze landing on the figure of a strange door. The object¡¯s design was kept to the simplest, with simple, wooden boards making up the whole of the door¡¯s frame.

    However, the door was peculiar as well as awe inducing not because of its simplistic design, which could have induced some uneasiness in any case seeing as how the door was placed in such a mysterious place, but because, beyond the frame of the door¡­ was a world of light!

    ¡°It has been a while¡­ to think those bastards would actually hide it up here after that incident a few months ago! Then again, I guess I was too reckless last time. Opening it so freely without even trying to hide my actions, it was, in a way, bound to happen that smeone would notice it. Otherwise, it would have shamed the reputation of this one door¡­¡±

    Worker smiled and lifted one of his arms, approaching the strange door:

    ¡°Now then¡­ shall we see how is my favorite bastard doing?¡±

    He stepped forward, leaping into the world of light!

    ¡­

    ¡°Well¡­ now this is a disappointment!¡±

    Worker looked around him, puzzled: around him, nothing had changed from when he had left. He had expected some large-scale calamities would have happened in the span of almost a thousand years, but they had not.

    Only one year had passed in the perspective of those in the Planary System of the Nine Heavens, and yet one would be shocked to find out that the time that had passed in this version of the Nine Heavens had actually been just a few weeks short of a whole millennium!

    He turned around and his body flashed before reappearing in front of a worn down hut. It was built with wooden planks which had long since rotten. It was as if it had endured centuries of the harsh weather without anyone tending to it

    Worker ignored the situation of the hut as a bad feeling swelled up in his chest. Ignoring that feeling, he smiled and walked forward, knocking on the door gently:

    ¡°Little bastard? You grandfatheris here!Come open the door!¡±

    After waiting for a few minutes in vain, the blue eyed blurry man grew impatient. With a click of the tongue, he stepped forward and grabbed the door¡¯s handle:

    ¡°Well, fuck you too! I¡¯m coming in!¡±

    The door slid open as Worker pushed it open. As soon as he did so, his expression changed! Suddenly,a current of air so hot it almost incinerated him on the spot rushed out! At the same time, he felt a presence akin to a sharp blade, ready to pierce through both the body and the soul with but a single thought!

    Worker gulped as he stabilized his projection into this world. That''s right, projection. After all, he wouldn¡¯t send his real body in such a lowly mission! He had better people to con and slaughter and, even better, more people to con and slaughter elsewhere!

    He had to be careful. After all, despite not being the original, hehad almost been wipedaway by a single of the other¡¯s (presumed) attack!

    Workerlooked into the room. There, a figure sat cross-legged: red skin covered in sweat, incredibly long, crimson hair spread all around him, he wore a loose pair of black pants tight around the waist, and strips of dirty cloth that had once been a white undershirt.

    Two spirals on his cheeks, an anklet from which dangled blue and green precious gems, a silver feather hanging from one of his locks, some of his hair tied into long braids.

    The youthemanated an aura so hot he was like a flame, a will of fire so powerful it almost felt as if it could burn with but the slightest thought! Right now, his eyes were closed and he was sitting cross-legged, his back straight and his mouth opened as he seemed to be exhaling. As he exhaled, wisps of smoke formed above him, turning into countless figures, both concrete and abstract.

    Such a sight, it was absolutely mesmerizing! Just like watching a flame, one would be enchanted and only snap out of it after a long while¡­

    After hours had passed, Worker finally recovered from the shock and once again fell into a deep state of uneasiness and shock. At that moment, the red haired man was still exhaling: it was unknown exactly how much that single motion had lasted.

    However, at that time, the temperature in the room suddenly shot up! Waves of heat were visible as flames burst all around the youth, completely engulfing the hut in the process! Worker widened his eyes as he jumped backwards, barely evading the flaming tongues!

    He turned to look back into the room: despite the strength of the flames, the hut had actually not been burnt at all! Instead, it was as if it had been reborn! The wood was now not rotten anymore nor were the walls decaying!

    At that moment, within the dark room, the red skinned, red haired boy¡­ opened his eyes! A pair of the reddest flames burnt in the darkness of the room like two suns! A powerful presence spread, almost like that of a deity amongst deities!

    The red eyed youth patted his clothes and examined them: thanks to those flames, they had turned back to what they had looked like hundreds of years ago, completely unscathed by the test of time!

    ¡°You!¡± Worker stared in both shock and horror at the emerging figure of the red skinned youth. This shock and horror were not due to fear. Instead, great rage welled up in the blue eyed man¡¯s chest as he shouted: ¡°What have you done!?!¡±

    The youth lifted one of his eyebrows and looked into the pair of blue orbs. He licked his lips and retorted, narrowing his eyes as he yawned:

    ¡°Well... it has been quite the nice nap!¡±

    Cheng Hao smiled enigmatically.

 Book 2: Beginning Of The Rebellion - Fifth Arc: Unravelling - Prologue

    Utmost silence reigned as the sovereign in the dark halls and corridors of the underground mansion. In the main hall, two figures sat cross-legged, their eyes closed, their breathing regular. More accurately, the first of the two, a black haired, middle-aged man was sitting.

    A few meters away from him was a majestic dragon. The beast measured more than thirty feet in length, its whole body covered in beautiful, golden scales, a red mane running down its spine, a goatee of the same crimson color grew beneath the dragon¡¯s fierce looking jaws.

    Five clawed limbs protruded from below the monster¡¯s body, the tip of the long nails razor-sharp, almost like five edged blades, each capable of easily slashing a person in half. The closed eyelids twitched constantly. The dragon¡¯s whole body was squirming, jerking, as if he was having nightmares or enduring some kind of pain.

    The middle-aged man opened his eyes when the dragon¡¯s jerking reached a certain level. With an impassible expression depicted on his evil looking face, he waved the long sleeves of the black robes: with that, dark fumes entered the beast¡¯s opened mouth.

    When that happened, the golden dragon suddenly stopped moving altogether and its breathing grew regular once again.

    The black robed man looked at this and sighed. He stood up and brushed off his clothes, despite not being any speck of dust or imperfection on the cloth. With an exaggerated motion, he stretched and sighed.

    As he did so, his mouth twitched as his pupils momentarily turned into two vertical slits. As that happened, space cracked, the surroundings bent as the fabrics of reality twisted and began to slowly rip apart¡­

    He shook his head and his eyes went back to normal. This time, his expression couldn¡¯t help but grow sour: neither him nor Blindlight could go on, suppressing their power like this. The burden he was facing at the moment was that of binding his cultivation down to a level where it would not collapse this whole plane of existence.

    He was keeping his might power trapped inside his sea of consciousness, not allowing a single wisp of it to leak out. If he let that happen, it would be like dropping a mountain on top of an ant.

    Soon, he would be unable to do that any longer. It was becoming so painful to keep the overflowing energy inside that lately he would slip more often than he had anticipated, the pain of his body interfering with his concentration.

    If his power was the mountain, the world an ant, he would be the entity holding the ropes and chains keeping that same mountain from falling down. Ropes would unravel, chains would crack, but he would still have to tighten his grip, even if his hands bled!

    He turned to look at the golden dragon, Blindlight, and his eyes filled with pity. After all, the pain the thirty-foot long golden snake was withstanding was far higher than his own.

    As he had already achieved the required amount of spiritual energy and enlightenment required, he could not let that slip out. However, he also could not let any more come in, otherwise it would overflow and everything would be lost!

    Thus, he had to create two barriers. One to block what was inside from coming out and one that did the exact opposite, preventing any more energy from entering his already fully charged body. These barriers¡­ were figments of his imagination! They were supported by his determination, by his willpower.

    And, up until that moment, for three whole months, Blindlight had endured, egregiously not slipping out even once!

    And for what? We could even get out of this plane of existence now, and yet you choose not to! This, because you believe he will come! You are withstanding such punishment, enduring so much pain, for a single person!

    I respect you greatly Blindlight. This Is also the reason I am aiding you by at least letting your short breaks, when your cultivation stabilizes and you are able to rest, to be free from nightmares.

    Blacky smiled bitterly as he looked at the tired golden dragon:

    However, is it worthy? And, more importantly, for how long will you be able to keep this up?

    ¡­

    Six months!

    Blacky was gaping as he looked at the now twenty foot long dragon. Blindlight had actually resisted for three more months! The black robed man could not believe his eyes! Despite the great decrease in size due to the enormous exhaustion, the golden dragon still gritted his teeth, not letting a single sound escape his lips.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    For three whole months, he had endured pain that would have made most grown men scream for days and nights. Blacky was gaping in utter disbelief as he looked at his companion with newfound respect.

    He stared at the golden scales covered in beads of sweat and felt shivers run down his back. Without making any other sound, he sat down cross-legged. He also felt a great amount of pain, but how could he show that in front of Blindlight?

    He sat and waited, gazing silently as he remembered the words he had thought so many days prior: ¡®for how long will you be able to keep this up?¡¯.

    For a split second, he felt his blood boiling as another feeling swelled up in his chest: Blindlight would keep it up. He would resist even though his body wouldn¡¯t let him! Through his sheer willpower, he will go through these last six months without giving up!

    The thought of that alone was purely irrational given the circumstances; after all, how could Blindlight resist any longer than his limits would allow him? Nonetheless, it made him smile. And it was with a large grin on his grim face that the black robed man nodded resolutely, gritting his teeth himself and enduring the pain as well.

    Let¡¯s go, Blindlight! I choose to follow you in your bet, whether we win or lose will be up to Cheng Hao and Cheng Hao alone!

    ¡­

    Seven Months. Gritting his teeth, Blacky endured as he felt his whole body burning like fire. The surroundings darkened as an enormous amount of energy seemed to be on the verge of breaking out. With a loud roar on the black robed man¡¯s part, the rising aura fell back down. Without doing as much as open his eyes, the Hellish Nightmare Dragon returned to his meditative state

    Eight Months. Hissing sharply, Goldy squirmed for a good ten breaths before finally calming down. The large beads of golden sweat covering his whole body had increased in both volume and quantity as Blindlight felt himself reaching the limits of his body.

    Nine Months. ROAR! Blacky¡¯s figure turned for a single instant into that of a mighty dragon, tens of meters long, before immediately going back into his human form. After the process, the Hellish Nightmare Dragon was panting loudly. Despite that, his face had regained some of its lost color and his whole body seemed to have relaxed. Staring at the large spatial crack a few inches from his nose, Blacky felt cold sweat dripping down his back. Never, ever, ever doing that again, he thought.

    Ten Months. Despite Blacky looking a lot better due to releasing some of the pent up pressure a month ago, he still looked quite weathered an tired. Not to mention Blindlight, whose body had shrunk to a pitiful five feet in length, emanating none of the previously present pride as a golden king of the skies. More than a heavenly Beast, he resembled a Heavenly Doormat.

    Eleven Months! The situation had reached a point where they could no longer go on. Goldy had no more strength in his body to continue enduring the strain to his mind. He had already turned into a single foot long snake, he had no strength to continue! However, he gritted his teeth. He would not give up! Never! He would wait, he would not lose a friend he had already lost in the past! He would wait, even if that would turn out being the very last thing he did!

    A single week left! With a large howl, Goldy screamed to the skies, this loud yell echoing for a whole hour before stopping. With red eyes, Blindlight looked up in defiance: fate would prevent him from achieving his goal: What was fate? Was it food? If not, then don¡¯t hinder my path!

    Six days left! If Goldy was determined, Blacky was even more willing to keep going! After all, how would he face his face around if a puny Mortal, although a relived Primordial Beast, could endure twice the amount of pain as him while he gave up? Go to hell, I have endured greater pain in the past, I shall not be stopped here and now!

    Five days left! Uh? He should just breakthrough and end it there? Surely, he could, but would he? No! He had endured for months, how could he possibly let go of that massive spark of hope now, now that it was about time for that seed to bloom into the long awaited flower?

    Four days left! Crazy? Maybe. Idiotic? Probably. Willing to give up? Not even in his dreams! Red eyes so filled with veins they had turned a bright crimson, so many veins squirming beneath the skin they looked like countless snakes, the two beasts gritted their teeth and howled! They would not be defeated by neither time nor reason! They would strive!

    Three days left! Ahahah, what was sanity? Was this sanity? If so, I have already lost it. Might as well forget about it and just strive! Pain? What pain? I don¡¯t feel anything anymore, so what was pain like?

    Two days left! For a whole day, twenty-four hours, Blindlight and the Hellish Nightmare Dragon howled with rage and burning passion! With imposing yells, they announced their intention to the skies: they would not fall!

    The final day.

    With a shout so loud that it woke up everyone from their deep state of cultivation¡­ Goldy and Blacky opened their eyes and gazed upon the dawn of the final day. Despite being underground, they could still see it. Had they perhaps grown mad? Maybe.

    However, there might have beenanother explanation.

    And that was that the dawn¡­ was none other than the world rewarding their effort with the most beautiful sight it could give the two completely spent beasts.

    Finally, it had come. The last day. That day was the day when the two of them would find out whether their effort had, indeed, amounted to something.

    With burning eyes, their bodies still trembling from the pain, the two of them looked up, awaiting for that one figure to appear before them: his confident, bright smile would washaway the fatigue as the pair of golden eyes would scantheir tired bodieswith pride and acknowledgement.

    With an exhausted spirit and yet an ever awake mind, the Heaven Devouring Dragon Blindlight and the Hellish Nightmare Dragon Blacky awaited for Cheng Hao, without even taking into consideration that the reborn child would not come...

 Chapter 106 - I Do Not Seek For The Ephemeral!

    ¡°~Mmh¡­¡±

    Bathing in the sunlight for the first time in so long, Cheng Hao stretched as he looked up. He lifted his hands to block the rays from the four large suns shining down from the sky and smiled delightfully as he felt the comfortable warmth on his skin.

    Not that he actually had any problem with the cold lately, seeing as how he had basically turned into a flame deity for the last thousand or so years¡­ it wasn¡¯t so much about his body temperature, as much as it was the feeling of awakening from a long slumber and find that, while some things might have changed, even more had not.

    And that slumbering was also the reason the blue-eyed, blurry guy had been nagging him for so long.

    ¡°Listen to me you asshole! How do you expect me to accept that in the last thousand years you did nothing but fucking sleep the whole fucking time? At first I couldn¡¯t believe it, and I still can¡¯t now! One thousand bloody years! And you mean to tell me that in this one fucking thousand years, you simply sat cross-legged in that decaying hut? Listen, I know you are eccentric, but I kind of am quite angry at the moment if you haven¡¯t noticed. What would you do if you spent both energy and time to get your hands on this bloody door and the guy you shed sweat and blood for used it to nap for, say, ONE THOUSAND FUCKING YEARS?¡±

    Worker looked extremely pissed off already, however Cheng Hao¡¯s carefree attitude only served to fuel his fury. After talking for a long while without receiving any kind of response, the blue eyes glinted with rage:

    ¡±Uh? Are you ignoring me? You are ignoring me, aren¡¯t you? You little¡­¡±

    Almost as if to release his pent up anger, Worker grabbed his blurry hair and began pulling at it:

    ¡°Dear Lord, I¡¯m going mad!¡±

    Cheng Hao scratched his neck as he yawned, not sparing a single bit of attention to the blurry figure shouting at the tops of his lungs next to him. Instead, he simply inhaled the fresh air and enjoyed freedom.

    Finally, after a few minutes Worker seemed to have calmed down. Clearing his voice with a loud cough, the pair of blue eyes showed no trace of anger, which had instead been replaced by curiosity.

    The hazy man sighed with feeling and then shook his head:

    ¡°Whatever, what¡¯s done is done, however I hope it won¡¯t happen again. But-¡°

    ¡°Say¡­¡±

    Cheng Hao had finally spoken up. That one word had been enough to make the projection of the Worker stop in his tracks and shut up immediately: so the asshole finally dared to talk to the lowly commoners¡­ rise and shine princess! We have been waiting for this for quite a while, ya know?

    Cheng Hao smiled enigmatically as he asked a simple question:

    ¡°You look quite curious to know why I had close to no progress at all during this long, thousand years¡­ or rather, why I decided for it to be that way.¡±

    Worker¡¯s blue eyes widened as, below the cover of the blurry veil, he grinned happily:

    ¡°Well¡­ I can¡¯t deny that. However, I understand that you might have had your reasons. After all, you might be an asshole, but wasting a thousand years¡¯ worth of cultivation just to annoy me for a few minutes¡­ well, it doesn¡¯t really sound like something an intelligent person such as you would have done.¡±

    After walking for quite the distance, the red haired, crimson eyed youth finally reached one of the borders of the floating island. Down below, he could vaguely see a large water surface.

    That was none other than the World Ocean, the place where the Seven Seas merged into one. That was none other than one of the wonders of the world!

    The sparkly surface which gave the place an ethereal feeling!

    The vapors, which rose due to the actions of the four suns heating up the ocean¡¯s waters, spiraled to the sky formlessly, and yet following a pattern!This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

    The water of the seven oceans, each of different color, all merging into the one ocean at the center of the world, the World Ocean!

    A mesmerizing sight was to say the least, but calling it such a miraculous place that even gods wouldn¡¯t mind gazing upon would not be enough to describe its beauty! And above that miracle of nature, hovering above the reach of the colored fumes, was the island where the four lords of the world, the Four Divine Kings, dwelled.

    As he stared over the edge mindlessly, his fiery, red hair fluttering behind him madly, Cheng Hao sighed with feeling. So little memories of that place, yet they were intense, to the point he could hardly keep himself from shedding a tear or two when his thoughts focused on the image of the true Divine Fire King, the true Ren Hong.

    Cheng Hao brought one hand to his chest and another to the flowing, red hair, almost as if to delude himself that the girl was by his side. After almost a thousand years spent in that meditative state, the red strands had grown so long that they reached way below his feet. In fact, every time he stepped forward the hair would be dragged behind him.

    Noticing that, Cheng Hao sighed and simply waved his hand. The hair suddenly shrunk as it returned to its original length, falling down his back just barely below his waist. Then, the red haired boy looked down once again, only to find his view of the beautiful spectacle below obstructed by a layer of the multicolored clouds that had formed due to the spiraling fumes.

    With but a thought, Cheng Hao waved his hand and the clouds dissipated immediately, without a notice. One moment the had been there, the next Cheng Hao was grasping in his hand a swirling gaseous mass. Smiling bitterly at this, he turned to look at the pair of blue eyes of the mysterious hazy man once again.

    As he let go of the fumes in his hand, he opened his mouth to speak:

    ¡°Such a beautiful land¡­ with the power granted to me in this form, the power of the Divine Fire King, I would have very few opponents as long as the Nine Heavens are concerned.¡°

    Cheng Hao twirled his fingers and the fumes took the form of a beautiful girl, wearing a loose, sleeveless shirt and a pair of black pants, tight at the waist. However, just then, winds arose and the figure dissipated, carried away in the wind.

    ¡±However, both this power and this world are mere figments of my imagination, nurtured by my desires¡­ these are not real, so why bring the real into the imaginary, if you cannot bring the imaginary into the real? Just like these clouds, a slight breeze would be enough to blow them away. Just like that, with but a look at reality, delusions will dissipate into nothingness.¡±

    Worker¡¯s pair of blue eyes widened as he heard the last two sentences uttered by the red haired youth: ¡°What is the meaning of increasing our strength in an illusion, if it only means falling even more deeply in its grasp? Why should I be enticed by it and be trapped in my mind forever?¡±

    The blue-eyed man was shaken when he heard those words. This trembling was not only due to the excitement that he felt at finding out that his impression of the boy was more than simply spot on, but also because he knew what was waiting ahead.

    The Door was a testing ground, however it did not test one¡¯s might as much as it tested one¡¯s determination. If one did not have enough determination to follow through his goals, he would just fall short and be trapped in this illusion that represented one¡¯s most hidden desires.

    This was the first hurdle to overcome. And Cheng Hao had surpassed it with full marks!

    Actually, there was another limit set, and that would have been when one was too determined. After all, if one¡¯s only motive was revenge and he had the chance to kill the person he was after, despite it being an illusion, one would trick himself into believing it as true, for one¡¯s desire would be so great it would eclipse all logic!

    This would end up with one being stuck in a bittersweet illusion, unable to free oneself, tangled even deeper than those who gave up halfway through.

    This situation had been what Worker had dreaded the most. After all, in one thousand years, there could have been a chance for him to notice that¡­ fortunately however, Cheng Hao had not. Thus, he had not been trapped.

    He had been scared at first, because not having increased his strength at all might have also been a sign of Cheng Hao having lost his motivation after accomplishing his goal, but he had apparently not taken notice of Worker¡¯s little ¡®gift¡¯.

    Worker smiled as he thought of a certain crimson feather¡­

    After all, it is a tad too soon for it to be revealed. The reward shouldn¡¯t be handed out before the task is accomplished!

    Meanwhile, Cheng Hao resumed his speech:

    ¡°If I increased my strength here, it would bring no benefits! Instead, I might even get too accustomed to power! To me, that is a lifestyle which would lead to my defeat as soon as I come back to reality!¡±

    While looking up at the four glowing suns, the boy shook his head. His red eyed glinted sharply as he spoke one last time before walking back to the wooden hut:

    ¡°I won¡¯t just let myself be killed of course, however I am still curious on how things will turn out with me present here, so I will play along! After all, it is almost time for the other me to appear in the Heavenly Plains! Might as well drop by and say hello, so as to let this world know the true Xu Ling!¡±

    ¡­

    Walking out of the door of light, Worker wore a sour expression on his face, beneath his concealment. Then, he broke out into a wide grin:

    ¡°Foolish child, you really are a piece of work! However, you should not play with fire! Despite having figured out the nature of this door, you have still not passed the hidden trial within!¡±

    As he walked down the burnt mountain, walking immeasurable distances at each step, the blue-eyed figure chuckled with delight as he recalled the youth¡¯s confidence.

    ¡°Once you face yourself, will you still be able to still announce your name so proudly?¡±

    And with those words, Worker walked off into the void¡­

 Chapter 107 - The Heavenly Plains

    ¡°¡°To think brother would actually come out of his meditation, it makes big brother happy!¡±¡±

    The burly, dark skinned, black haired man grinned as he patted the red haired youth¡¯s back.

    Following the two males from behind were a woman and a bald youth, conversing enthusiastically as they held each other¡¯s hands.

    ¡°Eldest brother sure does look enthusiastic!¡± the girl exclaimed.

    Her figure was generous, and was extremely good-looking. She seemed to be a woman in her late thirties, however she had an exotic air about her which, coupled with her somewhat feline traits, made it difficult to guess her real age.

    Her dark skin wasn¡¯t the same dark hue of the burly man¡¯s, instead it was a lighter brown, the same color as that of freshly made, hot chocolate.

    She had long white hair that had a slight black hue here and there, resembling the black stripes of a white tiger. Her eyes only showed the white of the cornea and she wore a white tribal dress decorated with animal bones, dangling from it.

    ¡°After almost a thousand years, youngest brother finally got out, and he looks like he has also recovered from the death of his mother! How could he not be excited?¡± the bald youth chuckled.

    He wore a pair of arcane jade-green sandals, which twinkled mysteriously. Dangling from his neck, down on his slim, yet toned, chest, were many necklaces made out of countless teeth.

    An azure tattoo of a dragon went down from the top of his head, all the way down to his ankles. Being bare-chested, the dragon was exposed for the most part, only covered by a pair of worn down, ancient looking pants.

    Lifting his eyes, his gaze landed on the back of that problematic, red skinned brother of his.

    Sure spending one thousand years in seclusion was nothing to beasts such as them, who could basically transcend their mortality and live forever, or at least, as much as their minds could support them. However, with the strange attitude that Ren Hong had shown before segregating himself in the forest hut had filled his three older siblings with uneasiness.

    Fortunately, that worries had been dispelled after seeing that their brother was not only alright, but also looked like he had gotten over the death of his mother, lady Jin FengHuang.

    All in all, a thousand year was not much if it meant their brother was fine. Actually, a few millennia was such an insignificant price to pay¡­ then again, in that single one thousand years, so much had changed!

    Sighing with feeling, he looked at his hand in the girl¡¯s own and felt warmth rising from within his chest. As his gaze wandered from the girl¡¯s hand up to her smiling face, his lips also arranged in a wide grin.

    ¡°Hey Bro, ever had any thoughts about becoming an uncle? Last night was close!¡±

    Ren Bai¡¯s face turned a bright red which contrasted with her darker skin. Her eyes turning into two fiery orbs, she turned to look at the bald youth, boiling with rage:

    ¡°Dear Lord! I swear Ren Long, if you forget about the prevention next time as well, I¡¯ll fucking murder you!¡±

    Ren Long rubbed the bridge of his nose and winked, blushing himself:

    ¡°Ehehe, what¡¯s wrong? Do you not want any kids? I wonder what they would be called! After all, our parents were the ¡®Primordial Emperors¡¯, we are the ¡®Divine Kings¡¯¡­ following that logic, wouldn¡¯t they be something like the ¡®Heavenly Kings¡¯? That sounds dope!¡±

    Cheng Hao finally managed to break free of the burly youth¡¯s chokehold and turned around, beaming:

    ¡°You guys got into that kind of relationship? Congratulations! Where is my niece?¡±

    Ren Long shook his head sighing:

    ¡°Man, I tried, but the girl keeps panicking whenever we tried! Can you believe that? I mean, I get one might want to take it slow, but, in the meantime, the humans down there have gotten through dozens of generations!¡±

    ¡°I-I¡¯m just not feeling like it!¡±Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

    ¡°He¡¯s right you know? In a thousand years, those guys must have already multiplied like rabbits.¡± Cheng Hao intervened, frowning as if he was pondering deeply.

    Ren Bai sighed and shook her head:

    ¡°Whatever! What could you boys possibly understand!¡±

    The four siblings all laughed and the atmosphere between them lost all tension and the mood grew lighter.

    Suddenly, Cheng Hao suddenly seemed to remember something as he shouted:

    ¡°Wait, I feel so bad for not being there when the news first came out! What should we do about that!¡±

    ¡°You were deep into meditation at the time, brother Hong! Don¡¯t feel bad, there was nothing you could do about it!¡± Ren Long waved his hands as he shook his head, dismissingly. He played with the bone necklaces hanging from his neck, lowering his head as he tried to hide his red cheeks.

    Cheng Hao shook his head full of crimson hair:

    ¡°Are you kidding! That¡¯s no excuse! We are friends! No, we are brothers! Blood may be stronger than water, but the alcohol shared after a battlefield between comrades is even sturdier! How could I possibly have missed such a joyous occasion such as two of my three greatest friends getting together? We should definitely have a feast or something!¡±

    At the mention of a feast, Ren Bai paled as she shook her head:

    ¡°No thanks! Last time it was a disaster! I¡¯d rather not eat anything in a while, thank you very much! It has been that way for centuries, I am afraid I won¡¯t be stopping now!¡±

    Cheng Hao tilted his head in confusion as he pondered out aloud:

    ¡°What happened? Did you let Ren Hei cook or something? Nah, after the time we almost died a few million years ago, I doubt someone could be that idiotic to- YOU FUCKING DID, DIDN¡¯T YOU!¡°

    Ren Long and Ren Bai held their heads low in shame, dark lines appearing on their foreheads. The bald youth and the dark skinned girl were trembling, traumatized by memories they had tried to bury deep into their minds, only to have them resurfacing at this moment.

    ¡°¡±We still think that Blue Squid with Roasted Almonds, Mcaroni, Syrup Grapes and Purple-Clovered Garlic we cooked was a delicacy! It was indeed a shame you only managed to finish half!¡±¡± Ren Hei pushed his chest out with pride, only to be met with the hateful glare of the couple.

    Cheng Hao sent an inquiring glance their way as he recalled a certain piece of information: Blue Squid usually ranged from a few dozen to a hundred meters in length¡­ and the two of them had actually been able to eat half of that?

    The red skinned boy said nothing, however his eyes full of pity clearly meant something along the lines of: ¡°Your poor stomach, intestine and whatever other organs are involved in the digestive process!¡±

    In response, the Azure Dragon compressed his voice into a string:

    ¡°By taking turns at eating and heading to the island¡¯s borders to throw everything up, we somehow managed to finish half of that damned squid! Why have we never given a recipe book to that fucking turtle!¡±

    Cheng Hao sighed then waved his hands, changing the topic:

    ¡°Well, looks like my idea for a feast was rejected! How about we¡­¡± The crimson youth¡¯s eyes glimmered sharply for the fraction of a second.

    ¡°Go for a stroll?¡±

    ¡­

    ¡°Shiny! And so many flowers!¡± Ren Bai opened her mouth wide.

    ¡°Woah, Hong, you had such a wonderful idea!¡± Ren Long exclaimed as he looked around him: multicolored rays of light shone through the air as they bounced off the crystal-clear ground.

    ¡°¡±Seriously, our brother is quite good when it comes to ¡®strolls¡¯! The Heavenly Plains? Truly, genius! How did this come to your mind, I¡¯m curious now! Could it be you actually spent the last thousand years looking for a spot where you could go for a walk? Buahaha!¡± Ren Hei bellowed as he gazed with excitement upon his surroundings, the snake coiled around his shoulder also looked around with interest.

    It was like walking on top of a thin crystal surface, extending for countless miles, beyond the horizon. On the crystal, beautiful plants of all sizes and kinds grew, despite the lack of grass or water.

    The reason that was possible were the rays of colored light that shone down from above and were then reflected from the mirror-like surface below. These rays were akin to physical Spiritual Energy, and those plants could use that as nourishment to grow. This allowed for all kinds of plants to grow, starting from plain, old grass, all the way up to colossal medicinal herbs whose scent was intense to the upmost.

    This made the scenery a beautiful sight that could without doubt rival even that of the World Ocean, maybe even surpassing it. Below the crystal it was a sea of white, such that it was like walking on top of a frozen lake.

    Ren Bai threw herself on the ground where the vegetation was especially dense, laying on the soft grass. As she laughed with delight as she set her sight on all kinds of flowers, a black-and-golden-feathered bird, emitting a majestic aura, landed beside her.

    The bird eyed Cheng Hao with both rage and fear, but suppressed both and simply stood by the side of its master. The red skinned youth ignored the golden beast¡¯s glare and wore a happy smile on his face. However, below this mask of happiness, was a mixture of both excitement and uneasiness.

    Will he appear, or will he not? How will it be like? Sister never told me anything about it, so I have no clue! Still, now that the annoying blue eyed guy is gone, I am finally free to search for my origins!

    Cheng Hao¡¯s eyes were burning with excitement, even his blood was pumping, but he kept his smiling expression on his face and simply waited. However, soon he would be unable to hold the excitement! After all, this was a chance like no other!

    What is the Mountain? Who are the Souls of the Mountain? What is our Aim, our Goal by exterminating Immortals? And, most importantly, why did I appear here, in the Heavenly Plains on that precise day, many centuries ago?

    I want answers! And, if it goes like last time, that guy that possessed my, Xu Ling¡¯s, body, in that memory that surfaced in the battle against Yin Hei, should have them! If I can somehow recreate the circumstances that brought to his appearance, I should be able to find the answers that I seek!

 Chapter 108 - The Space Rift

    The four Divine Beasts chatted, laughed, joked for hours, without seeming to notice the passage of time. After a while, the sky began to turn red, purple, orange, and all sort of hot colors as the sun fell behind the horizon. Soon, those bright colors faded and the sky darkened.

    The first stars appeared then. Like countless fireflies flying in the Heavens, they did their part in brightening up the night.

    Just like that, time passed and night fell. The sun up above was replaced by nine, azure moons, which shone moonlight upon the Heavenly Plains down below. The nine celestial bodies were not as bright as their daytime counterpart, however, they were bright enough to dispel some of the darkness. Thanks to them, the night would be lit enough to allow even humans to recognize their surroundings as clearly as they would during the day.

    When all of the nine moons reached their apex, something amazing happened. In that instant, the moons all superimposed each other up above in the sky, creating a painfully blinding light, forcing the four people down below to avert their gaze and block their eyes.

    When the nine moons separated and the light finally subsided, the four brothers were so shocked, their jaws nearly fell to the ground in awe. The crystal floor almost seemed overwhelmed by the intensity of the moonlight when the rays went through to the White Sea.

    The white sea glowed as if it had absorbed the nine moons themselves. As their surroundings lit up, the four siblings could see that every plant in the large Plains was basking in that light and actually began to absorb it!

    Soon, the plants began to glow as well. Finding themselves in that ocean of light, Ren Hei, Ren Bai, Ren Long, the golden-and-black-feathered bird, and the one residing in Ren Hong¡¯s body, Cheng Hao, all looked on with wide eyed. Then, strange designs appeared on the ground devoid of vegetation.

    The thin surface of the crystal had imperfections invisible to the naked eye. These imperfections would usually not be noticed, however, due to the light emitted from the white substance below, the intricate yet beautiful designs were revealed, glowing the same azure light as the azure moons above.

    It was a scene that was so beautiful it would be a crime against the Heavens if one were to say otherwise! Ren Hei, Ren Bai and Ren Long looked at each other with surprise. Even the bird gazed upon it with wide eyes.

    They all turned to question at Cheng Hao, but it looked like he was surprised too so they dispelled the thought of inquiring him for answers. However, while the strange event was one of the reasons, the cause for his concern was actually much more profound than just gazing upon its beauty:

    So this actually happens when the moons align¡­ does this happen every night? I guess not, otherwise this place would be swarming all year ¡®round! It looks like a rare event that only happens only after long periods of time! Judging by the fact that the Heavenly Plains only came to existence after the Jade Emperor died and Tian rose to power, so not that long ago, this might even be the first time it happened at all!

    Is this a coincidence? Is the fact that it happened close to when I was also supposed to appear important to me effectively appearing in this world? Is this rare occurrence actually one of the reasons that I am?

    Despite noticing the crimson haired youth was pondering deeply, the three siblings didn¡¯t mind it and instead simply gave him a thumbs-up before immediately going back to playing around. The Golden Sky Lord, flapping its wings, also followed closely behind, on guard against any danger that might befall its master, Ren Bai, as well as enjoying the sight.

    Cheng Hao sighed and shook his head before running right behind them, laughing and yelling as well: there were too many things he did not understand, so why bother trying to comprehend them? He might as well just enjoy himself while he still could!

    The night was filled with sounds of giggles, shrieks, yells, as well as roaring laughter. Had any other laid their sights on such a scene

    However, all good things would come to an end, and, after a few hours passed, the white sea below had finally exhausted all the moonlight it had gathered.

    The five figures only stopped then. Falling on the ground, sweat and panting, the four siblings gasped for hair after finally stopping for the first time in hours.

    This experience had been soothing for their soul. For the first time in so many years, they had finally felt light, free of restraint! Despite it all being for less than even a single night, it still had a considerable pacifying effect on their tired minds.

    Even if Cheng Hao hated to admit, it had been an experience that had made him completely forget about his goals, his rationality replaced by the sheer feeling of joy, as it was the sort of happiness that had risen from his very soul after spending such a beautiful time together with his brothers.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    He hated to admit that he had almost forgotten that these people were but figments of his imagination. He sighed as he felt a cold shiver running down his spine:

    I almost fell for this¡­ a single day out here, and I almost lost myself. It is at times like this that I do not regret secluding myself for the past thousand years. Man, after seeing them I grew soft¡­

    Cheng Hao turned to look at his four companions: the three other Divine Beasts were all sound asleep. As he looked at their soundly sleeping figures with astonishment, he also wondered how much time had passed since the three of them had last slept.

    As he looked at the three people laying on the ground, his gaze fell upon the fourth one, who was very much awake to Cheng Hao¡¯s disdain.

    ¡°You again? Uh? What is that look for? Want me to deep-fry you?¡± He glared at the Golden Sky Lord that was unceasingly staring at him from behind some bushes.

    ¡°Sqwak!¡± The bird replied loudly. Due to both their exhaustion as well as the fact that millions-of-years-old beasts such as them would be very heavy sleepers, there was no risk of waking up the three who were asleep.

    ¡°What? Not enough? I¡¯ll deep-fry you AND make a stew out of your bones!¡± Cheng Hao grinned as flames cracked into existence within his hand. The bird immediately widened his eyes and shut up, shrinking behind the cover of the bushes.

    Cheng Hao looked at the flame flickering on top of his hand, not burning in the slightest, with reminiscence. He sighed:

    ¡°Gonna miss this power when I go back! It would have been incredibly useful when it comes to threaten people. Knife-play is slowly starting to go out of fashion¡­¡±

    He extinguished the fire and also laid on the ground, his eyelids slowly lowering. After a short while, his breathing grew regular as Cheng Hao fell asleep¡­

    ¡­

    The nine moons had just disappeared over the horizon, it was only a matter of time before the sun would replace them in the sky. There was no apparent trace of the event from the previous night. However if one was to look more closely, he would find out that the crystal surface still held a tinge of the azure moonlight and was glowing ever so slightly¡­

    Suddenly, dawn appeared. With that, the first rays of light began to dash at mad speed towards the crystal surface¡­ however, as soon as the first ray met with the crystal, a bright light, like that of an explosion, was emanated!

    It was as if the azure glow and the multicolored light couldn¡¯t possibly coexist, yet were forced to as they were both being reflected off the same surface! And that couldn¡¯t be allowed!

    In the short span that it took the moonlight to meet with the sunlight, their energy skyrocketed as they sped towards each other, like two malevolent gods! When they clashed, their speed that of light, space shattered! It had to be said that space fabrics had different kinds of qualities¡­

    For instance, any being above the Mortal Realm would be able to damage the fabric in the plane where the Golden Emperor Sect resided, however the dense amount of spiritual energy present in the air, permeating the entirety of the Heavenly Plains, indicated that the spatial fabrics of the two different planes of existence were on completely different levels!

    Comparing the two, while one was as brittle as crumbling paper, the other was even more durable than diamond! It was unthinkable that it could break! However, just like diamond might be durable, the Heavenly Plains¡¯ spatial fabric still had weaknesses!

    And the clash between the two opposing sides, the azure moonlight and the multicolored rays of sunshine had packed such dense energy in such a minuscule space that it had tore those weak spots wide open!

    Like a War God¡¯s spear piercing through paper, the clash had punctured a hole through space the size of a whole nation!

    WHOOOSH!

    An immeasurable pressure spread as a powerful aura suddenly appeared out of nowhere!

    ¡°Uh?¡± Cheng Hao snapped his eyes open and jumped back, immediately washing off his drowsiness by shaking his head.

    ¡°What is that?¡± Ren Long had woken up and had already made a few of the hand seals required to unseal his true form, preparing for the worst!

    ¡°What the heck! I was sleeping so soundly!¡± Ren Bai also sat up. With a loud sqwak, the Golden Sky Lord landed on her shoulder, emitting an incredibly powerful aura. Despite the air cracking from the pressure the beast was emitting, it was clear to everyone watching that it was like a lit match in the middle of a storm: it could go out at any moment!

    This strength¡­ We have never faced anything like that!

    Ren Hei gritted his teeth as he stomped on the ground: despite there not being earth, a massive, two-handed blade made out of dirt appeared in his hands.

    With a loud harrumph, the Divine Earth King lifted the blade and clenched his muscles, ready to attack at any given moment!

    ¡°¡°We have to run away! We cannot possibly fight it back! In the worst situation, run and don¡¯t look back, we will stand back and holdoff that thing when it comes out!¡±¡± Ren Hei compressed his voice to a string, his eyes radiating killing intent and the air cracking as he lifted his gaze to look at his opponent!

    This all, despite the lengthy explanation, had happened in but an instant! From the moment Cheng Hao had woken up to when he heard his older brother¡¯s mental message, barely a single breath had passed!

    This was proof that, despite their current state of weakness, the experience the three of them had acquired during their long lives as the Divine Kings was no little amount!

    Meanwhile, Cheng Hao was astonished at the powerful pressure, and was also puzzled at his brother¡¯s words: holdoff the thing that comes out? What thing?

    However, as soon as he looked up, and his vision cleared, his eyes widened as a smile appeared on his face.

    It looked like a massive hole of nothingness was floating up above in the sky. There was no trace of any remaining moonlight.

    As they were existences of equal might, the moonlight and sunlight had not much difference in quality. However, with it being daytime, there was clearly an enormous advantage when it came to quantity.

    However, that wasn¡¯t what the five pairs of eyes focused upon. Instead, all of their gazes were fixed on the center of the massive hole, where a tornado of swirling symbols was slowing coming out!

    And within it¡­

    The mysterious figure of a person could barely be made out!

 Chapter 109 - A Change Of Heart

    Cheng Hao felt the drops of cold sweat condensing on his forehead. He curled his hands into fists and gritted his teeth so hard they made a creaking sound. The fingernails bit into the flesh, blood trickled down the tightly shut lips.

    His wide, red eyes focusing in the figure barely visible at the center of the calamity-like occurrence, Cheng Hao felt like a bomb had been set off in his mind as it went blank.

    He¡­ He¡¯s here! Isthishow I came to existence, why I am alive and breathing now? I wasactually born from such a calamity? I was born from a spatial rift!

    The massive rip in space was so large it blotted out the sky. Lightning crackled and the sky darkened, a powerful suction force pulling all the spiritual energy present in the air into the black hole that was the void beyond the spatial rift.

    In the middle of the vortex of spiritual energy was the figure of a person. Around him swirled countless, radiant symbols, each glowing a flashy, colored light.

    They seemed to act like some kind of barrier, cutting off the figure inside from the outside world, protecting him from any and all harm. At the same time however, they blocked the view, not allowing Cheng Hao to see what was inside. Not that he would need it, wouldn¡¯t he?

    However, the pressure emanated from this hole in space itself was such that he was frozen on the spot. Despite it all being an illusion, the fear that the spatial rift gave off was still clear and vivid in his mind! In his head, he couldn¡¯t think of anything else other than escaping, running away!

    Shit¡­ to think it would be like this, I can¡¯t even take a single step forward!

    Glaring upwards, his lips contorted in a twisted grin, beads of sweat sliding down his face, all the way down to his chin, before falling on the ground, Cheng Hao cursed at his own impotency!

    Ren Hei had also paled, blood trickling down from the sides of his mouth. Gritting his teeth, the burly man holding the earthen greatsword straightened his posture, screaming at the top of his lungs:

    ¡°¡±RUN! WE MUST ESCAPE NOW!¡±¡±

    Hearing those words, Ren Long and Ren Bai exchanged a quick glance and the woman nodded. She whistled and the black and golden feathered bird immediately let out a loud sqwak. He suddenly grew in size a hundredfold, flapped his wings, now spanning hundreds of feet in length, and grabbed the two lovers with its claws.

    He retreated back a few hundred meters before dropping the two Divine Beasts down on the ground. It then turned and flashed, disappearing and reappearing in front of Ren Hei and Cheng Hao. Despite their grudge, the bird didn¡¯t hesitate in grabbing the red skinned youth along with the burly man, immediately reappearing hundreds of feet away with a single flap of its powerful wings.

    Cheng Hao snapped awake from the shock, induced by the terror instilled by the rift¡¯s pressure. He turned around and noticed that the rip in space was slowly mending back together, as if the two end were being sewn together by some sort of invisible hand.

    As it shrunk, the figure inside the tornado of swirling symbols also began to fall back into the void¡­ the glowing characters had already been glowing faintly when the vortex had first appeared and had all but weakened in the short period of time following that.

    Cheng Hao could only watch as, one after the other, the symbols began to shatter and disperse¡­ the pressure was just too much for the weakened symbols to bear. Then, as the last few symbols were about to crack and fall apart as well¡­

    BOOM!

    Gathering the last of their power left, they suddenly exploded!

    The bright light forced the red skinned youth, his three siblings and the Golden Sky Lord to look away as soon as the flash of the explosion reached their eyes. Even then, such a short exposure had been enough to blind them temporarily!

    ¡°Agh, my eyes!¡± Ren Long let out a loud cry as he felt as if swords had been stabbed in his pupils. Ren Bai and the golden bird also lamented out aloud. Only the older brother, Ren Hei, and Cheng Hao managed to choke their screams of pain in their throats and resist the urge to bend over and claw at their faces.

    ¡°¡±Kuh! To think that we would find ourselves in such a situation!¡±¡± The burly man had long since dissolved the weapon made out of earth; what use would it be against something that was not corporeal such as the spatial rift? He fell to his knees, incapable of withstanding the pressure any longer.

    By that moment however, the rip was finally about to close: as of then, it was barely a hundredth of its original size, and shrinking rapidly!

    His eyes dripping bloody tears from the pain, Cheng Hao gritted his teeth and immediately looked back over his shoulder, examining the situation of the figure that had now lost the protection from the swirling symbols.

    At the moment, it was sinking back in the void. Fortunately, in some way or another, the explosion of those symbols had created some sort of protective membrane around the body of the person they had previously been protecting. It was a pure azure color and its glow blocked once more the view to the person¡¯s appearance.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    The barrier was however getting thinner and thinner, it was only a matter of time before it disappeared. The explosion had also created a huge path to the figure¡¯s position. It was almost as if the explosion had been done exclusively to create that path, allowing a third party a chance to save the person that was about to fall into the vortex¡­

    As the three Divine Beasts recovered from the sudden explosion, they all gathered in one spot, all with grim expressions on their faces.

    ¡°Right now¡­ there is a slight chance we could make it. However¡­¡± Ren Bai gritted her teeth as she looked down at her trembling legs. She sighed and shed a single tear as she looked away: ¡°Whoever you might have been... I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t we all?¡± Ren Long sighed and shook his head as he embraced the woman.

    Ren Hei simply let out a loud grunt, however it was clear he would not take action. Not that he could not, however it was simply too dangerous! The path through the dimensional rip might seem stable then, however what about in the close future? What assured them that in a few instants it would not collapse? Why should they risk their lives for a stranger?

    Cheng Hao looked at the three of them with contempt. After all, that had also happened in his own world: it had been Ren Hong who had acted back then, not his brothers. And here, in this world, fruit of his imagination, it looked like they would also not lift a finger.

    Does this mean¡­ that it is up to me?

    Cheng Hao felt a prickle at the back of his head: after all, the person who was about to die was another him, what¡¯s more, one that was going through the same hardships he had gone through as well. However, in the end, Cheng Hao sighed and spared one last glance at the disappearing figure before looking away, an apologetic look on his face:

    Sorry, it is too dangerous, I cannot help you! I hope you will forgive me¡­

    However, in the very next moment, his eyes widened as his brain processed the information that his eyes had sent it... Cheng Hao¡¯s face fell and he immediately turned back around.

    Wait... this is! No, how couldit truly be like this!

    Surprise.

    Incredulity.

    Rage.

    Absolute and utter shock.

    His expression was a mixture of these and then some as his eyes finally landed on the figure in the middle of the swirling symbols within the dissipating vortex.

    All of a sudden, behind him, out of thin air, appeared the illusory figure of a massive, winged beast; its wings, spanning countless miles in length, its figure blotting out the sky!

    With four shocked pair of eyes glued on his back, Cheng Hao kicked off the air, dashing madly towards the path, leading to the figure surrounded by the faint barrier.

    Before anyone could react, his figure had flashed away, appearing miles away in the sky, headed straight for the center of the vortex!

    ¡°Ren Hong!¡±

    ¡°Brother!¡±

    ¡°¡±Ren Hong! Come back here!¡°¡±

    ¡°Sqwak!¡±

    The three siblings were astonished, even the black and golden-feathered bird had let out a loud sqwak due to the shock and terror. However, most shocked and terrified of them all was none other than Cheng Hao himself!

    SHITSHITSHIT!

    ¡°RAAAAH!¡± He roared, venting out his feelings of confusion, anger and rage

    GOD! FUCKING! DAMNIT! WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME! WHY, WHY, WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE THIS WAY!!! FUCK, IF THAT IS TRULY IT, I HAVE TO SAVE THAT PERSON NOW!

    As he sped forward madly, wind currents suddenly rose, battering everything in a radius of hundreds of miles! Everything, be it the plain grass, legendary medicinal plants or millenary trees, all bent under the fierce attack of the wind!

    ¡°Aaaagh!¡± Ren Bai yelled as the irresistible air currents crashed into her body!

    ¡°Ren Bai!!! Kuh, damnit!¡± Ren Long also could not resist the strength of the howling tempest and was thrown off his feet. The Divine Sea King and the Divine Beast King had both been sent flying!

    ¡°Kuh!¡± Ren Hei, despite hailed as amongst the strongest beasts beneath the Heavens when it came to physical strength, also slid back for more than a few hundred feet before he recovered.

    ¡°¡±Kah! KkkrrrRHAAAAAA!¡±¡± Facing the oncoming storm, Ren Hei let out a large howl as he finally managed to keep his feet on the ground. He gritted his teeth, biting his tongue as lightning crackled around him! Four eyes suddenly lit up, eclipsing all other light.

    ¡°¡±ENOUGH¡±¡± In a split second, his true form was revealed! Wildlife, waterfalls, lakes, forests¡­ it was like a real-size mountain, except it was located on the shell of a majestic turtle, around which a gigantic snake coiled, hissing menacingly at the wind currents battering its body.

    ¡°¡±WIND WON¡¯T TAME THE EARTH AS LONG WE ARE HERE!¡±¡± The gigantic turtle stomped on the ground with its powerful front limbs: the wind was from that moment on unable to even slightly approach the Divine Earth King¡¯s body!

    ¡°¡±Golden Sky Lord! Grab Ren Bai and bring her to Ren Long!¡±¡± After shouting that, he closed his eyes and suddenly stopped moving altogether, resembling a gigantic stone statue, countless miles tall.

    With that, a particular gigantic lake, at the very top of the Turtle¡¯s shell, suddenly rippled once before growing completely still: after that initial one, the water surface had become devoid of any ripple!

    Meanwhile, the Golden Sky Lord flapped his wings to counter the vicious winds. The black and golden-feathered bird let out a loud sqwak as he carried out the task he had been given by the oldest of the Divine Beasts.

    It grabbed the woman with its talons and immediately headed towards the bald youth¡¯s whereabouts.

    Ren Long, in the meantime, had already understood what his older brother¡¯s intention was. An eerie green light was emitted from his Evergreen Coral Sandals: as soon as the Golden Sky Lord got to him, he grabbed on to his body.

    The figure of the two Divine Kings and of the majestic bird fell apart and turned into water, which in turn got scattered by the winds.

    Above the large lack on top of the gargantuan turtle, the three appeared once again in a flash of green light. Panting as they recovered from the shock, their expressions fell as they noticed that Ren Hong was not there with them!

    Ren Hei reopened his four eyes as he moved forward, his eyes full of alarm as they searched for his little brother¡¯s figure within the storm. When he found him however, already halfway up the collapsing path, his two pairs of eyes widened beyond measure:

    ¡°¡±REN HONG! WHAT THE HELL ARE-¡±¡±Hei started...

    ¡°SKRAAAAAAA!¡±, only to be interrupted mid way by the loud cry of a bird that silenced any and all other sounds.

    Whoosh!

    Cheng Hao gritted his teeth as the distance beween him and his target shrunk at inhumane speed¡­

    Creak¡­ creak¡­ creak¡­

    And the path shrunk in size even faster as cracks appeared all over its length!

 Chapter 110 - A Sovereign Walks Alone...

    As the cracks spread, Cheng Hao looked at them coldly: just as he had previously feared, the path was slowly collapsing! However, there was no turning back now! And, after all, he couldn¡¯t possibly go after seeing what he saw!

    With a harrumph, Cheng Hao increased his speed even further! Pushing his body to his limit, he suddenly burst forward with unprecedented speed.

    Behind him, the illusory pair of wings spanning thousands of feet grew solid as Cheng Hao¡¯s speed grew to such an extent that not even an afterimage was left: this was speed granted to him by the Roc¡¯s Blessing, a speed that was unrivalled beneath the Heavens!

    Even stronger winds rose up, battering the earth. The speed was such that the land in the surrounding hundreds of miles from Cheng Hao¡¯s position had become completely bare, wiped clean from any and all vegetation that could have easily been found just a little earlier.

    With its speed increasing, the force the wind carried had also multiplied. While earlier the currents could not even approach the Divine Earth King¡¯s body, at the moment the gargantuan turtle was struggling to keep its foothold.

    While the turtle form squatted on the ground, somehow managing not to be lifted off the ground, the snake hissed and then wrapped around the bodies of the two other Divine Kings, shielding them from the hurricane. The black and golden-feathered bird delved its talons deep into the mountain, struggling to hold on.

    ¡°What¡¯s with this wind? It¡¯s too strong!¡± Ren Bai yelled, her hair fluttering madly along with the air currents, getting in her mouth as she spoke.

    ¡°What? I can¡¯t hear you, the wind is too strong!¡± Ren Long of course had no such problem as his scalp was as devoid of hair as it could be. However, due to the wind carrying away the woman¡¯s words, he could not hear what she was saying.

    ¡°¡±What are you guys talking about? We can¡¯t hear you, this wind is just too strong!¡±¡± The gargantuan Divine Earth King struggled to make his own voice heard, but even his loud roars were carried away from the wind.

    Meanwhile, up above, Cheng Hao¡¯s sudden burst allowed him to safely reach the end of the shattering pathway. His body covered in bruises and cuts due to his imperfect control over wind, the youth cursed as he saw the exit of the path in front of him had almost been completely swallowed by the vortex.

    At the same time however, his eyes fell on the figure surrounded by a faint, azure light¡­ his burst in flames, his whole body transformed into a flaring meteor as his speed increased even more!

    Damn rift¡­ don¡¯t you even think about taking this person away!

    In an instant he was still far away, the next he was bursting forward even faster, his body covered in even more bruises and cuts such that a trail of the crimson liquid had formed behind him!

    Like the jaws of a beast, the exit shrunk in size even more until it was barely enough for a single person to pass through¡­ it was at this moment that Cheng Hao reached the exit to the collapsing path!

    ¡°OUT! OF! MY! FUCKING! WAY!¡± Like a meteor, he burst through the small hole and into the clearance created by the symbols¡¯ explosion. He immediately headed over to the figure surrounded in an azure glow, not slowing down even for a second as he caught her in his arms¡­

    Her body was as light as a feather. Her hair was long and the strands were a deep, night blue color. Her features were exquisite despite her young age. Her skin was also fair and it had no trace of imperfections.

    She was sound asleep, her expression peaceful as if she was not aware of what was going on outside, of the predicament that she was facing.

    As he looked at the young girl in his arms, Cheng Hao felt as if his throat had been tied into a knot, tears of blood falling from his eyes. Inside his head, a certain scene was playing out¡­

    "I swear it on my nickname as the ''Worker''!" The blurry figure of the worker was speaking. The pair of mesmerizing blue eyes, the only thing discernible of the man¡¯s appearance, were holding a clear hint of amusement as he finally spoke out a certain phrase¡­Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

    A phrase that was currently booming within the youth¡¯s mind!

    ¡°Who knows! I might even bring a certain... ¡®Bird¡¯ back from the dead...¡±

    A certain ¡®Bird¡¯. Back from the dead. Of course, at the time, Cheng Hao had already known exactly what the mysterious Worker had meant, however it was only now that this knowledge finally sunk in.

    The scene dissolved as a second one replaced it. More accurately, it was the image of a certain object, falling from the skies, fluttering . A crimson feather. Entering his consciousness.

    Holding the girl ever so softly, yet at the same time as tightly as he could, Cheng Hao held his tears back in. Memories flooded his mind, like a tsunami bringing destruction along the coastline:

    In his mind red figure danced beside a bonfire¡­ her figure like a flickering flame, she danced with a carefree smile on her face.

    Why had he been reborn as a male version of the Divine Fire King in this world? Well, had it not been a mere coincidence?

    However, now that this world¡¯s Xu Ling had also turned out having switched his original gender, could he still say it so confidently? What if it had a meaning, what if there was a deep scheme behind all this?

    What if the reason he had stayed a male instead of a female, as it should have been, was that the one whose body he had taken over¡­ had also appeared in this new world! And, just like, this someone had reincarnated in Xu Ling¡¯s body as what she truly was like¡­ as a girl?

    And who could this person be? Well, seeing as how Cheng Hao was inhabitating the Divine Fire King¡¯s body and the other person was inhabitating his own body, wouldn¡¯t it mean¡­?

    That¡®s right.

    The reason for Cheng Hao¡¯s action had been none other than the fact that he believed that, inhabiting the body of the female Xu Ling, was none other than his big sister, the person he longed for the most in the world, the REAL Divine Fire King, the true Ren Hong!

    Just as he had reincarnated as the Divine Fire King, she would have reincarnated as the young Evil Saint! They had actually switched places!

    Ridiculous? Absolutely. Improbable? Most likely. A waste of both time and energy? Possibly. However¡­

    If¡­ even if it turns out being nothing more than a shallow hope, now that I have such a ray of hope shining down from above, I shall follow this light to the end of the tunnel!

    Crack! Crack! Crack!

    However, it was no time to be pondering that! With each second that passed, the rift grew smaller, meaning the protective bubble that was protecting them from the effect of the vortex was also shrinking!

    Cheng Hao looked around him without showing any trace of fear on his face. The path had collapsed, there was no visible way back that didn¡¯t require going through the massive rift at some point or another.

    ¡°Well, this is quite the predicament we have found ourselves in, haven¡¯t we?¡± Cheng Hao pointed out. He lowered his gaze upon the child in his arms and his expression grew tender, as if the layer of ice surrounding his heart had, even if only slighty, began to melt.

    Cheng Hao¡¯s smile crumbled as he felt the young girl squirm in his arms, as if she was experiencing nightmares. Seeing that, Cheng Hao¡¯s expression grew determined:

    ¡°You needn¡¯t worry, child¡­¡± The red skinned boy lifted his gaze¡­ his hair was fluttering madly as, on his forehead, a golden symbol suddenly appeared! Cheng Hao¡¯s figure began to be surrounded by golden light as he pointed in front of him: ¡°It will only take a moment, be patient, and this will all end soon¡­¡±

    The golden symbol ¡®Áé¡¯ glowing on his forehead, like an emperor calmly issuing an order to his subjects, Cheng Hao spoke calmly. His eyes lit up like two flames as the words rang out: despite him having whispered the words to the wind, his voice still sounded out like thunder!

    ¡°WILL¡­ OF THE SOVEREIGN!¡±

    ¡­

    ¡°Ren¡­ Hong¡­ what¡­¡± Ren Long stared at Cheng Hao in complete shock. This younger brother of his looked like a completely different person now. As he walked towards them, a young child in his arms, his expression was one of unwavering determination.

    Covered in countless cuts, blood drippling down nonstop from each and every wound, his presence had completely changed.

    If Ren Long was to compare this new Ren Hong, he would without a doubt place him on the same level as that of the Four Primordial Emperors!

    Such was the feeling that the strange pressure the red skinned youth was emitting gave off: at the moment, he was a being of immeasurable might, he was a being destined to rule, he was a mighty lord of the Heavens!

    The bald youth gulped, taking a step back when his eyes met the red eyed youth¡¯s. It was as if he was being stared at by a vicious beast having blazing flames for eyes. However, those flames were devoid of any warmth¡­

    Such¡­ a cold gaze¡­

    Ren Long could only watch as the red skinned young man walked by him, not sparing him a glance, before falling on his knees:

    What¡­ what happened? What is it that made you change so much, Ren Hong? Why do you show us such cold eyes?

    A single tear streaked down his cheeks.

    Are we mere pebbles on your path? Were¡­ were we not brothers? Why¡­ has that changed?

    Only silence answered the question he asked in his mind. After the silence, came the regular thuds. Thuds that symbolized the red skinned youth¡¯s departure¡­ and the growing distance forming between the two brothers.

 Chapter 111 - What Is Love? Who Am I!

    Ren Bai opened her mouth to speak, but found herself unable to utter any word. She tried over and over again, and again and again no sound came out. She could only stare as the man, the beautiful child in his arms lamenting in her sleep, walked past her.

    It was as if her body wasn¡¯t willing to obey her if it meant crossing the path of the mysterious existence giving off such intense pressure.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry¡­¡± She heard Cheng Hao whisper as he caressed the girl¡¯s forehead gently: ¡°There is nothing to fear, we will get home soon¡­¡±

    Hearing that, Ren Bei gritted her teeth, ignoring the feeling of terror induced by the red skinned youth, and stepped forward, grabbing Cheng Hao¡¯s arms. Her eyes red from the rage, she yelled at his face:

    ¡°So you CAN talk! Idiot, what the hell is this about! Do you have any idea how dangerous that little stunt of yours was? Do you have any idea how worried we were! How do you expect us to just let you walk past us without even sparing us a word of apology?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Cheng Hao shook, as if he had just woken up from a dream. He turned around: his expression was not as cold and unforgiving as it had been earlier. At the same time though, it not as warm as it had been just a few hours prior.

    Ren Bai found herself comparing this new side of the red-skinned youth to the cheerfulness Ren Hong had displayed less than a single day ago. It was as if she was comparing the innocence of a child with the seriousness of a grown-up¡­ the difference between the bliss of ignorance and the burden of the knowledge.

    Why are your eyes so full of pain? Why do you act as if you had the weight of the world on your shoulders?

    The two siblings looked at each other in the eyes. Ren Bai felt pain in her chest as tears fell: as she stared into those pupils, full of pain and determination, she realized.

    Within that pair of eyes, the carefree and cheerful Ren Hong was no longer. The brother she had shared battlefieds and laughter alike was nowhere to be found.

    ¡°¡­I am sorry¡± Cheng Hao finally whispered in an apologetic tone. Then, his voice grew firmer and he walked past her, his eyes filling with determination:

    ¡°But I cannot mingle with illusions any longer.¡±

    ¡­

    A sleeping child laid on a bed covered by plain, white sheets. He looked really handsome, with long, straight black hair, a small, pointy nose and a small mouth. The boy was sweating profusely, as if he was having nightmares¡­

    A sleeping child laid on a bed covered by plain, white sheets. She looked really beautiful, with long, straight black hair, a small, pointy nose and a small mouth. The girl was sweating profusely, as if she was having nightmares.

    A girl was kneeling beside the bed: she had red skin, beautiful crimson hair and scarlet eyes filled with concern. Hidden behind that concern tough, was great pain, grief and... coldness. It was as if her heart had been frozen and was encased in ice¡­

    A boy was kneeling beside the bed: he had red skin, beautiful crimson hair and scarlet eyes filled with concern. In his eyes, other than worry, the gaze was also filled with excitement and happiness¡­ as well as love. It was the gaze a person would give to a loved one whom he had thought long lost.

    "Aaaah!" The boy suddenly jerked awake. He panted for a bit before calming down, he brought one of his hands to his face as if to assure himself that it was still there.

    "Aaaah!" The girl suddenly jerked awake. She panted for a bit before calming down. Before she could do any other motions however, the red youth intervened, grabbing both of the girl¡¯s hands. The girl was startled, however she immediately calmed down when she felt the warmth of the boy¡¯s hands.

    The girl¡¯s eyes lit up and she immediately grabbed his other hand "Are you alright? What happened, why were you so scared?"

    The boy was about to retract his hand when he saw the girl''s expression. The boy could see that behind themask of concern, her eyes were filled with sadness and what looked like grief.

    The boy''s eyes lit up and he immediately hugged the young girl, tears falling from the corner of his eyes:

    "There is no need to worry¡­ I am here! And I will protect you this time!¡± The girl was about to free herself from the youth¡¯s embracebut she immediately stopped when she saw the boy''s expression.

    The girl could see that despite the tears, his eyes were filled with such radiant happiness that she began to feel happy herself.

    The boy tilted his head: "Why are you so sad, miss?" He asked¡­

    The girl tilted her head as she giggled: "Why are you so happy, mister?" She asked.

    The woman flinched and then her face darkened. The girl shook her head "It is nothing, you don''t need to worry about it. It will pass soon..." although she said that, it could be seen from her expression that something important was indeed bothering her¡­If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    The youth flinched and then his face beamed even brighter. The boy shook his head "It is because I have been waiting for so long... I¡¯m sorry if I startled you, it will pass soon..." although he said that, it could be seen from his expression that he could barely contain his excitement.

    The boy pondered for a while then his eyes lit up "If you smile happily while you are sad, you will get better!" he grinned himself "Try it, miss!"

    The girl pondered for a while then, her eyes lit up "You don¡¯t look like it! If you kee going like this, mister will probably dry up!¡± the girl grinned as she pointed at the stream of tears: "Do you want to talk about it, mister?"

    The girl gaped for a while but then smiled bitterly.

    "Like... this?" She asked as her fake smile trembled.

    The boy hesitated for a while but then he nodded happily.

    He beamed and nodded:

    "Sure, let¡¯s talk!"

    ¡­

    ¡°Mister, so you are telling me that you have been waiting for someone?¡±

    ¡°Mmmm-mmm.¡±

    ¡°And that this someone just showed up? Woah, you are lucky mister! I¡¯m happy for you! What is she like?¡±

    Cheng Hao smiled at the young girl and patted her on her head:

    ¡°She is really beautiful¡­ and kind. If it wasn¡¯t for her, I wouldn¡¯t be here.¡±

    The girl gaped and her eyes widened. Then, she suddenly smirked as a cheeky expression appeared on her face:

    ¡°You¡­ did you love her mister?¡± She giggled.

    Cheng Hao widened his eyes in surprise as he turned to look at the young girl before him. Then, his expression grew softer and his gaze became tender¡­

    Her smile. Her scent. Her warmth.

    It was all so nostalgic, as if it had all been such a long time ago¡­ and yet so realistic it was like it had just happened but a moment ago. These memorieswere blurred, as if distorted, and yet so vivid he could perfectly recall any of them with but a thought!

    Did he love her? Did he love Ren Hong?

    ¡°What is love?¡± He muttered to himself, startling the younger girl. She seemed eager to speak, but Cheng Hao didn¡¯t notice it. Instead, his lips parted as he spoke with passion, as if he was chanting a scripture or reciting a poem.

    ¡°Is it love, what makes one feel warm despite the night being cold?

    Is it love, what makes a person¡¯s smile seem brighter than a bonfire?

    Is it love, what makes one feel torn when apart and a whole when close?

    Is it love, what makes time flow and the world colorful?

    Is it love, what makes one sunny despite the dark clouds in the sky bearing down?

    Is it love, what turns simple fireflies into a starry sky?

    Is it love, what makes one shed an ocean of tears and yet smile as brightly as the sun?¡±

    Silence. The girl was gaping: she had asked the question so as to tease the young man in front of her, but what he had offered as a response had shocked her beyond measure.

    What was love? To a child like her, love was but a word. But to the young man? It was clearly much, much more.

    That is why she stayed silent, and no sound, not even the buzzing of an insect, interrupted thesacred silence that had befallen into the large room.

    ¡°What is love?¡± Cheng Hao finally spoke again, startling the young girl.

    ¡°If all that and more is love¡­ if mere words can¡¯t be used to illustrate it, yet at the same time only the simplest of vocabules can even barely hope to begin to describe its magic¡­¡± He spoke, his eyes melanchonic as tears fell down once again.

    ¡°If all that and more is love¡­ then yes. I loved, love and will love her, once upon a time, now, and in a distant future, I will love her.¡±

    Cheng Hao cried as he forced the words to come out:

    ¡°I love Ren Hong.¡±

    The girl gaped. Then she blushed and approached the young man pouting:

    ¡°Why are you crying mister? Didn¡¯t you finally get to meet her?¡±

    Cheng Hao¡¯s tears stopped falling for a brief moment as he opened his eyes. Then, as if he was resigning himself to some horrible fate, he smiled bitterly and shook his head:

    ¡°That was what I had thought of as well¡­ however, only now I finally realize just how wrong I was. Because, by looking at you, I do not feel the pain of my soul getting any better¡­¡±

    ¡°I had believed you were her, however I now know you are not.¡±

    ¡°M-Mister?¡±

    ¡°You are an illusion¡­ an ephemereal phantom, just like all others¡­ and another attempt of this world to mesmerize me and throw my mind into oblivion!¡±

    ¡°Mister? What are you saying?

    Cheng Hao gritted his teeth as he stood up:

    ¡°However, that ends now! I¡¯m done being taking advantage of!¡±

    ¡°Mister, your face is scary!¡±

    ¡°It is now my turn!¡± Cheng Hao¡¯s eyes glowed a bright green as a certain scene replayed in his mind. As he reharsed what he was about to do, his eyes glowed even brighter as his determination flared up into a blazing inferno!

    ¡°Young girl, did you know that I am a cultivator?¡±

    "Cultivator?" The girl asked in wonder, her worries dispelled as she pondered upon the boy¡¯s words: "What does that mean?"

    Cheng Hao grinned fiercely:

    "It means a person... Who wishes to reach immortality! And to do that, he cultivates scriptures, deepens his understanding of the world and breaks through various levels!"

    "Im... mortality?" The girl asked.

    The boy nodded "Yes, Immortality!" He drew in the air two characters: the character for person, ÈË(R¨¦n) and the character for mountain É½(Sh¨¡n)!

    The two characters floated in the air as if they had been written in magical ink then began to approach each other... And form the huge green character ÏÉ(Xi¨¡n!)! Immortal!

    "Those who stand above everything else, celestial beings that are higher than the tallest of mountains! These are immortals! The greatest existence in the world!"

    It is time for me to do what I had meant to do since I got here! It is finally time for me to find out my origins!

    "No!"

    An ancient voice sounded out from the young girl''s mouth. It radiated an aura of ancientness, of rot, of death. But there was also a powerful will and a determination to do whatever ithad decided to.

    No matter wether it meant living or dying, itwould accomplish his objective!

    However, at the moment, Cheng Hao didn¡¯t care about any of that. Instead, his wide grin expressed his excitement as he thought:

    Success! He has truly come! The key to my past and to my future! The one connected to both the mountain AND my past self!

    "Immortals, The Greatest? That Is False!¡±

    Suddenly, the child swatted the character for immortal aside and divided the character for mountain and person again!

    It was as if the young girl had grown crazy, as if she was not herself anymore! And the golden glow in her eyes confirmed that: this was not the child that Cheng Hao had saved after all!

    ¡°I Must Write... The-¡°

    "So you have finally come! Why don¡¯t you stop with your blabbering and focus on this?¡± Cheng Hao yelled as he pointed at his own forehead: there, a golden symbol glowed proudly! It was ¡®Áé¡¯, L¨ªng!

    ¡°That¡­ Is¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, that is the one truth you are talking about! You are getting repetitive there, even though you can¡¯t actually know about this lol, so why don¡¯t you shut up about this truth¡­¡±

    Cheng Hao pointed at the unconscious female Xu Ling, the girl¡¯s eyes wide open and glowing with golden light as she stared, speechless and completely overwhelmed, at Cheng Hao¡¯s lips parting again and again, the words flowing out like a raging torrent, as he spoke:

    ¡°And explain to me¡­ who exactly this child, no, I am?¡±

 Chapter 112 - Finally, Answers!

    The girl''s eyes slowly narrowed as she recovered from the shock:

    "I Am Afraid... I Do Not Comprehend... What You Mean, Boy."

    Cheng Hao grinned and shook his head, somewhat disappointedly:

    "Weren¡¯t you some kind of high and almighty being, going about muttering truth this and truth that? You tell me that you do not even realize that I do not belong to this world?¡±

    He smiled cheekily as he exhaggerated a bored expression and crossed his arms in front of his chest:

    ¡°I and that girl you are currently possessing are actually the one and the same, except she is¡­ well¡­ female. I am just borrowing this body for a while. It has something to do with a trial of some sort.¡±

    "... So I See..." the child with glowing eyes returned the smile as her expression eased.

    Her face grew solemn as she waved her sleeve, pointing all around: "No wonder this whole place is hollow!"

    Suddenly, Cheng Hao''s face fell as his surroundings changed. They were not changes discernible with the naked eye, however they were so clear that it was impossible to miss them.

    The powerful presence of the ancient being had spread with the female Xu Ling as its center. The emitted aura was akin to that of a rotting corpse, as if the person had been dead for an unmeasurable long period of time.

    At the same time however, an even more intense will had made the air tremble. Such will contained a burning determination that it alone had visibly affected their surroundings.

    It was a will so pure, yet so powerful, it was like a world burning flame. And as if an actual flame was burning, like an invisible, blazing fire, the air trembled, the surroundings distorting, changing, twisting.

    The heavens turned into the earth, clouds fell and formed oceans, mountains caved in and became bottomless pits... until space itself fell apart!

    It was as if reality had been sucked into a black hole.

    As if everything had been but a veil, masking the true face of the world, it was completely wiped away, like the removal of the tablecloth at the end of a meal.

    With it gone, the reality that layer below the veil was revealed: it was actually... nothingness. Below the cover there was nothing, not even darkness. It was simply empty space, devoid of anything, a blankness that extended as far as the eye could see...

    In the middle of that nothingness, a wide eyed Cheng Hao stared at his empty surroundings in amazement. He was back to his former appearence, a nine or so year old boy with a head full of long, black hair and a pair of bright, golden eyes.

    The boy gaped and gulped multiple times before he could recover from the shock: the illusory world that the mysterious door had created within his mind had been completely wiped away!

    He looked around as he felt terror swelling up in his chest: what now? What would happen now that everything had been completely wiped away? Was he going to remain there for eternity?

    Anybody there... he wanted to ask. Of course, without any vessel to travel through, no sound escaped through his mouth. After all, this all might have been inside his head, but how could he call out to someone if nothing was around?

    Could one picture a color he had never seen before? No. The same way of thought applied to this: if there was nothing around oneself, no one to talk or picture himself talking to, could one then imagine himself talking?Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

    Kuh! It hurts! This is crazy! I shouldn''t be able to see, hear, smell, taste or touch anything as I am surrounded by nothingness, and yet...

    Cheng Hao felt his head ache as it refused to acknowledge the nothingness around itself and began to recognize shapes, blinding lights, deafening sounds and penetrating scents that weren''t truly there. He felt his mind burning as he bordered madness.

    This pain! It burns! IT BURNS! Make it stop, make it stop!

    A living being could not accept loneliness. Humans in particular are extremely susceptible to company and would easily lose their sanity if left alone... now, Cheng Hao wasn''t just alone. He was the only thing existing. How could his mind bear that thought? Cracks began to appear in his consciousness as it reached its limits...

    "My Will Is Powerful Enough To Create, Bend And Wipe Away Realities¡­ So Why Should I Not Recognize Whenever I Am In A World That I Do Not Acknowledge As Being Such? I May Be An Illusion¡­ But That Does Not Mean That I Cannot Be Aware Of That..."

    Cheng Hao''s mind and whole body trembled as suddenly he found himself back into the room.

    After setting his gaze onto that nothingness before, the bed¡¯s white sheets were so bright that they were almost blinding.

    The same applied to his hearing, smell and even to his touch: they all took a while to readjust to reality after being thrown into disarray by the previously mentioned trip into the blankness of the void.

    Cheng Hao fell to his knees and curled into a ball as he ignored the words spoken by the being momentarily inhabiting the body of this world¡¯s Xu Ling. Instead, he kept muttering as if in a trance:

    "¡­alive, alive, alive, alive¡­¡±

    The being¡¯s eyes narrowed as his impression of the youth fell considerably. It sighed and was prepared to disapper from the world he had recognized as being a mere illusion¡­ but was startled when the youth suddenly yelled:

    ¡°I am alive... ku... kuahahah!"

    Cheng Hao laughed bitterly. He laughed at himself. He laughed at his weakness. He laughed at the death he had just escaped from. He laughed at the life he had almost lost.

    And it was with a bright smile that he looked back up and glared at the young female with glowing eyes. A smile that was filled with burning determination, devoid of any terror that he might have displayed beforehand.

    But a thousand years ago, a year or so ago if one only took notice of the time that had actually passed ever since the battle at the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect, he had experienced his mind shatter at the hands of the infamous Chaos Dragon.

    And now, he had just experienced for the second time in the span of his second lifetime the feeling of having his mind break down.

    Both of these situation could have easily led to an ugly death. But he had survived. How many times had Cheng Hao faced death? Too many to count. How many times had he survived? All of them, except for one. And that one time, he had experienced an oblivion even worse than death!

    He had already experienced death! So how could he possibly get caught up, shook by something that was not? He couldn''t. If not for himself, at least for those who had died and could not come back.

    No matter the situation he was thrown into, no matter how dangerous of a place or how close to death he would find himself, if he was alive by the end of it, it would not be worth sulking over! He owed it to the countless comrades that had given their life for his cause! He owed it to them, so he would not be stopped here!

    For now, he only looked forward to life!

    Did he die? No! Then, why should he worry?

    Xu Ling, or more accurately the ancient being inhabiting her body, nodded in appreciation as her impression of the youth increased, recovering from the previous fall.

    "Those Eyes Of Yours... Can¡¯t Say I Dislike Them." The ancient voice rang out once again, carrying a hint of pleasant surprise along with it. Finally, the person nodded:

    ¡°Fine!¡± As if Cheng Hao had passed some kind of test, Xu Ling sat cross-legged and slapped her tighs, sighing like an old woman.

    ¡°Tell Me, Child, What Is It That You Want To Know?¡± The girl¡¯s eyes glowed even brighter now, as if the girl had found a reason to stay now compared to earlier and was determined to see that it would happen until the end.

    Seeing that, Cheng Hao beamed as he also let himself fall on the ground. He pondered for a while, but then he smiled cheekily:

    ¡°I want to know¡­ everything! But, first off, your name, identity, and how you were involved with the child in front of me!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± The person frowned for a bit, but then nodded in acknowledgement and began to talk:

    ¡°Mmm... Telling You Everything Might Be A Problem, As It Would Take Too Long And, Being Dead Myself, I Do Not Have Much Time¡­ In Fact, I Shoul Be Heading Off Already! However! This World Cannot Resist My Will, So I Shall Clear Some Stuff Up To You Before I Depart! Consider It A Gift On My Part.¡±

    ¡°My Name Was Forgotten A Long Time Ago. You Can Simply Refer To Me As Senior, As My Identity Is That Of A Spirit Of The Mountain, Just Like You. In Fact, I Am The Oldest Of The Last Generation Of Spirits. As For This Child¡­¡±

    The being pointed at the body of the young girl and smiled bitterly:

    ¡°We Have Fought Each Other For A Long, Long Time¡­ He Is, Or, More Accurately, Was, My One, Mortal Enemy.¡±

 Chapter 113 - A Spirit, Becoming The Self

    Cheng Hao pondered. He occasionally frowned or gritted his teeth as he recalled the possessed Xu Ling¡¯s words. Finally, he sighed with feeling and lifted his head.

    His gaze landed upon the girl, whose body had currently been taken over by Cheng Hao¡¯s¡­ ¡®Senior¡¯. Whether this person truly was who he claimed to be, Cheng Hao couldn¡¯t bring himself to stop doubting such a fact, even though the words the other had spoken had rang out true in his ears.

    Despite not trusting the other party fully, he still compromised with himself he¡¯d believe about 60 to 70% of the information he¡¯d be fed. After all, everything would simply make that much more sense if what this Senior had said was the truth.

    However, things still didn¡¯t fall into place as they should. Cheng Hao had no doubt that the old dude was keeping something from him. For starters, who was the young girl ¨C although in his world it would be boy - that he had fought for so long? And why woud such a vicious conflict take place to begin with?

    He cannot be fully trusted. He is not only aware that this world is but an illusion, even if that were not the case, judging by his current state, he would die soon too! He is doing this on a whim and could change his mind at any time! Who knows whether he¡¯d feed me false pieces on information simply because he will be leaving this world soon? Essentially, he is a time bomb: I have no way to know whether or when he would suddenly stab me in the back.

    I¡­ I have to stay calm!

    Cheng Hao inhaled sharply, and then breathed out slowly to calm himself down. Xu Ling said nothing as he stared at the youth in front of him amiably, not interrupting the red-skinned boy in the least as he went through with his breathing method.

    His mind devoid of any ripples and his five senses sharper than ever, Cheng Hao finally asked:

    ¡°You say that you are the oldest amongst the Spirits of the Mountain, correct? If so, does this mean that the knowledge about your role was imparted to you by this so-called¡­ ¡®Mountain¡¯, itself?¡±

    Hearing those words, the girl¡¯s pupils shrunk, albeit unnoticeably. Then, an expression of pleasant surprise appeared on her face as she nodded:

    ¡°Sharp. Sharp Indeed. That Was A Brilliant Guess And It Just Barely Missed The Target. However I Must Answer That No, My Role As One Of The Mountain¡¯s Souls Was Imparted Upon Me By Another Spirit¡­ More Accurately, This Other Spirit Had Been The Previous Generation¡¯s Survivor...¡±

    Cheng Hao nodded as he connected a few dots: apparently, there had been other batches of Spirits of the Mountain before the current generation¡­ and it had been a ¡®survivor¡¯ who had transferred their knowledge upon the next generation.

    Cheng Hao frowned:

    ¡°How did that happen? And why did the older generation suddenly give up their statuses? Was it an order from somebody else?¡±Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    The girl shook her head and sighed:

    ¡°This Will Take A While To Explain So Make Yourself Comfortable, Kid.¡± Having said that, she stood up, grabbed a chair and sat on it. She lifted her gaze and noticed Cheng Hao had not moved from the spot he was sitting on:

    ¡°What? Are You Actually Deaf, Kid?¡±

    Cheng Hao¡¯s eyelids twitched at the ¡®kid¡¯ remark but he nonetheless stood up, leaned against the wall, and then slid down into a cross-legged position. He nodded his head, hinting that the girl could resume.

    Her expression growing solemn, the girl waved her hands and a blank, flat, golden screen appeared floating in front of her. It was quite peculiar, like a golden canvas, except it was see-through and glowing slightly.

    Then, the girl spoke again. Except, her voice had changed considerably: while before it had sounded ancient, almost as if the speaker were foreign to the spoken tongue to the point each word had to be spelled out, now on the contrary it was as smooth as oil, albeit still retaining some of its ancientness and mystery.

    It was as if she had been faking her accent sound intellectual and omniscient, only to end up getting tired of it and thus dropping the act. Or maybe, it was just an act of laziness because it is tiring to change all the lower cases into upper cases.

    ¡°There is a limit to how much one can harness the strength of the Mountain...¡±

    The girl drew a stick figure on the screen with her index finger. On top of the circle that was the figure¡¯s head, she wrote the character for L¨ªng, Áé and then drew an arrow pointing to the second figure and drew the character again within the person¡¯s head. This time however, it was slightly bigger.

    ¡°However, as the power is cumulative, such limit becomes weaker and weaker with each new Spirit. When passed on, there might be a chance to awaken it into somebody who has higher potential and thus would power it up even more. Even if that weren¡¯t the case, simply having the power awakened makes one¡¯s potential higher than his predecessors. What do you think would happen if this process were to go on indefinitely?¡±

    Cheng Hao frowned: what would happen? After all, there had to be a limit to how weak such a restriction could get. However, if that limit was to be broken, then¡­

    ¡°You said we harness the strength of the mountain but have something limiting us to block us from achieving our full potential. I assume that means that we are theoretically capable of harnessing all of it. If so¡­¡±

    Cheng Hao pondered out aloud as his mind worked at high speeds:

    ¡°If so, once the limit is lifted, wouldn¡¯t we become as powerful as the lender of such power?¡±

    ¡°Ahahah, very good, very good¡­¡± The possessed Xu Ling chuckled. She nodded and gave Cheng Hao a wide grin before drawing another stick figure and then erasing it, the symbol for Soul becoming bigger and bigger with each time she erased the depicted Spirit of the Mountain and replaced it with another one.

    She repeated the process over and over again, until the symbol had become so big it didn¡¯t fit into the head anymore. When this happened, the girl looked up and smiled.

    ¡°Technically speaking, this would happen¡­¡±

    As she spoke, the young girl had wiped away the stick figure and left behind only the symbol.

    ¡°One day, when the limiter is lifted, the Spirit will become as strong as the Mountain itself!¡±

    Cheng Hao stared with wide eyes.

    Becoming as powerful as the Mountain? He had no idea what those words truly meant, but what was behind them he vaguely understood: the Mountain was most likely a being beyond his comprehension.

    In fact, if he had to describe it after gathering up all the information he had gathered, it was something akin to the consciousness of the universe itself! A God!

    To become so powerful as one that could be referred to as a God, what strength would one wield then? At that time, he would be on par with the universe itself! When that happened, who would possibly be powerful enough to rival him in strength?

 Chapter 114 - Glass Cannons, Diamond Cannonballs

    For the first time ever since he had taken up, albeit a bit unwillingly, the role of Spirit of the Mountain¡­ Cheng Hao finally felt as if it was worth it! After all, while the blessing he had received may have looked extremely useful at first, he had soon found out about many of its shortcomings¡­

    ¡®Will of the Sovereign.¡¯

    The strength to be above anybody else! The ability to be superior, to look down upon others! The power of a sovereign!

    Will of the Sovereign was such an ability¡­ it allowed the user to freely change one¡¯s own or others¡¯ cultivations by controlling the amount, density and quality of the spiritual energy in one¡¯s surroundings!

    Whether this meant increasing one¡¯s cultivation beyond measure, or lower one¡¯s opponent¡¯s strength so much they would turn back into mere mortals, one would be able to do either of them! Cheng Hao, through this heaven-defying ability, could basically control the flow of Spiritual Energy at will!

    This was also how he had managed to make a pathway through the spatial rifts back when he was attempting to save Xu Ling: he had bended the world¡¯s spiritual energy so that he could build a bridge to pass through the void.

    A divine ability, sure, but the Heavens blindly blessed nobody. Everything was impartial, in a way or another. Such was a hidden law of the universe which applied even in the most random activities: there would be light in the greatest darkness and darkness in the brightest light.

    And, just as it was powerful and apparently almighty, Will of the Sovereign had just as many shortcomings!

    For example, the enormous strain that it put on the wielder¡¯s mind was such that if Cheng Hao had tried the previously mentioned feats with his true body, one that barely touched upon the Sung stage, his mind would have shattered and his consciousness would have crumbled!

    Without the support of a powerful cultivation base, the strain the ability imposed on the user¡¯s mind was enough to shatter the consciousness! Cheng Hao was no exception: best-case scenario he would go in a comatose state as soon as he attempted to activate the ability!

    And that was even with the two lives he had gone through!

    During his former life as Xu Ling, he had been a one-man army, fighting huge hordes of enemies much stronger than him. His mind would constantly be pushed to its limit with each battle, struggling every instant to find a way to survive against the most unfair of odds.

    After countless years of fighting with his life on the line, it had come to a point his mind was on a whole other level compared to that of his peers! His will had grown sharper than a sword, his knowledge when it came to battle was the most unparalleled spear under the heavens, and his determination had become even more durable than the sturdiest of shields!

    And yet, even with such a powerful mentality, the required processing power to even solely activate the technique would make that god-like mind of his crumble away, like dust in the midst of a powerful hurricane¡­

    Cheng Hao had made a few calculation and had come to the conclusion that, if he Will of the Sovereign were to be activated without a cultivation base higher than the Ageless Realm, he would die, without a doubt. Only the Immortal Realm seemed to hold a chance to use this heaven-defying ability, albeit still with some repercussions.

    He also could not increase his cultivation indefinitely to increase the amount of pressure his mind could bear. This was because, first of all, the requirement to simply activate the technique was too high, and, secondly, such pressure would increase the more the Spiritual Energy he moved¡­ such amount would always be slightly higher than the allowed amount. That was, of course, if he wanted himself to have no future repercussions.

    He was like a god, cursed to carry the weight of the world he created on his own shoulder: the more he created, the more the weight he would have to hold up!

    In fact, if one was to look at it more closely, he would realize that the Will Of The Sovereign was much more of a glass cannon than Sunder The Immortal. However, unlike its counterpart, the former glass cannon had cannonballs made of diamonds!You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

    That¡¯s because, while Sunder The Immortal didn¡¯t require a high cultivation and could be used more freely, it also had a few holes that greatly decreased its utility.

    The most evident was that, unlike Will Of The Sovereign, it required some time to activate. The summoning of the symbol for Immortal and the cleaving of said symbol were motions that could not be sped up, otherwise the technique would be cancelled.

    Also, as it was effectively an ability that targeted a certain area the wielder had to point, this left space for somebody to attack from behind. It was indeed a useful technique, yes¡­ but only when it came to slay lone opponents!

    Effectively speaking, amongst Sunder The Immortal and Will Of The Sovereign, the former would be overpowered early on and, from that point onwards, it would only show its use occasionally when up against few opponent while having someone as a support to bide time for the technique to activate.

    On the other hand, Will of the Sovereign would only show its use in the late stages of the path towards immortality, but it had no such restrictions such as an activation time or a small attacking area.

    If Cheng Hao were to choose, he would without a doubt pick the latter. After all, Sunder the Immortal didn¡¯t seem to show much of a use later on when compared to Will of the Sovereign, and he had no plans to stop anytime soon!

    And, speaking of going far, what did Cheng Hao also just find out? That within his body was the chance to gain a source of almost infinite power!

    This, apparently, would be partially granted to him in the future as he felt his body had yet to undergo any changes¡­ he took a moment to reorganize the newfound information with what he had gathered before.

    However, he would only ask for a confirmation to his hypotheses later. He had too many questions about the current line of thought this ¡®Senior¡¯ of his was guiding him through, and he feared he would lose important pieces of information by straying from such a path.

    ¡­

    As she silently gazed at the pondering boy, the girl did not mind the wait at all. In fact, she closed her eyes and began to rest herself. After all, she was battling the laws of the universe itself by keeping herself alive even after death! However, she had no intention of dying, until she completed her task! After all, what was currently happening, was mostly her fault¡­ she sighed and contemplated, her eyelids shut tight and the room falling into a prolonged silence.

    Only after a long while did the two finally open their eyes again, only to find themselves gazing into each other¡¯s fiery orbs. The two, both inhabiting the body of another, keepers of secrets that should never be revealed, and carrying the burdens of the world on their backs, both smiled bitterly before nodding resolutely.

    The two pairs of eyes, one golden, one crimson, met each other and, after a short exchange, both seemed eager to continue the lesson, whether be it the teacher, or the student.

    Cheng Hao bowed his head slightly:

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for the wait. Please, do continue!¡±

    Xu Ling smiled and nodded. She waved her hand and the bright screen once more appeared in front of her.

    ¡°What I just told you, is what countless generations of spirits have been able to gather about the very source of our power¡­ of course, that is if our understanding of the Mountain itself is actually correct. Apart from the very first Spirit, as far as I know, nobody has ever had any direct contact with this so-called Mountain.¡±

    The girl paused for a while. She looked at the large symbol and the many stick figures that were badly drawn on top of the screen. She passed her hand on top of them, wiping the figures away.

    ¡°The process to awaken the incredible power I mentioned before, we refer to as Awakening. We awaken the new Spirit while the old one ¡®falls into slumber¡¯.¡±

    Cheng Hao widened his eyes as countless interpretations of the word slumber flashed across his mind.

    Noticing that, Xu Ling chuckled and shook her head:

    ¡°No need to worry, it¡¯s not as drastic as you might thing! Falling into slumber simply means the Spirit effectively loses his status as the current Soul of the Mountain. After all, there can be one, and one Spirit only. However, they still retain the blessing, or dogma if you prefer, the Mountain has gifted them.¡±

    ¡°I myself, at the moment, am barely able to remain in this world only because of the combination of my dogma and the protection of the Mountain... if I had not been an illusion, that is.¡± the girl gloomily grew silent.

    Although he felt bad for the ¡®young girl¡¯, Cheng Hao still couldn¡¯t help but cringe at the badly drawn figures. After all, his calligraphy and handicraft skills had always been top-notch for some reason, so he couldn¡¯t help but unconsciously look down upon this seemingly almighty being that couldn¡¯t even draw a human figure correctly.

    However, he still listened intently, unwilling to lose even a single word that left the girl¡¯s lips. Up until the last point, he had understood everything. Basically, it was like reincarnation, except the only thing that was passed on was power, knowledge... and part of the key to lift the limit imposed on the source of incredible power.

    However, despite many questions had also been answered thanks to the short dialogue, even more had been given birth from the exchange.

    For example, and this had been bugging him for a long while¡­ what was the difference between a Spirit of the Mountain holding that role and one that had already retired?

 Chapter 115 - Paradox

    From what Cheng Hao knew, they were pretty much the same, weren¡¯t they? A Spirit who still held the title and one who had retired didn¡¯t seem different at all in his eyes.

    The only thing that changed was the addition of the word ¡®Former¡¯ before the title¡­ they even kept their ability, their dogma, after all.

    ¡°I have a question¡­¡± Cheng Hao asked all of a sudden, interrupting and slightly startling the girl.

    Xu Ling raised one of her eyebrows in displeasure, but still nodded:

    ¡°Sure. Feel free to ask.¡±

    ¡°Why¡­ is the status as an active Spirit so important?¡± Cheng Hao

    ¡°To answer that, I¡¯ll need to explain a certain something to you first, I hope that¡¯s okay for you? Good. Alright then, listen closely and think about this: what would happen if the current Spirit was to meet a danger to the Mountain he could not defeat?¡± As the woman spoke, Cheng Hao perked up his ears.

    The woman noticed this and thus continued her explanation.

    ¡°If that were to be the case, the standard procedure would be to find a successor, to whom one would pass the Mountain¡¯s power on... and then that person would be put in charge of defending the Mountain from any danger.¡±

    On the screen, the girl drew two stick figures. One had an angry face, the other had the symbol for soul on its head. The Spirit was visibly smaller than its opponent, so the girl crossed it out and drew another one, bigger than the other small Spirit, but still not as big as the angry stick figure.

    ¡°If, once trained to his peak, he is still unable to drive away the danger, the Spirit would simply do the same as his predecessor and pass the title on.¡±

    Just like that, she crossed out tens, dozens of stick figures, until the last, remaining one was just slightly taller than the angry-faced figurine. When this happened, the girl crossed out the other figurine instead, leaving behind the now massive Spirit of the Mountain.

    ¡°This will happen until the danger isn¡¯t eradicated. Until then, dozens, maybe even hundreds of Spirits could be nurtured, all to defeat a single enemy. Each of these cycles, we refer to it as a ¡®Generation¡¯. The one to defeat the danger would then lower the curtain upon the generation that has just passed, and lift them again to welcome the next! He would then immediately pass on his knowledge about the Spirits to his successor and then guide him on his path¡­¡±

    The girl sighed with feeling as she looked down at her body:

    ¡°I have fought with the very person I am using as a vessel now for a long, long time and finally managed to defeat her¡­ however before me, countless Spirits have fallen at her hands. Now, with her defeat, the burden of the next danger has fallen upon the next generation¡­¡±

    Cheng Hao stared in awe as more pieces began to fall together:

    So this is what he meant when he referred to himself as the oldest of this generation¡­ so he has fought this person and¡­ and¡­

    And the almost completed puzzle suddenly fell apart completely!

    Uh? What¡¯s this? What she said does not make sense!

    ¡°Wait a second now! How, and why, are you here? If you defeated this ¡®Danger to the Mountain¡¯ you were talking about, why did you suddenly appear here? Weren¡¯t you supposed to lead the next generation? If you were locked in that dimension you said, shouldn¡¯t the cycle be interrupted?¡±

    Cheng Hao looked at the girl with suspicion when, suddenly, his face fell. He immediately backed away and smirked as he prepared to use the most powerful abilities he would be able to muster at a moment¡¯s notice. His whole body radiated killing intent and the faint outline of a tower began to appear in front of him¡­Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    ¡°You¡­ you lied! There isn¡¯t only one Spirit per generation! I¡¯ve met with another one!¡±

    Xu Ling shook her head and sighed:

    ¡°I know this is hard to believe, but please listen to me. That person was not a true Spirit of the mountain. He was more of an impostor, a fake Spirit¡­ the role of us spirits is to protect the mountain. From what I gathered of your stories, this man seems to disagree with that basic principle of us Spirits, so he is not a true Spirit¡­¡±

    Cheng Hao chuckled bitterly:

    ¡°Oh, disagree, you say? This person said the exact opposite of what you said! He said that we Spirits are meant to annihilate all beings on the Mountain, not to protect them from harm! He had his own dogma and what¡¯s more, at the time, he was very much alive and harnessing the strength of the Mountain! From what I understand, only those able to access such strength are capable of using a Dogma! If the things you said up until now were true, he would neither have one, nor would he have been able to use it, as you would have not been there to pass the Mountain¡¯s power on to him!¡±

    The girl flinched as if she had just been discovered sneaking out of her room after being grounded. She chuckled bitterly and shook her head with an apologetic expression:

    ¡°This¡­ well¡­ I¡¯m sorry, it must be hard to trust me now, many things do not make sense after all, right? Well, just hear me out for a bit and I¡¯ll clear everything up, I swear!¡±

    Cheng Hao and Xu Ling stared at each other in the eyes. He glared, she pleaded silently. Finally, with a nod, Cheng Hao gave her the sign to continue. The young woman let out a sigh of relief and resumed the lecture:

    ¡°Apparently it is a first in the history of us Spirits. No one had ever died together with his enemy. Many managed to kill their opponents, many more were defeated and killed by their enemy, but none had ever actually died together with them.

    ¡°This, coupled with the way I chose to die together with my enemy, brought the current situation to a paradox that was never meant to happen¡­¡±

    The girl fell silent, smiling stupidly at herself. Cheng Hao frowned as he blocked himself from yelling in her face to resume:

    ¡°What¡­ paradox?¡±

    The girl¡¯s smile trembled:

    ¡°You see¡­ this is the answer to your previous question. What separates a Spirit from a Retired one harnessing one of the many dogmas of the Mountain?

    ¡°Well, the way it works is a bit complicated, so I will try to explain it as clearly as I can. Basically, when a Spirit dies, their consciousness is actually kept alive due to their role as vassals of the Mountain! A vassal¡¯s soul cannot die unless it completes his or her duty, meaning, as long as it does not pass the power on, his soul and consciousness shall exist in some form or another!

    ¡°However, to kill my opponent I resorted to completely sealing myself and my enemy in a pocket dimension I had created through my own dogma¡­ speaking about dogmas, had I not been an illusion I would have without a doubt given it to you. However, I doubt you¡¯d find it useful, seeing how you already have a dogma of the Will series¡­¡±

    Cheng Hao frowned:

    ¡°Will series?¡±

    Xu Ling lifted her gaze and, with eyes full of contempt, chuckled bitterly:

    ¡°Eheheh, did you think you had actually decided upon the name of your dogma on your own? No, that duty is still left to the Mountain itself, who would take into account your past experiences, create a suitable dogma and name it according to the three main Series. From the lowest tier to the highest they are the Seal, Bend and, finally, the Will Series. The names are pretty self-explanatory, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    ¡°My ability was given the name of ¡®Space, Bend As I Wish¡¯. It allows me to bend reality as far as my imagination lets me run wild! The shortcomings aren¡¯t too different than your ability¡¯s, the most of them being connected to the requirement of a high cultivation.

    ¡°It seems to me though, that your own ability to manipulate Spiritual Energy is, however, even more overpowered than mine, in my opinion. After all, even though your ability is Will-tier, the ability to control spiritual energy seems to be more of a Bend-type of ability, while controlling other¡¯s cultivations are a sign of the ability being Seal-type¡­ truly mysterious!

    ¡°What I think it means is that you have only just scratched the surface of your ability! If my deductions are correct¡­¡± Xu Ling smiled knowingly: ¡°¡­then you are even yet to actually awaken the Will part in your Will-type ability! Once that happens, then I¡¯m sure the might of such a skill will astound even the heavens!¡±

    Cheng Hao did not reply and simply glared at Xu Ling, whom had fallen silent.

    After more than twenty breaths had passed and the girl had yet to speak another word, he sent a threatening glare her way and summoned the Immortal Ascension Tower: although he was weaker than the other party, the pressure he could emit with such a powerful Martial Way by his side, coupled with the cultivation he had now, would be just enough to collapse this illusory world! And he would have no qualms doing that if the guy(girl) didn¡¯t fucking hurry up with his tedious, albeit interesting, lectures!

    Noticing Cheng Hao was growing impatient, Xu Ling sighed: it looked like there was no way around it; she had to get straight to the point, and hope the boy would believe her words!

    Xu Ling opened her mouth and resumed her speech.

 Chapter 116 - Xu Ling

    Records of the Nine Heavens - X¨± L¨ªng

    Heavenly Plains, about one year prior to the human*, X¨± L¨ªng''s, first appearance in the world: in this location, with it being outside of the Nine Heavens, the restrictions on the Four Kings were lifted, thus allowing them to stroll freely through the incredibly massive Plains.

    [*actual race remains unknown]

    Here, many centered the very beginning of a tale that would span from the small Earth of a low-tier plane of existence to the greatest Heavens!

    Here, began his legend.

    According to various tales, the Four Kings had gone out for a stroll to try to ease their youngest sibling''s mind whom, after the death of her mother, had shown no signs of recovery. Even after more than a thousand years had passed, her spirit had ever since been on the verge of breaking.

    Ren Hong, King of the Flames, daughter of the greatest airborne beast, Emperor of the skies and the source of all air currents, the Roc, and the genius Primordial Beast, Lady Jin FengHuang who was born due to the Primordial Flame Emperor¡¯s tears.

    And yet, even the powerful blood containing the legacy of two Primordial Emperors couldn¡¯t stop her mind from slowly, but surely, fall even deeper into despair.

    The tales of the Heavenly Plains lead her three older siblings to try their luck; maybe the beautiful sight of the world¡¯s most beautiful plants and flowers all gathered in one spot would be able to mend her wounded spirit?

    Such a random choice brought about unforeseeable results.

    The exact night the four siblings reached the Heavenly Plains, just as the sun rose up into the sky and the first ray of sunlight fell down¡­ it happened. He appeared.

    [...]

    Suddenly, a rift in space, spanning countless miles in both height and length opened and he came out: around his body was a vortex of glowing runes, swirling around the young child like a barrier of some sort, protecting from the gargantuan rift.

    No matter how viciously it bit down, the void failed to devour the youth back in, as the glowing symbols interfered. However, despite keeping the rifts at bay, the runes were slowly shrinking, the light emitted from their ethereal figures dimming with each passing moment: soon, they would disappear and, along with them, the boy would die too!

    What to do? At first, the Four Kings didn''t mind the boy. After all, it could be seen he was a simple human. Why should Kings amongst Beasts like them worry about tending to the flickering flame that is a human''s life?

    What¡¯s more, the strength of the Dimensional Rifts on such a high-quality plane as the Heavenly Plains were so terrifying even Ren Hei, the eldest of the siblings, possessing the greatest cultivation, deeply feared having any sort of contact with them.

    Sensing the danger, neither Ren Hei, nor Ren Bai or ren Long moved a finger and simply resigned themselves to take up the role of bystanders in the extremely short life of the youth, born from a spatial rift.

    This would have been the end of the Evil Saint: no matter how powerful he would become in the future, at the time he was nothing more than a mortal!

    Indeed, it would have been the end for the strongest human, that is, if it had not been for her: Ren Hong!

    Due to the importance of thess event it should be emphasized that, had it not been for the Vermillion Bird''s pity on the young boy, the tales of the Evil Saint would be nothing less than some writer''s fantasies! And yet, moved maybe by the young child¡¯s twisted fate, maybe because she empathized with him and saw him as a fellow victim of a grim fate, Ren Hong took pity and flew into the sky!

    Under the shocked gazes of her three siblings, she charged through the Heavenly Plains! She shot up, into the sky like a crimson phoenix, leaving blazing infernos wherever she passed. And, just as she reached the peak of her flight¡­ a single, final, step crashed down upon the dimensional rift!

    In total, nine sets of ninety-nine steps was all it took for the calamity to be completely wiped away!

    The Divine Fire King whom had been lying dormant for countless years after Tian¡¯s rise to power and Lady Jin FengHuang¡¯death, had woken up! With Eight-hundred, ninety-one steps, she had saved the young boy from the hungry fangs of the terrible Dimensional Rift.

    A power capable of rivaling even the Heavens! And yet, she had refused to use it for all, except to save the flickering flame that was a measly human child¡¯s life!This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

    Without a doubt, that had raised countless questions in the minds of the three Divine Kings who earlier had instead chosen to abandon the boy to his fate¡­ questions that had been instantly shot down by one of the lady¡¯s most well-known quote.

    After landing on the ground, the child sleeping peacefully in her arms, Ren Hong had glared at her shocked brothers and sister with contempt and pronounced the famous words before leaving immediately after.

    These were the words that so deeply shook the great Kings of the Beasts, Earth and Sea:

    "You have the power... and yet you only use it against your enemies, not for your friends or for those that do not have the chance to wield it! What exactly differentiates you from Tian? Is it the number of people you have killed? I doubt that a young Heavenly Beast killed as many as us Divine Beasts during the old times... tell me, my older siblings... are we really different? I refuse to be in any way similar to the one who was the reason my mother died! I cannot change the past, but while I am not then, I am now! If I can act now and change the future, I shall! That is why, this boy shall not die today!"

    Such words stunned the Three Divine Kings and, according to the three themselves, that time, they had actually bowed their head in shame as they looked at their youngest sibling walk away, the young boy in her arms...

    [...]

    The boy''s awakening only brought more and more questions about his origins as his memories had been completely sealed away... however, while he himself did not remember, his body did and he immediately began to show great talent in philosophy, mathematics and, most of all, calligraphy.

    His understanding and peculiar views of the world, seen through the innocent eyes of a child, and elaborated with the mind of an experienced elder, baffled even those beings millions of years old.

    As of now, the origin of his name, X¨± L¨ªng, has always remained a mystery and a focus of many theories. What people do know for sure that something happened when the Black Turtle left the room and left Ren Hong and the young boy alone after he had first woken up.

    [...] and all that was due to X¨± L¨ªng''s sudden change in attitude. According to Ren Hong herself when she described the strange events to her brothers, she told them that it had been as if the young boy had suddenly turned into some kind of ancient being [...]

    It is unknown how Tian found out of the boy''s presence on Worldlords Floating Island just a few years after his appearence. He had just suddenly appeared there one day and chaos had broken out: although the three older Divine Kings hated the Tyrant of the Nine Heavens, their fear and their fear for his power didn''t give them the strength to resist.

    However, she, who had grown so close to the young boy to the point her feelings wavered couldn''t bear to sit still. That day, the flames blazing on the body of the Vermillion Bird, Ren Hong, rose to the Heavens!

    Previously, many cultivators had intruded within the island, hoping to achieve great fame by slaying the Four Kings.

    Her three brothers absent, what those cultivators had found on the island was none other than Ren Hong. At the time, angered by their attempts to harm the young X¨± L¨ªng and forced to show her true form, the flames of her rage had burned high enough to almost touch the sky*.

    [*It has to be noted, this occasion was also what brought X¨± L¨ªng to discover Ren Hong''s true identity as the King of all Flames, the Divine Fire King! This would be a day that would end with the two''s relationship to become even more solid than it had been before, to the point some wonder whether any feelings between the two had arisen there¡­]

    However, those flames, compared to those now burning tall and fierily in front of the Lord of the Nine Heavens, looked like mere dying ember.

    In fact, no flame in the world would probably ever be able to achieve such destructive force such as the pillar of destruction that had appeared then, surrounding the majestic Vermillion Bird''s figure when she had faced Lord Tian head on!

    The details of what happened on the day the Lord of the Nine Heavens went to Worldlords Flying Island are also unknown. What is known however, is that even then, Lady Ren Hong''s strength had still turned out as being far below Lord Tian''s; He, who had almost grown to a level capable of rivaling the true strength of the First Ancient''s, also known as either Hundredth X¨± or Lord Jade Emperor.

    In this case, it should be obvious that Lady Ren Hong''s resistance could have been considered futile and the boy''s destiny sealed... who would have known that instead, this would turn out to be one of Tian''s greatest slip-ups! That''s right! That day, Lord Tian actually failed to eliminate the boy due to some circumstances, the exact events unknown!

    The records only mention that, after Tian presumably killed the Divine Fire King, a shrill cry had sounded out and a blinding light had exploded outwards from Worldlords Flying Island, and had sent Tian flying through the sky while bellowing in rage... it was a pure miracle that Tian survived the blast, but after disappearing for a short while he appeared once more, silencing any rumor about his death.

    Still, when the light dimmed, X¨± L¨ªng had long since disappeared and, no matter how Tian searched the Flying Island afterwards, the Lord of the Nine Heavens would be unable to find him...

    He would only meet him again after decades, centuries. At that time, one would be a Lord of the Nine Heavens, the other a paragon, walking unhindered across the many Earths.

    On one side, armies of countless Heavenly Beasts, wearing the garments of the Nine Heavens. Behind them was the path to the Palace of the Heavens where the mighty Lord rested!

    On the other, hordes of Beasts and Humans, shouting the name of the Evil Saint from the bottom of their lungs. And in front of them, fighting more fiercely than any other, he would be found: clad in robes stained with the most extravagant blood splatters, and donning the fieriest, fiercest, most terrifying smile. And it would be with such a smile that Xu Ling would climb, step after step, the long stairway to the luxurious Throne Room, at the very top of the world!

    Excerpt from the work: Records of the Nine Heavens

    Author: unknown

 Chapter 118 - The Dragon King (1/2)

    During one of his many adventures, before he began to cultivate, X¨± L¨ªng sewed enmity with a powerful local Family. According to some sources, the reason such dispute took place was due to him refusing to taking the family''s young mistress'' hand in marriage.

    At that time, he had been but a youth in his late teens, however his accomplishments in the arts were countless: calligraphy, painting, philosophy, debate, poetry... he was an unrivalled genius in all those fields which required either slick movements of his hands or sharp jabs of his tongue.

    What''s more, his appearance was one unrivalled amongst the mortals, such that many times he had been referred to as a beloved son of the gods, blessed by the heavens.

    With such a resume, obviously it would catch the eyes of many, if not all, girls whose gazes landed on him. The young mistress of a no-name family apparently was no exception.

    However he had a clear goal in his mind, and had already planned a route to achieve it. And marrying into a family whose name wouldn''t even be recorded in history did not belong in either.

    His refusal however did not appeal to the family''s master, who sent out a trained group of powerful warriors to apprehend him and bring him back alive.

    Needless to say, X¨± L¨ªng''s skill with a blade was on par with the best of swordsmen''s, and he was unparallelled amongst the mortals.

    Thus, after countless failures, this little master decided to take things into his own hands.

    Due to him having, at the time, no cultivation at all, he had no choice but to escape.

    His opponent was just a lowly Basic stage cultivator, which was like a blade of grass in a praire expanding beyond the horizon if compared to the might of the four Kings.

    However the difference between the capabilities of a mortal and a cultivator, especially with one with a stabilized cultivation base in the second of fifteen stages, was like the difference between the Heavens and the Earth!

    That was why X¨± L¨ªng had no choice but to run; run for his life! Through countless tricks and stratagems he succesfully evaded this master''s eyes for a whole month... until, one day, by pure chance, his old, enraged pursuer finally caught up!

    Was it fate that X¨± L¨ªng took the wrong route? That he took the wrong path at that forked road and entered that canion?

    Nobody knows the answer to this question.

    However, what everyone who would follow the adventures of the Evil Saint in the future should surely know is that, because of that little mistake, X¨± L¨ªng bumped into a certain someone; a being who would change his life forever!

    This person would allow him to switch roles! Not the one being hunted anymore, but the hunter himself! Thanks to him, he would finally achieve the required level of power to challenge the heavens!

    X¨± L¨ªng''s Right-Hand man, Friend, Master, and the one that had always been with him from the very start, supporting him from behind and paving his path at the front...

    Primordial Beast, the Golden Scaled Calamity.

    Heaven Devouring Dragon.

    Dragon King.Stolen novel; please report.

    This ''person'' went by many names, and took many roles in some of the mortals'' myths, but his might as either a divine snake or a hellish fiend wearing the skin of a dragon instilled great terror in all of his incarnations.

    Indeed, it was here that the two golden calamities had their first encounter! In a gorge, deep within the Sealed Mountains, X¨± L¨ªng met him!

    Beasts and humans alike had always held some kind of sixth sense. Whether this sixth sense of theirs was stronger or weaker when compared with others'', it still was one of all living beings'' greatest weapons!

    This sixth sense was what made people feel their scalp grow numb whenever they approached these mountains. Scared witless, they would immediately turn back on their footsteps, not daring to enter the gorge... it gave people an ethereal feeling, as if it had been enchanted by some mysterious being to let no one pass!

    However, X¨± L¨ªng only found out about his mistake when he was already halfway into the gorge.

    How could X¨± L¨ªng turn back when it meant certain death? Still, his instincts were most probably also screaming at him not to go any further down that path, where the canyon opened up into a gigantic valley.

    Forced to make such a decision, regretting not having enough power to fight back, X¨± L¨ªng would have ignored the huge threat the gorge had instilled itself to be in his mind and simply kept going.

    At the time, the concept of the winner was King, the loser the Thief had been imprinted deep in his mind: in a world where such disparity between people''s abilities or resources was present, the only way to survive was to leave everyone else in the dust.

    However, that was in the future, and to get there he would have to survive the present first.

    As of then, with his measly power, he could only grab the bull by the horns and hope to somehow escape the situation of alive!

    Backed into a corner, he ignored the fact that every single particle in his body was screaming in fear, and ran straight into the depths of the gorge, emerging into the valley.

    Here, he somehow felt as if the air had grown heavier... as if he were in the presence of some monstrous power, a being powerful enough to eclipse whole continents, yet unable to be seen by the world!

    When X¨± L¨ªng entered the valley, nothing had happened to him, however when the old man with the Basic stage cultivation did...

    He was grinning at the young boy without cultivation as he was already seeing himself bathing in the youth''s blood, and slowly approached him, unaware of the danger he was currently in...

    Just as he made his first step into the gorge, a loud roar echoed out, silencing any and all other sounds!

    Then, an heaven-shaking, invisible paw crashed into the old man''s body, smashing him into meat paste!

    Soon after that, the valley that had been empty and mysterious up until ago suddenly rippled and space itself distorted, as if an illusion had been torn apart!

    One of the most mysterious abilities of the Heavenly Beasts is their innate ability that allowed no other kind of living creature, except for those who are connected to them by Karma or those able to see the true nature of the world, to register their existence!

    Now that this beast, a golden dragon that was so big that its body occupied a whole mountain range (all that while sealing its own real body and cultivation, fearful of breaking apart the plane), had killed X¨± L¨ªng''s opponent... he had unconsciously sown Karma with the young boy, thus enabling the youth to suddenly see the majestic dragon!

    On one side was him, a mortal wearing dirty and torn rags, his long, black hair fluttering due to the powerful shockwaves of the previous blow, his piercing, blue eyes shining brightly with confidence and dignity despite the conditions of his body.

    On the other side, meeting the gaze of that pair of blue eyes was the massive beast: golden scales extended throughout its whole body, like some kind of majestic armor; golden horns grew from the back of its head and a cascade of red hair fell down its long, sinuous body. Five small paws, one dirtied with blood, extended from its middle body, its golden eyes like orbs made out of pure gold¡­

    A pair of the most stunning, blue eyes and the most dazzling golden eyes exchanged a gaze, and the world trembled, Karma connected and unraveled, the invisible hands of fate at work as a new page turned and filled with words!

    This was how the Evil Saint, X¨± L¨ªng, and the Heaven Devouring Dragon, Blindlight, the two who would in the close future become the Duo most hated and feared by the Heavens, met!

    [¡­]

    Excerpt from the work: Records of the Nine Heavens

    Author: unknown

 Chapter 119 - The Dragon King (2/2)

    The following is a text derived from a testimony obtained from a companion of X¨± L¨ªng''s journey, who claimed to have heard the details of the below mentioned events from the man himself.

    As it coincided with other records and testimonies, and what''s more it is common knowledge that X¨± L¨ªng would often narrate some of his adventures to his ''brothers'', this testimony is treated as the official version of the events, until either Blindlight or X¨± L¨ªng themselves deny such facts.

    For simplicity¡¯s sake, we¡¯ll be reporting not the actual testimony, but an adaptation which describes the events of that day while following the testimony, so as to preserve its veracity, and yet at the same time allow the readers, you, a chance for a deeper immersion:

    Blue Eyes Shimmering Under The Starry Sky:

    The day was especially hot and dry. In their cities, mortals could only chug down warm water if they wished get rid of their thirst, as the heat was such that even the underground streams had been affected.

    In such a hot day, children would just run around in the small courtyards naked, in their underwear at best, while men and women would wear nothing but linen pants and shirts.

    Those farmers and workers who had the chance to exhibit their sculpted bodies, beads of sweat trickling down the bulging muscles, gladly did so, very much to the giggles and low-key interest of the local female population.

    At the same time, those few young women that were daring enough would swing their hips alluringly as the sweat made the thin, linen clothes stick to their skin, drawing whistles and shouts of appreciation from the young boys.

    It was unnecessary to say such hot summer days were both a blessing and a curse to the local population, as, yes, they announced the end of the rainy season, but at the same time the heat would soon become unbearable to the point it was not uncommon for people to experience hallucinations or even outright faint.

    For that reason, when on that day, the oldest member of the village, old Dai, suddenly burst into the local tavern shouting about the flying man, everyone just dismissed it all as being an old fool¡¯s rumbling.

    A few cups of liquor later old Dai himself also dismissed it as a mirage or something¡­ after all, who would ever believe what he saw anyways? He may as well forget about it!

    There was no six-year old girl who could deflect knives flying at her with a blade but one foot long, that girl did not suddenly change into a beautiful, albeit wearing rugged clothes, youth in his late teens, and most of all there was no old man that could leap hundreds of feet with a single stride!

    Yes, he must have mistaken a few rags dragged by the hot air currents or something. Old Dai nodded to himself and poured himself another drink, ignoring the prickling pain of the knife he had picked up and put in his front pocket.

    Yes, he had been mistaken without a doubt.

    Meanwhile, a few miles outside the village, a youth sped through a few dried-up forests, through the few crop fields that were cultivated in the small town¡¯s outskirts, and zigzagged its way into a rocky canyon, around a few minutes on horseback from the borough; distance he covered in but a few minutes himself and that the old man chasing behind him covered in a measly ten breaths.

    Speeding into the canyon while holding a broken blade in his hand was a beautiful youth, his blue eyes glowing under the cone hat, blood trickling down the sides of his mouth and from countless small cuts present all over his body.

    Panting, the exhausted young man threaded forward, gritting his teeth and leaving behind bloody footprints. Torn and bloody robes covered his toned body, body riddled with minor and major wounds alike, but the cloth presented so many holes that it barely covered anything.

    Behind him was the complete opposite of the young man that looked on the verge of death: an old man, brimming with life and not a single speck of dust present on his pristine, white robes. Red eyes blazing with excitement and contempt focused on the figure of the youth¡¯s back as he leaped once more¡­

    Grab!

    Swish!

    The old man wasn¡¯t discouraged that he repeatedly failed to capture his target: after all, no matter how good the man was at dodging, it was clear that soon he would run out of combustible¡­ once that happened, he would be unable to move anymore, let alone dodge!

    Still, at that time, the old Master without must have at least began to think along these lines: despite not having any cultivation, a mortal was able to escape a cultivator like him for a whole month! How was that possible? And, more importantly, if he were to actually begin to cultivate as well, what kind of terrifying strength would he be able to bring out?

    The boy, that Xu Ling, was a threat! He could not possibly let him go, else he would only face destruction later on!

    For that reason, when Xu Ling got the wrong road at the forkroad, he barely noticed before resuming his chase! Despite being far out his jurisdiction, this place was just as famous, or more accurately infamous, as any other dangerous locations in the world.

    However, immersed in the thrill of the chase, how could the old Master possibly notice such a small detail as entering the strange valley from where nobody ever escaped alive? In fact he even sent threats and taunts at the young boy running before him: to bully the weak as the string just felt too good!

    For that reason, neither him nor Xu Ling were able to hide their shock when the massive paw appeared out of nowhere and smashed him into bits¡­ not that the old Master needed to hide anything, seeing how he had just turned into meat paste trickling down a majestic beast¡¯s talons.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.

    The air rippled and the golden dragon was revealed to the world! As if somebody had just lifted the veil covering its humongous figure, the Heaven Devouring Dragon¡¯s body became the focus of another living being after millions of years spent slumbering¡­

    Seeing the majestic golden beast appear out of empty space, Xu Ling however had not expressed any more surprise either than the initial shock. Instead, with curious eyes, the young boy had admired the golden scales, the red mane and goatee fluttering in the wind like flames, the long, sinuous body contracting and stretching as the beast finally opened its eyes.

    The eyelids, that pair of eyelids that had been closed for so long empires and civilizations had fallen countless times over in the meantime, finally rose! Below those were two dazzling, golden irises and two pupils splitting them in half down the middle.

    Blue and golden met; surprise and wander met confusion and amusement.

    The Destined King of the Heavens met the Majestic Dragon King.

    And one sentence from the golden lips of the Primordial Beasts shattered the holiness of that moment completely.

    ¡°Child, do you have anything to eat? I¡¯m kind of starving. Been a few million years since my last morning snack.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡­

    ¡°So, Blindlight, correct?¡±

    ¡°For you, it shall be Master Blindlight, Incomparable Light Shining Down Upon The Lowly Lands Of The Mortals, King Of The Sky Dragons and Mighty Dragon Deity Of The Frozen North, South, East and West!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Sure, sure, Blindlight is fine kid, no need to glare, I was just joking. After all, you saved my life! Eheheh. Still¡­ what¡¯s wrong with you? Why are your eyes and even your soul so full of sorrow and anger?¡±

    ¡°You see, Blindlight¡­ I have a goal. For a long, long time the path had been hazy and full of pitfalls. In fact, I had even begun to stop believing. A goal had turned into a mere dream¡­

    ¡°But now, that I met you, Blindlight, I just¡­ I feel as if all those troubles were just washed away! I see the light, a way to escape this darkness! Please¡­ will you help me in my quest?¡±

    ¡°¡­ a quest, you say? Does this have to do with the Fire King¡¯s residual aura on your body?¡±

    ¡°!!!¡±

    ¡°Uh? Didn¡¯t you know? You are emitting such a powerful fire aura I am surprised nobody captured and dissected you to find out the reason yet¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I didn¡¯t know¡­ Sis, were you actually with me this whole time?¡±

    ¡°Oh no, don¡¯t get me wrong. It¡¯s just some residual scrap, with some time it will disappear completely without leaving any trace. Still, what business do you have with little Hong?¡±

    ¡°¡­ she died. She died protecting me. Tian killed her.¡±

    ¡°Oh? That little brat did what now? You are saying he killed one of the four Divine Kings! Mwahaha, this is bound to send some waves roiling! This will be amusing¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­ yeah¡­ amusing¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­ child, you said your name was Xu¡­ Ling? That¡¯s peculiar.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ this was the name she gave me. My name as well as who I am now were all given to me by her. And because of that, I won¡¯t stop until the killer is killed himself!¡±

    ¡°I may not be the smartest around here, kid, but from your words I am implying you want to¡­¡±

    ¡°KILL. TIAN.¡±

    ¡°Whew, that¡¯s quite the goal!¡±

    ¡°Indeed, and because it is so big, I need to be even bigger! The Heavens stand in my way, the mortals down on the Earth pursue me, down in the Underworld is someone who gave me her life, that place is not for me to thread. I have no place upon these lands, so where else am I to go but to create that place with my own hands?¡±

    Following those words was a long silence that lasted for many hours, yet Xu Ling did not lower his fiery gaze from the pair of dazzling golden orbs. Only after the sun had fallen beyond the horizon and the moon had replaced it did Blindlight finally speak.

    ¡°And what if¡­ even then, after all that effort, you were to find out that such a place had no meaning without her there?¡±

    ¡°At the end of it all, if that were to be the case, I shall admit defeat and return in her embrace, whether it be in the underworld or the lands of the living, it shall be warm nonetheless!

    ¡°A single embrace I seek¡­ and for it to be even a slightly bit warm I challenge even the Heavens! Because otherwise nothing will soothe my crying soul.¡±

    And with a smile on his face, Xu Ling finally fell down on the ground, fainting after losing so much blood.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The golden dragon, a King amongst kings, looked at the unconscious boy in front of him with confusion: so much time had passed, and yet he fell only now. Was it due to his burning determination and willpower¡­ or where the True Heavens unwilling to make him faint without making him his point valid?

    ¡°Indeed, a big goal you can reach by becoming bigger yourself¡­ and what about an insurmountable goal, as Tian is much, much more than just ¡®big¡¯. Especially as weak as you are now. Kid¡­ good luck.¡±

    Blinding chuckled, not awaiting a response. He turned and was about to fly away and turn his back to the youth when¡­

    ¡°If I were to challenge infinity, then it would matter not whether I was to start as a one, a zero or a hundred thousand.

    ¡°So what does it matter whether it is now or then? Weak now, weak then, forever weak, but forever growing stronger! And, one day, be insurmountable myself!

    ¡°My dear friend, uncountable is but a word those who do not dare to actually keep counting use.¡±

    ¡­

    The tiny voice had suddenly reached Blindlight¡¯s eardrums, sending a current through his whole body.

    Impossible; the kid was unconscious just a second ago, how could he have uttered any sound, let alone a response to his argument?

    He turned and found the child: definitely unconscious, but, unlike earlier, he now had a wide smile on his face. It was a smile that showed no fear of any rejection. It was a smile full of confidence.

    It was a smile that made Blindlight gape in astonishment.

    Two days later, late at night, an invisible, golden dragon sped through the starry sky at breakneck speed.

    And on his back, a smiling youth stood.

    His blue eyes glimmering in the night.

    [...]

    The clash with the Glacier Old Man, the meeting with Xiao Lan and the allegiance with his Clan, the encounter with the Blood Soaked Flood Dragon, his fight through the Nine Heavens, the encounter with the caged Ancient who took him as his disciple and finally his clash with Tian...

    Many records exist, but whether these records are true or not, simply by reading them one would feel their blood boil and their anger towards Tian and the Nine Heavens growing!

    These all that is left after Lord Tian attempted to erase these records after his victory in the fight against Xu Ling.

    And these alone are enough for me to dream about that one pair of blue eyes. A few scattered records are enough for me to wish about being able to gaze into those much-exalted orbs; if not to admire their beauty, at least so as to wonder at the vast night sky and lose myself into an ocean of bittersweet sorrow.

    Excerpt from the work: Records of the Nine Heavens

    Author: unknown

 Chapter 120 - Battle Of Centuries

    Xu Ling breathed in and then exhaled. Cheng Hao coldly looked at her fragile body, within which he knew was either his greatest ally or his most formidable and vicious enemy yet.

    The girl waved her left hand and the mark for ¡®Spirit¡¯ appeared hovering above her palm. Space cracked and distorted, gathering around and compressing the glowing symbol as if even the fabrics of space were mere moths gathering around a bright flame.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go back to my battle. I had prepared thoroughly, revising my plans over and over until I felt confident that I could achieve victory.¡± the girl pointed at the strange events occurring above her palm.

    ¡°The plan would revolve around my Dogma: by using my ability to bend space, I would create a bubble of space around my opponent and trap him within...¡±

    Cheng Hao squinted his eyes as a bright light as emitted. When it faded, a small bubble had come to form where space had been fluctuating. It was extremely small, however by looking inside it, Cheng Hao could see that it housed within a vast amount of space; such a small bubble held within what could be defined as a whole other dimension!

    ¡°That bubble would be a pocket dimension connected to the outside world, our world, only through a very thin tunnel, like some kind of safety line to keep it anchored to me and this universe. However, once I would have ensured that my opponent was trapped within¡­¡±

    The bubble suddenly disappeared! As it had no more ties to this world, it was as if it had never existed in the first place!

    ¡°Boom. Off she would have gone into nothingness!¡± Xu Ling chuckled. She raised her head and couldn¡¯t help but smile smugly after seeing Cheng Hao¡¯s expression had changed greatly.

    In his eyes was now incredible awe as well as fear: in just a few breaths, this person had created a whole pocket dimension and had severed its contact with its universe!

    The ability to create and erase! It was truly an ability that would make even Gods pale in fright. After all, no matter how strong one was, if he were to be thrown into a whole different universe, hollow and devoid of any other matter except for space itself¡­

    No matter if one were invincible or immortal, the thought of that situation alone would be enough to make even the strongest cultivator shiver in terror, as it would be like completely erasing someone from existence! It could be aid this ability was the bane of all Immortal beings!

    ¡°Impressive ability, isn¡¯t it?¡± Xu Ling chuckled. She sighed and looked at her hand with reminiscence:

    ¡°My master, a former Spirit, had also been amazed when he had first heard of its property. Despite it being only a Bend-tier ability, if used correctly, its power would have been enough to rival any and all other Dogmas, even completely outclassing the Will-tier series!¡±

    Xu Ling grinned knowingly:

    ¡°Because of it, I had no doubt I would be able to win this battle! If I just closed in and were able to stop her movements for a second and then trapped her within that bubble¡­ victory would have been mine!¡±

    The young girl¡¯s grin then turned into a mask of anger; she gritted her teeth and slapped her thighs, glaring at her own body with despise as she spat out:

    ¡°The bastard however was powerful¡­ much stronger and faster than I could have ever imagined! Let alone pin her down for a second; it was already hard enough to just stay alive! Logic and instinct told me to run, however, after coming to challenge this opponent myself, how could I possibly turn back?¡±

    Xu Ling then gazed at Cheng Hao as he seemed to notice something about the red-skinned youth. He looked at him for a while with interest and then opened his mouth to speak, almost in a trance:

    ¡°Pride is a terrible beast¡­ it is what hinders many great geniuses from rising to the very top. If you were to choose between humiliation and death, remember that, with time, any wound inflicted on your spirit can either be healed or avenged. Remember these words, child. There will always be a way for those who keep fighting¡­¡± after speaking those words, Xu Ling fell silent and looked at herself with pity and contempt.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    Cheng Hao raised his eyebrows: humiliation and death? What was that supposed to mean? He was about to ask but then the girl resumed her lecture:

    ¡°Our battle lasted for a long, long time, long enough for us to explore each other¡¯s habits and weaknesses enough to know the two of us wouldn¡¯t be able to win without giving up something in return¡­

    ¡°It became a vicious cycle of chasing and escaping¡­ I would keep dodging her mighty and unpredictable attacks, and she would evade all the counterattacks I could occasionally slip in between the barrage¡­

    ¡°For years, decades, centuries even, we battled to our death. During that time, not even for a single instant did we stop to take a breather. However, after dozens of years spent unleashing and dodging the same attacks over and over, our bodies had gone in what could be described as in some kind of autopilot mode.

    ¡°We both came to the conclusion that we would be unable to win through the sole might of our skills, as we had so many abilities we could cancel any attack we sent our way or evade those we could not.

    ¡°At one point we fused abilities in ways we could have never imagined before, and found ways to channel our abilities so efficiently our past selves would have been shocked silly¡­ it came to a point where we almost didn¡¯t want this fight to end!

    ¡°We were like two sharp blades getting more and more deadly each time they exchanged blows. Rivals, brothers forged through a battle to the death. We could understand what each was thinking at any given moment, we explored each other¡¯s past and reasoning. It was a very special moment that we both knew would one day end with the death of either or even both of us.

    ¡°And indeed, no matter how strong and sharp a blade could get, the arm holding it would someday run out of energy. And one day, after the umpteenth time my bubble failed to trap him inside and his glowing symbols couldn¡¯t land on me¡­ I finally came to the conclusion that I would not be able to escape alive from that place.

    ¡°I was completely spent, with barely any trace of energy, both physical and spiritual, remaining in my body, without taking into account the exhaustion of my body and my mind.

    ¡°After hundreds of years spent battling in a state of everlasting deadlock, I ran out of energy first.¡±

    Xu Ling shook her head:

    ¡°It was then that I made a decision. When I spotted a certain attack I had evaded countless times before, one which I was sure would bring me incredibly close to death, and at the same time still leave me within an inch of life, I took that attack head on and let it strike my body!¡° she chuckled devilishly and looked at her own body with superiority.

    ¡°After witnessing such an event that had not happened in almost a thousand years, how could she not be shocked out of her wits? I used that chance to wrap my own body around her and create a bubble surrounding the both of us! And after that¡­¡± Xu Ling used her index and middle fingers as if they were scissors to cut an invisible thread:

    ¡°Boom! The both of us were locked into a completely different dimension!¡±

    Cheng Hao nodded: up until then everything made sense.

    ¡°As nothing is created, nor may anything be destroyed, everything IS and will forever BE, albeit in different shape, as soon as I completely cut myself off from the mountain and the universe, I broke this unspoken yet fundamental law of nature.

    ¡°Thus, I was completely erased ¡­ my body, that is. My soul remained because of my role as a Spirit. No matter which world or in which universe, the might of this book was absolute! As long as I did not pass on my role, I would not die!¡± Xu Ling pointed at her chest.

    ¡°As for her¡­ her body somehow, survived too! About that, I have no explanations¡­ I can only guess she had somehow obtained some kind of blessing, giving her something similar to my partial immortality: instead of an indestructible soul, she had an immortality of the physical body. As for what this meant, it¡¯s simple: her body had become the perfect vessel for my wounded spirit.¡±

    ¡°For that reason I did not hesitate to take control of this body, whose consciousness had been wiped clean leaving space for my own.

    ¡°This body that would not disappear even when it should have been erased from existence, coupled with my undying soul due to my role as a Spirit, kept me alive.

    ¡°However, as I was sealed in a completely different dimension from that of the Mountain, I could not awaken a new Spirit!

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t actually there, but from what you told me this is what I believe actually happened: seeing that no Spirits remained within its borders, I estimate that, after a few eons passed and another kind of danger appeared, the Mountain created a whole new generation of Spirits starting from scratch.

    ¡°What this means is that, despite me still existing, in a different form and universe altogether, sure, but still very much alive, the Mountain passed the role of Spirit to the following generation! For the first time ever in the history of the Mountain¡¯s Vassals¡­¡±

    ¡°Two lineages of Spirits coexisted! Mine, the main lineage of spirits, and another one, created just a few millions of years ago, descending from a completely different ancestor than ours.

    ¡°And it is because of this, I believe, that you, as an ambassador of both lineages, have the greatest chance to unlock the full potential as the Mountain¡¯s Soul.¡±

 Chapter 121 - Unlimited Potential

    Cheng Hao furrowed his brows in confusion.

    Highest potential? Why would that be?

    Then, the truth of the matter hit him like a boulder. If having only one blessing of the mountain gave a Spirit a second chance at life if killed and, also, a powerful Dogma to aid him in his intent¡­

    What would happen if one were to be blessed twice? Would one gain one more life? Or another Dogma? Sure, that could happen, but what were extra techniques and multiple lives in front of infinite power?

    In front of being able to fully harness the power of the Mountain?

    Cheng Hao pondered out aloud in a dreamy state of excitement and happiness:

    ¡°The limiter¡­ even if the Mountain imposed that limiter upon us, and only gave us a part of the key, what would happen if a single person were to be in possession of two such parts at once?¡±

    Xu Ling nodded:

    ¡°Indeed. It is unknown the exact reason for this, but together with the gift of enormous power within the reach of our fingertips, a limiter had also been imposed on us, stopping us from displaying such might.

    ¡°We can access the might of the Mountain, at the same time however we can only harness a ridiculously small amount. Whether it was because it deemed us too lowly to harness such power or it was simply unable to, this loophole throws all those reasons down the drain.

    ¡°The reason is¡­ because, by creating a second lineage, the Mountain bestowed upon us followers a second shard of they key to lifting the limits! If you were to gather both shards, from the old Spirits and the new ones, you would become the Spirit with the highest ever potential to have ever existed!

    ¡°You have already received the blessing from one of these two lineages. That¡¯s a nice amount of the limiter removed. This blessing was from the ¡®New Spirits¡¯. That was the easy part.¡± Xu Ling pointed at Cheng Hao¡¯s forehead, where a glowing mark appeared.

    It was Ling. Soul and spirit.

    ¡°And as for the other lineage of Spirits, that would have been hard had it been any other¡­¡± the girl chuckled, pointing at herself:

    ¡°I believe that you might have a good chance with this old geezer. Don¡¯t worry about that one: my part of the key will definitely be yours!¡±

    ¡°Uh? You can give it to me?¡± Cheng Hao furrowed his brows. From what he had been told earlier, this senior of his could not pass down his Dogma or even carry out the awakening, as he was merely an illusion, a shade of his former self.

    As expected, Xu Ling shook her head:

    ¡°Unfortunately, not. The rules did not change: I am an illusion, and this process is not something that can be carried out by a mere fake. Still, you¡¯ll only have to track down my real self back in the real world and ask him.

    ¡°Once you are able to harness your Dogma well enough, that should become a piece of cake. He already branded you with his aura when he possessed your body as a child. When you grow accustomed to sensing the aura of the Mountain, you will find him.¡±

    ¡°After all¡­¡± Xu Ling curled her lips into an amused smile and raised one of her eyebrows:

    ¡° ¡®Alive in some form or another as long as he does not awaken another Spirit and pass his knowledge on¡¯. He didn¡¯t pass on his lineage, did he?¡±

    Cheng Hao widened his eyes and then chuckled:

    ¡°Yeah¡­ that¡¯s right. Should have thought about that from the very start.¡±

    Xu Ling shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly:

    ¡°Wisdom. Comes with time. You may have knowledge but aren¡¯t able to think outside the box that much. A person that has performed the same strike a million times will be much more fearsome than a man that has performed a million different strikes a single time. You are smart and cunning. One day, you will grow a nice white beard and become wise, you don¡¯t have to worry about that too much yet.¡±Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

    Cheng Hao chuckled:

    ¡°If that is all I¡¯ll need to become wiser, then I will be sure not to trim it when the time comes.¡±

    The child in an adult¡¯s body smiled excitedly as he looked out of the window.

    Cheng Hao was ecstatic: so many gifts had rained down from the Heavens, and it had happened so fast that he had not even found a chance to gape at it.

    It was as if, after witnessing so many of his hardships and pitying his countless struggles as he faced the whole world, a benevolent god had decided to ignore the rules of the universe and simply carve him a path to victory himself!

    He suddenly felt his shoulders growing ever so light; the worries and fears that had been weighing him down, holding him back, suddenly disappeared: from that moment forward, he had a path to follow. A path he knew would not suddenly collapse under his feet!

    His gaze fell on Xu Ling¡¯s body. The girl was also smiling, like a parent looking at his son after successfully applying to his first job at an illustrious company.

    He felt a tinge of guilt inside: just a few moments before he had been pointing his finger at her face, shouting venomous words and scolding her harshly. And now that he finally realized that her every single word had been the truth, or at least not a lie, he couldn¡¯t help but feel guilty about his previous behavior.

    Cheng Hao hesitated for a bit but then embraced the young girl and hugged her tightly, his voice breaking as he whispered:

    ¡°I apologize for my actions. Thank you for keeping up with me despite my behavior earlier.¡±

    Xu Ling blinked twice and laughed, patting Cheng Hao¡¯s back:

    ¡°Sure thing kid!¡±

    At the same time however, despite her looking all happy and carefree, the Spirit was also sighing in relief inside: fortunately, she had been able to clear at least a few of those misunderstandings up.

    She had many more things to tell the youth, but she could almost feel the invisible hands of fate clasping down on her throat: telling too much would not only interfere with fate, but with the child¡¯s growth as well.

    For that reason, she had decided from the very beginning not to give away too much information. Still, she had one last thing to tell Cheng Hao before she left.

    ¡°Kid¡­ by any chance, have you ever seen or heard about people with blue eyes just as beautiful and bright as these?¡± Xu Ling pointed at her face and asked.

    Cheng Hao, still smiling stupidly and refraining from fist pumping, nodded distractedly:

    ¡°Yeah! Of course, they were not as beautiful as yours, or more accurately mine, but they were pretty similar. He used some kind of haze to hide his appearance and let only his eyes show. I believe he called himself the ¡®Worker¡¯.¡±

    Xu Ling paled and shot to her feet, trembling in terror:

    ¡°What¡­ did you say?¡±

    Cheng Hao woke up from his trance and looked at the frightened girl with puzzlement:

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°How do you know him?¡±

    ¡°I met him back in my world, why?¡±

    ¡°Does he¡­ know of your existence?¡±

    ¡°Yes. We have met quite a few times.¡±

    ¡°WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?¡± Xu Ling¡¯s eyes widened and her pupils shrunk. A hurricane broke loose in the small room and forced Cheng Hao to rotate his cultivation to resist.

    He looked up and saw Xu Ling¡¯s face overwhelmed by countless emotions: confusion, fear, horror¡­ and, most of all, anger. Then, the girl flashed all over the room, pulling her hair as she panicked:

    ¡°This¡­ why did you not tell me this sooner! You cannot stay here any longer! You have to escape! If Worker comes around and finds you¡­¡±

    Cheng Hao gaped and then tilted his head in confusion:

    ¡°What? Would that be a problem?¡±

    Xu Ling scoffed:

    ¡°Problem? It would be the end of everything! This is bad¡­ this is really bad! You need to leave this place, now! We can¡¯t wait any longer; I¡¯ll send you to my real self immediately. Maybe he will be able to protect you!¡±

    Cheng Hao opened his mouth to speak, but was unable to under the dense barrage.

    ¡°Where could he be? The ocean of the Stone Sages? No, too close to this Planary System¡­ or maybe in the northern plains of the Azure Specters? Sea of souls at the ninth level of the Yellow Springs? Damn, no, they are too predictable! If I can think of it, it cannot be it! Shit, why now! Why must I be an illusion? If only I could sense him¡­¡±

    Xu Ling turned to look at Cheng Hao while fiercely biting his own index finger due to the stress.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s stop panicking. As long as he does not know yet you have been here, I might be able to cover any and all tracks of your passage once you leave-¡±

    ¡°-That¡¯ what I was about to say!¡± Cheng Hao finally shouted, startling the panicking girl. Xu Ling looked at him: she breathed in and out a few times and the panic in her eyes gradually faded.

    After a while she seemed to have calmed down a bit and she bowed her head:

    ¡°Sorry about that unsightly behavior of mine. What was it that you wanted to tell me?¡±

    Cheng Hao smiled bitterly and massaged his neck:

    ¡°Well, I do not understand why you panicked just then, but judging from your reaction, I think if I were to tell you this you might actually grow crazy. Still, I would like you to keep calm¡­ do you think you can do this?¡±

    Xu Ling furrowed her brows, puzzled:

    ¡°I¡­ I guess I¡¯ll try. What is it?¡±

    ¡°Wellthe thing is¡­¡± Cheng Hao looked down. He sighed, swallowing nervously, and then looked up:

    ¡°You see, he not only knows me. He knows exactly where I am... it was actually himwho brought me here.¡±

 Epilogue - Hiatus Is Defeated, Lord Cookie Returns! (Announcement)

    Cookie''s "Final" Announcement:

    (More like clickbait than "final" really, but I needed the attention, it sounds good, and I love to troll as much as the next cookie)

    *A-HEM!*

    ''Sup everyone, it''s your one and only lord Cookie here. Been a while, hasn''t it?

    <Insert excited screaming noise here>

    Yup, missed you too. Anyways, after a loooong time, I''ve decided to finally come back from my hiatus on RRL... with one condition...

    Rebooting the entire series.

    That is the condition y''all will have to put up with for me to resume my novel, and it isn''t up to discussion. The first few chapters I simply don''t feel they to be up to my current standard and capabilities, blah blah blah. You get the gist of it, I''m sure it''s not the first time a story you absolutely LOVE suddenly decided to pull a little trick like this on you, so I''ll cut it short.

    Basically, I''m rebooting the series, and the reason that is not up to discussion...

    Is ''cuz I''ve already done it.

    I''m up to chapter forty-ish, and have been updating it... "constantly" (Lol, there are readers out there who would skin me alive if they ever knew I said that) on the platform Wattpad. Anyways, I''m planning to do the same here on Royal Road Legends. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    Unfortunately, due to reasons pertaining to IRL issues (Mainly school tbh, school''s a bitch), the heaven-sent "chaptering" here will only begin some time in the near future, most likely in June. At that time, I was planning to take advantage of this month-long interval by having you all point out any flaw (Big or small, do it. I know I''ll regret saying that in the future but I DONT CARE!!! At the moment at least.) that you might find. After I''ve sorted them all out, I''ll release the thoroughly edited versions of the current chapters that are on WP here on RRL, taking into account those things you guys have pointed out in the meanwhile.

    Until then (I''m thinking mid to late june, when I''m finished with school stuff and I officially begin summer break), you will be able to read the chapters I''m posting "regularly" (Mostly depending on my mood and how fast I see the views rising and the comment section filling up with theories and discussions on the plot) down below:

    Immortal Ascension Tower (Rebooted) - https://www.wattpad.com/story/124274040-immortal-ascension-tower</a>.

    PS: I''ve noticed that even after leaving this book for dead (Not my intention, I''ve been working on other novels and have been neglecting this first-born of mine and our adorable, golden-eyed MC), the view/favorites/followers count has yet to stop rising, and even the reviews and ratings have been mostly positive. I''ll take that as motivation for me to work harder and harder in the future with the NEW Immortal Ascension Tower!

    Finally, with all that, I can say it... Immortal Ascension Tower has as of now officially climbed out of its grave! Let''s be sure not to bury it alive again, let alone kill it off for good. As for what''s the best way to do that, it is to show your support and how much you want this series to continue down below in the comments (And, of course, via Private Messages, or on Wattpad, as well)!

    Cheers everyone! To a new, fresher and better Immortal Ascension Tower!

    ~ Cookie (Admit it y''all, you missed that signature as much as you missed this boo

 ***REBOOTED VERSION SUBMITTED!***

    Yup, just submitted the new book, which means the prologue, to RRL. Now all that is left is to wait for the staff to approve it!

    Title is Immortal Ascension Tower(Duh) and, according to my experience, it should be up soon (It usuallt takes nowhere near as long as the 48 hours estimated in the submission page), so I''ll be waiting for you guys there probably tomorrow!

    Oh, and BTW, since I also like money but I don''t want to extort you, I will soon start posting on the platform Qidian (Which DOES give money). I will release the chapters slightly faster there (Meaning, I will occasionally post an extra daily chapter or two compared to the daily upload I''ll be doing on RRL), but the gap between the two shouldn''t be too wide, as 1 chapter daily is already draining enough, let alone making more than one regularly. In short, if you''re feeling particularly bored, hop on to Qidian and you might find some extra content there, but the full experience will be able to be enjoyed here as well, just a little bit more slowly.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    Soz, and thanks for the support everyone! WIll try my best!

    ~ Cookie