《The Ocean Flame Palace Host》


 Chapter 1 – Hai Yun (海鋆)

    On the shoreline of the Dark Emerald Nation, in the southern part of the Divine Phoenix Continent, a youth no older than 17 is laying on the white, quartz-like sand.


    As he stared indifferently at the sky, in his mind the memory of a white haired old man continuously replayed itself.


    ¡°The one thing this old man shall never regret is adopting you as my grandson. No matter what anyone else will say, about how your creation brought the fall of our sect, pay no heed. All you must remember is that only you can revive us. Only you can make this war worth it! Hai Yun, get out of here alive and after we fall remember¡­ that we have no regrets placing our last bets, with you!¡± the old man gently smiled as he finished. However his back remained facing away from Hai Yun.


    The youth can feel the salt residue left behind by the tears staining his face. This old man was his foster grandfather. After being born, he had been placed out on the street. The old man had been passing by and heard his cries so he picked him up and brought him to the sect.


    The sect was called the Crystal Ocean Alchemist Sect. It was comprised of over half a million alchemists who trained in the many arts of alchemy and refining. They were an incredibly influential power, being the strongest alchemist sect on the Scarlet Flame Continent. They had the most up-to-date recipes and medical practitioners, as well as a strong military to defend themselves against infringements by other sects.


    In these arts of alchemy, Hai Yun was a peerless talent. Not a single alchemist under the age of 30 could match himin refining elixirs. The elixirs he refined were not only superior in quality, but as he had also attained the rank of divine alchemist at the age of 16, his elixirs gainedadditional beneficial effects.Stolen novel; please report.


    One time, whileexperimenting, he developed a recipe for a pill that would allow someone to retain their memories when being reincarnated. This elixir, which was rightfully named ¡®Efficacious Nirvana¡¯, brought about a calamity. In order to obtain this powerful elixir 21 of the continents peak level powers teamed up to rob the Crystal Ocean Alchemist Sect.


    Amongst them were some people who had even owed many of the doctors there a human sentiment. However they felt no burden to rush in and obtain this miracle medicine and of course, kill its maker so it could not be replicated¡­


    Naturally, how could the alchemists allow these greedy fellows to get what they wanted! Seeing that defending themselves was a lost cause and knowing that they would all be slaughtered or enslaved with the knowledge that they had any memory about the formula, they did their utmost to help Hai Yun escape before committing suicide.


    Now lying on the beach 500 km from the island where the sect¡¯s main base was located, Hai Yun glared at the sky in fury.


    ¡°Dark Emerald Kingdom, Heavenly Thunder Sect, Infinite Sword Palace, Golden Crow Sacred Ground, Dark Moon Sect, Heavenly Tribulations Sect, Yin-Yang Paradise, Divine Phoenix Clan¡­ All of you who turned your backs on us and coveted our elixirs, know this, I will destroy you from the face of the universe!¡±


    ¡°A New sect will rise up on that island you razed and it will lord over all of you! Its power and prestige will be enough to decimate any hope you have of retaliating. That island is my, Crystal Ocean Alchemy Sect¡¯s, it has been so for the last 5000 years and it shall continue to be for all of my reincarnations!¡±


    He took out a golden pill with blue liquid swirling around inside it and popped it into his mouth, followed by a green liquid which gave off a sweet aroma. The golden pill was none other than an ¡®Efficacious Nirvana¡¯ while the other was a deadly poison. Thus he quietly closed his eyes and his consciousness faded. His body rapidly decomposed leaving him with a burning sensation before the sweet feeling of death¡­

 Chapter 2 – Do people get reincarnated into corpses?

    <h4></h4>


    As Hai Yun woke up, thefirst thing he noticed was that his arms had shrunk.


    However not to the size of a newborn baby, but rather they seemed like someone in their pre-teens!


    ¡°What the Hell! Why am I not a baby?¡±


    That¡¯s right, he found himself in the body of a 13 year old boy laying on a hard wooden floor.


    This boy¡¯s name was alarmingly, the same as his, but he lived in the Hai Clan on the Western Sea Territory. This territory was on the Western Side of the Scarlet Flame Continent. This Hai Yun was a brat and had been indulged by a pair of loving parents. No matter where his interests lie, they would give all to him. This spoiled nutcase didn¡¯t have to worry about anything!


    His father was the only candidate for the Hai Clan¡¯s patriarch and his mother was the only descendantof the Yun Clan¡¯s patriarch. Thus, he would inherit everything in both clans. Supposedly this whole system had been planned out in order to ensure peace in this region and allow it to prosper. The four major clans: Hai, Yun, Qing and Qin decided that each of their patriarchs would take the Sole Heir pill. This pill¡¯s basic function was that the manwho ate it would only have a single child in hislife, and depending on itstype, that child would either be a boy or a girl.


    The agreement between the four clans went as such; the Hai and Qin clan¡¯s patriarchs would have a single son and the Yun and Qing clan¡¯s patriarchs would have a single daughter. This way, the Hai and Yun clans would merge and the Qin and Qing clans would do the same. Then, based on a martial tournament between the heirs of the Hai and Qin clans, the winner wouldtake the male sole heir pill while the loser would take the female one.


    During the tournament Hai Yun¡¯s father, Hai Cang Qiong, defeated Qin Wentian, and tookthe male sole heir pill. Thus Hai Yun was born and he would marry Qin Wentian¡¯s daughter, making the Hai Clan the only powerful influence remaining in the Western Sea Territory. Asthe future master of the Western Sea Territory, this Hai Yun knew no limits.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    But the more pressing concern was, how did the Alchemist Hai Yun end up reincarnating into another human¡¯s body? When this Hai Yun died, did it openup a body and allowthe Hai Yun who consumed the elixir¡¯s soul to transmigrate into this body?


    However, this would indicate that this lazy, snobbish, self-indulgent Hai Yun had died and turned into a corpse! Simply the thought of it sent chills down his new spine. Not only was the feeling of possessing a corpse uncomfortable to think about, it made Hai Yun wonder if he would become influenced by any bad habits the previous owner of this body had¡­


    ¡°No. I refuse to believe that my pill screwed up. Something was probably suppressing my memory for these 13 years¡­ Maybe I can only regain my memories after turning 13! The next time I give this a go, I should probably see if I endup in another 13 year old¡¯s body.¡±


    However this resolve was completely shaken when he stood up the next moment.


    ¡°This¡­ How can this¡­ Isn¡¯t this..!¡±


    Being from an alchemy sect which refined all kinds of elixirs, he was naturally familiar with medicines and poisons. And when he stood up from the floor, he clearly smelled one such poison. This poison could be applied to any physical object, such as, in this case, Hai Yun¡¯s clothes.


    This poison was a slow death type,and after many years of having it on one¡¯s body, the person would begin to lose his frame of mind and in three years, die. It was called Bone Sheering Poison, and the reason was because it would seep into your bones after contact, not circulating in your blood, but rather destroying all of your bone marrow!


    For this poison to be lingering around on Hai Yun¡¯s clothes meant that the previous Hai Yun who had owned this body was assassinated. The assassin probably never expected for the corpse to attract the other Hai Yun¡¯s soul after taking theelixir. With the number of people this rascal had wantonly offended, it was nearly impossible to determine who wanted him dead. So the new occupant was already faced with the dilemma of who the heck wanted his life?!?!


    Yet, this was not the greatest concern. Right now he had to dispel the bone sheering poison and regrow his bone marrow so as to not die again! If he could figure out what supplies were available then dealing with something like this would certainly not be an issue.


    ¡°Liu Yuntao!¡± Hai Yun called his new bodyguard.


    ¡°Reporting to young master!¡± an immediate reply came from beyond the door.


    ¡°Liu Yuntao, lead me to the library,¡± Hai Yun demanded.


    Library?Liu Yuntao was alarmed. Did he hear wrong? The young master almost never asked to go to the library! Could he have possibly meant something else?


    Although confused, he didnot hesitate, nor question the young master¡¯s decision, and with a nod of his head, he obediently led the way.

 Chapter 3 – The Forbidden Section

    <h4></h4>


    The Hai Clan¡¯s library took the form of a 7 floored pagoda tower. The bottom floor contained many miscellaneous writings and pieces of literature while the second floor contained the catalogs of the local flora and fauna along with the spirit beasts and spirit herbs in the region.


    ¡°Young master, since you have not come to the Hai clan¡¯s library before allow me to brief you.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead¡±


    ¡°On the first floor, we have many books and scrolls. They are organized in four sections: elementary level martial skills between the 1<sup>st</sup>and 3<sup>rd</sup>level, records of our ancestors, paintings along with other exquisite artworks and records on mortal ranked spirit weapons respectively.


    The second floor is comprised of catalogs on various herbs and spirit beasts in the region. There is only one section on the second floor which is prohibited and that is the devils painting. For whatever reason, our ancestors decreed that the family must not discard that evil painting under any circumstances.


    On the third floor¡­¡±


    ¡°Yuntao, I want you to guard the door outside of the second floor! No one must be allowed to disturb me¡± Hai Yun cut him off. Without waiting for a reply he entered the pavilion and walked straight up to the second floor and slammed the door shut.


    Liu Yuntao was now considerably less surprised.The young madame probably scolded him for being a rascal telling him he needs to study, so he wants to use this time to sleep in the second floors lounge.These thoughts were not necessarily strange since only the second floor of the library had a lounge, due to excessive space since there were not exactly that many catalogs. However he forgot one important fact, Hai Yun had never been to the library before, so how would he know which floor had a lounge¡­


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª-


    Qin family clan.


    ¡°Patriarch, the Hai clan¡¯s young master went to the library¡±


    ¡°What! Why did that little rascal go to the library?!?!¡±


    ¡°I do not know, our spy was unable to get closer as Liu Yuntao was guarding the door.¡±


    ¡°sigh¡­ don¡¯t get my hopes up, he¡¯s probably lazing around in the lounge on their second floor isn¡¯t he¡­¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    On the second floor of the Hai Clan¡¯s library.


    Hai Yun vigorously scanned through catalogs. He had once heard that spirit herbs are called different names in different regions, so he needed to know what the herbs necessary for dealing with bone shearing poison were called in this part of the continent.


    While he was completely engrossed in his task, in another corner of the second floor an incredibly distressed voice complained.


    ¡°Hey damn brat whose been infected with bone sheering poison! This granduncle of yours could give you a hand if you only opened your ears to listen. Hey come on, don¡¯t tell me even you don¡¯t have a strong enough soul to listen to my voice.¡±


    The complaining voice rambled on and on without giving any indication of stopping, yet Hai Yun continued his task with full hearted devotedness completely ignorant of the fact that he had been called out repeatedly.


    Finally, as he continued to read the voice let out a long sigh, but just when it would have stopped talking a spiritual figure appeared in the forbidden section from where the voice came from. It was gazing intently in Hai Yun¡¯s direction as if it could see through the walls.


    The figure was of a middle aged man who looked to be in his early forties with sand peppered hair. As his vision finally landed on where Hai Yun was his entire body shook violently.


    ¡°Trans¡­ trans¡­ TRANS-MIGRATOR!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± he yelled, alarmed.


    Hai Yun was alarmed when he heard this word ring out through the library. ¡°Whose there!¡± he demanded while rapidly swiveling his head around.


    However, his words shocked the spirit even more than when the spirit had first induced his presence.


    ¡°You can hear me?¡± he questioned shakily.


    ¡°Reveal yourself, don¡¯t sneak around saying random garbage¡±


    ¡°Hahaha, you really can hear me! Brilliant, head to the third section of the library if you truly wish to learn something interesting.¡± The voice called out.


    Wasn¡¯t the third section the forbidden area?Hai Yun was puzzled. So he headed to the door to call Yuntao and figure out what the hell was going on.


    ¡°Hey! Where the hell are you going?!?! That¡¯s not the way to third section, come on don¡¯t tell me even you can¡¯t hear me. I¡¯ve spent centuries here without anyone being able to hear my voice, you¡¯re a transmigrator so you should have an infinitely stronger soul capable of hearing my soul voice, so WHY THE HELL ARE YOU NOT COMING OVER!¡±


    Transmigrator¡­the moment Hai Yun heard the voice say this he stopped in his tracks. He was quite confident that this voice was playing tricks on him and could definitely be heard by others, but if it had discovered that he was a transmigrator and not the real Hai Yun, then he really did have the right to black mail him.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°What do you want me to do?¡± Hai Yun asked. He was incredibly shaken by the sudden exposition of his status,the only way for him to induce that I transmigrated would be if he had sensed my soul before and could tell that the current me has a different soul.He thought to himself.And to induce what another soul looks like would makes this person at least as strong as a divine ranked alchemist in terms of soul strength¡­ he judged.


    ¡°What do I want you to do?¡± The voice was puzzled for a moment before finally bursting out in laughter.This brat doesn¡¯t believe that others can¡¯t hear me so he thinks I want to blackmail him by disclosing his status as a transmigrator!¡°Why of course I just want you to come over to chat!¡± he said evilly.


    Hai Yun furrowed his brow, before indecisively turning around and heading to the forbidden section. When he got there all he saw was a blank scroll hung on the wall, yet it seemed to be giving off a dense aura of a peerless powerhouse. This aura was even stronger than what he felt from some of the elders of the 21 sects who had come after him! Why would such a powerhouse need to blackmail him?


    ¡°Good, you¡¯re not bad! Now tell me, why did you, the phoenix prince screw up your transmigration and land up here of all places?¡±


    Phoenix Prince???Hai Yun was confused. This powerhouse clearly thought he was someone else. But could someone else truly transmigrate? Did artifacts which let you control your transmigration exist somewhere else? But now he was in a dilemma; should he pretend to be this other person who he had been suspected of being, or should he explain his real situation. So he decided to probe him.


    ¡°Does senior have designs on this junior¡¯s transmigration method?¡±


    ¡°Huh? Why would I ever want to give up my immortal body?¡±


    Immortal Body! Could this senior be one of the antiquity gods?!?!Hai Yun was both alarmed and afraid when the voice made such a statement.Of course he wouldn¡¯t need to blackmail me for this, he could probably just break into my mind and soul search it out, and if it really is as this senior says and he is a god of the past Antiquity then he wouldn¡¯t be willing to give up his body.


    ¡°Senior you are mistaken. I am not the Phoenix Prince, my name is Hai Yun, and it was also so in my previous life. I am from the Crystal Ocean Alchemy Sect, naturally you probably do not know much about mortal affairs, but I am the one who developed the Efficacious Nirvana that led the 21 sects to be completely enthralled in greed and destroy our sect.¡±


    ¡°Crystal Ocean Alchemy Sect¡­¡± the spirit furrowed his brow, ¡°Indeed I have never heard of it, but for you to create such a pill you are evidently a prodigy. Hehe, then it should be worth it for me to work with you, someone who can defy the laws of the netherworld other than the Phoenix Clan. Originally I had wanted to lure you here to possess you but your soul is clearly not of the phoenix clan, thus I think it would be better if we cooperated.¡±


    Hearing that he wasn¡¯t about to have his soul searched Hai Yun let out a sigh of relief. ¡°If there is anything I can help senior with then please by all means notify me, but this junior first needs to deal with this Bone Sheering Poison.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I can get rid of it for you if you want, but reconstructing your body''s lost talent will be quite difficult.¡±


    ¡°Lost talent?¡±


    ¡°Indeed, as a mortal, your profound vein will only open when you turn 13, but if you are poisoned by the ¡®bone sheering poison¡¯ before you turn 13 then your bodies cultivation talent will be fractured. And this poison has been on your new body for almost three years¡± the voice stated. At this time Hai Yun could still not see the spiritual body which was pacing in front of him.


    ¡°Something like this is also an effect of the Bone Sheering Poison!¡± this senior clearly had no reason to be lying to him so it must be true! But this would be incredibly troublesome now, because if when he woke his profound vein on his birthday in 1 month, then he would be despised upon as a dog son of a tiger! Even if he dispelled the poison, he never knew that his talent would be hurt! Even as a divine ranked alchemist he never heard of anything which could raise ones talents.


    However the effects of such a thing would not only harm him, but also his new family. If he awakens with terrible talent, there might be reasonable justification to not merge the clans as no one would want someone with pathetic talent as him to sit as the overlord of the entire territory! Coupled with his incredibly bad reputation, they would almost certainly try to get rid of him! Even if he became stronger later, it would be of no insurance to the people in the status quote.


    ¡°Does senior know anyway to reverse this situation?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha, of course I can reverse it. But what will you do for me if I do?¡±


    Hai Yun narrowed his eyes, ¡°If senior needed something from me I would have happily obliged. When you found out I was a transmigrator you already had the authority to blackmail me, there was no reason to go this far.¡±


    ¡°Huh, no brat you really are the only person who could hear me, the rest could only detect my aura and would be frightened by it. As for what you can do for me, that''s simple I am sure that this Hai Clan which I left this portion of my soul in has grown to be quite extravagant. Bring the strongest powerhouse of your family to me here and give them an Aura Destroying Pill to eat, then I can possess their body with the chance of moving my soul back into my old one when I find it.¡±


    ¡°Senior, do you really think I can¡¯t increase my talent on my own. Even if I awaken with weak talent, I know more than 500 ways to allow myself to cultivate on par with a god¡¯s chosen one!¡±


    The spirit snickered before leaning towards his ear, ¡°But will cultivating on par with them be enough? From your eyes I can induce an intense amount of hatred, you yourself said that your whatever it was Alchemy sect was destroyed by 21 of this continents peak powers didn¡¯t you? Well, this divine one can make you cultivate like a god of the past Antiquity, and all you need to do is get me a body. Besides, these people aren¡¯t even your real clan, you¡¯re a transmigrator. So why fear?¡±


    Hai Yun remained silent for a moment as these words were digested. However it did not give birth to the slightest feelings of betrayal.


    ¡°Indeed you are correct. To defeat them, simply my alchemy alone will be far from enough. But when I was born in my past life, I was an orphan who had been left in a basket on the side of a street with a piece of paper with my name written on it. I had no parents in that life! And this time when I transmigrated I have become someone who has parents! The one thing I never had in that life, I got because I put in the hard work to create such a pill! And so I will not betray them. For all the errors the previous Hai Yun made to them, I will rectify! They loved him¡­ No,¡± Hai Yun paused here, before continuing with extreme conviction, ¡°they loved me¡­ because we are the same. So no matter what happens I will not abandon them for the dead ones of my sect! If I start this new life by betraying people, then how can I face those elders of my sect who died because they were betrayed by their friends!¡±


    ¡°No senior, if it was anything else, I would give it to you, but this I will not do. In fact, a petty god like you who looks down on the world probably does not even understand what I feel, I misjudged you, so no thank you, I do not need your help, I will have my revenge, but I will get it the right way!¡±


    After finishing what he had to say he turned and began to leave.


    As the spirit heard him, he was indeed surprised. After that man, how could he possibly trust another human? But the words from this boy indeed shook him to his core and spark of interest was lit in his spirit eyes. ¡°Oh, and do tell, what is this ¡®right¡¯ way.¡±


    Hai Yun paused his steps, ¡°the right way, is not your way!¡± he stated softly before he continued walking.

 Chapter 4 - My Apprentice, that you shall be

    ¡°Oh, and do tell, what is this ¡®right¡¯ way.¡±


    Hai Yun paused his steps, ¡°the right way, is not your way!¡± he stated softly before he continued walking.


    ¡°Hahaha, indeed the heavens have not disappointed me!¡± The spirit laughed hysterically. ¡°Good, very good indeed. The way I described to you was indeed the wrong way, and had you agreed I would have struck to kill you myself. For this god has no need of a crafty and scheming apprentice who believes this god is some treasure, but rather someone who believes they can do everything with or without my help. You, brat have qualified¡±.


    Saying this the spirit waved his arm and pressure instantly enveloped Hai Yun halting his footsteps. Hai Yun¡¯s facial expression turned ugly. Even if this senior wanted to trick him, and suddenly changing his mood with the excuse of ¡°I was testing you¡±, was simply an insult to his intelligence!


    The spirit however didn¡¯t really seem to care as he dragged Hai Yun back to the white scroll hanging on the wall.


    ¡°Now roll up the painting of me and put it into your robe. From now on I shall accompany you!¡± the spirit then ended the pressure and calmly watched.


    Realizing that he did not really have any other choice, he chose to begrudgingly do as he was told. Although it truly did not seem like a portrait of any sort. Right when he was done he turned around to walk out when he finally saw the spirit.


    It was a middle aged man with sand peppered hair and his cheeks had the wrinkles from smiling too often. At first glance he seemed like a kind old man and anyone who saw him would certainly mistake him for one.


    ¡°What, never expected me to look so young?¡± the spirit smiled.


    Hai Yun continued to frown, ¡°No, I just didn¡¯t think you would look so shameless.¡±The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Shameless? Me? What on earth is going on in your head? I told you I was just testing you. Honestly, if I have the strength to play with you just using my aura, do you honestly believe that if someone else shows up on this floor I couldn¡¯t just possess them?¡±


    Hai Yun¡¯s frown deepened, because this was true! If this god could move him around, he could definitely move around other people and possess them, so it was quite probable that he really was being tested. When he thought about it, why would this god with so much power even need to lie to him if not to test his character? And with this god¡¯s response, he knew that he had just passed this test.


    ¡°So I have passed your little test, haven¡¯t I¡­¡± Hai Yun secretly dreaded whatever it was that this god wanted from him, especially if he was this powerful. He was clearly aware that there was no free lunch in this world. A master would only accept a disciple because he wanted this disciple to accomplish something he could not.


    ¡°Indeed you have passed my test. In fact you are almost the ideal candidate who I could never have even dreamed of receiving. I¡¯m wondering if you transmigrated here specifically for me to get my revenge!¡±


    ¡°Seniors revenge?¡± Hai Yun was instantly swallowed in dread, he needed to help this god get revenge! Against what? The only possible target for a god¡¯s revenge would be¡­ another God!


    ¡°Yes, and seriously apprentice, don¡¯t call me senior, you must refer to me as ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯!¡±


    Although he was questioning when exactly he became this gods apprentice, Hai Yun was not willing to needlessly offend this old ghost, ¡°Oh ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯ please forgive this minor one for being insolent, but can you do something about this poison and its destruction of my talent!¡±


    Since this old ghost wasn¡¯t going to let him off, he might as well use him to get his own revenge first and then see what to do about this old ghost''s grievances! There was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Not even if you were a god!


    The spirit smiled, ¡°Good apprentice, follow this Almighty divinity of medicine, we will raise your talent so high, those sects who had grievances against you will come and grovel at your doorstep begging for forgiveness!¡±


    With this being said a formless pressure engulfed Hai Yun again, slamming his head straight down towards the floor in a kowtow acknowledging the spirit as his master. Then his head smashed to the floor another 2 times.So even this old ghost cares about such minor formalities...

 Chapter 5 - Qin Cheng

    <h4>Chapter 5 ¨C Qin Cheng</h4>


    On the dinner table, seated next to his father Hai Yun downed a glass of water. If anyone paid close attention to it, they would notice a faint green color diluted in the water.


    ¡°Yun¡¯er, the servants have told me that you finally stopped visiting the tavern and have spent all your money buying useless herbs and planting them in the garden. Is this true?¡± Hai Yun¡¯s father, Hai Cang Qiong interrogated his son.


    Hai Cang Qiong was a martial practitioner who had tremendous amounts of talent, amongst all of his cousins, he was the strongest martial practitioner at the 2<sup>nd</sup> stage of the Spirit Aura realm. It should be known that the world of martial cultivation was divided into many realms, each with 10 stages. The first realm would be the Nascent Spirit stage, which one would step into at the age of 13. Hai Yun would enter this stage when his first profound vein opens in 10 days. As for the Spirit Aura Realm, it was the third realm of martial cultivation. To get there one would first have to cultivate pass the 10 stages of Nascent Spirit as well as Spirit Profound Realm, which came after the Nascent Spirit realm.


    ¡°Indeed father, I think I have been strangely attracted to individual herbs as my day of awakening approaches. I am not entirely sure why, but it really eases my mind to take care of those herbs.¡±


    For people approaching their day of awakening, a new strange behavior wasn¡¯t all that uncommon. Hai Cang Qiong had also exhibited a tendency to swim for extensive periods of time before he awakened. Logically, as his son, Hai Yun would probably also go through strange tendencies, but why was it herb planting?


    Of course, Hai Yun had also gained another strange tendency, which was to spend more time reading, however because this seemed like a positive influence Hai Cang Qiong decided not to bring it up. Of course he was still tending to the herbs, but not for nearly as much time as everyone thought. His true reason for having those herbs was to concoct medicines that could deal with all these instances of being poisoned. So naturally he would spend time growing them daily.


    After he had drained his glass of water he continued eating. The poisons which had been mixed into his meal had been nullified by the green liquid that he had mixed into his water. Every day there would be at least 2 attempts to poison him and reduce his talent. Fortunately, only the Bone sheering poison on his clothes was actually detrimental to his life, everything else was merely for reducing his talent.


    But he was an alchemy prodigy who had equaled the realm of Divine Alchemists. Within two days of controlling his new body, all the previous talent destroying poisons in his body had been completely removed and with the knowledge from his ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯ his talent was on the rise!


    For example, one such technique he had learned was using snake grass to refine a thick tar that could be applied on one¡¯s body. After being covered in it, it would seal up all of ones pores allowing no qi of heaven and earth to escape, thus straining his bodies holding capacity to the maximum. When his profound veins opened now, they would be sturdier and able to circulate qi in much larger quantities as well as in greater speed!


    Almost the entire day, every day was being spent on raising his talent in the library. The entire second floor had been completely sealed off and with the aid of his ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯ the forbidden area became his secret space.


    ¡°Yun¡¯er, in two days, it will be your fianc¨¦¡¯s 13<sup>th</sup> birthday. And 8 days after that it will be yours. Please be on time and act responsibly when you are at your future father in-law¡¯s house.¡±


    ¡°Father, have I misbehaved in the last twenty days?¡± Hai Yun smiled.


    Indeed he hasn¡¯t but what about before that? Hai Cang Qiong wondered. Oh well, I guess I should stop pestering him so much, I wasn¡¯t too different before I awoke either.


    -------


    Two days later.


    Hai Yun walked in through the front door of the Qin clan politely greeting all of his seniors at the Qin Clan. Next to him was a beautiful woman who gave off an enticing mature charm who was walking hand in hand with Hai Yun¡¯s father.


    Naturally she was Hai Yun¡¯s mother, Yun Dongqing, the only daughter of the Yun clan¡¯s patriarch who would let Hai Cang Qiong inherit the Yun clan¡¯s wealth and power. She was a cultivator at the 1<sup>st</sup> stage of the Spirit Aura realm, only one stage lower than Hai Cang Qiong himself. As the small family arrived in the main hall, some more pleasantries were exchanged.


    ¡°Brother Hai!¡± a loud voice boomed. Following which a well-built man walked out into the main hall from one of the side halls of the Qin manor. He was also a cultivator of the 2<sup>nd</sup> stage of the Spirit Aura realm, similar to Hai Cang Qiong.


    He wore a warriors robe with a belt at his waist. The upper half of his robe however was missing and appeared to have been torn off.


    ¡°Wentian! At least fully clothe yourself on your daughters awakening ceremony!¡± an exasperated woman called out. The voice came from a woman whose beauty was comparable to Hai Yun¡¯s mother. She was Qin Wentian¡¯s wife, Qing Xue, and mother of Qin Cheng. She was the only daughter of the Qing clan¡¯s patriarch and naturally was also a cultivator. However her realm was only at the peak of the 10<sup>th</sup> stage of the Spirit profound realm, which came after the Nascent Spirit realm.


    Next to her was a charming girl wearing a veil. Her complexion was extremely fair and appeared flawless, she had thin and delicate eyebrows but gloomy eyes portraying her exhaustion. However when Hai Yun entered her vision, her eyes immediately brightened.


    ¡°Brother Hai!¡± she called, ¡°Why are you here?¡±


    ¡°Obviously I couldn¡¯t miss the awakening day of my beautiful future wife!¡± Hai Yun smiled. Thankfully, with the aid of the Qin clan servants, Qin Cheng was left unaware of the old Hai Yun¡¯s nonsense and treated him very well. This was part of the reason, the new Hai Yun wanted to be good with her.


    ¡°Whose your future wife?!?!¡± Qin cheng put her hands on her waist and turned around to face away from him.


    ¡°Of course my future little wife will be you!¡±


    ¡°Hmph, who¡¯s your little wife, I¡¯m older than you!¡± Qin Cheng pouted.


    ¡°Right, right, right, you will be my future Big Wife!¡± Hai Yun slapped his own forehead.


    Qin Cheng stared dumbfounded. Usually he would argue about 8 days not mattering, so why was he conceding to being younger today? ¡°Brother Hai, you seem a little different today?¡± she asked suspiciously. There was no doubt he wanted something, otherwise how could he possibly concede to something like this?


    ¡°Yep, I also found myself becoming increasingly handsome!¡± Hai Yun smiled.


    Qin Cheng couldn¡¯t help but giggle at this.


    ¡°Foolish apprentice, when you transmigrate into another body, at least act like the original owner! This little girl also thinks something¡¯s wrong with you!¡± Hai Yun¡¯s ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯ criticized telepathically. He had long since ceased displaying his spirit form and would only communicate with Hai Yun mind to mind. Apparently, it was too troublesome.


    ¡°If a certain ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯ wasn¡¯t bored from having no one to listen to his ramblings for the last few centuries, I might have had much more sleep! That way I could stop acting like a fool and be more prepared for this!¡± Hai Yun shot back.


    ¡°Can you truly blame me for being bored?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    After exchanging a short conversation with Hai Yun, Qin Cheng walked outside to an open pavilion. Today was her big festival, so naturally she would have to lead it. When they arrived outside into the main quad she stood up on a preset pedestal and faced the upper class society of the nearby territory.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°Thank you all for coming to bear witness to my awakening ceremony.¡± She paused and smiled under her veil. ¡°Please welcome some special guests my grandfather invited, many of you may have already of heard of them, or rather the organization they represent. They are from the Holy Music Pavilion, my family and I sincerely welcome elder Nangong and his disciples.¡± As she finished, she bowed towards the door.


    As if on cue, a white haired old man walked through the door, tailed by 4 youths in their late teens. He sighed as if he found the pleasantries quite excessive, however it did not seem like he was looking down on them, only that his position was overly exaggerated.


    However, if anything, his position was probably under exaggerated. The Holy Music Pavilion was amongst the peak powers of the continents mainland. In fact it was also the sect which Hai Yun had wanted to join in this new life as they were also one of the peak powers, but had remained neutral in the fighting for the Efficacious Nirvana.


    According to his memories, this Elder Nan Gong was quite an influential figure in the sect, but instead of working at a higher post he liked travelling around the continent recruiting disciples with great talent. He had apparently also been here for Hai Cang Qiong¡¯s awakening ceremony, but found Hai Cang Qiong¡¯s talent to not be enough.


    ¡°We thank the Qin clan for inviting us here and providing for our stay. If simply showing our faces can repay your graciousness, then this is not an issue for us at all!¡± the youngest of the four boys calmly stated with a light smile. However there was no way to mask the arrogance in his voice. Albeit, compared to him they probably were quite inferior in talent, but rubbing it in everyone¡¯s faces was still bound to be received with hostility.


    ¡°How could we dare to take your presence as compensation, to us it is the greatest honor being able to invite you to our homes!¡± The Qin patriarch bowed. He was an old man with long white hair and a beard that reached his kneecaps but the wrinkles on his face portrayed his humble attitude despite the youth¡¯s rude attitude. Besides, he was addressing Elder Nangong, not this nameless junior.


    After everyone was seated Qin Cheng sat cross legged in the middle of the quad. Since she was born in the afternoon, her awakening ceremony would also occur at this time of day.


    For most people who awaken their profound veins, a light glow would appear on their body. This is the symbol for ordinary talent. If the talent is outstanding there would be a bright colored pillar of light which descends from the heavens onto their body. Depending on the pureness of the color and its diameter, their potentials will correspondingly greater.


    It should be noted that although everyone will awaken profound veins, some people have profound veins so small that it is negligible. This is the discrepancy between people of the same cultivation level. The easiest example is between Qin Wentian and Hai Cang Qiong, who although have the same cultivation level, Hai Cang Qiong¡¯s profound veins can accommodate more heaven and earth qi, as well as release it in greater quantities increasing his stamina and power, thus making it possible for him to be stronger than Qin Wentian.


    For Qin Cheng, the results were still unknown. However it has been noted that parents with high potentials would have children that also have high potentials. As everyone awaited Qin Cheng¡¯s awakening scene an air of anxiousness could be felt from the Qin family.


    ¡°Hey, isn¡¯t it past the time she should have awoken?¡± some people in the crowd whispered.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. She couldn¡¯t have had such poor results, right?¡±


    After another 15 minutes things began to get tenser.


    ¡°¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯ what do you think is wrong?¡± Hai Yun questioned. At this point, even he was feeling some dread.


    ¡°I am not too sure myself, I would go up there and check but with that monk here, he might notice and that would be bad for you¡± naturally the monk he was referring to was Elder Nangong.


    ¡°Do you not have any way to see through my eyes?¡± Hai Yun obviously couldn¡¯t just walk up to check her body


    ¡°What¡¯s the difference between that and just getting out to check myself?¡± Hai Yun¡¯s master displayed a faint trace of annoyance.


    ¡°tsk, if you cant do anything, I guess I will have to,¡± Hai Yun muttered. Unfortunately, everyone was standing and watching so there was no way for him to take a look over other people¡¯s heads, so he, the great divine alchemist and number one talent on the continent, got down on his hands and feet and crawled to the front¡­


    However as he watched Qin Cheng¡¯s body, which was no more than 3 meters in front of him, he became surprised. This surprise only lasted for a brief moment before it gave rise to panic.


    ¡°She¡¯s¡­ She¡¯s¡­ She¡¯s DEAD!¡± Hai Yun¡¯s facial expression turned extremely ugly. She was clearly fine moments ago, so why did she die now?


    ¡°¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯ what happened?!?! Tell ME!¡± he roared.


    ¡°Why are you freaking out now? Shouldn¡¯t you have noticed she had been poisoned when you first spoke to her? Also, why do you care, I hope you don¡¯t really think you can get your revenge by living in this small place, so why keep a wife here?¡± the spirit god replied as if completely disinterested in such affairs.


    ¡°Shut Up! She is my, Hai Yun¡¯s first ever fianc¨¦, how could I possibly let her die like this. Won¡¯t this mean my first fianc¨¦ died from poisoning, when I am the best alchemist left on this bloody continent! If this happened, it would be the greatest joke in history!¡±


    Without waiting for a reply, Hai Yun madly rushed up there taking a bottle out of his sleeve and just as her corpse was about to fall he caught her in his arms and dripped the liquid into her throat.


    ¡°Yun¡¯er what are you doing!¡± Hai Cang Qiong rushed over.


    ¡°Boy you dare to poison your own fianc¨¦ during her awakening!¡± someone from the Yun clan yelled. This person was none other than Hai Yun¡¯s antagonistic uncle. Due to the deal of merging the families, this uncle, named Yun Duo, was unable to become the next Yun family patriarch. He was a chief suspect of Hai Yun¡¯s own poisoning, and his false accusation here, only heightened Hai Yuns suspicion towards him, but right now Hai Yun did not have the time to deal with this fellow.


    ¡°Uncle Wentian, Cheng¡¯er was poisoned, I am trying to give her an antidote, please make sure no one kills us from afar!¡±


    Originally when, Yun Duo had accused Hai Yun, Qin Wentian almost attacked but if Hai Yun was yelling that he was giving Cheng¡¯er an antidote, then there was a chance he was being helpful. Thus he shouldn¡¯t act rashly, besides if he wanted to actually hurt Qin Cheng, why wouldn¡¯t he do so sooner?


    ¡°You shameless brat, how dare you turn black from white!¡± Yun Duo shouted furiously.


    ¡°Shut up you jealous pig, you only want to get rid of me so the clans can¡¯t merge. How do I know if you didn¡¯t poison my fianc¨¦! I too was poisoned a few days ago and if a supreme practitioner hadn¡¯t been passing by I might already be dead!¡±


    The moment he finished talking the entire crowd was stunned! Hai Yun had been poisoned a few days ago? But was saved by a supreme practitioner? Everyones eyes immediately turn towards Elder Nangong, however he looked just as confused as the rest of them. It was only a certain man in the Qing clan who¡¯s face turned ugly, but only for a brief moment.


    Yet the crowd didn¡¯t have much time to think about this because Qin Cheng started coughing violently in Hai Yun¡¯s arms.


    ¡°Cheng¡¯er!¡± her parents called out. The doubt they had harbored towards Hai Yun was immediately erased at this moment and Qin Wentian charged to their position exactly as Hai Cang Qiong arrived there. The moment his feet touched the ground though, the earth underneath exploded.


    Although it seemed like these events took an eternity, it really happened within a single minute.


    Instantly the sky flashed red and a massive tiger covered in red and white flames appeared like a phantom shadow roaring at the heavens. Seemingly angered by its defiance a flash of violet lightning struck out against the tiger shade in roiling thunder. Hai Yun was blown back from his spot as the tiger roared once more and turned into a pillar of red and white flames descending down to where he had been moments ago, straight at Qin Cheng¡¯er.


    ¡°This is¡­¡± Elder Nan gong, who seemed unmoved during the entire ceremony, suddenly felt his blood rush to his head. He had once read that during the awakening of someone with a holy beasts physique, the elements of the world would merge together in the form of a beast. Could this girl have a holy beast physique? If so, then her talent would be incomparable and she could usher in a new era for the Holy Music Pavilion! ¡°She must become my apprentice,¡± he silently swore.


    ¡°This is, a samsara beast!¡± Hai Yun¡¯s ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯ screamed. He who had originally been indifferent to this whole ceremony suddenly lost his calm.


    ¡°Samsara beast? Don¡¯t you mean holy beast?!?!¡± Hai Yun asked confused. He too had read about people¡¯s awakening causing phantom shades to appear in the sky. These were almost always signs for people that could usher in a new age of cultivation! From this the rarity of such people could be identified, however it still shouldn¡¯t be something that surprises a god of the Ancient Antiquity.


    ¡°No you moron! A holy Beast is made of elemental essence, and would only produce a phantom shade with a single element. This phantom shade caused a Heavenly Lightning tribulation! And it is even consisting of 2 elements, not 1!


    Besides, your little fianc¨¦ already died, the only reason she would suddenly awaken is because a drifting soul united with her remnant soul! This is the legendary samsara soul fusion, the heavens are truly being very good to you for the new incarnation of a samsara beast to be your future wife!¡± His sudden change in attitude towards Qin Cheng shocked Hai Yun. To think that he didn¡¯t even care about analyzing her character and already said she would be good for him¡­ This meant she really had a serious amount of talent.


    ¡°Does that mean that she could out do me?¡± Hai Yun was puzzled. How could this be a good thing? Wouldn¡¯t elder Nan Gong immediately steal his future wife and turn her into the Holy Music Pavilions future master, then if he went to the Holy Music Pavilion, wouldn¡¯t he look like a toad trying to eat swan meat?!?!


    ¡°Naturally she can¡¯t out do you! You have me, your ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯ how could you possibly be worse than her. I wanted to surprise you but these few days the stuff I have made you apply has been altering your blood vessels into an array formation which, when you awaken, I can use my spiritual power to summon a Sage Divinity level Holy beast to become a part of your physique. Naturally if you die because you couldn¡¯t handle it, then, well that¡¯s on you, as I now have another candidate to help me with my revenge¡±.

 Chapter 6 – Hai Clan Main branch!

    <h4>Chapter 6 ¨C Hai Clan Main branch!</h4>


    ¡°Scummy old fart¡­¡± Hai Yun mumbled.


    After nearly an hour the flaming pillar faded, Elder Nangong was already waiting upfront. Naturally no one else dared to block his sight. The moment the flaming light vanished he began to speak.


    ¡°Child, would you like to become my legacy disciple?¡± Elder Nangong asked gently.


    At this time, the Red-white flames were still burning vigorously on Qin Cheng¡¯s body. The ground around her was completely blackened. Finally as the flames died down, a tiger patterned dress was revealed. On her back were two bright red feathered wings, giving her the appearance of a flaming angel.


    As her eyes retained the red-white flame pattern around her pupils, her looks appeared to reach a whole new level of beauty. As she intently gazed at Hai Yun, he felt his entire body shiver. It was like she was peeping into his very soul. Right when he felt the fiery aura about to penetrate into his consciousness, he felt a huge boost of vitality come in and bolster his mental defenses.


    ¡°Whew, that was a close one. That stupid cat is almost at the same level of strength as this old god in my weakened state!¡±


    ¡°Thanks old man,¡± Hai Yun mumbled as his head continued to spin, however he controlled his motions and was able to maintain his image with sheer will power. If the old fart hadn¡¯t intervened right now, Hai Yun would probably have had all his secrets revealed under that Samsara Flame tigress¡¯ vision. He couldn¡¯t help but regret calling him ¡®scummy old fart¡¯ just moments before. If he truly had meant what he had said about using another successor, letting him die now would have been of no consequence¡­


    ¡°Thank you Brother Hai.¡± Qin Cheng calmly stated. Although she was incredibly confused as to where this new power came from, she knew she had almost crushed her fianc¨¦¡¯s soul, but how was he able to defend himself? It was only after giving him a few more glances did she turn her head towards Elder Nan Gong.


    ¡°Elder Nan Gong, I would be delighted to become your disciple, as for legacy disciple, I do not believe this lowly one has the audacity to ever hope for something of this sort.¡±


    A legacy apprentice would be a master¡¯s very last apprentice. One they would train with everything they had, all their secret techniques which they wouldn¡¯t teach their regular disciples. The legacy disciple was meant to use all their masters teachings and bring it into a new light, the greatest pride of a master, was typically their legacy disciple! To be offered this position from someone like Elder Nan Gong from the Holy Music pavilion, was almost the same as becoming a candidate for its future head!


    Anybody else might be glad to, in fact if Qin Cheng truly had a holy beast physique, then perhaps she too would have agreed to it. But with a soul fusion with a Samsara beast, she had gained many memories of its previous life, and so could not help but look down upon the Holy Music Pavilion as being far too small. In fact she only accepted so she could have a backer to train safely under.


    In the meantime, the Patriarch of the Qin family was beaming with smiles, as many people gave approving nods to the Qin clan, planning how to get closer.


    But no one in the crowd paid attention to the ugly faces of Hai Cang Qiong and Yun Dong Qing. This was clearly a sign that the Hai Clan would not become the sovereign of the Western Sea territory, for how could the Qin family possibly want to keep their tremendously talented Qin Cheng married to their Hai Yun? She would probably travel outside and meet a more powerful young man to her liking and break off the engagement with Hai Yun! And even if they don¡¯t do it, there would be a plethora of powers pressuring them into cancelling it themselves!


    ¡°Good, whether or not you choose to become my legacy disciple I will let you decide that yourself in the future. Come now apprentice, in 5 days, we shall depart and return to the sect.¡± elder Nan Gong beamed.


    ¡°Elder, if this lowly one could possibly implore you, could you please wait for 8 days?¡± Hai Yun cut in, bowing down on the floor.


    The crowd was stunned for the third time now, but instead of shock, they only snickered.


    ¡°Does this little rascal actually still dream that he could have talent comparable to miss Qin?¡±


    ¡°Just who does this boy think he is, Miss Qin¡¯s talent can only be said to be heaven-defying, you all saw that tiger shade! What is a tiger if not the king of the mountain! And that tiger was so powerful it changed the color of the sky!¡±


    Although these people did not understand what kind of phenomenon had been inspired by Qin Cheng, they knew it meant she had heaven defying talent for Elder Nangong to want to make her his legacy disciple. For Hai Yun to think he could impress them after this show, wasn¡¯t this just asking to lose face?


    ¡°Yun¡¯er don¡¯t be hasty!¡± Yun Dongqing called out.


    Hai Yun chose not to respond and instead kept his head lowered.


    ¡°Yun? Is your name Hai Yun, Hai as in Sea and Yun for Gold?¡±


    ¡°Indeed, this young one is called Hai Yun.¡±


    A tinge of sadness flashed through elder Nan Gong¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°You pathetic twerp, do you think you can simply ask my master to stick around for an extra 3 days?!?! Even if the head of a peak level power asked, my master would still leave in 5 days.¡± The youngest disciple interjected before Elder Nan Gong could reply. He was also the one who had spoken earlier. His name was Li Jianyi.


    ¡°Twerp? Do you even know what that word means? And for your information, I wasn¡¯t even talking to you! Why don¡¯t you wait for 8 dayswhen I awaken, and then let us see if you have the guts to call me a twerp!¡± Hai Yun¡¯s statement echoed flatly, bringing about more snickering from everyone. Wasn¡¯t he having a little too much confidence in himself?


    ¡°If my future wife could awaken her physique and turn the sky red for 50 li around, then no matter how far away you can get in 3 days, you will still be able to see the phenomenon on the day I awaken. Don¡¯t be sorry that you missed it!¡± And with that, Hai Yun did not wait, but with a polite bow to Elder Nan Gong, avoiding the hateful gazes of the crowd he departed.


    ¡°Ah, brother Hai, it seems your son also has your same attitude,¡± Qin Wentian sighed.


    Hai Cang Qiong raised his eyebrow but made no further comments. Before today, Qin Wentian would always refer to Hai Yun as his future son-in-law, not ¡°Brother Hai¡¯s son¡±. Sensing his displeasure, Yun Dong Qing intertwined her hands with Hai Cang Qiong.


    ¡°Cang Qiong, he is our son. No matter what, if we don¡¯t believe in his potential then no one will,¡± she whispered into Hai Cang Qiong¡¯s ear. Turning her head to face the crowd she continued, ¡°And as for our friends in the Qin Clan, thank you for having us over. Please remember that our son is also having his awakening ceremony in 8 days, naturally you wouldn¡¯t forget the awakening of your future son-in-law!¡± she smiled while stressing each of her last syllables. With that, the couple turned and followed Hai Yun out.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    Behind them the remaining members of the Hai family followed them out with their farewell greetings.


    -------


    ¡°What an interesting fellow! I recall your disciple was also this arrogant wasn¡¯t he, elder brother. No, he was not arrogant, you would always say he was self-confident! Well, let me see if this Hai Yun can possibly match that one!¡± a tinge of nostalgia flashed in Elder Nan Gong¡¯s eyes as he looked up into the sky.


    ------


    As the Hai Family departed, many people let out sighs of relief. One person in the crowd though was narrowing his eyes. This was none other than the Qin clan¡¯s patriarch, Qin Wentian¡¯s father Qin Wu. Before today, he had never even dreamt of having his Qin clan take control of the Western Sea region, but with Qin Cheng¡¯s awakening, it became a gift from heaven!


    Hai Clan manor ¨C Hai Yun¡¯s courtyard.


    ¡°Yun¡¯er, at the awakening ceremony you said you were poisoned a few days ago! What was all that about?¡± Hai Yun¡¯s mother asked with her brows furrowed. ¡°If cousin brother Yun Duo touched so much as a single strand of hair on my sons head, let¡¯s see if anyone from the Yun clan lets him off!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that too much mother, I was being poisoned by talent eroding poisons every day for the last 3 years,¡± Hai Yun stated in a very matter of fact manner.


    ¡°What?!?!?! Everyday¡­ for the last 3 YEARS!!!!!!!!!!¡± although Yun Dongqing had no idea what talent eroding poisons were she understood what poison meant.


    ¡°Indeed, so you don¡¯t need to worry about me, none of them were aimed at my life, only to destroy my talent, but thanks to the mysterious senior I ran into the other day, all 2,376 poisons have been expelled and all the future ones for the next 10 years have been neutralized before administration!¡± Hai Yun explained. It wasn¡¯t exactly a total lie, since he did meet the ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯, just not 3 days ago. And the poisons were actually incapable of harming him for life as he had nearly 5 gallons of the ¡®10,000 poison revelation¡¯ elixir of which only a single drop would be sufficient to deal with anything these people in the Western Sea region and much of the mainland could use.


    As the Hai Family departed, many people stared in mockery. One person in the crowd though was narrowing his eyes. This was none other than the Qin clan¡¯s patriarch, Qin Wentian¡¯s father Qin Wu. Before today, he had never even dreamt of having his Qin clan take control of the Western Sea region, but with Qin Cheng¡¯s awakening, it became a gift from heaven!


    ¡°Who was it? Who¡¯s been poisoning my son?!?!¡± Yun Dong Qing was incredibly flustered at the moment. Under their very noses, her son had been having his talent corroded by poisons for 3 straight years! How could any mother not be furious! She chose not to ask much about the senior, because she knew very well what level one needed to be in order to dispel so many poisons. Instead she simply took this seniors arrival as blessing, otherwise how would they have even known about such an event. So how could she dare to question her benefactor?


    ¡°Dong Qing my wife, can you bring our son to father¡¯s pavilion?¡± Hai Cang Qiong¡¯s voice called out interrupting her thoughts.


    Hmmm¡­ what does grandfather need from me? Was I too rude to elder Nangong?Hai Yun wondered, but still obediently followed his mother to his grandfather¡¯s pavilion.


    Hai Yun¡¯s grandfather was a well-built man in his early 50¡¯s and most of his hair was still not greying. If it weren¡¯t for his wrinkles, then one could mistake him for someone at least 10 years younger. Right now this man was seated on a cushion cross legged with his eyes closed. As Hai Yun entered, his old eyes, slowly opened revealing a pensive look.


    ¡°Yun¡¯er come over and sit with grandfather,¡± he called.


    Hai Yun quietly went over and sat on his knee. Although it was quite awkward for Hai Yun, with the mentality of a late teen, he still had to do it, because according to his memories, the old Hai Yun used to still do it at this age.


    ¡°What requests does Grandfather have for me?¡± Hai Yun smiled.


    Hai Yun¡¯s grandfather¡¯s name was Hai Duan. Because apparently, his mother had been the last descendent of the deceased Duan clan, hence her only son was given 2 surnames.


    Hai Duan let out a sigh of exasperation. ¡°Yun¡¯er, as you¡¯ve been getting older, you¡¯ve become more¡­ brazen¡­ so I want you to explain a few things to grandfather today, is that ok?¡±


    ¡°Of course, anything grandfather asks, Yun¡¯er will answer to the best of his ability!¡± Hai Yun nodded repeatedly.


    ¡°Very well, then grandfather won¡¯t hold back. How did you get poisoned? Who was the mysterious senior you talked about in the ceremony? And why on earth did you speak so rudely to Elder Nan Gong?¡±


    Hai Yun chuckled silently. Each of these questions was well within his expectations. ¡°I do not know who was responsible for poisoning me, but I do know that they had no intent to kill me, only to destroy my talent. The mysterious senior was exactly that, mysterious so I do not know much about him myself, and as for the last matter, I never spoke rudely to Elder Nangong. I spoke to him with the greatest amount of respect. I only disrespected his apprentice because he disrespected me, but I think I made it quite clear that I was not insulting Elder Nan Gong as his teacher.¡±


    Hai Duan gazed intently at Hai Yun, but found nothing out of place. Nothing seemed to be off, but why did he feel like Hai Yun was speaking differently? In the end, when his ponderings revealed nothing he could only sigh, ¡°Yun¡¯er, although grandfather supports everything you did today, but I need to warn you of things you haven¡¯t taken into consideration, so you can be prepared for the future.¡±


    Although he only had a faint premonition of something being off, Hai Cangqiong and Yun Dongqing were also bewildered by the intellect their son displayed. However because they thought this was a joyous matter neither of them brought it up.


    ¡°As you have probably wondered, there are many more reasons to why the Western Sea region was willing to let our Hai Clan lead it. One of those is because the Hai clan in this region is but a mere branch family of the true Hai Family. The main Hai Family once had a disgraceful descendent, he was too weak in his profound arts, thus he was thrown out. He landed up here and founded the Hai family in this Southern Sea area. After many decades of hard work, our Hai Family had risen to the top of the Western Sea area, thus the main family took notice of us and ¡®invited¡¯ us to become an official branch family.


    Although I was against this, the remaining elders of our family were not. They fully supported it and thus we became a branch family of that Hai Clan. To compromise, they stated that should we ever become the overlord of the Western Sea region, then we will be re-invited to the main branch of the Hai Clan.


    It was because we were able to promise the riches of Main branch clansmen that there was not so much opposition to us becoming the overlord when your father defeated Qin Wentian, and I defeated Qin Wu. However, with the phenomenon Qin Cheng inspired today, the main branch of the Hai family has most likely been alerted.


    Nowif, this is a major if, as I myself am not too sure what exactly happened, but it seems to be something incredibly rare. Thus, it is very likely that they will send someone over here to use her marriage engagement with you, as a means to force her into marrying someone of the main branch.


    Although elder Nangong will probably be able to defend her, you must remember that the exact phrasing of the marriage engagement was that the female holding the direct bloodline of the Qin clan patriarch would marry the heir of the Hai Clan patriarch. At best, Elder Nangong will only be able to delay the marriage, but not be able to prevent the engagement.


    Originally, we never really cared about the exact wording of the agreement, as no one had expected such a scenario. But if the Main branch sends an heir of their patriarch, then by all technicalities, she could marry him to fulfill the engagement!¡±


    Hai Yun was greatly alarmed when he heard this.


    ¡°Boy, you better make sure that girl remains your fianc¨¦! Without her, you won¡¯t be able to cultivate the deity tiered art I have prepared for you,¡± Hai Yun¡¯s ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯mumbled.


    ¡°Even if that wasn¡¯t the case, I would still make sure she becomes my wife! But this situation is a little tricky, in order to make their claims to a marriage with her more legitimate, they might try to kill me¡­¡±


    ¡°Grandfather, how many days will it take for the Hai Clan¡¯s main branch to arrive?¡± Hai Yun asked.


    ¡°It should take 3 days for then to get the message, and probably 3 days to reach here, if they use magical steads.¡±


    So I need to just survive for 2 days eh! This will certainly be easy! Hai Yun smiled. Since there were only 8 more days till his awakening which would definitely be on par with Qin Cheng due to his ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯. So with them taking six days, he only needed to survive for 2 afterwards. If an elder from his previous life had seen this smile, they would definitely pre-order a gravestone for the person in question.


    The two people you should never offend, are assassins and alchemists. Because if you get poisoned, only an elixir might be able to cure you, and if you pissed off an alchemist and they use strength increasing elixirs against you, only an assassin might be able to protect your life¡­ This saying was something frequently told to very many disciples of the peak powers. However the peak powers had chosen to not heed their own advice, they certainly couldn¡¯t blame others for what was heading their way¡­

 Chapter 7 - The Qin Clans Decision

    <h4>Chapter 7 ¨C The Qin clan¡¯s decision</h4>


    As these events perspired in the Hai clan household, the Qin clan was in no less tension.


    ¡°Wentian, you need to go over and get that marriage engagement cancelled!¡± Qin Wu spoke softly as he stared out into the open pavilion.


    ¡°Of course father, it¡¯s just Cheng¡¯er is not very willing to agree to it, and I don¡¯t know how to convince her. She wants to keep the marriage engagement with Hai Yun. When I spoke to her about it, she was adamantly convinced that Hai Yun¡¯s awakening would cause an even bigger spectacle than hers.¡± Qin Wentian was bowing to his waist. In his father¡¯s current mood, it would be best to be polite to the utmost.


    ¡°That foolish girl¡­¡± Qin Wu sighed. If she had qualified to become Elder Nan Gong¡¯s apprentice, then they would certainly not have been trying to break of this engagement. However, right now she had shown unsurpassed talent, but just as the Hai clan was aware that the main branch would make a move on her, so was the Qin clan.


    They were not too concerned with Qin Cheng marrying Hai Yun, but they knew the main branch would try to utilize these loopholes in their agreement to get someone from the main branch to marry her. This would simply force them to be absorbed into the Hai clan, but being absorbed this way, was far worse than working up the ladder by merging with the Hai clan branch family.


    To put it into perspective, if they merged with the Hai clan branch family, then it would be like merging all of their resources together, with some additional support coming from the main branch, but no real direct interference. They would then be able to slowly rise in standing, and when they had enough power to back themselves up, they could start participating in larger events.


    If the main branch were to suddenly absorb the current Qin clan, then they would probably be completely ruined due to too much power, too quickly. They would essentially be figureheads, and be greatly bullied. Because Qin Cheng would be married to the direct heir, then they would also be forced to act as foot soldiers whenever necessary. They would have to participate in these larger conflicts, simply because their sole heiress is married to the Hai Clan main family¡¯s sole heir. Like this, they would be much worse off and probably become a burden to the entire Hai Clan. If Qin Cheng was like other Holy Beast physiques and turned out to be unable to bear children, then the moment she passed away, they would be much worse off than the current them!


    Thus, the smartest decision would definitely be to break off this engagement before the Hai Clan main branch arrived and use Elder Nan Gong to make any conflict with them worthless for the Hai clan main branch. This was their only hope!


    As Qin Cheng had just finished her awakening ceremony, fusing her soul with a Samsara Cycle Beast: the Samsara Flame Tigress she was busy adapting to her new soul strength.


    As she slowly used her soul force to explore her body she noticed that she was able to identify things outside of her body as well. Most people didn¡¯t have any sense of perception when they were still at the Nascent Spirit stage! According to some memory fragments she acquired from the Samsara Flame Tigress, she began to busily adapt to this new soul domain.


    When the Samsara Flame tigress had been going through its tribulation of samsara, to determine if it would be reborn anew or achieve nirvana, a strike of heavenly Lightning struck it. It was hit a total of 9 times before it could no longer hold on, thus forcefully transmigrating to Qin Cheng¡¯s body. However, as it was in the middle of fusing with Qin Cheng, another bolt of lightning hit it, fragmenting its memories.


    If these memory fragments had not been jumbled, then Qin Cheng would have probably become completely controlled by the Samsara Flame Tigress. However now, Qin Cheng was left in control due to the extremely wounded state of the Samsara Flame Tigress'' consciousness.


    This soul domain, was just one of the perks. It should be noted that a martial practitioner can usually develop an aura sense, during the spirit aura stage. This aura is an extension of their internal energy which can be expanded to sense objects in the periphery. However, a soul domain was an extension of ones soul, thus if she extended it, someone without a soul domain of their own, would definitely be unable to sense it.


    Thus she extended it into her grandfather¡¯s room without hesitation. Thus she naturally heard the entire conversation.


    Unfortunately gaining a memory fragment from the Samsara flame tigress only gave her an understanding of her abilities, without really improving the maturity of her mind. As she realized that her existence could be a danger to her Brother Hai, the first thing she thought of was naturally, agreeing to her family''s request and breaking off the engagement. Since she had overheard them without their notice, she knew that they were actually thinking of her best interest, as well as trying to be good to her brother Hai. If it had been any other reason, she would not have agreed no matter what.


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Hai Yun on the other hand, had a completely different form of thinking. His idea, completing the engagement ceremony ahead of time. That way they wouldn¡¯t dare touch Hai Yun. In this world, when a man dies after becoming engaged, then it is because his fianc¨¦ brought about a calamity for him. Thus, his fianc¨¦ becomes a calamity star and no one is willing to marry her. Hence, if Hai Yun were to be engaged to her, then the Hai Clan main branch wouldn¡¯t dare to kill him, because then they couldn¡¯t marry her either!


    Besides, the current Qin Cheng had long exceeded the status of someone he needed to repay for the old owner of this body. She was now a high demand cultivation tool which could speed up his revenge!


    ¡°Yuntao, take me to a jeweler, I need some jade.¡± Hai Yun demanded.


    ¡°Young Master, right this way!¡± Yuntao bowed and turned before leading Hai Yun into the city.


    As they passed by shops, Hai Yun didn¡¯t not even spare a single glance at any merchandise. He only had one goal in mind. Protect this marriage!


    50 meters behind him, an old man slowly glanced in their direction.Just what is this brat up to?


    ¡°Kid, your grandfather is following you,¡± ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯ said flatly.


    ¡°I know, do you think someone who takes a <Skin Molding pill> can fool me, I have used it an almost infinite number of times myself.¡± Hai Yun smirked.


    ¡°Young Master, this is old master Ling¡¯s shop. He is the best jeweler in the city.¡± Yuntao introduced an old, white haired man whose hair was incredibly disheveled and stone shavings littered his robes.


    ¡°This humble jeweler greets the young master.¡±


    ¡°No need to stand on ceremony,¡± Hai Yun waved his sleeved, ¡°I need a block of jade about 1 meter long, a steel pot which it can fit in and enough mercury to submerge it for a month.¡±


    ¡°This¡­¡± Old Ling was left speechless. Never would he have imagined that this little 13 year old child would come to his jewelry and ask for such ridiculous materials. oh how the young had no respect for others careers...


    ¡°May I implore young master what he might require these materials for? I have finely crafted jade pendants, rings, bangles and any other accessories!¡± Old Ling attempted to make a sales pitch. It was rare for him to get such a fat customer, but he only ordered raw jade!


    ¡°What I want, is not these pieces of jewelry, only those raw materials, please pack them and send them to my house with Yuntao. Yuntao, bring them to the second floor of the library.¡± As Hai Yun gave out his instructions, he turned and departed, heading home.


    ...


    Yuntao, what did Yun¡¯er buy at old Ling¡¯s shop?¡± Hai Duan asked in a soft voice.


    ¡°Reporting to the Patriarch, young master ordered a meter long block of jade, a pot which it would fit in and enough mercury to submerge it for a month.¡±


    Hai Duan wrinkled his brows, ¡°What exactly is that brat up to?¡± he mumbled.


    ...


    It took almost 6 hours before Hai Yun received his requested materials in the 2<sup>nd</sup>floor of the library.


    ¡°Yuntao, you don¡¯t have to stand guard outside the door anymore. From now on you can stand guard inside the door,¡± Hai Yun stated. ¡°Oh, and I do ask for al of my grandfather¡¯s other spies to please kindly reveal yourselves and step out now, I do not wish to have this creepy feeling of being observed in secret as I work!¡±


    14, that¡¯s how many people were hiding on the 2<sup>nd</sup>floor of the library today. Usually there would only be one or two, then ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯ could easily pull them into an illusion where Hai Yun was simply reading catalogs, instead of creating herbal slobs which he was applying.


    ¡°Young master is quite observant. We feel much more assured that your talent will be heaven defying now!¡± a young man¡¯s voice softly echoed through the floor. Nearly a meter from Hai Yun¡¯s feet, the shelves in the library began to distort and a young man in his late teens walked out. He had a gentle smile which forced his eyes into a squinting position, making him appear with a bubbly personality.


    ¡°Indeed, the young master is naturally gifted from heaven,¡± another, much older voice chimed in. This person was slowly dropped down from the ceiling. ¡°May I implore young master how exactly these servants failed to keep our presences hidden?¡±


    ¡°I am naturally willing to help all of you improve, but first I would like all the remaining 12 of you to come out,¡± Hai Yun smiled.


    The two spies¡¯ faces immediately changed. There was vision was incomparably shaken as they stared at the boy who seemed to be only 13 years old. How could this person, who was clearly a child, see through all fourteen of their disguises?!?!


    One by one the remaining 12 people appeared. This time, not a single one dared to look down on this 13 year old brat, for they were incomparably clear on their failure. Nor did they dare to meet his gaze, for they simply felt too ashamed to be bested by someone less than half their age!


    ¡°You all can leave now, don¡¯t worry about offending my grandfather, I will give him a full explanation of everything I did today as long as he stops sending spies into the library. Yuntao should be sufficient, no?¡± Hai Yun¡¯s face never stopped smiling throughout the entire ordeal, as if everything was going exactly as he had planned.


    It was simply too fearful. How could he possibly considered human?!?! Wasn¡¯t he simply a monster? If it were any other clans agents sent to spy on him, they might end up being led in circles to the point of being driven into madness if he planned things right!


    Now, if you factor in the ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my benevolent master¡¯s divine sense, then yes, those spies could certainly be driven to insanity. It should be noted that the ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my benevolent master¡¯ was the primordial god king of poison and medicine. Coupled with Hai Yun being a divine ranked alchemist in his past life, creating some basic poison powder while hiding his hand in a sleeve was far from difficult.


    Obviously, this was unknown to the 14 spies, they only guessed that they had been very careless. Each and every one of them had already come up with a reason for being discovered. However they were still no less alarmed by the young master¡¯s ability to see through these mistakes. If Hai Yun was aware of their self-deprecating thoughts he would probably nod in satisfaction. It has long been his life¡¯s motto to not blame others for your failure, knowing their attitudes would certainly make him appreciate their value more.


    However, as they left, he only silently counted them while maintaining his sly smile.

 Chapter 8 - Isle of Wailing Souls

    <h4>Chapter 8 ¨C Isle of Wailing Souls</h4>


    As the various spies who had been situated in the library slowly left, Hai Yun moved the block of jade into the pot. Then he poured the mercury in, until the jade block was half submerged. This was a special method of polishing jade through divine reshaping.


    Jade is typically a very coarse material and although it can be cut smoothly, it is very difficult to properly polish unless with specific tools. However these were all very shoddy works. Compared to the method of divine reshaping, it was like putting in 4 times the effort for less than half the result!


    Hai Yun slowly pushed the jade block till it was flat against the base of the pot. Dipping his hands into the mercury section he began to rub his fingers across the jade surface. However this was only a ruse, his real goal was pouring the potion from his sleeve into the mercury. Hai Yun was a Divine Alchemist! How could he not know how to create his own tools from raw materials?


    Given enough time, he could take this ordinary piece of jade and create a bowl which Spirit Blood ranked cultivators couldn¡¯t even scratch armed with the highest grade of weapons! Unfortunately he was rather time pressed, thus this tool would be considerably less quality. Naturally this was in comparison to the works of other Divine Ranked alchemists, if it was compared to any tool created by a Grandmaster level Alchemist, this would be far superior.


    Unbeknownst to Yuntao who was standing guard at the door, a vial of bluish green liquid slowly dripped from Hai Yun¡¯s sleeve into the pot of mercury. With mercury''s high reflection level and distortion of the green jade color, it would nearly impossible to make out this liquid.


    Naturally this was the real elixir which would be shaping the jade. Hai Yun had been busy at work creating it while the jade was being brought over. The mercury was nothing more than a ruse. This elixir could allow gems and pure stones to become increasingly pliable. After pouring in the entire potion, Hai Yun retracted his hands and observed the potion carefully.


    This next step was the primary reason he had wanted to get the 14 spies out. Over these prior hour, the entire potion had been absorbed by the jade block which was submerge in mercury. After having ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent master¡¯ put Yuntao into an illusion where no actions were being taken, Hai Yun took out the whole block of jade. With ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent master¡¯s spiritual energy acting like a blade, the jade block was split cleanly in half.


    The half which had become pliable was slowly snuck into Hai Yun¡¯s sleeve while the other half was re-submerged into the pot. After this Hai Yun asked ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent master¡¯ to dispel the illusion and he began to pour more mercury in. As he shut the lid of the pot he reminded Yuntao to not let anyone move the pot.


    Shortly after arranging all the spare mercury nearby, he left. He obviously couldn¡¯t sit in the second floor of the library. This single hour was already hard fought and his grandfather had already dispatched a new wave of spies to watch him. Hence another location would need to be selected in order to actually shape the piece of jade, and this new place needed to be selected soon! Otherwise the jade would lose its pliability all this effort would be wasted!


    Where can I go???Hai Yun pondered as he strolled about.


    ¡°Hey brat, use a little bit of common sense!¡± ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent master¡¯ chimed.


    ¡°If you have a brilliant plan, please elaborate,¡± Hai Yun had long become used to ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent master¡¯s long, suspense filled speeches. If they weren''t useful to listen to, then he would probably have ignored him.


    ¡°Well, as I see it, shaping that piece of jade shouldn¡¯t require too much space. So a small room would work.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s your only suggestion then shut up¡±


    ¡°Dissolute! Am only trying to make you use your own brain! Figure it out yourself, what place is small, somewhere they wouldn¡¯t dare suspect, and also a place where they would only stand guard outside and not dare to look in?!?!¡±


    Hai Yun furrowed his brows, before his eyes brightened.


    ¡°The Bathroom! Why didn¡¯t I think of that place earlier?!?!¡±


    ¡°Exactly!¡± ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent master¡¯ nodded in satisfaction.


    Hai Yun hurriedly ran towards his pavilion. On the way, he made disgruntled faces as if in great pain. When he finally arrived, he could hardly wait anymore. This effect only added on to the perception that he was sick. Not a single person dared to come in and spy on him the moment he landed himself over his chamber pot.


    He instantly let out a most convincing sigh of relief. It should be noted that he was actually quite relieved of having found a place to mold the jade, and coupled with his present location, it made a lot of sense that his sigh of relief was misinterpreted by the spies who were hiding outside.


    Silently removing the jade block from his sleeve, Hai Yun wasted no time getting to work. Slowly molding it like a very hard dough he twisted into shapes. Kneading it carefully, pushing into it with his thumbs in certain areas. The more he kneaded it together, pulling it apart till it extended. Slowly it began to take the shape of a tube.


    Not letting up for even a second, Hai Yun continued to smoothen it. Rolling it between his hands until a nearly perfect cylinder was formed. Once the tube had been formed, he selected 8 place on the front side and pressed his thumb down on them. The first near the top and the remaining 7 towards the bottom. Then he pulled out a salt shaker from his sleeve. AS he began to sprinkle, a strange purple powder came out. The moment it made contact with the surface of the tube, the tube hardened. He then put one end to his mouth and blew.


    With the outer shell of the tube hardened, but a liquid like inside, the remaining jade was easily blown into the waste basket between his feet. Even he had to admit that the splattering sounds were very deceiving. Finally the finished product was revealed, a highly polished jade flute. It did not have any special engravings, only Hai Yun¡¯s name engraved on the backside. As he took out another vial of the molding liquid, the slowly shaped out the whistle, then by collecting the extra jade from the pot, he sealed up the top end. The moment the flute set into shape, he slid it back into his sleeve and leisure walked out.


    It was now time for the final adjustment. If he didn¡¯t remember incorrectly, the Holy Music Pavilion had some familial connections with the Crystal Ocean Alchemy sect. Hence he remembered the recipes for some divine ranked elixirs which had been made especially for them. One such elixir was the <Winds of Life and Death>.


    Any instrument which was soaked in it for a day and night would gain the ability to absorb death qi and life essence. The flute, although simple was still a sky grade equipment! No matter how weak Hai Yuns current body was, elixir refinement required the use of soul strength, thus it could be said that he truly was a 13 year old divine ranked alchemist now, as his soul did not lose much strength during transmigration, thus the problem of retraining his alchemy skills was simply non-existent! And one should keep in mind, that he was a divine ranked alchemist of the Crystal Ocean Alchemy sect, the number one alchemy sect on the continent. Of the 81 Divine ranked alchemists, 49 were from the Crystal Ocean Alchemy sect. of the remaining 32, only 12 belonged to another sect, while the remaining 20 were wanderers with no affiliation.


    This could put into perspective how much further their alchemy was compared to the other organizations. Hence, although he had never practiced this alchemy formula, it was bound to succeed with proper preparation. However the primary concern would be the materials for this divine ranked elixir¡­


    ---------


    On the eastern most side of the Central Island in the Western Sea territory, Hai Yun treks alone through a bramble forest. There is not much wildlife in the area he stands, only decaying trees. Normally trees in any area would dry and shrivel up, however the trees in this area instead decay, with fungi covering their entire bark as they die. This was the primary indicator of a high concentration of death qi in the area. Apparently the people in the Western Sea territory had never made contact with people who cultivated death qi arts.


    However Hai Yun was very experienced in identifying objects with death qi. It was not exactly a rare material in his field of practice. Thus this forest of brambles, rightly named as the Southern graveyard of Central Island, was simply a treasure trove for his pickings. It was also because of the existence of this place that Hai Yun wished to use the Winds of Life and Death on the flute for Qin Cheng. The power which came from Life and Death would give the flute ample room to grow along with use.


    It should be known that the music arts usually go in two directions. One route is to promote bloodthirstiness and express ones inner killing intent weakening the opponent, or just outright killing them, while the other route is to enhance one¡¯s mind and increase the strength of ones allies. Life Qi was essentially a boost to one¡¯s vitality, thus allowing one to calm their state of mind, while death qi was second only to destruction qi in corroding ones opponents, be it their minds or vitality directly.


    Thus, it would be a perfect match for Qin Cheng as she entered the Holy Music Pavilion. Coupled with the excuse of having met an incredibly powerful senior, it would be quite an easy excuse to say it was a gift from him. With this Sky ranked artifact being used as a gift to someone like Hai Yun would certainly make even the Hai clan main branch wary and not willing to offend him needlessly.


    In the Southern Graveyard of Central Island, there were supposedly many death qi based demonic beasts. Naturally, due to their special ability of corrosion on other¡¯s vitality, it was one of the most feared places on the island. Yet how could this be a prohibitive factor for someone with the soul of a divine ranked alchemist?


    Although he had not yet awakened and so could not use his full plethora of skills, he still had ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯ who could extend his soul out of his body for him. This way, he was able to make full use of a soul sense and avoid any demonic beasts. His primary goal was to collect the death attribute treasure which created this bramble graveyard.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    As he trekked through, in between brambles and walking through the trees which had many gaping holes, not even the gloomy whistling of bats could faze him. What exactly created this place? He wondered. Oh well, I guess I will find out in due time¡­


    ¡°Hey brat, you better be careful, there should be something up powerful up ahead. My soul sense is unable to penetrate it so I can¡¯t figure out what it is.¡± ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯ stated.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you supposed to be ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯, why are you being stumped by something in this backward place?¡± Hai Yun mocked.


    ¡°Just be careful idiot,¡± ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯ muttered.


    As Hai Yun stepped out from under another tree to see exactly what was strong enough to prevent ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯s soul sense from seeing through it, he was greeted by the site of a large pyramid. However, each step was nearly 3 meters high and as white as bones. No, it was made of bones!


    ¡°What the¡­¡± ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯ cried out in alarm. ¡°Did this entire place develop from death qi leaking out of a sealed gate!¡±


    ¡°Sealed gate?¡± Hai Yun asked, confused.


    ¡°Brat, you might not know this, but when someone breaks past the spirit sovereign realm, they become capable of creating their own worlds. This is a gate to one of those worlds!¡±


    ¡°Break past the spirit sovereign realm!¡± Hai Yun was alarmed. The first realm of cultivation which one reached when awakening would be the Nascent Spirit realm, after which came the Spirit Profound, Spirit Aura, Spirit Blood and others with Spirit Sovereigns being the highest realm on the continent! The strongest cultivator Hai Yun had ever made contact with in his previous life was also only at the 6<sup>th</sup> realm of the Spirit Sovereign realm after training for nearly 7,000 years!


    It was only in this life he had met someone beyond that level of strength. ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯, and that too he was only a soul lingering to a blank scroll. Now he was seeing a relic of another such expert. He was baffled, just where did these supreme experts disappear to? Why were there none of them on the continent today?


    ¡°Should I approach it?¡± Hai Yun asked.


    ¡°Approach it my ass! If you so much as reach the second step before awakening I will call you my grandfather!¡± ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯ retorted.


    ¡°So it isn¡¯t dangerous?¡± The moment ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯ stated that he would not even reach the second step, what immediately came to mind was the gravity rooms he was familiar. They could increase the pressure on one¡¯s body to help someone refine their qi into better quality. Hai Yun had always been looking for one in this life, but thought they did not exist in this remote territory.


    ¡°What isn¡¯t dangerous? If you think that you can step up on that first floor and clear all the gates then sure, it isn¡¯t dangerous.¡±


    ¡°Gates on the first floor?¡±


    ¡°You heard right, on the first floor there are multiple teleportation arrays, you step on one, and it teleports you away, if you can clear the trial on that array, then you need to break past the pressure system and step on the next floor. Rinse and repeat!¡± ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯ stated.


    ¡°Trials? Is there any one I can do?¡± Hai Yun was fully convinced that such a supreme being would not just set up physical strength trials. There must one trial he could pass, and so long as he could get some form of death qi treasure, his goal would be accomplished. And clearly all the treasures this place had, would be inside this pyramid.


    ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯ thought for a bit while walking out in his spirit body to carefully observe the arrays. ¡°Well, there is one trial,¡± he stated hesitantly, ¡°which does not need any physical strength.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the trial about?¡± Hai Yun asked curiously.


    ¡°It is called the Isle of Wailing Souls. If you walk in there, your soul will be bombarded by the collected souls of many criminals. Multiple souls will strike out against yours and it might be a bit difficult to maintain your sanity.¡±


    ¡°So I just need a strong soul right? Why should I have any trouble with that?¡± Hai Yun questioned.


    ¡°Because you want revenge! All of these souls of criminals, are not just ordinary criminals, but people who committed atrocities, with no regrets believing they were doing the right thing¡­¡± ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯s voice was solemn as he continued, ¡°There are many types of people in this world. To some, their belief in a certain ideal can dement their behaviors without them ever realizing it. Such people will often die without regrets. Many of them are driven by revenge. That feeling of vengeance lingers for a long time, if you get bombarded with their souls, your drive for vengeance might explode past the bearing point of your soul!¡±


    ¡°My soul has a limit on how much revenge it can want?¡± Hai Yun was incomparably shocked with this fact.


    ¡°Indeed, if you step into that trial, your drive for vengeance will undoubtedly increase. If your drive for vengeance reaches past your limit, then you will lose your sanity,¡± At this time ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯s eyes turned cold, ¡°However, if you don¡¯t step in there, I will ensure the death of all your loved ones¡±.


    For a moment, Hai Yun was alarmed by this sudden change. However he quickly understood, ¡°By killing them, you would increase my drive for vengeance and power. If I am not wrong, the technique you had spoken of, which you want me to train in after I awaken, requires a massive amount of vengeance and deep seated hatred to brand my soul through and through¡± Hai Yun quickly deduced the truth of the matter.


    ¡°Hey, you¡¯re not as stupid as I thought!¡± ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯ smirked.


    ¡°Good to know your thoughts are wrong,¡± Hai Yun began making his way towards the first step. As he put his hands up and jumped, easily reaching on to the step of bones as he hauled himself onto the first step. In front of him were 3 large diagrams with many intricate blood colored lines.


    ¡°It¡¯s the one of the right¡±


    ¡°OK!¡± Hai Yun smiled as a tinge of excitement mixed with anticipation flickered in his eyes.


    Without any hesitation, Hai Yun firmly stepped onto the blood red diagram drawn on the floor.


    For a moment, his line of sight became completely white. There was no blowing winds, instead, everything felt as if it was still. The next moment he was greeted by a brilliant blue sky and golden sun. His feet had somehow lost their boots and socks and were currently bare on a grassy hill. All around him were small yellow flowers as far as he could see. They gave the impression of many little suns growing from the wild grass.


    Under no circumstance, could this place be considered deathly, gloomy or hateful. Instead, it seemed incredibly beautiful.


    ¡°Hey, where exactly are the souls of the criminals?¡± Hai Yun asked.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you bend down and pluck one of those flowers.¡± ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯ replied.


    Have the flowers somehow sealed the souls within them? Hai Yun wondered. However, he still bent down and did as he was told.


    The moment his fingers made contact with one of the flowers, he suddenly felt an outbreak of pure hatred and malice. For a moment, the entire world seemed to lose its shine and turn into various shades of blood red. The flower his fingers were contacting had suddenly grown gleaming white teeth as it drained vitality from his body.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Hai Yun cried out and pulled his finger back, but it was too late, the flower refused to let go. He was instantly filled panic and jerked harder, but no matter what he tried more of his vitality was being drained.


    In a bout of frustration he slammed his other hand on the ground to aid in pulling his finger off, only to touch yet another flower. Another wave of hatred and malice rushed at him, slowly corroding his skin.


    He screamed out in agony, as the very depths of his soul was slowly being uncovered. His knee hit the ground and yet another flower latched onto him. His skin began to shrivel a weird red glint flashed through his eyes as corruption and wickedness kept flashing through his consciousness.


    Slowly, his bright green soul began to detach itself from his body as it was drawn into the endless whirlpool of hatred.


    Off to the side, ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯ watched the entire scene and sighed. It seemed like he would have to get rid after all. However just as he was about to make his move, Hai Yun¡¯s soul changed color.


    From its previous green, it changed into the color of the suns golden flames, with an odd glowing blue liquid running through it. ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯s eyes filled with incomparable shock. ¡°This¡­ This¡­ This¡­ Isn¡¯t this, the soul of Ocean Flame!¡±


    Before he could react, the flowers which had been overwhelming Hai Yun¡¯s soul with their incomparable amount of hatred shivered in fright. They immediately pulled back and voluntarily let go, attempting to flee from the presence of Hai Yun¡¯s soul.


    ¡°Hehe, you think that whenever you want you can attack my soul, raid it and even attempt to devour it and when you¡¯re finished I will just let go? Just like that?¡± Hai Yun chuckled, however this was no longer the gentle way he had chuckled towards Qin Cheng, but rather a laugh containing his endless sea of rage!


    Golden tendrils stretched out from his soul, mixed with the blue colored haze like tiny rivers extending from the center of the earth. Each one shot through the pitiful golden flowers, leaving only a tinge of red soul fragments in the vast multitude of gold and blue.


    Even ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯ who had been completely unfazed by the jade molding potion and Hai Yun¡¯s bragging about being a divine ranked alchemist was alarmed for the second time in the past hundred thousand years, and both times because of the same person, Hai Yun.


    ----


    Deep inside the bone pyramid the spirit of a black cloaked figure was seated with its legs crossed. Upon closer inspection the masked face seemed to be of a woman in her early twenties. AS a slight tremor passed through to this chamber her eyes jerked open to reveal pitch black pupils and a corrosive aura of death instantly enveloped her.


    As she examined the tremor which had just passed through her eyes narrowed. ¡°Antiquity God general Assassin?¡± she whispered.


    As she searched for the direction of the tremor her vision locked onto the teleportation array to the Isle of Wailing Souls. In a flash, e body moved and entered.


    However the sight which greeted her was nothing like what she had expected. ¡°Ocean¡­ Ocean Flame¡± she mumbled as her eyes widened in shock.


    ¡°So you finally arrived to, eh Si Wang?¡±


    The woman swiveled her head to face the other spirit in the vicinity.


    ¡°Assassin?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Indeed that¡¯s me,¡± ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯ sighed. His real name was Xue Yue (ѪÔÂ), or blood moon. For in the era of ancient antiquity, he had filled the dark night sky with bloody light. As he remembered that scene a tinge of sadness and regret was revealed in his eyes, ¡°However, when that brat wakes up you should call me medicine¡±


    ¡°Medicine?¡± Si Wang was confused. ¡°Why should I call you that?¡±


    ¡°Because that boy does not need to know who I really am yet. I told him I was the medicine god, so don¡¯t screw up my disguise.¡±


    Si Wang pondered for a bit, ¡°Should that matter? Isn¡¯t that boy Ocean Flame? He could probably already guess it was you.¡±


    ¡°No, originally I too thought he might be ocean flame, but the regular color of his soul is green like a mortal. However his soul has the aura of the ocean in it, that¡¯s why I brought him here, to absorb all this malice and vengeance so he could awaken with a dual god physique. I never expected he already had a dual gods physique embedded into his soul. And that to one of the Heaven Defying Antiquity class gods.¡±


    ¡°So your original plan was to make him awaken with the ocean of death physique, that way he could inherit your legacy,¡± Si Wang continued. ¡°But I thought Ocean Flame should be the only one with a burning sea soul¡±.


    ¡°Indeed, Ocean Flame was the only one with a burning sea soul, however Ocean Flame was not born with that type of soul. Rather he attained it from somewhere. In fact, I think this boy might be an original carrier of that soul type¡± ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯s look deepened.


    Si Wang shuddered. She was incomparable clear on what kind of strength the heaven Defying Antiquity God race represented. Even at her peak, she would not have even dared to look at their feet. Even the Antiquity God Generals, like Xue Yue the assassin, would only be as strong as their weakest.


    One could call them the overlords of the realm of the gods. To think there was one of their descendants in this remote place.


    ¡°Si Wang, I need you to increase the number of vengeful spirits in this place. I want him to absorb all of their hatred while the Ocean Flame soul is active.¡±


    ¡°Very well,¡± Si Wang replied.

 Chapter 9 – Ocean Flame Palace

    <h4>Huge thanks to 19yy as my first ever patron!</h4>


    <h4>Chapter 9 ¨C Ocean Flame Palace</h4>


    As Hai Yun extended his soul tendrils to absorb all the souls in the vicinity he felt his own strength begin to rise. Previously, he had thought he would need to wait till he awakened and reached the Spirit Aura realm, as he had been when he was 16. However after the vengeful souls spirits in the golden flowers had tried to suck out his soul, he felt his soul strength suddenly explode outwards at once.


    As if being inside a body had been inhibiting the strength of his soul. As he began to retaliate, he had felt the aura of the efficacious nirvana elixir suddenly burst out, and now he was in the present situation as he absorbed the vengeful spirits with nearly no consequences. No matter how many of them he absorbed, he felt they were only soul fragments and not a single complete soul. It was not very filling.


    However, as he continued his rampage he suddenly came across a pond of red lotuses. From these lotuses he could feel a more formidable strength than that of the golden dandylions. Letting go of his ravenous appetite he indulged himself and began to absorb them. These souls were much harder to swallow, as they put up much more of a fight then the golden flowers who had surrendered instantly. Yet they were also more filling, so Hai Yun concentrated all his attention on absorbing them.


    However as he was absorbing them he suddenly felt a migraine strike his brain. He winced in pain, however this feeling seemed familiar. He wasn¡¯t too sure about it, so he ignored it and simply continued digesting the red lotuses. However when he had absorbed 3 more, another migraine hit his head.


    Not wanting to give up the chance of whatever ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯ had in store for him he continued like this till all the red lotuses had been devoured. And only then returned to his body.


    He was surprised to note that all of his skin which had been withered by the flowers was even healthier than it had been before. However it had a strange red tinge to it. As he was about to get up, the cause of the migraines instantly opened itself before him.


    They were, New Memories! His head was swarmed with an overwhelming amount of information.


    He saw a grand luxurious palace, sitting atop a golden sea. Inside the water their seemed to be golden flames burning and a bluish-green liquid constantly swirling around. The palace walls were covered in azure dragons and vermillion bird pictures.


    The front door had 3 characters engraved on the top in gold lettering against an azure colored screen. Ocean Flame Palace (º£Ñó</a>Ñ̹¬).


    As he examined the scene he felt it seemed oddly familiar. However he was not sure how. Deciding not to ponder about it, he tried searching through more of his memories. One such fragment showed him a manual. It was called the Ocean Heart Sutra.


    As he inspected the manual through his memory he was incomparably stunned. This cultivation sutra was incredibly stronger than anything he had seen before! Even though he had never practiced the strongest Sutra available at the Crystal Ocean Palace, he had still seen it before, however in comparison to this sutra in front of him, it would not even qualify to be mentioned in the same sentence. No the same century!


    The complexity off the circulation method was simply ridiculous! It required one to sink into the depths of the ocean to cultivate, repeating this sutra under the pressure of thousands of feet of water was only enough to reach the small success stage of the first section! However what he found strange was that this sutra was meant to create an imbalance in the body.


    It required one to awaken a multi attribute physique of Fire, Water, Earth and Death. However one was to only cultivate water and Earth laws causing their physique to break down from a lack of harmony. It was simply suicidal!


    Don¡¯t tell me I came across such a great sutra but can¡¯t even use it! Hai Yun was flustered as he frantically read through the entire sutra, but yet found no solution even in the second section. Just as he was about to lose hope he noticed a sentence written at the bottom of the 3<sup>rd</sup> section.


    [This is sutra is only one part of a duo cultivating manual. To avoid being destroyed due to imbalance it is highly recommended that the practitioner of this art form a Dao couple with someone with a Physique of the Fire, Wind and Life attributes. The sutra they should cultivate in is called the Burning Heart Valley Sacred Sutra.]


    Burning Heart Valley Sacred Sutra? Hai Yun furrowed his brow before digging through his memories until he found what he was looking for. Indeed this was exactly as mentioned. A sutra meant for someone with a Fire, Wind and Life attribute physique. It was also divided into 3 parts but what he found interesting was that the person who cultivated this sutra would not need a duo cultivation companion! Wouldn¡¯t this mean that he would be depended on whoever cultivated with him but not the other way around!


    However, there were still a series of other issues to address. That would be awakening with one of these physiques, and then finding a Dao partner to duo cultivate with him. He was actually not too worried about their reliability, as he had plenty of experience with girls, being the youngest Divine Ranked Alchemist in existence on the continent, he had a plethora of followers. Many included the highly talented daughters of other major powers. They had come in trying to seduce him in order to draw his favor for their sect, but how could you seduce a divine ranked alchemist? He simply took a mind clearing elixir and remained immune to all their drugs and charms, with the end result of him seducing them with his own elixirs. However he would cruelly depart at the last minute, as he did not want to have any obligations to them.


    Thus he only needed to find someone with such a physique. However the greater problem would now be explaining this to ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯.


    Just as he finally got up and looked for ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯ he noticed the spirit of a woman in her early twenties who was staring at him intently. Her face was veiled and she was cloaked in pitch black, but it still could not cover her graceful physique.


    Hai Yun cleared his throat. But before he could begin speaking the woman cut in, ¡°What is your connection to the god king Ocean Flame?¡±


    ¡°Ocean Flame?!? Do you mean the palace?¡± Hai Yun questioned. He did not find it particularly odd this strange woman would know something. From her spirit like appearance it was clear she was another being close to the level of strength of ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯.


    ¡°What Palace?¡± Si Wang was confused.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Oh right ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent Master¡¯, that technique you wanted me to learn, can you compare it to the Ocean Heart Sutra?¡± Hai Yun was incredibly curious to see what the strange memory fragment was worth. Even though he could tell that this female ghost was powerful, but he was certain that his ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent master¡¯ would protect him.


    ¡°Ocean¡­ Ocean Heart sutra¡­¡± ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent master¡¯ stuttered. ¡°Where the hell did you find out about that!?!?¡±


    ¡°I am not too sure, but it appeared in my head recently,¡± Hai Yun was delighted. From ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent master¡¯s reaction this was certainly a good thing.


    ¡°You¡­ I spent thousands of years developing a god general ranked sutra suitable for myself to practice, but you, just ate some bloody lotuses and got a God Emperor Sutra!¡±


    Even Si Wang was incomparably shocked by what she heard. Her first reaction was to think that this boy really was the Ocean Flame of the Heaven Defying Antiquity God race. However, Xue Yue still did not seem to believe that, so she assumed he was correct since he had more dealings with that man.


    ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent master¡¯ coughed twice to remove the smirk from Hai Yun¡¯s face. ¡°Originally I had planned for you to learn a Water and Death attribute art, but the Ocean Heart sutra might be more suitable for you. However, even though it is highly likely that you will awaken with the appropriate physique for the Ocean Heart Sutra, you still need to find someone who practices the other half¡­ whatever it was called.¡±


    ¡°I believe it is called the <Burning Heart Valley Divine Sutra>.¡±


    ¡°How much information did you get from those lotuses?¡± ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent master¡¯ was exasperated.


    ¡°A lot,¡± Hai Yun shrugged.


    ¡°You¡­¡±


    Hai Clan Mansion


    Hai Duan sat across the table from Qin Wu slowly sipping his tea. This was already the second time the two had met up in the past 3 days since Hai Yun¡¯s disappearance.


    Hai Duan was convinced that Qin Wu had kidnapped Hai Yun and was already aggravated to the point of wanting to fight all out with the Qin clan. It was only that Qin Wu truly looked like he had nothing to do with it, so he restrained himself.


    ¡°Qin Wu, let me make myself clear, if I find out you had anything to do with Hai Yun¡¯s disappearance, I will not care for either Elder Nan Gong, or the Hai Clan main branch, I will personally declare that your granddaughter is a widow in front of the entire town! Then let¡¯s see if you can¡­¡± Hai Duan paused for a moment in order to calm down, ¡°take over the region¡± he finished.


    Qin Wu sighed exasperatedly, ¡°Brother Hai, if we really did have something to do with Hai Yun¡¯s disappearance my daughter would declare herself a widow! You wouldn¡¯t even need to do it for her¡±.


    ¡°At least she doesn¡¯t have a backstabbing character!¡± Hai Duan narrowed his eyes.


    Qin Wu only sighed again. If it had been anyone else, they might have burst in rage over these accusations, but right now, bursting in rage would only add fuel to the fire so he remained submissive and let Hai Duan take his anger out. He too, was not in a position where he could go all out with the Hai Clan at least not till Qin Cheng was strong enough, so he had to ensure her safety, for even if this branch family was not capable of harming Qin Cheng, the Hai Clan main branch might if things became too intense for Qin Cheng to be brought over to their side.


    At the Isle of Wailing Souls


    In the previous 3 days, Hai Yun had been absorbing and refining vengeful spirits in an almost crazy manner, attempting to attain more memories. However he never received the boon he had been searching for.


    However, he had finally been gifted with a new name for the ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my Benevolent master¡¯. From now on he would call him, Xue Yi (Ñ©Ò½). He would have simply referred to him as master, but Xue Yi refused so this became the alternative as that was what Si Wang had said ¡®Almighty Divinity who is my benevolent master¡¯s real name was.


    ¡°Xue Yi, do you know what attributes Qin Cheng awakened with?¡± Hai Yun asked while lying on the grass that had been depleted of all the golden dandelions.


    ¡°She has the Fire and Life attributes. Unfortunately she does not have the wind attribute, so she probably won¡¯t be able to practice the Burning Heart Valley Sacred Sutra.¡± Xue Yi replied.


    ¡°Then why were you saying she could be the perfect dual cultivation companion for me?¡± Hai Yun frowned.


    ¡°Originally I did not know you had a Quadruple attribute physique. I only found that out when I saw your soul change. My plan had been to use the water attribute which was already present in your soul and develop a variant death attribute so you would end up with the Sea of Death Dual god physique. The duo cultivating manual that my Dao partner and I had practiced required one person with a Water and Death attribute physique and another with Fire and Life attributes for the best results.¡± Xue Yi explained.


    Hai Yun nodded in approval, indeed that way he could have cultivated with Qin Cheng. But one thing still confused him, ¡°What is a variant death attribute?¡± he asked.


    ¡°A variant attribute is simply a gained attribute. The reason it is called variant, is because your body is not actually capable of training and improving your strength in that attribute, rather a treasure which is capable of growth is implanted into your body allowing you to cultivate with the qi it gathers through an array diagram. Obviously you would be reliant on this treasure and thus, when it reaches perfection, you will no longer be able to improve your level in training that type of qi.¡±


    Hai Yun pondered over this information for a moment. ¡°So can¡¯t we just implant something like that into Qin Cheng so she can gain a Wind attribute?¡±


    ¡°That is only if we can find a treasure capable of letting her practice to the 3rd level of the Burning Heart Valley Sacred Sutra.¡±


    Hai Yun frowned. However he was secretly happy that this method had its own limitations, how heaven defying would it be if people could awaken with 5 or six attributs using treasures? Yet he was also disappointed that he didn¡¯t have a duo cultivation companion.Now where can I find someone with Fire, Wind and Life attributes???He began to ponder, as he stood up.


    While walking to the nearest batch of golden dandelions he slowly released his soul strength and began to encompass them. Ever since he had nearly been devoured by the dandelions earlier, his soul had regained its mobility and he had finally retrieved his soul domain. Now, devouring these vengeful souls was fairly simple, he only needed to surround them with his soul force and squeeze them until thy integrated with his soul.


    Of the millions of dandelions which had covered the ground, barely a few hundred were left. He had even depleted 4 pools filled with the red lotuses! While devouring these souls, time seemed to fly by. The only thing on his mind was how to go about finding a girl with those 3 attributes. He would also need to make sure she had substantial talent, as becoming a Dao couple would be a permanent commitment for all parties involved.


    Clearly, if things kept heading this way, he would have to break of his engagement with Qin Cheng, as duo cultivation usually required intimate contact between the partners. Thus he would have to marry his Dao partner. When he was going through the people he knew, he suddenly recalled a scene which had occured when he was 14 in his previous life.


    ¡­


    A young girl was sitting on the floor of his room and refusing to budge for the entire evening. Today was her awakening ceremony. She had a flawless face and was pouting at him with her arms wrapped tightly around his left arm refusing to let go. He could feel blood rushing up to his head as he blushed from being held by her.


    She was the only one who could instigate him like this. Her name was Qian Mu (thousand admirations). She was only one year younger than him, and was currently a grandmaster ranked alchemist. Other than him, she was the only other person to reach that level before 20.


    It was because of this reason, they were fairly close. Her father was a Divine Ranked alchemist with no affiliation and would frequently wander around the continent. However he visited the Crystal Ocean Alchemy sect frequently for ingredients.


    Today Qian Mu was going to awaken, but Hai Yun had holed himself up in his room refusing to show up and continuing to work on his formulas. In response she came to his room and pulled his left arm into her embrace and forcefully sat on the ground pulling him out of his chair. Ensuring that he wouldn¡¯t even try to think of his recipe she would blow into his ear if he tried to turn away.


    This scene was particularly important for him, as she was the first person who had ever convinced him to leave his formula table for other business.


    Later in the evening when she had finally awoken her profound vein, she had been discovered to have 3 attributes¡­ Fire, Wind and Life¡­

 Chapter 10 – Qian Mu

    <h4>Chapter 10 ¨C Qian Mu</h4>


    Qing Yun(ÇàÔÆ) Peak ¨C Dark Emerald Nation


    A mountain so steep that no normal man could climb it points up at the sky like a tower piercing the heavens. From the base, the mountain¡¯s top appears higher than the sky itself as the light green clouds which always surround it barely reach half way. The land beyond is thought to be a different world. However none of these average people have ever dared to dream of even reaching the height of the clouds.


    It is rumored that the mountain above the clouds is the territory of a Divine Ranked alchemist who is unmatched under the heavens. Thus, many demonic beasts had been tamed as guardians.


    It is precisely in an area beyond the clouds a teenage girl with smooth milky white skin but sharp accentuated features stands, staring into a vial with a golden liquid.


    With scarlet hair which turns blonde towards the ends she is an absolutely stunning beauty despite only being a teenager. The charm she exuded was not that of a mature young woman but rather the playfulness and vigor of youth.


    Currently she was concentrating on a small vial in front of her while molding her soul domain to control the reactions happening inside. Alarming her soul was the same light green color of a Divine Ranked Alchemist! Yet she was clearly no older than 17!


    ¡°What other ingredient did brother Hai use?¡± she mumbled as she steadied her breath. She slowly closed her eyes and tried to recall everything she had seen.


    ¡­


    On the day the 21 sects raided the Crystal Ocean Alchemy Association.


    The girl remembered waking up early, full of joy. She would finally get to meet Hai Yun again after nearly one and a half year. This time on her travels with her father she had collected a variety of strange medicinal herbs and planned to diligently study them together with him.


    Since the only way for him to even look at her while she is talking is when she describes these herbs.Seriously, the only thing he cares about is alchemyshe thought internally. However this did not sadden her in the least bit, because without his passion for alchemy, he would no longer be her Hai Yun. Indeed, this girl is Qian Mu.


    However, just as she was walking towards the bay, she was awkwardly stopped by her father.


    ¡°Mu¡¯er, father is so sorry,¡± he began with a solemn look in his eye.


    Qian Mu frowned, ¡°Father, what have you done to be sorry about. Also, why can¡¯t we just discuss it on the way to the island, why do we have to stop?¡±


    ¡°Mu¡¯er, father has something to confess to you,¡± Qian Mu¡¯s father lowered his head. Then he slowly took out a scroll from his robe. The wax seal had been opened and it had clearly been read, as she examined the seal she was shocked. This was the seal Hai Yun always used when sending her letters!


    She had gifted it to him a few years ago, saying that when he sends his letters using this stamp then she will know if the letter belongs to her, and that he can use the regular stamp when sending letters to her father. She even remembered explicitly asking her father to not peek at their ¡°private messages¡± so why had this been opened? But even if it had been, was there a reason to look solemn while apologizing?


    ¡°Mu¡¯er, I only wanted to check the relationship between you two, because you had been receiving his letter so frequently this time, but inside this letter¡­ what I found¡­¡± Qian Mu¡¯s father¡¯s face became incomparably grief stricken. One could tell that this great Divine Ranked Alchemist was in quite the heart wrenching dilemma.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    ¡°Mu¡¯er, we can¡¯t go to the Crystal Ocean Alchemy Sect today,¡± he said softly.


    ¡°Why father?¡± Qian Mu asked.Did brother Hai say something so inappropriate father doesn¡¯t want me to continue meeting him or something?


    ¡°Because¡­¡± Qian Mu¡¯s father gritted his teeth before slowly whispering, ¡°Because¡­ After today¡­ the Crystal Ocean Alchemy Sect will no longer exist. As for Hai Yun, he will become the new toy for 21 of the continents peak powers¡­¡±


    Qian Mu trembled violently. ¡°Why?!?! What happened?!?!¡± She immediately became panic stricken as she tried to rush past her father, however a firm hand struck on the back of her neck, instantly paralyzing her nerves.


    ¡°Qian Mu, father is sorry. I had never planned for things to turn out this way¡­¡± he softly whispered into her ear as he lifted her limp body onto his shoulder and began walking away from the harbor.


    Why? What happened?She constantly questioned in her head.Why did things turn out this way?!?!Although she was paralyzed, she still kept crying. The tears would well up in her eyes, but they would flow towards he eyebrows and slowly drip off her forehead onto the ground. In this position she didn¡¯t even get to feel tears stream down her cheeks.


    ¡­


    It was only later she found out, that in the letter Hai Yun had sent to her, he explained his greatest accomplishment so far. The Efficacious Nirvana, a pill which lets someone retain their memories through the cycle of reincarnation.


    Her father, had wanted to make Hai Yun marry her and leave the Crystal Ocean Alchemy Sect, so he had planned to alert the 21 peak powers. He exaggerated the medicine as being an elixir with no side effects, the one to control it would be able to make their sect unstoppable. However, one of the ingredients required would only appear every 100,000 years, so if they didn¡¯t act immediately, the Crystal Ocean Alchemy sect would waste it one of their about to die alchemists.


    This had incited all of the sects to madly rush for the Crystal Ocean Alchemy Sect. He had expected them to attack tomorrow, when he would be in the island and could pretend to be the good person and defend Hai Yun. Then smuggle him away and trick him to marry Qian Mu so then he could formally have a reason to protect him.


    However, this would also give him every right to access this divine pill formula! He would become eternal, and could break through the limit of Divine Ranked alchemist!


    It should be known that a Divine ranked alchemist could live for at least 1,500 years. If they were also at the Spirit Sovereign level then 3,000 years wouldn¡¯t be too difficult. He had already lived for nearly 2,900. However, despite living a good life with his parents, who had also been divine ranked alchemist, and his wife who had accompanied him for nearly 2,000 years he was still not content. He did not want to die yet, one could even say he was afraid of death, despite it being nearly 100 years away.


    Thus he came up with this plan, to let himself be reborn!


    However, the sects were faster than he had anticipated. Beginning a siege before he could arrive. If he went now, sneaking in and getting Hai Yun out would be too risky, as an all-out war had already started.


    After Qian Mu found out about her father¡¯s plan she became frozen in shock. Her knees felt incredibly weak and she wanted to do nothing more than collapse. This time, the tears streamed out of her wide open eyes, with her expression not portraying even a wisp of emotion. As if all the world had turned cold, and she could only indifferently gaze into an endless void.


    Her father couldn¡¯t even bear to look her in the eye after confessing all this on the mountain. He only quietly stood there and stared at her sadly. But to her, these were no longer the eyes of guilt, but rather they seemed like the vision of someone who had merely missed an opportunity. Yes, his eyes portrayed the sadness one feels when losing an toy, like the Efficacious Nirvana. That was the type of regret! Not the regret of losing his friends, or losing her trust! No it was merely as if he had only lost a commodity making his life somewhat inconvenient!


    Even if he had truly felt regret at that time, she had become too blinded by rage to even want to begin siding with him.


    But wasn¡¯t she the primary cause for this whole plan. If she had not kept pestering Hai Yun to send her letters and threatened to not share research with him unless he wrote to her once a month would this have happened? If she had not asked him to do that, wouldn¡¯t he still be living well?!?!


    Now, she would never get to see him again! Even if he was alive and didn¡¯t commit suicide, wouldn¡¯t he become a pill making slave for some sect?!?!


    Brother Hai¡­ I am so¡­ so sorry¡­ Qian Mu killed you¡­ and destroyed everything of yours¡­

 Chapter 11 – The Last Letter

    <h4>Chapter 11 ¨C The Last Letter</h4>


    Brother Hai¡­ I am so¡­ so sorry¡­ Qian Mu killed you¡­ and destroyed everything of yours¡­


    She sat there. Not moving, not eating, and not sleeping. For two whole days she remained indifferent to the world, and anyone staring at her could see the skin on her cheeks wrinkling from her crying eyes, which had become so red, it was remarkable she wasn¡¯t crying blood.


    She let out not a single sound for all 48 hours. It was only when her feet began to turn green from blood shortage that her father finally forcefully moved her.


    However, she did not resist. Tears came welling out of her eyes, one by one. They were so numerous she didn¡¯t even need to blink.


    ¡°Qian Mu, father is sorry. Please say something child. Eat something.¡± Her father pleaded. However he only pleaded a few times, before crushing a fasting pill in her mouth. He would even pour some water into her mouth from time to time. Yet she did not even seem to notice.


    Qian Mu¡¯s father was completely overrun by guilt, but no matter how he tried to coax her, she would not react. Thus, he stopped trying, and only quietly wallowed in his self-pity.


    After nearly 10 days of crying, her tears stopped. She simply had no more tears to cry. And then she finally passed out. As Qian Mu¡¯s father watched her finally pass out, his heart shook.


    However for all this time, he had still not regretted ruining the Crystal Ocean Alchemy Sect. He had only been regretting that his plan failed and he only wanted it to be successful. According to him, if he had succeeded then he could have maintained his daughter¡¯s happiness. He still did not believe this situation was due to his greed! But rather he blamed it on his poor planning!


    As turned to leave from Qian Mu¡¯s room for the 4<sup>th</sup> time today, he finally heard her voice.


    ¡°Father, could you leave me brother Hai Yun¡¯s last letter?¡± Qian Mu asked coldly. However she did not turn to look in his direction, nor did she even bother to open her eyes.


    When he heard her voice, his heart was incomparably shaken. ¡°Mu¡¯er, are you finally over your grief. Do you need father to get you anything?¡± he turned and sat next to her bed while gently reaching out for his daughter¡¯s hand.


    However, just when he was about to touch her, she moved her hand away. ¡°Father, could you leave me brother Hai Yun¡¯s last letter?¡± she repeated without any fluctuation in her voice. It seemed so distant to him, and once again he regretted failing his plan.


    ¡°Of course,¡± he took the letter out of his sleeve and attempted to reach for her hand so he could put it in her grasp but she interrupted him.


    ¡°Just leave by the table please.¡± Even now, her mood did not fluctuate in the least bit.


    Qian Mu¡¯s father¡¯s eyes became downcast as he reluctantly put the letter by her head rest before slowly getting up to walk out of the door.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    The moment his figure disappeared down the hall, Qian Mu opened her eyes and sat up. Tenderly picking up the scroll she opened it with shaky hands before beginning to read.


    Qian Mu!


    I have spent the last couple months analyzing all the new herbs you brought over for me. Do you remember the Nirvana root? Until a few days ago I still couldn¡¯t figure out what function it served. But now I finally figured it out.


    Thank You Qian Mu! If you hadn¡¯t brought it to me, I might still be sitting around writing up pointless recipes. Due to this root, I was finally able to create a memory inscribing elixir! If someone uses it, then they can take all the sounds and images which constitute ones memory of a certain event and inscribe it into an object! Something which people could only do when they were dying and needed to leave behind a successor! This is all thanks to the herb you brought me, so I named it The Gift of Qian Mu!


    While her eyes swept over these words her heart trembled. If she had any tears left, she might have started crying again. However even though she wanted to close the letter and hug it tightly she forced herself to continue reading. Because this was her only hope¡­


    However even though that sounds amazing, I created something even better after combing the remaining Nirvana root with the other herbs you left me. I call it, the Efficacious Nirvana, after someone consumes it, as long as they die within 24 hours, they will be able to retain all of their memories while being reincarnated. It works in the exact same manner as The Gift of Qian Mu. However instead of storing your memories on some physical object, you can inscribe all of them directly into you very soul! So when your soul is reborn into the world, it will already have memories which it can inscribe into your brain! But the best part is, that it will let you retain all of your soul strength too!


    Remember how the biggest problem with reincarnation is that you will get a new uncultivated body as well as weak soul. However if some took this pill, their soul¡¯s strength would be retained when passing through the cycle of samsara! We tested it on a demonic beast after putting a soul cage around the preserve. Sure enough, after the beast was killed and its soul escaped, the Efficacious Nirvana let it be reborn as a new infant! It was the strangest thing ever, a Scarlet Flame Lion with the soul of a Black Earth bear was born into existence!


    When you come, I will let you meet it. It truly is a wondrous elixir that defies the laws of heaven!


    Yours truly,


    The Youngest Divine Ranked Alchemist on the Scarlet Flame Continent ¨C Hai Yun of the Crystal Ocean Alchemy Sect


    As she saw his signature another wave of sadness engulfed her. When he had been at the grandmaster alchemist level, he had written Youngest Grandmaster Alchemist on the Scarlet Flame Continent, when he broke into the Ancestor Alchemist level, the same thing would be written, and for these last 11 letters, he had written Divine Ranked alchemist.


    However, even though she was sad, she was not completely blinded by her grief. Despite being sad, she was well aware of the manner in which the Crystal Ocean Alchemy Sect operated. If there was a chance, then they would certainly pick the Divine Ranked Alchemists who had the most potential in their youth to take the Efficacious Nirvana and be reborn, in order to strike back for their revenge.


    And which Divine Ranked Alchemist had the more potential than the only youth, Hai Yun! So most likely, he had been reincarnated into a new body!


    Brother Hai Yun¡­ Qian Mu is too weak to help you in this state¡­ My father will probably try to watch me and if I ever manage to find you, he will definitely try to steal your elixir¡­ So please accept Qian Mu¡­ If we ever meet again¡­ I won¡¯t pester you, if you want to only study alchemy I won¡¯t bother you¡­ So you please, let Qian Mu be yours, and only yours for the next life¡­


    And it was at this time, she set her firm resolve to concoct another Efficacious Nirvana, and to give her next life to Hai Yun. Because this much, she owed him¡­

 Chapter 12 – Conspiracy

    <h4>Chapter 12 ¨C Conspiracy</h4>


    After Qian Mu¡¯s father had left on a trip to visit the royal palace of the Dark Emerald Nation Qian Mu began to walk up and about.


    Her first goal, was to procure all of the herbs she had previously given to Hai Yun on their meeting over one and a half years ago. If it had been a normal human, they would certainly have difficulty remembering all of the strange herbs they had gathered, but for some reason, Qian Mu never forgot a single word Hai Yun stated in her presence.


    Thus, she clearly remembered all of the discussions they had on each herb. After sifting through the mountain she managed to collect just enough of each of the herbs. Usually, when her father and she would find strange herbs, they would first replicate their environment and build a habitat for them on this mountain.


    Today, she looted these gardens of each and every one of those herbs, so that there would not be a single trace of them left on this mountain.


    It was only after she had repeatedly checked and found all of her father¡¯s hidden stashes of Nirvana Root, did she finally begin refining.


    After nearly a month of work, she had still not progressed anywhere, so she hid all of her materials and experiments and went straight back to her room when she was expecting her father to return.


    ¡­


    While Qian Mu was attempting to recreate the Efficacious Nirvana, Hai Yun was finishing up the trial on the Isle of Wailing Souls.


    ¡°Brat, you really had a great harvest here didn¡¯t you.¡± Xue Yi snorted.


    ¡°Indeed I did, in just these 5 days, the strength of my soul has already reached the level of the strongest Divine Ranked alchemists in my sect,¡± Hai Yun smiled proudly. Previously, his soul strength was only at the initial levels of a Divine Ranked alchemist, and compared to the others, he was fairly weak as he did not even have many attainments in cultivation and only wasted his time developing pills. However, in the course of these 5 days, his soul strength had already reached the peak of this world!


    ¡°Well, you had best hurry up. The day for the Hai Clan main branch to arrive is approaching. Although they can¡¯t kill you if you are stuck here, they can still proclaim you dead by creating a fake corpse or something of the like. That would be the same thing as proclaiming your death,¡± Xue Yi warned.


    Si Wang calmly listened to the dialogue between the two with a pondering look. However no one was clear on what she was contemplating.


    ¡­


    On the top floor of Old Ling¡¯s shop, Hai Yun¡¯s uncle Yun Duo is sitting together with the Qing clan¡¯s Qing Li sitting opposite him as they stared at each other while taking sips of tea.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°Qing Li, mind explaining to me why Qin Cheng did not die on the day of her awakening ceremony?¡± Yun Duo glowered.


    ¡°Obviously, she would have been dead had a Hai Yun not been there,¡± Qing Li firmly grasped his cup as annoyance flashed through his eyes before continuing, ¡°However, all of this is beside the point. What we need to do now is instigate a war between the Qin and Hai clans before that brat Hai Yun gets back¡±.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. No one in the Hai Clan has received his letter. To them he has most likely been kidnapped thus a fight will break out sooner or later,¡± Yun Duo sipped his tea.


    ¡°For your sake I hope you are right. But, on the day he reappears here, you must make sure to kill him. Although the fools of his clan don¡¯t believe he will awaken to strength similar to Qin Cheng, I can not determine any other reason for an expert who was just passing by, to suddenly become willing to take him away for the days till his awakening ceremony,¡± Qing Li sighed. This child was truly a problematic one.


    This duo was responsible for administering the poisons to both Hai Yun and Qin Cheng. The goal had been for Qin Cheng to die, Hai Yun to awaken with incredibly low talent and then die shortly after. Thus both people who could inherit the legacy of 2 of the four clans would be dead and the system would return itself to the 4 clan system. Obviously, if Qin Wentian and Hai Cang Qiong did not have any heirs, they would never be chosen by the Qing and Yun clans respectively to lead the two families. Thus, Yun Duo, being the son of the Yun clan¡¯s grand elder and Qing Li son of the Qing clans grand elder would then get to lord over their respective families.


    However, they had not expected that Hai Yun would be so weak that he died from the Bone Sheering Poison ahead of time allowing for the new Hai Yun to take his place. Nor could they have possibly predicted that the forbidden section in the Hai Clan¡¯s library which held the Devil¡¯s Portrait was actually holding the spirit body of a god from the Great Antiquity.


    Naturally, they did not know any of this, to them the biggest hindrance was the expert who had supposedly taken Hai Yun for a training expedition. The letter they were referring to was something Hai Yun had written and put on the doorstep of his parents¡¯ room before disappearing. Thankfully, one of Yun Duo¡¯s spies was the only one to see the scene and so stole the letter.


    In the letter Hai Yun explained that he would be gone for some time on an expedition with the mysterious senior who had helped him previously. That the mysterious senior had taken a liking to him and wanted to accept him as his apprentice after his awakening so he was going to be a trial apprentice for him till the day he awakens.


    Thankfully, they had intercepted this letter, otherwise the present incredibly tense situation between the Hai and Qin clans may never had happened.


    At present, their only goals were to cause this war to break out before Hai Yun could return. They were stuck on this path the moment Yun Duo¡¯s spy had stolen the letter, now there would be no possibility for recourse.


    ¡°Tell your spies in the Qin household to kill off Qin Cheng¡¯s mother. I will work on framing someone from the Hai Clan for it,¡± Yun Duo said after pondering for a great deal of time.


    Qing Li nodded before motioning with his hands to one of the people behind him, who bowed and walked out. ¡°If this whole plan fails, then do not expect me to keep my mouth shut, Elder brother Yun,¡± Qing Li¡¯s gaze sharpened as he met Yun Duo¡¯s eyes for a moment, before both looked away.


    Yun Duo, set down his cup of tea gently before standing up and walking out, leaving Qing Li to sit alone with only his subordinates.


    ¡°Make sure that Yun Duo does not try to frame us to save his own skin,¡± Qing Li whispered thoughtfully. It was only then, that a dark shadow from under his seat unnoticeably shot towards the departed Yun Duo¡¯s direction. Any passerby might only have seen a brief shadowy line, but to a certain spy who had merged into the ceiling, the creature which was released had glowing yellow eyes and shadowy black scales with the physique similar to a snake¡­

 Chapter 13 – The Efficacious Nirvana, recreated!

    <h4>Chapter 13 ¨C The Efficacious Nirvana, recreated!</h4>


    On Qing Yun peak in the Dark Emerald Nation.


    Qian Mu¡¯s father had recently left the mountain again, and Qian Mu herself was busy working on the Efficacious Nirvana. With each experiment, she could feel herself getting closer, not to the result, but to Hai Yun. It was as if the key to him, was in this elixir and she was getting closer in every minute.


    However this was not the only thing she was doing, she also prepared various elixirs for cultivating. Ones that could increase the purity of the qi one gathers. These elixirs and pills she refined would be sent out of the mountain using spatial arrays.


    She had carefully plotted locations all over the continent and on many tiny islands off the coast. That way, when she reincarnates she would not suffer from the lack of supplies the people from the lower classes suffered when they tried to become cultivators.


    However she was well aware that she could not plant these elixirs everywhere, and that if she were to be reborn on a different continent, then all of this would become useless. However it was better to be safe than to be sorry.


    ¡°Just a little more,¡± she mumbled while pouring in a diluted mixture of the nirvana root into the flask.


    One drop. Two drops. Three drops. She counted in her head. When she reached the seventh drop, she stopped.


    The liquid in the flask began to give off a blue color. However inside this blue liquid a small swirl of gold was wisping around. The moment she saw this her eyes brightened. As an experienced alchemist, she could immediately tell the properties of an elixir by looking at it. This type of mixture where the two colors do not blend and instead swirl around within each other was the signature mark of an elixir which affected the soul!


    However, she could also tell this was not nearly strong enough. However the gold liquid inside though, was truly quite powerful if it was in a greater concentration. Could it be that¡­


    As she was thinking and examining the strange gold color her eyes immediately widened into a small moons as her pupils dilated. Hastily, she picked up the flask and taking a pair of tweezers, reached in and pulled on the golden swirl liquid.


    To her surprise, the gold liquid completely left the blue liquid as if it were a strand of silk in sand.


    Dropping the golden thread into another flask, she began the process anew. Each time, when she managed to create the golden strand she would pull it out and collect it. After nearly another hour or so, she had enough strands to fill half the flask.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    Then she pulled out the raw nirvana root. Due to her full time devotion these last 5 days to studying the nirvana rot, she was well aware of its properties. Cutting off a chunk no larger than the nail of her pinky finger she dropped it into the flask.


    Inside the material sizzled, as if it were some stone dissolving in acid. However, in the end, she was greated by the sight of a golden pill which had clearly condensed from all of the strands of golden silk with a small swirl of bluish colored liquid swimming within it.


    As she took the pill out into her palm, her whole body began to shake violently.


    She had done it! However just as she was feeling accomplished an immense pressure suddenly seemed to explode from within her body. This is¡­ a soul break through!


    As the pressure began to envelope her she felt her soul absorbing the strength from the surrounding atmosphere to build itself up. Around her body the usual orange color of her soul which identified her as an ancestor ranked alchemist was distorting into small whirlpools.


    The feeling was complete and total anguish. It seemed like her memories were made of fabric that was being torn apart. Yet she did not utter even a single scream. Only quietly closed her eyes and bit her lip. Waiting for the break through to pass. This was the most difficult hurdle in an alchemists life. The break through between the Ancestor alchemist rank and the Divine Alchemist rank. Many soul practitioners, when undergoing this break through would collapse under the tribulation, however Qian Mu knew that her soul could withstand this pain without worrying.


    If Hai Yun could do, then in order for her to be worthy of following him, she too must be able to share his burdens. If he can do something, then so must she.


    Yet, although these words could portray her conviction, her framework was still shaken by the time it finished. But when it had ended, she was no longer an Ancestor Ranked alchemist. But a Divine Ranked one! Only now, could she safely consume the efficacious nirvana!


    Without wasting a single moment she popped it into her mouth. As the slow cool feeling enveloped her body, her senses slowly began to shut down. For she had taken poison with the Efficacious Nirvana. However she did not notice the small eye which had been watching this whole scene from within the walls.


    Yet, the owner of this eye made no move to stop her as she committed suicide. It was only when she had breathed her last breath and died, did the owner of this eye walk out.


    As he stood in front of the new corpse his eyes slowly formed tears. But he quickly blinked them away. Then with the wave of his hand he lifted the corpse and turned his back to that location heading out of the door.


    For how could he be cruel enough to not help his own daughter. He knew she hated him to the marrow of his bones, but she was still his daughter. The child from the woman he had loved for more than a thousand years.


    Even if she hated him, as her father it was his obligation to help her in all her endeavors. If she could recreate the Efficacious Nirvana, then he could create something to track her soul. But in her new life, he would only help from the background, for he no longer had the qualifications to appear in front of her. He was simply too ashamed to claim himself as her father, let her new father do that with a clear conscience¡­

 Chapter 14 – The conflict begins

    <h4>First Chapter of the Week! Enjoy!</h4>


    <hr>


    <h4>Chapter 14 ¨C The conflict begins</h4>


    Hai Duan sat in his room quietly cultivating on the floor as was his usual habit. Immersed in a world of dark greens and blue the qi of heaven and earth circulated through his profound veins near his bones before all meeting at the top of his head in his natal palace. In the midst of this swirling mass of blue and green a scroll which extended for what appeared to be hundreds of li danced in the waves of qi.


    This scroll was his natal artifact, which was housed in his natal palace. Each person can only make a contract with a single natal artifact, and as that artifact evolves, the owner would gain many benefits. For example, this scroll was an ancient manual of a divine art. By basking in his qi, the scroll had slowly opened, allowing him access to the martial skills inscribed within.


    However, all natal artifacts are not limited to being scrolls. They come in all varieties, with equaly various abilities. Hai Yun¡¯s father, Hai Cang Qiong¡¯s natal artifact is the scale of a deceased flood dragon. Whenever he activates it, his body would be covered in an energy shield which people nearly 5 ranks above him could not break. This was why, despite being at the 2<sup>nd</sup> realm of spirit aura, he could face the Hai Clan patriarch, Hai Duan, who was a practitioner of the 7<sup>th</sup> realm in the spirit aura stage.


    ¡°Patriarch Hai! The Qin and Qing clan are outside demanding justice. They claim we attempted to assassinate Qing Xue¡± a servant from outside the room hollered.


    Just then, Hai Cang Qiong burst through the door. ¡°Father, those people are making preposterous claims! Why would our Hai clan possibly do something like this? First they target my son, now they want to spell it out with our Hai Clan, then so be it, let us greet them with a clenched fist!¡±


    Hai Duan¡¯s eyes shot open. ¡°Those people have gone to far this time! I did not reveal that my grandson was missing, nor did I make any accusations for his poisoning, yet these people disregard all of our Hai family¡¯s face and dare to make such blatantly false accusation!¡± he growled before standing up.


    On his way out he quickly ggrabbed his sword off the wall as he headed towards the front door.


    ¡°Hai Duan! We treated you like a brother, willing to submit to your Hai family and all join together into a single clan in this region. Yet, now you have attacked Qing Xue? Why, because her daughter will no longer marry your grandson!¡± the Qing clan patriarch, Qing Zhong hollered.


    ¡°Indeed! I can understand your frustration about Hai Yun¡¯s disappearance but what does that hove to do with my daughter-in-law?¡± Qin Wu¡¯s voice boomed from the front door as he released his spirit aura of the 7<sup>th</sup> realm, causing the bodyguards at the front door to fall to their knees under the strain.


    AS Hai Duan witnessed this scene he immediately became furious. ¡°You dare!¡± his eyes brimmed with rage as he released his own aura, this time shielding his bodyguards while pushing the pressure towards the Qin clan.


    ¡°The Patriarch is here!¡±


    ¡°Long live the patriarch!¡±


    The body guards began to cheer as they forced themselves to stand up, with new found fighting spirit in their eyes. The expert of the 7<sup>th</sup> realm in the Spirit Aura stage who could force them down to their knees by simply revealing his cultivation was pushed back by their clan¡¯s patriarch. It is natural for this to boost their morale.


    Where the two aura¡¯s collided air itself seemed to be twisting. This wall of distorted air was slowly pushed back with each step Hai Duan took forward. However, before the pressure fell onto the Qin clan, the Qing clan¡¯s patriarch released his own aura, instantly reversing the situation.


    However, despite them combining their auras when Hai Duan stood at the forefront of the gate they could not push it onto the people behind him.


    On Hai Duan¡¯s right hand side, Hai Cang Qiong stood with a faint blue aura surrounding him and next to him was Yun Dong Qing. Qin Wentian was likewise next to Qin Wu. However no one stood next to the Qing clan patriarch, since there was no one from the younger generation who had broken through to the spirit aura realm.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    The party whose assassination was in question, Qing Xue was also in the crowd.


    From the sideline, this confrontation seemed to be going nowhere, anytime soon.


    AS these primary experts all met face to face the crowd quieted.


    ¡°When you wanted to take out your rage with your abusive words due to your grandsons absence, did we utter a single word of discontent? We quietly let you rage and fume, even though we are innocent!¡± Qin Wu¡¯s voice echoed throughout the silent street.


    ¡°However, today you attempted to assassinate my daughter-in-law! This time, if my Qin clan still sits on such an insult you will only grow bolder! Just because your Hai clan would control the region in the future, does not mean you are the only power today!¡±


    Hai Duan narrowed his eyes before sneering. ¡°You claim I falsely accused you! Yet here you are falsely accusing me? What evidence do you even have before coming to my doorstep, slandering the reputation of my clan and lecturing me about who is the real power in this region!¡±


    Qing Zhong snickered. ¡°Qing Wu was attacked by a servant from your mansion who had come into the manor claiming he had a message for Qin Cheng. If Wentian hadn¡¯t walked around the corner in the middle of the attack, she might have already died by now!¡± Qing Zhong turned to face Qin Wu. ¡°Brother Qin, please bring out that servant and let him let him tell everyone, why he attacked my daughter!¡±


    Qin Wu waved his hand and shortly afterward a man wearing a barely recognizable Hai clan servant uniform was dragged to the front. Blood covered his face and the indents on his mouth proved multiple teeth had been recently knocked out.


    As Hai Cang Qiong saw the servants face his eyes widened in alarm. Although he quickly altered his expression, it was noticed by Qin Wu.


    Hai Duan frowned. ¡°Qiong¡¯er, isn¡¯t that one of your servants?¡± Hai Duan whispered.


    Hai Cang Qiong¡¯s expression became puzzled. ¡°Indeed, earlier today I had told him to go to the market to purchase some sound transmission talismans¡±.


    ¡°Come all of you in the crowd. Listen closely,¡± Qing Zhong called before squatting in front of the servant. ¡°This is the personal servant of Hai Cang Qiong, earlier today he came to the Qin clan mansion, claiming he needed to deliver a personal message to Qin Cheng. However, because my daughter Qing Xue, asked for the message to be delivered to her and that he would not get to see Qin Cheng, this servant revealed his true intentions and tried to murder my daughter since he couldn¡¯t get to my granddaughter!¡±


    At this time, Qing Zhong grabbed the servants hair and lifted his head up before continuing, ¡°And who ordered you to come assassinate them?¡± he spat in the servants face.


    ¡°The¡­ patriarch¡­¡± the servant croaked.


    ¡°Speak Up man! Let all of these folks hear you!¡± Qing Zhong slapped the servants back incredibly hard causing another mouthful of blood to be vomited.


    ¡°Hai clan Patriarch!¡± The servant screamed as loud as he could in his hoarse voice.


    This cry immediately silenced the entire Hai Clan. Hai Duan suddenly found himself in a huge fix. If he denied it, then he would be called shameless for denying evidence that was in his face and these two families would not let them off. Yet if he said nothing, then too there would be a fight as they would take it as an admittance.


    ¡°I will make myself very clear. I did not order an assassination on your daughter. My Hai clan is being framed for this and when I find out who it is, I will certainly give an explanation to everyone here,¡± Hai Duan said in voice as apathetic as he could manage. Denial, was evidently the better of the two methods.


    ¡°An Explanation! That¡¯s it!¡± Qing Zhong roared, ¡°My daughter nearly died, and all the evidence points to you! Hai Duan you truly set my sights straight. I was a complete fool for trying to unite my clan under you! Know this, from today forth, my nephew Qing Li will inherit the Qing clan. We shall no longer partake in this stupid deal of unity!¡±


    Hai Duan clenched his teeth. This was exactly what he had been afraid of happening. He had wanted to avoid destroying the alliance under any circumstance what so ever, however the worst situation had just occurred.


    ¡°Qing Clan, lets teach these shameless dogs what happens when someone tries to harm our family!¡± Qing Zhong roared as he stepped forward to attack Hai Duan.


    ¡°Qin clan! Today the Hai clan has destroyed all of our trust. For attempting to assassinate my granddaughter and daughter-in-law, let¡¯s show them the consequences of raising a hand against the members of our Qin Clan!¡± Qin Wu thundered.


    Instantly, the square broke out in war, with Qin Wu facing off against Hai Duan with Qin Wentian supporting him as Hai Cang Qiong and Yun Dong Qing fought with Qing Zhong.


    These clans which had remained at peace with each other till 8 days ago suddenly broke out in an all-out war in front of the Hai clan¡¯s manor.


    ¡­


    Meanwhile a few streets down, inside an equally large manor, Yun Long the patriarch of the Yun clan sat at a desk reading reports.


    Outside of the door, Yun Duo stood quietly. So far, he had killed 3 of his uncle¡¯s informers. Today, he could not make any mistakes.


    For today the Hai clan needed to fall. So long as that happened, there would be no way that his uncle, Yun Long would give up his family¡¯s name and dignity to be integrated into a pathetic and weak Hai clan.


    However, if his uncle got news of the fight before the Hai clan was on the verge of collapse, then he would probably madly rush to their aid. If that happened, the Hai clan would certainly crush both the the Qin and Qing clan. Thus he needed to prevent it at any cost!

 Chapter 15 – Golden Crow Sacred Ground

    Hooray! Second chapter of the week!


    <hr>


    <h4>Chapter 15 ¨C Golden Crow Sacred Ground</h4>


    Qian Mu¡¯s eyes fluttered open. She was currently bound to the side of a cage with a chain around her neck. She could feel the coarseness of her skin as it appeared like torn up parchment.


    She remembered waking up in great pain yesterday. Her bones were broken in many places and her entire body felt so weak and distraught. Apparently, the Efficacious Nirvana hadn¡¯t worked properly. Instead of having her reincarnate her soul had transmigrated into another person¡¯s body.


    This girl¡¯s body whom she had ended up in was also named Qian Mu. This confused her. Was this a coincidence? Or did this mean Hai Yun had also been reincarnated into someone with the same name?


    However she was faced with other more pressing concerns. These had to do with her new life.


    This Qian Mu was born to a servant. Apparently her mother had died in child birth and because no one had ever truly asked her mother about who she had an affair with, it was not quite clear who this Qian Mu¡¯s father was.


    With a dead mother, she had no one to take care of her, so she was raised by some indentured servants. However those servants were simply working to pay off their debts, so when Qian Mu was six years old, they sold her as a slave to the person they were indebted to.


    From there, Qian Mu had been sold to various masters. Most were highly abusive, some had even sexually assaulted her. Thankfully, they atleast had some conscience and did not violate a girl under the age of ten. However they certainly made her do various other shameful matters other than explicit intercourse for their personal pleasure.


    These incidents resulted in her being incredibly timid and completely afraid to so much as make a sound. Many of her masters thought she was mute. Now she had been sold to the young master of the Golden Crow Sacred Ground.


    Here she was treated like a dog. A leather collar was strapped to her neck all day long, and she was forced to crawl on her hands and knees. She was not even allowed to wear clothes! At night she got no blankets or beddings and would have to sleep on the bare ground of this dog cage like room! She couldn¡¯t even considered a human!Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Her primary function was to allow her master to vent the frustrations of his inner heart on her so he would not suffer any impediments in his training. Sometimes, he would cast illusions on her, making her appear like a foe whom he had been defeated by, and to remove his inner demons he would beat her till an inch of her life.


    Finally, he had actually killed this Qian Mu. Due to this, the new Qian Mu was able to assume control of the body.


    Today was the second day of her life, and simply with the memories of how she had been treated previously, she was more enraged than anything else. Partly because she had known the person who was now her master.


    His name was Yan Qiu, and she had been on friendly terms with him. He had been one of her various suitors, and she had never had any bad impressions of him. However the way he treated this slave made her furious! This damned two faced bastard! This Qian Mu was not even 13 yet! Her body was completely parched of any Heaven and Earth Qi, so she had virtually no resistance to any of his heavy handed strikes!


    Suddenly, the door to her cage swung open.


    As she turned her head, her face immediately met with a solid kick.


    ¡°How many times have I told you, that when a dog sees her master it is to come and lick his boots clean. Yet every time without fail you dare turn your eyes to look at my face!¡± Young master Yan snarled, ¡°You should be praying to heaven that this master even pays attention to you every day! Any one of those common plebeians would be eternally grateful to be this master¡¯s dog!¡±


    Qian Mu instantly became furious. However she was forced to quietly hide her anger. Instead she simply crawled forward and bent her head towards his boots. Reluctantly, she slowly stuck her dry tongue out and gently licked a tiny piece of leather on his boots.


    Instantly there was another kick. This time to her abdomen. ¡°Do you think I have all day for you to clean my boots? Licking such a tiny portion at a time. How long do you want me to waste waiting here!¡± Yan Qiu smirked, ¡°Or are you just a glutton for abuse? Perhaps that¡¯s why you purposely try to aggravate this master.¡±


    With a wave of his hand, some servants brought a chair. Sitting down on it he pulled a scroll out of his robe. ¡°You have till the time I finish reading this scroll to completely lick my boots spotless. If there is so much as a grain of rice left I will personally pull out your tongue!¡±


    Indignant, Qian Mu fought hard to speak with him. Although she was not submissive by nature and loved to fight for what she wanted, she knew very clearly that if she were to reveal herself the consequences would be dire. So for the time being she could only do as she was told. Later she would find a way to escape. One day, this person who dared to treat a human so badly would certainly wish he were dead! In fact, the entirety of the Golden Crow Sacred Ground would be utterly and completely destroyed by her! For this was one of the powers which had raided the Crystal Ocean Alchemy Sect. She would certainly make them pay dearly for these actions!

 Chapter 16 – Hai Clan Main Branch Arrives

    Excessive freetime results in a bored to death me which results in writing time. Thus there is more than one chapter for this week...


    <hr>


    <h4>Chapter 16 ¨C Hai Clan Main Branch Arrives</h4>


    In the Qin clan manor.


    Elder Nan gong carefully watched over his disciples as they sat in a meditative posture, quietly cultivating the energy of the heaven and earth.


    Suddenly someone barged through the door. It was Qin Cheng and she was completely panic stricken.


    ¡°Master! Please help, my family allied with the Qing clan to fight with the Hai family. They think the Hai clan tried to assassinate my mother!¡± Qin Cheng knelt on the floor near Elder Nan gong¡¯s feet as she kowtowed with tears in her eyes.


    Elder Nan gong was completely stunned. However he did not hesitate, ¡°Child, lift your head, as your master I should interfere in this matter. There is no reason to beg. Where are they fighting, lead me there¡±.


    ¡­


    On the southern side of central Island.


    ¡°Is that the place where the Divine Beast Physique awoke?¡± a young man no older than 17 stood atop an outcropping. He was followed by 2 people. The person behind him on the left was an elderly man at the Spirit Blood stage. While on the right there was a young girl who appeared no older than 13. She was the most recently awakened person in the Hai Clan Main branch.


    The Young man was the youngest son of the Hai clan main family¡¯s patriarch. Just as the Hai Clan branch family had expected, the main clan had indeed sent him here to use the previous agreement with the branch family in order to rope in the girl with the divine beast physique.


    However the main family was not nearly as inconsiderate as the branch family had expected. The young girl following him was also a talent of the main branch. If the branch family¡¯s young master, who was supposed to be awakening in a few days had a decent amount of talent, they were willing to let him marry into their main family. Her job was precisely to be the bride replacement.


    However she was naturally not anywhere near the top talent in the new generation, as there was simply too much discrepancy between a top talent of the Hai clan main family and what they expected from this branch family.


    The young man was named Hai Gui. The young girl was his cousin named Hai Qing Xue. The old man was another branch family¡¯s elder, sent here for security.


    The trio calmly walked down toward the city, however their faces remained bland, for to them, this place was considerably lacking. Upon entering the town they quickly headed towards where the Hai Clan branch family¡¯s manor was supposed to be. None of them held much expectation in this place, so they did not linger near any of the stalls.


    However when they finally arrived, they really were alarmed with the huge commotion. Before they could make move though to question exactly what was happening a powerful voice boomed through the square.


    ¡°STAND DOWN!¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    The moment these words echoed the old man¡¯s eyes shook. This voice¡­ it was that of Elder Nan gong from the holy music pavilion. He was a very well known figure on the continent as the traveling Musician. It was not that Hai clan was not aware that the Holy Music Pavilion wanted to rope in the girl with the Holy Beast physique, however they never expected one of the supreme elders to come personally!


    It should be known that his two eldest apprentice would be a match for this old man. And the younger of the two was only 19!


    ¡°Elder Nan Gong! Please help my family get justice! The despicable Hai Clan actually tried to murder the mother of your new apprentice!¡± Qing Zhong pleaded. There was no longer the haughtiness of a clan patriarch, instead he tried to appeal to Elder Nan Gong as if it was Elder Nan Gong who had been insulted by this attack by saying ¡°your new apprentice¡¯s mother¡± instead of ¡°my daughter¡±.


    ¡°Shameless! You don¡¯t even know that we really did it!¡± Hai Duan yelled in indignation.


    ¡°You still dare to deny it! Your own servant confessed against you!¡± Qin Wu retorted.


    ¡°Nonsense! Have you seen his condition! If you beat someone enough then whether it is true or not they would still agree with everything you say!¡± As he said this the Hai clan members nodded their heads in agreement while the opposing two clans seemed to become angrier.


    ¡°I DO NOT CARE WHAT HAPPENED! THE THREE OF YOUR CLANS WILL NOT FIGHT TO THE DEATH IN FRONT OF ME!¡± Elder Nan Gong suddenly rose into the air, as if he were a celestial being about to ascend to heaven. His aura was unleashed and the entire world seemed to become a faint green, as all those who had been injured could visibly see their injuries healing as a gentle tune began to play in the background. It seemed like the very fibers of the world were reacting to the music and rhythmically dancing to the tune.


    The wind became gentler and cooler and the entire street stilled.


    ¡°Thank you elder for intervening and keeping the violence at bay. Our Hai family main branch will certainly look into this incidence and give everyone a suitable explanation! If it truly was our branch family acting unruly, then we would like to apologize before hand to everyone for any offense which has been committed,¡± Hai Gui spoke up from within the crowd.


    Instantly all eyes narrowed on the direction of his voice. Did he just say¡­ Hai Clan Main Branch?!?!


    Elder Nan Gong narrowed his eyes. He was certainly no fool, he too had planned t carefully investigate this matter, but by taking the responsibility on themselves in such a way, the Hai Clan main branch had successfully made it to so he can no longer inquire in the open. In such a quick exchange, before he could even say anything, he had been limited out of this investigation!


    ¡°So be it!¡± he sighed before retracting his aura.


    Hidden in a corner of the crowd calmly watching this whole scene two sharp eyes glinted.


    ¡°Master, do you have any idea on what is going on?!?!¡± Hai Yun questioned under his hood. He had planned to come back and sneak into the manor, since everyone was supposed to be pretending that he had not gone anywhere. He had clearly outlined in his letter that they should not leak his disappearance and that they should not worry about it either yet, why did Qin Wu say that his grandfather blamed the Qin family for his disappearance?


    ¡°It is exactly what you heard. I am actually quite weak right now so I can¡¯t pry into their minds without being noticed,¡± Xue Yi replied.


    At this moment Si Wang exited from a in between his eye brows in a miniature form. ¡°I can try digging into their minds, I should have enough power for now¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t!¡± Hai Yun interrupted.


    ¡°mmhh¡­ why?¡± Si Wang was confused.


    ¡°Because, since you can create an image which others will be able to see, then you should pretend to be the supreme expert I mentioned to my clan in the letter,¡± Hai Yun explained.


    Si Wang nodded. Although she could pry into their minds now and figure out exactly what was going on, she still needed to have the strength to create a projection of herself that looked real and could both block and attack for it to be convincing.


    Previously, she had revealed herself to Hai Yun for an extensive period of time, but that was inside her temple. Outside would be a completely different story. It was hard to even come out of the temple as the tiny body she was in right now.


    As she stared at Hai Yun, she couldn¡¯t help but wonder if her choice was a good one.


    ¡­..

 Chapter 17 – Golden Crow sacred spirit

    So it seems I was more bored than I had originally anticipated...


    <hr>


    <h4>Chapter 17 ¨C Golden Crow sacred spirit</h4>


    On the Eastern side of the Scarlet flame continent there lies a chain of 13 islands. If one were to look down from the sky they would notice the outline of a bird with three legs. And if one could go even higher and see the golden magma spewing out from the volcanoes, they would have no doubt that this was the place known as The Golden Crow Sacred Ground!


    Deep into the volcano on the central island which seemed to be torso of the great bird, a little golden chick scampered around, as if the flowing lava was as thin as air. Every now and then it would come to a stop near a dark patch of magma and screech, in its little chick like voice until the dark patch disappeared.


    However, this little bird had still been inside an egg until last year, ad still showed no signs of growing any further.


    Supposedly, in legends of an ancient time, the golden crow spirit had come down to the scarlet flame continent. Its presence in this region cause the 13 volcanos to form in its grand image, as if the earth was paying its respect to the godlike beast. So here, in the volcano which would be at the heart of this volcanic chain it laid an egg. Claiming that one day, someone with an extraordinary affinity of the flame attribute would arrive on the island. On that day the golden crow would send its spirit to this egg and awaken it, and eventually the golden crow with all its might would be born in this world!


    That golden crow will accompany that person. So when the egg hatched, the higher ups of the Golden Crow Sacred ground scrambled through every child that had been born since the egg hatched, however the golden crow¡¯s spirit didn¡¯t seem to take a particular liking towards any one of them.


    While they continued to search through all the children who had been born, Qian Mu was planning her escape.


    She had already become fed up of the abuse and the inability to say anything. So she decided it was time to leave. So over these previous days she had been slowly accumulating various herbs. Many were stolen from the medicinal pavilion. For some strange reason, young master Yan would always send her for medical treatment whenever he beat her to an inch of her life. Almost as if he were afraid something would happen should he kill her.


    Thus she frequently found herself in the medical pavilion being treated by the doctor there. This doctor would always look at her with the greatest pity, but he had no tongue, so he could never speak to her. Hence, after being healed for a time, she began to take inventory of where all the herbs were located. In these past two days she had already received a brief understanding of where everything was.


    Now she was secretly stashing them in the cupboard under the table she would be laid on. While the doctor was not watching she silently slipped four or five them into her mouth. However she did not swallow them, instead she let them sit in her drool.


    If given normal alchemy supplies, she would have soaked these herbs in water to allow them to slowly become like mulsh. Then she would change the water and using some soul force, dissolve the impurities in the herbs into the new water. Then extract the pure substance into another pot of pure water and slowly condense the herbal essences into an elixir.


    However without such supplies available to her, she would have to complete all of those steps in her mouth. So slowly soaking them in her drool for nearly half an hour before she figured they must be ready.


    Then she attempted to utilize her soul force and separate it from the impure substances, and with nowhere to put those impurities, she was forced to swallow them. Completing this required every bit of her will power. For those impurities tasted quite similar to decaying plants or fecal matter.


    Yan Qiu I will never let you off for this! Qian Mu cursed internally.


    After finally swallowing the last bit of the impurities she attempted to recall her soul force, but for some reason it refused to come back! Instantly panicking she tried to forcefully cut of her connection with it to stop more soul force from spilling out of her mouth, yet to no avail. The soul force slowly left her body and began to drift into the ground. However she did not dare to move.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    One thing she had learned these past couple of days of torcher was to not let her curiosity get the better of her. So instead of trying to follow the soul force she tried to pull more saliva up her throat as fast as she could. Once the required level was reached she began to utilize the remaining soul force she had to prepare the elixir. Although this quickened the rate at which she lost her soul force, it was no longer of any concern to her, for the elixir was completed!


    Had Hai Yun been here he would have recognized this elixir as one he had formulated. Its purpose was to open locks!


    When the two were still fairly young, they had been restricted from reading the advanced alchemy archives, however both of them had finished reading all the other books, so Hai Yun created this elixir in order to open the locks on the doors so they could get in.


    When she recalled this scene Qian Mu¡¯s eyes began to tear up. Will we ever meet again brother Hai?


    But in the end, no tear rolled down her eye. Instead her eyes began to grow fiercer with conviction. She swore, that no matter if he had reincarnated as a demon of hell, she would find him and place herself at his feet. Become his arms, legs and his mind if need be.


    Whatever it took to repay the kindness he had showed her, for all those happy times they had spent together, and for the future which she had ruined by forcing him to write her letters. For all of that she would repay him, in full and with interest. But first she needed to get out of here¡­


    ¡­


    Deep into the night, after the naked Qian Mu had been fastened to the cage all the guards returned to their posts. No one would guard her cage through the night, for no one thought this Qian Mu had the capabilities to escape, and even if she did, where would she go?


    However if they knew they were holding a Divine Ranked alchemist in this cage, there would be no doubt that there would be innumerable guards stationed at every corner. A pity that they never knew that the Qian Mu who seemed weak and had no practical knowledge was long dead and replacing her was the second youngest Divine Ranked Alchemist of the Scarlet Flame continent ¨C Qian Mu!


    She silently spit a bit of the lock opening elixir into her hands and slowly applied it to the lock around her collar. Within seconds a soft click could be heard as the collar and chains came off.


    Next she crawled to the door and spit some onto the lock there. It too was followed by a soft click before the door silently swung open. Crawling her way out, Qian Mu moved in the direction of the medical pavilion. With no guards patrolling the inner hallways, her route was unobstructed and she quietly and silently arrived inside.


    Then she grabbed some clothes from the cabinet the medical servants used. Quickly finding some which fit her she moved towards the table she had been laid on.


    Underneath the table was her stash of herbs. She quickly shoved them into her pockets and then quietly crept into a corner. In this corner the various cauldrons the medical staff used for water were kept. Although they were not imbued with elixirs they could still be used to quickly refine an elixir.


    Since earlier in the day when her soul force had started to escape her body, she had barely been able to limit its extraction to a tiny amount but could not permanently stop it. Thus the most important thing to do right now was to stop its flow.


    ¡­


    In the central island, the golden crow chick opened its beak wide as if to yawn. It was just about to begin its rest for the day when it sensed an incredibly strong soul force leak into one of the volcanos. Alarmed and curious, the little chick headed in the direction it sensed the new presence.


    Arriving, it curiously stared at the strand of soul force.


    The experts outside the volcano who had been monitoring the chick with crystal vision planes were also alerted to the strange soul force. Could this soul force be from the one whose arrival had caused the chick to hatch?


    They immediately alerted their superiors who let the head of the sacred ground know of the situation.


    The various experts from all over the sacred ground constantly sent their own soul forces to go probe this foreign soul however it came to no avail. The soul force was incredibly malleable and would easily avoid any probes they sent.


    Only one of the supreme elders had managed to make contact with the soul force. But he claimed the soul was very good at shielding itself and he could not uncover the identity of whoever it was that had released the soul force.


    While these experts were caught up on probing the soul force, the little Golden Crow chick popped its tiny head out of the top of a volcano. It silently scanned its surroundings before emerging and hopping downhill towards the nearby settlements. The same settlement where the mansion of Yan Qiu was located. The place Qian Mu was being held!


    <hr>


    Author''s note: my readers, please rate my novel! I really have no idea how well I am doing or if my novel is utter garbage when i see 70+ followers but not even 15 ratings... Please tell me where I can improve! That''s why I moved over her, i''m begging you!

 Chapter 18 – Death Qi detected

    1st chapter for the week after next week! <Dejected sigh> I have too much free time...


    <hr>


    <h4>Chapter 18 ¨C Death Qi detected</h4>


    After the fight had finally died down, Qin Cheng was considerably calmer. Although she did not yet know what happened, but for there to be no life threatening injuries and only some flesh wounds, she knew the fight had not gotten as intense as she thought it might.


    This calmed her heart by a considerable amount. She had been worried of offending her brother Hai¡¯s family even before they got engaged. That would be quite foolish.


    However her sweet reveries of Hai Yun were quickly destroyed as her senses suddenly began to scream. Death Qi!!!!


    Having fused with the samsara Flame tigress, who had the Fire and Life attributes, she was very sensitive to the Death attribute. And there was clearly a very strong amount which had recently entered the town!


    Curious, she got up and started to head in the direction she induced. However after she reached the main entrance of her house she was stopped by the guards.


    ¡°Sorry miss, we are under the orders of the patriarch to not let you out.¡±


    Qin Cheng frowned. Why wasn¡¯t she allowed outside? Even if there was a fight, she was the new disciple of Elder Nan Gong from the Holy Music Pavilion! No one would dare to make a move on her.


    In fact, it was primarily because of this reason that she was suspicious of the assassination attempt. Because the servant should not have had any intentions of assassinating her! No one in this region would have the guts to offend Elder Nan Gong! So why would anyone be foolish enough to assassinate her?


    However before she could speak up she was interrupted by her father. ¡°Cheng¡¯er, the Hai Clan main family has arrived. Although the branch family may not dare to hurt you, the main family certainly will.¡±


    He had just been passing by when he noticed the scene occurring at the front gates. Unbeknownst to him, it was because she had felt him nearing that she had wanted to get out sooner!


    ¡°Ok father,¡± she said dejectedly. Is the Death Qi from the main Hai family? She wondered. However she obediently followed her father back.


    ¡­


    Hai Yun carefully hid in the street corner as he observed the Qin Manor. The best way to put down this dispute would be to go and make use of Elder Nan Gong. For if he were to waltz back into the Hai family, the main branch would then know what he looked like, allowing them the chance to assassinate him and then marry their representative to Qin Cheng before he awoke.


    As he thought about this he sneered. Trying to steal my, Hai Yun¡¯s fianc¨¦! Just you wait and see what happens to those who offend a Divine Ranked Alchemist!


    ¡°Oh my brilliant ancient god duo, would either of you have any ideas on how to get in there?¡± Hai Yun asked. He had already determined that neither one of these two would actually leave him, because they both wanted to make him rise to his full potential. When they were discussing this person called ¡°Ocean Flame¡± and the shock on their faces from hearing about the Ocean Heart Sutra, he knew very well that what he had, was coveted even by the gods! In fact, it was because the Ocean Heart Sutra required a special soul to cultivate it that he even had the assurance that these two wouldn¡¯t steal it from him.


    ¡°Snarky brat, if you don¡¯t cut it out with the attitude I will just let you die from practicing the Ocean Heart Sutra without a Dao companion!¡± Xue Yi growled. This was already his fourth time making this threat, so he was well aware that Hai Yun had realized what his value was to him. And if anything Hai had perhaps underestimated his own value. For how could he know what it meant to have the soul of someone who was on par with the 3 god Emperors! Only Xue Yue could put this into perspective.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    Si Wang also emerge from Hai Yun¡¯s body at around the same time Xue Yi came out. However she chose to ignore Hai Yun¡¯s attitude and simply got to the point, ¡°Getting in should be fairly easy. There is only the Samsara Flame Tigress who is sensitive enough to Death Qi to detect us, but I doubt this youngling will alert anyone. Even if she does, I do not think they would believe her.


    [Remember this is the name Xue Yue gave Hai Yun, from here on out, I will refer to Xue Yue as Xue Yi. ***NOTE*** Xue Yue means Blood Moon while Xue Yi means Snow Medicine or Snow Doctor]


    I would recommend activating the teleportation array to the Isle of Wailing souls. Then shrink the temple so it is no larger than a fly and hopefully your soul will be strong enough to float it in.¡±


    Hai Yun thought about it for a bit. Logically, this would make sense. After he had nearly devoured everything in the Isle of Wailing souls, Si Wang finally got fed up. However she was unable to kick him out, because he refused to go directly to the door, and instead wanted to loiter around. Thus after much thought, and losing much of her garden, she decided to convert her temple into a natal artifact.


    That way she could tie herself to Hai Yun and hopefully, should he ever exceed her old level one day, she could reshape a body for herself. Currently, he was the only one with the potential to reach that boundary that she knew of in this small world. She had used her soul sense to scour the continent a plethora of times, so when Hai Yun showed up, it was like a blessing from the heavens.


    Hai Yun decided to put this plan into action. Suddenly disappearing from his location, he arrived in the Isle of Wailing Souls. He still felt this whole situation was kind of strange. Supposedly, ones natal artifact exists inside ones natal palace in the head. Most people can send a spiritual version of themselves into their natal palace to check on their natal artifact every now and then, but he could throw his physical body into his natal artifact, which was supposedly inside him?!?!


    Although Si Wang had explained that this temple was special, in that it had the primary purpose of taking him to other places, so he wasn¡¯t really inside the temple, it still didn¡¯t make much sense, because a physical body should be needed to activate teleportation arrays. Si Wang had tried to explain why that was not the case for her temple, but it didn¡¯t make much sense.


    So by sitting on the teleportation array in the Isle of Wailing Souls, he sent his soul strength through and took control of the micro sized temple, which was now sitting on the floor.


    Snaking one tendril of soul strength around it, he tried to pick it up from the ground. However as he was pulling it up he suddenly felt a sharp pain on his back. Ignoring it he tried to lift it further.


    ¡°Are you insane!¡± Xue Yi screamed. ¡°Don¡¯t even try to lift it any higher than a millimeter! Just move it along. You don¡¯t have the necessary strength to lift it over the wall. Just go past under their feet!¡±


    Hai Yun clenched his teeth. AS he began to shakily move the temple one tiny millimeter at a time.


    Suddenly, he felt the sharp pain in his back again. However this time it felt like the world was collapsing on top of him as he screamed in agony. Blood immediately filled his throat and started flooding from his nose.


    The temple, in its miniscule size smashed into the ground and was covered by sand.


    Si Wang sighed in exasperation, as Xue Yi burst out in laughter.


    ¡°Why the hell are you laughing,¡± Hai Yun choked through the blood in his throat.


    ¡°Why? Hehe because you weren¡¯t paying attention so ended up getting stepped on by a weak and pathetic human. Just look at your ridiculous state!¡± Xue Yi began laughing even harder.


    Si Wang only sighed while shaking her head. ¡°You best move the temple as far as possible into a place it wont be stepped on again. Because the pain will only get worse because it is your natal artifact¡±


    Hai Yun grit his teeth and clenched his hands into fists as he forced himself back onto his feet. Imitating a horse stance he restarted and began forcing the temple out of the sand.


    Ignoring the blood which continued to stream down his nose he moved the temple as fast as he could.


    <hr>


    Author''s Note #1: Thank you for the review ZXNORBREZ! I will be fixing the lack of history and details about the characters in the upcoming chapters. I had originally mentioned the order of the cultivation realms in chapter 8, but when I looked at it I realized it really was incredibly insufficient. I hope this gloassary can be more useful in understanding it. If there is something else which I missed, please let me know!


    I will be adding some of the Elixirs that have been used here shortly!


    <hr>


    Author''s Note #2: Thank you all for your feedback! I have moved the Glossary to my wordpress. The link can be found in the novel summary!

 Chapter 19 – Hai Yun’s Awakening

    <h4></h4>


    Second chapter of next week! next week i will probably not be able to post any chapters, so I posted this one in advance. I will probably have another chapter done and posted sometime thursday!


    <hr>


    <h4>Chapter 19 ¨C Hai Yun¡¯s Awakening</h4>


    Although Qin Wentian looked like a brute on the outside -Especially with the way he refused to wear clothing over his upper body and instead showed of his many muscles- he was none the less an avid studier. His room had a plentiful amount of scrolls about martial skills, history and even some cooking recipes. Sitting on his desk in absolute boredom, Hai Yun conveniently read through many of these.


    He was very much aware that he would need to learn some martial skills that were not from the Crystal Ocean Alchemy sect. Otherwise that might give him away. So he decided to study the martial skills from the Qin clan as they had the Fire attribute, and according to his master Xue Yi, he would probably awaken with it.


    It should be known that the Ocean Heart Sutra was primarily for gathering heaven and earth qi and building up ones meridians and dantian. It could provide a very strong foundation and would help him make his body stronger but it did not give him any martial skills he could use in practical combat. It was like making a sword from the strongest steel and using it as a hammer. It would simply be too wasteful.


    Since he was supposed to awaken tomorrow, he decided he might as well begin studying something other than alchemy today.


    While Hai Yun was engrossed in reading through the various manuals, Qin Wentian was heading back to his room.


    Qin Wentian sighed to himself. He had spent much of these last few days pondering over this whole situation. It was not hard for him to figure out that something was out of place in this situation. First, Hai Yun just mysteriously disappeared causing the Hai clan to point a figure at them. Then a servant comes in looking for Qin Cheng and attempts to assassinate his wife?


    With his head down he turned towards his study room. AS he shut the door behind him he looked up and was immediately jolted out of his reverie.


    ¡°Yu¡­ yu.. Hai YUN!¡± Qin Wentian gasped. He was not sure if he was seeing visions or not! The missing Hai Yun was calmly sitting on his desk right?!?! No¡­ Something was wrong. There was a strange dark tatoo on Hai Yun¡¯s forehead. When he looked at it closely he was overwhelmed by fear! For no reason at all, the tattoo simply made him want to fall to his knees! Just what kind of pressure was this?!?!


    When Xue Yi had sensed Qin Wentian¡¯s presence he had alerted Hai Yun. Thus, he was not found reading through the Qin Clan¡¯s manuals.


    Hai Yun smiled, ¡°Good evening Uncle Qin!¡±


    ¡°Goo¡­good evening,¡± Qin Wentian was still finding it hard to get over the shock from looking at the tattoo he stuttered. He instantly reprimanded himself. Stupid Qin Wentian! How could you act so scared in front of a boy who isn¡¯t even a third of your age!


    Hai Yun politely got off the desk and bowed. He already understood that Qin Wentian had become flustered due to the new tattoo on his forehead. It really did give the creepy feeling of being dead.


    ¡°Earlier today I found everyone fighting in front of my home. Uncle, I heard something about me having been kidnapped by your family?!?! Do you know what is going on?¡± After awkwardly standing there for a while Hai Yun decided he needed to take the initiative in this conversation. He had expected his uncle to immediately ask him questions so he could explain himself and then figure out what was happening, but it appeared like his tattoo was really too frightening. He would have to create a potion to help hide that later.


    ¡°Indeed¡­ what is going on¡­¡± Qin Wentian muttered, ¡°A few days ago, you spontaneously disappeared causing your grandfather to come over here and blame us for doing it. However he couldn¡¯t find any proof so he had to leave after gnashing his teeth.¡±


    ¡°Eh! But I left my father a letter saying that the mysterious expert had called me to go and meet him.¡± Hai Yun was confused, he had clearly stated many details inside that letter. He had explicitly stated that the mysterious expert had wanted to check his talent and that he might be taken in as his disciple¡­ So why did this whole situation erupt?


    Now it was Qin Wentian¡¯s turn to become confused. ¡°What did you say? You left with the mysterious expert? The same one who gave you that antidote which you had fed Qin Cheng?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± I left a letter to my father telling him all about it.¡±


    ¡°Huh!¡± Qin Wentian became even more confused. He knew Hai Cang Qiong¡¯s disposition very well. And one thing he could guarantee was that if Hai Cang Qiong really knew the truth of his son¡¯s disappearance than he would definitely not have let the Hai clan point an accusing figure at the Qin clan. So why had this whole situation happened?


    ¡°Father, may I come in?¡± a gentle voice sounded from outside. It belonged to Qin Cheng. Earlier she had felt the death qi enter her house but when she went to look for its location she couldn¡¯t find anything. It was only earlier that she had sensed it to be coming from her father¡¯s study room.


    Hai Yun nodded his head. As if to motion Qin Wentian that it was alright to let Qin Cheng in. Unknowingly, he had already become the leading figure in this conversation.


    After seeing Hai Yun¡¯s approval, Qin Wentian went to the door and opened it.


    Before she could react, Qin Cheng was pulled into the room by her father and the door was quickly closed before she could say anything. However before she could ask what going on she was found herself being embraced by someone.


    This person dares to act so audaciously in my Qin clan! Just who does he think he is! However when she finally pushed herself out the words got stuck in her throat.


    ¡°Hai Yun¡­¡± she whispered.


    Hai Yun smiled back at her, ¡°When I found out about the assassination attempt I was incredibly worried there would be another one targeting you¡± he spoke earnestly.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°Brother Hai, are you sure awakening in our mansion without your parents being present is a good idea?¡± Qin Cheng questioned.


    She stood alone with Hai Yun in her father¡¯s study. The two 13 year olds, or rather the thirteen year old and the one day short of thirteen years old were seated arm in arm on the desk. Due to her age, Qin Cheng didn¡¯t seem to think anything wrong with the whole situation, but Hai Yun who had been 17 when he had died had cold sweat streaming down his back.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think there should be anything wrong with it. In fact, it would safer to do so here than back in my home because those main branch bastards might attempt to kill me before it is time for my awakening¡±. While speaking he tried his best to sound indifferent.


    ¡­


    Meanwhile in the Hai clan mansion.


    ¡°It seems like you have escaped your marriage Qingxue,¡± Hai Gui spoke while staring out the balcony.


    After arriving he had received a second floor room in the mansion that was nearly as large as the patriarchs chamber. By standing on this balcony, Hai Gui could easily see across the entire city. To him, this place was very small.


    Hai Qing Xue quietly stood to the side with her head slightly lowered. If one were to say she was elated, they could not be further from the truth. In fact, she had been quite interested in this affair because it would mean that she would have nearly unlimited freedom because her fianc¨¦ was bound to always be weaker than her. This meant she could do whatever she wished while he wouldn¡¯t be able to lay a single finger on her.


    This meant she could be one of the few who had a true love affair with someone, and he wouldn¡¯t dare to reveal it for it would truly be shameful for man to openly admit he could not keep up with his won wife.


    However now, she would have to say good bye to those dreams. Because if she were not married to him, then the clan would definitely use her to build relations with someone else. The she would truly become nothing more than a decoration, for she would definitely not be betrothed to some fool again, only to talented people the Hai clan wanted to rope in.


    ¡°No, I guess you actually just lost any chance at your freedom with this fool¡¯s death,¡± Hai Gui sighed. He too did not understand the circumstances surrounding Hai Yun, however he got a vague sense of foreboding in the near future.


    Could it be because they share the same name? Hai Gui thought back to a person he had once seen¡­


    In a palace sculpted from ice like stones which stood proudly on its lone island surrounded by the vast ocean. The silhouette of a boy no older than himself stood tall and proud with a dignified appearance. As if he was born to rule the world. A cold, emotionless smile was plastered to his face as he speedily walked through the corridors, going in and out of various rooms collected herbs into an interspatial ring with a wave of his hands.


    However he suddenly stopped as he noticed Hai Gui staring at him. And when he turned his head to glance in his direction Hai Gui could feel the pressure of a thousand mountains attempting to crush his soul.


    Despite there being no real difference between their cultivations, the person in front of him seemed to suppress his very soul with that glance. It was the first time Hai Gui had felt fear and awe for someone in his generation.


    Hai Gui had always been a proud son of heaven, and only took the top disciples of the other peak powers as his future opponents and people he would have to deal with. However for Hai Yun of the Crystal Ocean Alchemy sect, he did not want to deal with him at all, only run away as fast as possible.


    ¡­


    While Hai Gui and Hai Qing Xue were busy in their own thoughts a massive and powerful force burst out of the Qin clan mansion. A tremendous pillar of golden and blue light shot from the earth directly into the sky scattering the clouds!


    Hai Cang Qiong who had been cultivating was hastily awoken from his meditation. He dashed to the window in confusion to search for where the large disruption in Heaven and Earth Qi originated from.


    Isn¡¯t that the Qin clan¡¯s direction? He wondered while walking out, however the sight which greeted him was far from anything he had originally expected.


    A massive pillar of golden light shooting up from the ground. However as his vision drifted up the sky his jaw dropped through the floor. At the top of the pillar four different colored dragons were circling the pillar of golden light. One dragon the color of a blazing vermillion, another of the blue green color of the seas, followed by a pitch black one which seemed to swallow the light with every movement and finally a blinding white one which seemed to be made out of the purest clouds.


    Were these not Dragon Kings of the four seas?!?!?!


    Just who was able to summon apparitions in their forms? Was someone of incredible talent awakening? Wait¡­ Hai Cang Qiong¡¯s mind suddenly blanked¡­ today should be the day¡­ Yun¡¯er is awakening¡­


    Nearby, Yun Dongqing had the exact same idea.


    The husband and wife only glanced at each other for a moment before dashing to Hai Duan¡¯s chamber.


    ¡°Father, someone with an incomparable amount of talent is awakening in the direction of the Qin clan!¡± Hai Cang Qiong could not bear to withhold the information for even a second, the moment he saw his father he had already spilt the beans.


    Upon seeing the expression on his sons face, Hai Duan already understood that he must be suspecting that the person who was awakening was Hai Yun. With a slight nod Hai Duan immediately headed for the Qin clan.


    ¡­


    These events did not go unnoticed by Hai Gui and Hai Qingxue, they too had already started to head of in that direction. For with just a simple glance, one could tell that whoever it was that was awakening was certainly no push over, rather they were bound to become an earth shaking figure in the future!


    ¡­


    Qin Wentian was left agape with shock as Hai Yun was awakening. The entire roof over his study room had been blasted into smithereens by the sheer force of the Heaven and Earth Qi being drawn toward Hai Yun as his meridians opened. Even now, the tremor that was being released seemed to suppress his soul!


    He had never felt this kind of pressure before, not even from people whose cultivation was above his. This seemed like a force which could extinguish his life with a flick of his hand.


    Qin Cheng who was right beside him was also feeling pressure. The samsara flame tigress was powerful, however it was still not something which could match up with the Dragon Kings of the four seas. At this point, all observers were fairly certain that the person who was awakening had even more talent than Qin Cheng.


    However the first person to arrive at the scene was none other than Elder Nan gong.


    ¡°This¡­ Just who is awakening?¡± he asked completely horrified. This kind of power was nearly double the force at which Qin Cheng had awoken. And this one wasn¡¯t even inciting any tribulation lightning?!?!


    For the first time in his long life, Elder Nan gong was truly confused. He had only read about the awakening of Holy Beast physiques in ancient texts, however he had never seen any type of artwork depicting what they looked like as the last one to be recorded happened thousands of years ago. Despite being a lower Spirit Sovereign who had lived for more than 1,500 years he had yet to see any sort of phenomenon like this. Thus he was truly shocked speechless.


    ¡°That¡¯s brother Hai,¡± Qin Cheng whispered.


    These words immediately caught elder Nan gong¡¯s attention. Wasn¡¯t this the brat who had asked him to wait here for an additional 3 days! As he recalled that faithful scene his eyes flashed with nostalgia. ¡°So it really was self-confidence¡­¡± he whispered. However no one heard him.


    However Hai Gui had also arrived at this point. Obviously with the Spirit Blood ranked body guard no one dared to obstruct him so he had also managed to listen in on Qin Cheng¡¯s conversation. Had Elder Nan gong been paying attention, perhaps he would have discovered the killing intent but he was simply too distracted. Exactly what was going on in his mind was something others couldn¡¯t even begin to guess at.


    However, when Hai Gui realized that the one awakening was Hai Yun he realized that plans must be changed. For the first time, he released killing intent¡­


    <hr>


    Author''s note: Sorry for the delay, I just deleted my entire stockpile of chapters in order to make Hai Yun awaken sooner for everyone. I am not entirely satisfied with this chapter, but I am also unsure of what exactly I am dissatisfied about. Please leave comments on ways I can improve this chapter, or if I am just overthinking things, please let me know about that too!


    Thx!

 Chapter 20 – Are you really who you claim to be?!?!

    <h4>Chapter 20 ¨C Are you really who you claim to be?!?!</h4>


    Nearly an hour later, the pillar of light died down. The Dragon Kings of the four seas roared together before charging down into Hai Yun¡¯s body where they disappeared in a flash of bright light.


    Following that Hai Yun could vaguely be seen, however his image seemed to be quite hazy. While others may have remained ignorant to the brief flash of killing intent Hai Gui displayed, Hai Yun was not. He had an extremely powerful soul force, and after he had his soul drawn out by the vengeful spirits in the Isle of Wailing Souls he already had his soul domain back. However he showed no hostility towards Hai Gui in the slightest, only calmly turned to Qin Cheng and gave her his best smile.


    That¡¯s right, just a simple smile. However to Hai Gui this was the affirmation he had been waiting for. That Hai Yun had been hidden by the Hai clan branch family inside the Qin clan in order to distract him! This only strengthened his resolve to show these lowly branch members what it meant to play tricks on him.


    On the other hand Hai Qingxue was completely captivated by Hai Yun. She had originally been hoping to marry someone of poor talent so she could pursue her own interests, however being married to an incomparable talent suddenly didn¡¯t seem like such a bad idea. As the saying goes, it is easy to think something without knowing, but once you see it in the flesh it can be hard to resist.


    However how could someone like her possibly even catch Hai Yun¡¯s eye. He had still not even noted her presence, instead he walked towards Qin Cheng, ever so slowly. But not a single person dared to stop him.


    While walking, time seemed to slow down, as a reached into his sleeve. What is he going to pull out? Nearly everyone in the room wondered. Slowly, a jade green flute was revealed. The ink like jade color seemed to be flowing through the flute and depending on which angle one viewed it from it looked different. The object was simply incomparably gorgeous!


    ¡°Qin Cheng, I wasn¡¯t sure what I should I get you for your engagement gift, so I decided it should be something which would be useful to you in the near future. This is the sky ranked artifact, Samsara Flame Fusion¡±.


    Qin Cheng¡¯s eyes widened as she heard this name. Does he really know? Yet he is still willing to marry me? The purpose of naming the flute as such was certainly to secretly let her know that he knew about the Samsara Flame Tigress wasn¡¯t it? If it were any other person, they would definitely not be willing to marry her simply out of the fear that she could become the puppet of the Samsara Flame Tigress at any time. If that were to happen, any existence on the continent would be easily killed. In fact it was pretty much a death sentence because if the Samsara Flame tigress did regain consciousness she would definitely kill all those around her and absorb their life essence.


    However her thoughts were immediately brought to a stand still as three claps resounded from Hai Gui¡¯s direction.


    ¡°So not only does a foreigner come and impersonate a member of my Hai clan, they even wish to steal away our Hai clan¡¯s future daughter in-law?¡± Hai Gui¡¯s voice rang out. It was crisp and clear.


    What? Nearly everyone in the crowd was taken aback. When they had seen the figure initially, they had immediately thought it was Hai Yun. But if the Hai clan main branch was saying it was an impersonator¡­ Then it might be possible. Otherwise, how could Hai Yun possibly awaken with such a ridiculous amount of talent?


    They found this thought process to be logical.


    Hai Yun on the other hand, was seething with rage. ¡°Did I do something to offend this young master? If not, why are you slandering me so,¡± Hai Yun¡¯s voice was filled with indignation as if he were about to explode at any second.


    He had never dealt with being falsely accused before, this could be called a first. So naturally he was beyond irritated.


    ¡°Slander¡­ Why would I wish to slander you,¡± Hai Gui smiled, however his killing intent was unmasked at this time as he slowly walked towards Hai Yun¡¯s position till they came face to face. However he just snickered in front of him before turning back to face the crowd.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    On the side, Elder Nangong fell into deep thought.


    ¡°200 years ago, people from another continent across the great ocean came to the Scarlet Flame Continent and attacked us here on our homeland,¡± Hai Gui began. ¡°These people came from a continent known as, Azure Sea continent. And all of them had either the Water, or flame attribute. Some of their rare talents, even had both¡­¡± Hai Gui turned to stare back at Hai Yun.


    ¡°And the Four generals who led the invasion were commonly known as, the Dragon King¡¯s of the Four Seas. One had the emblem of the Vermillion Dragon General, Azure Dragon General, White Dragon General and Black Dragon general.¡±


    Everyone¡¯s gaze violently shook as they finally understood what the implied meaning behind his words were.


    ¡°Just 13 years ago we found one Spirit King ranked practitioner from that continent who had yet to leave here, at that time, she was pregnant. Is it really just coincidence that your precisely 13 years old¡­¡± Although Hai Gui¡¯s words grew softer the more he spoke, but they also grew increasingly more poisonous.


    ¡°Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha¡­¡± When Hai Yun heard this he suddenly began to laugh madly.


    ¡°Hai Gui, oh young master Hai Gui¡­¡± Hai Yun began with a simpering smile, ¡°Someone as knowledgeable as you, could actually so shamelessly proclaim me as someone from another continent. Even if you wanted to find an excuse to break my marriage with Qin Cheng, did you really have to be so stupid about it.


    Do you think, just because the Dragon King¡¯s of the Four seas were the titles used by the invading generals that they each awoke with a Holy Beast Physique like mine? If that¡¯s true, why were even able to resist them in the first place?¡± Hai Yun began to circle Hai Gui as he continued.


    ¡°If what you say is true, and that 13 years ago you found a Spirit King from that continent on our Scarlet Flame continent, just because she was pregnant, you think I am her child. I am pretty sure, that everyone here on this island can vouch for me in this, that 13 years ago my mother was pregnant with me.


    Your accusations, are not only baseless, they are also incredibly foolish.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ while these arguments are true, I do still have another question for you Hai Yun,¡± Hai Gui smirked, ¡°I had heard that you were saved by a mysterious expert when you were poisoned. Could you tell me, who exactly this mysterious expert was?¡±


    ¡°This¡­¡± Hai Yun faultered. He had never thought that this mysterious expert garbage he made up could come and bite him back like this. Damn It!


    Earlier he had said he didn¡¯t know who the mysterious expert was. Now if he randomly named someone then Hai Gui would probably go and check. If he named no one, then he would be called out for being a foreigner.


    Based on this information, he clearly understood one thing. That was, no matter what answer he gave, he was screwed!


    So he decided to do the one thing which could, for sure get him out of here.


    ¡°As to who that mysterious expert was, I have no idea. If you plan to detain me making some false accusations that he is another ¡®hidden expert¡¯ left behind from that war 200 years ago, then please do.


    Let me guess, you were planning to say something like ¡®That mysterious expert has been helping you hide for all these years. Your mother probably didn¡¯t even know that her child was switched. Just thinking about what happened to her poor child because of you makes me want to smash you into meat patty right here.¡¯ And so on so forth,¡± Hai Yun took on a sarcastic voice as he imitated Hai Gui¡¯s expression, causing the Spirit Blood practitioner behind him to sharpen his gaze. He had never seen someone be so rude to the young master before, so if this continued on, he would tear this brat apart in an instant. In fact, he was already getting ready to kill this insolent kid, but unfortunately, even if hai Yun doesn¡¯t have a lot of practical experience in debating people, Xue Yi had plenty.


    ¡°What, are you going to kill me now for being rude. SO then you can try and marry Qin Cheng?¡± Hai Yun brought his face within an inch of Hai Gui¡¯s.


    ¡°Dissolute!¡± The Spirit Blood practitioner finally lost his temper, ¡°You think just because you awoke with talent, you are suddenly worth something? Well, let me tell you, your weak little boy,¡± His palm descended as if planning to eradicate Hai Yun from the face of the earth with that single strike.


    Boom!


    An explosion blasted out from the place where the palm descended, however there was no Hai Yun in sight.


    ¡°Hai Gui, oh Hai Gui. I thought so highly of you¡­ But it seems you really are a disappointment. With future leader like you, your Hai Clan main branch is definitely screwed,¡± a voice similar to crystals falling voice echoed out in the already jam packed area. ¡°However you truly have my thanks, because of your stupidity, I was able to get such a talented disciple!¡±


    Naturally this was the voice of Si Wang. Although they would definitely not be able to identify an expert with this voice, at least it sounded powerful.


    As the dust settled everyone began looking around for the source of that voice. However not only were they unable to find it, a certain someone was also missing now. That person was none other than Qin Cheng¡­

 Chapter 21 – The strongest yet weakest power

    <h4>Chapter 21 ¨C The strongest yet weakest power</h4>


    ¡°Brother Hai, where exactly is this place?¡± Qin Cheng asked.


    ¡°This would be my natal artifact,¡± Hai Yun replied. He decided that he wasn¡¯t going to hide any secrets from his fianc¨¦, as that would only lead to things becoming counterproductive. ¡°Oh right, I should apologize for stealing you from Elder Nangong like this. Because I brought you in here, I can¡¯t eactly send you out without the Hai clan main branch noticing¡±.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. I like it in here anyway¡±.


    Right after the Spirit Blood practitioner who had accompanied Hai Gui made his move, Hai Yun had brought himself and Qin Cheng into the Isle of the Wailing souls. Because of the messy situation, Si Wang had used a portion of her soul force to soften the ground underneath them so the impact was greatly dispersed. However it still took nearly a day before Hai Yun regained consciousness. In this time, neither Xue Yi nor Si Wang showed themselves to Qin Cheng.


    However Qin Cheng did not stray at all, in fact she only went looking for water. Even that was not because she was thirsty, but so she could tear of a portion of her skirt and use it as a rag to wipe of al of Hai Yun¡¯s blood.


    The two gods couldn¡¯t help but gain a favorable impression of the na?ve looking 13 year old. Their attitude was just like that of an old couple testing their future daughter in-law.


    After waking up, the first thing Hai Yun had done was finish his marriage proposal to Qin Cheng. Earlier he had been stopped by all the commotion.


    This is where Xue Yi realized Hai Yun¡¯s greatest flaw. He might be a genius in alchemy, but has 0 practical experience. Other than refining elixirs, he had never dealt with politics before, so he was always being stumped by these situations and doing various stupid things.


    For example, essentially letting Hai Gui talk and not cutting him off. If it had been anyone else, they would have shut him up before he finished his last sentence. That wasn¡¯t even much of a debate, Hai Yun was just getting a complete and total roasting by words.


    They would seriously need to work on his speech skills¡­


    ¡°Oh right, Qin Cheng I should introduce my master to you,¡± Hai Yun clapped his hands under this new realization.


    As if on cue, Xue Yi appeared before the duo with a slight smile on his face.


    ¡°This is my master, Xue Yi. He¡¯s an old geezer from the past Great Antiquity period and held a lofty office under a God Emperor. Although he is not the strongest person from the Great Antiquity, but he will reluctantly do for my master,¡± Hai un sighed.


    ¡°Reluctantly¡­ qualifies¡­ Fine, why don¡¯t you go find a better candidate for a teacher. From this point on, I shall teach you nothing!¡± Xue Yi fumed.


    ¡°Right, he also frequently throws temper tantrums. Don¡¯t underestimate the temper tantrum of someone over a hundred thousand years old.¡±


    ¡°I dare you to say that to my face brat!¡±


    ¡°Did you forget that your just a spirit now. You don¡¯t technically have a face!¡±


    ¡°You!!!! How come you have such a sharp tongue around me but couldn¡¯t even speak up for yourself when you were accused by that Hai Gui. DO you know how much trouble you¡¯ve invited for yourself?!?!¡±


    ¡°Qin Cheng greats the sacred master,¡± Qin Cheng bowed in the formal greeting one gives to their elders.


    ¡°Rise,¡± Xue Yi waved his hand. ¡°When did all these different forms of bowing develop anyway. It really is bothersome to be a junior in your era¡±.


    ¡°Eh¡­ You didn¡¯t have these customs back in the Ancient Antiquity?¡± Hai Yun asked.


    ¡°The only thing we had to do back then was kowtow to our masters. This whole, bow to elders and what not was definitely not around then. Probably because everyone was immortal so we never knew who was how many years old¡­¡±


    ¡°Puh¡­ Wait, then how did these customs come about?¡± Qin Cheng¡¯s curiosity was also piqued by this comment. To her these customs was a show of formality and represented the respect she gave to her elders, however she had never wondered how these customs came about in the first place.


    ¡°Eh¡­ why do you think I know. Probably because some fool was making bets with another fool and was like, ¡®If I win this bet you better kowtow to me and call me your grandfather¡¯ or something. Since most people would become disciples of some old codgers who thought strutting around in a white beard earned them some respect,¡± Xue Yi commented nonchalantly.


    One should remember that Xue Yi looks like a middle aged man with sand peppered hair which is more black then grey. So it can be assumed that maintaining a young face was not only not impossible, but probably something many ten thousand year old monsters used to do back in the day.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    But still¡­ to think the customs of bowing to ones elders probably came from someone trying to shame someone else¡­ It really made people feel, well stupid¡­


    ¡°Brother Hai, what should we do now? Since we decided to run away, then we obviously cant go and join another power. That would be too disloyal for me,¡± Qin Cheng asked.


    ¡°he he he¡­ No matter which power we joined it would take hundreds of years before we became powerful. Let me explain something to you.


    The current power structure is divided into many powers of different grades. Historically, the highest grade of power was the 7<sup>th</sup> grade federation of 40,000 years ago. It was a single power which controlled the entire continent! Supposedly at that time there were many practitioners who had surpassed the Spirit Sovereign realm. 30,000 years ago, however the great emperor who led the continent died.


    After his death the 3 supreme elders broke off into their own factions and the era of the triumvirate came about. Each of these elders was about equal in power, however no one was able to cultivate to their realm and challenge them, simply because they would kill anyone who got close. The law they instituted was that there must never be another practitioner at their realm, because if there was then the moment they died everything on the continent would go to that person.


    Thus they hunted and killed anyone with heaven defying talent.


    However, they also could not live forever and after their deaths, the strongest people left were the 6 last gods.


    The reason we call them the last gods is because under their rule, they prevented anyone from learning the secret to breakthrough into the divine realm from the Spirit Sovereign realm.


    Thus, the era of the 6 god kings lasted from 20,000 years ago to about 10,000 years ago. Then the strongest people in society were only at the peak of the spirit sovereign realm. There were about 30 some of these codgers, and it just so happens that they each wanted to create their own sect.


    Thus the present era of the peak powers. Since Spirit Sovereigns only have a life of about 2,000 years the number of peak powers has always been changing. However since no one can break through the divine realm, the world is somewhat at peace. Currently they are divided into 4 great alliances, the Martial alliance, Life alliance, Flame Alliance and Sword alliance.


    Outside of these alliances there are also many peak powers who choose to remain independent. The Holy music Pavilion is one such power. They are one of the stronger ones with 2 people at the peak of the Spirit Sovereign realm, 10 at the 9<sup>th</sup> step of the spirit sovereign realm and nearly 80 people at or below the 8<sup>th</sup> rank of the spirit sovereign realm.


    Using this logic, we can see that the alliances themselves. The strongest alliance is the martial alliance. They are composed of the Earth Fire Crane clan, Great Desolate Palace, Thousand Fist sect, Frost Phoenix Dynasty and the Chronicle Fire Dragon Clan. In total, they have 10 members at the peak of the Sovereign Profound realm. Nearly 100 at the 9<sup>th</sup> step of the Spirit sovereign realm and more than a thousand other Spirit Sovereigns.


    However even though this seems quite intimidating, there is actually a single peak power which is able to keep this alliance in check. They are frequently called the strongest, yet weakest peak power.


    The infamous, Scarlet Cloud Poison Sect. With absolutely no Spirit Sovereign practitioners. However they have 9 people at the peak of the Spirit Emperor realm and 81 at the 9<sup>th</sup> step of the Spirit Emperor realm,¡± Hai Yun explained.


    ¡°but isn¡¯t the spirit emperor realm an entire realm under the Spirit Sovereign. So the difference between the peak of the Spirit Emperor and the Peak of the spirit sovereign should be 10 entire steps!¡± Qin Cheng was alarmed, how could a power without a single spirit sovereign be called the strongest peak power? Could they really put up a fight against more than a thousand Spirit Sovereigns?


    ¡°This is precisely why they are called the strongest, yet the weakest. They practice a special at called the Scarlet Cloud Poison arts. There are a total of 11 stages and mastering each one allows a person to have the power of someone an entire stage above them. That is to say, if someone at the 9<sup>th</sup> step of the Emperor profound realm from their sect were to fight with someone at the 10<sup>th</sup> step of the Spirit emperor realm from another sect, and the emperor from the Scarlet Cloud Poison Sect mastered the 1<sup>st</sup> level of the Scarlet Cloud Poison arts, then the two would be evenly matched in power.


    Why this is true, no one knows clearly, but it is definitely true. The greatest fear for all the other peak powers is precisely that someone at the peak of the Spirit Emperor realm in that sect masters the 11<sup>th</sup> level of the Scarlet Cloud Poison Arts. It is highly possible that if that were to happen they would have the strength equal to someone at the early stages of the Divine God realm. The other fear, of course, is that someone breaks through to the Spirit Sovereign realm, because that would have the exact same effect.


    So if we were to use this logic, the Scarlet Cloud Poison Sect would have 9 peak Spirit Sovereigns and 81 9<sup>th</sup> step Spirit Sovereigns. That¡¯s almost the same amount of power as the entire martial alliance, none of the 6 peak powers which make it up could independently face of with the Scarlet Cloud Poison sect. The disparity is just too great. It is only because Spirit Emperors can¡¯t live as long as Spirit Sovereigns that the martial alliance was able to exceed the Scarlet Cloud Poison sect¡¯s numbers.¡±


    ¡°There really is such a power?¡± Qin Cheng was astounded.


    ¡°Yes, there really is a power like this.¡± Hai Yun affirmed. ¡°From this logic one can see that the real support of any sect is actually the number of Peak Spirit Sovereigns. So if we were to join one of those powers, we would probably be placed nearly at the top and other than the other Children of heaven from other sects, we would not have any other opponents that would fight all out with us.


    This is why I want to create my own influence. The best part of that would be that we wouldn¡¯t have to deal with a lot of backstabbing. In most peak powers, there are lots of hidden political games going on for power and joining one of them would require us to enter that conflict eventually. This is the benefit of creating a brand new influence,¡± Hai Yun finished.


    ¡°But, with just the two of us now, aren¡¯t we too weak?¡± Qin Cheng understood the logic behind what Hai Yun was saying but there was a big problem. They were simply not strong enough right now!


    ¡°He He He¡­ We don¡¯t need to be the strongest to get a big influence. We just need to have strong subordinates who would not dare to betray us,¡± Hai Yun smiled.

 Chapter 22 – Yue Qiujian

    <h4>First Chapter of Next week</h4>


    <hr>


    <h4>Chapter 22 ¨C Yue Qiujian</h4>


    When cultivating, one needs to have a sutra, which is a means of building up and geathering the heaven and earth qi into ones dantian. Using the sutra, one can cultivate without impediments and constantly draw qi into their body.


    In the human body there are typically 8 meridians. These are like channels which control the flow of Heaven and Earth qi inside the body. In the Nascent Spirit realm when someone awakens these 8 meridians are all simultaneously activated.


    By they help absorb the qi of heaven and earth and can gather it into the dantian. A break through in the Nascent Spirit Realm essentially happens when one has sustained enough qi in their dantian for a decent amount of time. This feeling of being stuffed full will cause the dantian to feel like it bursting open and the qi will rush into the next layer. Think of it like an egg inside another egg. When there is enough matter inside the small egg it will crack open and leak into the next egg. When that egg has also ben filled it will crack and go into the next one.


    This is essentially cultivation. When someone enters the Spirit Profound Realm, then it is like the dantian has reached it largest size and becomes capable of exiting the dantian and reaching to things outside the body. When one is able to release a sufficient amount of qi then they can practice martial skills. Usually this occurs when they are at the 6<sup>th</sup> step of the Spirit Profound Realm.


    The Spirit Aura realm is when the Qi inside one¡¯s body permeates the air creating an aura around the practitioner.


    Under normal circumstances, a person will use a sutra to cultivate the Qi of heaven and earth. For example, the Ocean Heart Sutra is divided into three parts. The first part gathers lots and lots of Water attribute Qi and equal amounts of Life and Death attribute Qi, while completely neglecting Fire attribute. This causes an imbalance in the body as the Water attribute Heaven and Earth Qi inside the dantian will attempt to put out the Fire attribute Qi which is part of his body. Once that is eliminated then Hai Yun will die.


    For this reason, it is important for him to have dao partner that pass some Fire attribute Heaven and Earth Qi into his body.


    The benefits of this is that he doesn¡¯t have to cultivate an additional attribute. If he did, then his cultivation speed would slow down tremendously, using this method he can speed up without destroying his foundation as he is borrowing his Dao partners foundation to help bear the brunt of his own attributes.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    The 3 part sutra is called as such because the first part requires both parties to simply chant the words to gather qi. The second part is to allow them to pass qi to each other. And the third part is to fuse their bodies. This is not limited to just a husband and wife relationship, but even fusion down to the cellular level until the two can fully become one person.


    Thus a single being with two foundations, one in fire and the other in its polar opposite. This is the fearsomeness of the Heaven Defying race!


    If a normal person like Hai Yun were to have both the Fire and Water attributes it would spell disaster, because even a single one element become stronger than other will cause it to start attacking the other. By borrowing another person foundation, allows a finer control of how much qi should be inputted.


    However, the self combustion due to the two attributes destroying each other only occurs when one steps out past the Spirit Fusion Stage. So as long as he finds a dao partner before then, it will be alright.


    Currently, the 3<sup>rd</sup> step of the Nascent Spirit Stage Hai Yun and Qin Cheng at the 2<sup>nd</sup> step of the Nascent Spirit Stage rapidly approached the central plains of the continent.


    After nearly a month, all the powerful influences had walked off the central isles, and in order to not alert anyone the duo had a quick conference with their fathers before setting out.


    ¡°Father, I actually have one more issue to speak with you about,¡± Hai Yun called out before departing.


    Sensing his son become solemn, Ha Cang Qiong immediately took off his smile and listened intently.


    ¡°Father, there is a good chance that I am going to infuriate many people from the peak powers. In fact, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if anytime I beat someone up I get called out for being the evil incarnation of the Dragon King¡¯s of the 4 seas. So I don¡¯t want those people to ever come here seeking revenge, is it ok if I pretend to go by another name?¡± Changing ones name was similar to changing ones origins. Unless it was absolutely essential, no martial artist would be willing to do so.


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea! As your father, I will personally pick a name for you!¡± Hai Cang qiong¡¯s response was completely unexpected. Hai Yun, who had been expecting to have a strong debate was left with his mouth hanging open.


    ¡°What? Did you think I would be against something like this?¡± Hai Cangqiong grinned. ¡°You know, I used to sneak around doing all sorts of things with an alias! When your grandfather found out he wasn¡¯t mad about anything I did, he only got irritated that he couldn¡¯t pick which name I used¡­¡±


    Hai Yun felt a cold trickle of sweat run down his back. I thought these people¡­ were normal¡­


    ¡°I have selected! When you go about adventuring, your name should be, Yue Qiujian!¡±


    Lunar Sword?!?! Hai Yun pondered for a short moment. Wouldn¡¯t this be an odd name¡­ oh well, why not?


    Seeing no substantial reason to reject he agreed.


    With the final thing holding him back relieved, he departed. Naturally, with a different face¡­

 Chapter 23 – How stupid do you think I am?

    <h4>2nd chapter of next week</h4>


    <hr>


    <h4>Chapter 23 ¨C How stupid do you think I am?</h4>


    ¡°Notify the inner court elders! We are unable to determine the origin of the strange soul force.¡± An outer court elder of the Golden Crow Sacred Ground instructed his disciple.


    Like many other sects, the Golden Crow Sacred Ground was divided its disciples into 3 courts. The outer court, inner court and core with the core disciples being the strongest and gaining the most resources while also being few in number. The outer court disciples on the other hand would be plentiful in number but considerably less benefits. The outer court made up the majority of each sect. The Golden Crow sacred ground had nearly ten thousand outer court disciples, however this did not represent their power, for their cultivation was also weaker than that of the core disciples. It would not be a far fetch to say that each core disciple had the power to kill a few hundred outer sect disciples. Thus they still held onto quite a bit of power despite being few in number.


    However more power meant more responsibility, as it was the core and inner court disciples who would be responsible for handling the more difficult tasks. In this case where a strange soul force was identified, the first people who would try to solve the issue would be the elders who were a part of the outer court. These elders were usually people who were once a part of the inner court but failed to pass the examination to become a core disciple. Thus they went back to the outer court and served the sect as elders.


    The same went for the inner court elders who had just been notified. They were former core disciples who were unable to pass the exam to become a core elder when they reached the age of 100, thus they were sent to become elders in the inner court. In general, the outer court elders¡¯ strength would range between the Spirit Aura and Spirit Source realm, which was the 5<sup>th</sup> realm of cultivation while the inner court elders could be at the Spirit Soul realm which was the 7<sup>th</sup> realm of cultivation. So alerting the inner court elders was a very tedious thing and clearly represented how strong the nameless soul force was.


    However even the inner court elders who arrived became no less troubled than the outer court elders who were examining the soul force beforehand¡­


    ¡°Should we call the core elders?¡± One inner court elder asked.


    ¡°No!¡± another elder replied. This man was the strongest inner court elder who had arrived at the scene. ¡°This soul force doesn¡¯t seem to be attempting to wreak havoc. Instead it seems to be drawn to something¡±.


    ¡°Drawn to something?¡± the first elder asked in confusion.


    ¡°Yes, it seems like the person who is emitting this soul force is not doing so intentionally. No fool has so much soul force to squander, not even an Ancestor ranked alchemist!¡±


    ¡°It would be best to simply wait and observe what it does instead of hastily acting for no reason.¡±


    Meanwhile, the golden crow chick had already happily scampered through the magma veins and was rapidly approaching the residence of Yan Qiu¡­


    ¡­


    Qian Mu had just finished dressing when she sensed her soul force stop running through her hands. At first, she hadn¡¯t noticed it, but it slowly became clear that nothing was pulling her soul force out of her body anymore.


    Delighted and confused she slowly snuck out of the medical wing. It was difficult for her to hide her tracks, as she wasn¡¯t proficient at sneaking around, however she understood the basics of not moving when people were passing by and hiding in the shadows. So she followed this logic and hid behind pillars when the guards would stroll about.


    From one pillar to the next, she seemed to be a cricket which was darting about. With her malnourished physique, this was evidently apparent.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    However this sneaking business bought her into her next dilemma. She didn¡¯t know the way out! Trying her best to remain calm she would sneak down corridor after corridor, searching for exits. However even after half an hour of searching she seemed to be trapped in the endless maze like castle.


    Scree!


    Just when she was about to turn into her next corridor she heard a scratching noise coming from a closet. Instinctually she hid behind the pillar she was in. After waiting for a long moment she turned her head to look in the direction the noise had come from, only to discover that the closet was gone!


    The entire thing had been turned to ash, and in its place was a small little bird that was waddling its way out of the charcoal. The little chick cocked its head to the side as it quietly observed her, causing Qian Mu to furrow her brows. However the next moment, the little chick began hopping in her direction.


    Now, she finally panicked. This was definitely not a normal bird, considering the fact that this golden chick came out a closet that had been turned into charcoal. If she guessed correctly, this cute looking animal was the cause of the closet being burned down without even a flash of light! How terrifying was that?!?! Was this little thing planning to burn her down to?


    When humans become afraid, especially the humans who have been spoiled for most of their lives and not gone through much danger they tend to panic the moment they are alone with something they find frightening. Thus, without a care for blowing her cover Qian Mu dashed out from behind the pillar and madly rushed towards the end of the hallway praying in her heart for there to be an exit here.


    However the little chick was intent on not letting her escape. The faster she ran, the faster the little chick hopped. To an observer, this would be quite a comical scene of a young girl being chased by a chick not even 3 inches tall. But to the girl who was being chased, this was definitely not something to laugh at.


    At long last, the corridors which seemed to never end showed a door. And from the window next to the door she could faintly see the outline of a forest.


    I¡¯m free!


    Qian Mu thought internally and rushed madly ahead. However, for some odd reason the chick caught fire. The moment the golden little thing burst into flames the entire corridor was lit up in warm golden light.


    Damn it! Why did the little bastard have to light up now of all times!


    Qian Mu cursed. That sudden radiance probably alerted every guard in the mansion! So it was no surprise when a voice called out


    ¡°Stop right there!¡± behind her. She did not even spare it a glance and chose to increase her speed.


    BOOM!


    The floor cracked, sending Qian Mu flying to the side. However as she looked up to see what had happened she was shocked to discover a bloody figure standing tall with a blade in one hand, and a round ball like thing tied with string in the other.


    In front of him was a headless corpse of someone wearing the guard uniform? Wait¡­ Headless?!?!


    Qian Mu suddenly felt the urge to throw up. The ball like thing¡­ in his hand¡­ was a human head! When she looked closer she could easily see the terror in his eyes, along with an unwillingness to die. Yet his life was extinguished before he could even scream. The little string like thing she had seen earlier was none other than a single line of blood streaming out from under the head.


    The bloody figure did not seem to care the least bit about the persons whose head was in his hands. He only slowly turned to look at Qian Mu. His desolate eyes were glazed over and showed no evil, however they also showed no good. Instead, their blankness gave the impression that their owner was soul less.


    With a muffled bang, the head in the bloody figures hand dropped to the ground and with short, simple steps he began to move in Qian Mu¡¯s direction. Qian Mu cowered and tried to pick herself up, as if she thought running towards the door could let her escape this calamity.


    It was too bad she was pitifully wrong. Seeing the girl foolishly attempt to escape he chortled to himself. In the hand which previously held the human head a small dagger appeared, and with a flick of his wrist it embedded itself between Qian Mu¡¯s toes in her shoe, nailing her to the ground.


    With the sudden resistance she easily tripped, however the daggers handle was impaled in her shoe and refused to budge so she ended up with a cut between her toes.


    ¡°Humans truly are foolish,¡± the bloody figure sighed. ¡°Girl, please tell me you don¡¯t honestly believe I care enough to kill someone before they even awaken? Honestly, I am not that heartless¡±.


    When Qian Mu heard this she was first shocked, but that shock quickly gave rise to anger. ¡°Just how stupid do you think I am?¡±


    Hearing her say this the assassin was both shocked and confused. Why would an esteemed assassin like me possibly want to kill a brat like you? Besides, I can clearly tell you are escaping from here so I was going to ask you for directions¡­


    ¡°I know I am not your target, but how foolish must an assassin be to leave behind a living witness. The fact that you¡¯re here is obviously because you were sent to assassinate someone important, and whoever wants them dead definitely doesn¡¯t want to be traced! For that simple fact you would definitely eliminate me!¡± Qian Mu''s voice portrayed her strong belief in this logic.

 Chapter 24 - Starry Iron Winged Cows

    ¡°Brother Yue,¡± Qin Cheng sweetly called. In the past month, the duo had long since grown accustomed to calling each other with the simple titles ¡°husband¡± and ¡°wife¡± so that it just naturally rolled off their tongues.


    ¡°Yes Xiurong,¡± Hai Yun replied. Qin Cheng¡¯s alias was now Huangfu Xiurong. Naturally, this was also decided by her father.


    ¡°You¡¯ve been keeping me in suspense this whole time, where exactly are we headed?¡± Qin Cheng asked.


    ¡°he he¡­ so little sister is curious. However, I can¡¯t tell you right now, because it¡¯s a surprise,¡± Hai Yun smiled.


    However Qin Cheng didn¡¯t blush as expected. Instead she showed a discontented expression of being wronged. To see such an expression on her now mature face made it hard to contain Hai Yun¡¯s joyful mood. The scene was just too cute.


    In order to avoid suspicion, the two both altered their facial features using a common elixir Hai Yun concocted. Of course, they changed their heights as well. Naturally, since Qin Cheng had a Samsara Flame Tigress soul which had fused with her soul she could be considered half a transmigrator. So Hai Yun had no qualms about telling her that he was actually the reincarnated alchemist from the Crystal Ocean alchemy sect to explain his alchemy skill.


    Although she was shocked for a while she didn¡¯t seem dejected. Hai Yun had anticipated her response to be very violent, or even insisting on killing him to avoid desecration of the original Hai Yun. However she didn¡¯t have nearly as violent a reaction as he had anticipated.


    But she did ask him two question. They were the rather troublesome kind. ¡°Are your feelings for me from you, or is it just a lingering emotion from the previous Hai Yun?¡±


    Ah¡­ how troublesome the hearts of women can be sometime.


    If he said it was just from the previous Hai Yun and he was only protecting her to make up for the old owners foolishness it wouldn¡¯t exactly be a lie. If she hadn¡¯t had a soul fusion with the Samsara Flame Tigress, he wouldn¡¯t even consider bringing her with him at that time. But to say he didn¡¯t have any feelings for her at all¡­ that would also be a lie. So he could only take on the passive answer.


    ¡°Probably a bit of both¡±. When he originally gave this response he noticed the brief flash of disappointment which passed through her eyes. However he eyes cleared up very quickly before she asked her second question. This one was the real kicker.


    ¡°Did you have any girl in heart during your previous life?¡±


    Fuck¡­ Just what kind of questions are these! Hai Yun could only bitterly smile as he was hit with this trumper. The real question was ¡°are you going to lie to me or not?¡±


    ¡°I do. Her name is Qian Mu, and although she was originally just a little rascal, but she never slacked off and was definitely comparable to me in terms of just talent. The reason I want her to be a part of our team is not just because of her talent, but because I truly have wronged her before¡±.


    One could say being reincarnated made him realize what was important. If there was one thing he regretted other than creating the Efficacious Nirvana, it would be that he had been so caught up in alchemy that he hardly bothered with anything else.


    Qian Mu had very clearly expressed her feelings when she would constantly pluck samples of new herbs just for him. The amount of herbs she used to bring for him would easily be 3-4 times as much her father collected for his colleagues in the sect. When at the sect, she dedicated tens of hours to being his assistant.


    She didn¡¯t even want to be her father¡¯s assistant. Even at the time when both were young and Hai Yun hadn¡¯t even reached the Ancestor Alchemist rank she would still be an assistant for him.


    He remembered that time when he broke through the Divine Rank for alchemists and created his first divine elixir. For 72 hours after that he couldn¡¯t even find a trace of Qian Mu. When she appeared, she had officially concocted an Ancestor Rank elixir without any help.Stolen story; please report.


    There was an unspoken rule that Divine Ranked Alchemists could only have Ancestor ranked assistants since no one else had the experience and skills required to be of use. Seeing him breakthrough, she rapidly cultivated her soul force just so she could qualify to be his assistant. She had told him that day, ¡°Don¡¯t think you can run away from me so easily¡±.


    This had left a deep impression on him, but when he thought about other than sending her letters of his accomplishments, he hadn¡¯t ever asked her how she was doing. Not even once.


    So no matter what, he couldn¡¯t lie to Qin Cheng about this. Because that would also be lying to himself.


    ¡­


    ¡°Xiurong mei, welcome to the Starry Iron Winged Plains!¡± Hai Yun shouted out loud as he waved his hands in the manner one does when presenting a landscape.


    In front of them, a grassy plain stretched in all directions, with thick yellow green grass blowing in the winds. It was actually quite an interesting view because the duo was on a small mound overlooking the plains which started at the base of the mound. Everything behind them was a forested woodland while everything in front as far as the eye could see was a light green.


    Qin Cheng widened her eyes as she gazed across the tall grasses. For a brief moment here red and white pupils changed into the piercing eyes of a tiger. However it went unnoticed to hai Yun as he slightly bowing his head.


    However that does not mean it escaped the notice of Si Wang and Xue Yi.


    ¡°he he, so this girl really did get that after all,¡± Xue Yi¡¯s eyes flashed with amusement.


    Si Wang¡¯s face however, remained indifferent. Not like you could see her face behind the black veil or anything.


    ¡°Brother Yue, what are we doing here?¡± Qin Cheng asked. Seeing these plains, she had the impulse to run out into the grass and claim it all as her territory, but she knew that her strength was far from sufficient to tame all of the beasts here.


    ¡°We are here, to get a mount!¡± Hai Yun pointed at the sky as he spoke spastically.


    ¡°A¡­ mount¡­¡± Qin Cheng was very confused.


    ¡°Yes, a mount,¡± Hai Yun nodded his head in affirmation, ¡°The reason these plains are known as the Starry Iron Winged plains is due to the existence of the savage beast, the Starry Ironed Winged Cow. These cows are usually pretty lazy but when they decide to go on a stampede they can flatten a mountain range. That is why these plains are located in the middle of a mountain range. For example where we stand right now, one foot in a forested mountain and one foot in the plains. It is all due to the stampeding of Starry Iron Winged Cows. It is precisely this beast that we have come here to tame!¡±


    ¡°Tame¡­ a cow?!?!?¡± Qin Cheng was becoming more confused with every passing minute.


    ¡°Indeed. Did you know that the interspatial bags everyone uses to store their possessions are actually made using the hides from Starry Iron Winged Cows? Well, I don¡¯t like slaughtering animals and using their stomachs to make myself a bag, so I decided to just catch a cow for myself. It can fly me places and hold all my stuff. As an alchemist, they are the best travelling companion. Especially because they have five stomachs and are capable of digesting all our tested products. That way we don¡¯t accidentally kill people during elixir testing¡±.


    ¡°But¡­ isn¡¯t it cruel to test random potions on animals?¡± Qin Cheng stared at Hai Yun with widened eyes.


    ¡°If it were another animal it would be cruel. Not for the starry iron winged cows though. In fact, they have 5 stomachs. The first stomach is similar to a human stomach, the second stomach is like a large dantian, the third stomach refines poisons, the fourth stomach stores materials and space and the fifth stomach is what stores their iron fart, their most fearsome weapon. Using a screening elixir on our eyes, we can see which stomach the elixir gets to. If the elixir is digested by the first and second stomachs, we can assume it is safe for human consumption. If it gets to the third stomach, we know it isn¡¯t. Since the cow has specialized stomachs, it can actually take the good parts of our elixirs, like the spiritual energy and use it for itself while digesting the poisons in its third stomach. Essentially there are all gains and no losses.


    Some of the more intelligent Starry Iron Winged Cows would go and find alchemists to partner up with. Thus, as long as I go and reveal my alchemical skills in a herd of Starry Iron Winged cows, one of them will definitely be willing to partner with me,¡± Hai Yun explained.


    Even though she didn¡¯t know much about the details, according to what Hai Yun explained, Qin Cheng had a brief understanding of this concept. Since Hai Yun planned to get a mount by letting the mount come to him and not cruelly capturing it for personal reasons, she would silently consent.


    ¡­


    ¡°Brother Yue, we¡¯ve been sitting between these cows for nearly 6 hours and you¡¯ve concocted 5 different elixirs already. Why is it that they are only releasing more poop¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because I don¡¯t have any good ingredients so I haven¡¯t been able to concoct anything that displays my abilities as a Divine Ranked Alchemist¡­¡± Hai Yun was practically choked to tears.

 Chapter 25 – I came to kill Yan Qiu!

    <h4>Second Chapter of two weeks ago. Sorry about the delays everyone, I will make up all of the due chapters from the last week and this week by Saturday!</h4>


    <hr>


    <h4>Chapter 25 ¨C I came to kill Yan Qiu!</h4>


    ¡°I know I am not your target, but how foolish must an assassin be to leave behind a living witness. The fact that you¡¯re here is obviously because you were sent to assassinate someone important, and whoever wants them dead definitely doesn¡¯t want to be traced! For that simple fact you would definitely eliminate me!¡±


    Hearing this the assassin almost choked in laughter. It required all of his willpower to hold his stomach and prevent himself from collapsing. ¡°Stupid kid, I almost forgot you were just an ignorant little brat and thought you were smart. Let me explain,¡± he paused, only to start chuckling again. ¡°This blade in my hand is that of the Scarlet Cloud Poison Sect. I was not even intending to sneak in, it was simply that I arrived on this island in the middle of the night and don¡¯t plan to waste unnecessary time so I decided to carry out the operation right now. As for you, I only wanted to ask for directions.¡±


    ¡°This¡­¡± Qian Mu was dumbfounded. She completely forgot about the Scarlet Cloud Poison Sect. Those assassins would print the name of their sect on the bodies of those they killed. Who would go around searching for witnesses if they already knew the culprits?


    However she did not believe him so easily because there was a flaw in what he had just said, ¡°Why did you kill the guard then? Wouldn¡¯t he know the direction better?¡± she asked suspiciously.


    ¡°Eh, guard?¡± the assassin asked confused. ¡°Oh this passerby, I searched his spirit aura and found that there was a trace of a spirit imprint. His death should have alerted the other guards and they should be looking for people similar to me now. However I tampered with the location that was transmitted back to them so they think this guard died in the hallway next to us. I am not some idiot who wants to be surrounded the moment I kill my target, so I plan to call the guards in one location so I can go about my life in a simpler manner,¡± the assassin spoke matter of factly, without hiding any of his intentions.


    However Qian Mu was alarmed by his way of thinking. The way he so nonchalantly told her all of his plans seemed to indicate one of two things. Either he lied, or he simply decided that she was unable to stop him so there was no need to hide his plans.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    Truth be told, it was most probably the latter, for the current her had no elixirs she could use for combat. This situation was like him explaining to an ant how he planned to eradicate their nest¡­ Even if the ant could understand him, he could still kill it before it could so much as twitch!


    ¡°Then who exactly are you trying to kill?¡± Qian Mu asked. At this point there was no point in asking further, he was most definitely from the Scarlet Cloud Poison Sect, so she might as well tell him. Besides she didn¡¯t plan on letting the owners of this place live peacefully anyway. So long as he didn¡¯t want to kill the servants or the old head of the medical pavilion she wouldn¡¯t mind telling him the general direction the elders who were stationed here lived.


    ¡°I came to kill Yan Qiu!¡± the assassin spoke.


    Him??? Qian Mu¡¯s eyes widened. Yan Qiu was the same person who had been abusing her for all of these days, and she felt nothing for him other than raw hate. Despite having not sentenced a human to death before, it was not like she hadn¡¯t seen her father kill some people who stole from them. And this time, the target was someone she hated to the very bones.


    However how could it be easy to simply sentence someone to death? Watching others be killed and being part of the murder were two completely different concepts. Being forced to choose whether or not she should kill Yan Qiu, simply because he had wronged her? However the Golden Crow Sacred Ground was also responsible for doing many charitable things.


    Each year they would send out 200 outer court disciples to the poor villages in the country side and defend them from the cold using profound flames. And she had personally witnessed Yan Qiu lead this operation before¡­


    So was he really such a bad person? Asking her to make such a decision was far beyond her grasp.


    ¡°Well if you don¡¯t know that¡¯s fine to, I¡¯ll find it myself somehow,¡± the assassin sighed. He could tell it was difficult for this girl to decide whether or not she wanted to kill Yan Qiu, so he decided to not hurt her heart any further. Let the innocent remain innocent was his personal motto.


    Qian Mu slowly exhaled a breath of relief as she was no longer forced to choose. It was like the burdens in her heart had been moved. Now if Yan Qiu were to be found, it would have nothing to do with her. Instead she was the one who had delayed the assassin, this made her feel much, much better.


    As she scanned her surroundings she could faintly hear the clamor of guards charging to the hallway next to her. However she failed to notice that a certain golden chick was happily looking out of her pocket.

 Chapter 26 – Golden Crow’s Saintess

    <h4>Chapter 26 ¨C Golden Crow¡¯s Saintess</h4>


    At the end of the woods which Qian Mu escaped into there was only one thing awaiting her.


    It was¡­ THE OCEAN!!!!


    Damn it, how could I forget this place was an Island! She cursed internally. How was she supposed to escape now?


    Perhaps¡­she suddenly thought back to a certain person who had jumped up from a hole. Could that be a tunnel to a boat?


    Realizing this possibility, she cautiously headed back to where she came from. Silently stepping over the doorstep she slowly moved towards the hole in the ground. From inside she could only hear the muffled voice of someone being violently beaten.


    ¡°You have ten breaths of time to tell me what you know about Yan Jiayi,¡± this was the cold voice of the assassin!


    Qian Mu gasped in shock as she noticed that infront of him, with his mouth gagged was none other than Yan Qiu!


    However this gasp was immediately caught by the assassin sharp senses. ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± he asked. However, this was sort of a rhetorical question because he was already out of the hole and had Qian Mu in a deadlock before his question was finished!


    ¡°Eh¡­ its you again,¡± he was also surprised seeing the girl. Didn¡¯t she already run away?


    ¡°I¡­ Don¡¯t¡­ Have¡­ a boat,¡± She choked out.


    The assassin was left speechless. How were you planning to escape an island without a boat? Is this girl stupid?


    Regardless, the fact is she is here. No harm in helping her escape this villains hands. This assassin absolutely hated the people of the Golden Crow Sacred Ground. So seeing the opportunity to get someone out of their clutches was something he was definitely not unwilling to do.


    However at this moment the sound of marching could be heard coming in this direction.


    Chick chick! A small three legged golden chick madly jumped out of Qian Mu¡¯s pocket as if it were fleeing for its life. However this conclusion was far from true. Before the assassin could even react a strong burst of pure golden fire appeared, surrounding the chick. The burning ball slowly rose off the ground as it shot towards the marching guards.


    Without sparing them a glance it burned through their shields heading towards one of the leading elders who was in the midst of giving directions.


    This elder was one of the outer court elders who had been watching the golden crow chick. So seeing the burning ball of flame appear in front of him he was left staring with his mouth agape in shock.


    ¡°Elder watch out!¡± a guard shouted. However the golden ball of flame was moving too fast. In less than a second it had already reached the outer court elder. And just as it made contact with the tip of his nose¡­Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    The ball of flame popped as if it were some balloon.


    Standing on his nose appeared the three legged golden chick! Shaking its head, as if it were dizzy!


    Every single person held their breath in shock. Although most had never heard of the golden crow chick, they could tell that this was certainly a divine beast! However the elder was shocked for another reason.


    Earlier, he had seen this chick happily sleeping in the pocket of that maid girl! Why was it on a girl!


    It should be known that the female body is very weak in Yang energy compared to the male body. This is why only men would be born with a Pure Yang physique and only women are born with Pure Yin Physiques. The golden crow is the embodiment of the sun the greatest, most fearful source of pure yang energy! So why was this chick happily roaming around with a girl? Why did it even leave the nest to begin with?


    The only logical reason he could come up with¡­ She¡¯s a transvestite!


    As these strange thoughts were confusing that outer court elder, the assassin was carefully observing the strange golden chick. From everyone else¡¯s reaction he quickly concluded that this should be a divine beast. And noting that it had 3 legs, it didn¡¯t take long for him to realize that this was precisely the Golden Crow which had been rumored to have awoken some time ago.


    So with careful deduction, he decided it best to leave the maid servant behind. Most likely, these people would pursue him to the ends of the earth if he kidnapped the girl who had formed such a peaceful relationship with this beast.


    ¡°You will no longer need to leave this place silly maid. These people are soon going to propel you to the top of their hierarchy, so I bid you farewell,¡± With that the assassin jumped down into the tunnel he had dug. Grabbing Yan Qiu by the throat he departed.


    However, the elder no longer seemed to care about Yan Qiu anymore. For right now his eyes were completely on the three legged golden crow chick which was hopping back to Qian Mu.


    When the chick neared her it cocked its head back and snapped its beak, as if to say ¡°You people are bothersome¡± before jumping back into Qian Mu¡¯s pocket.


    Seeing this scene the Outer Court Elder became extremely terrified. He was the supervisor who was in charge of guarding Yan Qiu. SO how could he not know who this maid was. She was the one who was always treated the most brutally by Yan Qiu, and he had never stopped Yan Qiu from treating her the way he did¡­ But right now, with the golden crow chick¡¯s actions, she could very well be the reason the chick hatched! Because the chick hatched¡­ at the same month she was brought here as a servant¡­


    If the upper echelons find out about this I am so screwed¡­ he cursed himself internally. Wasn¡¯t this exactly like having eyes but not seeing Mt. Tai! After they had already checked all the children why didn¡¯t he think it might just someone who had been brought to the Sacred Ground in the same month! Then this whole thing could have been avoided!


    So with no other options, he fell to his knees. ¡°Outer Court Elder Yan Ding greets the Golden Crow Saintess!¡± He bowed his head in Qian Mu¡¯s direction.


    Seeing this scene the guards all trembled. Although they had never heard of the Golden Crow spirit, they understood what level of the hierarchy one needed to be for a sect elder to bow so humbly. Even if the assassin was her doing, she would probably not get punished for it. They reached this conclusion for one reason only, this elder never bowed to Yan Qiu, so naturally for him to bow to this servant girl meant she had an unshakable status!


    As they recalled how she had been treated, they immediately wanted to puke out there intestines. It should be known that the higher ups would frequently disguise themselves as a normal person to come and make sure everything was being conducted smoothly at the lower levels. And this was precisely an incident of this¡­ So forget Yan Qiu, what was about to happen to them for the distasteful stares they had always cast on her! If she was petty, they would all definitely die!

 Chapter 27 – Dark Moon Sect’s Yue Ling’er

    <h2>So, this should be the 2nd make up chapter of last week. 2 more chapters coming out tomorrow!</h2>


    <hr>


    <h2>Chapter 27 ¨C Dark Moon Sect¡¯s Yue Ling¡¯er</h2>


    <h4></h4>


    Within the Starry Iron Winged Plains, there are several tribes led by local shamans. Other than the Plateau Empire, which is considered a grade 4 power. Remember that the current peak powers are all considered 5<sup>th</sup> grade powers, so this Plateau Empire would be a single grade beneath them. However, unlike most 4<sup>th</sup> grade powers, the Plateau Empire is not a subsidiary power to any peak power.


    Most of the world¡¯s 4<sup>th</sup> grade powers are subordinated to some peak power. This Empire is unique in that it is not.


    The key reason that it has been able to maintain its independence is because of its business. This empire, being located on a flat plain in the middle of a massive mountain range is a great place to stop for explorers and adventurers in the younger generation of various factions. So many treasures and precious materials found in the surrounding mountains are all traded in the Plateau Empire¡¯s cities.


    Many 5<sup>th</sup> grade powers have to send their younger generation to some area within this empire during the phase when they are out experiencing the world. So if any other 5<sup>th</sup> grade power were to try and take control of the Empire at that time, it would offend all the other powers who had sent key members of their younger generations there to train.


    Thus, no one was willing to take over this 4<sup>th</sup> grade power at the cost of angering all the other powers. However, amongst the alliances, it would certainly hold true that the Life alliance had the greatest share of youngsters there, due its location on the Western side of the continent.


    In the capital city of the Plateau Empire, the Hai clan main branch¡¯s Hai Gui was currently strolling down the street with a few of his accomplices.


    ¡°Brother Hai, I heard that your fianc¨¦ was stolen out from under your nose by some nameless brat from the Western Sea Islands, tsk tsk tsk. How come you haven¡¯t gone to find him yet?¡± a young girl around the age of 15 clucked her tongue as her words dug into Hai Gui.


    When this incident was mentioned Hai Gui¡¯s face instantly darkened. ¡°That brat will be killed off by me in due time,¡± Hai Gui spoke with conviction.


    ¡°Really? But I heard you were sent here as punishment for exiling that oy who stole your fianc¨¦. Apparently he had a divine body that had created a phenomenon that lasted an entire hour, that¡¯s just as long as the phenomenon caused by Chang Chi Yun, the person thought to have the greatest amount of talent in the last 40,000 years!¡± from her expression, one could see this girl found joy in the sufferings of others. She was the current Dark Moon Sect¡¯s Sovereign¡¯s daughter, Yue Ling¡¯er.


    ¡°Yue Ling¡¯er, if you open your mouth to insult me one more time, don¡¯t think that I really won¡¯t dare to make a move,¡± Hai Gui said icily.


    ¡°Che, threatening to make a move against me. Who¡¯s afraid of you, I thought you would never dare!¡± Yue Ling¡¯er said tauntingly.


    The Dark Moon Sect was the current leader of the Life alliance, and the Hai Clan was merely an unaffiliated power with no alliance. If it wasn¡¯t because her mother, the sovereign, wanted to draw the Hai Clan into their alliance, she wouldn¡¯t even bother wasting time with Hai Gui.


    Another source of her dissatisfaction was that her mother had once tried to join the two powers by attempting to betroth her to Hai Gui. So the fact that the Hai clan had actually tried to get go after a girl with a Divine Body and didn¡¯t even ask her mother if she was ok with her future son-in-law getting a concubine had left the entire Dark Moon sect incredibly dissatisfied.


    ¡°Who says I don¡¯t dare!¡± Hai Gui roared as he drew a trident from his interspatial bag.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    In response Yue Ling¡¯er also pulled out a weapon. However it was actually a pure white lotus!


    ¡°Thrusting Tempest,¡± Hai Gui called out as his aura burst forward. What was surprising was that his cultivation had actually broken through to the Spirit Blood realm! This was the primary reason the clan had allowed him to go and suffer punishment in these plains alone.


    His trident strike caused the air to ripple as it formed a mini cyclone and shot forwards.


    ¡°Puh, already 17 but only at the 1<sup>st</sup> level of the Spirit Blood realm. You are a humiliation to the Young masters of the Peak Powers!¡± Yue Ling¡¯er sneered. Her aura at the 6<sup>th</sup> rank of the Spirit Profound realm burst out as she blew on her lotus flower.


    Her seemingly gentle breath released nearly 50 Lotus petals. However the strange thing was that the lotus in her hand didn¡¯t seem to lose any petals. They seemingly regenerated as soon as they were blown off.


    As the breeze of Lotus petals met with the thrust of the trident, they gently wrapped around it and for a moment, it was as if time stopped, before immediately resuming. However the trident which had caused the very air to ripple had suddenly become redirected and was now launching towards Yue Ling¡¯er¡¯s side and no longer aimed at her body.


    At this time the surrounding crowd had already stopped moving and surrounded the two fighters in a circle.


    It was a rare spectacle for direct disciples of peak powers to suddenly get into a fight. Although this one was between two people with an age of gap of 2 years and were 14 levels apart, it was still something people would pay attention to.


    Seeing Yue Ling¡¯er, who was 14 levels below him manage to deflect his attack Hai Gui narrowed his eyes to closely inspect the lotus flower in her hand.


    ¡°That¡¯s, a high-tier sky ranked artifact!¡± Hai Gui gasped. Although sky ranked artifacts weren¡¯t rare, but in his clan only the peak figures could carry such a thing around! Artifacts in this world could be divided into 4 levels. They were Mortal Grade, Earth Grade, Sky Grade and Heaven Grade. These grades could be further divided into low-tier, mid-tier and high-tier. The trident in Hai Gui¡¯s hand was merely a lower-tier Earth Grade Artifact!


    No wonder she could deflect his attack despite having a cultivation nearly 14 realms below him!


    ¡°Do you think you can use a weapon superiority to defeat me? Just because you have a powerful weapon, doesn''t make you stronger, you first need the power to fully use it!¡± Hai Gui sneered.


    Hai Gui thrust his trident forward once more, however this time, instead of just one whirlwind tempest shooting forward, three shot towards Yue Ling¡¯er.


    In response, Yue Ling¡¯er blew on her lotus once more, another 50 lotus petals were blown into the wind. They gently wrapped around the whirlwind furthest on her right and again time seemed to stand still, before the whirlwind was redirected and it smashed directly into the other two whirlwinds, disrupting their cyclonic wind circulation.


    Seeing this seen Hai Gui remained unflustered and released another three cyclones. When they were disrupted he released two more, then three after them, then another two. This pattern consistently repeated itself, reducing the timings between the waves of cyclones to shorter and shorter time increments.


    After the fifth wave Yu Ling¡¯er was already panting, and her previously gentle breathing turned ragged as she seemed constricted in attempting to fend of the cyclones as she took steps back to increase her response time.


    However Hai Gui took one step forward for each of her steps backwards, matching her pace of retreat with his advance.


    Despite the crowd parting and allowing her to step back, she eventually backed into a wall. However Hai Gui continued his wave after wave of attack. This was already the twelfth wave, however he didn¡¯t open his mouth once to take in a breath of air.


    Hai Gui silently took another step forward releasing the 13 wave of cyclones. However, the moment he did so his gut instinct instantly roared for him to retreat. As an experienced warrior, how could he possibly doubt his gut instinct, so without any hesitation he leapt backwards, however it was too late.


    Yue Ling¡¯er¡¯s previously rapid breathing disappeared as she grinned fiendishly. The place where Hai Gui had stepped onto was where she had originally started off. And during the fight, she had planted a lotus root in that spot. Each time she blew out her 50 lotus petals, 49 would be used to redirect Hai Gui¡¯s attacks, but a single petal would gently place itself over that root. Eventually, a small 13 leaved lotus had formed under the earth. And the moment Hai Gui stepped over it, she had detonated it.


    With a tremendous blast, a surge of frosty energy burst out of the ground. It was like the surrounding crowd had suddenly been thrown into a snow storm. Hai Gui on the other hand felt like he had been thrown into the center of a blizzard as his muscles turned stiff and veins bulged out while simultaneously the shockwave of the explosion hit him like an earthquake.


    In the back of his throat, he tasted a bit of salt, but despite his strong willpower, he was unable to stop himself from spitting up blood at the scene. His body shuddered as he fell flat on his face.

 Chapter 28 - Lin family

    In the Plateau Empire, there were a few subsidiary 3<sup>rd</sup> grade powers. These were usually family clans which specialized in creating a few products. On the eastern side of the Capital city, where Yue Ling¡¯er and Hai Gui had duked it out, there was the base of an important herb growing family. This was the Lin family of the Plateau empire, and currently they were undergoing negotiations with a wandering alchemist who had recently been found strolling the plains.


    ¡°So¡­ brother Yue is it,¡± a middle aged man asked tentatively.


    He was Lin Bowen, the future patriarch.


    Earlier, one of the servants of his son Lin Huang had come across this alchemist and his wife as they were strolling about in the plains. He had seen Hai Yun concocting some useless elixirs and complaining that he didn¡¯t have good ingredients in this place. Thus he had decided to ask the alchemist to come to the Lin clan.


    After hearing about this story Lin Huang was very suspicious at first and decided to come and test the waters with this young looking alchemist. However, he never imagined that by the time he had arrived in the room, all of the Heart veined lavenders that had been used to decorate the waiting room had disappeared instead, there was a single vase filled with a strange purple liquid.


    ¡°Lavender Heart essence, with a tinge of some lemon snake weeds and wallah!¡± Hai Yun concentrated concocted a vase full of scented hair cleaner.


    Seeing this scene Lin Huang was completely speechless. He honestly had no idea how to react to this scene. However Hai Yun¡¯s next actions left him even more flabbergasted.


    Taking out a small vial from his cloak, Hai Yun collected a bit of the hair cleaner and poured it onto his own head.


    ¡°Wife, you should use some too. Spending too much time with those cows really makes ones hair smell bad,¡± Hai Yun spoke as he gently rubbed the hair cleaner throughout his head.


    Within moments, the hair cleaner evaporated Hai Yuns previously unmade hair revealed a polished shine.


    Seeing this scene, Qin Cheng couldn¡¯t help but try some as well. She was after all, a girl, and her image was a very important thing! After she finished she sniffed some of her hair and he nostrils were flooded with the beautiful scent of Heart Lavenders. Her hair even seemed to be smoother than it had been previously. She silently swore that she would make Hai Yun concoct elixirs that could improve her figure later!


    ¡°This young brother¡¯s surname is Yue, correct?¡± Lin Huang asked as he slowly walked in.


    ¡°Hm¡­ that¡¯s correct. My surname is Yue, given name Qiujian. You must be master Lin Huang,¡± Hai Yun stood up and respectfully greeted.


    When he noticed the way Hai Yun greeted him Lin Huang¡¯s doubts instantly welled up. The way Hai Yun behaved, was rather uncivilized!


    To be fair, Hai Yun never bothered entertaining guests even when he was at the Crystal Ocean Alchemy sect. People would just drop by his work place and greet him, and he would never respond. Thus he was rather unfamiliar with these basic forms of etiquette.


    ¡°So¡­ brother Yue, my servant heard that you were a travelling alchemist?¡± Lin Huang asked.


    ¡°Correct, I am a peak grandmaster alchemist. I can probably break through to the Ancestor realm in a few months,¡± Hai Yun waved his hands. Naturally this was a lie, since he was already a divine ranked alchemist. However after Qian Mu, the person considered to have the best alchemy talent was someone who had barely achieved Grandmaster rank by twenty. Since Hai Yun¡¯s current disguise was someone that was in his late teens, he decided that displaying talent at the peak of the Grandmaster rank would be enough to give himself value!


    ¡°Peak grandmaster ranked alchemist,¡± Lin Huang laughed, ¡°do you take me for a fool! Your clearly not even twenty but you¡¯re a grandmaster ranked alchemist! Who do you think you are, Hai Yun of the Crystal Ocean Alchemy sect?¡± Lin Huang naturally didn¡¯t know that he was really speaking to Hai Yun.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    However you could make fun of a late teen that was at the Grandmaster level in front of Hai Yun, but you definitely must never insult Hai Yun infront of Hai Yun!


    Hearing his name being used Hai Yun couldn¡¯t help but frown. But not for the usual reasons, rather because, ¡°Hai Yun was already a Divine Ranked alchemist while he was 17! How is his talent comparable to some someone at the peak of the grandmaster realm at 19? The discrepancy is as wide as the distance between heaven and earth!¡± seriously, how could anyone compare him, the youngest divine ranked alchemist on the continent to someone with such mediocre talent! Sure both people in question were technically him, but how could they compare the real him to the disguised him when he was trying to keep a low profile!


    ¡°yes, and the distance between someone that can concoct, hair cleaners and a Grandmaster ranked alchemist is also the difference between heaven and earth,¡± Lin Huang laughed.


    ¡°So you don¡¯t believe me eh,¡± Hai Yun smiled. He silently noted down that the talent he mentioned was too unbelievable, so its best he disguise as an older person!


    ¡°Indeed I don¡¯t believe you,¡± Lin Huang stated flatly.


    ¡°Very well, then continue to not believe,¡± Hai Yun sthrugged and headed towards the door. However before he stepped out he turned around one time and tossed a vial over his shoulder, ¡°Consider that as my payment to you¡±.


    This all had happened two days ago.


    Later on that day, Lin Huang¡¯s father, Lin Bowen had noticed that elixir in Li Huang¡¯s room. Lin Huang could be considered inexperienced and so he had casually placed the elixir, not knowing what it was, however Lin Bowen hadn¡¯t grown so old for no reason!


    He instantly realized that the elixir was actually a Fasting Elixir which allowed one to survive for days without food! This was something only a peak Grandmaster alchemist could concoct!


    Thus when he heard Lin Huang¡¯s account of the events which transpired he almost strangled his son out of anger!


    Thus, today, two days later, he had finally managed to coax the alchemist and his wife back into their home for lunch with him.


    ¡°Indeed, I am Yue Qiujian. Do you need something?¡± Hai Yun questioned.


    Indeed he is uncivilized. Lin Bowen thought silently.


    ¡°This young brother, a few days ago my son offended you. Please don¡¯t put it to heart and treat it as the arrogance of youth,¡± Lin Bowen spoke humbly.


    Youth? I¡¯m only 13 this year, your son is easily twice my age and you want me to forgive him for his YOUTH? Hai Yun thought silently.


    However Hai Yun didn¡¯t voice these opinions, instead choosing to say, ¡°It wasn¡¯t a few days ago. It was actually only two days ago. You see, when you say a few it tends to imply around 3-4 days, but it wasn¡¯t that long ago. Also, lets cut the crap and talk about business. I don¡¯t have any good ingredients for synthesizing elixirs. Even my Starry Iron Winged Cow was killed, so if I will synthesize elixirs using your herbs. From what I¡¯ve heard, you only sell raw herbs but don¡¯t have any alchemists producing elixirs for you. My only condition is that I can keep one vial of every two vials of elixir I concoct. Oh and that I can go and concoct amidst the cows without anyone disturbing me so as to attract myself a new stead!¡±


    Hai Yun wasn¡¯t a fan of wasting time. He had conducted business deals with people before and always requested a reasonable amount of remunerations.


    ¡°This¡­ Could since our family provides the herbs, could we get some more elixirs?¡± Lin Bowen shakily asked.


    ¡°I, Yue Qiujian have never produced less than twenty vials of elixirs in a day. Do you think that ten elixirs a day is too few for you?¡± Hai Yun narrowed his eyes.


    ¡°Ten vials a day!¡± Lin Bowen was alarmed. The only other alchemist who was a permanent resident in the Plateau Empire was at the beginning phase of the Ancestor rank. That person could produce twenty vials a day, the other family clans which had alchemists working for them only received 3 vials a day because the alchemist only managed to produce 5 before becoming exhausted! And this alchemist was actually willing to provide them with 10 a day!


    He really must be a peak level Grandmaster ranked alchemist!


    ¡°Yes ten a day, why do you look so astounded?¡± Hai Yun couldn¡¯t help but notice the shock on Lin Bowen¡¯s face.


    ¡°Please, your esteemed excellency, ten vials a day is far too much for our humble household! 4 a day would do just fine!¡± Lin Bowen was greedy, but not stupid! If word got out that he was receiving ten vials a day, then even the Plateua Empire¡¯s Royal family would show up to try and get this alchemist! Then the one to suffer a loss would be him, so it is best to give up excessive sudden bursts of profits for a longer lasting, but smaller amount of profit.


    I was willing to give this guy more, but he lowered the price himself? What is wrong with the people in this backward country? Hai Yun wondered. However he didn¡¯t bother insisting on giving them ten vials a day, to him, if he go to keep more elixirs, that would be best!


    Thus the business deal was concluded and Hai Yun received his supply of decent herbal ingredients!

 Chapter 29 - Discovered

    <hr>


    ¡°This old man, could I purchase that set of blue silver grass!¡± A young man called out in a herb store.


    This young man was dressed in a bit of an odd get-up to say the least. He clearly had a well developed figure and rich robes, however his pockets were bulging with things!!!


    This oddball was precisely Hai Yun, who had concocted far too many elixirs in the past few days. Easily being able to produce nearly 40-50 divine ranked elixirs for his personal use on a daily basis. If he had a way to take things out of the Isle of wailing souls without having to send his entire body into it everytime, he would definitely have done so.


    However, this was not the case and in order to fetch any object out of the Isle of Wailing souls, he would have to transport his entire body, thus he was forced to carry any elixir which he might need during the day with him at all times.


    Thankfully he had first concocted the pickpocket proof elixir to sprinkle on his clothes so nothing from his pockets could be taken out other than by his hand. A little bit of weight elixirs made the clothing incredibly strong when hit with impact and if anyone other than him were to try and pick up any part of his clothes it feel like trying to pull up Mt. Tai. Thus, despite having bulging pockets, he was not the least bit afraid of getting robbed,


    Hell, he had counter robbed a few fools who had tried to cut his pockets out but ended up having their hands crushed because Hai Yun let them lift the pocket opening for a brief moment before letting the weight set it¡­


    The end result, Hai Yun earned lots of money and lots of lackeys in a very short amount of time¡­


    ¡°The Price for this blue silver grass is a single tael of silver per bunch. How many bunches would you be interested in?¡± The shopkeeper was an old gentleman with a hunched back and wrinkled skin. However his amiable expression gave him a very friendly aura.


    ¡°Could I purchase all the bunches you have on hand?¡± Hai Yun asked.


    ¡°A¡­All¡­¡± The old man choked.


    Blue silver grass was a herb that developed spiritual awareness at a very early age. It was incredibly tenacious and grew to be nearly two and half meters in length! A single bunch contained nearly 30 of them which was more than enough for a makeshift armor, which was the primary reason anyone ever purchased this herb.


    ¡°Boss, didn¡¯t you purchase all the Blue Silver grass from all the major stores already? Why are you even taking it from this measly shop?!?!¡± Hai Yun¡¯s lackey asked weakly. He obviously knew about Hai Yun¡¯s robes defensive capabilities. He had broken his two favorite knives on it already!Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    However Hai Yun paid no attention to this question at all, ¡°Yes, I would like to purchase everything you have on hand!¡±


    ¡°Brat, what exactly are you doing?¡± Xue Yi asked. No matter which angle he looked at this situation from, he couldn¡¯t make any sense out of Hai Yun¡¯s actions for the last couple of days. Thus, after seeing how Hai Yun was attempting to purchase all the Blue Silver grass in the entire city, Xue Yi was unable to control his curiosity any further.


    ¡°I was waiting for you to ask that!¡± Hai Yun smiled as the old shopkeeper packaged the Blue silver grass.


    Xue Yi snorted.


    ¡°Actually, blue silver grass is the herb well known for the incredibly young age it can gain spiritual awareness, however other than becoming a temporary armor filling, no one has found any other use for it. But I have an idea for what it could be very, very useful in making¡­¡±


    ¡°Che¡­ keep being all mysterious if that¡¯s what you want,¡± Xue Yi snorted.


    ¡­


    Plateau Empire Royal Palace


    ¡°Ling¡¯er! How come you¡¯re here?¡± the voice of a youth who appeared to be no older than 16 resounded in the palace halls.


    This young man had incredibly sharp facial features and upon seeing the person who had just entered the main hall his eyes were unable to mask their delight.


    The person who entered was precisely the Dark Moon Sect¡¯s little princess Yue Ling¡¯er.


    ¡°How rude of you to address me in such a way,¡± Yue Ling¡¯er playfully smiled, however despite her words she seemed very pleased with the way the young man had referred to her.


    ¡°Ha ha ha, if I called you anything else you would probably think I¡¯m possessed or something!¡± The young man laughed out.


    ¡°Why? Do you not like my presence?¡± Yue Ling¡¯er put on a playful frown.


    ¡°No off course not!¡± The young man hurriedly denied, ¡°I just didn¡¯t know that you would be coming this time around. Do you have some surprise for me?¡±


    ¡°He he, of course! I couldn¡¯t come without bringing any presents!¡± Yue Ling¡¯er giggled as she spoke this. If a bystander who had no knowledge of her background were to see her face, they would probably mistake her for an immature child.


    ¡°Well, don¡¯t keep me in suspense for too long,¡± the young man scratched the back of his hand as he glanced at Yue Ling¡¯er¡¯s face as if he was immersing himself in a world of bountiful joy.


    ¡°He he he.¡±


    ¡­.


    ¡°You¡¯re sure that he is here?¡± Hai Gui asked softly. However, the anger and bitterness in his voice was not easily masked.


    After being defeated by Yue Ling¡¯er he had been recovering in this manor, but had yet to get out of bed despite two days having passed.


    ¡°Indeed young master. The bloodline detector showed that someone with the Hai Clan¡¯s bloodline was in the vicinity. However, the strength of the bloodline was incredibly weak, and after some investigation we discovered that it came from an alchemist in the nearby Lin clan. Thankfully, the old master had altered our bloodline detector so it would reveal the age of the clan members in the vicinity as well. This person is clearly only 13 and the timing of his arrival and everything else matches perfectly with what we would expect if that Hai Yun had come straight here from the Western Isles.¡±


    Hai Gui¡¯s eyes flashed with a cold beam of light as his killing intent seethed. ¡°Find out how he managed to pretend to be an alchemist. There should be absolutely no reason for him to have ever learned any bit of alchemy, and I sincerely doubt those in the Lin family are so dimwitted that they could be fooled by a 13 year old brat still wet behind the ears.¡±


    ¡°understood!¡± The servant bowed his head as he stepped out of the room.


    ¡°Hai Yun, Hai Yun¡­¡± Hai Gui clenched his teeth as he slowly muttered this name.

 Chapter 30 - Moon Essence

    ¡°Young master, after capturing one of the Lin family servants, we found out that Hai Yun had originally offered to provide the Lin family 10 vials of grandmaster ranked elixirs everyday,¡± A servant garbed in black was bowed as he spoke to the injured Hai Gui in bed.


    ¡°10 Vials a day!¡± Hai Gui almost choked. Even the ancestor ranked alchemist the Hai Clan had working for them would produce 30 vials a day but only give them 7 at the most!


    ¡°Truly a stupid brat. His family must have given their entire stock of elixirs to him which is why he doesn¡¯t understand their true value,¡± after hearing this piece of news Hai Gui became certain that Hai Yun was no alchemist. He simply assumed that Hai Yun had received a massive stock of elixirs and so didn¡¯t know how to pretend to be an alchemist. Thus he simply deemed Hai Yun na?ve. Had he known the true circumstance was because this 13 year old Hai Yun was the number one alchemical talent who had broken the record for elixir concoctions at 17, then perhaps Hai Gui would have committed suicide to prevent any calamity from befalling his clan for offending someone with such great power.


    ¡°Ah Li, go and follow that brat. My wounds will recover enough to deal with that shrimp in two days. He better not run too far away by then,¡± Hai Gui¡¯s eyes narrowed as he gave his orders.


    Ah Li, the servant bowed slightly deeper before slowly turning and leaving the room.


    ¡­


    ¡°Boy, that man in the black robe has been following you for the past half hour,¡± Xue Yi stated blandly as he looked around.


    Since there was no one near the rank of Spirit Sovereign around here or any other Divine Ranked alchemist, Xue Yi didn¡¯t need to hide, thus he could strut around in his spirit form in a 3 meter radius around Hai Yun in broad daylight but not a single person would be able to pick up his presence.


    The reason he had to lend Hai Yun his eyes during Qin Cheng¡¯s awakening was also due to the nearby Elder Nangong who was a Spirit Sovereign ranked practitioner.


    ¡°Huh! I haven¡¯t done anything too suspicious to have received someone targeting me, have I?¡± Hai Yun questioned.


    ¡°From what I can see, this person is wearing a jade medallion with the same symbol that is engraved on your family¡¯s front door,¡± Xue Yi stated.


    He had not been able to come out and carefully observe Hai Gui and his servants last time because he didn¡¯t want to be discovered, otherwise with his god like perception he would certainly have been able to notice that all servants of the Hai Clan main branch wore such a medallion for identification. Luckily, the Hai Clan symbol was engraved on Hai Yun¡¯s front door, thus Xue Yi was able to identify it.


    ¡°Hai Clan?¡± Hai Yun frowned. Why would someone of the Hai clan be following him? More importantly, did they know that he was Hai Yun?


    However, he quickly dismissed this notion because unless they had a divine ranked alchemist amongst themselves, there should be no other way to identify that his disguise was created using elixirs. This is because only someone with soul power equal to or greater than Hai Yun¡¯s would be able to see the soul strength imbued over Hai Yun¡¯s body which identifies his present appearance as a disguise.


    Walking quickly Hai Yun ducked himself into an alley way and using his expert soul power control, he moved the elixir covering his body into a new shape. Giving himself the stature of a fat man at least six inches shorter than his previous guise. Obviously, he had doused his clothes in an elixir long ago, rapidly changing the color, size and style all over it.


    All of this occurred in an instant, and when that cloaked figure finally entered the alleyway, only a fat man was visible, wobbling his way as he turned right onto the next street.


    However, just as the fat man disappeared around the corner, the cloaked figure pulled out a scarlet red compass. This compass had a golden needle with a small red line running through it. And after the cloaked figure injected some qi into the compass, the needle spun in two revolutions before point in the direction the fat man had just disappeared.


    On the other hand, Hai Yun, had once again swapped his appearance behind a pillar out of everyone¡¯s sight. However, if one paid close attention, then they would notice that his right eye had a faint red tinge to it, as if a very light film was covering the eyeball. And currently, his facial expressions were incredibly ugly. Both as a reflection of his mood, and his disguised appearance.


    ¡°Damn it, why do these people have a bloodline detector!¡± Hai Yun cursed. His previous opinion of them not knowing his real identity instantly vanished. They most definitely had a guess of his true identity.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Being in the city, he had naturally heard of Hai Gui¡¯s humiliating defeat. Thus it could be assumed that the person following him was one of Hai Gui¡¯s servants. However, this was not the reason his facial expressions were ugly.


    The real reason was because he had completely forgotten about the Bloodline Detector! If Hai Yun had mentioned this when he was accused of being an Azure Sea Continent bastard, then wouldn¡¯t he not have had to run away from home?!?! This one thing could have been proof of his status as a legitimate child of the Hai Clan!


    This was the actual reason Hai Yun was irritated.


    ¡­


    Plateau Empire Royal Palace


    ¡°What do you think, surprising right?¡± Yue Ling¡¯er smiled sweetly as she spoke.


    ¡°This¡­ This¡­ Isn¡¯t this moon essence!¡± The sharp featured youth¡¯s face contorted.


    Moon essence was an incredibly rare material capable of allowing gravitational runes to be etched on it.


    Firstly, runes were a type of symbol which could be etched onto materials in order to give them additional effects, such as allowing them to unleash martial skills. A common example would be an iron sword inscribed with the fire blade runes. When one pours ones heaven and earth qi into the sword, it would result in a blade of covering the iron. This greatly increases the blades power and strength.


    However, if one wished to inscribe a higher level rune, such as the Shattering Earth skill which causes the ground to rupture, the minimum requirement would be for the sword to be made of Spiritual Iron. That is because Spiritual Iron is a material naturally strengthened by its spiritual property allowing it to withstand the impact of such a skill.


    Moon Essence, is also a raw material. However it is the only one capable of withstanding the impacting of using a gravitational rune!


    What is a gravitational rune? It is a rune which can control the gravity of various objects. Thousands of years ago, one very small kingdom had discovered a load of Moon Essence. This kingdom equipped all of their soldiers with armguards made of moon essence with the Gravity Lock rune etched on them.


    The gravity lock rune targets a single opponent and increases that opponents gravity, resulting in their attraction to the ground becoming very strong. Normally, this can reduce an opponents battle efficiency by a small amount, however if an entire army were to cast this skill at the same time on the opposite army, it would be a miracle if all of those enemy soldiers weren¡¯t stuck together into a massive ball.


    To top it all off, a special property of Moon Essence is to negate the effect of any Gravitional skill being used on its wearer. This way one doesn¡¯t get stuck to their opponent during Gravity Lock.


    Using these armguards, the small country rapidly grew and would have become a 6<sup>th</sup> grade power had their enemies not also discovered a Moon Essence lode to help them cancel the effects of the Gravity Lock.


    However, after so many thousands of years having passed, all of the moon essence mined at that time had long since decayed and was no longer usable. Since no one had been able to find any massive lode of Moon Essence in thousands of year, everyone had thought that this metal had disappeared and only existed in records.


    But for Yue Ling¡¯er to have 5 jin block of raw Moon Essence, clearly proved that such a lode existed!


    The sharp featured youth, was actually the second prince of the Plateau Empire and during one of his escapades, he had won the heart of the Dark Moon Sect¡¯s Yue Ling¡¯er. His name was Hui Honghui, a bit of an odd name, but since that escapade of his, the two had grown quite close and had long since made marriage plans.


    ¡°Ling¡¯er, where did you find this?¡± Hui Honghui asked eagerly.


    ¡°Obviously in your plateau empire! This thing was just sitting in the core of a boulder which I accidently broke down,¡± Yue Ling¡¯er explained happily. Compared to her provoking attitude in front of Hai Gui, she seemed more like a harmless flower in front of Hui Honghui.


    ¡°Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!¡± Hui Honghui laughed merrily, ¡°Ling¡¯er, you have truly helped me greatly this time. With this, I can raise the plateau empire to the level of a 5<sup>th</sup> grade power! Father will definitely give me the throne, and then I can uprightly come to the Dark Moon sect and ask for you hand!¡±


    ¡°Brother Honghui, Ling¡¯er awaits that day more than anyone!¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°Brat, what do you plan to do if they keep following you?¡± Xue Yi was starting to become a bit restless. That¡¯s because no matter what he thought, other than sitting in the Isle of Wailing souls, that Bloodline Detector would be able to follow Hai Yun anywhere!


    ¡°I am also quite irritated by that Hai Gui. If I had known he had a Bloodline detector, would I have had to run from home? NO! Let that brat come before me, I will teach him a lesson he won¡¯t dare to forget!¡± Hai Yun clenched his teeth in fury.


    ¡°Do you have the confidence to beat him? You don¡¯t even have half his cultivation level!¡± Xue Yi snorted. He was of course, waiting for Hai Yun to beg him for help. That way he would have an excuse to get Hai Yun to train. Right now, only Qin Cheng was training and Hai Yun hadn¡¯t even started yet! Was this a way to get revenge? If it weren¡¯t for that constant bloodlust hidden deep in Hai Yun¡¯s eye, Xue Yi would have wondered if Hai Yun even had revenge in his heart.


    However, one thing Xue Yi was very satisfied about was was Hai Yun¡¯s attitude.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need to beat him fairly. In a few days, the Plateau Empire will host a tournament for the newly awakened youth in the empire. This helps them determine the potential of the new generation each year. Although my awakening was only a month ago, I am fairly confident of beating all of those slobs who awoke after the tournament last year. If I were to register while that black robed man continues to follow me, I guarantee that Hai Gui will show up to spectate. Then, he he he¡­¡± As he spoke Hai Yun¡¯s eyes glinted with an evil light.


    You wanted to kill me for no reason before didn¡¯t you? Well, let¡¯s see if I die before playing you to death!

 Chapter 31 – Plateau Empire Youth Tournament

    <h4>Chapter 31 ¨C Plateau Empire Youth Tournament</h4>


    Every year, the Plateau Empire would hold a tournament for the newly awakened youth. Any 13 year old was eligible to participate. The primary point of this was to see the new and rising talents within their own empire. However, after a few years of this, the Plateau Empire¡¯s youth tournament turned into an international contest since the Plateau Empire was not a direct subordinate to any of the peak powers.


    A few years ago, Hai Yun had especially helped his best friend cheat his way to the championships. That friend was a boy named Long Zhiyun, who had awoken with a Blood Phantom appiration and inspired a heavenly phenomenon two days before the competition. At the time, Long Zhiyun was the only person on the continent known to have awoken with the supposed ¡°Divine Physique¡±. Sadly, two days of cultivation would not easily match the other competitors who had been training for a few months. Thus, a few cheats were put to use.


    At the time, Hai Yun was just breaking into the Ancestor rank for alchemists and had already been able to influence the entire tournament. This time, not only was he a Divine Ranked Alchemist, he was even competing after having awoken for more than a month and had reached the 3<sup>rd</sup> level of the Nascent Spirit stage on the day of his awakening. It was partly because of this that he refused to practice any martial arts till the few hours before the tournament.


    His reasoning was that if Long Zhiyun had been able to win the tournament with 2 days of training at the 1<sup>st</sup> level of the Nascent Spirit Stage, then shouldn¡¯t he be able to win with only a third of the training time? Thus, he refused to practice any martial arts and just wholy absorbed himself in alchemy to prepare for this. It was also a test of his own latent abilities and future potential. If he couldn¡¯t even do this much, he shouldn¡¯t even dream of toppling 21 peak powers.


    Thus, precisely 16 hours before the tournament in the Isle of Wailing Souls


    ¡°Come on boy, you look so disheveled and its only been a few minutes. Stretch those muscles and don¡¯t you dare put down those weights,¡± Xue Yi roared.


    Hai Yun was currently walking up a hill with 50 kg of weight strapped to his back and each hand stretched all the way out to his side holding another 50 kg weight. He was being forced to walk without allowing either arm to come down to his side even a tiny bit.


    This training was the most basic and crude form of strength training where one would be forced to support high amounts of weight and rip ones muscles. This not only built physical endurance, it was the easiest way to train ones body.


    The first parts of cultivation is to train the body so it becomes capable of bearing the load of absorbing the qi of Heaven and Earth later on. Thus, to increase in level to the peak of the Nascent Spirit Stage, one only needed to raise the strength of their physical bodies.


    ¡°Ok, enough. I am tired now,¡± Hai Yun cried out exhausted.


    Being an alchemist in his past life, he had naturally not bothered training his body like this. He just wore a few kilogram weights in his robes and walked around for a few months. When that was too light, he added a few more weights. Coupled with his bodies natural growth, he had reached the peak of the Nascent Spirit Stage in about 2 and half years, with the crappiest foundation known in the continent.


    Now, to ensure he had a solid foundation, things would be a bit more difficult. Or so he thought¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s only been a few minutes and you can¡¯t keep up already! At your age, I would push myself to keep training till my muscles turned red!¡± Xue Yi scolded.


    On the side, Qin Cheng was learning some basic theory from Si Wang on combat and how to counter an opponents moves. Si Wang had especially created a projection of simulated battles where fake people were fighting using the techniques Hai Yun had described from his experience.


    With Qin Cheng¡¯s innate talent, she had also broken through to the 3<sup>rd</sup> level of the Nascent Spirit stage in the last month of hard training. She also did a whole lot less complaining through it.


    After a few moments a dull thud sound could be heard. Hai Yun had slipped and rolled down the hill.


    Seeing this Xue Yi faced palmed himself in frustration as he let out an exasperated sigh. However, it was because of this that he never noticed Hai Yun swallowing a small bead sized pill on his route downhill.


    This small pill was actually a spirit supplement. Hai Yun was well aware that he did not have the so called ¡°heart of martial arts¡± nor the willpower to use hard work for improvement. He was and shall always remain an alchemist for that reason. This spirit supplement pill helped him avoid becoming tired mentally and rapidly recovered the energy in his muscles.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    One should note that there was no better place to learn about the makings of the body than the Crystal Ocean Alchemy Sect. Over the thousands of years of their existence they had already determined the functions of various human organs and compiled this information into massive chronicles. The benefit of this was apparent very quickly in medicinal alchemy. When one understands the inner working of the body, it is easier to determine which type of elixir would cure the ailment.


    Hai Yun, had memorized these books when he was creating his first Ancestor ranked elixirs. That was because Ancestor ranked elixirs all shared a certain quality. That was the ability of the elixir in specialized targeting. For example, a normal alchemist would be able to concoct a weak elixir that is consumed through the mouth and spreads its power through the digestive system and the main internal organs but as it gets further away from the source of the elixir it becomes weaker until there is practically no effect in the muscles at all.


    A Grandmaster ranked alchemist would be able to concoct a stronger elixir whose potency could reach the muscles. Thus, the difference between a normal alchemist and a grandmaster is simply based on the potency of the elixir. For a more potent elixir one only needs a stronger soul force, thus there are many grandmaster ranked alchemists in the various sects.


    However, to become an Ancestor ranked alchemist increased soulforce is not the only qualification. The other qualification is to create elixirs which are capable of specialized targeting. For example, a grandmaster elixir would spread throughout all the muscles in the body equally, but an Ancestor ranked elixir would be able to focus itself on a single particular muscle. This is what it means for an elixir to have the ability of specialized targeting. And in order for one to create even a basic amount of targeting within their elixirs requires not just lots of soulforce, but incredibly precise control over soulforce as well as every single ingredient within the elixir. Only an Ancestor ranked alchemist, can be considered a true alchemist. In the Crystal Ocean Alchemy sect there may have been hundreds of Ancestor ranked alchemists, but outside the Crystal Ocean Alchemy sect there could barely be 150 total. And no peak power had more than 5 under their control. This was the rarity of Ancestor ranked alchemists.


    The pill which Hai Yun snuck into his mouth, was actually one of the best quality Ancestor ranked elixirs in existence. Even the most prodigal members of the younger generation would only be able to taste 3-4 in their life time. It was an elixir which was capable of seeking the tears in muscle and instantly rebuilding the muscle cells in that location, allowing people to build muscle atleast 50x¡¯s faster than the normal rate!


    However, this elixir had been further buffed by the incredibly tenacious and highly spiritual herb Blue Silver Grass. This not only increased the potency of the elixir by nearly one time, it also had the effect of reducing ones exhaustion by resupplying one with mental force! This ability alone would be enough to make any one of the peak powers masters be willing to spend a fortune for a single one of these pills just for this effect.


    To be able to replenish ones mental strength was completely unheard of before this elixir. When two peak experts fight then they would both become tired after a long period of time, however if this pill were to be with one of them, than they could surely outlast the other and maintain a clear head while the opponent became more prone to mistakes due to the passage of time! If they were to know that such a godly medicine was made by a 13 year old child because he knew he didn¡¯t have the willpower of a mainstream martial artists and were being popped into his mouth every 5 minutes they would probably gnash their teeth so hard their jaws break off.


    ¡­


    ¡°Somehow this disappointing idiot broke through a level of cultivation in a few hours¡­ But in order to build muscles one must first work so hard that their muscles burn and then spend a day or two allowing their body to rest and reconstruct itself to become stronger. How did he manage to complete 2 days of training using less than ? of the maximum weight and suddenly increase his strength by a single fold! Even for the awakened Ocean Flame soul this shouldn¡¯t be possible! How can one gain the strength of 400 kilograms by training by carrying only 50 kg weights! And why does he look as tired as a dog after holding that 50 kg block for only two and a half minutes!¡± Xue Yi scowled. No matter how he looked at this situation, it shouldn¡¯t have been possible. If he knew that it was due to Hai Yun sneakily eating elixirs every time Xue Yi face palmed himself than he would probably puke out a pint of spirit blood.


    ¡­


    ¡°Brother Yue, why do there appear to be people from many different powers attending this tournament?¡± Qin Cheng whispered as she looked around the stadium.


    She and Hai Yun had switched out of their disguises to register for this tournament. That was due to the Plateau Empire¡¯s registration pillar, which was capable of seeing through disguises. Every person entering had to prick their finger and put a drop of blood on the pillar. The pillar would then use that blood to construct an image of what their face looked like as well as determine their age. This way, no one who was 14 could participate in the competition.


    ¡°There aren¡¯t that many powers here. Only about 4 peak powers and a few subsidiary powers. The rest of the peak powers will go to the other tournaments,¡± Hai Yun explained.


    ¡°Other tournaments?¡± Qin Cheng questioned.


    ¡°Yeah, there are about 12 of these youth tournaments every year. One at the end of each month. Each of the peak powers will usually only go to one of them, which would be the one when their most promising 13 year old is exactly 13 years and 11 months old. This way they can train their super talent for 11 whole months and send them to the competition where they will already be at the top,¡± Hai Yun paused for a moment before continuing, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, after we win this one, we can head to the next one and win that one as well. There isn¡¯t any reason for us to not go and win all the awards from all the tournaments. Considering that we are a few days less than 13 years and 1 month old, we could go and compete in 11 more of these¡­¡±


    As she heard Hai Yun speak as if they had already won this tournament Qin Cheng¡¯s nervousness from entering her first competition eased considerably.

 ** I am BACK **

    Hello Readers,


    Arclight here! It has been a long time since I last posted months ago. For those who were wondering, no I did not die. I am very much alive thank you! I was just in the midst of these hateful things called College Applications (jk, jk, not hateful at all). I am very excited to actually have been accepted into a University, however I will not disclose which one. Thankfully, I have enough scholarships to barely keep myself afloat, which means I can now return to writing for all of you!Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Expect one chapter this month and two next month. After I finish up high school and graduate, be ready for the massive influx of chapters I have been meticulously outlining in my spare time over these last 8 months!


    Thank You All!


    Arclight Symphony

 Chapter 32 – Plateau Empire’s 14th Prince

    <h4>As promised, one chapter for April!</h4>


    <hr>


    ¡°Welcome to the Plateau Empire¡¯s Annual Youth tournament. On behalf of the royal family, I, second prince of the Plateau Empire Hui Honghui welcomes all of our esteemed guests from across the continent,¡± Hui Honghui spoke aloud while standing in the center of the arena.


    The first age and face test had already been conducted and Hai Yun and Qin Cheng were already seated in the area specially designated for competitors.


    ¡°How come your competing here?¡± one youth asked another.


    ¡°For the viewing spot of course. I don¡¯t dare to offend any of the young masters from the major sects but as long as I signed up as a competitor I have a chance at watching the battles up close!¡± the second youth replied.


    Conversations like this were occurring at large across the entire competitors section. Only the people from the highly respected sects remained silent as they stared at each other with slit eyes. Even Hai Yun was joining in these conversations, pretending to be one such spectator. However, because this area was designated for competitors and competitors only, there was no one above the Nascent Spirit level! This allowed Xue Yi all the freedom to float around and measure up each of the representatives from the various sects.


    ¡°Brats, those two twins at the back are already at the 4<sup>th</sup> level of the Nascent Profound realm. Judging from their demeanor, they should have prior battle experience, be careful when facing them.¡± Xue Yi advised.


    Hai Yun and Qin Cheng were both shocked upon hearing this news. Breaking through 4 entire levels in less than a year was no joke! They either must have abnormal talent or have been fed some heavenly panacea for it to be possible. The Nascent Spirit stage was the first stage in cultivation, thus, as the foundational stage it typically took a long time to break through. It was only once someone reached the spirit king stage would cultivating a small realm take longer as it does in the Nascent Spirit stage. Hai Yun and Qin Cheng both had otherworldly talent, but even that only allowed them to instantly break through 2-3 stages. If it hadn¡¯t been because of the elixirs Hai Yun concocted, he would not even have reached the 4<sup>th</sup> level of the Nascent Profound realm yet.


    ¡­


    ¡°What are they doing?¡± Hai Gui scowled as he stared fixedly at Hai Yun and Qin Cheng. Due to his defeat at the hands of Yue Ling¡¯er he was already frustrated and had been looking forward to venting on Hai Yun, yet somehow Hai Yun and Qin Cheng had snuck past all the sentries he posted around the arena and were now entered in the tournament. He obviously didn¡¯t believe that Hai Yun or Qin Cheng could win the tournament, so why would they enter? Did they not know that the Dark Moon sect¡¯s Grand Elder¡¯s twins were competing here?


    If one were to estimate the resources spent on the extremely talented disciples in a peak power, they might vomit in jealousy. But even those resources pale when compared the treatment of extremely talented disciples that are the children of a 9<sup>th</sup> or 10<sup>th</sup> stage Spirit Sovereign Powerhouse. Because reproductive fertility was inversely proportional to ones cultivation talent, people who could read the 9<sup>th</sup> or 10<sup>th</sup> stage of the Spirit Sovereign realm rarely had more than 3 children, thus these children would naturally receive the best possible treatment from birth. They were no different than royalty for the sect. This is why Hai Gui believed it to be impossible for anyone other than those two twins to win this tournament.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    How could he imagine that the boy he was trying to kill had been able to break through from the 3<sup>rd</sup> to the 4<sup>th</sup> stage of the Nascent Spirit realm in little under a month. Had he known, he might not have dared to offend Hai Yun with even two times the guts he had currently.


    ¡­


    ¡°Today, we would like to open the tournament with a very special competition! As this is the year that our kingdom¡¯s 14<sup>th</sup> prince awoke, please allow us to open this tournament with my younger brother¡¯s match!¡± Hui Honghui declared to the crowd. Although his language seemed to be requesting the audience¡¯s permission, there was no hint of permissiveness in it.


    At this moment, an inconspicuous youth leaped into the ring with a bamboo cane in his hand.


    ¡°Brother, I heard that we have an odd number of competitors today?¡± the youth who was obviously the 14<sup>th</sup> prince asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Hui Honghui was slightly confused as to why his brother would ask such a question, ¡°Why do you ask?¡±


    ¡°Because, instead of allowing some random person to get a bye this first round, can I have two opponents?¡± the 14<sup>th</sup> prince¡¯s voice echoed throughout the stadium. Obviously, the kingdom was very confident in this prince of their¡¯s, otherwise they would not dare to use him to increase their prestige in this manner.


    ¡°Arrogant,¡± a young cultivator in the back of the competitor stands muttered. From his clothing Hai Yun had deduced that this boy was from Seven Mirage Valley, one of the Peak powers Hai Yun was very interested in destroying. If they had opportunity to meet in the stadium, Hai Yun would definitely teach him a proper lesson.


    At the next moment, another young master waved his hand and two other youths immediately jumped from the competitor stands onto the arena floor.


    One of those youth¡¯s cracked his neck as he slowly walked up to the 14<sup>th</sup> prince.


    ¡°Since you wish to humiliate yourself so badly, our Black Iron Fortress is more than happy to oblige.¡±


    Hui Honghui was just about to try to rectify this situation when the 14<sup>th</sup> prince gave a slight bow to the youth¡¯s from the Black Iron Fortress before dashing towards them. To the elderly from the higher ranked powers, the 14<sup>th</sup> prince¡¯s speed seemed almost snail like, however to all others they were completely unable to tell when his feet left the ground as he seemed to appear infront of those two youth¡¯s within a split second.


    ¡°What terrifying speed,¡± Qin Cheng whispered.


    ¡°Not speed, power! He didn¡¯t dash, he simply kicked off the ground at an angle allowing him to travel that fast. This type of movement is extremely limited in the fact that he can only move in straight lines,¡± Xue Yue explained.


    ¡°He isn¡¯t even moving that fast though?¡± Hai Yun muttered confused. Due to his abnormally high soul strength, the speed of the 14<sup>th</sup> prince realy wasn¡¯t that fast. In fact, Hai Yun hadn¡¯t noticed it yet but the entire world had already slowed down in his eyes.


    ¡°Stop being arrogant,¡± Xue Yue admonished.


    At this moment the 14<sup>th</sup> prince flicked his bamboo cane back forth smacking the two unprepared youths nearly twenty times each!


    Pah! Pah! Pah!


    They never even got a chance to respond before the 14<sup>th</sup> prince planted his feet on the floor infront of them. That¡¯s correct, he hit them twenty times still in mid dash!


    Once his feet connected with the floor, he merely twirled once before hammering both of the youths with his fists and sending flying.


    ¡°And¡­ that concludes the first match,¡± Hui Honghui sighed.


    ¡°To all those who were wondering,¡± the 14<sup>th</sup> prince turned to look up into the competitor¡¯s stand, ¡°My name is Hui Hao and I am at the 4<sup>th</sup> stage of the Nascent Spirit Realm. Fight me if you dare!¡± he challenged.

 Chapter 33 – Another OTK

    <h4>The first of two chapters in May!</h4>


    <hr>


    Chapter 33 ¨C Another OTK


    ¡°Ahem¡­¡± Second Prince Hui Honghui cleared his throat while sighing dejectedly. Due to his younger brother¡¯s arrogance every single old timer in the crowd was staring daggers at him as if to say ¡°You want to boast about this little punk do you?¡±. No one thought this was Hui Hao acting independently but rather their Plateau Empire flagrantly boasting of their talent.


    ¡°The second match will be the loose cultivator Huangfu Xiurong against Seven Mirage Valley¡¯s young master Ye Lishen,¡± Hui Honghui announced. Now, the easiest way to diffuse the tension would be start the next round.


    When Qin Cheng heard her alias being called, she quietly stood up and walked down.


    ¡°Ooh! So Pretty!¡± many members of the crowd were awed the moment they laid their eyes on her, causing Qin Cheng to blush in embarrassment. Even her opponent couldn¡¯t restrain his gaze.


    Hai Yun silently nodded in satisfaction. Seriously, many characteristics of beauty were universal and if the crowd could recognize that Qin Cheng was beautiful, that meant he had good taste! He wasn¡¯t a vain person who would get jealous over such a thing. However, he did silently hang a skull and crossbones sign over the heads of every person that was ogling his young wife. These people were creepy perverts and deserved death!


    Next, Ye Lishen jumped from his seat directly to the platform. Interestingly enough, Ye Lishen was the same youth who had called Hui Honghui out for being arrogant.


    ¡°This kid is at the 3<sup>rd</sup> level of the Nascent Spirit Realm,¡± Xue Yi commented. In his eyes, this kid who needed eleven months to get from the 1<sup>st</sup> stage to the 3<sup>rd</sup> stage was indeed an inferior monkey. Even the super talents like Hai Yun¡¯s friends Long Zhiyun who reached the Spirit Fusion Realm in 2 years were considered ¡°acceptable¡±. According to Xue Yi¡¯s view, it only takes about a year to go through the Nascent Spirit Realm, as long as this physical body hurdle is crossed, cultivation becomes much easier and a talented person in a place with strong heaven and earth qi would be able to go past the Spirit Fusion stage into the Spirit Soul Stage which would take a few years due to the development of the corporeal body. This is why Long Zhiyun only barely made the cut for ¡°Average¡±.


    ¡°This lady, it would truly be a shame for your face to be scarred from this battle. I can tell from your motions that you have no prior battle experience, please step down.¡± Ye Lishen stated.


    Hateful! Why aren¡¯t you ogling my future wife! How dare you act in a manner in which I cannot despise the very essence of your being! Hai Yun thought inwardly. The Seven Mirage Valley was one of the powers he was dead set on destroying, so why was this young master in their younger generation so polite?!?! He should be detestable by rights!You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    ¡°You are correct that I have no real battle experience. However, if I simply step down everytime I get such an opportunity when would I ever be able to get battle experience?¡± Qin Cheng asked.


    ¡°This matter¡­¡± Ye Lishen was indeed at a lost for words, however he quickly collected himself again. ¡°Very well then, in that case, please make your move. I will avoid being heavy handed.¡±


    ¡°If you say so¡­¡± Qin Cheng smiled. However, there was a hint of ferociousness in this smile and behind her a tigress phantom began to appear. Her eyes transformed into tiger eyes as well and a flame began to burn around her, this was her using the Samsara Flame Tigress¡¯s instincts and abilities. Although she was merely a 2<sup>nd</sup> stage Nascent Spirit Realm cultivator, in comparison to the youth of this continent, she had the strength of someone at the Spirit Profound Realm!


    ¡°RAWRRR!¡± Qin Cheng roared as she pounced towards Ye Li Shen.


    Poor Ye Lishen who had been so kind hearted and considerate before could only tremble in fear and raise his arms in an attempt to block the attack.


    As she neared his position, Qin Cheng swung her right hand in a sweeping motion, causing the the Tigress phantom which was mirroring her movements to swipe out with its right claws smashing into Ye Lishen and sending him straight into an arena wall with a bang!


    This round was another, OTK!


    ¡­


    At this time in the spectator¡¯s stands a Spirit Fusion elder from the Seven Mirage Valley just stood up in anger and was about to lash out at Qin Cheng for attacking Ye Lishen so hard when an oppressive aura forced him back into his seat.


    This aura naturally came from a certain wandering Spirit Sovereign that had tailed his potential Legacy disciple all the way here. This particular Spirit Sovereign was also using a certain bloodline tracking device, because a certain 13 year old kid had managed to run away without leaving a trace! Furthermore, that 13 year old stowaway also took his potential Legacy disciple with him. Now, he had finally found those two brats and some tiny Spirit Fusion Realm cultivator was trying to interrupt his observations? Talk about courting death! At his age, there were few things that could surprise him, and a little 13 year old that evaded his attention was certainly amongst those things!


    ¡­


    Hui Honghui was indeed very confused as he watched Qin Cheng¡¯s match play out. He had intentionally paired the young master of the Seven Mirage Valley with a random loose cultivator so that he could easily proceed to the later rounds. In fact, he had done so with the intention of allowing all the powerful sects in attendance the chance to perform an OTK and spread their prestige. However, now that his arrangements led to the Seven Mirage Valley''s strongest member being OTKed, wouldn¡¯t the Seven Mirage Valley take their anger out on his head? This was a very troublesome matter, considering the Plateau Empire, and his own, personal situation.


    Luckily, the elder from the Seven Mirage Valley did not make a scene, allowing him to proceed to the next round. When he saw that elder stand up and then sit back down he slowly let out a sigh of relief. Indeed, he was in a difficult position right now as no one would believe it if he said he didn¡¯t pit these Seven Mirage Valley disciples intentionally. In fact, because it was him they would be even less likely to believe that this was an accident because the incident from 6 months ago was still fresh in the rumor circle!


    ¡°The Third match will be¡­¡±