《Asura Ascending》 1. Abyss Dimension The universe, as mysterious as it can ever be, has existed through the endless time, unaffected by all the changes in it. The universe, in its long passage of time, has given birth to an infinite numbers of life, the worlds, the stars and many more as such there is no end to it. However, the most mysterious or say the greatest birth of all is the birth of the intelligent beings such as human, beastman, elf, demons and divine beings who has taken hold of the world or whatever the universe has to offer. And hence, taking advantage of this, they began to slowly grew in numbers and fought for their share of the world. But it was the discovery of the qi that has changed the life of all the beings as qi can be cultivated to strengthen oneself, extend the life, become immortal and ascend to higher realms. So, qi cultivation became a necessary path for those walks on the road to immortal. ¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã Abyss dimension A world filled with ancient ruins of different civilization from the unknown time, drifting through the endless space. It was a world, a parallel universe existing alongside the world of the living. A blood like skies covered all round it in this endless world. And no men dared to venture in this god forbidden world no matter how strong they world, so they say. Peng. Peng. Peng. Peng The sounds of clashing came from the colliding streaks of light. On closer look, one can see that there were seven of these lights, all of these lights were colliding in a frenzied manner without stop. But something was weird about them as six out of seven lights were seen to be clashing only on that one light. Their clash were creating sparks everywhere they went and it was difficult to follow their clash with normal eyes, as in one moment they appear here and in a split of second they appear somewhere hundreds or thousands of miles away from the original place. Every clash of theirs bring destruction to the already ruins in the radius of hundreds of miles even from the impact of the clash. One of the light turned into a dragon and rammed the weak light, throwing it out of the group. Boooom. Boooooooom. Boooom The weak light flew for hundreds of miles at an insane speed, colliding through the ruins and rocks, sometimes destroying and sometimes creating a large hole in it. Craaaaaash. Screeeeeeeeeesh Rumble And then it crashed one of the big ruins, sliding through until it came to a stop and scattering dust in its surroundings. As the dust began to shimmer down, one can see a man in his thirties glowing in golden aura. But he looked rather shabby with a messy black hair and with an armor which seems like it has gone through thousands of battle. His body was covered in cuts and wounds and gold like substance were flowing from it. The man, being unable to stand up, crawled to the wall behind him. With the wall supporting his back and his two beloved swords, he stood up trembling. ¡°cough¡­.cough¡­..huff¡­..huff¡­.¡± Blood, not red but in gold color, came out from his mouth. ¡°You don¡¯t die easily, do you?¡± Suddenly, a voice came from above. The injured man looked up and saw a man who was also radiating a golden aura and besides him stood five other with an intense killing intent aimed at him. The man that spoke up also seems to be in thirties with blonde hair and wore a dragon shaped armor. The other besides him were, a bearded old man with in golden robe, a silver hair youth in his twenties with two horns about ten centimeters, a teenage girl with scarlet hair, and two identical bald old man- one in green robe and the other in blue robe. They all gives out a golden aura from their body but the aura of the injured man seems to go dimmer as time goes by. ¡°Hehe¡­.look at you. A dying man spouting nonsense about killing us. I can''t believe the one was most feared in our realm reduced to such pitiful state¡­tsk¡­tsk.¡± The scarlet girl mocked the injured man. ¡°Enough!¡±, said the blonde man to the girl and then he turn to the injured man, ¡°I don''t want to drag this fight any longer in this abyss dimension. Let¡¯s end this fight without anyone dying, so give us what we have come for and we''ll let you live.¡± ¡°Hahaha¡­¡­I never knew you are such a merciful man. Even after knowing you for thousands of year, this is my first time seeing this sides of yours. Oh! What a kind fellow my once upon a time sworn-in brother you are. Hahah¡­cough...cough¡­¡±, The injured man said sarcastically. ¡°You are nothing but a piece of trash who is about to die now. Don''t be so stubborn and give us the azure crystal before we give you a dog''s death.¡±, the silver man said in rage.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Piece of trash? Heh¡­.A dog giving me a dog¡¯s death? Truly funny. Who was it that was trampled under my feet and begged to spare his pitiful dog¡¯s live? Or did you forget?¡±, the injured man said in cold smile to the silver man. ¡°YOUUUUUU¡­¡­.Stop being so stubborn and gives us the azure crystal, dammit.¡±, shouted the silver youth with rage. ¡°Why don¡¯t we just kill him and take it? Look at his pitiful being, killing him and putting him out of the misery would be us doing him a favor instead.¡±, the scarlet girl spoke with a smile. ¡°Well, it would be troublesome if he were to die as the azure crystal is stored in his soul.¡±, replied the bald man in green robe. ¡°Oh! So that¡¯s why the young Lord didn¡¯t want him dead.¡±, the scarlet girl said with an understanding look and turn to the blonde man. ¡°Oye! Stop chirping among yourselves. It¡¯s making my ears go numb.¡±, said the injured man laughingly. The eyes of the others became cold with killing intent, but the blonde man waved at them signaling them to stop with his gaze on the injured man and said, ¡°We only want the azure crystal and nothing more. If not you and I know that this place will become our grave.¡± ¡°Stop flapping your mouth too much. It makes me want to throw up.¡±, the injured man said coldly and continued, ¡°What you and I know is that even if I have to kill all the people in the world just to kill you, I will still do it. So, no use of words with me.¡± This time the killing intent grew from the blonde man and he said in a cold smile, ¡°For you to go such extreme just because of women, I don¡¯t know whether you''ve turned to a fool or not. It¡¯s funny when you used to be a cold-blooded killer and strength was your everything. And now here you are, dying for one woman that I killed.¡± ¡°She was my wife.¡±, the injured man said as his rage grew with killing intent. ¡°She was a traitor to my kind as she helped you escape, the man who disturbed the balance of the world.¡±, said the blonde man. ¡°SHE WAS YOUR SISTER, YOU OWN BLOOD SISTER.¡±, roared the injured man as he gave out extreme killing intent and his already dim golden aura glowed again, readying himself for the all-out battle. Seeing him, the others also readied themselves for the battle. And then¡­.. Grooooowl At that sound they all tense up, sending chill down to their spine. And all turned to the direction of the sound hundreds of miles away. ¡°Abyss monster¡± The silver man said in low voice but it was heard by everyone. Growl. Growl. Growl With the growling sound, came the hundreds of monsters in their view, some by crawling up the ruins and rocks and some by flying, and seconds by seconds their numbers grew from hundreds to thousands. Each monsters were about ten feet in height, in the form of a dog but with no fur and four eyes on their neck. A pair of bat-like wings on its back and a long tongue hanging on its mouth. Panic could be seen on everyone''s face at the sight of the monsters. ¡°Le¡­.Lets get out of here.¡±, stammered the scarlet girl. And the others except the blonde man gave an approval nod. ¡°Young Lord, I don¡¯t know about you and others but us brothers are unwilling to continue staying here any longer.¡±, said the bald man in blue robe and the bald man in green robe nodded. ¡°Young master, I think we should leave this place as soon as possible.¡±, requested the bearded man in golden robe with a pleading voice as he was the only person to call the blonde man ¡®Young master''. The blonde man''s face became unsightly as he gritted his teeth looking at the monsters and then he turned his gaze to the injured man and spoke hurriedly,¡± Hurry up and give us the azure crystal. Can¡¯t you see, these abyss monsters are. You will die if you don¡¯t hurry up.¡± ¡°Over my dead body. So come and give it a try.¡±, responded the injured man in cold smile. ¡°You¡­.¡± ¡°Young master, please. We have to escape from here if not we all will die.¡± As the blonde man was about to rush to the injured man, the bearded old man in golden robe interrupted him in a panic. The blonde man halted and hesitated, trying to decide what to do. GROOOWL This time the sound was louder and from behind the other monsters, came a monster about 40 feet in height with six eyes. Everyone''s face became pale with sweat falling rolling down on their face. ¡°Let¡¯s escape.¡±, this time the blonde man ordered without hesitation at the sight of the new monster, and turn to give one last look at the injured man but instead was greeted with a waving hand. So he gritted his teeth and turned into a streak of light as he dashed away with five other light following closely. Watching the escaping light until they faded from his sight, he suddenly fell on the ground on his face. ¡°cough¡­.cough¡­.huff¡­.huff¡­.huff¡± He coughed a few times before breathing profusely. Then he let go of his beloved swords and slowly reach out to his chest and a crystal in azure color about a size of a fist came out from his chest to his palm. He rubbed the crystal gently and murmured, ¡°I have sacrificed everything for this crystal, hoping to uncover the mystery and secrets behind it. About how it suddenly appeared from the spatial crack, destroying thousands of planets and stars. But it was all in vain in the end¡­.haha.¡± Sincerely, the image of a certain woman appeared in his mind and tears rolled down on his dusty face and he closed his eyes and said weakly, ¡° I''m tired of all this of all the running. Let me rest now.¡± Thinking of the woman, he mumbled, ¡°I¡¯m coming to you. Let¡¯s be together again.¡± After few seconds, the body showed no sign of movement. GROOOOWL Came the six-eyed monster with the other monsters surrounding the body of an injured man and stood there without doing anything. The six-eyed monster walked to the body slowly, but as it was about ten feet from the body it was startled by the sight of the azure crystal because the crystal was glowing in azure light and the light was growing at an extreme speed. The six-eyed monster got angry for startling it and gave an angry sound. GROOOOOWL..... GROO- Booooooooooooooom The crystal exploded wiping out everything in the millions miles radius. As the explosion calmed down, nothing was found in the radius of the explosion. The body of an injured man, abyss monsters, floating rocks and ancient ruins all disappeared with a trace. And everything became quiet and calm. ¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã Outside of the abyss dimension. Thousands of people stood in front of the dimension crack, while five old men stood nearest to the dimension crack. These old men¡¯s were sweating profusely as they stood in a formation maintaining the crack from closing. ¡°I can''t hold on much longer. If they don¡¯t exit fast then it will be a disaster.¡±, complained one of the old man. ¡°Hey, if you want to die then die alone. Don¡¯t drag us with you.¡±, another one spat out this words angrily. Just then- Swooosh. Swooosh. Swooosh. Swooosh. Swooosh. Swooosh Six streaks of light came out of the dimension crack and landed in front of everyone. ¡°Quickly, close the dimension crack. The abyss monsters are right behind us.¡±, shouted the bearded old man in golden robe hurriedly. Listening to the warning, the five old man operated the formation and closed the dimension crack. ¡°Young Lord, did you succeed?¡±, one of the old man asked the blonde man. Hearing that, the blonde man gritted his teeth with veins popping out from his face and turning his head as he looked at the skies- ¡°ASUUUUURAAAAAAAA¡± 2. Green Rock Town Green Rock town A town in the eastern border of the great Han empire and a population of about 100,000. The town was rather big as compared to the other neighboring towns, so the Green Rock town was considered as one of the biggest town in the surrounding areas. The town was surrounded by rocks of different size scattered around it and these rocks were covered in green moist. Hence, the name Green Rock town came to be. And beyond the stones, lies the wilderness. The wilderness was a dangerous place to wander unless you have sufficient strength to keep your life intake as this was the territory of the desolate beasts and there were many desolate beasts roaming around it. The desolate beasts would sometimes come out from the wilderness and attacked the nearby towns and villages. The Green Rock town was also not an exception and would be attacked. It was said that some villages and towns had fallen into ruins because of the attack from the desolate beasts. While some survived with their life to tell the tale, some lost their life such that, sometimes, there would be no survivors at all. That¡¯s the reason why one could see high walls completely surrounding the Green Rock town, which was built to fend off the attack of the desolate beasts and to defend the towns. But it had been many years since the last attack of the desolate beasts, but still then, there no knowing of the future and so everyone had to be prepared for any situation. The wall had five entrances, with each of the entrance guarded and controlled by members of the five great clans. The great five clans were the clans who had the greatest authority in the town with large number of clan members and so, the Green Rock town was ruled by the combined strength of these five clans. The great five clans were respectively the Liu clan, the Song clan, the Feng clan, the Rin clan and the Qin clan. These five clans stood at the pinnacle of power here in this Green Rock town since the town came into being. It was said that the ancestors of the great five clans were the first to settle down in this place about 300 years ago. At that time, it was just about the size of a village but with the passage of time the village grew on to the size of a town and that also a very big town. The streets of the town was rather lively with all kinds of people- merchants selling their goods, noise of quarrel coming from the bar, heated conversation from the restaurant, the sounds of bargaining of a women with the storekeepers, chats with the fellow person from the passerby and so on. But from among the crowds, one can find some people with their artifacts mixed with the crowds. The crowds, however, was not surprised or scared at the sight of those people but rather acted as something of the daily occurrence and nothing new. Indeed, it was pretty much the sort of thing that appeared every now and then. These people were what we called a cultivators, someone who had achieved great strength and cannot be compared to normal mortal human beings. Them going to streets can also be same as the other people, like shopping and doing normal stuff. But some of them maybe on their way to the wilderness to hone their skills by killing the desolate beasts or to earn their living or temper themselves with experience. In fact, majority of the residents of the Green Rock town were cultivators and the same goes for rest of the world. Being a strong cultivators was a common dreams of all the people in the world, because they can not only strengthen them but also increase their lifespan and soar in the skies. But unless you have some problem with your brain or too dumb or have a crippled dentian making it being unable to cultivate and that they had to live a mortal life till they die of old age before even reaching hundred years of their life, everyone else will choose to walk on the path of cultivation. One can only become a cultivators through cultivation of qi which was present in the surrounding and store it in their dentian. By cultivation of qi, they strengthen their body and advanced to later levels of cultivation. The cultivation had different levels, with each level harder to advance than the previous levels. At such that some people got in their cultivation being unable to breakthrough to next level and remain in their current level in their whole life. The levels of cultivation define the strength of the individual with elementary level as the starting point on the road of cultivation. The levels of cultivation are: Elementary level Qi forming level Qi altering level Qi condensation level Qi warrior level Nascent level ¡­¡­and so on with each level having nine stages. The classification of these levels were used as a reference to measure the strength of a cultivators. They were such that a person with higher level of cultivation can easily crush the person with lower level of cultivation to death. And so was when both had the same level of cultivation but different stages, the person with lower stage in the level of cultivation cannot fight on equal terms with the person with higher stage in the level of cultivation.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Here in this world, the law means nothing in front of great strength. People with great strength were respected, feared and admired by everyone and that applies to all the beings in existence. So, a person was received by the people according to their strength or in other sense, the person levels of cultivation. In the end, whether young or old; male or female, everyone only sought after strength in their whole life. This was the situation even in the Green Rock town. Those five clans were able to stand at the pinnacle of power here in this town and even to decide the fate of the people was all because they have enough strength to back them up. The great five clans had many strong cultivators in their respective clan. Each of these five clans were headed by clan master and elders, whose levels of cultivation were unparalleled in the Green Rock town, leaving the residents sigh with envy and worship. This led to many young cultivators in the Green Rock town to join their clans, not just because the great five clans were strong, but because the clans can provide resources that can help the young and ambitious cultivators to increase their strength. In the Green Rock town, the great five clans being standing shoulder to shoulder with each other would often get into conflict with each other. However, this was a common thing to occur especially from the younger generation with each sides trying to prove that the strength of their respective clan is stronger. A mountain cannot hold two tigers, so is the saying but the elders of the five clans will not make a move and watched from the sides unless the conflict escalated to large scale. They chose to co-exist with each other and keeping the status quo. Of course, no one was blind enough to see what was really going on. Each of the five clans had the intention of being the only clan to be in power but was afraid to make the first move in case others clans take advantage when two sides were in conflict and wipe them out. Anyway, the central area of the town was bustling with business so this part of the town was where it was most crowded with people. This area was where high quality goods were sold. And the stores here were higher standard than the stores of the other parts of the town and the ability to sell off high rank goods show the wealth of the stores. Pills for cultivation, pills for medicine and artifacts for attack and defense like swords and armor were mostly found in the central area of the town and that too at high price. So majority of the customers were all from the rich family. But still then, there was no stopping for the people to linger around in this part of the town. Mostly because of the lively atmosphere it brings and also to have a look at the high class goods which they may not even be able to afford it in their entire life. Some people even sold their entire fortune just to buy pills that can increase their cultivation and some save the money for years before being able to spend it on pills and artifacts. Like the levels of cultivation, there are also a classification for pills and artifacts but they are classified not in levels but in ranks and that the rank of pills and artifacts are further classified into four tiers, namely low tier, mid tier, high tier and peak tier. The levels of the pills are classified as: First rank Second rank Third rank Fourth rank ¡­¡­and so on. Whereas the levels of the artifacts are classified as: Common rank Silver rank Gold rank Mortal rank ¡­¡­and so on. The higher the rank of the pills and artifacts, the harder it is to afford the price and also because of their rarity, forget about buying even if you have sufficient money, it was hard to even come across high ranking pills and artifacts. But the effects of the pills increases with the increase in their ranking and so is the artifacts such that the cultivators are able to bring out more power in their attack from the higher ranked artifacts when compared to lowered ranked artifacts. That¡¯s why the people were tempted to get their hands on these high rank goods and cannot help but envy those people with high rank goods. Other than the stores that sell pills and artifacts, there were also stores for clothes and other accessories, restaurants and bars but each one of them was a place that ordinary people won¡¯t dare to visit because of the prices and standards and so they can only pass by with a long sigh with helplessness. ¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã Early in the morning, somewhere in the central area of the Green Rock town Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap Sounds of rushing footsteps can be heard. Creeeeek, and the door was opened. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap The sounds of footsteps finally came to a halt. And the voice an angry man rang out, ¡°Wake up¡­¡­.wake up¡­¡­wake up¡­¡­I SAID WAKE UP¡± The sleeping person was thrown out the bed and tut, landed on floor. The sleeping person was revealed to be a handsome boy of 14 years old with black hair and thin body. He acted surprised at first but soon returned to an emotionless face as he gazed at the man who threw him out of his bed and got up from the floor in a hurried manner and bowed to man. ¡°I am sorry, manager Chen.¡±, Said the boy. The man called manager Chen was a middle aged man and his full name was Chen Xu. He was the store manager of the store called White Clouds in the central area of the Green Rock town. ¡°Sorry my ass. You piece of trash. What makes you think you can sleep all you want when there are lots of work for you to do. Are you perhaps thinking that you are some young master when you are clearly a trash who couldn¡¯t even cultivate.¡± Manager Chen spat out angrily. Watching the boy keep quiet, as if he remembered something, manager Chen''s angry face turned into a mischievous smile as he continued in a mocking tone, ¡°What happened? Are you perhaps thinking of reporting back to the clan? Oooooooo, I am so scared.¡± And he acted as if he was scared. But seeing that the boy still didn''t show any change of expression, ¡°tsk¡­.tsk¡± he clicked his tongue twice as if he was bored and slowly turned to the door and said, ¡°Remember to clean the store properly or else you will go to sleep with empty stomach.¡± And went away. The boy stood in the same place silently and without any expression as he watched manager Chen disappear from his sight. And then he took the water from the jug on the table and rinsed his mouth and washed his face. After wiping his face with dry clothes, he walked to his bed as hi hand reached under his pillow and took a piece of bun which he saved it in the previous night. With a short sigh, he walked out of his room as his mouth bit on the bun which was his only morning breakfast. Wiping his mouth with his sleeve after having finished eating, he went to the store to begin his daily task. In the store, taking a piece of cloth in on his hand, he went to the windows to clean it but just then, sunlight came and fell on his handsome face which seems to tell him to cheer up. Looking at sun, his emotionless face gave a sad smile and he went on to continue his work. 3. Ren Xu It was a sunny in the noon of the Green Rock town and the already busy streets of the central area had just gotten even busier. The stores in this area were crowded with people. While some were there for the pills, some were for the artifacts and also for other things. Likewise, the White Clouds store was also crowded with people and the staffs of the store were running around to meet the demands of the customers. The White Clouds store was a branch of the Xu clan which was in the city of about 500 miles from Green Rock town. This store was managed by manager Chen (real name was Chen Xu) along with twenty staffs. In one corner of the store, there stood a boy with black hair and handsome face silently observing the people around him without any change of expression. ¡°Hey Ren.¡± One of the staff approached him with unfriendly gaze and continued, ¡°There is a new batch of pills and artifacts from the clan in the city. Manager Chen wants you to go and carry them to their respective room. Go now.¡± The boy called Ren, full name Ren Xu, nodded and walked away to do the things he was tasked with. One hour later. Ren was done with the work and walked to the manager Chen''s office while wiping the sweats on his face with his sleeves. As he reached the door of the office, he finds manager Chen sipping the tea from his seat. Manager Chen was surprised at the arrival of someone but calmed down after knowing the identify of the person. Putting down the tea on the table, he asked, ¡°Finished with the work I presume?¡± ¡°Yes.¡±, replied Ren. Manager Chen, ¡°Okay, you can go back.¡± Ren bowed and left the room. Seeing that Ren had left, Manager Chen went back to drinking his tea. ¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ä¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã Ren returned to the main store which was in the down floor and quickly went back to his usual place and stood there. After some time, left alone with no one to bother him, he was feeling sleepy even with all the noises, due to lack of sleep in the previous night and that also he had been woken up the store manager Chen Xu early in the morning from his deep sleep. But he forced himself to stay awake. With a soft sigh, he slowly turned his head to the window besides him and looked at the clear blue sky and watched the birds flying with envy and felt how he wished to be like them, free and without any shackles and be where he wanted to be. And then he thought about his life before coming to this town. He was born as the son of the clan master of the Xu clan. It was said that the day he was born, there was a loud sound and lighting in the sky even when there was no rain and the sun was still up in the sky. It was like the world was going to split apart any soon. That¡¯s why he was regarded special, not only because he was the son of clan master but also because of his birth. And when he still a little kid, he was respected by everyone and was loved and cared by both his father and mother. But as he grew older, everyone realized that he was unable to cultivate even when he was tested to have no problem in his meridian and dentian since his birth. So he was shunned by everyone and his treatment in the clan became colder and colder. Even his parents were no exception and were like everyone else. His relationship with them became further and further. The once loving and caring parents were became someone he couldn¡¯t even imagine and that¡¯s what it hurts him the most. His father acted like a stranger towards him and wouldn¡¯t even recognize him as his son and act like he didn¡¯t exist. His mother was worse, whenever they came across each other, she would look at him with disgust and hatred like she he wasn¡¯t even human.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. The clan members would often bully him on the point that he had to crawl to his bed with heavy injuries. No one would give him a helping hand, not even a pity look from his clan and from even the servants. He was like a dirt in everyone¡¯s eyes. His father remarried and his mother left the clan and went back to her own clan when he was just four years old. As he grew older, he sometimes had the urge to commit suicide and free himself from this miserable world but at that time, he would feel like he had something to accomplish and that he cannot die and give up yet. Like that he lived in the clan until last year, when he was sent to the Green Rock town to work for the clan''s branch store on the order of his father, the clan master. Usually, the person from the Xu clan will be sent to the side branch to work for the clan businesses if he/she was considered to have low achievements in their cultivation and that also after they are of fifteen years or above. But he was an exception like his father couldn¡¯t wait to get rid of him from his sight and was sent away when was just thirteen years old. The White Clouds store was not much different from the main clan. The staff members'' treatment towards him was cold, some treated him with disdain and some with hatred. His mentality was matured enough to know that the disdain was because of his inability to cultivate and the hatred was because they were sent away from the main clan and as the son of the clan master, their hatred was directed towards him but this was something he got used to it a long time ago. His work was not much different from the slaves as he had to clean the store, clean the items and even wash their clothes and that he had to be ready anytime for the orders. But when he thought about it, he felt like this place was much better than the main clan as he got less beating because they were busy with the work in the store and that he at least get an earning to feed himself. ¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã ¡°Hey you. Hey¡­¡­¡± A voice of came from behind him. Startled at the sudden voice which woke him up from his thoughts, Ren turned around to face the owner of the voice. But to his surprise, what stood in front of him was a beautiful young girl of about 12-13 years old. The surprise didn¡¯t last for long as he only raise his brows and quickly bowed to the young girl and said, ¡°Apologies, young miss.¡± And straightening him after bowing, he asked, ¡°What can I do for you, young miss?¡± Seeing the attitude of Ren, the girl was displeased and annoyed because in her life, the people she meets would either pay greet her with respect or fawn on her but he was neither and that also he was just a staff member of the store. ¡°humph¡­¡­I was informed that there is a new batch of pills in the store. So I came here to buy some for my cultivation.¡± The girl said while puffing her cheeks in anger while the two women looked at him with piercing gaze like a dagger. Ignoring the anger of the girl and the gaze of the two women, Ren replied, ¡°Yes, there is. I can take you there if want.¡± ¡°Lead the way then.¡± The girl said. ¡°Okay, this way please.¡± Saying that Ren started walking towards the stairs leading to the upper floors followed closely behind by the irritated girl and her two followers. As they were about to reach the stairs, one of the staff member stood on their way with a smile his face. Ren knew that this man name was Shemo Xu of about twenty years old. He knew him because Shemo Xu was the first person to beat him up here in this Green Rock town. Shemo Xu face the girl and bowed to her and said, ¡°My apologies to the beautiful miss Lin Liu but after seeing you here in our store, I feel like I have greet you no matter.¡± Miss Lin Liu appeared happy at the attitude of Ren and said, ¡°It¡¯s okay. I am here to take a look at the new batch of pills and buy some.¡± Pointing at Ren while looking a bit unhappy, she continued, ¡°And this person was just taking us there.¡± Shemo Xu, seeing the reaction of miss Lin Liu, became angry at Ren and scolded, ¡°Ren. Were you being rude to the young miss Lin Liu? Do you know who she is?¡± Seeing that Ren was silent, he continued, ¡°She is the only daughter of the Liu clan master. And remember, her name is Lin Liu. At young age, she has already broken through qi condensation level. Her talent is something you cannot dream to achieve. So, you should give your utmost respect whenever you see her.¡± After saying all that without taking a breath like he prepared it in advance, Shemo Xu turned to Lin Liu and said, ¡°Miss Lin Liu, I am sorry for the trouble you had to go through. Please ignore that piece of trash who couldn¡¯t even cultivate to elementary level with a clean meridian and dentian intact and follow me. I will lead you to the pills you desired.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± surprised at what she heard, Lin Liu looked at Ren with interest like he was some new kind of breed. Then she turned to Shemo Xu and said, ¡°After you.¡± Shemo Xu snorted with disdain looking at the expressionless Ren and turning to Lin Liu, he gave a happy smile and said, ¡°Please follow me, miss Lin Liu. I will take you to find a suitable pills for you.¡± And they went up the stairs, leaving Ren behind. But he can still hear the girl called Lin Liu asking about him with great interest and Shemo Xu calmly explaining about the Ren to Lin Liu like he knew him more than Ren knew about himself. Feeling glad that he had freed himself from the trouble and had more time for himself, Ren slowly walked back to his usual place as he continued to observe the people around him. And the looking at the outside of the window, he waited for the day to end so that he will be done with the work in the store and he''d be allowed to go to bed to let his sleepy eyes get a rest. 4. The dream Everywhere, there were corpses lying cold on the ground numbering more than thousand. Some corpses were with body intact but most of the corpses left with just parts of the body. Heads and limbs were scattered everywhere on the ground. Rivers of blood were flowing endlessly, painting the entire land in red. It was a brutal and bloody massacre, making it horrible and disgusting scene. ¡°kuk¡± Ren was stunned and horrified at the brutal sight that he couldn¡¯t stop shaking from fear. He was so disgusted that he felt like puking but he couldn¡¯t do so. He suddenly appeared at the scene but what greeted in front of him was this inhuman sight turning him completely pale and with horrified face. It was an unbearable sight for him who was just a 14 years old boy and had yet to experience killing other people and not to mention a weak desolate beasts other than chickens and pigs. Swooosh Peng. Peng. Peng He heard a sound of someone fighting and turned to look at the source of the sound of fighting. A few distance away from him, he saw hundreds of people fighting with the man with black hair. The man seems very strong because even if the other party had numbers more than hundred people, they were unable to overwhelm the man with black hair. With a sword on both his hands, the black-haired man was completely dominating the battlefield. While one sword was blocking the attack of his enemies, the other sword would attack his enemies. Every attack of the black-haired man would leave behind a corpse or a limbs flying. The black-haired man was like war god and a demonic one at that. Their battle was a one-sided battle with the black-haired man in a complete advantage. As the battle went on, those hundreds number of people joined in the fray of attacking the man keep on decreasing until there were about a dozens of them left. But instead of fleeing from the man, they continued to attack him like a madman who has lost their sense in a frenzied state. Maybe they knew that it was useless for them to flee and would rather die fighting the black-haired man who has slaughtered many of their kins and comrades. That¡¯s what Ren thought as he watched the battle from behind the rocks. Then the black-haired man used a heaven defying skills and those dozens of people were instantly slaughtered in a way worse than a dog such that their bodies were split apart into different pieces. Even the surrounding areas were destroyed due to the aftermath of his skills. Ren witnessed everything from behind the rocks, leaving him so shocked that his usually expressionless face has an eyes and jaws wide open. The man stood there motionless, facing the bloody mess he has created. And then he turned his head to the direction of Ren looked at him. Just by the look from the man left Ren frozen in fear. He wanted to run away but his body won¡¯t listen to him. He stood on the spot unable to control himself from shaking due to fear. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap The man slowly walked towards him. In reality, the distance between them was not near and there was no way he could have heard the sound of the footsteps. But maybe because of the extreme fear towards the man that Ren was imagining that he heard the sound of the footsteps. And those sound of the footsteps were like a thunder in his ears. Thump. Thump. Thump Ren''s heart started beating in a rapid manner and that also became worse as the man got nearer and nearer. The man was walking slowly but every step he took was like taking five steps. And in no time, the man has reached Ren and stood there coldly gazing at him without blinking.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Those cold gaze of the man sent a chill down to his spine and Ren started shaking even more than before while his teeth makes chattering noise. Then the man let out a smile on his face and he said, ¡°It is almost time. But¡­.¡± The smile on the man''s face disappeared as he lifted bother his hands holding the swords and continued, ¡°¡­¡­.. It¡¯s not today.¡± And he slashed his swords towards Ren. Ren watched everything unfold helplessly without being unable to resist even when the swords came slashing down towards him. And when the swords was about to touch him, he closed his eyes waiting for everything to end once and for all. ¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã In the silent night of the Green Rock Town, Thud A voice of something fallen on the floor was heard. ¡°huff¡­..huff¡­.huff¡­¡± Following the fall, a sound of someone¡¯s rough breathing was heard. And that someone was Ren who has fallen from the bed to the floor. Ren sat on the floor trying to catch a breath. He was sweating profusely making his clothes wet because of the sweats. ¡°huff¡­.huff¡­.it was j-just a dream¡­huff..huff¡­.¡± Ren said this as he looked around his room. But then he remembered the dream he had and he could feel his hands shaking again while his heart beats faster and faster. The man he saw on the dream was not someone he didn¡¯t see before. Although he didn¡¯t know the man nor has he seen him before in this world, he would from time to time see this man in his dream. That¡¯s how Ren came to know the man but why he was seeing the man in his dream was a complete mystery to him. Ren still remember the time when he, for the first time, saw the man in his dream. At that time, he was just six years old and was living a miserable life in the clan. From that time onwards, the man would often appear in his dream. But every time, it would be a different scenario. One time the man would be fighting the dragons and the other time would be of him destroying the cities. The man himself would sometimes be giving out a golden aura and sometimes a dark aura. Even the blood itself would sometimes be red and sometimes be golden liquids. And in the dream, Ren was unable to make out from dream and reality as everything feels so real. So he could only know that it was a dream after he woke up. And after waking up, he would be sweating all over while his mind will be unable to figure out the man in his dream making everything a mystery that Ren was unable to solve. But each time when he had this dream, it would be Ren standing on the sidelines as a bystander and watching everything unfold on its own without getting involved. But this time in his dream, for the first time, the man not only discovered Ren and approached him, but also spoke to him although in the end the man killed Ren in his dream. Ren was still sitting on the floor silently as he remembered the scene of the dream and was trying to figure out the words spoken by the man. Almost time for what? He thought, but still couldn¡¯t make it out about the words no matter how hard he tried. Unable to find the answer, he stopped thinking about the words and about his dream as he remind himself that everything that happened was all just a dream. But deep inside, he knew that there was a familiarity between him and the man ever since the first dream but he had no idea about it. Looking the night sky through his small window, he felt helpless that he couldn¡¯t go back to sleep even if he tried to. So he positioned himself in a meditative pose and readied his to cultivate through the night. Cultivation of qi was a waste of time for him and that is something he himself knew better than anyone else. Even after a long cultivation, he couldn¡¯t see himself progressing at all. All the qi, after entering his dentian, would vanish instantly with him knowing the reason behind it. But even after all this, he wouldn¡¯t give up on cultivation. Not because he has strong will, but he felt something compelling him to continue like there was he would miss he don¡¯t. And also, even though Ren knew that the man in his dream was cruel and demonic, he admired his strength and wanted to be strong like him and that was also why he keep on cultivating without giving up. Taking a deep breath and calming down, he adjusted his state of mind and started his cultivation. Qi from the surroundings started gathering around Ren and entered his body. Actually the amount of Qi around him was enormous enough that average cultivators couldn¡¯t achieve during their cultivation unless from the effects of pills. But what use when the Qi after entering his body disappear and not help him to show even a tiny bit of progress in cultivation. Although there was no progress in cultivation, Ren was in fact stronger than those of the mortals without cultivation. But in the world of cultivation, those fact were nothing but laughing matter that no one would wish to discuss about it. Seeing no progress in cultivation, Ren opened his eyes and sighed with disappointment. ¡°Again¡± Saying that as if to motivate himself, he closed his eyes once again and went back to the cultivation of Qi. As the moon shines brightly in the sky and the cold breeze makes a rustling sound with the leaves of the tree, the room of Ren was quiet without any noise but if one were to look carefully in his room, especially Ren, one could find that his body would from time to time gives out a flash of azure light without him noticing it. 5. Five young heroes In one of the rowdy bar, where many people, especially adventurers, gathered to have a drinks. ¡°So after a fierce battle with the second level demon wolf, I was finally able to kill it.¡± A guy boasted to his two other friends and gulped down his drink in one go. ¡°Paaaaah¡­¡­..Who would believe such kind of story? Even a three years old kid won¡¯t believe such kind of story.¡± Said one his friend, not believing even a single word his friend has said. ¡°Hey. It¡¯s the truth.¡± Dissatisfied at the response of his friend, the guy retorted with a sullen expression. ¡°Tch. You, with your cultivation at Qi warrior level, fighting a second level demon wolf? That is too unreal to be true. Haha¡± The other friend said while giving a distrust look and started laughing at the end because he finds the story of his friend hilarious. ¡°Hmmp¡­¡­.if you don¡¯t believe me, I can prove it to you when the time comes.¡± The guy said with displeasure in his tone as he continued to drink without retorting back this time. ¡°Forget it.¡± One of his friend sighed and continued, ¡°Its not something that can be killed with a cultivation of Qi warrior level. Those second level beasts at least have the strength of human Nascent level of cultivation.¡± ¡°just because you think you can¡¯t kill the second level beast with your cultivation of Qi warrior level doesn¡¯t mean others can¡¯t.¡± The guy scowled at his friend. ¡°Hehehe¡­..Of course there are others who can kill the second level beast with their cultivation of Qi warrior level, but you are definitely not one of them.¡± His friend said while giving a disdain smile. ¡°Speaking of which, I heard that those young heroes are able to kill second level beasts and can even give a hard fight with the third level beasts.¡± Another friend added. ¡°huumph¡­¡­they are strong only because they were provided with good pills since when they were very young and also because they have a high ranked artifacts to support them.¡± The guy chided with a humped. ¡°True, but it¡¯s still a fact that you are weaker than them because they can kill the second level beast while you can''t. Hahaha.¡± One of his friend reprimanded him and started laughing loudly, followed by the other friend. Seeing them, making the fun out of him, the slammed his fist on the table and roared angrily, ¡°What? You wanna have a go?¡± His friend, ¡°If that¡¯s what you wish.¡± Another friend, ¡°sigh¡­.its been a long time since we''ve had a fight with each other. Now my hands are itching for another one.¡± ¡°Good.¡±, the guy said happily, having calmed down his anger and continued, ¡°Lets do that then. But before that, we''ll have another round of drinks. Such a grand thing needs a good headstart.¡± His friends nodded with a smile without saying a word and continued with their drinks as the guy ordered the waiter for more drinks. Like them, there were also other people in the bar, drinking with friends. Well, while some drinks with joyous mood, some with hatred, and some were even exchanging curses with each other in a drunken state. All in all, it was a good bar for the adventurers to hang out with their friends for a couple of drinks. ¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã Tap. Tap. Tap A group of people walked into the White Clouds store. ¡°Isn¡¯t those people from the Qin clan?¡± Someone exclaimed, looking at the group of people, and those around the person turned their heads to the group of people. It was not only them, everyone else in the store, when they heard a footsteps of many people, turned their heads with curiosity. ¡°Hey look. Young master Simon is also here.¡± Another person said while being excited. ¡°Its just a young master of the Qin clan. Why are you so excited for?¡± Someone next to him reprimanded the person who was excited after seeing the young master of the Qin clan.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. The person looked at the one who reprimanded him with a grown an said, ¡°You are not from this town, are you? You don¡¯t Know shit.¡± And the frown on his face disappeared, replaced with that of a worshipping gaze as he turned to the one called young master Simon and continued, ¡°Young master Simon is one of the five young heroes of Green Rock Town. The five young heroes are the title given to the top five strongest in the younger generation. These five young heroes are Simon Qin, Temjen Liu, Calvin Song, Khrolo Feng and Jasmine Rin.¡± ¡°Five young heroes?¡± mumbled the person next to him and as if coming to sudden realization, ¡°Ah! I''ve heard of them. Their names are famous even in my town. Are you saying that the young master in front of me is one of the five young heroes? This is unbelievable.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. You got it.¡± Feeling satisfied at the reaction of the person who was reprimanding him earlier, he said with joyful smile. Ren was standing on his usual place when he heard a loud ruckus near the doorway. So he turned around to the direction of the doorway to see for himself the reason behind the ruckus and saw the group of people attracting the eyes of the people around them as they walked in the store. As his gaze landed on the young man in the middle of the group, Ren''s brows raised a bit and went back to normal. He recognized those people especially the young man in the middle, who was pretty famous in the town. Being a staff of the store, it was a common courtesy to greet the customer especially those big shots of the clan, or, that¡¯s what he learned after coming to this town. So he took a step forward to greet them but returned when he saw one of the staff rushing towards the group of people. Simon Qin walked in the store proudly, enjoying the worshipping gaze of the people around him and that of girls who blushed whenever his eyes landed on them. ¡°Shemo Xu pay respect to young master Simon.¡± Appearing before Simon Qin from within the people, Shemo Xu cupped his hands and greeted him. ¡°Oh! Shemo, how have you been?¡± Looking at Ren, Simon Qin inquired with a smile. Shemo Xu, hearing from Simon Qin, smiled happily and replied, ¡°Thanks for your concern, young master Simon. I''ve been doing just fine.¡± ¡°Now now¡­.Are you just going to make me stand here to death or take me to look a the goods of your store?¡± Simon Qin said jokingly. ¡°Cough. Apologies young master.¡± Giving an awkward cough and apologizing, Shemo Xu inquired, ¡°What would young master Simon like to look first.¡± Simon Qin said, ¡°My people just need some good artifact. So take me to see the artifacts first. And later to see the pills which can help in cultivation.¡± ¡°Certainly young master Simon. Then this way please.¡± Said Shemo Xu as he lifted oneof his hands in the direction of the stairs leading to artifacts room. Simon Qin nodded with a smile and started walking towards followed by the people he came with. Seeing that Simon Qin and his people has already walked in front of him, Shemo Xu increased his pace to match Simon Qin. And after being able to walk side by side with Simon Qin, he started a conversation but most of it were in praise of Simon Qin, who was listening with a smile on his face. On the other hand, Ren was watching everything happening from his place. And seeing Shemo Xu behaving like a dog in front of Simon Qin, he couldn¡¯t help but let out a little smile on his face because he found it funny when Shemo Xu, who was a prideful person himself and the one to give the hardest time him, has turned into a dog when another strong prideful person has appeared. Looking at the backs of Shemo Xu, Simon Qin and his people disappearing into the upper floors, he turned his sight away from them and turned his focus in front of him, where people were busy going through the items in display on the first floor. And that any one of them might come to him anytime to inquire about the items, either pills or artifacts. ¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã About an hour later. The group of people led by Simon Qin and Shemo Xu came down from the upper floors with an additional of two staffs who were carrying a box each. Both Shemo Xu and Simon Qin were chatting happily as they came to the main floor and walked in the direction of Ren without looking where they were going. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, Ren had no idea about. But they stopped on their track when they were in front of Ren. ¡°Ah! Ren. You are here.¡± Acting surprised, Shemo Xu said. Ren was actually surprised at act of Shemo Xu and knew right away that something was off because he had always been there and that was something everyone of them knew But knowing that there was nothing he could do, he replied, ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Good good.¡± Said Shemo Xu with a smile and continued, ¡°You see, young master Simon has bought some artifacts and some pills but they didn¡¯t bring a carriage with them. So those things will have to be brought back to their house with hands.¡± Hearing that, Ren gave a weird look at Shemo Xu and turned his gaze on his two fellow staffs who was giving him a mischievous smile and then to Simon Qin and his people who was looking at him with disdain while smiling. ¡°You might be thinking why I¡¯m saying this to you. But you are the only one who is free at the moment from among our staffs.¡± Shemo Xu smiled and continued, ¡°And don¡¯t misunderstand thinking why the people behind young master Simon not going to carry it themselves. Because their hands are numb due to practicing a unique skills. That¡¯s why I can only look for your help.¡± Indeed Ren thought of that as he looked a the people who were all a cultivators, stronger and has better build than him who was just a mortal, weak and has a thin body. But actually hearing from Shemo Xu, he realized that everything was just another play to make him suffer for their own amusement. Having gotten used to this kind of things, he sighed in his heart and walked towards the two boxes on the hands of his fellow staffs without saying anything. Looking at Ren taking the two boxes from the staffs, Shemo Xu smiled mischievously and then turned to Simon Qin and said, ¡°Young master Simon, it seems like there will be no problem delivering the items to your house.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± Said Simon Qin happily while his eyes not leaving Ren. ¡°Then I bid you a safe return to your house¡± said Shemo Xu as he cupped his hands. ¡°Thank you.¡± Simon Qin said and then looking at his people behind him and then to Ren, he said, ¡°Lets go.¡± Following the people from behind, Ren walked towards the door of the store without saying a word while carrying two boxes on his hands. 6. Arrival of bad news ¡°You truly are a pitiful human aren¡¯t you?¡± said Simon as he looked at Ren with a smile who was quietly walking behind them carrying two boxes on him. Seeing that Ren wasn¡¯t responding to his words, instead of getting angry, Simon smiled and continued, ¡°When that Shemo guy told me about you, saying a trash who couldn¡¯t cultivate even with an undamaged meridians and dentian and this and that, I actually didn¡¯t believe it in the beginning.¡± ¡°But¡­.¡± The smile on Simon''s face turned to that of a mockery, ¡°¡­..Now that I¡¯ve seen you, it appears that he was telling the truth.¡± Even when the words of mockery entered his ear, there was not a slightest bit of change in face of Ren. It was as if he didn¡¯t hear any of the words spoken to him and remained as he always was, like a lifeless wooden puppet. ¡°Ren was it?¡± Simon Qin stopped in the middle of the road and looking in the eyes of Ren, he inquired. Seeing the nod of Ren,. Simon Qin resumed his walking pace, but this time looking ahead of him, and said, ¡°Say, Isn¡¯t it normal for human to be a cultivators even if their talents in cultivation is very low? But in your case, it¡¯s different. Something a gem but with no value.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why¡± turning his head to Ren with a smile, ¡°You are a trash but not a normal one, more like a special trash.¡± Hearing all this, what was going through Ren¡¯s mind was not about the words said by Simon but instead about how talkative the person in front of him was. About how the person seems like someone who couldn¡¯t bother to talk when he was in the store but now it seems like that wasn¡¯t the case. ¡°If it isn¡¯t brother Simon?¡± A sweet and childish voice of a girl resounded in the ears of Ren, Simon Qin and his people. Startled at the sudden voice, the group turned their heads to look at the owner of the voice. But what greeted their eyes was two beautiful young girls, coming towards them from the other direction of the road. Ren recognized the younger girl who was called Lin Liu, but as for the other girl, having a red hair and around the same age as him, he didn¡¯t know her as he had never seen her before. But based on the rumors he heard while in the store, if he was not mistaken then she must be the person called Jasmine Run, that¡¯s what he thought. ¡°Ah! Greetings sister Lin and¡­.¡± Moving his gaze to the other girl besides Lin Liu, Simon Qin continued, ¡°¡­..Sister Jasmine.¡± ¡°Greetings greetings¡±, said Lin Liu playfully while Jasmine remained quiet. Simon smiled, ¡°So what brought two beautiful young girls out of their house?¡± Lin Liu replied, ¡°I was doing some shopping when I met sister Jasmine. So we both decided to take a stroll in the town, that¡¯s when we met you¡­¡­ah! You are Ren.¡± As her gaze landed on Ren, she exclaimed in surprise. ¡°Oh! Little sister Lin of this guy?¡± said Simon Qin while giving an interesting look. ¡°Of course I know him. We met at the White Clouds store where he one of the working staff.¡± Saying that she turned to Jasmine and spoke with excitement, ¡°That was the guy I was talking about earlier.¡± On hearing it from Lin Liu, Jasmine raised her eyes and gave a curious look at Ren. And then she gave a soft smile at Ren before she moved her gaze away from him. ¡°By the way, what¡¯s he doing with brother Simon?¡± inquired Lin Liu to Simon Qin. ¡°Oh! As you can see, he''s delivering an items to my house.¡± Said Simon as he pointed at the two boxes on Ren''s hands. ¡°Still¡­..¡± Lin looked at Simon and his people who were all older than Ren by five to six years and then the expression on her face changed as she stared at Simon and his people with a weird look. Similarly was the case with Jasmine. The shoulders of Simon jerked a little as he said, ¡°He¡¯s just doing his job. Those boxes are indeed heavy, but even as a mortal, he''s pretty strong.¡± And he went on to clarify the truth feeling guilty. Lin Liu and Jasmine continued with their stares for a few breath of time without saying a word. And breaking the silence, Lin Liu said, ¡°Forget it. There are still a few things to do. So we might as well be on our way. Then, brother Simon, see you next time.¡± Simon, ¡°Next time then. Take care.¡± After saying that, Lin Liu looked at Ren and gave her a playful smile which was rather cute on her childish face and then she turned around while Jasmine also gave a brief look at him before turning away.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Simon watched the backs of the girls mixing in the crowds of people with a complicated expression but as for Ren, he remained expressionless as ever. Simon then turned his head to Ren and said with a teasing smile, ¡°You are quite popular with girls aren¡¯t you? Well, with that handsome face, it¡¯s understandable. Pity, you are born a trash. Hahaha.¡± And he gave a disdain laugh at the end. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s be on our way.¡± Saying that, Simon started walking followed by his people and then Ren. ¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã By the time the sun was about to set, Ren returned to the store. As he went inside the store, he saw that there only a few people remaining here and there, browsing through the items. He stood near the entrance without taking another steps as he moved his gaze around the store, searching for a particular person. After finding the one he was searching for, he started walking to that direction, neither walking too fast nor too slow. ¡°¡­.and the effects of this pill is that it can strengthen the body for a time taken to burn an incense stick. As for the after effects, there will be sore pain in the muscle but it will go away after a night of meditation.¡± Xu Shemo was explaining about the pills to the people when suddenly, he saw figure approaching towards him. Turning to the figure, a smile appeared on his face as he said, ¡°Took you a long time to return, Ren. There wasn¡¯t any problem with the items I presume?¡± Ren quietly nodded. ¡°Good.¡± Shemo expressed joy and continued, ¡°The store will be closing soon. So wait till it closes before you do you job of cleaning the store. Now go.¡± Ren nodded and turned to walked away. ¡°Ehm. Sorry about that.¡± Shemo said turning back to the people he was explaining stuff about the pills, ¡°Where was I? Ah! Yes. And the next pill is¡­..¡± And he continued to explain to the people. Ren returned to his place and stood there quietly. But this time there was a tired expression on his face and a drop of sweats were running down his cheeks from his forehead. Noticing it, he wiped them away with his sleeves and continued to stand, waiting for the store to close for the day. ¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã Somewhere in the wilderness. Swooosh. Swooosh A group of people were running with their life on the line, through the forest of the wilderness. These people were running towards the outer area of the wilderness from the inner area. They ran without stopping even when some were injured and blood was pouring down from those injuries and some with a missing hands. But even with these conditions, they kept on running and running. ¡°huff¡­¡­huff¡­.we¡­we are all going to die.¡± One of the people said while trying to catch a breath. ¡°Stop saying nonsense. We will live. We are not going to die.¡± His friend running besides him rebuked angrily. Roar. Roar. Roar The sounds of roaring of many beasts came closer and closer from behind them, sending chills down to their spine. On hearing the roars, one man shouted, ¡°Everyone. Looks like there will be drinks for tonight.¡± Determination showed on his face as he continued, ¡°I have family in the town. As the head of the family, I don¡¯t want them to suffer, I want to protect them. Who''s with me?¡± Even knowing that their fate was sealed, the despair in their eyes glowed with determination at the words of the man. Seeing that everyone was willing to go down with a fight even when knowing that there¡¯s no retuning from this, the man felt satisfied. Then following him, everyone stopped on their tracks and turned to the direction of the incoming beasts. The man then turned his head to his friend besides him who was missing a hand and blood was dripping from the would and said softly, ¡° Brother, I want you to run to the town while we buy you some time and inform them about what we saw.¡± ¡°No¡±, Shouted his friend, ¡°Even if I were to die, I will die fighting them.¡± ¡°You bastard.¡± An angry voice came from one of the people, ¡°We are letting you go, not because we care whether you live or die, but because we want you to spread the news so that at least my family will survive and live on.¡± ¡°Brother please¡± said the man, ¡°We choose you because you are the fastest among us. Please¡­¡­.don¡¯t let our sacrifice be in vain.¡± Tears started flowing out from his eyes as his friend said, ¡°I am sorry everyone. Brother¡­¡± and then he looked at his two friends, the man who spoke to him and the other who was standing pale due to lost of many blood from the wounds on his back was giving a smile and continued, ¡°¡­.i-I am sorry that I lied about killing the second level beast by myself.¡± And cried loudly. At these words, everyone burst out laughing and the man said, ¡°Hahaha. We Know. We didn''t believe it in the first place anyway. But¡­¡± His expression turned soft and continued calmly, ¡°¡­¡­I want you to survive and become strong enough to kill not only second level but higher level beasts with a wave of your hand.¡± ¡°I will. Definitely. I promise.¡± Said his friend as he wiped away his tears. ¡°Now go.¡±. The man said with a smile. His friend raised his head to give one last look at his fiends and the people around him. But seeing them smiling at him, tears started flowing again in his eyes as he shouted, ¡°I am going my brothers.¡± Then he turned around and started running without looking back even once and headed straight to the direction of the town even when he heard the roar of the beasts and the cries of his friends and the people. ¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã On one of the gate under the control of Song clan. ¡°Hey look.¡± Shouted one of the guards, pouting the outside, ¡° Someone is coming out from the wilderness and he look feeble.¡± The captain of the guards stared in the direction pointed by his underling for few breath of time and suddenly ordered, ¡°Quickly, bring that person over here.¡± His underlings complied and after a few moments later, the person was brought in front of the captain. Looking at the person who was missing one arm and on the verge of dying, the asked the person, ¡°What happened?¡± The person mumbled with weak voice, ¡°Many beasts. Thousands of them. Led by Fifth level fire tiger. Coming towards the town. May reach in two to three days.¡± Saying that the person fell down on the floor. Checking the pulse of the person, one of the guards said, ¡°He¡¯s not dead. Just unconscious., Captain¡­.Captain.¡± Lost in thoughts, the captain of the guards was woken up by the voice of his underling. The captain, then, made a complicated expression as he looked at the person lying unconscious on the floor and then turning his head to his underlings, he quickly ordered with a serious expression, ¡°You are not allowed to leak this information. And quickly conveyed this bad news to the higher up. Dismissed.¡± All the guards present in the room saluted and said in unison, ¡°Yes, sir.¡± 7. Emergency meeting Swooosh A person was rushing towards the Song clan. And just as he was about to reach the gate. ¡°Stop where you are.¡± A voice came and the person came to halt. Then four people with a weapon on their hands appeared from within the gate and surrounded the person while being vigilant. Seeing the familiarity of the uniform the person was wearing, they drop down their vigilance and one from among the four people questioned him, ¡°What is the purpose of your visit to the clan?¡± The person being questioned was one of the guards stationed at the entrance of the town under Song clan. The guard on being questioned replied, ¡°I¡¯ve brought an important news to the clan.¡± ¡°Oh! Then you can tell us and we¡¯ll pass it to the clan master.¡± Said one of four people. At this words, the guard made a difficult expression and without saying another word, he took out a red envelope from inside his breastplate and showed it to them. Looking at red envelope, the four people made a hard expression and slowly came towards the guard to see whether it was fake or not. On seeing that it was genuine one, they made a serious expression as they knew the importance of red envelope. Then one person from among the four turned to the guard and said, ¡°Follow me.¡± Seeing that the person started walking towards the inside of the clan, the guard quickly followed from behind. ¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã Holding the red envelope on one hand and the letter on the other, the man in his forties frowned asked the guard who was kneeling onehis one knee, ¡°Is everything that is written here true?¡± The guard replied, ¡°Yes, clan master¡± ¡°Does anyone else knows about this matter?¡± The person addressed as clan master asked again. ¡°No¡± the guard replied, ¡°The only ones who knew of this matter are the guards and the captain.¡± ¡°Okay. You may return.¡± Said the clan master. The guard stood up and gave a respectful bow at the clan master before turning around and exiting the clan hall. The man who was addressed as clan master was the clan master of the Song clan and his name was Harold Song. His expression at the moment was that of a frown and fear as he sat on his seat quietly. Then turning to the old servant standing on the corner besides him, he said while making a serious expression, ¡°Inform the respective clan master of the other clans about this matter and also tell them that I am requesting an emergency meeting at our Song clan and would like to have them attend it before the sun sets.¡± The old servant, hearing the commands of the clan master, bowed and left the clan hall, leaving the clan master Harold Song alone in the clan hall, who sat on his chair in deep silence while his mind thought about the approaching calamity. ¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã The sky has just turned red as the sun began setting down behind the mountains. But the liveliness of the people in Green Rock town had yet to settle down.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it While these people were busy with their lives unaware of the approaching calamity that may befall upon them, the clan hall of the Song clan was filled in silence with heavy atmosphere that make it difficult for one to breathe. Inside the clan hall, there sat a five individuals who were clan master of their respective clan. Those five clan master were Harold Song, Wushen Qin, Marhu Rin, Gary Feng and Darius Liu. Finally breaking the silence, Marhu Rin, spoke up, ¡°So what do you think we should do then?¡± ¡°If the report is true, then there¡¯s nothing we can do.¡± Said Wushen Qin with a sigh. ¡°Then should we evacuate with everyone?¡±, Gary Feng suggested. ¡°Evacuate to where? To the city?¡±, said Darius Liu with a slight anger in his tone, ¡°Do you think those big clans in the city will agree to provide shelter for hundred thousands of people? Forget about sheltering us, they won¡¯t even let us enter the city.¡± Gary Feng greeted his teeth and said, ¡°Then are you proposing that we fight a fifth level fire tiger by ourselves? Do we even have a chance?¡± Seeing that everyone was remaining quiet, he shook his head and continued, ¡°Forget about thinking of fighting a fifth level beast, we will all be dead when those fourth level beasts attack us.¡± ¡°How about we ask for a help from the city Lord and from those big sects?¡± Suggested Harold Song who was staying quiet the entire time, ¡°At least they might be interested in the fourth and fifth level beasts core and might be willing to help us?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a great idea.¡± Said Wushen Qin, ¡°I agree with the suggestion of brother Harold. What about the rest?¡± saying that, he turned to look at the others for their answer. After hearing the suggestion, the other clan masters became silent and went into a deep thought. And then after a moment of thinking, they nodded their heads in approval of the suggestion. Without further delay, the letter was quickly prepared for the nearest city Lord and for the sects requesting them of their help. And the Messengers were quickly dispatched to the city Lord and the sects. After sending the messengers away, those clan masters gathered again in the clan hall of the Song clan to discuss about the next course of action. ¡°Now that we''ve sent for help. We can only wait until the messengers bring back their response.¡± Said Gary Feng and then suddenly changing his expression to that of a fear, he continued, ¡°I just hope that they won¡¯t turn down our request, if not then, we are doomed.¡± Even though they''ve sent for the help, the atmosphere around them was still heavy and not even one of them had a relax expression. ¡°We can pray that they agree to our request.¡± Harold Song sighed with worried expression. Then looking at the other clan masters, he continued, ¡°Anyway, what we should be doing is think about strengthening our defense to prepare ourselves an attack at any moment because, even though the information we got tell us that those desolate beasts would reach our town in 2-3 days, there is no telling of what will happen.¡± ¡°True.¡±, Darius Liu agreed as he continued, ¡°As you all know, the entrances guarded by my Liu clan and brother Harold''s Song clan are the closest to the wilderness. So it is likely that the desolate beasts will initiate their attack on those two entrances. So I think we should heavily guard those two entrances and the wall near the wilderness.¡± The rest of them, on hearing what Darius Liu had said, had no other choice but to agree as the wall and entrances near the wilderness were the lifeline of the people of Green Rock town. And if the beasts were to breach through the wall and entrances, then their fate was doomed for sure. ¡°Then what do you suggest should we do about the people in the town?¡±, asked Gary Feng. Wushen Qin spoke up, ¡°I think we should move them to the central area of the town. And also, just in case we fail to hold off the attack of the desolate beasts, we should be prepared to escape from the entrance guarded by my Qin clan which is the farthest from the wilderness.¡± At those words, there was a heavy silence among them which was followed by a light nod of the other clan masters. ¡°Then I suppose we should spread the news now and start taking action.¡±, breaking the silence, Darius Liu said. ¡°Indeed¡±, said some while the others gave a nod. Like that the news was spread in the very night of the meeting of the respective clan masters. Even in the night, the news spread like wildfire bringing nightmares to the people of Green Rock town. ¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã In the next day, even before the sun had yet to rise, there were people everywhere on the streets with gloomy expression on their face. There were some with red eyes clearly due to lack of sleep because of the terrible news they got in the previous night. There were some who were carrying all their precious belongings which they had packed right after they heard the news without even getting a wink of sleep and were now going to leave the town as quickly as possible. Even though It was still a morning, the bars were already full with people discussing about the news. And not only in the bars, people everywhere in the town, whether men or women, young or old, were all discussing about the terrible news which gave them a horrible nightmares in the previous night. In the White Clouds store, being woken up by the loud noise of the people, Ren was not in the mood to sleep anymore and was in the stores doing his daily cleaning duties. But curious at the weird behavior and the talk of the people, clearly unaware of the news because no one told him in the previous night, he stood by the window and quietly listened to the conversation of the people. After listening to the conversation, he understood everything but without even making a panic expression like those of the people when they heard it for the first time, he silently went back to his duties and continued the cleaning of the store. 8. Raid of the desolate beasts On the second day after the news of the incoming attack from the desolate beasts was spread, the once bustling town was now reduced to the state of silent and gloomy town. The population of the town were now gathered at the central area of the town as this area was considered a safe zone but that was unless the beasts didn¡¯t breach past the guards of the five clans. In the beginning when the news was just spread, the was a large number of people trying to escape the approaching calamity by moving to another town and to city. But after having gotten the news of the fate of those people who had escaped earlier than them, they had no choice but to return back to the town. Indeed, they had to because there was no more escape route as the roads were now blocked by the wandering desolate beasts. And if they want to go past them, then their only way was to slaughter their way through and that was something impossible to do as those beasts were massive in numbers where, although majority of the beasts were first level, there were also second level beasts and in some place, there were also a third level beasts mixed within them. In the end, having lost all hope, those people who were trying to escape or thinking of escaping were forced to give as they remained in the town awaiting for the calamity to arrive. And also in the following day after the news, there were some people who were causing havoc in the town out of desperation while some because of having gone crazy. It was complete chaos in the town, cries of children and women were heard everywhere. But under the combined efforts of the five clans, the town was put into order. But the uneasy feelings of the people were not something that even the presence of the five clans couldn¡¯t be removed. But with the reassurance of the five clans about the reinforcements on the way, then only did the people breathe in relief. Like that, the people, like children, women, elderly person and other who were a mortal, were all moved to the central area for their safety. But for those people who were a cultivators, even for those as low as elementary level, they stood alongside the guards to defend the town from the attack of the desolate beasts. It''s not that they volunteered on their own will, well some of them did volunteer themselves, but rather it was forced upon them making it a mandatory for all the cultivators in the Green Rock town. The five clans also dispatched their entire forces to defend the town and the people. At first, they were not at all ready to risk out their everything as they were, along with defending the town, making another plan to escape the town if they were pushed into corner. But with the arrivals of the messengers that they had previously sent out to ask for help who had brought a good news did they decided to bring out their everything to defend and hold off the desolate beasts until the reinforcements arrived. ¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã As of the moment, there was a complete silence from everyone and the only sounds that can be heard was the sounds of heavy breathing as the gaze of all the people whether guards or the cultivators were all focused in the front where the wilderness lies. Nervousness could be seen on everyone¡¯s face as they keep gazing at the wilderness. Cold sweats ran down on their face while some of them were shaking uncontrollably due to fear. In fact, everyone had a different expression on their face as they felt panic, fear, nervous, determined, crazy and so on. In addition to the entrances guarded by Song clan and Liu clan, the wall which was near the wilderness was also heavily guarded that even a fly couldn¡¯t go past through it. The number of people stationed near the wilderness reached about 30 thousands, out of which the majority of them were Qi condensation level while about a thousand were in Qi warrior and a number of 200-300 were in Nascent level. Also, mixed within the crowds of those thousands of people were also a strong cultivators above the Nascent level but they were numbered not more than twenty. ¡°Damn! Why do we have to be the one guarding this part of the town? ¡° A person murmured in frustration but the people near him can still hear him. ¡°Forget it dude. There''s nothing we can do against the orders of the five clans. We just have to hold on until the reinforcements arrive.¡° The friend of the person that had just murmured said while giving a soft sigh.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. That person then turned to his friend after hearing him speak and gave a quick look before turning his gaze back to the wilderness and said softly, ¡°I know. But it''s just unfair that we are the one guarding the most crucial spot and that it is not even guaranteed if half of us will walk out alive. While those bastard clans are stationed in a place where it is unlikely that even a single first level beast will appear.¡± The longer the person spoke, the words that came out from his were that of the curses to the five clans. And even though his words were something that could lead him to be punished if it entered the ears of the clans, the people around didn¡¯t try to reprimand him, instead they gave a silent nod of agreement because those words were exactly what they too had wanted to say. And they continued to whisper and murmur in frustration and in fear. But of course, their group were not the only one whispering and murmuring at the moment as these things were happening everywhere amidst the crowds of thousands of people. ¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã As the people of the Green Rock town nervously wait for the battle that might be their last one, Ren, even as a moral, stood on the wall like the other people to defend the town where it was least crowded and was looking at the wilderness in front of him while the two swords he was holding shook as his hands tremble in fear and also due to him being nervous at the same time. As for why he was holding a sword on both hand, he too was unaware of the reason but he was going through the artifacts in the store, he had unconsciously taken two swords, but thinking that one sword was enough and then again he had no experience of fighting at all much less holding a sword, he returned back the other sword. But as he held the sword on one hand, the uncomfortable and emptiness feeling kept swelling on his other free hand. So that¡¯s why he decided to with two swords, even when the mocking and disdain words kept pouring in his ears. And now, even when the people besides him were talking among themselves to relief their nervousness, he didn¡¯t join them and instead continued to stare at the wilderness, waiting for the moment of life and dead battle with the desolate beasts. Suddenly, ¡°Boy, aren''t you a mortal? ¡° A coarse voice came from behind him. Turning back, Ren was surprised to see a man who was missing an arm and was in a terrible shape and was coming towards him. But in a brief moment, he calmed down him mind and replied, ¡°Yes.¡± The man, after reaching Ren, looked at him and said, ¡°Don¡¯t you know that a moral doesn¡¯t stand a chance even against a first level beast and not to mention a cultivators below Qi altering level? ¡° Ren replied in a low voice, ¡±I know. ¡° The man asked, ¡°Then why? Why are you here?¡± At those question, Ren became silent. He couldn¡¯t say that the people in the store forced him to participate in the upcoming battle with the desolate beasts saying that he was stronger than most of the mortal and could be considered a cultivator based on his physical strength, and also that he was bringing honor to their store by putting his life on the line to protect the town and the people within it. But where is the honor in this, he thought. He couldn¡¯t help but be surprised at their level of shamelessness and cowardice when they forced him to join the battle in the most dangerous part of the town where it is most likely that he will lose his life while they hide themselves with those clans saying they too were going join the battle with the five in other sides of the wall. Seeing that Ren was keeping quiet, the man continued, ¡°I don¡¯t want to see an unnecessary sacrifice before my eyes and that too a young one. So go, go to the safe zone in the central area.¡± Hearing the man said, Ren hesitated but he still nodded. And as he was about to leave Tremble The ground shook and the shaking of the ground continued to get stronger and stronger with passing moments. Every people on the site became focused as they turned their gaze to the wilderness. Even though there thousands of them, there was a deadly silence among them as they hold their breathe and stood still waiting for their nightmare to make an appearance. Even Ren and the man were no exception as they both turn stiff as soon as the ground shook and turned their gaze to the wilderness. Creak. Creak. Creak Trees fell rapidly from within the wilderness and sounds of the mad rush of thousands of beasts could be heard and the worst thing was that it was getting closer and closer. Creak. Creak. Creak. Creak Rooooaaaar The desolate beasts finally came out of the wilderness and their numbers kept on increasing, and in just few breath of time, there were already thousands of them but that was still not the end. ¡°Th-they are here. The beasts are here.¡± Someone stammered as he said that. Roar. Roar. Roar Roar. Roar Roar. Roar Thousands of beasts rushed to the wall and the entrances guarded by the people, out of which the first level beasts numbered the most while there were hundreds of second level beasts and a number not reaching a hundred third level beasts and also around ten to twenty of fourth level beasts. According to the information the people received, clearly there was a fifth level beast leading the raid of desolate beasts but it had yet to make an appearance. Bang Bang. Bang The beasts had reached the wall and had now started hitting the wall an the gate of the entrance with their head, trying to break it. Some beasts had started climbing the high wall but unable to reach the top, they climbed on top of each other was finally able to reach it. ¡°Aaaaahhh.¡± ¡°Everyone. Attack. ¡° Seeing the beasts reaching the top of the wall and had started attacking the people, the guards shouted and the battle between the men and the beasts finally began. 9. Fifth level fire tiger Roar. Roar. Ro... ¡°Die you motherf***ing beast.¡± One person shouted and a sword was pierced through the eye of the beast and then it felt down on the ground motionless. It was a second level demonic wolf but it took a team of two people of Qi warrior level to finally kill it. ¡°Huff. Huff. Huff. Damn, there is no end of these bastards.¡± One of the two people complained as he was taking was breathing heavily. Roooaar ¡°Shit. Another one has reached the top of the wall.¡± The other person said angrily as he pulled the sword out of the head of the beast. And then, without even taking proper rest after killing a second level beast, both of them rushed towards the beast that had just reached the top of the wall. Like them, there were people everywhere fighting the desolate beasts. Corpse of the beasts and men lies everywhere and the number was only increasing with the passage of time. But compared to the beasts, the number of corpses of a man was much more. Its like, for every death of one beast, there will be a ten death of a men. The good news for the people was that the desolate beasts had stopped appearing from the wilderness, but the bad news was that the beasts numbered more than five thousand. Clearly, this was a very bad news for the people because from the start of the battle, the number of casualties on human side was more than ten thousands while the beasts side was only about a thousand. If the battle continued as it is, the human side would be completely wiped out by the beasts. It was a desperate struggle for the people as they fought for the ones they love, to protect to citizens of the town and to live. But hope was becoming dimmer and dimmer. ¡°Aaaaaahhhhh¡± Rooooaaaaar Body after another fell cold on the ground. The wall was already dyed red with blood of both the beasts and the men. When those fourth level beasts attacked, hundred of human cultivators became a cold corpse. And it would take tens of Nascent level cultivators and above to take down a single fourth level beast and that also with at the sacrifice of others. But what the people was most worried about had yet to make an appearance. They were already the battle and too without the leader of the thousands desolate beasts taking part in it. Everyone knew that there were none among the human side that could kill the leader which was a fifth level beast unless the heaven took pity on them and showed them a miracle. But the chances of that happening was slim because under their heaven, all the beings were equal in the eyes of the heaven. ¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã Roooaaar ¡°Get down.¡± Hearing a frantic voice, Ren got down immediately and rolled to the side. Roooaa- Slaaash Thuud. Sreeeech The head of a first level beast was separated from its body and then, the body fell down on the ground as it sides trough the ground. Carrying a bloody halberd on his one hand while missing the other arm, a one-armed man appeared in front of the body of a dead beast whose head was severed by him. ¡°Huff. Huff. Huff¡± Ren sat down on the ground as sweats ran down on his cheeks. He sat there looking at the dead beast while catching a breath. The one-armed man, then, looking at the exhausted Ren made a complicated expression and spoke, ¡°I don¡¯t know whether it is your stupidity or an act of bravery that brought you here, but right now you are not helping at all. Forget about killing a first level beast, you¡¯re not even able to injure it at all. And what¡¯s with your dual swords? You are clearly an amateur who has no experience in fighting.¡±Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Hearing the harsh words of the one-armed man, Ren was not angry but rather felt ashamed and guilty because the only reason he was able to survive that long was because of the one-armed man in the front. He was grateful to him for saving his life many times from the desolate beasts. The one-armed man could have abandoned him in midst of the battle but he did not and continued to protect him. Ren knew that he was only dragging the one-armed man down as he was not good at fighting and that also, he was not a cultivator. And when met with the beasts, all he could do was run. Seeing the sorry figure of Ren, the one-armed man knew he was a bit harsh on him and felt guilty. Giving a soft sigh, he said, ¡°I don¡¯t know what kind of circumstances you are facing in your life. I don¡¯t even know how long you will survive. But there''s no turning back now as the place filled with desolate beasts. So if you want to survive this battle and even in life then you have to get up and start fighting for it.¡± Hearing the one-armed man spoke, determination showed in Ren''s eyes and holding the swords on both of his hands, he got up. ¡°Hmmm. Good. ¡° The one-armed man smiled and continued, ¡°Now then, let¡¯s go and kill those damnable beasts until none of them survive. ¡° Saying that the one-armed man started walking towards the nearest second level beast which was currently fighting with a group of human cultivators while holding a halberd on his only hand and was quickly followed by Ren from behind. ¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã The battle continued on even when the sun has already left the sky and night had arrived before anyone knew about it. And the moon was already up in the sky, shining brightly as ever. By now, the human side had already lost more than half of the original number but those were mostly low level cultivators, while the desolate beasts were yet to be reduced to half of their original number. Though the attack of the desolate beasts were mostly concentrated on the wall near the wilderness, those of the cowardly five clans, who were hiding themselves away from the battle didn¡¯t fare well much because they too were attacked by the desolate beasts coming from another route, mostly those that were attacking people on the roads. But compared to those people who were battling the beasts coming from the wilderness, their situation was much better as the desolate beasts were fewer in number and there were hardly any fourth level beasts and also there were high level cultivators among the five clans. But still they were unable to avoid some casualties. As for the wall near the wilderness, the battle was so intense that there were already some people who had lost all rationality and had gone mad as they keep killing the beasts one after another. Even though those third and fourth level beasts were mostly killed by those high level cultivators on human side and only few numbers remained, the same case was also for the human cultivators. Though it may seems like the human side held an advantage but the reality was far from good because unlike the humans, the stamina of the desolate beasts were twice or thrice of that human. And after a long battle, the people were exhausted and could hardly lift their weapons and their battle with the beasts. As cultivators, the Qi in their body not only strengthened them but also can be used to increase efficiency of the artifacts like weapons or armor but with their Qi depleted, they were weak as a lamb while waiting for their death to arrive. ¡°Huff. Huff. Hu-¡° ¡°Now. Stab it in the eye.¡± Ren quickly followed the instruction given by the one-armed man and jumped in the air and stabbed the eye of the second level beast with his sword as he landed on the ground. The beast struggled for a few breath of time before lying on the ground motionless. ¡°Huff. Huff. Good. Now you¡¯re not an amateur anymore.¡±, said the one-armed man while breathing heavily. ¡°Huff. Huff. Thank you. Huff.¡±, Ren said to the one-armed man as he too continued to breathe heavily. What Ren had said was actually from the bottom of his heart. He was able to fight a long battle with the protection of the one-armed man and with his unrivalled strength among mortals, he was able to fight head to head with first level beast and even kill it, and, not to mention, a second level beast which was just stabbed to death by him, although the one-armed man dealt majority of the damage. Looking at Ren and then to the dead beast, the one-armed man said, ¡°Nah, you don¡¯t need to thank me. That was all because of your own strength.¡± He then turned back to Ren smiling, ¡°Seriously, you are a freak though. Normal mortals and also those low level cultivators wouldn¡¯t be able to match your strength and your stamina. You are clearly a mortal yet you have the strength of those in Qi altering level if not Qi condensation. Although that was not the case in the beginning, but now that I see with my own eyes, all I can say about you is that you are definitely a freak, an irregular. Just who are you? ¡° Not only that one-armed man but Ren too was surprised at his irregular strength. He too wished to know the answer. So hearing the one-armed man speak, he was speechless and couldn¡¯t give the answer he didn¡¯t know. Seeing the dumb figure of Ren, the one-armed man sighed, ¡°Forget it. The world is vast. There are countless of mysteries that couldn¡¯t be explained. I hope that in the future you will be able to find the answer.¡± Hearing that, Ren gave a serious nod to the one-armed man. The one-armed man then walked towards Ren and giving a light bump with his elbow he said, ¡°Anyway, you and I make a great team. So let¡¯s have a drink together after all this is over.¡± Suddenly realizing something, he said, ¡°Ah! You¡¯re still young. But fuck that. If you consider yourself a one-armed man you should be able to handle a few shots.¡± As Ren continued to listen the words of the one-armed man, before he realized it, there was already a smile on his face. Suddenly, ROOOOAAAAAR A very loud roar rang out from within the wilderness followed by a crumbling of the trees and then a beast the size of ten humans came out from within the wilderness while its body gave out a sparkles of red flame. Seeing the appearance of the appearance of the newcomer beast, all the humans present in the battlefield became pale and frozen on the spot due to fear. Then from someone among the people, a low stammering voice came out, ¡°F-fifth le-level beast, f-fire t-t-tiger.¡± After making an appearance, the fifth level fire tiger looked at the humans with its cold gaze. And then, ROOOOOAAAAAAAR 10. Reinforcements Roar. Roar. Roar Seeing the arrival of the fifth level fire tiger, the other remaining beasts gave out a roar one after another so as to welcome their leader. And then they continued their attack on the human cultivators. ¡°No. No. No. I don¡¯t want to die. I don¡¯t want to die.¡± One person muttered to himself while grabbing his hair and showing a sign of craziness on his face. ¡°Damnit. Keep you shits together.¡±, said another person as he grab the collar of the crazy person, ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear what the five clans have said? The reinforcements are on the way. So you just have to hold on until then.¡± ¡°I know but¡­but¡­there is no way we can survive that long before the reinforcements arrive.¡±, said the crazy person. The other person became silent on hearing that because what the crazy person had said was the truth. He then let go of the collar and looked at the approaching third level beast towards them and said as he took a stance to fight, ¡°We either die here today or live to tell a tale tomorrow. But if I am going to die at least I will take down as many beast as I can with me.¡± The people in the surrounding when they heard it, they all nodded their heads as they came to a decision and they too took a stance with their weapons waiting for the attack of the beast in front of them. As for the person who was acting crazy earlier, he too stood up and went to join the others for the battle. Roooaaar. ¡°Attack.¡± ¡°Die beast.¡± ¡°Just go to hell beast.¡± ¡°Motherf**ker. Take this.¡± The third level beast had jumped on them but as for them, they responded with a series of attack and also with lots of curses. ¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã Slash. Slash. Roooaaar Baaang A third level beast has knocked away Ren and he fell down crashing on the ground. ¡°Cough. Cough. Cough.¡± ¡°Shit. Boy, are you alright?¡±, asked the one-armed man as he looked at Ren with concern. ¡°Cough. Cough. I''m alright.¡± Saying that, Ren wiped the blood that was coming from his mouth. ¡°Okay.¡± The one-armed man turned back to the third level beast who was currently fighting with a group of human cultivators and said, ¡°You stay there. You¡¯re not match for third level beast and much less a second level beast. ¡° After saying that the one-armed man went on to join the battle to help his fellow humans defeat the beast. ¡°Cough. Cough. Huff. Huff. Huff¡± Ren watched the ongoing battle as he coughed a few blood and breathe heavily. He then tried to stand up but his arms had no more strength to support his body so he just sat on the spot but his hands were tightly holding the two swords and had never letting it go since the start of the battle. Roooaaar ¡°Aaaaaahhhh¡± Peng. Peng. PengUnlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Slash. Slash Baaang. Roooaaar Boooooom. Boooooom Cries of the dying man and beast, the sounds of the clashes between men and beasts; all kinds of sounds continued to enter the ears of Ren. ROOOOOOAAAAAR. ROOOOOAAAAAR. The fifth level fire tiger, that was yet to enter the battle, had jumped over the wall without any difficulties and gave a loud roar. But after that it just stood on the spot and watched the ongoing battle with disdain in its eyes. Ren watched the fifth level fire tiger that was hundreds of meters away from him with a mixed expression of fear and desperation like the other people present in the battlefield. Then gathering strength on his legs, he slowly stood up. But then- ¡°Watch out.¡± A frantic voice resounded in his ear. Startled, Ren turned to where the voice came from and saw the one-armed man not fighting the beast but was desperately running towards him. Then he saw a movement from the corner of his eyes and absentmindedly turned his head to get a better view. ¡°Huh.¡± A sound leaked out from his mouth. ¡°Noooooo¡­.¡±, the one-armed man shouted in despair. Swooosh. Baaang. Before he even had time to react, a fourth level beast had already hit him with its head and Ren was sent flying while coughing a mouthful of blood and his two swords separated from his hands. Bang. Bang. Bang. Screeeeesh Ren''s body, as soon as it touched the ground, bounced like a rubber ball a few times before rolling on the ground and then coming to a stop. However, the beast didn¡¯t stop from there and ran towards Ren who was lying on the ground covered in blood. After reaching him, the beast slowed down and then it slowly walked towards him and then its foot landed on the chest of Ren. Crack. Crack. Crack Sounds of the ribs breaking was heard but all Ren could do was stare at the beast without struggling and giving out a sound because almost all his bones as well as his neck were broken. And he was already at the border of life and death as blood continued to flow from his ears, eyes, nose and mouth. From up close, Ren recognized the beast to be fourth level red bull, although he had never seen one before but he saw in a book. Drip. Drip. Drip Saliva falls down on Ren''s face but he just laid there helplessly and watched as the fourth level red bull opened its mouth. Knowing that he was about to die, he closed his eyes and waited for his death to come. But then- Swooosh. Puchi. At the unexpected sound that came, Ren slowly opened his eyes and saw the fourth level red bull being pierced by a sword on its head. Tut The beast then lifelessly fell on top of Ren. But as for Ren, being already on the verge of death, his vision had slowly started to get blurry but he was still trying to see the face of the one who killed the beast before dying, although the first person that came to his mind was the one-armed man but he quickly rejected it because the one-armed man was not on the level that can kill a fourth level red bull. Then, he felt someone pulling him out from under the beast and suddenly, a sweet scent entered his nose. Startled, Ren tried to looked at person who was pulling him from behind but to no avail as his neck was already broken and he couldn¡¯t move at all. As his body was all out from under the beast, the person pulled him no more and walked on to stand besides Ren. As soon as Ren saw the figure of the person, he widen his eyes in surprise because the person was a girl who had a veil covering her face except her beautiful blue eyes. She must be a very beautiful girl judging from her eyes, Ren thought. But then, his vision started to get more blurry and darker and he slowly closed his eyes. ¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã¡ã The girl with a veil stood besides Ren, not knowing what kind of expression she making behind those veil, but her beautiful eyes showed a pity as she looked at him. ¡°You are¡­¡± A voice suddenly came followed by a haggard one-armed man. The girl then turned to look at the one-armed man but didn¡¯t say anything. The one-armed man stood awkwardly for a moment and then he saw the dead body of a fourth level red bull which made him glad but as soon as he saw the motionless body of Ren he felt despair and sad. ¡°He¡¯s not dead yet.¡± Said the girl, to which the one-armed man sighed in relief. The girl spoke again, ¡°But he will soon be. So..¡± The girl stretched out her hand and the ring on her finger shone briefly and a greenish bottle appeared on her palm. The girl then threw the bottle to the one-armed man who had to quickly let go of his halberd and catch it. The girl then continued, ¡°¡­.feed him that. ¡° After saying that she left them and rushed towards the desolate beasts. Watching her leave, the one-armed man quickly went to Ren and as he was about to feed the potion he was surprised as he looked carefully at the potion because the potion was of a higher grade which was rare even in the cities. But then clearing his thought, he quickly fed the potion to Ren. Just then, loud cheers of the people was heard. ¡°Reinforcements. The reinforcements has arrived.¡± ¡°We are saved.¡± ¡°The heaven didn¡¯t abandon us.¡± Cries of joy resounded on the battlefield as about a hundreds of strong cultivators arrived and attacked the desolate beasts. These new cultivators were very strong because they were able to kill even a third level beasts one on one. Seeing the reinforcements arriving, the one-armed man too felt joy and then he looked at Ren and said, ¡°Boy, you are save now.¡± Then he looked at the night sky and murmured, ¡°See that my brothers, your families are safe now. So, rest in peace."