《The Immortal Supreme》


 Chapter 1, Elemental affinity test

    In the prominent City of Acirema where the sun was currently radiating the intense heat only found in the East of the Teolim continent, a man could be found frustrated at his son''s everyday antics.


    "Brother Meng warned me to get my son away from his own. He called him ugly? Why is my Jian Yu pushing away his friends.. Doesn''t he know that he''s shaming them? Aii no matter, I''ll just discipline him with another one of my famous life lessons."


    Of course, this man was not an educator in any way. This man was just a fisherman who liked to rip people off with overpriced goods. By this point of time, rumors have spread of a fisherman who will approach you with a big fish in his arms offering you a price you ''can''t refuse''. Naturally, this fisherman was the man himself, he just didn''t know it yet.


    Looking out to the empty courtyard outside of his window, he recalled that the time has come for his own son to be known to other families as a once in a million genius. He himself couldn''t be one all those years ago so he thought that his son would accomplish his childhood dream. How lovely would that be.


    "Jian Yu!! Come down here!!" He shouted as he waited a few moments for his son to laze down the stairs half asleep.


    "Dress yourself up, we''re going out to the Martial Stadium. Some people there are going to check out the element affinity of yours so you best be ready to shock them! If your grade is anywhere below 12, don''t even think of coming home!"


    If anybody else heard what this man had said, they would probably cough blood. There has only been a few people in last 100 years who have reached that grade. To place those expectations onto your son even when you yourself can''t meet up to it is much like a crab telling his son to walk straight.


    Jian Yu looked at his father, confused. He had never heard these terms before and even if he did, he probably was not paying attention. He would probably be out chatting away with his friends. Since he did not understand a thing his father said, he would not bother with the topic any longer. Turning his back on his father, he headed back upstairs to go back to sleep.


    Thinking what to say to convince his son to come, the man thought up tricks that he used against his own customers.


    "Jian Yu, there are a lot of people wanting to meet you. Many of them are popular in the city. Yes, why don''t you come with me, you''ll surely take some of their popularity from them."


    "Who said I wasn''t, I was just about to get dressed! Watch out father, I''ll be the star of the stage while they will be the mere trees in the background."


    Hearing his son''s reply made him shake his head. His son was very shameless indeed. Who could have possibly caused him to be so shameless.


    <hr>


    Amidst the hustle and bustle of the city, Jian Yu walked behind his father, chin pointing up and hands clasped behind his back. Such was the way to walk arrogantly and show off that you are not to be trifled with. How else to get everybody''s attention on you. By practicing this walk routinely around the city, he managed to get a reputation for himself with which he got very excited over. The only trouble was that it was very, very hot so Jian Yu began to sweat as he faced the sun in the sky.


    "Hmph, I''m not afraid of you sun. You''re not going to stop me."


    Finally, he reached the Martial Stadium where he saw 10 lines of children, all of whom were of the same age as himself. Following his father''s gaze, he ended up in the closest line. However, he spotted his closest friend in another line. Immediately, Jian Yu rushed to his friend''s side to start chatting away with his friend. Many children stared with wide eyes as he cut in front of them in the line as did their parents who waited by the sidelines.


    "Hey, Brother Jian, your son just.."


    There somewhere along the sidelines of the Martial Stadium, a soft sigh could be heard.


    Although it was still very early in the morning, everybody just waited for the event to begin. After all, they can''t complain with the people hosting the event.


    "Oi, you''re shaming me. You''re a man, get out of there and feel the heat.."


    "Not yet, don''t you know your big body is best used like this? You learn new things everyday with me."


    Naturally, the boy in the shade of the other was Jian Yu. The other boy was known by him as Fatty. Jian Yu had given him that nickname as he kept forgetting his name. Many parents had accompanied their children to the Martial Stadium. They would bear witness as the elders of the local sects hosting the event would stare in shock at the heaven defying talent of their children. Of course, these were just the wild imaginations of the parents of the children.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "As I thought, I really am popular!"


    JianYu confidently stated in his mind as he felt weird stares resting on him. He was sure he didn''t do anything to result in a bad reputation, leaving the only possibility of a good one.


    "Attention!! Everybody, we are all sure that you all know what is the required rules and regulations to follow. We request that the first children in their respective queues to approach the elders in front of them!"


    An elder raised his voice to speak to the children who numbered in the thousands.


    Immediately, 10 children walked forward. Each of them children of renowned individuals in the city. Anxiety filled their face as they edged closer and closer to the aloof elders. They placed their hands onto the mystical orb in front of them as per instructed. Eyes all around fixed themselves onto the orbs. Suddenly, a small blueish stream formed in one of the orbs.


    "Mm, water essence, grade 3," muttered an elder. "Next!" The elder showed displeasure in finding out the girl in front of him had only mediocre talent.


    The girl stood there shocked as the steam in the orb in front of her dissipated. Whispers by the adults surrounding the vast field muttered their disdain and their sympathy. With a red face and watery eyes, the girl stepped away from the elder after giving him her thanks.


    One by one, the children were tested for their talent. The hours quickly passed by while Jian Yu kept himself under the shade of fatty while he kept pestering Fatty to rid his confusion on why everybody seemed to take this event seriously. Annoyed by the constant questions, Jian Yu and Fatty came to an ultimatum. Jian Yu stepped out of Fatty''s shadow, eager to listen.


    "Ahem, I''m surprised you didn''t know in the first place. The elders there test out your affinity in cultivating the different elements. The common elements found are fire, earth, water and wind. Of course there are others but I don''t know those. You can''t blame me, I''m just a decade old. Anyway, the grade of affinity towards an element starts from 1 and the higher the grade, the better the affinity towards the element. Generally, the longer it takes for the orb to show any reaction, the better the affinity. The highest grade I know of is 12. Of course we can''t cultivate the elemental essence yet as we need resources to reach the peak of qi condensation first. They''re just here to find good seedlings to nurture."


    Taking the rare opportunity to shut Jian Yu up, Fatty regurgitated everything he knew of the topic which left with the desired effect. Jian Yu, who didn''t know anything regarding the topic of cultivation, was left pondering on the subject in the blazing heat. Jian Yu was slightly interested in cultivation now as he gazed at Fatty ramble about it with a spark in his eyes.


    "Whatever, as long as I''m left satisfied with my life," Jian Yu thought to himself. "First, I have to.."


    "Next!!"


    Jian Yu''s thoughts were interrupted by the oddly loud shout of an elder. It was Fatty''s turn to approach the mystical orb. After which would finally be Jian Yu''s. Recalling his father''s expectations, he couldn''t agree less with the words spoken that very morning.


    "If I don''t end up getting into the top sect, I will not return home. I will definitely make it there."


    "Amazing, Earth essence, grade 11!" The elder in front of Fatty exclaimed in surprise. Nobody so far had even reached grade 10. However, this child in front of him had reached beyond that. Handing Fatty a medallion bearing the mark of a lion, the elder told to Fatty out loud, "You can join the Ferocity sect immediately, go tell your father the good news."


    This caused Fatty to leap with joy at the feeling of a carp leaping over the dragon''s gate and transforming into a dragon itself.


    Some had heard what the elder had said and began to whisper to each other, spreading the news of the shocking talent of Fatty''s.


    "Next!"


    The elder saw Jian Yu being all chummy with Fatty. Naturally, he would express himself to Jian Yu with a smile. Jian Yu didn''t know that the reason for the elder''s good manner was Fatty.


    "Even an elder has to avoid disrespecting me. Being popular is tough.."


    Jian Yu muttered under his breath which caused the expression of the elder to flicker with annoyance.


    "Place your hand on the orb."


    To thank his father, Jian Yu decided to slowly move his hand towards the orb. After all, he must let the anxiousness build up to allow the best amount of shock to be expressed on his father''s face. Again, this displeased the elder. Just when he wanted to express his displeasure to Jian Yu and tell him to hurry up, Jian Yu placed his hand firmly on the orb.


    1 second.


    2 seconds.


    ...


    The longer Jian Yu waited, the more excited he was. As his hand was placed onto the orb, he felt a mysterious force enter his body and circulate itself throughout his body over and over again. According to Fatty, the longer it takes for the orb to show any reaction, the better his talent. However, it was talking too long which caused a cold smile to emerge from the elder''s face.


    "Remove your hand, you have no elemental affinity!" the elder laughed and forcibly removed Jian Yu''s hand from the orb. However, he failed to notice the purple gleam within the orb just as he removed Jian Yu''s hand. The gleam of which emanated an aura of dominance.


    On a mountain peak outside of the city of Acirema, an eccentric old man stared towards the stadium. Although most would wonder if he was actually just staring at the walls of city, he was indeed staring at the orb which gleamed purple under Jian Yu''s palm.


    "Interesting.."


    Meanwhile, cold sweat dripped down from Jian Yu''s chin as everything failed his expectations.


    "No elemental affinity? How can I face father like this? Ehhh, who cares. It was just a slight interest. It won''t bother me anyway. Father will forgive me in the end. I''m his son after all."


    Facing the elder, he thought up how to express his well wishes. Recalling all his father''s famous lessons which had buried themselves deep within his heart throughout his childhood, he decided on what he had to say..


    Jian Yu settled on a straightforward method while exaggerating his honesty and well wishes...


    "Many fucking thanks!"


    Instantly, the entire stadium seemed quieter after that shout. The elder''s face warped in front of Jian Yu. This kid whose breath still reeked of his mother''s milk had dared talk to him this way? Embarrassment and anger rushed to his mind at that very moment.


    "What did you say?!"

 Chapter 2, Im useless! Im useless?

    "Ah? I expressed my good will to you esteemed elder. I heard that people who speak profanities are often more honest than those who do not and that people who speak loudly are naturally more confident in what they say. Thus I thought what I said would satisfy you."


    Jian Yu clasped his hands together and bowed towards the elder in place. All eyes were now riveting towards him and the elder. No more pleasure was being gained from being in the center of attention now. Jian Yu was the laughingstock of Acirema.


    "Kowtow 3 times and shout that you''re useless!"


    The Elder was infuriated with how Jian Yu used such vulgar language towards him. How dare he?


    Jian Yu stared blankly into the Elder''s eyes. To kowtow before somebody was a great shame to anybody! It was an act of kneeling down and knocking one''s head onto the ground to show the other party that he was submissive. Knowing this, how could Jian Yu, who cared most about his reputation, kowtow to the Elder?


    Jian Yu bowed as low as he could to try an compromise with the Elder. However, the Elder just smacked him right across the face, launching him back to the crowd.


    *Thud*


    Jian Yu spat out blood as he suffered from the impact of the slap. An obvious bruise could be seen on his face after he stood back up, staring back at the Elder again. Yet, this time, he expressed fear from within his eyes.


    "KOWTOW!"


    Jian Yu obediently knelt down and knocked his head against the hard ground three times.


    "Now, shout that you''re useless!"


    If there were anybody who weren''t paying attention at the start of this public shaming, the Elder shouted his every command to make sure that they were. By now, Jian Yu could almost physically feel the looks he was receiving from everybody in the Martial Stadium. This made him hesitate before carrying out the Elder''s command.


    But from the corner of his eyes, he saw that the Elder''s feet were getting closer and closer to him. Fear rose up again in his heart and he took in a deep breath.


    "I''m useless!" "I''m useless!" "I''M USELESS!"


    Then, the Elder stopped moving towards him and icily spoke.


    "Get out of my sight before I punish you some more."


    As soon as Jian Yu heard that he was free to go, he immediately got up and walked towards the exit of the Martial Stadium. He wanted to walk faster but he was feeling unsteady and his head hurt, both from the kowtowing and the slap.


    This served to agitate him more as he heard people mocking him all around. Nobody stood up for him, not even Fatty.


    "Jian Yu is useless! Hah, telling me I should work on my attitude. Hmph! He can''t even cultivate an element!"


    "This trash told me that refusing to eat meat is stupid and that my beliefs are stupid. Now, I can call him useless!"


    Jian Yu''s eyes watered up a bit at the sight of it all. Weren''t he close to them? Why were they turning their backs when he needed them most?


    Then, Jian Yu noticed that Fatty was standing beside the exit, looking down on him. That look was familiar. Ah yes, there''s the look he needs sometimes. Arrogance. But what right does Fatty have to be arrogant? All he had was the luck of having genius talent for the Earth element.


    Scorn began to surface back into Jian Yu''s eyes. The only difference between them was talent, what''s there to brag about?


    Fatty noticed this and didn''t fail to respond, "Trash, don''t get too cocky the next time you see me. I''m a disciple of the Ferocity Sect you see."


    Jian Yu felt the open threats right from Fatty''s mouth but just didn''t care. So what if they act arrogant now? He''ll just slap them right across the face when he gets stronger than them.


    To close the gap of talent, one must work hard!


    In the cultivation world, talent was only one aspect of strength. To be truly strong, one must work doubly hard as others no matter his talent.


    Jian Yu walked on, resolution in his eyes. Although he didn''t know much of cultivation, he knew that it was a world of strength. In the city, he''s seen cultivators fly above the commoners and seen others walk extravagantly in the streets. Nobody messed with them as they haven''t the strength to back themselves up with.


    As Jian Yu was thinking whilst walking back home, he realised that he was already a good distance away from the Martial Stadium. Knowing this, his shoulders slouched a bit and he heaved a slow and depressive sigh.


    "Was all my hard work socializing in the past years for nothing?"


    Then, out of nowhere, an old man grasped Jian Yu''s wrist. The hand was icy cold, like the hand of a dead man. Jian Yu''s head rotated with cranky movements to look at who grasped his wrist, feeling a profound fear that rose up from his very primal instincts. He didn''t feel this way before with the Elder, that was a fear that came with a show off strength. However, the aura that emanated from Jian Yu''s side was freezing cold, enough to completely change the temperature in the surroundings from boiling hot to a freezing cold.


    After Jian Yu turned his head enough, he saw an old man standing beside him. No, he was not a dead man but his hairs were all white and his eyebrows drooped down to his nose level. The wrinkles on his skin were very defined, obvious even for people with horrible eyesight. Clearly this man was very, very old, maybe even on the brink of death.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    He was also dressed in tattered robes which could be easily found in the dump. The robes seemed ancient, as if time had tattered them through countless years. This old man was naturally the same one who had noticed Jian Yu from the mountains outside Acirema.


    "Sit down. Come, let''s talk," urged the old man. The hand that rested on Jian Yu''s wrist pushed down slightly, but even that amount of exerted strength was enough to show Jian Yu that resistance was futile.


    Cold droplets of sweat quickly formed on Jian Yu''s entire body before he nervously asked, "w-what is it that you want to t-talk about?"


    The old man chuckled hearing the unexpectedly quivering voice of Jian Yu. He hid his cold and fear inducing aura from Jian Yu and continued to chat. Now, he looked like an ordinary old man.


    "What this old man can''t talk with the next generation now?"


    Thinking that he screwed up somehow, Jian Yu''s body lurched backwards and his hands waved in front of him. His inner panic revealed by his squeaking voice.


    "NO, no. You-you''ve got it all wrong senior! I''m just curious..."


    The old man laughed at the sight. He wanted to continue teasing Jian Yu but he had to leave the city before his presence was known. Thus, he quickly put on a serious expression and he flicked his sleeve to seal off the Spiritual Sense of anybody in the city.


    This display of abilities further frightened Jian Yu. He just gazed at the old man, dumb and confused.


    "Lad, what''s so good about reputation? A good reputation doesn''t mean anything when your enemies are powerful. You should understand a bit about the power I''m talking about. Nevermind those people from before. Those Elders don''t know what they''re missing out on."


    Up to here, Jian Yu nodded inwardly. Everything that the old man said made sense. Power was very important in Acirema and the rest of the cultivation world. If Jian Yu looked further ahead, reputation was just something that helped getting stronger or was obtained from being one of the strong.


    "Just put away reputation now, grow stronger and find me in the Blood Reaches Sect. Maybe focus on money or something. It''s very important to have money in the world of cultivation."


    Jian Yu''s heart trembled at the slight mention of making money. If looked at with a different perspective, money would certainly help with reputation too. Who would want to mess with somebody with a ton of hired bodyguards? Nobody! Furthermore, he could flaunt his status as a rich boy to those who just bullied him!


    "Hmph, just you wait. Papa Jian will be coming to buy you from your families and make you work like slaves!" Jian Yu swore in his heart to make it happen. What kind of bliss would he feel then he wondered.


    Before Jian Yu could continue his train of thought, the old man raised his other hand that was hanging freely by his side and pointed at Jian Yu''s forehead with his index finger. A stream of energy quickly darted into Jian Yu''s mind. With it came information about a cultivation technique, a map ranging from Acirema''s surroundings to the Blood Reaches Sect and the dangers in getting there.


    Jian Yu''s head throbbed at the pain that followed the mass transfer of information. However, his eyes were shining with a strange light. He had never been outside of the city before. His father had forbade it so he had to make do with traveling within the city.


    The city was already 20 square kilometers big with most of the space taken up by the six Great sects and families. The area he was left to roam about in the city dropped to 3 square kilometers which he thought was already huge. Now that he saw a detailed map of the area surrounding Acirema, he was filled with the urge to go out and explore.


    The old man coughed assuming that his presence was forgotten. Jian Yu''s cloudy eyes lit up once again as he was brought back to reality. No more fear rested in his gaze, only reverence towards this merciful senior.


    "You should know the dangers you must overcome to get to the Blood Reaches Sect. To ensure your own safety, you can begin your journey at the peak of qi condensation."


    Jian Yu admired the benevolence shown by the senior in front of him. His stiff body had long loosened up and he bowed deeply. This was the best way to show respect without opening his mouth. While everybody else insulted him, this old man had showed care and even gave him a path to follow.


    "Raise your head."


    The gentle voice of an elderly man sounded from behind Jian Yu''s bowed head. Jian Yu slowly raised his head at the command only to find that the old man had disappeared as mysteriously as he had appeared.


    Sounds of city life entered Jian Yu''s ears again as the bizarre field around him dissipated. With his renewed vigor, he continued his return back home.


    A few minutes later, he stood in front of the gate to his home. From between the metal bars that made the gate, he saw his father rocking back and forth on his rattan chair, hands locked together with his chin on top. He seemed to be deep in thought.


    Jian Yu pushed the gate open, sure that what his father said earlier wasn''t true in any way. After all, he was his father''s only son. Why would he be casually thrown away?


    Noticing the sound of metal creaking, Jian Yu''s father turned and looked at Jian Yu from the rattan chair. Jian Yu could sense the disappointment from his father''s eyes. He lowered his head, afraid to meet his father''s eyes. True, he was a failure and he was a disappointment amongst disappointments. Yet, Jian Yu was quickly approached by his father to receive a warm embrace.


    "It''s alright Jian Yu. It''s alright. You don''t have to bother with all that talent nonsense. For all those other children, fuck them. Just spend your time away from them and time will cause them to forget they past grievances."


    Jian Yu could feel a trickle of warmth drop onto his neat hair from above. That warmth flowed straight into his heart and comforted him. Jian Yu had never felt this way before. The embrace of a father surely did bring reassurance to their children that they are not alone.


    "What will you be doing in the meantime?" Jian Yu''s father asked, concerned about what his son would start doing now that his favorite pastime was taken away...


    Jian Yu pushed his father away gently and pondered for a bit.


    "I think.. I''ll find a job to gain money first. I was told it was important in life so I''ll focus on that for now..."


    He was uncertain about the choices laid out before him. Could he find a job that was tailored to his strengths? What if he just stayed at home and cultivated to avoid further public shaming. Then, the thought struck him. There were shops in the city that sold items that helped with cultivation. If he were to get enough money and buy those, he would cultivate much faster.


    "Mn, good choice. Work hard," Jian Yu''s father gave him a approving gaze and left for the kitchen. Instead of following his father, Jian Yu headed to his room upstairs.


    Jian Yu''s eyes burned with resolve as he recollected what the old man said beforehand.


    "Money really is an important aspect in the world, might as well try to be the richest!"


    At the very moment Jian Yu''s foot lifted him up a step, his father''s voice sounded out.


    "If it''s profit you want, you can choose to be a blacksmith, alchemist or a talisman crafter. Personally, I''d choose the blacksmith. The other two are just too difficult."


    After Jian Yu thanked his father for the kind advice, Jian Yu resumed his way back to his room. There were urgent matters to be dealt with.


    *Slam*


    Jian Yu shut the door behind him and hopped onto his bed. Sitting cross-legged, he started to seriously wonder about the old man from before. Wasn''t he useless? Or was he not useless? Otherwise, why would he be handed a cultivation technique without a price to pay? These questions were not yet for Jim to know the answers to. With a heart filled with inquiries, he closed his eyes and searched his mind for the cultivation technique handed to him, with a bit of a playful expression on his face.


    "I need more power. Then, I can finally kick those damned turncoats in the butt when I get stronger than them. The Elder also needs a beating. How could he do that to me?"

 Chapter 3, Did I get the job?

    Jian Yu found the cultivation technique manual and he began to read through it with the utmost attention.


    "The first step on the path of cultivation is to absorb spiritual energy. It is everywhere around us and is the crudest form of energy that exists in between Heaven and Earth. Thus, to become Immortals, the first step is to absorb the spiritual energy that roams about between Heaven and Earth.


    First, you have to sense the spiritual energy around you. Enter the Anatta mental state of selflessness through meditation to comprehend spiritual energy. With comprehension, there will be enlightenment and you will be able to sense it. When you sense it, absorb it through the meridians on the body. Cycle it through the meridian channels and condense a strand of qi in the dantian. That will represent the first stage of qi condensation."


    After that, Jian Yu read through the mnemonics and instructions that would assist him in this first step and dedicated his time to memorise them. After he did so, he shut off the connection between him and the cultivation manual, refusing to read any further as he felt it was unnecessary to read about anything prior to the first stage of qi condensation. Unlike those chosen to join the sects in the city, he would lack resources. Hence, he had to put in more effort and more time into his cultivation. Every second counts.


    Jian Yu wiggled around on his bed to find the most comfortable place to sit before beginning to meditate, finally settling on sitting down cross-legged in the lotus position. He focused his all into sensing the spiritual energy around him.


    All encompassing. Everywhere.


    Jian Yu repeated these words in his mind endlessly. He was afraid he would forget himself and sleep instead. That was something he can''t afford.


    Morning came and Jian Yu got up after the incessant knocking on the door by his father. His meditation had been unsuccessful. Nonetheless, it was all within expectations that somebody of his caliber would fail. However, he had to make it a routine to try as hard as he can to match the speed of the more fortunate ones in the sects.


    "I need to ask somebody for more details on getting a profitable job. Father will do," Jian Yu still hadn''t decided on what occupation he should make an effort to be although he had a rough idea.


    "Father, should I be an alchemist, blacksmith or talisman crafter?"


    Initially confused by his son''s question as he headed down the stairs, he answered with a dull response.


    "Blacksmith. You''re not cut out for the other two."


    Not even bothering to explain, he headed straight down to prepare breakfast before going off to fish again.


    Meanwhile, Jian Yu was left in his room pondering over his father''s words. After much consideration, Jian Yu just went with his father''s recommendation. After all, he didn''t know much about the other two, only that they had harsh requirements. After eating his breakfast, Jian Yu left to find a smithy which had a free position for him to fill in.


    As he gazed at the streets beyond his gate, he took a deep breath and put on his most nonchalant face before stepping out. He had to show others he was indifferent and didn''t care about what others thought of him. Otherwise, they''d just step on him and remind him of his upsetting talent.


    "Is that Jian Yu? He doesn''t look sad at all! Is he really that Jian Yu that cares about reputation more than his life?"


    "That really is Jian Yu. I won''t ever forget his face. That fucking face that told me that I''d look better bald. Fuck, do I look like I want to be an eminent monk in my life?"


    As Jian Yu roamed about searching for a smithy that offered good money and a solid position, he had heard various remarks that pleased him inwardly.


    "Hehe, my acting skills are the best under the heavens. If I want to imitate a sheep, all I have to do is snap my fingers and they''d welcome me into their herd!"


    Of course, he didn''t dare say his thoughts aloud for it would stain his reputation further. After all, he is still the Jian Yu who cared about reputation. It''s just that he had other goals in mind as of now that he had prioritized. Fixing his reputation will come after those goals are accomplished.


    An hour later, Jian Yu came upon the Red Iron smithy. It was a relatively well known smithy for having good finished products yet not overpricing them. Jian Yu heard that the owner was searching for a helper which he would gladly take up the role as.


    As he walked in, he was greeted by the faint smell of iron that was left drifting around the smithy.


    "Umm, hello? Uncle Xie? I heard that you''re hiring a helper? I''m willing to take that position," Jian Yu said after noticing the big, burly man who was hammering down on a piece of metal.


    However, his presence went unnoticed as the man was completely engrossed in his work. Jian Yu took no offense and simply waited for the man to finish his work. He needed to show that he was well mannered and suited to work there after all.


    Another hour passed before the sounds of hammering died down. It was then that the man who was naturally Uncle Xie noticed a young boy near the entrance of his smithy. Of course, he knew the instant he laid eyes on the boy that he wanted to take up the position of a helper in his smithy. However, this boy didn''t look one bit tough or strong as he stood there with an amiable smile plastered on his face.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "Good afternoon Uncle Xie, I''m Jian Yu. I noticed that you wanted a helper. As such, I''m here to start working as your helper."


    "Do you have any experience working in a smithy before?"


    "No, I have not but that will not stop me from learning under your tutelage."


    Uncle Xie didn''t even bother to listen to Jian Yu anymore after that. He had initially intended for some middle aged workers with some experience of working in a smithy or perhaps those younglings who were suited for a life of blacksmithing. However, the kid in front of him didn''t even seem the slightest bit qualified.


    "Grab that piece of metal over there. Bring it here and refine it like I just did to the best of your ability. You can use anything you find in here to help you refine it."


    Uncle Xie pointed to a small chunk of metal on a shelf not far from him. It was the same kind of metal he was hammering when Jian Yu had entered. It was basic iron. A relatively popular metal to refine for a variety of purposes. For one, it was used as a test metal for youngsters to forge with to check on their talent towards blacksmithing.


    Jian Yu had watched through the man''s earlier display of skill intently as he had decided on firmly getting this job. He had to put in enough effort to show he wasn''t replaceable. Thankfully he had done so. If he hadn''t, he probably would not even have the slightest idea on what to do.


    While Jian Yu was smiling wryly in his mind, he walked over and grabbed the metal while replaying the scene of Uncle Xie hammering down on the hammer in his mind endlessly. He tried his best to etch down every moment into his memory right before the anvil.


    Jian Yu placed the iron onto the anvil and walked back to the shelf to grab a pair of hammers that laid there collecting dust. All this was done slowly so that he could recall the refining process much longer.


    Uncle Xie''s eyebrows twitched at this sight.


    "This boy is wasting my time! I only wanted to give him a chance to show me what he''s got as it would be unfair if I didn''t but now he''s just pushing it!" The man thought as he quickly slammed the wall with his burly arm.


    *Bang*


    "Hey, boy! Start hammering already!"


    However, Jian Yu still moved at the same pace back towards the anvil. Just as Uncle Xie was about to shout at him again, Jian Yu suddenly raised his arm high and slammed down onto the chunk of metal. His arms swinging about at the metal amateurly. He barely knew what he was doing but he took on a look of resolve.


    "I will copy what he did to the best of my ability!" He thought as he adjusted his posture to emphasise more strength onto his arms.


    Jian Yu continuously hammered down on the chunk of metal with all of his strength. Gradually, Jian Yu adjusted himself so that he would look every bit the professional Uncle Xie was. However, that was just the looks. His muscles were aching and feeling sore already. Yet, he didn''t stop hammering. He didn''t know when to. He just knew he had to keep hammering.


    As Uncle Xie watched on, he grew increasingly interested in Jian Yu. He could tell that Jian Yu had no prior experience in blacksmithing yet he could easily learn from others in a short amount of time. The main point of interest in Jian Yu was his resolve to see things through and his tenacity to help him through it all. Both of these aspects were hard to find in youngsters his age and yet this ordinary kid had them both.


    "Hmm, this kid is a good seed to nurture..."


    An hour later, Jian Yu collapsed with hammers in hand. Uncle Xie immediately moved to catch him before he fell onto the dusty floor of his smithy. By this point of time, admiration filled his eyes when he gazed upon Jian Yu. Before Jian Yu collapsed, he was basically hammering the metal with just the weight of the hammer. There was no more strength to spare. All he could do was lift his arm up and let it fall onto the metal.


    Uncle Xie moved to remove the signboard that read "Hiring helper" from the entrance of his smithy.


    ...


    Jian Yu woke up in his bed to the pain in his arms. As he laid there admiring the moon through his window, he remembered something. It had something to do with him hammering down relentlessly at a chunk of iron in the Red Iron smithy.


    "Ah, the job!"


    Jian Yu moved slowly to get up from his bed and moved his way down the stairs step by step carefully. He saw his father rocking about in his rattan chair.


    "Father! Can you go to Red Iron..."


    "Look who woke up!"


    There in the guest room was Uncle Xie drinking the tea that his father had brewed. Realisation came upon Jian Yu at the sight.


    "Thank you Uncle Xie for bringing me back home."


    Uncle Xie waved his hand telling Jian Yu to not mind it as he took a sip from his cup of tea.


    "U-umm, Uncle Xie, what did you think of my performance? Did I get the job?"


    A faint smile worked it''s way onto Uncle Xie''s face as he heard the words he was waiting for.


    "I can tell you don''t have any prior experience blacksmithing as your initial movements were that of a complete amatuer."


    Jian Yu immediately felt his heart stop at these words.


    "However, your resolve that can''t even stop those arms from stopping make me truly admire you. Additionally, you''re a quick learner. I saw that you copied my style of refinement with the short amount of time provided. Good job."


    A warmth filled his Jian Yu''s heart at these words which caused him to feel much more relaxed yet more anxious as well. He still hadn''t gotten his answer.


    "This book contains the information you need to know about the various metals which are available in my smithy. Everything you need to know about smelting and refining are in the book as well. As a blacksmith, you should know everything in this book by heart. I''ll give you half a year of time to rest up and memorise the information in the book."


    Uncle Xie took out a book personally written by him. There were some torn pages here and there but it still showed off the hard work that he put into writing this book. The book was placed onto the table in front of him right before he stood up and walked out.


    Jian Yu''s worries had vanished after Uncle Xie left. He was hired! He had a job and he was not as useless as he was before! Amidst his happiness, he hastily grabbed the handwritten book and forced it up, hoping to carry it back to his room.


    "Heavy!"


    *Thud*


    "Jian Yu, are you okay?!"


    Jian Yu''s father yelled out. He was informed that his son had overexerted himself in a test and will need rest for a few months.


    Jian Yu had dropped the book immediately after receiving it. Jian Yu felt a bout of helplessness as he recalled the pain in his arms. However, the words of Uncle Xie echoed in his mind as he wanted to show off his resolve to his father. Gritting his teeth, Jian Yu picked up the book and walked back up to his room with heavy steps.


    Pain wracked his arms as he tried to move quickly before he gave in to the torture he brought upon himself. He dropped the book onto his bed and lied down next to it.


    "Alright, time to study like mad."

 Chapter 4, A new sensation

    Close to half a year quickly passed by as Jian Yu stayed cooped up at home studying and meditating in his room. It had become a routine to spend half the day reading through the book handed to him by Uncle Xie and the other half was spent on trying to sense the qi around him. However, half a year had passed and he had yet to sense the slightest hint of spiritual energy.


    He had thought long and hard about the essence that is spiritual energy, trying to gain even a slightly better understanding of it.


    "Even for my talent, this must be outrageous!" Jian Yu thought. "I already know all I must know about blacksmithing from the book. I''ll just spend my time entirely on meditation then! I refuse to believe this!"


    By this point of time, his father had come to realise that his son''s newfound routine was due to him obtaining a cultivation technique ''by chance''.


    "I found it just lying there," he said.


    Shrugging his shoulders, Jian Yu''s father was actually relieved that the heavens were fair to Jian Yu. After his misfortune at the Martial Stadium, he had technically cut off most of his ties to the city folk. The exceptions to that were his own father and Uncle Xie who took him in.


    The next morning, Jian Yu notified his father that he was going to spend all of his time in his room meditating. His father dared not refuse when he saw that Jian Yu''s eyes were fully bloodshot, radiating a madness he could not comprehend from his very son. Other than that, Jian Yu only came out of his room occasionally for meals and other necessities.


    A month later...


    Jian Yu was still sitting down on his bed in a lotus position, meditating and searching for enlightenment. Most of the time, he had starved himself as he completely engrossed himself in his search.


    However, Jian Yu was not relaxed in any way. His eyebrows were furrowed and underneath his shut eyelids, his eyes were red. He had been at this for an entire month already and he was gradually accumulating an intense fatigue. Any more and he feels that he might faint from exhaustion.


    "Spiritual energy is everywhere, Immortals make use of it to condense qi to be used in magical techniques. It is the most rudimentary form of energy in the world which can be changed into complex forms. Spiritual energy is the origin of Immortals!"


    Miraculously, Jian Yu''s entire body shook as he felt a strange brush against his waist. As he had mostly sat still in seclusion for an entire month, he was definitely more sensitive towards his surroundings. There was no way that the sensation he had felt was imaginary. Despite his shock, he continued to meditate and not allow it to disrupt his state of mind.


    As time passed by, occasions such as these grew more frequent. Jian Yu was certain that he had successfully sensed spiritual energy and was eager to try out absorbing it into his meridians.


    Following the method described by the technique handed down to him by the old man, he willed the spiritual energy to flow into him. Failed. Again and again, Jian Yu willed the spiritual energy to flow into his meridians.


    Surprisingly, Jian Yu succeeded only after a few tries. He had thought that he was going to spend some more time in seclusion to achieve his goal. However, fate had proven him wrong.


    Quickly, the spiritual energy cycled through his meridians and finally came to a rest near the navel. Before he could condense it into qi, it disappeared. Jian Yu took no notice of his first failure and cycled spiritual energy through his meridians again and again. Eventually, the spiritual energy condensed into a strand of qi in his dantian.


    "Ha, haha, hahahaha..."


    With bloodshot eyes and trembling shoulders, it was hard to disguise Jian Yu''s excitement. After half a month of hard work, he had reached the 1st level of qi condensation!


    The qi condensation stage was split into 9 minor stages ranging from the 1st to 9th level of qi condensation. It starts off at the 1st level when a strand of qi successfully occupies a space in the dantian region. To get to the successive stages, one must properly absorb more qi and accumulate it in the dantian region. To summarize it up, the total amount of qi that rests in the dantian is proportional to the stage of qi condensation.


    Jian Yu''s eyes closed again as he continued his secluded cultivation session.


    Time quickly passed as Jian Yu stayed in his room. It was soon going to be the end of his resting period granted by Uncle Xie before going to work. By this point of time, Jian Yu had become very relaxed compared to before. He had thoroughly memorized everything he needed to know from the book handed to him by Uncle Xie. Furthermore, due to reaching the first level of qi condensation, his body felt stronger and his senses more sensitive.


    Overall, he felt that he was now physically able to be a blacksmith. Previously, what he had done was crazy. A weak boy like him wanted to refine iron? That''s never been done before in the annals of history.


    Now, Jian Yu was whistling along the way to the Red Iron smithy. It was his first walk outside since half a year ago after all. He had to cherish the feeling.


    Arriving at the Red Iron smithy, Jian Yu brushed his clothes and straightened his back before pushing open the door. Now, he was emanating an aura every bit like a professional blacksmith.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    "Ah, Jian Yu. About time you showed up. Don''t you look enthusiastic? Come, I''ve got work for you to do. I''ll watch as you work. I need to see how much you can improve on."


    Just as Jian Yu walked past the door, he was greeted with work. He had expected a warm welcome for this new worker that would shed blood and tears for his upcoming work. However, reality struck hard as it shattered his expectations of a warm start to his working life.


    "Aish, alright Uncle Xie I''ll show you what''s Yours Truly can do."


    Putting up the familiar act of arrogance of the past, Jian Yu walked towards his workshop to start his first refinement.


    *Whack*


    "What do you want old man?"


    "Nothing, go show me you can work here."


    After hearing Jian Yu''s arrogance, Uncle Xie could not help but whack his head for good measure.


    Jian Yu stood before his personal workbench. Uncle Xie had prepared one for him before he came to work. He even prepared a pair of smaller hammers for Jian Yu to use. Clearly, he was quite fond of Jian Yu''s character despite his rough attitude toward him earlier. All of these were noticed by Jian Yu and left a warmth somewhere in his heart.


    After taking a chunk of metal off the corner shelf and placing it onto the anvil, Jian Yu began showing off his abilities with gusto.


    "Flowing hurricane technique!"


    Immediately, Jian Yu''s arms flowed in a manner with a freedom much like wind as he hammered down on the metal.


    "Flickering inferno technique!"


    Then, he changed the movements of his arm to pound the hammer from various angles. It seemed random but there was an order to everything much like the flickering flames in the wind.


    "Towering mountain technique!"


    With that, his arms lifted up high and dropped them down on the metal one after the other. The immense force of his actions seemed much like the act of the heavens dropping mountains onto the land.


    ...


    Time passed by as he continued showing off all he learnt from Uncle Xie''s book of blacksmithing. Jian Yu also lasted longer this time as he had grown stronger from reaching the 1st level of qi condensation. Thus, he didn''t stop hammering until a few hours later. Overall, he had refined a total of 3 chunks of iron. Of course, Uncle Xie was pleased but he dared not show it lest Jian Yu gets ahead of himself again.


    At this moment, Jian Yu rested on a wooden stool placed in the smithy with a satisfied expression. Similarly, Uncle Xie was satisfied with the work done. Moreover, he was shocked.


    His regular routine everyday was to refine 3 metals a day and that was already very exhausting. But to think that this boy had refined the same number of metals that he had. However, what he didn''t know was that Jian Yu''s fleshly strength was already stronger than his. All he was thinking of was how he could exploit this childish innocence.


    A progidy!


    As the one who had found such a treasure, Uncle Xie was naturally filled with pride. After all, who wouldn''t not want such a child growing under their care.


    "So lucky! I must not let my competitors know about this. If they find out, I''m afraid that a competition between us must be held to see who will keep him! I must also make him work harder. Money''s essential to keep up and expand my business after all."


    These thoughts were left in his mind, never to be forgotten. A fiery glint lit up in his eyes unknown to Jian Yu. If he knew that he was a golden goose treasured by all blacksmiths alike, of course he''d want to associate himself with the richest. After all, he was in it for the money too.


    "Alright, Jian Yu. You are talented but have a lot to improve on. You can''t just use all the techniques you know of. Instead, I need you to use what you''ve learnt to create your own personal technique. That''s the true way to become a professional blacksmith."


    All this was bullshit spewed out from Uncle Xie''s mouth. He didn''t know exactly how to improve his skills other than to carry out the same routine over and over again. However, he did have to assert a bit of superiority over Jian Yu as his senior blacksmith.


    A pondering look appeared on Jian Yu''s face. To him, those words had opened up a new path to him. Certainly, he felt that he enjoyed using different techniques to show off. But to show off a supreme technique that was purely his? It would be his big start to a climb back to fame.


    His face turned solemn as his thoughts reached that point. No longer was he just taking this job for money. He had another objective now. Fame.


    "Go back and think more on it. I''ll refine more metals."


    Uncle Xie waved his hand and told Jian Yu to leave under the cover of refining more metals. In reality, he just needed to release some of his excitement. His arms that hadn''t worked yet were pumped up and ready to vent out his feelings on the metals.


    After tidying up his workbench, Jian Yu informed Uncle Xie he was about to leave. But then, he recalled something.


    "Uncle, when am I getting my payment?"


    "Umm, you get 40 percent of what you refine. If you want bonuses you have to do better than today."


    Thrilled that Uncle Xie had given his word on the topic, Jian Yu pushed the door open and skipped back home. His arms hanging loosely from his shoulders as he did so. A slight smirk could be seen as he recalled back to his performance in the Red Iron smithy.


    Then, he realised what he was doing and stopped before walking slowly with his hands behind his back. An indifferent look emerged back on his face. He can''t act childish in front of everybody. It''s gonna be a stain on his future reputation after all.


    "Oh look! It''s the joke! The retard who doesn''t even have any compatibility with an element!"


    A voice echoed through the streets from behind Jian Yu. When he turned around, all he saw was a big head at the bottom of his eyes. It was Fatty. He was wearing the red robes of the Ferocity sect which meant that he was a disciple of the sect with some backing to his name. Beside him were two other disciples that were wearing red robes. Obviously, these were some silkpants that wanted to flaunt their status to everybody they had once known.


    "Oh it''s Fatty."


    Despite the presence of the other two disciples, Jian Yu was entirely consumed by Fatty''s appearance. His entire being shaken to it''s core when he remembered the shame of that fateful day. The betrayal and backstabbing bastards that he called friends. Fatty even had ordered him to kowtow. All this fueled the fires of rage in Jian Yu. However, he did not let it show. An indifferent look stayed stuck on his face. He greeted Fatty and prepared to leave.


    "Hey, where do you think you''re going in front of me? You dare to leave?!"


    Fatty did not want to let Jian Yu leave and this agitated Jian Yu even more. He wanted to rage out all he was feeling back at home but this guy who overeats wants him to grow insane?


    "Look, I, Jian Yu, have nothing to do with you. Now, if I can take my leave, that would be great."


    Fatty''s eyes twitched as he heard Jian Yu.


    "Heck, if I have some need of a stranger, then that stranger would be honoured just by looking at my robes. You want to mess with me?! You''ve got some balls in you don''t you!"


    For some reason, Fatty''s temper had gotten worse from his recent time in the Ferocity sect. His foot swung forwards to meet with... Jian Yu''s balls.


    "AAAAAAARGH!"


    Jian Yu''s newly bloodshot eyes bulged out of their sockets and his hands clasped over his groin. His legs trembled and he fell on his knees. This new sensation... This pain... If any man can take it, that very man must have balls of steel.

 Chapter 5, Pinnacle Pavilion

    Jian Yu''s expression turned unsightly at an instant as he felt his balls get kicked. With that kick, he even imagined his body starting to float in the air, his legs had grown numb.


    "That''ll teach you, you... you son of a bitch! You know what? I just lost interest in you. Come brothers, let''s go for a walk!"


    Fatty spat on the trembling Jian Yu on the ground as he gestured his friends by his side to walk away from this scene. The crowd that had gathered from all of the commotion parted ways to allow the despicable Ferocity sect disciples to leave. Some were admiring the power and authority of sect disciples while others were silently laughing at Jian Yu''s misfortune.


    With Fatty and the other two gone, there was not much to see anymore so the crowd dispersed. Now, Jian Yu was left recovering in the middle of the street.


    "Again, I''m humiliated by that damned Fatty. Argh I can''t take this anymore!" Jian Yu muttered to himself on the ground.


    With madness quickly covering his eyes, he did his best to shout out his words of vengeance.


    "I''LL KICK YOUR BALLS TOO!!"


    Then, Jian Yu got up and walked back home quickly through sheer willpower. If Fatty had come back and kicked him in the balls again, he was afraid he would turn into an eunuch. His balls would truly go.


    When Jian Yu did reach his house did he stop and check on the condition of his balls in his room.


    After noting that it was at least recoverable did he finally heave a sigh of relief. A profound look of terror emerged on his face when he recalled the day''s events.


    "You want to flaunt your status? Wait till I become a disciple of Blood Reaches Sect. Then, I''ll drag you out and kick your balls personally in the Martial Stadium."


    Jian Yu''s thoughts that were usually jumbled up and focused on his reputation shifted its attention slightly towards vengeance.


    "I need money to buy medicinal pills to advance my cultivation, I can''t show it off to others... Wait, but I can technically show off medicinal pills to flaunt my money as well as use them up afterwards to advance my cultivation! I''m so smart!"


    Thinking up to this point, Jian Yu''s face nearly flushed red with excitement.


    "Ahh, the feeling of having killing 2 birds with 1 stone sure is nice. Tomorrow I''ll get my pay from Uncle Xie and search for medicinal pills to buy. Preferably the kind that are cheap yet effective."


    With that, Jian Yu patiently practiced his blacksmithing skills and cultivated in his room until the next day.


    In fact, after his long hours of meditation, he discovered a breathing technique that allowed easier absorption of qi by himself. This was definitely a pleasant surprise as any help to his cultivation was welcome.


    The next day...


    "I''m here Uncle Xie!" Jian Yu exclaimed after barging through the front door of the smithy.


    "Just asking, how much money did I earn from yesterday''s work?"


    Uncle Xie was sitting very comfortably on his favorite stool before he realised Jian Yu was actually very early to work. He also noticed that whatever bearing that Jian Yu walked into the smithy with the previous day had been utterly replaced with the bearing of an innocent and overly excited child.


    "I don''t know, maybe you should call me boss from now on before I consider giving you your payment," Uncle Xie teased Jian Yu as he stroked his short beard.


    But seeing that Jian Yu did not react to his approach as expected, he quickly told Jian Yu that he had earned himself a 6 gold coins.


    Hearing what he had earned, Jian Yu nearly leaped up in joy. Throughout the city, the same currency is used in the form of copper, silver, and gold coins. 100 copper coins would be equivalent to 1 silver coin and 100 silver coins would be equivalent to 1 gold coin.


    Mentally, Jian Yu calculated his gains. His average meal was 50 silver coins. The only things he would have to spend money on would be his meals. That would leave...


    "I can save up 4 gold coins and 50 silver coins everyday on average!"


    At this point, Jian Yu saw a glimmer of hope shine in front of him in the form of a well paid job. With more money, he would have a much easier time with all aspects of his life.


    "Now, I wonder how much a pill would cost?"


    "Ahem, would you please work now?"


    Uncle Xie nudged Jian Yu towards his workshop from behind. Jian Yu''s thoughts were interrupte by the sudden push and fell.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    After he finished off his last refinement, his eyes glowed as he summed up the day''s earnings.


    "8 gold coins! Although my arms ache a lot, it is entirely worth it. I''ll be back to optimal condition tomorrow."


    Jian Yu''s mind was basking in the feeling of having his efforts being paid back tenfold. After all, money could not be obtained while sleeping but his arms could recover while sleeping.


    "Uncle Xie! I''ll be leaving early today!"


    Without even turning his head, Jian Yu left the smithy to head towards the nearest store that sold medicinal pills. His good mood was soon dampened by the soft mutters by the people around him.


    "Hey, isn''t that Jian Yu? I wonder if he''s fine after Li Ming kicked him in the groin yesterday..."


    "That guy? I think he deserves to be beat up but kicking his balls like that is too ruthless..."


    Immediately, Jian Yu''s head tucked downwards towards his chest and his neck quickly turned red. Unlike what most people nearby were assuming, he was not embarassed but boiling with rage. To recall how he had been trampled upon by that filthy Fatty filled him with utter rage.


    By walking faster to avoid the consistent murmuring around him, he quickly arrived at a branch of the Pinnacle Pavilion.


    The Pinnacle Pavilion was a big organisation that sells a variety of items from magical treasures to medicinal pills. It''s foundations were deep and stable, allowing it to open up countless branches throughout the four continents. It was known to be a reliable place for anyone to buy what they needed whatever it was.


    *Ding-a-ling*


    The bell placed above the door rang out as Jian Yu opened it. As soon as the first gust of wind entered the store from the open door, Jian Yu was amazed. Amazed at the vast collections of items that his eyes met shimmerering under the lighting provided.


    "Greetings sir, what can I do to help you?"


    From the side, a young man dressed in a fashionable robe came up to Jian Yu and offered his assistance. Pleased with the service provided by the store, Jian Yu straightforwardly set his demands.


    "I want to check on your cheapest medicinal pill suitable for cultivators to advance from the 1st level of qi condensation to the 2nd level."


    "Hold on for a moment sir."


    The young man rushed off to a nearby shelf and picked up a bag. To Jian Yu''s shock, a jade slip magically appeared on the palm of his other hand before which he placed back the bag onto the shelf.


    The young man rushed back to Jian Yu and handed him the jade slip.


    "Here, you can check on all the types of medicinal pills that suit your requirements in it."


    Clueless, Jian Yu examined the jade slip from top to bottom only to end up even more clueless. Seeing this behavior made the young man chuckle.


    "Sir, you have to infuse the jade slip with your qi to inspect the information inside it. Didn''t you listen to what your seniors said?"


    "Seniors? Uhh, yeah. Sorry, I forgot."


    Holding the jade slip in his right hand, Jian Yu guided the qi to be infused into the jade slip. After that was done, Jian Yu was greeted with an influx of information similar to what the old man had done months ago. However, contrary to the first time, Jian Yu''s head remained clear and no pain had come with the information.


    1 qi gathering pill, 3 spirit stones or 6,000 gold coins.


    1 qi flowing pill, 5 spirit stones or 10,000 gold coins.


    ...


    Seeing the prices of these medicinal pills left Jian Yu''s mouth wide open. Jian Yu stood aghast at the abnormal prices of the medicinal pills. According to the young man, these were the cheapest ones too...


    "Anything wrong sir?"


    The young man noticed Jian Yu''s slight discomfort upon inspecting the jade slip. Perhaps he had given the wrong jade slip and caused this potential customer to be displeased.


    "No, it''s nothing... I just didn''t bring... I don''t have enough spirit stones to buy in bulk, that''s it."


    "Oh, I see. Have a safe trip and we hope you come back soon!"


    Jian Yu was about to leave the Pinnacle Pavilion through the front door when he bumped into somebody.


    "Ow!"


    It felt like bumping into a hard stone wall face first. Jian Yu looked upwards to find himself competing in a staring contest with a big burly man.


    However, he quickly cut the contest short as he moved to squeeze through the small gap between the big man and the door only to meet somebody else.


    "Wow! Good to see you here Jian Yu. Did you come to look at fortunes you will never receive?"


    It was a face filled with scorn and arrogance. His eyes filled with a fire that made it hard for Jian Yu to look at for too long. But the most amazing feature of all was his body that was ripped with muscles that were stretching his clothes. Everytime he moved, there would be small ripples as his muscles contracted and relaxed.


    "Ahh, if it isn''t my good old buddy Tian Yu! Too bad I''m in a rush today. If I weren''t, I''d be much more willing to stay behind and chat with you. Umm, see ya."


    Throughout his small talk with the muscular young man, his body wiggled and wiggled faster to break free of his awkward position between the big burly man and the door.


    "Now, why are you trying to leave? My junior brother Li Ming told me that you screamed for his balls to be kicked. Don''t you know how humiliating for a Ferocity sect disciple to hear those words? Come with me. I''ll let you feel how a Ferocity sect disciple practices. Then maybe you''ll have a much higher base of respect for us."


    Tian Yu waved his finger and gestured for the big burly man beside Jian Yu to pick him up and carry him. Despite his struggle, Jian Yu couldn''t even get the big burly man to flinch.


    "Ah come on Tian Yu, we have similar names. This is fate. Perhaps we were even brothers in a previous life. Would you kindly put your brother from a previous life down?"


    After struggling with the big burly man''s arm which was tightly wrapped around his waist, Jian Yu quickly resorted to the skill he had trained his entire life thus far, shamelessly talking. Yet, he was ignored by Tian Yu as the big burly man carried him.


    Tian Yu walked towards the young man who had been silently watching the event unfold before the entrance. This was the same young man who had offered assistance to Jian Yu.


    "Young master Tian, greetings. May I offer you my assistance?"


    "I''d like to buy 10 qi gathering pills please."


    The young man''s eyes glittered as he quickly handed Tian Yu the 10 qi gathering pills in a bag. After inspecting it''s contents and handing over 30 crystal-like object to the young man, Tian Yu left Pinnacle Pavilion.


    Meanwhile, Jian Yu was crying internally. He had thought he was going to get rich in a short time and be able to flaunt his riches in front of everybody he knew. In reality, he could not even buy a single medicinal pill while Tian Yu had bought 10 altogether. There wasn''t even a need to compare their wealth. It was clear who had more.


    Outside the Pinnacle Pavilion, Tian Yu flicked his sleeve, beckoning the big burly man to follow.


    "Come, we''re heading towards the Martial Stadium! I''d like to see how you, Jian Yu fare against wild, untamed beasts."


    Again, Jian Yu wanted to cry from being put into this hopeless situation by none other than himself...

 Chapter 6, Martial Stadium

    The day seemed perfect. The suns were high in the sky and the clouds provided just the right amount of cover such that people did not have to bear with the glare. There were people moving about carrying out various activities and birds were flying in flocks up above, letting out the occasional cheerful chirp.


    In the Martial Stadium, a man could be seen fighting a ferocious tiger. The man was quite powerful. His strength equivalent to somewhere in the middle of the qi condensation stage. The tiger''s strength was also similar to the man''s. Only a fair fight such as this where the man''s Martial arts could be put to the test would move the audience''s hearts.


    *Roar!*


    The tiger leaped up into the air and towards the man, claws out in the open and ready to kill the man. However, the man skillfully dodged to the side with a profound movement technique. To add to the excitement of the audience, this had shockingly left behind an afterimage!


    Right after the tiger had pounced on where the man was before, a cold blade pierced through it''s neck.


    Blood spurted right through the wound and onto the man''s bare body. His muscular frame quickly turned red as he embraced the kill with his arms wide open. His eyes closed as he soaked himself in the warm blood trickling down his belly along with the frenzied cheers of the audience. A short, gentle sigh ironically sounded out from the man''s mouth.


    "JIA WEN CLAIMS VICTORIOUS!!"


    The audience became even noisier as soon as the announcement had been made. The man''s eyes opened up and a look of genuine delight was expressed by the man''s proud smile. While waving his hands, he walked to the exit of the stadium. Seeing his exit, the clamor eventually died out.


    As the man slowly enjoyed the feeling of a glorious triumph, an annoyingly loud voice was heard from the tunnel where the exit of the stadium leads to.


    "HEY, I''M SERIOUS NOW! PUT ME DOWN! I DON''T WANT TO FIGHT!"


    A slender boy roughly around the age of 11 was thrashing at the thick muscular arm tightly wrapped around him. His loud voice echoed through the tunnels to make it even louder, up to the point where he could be heard from every seat in the stadium. The despair and helplessness could clearly be felt by all those who had heard the words shouted by the boy.


    The crowds were confused and their interest was piqued when they heard the cries of the boy. Some were trying to guess who it was that was so unfortunate while the others all already knew who it was.


    Naturally, the boy was Jian Yu. He had been brought against his will to the Martial Stadium where he would fight a wild beast. The developments that led to this scenario were nearly comical.


    "Look, Jian Yu. You will fight for people''s entertainment. Isn''t that a great glory? Look, a senior disciple of my very own sect is walking out now. Don''t you see his face? It''s filled with the satisfaction of a glorious fight."


    Tian Yu talked a bit more to Jian Yu in an attempt for him to take his situation more seriously. At the same time, he was admiring the silhouette of the man who he had taken to be his first target to surpass. Although Tian Yu was only on the 1st level of qi condensation, he was sure to catch up soon. After all, as a member of one of the 3 Great families, it should only be expected for him to grow stronger faster than others.


    Hearing the quick little speech of Tian Yu''s made Jian Yu shiver a little. How could he not know that this was his punishment for being so rash? This fight might as well be a public execution for crying out loud!


    "Hey, brother Tian, I''ve known you for so long. Your fame has travelled across the lands. I truly admire you for who you..."


    Before he could finish smooth talking Tian Yu into releasing him, a hand had slapped against his exposed and unprotected cheek. Apparently, Jia Wen had silently walked towards Jian Yu to give what seemed to be a righteous slap. Before Jian Yu could even talk back to Jia Wen, Jia Wen said a few words.


    "That''s a slap not from me, but from everybody you insulted."


    Then, he just walked away, not bothering himself in the little squabble that is Jian Yu''s kidnapping.


    Tian Yu just smiled coldly at Jia Wen''s response and said, "Toss him into the stadium!"


    "WAIT JUST A MO..."


    Before Jian Yu got to finish his pleas, the big burly man quickly began to run forward towards the stadium. When the sunlight finally touched his toes, he tossed Jian Yu like rubbish into the stadium.


    A loud thud resonated through the ears off everybody still present after the day''s highlight fight as Jian Yu''s face planted itself onto the ground. His nose had even dug out a bit of dirt after he was tossed onto the uneven ground.


    *clang!*


    As per the rules before initiating a fight, the metal gates behind Jian Yu were locked and secured to prevent any mishaps were the beast were to try to escape. Of course this also prevented letting the fighter in the stadium from escaping from a dangerous situation but they should have known the dangers of fighting a beast before they signed up and entered the queue for a stadium fight.


    The city of Acirema has been using the Martial Stadium as a training grounds for many years already. In fact, it even encourages people of all backgrounds to fight with the enticement of profit. They had put up an entrance fee for fighters to queue for a fight with a beast and when the fighter wins, they get a larger sum of money than the entrance fee. Thus, it was a win-win situation for everybody.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    However, the city eventually used the Martial Stadium as not only a training grounds but to additionally squeeze out a bit more profit from the people. In recent years, the stadium installed seats up above the ground where they are safe so that spectators may come and entertain themselves with bloody fights of man versus beast. Although some Martial arts fanatics were offended by this marketing move, they soon found that more and more people came to feel more encouraged to cultivate and join the various sects. In the end, the city had made another win-win situation for itself.


    And as of this moment, Jian Yu was now stuck in that very stadium as he waits to fight for his life. He staggered up to his two feet and looked around. All he saw was no more than a hundred people seated around the stadium. He didn''t know most of them; probably due to how they were adults who liked to make money from small bets but Jian Yu didn''t know that.


    Most of them had bored expressions while the rest had amused ones. The majority were bored due to how they were able to guess how this would turn out; with the death of the fighter. Wasn''t it obvious with the way he was brought in against his will? In the end, there wouldn''t even be an exciting battle and the bets would obviously be placed on the beast.


    However, the ones who were amused just wanted to see the blood and gore to get their own blood running. So it didn''t matter which side died, the man or the beast, as long as the other perished in battle.


    Jian Yu began to regret his actions of the past even more now. If it led to people incessantly insulting him, he could endure. If it led to people beating him up, he could endure. But now, he was in a hopeless situation where he could die! How could he endure it?


    As if on cue, the announcer spoke out with his regularly loud voice, "Let the bloodshed begin!"


    A metal gate identical to the one that had shut behind Jian Yu began to open up slowly on the other side of the stadium from where Jian Yu was at. From behind the gate, a bloodthirsty growl echoed out that frightened only Jian Yu. A constricted pupil surrounded by an oddly red sclera peeked through the tiny gap that was ever expanding as the metal gates opened.


    Jian Yu shivered at the sight of the eye as big as his own head. He even imagined his own image reflected in the eye of the beast. However, he never got the chance to get over this fear as the beast rammed it''s head against the gate and forced a way out!


    The beast was a spectacle for all to see at this point. It was glaringly obvious to all that it was another tiger and a ruthless predator. It''s size was immense, perhaps 8 meters long. It''s rough and unkempt fur on its back along with the chiseled teeth and claws also showed that this was a beast with a shocking history!


    However, these details were overlooked by Jian Yu. All he was paying attention to were the eyes. The same eyes that stared at him from right behind the gates. Even now, they stared at Jian Yu. It''s emotions were much more noticeable now. Other than bloodlust, it looked at Jian Yu with contempt and rage in it''s heart. To it, anyone put in front of him was out to kill it. So, it was only right for it to defend itself and kill!


    Such was the law of the jungle. The strong prevailed as they feed on the weak. There was no glory in this for the tiger; only survival.


    Such thoughts were not found in Jian Yu''s head. His thoughts were much simpler. All that was in his head as he faced off against this beast was how to get out of his predicament. If he counted his weapons, he had nothing other than his body.


    The tiger that had forced it''s way out of it''s cage finally acted. With a shocking speed, it rapidly moved it''s way to Jian Yu on all fours. Killing intent rising with each step it took. Suddenly... it pounced.


    Meanwhile, Jian Yu had put aside any thought of anything other than survival. He focused his eyes forward... and dodged to his side. A dust cloud formed where he had just stood. Fear emerged again in his eyes and he ran for it.


    Every time the tiger got close, Jian Yu would dodge to the side by the skin of his teeth. In fact, he escaped with a scratch most of the time which only served to fuel him with more energy to keep running.


    By this point of time, Tian Yu, who was spectating by the seats of the stadium safely, began to feel more annoyed than he knew he should be. Just knowing it took this long for this huge tiger to kill a mere mortal who hadn''t stepped onto the road of cultivation was acceptable. After all, the strong tiger he had chosen to kill Jian Yu with also hadn''t even reached the 1st level of qi condensation . But this Jian Yu kept barely surviving the attacks of the tiger. How could he not be annoyed at how Jian Yu was teasing him?


    "Jian Yu! If you can kill the tiger, I will let you have one of the qi gathering pills that I bought just now! How about it?!" Tian Yu stood up from his seat to shout and make his presence more obvious to Jian Yu.


    However, Jian Yu still continued to run away from the tiger and it''s claws. Currently, Jian Yu has already run around the stadium a total of 3 times. Although it doesn''t sound like much, it was already a shocking display of stamina as the stadium was immense. However, the crowd did not know that Jian Yu''s stamina was being constantly replenished by the qi stored in his dantian.


    "How about three?"


    Again, he was ignored.


    "Fine! I can at most hand you 6 of my wife gathering pills! Look, it''s a loss for me already!"


    Now, he was certain that Jian Yu hesitated before running again. Tian Yu''s eyes twitched as he felt embarrassed from the looks of everybody around him. This enraged him.


    "JIAN YU, I ASSURE YOU THAT I WILL LEAVE YOU ALONE WITH ALL OF MY QI GATHERING PILLS IF YOU KILL THE DAMN TIGER! IF I DARE LIE, MY NAME IS NOT TIAN" Tian Yu couldn''t take it anymore and shouted with all his strength, emphasizing every word. After he finished his sentence, he was short of breath and his throat nearly dried up. However, his eyes gleamed with a cold light when he noticed Jian Yu actually stop!


    Immediately, soft chatter could be heard from every corner of the stadium.


    "Does this boy think he can actually kill the tiger? He''s overestimating himself."


    This line of thought was in the minds of everybody spectating the fight. They saw how Jian Yu''s legs were giving out; albeit slightly.


    Down on the stadium grounds, Jian Yu finally took his back away from the tiger and ran towards it!


    Throughout the run for his life, he had been shocked countless times. Countless times had he barely escaped a mortal wound by the skin of his teeth. Everytime it happened, more veins could be seen in the white of his eyes. Now that he had turned back, the tiger that had been originally playing with Jian Yu in a game of cat and mouse, felt a bit scared. The eyes of Jian Yu were bloodshot and his expression was one of pure madness.


    From the sudden turn of events it had never faced before, the tiger felt confused on what to do and hesitated. It''s legs slowed down and its jaws clenched slightly. For a brief moment, it stood in place before it was about to leave backwards.


    However, that brief moment was enough for Jian Yu to make a final leap. This leap encompassed the full distance that had originally been between him and the tiger. His right fist launched at the tiger''s skull as he twisted his hip. All of his remaining strength in his muscle combined with the remaining qi he had in his dantian was used up in this attack. If this didn''t amount to anything, his life would be forfeited and used to feed the tiger. Immediately, the fist landed.


    *Bang*


    To everyone''s shock, the tiger''s legs gave out and it fell onto its side. Even more shocking however, was that the tiger''s head had caved inwards! Everybody subconsciously started to stare at the young boy on front of the tiger''s corpse.


    "Why was it that the tiger died? That punk must have played some underhanded move!"


    Of course, nobody ever voiced out their opinion. If they did, they would certainly be indirectly slapping the face of the young master of the Tian family.


    As everybody stayed seated with weird expressions on their faces, a soft mutter could be heard.


    "T-that was it?"

 Chapter 7, War is coming

    After the tiger had been killed, Jian Yu''s heart slowed down as he tried to process everything that happened. The entire fight lasted for a couple of hours but it actually had lasted an instant. It was over with a single punch.


    Everybody was shocked and their very minds nearly trembled. If they weren''t used to seeing results like this, they might very well leap out of their seats. However, some did leap out of their seats, from the shock that they better on the wrong side.


    Meanwhile, Tian Yu was almost cried as the thought struck him that he was going to lose his medicinal pills. Those were his pills! Furthermore, he borrowed money from his father to buy those. What would happen if his father found out he donated some money to a measly commoner like Jian Yu...


    This was not an issue of money, but of reputation. If somebody were to steal money from you right under your nose with everybody knowing it, it would be humiliating!


    "Uhh, I can go now? And what about the pills you promised?" Jian Yu asked. Blood had already dried up on his fist and clothes. It would be best for him to get his clothes washed fast.


    "Mm, yes. I''ll hand your pills later. You can go now," answered Tian Yu. Despite his recent words, he actually was not going to hand over the pills. He was just going to postpone the handing over of pills until a few days later after he ''lost them''.


    "Can I have them now? You''re up there, I''m down here. Just drop them and I''ll catch!" Jian Yu shouted.


    Although he could be somewhat oblivious most of the time, he was definitely a boy who could tell the difference between liars. It was just that in recent times, he had been neglected and pushed away by others which caused him to feel down, shutting himself in his own room all day long. Then when he was finally in a group of people, they all exposed their inner feelings towards him, exploding out in fury.


    Currently, it seemed as if Tian Yu was insisting on keeping the pills. Through his life, he had constantly invited others to various events only to find them rejecting the invite at the last minute for various reasons as well. Later on, he learned the knack to tell who might be the type to lie and the the signs that give away their lies.


    Right before Tian Yu wanted to rebuke Jian Yu''s words, his follower, the big and burly man from before, whispered something in his ear. It seemed to be some secretive matter that couldn''t be said out loud. Immediately, Tian Yu''s eyes brightened up and a strange gleam appeared in them.


    "Here''s the pills. Now leave," Tian Yu dropped the pills to Jian Yu without any care and concern for the pills and ordered him to exit the stadium.


    Jian Yu happily caught the falling bag of pills and bowed his head to Tian Yu. Right afterwards, he left through the same tunnel from whence he came.


    He walked back home feeling exhausted but his face was visibly twitching from all of the excitement leaking out. A smile plastered there as his right hand constantly patted down on the bag of pills tied to his waist.


    Although he could sense something fishy going on, he couldn''t be bothered to find out. This was his personality, simplistic. If a problem arises, fix it. If everybody hates him, fix it.


    When he got past the gates of his house and into his room, he emptied the bag of pills and verified it''s contents.


    Jackpot!


    There on the study table set in his room that he never used were 10 qi gathering pills. They looked the same as the ones showcased in the jade slip handed to him by the Pinnacle Pavilion and even emanated a faint aroma. These were most certainly the right pills.


    He eagerly sat down before swallowing one down and cultivating.


    He could sense more strands of qi being attracted to him, making it easier for him to absorb them into his cultivation base. Compared to his latest cultivation session, this was about twice as fast!


    He stayed in closed for cultivation for the rest of the day where he used up 4 of the pills. According to his calculations, the effect of the pills took 3 hours to dissipate. This would add up to 30 hours of continued effect of the pill. To Jian Yu, this was a really good stroke of good fortune as it would save time. He knew that the wealth of time was something that he couldn''t work for and get as a form of currency. That''s what makes it seem so priceless.


    "To think that one of these cost 6,000 gold coins or three of those spirit stones. I might have to consider making it to the Blood Reaches Sect before the requirement of the level of peak qi condensation is reached."


    <hr>


    As Jian Yu continued cultivating, the big burly man who followed behind Tian Yu walked into the Great Hall of the Ferocity Sect''s Elder''s association with a solemn expression.


    There, a long oak table could be seen stretching across the length of the entire room. Around it, 7 people could be seen seated down. A pressuring atmosphere seemed to linger in the air as they sat in silence.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    "Chou Tai greets elders. I requested a meeting as I recently found a rogue cultivator. Normally, it would be reasonable to find one roaming around our city. However, the imperial family has already closed off the city gates and all rogue cultivators have either joined our sects with strict restrictions or forced out. To find a rogue cultivator within our city walls at the 1st level of qi condensation at a time like this is most suspicious."


    The big burly man bowed deeply in the presence of these people. Every single person seated around the oak table had their names spread through the city. Along with their names came a terrifying reputation that caused shivers to crawl up the spine of anybody. Some of them had drunk the blood of their enemies to sustain themselves. Others were known for torturing their captured victims with horrifying methods. Hence, as Chou Tai raised his head, he couldn''t even dare to look at the eyes of the Elders.


    "I checked through his background already. His name is Jian Yu and he was an orphan. Named and raised by his foster father Jian Ting. Apparently, Jian Ting fished out a basket from the river that leads into the mountains, the Moon River. However, what alerted me enough to call his meeting was that... I sensed the aura of the Blood Reaches Sect on him."


    All of the Elders were shocked at the mention of the Blood Reaches Sect. Word has it of a mysterious sect that was hidden behind a dangerous forest. Occasionally, a person would venture far enough and visit Acirema. Always, there would be some blood shed and the disciple would get away.


    Now that a war was about to get underway, a person that could possibly be related to the Blood Reaches Sect could determine another friend or foe.


    "Bring that boy to me. I''ll get him to talk," one of the Elders spoke out. It was the Elder appointed in the Punishment division. There, only one other Elder had a higher position than his, making him the second in command.


    "I want him as soon as possible! And please don''t make it seem threatening."


    <hr>


    As secret meetings were being held at important locations, Jian Yu was about to break through in his simple room.


    Success!


    A rumble made it''s way through Jian Yu as the strand of qi slowly thickened and resembled a tiny rope of qi. Furthermore, black filth had seeped their way out of Jian Yu''s skin, forming a black layer above his skin. Both of these signs show that Jian Yu has entered the 2nd level of qi condensation. To enter the 1st level of qi condensation requires consistent meditation and a chance epiphany leading to being able to feel spiritual energy around him. To enter the 2nd level was much easier as it only required qi to accumulate in the dantian and thicken the strand of qi already there.


    Jian Yu''s eyes opened and he swinged his fists to and fro.


    "Hmm, from the increase of cultivation level, my fleshly body only got a tad bit stronger compared to last time but the qi in the dantian increased by a fold. That means twice as much qi that I have no idea how to utilize and use flexibly. According to the information left behind by that old man, there''s some magics that use qi as the foundation behind it. It can form dragons of fire, bring about gusts of wind and summon walls of Earth. It all stems from this energy in me..."


    Jian Yu examined his newfound strength and contemplated on the nature of qi. To him, cultivating was a means to gain power. If he were to not use it properly, that would mean that he''s not using all the power available to him which would be unwise.


    However, the natures of qi are far too complex for his mind to comprehend without a proper guideline to lead him. If it were so simple, every cultivator would be able to create shocking magics that would shake mountains.


    *Knock, knock*


    Jian Yu kept the two remaining qi gathering pills in the bag and walked up to answer the knocking on the door of his room.


    As the door opened slightly with a creak, Jian Yu asked, "What is it, father?"


    However, Jian Yu peaked through the small crevice from the side of the door and he noticed that behind the door was not his father. It was the big and burly man from before! So just before the door opened wide, Jian Yu nervously closed it back slowly...


    "Actually, I''m feeling a bit sick right now. I''m going to sleep. Wow, I''m exhausted," Jian Yu imitated a yawn and acted his exhaustion. He backed away from the door and tiptoed to the window to escape through there.


    Along the way, he wanted to grab the bag of medicinal pills. But as he was about to reach the pills, the big burly man behind the door finally spoke.


    "JIAN YU, you''re coming with me!"


    The door slammed open and cracked along it''s hinges. The man exerted too much force for the door to withstand. Jian Yu actually stopped in his tracks not due to fear but a mysterious force held him in place. Knowing this, even more fear made it''s way into his already unstable mind. He tried speaking up to negotiate terms as he was certain the man had come for the pills. Yet, he also couldn''t open his mouth. It was as if his entire life was in the control of the man in front of him.


    The man leaped over to Jian Yu in an instant and tucked Jian Yu under his armpit like before. Then, he opened the window and actually flew out!


    If Jian Yu weren''t demobilized, he might have actually enjoyed a flight through the city. He''s seen some fly through the city occasionally in his strolls and always wanted to do the same. However, what came with his first experience was not exactly what he had in mind. He was being abducted again!


    Right as the man began to slow down his flight, Jian Yu noticed the Ferocity Sect below him. There were sounds of combat and the occasional explosions here and there. Even more sounds of metal hitting metal were heard from what seemed to be a large scale facility to make weapons. Jian Yu turned his head to the other side to see a huge flat piece of land where about a hundred cultivators sat down in a strange formation. However, with the strange formation came a profound feeling of strength and terror to Jian Yu. To top it all off, there was an oppressing atmosphere that was thick in the air and Jian Yu swore he could almost see it.


    The man lowered in altitude and landed in front of a huge building. It didn''t seem luxurious like what would be expected from that Tian Yu so Jian Yu began to expect something fishy going on. However, seeing that he was here already and that the people inside were expecting him, he might as well take the initiative.


    He rushed up to the huge metal door and gave it a push. However, it didn''t even budge. With a short snort, he leaned his body on the door and used all of his strength to push on the door.


    Suddenly, the door was opened and Jian Yu fell on his side. He looked up only to see a tall and skinny man looking down at him. A smirk was seen swimming across his face.


    Jian Yu suddenly got the feeling that this was not Tian Yu''s family.

 Chapter 8, Preparations are complete

    "Jian Yu?" Asked the strange man. His eyes locked onto Jian Yu''s.


    "Y-Yes?" Jian Yu answered while still lying down on the concrete floor.


    "What do you know of the Blood Reaches Sect?"


    Hearing the question that needed to be answered, he was shocked. As he never ever told anybody of the existence of the old man, he knew that there was absolutely no way for anybody to know of the Blood Reaches Sect. However, this man in front of him knew of it. Those eyes of his seemed even more piercing than before, as if a gaze could uncover his deepest, darkest secrets... If there were any.


    "I... don''t know much, I met this old man who then gave me a cultivation technique and the location of the sect. I was told that if I reached the peak of qi condensation, I would then meet their requirements to be recruited."


    Without fail, Jian Yu engrossed himself with recalling past events while ignoring the man in front of him. It was the only way for him to remain calm in this odd situation.


    "And where is the sect located?"


    "It''s somewhere in the vast Black Beast Forest. That''s all I know. C-can I go now?"


    "QUIET, I do the questioning here," threatened the man. His voice hoarse from the menacing shout. However, in his eyes bloomed hope.


    To him, it seemed like Jian Yu was not of importance at all to the Blood Reaches Sect. A mere ant like him that could be swayed by anybody in their sect was worthy of zero mention. What mattered to him was the given location of the Blood Reaches Sect.


    For years, they''ve searched for the location of the Blood Reaches Sect. Yet, there had only been a few clues that led to dead ends. Now that they had a big lead, it was time to consider taking a risk.


    To send an Elder to negotiate terms with the Blood Reaches Sect and risk having one less key defender in the upcoming war or to not. If they pulled in resources of the three Great Sects and Families, they would certainly be able to secure a powerful ally. However, they might not make it in time and end up losing the war much easier.


    "Chou Tai, put this boy in a prison cell. Notify the all the other Elders in the other sects and families that another meeting will be held underway immediately. I''ll wait here," the tall and slender man


    The big and burly man behind Jian Yu bowed deeply and carried Jian Yu up again.


    Jian Yu felt as if he was brushing against a plot that was much bigger than himself. These almighty beings all around him look at the Blood Reaches Sect as some big shot that they could request assistance from. However, what was the problem that even the three Great Sects and Families could not resolve on their own? It was a troubling matter indeed.


    Considering what he noticed during the flight, there is certainly going to be a large scale battle on the way. All of this was too much for a young boy like Jian Yu so he shoved these thoughts to the back of his mind. All he focused on was a way of life that he had been enlightened on by the old man.


    "Power resolves everything."


    After flying through the sect for a few minutes, Jian Yu was tossed into a spacious cell made with metal bars. Those metal bars had runic symbols pulsating off of it. Clearly they were precious treasures used for trapping enemies. The insides of the prison cell weren''t too shabby. They had a small well and a bucket to collect water for various purposes and a toilet. While those were in one corner, the other had a flat matress. It was all dusty and worn out. Obviously, they took more care making the foundations of the cell than the interior of it.


    <hr>


    Back in the Elder''s association...


    "The Blood Reaches Sect is somewhere in the Red Span Forest? Although it might not be entirely dangerous, it''s far too vast to carry out a quick mission. Furthermore, the mysteries surrounding the forest are far more peculiar."


    A old lady voiced out her opinion. Her stand was clear, "don''t send for help."


    "But old lady Mao, with the attack of the Great Dragon Dynasty coming, I''m afraid we''ll need all the help we can get. They have foundations that run too deep and their resources far and wide. They might even have spies in our sects."


    This time, a ladylike man had spoken out to respond to the previous woman''s comment. His opinion immediately pushed The other men and women in the hall to chatter loudly. With a comment like that, it was certain to instill panic in the audience.


    "Impossible... There''s no way that we''re harboring traitors. But it''s the Great Dragon Dynasty so it might be possible..."This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    "SHUT IT! in times like these, it''s for the best that we stay calm and address the best options available. Although there might be traitors, it''s far too late to sniff them out."


    "True, true. But what if..."


    As nobody stopped the incessant chatter, the patriarch of the Imperial Family stood up.


    "We shall send a batch of young, talented geniuses to the Blood Reaches Sect along with one of the Elders here. We shall hand over our geniuses to them as a bargain for them to help. This will ensure that at least our sects can live on in the junior generation and may also sow good will with the Blood Reaches Sect. Only after their assistance with the war will we hand over our precious treasures."


    As the patriarch of the Imperial Family had the highest status in the entire city of Acirema, everybody else had shut themselves up and listened. After much thinking, everybody had to agree that the logic behind the thinking of the patriarch of the Imperial Family was sound.


    "But, what if they disagree..."


    Somebody muttered under their breath. However, it was still loud enough for most to hear in the silent hall.


    "Then, they will just have to accept our geniuses, they won''t reject having more outstanding disciples after all. However, the Elder will have to make the journey back alone in time for the war."


    The patriarch of the Imperial Family had thought things through thoroughly in the short time given. That showed him ability of problem solving which further elevated the faith of his subordinates seated with him.


    "Listen up, every sect and family! Secure a batch of five genius disciples that won''t be of any help in the war. If they start here, their future will be cut off. If they live, they might be able to carry on the legacy of our sect!"


    A loud uproar sounded out from each of the Elders and patriachs in the hall. The gloomy atmosphere had mostly been replaced with the atmosphere befitting that of hope. Hope that the sects may not perish in the end.


    <hr>


    Meanwhile, Jian Yu was restless in his prison cell. It''s been hours and he can''t get over the fact that he had been taken captive against his will twice in just two days! Occasionally, the prison guards would hear incessant complaints, then mad laughter, followed by a helpless sigh.


    He had sat down a few times to ponder on the few things he had left in his life. His father, his job, and... the bunch of people that hate him with a passion. When he thought about it, he actually had a depressing life. Although it was somehow caused by himself, he couldn''t bring himself to accept how his life had turned out. It had become some sort of needle that poked at his heart every now and then, reminding him of his bad decisions.


    "But it''s just who I am... Why must they hate me..."


    "If they hate me, let them hate me. I don''t care what they think. Why should I?"


    Jian Yu''s thoughts were going back and forth between two opposites at this point. One moment, he would just complain and feel helpless about his problems while on the next, he would act domineering and be uncompromising with the other party to push his problems under the rug.


    "AHHH, whatever. I need to calm down first. Meditate, I need to start cultivating. Take my mind off all of these."


    With that, Jian Yu took out the two qi gathering pills he had left and started a cultivation session in the prison cell.


    <hr>


    To the west of the city, multiple valleys were seen stretching across the plains. Less caravans were seen traveling to Acirema due to rumors of war. The only ones seen were going away from the city. However, a single caravan was spotted moving against the current. Word of this quickly spread to the Elders in the city.


    In the caravan was a small group. It consisted of two old men, a middle aged woman and an adolescent boy. It seemed like a normal group of travelers no matter what angle one tried to inspect them with. However, each and every one of them knew that their mission had to succeed.


    "How much further is it?" Complained the boy.


    "We should be close enough for them to notice, they should take the bait given our location."


    The middle aged woman replied to the boy''s name calmly, completely confident in knowing the action going to be taken by the city of Acirema.


    Indeed, it took only half an hour for a group of cultivators to come flying to them for an investigation. It was a team of seven, the optimal number for a team to cooperate in. It was actually lead by Chou Tai. Although not an Elder, he is in charge of various matters of the city. Beside him were two relatively low-key Elders from two of the Great Families, the Li family and the Tian family. The rest of the team were just normal disciples for the investigation.


    "Stop right where you are! Due to the current circumstances of the city, we''ll have to conduct a thorough investigation a safe distance from the city."


    The group of seven landed beside the carriage and forced it to a stop. The four disciples then opened the carriage doors and carefully carried out their investigation.


    *Swish*


    "What..."


    The upper bodies of the disciples were cut clean from their lower bodies swiftly. Before they could even process what happened, they perished. Blood spurted out of the arteries and accumulated on the soil below, nourishing the plants.


    "Don''t tell me this is how you treat your expected guests. How disappointing..."


    The words of the old man that spoke contained an obvious coldness that chilled one of the Elders stationed outside the carriage. From the opened doors, it could be clearly seen that there was no blood spilt on the inside of the carriage. It was spotlessly clean of blood. Although no signs showed that somebody in the carriage murdered the disciples, Chou Tai and the two Elders clearly saw everything that happened with their cultivation base.


    "Chou Tai, Tian Ji, we need to leave. NOW!"


    The Elder that spoke felt an inexplicable fear towards those in the carriage. Especially the adolescent boy. When he thought about it, he could recall that the Emperor of the Great Dragon Dynasty''s brother roamed through the world in the form of an adolescent boy. Could it be?


    However, before the other two could react, a domain of fire spread out. It was the physical manifestation of strength for those who reached the peak of the Elemental Core stage of somebody who cultivated the path of flames.


    It took mere minutes before the Elder who called out to the other two to burn to a crisp. It was the ultimate show of power right outside the city walls to crumble morale. Chou Tai and Tian Ji walked out safely then dropped to their knees to kowtow in greeting of the Emperor''s brother. Chou Tai raised his head to voice out the situation of Acirema. His voice solemn with every word.


    "Preparations are complete, it''s time to begin."

 Chapter 9, Escape

    After Chou Tai finished his report, the adolescent boy smirked and waved his hand. As he did so, he dropped what seemed to be dozens of marbles which exploded into an enormous field of azure mist. As the mist appeared, so did sounds of growling and shrieks. In the mist was an army of 500 demonic beasts. Demonic beasts were beasts that had entered the world of cultivation, meaning that they were at least at the 1st level of qi condensation. However, every single demonic beast in this army was in the Elemental Pagoda stage. It was just one major stage before Elemental Core and one after qi condensation.


    *ROAR!*


    After the mist had grown to it''s largest size, a magnificent roar was heard. It was a roar that could move trees and stop the flow of rivers. It even seemed to have an aura of a king.


    As soon as the roar sounded out, the mist vanished into the ring on the adolescent boy''s hand. It was a beautiful ring with a tiny image of a dragon embedded on it, the very proof of somebody important in the Great Dragon Dynasty.


    As the mist vanished, huge beasts that could rival the height of the city walls were spotted and strange beasts that looked to be moving in and out of existence were also spotted. As this army of demonic beasts were personally handpicked by the brother of the Great Dragon Dynasty''s emperor, they could all be considered exotic and abnormal beasts.


    "CHARGE!" Shouted the boy, his voice loud enough to compete with the previous roar.


    Right after the command, the beasts dashed through the plains to Acirema. The ones in the lead were enormous beasts that relied on their brute strength while the ones at the back would provide support in the siege.


    As the beasts trampled their way to Acirema, the noise they made was more than enough to alert the Sects and Families in the city.


    "Earlier than I thought. No matter, we''re still prepared."


    The patriach of the Imperial Family commented on the bold move made by the Great Dragon Dynasty.


    "PREPARE FOR BATTLE!"


    Similarly to the drills they participated in, every disciple and Elder moved to take their positions in the various city defences. There were a thousand groups of a hundred disciples placed atop the city walls in profound formations. Each one evenly spread to cover the entire city. Behind them were a hundred groups of ten Elders in even more profound formations. However, the patriachs of the various Sects and Families were not yet in the defences as they continued to watch on with somber expressions.


    Roughly half of the Elders were placed near the wall where the beasts would collide. As they haven''t seen any enemies other than the beast horde, they could flexibly maneuver without care for consequences.


    However, the Earth shifted in front of the city''s main gates to reveal tunnels. The tunnels had been set up over the course of a month by Earth cultivators. As the tunnels were revealed, so were a group of masked individuals. They rushed up to the city gates and smashed right through as if the gate were paper.


    Although the city walls and gates were reinforced by runic symbols, the ones particularly at the main gates were tampered with. They were obviously sabotaged from the inside.


    All these took mere seconds to happen after the Elders had moved to defend against the beast horde. Thus, the patriarch watching over the horde were caught off guard and weren''t left with enough time to stop the city gates from being destroyed.


    "ATTACK!" roared one of the masked individual.


    Rumbling could be heard from within the tunnels as an army of hundreds rushed through them at the masked individual''s command.


    Finally one of the patriarchs moved to stop the breach in the city walls. Due to the difference in cultivation base between the patriarch and the masked cultivators, it was relatively simple to stop them from entering the city but much tougher to kill them.


    As a standstill appeared at one side of the city, the beast horde at the other began to have their way at the wall. The enormous beasts rammed into the walls and a corrosive bile and boulders were being launched at the walls from the back of the beast horde. Of course, the Elders who were also at the Pagoda stage were doing their best to fight off the beast horde.


    The siege raged on as both sides continue to save up their trump cards for a possible reversal.


    <hr>


    Meanwhile, Jian Yu, who was held in a prison cell in the Ferocity Sect, had long heard the sounds of war. All of the roars, rumbling and explosions had truly frightened him. Suddenly, he was very thankful that he was placed in a safe location away from the dangers of battle.


    *BANG!*


    "AI!"


    Just as he was heaving sighs of relief by himself, a huge rock had forced it''s way through the prison walls and opened a huge hole right beside him. The rock then lost momentum to stare right at Jian Yu in his own prison cell. Jian Yu dropped in cold sweat as he felt his very soul nearly leave him from fear...


    "Why is this happening??"


    Peeking through the hole left from the huge projectile that was the rock, Jian Yu saw beasts. Every single one of them ferocious and bloodthirsty. Although there were some that might have looked cute from an angle, they just looked that way. There was no exception to their viciousness.


    "What the fuck? I have to get out. This is too scary. I''m so weak..."


    At the sight of the beasts that could literally eliminate him at a moment''s notice, Jian Yu''s knees trembled but his mind refused to give in. Although he feared for his life, he knew that he would truly lose it should he not do anything to protect it.


    *Rumble*


    Due to the huge rock smashing the prison walls in it''s way through Ferocity Sect, the ceiling above Jian Yu''s head was beginning to fall down on him. Noticing that the hole in the wall was big enough for Jian Yu''s slender body to fit through, Jian Yu decided to take this opportunity to escape. Given a choice, he wouldn''t ever have wanted to choose a side in this war and only watch from the sidelines.


    "I need to save myself. I can''t die..."


    As Jian Yu''s body squeezed through the rubble, he felt the weight bearing down on his body increase as more broken pieces of the prison wall dropped on top of him. The only thought that pressed him forward was survival. The only thing he truly loved was himself so he wouldn''t ever want to let himself die.


    Using every ounce of strength in his body, Jian Yu continued to force his way out of the prison walls. Every second wasted meant a higher risk of death and a lower chance of survival. Finally, with bloodshot eyes and cracked fingernails, Jian Yu managed to get out of the falling structure.


    However, the prison that had been holding Jian Yu was situated right beside a 100 meter drop. Although not high enough to kill Jian Yu, but just enough to hurt him badly.


    *Thud*The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    After Jian Yu had escaped, he was immediately greeted by another danger; the drop. Previously, the escape through the rubble had caused a few bones of his to begin to crack. Now that he had fallen from a great height, the injuries that Jian Yu was afraid of were unleashed. A handful bones were fractured in his arms, and only a few fractures in his legs. Pain wracked his face as Jian Yu picked himself up and staggered his way to find himself an escape plan.


    At this moment, shrieks were heard overhead as a flock of giant birds were seen flying across the city. As they passed by, white bombs began to fall. Everybody''s faces from the average frightened mortal to the patriarch of the Imperial Family fell. Thinking of the worst, all of the strongest experts of Acirema threw their strongest magical techniques at the white bombs. However, as the bombs were hit, they surprisingly... exploded into a form of rain!


    These weren''t bombs, but bird droppings! Huge birds had produced bird droppings above their city! How outrageous!


    What came after the shock of their realization was the fact that something tiny could be seen falling down to the ground from within the rain of bird droppings.


    "Pills of Heavenly Ruin! Don''t let them fall to the ground, they''re the true threat!"


    As Jian Yu watched the battle going on in the sky, six invincible experts of Acirema reached out to destroy as many pills as they could. At the same time, seven experts similar in strength with them appeared from around the city walls. Jian Yu imprinted this very image into his mind as clearly as he could. It exuded an aura of dominance, resolve, and most of all, desperation. All these sparked a fire somewhere in Jian Yu''s heart, but he himself didn''t realise it.


    "Ah! The sewers, I can escape through the sewers! I''m such a fucking genius. Hahaha!" In the midst of the peak of battle, Jian Yu, being the coward he was, was inspired by the bird droppings previously to escape through the sewers. After all, cultivators were a prideful bunch and would never want to handle the waste of thousands of mortals living within the walls of their beloved city. They would deign to do so and had thus set up a sewer system where waste would pass through the city underground and be released into a gorge somewhere in the mountains to the East.


    However, Jian Yu was an odd one who at times cared about reputation but at other times acted shamelessly. To him, he acted as he liked but what mattered to him most currently was still reputation. It was just that at times, there were more pressing matters that required him to put away his shame. This time was as such.


    Jian Yu started limping to the nearest public washroom or manhole to get into the sewer system. Perhaps, another huge rock had broken open a straight path into the sewers.


    As Jian Yu searched for his salvation, the bird droppings that were left to fall freely splashed onto his head.


    "Yuck! Disgusting! I don''t deserve this," complained Jian Yu. His head now covered in a white liquid that slowly trickled down his face.


    Minutes passed as Jian Yu resisted the urge to puke a couple of times, not from the smell of bird droppings but from the sight of mutilated bodies. Although the Ferocity Sect that Jian Yu was in trained cultivators, there were still mortal servants. As they weren''t useful, they were left to hide wherever they wanted to. However, some were unfortunate and were hit by falling boulders. Chunks of meat and shattered bones littered the ground where boulders fell.


    "Those damned bastards. Why couldn''t they have carried out their battle somewhere else. Not only me, but others are frightened of death. Why can''t they leave the Innocents alone?"


    Jian Yu''s thoughts drifted off to the consequences of it all, mainly the deaths of innocent bystanders. As a child still uncorrupted by the constant killing of the cultivation world, his thoughts were much simpler and idealistic.


    "Ah, a public restroom! I knew it was smart of me to head to the servant''s quarters," Jian Yu complimented himself in his excitement. "Once I get out, I will be free of worries."


    After arriving in the public restroom, Jian Yu took up a metal bar from a pile of rubble nearby to have his way with the toilet. After hitting the toilet a few times with the metal bar, the toilet broke apart to reveal a tunnel that descended like a slide. Fortunately, the size of the tunnel was just right to let Jian Yu fall through.


    As soon as the toilet gave way and broke apart, Jian Yu felt a sense of hesitation towards his plan. He had to walk through piss and shit for hours until he reached the mountains. Not a good idea.


    However, looking back at the destruction of the sect, he knew that he would be rewarded with his death if he stayed behind.


    Then he thought of his father, the one who had cared for him through his life. Although he wasn''t the best father, he was still Jian Yu''s only father.


    So in front of a dark tunnel leading to certain survival, Jian Yu pondered on his own selfishness. Should he save himself or waste time finding his father through the vast city of Acirema?


    However, the conflict in his mind was interrupted by the explosion of the city walls breaking. This time, the beast horde had broken the city walls guarded by thousands of cultivators. Despite the loss of roughly half of the horde, the rest of the beasts were not disheartened in the slightest. As they were tamed by the brother of the Great Dragon Dynasty''s Emperor, they were almost like puppets who only reacted to the works of the puppeteer. The loss of half the beast horde only meant that the battle prowess of the rest would be heightened as the adolescent boy only has to control half of the beast horde.


    "Ahh, I think Father can handle himself. I hear that he''s tougher to get rid of than a cockroach. Might as well put that to the test."


    With that, Jian Yu shut his eyes and launched himself into the tunnel. The sooner he entered the tunnel, the better. Surprisingly, it took minutes before Jian Yu dove into the sewers. If he had to guess, Jian Yu was a couple kilometers under the city. Taking out one of many tiny luminescent stones that Jian Yu collected amidst the destruction of the Ferocity Sect, Jian Yu got up slowly. These stones were used in the lamp poles that lit up the nights in Acirema so it was relatively simple to find them.


    The only problem was that Jian Yu had no idea where he was supposed to go. Remembering a simple advice he heard from his father, he held up his index finger into the air. Feel the wind''s movement, he said. Seconds later, Jian Yu decided on a direction that he supposed was the way to the mountains according to the wind movement.


    *Splish, splosh*


    As Jian Yu made his way through the sewer, he kept experiencing rumbling through the tunnels. These lead to small amounts of rubble falling down into the disgusting water Jian Yu was knee deep in which then lead to odd sounds of animals lurking in the sewers. This new environment made Jian Yu feel very uneasy. Adding on the fact that he could only see a few meters ahead made it that he was borderline paranoid of the sewers and it''s inhabitants. However, his fear of the war behind him overcame his uneasiness of the sewer, causing his to rush forwards despite his injuries.


    <hr>


    Hours passed as Jian Yu made his escape. Meanwhile, up above in the ruined city of Acirema, savages, man and beasts, slaughtered the ones who insisted on guarding the city. They had long threatened everybody that should they bow down before the Great Dragon Dynasty, that would be spared. However, most were unwilling to do so and those that did, were killed on the spot as traitors. Therefore, to completely flatten the morale of the opposing side, it was necessary to slaughter. Slaughter everyone who didn''t bow down.


    In the skies where the Elemental Core stage cultivators battled, there were many precious treasures that had been unleashed. The city of Acirema had already thrown all their trump cards into the ring, going all out. They were in desperate straits. The enemy now had ten experts that could individually battle toe to toe with any of them while they only had six. The odds were against them.


    Suddenly, the patriarch of the Tian Family struck the back of the patriarch of the Imperial Family. A dense ball of wind blades exploded onto the Imperial Family''s patriarch''s back.


    "Ahh! Brother Tian! Why?"


    Every single one of the patriarchs were shocked at the betrayal of one of their own. Worst of all, the one that had turned to the other side was their second most powerful expert.


    Taking this opportunity, the Great Dragon Dynasty''s experts launched devastating attacks. Some took out their own unrevealed techniques and used them in a certain kill situation. This was... the end of Acirema.


    *BOOM*


    Tornadoes of flame, a tsunami, and meteors all hit their targets. Every cultivator down below stopped where they were and witnessed the fall of six experts of their generation. The hope that was forcibly held together in Acirema''s cultivators plummeted down with them.


    "VICTORY TO THE GREAT, DRAGON, DYNASTY!!"


    "VICTORY TO THE GREAT DRAGON DYNASTY!"


    It was not known who shouted first, but everybody else soon followed. Their chant glorifying their empire soon turned to a form of a mystical enchantment that raised the Great Dragon Dynasty''s cultivators'' power as a whole.


    <hr>


    Meanwhile, 7 kilometers away from the city of Acirema, a lone boy was left in a river of stink in a gorge. The walls of the gorge were steep but there was a rope that let Jian Yu climb up to the top. Traveling across the sewers was already very tiring to Jian Yu. As his bones were fractured in certain areas, Jian Yu knew that it was impossible for him to climb up roughly ten kilometers on his own.


    Shrugging his shoulders, he decided to stay in this shit pile of a gorge to recover slowly. After spending hours in shit water, he felt much more relaxed and grew used to such a disgusting feeling. So, knowing that he was now far away from danger, he searched for a good place to rest in the gorge.


    Suddenly, he heard the synchronized and majestic shouts of thousands symbolizing the defeat of Acirema''s defence.


    A sad sigh echoed through the gorge filled with mixed feelings. As Jian Yu moved about waist deep in the shit water, he looked upwards to what looked like a small crevice above the gorge and expressed his thoughts on the matter in a loud roar.


    "This is a new start for me! A better one! Heavens! I''ll grow strong enough to trample on the Great Dragon Dynasty, just watch!"

 Chapter 10, Leaving the gorge

    Months passed by and the city of Acirema experienced a big change. The six great sects and families other than the Tian Family were completely demolished. Not a trace of them were left. What was planned to replace them was one huge sect. It was the famous Great Dragon Sect. Although it was only a branch of the main branch down further west, it would take up the space of the five of the previous Great sects and families. Previously, each great sect and family took up roughly 1000 kilometers squared of land area. Now that a huge sect of 5000 square kilometers is appearing in Acirema, everybody was having mixed feelings toward the new occupants. Should they feel proud or disapproving? As everybody discussed the matter with hushed whispers, somebody voiced out their opinion publicly.


    "Everybody let''s not disapprove of them. At a wave of their hand, they destroyed the previous rulers of our beloved city. Clearly, they are more than powerful enough to restore it. In fact, I believe that repair every nook and cranny, not leaving a spot unrecognizable!"


    The man that spoke out had a head full of unkempt hair, a stubble under his chin and his clothes were tattered in certain acceptable areas. To others, this man was a normal homeless man. However, if Jian Yu were here, he would definitely recognize the man as his father.


    During the battle known to the commoners as the Siege of Acirema, Jian Yu''s father had hid in his house. A worried look was plastered all over his face which only grew worse with every sound and shaking of battle. He was worried for Jian Yu. Unfortunately, his house was in the line of fire along with many unfortunate others and was destroyed. It burned down as a result of the fire tornado that ended the battle. Luckily, it got burned down by the drifting flames that got carried away by the wind. The people that were directly below the tornado were obliterated. Not a single corpse remained.


    Jian Yu''s father wasn''t aware of Jian Yu''s location. He was hoping that it was out of the city. After all, he still hasn''t found a trace of him left in the city...


    Many others in the area agreed with the opinion of Jian Yu''s father and knew of his son''s disappearance so they didn''t say much. Many had lost loved ones that day.


    "Come brother Jian, let''s continue with our work. Let''s not think about it anymore."


    After the city had been taken over, the local residents had been tasked with destroying or throwing away any useless treasures and medicinal pills. How they did it was left to their own creativity. Some tried burning them down, others whacked at them until they broke, and the rest just disposed of them through different channels leading out of the city. They were strictly prohibited from using them as they were ''not of high quality''. Most grumbled about it in their sleep and none dared to talk back.


    Meanwhile, Jian Yu was still in the gorge with the polluted water as he cultivated atop a rock, high enough to not be drenched in the disgusting water. He had sat like this for months as he recovered with time. In fact, he had actually reached the 3rd level of qi condensation!


    Unfortunately, after he broke through in his cultivation, his injuries had only recovered partially from the increased vitality he obtained. Nonetheless, at this point of time, he was nearly fully recovered.


    As his eyes slowly opened, the senses that he had shut out before meditation came back to him. Contrary to before he entered the state of meditation, the view of the gorge was completely different!


    Medicinal pills and magical equipments bobbed about in the water of faeces and urine. However, mere waste of mortals could never taint the glow of these pills and equipment.


    If Jian Yu had to guess, he would probably say that there were hundreds of medicinal pills here and tens of magical equipments!


    Although it was a meager amount to any sect or powerful cultivator, to a mere qi condensation cultivator, it was a huge amount of wealth.


    "Are my eyes not working right?" Jian Yu wondered. "Perhaps this is a dream. Hahaha, of course it is! Look there''s even a pill there that looks super beneficial!"


    Jian Yu laughed at the situation he found himself in, utterly convinced it was a happy dream. Stretching his arm outwards to the nearest medicinal pill, he casually comments, "Might as well leave a lasting memory."


    He tossed it into his mouth without bothering to wash it and as soon as it touched the back of his throat, he regretted. He spat it back out and began to vomit.


    "This ain''t a fucking dream! I nearly ate shit!" Jian Yu cursed as he glared daggers into the medicinal pill he nearly swallowed.


    As he was knocked back into reality, he was also greeted by the sweet truth. He was rich!This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    "Oh my heavenly goodness, I-I''m rich! Look at all this! One of those stupid qi gathering pills costed 6,000 gold coins. Hah! Now, I think I can consider myself a millionaire!"


    Joyous laughter rang out from Jian Yu as if he had never even experienced a life threatening situation before. This lasted for an entire minute as he imaged himself standing atop the neighborhood with his wealth. Then, he thought back to one crucial detail.


    "Wait, but I can''t carry it all at once..."


    Looking down at the sea of treasures beneath him, a bittersweet feeling rose up inside him. To utilize it all, did he have to consume the pills and leave most of the equipments...?


    Shaking his head, he tried to look for an alternative method with tears welling up in his eyes. He thought back to the Pinnacle Pavilion and that young man who introduced him to various types of pills. Wasn''t there something that was used to keep treasures?


    "Oh yes! The bag!" Jian Yu exclaimed as he recalled the young man handing the bag which contained 10 qi gathering pills to Tian Yu. "It should be with me... Found it!"


    Grabbing the bag that he still kept with him since being abducted from his very home, he inspected it very closely.


    "This, is a normal bag..."


    Jian Yu''s brows furrowed as he realised that, with how far it could stretch, the bag he had could carry something no bigger than, perhaps a greatsword? It was tough to guess...


    But with this bag, Jian Yu could only bring with him a miniscule amount of treasures with him out of the gorge. He could always just leave them there and come back to collect them whenever he could but how long would that take? Probably, by the time he could come back and collect them all, they would''ve been found by some other lucky guy.


    "To lose one''s riches knowingly... I will not let that happen!"


    Jian Yu put away his bag and picked up another pill floating about. Looking around, he estimated that it would take a few months to slowly absorb the pills if he continued to use them all up. After using his forearm to wipe away any traces of excrement off of the pill, he popped it into his mouth.


    ...


    Months quickly passed as Jian Yu routinely kept using up the pills. Much to his shock, pills kept entering the gorge via the sewage system. At times, he would bow down towards a random direction and thank the ''God of Sewage'' for taking the time to know that he deserved better from his life...


    As expected, Jian Yu quickly advanced in his cultivation as he quietly absorbed the pills. Now, he had reached the 5th level of qi condensation. If anybody had heard this back in the city of Acirema, they would probably think that Jian Yu was showing off, again, as this was a feat rarely seen by even disciples doted upon by the sect Elders.


    However, Jian Yu realised that as he continued to absorb the pills, the efficacy of the consecutive pills would drop. This baffled him as he imagined himself climbing to the peak of cultivation with the never ending supply of pills that he had obtained.


    Time has come for him to look past this mountain of wealth and climb out of the gorge. However, before doing so, Jian Yu looked around at some potential magical equipments to take with him.


    Preferably equipments that are small yet useful or ones that he could equip immediately.


    Boots, breastplates, gauntlets


    Soon, Jian Yu was decked out in a full set of shit stained armor that was made up of different colours. A yellow breastplate, azure leggings, green boots, and red gauntlets. The armor looked hideous but to Jian Yu, it was perfect.


    In his bag were dozens of paper talismans that could be used to create powerful attacks. Throughout his time in the gorge, he has tested out a few treasures to kill time and discovered that by infusing the talismans with his qi, he could activate them and unleash attacks or temporarily buff himself with different effects. It was a pleasant discovery which left him in awe towards talisman crafters.


    To him, those talismans were much more useful than any weapon he could find. At the end of the day, he hasn''t practiced any form of martial arts to use the weapons efficiently but he did know how to infuse items with his qi, making talismans the best item to carry with him.


    Just as he was about to climb the rope, he caught sight of a magnificent jade pendant with a carving of an azure dragon stuck in a crack on the walls of the gorge. Seeing that he hasn''t got anything around his neck, he might as well take it. Even if it wasn''t a treasure, it must be worth a ton of money right?


    Using his bare arms which had long recovered, he widened the crack on the wall and snatched the jade pendant. After inspecting the pendant closely, he determined that it was not a magical item and that it just looked pretty.


    Finally, Jian Yu latched onto the rope and stared back at the dirty water in the gorge with an expression of regret. It was as if he were silently lamenting the fact that he couldn''t carry the entire gorge with him.


    Jian Yu turned back to the rope and started climbing. With his new cultivation base, he was much stronger than before which made the armor seem much lighter than it actually was.


    <hr>


    Back in the city of Acirema, Jian Yu''s father was gazing at the starry sky with an obvious pained look on his face. He had come to terms with his son being dead. The city had been rebuilt with new facilities but there was still no sign of Jian Yu. After asking around, he found out about Jian Yu being abducted to the Ferocity Sect which had been utterly destroyed. This caused him to lose himself in grief of his son''s early death.


    In front of him, on the bank of the Moon River outside the city where he found Jian Yu, was a tombstone. On it read, "Here lies Jian Yu. Although he was unfillial, he was a splendid son who dedicated all he had to what was on his mind."


    "Brother Jian, let''s go."


    Jian Ting silently nodded and followed his closest friend back to the city. No words were needed to express his grief, his actions were enough.


    <hr>


    At the same time that Jian Yu had been proclaimed dead, his arm reached upwards and grabbed onto the rocky surface. Then, with a final push, he launched himself out of the gorge and landed on his back. He was out!


    Although he was dirty all over and a single sniff would send others scurrying back to their homes, he was now out of the gorge. As he looked up at the sky, a mountain seemed to accompany the clouds. It looked as if a giant sword was piercing the sky.


    Pushing that glorious image out of his mind, Jian Yu looked toward the Black Beast Forest to the east. It was time to head to the Blood Reaches Sect.

 Chapter 11, Magical techniques

    Within the mountainous valleys, a small group of bandits were waiting for their next victim while sitting in a hole in the ground. It wasn''t a well known group of bandits as they were quite weak and weren''t as imposing as other bandits. They just lived life however they wanted to. They chatted and they laughed everyday, talking about anything and everything.


    At this moment, one of them, a young woman, heard a strange noise coming from deeper within the mountains. It was the sound of metal.


    "This is stupid. I should''ve just hid in the city..." The voice of a young boy''s complaints echoed through the valley. Naturally, this was Jian Yu. After exiting the gorge, he had made his way south, towards the Blood Reaches Sect. It''s been roughly a week since he started his slow march.


    The woman told the rest of the group of bandits to quiet down as she peeked towards the origin of the sound. As her eyes moved above the hump of dirt the group calls cover, she saw an oddly colourful hunk of armor with a few brown spots walking on the designated path through the mountains. The armor also occasionally shook which revealed a swinging bag, full to the brim. To the woman''s shock, the height of the hunk of armor was only about 1.3 meters. Clearly, this was some rich kid. The woman''s eyes glittered as she visioned herself and her partners in crime enjoying an entire week in leisure.


    "What is it old hag?" One of the bandits asked.


    The woman glared at him but answered nonetheless, "It''s a lone rich kid. Watch out for any tricks. If nothing else, easy money."


    Only short sentences were needed to convey the situation to each other as they were experienced bandits. After eyeing Jian Yu, she could clearly sense the ripples of the strength of the 5th level of qi condensation which further boosted her confidence. Her entire group was at the 5th level of qi condensation as well, excluding the leader who was at the 6th. Together, they would definitely be able to loot Jian Yu of his money. Or so they thought.


    They silently prepared their weapons to launch a preemptive attack on Jian Yu.


    Just as they were about to jump out of their hole, Jian Yu suddenly had a strange premonition of danger. His hand unconsciously moved to clutch at the bag at his waist.


    "Who''s there?!"


    Then, a sound of somebody clicking their tongue out of irritation sounded out followed by the reveal of 6 figures.


    It was a group composed of 2 women and 4 men. Each and every one of them had their faces wrapped up in a black cloth to hide their identity. After all, they wouldn''t want to relax in a city hiding.


    The reveal of the bandits didn''t surprise Jian Yu. He had anticipated this as his father had an experience similar to his current situation. The difference was, Jian Yu was thoroughly prepared.


    "Are you guys here to rob me of my precious treasures?"


    The man standing in the center of the group, presumably the leader, chuckled, "Yes, we''re here to take your treasures, now be a good boy and leave them behind."


    Jian Yu looked at the man from head to toe. From his posture, Jian Yu could tell that the man was brimming with confidence. Chin pointing upwards, hands placed behind his back... Yep, this man looked a lot like him previously.


    During his time in the gorge, Jian Yu was left with an abundance of time to himself. Most of the time was spent on cultivation, but he occasionally reflected on his past actions. He recalled how everytime he put on that look of arrogance, people around him seemed to get annoyed one way or the other. Then he thought to remind himself to adjust his behavior to the preference of others to maintain a good reputation.


    Other than that he would go about imagining situations that would never happen in reality.


    Now that Jian Yu was facing off against this group of bandits, he would definitely choose to benefit from it.


    Taking the chance given by the bandit leader''s disregard for himself, Jian Yu took it out a handful of talismans and tossed them all at the bandit leader in front of him.


    Fireballs and huge rocks formed which all flew straight at the bandit leader. To his shock, the strength of these attacks were roughly at the great circle of the qi condensation stage!


    *Boom*


    The man exploded upon the impact of the attacks, leaving blood splattered all over. The other five bandits stared with complete and utter rage at Jian Yu.


    "You killed big brother Shou! I''m gonna rip you apart!"


    Without hesitation, they launched themselves at Jian Yu with disregard for their own safety. The death of their close friend broke their hearts and let loose a beastial rage. As they all closed in, Jian Yu took out another handful of talismans, but less than his first handful.


    "That was overkill. I need to save more."


    He tossed them at the nearest bandit who then summoned up a mound of dirt to cover himself. Yet, his defences were meaningless when faced against a dominating power.


    This time, the bandit didn''t explode but he was flattened by a huge rock. One could only imagine how heavy the rock must have been.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Before Jian Yu got to take out another handful of talismans, the other four bandits hit him with their own attacks. The strength of four cultivators at the 5th level of qi condensation struck him.


    However, Jian Yu wasn''t even injured. Here was knocked back a couple of meters but his armor had absorbed most of the damage, leaving him unharmed.


    Seeing this, the bandits were then hesitating. Although this man had killed their leader and another one of theirs, if they continued, the same would probably happen to them. So, they nodded their heads towards each other and went to collect the equipments of their friends before running off. It clearly wasn''t their first time at a failed robbery.


    But how could Jian Yu just let them take away his prized possessions that he earned?


    With another handful of talismans in hand, Jian Yu warned the other four bandits, "Don''t you dare touch them or else you''ll be the next one to go."


    His voice was soft but his message was very clear. This was a threat to the one who would first collect the equipments of their fallen comrades. Now, none of them wanted to die first so they quickly left before Jian Yu changed his mind.


    After they left, Jian Yu lunged towards the bandit leader. Although he had exploded, that was only the fleshly body. The equipments he had was left behind, ripe for the picking. Jian Yu looked through for anything better than what he was already wearing but he only found a bag behind the clothing. He tried opening the bag but strangely, it wouldn''t budge open.


    He tried tearing through the bag''s fabric by using his sharp fingernails which had not been trimmed since months ago. He tried cutting through the fabric with the other dead bandit''s sword. Yet, the bag didn''t even show an opening.


    Then Jian Yu recalled the fact that some treasures are operated by infusing qi into them. He then tried this method on the bag and to his amazement, it worked!


    In the world of cultivation, this was considered a treasure of holding. This means that the treasure could hold a huge amount of items inside it beyond it''s actual size. This is mainly due to the treasure''s internal dimension which opens up when somebody infuses their qi into it. There were different kinds of treasures of holding. A holding bag, belt, ring...


    Jian Yu looked into the bag, not surprised at what he found. It was a few hundred gold coins, twenty of those crystals called spirit stones and a few weapons. All the things a bandit would find necessary to continue his line of work. However, deeper in the bag, Jian Yu found three books! Each one of them were supposed techniques written down to allow the cultivator to use qi in different ways.


    They were just basic techniques to let cultivators get the hang of using qi. Respectively, the techniques were named Water jet, Wind blade, and Fireball. The names were pretty self explanatory.


    Now with the discovery of a holding bag, Jian Yu was very excited. He could now try to take away more treasures from the gorge with him to the Blood Reaches Sect. And when you add the fact that Jian Yu now had magical techniques to learn from, he was walking along the line of ecstasy.


    Without a moment of hesitation, Jian Yu left for the gorge. He decided to walk slowly as to take his time reading up on the three magical techniques and comprehending them. First up was the Water jet technique.


    Water jet needed the cultivator to move water qi into the palm and concentrate it at a point. Once it''s saturated enough, the cultivator would release all the water qi from that point, forming a jet of water. The more energy that''s concentrated, the faster the water jet will be.


    Although Jian Yu doesn''t talent for using water qi, he should try to understand the concept behind the medical technique. So, he channeled his qi accordingly, expecting a failure. After all, he had never felt an affinity towards the elemental qi found in the cultivation world.


    However, as he channeled his qi to gather at a point on his palm and released it, a blue billet was shot out of his hand at fast speeds. He traced the bullet with his eyes and saw a distant rocky wall shatter apart after the bullet made impact.


    "Strong!"


    That was Jian Yu''s opinion on the technique. Although simple, it seemed very strong. After his first attempt at the water jet technique, he then tried to practice the other techniques.


    Wind blade required qi to be spread out across the edge of the hand and released as the cultivator slashed with his hand like a sword. Jian Yu found that his Wind blade was similar to the one depicted in the book. It only lacked the speed of a proper Wind blade as Jian Yu didn''t use wind qi.


    The result of practicing Fireball was very similar to Jian Yu''s Water jet. It only produced a blue bullet that was bigger than the previously. Ability wise, the difference was that the previous bullet had more penetrative strength compared to this one which had more crushing power.


    Another week passed by as Jian Yu made his way back to his treasure trove. Along the way, Jian Yu cultivated and practiced the magical techniques to the point where he became more efficient at using them. It didn''t even seem like a week to him as he quickly found himself near the crevice leading to the pile of treasure.


    Jian Yu moved hastily at the sight of it and prepared the bag of holding. Taking off his armor, Jian Yu prepared to go back down to claim what is his. However, his eyes stole a glance down into the gorge and found that... it was empty! Not even the dirty water was spared, it was taken too!


    "Who would want to take away that shit water?"


    Confused, he hurried down for an inspection of the crime scene. After looking around, Jian Yu found that nothing was out of place in the gorge, leaving the only possibility that somebody had taken it away from him. Just thinking of it made him infuriated to the point that his fingernails were cutting into his palms.


    As Jian Yu silently raged on in his heart, he was shocked to find that a gigantic, 10 meter tall door had mysteriously appeared at the far end of the gorge!


    "Was it there before?"


    There were no engravings embedded upon the door but it emanated a very ancient aura. The metal used to craft the doors were rusty but that didn''t hide the splendor of it at all.


    Jian Yu immediately wanted to leave the gorge behind and continue to head to the Blood Reaches Sect but that pendant hanging on his neck was pulling him to the door. The string around Jian Yu''s neck bore deeper into his skin, not giving Jian Yu the opportunity to leave at all. Finally, the sound of a dragon''s roar filled his ears and the gigantic door blasted open. Behind the door was a blinding light which Jian Yu''s eyes couldn''t pierce.


    The roar of the dragon froze Jian Yu''s nerves and his feet were stuck to the ground. He literally couldn''t move but his he was mentally panicking at full speed. Seeing that he was being dragged towards the open door caused a small tear to form at the corner of his eyes.


    "I''m too young to die..." he whimpered.


    *Woosh*


    Jian Yu''s eyes were forcefully shut by the blinding light as he passed the door. Jian Yu started to think happy thoughts that he was going to enter another treasure trove.


    However, pain followed soon after he finished his thoughts as his body was frozen and shattered into countless pieces a countless times. His mouth opened to scream but no sound came out. His heart beat faster and faster as he experienced this torture. A cold stream of energy also made it''s way into Jian Yu''s meridians, to carry out the same torture done to his body. The pain of having one''s meridians destroyed was much more painful than having his balls kicked.


    Days passed by to which Jian Yu felt were months...

 Chapter 12, Divine Beast Temple

    Chapter 12, Trial by fire


    Amidst the blinding light, Jian Yu experienced the breaking down and reforming of his entire being. It seemed like his very soul was screaming for the torture to end but it never even paused to give him a break. However, it finally gave Jian Yu a breather after what seemed to be ages. Jian Yu''s eyes were still sealed tight by the blinding light but his chest moved up and down, embracing the peace given to him; which only lasted a moment.


    The next thing he knew, Jian Yu''s entire body arched backwards as a searing pain made it''s way onto his back. It felt like his back was placed atop an erupting volcano. The pain lurched it''s way into his body from his back and inched closer and closer to his heart.


    If the pain beforehand was torture, the pain Jian Yu was currently experiencing was indescribable. To put matters in perspective, it was probably a hundred times more painful.


    Thankfully, this lasted a few minutes before Jian Yu was greeted with peace once again. This time, his heart thumped furiously at the thought of something far worse happening. Yet, all that came afterwards was the blinding light fading away to reveal the interior of a magnificent temple.


    There were no coloured glass panels or fancy artworks but there were golden sculptures of ancient beasts lined up in two columns. What followed after the columns was a huge sculpture of an azure dragon. Unlike the other sculptures, this one was sculpted out of ordinary stone and didn''t look extraordinary at all, unworthy of it''s place in the limelight of this magnificent temple.


    Behind the azure dragon were 3 other ordinary looking sculptures that depicted other divine beasts. Namely, they were the vermillion bird, white tiger, and the black turtle. Their presence further heightened the atmosphere in the temple to another level of magnificence.


    What was strange was that the azure dragon sculpture looked exactly like the one on his pendant. Jian Yu''s hand reached for the pendant and instead grabbed at nothing but air. The pendant was gone. Jian Yu looked around searching for it but to no avail.


    "This is all too bizarre for me... First, that bizarre torture chamber and now this temple? I feel like I shouldn''t be here..."


    When entering a foreign and unknown land, it was very common for people to die of unexpected dangers. Jian Yu knew that as he heard old folks used to say that most maps were drawn from the blood of the explorers. They would bravely walk into the unknown and chart out the maps, even if they suffer severe casualties. Admiration towards the brave men and women bloomed in his heart since then.


    Jian Yu put away the concern he felt towards the missing pendant for now and looked ahead towards the huge sculpture. There was definitely something off about that thing, he was sure of it. Jian Yu turned his head to check whether an exit was behind him.


    Before Jian Yu could fully turn his head, the statue trembled as if it received an insult straight to it''s face and shockingly, opened it''s mouth!


    *Woosh*


    From the gaping mouth came a mysterious stream of water. It was violet and seemed to act alive as it flew across the temple almost like a snake to where Jian Yu stood. Jian Yu turned his head back to look at the incoming stream of water closer to find that it closely resembled a dragon!


    "I want none of this! Go away!" Jian Yu screamed at the sight.


    Dragons were ancient beasts that lived during the time of his ancestor''s ancestors. Back then, they ruled the skies and nothing dared obstruct their path. Now that there was something that resembled a dragon heading his way, he didn''t dare to wait any longer and searched for an exit in this seemingly endless temple. Who knew if he was going to be food for the dragon?


    *Roar*


    As Jian Yu ran around disorderly, the dragon let out a roar and increased it''s speed a dozen times over. In the blink of an eye, it was directly behind Jian Yu. He didn''t notice this but he was still as disorderly as ever. Shockingly, the dragon rammed into Jian Yu''s back and disappeared into his body!


    This time, no wretched pain overcame Jian Yu''s senses. There was only an extremely relaxing coldness that came with the absorption of the dragon. The sensation made it''s way to Jian Yu''s heart before he knew it. Jian Yu stopped in his tracks as he felt it and let out a soft moan. This was a very euphoric kind of sensation.


    If Jian Yu could turn his head entirely backwards like an owl, he would be amazed to find that a tattoo of an azure dragon had been imprinted into his skin. It had been imprinted by none other than the pendant that Jian Yu had. During the time that Jian Yu experienced severe torture in the blinding light, it had removed itself from Jian Yu''s neck and glided to his back to drill into Jian Yu''s body to form a tattoo on the skin and... an illusory meridian!


    Meridians were the pathways for qi, blood and other bodily fluids to flow in. Everybody had 12 main meridians to circulate qi throughout their body. Not one more, not one less.


    As of this moment, an occurrence rarely heard of in history was occurring. The dragon that disappeared into Jian Yu came to a halt, superimposing on the illusory meridian, solidifying it. Jian Yu now had an additional meridian!


    As one circulates qi through their meridians, having one more would mean that Jian Yu could absorb qi faster than anybody else. If anybody heard of Jian Yu''s good fortune, they would cry out in envy.


    Although unaware of what was happening within him, Jian Yu now knew that the temple bore no ill will towards him. In fact, it looked to him that he was there to be rewarded instead. Hence, he turned back towards the azure dragon statue and actually began to walk towards it.


    After Jian Yu sauntered his way to the huge statue of the azure dragon, he closely examined it end casually tapped it to admire the craftsmanship. It was a normal thing for him to carry out but it provoked a reaction from the statue. The statue''s open mouth widened some more and let out a world shaking roar.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    The entire temple shook at the sound and the statues began to crumble, bit by bit and it slowly faded away. Meanwhile, the scenery of the gorge came back around Jian Yu. It looked completely ordinary except that the treasures were still missing.


    "No! Come back! I''m sure you have more treasures for me..." Jian Yu''s hands clawed at the fading image of the temple being replaced by the gorge. His heart filled with extreme reluctance as he felt he didn''t get to fully utilize the opportunity handed to him.


    In the end, the temple disappeared from his eyes as Jian Yu collapsed to his knees, exhaustion from all that had just happened flaring up.


    "Eh?" Jian Yu let loose a puzzled gesture with his mouth as his cheeks twitched in place.


    Peculiarly, there was a single item on the ground right in front of Jian Yu. It was a tiny medallion that had the four divine beasts'' images engraved on the front and the name ''Divine Beast Temple'' on the back.


    Clearly, this was related to the temple from before so Jian Yu picked it up and placed it into his bag of holding. Afterwards, Jian Yu sat down and began to absorb qi to recover. His eyebrows went up as he noticed that he was recovering faster than expected.


    "What the.."


    As he did so, he noticed the existence of an additional meridian that connected his dantian to his heart and then to his back. This discovery surprised Jian Yu. However, what surprised him even more was that his other meridians were all much tougher and could circulate more substances within it than before. Nonetheless, he was delighted and aware that he had not left that temple empty handed.


    It took mere minutes before Jian Yu fully recovered. He felt much better now that he had technically improved his talent. His previous shame of a talent was washed away slightly with his recent good fortune. He jumped up to his feet and hurriedly climbed the rope up the gorge, no longer crestfallen about the treasures he had lost from the gorge.


    *Boom* *ROARR*


    The moment Jian Yu''s head popped out of the gorge, he saw a huge flame serpent flying into a ferocious bear. The cultivator who sent the attack was backed up by another group of cultivators. All them wore white robes with auspicious golden clouds decorating them all around. The bear bellowed out at the impact of the flame serpent but instead of fleeing at the provocation of the group of cultivators, it actually charged towards them!


    Afterwards, Jian Yu tilted his head to the left and saw another group of cultivators fighting a pack of wolves past the other. The wolves'' fur was pitch black and their canines were razor sharp. It was clear that the wolves would be highly advantageous over the cultivators if they were fighting in the middle of the night. Unfortunately for them, the suns were high in the sky and they were trapped by the cultivators.


    Jian Yu ducked his head back down into the gorge and wondered, "What is going on?"


    Just as he was about to head back down to hide until the fights break down, he heard a tragic cry for help from behind him.


    <hr>


    A few days ago...


    A group of a hundred cultivators, all ranging from the 5th level of qi condensation to the 7th, were aboard a flying vessel flown by an Elder of their sect.


    They had been selected to participate in a trial by fire in the mountains. The mission was to collect as many demon hearts as one possibly could, no matter the method. The only rule was that nobody was allowed to kill their fellow sect disciples. The mention of allowing the use of whatever method caused strange gleams to flash in the eyes of a few while fearful looks appeared on the faces of others. The goal of the event was clear. The strong preyed on the weak to grow stronger.


    The Elder who was looking ahead of the flying vessel turned to give a final briefing of the rules and what to avoid.


    "The location of the trial by fire will be held at the Piercing Sword Mountain. The deeper you head into the mountain, the stronger the Dr demonic beasts will be. The mountain''s ruler is a snake at the Elemental Core stage so don''t go too deep into the mountain. Final warning, don''t kill each other."


    As his last words fell onto the ears off the sect disciples, the flying vessel hovered down to ground level to drop off the cultivators.


    "The trial by fire begins!"


    Moments after the declaration of the start of the trial by fire, the disciples ran off into the mountain. There were trees covering most of the mountain grounds so it was easy to lose track of each and every one of them.


    "Sister Mei! Let''s go deeper into the mountains. With numbers, we can overcome the strong! We don''t have to be afraid."


    One of the disciples, a slim man who seemed to be near the end of his teenage years, called out to the beautiful lady ahead of him. She had extraordinary looks and an even more extraordinary talent for the Fire element. Alas, she was still young and needed to catch up to those who started cultivation earlier than her.


    She was born in Acirema and never thought anything of cultivation. She always read books and had the dream of writing her own books to be handed down in the city library. However, the city was attacked and her dreams were crushed. With the new overlords came new laws. They evaluated the talent of everybody regardless of age and took in the best. Being forced to enter the Great Dragon Sect want probably an honor to most but not to her.


    "Tang Mei!"


    Jolted by the sudden shout of her elder disciple, Tang Mei nearly jumped in shock. She had been lost in her own thoughts beforehand whilst running amongst the trees. She glanced back at her elder disciple who was running right behind her.


    "What is it?" She asked.


    The man''s eyes lit up at the response he was given. "Do you want to hunt for beasts together? It will be much easier for both of us."


    Tang Mei sized him up. He was at the 6th level of qi condensation like herself so he shouldn''t pose that much of a threat even if he tried to pull some tricks. Even if something unexpected occurs, she had her own means of protecting herself. No deaths doesn''t mean that the disciples can''t severely injure each other after all.


    A day passed by and the man proved his loyalty thus far by attracting nearby demonic beasts into her carefully laid out traps. Even if the job had been dangerous, he had willingly put himself in such a position. Additionally, the battle prowess of the man showed Tang Mei that he was not a threat at all. Thus, she spent her time relaxing with her fellow disciple.


    Four more days passed and things took a turn for the worse. The man had overstepped his boundaries and caused an entire group of bull-like demonic beasts to start charging at them. Using all he could to escape, even his own life force, he mustered a speed to instantly appear next to the distant Tang Mei and pulled her with him as they ran.


    He repeatedly apologized for his mishap shopping the way, never letting go of Tang Mei. This deep show of concern touched her innocent heart as they dashed through thorny bushes and muddy paths.


    Eventually, they stopped behind a large tree. The sheer size of the bark probably needed roughly three fully grown men to hug around it to barely meet its circumference. There, Tang Mei and the her friend laughed off the near death experience as a simple mistake on his part.


    Tang Mei was about to suggest resting up a bit before continuing to hunt but to her disbelief, she was caught up in a net.


    "Big brother Shou! Help me!" She cried out, desperate for even the slightest of assistance from her new friend.


    However, he just smiled and called out to others in the vicinity.


    "Guys, we got her!" His voice echoing off the trees.


    A minute passed by shortly to reveal another two men who wore hideous smiles. Considering their status, this was a very rare chance for them to ever lay their hands on a fine specimen like Tang Mei. After sealing Tang Mei''s cultivation base with a talisman, each of their two palms rubbed against each other as they noisily discussed with each other. Words of nasty things were overheard by Tang Mei, twisting her face further.


    Seeing the betrayal broke her heart. She had been tricked!


    This was the first time she ever felt like this and it sent cold waves throughout her body. Her body shook at the very thought that the man she had been spending nights with turned out to be such a vile person. Add on the fact that she''s only 13, he''s especially sick!


    So, she turned her back towards the three villains and screamed out her cries for help, hoping that she would be saved.

 Chapter 13, The mountain topples over!

    When Jian Yu heard the cry for help, he didn''t mind it at first and his arms started to climb down on their own. Then a thought ran through his head, weren''t there a bunch of tales of men saving women from inexplicable dangers? Didn''t they end up being praised as a hero by the masses?


    Jian Yu''s arms stopped at that thought and he carefully laid out the pros and cons of trying to save the woman from whatever it was. In the end, Jian Yu decided to stay in the gorge. It''s safer there and the situation of the woman in danger is none of his business after all.


    However, as soon as he started to move back down, the gorge started shaking violently. The rocky walls crumbled apart and the ground started to sink in. Even the sewage system connected to it from Acirema started to collapse on itself!


    Jian Yu''s eyes bulged out of their sockets in shock along with the other cultivators on the surface. The rumbling caused by the gorge had spread out to cover a wide area in the blink of an eye. The rope Jian Yu was holding onto wobbled about unstably, forcing Jian Yu to climb up onto the surface with quick movements. The other cultivators in the area had already started fleeing away with haste away from the gorge, not even bothering to collect the demon hearts of the dead beasts. As for the demonic beasts that were well and alive, they shuddered momentarily before fleeing as well towards the nearby mountains.


    Jian Yu swiped off any dust on his armor before running off to the source of the cry for help previously. Coincidentally, that was the direction that led to the mountain paths that Jian Yu used previously to stay away from danger.


    "Might as well save that lady as a knight in shining armor. With my talismans, I should be able to at least keep myself alive," he thought with a complacent look on his face.


    A few minutes after Jian Yu started running towards the source of the sound, he stopped again to look around for any signs of a damsel in distress. The ground rumbled every now and then to remind Jian Yu of the danger he was in which only served to fuel his impatience. Along the way, he swore he could hear a few shouts getting louder and louder. Clearly, he was getting close.


    Finally, he caught a glimpse of a net hanging down from a thick branch of an even thicker tree. Within the net was a girl crying all by herself, unable to break free. Jian Yu''s eyes lit up at the sight of this and began to straighten himself up before walking to her.


    The ground began to crack apart and trees began to topple over into the cracks. This brought about a scene of havoc that nearly matched the scene depicted back in the Ferocity Sect before Jian Yu escaped.


    Noticing the lack of time given for him to enjoy the moment, Jian Yu ran up to the net and snatched it off the branch only to hang the girl still caught up in the net over his shoulders.


    From the moment Jian Yu started walking to her until he launched her over his shoulder, only a few seconds passed by. Only when Tang Mei felt something grab the net did she notice that somebody had come to her rescue!


    The precious three men that caught her had scurried off to who knows where and left her behind, supposedly to get rid of the only witness and evidence of their crime. With the natural goings-on of the mountain, she was planned to die there, alone. As they were certain nobody was nearby even before catching her, they didn''t even bother shutting her up. However, their seemingly perfect plan was ruined by Jian Yu who had unexpectedly arrived at the scene.


    "Who.. are you?" She asked with a near raspy voice, the result of all of her earlier shouting.


    Whilst running towards the mountain path far away from the Piercing Sword Mountain, Jian Yu quickly thought up a cool answer.


    "Your knight in shining armor."


    Then, he flashed the most charming smile he could as he continued to run. His legs were actually not getting tired yet, as opposed to his expectations. In fact, they seemed even stronger!


    "Perhaps this is yet again another benefit from the Divine Beast Temple," he wondered in his heart.


    Tang Mei was still being carried atop Jian Yu''s shoulder, which only got her more uncomfortable considering her recent experience. She tried getting off silently but Jian Yu''s arms were tightly wrapped around her waist. She could tell that despite his lack of expression, he was very nervous. Furthermore, she was a bit embarrassed at the way Jian Yu was tightly grabbing her.


    So, with a light cough, she spoke up to Jian Yu, "Can you put me down? I... can run by myself."


    While Jian Yu wondered what to say to initiate a conversation, Tang Mei spoke first. Thinking that Tang Mei wanted to relieve him of heavy burden, he gladly put Tang Mei down and helped her out of the net.


    "What''s your name?" He asked.


    After a moment of thinking, Tang Mei answered, "Gong Zhu."


    "Oh! You''re a princess! As for me.."


    "Yes, I already know, Sir Knight."


    Tang Mei got up to her feet and removed the talisman sticking to her thigh, trying not to acknowledge Jian Yu''s existence. She made a false name, which meant princess, for Jian Yu to refer to her as. She was afraid that after getting away from this man, he would be hellbent on trying to find her. To remove future hassles, she just gave him a false name there and then.


    After helping her out of their net, Jian Yu was greeted by a cold look by Tang Mei. Inwardly, he was lamenting the fact that he wasn''t charming enough for her to turn heads over heels for him. Alas, everything he did caused another person to dislike him again.


    Sighing to himself, Jian Yu mentioned to Tang Mei that a safe mountain path was further ahead but Tang Mei refused to follow him now that her cultivation base was restored. Jian Yu''s abilities and possible schemes were unclear to her so it was bad that she left.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    And so, Jian Yu watched as Tang Mei left towards another direction, leaving him all alone. He was certain he didn''t do anything repulsive so perhaps it was just her that hated being around others. However, he had to admit. Although children mature at a quick pace in the cultivation world, that lass was maturing way too quickly in terms of her body. Jian Yu''s hand squeezed air a few times in recollection of the plump waist he had taken advantage of.


    "Gong Zhu..." He whispered under his breath, etching the memory of her image into his mind.


    Afterwards, Jian Yu left the mountain on his own whilst Tang Mei made her way to where the Elder from before left the sect disciples. There, she patiently waited with her fellow sect disciples for the Elder to come pick them up, occasionally sending murderous glares at the three men she recognised. Inside, she swore to punish them.


    Suddenly, loud explosions were heard as the Elder was seen in the air fighting off a 20 meter snake which emanated waves of power representing the Elemental Core stage!


    It had caught sight of human cultivators in the vicinity of it''s mountain, which led it to think that the cause of the destruction of it''s territory was ultimately the humans. In it''s rage, it didn''t bother to think and started to kill all humans it saw. Thankfully, the Elder had foreseen such a thing would happen and prevented any deaths. He even placed a formation surrounding his sect disciples to protect them from any possible aftershocks.


    As they fought, the rumbling reached it''s peak and the mountain... split into two!


    If that weren''t shocking enough, from underneath the mountain, came a beam scintillating light shooting upwards. It gleamed blue at times and turned into a blinding white at another.


    Everybody looked upwards in shock including Jian Yu who was at this point, quite a distance away from the Piercing Sword Mountain. What followed the display of lights was a deafening roar and a fierce gust of wind which toppled any still standing trees and shredded any unprotected beasts. Even the formation guarding the sect disciples was shaking violently in the face of this wind.


    The sect disciples'' faces turned pale at the sight. Who would have thought that their trial by fire would end up with such a shocking conclusion?


    Then, the projection of a menacing azure dragon appeared within the light itself and clawed at the world around it. It was as if it was proclaiming to the Heavens themselves that it would swear to shatter it and break free of it''s shackles.


    However, the space around it merely shattered and reformed under the natural laws, proving the dragon''s efforts futile. Finally, it faded away in what seemed to be regret.


    Everybody''s hearts thumped wildly at the sight of this azure dragon projection. That level of power, would they ever reach such heights?


    For Jian Yu, he was similarly blankly gazing towards the azure dragon projection fading away when he heard a profoundly ancient voice roar into his mind seemingly from the Divine Beast medallion.


    "Undying Beastial Dao; Obsessive thirst to break free; The four Sectors will unite; Conquer the cosmos!"


    This series of short phrases caused Jian Yu to unconsciously tremble. Although Jian Yu could hear the words, all that echoed in his ears was a long roar followed by three successive animal noises, each completing one phrase after another. This set of mnemonics seemed impossible for Jian Yu to understand at the moment so he shoved it to the back of his head.


    Jian Yu looked back up at the illusory azure dragon still fading away in the air only to find it staring back at him.


    Suddenly, it let out a silent roar and manifested a real temple below it in place of the Piercing Sword Mountain. It was actually a temple dedicated solely to itself!


    As the temple rose up from the ground, the mountain completely toppled over which caused the snake lording over the territory to hiss viciously at it and yet began to slither away from the temple.


    Jian Yu''s eyes glittered with a strange light as if he was forcibly controlling himself against going to that temple right away. After struggling for a few moments, he gained complete control over himself and headed towards the opposite direction.


    "If destiny demands it, whatever is inside that temple will be mine in the end."


    Somewhere in the vast universe, an old man''s eyes widened up in shock. He was meditating on the great Dao when he suddenly felt a pain coming from his chest. Whilst gently rubbing the tattoo on his chest, he murmured, "Another generation arrives..."


    Time passed as Jian Yu began to tread the same path he had the previous week, recalling past events. Then he took out the Divine Beast medallion and looked at it closer. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary which only deepened Jian Yu''s curiosity. The more ordinary it seemed, the more mysterious it was.


    Additionally, he wondered about the mnemonics he had heard before the azure dragon faded away.


    "There''s definitely some major secret behind the Divine Beast Temple. The words seemed so out of place but there''s definitely some true meaning behind it all. What does it mean... Why couldn''t the sentences just be complete?"


    Out of the blue, his stomach started growling. This caused an odd expression to surface on his face. As experienced, cultivators didn''t need to eat and never got hungry. They could sustain themselves with the natural qi of Heaven and Earth. Eating was just a pastime that cultivators would enjoy. However, now Jian Yu was feeling as if he had starved for an entire year. His stomach growled ferociously and his mouth started to water up. Jian Yu was inwardly very anxious and confused at what was going on.


    However, as he felt himself losing himself to his desire to eat, he exclaimed, "ARGH, I need to eat!"


    Afterwards, with bloodshot eyes, he ran off in a random direction to hunt. He dropped his armor to move faster and his jaws clenched as he couldn''t find any beasts in the surroundings.


    In his haste, he didn''t hesitate to climb up a hill to get a good vantage point. As his eyes met the horizon, a tiger sitting atop a tree pounced at him!


    Although it was a surprise attack, Jian Yu''s senses had become surprisingly sharp as he relied on pure instinct and he immediately turned around and let loose a crude punch towards it.


    In fact, Jian Yu''s previous conjecture regarding his increase in strength was on point. His increase in strength was mainly caused by the refinement process in the Divine Beast Temple which also resulted in immense pain.


    As such, although it was merely a crude punch, the tiger whose cultivation base was roughly around Jian Yu''s, was immediately pushed back.


    Under this crushing power, the tiger simply wanted to run but how could the starving predator let such easy prey get away?


    Jian Yu released a few more crude punches whilst closing the distance between them an finally, the tiger''s skull caved inwards and it perished.


    Following his primal instincts, Jian Yu didn''t even bother to cook the meat. Instead, he made his hand into a claw and scooped up chunks after chunks of raw meat out of the tiger and straight into his mouth.


    Mere minutes later, the tiger''s carcass was mainly left with bones and meat Jian Yu couldn''t scrape off. However, Jian Yu was still satisfied with his meal. His hands and mouth dripped with blood and even his shirt was soaked in it. This was a gruesome sight but Jian Yu didn''t even flinch at the sight of himself gorging on raw flesh.


    "Urgh.."


    Strange sounds came from his gut as he recalled that he wasn''t supposed to eat raw meat of a demonic beast. Supposedly, it consuming it could result in the consumer having a serious stomach ache and at worst, death.


    And so, Jian Yu looked around for any disgusting sights to start puking the meat out but couldn''t. In the end, he started to rely on his own imagination.


    "Ugly girls, vegetables..."


    He then felt saliva being accumulated faster, signalling Jian Yu that he was going to vomit soon.


    Yet, he felt himself fundamentally change as the ancient voice sounded out yet again.


    "Foundational magic; Grand Beastial Devouring; Absorb demonic qi, form the fifth Divine Beast."

 Chapter 14, Demonic beast companion, where are you?

    After the words sounded out, information regarding the magic poured it''s way into Jian Yu''s head. His eyes swam as he envisioned a tiger jump out of a man''s body and eating it right after. Afterwards similar scenes of beasts eating their way into bodies from whence they came appeared right after the other. Apparently, the final product of the foundational magic was death to the body to give life to the beast.


    This utterly shocked Jian Yu. He had assumed that his relation to the Divine Beast Temple would result in his good fortune but on reality, it seemed like a form of curse.


    If Jian Yu doesn''t eat any demonic beast within 3 days, he would be forced to hunt for them nearby. Once Jian Yu accumulates enough demonic qi, he will be able to start to nurture a demonic beast inside himself. If he doesn''t consume any beast after a day of hunting, he would be forced to consume his own life force, eventually leading to death!


    Either way, he dies. The only upside was that Jian Yu could lengthen the time before the demonic beast starts being nurtured. This horrible realisation hit Jian Yu hard before he immediately started thinking up any method he could use to survive.


    And such, Jian Yu sat down atop a hill with a tiger''s carcass to his side to ponder. It didn''t take long for him to come up with a seemingly simple answer.


    "If it''s just hungry after it comes out, then I can just feed it other people right?"


    Then he heaved a sigh of relief and instead, his eyes shone when he started imagining using it as his own trump card. If he was able to stay alive long enough while fighting off a group of cultivators he couldn''t defeat, the beast inside him would be born and they will die instead!


    Jian Yu laughed maliciously at the thought and got up to his two feet. He spent some time to proactively kill beasts in his surroundings. Afterwards, he headed back towards the mountain path, picking up his armor along the way.


    This time however, instead of walking along the safe mountain path, Jian Yu decided that he would take a shorter but more dangerous alternative path to secure himself more food. This path way one that he knew of thanks to the small map that the old man had given him previously.


    As such, Jian Yu veered off the mountain path at one point and entered a long, winding valley that eventually would lead him out of the mountains. The distance he would travel to exit the mountains would roughly be just another thousand kilometers, which would take Jian Yu about a week to cover given that he travelled at a fast pace constantly.


    It seemed to be a normal valley with greenery all around and a small stream of water flowing through the middle. However, this unnamed valley wouldn''t have been considered a dangerous area if it were really peaceful wouldn''t it?


    Despite deciding to go through the valley, Jian Yu didn''t really know what dangers lied within the valley. However, he didn''t really fear them as he knew that he was now within the outer reaches of the mountainous region which was occupied by the weaker demonic beasts. As to how weak either, Jian Yu didn''t know either.


    However, they would certainly be under the Elemental Pagoda stage for sure which boosted Jian Yu''s confidence.


    Time passed by as Jian Yu walked through the valley alone with only himself and the stream of water to talk to. Of course, demonic beasts were seen here and there, flying and dashing about. Without exception, every single one that even slightly noticed Jian Yu let out a cry and started to lunge at him. Most were at his level of strength or lower but as he stayed longer in the valley, the demonic beasts that came up to him got increasingly stronger.


    "Strange, the time intervals between their attacks are getting shorter too..." he thought. "Either way, it seems like no problem. If they''re too strong for me, I have my talismans."


    Roughly half a month had passed by as Jian Yu leisurely made his way across half of the valley. If he wasn''t honing his magical techniques against demonic beasts and eating them right after, he could be found whistling to himself or peacefully admiring the beauty of nature, or himself.


    Being preoccupied like this was the only way he wouldn''t grow bored as hell.


    At this moment, over the hill to Jian Yu''s left, a shirtless cultivator was meditating atop tree stump. If Jian Yu were here, he would definitely be shocked to find that the man was at the peak of qi condensation!


    Suddenly, a mouse came up to him and let out a few soft squeaks. The man''s eyes opened up at the end of the squeaks and murmured, "Another one dares to enter the valley. Seeing he''s a rich one, let''s kill him!"


    The man got up from the tree stump and glided his way towards the valley. He didn''t move his legs at all while moving. Instead, the ground water moving beneath him, a clear sign of his resonance with the Earth element.


    Eventually, the man got up to the peak of the hill and naturally saw Jian Yu who was humming a random tune. However, Jian Yu''s back was turned against him, allowing the man a clear shot at harming Jian Yu.


    With a wave of his hand, he sent a handful of rocks flying towards Jian Yu''s back which to his relief, only sent Jian Yu flying. The armor was what he was mainly after. From what he could tell, that armor could handle attacks from peak qi condensation cultivators like him without breaking.


    Jian Yu who was unaware of the dire situation he was in, nearly spat out blood at the impact of the attack. He immediately turned around to see a shirtless man standing there looking pleased with himself. Indeed, shock filled his brain as he found himself face to face with a peak qi condensation cultivator.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "This is bad," he thought. "Unless I use up a lot of my talismans, I won''t be able to defeat this guy. What a bitch."


    The man smiled at the dumbfounded and blank look on the armored Jian Yu''s face. To his lack of surprise, another cultivator didn''t expect to find a peak qi condensation cultivator here.


    "Hand me all your belongings personally and I''ll give you a quick death," he said. His very tone exuded a stench of arrogance and complacency.


    However, Jian Yu didn''t comply with his wishes neither did he take out his talismans to start wasting them on the man in front of him. Instead, he put on an extremely somber look and said slowly, "Do you know who I am?"


    The man was bewildered with the attitude shown towards himself and was at a loss of words.


    "I am the successor of the Blood Reaches Sect and it''s top genius. I''m only returning from Acirema as there was a matter to be discussed with the Great Dragon Dynasty there."


    Jian Yu thought up a background that he would be afraid of and showed it off to the man in front of him. To make sure he got the message, Jian Yu especially emphasized the two major powers mentioned and his status.


    The man looked at Jian Yu wide-eyed and looked like he believed it. However, he soon smiled coldly and rebuked.


    "Prove it."


    The two words echoed through the silent valley and into Jian Yu''s head. He had been expecting such a response before he flaunted his fake identity. He merely harrumped at the two words, and spread his arms wide open before releasing a demonic aura.


    Recently, he had been stuffing himself everyday with the flesh of demonic beasts, hoping that he would be able to unleash his trump card soon. The only result thus far was his shockingly evil demonic aura which even caused him to shiver in fright. At one point of time, he stopped to consider whether or not this magic was a magic that was right for him to use.


    "What it''s used for will determine it''s rightfulness," was the simple answer he came up with.


    The shirtless man was soon covered in an instinctual cold sweat as feelings of dread rose up from within him. As if the demonic aura wasn''t enough, Jian Yu''s icy cold voice softly made it''s way into his ear.


    "Proof enough?"


    He nodded slowly before backing off a step at a time. Once he reached a safe distance away, he hastily climbed up the hill. At the top, he looked back and saw Jian Yu standing upright with his head tilted upwards to stare blades right into his very heart.


    Inside, Jian Yu applauded at his acting that had even succeeded in fooling and scaring off a peak qi condensation cultivator. One day, he would improve his acting to the point that he would be able to fool every the strongest of cultivators that he would win against them in a fight.


    Seeing that he was now alone again, he continued walking forwards. In fact, he was considering getting a demonic beast as a companion. That way, he wouldn''t be alone anymore.


    Meanwhile, the shirtless man from before was nearly drenched in a cold sweat as he made his way back to the tree stump. Fear was still evident in his eyes but even more so, desire. Despite his clear advantage of personal strength, he had this nagging feeling that he couldn''t win.


    "Your status makes sure you''re well guarded. However, there is going to be a stampede heading your way tomorrow from the minutes nearest to the valley. Once you use up all the cards in your hand to escape that, I''ll come back and take what''s yours!"


    Then, he silently followed Jian Yu from the shadows with a cute mouse sitting on his shoulder, munching on what seemed to be a lizard''s tail. To him, this wasn''t that tedious of a task given there difference in personal strength.


    As the man followed Jian Yu and watched him carry out his daily activities, he was speechless when he found out that Jian Yu ate raw demonic beast flesh regularly, especially when the evil aura he felt previously grew a bit stronger everytime he did. He was also getting annoyed at Jian Yu''s constant humming that sounded out whenever he had nothing else to do.


    A week and a half soon passed by and Jian Yu was busy searching on nearby areas for any demonic beasts that caught his eye. It would be best if the one he picked were to be similar to him. However, all the demonic beasts he found were not charming at all. Instead, they were usually ferocious or shy.


    However, there was no need to rush. After all, what comes right after he exits the valley round be the Black Beast Forest. From the name, there would certainly be a beast that would catch his attention.


    *Rumble*


    All of a sudden, a soft rumble could be heard from behind him along with the loud thudding of a countless beasts'' legs hitting the ground. Jian Yu''s ears twitched and he immediately chose to run towards the hill to his right while simultaneously looking backwards. The ground suddenly shook with a much higher intensity than before and the water rippled at the earth''s rumbling. Shockingly, a demonic beast horde was just about a hundred meters away from his location!


    Somehow, he didn''t notice the shaking of the earth beforehand which was a peculiar thing to happen. Considering his time spent in the mountains, he was definitely much more sensitive towards danger that was coming in his direction. Yet, he hadn''t sensed this coming horde of demonic beasts. Why?


    In any case, he shoved that thought to the back of his mind before quickly activating a talisman and tossing it at the demonic beast horde. Right after, he released his demonic aura as a warning to the beasts. Apparently, the demonic aura had the effect of inflicting an instinctual fear into other creatures. The effect strengthens or weakens when it is used against a stronger or weaker target respectively.


    Although he activated it, Jian Yu didn''t really expect it to work out. After all, he was using it to intimidate an entire horde of beasts. The best case scenario he was looking for was that the beasts would avoid him before continuing their stampede. Worst case, he would be forced to defend himself against the stampede until he got up the hill.


    But then, the strangest thing happened. The beasts in front followed by all the ones behind them started to slow down abruptly at the appearance of the aura and slowly... knelt down!


    The ones in front had stopped just a few inches away from Jian Yu and moved back a few paces before kneeling like the rest.


    The sight rocked Jian Yu''s head and his eyes were starting to roll backwards. This show of respect couldn''t even be found in the Great sects and families of Acirema. Was this how it felt like to be king?


    He let out a hearty laugh which lasted on for quite a while. At the same time, the shirtless man was hiding behind the hill, catching his breath.


    He had used an exhausting magic which reduced the vibrations of the earth. Normally, it would be used when one was in the Elemental Pagoda stage. However, in his eagerness, he decided that he would take a risk and use it to ensure Jian Yu would be caught off guard. Due to using such a magic, he was inflicted with a backlash. Injuries flared up but he was satisfied. Indeed, Jian Yu was caught off guard but what followed directly after caused him to feel very unsettled.


    "This guy''s too mysterious. Is he actually a demon that reincarnated into the body of a child? Wait.. is he that Mo Zi?"


    Recalling a name of one of the few talented Chosen in the Blood Reaches Sect whose skills mainly revolved around demonic beasts, he shuddered.


    Without a moment of hesitation, he fled away, afraid that he would be noticed. What was left was the currently smug Jian Yu looking through the kneeling demonic beasts while chanting the same words regularly.


    "Demonic beast companion, where are you?"

 Chapter 15, Huan Jiao

    Jian Yu quickly dashed around in between the demonic beasts. However, considering the sheer number of the hundreds of demonic beasts, he was actually quite slow.


    Every now and then, Jian Yu would stop and gaze at a random beast for a while, followed by the shaking of his head.


    Although all the demonic beasts'' cultivation base was lower than his own, he still feels wary of a sudden attack from them. As such, he carried out his search as quickly as possible.


    He gazed upon an elephant whose height was around thrice of his own. It''s eyes glowed with a tinge of intelligence, visible even from it''s posture.


    There was a shiny beetle that was flat down on the ground. Due to it''s inability to bow it''s head, it just lowered it''s entire body in submission. It''s back reflected the sun''s light back into Jian Yu''s eyes to the point that Jian Yu had to squint when passing it by.


    Then, there was a tiny mouse which was bowing it''s head not due to Jian Yu''s demonic aura, but due to some fruit that had been left on the ground. It didn''t seem to even mind Jian Yu''s demonic aura as he nibbled on that very fruit.


    This caused Jian Yu to feel puzzled. Every other beast there had submitted to him but a measly mouse only bowed his head before food?


    Before Jian Yu could further explore that topic, he noticed a figure that sat atop the back of a bull just behind that mouse. At first, he thought that the bull just had a big and weird hump but it was actually a dog!


    Shockingly enough, the dog''s fur was pitch black but his eyes were golden, a clear contrast between the two. It''s fur was short and neat, with the exclusion of the fur around it''s neck. There, it was slightly longer and more unkempt, creating a kind of mane for the dog. It''s height was only up to Jian Yu''s knees but it''s length could reach up to Jian Yu''s waist. Jian Yu just stared at the dog''s majesty which was very attractive in his eyes.


    Suddenly, Jian Yu''s eyes widened as he realised that the dog was also capable of ignoring his demonic aura. It didn''t bow it''s head or anything, it just stared at Jian Yu straight in the eye. From the look of things, it was probably just hitching a ride on the bull''s back.


    Jian Yu raised an eyebrow at the sight. Good-looking and clever? Add on the fact that the dog had a cultivation base at the 4th level of qi condensation, it looked to be the best choice for him.


    "Here, here. Doggy, come to me," he beckoned the dog to drop down from the bull''s back with exaggerated hand movements.


    The dog just tilted it''s head to the side when it noticed Jian Yu starting to move his arms up and down in a wave strangely.


    It repositioned it''s head back to its original place when it came to realise that the man in front of it was trying to communicate with it. Throughout it''s short life so far, it''s only met a few humans by chance but none of them seemed as interesting as the one currently trying to communicate with it. In fact, there was something very enticing about his demonic aura that nearly caused it to drool all over the bull''s back...


    A stubborn look appeared on Jian Yu''s face as he wondered what it would take for the dog to take him as a friend.


    "What should I do?" He wondered.


    Then, a slab of raw, juicy meat appeared on Jian Yu''s now stretched out hand from his bag of holding. Looking at the dog''s nose twitch confirmed his thoughts on his method. Inch by inch, he stepped closer.


    Finally, right as Jian Yu was a finger away from the bull''s horns, the dog got up from it''s sitting posture and snatched the entire slab of meat with it''s mouth.


    A smirk surfaced on Jian Yu''s face and he pulled out another slab of meat.


    Again and again, Jian Yu took out meat from his bag of holding to feed the dog into submission. Along the way, he wondered how big was the dog''s stomach? Although the dog was roughly his own size, it''s stomach seemed to go beyond it''s body size.


    Time passed by quickly as the dog rapidly ate up what was on Jian Yu''s hand.


    At heart, the dog was actually feeling quite pleased with Jian Yu. Not only did he know it''s love for food, he knew how to put up with it''s appetite without a single word.


    As for Jian Yu, he really didn''t hesitate when offering food for the dog. Actually, he was beginning to feel that he was getting much closer to the dog.


    As his food supply neared it''s end, he stopped and asked, "You need a name. You''re handsome and very smart. How about Huan Jiao?"


    The dog let out a short woof and nodded it''s head. Jian Yu was relieved at the sight. This meant that the dog could at least understand his words.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    Jian Yu hopped onto the bull then surpressed his demonic aura which let loose the horde of demonic beasts, allowing them to carry on with their stampede.


    It took 3 days for the stampede to stop at the end of the valley. Jian Yu''s stockpile of food had ended recently with the addition of Huan Jiao''s mouth to feed. Unfortunately, even with the close presence of Huan Jiao, Jian Yu could not figure out why his demonic aura was being ignored.


    "Perhaps it only works on certain demonic beasts?"


    Putting that aside, Jian Yu hopped down the bull whilst carrying Huan Jiao between his arms. By now, Huan Jiao was acting quite meek. Previously as Jian Yu and Huan Jiao were riding the bull alongisde each other, he didn''t allow Jian Yu to get near him without any food. If Jian Yu did, he would growl and occasionally bark at him. One time, Jian Yu did his best to let the tears well up and show Huan Jiao what he was doing was immoral and that he should be allowed to be nearer. Eventually, Jian Yu''s unorthodox methods worked.


    After the horde of demonic beasts had gone their separate ways, Huan Jiao was released and left to walk alongside Jian Yu. It didn''t take them long to reach the end of the valley and see a lush forest ahead of them.


    Jian Yu stopped momentarily to check on the small map in his mind.


    "Since I''m sure I''m right, the quickest path to the Blood Reaches Sect is straight that way!" He raised his arm and pointed it south.


    Although he knew the right direction, he didn''t know which path to follow. As such, he chose to go with the shortest route.


    Without a moment of delay, Jian Yu jumped into the Black Beast Forest with his newfound pet Huan Jiao.


    In the Black Beast Forest, the trees were all very willowy and barely any light passed though the canopy as the arrangement of trees were closely packed. To make things worse, as the name suggested, the forest was half filled with black coloured demonic beasts that camouflaged really well in the dark.


    Huan Jiao''s and Jian Yu''s pupils constricted as they slowly adjusted to the darkness around them. Minding their steps, Jian Yu led the way using the Ray''s of light to guide the path. There were plenty of demonic beasts lying on the ground, sleeping. Normally, Jian Yu would jump at this alluring chance and collect some more food but the thought of awakening the rest of the demonic beasts while he was at it kept him from doing it.


    On certain occasions, Jian Yu matched his gaze with a few pitch black demonic beasts. However, they didn''t show any signs of aggression. They simply stretched, yawned and went back to sleep. Although they seemed docile, Jian Yu knew from the look in their eyes that he was going to be their next hunt. He frowned and took Huan Jiao into his arms to move towards the Blood Reaches Sect as soon as possible. In fact, he took out some of his very own talismans that boosted his speed to quicken the pace.


    Eventually, the sun set and the moon rose. Howls echoed between the trees and the leaves of the trees rustled about as the forest became completely shrouded under the blanket of darkness. The only sign of Jian Yu''s accompaniment were the two golden eyes beside him and the other eyes around him. Under the threat of numerous demonic beasts, Jian Yu unhesitatingly released his cold demonic aura.


    An hour passed by without a hitch and Jian Yu was still rushing towards the Blood Reaches Sect. Sounds of battle made their way through the forest without end. Suddenly, Jian Yu was even more thankful for the foundational magic, Grand Beastial Devouring. If it weren''t for that, he would be fighting frantically like the other demonic beasts in the forest.


    And yet out of nowhere, a blur suddenly rammed into his left side.


    "Argh!" He cried, as the elbow of his left arm was dislocated.


    He looked up to observe what had caused this injury while simultaneously pressing the elbow back into position. From the aura emanated from the beast in front of him, he could very easily tell that he was up against a demonic beast at the peak of qi condensation with no regards for his demonic aura. Huan Jiao''s fur stood on end right before he turned tail and hid behind a tree nearby.


    It was tough to see in the dead of night so Jian Yu took out one of his many luminescent stones and threw it at the pair of red eyes in front of him. The stones revealed a moderately sized bear that was not yet fully mature.


    "This is bad," he thought as his hand moved to clutch at his bag of holding.


    Jian Yu was only half it''s height but that didn''t scare him. He swiftly took out a handful of talismans and threw them all at the bear. His movements seemed almost natural from all of his practice throwing them out in the past months.


    Although the magical techniques landed on the bear, Jian Yu was higher on alert than he had ever been before. That was because, the bear was still alive!


    Fortunately, the bear was somewhat injured after the flurry of magical techniques launched at it.


    Jian Yu jumped backwards while tossing out another handful of talismans at the bear regrettably. The amount of attack talismans were getting really low after consistently having to use them during recent times. There was about only a hundred left, leaving Jian Yu 20 handfuls of talisman throwing if he excluded the one he just threw.


    Looking at the location of the Blood Reaches Sect within the Black Beast Forest, Jian Yu needed just 3 more days to get there.


    *Thud*


    The bear dropped dead on the ground upon receiving the assault of attacks. After calling Huan Jiao back to his side, they began to claw out slabs of meat from the bear together and hid in a nearby trench that Huan Jiao found.


    The moon set and the sun rose. The demonic beasts stopped fighting amongst each other before they went to rest up. Meanwhile, Jian Yu carried Huan Jiao along with him as he used his speed boosting talismans to travel to the Blood Reaches Sect faster. Additionally, he dropped his armor to hello quicken the pace even by a tiny bit.


    Currently, a flying vessel manned by a group of three people was making its rounds in the Black Beast Forest. They wore black and red garments and looked very watchful of their surroundings. In the middle of them was a blue crystal that would shine when a foreign cultivator was nearby. This was the Blood Reaches Sect''s patrol squad.


    Much to their delight, the crystal shone out of the blue. They smiled viciously and headed in Jian Yu''s direction. The crystal was shining even brighter the closer they got to him. When the crystal was at it''s brightest, the lead cultivator hopped off of the flying vessel followed by the other two.


    When their feet touched the ground, they laid their eyes upon a man covered in speed boosting talismans running in their direction. His eyes were bloodshot as if he were completely focused in conjuring up all of his strength to run faster. In his arms laid a dog, fast asleep.


    "Halt! Who are you and what are you doing here?" The lead cultivator stretched his palm out towards Jian Yu and voiced out the routinely questions.

 Chapter 16, Blood Reaches Sect

    Jian Yu abruptly slowed down at the appearance of three strangers, dropping Huan Jiao in the process. A small dust cloud covering his lower body formed at where he stood. His eyes calmed down from his previous fervor yet were as cautious as ever. He glanced at the three individuals in front of him, taking note of their clothing and bearing. Fortunately, the lead cultivator could still be defeated through his talismans while the rest were much simpler.


    "I''m Jian Yu. I''m looking for the Blood Reaches Sect."


    Inside, he wondered if the newcomers knew of the Blood Reaches Sect. If they did, he could pry for more information on the subject but if they don''t... then he would have to choose between fight or flight.


    When the three men heard Jian Yu''s words, their postures relaxed and the lead cultivator said, "Oh, you''re interested in being recruited into the sect? Good, good. Brother Bai, test him out for me. If he is good enough, we''re bringing him back."


    One of the cultivators behind him walked forward. His face naturally oily and his hair combed backwards, revealing a slightly wrinkled forehead. His shoulders were broad and his clothes tightly gripped at his body, showing off his many manly curves as he got ready to fight.


    Then, his narrow eyes squinted even further, "Brother Jian, please."


    Juan Yu adjusted his body as well, his body lowered and his two legs spread apart slightly with the right foot in front. This was the posture he assumed everytime he initiated a fight with a demonic beast.


    Although he looked eager to fight outside, inside he was really nervous. He knew that cultivators were significantly different from demonic beasts in how they fought and was afraid that his lack of knowledge wouldn''t get him into the Blood Reaches Sect.


    Currently, his goal was just to gain strength and take back Acirema along the way and what was better than growing under a sect.


    Remembering what the Great Dragon Dynasty did to his home left him hopeless but in that hopelessness, he realised that strength could triumph over any adversary.


    He looked at the rather shiny man in front of him, and moved first. He lifted his right hand and manifested a wind blade with the edge of his hand as it sliced downwards.


    The oily man sidestepped, and dashed towards Jian Yu. The distance between the two immediately halved and Jian Yu let out a blue fireball towards him before dashing towards the man himself.


    The man punched the fireball, causing it to collapse into numerous embers and stomped down, manifesting a dirt wall that blocked Jian Yu''s path. However, before he could move on, a blue flash pierced through the dirt wall, slamming into his very chest.


    As he tumbled backwards, Jian Yu circled around the dirt wall and savagely punched and clawed at the man, releasing a bit of demonic aura unintentionally. The man constantly retreated under the barrage of attacks, unable to fight back.


    He gritted his teeth and swiftly raised his fist, bringing the ground below him along with it. Jian Yu''s momentum was interrupted with the abrupt change which the man didn''t miss.


    Currently, his face was slightly pale but his eyes seemed as fired up as ever. He swing his raised fist down to the ground, causing it to fall back down while he jumped at the same time. He bent his arm and pointed his elbow at Jian Yu such that Jian Yu would be hit by his elbow first after his nearly 2 meter drop.


    However, Jian Yu chose not to adhere to his plans and let out a blue bullet to meet the elbow from above.


    All this took moments to describe but in reality, happened in an instant. Next thing they knew, the man was down on the ground with a bone poking through the skin of his twisted arm.


    Jian Yu cringed at the gruesome sight and was wondering what would have happened if he were the one hit instead. Then, he shook his head slowly, knowing that this was the bloodshed of the cultivation world.


    The lead cultivator walked forward and threw a medicinal pill in the direction of the man which he then hastily swallowed down. Next, he turned to Jian Yu and spoke.


    "Come junior brother. I''m sure you''ll fit right in the Blood Reaches Sect."


    He waved his finger, causing a gust of wind to appear and carry everybody present into the flying vessel still above the trees. Right before the gust of wind could catch him, Jian Yu quickly grabbed the still sleeping Huan Jiao by head and tossed him onto his back.


    "Whoa!" Jian Yu exclaimed. His body instinctually struggled against the foreign force, eventually landing on a foreign vessel. To his shock, he couldn''t see the flying vessel at all previously, as if it were cloaked by some device.


    The other cultivators were quiet towards such a response and resumed their previous duties. The injured man was sitting down cross-legged as he recovered with the help of the medicinal pill.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Jian Yu marveled at the scenery around him before placing Huan Jiao down gently.


    "You know, this if the only time I''ve been truly relaxed in months," Jian Yu said as he stretched his arms out as far as he could. "What are your names?"


    The lead cultivator pleasantly answered, "I''m Cai Lu. The man you just injured is Bai Tou and the guy over there is Di Mu."


    Di Mu waved at Jian Yu and so did Bai Tou. Jian Yu smiled and enjoyed the peace and quiet for a while before releasing all his pent up stress in the form of conversations.


    "Di Mu, did you know that I found this treasure trove only to have it disappear? So mysterious..."


    "Hey, hey. Brother Cai, how does the flying vessel stay afloat and hidden all the time?"


    ...


    In the end, the patrol was cut short and the four of then headed towards the edge of the forest nearest Acirema.


    "Hey, I think if I look closely enough, that''s where I was born! Jian Yu shouted, pointing at the tiny and distant city of Acirema.


    Cai Lu''s face twitched and he shouted back, "Can''t you just shut up for one hour!?"


    Jian Yu edged backwards and backed down in the end opting to play with Huan Jiao instead who had woken up. At the end of the day, he was their junior brother so he had to do his best to fulfill their wishes.


    Then, the flying vessel lowered into a clearing in the forest followed by the soft murmuring of the leading Cai Lu.


    Suddenly, a red light flashed and the flying vessel, along with all of it''s occupants, disappeared.


    An instant later, they were surrounded by wet, rocky walls and hovering over a rocky surface. Above them was another rocky surface dripping water. Jian Yu could immediately tell that they were now underground. Cai Lu gestured the group to follow and through narrow paths, they ended up on a riverbank. The only shocking thing that left Jian Yu''s mouth hanging loose, was that it was a enormous river of blood! If Jian Yu had to estimate, the river''s width was around 350 kilometers!


    Jian Yu''s eyes traced the river upstream and found a monument of a devil. The devil''s sculpture seemed to be carved from the cave''s rocky interior itself as it''s head was conjoined with the skyhigh ceiling up above and it''s feet split apart the river into four different streams, joining back together after they passed the monument''s toes.


    The only devilish aspect of the sculpture was that it had two long teeth protruding out of it''s mouth, two sharp horns poking out of it''s forehead and a single wing behind it. In all other areas, it looked very similar to humans.


    As Jian Yu admired the towering monument, he moved his gaze further upstream, behind the monument. There, he found five inverted mountains that hanged down all the way from the top of the cave with their tips touching the bottom.


    Di Mu looked at Jian Yu and reminisced about his first arrival at the Blood Reaches Sect. That time, he was kidnapped along with 3 others and was forced to work under them for years.


    Breaking the mood, Cai Lu reminded them to keep moving. As the group travelled along the designated pathway to the side of the river, Di Mu moved to Jian Yu''s side and whispered.


    "The Blood Reaches Sect was founded a thousand years ago by the Blood Ancestor, the one depicted by that monument over there. Apparently, this river was first formed with his blood but it got diluted as time passed by."


    Di Mu commented on the sect''s history to incite Jian Yu''s admiration even more.


    "Back then, we used to be super powerful but now, we''re just a former shadow of our past..."


    Jian Yu looked at the five inverted mountains and back to the river flowing beneath them and voiced out his concerns.


    "How big is this cave?"


    To that, Di Mu proudly bumped his chest with his fist and mentioned, "It stretches to the Demon Mountains up north, the plains to the west and all throughout the Black Beast Forest! In fact, we are right underneath the Black Beast Forest!"


    Jian Yu''s eyes shined further and was about to ask more questions but he realised that he was already past the devilish monument and close to the five inverted mountains.


    Now, he could clearly tell that there were multiple platforms attached to the mountains and multiple caverns carved into them. The five inverted mountains were positioned in a circle which surrounded a landmass. On that landmass, multiple homes were built out of stone to accommodate the people living there.


    Another aspect of the Blood Reaches Sect he noticed was the abundant spiritual energy there. Compared to the outside world, it was dozens of times more condensed here. That would mean that it was much easier for cultivators to advance their levels without the use of medicinal pills.


    Time passed by as Jian Yu launched random questions at Di Mu. Eventually, they reached the landmass in the middle of the five inverted mountain peaks and brought Jian Yu into a 2 storey building to get recruited into the Blood Reaches Sect. After Jian Yu walked past the doorway, the three men scurried off.


    With Huan Jiao on his back, Jian Yu looked around the first floor and found a woman waiting behind a desk. Jian Yu stepped forward and asked, "I''m here to be recruited into the Blood Reaches Sect. Am I at the right place?"


    The woman smiled meekly and took out an orb similar to the one Jian Yu used back in Acirema. In recollection of his past, he felt a bit depressed.


    "Place your hand atop the orb and..." but before she continued, an old man appeared and wrapped up the rest of the process.


    "Just give him the Blood Medallion and the required garments and devices. He''s with me," he mentioned.


    Both Jian Yu''s and the woman''s eyes widened in shock as they realised who that old man was. Huan Jiao just hid behind Jian Yu''s back at the notice of him. To Jian Yu, that old man had practically led him to the path of cultivation but to the woman and the rest of the Blood Reaches Sect, that old man was their Grand Elder!


    Not even thinking of refuting his words, the woman quietly kept the orb and handed Jian Yu the required equipment. The old man turned to Jian Yu and smiled. As for Jian Yu, he felt oddly relaxed when he met the gaze of the old man as he quietly kept the things handed to him.


    "Good luck," he said, disappearing as suddenly as he appeared.


    The woman then respectfully guided Jian Yu to his residence on the landmass and left him with a device that opens the door when infused with qi.


    He entered his new home and found that it was actually really well made and quite spacious. With the device, he could virtually know everything about his residence. There was a bed, a room with a meditation mat in the middle, and even a defense mechanism. Other than the necessities, there were numerous decorations as well, like a fountain spewing out pure water, free of blood.


    After putting down Huan Jiao on the stone floor, his tired body fell onto the bed and his eyes slowly shut as he desired a long, peaceful sleep.


    "At long last," he thought. "I''m finally at the Blood Reaches Sect."

 Chapter 17, You!

    Contrary to Jian Yu''s expectations, he didn''t get a good night''s sleep at all. Through it all, he kept waking up sporadically for short intervals before elapsing back to sleep. Each time, he woke up to a different nightmare. More accurately, they were recollections of the past.


    Jian Yu recalled the day disaster struck Acirema, and all the blood and gore that he witnessed. Vivid memories of mutilated bodies had surprisingly rooted themselves in Jian Yu''s mind.


    He also recalled the time he killed off two bandits like it was nothing. Back then, he treated them as moneybags and mere test subjects for his talismans. Yet, in his recollection, the bandits were replaced by the figures of his father and Uncle Xie only to be killled in cold blood by Jian Yu. Regret popped out of nowhere in Jian Yu''s heart as he was jolted out of sleep.


    The final nightmare was of Jian Yu fighting off an endless horde of demonic beasts, only to die in the end.


    On the bed, he tossed and he turned. All this time, he wanted a good nap only to have it shoved back in his face. He heaved a long and displeased sigh before getting off the bed. He changed into the garments handed to him by the woman from before, dropped a hunk of meat on the floor for Huan Jiao, and headed out.


    He didn''t realise it before but when he took a deep breathe the moment he stepped out, the spiritual energy was much stronger here than any place he''s ever been in, even the Ferocity Sect!


    Then, he looked to where he heard the steady burble of water to his side. Streams of purple blood flowed downstream perpendicularly to his position.


    From what he could tell, residences were typically near the edge of the landmass in the middle of the river. However, Jian Yu''s residence was nowhere close to anybody''s residence and was also the closest to the building he visited yesterday. As such, he hadn''t seen any other disciples or any training grounds.


    From what he saw the previous day, he estimated the size of the landmass to be comparable with around a tenth of the size of Acirema. Although it sounds small, it could still hold up thousands of sect disciples. As for the mountains and the monument, Jian Yu could only imagine how big they were exactly.


    As he slowly strolled through the landmass lit up by luminescent stones, he heard explosions and the continuous bashing of fists. His gaze sharpened and he could see in the distance, a large pit at the center of the landmass where multiple cultivators are fighting amongst themselves.


    Before he could get a closer look, somebody tapped his shoulder. Jian Yu instinctually turned back and hardened himself.


    "Heya! Are you a new outer sect disciple? I''m Tan Duo, nice to meet you! Are you always so unwelcoming? Haha," the voice of an enthusiastic young man entered Jian Yu''s ears.


    Jian Yu relaxed and replied, "Sorry about that, it''s been my lifestyle for a couple of months. My name''s Jian Yu. This is the outer sect? We''re in the center of it."


    "Believe me, this is the outer sect. Anyways, your name''s Fried Fish?" He responded.


    They chatted on and on for only a few minutes yet Jian Yu could already feel that he was going to be well acquainted with this young man.


    Tan Duo had no redeemable features regarding his physique but his charming face combined with his elegant smile caused him to be irresistibly attractive. The black and red garments which would have dulled any character seemed to have brightened when worn by him.


    "What''s that pit over there?" asked Jian Yu, his finger pointing behind him.


    "It''s called the Brawler''s Pit. It''s where we settle any disputes over anything." Tan Duo''s face darkened at the mention of the Brawler''s Pit but recovered it''s former zealousness an instant later. "Actually, now that you''ve brought it up, I just remembered you''re actually new in the sect. Come, I''ll bring you around. It''s been a while since I had somebody like you to talk with."


    Tan Duo then began to walk around the Brawler''s Pit with Jian Yu behind him. The two of them continued their small talk


    An hour later, they were walking through a marketplace selling off sets of equipments and jade bottles filled with medicinal pills.


    Disciples were walking to and fro between the various stalls. The disciples inspected the various goods from a distance. Some would approach the stalls and hand over a specific amount of spirit stones before leaving with whatever they bought in their bags of holding. Some fled straight afterwards with cautious looks in their eyes while others seemed nonchalant about others knowing of their wealth.


    According to Tan Duo, the entire marketplace was manned by golems made by Blood Reaches Sect so that nobody would be able to get any discounts at all. The prices were set and the disciples will follow them.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Jian Yu started to stare at a full set of golden armor which glimmered under the light of the luminescent stones. It''s magnificence rivaled the very sun that didn''t exist in the Blood Reaches Sect.


    "Interested? Don''t even think about it. That thing costs a fortune," Tan Duo mentions. "A thousand spirit stones to be exact..."


    Immediately after, Jian Yu locked away any feelings of desire towards that suit of armor in his heart. He didn''t even have any spirit stones, just a hundred handy talismans.


    Afterwards, they circled around the Brawler''s Pit yet again to arrive at another location. This time, there was a crowd of people gathering around 4 5-meter boards. On the boards were numerous jade slips. Some of them were then occasionally plucked off by the sect disciples.


    Beside the 4 boards, there was a long wooden desk with another 4 columns of sect disciples lining up in front of it. At the front of the lines, another sect disciple could be seen.


    "The boards are where sect disciples accept missions, you can hand over the jade slips along with the proof of completion to those people over there," said Tan Duo, pointing his index finger towards the four lines.


    "Missions?" Asked Jian Yu.


    "Four boards, four areas of expertise. Forging, alchemy, talisman crafting, and just plain ol'' killing demonic beasts. Most people here just choose to kill beasts, it''s easier. However, the reward isn''t that fulfilling since there''s a lot of people taking part in it."


    "If you really want a profit, forging and alchemy are areas where there''s never enough helpers."


    Jian Yu took all of this information in slowly. Where he was currently should be one of the most important areas in the outer sect. This was where people worked for riches, it must certainly be important.


    "It''s too bad that blacksmithing isn''t there," Jian Yu casually mentioned whilst shaking his head.


    "Actually, forging is a combination of blacksmithing and formation inscribing. It''s complicated but not as much as alchemy. You have experience in blacksmithing?" Tan Duo raised an eyebrow at Jian Yu''s mention of blacksmithing.


    "No, not really. Just a few days worth of experience. Not much at all," Jian Yu replied, laughing at the end.


    "I''m actually much more experienced killing off demonic beasts," he continued.


    They quickly started to move on towards the next stop in the outer sect as they had no interest in checking on the missions available.


    "Can you tell me how have your dreams been lately?" Jian Yu requested on a whim.


    Then, Tan Duo shot him an odd look and answered, "We don''t have dreams."


    Jian Yu felt his heart shake at the answer that he did not expect at all. Cultivators do not dream? Then, why did he have to lose a good nap?


    The rest of the trip got a bit more silent as Jian Yu was trying to grasp the reason behind his nightmares.


    Was his heart not strong enough to handle the world of cultivation?


    Cutting him off from his thoughts, Tan Duo coughed dryly and turned Jian Yu''s gaze towards four stone steles in front of him by suddenly lifting his chin upwards.


    The stone steles were perhaps 20-meters tall with strange symbols carved into them on every corner. The stone steles were arranged in a shape similar to a rhombus with a gap where the corners should be, allowing disciples to move into the center area of the stone steles. Each of them looked ordinary at a glance but the groups of outer sect disciples sitting down around them showed that they were far from it.


    A few of the disciples then stood up slowly to leave, but sighed emotionally before staring back at the stone steles in reverence briefly.


    "Now, this is the most important location in the outer sect. There''s no official name for it so we just call them the Stone Steles. There''s no other stone steles here so we stuck to it," Tan Duo looked up at each of the stone steles with a gaze similar to that of the disciples that left earlier.


    "Each stone stele represents one of the 4 basic elements of Heaven and Earth. A sect Elder once preached in the middle of the stone steles. ''Meditate under the stone steles, aquire masteries over the elements,'' he said. Years passed as we continued meditating underneath the stone steles and many Chosen have risen in the Blood Reaches Sect," Tan Duo''s eyes drifted off the stone steles as he recalled a glorious story he had been told of. He continued on with the history of the stone steles and Blood Reaches Sect which Jian Yu eagerly listened to.


    Meanwhile, Jian Yu''s eyes were attracted to a marking on the stone stele closest to him of a mountain descending onto the Earth from the Heavens. The marking appeared very simple such that even Jian Yu could draw it. However, it seemed to contain a trace of a great profundity of the world around him.


    The world around him blurred and rumbled, bringing about a feeling of destruction. However, before he could revel in the ambience of it all, his connection to it was immediately shut off and he was brought back to reality.


    "And that''s why the Blood Reaches Sect kidnaps random rogue cultivators to be recruited every few years," Tan Duo finished. "Speaking of which, you weren''t kidnapped were you? Ah, that means you''re the seventh this year..."


    Afterwards, he exhaled sharply as complicated emotions surfaced in recollection of the past.


    As for Jian Yu, he wasn''t paying attention to Tan Duo anymore. He was instead fixated on that feeling from before while the words ''meditate under the stone steles, acquire masteries over the elements'' echoed through his mind.


    Then he pursed his lips and immediately sat down as he grew obsessed on seeking enlightenment. His eyes stayed rooted on the marking he saw earlier, failing to acknowledge his defeat. Tan Duo noticed this and backed away from Jian Yu who joined in the crowds of disciples seeking enlightenment.


    <hr>


    After half an hour passed by since he started to walk back towards his residence, he was intercepted by a big, almost round, silhouette. In the dim light, it would look like a steam bun that had grown arms and legs but Tan Duo''s mind skipped past that comedic metaphor and cried out, "You!"


    In front of him was a bully that only entered the sect recently. However, in that short span of time, he had advanced spectacularly to the 4th stage of qi condensation!


    Due to his talent, many of the sect Elders have taken notice and decided it acceptable for him to take advantage of a few sect disciples.


    Unfortunately, Tan Duo was one of the few and so were his friends. For some reason, the bully especially enjoyed bullying him and openly at that. Due to that, very few sect disciples were even close to willing to befriend him. As such, he was left to talk to himself in his lonesome. As for his friends, some hide in their residences while others mysteriously disappeared.


    "I heard that there''s a new sect disciple that you seem all chummy with," he said with his breath reeking of vile intentions.


    "I''d like to meet him."

 Chapter 18, Fatty...

    "I have no idea what you''re talking about, go away." Tan Duo replied sternly.


    "Watch out, and shut that big mouth of yours tighter. I''ll search for him myself when I want to," the round man shoved Tan Duo aside before walking off into the distance.


    <hr>


    Back at the four stone steles...


    Jian Yu was still sitting down, staring at the marking on the stone stele. Despite his obsession, he never got to experience the same feeling again. In fact, he felt that even if he stayed for longer, he still would not be able to. This didn''t come from any physical sign, he just had a hunch. Either way, that was enough to soil his determination and he stood up like a few of the other disciples to leave.


    "Currently, I''m halfway around the Brawler''s Pit. I wonder what areas I haven''t seen yet," Jian Yu mused under his breath.


    Throughout his life, his favorite pastime was to wander around and meet people. Then, he would enjoy chatting away with them as if he had unlimited time. Unfortunately, Acirema''s public areas had been thoroughly explored by Jian Yu, leaving his bored.


    Now that he was in a new home, he would do the same and know every nook and cranny there.


    As he began walking along the designated pathway around the Brawler''s Pit again, his mind wandered as well.


    "How do people here keep track of time? There''s no sun or moon here..."


    "Why''s everybody acting so cold? A new sect disciple is here. Celebrate!"


    "What... am I really cultivating for?"


    ...


    Suddenly, Jian Yu found himself walking behind a group of outer sect disciples happily chatting away with each other. Hearty laughter rang out of their mouths whenever a funny topic or treasured memory was mentioned. All in all, they seemed very friendly. However, Jian Yu just followed them, still lost in his thoughts.


    Eventually, Jian Yu was lead to a densely packed bridge leading off of the landmass to three facilities carved into the cavern''s walls. Each and every one of them seemed dull and made unprofessionally; all except for one.


    The one that caught Jian Yu''s eye was a splendidly carved out facility with details that the others could not match up to. It''s entrance was rugged but didn''t hide the splendor that emanated out of the two characters above it spelling out the word ''forge''. There were windows with no glass from the first floor to the top, the tenth floor. Coming out of all of those windows were small clouds of black smoke along with sparks. All of these were accompanied by the sound of hammering and odd hissing.


    To his delight, he had stumbled upon the facilities used by sect disciples for their tasks pertaining to the three areas of expertise mentioned by Tan Duo!


    All of a sudden, he was filled with the interest of blacksmithing again. His feelings of accomplishment in blacksmithing boosted by Uncle Xie''s encouragement allowed the memories of blacksmithing to never fade away in his mind. To him, that was his first job and he wanted to be good at it.


    His feet began moving towards the forging facility automatically but his body unexpectedly staggered as a force pushed him from the back, causing him to fall onto his knees.


    His eyes shifted from the forging facility towards the sect disciples around him. According to his expectations, they all backed away. Most had caution in their eyes but some didn''t and chose to stay close by to witness misfortunes up close.


    After letting out a deep breath, Jian Yu prepared to face his first enemy in this cold sect. He turned around but just as he did, his eyes bulged out further than they ever did before in his surprise. What he saw was a familiarly round young man similarly surprised as he was. In fact, the young man even lurched backwards in surprise and fell under his own weight.


    Jian Yu''s mouth opened and closed rapidly, unable to find the right words to say before settling on, "Fatty..."


    Murmurs could be heard from the surrounding sect disciples who didn''t know of their previous relationship. They were all perplexed at the sudden development between the two.


    "That guy called Li Ming ''Fatty''? Good luck to him..."


    Similar thoughts were bouncing off of one of their minds to the next and eventually they all shared that common mindset. The infamous bully had met another one who couldn''t keep his thoughts to himself...


    Contrary to their expectations, Li Ming was taking the sudden turn of events very strangely. His chubby arms covered his ears and he rolled off his back, side to side. Repeatedly, he whispered to himself, "God, why''s he here... I already don''t like there being one of them, now there''s two?"


    His thoughts slowly steadied themselves as he reminded himself off his status in the Blood Reaches Sect. Although it wasn''t that grand, it was enough to put the likes of Jian Yu and other ordinary outer sect disciples in fear of him.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    With a grunt, he forced himself up and shouted, "Jian Yu! You''re going to assist me in training in the Brawler''s..."


    His now recovered calmness was shattered again as he sensed the fluctuations of the 5th stage of qi condensation from Jian Yu!


    "Impossible!" He cried as panic began to surface on his distorted face. His legs wobbled under the pressure of facing a strong adversary.


    Meanwhile, Jian Yu was smiling derisively. He had noticed Fatty''s level of cultivation ever since he fell on his back. His previous shock was then replaced by utter delight. In fact, he wasn''t even concerned with how Fatty for to the Blood Reaches Sect anymore. All that mattered was... he was weaker.


    "Oi, you with a fold for a neck! I''m taking you to train with me," Jian Yu called out to Fatty whilst pointing his index finger directly towards him. "I remembered I need to pay you back for a ''severe'' injury you caused me."


    Jian Yu slowly walked to Fatty in anticipation of dragging him all the way to the Brawler''s Pit, attracting a large crowd and exacting a public execution. His lips curved upwards just at the thought of it.


    Yet, his hands tightly gripped at Fatty''s collar to drag him only to find that...


    "This guy''s too heavy!" He bellowed.


    Amused expressions emerged on the faces of surrounding sect disciples trying to stifle their laughter. Some couldn''t hold it in and coughed up a giggle momentarily.


    Fatty''s face flushed red as his reputation that he worked hard for in a year was immediately cut clean. Everything he did was to show others his dominance and that he was somebody who could represent his generation as the strongest.


    Despite that, he was found face to face to a seemingly ''talentless'' individual who had surpassed his every expectation.


    "Jian Yu!" He roared, causing a talisman to appear out of nowhere. As he activated it, it suddenly burst into flames that formed a blade. That very blade flew straight towards Jian Yu who was right next to him. To everybody''s disbelief, that blade could even severely injure somebody at the peak of qi condensation, the 9th stage!


    Considering the distance between the two is technically negligent, this surprise attack should land and completely obliterate Jian Yu. To that, Fatty simply smiled coldly and envisioned the ashes that would be left behind.


    Yet, Jian Yu just harrumped and took out a talisman of his own. He activated it only to form a ball of water that similarly rushed to Fatty. Although he was highly anticipating the punishment, his guard had not been let down at all; especially against a turncoat like Fatty. When he noticed Fatty trying to pull something off, he readily took out a talisman of his own.


    "Talismans? I have those too!" He thought.


    These actions took moments to describe but Jian Yu''s talisman activated only an instant later than Fatty''s. Sect disciples in the surroundings panicked and ran away at top speeds while the two disciples at the epicenter of the battle also hurriedly backed away from their activated talismans.


    Fatty closed his eyes the moment the two attacks were about to collide but Jian Yu just watched on, refusing to miss a detail. To their bewilderment, the two attacks just dissipated into nothingness. No explosions were heard or felt or even seen. They weirdly disappeared. Puzzled expressions surfaced on the two and especially Jian Yu who had lived most of his life of cultivation using those very talismans.


    Rumbles shook the bridge they were on accompanied by the echoes of a loud voice that could be heard by everybody in the outer sect.


    "Fighting outside the Brawler''s Pit is FORBIDDEN!"


    After the thunderous and domineering words sounded out, most outer sect disciples continued to act normally. Apparently, battles that were fought out of the Brawler''s Pit were commonplace to the point that it no longer surprised them.


    When the final word was said, Jian Yu and Fatty both knelt down in pain and blood trickled down the side of their mouths. Apparently, there were actual rules in the outer sect which Jian Yu weren''t aware of. Jian Yu''s eyes flashed with innocence as he felt wronged.


    As for Fatty, he had assumed that his identity would cause him to experience a less severe punishment or even no punishment at all. Yet, he had been punished for attempting to kill a new sect disciple? As for his previous killings, weren''t they all ignored? His belly growled and eyebrows furrowed as he was overcome with the feeling that Jian Yu might have a background similar to his...


    After he got up, he glared at Jian Yu before walking towards the residential areas. Jian Yu didn''t take that kindly and spat out the words, "I truly will kick your balls one of these days. In fact, I think they''ll come out the top of your head as two topknots."


    Fatty stopped in his tracks before continuing his journey back, not even bothering to turn his head around. His calm demeanor was completely opposite of his true feelings. Inwardly, he was infuriatingly eager to snap Jian Yu''s neck and burn that tongue of his in magics techniques. No, that thing will need burn in the fires of hell itself before he would feel satisfied. However, he was constantly refraining himself from trying to do so and keeping a lid on his short temper.


    Jian Yu stood up with a struggle whilst watching Fatty walk away. Currently, he was delighting in the feeling of intentionally insulting somebody causing waves of warmth pulsated up his chest.


    "Ahh, vengeance sure is sweet. However, this is still not enough for a proper payback," Jian Yu murmured.


    "And worst of all, my mood''s ruined from this damn injury," he clutched at his chest and began to retrace his steps to head back to his own residence.


    Six hours passed by shortly after and Jian Yu had finally reached his destination. Along the way, he was getting recognised as one of the ''ignorant fools'' who failed to follow the rules. However, all they knew about him was his figure.


    He had a somewhat odd combination of a smooth yet chiselled face. His untidy hair had grown freely down to his shoulders and his eyes were always looking around. Every so often, his eyes would flash with glee and at other times, they would narrow with caution. His entire figure was slenderly from his body to his arms and feet. There were no obvious muscles or even slight bumps. That was the most redeeming quality of Jian Yu''s appearance in the vicious Blood Reaches Sect where most would have their bodies adapt to the harsh environment. Overall, Jian Yu had no redeeming qualities on his looks.


    Anyways, after Jian Yu locked himself in his residence, Huan Jiao was jumping up and down. While associating the excitement of Huan Jiao with the constant rumbling of his belly, Jian Yu tossed some meat to the far end of the residence before heading to the room with the meditation mat. There, he sat down to cultivate and simultaneously recovering from his injuries.


    When he rested on top of the meditation mat, he noticed that there were cracks on the walls surrounding the room dispensing a form of mist. To his astonishment, that mist was actually a condensed form of spiritual energy!


    However, moments after breaching through the cracks in the walls, they would quickly diffuse away into the surroundings. Jian Yu closed his already salivating mouth and began to absorb the spiritual energy.

 Chapter 19, The hunt... begins!

    5 days later...


    "Haaaah..." Jian Yu exhaled deeply as his body had mostly recovered.


    After absorbing an abundance of qi, he felt rejuvenated and could feel that he was advancing faster towards the 6th stage of qi condensation.


    Sadly, the seemingly endless supply of thick spiritual energy had apparently halted after his fifth consecutive day in seclusion. After some thought, Jian Yu concluded that nobody should have all the resources to themselves.


    "After all, not even the best genius gets all the resources of a large organisation..."


    Thus, he didn''t take this minor shortage of spiritual energy to heart and shook it off as being forced to give some of his fortune to others. To be popular amongst the masses, you have to act generously and disdain from acting too greedily. Although Jian Yu knew that, he was always reluctant to do so. In fact, that was actually one of his father''s personal teachings that he remembered vividly.


    Jian Yu got up and headed for the door. He was thinking of bringing Huan Jiao along this time but seeing that Huan Jiao was sound asleep on it''s back, he opted not to.


    Just as Jian Yu was about to exit his residence, he noticed that as Huan Jiao was sleeping, his aura was getting stronger!


    Previously, Huan Jiao was only at the 4th level of qi condensation. Currently, he was advancing towards the 5th in his sleep!


    Jian Yu felt a string pull at his heart as he envied how easy it was for Huan Jiao to advance in strength. As for him, he... actually had it easy as well. All it took were a few lucky encounters with medicinal pills for him to advance.


    However, the difference lied in the fact that Huan Jiao had seemingly advanced by eating demonic beasts'' flesh. Then, he looked at himself. Hasn''t he been eating demonic beasts as well? Why wasn''t he feeling any advancements in strength?


    Then, realisation hit him.


    "Perhaps it''s because I''m not a demonic beast like Huan Jiao is. By eating demonic beasts, I''m just strengthening the demonic aura within me, not my cultivation base."


    Jian Yu sighed at the sight of the upsidedown Huan Jiao advancing before heading out.


    An hour later, he was caught by the vigilant watch of Tan Duo, standing close to where they had met before. From his eyes, Jian Yu noticed a bit of concern and hints of admiration.


    "Ahh, brother Jian, I didn''t know you had a unique background like yours truly. No wonder you were able to mock that bastard Li Ming," he exclaimed, laughing heartily.


    "Of course I do. Did you know, with my talents, the Grand Elder came up to me and praised me before telling me of the Blood Reaches Sect''s location?" Jian Yu explained with his chin pointing upwards every so slightly, showing off some of his past arrogance.


    Hearing this bit of news, Tan Duo took out a jade slip and began to record down the fresh information right in front of Jian Yu.


    "What''s that?" Jian Yu asked, curious as to why Tan Duo was recording his ''unimportant'' origins.


    "It''s an old habit. Before that damned Li Ming arrived, I was actually on good terms most of the disciples in the outer sect. Naturally, I became the information broker when it came to gossips."


    Jian Yu''s eyes lit up at the reveal of Tan Duo''s true role in the outer sect.


    "Alas, when that Li Ming came, he instantly hated me the moment I tried to get to know him. He says he hated my ''kind''," Tan Duo''s eyes watered up as he recalled certain occasions where he had been shamed and bullied to the point where his friends who were threatened by Fatty''s status distanced themselves from him, choosing to forsake him.


    This story made Jian Yu feel depressed as well. This was very similar to his own story after the elemental affinity test a while back. Before the truth hit him, he had already felt that something was off about his ''friends'', allowing him to be more prepared for the worst. However, Tan Duo''s misfortune had come suddenly with the arrival of the big bully Fatty.


    In reality, Tan Duo''s story was also a bit exaggerated. He hadn''t been that popular in the outer sect and nobody truly liked him. What they were after were the juicy gossips that came with him. In addition to his lack of shocking talent for cultivation or anything else, he truly fit the role of a sort of messenger.


    As Jian Yu and Tan Duo sulked on the spot, an energetic voice made it''s way into their ears.


    "Tan Duo, Jian Yu!"


    Both of them turned to the source of the sound. While Jian Yu was confused, Tan Duo was simply elated.


    "Tian Yu!" Tan Duo shouted, running towards him for a manly embrace.


    Rumbling filled Jian Yu''s mind and his eyes sunk back a short distance. Images of Tian Yu of the past overlapped the figure he was looking at currently.


    Immediately, Jian Yu knew that he was indeed looking at Tian Yu. The huge and steeled muscles were still there and the height was roughly the same at 170cm. However, the biggest difference was centered around his head. Back then, his hair was short and tidy. Now, he was actually bald! Furthermore, the eyes that used to look at Jian Yu with scorn and arrogance were now lost. Now, they were replaced by a faint warmth.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    "Hey Tian Yu, my old buddy. Can''t believe you''re here!" Jian Yu passionately greeted, then his face twisted to some degree as he recalled an incident of the past. "I''m sorry for technically stealing your qi gathering pills in the past."


    "That''s fine, I''m just glad another cultivator of Acirema is alive and well," Tian Yu said, his voice plummeting to a murmur near the end.


    However, Jian Yu clearly heard the words spoken and asked with a quivering voice, "Is Acirema... gone?"


    Tian Yu blinked rapidly to hide any forming tears before answering what seemed to be an excruciatingly tough yet simple question. As for Tan Duo, he was eagerly waiting at the side, listening to every word mentioned.


    "Not exactly. Elder Chou Tai said that the city was burned down to the ground and there were no survivors of the six Great sects and families. Only the commoners who survived and didn''t cultivate were spared. Me and 5 others from the former six Great sects and families in the Blood Reaches Sect are what''s left of Acirema''s future..."


    Jian Yu''s mind went blank as he processed the information. Acirema''s very roots had been pulled out, demolishing any possible outcome of the city rebelling. He was then reminded of the two people who truly had showed some care towards him; his father an be Uncle Xie. Those two were truly the only people that Jian Yu cared about in Acirema, causing his hidden worry to worsen.


    "Due to our exemplary talents, me and the other five are known as the ''six geniuses''. They don''t have a good naming sense here..." Tian Yu added, proud of his title.


    Then his face turned serious in the next moment, his eyes focused solely on Jian Yu.


    "Jian Yu, you''re going to take back our homeland right?" He asked, emphasising every single word he said.


    Jian Yu stared back at Tian Yu''s blazing gaze. Everything about Tian Yu right now revealed his deep desire for vengeance. To him, he had lost everything he had; his home, family, wealth and status. Jian Yu pitied him and even felt a strong sense of admiration. Unlike him, Tian Yu had been living every day of the past months thinking of finding a way to take back what was rightfully his. Hence, whether Jian Yu wanted to take back Acirema or not didn''t matter anymore. He would show his full support


    "Sure I will, bal~dy."


    Tian Yu''s heart relaxed as he felt his burden lighten a bit more at Jian Yu''s response but it quickly hastened as his face reddened in anger. But before he could take his pent up rage on Jian Yu, he began to flounce away from the scene.


    Just before he did so, he told Jian Yu, "I''ll tell the others that you joined our cause."


    "Damn, it must be tough for you guys to lose your home just like that. I don''t even know where my home is..." Tan Duo commented, a gloomy look on his face.


    Jian Yu nudged his shoulder and told him to not mind it. Afterwards, he urged him to follow him on a mission to kill demonic beasts for the sake of getting rich. Inside, he was just getting worried since he was actually running out of demonic beasts'' flesh.


    Tan Duo quickly expressed his shock and reminded Jian Yu of the dangers out of the sect. Tan Duo''s strength was at the 4th stage of qi condensation, a stage lower than Jian Yu. In the Black Beast Forest, the demonic beasts''strength could range from the qi condensation stage up to the Elemental Core stage!


    "Even if we stay within the safer regions, we''re still in danger of encountering peak qi condensation demonic beasts!" He pointed out.


    Following that, Jian Yu just stuck up a finger and said, "I have talismans that cab form attacks that can kill those demonic beasts. We''ll be invincible!"


    Tan Duo felt a rush of energy suddenly erupt at the mention of killing peak qi condensation demonic beasts and nearly shouted too loud, "let''s go!"


    Time passed by as they made their way to the mission boards noisily. On the way there, Tan Duo explained to Jian Yu that every outer sect disciple could only accept 5 missions a month from a single mission board. The missions will have varying difficulties so the rewards will then be increased accordingly. As such, each sect disciple had to carefully pick the most profitable mission, promoting a growth in self management.


    Eventually, they mixed in with the crowd who are similarly interested in killing demonic beasts. To Jian Yu''s surprise, it was actually smaller than what he had just seen the last time. Additionally, there were also a lot less jade slips on the board than what he had seen previously.


    "Demonic beasts in the Black Beast Forest somehow appear. When the forest''s cleared of demonic beasts, we take some time to let things get back to the way things were," Tan Duo explained.


    Jian Yu''s eyes flashed with understanding as he recalled his stressful time traversing through the Black Beast Forest previously.


    "Back then, the outer sect disciples must have been letting the forest repopulate... How unfortunate..."


    Their eyes shifted to the jade slips on the board and plucked off two that hung in the section of the board mostly untouched, the ''peak qi condensation'' section. There, only missions related to killing peak qi condensation demonic beasts were placed.


    As for the reason they were untouched, that was because of the fact that there were not many peak qi condensation stage cultivators in the outer sect currently. Those cultivators had already moved up into the Elemental Pagoda stage.


    Anyways, after plucking off the two jade slips, Jian Yu and Tan Duo each infused a single jade slip with their own qi, reading the given information of the task.


    When Jian Yu infused it with qi, the words of a middle-aged man echoed through his mind, "Bring in the heart, horns and core of the Bluehorn Bull and you shall be rewarded with 75 spirit stones."


    The two heard their respective tasks and then shared the information with the other.


    "What''s a core?" Jian Yu asked, curious of this evidently important part of the Bluehorn Bull.


    "Oh, the demonic core. It''s some round, tough ball present in every demonic beast''s body, it''s where their qi is concentrated in. Additionally, it also advances our cultivation base when consumed," Tan Duo explained, looking every bit like a teacher.


    Jian Yu''s jaw loosened and his mouth opened up wide in incredulity. Everytime he scavenged the remains of a demonic beast, he would always overlook this one small ''rock'' that was placed under their hearts. He thought that they were some weird kidney stones or something. In the end, they were one of the most important parts...


    Shoving his disappointment in himself aside, he pushed Tan Duo towards the teleportation arrays on the stage behind the mission boards, eager to solve his coming food shortage. The teleportation arrays were where sect disciples going out to hunt would go to in order to reach the surface. The arrays would transport them into the center of the safer regions where qi condensation demonic beasts are much more numerous.


    After some waiting, he finally stood atop the teleportation array alongside the similarly excited Tan Duo. He subsequently gave the person in charge of managing the array to go ahead with the teleportation with a wave of his arm.


    Suddenly, his vision swam as the Blood Reaches Sect disappeared around him only to be replaced by the scenery of a forest. To his side still stood Tan Duo, free of worries.


    "The hunt... begins!"