《Dragon Cross》


 Prolouge

    On a plaza in the middle of a city, all the people were currently gathered beneath the stage. On the stage, there was a middle aged man with a cold expression. His hair was black with streaks of grey in it. His long blue robes were embroidered with golden dragon emblems. His eyes were completely cold when he looked at the two people in front of him.


    One of the people was a young woman, who seemed to be about twenty years old, chained and wearing tattered clothes. Signs of abuse were evident on her body and her usually beautiful face was full of disdain and disgust as she looked at the middle aged man. Her long brown hair was in disarray and she looked as though she had not seen any sort of grooming for years.


    Next to the woman, was a young child. His hair was snow white, various abuse marks were also evident on his face. He looked frightful as he tried to hide behind the woman but the two guards, who were holding him, had a firm grip on him. The eyes he used to look at the middle aged man with were full of terror.


    The man looked at the woman and said, ¡°For your sins, your punishment will be execution.¡± He then turned his sight towards the terrified little boy and said, ¡°You bastard, will be expelled from my Long Clan and also executed.¡±


    Just as the middle aged man¡¯s words ended, the woman said in a mocking tone, ¡°Haha, the righteous and honourable Long Clan is full of such hypocritical bastards. Seems like I got to see the true face of this ¡°oh, so honourable¡± Clan before my death.¡± She then shook her head. All the higher ups of the Clan had a face of mixed emotions on. Even the middle aged man¡¯s face flickered and just as he was about to roar at the woman, the woman suddenly stood up.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    She looked at the middle aged man with a mocking smile and said, ¡°You may kill me but you will never touch my son!¡± As her words ended, she bit the tip of her tongue and a bloody mist enveloped her and rapidly spread to the edges of the stage. Everyone, except for the guards, quickly jumped back seeing this unexpected situation. Before the guards could restrain the woman again, they were dead.


    *THUMP*


    *THUMP*


    *THUMP* Dead bodies hit the floor as the young woman broke free from her shackles and took the little boy into her arms. As the mist dissipated, all that was visible of the stage were the mother son pair and a squad of guards, that laid there on the ground dead. The middle aged man¡¯s expression flickered as he saw the crimson swirling portal behind the woman.


    The woman¡¯s expression was completely pale and blood flowed down from the corners of her eyes and mouth. She then gently pushed the little frightened boy into the portal and just as he disappeared into the crimson portal, the young woman fell down weakly.


    ¡°NO!¡±


    The middle aged man and the elders were all forced back by an enraged shout that came from over the horizon. In that brief moment, the portal behind the young woman closed. The young woman looked towards the horizon and saw a man with aflushed face flying over with an army following closely behind him.


    The young woman then said weakly, ¡°Father¡­.¡±


    Just as her words left her mouth, her eyes glazed over as she powerlessly fell to the ground.

 Chapter 1: Boy with white hair

    In the middle of endless grassland, was a group of five people. A young woman, who looked to be 14 or 15. She had a head full of fiery red hair and wore long red robes. Although her figure had not fully developed, it could still be said to be quite alluring.


    Her facial features were currently quite serious as she stood next to an old man with the same red robes as her. The old man had long grey hair and his wrinkled face was also serious as he looked at the group of three in front of them. The three in front of them compromised of two old men and a young man, a year or two older than the girl. The two old men were very peculiar as their features were identical but one had a head full of black hair and the other white hair. If it were just that, it would not be weird but the robes they wore were the colour of the other¡¯s hair. The white haired old man wore black robes and the black haired old man wore white robes.


    Between the two stood a young man with charcoal black hair. The robes he wore were blue and his usually aloof face was currently filled with lust as he looked at the young woman in front of him. Seeing the lecherous gaze, the old man in red robes stood in front of the young woman. The old man¡¯s cold voice was directed at the young man as he said, ¡°You better not have any funny ideas. Even though she still doesn¡¯t have a suitor, you don¡¯t have the ability to make her submit to you.¡± As he said that, red flames started slowly igniting on his body.


    Hearing this, the young man let out a maniacal laugh and pulled out a paper seal. Seeing the seal, both the old man¡¯s and the young woman¡¯s faces fell. The young man then waved the paper seal and said, ¡°You know what this is right? If you die, there will be no one who will be able to find her.¡± Hearing this, the old man¡¯s face fell even more. He vigilantly stared at the two elders standing by the young man¡¯s side. He gnashed his teeth as he thought to himself, ¡°Damn, whether it be the Black Elder or White Elder, they are both equal to me in strength. If they work together, I don¡¯t stand a chance.¡± He then cast a worried gaze behind him.


    As he saw the horrified expression on the girl¡¯s face, he sent her a mental message, ¡°I will tie the three down, you run to safety and wait for the Clan to send reinforcements to pick you up.¡± Hearing this, the young lady calmed down a little but not by much. She knew very well what her future would be if he fell into the young man¡¯s hands.


    She then resolutely nodded her head and was ready to run. Seeing this, the old man took a deep breath and fully turned his attention towards the group of three again. Just as he was about to attack, a red swirling portal appeared in between of the two groups. All the people present felt themselves tense up as neither of them knew on whose side the person emerging from the portal belonged to. Everyone took a battle stance and armour¡¯s covered the three old men as they intently stared at the portal with their weapons ready to attack.


    Suddenly, a figure dropped down from the portal and when their gazes landed on the person that emerged, relief was on the faces of the Black and White Elder¡¯s faces while the red robed old man¡¯s face fell. The person that emerged was a young man who seemed to be around 15 years old. He didn¡¯t wear robes like other people but rather he wore black leather pants with a black short sleeved shirt. On the shirt, there were various red patterns that seemed to have nothing in common but when someone inspected more closely, it created a pattern.


    The young man¡¯s hair was completely white and his blue eyes were currently assessing his situation. On the side of his head, there was a completely white full face mask with a red streak running down the corner of it¡¯s left eye like a tear. Seeing the two groups of people having a stand off, the young man¡¯s face turned cold. His body started releasing a bloody aura. There were various scars running across the young man¡¯s arms and there was even a scar running from the young man¡¯s right cheek to his left chest.


    His bloody aura filled with death coupled with the various scars, actually made him look quite strong. The young man¡¯s gaze wandered on the people in red and stayed on the girl in red for a moment before moving to the other group. His eyes passed the young man as if he were nothing more than an ant.


    He eyed the two Elders for a second before he just took a step forward, seemingly having the intent of leaving the battlefield. The red robed old man seemed to have a conflicting expression as if he was trying to ask the young man something but he seemed to struggle not to. Seeing the young boy that appeared out of thin air leaving, the Elders in black and white exchanged a glance before nodding to each other.


    After the nod, the old man in black appeared before the young man again. The young man stopped his steps and frowned as he said in a cold tone, ¡°I have no interest in this situation. I don¡¯t plan to stick my nose in place that it doesn¡¯t belong, so I will act as if I didn¡¯t see anything at all.¡± Hearing this, the red robed man¡¯s face fell even more.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    If the young man had not said that, there might have been a chance of letting him take the young lady with him and running while he himself would tie down the two Elders. The old man in black just chuckled as he said, ¡°I apologize but if I let you go, I would leave a dangerous variable out there, so you can only curse your own luck for appearing at the wrong place at the wrong time.¡± The young man sized up the old man in black before just saying, ¡°Are you sure you want to do this? The consequences will be something that you will not be able to shoulder, you know that right?¡±


    Hearing this, the trio just blanked for a second before they burst out laughing. The old man in red however narrowed his eyes. From the words of the young man he could read out the hidden meaning that his backing was extremely strong, However, he had not seen the emblem, a giant Dragon coiling around a cross, ever before.


    The old man thought to himself, ¡°His method of appearing seemed like¡­.¡± As he remembered the red swirling portal, he suddenly remembered where he had seen a portal compromised of symbols before. His eyes opened wide ass he murmured in astonishment, ¡°He is from the Ascended Realm, this is bad¡­.¡± As the old man thought about the Ascended Realm, he suddenly felt that this was extremely bad.


    In the eyes of the Ascended Realm Powers, this entire Minor World was like an ant. He deduced that the young man must be from a very strong Sect in the Ascended Realm that had just come to a Minor World to temper himself and hone his skills. He would most likely have an Elder that could practically destroy this World with a snort in the shadows, making sure that he will stay alive.


    The old man in black looked at the young man and asked, ¡°Hehe, our Sheng Clan is a Clan that no one in this World dares to lift a finger against without a thinking of the consequences. Who do you think you are to act so arrogantly?¡± The young man¡¯s face didn¡¯t change the entire time but now, helplessness appeared on his face as he just sighed, ¡°This is why I hate missions in Minor Worlds. The people here are idiots that think that just because they are big time players here, they own the Cosmos.¡±


    His words made the trio quite angry as the young man asked in a fit of fury, ¡°Just who the hell do you think you are?!¡± The young man looked at him straight in the eye and the young man in blue robes froze. The cold eyes made him feel as though he was staring straight into an abyss. The young man opened his mouth and said, ¡°My name is Fang Jack. I come from a Realm that is several layers above this little Minor Realm and my Sect occupies a Planet that is over a hundreds of times bigger than this little dump.¡± Hearing this, the young man in blue robes face froze.


    His Clan was actually an offshoot branch from a Clan that came from the Upper Realm. He had some understanding of the Cosmos and he knew that it was divided into three big layers: Minor Realm, Upper Realm and Ascended Realm. If what the young man called Jack had said was true, then his clan would truly not be able to deal with the consequences if they did something.


    The more he thought about all of it, he remembered what his Father had said. He had told him explicitly to never offend someone outside their World. They might have influence here but if they offend the wrong people, they will be annihilated. The Main Clan will not help them at all because unless the Branch had made very significant contributions to the Main Clan, they did not mean much to them. Usually, even a simple sweeper of the Main Clan was regarded higher than a Patriarch of a Branch, so it was not difficult to see what the Main Clan would do when their Branch was faced with annihilation.


    Now he truly felt terrified but the red robed man saw an opportunity. He clasped his hands towards the young man and said in a respectful tone, ¡°Would Young Master help this old bag of bones out and take this young lady under Young Master¡¯s protection?¡± Hearing this, Jack looked towards the timid young girl and the old man in red.


    He asked in a disinterested tone, ¡°What¡¯s in it for me?¡± The old man was shocked. From his understanding, all the people from higher Realms viewed people from the Lower Realms as ants. Just to show their superiority, they would do things like this, just to flaunt their status. So. Jack¡¯s question made him a bit confused.


    Jack then continued, ¡°I help you out by bringing her to safety but what¡¯s in it for me? All I would get is being pulled into whatever disagreement you guys had with each other.¡± The old man in red smiled wryly to this as he had no words to refute him. The Sheng Clan would not dare make a move against him if they wanted to live, so he could just walk out and have nothing to do with this.


    However, the old man¡¯s request would include him into the mess they were currently in and there was a chance that the Sheng Clan would probably attack him as well because if the two of them made it back to the Clan, the Xing Clan would most likely declare war on the Sheng Clan and then the Sheng Clan would be annihilated any ways.


    But if they killed everyone present, there was a chance of them surviving this calamity, however, the prerequisite to that was that there was no Elder guarding Jack from the shadows and there was also no time for him to send out a request for help.

 Chapter 2: Clues

    The old man in black saw the change of expression on their Young Master¡¯s face as Jack introduced himself. From the expression, he understood that Jack truly was not someone they could raise a finger against, however, with the situation being as it currently was, it was not going to end well either way.


    The Black and White Elders were not people of the Sheng Clan. They were Outer Elders, people that were not from the Clan but due to their outstanding strength and reputation, they were recruited to the Sheng Clan. However, to join such an influential Clan, they had to give an Oath to the Heavens to never betray the Clan and stand by their side through thick and thin.


    This was the down side of joining an influential power. Generally, less powerful Clans and Sect¡¯s didn¡¯t require their Outer Sect people to give an Oath. However, their influence wasn¡¯t the same as the truly ancient and powerful Sect and Clans. The White Elder sent the Young Master a mental message, ¡°What are we going to do?¡±


    Hearing the question, the Young Master¡¯s face fell, he was not stupid either. He knew very well that no matter which choice they chose, it would be bad. Finally, the Young Master grit his teeth and sent a message to the two Elders, ¡°If he goes alone, let him be but if he takes her as well, we can only kill him before he can inform his Sect.¡±


    The Black and White Elders gravely nodded to the orders. Since they were already in such a terrible situation, they would have to make a choice between the two disasters. While they were thinking of what to do, Jack was still talking with the old man in red. Jack asked, ¡°So, tell why should I mix myself in your messes and have it interfere with my mission without getting anything in return?¡± The old man¡¯s thoughts spun around as he was trying to find the best thing he could offer him.


    Have their Clan owe him a favour? That was a joke in comparison to Jacks own background. He then looked thoughtfully at the young lady next to him and grit his teeth as he gambled, ¡°This little lady next to me is the most precious treasure of our Xing Clan. She was born with a rare bodily constitution and is actually decided to become the Ascended Realms Qing Clan¡¯s Young Masters wife in the future.¡±


    Hearing this, the young lady immediately turned to the old man and said, ¡°That was supposed to -¡± However, before she could finish her sentence, Jack asked, ¡°Young Master of the Qing Clan? You mean Qing Arthur?¡± The old man¡¯s face flickered as he answered cautiously, ¡°Yes. They were supposed to marry when Helen passed the Empyrean Tribulation before 30.¡±


    Hearing this, Jack looked at the girl called Helen with a pitying gaze as he said, ¡°Honestly saying, it would be better for you to not marry that play boy. In terms of Artefact Forging, he truly is a genius but he has a serious skirt chasing problem.¡±


    Hearing this, the old man and the girl called Helen blanked as she asked, ¡°You know Qing Arthur?¡± Jack nodded his head and clarified, ¡°Well, in the Ascended Realm, there is no one that doesn¡¯t know him. His talent in Artefact Forging is something that is unheard of. Even the old Ancestor of Artefact Hall was astonished by his talent and took him as a personal disciple, imparting everything he knew to him. However, that old geezer keeps cleaning out my Masters wine storage and complaining about his skirt chasing problems.¡±


    He helplessly shook his head as he explained their relation to them. Jack suddenly closed his eyes as he thought of something. He then said, ¡°Okay, we will make a deal.¡± Hearing this, everyone¡¯s hearts jumped. The trio from Sheng Clan were actually more and more frightened as they listened to the conversation.


    The more Jack explained his backing, the more they believed him. Also, now that they learned that Helen was actually engaged to someone very important from the Ascended Plane, they started feeling immense regret. Helen had shown outstanding talent in terms of cultivation and this was something that made her even more desirable to all the young men. To reach the Empyrean Tribulation before 30 would be no problem to her however, whether she can pass it or not, it is another question.


    Now, they were even thinking about retreating back to the Clan and reporting everything back to them. Since they had not done anything yet, they might be able to talk their way out of this somehow. After they reached this conclusion, they started inching backwards slowly. The old man in red asked with a cautious face, ¡°What deal are we talking about?¡±


    Jack flashed a smile as he said, ¡°I will get you two out of this mess, help you eliminate whats-his-faces Clan.¡± He took a breath his smile turned more sinister, ¡°However, in return, you will have to immediately start working on taming that skirt chaser.¡± The old man in red blanked but the young lady instinctively covered her intimate parts as she said, ¡°But that¡­.¡±


    Jack shook his head to the lady and said, ¡°I don¡¯t mean that you will have to bed him, what I mean is that you will put a collar on him and have him focus more on Forging and not wreaking havoc.¡± Helen relaxed and tilted her head, ¡°Wreaking havoc?¡± Jack sighed as he said, ¡°Our Sect, Dragon Cross, is compromised of 4 Major Halls: 1. Alchemy Hall, Artefact Hall, Merchant Hall and Enforcement Hall.¡±If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    He took a breath and then added, ¡°The Merchant Hall is mostly compromised of young women that look like fairies, so he causes quite a lot of trouble there¡­.¡± As Jack explained, the three from the Sheng Clan saw the opportunity to run. Seeing this, Jack¡¯s eyes narrowed as his hand reached for the mask that was on the side of his head. He then put the mask on and he dashed in pursuit. As he flew through the air, a black scythe with red ¡°veins¡± appeared in his hands as he barked out, ¡°Rivvi!¡±


    No one present understood the language Jack spoke in but as his order was barked out, two circles with a diameter of 5 meters appeared on the ground. A murderous aura spread out as the ground burst into flames and two Devils with crimson red skin appeared. The Devils stood on two legs and were over 4 meters high when they stood up. Their bulky build was covered by worn out armour. On their heads were two giant horns that curved to the back of their heads from their foreheads. Both of them had a huge staff with a long blade attached to the end. As the two appeared, their roar shook the Heavens and hearing the roars, Jack did not even look towards the two as he barked out, ¡°P¨¹¨¹dke kinni!¡±


    As Jack¡¯s order echoed out, the two Devils burst into flames and disappeared. As they reappeared, they were already behind the Black and White Emperor. They stretched out one of their arms and simultaneously reached for their backs with the intent of catching them. When the two Elders heard the roars and Jacks mysterious command, they glanced backwards. When they did, they saw two towering Devils reaching their hands for them.


    The two paled and immediately fished out a black tear and a white tear. In unison they yelled, ¡°Yin-Yang Comet!¡± As the words echoed out, the old men were covered by a white and a black cocoon respectively. When the Devils hands touched the cocoons, the hands burst into flames. The two Devils jerked backwards and let out furious roars as one of them raised his Naginata up above his head and smashed it towards the white cocoon.


    However, before his attack could land, the two cocoon¡¯s merged and sped off into the distance at triple the speed they had before. Seeing this, Jacks eyes flashed behind the mask as he thought to himself, ¡°Hmm, Yin-Yang Comet was one of the things that went missing. It seems that these two old geezers know something about it.¡± As he remembered his mission, he raised his palm and two blood red symbols appeared on it. ¡°Neetute m?rk.¡± As Jack quietly said that, the two red symbols disappeared.


    When they reappeared, they were branded on the two old men but since the mark did not hurt in the slightest, they did not feel it at all. They were currently running for their lives because the two Devils made one thing very clear: Jack was someone that they could not offend, no matter what. Also, the two Devils he had summoned were at the peak of Nascent Soul Realm but they were far stronger than the two of them were.


    The Black Elder looked at his brother and said grimly, ¡°We need to report this to the Patriarch. It seems like he is connected to that group.¡± The White Elder grimly nodded his head as they flew through the air towards the horizon. They had forgotten all about the Young Master they were supposed to protect with their lives and frankly, they did not care either. This information was far more important than the son of some Elder from the Clan. If the two of them had not owed a favour to the Elder, they would actually have not been here at all.


    After the two disappeared behind the horizon, Jack had already captured the ¡°Young Master¡±. It wasn¡¯t hard at all, all he had to do was have the two Devils stand in his way while he blocked his retreat. Seeing no way out, he immediately surrendered. All of this took a minute to happen, so by the time that the red robed Elder came back to his senses, he just stared at the situation with a complicated face. Helen however gulped. Jack then confiscated all of the ¡°Young Masters¡± Artefacts and also put him under a strange suppression spell that did not allow him to utilize his cultivation base.


    After making sure that the young man had no way of escaping, he went back towards the two. When he arrived back, he said, ¡°Well, guess I truly do have to thank you.¡± Hearing this, the old man put on a faint smile as he asked, ¡°Why do you have to thank us?¡± Jack looked towards the spot that the Black and White Elder disappeared to and said, ¡°Because my reason being here is because of a mission from the Sect and thanks to you two, it seems I can finish it quite quickly.¡±


    Hearing this, the old man in red remembered something as he asked cautiously, ¡°Was something stolen from your Sects people about a year back?¡± Jack narrowed his eyes as he asked in a cold tone, ¡°You know something about it?¡± The old man immediately clarified, ¡°It was just that about a year back, the Sheng Clan suddenly obtained miraculous Pills and Artefacts out of nowhere. Thanks to that, they immediately spiked in power and rose to the same level as my Xing Clan in less than half a year.¡±


    Jack then looked thoughtfully and asked, ¡°At what level is their strongest person?¡± The old man closed his eyes for a moment and said, ¡°Their Old Ancestor is rumoured to have reached the Empyrean King Realm while they have a Dao Reserve of 20 to 30 Empyrean Immortals.¡± He then opened his eyes and said seriously, ¡°They all appeared out of nowhere half a year ago. I have no idea what miraculous medicine or scripture they have stolen¡­.¡±


    Hearing this, Jack suddenly started excluding a cold aura as he asked, ¡°Is there something peculiar about them? Like that the Arts they cultivated suddenly changed or their fighting style made an 180 degree turn?¡±


    The old man looked at Jack with an interested gaze as he said, ¡°Yes, the Old Ancestor was someone that cultivated a Wind Element Sword Art but after becoming an Empyrean King, he suddenly started using a Fire Style Spear Art.¡±

 Chapter 3: Investigation

    Jack¡¯s frosty voice asked, ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be a problem for a Minor World¡¯s Clan to produce Empyrean Immortals, right? Even Empyrean Emperor¡¯s shouldn¡¯t be unheard of, so why is it so peculiar?¡±


    The old man answered seriously, ¡°It truly isn¡¯t peculiar in itself. Even the Old Ancestor of our Phoenix Empire is a Late Stage Empyrean Emperor. That is also the reason that our Xing Clan remains as the absolute ruler of this World.¡±


    Hearing the word ¡°Phoenix¡±, Jack¡¯s eyes showed confusion as he asked, ¡°Wait, explain the relations you have.¡± The old man thought back to what he had said and smiled awkwardly as he let out an awkward cough and explained, ¡°Me and Helen belong to the Xing Clan, the Imperial Clan that rules this Minor World. Our Clan is an off shoot branch of the Ascended Realms Divine Phoenix Qing Clan.¡± Jack showed an understanding face as he said, ¡°Ohh¡­.¡±


    These kinds of situations were not unusual at all. Nearly every Clan in the Ascended or Upper Realm had branch Clans in Minor Worlds or in the Ascended Realm Clans case, also in the Upper Realm. Every Clan had different rules for Branch Clans, some saw it as banishment, some saw the Branch Clans as outside support. The difference between the two stances was as vast as the Heavens.


    The Clans that saw the Branch Clans as banishment tended to not care about their Branches at all. The Branches were required to pay some sort of tribute in a set interval and they sometimes got some assistance from the Main Clan if their contributions and tributes were good enough. However, the Clans that saw Branches as an extension of the Clan were very different.


    They helped the Branches with their problems if they had no way of handling them any more and always supported them with Pills and Arts when needed. Also, the relationship between the two was also many times better as the Main Clan would some times recruit outstanding people from their Branches and after they have developed to their maximum potential, they could go back to their Branches to live a leisurely life or stay in the Main Clan.


    The Branches that developed an outstanding seedling would also be rewarded and more looked after. Jack mused to himself, ¡°So that is how a person from a backwater world like this could get engaged to a genius from the Ascended Realm.¡± So it turned out that Helen was a person that was from a Branch and the Main Clan discovered her Bodily Constitution and engaged her to Arthur, their most shining star.


    From this, you could also deduce that her Bodily Constitution was nothing simple. However, since it was not Jack¡¯s business, he did not care about it. He asked the old man, ¡°So, how is Sheng Clans situation so peculiar?¡±


    The old man straightened his back as he explained, ¡°Until a year ago, the Sheng Clan was a mediocre Clan that only had an Empyrean Immortal as their Old Ancestor. As for the rest of the Clan, they were all under the Empyrean Level. However, suddenly they spiked in power and produced nearly thirty Empyrean Immortals in less that half a year and following that, they started slowly expanding their influence and they started tapping into many different businesses that they had not even as much as shown interest in before.¡±


    From the old man¡¯s explanation Jack understood why the old man thought that the Sheng Clan had obtained some miraculous pills or Arts. However, this was also in line with his mission. Jack just turned to Helen and said, ¡°I suggest you to think about my offer to join Dragon Cross. Although you have to deal with that play boy, the merits Dragon Cross can offer you make up for that defect. I don¡¯t mean to be rude but our Arts, Pills, Cultivation Areas, Artefacts are far superior to the ones that you currently have. So think about it, I¡¯ll find you in about a month to hear your answer.¡±


    As he said that, he turned his back to them and walked towards the ¡°Young Master¡± that had pissed himself by now. The murderous aura pressuring him had made him nearly insane from fright. Jack squatted to the same eye line as him and said, ¡°Now then, I have some questions for your soul. Relax, as long as you don¡¯t struggle, it will be painless.¡±


    As he said that, he extended his right hand and grabbed the young man¡¯s forehead. ¡°Memory Leak!¡± As he slowly murmured that, he closed his eyes and as a white light shone from his hand, the young man started struggling and screaming. Jacks iron grip however did not loosen and soon the young man stopped moving as white foam started coming from his mouth. His eyes glazed over and Jack opened his eyes when he stopped struggling.


    He murmured, ¡°So the Sheng Clan truly is behind all of this. Well, this was surprisingly very fast.¡± As he stood up, he collected the young man¡¯s Spacial Ring and said, ¡°Vabalt!¡± As he said that, the two Devils banged their right hand on their left side of their chest and roared in salute as a giant pentagram appeared on the ground that seemed to suck them in. After the two had disappeared, Jack let out a breath as he removed the mask from his face and put it on the side of his head again.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    He then looked towards the two from the Xing Clan again and suddenly disappeared from his spot. After he had disappeared, the two from the Xing Clan looked at the spot the two had disappeared from and then at the now dead young man. The old man let out a breath as he said, ¡°Decisive, ruthless, unafraid. The big three qualities of a Battle Cultivator, he has all of them and they are also rock solid.¡±


    The old man had a peculiar gaze in his eyes as he thought back to Jacks every move. Every move had a definite purpose and he was not fazed by anything. In the beginning, when he had arrived, he stood face to face with a person that was far above his level in terms of cultivation but he didn¡¯t even seem fazed by it. He did not care for justice or righteousness either, so he understood the basic principle of cultivation: The kind won¡¯t progress far.


    It wasn¡¯t exactly a hundred per cent thing that those that had a kind heart did not progress far but usually, they got themselves killed quite fast. So, in order to continue cultivating for the top, you had to be ruthless enough to not let every thing cloud your judgement.


    He gave the spot Jack disappeared from one last glance before he turned to Helen and said, ¡°Lets go Princess, as for the Sheng Clan, it seems like we do not have to do much about it.¡± Helen came out of her daze and nodded towards the old man and the two of them left towards their Clan.


    ***


    At the entrance of a forest, a figure suddenly appeared. He raised his head and his gaze seemed to pierce through the world as he looked at the direction where the two from the Xing Clan were standing at. His eyes were sharp as he thought to himself, ¡°Seems like someone is truly determined to destroy Dragon Cross.¡±


    He then raised his hand in front of him and said, ¡°Rivvi!¡± As he said that, three pentagrams appeared on the ground again. This time, they weren¡¯t as big as the ones that the two Devils came from. The diameter of the circle was one meter and the three that appeared from the pentagrams were three female demons. On their heads were curving horns, their skin was grey.


    They did not have any hair but instead their skin seemed to be covered by scales. Instead of their feet they had hooves and their arms seemed as though they were large claws. When the three appeared, they gave the same salute as the Devils did and said respectfully, ¡°Isand!¡±


    Jack nodded and pointed towards the two from the Xing Clan and said, ¡°Teie t?? on neid kaitsta! Midagi ei tohi nendega juhtuda.¡± After giving his order in the ancient language, the three immediately answered, ¡°Selge!¡± before they changed their appearance to that of humans and disappeared from their spots.


    After seeing that the three had left to carry out their missions, Jack let out a breath as a paper seal appeared in his hand. He looked at the Seal with sophisticated formations on it and suddenly started pouring Qi into the Seal. When he poured his Qi into the Seal, the Seal suddenly started burning and Jack threw it to the ground in front of him. The burning Seal suddenly started changing shapes and turned into a projection of an old man.


    The old man¡¯s head was full of grey long hair and his wrinkled skin made him look quite harmless. He was currently wearing long black robes with a red Dragon Cross emblem on it¡¯s back. The old man looked and Jack and said, ¡°Report!¡± Jack took a breath and said, ¡°The situation here is identical to the previous cases. A group of disciples that came to temper themselves in a Minor World go missing mysteriously and always a Clan or Sect suddenly pops up that rises to the top.¡±


    After saying that, he took a breath and continued, ¡°This time, as I appeared, I actually ran into the mysterious fiancee of our Artefact Halls shining star. However, there is something very fishy going on here, the sudden spike in power of the Clan here is actually very abrupt.¡± Hearing this, the old man nodded his head and asked, ¡°Abrupt?¡±


    Jack nodded his head and said, ¡°From what I gathered from the memories of a Clan member and information from the Fiancee¡¯s Elder, the Clan in question actually wasn¡¯t anything much a year ago. They were a mediocre local Clan with an Empyrean Immortal acting as the Old Ancestor.¡± Jack¡¯s face turned serious as he finished his report, ¡°However, in less than half a year, they produces 28 Empyrean Immortals, 6 Empyrean Kings and the Old Ancestor advanced from the Empyrean Immortal to the Emperor level.¡±


    After Jack concluded his report, the old man stood there thoughtfully for a moment before he asked coldly, ¡°Are the Empyrean Level people from the Clan?¡± Jack nodded his head seriously as he answered, ¡°Yes, that is why this is actually very peculiar. All of the Empyrean Level people are actually the ones that the Clan did not put any emphasis on cultivating because their Talent was very crappy. However, now suddenly they became Empyrean Immortals that easily.¡±


    The old man nodded to Jack¡¯s analysis and then said, ¡°Okay, you can go around doing your own thing. I will send a Squad from the Second Generation to deal with this situation. All you have to do is brief them when they arrive and they will take care of the rest.¡±


    Jack seemed to be used to this kind of arrangement. The old man¡¯s stern eyes turned soft as he asked, ¡°Have you found any clues in your travels?¡± Hearing this Jack also loosened up his cold and serious disposition as he fished out a little banged up pendant from under his shirt. He looked at it with a sad expression as he answered, ¡°No, I haven¡¯t found out anything. It seems like my family has disappeared from the face of the Cosmos.¡±


    The old man tried to console him by saying, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, all you have to go on is the Emblem on the little pendant. Finding your family is like finding a needle from a haystack.¡± Jack also bitterly nodded to his words.


    All he remembered from before the time he was separated from his Mother was that his name was Jack. No family name, no idea about his origins, no idea of his ¡°crime¡±.

 Chapter 4: Reinforcements

    Jack looked at the banged up medallion that had lost all of it¡¯s previous glory. Seeing the loneliness in Jack¡¯s gaze, the old man said gently, ¡°Lil¡¯Jack, why don¡¯t you give it a rest for a while and come back to the Sect? All of your Senior Apprentices have been waiting for you to come back and visit.¡±


    Hearing the words ¡°Senior Apprentices¡± Jack looked at the old man with a complex look as he asked, ¡°They have still not given up on it?¡± Hearing Jacks question, the old man let out a merry laugh as he said, ¡°Hehe, no. To cultivate my Blood Devil Art, you have to have certain ¡°qualities¡±, so all your Senior Apprentices are people that have similar pasts to yours. They known how it feels to be left all alone in this world, with no one to trust and no one to lean on.¡±


    The old man took a breath as he continued, ¡°All your Senior Apprentices are First Generation Disciples that have already passed the Third Tribulation, for them to pay so much attention to you should show you that they truly are serious about this.¡± After saying so, Jack could only reflect on the old man¡¯s words.


    Jack joined Dragon Cross approximately five years ago, when the old man had taken him in after running into Jack at the Ancient Battlefield. In his eyes, Jack had Heaven defying Talent, Willpower and Comprehension. He did not know how Jack had been arrived at the Ancient Battlefield but having seen him survive for that long, it was incomprehensible.


    He had spent quite a bit of time trying to hoax Jack into coming with him and becoming his apprentice. When he had first brought Jack back to the Sect, he had been like block of True Ice. The aura he excluded was extremely cold and he seemed to be surrounded by an ice cocoon that let no one close to him. When he had first arrived at the Sect, he had gotten into a lot of fights with either people of his generation or from the Senior Generation.


    What astounded everyone was that he essentially had the strength to fight someone a whole Realm above him thanks to the Demons inside the Mask. The Mask was something that Jack had obtained in the Ancient Battlefield and it was actually quite a mysterious Artefact.


    Inside the Mask, there were currently four types of Demons: Horned Demons, Succubi, Hell Stallions and Devils. The stronger the unit was, the less of them there were, for example, there were 100 Horned Demons, that were the dumbest and weakest, while there were only 5 Devils, that were the strongest and their intelligence was not bad either. The Demons were actually quite mysterious as they were completely and utterly loyal to Jack.


    It did not matter which command Jack gave, they would give their all to fulfil it, even if it meant their death. Another mysterious and interesting thing was that whenever a Demon ¡°died¡±, it didn¡¯t die for good. They went into a hibernating state and could be reawakened by Blood Essence. Also, by absorbing Blood Essence, he could make them stronger as well, however, they could not pass the Tribulation.


    The Devils were the prime example of this, they were as strong as a Nascent Soul Expert that had fully tempered his body, soul, Qi and could not grow any stronger no matter what Jack did. However, they could not grow any stronger as there seemed to be invisible chains tying them down that did not allow them to evolve.


    Each of the Demons had their own advantages and disadvantages, so the only reason no one of the Senior Generation had not plotted against him to steal the Mask, was because the growth of these Demons was limited. Since they could not pass the Empyrean Tribulation, they would become useless to most people very quickly.


    The old man seemed to look into the distance as he said offhandedly, ¡°There is a storm coming. For now, it would be for the best if you came back to the Sect and went into closed door cultivation for now.¡± The old man then turned to look Jack in the eyes as he said, ¡°You have been travelling the Cosmos for 4 years now, completing missions for the Sect along the way. You must have gained a lot of experiences and Contribution Points as well.¡± Jack nodded his head as he confirmed the old man¡¯s words.


    Suddenly, the old man looked to his right where a crimson red swirling portal made of magical runes appeared in the air. It was the same kind of portal as the one Jack arrived with. From the portal, three groups of 5 people arrived. The three groups memorized their surroundings and when their eyes fell onto Jack, they nodded to him. When their gazes fell onto the projection of the old man, they immediately straightened their backs as they cupped their hands and respectfully said, ¡°Greetings, Ancestor Enforcer!¡±


    Hearing the greeting, the old man nodded and said, ¡°Jack will brief you of the situation and also, do not forget to be careful. All indications show that there is a storm brewing and some hidden power is trying to disrupt the power balance. Should things exit your control, run first, think later.¡± The old man¡¯s words grew cold as he said one more sentence before disappearing, ¡°Your own lives matter more than some random troublemakers, so don¡¯t overestimate yourselves.¡±Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    After the last word echoed out, the old man¡¯s figure had already disappeared. However, from the underlying tone, it seemed as though he was referring to something. The Seal that Jack used to summon that projection had completely burned up so it could not be used again. After the old man had disappeared, everyone¡¯s gazes turned to Jack who started bringing them up to speed.


    After he had finished telling them everything he discovered, the three groups started thinking of a plan. It was not the first time these three groups had worked together, so their understanding of each other was quite good. Amongst them, there was no useless or pointless fighting for dominance or supremacy either, so all of them got along quite well.


    When Jack had told them about the enemy line up, they understood very well why there were three Squads here to handle this situation. It was to make sure nothing unexpected happened and to leave a certain back up if things should spiral out of control. When the three Squads had put together a plan, the three Leaders told their Squad Members to make preparations and adjust their minds while they had a few words with Jack.


    Seeing the three Squad Leaders walk over, Jack, who had been gazing at the sky, also turned his attention towards them. The three people that arrived in front of him were of different builds. One was a slender, handsome young man that used a sword, while the other man looked like a miner. His build was bulky and his face looked quite rigid and stiff, his main weapon seemed to suit him well as he used an Axe. The third Leader was actually a young woman that specialized in using Spells.


    When the three reached Jack, the young man put on an awkward smile as he said, ¡°We haven¡¯t had the chance to thank you for the last time.¡± Jack stared at him blankly for a moment, trying to remember what the young man was talking about. After a second, he remembered what he was talking about and he brushed it off saying, ¡°No problem about that.¡± It was the very same thing that the old man had been referring to.


    On their last mission together, they had overestimated themselves a bit and not retreated when an unknown variable came into play. As a result, they were nearly killed and only survived thanks to Jack sacrificing 78 Horned Demons out of 100, 47 Succubi out of 50, all 20 Hell Stallions he had and 3 Devils out of 5. Also, Jack¡¯s own Soul had taken some damage and his body had gotten severely injured as well. It was nothing short of a miracle that all of them came out alive and without any crippling injuries. Yes, they had some sever physical and Soul injuries but they were not life threatening or injuries that left permanent crippling effects.


    Although the three didn¡¯t know that the Demons could only be reawakened by Blood Essence but they weren¡¯t that stupid either. They knew that the price Jack paid for them to get out alive was enormous, so they felt very indebted to him. After getting severely injured like that, they had to spend half a year recuperating and they had a lot of time to reflect on their actions. Jack had warned them explicitly that there was some unknown variable that could turn the tide, however, they had ignored his warning back then.


    Jack reputation in the Sect wasn¡¯t good amongst regular cultivators to begin with and most saw him as an egoistic person that had eyes on top of his head. However, nearly all of the First Generation Disciples of the Sect knew the accuracy of Jack¡¯s information. If he told them that there was a dangerous variable, they would be even more alert than if they were at a life and death battle, where every mistake could cost them their lives.


    Also, while they were nursed back to health at the Sect, Jack kept roaming around and continuing his missions. This earned the admiration of the people from the three Squads and they had to truly re evaluate their views on Jack. 9 months had passed since the incident but Jack had only reawakened a total of 52 Horned Demons from their slumber, meaning that he currently only had 74 Horned Demons, 3 Succubi and 2 Devils as his fighting force. This was also the main reason the old man wanted him to return to the Sect for now.


    If Jack went all out and ignored the repercussions of summoning all his Demons at once, he could actually force an Empyrean Emperor to fight for his life while he himself ran like hell. However, currently, he would even be hard pressed to out run an Empyrean Immortal even if he summoned everyone he had.


    However, his biggest advantage was that he himself was at Core Formation, so most people at a higher level underestimated him severely and since they did not have their guard up against him, he could take them by surprise with the Demons. However, all possibility of surviving comes down to one thing: The element of surprise. Even an Empyrean Emperor can¡¯t stay completely emotionless when a Core Formation ¡°brat¡± suddenly pulls out an army of Demons from thin air. The three Squad Leaders looked at each other in helplessness for a moment and then the young man said seriously, ¡°Back then, you saved our lives. No one would have blamed you even if we had died.¡±


    The young man let out a sigh as the young woman continued where the young man had left off, ¡°You had done your job of informing us of everything and shown us our targets. It was our own arrogance that cause us all to nearly die and you even went out of your way to make sure every single person left alive.¡±


    The young man then continued, ¡°We brushed off all your warnings. So it wouldn¡¯t have been weird at all if you left after doing your part.¡± He then took a deep breath and cupped his hands respectfully, ¡°For this, my 21st Roaming Dragon Squad will do anything you ask of us in return.¡±


    The two others present also expressed the same gratitude and told Jack that no matter what he asked of their Squads, they would do their upmost to carry it out. Jack smiled awkwardly as he said, ¡°Yea, I¡¯ll remember that. For now, if you have finished your preparations, shall we go?¡±

 Chapter 5: Travelling to Sheng City

    The three Squad Leaders looked over to their team mates and seeing them all ready, they nodded their heads. Jack put the Mask on his face again as he said, ¡°Neetute m?rk, j?lita!¡± As he said that, he pointed towards a direction and said, ¡°They are approximately 400 kilometers in that direction.¡± The three squads put on a serious face and the previous chatting and joking atmosphere disappeared completely.


    From each squad, a person took out a Transportation Artefact and all of their Squad Members boarded their respective Artefacts. Seeing that everyone were ready to go, Jack also took out an Artefact. While other¡¯s Transportation Artefacts were designed to accommodate 1 to 10 people, Jack¡¯s Transportation Artefact was a little black cloud. Seeing the cloud, everyone¡¯s eyes flickered as they recognized the little cloud.


    It was a Top Tier Heaven Rank Transportation Artefact that specialized in speed. These Artefacts belonged to the set that was given to every Hidden Dragon like Jack. Dragon Cross was a Sect that had existed for several hundreds millions of years and over the years, it¡¯s foundation was extremely rock solid.


    When it was founded all those years ago, it was already a Sect that no one dared to look down upon. The Founder of the Sect Fang Zhi was someone that had a very mysterious past and origins but he had Heaven defying Talent and his resources were unfathomable as well. He had single handedly built the Sect from scratch into a major power in less than a century.


    He made strict rules and an infrastructure to the Sect that actually hadn¡¯t been changed much from the founding of the Sect until now.


    Currently, Dragon Cross had 4 Halls and 3 ¡°Dragons¡±: Artefact Hall, Medicine Hall, Merchant Hall and Enforcement Hall.


    Artefact Hall was the Hall that forged Artefacts on custom orders, for the Sect and for sale.


    Medicine Hall was compromised of two parts: Pill Hall and Healing Hall. Pill Hall was in charge of making all of the Pills for cultivating, healing or just tempering. Healing Hall however, was compromised of people that specialized in Healing Arts. Healers were actually very respected because pills couldn¡¯t always help. Also, they had a very intricate understanding of the body, so they could help heal meridian deviations, very serious wounds that pills were useless against or deal with poisons.


    The Merchant Hall dealt with everything related to money. They took custom orders for Artificers or Alchemists, sold Pills or Artefacts, bought raw materials needed. Basically, if it had anything to do with money, Merchant Hall dealt with it.


    The Enforcement Hall had the most intricate infrastructure of the four. The one Hall was divided into three different Factions that dealt with different things. The three Factions were Hidden Dragon, Napping Dragon and Roaming Dragon.


    Napping Dragon was the ¡°Defensive Dragon¡±, their main job was to protect their own territory, keep order and protect their merchandise when it was being traded. They also dealt with all the fights between Sect members and other Factions/Halls.


    Roaming Dragon was the ¡°Offensive Dragon¡±, their main job was to accomplish missions outside the Sect. Tracking down deserters or criminals of the Sect, accomplish missions that were asked of Dragon Cross that had something to do with either eradicating a power or protecting someone. They were also the main force in situations when someone was picking a fight with Dragon Cross or killed their disciples.


    The last Faction was the ¡°Hidden Dragon¡±, the most mysterious and versatile of the three Factions inside the Enforcement Hall. They were in charge of finding out what happened to the killed or disappeared disciples and in charge of gathering information over all. They also carried out the investigations when they got a complaint about someone from Dragon Cross that was breaking the Sect Rules.


    They operated both inside the Sect and outside the Sect. Most of the people from the Hidden Dragon were actually unknown as some were dealing with delicate situations that was like walking on a tight rope above a sea of swords and spears. Also, for Hidden Dragon members, there were no restricted areas except the Founders private areas. Since Hidden Dragon members were the ones that always extended their necks out, their equipment and status was also several levels higher than Napping or Roaming Dragons.


    The best example was Jack himself as disciples are divided into three ¡°Generations¡±.


    Third Generation was compromised of people that were under First Tribulation the Empyrean Tribulation.


    Second Generation compromised of people that were under Second Tribulation aka Paragon Tribulation.


    The First Generation was compromised of people that had passed the Second Tribulation.


    Third Generation was considered as usual new disciples or Outer Sect Disciples and the Second Generation were the Real Disciples. Those that were unable to pass the Empyrean Tribulation usually took mediocre jobs that didn¡¯t carry much danger but did not have high rewards either.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    First Generation Disciples were considered as Elders and they were the ones that had the most status in the Halls.


    They were also the ones that were in charge of looking after the Second and Third Generation to see whether there were some good seedlings to be developed. They were also in charge of teaching the Disciples.


    Those that had passed the Third Tribulation, Origin Tribulation, were the true Core of Dragon Cross. They usually stayed in seclusion on Floating Dragon, a Fortress type Artefact that floated above the Headquarters of Dragon Cross. They were the Dao Reserve that only made an appearance when the Sect was truly in dire straits and had no other way out. Over the years, the Dao Reserve had grown to more than a thousand people and this was actually what made every other Sect feel very reluctant to start a fight with Dragon Cross.


    However, greed has no rationality and there have been Alliances made against Dragon Cross in the past. However, Dragon Cross still stands while all those Sects and Alliances exist no more. Usually, Floating Dragon was a restricted area where only Origin Realm experts could enter or their direct disciples.


    However, this restriction didn¡¯t exist for the members of Hidden Dragon. This also applied to Jack, who was a member of Hidden Dragon. He could freely use the cultivation areas that were on Floating Dragon and the Artefacts he had surpassed even the Second Generation Disciples. However, this had been so from the beginning, the higher the risk, the better the they are armed.


    Hidden Dragon was the most dangerous department in Dragon Cross, so their remuneration for placing themselves in danger like that was also very compensating.


    The Defensive Artefact Jack had was an Armour Set Type Artefact of Low Earth Rank. This armour came in four parts and he had actually obtained two parts of the set, making it a Low Earth Rank Artefact. If he obtain the last two parts as well, it would jump to become a Top Tier Heaven Rank Armour Set. The whole armour set cost a whooping 20 000 000 Contribution points. This number scared away most people that eyed this armour set in itself.


    However, since Jack had been carrying out one dangerous mission after another, he had been able to obtain 2 of the four parts of the set. The main reason he could even afford the two parts of the set was because:


    1st He was a member of Hidden Dragon and got a 25% discount on all Artefacts and Pills.


    2nd The rewards from Hidden Dragon missions was actually very generous.


    Also, since over time he had also had a lot of fights, he had collected mountains of Artefacts, Arts and Pills he couldn¡¯t use. He had auctioned off the better ones for a higher price and sold the worse ones directly to the Halls themselves. He basically sold off everything that he didn¡¯t need or couldn¡¯t use.


    Besides the Armour and the Scythe he used, most of the things he had were given to him by Hidden Dragon and he couldn¡¯t sell them. The Cloud was one of these things and he also had no intention of selling it either even if he could.


    After Jack took the lead on his little black cloud, the three squads followed behind in full alert and ready for action. It didn¡¯t take long for them to cross the distance and reach the Sheng Clan¡¯s Headquarters. When they reached outside the City that was lorded over by the Sheng Clan, Jack signalled for everyone to stop. He pointed at the city and said, ¡°That is Sheng Clan¡¯s Headquarters.¡±


    After saying so, the three Squad Leaders nodded their heads as they did a gesture. Following the gesture, the three Squads flew to surround the city and strange runes started flickering around them as they closed their eyes and concentrated. What was odd was that no one noticed the three groups of five standing at the edges of the city and setting up a formation. After a minute of casting, three pillars of light simultaneously flew into the centre of the city in an arc and when the three beams of light met, a curtain of light started spreading from the collision point and in a few second it turned into a dome of light that completely entrapped the whole city within.


    The whole city suddenly came to life as all the cultivators flew to the air to confront the enemy. Each of the three squads left one person behind to maintain the formation while the rest flew forward.


    After a few moments, a suffocating aura spread out to cover the city as a cold snort echoed out, ¡°Who dares to act so arrogantly in my Sheng City?!¡± Following the sentence, thirty people flew to the air. They were all the Empyrean Realm cultivators that the Sheng Clan had. The cold snort came from the Old Ancestor that was even an Early Stage Empyrean Emperor.


    As the old man tried to pressure them with his aura, he was soon shocked to see that none of the three group looked even fazed by his aura. The handsome young man stepped forward and said with a smile, ¡°We are from Dragon Cross and we have some questions regarding your sudden rise to power and the disappearance of our Sect¡¯s Disciples.¡± To the end, the smile never left his face. Hearing the words ¡°Dragon Cross¡± the old man¡¯s face fell as he seemed to realize that this was bad.


    He immediately snorted, ¡°Dragon Cross, never heard of it. Also, I have no idea of your Sect¡¯s Disciples disappearing.¡± The old man from the Sheng Clan tried to play the innocent, however, the young man just asked, ¡°Are you sure of that? If it comes to light that you truly have something to do with their disappearance¡­.¡±


    Even though the sentence was incomplete, from the disappeared smile, it was evident what the consequences were. The old man felt cold sweat run down his spine as he said with ¡°certainty¡±, ¡°Hmph, my Sheng Clan has nothing to with it.¡± Hearing this, the young man turned towards Jack, that was standing outside of the Formation and said in a loud voice, ¡°Elder Jack, I ask for you to use ¡°Brand Location¡± to make sure and free the Sheng Clan of suspicion.¡± Hearing this, Jack just sighed.


    Although his status was the same as an Elder, he did not like hearing that word. Also, he had a general understanding of the young man¡¯s temperament and he knew that he just wanted to slap the Sheng Clan¡¯s Old Ancestor in the face. This was also justification needed so that others won¡¯t start troubling Dragon Cross with them being too arrogant or something.


    Although Dragon Cross didn¡¯t care about that, less trouble was less trouble. Jack just closed his eyes as he said, ¡°Brand Location!¡± As he said those words, a beam of light flew out from all the Artefacts, Pills, Arts that held the Dragon Cross Branding.

 Chapter 6: Unexpected situation

    [Brand Location] was a Formation used to find specific Brands. All major Sect and Clans of the Ascended Realm put a Brand on their Arts, Artefacts and Pills. The Brands are compromised of a bundle of Formations that usually don¡¯t do anything.


    They would just have a picture and that¡¯s it. However when a [Brand Location] of the specific Brand is used, the Brand resonates with the spell and the Brand lights up, showing whether the brand is authentic or not. The [Brand Location] that Jack used was the one that resonated with the Brands that Dragon Cross used. All the Artefacts owned by Jack and the people from the three Squads lit up, releasing a small pillar of light.


    However, as the lights started forming, the faces of higher ups in the Sheng Clan turned ugly. Not only the three Squads lit up but also many of the higher ups from the Sheng Clan lit up like Christmas Trees. Seeing that, the handsome young man smiled sinisterly as he asked, ¡°You know nothing about it huh?¡±


    The Old Ancestor gave up all notion of refuting it any more. The other side had literally pointed out every single person that held an Artefact or Pill with the Dragon Cross Brand. To try and play dumb now would just be completely and utterly stupid. The old man threw his head back and laughed out loud, ¡°Ha ha ha! So what if it were us? You will end up the same as they did!¡± The old man lowered his head as he licked his lips, ¡°I have to thank you for delivering your-¡±


    However before he could finish his sentence, the old man suddenly jumped back in an alarming speed. A split second later, the spot that he was standing exploded. The waves that came from the explosion grievously wounded the people standing next to him, the ones that had been unlucky enough to not get away in time. The people that were weaker, directly turned to ash.


    The old man¡¯s eyes turned as wide as carriage wheels as he felt his heart grow cold. Even though he flew back, he could still feel the immense heat coming from explosion. His line of sight suddenly moved from the explosion spot to the young lady that was standing in front of a group of three. Her face was painted with annoyance as her hand was stretched out and a few wisps of fire circles around it. The young woman said coldly, ¡°Will you shut up already?¡±


    After saying so, her hand changed it¡¯s position lightly and another wisp of fire flew out from her sleeve. The flame let out a Phoenix cry as the flame changed shapes and took on the form of a Phoenix. The old man¡¯s back was covered in cold sweat as he suddenly pulled out a fiery red spear. He twirled the spear in his hands and utilized his full cultivation base to block that one shot. After he blocked the shot, he felt his hands numb as they looked scorched. From this one hit, he realized that the young woman was also an Empyrean Emperor.


    However, the thing that made him despair was that while he himself was an Early Stage Emperor, the young woman was a Late Stage Emperor. The old man furrowed his brows deeply as he tried to think of a way out. Suddenly, he felt as he was drenched in cold water when he suddenly looked towards the two other groups. They created an encirclement that would not let anyone escape. However this wasn¡¯t what the old man was thinking about but rather, he was currently recalling how indifferent the three groups had been to his pressure. He felt his scalp numb as he came to a single conclusion: The people standing in front of the groups were also Empyrean Emperors. Not only were they Empyrean Emperors, they were of a higher stage than him.


    A single Emperor could fight ten Kings or a hundred Immortals, so seeing that there were three Emperors here, he lost all hope. The brute like man and the handsome young man however, did not even make a move as they carefully observed situation on the battlefield and also the surroundings. Should something unexpected happen, they would immediately intervene. Seeing the two squads keep such vigilant watch, Jack also nodded his head. At some unknown point in them, the Mask had appeared on Jack¡¯s face.


    When the Squads started laying down the entrapping Formation, he set out a scouting perimeter. He had summoned all of his Horned Demon¡¯s and made them encircle the city from far away. They would be the first line of defence that would try to slow down unknown guests and would let Jack know if something unexpected happened. Seeing no other way out, the Old Ancestor of the Sheng Clan fished out a worn out Seal.


    Seeing the Seal, Jack¡¯s heart skipped a beat as he immediately shouted, ¡°GET THE HELL OUT!¡± As he yelled that, the three Squads immediately withdrew. As they stood outside the Formation, they looked at Jack in confusion. From their last time, they learned that when Jack meant to get out, they better get out. Jack, who had been sitting on his cloud had now stood up and in his left hand a blue double-edged sword appeared, in his right hand a white cracked sword appeared. His eyes did not leave the old man as his voice echoed out in the heads of the three Squads, ¡°Get out of here immediately and immediately request back up from the First Generation!¡± Hearing this, the faces of the three Squads flickered. From Jack¡¯s cold tone a hint of fear had emerged.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    In their eyes, Jack was someone that was even willing to tangle with an Empyrean Emperor at a Core Formation without any fear but now, there was fear evident inside his voice. When they saw the two swords, their faces showed astonishment as their eyes scanned Jack¡¯s body. When before, Jack had only worn a shirt, pants and shoes, then now he was armed with two swords and a pendant was now hanging on his waist. The pendant was the Emblem of Dragon Cross and this was one of the things that every person from Dragon Cross had. When faced with immediate danger, the pendant would release a protective screen.


    Usually, the pendant could block one full force attack from an Empyrean Emperor but Hidden Dragon had more powerful pendants. Their pendants could block one full force attack of a Primadorial God, a stage just below the Third Tribulation. Of course, these pendants uses were limited, they were Life Saving Artefacts not Armour Type Artefacts. Seeing Jack fully armed, their hearts skipped a beat as they immediately did as Jack told them to and they ran. Seeing the three Squads run away with a single sentence from the person with the Mask, the Old Ancestor was bewildered.


    As he scanned Jack¡¯s body, his brow furrowed as it seemed to him that he was a simple Core Formation ¡°brat¡±. However, the sense of danger he got from Jack was several times higher than the three groups of people before. This was what made him on edge as he couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of the situation. He clutched the Seal more tightly, seemingly reluctant to use it. Seeing the old man clutch the Seal more tightly, Jack¡¯s voice echoed out, ¡°You just go ahead and try to use that Seal and I swear that I will annihilate your Bloodline before your reinforcements manage to arrive.¡±


    The undisguised killing intent in the voice reassured the Old Ancestor that Jack truly would do that. However, Jack¡¯s heart had grown cold the moment he saw the Seal. All he could do at the moment was buy enough time for the First Generation to arrive. The Seal in the old man¡¯s hands was something that was the last thing in this entire Cosmos that Jack wanted to see.


    The Seal was a ¡°request for aid¡± Seal for a very strong underground organization, Blood Immortal Conclave. Blood Immortal Conclave was one of the reasons that Dragon Cross and the other Major Powers form the Ascended Realm were currently in Alliance talks. They had no idea where the Blood Immortal Conclave came from or where their headquarters was but they knew that they were extremely dangerous. No matter who or what, they could not escape their information network. They seemed to know the inside of every organization far better than the Clans or Sects themselves did. Also, they did nothing to disguise their traces when they rampantly fought against the Ascended Realm.


    Suddenly, two Devils appeared next to Jack and they also seemed to understand the danger as the two of them had their eyes locked on the Seal in the old man¡¯s hands. Even though Jack seemed like he was ready to fight for his death in a moments notice, in actuality, he was ready to run like in a split second. The moment the Seal lighted up, he would run for his dear life. The stare down lasted for a few moments, the reason the Old Ancestor was hesitating was because the three groups had run away already and there was only one person left.


    That one person left was also only in Core Formation, so it wouldn¡¯t be beneficial for him to use the Seal. However, the sense of danger Jack excluded made him feel as though he was facing someone that had passed the Second Tribulation. No one else dared to move even an inch, as they had seen how strong the young lady from before was. Seeing that she unconditionally listened to Jack¡¯s orders and withdrew, made them feel as though something was not right. Since the Old Ancestor had not given any orders but just had a stare down with him, they did not dare to take any independent actions.


    Suddenly, the old man¡¯s face just twisted into a twisted smile. Seeing the smile, there was only one thought in Jack¡¯s mind, ¡°SHIT!¡± Without any second thought, he urged the little cloud under his feet to blast off to the horizon. However, before he could get far, he suddenly felt a very savage pressure press down on him. His advance halted to a stop immediately as he was plunged to the ground without having any means of resisting the enormous pressure weighing down on him.


    As he laid there on his back, a mad laughter belonging to a woman rang out, ¡°Kukuku, it has been a long time, Little Demon. Did you miss me?¡± Hearing that voice, Jack¡¯s face twisted underneath the Mask. This voice was the last thing in the entire world he wanted to hear. All sorts of memories surfaced in his mind as Jack felt his scalp numb.


    After the voice finished echoing out a young woman that seemed to be around 18 or 19 years old appeared in the air. She looked extremely beautiful as her robes lightly revealed the curves. Her pitch black hair had streaks of white mixed in as she stared at Jack with a lustful gaze. Every man present, who laid their eyes upon this young woman felt their blood gathering at their groin, even the Old Ancestor felt activity down there.


    The young woman gently floated down from the sky and came to a stop just above Jack. She then dropped to the ground and just as she was about to sit down next to Jack, over fifty shadows pounced towards her. Without sparing a glance, she just swept out her hand and the shadows all disappeared.


    She then sat down next to Jack and took off his Mask. She put it back to the side of his head and took his head on her lap. Jack¡¯s face was cold as he gnashed his teeth. The woman looked Jack into his eyes as she played with his hair. She let out a sweet smile, ¡°I missed you Little Demon. Did you miss me?¡±


    Jack however glared daggers at her as he gnashed through his teeth, ¡°Lust¡­. You are still alive you little sadistic fucking bitch?¡±

 Chapter 7: Blood Immortal Conclave [Part 1]

    Lust didn¡¯t seem to be fazed by what Jack. She just kept curling his hair around her finger as she kept talking, ¡°Have you rethought about my proposition of joining Blood Immortal Conclave?¡± Without waiting for Jack to answer, she kept explaining the merits, ¡°If you join, I can take you under my wing and make you my personal disciple. You should know that our power far exceeds what we have shown on the surface.¡±


    After saying so, she shut up. It seemed as though she had said everything that needed to be said. Jack however didn¡¯t even think about it before he coldly answered, ¡°My answer still stands¡­. NO!¡± Hearing this, the face of the young woman distorted a little before she promptly fixed it. However, her hands that were twirling Jack¡¯s hair now started pulling it.


    She didn¡¯t seem to hear Jack¡¯s answer as she said, ¡°You still have a lot of time to think over our proposition. We have all the time in the world.¡± As she said so, she ran her hand through Jack¡¯s hair as she put his head down.


    Just as she stood up, the Old Ancestor Sheng approached Lust with cupped hands and said, ¡°We thank you for your help.¡± Lust glanced at the old man and just said annoyed, ¡°Whatever¡­. If it hadn¡¯t been for Little Demon, I wouldn¡¯t even be here.¡±


    As she said that, she turned her back towards the old man and swept her hand out towards Jack. Following that, Jack gently lifted up from the ground as he floated there, following Lust¡¯s commands. The old man was completely dumbstruck by Lust¡¯s answer because from it, he understood that if it weren¡¯t for Jack, there probably wouldn¡¯t have been any reinforcements. Jack tried to struggle but the invisible hand that was tightly holding him, did not relent one bit.


    Lust then walked next to Jack and gently stroke his cheek as she said, ¡°Let¡¯s go home now. There you will have a lot of time to see the merits of joining Blood Immortal Conclave.¡± Jack however just kept struggling and tried to get his head away from the woman¡¯s touch as if it were the most poisonous think in existence.


    The woman just lightly chuckled to that and turned to leave. She threw down a paper Seal and as it ignited, a gate started rising from the ground. The gate¡¯s were as big as city gates and on each of the doors was the face of a ferocious beast. It only took a few moments for the enormous gate to completely rise up from the ground. In front of the gates, two bloody figures looked at Lust as she approached with Jack. One of the figures opened his mouth to say, ¡°Lust, how many times are you going to try and get him on our side? It did not work the last 8 times, what makes you think that it will work this time?¡±


    Hearing that, Lust¡¯s face distorted as she angrily retorted, ¡°This time will be different. This time, I will show him just how much I care about him.¡± After saying so, she swept her head with a ¡°Hmpmh!¡± and started walking through the gates. The two gatekeepers however just lowered their heads. Over the past 4 years, she had brought Jack in through the gates 8 times already saying that he will be her beloved.


    However, at most a month later, she would flip the Headquarters upside down looking for Jack. The first time, no one paid it any attention but after Jack disappeared into thin air for the third time, even the Blood Immortal started feeling interested in Jack. No one knew how Jack escaped and even though the Blood Immortal himself was keeping an eye on him, he escaped. He didn¡¯t just escape, he disappeared into thin air. A few months would pass and then Lust would come through the gates again with Jack in tow. Jack looked at the two gatekeepers with a complicated face.


    These two gatekeepers were different form the usual ones, usually living people were guarding the entrance but this time, there were two clones made of blood here. Jack tried to struggle a little more and suddenly a very faint red light dropped from his hand to the ground. On the moment of impact, it disappeared into the ground. This little move escaped the attention of everyone present and Jack just released a deep breath of relief in his heart.


    Since this wasn¡¯t his first time being dragged to the Headquarters of Blood Immortal Conclave, he wasn¡¯t as astonished of the sight of the majestic city. He was still a bit shocked but when he first laid his eyes on the enormous city, he was completely dumbstruck. On the streets there were stalls after stalls selling herbs, materials, Artefacts, Arts, Pills. Countless people browsed the stalls and inspected the things that caught their eye more closely.


    Jack was also a bit familiar with the streets and he expected Lust to turn right at an intersection, leading to her house. However, she did not do that but rather she kept going forward, towards the central area where the Blood Immortal lived. Seeing this, Jack¡¯s eyes flashed as he quickly asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that the Central Area is off limits?¡±Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Lust turned towards him and gently said, ¡°Usually yes. Even I, a direct disciple of Master Blood Immortal can¡¯t enter without permission but when we entered the city, Master told me to bring you to him.¡± Hearing this, Jack¡¯s heart sank as he thought to himself, ¡°Fuck, what does that shitfuck want with me?¡± However, Jack did not let it show on his face as he kept a straight, cold face.


    ***


    In the field next to Sheng City, there were 23 people in black robes. On the robes of seven people was an Emblem of Dragon Cross. The rest had different Emblems, indicating that they were from other powers. The 23 people all had a rigid cold face as they stared all stared at the same spot on the ground.


    That spot was where the flash of red had disappeared to before. One of the middle aged men, that had an emblem of a mountain and axe, approached a person that had a Dragon Cross Emblem and said, ¡°Brother Ivar, calm yourself. It seems as though something unexpected had happened to your Junior Brother.¡±


    The person that was called Ivar glanced at the middle aged man and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go back. We need to report this to the higher ups.¡± No one refuted Ivar and just nodded their heads to him. It was obvious from the intense killing intent that Ivar was currently on the very edge of exploding. No one wanted to be the person that drew his wrath, so they obediently did as he said. One of the people present glanced at a giant crater nearby and just shook his head. The crater was formerly known as Sheng City but now all that was left of it was a giant hole.


    When nearly everyone had left, the middle aged man stopped Ivar from entering the portal as he said seriously, ¡°You know the mission given to him by the Alliance right? Even if something happened to him, there would be nothing we can do.¡± He took a breath as his voice lowered, ¡°For better or worse, he is the only person that can accomplish that mission. Don¡¯t create more danger for him!¡±


    After saying so, he directly entered the portal. Ivar looked at the back of the middle aged man and when he had left, he lowered his head, ¡°Don¡¯t think I don¡¯t know the importance of that mission.¡± After saying so, he hesitated for a moment before stepping into the portal.


    ***


    In a majestic conference room, seven people sat at a long rectangular table. At the head of the table was a scrawny old man with a sinister bloody aura. At each side of him, sat three people with black and white hair like Lust. At the other side of the table, Lust stood next to Jack and kept playing with his hair as Jack hovered in mid air, looking towards the old man.


    The old man sized up Jack and his eyes seemed to be filled with immense interest as he asked, ¡°How were you able to escape before?¡± Without even as much as introducing himself, he just jumped directly to the main point of why he summoned him here. Jack looked at the old man coldly and gave a slight smile as he said, ¡°Trade secret.¡± Hearing this, the old man frowned.


    He looked at Jack coldly as he asked in a chilling tone, ¡°Do you know who you are talking to brat?¡± A shiver ran through Jack but he still kept the slight smile on his face as he answered, ¡°I presume that you are the Blood Immortal, the person responsible for all the mayhem lately.¡± Hearing this, astonishment was evident in the eyes of everyone at the table. This was the first time they heard someone with such a low cultivation base act so arrogantly in front of Blood Immortal.


    The old man¡¯s eyes flashed, ¡°Since you know who I am, you still dare to put on airs in front of me?¡± As the old man said that, killing intent started heading towards Jack. After Jack was hit with the killing intent, his whole body was drenched in cold sweat as he still kept the smile and said, ¡°You call it putting on airs, I call it not giving a fuck.¡± After saying so, Jack felt the killing intent bearing down on him multiply.


    He felt as though he was looking straight at a pissed of dragon that had had his ass kicked while he had been sleeping. The temperature of the room fell by a few degrees as he asked, ¡°Do you think that I do not dare to kill you brat?¡± After these words echoed out, Lust looked at the old man angrily but after she saw the sinister eyes of the old man, she held her tongue. Jack however just let out a chuckle as he said, ¡°Then kill me.¡± Hearing these words astonished even the old man.


    No matter how just or hard headed a person seemed, when faced with the threat of dying, they would generally bow their heads. There was a saying that as long as one lived, revenge was possible. However, to meet a person like Jack, that did not fear death was extremely rare. The old man stood up and walked directly in front of Jack. The closer he got, the more intense the killing intent got. When he was directly in front of Jack, Jack could not stop shaking from fear.


    Even though he was shaking, it was a bodily reaction to all the killing intent. He himself had seen things far scarier than the old man back at the Ancient Battlefield. That was the only reason he was who he was, a person that did not fear death. If he feared death back at the Ancient Battlefield, he would have already gone insane and gotten himself killed.


    Feeling that Jack was a bit peculiar, the old man just snorted, ¡°Well, since you do not want to say it yourself, let me ask directly from your Soul.¡± After saying so, his bony hand clasped Jack¡¯s head. The smile on Jack¡¯s face grew a bit sinister. Just as the old man started scouring Jack¡¯s memories, the old man suddenly saw an archaic Devil covered in black flames staring directly at him.


    The Devil roared and the old man felt immense danger as he quickly took his hand off and shot to the other side of the room drenched in sweat. The old man looked at the smiling Jack with a hint of fear in his eyes but Jack just asked, ¡°So, how¡¯d it go?¡±

 Chapter 8: Blood Immortal Conclave [Part 2]

    All eyes in the room were on the old man that was now at the other side of the room. His mind was reeling and Jack¡¯s question brought him back to reality. He looked at Jack and asked, ¡°Who are you?¡± Jack just kept smiling as he answered, ¡°I am a simple Core Formation brat.¡±


    Hearing this answer, the old man wanted to puke blood. If Jack was a simple Core Formation brat, then who the hell were the rest. The Devil that the old man had disturbed made him feel like a weak little mortal that stood in front of an Immortal.


    The old man opened his mouth to rebuke Jack but Jack continued, ¡°I may be a simple Core Formation brat but my bag of tricks is quite deep. You should realize it quite well, no?¡± The old man shut his mouth to Jack¡¯s words. He could understand from Jack¡¯s words that Jack was by no means lying to him. That Devil was something that could kill him easily and form the subtle hints that Jack just gave, the Devil wasn¡¯t his only trump card.


    The old man stared Jack straight to the eye and asked, ¡°What do you want?¡± The eyes of the people sitting around the table flickered as surprise was painted on their faces. Jack however asked in ¡°puzzlement¡±, ¡°You were the ones that brought me here by force. Since when do you care about what I want?¡± Hearing that, the old man felt a clump of blood rising in his throat. ¡°This fucking brat!¡±


    As he cursed in his mind, he put on a smile as well and said, ¡°Well, I apologize for the rough treatment you received. Let me make it up to you by giving you a few Artefacts, Arts and Pills that suit you quite well.¡± As this sentence echoed out in the hall, the people sitting at the table all nearly fell over from shock. In their eyes, the old man was an incredibly cruel and prideful person. Now seeing him put on such an act, they felt as though the world had been turned upside down. Some of them even pinched themselves and rub their eyes to make sure they weren¡¯t sleeping. Jack¡¯s face was still holding the smile but now the smile had gotten stiff.


    Even he himself was dumbstruck from the old man¡¯s words. Even in his wildest dreams would he not have expected the old man to take this kind of a stance. He had completely surrendered himself to death already before he came inside the room. That was also the main reason Jack actually acted the way he did, he had already finished the mission given to him by Dragon Cross but being brought here actually threw all his plans out of whack.


    Since he had no idea on what to expect, he already accepted the fact that he was dead. What he didn¡¯t know was that the old man remembered something very important regarding that Mask. The old man was not from this Cosmos but from the neighbouring one. Their Cosmos wanted to expand, so they put him in charge of being the scouting force that laid down all the ground work. When the time was ripe, they would tear open a door in the defensive Formations and let their main force in.


    The reason that the old man suddenly got cold feet dealing with Jack wasn¡¯t only because of the Devil but rather because he knew very well who that Mask belonged to before. Even though the previous owner of the Mask had disappeared Eons ago, the tales of his deeds were like Legends. It was not far fetched to say that the old man knew more about the Mask and it¡¯s true power than Jack did. Because he knew what was sealed inside the Mask, he decided to not offend Jack at all costs.


    If Jack did not care about anything at all and released the true terror of the Mask here, then their entire Headquarters would be demolished in less that half a day. So when Jack hadn¡¯t been afraid of death before, what stopped him from throwing away his life in order to destroy this place? Since the old man wasn¡¯t stupid, he knew exactly how bad the current situation was, so the only thing he could do was compromise.


    They would only need a few more decades for the ground work to be done and have the main army come over. If Jack went ballistic now, all those preparations would be for naught and millenniums of hard work would be washed own the drain. Although Jack did not know what was going through the old man¡¯s head at the moment, he decided to take a gamble.


    Jack then pointed towards Lust with his head and said, ¡°It is kind of uncomfortable to be talking like this, so mind doing something about it?¡± Hearing Jack¡¯s response the old man quickly turned towards Lust and yelled, ¡°Put down our esteemed guest!¡± Hearing this, Jack was even more bewildered. Blood sprayed from Lust¡¯s mouth as the invisible hand gripping Jack disappeared. Jack felt that something was up, this kind of a situation was very abnormal.


    Jack took a glance at the surroundings with a more careful look as he thought to himself, ¡°Seems like something is going on and I seem to be a complication that may ruin everything for them?¡± As he carefully analysed everything that happened, he suddenly realized why the old man took such a sudden reversal in his behaviour. He lightly touched the Mask as he thought to himself, ¡°From the way he looks at this Mask, it seems like he knows something about it and it seems like that something is quite dangerous in his eyes.¡±Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    Seeing Jack touch the Mask, the old man¡¯s heart grew cold as he thought to himself, ¡°Is he going to use it now?¡± The old man seemed the same as before but secretly, he was making preparations to run in a split second. Jack however, just removed his hand as he looked at the old man and said, ¡°I don¡¯t need your Artefacts or Pills. Instead, I would take her.¡± As he said so, he pointed towards Lust.


    The old man was bewildered for a moment but before he could say anything, Jack cleared out the confusion, ¡°Don¡¯t misunderstand me. I don¡¯t want her because I want to bed her but because she has caused me quite a bit of pain and I wish to give it back to her so whole heartedly.¡± After this sentence, the old man¡¯s face nearly turned black.


    Lust was one of his seven personal disciples, so he knew very well what her personality was like. He himself was the one that moulded that personality. However, Lust was one of his favourite disciples and if she went with Jack, it meant that he had to destroy her cultivation. Something that he had poured countless resources into achieving. However, seeing Jack reach for the Mask again, the old man could do nothing more than agree to that.


    He said through gnashed teeth, ¡°Very well, I shall present her to you.¡± This sentence made everyone else in the room completely stupefied, they knew very well how much the old man doted on her. Seeing him ¡°give her over¡± like that, this made them truly feel as though this was all a bad dream. If someone had told them that all this had happened today, they would have thought that the fellow had fallen on his head and seen illusions. This move by Jack was actually a test.


    From the time he had spent here before, he had learned that the old man doted on Lust a lot. It was practically unreal to dream for the old man to hand her over like this. This however confirmed Jack¡¯s suspicions on the old man knowing something about the Mask.


    Although he wanted to ask about it, he couldn¡¯t because if he did, the old man would realize that he was bluffing all along. Jack had no idea what the old man had seen when he tried to search his Soul but it seemed like something that made the old man seriously reconsider messing with Jack. The old man then personally went in front of Lust and destroyed her cultivation.


    Seeing this, Jack let out a deep breath as he thought to himself, ¡°This is no joke.¡± When before he had a feeling that the old man may be pulling his leg, then now he saw that the old man was completely serious about this. Jack sucked in a deep breath and conjured crimson red chains that wrapped around Lust¡¯s neck. From the initial roar from the old man until now, Lust was completely shocked. She did not know what to make of the situation so when the chain¡¯s wrapped around her neck, she did not resist in the slightest. Seeing this, the old man¡¯s heart clenched but he chose to ignore it. In his eyes, the plan was of the highest priority and even the ¡°Disciples¡± he had groomed were actually pawns to make sure the plan succeeded.


    The old man hurriedly gave Jack some Arts and urged him to go. Jack felt very weird right now because he had been dragged here by force but now the old man urged him to leave like he were the plague. However, since he had done his job, Jack did not want to push his luck either and decided to fish out a paper Seal from his Spacial Ring.


    He ignited it with his Qi and as he threw it down, no one saw the little red light hidden on the back of the Seal. In a few moments, the Seal formed into a portal and Jack threw Lust in there first before he himself cautiously walked in. However, just as he was about to enter the portal, he suddenly felt intense killing intent from his behind and he crouched as he jumped in. He suddenly felt pain in his abdomen but he chose to ignore it as he quickly entered the portal.


    Seeing that someone dared to attack Jack like that, the old man fiercely glared at Greed, the young man who had thrown that knife. However, seeing the portal close, he didn¡¯t dwell on it any longer but rather directly disappeared from the room.


    Reporting the appearance of the Mask was of the highest priority.


    ***


    In a dimly lit room, one the ground was a complicated formation. Standing at the edges of the Formation were 11 scrawny old men and the old man Blood Immortal was currently standing in the middle of the Formation. This was a very intricate long distance communication Formation and currently it was being used to report the appearance of the Mask.


    After the old man finished his report, there was silence in the room. Finally, the man wearing luxurious golden robes asked him, ¡°Are you absolutely sure that it was the Abyssal Demon Emperor¡¯s Mask?¡± Blood Immortal seriously nodded his head, there wasn¡¯t any arrogance or air of supremacy around him any more. Seeing the nod, one of the old men who was wearing black robes let out a sigh as he said, ¡°You did right Blood Immortal. Had you hesitated, all the work done would have been for naught.¡± Hearing this, Blood Immortal didn¡¯t feel any better.


    In the beginning he had been interested in Jack, the person his favourite disciple was so interested in. However, after finding out about the Mask, he was forced to give her up just like that. The man in golden robes asked, ¡°That last attack by your disciple, did it kill him?¡±


    The old man shook his head and answered, ¡°No, his senses were on the edge and he managed to shift his position in time. The shot was aimed at his heart but because he moved, it hit his dantian.¡±

 Chapter 9: Return to Dragon Cross

    Everyone¡¯s gazes turned to the man in golden robes, it was evident that he was their leader. The man thought for a while but then said, ¡°Since his dantian is shot, he is not a problem any more for now. Just in case, speed up your preparations.¡±


    Hearing this, Blood Immortal nodded his head as he understood the meaning behind the order. The man in golden robes raised his head and said, ¡°Our Cosmos is decaying fast. In a few more thousand years, it will implode. We need to secure Dragon Cross Cosmos before that or we will not have a place to live.¡±


    Blood Immortal nodded his head seriously as he knew just how bad the situation was with their own Cosmos. Their Cosmos had been ravaged by wars far too long and far too badly for it to recover. The Qi was scattering and becoming scarce, the Dao¡¯s were becoming fragmented and the Heavens were slowly collapsing. At most, their Cosmos had a thousand years left before it couldn¡¯t sustain itself any more and would collapse.


    Also, it was because of this that Blood Immortal did not dare to take any chances. It had taken him over ten thousand years to lay down the ground work and establish the Blood Immortal Conclave. The number of people coming over from their Cosmos was enormous and if they just suddenly appeared here, they would be hunted down by all the powers in this Cosmos to keep the balance. It was obvious because if someone else had invaded their own Cosmos like they were currently doing, they would annihilate them thoroughly to set an example to others.


    Since it had taken over ten thousand years to create Blood Immortal Conclave, they did not have any room for mistakes any more. They just lacked the time to rebuild it, so Blood Immortals choice to bow his head in case of the miniscule chance that Jack knew what the Mask could do. If Jack destroyed their Headquarters, it would be the same as destroying their chances of survival. Each one of the old men present had practised cultivation for countless years, so they were all extremely prideful.


    They all felt admiration towards Blood Immortal for being able to lower his head towards a Core Formation brat just in case. They didn¡¯t ridicule him at all in their hearts but they were wondering whether they would also be able to put the big picture as the priority and lower their head to someone whose cultivation was so much lower than them.


    The golden robed old man said, ¡°Keep an eye on that boy. His dantian may be destroyed but there are countless miracle medicines out there that allow a person to be reborn anew or rebuild their dantian.¡± Blood Immortal nodded his head seriously and after seeing the nod, the golden robed man left. Soon after, everyone gave words of advice to Blood Immortal and left as well.


    When Blood Immortal was the only one left in the room, he looked up and said to himself, ¡°Only half a century left. Then all of the preparation¡¯s will be done and I will be able to see you again.¡± It was unknown who he was talking about but from the gentle gaze in his eyes, it was obvious it was someone important to him.


    ***


    At the teleportation portal in Dragon Cross, there were two people currently keeping watch over it. This specific teleportation portal was rarely used, so if it saw any movement once a year or so, it was already good. The teleportation portal was directly linked to all the paper Seal¡¯s used by Hidden Dragon, so unless it was extremely urgent, it wasn¡¯t used.


    One of the youth¡¯s that was wearing Third Generation robes asked the other one, ¡°What¡¯s the point of us guarding this thing, no one ever uses it right?¡± The other Disciple was a middle aged man and his cultivation was at the late stage of Nascent Soul Realm. The middle aged man looked at the youth and said, ¡°This is an extremely important portal. It is only used by Hidden Dragon members, of course it is rarely used.¡±


    The middle aged man was quite annoyed by the youth. He had been paired with this youth half a year ago but the youth rarely did his job. Most of the time he was either slacking off or just sleeping. Just as the youth wanted to say something more, a portal opened up. The middle aged man immediately rose to his feet and cupped his hands in welcome of the senior coming. However, he was greeted by a frantic young woman who had a youth with his dantian pierced on her shoulder.


    The girl was extremely beautiful but her usual beauty was currently gone. When her eyes fell to the middle aged man, she yelled at him, ¡°Quickly get a Healer!¡± The middle aged man came back to his senses and immediately roared to the young man next to him, ¡°Go and report this to an Enforcement Elder!¡± The youth however didn¡¯t listen to him and kept staring at the young woman blankly. Seeing this the middle aged man directly appeared next to the young man and punched him straight in the face.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    This brought the young man back to his senses and just as he was about to yell at the middle aged man, the middle aged man took him by the neck and said in a cold tone, ¡°GO! REPORT! THIS! TO! AN! ENFORCEMENT! ELDER!¡± As he emphasized every words loudly, the young man felt scared of him for the first time. The young man immediately freed himself from grip and started running towards the Enforcement Hall like the Devil was snapping at his heels.


    -The middle aged man picked up the young man with one hand and the young woman who also had no cultivation with the other hand and started flying towards the Medicine Hall. He hadn¡¯t made sure whether the young woman and the young man were actually a part of Dragon Cross but currently he did not care either.


    The two had appeared from a portal that was only used by those of Hidden Dragon, so even if they weren¡¯t a part of Dragon Cross, they had some connection with it. When the middle aged man raced through the skies, it brought the dismay of a lot of cultivators. It was forbidden to fly inside the city so seeing someone break the rules like that made everyone frown. However, when they scanned over the group and saw that someone was critically injured like that, they decided to turn a blind eye to that. Every rule had an exception and this was one of the exceptions. It was obvious that the young man being carried was critically injured so it was ludicrous to have the middle aged man run on the ground and risk the young man dying.


    The middle aged man didn¡¯t ask any questions from the woman but rather focused his whole attention on flying through the skies as fast as possible. Soon he reached the Medicine Hall and as he blasted through the door, he was greeted by a lot of angry gazes but he didn¡¯t give anyone the chance of saying anything before he said in a loud voice, ¡°I am Shi Black. I guard the Hidden Dragon teleportation portal and I need a Healer right now!¡± As he said that in one breath, everyone¡¯s gazes fell onto the bloody youth in the middle aged man¡¯s arm. Hearing the words ¡°Hidden Dragon¡±, some people of the staff quickly took the bloody youth from the middle aged man¡¯s arms and quickly brought him to a room and started giving first aid treatment until a high level Healer arrived.


    After the young man was taken form his arms, he also let the young woman down. A member of the staff arrived at the two and asked, ¡°What is his name?¡± The middle aged man looked at the young woman and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know, she should.¡± The staff members gaze also came to rest on the young woman and she said blankly, ¡°His name is Fang Jack. His Master is the Enforcement Hall Ancestor Meng Tiger.¡± After hearing the name of Jack¡¯s Master, everyone who heard the conversation immediately paled. Jack¡¯s Master¡¯s temper was exactly like his name, a Tigers.


    Some of the personal even gulped loudly because except for the Master, every single one of his Disciples was a person that no one wanted to mess with. Also, it was very well known that the relationship between the Disciples themselves and also with their Master was far closer than families. They were truly people that would give up everything for one another and now one of that berserker ¡°family¡± was lying at the Medicine Hall on a bed with a broken dantian. It was obvious that all Hell is going to break loose.


    It didn¡¯t take long for an Enforcement Elder to come to the Medicine Hall. When he was told who exactly was brought to there, he immediately paled as he quickly flew back to tell the Ancestor. It was as if the news had feet as it spread like a wildfire and in a few hours, nearly the entire Sect knew about it. If it were any other Hidden Dragon member, not many would have cared but the person in question this time was a well known person himself. Although his reputation was bad amongst the lower circles of disciples, the higher the hierarchy went, the better they knew of his contributions and his true temper.


    In less than half a day, the entire Medicine Hall was surrounded by people and most of them radiated a killing aura that scared off any person that dared to come too close. Inside a single bed room, there were currently 6 people inside besides the one that laid on the bed. Jack, who was lying on the bed, was still unconscious as the six people stood there. One of them was sitting on the bed as she looked at Jack with a worrying gaze. Next to him was standing Jack¡¯s Master Meng Tiger. Besides these two, there were 4 more people in the room and three of them were the Hall Ancestor¡¯s like Tiger.


    The last person was a young man wearing a black shirt, vest with a hood, long black pants. He looked like any other youth however, his eyes were blood red like a serpents. The young man with serpent eyes asked the young woman, ¡°What happened to him Lust?¡± The young woman lowered her head as she said, ¡°I don¡¯t know. This time, the usual routine was broken as the Blood Immortal summoned us.¡± After saying that, she narrated everything that had happened in the hall down to every last detail she knew. She finished by saying, ¡°He first pushed me into the portal and then followed behind but when I saw him again in the tunnel, he was already like this.¡±


    Hearing the explanation, the faces of all the people present changed serious. The young man asked again, ¡°Did he accomplish the mission?¡± Lust nodded her head and took Jack¡¯s Spacial Ring. She passed it to the young man and said, ¡°He told me to give this to you and tell you that inside the Ring there are 10 Red Seal¡¯s that will allow you to create 10 Portals to their Headquarters.¡± The young man accepted the Ring and after a moments pause he stood up from his half sitting position and said, ¡°Tiger, go and mobilize the entire Enforcement Hall. I will contact the other powers and pass a Seal to each.¡±


    Hearing this order, Tiger¡¯s face changed as he asked cautiously, ¡°Island Master?¡± The young man called Island Master answered, ¡°We are at war! If I delayed our most opportune moment for this, Dragon Cross would not have survived until now.¡±


    This sentence made everyone astonished.

 Chapter 10: The Mask [Part 1]

    Tiger looked at the young man with wide eyes and asked suspiciously, ¡°What will happen to Jack now?¡± Everyone¡¯s gazes fell onto the young man who just gave a smile and said, ¡°It will all be up to him.¡± Hearing this, everyone present gulped. Jack was someone that the Island Master had been keeping an eye on ever since Tiger had brought him back.


    The only reason Jack was allowed in to the Hidden Dragon was because he allowed it. Also, before he headed out, he had given him two personally crafted limited use Artefacts. These were the blue and white sword. Each of them could release an attack that was on par with his half strength attack. Each sword could only be used three times so they were are true Life Saving Artefact.


    Now, that same Island Master told them to forget him. This was what made them confused because the Island Master had even said that he would like to take him as a Legacy Disciple of his. Jack was a normal Disciple to Tiger, so he got the same amount of care as the others did. However, Legacy Disciples are people that have all their skills passed down upon.


    The Island Master wished to put all of his focus on raising him and sparing no expenses so the current situation was very peculiar. However, no one dared to question his decision, so they started carrying out the full mobilization orders. After a while only Jack, Lust, Island Master and the Medicine Hall Ancestor were the only ones left there.


    The young man looked at the Medicine Hall Ancestor and asked, ¡°How is he?¡± The Medicine Hall Ancestor just sighed, ¡°His vitals are all normal already and his wounds all show rapid healing. As to why he is still unconscious¡­. Even I have no idea on that part.¡± The old man was also helpless. He could heal physical wounds but he couldn¡¯t see inside another¡¯s head.


    All of Jack¡¯s wounds were nearly healed thanks to his high body refinement and the medicine he received when he was brought in. However, for some reason, Jack was still unconscious. If he had Soul Damage, then they could do something but his Soul was completely fine as well, so as far as they knew, they had no idea why he was still unconscious.


    The young man thought for a moment and pulled out a bottle of pills from his Spacial Ring. He passed it to Lust and said, ¡°It will help you rebuild your dantian.¡± He then pulled out a Disciple Tile and also passed that to her saying, ¡°Go and see the Master of this Tile. She has been wanting to take you in as a Disciple of hers for a while now. Jack will be fine, so you focus on getting stronger from now on Sandra.¡±


    The young girl¡¯s eyes flickered as she looked at the young man and asked, ¡°Island Master, why do you have so much trust in me?¡± The young man showed a mischievous smile as he said, ¡°I don¡¯t have trust in you, he does.¡± as he said that, his gaze fell onto Jack. Before Sandra could say anything the young man continued, ¡°It is hard to earn the trust of someone that was thrown to the Ancient Battlefield to fend for himself. Since you were able to earn his trust, you are worth trusting.¡± Hearing this, Sandra was confused as she tilted her head to the side.


    However, from the nostalgic gaze the young man had when he looked at Jack, she could understand that the exalted Island Master did not have an easy childhood. ¡°Which powerful person did have a peaceful childhood.¡±


    As she thought that to herself, she cupped her hands and looked at Jack for one last time before she exited the room to look for the person that wanted to take her as a Disciple. At the door, she stopped for a moment as she made a vow to herself, ¡°Jack pulled me out of that solitary hell, the least I can do is take care of him from now on.¡±


    Even though she was known as the most favoured Disciple of Blood Immortal, in her heart, she despised the Blood Immortal. She had been brought up by him for as long as she could remember and in the beginning, she had been quite affectionate of him. However, one day, she overheard a conversation between Blood Immortal and some weird old men over a Communication Formation.


    In that conversation, she learned that Blood Immortal had seen her talent and taken her under his tutelage by force. The first people she had killed were actually her parents that he had imprisoned and kept alive just for this reason.


    Thinking of all that, her world shattered and she developed another personality, Lust. This was what the Blood Immortal was after but what he did not know was that Lust was formed for the purpose of protecting Sandra. So when she first met Jack and Jack told her of his mission under Lust¡¯s torture, Lust and Sandra agreed to help him out to get their revenge on Blood Immortal.


    Jack couldn¡¯t put down all the miniature Formations that would become a Teleportation Formation in one go, so he put some of them down, then ¡°escaped¡±. After some time passed, Lust ¡°captured¡± him again. And so the cycle continued until the last time when Jack had unexpectedly managed to get her out of there.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    Even she had no idea how that happened. She knew that the Blood Immortal saw something very terrifying when he tried to search Jack¡¯s memories. Jack used that thing to bargain their way out of there. However, she had no idea why Blood Immortal bowed his head like that but the good thing was that when Blood Immortal destroyed her cultivation, he also lost all control over her.


    She was now a free person and all of that was owed to the one person lying on the bed. Even she herself did not know when she developed feelings for Jack but over time, she had sprouted true feelings for him. Making this resolution to always stay by his side, she left.


    After she had left, the young man reached out his hand towards the Mask. However, before he could touch it, black flames scorched his hand. The young man looked at Jack with astonished gaze as he muttered, ¡°To think that HE would choose Jack.¡± The Medicine Hall Ancestor looked at the Island Master with an astonished gaze as he immediately asked, ¡°Are you alright sir?¡± The young man let out a chuckle as he said, ¡°Interesting. Let me see whether Jack will be able to achieve what you couldn¡¯t Abyssal Demon Emperor.¡±


    After saying so, he swept his hand out and Jack was gently lifted from the bed. The young man looked at the Medicine Hall Ancestor and said, ¡°If someone asks, I took him to the Island.¡±


    Seeing the serious look the Island Master now had, the Medicine Hall Ancestor simply nodded his head. The young man closed his eyes and he disappeared together with Jack.


    ***


    The last thing Jack could remember was giving Lust the instructions and after that he felt exceedingly sleepy. Although he knew that falling asleep was very dangerous, he could do nothing about it as his eyelids just seemed to close on their own.


    When he ¡°woke up¡±, he was inside an endless Hallway. On one side of the Hallway, were statues of Demons. Jack¡¯s eyes opened wide because from their familiar aura, he realized that these were the Demons he had been able to control. Every Demon had it¡¯s own statue but all these statues were grey and their aura was extremely weak as if they were hibernating. Moving his eyes to the other side of the Hallway, he realized that there was also a row of statues there.


    However, these statues were coloured and brimmed with aura. They seemed very lifelike but they did not move and inch. First came men with long pointy ears. They had slender bodies but for some reason their skin had a dark hue. They were all wearing light armour and all these men were armed with a crossbow and a long knife.


    After them came the same men, however, these ones were wearing green armour and were armed with a lance. What was most peculiar was that they were riding giant raptor like lizards. After these Lizard Rider¡¯s came half man, half bull like people.


    Their upper body was like a buff man¡¯s however, instead of feet they had sturdy hooves and the head of a bull. They wielded dual axes almost as big as Jack himself. Seeing these monstrosities, Jack felt extremely weak. He felt as though he couldn¡¯t even take one hit from these bull men. After seeing that, Jack¡¯s mind reeled as looked at the statues that came after them.


    He was surprised to see that instead of even buffer men, there were slender women with pointy ears standing there. They had long dark brown hair and were armed with just a whip but for some reason, Jack felt even more danger from them than he did from the bull men. Every statue looked so life like that it seemed as though they were just playing possum and when Jack would near, they would just jump forward.


    Jack tried to look froward to see what statues come after that but he couldn¡¯t. It wasn¡¯t that there weren¡¯t any statues but rather all these statues were extremely hazy and when he tried to look at them to see whether he could distinguish something, he felt his head hurt.


    As he ignored the headache and tried to discern some features, an ancient voice echoed out, ¡°Don¡¯t try to bite off more than you can chew little boy.¡± Hearing this voice, Jack was startled as he immediately jumped back. He looked deeper into the Hallway, the place where the voice originated from. However, he could not see anyone there. The voice spoke out again, ¡°Little one, come to the end of the Hall of Troops.¡± Hearing this, Jack looked around cautiously but seeing no exit what so ever, he decided to follow the voices orders.


    As he walked towards the end of the Hall of Troops, he sneaked a peak or two from the statues but every time, the outcome was the same. He couldn¡¯t see them and he immediately got a headache. The further along he went, the more severe the headache got. When he finally reached the end of the Hallway, he saw a throne.


    On the throne a weak old man wearing a long black gown stared back at him. On the man¡¯s face was a Mask identical to the one that was on the side of his own head. On the head of the old man was a simple black crown adorned with rubies. For some reason, Jack was mesmerized by the crown and the more he looked at it, the more he discovered that on the crown, there were pictures describing a man leading an army of Demons. On the other side of the crown, the army that was following the man were actually the slender men with long pointy ears.


    Jack was pulled out from his concentration by the old man¡¯s words, ¡°I created the Mask countless years ago. My flesh has already ceased to exist and my Soul has already reincarnated countless times but I am still here.¡±


    Jack focused on the old man¡¯s words but he felt even more confused from the explanation. Seeing this, the old man let out a chuckle as he said, ¡°What you see right now is northing more than a Memory Fragment that I left inside the Mask to guide my Heir.¡± Hearing the explanation, Jack asked in suspicion, ¡°Heir?¡±


    The old man nodded his head and said, ¡°I am Raelag. I started out as a Demon Lord but over the course of time, I became the Leader of Shadowbrand Clan. Eons have passed and I have died, so the person who will inherit all of my techniques and troops will be you, my Heir.¡±

 Chapter 11: The Mask [Part 2]A

    Jack looked at Raelag with a shocked face. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he calmed himself down. When he opened his eyes again, there was no turmoil in them any more. Jack asked in a clear voice, ¡°Those Demon¡¯s I could summon before were your Troops?¡±


    Raelag was a bit taken a back from the sudden change of personality but he just smiled and then nodded his head as he said, ¡°They were part of my most loyal troops that willingly infused their body and Soul into the Mask. I came from a Cosmos where Immortals did not exist at after all.¡± Hearing this, Jack¡¯s eyes opened wide as he asked in astonishment, ¡°There are other Cosmoses out there?¡±


    Raelag nodded his head again and swept out his hand. After that, a chair materialized next to Jack and Raelag pointed at it, ¡°Take a seat, this will take long time to explain.¡± Hearing Raelag say that, Jack looked at the chair before decisively taking a seat and waiting for Raelag¡¯s explanation. Seeing Jack take a seat, Raelag started his explanation, ¡°Our entire Plane is a multilayered one. For example, a Cosmos is compromised of countless Lower Realms, Upper Realms and the Ascended Realm.¡±


    He took a breath as a simple diagram of 6 little globes appeared. On the most bottom line were the three ¡°Lower Realms¡±, then came two ¡°Upper Realms¡± and then one globe of light stood at the top as the ¡°Ascended Realm¡±. Seeing Jack seriously listening to him, Raelag continued, ¡°The Cosmoses are divided the same, Lower Cosmoses, Upper Cosmoses and the Heaven Cosmoses.¡±


    After saying that, a translucent ball of light enveloped the ¡°Cosmos¡±. Then it multiplied to make the same kind of a module as before. The only difference was that inside each of the translucent orbs were six white orbs building a pyramid.


    Raelag then said, ¡°However, the Rankings of Cosmoses aren¡¯t fixed like a Realms are. When a Cosmos produces someone that surpasses the Origin Realm and enters the Dao Seeking Realm, the Cosmos is classified as an Upper Cosmos.¡± Jack nodded his head indicating that he understood this far. Seeing that Raelag didn¡¯t dwell on it for long and continued with his explanation, ¡°The differences in strength between Cosmoses are all very vast. Some Cosmoses have over a million Origin Realm practitioners but not a single Dao Seeking Realm one. Some Cosmoses have only about a hundred Origin Realm practitioners but they have produced a Dao Seeking practitioner as well. You should know very well that unless the person is a peerless genius, there is no way someone under a Third Tribulation can fight an Origin Realm practitioner.¡±


    Raelag then thought of something and just sighed, ¡°Well, that is usually the case but still cultivation paths play a huge difference in strength. A Cultivator that has thoroughly tempered himself in both body and Soul is far stronger than someone that used external help to reach where he did. There kinds of nuances play a big role as well.¡± Raelag the cleared out one point, ¡°The people that rely on external help too much will only be able to reach the Origin Realm. They will never be able to reach the Dao Seeking Realm. No one knows why but no one that has relied on a Clan¡¯s or Sect¡¯s help has ever reached higher than Origin Realm.¡±


    Jack nodded his head as he understood the deeper meaning behind this, one had to fight against the Heavens themselves, not rely on ¡°shields¡±. The smoother one¡¯s road is in the beginning, the harder it is to advance in the later stages of cultivation. That is also why Dragon Cross has a strict contribution point system. It is to prevent those with a higher position paving a smooth way for their descendants. If they suffered no hardships or never worked for anything, how can they progress in cultivation? Cultivation required hard work.


    Raelag then continued, ¡°The Heaven Cosmoses are actually the most interesting ones. Only Cosmoses that are ruled by a Heaven Realm cultivator are classified as Heaven Cosmoses.¡± Hearing the subtle difference, Jack immediately asked, ¡°Ruled?¡±


    Raelag nodded his head and said, ¡°Every Heaven Cosmos must be unified under single rule. Whether it be a Clan or a Sect, if they have a Heaven Realm practitioner to be promoted to a Heaven Cosmos they must unify their Cosmos under their own rule.¡± Jack immediately asked, ¡°Why is that?¡± Raelag explained patiently, ¡°Each of the Heaven Realm practitioners have surpassed the limitations of Heavens Rules. If they can¡¯t even unify a single Cosmos under their rule, how can they get the benefits of a Heaven Cosmos?¡±


    Jack asked in surprise, ¡°There are benefits?¡± Raelag let out a chuckle as he said, ¡°Hehe yes. You see, every Cosmos may have different Heavenly Rules but they all follow the Dictate of Heavens. The Dictate of Heavens is what rules over all the Cosmoses with an iron clad fist. Even Heaven Realm practitioners can¡¯t escape the Dictate.¡± Jack nodded his head slowly, although he didn¡¯t understand it completely, he could understand the general theory behind it.


    Raelag saw that he had gone too in detail and it was a bit hard for Jack to fully understand everything, so he decided to change the subject, ¡°I came from the Ashan Cosmos. In that Cosmos, there were no cultivators. Cultivation is strictly forbidden by the Heavens, so no Qi exists there but in return, we had something called Mana.¡±This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    Raelag took a deep breath before he continued, ¡°Only those that could understand the Essence of Mana could escape the limitations of mortality and reach a similar level as cultivators. I managed to fully comprehend the Essence of Mana and using that understanding, I created the Mask. I already explained what the Troops were, my most loyal subordinates that willingly fused their body and Soul into the mask to forever become my fighting force. After creating the Mask, I started roaming around the Cosmoses, I made a lot of friends but at the same time, I made a lot of enemies as well.¡±


    The old man then lowered his head as he slowly shook it and said, ¡°In the end, even I wasn¡¯t able to escape death and so that my Legacy along with my Troops won¡¯t fade away, I created this Memory Fragment to choose a suitable Heir for myself and pass onto him all of Arts, Spells, Troops and of course possessions.¡±


    Hearing this Jack¡¯s eyes widened in surprise. For the old man to know this much of other lay out of the Plane, it showed that he had possessed extraordinary strength. For someone like that to be killed, what kind of a person could accomplish that? Seeing Jack¡¯s wondering face, Raelag chuckled again, ¡°In my prime I was at the peak of Dao Seeking Realm.¡± Raelag then looked up and said in a melancholic voice, ¡°I was only a breath away from reaching the Heaven Realm.¡± After saying that, silence ensued.


    Finally, Jack decided to break the silence by asking, ¡°You said that there were benefits for higher Cosmoses?¡± Raelag looked at Jack and then said in an amused tone, ¡°Yes there are but currently for you, it is too far away. When the time comes, you will naturally be able to learn of the benefits.¡± Jack opened his mouth to say something but Raelag didn¡¯t let him ask but instead quickly added, ¡°Your own Sect Leader is a Peak Dao Seeking Realm practitioner. Only one of the 5 Dao Seeking practitioners of this Cosmos. What is most interesting is that the other four Dao Seeking practitioners are by no means weaker than him in combat or age but they willingly follow him.¡± After saying that, Raelag shut his mouth. Jack¡¯s mouth however was agape.


    He had met the Sect Leader before but he could never have thought that he was someone that surpassed the Origin Realm. Also, there were 4 other people that had surpassed the Origin Realm and they all willingly followed him. As Jack thought this far, he suddenly had a thought. His face changed and as an answer to his guesses Raelag nodded his head and said, ¡°It seems that you have figured out the other four Dao Seeking practitioners. They are the Four Hall Ancestors.¡±


    Now Jack truly felt his mind numb from the realization. This actually meant that Dragon Cross was qualified to actually try and unify the Cosmos. He knew how big of a perfectionist the Sect Leader was so there was no way of thinking that Dragon Cross laced any sort of qualification to do so. Even now, many Sect¡¯s and Clans slowly expand and fight each other with the sole purpose of unifying the Cosmos but there seemed to be some kind of a reason for the Sect Leader not to unify it.


    With five Dao Seeking Experts in Dragon Cross, who actually possessed the qualifications to stand in Dragon Cross¡¯s way? However, these questions stayed in Jack¡¯s head as he understood one point very well from his personal experiences: There is a reason for everything. Jack sighed as he asked, ¡°This is all well and good but where do I come in all of this? The supposed ¡°Heir¡±?¡±


    Raelag nodded his head as he said, ¡°Yes, you are the person qualified to receive my Legacy.¡± Jack had seen this coming but hearing it said to him so bluntly, he still sucked in a deep breath. Raelag then explained further, ¡°Over the years, countless people have possessed the Mask and tried to unlock it¡¯s secrets but they did not meet the qualifications to do so.¡±


    Jack perked his ears as he asked, ¡°What are the qualifications?¡± Raelag let out a chuckle as he looked to the end of the Hall of Troops and said, ¡°I have said it before that the Troops willingly surrendered their body and Soul to the Mask. That means that they still hold their own ¡°sentience¡±.¡± Hearing this, Jack had a guess as he immediately asked, ¡°So the qualification is to earn the approval of the Demons and those pointy eared people?¡± Raelag nodded his head as he said, ¡°Yes, you have to be deemed worthy by the Demons and Dark Elves. To earn a Demon¡¯s approval is easy, you just need to be ruthless. However, to earn the Dark Elves approval is many times harder.¡±


    As Raelag shook his head he explained, ¡°Once a cultivator earned the approval of Demons and he showed his might in a myriad of Cosmoses and earned the title of ¡°Abyssal Demon Emperor¡±. However, until the end, he did not earn the approval of Dark Elves, so he could never accept my Legacy.¡±


    Hearing this Jack suddenly had a thought as he asked, ¡°Was the Abyssal Demon Emperor really well known?¡± Raelag nodded his head and said, ¡°He wrecked havoc in hundreds of different Cosmoses so his infamy was well known.¡± Jack pressed on even more and asked, ¡°Did you have something to do with the Blood Immortal?¡± Raelag immediately understood what Jack meant and said cheekily, ¡°Well, I just had one of my strongest Devils just give him a little scare, that is all.¡± Everything fell into place for Jack.


    So it had been Raelag that had prevented the Blood Immortal from searching his memories. Seeing the Devil inside Jack, had reminded Blood Immortal of Abyssal Demon Emperor. That also explained why the Blood Immortal suddenly had such a reversal of personality every time Jack touched the Mask. He was afraid that Jack would go a rampage like the Abyssal Demon Emperor had back when he was alive.


    Jack let out a hollow laugh as he stood up and cupped his hands towards the old man, ¡°I, Fang Jack thank you for your assistance. If you hadn¡¯t helped me out, I would have probably died back then.¡±


    Hearing this, Raelag just let out a merry laugh as he said, ¡°Well, it was obvious I helped you out. Over the countless years, you are the first person that has obtained the approval of both the Dark Elves and the Demons.¡±

 Chapter 12: The Mask [Part 3]

    Jack was stunned. He asked, ¡°I have obtained the approval of Dark Elves as well?¡± Raelag nodded his head and explained, ¡°The Dark Elves are actually a mutated version of the Elves. They had been tainted by Dark Magic so they were rejected by their Elven brethren.¡±


    Raelag let out a sigh as he said, ¡°Elves felt as though the Dark Elves were an abomination and even tried to exterminate them, so when the Dark Elves banded together, they had a very strong sense of brotherhood.¡±


    A gleam of light was visible in his eyes, beneath the Mask as he said, ¡°To earn the Dark Elves approval you need to be willing to lay down your life for your comrades, much like you did when you saved the three Squads from certain death.¡± Jack let out a bitter laugh as he thought to himself, ¡°No wonder that no one was able to obtain the Legacy. Most people that get the approval of the Demons don¡¯t have the character to earn the Dark Elves approval. However, the opposite is also true¡­.¡±


    As Jack mused that to himself, Raelag rose up from his throne and said, ¡°I have now told you about my origins and about the Plane. It is time for your Soul to be baptised and inherit my Legacy.¡± Jack immediately froze and asked, ¡°Wait, what?¡± Raelag just repeated his words, ¡°Your Soul needs to be baptised to receive my Legacy. With a Cultivator Soul you will never be able to use my Legacy. So your Soul needs to be baptised to become a Magus Soul.¡± Hearing this, Jack felt awkward as he asked, ¡°Magus Soul?¡±


    Raelag froze and suddenly slapped his forehead and said, ¡°Of course, I keep forgetting that you have only lived for 15 years¡­.¡± He then turned around and sat back down again as he started explaining, ¡°Although every Soul is unique, they have their own classifications like Cultivator Soul, Magus Soul, Demon Soul etc.¡±


    He took a breath and continued, ¡°Although, they have no obvious differences, the differences lie in the progress of advancing in power. For example, it is very hard for a person with a Cultivator Soul to train as a Magus or a Demon.¡± Saying so, he let it sink in to Jack for a second and then continued, ¡°The baptising you need to pass it to change your Soul from a Cultivator Soul to a Magus Soul, so you can train in my Flame Angel Art. It is an Art that belongs to the Magus Path of Cultivating.¡±


    Jack seriously nodded his head understanding what Raelag was saying. He then asked, ¡°Is it completely impossible for example someone with a Cultivator Soul to train in Magus Path of Cultivating or vice versa?¡± Raelag shook his head as he said, ¡°No it isn¡¯t completely impossible but you would just progress very slowly. You would probably die from old age before you reached a sufficient enough level.¡±


    Jack asked in return, ¡°What are the main differences between Mages and Cultivators?¡± Raelag¡¯s eyes flashed as he said, ¡°Good question. You see, a Cultivator gathers Qi inside himself and builds his cultivation off of that. He absorbs Qi, tempers the body and so progress happens. However, Mages are different, instead of taking the Mana in they learn to better tap into the Mana in the surroundings. They too gather it and temper their body but they do not build their progress on that.¡±


    Jack tilted his head in confusion as felt extremely confused. Raelag. Seeing that, decided to simplify it by giving an example. He said, ¡°It can be best explained by bringing the difference between Alchemist Cauldron and Artificers Furnace as examples.¡±


    He took a breath as he started, ¡°An Alchemist creates his own Flame that refines the Pills inside the Cauldron. So technically, the source of fuel is himself. If he runs out of Qi before the refining is done, the refining is failed. Understand?¡±


    Jack slowly nodded his head as he understood this example, ¡°However, and Artificer¡¯s Furnace is powered by Earth Fire, so an Artificer expends less Qi by only controlling the amount of heat that power¡¯s the Furnace instead of creating the fire source himself.¡± Raelag explained the other part.


    Raelag then concluded by saying, ¡°The difference between a Mage and a Cultivator is the same. Cultivator¡¯s are like Alchemist¡¯s as all of their Techniques are powered by the Qi they have themselves. Mages are like Artificers, they use small amounts of Mana or Qi to make use of the outside source of power.¡±


    Having it explained like that Jack showed astonishment on his face as he realized that Mages are practically meant for extended battles. Their Qi or Mana usage is dozens of times smaller than a Cultivators so the longer a battle continues, the higher a Mages chances of winning grow by the second. However, also it was true that Cultivators were stronger in a short fight. This was what made Jack very hesitant, both sides had their good sides but at the same time, they had their downsides.


    Suddenly Jack asked, ¡°Can your Art be practised in our Cosmos, there is no Mana here, no?¡± Raelag just chuckled as he said, ¡°Mana, Qi, Essence, Battle Qi¡­. All of them are the same form of Energy just by a different name.¡± Hearing this Jack asked immediately, ¡°They are the same?¡±


    Raelag once again nodded his head and said, ¡°Actually, everything is made up of Primordial Energy but there are different names for this Energy in each Cosmos. This is also why people can actually travel to another Cosmos as a powerhouse and still be a powerhouse there. Otherwise, as long as you exhausted the other person¡¯s Energy, what threat would he be?¡± Hearing this, Jack gave an awkward smile.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    However, now he was a bit confused as he asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that Qi was forbidden in your Cosmos?¡± Raelag then chuckled as he answered, ¡°Yes I did. The path of Qi Cultivating was and still is forbidden in Ashan Cosmos. Instead people use Mana. You will be able to feel the difference after you accept my Legacy.¡±


    He then shook his head slightly as he sighed, ¡°It is hard to explain the differences but the end goal is the same, just the path taken there is different.¡± Hearing the final sentence, Jack decided to hold all the questions for now. It is obvious it is hard to explain something like this and it is actually even harder for Jack to understand it.


    It was only thanks to Raelag travelling a lot and studying cultivation as well that he was able to explain the differences as good as he could. Jack however, had no idea of Magic, so it was very hard for him to understand it. It was the same as one person described a certain location to another. The person who had the location explained to will only be able to have a vague understanding of the place but since he hasn¡¯t seen it for himself, he wouldn¡¯t be able to picture it like the person who has.


    Seeing that Jack did not ask any more questions, Raelag stood up again and gestured for Jack to follow him. This time, Jack also stood up and followed Raelag into a side room. Inside the dimly lit room was only a giant complicated Formation Circle. Seeing this Jack studied the complicated Formation on the ground with interest. However, to his astonishment, he couldn¡¯t understand much of it as it seemed familiar to Formations used by cultivators but it was completely incomprehensible to him. Raelag chuckled, ¡°Don¡¯t be so impatient. You probably won¡¯t be able to understand anything of the Magic Circle on the ground.¡±


    Hearing Raelags words, Jack¡¯s ears perked up as he asked him, ¡°Magic Circle?¡± Raelag nodded his head as he said in a serious tone, ¡°This is a Magic Circle. It looks similar to a Formation Diagram but the basic principles it works on are actually completely different from the ones used by Formations.¡±


    After listening to Raelags explanation, Jack glanced at the Magic Circle again as he muttered to himself, ¡°Looks similar but is completely different, huh? So it truly is Baptising through Fire¡­.¡± Hearing the words ¡°Baptising through Fire¡± Raelag looked at Jack like he was a monster. He had not mentioned that this was a Baptising Circle, for all Jack knew, it could be a Teleportation Circle. He had also not mentioned anything about it being Fire Based. For Jack to understand this even though he had no prior knowledge of Magic Circles left Raelag completely shocked.


    He thought to himself, ¡°What kind of perception is that?!¡± As his mind reeled, he suddenly heard Jack ask, ¡°Do I just stand at the centre or something?¡± Luckily, Raelag was wearing the Mask, so Jack could not see Raelags expressions.


    Raelag immediately answered him in a cool tone, ¡°Yes, go and stand inside the pentagon area. It is the place made by the lines that connect to the pentagrams corners.¡± Jack looked at the Magic Circle on the ground and quickly found the pentagon area that Raelag was talking about and stood in the middle of it.


    He glanced around and saw nothing else in the room so he looked at Raelag and asked, ¡°Here is good?¡± Raelag nodded his head and said, ¡°Yes, it is good. You might want to sit down because this is going to hurt a lot. ¡°Hearing that, Jack¡¯s eyes showed panic as he quickly asked, ¡°Hurt a lot?!¡±


    Raelag crouched down and put his hands on the circle that ran through the five points of the pentagram and explained, ¡°I am going to change your Soul on the fundamental level, so yes, it is going to hurt.¡± Jack felt cold sweat form on his forehead as he thought to himself, ¡°What did I get myself messed up in¡­.¡±


    However, it was already too late for regrets because he himself knew the best that his road as a cultivator was gone now. His dantian had been completely and utterly destroyed so no matter which miracle Pill he consumed, it would not help him. He also could understand that Raelag knew that as well, that was why he had come forth now instead of before.


    If he had come out and told him everything before, when he was still a cultivator, he would have rejected this Legacy without a doubt. However, currently he had no other choice if he wanted to one day find his way back home and find out who he exactly was.


    After clearing his mind, he took a deep breath, sat down cross legged and closed his eyes. Seeing this, Raelag took a deep breath as well and the circle started lighting up. In a few moments, Jack was completely consumed by the light of the Circle.


    ***


    Inside a little courtyard on the Floating Dragon, a pair of young women were currently chatting. One of them was Sandra and the other seemed that she was not older by a lot, maybe a year or two. Her hair were snow white, her build was slender and her face was also quite beautiful. If she did not have vertical golden eyes like a tiger¡¯s, she would look like any other person actually.


    Sandra seemed to respectfully listen to her lecture and when the lecture had ended, the oyugn woman asked, ¡°Did you understand? If you have any questions, ask them now.¡± Sandra thought about it for a second and then shook her head.


    Seeing this, the young woman nodded her head happily and said, ¡°Then, from now on I take you on as my Disciple. Here are the things you need.¡± As she said that, she passed a Spacial Ring to Sandra. Inside it were her Identity Tile, Cultivation Art, a few pills and an introduction to Weapon Arts.


    The young woman then said, ¡°For now, familiarize yourself with the Cultivation Art and also the Encyclopedia of Weapons that work best with the Art. Once you find a suitable Weapon for yourself as well or you encounter some trouble, come and find me.¡±


    Sandra respectfully nodded her head as she said, ¡°Yes, Master!¡±

 Chapter 13: Fire Spirit [Part 1]

    After Sandra left her Master¡¯s courtyard, she went to the new courtyard assigned for her. It was also assigned on the Floating Dragon, like her Master¡¯s. Her Master was a part of the Dao Reserve, so for conveniences sake, they were allowed to have their Disciples stay on Floating Dragon.


    However, so that some people would not start abusing this and accept their whole Clan as Disciples, they were only allowed to have one Disciple at a time. The Disciples would leave their immediate tutelage after they died or advanced to the Origin Realm.


    When the Disciple advances to the Origin Realm it doesn¡¯t mean that the master-apprentice relationship will be annulled but rather that the Disciple has learned everything they could from the Master and are now also considered to be a part of the Dao Reserve.


    Sandra looked around at the courtyard and saw that it was quite plainly decorated. She had a small house that held the storage room, cultivating area and a place to receive guests. Besides that there was a small backyard that had a pond and a tree.


    Unless she died, this courtyard will forever remain hers, even after she advances to the Origin Realm. She was allowed to change the lay out of the courtyard and decorate it as she wanted.


    After familiarizing herself with her courtyard, she locked her courtyard down, so that other people wouldn¡¯t be able to disturb her.


    This feature was on all of the courtyard on Floating Dragon. Sometimes Origin Realm experts spent decades if not centuries in secluded meditation and as not to disturb them, there was a rule that when a courtyard had the Formations activated, the courtyard was not to be intentionally disturbed. Sect wide emergencies were an exception of course.


    Sandra entered the house and went into the storage room to take a full inventory of the things that her Master had given her as a gift for becoming her Disciple. When she opened the Storage Area, she was very surprised to discover that there were myriads of different body tempering or Qi purifying Pills. There were also many Arts on tempering the body.


    As Sandra looked at it wide eyed, she heard a voice from behind her, ¡°Don¡¯t look so surprised, your contributions in helping us find Blood Immortal Conclaves Headquarters were enormous. These few things, we have mountain loads of them.¡±


    Sandra immediately turned her head towards the voice and saw a young man dressed in a black shirt, pants and a vest hoodie standing at the doorway. Sandra immediately cupped her hands and said, ¡°Island Master.¡± Zhi let out a smile and said, ¡°No need to be so courteous. You are my wife¡¯s apprentice after all, so we can be considered as family.¡±


    Hearing that, Sandra timidly raised her head. It was true that Masters and Disciples relationship was the same as parent and child¡¯s. Sandra could now be considered as Zhi¡¯s family but she couldn¡¯t be discourteous none the less. She bit her lip and asked, ¡°Is Jack fine?¡± ¡°Honestly, I have no idea.¡± Zhi immediately answered with a serious tone.


    Sandra looked at him with wide eyes and seeing that Zhi gestured for her to sit down, she followed his advice. After Sandra had sat down, Zhi gave a summary of Jack¡¯s situation, ¡°Currently, Jack is accepting the Legacy of a very strong person. If he succeeds his path will be completely different from a cultivators, if he fails¡­. At best, his Soul will be severely damaged, any worse than that will result in his Soul shattering.¡±


    Sandra¡¯s mind blanked and she stared into the distance with glazed eyes. Seeing this, Zhi let out a sigh as he thought to himself, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter how, Jack has become her pillar of support. When something happens to Jack, I fear that her mind won¡¯t be able to take it¡­.¡± As Zhi sighed to himself, he suddenly felt a gold gaze on himself. He hurriedly looked and saw that it was Sandra.


    However, instead of the usual warm and gentle eyes, she currently had cold and desolate ones. Zhi¡¯s eyes narrowed as he asked, ¡°Is it Lust?¡±


    Lust nodded her head and asked coldly, ¡°What is that suicidal idiot doing this time?¡± Hearing the complete reversal in attitude, made Zhi want to chuckle but he suppressed that desire and said, ¡°He is currently accepting the Legacy of someone that doesn¡¯t belong to our Cosmos. His path doesn¡¯t follow our Rules and doesn¡¯t exist here, so it will be very difficult to say that whether he will succeed or not.¡±


    Lust¡¯s eyes excluded coldness as she asked, ¡°Why is he doing that?¡± Zhi thought back to Jack¡¯s condition and then sighed very deeply and also regretfully. He took a seat opposite of Lust and said, ¡°His and your situation is different. Your cultivation was destroyed but his dantian was destroyed. It may seem as the same thing but is very different.¡±


    He took a breath as he continued explaining, ¡°Your dantian was only pierced, leaving a small hole from which your cultivation leaked out and was thus destroyed. Using Pills, we can fix that hole and you can practise cultivation again. However, his dantain was completely and utterly destroyed.¡± Zhi stopped his explanation after reaching the end.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Lust thought about it for a second and then asked, ¡°Is it not possible to rebuild a dantian?¡± Zhi shook his head and said, ¡°We don¡¯t have a Pill or method to do so. Outside our Cosmos there may be a way to rebuild a dantian from scratch but we do not possess such a method.¡±


    After saying it like that, Lust finally sighed as well. A trace of gentleness flashed in her eyes as she said, ¡°So the caring always end up with the short end of the stick huh?¡± Understanding the meaning behind Lust¡¯s words, Zhi also nodded as he said, ¡°Yes¡­. The kind always end up with the short end of the stick.¡±


    Zhi opened his mouth again to say something else but he suddenly felt an extremely strong ripple of Fire Energy. He immediately stood up and turned his head towards his courtyard, the origin of the ripple. A smile crept onto his face as he murmured to himself, ¡°That little son of a¡­. He managed to succeed.¡± Without explaining anything more, he suddenly disappeared from the room.


    When Zhi reappeared, he was in the air overlooking his courtyard. He wasn¡¯t the first one to arrive at the scene, the entire Dragon Cross City could feel the extremely strong wave of energy so everyone from the Origin Realm and up was now standing outside Zhi¡¯s courtyard.


    Seeing Zhi arrive, Tiger turned to him and asked, ¡°Master, what is going on?¡± Zhi stared at courtyard and hearing Tiger¡¯s question, he suddenly had a change of expression as he yelled, ¡°Lock down the Island!¡± This startled everyone present but half a beat later, lights started flashing over the Island as Defensive Formation was formed.


    Seeing this, Zhi shouted out another string of orders that echoed out over the entire Island, ¡°Any Disciple that leaves his personal courtyard will be killed on the spot, no exceptions!¡± He then turned his head towards the Dao Reserve and said, ¡°Form a Perimeter, no one is allowed half a step on the Island!¡± All these orders came out in one breath, so everyone from the Dao Reserve was stunned.


    However, they had followed Zhi for a long time so they understood that for him to personally take command like this meant that the situation was quite special. In only a few breaths worth of time later, the entire Island was locked down and the entire Dao Reserve that was currently at Dragon Cross City was forming a defensive perimeter around the Island.


    As they excluded their Origin Energy, they blocked out every Qi Sense or technique that tried to pry into the Island. The fluctuations of Fire Energy that came from inside the courtyard grew even more violent and it seemed as though all Fire Energy in the air was gathering at the courtyard.


    If one inspected more closely, they would be able to see that all of the gathering Fire Energy was absorbed by the Mask on Jack¡¯s head.


    ***


    The previous dimly lit room was now full of light flames. What was an interesting sight so see was that all of the flames were contained inside the Magic Circle on the ground with not even as much as a spark or ember leaking out. The raging inferno that was inside the Magic Circle had a cross legged figure silently sitting in the centre of it. The person that was sitting in the middle was Jack and he currently looked as if he had been made of fire.


    Outside the Magic Circle, Raelag that was still powering the Formation, was looking a lot more transparent. It was obvious that this required a lot of power from him and since he was only a Memory Fragment, he had limited amount of Energy. He could not replenish it on his own and if things went on like this, he would soon run out of Energy and cease to exist.


    His mind was completely numb as he looked at the figure inside the Magic Circle with an agape jaw. He would not have expected in even his wildest dreams that things would come to this. Even he had no idea what the hell was going on but Jack was like a sponge that kept absorbing the Fire Energy.


    When the Magic Formation was first activated, Jack had only furrowed his brows and following Raelags directions, he started absorbing the Fire Energy that was building up inside the Magic Formation. However, as time went on, Jack absorbed the Energy at an increasingly alarming rate, so Raelag started attracting more and more Fire Energy from the outside to feed Jack. Even in this state, Jack did not even as much let out a grunt as he kept absorbing the Fire Energy.


    If it weren¡¯t for the fact that Raelag could feel the subtle changes happening to Jack¡¯s Soul, he would not even believe that Jack was there at all. In the beginning, he had thought that he would be able to stay behind and guide Jack after the transformation of the Soul but if things kept advancing at this rate, he would not even be able to complete the full transformation before he ran out of Energy.


    Raelag thought about what he could do, his eyes flashed as he seemed to make up his mind. Suddenly, he let out a deep breath as five little red crystals appeared next to him. Raelag looked at these Crystals wit ha tinge of regret but soon he grit his teeth and the five crystals flew to the five corners of the pentagram.


    As the crystals floated there, they started excluding extremely potent Fire Energy. With the addition of the extremely pure and potent Fire Energy from the crystals, the purity of all the Fire Energy inside the Magic Formation increased several fold. However, seeing Jack only slow down the absorption for few moments before it increased even more than before. Seeing this, Raelag couldn¡¯t hold it in any more and subconsciously yelled at Jack, ¡°You little son of a bitch! ARE YOU FUCKING MADE OF FIRE?!¡±


    Jack however did not pay any heed to the yell as though he hadn¡¯t heard it at all. In reality, he didn¡¯t because he was currently absorbed in his own little world. When the Magic Formation was started, he felt a tinge of heat in the beginning but after he started following Raelags directions, he started feeling warm inside.


    He could feel his Soul change on a fundamental level however it wasn¡¯t painful at all. To him, it was actually comfortable as if something that was sleeping inside him for a long time was slowly awakening.


    The more potent the Fire Energy was, the more comfortable he felt. He felt as though he had returned to his natural habitat.

 Chapter 14: Fire Spirit [Part 2]

    A Jack indulged himself in the feeling of comfort, his Soul was changing more and more. All the Fire Energy that was raging inside the Magic Formation seemed extremely dangerous from the outside but inside the Formation itself, it wasn¡¯t as it seemed. The closer to the centre of the Formation one was, the more potent but at the same time more docile the Energy was.


    The purpose of the Formation was to change the Soul by imbuing it with Energy and slowly infusing the two, it¡¯s purpose was not to reduce a Soul to ashes. However, the sheer amount of potent Fire Energy that was inside Formation was completely dependent on the Soul of the target.


    If the target had a weak Soul, the process of transformation would be an extremely slow one but at the same time, the stronger one¡¯s Soul was, the harder it was to change it on a fundamental level. This kind of a paradox was what made this Formation dangerous.


    If one did not have any affinity with the main element of Formation but had a very strong Soul, he could raise his affinity with the element through tempering his Soul with the potent Energy. However, if the persons Soul is weak and has no affinity with the element, it is very likely that the Soul will be shattered if the person controlling the Formation can¡¯t stop it in time.


    Raelag had been very afraid that Jack had a weak affinity with the Fire Element or that his Soul would be weak, so in the beginning he was ready to stop the Formation without a second thought the very moment a problem occurred. However, now he saw that Jack was absorbing the purest and most potent Fire Energy like a person that met the most luxurious feast after weeks of starving.


    Jack¡¯s demand for the Energy had already far outstripped what Raelag could provide on his own, so he used the Mask as a medium and started drawing in vast amounts of Fire Energy from the outside, thinking that it would be enough for Jack to complete his Soul Transformation.


    However, to his horror, it seemed to have a reverse effect, so he had no other choice that to bring out the five crystals. Those crystals were the Cores of Origin Realm Fire Dragons that had been born from the Primadorial Mist.


    The Fire Energy inside those Cores was something that even Raelag in his prime would absorb carefully. However, Jack seemed not even give a damn and the ferocity of the Flames from the Cores was very docile when it approached Jack. This made Raelag even more flabbergasted because he had absorbed the Fire Energy from the Cores before, so he knew very well how berserk that Energy was. So when he saw how docile the berserk Energy became when it came in contact with Jack made him completely give up on trying to understand Jack. ¡°Only about ten percent of Energy left¡­. At this rate, it is going to be close.¡±


    As Raelag thought that to himself, his body had become even more translucent and it seemed as though it would fade away any moment now. Jack¡¯s transformation was also nearly complete as he seemed to be made of fire. Soon, all the Fire Energy was absorbed into Jacks body in one breath and Jack¡¯s body started turning red. Seeing this, Raelag held his breath as he took his hands from the Formation.


    The Formation¡¯s job was done as all of the Fire Energy needed was gathered and Jack¡¯s Soul had been transformed into a Fire Mage Soul. Now all that was left was to take all the left over Fire Energy and condense it into a Crystal Core. If Jack did not do this, then his body won¡¯t be physically able to bear the Soul. Currently, his Soul was inside the Mask, so his body wasn¡¯t in harms way but if his extremely strong and potent Fire Soul returned to his body as it was, his body won¡¯t be handle it and his body would burn to ashes.


    Cultivators source of power was their dantian, something that was in their body since birth. On their path of cultivating, they would first awaken the dantian, then build up their dantian. However, Mages were different, they did not have a dantian or a Core of any kind in their bodies since birth. They condensed their own Crystal Core from the Energy they absorbed, so the higher quality the Energy was, the higher the quality of the Crystal Core.


    The quality of the Core made all the difference because of time. Over time, you can improve the quality of your Crystal Core but you need to have good resources and time to slowly improve it over time. However, if your Core was already of high quality from the beginning, that meant that you had to spend less time on improving it¡¯s quality.


    Also, the higher the quality of the Core, the better one could feel the Energy in the air and his absorption rate was also higher. Although, no matter how bad of a Core a Mage started with, every single Mage had the possibility of becoming a Sage. However, the basis of that was that the person himself worked hard.


    The Fire Energy inside Jack¡¯s body suddenly started leaking out from his body and all of it gathered in front of Jack. Seeing this, Raelag¡¯s heart clenched as he held his breath. The most crucial step had now started: Formation of the Crystal Core. Although it didn¡¯t matter what Core a Mage condensed, the higher the quality of the Core, the better his starting point was. Raelag wasn¡¯t worried about the Core quality at the moment but rather whether Jack would succeed at all.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Jack had absorbed enormous amounts of pure, potent Fire Energy and the higher the quality of the Energy, the harder it was to infuse it together to form a Core. The Energy in front of Jack started infusing into a small red ball in front of him but as a bit of it infused together, the round ball started bulging. Seeing this, Raelag¡¯s face flickered as he thought to himself, ¡°Damn, he¡¯s failing!¡±


    As the thought entered his head, he suddenly closed his eyes as quickly crouched down and put his hands on the Magic Formation again. Suddenly, an Archaic Devil covered in black flames appeared behind Raelag. He wasn¡¯t the only one as a young woman with long pointy ears also appeared behind him. However, she did not look like the one Jack had seen in the Hall of Troops. She had long grey hair and her pupils were completely crimson red.


    As the two appeared behind Raelag, they put one had on Raelag¡¯s back and also closed their eyes. Raelag started materialized again as the two poured Energy into Raelag. However, he soon started turning translucent again as Raelag poured all of the Energy he received, plus his own, into the Magic Formation to aid Jack in forming his Crystal Core.


    Having received Raelag¡¯s aid, the little red ball of Energy in front of Jack stabilized and as more and more Energy poured into it, it soon started taking the shape of a crystal. The Crystal Core looked as if you took two pyramids and joined their bottom sides together with one pointy end at the top and the other at the bottom. When Raelag laid his eyes on the Crystal Core, he couldn¡¯t help but feel exited. The Crystal Core looked completely translucent red without a single impurity to ruin it.


    However, what made Raelag puzzled was that the Energy was still gathering at the Crystal, seeming like the Crystal Core was not complete yet. The Energy didn¡¯t become a part of the Crystal but rather entered it and becoming a small flickering flame. Seeing this, Raelag couldn¡¯t help but shout in joy, ¡°The Heavens have not abandoned me! For me to accidentally choose a Child of Fire as my successor, the Heaves truly favour the hard working.¡± The flame inside the Crystal Core grew stronger and stronger.


    Although it was still a small flame inside the Crystal it didn¡¯t look like a feeble flame that a gentle breeze would be able to extinguish. Now it excluded a strong and destructive feel. That was the Essence of Fire, Destruction. After the Flame had appeared inside the Crystal Core, the Energy Jack poured out started diminishing and soon it completely stopped.


    After Jack stopped pouring Energy, he slowly opened his eyes and looked at the Crystal Core in front of him. His eyes followed the movement of the Flame as if he was possessed. Seeing this, Raelag let out a sigh. He took a look at his nearly completely transparent arms and sighed, ¡°Seems like I won¡¯t be here for long.¡± He looked towards the two figures behind him and seeing them look at Jack in shock, he felt a bit better. ¡°At least these two will be able to guide him a bit.¡±


    He looked at Jack again and seeing him having come out of his trance and looking straight at Raelag, Raelag cleared his throat and said, ¡°That is your Crystal Core. Now all that is left is for you to infuse it with your body. Unless you do that, your body will not be able to withstand the might of your own Soul and would be reduced to ashes if you returned.¡±


    Hearing this, Jack looked at the Crystal Core with interest as he asked, ¡°How can I do that Master?¡± Jack had successfully inherited Raelag¡¯s Legacy so he was like a Master to him. Hearing the word Master, Raelag let out a bitter laugh as he said, ¡°I am not qualified to be your Master, so instead call me Raelag.¡± He took a breath and then waved his hand. As he did so, the Crystal Core in front of Jack disappeared after a moment, Jack felt comfortable warmth.


    What made him puzzled was that the warmth seemed to come from his body but he could feel that he was in Soul Form right now. After indulging himself in the warmth for a while, it slowly subsided. He looked at the nearly disappeared Raelag and asked respectfully, ¡°Why do you feel as though you are unqualified to be my Master?¡±


    Raelag¡¯s eyes were covered in a bitter light as he said, ¡°A Master is someone that offer¡¯s guidance to his Disciple and looks over them so that they don¡¯t go astray. However, I don¡¯t have much time left and will disappear on my own after half an hour, so I won¡¯t be able to fulfil the duties of Master towards his Disciple.¡±


    Hearing this, Jack was shocked. However, he quickly understood the reason behind Raelag not wanting to call him Master. Everyone had their own pride and for Raelag to be called Master without being able to provide any help or guidance hurt his pride. Raelag then said, ¡°I can¡¯t make you not see me as a Master in your heart if you want to but in the outside world, you are to address me as Raelag instead of Master. This will be my first and last order as your Master.¡±


    After Raelag had said that, Jack respectfully fell to his knees and kowtowed to him and said, ¡°No matter what, you gave me a new chance at life. For me you will always be my Master, no matter what others think.¡± Raelag¡¯s eyes flashed with emotion as he told Jack to get up.


    He then pointed his finger at Jack¡¯s forehead and said, ¡°I can¡¯t teach you much but I will be able to give you the method of fully controlling the Mask. You will be able to enter it and leave it as you please. You will also gain the knowledge of all the functions of the Mask. However, after I pass it all onto you, I will disappear, so I will say it now: May you have a long and peaceful life. Take care of yourself.¡±


    After saying that, he didn¡¯t wait for Jack¡¯s response as a white light shone from his finger and the knowledge was imparted into Jack¡¯s Soul. After the white light faded, Raelag gave Jack one last look as he removed his crown and put it on Jack¡¯s head. After completing this action, his body completely faded away.


    However, he wasn¡¯t sad, he looked at Jack with a tender gaze as he murmured in the last moment, ¡°The road ahead will be filled with thorns and pitfalls, only those that climb up a mountain of corpses are allowed to enter the Dao Seeking and beyond.¡±

 Chapter 15: Pioneer of the Path of Magic [Part 1]

    Jack closed his eyes as vast amounts of information entered his mind. He carefully and thoroughly went over all the information and categorized it all in his head. Going through all the information took him over an hour and when he was finally done, he looked over it one last time to make sure he didn¡¯t miss anything. After looking over everything again, he opened his eyes.


    What greeted him was the same room but Raelag was not present any more. Jack looked around and his gaze fell to the Devil and the Dark Elf. Seeing Jack look at them, both of them fell on one knee and put their right fist on their heart as they said respectfully, ¡°We pay our respect to the Emperor.¡± Jack gently nodded and let them stand up. Raelag had passed onto him the basic knowledge of the Mask and it¡¯s troops as well. He knew that the two in front of him were the ones that led the Dark Elves and Demon Factions.


    The Dark Elf was named Shadya and the Devil was named Veyer. These two were Raelag¡¯s most trusted Generals and they also dealt with the mundane things of their Factions. Jack walked in front of them and said respectfully, ¡°I thank you two for the assistance you have provided for me and for the assistance you will provide in the future.¡±


    Although the two were bound by the Mask and would have no choice in following him, he didn¡¯t want to be a tyrant that forced them. To him, they were his subordinates and as weird it may seem, Jack looked after his own people. That was also the reason he had obtained the approval of the Dark Elves in the first place.


    The two were actually quite afraid of Jack. They had followed Raelag for countless years and even when they infused themselves into the Mask, it was voluntary because he had earned their respect himself. However, even though they gave Jack their approval, they did not know him as well. What they were most afraid of was that the feeling of power would go to Jack¡¯s head.


    That fear was the same thing Raelag had and taking this fear into consideration, he had divided the Mask into three Layers. If Jack himself did not have sufficient strength, he couldn¡¯t summon the strongest troops. However, when Jack obtained Raelag¡¯s Legacy, he also obtained full control over the Mask, meaning that the restrictions were no longer in place for him.


    The two had seen the Crystal Core Jack had formed and were completely stupefied. The quality of that Core was extremely high and this showed that Jack¡¯s path in the future was truly limitless. Of course they were happy to follow a strong master but they both involuntarily remembered the Abyssal Demon Emperor. He had obtained the approval of Demons and since his personal level was high enough, he had access to the strongest of the troops. It was also them that were his main fighting force and also the reason he had the balls to rampage around Cosmoses.


    Jack however, did not know what the two were thinking and just said, ¡°You can go back to rest. I will first familiarize myself with my body and then look over the knowledge left behind by Raelag.¡± The two looked at each other in surprise as Shadya asked, ¡°You do not wish to see the troops first?¡±


    Jack tilted his head to the side and asked, ¡°Why would I want to see them first? They are not my own strength and unless it is something that I can¡¯t accomplish myself, I don¡¯t plan on forcing you to fight¡­.¡± As he said that, the two¡¯s fears were all dispelled. Although they could see what happened to Jack through the Mask, they did not know his thoughts. They had seen everything Jack had seen after he had picked up the Mask.


    They knew very well that Jack was not someone that went picking fights but rather he was someone that fights found themselves. Seeing their expressions, Jack got a general gist of their thoughts. They would have no choice but to follow his orders but that did not mean that they had to like the orders.


    Inside the information Jack received from Raelag, he also found a part that talked briefly about the Abyssal Demon Emperor. Raelag expressed great disdain towards him because he was an absolute arrogant madman and when he was finally killed, Raelag was even happy about it. However, Jack didn¡¯t care much for it because it didn¡¯t matter which Cosmos it was, personal strength was the most important.


    It doesn¡¯t matter how strong of an army you have, unless you yourself are strong enough, they can¡¯t protect you forever. The Abyssal Demon Emperor was the best example of this. Even though he could access the most elite troops of the Mask that could even fight a Dao Seeking expert, he himself was in the Origin Realm. Since he did as he pleased, he soon earned the wrath of a Heaven Realm powerhouse. He was killed before he could even summon his troops, so what use was the strongest army if you couldn¡¯t even use it? In the end, everything came down to personal strength.


    After he also explained his trail of thought to the two, Veyer let out a loud laugh as he said, ¡°I apologise for doubting you Emperor. My long seems to be wasted on me for having such a narrow mind.¡± Hearing that, Jack immediately answered, ¡°You can¡¯t be blamed for it as you don¡¯t know enough about me. However, stop with Emperor thing, call me Jack.¡± Shadya¡¯s face changed as she quickly said, ¡°But¡­.¡± Jack raised his hand to stop her from talking and said, ¡°No buts. I do not wish to be some kind of a Lord or play King. You aren¡¯t my slaves but my subordinates.¡±If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    After strictly saying so, the two could only look at each other in helplessness. It didn¡¯t matter what they called him, it didn¡¯t change the fact that they still had to follow his orders. Jack dismissed the two and slightly touched the crown that was now on his head.


    Jack¡¯s eyes flickered as he murmured, ¡°Crown of the Desolates, huh¡­..¡± This Crown itself was a very rare Soul Artefact. The method of creating Soul Artefacts was only known to the a very select few. That however, did not change the fact that a Soul Artefact was extremely strong. All he knew was the Crown¡¯s name and what it was but nothing detailed. All the knowledge Raelag had was stored inside the Crown, this meant that all the Spells, Magic Formations, understandings of Essence¡¯s, Arts and such, every single thing except from his memories was stored inside the Crown. The Crown itself was like a jade slip that recorded all the information for future use.


    However, storing information was not the Crown¡¯s only function, it was also a Spacial Storage Tool. Although Jack couldn¡¯t understand it clearly, it seemed like it worked on a different principle than a Spacial Ring. Jack decided not to mull on it for now because Raelag had also told him that he had taken vast amounts of Fire Energy from the outside.


    Doing this so suddenly will without a doubt create a lot of confusion, so it would be best for him to go and clear all the suspicions and alarms as fast as possible. Jack closed his eyes and focused his attention on communicating with the Mask according to the method Raelag had left behind for him. He suddenly felt a weird feeling and when the feeling disappeared, he opened his eyes again to find an unfamiliar burned roof.


    He sat up and took a glance around but could only smile awkwardly as only burned furniture and walls came to his vision. The Armour Set he had been wearing was nowhere to be seen. As his eyes scanned the room, he saw that a set of robes had been put next to him. Jack felt a little awkward being naked in an unfamiliar environment, so he quickly put the robes on. After putting the robes on, he exited the room through what seemed to have once been a door.


    As he reached outside, he was greeted by a grand spectacle of the five Ancestors meditating outside the courtyard and as he looked farther away, he saw that at the edge of the Island, there were thousands of little black dots forming a perimeter. Jack¡¯s mouth opened wide seeing this grand spectacle, however, soon a voice echoed out throughout the Island. ¡°Dao Reserve, return!¡± The Defensive Formations that had been working on full strength also dimmed and were deactivated. Soon, outside the courtyard was filled with the Origin Realm experts that were previously guarding outside the Island.


    All of them looked at Jack with a very perplexed face as they had no idea what to think of this. When Jack was awakening as a Mage, Zhi filled everyone of the Origin Realm in with what was going on. The Origin Realm was the Dao Reserve of the Sect, they were the true Core of Dragon Cross. If Zhi didn¡¯t even trust them with these kinds of secrets, who could he trust.


    Every single one of them had given an Oath on their Soul that they would not collude against any member of Sect or betray the Sect. When Zhi told them that Jack was now embarking on a completely new road, the all felt very interested.


    They knew that their Cosmos was only one of the countless others. Out there, there were countless other cultivation paths, so they were quite interested to see how far Jack could go on this path. In their Cosmos, Jack would be the pioneer of the path of Magic. However, what made them feel helpless was that because Jack was the pioneer of that path, no one could offer him assistance.


    Zhi was hovering in front of Jack and as he looked at his courtyard, he sighed, ¡°So much of my house¡­. No matter, I was thinking of redecorating either way.¡± As he shook his head, Jack learned that the house he had burned was Zhi¡¯s. Jack looked over all the faces present and cupped his hands and bowed slightly as he said, ¡°I thank Seniors for protecting this Junior at this crucial time.¡±


    It would not take a genius to see from their Formation that they had all stood guard over him when he had been accepting Raelag¡¯s Legacy. All the Origin Realm experts nodded with a smile to Jack¡¯s words. Seeing him standing there meant that he had succeeded on stepping on the path of Magic. They also saw that he appreciated favours and did not put on any airs in front of them. This naturally made all of them very happy.


    One by one, the Origin Realm Experts congratulated Jack on surviving this ordeal and then excused themselves to return to their posts. When the Formation was first set up, only a few hundred of the Origin Realm experts had been at the Island but when the Island entered lock down, they had all been called back from their positions. Some had been standing guard over Dragon Cross¡¯s cities or Branches while some had just been travelling or in secluded meditation somewhere isolated.


    Now that the ordeal was over, it was obvious that Zhi and the Ancestors would want to have a few words with him privately, so it was time for them to return back to where they came from.


    After all the Origin Realm experts had passed on their congratulations and left, Zhi waved his hand and picked Jack up from the ground. They flew to the Island Conference Hall, the place where the most important talks of Dragon Cross took place.


    After they arrived at the modestly decorated Hall, all the Ancestor¡¯s took a seat after Zhi and Zhi gestured for Jack to sit down at an open seat as he said, ¡°No need to be so courteous, take a seat and tell us as much as you can.¡±

 Chapter 16: Pioneer of the Path of Magic [Part 2]

    Jack meekly nodded and took a seat. Even though none of the five Dao Seeking experts put on any air¡¯s and treated him like an equal, he himself felt inferior. Seeing Jack look so uncomfortable, Zhi just let out a laugh, ¡°No need to be so tense. Depending on your choice, you may become a regular at this table you know.¡±


    Hearing this, Jack was a bit shocked as he tried to understand the hidden meaning behind that sentence but couldn¡¯t find one. Jack then cautiously said, ¡°I don¡¯t mean to be disrespectful of Seniors expectations but I do not possess the needed qualifications or knowledge to sit at this table.¡± Hearing such a humble decline, a grin formed on everyone¡¯s face as they all looked at Tiger.


    Tiger however just laughed loudly as he said, ¡°You might not possess the knowledge now but knowledge comes over time. The more you spend your time at this table, the more you understand the worldly matters.¡± He took a breath and looked towards Zhi as he said half a sentence, ¡°As for the qualifications¡­.¡±


    When the half a sentence ended, Zhi picked up the end and said, ¡°Your qualification would be the path you will now train on. Raelag passed down his Legacy down to you, didn¡¯t he?¡± Hearing the name Raelag, Jack¡¯s eyes widened as he asked in surprise, ¡°Senior knows Raelag?¡± Zhi nodded his head, ¡°Yes, I met him way back when I first escaped the Ancient Battlefield and founded the Dragon Cross Sect. At that time, I was nothing more than a simple Sovereign Realm practitioner. He offered me some guidance back then while also helped build Dragon Cross into the Sect it is today.¡± After saying so, his eyes flickered as he asked, ¡°Why do you address him as Raelag?¡±


    This little notion was also something that didn¡¯t escape the ears of the other people present. Since he succeeded Raelag¡¯s Legacy, it would be obvious to call him Master, not Raelag. Jack put on a bitter smile as he said, ¡°He himself ordered me to call him Raelag not Master. In my heart, he truly is the person that gave me a new chance in life and will be forever a person a kin to a Master.¡±


    Zhi raised a brow as he asked, ¡°He himself forbade you from calling him Master? Why?¡± Jack answered Zhi, ¡°He told me that he was unqualified for me to call him my Master.¡± After saying so, he summarized what had happened inside the Mask. Most of the things Raelag had told him, his awakening and such. Of course, he omitted the true strength of the Mask and everything about the Crown as well. Zhi and the other¡¯s knew that he left some things out but they did not ask him about it. It was obvious that everyone had their own secrets and it would be ridiculous of them to have Jack speak of everything. Also, it was completely ridiculous to expect a person to give out all their trump cards just because he was told to.


    After Jack finished his summary of what happened, Zhi let out a sigh and said, ¡°That old fool¡­. Usually he was an irrational and an eccentric person that didn¡¯t care about honour or justice at all but unexpectedly he was prideful of at least some things.¡± Zhi shook his head as he remembered that old fellow.


    Zhi could not deny the fact that he had helped him build Dragon Cross to what it was today. If it hadn¡¯t been for his guidance and help, it was even questionable whether Dragon Cross still existed or not. Zhi looked at Jack and asked, ¡°Did he tell you something more about the stages of cultivation?¡±


    Jack shook his head indicating that Raelag had only told him up to Heaven Realm. Zhi sighed even deeper as he said, ¡°What Raelag said was right, after the Dao Seeking Realm is the Heaven Realm.¡± He then took a breath and looked at Jack seriously as he said, ¡°However, that is not all. The Heaven Realm is divided into two branches. The Heavenly Emperor stage and the Heaven Profound stage.¡± Hearing this, Jack tilted his head to the side thinking what the difference was. Zhi continued, ¡°The Heavenly Emperor is someone that has surpassed the Heavenly Rules and was approved by them, making him the Emperor of the Cosmos¡¯s Heavens. Inside the Cosmos, they are the Heavens and they decide who lives and who doesn¡¯t.¡±


    He let it sink in for a bit before continuing, ¡°However, the Heaven Profound stage is different. They also surpass the Heavenly Rules but they aren¡¯t approved by them. They are a weaker than Heavenly Emperors but they have one major advantage over the other¡­. They can leave the Cosmos.¡± Hearing this, Jack asked in shock, ¡°Heavenly Emperos can¡¯t leave their Cosmos?¡±


    Zhi nodded his head and added, ¡°Yes, they can¡¯t take even half a foot outside the Cosmos. This is also why there are so few Heaven Cosmoses. Very few are willing to spend an eternity cramped inside the small Cosmos without being able to leave. No matter what happens outside, they can not leave it except for one occasion¡­.¡±


    Jack listened intently and waited for Zhi to say what that occasion was but seeing him not say it, he asked, ¡°When can they leave?¡± Zhi thought about it for a second and said, ¡°It is still too early for you to worry yourself with those kinds of things. When you reach the Sage level, I will fill you in as you will also not have a way out of it.¡±The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    After Zhi had explained it like that, Jack understood the subtle hint in the sentence. It was never good to bite off more than you can chew. If you know too much, you will only burden yourself with things you have no control over. Jack thought to himself, ¡°The Sage level huh?¡± The Sage level was a Mage¡¯s equivalent to Dao Seeking.


    Raelag had also included the rankings and their counter parts in cultivation in the information given. The ranking from bottom to top was: Acolyte, Mage, Arch Mage, Wizard, Arch Wizard, Sage, Heavenly Saint/Earthly Saint. Cultivation had a more distinct and strict classification while Mages classification was much more lax. Acolyte, Mage were under the First Tribulation, Arch Mage was equivalent to the Empyrean Stage, Wizard was equivalent to the Sovereign, Paragon, Primadorial God stages and Arch Wizard was equivalent to the Origin Realm. Jack was currently at the very bottom of the chain, an acolyte.


    After a bit more chitchat and Zhi confirming how much exactly Raelag had told Jack, he asked him directly, ¡°Since you will now pursue the Path of Magic, what is your plan exactly, do you plan on continuing in the Hidden Dragon?¡± Jack thought about if or a moment before he answered, ¡°First things first, I will most likely research Fire Magic more deeply and also absorb all the knowledge left behind by Raelag. For now, I would honestly not dare and take part in the Hidden Dragon¡¯s activities.¡± Zhi¡¯s eyes flashed as he asked immediately, ¡°Not dare?¡±


    Jack nodded his head seriously as he said, ¡°I honestly have no idea of my own capabilities, how can I take on dangerous missions when even I don¡¯t know what I can do and what not?¡± Hearing Jack¡¯s answer, Zhi grinned as he nodded in approval. He added, ¡°Good. You did not let the power rush to your head. Although everyone says cowardly people do not progress far, there is a very thin line between caution and cowardice.¡±


    Zhi¡¯s meaning was obvious, slow and steady wins the race. It doesn¡¯t matter how strong you are, if you throw all caution to the wind, only death awaits you. This was also why they didn¡¯t ask him about the intricate secrets, who knew if there was some technique that could spy on them without them even having an idea. Zhi looked at Jack seriously and asked, ¡°Since you do not wish to take part of the Hidden Dragon activities for now, no one will force you to. So, would you be interested in becoming a City Lord instead?¡±


    Hearing the word City Lord, Jack looked at Zhi in astonishment. Across the many Worlds, Dragon Cross had hundreds of Cities and Branch Sects. The position of a City Lord or Branch Master was envied by a lot, even those from the Main Sect. The City Lords were literally in control of a City and all the powers within a certain radius of the City. If a Branch Sect existed in that radius, the City Lord also had full control over the Branch Sect. Of course it was all within reason. Dragon Cross turned a blind eye to minor things if they were either extremely miniscule or one time errors but if there was a repeated offender or a major crime, the City Lord or Branch Master would have to suffer the punishment according to the Sect Rules.


    The City Lord would get a yearly cut from the city profits while at the same time they would get a ¡°salary¡± of contribution points if there aren¡¯t any major problems or incidents. In every Major city, there was also at least one Origin Realm expert on guard at all times, so there were very few that dared to cause big trouble, well if you didn¡¯t count Blood Immortal Conclave that is. However, even Blood Immortal Conclave did not dare to create trouble at the cities that had more than one Origin Realm Expert standing guard over it.


    Jack thought about it for a second before cautiously asking, ¡°Will there be no problems with me getting such a position out of the blue?¡± An old man at the side let out a laugh as he said, ¡°In Dragon Cross, Master¡¯s word is law. Besides that, you have a major contribution of creating a passage way to the Blood Immortal Conclave and helping us exterminate it. Without you, Blood Immortal Conclave would still be running amuck.¡± After the old man pointed it out as a matter of factly, Jack froze. ¡°Would still be running amuck?¡± As Jack focused on that part, he quickly asked, ¡°The Blood Immortal Conclave has been destroyed?¡± Everyone was startled by the question as Tiger said in confusion, ¡°Yes, after you came back three weeks ago, we immediately mobilized to destroy it in a quick surprise attack.¡±


    ¡°Three weeks ago?¡± Jack cried out involuntarily as he looked at Tiger with a shocked face. Zhi suddenly thought of something as he asked, ¡°How long do you think has passed?¡± Jack thought for a moment and said, ¡°Since I left the Blood Immortal Conclave, it feels as though only a day or two has passed.¡±


    Zhi immediately told him, ¡°In reality three weeks have passed since you came back. You entered the inheritance the day after the one you came back, the inheriting lasted for three weeks in itself.¡± Jack¡¯s eyes opened wide as he listened to Jack. To him, it felt as though only a day or two had passed but to think that three weeks had already passed.


    Jack thought over it for a while as he tried to digest this fact. Zhi however just smiled and said, ¡°If you have no objection, then I will appoint you as a City Lord. None of us have the knowledge to help you on your path anyway. As a City Lord, you have to do very little but at the same time, you will get enough money and contribution points.¡±


    As Zhi explained it like that, Jack could feel that there was another reason he was given the position of a City Lord.

 Chapter 17: City Lord of Virbeth [Part 1]

    The feeling Jack had was contrary to itself. At one hand, he was happy for this chance because he would not have to do very much but would still have a substantial income of contribution points and other resources. As for the other side, Jack had an idea, ¡°You wish to use me as bait to lure out all the remnants that managed to escape?¡±


    This was the other logical reason there was. Blood Immortal Conclave had been extremely secretive and even if the major powers grabbed one of it¡¯s tails, like a lizard, they would discard it. This made it fundamentally impossible to infiltrate their ranks or try to gather information in general. However, if they gave Jack an open position like this and advertised that he was the person that paid for the creation of the portal with his future as a cultivator, they will be able to attract the attention of either diehard supporters or just hotheads.


    Zhi sized Jack up with a glance as he said with a smile, ¡°Well, you truly do have a sharp mind. That truly is the main reason we are putting you on a pedestal like that and even gilding you in gold as well.¡± Jack sighed as he thought about the possible trouble that may come with this.


    If the enemy was strong enough, who knew, he might as well die as well. Seeing Jack¡¯s hesitating face, Zhi said, ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about the protection. The City which you will be reigning over will be Virbeth. Security will not be a problem there.¡± Jack¡¯s eyes opened wide as he heard the City name.


    In that city situated the Merchant Hall¡¯s Headquarters. It was the most prosperous City out of all under Dragon Cross, however, Virbeth never had a City Lord and the Master of the Merchant Hall always acted as the fill in for it. It had made a lot of people wonder why.


    Jack tilted his head and asked, ¡°May I ask why Virbeth? As long as the Sect Records date back to, Virbeth has never had a City Lord.¡± It wasn¡¯t that he was trying to be disrespectful but this question was the first thing that popped into his mind when he heard the City he would be assigned to. Instead of Zhi, a middle aged man with a merchants aura said, ¡°Because Virbeth no one has ever been able to bind the City. Although, Merchant Hall Master¡¯s have never succeeded either, to everyone¡¯s knowledge, they rule the City.¡±


    Jack¡¯s brows furrowed as he wanted to ask them why they thought that he would succeed if countless other¡¯s didn¡¯t. However, before he could do so, Zhi answered the question on Jack¡¯s mind, ¡°Virbeth was a City that was founded by a person that followed a completely different path from ours. We have no way to bind the City no matter what. However, you do have that chance, heck, you might be the only person in our Cosmos that has the chance to do so.¡±


    Hearing this, Jack¡¯s eyes opened wide again as he quickly tried to discern the reason. As he rummaged through his thoughts, he suddenly said, ¡°Raelag!¡±


    Zhi nodded his head with a smile and said, ¡°Yes, it was a City that Raelag built by himself. The methods he used are completely different from ours, so we have no way of binding it. To be honest, we don¡¯t even know all the functions or the secrets of the city either.¡± After all of this was said, Jack would have to be a complete numbskull to not understand why they wanted him to take control of the city.


    Jack was the first person since Raelag that has trained in the Path of Magic. His chance of binding the City was without a doubt the highest out of everyone in the Cosmos. Someone may stumble upon the method by sheer luck but to wait for something like that? It may take a day or it may take an eternity, it was too risky. With this, the conference was concluded.


    Jack was going to take the dangerous position of City Lord and Dragon Cross was going to spread the news. Although Virbeth was one of the safest Cities under Dragon Cross, they still added ten Origin Realm Experts to the existing ones. If something happened to Jack, they would not have the thick skin to face him any more. They pushed something so dangerous on him and after guaranteeing his safety, if they still let something happen to him, it would be a major slap in their own faces.


    Jack was shown his newly appointed residence on the Island and after Jack took a quick look around, he collapsed on the bed from exhaustion. He had learned very much from that brief conversation he had had with the old fellows and he was completely exhausted from trying to keep his back straight all the time. Although the Dao Seeking experts didn¡¯t mean to, they excluded a suffocating aura to someone like Jack.


    He quickly fell to sleep after recounting everything that had happened that day. When Jack had fallen asleep, twelve figures emerged from the Mask. As these eleven small and slender plus one big and bulky shadows stood in the room, two shadows nodded to each other and ten of the shadows disappeared.


    The two that were left came into light and were surprisingly Shadya and Veyer. Veyer looked at Jack and said, ¡°That plan is too risky. It would be no problem for Jack to bind the city but no one knows just how strong the people hiding behind Blood Immortal Conclaves mask are¡­.¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    Shadya nodded her head as well as she said, ¡°From today onwards, the ten Assassin¡¯s will always keep a watch in the surroundings and with their strength at the peak of Primadorial God Realm, they will be able to buy enough time for us to take the field if something goes truly bad.¡±


    Veyer however seemed to remember something as he let out a chuckle and said, ¡°Well, I forgot that that place has the Eternal Guardians.¡± Hearing this, Shadya¡¯s face also relaxed a bit as she breathed a sigh of relief, ¡°I forgot about those damn indestructible things as well.¡± After making a few more rounds of surveillance, the two returned to the Mask.


    ***


    Standing outside a magnificent city were a young man wearing a black T-shirt and pants. Next to him was a middle aged man with chestnut brown hair. On his body were no scars and he looked a bit plump as well.


    Over all, he excluded a merchant aura as he pointed towards the city and said, ¡°Jack, that is Virbeth, the most prosperous City our Dragon Cross possesses.¡± The young man in black clothes was Jack and the merchant like man next to him was the Dao Seeking Merchant Hall Ancestor, Mei Shu. Shu was the Ancestor of Merchant Hall, so he volunteered to be the one that took Jack to Virbeth.


    He had some business to deal with at the Merchant Hall any ways, so him bringing Jack to the City was the most convenient outcome. The travel from the Island to Virbeth had taken over a month, so Jack had had time to familiarize himself with his basic body capabilities and also he had familiarized himself with the troops under him.


    Now that Jack took another look at the City, he could not help but be a bit shocked by it¡¯s grand appearance. After Shu had given him a general introduction of the City, he was led into the City. Shu was one of the highest members of the Sect, so flying in the city was no problem for him. He was stopped for a second but the moment he brought out his Identity Token, the person would have nearly committed suicide.


    Jack looked at it with a wry smile as he thought to himself, ¡°Why does every single cultivator act as a King until they meet someone that outranks them or is stronger than them¡­.¡± This was far from the first time Jack seeing someone like the Guard had been. Usually, they would go around flaunting their status to those inferior but act like slaves in front of those that are superior to them.


    Jack kept following Shu as he went around and introduced the city to him. As they walked through city, they soon came to a stop in front a luxurious manor. The two guard standing outside looked at the two in cold manner but seeing Shu¡¯s Identity Token, they immediately retracted their cold glances and auras.


    They respectfully cupped their hands as one of the guards said, ¡°I will immediately go and inform the Manor Lord of your arrival.¡± Although Jack felt it was normal, Shu¡¯s brows frowned as he asked, ¡°Manor Lord?¡± Shu started excluding a cold aura as he sent his Qi Sense out to scan the inside of the Manor. His face suddenly distorted as he pushed the guards aside and stormed in with an enraged face. Jack looked at all this happening with a shocked face.


    Shu didn¡¯t tell him anything and just suddenly rushed inside as if his arch nemesis was currently taunting him from the inside. Jack helped the two guards up but was immediately confused about the smile they had on their faces.


    One of them said to the other with a smile, ¡°Finally, that arrogant bastard is going to get his dues.¡± Hearing this, Jack felt as though something was wrong. He asked the two guards, ¡°Why did the Ancestor have such a sour face when you mentioned the Manor Lord thingy?¡± The guards suddenly remembered that Jack wasn¡¯t a passer by or someone from the Manor but someone that came with Shu. They immediately straightened their backs again as one of them stepped forawrd and said, ¡°Reporting, the Manor is off limits to everyone. Unless the Sect Master appoints a City Lord, no one is allowed to take residence in the Manor except for the Guards and Servants that are supposed to clean and guard the Manor.¡±


    After saying so, the guard stepped back and the other one stepped forward as he continued, ¡°However, the current Merchant Hall Master and Young Master broke that rule and took residence inside the Manor, claiming it their own.¡± After the other guard also said his piece, he also stepped back in a practised manner as they took their positions of guarding the door.


    The two at the door did not need Jack to show any identification of any sorts. He came with the Merchant Hall Ancestor even if he was a simple servant of his, he outranked the two guards either way. Jack looked past the entrance and then just pointed to a little bench in the yard next to the front door, ¡°Mind if I take a seat there?¡±


    The two guards felt surprised about how courteous Jack was. Although they couldn¡¯t feel any Qi fluctuations from him, they could feel a very mysterious power inside him. The two guards were both Empyrean Immortals, so for Jack to be able to mask his cultivation base from them made them feel as though he was no one simple. Add on the fact that he came with Shu, he was truly someone that neither of them dared to offend.


    Yet, Jack was polite and didn¡¯t put on any airs in front of the two. The two could not have found any fault with it if he had simply looked down on the two and walked into the manor. Jack thanked the two for their permission and went to take a seat on the little bench. He looked at the serene garden in front of him as continuous enraged shouts accompanied by things being smashed to pieces.


    The two guards felt shivers go down their spines but when they glanced at the completely calm and detached Jack, they felt truly astonished.

 Chapter 18: City Lord of Vibeth

    Jack sat there on the bench, to the other¡¯s he seemed as a calm or detached person but in actuality, he was testing out one of the spells that Raelag had left behind as a must learn spell. The spell was called [Phantom Duplicate] and it¡¯s main usage was scouting. When the spell was activated the caster would create a phantom duplicate of himself that only those that he approves can see.


    It was invisible to the naked eye and unless a special observance spell was used, it could not be detected. Well, Dao Seeking and Origin level experts were a different case in that regard. What was good about this spell was that it let the person perceive everything in a certain radius of the duplicate. That radius depended on the caster¡¯s own strength.


    The probing done with the duplicate would be completely undetectable in this Cosmos because the duplicate harmonizes with the Energy in the surroundings to get feedback instead of sending his own Energy out like a Qi Sense does.


    After looking around the Manor and eaves dropping on the conversations of people, Jack got the general gist of things. The current Merchant Hall Master and his son were extremely arrogant people. Since their word was law here, they acted like kings. The only reason the higher ups did not know about this was because there was no evidence left behind. Also, every person that wanted to report the corruption mysteriously vanished, so the father and son pair could keep up their little reign of terror. This city had four Origin Realm experts standing guard over it but they were usually meditating and didn¡¯t keep an eye on these kinds of things.


    It must be said that the Father son pair had hidden their vileness deeply because the Ancestor himself had come to the city hundreds of times but even he himself couldn¡¯t find any clues of those vile doings of theirs. This visit from the Ancestor was a sudden one, so they did not have the time to put on their act and clean up all the traces.


    Jack was applauding the pair inside his head though. It was not easy to keep up such a farce without anyone from the higher ups catching a wind of this.


    ¡°Seems like the Origin Realm Experts currently stationed here aren¡¯t all that reliable¡­.¡± This thought crossed Jack¡¯s head as he summarized the situation. That guess was based on the fact that there were four Origin Realm Experts here and none of them knew any of these deeds? Just the fact that the father son pair took residence in the Lord¡¯s Manor in itself was a major violation of Sect Rules.


    The trashing of the Manor continued and Jack just sighed to himself, ¡°Damn old foggey, what use is the Manor going to be if you are going to demolish it?¡± Jack was getting kind of ticked at the fact that Shu had already destroyed a part of the Manor with his rampaging. Jack was supposed to live here and the first thing instead of selecting a room for himself was going to be building a room for himself.


    Jack looked up and saw the sky slowly turning dark. Jack stood up and jumped on top of the Manor Walls and looked at the setting sun. It had been around noon when the two arrived at the city. They walked through the city so that Shu would have time to explain all the major locations and such to Jack. That in itself only took an hour or two but the rampage inside the Manor had been going on for well over six hours already. From Shu¡¯s enraged shouting and occasional slapping sounds it was obvious that it was not going to end anytime soon.


    Although Jack had a special identity, he didn¡¯t have the same kind of strength as Shu had, so trying to go and calm him down with his current weak self would be the same as suicide. Most of the servants had also gathered at the garden by now, dropping everything that they were doing to listen in on the retribution.


    In the beginning they had been quite happy that the tyrannical father son pair was put in their place but after the demolishing started they started feeling scared. Jack felt his stomach growl from emptiness and after feeling that, he let out a sigh as he stood up and walked to the gates again. The two guards backs were now soaked from the cold sweat that they had got from listening to the enraged shouting and reprimanding of Shu.


    When Jack tugged at one of the Guards hands to get his attention, the other flinched so violently that he almost chopped off Jack¡¯s head. When he saw that Jack was completely fine, he let out a deep breath of relief. Jack didn¡¯t mind it much because just from this reaction it was obvious how on the edge they all were.


    If Shu decided to hold them accountable as well, there was no escaping death. It was already commendable that they had not abandoned their post and run to the four corners of the globe.


    Jack asked for the directions to one of the cheapest inn¡¯s that also served a good meal. The guard didn¡¯t seem to be thinking clearly as he gave Jack the directions to the inn at the edge of the city. Jack thanked the guard and went on his way, trying to find the inn.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    There were two reason he was going to an inn at the moment, first he had a feeling that Shu was not going to calm down and remember him any time soon and second, he didn¡¯t have a lot of money. He had a lot of Contribution Points but nearly not enough money to stay at a rich hotel that served the best cuisines.


    Back when he was roaming the Worlds, he was a cultivator, he had no direct need for food as absorbing the Qi had the same effect in filling his stomach. Also, Mortal Foods contained a lot of impurities that would hinder his path more than help him. Back then, he also had no need for sleep but currently he was the lowest level Mage so now there was.


    The only difference between him and a regular mortal was that he could use a few spells but that was all. The Path of Magic was very different from a cultivators.


    When Jack had disappeared over the horizon, the guard suddenly thought to himself, ¡°Why did he ask for an Inn? Sect Disciples could stay at the Merchant Hall for a small fee of Contribution Points. Also, he came with the Ancestor of the Merchant Hall, so he would probably be given the best treatment there was without having to pay any Contribution Points what so ever¡­.¡±


    As Jack wandered through the streets, he saw many interesting scenes. Usually, every time he entered a town, he was always on the edge and always on guard. He had no time to enjoy the scenery so strutting around town as a tourist was many times more interesting. It didn¡¯t matter that the sun had fallen already, all the shops seemed to be still bustling with activity. In a red lamp district, most places opened for business only now.


    Jack kept looking around with interest and he drew quite a bit of confused gazes from the other people on the streets. Everyone could see from the giant Dragon Cross emblem on Jack¡¯s shirt that he was part of the Sect but he wandered the streets as though he had not seen a city before. They concluded that Jack was someone that had been in closed doors training for most of his life and this was the first time he had come out to experience the world.


    Suddenly, Jack¡¯s eyes stopped on a little fur ball in a cage. The shopkeeper standing in front of the cages was shouting for everyone to come and take a closer look at the Spirit Animals. When someone asked a question, he immediately started ranting about his best products and things about discounts and so on.


    The assistants of the shop were all very busy as well either by caring for the Spirit Animals or introducing the Spirit Animals to potential customers. Jack walked in front of the cage and stared intently at the little guy in the cage. It was not big, only the size of a grown man¡¯s hand, it had light blue fur and on it¡¯s little head were two little horns.


    Currently the little creature was in the farthest corner of the cage, curling into a ball. When Jack came to look at the creature, a young assistant was trying to get it to eat. However, the little creature looked at the food for a second before closing it¡¯s eyes. The little creature gave off a lonely feeling as it scanned his little cage every now and then with a lonely gaze.


    Jack stared at the creature with a sympathising gaze as he heard the assistant sigh softly, ¡°Why won¡¯t you eat? You will only grow weaker if you don¡¯t eat.¡± There wasn¡¯t any anger in the assistants tone but rather sorrow. It seemed to hurt the assistant to see a Spirit Animal starving like that.


    The little creature opened his eyes and his eyes seemed to notice Jack. It was about to close his eyes again when he saw a gaze similar to his own. He stared intently at Jack¡¯s eyes seemingly trying to read his Soul. When the assistant saw that, he looked sideways and suddenly saw Jack standing next to him having a stare down with the little creature. He had been looking after the creature for over a month and this was the first time he saw him look at someone or something for more than five seconds.


    The assistant immediately reported this to the shop keeper and even he was astonished as he quickly made his way to the little creatures cage. When he saw Jack having a stare down with the little creature, he immediately walked next to him. He said, ¡°Young friend, do you wish to buy this little Poro?¡± Jack turned his head towards the shop keeper and seemed to be hesitating. It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t wish to buy him but rather he lacked the funds to do so.


    Seeing Jack torn like that, the shop keeper smiled and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, our shop is affiliated with Dragon Cross, you can purchase him with Contribution Points.¡± The shop keeper seemed to be used to these kinds of situations. Dragon Cross was the biggest Sect in the Cosmos and it¡¯s currency was Contribution Points. Inside the Sect, you didn¡¯t need money so most Disciples never wore much money on them unless they were the extravagant young master like people.


    Jack immediately purchased the little Poro with his Contribution Points and when he opened the cage door, the shop keeper wanted to force the little Poro into a Master-Servant Contract but Jack stopped him. Just as the shop keeper wanted to ask him something, Jack raised his palm and a light blue snowflake the size of a palm appeared on his palm. He extended the palm inside the cage and the Poro seemed to read his mind as he gently nudged it with his little forehead.


    When the little Poro came in contact with the snow flake, it lit up and split into two balls of light. One of the balls flew onto the little Poro¡¯s forehead and the other flew to Jack¡¯s forehead. The light entered their heads and imprinted itself onto their Souls.


    This was the highest level Contract that Jack knew from Raelag¡¯s Legacy. It was called the [Pact of Equals] and it was one of the most important spells of a Mage.


    Every Mage can take on one Contracted Beast in their life and the contract was dissolved only when one of them died.

 Glossary

    Dragon Cross ---> The strongest Sect in the Cosmos. Jack is part of it.


    Jack ---> The MC of the Story.


    Zhi --->Island Master of Dragon Cross. Also the Founder of the Sect and the strongest cultivator in the Cosmos.


    Tiger---> Enforcement Hall Ancestor. Dao Seeking Expert like Zhi.


    Shu ---> Merchant Hall Ancestor. Dao Seeking expert.


    Raelag ---> The Mage that had reached Sage level and also the creator of the Mask.


    Shadya ---> Raleag''s most trusted Dark Elf subordinate. Is equivalent to a Early Dao Seeking stage practitioner.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    Veyer ---> Raelag''s most trusted Demon subordinate. Is equivalent to a Early Dao Seeking stage practitioner.


    Dragon Cross City and Island ---> Headquarters of Dragon Cross and the Island is also the Restricted area of the Sect where the Dao Reserve lives.


    Virbeth ---> City created and left behind by Raelag for his successor. Currently in Jack''s possession.


    Dao Reserve ---> People that have reached the Origin Realm.


    Cultivation Levels:


    Qi Gathering ---> Foundation Establishment ---> Core Formation ---> Nascent Soul ---> First Tribulation, the Empyrean Tribulation ---> Empyrean Immortal --->Empyrean King ---> Empyrean Emperor ---> Second Tribulation ---> Sovereign ---> Paragon ---> Primadorial God ---> Third Tribulation ---> Origin Realm ---> Dao Seeking Realm ---> ....


    Magic Levels:


    Acolyte ---> Mage ---> First Tribulation ---> ArchMage ---> Second Tribulation ---> Wizard ---> Third Tribulation ---> ArchWizard ---> Sage ---> ....

 Chapter 19: A fun evening

    Raelag had also used this Contract Magic on a lizard like the Lizard riders had. However, the lizards talent and bloodline weren¡¯t good enough for it to break through the shackles of Heavens Rules and it died long before Raelag. It didn¡¯t matter that the lizard was a Contracted Beast, to Raelag, he was like a brother that had been through thick and thin with him.


    When the Contract imprinted itself into each of their Souls, Jack could feel the little Poro¡¯s emotions. He could feel that the little Poro was feeling very lonely and the only reason he agreed to Jack¡¯s Contract was because he felt the same loneliness from Jack. No home, no one to call family and no one to rely on. Jack looked at the little Poro and extended his hand into the cage.


    The Little Poro looked at the hand for a moment before jumping on the hand. He was literally as big as Jack¡¯s palm. Jack raised him to his eye level and said, ¡°From now on, your name will be Nalser. Okay?¡± As he asked the little Poro for his opinion, the little Poro seemed to think for a second before it nodded it¡¯s head.


    Jack then let out a little laugh as he put Nalser on his shoulder and thanked the shopkeeper for his hospitality. The shopkeeper looked at Jack with an astonished face. He had never even heard of the method Jack used, not to mention seeing it. Usually, even if the Spiritual Beast was contracted, it would need a lot of training to obey, however, the little Poro and Jack initiated the Contract only a few minutes ago and already interacted like they had been together for decades.


    Just as the shopkeeper was wondering on Jack¡¯s method, an assistant tugged his sleeve. The shopkeeper looked at the assistant and asked what was wrong. The assistant had a flushed face as she said, ¡°This just came in, it seems like we will be getting a new City Lord.¡± As she said that, she handed a jade slip to the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper was astonished as he quickly grabbed the jade slip that had a portrait of the new City Lord.


    As the shopkeeper sent his Qi into the jade, a picture appeared in his mind. His face turned completely shocked when he looked at the picture. He quickly pulled another assistant to his side and handed the jade slip to him. That assistant was the one that had tried to feed the little Poro before.


    When he saw the portrait, his face also was painted in shock as the shopkeeper told him who the person on the jade slip was. After the assistant also confirmed that Jack was the person on the portrait, the shopkeeper felt his knees go weak. He thought to himself, ¡°I am screwed. If I had know that he was the new City Lord I would have gifted him the little fur ball.¡±


    However, Jack didn¡¯t know what the other was thinking as he kept following the directions given to him by the guard at the Manor Gate. He strolled through the streets and a lot of gazes came onto him but even more came onto the little Poro on his shoulder. One child that seemed to be about the age of five or six even came up to him and asked whether she could pat the Nalser.


    Jack looked at Nalser and took him onto his palm just in case. The little girl seemed to be very happy about being able to pat the Nalser as she ran back to her mother and father¡¯s side. As she happily narrated everything to them, she pointed towards the Jack and Nalser. The parents of the child smiled and bowed their heads slightly in courtesy and Jack returned the little bow with one of his own.


    After that, he moved along and soon reached the little inn that the guard talked about. It didn¡¯t look anything grand but more like a small two storied shop. The Inn¡¯s name was ¡°Sleeping Cat¡± and it was actually quite famous amongst the lower ranked inn¡¯s. They served good food, had a clean house and comfortable accommodations. Jack entered the inn and was immediately greeted by a merry atmosphere.


    On the ground floor was also the dining room and pub. He approached the counter and a scrawny old lady smiled at him and asked, ¡°Yes, how can I help you?¡± Jack immediately asked, ¡°How much for a single room?¡± The old lady still l smiled as she said, ¡°One night in a single room is 3 Copper Coins. If you include dinner and breakfast, it would be 7 Copper Coins.¡±


    Jack¡¯s Energy entered the Spacial Ring that held his worldly possessions and fished out 7 Copper Coins and said, ¡°I¡¯d like one room with dinner and breakfast please.¡± As Jack put the money on the counter, the old lady took out a room key and put it on the counter before collecting the payment and said, ¡°Your room number is 17. If you head up the stairs and turn left, your room will be the first at your right hand.¡±


    Jack took the key and nodded his head. Just as he was about to go and check out his room, his stomach growled. The old lady let out a laugh as he said, ¡°You can go sit down, I¡¯ll have someone bring you dinner, or do you wish to eat in your room?¡± Jack embarrassedly answered, ¡°Here is fine. Also, can you bring some salad for this little guy, I can pay more for it.¡± The old lady looked at Nalser on Jack¡¯s shoulder.Stolen story; please report.


    She let out a little laugh as she saw that Nalser¡¯s head was like a windmill, spinning around to take in the new surroundings. The dismissed Jack¡¯s proposal to pay and said, ¡°I can give the little guy a salad on the house. Consider it as my thanks, it had been a long time since I last saw a Poro.¡± As she said so, a nostalgic glint flashed in her eyes.


    Jack walked in to the pub/diner area and looked around. He scratched the back of his head when he saw that all the tables were occupied. There were a few vacant seats but all the tables seemed to have groups that knew each other and were having a merry time talking to each other. He didn¡¯t want to intrude either, so as he was scanning the room, his eyes stopped on a table in the farthest corner.


    It had only a young girl around the age of 13-14 sitting with an elderly man. The table was meant to accommodate five or six people but at the table, there was only the two of them. Jack walked up to the table and asked, ¡°Mind if I eat dinner here? All the other spots are occupied.¡± The Elderly man scanned Jack with his Qi Sense and frowned. J


    ack¡¯s face however turned cold as well as he felt the Qi Sense scanning over him. Jack¡¯s perception was far, far above his peers due to the unique path he traded. His cultivation was literally increasing his synchronisation with Energy. He was extremely sensitive to all sorts of Energy, so when the old man scanned him with his Qi Sense, Jack immediately detected it. Jack then added in a frosty tone, ¡°If you do not wish for me to sit here, say so. Don¡¯t think that just because you are an Empyrean Emperor, you can scan Juniors like me just because you want to.¡± The old man¡¯s face showed shock as his actions were said out loud.


    Although Jack¡¯s voice wasn¡¯t loud but quite quiet, the nearby tables all shut up and cast a frosty glance over to the old man. Scanning someone¡¯s body and cultivation base so arrogantly was quite a taboo in Cities. Only people with tremendous backing or strength could act like that. The old man put on an apologetic smile and immediately said, ¡°I did not wish to offend you. It is just a habit of mine to immediately scan any person that approaches. If you have no problem, you can sit and eat here.¡± Jack smiled lightly and said, ¡°I will take you up on that offer then.¡±


    After saying so, he nonchalantly sat down at the seat farthest from the two. The reason he sat down there was because he did not wish to disturb pair from their own things. Everyone else also carried on with their business after they saw that the little ¡°misunderstanding¡± had been cleared up and Jack also didn¡¯t wish to pursue the matter. Jack put Nalser on the table and scratched the back of his head while he waited for food.


    It didn¡¯t take long and soon the food arrived. He was given a few potatoes, sauce and a piece of meat. On the side there was a jug of wine and some bread. Nalser got a little plate full of all sorts of lettuce, cabbage leafs and practically everything edible that was green. The two started eating and every once in a while someone cast a glance in their direction.


    It seemed like everyone was still a bit on the edge from the old man¡¯s previous disrespectful behaviour. The pair also continued their meals and chatted in a hushed voice. Every now and then they also stole a glance from Jack and Nalser. Jack however didn¡¯t mind the gazes but still kept his guard up just in case. He was ready to summon Shadya and Veyer on a moment¡¯s notice as well.


    After the meal was finished, Jack thanked the old lady for the good meal and in all honesty, it was quite delicious. The old lady smiled and patted Nalser as well who gave a giant lick on the old ladies hand. The surrounding people that saw this also let out a little laugh as they also started including Jack in their conversations.


    Jack had never socialized like this, so this was quite a new experience. In the beginning, he was quite on the edge but after a few cups of wine, he also started loosening up and started talking about the very weird things he had encountered on his travels through the Cosmos.


    It didn¡¯t matter if the person was old or young, they all listened intensively to Jack. Most of the people in the pub had never left a thousand kilometer radius of the City, not to mention this World. Also, Jack included even the small details so the people could basically picture every situation in their heads quite clearly. Even the pair of elderly man and the young woman from before had been entranced by Jack¡¯s stories.


    This was the beauty of pubs, most of the people that were there were of similar pasts and personalities. They could usually get along very good very fast and as the night grew deeper, the circle grew bigger. It wasn¡¯t odd for people to be complete strangers in the morning but good friends by the next one.


    As everyone shared their stories, Jack was quietly sipping wine with Nalser. They were also intently listening to the story, when suddenly the inn door flew open with a bang. Everyone¡¯s gazes immediately gathered at the door where a plump middle aged man rushed in. His face was completely flushed red and he even seemed to be panting a bit.


    As his eyes scanned the room, his eyes stopped on Jack and relief flushed over his face. Everyone saw the plump man¡¯s gaze land on Jack and after it didn¡¯t move, they all even started inching closer to Jack to help out if the situation required it. They had completely and utterly accepted Jack into their little group and when Jack saw the plump man, he also looked surprised.


    The man said, ¡°Damn you Jack. I have been running all over Virbeth looking for you.¡± Jack however answered surprised, ¡°Shu, you finished your beating and sermon on the people inside the Manor?¡± This plump man was exactly the Merchant Hall Ancestor, Shu.

 Sorry no chapter again

    Yea, as the title says, no chapter again today. Tomorrow or the day after, I will release a schedule because from next week onwards, I''ll probably be quite busy and won''t be able to write as much as I''d like to....


    Sorry to everyone eagelry waiting but I am currently at the end of my school time and I need to do practical and theoretical exams in order to get vocational decree. I also have to juggle work and a side project as well with all the other htings so yea... It is getting a bit too many things at the same time and I have to cut down the time expense at some places....The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

 Chapter 20: Dragon Crosss past

    Shu fixed his posture and said with a sigh, ¡°Seems like I haven¡¯t been keeping strict enough of an eye on Merchant Hall. Ai ai¡­.. Seems like my eye for discerning people seems to be getting rusty.¡± As Shu shook his head, Jack just nodded his head. He didn¡¯t blame Shu by any means but rather he agreed to his words.


    The bigger an organization grows, the harder it is to keep it in order. Throughout the history, there have been countless Clans and Sects that have fallen due to their Clan becoming too fragmented. Each Faction wants to rule the Clan or Sect but as the end result, they will only be ruling over a mountain of corpses. Jack saw an empty chair next to Shu and pointed at it and said, ¡°Grab a chair and come drink with us. You have had a long day behind you.¡±


    Shu was startled by Jack proposition and he involuntarily tried to remember when was the last time he went to a pub or sorts to have a drink and merrily chat with others. As he tried to remember, he shook his head with a helpless face, it had been far too long. He was one of the Core Founders of Dragon Cross and ever since Dragon Cross was founded, they had not had a moment to relax like this.


    He was either cultivating or managing the Sects finances. Merchant Hall was the place that dealt with all transactions of the Sect. They also regulated how much support each member gets from their monthly or yearly contribution. This all required a lot of work and even though most of the work was done by the people under him, he was the person that gave the final yes or no.


    Shu grabbed the chair Jack talked about and went to sit next to him. He was in a bit of an awkward position but as Jack poured some wine to him, Jack said, ¡°Take it a bit easy. It should not be hard for you to find a few dozen good talents worth cultivating to take up your mantle.¡±


    Shu took a sip as the surrounding people¡¯s faces changed when they studied him more closely. The Five Founders of Dragon Cross was renowned people and even if people had not seen them in person, they had seen a picture of them. Also, coupled with what he had said until now, it was very easy for everyone present to realize that the person sitting at the same table as them is one of the true experts of their Cosmos.


    Everyone tensed up upon realizing this and some even started fidgeting a bit, unable to stay calm. If Shu gave an order for them to die, they would die without a doubt. Seeing the fidgeting and uneasiness in the people that had been merrily chatting and drinking with Jack until now, Shu sighed.


    He had found Jack a few hours ago actually but when he saw how merrily he was drinking and chatting with everyone, he felt wrong to disturb him. After a long time of hesitating, he finally entered the room but he did not expect Jack to invite him to drink with everyone else.


    Shu let out a breath as he quietly shook his head, ¡°Seems like Dragon Cross disciples have lived at peace for far too long¡­.¡± As Shu opened his mouth, the people sitting across from Jack tensed up. However, when the words left Shu¡¯s mouth, they were startled a bit.


    One of them subconsciously asked, ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± Only after asking the question did he realize what he had done and immediately started sweating quite extravagantly. Before he could say anything more, Shu let out another sigh, ¡°What I mean is that the people from Dragon Cross have not had any hardships as of late. Dragon Cross is prosperous, the number of people that dare to pick a fight with it can most likely be counted on one hand.¡±


    He took a sip of wine as he continued, ¡°This has made them feel as though they are the Emperors of Heavens. Every subsequent generation of disciples becomes more and more arrogant and condescending towards other.¡± Jack thoughtfully looked at the wine in his cup.


    He had been a part of Hidden Dragon previously and he knew exactly how arrogant the sect disciples had become. Once a year, Dragon Cross accepted new disciples, whether from within the Sect or from the outside world. At the admittance site, he had seen countless people that had been born inside the Sect look down upon those that had come from the outside.


    This orchestration even continued when they were admitted to the Sect. Those from the outside however looked meek and submissive inside the Sect but kept throwing their weight around outside the Sect. The only reason Dragon Cross has managed to exist this long was because Hidden Dragon did their utmost to clean the house of these kinds of people.


    Depending on the severity of the crimes, the punishment varied from simply a week of imprisonment to even execution. Of the newly admitted disciples about 70% of them will be punished in accordance to the rules in their first year. This number was astronomical if you take into account that Dragon Cross was an enormous Sect that accepted nearly 10 000 people each year.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Out of the ten thousand people admitted, about seven thousand get punished in accordance to the rules in the first year, this made it obvious that Dragon Cross did not have much choice than to focus more of their attention on the people that didn¡¯t get punished or investigated for committing a crime.


    Shu took another sip as he had a nostalgic look that seemed to peer into the past in his eyes, ¡°When we just founded Dragon Cross, except for Master, everyone else was either a farmer or a minor official in a Minor World. Our World was divided into three continents and ours had just lost it¡¯s Protector. Our only choices were either death or slavery.¡±


    Shu swirled the wine in his glass as he continued, seemingly in trance, ¡°When I met Master, we were surrounded by a legion of Sect Disciples that wanted to enslave us. Suddenly, Master appeared out of thin air and saved all of us as he dominated all over the others with an overwhelming strength. We he had killed all those Sect Disciples, he turned to leave but after us pleading and willingly giving a Bloodline Oath, he decided to take us under his protection.¡±


    Shu let out a laugh as he said, ¡°He had no intention of founding a Sect, much less ruling over it. He laid down many Formations Array¡¯s and gave us enormous amounts of resources and Arts. As we grew, through bloodshed we earned our spot amongst the supreme powers of Minor Worlds, then Upper Worlds and finally, after dozens of thousands of years later, we became a supreme power of the Ascended World.¡±


    He swiped a glance of everyone present before continuing, ¡°Even though everyone calls us the ¡°Five Founders¡±, me and the other three can never hold a candle to Master¡¯s contributions. In times of war, he stood at the very front and led the charge, in times of peace, he rules over the Sect with a strict iron fist.¡± As he let out a bitter laugh, it was obvious how much Shu thought he owed him. When the other¡¯s in the pub learned from Shu about how Dragon cross came to be, they all slightly eased up.


    Dragon Cross was acknowledged as the number one Sect in their Cosmos. No Clan or Sect could win against them in a direct fight or an indirect one. The rumours of Blood Immortal Conclave being destroyed by Dragon Cross had spread far and wide. A lot of people sighed to themselves about how idiotic the Blood Immortal Conclave had been. It wouldn¡¯t have been hard to fight with any other supreme power of the Ascended World. At least they would have a chance but they directly tried to pick a fight with Dragon Cross.


    The end result was their complete and utter obliteration with a few of the remnants scattering to the wind. However, those few remnants will soon be uprooted as well because Hidden Dragon¡¯s ability was famed in the entire Cosmos. After Shu had talked this far, everyone present had loosened up and realized that Shu will not sentence them to death for talking. The overbearingness of big Sects and Clans was deeply rooted into all of the regular peoples minds.


    After everyone had loosened up, they also started asking some questions or talking about some other things. Soon the stifling atmosphere disappeared and the atmosphere turned merry again. They drank and talked until morning and when the first rays of light came through the pub window, the sight was quite funny to look at. Many people couldn¡¯t bear the combination of exhaustion of working all day and drinking.


    They had all slowly fallen to sleep land where they sat and currently, Jack, Shu and the old lady from before were the only ones looking over the funny sight of people having drunk themselves to sleep. How many times in your life would you have the chance of drinking and talking with a person that stood at the top of the Cosmos?


    Jack ate some breakfast that the old lady had prepared and then followed Shu to the Manor. Last night, Shu had caused quite a bit chaos there and even though the servants worked through the night, they still hadn¡¯t finished cleaning the entire place up.


    As for the father son pair, Shu had said that they will be demoted by several ranks and all of their wealth they had accumulated had been confiscated and put into the City Treasury or to be more precise, Jack¡¯s Treasury. Even the four Origin Realm Experts had been called back to the Sect for a thorough investigation. Shu did not leave anything up to chance because Jack¡¯s importance to the Sect was equal to his and other Ancestors for some reason.


    It was obvious from the vast amounts of resources given to him by the Sect and also this kind of authority and security surpassed any other City Lord. Even the City Lord of Dragon Cross City did not have as much authority and resources as Jack was given. When Jack asked Shu about it, Shu dodged the topic with a usual, ¡°You will understand the reason behind it when you grow stronger.¡± Although it left Jack puzzled, there was nothing he could do.


    If Shu and the rest did not want to speak of it yet, all he could do was wait until the time was right. After seeing the full list of the Treasury, Jack¡¯s jaw nearly fell to the ground. Shu grinned as he said, ¡°Until now, Merchant Hall Master¡¯s had been the ones that filled in the position of City Lord. The resources still flowed into the Treasury but there was not a City Lord to spend them. Although the two from before did expend some resources, the confiscated wealth made up for it and even surpassed it.¡±


    Shu then looked at Jack seriously and asked, ¡°Do you want a grand ceremony or a small one?¡± Jack looked at Shu and unwaveringly answered, ¡°Small one!¡± Everyone was different and some people want to flaunt their new position by holding a grand celebration while other¡¯s were more reserved. Some just spread the word that they became the City Lord but held no celebration what so ever. Jack honestly didn¡¯t want any celebration either but Virbeth was a Major City, so he had to hold a celebration.


    So since he had a choice, he chose the small scale celebration with each Clan and major power in his jurisdiction sending one or two representatives.


    Shu nodded his head and immediately left Jack to familiarize himself with his new home as he went to set up the celebration.

 Chapter 21: A new Path [Part 1]

    Jack walked around the Manor and every time a servant or guard saw him, they immediately dropped what they were doing and saluted him. Jack returned the salute and continued his wandering. Inside the Manor, what was left of it, were various rooms for entertaining guests, bedrooms, a study and a library. The entrance to the Treasury was at the study, so Jack didn¡¯t have to break his head over finding it.


    Treasury¡¯s were the lifeblood of every Clan or Sect, so they had very strict security. A record was kept of every thing put into the Treasury and withdrawn from the Treasury. This was also why Shu knew that the father son pair had taken things from the Treasury, he had just checked the records and saw the list of withdrawn items.


    After walking a few laps around the Manor, Jack memorized the layout and after doing so, he went to the study.


    Inside the study there were various Ancient Books that were written in a language no one understood. That was also why no one had any interest in the books, there was no way to decipher them. It didn¡¯t matter what Heaven Defying knowledge it had, if you can¡¯t understand even a word of it, what is the use of it? That applied to everyone else in the Cosmos but not Jack.


    When Jack first picked up a book at random, he frowned because the letters were familiar. As he tried to remember where he had seen these words before, Shadya appeared next to him and said, ¡°These books are all written in the language of Ashan.¡±


    Jack¡¯s eyes opened wide as he asked, ¡°Ashan?¡± Shadya picked another book from the bookshelf and said with a nostalgic gaze, ¡°Each of these books were collected or personally written by Master Raelag. The language he used was the language of his home Cosmos, Ashan.¡± After hearing this explanation from Shadya, Jack looked at the book again, this time trying to remember the language passed down to him by Raelag.


    You had to give Raelag credit for not leaving anything up to chance. Jack had felt that this place was specifically made by Raelag to nurture his successor. He put down the book and asked Shadya, ¡°This place¡­. Raelag didn¡¯t create it on a whim did he?¡± Shadya showed a hint of smile to the question and answered, ¡°You are right. When Master Raelag was young, he got a prophecy from a Seer. It wasn¡¯t until the Sage Realm he remembered that prophecy given to him.¡± Jack¡¯s interest was piqued by this.


    From the knowledge he had about cultivation and the basic knowledge left behind Raelag, Jack knew that Fate was something intangible. It had millions upon millions of different outcomes and every little thing changed Fate to the unpredictable. Seer¡¯s had the power to look into the future to find the most probable outcome.


    The best example of the unpredictability of Fate was this: You are at a cross roads and in front of you lay three paths. If you take the rightmost path, you will find a peerless Art that will help you make you the strongest in the Cosmos.


    If you take the leftmost path, you run into a Demonic Expert that will absorb your Soul and refine your Blood. True death waits for you at this path.


    However, if you take the middle path, everything remains the same. This was the best interpretation of Fate. One choice leads to another changing the fate of you and the people around you for the irreversible. To even see one of the outcomes of choices, it was something that went against Heavens.


    Jack asked Shadya, ¡°What was the prophecy?¡± Shadya put on a bitter smile as she said, ¡°You shall never step past the Sage Realm in your life, however, the person that will inherit your Legacy shall stand at the pinnacle of the Plane. He shall wield Mana with one hand and Qi with the other hand.¡± Shadya took a breath as she looked at Jack with a complex gaze, ¡°After he remembered this prophecy, he decided to leave behind several of these kinds of Cities. These cities all have another Treasury as well, this one is left behind by Master Raelag to aid you in your Path of Magic. Besides the Treasury, there are also the Protectors of this place.¡±


    Jack looked at Shadya with an agape jaw as he said, ¡°He truly did not leave anything up to chance, did he now?¡± Shadya nodded her head and said, ¡°As a Mage, you never leave anything up to chance like cultivators. Cultivators rely on luck to progress on their way but Mages are different. While cultivators try to understand the world around them, Mages try to find out the reason of why it is like that.¡± Jack nodded his head.


    This basic thing was the first thing that Jack was told about Mages by Raelag. Cultivators meditate on profound mysteries of Heavens and try to incorporate them to their techniques and cultivation. However, Mages try to understand why it works like that, for example why is a flame hot or why is ice cold. If they can understand the reason behind it, their spells will all incorporate the knowledge into themselves.


    For example, if Jack could understand the principle behind [Ice Fire] all of his flames would turn icy blue and gain the additional effect of being able to freeze a person. However, if a cultivator learns the method of producing [Ice Fire] they would need to do a lot of trial and error practise to incorporate it into techniques.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    However, Mages try to find the reason behind why it is [Ice Fire], how it works and on what principle it does that. After understanding the reason behind why it works like that, it is several times easier to incorporate it to various spells. ¡°Wields Mana in one hand and Qi in the other, huh¡­. I guess the prophecy isn¡¯t about me seeing as my dantian is shot.¡±


    As Jack slowly shook his head, Shadya however gave a slight smirk as she said, ¡°That may not be true. Seer¡¯s never spoke things clearly but in riddles.¡± Jack looked at Shadya in interest. From his knowledge, Shadya was someone that passed even Zhi and the rest in the matters of the world. For her to say something like this, she had some reason for doing so.


    Seeing Jack¡¯s gaze, Shadya explained, ¡°Mana, Qi are all names of the same Energy. How one perceives and uses it is the only difference. The Path of Magic is training the Soul to use Spells, however, the Path of Cultivation trains the body in close combat.¡±


    She took a breath as she looked at Jack seriously, ¡°Wields Magic in one hand, meaning that you follow the Path of Magic in training your Soul and have a large repertoire of Spells.¡± She raised one hand a small flame manifested on it. She then raised the other hand a whip appeared in it. The whip was covered in silver purple Energy.


    She then continued, ¡°Wields Qi in the other hand, meaning that you train your body according to the Path of Cultivation and are also strong in close combat.¡± After saying so, she lowered her hands and the flame and whip disappeared.


    She then concluded, ¡°Mages are innately weak in close combat because we do not have a way of training our bodies like Cultivators do. However, the strength of our Souls far exceeds that of Cultivators.¡± Jack fell into deep thought as he carefully thought over the words Shadya said.


    The more he thought about it, the more he realized what Shadya was talking about: A completely new Path that combined the Path of Magic and Path of Cultivation. Jack felt his scalp numb thinking about it. Creating a completely new Path was easier said than done. If before he had been considered as a genius in the Path of Cultivation, now his Path had been broken. He can¡¯t gather Energy in accordance to Cultivating Arts.


    However, he now had the Path of Magic. In a longer distance, it was far stronger than the Path of Cultivation. However, once the cultivator closed in one him, he was toast since his body was much weaker than theirs. To combine the Path of Magic and Path of Cultivation truly was something that may end up as something extremely strong.


    However, at the same time, it could end up the other way around. Since he divides his attention three ways by training in the Paths of Magic and Cultivation while at the same time trying to fuse them into one, he might end up with a mix mash that loses out even to those beneath his Realm. The reason a select few trained in the Offensive Arts and lets say Forging or Concocting was because it was very hard to be good at both, unless you were a genius in one or both.


    Jack gave a wry smile as he said, ¡°Creating a new Path is far, far too difficult. It may end up as something extraordinary but at the same time it may end up as a random mix mash that conflicts with one another.¡± As Jack said that, Shadya nodded her head as she said, ¡°The difficulty truly is different from following a set Path but no one reaches the pinnacle walking a paved road there.¡± Jack was startled by Shadya¡¯s words as he tried to discern whether she was trying to help him or not.


    Shadya then said, ¡°I¡¯ll head back to the Mask now. It was Master Raelag¡¯s order that if you don¡¯t have the confidence in paving a new Path, we don¡¯t need to force you. However, if you do try to pave the Path, we are to help you with all our might.¡± As she said that, the disappeared into the Mask before Jack could say anything else.


    Jack stood there for a moment staring at the spot Shadya disappeared from. Finally, he let out a sigh as he rubbed the bridge of his nose between his eyes. He took off the Mask and looked straight at it with a complex face. ¡°A new Path¡­.¡± He then put the Mask into the Spacial Ring he owned, something he had not done ever since he had obtained the Mask.


    He then went outside to to sit in the courtyard. He had a servant bring some tea to him as he was currently truly thinking over the idea of the new Path. All the Path¡¯s that had been discovered until now: Path of Cultivation, Path of Magic, Path of Buddhism, Path of Demonic Cultivation etc. None of the people that paved the Path knew what they were getting themselves into when they first started on the Path.


    To step on a completely new Path and pave the way for the next generations was something that required three things: Extraordinary amount of Talent, Confidence and Luck. Countless other¡¯s have tried to discover new Paths but how many have succeeded? Some died before reaching the end, some were eternally stuck because they took a wrong turn on their Path and some were still trying but not succeeding.


    Talent, he had that. Confidence was also not a problem but Luck¡­. Luck was intangible and there was no way of saying whether someone had good luck or bad luck. Jack¡¯s Luck can be considered good because he had survived many certain death situations and he also found the Mask, however looking at it from another point of view would be that his luck was extremely bad for getting himself mixed up in those situations in the first place.


    As Jack was deep in thought about whether to try paving this new Path or not, the little Poro next to Jack was running around the little courtyard, chasing butterflies and other insects. When Jack fell into deep thought, a glint passed in Nalser¡¯s eyes as he looked at Jack seriously.


    Soon after, a brightly lit crown tattoo appeared on his forehead. After the tattoo appeared on Nalser¡¯s forehead, it also appeared on Jack¡¯s. After the Crown appeared, Jack¡¯s frowning face returned to it¡¯s usual calm one as a mysterious energy unknowingly enveloped him and calmed him down.


    Seeing Jack clam down, the tattoo slowly disappeared and Nalser started running around like nothing had happened.

 Sorry again (again)

    I feel like I am doing this way too frequently lately.....(Those that do not care about the whole reason,skip to the Conclusion)


    Anyways, here''s the reason a few actually care about: 20 January is my Theoretical Exam to get my Proffession Certificate. To get a Proffession Certificate you need to do a Theoretical and a Practical Exam. The ones who evaluate the Exam''s are Independent Judges from various companies that have osmehting to do with the proffession. For example: I am a Car Painter, so the Judges will be several Certified Car Painter''s who work in a well known company and they will all stay impartial. So a teacher can''t drag a person that doesn''t know squat through the Certificate Exams.


    Practical Exam is something that I am not afraid of since I have practically worked as a Car painter for over a year and half now but the thing that does cause me a headache is the Theoretical Exam. In practise, you know the things you need to do but are they text book correct? The answer is probably not all the things you do are text book correct. Taking the subtle differences in work techniques into account, the PRactical Exam itself has much more leeway and is much less "by the book".If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    The Theoretical Exam is completely and utterly by the book. Yea they will forgive some things if the end result is still acceptable or you can justify the reason you did something the way you did.


    Basically, long story short: Since I have my Theoretical Exam coming up next Friday (January 20). I Will most likely not post any Chapters during work days but will try to post a few Chapters on Saturday and/or Sunday.


    So, I hope you understand this and are not going to go full on bitch and rampage mode.

 Chapter 22: A New Path [Part 2]

    Jack suddenly felt a cool, relaxing Energy run over him as he felt his mind calm down. When his mind calmed down, he could look at this objectively.


    ¡°Path of Magic is centred around training ones Soul. The higher level one reaches with their Soul, the higher their synchronisation rate with the Energy all around.¡± As Jack thought that to himself, he closed his eyes and tried to feel the Fire Energy in the air.


    He could feel the warm Energy hovering all around and as he tried to pull the Energy into his Crystal Core, it started rushing towards the Core, being assimilated into it. Raelag¡¯s Legacy had the Element of Fire, so it mainly used the Fire Energy in the surroundings to progress on his path.


    The Elemental Arts were actually high risk- high reward type of Arts because progressing in them was harder than in non elemental Arts because they would usually need a special environment to be cultivated in. It was very hard for someone training in Fire Element Arts to train somewhere that was covered in ice and snow. Jack stopped absorbing the Energy and opened his eyes.


    His eyes were serious as he thought to himself, ¡°I can¡¯t cultivate normal Art¡¯s as my dantian is wrecked. However, Body Refining Art¡¯s¡­.¡± When Jack thought about it this way, he suddenly felt that this new path wasn¡¯t completely impossible like he thought about it before.


    Although he couldn¡¯t gather the Qi into his Dantian any more, he could still walk down the Path of Body Refining. In their Cosmos, cultivators were divided into two major Path: Qi Cultivating and Body Refining.


    Jack had traversed the Qi Cultivating Path before as he gathered the Qi into his Dantian and mainly gathered Qi, purified it and used it to nurture his body. Qi Cultivating Path was many times easier than Body Refining and they had a larger variety of techniques they could use. However, it was very hard for a Qi Cultivator to triumph over a Body Refiner of the same stage as him.


    Body Refiner¡¯s literally cultivated their bodies and their speed of progress was slower than Qi Cultivators and their Path was many times harder but the rewards were also many times higher. Usually, a Body Refiner that didn¡¯t take shortcuts or cut corner¡¯s would easily be able to win against anyone in the same stage as them and have a fifty percent chance of winning against someone a stage higher than him.


    Jack suddenly realized something as he stood up and let out a bitter laugh, ¡°Seems like I truly am stupid¡­. Mages biggest weakness is their fragile bodies, meaning that in close combat, they are many times weaker than others. However, Body Refiner¡¯s specifically temper and cultivate their bodies but they lack strong ranged techniques.¡±


    A hint of smile appeared on his face as he thought to himself, ¡°If I combine the Path of Magic and Path of Body Refining, the road will be long but it will be very strong.¡± After thinking of the second Path to merge into his Path of Magic, Jack ordered one of the servants nearby to keep an eye on Nalser. Jack¡¯s Soul was linked to Nalser¡¯s and he knew where he was or whether he was in trouble or not from a far, Jack still didn¡¯t want to leave him all alone. The servant bowed and started looking after Nasler as Jack went back into the study.


    When he got back to the study, he took out the Mask from the Spacial Ring he had and focused his attention on the Mask. Suddenly, Jack disappeared as the Mask dropped to the floor. When Jack opened his eyes again, he was inside the Hall of Troops. Usually, only his consciousness would enter the Mask but since the Mask could hold other living beings, why couldn¡¯t he enter it? In reality he could and this was what he had done right now. When Jack appeared in the Hall, Shadya and Veyer immediately appeared in front of him. Jack looked at Shadya and said, ¡°I decided on the second Path that I want to merge into the Path of Magic.¡±


    Shadya¡¯s eyes opened wide as she stuttered, ¡°So fast...¡± Jack immediately explained what conclusion he had come to and also asked for their opinion. After Jack had finished his explanation, Shadya and Veyer looked at each other with a hint of shock evident in their eyes. Shadya finally said with a bitter smile, ¡°You truly are a monster. To reach this conclusion in such a short timespan.¡± Jack asked, ¡°Is something wrong?¡±


    Shadya shook her head as she answered him, ¡°No, this combination was also the one that Master Raelag found the most complementing of one another. However, it took him a lot of time to carefully ponder on the various actions and reactions of the two paths.¡±


    Jack nodded his head as he understood what she was talking about. Body Refining and the Buddhist Path was similar too. Buddhists trained their bodies like Body Refiners but their mentality was different, to them everything happens for a reason and if it happened like this, it was meant to be. It conflicted with the Path of Magic that researched the profound mysteries of the Plane. To progress and merge the two Path¡¯s would be very hard and actually the chances of being able to do so would be extremely miniscule.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Shadya then said, ¡°Since Master Raelag also reached the same conclusion as you did, he prepared some of the best Body Refining Art¡¯s that complement his own Flame Angel Art. Also, since Body Refiner¡¯s don¡¯t cultivate Qi but their bodies, there are no Soul Restrictions.¡± As Shadya said so seriously, Jack remembered what Raelag had told him about the Magus Soul and Cultivator¡¯s Soul and so on.


    In all honesty, he had forgotten about it until Shayda reminded him right now. He let out an awkward smile as he said, ¡°I forgot about that.¡± Shadya¡¯s eyes opened wide as she wanted to say something. However, she closed her mouth because she could not find any reason to rebuke Jack. Jack was only so young and he had gotten all of the information a few month¡¯s ago. To add to that, the information was something collected by a Sage level Mage for countless years, so expect someone to remember all of it in the span of a few months was something ludicrous.


    They chatted a bit more and even Veyer said a few words in, then Shadya explained to Jack how to connect to the Crown of Desolates. The Crown of Desolates held all of Raelag¡¯s knowledge, experiences, understandings of the world and so on.


    After trying a few times, Jack managed to create a connection between himself and the Crown. Shadya even explained to him that he could connect to the Crown without entering the Mask. So, when Jack learned of it, he went out of the Mask and after checking up on Nalser, he entered the library.


    The Crown of Desolates had the space similar to the Library in build and all the knowledge was stored in the form of books. Jack could easily withdraw these books and read them outside. So to not arouse much suspicions to the prying eyes, he chose the library to read the books. Soul Artefacts were extremely precious and rare Artefacts, maybe Zhi and the others wouldn¡¯t try to obtain it but the outside Clan¡¯s and Sect¡¯s were a different story all together.


    Should they learn that Jack was in possession of a Soul Artefact, who knew what they would so? Some crazier ones may even assault Virbeth with full force to obtain it. As Jack was thinking along these lines, Shadya suddenly transmitted to his mind, ¡°If you are afraid of prying eyes, it is easy to deal with them.¡± Jack¡¯s eyes opened wide as he asked back, ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°Easy, bind the City and you will be able to activate all the Defensive Formations and block out anyone, even from inside the City.¡± Shayda said in a sly voice. Jack thought about it for a second and then smiled as he asked for the detailed steps on how to bind the City. Binding Virbeth was several times harder because the way the Core worked was different from Cultivators Formations.


    After Shadya gave a step by step explanation on how to bind the City, Jack could only let out a sigh of admiration. Usually, Formation¡¯s could be bound by slowly flooding the Core with Qi or by ¡°brute forcing¡± the Qi into the Core to wipe out the previous Master¡¯s Mark.


    Virbeth¡¯s Core however was directly connected to the Crown of Desolates. Without the Crown, you would have no way of binding the City even with brute force. In simpler terms it could be explained it like this: Usually, there was only one Core that could be bound and it would control the entire Formation. However, Virbeth¡¯s Core was divided into two portions, the Core itself and Crown that served as the Key to it. Without the Crown, hoping to bind the City was nothing more than a pipe dream.


    Jack thought to himself, ¡°Raelag was seriously and utterly meticulous in these kinds of things¡­.¡± It was easy to see that Raelag did not leave even one simple thing up to chance from all the preparations he had done. All the books were written in Ashan so no one else would be able read them. Only those that were from the Cosmos of Asha would be able to but what were the chances of someone from the Cosmos of Asha to actually come here to read these books? Practically nil.


    To make sure that his successor would have a safe Haven, he left behind mountain loads of resources and the City. Besides the Troops themselves, the City itself was nigh impregnable fortress with the Formations far surpassing every other in the Cosmos and besides that, there were also the Protectors.


    Unless Jack managed to piss off a Heaven Realm or equivalent practitioner, there was very little danger for him inside the City. Shadya and Veyer themselves were also at the Dao Seeking Realm, so even Dao Seeking Realm practitioners weren¡¯t a danger if they came alone. After getting the directions, Jack went to the room that stored the City Core.


    It was at the basement of the Manor and even an Origin Realm practitioner couldn¡¯t find it without special techniques. Dao Seeking practitioners may be able to brute force their way into the room if they came with the will to die but which one of the experts that have managed to reach such a level would be willing to discard their lives for a single City?


    Jack however had the Crown of Desolates, so all the security Formations did not impend him. When Jack reached the Core Room, he was quite breathless of the scene in front of him. The room wasn¡¯t big, only about twenty to thirty square meter¡¯s, but in the centre of the room was an extremely complicated Magic Formation that had millions upon millions of various lines criss crossing with each other.


    Jack knew that the more complicated a Magic Formation was, the higher level it was. Of the millions of lines that criss crossed with each other, only a few were lit up meaning that they were currently active. The rest were dim meaning that they were currently inactive. In the dead centre of the Formation was a little crystal ball inside which countless little brightly lit runes were revolving around at high speeds.


    The runes were what made up the Formation and the crystal ball was something that acted as the container for all of the runes. Jack couldn¡¯t help but admire Raelag¡¯s talents in Magic Formations to be able to come up with a Formation as complicated as this one.

 Chapter 23: Binding Virbeth

    Jack carefully looked at all the interweaving lines that made up the Magic Formation as if trying to memorize it. The more complicated a Formation was, the more elements were added to it and researching a Magic Formation like that would be a very good eye opener.


    As Jack studied the Formation, Shadya appeared next to him and said, ¡°That crystal ball is the Core of Virbeth¡¯s Formations.¡± As she said that, she pointed towards the crystal ball hovering in the middle of the Magic Formation. Jack raised his head and asked, ¡°I just have to send my Energy into the Crown and it will open a path to the Core for me?¡± Shadya nodded her head. She had explained to Jack how the binding process of Virbeth exactly worked. This Magic Formation itself was a defence mechanism that did not allow any unauthorized personal close to the Core. Without the Crown, the moment you step on Magic Formation that was inscribed to the ground, someone of Jack¡¯s level would die in less than an instant.


    Jack seriously looked at the Core as he focused on sending Energy to the Crown in order to make a connection to the Core. At first nothing happened but after a moment passed, some brightly lit runes rose up from the Formation on the ground. The hovered above the Magic formation as if they were little stepping platforms. Jack looked at Shadya and Shadya in return nodded her head.


    After seeing the nod, Jack took a deep breath as he stepped on one of the runes. He felt relief wash over him when the expected death did not come. The Formation acted as if he didn¡¯t even exist there and Jack quickly jumped from one rune to another and made his way to the middle of the Formation, where the Core was.


    When he reached the Core, he took a deep breath before gently putting his hand on the crystal ball. After putting his hand on the ball, he simultaneously sent his Energy through his palm to the Core and into the Crown of Desolates. He kept pouring his Energy into the two as the two started shaking slightly, forming a resonance with each other.


    After a few minutes passed, Jack suddenly felt himself connected to the Core. That exact moment, all the dim lights that were inscribed into the ground slowly started lighting up one after another. Some of the lines were as thick and wide as grown man¡¯s pinky finger, however some were like a strand of hair.


    When the Formation fully lit up, the whole City knew that something had happened. The Energy density in the City immediately quadrupled and also, the Energy far purer than before. Also, above the city walls, a dome like light screen formed and at the seven city entrances all lit up with a different colour. Everyone were exceedingly flustered about what was happening but what happened next shocked them even more.


    As the gatehouses lit up, a majestic roar of a dragon echoed out through the world. From each of the gatehouses a dragon of energy flew up into the sky and converged at the highest, centremost point of the dome of light.


    The sight of seven majestic dragons with a suffocating aura merging into the light screen as if they were the city¡¯s eternal protectors, standing guard over Virbeth until the end of time, was deeply inscribed into everyone¡¯s heart and Soul.


    ***


    In a luxurious office, a plump man was standing by the window, looking at the magnificent sight. There was a hint of smile on his face as he murmured, ¡°Well, he was able to bind it even faster than I thought¡­.¡±


    Although he had a smile on his face, in his eyes, there was a nostalgic gaze. ¡°Divine Protection of the Seven Dragons¡­.¡± As he murmured that, he looked at the seven dragons that had just reached each other.


    ***


    In the northern district of Virbeth was a luxurious mansion that occupied a huge piece of land. Underneath the mansion, a mummy like old man was sitting cross legged. The moment the light screen started forming, the old mummy that lacked all signs of life, suddenly opened his eyes.


    They were venomous as he stared directly at the centre point of the Dome. ¡°Seems like our plans have complicated themselves.¡± As he murmured that, anger was evident in his tone as he fished out a Communication Seal and immediately used it.


    ***


    Similar scenes played out in all of the major Clan¡¯s mansions as they had been eyeing Virbeth for quite a long time already. Normal people might not know the situation behind Virbeth and believe that it was firmly in Dragon Cross¡¯s hand, however, all these major Clan¡¯s and Sect¡¯s had their ways of finding out about the truth behind the facade. Ever since they learned that Dragon Cross couldn¡¯t actually bind Virbeth, they all set up a base here in hopes of being the ones that manage to do it.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Currently, the main reason Merchant Hall was situated here was entirely to keep the Clans and Sects in line. However, too long has passed and the Clans and Sects have managed to firmly root themselves into the City, making it hard for even Dragon Cross to keep them in line. Virbeth was a City left behind by Raelag, a City that held an enormous amount of fortune, so the greedy eyes that targeted this plump sheep were many.


    A few more decades and it would have been very hard for Dragon Cross to keep control of Virbeth without going into a full out war with the Clans and Sects. Usually, it would not be a problem but currently, Dragon Cross couldn¡¯t afford to hold a war. This was the main reason Zhi sent Jack here, he believed that he would be able to bind the City and take full control of it.


    That¡¯s why they also sent Shu and ten Origin Realm experts here, to make sure nothing serious happened. As for the Blood Immortal Conclave, it was like a headless chicken.


    Blood Immortal was dead, every higher up was either dead or captured by Dragon Cross, their Headquarters were destroyed, so they posed no danger at all. Everyone that could even be a relative threat to Jack was dead, so there was no need to station such a big force here.


    Every major power knew that but if they voiced it out loud, it would earn the ire of Dragon Cross and all of it¡¯s allies. If they moved some of their own Origin Realm Expert¡¯s here, it would be the same as picking a fight with Dragon Cross, so that was also not an option.


    Their only option left was to grit their teeth and try to find a way to lure Jack to their side.


    ***


    After the binding of the Core was done, Jack opened his eyes as a cold glint passed through it. Probably no one else, even Zhi and Shu didn¡¯t know, that Virbeth was one giant Magic Formation. Since Jack was now connected to the Core, he was directly connected to the City, he knew exactly what was going on where. He knew all about the various Clans and Sects that were eyeing the Core and how they were all currently making plans on how to lure him to their side or if he refused, how to kill him.


    Jack let out a cold smile as a hundred pointy eared slender men appeared before him. They all gave a salute and waited for the order. Shadya opened her eyes wide but before she could ask anything, Jack gave an order to the hundred men, ¡°Thoroughly research the background of all of the major Clans and Sects. I want to know who exactly stand behind each power and how strong they really are.¡± Jack¡¯s voice echoed out in the stone room as the hundred men suddenly gave another salute and disappeared into thin air without making a sound.


    These hundred pointy eared men were the Dark Elf Scouts. They specialized in sneaking around and collecting information, so these guys were the perfect men for the job.


    Jack¡¯s voice had been as cold and ruthless as the time he was working for Hidden Dragon. He had never been afraid of fighting anyone else, especially if they wanted to kill him. He did not care about the circumstances but all these Clans and Sects were making plans on killing him, so it would be a joke to just stand aside and let them carry on as they please.


    Especially in Virbeth, this City was something his Master had left behind for him and no one else in the Cosmos had the knowledge or means to bind this City. Back when he was in Hidden Dragon, he had not been afraid of offending people and powers stronger than he himself was, why should he be afraid now that Dragon Cross was firmly standing behind his back.


    Even if Dragon Cross didn¡¯t stand behind him, he still had Shadya and Veyer alongside the Troops, so survival wouldn¡¯t be a problem. There were times to rely on yourself and there were also times when you needed to rely on your backing. Jack himself wouldn¡¯t be enough to fight all the Sects and Clans eyeing Virbeth but Dragon Cross was.


    This City was completely under Jack¡¯s control and if anyone tried to do anything to him inside the City, death will be their only road left. This wasn¡¯t Jack being arrogant or condescending but rather this City was something his Master left into the care of Dragon Cross until his successor came. Even if it had been someone else, someone from the other Clans or Sects, Zhi and the rest would not have stopped the person that obtained Raelag¡¯s Legacy from binding the City. It is a crime for a beggar to treasure a jade ring¡­.


    It didn¡¯t matter who was right and who was wrong, the winner is King and the loser was the Thief. Since they want to pick a fight with Jack on his home turf, he wasn¡¯t the kind take it lying down. Inside the City, they people that were currently here were no problem to deal with, however, Jack needed to know how stronger their backing was and how big of a headache this was going to be.


    Depending on the strength of their backing, he might just expel them from the City with some random excuse or even go as far as killing them. Some people were worth more alive than dead and there were many ways of dealing with major Clans and Sects. After giving the order to the Scouts, Jack briefly explained the situation to Shadya and Veyer.


    The two of them also had grim face on as they were enraged by the attitude of the major Sect and Clans. Veyer said, ¡°Seems like just because Dragon Cross is currently conserving strength for the Planar War, some ant¡¯s think that Dragon Cross is a tiger without fangs.¡±


    The anger in Veyer¡¯s voice was obvious but what piqued Jack¡¯s interest were the words ¡°Planar War¡±. Jack immediately asked, ¡°What is the Planar War? What¡¯s Dragon Cross¡¯s role in it?¡± Veyer¡¯s face fell as he realized that he had said a bit too much. He thought about it for a moment and then sighed, ¡°Ask about that from the fat man Shu or what his face was. We have only heard of it, we have never taken part of it, so he would be able to give you a better explanation.¡±


    Jack nodded his head slowly as he made a mental note of asking about this Planar War from Shu when he saw him next time.

 Chapter 24: Planar Wars

    After gaining full control of the city, Jack headed back to his study room. Being a City Lord wasn¡¯t simply partying and entertaining people but rather you had to actually work as well. Currently, he did not tangle with the budgets for the various departments or developments but rather brought himself up to speed with all the previous records. Currently, he was looking over the stack of papers that were the complied list of all the City Security related reports.


    The stack of paper¡¯s was divided into three sections: Thefts, frauds(tax evasion, false merchandise etc.) and fights. There weren¡¯t a lot of thefts and frauds thanks to Dragon Cross¡¯s strict supervision and people¡¯s over all knowledge on the things they wished to buy but the number of fights was actually astonishingly high.


    What made Jack burrow his brow was that most of these were related to fights between various other Major Clans and Sects or them fighting against Dragon Cross. It was obvious that the various Clans and Sects were actually putting pressure on Dragon Cross by having their younger generations ¡°duel¡± Dragon Cross members. Dragon Cross was a large, actually the largest, Sect in the entire Cosmos.


    The number of Disciples Dragon Cross had was nearly uncountable and to equally develop the entire Sect¡¯s juniors was impossible even if Dragon Cross had thousands of times more resources. Those that were strong in these situations were not in Virbeth, they were either out tempering themselves or cultivating at the Headquarters.


    Taking advantage of Merchant Hall not having any combat oriented Disciples, the Clans and Sects frequently request duels with them and basically cream them. This has caused quite a feud between the Dragon Cross Disciples and the various Sects and Clans, even causing them to fight when they see each other in the City.


    There was once even a prominent Disciple in the Merchant Hall that got himself crippled as an aftermath of a duel like that. When Merchant Hall went to demand an explanation, all they got as answer was, ¡°Oops, you know youngsters, they can¡¯t hold back their fists.¡± Reading this particular report, Jack¡¯s mood became even worse than before.


    Finally, after reading through the entire stack, he let out a long deep sigh as he mumbled, ¡°These pricks need to be taught a lesson...¡±


    ¡°Yes they do.¡± Immediately after Jack¡¯s murmur, a grim voice sounded in the room. Startled, Jack raised his head and saw a plump man sitting on the couch. Recognising the figure of Shu, Jack relaxed a little. However, he still pondered how he had got into the room without Jack even noticing.


    Jack tried to connect to the Core and feel his presence then but all he could do was feel that he was still in the Merchant Hall Headquarters. This made him quite puzzled as he looked at Shu with a tilted head. Shu just smiled as he said, ¡°You must be wondering why you can¡¯t feel my presence here?¡± Jack slowly nodded his head, indicating that it truly was what was on his mind.


    Shu smiled and said, ¡°Well, this is a simple Incarnation Technique. This ¡°being¡± you see in front of you is completely made of Energy, so it is no surprise that you can¡¯t ¡°feel¡± it.¡± As Shu stated matter-of-factly, his gaze wandered to the stack of papers on Jack¡¯s table.


    He then said seriously, ¡°You truly are hard working. You immediately started going through the records.¡± Jack then also looked at the stack of papers before smiling bitterly, ¡°Well, I wanted to know what I got myself involved in.¡±


    Shu nodded his head as he praised Jack in his heart, ¡°No wonder Master has such high expectations of him. Even though he had all the time in the world to look over those past documents, he did it so fast.¡± After thinking about that, Shu looked at Jack seriously as he asked, ¡°So, what are your thoughts after reading those reports?¡± Hearing the question, Jack just let out a deep sigh as he shook his head, ¡°I have no idea what is going through those idiots heads¡­.¡±


    Shu was startled by the answer but before he could even let out a smirk, Jack started explaining, ¡°First of all, it doesn¡¯t matter whether this City is bound by Dragon Cross or not, they had no right to contest over it like they currently have been.¡± Hearing Jack¡¯s explanation, Shu nodded his head indicating that he understood the reason Jack thought as he did.


    Seeing this, Jack continued, ¡°Second of all, what is the merit of picking a fight with Merchant Hall?¡± Shu¡¯s eyes narrowed as he asked, ¡°Explain it in more detail.¡± Jack just said, ¡°Well, Merchant Hall is compromised of non-combat oriented people. What so called ¡°honour¡± can those Clans and Sects obtain from throwing their pampered and spoiled ¡°prodigies¡± against people that have next to nothing to do with combat?¡±


    As Jack asked it like that, Shu just started laughing loudly as he answered him, ¡°Completely right! However, you missed one crucial point in the second one.¡± Hearing this, Jack¡¯s ears perked up as he asked, ¡°What point?¡±Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    Shu put on a serious expression again as he said, ¡°Dragon Cross is the biggest Sect in the Cosmos. Even though we are divided into Four Halls that develop in different directions, all of our Halls are strong. Since all our Halls are strong, they try to undermine our reputation by picking on our weakest links, in this case, the Merchant Hall.¡± Hearing the explanation, Jack¡¯s confusion cleared up a bit.


    What Shu said was actually right, even though the Four Halls all had different directions in their cultivation paths, all Four Halls were without a doubt strong. However, from Shu¡¯s words, Jack understood the big ¡°but¡± that was in the sentence. The Four Halls are all strong BUT only the Enforcement Halls junior generation was stronger than other Sects and Clans. The other three Halls had a strong senior generation that no one dared to pick a fight with but their juniors were quite average in strength and were quite a bit weaker than those prominent brats specifically nurtured and spoon fed since young by their Sects or Clans.


    Merchant Hall was in charge of dealing with finances and resources of the Sect, so their main focus when grooming juniors was management and trading. Forging Hall was in charge of Artefact Forging, so their juniors had to learn a vast number of metals/woods/other resources and their properties used in forging. Healing Hall was in charge of dealing with the injured of Dragon Cross and also Pill/Elixir Concocting. Their main focus in grooming their juniors was making sure they understood a persons body inside and out with being able to recognise all sorts of herbs.


    Besides the Enforcement Hall, none of the three other Halls focused on personal cultivation or fighting techniques. What the Major Clans and Sects were currently doing, repeatedly requesting duels with Merchant Hall Disciples, was akin to having a grandmaster swordsman duel with farmers for the title of Champion.


    Jack then shook his head as he could see the logic in Shu¡¯s words but still had one helpless opinion of his, ¡°Third point why I think that these guys are all idiots, is simple: No alliance has been able to topple the firm position Dragon Cross has climbed to, why in the Seven Hells do they think that they are qualified to actually pick a fight with us so blatantly?¡±


    Hearing this reason, Shu laughed even harder than before and then said, ¡°Well said! They actually do not hold any qualification but rather they know that because our Sect is going to take part in the Planar War soon, we have no other option than to endure for the moment.¡± Jack¡¯s brows furrowed as the term ¡°Planar War¡± was mentioned again.


    Jack asked in a slightly irritated tone, ¡°Are you going to tell me what the hell is a Planar War?¡± Shu seemed to have expected this as he smugly answered, ¡°You see, there are other Planes out there besides our own. A fight between Planes is called a Planar War and they are held at fixed intervals. Every 100 billion years, every Plane has a chance to challenge another Plane.¡±


    Shu then took a deep breath, ¡°If the Challenger wins, they gain control of the loser¡¯s Plane until the next War but if they lose, they have to pay an extremely huge amount of resources as tribute. In addition, a Plane can only be challenged once every ten Wars by the same Plane no matter the outcome.¡± Jack raised his hand as he said, ¡°Wow, wow, wow, stop! Give me a moment.¡±


    Jack then closed his eyes as he quickly went over all of the things Shu had just said and established a logical connection between them. Shu however looked a little embarrassed as he thought back to the rapid talking he did.


    He gave no chance for Jack to understand what he was talking about before he dumped new information on him. Learning from his mistake, he continued with breathers in between as he saw that Jack indicated for him to continue.


    He took a breath as he continued, ¡°There is no way to stay at the sidelines of the Planar War and that goes for us as well. Our Dragon Cross will deploy 4 out of 5 Dao Seeking experts on our side alongside with 90 percent of the Origin Realm experts. Every other major power has to deploy at least 80 percent of their Origin Realm experts.¡±


    Jack fell into thought as Shu took a little break to let it all sink into Jack. It would take no fool to realize that if Dragon Cross sent out all of their Dao Reserve, then it would be screwed. Jack raised his head in confusion but before he could ask, Shu seemed to know what he was thinking about as he said, ¡°During a Planar War, all fighting amongst the powers of the Cosmoses is strictly forbidden. Should for example we go to participate in the War and come back to Dragon Cross being destroyed and all of our resources distributed, the Heavenly Cosmoses would send us reinforcements to annihilate all the powers involved and rebuild Dragon Cross.¡±


    Hearing this, Jack was surprised. It seemed like the Planar War was something extremely important for the lofty Heaven Cosmoses to come to their help if something happens to the bases of the powers participating in the war. Jack asked, ¡°Do all of the other power¡¯s know this as well.¡±


    Shu nodded as he said, ¡°Yes, the Planar War is something that directly determines the fate of a Plane. How can we give our all in the War if we have to worry about our home being ransacked while we are gone?¡±


    Jack nodded his head in enlightenment after hearing Shu¡¯s explanation. Jack then asked, ¡°What are the requirements to participate in the War? Are there any rewards in return?¡± Shu crossed his hands on his chest as he said, ¡°Well, for cultivators, they have to at least reach the Origin Realm. However, Origin Realm people are the basic soldiers with Dao Seeking being the Commanders and Heaven Realm being the Generals. The rewards are directly tied to your contributions. The higher your contributions, the more things you can exchange for. However, for Wizards, it is different.¡±


    Hearing this, Jack¡¯s ears perked up as he felt that something very unpleasant was coming his way. ¡°Usually, someone at the level of Wizard has to take part in the War but in your case specifically, you have to participate at the stage of ArchMage.¡±


    Hearing this, Jack stood up as he slammed his hands on the table, ¡°Why in the fucking Seven Hells do I have to participate when I am so weak?!¡±

 Chapter 25: Genius Tactician

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to talk to you of this so soon, so wait a moment. I¡¯ll come here with my real body.¡± As Shu said that, the Energy Projection itself disappeared. Jack was still quite bewildered and pissed off. Why in the world would he have to go and take part in a fight where every single footsoldier can kill him with a snort?


    Jack then decided that all the questions would be answered after Shu arrived, so he was going to make sure that no ¡°unexpected surprises¡± wait for him again. Jack went to the little courtyard where Nalser was still running around and seeing the little Poro run around without a care in a world was quite relaxing.


    As he picked up Nalser, he told the servant that was watching over Nalser to bring two cups of tea to the study. The servant immediately went to carry out the order as Jack picked Nalser up and headed towards the study.


    When he reached the study, Shu hadn¡¯t arrived yet, so Jack summoned Shadya and Veyer. The two of them didn¡¯t have a nice face either as it seemed like they knew why Jack summoned them. Before Jack could ask anything, Shadya sighed, ¡°For this thing, you can thank Master Raelag. His contributions in the previous Wars secured a victory to our Plane without a big threat.¡±


    Hearing this, Jack¡¯s brows perked up as he asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t Veyer say that you guys didn¡¯t take part in the War before?¡± Shadya shook her head as she said, ¡°We have taken part of it before but we strictly followed Master¡¯s orders and never left the base. We do not know how the War is exactly as we never fought on the front lines.¡±


    Hearing this, Jack sighed deeply. Just as he was about to ask Shadya more specifically about what Raelag had done to earn such respect, there was a knock on the door and Shu entered a moment later. When Shu entered, his eyes fell on Veyer and Shadya. Shu¡¯s eyes grew wide as he asked, ¡°You have gained full control of the Mask?¡±


    Jack, realizing his mistake, could only put on a bitter smile as he said, ¡°Yes, I have. However, there is still a limit on how many Troops I can summon and for how long.¡± Hearing this Shu nodded his head as it would be too unfair if he could summon armies that rival any major Clan or Sect while only being an Acolyte. Jack waved his hand and Shadya and Veyer disappeared into the Mask again. Nalser was the most carefree of the bunch as he had curled himself up on the table and was currently taking a nap.


    Jack gestured Shu to take a cup of tea as he asked seriously, ¡°So, tell me now.¡± Shu took a sip as he rearranged his thoughts for a moment. He then slowly opened his mouth and said, ¡°You were asked to participate in the war as a ArchMage for one simple reason: Your Master is, or rather was, Raelag.¡±


    Jack wasn¡¯t surprised to hear this as Shadya had said the same thing only moment before. Shu then continued, ¡°Raelag was a genius in military planning and in strategic troop deployment. That skill only paled in comparison to his skill with Magic Formations.¡±


    Jack raised his brow as he asked, ¡°Just because he was a genius in those two doesn¡¯t mean that I am as well.¡± Shu slowly shook his head and said, ¡°I do not know what Raelag has told you but besides obtaining the approval of Dark Elves and Demons, you had to obtain his own approval as well. Knowing him, he would rather let his Legacy perish into the forgotten annals of history rather than pass it down to a mediocre person.¡±


    Jack stayed quiet as he kept looking at Shu with a serious gaze. He didn¡¯t doubt Shu¡¯s words but rather, he knew that Raelag treasured his troops more than his pride. Jack being able to inherit his Legacy might have been due to a fluke for all he knew. He had no idea how long Raelag¡¯s Memory Fragment had left or much he had lowered his original bar by the time that Jack came to the horizon.


    Every powerful Expert had their own certain standards that were needed to be fulfilled for a person to be accepted as their disciple. The bar was even higher for people that were looking for Legacy Disciples. He had no idea whether he was up to Raelags original standards or whether he had lowered the bar by a bit or a lot. Jack looked at Shu seriously and asked, ¡°So, we agree that he was a genius in the Path of Magic but let me ask you this, what does that have to do with me? I am just an Acolyte that only has Raelags memoires not his direct teachings.¡±


    Shu looked at Jack seriously and then waved his hand to set up a barrier to block out every pair of sharp ears or prying eyes. Although it was unnecessary because Jack had completely isolated this room, the whole mansion to be exact, however, better safe than sorry.


    Shu looked at Jack seriously and said, ¡°The next War will take place in exactly 221 years. During that time, with your talent and the resources/help you possess, it is easy for you to reach the ArchMage level. It was the Heavenly Patriarch¡¯s personal request that we do everything in our power to help you reach that level in the next two hundred years.¡±The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    Jack furrowed his brows as he asked, ¡°Heavenly Patriarch?¡± Shu nodded his head and took a sip of tea as he said, ¡°You inheriting Raelag¡¯s Legacy is known to all the Heavenly Emperors and the strongest powers in Major Cosmoses. Because of the need for a strong and good Chief-in-Command, everyone agreed to give you resources and also send a few people to guard you. They are also in charge of giving you guidance if you need it.¡±


    Jack¡¯s brows furrowed even more as he said coldly, ¡°You still haven¡¯t told me about the Heavenly Patriarch.¡± Shu looked at Jack with a serious gaze because he could feel that he was becoming more and more impatient. He couldn¡¯t blame him either because the pressure that would be on his shoulders during the War was immense, so all he could do was try to prepare him as best as he could and have him accept this responsibility.


    Shu then said, ¡°The Heavenly Patriarch is the Representative of our Plane. He was the first person to become the Heavenly Emperor and even until now, his personal strength is something that the other Heavenly Emperors can¡¯t stand up to even if they band together. In our Plane, his word is Law no matter which Cosmos it is.¡± Saying it like that, Jack¡¯s face fell as he realized that the Patriarch isn¡¯t someone that he can just tell to piss off.


    Although Jack was quite fearless, he wasn¡¯t a suicidal idiot that didn¡¯t know when to take a step back and come to an agreement. Even though the Heavenly Patriarch basically ordered him to become an ArchMage in two hundred years and take command of the Planar War, he also made sure that Jack had enough resources to do so. Also, although the guidance of others wouldn¡¯t be as useful to him, another person¡¯s opinion was always something that may trigger an insight. Jack calmed down a bit and looked at it objectively, he was someone they needed but why him?


    Jack asked Shu, ¡°I understand that the War is important and Raelag was the Chief-In-Command during the Wars because of his talent at troop deployment and magic formations but isn¡¯t it a bit too ludicrous to expect me to be on Raelag¡¯s level in only two hundred years? Raelag got his personal experiences over countless years he roamed the Plane with his Troops.¡±


    Shu let out a sigh as he said, ¡°We do not expect you to be on Raelag¡¯s level because that would be completely impossible to accomplish in such a short time frame. To be honest, several Cosmoses have tried to groom people that could take Raelag¡¯s position but they all failed.¡± He shook his head as he slightly raised his hands in helplessness.


    Jack looked at Shu in confusion as he asked, ¡°How is it possible to fail?¡± Shu sighed again as he said, ¡°They aren¡¯t able to adapt to the situation good enough and even though they have good plans, they focus on success rather than survival. Textbook formations and deployments, yes they are good but they are too predictable. If your plans are too predictable, the enemy can easily capitalize on this and counter every single thing you do.¡±


    Jack nodded his head as he understood the problem. The most important thing on the battlefield was to maximise the chance of success with also minimizing casualties on your side. No one wants to follow a general that prioritizes success over minimizing casualties. There were times when you had no other choice but to have great casualties in order to succeed but for it to happen always¡­.


    Also, the battlefield was ever changing and a good method of discerning a good general from a bad one was to see how well they cope with all the changes on the battlefield. A general has to always think three steps ahead with every move he makes. Should something unpredictable happen that may turn the tide in the enemies favour, you need to be able to quickly counter that and prevent your forces from collapsing. However, with the battlefield changing every second, it was very hard to do and every mistake will only worsen your situation.


    Jack thought about it and murmured, ¡°Elite troops will lose to farmer troops if their commander is incompetent.¡±


    Shu nodded his head and said, ¡°Raelag was the best of the best our Plane has ever had. He was able to counter every single move made by the enemy in the most efficient way. Our casualty rate was practically non existent if you think about the scale of the war. Hundreds of millions Origin Realm people take part of the War on our side but every time Raelag was in charge of troops, the casualty rate was only hundred or so Origin Realm people per War.¡±


    Jack¡¯s eyes opened wide as his mouth fell open. The casualty rate was only a hundred or so? That was truly non existent casualty rate if there were hundreds of millions of Origin Realm experts fighting there. Jack now understood why they had so high hopes for him, he had access to Raelags Legacy, the person that created this miracle.


    They didn¡¯t expect him to replicate this kind of a miracle performance but his chances of performing a better job was several times higher than the other groomed ones because he had access to Raelags records on the war and what was going through his mind. Jack had only glanced at those records back then because he thought that they were only some records on the battles he had done in the Ashan Cosmos.


    Jack let out a deep breath as he said, ¡°You do realize the amount of pressure you are putting on my shoulders with this, right?¡± Shu only gave an apologetic smile as he said, ¡°I do understand. That is also why you will get near unlimited resources and from what I heard, some Heaven Cosmoses will even send a Heaven Profound expert to guard you. You only need to focus on improving your own strength and also absorbing all of Raelag¡¯s knowledge that he left behind for you.¡±


    Jack nodded his head as he asked, ¡°Why did Island Master not tell me about this before?¡± Shu understood that Jack was wondering why he wasn¡¯t told of this before, when all of the higher ups were present.


    Shu thought about it for a second and then just helplessly sighed, ¡°We were planning on letting you settle in and sort out your future path for the next few years before we told you about all of this but you are a bit too hard working and have already reached the milestone we thought would take a year or two to reach.¡±

 Chapter 26: The banquet [Part 1]

    Jack put on a wry smile as he asked, ¡°Now that your plans have been accelerated, what are we going to do with these Clans and Sects?¡± Shu thought about it and sighed, ¡°Currently, we do not have the luxury of playing king.¡± Hearing that, Jack sighed as well as he understood that they did not have the option of losing someone from the Dao Reserve, neither did they have the option of having someone grievously injured.


    Jack wanted to say something but was stopped by the serious look in Shu¡¯s eyes as Shu said, ¡°However, that does not mean that we are paper tigers. This is your City, you make the rules here and Dragon Cross stand completely behind your back if you need it.¡± Jack was startled by Shu¡¯s words because he left everything up to Jack.


    If Jack decided to kick them all out of the City or execute them, Dragon Cross would definitely stand behind his back and be the ones to do so if these guys resisted. Jack¡¯s mouth twisted into a wry smile as he realized that he had overthought it before.


    Jack was the person completely in charge of City after binding the City. He can also issue some of his own rules or modify the existing ones as long as they aren¡¯t too overbearing or conflict with Dragon Cross¡¯s own rules. Jack then thought of several different possibilities on how to deal with all the Clans and Sects.


    What those guys valued the most was face and their own petty honour. They would go around screaming justice, justice but are no worse than bandits when no one is looking. This was what Jack hated the most about cultivators, they were way too two faced. If you dare to do something, own up to it instead of finding excuses trying to glorify yourself.


    Seeing the sun starting to set, Shu stood up and said, ¡°Well, I have told you all about the Planar Wars and if you have no questions, I will take my leave now.¡± Jack nodded his head and stood up to send him out. He may be the City Lord now but basic manners go a long way.


    When Jack and Shu reached the Mansion gates, Shu remembered something as he turned to Jack and said, ¡°The ceremony is going to be held the day after tomorrow. I will come to pick you up a few hours before the start.¡± Jack nodded his head and seeing Jack understand what he said, Shu smiled and bade goodbye as he started going towards the Merchant Hall. Jack thought for a second before he went back in.


    The next couple of days, no major incidents happened and Jack immersed himself in looking over the records of the Planar Wars. Quickly time passed and the day of the Ceremony arrived. In the City, all the inns and restaurants were filled with people discussing the new City Lord. Jack however, wasn¡¯t concerned about that at all because he was currently sitting at the head seat in a large hall.


    All the ceremonial activities and everyone handing over their gifts had been completed with only the traditional feast still being underway. Up until now, Jack had gotten 13 invitations to join other organizations and 11 ¡°warnings¡± saying that accidents may always happen and he should watch his back as the remnants of the Blood Immortal Conclave are still running around. If Jack didn¡¯t know that these fellows all had discussed the best way of killing him a few days before, he would have been thankful of their good will.


    However, since he knew what these peoples true colours were, he could only laugh at their hypocrisy in his heart. Although Jack had not started training again, he still had the fleshly body nurtured by Qi before.


    Even though all these old fellows tried to slightly pressure him with their presence, he was not perpetuated in the least. This made some of the smarter Clans and Sects wary as they decided that they would take the passive stance in this matter. All the Clans and Sects that took the passive stance were the ones that didn¡¯t try their hardest to obtain the City, so they had not caused much problems either.


    Since they didn¡¯t give their hardest in trying to take over Virbeth, they did not have any problems with Jack either. Jack enjoyed talking with these kinds of people the most because they were not as short sighted and as they built their relationship with Jack, they also talked about business. Jack was just chatting with one of this kind of Sect.


    The Sect¡¯s name was Jade Maiden Sect and they only accepted female disciples. They were well known for their beautiful disciples and their Jade Lotus¡¯s. Jade Lotus¡¯s were multifunctional Artefacts that were pretty to look at but at the same time had a practical value. Currently, the person that the Jade Maiden Sect and her disciple were talking to Jack about opening a shop inside the City.


    They needed to have Jack¡¯s permission to set up shop inside the City and since they had no grievances with Jack, Jack saw no problem with them setting up shop in Virbeth. Besides the Jade Lotuses, they also made clothes that all females loved and various other accessories like necklaces, bracelets and so on. Jack was currently discussing on the location that they wanted to get.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    Since they had to pay land tax while at the same time, they had to give a small pre cent of their profits to the City, like any good merchant, they were trying to haggle the price down as much as they could.


    Just as Jack was going to say something, a loud laughter rang out in the hall, ¡°Little City Lord, isn¡¯t it a bit too uncourteous of you to only chat with pretty ladies and ignore the others?¡± Hearing this, all the passive factions frowned while the aggressive factions all had an amused smile on their lips. Without a doubt all of them were waiting to see a good show. Jack also frowned as he looked at the origin of the voice.


    A tall man that had scholarly look and if it weren¡¯t for the obviously lecherous eyes scanning the two from the Jade Maiden Sect, he might have completely looked like a scholar. Jack then said coldly in response, ¡°Everyone has an equal chance to speak to me, I don¡¯t remember making any preferences. Or is it that you are a bit jealous of this junior getting along well with such beautiful maidens?¡±


    Hearing this, The tall man¡¯s face fell as he heard the obvious provocation in Jack¡¯s tone. All the passive factions along with the people from Dragon Cross were working hard to keep themselves from laughing out loud. The tall man had not given Jack any respect since the beginning of the banquet and he had even gone as far as to threaten him in such a roundabout way. Of course Jack had no qualms about talking to him like that. Respect is earned not given, so since he has done nothing to earn Jack¡¯s respect, why should he act respectful to the man?


    ¡°You have quite the venomous tongue Junior. Has no one taught you how to act when dealing with Seniors?¡± As the tall man spat through grit teeth, his eyes were glaring daggers at Jack. His face was completely red as it was obvious he was beyond enraged. Hearing those words, Shu had already lost his smiling face as he was about to stand up and deal with the tall man.


    However, to his surprise, Jack indicated for him to stand back. Although Shu was bewildered, the smile on Jack¡¯s face made Shu feel that Jack had some sort of a plan. Jack also stood up as he looked at the tall man with ridiculing eyes, ¡°I was taught to act respectfully to those that deserve it. Your conduct is something that doesn¡¯t earn any respect from me, so why should I act respectfully?¡±


    The tall man was nearly shaking, inside the hall were the higher ups of various other Sects and Clans. For a junior to talk back to him and openly ridicule him like this, he had never felt so humiliated. Popping sounds rang out in the hall as the man was clenching his fist so hard that his finger nails dug into his palms.


    Seeing the situation pan out like this, Shu was ready to intervene on a moments notice. However, in his heart, he was feeling a bit of awe towards Jack. Even though Shu and other Origin Realm experts were ready to intervene in a moment, a lot could happen during that moment. To so fearlessly taunt the other person, Jack¡¯s balls seemed to be made of steel.


    The tall man¡¯s aura and bloodlust started to rise as he was clearly pissed off beyond reason. Just as the man¡¯s aura started to rise, Jack smile turned a little evil as his eyes flashed. His hand touched the Mask on the side of is head as he said in a low tone, ¡°Rivvi!¡±


    Although Jack¡¯s voice wasn¡¯t loud, hearing those words, involuntarily a chill ran down the spine of all the people present. Jack¡¯s eyes were cold as he looked straight at the tall man. The moment the words were said, the tall man realized that something is wrong as a cyan sword appeared in his hands and he immediately shot towards Jack.


    Seeing this turn of events, Shu¡¯s face fell as he quickly tried to rise and intervene but to his surprise, some weird energy immediately pinned him down. Although, the weird energy wasn¡¯t strong, it stalled Shu¡¯s movements for a moment and in that moment the tall man had reached Jack.


    To everyone¡¯s surprise, Jack was still standing still with a smile on his face. Although the tall man was moving fast, Jack should at least try to dodge but he showed no indications of doing so. The sword was only a few centimeters away from Jack¡¯s throat as it suddenly stopped.


    The sword was gripped by a giant scorched hand, and with a little squeeze, the sword shattered. The whole room froze after seeing this and seeing his strike fail, the tall man tried to create some distance. However, before getting the chance to move backwards, a whip coiled around his neck as he was jerked forward by the sudden thug.


    As he was jerked forward, a big Demon bathed in black flames suddenly appeared next to him and struck down his big fist. The fist squarely hit the tall man on his back and he shot towards the ground. A crater was formed from the impact as the tall man was now laying in the middle of the crater with bloodied and tattered clothes. Everyone¡¯s eyes opened wide as their mouths involuntarily opened up.


    From the begging to the end, it only took two seconds and Jack, who was still standing at the same spot, was smiling evilly. If before everyone were bewildered on where Jack took his courage, now they understood that from the beginning to the end, everything had been completely under his control.


    As people looked more closely at Jack, they discovered a long eared woman standing behind him in his shadow. Seeing the whip that was in her hand, everything made sense to the people present. The Demon bathed in black flames but one leg on the tall man¡¯s back as he pinned him to the ground and looked toward Jack. His right hand punched his left side of chest as he said, ¡°Danger eliminated Master Jack.¡± Jack smiled as he nodded his head.


    The Demon bathed in black flames was Veyer, the strongest Troop under Jack. The one standing behind his back was none other than Shadya and seeing her alluring figure, all the men inside the hall involuntarily gulped down their saliva. Jack stepped forward and walked in front of the sorry figure lying on his stomach inside the crater.


    He crouched down in front of the man and said, ¡°I can take this as a declaration of war from your Seven Giants Sect, right?¡±

 Chapter 27: The banquet [Part 2]

    Shu¡¯s eyes lit up as he realized what Jack had been aiming for. Everything fell into place as he realized that Jack had already started cleaning up the house from the vermin. The aggressive faction had been betting on the known fact that Jack¡¯s Dantian was destroyed, meaning that he had no known means to progress in the future.


    Also, they thought that he had no more strength on his own as well and as soon as the security relaxed, they can make their move. However, this move Jack made, showed to everyone that he was even stronger and more dangerous than before. What did cultivators respect? That was strength. Strong were respected and the weak were looked down upon, so the fastest and best way to clean the house was to display his dominance.


    The sorry figure of the scholar spat out a mouthful of blood as he looked at Jack. This time, there wasn¡¯t any ridicule in his eyes but pure horror. It wouldn¡¯t matter if he lost in a straight up fight but he had currently gotten beaten like a sorry dog without being even able to do anything.


    When he thought back to the smile Jack had had, he also realized that he had just danced on Jack¡¯s palm like a little marionette, doing exactly what Jack dictated.


    Thinking back to blatant threat he had given to Jack, he wanted to curse his own pride. Just as he was about to open his mouth, an archaic voice echoed out inside the hall, ¡°Junior, don¡¯t you think that you went a bit too far?!¡±


    There was rage evident in the voice and with a boom, the doors to the banquet hall had opened up. A wrinkled old man in black robes was standing in the air, looking down on the sorry sight of the tall man.


    His eyes flashed with rage as he pointed his finger towards Jack and yelled, ¡°YOU DARE ATTACK ONE OF OUR SEVEN-!¡±


    ¡°PIPE THE FUCK DOWN BRAT!¡± His yell was cut short as he suddenly felt an extremely oppressive aura weighed down on him. He plummeted towards the ground and with a *BOOM*, he was nailed to the floor. Even Jack gulped as his pupils contracted and he looked towards a corner in the distance.


    In the corner, an old man that had been leisurely sipping tea, was now looking towards the old man in black robes that had appeared. Shu also gulped as he recognized the figure of the old man sitting in the corner. However, neither him or Jack had even noticed when he had entered the hall and taken seat there.


    The old man then put on a gentle expression as he sized up Jack and nodded his head, ¡°Good, good. You have guts little fellow. You take right after your Master.¡± Jack looked at the old man and suddenly felt powerlessness take over him as he looked at the old man¡¯s eyes. He felt as though he had been plunged into an abyss.


    Jack cupped his hands and bowed towards the old man and said, ¡°I thank Senior for the assistance.¡± Everyone¡¯s face were astonished as they saw Jack genuinely lower his head for the first time that night. Usually, he gave a half hearted bow in thanks and no one minded because they themselves would do the same but seeing him give a genuine bow made them all shocked.


    The Senior just waved his sleeve as he said, ¡°Don¡¯t mind, don¡¯t mind. That¡¯s why I am here for anyway, to make sure no egoistic prick caused trouble for you.¡± As he said that, his gaze wandered to the old man that had been pressed to the ground from the sheer pressure that the Senior was excluding.


    The old man¡¯s eyes fell onto Jack again as he said, ¡°The Heavenly Patriarch has high expectations of you, so do the rest of us. To give you the most optimal training environment, we will do our best to make sure nothing disturbs you.¡± Jack nodded his head as he had already realized that this old man was someone that the Heavenly Cosmoses had assigned on his protection detail.


    Jack knew that the old man that had barged through the doors was in the mid stages of the Origin Realm and for him to be so hard pressed to the ground with pressure only, the Senior in the corner, had long surpassed the Dao Seeking Realm.


    Seeing the banquet play out like this, Shu immediately stood up and said, ¡°Well, since things have come to this, I am sorry to announce the end of the banquet as it seems like we need to clean up a bit. I truly am sorry for ending the banquet so much earlier.¡± As Shu said so with a businessman like smile, everyone understood the meaning behind the words.


    The banquet had served it¡¯s purpose of showcasing Jack¡¯s own might and also the might of the backing he currently had. Only a fool wouldn¡¯t be able to see that Virbeth will not leave Jack¡¯s hands and he was someone that no one will be able to touch from now on. Since they were all part of major Clans or Sects, they also knew of the Planar War and after hearing that the Heavenly Patriarch had high expectation of Jack, they knew that Jack was going to play a key role in the next Planar War and only a complete retard would try to harm Jack now.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    All the passive factions glanced at the aggressive factions with an amused gaze, as if asking them, ¡°Now that you have dug this hole, are you going to jump into it?¡± This was exactly their current situation as they had so blatantly tried to pick a fight and show their dominance to Jack. All the representatives present paid their respects to Jack and the Senior old man in the corner as they quickly left the hall. They could guess that Jack was not going to leave poisonous vipers by his side and the next few days are going to be interesting.


    When the hall was emptied out, only Shu, Jack, the Senior from before and the two from the Seven Giant Sect were left in the hall. Seven Giants Sect was no pushover either as they had over 30 Origin Realm Experts in their Dao Reserve. Every single man counted in the War, so it was not beneficial to diminish their own strength before the War even started. The Senior looked at the old man in black robes and said, ¡°I thought you received very strict instructions not to cause any problems for Jack. I don¡¯t care about your petty little gathering of idiots but are you truly retarded enough to put your own shallow pride over the future of the Plane?!¡±


    As the Senior interrogated in a cold voice, even Shu felt chills run down his back. It was evident that the old man was currently quite pissed off about the conduct of these two from the Seven Giants Sect.


    The man in black robes lowered his head in fear as he said, ¡°I-¡± Before he could justify himself, the old Senior snorted and the old man felt his vision go black as he lost consciousness. The tall man in the centre of the crater had breathed his last breath a while ago and no one paid him any attention.


    The old Senior turned to Jack and passed a ring to him as he said, ¡°Inside this Spacial Ring are the resources provided to you by all the Heaven Cosmoses. Inside are also mansions of knowledge left behind by Raelag for his successor. None of us has any use for it as we have no inkling of a way to decipher it.¡± As the old man passed the ring to Jack, Jack bound the ring with his Energy from the Crystal Core.


    Jack briefly looked over all of the things inside the ring and to his astonishment, there were various rare herbs and elixirs that did not exist in their Cosmos. The old man also gave him a jade slip and said, ¡°Here is the list of things inside the Ring and also what is the best way to use them.¡± As he said that, the old man gave a smile as he swept out his sleeve again and the old man from Seven Giants Sect gently floated off the ground.


    He then looked at Jack and said, ¡°I will keep watch over you from the shadows, so you can recall your little scouts and have no fear, nothing will happen to you on my watch.¡± As the old man smiled, he disappeared from the big hall together with the old man from the Seven Giants Sect. From the beginning to the end, Jack felt incredibly tense.


    Now that the old man had left, Jack let out a deep breath of relief as he asked, ¡°Who was he?¡± Shu also let out a breath of relief as he said, ¡°His name is Xia Hao. He is the right hand man of the Heavenly Patriarch and his strength is second only to the Heavenly Patriarch. I honestly didn¡¯t expect for him to take charge of the protection detail.¡±


    Mixed in with Shu¡¯s words was a bit of bitterness. To have the second strongest person in the Plane look after you like a babysitter¡­. It would take no genius to understand how much importance they placed on Jack during this War. Jack also felt the weight on his shoulder multiply as he reached the same conclusion as Shu.


    Although Shu had said that no matter what the outcome was, no one is going to hold him responsible because all of this was shoved on his shoulders with no way out, he still felt as though he can¡¯t slack off in the least.


    Since all the formalities had been finished, there were no more things that required Jacks attention and this banquet also helped him take care of the vermin problem he had, so now he can fully focus on training his Magic and also cultivating his body. He had already thought of how his future fighting style is going to be. Now all he had to do was make it a reality.


    He also had to think of a name for his new path and also find the perfect Body Cultivating Art to go with his Flame Angel Art that Raelag left behind as his Legcay. With the banquet finished, Jack went back to his Mansion and slowly immersed himself familiarizing himself with the Flame Angel Art and also, he looked at the Body Cultivating Art left behind.


    As he browsed through all the Arts he currently had in his possession, he found a few that were suitable. They had a few conflicting things with his Flame Angel Art but they didn¡¯t majorly conflict with Art.


    As he was browsing through the Body Arts, he suddenly stopped on one that seemed as though it was specifically tailored to him. This Art didn¡¯t come from Raelag¡¯s collection but rather from the Spacial Ring given to him by Xia Hao. The Arts name was [Seven Flames Saint] and it mainly focused on refining the body with seven different attributes. When successfully practised, the person will have a body tempered by the seven elements and will be able to control flames of seven different elements.


    Each of the flames will have different properties and will strengthen the body in different way. For example, the Fire attribute will give him explosive strength far superior to others of the same level while the Earth Attribute will give him a tougher body and will increase both his physical strength as well as reinforce the toughness of his body, making it impervious to a certain degree.


    As a Mage that had an abnormally good affinity with Fire, this Art seemed like it was custom made for him.


    Jack also wondered whether he would be able to incorporate the Seven Flames into his own flames.

 Chapter 28: Seven Flames Saint

    As Jack read the introduction on the [Seven Flames Saint] Art, his eyes were shining. His innate constitution was inclined towards Fire, so it was already a good stroke of luck to get an Art like [Flame Angel] Art.


    When trained to a higher degree [Flame Angel] Art will give you a body of Fire. It manifests itself in the form of wings on the back but these wings aren¡¯t there for a decorative purpose but to replenish Fire Energy at a faster pace.


    When used in cultivation, it would speed up the absorption and conversion rate of the Energy, while in combat, they will help you replenish your Energy faster and also help you convert your Energy into spells better.


    The spells will be completed faster and they will exhibit more strength as the Energy is purer. This [Seven Flames Saint] Art however is made on the principle of tempering your body in the [Seven Flames Hell].


    The [Seven Flames Hell] is a special Formation custom tailored to the [Seven Flames Saint]. To temper your body according to the Art, this Formation is a must have thing. Without it, training in the [Seven Flames Saint] is multiple times harder. However, to put down this Formation, one needed some rare resources that were not so easily obtained, however for Jack, it was not that hard.


    In the Spacial Ring Xia Hao had given him all the materials to lay down a Top Grade Formation were present. Depending on the materials used in setting down this Formation, the grade of the Formation will greatly vary.


    For example, if one used low quality materials to lay down this Formation, it will only speed up the cultivation of [Seven Flames Saint] Art by one and half, maybe two times but if someone used high quality materials and manages to put down a Top Grade Formation, then the Formation will speed up the tempering of the body by tenfold.


    Also, the body tempered in a Top Grade Formation will more perfect and will have fewer impurities than a body that has been tempered in a Low Grade Formation or without the aid of a Formation.


    The Formation was hard to change once set down, so to use the best materials available on the first try was the best choice. However, this Formation was extremely complex and Jack had no way of setting it down himself.


    It had nothing to do with talent or affinity but rather it was a problem of not having enough experience in setting down Formations. The Formations Jack had set down before were some simple sound isolation or presence hiding ones. To set down a Formation this profound by himself was currently only a pipe dream.


    Besides the obvious benefits from training in the Art, Jack had one other reason picking the [Seven Flames Saint] Art. It was that it might be possible to incorporate the [Seven Flames] into his own and augment his Spells with them.


    Although Mages had a large repertoire of spells, at each rank, they can learn one of the spells as an Innate Spell. For Mages, Innate Spells were the Spells mainly used in combat. The maximum number of Innate Spell each rank is three.


    Also, Innate Spells are unchangeable, once you choose one as an Innate Spell, it will remain as your Innate Spell to the end of your days. One of the most important things in choosing Innate Spells is affinity with the element and another is kit versatility.


    Affinity with an element is obvious as it would be very detrimental to choose [Water Bullet] that belongs to the Water Element when your affinity with the Water Element is very bad. In the pointers Raelag left behind, he mentioned that many Acolytes have cut off their own paths by choosing Spells that weren¡¯t from the element that they had the best affinity with.


    He also mentioned that although using the Spells of multiple elements isn¡¯t completely wrong, what matters is whether they complement each other. For example, many Mages that mainly used Wind Element Spells also have one or two Offensive Fire Spells.


    Wind complements Fire, so by combining the two spells, they can dish out damage far beyond what it should be.


    For the moment, Jack hadn¡¯t chosen any of the three Innate Spells because he currently had no hurry with it as Raelag had already chosen the best three spells for Acolytes. [Magic Bullet], [Armour of Flames] and [Flash Step], these three were the Spells chosen for him by Raelag.


    Raelag even explained why he chose which spell. For example, although [Magic Bullet] is a Non-Element Spell that doesn¡¯t need any particular Elemental Affinity, it has low Mana cost and it¡¯s strength is also quite average.


    Each of the Innate Spells can evolve to a certain degree depending on when it was chosen as an Innate Spell. That is also why choosing the first three Innate Spells is very important. These three spells will strengthen and evolve as Jack himself progresses on the Path of Magic.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    After Jack becomes a Mage, [Magic Bullet] will gain an effect called [Explosion]. When Jack uses it in combat then, it will explode on contact or when Jack chooses to detonate it.


    [Armour of Flames] is what the name says, you engulf your body in flames as though it is an armour. It will absorb and disperse a certain portion of the damage dealt to you.


    [Flash Step] is a short distance relocation spell. It is useful for running away, repositioning, closing a gap with an enemy or just travelling. Each cast takes a tiny portion of ones Mana, so using it to run away or chase someone is recommended.


    After Jack read Raelag¡¯s explanation on why he chose these three Spells, Jack decided to trust Raelag¡¯s judgement because even with a glance one can say that the three spells cover three important aspects of Offense, Defence and Relocation.


    For offense, it is [Magic Bullet], for defence it is [Armour of Flames] and for running away or chasing someone there is [Flash Step]. The kit itself was well balanced and brought a lot of versatility in terms of attacking. With the first string of Spells being chosen already, Jack put his focus on choosing a suitable Body Cultivation Art.


    Now his only problem was finding someone that could set down this Formation for him so that he can finally get started with his training. To solve this problem, Jack went to see Shu in hopes of him knowing someone that may be able to set down this Formation. After explaining his problem to Shu, Shu fell into thought as he thought of a suitable candidate.


    Suddenly Shu opened his eyes wide and said, ¡°Let¡¯s ask John. He should be the most proficient person with Formations in the entire Sect.¡± Jack nodded his head as he trusted Shu¡¯s choice in this. John was the Forging Halls Ancestor and George¡¯s Master. Every Artificer had to be proficient in Formation in order to forge higher grade Artefacts.


    Shu pulled out a Communication Seal from his Spacial Ring and as he poured Qi into it, an image of a robust middle aged man with a bare upper body suddenly appeared. The man turned around and Shu let out a laugh, ¡°John, Lil¡¯Jack needs a favour.¡±


    John exclaimed with raised brows, ¡°Hoo, what ya need? A custom made Artefact?¡± Jack shook his head and explained the reason he needed John¡¯s help. John¡¯s eyes furrowed as he said seriously, ¡°Without seeing the Formation Diagram I have no confidence in saying I can lay down the Formation as fast as you need.¡±


    He took a breath as he crossed his hands on his chest and continued, ¡°The more complex a Formation is, the harder it is to successfully set down. If I start setting it down without first understanding it completely, it is going to end up as a failure without a doubt.¡±


    He then let out a sigh as he apologized, ¡°Also, from you words I understand that this is quite a complex and profound Formation, so I most likely will not be able to set it down anytime soon. Where did you get such a Formation any ways?¡± Shu also turned his head to glance at Jack.


    It wasn¡¯t that Formations that accompany certain Body Tempering Arts were rare but rather neither John or Shu had even heard of this kind of an Art before. Most certainly Dragon Cross did not have this Art. Jack just gave a bitter smile to the tactful rejection John had given him and told them that it came with all the materials that Xia Hao had given him.


    John then asked, ¡°Why not ask Xia Hao set it down? His knowledge in Formation is miles ahead of me? Also if I am not mistaken, then this Art itself is something that he himself cultivates as well.¡± Jack was startled as he thought to himself, ¡°That old man¡­.¡±


    However, Jack found another problem, ¡°How am I supposed to get in contact with him? I mean, he said that he will watch over me from the shadows and I haven¡¯t seen him once after that day.¡± As Jack pointed this out, Shu also thought about this problem.


    They can¡¯t just run around yelling ¡°Xia Hao! Xia Hao! I need your help!¡± With having no way to contact him, they could only leave it up to luck. Since John had no way of helping the two any more, he returned to his own duties while Shu also apologized about not being more helpful.


    Jack didn¡¯t hold it against either of them because it was a fact that this Formation was complex and profound. Also, since they had no way of initiating contact with Xia Hao from their side, Jack could just fumble around on his own with this. Luckily he had mountains of lower grade materials, so he can study the Formation on his own while cultivating his Mage Path.


    Since the seven elements of the [Seven Element Saint] were the same with the elements used at the Ashan Cosmos, it was beneficial either way. The Elements were: Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Lightning, Light and Darkness.


    There were two types of Magic Circles used in Ashan Magic: Five Element Magic Circles and Seven Element Magic Circles. The Five Element Magic Circles were simplified and easier to use but you could only use up to Medium Grade Spells with it.


    To use High Grade Spells and Top Grade Spells, you needed to comprehend the Seven Element Magic Circle and also be capable of drawing it. Usually, Acolytes start learning on how to use the Five Element Magic Circle and then work their way to the Seven Element Magic Circle as they gain knowledge and experiences but Raelag had forbidden him from relying on the Five Element Magic Circle.


    Raelag had explained that it was easier to comprehend the Seven Element Magic Circle without learning how to use the Five Element Magic Circle. Since the Five Element Magic Circle is the simplified version, it is technically an incomplete Magic Circle and if you learn to use the Five Element Magic Circle first, then you will have a harder time turning it into the Seven Element Magic Circle because their build up is completely different.


    So since you got to learn from the beginning again, why waste time on learning something that you will discard soon? Jack just let out a deep sigh as read Raelag¡¯s explanation. It was obvious that just because he wasn¡¯t here personally, he wasn¡¯t going to lower the bar for Jack and Jack wasn¡¯t angry about it either.


    What he hated the most was wasting time on things that had very little benefit. So heeding Raelag¡¯s advice, he started observing the various Magic Circle Diagrams of the Seven Elements.

 Chapter 29: Seven Element Magic Circle Basic Template

    In front of Jack was a simple Non-Element Seven Element Magic Circle Diagram. Six of the seven points were diagonally opposite of one another and there was one point that stood by itself. The aligned points represent opposites: Fire-Water, Wind-Earth, Light-Darkness and the one that stood by himself was Lightning.


    In Ashan Magic, everything in the Cosmos is made of these seven elements. Wood and Metal for example are classified as a special Earth Element Material, while Magma and Ice are the result of fusion between Fire and Earth or Water and Wind.


    As Jack ingrained the Magic Circle Diagram into his mind, he simultaneously tried to construct the same Magic Circle by himself. However, he didn¡¯t have much luck as he had a hard time balancing the seven elements without one being over dominant of others. Constructing Magic Circles was hard because of one certain factor, the Lightning Element.


    Lightning didn¡¯t have an opposite like for example Fire and Water, so when Jack managed to balance the six elements without any problems, trying to add the Lightning Element without disrupting the balance was quite hard.


    He had to simultaneously either add or decrease the Mana he had input into the six other elements to find the perfect balance between the seven.


    Even after continuously trying four days he always fell a bit short. All that practice wasn¡¯t totally in vain as his Magic Circle building was several dozens of times faster than in the beginning. After familiarizing himself with the process of balancing the six elements it wasn¡¯t hard to instantly create the incomplete Magic Circle but every time he tried to add the Lightning Element, the Magic Circle failed.


    Some times it just shattered and fell apart while some times it gave off a small explosion.


    Currently, Jack was standing in his courtyard and in front of him was a weird contraption. It composed of a stick as wide as a finger, a plate as with a diameter of 30 centimeters and seven small marble balls.


    The stick was injected into the ground and it stood up ruler straight while on the stick was the plate. It was perfectly balanced in the centre and currently Jack was adding the little marbles onto the plate one by one. When looked from above, it would look very similar to a Seven Element Magic Circle.


    What Jack was currently doing was trying to add the seven marbles like the seven points of the Magic Circle and try not to tilt the plate off the stick in the process. He had thought of this simple method to further try and deepen his understanding of balance between the seven elements. All of the seven marbles were exactly the same with exactly the same weight, so to try and balance them on the plate without tilting it was a worthwhile activity.


    It took Jack several tries to perfectly balance the seven marbles on the plate without tilting it but when he did so, he had to put the seven marbles on at the same time. As Jack stared at the plate from an upper perspective, he suddenly slammed his forehead with his palm as he muttered, ¡°Of course, no wonder it is so hard to add the Lightning Element afterwards when everything else is already balanced.¡±


    Jack suddenly felt that he was extremely dumb for not thinking about this before. Before, he balanced two elements before he added another two and then another two. However, the crux of the problem was that these elements were all opposites so balancing them was easy but if he had added one at a time, then he would have reached this conclusion sooner.


    If he tried to simultaneously balance the seven elements form the beginning it would be far easier than to balance two, then add two and so on. With this newfound inspiration, he immediately started experimenting.


    Simultaneously balancing the seven elements while also trying to make sure everything is where it is supposed to be and at the same time add Mana to each point equally was easier said than done. After a few failed attempts, Jack stopped as he mused to himself, ¡°I am definitely on the right path but doing everything at the same time is a bit hard. Maybe I should divide it up a bit more.¡±


    As he thought that, he decided to simplify the process for himself by breaking it down into a few stages.


    He decided to try it like this: First create the Rough Circle by making sure that every element is next to the element they are supposed to be and try to balance them like that. Then he would slowly add the Mana into it to create Complete Circle that he can imprint into his Soul. That will be the base template for his future Non-Element Spells.


    When Mages learn specific spells they need two things: The Chant and the Basic Template. A Template is a Septagram with each of the seven points touching the circle that encompasses the entire Septagram. Then there is a small gap and then comes a bigger circle that swallows the previous circle with the Septagram. That gap is where the spell Chant is.


    If you have the Basic Template of the element imprinted into your Soul, you can easily take that Template and by adding the chant you can use the spell very quickly. In a fight every second counts so who will give you the time to both build the Magic Circle and recite the Chant? No one will.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    A Mage would be killed way before he could even finish building the Magic Circle if he had to build a new Circle each and every time he wanted to use a Spell.


    If you had the Base Template, you only needed to recite the Chant either verbally or in your mind and focus your Mana on the Basic Template and the Magic Spell will build itself according to the Chant. Chants are the key to Spells as they are what guides the Mana in accordance to the effect of the Spell and executes it.


    Innate Spells however did not require a Chant or a Basic Template as the Spell that is imprinted onto the Soul is an already finished Magic Circle with the Chant. You only need to pour your Mana into the Magic Circle imprinted onto your Soul and the Spell will immediately activate.


    This was the advantage Innate Spells had, they needed very little time to activate. If the Spell is a large scale spell, then you needed a bit more time to absorb the Energy and pour it into the Magic Circle. However, if it was a self target spell like [Flash Step] or [Armour of Flames] then the cast time was low.


    However, if you wanted to cast a large scale Spell like [Meteor Shower] then you needed some time to gather enough Mana to create the meteors. So for every pro there was a con. Large scale spells were useful in large scale fights but they needed ample time to cast and also a large amounts of Mana.


    However, in single combat they were quite useless as you would not have the time to finish casting the spell before you would be cut down. In those scenarios single target spells like [Lightning Bolt] or [Magic Bullet] were more useful as they needed less Mana to cast and their cast times were also several times lower.


    After trying several times, Jack started increasing his rest time between next tries. Every time he rested, he also replayed the whole process in his head and tried to find where he went wrong. After finding his mistakes, he started thinking how is the most efficient way of fixing it without creating more problems.


    In the beginning the rest times was around 5 minutes but after repeating the process for several times, the analysis time grew significantly longer. It was obvious as Jack gathered more experience with the Magic Circle, the more familiar he grew with the build up and why something conflicts with one another.


    He also found several problems with the Magic Circle that he had built. These problems weren¡¯t anything major and were easily overlooked but in the long run, they may cause problems when he tries to cast higher levelled spells. Time slowly ticked by and soon another 4 days passed, however, in front of Jack there was a small Magic Circle.


    Jack grinned as he looked at the Magic Circle floating on his palm with bloodshot eyes. This was the Basic Template of Non-Element Magic Spells. His hard work had completely paid off as he had managed to create the Basic Template in only eight days after starting trying. Besides eating or going to the toilet, he had kept trying to create this simple little thing.


    As for sleep, he had slept for the bare minimum these past few days and so his mind was currently a bit off. Jack let out a laugh as he kept staring at the Magic Circle and he felt proud of his accomplishment. He himself was very satisfied with the Magic Circle in front of him as it was a one on one replica of the one that Raelag had left behind for him.


    That Diagram that Raelag left behind for Jack was something that he had spent many many years in perfecting. After taking a deep breath, Jack sat down cross legged and closed his eyes.


    The Magic Circle in front of him then slowly started lighting up as it slowly floated towards Jack¡¯s chest and then entered it.


    ***


    Up in the air overlooking Jack¡¯s courtyard were two people. A gentle old man wearing white robes and a hooded figure in white robes. The symbols on the robes of the two people were the same and if you looked closely, you would recognise the old man as Xia Hao.


    As for the person next to him, her features were unrecognisable. As they looked at Jack on the ground, Xia Hao let out a surprised laugh, ¡°Atta boy. He managed to create a perfect Base Template in only eight days. If those guys from the Ashan Cosmos heard of this, they would probably die of embarrassment.¡±


    What Xia Hao said wasn¡¯t wrong as a person that manages to create even a Five Element Basic Template in three months would be dubbed as a genius. To create a Seven Element Basic Template in only eight days, it was completely unheard of. But at the same time, there had never been an Acolyte with a Magus Soul as strong as Jack¡¯s either.


    His starting point was already miles ahead from others and also, it wasn¡¯t like he had no contact with the Elements before. Even as a cultivator, you try to understand the elements so Jack already had a basic knowledge on the elements.


    The hooded figure took a small step forward but then stopped. She seemed to be hesitating as she tightly clenched her fist. What was shocking was that on her snow white arms were many hideous scars. A hoarse voice came from the hooded figure, ¡°He looks just like his Father.¡±


    Xia Hao¡¯s smile disappeared as he seriously nodded his head and said, ¡°Even thought over 8000 years have passed, the chances of Jack being him are relatively high.¡± The hooded figure seemed to struggle even more and as Xia Hao saw that, he said seriously, ¡°Remember, it is not definite. After all 8000 years have passed since that day and even though you threw him to the Ancient Battlefield, the time is distorted there.¡±


    Xia Hao then added in a cold voice, ¡°Jack is only 15, turning 16 this year. He has the medallion and a mysterious past but that doesn¡¯t mean that he is him.¡± The hooded figure finally seemed to relax and took a step back. She then said, ¡°I¡¯ll have to trouble you Father.¡±


    Immediately after saying so, she disappeared into thin air. Xia Hao looked at the spot the hooded figure disappeared form and murmured to himself, ¡°Aiaah my foolish daughter. Far too much time has passed, the chances of him being dead are thousands of times higher than being alive¡­.¡±


    After murmuring that, he turned his head to look at Jack. This time with a serious gaze that seemed to look deep into his Soul.

 Chapter 30: The problems of a City Lord

    After imprinting the Base Template onto his Soul, the first thing Jack did was have a good nights sleep. When he woke up, surprisingly two days had already passed. When Jack heard that he had been sleeping for two days straight, he could only smile bitterly and try to not get so engrossed next time.


    There were several people in charge of various miscellaneous affairs of the City but major affairs like the tax rate for the next ten years or the various salaries of personal were all waiting for his authorization. If you counted in the eight days he was engrossed with the Magic Circle, you would get ten days of absence.


    So the first thing Jack did after eating a hearty breakfast was head to his ¡°office¡± aka the study. All important documents will be transported here for Jack to look over and sign them if there are no problems. When Jack opened his study door, he was greeted by a half a meter high stack of papers that all needed his signature.


    Breathing out a heavy sigh Jack had his servant bring him a cup of tea and also some snacks for Nalser as he sat down and started going over the documents one by one. As he took the first page itself, Jack frowned after reading it halfway. It was a report on the relocation of the aggressive faction Clans and Sects.


    In only a few days all of the bases were without any people and all of their businesses had been shut down and cleared out. However, what they forgot to do was pay the land taxes and also they had still not paid for various property damages they had done while ¡°friendly sparring¡±.


    If those sums were small, Jack would pay for it himself just to save himself the trouble but these bills were all quite astronomical. Every building, street or park was the property of the City and it was only possible to rent either a living place or a shop front from the City but you could never buy it as your own.


    For years, they caused trouble and owed the City quite a hefty sum of money now. When the servant brought Jack the cup of tea, Jack stopped her for a moment and asked her to send word for Shu to come and give him a visit if he had the time. After the servant acknowledged the order, Jack put the report aside for now and continued looking through the pile.


    After reading half of the stack, he could sign them all in one go as there were no problems with them. Some were the yearly profit reports of shops while some were just some requests for leave. All the people that applied for leave from Jack were without a doubt quite high up and since they have done a good job up till now, Jack had no reason reject them.


    As Jack kept reading and working on these documents, he suddenly heard a knock on the door. ¡°Come in.¡± Without raising his head from the document he was currently reading he had the person at the door come in. The one who entered was Shu, who Jack had asked to come by.


    After seeing that Shu had arrived, Jack looked at him and said, ¡°Wait a second, I¡¯ll finish this document first.¡± Shu nodded his head as he gave a hearty laugh, ¡°No rush. I will entertain myself by having a cup of this fine tea.¡± Jack nodded his head and quickly finished signing the document. After finishing, he rubbed the bridge of his nose as he pulled out the first document and threw it to Shu. After catching the document, Shu frowned as he asked, ¡°What¡¯s this?¡±


    Jack let out a sigh as he said, ¡°Read it and you¡¯ll understand why I asked you to come.¡± After saying so, he took his cup and took a sip as he waited for Shu to read through the document. The more Shu read it, the more his brows furrowed and when he reached the end, he turned to Jack and asked helplessly, ¡°So the reason you summoned me was to ask how far you can go?¡±


    Jack nodded his head as he seriously said to Shu, ¡°Prestigious Clans and Sects my ass. They quietly scumper away after falling on their faces and leave behind this kind of a debt. If it was something small, I would pay for it from my own pocket just to save myself form wasting the time but these sums are no small numbers¡­.¡± Jack shook his head and Shu nodded his head in acknowledgement that Jack¡¯s words were right.


    Sometimes it is smarter to take a step back and forget small debts to save yourself form wasting time uselessly but these sums were quite astronomical so this was quite a painful step to take.


    Shu then said, ¡°The Seven Giant Sect owes Virbeth 1.2 million Spirit Jade, Eternal Dawn School owes Virbeth roughly 800 000 Spirit Jade, Fa Clan owes Virbeth roughly 750 000 Spirit Jade¡­.¡± Shu listed all of the Sects and Clans and how much each of them owed.


    In conclusion he said, ¡°In total they owe a bit over 23 million Spirit Jade. This amount of money is not something that can be so easily brushed off.¡± Jack nodded his head and said, ¡°I wanted to ask you, how much am I allowed to pressure them?¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    Shu closed his mind as seemed to do some calculation¡¯s in his mind and then said, ¡°The Merchant Hall earns Dragon Cross a 20 million Spirit Jade on an average. That is the pure profit in a year. I think Master Zhi would personally accompany you to cash in these debts if he heard about them.¡±


    Jack let out a small laugh as he said, ¡°Even though a big Sect earns a lot in a year, we also spend a lot in a year.¡± Shu nodded his head and said, ¡°20 million in pure profit each year is already astronomical to put aside and there are some times when we need to take out that cash in order to pay for the maintenance of Training Formations or Defensive Formations. Also, there are some materials we purchase from outside our Cosmos as they are not available in our Cosmos.¡±


    Suddenly Shu¡¯s eyes lit up as he said, ¡°I may have a solution to your problem.¡± Jack¡¯s ears perked up as he was currently quite troubled on how he was going to solve this thing with the least effort and least amount of time. Shu then smiled cruelly as he said, ¡°You know, Old John needed 18 million to purchase some materials to create some Top Grade Life Saving Artefacts. However, we currently do not have enough money to spend in the vault on them¡­.¡±


    Jack also smiled as he understood the meaning behind Shu¡¯s words. Most of the money would go to Dragon Cross any ways and currently, John was in a tough spot because he needed the money from the Sect but the Sect didn¡¯t have that much to spare at the moment. However, if John was willing to do some work, he could easily get the 18 million he needed to purchase the materials.


    Jack immediately agreed because he only needed to provide John with the complete listing of the debts to John and he wouldn¡¯t need to worry about this problem any more. For him it was like killing two birds with one stone.


    Shu contacted John and as soon as he heard that there may be a chance for him to purchase those materials he needed, his eyes lit up. Even after hearing the details, he wasn¡¯t disheartened in the slightest but even more eager to to the work when he heard the amount of money involved. After asking Jack to prepare the detailed list of every Sects and Clans debt, he started moving towards Virbeth with the fastest speed possible.


    It didn¡¯t take long for Jack to prepare the detailed list of every broken piece of tile and who did it and when he did it. He trusted the list to Shu as he himself continued doing the paperwork. Since the other half of the stack was also without any problems, it didn¡¯t take more than half an hour for Jack to finish all those papers.


    By the time he was finished, it was exactly the time for lunch. As he ate a light lunch, someone from the office came to collect all the signed documents and after bringing the ones he needed for tomorrow. Since the documents were delivered and taken away at noon, Jack let the few documents wait for morning as he himself went to his training room.


    Now that he could successfully create a Base Template, it was time to start training in Magic Combat. Although he could use only Non-Element Magic Spells, it was still worth it as they served as good training practise. When Jack entered the room, he was greeted by a giant hall that was 30 meter¡¯s high, 300 meter¡¯s long and 200 meters wide. This wide area was a good place to use for any type of training.


    Long range Magic Spells, close combat Magic Spells, Reinforcement Magic, Defensive Magic or Movement Magic it could all be practised here. Raelag had prepared this entire room from rare special materials that had an auto recovery function. As long as the damage wasn¡¯t ludicrous, the room could ¡°heal¡± itself. At one side, there were several practise targets if he wanted to train his long range precision.


    At by the targets were various Golems that were used for Defensive Magic practise or Close Combat Magic practise. At the very back, there was an area where there were dozens of metal rods standing ruler straight. In that area you can practise your Movement Magic and also increase your dodging or repositioning.


    Every area had multiple uses and since this entire Training Hall was quite big, several people could actually train here at the same time and not disturb one another. Jack took up a spot at the 50 meter mark and stared right at the target he wanted to hit.


    He took a deep breath and raised his right hand and faced it with the target. After exhaling, a Magic Circle appeared in front of the palm and as soon as Jack said ¡°Bullet!¡± a bullet of energy shot out from the Magic Circle straight towards the target.


    However, Jack¡¯s aim was way off as it hit the target board next to the intended one. After readjusting his aim, Jack kept shooting these bullets of energy towards the targets.


    In the beginning, he would hit the targets next to the intended one more times than the intended target but as he kept shooting these bullets, he familiarized himself with the process and also how to aim better and more accurate.


    So, as time went on, he started hitting his intended target more and more and soon he could set his sights on trying to hit the bullseye. After he exhausted all the Mana he could, he started gasping for air. He looked towards the target and could see that the little holes made by his bullets were getting smaller and smaller. Soon they would disappear all together.


    Jack looked at his bruised palm and murmured, ¡°I hit the target 8 times out of 10 in the last few rounds. At least my aim is getting better, now I need to work on the power of the bullet and Mana consumption.¡± He was quite content with his current progress rate and he decided not to rush things to much and focus on one thing at a time.


    After briefly thinking of his next actions, he sat down cross legged and closed his eyes as he started replenishing his Mana. When he started drawing in the Energy from the Cosmos, two brightly lit places appeared on his back. These were the bases of his future wings.

 Chapter 31: Limits of secluded training

    As Jack kept repeating his daily training plan, time slowly passed and soon half a year had passed since he took the position of City Lord. During that time, no major events happened and everything was quite peaceful. Jack¡¯s training also bore a lot fruit as he had managed to create and imprint all of the Seven Elements Base Diagrams onto his Soul.


    This drastically reduced the casting time of spells and all of the spells that Jack used, he had familiarized himself himself with them to the point of being able to cast them in his sleep. If he wasn¡¯t training, resting or doing his work, he was reading through all the records left behind for him by Raelag.


    His own understanding of the Essence of Magic had grown dozens of times and now he even understood the theory behind Chantless Magic. Chanltess Magic did not require any form of a Chant, so it was a very practical method to use in sneak attacks. Jack¡¯s understanding of activating Magic had taken a surprising turn when he accidentally tried to use cultivators method to cast a spell.


    After it worked, Jack realized that Chants were not needed at all and were there to help a person concentrate on the shape the Spell had to take. Jack had always been confused about these Chants but when he understood that they were nothing more than instructions, he started experimenting on using several methods to use Chantless Magic.


    After several experiments he reached the conclusion that if he imagined the effect and look of the Spell in his mind and poured his Mana into the appropriate Base Template, he can cast the Spell. Although the cast time of the Spell wasn¡¯t as fast as an Innate Spells, it was still several times faster than using Chants.


    After familiarizing himself with the three Spells, he used the special method of turning them into his Innate Spells and after doing so, the cast time, Mana consumption were significantly reduced. This made Jack deeply try to understand difference between Base Template and Innate Spells to apply it to his Chantless Magic.


    Maybe he could find a way to instantly cast some Spells like Innate Spells but to do so, a lot of time and thorough research in that department was needed.


    The main advantage Jack had was that he had libraries upon libraries of detailed knowledge left behind by Raelag, a person that had become a Sage. Since he had so many records, every time he hit a slump or a dead end, all he had to do was look up the relevant records and draw inspiration from them.


    Raelag was somewhat fanatical about Magic Research and besides the thousands upon thousands of Spells Raelag had either augmented or completely created himself, there were mountains of records on his research of different Magic Types. Augmenting Magic, Soul Magic, Space Magic, Time Magic and so on¡­. Raelag had done extensive research in all of these departments and his gains were enormous, so no matter what problem Jack ran into, he could find at least one book or scroll that held some kind of insight or information on it.


    This was also the reason Jack could progress in the Path of Magic so fast and at the same time steadily. Usually, Mages guard their research and records of them like their lifeblood and take most of their knowledge to the grave with them even if they have Legacy Disciples. Raelag however had written all of his knowledge down and had given Jack full access to it to make his path easier.


    If he didn¡¯t have to take detours all the time, his path was several times faster. Also because he didn¡¯t fumble around with things that had no direct use for him at the moment and focused on raising his fighting strength alongside absorbing everything left behind by Raelag, his foundation was extremely sturdy.


    Even without having Raelag remind him, Jack knew that the importance of a solid foundation in the Path of Magic was several times higher than in cultivation. In cultivation, even if you half-assed your foundation, you could make up for it later. It will be several times harder and required several times more effort but it was still doable.


    However, if you take a wrong turn in Magic Research, it may end up as a fatality that can not be reversed. To prevent that, besides the [Flame Angel Art], Raelag also left behind several methods on nourishing the Soul and accelerating Mana movement.


    Jack practised each of these methods in the specific order left behind by Raelag each and every day. This sped up Jack¡¯s training efficiency by several times by itself and also had the effect of purifying and nourishing both is body and soul. After following the training plan left behind by Raelag, Jack could only sigh at how important a good teacher is.


    Even though Raelag wasn¡¯t there to oversee his training himself, all the records and plans left behind by him increased Jack¡¯s progress rate by a dozen fold. If he had to fumble around on his own, he guessed he wouldn¡¯t even have 10 per cent of his current fighting strength. However, Jack¡¯s progress had now decreased drastically as he reached one certain bottleneck: The lack of practical experience.


    His progress rate had been astonishing for the last half a year but in the several recent weeks, Jack felt that he had reached the limit of what he could do without taking part in life and death battles. His training hall had the best of the best conditions for training all sorts of Spells but still they were either not moving targets or had set movement patterns.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    If you figured out the pattern, you could easily dodge all the golems threw at you, so Jack felt that he wouldn¡¯t be able to progress at all in a few weeks if it goes on like this. If he fought against other intelligent beings, it would be far easier to find mistakes in his techniques or find some inspiration on how to improve his own strength.


    However, there was one problem with that as well, in this Cosmos, the number of people that actually dared to make a move against him could be counted on one hand and every single one of those people were way out of Jack¡¯s league. To have a true life and death battle in this Cosmos was exceedingly hard, so Jack was put in a tough spot at the moment.


    Shu had also returned to the Headquarters so if he wanted to ask for his opinion or suggestion on what to do, he would have to travel all the way there. The closest Teleportation Portal that would take him to Dragon Cross was in a branch sect and it would take him about a day and a half to reach there.


    Thinking about this, Jack felt that it was a shame that there wasn¡¯t a portal here that could directly bring him to the Island. Without having any other option left, he organized all the things so that there wouldn¡¯t be any problems for the time he left. He left all of the authority on the matters of the City to the people that dealt with the mundane matters and unless it was something exceedingly important, they would not need to bother him and can make the decision themselves.


    After making all the preparations, he took Nalser with him and rented a Silver Eagle that would take him to the Branch Sect. Silver Eagles were exceedingly large and strong, so they were the favoured transportation method for people that didn¡¯t have some high grade Movement Artefact or were unable to teleport like Origin Realm cultivators. For the whole road to the Branch Sect, Jack kept training because he had nothing better to do while sitting on the back of the Silver Eagle.


    Since it was general knowledge that anyone who has the option of riding on a Silver Eagle is someone with backing, nothing happened for the whole flight.


    Jack himself thought that there would be some bandits or rouge cultivators that would be blinded by greed but to his surprise, no one stepped forward to try and hamper his journey. This left Jack a little disappointed as he was currently in the need of a good fight to see his true fighting strength. Since there were no incidents through the whole journey, Jack reached the Branch Sect in a day and managed to get through the Teleportation Portal just before it was closed for the night.


    The Branch Head invited him to stay for the night and throw a banquet in the evening but Jack politely declined the offer as he was in no mood to party. Although Jack¡¯s position was quite high in Dragon Cross, he himself didn¡¯t flaunt his status around. Since he spent most of his time training or on his research, most people looked down at him for having such a position.


    The amount of people that knew that Jack was training in the Path of Magic was quite small, so most of the people thought that he was just a cripple without any future prospects. Everyone were courteous on the outside but inside, they mocked and ridiculed Jack. Some even didn¡¯t try to hide their sneers but Jack didn¡¯t bother with these people because he knew that greed and jealousy was present everywhere.


    Even buddhists had greedy and jealous emotions so there was no place in this vast Plane where everything was in harmony.


    When Jack reached the Dragon Cross Headquarters, it didn¡¯t take long for someone to guide him to the Island. When asked for the purpose of his visit, Jack asked to meet with Zhi. He felt that it would be for the best to directly talk to Zhi about his problem. He quickly got permission to enter the Island and was guided towards the Meeting Hall he had been to before.


    All the way there people courteously bowed to him and none of these people looked down on him for one simple reason. They had been here and seen the Inferno Jack had created when he accepted Raelags Legacy.


    They knew very well that Jack was no pushover and even though he couldn¡¯t cultivate Qi any more, that didn¡¯t mean that he was thoroughly crippled and all he could do was wait for death. To them, Jack was the prime example of ¡°There is always a way¡±. If you also accounted all of his previous accomplishments, the amount of respect Jack hard earned for himself from the Core of Dragon Cross was immense.


    All those Origin Realm cultivators that were usually aloof and didn¡¯t put anyone weaker in their eyes treated Jack like an equal. This by itself was already an extremely good accomplishment. After chatting a bit with the people from the Island, Jack headed to the Meeting Hall to talk to Zhi about his problem.


    When he arrived at the Hall, only Zhi was present and Zhi just smiled as he gestured Jack to take a seat. Jack politely took the seat he was offered and after making small talk with Zhi about how Jack had been for the last half a year, Zhi asked, ¡°So, what is the main reason you sought me out today?¡± Jack put on an apologetic face as he said, ¡°I don¡¯t mean to be disrespectful but I feel as though I am currently stuck in a cage.¡±


    Zhi¡¯s brows slightly frowned as he asked, ¡°How so?¡± Jack then sighed as he explained, ¡°I am the City Lord of Virbeth, I have all the resources I need and more. Even though my progress has been fast in this past half a year, I have hit a slump now.¡± Zhi thought about Jack¡¯s words and vaguely guessed the reason for Jack coming here.


    Jack then continued, ¡°In the City, no one dares to cause any problems and I always have more than ten Origin Realm cultivators keeping tight watch over me. As you might have guessed already, that is a bit too safe.¡±


    After hearing Jack¡¯s explanation, Zhi sighed as he nodded his head, ¡°I guessed that his day would come sooner or later. There are limits to how far you can progress without having life and death battles.¡±


    Jack nodded his head and said, ¡°That is my current problem. I feel as though I have reached the limit to how much I can progress without having first hand combat experience. The training hall has the best conditions for training in Magic but it still all quite limited in terms of direct combat.¡±

 Chapter 32: Persuading Zhi

    Zhi sized up Jack seriously as the silence enveloped the Hall. Jack held his breath because Dragon Cross had done a lot for him in the past half a year, so him coming like this was a bit rude. Zhi then looked at Jack¡¯s eyes and sighed, ¡°All right, I authorize you going out to gather experience but do you have a concrete plan?¡±


    Jack let out a breath of relief as he said with a bitter smile, ¡°I was thinking of going to the Ashan Cosmos for this gathering of experience.¡± Zhi¡¯s eyes became like carriage wheels as he didn¡¯t hesitate to say, ¡°Refused!¡±


    Jack let out a hollow laugh as he expected as much. Jack understood that there was an enormous importance put on him for this War. There is no way in Seven Hells that Zhi can let him go somewhere so far out of Dragon Cross¡¯s sphere of influence.


    The main reason Zhi allowed him to discard his City Lord position to go out travelling was because he thought that he would stay in their Cosmos, somewhere where no one truly dared to kill him.


    Here they can make sure that no one harms him more than allowed but if he went off the radar to some Cosmos in the middle of nowhere, it would be very hard to keep an eye on him.


    Jack then took a sip of tea that had been brought to them by someone and Jack started explaining his reasoning, ¡°Well, it is not like I want to go to the Ashan Cosmos just for the heck of it. I have my own reasons for picking that Cosmos.¡±


    Although Zhi did not want to let him go there, he could not chain him up either. If he truly wanted to go, then there was no one that could stop him, this made his importance to the War a double edged sword. If they were too overbearing with Jack, then he might just say ¡°Fuck you guys!¡± when the War came and just not care even the slightest about the outcome.


    Zhi let out even a deeper sigh and gestured with his hand for Jack to continue. Seeing this, Jack put on a serious expression as he started, ¡°First of all, this Cosmos is a Cultivator Cosmos. I train in the Path of Magic, so it would be a smarter choice to choose the Ashan Cosmos to develop as a Magician.¡±


    Zhi could only nod his head as he understood this reasoning. It was like studying a foreign language, it is far easier to learn it when going abroad to the country and living amongst the residents for a while. If Jack goes to the Ashan Cosmos, he may pick up some things just by seeing others use Magic. Like Jack had said, it was more beneficial to research Magic in a place that Magic rules supreme.


    Seeing that Zhi did not refute him this far, Jack continued, ¡°Secondly, you are all cultivating me as a Tactician for the War. Here there are no wars where I could command troops to accumulate experience in that regard either.¡± Zhi¡¯s face darkened a little as he realized Jack¡¯s words were right. They hoped that Jack would become the Chief-In-Command for the War, so the ability to lead troops was the most important. Here, there were currently no wars where he could hone his skills in commanding troops.


    In the Ashan Cosmos, all he had to do was set up a base somewhere and he would inevitably attract some kind of an idiot that would want to go head to head with him. Also, the relations between the races of Ashan Cosmos had not improved by one with even now so it would not be hard for him to get first hand experience in commanding troops there.


    Jack then concluded, ¡°Lastly, the people that are on my level or a bit stronger avoid me like the plague while those that would dare to fight me are people that could kill me with a snort.¡± After saying so, Jack closed his eyes as he hoped that he had said enough to change Zhi¡¯s mind on this regard.


    Every thing he pointed out was something that hindered his progress by a lot. Zhi also understood why Jack had said that this place was a bit too safe for him. A tiger raised in a cage is akin to a paper tiger. Although Zhi did not want to admit it, Jack was completely right with every single point and he had very little reason to not let him go to the Ashan Cosmos to hone his skills and also improve all of them. Just as Zhi was caught between a rock and a hard place, an amused laugh echoed in the Hall, ¡°What am I seeing? The exalted Berserker Dragon is hesitating over a Junior. If a word of this got out, you would have a hard time keeping your position as the Number 1 Dao Seeking Expert of the Plane.¡±


    As the voice echoed out in the Hall, both Jack and Zhi immediately turned to the other end of the table where an old man in white robes as nonchalantly drinking tea. Zhi¡¯s let out a hollow laugh as he immediately retorted the old man, ¡°What would happen when a word got out that the almighty Heavenly Flame Devil became a babysitter to a Junior?¡± Jack¡¯s face flickered as he heard the blatant ridicule in Zhi¡¯s tone.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    He had no idea whether these two were on good terms or not but from the current flow of things, it seemed as though they are not. The old man glared at Zhi for a moment before he laughed, ¡°Well, then we two will be in the same boat, no? So lets take one for the road then.¡± As he said so, he raised his tea cup towards Zhi and downed it with a mischievous smile dancing on his lips. Zhi let out a little laugh as well as he raised his cup and also downed all the tea in it in one big gulp.


    Zhi then turned to the old man and asked, ¡°Xia Hao, what do you think?¡± The old man was the Heaven Profound expert sent by the Heaven Cosmoses. Xia Hao let out a breath as he glanced at Jack before saying, ¡°You know as well as I do that what he said was all the truth. I have watched over him for the last half a year and I can confirm that his progress rate has slowed down dramatically in the past weeks.¡± Zhi nodded his head as he acknowledged the old man¡¯s words. He hadn¡¯t thought that Jack was lying but rather he had a hard time letting him go somewhere where he was out of his sphere of influence.


    In his eyes, Jack had unlimited potential and even if he couldn¡¯t perform spectacularly this War, there were more Wars to come and after gaining first hand experience in this one, he will without a doubt perform spectacularly in the next one. If something happened to Jack to cut his path short, then there was no one that is strong enough to take the responsibility for it.


    So unconsciously Zhi, who was always fair and hated greenhouse flowers, started doing exactly that to Jack. He started raising him like a greenhouse flower and was very reluctant to let him near anything dangerous.


    Xia Hao then said, ¡°What are you so worried about, it is not like he would go alone. Not to mention those two overpowered existences in his Mask, I will also follow him.¡± Zhi nodded his head as he realized what the old man was hinting at. Even though he will be out of Dragon Cross¡¯s sphere of influence it doesn¡¯t mean that he will be all alone.


    Besides the Troops in the Mask, there was also Xia Hao, the second strongest in the Plane looking after him. Couple that with all the other experts that are standing guard over him, there is a better chance of Zhi dying that Jack dying.


    Zhi let out a hollow laugh as he shook his head in dejection saying, ¡°Well, it seems like I overthought it. However, what are we going to do with Virbeth?¡± This question was directed at Jack, who was now quietly sitting at the sidelines. Jack thought about it for a moment before he suddenly touched his Mask and a Succubus appeared behind Jack. She didn¡¯t look like before as this one was covered in yellow flames. She gave a saluted and said, ¡°Ma ootan k?sku Isand!¡±


    Jack nodded his head and the two at the sides had their eyes narrowed as they were thinking about what Jack was up to now. Jack looked at the Succubus and then said, ¡°V?ta minu n?gu.¡±


    After receiving the order from Jack, the Succubus gave another salute as she suddenly started changing. Succubus¡¯s had an innate talent of shape shifting and they could completely mimic a persons looks, aura and demeanour.


    After a few moments passed, a person that was a one on one replica to Jack was standing at his side. Zhi and Xia Hao looked at each other in complete shock as even the two of them couldn¡¯t find any fault in the Succubus¡¯s transformation. If they hadn¡¯t seen it happen under their own eyes, they would not be able to tell that the other person was indeed not Jack. They tried to find any fault with the Soul Aura or any little fault at all but all they could come up with was nothing.


    Seeing their stupefied faces Jack let out a sigh, ¡°A one-on-one replica isn¡¯t it?¡± Xia Hao subconsciously nodded his head but Jack¡¯s next words made him see the crux of the problem. Jack then sighed even deeper as he said, ¡°Even though it is a transformation without any faults appearance wise, they can¡¯t mimic my abilities.¡± Zhi and Xia Hao let out a deep breath as they felt a burden fall off their shoulders.


    If the Succubus could even completely mimic his abilities as well, what stopped him from creating over a dozen of clones of himself and going from stir shit up everywhere. The Succubus then said in Jack¡¯s voice, ¡°When Master goes to the Ashan Cosmos, I will take his spot as the City Lord of Virbeth.¡± Jack nodded his head and added, ¡°As long as no one comes to blows with her, they will not be able to realize the difference. Well, some special occasions not included.¡±


    Zhi¡¯s eyes narrowed as he asked, ¡°What special occasions?¡± Jack looked at Zhi and said, ¡°Well, if someone has an innate constitution that lets them see through all Illusions, there is a high probability of them seeing through the disguise. Also, there are special Artefacts that dispel Illusions and some special techniques to do so.¡± Xia Hao nodded his head as he said, ¡°Well, there is nothing that is completely without weaknesses.¡±


    Jack nodded his head as he asked, ¡°So, am I allowed to go to the Ashan Cosmos?¡± Zhi and Xia Hao looked at each other and nodded. Xia Hao then said, ¡°Make your preparations, I will personally take you there. However, remember this, you will not be able to come back here any time you want, so carefully pick out all the thing you want to take with you.¡± Jack nodded his head as he understood that the old man wasn¡¯t very keen on playing taxi for him.


    It may take a long time before he comes back here, so for now he headed towards the Merchant Hall to exchange all of his Contribution Points for the things he needed.

 Chapter 33: Ashan Cosmos

    Three months had passed since Jack got Zhi¡¯s approval to leave the Cosmos. Although Jack felt a bit bad because Zhi had organized the best training conditions for him, he was still happy to go out tempering himself. Until now, he had never been the kind of a person to sit in the safety of his four little walls and only wonder what is behind them.


    Before Jack left, he used up all his Contribution Points by purchasing all kinds of Elixirs and other useful things. However, the vast majority of his Contribution Points went towards a Custom Artefact order he put in. Since he provided all of the resources as well, the cost for manufacturing the Artefacts wasn¡¯t that large.


    However, the big but was that he ordered an extremely big amount of daggers, cloaks, spears, light armours and heavy armours alongside various other weapons and armours. These weren¡¯t meant for himself to use but rather for his Troops.


    Raelag at the time emphasized more on personal strength than his Troops over all quality. At the time, they were well equipped but now so long has passed that many new Formations and special combat armours had been created. By upgrading his Troops equipment, he efficiently upgraded his own strength as well.


    He wasn¡¯t stupid or condescending enough to think that he was a Heavens Chosen Child or something. Rather, he thought of himself as a person with no home and no family. Although the intelligent Dark Elves were still always respectful to him, Jack was slowly starting to trust them more than himself.


    Especially now that he was in the Ashan Cosmos. When he first arrived there, he had summoned all of his Dark Elven Troops and set up a little temporary base to wait for the right timing. When he first arrived here, Xia Hao had provided him with the current distribution of power and even commented with a sigh, ¡°Even though so much time has passed, the glories of past have fallen to the ruin of time and now the cycle repeats itself.¡±


    Jack didn¡¯t understand the meaning behind these words at first but when Shadya had explained that none of the Empires that had existed at their times exist any more and from their information gathering, they aren¡¯t even mentioned in the history records. This had baffled Jack as he had thought that the Empire Raelag had built would carry on his legacy and stand for thousands of years.


    The ShadowBrand Clan that Raelag had lead to prominence had declined and was now nothing more than a word on a history paper. The Island was vast but since most of it was a Danger Zone, the usable land was miniscule. ¡°The ShadowBrand used to dominate all of these islands. Now, we only have one little island and we can at best use only 15 to 20 percent of the land.¡±


    Shadya looked at the map one of the scouts had obtained from somewhere. She then raised her head and looked at the youth at the opposite side of the table.


    The young man was looked around 15 to 16 years old, with lightly tanned skin. His hair was as white as first snow and what was interesting was that his ears were slightly pointed. No one knew the reason behind this but when Jack first arrived and started training as usual, he suddenly felt his body heat up. Thinking that he had made some sort of a breakthrough, Jack felt happy but immediately after that happiness turned franticness as his body kept getting hotter and hotter.


    Soon he started feeling pain all over his body as it transformed. He became a bit taller as his skin adapted the lightly bronze hue that all Dark Elves had and his ears turned pointy. After the transformation was done, Jack felt lighter than before and more in tune with Energy in the surroundings than ever before. However, when Shadya saw his appearance for the first time, she nearly flipped the switch.


    After several speculations and experiments, they could simply not find a reason for the transformation. Since they did not know what had caused it, they had no way of thinking on how to reverse it. Even though the transformation of the body surprised Jack, it did not bring him any harm. His body had even become stronger and better than before, so for now Jack decided not to mull on it.


    He kept looking through the records and forming some theories for it but it wasn¡¯t his first priority. His life here had become several times easier here thanks to it, so he was in no hurry to reverse it. They were currently deep in the Dark Elven territory and this place was one of the few remaining free Citadels of the Dark Elves.


    The rest had fallen to either destruction or slavery and so the Dark Elves were quite vary of other Races. Most of all, they hated humans as they enslaved the other Races to do their dirty work for themselves. Since Dark Elves were far more beautiful than humans, all of the women that were enslaved ended up as a slave to a noble or as a worker in a brothel. So, humans were not very welcome on the island or in any other races domain for that matter as well.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    Jack looked thoughtfully at the map and said, ¡°If we manage to win the Rite of the Clanlord, we will be able to gain full control of the island?¡± Shadya nodded her head to the question and said seriously, ¡°These traditions were set in stone even in times when Raelag rose to prominence. At that time, he obtained the position of Clanlord for the Shadowbrand Clan.¡± Jack thought for a moment more and said, ¡°Even as an outsider?¡±


    Shadya nodded her head but maintained her silence. She knew very well that Jack came here to train his own skills. However, after seeing the pitiful outcome of their Dark Elven race, Shadya felt sad. She didn¡¯t want her race to blink out of existence and in her opinion only Jack could reverse this decline. Jack had not planned on taking on a new territory but rather act as travelling mercenaries. However, after feeling Shadyas despair, something stirred in him when he heard how majestic their race had been once.


    As if answering Shadyas prayers, the previous Clan Lord of the AbyssFlame Clan had passed away and according to tradition, the next Clan Lord will be chosen through an elimination tournament. The requirements to join the tournament were that the person was a Dark Elf and had a personal army of 500. Besides these two requirements there were none more. All you had to do was pay a fee and you will be able to join the tournament. The last Dark Elf standing will become the next Clan Lord obtaining all control over the island.


    Jack had been extremely suspicious of these two requirements for one reason: Who said that the person that won would not be a spy from another land? Contrary to his expectations, the registration went extremely smoothly. All he had to do was display his army and using a special magical tool, they made sure that Jack was not using any illusion techniques.


    What baffled Jack and Shadya was that Jack was able to pass the bloodline test. This meant that his physique had not only changed from appearance but from roots. However, he wasn¡¯t a so-called ¡°Pure Blood¡± he seemed to be a mix of Dark Elven and Human. Although the examiner frowned upon this, the highest organ of authority next to the Clan Lord, the Keeper of the Law had intervened.


    She had said that even though Jack is a mixed blood, he still carries the blood of Dark Elves and it seemed like it was the dominant part of his bloodline. Since Jack had no idea what was going on with his body, all he could do was assume the identity of a mixed blood that had been born from an enslaved Dark Elven woman.


    She had passed away a few years after Jack¡¯s birth and Jack was thrown to fend for himself. Years passed and he had ¡°set free¡± a lot of Dark Elven slaves and after they swore their loyalty to him, they travelled to the island. Hearing about the Rite of the Clan Lord, Jack had thought about trying as well.


    Although humans looked down on mixed bloods, none of the other races did as much. There were some that were quite extreme but most people knew how most mixed bloods were born. They were born from an enslaved woman that has become nothing more than a toy to the humans to vent their lust on.


    So, the registration went quite smoothly and Jack was told to gather his army at the City Gates in four days time. From the registration till now, four days had passed and the time to bring his army to the gates had arrived. Most applicants would spend these few days by carefully gathering information on their opponents and making all sorts of preparations.


    Jack should have been doing the same but when he was going to do so, a few of his Troops arrived before him and said, ¡°Master, do not worry about any of it and leave everything to us.¡± Jack had wanted to retort but Shadya had stepped in by reminding Jack that all of the Troops were people that had worked together for thousands of years.


    When it came the time to fight, then Jack should take command but until then, he should focus on his own things and trust the competence of his men. Not wanting to hurt their feelings, Jack decided to just oversee the preparations from a passive stance and let all of them do what they did best. Scouts were all accurately sent to gather information on their opponents, their strengths and weakness.


    The other Troops were all familiarizing themselves with their new equipment and also did basic training. Jack truly had nothing other to do than talk with Shadya about their future plans. How to best exploit their new territory, how to increase population and so on. It was unknown when but after seeing how well his troops work, Jack started having complete confidence in them and he did feel as though they had any chance of failing.


    These troops are all that have shed blood in the Ashan Cosmos and in the Cosmoses far, far away from here. Jack frowned as he asked Shadya, ¡°How is it possible that all records of the past are gone? Shouldn¡¯t there at least be ruins or something?¡± Shadya shook her head and said, ¡°Nothing here is eternal. The Silver Cities might have records that date back to that time but they are most probably state secrets and known to only select few.¡± Jack then sighed as he thought about the various possibilities of improvement.


    It seemed as though all Races had become reset at some point in time and all records from a certain point in history were lost. Jack was quite interested in what could possibly happen to reset civilization back to this point. From what Shadya had said, at their time, civilization had been far more advanced than what it is now. It may also be because this place is too secluded but if the general level of civilization around the world is around this level then it seemed as though even basic farming knowledge and such had declined.


    *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG*


    Jack raised his head form the map and said, ¡°It¡¯s the bell signalling to gather.¡± He then walked out of the little tent and stood in front of the already lined up troops and said in a loud voice, ¡°The Bell had tolled! Let¡¯s move out!¡±


    All the troops gave a standard salute and started moving towards the City.

 Chapter 34: The Rite

    When Jack arrived at the City Gates, he was greeted by the three other contestants. Since the inhabitable land was too little, there were very few who could muster a personal army of 500. Even amongst these contestants, there were two that had employed men for money. Since they fought under their Flag, it wasn¡¯t against the rules.


    Seeing Jack arrive with his men, the Keeper of the Law¡¯s eyes shined as she sized up the men walking behind Jack. Dark Elves had a naturally longer lifespan than most other races and it wasn¡¯t weird for one to live up to three or four hundred years.


    The current Keeper of the Law was already 254 years old and had she had participated in the last big war that happened over a hundred years ago. When she had first seen the armies of the three other contestants, she could see clearly that they had minimal battle experience.


    They moved like an army but Jack¡¯s army moved like one man. Not even one person was an inch ahead or behind others. They all moved in a ruler straight formation and the aura they excluded was something that made the Keeper feel as though she was again standing in a blood soaked battlefield with corpses all around.


    As Jack closed in on the City Gates, the three other contestants also noticed the suffocating aura that Jack¡¯s army was excluding. All of their faces flickered and some of the soldiers even gulped as they felt as though they were suffocating.


    When Jack finally arrived at the position indicated to him, he just said, ¡°Stop.¡± The command was not loud but in this eerily silent field, it was like shout. As if one man, everyone stopped and took a passive stance. As they stood there, the baleful aura they excluded made all the other contestants release cold sweat and all of the people that came to spectate the Rite also felt suffocated.


    Jack then strode forward to the Keeper and stood next to the three other contestants. When Jack arrived at his spot, all of the other contestants seemed to exchange glances as they seemed to come to an agreement of sorts.


    The Keeper of the Law nodded to Jack and then stepped forward and said in a loud voice, ¡°Now that all of the four contestants have arrived, we shall start the Rite!¡± After saying so, a crystal ball appeared in her hand as she continued explaining, ¡°This is our AbyssFlame Clan¡¯s Ancestral Heirloom, [The Rite Orb]. The tournament to decide our next Clan Lord shall be held in here!¡±


    After saying so, she turned around and faced the four contestants, ¡°If there are no problems or complaints, then we shall begin the tournament immediately.¡± After saying so, she swept her gaze over the four contestants present seeing if they have any objections. Seeing that there weren¡¯t any, she started saying something but before the voice could leave her mouth, one of the contestants stepped forward and said, ¡°I have an objection.¡±


    Everyone¡¯s gazes gathered on the young man with black hair. He was around the same height as Jack but his physique was much sloppier as he seemed slightly pale and his luxurious clothes were a bit disheveled. This youth was dressed like a young master from head to toe and seeing that he was the one that had an objection, the Keeper frowned as she said coldly, ¡°State your complaint.¡±


    The young man glanced at Jack and then turned his eyes back towards the Keeper as he said with a smug smirk, ¡°That white haired brat is an outsider. How can he take part in our sacred Rite of the Clanlord on equal terms as we, the people who have grown up and shed blood for this land.¡± As he said so, he managed to say it in a righteous tone as if Jack had no right to take part in this tournament.


    The two other contestants, a young man in his twenties that had a nasty scar on his left eye and a middle aged woman with long brown hair also nodded their heads to this. Jack however just glanced at the black haired young man and didn¡¯t pay him any more attention. Seeing that the people started discussing his opinion, he quickly grasped his chance and added, ¡°And to top it off, he is also a Mixed Blood. To have a mongrel stand at the helm of our illustrious Clan with deep roots is something unacceptable as a person that was born to the AbyssFlame Clan.¡±


    The murmurs of the audience grew even louder and some even pointed at Jack as they discussed something amongst themselves. Seeing the young man¡¯s plan succeed, the Keeper grew a bit irritated as she thought to herself, ¡°You little debauchee prick just got scared shitless when you saw his army come.¡±


    After thinking so, she suddenly felt a chill run down her spine as she hurriedly looked over at Jack. Jack currently had a frown on his face as his cold eyes looked at the young man. What made the Keeper feel the chill wasn¡¯t Jack but rather the troops that he had brought with him. When before they had a cold face that solely followed orders, now they seemed pissed off.


    She remembered that Jack had said that all of these guys had been slaves before and on his travels around the world, he had managed to liberate them from their captives and they swore their allegiance to him. To have your life saviour be called a ¡°mongrel¡±, the Keeper felt that this idiot will get himself killed before the tournament even began.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    Everyone¡¯s eyes turned to Jack¡¯s army after feeling the same chill as the Keeper and when they saw that one of the Lizard Riders took a step forward, they all fell quiet. The armies of the three other contestants all gripped their weapons but fear was quite evident on their faces as they had no confidence in taking Jack¡¯s army on. As the Lizard Rider started advancing towards the young man with black hair,


    Jack¡¯s cold voice echoed out over the field, ¡°Stand down.¡±


    Although the voice wasn¡¯t loud, it seemed to cut the tense atmosphere as they saw the Lizard Rider stop in his tracks. He gave the young man a cold glance as he just snorted and went back to the formation. Seeing this kind of iron fist control, even the Keeper gulped as she saw Jack turn to the debauchee and say in a cold tone, ¡°I think you are the last person in this world to start speaking about the honour of the AbyssFlame Clan.¡±


    Everyone were baffled by Jacks words but without giving the young man any time to rebut him, Jack continued, ¡°You spend most of your time humping on women and instead of spending money on necessary provisions, you spend it on making yourself pretty.¡± Stifled laughter was heard from somewhere as the young man¡¯s face turned red.


    Jack then took a step towards the young man and added, ¡°When I was five, I already entered the cruelty of the real world. When you were five, you still had maids running around you and changing your diapers.¡±


    Jack then looked at the young man in the eye as he took another step and said, ¡°I may be a ¡°mongrel¡± but I have seen the vast world behind these coasts. I know how life truly is outside, the war, poverty, slavery. The number of times I have danced on the border of death is higher than the number of women you have slept with. So you tell me, how am I unqualified to become a Clan Lord of an already decaying Clan?¡± After hearing Jack¡¯s words and feeling the cold murderous aura, the young man with black hair paled as he took a step back.


    The whole audience was quiet as Jack¡¯s words seemed to stab deeply into them. Everyone knows that Mixed Bloods have an even worse life than slaves and for him to be here with an army of five hundred that is completely loyal to him shows that he is not made of the same material as the debauchee young man. Even the Keeper felt a bit ashamed on the behalf of the debauchee.


    When looking at it from another angle, Jack had actually done more for the Dark Elves than the debauchee had. The debauchee was actually the spoiled son of the previous Clan Lord, so his adventures to the various brothels and his spending on useless nicnacks was well known. On one hand you had a person that had spent most his time in the safety of the city, doing what he felt.


    On the other hand, you had a person that had grown up climbing over a mountain of corpses. Also, from the way his troops were armed, it was obvious that he knew how to manage their finances as all the troops had matching weapons, armours and worked like clockwork. Also, from their appearances, it was obvious that they were all well fed and they had probably even obtained some elixirs or high grade fighting techniques.


    This showed that besides being someone with a lot charisma, he was also someone that knows how to manage finances well. Jack then looked towards the audience for a moment and then added in a cold voice, ¡°The Ancestral Law states that anyone with Dark Elven blood is allowed to take part in the Rite of the Clan Lord. However, from what I see right now, you respect that law only when it suits your goals.¡±


    After saying so, Jack turned around and then started walking towards his troops. The entire audience was a bit stupefied but thinking back to how they were swayed by the debauchee¡¯s words, they immediately felt embarrassed as Jack¡¯s words hit the nail on the head. Jack didn¡¯t stop at the spot he stood before but continued on and arrived before his troops.


    Seeing this, everyone¡¯s eyes grew wide and the Keeper yelled towards Jack, ¡°Where are you going?!¡± Jack stopped, looked towards the Keeper and said with a smile, ¡°I have no interest in become the Clan Lord of a half dead Clan that walks towards their demise with a proud expression while looking down on others.¡± After saying so, he turned his head to his left where Shadya was standing. He then put on an apologetic smile as he said, ¡°I am sorry but I can¡¯t fulfil your request.¡±


    Shadya shook her head and sighed, ¡°No need. I honestly didn¡¯t think that the Dark Elves had fallen this low.¡± Even though her words were said gently, they stabbed into the hearts of everyone present. They also realized that Jack was only taking part in this on the request of another.


    Shadya didn¡¯t care what they were thinking as she truly felt depressed. Back in her time, Ancestral Laws were respected and even a Clan Lord could not escape them. Dark Elves did not look down on others and put their kin above all else but now, the values had changed greatly.


    The Ancestral Law was used when it suited them and a person status, not their personal strength mattered. Jack wasn¡¯t the one to give up easily but even he had a hard time trying to help people that were so stuck in their world. The felt as they were the kings and everyone else were beggars and looked down upon all else.


    Since they could not get their support with Shadya¡¯s way, Jack decided to use his original plan: Occupy a spot somewhere and build his own City. Thanks to the map of the world obtained by one of his scouts, he had found the perfect place to do so. With a swish of his sleeve, a giant floating ship appeared in mid air. All of his troops boarded the ship without any orders, while boarding the ship, they cast pitying gazes towards the dumbstruck people on the ground.


    Without waiting for any reply, the ship started moving the moment all of the people were on the ship, towards the location Jack had set his sight upon. After the ship had disappeared over the horizon, the Keeper finally snapped out of shock she was in and the first thing she did was slap the debauchee young man.


    However, due to her anger, she couldn¡¯t control her strength very well and the slap made the young man fly a short distance.

 Chapter 35: Perfect Location

    Standing at the helm of the ship, Jack kept looking towards the distant horizon. All of the Troops had started doing their own things and the atmosphere on the ship wasn¡¯t as stifling as before. However, disappointment was evident on the face of every single one of them.


    In their memories, Dark Elves were people that were proud and valued a persons ability over their lineage. That was also the meaning behind the Rite of the Clan Lord. Every person with ability was allowed to take part in it and during the competition, your status and lineage didn¡¯t matter. If you had the ability, you can stand victorious and take charge of the entire Clan.


    As Jack kept looking forward, a woman appeared next to him. She didn¡¯t say anything but rather looked towards the same direction as Jack was. Without even glancing back, Jack asked, ¡°Are you disappointed that I gave up so easily Shadya?¡±


    The woman didn¡¯t even look fazed as she sighed answering, ¡°No, I am disappointed that the AbyssFlame Clan has started valuing lineage over ones personal ability. That may be because of the state of the world¡­.¡±


    Jack turned back and looked at Shadya, ¡°Times change. In the Immortal Worlds, changes happen at a very slow pace but in Mortal Worlds, changes happen fast.¡± Jack then looked forward again and finished his thought, ¡°A Person that has broken through the fetters of the Mortal World may not recognize his home after a single secluded cultivation.¡±


    Shadya nodded her head as he understood what Jack meant. It wasn¡¯t weird for cultivators to stay in secluded meditation for centuries or millenniums. The Immortal World may not have much changes in that time frame but in the Mortal World, Empires rise and fall in centuries. Mortal Worlds change far too fast compared to Immortal Worlds and it isn¡¯t weird for the situation to be like this after such a long period of time.


    The other races have declined here and Humans have become supreme. However, it may as well have ended up with all the other races declining and Dark Elves becoming supreme. There currently three Human Empires that reign supreme on the main continent.


    The Azure Dragon Empire known for their Dragon Riders, The Lehati Empire that is known for their Magic Corps and Red Haven Empire known for their brutal strength and savagery. Every other races except the Demon kind that held the same amount of territory as the three empires combined, had been banished to the various islands surrounding the main continent.


    These islands were either big or small but were without a doubt safer than main continent. The location Jack had picked out was where Shadya had shown that the previous home of the Shadowbrand Clan had been.


    However, the only problem was that it was at the coast of the main continent and it was actually a place that was at the border of all three Empires. If Jack didn¡¯t make ample preparations before taking control of the city, Jack was going to have to abandon it soon. Jack didn¡¯t feel afraid of the three Empires but rather he was very wary of the Demons.


    The Demons reproduced like vermin and the main reason the three Empires are in a stalemate was because they had to constantly exhaust resources on dealing with the threat of the Demons. Just by seeing that the Demons held the same amount of territory as the three Empires combined showed that the Demons are by no means weaker that the three Empires combined. With them holding the pressure on the three Empires, Jack will have an easier time taking full control of the City and ready his defences before the three Empires can retaliate.


    As for his ¡°citizens¡± it was the easiest problem to solve. All he had to do was buy enough of the slaves and set them free. By doing so, he can earn the support of various races that have been enslaved for generations and at the same time, he will gain a population to work for him. However, the main problem with this was that you may never know who exactly you got.


    Amongst the slaves, there are some that have become completely obedient to Humans and some that have fallen to slavery due to committing crimes. It was truly a lottery of what kind of people you get but currently Jack did not have time to slowly take over some place and raise the population over the years and then keep improving the living conditions and so on.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    He only had two hundred years before the Planar War and in that time frame he needed to do everything he could to improve his army leading capabilities alongside his own personal strength. Suddenly a big figure covered in black flames appeared next to Jack. It was Veyer that now opened his mouth and asked, ¡°Master Jack, since we are going to go with the original plan, am I also going to act according to that plan?¡±


    After saying so, Veyer glanced over at Shadya. He could feel that Shadya was quite disappointed in how the Dark Elves had changed and he didn¡¯t want to rub salt in open wounds. Shadya however didn¡¯t say anything but rather looked at Jack with curiosity as well. Jack thought for a moment and then nodded his head, ¡°Yes, we will go with the original plan.¡± Veyer nodded his head and an eager gleam passed his eyes.


    The original plan was that they will occupy a place and build it up themselves. However, to not bring much heat onto themselves, Veyer will take the Demons and set up another base in the Demon Territory. Since Demons value strength above all, it won¡¯t be hard for Veyer to set up base there and provide support to Jack from there. After securing a base, Veyer can have Demons gather resources and slaves to send to Jack to fortify his base.


    Veyer then looked to the distance as well as he sighed, ¡°So long has passed and so much has changed.¡± Shayda nodded her head as she sighed, ¡°Everything has changed far too much.¡± Jack stayed quite and let the two natives mull in their nostalgia.


    After flying for a few days, Jack appeared outside a mountain range. This was the entrance to an enormous valley that was surrounded by impassable mountains making this entire valley an enormous natural fortress. From the impasse, it would take about 7 days to travel to the City on horseback.


    The reason this place wasn¡¯t absorbed into any of the three Empires was because the Necromancers had decided to make this place their home. Necromancers dabbled in the unmoral type of Magic that focused on raising the dead to do the fighting for them. This was also why living beings did not like fighting with Necromancers, the more men you send to kill them, the more powerful they will become.


    Jack however did not have this problem and if he can secure the fortress that stands over the impasse, he can take his time slowly purging the entire valley of the Necromancers and building his base here. Strategically, this was the perfect location to set up his base as he was surrounded by impassable mountains on all sides and at the other side of the valley, there were steep cliffs that prevent people from landing via the sea.


    This place was a true natural fortress and Jack felt that it didn¡¯t matter what his future plans were as long as he can build a strong base here, he can think about it after that. Staring at the enormous walls that were connected to the mountains on either side, Jack started feeling his blood boil. This was the first true battle Jack had after accepting Raelag¡¯s Legacy and starting on the Path of Magic.


    Jack decided to have his Dark Elven Troops disembark here and let Veyer take the ship alongside the Demons to go and set up a base there. Although Jack Could have used the flying ship to bypass the walls and mountains and directly enter the valley, if the Necromancers decided to hole up at the fortress, Jack would be trapped inside the valley.


    So, the first thing Jack decided to do was take control of the Fortress and use it as a front line base to sweep froward from there. Jack looked at the fortress from the edge of a forest and couldn¡¯t help but frown. Outside the fortress, there were legions of undead always standing guard there and on top of the walls, skeleton archers were always ready.


    This was also why the living hated fighting the undead, those fuckers did not know the word ¡°Exhaustion¡±. Undead could stand there for centuries and still fight like usual. Since they didn¡¯t rotate shifts or need to patrol around, they could stand there like statues for years and Jack would not find an opening to sneak in there.


    It was a known fact that when you kill the Necromancer, all of the undead under him will become nothing more than a pile of bones again. However, all of the Necromancers were in the fortress and to first get there, you need to get through the undead. Jack mulled on how to do this most effectively as the sun set, Jack suddenly had an idea.


    Jack gathered his troops and explained how he was planning on attacking the fortress. All of the troops were quite surprised by the simpleness of the plan but at the same time, they could not find any problems with it. In the current situation it truly was the most effective plan so to speak.


    After distributing all of the tasks and after everyone had taken their positions according to Jack¡¯s orders, Jack looked towards the fortress one more time and then released a breath, ¡°Charge!¡±

 Chapter 36: Purging the Valley

    On command, the Riders let out a war cry and charged forward. The Legions of Undead that stood there unmoving for decades, now suddenly, a flame flickered in their eyes and all their heads simultaneously turned towards the noise.


    The kind of Undead that stood guard like this were called ¡°Fodder Undead¡± due to their low intelligence and overall weak fighting strength. The only merit to these ¡°Fodder Undead¡± was their high number and ease of controlling. Standing guard over this fortress were four Necromancers, who mostly did their own research.


    The three Empires occasionally sent people to try and take the fortress but due to the threat of the Demons, they never sent a formidable force. In most cases, the armies outside were enough to deal with those armies without the Necromancers taking control of the armies themselves. So, when Jack attacked, they thought that it was the same case as always and promptly ignored the attack and kept up their own research.


    To Jack, this was the best case scenario as his whole plan revolved around using his Scouts to kill the Necromancers when their guard was the lowest. Since the general power of the skeletons was very low, this meant that the Riders only had to worry about the arrows shot towards them from the walls. As for the infantry¡­. They were nothing more than dry twigs as they snapped apart as the Riders plowed through them. On the back of the Riders Lizard¡¯s there were also men with crossbows that were crouching on their toes.


    As the Riders charged through the skeletons, they made a turn at the wall and ran back towards the spot they came from. At the wall, the Scouts used various means to scale the wall and infiltrate the fortress to kill the Necromancers.


    When the Riders arrived back at Jack¡¯s location, they were all completely unharmed. Jack looked back and saw that about a hundred meter¡¯s back, the skeletons stood stock still. They were still looking at the Riders but they weren¡¯t willing to move a single step. Jack didn¡¯t seem surprised at all as he knew already why.


    These skeletons worked on simple orders: Protect the fortress and eliminate all that attack.


    It was obvious that they were ordered to stay inside a certain area. Now, all that was left was for the Scouts to kill the Necromancers and then this problem would be solved. Without the Necromancers to control the skeletons, the bodies would fall apart on their own.


    Fighting with a Necromancer was something very annoying and tedious. Necromancers never fought others head on but always hid behind armies of Undead. Undead were usually weak by themselves but when hundreds, then thousands, then dozens of thousands kept attacking, wave after wave, showing no exhaustion, no fear¡­.


    Most Undead were impervious to most elements besides the Light. To them, it didn¡¯t matter whether it was a tundra or a desert, they still kept marching the same. That is why people never wanted to fight a Necromancer.


    While your troops suffered physical fatigue and mental exhaustion, the skeletons, zombies, wraiths didn¡¯t. The undead could keep fighting for days, weeks or even months without any need for rest. They have very low intelligence, meaning they never questions orders, fear death or feel fear in general. Fighting against troops that never tired, never felt fear in general¡­ It was hard to keep your own morale up unless you managed to outnumber them ten to one.


    As Jack recalled all the information on Necromancers, a sudden change happened.


    Suddenly, nearly half of the skeletons eyes, lost the flames and their bodies collapsed into a pile of bones. Jack smiled seeing that and waited for the rest of the skeletons to do the same. It didn¡¯t take long for the rest of the skeletons to crumble the same way and when the last skeleton had hit the floor, Jack led his troops forward and as the first thing, hoisted up the Emblem of Dragon Cross.


    After Jack took over the fortress, he first got rid of all the traces of the Necromancers. Besides the four Necromancers, there were no other ¡°living¡± beings anywhere near the fortress. Jack stood on the wall and overlooked the vast dead forest. He could do nothing but sigh at the sight. Necromancers excluded a cold, death like aura.


    This was the side effect Necromancy had on the world passively. Everything near the Necromancer died, as if all life was drained straight from it. The longer the stay of the Necromancer in one place, the bigger the effects on the environment itself. Necromancy was the vilest Dark Magic that dabbled with things that were never supposed to be dabbled with.


    The equivalent to Necromancy in Immortal Cultivation was Corpse Refining. The principle was the same and the way people viewed the two in their respective worlds was the same, with disgust. As Jack¡¯s troops reorganized the defences and got rid of the remains of the skeletons, Jack tried to get rid of the dead nature all around.


    Necromancers kept dabbling with the dead and Necromancy itself was a very Dark Magic to begin with. Necromancy just corrupted the Mana in the vicinity and nature dies all around. It isn¡¯t by any means permanent. If a Necromancer is killed, his Mana will no longer corrupt the surrounding area and given enough time, the corruption would slowly disappear over time and the nature would spring to life again.


    However, the big problem with that is, is that, it all depends on the amount of time the Necromancer spent there and also, how strong the Necromancer was. The longer the time and the stronger the Necromancer, obviously, the stronger the corruption would be. In this case, there were four quite strong Necromancers stationed here for over 50 years. The corruption here was strong, to let nature slowly recover on its own¡­. It would take centuries for the nature to go back to normal on its own.


    So Jack was currently setting up several ¡°purification¡± Magic Circles that belonged to the Light Element, the natural opposite to the Darkness Element. From Raelag¡¯s memories he had seen how beautiful the nature here had been and it actually made him sad for some reason to see only dead woods, poisonous marshes and wilted grasslands.


    So, under the protection of some of his troops, he set up several Purification areas. When the final seventh one was set down, Jack smiled. With a simple chant, the Seven independent [Purification Spells] transformed into one big [Purification Spell]. The circular spell had a diameter of 2 kilometers and was the absolute top that Jack could do.


    Had it been an Acolyte on the same level as Jack but with a Light Affinity, he could have probably made a Magic Formation that was two or even three times bigger than Jacks. Jack had extraordinary affinity with the Fire Element but his affinity with the other elements was average, maybe a bit higher than average but still, comparing them to his Fire Affinity¡­.


    When the [Purification Formation] started working, the change was obvious. First, the miasma started dissolving, grass started sprouting and small leaves started appearing on the dead trees branches. This change didn¡¯t happen immediately but happened over the period of several days. During these days, the air was purified and the sun shone on the area for the first time in several decades.


    From the moment the fortress had fallen to Jack, all the Necromancer¡¯s in the area knew. Those four were the strongest Necromancers in the valley area, so for them to be beaten when they were inside the fortress¡­. To those low level Necromancers, it was impossible to imagine what kind of an enemy managed to do it.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    This place had become the Safe Haven to the Necromancers solely due to the fortress. The other side of the valley, there was an access route to the sea but it was filled with danger. The surroundings were littered with whirlpools and jagged rocks, making travelling via the sea, completely impossible. So now, they were completely stuck inside the valley and their only options were either to take on the fortress or try their luck at sea. Neither of the two choices were delightful to the Necromancers because either way, the chance of dying was extremely high.


    As people that dabbled with Necromancy, their life goal was to extend their life and become Immortal or Undying. Charging to death like this¡­. It was the exact opposite of their life¡¯s goal. Although there were some crazy Necromancers that enjoyed caused massive destruction and slaughter, most Necromancers only killed those that came after them.


    With a heated discussion, the final decision was reached: Instead of trying heir luck at the sea, they would all band together and try to overrun the fortress with the sheer number of Undead under them. As the ninth day of occupying the fortress came to an end, Jack stood on the wall, looking inside the valley. On the horizon, countless undead stood, waiting for orders.


    Jack¡¯s eyes were serious as he looked at the endless hordes. Next to him, Shadya looked as well and asked, ¡°Master, that¡¯s some number they have managed to scrap together.¡± Jack nodded his head and looked back to see his own troops. He was outnumbered over a hundred to one but he had the upper hand in this fight. He knew this and all of the Necromancers also knew this. Jack¡¯s troops were alive.


    They could adapt, use strategy, use Magic, use Magical Equipment, and in a combat instances, they were far stronger than these skeletons made from ordinary people. The only advantage these skeletons had was that they had an advantage in the numbers but the rest¡­. It was all in Jack¡¯s favour.


    A cold smile spread over Jack¡¯s face as he raised his hand and yelled, ¡°Charge!¡± Without a second thought, all the Riders charged forward, all of the Scout¡¯s gently hiding in the shadows of the Riders. On the wall, several women like Shadya were looking at the Necromancer army amused. As for the half bull, half men, they stood at the fortress gate with their axes in hand, ready to charge on a moments notice. As the Riders set off, Jack added another command, ¡°Bombard them!¡± All of the five women simultaneously raised their right hand and started chanting.


    When the Riders had covered half the distance between the fortress and the Undead, several gigantic fireballs flew over their heads and landed in the middle of the Undead ranks. At the moment of contact, each of the [Giant Fireball]¡¯s exploded, creating a small crater that was around 50 meters in diameter. The Necromancer¡¯s opened their eyes wide when they saw those fireballs. Those fireballs were an Intermediate Level Magic that had been lost to the ages. Only in some ruins or very old Ancient Texts, you would find some mention of it.


    Now to have five people use this Ancient extinct Magic, who wouldn¡¯t be afraid. This [Fire Ball] was the most destructive Intermediate Level Magic known. However, to be able to use it, meant that these people weren¡¯t simple at all. If they could use one Ancient Forgotten Magic Spell, who said they did not have another spell on the same level as the [Giant Fire Ball]. No matter how many troops they had or how strong they were, against people that could use Intermediate Level Forgotten Magic Spells, they had no confidence of winning.


    Jack saw that it was very weird that the moment these [Giant Fire Balls] hit their targets, the opposition lost every scrap of will to fight. In the next moment, all the armies were at full retreat. Jack and Shadya looked at the retreating armies with wide eyes. Jack immediately told the Riders to pursue and kill but to leave one of them alive.


    This was very bizarre as the [Giant Fire Ball] was he most used Combat spell with armies. It had good power, a long range and a decent Mana cost. Now to see the enemies running away without even a single second thought after seeing the spell, they were all baffled. As the Necromancers were all busy with trying to run away, they didn¡¯t notice the Lizard Riders that basically stormed though the skeletons. The Riders were in a V shaped formation as well and charged through the Legions of Undead like a spear. It didn¡¯t take long until one Legion after another started collapsing out of the blue. When that happened, it was obvious that the Necromancer that controlled them were killed one after another.


    Finally, only one small legion was left but they were destroyed by the Riders themselves as they brought back one Necromancer. The fellow was quite young and when Jack first saw him, he could only sigh. The fellow looked exactly like a Corpse Refiner, pale skin, surrounded by an aura of death, extremely skinny¡­.


    As he was dragged in front of Jack, the Necromancer was scared shitless. He didn¡¯t even dare to raise his head as he stared the ground shaking. With one look, Jack could tell that this fellow was going to break soon. Jack walked in front of him and asked, ¡°Why did you run?¡± As the voice echoed out, the Necromancer raised his head and in front of him was Jack. As he looked at the pointy ears, the Necromancer let out a look of disgust as he said, ¡°I have nothing to say to a Half Breed Mongrel.¡± Jacks eyes opened wide as he was astonished by these words.


    This fellow was basically going mad from fear but still didn¡¯t know when to bite his tongue. A malicious smile danced on Jacks lips as he withdrew a long black rod from his Spacial Ring. With the other end of the stick, he raised the Necromancers chin and showed him the coldest smile he had ever seen, ¡°Well then, let¡¯s see how long you can hold onto that silly sense of superiority.¡± After saying so, without even the need to say anything.


    The two Scouts pulled off the man¡¯s robes, exposing his skinny upper body. As they raised him to stand, the fellow looked around nervously and then.


    *BAM!*


    ¡°AAAAHHHH!¡± A soul wrenching scream echoed out. For the next half an hour, one scream after another rang out, one more miserable than the last. When the screams stopped, the skinny man, had no scars what so ever on his body.


    He looked at Jack, more especially the stick in his hands, with complete and utter dread. Jack asked him again with a malicious smile, ¡°Why did you run?¡± The Necromancer struggled to keep quiet and seeing Jack raise the stick for another hit, he quickly said, ¡°Because you used a Forgotten Magic Spell!¡±


    Jack¡¯s hand stopped and he slowly lowered it as he asked, ¡°Forgotten Magic Spell?¡± The Necromancer nodded his head in fear of another hit from the stick. HE then started explaining, ¡°That Magic Spell was the most popular and used Combat Spell millions of years ago but after the Great War of Races, most of the Magic Spells from that Era, along with all the knowledge went missing.¡± He took a deep breath as he continued, ¡°The Spell Diagram and the Chant were lost to history. I only know of it because I saw some records of it in an Ancient Ruin once.¡±


    Jack rubbed his chin and asked, ¡°But, how does that have anything to do with you running at the sight of it?¡± The Necromancer let out a sigh, ¡°In this current World, anyone who can use a Forgotten or Ancient Magic Spell¡­. They are people that even the Three Empires of the Four Churches won¡¯t dare to disrespect.¡±


    He looked at Jack for a moment and then shook his head, ¡°They won¡¯t even dare to disrespect them, much less pick a fight with them. Anyone who has at least one Ancient or Forgotten Magic Spell is bound to have another one.¡± Jack got the general gist of things. Jack then signalled for the Scouts to hold down the person as he put his hand on his head.


    A gentle flicker appeared on his hand as the Necromancer suddenly screamed and started foaming from the mouth. When Jack took back his hand, he stood there with closed eyes for a second. The Necromancer however fell to the ground, lifeless. Jack then opened his eyes and looked at Shadya, ¡°Well, these guys were all of the Necromancers inside the Fortress area.¡±


    Jack then gave the orders to various people under him, ¡°Riders, clean up the battlefield. Scouts, go to nearby cities of the Humans and buy all Dark Elven Slaves and deliver them here.¡± He then looked towards the half bull, half men and said, ¡°Well, you guys keep doing what you were doing. As for the Priestesses...¡± Jack turned his head towards the five women and said, ¡°You will travel with me to set up [Purification Magic Formation]¡± He then pinched his nose as he said, ¡°This foul Necromantic air making me nauseous and the gloomy atmosphere is really¡­.¡±


    All the troops acknowledged their orders and started carrying them out. Slowly but steadily, Jack¡¯s fate started moving. As for whether it was for better or worse, only time could tell. All he knew for now was, that there was still only 150 years left for him in this world.


    In that time, he wanted to build the most magnificent Empire that didn¡¯t lose out to Raelags by one bit. The starting point was the same for them, as to how it will play out, only time would tell.