Prologue

ã€ŠThe Chaos Immortalã€‹


 Prologue

    <h1>Prologue</h1>

    It is said that before what came to be known as the universe, there was chaos. Many speculated that powerful beings that lived in the chaos battled and the remains of that battle formed the scattered galaxies in the vast void.

    Others argued that it was an all-powerful being known as God that made the universe and bestowed life upon its many planets. Although this story was popular within the human race as a select group among them liked to idolise God in the form of a human.

    However, the reality was that no one knew for sure how the universe was formed or for how long it has existed. The oldest known beings in the universe, the star beasts, were only a few thousand star cycles old. Even they were clueless on how the universe came to be. Of course, no one in their right mind would actually go and ask them that question, unless one liked to be eaten.

    In the early days of the universe, there were many races on various planets scattered about different galaxies. Eventually after countless star cycles and endless technological development, those races came out to explore the vast space outside of their own star systems.

    This brought about a period of restlessness and war where the strong preyed upon the weak and many lives were taken. It was called the chaos era as no one really knew what was going to happen the next day, as you might encounter a hungry star beast that might just swallow the planet for nourishment. Although that would be extremely unlucky as there were only one out of billions of planets that was capable of supporting life.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    The beginning of the galactic calendar came about when the various races among the universe decided to call a cease fire and developed a system where it allowed everyone to develop peacefully within their own sector. No one but the top few members of those races knew that this was forced upon them by a sentient star beast that was tired of endless killings and war. The galactic alliance was formed to enforce the cease fire and made sure all races lived in peace with each other.

    Unknown to all inhabitants of the universe, there was a shapeless form that was as old as the universe itself and was observing everything within the universe. It was born along with the universe. It slowly gained intelligence and observed the first birth of life as well as the many events that happened afterwards.

    It had immense power as it was capable of manipulating the energy of the universe. It grew stronger as time went on. It called itself chaos beast when the theory about chaos before the beginning of time reached its ears, not that it had ears. It thought that was quite a nice name and gave itself a pat on the back, not that it had a back, or a hand.

    One day, it felt bored and decided to experience the universe personally. So, it constructed a body, akin to the most abundant race in the universe, a human. It then decided to stop observing the universe and teleported to a random planet within the human-ruled planets.

    Author Note: Hi everyone. This story is my first attempt at trying to convey my idea of a fun adventure following a worry free lifestyle.

    It borrrows a lot of elements from Chinese Xianxias but i try to not rely on it too heavily. Plesase let me know your thoughts and I will try to influence the future chapters from those thoughts.

    I would love to include comedy and romance but I am rather clueless on how to implement those properly so hopefully I can improve as I write.

    Also If you can come up with a better Synopsis, I''d very much appreciate it :D

 Chapter 1 - First Encounter

    An unknown planet, in an unexplored star system of a human occupied galaxy in the 23<sup>rd</sup> sector. This was a large planet surrounded by large amounts of asteroid fields. The majority of the planet¡¯s surface consisted of water.

    On the largest continent of the planet, there was a vast forest that took up the northern half of the land mass. Somewhere within the forest, the chaos beast that had just arrived looked around to observe the fresh and new environment.

    It could see that the plants and trees were filled with a powerful life force. ¡®Hmm, there seems to be a mutated form of the energy of the universe.¡¯

    The chaos beast thought as it discovered that some plants and flowers had almost gained spiritual intelligence as they attempted to hide from the unknown presence.

    The chaos beast started walking in a particular direction as it had sensed the presence of a lifeform. After a few miles, it saw a tree that stood taller than the surrounding woods. On top of the tree was a huge four-limbed hairy creature that had its eyes closed, seemingly sleeping under the sun. The chaos beast detected that the creature seemed to be absorbing a type of energy from the sunlight.

    The creature was known as a Sun Ape. It was a gentle and docile magical beast that would not attack unless provoked despite the fact that it cultivated Pure Yang Qi. The chaos beast examined its vast knowledge and discovered that the creature resembled a large monkey, or rather an ape.

    However, this ape seemingly had an intelligence no inferior to any human. Therefore, the chaos beast attempted to communicate. As it was not aware of the language used locally, it had spoken into the mind of the ape as the meaning can be conveyed directly.

    ¡°Hello friend, would you be so kind as to give some directions towards the exit of this forest?¡±

    The ape looked small human that had approached and wondered how it had arrived this deep into the forest. However, being a docile magical beast, and sensing no hostility from the small human, it didn¡¯t think much and pointed towards a direction.

    The chaos beast thanked the ape and walked in the pointed direction.

    The chaos beast walked on for quite a while before it thought to see how much further towards exit was. A powerful divine sense was spread out in all directions. This went undetected from most of the powerful magical beasts in the forest. However, one being was able to discover this powerful divine sense.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

    The Gold Dragon was one of the most powerful beings on this planet and was the ruler as well as protector of the forest. He had sensed the chaos beast¡¯s presence and had rapidly flown towards the direction.

    The dragon did not know if he could defeat the intruder. However, he had to try as he was the protector of the forest.

    The vast distance was covered in a blink of an eye as the large dragon neared the chaos beast who had stood on the spot in waiting after it had discovered the rapidly approaching large form.

    The Gold Dragon stopped in mid-air not far away from the chaos beast. The chaos beast found that the dragon did not have wings and was floating using the mutated form of the energy of the universe. The chaos beast thought to try this out as it attempted to use the energy of the universe, which he called chaos power, to float up into the air.

    The dragon looked at the strange human that flew up towards himself.

    ¡°Who are you?¡±

    The chaos beast heard an unknown sound from the large form. It analysed this sound and compared the multitude of languages it had recorded from the universe.

    ¡°I¡¯m just a traveller.¡± The chaos beast sounded a bit jerky as it was the first time speaking this language.

    ¡°How did you get here?¡±

    The chaos beast thought for a while and decided to answer honestly as it had nothing to lose.

    ¡°I¡¯m from outside this planet.¡±

    The Gold Dragon was shocked as it went silent for a while. ¡°So, the legends are true.¡± He muttered. The dragon then asked once more.

    ¡°What is your purpose coming here?¡± The dragon sensed that this human had no hostility and it had not harmed any of the magical beasts but he had to be cautious as a being that could travel through the void was unfathomably powerful.

    ¡°I guess I¡¯m here to tour this world. This is the first planet I have come to. I sensed that there are many humans on this planet. I want to go and experience the human world.¡±

    The dragon sighed inwardly in relief as the human did not seem to have ill intentions. ¡®Hmm human world? Is he not a human?¡¯ The dragon was curious but he kept those thoughts inside.

    ¡°How about you come to my home and stay for a bit. I could tell you a bit about this world before you resume your journey.¡± The dragon had done this in hope of giving knowledge in exchange for not causing a disaster in the human world. ¡®If he went on a rampage, there¡¯s no one that could stop him.¡¯

    The chaos beast thought this to be a good idea. Although it could survey the entire planet using Divine Sense, it was better to be told by a local. ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll take up your offer.¡±

    The Gold Dragon transformed into a human form then said. ¡°My home is this way. My name is Long Tian. How do I call you?¡±

    The chaos beast thought the transformation was rather interesting however it could also transform into any shape so it quickly discarded the thought.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have a name. Hmm, call me¡­Shen. Yes, Shen.¡± The chaos named itself while following the dragon.

    The two humans yet not humans then flew towards the Gold Dragon¡¯s home rapidly.

 Chapter 2 - Long Xueer

    Long Tian and Shen landed near a small and simple wooden building. It was built in a small clearing and there was a set of stone table and chairs in front of the house. There was another similar small house next to the first one. Shen wondered if there might be more than one person living here but he had no thoughts to ask.

    ¡°Please take a seat, Brother Shen.¡± Long Tian sat down on one of the chairs around the table as he gestured to Shen.

    With a wave of his hands, a bowl of fruits that emanated spiritual power and two cups with a bottle of wine appeared on the table.

    Shen found this rather novel as he wondered whether Long Tian had also known how to manipulate space.

    Long Tian poured two cups of wine before giving one to Shen. ¡°Brother Shen, please.¡±

    Shen had never drunk wine before therefore he was very curious. Unknown to Shen, this was a personally brewed immortal wine by the Heavenly Dragon Immortal King that would cause even Sect Masters of various large sects would fight for. The wine could even help low level cultivators to breakthrough as it contained a lot of spiritual power.

    ¡°Good wine!¡± Shen exclaimed as he drank the whole cup in delight. His speech had gotten a lot smoother than before as he conversed with Long Tian.

    ¡°Haha, I¡¯m glad Brother Shen likes my wine!¡± Long Tian poured another cup for Shen.

    Long Tian started imparting Shen with the knowledge of the human world as well as the cultivation system on this planet as they drank and ate.

    A mortal with opened meridians could take in the energies of heaven and earth to cultivate and enhance their strength and life span. The mutated energy of the universe that Shen referred to was known as the energies of heaven and earth, more commonly called spiritual power.

    The levels of cultivation went from Qi Condensation, Foundation Building, Core Formation, Nascent Soul, Soul Formation, False Immortal, Earth Immortal, Sky Immortal, True Immortal and Immortal King. It was said that if a cultivator breaks through the Immortal King stage, one would be referred to as an Immortal Saint. An Immortal Saint would be capable to escaping the confines of the heavens and able to wonder the void to search for higher worlds.

    A cultivator who had reached the Immortal King stage would be bestowed a title and would be famous across the land. Long Tian was however too embarrassed to mention his title as Shen was much stronger than him.

    Being an Immortal King, Long Tian had travelled far and wide and was knowledgeable about the various sects and large powers across the land. Long Tian proceeded to tell Shen about the characteristics of those sects and famous families as well as well-known rogue cultivators.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    ¡°Brother Long, do not worry. I¡¯m only here to sight see and experience the world. Not to cause trouble.¡± Shen had guessed Long Tian¡¯s intentions thus he assured him. He was well aware of his frankness and was likely to get in conflict with those cultivators upon contact.

    Long Tian could only smile wryly as he thought inwardly ¡®I¡¯m not worried about you causing trouble. It¡¯s those humans who are concerned about face. Ha¡­.¡¯

    He gave a long sigh in his heart as he could only hope for the best.

    As they chatted over wine and snacks, Long Tian and Shen both looked up towards the sky. A small white figure was flying towards the clearing. Long Tian had a smile on his face as the white figure had landed near them.

    Shen saw a young girl dressed in a pure white robe walking towards them. There was a small white fox being held in the ample bosom of the young girl, who stared at Shen with its large eyes.

    Shen thought the girl was rather beautiful even compared to the most beautiful women from all over the universe that he had seen over the ages.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er! Come meet our guest. This is Brother Shen, a friend passing through here that I met by chance.¡±

    Long Tian introduced his daughter Long Xue¡¯er and Shen.

    ¡°Hello, young lady.¡± Shen gave a polite smile towards the young girl.

    ¡°Hello Uncle Shen.¡± Xue¡¯er replied in a small voice towards Shen before sitting down next to her father.

    Long Tian blanked for a while before thinking ¡®Well it¡¯s not like she can address him as Brother Shen.¡¯ He shook his head bitterly.

    Shen¡¯s face was not particularly handsome. His transformation had above average looks and that seemed to be about twenty years old.

    Long Xue¡¯er was eighteen years old therefore it seemed awkward to be calling Uncle.

    ¡°Brother Shen, can you tell me what it is like outside this planet. I have given up trying to break through the current boundary so I likely won¡¯t be able to venture out into the void in my life time.¡± Long Tian eagerly asked Shen.

    Even though Long Tian had the title Immortal King, he was not truly immortal as his life would come to an end one day, unless he broke through to the legendary Immortal Saint.

    Long Xue¡¯er sat quietly listening to her father and Shen speak while feeding the small white fox with immortal fruit. She was extremely surprised to discover that Shen was not from this world. She curiously peeked at Shen from time to time as if trying to figure out his secrets.

    Long Xue¡¯er rarely had any contact with the outside world ever since she was born. She lived in this desolate forest with magical beasts. She had been to the human world with her father a few times when she was younger but it was not long each time. Therefore, she dreamed to have her own adventure in the human world. However, ever since she was sixteen years old, her father had forbidden her from going to the human world.

    She was not aware of her own beauty. It was devastating enough to make those sons of heaven and second generation young masters crazy and start a large war in the cultivation world. Long Tian can only keep her in the forest until she was strong enough to go out on her own.

    Shen had told Long Tian some information about the many races and species throughout the universe.

    ¡°Brother Long, I¡¯ll be frank. There are very few races that could survive in the void without any external protection. A lot of space travellers use ships to survive in the void. If you wish, I can gift you such a ship.

    Your strength is one of the strongest that I have seen without external tools. You would most likely only lose to Star Beasts.¡±

    Long Tian was stunned for a long while. ¡°Brother Shen, I appreciate the thought, but I want to obtain that power by my own strength.¡± Long Tian pursued ultimate strength. After knowing about the Star Beasts, the pride of a Gold Dragon was ignited and he longed for strength even more.

 Chapter 3 - Leaving the Forest

    Long Tian constructed another house for Shen to live in during his stay. He never had to entertain someone since there was no one that dared to be a guest to the Heavenly Dragon Immortal King before.

    Long Tian had arranged Long Xue¡¯er to show Shen around the forest and meet various magical beasts living under the protection of the Heavenly Dragon Immortal King. A magical beast can normally transform into a human body once it reaches Soul Formation stage.

    Saint beasts such as Heavenly Winged Tiger and the Gold Dragon, however, could only transform once they reach the True Immortal Stage. The higher the quality of bloodline, the stronger cultivation required to transform into a human.

    Shen had found out that Long Xue¡¯er¡¯s mother was a human mortal with crippled meridians that he met on one of his journeys. They had fallen in love and Long Xue¡¯er was born. However, Long Tian¡¯s wife had a weak constitution and had passed away while Long Xue¡¯er was merely two years old.

    Long Xue¡¯er was born as a human with the bloodline of a Gold Dragon. She had monstrous talent for cultivation. At eighteen years, old, she was already a half step False Immortal. If this was known to those large sects, they would be crying blood since all the young generation around that age were at best late Foundation Building stage.

    The snow fox that was always with Long Xue¡¯er was actually a low-level saint beast according to Long Tian and required a Sky Immortal cultivation base in order to transform. Long Xue¡¯er had met it when she was ten years old in the forest and they had been together ever since.

    Long Xue¡¯er had taken Shen to see various places around the forest, from breath taking water falls to beautiful lakes. They ate many immortal fruits and had roasted meat from small animals.

    Only after a few days of playing did they return to the small clearing.

    At night, Shen was enjoying a good sleep in the new house. It was a different feeling from resting its mind as some part of it would always be observing the universe and would never truly shut down.

    Shen let go of all parts of his consciousness and sunk into a deep sleep for the first time since it gained sentience.

    ***

    ¡°Xue¡¯er do you really want to go with Brother Shen?¡± Long Tian asked his daughter for the nth time.

    ¡°Yes father, I do. How long would it take for me to reach Sky Immortal stage? I know it seemed fast for me to cultivate but it gets harder as my cultivation increases.

    Maybe it would take another few hundred years for me to reach that stage. But If I go with Uncle Shen, then I would be safe. Father, you said yourself he was stronger than you. He would be able to protect me.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I know but I still can¡¯t help worrying.¡± Long Tian sighed again. He knew his daughter was gentle but she was also very stubborn and she would likely not take her words back.

    ¡°Father, don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s not like there would be Earth Immortal and Sky Immortals everywhere. Those old monsters rarely come outside. I would be able to protect myself even without Uncle Shen¡¯s help from anyone under False Immortal stage.¡±

    ¡°Fine fine, you win. However, Xue¡¯er, you must wear a veil and keep it on at all time. Promise me that ok?¡±This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    ¡°Ok father, I¡¯m not going out to find a husband, you don¡¯t have to worry about that.¡± Long Xue¡¯er laughed mischievously at her father.

    Long Tian coughed awkwardly as it was always something that troubled him. He put the thought away by convincing himself that Xue¡¯er was still too young.

    ¡°You must come back and visit me often you hear. Otherwise I¡¯ll turn the cultivation world upside to find you.¡± Long Tian pretended to be serious and sternly warned his daughter.

    Long Xue¡¯er felt warm inside as she giggled and ran outside the room to go back to her house.

    Long Tian looked at his daughter¡¯s back as he thought it was rather ridiculous that he was willing to trust her to a stranger that he only met a few days ago. He stopped thinking as it would not bring him any answers. He had this blind trust towards Shen that he himself did not know the reason towards.

    Long Tian sighed once more as he headed into a room filled with miscellaneous items, all pulsating with spiritual power.

    ***

    Shen woke up from his first sleep feeling strangely refreshed. He could smell breakfast being prepared outside. As a being that was one with the universe, he had no need to intake food but he found it quite enjoyable. ¡®Perhaps this is what it means to be human.¡¯ Shen thought as he headed outside.

    Long Xue¡¯er greeted Shen with a smile. ¡°Uncle Shen. Come have breakfast.¡±

    Shen gave a smile back as he saw Long Tian come out of his house.

    After they ate breakfast, Long Tian brought Shen inside his house.

    ¡°Brother Shen. I wish to ask you a favour.¡± Long Tian hesitated before finally speaking.

    ¡°Brother Long, speak your mind. I will help you if it is within my ability.¡± Shen replied honestly. ¡®As long as it is within this universe, I can probably do anything,¡¯ He had this ridiculous thought as he shook his head.

    ¡°Brother Shen. Xue¡¯er wishes to go to the human world. She is strong for her age but there are stronger beings outside this forest. I can¡¯t help but worry that she will cause trouble in put herself in danger.

    Since you are also going the same way, I wanted to ask Brother Shen to take her along and protect Xue¡¯er.¡± Long Tian spoke in one go and waited for Shen¡¯s response.

    Shen thought for a while. ¡°Is Brother Long worried about her appearance?¡±

    Long Tian laughed and replied. ¡°Haha, yes. Being too beautiful isn¡¯t such a good thing. I dare not think what would happen if she was to set foot outside of this forest.

    I had allowed her to go outside after she gains enough strength but she didn¡¯t want to wait. Your presence gave her a reason to go since you would be able to protect her.¡±

    ¡°Brother Long, maybe I can solve that. Let me try something first.¡± Shen gestured for Long Tian to follow him outside.

    Long Xue¡¯er was waiting outside with an expectant expression. If a normal male were to see this picture, he would not be able to control himself.

    Shen walked up to Long Xue¡¯er and waved his palm in front of her face. He had used the power of chaos to create an illusion. Unless one could use the same chaos power, there should not be anyone in the universe that could see through the spell.

    ¡°Brother Long, I have casted an illusion over Xue¡¯er. Try to undo the spell.¡± Long Xue¡¯er¡¯s facial features had changed from a breath-taking appearance to an average young girl.

    Long Tian concentrated spiritual power in his eyes to try see through the illusion. He also tried to detect any anomalies around Long Xue¡¯er for signs of spiritual power fluctuation.

    However, he was unable to see through or even detect the spell as he would not have known there was a spell without being told and the spell being performed in front of him.

    ¡°This should solve the problem. Of course, if Xue¡¯er still wishes to come with me, I would gladly welcome it.¡± Shen smiled as he condensed a mirror in front of Xue¡¯er.

    ¡°Ahh!¡± Xue¡¯er gave a small scream as she touched her face. However, the feeling of her face had not changed, only what could be seen from the outside had been altered.

    Long Tian felt that it was better to go with Shen as he was still worried about his daughter¡¯s safety.

    ¡°Shen, here are a few items that would make your journey more convenient. I will let Xue¡¯er explain the rest on the way.¡± Long Tian gave Shen a bag of holding as he explained it¡¯s use.

    Shen and Long Xue¡¯er stayed a few more days as Long Tian wanted to spend some more time with his daughter. He was not sure when he would be able to see her again.

    Finally, it was the day for departure. Long Xue¡¯er wore the same white dress next to Shen who looked very excited. The snow fox was lying in Long Xue¡¯er¡¯s arms as it was coming along with the couple.

    Long Tian had a sad and reluctant look as he waved goodbye towards the fleeting figures.

 Chapter 4 - Cultivator City

    Shen and Long Xue¡¯er flew south towards the nearest cultivator city. Shen had learned from Long Tian that there were empires made up of mortals that occupied the land. To the majority of mortals, cultivators were myths and were looked up to as gods for they could accomplish things that were out of a mortal¡¯s common sense.

    There is an unwritten rule that a cultivator would not use one¡¯s power to bully mortals, for it would result in bad karma and bring upon heavenly tribulation. Therefore, cultivators tended to avoid mortals and established many cultivator cities throughout the land.

    Shen slowed his speed to match Xue¡¯er as she was a strong cultivator but lacking when compared to her father. For a being that was not bound by the rules of the universe, in other words, the confines of space, Shen could go anywhere within the universe instantaneously.

    Shen did not go straight to their destination, for this would rob them of the joy of having a journey. Xue¡¯er¡¯s excited expression had somehow brought a small smile to Shen.

    Shen thought this to be strange, but the thought was quickly discarded as they neared the outer areas of the forest. His divine sense had detected a few human cultivators a short distance from their location.

    The couple had encountered many magical beasts along the way. Xue¡¯er¡¯s aura had kept them from approaching as the bloodline of a Gold Dragon was an absolute existence in the forest.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, there are people up ahead. They seem to be fighting with low level monster beasts. Do you want to go straight to the city or would you like to meet them?¡± Everything was a fresh and new experience to Shen so he would likely not object to whatever Xue¡¯er wanted.

    They were nearing the group of people and sounds of fighting could be heard.

    ¡°I think they are cultivators who hunt monster beasts around here. I have been to the cultivator city just outside the forest a few times with father.

    A lot of low level cultivators enter the outskirts to hunt beasts and collect spirit herbs. They sell them to earn cultivation resources.¡±

    Magical beasts were beings who had gained intelligence upon reaching a cultivation base of Nascent Soul stage. Core Formation stage and lower beasts were referred to as monster beasts as they were mostly hostile and would attack anyone. The outer areas of the forest were filled with monster beasts and human cultivators would hunt them for their materials.

    Although it is also true that human cultivators were prey to monster beasts, as devouring the cultivation of either humans and other monster beasts was a quick way to strengthen a monster beast.

    Shen recalled the information from Long Tian.

    ¡°Let¡¯s avoid them. They don¡¯t seem to be in danger. I want to go to the city.¡± Xue¡¯er replied with a dazzling smile. The illusion cast on Xue¡¯er did not have any effect on Shen as he was the caster and chaos power was not a hindrance to him.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    Shen observed the group for a while.

    There were two Foundation stage cultivators attacking a large wolf. Every time the wolf attempted to escape, the surrounding Qi Condensation stage cultivators who were in a battle formation would delay the wolf.

    The Foundation stage cultivators would then chase the wolf and launch another round of attacks. Even though the wolf was faster, it could not escape the encirclement. It was apparent that the group had excellent teamwork and the wolf would be brought down soon.

    Shen took back his vision from the fight. Shen and Long Xue¡¯er once again resumed their flight towards the cultivator city.

    The couple flew even slower as they did not wish to stand out too much. Xue¡¯er happily narrated some details of the city to Shen along the way.

    ¡®Xue¡¯er has become really lively. She really wanted to go out, huh.¡¯ Shen thought as he listened to Xue¡¯er with a smile.

    For the past few days, Shen had constantly been accompanied by either Long Tian or Long Xue¡¯er. He found it very enjoyable to converse with other beings. Shen had always been the observer. He could only see the actions and he found trying to figure out the emotions and reasoning behind the actions rather confusing.

    However, Shen was very intelligent and talking with the father and daughter cleared up a lot of his confusion.

    Shen and Long Xue¡¯er soon came upon a few more cultivators flying to and from the forest. Some were flying just like Shen while others used flying swords or flight tools. He observed that those flying with the use of tools avoided cultivators like Shen.

    Shen could see the energy fluctuations within a cultivator and judged that it was Foundation stage or lower cultivators giving respect to Core Formation and higher experts.

    ¡®A world where strength rules all.¡¯ Shen had those thoughts as he recalled a few similar environments in the vast universe.

    A large transparent barrier could be seen in the distance. A bustling city could be seen under the barrier.

    ¡°There is a spiritual vein under the city. The founders of the city erected the barrier using the spiritual power from the spirit vein to protect from monster beast attacks.¡± Xue¡¯er explained to Shen as they landed outside the barrier.

    There were a few cultivators lined up in front of the gate as each of them were let into the city by uniformed guards.

    There were ten cultivators stationed as guards and all of them were of at least Foundation stage. The leader dressed in a different uniform was a Core Formation stage cultivator.

    When it was Shen and Xue¡¯er¡¯s turn, Xue¡¯er had taken the initiative to give ten low grade spirit stones to a guard. The guard then gave two wooden badges marked with ¡®Entry¡¯ on one side to Xue¡¯er.

    Due to the illusion, there was no other trouble as the couple managed to enter the city safely.

    ¡°This badge allows one person to stay in the city for one month. After one month, you have to pay additional spirit stones to stay longer in the city.¡± Long Xue¡¯er said towards Shen who then put away the badge.

    They saw a wide street and many small houses built on either side of the street. Some of the houses were larger and had small courtyards. A few of the houses were covered with fog as a protection barrier was activated to protect the privacy of the owner.

    It turned out that these houses were owned and managed by the city. One could rent out a house for a period of time which would provide a place to stay in the city. All houses had a small spirit gathering formation as well as a protection barrier and were more suitable for cultivation than inns.

    There were cultivators walking to and from along the street. Flying was forbidden inside the city, unless one had reached False Immortal cultivation.

    Long Xue¡¯er pulled Shen¡¯s hands as she started walking excitedly into the city.

 Chapter 5 - Cultivator City (2)

    Long Xue¡¯er lead Shen into the busy market area of the city. There were small and large shops with eye catching signboards littered about on either side of the wide street.

    There were the guards wearing the same uniform as the gate guards patrolling the streets. They rode on menacing monster beast mounts.

    Shen and Long Xue¡¯er blended into the crowd going from shop to shop. They looked rather plain from the way they were dressed as they did not carry eye catching magical tools. Their aura has been restrained to look almost like mortals.

    Long Xue¡¯er stopped in front of a clothing store. There was a large signboard that read ¡°Misty Cloud Boutique¡±. The entrance was grand with pretty female cultivators lined up at the entrance to welcome customers.

    ¡°Every time I come to this city, I would come here to buy new clothes. But it was never this busy before. The city also has more cultivators than usual.¡±

    Long Xue¡¯er pondered as she said to Shen. She still hurried into the shop while pulling Shen¡¯s hands.

    Inside of the shop was just as exquisite as the outside with gold and jade being lavishly used to decorate. However, the store was packed with female cultivators looking around excitedly while their male companions could only follow and comment with tired smiling faces.

    Shen took in the sight and thought ¡®where have I seen this before¡­¡¯. He recalled a world where females similarly like to shop for clothes where males followed them with dead eyes.

    He chuckled and glanced at Xue¡¯er. ¡®They are the same no matter what world it is huh.¡¯

    Xue¡¯er looked at Shen. She tilted her head cutely and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong Uncle Shen?¡±

    Being called ¡®Uncle¡¯ caused some of the surrounding people to look at Shen and Long Xue¡¯er before looking away with funny faces.

    Shen¡¯s back drenched in cold sweat from those looks for some reason. ¡®Hmm, I didn¡¯t mind being called that but why do I feel like I¡¯ll regret it if she continued calling me that.¡¯

    Shen and Xue¡¯er looked to be of similar age while their facial features had nothing in common. Some of the male population probably thought Shen was one of those eccentrics.

    ¡°No, nothing¡¯s wrong Xue¡¯er. Haha. Xue¡¯er, how about you call me just Shen from now on?¡± Shen said in a low voice.

    ¡°I can¡¯t do that. Let¡¯s see. How about I call you Big Brother Shen from now?¡±

    ¡°Ye..yeah, that¡¯s fine, that¡¯s fine, haha.¡± Shen stressed that it was ok twice while looking around once more.

    Xue¡¯er sweetly smiled at Shen before she ran into the crowd to look for a dress she wanted.

    Shen had to wait in an open area since even the almighty being of the universe was scared by the momentum of those females.

    There were a few chairs with fruits and drinks laid out on a small table. A few male cultivators were similarly waiting for their companions.

    Shen sat down in a vacant seat next to two cultivators. They seemed to be talking about the reason why the city was packed with cultivators recently.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    It turned out that there was a competition jointly held by the five large sects. The first stage of the competition was to be held in the outer area of the forest.

    The competition is open to all cultivators and is limited to juniors under the age of thirty.

    ¡°Five more elders from each large sect has arrived in Jade Leaf city. Now there are ten Sky Immortal experts in this city!¡± (Green robed male)

    ¡°There are also pretty female cultivators rushing here, hehe. They must be here to catch a glimpse of the ¡®Shadowless Sword¡¯ young master and the ¡®Thunder Spear¡¯ young master.¡± (Blue robed male)

    ¡°Oh, I wish I was as handsome as those two¡­.¡± (Green robed male)

    ¡°Cut, take a look at your face in the mirror. How dare you say that.¡± (Blue robed male)

    This city was named Jade Leaf city and is managed by the five large sects. Normally there would be one Sky Immortal elder from each sect to oversee the city. However, for the competition, the five large sects have sent another elder each in addition to many senior cultivators.

    The five large sects each had a few famous geniuses that stood out from the rest of their generation. They each had titles given by other cultivators. The Shadowless Sword and Thunder Spear young masters were known for this strength as well as their handsome looks.

    There were many females that wished to devote their entireties to those young masters. This competition was held once every ten years. Those famous young juniors were all under the age of thirty as there would be a new generation of geniuses every ten years.

    Shen listened to their conversation with great interest.

    ¡°Hello friends. May I ask when the competition is starting?¡±

    The two males looked at Shen as if he was an alien.

    ¡°How could you not know this. Ah You must be newly arrived from the mortal sects right. Otherwise how could you not know about this competition.¡± (Green robed male)

    ¡°It starts in ten days from now. We can only actually see the participants and the end results. The competition is actually in the forest after all.¡± (Blue robed male)

    ¡°Thank you, friends. This one is named Shen.¡± Shen thought those two were rather nice as normally one would be seen as an idiot and viewed in contempt for asking such question.

    ¡°Ah hello. My name is Wen Cai and he is called Shi Wei. We got dragged here by our junior sister. She is a fan of the Thunder Spear young master, hahaha¡­¡± Green robed male laughed with a defeated expression.

    ¡°So, it is Brother Wen and Brother Shi. Fortunate meeting. I¡¯ve also been dragged here by my female companion.¡±

    Shen, Wen Cai and Shi Wei chatted about trivial things while Shen learnt a few more things about the upcoming competition.

    The increase in the population of the city was due to the competition and a lot of juniors were aiming to get a good position due to the prizes given out.

    It was a once in a life time chance for some rogue cultivators as if they were to catch the eye of an elder from large sects, they would not have to worry about their future again.

    ¡°Brother Wen, what is this Enlightenment Tower?¡±

    ¡°Brother Shen, you don¡¯t even know this? Which hole did you crawl out of?¡±

    Shen could only laugh drily in response.

    ¡°Well anyway, rumour has it, Enlightenment Tower was constructed by an Immortal Saint. He imparted his knowledge and inheritance in the tower as a trial. There is no life-threatening danger but there is actually an age limit for entering. It opens once every ten years and only lets in five people.

    This is why this competition has an age limit and the top five gets to enter the tower as a prize.¡± Wen Cai replied although he was rather shocked at Shen.

    ¡°It is also said that any new Immortal Saint would add his own knowledge and inheritance before he leaves this world.¡± Shi Wei further added.

    ¡°All geniuses that entered would come out even stronger and they would become heaven shaking cultivators in the future. There are also many top grade magical tools. There are even spirit tools in the tower!¡± Wen Cai seemed very excited as he thought about the Enlightenment Tower.

    ¡°Are Brother Wen and Brother Shi entering the competition?¡±

    ¡°Of course! Even though we are only at mid-Foundation stage, we can¡¯t lose face for our Wind Sword Sect!¡± Shi Wei replied with fervour.

    ¡°We have almost no chance to make the top five though. There are a lot of late-Foundation stage and even two people at half-step Core Formation stage.¡± Wen Cai on the other hand seemed to have cooled down as he thought about the difference in strength.

    Shen chose to not give false encouragement as strength was the only solution in the end.

 Chapter 6 - Date with Xueer

    ¡°Big Brother Shen!¡±

    A beautiful voice called out. Shen turned to look towards the sound by reflex, upon which even the unrivalled chaos beast had his breath taken away. Although it was unknown if he required to breath.

    Wen Cai and Shi Wei also looked and saw Long Xue¡¯er walking towards them in a new pink dress. Even though Shen had applied an illusion, it could not hide Xue¡¯er¡¯s gentle demeanour and style. Wen Cai and Shi Wei did not think much as they could only see the ordinary facial features of Long Xue¡¯er.

    Shen stood up and waited for Xue¡¯er to approach them.

    ¡°Brothers, this is my companion, Long Xue¡¯er. Xue¡¯er, this is Brother Wen and Brother Shi.¡±

    Shen introduced his new friends to Xue¡¯er. He was rather pleased for being able to make friends on his first outing.

    ¡°Hello Junior Sister Xue¡¯er.¡± Wen Cai and Shi Wei nodded politely.

    ¡°Hello Big Brothers.¡± Xue¡¯er smiled towards the two males before standing beside Shen.

    ¡°Brother Wen, Brother Shi, we will be taking our leave. We will surely meet again, if fate allows us.¡± Shen warmly said before bidding goodbye towards Wen Cai and Shi Wei.

    Wen Cai and Shi Wei looked at the departing backs.

    ¡°They don¡¯t seem like ordinary people, but he seemed to not know about a lot of things.¡± Wen Cai muttered.

    ¡°Well he doesn¡¯t seem like a bad person. Everyone has their secrets. It¡¯s best not to look too deep into it.¡±

    ¡°Well since when did you become so wise.¡± Wen Cai mockingly said towards Shi Wei.

    ¡°Hehehe.. Well look, our junior sister is coming, let¡¯s go back.¡± Shi Wei brushed off the comment and changed topics.

    ***

    ¡°Well, where shall we go now?¡± Shen asked Xue¡¯er who seemed to be very happy with her new look.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go eat! There is a famous restaurant that is well known for wine. I¡¯m sure Big Brother Shen will like it. Father also raised the wine from that restaurant.¡±

    With Long Xue¡¯er in the lead, they headed towards the restaurant. Shen had gotten used to being pulled by Long Xue¡¯er unknowingly.

    Soon they arrived in front of a large restaurant. It had a large golden sign above the entrance that read ¡®Green Bamboo Manor¡¯. The building had four floors and gave off a grand atmosphere.

    The couple was greeted by beautiful waitresses as they entered.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

    ¡°Hello, welcome to Green Bamboo Manor.¡±

    ¡°Table for two thanks.¡±

    Shen and Long Xue¡¯er followed the waitress to a vacant table.

    ¡°Give us two bottles of ¡®Green Bamboo Wine¡¯ and a few of your signature dishes.¡± Long Xue¡¯er ordered as they took a seat.

    There were only a few people on the first floor where they were located. The upper floors cost more but it was a status symbol for those rich and powerful and they liked to show off by going to the higher floors to dine.

    Soon the ordered food and wine arrived at the table.

    Shen took in the aroma from the dishes as he thought, ¡®I might get addicted to this.¡¯ Shen had gotten rather fond of wine while he stayed with Long Tian.

    ¡®This wine isn¡¯t as good as Brother Long¡¯s.¡¯

    Xue¡¯er ate and drank happily as neither her father or herself were good cooks. She rarely had a chance to eat good food in the forest.

    The meal had cost a few hundred low grade spirit stones as the wine itself cost 100 spirit stones per bottle. This amount was enough to make a common Foundation stage cultivator last for a few months.

    After the meal, the couple took a stroll in an open market area where there were stalls set up by cultivators trying to sell and trade their wares, and shoppers looking left and right with the hope to pick up a bargain.

    Xue¡¯er had gotten used to pulling Shen¡¯s hands without herself being aware of the action. Shen being a loner, did not think anything of the action. He even felt quite happy but could not find the reason.

    Long Tian, being an Immortal King and the ruler of a vast forest, had a tremendous amount of treasures. He had given part of his wealth to Shen and Xue¡¯er prior to their journey.

    The market place did not bring up their interest as those goods simply could not enter Xue¡¯er¡¯s eye and Shen had no clue about any magical tools or spirit grass.

    ¡°This is what people a date I think.¡± Shen commented suddenly.

    ¡°Date? What is a date?¡± Xue¡¯er asked with curiosity.

    ¡°Hmm the action of a male accompanying a female on an activity and they like each other is called a date I believe. I have only observed the action before. The range of activity is rather wide. Some would simply share a meal and part ways, others would even undergo the act of child making.

    What we are currently doing can be called a date. We shared a meal and are now taking a stroll together. I quite like Xue¡¯er as well.¡±

    The clueless almighty being had dropped a bomb on an innocent maiden who blushed up to her ears and hid her face from Shen. She was still tightly clutching his hands without letting go.

    ¡°Chi-child making!?¡± Xue¡¯er stuttered over the unexpected information.

    ¡°Big, big brother Shen. What did you talk about with those two other big brothers earlier?¡± Xue¡¯er had changed the topic with a flurry.

    She had even forgot to digest the ¡®I quite like Xue¡¯er¡¯ part of the conversion.

    ¡°Oh, they were talking about the competition held by the five large sects every ten years. The first stage is going to start in ten days.¡±

    ¡°I remember that! Father brought me to see those geniuses ten years ago, hmm, I wonder if I should enter.¡± Xue¡¯er pondered with great interest as she thought it would be fun.

    ¡°Haha, you probably shouldn¡¯t, humans around your age are far too weak when compared to our Xue¡¯er. You will definitely cause an uproar.¡±

    Shen had recalled the information on cultivation levels before replying.

    ¡°Do you want to stay until the end of the first stage? We could always follow the crowd and go to the next city for the last part. After which we could go where ever you like.¡± Shen had no concrete plan, therefore he always asked Xue¡¯er for her input.

    Xue¡¯er also didn¡¯t mind as she thought it was interesting. ¡°OK, I will listen to Big Brother Shen.¡±

    Shen went into a daze from Xue¡¯er¡¯s smile. ¡®Hmm, what is wrong with me. These emotions are rather new. I don¡¯t need to reproduce, do I? Wait can I even reproduce?¡¯

    He asked that question in his head but no answers came to mind. ¡®Oh well, guess I will find out once I try.¡¯

    With that dangerous thought in his head, Shen and Xue¡¯er left the market area hand in hand.

 Chapter 7 - Renting a Cave Mansion

    Shen and Long Xue¡¯er had unknowingly walked for quite a bit of distance. Fortunately, the city was quite big, hence they had stumbled across new areas. The crowd had slightly decreased but there were still a large number of people.

    At this point, Shen asked Xue¡¯er.

    ¡°Since we¡¯re staying for the competition, we need to find a place to stay in. We can¡¯t walk around for ten days straight.¡±

    ¡°Ok Big Brother Shen. Let¡¯s try to find an inn.¡±

    After a while.

    ¡°Haaa¡­Why are all the inns full¡­¡± Xue¡¯er lamented.

    They had walked around for a good few hours to all the inns in the city. None of them had a free room not to mention two.

    Shen gave Xue¡¯er a consoling look.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s ok, at worse I can take us back straight to the forest and stay there until the competition starts.¡±

    ¡°Nooo, I don¡¯t wanna go back! There are still places I want to take Big Brother Shen to.¡± Xue¡¯er pouted very cutely.

    For Shen who could see her true facial features, it was a very fatal blow.

    He recovered after a while, then suggested. ¡°How about we rent one of those small houses, didn¡¯t Xue¡¯er say they were managed by the City?¡±

    ¡°Oh! How could I forget. Let¡¯s go Big Brother Shen.¡± Xue¡¯er laughed and started heading towards a direction while pulling Shen.

    Soon they arrived at a rather small and insignificant looking building near the centre of the city. The guards at the entrance seemed to have fallen asleep. There was a large notice posted on the door that read ¡®Low and Mid Grade Cave Mansions ¨C No Vacancies¡¯.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°So, those houses are called cave mansions. What about them resembles a cave, aren¡¯t they just normal houses? Still, there are high grade ones, right?¡± Shen muttered. ¡®At this rate, we really might have to go back to the forest.¡¯ He thought as the couple went inside, past the sleeping guard.

    Inside, there was a small counter behind which stood an old man who was also seemingly asleep.

    ¡°Excuse me shopkeeper!¡±

    Shen shouted at the sleeping old man.

    ¡°Ha, wha- Who is it?!¡± The old man woke up with a fright and looked around in a hurry.

    ¡°Hello, we wanted to rent a cave mansion.¡±

    The old man gave Shen a lazy look after seeing that they were only two young cultivators.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you see the sign on the door? No more cave mansions!¡± The old man replied gruffly.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    ¡°Ah yes but it only said low and mid grades. There should be higher grades, right?¡±

    ¡°Hmph, so what if there is. Can you two babies even afford it? It costs 100 high-grade spirit stones for one week for a high-grade cave mansion.¡±

    Long Tian had given the couple quite a bit of spirit stones as he had no use for them at his cultivation stage. Shen had tens of thousands of high-grade spirit stones, not to mention the ones held by Xue¡¯er.

    ¡°Sure, we¡¯ll get one for a week. Thanks for your help shopkeeper.¡± Shen smiled in response. To him, spirit stones were just rocks that held a bit of energy. Higher grades simply contained more energy. He could instil chaos or other energy types, producing similar items, if he was able to obtain a suitable material.

    The old shopkeeper was startled. He examined Shen closely before turning his sight to look at Xue¡¯er.

    ¡®Half-step False Immortal!¡¯ The old man fiercely exclaimed in his head. Powerful cultivators weren¡¯t a rare sight in the city. However, the old man has not seen one who looked so young.

    There are many cultivation techniques and heavenly treasures that could make one look younger. The old man could not see any unnaturalness on Long Xue¡¯er, which most likely meant she really was as young as she looked.

    ¡°Young lady, may I ask how old you are?¡± The old man wanted to confirm his conjecture.

    ¡°Senior, this junior is eighteen years old currently.¡± Xue¡¯er didn¡¯t think much and answered honestly.

    The old man was shocked even further and went in a small daze. He even ignored the spirit stones that Shen took out.

    After a few seconds, the old man deeply looked at Xue¡¯er once more. He collected the spirit stones from Shen and handed him a wooden badge.

    ¡°The cave mansion is in northern quadrant, area fifteen. Enter your divine sense into the badge, it will guide you to your mansion. Be sure to return the badge in one week, otherwise the city guard will kick you out of the city.¡±

    ¡®If that girl is to enter the competition, it will surely live it up. Who dares to call themselves geniuses after they see her? Haha!¡¯ The old man mused to himself and immediately closed his eyes and went back to sleep afterwards.

    The couple headed to the northern area of the city. They arrived at the cave mansion quickly. The building was located very close to the city centre. Spiritual power is more abundant towards city centre and the spirit gathering formation would display a larger effect.

    The cave mansion was a simple and elegant stone building. There was a courtyard at the back for exercising martial arts.

    The mansion was equipped with a simple kitchen, a bathroom, bedroom and an enclosed chamber for cultivation. The wooden badge allowed the holder to activate the formations in the cave mansion.

    ¡°Bi-Big Brother Shen!¡± Xue¡¯er who was checking out the interior called out nervously.

    Shen looked over and saw Xue¡¯er standing at the entrance of the bedroom.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong Xue¡¯er?¡±

    ¡°Umm, Big Brother Shen, th-there¡¯s only one bed.¡± Xue¡¯er¡¯s voice trailed off to a whisper at the end.

    ¡°Oh, I guess we¡¯ll have to squeeze onto it.¡± Shen stated as-a-matter-of-factly. Of course, the chaos beast, the almighty being of the universe, would not have a clue as to what went on inside a woman¡¯s mind.

    Xue¡¯er didn¡¯t reply and kept glancing between the bed and Shen.

    ¡°I think I¡¯ll lie down for a bit then. We¡¯ll resume the tour of the city tomorrow.¡±

    Shen said as he entered the bedroom and proceeded to lie on one side of the bed. The bed wasn¡¯t all that big and would be barely fit two people on it. Cultivators could go without sleep for weeks or even months at a time during closed door cultivation, so beds weren¡¯t a large necessity.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go take a bath!¡± Xue¡¯er shouted out before running off towards the bathroom.

    It was unknown if she was preparing herself or if she was just nervous.

    Shen had fallen asleep when Xue¡¯er had returned. The fairy maiden approached the bed with her hair still partially wet. Her perfect body was alluring and gave off a sweet scent. Any man who saw this figure would have an irresistible impulse to push her down.

    Xue¡¯er was only wearing a thin robe. She gazed at the sleeping Shen for a while as her face gradually turned red. It was unknown what she was thinking.

    Xue¡¯er crawled into the bed beside Shen while thinking about their time together. Shen was the first male outside of her father that she had interacted. This left a deep impression on the innocent girl¡¯s mind.

    Xue¡¯er slowly fell asleep while subconsciously snuggling up to Shen.

 Chapter 8 - Shen the Cook

    Shen woke up the next morning.

    He looked around the room before recalling that he and Xue¡¯er rented a cave mansion and he went off to sleep.

    Even though he had observed the universe for countless star cycles, the past week or so has been a very different experience. Even the almighty being has a hard time trying to adapt to a change of lifestyle for which has only been a number of days.

    Food and wine as well as the act of sleeping and relaxing in general was very enjoyable to him.

    ¡°Ah.¡±

    He suddenly discovered a beautiful girl in slightly dishevelled clothing, clinging to his arm with a faint smile, still asleep beside him.

    Still, Shen has not reached the point to be able to get embarrassed from the spring scenery, or knowledgeable enough to take advantage of such a situation.

    Shen untangled the sleeping beauty gently and got off the bed.

    He suddenly had an impulse to cook something with his own hands.

    Shen headed into the kitchen before realising that he did not have any ingredients to cook with.

    ¡°Hmm, let¡¯s see, I¡¯ll have to bother Brother Long.¡±

    Shen faced the direction of the forest and took a step. It was as if Shen had ignored the space in between the city and the forest centre as his one step had directly brought him to the kitchen of Long Tian¡¯s dwelling.

    ¡°Brother Long isn¡¯t here. I¡¯ll just a grab a few things from the kitchen.¡±

    Long Tian had actually quite a bit of food stored up in his house. Apparently, this dragon was somewhat of a glutton.

    He quickly grabbed some ingredients and stepped back into the kitchen of the cave mansion.

    After which Shen paused for a bit. It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t want to cook anymore nor was he taking a break. He just did not know where to start!

    ¡°Let¡¯s see. I guess I¡¯ll start by cutting something?¡± Shen decided to reduce the ingredients into edible chunks first. He then got a pan and started placing things in it.

    ¡°I think Xue¡¯er put some of these ¡®spices¡¯ in. Some oil, ah yes, some of this¡­¡­¡±

    Shen was cooking up a storm.

    Xue¡¯er had woken up shortly after Shen started cooking. She then took out the snow fox from her pet bag since she was requesting to exit the space.

    Xue¡¯er had placed the fox inside a pet bag ever since they left the forest. The snow fox had wanted to sleep in order to break through the next cultivation stage and wanted some peace and quiet.

    ¡°Sister Xue¡¯er!¡± The snow fox ¡®Little White¡¯ affectionally called out as she jumped into Xue¡¯er¡¯s bosom.

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯ve reached mid Soul Formation stage! You don¡¯t even have to cultivate, you just sleep and breaks through! I¡¯m so envious!¡±If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    ¡°Hehe. Sister Xue¡¯er, you¡¯re much more talented than me, remember I was still initial Soul Formation stage when we met. You were so small back then.¡±

    Xue¡¯er just pouted at the reply. Suddenly Xue¡¯er and Little White both smelled something.

    ¡°Oh, that smells like¡­¡­food?¡± The snow fox blurted out.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go see.¡±

    Xue¡¯er headed into the kitchen only to see smoke everywhere and a Shen who was disposing of some questionable content from a pan.

    ¡°Morning Xue¡¯er. Take a seat. Breakfast will be ready soon.¡± Shen said with a beam, seemingly ignoring the blackened content in the pan.

    ¡°Oh, Little White is out too? Looks like I¡¯ll have to prepare an extra portion.¡± Shen muttered while taking another attempt at making food.

    Xue¡¯er and Little White watched as Shen sliced and diced and made a mess once more. ¡°Big Brother Shen! Let me help.¡± ¡®Or we¡¯ll never get to eat!¡¯ Xue¡¯er offered help while muttering in her mind.

    ¡°Oh? Sure! I could use some help, hehe.¡± Shen didn¡¯t want to say it out loud but he really was having trouble on this seemingly simple task.

    Xue¡¯er started helping Shen while the snow fox looked on with interest.

    Although it was meant to be only helping, Xue¡¯er had somehow started cooking by herself while Shen was just listening to her explanations while observing. It wasn¡¯t long before an appetising aroma wafted out.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll do better next time!¡± Shen declared as he stuffed himself.

    Xue¡¯er just smiled softly while the snow fox gave Shen a despising look.

    After breakfast.

    ¡°There¡¯s a big auction in two days isn¡¯t there? There will be a lot of magical tools and spirit pills being sold.¡± The couple saw the advertisements from the Soaring Phoenix Auction House while they were strolling in the city yesterday.

    ¡°Do you want to go see, Big Brother Shen?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I want to see what an auction is like. I don¡¯t need any of the things but I bet it¡¯ll be interesting!¡±

    Xue¡¯er agreed without much thought since she also hasn¡¯t been to an auction before.

    ¡°I wonder if we should auction something too. What do you think Big Brother Shen?¡±

    ¡°Oh? But I don¡¯t have anything other than what your father gave me. Oh yeah, I could sell some ores? I see a lot of them being sold in the market place.¡±

    ¡°What ores does Brother Shen have? Are they from outer void?¡± Xue¡¯er asked curiously. She has not seen many ores since neither her or her father were proficient refiners.

    ¡°Yeah, let me take a look first. I¡¯ll grab a bit when I find a suitable source.¡±

    Shen closed his eyes and spread out his Divine Sense to the closest star system. He searched for planet, star or a meteorite with ore deposits and scanned them for their density and strength.

    ¡°Ah, found one!¡± Shen stood up and took one step. The next moment he disappeared from the kitchen and had reappeared on a dying star. It was unknown how far away the star was from the star system Shen was previously on.

    The gravity on the dying star was terrifying. A cultivator would have required an Earth Immortal cultivation just to be able to walk normally on the surface. Taking into account that spiritual power was very thin, it would take someone of Immortal King stage to be able to survive for a long period.

    Shen had appeared right on top of a large ore vein. His left hand blurred as it cut through the ore vein as if it was water. After getting a head sized chunk, Shen nodded satisfied.

    Shen took one more step and reappeared in the kitchen at his previous position. Xue¡¯er was surprised since Shen had disappeared and suddenly reappeared after less than a minute.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, where did you go?¡±

    ¡°Take a guess!¡± Shen grinned. Apparently, the chaos beast has a sense of humour.

    Shen showed the ore in his hand to Xue¡¯er. ¡°Do you think this can be sold?¡±

    Xue¡¯er took the ore and tried to melt it with her soul fire. Her soul firewhich she activated when she reached Soul Formation stage is of golden colour, due to the Gold Dragon Bloodline.

    ¡°This seems to be a high rank ore. My Gold Dragon flame can¡¯t melt it at all.¡±

    A flying sword which seemed to be a high-grade magic tool appeared in Xue¡¯er¡¯s hand. She then proceeded to struck the ore with some force.

    ¡°Wow, there¡¯s no scratch at all! This definitely is a good ore. A good refiner can certainly make a spirit tool rank weapon from this. It is also very heavy!¡±

    ¡°Do you think the amount is ok? If not, I can always go get more.¡±

    ¡°It should be fine? How much ore can a sword need.¡± Xue¡¯er looked between the flying sword in hand and the ore before replying.

    ¡°We should go to the auction house today to buy seats, Big Brother Shen. I overheard a few people talking about it yesterday. Hopefully there are still free seats.¡±

    ¡°It will be ok. It isn¡¯t like it¡¯ll affect us even if we don¡¯t get in. We¡¯ll just go to one at the next city.¡± Shen really was not worried since he had no need to buy anything and purely wanted to see what an auction was like.

 Chapter 9 - Soaring Phoenix Auction House

    In the centre of the market place, there was a large building with a grand sign that read ¡°Soaring Phoenix Auction House¡± surrounded by dancing gold phoenixes.

    Shen looked at the building, standing in front of the entrance with Long Xue¡¯er. The couple had strolled through the market place once more after breakfast. Only difference this time was that there was a small snow fox lying in the bosom of Long Xue¡¯er.

    Luckily, there was not many powerful cultivators on the way to recognise that the seemingly harmless looking small fox was a powerful Soul Formation stage magical beast.

    Xue¡¯er as usual pulled Shen¡¯s hands and lead him into the building, where they were welcomed by beautiful young women dressed in gold clothes that somehow did not look gaudy.

    ¡®What is with these shops and beautiful women, they all have a few of them at the entrance, quite odd.¡¯ Shen recalled all the high-class shops he visited and remembered them having the same style of service.

    ¡°¡°Welcome to the Soaring Phoenix Auction House!¡±¡±

    ¡°How can I help you, honoured guests?¡±

    Xue¡¯er took the initiative to answer. ¡°We wanted to buy two tickets for the auction and we would also like to sell a few items.¡±

    ¡°We can certainly help you with the sale, but we regret to inform you that standard seats have been sold out and only VIP booths are left.¡±

    A young lady replied politely informing them.

    ¡°That¡¯s ok, we will be fine with a booth.¡±

    ¡°Then please follow me, honoured guests. We can appraise the items in a room for your privacy. We have reliable professional appraisers. If the item you wish to auction is valuable, we will provide you with a free VIP room.¡±

    The same young lady explained as she lead the couple in front of a closed door with a smile.

    *Knock knock*

    She opened the door and entered the room. It was a large room that can comfortably fit a dozen people. There was a large long table and a few chairs on one side inside the room. An old man sat on the other side looking at the entrance.

    ¡°Uncle Wang, these honoured guests would like to sell some items.¡±

    Uncle Wang nodded and looked at Shen and Xue¡¯er standing behind the young lady. ¡°Please come in and take a seat.¡± He gestured.

    ¡°I will let Uncle Wang take care of you. Please let me know if I can be of further help.¡± The young lady exited the room and closed the door after Shen and Xue¡¯er had sat across from the old man.

    The old man observed the ordinary looking couple. His vision stayed on the snow fox and Long Xue¡¯er for a few seconds before sighing inwardly. Uncle Wang was only a False Immortal who had no further hope of advancement. Therefore, he had chosen to be employed by the Soaring Phoenix Auction House as an appraiser.

    He had met many people during his job but a Soul Formation stage magical beast pet was incredibly rare, especially when owned by an ordinary looking young girl. He could not sense anything from the male which made him think that Shen was more powerful than him.

    Uncle Wang decided to not pry any further as the opposite party did not seem simple. He did not wish to offend a powerful person after all.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

    ¡°Please show me the items that you wish to sell.¡± The old man put up a serious look.

    Long Xue¡¯er brought out a top-grade flying sword from her bag of holding and handed it to the old man.

    ¡°Oh? A top-grade magic tool refined with thousand-year profound ice.¡± The old man was only slightly impressed due to the rare material used. He saw that Long Xue¡¯er was a half-step False Immortal, therefore it was not a surprise that she had a top-grade magic tool. Uncle Wang put down the flying sword on one side of the table.

    Shen also took out his head sized chunk of unknown ore and almost placed it in front of the old man on the table before remembering the weight of the ore.

    ¡°Hmmm? What is this?¡± The old man looked at the ore in front of him closely.

    ¡°Be careful, it is quite heavy.¡± Shen reminded before handing the ore over.

    Uncle Wang took the ore. His hand sunk down and the ore almost hit the table before he managed to stabilize it in his hand.

    ¡°It is indeed heavy.¡± The old man¡¯s hand lit up with a red flame and enveloped the ore. The flame intensity was controlled to only heat up a low-grade magic tool.

    As the old man increased the intensity of the flame, he got more and more shocked. Finally, he increased the maximum intensity he could output. The chunk had finally started to glow faintly red, however it would not heat up any further. It should be known that a top-grade magic tool would be damaged by a full-strength soul fire from a False Immortal.

    The full-strength flame had alarmed the people in the Auction House.

    *Bang*

    The door was shoved open and a middle-aged man followed by a few guards rushed into the room.

    ¡°Uncle Wang!¡± The middle-aged man called out. He quickly stopped his advance when he discovered that there was no sign of fighting in the room.

    It should be mentioned that the rooms used for appraisal were capable of shielding from Divine Sense as to enable full privacy.

    ¡°Manager Feng, come take a look at this ore. I have not seen this before.¡± Uncle Wang ignored the rude behaviour and called out.

    Manager Feng signalled the guards to exit and closed the door once more.

    ¡°Apologies honoured guests. I was worried that there might have been a conflict.¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t mind.¡± Xue¡¯er replied with a smile. Shen did not really care as he had known that a few people were approaching the room, however he sensed no hostility from them.

    Manager Feng was an Earth Immortal and was responsible for the Jade Leaf city branch of the Soaring Phoenix Auction House. He had personally handled all rare and precious items that were auctioned.

    Manager Feng took a seat next to Uncle Wang and took the ore. He then took out a top-grade flying sword and struck the ore.

    *Ding*

    Sparks flew off and no scratches could be seen on the surface of the ore. Manager Feng put away the flying sword and took out another sword. The sword was exquisite looking and there was a faint red aura on the surface of the blade.

    ¡°Mid-grade spirit tool!¡± Uncle Wang cried out. He was very envious as spirit tools were rarely seen not to mention mid-grade spirit tools. He himself only had a low-grade spirit tool.

    Manager Feng struck the ore once more. This time, a faint trace could be seen on the surface of the ore.

    ¡°May I ask what this ore is called?¡± Manager Feng enquired as he put away his sword.

    ¡°Hmm, I don¡¯t know. I got it off a¡­¡­meteorite.¡± Shen answered with some thought. No one would believe him if he told the truth after all.

    ¡°Oh? This ore is much harder than meteorite iron.¡± Manager Feng mused.

    Shen chose to not give any more details. ¡°So, could we auction the ore?¡±

    ¡°Yes, certainly. The ore could definitely be used to refine a spirit tool. Are you selling the sword as well?¡± Manager Feng glanced at the flying sword on the table.

    ¡°Normally, the Auction House could buy the item for a price, but we don¡¯t know the true value of the ore so I recommend that honoured guest allow us to auction it. As for the sword, we could offer you a price.¡±

    Shen looked at Xue¡¯er, asking for her opinion, since the sword was hers.

    ¡°I would like to auction it.¡± Xue¡¯er said with a smile.

    Manager Feng nodded and took out a gold card which he handed to Shen. On one side, a majestic phoenix was carved. The number ¡®49¡¯ could be seen on the opposite side.

    ¡°This is a VIP token. Honoured guest will be lead to a VIP booth if you were to show this at the auction in two days. It is also valid for other auctions. We will take care of the items for safe keeping. Please note that there is a 2% fee deducted from the sales.¡±

    The same young lady who guided Shen and Xue¡¯er entered the room with a knock.

    ¡°Honoured guests, would you like to take a look at any of our items? We have a large variety for sale outside of auctions.¡± The young lady said with a smile.

    Shen and Xue¡¯er declined and thanked the manager and the old man before leaving the Auction House.

 Chapter 10 - Little White

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, do you use a weapon?¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t used one before, I have never had to fight so I don¡¯t have one either.¡±

    Shen replied as he took out a random top-grade flying sword, given by Long Tian. Shen and Xue¡¯er were currently walking through the market place after leaving the Soaring Phoenix Auction House.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t look very strong to me. An Earth Immortal could block a strike from this sword with his fleshy body.¡± Shen commented after inspecting the sword and recalling the strength of Manager Feng.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, you have to put your spiritual power into it. Otherwise, it will be hard to break someone¡¯s spiritual power shield.¡± Xue¡¯er smiled and took the sword from Shen.

    ¡°Here, like this.¡± Xue¡¯er proceeded to input spiritual power into the sword.

    The sword started to shine and one could feel a sense of danger emitted from it.

    ¡°Oh, it got sharper. And stronger. Let me try.¡±

    Xue¡¯er withdrew her spiritual power from the sword and handed it back to Shen.

    Shen did not cultivate in spiritual power. Therefore, he had to borrow the spiritual power from the atmosphere. The sword started to faintly shine. However, it was different from Xue¡¯er¡¯s demonstration. The light started to fluctuate and the sharpness did not improve at all. It was more like a container for spiritual power.

    ¡°Oh, it seems different. Big Brother Shen, why do you use the surrounding spiritual power?¡±

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t cultivate in spiritual power so I don¡¯t have a choice, haha. Let me try something else.¡±

    Spiritual power naturally left the sword when Shen had stopped the input. He then used a very small amount of chaos power and fed it to the sword.

    *Crack crack*

    ¡°Ah! Big Brother Shen, what did you do?!¡±

    The sword started to crack and slowly crumbled. The remains gradually turned into powder before dispersing into the air. The surrounding cultivators froze upon the scene and slowly withdrew away from the couple.

    ¡°Ha, Haha¡­¡­ Let¡¯s go Xue¡¯er.¡± Shen gave a dry laugh and pulled Xue¡¯er and quickly left the area.

    ¡°I tried putting in my chaos power into it. I didn¡¯t know it would destroy the sword.¡± Shen explained with a depressed expression.

    The snow fox did not make any noise and just looked at everything in Xue¡¯er¡¯s embrace. It did not seem to be shocked by the display of the sword being destroyed.

    The couple and one fox had unknowingly arrived near the vicinity of Green Bamboo Manor.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, let¡¯s go there again, I feel like drinking wine.¡± Shen lead Xue¡¯er inside the restaurant where they were greeted by the waitresses.

    On the first floor, Shen and Xue¡¯er were seated with Little White sitting on top of the table, eating various dishes.

    Shen sat there drinking slowly while Xue¡¯er poured one cup after another. The picture looked strangely peaceful. The surrounding people could not help but turn their heads at such a sight.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    ¡°¡°Welcome to Green Bamboo Manor!¡±¡±

    Shen could hear the more than usual excited voices of the waitresses. As he was seated facing the entrance, he could see a group of young people walking in.

    The group consisted of two beautiful females green and pink clothes followed by four handsome youths who were all dressed in gold and red robes that formed a vivid flame pattern. The entire group was seemed to be standing behind the girl dressed in the green robe that looked to be in similar age to Long Xue¡¯er.

    As they walked in, the timid young girl in the pink dress saw Little White on the table along with Shen and Xue¡¯er.

    ¡°What a cute fox!¡± The girl exclaimed and had her vision fixed on Little White.

    ¡°Junior Sister Mei, have you taken a liking for that fox? Don¡¯t worry, I will get it for you!¡± One of the youths said out loud towards the timid girl and started walking towards Shen and Xue¡¯er.

    ¡°Ah, wait-¡± The young girl wanted to call out to stop the youth but her voice was too quiet.

    The youngster came to a stop in front of Shen¡¯s table. ¡°How much for the fox? My Junior Sister has taken a liking for it.¡±

    Shen was a bit stunned. Xue¡¯er replied calmly with a smile before Shen could speak. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, my friend is not for sale.¡±

    ¡°One hundred mid-grade spirit stones!¡± The youth yelled out thinking that the couple wanted to increase the price. One hundred mid-grade spirit stones could indeed buy a Foundation stage monster beast pet. The youth thought this price would be sufficient.

    The remaining youngsters approached the table and stood behind the youth.

    The timid girl attempted to call out once more. ¡°Senior Brother Guo!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Junior Sister Mei. I will get you the fox!

    Two hundred mid-grade spirit stones!¡±

    Shen wrinkled his brows. ¡°I¡¯m sorry friend. The little fox is not for sale.¡± Shen replied with a small smile since he did not wish for a conflict.

    ¡°You! Don¡¯t go too far! This fox isn¡¯t even Foundation stage, I¡¯m already giving you a large sum for it!¡± The youth thought that Little White was not strong since his cultivation stage was not high enough to see through Little White whom has restrained her Soul Formation stage aura.

    He would not even take a second glance if it was not for Junior Sister Mei.

    ¡°It is not a matter of price, we will not be selling Little White. Now, please excuse us.¡± Shen stood up and attempted to leave the restaurant since he was not in the mood to continue drinking.

    ¡°You can go but leave the fox behind and take the spirit stones while you still can.¡± Junior Brother Guo said coldly.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, leave it to Little White.¡± Xue¡¯er finally spoke up and looked at Little White.

    Little White had stopped eating and had been observing the group since the youth came over. She looked at the timid young girl.

    Suddenly, a soul shaking aura enveloped the six youngsters.

    ¡°You are from Pill God Sect, are you not? Since when did the disciples from a large famous sect forced people to do something they do not wish to do?¡±

    Xue¡¯er had noticed the origin of the four males from their robes. The group was frozen under the aura of Little White and their faces paled.

    *Whoosh whoosh*

    Two forms appeared in front of the six youths and dispelled the aura. The youths breathed heavily and looked at Little White in horror.

    ¡°Uncle Hong!¡± ¡°Senior Sister Meng An!¡±

    The two people with powerful auras were a middle-aged man with white short hair and a young-looking woman who seemed to be in her twenties.

    ¡°¡°Soul Formation magical beast!¡±¡±

    The youths were further shocked. Junior Brother Guo¡¯s face drained of all blood on thinking that he, a Foundation stage cultivator, tried to purchase a Soul Formation magical beast with two hundred mid-grade spirit stones.

    ¡°What happened here?¡± The middle-aged man called Uncle Hong asked youths. Junior Brother Guo explained the situation hurriedly.

    The middle-aged man looked at the two ordinary looking people standing before him.

    ¡°Half-step Soul Formation!¡± He exclaimed once more once his vision reached Long Xue¡¯er. He was shocked but inwardly thought that the owner of a Soul Formation magical beast cannot be weak.

    The youths were further terrified thinking of the worst case scenario.

    [We should draw back, Junior Sister Meng. I cannot see through the male at all.]

    The middle-aged man sent a sound transmission to Meng An beside him. Meng An quickly agreed upon hearing this information, since she was the weaker of the two.

    ¡°Two, please forgive these juniors. We will be happy to pay for your meal as an apology.¡±

    Shen and Xue¡¯er looked at each other. ¡°Ok, no problem. We will take our leave if there are no more issues.¡±

    Shen nodded towards the middle-aged man. Xue¡¯er took Little White in her bosom and pulled Shen¡¯s hand and proceeded to walk out of the restaurant.

    Junior Sister Mei looked at Little White with a longing as the couple disappeared from their vision.

 Chapter 11 - Auction (1)

    The group of youths followed by the middle-aged man and the young woman were guided to a private room on the third floor.

    ¡°Uncle Hong, who were those people?¡± The youth named Guo asked the middle-aged man. He still had a lingering fear of the small harmless looking snow fox.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I have never seen them before. Guo Li, it would be wise for you to judge people better. Next time, you may not be so lucky.¡±

    ¡°I understand Uncle Hong.¡± Guo Li replied but in truth he still did not understand what he needed to be careful of. He just thought that he was rather unlucky.

    The young woman named Meng An did not say a word. In fact, she and the two young girls were from Misty Cloud Valley and were merely giving face to Pill God Sect by coming out for a stroll with the four youngsters. The middle-aged man was a deacon sent by Pill God Sect. Uncle Hong and herself were hiding behind the group to protect them and would only come out when needed.

    ¡°That fox is not a simple magical beast. It should have been in human form since it had reached Soul Formation stage. It is possible that it has a high-grade bloodline.¡± Uncle Hong pondered thoughtlessly as the group sat down.

    ¡°Ah! Should we inform the elders? Such a beast is valuable to our Pill God Sect!¡± Guo Li yelled out.

    ¡°Hmph, I don¡¯t know for sure. It isn¡¯t worth the trouble to make a potential enemy based on this. What if word got out about this? Our Pill God Sect cannot bully others for no reason!¡±

    ***

    Shen and Long Xue¡¯er walked down the street after having left Green Bamboo Manor.

    ¡°Ahh, my wine!¡± Shen groaned. He truly has taken a liking for wine ever since he had a taste in the forest.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, we could just go buy some from a shop. They won¡¯t have immortal wines like my father¡¯s in this city but you can definitely buy spirit wines.¡± Xue¡¯er said with a laugh. The snow fox has been placed in the pet bag since she had wanted to sleep.

    ¡°Really? Let¡¯s go Xue¡¯er!¡± Shen¡¯s face lit up and hurried Xue¡¯er.

    The couple changed direction and went towards a wine shop.

    For the next two days, they merely strolled various shops and tried different restaurants. At night, Xue¡¯er would still sleep in the same bed and would wake up clinging to Shen each morning.

    Shen had made progress in cooking with Xue¡¯er guidance and could make edible dishes.

    ***

    The front of the Soaring Phoenix Auction House was full of people dressed in different attires entering the building. There were many beautiful women attendants dressed in the matching gold uniforms welcoming and leading people inside.

    When Shen and Xue¡¯er arrived, it was close to noon. The couple was lead to a VIP booth after having shown their token they received from Manager Feng.

    The VIP booth was decorated with soft carpet and luxurious furniture. There was a table with jugs of wine and fruits laid out on top.

    A large glass window enabled the inhabitants to view the full stage. The room was built to block Divine Sense from entering. However, the user could use their Divine Sense while inside the room.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    Shortly after Shen and Xue¡¯er took their seats, Manager Feng came out accompanied by a beautiful attendant onto the stage.

    ¡°Ahem, ahem. Ladies and Gentlemen!¡±

    He did not speak loudly but his voice reached everywhere within the auction room.

    ¡°Thank you all for attending our Soaring Phoenix Auction House¡¯s annual auction! This time is somewhat special due to the upcoming competition, but we still have many treasures that will surprise you!

    Now without further ado, let us start the auction!¡±

    The crowd cheered upon the speech. As Manager Feng continued, a table with various sized boxes on it was carried out onto the stage.

    ¡°The first item for today is a top-grade magic tool. It was refined using tri-coloured steel. The price starts at 100,000 low-grade spirit stones!¡±

    The attendant has opened a long box and showed the contents to the audience. The sword inside glowed in three different shades.

    ¡°110,000.¡±

    ¡°130,000¡±

    ¡­

    ¡­

    ¡°200,000!¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s a disciple from Celestial Sword Peak.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, whoever wants the sword will have to give face to Celestial Sword Peak.¡±

    Murmurs could be heard upon the latest bid. The sword was taken at 200,000 low-grade spirit stones which was quite low for a top-grade magic tool.

    A few different top-grade magic tools were auctioned afterwards. They ranged from swords to spears and even claws. Xue¡¯er¡¯s sword was auctioned for 350,000 low-grade spirit stones. An attendant had brought a low-grade bag of holding containing the spirit stones with the fee already taken to the VIP booth.

    Although, it was not much compared to their total wealth, Xue¡¯er was happy for having sold an item.

    Shen just observed the auction while he drank his wine.

    ¡°Ladies and Gentlemen! We now have two items that all those juniors have been waiting for!¡±

    The attendant took out a small inner shirt that shined with a green glow.

    ¡°The first is a top-grade magic tool armour refined using Jade Worm¡¯s silk! I¡¯m sure I don¡¯t have to inform it¡¯s worth to you all! We have two identical armours refined by the same person! The price starts at 500,000 low-grade spirit stones!¡±

    ¡°1,000,000!¡± A youth wearing the Pill God Sect uniform called out. If Shen were to look, he would have seen Guo Li that he had a conflict with in Green Bamboo Manor.

    ¡°1,200,000! Guo Li, this armour is mine!¡± Another youth dressed in white yelled out. This youth had a badge hanging from his waist that represented a mighty mountain.

    ¡°Looks like Guo Li from Pill God Sect and Haung Yan from Five Element Mountain are fighting for it, we normal cultivators will never get a chance.¡± A rogue cultivator sighed.

    It was truly difficult for a cultivator without any background to survive in this harsh world.

    ¡°1,500,000.¡± A soft ethereal voice called out.

    ¡°Oh, Misty Cloud Valley has decided to compete.¡±

    The surroundings got even more noisy. The three youths were all from famous super sects and were outstanding juniors that were attending the competition.

    ¡°1,800,000!¡± Guo Li once again called out.

    ¡­

    ¡­

    ¡°2,600,000!¡±

    The armour was finally won for a large sum by Haung Yan. The second armour was won for a larger value of 3,200,000 by a Misty Cloud Valley junior.

    ¡°This is not as fun as I thought it would be.¡± Shen commented.

    ¡°Hehe, Big Brother Shen, were you expecting a fight over some treasure?¡± Xue¡¯er asked with a giggle.

    ¡°The Soaring Phoenix Auction House is owned by the Feng Clan. They are a first class influence. Even the super sects have to give them some face.¡± Xue¡¯er further explained to the bored looking Shen.

    ¡°We now have some spirit pills coming up for auction. Due to the competition, we will be concentrating on pills useful for Foundation stage cultivators.

    The first pill is a spirit gathering pill refined by a senior from Pill God Sect. Its quality is guaranteed! There are 10 pills per bottle and we are auctioning a total of 10 bottles.¡± Manager Feng gave an introduction on the next item.

    The attendant brought out a jade bottle and opened it. A waft of spiritual power spread out and one felt refreshed just from the smell.

    ¡°The first bottle will start at 10,000 low-grade spirit stones.¡±

    ¡°15,000.¡±

    ¡°17,000!¡±

    ¡­

    ¡­

    ¡°27,000!¡±

    No one from the Pill God Sect or even any of the five super sects had bid for the pills as this type of spirit pill was not rare to the outstanding juniors of those sects.

    The auction continued for quite a while selling items aimed at the Foundation stage cultivators.

    The auction had gone for around six hours before Manager Feng announced.

    ¡°Ladies and Gentlemen, we will be having a break for two hours. We have some mysterious treasures coming up in the auction so please look forward to it!¡±

    Shen and Xue¡¯er left their VIP booth to the streets outside deciding to stretch their legs during the break.

 Chapterr 12 - Auction (2)

    ¡°Xue¡¯er do you think I should cultivate in spiritual power?¡± Shen asked Xue¡¯er as the couple walked through the crowd.

    ¡°Why do you ask Big Brother Shen?¡± Xue¡¯er was bewildered. Shen was even stronger than her father. Why did he need to cultivate?

    ¡°I just felt that I would fit in better. And I can use magic tools! Maybe take spirit pills too. I wonder how they taste.¡±

    ¡°Hehe, Big Brother Shen, so you just want to use weapons. How very childish, hehe.¡± ¡®How very cute as well!¡¯ Xue¡¯er rudely thought.

    Xue¡¯er¡¯s pleasant laugh made Shen absorbed for a few seconds.

    ¡°Hmph! Anyways, Xue¡¯er must teach me how to cultivate once we leave the city. Maybe I should try one of those closed-door cultivation things, haha.¡±

    Shen pretended to be angry which earned him another chuckle from Xue¡¯er. The couple visited food stalls set up by low level cultivators hand in hand before returning to the Auction House.

    ***

    ¡°Welcome back, Ladies and Gentlemen! We will now resume the auction. This time we have some valuable treasures mixed with mysterious items that we do not know the use or value of! Maybe one of you would recognise a treasure and pick up a bargain!¡±

    The crowd went a bit noisy after this announcement.

    ¡°Without further ado, let us start!¡± Manager Feng continued.

    The beautiful attendant brought a silver tray with an old looking book on the table. The book was not thick. It seemed to be made from some type of animal skin. On the cover, it read ¡°Lightning Step Movement Art¡±.

    ¡°As you can see, this is a type off movement art. We have not identified the exact grade but we can tell you it certainly is at least high-grade martial skill if not higher.

    The starting price for this skill will be 1 million low-grade spirit stones.¡±

    The crowd was silent for a while.

    ¡°1.1 million!¡± Eventually a brave soul decided to try his luck.

    ¡°1.2 million.¡±

    ¡°1.25 million!¡±

    Others quickly followed. Quickly, two old men became the final bidders with each of them fighting for the movement art.

    ¡°2.3 million! Old man Cao, why are you bidding for it? Your Wind Sword sect has plenty of high-grade movement arts!¡±

    ¡°2.5 million! Tao Xuefeng, you old fart! Who are you calling old man! Aren¡¯t you older than me by 90 years? So, what if my Wind Sword sect has high-grade movement arts? I want it, so bite me!¡±If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    ¡°2.6 million! Cao Wuying, I dare you to try!¡±

    ¡­

    ¡­

    After two old men behaving like children quarrelled back and forth for a bit, Wind Sword sect¡¯s elder Cao finally won the movement art for a price of 4.3 million low-grade spirit stones.

    ¡°Next we have¡­¡­¡±

    ¡­

    ¡­

    The auction went on for a while with all sorts of treasures ranging from exotic spirit herbs to spirit tools.

    ¡°This time we have a mysterious ore. It is said to be from a meteorite by the seller. It is not the standard meteorite iron however. It is much harder and heavier. Let me demonstrate.¡±

    Manager Feng personally opened the box with the ore from the table and carried it in front of the audience.

    He then proceeded to use his soul fire on the ore. The lump of ore glowed red after using 50% strength but showed no signs of melting. He then took out his mid-grade spirit tool and struck the ore. There was only a shallow mark on the surface due to the ore being heated.

    ¡°The ore can be used to refine at least a mid-grade spirit tool. A master refiner might even be able to make a top-grade spirit tool!

    The bidding will start at 200,000 low-grade spirit stones!¡±

    ¡°210,000!¡±

    ¡°250,000!¡±

    ¡­

    ¡­

    ¡°1.6 million!¡±

    After numerous bids, the ore was finally sold to a cultivator from the Celestial Sword Peak for 1.6 million low-grade spirit stones. Shen was quite pleased for having gained a considerable amount of spirit stones for something he basically got for free. He could have gotten a house sized chunk if he wished to.

    ¡°Ladies and Gentlemen, this will be the last item for this auction! This item is not something commonly seen, and we could not determine its exact value.¡±

    On the table behind Manager Feng, there was a small object covered by a gold cloth. Manager Feng signalled the attendant. The cloth was lifted and the audience could see a small oval shaped red egg. It was a palm length tall and looked rather unremarkable.

    ¡°This egg was found in the inner area of the forest by one of the elders of the auction house. We don¡¯t know what magical beast gave birth to the egg. It gives off some heat so it is most likely a fire type magical beast. The bidding will start at 100,000 low-grade spirit stones.¡±

    ¡°120,000!¡±

    Straight away, a Soul Formation cultivator from the Heavenly Beast sect called out a price. There were not many people willing to take a chance at the plain looking egg. It was probable that one could end up with a monster beast.

    ¡°150,000¡±

    Shen called out a bid. He thought it would be interesting to take a gamble with the egg. Although he could just use his Divine Sense to find out the creature inside the egg, he did not do so.

    ¡°200,000!¡± The Heavenly Beast sect cultivator glared at the VIP booth Shen was in. No one else had bid for the egg as it was taking a gamble and their Divine Sense was not able to enter the egg. They were also giving face to the Heavenly Beast sect.

    ¡°250,000.¡±

    ¡°300,000!¡±

    ¡­

    ¡°500,000.¡± Shen had bid half a million low-grade spirit stones, after which the other party had stopped raising.

    ¡°I wonder what magical beast is inside.¡± Xue¡¯er said with an interested expression. This was also exciting to her as she has never encountered an egg before.

    An attendant brought the egg to their booth at which Shen handed back some of the earnings he¡¯d made earlier.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, do you know how to make the egg hatch?¡± Shen asked since he found that he did not know what to do to make the egg hatch. He felt that it was quite funny.

    ¡°I think the egg needs spiritual power, and once it has enough spiritual power, it will hatch. That¡¯s what father told me before, Big Brother Shen.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, ok. We¡¯ll try it tomorrow. It has been a long day so let us go back and rest.¡±

    Shen and Xue¡¯er left the Auction House. ¡°Xue¡¯er, teach me cultivation tomorrow! I¡¯ll take us to a quiet place.¡±

    ¡®Maybe the egg will hatch after I give it spiritual power.¡¯ Shen thought and happily headed back to their cave mansion.

 Chapter 13 - Cultivation

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, where are we?¡± Xue¡¯er looked around curiously after walking out from the tear in space.

    Moments before, Shen had torn open the surrounding space in the stone chamber of their cave mansion. It was quite a fright to Xue¡¯er. She had witnessed True Immortal stage magical beasts fight in the forest and their attacks could hardly shake the surrounding space. Yet Shen had treated it like it was made of paper!

    ¡°This is one of the unoccupied islands to the west of Sky continent. I thought I¡¯d bring us here so we can cultivate in peace.¡±

    Shen looked around the island with satisfaction. It was not a large island, with only a few hundred miles in diameter. They were currently on a beach on the southern part of the island. There was a large volcano located right at the centre of the island, with smoke coming out at the top, indicating that it was an active volcano.

    ¡°It¡¯s very beautiful here¡­¡± Xue¡¯er looked at the beach and the ocean, mesmerized.

    ¡°Yes, this is the first time I¡¯ve seen the ocean in person.¡± Shen also commented. The beauty dressed in pure white under the sun with a glittering sea in the background was breathtaking. Shen stared at the sight until Xue¡¯er turned to face him.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen? Are you ok?¡± Xue¡¯er asked with a pink face.

    ¡°Ah? Ye-yeah. I¡¯m ok, haha.¡±

    ¡°Let us explore the island. There might be interesting spirit herbs and rare treasures.¡± Shen changed the topic in a hurry.

    The spiritual power was abundant on the island. There were no powerful magical beasts in the forests surrounding the volcano.

    ¡°Wait a second Big Brother Shen.¡± Xue¡¯er brought out the snow fox and the red egg they had bought from the auction from her pet bag.

    Little White immediately escaped from Xue¡¯er embrace and ran off into the forest.

    ¡°Little White!¡± Xue¡¯er called out.

    [Don¡¯t worry Sister Xue¡¯er. There are a lot of spirit herbs suitable for my growth here. I will be back in a few hours.]

    Xue¡¯er could only helplessly shake her head.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, are eggs meant to do that?¡±

    Shen had noticed that the egg was now pulsating and giving off a red glow. It was quite slow but steady.

    ¡°Oh? Interesting.¡±

    Shen took the egg in hand.

    [Take. Me. To. Volcano.]

    ¡°What?¡± Shen was surprised at the mental message from the egg.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, do you hear that?¡±

    ¡°No? What is it Big Brother Shen?¡±Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

    Shen pointed at the egg in hand. ¡°It says to take it to the volcano.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, I didn¡¯t hear anything when I was holding it, how odd¡­¡±

    [Take. Me. To. Volcano.]

    ¡°Hey, I heard it again.¡± Shen shook the egg. ¡°Are you talking to me?¡±

    [Take. Me. To. Volcano.]

    Whatever inside the egg seemed to be intelligent but it did not say anything other than repeating those four words.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er for the time being, let¡¯s take this egg to the volcano.¡±

    ¡°Ok, Big Brother Sh-¡± Xue¡¯er paused her reply when Shen approached her and held her waist gently.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen?¡±

    ¡°It won¡¯t take long.¡± Shen smiled and floated up while holding Xue¡¯er slender and perfect body.

    *Whoosh*

    It only took a few seconds for them to cover the distance of over 100 miles. They were now floating above the volcano.

    The speed caught Xue¡¯er by surprise but she did not think it was a big deal when Shen could use his hands to tear open the space.

    The pulsation of the red light on the egg sped up. It also started vibrating. Shen held Xue¡¯er and landed on the outer lip of the volcano.

    ¡°¡°Ah!¡±¡±

    The egg has actually jumped out of Shen¡¯s hand and into the boiling magma below.

    Even though Shen could have caught the egg, he decided to let it go to see what would happen. ¡®It wanted to go to the volcano after all.¡¯

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, will it be ok?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know but it jumped out by itself so it should be fine.¡±

    The egg entered the magma and vanished from their sight. Shen spread out his Divine Sense and discovered that the egg was floating just under the surface of the magma.

    ¡°It seems fine. Let us go back to the beach. Xue¡¯er has to teach me how to cultivate.¡±

    Shen once again held Xue¡¯er and arrived back at the beach.

    ¡°Let me make us a place to stay first.¡± Shen placed Xue¡¯er down and headed into the forest.

    Soon after, a small hut was built on the beach, decorated with furniture bought from Jade Leaf city.

    Shen and Xue¡¯er sat inside the hut facing each other.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, to cultivate, you need to have a cultivation technique. It shows how to guide the spiritual power into the dantian.

    In Qi Condensation stage, the spiritual power gathers and forms a gaseous state. When it becomes dense enough to form a liquid, you will have entered Foundation Building stage. Condensing it further to form a solid shape is to enter Core Formation.¡±

    ¡°Cultivation technique? I don¡¯t have one of those. What cultivation technique do you use, Xue¡¯er?¡±

    ¡°Hehe, Big Brother Shen, I don¡¯t use a cultivation technique. My father doesn¡¯t either. He is a magical beast with a saint beast bloodline and I have his bloodline so we innately know how to cultivate from birth.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, that makes it difficult.¡± Shen pondered for a bit. ¡®Maybe I should go buy one in the city.¡¯

    ¡°For now, I¡¯ll try taking spiritual power into my dantian.¡±

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, father told me that cultivation techniques are actually to enable cultivators to absorb spiritual power faster. One needs a technique suited to his or her physique, otherwise the progress will be slow.¡±

    ¡°Ok, thanks Xue¡¯er.¡±

    Shen closed his eyes and started absorbing the spiritual power into his body. At the start, guiding the spiritual power to random paths only resulted in spiritual power going around in circles.

    ¡®If I pass it through the meridians¡­¡¯

    Shen attempted to pass it through the large meridians into the dantian. He found that a very small amount of spiritual power managed to accumulate in the dantian.

    Xue¡¯er looked at Shen absorbed in cultivation and smiled. ¡®I¡¯ll cook something while I wait, Little White should be back soon too.¡¯

    Time passed by as Shen tried different combinations of spiritual power rotation through his meridians. Unlike a normal person, Shen had opened his meridians fully and widened them. Therefore, his cultivation speed was noticeably faster than an average cultivator.

    In actuality, Shen who had compete control over the surrounding spiritual power could absorb all of it in a thousand-mile radius. But he felt it would be better to explore the best meridian path before he attempts to speed up.

    Minutes passed by. Shen unceasingly explored new meridian paths, improving the rate of absorption into the dantian. After an hour, the aroma of food being cooked wafted into the hut.

    ¡°Phew¡­¡±

    Shen opened his eyes. ¡°Not bad, I could be considered a late-stage Qi Condensation cultivator now.¡±

    If one were to look in Shen¡¯s dantian, one could see a vast expanse of white fog. The speed at which Shen cultivated could only be described as monstrous.

 Chapter 14 - Speechless Xueer

    ¡°Xue¡¯er!¡±

    ¡°Oh, Big Brother Shen. I cooked us some food. Let¡¯s eat.¡± Xue¡¯er sweetly smiled but it froze after looking at Shen who came out of the hut.

    ¡°Late Qi Condensation!¡±

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, what did you do?!¡±

    ¡°Hmm, I discovered a good method for absorbing spiritual power, hehe. Give me another couple of days, I¡¯ve got this figured out!¡± Shen triumphally exclaimed. He was not aware of what he did, reaching late Qi Condensation from nothing in an hour.

    Of course, the chaos beast with no common sense probably would not think much of it even if he was told that he accomplished something that took geniuses and sons of heaven at least five years in a mere hour.

    ¡°Figured out? Figured out what?! Big Brother Shen¡­ Ah never mind. Let¡¯s just eat.¡±

    Xue¡¯er knew her Big Brother Shen was unusual but she did not think it was to this degree. However, she eventually gave up. It was probably ok if no one else found out about it.

    A white shadow suddenly escaped from the forest and landed on the table outside the hut. ¡°Little White, you¡¯re back!¡±

    ¡°Sister Xue¡¯er, I found some good spirit herbs, look!¡± The snow fox was quite excited. ¡°Oh, food!¡±

    Shen sat down opposite Xue¡¯er and the couple with one magical beast ate together.

    After eating.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, I¡¯m going to take a quick look at the egg. I¡¯ll be right back.¡±

    *Whoosh*

    Shen disappeared from the spot. In one minute, Shen had reappeared in front of Xue¡¯er.

    ¡°The egg is still there but it has gotten a bit brighter. It seems to be absorbing the heat from the volcano. The temperature of the magma has gone down by a bit.¡±

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s trying to hatch using the heat from the volcano?¡±

    ¡°Sounds plausible. I guess we will see whether it hatches. Xue¡¯er I¡¯m going back to cultivate. If you need me, send me a sound transmission.¡±

    ¡°Ok Big Brother Shen, I will go explore the forest with Little White.¡±

    Shen headed back into the hut and resumed his cultivation.

    Two days passed by peacefully.

    Xue¡¯er and Little White had collected many spirit herbs around the island. Shen was not a late Formation Building cultivator.

    Every time Xue¡¯er saw him, she would be quite shocked at his speed. It was probably a good thing that Shen did not tell Xue¡¯er that he could have formed his core within a few hours if he wished to.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    Only drawback being that he would empty the spiritual power in the surrounding few tens of thousands of miles if he were to do so. As they were still relatively close to the Sky continent so he did not want to draw unwanted attention.

    Shen was still experimenting with forming new cultivation techniques. His fleshy body, formed using chaos power, was very similar to a human body. The difference was that he could control his body in any way he wished.

    Shen had opened all his meridians and widened them as much as possible, resulting in a ridiculous cultivation speed.

    ¡®Xue¡¯er is still playing around in the forest. The speed that I can draw in spiritual power has increased significantly. I¡¯ll find a different location.¡¯

    Shen spread out his Divine Sense outwards the surrounding sea.

    ¡®Found it!¡¯

    The area occupied by water on this planet was huge. There was a large expanse of water with no large land mass in sight for hundreds of thousands of miles.

    Shen disappeared from his hut.

    ¡®This place is perfect, there¡¯s no human cultivators or strong magical beasts in the surroundings.¡¯

    Shen was currently on top of a small island. It only had a radius of a few miles.

    ¡®Let¡¯s form a core.¡¯

    Shen sat down and started to draw in spiritual power wildly. A white vortex of dense spiritual power started to gather with Shen as the centre.

    The liquid mass in Shen¡¯s dantian started to form into the shape of a sphere. The sphere became smaller and smaller as time went on. Finally, the sphere solidified and reduced to a mere bean size.

    Shen did not stop and continued to cultivate. The core in Shen¡¯s dantian continued to increase in size until it showed signs of cracking, at which point Shen finally decided to stop his cultivation.

    It had taken a short three hours for Shen to form his core and advance to the peak of Core Formation stage.

    ¡°Time to go back.¡± As Shen stood up, the white vortex of spiritual power slowly dispersed and the world spiritual power around the small island started to restore to its normal state.

    Shen reappeared in the small hut. The scent of roast fish could be smelled as soon as he arrived.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er!¡±

    ¡°Big Brother Shen. You¡¯re back, where did you go?¡± Xue¡¯er glanced at Shen. Little White was fixatedly staring at the fish being roasted.

    ¡°Ohh, that smells really nice! I went to an island far away from here to form my core. I¡¯m a Core Formation stage cultivator now!¡± Shen proudly declared. He was rather pleased with his progress.

    Xue¡¯er froze a bit upon Shen¡¯s declaration. She noticed that Shen was already at the peak of Core Formation.

    ¡°Ha¡­why doesn¡¯t this surprise me anymore¡­¡± Xue¡¯er just continued with her roasting.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, tell me what to do next! I can¡¯t cultivate anymore, otherwise the core will burst.¡±

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, you want to keep going? There is only 4 days until the competition starts.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, I¡¯ll breakthrough before we leave here!¡±

    ¡°Hmm, ok. Let¡¯s eat first. I will teach you afterwards.¡±

    In the hut.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen. Nascent Soul stage precisely involves bursting your core. But you have to gather the pieces straight away and use your Divine Sense to construct your Soul Avatar!

    It is a very important step in cultivation. A lot of cultivators get stuck and either become crippled or cannot advance another step in their whole lives! You must be careful.

    Your Soul Avatar can be anything. Like a weapon or a magical beast. Some cultivators even have a Divine Flame! Mine is a Gold Dragon just like my father. Before you burst your core and attempt to condense your Soul Avatar, you must know what you want to form, since it will affect the innate magic art you can use in the future!¡±

    ¡°My Soul Avatar¡¯s innate magic art is a physical enhancement type. Most magical beast Soul Avatars are the same. The weapon shaped Avatars enhance attacking power when used with a suitable magic art. Flames help in refining and attacking with flame type magic arts.¡±

    Shen pondered over the information silently. ¡°Ok, I have to think what kind of Soul Avatar I want to have.¡±

    *BANG!!*

    As the couple sat in the hut, an explosion sound can be heard from the centre of the island. Shockwaves of the aftermath could be felt all the way to the outer edges of the island as the hut started to shake.

    Shen used his new cultivation to protect the hut as he and Xue¡¯er stepped out of the hut and looked towards the volcano.

 Chapter 15 - Xiao Yan

    Lava rained down from the sky. It was a typical picture of a volcano eruption.

    However, what was different was the red light that towered towards the heavens. It gave off a domineering aura that made all who saw it want to prostrate in their subconsciousness.

    Of course, such aura cannot affect Shen, nor could it influence Xue¡¯er who had the Saint Beast Gold Dragon¡¯s bloodline within her.

    After a few minutes, the volcano resumed its peaceful state, albeit, smoke was still pouring out from its opening and the still red hot lava could be seen crawling down the mountain side.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er let¡¯s go take a look, I wonder if the egg hatched.¡± Shen once again held Xue¡¯er slender waist and flew towards the volcano.

    The red egg was floating above the magma when Shen and Xue¡¯er arrived. It was no longer a dull red. It gave off a healthy glow and cracks started to form on the surface.

    Over the course of a few minutes, the surface of the egg was filled with cracks and finally the egg crumbled. The egg shells turned into ash and fell into the magma as a tiny red figure was revealed.

    The little creature was¡­¡­a horse. It had four legs, a long neck and well, it looked like a very miniature pony. The only discerning feature was that the little horse which looked about as big as Little White had red flames dancing about its body.

    The little horse looked around its surroundings until it saw Shen and Xue¡¯er.

    [Master!]

    A sound transmission resounded in Shen¡¯s mind as the little horse flew towards Shen.

    ¡°Master? Do you mean me?¡± Shen spoke towards the little horse who jumped on his shoulder and affectionately rubbed his small head against Shen¡¯s cheek.

    [Yes, master. You took me to a volcano allowing me to hatch. Otherwise I don¡¯t know how long it would have taken me to come into this world. Master, please give me a name!]

    It was a strange sight as a fully-grown man seemed to be talking to himself while a tiny horse on fire was standing on his shoulder. Oddly enough, the fire did not give off any heat.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er what should I name him?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, how about Xiao Yan? It will match with Little White.¡± Xue¡¯er smiled. She found this little creature very adorable.

    [Master¡¯s wife!] Xiao Yan jumped towards Xue¡¯er bosom as he liked the name.

    ¡°Wi-wife!!¡± Xue¡¯er was flustered by the new title. Shen looked at the two with a puzzled gaze. ¡®What are they talking about?¡¯

    ¡°By the way, what are you? I cannot find you in my inherited memories.¡± Little White who had been gazing at Xiao Yan spoke up.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    ¡°A fire horse?¡±

    [Ho-horse?!?!]

    Xiao Yan¡¯s shocked sound transmission could be heard to everyone present.

    ¡°Yeah, you look like a horse, and you¡¯re on fire, so a fire horse.¡± Little White said as-a-matter-of-factly.

    [I¡¯m a fire Qilin!! A descendant of the Saint Beast Qilin!]

    ¡°Fire Qilin? Never heard of it.¡± Little White nonchalantly replied, which caused Xiao Yan to choke up in rage.

    [Hmph, so what you haven¡¯t heard of it, what would a lowly snow fox know.] Xiao Yan tried getting back at Little White but it was beautifully ignored.

    ¡°Alright, stop fighting. We¡¯re going to be companions from now so get along.¡± Shen tried to make peace between the two.

    ¡°Hmph.¡± [Hmph.]

    Xue¡¯er cutely chuckled covering her mouth while Shen could only give a wry smile.

    ¡°By the way, do Saint Beasts always start with a Core Formation cultivation when they birth?¡± Shen asked since when he scanned Xiao Yan with his Divine Sense, a crimson core could be seen in Xiao Yan.

    ¡°Yes, Big Brother Shen. When I was born, I had a core formed already, otherwise it would have taken much longer to reach Soul Formation.¡±

    ¡°I was the same.¡± Little White inserted.

    ¡°Ok, let us go back, Little White, Xiao Yan, hold on tight.¡± Shen once more took the group which now had one more member to their little hut.

    [Master, let me sleep for a while. I need to digest the inherited memories and cultivate. I will be sleeping a lot until I reach Soul Formation.]

    ¡°Ok, it¡¯s a pity but you can stay in Xue¡¯er¡¯s pet bag.¡±

    [Don¡¯t worry master, I will come out occasionally.] Xue¡¯er took Xiao Yan into her pet bag.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er I¡¯m going back to that island to breakthrough to Nascent Soul. We¡¯ll go back to Jade Leaf city after. What do you want to do?¡±

    ¡°I will come with you Big Brother Shen. Let me store this hut, we can use it again in the future.¡±

    Shen opened another rift in space and lead Xue¡¯er and Little White to the small island.

    Xue¡¯er together with Little White watched Shen from a distance as Shen prepared to breakthrough.

    It only took Shen two hours to breakthrough. Spiritual power from the surrounding thousands of miles came rushing into Shen as a sign of condensing a Soul Avatar.

    Xue¡¯er flew over after Shen stood up. ¡°Big Brother Shen, what is your Soul Avatar?¡± Xue¡¯er had failed to notice that Shen did not seem to have bottlenecks when attempting a breakthrough.

    ¡°I formed a flame type Soul Avatar.¡± Shen replied with a smile.

    In Shen¡¯s dantian, a small grey flame flickered in place of the once rotating core. It did not look impressive nor did it look powerful. However, a star beast would recognise it as their innate chaos flame that every star beast was born with.

    ¡°Let us go back Xue¡¯er. I want to drink Green Bamboo wine!¡± Shen happily exclaimed.

    A spatial crack opened in the familiar stone chamber in the rented cave mansion.

    ¡°We should extend our rent by one more week, we¡¯ll be here until the competition starts anyhow.¡±

    ¡°Xue¡¯er will listen to Big Brother Shen.¡±

    ¡°But first, let us go to Green Bamboo Manor!¡±

    ***

    Days passed by while the couple enjoyed their time together.

    On the day of the competition, a lot of cultivators were gathered outside the entrance of the forest.

    Even though the forest spanned across millions of miles, there was only a few hundred miles wide area where the forest can be entered.

    The black mountain range that snaked across from the extreme east end of the Sky continent across the west stopped just shy of the western coast. The mountain range was a divider that almost halved the continent.

    Jade Leaf city was the sole cultivator city that gave access to the vast forest. The peaks of the black mountain range were occupied by powerful magical beasts, preventing entry to the majority of cultivators.

    The cultivators were gathered in the plain between the forest and the city.

    There were large camps with signs of various large and small sects.

    There were also rogue cultivators chatting in groups. Young cultivators could be seen everywhere with excited faces. There were also those young masters and princesses that exuded confidence.

    There was a large platform set up with five chairs behind a long table in an open area closest to the forest entrance. Beside the table could be seen a tall black stone board that was easily the height of two humans.

 Chapter 16 - The Competition

    Shen and Xue¡¯er arrived at the gathering. The time was nearing noon. They were currently standing near a group of young cultivators.

    ¡°Hey, did you see the group from Misty Cloud Valley? Mmm, I would gladly take off ten years of my life to be able to go inside the camp. To be surrounded by all those beautiful ladies¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmph hmph, dream all you want! As if those fairy maidens would have an eye for you.¡±

    ¡°Haha Brother Xu is right but those ladies are truly peonies.¡±

    Shen and Xue¡¯er shuffled through the crowd to get closer to the stage.

    Little White and Xiao Yan were currently in Xue¡¯er¡¯s pet bag since Little White did not want to gather attention to herself and a little horse on fire was just eye-catching to the extreme.

    ¡°Hey, this is my first time here. So, what is this competition called?¡± (Random cultivator A)

    ¡°Umm, good question¡­I don¡¯t know?¡± (Random cultivator B)

    ¡°Oi¡­¡± (Random cultivator A)

    Shen laughed when he overheard this. ¡°Haha, it seems like this is just called ¡®the competition¡¯. I thought there would be a cool name for it.¡±

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, let¡¯s stop here. Any further and we¡¯d be going into the area for various sects and families.¡±

    Shen and Xue¡¯er stood on their own listening to bits of chatting and laughter.

    Suddenly, someone called out. ¡°Hey isn¡¯t it the Thunder Spear young master Lei Fu?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it is. Oh look, he¡¯s heading over to the Misty Cloud Valley camp.¡±

    ¡°I heard young master Lei Fu is pursuing fairy maiden Luo Qing from Misty Cloud Valley.¡±

    ¡°Haha, look young master Lei can¡¯t go into the camp. Rumour has it that fairy maiden Luo Qing has ignored all of young master Lei¡¯s advances.¡±

    ¡°Oi, quiet! Do you want young master Lei Fu to take his anger out on you?!¡±

    ¡°Even the chosen son of heaven from Five Element Mountain can¡¯t get everything he wants, huh¡­¡±

    Shen and Xue¡¯er looked over curiously.

    A striking young male with pitch black short hair was being blocked outside a camp full of female cultivators. Each one of them looked like female celestials.

    Young master Lei Fu finally turned away to return to the Five Element Mountain camp with an unwilling look. The surrounding cultivators hurriedly averted their gazes.

    Five Element Mountain was a collection of five first class sects that came together to form a super sect. Each branch of the sect cultivated in one of the five elements. However, young master Lei Fu had a special constitution from birth and had innate thunder element.

    Therefore, he was provided with every resource imaginable and could command rain and cloud in Five Element Mountain.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    However, he had fallen for the fairy maiden Luo Qing who was known as the most beautiful woman in the cultivator world.

    ¡°Hmm, that woman is indeed very beautiful. Almost as pretty as our Xue¡¯er.¡± Shen commented honestly upon the sight of Luo Qing.

    Xue¡¯er¡¯s face became red from Shen¡¯s compliment. ¡°B-big Brother Shen!¡±

    Another commotion rose as another group of people walked towards Misty Cloud Valley.

    ¡°Hey look, this time it¡¯s Celestial Sword Peak!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the Blood Sword Tuo Hong of the Twin Celestial Swords. He¡¯s chasing after fairy Luo Qing as well.¡±

    ¡°Haha, it won¡¯t work. Fairy Luo Qing is well known for hating men. Oh yeah, where is the other Twin Celestial Swords Shadowless Sword Wen Wuying?¡±

    ¡°That fellow is a cultivation madman, he¡¯s probably cultivating somewhere.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, he deserves to be the youngest late Foundation stage cultivator of the current generation. He¡¯s barely twenty years old.¡±

    *Whoosh whoosh*

    Suddenly, five streaks of light flew across the sky from Jade Leaf city and landed on the stage. There were 3 men and 2 women cultivators.

    ¡®They must be the elders from the large sects, five Sky Immortals.¡¯ Shen thought inwardly.

    The youngest looking middle-aged man stepped forward. ¡°Ahem.¡±

    The entire plain went quiet. It seemed that Sky Immortal experts were well known figures.

    ¡°The first stage will start in 30 minutes. Those who has registered, line up according to group number at the entrance.¡± The middle-aged man¡¯s voice was not loud but it reached across everyone¡¯s ear.

    ¡®Oh, it¡¯s that old man from back when we rented a cave mansion.¡¯ The lazy looking old man was standing with his eyes closed on the stage.

    It seemed that registration was conducted during the past two weeks. All those who were eligible were given a token as proof of entry.

    ¡°I will quickly explain the rules. There is a barrier set up in the forest. It can tell any of us elders if there are intruders inside. Using spirit tools are forbidden.

    The barrier contains all kinds of Foundation stage monster beasts. Store all heads of monster beasts you¡¯ve killed in the token. The score will be counted at the end. Spirit herbs may also count towards your total.

    If you are found intentionally harming other disciples, your cultivation will be crippled and you will be expelled from the sect or even killed.

    The token will automatically bring you outside the barrier after 48 hours. You may also send for help to any of the examiners inside the forest for rescue using the token, in which case, you will be disqualified no matter how many points you have.¡±

    The rules were very simple. They also had a lot of loopholes for strong cultivators to exploit.

    There was a total of 40 groups. Each group had around 20 cultivators. There were a few cultivators accompanied by their spirit beasts. The majority were from Heavenly Beast sect.

    Spirit beasts were monster or magical beasts that had formed a contract with a cultivator. Spirit beasts could not exceed the partner¡¯s cultivation level but a cultivator with a spirit beast was feared in one on one fights.

    After a while.

    ¡°It is time to enter.¡± The middle-aged elder announced.

    Shen¡¯s Divine Sense spread out towards the forest¡¯s direction. The barrier was truly large. It spanned a few thousand miles from west to east and more than half way to the inner area of the forest from the entrance. It would take a late Foundation stage cultivator more than three days to fly across end to end.

    *Whoosh whoosh*

    The junior disciples and rogue cultivators all brandished their flying swords or flying devices and charged into the forest. There were less than 800 participants in the first stage.

    The five Sky Immortal elders sat down at the chairs on the stage. The middle-aged man waved his hands.

    Twenty Earth Immortals from various camps of large sects came out and sat down cross legged in front of the entrance of the forest.

    Spiritual power around them fluctuated wildly. After a while, twenty large images could be seen above the heads of those Earth Immortals. Surprisingly, the images showed the interior of the forest at different locations.

    ¡°For those who are attending for the first time, these are the shared images from the twenty Earth Immortal examiners within the barrier. We can watch the progress of the competition here.¡±

    The middle-aged elder gave an explanation of the images that appeared in the air.

    Gasps could be heard from the crowd.

    ¡°This is like an outdoor cinema from a certain planet.¡± Shen muttered.

    Xue¡¯er had heard a few details of other civilizations in the universe over their time together. ¡°I want to visit there, Big Brother Shen.¡±

    ¡°Haha, don¡¯t worry, we will one day.¡±

    Shen brought out two chairs and a table along with some snacks and wine. The couple watched the screens as they ate and drank happily.

 Chapter 17 - The Tradition

    The crowd had their full attention on the twenty screens as the groups entered the forest. For the first hour, there wasn¡¯t much action. The examiners were spread out on the entrance areas that the twenty groups entered.

    The groups separated the instant they entered the forest. There were smaller groups working together but the majority of the participants ran into the forest solo.

    The crowd could also see individual and small groups of monster beasts heading towards some of the cultivators.

    The barrier limited the height that one could fly at. Those who climbed a few tens of meters above the forest canopy would encounter a pressure that would keep them from flying any higher.

    There were also flight type monster beasts present, therefore escaping by flying high was not an option.

    In fact, some of the faster people had already met obstacles in the air. A lone cultivator with a hawk type spirit beast had encountered a small group of black crow type monster beasts.

    The crows were smaller in comparison to the hawk but they had much superior burst speed, which made it difficult for the cultivator and spirit beast pair to evade and block the attacks from all directions.

    Similar situations started happening around the forest. Some cultivators would successfully kill the monster beast and collect the proof while unlucky individuals would encounter groups of monster beasts and would have to flee. There were also notable solo cultivators and small groups using powerful magic arts and top-grade magic tools.

    Shen and Xue¡¯er were also immersed in the scenes inside the barrier.

    ¡°I have never fought anyone before. I want to try some time.¡± Shen mused as he sipped on his wine.

    ¡°Little White or I can be a partner if Big Brother Shen doesn¡¯t use chaos power.¡±

    ¡°Haha, of course! I want to try using a weapon after all.¡±

    ¡°Big Brother Shen can also try fighting a monster beast. A magical beast has some intelligence so most of them would run away from Big Brother Shen¡¯s aura. Also, Big Brother Shen should learn some magic arts.¡±

    Xue¡¯er happily went on. She has never had this much fun in her entire life.

    Suddenly, Shen turned his vision away from the screens and looked towards the east.

    Small black dots could be seen on the horizon. The dots were getting bigger as the minutes went by.

    Shen¡¯s superior vision and Divine Sense identified eight large flying devices rapidly approaching their location. There were cultivators standing atop the flying devices. On the head of each flying device, a cultivator that gave off an aura no inferior to the five Sky Immortal elders on the stage stood still, with dozens of Earth Immortals behind them.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er who are those people?¡± Shen gestured towards the now visible large flying devices.

    Xue¡¯er looked away from the screens and turned towards the east.

    ¡°Devil sect alliance!¡±

    Xue¡¯er¡¯s voice wasn¡¯t loud but it was enough for the surrounding cultivators to hear.

    Some people turned to looked at Xue¡¯er and Shen, after which they followed Xue¡¯er¡¯s line of sight.

    Of course, the Sky Immortal elders on the stage have already noticed shortly after Shen.

    ¡°Devil sect cultivators, why have you come!¡± The middle-aged man from Celestial Sword Peak bellowed.

    The eight flying devices came to a stop not far from the gathering.

    ¡°Hahahaha! Of course, we are here to participate in the competition! Just because you ¡®correct path¡¯ faction banned us from participating, doesn¡¯t mean we will just meekly listen to you!¡±

    The younger generation in the crowd became restless upon the arrival of the intruders.

    However, the older cultivators were not as worried.

    ¡°Hmph! So, what do you want?¡±

    ¡°Why do you even ask! You were also here ten years ago. Don¡¯t create unnecessary trouble! As you can see we have eight Sky Immortals and far more Earth Immortals!¡±

    ¡°Hmph, so what? We are not afraid of you devil cultivators!¡±

    ¡°And we have ten Sky Immortal Elders here! I dare you to try!¡±

    ¡°Hahahaha! Who are you fooling! Five of you are maintaining the barrier. If they left, the barrier would collapse and the monster beasts would scatter! Even Core Formation stage monster beasts from the surroundings might slaughter your precious disciples! In fact, I want you to dissolve the barrier even more! Hahahaha!¡±

    The dialogue between the leaders of the two factions explained some of the doubts of the younger generation.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, are those people the ¡®evil cultivators¡¯ that your father mentioned?¡±

    ¡°They are indeed the devil path cultivators. But not all of them are evil cultivators. The term ¡®devil path¡¯ was merely given by these so called correct path people.¡±

    ¡°Also, father said some of these devil path cultivators are more righteous than the correct path sects.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, I see. So, how come the devil path cultivators got banned from the competition?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know Big Brother Shen. Father probably knows. All I know is that this happened about 1800 years ago.¡±

    ¡°This can¡¯t be the first time this has occurred. Look, some of the spectators don¡¯t look worried at all.¡±

    A thirty-year-old looking woman near Shen and Xue¡¯er heard the couple¡¯s conversation. ¡°You are right, this isn¡¯t the first time. In fact, I¡¯ve heard from my sect elders that the devil path alliance always show up.

    For the first few times, they would go all out and try kill each other. After a couple of hundred years, both sides got tired and they just verbally shout at each other. Like now. The elders at both sides are just trying to keep face.¡±

    The woman¡¯s explanation answered Shen¡¯s conjecture and a few younger cultivators in the surrounding were also enlightened.

    ¡°Keep watching, soon they¡¯ll come to an agreement. This happened the last two times I attended as well. It has become a sort of tradition.¡±

    Shen and Xue¡¯er placed their attention back to the Sky Immortal leaders of both sides.

    The Sky Immortal from Celestial Sword Peak yelled out once more.

    ¡°I can give you 100 tokens. Take it or leave it!¡±

    ¡°Bah! Your side have sent almost 800 disciples in. Are you trying to murder with a borrowed hand? You despicable so called correct paths. Hahahaha! 400!

    ¡°No way! Are you looking for a fight?! We¡¯re not afraid of you! 250 tokens are all I have! You don¡¯t expect to refine more on the spot, right?¡± The middle-aged man took out a bag of holding and tossed it towards the lead flying device.

    ¡°Hmph! Shameless!¡±

    The Sky Immortal took the bag of holding nonetheless and quickly distributed to the devil path disciples.

    ¡°This seemed to be planned beforehand.¡± Shen muttered. ¡°No way that the elders from the correct path would have that many extra tokens without reason.¡±

    ¡°Young man, you are smart!¡± The woman who explained earlier raised her thumb at Shen.

    The devil path junior disciples from the eight flying devices quickly disembarked and entered the forest with the lead of Earth Immortals.

 Chapter 18 - End of the First Stage

    The calm restored in the crowd as the devil path disciples entered the barrier. The only difference being the additional large flying devices which were now landed on one side of the original gathering.

    It seemed that the senior disciples of the various sects have rounded up a large number of Foundation stage and below monster beasts and placed them inside the barrier. There were a lot of monster beasts and battles between cultivators and monster beasts could be seen on all twenty screens.

    After a few hours, the devil path disciples also caught up to the monster beast infested areas of the forest and started their own respective battles.

    Over the two days, there were also battles between disciples, however, no fatal injury was incurred. It would not be good to answer to respective sects if a disciple was killed after all.

    Many of the confrontations were between correct path and devil path to no one¡¯s surprise. Quite a few of the weaker disciples used the tokens to call for rescue upon encountering life-threatening danger.

    Shen and Xue¡¯er watched the competition peacefully, occasionally chatting with the surrounding rogue cultivators.

    It was difficult for a rogue cultivator with no affiliation to improve one¡¯s cultivation, since resources were hard to come by. There were only a few False Immortal seniors who came to escort their disciples or relatives to enter the competition.

    Seeing that Shen and Xue¡¯er had good cultivation, they were able to get along with a number of Nascent Soul and Soul Formation cultivators.

    ***

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, it¡¯s not as fun as I thought it¡¯d be. Thank heavens that it only goes for two days.¡± Xue¡¯er was lazily half lying on the table as she sat watching the screens.

    The time was nearing to the end of the first stage where the barrier would expel those who held tokens.

    There was a subtle loophole that could be used to endanger someone at the end of the competition period, however the risks of getting caught were too high, therefore no sect would instruct its disciples to exploit it.

    Shen was still sipping on a bottle of wine as he watched on. One would have to wonder the amount of wine he consumed over the last few days. He drank an average bottle in a couple of hours.

    ¡°Haha, it¡¯s going to end soon. In half hour at most. We¡¯ll see who gets in the top 100 then we can leave on our journey.¡± Shen wasn¡¯t too worried. He had spent countless star cycles merely observing other beings.

    This mere two days was nothing to him. Xue¡¯er was really bored on the other hand as seeing Foundation stage cultivators battling was of no interest to her after the first few battles.

    ¡°I want to take the flying ship!¡±

    ¡°Haha, ok we¡¯ll take the flying ship.¡±

    There was a service provided by the cultivator cities that operated a large flying device akin to the ones the devil path alliance rode on.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    The ships were a good way for weaker cultivators to travel between cities as the distance was vast and filled with dangerous monster beasts and rogue evil cultivators.

    With Shen and Xue¡¯er¡¯s strength, it would have been no problem for them to travel between each city personally. However, Xue¡¯er wanted to try riding a large flying device.

    After a bit of time, the barrier enveloping the forest entrance started pulsating.

    The Earth Immortals who had been sitting down for the past 48 hours cancelled the screens and stood up. Each of them went back to their respective sects.

    This signalled the end of the first stage. Soon, junior disciples and rogue cultivators started to appear outside the barrier.

    It took about another half hour for all participants to be exited. The barrier finally dispersed fully after everyone had come out.

    The middle-aged Sky Immortal who was sitting on the stage with eyes closed stood up and walked forward a few steps.

    ¡°You will now hand over the tokens to us five elders. One hundred names with the highest scores will be displayed on this board. The elder gestured to the tall black stone board that was on the stage.

    It took another hour or so to complete the collection of the tokens from the now over one thousand participants. The leader board had the prominent young juniors from the correct path as well as the devil path spread out in between, albeit in less numbers. There were also a few dark horses from the rogue cultivators.

    ¡°Ok, the first stage of the competition has come to an end. The second and final stage will be held in the cultivator city ¡®Second Heaven¡¯ in three months¡¯ time. The one hundred names on the list will be narrowed down to ten.

    That is all. Everyone can disperse.¡±

    The middle-aged man and the four Sky Immortals all flew up after the speech towards the city.

    The crowd started getting noisy. The one hundred people who had gotten into the list were surrounded by their sects and families, while the others were naturally ignored.

    ¡°How anticlimactic.¡± Shen mused as he watched over the proceedings.

    ¡°Well, this happens every ten years. And despite the chance to enter the Enlightenment Tower, almost no one gets any of the inheritance left behind after all.¡± A cultivator that was in Shen¡¯s circle of new acquaintances over the last two days commented.

    Eventually, the various sects and families started taking off into the air in groups or took out their flying devices. The devil path alliance also left towards the way they came on their eight large flying devices.

    Shen and Xue¡¯er stored the table the chairs and headed back to the city after bidding goodbye to the people they came to know.

    ¡°Well, Xue¡¯er, let us get some more wine ¨C I mean supplies and catch the flight to the nearest cultivator city. I heard it is going to take off tomorrow morning.¡±

    ¡°Ok, Big Brother Shen.¡± Xue¡¯er sweetly smiled flying alongside Shen.

    ¡°I should try breaking through Soul Formation after we get to the next city. That way we¡¯ll have the same cultivation.¡± Shen happily chuckled. He had become rather fond of the quiet beauty that he had only met for less than one month.

    The couple entered the city from the gate. There were a lot of traffic due to the competition. It took over two hours to get inside.

    They went and bought some wine and Xue¡¯er visited more clothing shops before heading to Green Bamboo Manor once more.

    Shen and Xue¡¯er stayed the night in a random inn since the period for their cave mansion had ended and they did not extend the time. Xue¡¯er had gotten used to having Shen around to the point that it did not occur to her to get two separate rooms.

    As usual the couple slept on the same bed and as usual Shen would wake up tangled up by Xue¡¯er.

    In the morning, Xiao Yan and Little White were on the table inside their room, having breakfast.

    ¡°Xiao Yan, do you have a way to recede your flames? You are way to eye catching with those around.¡±

    [Of course, master, I can control flames naturally.]

    ¡®Why did you never mention it!¡¯ Shen shouted in his head as he watched Xiao Yan become a slightly red four-legged creature without flames dancing around it all the time.

    ¡°Wow, now Xiao Yan can stay outside all the time!¡± Xue¡¯er was happy to have one more companion on their journey. It was not unusual for a Soul Formation cultivator to have a Core Formation spirit beast.

    After checking out, the couple and two magic beasts walked towards the outskirt of the city to board the flying ship.

 Chapter 19 - Im on a boat!

    The flying ship was large. There was a small building right outside the city next to the ship.

    Shen and Xue¡¯er went inside the building hand in hand. There were a few cultivators lined up in front of a counter. An uninterested looking old woman was dealing with the cultivators buying tickets.

    Soon it was the couple¡¯s turn. The old woman simply stared at Shen and Xue¡¯er without saying anything.

    At the entrance, there was a sign that read ¡®Blue Cloud city ¨C 100 mid-grade spirit stones¡¯ beside the door.

    Shen wordlessly placed 200 mid-grade spirit stones in front of the old woman, whom in return gave them two wooden tokens.

    ¡°Well that was a weird experience.¡± Shen stated as the couple walked towards the ship.

    There was a Nascent Soul cultivator standing in front of the ship checking the tokens as people boarded.

    The ship was hovering a few feet above the ground. The people would have to fly up towards the ship to embark. There were a few Qi Condensation stage juniors being carried by their seniors onto the ship.

    The ship was surprisingly shaped like a normal sea going ship. Although it did not have a sail or mast, it gave off an imposing image with its large hull and a dull black construction.

    ¡°Wow this looks like Titanic! Without the smoke stacks, though.¡± Shen once more exclaimed once they arrived on the deck.

    ¡°What¡¯s Titanic?¡± Xue¡¯er tilted her head to one side and asked. Little White was once more in Xue¡¯er bosom looking around the ship. Xiao Yan was on Shen¡¯s shoulder seemingly asleep.

    ¡°Oh, it was a famous large ship on another planet. It couldn¡¯t fly though. It sunk in the sea.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Xue¡¯er didn¡¯t ask anymore. She lost interest after finding out that the ship couldn¡¯t fly. It was taken for granted that various things could be refined into flying devices. It was abnormal for something to only float in the sea.

    ¡°This trip will take over a week. Blue Cloud city is quite far from here. We should go check out the ship¡¯s features.¡±

    Shen and Xue¡¯er headed inside the large interior. The ship had small rooms for rent as well as restaurants and a market area. It surely would not be a boring trip.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, we should rent a room first.¡±

    ¡°Ok, let¡¯s do that.¡±

    Inside the large main hall within the ship, there was a restaurant with hundreds of seats not far from the entrance. A small office with a sign that read ¡®Cabin Rentals¡¯ was located on the right side of the entrance.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    ¡°Wow, that was expensive.¡± They had paid 500-mid grade spirit stones for a basic cabin with a bed. It was the cheapest type available with the room only having a set of table and chairs accompanied by a bed on one side. It was the very definition of simplistic.

    Shen and Xue¡¯er along with the two spirit beasts took the stairs down into the bottommost floor where their cabin was located. There were also many other cultivators walking about to get to their cabins.

    There were all sorts of people ranging from lone rogue cultivators to groups of disciples from small sects that did not have a large flying device.

    Most of them kept to themselves while occasional friendly cultivator would give a smile. There were also a few people Shen noticed from the competition.

    Soon, the couple found their cabin. The door was unlocked using the badge they received from the rentals office.

    ¡°Wow, these badges sure are convenient. They work in just about any situation.¡± Shen recalled all sorts of security methods he observed in the past. The security in this planet seems to be rather lacking, however. Anyone could obtain a badge and use it.

    However, Shen didn¡¯t know that the act of stealing or obtaining someone else¡¯s possessions were generally frowned upon, even in a world where strength was the ultimate answer.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, look! We can see the outside as the ship flies!¡± Xue¡¯er was very excited about their new experience. She has not flown on a large flying device before.

    The cabin had a small window as they had gotten one of the cabins next to the walls of the ship. Although, one could just go on the deck to experience air travel fully, it was a novel thing for Shen and Xue¡¯er.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go onto the deck.¡±

    They exited their cabin and went up the stairs to reach the deck. Roughly two thirds of the deck were covered by a roof with a restaurant, market area and other facilities of the ship.

    The deck they came up to was different to the entrance at the front of the ship. This was at the back of the ship with a relatively large area. There were quite a few tables and chairs littered around.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, there seems to be another restaurant here.¡±

    It was indeed another restaurant. It had a small open air kitchen and the chairs and tables spread out on the deck seem to be for the restaurant. There were already a few people sitting down and chatting in groups.

    The signboard at the counter read ¡®Wine in the Sky¡¯. Shen thought it was a very appropriate name. Shen and Xue¡¯er chose a seat and sat down. A waiter came over hurriedly.

    ¡°Hello sirs, what can I get you?¡±

    ¡°Two bottles of your best wine and three plates of snacks.¡± Shen handed over a handful of mid-grade spirit stones. He had exchanged the spirit stones he gained from the auction to mid and top grades since low-grade spirit stones were abundant in Xue¡¯er¡¯s bag of holding.

    The waiter received the spirit stones and left in a cheerful manner. It was likely that Shen had overpaid and the leftover spirit stones would be his tip.

    Soon, the snacks and wine arrived. Little White and Xiao Yan as usual started feasting on the snacks on the table. Xue¡¯er seemed to enjoy pouring wine for Shen as he slowly savoured the taste. The wine was nowhere near the quality of Green Bamboo restaurant, however, the atmosphere made it enjoyable nonetheless.

    More cultivators arrived over the next hour.

    ¡°The ship will be departing for Blue Cloud city shortly. If you are found without a ticket, you will be stripped of your bag of holding and kicked off the ship. We wish you a safe and enjoyable journey.¡±

    The sudden announcement reverberated in the ears of every passenger on the ship.

    Shortly after, the large flying ship started rising into the air. It turned towards the east and slowly started accelerating.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, our journey officially starts from now!¡± Shen exclaimed as he took a good swig of wine. Xue¡¯er pleasantly smiled and watched the surroundings as the ship sped up.

 Chapter 20 - First Blood

    An Earth Immortal emerged from behind the counter of Wine in the Sky after the seats were relatively full.

    ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, the item exchange will begin shortly. I will now explain the news for the new comers here.¡±

    Much to Shen and Xue¡¯er¡¯s surprise, there seemed to be a custom of gathering at the rear deck and holding a small trade fair on every trip of the flying ship.

    ¡°We will now go around in number of the table you¡¯re sitting on. If you don¡¯t have an item you wish to trade, please hand the number sign back now. You will show the item you have and also state an item of roughly equal value that you wish to exchange for. If no one has the item you want, one may offer an alternative at which the initiator will have the right to exchange or not.

    One person per table is able to present an item per round. The rounds will complete once there are no more items for trade. You may trade in private after the rounds are complete.¡±

    ¡®The rules are simple enough. Too bad we don¡¯t have anything to trade with.¡¯

    Shen handed back the number sign on their table to a waiter.

    ¡°Now, please start the round from table number one.¡±

    The round started from a table occupied by three Nascent Soul cultivators. One of them stood up and took out an item from his bag of holding.

    ¡°I have a branch of a ten-thousand-year-old iron bark tree. I want to trade this for a piece of gale fruit or a similar wind element item.¡±

    A mature lady from another table stood up. ¡°I have a gale fruit, I will trade you for the branch.¡±

    The exchange was carried out swiftly. Shen noticed that the lowest cultivation present at the trade fair was Nascent Soul cultivators. There were a few Soul Formation stage cultivators but no one exceeded False Immortal cultivation.

    The first round was completed swiftly with no especially rare items being traded. Shen and Xue¡¯er merely observed since they had no need for any particular cultivation treasures.

    There was only three rounds of trading total and people seem reasonably satisfied and started leaving the deck.

    There were only a few cultivators left after a while.

    ¡°Hello friend, does this happen during every trip?¡± Shen asked a peak Nascent Soul cultivator sitting near their table.

    ¡°Oh? This your first time taking a flying ship? Yes, indeed it is a common occurrence. Even an Earth Immortal is here to preside over the trade fair to prevent conflict after the first few times.¡±

    ¡°I see. Quite interesting. Were you at Jade Leaf city for the competition?¡±

    ¡°Haha, yes. We came to escort my nephew to enter the first stage. He is only at the mid Foundation stage but it was a good experience for him.¡±

    The man and Shen chatted for a while. Shen and Xue¡¯er decided to go back to their room to rest.

    The next few days were very idle with the couple enjoying their time on the deck and trying out the food and wine in the restaurants.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    Shen and Xue¡¯er were once again at the rear deck during the day. It was raining heavily at the time. If a mortal were to see the current scene, he or she would be awed. There was a transparent barrier enveloping the entire ship.

    It was unknown how many spirit stones were needed to operate the barrier daily. The rain drops hit the barrier and were not able to fall onto the ship. It was a sight to behold as people sat on the open aired rear deck in the world of rain.

    Suddenly.

    ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, we have encountered a monster beast group. They are flying type beasts numbering more than ten thousand. The majority of the monster beasts are of Core Formation stage. However, the group is being led by three half-step False Immortal magical beasts and quite a few False Immortal and Soul Formation stage beasts.

    Please stay in the barrier for your safety. We request that all passengers of Nascent Soul and above help in expelling the beast horde. We thank you for your cooperation. We will be purchasing the beast cores with a higher than normal price afterwards.¡±

    The announcement caused a commotion on the ship. Juniors of Core Formation and lower rushed on the decks to look at the monster beasts.

    The monster beasts were clearly visible and were approaching the ship rapidly from a large mountain peak.

    There were currently two Earth Immortals on board. One being the announcer and the other being the cultivator responsible for the trade fair at the start of their journey. Normally the two would have no problem fighting three half-step False Immortal beasts. However, the group¡¯s number was too high and the barrier would not last more than two hours of being assaulted by more than ten thousand monster beasts.

    The number of cultivators above Nascent Soul stage were upwards of 1300. The large majority of the beast horde was only at Core Formation stage. There would be no problem expelling the attackers.

    Shen stood up and looked towards the approaching monster beasts. There were many types of winged monster beasts.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, I will fight against the beast horde! Please take care of Xiao Yan.¡± Little White needed no protection since she was a powerful Spirit Formation stage magic beast. Xiao Yan, however, was just born and was still very weak.

    ¡°Ok, please be careful Big Brother Shen.¡± Xue¡¯er replied without worry since she knew Shen¡¯s prowess and was not concerned that he would be in danger.

    Shen was quite excited as this would be his first combat. Shen flew up and joined the various cultivators exiting the barrier.

    Xue¡¯er remained on the deck with the two spirit beasts. However, Little White flew up and followed Shen.

    ¡°I will also fight.¡± Little White stood on Shen¡¯s shoulder. Shen looked at Xue¡¯er and did not say anything since Xue¡¯er only had a faint smile without any intention to prevent Little White.

    The surrounding cultivators noticed the white fox that stood on the shoulder of an early Nascent Soul stage man.

    There was surprise as well as envy and jealousy for having a Soul Formation spirit beast. However, all of them turned their sight towards the beast horde. The black mass was now less than ten miles from the ship.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± The two Earth Immortals led the cultivators towards the monster beasts. It was not a good idea to fight near the barrier as residual shockwaves would impact the barrier and increase the consumption of spirit stones.

    The two Earth Immortals charged straight towards the three leading flying magic beasts. The largest of the three was a grey eagle with a sharp looking beak and claws giving off a savage aura. The two smaller eagles followed behind the large one and similarly charged towards the two Earth Immortals.

    Magic beasts and monster beasts naturally had much tougher fleshy bodies than human cultivators. If a human half-step False Immortal were to fight against an Earth Immortal, he would not last longer than a few minutes. The eagles relied on their powerful bodies rivalling spirit tools to confront the Earth Immortals.

    The group of five flew towards the right and much higher in the sky to avoid influencing the weaker cultivators. The energy released from a battle of Earth Immortal level would be fatal to Nascent Soul stage cultivators.

    Shen himself confronted a group of peak Core Formation stage crow type monster beasts. Little White did not interfere and merely coiled around Shen¡¯s neck.

    Shen took out a top-grade magic tool and inserted his spiritual power. The sword started to faintly shine and gave off a somewhat sharp and dangerous air.

    Shen flew forward and took a horizontal swing towards three crow monster beasts. The monster beasts were only Core Formation stage and could not defend against the slash. The middle crow was cut in two and its body fell towards the ground. The other two were slightly behind but they were still injured by the slash.

 Chapter 21 - Blue Cloud City

    Little White disappeared and reappeared next to the falling crow monster. Her claws swiped the head of the dead crow. A small white stone flew out from within the crow¡¯s head and was swallowed by Little White.

    The next moment, Little White reappeared on Shen¡¯s shoulder and acted as if nothing happened.

    Shen was distracted momentarily by the white fox¡¯s action. It did not take long for him to be surrounded by a full twenty or so crow monster beasts from all directions.

    Shen once again brandished his sword against the monster beasts. However, he was quickly overwhelmed by the large number of attacks and was reduced to defending.

    All around Shen, other cultivators were engaging in their own battles. Flashy magic arts and powerful spirit tools were being used. It was normal for a Nascent Soul cultivator to own a spirit tool.

    Shen did not cultivate a magic art, therefore he could only hack and slash while blocking and evading some attacks.

    Luckily, he was only surrounded by Core Formation stage monster beasts and was not in any danger. He had sustained some scratches but was holding up quite well for his first combat. Of course, he only employed spiritual power and was not using chaos power at all.

    The number of crows did not seem to be reducing as the total number of monster beasts far outnumbered the cultivators. Little White would obtain a beast core whenever a flying beast died.

    Soon, the Core Formation stage monster beasts receded from those who were simply too powerful. There were some casualties in the human camp with others covering those retreating into the barrier when unable to continue fighting.

    A lot of early Nascent Soul cultivators were now inside the barrier with only half the original number of cultivators remaining outside the barrier. Roughly one fifth of the Core Formation monster beasts have been eliminated.

    Shen started to encounter Nascent Soul stage magical beasts. Those were much more intelligent than monster beasts and would cooperate in groups.

    The number of Nascent Soul stage flying beasts were a lot less than Core Formation stage beasts, which are now attacking the barrier with their full strength.

    The remaining 600 or so cultivators were still occupied by the Nascent Soul and higher stage flying beasts.

    Soon, Shen became unable to hold on with using pure spiritual power. Therefore, he decided to head back into the barrier.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, you could have used chaos power to kill all the monsters.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Xue¡¯er, I could¡¯ve easily done that. But taking a life is not something I enjoy doing. Some of those beasts are just as smart as humans. They too are merely trying to survive in this harsh world.

    Plus, I¡¯ve had enough practising how to fight a little. I will try a different opponent for next time.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    Shen had scratches and cuts all over. He was wearing clothing Xue¡¯er had bought for him back in Jade Leaf city. He felt rather bad to have damaged the clothes from Xue¡¯er. The top-grade flying sword Shen used had cracks all over. It would not last much longer before disintegrating, indicating the fierce battle fought.

    The cultivators inside the barrier would send their magic tools and spirit tools to defend against some of the attacks by the beast horde. The couple talked while surrounded by the surreal sight of the battle around them.

    However, the number of beasts were far greater than the total number of cultivators present. It was only a matter of time before the barrier was depleted.

    At this moment, a sharp loud cry was heard over the battlefield, encompassing all other sounds. All flying beasts simultaneously stopped. The cultivators looked towards the direction of the cry.

    The three half-step False Immortal eagles could be seen retreating back to the mountain peak in the distance. The leading eagle has signalled the retreat. The eagles did not have their proud demeanour like when they had arrived. A lot of feathers were missing and bloodstains all over their wings as they flew away wearily.

    The two Earth Immortals did not give chase. Their current appearances also looked rather poor with cuts all over with untidy hair and bloodstains on their robes. They did not seem to have suffered any serious wound from looking at their eyes filled with spirit.

    The massive group of flying beasts also retreated rapidly towards the mountain peak after the signal.

    All cultivators sighed breaths of relief. Although their casualties were much less than the monster beasts, over ten Nascent Soul cultivators had fallen in battle with numerous injured.

    The ship soon started moving again. Most of the ship was in a jubilant mood except for a few whom had lost people in the battle.

    The Earth Immortals had tidied up and started purchasing all beast cores.

    The next few days were uneventful with a lot of injured cultivators retreating into their rooms to recuperate.

    Shen and Xue¡¯er passed the time leisurely as usual.

    ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, we are now approaching Blue Cloud city and will be landing soon.¡±

    The announcement woke Shen and Xue¡¯er from their sleep. Xue¡¯er still had the habit of tangling up with Shen during their sleep.

    Blue Cloud city was on a larger scale than Jade Leaf city. The average cultivation level of the cultivators in the city was at least one large stage higher.

    The background of the city was a part of the black mountain range. A steady stream of people could be seen coming to and from the mountains.

    Shen and Xue¡¯er disembarked the flying ship. The two spirit beasts were in their usual positions. The group looked around everything with curious eyes.

    The city was surrounded by walls and had two gates in total. The ship had landed at the opposite side of the mountain range, outside of the south gate. The walls and the gate were not particularly grand looking, or tall. It was probably due to the nature of cultivators and monster beasts being able to fly, which made the walls rather useless upon a siege.

    Shen and Xue¡¯er entered the city after paying a fee. Similar to Jade Leaf city, there were small houses littered all around the outskirts. There was a large market area in the centre of the city.

    Shen and Xue¡¯er walked around aimlessly for half a day until Xiao Yan complained that he wanted to eat something.

    Unsurprisingly, there was a branch of Green Bamboo Manor in the city, albeit on a larger scale.

    Everything was the usual as the group ate and drank. ¡°Xue¡¯er, let us find a place to stay for now. We don¡¯t know how long we¡¯ll be here.¡±

    ¡°Ok, Big Brother Shen. Should we try an inn or rent a cave mansion again?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go with cave mansion. But this time we don¡¯t have to get the really expensive one.¡±

    The cave mansion rental office was much the same as the one they went to in Jade Leaf city. It was manned by two young women who were chatting behind the counter.

    Shen had gotten a mid-grade cave mansion this time around, costing him 100 mid-grade spirit stones per week.

    ¡°Here¡¯s 400 mid-grade spirit stones, we¡¯ll rent it for four weeks first.¡± A wooden badge was passed to Shen. The cave mansion was located near to the northern gate.

    Just as the group exited the market area towards the north gate, a large building came into view. Above its wide gate, a signboard read in gold letters ¡°Mercenary Guild¡±.

 Chapter 22 - Taking a Mission

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, look! It¡¯s a mercenary guild branch. Let¡¯s sign up there!¡±

    Xue¡¯er pulled Shen towards the building quickly. There were many people entering and exiting the guild. It was a very lively place.

    There was a very wide board filled with many pieces of paper on the left as they walked into a large hall. At the right side were counters staffed with people wearing identical clothing.

    ¡°Let¡¯s register Big Brother Shen.¡± Xue¡¯er and Shen lined up behind a counter. The inside of the hall was bustling. The majority of people were looking at the large board. Once in a while, someone would take a piece of paper and take it to a counter.

    Soon, it was the couple¡¯s turn.

    ¡°We would like to sign up to be mercenaries.¡± Xue¡¯er said straight forwardly.

    The employee seemed very familiar to this as he handed over two iron badges.

    ¡°Insert your spiritual power and divine sense into it. It will bind to your signature. This one is free but replacement costs spirit stones.¡±

    Shen and Xue¡¯er did as they were told. The employee then noted down the numbers that were generated on the badges.

    ¡°These numbers are your ID in the mercenary guild. We don¡¯t ask your name here. Every mission you take will be recorded under your number. Now you may take a look at the mission board or submit your own mission here.¡±

    Shen and Xue¡¯er thanked the man and left to look at the missions.

    The mission board was filled with all sorts of requests. The most common were requests to buy a certain monster and magical beast materials and cores. There were also escort missions and purchasing rare spirit herbs.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, what kind of mission should we take?¡±

    Xue¡¯er looked at the mission slips for a while. ¡°Let¡¯s go with a magical beast core request. We should be able to find one in the mountains!¡±

    Xue¡¯er grabbed a request that was for buying the core of a Nascent Soul or Soul Formation stage earth element beast.

    Shen did not really know much about how most cultivators and beasts spiritual power being of a certain element. Long Tian had forgotten to mention this back in the forest.

    ¡°Earth element type beast?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, ah! I forgot Big Brother Shen doesn¡¯t know about the elements.¡±

    Xue¡¯er proceeded to explain about the basic five elements as well as variations. It turned out that fire, water, earth, wood and metal were the basic affinities that most people were born with. There were also variations such as lightning element that Thunder Spear young master was able to use from birth.

    ¡°Ah, ok. So, we can hunt any earth element magical beast and obtain its core to complete the mission. What is the reward?¡±

    ¡°It says that the requester will pay 300 mid-grade spirit stones for a Nascent Soul beast core. It is probably cheaper than buying from a store. It doesn¡¯t mention a price for the higher stage cores.¡±The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°Ok, let¡¯s go to a counter!¡±

    Shen and Xue¡¯er had set it so that they would operate as a group. They had also registered the mission under their group¡¯s number. A length of time was given to complete the mission depending on the difficulty of the mission.

    ¡°This is a very odd and free system. No rankings or anything, anyone can take a mission. No one cares about how it is completed, only the result. What a cruel world.¡± Shen muttered as they walked out of the mercenary guild.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, let¡¯s go to our cave mansion first. We¡¯ll head into the mountains tomorrow.¡±

    The next day.

    Shen and Xue¡¯er looked towards the mountains. They were currently taking a pleasant walk just outside the north city gate towards the mountain. The mission had a time period of six weeks for completion, therefore the couple was not in any hurry.

    The people around gave the two odd looks. Everyone else was flying about. It looked odd for two people to be taking a slow walk outside the city.

    ¡°Well I guess we should head to the mountains for now. Let¡¯s go Xue¡¯er.¡±

    The two flew up on their flying swords. Shen was now using a low-grade spirit tool rank flying sword. The one he used in the battle against the flying beast horde had become unusable due to the cracks all over.

    The mountain foot from the north city gate was not far. It took a mere hour of flying to arrive.

    ¡°What a nice place.¡± Shen commented as they landed at the mountain foot. One could see a lush green forest going half way up mountain.

    ¡°Let¡¯s walk inside, Xue¡¯er. We might find some spirit herbs on the way.¡±

    Just as they proceeded to walk inside, roars could be heard a distance away and were getting louder and approaching their direction.

    Shortly after, two shadows flew out from within the trees. Shen stared at the two forms and realised that they were a man and a woman. They seemed to be escaping from something as they were in a hurry.

    ¡°Friend, run quickly! There¡¯s a Soul Formation beast chasing us!¡± The man shouted as he passed by Shen and Xue¡¯er.

    Shen and Xue¡¯er looked at each other. Soon a large panther clad in lightning appeared in their sight. ¡°Oh? A variation magical beast.¡± Xue¡¯er looked at the mid Soul Formation magical beast with interest.

    The panther was adamant on chasing the escaping couple. It was much faster than the two humans who were only at the Nascent Soul stage.

    At this time, Xue¡¯er who was only watching spoke up.

    ¡°You there. Why are you chasing those two?¡± Xue¡¯er released her aura of the Gold Dragon at the same time. All beasts within the ten-mile radius trembled no matter what cultivation they achieved.

    The panther froze in its tracks. The man and woman also stopped and looked on with vigilance after finding that Xue¡¯er was possibly more powerful than the panther.

    ¡°They took a thunder fruit that I was waiting for to ripen! I waited over four years since I found the tree!¡± The panther was inwardly scared but it still shouted out since it was rather angry over the theft.

    ¡°Wait! The tree was in the forest! Not like it had your name on it. The better hunter gets the prey at the end, right?!¡± The man shouted out. They were close to escaping, the panther would not chase them all the way to the city after all.

    Shen chuckled. There was really no right or wrong here.

    Xue¡¯er looked troubled. She was a half magical beast and had been around magical beasts all her life. Therefore, she would rather side with the panther. However, the duo also not completely in the wrong.

    ¡°Why do you want the thunder fruit tree?¡± Xue¡¯er asked towards the man.

    ¡°That¡­¡± The man hesitated for a bit.

    ¡°It¡¯s for my sister-in-law, my brother¡¯s wife. She¡¯s ill and we need to buy spirit pills to treat her. So, we took this high paying mission from the guild. We waited over three months for the panther to let its guard down too.¡±

    The woman answered this time.

    ¡°Hmm, so you just need the spirit stones to pay for the spirit pills correct?¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­Yes¡­¡±

    ¡°Big Brother Shen¡­¡±

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, you¡¯re far too kind.¡± Shen looked at Xue¡¯er with an admiring gaze. He naturally understood what Xue¡¯er meant.

    ¡°How many spirit stones do you need?¡± Shen asked the couple.

    ¡°Huh?¡± The man let out a stupid voice as he did not know what Shen was trying to do.

    ¡°We¡¯ll give you the spirit stones, give the thunder fruit tree back to him.¡± Shen pointed at the panther.

    The man and woman looked at each other in shock for quite a while. After a few minutes, they both let out a sigh. The most powerful person on the scene, Xue¡¯er, seemed to be siding with the panther and they won¡¯t be able to escape from two Soul Formation stage cultivator and magical beast.

 Chapter 23 - Venturing into the Forest

    The man and woman, left with no choice, gave up the thunder fruit tree to the panther.

    ¡°Ok, now how many spirit stones did the mission pay?¡± Shen asked once more.

    ¡°Seven hundred mid-grade spirit stones¡­¡±

    Shen took out some spirit stones and gave them to the couple.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± The man just stared at the spirit stones floating in front of him without a word.

    The woman snapped back to reality and took them into her bag of holding quickly.

    ¡°Thank you, thank you¡­¡± She repeated thanks with tears. The man also gave sincere thanks.

    ¡°My name is Sun De and this is my sister Sun Su. Please come see us in Blue Cloud city if you have time. We would like to treat you to a meal. Thank you very much for your help.¡± Sun De gave a deep salute.

    The couple also expressed their apology to the panther before flying away towards the city. They still had not understood the reason why the strangers had helped them but they did not have any time as their companion was waiting for them.

    ¡°Now you¡¯ve got your tree back. It should be ok, right? A more powerful cultivator would have just killed you and took the tree after all.¡± Xue¡¯er spoke to the panther.

    ¡°You are right. Thank you for getting the tree back for me. I might not have been able to get it back if they got back to the city.¡±

    ¡°Ok, you can scram now. We¡¯ve got something to do in the mountains.¡±

    The panther froze once more and turned towards the source of the voice. There he noticed a small white fox that had the same cultivation base as himself.

    He had not noticed Little White due to her small stature as well as being overwhelmed by Xue¡¯er. He was rather angry at Little White for being impudent but it dared not speak out due to remembering Xue¡¯er¡¯s terrifying aura from earlier.

    After the panther clad in lightning had left, Shen asked Xue¡¯er. ¡°Ok, shall we proceed? We¡¯ll have to go visit them when we get back. They promised a free meal after all. Hahaha!¡±

    ¡°Big Brother Shen!¡± Xue¡¯er chased the laughing Shen as they raced into the trees.

    At the beginning, there were no monster beasts and very little spirit herbs. Occasionally, there were other cultivators flying overhead to go to their destinations.

    After around ten hours of walking, they started to sense Nascent Soul stage magical beasts. Little White had gone off somewhere to play around. Since the area was still somewhat safe, Xue¡¯er had let the fox go reluctantly.

    ¡°Hmph, wait till I grow up, I¡¯ll show that fox who¡¯s boss!¡± Xiao Yan and Little White always argued and fought each other. Little White especially made fun of Xiao Yan just before she left to play.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er. Can you sense any earth type magical beasts?¡±

    ¡°Not yet, Big Brother Shen. Let¡¯s keep going for a bit more.¡± It was not as if Nascent Soul stage magical beasts were everywhere. Each had their own small territory and had some distance between each other.

    The couple ventured around in the Nascent Soul stage magical beast area for a few more days. Sometimes, a magical beast would chase them for intruding into their territory. Shen would try fighting them off most of the time.

    However, they would run away or deter the beast by releasing Xue¡¯er¡¯s aura when it was a late Nascent Soul stage magical beast or stronger.

    After half a month of travelling east along the Nascent Soul magical beast territories, they had finally encountered a bear type beast that was of the earth element.

    Currently, they were half a mile away on top of a small hill that could oversee the valley in which the cave that the bear was sleeping in. Shen¡¯s divine sense could not be detected by others; therefore, the couple had found the bear without alarming it.

    Shen had limited his abilities to that of an early Nascent Soul stage cultivator, by purely using spiritual power. Naturally, the range of his divine sense would be reduced as well.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, wait here with Little White and Xiao Yan. The bear is only mid Nascent Soul stage. I should be fine by myself.¡±

    Shen proceeded to approach the cave while holding the flying sword in hand. Being a Nascent Soul stage magical beast, the bear had detected Shen when he was a few hundred feet away from the cave.

    A large roar sounded out from inside the cave. The bear warned the intruder to leave its territory quickly.

    After a while, a large form standing the height of at least two men came out from the cave. Shen charged towards the bear. The bear roared once more and took a swing with its powerful arms towards Shen.

    *Ding*

    The claws of the bear and the flying sword struck against each other. The bear, being an earth element beast, naturally had powerful defence.

    Five spears made from hardened earth rose up and shot towards Shen. While Shen was avoiding the spears, the bear matched the timing to strike consecutive swipes with its claws.

    Shen was reduced to defending against the physically powerful bear.

    ¡®I really should find a set of magic arts to learn!¡¯ Shen was upset that he could only swing his sword against the bear. However, his energy was seemingly limitless due to his chaos body.

    Therefore, Shen started playing the endurance game with the bear. The bear quickly discovered this, however, it was powerless to do anything since Shen was adamant on harassing it.

    Every time it attempted to escape, Shen would furiously slash the bear. The bear could not outrun Shen due to its slower speed.

    The battle went on for over two days. Shen¡¯s clothing had long been reduced to rags. Shen only had minor injuries as his chaos body was very tough, despite not using chaos power specifically.

    The bear¡¯s actions were slow and it had blood stains all over. Its left eye had been slashed by Shen and its fur missing patches here and there.

    Xue¡¯er had wanted to help Shen but Shen had expressly forbidden her.

    The bear was on its last legs as it stumbled. Shen did not miss the chance and slashed its legs. The bear finally fell face first on the ground. It was too exhausted to manipulate the earth by now.

    Shen jumped on its back and drove the sword into the bears heart.

    ¡°Phew¡­That was an experience¡­¡±

    Xue¡¯er flew over from the hill. She has been watching the battle without taking a rest for the last two days.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen! Are you ok?¡± Xue¡¯er had hugged Shen and felt his body all over to check for wounds.

    Shen felt warmth from her actions. Although, they were in a rather ambiguous position currently, Shen felt that he needed to clean up and change clothes.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, I¡¯m alright. Only scratches. I do need to clean up. Your clothes are dirty too now.¡± Shen chuckled towards his beautiful companion.

    ¡°Ah!¡± Xue¡¯er gave a cute scream and let go of Shen with a flurry. Little White just rolled her eyes while Xiao Yan was giggling at the two.

    ¡°Ok, let¡¯s take the bear¡¯s body and leave. Other beasts nearby should have heard the battle. I don¡¯t want to fight another one for a while.¡±

 Chapter 24 - Friends

    ¡°Big Brother Shen! Don¡¯t look ok!¡±

    Xue¡¯er¡¯s flustered voice came from behind Shen.

    Currently, Shen was in agony. He really wanted to look for reasons he did not understand. Perhaps constructing his avatar as a male had had an effect on his mindset.

    The two came to a nearby lake a few hundred miles away from the cave. Shen proposed that Xue¡¯er took a bath first, being the gentleman he was.

    However, he failed to continue being one when he didn¡¯t leave when Xue¡¯er had started to undress. Of course, that caused the shy Xue¡¯er to hit him and make him go away to keep watch.

    Even Xiao Yan was made to go with Shen. Little White scoffed at the two males with delight.

    Therefore, Shen ended up being a guard while Xue¡¯er cleaned herself.

    ¡°Hmph! That darned fox! I¡¯ll show her who¡¯s boss one day!¡± Xiao Yan was as usual.

    ¡°Xiao Yan, how come you can talk normally now?¡±

    ¡°Ah! Master, you didn¡¯t notice?!¡±

    ¡°How come no one pays me any attention¡­¡± Xiao Yan mumbled as he curled up into a ball.

    After some unknown amount of time, while Shen was being lost in thought.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, you can turn back now¡­¡± Xue¡¯er¡¯s voice carried over weakly.

    Xue¡¯er stood there with a fresh pure white dress. Her cheeks were pink, possibly from having freshened up or for other reasons.

    Shen stood there in a daze for quite a long time.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen?¡± Xue¡¯er approached Shen and waved her hands in front of him.

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    ¡°I just thought you looked very beautiful, Xue¡¯er.¡±

    This caused Xue¡¯er to blush further while hiding her face in her hands.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, go clean up!¡± Xue¡¯er turned around with a humph.

    ¡®Hmm, why¡¯s she like that? I wonder if she¡¯s still angry about earlier.¡¯

    Shen pondered as he washed himself in the lake.

    ***

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, let me go buy some more wine after we turn in the mission. I¡¯ve run out.¡±

    The couple was now back in Blue Cloud city and have just entered from the north gate. The journey back to the city took only ten days of flying.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen! We¡¯ll end up spending all our spirit stones on wine at this rate!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, it¡¯s alright! I¡¯ll go get more rocks from the void to sell if we do.¡±

    The couple continued walking towards the guild with a merry mood.

    Soon, the large building came into view. The outside was busy as before and the inside was just as crowded.

    The process of turning in the mission was quite simple as they only had to present their iron badge and the requested material. Shen received the 300 mid-grade spirit stones and the couple walked out of the guild.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    ¡°Let¡¯s return the badge for the cave mansion. We rented it for four weeks but only ended up staying there once.¡±

    ¡°Ok, Big Brother Shen. It does feel like we just wasted some spirit stones.¡±

    After returning the badge, they were now sitting in Green Bamboo Manor. There were very few restaurants and shops that sold spirit wine. Immortal wine on the level brewed by Long Tian was a treasure rarely seen even amongst the large sects¡¯ elders.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, should we go see the Sun siblings? They did promise us a meal. And I wonder if Sun De¡¯s wife had gotten better.¡±

    ¡°Ok, that¡¯s a good idea. We don¡¯t know anyone in this city. It would be nice to make some friends.¡±

    Shen paid the bill and left the restaurant, pulling Xue¡¯er. The spirit beasts were sleeping in Xue¡¯er¡¯s bag space. They disliked crowed places, especially ones filled with humans.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, how do we find them? They didn¡¯t tell us a contact method.¡±

    ¡°Ah.¡±

    The two froze in their tracks.

    ¡°Hmm¡­give me a minute.¡±

    Shen spread out his divine sense over the entire city. He did not limit the range to early Nascent Soul stage this time. It was also rude to unscrupulously use one¡¯s divine sense in a cultivator city. However, Shen¡¯s divine sense cannot be detected by others.

    ¡°Western section of the city. It seems that not all cave mansions are owned by the city. Let¡¯s go Xue¡¯er.¡± Shen held Xue¡¯er¡¯s hand and started walking towards the west.

    After an hour, they came upon a neat row of small houses. It seemed that the houses were owned by cultivators who resided in the city. Shortly after, Shen and Xue¡¯er stopped in front of a particular house surrounded by a low fence.

    The front yard of the house had various common spirit herbs growing. There was a basic transparent defence barrier covering the entire perimeter of the fence.

    The front door creaked open and a man walked out towards the spirit herbs. The man noticed Shen and Xue¡¯er as he came near the front gate.

    ¡°It¡¯s you!¡± The man was shocked for a few seconds.

    However, he quickly approached to open the front gate, letting the couple in.

    ¡°Please come inside, my sister and wife are also in the house. We have been waiting for you.¡±

    ¡°Really? You didn¡¯t say how we could find you though.¡± Shen¡¯s mutter was heard by Sun De.

    ¡°Ah! We forgot¡­we were in a hurry to get back you see¡­hahaha¡­¡± Sun De gave a weak laugh.

    The inside of the house was very simple. There was a largish area just as they entered with a table and a kitchen set up. There seemed to be two more rooms in the back as two doors could be seen.

    ¡°Xiao Su! Haung¡¯er!¡± Sun De yelled out.

    One of the doors creaked open. Sun Su came out and discovered Shen and Xue¡¯er.

    ¡°Oh! It¡¯s our benefactors!¡± She was also surprised at the visitors.

    ¡°Hello, we came for the meal just as promised. Also, wanted to see if Sun De¡¯s wife was doing better.¡±

    Shen stated their purpose while Xue¡¯er gave a friendly smile.

    ¡°Please sit here. I¡¯ll bring my wife out.¡±

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s ok. We can go see her instead.¡±

    ¡°No no! She has gotten much better after taking the spirit pills. She¡¯s just resting to recuperate. It¡¯s no trouble.¡±

    Sun De insisted and made Shen and Xue¡¯er sit at the table.

    Soon, a beautiful looking mature woman came out, being escorted by Sun De. She had a gentle atmosphere about her.

    ¡®Oh? Early Nascent Soul stage. The quality of cultivators here is much higher than Jade Lead city.¡¯ Shen thought inwardly as he examined the woman.

    ¡°Benefactors, this is Haung Lin, my wife.¡±

    ¡°Oh, Big Brother Shen, we haven¡¯t introduced ourselves. How rude of us. My name is Long Xue¡¯er. This is Shen. Pleased to make your acquaintance. Sister Lin is really beautiful!¡±

    Xue¡¯er politely gave their names.

    ¡°Not at all. I¡¯m only slightly above average. But thank you for the praise, Sister Xue¡¯er.¡± Haung Lin smiled gently and took a seat opposite from Shen and Xue¡¯er.

    ¡°Was miss Haung poisoned? I can see traces of it in her still. Perhaps she should go back to rest.¡±

    Shen¡¯s comment shocked the trio.

    ¡®Wha-how! How could he see that? Isn¡¯t he only an early Nascent Soul stage?!¡¯

    ¡°Brother Shen. If I may address you as such. How did you know that Haung¡¯er was poisoned?¡± ¡®I only told them she was sick when we met before.¡¯

    ¡°Of course. I will call you Brother Sun as well. My divine sense is somewhat special you see.¡±

    Shen¡¯s explanation only puzzled them further but they decided think any further.

    ¡°Were the spirit stones sufficient? We can provide more if needed.¡± Xue¡¯er asked with concern.

    ¡°It¡¯s more than enough! We can¡¯t thank you enough for your help. Now Haung¡¯er just needs time to drive out the remaining poison on her own. It should be fine in another month or so.¡±

    ¡°Yes, we simply can¡¯t thank you enough! We¡¯ll work hard to repay the debt. It will probably take some time. We don¡¯t wish to take risky missions anymore.¡±

    Sun Su said towards Shen and Xue¡¯er after Sun De¡¯s flurried explanation.

    ¡°Debt?¡± Xue¡¯er tilted her head in confusion.

    ¡°Haha, don¡¯t worry about those spirit stones. Our Xue¡¯er decided to help on her own accord. No need to return them.¡±

    ¡°Big Brother Shen!¡± Xue''er went red from being called ''Our Xue''er''.

    Sun Su looked the couple with a somewhat envious gaze.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s not talk about that. I¡¯m glad miss Haung is doing ok. You are the first people we talked to in this city. So that makes us friends if you three don¡¯t mind. Let us drink to celebrate this joyous occasion!¡±

 Chapter 25 - Sword Arts

    Shen looked in the direction of the kitchen.

    The three females were currently bustling about inside. Sun Su and Haung Lin had urged that they would like to personally make dinner. Xue¡¯er had asked to help out.

    Sun De and Shen were sitting at the table sipping on Green Bamboo Wine.

    ¡°What a nice wine!¡± Sun De exclaimed. Spirit wines were indeed too expensive for normal cultivators. Sun De had never had Green Bamboo Wine before.

    ¡°Haha, it is a good wine indeed. I wish I still had some wine that Brother Long made. That wine was truly fine!¡±

    Shen also put out some fruit snacks on the table.

    Shen had learned some information on the city and the black mountain range from Sun De.

    The Sun siblings were born in Blue Cloud city and were very familiar with its surroundings.

    ¡°Brother Sun, although this city¡¯s cultivators are a tier higher than Jade Leaf city, there really aren¡¯t many cultivators of Soul Formation and above. Why is that?¡±

    ¡°Oh? Brother Shen doesn¡¯t know the agreement between magical beasts and human cultivators?¡±

    ¡°Agreement? Brother Long nor Xue¡¯er had mentioned it to me.¡± Shen was rather puzzled since this seemed to be an important piece of information.

    Sun De didn¡¯t know who this Brother Long was but he decided not to mind it.

    ¡°Haha, well I might as well explain it to Brother Shen. To prevent excessive loss on both sides, an agreement was made that determined cultivators and magical beasts of Soul Formation and above cannot wantonly murder each other. Unless you have a deep grudge or a very compelling reason. Otherwise you¡¯d be branded an evil cultivator and be chased down by both sides.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, this is rather complicated¡­¡±

    ¡°Well yes. Of course, there are also evil magical beasts that didn¡¯t follow the agreement. I hear that evil cultivators and rebel magical beasts have a joint city in the deep mountains somewhere. It is just a rumour though.¡±

    ¡°Oh? That sounds like an interesting place to visit.¡± Shen mused.

    ¡°Haha, Brother Shen must be joking! If a correct path cultivator was to go there, unless one was of at least Sky Immortal stage, it would be hard to escape with one¡¯s life intact! I¡¯d advise Brother Shen to stop that thought.¡±

    As they chatted, a nice aroma drifted out from the kitchen. Soon after, the three ladies came out carrying various dishes and set them on the table.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m sorry we couldn¡¯t offer anything on the likes of those top tier restaurants, but these still should be satisfactory. Please!¡± After sitting down, Haung Lin urged the group to start their meal.

    ¡°Not bad! Not bad at all!¡± Shen praised honestly. He took out more wine and shared around the table.

    The group of five had a merry meal with a pleasant mood.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    ¡°Thank you for the meal. We¡¯ll be sure to come visit again.¡± Xue¡¯er smiled towards the three.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be waiting! We might even see each other at the guild.¡± Sun De replied back to the leaving couple.

    The couple bid goodbye to the Sun siblings and Haung Lin.

    Shen led the way towards the centre of the city while holding Xue¡¯er hand.

    Shen and Xue¡¯er were going to the market area of the city.

    Shen had wanted a magic art he could use in battles.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, what kind of magic do you want to buy? Sword arts? There are also elemental magic arts that allow you to control your innate element.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, a sword art seems ok. Let¡¯s see what¡¯s available!¡±

    They walked on for a while to find another branch of the Soaring Phoenix Auction House.

    ¡°¡°Welcome to Soaring Phoenix Auction House!¡±¡±

    Shen and Xue¡¯er were led to a counter.

    ¡°How may I help you?¡±

    ¡°I wanted to see what kind of sword arts you have for sale.¡± Shen asked straight away.

    ¡°Of course. This way please.¡±

    They were guided into a room. Soon after the couple sat down, another worker entered carrying a tray.

    There were five small books on the tray.

    The original worker started to explain the contents of the tray.

    ¡°These are the sword arts that we have for sale currently. They are all low grade martial skills priced at 100,000 low-grade spirit stones.

    Anything above low grade martial skill is sold during the annual auction so these are the only ones you can buy right now. I apologise for the inconvenience. You can attend the auction that is to be in eight months¡¯ time if you wish for a higher tier magic art.¡±

    Shen looked at the title and explanations of the sword arts on the tray.

    ¡®Gale Sword, Mountain Splitting Sword, Sword of the Fleeing Cloud, Swaying Grass Sword Art. Oh! Foundation Sword Manual! This one seems good. I do not have any experience after all.¡¯

    ¡°Hmm, I¡¯ll take this Foundation Sword Manual and the Gale Sword.¡±

    ¡®Gale Sword seems to be a speed type sword art.¡¯ Shen wanted to cultivate a proper sword art after training his foundation.

    The worker was puzzled at the first choice; however, he did not question it.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, is there anything you want to buy?¡±

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t need any magic arts, Big Brother Shen.¡± Xue¡¯er indeed does not have to cultivate magic arts meant for humans. Her bloodline bestowed her with cultivation techniques and magic arts meant for magical beasts.

    Shen paid the 2,000 mid-grade spirit stones and left the auction house. The next upcoming auction was too far away and the couple did not want to wait such a long time.

    ¡°I might have to go find something else to sell at this point haha.¡±

    Xue¡¯er laughed while walking next to Shen. ¡°Father gave us a lot of spirit stones so we¡¯ll be ok for a long time, Big Brother Shen.¡±

    ¡°Well! I want to go practice the sword arts for a bit. Xue¡¯er, let¡¯s go!¡±

    Shen and Xue¡¯er walked outside of the city and flew towards the mountains.

    After confirming that no one was in sight or the vicinity, Shen embraced Xue¡¯er and took a step in the west direction.

    The next moment, Xue¡¯er¡¯s vision blurred and the couple was once again back on the small island they had come when Shen wanted to try cultivating.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, we totally forgot about the second stage of that competition. Do you still want to go see it?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, it doesn¡¯t seem all that interesting if only Foundation Building stage cultivators are fighting. Let¡¯s not go, Big Brother Shen.¡±

    ¡°Alright, if Xue¡¯er thinks so. Now, let me try this Foundation Sword Manual. Oh yeah, can magical beasts practice magic arts meant for humans?¡±

    ¡°Father said you can if there¡¯s one suited for your physique. But I¡¯ve yet to try. There are a lot of magic arts in my bloodline memories so I don¡¯t need one though.¡±

    Xue¡¯er proceeded to set up that little hut that she stored previously. Little White and Xiao Yan also came out from the pet bag.

    ¡°Sister Xue¡¯er! I was so bored inside. Play with me!¡±

    ¡°Hmph, I¡¯m going to cultivate here. I must surpass that stupid fox!¡± Xiao Yan headed to the beach to find a comfortable spot while Little White pestered Xue¡¯er.

    ¡°Ok, I¡¯ll be on the beach if you need me. Xue¡¯er, be careful ok.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Big Brother Shen, I will come back when it¡¯s time to eat.¡± Xue¡¯er smiled at Shen just like a good wife seeing her husband off to work.

    One maiden and one spirit beast headed into the forest while the other spirit beast remained on the beach.

    Shen took out some tables and chairs and placed them in front of the hut.

    He also took out the Sword Manual and proceeded to read after sitting down in a comfortable posture.

 Chapter 26 - Sparring

    Shen read the entire book a few times thoroughly and memorised all the details.

    He stood up and walked a distance away from Xiao Yan to not disturb him.

    ¡®Alright, let¡¯s try those moves.¡¯

    Shen took out his low-grade spirit tool flying sword.

    For the next few hours, Shen practised the basic moves described in the manual.

    Slashes, straight thrusts, defending against invisible enemies, all kinds of moves were repeatedly carried out.

    ¡°Ha!¡±

    Shen held his sword overhead and slashed out vertically.

    The sand and the sea water in front split along with the sword strike for seventy feet in a straight line.

    ¡®Not bad, when I can do a hundred feet air strike with physical power alone, I¡¯ll have completed the basics of this attack.¡¯

    Shen was pleased with himself. Of course, the manual did not describe how long it would normally take someone to reach the target hundred feet slash. It would have taken months of training for a beginner to be able to reach beyond the physical dimensions of the sword, even if it was just a few feet. However, Shen had already gone far beyond this point in a mere few hours.

    Unknown to Shen, only False Immortals would be able to achieve such power behind the slash with their physical strength alone, demonstrating the ridiculous power of Shen¡¯s fleshy body.

    ¡®I wonder when I¡¯ll be able to use Sword Intent. There was quite a lot of books describing it on a certain planet. It¡¯ll be so cool if I can attack someone with a mere look!¡¯

    Shen was rather excited about being able to materialise things from fictions. No one was there to tell him that being able to exceed the physical limitations of his weapon was a form of the sword intent he wanted to use.

    While Shen was absorbed in practice, Xue¡¯er had come back with Little White sleeping in her bosom. Xue¡¯er placed the fox inside the hut before coming out to observe Shen practicing.

    After a while, Shen stopped his practice and greeted Xue¡¯er.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, you¡¯re back. What do you think? Not bad, right?¡± Shen grinned. The chaos beast sure was going out of character lately.

    Shen took a seat at the table with Xue¡¯er.

    ¡°What kind of magic arts do you cultivate? I¡¯ve never seen you fight, Xue¡¯er.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, I¡¯ve always been in the forest and I didn¡¯t have to fight anyone. Little White would sometimes practise with me but I never really had a good partner. Everyone else was afraid of hurting me.¡±

    ¡°How about Xue¡¯er spar with me? It¡¯d be good to get some practice using these moves in real combat.¡±The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    ¡°Ok, that sounds interesting. I¡¯ll show Big Brother Shen my magic arts as well.¡±

    ¡°Follow me out to the sea, Xue¡¯er. Let¡¯s not mess up the beach.¡±

    The two flew half a mile out towards the sea and stood above the water.

    ¡°Ok, Big Brother Shen. Gold dragon¡¯s bloodline memories don¡¯t have a sword art but they can command the elements around them from birth. My elements are ice and wood. I can¡¯t use the wood element very well in this environment so I¡¯ll be using an ice type magic arts.¡±

    Xue¡¯er took out a small delicate looking fan from her bag of holding. It was a top-grade spirit tool that would bring a large commotion to any auction house if it was seen.

    Particles of ice were formed from using the sea water from the surroundings as the temperature around Xue¡¯er reduced drastically.

    Shen brandished his sword and got into a stance.

    ¡°Here I come Xue¡¯er!¡±

    Shen charged towards Xue¡¯er in a straight line. He was still only using spiritual power. Since Xue¡¯er¡¯s cultivation was so much higher than his, there was no real concern of him being able to injure the beauty dressed in white.

    Shen released a horizontal slash towards Xue¡¯er when he was only twenty feet away. A thin ice wall appeared in its path to stop the slash.

    Shen accelerated towards Xue¡¯er while parrying and dodging the ice spears that were launched against him.

    The area around Xue¡¯er gradually filled with a dense mist. Xue¡¯er¡¯s laughter resounded from within.

    Shen was constantly bombarded by ice spears from all directions as soon as he approached the mist.

    Shen drew his sword back and thrusted forward while applying a twist to the stroke.

    A small tunnel was emptied out in the mist. However, Xue¡¯er was nowhere to be found.

    Shen abruptly turned around to defend against the torrent of ice shards that assaulted him from behind. The mist once again filled the area around him.

    Shen continued to chase after Xue¡¯er within the mist. However, no matter how hard he tried, he could not trace Xue¡¯er¡¯s figure or escape from mist.

    However, well timed attacks of ice shards continued Shen from being still.

    A normal Nascent Soul cultivator would have fallen long ago due to the lowering temperature in the mist which also dulled one¡¯s divine sense. It would have become increasingly difficult to move about easily and eventually the ice shards would find its target.

    Shen¡¯s abnormal body made him immune to such attacks. However, it was still the fact that he was chasing blindly without being able to escape, unless he employed his full divine sense.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er! I give up! I can¡¯t win against you with this cultivation.¡±

    Eventually, Shen called in the towel and stopped his movements.

    The mist gradually dispersed while the temperature restored to its original state slowly. The sea beneath the two had long been frozen.

    A dazzling maiden in white appeared in Shen¡¯s sight. Shen had his breath taken away by the beauty standing atop the frozen ice under the warm sunlight.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen! Don¡¯t stare so much!¡± Xue¡¯er shyly covered her face. Although she knew her face was currently under an illusion, she also knew that Shen could see her true features.

    ¡°Haha, Xue¡¯er was just too beautiful so I couldn¡¯t help it.¡±

    ¡®Wow, where am I getting these lines from?!¡¯ Shen asked himself inwardly.

    The two flew back towards the hut on the beach.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er what magic art was that? Very fierce!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a trapping type magic art. Very good for confusing multiple opponents and stalling for time. Unless they¡¯re much stronger than me, it¡¯ll be hard for someone to find me within the mist in a short time.¡±

    Xue¡¯er seemed very proud of her skills as she boasted to Shen.

    ¡°It seems like I should cultivate to catch up to Xue¡¯er, haha.¡±

    ¡°Big Brother Shen! That¡¯s no good! I won¡¯t be able to trap you if you do that anymore. You just don¡¯t get affected from the cold.¡±

    ¡°My body was somewhat stronger than a normal human¡¯s when I constructed it. I guess it¡¯s a good thing, haha.¡±

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, what will you do now?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m thinking of practising the Gale Sword. We should have another sparring session after I learn it! I will also cultivate to catch up to Xue¡¯er!¡±

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, when I break through to False Immortal, can you cancel the illusion on my face?¡±

    ¡°Oh? Why is that? Xue¡¯er looks pretty regardless of the illusion.¡±

    ¡°Big Brother Shen! Only you can see through it!¡±

    Xue¡¯er was cutely angry and started hitting Shen with her small fists.

    The laughter of the two resounded out on the empty beach, waking up Little White who was having a nice sleep in the hut.

 Chapter 27 - Soul Formation

    Xiao Yan had fallen asleep on a rock not far away from the hut while cultivating. The commotion on the beach had woke him up.

    *Yawn*

    ¡®What¡¯s going on? Master? Mistress?¡¯

    Luckily, he didn¡¯t speak his thoughts out loud. Otherwise, Xiao Yan would surely become a victim of Xue¡¯er as well.

    Xue¡¯er pretended to be angry with a puff and turned away from Shen.

    ¡°Sorry Xue¡¯er, haha. You¡¯re just way too cute!¡±

    ¡°Hmph, Big Brother Shen you bully!¡±

    Shen chuckled some more. Xue¡¯er went inside the hut intending to hide from Shen since she was embarrassed.

    ¡°Ok, I¡¯m going to practice the Gale Sword!¡± Shen sat down once more at the table in front of the hut and took out the book for the next sword art.

    After reading it a few times over, Shen stood up and walked into the air and stood a few tens of feet above the ground.

    He stood still and tried to sense the wind element around him as indicated in the book.

    The Gale Sword was actually a supportive sword skill for physical type offensive magic arts. It could actually be used for all kinds of weapons other than swords. It relied on manipulating the wind elements in the environment to assist in increasing the speed and sharpness of the attacks.

    This was a great way to improve the power of the Foundation Sword Manual¡¯s moves. But Shen still didn¡¯t have a dedicated sword art that was developed for attacking.

    ¡®Oh well, maybe I should¡¯ve read the introduction before choosing the books at the auction house.¡¯

    Being one with the universe was basically cheat mode since it only took a few minutes before green coloured wind elements in the surrounding air started rotating around Shen.

    The book mainly introduced various ways to use the wind elements in attacks as well as the way to sense them.

    Shen started practising the moves from Foundation Sword Manual. This time, wind elements accompanied the sword strokes with a light green glow on the sword itself.

    Over time, the sharpness of the attacks increased and the wind elements became much more natural with each stroke.

    Shen¡¯s attacks were now easily able to reach over eighty feet away with the help of the Gale Sword art.

    After some time, Shen decided that he had no more need to practise any further since it would not bring great improvements.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er! I¡¯m going to cultivate! I¡¯ll be back in couple of hours.¡±

    Xue¡¯er was still feeling shy so she only responded with a light ¡®Um¡¯.

    ¡°Master! Are you going back to the island? Take me with you if that¡¯s the case!¡±

    Xiao Yan jumped on Shen¡¯s shoulder.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go Xiao Yan!¡±

    ***

    Shen sat down comfortably on the beach of the small island. Xiao Yan had run off to the volcano at the island centre. The temperature was a bit lower than last time since the birth of Xiao Yan had influenced the magma.

    Shen started revolving his homemade cultivation technique in his sitting position. The spiritual energy in the surrounding tens of thousands of miles¡¯ radius was drawn in towards the small island at a ridiculous rate.

    It only took a mere three hours for Shen to reach late Nascent Soul stage. The temperature of the island lowered by a small amount while Shen was cultivating. Shen had ended up falling asleep on the beach while absorbing spiritual power.

    ¡°Master!¡±

    Xiao Yan had come back after a breakthrough. The little Qilin had also benefited from Shen¡¯s unbelievable cultivation method. With the help of the volcano as well as the abundant spiritual power, he had reached mid Core Formation in one go.

    Shen got up and rubbed his eyes, stopping his cultivation session. Xiao Yan jumped on Shen¡¯s shoulder and assumed his usual position.

    ¡°I better ask Xue¡¯er how to reach Soul Formation. It won¡¯t take much longer at this rate.¡±

    ¡°Master, look! I¡¯m now mid Core Formation! It won¡¯t be long before I overtake that darned fox!¡±

    Shen chuckled at the boasting figure of Xiao Yan.

    One man and spirit beast once again stepped across space to arrive back in front of the little hut.

    Xue¡¯er was half laying on the table with her hands supporting her head. Little White sat on the table nibbling on some snacks they had bought in the city.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, you¡¯re back!¡±

    The white glanced up and muttered in surprise. ¡°Oh? Late Nascent Soul! Impressive.¡±

    ¡°¡­I¡¯m here too you know¡­I also had a breakthrough you know¡­¡± Xiao Yan muttered under his breath to which no one responded to his sorrow.

    Shen walked up and sat at the table next to Xue¡¯er. He held Xue¡¯er¡¯s hands and asked. ¡°Xue¡¯er, I¡¯m sorry about teasing you earlier. Are you feeling better now?¡± The chaos beast certainly resembled a smooth playboy right at this moment.

    ¡°B-Big Brother Shen!¡± Xue¡¯er was flustered from the sudden move and didn¡¯t know what to do.

    ¡°I¡¯m ok! Big Brother Shen, are you hungry? I¡¯ll cook something!¡± She very bluntly tried to change topics which brought a small laugh from Shen.

    ¡°No need to cook Xue¡¯er. Let¡¯s have the meals we bought.¡± Shen assumed his straight face, not wanting to tease the beauty further.

    After the meal.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, what¡¯s Soul Formation stage? How do I break through?¡±

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, you want to reach Soul Formation so soon?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I want to catch up to Xue¡¯er after all.¡±

    Little White was on the verge of vomiting sugar as she listened. ¡®Ha¡­Looks like Sister Xue¡¯er has fallen to the enemy.¡¯

    ¡°Big Brother Shen!¡± Xue¡¯er once more entered shy mode.

    After a while, she regained her composure and proceeded to explain.

    Soul Formation is in fact very similar to Nascent Soul stage. One forms a Soul Avatar once more but this time in the sea of consciousness. This process can only be completed when one had reached the limit on strengthening the Soul Avatar within the dantian.

    The Soul Avatar in the dantian would not be able to hold any more Spiritual energy. One would have to guide a large amount of spiritual energy to help the formation of the Soul Avatar within the sea of consciousness.

    The Soul Avatar of the sea of consciousness is a miniature version one¡¯s fleshy body, condensed purely with Divine Sense. This allows one to escape with the Soul Avatar upon destruction of one¡¯s fleshy body.

    The fleshy body is no more powerful than it was in Nascent Soul stage but the Divine Sense gets substantially stronger with the formation of the Soul Avatar. However, the cultivation would be lost and the soul cannot exist independently for a long time.

    Soul Formation stage is a very crucial step on the road of cultivation and it marks one¡¯s true start as a cultivator.

    Shen took in the information and went into a thinking posture. His sea of consciousness was different from a normal cultivator. He already had an absurd Divine Sense. He was merely limiting it to the equivalent of a Nascent Soul stage expert.

    ¡®Well, whatever. I¡¯ll know what happens when I try.¡¯

    Xue¡¯er sat in silence next to Shen like a good wife. It was the very picture of harmony.

    Shen looked into his dantian. A large silvery flame burned silently. It was a far cry from the once small grey flame. The flame contained his cultivation of Late Nascent Soul stage. It still had room for growing as Shen could sense it from the flame.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, let¡¯s stay here one more day. I still have some time before I reach the peak of Nascent Soul. I¡¯ll attempt to reach Soul Formation after that.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to hunt for spirit herbs in the forest!¡± Xiao Yan ran off as soon as he heard that they were staying longer.

    ¡°Sister Xue¡¯er, I¡¯m going back to sleep. Wake me up before we leave.¡±

 Chapter 28 - Breakthrough!

    Shen was once again on the small island with the volcano. He came by himself this time around.

    ¡®Ah, I want to sleep. So comfortable!¡¯

    He was lying with his back on the beach, bathing under the warm sunlight and the gentle sea breeze.

    ¡®Well, I guess I should start. Wouldn¡¯t want to make Xue¡¯er wait too long.¡¯

    Without changing his posture, Shen silently started operating his cultivation technique.

    A white vortex of spiritual power that could be seen as a dense mist formed around Shen.

    It took just over one hour to reach the peak of Nascent Soul stage.

    Shen did not stop revolving his cultivation technique but directed the spiritual power into his sea of consciousness.

    He recalled the explanation from Xue¡¯er, and attempted to condense another Soul Avatar using Divine Sense and spiritual power.

    Shen¡¯s sea of consciousness was not empty like one would find in a normal human cultivator.

    There were grey coloured clouds that drifted about randomly in the seemingly infinite space.

    The spiritual power that entered the sea of consciousness was devoured by those clouds upon contact.

    Shen was rather lost at this point.

    ¡®Ah darn it. Let¡¯s just do it!¡¯

    Shen gathered the remaining spiritual power and attempted to form it into the shape of a human. Rather, his current human form.

    Using his powerful Divine Sense, it seemed as if it was going very smoothly. The Soul Avatar was condensing at a fast pace and its features increasingly clear as time went on.

    The spiritual power mist vortex around his body on the beach became smaller and smaller, as all the surrounding spiritual power rushed into his sea of consciousness.

    Shen was now at a critical stage of the breakthrough. A lot of cultivators failed at this point due to having weak Divine Sense or simply insufficient spiritual power.

    Shen had none of these problems. After a few minutes that seemed like hours, the Soul Avatar of Shen¡¯s human form had successfully condensed in his sea of consciousness.

    ¡°Yes! Success!¡± Shen got up and pumped his fists into the air.

    However, just as he was very happy and was about to go back to meet his companions, something unexpected took place in his sea of consciousness.

    The Soul Avatar that had just condensed started to dissolve to form a grey cloud, similar to the surrounding ones.

    This cloud was much larger in size. After the Soul Avatar completely dissolved, the large cloud started attracting the surrounding small clouds, which caused its size to inflate little by little.

    Shen went still upon the discovery.

    ¡°What happened?! Did I fail?¡±Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    Shen observed the situation closely. The large cloud contained a very small portion of his Divine Sense. It seemed to be more powerful than when he had limited himself to the level of a Nascent Soul stage cultivator.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that cloud is my Soul Avatar? I thought it was meant to be identical to your physical body!¡±

    Shen had forgotten that his human body was just something he had constructed on a whim. He could endlessly construct more bodies as he liked.

    ¡®Well, whatever. I¡¯ll ask Xue¡¯er.¡¯

    Shen decided to not think too much as it didn¡¯t really matter anyhow. He was only cultivating in spiritual power for his own amusement and it would not matter what cultivation stage he reached.

    He could see Xue¡¯er sitting in a cultivation posture on the beach as he came back. Xue¡¯er rarely seemed to be cultivating ever since they started their journey. This was a rare moment to observe the peaceful beauty that seemed to become part of nature as she sat there.

    Little White could be seen sprawled out on the sand, on one side of Xue¡¯er, passively absorbing the abundant spiritual power drawn by Xue¡¯er.

    Little White lifted her small head to look at Shen. Shen came next to Xue¡¯er noiselessly. He sat down next to the little fox and took out a bottle of wine.

    Xue¡¯er opened her eyes once the sun set over the horizon. She blinked a few times as she came out of the meditative state.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen. You¡¯re back!¡±

    Shen smiled towards Xue¡¯er. ¡°Xue¡¯er, let¡¯s go back. I¡¯m now a Soul Formation stage cultivator!¡±

    ¡°Congratulations Big Brother Shen! How does it feel?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, not a lot of change but Divine Sense is more powerful like you said. And I can use more spiritual power since I have two Soul Avatars now.¡±

    Shen proceeded to describe the unexpected occurrence within his sea of consciousness.

    ¡°Hmm, I don¡¯t know why it happened. May be Father would know.¡± Xue¡¯er replied as she pondered on the possible cause.

    Shen stood up while pulling Xue¡¯er towards the little hut.

    Little White wordlessly followed behind.

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell Xiao Yan to come back.¡± Shen spread out his Divine Sense from his grey cloud. It encompassed the entire island and searched for the Fire Qilin within.

    Soon, a red shade raced out from the trees and jumped onto Shen¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°Master!¡± Xiao Yan rubbed his small head on Shen¡¯s cheek.

    ¡°Did you have fun? We¡¯re ready to go back. We might not come back here for a long time.¡±

    ¡°I found a few spirit herbs suitable for me to take. Are we going back to the city? I want to eat roast meat!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! Xue¡¯er let¡¯s go!¡±

    Shen embraced Xue¡¯er and took a step in the eastern direction. The next moment, they appeared on top of a large hill, with endless trees in sight and tall peaks in the backdrop.

    Even though Shen could have made a tunnel through the space to reach the destination, he liked the feeling of holding Xue¡¯er and stepping across the vast distance together.

    Xue¡¯er was rather shy the first few times, but just like the couple sharing one bed, she has gotten used to being intimate with Shen.

    ¡°Blue Cloud city is about half a day away towards south from here. Should we camp out in the forest for the night? It is already night time.¡±

    ¡°Ok, that sounds fun. Just like we did when we took our first mission!¡±

    ***

    The next day, Shen and Xue¡¯er were walking towards the Guild. The couple had decided to take one more mission before leaving the city.

    Soon, they arrived at the large building.

    There were a multitude of missions posted on the wide board. Xue¡¯er looked over the available missions while Shen waited behind her.

    Shen thought it would be fine to let Xue¡¯er decide upon the mission as he personally did not mind which one they took.

    Soon, Xue¡¯er found one to her liking and took it off the board.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, look at this one. It¡¯s a request for a spirit herb. It¡¯s a flower called Dragon¡¯s Bane.¡± Let¡¯s go ask for the information on this.¡±

    ¡°What a peculiar name. Have you heard of it before, Xue¡¯er?¡± Shen mused as he followed Xue¡¯er to a que.

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t recall a flower with that name. Father will certainly know though¡­¡±

    Soon, it was the couple¡¯s turn and the receptionist gave more details on the request while registering their party down for the mission. The time period allowed was rather long at six months.

    Apparently, the mission has been up for a few years due to the location of the flower. It was rumoured to be seen in a deep part of the mountains called the poison mist valley.

    As the name suggested, the valley was covered by a poisonous mist at all times and it became more potent as one treads deeper inside.

    Even Sky Immortals would have trouble venturing into the centre of the valley. The reward offered for the flower was only one thousand mid-grade spirit stones, which made it a top mission for Soul Formation stage cultivators. However, no common Soul Formation cultivator would take the mission due to the danger involved. False Immortals were not lacking that amount of spirit stones to take a mission that was dangerous even for them.

 Chapter 29 - Poison Mist Valley

    Shen and Xue¡¯er found a random inn to stay for the night. They set off for the deep parts of the mountains the next day.

    Since it was a well-known location, the directions to the valley were easily found with the information provided from the guild.

    They had avoided the territories of magical beasts and went around them whenever possible. Sometimes they were chased, and other times Shen would practice his Sword Arts against the magical beasts.

    The couple had passed by a few cultivators on the way. Most of them were vigilant and avoided contact. A few friendly people had provided more accurate directions as well as potential dangers on the way.

    ¡°Father always said to be careful of the human cultivators. But there are always some nice people aren¡¯t there.¡±

    ¡°Well, Brother Long isn¡¯t wrong, you should be wary of others, not just humans. Although, I have to agree that there are always those who are kind and caring of others.¡±

    Shen had described some of his observations over the countless eons of the different worlds and star systems. Xue¡¯er would always listen earnestly to the stories.

    To her, those tales were very interesting. She, who was half beast half human, was different from most others. Finding out that there were races other than humans outside of this world known to her were a surprise.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, we¡¯re only half a day away from the valley now. I have a saint beast¡¯s bloodline so ordinary poisons won¡¯t affect me but will you be alright?¡±

    Xue¡¯er was concerned since Shen had never taken spirit pills or contacted any poisons with his constructed body. However, so far from experience, the body is almost identical to the body of a human.

    Therefore, poisons should be able to influence Shen.

    ¡°Hmm, I don¡¯t know haha. We¡¯ll find out! Worst case scenario, I¡¯ll use chaos power to drive out the poison. I can even protect Xue¡¯er! But make sure Xiao Yan stays in the pet bag.¡±

    The two spirit beasts like to come out whenever there weren¡¯t too many humans around. Currently, they were enjoying the sights and sounds alongside Shen and Xue¡¯er.

    Soon, the trees around them started feel as if they were dying. There was no lustre on the leaves and the entire forest gave off a gloomy feeling.

    ¡°We¡¯re close! Be careful Xue¡¯er. Xiao Yan, go back into the pet bag. Little White, you be careful too, go back into the pet bag if you can¡¯t hold on.¡±

    ¡°Ok master!¡± ¡°¡­¡±

    Shortly after, a light but visible green mist could be seen.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, there hasn¡¯t been any monster or magical beasts in the last few miles. It looks like we¡¯ve reached the valley entrance.¡±

    The ground sloped up and the couple climbed up a small mountain that abruptly ended as a cliff overseeing a large valley surrounded by tall peaks came into sight.

    The walls of the valley were steep and the only way down was to fly.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

    Shen and Xue¡¯er gazed down into the valley filled with thick green mist.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, I feel that there is a pressure affecting me. Do you feel anything?¡±

    ¡°Hmm? Pressure? I don¡¯t feel anything.¡±

    ¡°Sister Xue¡¯er, I feel a pressure too. It¡¯s affecting my cultivation and Divine Sense. I can¡¯t penetrate the valley¡¯s bottom at all.¡±

    ¡°Looks like the information from the guild was accurate.¡± Shen muttered as he discovered that his Divine Sense from the Soul Avatar was also limited to a very short range once it entered the valley.

    However, no pressure could be felt and his normal Divine Sense could enter the mist with no problem.

    Xue¡¯er and Little White was not surprised by this fact as they had realised that standard common sense could not be applied to Shen.

    ¡°Well, Xue¡¯er, Little White, do you want to take a rest first? Or do we go down straight away?

    ¡°Let¡¯s enter, Big Brother Shen. Little White, do you want to enter the pet bag?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m ok Sister Xue¡¯er. Don¡¯t forget that I¡¯m also a saint beast.¡±

    The trio jumped down into the valley. The pressure increased as they went deeper.

    ¡°The poison is not very strong since this is just the outer area. I can use spiritual power to prevent it from affecting my body for the time being.¡± Shen said as he observed the state of his body.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, looks like we¡¯ve reached the bottom.¡± Xue¡¯er pointed to the rapidly approaching ground.

    The visibility was quite severe and even a Soul Formation stage cultivator could only see around 200 feet ahead. Divine Sense was only a little better at a few hundred feet radius at best.

    Shen looked towards the centre of the valley. ¡®This aura feels quite familiar. I can¡¯t seem to recall it. I wonder what it is.¡¯ Shen discarded the thoughts in looked around the area.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, look, there are a lot of spirit herbs!¡±

    Indeed, there are many spirit herbs here. Little White went up to one and sniffed.

    ¡°These can be used to refine poison repelling spirit pills. We should take a few of them.¡±

    Xue¡¯er went ahead and collected some of the spirit herbs.

    ¡°Haha, this is rather template¡­Plants that cure poison in a poisonous place¡­¡±

    Shen¡¯s mutter wasn¡¯t heard by the other two.

    Shen, Xue¡¯er and Little White walked on towards the depths of the valley, while keeping an eye out for the Dragon¡¯s Bane flower.

    Little White would urge Xue¡¯er to collect a particular spirit herb every now and then.

    There were no large monster beasts around and only small poisonous insects could be seen.

    The insects would not approach the trio giving off the pressure of Soul Formation stage cultivators.

    *Roar!!*

    After about an hour of walking, a loud roar was heard in the distance. Sounds of fighting followed afterwards.

    Shen and Xue¡¯er looked at each other.

    ¡°Little White, go into the pet bag. You won¡¯t be able to hold on for much longer.¡±

    With the increasing pressure as they approached the valley centre, it became harder to operate spiritual power to block out the poison mist.

    ¡°Be careful, Sister Xue¡¯er.¡± Little White urged Xue¡¯er before going into the pet bag.

    ¡°Is it just me or does she dislike me? How come she didn¡¯t tell me to be careful?¡± Shen sadly lamented.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen. You¡¯re so powerful that you don¡¯t need to be careful at all, hehe.¡±

    ¡°Xue¡¯er!¡± Shen put on a face that looked like he was about to cry.

    ¡°Ok, I won¡¯t tease you anymore, Big Brother Shen. Let¡¯s go look at the sounds. Seems like two magical beasts are fighting.¡±

    As the two approached the location of the loud noises, the scenery around them changed from one of nature to carnage. There were various trees and plants that were uprooted and the ground gouged out.

    The pressure inside the valley meant that most inhabitants would not fly unless necessary since it expanded a lot of spiritual power to stay afloat.

    Shen and Xue¡¯er had been walking ever since they landed in the valley. Shen was not affected but they needed to look out for the Dragon¡¯s Bane flower.

    Soon, they were in the range of observing with their Divine Sense.

    ¡°A small fox is fighting a large monkey. Big Brother Shen, who do you think will win?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re both at the peak of Soul Formation. A winner won¡¯t be decided quickly. I wonder what they¡¯re fighting for? There should be some kind of treasure around here.¡±

    Both Shen and Xue¡¯er concentrated on the area around the two and started looking for it.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, I don¡¯t know what they¡¯re after. But I can¡¯t see the Dragon¡¯s Bane flower around here. Shall we go around them?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, those two have noticed us. Seems like they¡¯ll change the target to us if we approach any closer. Let¡¯s go around.¡±

 Chapter 30 - Lucky?

    The two were only a few hundred feet away from the battling magical beasts due to their limited range of Divine Sense.

    Shen and Xue¡¯er quickly detoured away from the beasts who were now slowing their rhythm to defend against the potential intruders.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, let¡¯s keep going. Are you doing ok? We should be treading into the territory of False Immortal magical beasts soon. The poison mist is also becoming denser.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m ok Big Brother Shen. How are you doing?¡±

    Shen was using his entire cultivation to block out the poison from entering the body as they travelled. He was only at the early stage of Soul Formation. A normal Soul Formation stage cultivator would not be able to enter this deep into the valley without some kind of protective measure.

    Shen¡¯s seemingly unlimited spiritual power enabled him to endure the high usage of spiritual power. Xue¡¯er was also feeling the strain but she could hold on due to her superior cultivation and physique.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, there are a lot of strong magical beasts here.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I can feel the auras of a few False Immortals around us.¡±

    Shen and Xue¡¯er kept advancing into the depths of the valley.

    After a few hours of carefully traversing around the powerful auras, Shen and Xue¡¯er had noticed that the poison mist was thinning towards a particular direction.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, look. Something¡¯s drawing in the poison mist. Shall we take a look?¡±

    ¡°Ok, let¡¯s try Big Brother Shen. It¡¯s better than aimlessly wondering around here. The flower is unusual so there might be a powerful magical beast defending it. We should be careful.¡±

    Shen went in front of Xue¡¯er and the two slowly followed the drifting poison mist. Pretty quickly, the visibility improved and their range of Divine Sense increased substantially.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen! There are magical beasts up ahead. I could feel the pressure they¡¯re emitting. They¡¯re much stronger than me!¡± Visibility almost restored 100% as the two approached in the direction of the pressure.

    Half a mile away from the source, four small and large shapes were floating and facing off against each other.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er they¡¯re False Immortal stage magical beasts. Stay behind me at all times!¡± Shen was not worried about anything being a danger to him, but he could not say the same for his companion. Therefore, he decided to take extra care regardless.

    There was a total of four False Immortal magical beasts. The poison mist was almost cleared in their vicinity.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen! Look!¡± Xue¡¯er excitedly cried out.

    Following her vision, Shen noticed an odd clump of flowers that were unceasingly drawing in poison mist from all directions. The shape of the flowers was very much close to the description provided by the guild.

    ¡°We found it, Xue¡¯er!¡±

    Up in the air, right above the flowers, the four False Immortal magical beasts were still staring at each other.

    ¡°Looks like they¡¯re here for the Dragon¡¯s Bane flower. I wonder what the use of it is.¡± Shen muttered while keeping Xue¡¯er safely behind his back.

    The magical beasts had noticed the two new guests that entered battlefield. However, they also saw that the two were of Soul Formation stage. Therefore, the four beings did not care much for the intruders.

    Although, they could feel danger deep in their souls from one of them, they decided to ignore that faint feeling due to the enticement from the flower and the danger from their competitors.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, we should wait and see what happens. There is more than one flower. We only need one so I¡¯m thinking that we could steal one at a good time while they¡¯re busy fighting.¡±

    ¡°Ok, Big Brother Shen, that¡¯s a good idea! You could always take me and run away if it doesn¡¯t work out.¡± Xue¡¯er smiled at Shen¡¯s approach.

    There were more than a dozen flowers in total. The magical beasts most likely knew that they would not be able to monopolize the flowers. However, they still wanted to gain the most quantity.

    *ROAR!*

    The large four-legged magical beast shouted out. It seemed to be communicating with the others.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, that magical beast says to divide the flowers equally.¡±

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, you can understand it?¡±

    ¡°Of course! I am half magical beast after all.¡±

    The other three increased the pressure they emitted while being vigilant of each other.

    ¡°Looks like that¡¯s a no.¡± Shen observed the change in the atmosphere.

    ¡°They¡¯ll start fighting soon. Xue¡¯er, let¡¯s retreat for now. I don¡¯t want them paying attention to us.¡±

    ¡°Ok, Big Brother Shen.¡±

    Shen led Xue¡¯er in slowing backing away from the location of the flowers, showing the magical beasts that they had no intention of meddling. They retreated a few miles away until the poison mist was thick enough to block out the majority of their Divine Sense.

    ¡°Ok, this is something I haven¡¯t tried before but I hope it works. Otherwise, I¡¯ll just have to use chaos power.¡±

    Shen carefully gathered spiritual power within his hands. This was difficult due to him using most of it to block the poison mist.

    He then used a similar type of illusion he had applied to disguise Xue¡¯er¡¯s face, but this time using spiritual power.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er hold still.¡± Shen used the illusion technique on Xue¡¯er¡¯s entire body. Xue¡¯er who was perfectly clear even in the mist gradually disappeared, melting into the surroundings.

    ¡°Ok, I¡¯ve used an illusion on you. Hide your aura as best as you can.¡± Shen wanted to hide Xue¡¯er since she could encounter a wondering magical beast while waiting.

    Xue¡¯er was amazed but she followed Shen¡¯s instruction.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, are you planning to sneak up and take the flowers?¡±

    Shen also applied the same illusion to his own body.

    ¡°Yeah, but Xue¡¯er is staying back and I¡¯ll go steal it. I can escape quickly if they discover me.¡±

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, be careful¡­¡± Xue¡¯er knew that Shen would not be in danger but she still could not help but worry.

    ¡°Ok, I¡¯m going!¡± There was some excitement in Shen¡¯s voice. Although, it would have been a lot easier if he just went up and took the flowers using a bit of his true aura to supress the magical beasts, Shen felt it was no fun to do things the easy way.

    ¡°Wait for me here, Xue¡¯er. I¡¯ll be back quickly.¡±

    Shen who was not visible to the naked eye quickly ran towards the location of the flowers.

    The magical beasts were now engaged in combat against each other in a battle royal.

    Shen slowed down when he was within half a mile away and carefully proceeded closer.

    The very air itself vibrated from the shockwaves formed by the fight. However, the magical beasts were very careful not to damage the batch of flowers below them.

    Shen was now only a few hundreds of feet away.

    After waiting for a good moment, Shen sprinted towards the flowers with all the power he could muster from his Soul Formation cultivation.

    This brought on the attention of the magical beasts when he was only ten feet away from the flowers.

    Loud roars and shrieks along with a huge pressure was emitted towards Shen. However, no actual attacks followed since it would affect the flowers.

    Shen quickly dug out two of the Dragon¡¯s Bane flowers within a fraction of a second.

    The magical beasts were now diving towards Shen. They could only physically drag Shen away at this stage.

    Shen put the flowers away in his bag of holding and sprinted back towards the direction of a few False Immortal magical beasts¡¯ territories they had discovered earlier.

    He also took out his flying sword and released a few slashes towards the approaching magical beasts.

    The slashes that travelled in the air were merely patted away when they reached their targets.

    Shen was a bit shocked to see this but he could only escape if he was to use spiritual power.

    Suddenly, the magical beast in the rear most position changed directions and dived towards the flowers.

    The other magical beasts quickly noticed and gave up the fleeing thief.

    The battle between four False Immortals once again resumed. There were more than ten flowers left and chasing a thief who only took two was not worth giving up their position.

    Shen noticed that he was not being pursued. He quickly changed directions and reached the place where Xue¡¯er was waiting.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er! I got the flowers. Let¡¯s go!¡±

    Shen grabbed Xue¡¯er¡¯s hand and ran back towards the exit of the valley.

    ¡°Flowers? Big Brother Shen, did you take more than one?¡±

    ¡°Haha, yeah! I grabbed two. I figured Little White might want one. We got lucky this time, there were four magical beasts fighting over them. If there was only one, I¡¯d have to use chaos power!¡± Shen started laughing with delight while recalled the thrilling escape.

    Xue¡¯er was flabbergasted. ¡°Lucky? Big Brother Shen, a normal Soul Formation cultivator would suffocate from the pressure of four False Immortals!¡±

 Chapter 31 - Unusual Atmosphere

    Shen laughed at Xue¡¯er¡¯s response.

    ¡°Haha, it sure was exciting! Xue¡¯er, I must practise a movement art! We can flee faster if we encounter something like this in the future.¡±

    Xue¡¯er could only give a wry smile at Shen who was like a child that had discovered a new toy. ¡®Or you could just scare them into oblivion, Big Brother Shen!¡¯

    She could only mutter in her mind such a sentence as they ran at full speed out of the valley.

    Shen went around the territories of the False Immortal magical beasts on the way but their speed was much faster than when they had entered.

    It was possible that one or more of the four magical beasts would chase after them, therefore Shen and Xue¡¯er ran at full speed without stopping.

    ¡°Phew, we¡¯re safe.¡± Shen and Xue¡¯er stood at the same place they had descended to from top of the cliff.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, let¡¯s go out. I don¡¯t really like the poison mist. I want to change clothes and take a bath to clean myself.¡± Xue¡¯er urged Shen.

    ¡°Ok, let¡¯s go Xue¡¯er.¡± The two flew up despite the pressure exerting on them. Soon, they were on top of the cliff.

    ¡°Ha¡­it feels good to breath fresh air.¡±

    ¡°Xue¡¯er do you want to take a rest or should we go back to the city now?¡±

    ¡°We can go back slowly, Big Brother Shen. We will be leaving here towards the south after this mission won¡¯t we. There won¡¯t be any large forests or mountains like this anymore.¡±

    Shen and Xue¡¯er went back towards Blue Cloud city at a slow pace. On the way, they had encountered a small waterfall and a lake at the bottom.

    Xue¡¯er cleaned up while Shen stood guard. This time Shen learned his lesson and gave Xue¡¯er some space.

    The two set off again afterwards. It took over five days to reach the outskirts of the city. The journey was uneventful with them only seeing very few cultivators on the way. However, they all seemed to be hurrying back towards the city.

    There was a long line of people with a large number of guards inspecting at the gate.

    The air was filled with tension and the people had worried looks on their faces.

    Shen and Xue¡¯er looked around with puzzled faces while they lined up.

    ¡°Friend, did something happen in the city? It¡¯s too tense here.¡± Shen asked the cultivator in front of him.

    The man looked behind to find Shen and Xue¡¯er who seemed clueless about the current situation.

    ¡°Where have you been? There¡¯s a notice by the large sects. A group of evil cultivators are discovered to be residing near the city, on one of the mountains. It¡¯s dangerous to go into the mountains right now!

    Everyone is trying to take shelter inside the city. So, the city guards are inspecting everyone in case evil cultivators try to sneak in!¡±Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    Shen and Xue¡¯er looked at each other. The evil cultivators were not the same as the devil path alliance that showed up at the competition before. These were cruel and savage groups of people that did anything and everything to enhance their own power. The existence of such people always brought fear and commotion whenever they were discovered.

    ¡°Thanks for the information.¡± Shen smiled and thanked the cultivator.

    ¡°I hope we can get inside quickly. Those correct path cultivators would close the gates leaving us alone out here if the evil path cultivators show up to attack the city.¡±

    Shen narrowed his eyes at such information. He looked at Xue¡¯er, as if questioning the authenticity of the comment from the man.

    [I don¡¯t know, Big Brother Shen. Father rarely mentioned about those evil cultivators. He only told me that they were very ruthless and told me to run away from them if I encountered them. Still, he never mentioned that the large sects would abandon the normal cultivators.]

    Xue¡¯er sent a sound transmission to Shen, not hoping that the surrounding cultivators hear their conversation.

    Shen grabbed Xue¡¯er¡¯s small hands and gave a squeeze to reassure her.

    [Don¡¯t worry, Xue¡¯er. I¡¯ll teach them a lesson if they show up here. I don¡¯t want to kill if I can help it. I¡¯m not a judge nor executioner but I will not ignore evil in front of me.]

    The two continued to wait in the line. A few more cultivators showed up with anxious expressions and lined up. The outside of the city gate was eerily quiet with no one speaking and only the rhythmic actions of the guards, allowing people entry into the city.

    Eventually, Shen and Xue¡¯er were admitted into the city after testing their spiritual power and cultivation technique.

    ¡°It¡¯s somewhat stifling here. Big Brother Shen, do you want to leave straight away after we turn in the mission?¡±

    Shen thought for a while at Xue¡¯er¡¯s question.

    ¡°Let¡¯s stay a few days. I want to experience these evil cultivators. Unless Xue¡¯er wants to leave of course.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Big Brother Shen. Let¡¯s stay a few more days then.¡± Xue¡¯er¡¯s dazzling smile caused Shen to fall into a daze once more.

    Shen quickly woke up and smiled back. ¡°Thank you, Xue¡¯er.¡±

    The streets were deserted as a lot of people were hiding in their cave mansions or inns. It was possible that a few evil cultivators had infiltrated the city.

    Shen and Xue¡¯er turned in the mission at the guild. The receptionist who looked as if he didn¡¯t want to be there at any cost was surprised but he was worried about the imminent disaster, therefore he did not enquire any details.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t they worrying too much. They could just fight back if the evil cultivators came.¡± Xue¡¯er was rather puzzled at the state of the city.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure they have their reasons. Let¡¯s go get something to eat, Xue¡¯er.¡±

    Although the streets were more empty than usual, crowds of cultivators with matching clothing could be seen patrolling.

    ¡°Hmph, let them show up! I¡¯ll show them the might of Celestial Sword Peak!¡±

    ¡°Yes yes. Try not to die when they do show up.¡±

    Such conversations were heard as Shen and Xue¡¯er walked towards the Green Bamboo Manor.

    There were also a large number of guards in front of the restaurant. The green armour the guards wore had the word ¡®Xiao¡¯ on the chest. The guards inspected the people coming into the restaurant similar to the guards at the city gate.

    Shen and Xue¡¯er sat at an empty table on the first floor after entering. The upper floors were packed full of cultivators since they felt it was safer the higher one went. Indeed, the entire building was surrounded by a defence barrier. It would take a considerable amount of power to break into the building.

    Xue¡¯er took Little White out of the pet bag and explained the situation. Xiao Yan remained in the pet bag since his cultivation was still too low.

    The ordered dishes and wine arrived, therefore the trio had a meal while listening to the surrounding chatter.

    ¡°Hey, have you heard the rumours? They say that the evil cultivators have more than ten Sky Immortals in the group!¡±

    ¡°What! Is that true? So, is that why we¡¯re all holing up in the city?!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I heard from my acquaintance at the Heavenly Beast Sect that elders from the correct path are now racing towards the city!¡±

    ¡°He said it will take at least two days for reinforcements to arrive.¡±

    ¡°I hope the city¡¯s barrier will be able to hold up until then.¡±

    ¡°I wonder if there are any evil cultivators in the city¡­¡±

    ¡°Hey, be quiet! Don¡¯t say that. What if you bring bad luck!¡±

    ¡°Hmph! I¡¯m just being careful! There might be one sitting next to you now!¡±

    ¡°You!! Don¡¯t listen to this guy! If I hadn¡¯t known you for over 40 years, I would¡¯ve thought you were one of them!¡±

 Chapter 32 - Prelude to the Storm

    Shen and Xue¡¯er were walking on the near empty streets. They had left Green Bamboo Manor in search of an inn to stay the night. However, all inns were booked out due to the commotion brought on by the news of evil cultivators.

    ¡°Well, what do we do now Xue¡¯er? We can¡¯t just wonder the streets. The gates closed a while ago and they aren¡¯t letting people in or out.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­How about we go see the Sun siblings? We can ask to stay at their house until all this settles down. I¡¯m sure they won¡¯t refuse us, Big Brother Shen.¡±

    ¡°Ok, let¡¯s do as Xue¡¯er says.¡± Shen smiled and the two headed towards the western residential districts, carrying one sleeping fox.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, are you interested in seeing these evil cultivators if they come attack the city?¡±

    ¡°Ok. We should help out as well if they do come and attack. If they have a True Immortal, Big Brother Shen will have to stop them.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you scared, Xue¡¯er?¡±

    ¡°A little. But I know Big Brother Shen won¡¯t let them hurt me.¡±

    Xue¡¯er¡¯s smile made Shen happy inside. He couldn¡¯t help but squeeze Xue¡¯er¡¯s hand a little tighter.

    Soon, a familiar fence and spirit herb garden came into sight. The barrier around the house was fully activated. Shen knocked on the gate as they arrived.

    After waiting a while, and getting no responses, Shen yelled out.

    ¡°Brother Sun! It¡¯s Shen and Long Xue¡¯er! Are you inside?¡±

    A few seconds passed and the front door of the house opened. Sun De¡¯s head peeked out from the gap and looked around.

    ¡°Ah! Brother Shen!¡±

    Sun De quickly came out to the front gate. He manipulated the barrier to allow the two entry.

    ¡°Please, come in!¡±

    ¡°Many thanks, Brother Sun.¡±

    Shen and Xue¡¯er followed Sun De into the house after coming inside the barrier.

    ¡°Brother Shen, Sister Xue¡¯er, I take it you¡¯ve gotten the news of the evil cultivators?¡±

    The living room was empty and the two other females were not in sight. The three took sat down around the table.

    ¡°Of course, we only just got back from the forest recently. There were no vacancies in any of the inns so we thought to come bother your family for a bit, haha.¡±

    ¡°Haha, no problem at all! You are welcome here any time.¡±

    However, Sun De froze up as he was talking to Shen.

    ¡°Br-Brother Shen! Your cultivation!¡±

    Sun De was indeed shocked. The last time he saw Shen wasn¡¯t all that long ago. Shen was only an early Nascent Soul stage cultivator. Now, he was no longer able to sense Shen¡¯s cultivation at all!

    It meant that either Shen was hiding his cultivation or he has surpassed Sun De by at least two small stages!If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    ¡°Hmm? Oh, I recently took some time to cultivate up to Soul Formation stage. I wanted to catch up to Xue¡¯er, haha.¡±

    Shen¡¯s nonchalant reply made Sun De speechless on the spot.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, normally a cultivator would take decades to reach Soul Formation from Nascent Soul stage. You are just too abnormal! Please don¡¯t go around telling everyone your cultivation speed. Otherwise, the entire cultivator world would come chasing you.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, alright. Brother Sun, please keep this a secret then, haha.¡± Shen seemed as if he understood but did not at the same time.

    Xue¡¯er could only give a helpless smile at this. ¡®Even if others found out, it¡¯s not like they can do anything. I shouldn¡¯t worry so much.¡¯

    ¡°Hmm? Secret? Ah yes. Sure!¡± Sun De¡¯s face was still a bit stiff from the unexpected information.

    Xue¡¯er placed the fox on the table. ¡°Brother Sun, where are Sister Su and Sister Lin?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re in their rooms, cultivating at the moment. We can¡¯t go outside of the city so we can only cultivate. We don¡¯t want to be stuck at Nascent Soul stage forever.¡±

    ¡°Ah is that so? We must have disturbed Brother Sun. We apologize.¡±

    ¡°Oh, no need, you haven¡¯t disturbed me at all! One of us three take turns to keep watch since you never know what might happen.¡±

    *RUMBLE!*

    As the three chatted, a large explosion resounded out from the city centre.

    ¡°What was that?¡± Shen stood up and raced to the outside of the house.

    Xue¡¯er followed Shen while Sun De went to get his sister and wife.

    Shen saw that the normally transparent barrier was now fluctuating wildly. There were three large flying ships stopped just above the city.

    The three ships were gathering spiritual power at astonishing amount at the bow. Soon after, three lumps of spiritual power slammed into the same location of the barrier.

    *RUMBLE!!*

    The barrier shook fiercely and it looked a little dimmer than before.

    ¡°EVERYONE IN THE CITY! COME TO THE CITY CENTRE AND PUT YOUR SPIRITUAL POWER INTO THE DEFENCE FORMATION! WE MUST HOLD UNTIL REINFORCEMENTS ARRIVE!¡±

    Shen and Xue¡¯er looked at each other. ¡°Xue¡¯er, get Little White. We should go help out.¡±

    Shen turned towards Sun De, Sun Su and Haung Lin who just came out of the house.

    ¡°Brother Sun, are you all coming as well?¡±

    ¡°Of course, Brother Shen!¡±

    Xue¡¯er had placed Little White into the pet bag. The group of five ran towards the city centre where the core of the defence formation was laid out. On the way, they saw many other cultivators were heading the same direction.

    A large crowd had gathered at the centre of the city. However, everyone sat in neat circles, forming rings around the five people who sat at the very centre.

    Shen¡¯s group also joined the outermost circle and sat down. They directed their spiritual power towards the ground where the formation was laid out.

    The attacks from the three flying ships would come at regular intervals. The barrier would dim every time an attack was repelled, consuming a considerable amount of spiritual power.

    However, the spiritual power would be replenished quickly by the tens of thousands of cultivators sitting around the formation.

    The size of the formation was limited. Therefore, those with lower cultivation would occasionally swap with others once their spiritual power ran dry.

    The stalemate lasted for over half a day. A voice from the ships sounded out at this time.

    ¡°You so called correct path people! It¡¯s a matter of time before your barrier is broken. Surrender now and save yourself the suffering!¡±

    One of the five from the core of the formation opened his eyes and replied back with a haughty tone.

    ¡°Hmph! Who would surrender to you despicable worms! So, what if the barrier is broken! We¡¯ll just have to fight to the death!¡±

    ¡°Haha, an elder of the Heavenly Beast Sect, is it? I wonder just how many share that opinion of yours. Hahaha! Keep up the attack! They won¡¯t last much longer!¡±

    Silence resumed with the occasional bombing of the barrier. About 80% of the cultivators present in the city were now in an exhausted state and were replenishing their spiritual power.

    As the man from the ship stated, the barrier won¡¯t last much longer with the status quo. The five Sky Immortal elders at the core of the formation had heavy expressions on their faces.

    The elder from the Heavenly Beast Sect had only spewed out nonsense earlier in hope to raise morale.

    He knew that once the barrier was broken, most of the cultivators present would run for their lives.

    The tension was rising as the spiritual power was rapidly consumed. Everyone in the city felt the suffocating pressure emitted by the three flying ships.

    It was at this moment that a wind breaking loud noise was heard from the Southern direction of the city.

    Four flying ships similar in size to the ones of the evil cultivators could be seen rapidly approaching the city.

    ¡°¡°Devil Path Alliance!¡±¡±

 Chapter 33 â€“ The Enemy of My Enemy is a Friend?

    The four ships stopped above the Southern city gates.

    ¡°Hahahaha, what is going on here? We heard that there was a party in Blue Cloud City. This looks fun!¡±

    The mocking voice of an old woman sounded out from the ships. The faces of the Sky Immortal elders twitched upon the comment.

    ¡°So, it¡¯s you! Old Meng! Are you here to mess up the situation further?!¡± An old woman who seemed to have hatred with ¡®Old Meng¡¯ shouted out. Currently, they were already in a difficult situation by the appearance of the evil cultivators.

    The Devil Path alliance had somehow caught wind of the news and had showed up with unknown motives. Things were looking grim for the correct path cultivators within the city.

    ¡°Hahaha, it is I indeed! So, you are still alive, Water Witch Hua Shuiling! I thought you were eaten by a flood dragon a while back. Looks like you¡¯re hiding out here!¡±

    ¡°Fart! Who was eaten by a flood dragon! Wait till those evil path worms are eliminated! I¡¯ll teach you a thing or two, Meng Cui!¡±

    ¡°Old Meng, don¡¯t make things difficult. We aren¡¯t here to fight with those hypocritical correct path people.¡± A quiet but clear voice rebuked Old Meng who was quarrelling with elder Hua.

    ¡°Hmph!¡±

    It seems that there was someone who could order around even Old Meng who was a Late Sky Immortal on board the Devil Path Alliance ships.

    ¡°Oh? It looks like the Devil Path Alliance came prepared. They even brought an ancient elder.¡± A calm voice different to the old man from earlier rang out from the middle of the three ships of the evil path cultivators.

    The faces of the Sky Immortal elders within the city turned increasingly ugly.

    They had no True Immortals on their side while their enemies had one each. This really was not looking good for them.

    The only upside for them was that the attacks from the evil cultivators has stopped since the Devil Path Alliance arrived at the scene.

    ¡°So, the Devil Path Alliance wants to interfere in our affairs?¡± The same calm voice asked a question directed towards the new arrivals.

    ¡°Although, we don¡¯t like the correct path hypocrites, we absolutely can¡¯t stand you even more. I¡¯m afraid this time, you¡¯ll be facing us as well.¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s fine. It saves us the trouble of searching for you as well. Prepare for battle!¡±

    The three ships activated a barrier around them instead of resuming the attacks on the city. A multitude of people flew out from within the ships.

    The four ships of the Devil Path Alliance also formed a barrier to protect the ships.

    The five Sky Immortal elders who were maintaining the barrier sighed. They knew they could not sit out on this battle.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

    The True Immortals would not normally fight against the younger generation. However, if they were to hide inside the city¡¯s barrier, both of the True Immortals present would combine their attacks against the city.

    ¡°Everyone, we need your help in defending the city and expelling those intruders! All who are False Immortal and above, come with me! The rest maintain the barrier.¡±

    The Heavenly Beast Sect Elder summoned his beast companion from his pet bag and flew up, accompanied by the other four elders.

    Soon, Sky Immortals from all three sides were squaring off against each other directly above the city¡¯s barrier.

    Shen and Xue¡¯er had been listening to the situation while supplying spiritual power.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, do you want to help out?¡± Sun De who overheard this question from Long Xue¡¯er was shocked.

    ¡°Sister Xue¡¯er, Brother Shen. You aren¡¯t False Immortals, right? No need to seek death!¡±

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s see how it turns out. The evil path cultivators are outnumbered. So, it should be fine. Brother Sun, don¡¯t worry. I know my limits.¡±

    Shen smiled towards Sun De who was puzzled since he had no clue of Shen¡¯s prowess.

    There were ten Sky Immortals present from the evil path side while the correct path only had the five protecting elders. The Devil Path Alliance had brought along eight Sky Immortals.

    Assuming that the Devil Path Alliance was indeed here to fight the evil path, the makeshift alliance had greater numbers on their side.

    However, at this time, roars of various beasts sounded out from within the three evil path cultivators¡¯ ships.

    Large and small forms of various shapes raced out from within. There was a total of thirteen magical beasts of Earth Immortal stage. This increased the pressure upon the battlefield as a magical beast had a much higher battle efficiency than a human cultivator of the same stage.

    Although, there were also Heavenly Beast disciples present, the number and cultivation of those spirit beasts were significantly lower than the thirteen magical beasts.

    Soon, the battle commenced with shockwaves of spiritual power impacting the barriers.

    The originally tight groups of cultivators were spread out into regions of their own respective cultivation stages, with the Sky Immortals fighting at the very centre.

    Shen gazed upon the False Immortals battlefield. The evil path cultivators were outnumbered almost two to one and were being supressed.

    Only, the Earth Immortals had some trouble due to the magical beasts.

    The True Immortals did not seem to make any moves as they both stayed within their respective ships.

    ¡°Well, this is rather boring. No real deaths. The souls just escape into the barriers if the fleshy body is destroyed.¡±

    ¡°I listened to father describing battles between Immortal stage cultivators when I was younger. It seems that the soul can still maintain form after the body is destroyed. There rarely were any deaths unless one was surrounded and could not escape.¡±

    ¡°Can Soul Formation stage cultivators also achieve that?¡± Sun De asked during the gap while watching.

    ¡°You can. But the soul is very weak and cannot hold form for too long. You also lose all cultivation.¡±

    The Sun siblings and Haung Lin were impressed by Xue¡¯er¡¯s explanation.

    ¡°One day, we¡¯ll also be able to do those things!¡± Sun De declared.

    ¡°Brother Sun, why would you want to destroy your fleshy body. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s any fun having to reconstruct another one.¡± Shen teased Sun De who was rather excited.

    The female trio chuckled at Sun De. ¡°Haha¡­Brother Shen, you know what I mean¡­haha.¡±

    The mood around the five was not heavy unlike in other areas, which made the surrounding cultivators dumbfounded.

    ¡®How could they laugh when we could die really soon!¡¯

    However, no one was in the mood to rebuke the five and concentrated on supplying spiritual power into the formation.

    The battle between those of high cultivation stages weren¡¯t decided quickly and the fight stagnated for around one day.

    The correct path and the Devil Path Alliance cooperated to some degree in weeding out the False Immortals. However, Earth Immortals were in a rather dire state. The toughness of magical beasts was not to be overlooked and this was proven on the battlefield with the human cultivators having to retreat repeatedly.

    At the end, only the Sky Immortals were still going at each other, with the True Immortals showing no signs of getting involved.

    The Earth Immortal magical beasts had teamed up to take on two Sky Immortals. The situation was once again in a stalemate with no side winning any advantages.

 Chapter 34 - Its a Trap!

    ¡°I guess I don¡¯t need to do anything here. They will probably get bored and stop in a few days.¡± Shen¡¯s mutter went unheard as everyone within the city witnessed a battle that most would not see again in their lifetimes.

    After another few hours of fighting, all three sides were rather weary and the magic arts used were not as flashy and imposing as the beginning. The glows on the spirit tools were dim and the participants looked miserable.

    It was at this point that the two True Immortals who were hiding within their flying ships shouted out.

    ¡°Stop!¡± ¡°Come back to the ship!¡±

    They both felt a suffocating aura approaching their direction at an astonishing speed. Due to the shouts of the ancient elders, the battlefield was temporarily peaceful with all three sides retreating behind their own defence barriers.

    The five Sky Immortals of Blue Cloud City looked puzzled at the sudden situation but they were more than happy to catch a break.

    Shortly after, a small speck on the horizon could be seen rapidly closing in on Blue Cloud City. As the speck got closer, those with good eye sight could make out a small flying ship that was heading straight towards the battlefield.

    The small flying ship only took a few minutes and stopped a distance away from the other large flying ships.

    Four men and women wearing different styles of clothing got down from within. The flying ship disappeared at the next second.

    The five Sky Immortals were shocked upon seeing the inhabitants of the small flying ship.

    ¡°Disciple greets Ancient Elders!¡± They all simultaneously bowed towards the four people.

    The cultivators in the city were puzzled from this. The Devil Path Alliance looked on with caution.

    ¡°So, you finally come!¡± The calm voice once again spoke from within the evil path cultivator¡¯s flying ship. A shadow swiftly appeared in front of the evil path cultivator group.

    An old man wearing a grey robe could be seen staring at the newcomers. The other True Immortal from the Devil Path Alliance also made his appearance at this time.

    ¡°I guess we don¡¯t need to be here anymore, hehe.¡± He laughed while glancing back and forth between the two parties.

    A middle-aged looking man from the four looked at the old man for a few seconds before setting his sight back on the True Immortal from the evil path.

    ¡°Who said you could leave? I have been waiting for this. We are just getting started.¡± The old man of the evil path made a gesture to the ships behind him.

    At this point, a dark blood coloured radiance spread out with the ships as the centre. The three ships were originally located at the centre of the city.

    The dark blood coloured light enveloped the entire city and the crowd standing above its barrier before anyone could react.

    The four True Immortals who had just arrived had wanted to prevent it, but they were curious to what the old man wanted to do. They were also rather confident in their power.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

    The light infiltrated the barriers as if they weren¡¯t there to begin with. This caused the faces of the five True Immortals to fall while the old man from the evil path looked at them with a smirk.

    ¡°Hahaha, you should¡¯ve stopped it while you had the chance! It¡¯s too late now! Hahahaha!¡±

    The blood red light quickly latched onto multiple forms, whether they were from correct path, Devil Path Alliance or evil path. These were the souls of those whose fleshy body has been destroyed during battle from all three sides!

    *ROAR!!*

    A large form ran out of a ship and roared fiercely. One could see that this was a large tiger that was as big as the small ship that the four True Immortals had arrived on.

    The tiger looked around at the four True Immortals as well as the group from the Devil Path Alliance.

    While most people were puzzled from the unknown circumstances, the blood light was pulling all soul forms and quickly receded in the direction of the tiger.

    The tiger had a cultivation base at the very peak of Sky Immoral stage. He was not to be trifled with and could even fight an early True Immortal for a short period of time.

    ¡°Oh no! Everyone, kill that tiger!¡± The middle-aged True Immortal quickly realised the plan of the evil path cultivators and yelled out. He raced towards the tiger while unleashing his strongest attack, followed by his three companions.

    The Devil Path Alliance had been communicating within themselves and the old True Immortal had sneaked on board one of their ships.

    However, their swiftly retreating ships were stopped in their tracks by a fierce shockwave with the tiger at the centre.

    The blood coloured light was faster than the middle-aged man¡¯s attack and had been completely absorbed by the large tiger.

    A fierce shockwave was unleashed the moment the blood light completely entered the tiger¡¯s body.

    The already large tiger¡¯s body expended a few times. A truly suffocating and huge pressure descended on everyone present on the scene. Even the evil path cultivators had sweat coming off their faces.

    Up in the skies, a large amount of thunder clouds gathered, causing the sunlight to be blocked off. The lightning crackled and popped, seemingly wanting to punish one who went against the heavens.

    ¡°What!? It¡¯s almost bringing on Heavenly Tribulation! It can¡¯t be about to breakthrough to Immortal King?!¡±

    The lightning however, did not fall as the tiger¡¯s cultivation had stopped at True Immortal stage.

    A soundless roar from the new large tiger caused everyone to go stiff. The tiger swiped his paw at the attack of the middle-aged man that had just arrived.

    *BANG!*

    The deflected attack had hit the city¡¯s barrier and caused it to go rather dim.

    ¡°Oh, this looks rather interesting.¡± Shen looked up and commented. He was not amused however, since he had no clue what the light¡¯s purpose was, there was no way to know that it would sacrifice the souls to forcefully increase the tiger¡¯s cultivation.

    ¡°Hahahaha! Now we have a peak True Immortal on our side! Even the five of you won¡¯t be able to do anything. Of course, you can abandon your comrades and run away! Hahahaha!¡±

    This comment caused despair and unwillingness in the eyes of many as they looked towards the four True Immortals and the retreating Devil Path Alliance.

    ¡®I guess I should do something now.¡¯

    Shen soundlessly took out his low-grade spirit tool flying sword. He proceeded to fill it with chaos power. The sword was of a higher quality, therefore it held out quite a bit better than a magic tool.

    Shen had learned his lesson and had inserted a thin layer of spiritual power under the chaos power.

    Shen wordlessly threw the sword with all his might at the tiger. Everyone around him as absorbed in the standoff in the air and did not notice his actions.

    A hole in the barrier was made as if it wasn¡¯t there to begin with. The size was too small and the sword was too fast for anyone to see.

    As the old man from the evil path laughed, the sword penetrated the tiger¡¯s skull.

    Everyone at this time noticed a beam going straight up into the sky, splitting the cloud layers and going towards the void.

    Everyone on the scene turned speechless and stared at the tiger, which was obviously the initial point of the beam. The huge pressure emitted by the peak True Immortal cultivation had disappeared. The thunder clouds slowly dispersed.

    The tiger, starting from his head, slowly started to dissolve. Xue¡¯er saw the phenomenon and quickly looked at Shen, sending him a wordless question with her gaze.

 Chapter 35 - Back to the Forest

    ¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­What just happened!!?¡±¡±

    This question was repeated in the minds of almost everyone present on the scene.

    Shen grabbed Xue¡¯er¡¯s hands as to reassure her.

    [I¡¯m just going to punish that guy a bit.]

    Xue¡¯er tilted her head at the word punish from Shen¡¯s sound transmission. Her confusion was answered quickly.

    Before the crowd had a chance to look for the source of the light beam, one stranger thing occurred that would leave a topic of discussion for a long time to come.

    The old evil path True Immortal suddenly coughed up a substantial amount of blood. There was shock and confusion on his face.

    He had a cultivation base of the peak of the early True Immortal stage. This was not to be trifled with even in the large sects of the correct path.

    However, just then, something unknown had invaded his dantian and the sea of consciousness. The nameless unknown substance had started to eat away at his cultivation base and Divine Sense.

    His cultivation base was already showing signs of reverting back to Sky Immortal stage after a mere few breaths.

    ¡°Retreat!¡±

    With all his strength, the old man flew back to the ships.

    The other True Immortals on the scene had also noticed his predicament. They were puzzled on the cause but they knew it was a good opportunity.

    ¡°Kill!!¡±

    Murderous aura filled the heavens as the correct path True Immortals gave chase, shortly joined by the five Sky Immortals that were taking refuge in the city¡¯s defence barrier.

    The lone True Immortal from the Devil Path Alliance had thought this to be a good time to sneak off. They weren¡¯t exactly friends with the correct path cultivators after all.

    As soon as the Four True Immortals started chasing the weakening old man, the ships of the Devil Path Alliance had started taking off towards the south.

    Many cultivators stared at the chaotic scene with disbelief. What had just occurred was too difficult for them to comprehend.

    Shen had decided that he did not want to see what happens after anymore, as he felt that he had intervened enough. He only punished that old man since he readily sacrificed the souls of many cultivators without remorse.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, let¡¯s go. There isn¡¯t much to see here anymore.¡±

    ¡°Ok, Big Brother Shen. I knew you¡¯d do something if things got out of hand.¡± Xue¡¯er knew that Shen was the one who killed the tiger and did something to that old man from the evil path. She wasn¡¯t sure exactly what it was but she was in no hurry to find out.

    ¡°Brother Sun, we¡¯ll be going now. The city gates should be open soon and we have to be somewhere soon.¡±Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

    Shen smiled and bid goodbye towards Sun De who was still in a daze.

    ¡°Eh? Ah. Ok, sure.¡± Sun De couldn¡¯t reply properly as he didn¡¯t really register what Shen said and absentmindedly stared at the scene in the sky.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, let¡¯s go.¡±

    Shen held Xue¡¯er around the waist as usual and stepped across space itself. The crowd around them were fully focusing their attention to the ongoing battle in the sky, therefore, no one had noticed that two fully grown adults had just vanished from the spot.

    ***

    Long Tian was sitting in front of his small house, drinking wine.

    ¡°¡­Ah¡­I miss my Xue¡¯er¡­that damned Shen. He just had to show up so conveniently¡­ ¡°

    ¡°Brother Long, did you call me?¡± ¡°Father!¡±

    ¡°Wah!¡±

    Even the unmatched Immortal King of the vast forest almost jumped on the spot by Shen and Xue¡¯er¡¯s sudden appearance.

    ¡°Brother Shen, Xue¡¯er! You came back!¡±

    Long Tian swiftly came in front of Xue¡¯er and attempted to hug her. Xue¡¯er dodged nimbly which caused Long Tian to almost tear up.

    ¡°My Xue¡¯er¡­¡­.¡±

    ¡°Father, it¡¯s embarrassing¡­¡±

    The trio sat around the table and chatted about the recent experiences. Xue¡¯er was talking very happily to Long Tian.

    Shen smiled looking at the father and daughter.

    ¡°Oh? So, the evil path cultivators are quite daring. They never troubled us magical beasts though.¡± Long Tian lamented after hearing Xue¡¯er¡¯s description of the event at Blue Cloud City.

    ¡°Why is that Brother Long?¡±

    ¡°Well, they don¡¯t have an Immortal King you see. Oh, did I tell you that I am the only Immortal King on the planet right now?¡±

    ¡°Is that so? Do the other factions know of Brother Long?¡±

    ¡°Of course, they do. Although it was long before Xue¡¯er was born, I did visit the leaders of each faction to express my meaning. They don¡¯t dare go too far in the forest.¡±

    ¡°Well, I can¡¯t just bully them as I like though. They have a number of peak True Immortals. If they all get together, it could make my life difficult.¡±

    Long Tian chuckled as he said but he truly did not seem as if he would be bothered if that were to happen.

    Shen was rather surprised to find out that there were no other Immortal Kings on the planet. At least not known to the public.

    ¡°Brother Long, do you have any more Immortal wine? I¡¯ve ran out during the trip. I¡¯ve had to endure drinking spirit wine. It sure was hard¡­¡±

    Long Tian stared blankly for a minute after hearing Shen¡¯s shameless question.

    ¡®Spirit wine is hard to drink? Even Sky Immortals would pay dearly for my Immortal wine!¡¯

    Of course, Long Tian did not dare say it out loud. He wordlessly handed a few bottles of his Immortal wine to Shen.

    Xue¡¯er laughed at the stiff faced father of hers from the side.

    ¡°Father, let us rest, it has been a long day.¡±

    ¡°Alright, your old hut is still there, Brother Shen. Make yourself at home.¡±

    ¡°Many thanks, Brother Long.¡±

    Shen got up to head to his little hut.

    What happened next had shocked Long Tian so much that he forgot to breathe for quite some time.

    Xue¡¯er had gotten up and almost followed Shen into the hut. It has been a habit even since they started sharing the room and sleeping on the same bed since a few months ago.

    ¡°Xu-Xue¡¯er??!¡±

    Long Tian¡¯s shocked and bewildered voice woke up Xue¡¯er and she hurriedly ran into her own hut with a red face.

    Shen looked at the figure of the flustered girl with a puzzled expression. Long Tian muttered some unintelligent words like a broken machine in a daze as Shen went into his hut.

    ***

    In a building in the centre of Blue Cloud City, four people sat around a table. They were precisely the four True Immortals from the correct path whom had hurriedly caught up to deal with the attack from the evil path cultivators.

    ¡°I wonder which senior killed the tiger. It has to be an Immortal King!¡±

    ¡°Perhaps it was the Gold Dragon Immortal King. We don¡¯t know of any others.

    ¡°The evil path sure has got their hands on a troublesome technique though. If they mass produce those peak True Immortals, we¡¯re in trouble even if the Devil Path Alliance band together with us.¡±

    ¡°Haha! That should not be a problem. Didn¡¯t you see the backlash from using the technique? That old fogy was losing his cultivation base! We didn¡¯t get to see how much he¡¯d lose but it can¡¯t be a cheap price for using such a technique!¡±

    ¡°I sure hope you are right¡­Ha¡­It looks like the upcoming times will be rather eventful.¡±

    ¡°Yes, we should let our respective sects know so we can prepare for any scenario.¡±

 Chapter 36 - Long Tians struggle

    The next day, Xue¡¯er had already gotten up and was cooking a meal.

    Shen came out of his hut and greeted Xue¡¯er.

    ¡°Good morning Xue¡¯er. Where¡¯s Bother Long?¡±

    ¡°Good morning Big Brother Shen. Father is still in his hut.¡± Xue¡¯er still seemed shy about what happened yesterday as she avoided eye contact with Shen.

    Shen, of course, did not pick up on this and went next to Xue¡¯er to observe.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen! Go sit down at the table. I¡¯ll bring the food once it¡¯s ready.¡±

    ¡°Ok Ok, don¡¯t be angry, haha.¡±

    Xue¡¯er sulked a little and pushed Shen away.

    ¡®How can I cook if you stand so close! Big Brother Shen you idiot!¡¯

    Long Tian came out of the hut after the meal was on the table.

    He was still in a daze as he ate without paying much attention to anything.

    ¡°Father?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Hmm¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Brother Long, are you alright? You seemed worried about something? Is there anything I can do to help?¡±

    Long Tian had an empty look in his eyes as he mumbled something under his breath.

    ¡°¡­my Xue¡¯er¡­being¡­taken¡­¡±

    Shen strained his ears to listen to Long Tian¡¯s broken speech.

    ¡°Brother Shen, who is taking away Xue¡¯er! Tell me. I¡¯ll kill him!¡±

    Shen¡¯s passionate speech woke up Long Tian and he gave a blank look at Shen.

    *Sigh¡­*

    ¡°Xue¡¯er¡­father knew that one day, you will leave me. I just didn¡¯t think that day would come so soon. But, I¡¯m happy that you found the one for you. I wish you happiness¡­¡±

    Long Tian¡¯s sudden speech caused Xue¡¯er¡¯s whole face to blush.

    ¡°Father!! What are you saying?! Big Brother Shen and I aren¡¯t like that yet!¡±

    ¡°B-Big Brother?! So, you¡¯re already at that stage huh¡­¡±

    This was the first time Long Tian heard how Xue¡¯er addressed Shen and it caused the misunderstanding to increase.

    ¡°The one for you? Yet? Xue¡¯er?¡±

    ¡°Father and Big Brother Shen are bullying me! I¡¯m going to go play with Little White instead!¡±

    Xue¡¯er ran off with an even redder face after Long Tian¡¯s response and Shen¡¯s question.

    Shen was still somewhat puzzled at the whole affair. He sent a questioning gaze at Long Tian who was giving him a complicated look.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

    ¡°Brother Shen. Be good to Xue¡¯er. She didn¡¯t have a mother as she grew up so it has been hard on her. I hope you can make her happy.¡±

    ¡°Of course? Even if you don¡¯t say that, I¡¯d treat Xue¡¯er well.¡±

    The clueless Shen made Long Tian sigh once more.

    ¡°¡­It seems that you have a lot more to learn Brother Shen.¡±

    Long Tian sighed once again and got up. He walked into his hut, leaving a puzzled Shen by himself.

    ¡°Ah! Brother Long, wait up!¡±

    Shen was eating by himself for a while. He suddenly thought of a way to help Long Tian. Shen went into the hut.

    Long Tian was sitting on his bedside and fondly holding a plain looking jade necklace. Long Tian noticed Shen who came in and put away the necklace with care.

    ¡°Brother Shen, what is it?¡±

    ¡°Brother Long, I forgot to mention how I had dealt with that True Immortal from the evil path. It¡¯s a bit of a double-sided sword but if you want, it could be of great help to you.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Go on, Brother Shen.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go outside then.¡±

    Long Tian followed Shen outside to a clearing in the forest. The two sat on the ground facing each other.

    ¡°Brother Long, all I did was transport some chaos power within his dantian and sea of consciousness. He couldn¡¯t handle it and the chaos power ate away at his cultivation base and divine sense. You are different. You are a late stage Immortal King. You should be able to comprehend chaos power, the foundation of all energies in the universe.

    The reason Immortal Kings cannot venture into the void is because spiritual power does not exist outside of this planet. You need to be able to employ chaos power and change your fleshy body to that of a chaos body.¡±

    Long Tian had vaguely listened to Shen explain this when they had first met. But this was a much more detailed explanation.

    ¡°I¡¯ll do the same for you. Since your cultivation is much higher, the chaos power won¡¯t devour your cultivation immediately. If you are lucky, it might even transform your spiritual power to chaos power.¡±

    Long Tian calmed his state of mind and got into a serene mood. Shen waited a while for Long Tian to be in an optimal state for cultivation.

    Shen performed the same thing he did with the True Immortal old man.

    At first, Long Tian tried his best at sensing the chaos power and tried to control it. However, it was fruitless as it started showing signs of eating away at his cultivation base.

    Shen dispelled the chaos power seeing that it was getting difficult for Long Tian to keep it under control.

    ¡°Brother Shen¡­Immortal King to Immortal Saint is the hardest moat to surmount. You have given me guidance towards the direction I could go. Thank you.¡±

    ¡°Haha! What thanks! I¡¯m sure you can do it one day and that day would not be far off.¡±

    ¡°Brother Long, you should be able to achieve your goal faster if you attempt at a place void of spiritual power. You are too familiar to spiritual power so you have to dispel that feeling first.

    The two laughed merrily. Shen left Long Tian alone as he still wanted to gain enlightenment on chaos power.

    Shen walked around aimlessly in the forest. He thought about his recent experiences ever since he assumed the form of a human.

    ¡®It sure was fun. Where should I go next¡­¡¯

    Shen came across a small pond. He found Xue¡¯er sitting on the edge looking into the distance with Little White sleeping beside her.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er!¡±

    Shen went beside Xue¡¯er and sat down.

    ¡°Brother Shen, why are you here?¡±

    ¡°I was just wondering in the forest with no particular direction. I found Xue¡¯er sitting here.¡±

    Xue¡¯er smiled and looked at the man beside her. He was mysteriously powerful yet hopelessly silly at times. She recalled her father¡¯s words from earlier this morning. She couldn¡¯t help but blush.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, are you ok? Your face is red.¡±

    Shen reached out and placed his hand on Xue¡¯er forehead. Xue¡¯er reddened even more. But she didn¡¯t avoid Shen¡¯s hand.

    Xue¡¯er grabbed Shen¡¯s hand and placed it around her shoulder as she leaned on Shen.

    ¡°Brother Shen¡­¡±

    ¡°What is it Xue¡¯er?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Will you stay with me¡­forever¡­?¡±

    Shen was a bit surprised at the sudden question.

    ¡°Of course, as long as Xue¡¯er won¡¯t drive me away.¡± However, he answered with a line from a clich¨¦ romance novel.

    Xue¡¯er didn¡¯t say anymore words and snuggled closer to Shen.

    Little White opened her eyes and peeked at the couple. She sighed in her mind and went back to sleep, thinking that this was the inevitable result.

    ¡®Could this be...¡¯

    Shen had many thoughts run through his mind but he decided to not think any further. He was still a little confused on the feelings he had.

    ¡®Well, this isn¡¯t bad. Being a human.¡¯

    Shen drew Xue¡¯er into his bosom firmly but gently.

    Long Tian saw this scene with his divine sense. He sighed once again for the nth time.

 Chapter 37 - Space Traveller

    ¡°Well, so we¡¯ll be going, Brother Long. Take care. Maybe we¡¯ll see you out there before we come back.¡±

    Shen smiled widely and tapped Long Tian¡¯s shoulder.

    Long Tian truly had a subtle expression on his face.

    His 18 years old daughter was going to experience something that he had dreamt of his entire life.

    Xue¡¯er gave her father a hug and repeatedly reassured him that she¡¯d come back soon.

    ***

    The day before.

    ¡°Xiao Yan, stay with Little White in the forest. We won¡¯t be gone that long anyways. You can get stronger staying in this environment. There aren¡¯t too many other planets with spiritual power. Certainly, not many with a density as rich as this planet anyhow.¡±

    Xiao Yan had wanted to follow Shen and Xue¡¯er on their adventure. However, he was in a delicate growth stage and had to stay in a place with abundant spiritual power. The forest near Long Tian¡¯s dwelling was a safe place for him to grow up.

    ¡°Master¡­¡±

    ¡°If you reach Earth Immortal stage by the time we come back, you can follow us.¡±

    ¡°Ok, I¡¯ll try hard master!¡±

    Shen patted Xiao Yan who was still teary.

    Xue¡¯er and Little White were talking quietly on one side. The two had been together for many years. It was not long in terms of a magical beast¡¯s lifespan but Xue¡¯er was reluctant regardless.

    It was a fact that spiritual power was very thin on most planets, therefore it would hinder the growth of Little White and Xiao Yan.

    ***

    ¡°Brother Shen, you are a descendant of a star beast. You will be able to tread upon the stars soon. I wish you luck.¡±

    ¡°Brother Shen, Xue¡¯er. I know there are very few dangers that could threaten you, but please be safe. And come back frequently. There will always be a place for you here.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll be going, Brother Long, Xiao Yan, Little White.¡±

    ¡°Father, take care.¡±

    Shen held Xue¡¯er¡¯s waist as he flew up towards the heavens. Very soon, the couple could see the entirety of Sky Continent as they neared the fields of asteroids surrounding the planet.

    Xue¡¯er actively held onto Shen as she observed the void. The two¡¯s relationship had gone a step closer ever since that day.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, it¡¯s beautiful isn¡¯t it.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­it sure is. I never thought I¡¯d be able to see this one day.¡±

    Currently, Shen had Xue¡¯er and himself surrounded in a pocket for chaos power to protect from any dangers. The two could converse normally as long as they were within this space.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, we¡¯ll be going towards the nearest galaxy with intelligent life. I could take us there instantly but I wanted to show Xue¡¯er to the outer space.¡±The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    ¡°Brother Shen, what kind of life is there on that planet?¡±

    ¡°Well, I had picked a random star system within the human settlements so it¡¯ll be a human occupied planet. But they don¡¯t have cultivators. The planet doesn¡¯t have spiritual power, but a different type of energy that the inhabitants call mana. You will see once you get there!¡±

    The two flew through the vast space at a speed that resembled hyperdrive from a certain science fiction series.

    After about five hours of travelling, the two stopped outside a large solar system. There were various small and large ships that travelled to and from the planets and moons.

    ¡°It seems that they have developed space travel. I wonder if their current technology allows them to explore outside of their own solar system.¡±

    ¡°Wow¡­they must be strong people.¡± Xue¡¯er gazed upon the ships with admiration.

    ¡°Haha, it¡¯s not like having space ships will be of help back on that planet. The asteroid fields pretty much stop all forms of travel unless one was powerful enough.¡±

    ¡°Brother Shen, where do we go now? There seem to be more than one planet with life. Also, won¡¯t we be treated as hostiles if we were found like this.?

    ¡°Ah yeah¡­they will probably treat us as monsters for standing in the void without protection. I guess we should land on a planet first.¡±

    Shen caused the chaos power surrounding them to conceal the two.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, let¡¯s head to that planet. It¡¯s the biggest and I sense the most lifeforms on it.¡±

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, there seem to be large ships arriving on there. They don¡¯t seem to be from other planets nearby. I wonder if they¡¯re from outside of this solar system.¡±

    The planet Shen pointed was indeed the largest planet within the multitude of planets surrounding the lone star.

    They landed just outside a city that was clearly visible from space. The city was vast. It could easily fit about ten Blue Cloud cities within its walls.

    ¡°There seem to be a large number of lifeforms akin to monster beasts here. The population number in the hundreds of billions just on this planet alone.¡±

    Shen and Xue¡¯er walked towards the city gates after dispelling their concealment. There were wide and smooth roads established outside the city. The entire city was surrounded by a vast endless forest. The highway going into the city from the outside divided the forest with ample room on either side of the road.

    They joined in with a large group of vehicles and people travelling slowly. There were also other people joining the group coming out of the trees from time to time.

    Xue¡¯er could not understand the language of the locals. Shen on the other hand had no problem speaking.

    Shen placed his palm on Xue¡¯er¡¯s forehead, transmitting a large amount of information into her mind.

    ¡°How was your hunt?¡±

    ¡°Well, I got some good ores this time. What about you?¡±

    ¡°Well, not so good actually, a few of our members were injured by a mana beast, we only managed to find one small mana crystal deposit.¡±

    It seemed that this group consisted of a large-scale merchant group and mercenaries that had joined on their return trip to the city.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, they should be able to fly, right? They have those devices that could travel in the void.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­the situation might be more complicated than we thought. Let¡¯s find some information once we get into the city.¡±

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, what do we do about money? We don¡¯t have any of the local currency.¡±

    Shen froze a bit on Xue¡¯er¡¯s reminder.

    ¡°¡­Let¡¯s try spirit stones¡­if they take ores, they might take spirit stones. I wonder what mana crystals are.¡±

    After about an hour of travelling on the highway, the group reached the city gates. A large sign was visible on top of the gates, reading ¡®Red Iron City¡¯.

    Surprisingly, there were no guards or an inspection station. On the right side of the gate was a large platform with a few spaceships parked. It seemed that ships coming into the atmosphere would be stationed at the docks.

    As Shen and Xue¡¯er walked through the gate, they both felt that they had walked through a thin film. However, the other people around them did not seem to react to this.

    ¡®Must be like an inspection barrier. Mana sure is neat.¡¯

    As they had stepped a few tens of feet inside the city, the barrier suddenly turned red around a person who was crossing it. Warning sounds rang out and tens of guards wearing metal armour ran out of a building just inside the gate towards that person.

    The guards carried long poles with blue crystals attached to the ends. They pointed the poles towards the person who was attempting to flee.

    Beams of energy emitted from the poles combined and formed a cage which trapped the fleeing person.

    Both Shen and Xue¡¯er had their mouths open at the spectacle. Shen had observed many high-tech civilizations therefore this wasn¡¯t new but it was still very novel seeing it in person.

 Chapter 38 - Cultivators in Space

    The guards apprehended the person and took him into a prison like building, next to their quarters. The surrounding crowd did not seem to be surprised as this seemed to be a common occurrence.

    Shen and Xue¡¯er also directed their sight back towards the city. However, they both stopped for a good couple of minutes after seeing the view.

    Unlike, common modern cities, the majority of the interior was not filled with buildings and streets.

    Roughly 90% of the land space has been turned into farmland. There were huge fields of fruit trees and grain like plants stretching all the way to what seems to be an inner-city wall.

    There would be various buildings such as warehouses and grain depots spread out evenly in between the fields.

    Workers could be seen operating machinery on the fields and soldiers patrolling using small flying devices at low altitude.

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    Shen exclaimed in admiration. Xue¡¯er quietly watched the scenery that looked strangely peaceful. She would not have any knowledge on farming or machinery but she thought it was a fresh and new experience.

    Mercenaries started leaving the merchant caravan in groups as there was no more need to stick together. A wide road was spread straight towards the inner-city gates. Tall poles housing large pale white crystals at the top were spread out evenly all around the roads the farmlands.

    Shen and Xue¡¯er decided to stick with the merchant group as they wanted to sort out their money issue.

    After roughly forty minutes of walking, the group reached the city gates.

    The gates were also wide open with no guards but there was the familiar mana barrier enveloping the entrance.

    Beyond the gates was a large square that was bustling with people going about busily.

    There was a large stone wall depicting the layout of the city on the right as they walked in. It seemed that they had come in from the west city gates. The market area was located on the western area of the city.

    The eastern and southern quarters were occupied by residential buildings. The northern area of the city was one large industrial park with large factory buildings, clearly visible even from the west city gates.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, a lot of these people have weird energies within them. Is it the mana that you talked about?¡±

    Xue¡¯er was rather nervous due to the large volume of people and tightly held onto Shen¡¯s arm.

    ¡°Ah yeah, those are natives. They should be mana users, equivalent to cultivators where Xue¡¯er¡¯s from.¡±

    ¡°Then, what about those without mana?¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    ¡°Hmm, I guess they would be either natives who couldn¡¯t employ mana or visitors from other planets and solar systems. This galaxy does have a few other habitable solar systems.¡±

    The couple walked through the crowd to reach beyond the square, coming upon rows and rows of stalls and small stores, selling various wares. There were all sorts of exotic plants and ores to completed armour and weapons for sale.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± Shen stopped and looked towards a direction all of a sudden. He pulled Xue¡¯er and walked towards that direction.

    Soon, they came upon a small stall, selling odd looking plants and ores.

    ¡°Hello friend, rare to see cultivators here. Did not think we¡¯d meet one this soon.¡± Shen spoke to the man sitting behind his stall.

    The man looked up at Shen and Xue¡¯er.

    ¡°Oh? Two Spirit Formation cultivators. What are you two doing out here at a place with no spiritual power. It¡¯s dangerous and you are too weak.¡±

    Indeed, it was dangerous for cultivators to venture to a place lacking spiritual power. They could only rely on their physical bodies. The weapons employed by other humans would easily overpower such a cultivator.

    ¡°Well, we just came out on an adventure. Not planning to get into any sort of danger, haha.¡± Shen laughed at the man¡¯s question.

    The man had a cultivation at the Earth Immortal stage. His fleshy body was much more powerful than any mana user from this planet. He also seemed to have weapons equipped with similar crystals like the ones from the guards¡¯ weapons.

    ¡°Well, unfortunately, things don¡¯t always go the way you want. You two just came here, right? How did you get on this planet? I guess you won¡¯t have any mana crystals or alliance credits either.¡±

    ¡°Alliance credits?¡± Xue¡¯er tilted her head at the new and unfamiliar term.

    ¡°Ha¡­follow me. I¡¯ll take you two to a place for visitors.¡±

    The man swiftly packed his wares into a bag of holding. It seemed that the miniscule spiritual power required to operate it was supplemented with spirit stones.

    ¡°Don¡¯t use your spiritual power carelessly. You never know when you might need it. Also, keep a few spirit stones on your body. It comes in handy during emergencies.¡±

    The man spoke as he led the way through the stalls towards the center of the city.

    As Shen and Xue¡¯er listened to a range of information about the planet, they came upon a three-story building with a sign titled ¡®Visitor Information Centre¡¯.

    ¡°Alright, you¡¯ll find all the information you need inside. I wish you luck! May we meet again.¡±

    Shen thanked the man and handed him a bag of holding full of spirit stones. The man had given some small mana crystals before he left.

    ¡°He was a nice person.¡± ¡°Yep, he sure was. Well, let¡¯s go in, Xue¡¯er.¡±

    There were various posters and machines inside the building. There were also a few people, looking around and operating the machines.

    ¡°Ohh! Computers!¡± Shen headed towards one of the machines. It had a screen that could be operated by touch and had various menus.

    ¡°What¡¯s a computer?¡± Xue¡¯er asked from behind Shen, looking at the screen.

    Shen fiddled with the computer for quite a while. Xue¡¯er was also able to read the words after Shen transferred the knowledge into her mind.

    ¡°Hmm, how do I explain¡­It¡¯s like a machine that can store a lot of data, like our minds, but it won¡¯t forget the information unless it gets erased. Of course, it can also do a lot of other things but storing data is an important function.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s very useful! Father would be happy to see it.¡±

    ¡°Haha, next time we¡¯ll bring Brother Long here!¡±

    ¡°Hmm, it looks like we need to mine some ores or get some mana crystals. We¡¯ll have to head to the mercenary union, Xue¡¯er.¡±

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, are mana crystals like spirit stones?¡±

    ¡°Yeah it seems like it. They get formed from long time exposure of dense mana. I could probably make a few mana crystals but it would be too conspicuous.¡± Shen observed one of the small mana crystals.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, can¡¯t we sell some of our weapons or spirit herbs?¡±

    ¡°Weapons would be useless, since they need spiritual power to bring out their full strength. Spirit herbs will also lose their effect if left out in a place without spiritual power. It¡¯s easiest for us to explore the forests. We¡¯re fated to be mercenaries wherever we go, haha!¡±

 Chapter 39 - Purchasing a Weapon

    Following the map from the Visitor Information Centre, the couple soon arrived at the Mercenary Union building. This was a grand structure with a sharp and bold design with over twenty stories.

    Shen led Xue¡¯er through the wide automatic doors. The hall on the ground floor was occupied by computer terminals similar to the ones from the Visitor Information Centre. There was a dozen of them lined up on either side of the doors.

    Some people were operating on the terminals as they looked around. There was a woman who seemed to be a worker of the Union who greeted the two.

    ¡°Hello there, are you new here?¡± She judged this since Shen and Xue¡¯er were looking curiously at everything.

    ¡°Ah yes, we like to sign up to be mercenaries.¡±

    ¡°Of course, this way please.¡± The woman smiled and led them to an empty terminal.

    ¡°Most functions of the Mercenary Union can be operated though these terminals. There are also workers in case you require further assistance. Please let me know if you need any help in setting up your profiles.¡±

    Shen and Xue¡¯er thanked the woman and started operating the terminal. They were greeted with options to sign up or sign in as a mercenary.

    The information requested from the Mercenary Union was not much with only a name and race being the compulsory information. Details such as fighting style as well as whether the person could use mana or spiritual power were optional.

    Shen and Xue¡¯er quickly set up their profiles. The terminal required them to submit security measures such as hand prints, iris scan as well as DNA samples. All three pieces of information was required at each login to ensure that no one could fake identities.

    After logging in, Shen selected to display available missions.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, we should take that escort mission, that way we get to see what it¡¯s like outside the cities.¡±

    ¡°Ok, that¡¯s a good idea. Let¡¯s do as Xue¡¯er says.¡±

    Soon, the details for the mission came up. This was a mission with a quota for the number of mercenaries that could sign up. There were still a few vacancies. Therefore, Shen and Xue¡¯er signed up for two of the spots.

    It seemed that the convoy that they would be guarding was going to a nearby livestock farm and would leave the city in two days. Shen noted down the meeting time and place and left the Mercenary Union building with Xue¡¯er.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, we have some time to spare. What do you want to do?¡±

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, should we go look at the market place? We might need some weapons that use mana. We can¡¯t rely on spirit stones forever.¡±

    There were quite a few weapons developed for people who were not able to use mana. Most of the weapons used mana as the source of energy. Although, Shen had no trouble manipulating mana, Xue¡¯er would need protection as well as weapons.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

    The good thing was, Shen and Xue¡¯er had a powerful physique compared to the natives since they had been tempered by spiritual power.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, let¡¯s go back to the market place. We should be able to afford at least one weapon with these mana crystals.¡±

    There was actually a trading post established by the Mercenary Union next to the Union building. However, they currently had no commodities that could be used other than spirit stones.

    Shen decided that they would look around for a suitable weapon for Xue¡¯er since spirit stones could come in handy for Xue¡¯er in emergencies.

    There was a section of the market place that specifically sold weapons, as told by the Earth Immortal they met earlier.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, what kind of weapon do you want? They have these guns that discharge mana bolts. It¡¯s a good ranged weapon.¡±

    There went to a store that was recommended by the Visitor Information Centre¡¯s guide for newcomers to the planet.

    A wide variety of weapons were displayed through the terminals with their corresponding price and firepower shown.

    The currency of the planet was mainly in two common units. The local product of mana crystals that were required as an energy source as well as Alliance Credits which was a universal currency used in the human sectors of the universe.

    Xue¡¯er flicked through the different guns available on the terminal. Most of the designs were small and lightweight styles with varying amount of firepower.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, do you think we can afford this one?¡±

    Xue¡¯er pointed at a particular gun that was a larger model than the majority.

    Shen also looked through the specs of the gun.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s powerful but cheap!¡±

    Xue¡¯er asked one of the shop¡¯s workers for a sample of the gun. The gun was a large handgun with an extended barrel and a scope on top. It was heavy compared to other handguns but it had a much more powerful energy rating.

    Soon, a worker came out carrying the gun.

    ¡°Can I ask why it¡¯s so cheap even though it¡¯s quite powerful?¡± Shen asked out his doubt while Xue¡¯er was inspecting the gun.

    ¡°Oh, this is an old design made by a gun fanatic. It¡¯s too heavy to use for most people and it needs special bullets. Most other weapons just require mana crystals you see. This gun needs ammunition which needs to be charged with mana beforehand. It¡¯s not convenient at all.¡±

    ¡°Oh, do you sell those special bullets here?¡±

    ¡°Of course, you get two free bullets with the gun. But seeing that this is an old model that¡¯s not very popular, I¡¯ll throw in another two sets for free. They won¡¯t be charged with mana though.¡±

    ¡°Xue¡¯er, what do you think?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m ok with it Big Brother Shen, it¡¯s not heavy.¡±

    The worker looked at the large gun and the delicate looking girl with a slight astonishment. Normal non-mana users would never choose this gun as they had no way to recharge the bullets by themselves and it was too heavy to use in the jungles.

    Shen took out the mana crystals.

    ¡°Ok, are these enough?¡±

    The worker brought them to the counter and placed the mana crystals on a scale. The display attached spat out a number. The worker took back some of the mana crystals and handed them back to Shen.

    It seemed that mana crystals were traded using the amount of energy contained in them.

    ¡°Ok, wait a bit, I¡¯ll get the bullets.¡±

    The worker put away the mana crystals from the scale and headed into the room behind the counter.

    Soon, Shen and Xue¡¯er walked out from the shop. Shen held a bullet in his hand.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see how much mana it can store. According to the worker, a fully charged bullet can be used to fire 20 shots.¡±

    Shen drew in the surrounding mana and guided it into the bullet. After one minute, Shen felt that bullet was saturated with mana and further filling it would cause the bullet to explode.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, the worker said it should take around 10 minutes to fill for an average mana user.¡±

    ¡°Oh? I was going slow too.¡±

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, what should we do before the escort mission starts?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, well we don¡¯t have a lot of mana crystals and no Alliance Credits. Let¡¯s go to the bank to turn these mana crystals to Credits. It¡¯s more convenient to use.¡±