《Record of a Sovereign》


 Prologue and Chapter 1: The Black Sea

    Writer Eternal: My best friend, Christian, saw this prologue and chapter 1 in my journal. He claimed it felt more like a novel and would rather read this one instead of my other story. I agreed and decided to post it. Enjoy.


    Prologue and Chapter 1: The Black Sea


    Vast mountains and ancient forests.


    Old buildings covered with moss and giant steel walls surrounding the city.


    This is a version of Earth that survived a calamity. Whose people were strong and endured the great changes.


    Humans and magical beasts , in constant strife.


    The threat of demons and slumbering undead.


    Legend has it that a rip in dimensions brought forth the great many changes.


    An old grandmother sat by a lake, cradling a newborn baby as her rocking chair swayed.


    The night was dark. Even the bugs were silent. The birds nested and the beasts were stilled.


    Suddenly, a crack tore open in the sky. Oxygen grows sparse, the air difficult to breath.


    The sky turned gold and crimson. Half the world could see the tear in the sky, the other''s night as dark as the void of space.


    Tiny drops of golden liquid sprinkled from the tear. Humans embraced in their homes with fear as the beasts howled in the air. The demons grew listless as the undead awoke.


    Fanatics left their homes, praying to the tear in the sky in worship. Armies readied what little modern weaponry remained in fear of another calamity.


    It was while the gold rain fell, the grandmother cackled and lifted her grandson into the air. The baby giggled as it was bathed in the golden drops. None noticed a grey liquid drop enter the baby''s body.


    For centuries, the golden rain would be remembered in history.


    The tear in the sky was not a miracle. It was not a coincidence.


    It was the harbinger of another calamity. One that would take years to bear fruit.


    ------------------------------------------------------------------------


    ''That which is black during the day is neon green at night. None can predict the dangers of the Black Sea.''


    The fishermen of Black Coral City learned the saying as soon as they could read and write. Sailing past sunset was forbidden and none returned alive save two people.


    One was an old woman wearing a red hooded cloak. The other, a newborn baby with ominous gray eyes. No fishermen could ever forget the black ship that sailed the waters of the Black Sea without aid of a crew.


    As soon as the ship hit the sand bed, the ship shrunk to the size of a fist and disappeared within the grandmother''s cloak.


    Such magical acts could only be possible by those few humans capable of harnessing the magical energy vibrant around the world ever since five hundred years ago. Those rare humans walked the path to immortality and were called cultivators.


    --------------------------------------------------------------------


    "Grandma! I''m back," a seventeen year old boy with short black hair and gray eyes shouted as he entered the cabin. "Old Wu got quite the harvest and I was able to exchange some deer meat for loaves of bread. The butcher paid me seven silver two-thirds of the meat and the leather crafter gave me two wolf fur cloaks for the deer hide and two silvers."


    "Good job Wei. Your mother would be proud," his grandmother smiled, still wearing the red cloak he had always seen her wear. "Been keeping up with your lessons?"


    "Yes grandmother. I spent the last two days on the hunt with my hunting bow. I practiced with my Han Dynasty modeled jian (Chinese straight sword) with the local weapon smith before that," Wei nodded. "I can control the grey talisman and shape its energy into a flying sword. I am proficient with the Lightning Arrow spell, and have a high comprehension of the Concept of Thunder. I''ve proven I can survive out there."


    "No. You haven''t. The talisman is the only one you have and not a true flying sword. Your weapons are not magical and you only know one spell. You haven''t even awakened your spirit essence. You also have no backing as your father has not included you in his family registry. You only this bag of bones and I am not enough. As I said before, the day you assimilate the stone stamp of your ancestor is the day we depart this place. Now go set the fire," his grandmother waved.


    She watched as her grandson silently lit the firewood with a tiny spark of lightning as he flicked his wrist. He was a talented child, able to discern the Concept of Thunder so easily. He was able to have such a high comprehension due to hundreds of hours spent mastering the Lightning Arrow spell.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Still, the boy did not have the weapons and enough cultivator skills to survive. Concepts only integrated elements. Wei could not create or control them. She could only sacrifice herself to buy some time knowing he''ll die later.


    "I hope he has affinity to another element soon. Just having one is not enough. Not with the limited resources we have," the grandmother thought and sighed helplessly.


    She felt disappointed with Wei''s parents. They were the source of her headache and Wei''s heartache. She could only attempt to keep their image bright until the day Wei learned the truth. Their image and hers. One day, Wei might forgive her for doing the right thing. At least, she hoped he would.


    "The fire is set. I''m going to go the cliff at the beach to watch sunset," Wei murmured, leaving the fireplace as the fire stabilized.


    "Alright. Be careful to not be at sea after dark. If you''re going hunting, be sure to bring more deer and boar to trade. We need to stock up for winter," his grandmother called, Wei nodding as he left the silver coins on the table before he left.


    Wei stared silently at the sea from atop the edge of a grassy cliff, his legs dangling over the edge. On his lap was a gray talisman with white inscriptions constantly shifting. With a single intent, a gray energy expanded from the talisman to form a gray sword. Wei watched as he made the flying sword talisman fly about in random directions.


    Wei stood up and walked off the cliff, a black cloud forming under his feet. The cloud was the result of a simple flying technique Wei picked up from one of his dives beneath the Black Sea.


    For an unknown reason, every person who entered the Black Sea at night had their life wither away magical items to safeguard them. Wei was different as he was not affected in the slightest and actually felt empowered by the neon green water.


    Over the years, Wei found many treasures as he could travel farther and deeper than the people on the island. Of course, he told no one of his adventures. Not even his grandmother.


    He also found an ink black jade ring which happened to be a 5x5x5 meter space inside. It was a storage ring! A rare item even mortals could use to carry their items up to maximum capacity.


    However, it paled in comparison to the 15x15x15 meter space inside his own body. He never knew how it happened, but noticed its existence once he turned ten. His grandmother knew about the ring, but he kept his spoils inside the mysterious space in his body.


    Wei stopped flying on his black cloud as he noticed his raft he anchored a few miles south of the island. There was nothing but the arctic lands to the south and no humans were known to live there. Thus, it was the perfect place to explore and keep secret.


    A few days ago, Wei had found a sunken ruin at the bottom of the sea. He did not have the equipment to breathe underwater and had to spend quite a few of his savings to buy a magical underwater breathing mask. The mask let him breathe as easily as if he were on land and lessened the water pressure around him.


    Wei put on the breathing mask and dived into the water after he put his flying sword talisman away.


    The water grew colder as he swam through an icy tunnel of a glacier. Wei circulated his spirit energy throughout his body, using his spirit energy to keep his body warm as he swam deeper into the tunnel.


    He paused as he arrived before a large stone ruin with a pair of large stone doors. The doors looked like it hadn''t aged at all, the metal and hinges as shiny and strong as the day they were made.


    Wei noticed the water turn from black to neon green. He gasped as dark green runes appeared on the door. It was as if it was a sign indicating the doors could only be opened at night.


    Wei nervously held the grip of his jian at his left side before swimming toward the doors.


    As soon as he touched the doors, a dark green light shined from the runes and the doors opened. Wei looked around in awe as he swam in only to have his feet land on the floor.


    Water dripped onto the floor as Wei realized he was no longer underwater. He removed his breathing mask and changed into dry clothes before taking out a torch from his storage ring.


    "Wow. This place must be enchanted. There''s got to be some treasure in here. I might finally prove myself to grandma and leave the island," Wei laughed and ventured deeper into the ruins.

 Chapter 2: Exploring the Ruin

    Chapter 2: Exploring the Ruin


    Wei stared at the walls in a daze. He saw so many pictures on the walls, showing separate scenes lining across the wall as a story. Wei smiled with joy and took out a black book from his mysterious space.


    The book was a magical treasure that copied writing and carvings onto its pages. The pages were organized based on different topics and the carvings on the wall created a new section in his book. He spent half an hour ensuring that both sides of the hall were recorded onto his journal before hiding it back in his mysterious space.


    Just as he turned right and stepped on a tile outside the entrance hall, the walls shifted and revealed several small wooden tubes. Wei panicked and jumped back. He held his breath and nearly dropped his torch as arrows shot out from the walls.


    His heels pressed another tile and Wei felt his body shift downward. Without a thought, Wei bent his knees and sprang back into the hall. This time, green gas sprung out from the walls and held corrosive properties. The walls and floor sizzled but remained undamaged as the gas dissipated.


    "Impossible," Wei gasped, seeing the wall as normal as it was previously. However, the tubes and tiles remained in place. Wei lifted his free hand and sparks came to life.


    The sparks collided and began to concentrate into the form of an arrow. All of this happened in an instant and Wei launched the arrow at the wall. The arrow was destroyed as it burst with a blast of sparks. Still, the walls appeared undamaged.


    Wei breathed deeply and decided that it was better to fly. Wei laughed as he flew over the tiles and entered the rooms one by one. A part of him just knew he would have already died before entering the first room.


    The main treasures he had found were shining white crystals about three inches long. The rest of the items he found were rusted pieces of armor and weapons damaged by time. He then returned to the right side of the hall as he reached the end of the hall from the left of the entrance hall.


    Wei cried out as his black cloud was nullified when entering the room at the end of the hall. He fell and rolled once as he crashed onto the floor. As he got up and rubbed his knees, his eyes widened as he stood before a steel statue.


    The statue donned a golden armor with dragon shoulder guards and a crimson mask. Below the statue was a plaque with letters made out of pure silver.


    "Congratulations for passing the first trial. If you were a mortal, the traps among the tiles will have killed you. This room is the second trial for those who entered from the Black Sea Portal. You will be destroyed and remade. What potentials and limitations you had are gone, to be rewritten in this place. Don the armor and the mask. Then, your trial will begin," Wei read aloud, alarmed at its words.


    This was no ordinary ruin. It would have to be one of those immortal ruins his grandmother had talked about. Cultivator academies and sects highly coveted and closely guarded such places. If Wei''s guess was true, he might encounter other people within the ruin.


    Nothing happened as Wei put on the gold armor. Wei''s hairs stood on end as the armor seemed to be made especially for his size. As he put on the crimson mask, he shook with fear as the mask seemed to merge onto his face like a carapace. Wei looked back at the plaque to see the words changed.


    "The path of a cultivator is a path of blood and steel. Hence, you must be baptized with blood and death. You will be taken to an executioner platform where you and nine others will behead ten million souls. No matter the race, gender, or power; you will behead them all," the plaque began.


    "There is no execution without reward. Your spirit energy will be purified the more you behead. As you behead one million of the ten million souls, one hundred treasures will appear. As you have entered the portal with the second highest difficulty, you may any pick seven. Before you proceed to the execution platform, you must pick any weapon in the room to serve as your tool for execution," the plaque concluded. "Choose carefully. Once a decision is made, tap the weapon onto the plaque to proceed to the next phase."


    Wei looked around in wonder as the walls vanished to reveal white marble walls with shelves of all kinds of weapons. Spears, swords, axes, sickles, and maces littered the walls most. Wei felt tempted as some even radiated magical energy. He could tell the weapons were actually magical treasures!


    After much time contemplating his choices, he decided to use his own sword. When he was twelve, he saw a shooting star as he trained bitterly on the sands. The shooting star crashed a few meters offshore, sending a twenty five foot wave crashing onto the beach.


    After he lost consciousness and awoke ten minutes later, he spent hours digging up the meteor and dragging it home. He had it forged into the sword he now carried, a small piece of it carved into a smooth, stone medallion with a dragon insignia he still wore around his neck. He also considered the plaque''s words and feared there was a price to pay for the magical weapons.


    Wei drew his sword and admired his sword once again. He loved the gold guard and shining steel blade. The double-edged blade was black and turned azure toward the tip. He brandished it once before tapping it onto the plaque. The plaque shined as the words changed once again.


    "No weapon offered by the room was chosen. No weapon was taken out of a storage or spatial treasure. No price will be paid, but a reward instead. The sword tapped will become forged into a magical weapon, bound to your soul with no power able to dissolve your spirit imprint. In ten seconds, you will appear in a place of judgment. How you execute is up to you," the plaque stated, an inhuman voice emanating from the plaque.


    A red light expanded from Wei''s mask, enclosing him into a sphere as the mask turned black with a neon green symbol of his forget. Any piece of piece of Wei''s body not covered by the mask and hair became covered in darkness, an aura of shadow giving the gold clad Wei a more tyrannical appearance.


    In an unknown space, long lines of people were lined up in chains atop clouds. All eyes fearfully looked up as another speeding comet of gold light speeding toward the front of the line. Two ten meter warriors clad in gold armor saluted as the comet sped past them at the gate and arrived before a hundred meter square platform.


    All around the platform were numerous races of celestials, humans, and magical beasts alike. They watched as a tenth raised platform arose from the platform. The gold comet of light stopped before the three steps of the raised platform and the other nine executioners donned in different golden armors stopped their actions and stared at the comet in shock.


    "Impossible. Someone came from the tenth entrance?" one of the masked executioners gasped.


    "There are many options for the second trial, but the Black Sea entrance is rumored to have only the execution trial due to the danger of even approaching the entrance," another agreed.


    "What is so dangerous about it?" a third inquired.


    "To this day, no one has traveled beneath the surface of the Black Sea and lived during sun down. However, this kid seems weak. He''s barely stronger than a mortal," the second executioner muttered as the red light sphere revealed Wei.


    "The condemned will now branch off and make a tenth line for execution. The executions scheduled for the Black Sea Executioner will be made shortly," one of the golden warrior guards roared, causing the audience to look at each other in shock.


    Someone had really come from the Black Sea on Earth! None of their organizations and clans had found the entrance in years, much less have the ability to survive the neon green waters. Even those beings from other worlds in the Mortal Realm were stunned. Only the undead or demons have ever come from the entrance. Even more unbelievable: he''s only at the first layer of condensation!


    Many people in the crowd began to give orders to their subordinates. There were many second trials of the immortal ruin, but the execution trial was the most bloody and rewarding. They watched as the tenth executioner walked onto the platform as a human with white wings and white robe appeared next to him to give instructions.


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    "Hello, Black Sea Executioner. You have already been informed of the requirements and reward. You can ask the condemned to give you their possessions before they die. The hundred treasures will also appear as you do your duty. You have until the next beheaded condemned to choose the treasure when it appears. No matter how powerful they are, they cannot harm you. Listen to no threats. Behead all one million. Do you understand?" the winged human asked.


    "Are you an angel?" Wei asked, stunning everyone in the stadium.


    The winged human was taken back for a moment before answering, "I am of the seraphim race. I a version of what you call an angel, but possess no human blood. I''ll take it that you are ready. Draw thy blade and prepare."


    Wei''s golden armor changed into a black leather armor with golden dragons on his chest, back, and shoulders as the seraph beckoned the first condemned. Wei was stunned as his first beheading was a purple-skinned human with devil horns and bat wings. A long scaled tail waved behind the devil as he knelt on the platform facing the crowd to Wei''s right.


    "Do I say any words in particular?" Wei asked the seraph.


    "No. Mock them, taunt them, and even conversing is allowed. The end result must be the same: death. In that regard, some executioners torture their victims first," the seraph answered. "They cannot speak unless allowed by you. Only you decide if they have the right to say any last words."


    Wei nodded and turned to the devil. The other executioners wanted to speak to him, but looks from the seraphs prevented them. They could only bite their tongues and continue their beheadings.


    "Do you have any last words? Now is the time," Wei asked the devil.


    "For thousands of years, I slaughtered worlds of you human scum. To think I will fall to a human barely a cultivator and doomed to have my soul devoured and destroyed..... get on with it," the devil spat and dipped his head.


    Wei breathed in deeply, his eyes closed. As he opened them, all the audience could see was black shadows swirling in his eyes sockets as he swung his sword. The body twitched twice before falling forward, a pool of blood slowly spreading to drip off the platform''s edge.


    Wei paused as he saw the next condemned. She was an absolute beauty, her body perfectly proportioned and looked more beautiful than an angel as she knelt before him. The audience could only sigh with pity as some men felt their distinct parts harden.


    "Do you have any last words? Now is the time," Wei said after he gazed at her face and chest before shaking his head.


    "I became a concubine to a prince who became emperor. I slept with his best general and overthrew the dynasty before being killed by his wife. Beware of beauties, executioner. One day, you will surely lose your life to one," she warned.


    "I probably will. Perhaps enough of women like you will prevent that," Wei said silently before cutting off her head.


    He was stunned as he saw a gold necklace with a blue diamond containing spirit energy fall from the beauty''s body. The seraphim did nothing as Wei picked up the necklace and stored it in his hidden body space.


    "The loot is yours of course. Also, the rewards are not visible to anyone but you. Do note that you might encounter other people as you explore the main grounds of the immortal ruins. The items you pick up might reveal your identity," the seraph answered, predicting Wei''s words as Wei turned to him.


    Wei received many odd trinkets from the corpses of demons, devils, humans, and magical beasts. Those in the audience envied the ten executioners, each one wondering their identities as executioners were replaced after reaching their quotas. Each of the nine other platforms had at least four new executioners, but Wei was still cutting off heads.


    Occasionally, black liquid impurities would seep from the armor. No one noticed as the liquid mixed with the blood drenching the platform. Wei had already killed over nine hundred and ninety nine thousand condemned and only had five more to go.


    He had already browsed ninety nine true treasures and chose six. The most notable was a fire attribute spirit root. After absorbing the spirit root into his body, the souls fragments absorbed after each beheading further improved it. Even his lightning spirit energy became more powerful.


    Wei gained the ability to create and manipulate fire because of the flame attribute spirit root. His talent for fire attribute skills and spells would be the highest and even learned skills and spells for both fire and thunder elements.


    He learned the Lightning Fall sword skill and Fireball skill. He also learned the Inferno Strike skill that could be used with his fists, feet, and sword. He could have learned many more spells and skills, but learning too many would do more harm than good.


    He also found what the seraphim called an Obsidian Star Stone. It was one of the rarest types of earth belonging to a black crystal beast from another planet. Overtime, the rock would temper his body and his affinity to earth would also be greater than average. Wei''s grandmother would surely be more than satisfied now.


    Wei stared at his last three condemned as he beheaded another two. Finally, he could stop killing. He was mentally exhausted, but his body was still as energetic as ever. It was as if the armor was enchanted to prevent physical exhaustion, hunger, and thirst. He wanted to go back home and eat his grandmother''s cooking by the warm fire in their cabin.


    His cultivation had also broken through to the seventh layer of condensation. For his age, he was above average and any sect and academy would accept him when discovering his fire attribute spirit root. His potential for fire spells and skills would more than make up for his cultivation talent.


    As a human emperor approached the platform and knelt, Wei said, "Do you have any last words? Now is the time."


    The emperor stared at the jian, unable to see the black and azure sword''s true form as it was covered in golden flames like all the other executioner weapons. He looked at the swirling shadows radiating from Wei''s eyes under the mask''s effects.


    "I had my empire taken from me by my own brother and failed to take it back. I pass on my Beast Tamer skill to you, and my advice. Do not tread the world alone. The path of a cultivator is lonely. Very lonely. Even mortals need to live their lives with others," the emperor sighed and dipped his head. A gold thread spread from him and Wei learned the skill as it disappeared into his own.


    "I will heed your words well, emperor. Be at peace," Wei said and beheaded the grieving old man.


    As he killed the final condemned, Wei automatically chose the hundredth treasure as his final reward. It was a cyan crystal magical knife able to create ten copies of itself at a time that could fly in any direction Wei chose. Its greatest aspect was that it was indestructible, like his sword, but completely silent. Even if he swung the knife, no one could hear the blade.


    "The quota is met. Your sword will be changed as you appear in the main grounds of the ruins. Good luck and remember to harden your heart to your enemies. Fall, and it might be you who gets beheaded in this dreadful place," the seraphim warned, waving its hand as Wei vanished with a golden flash.


    "That Black Sea Executioner was no mere human. A part of him relished the killing subconsciously. How else could his soul withstand devouring the fragments of one million others?" one of the seraphs noted as it flew to where Wei vanished.


    "It is the bloodline. That sword is extraordinary as well. The executioner also learned the Azure Destruction Blast technique, a technique utilizing light and darkness. His talent wasn''t great though. The rewards of the soul fragments only raised him to the seventh layer of the first realm of cultivation because it had to increase his foundations," the other seraph sighed. "His four other rewards aren''t bad though. Perhaps it will give him an edge against the talents and elite of his world."


    "And how many human centuries do you need to wait before the next executioner?" the seraph laughed and grew stern. "The third trial will be interesting. Many humans and magical beasts this decade."

 Chapter 3: Realm of Consciousness

    Writer Eternal: Different from the U.S., the last name is mentioned first. The MC is only going through such changes to catch up with those his age. He will still know less spells, skills, and possess less experience. It is only his potential that will give him an edge. Thanks for reading.


    Chapter 3: Realm of Consciousness


    With a bang of gold light, Wei appeared in stone room littered with carvings on the walls. The mask flew from his face and floated before him. It turned into a myriad of colors before entering his sword and body.


    Wei''s body turned taller and more stream-lined, some fat burning into muscle. Wei''s blade lost its black and azure as it turned a shiny steel color with an azure green hue towards the point of the sword. Wei also learned new sword skill besides the Azure Destruction Blast skill: Woeful Poison Blade.


    It was a skill that resulted in the cut target to suffer a searing poison that targeted the spirit energy of the cultivator. The cultivator would die once the poison spread to the heart. The azure green poison''s potency would grow as Wei''s cultivation did.


    As Wei concentrated spirit energy into his sword, azure and black auras would permeate from the blade. As for Wei''s body, his Fire Spirit Root grew larger and contained aspects of thunder within. Wei would soon possess a dual attribute spirit root.


    Within his body, black and azure spirit energies coiled within his meridians as they slowly opened and enlarged new ones. It was now fact that Wei was no longer a poor cultivation talent that needed ten years to break a single layer of cultivation.


    Wei did not leave the room immediately as he desired to record the carvings in the wall. Besides desiring to see his parents, he only bothered to cultivate to explore the world. Currently, recording new mysteries into his journal was more important than immortality.


    Wei took some time organizing his new loot, placing the more worthless ones into his storage ring. He had no idea what most of them could do and based solely on spirit energy or image. If something ordinary was looted from a very powerful condemned, he still kept it in his mysterious space. He had read many books and figured some ordinary items may just be that on the surface.


    Wei laughed, laying on the ground with joy. His reaps in the ruins were beyond great and didn''t care to take the third trial mentioned by the seraph. He would rather go home and train his skills and spells to prepare to leave the island for good. Wei got up after the recording finished and ensured the items in his storage ring would not connect him to the execution platform.


    As Wei walked out of the room, he appeared on a grass plain with a familiar cabin before him. His eyes widened with disbelief as his grandmother stepped out of the cabin and smiled at him.


    "Grandma?" Wei asked incredulously.


    "Hello Wei. It seems all your diving turned out well, didn''t it?" his grandmother smiled.


    "Grandma Lin, what is going on? I thought I was heading to the third trial?" Wei asked.


    "This is the third trial. All your life, you lived within the immortal ruins. The Black Sea is not ordinary at all. You should already have known this. What other reason could explain the absence of life in its waters?" his grandmother smiled. "The answer is simple: this is the second tear of the sky that ravaged Earth over a decade ago. I made you out of earth and rock, the golden drops of the blood of immortal sovereigns giving you life."


    "I, impossible. You''re lying," Wei stammered as he fell backwards onto the ground. "This is some kind of trick. An illusion!"


    "It is not a trick Wei. The reason no human ever entered the Black Sea Entrance is because the living cannot enter its waters. Your spirit energy possess an undying property, the water incapable of draining your life energy because your spirit energy protects and sustains it. That is why you do not wither. That is why you entered the ruins. Those who enter the ruins are granted a chance for reincarnation and freedom. It is my duty, as one of the ruin''s guardians, to create more life for the ruins. With great life must come death. Thus, the second trial for the Black Sea Portal is always the execution grounds to maintain the balance of life and death."


    "You''re telling me the real reason I had to kill one million souls was because mine was too strong?"


    "No. Your soul was too weak. The reason you stayed at the first layer of the Spirit Condensation Realm since you began at age seven is because your soul could not catch up to the spirit energy consumption of your body. You are also to blame for your little adventures at sea. At the second trial, your soul energy was purified to an unfathomable degree and your soul also devoured fragments of those one million condemned. That is why you suddenly broke six levels to the seventh layer of spirit condensation."


    "Then why the lies? Why tell me I had parents at all?" Wei screamed.


    "Souls always desire companionship, even if they desire power. You cannot be alone. You may walk the path alone, but you do encounter allies and enemies. Thus, you are never truly alone. You have passed the third trial for you are your own trial. No one was allowed to tell the truth. Not me, not the villagers, and even the seraphim overseers could not tell you. I am truly sorry, Wei. However, you will have the family you always wanted."


    "What do you mean? I have no parents," Wei scoffed, his eyes hollow.


    "You are to replace the body and soul of another. One whose appearance shares yours. You were always meant to replace him. To create life, one must possess a piece of it. You were made of a soul fragment of his. The original Wei. Now, you leave this place. Seize destiny and shape it to your will. It belongs to no one but you," the old woman smiled and a warm light surrounded Wei. "His memories are yours. That includes the pain and suffering. It is the only way the transition goes unnoticed. This is your last chance. Do you wish to remain or explore the world? If so, store your sword and medallion in the mysterious space or lose them forever. Let it serve as a reminder of where you come from."


    "Grandma," Wei started but lost his voice as tears fell down.


    "It is okay. I knew this day would come. I have many grandsons and granddaughters. You are special, for your life was made in a different way. Your soul was a fragment, but the sovereign blood made it whole and entirely your own. Its potency made me worry about you the most. Now, I can be at ease as I make my next grandchild," Grandma Lin smiled, giving him a swift hug. "Goodbye. Remember: your existence is special. You were created by the immortal ruins. You will always have an identity, a family, no matter which planet you go."


    Wei tried to reach out to her, but he vanished with the light. The villagers appeared and joined Grandma Lin in staring out at sea. Each of them was created to oversee the training of the new life born. Whether it remained human or became an undead monster, both were hard to let go. However, the cycle must continue.


    It must continue for they are the Undying Race, and they were the guardians of the immortal ruins.


    On an unknown planet thrice Earth''s size, a series of buildings and pagodas were built within a long mountain range. Several small valleys and snow peaks decorated the mountain range, bountiful signs of life present everywhere. It was as this time that a warm light radiated from a small manor among the buildings at the outskirts of the gigantic mountain city.


    One muscular man and one old man were sitting around a table at the center of a lake. Before them was a chess table and the two men enjoyed the serene lake around them as they sipped their tea.


    A servant in brown robes raced across the bridge connecting the small pavilion to the building on shore, sweat covering his brow. His breath grew ragged as he stopped before the two men. The old man''s eyes were closed, enjoying his tea as his opponent turned to face the servant.


    "What is it? The elder and I are busy," the man asked.


    "The, the Esteemed Elder''s grandson....." the servant panted. "He''s recovered!"


    "Chen? Of course he is. He is talented cultivator, like my brother. That nephew of mine, his mission was fairly easy. He only suffered a few scratches. No big deal," the muscular man scoffed. "Why bother my father?"


    "It is not the first young master, but the second!" the servant cried, stunning both men.


    "WHAT?" the man cried. "Wei? Impossible. He was born with a fragmented soul. To this day, my father feels guilt for not protecting my sister-in-law at that time. He was also born a cripple as a result. He can''t have recovered. You dare lie to us?"


    "Is this true?" the old man asked, killing intent radiating from him. The servant''s face paled and he fell to his knees and bowed his head to the ground.


    "This servant dares speaks this is the truth! Young Master Cong Wei has recovered. About such a matter, this servant dare not lie," the trembling servant yelled, afraid his masters would punish him. "A warm light radiates from his room. The heat is so fierce, it burns the wooden walls and floors. This servant even detected that his cultivation even broke past six levels to the seventh layer of condensation!"


    The two men stare at one another before gazing at the trembling servant. It was then that the two men could sense a large surge in spirit energy converging to a single location. Disbelief in their eyes, they noticed the spirit energy continued to rise. The son of the elder grabbing the servant on the collar, the two men sped in the direction of the surge.


    Every cultivator in the area was disturbed by the surge in energy. Whether they were part of an academy, sect, or, on their own; the cultivators raced to the surge in suspicion of an immortal treasure being created.


    They ignored the guards in gold armor, their numbers too great to be stopped as they entered a large estate. Before greed, reason was thrown aside for the risk of even greater reward.


    Dozens of cultivators paused in shock as they saw red fire burning around a seventeen year old youth. Which noble among their numbers could not recognize him. He was Duke Cong Wei, the cripple also known as Tragic Duke Cripple. He was named ''Never'' because he could never recover and be an immortal. Thus, his other nickname was Duke Nevermore.


    His father was a general of the army, giving his second son the title of duke because he had no hopes for cultivation while his elder brother''s talent surpassed even him and the Han Clan''s patriarch! Yet, the crippled duke was actually the source of the surge? Cong Wei of the Han Clan recovered!


    As Cong Wei''s grandfather and uncle appeared, they noticed him open his gray eyes. They noticed a white jade storage ring on Wei''s left index finger, seeing a sheathed sword appear from it. The mysterious red flames vanished and the surge stopped as Wei used his sword as a support to keep steady while falling to his knees.


    The audience''s hearts stirred as two spirit energies coiled around Wei like living dragons. One was black in color while the other a dark azure. Wei could only yell as he released his accumulated spirit energy. Huge waves of force blasted around him. The ground cracked and plant life withered as Wei fainted onto the ground soon after.


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    "Wei!" his uncle cried, tossing the servant aside.


    "Cong Wei!" the grandfather roared, pushing people aside.


    "He''s breathing," the uncle, Xin, sighed with relief. "Father, I..... I can''t believe it. He really healed. He was named Never, but he healed! He is also truly at the seventh layer!"


    The Han patriarch kept silent as he pressed his hand on Wei''s chest, saying, "He didn''t just recover! He has a dual-attribute spirit root! His affinity is geared towards fire more than lightning. I also detect traces of some kind of earth essence material I''ve never seen before."


    "What did you give him?" Xin asked the servant, everyone''s eyes bulging and stretching their necks to hear the words of the pale servant.


    "I, I, I just gave him the usual egg soup appetizer before the regular lunch meal," the servant stuttered.


    "Father?" Xin asked, turning to the patriarch.


    "Whatever we had in our medicinal storage, we''ve used for years. I don''t know what caused such a hair-raising event," the patriarch sighed and turned to the masses. "How did you get in here? Golden Army, get them out!"


    The audience trembled as reason and wit returned. Bowing furiously, the cultivators left before they faced the gold armored guards of the Han Clan. An hour later, members of the Han Clan gathered in the patriarch''s hall.


    All of them stared at Cong Wei with curiosity as he slept on a chair. Cong Wei, or Wei to his family, had woken up a few minutes ago before the fatigue took him seconds after.


    "Duke Nevermore actually recovered," one of the teenagers muttered, the adults glaring at him.


    "Silence boy! This is the patriarch''s hall," his mother snapped, smacking his head hard before bowing her head in apology.


    "Shall we begin?" one of the clan elders asked.


    "Yes. Now, did anyone one out of the ordinary enter my grandson''s house?" the patriarch asked. "Cong Wei was given the title of duke by my son, but I''ve handled his affairs. He only had two servants to take care of him and five more to cook his meals and maintain the manor. No one had permission to enter without my approval. The servant testified that no one had. Thoughts?"


    "Maybe he ate something?" one of the Han Clan members suggested.


    "No. His meals were ordinary mortal food as all attempts to cure him were deemed impossible before he turned ten. Just reaching the first layer was a miracle in itself," Xin shook his head. "You can''t just acquire a dual attribute spirit root using such methods. You can''t break past six levels by eating normal food either."


    "Uncle," a twenty year old boy asked. "Could an expert have seen Cong Wei?"


    Xin looked at the talented Chen and furrowed his brows. There were all kinds of experts and cultivation methods in the world. Cong Wei receiving help from such an expert would be a good thing, but why help him at all? There were forty nine dukes in the empire the size of North America.


    As the Han Clan contemplated how Cong Wei miraculously recovered, changed occurred in the boy''s body. A golden fireball appeared in the depths of Wei''s mind, dark azure and black spirit energy coiling around the giant fire ball.


    From the giant fireball were wails and moans. These were the anguished soul fragments of the million condemned. They were devoured into Wei''s soul, but hadn''t yet been fully absorbed.


    Below the giant fireball of energy was a thousand foot long dragon with purple metal scales. It wasn''t a serpent bodied Asian dragon but a winged-lizard bodied European dragon. It looked tiny below the titanic fireball as if it was a gecko next to a lion cub


    Wei''s consciousness was currently in that realm, seeing the titanic fireball and dragon for the first time. He felt like a frog seeing the full moon above a well for the first time as he gazed at the titanic fireball. He then turned toward the dragon and held his breath in awe and fear.


    The dragon releases a roar, countless memories entering Wei''s mind. Wei''s mind is shocked and he exits the mysterious realm of consciousness. Back in the outside world, Wei stirred and awoke from his trance. All members of the Han Clan abruptly turn their heads to him.


    They saw sweat on Wei''s brow and his heaving panting. Clearly, he was shocked after seeing something. Wei cries out as he sees sparks on his left hand and a small flame in his right hand. He calms down as he realizes that he is the one making the sparks and flame. At his feet, rocks appeared, moving in a gravitational rotation.


    "Triple attribute spirit root! Dual attribute is uncommon, but three is rare! It would have been great if he had five attributes," Xin sighed.


    "Is your skull hollow without a brain with reason? He should not have been able to cultivate at all! Three attributes is also a blessing!" the patriarch roared, disrupting Wei and causing the elements to disappear.


    "Patriarch," the hall thundered, silencing their cries but the clan still snuck glances. Everyone in the room was someone with position in the clan, bringing their chosen successors to sit behind them as they sat along the aisle of the throne room. All of them faced Cong Wei, Xin, and the patriarch as the three held the highest positions.


    "Cong Wei, are you alright?" the patriarch asked.


    "I''m fine grandfather," Wei replied, memories of the original Cong Wei in his mind. "I feel.....so powerful. So refreshed."


    "You broke past six layers and possess triple attributes. How could you not be?" many people in the hall thought but didn''t dare voice them. At least, Cong Wei would no longer be a shame. Although having his soul damaged was not his fault, other clans looked down on them as he was the duke.


    "I...I am a duke. Is that right?" Wei asked.


    "Yes. You are the duke. Why?" the patriarch asked, curious.


    "I want the clans who mocked me stripped of their rent and kicked out my dukedom. I want all those who bullied me to be beheaded and their heads mounted on spikes above the castle gate," Wei said, thinking back on the wuxia novels he read back on Earth.


    Rather, the island he thought was a part of the Earth. He still had trouble accepting the truth despite all his experiences. A part of him felt glad to have a real close family, but he was sad to leave his grandmother and gain the memories of suffering belonging to the original Cong Wei.


    There were some dark, suicidal memories that were really strong and impactful. There was also hate and a desire for vengeance. His question was to put the old Cong Wei at ease. If the original desired it, Wei decided to do it to let the soul rest in peace.


    "This..." Xin began, looking to the patriarch.


    "You are the duke. In your dukedom, your word is law and only imperial law stands above it. This is your dukedom. Now, you have done the right thing. They mocked you as Duke Nevermore. Sadly, I could no nothing to stop them. If you want them dead, so be it. Just not the head on pikes," the patriarch said.


    "Fine. No one dies. However, strip all those people of their money and belongings. Keep the best clans for us and have the rest of the land used based on their surroundings. Farms near farmland, apartments if surrounded by apartments, and so on," Wei sighed.


    "They won''t survive out there without money," one of the elders protested. "isn''t this going too far?"


    "Have you been mocked all your life?" Wei asked, seeing the man look at the ground. "No? I did not think so. You want them to have pity money? Fine. Give them one silver and three days to get out my dukedom. Those unable to comply are to be beaten and thrown out. Guards! Relay my orders. I don''t think you need to ask who they are considering my infamous treatment."


    "Yes, Lord Duke," the guards shouted. While the duke could not cultivate, he was still good to his guards and servants and the dukedom prospered. Most who mocked them were from clans trying to rival the Han Clan''s influence.


    "Silence!" the patriarch roared as some clan members stood up in shock and tried to reason with Wei. "Han Cong Wei has made his decree. Whoever defies him will personally be beaten and exiled from the clan! He is your duke! Know your place!"


    "Wei, you made a hard decision," Chen said, patting his younger brother''s shoulder. "You can now cultivate. So long as you reach the ninth layer of condensation, you can be accepted by an academy or sect."


    "I am at the ninth layer. The peak in fact," Wei frowned, stunning the elders and Chen. They probed him with their spirit energy and found out he spoke the truth. They noticed his eyes were blue once more, no longer the ominous gray from when he was surrounded with red flames.


    "YES!" the patriarch cried, his fist destroying a hand rest. "One prodigal grandson reaching the ninth layer at twelve and already an inner sect disciple. As a duke, Cong Wei can be accepted into one of the immortal academies. Our clan''s foundations are secure."


    "An academy?" Wei asked, looking at Xin.


    "The academies are all institutions backed by the empire. The empires roots are deep and no individual sect can defy the empire. Academies are also united under the imperial banner, not at all like the warring sects which fight and kill one another for resources. The main difference is that the top academies require commoners and nobles alike to be at the ninth layer of condensation, the worst of the academies requiring the early stage of the eighth layer of condensation. All the academies require you to reach the minimum cultivation before age twenty. The sects are more lenient, but value talent and background even more," Xin answered.


    "Academies don''t care about backgrounds because of the imperial family. Thus, strength dictates your success and treatment," a clan elder agreed. "The only benefit of a good background is the waiver of academy fees unless your talent earns you a scholarship."


    "How do I compare to others my age?" Wei asked.


    "Not bad. Among the true geniuses, you barely pass because of your spirit root," Xin nodded. "You''re young, only seventeen. Still, there are those from ancient clans with four or even the fabled five attribute spirit roots. You already missed the recruitment periods, but you can still enter the academy due to your title as duke."


    "What about all of you?" Wei asked.


    "They''ll be fine," Chen grinned. "Grandpa is the patriarch and can run things while you''re gone. You better pack up and get ready to leave via the teleportation array platform in the city. The academy grandpa always dreamed for one of us to go starts in three days."


    "Get him packed now. Take him to the Clan Vault and give him half of his seventeen years worth of profit as duke. Things are expensive there. Xin, take this letter and give it to the academy principal. Elders, our Han Clan is on the rise. Be sure to increase the training for the other teens to prepare them for sects or academies. Go. Now!" the patriarch roared and everyone in the patriarch''s hall bowed and left in a flash.


    "Heaven is fair. I should also make sure those scum are thrown out the dukedom. A few talented among them should also conveniently disappear," the patriarch said, one of his guards nodding and left to swiftly carry out his orders with a few others.

 Chapter 4: Street Fight

    Writer Eternal: Happy Father''s Day. Double chapter release.


    Chapter 4: Street Fight


    "Isn''t this a little excessive?" a teen asked as he walked out of a clothing store in the imperial capital.


    "You are a duke. Of course you must buy multiple spare uniforms for the academy. It is the third best in the empire, but the academy founded four dynasties ago. Its roots are deep, enough for the current dynasty to fear and respect it," Xin answered as they walked through the street. "As a duke, you are pretty rich. This uncle will be sure to taste the finest wine in the capital. Been a while since I''ve been here."


    "Capital is bustling. Why are all the tiles red and with so much Chinese architecture?" Cong Wei asked.


    "You know about that? Well, rumor has it the chief architect in charge of building the new capital came from another world that recently connected to the rest of the Mortal Realm around five hundred years ago. That world is Earth and had many cultures that influenced our world. As for the red tiles and clothes everyone wears, the main affinity of the imperial clan is fire. It is pretty much guaranteed that all those with imperial descent are born with a fire attribute spirit root, at least. Our clan is nothing in comparison," Xin sighed.


    His uncle had visited the academy as Wei bought his uniforms and bid him farewell after giving him a storage ring full of gold and silver coins. Within was also a sword skill Wei picked yesterday before arriving at the capital. As Cong Wei walked through the street, he didn''t notice the mortals subconsciously avoid his path.


    This caught the eye of the cultivators in the street. As one young man used his spirit energy to probe Wei, he cried out in fear. He felt like he had walked onto a battlefield drenched with blood, hundreds of thousands of bodies around him. Cong Wei felt like a reaper of death and the boy sat down and held his knees as he trembled violently.


    Similar reactions occurred for many cultivators. Those with more experience discerned it was killing intent, but how could such horrifying killing intent originate from such a young man? Some sect disciples wearing blue robes sensed Wei and barred his path. The mortals fled the street as cultivators remained to witness the coming struggle.


    "You are a monster! How can you have such killing intent!" one of the blue sect disciples cried out, drawing his sword to point it at Cong Wei.


    Wei looked around and pointed at himself, saying, "Me?"


    "Yes. You! How many people have you killed to have such killing intent?" the other nine sect disciples roared, also drawing their swords.


    "I am Han Cong Wei, a duke of the southern territories of the empire. Who are you to instigate me?" Wei growled, drawing his sword from his white jade ring. The cultivators stared at the green azure, crystal-like steel toward the point of the sword.


    "Confess your crime or be punished by us disciples of the Northern Sword Sect!" one of the disciples roared. Many in the audience murmured as the Northern Sword Sect was one of the top five in the northern territories of the empire.


    Some sighed as sect members were involved. The empire allowed such conflicts only if sect members only represented their sect and no third party. Sect conflicts were to be left alone only if no mortals were harmed.


    "If I were to tell you I took over a thousand lives, would you believe me?" Cong Wei asked, his killing intent radiating a blood mist from his body. For his killing intent to manifest, many cultivators were shocked. Han Cong Wei was only a peak ninth layer condensation cultivator, but such a weak cultivator already took so many lives?


    If they learned he killed a million souls, some even at the top cultivation in the Mortal Realm, just what would their reactions be?


    Four of the sect disciples were at the eighth layer while the remaining six were at the seventh layer. Sects had lower cultivation requirements, but valued talent more. Confident with their numbers, they charged at Wei with the intent to kill.


    "For justice!" one of the sect disciples cried, raising his sword. It was when he created an opening that Wei shot a lightning arrow to the boy''s chest directly below the raised arm. The lightning arrow went right through him before hitting the chest of a disciple behind him. Both suffered violent spasms on the ground before losing consciousness.


    Wei spared their lives as he could have easily used his spell at full power and killed them on contact due to his higher cultivation. The crowd was surprised and wondered if Wei really was a killer or whether there was more to him than they realized.


    "You hurt them!" one of the female disciples shouted. Evidently, the disciples were shocked as lightning spells were both rare, swift, and destructive.


    "You are trying to kill me. They''re lucky I didn''t kill them. I did nothing wrong. Those I killed were sentenced to death. This is merely self-defense. I have a spell I never tried before. Do you really want me to test it on you?" Wei asked, trying to scare them away.


    "What are you doing? Get him!" their leader, a peak eighth disciple yelled as he pointed at Wei. Wei sighed as the remaining five seventh layer disciples charged and easily defeating them with a lightning arrow each. Like the previous two, they suffered a violent spasm from the lightning energy before fainting.


    He used the fireball spell for the first time, one of the eighth layer disciples suffering severe burns as he lost consciousness by the blast of the fireball. The explosion caught the sleeve of one of the remaining three disciples, Wei taking advantage by charging and hitting the boy with the side of his sword as the boy cut off the burning sleeve.


    "Are you a mage? Is your sword just a trinket? Fight like a man!" the leader shouted, rage clouding his reason as his remaining ally was an early eighth layer disciple.


    "Senior," his friend began but was silenced with a glare.


    "We are on the side of justice! Go!" the leader roared and the due charged once more. Wei narrowed his eyes and released four lightning arrows at their feet. As they were forced to jump into the air, he released two fireballs.


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    The crowd was shocked as Wei used his lightning spell instantaneously while taking more time to cast his fireballs. It was obvious that Wei mastered the lightning spell to a large degree, but his fireball spell was even more powerful. Some among them realized it was because Wei had element attribute spirit roots. How else could he cast such basic spells with such power?


    The two disciples felt their robes burn as they were knocked back by the blast. Their eyes widened as Wei ran towards them. They hurried to defend themselves, but Wei easily knocked their swords out of the way. As the leader fell to the ground by a low kick, Wei chopped at the neck with his left hand towards the other disciple.


    As the disciple coughed and bent forward from the pain and lack of air, Wei smashed the pommel of his sword into the back of the head. The blow knocked the disciple out before the leader stood up from the ground.


    "You bastard! Do you know who---" the leader screamed, but was cut off by a push kick to the chest. The disciple clutched his chest and reached out to a sword laying on the ground. He yelled in pain once more as Wei stabbed his sword through the palm of his hand.


    "Justice? You picked a fight with me, a duke. I will have my justice by stripping you of all that you own. When you wake up, you and your friends keep your lives but lose your reputation. Justice my ass," Wei snarled as he stomped on the leader''s groin, kicking the head like a soccer ball as the tormented boy bent forward from the pain. Wei felt nothing as he took the storage bags and rings of the disciples before walking away.


    As Wei disappeared from sight, guards in shining red metal armor arrived. Upon their arrival, mortals and cultivators alike knelt. These were no mere guards. They were imperial guards and they had come for a purpose. The imperial guards surrounded the unconscious disciples and one of the guards woke them up by releasing a pool of water to drench them all.


    "Argh," the leader yelled as pain was the first thing to enter his mind. All the disciples quaked with fear as they recognized the guards, the leader''s eyes paling as he could see the glare in their eyes when he recovered.


    "You have dared to assault a duke of the empire in the capital on grounds not afflicting the secular world of cultivators. Your actions disturbed the piece and business of mortal business men in the imperial capital. On behalf of his Imperial Majesty, you are under arrest for spiting imperial law and instigating one of his men without justifiable cause. Your sect will be notified and a penalty given to both the duke and His Imperial Majesty," one of the imperial guards stated.


    "Wait. Our items are gone. In my spatial ring is a few inheritances of the Northern Sword Sect. I was on a mission to retrieve it from an elder in the capital," the leader cried out.


    "He was weak, all of you even weaker. Spirit condensation cultivators are not true cultivators in our eyes. Matters of the secular world do not matter to us either. You lost and kept your lives in exchange for your items. Your losses are within reason. Detain them!" another imperial guard ordered.


    "Senior, what do we do? The duke has the inheritances," one of the disciples despaired as they were cuffed and dragged in chains.


    "I''m doomed. Doomed," the leader wept, knowing his future was gone. He''d be lucky to have death once the sect found out.


    A man in a luxurious red leather jacket appeared at the scene, seemingly invisible even to the cultivators. The imperial guards detected his presence but made no movements to him as they had their duties. The man paused as he detected the faint spirit energy of Wei. It was still lingering in the air, proof of its undying property. Most of all, the man detected the dark azure and black spirit energy to belong to the light attribute. Undying property and light attribute spirit energy? This was spirit energy mutation!


    "My academy actually recruited such a talent using a backdoor method? If the letter from yesterday is true, this crippled youth really underwent a miraculous recovery. Spirit energy mutation is only possible by eating a rare fruit in the immortal ruins. I must see this boy!" the man nodded, waving his hand to remove all traces before leaving.


    Five men were secretly trailing Wei and were unnoticed by the people around them. They were the ones who alerted the guards when they saw ten sect disciples bar Wei''s path. It was precisely Xin and four of the Han Clan elders. All five men were shocked by the sudden change in Wei and followed him to see him safely to the academy.


    What most surprised them was Wei''s killing intent and ruthlessness. They feared he would kill the disciples, but he saw them as trash and left them alive. The men began to question what happened to Han Cong Wei as him having a drastic change was not enough to describe the difference in personality and bearing. This Han Cong Wei was confident, proud, and had a true noble air around him.


    "I''m dreaming, right? How could the young duke be so different?" one of the elders gasped as they continued to follow him.


    "You recognized what happened in the area, right? His spirit energy still lingered. His spirit energy even has an attribute. At first, I believed a devil possessed the young duke''s body and remade his potential. However, I saw the light essence in his spirit energy. There are even two! Lord Xin, what is that dark azure and black spirit light essence?" another nodded and commented.


    "I.....don''t know. Spirit energy mutation is the rarest for a body to possess. Forget ghosts, even demons would feel weakened by his spirit energy. Two of you remain here while I lead the rest of us to the imperial palace to await the judgment on those sect brats," Xin growled. "Join us as soon as Cong Wei safely walks through the academy gates. Of the numerous talents in our clan, Wei falls short to Chen but bears the duke title. These two are the pillars of the next generation."


    "Understood," two elders bowed as three among them swiftly vanished from sight.

 Chapter 5: Academy Director

    <hr />


    <hr />


    Chapter 5: Academy Director


    As Cong Wei walked through the golden gates of the gigantic academy, one tall man wearing a luxurious red leather jacket smiled at him. He looked and nodded at the distant Han Clan elders, the elders visibly stunned at having been detected before leaving.


    "If it isn''t Han Cong Wei. People once called you Duke Nevermore. What a mistake," the man smiled. "I am the academy director of the Slumbering Beast Academy, Oscar Ji. Director Ji is fine. Of all twenty five academies in the continent-wide empire, ours is the third most powerful."


    "Hello Director Ji," Han bowed.


    "Light essence spirit energy, peak ninth layer condensation, and triple attribute spirit root. I find it hard to believe you were a cripple until recently," the director noted.


    "Light essence spirit energy?" Wei asked.


    "You see, cultivators walk three paths. They are light, dark, and neutral. All demons, ghost, and undead possess dark essence in their spirit energy. It is not possible for spirit roots to contain the energy of the two most powerful and versatile elements. It is incredibly rare for a human to possess light essence and most human nations slay those who possess dark essence. Affinity for darkness is an entirely different matter. Essence and energy are two different things entirely," the director answered.


    "Essence is another level of spirit energy. For example, those with affinity to fire search for a higher grade flame essence. Once absorbed and refined successfully, their flames might have a different color and are more powerful. Even the heat of the flames would dwarf regular flames made from spirit energy. You have a rare gift indeed," the director continued. "You not only have two light essences, they are refined to the point of harmony in your body. They can be fused later on. You are quite lucky that they haven''t consumed each other to lose one of them completely."


    "My dark azure and black spirit energy contain light essence?" Wei murmured.


    "I am an avid researcher in spirit energy. I collect scrolls and books of ancient spells and skills and try to restore them. I live in a four story pagoda and you may stay on the third floor. There are several rooms you may use for different purposes. All I ask is that you don''t enter the fourth floor and assist me in my research every now and then. Research on light essence is difficult, but your spirit energy''s undying property will allow me to further my studies as the light essence will linger more," the director proposed. "What do you think?"


    "Thank you for this opportunity," Cong Wei bowed deeply.


    "Good. You may move your stuff there and settle in. Make friends when the academy starts again and try not to cause too much trouble. Incidents like that on the street is fine," Director Ji grinned.


    "You were there?" Wei asked, surprised.


    "Of course. Quite a sight. Your Uncle Xin did leave me a letter describing your situation. Truthfully, I had my doubts before today."


    "Is the Northern Sword Sect powerful?"


    "You don''t have to worry. You are a duke and did nothing to their sect. Their actions cannot be justified based on suspicion of killing intent origin. The items in the leader''s ring may cause some concern. I shamelessly overhead that the inheritances of the sect are within. It is yours by right of contest. They may desire it back, but the empire will back you. I imagine they will soon be penalized and give you further compensation as a result."


    "That is not a problem," Cong Wei said, giving out a green metal spatial ring.


    "You''re giving it up?" Director Ji gasped.


    "Of course not. I took all the silver and gold in the green metal ring. I also took all the various martial arts pertaining to swords. They do not contain skills, but they''ll help me develop my own unique sword style," Wei answered, thinking back on the information the dragon gave him as they barraged his mind and kicked him out his realm of consciousness.


    "There are spells and battle skills within," the director noted.


    "On the way here, I took one battle skill: Indestructible Golden Body. It is rumored to be one of the best body refining skills after all. It also has ties to the earth element," Wei said as the director held the ring and frowned.


    "Take this," the director said, tossing a black jade ring from the storage ring. "That is a spatial ring. Spatial rings bind and destroy its contents upon the owner''s death unless the spirit imprint is removed by the owner. A duke shouldn''t wear a storage ring."


    "Ah. Okay," Wei nodded after a while, transferring the items into the storage ring instantaneously.


    "Take these things too," the director said, tossing a white and gold colored sword and ancient scroll.


    "I never saw those in there," Wei frowned.


    "Of course not. Only those with high cultivation could have detected the items hidden inside the spatial ring. This spatial ring is unbound, but the owner sealed items so that they could only be detected by those with certain cultivation levels. We don''t want the Northern Sword Sect to get those," the director laughed. "They''re not that valuable. This supreme expert left hundreds of swords for those who reached Foundation Establishment and condensed their Spirit Crown."


    For instance, you are at the peak ninth layer of condensation. In order to reach the early Foundation Establishment stage, you must condense your spirit energy into a Spirit Crown. Spirit Crowns also determine what element attributes you should follow. If you create a neutral Spirit Crown, it means you lack an element attribute spirit root and further cultivation is exceptionally more difficult," the director continued. "The academy will tell you your route on the first day. The Spirit Crown is unadorned and gets decorated the further you improve your cultivation. I''ll leave only a few dozen to be returned. As payment, I''ll help you attain an elemental essence of your choosing."


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    "Why pick out this sword? This scroll?" Wei asked.


    "I saw your sword. It is a good one, but not at the level for a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Touch it with that sword and the two will fuse. The white and gold sword will claim the new appearance and is suitable for those with light essence spirit energy. The green azure crystal metal on your sword will become tiny veins near the tip of the white and golden sword. It contains the essence of wood," the director explained. "You having fire, thunder, and earth is a good combination for a Spirit Crown. Light essence will empower you over others and the wood essence will harmonize your elements. Every person with exceptional talent is suggested to condense their Spirit Crown with a medium containing wood essence."


    "It feels good," Wei agreed as his swords fused upon contact. He could feel some strange energy nourish his own. Wei opened the scroll to find a strange language within as a green azure pearl fell out. He noticed it had a symbol of a Chinese cauldron on its surface.


    "What is this?" Wei inquired, picking up the pearl.


    "That is condensed spirit energy of the wood attribute. Once the crown is successfully created, the pearl becomes a diamond. The higher the pearl grade, the better the chances of success. The scroll contains secret knowledge you are worthy to discover on your own. I''d like to research it, but there are others. You need not worry about the Northern Sword Sect. However, you should take this sword battle skill," the director laughed. "That is a long lost sword skill. It doesn''t belong to the sect, but it is clearly valued highly as it was one of the best concealed. Welcome to the Slumbering Beast Academy. On behalf of the academy, thank you for your contributions and it is an honor for one of the twenty five dukes to attend our academy."


    As Han Cong Wei bowed and left, the director thought, "That kid is just like in the novels. Trash MC who becomes the best in the land. He''s got potential. Not enough to match those from ancient and powerful families, but enough to not be ignored. Duke Nevermore..... how ironic. I imagine that the little duke has hundreds of spirit stones. Quite wealthy."


    The director laughed as students started entering the academy to acquire their dorm rooms and classes. Many avoided the director as he was both powerful and easily angered when annoyed. He was also in charge of the academy''s skills and spells as well as the monthly tributes of ten spirit stones. One spirit stone alone cost five gold, but the academy would not sell a single stone no matter the amount of gold.


    Several students noticed Han Cong Wei exit the director''s pagoda. The director didn''t seem to mind and the academy hadn''t started its new term yet. Han Cong Wei also wore bronze cufflinks and wore a red leather jacket for his school uniform. Normal students wore white jackets while bronze cufflinks signified a new student.


    It was when they saw his back that they were stunned. No matter how powerful a clan or organization, no one could have any emblems or insignias unless they were a duke or members of the imperial family. Most dukes were adults with considerable cultivation. The director didn''t seem to mind, but that meant the boy was a duke!


    "Could that be Duke Nevermore? That green dragon with wings attached to the forelimbs is the sigil of the Han Clan. The Frilled Dragon of the Ancients, the extinct dragon that rose to legend before the current dynasty. That crippled duke dares flaunt his clan''s sigil?," one of the nobles shouted and had his head slammed into the ground by the director.


    "What gives you the right to insult a duke! Insulting another student is one matter, insulting his status is different! You mock both the person and the title. By mocking the title, you mock the empire! You will only receive one spirit stone for the whole year!" the director roared. "And what Duke Nevermore? Can''t you tell he is at the peak ninth layer of condensation? He''s more powerful than most of you sorry lot!"


    "Director, forgive me," the student begged but was kicked away with disgust.


    "What an idiot," some of the other students sighed. To anyone going into the academy, it was an unspoken rule not to offend the empire. You can insult a duke and risk his wrath, but you cannot insult his title. Many sighed with relief that they were not the one to make such a mistake.


    A few students in the back narrowed their eyes as Han Cong Wei entered the administration building for his classes. To be favored by the director, he was not ordinary at all. He was the most infamous of the dukes for not being able to cultivate due to a damaged soul. He was also respected by merchants for owning one of the more prosperous dukedoms and one of the richest mines in the southern dukedoms.


    Most of all, the Han Clan patriarch was someone feared by the sects in Han Cong Wei''s dukedom. It was why the sects didn''t dare skip their monthly taxes or cause trouble in the duke''s lands. Even though the duke''s father died, the man was a famous general of the army and many became hired as guars for the Han Clan. Among dukes, the Han Clan probably had one of the most fearsome private armies.


    "Could he have eaten something to heal his soul and cultivate?" one of the students from an ancient family asked.


    "I don''t know. It would be best to observe him first. He''ll be in the advanced class, like us. We''ll learn the truth sooner or later," a girl replied and the small, elite group also headed to the administration building.

 Chapter 6: The Antagonist

    Writer Eternal: Another double chapter release. I try to release a chapter or two a week.


    Chapter 6: The Antagonist


    When the first day of the new term began, hundreds of students swiftly departed their dorms and entered their classrooms. At the Slumbering Beast Academy, only the core class was mandatory. The core class consisted of training and fighting. Han Cong Wei had been busy reading and practicing the many sword martial arts he obtained, incorporating them into his fighting style.


    Wei looked around at all the freshmen around him. All first years were restricted to the western area of the academy. It was because there was a large spirit vein there, akin to a metal vein but releasing pure spirit energy for faster cultivation. First years gathered around the track field, wondering what their first lesson would be.


    Wei had successfully created his Spirit Crown last night. He felt a deeper connection to the elements of fire thunder, and earth. When he and the director had dinner, the director told him that all immortals, or celestials as they were still in the Mortal Realm, took two paths.


    One path was that of an aspiring Magus. Those who followed the mage path focused on elemental manipulation and spells. The other path was that of the Warlord. Aspiring Warlords mastered martial arts and preferred close range combats. The director claimed the Magus path was the best and a celestial could still follow martial arts. Instead of mastering several battle skills, a mage could manipulate the elements and incorporate it into his own martial arts.


    It was a more difficult path, but mages are more powerful for a reason. It is the convenience of spells that makes a Magus a standard weakling with lower body refinement and martial arts experience. A Magus who embraced both paths would essentially stand above both.


    As students of the advanced class contained those with superior talent, they looked down on the rest of the freshmen both noble and commoner. Wei couldn''t be bothered with the prejudices and sat beneath the shade of a peach tree while the other freshmen divided themselves by class, talent, and background.


    All the regular freshmen were not at the peak ninth layer, very few at the late ninth layer of condensation. They stared at the advanced students enviously. The evaluation of first years summarized the future of the students. It was clear those individuals would rise to power and would be favored by the academy.


    "Shen Ling!" a boy laughed as he thought he saw a familiar face, his bearing average and without much muscle. The boy was at the late ninth layer of condensation and one of the regular students.


    "Hmph. Who is this guy to address the princess that way," one of the boys of the advanced class sneered. "Get lost!"


    "Shen Ling? Are you here?" the boy asked as he walked towards the advanced class.


    "This bastard has no ears---" the other boy growled but was stopped by a palm on his shoulder. He bowed his head as he let the girl in the red leather jacket walk past, an insignia of a gold dragon and white phoenix at her back.


    "Greetings Your Highness," all the noble students of the regular class bowed.


    "Why do we have to bow? Every student is equal among freshmen."


    "That''s the princess. Should we?"


    "No. We''re protected by the academy rules. Let''s watch what happens next."


    "Lu Mang?" the princess asked. "Wow. Long time no see. You even managed to cultivate to the late ninth layer! Good. You didn''t disappoint my cousin''s expectations."


    "Is she here?" Lu Mang asked, a warmth in his voice.


    "She has a lot of suitors. She also got admitted and already reached the middle Foundation Establishment stage. She''s past all those students behind me. How did you rise up to the ninth layer so fast? How long did you cultivate?" Ling asked.


    "I started a year ago," Lu Mang grinned, stunning some of the students.


    Han Cong Wei opened his eyes and frowned as he stared at Lu Mang. Started a year ago? Impossible. Did he have a fortuitous encounter? That Lu Mang had to. Commoner background and a crush on a woman of a higher class.... it was just like one of the xianxia novels he loved to read.


    Only the commoner students noticed the lone Han Cong Wei rise from the peach tree and walk over to join the others. Their eyes widened and some whispered as they pointed at the insignia at his back. The boy didn''t seem to be from an ancient clan or the imperial family. The boy had to be a duke!


    "Is that Duke Nevermore?" a boy in the advanced class began before his legs were pierced with a lightning arrow. Shocked, everyone turned to the source to see Han Cong Wei standing there with a hand on the hilt of his sword by his left hip.


    "Did you say something?" Han Cong Wei asked. He felt it was his duty to punish those who bullied and insulted the original Han Cong Wei. That was why he exiled the clans of the bullies. The boy who insulted him was on the ground, the lightning causing his body to twitch violently as if hit by an Taser gun.


    "Violence isn''t the answer," the princess said.


    "Sorry. Haven''t interacted with so many people, so I don''t know how to ''take it easy.'' I didn''t use enough power to make him bleed," Wei shrugged. He did have Han Cong Wei''s memories, but it was as if he watched a movie in first person. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Lu Mang fiddle with a brown ring on his finger.


    "You.... you''re at the early Foundation Establishment stage!" one of the advanced students shouted as the boy was unable to sense Wei''s cultivation.


    "You used a Spirit Pearl?" Ling asked.


    "I got lucky and acquired one. I am Duke Han Cong Wei," Wei nodded as he held out a hand.


    "Shen Ling, also a early Foundation Establishment celestial. I''m a niece of the emperor, but I''ve never met a duke my own age," the princess said and the two shook hands.


    No one took notice of them as Lu Mang tried to walk past the advanced class to see his friend. The boy from before could not be stopped and attacked Lu Mang. As the two boys began to brawl, the students of the regular and advanced class began to fight one another. Ling quickly rushed to her cousin as Wei watched from the sides.


    His eyes narrowed as he saw a bloodied brown ring fly to his feet. He looked inside the storage ring as the advanced students began to push the regular students back. His eyes narrowed as he took out an old worn book from the ring. He realized it was a cultivation method.


    Cultivation methods allowed a celestial to cultivate spirit energy in a different method accompanied with unique benefits. It just took a difference in cultivation methods to allow someone with no talent to surpass someone with exceptional talent.


    With no time to read it, he took out his journal. The journal shined and copied the method instantaneously just like the carvings in the ruins. He was about to put the book back but his spirit energy reacted to something in the journal. His a touch, he removed the cover to reveal a red ring with throbbing veins along its sides embedded along the book''s spine. The ring blended so well, the spine felt so smooth and was not affected when flipping pages.


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


    Wei decided to put the ring in his hidden body space and replaced the book back in the ring. He flicked it toward where the fighting started and the ring landed among many other magical items and disarmed weapons. As most of the students were weak and barely had any fighting experience, they brawled and used their items dismally.


    Wei returned to the shade of the peach tree, studying his journal. He had recorded many cultivation methods from those he executed and found similarities. However, Lu Mang''s cultivation was clearly superior in terms of body refinement. As Lu Mang progressed, his physical prowess would expand exponentially and allow him to fight above his cultivation in the future.


    As one enraged man made his way to the lake and brawling students, Wei was reorganizing the data in his journal. He also felt conflicted inside. He felt like an antagonist because his status and cultivation overshadowed Lu Mang. He definitely felt like the antagonist as he saw the red-haired young girl and daughter of the emperor.


    She looked like a maiden of heaven, so beautiful that her cousin paled in comparison. Shen Ling was also a beauty too, but with a more mature face and body-line. One was a pure maiden while the other was a hot beauty. Wei really felt hurt as he thought he was like an MC, transferring to a new world and rising in status and talent.


    "Even though I might not pursue the princess, my status makes me a contender. I might look like a love rival in Lu Mang''s eyes. Should I just keep the brown ring in my hidden body space and dispose of the cultivation method within?" Wei thought silently as he watched the teacher blow the students away from each other by expelling his spirit energy.


    "Why the hell are you all fighting? And on the very first day? Are you not willing to give me face and make me look bad? Huh? Who started all this?" the man roared, a flame circle rising around his feet.


    As the students remained silent, the man roared, "Are you all mutes? Do you want me to consult the director and have your monthly spirit stones deducted or forfeited?"


    "It was those two!"


    "It was them. Don''t punish us, teacher!"


    "We were wrong. Don''t take the spirit stones away."


    The students of both classes fell to their knees and begged their teacher as the man turned to the princesses, "You two did good to not deal with the brawl like these brats. As expected of the imperial family."


    "Duke Han Cong Wei also declined from joining the brawl," Shen Ling said, everyone turning their eyes to see Wei eating a hot bowl of egg noodle soup.


    "Where did you get that? A storage ring is not able to freeze time inside the ring. Even herbs would slowly expire in storage rings," the teacher said. "You have a spatial ring?"


    "Yes," Wei answered, pointing to his left hand holding the bowl with his chopsticks. "I am a duke."


    "Fair enough. Why did you not stop the fight?" the man asked but paused as the director of the academy arrived.


    "Sir?" the teacher began.


    "A decision has been made. Ten students from among the advanced class will be officially accepted into the Slumbering Beast Sect. Based on what I see, only those three will be accepted. You three can apply for the classes in the eastern and northern academy district. Monthly awards is tripled to thirty. I am very disappointed in what I see. Every one of you....lively youths.....will lose two spirit stones for three months," the director said before giving a jade talisman to the two princesses and Han Cong Wei.


    "Slumbering Beast Sect?" Wei asked.


    "Our academy is an academy only in name. Mostly. We do have classes, but cultivation depends on the student. There are a total of four hundred and fifty freshmen this year, the seventy of you brats the top two classes. The numbers seem high, but less than a quarter will truly join our academy," the director laughed, the man blanching.


    "It can''t be....our academy was chosen this year?" the teacher asked, everyone startled to see the man''s face so pale.


    "Only the fresh meat.....ah, the correct term is new students. My apologies," the director smiled but everyone knew he didn''t really mean it. "There is a Space Gate in the hunting grounds of the imperial palace. The Space Gate opens every ten years, and ten of the twenty five academies are chosen to enter every year. The Space Gate never transports you to the same location every single time."


    "The land is a celestial paradise. There are countless herbs, spirit stones, and even magical items ripe for the taking. The danger is also very real. Each location is an exotic one where some items cannot be found in our world. The Space gate always mysteriously chooses the academy and only the freshmen can enter. Should your harvest be bountiful, you return with fame and glory," the director smiled. "Don''t expect more than a thirty of you to come back alive."


    Many students cried out in fear and shock. Even those students from the capital had mixed feelings. They knew the glories of the survivors, but they knew the tragedy of those who died even more. Memorial tablets were erected in the school solely for those who died in the Space Gate''s dimensions.


    "Now. Now. Don''t cry. Each academy is given one hundred spots, you seventy being joined by the thirty students with the next best talents and strength. Of the one hundred spots, only ten are given a Cosmos Ring. This ring is the only storage item that can function in the Space Gate''s dimension. If any of you are lucky enough to have a storage or spatial item, know that it is useless where you are going. In two days, the Space Gate opens," the director sighed.


    "Whenever the academy is selected, those students who are one of the lucky ten to be given a Cosmos Ring automatically join our sect. Usually, you have to be a second year to be officially recognized as one of us," their teacher nodded. "Cosmos Rings cannot be stolen or used even if the owner dies. They are created by the Space Gate, not by nature or any creature with spirit energy. Each Cosmos Ring contains a 2x2x2 meter space, worse than the best storage ring. However, it functions like a spatial ring with its ability to freeze time inside the pocket space of the ring."


    "You thought your lives would be easy for your first year. Me too. Too bad we''re both disappointed. There is also a very important information you should all know: the Space Gate allows only one spell and one battle skill to be used originating outside its dimensions. Failure to register with us will get you killed. Same thing applies to one magical weapon and one magical item excluding storage category items. Our academy is willing to give you one of each, but you must choose to use it in the Space Gate. You have less than forty eight hours to prepare. I''d make it count if I were you," Director Ji laughed and left them in petrified silence.


    "So the three of us are already considered members of the sect. We should stick together. We''ll be safer as a group," Shen Ling smiled, her cousin agreeing as Wei noticed the swift glare in Lu Mang''s eyes.


    "I''m the antagonist. This guy already sees me as a love rival. If this is some script, I just changed it by taking the ring. The MC might be protected by plot armor. How do I deal with him before his cultivation skyrockets? I stole the ring, but he still has that book," Wei thought, scratching the back of his head as he walked toward his new home in the third floor of the director''s pagoda.

 Chapter 7: The Blood Vein Ring

    Chapter 7: The Blood Vein Ring


    The night before the voyage through the Space Gate, Wei was cultivating in the pagoda. He had just reached early stage Foundation Establishment, now trying to solidify the spirit energy in the body. Oscar Ji stared silently at Wei as Wei sat in lotus position with five elemental crystals positioned in a five star point formation. The five elements of fire, thunder, earth, light, and wood were inside the crystals, Wei''s Spirit Crown levitating above his lap.


    "Strange. Why is his spirit energy so erratic?" the director frowned as large amounts of spirit energy surged into Wei''s body from the crystals. Han Cong Wei also stirred, his spiritual trance disrupted as he yelled out. Five kinds of elemental energy just surged into his body. Wei''s Spirit Crown shined as Wei reached the middle Foundation Establishment stage.


    "Did you use a cultivation method?" Director Ji asked, stunned as he felt Wei''s body and soul were both refined at once. Such a combination was extremely rare. Of course, the director did not receive a journal from Grandma Ling of the Immortal Ruins to record and combine whatever it copied into its pages.


    "I found a way to combine body refining methods with soul refining methods. I lacked a strong body refining cultivation method that would be able to endure the enhanced strength of my soul and purified spirit energy. Unfortunately, such combinations are only effective for Foundation Establishment. I merely used the basics of several cultivation methods so I don''t harm my potential," Wei answered as he stood up.


    "If your life was a story, it would be akin to a weak MC rising to become a monster," the director sighed, a tinge of envy in his voice.


    "A monster?" Wei muttered, thinking of how he was created in the Immortal Ruins. "That might be true, but I am not the main character."


    "What was that?" the director asked.


    "It''s nothing. I registered my Fireball spell, gray flying sword talisman, my sword, and the ancient sword battle skill the Northern Sword Sect desired," Wei said.


    "You own a flying sword?" the director asked, his eyes widening.


    "No. Just a gray talisman that creates sword of gray spirit energy. I also cannot ride it, but I can manipulate it like a flying sword due to the telekinesis technique of the talisman. I admit I''m not proficient with the Fireball spell, talisman, or ancient sword battle skill. However, I mastered the first stage of the Indestructible Golden Body technique and already mastered the Lightning Arrow spell," Wei replied as the empty crystals shattered and turned to black dust.


    "That is quite a feat. You certainly are full of surprises. Your affinity to fire, thunder, and earth are quite high. I cannot predict what you might face in the Space Gate''s dimension, but you should stick with your classmates. You cannot trust the students from other academies," the director warned as he absorbed some of Wei''s dual-light essence into a vial. "If you have a method to tame magical beasts, you can also use it on the magical beasts in the Space Gate."


    "Really? I thought only one spell could be registered?" Wei frowned.


    "Yes, but those Cosmos Rings have the same time freezing spatial ability as spatial rings. You can knock one unconscious and store it in your ring. Best to get a youngling as the Cosmos Ring''s space is only 2x2x2 meters. A two meter square-sized room can only hold so much," Director Ji answered.


    "My hidden body space contains a 8x8x8 meter space now. I''ll store the best stuff I find in there anyway. Divine abilities are not inhibited by restrictions," Wei thought but appreciated the director''s advice.


    "I''ll leave my spatial ring here. I don''t trust the students in charge to not attempt to steal anything within. Even if my ring is a spatial ring, it is better to leave it here," Wei said and left his black jade ring on a table nearby.


    "You and the imperials are lucky because you are already at the Foundation Establishment stage. You don''t need to search and hope to find a Spirit Pearl there. The more you fight, the more your cultivation will grow unhindered. Many talented youths soared like a carp transforming into a dragon precisely because they survived the Space Gate," the director grinned. "You must work hard. You will also gain many enemies in terms of jealous students of the academy already part of the Slumbering Beast Sect. It is because you have the option to keep your loot or donate it to the academy for contribution points."


    "Sounds good," Wei said, the director laughing before heading up to the fourth floor of the pagoda. Wei didn''t care about people who wanted to harm them. He was an executioner who beheaded even immortals from beyond the Mortal Realm.


    "So what makes this ring so special?" Wei mused as he took out the ring he took from Lu Mang''s book. He stared at the vein along the side of the ring, his eyes narrowing as it felt warm and pulsed. He bound the ring with his spirit energy and inspected it, his consciousness entering the ring.


    His consciousness appeared in a small space containing a large canyon. Countless elemental energies turned into chains connected to a large cage suspending over a river made of pure spirit energy in liquid form. In the cage, a savage beast roared in defiance.


    The beast was similar to a sabertooth tiger. However, it had scales around its neck and lower back with a lone horn on its forehead. Its tail was two feet long with long strands of hair extending like roots from its tail. The creature had black and white scales and fur, and slashed viciously at the cage imprisoning it.


    Its eyes were filled with hatred as it noticed a new presence in the Blood Vein Ring. As the owner of the ring, Wei had free control of the pocket dimension and seemed to walk on the air as he descended toward the cage.


    "What a magnificent magical beast. As the owner of the Blood Vein Ring, I also gained knowledge of what it contained and how to control it. This ring originated from one of the many Space Gates, this creature imprisoned from another planet. If my cultivation rises high enough, I can travel the stars and find a planet with better resources to ascend to the Immortal Realm. Why haven''t I read much information about it? Could it be that only a few select people know that those people who rose into the sky did not reach the Immortal Realm yet?" Wei muttered as he gazed into the creatures eyes.


    He remained calm as the sabertooth tiger slashed at the cage before him. The elemental energies stopped the claw from reaching out the cage, electrocuting the savage beast. Han Cong Wei smiled as he slowly extending his arm toward the creature, his hand appearing to grasp the beast from afar.


    The sabertooth tiger paled as it saw a cyan magic rune circle appear on the palm of Wei''s hand. It began a beam of light that entered its body, slowly making its way to the brain. The beast tried to resist, but Wei controlled the elemental energy to constrict the creature in a smaller cage to divide its attention. The beast could no longer resist and the rune circle entered and branded itself onto the creature''s brain and soul.


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    "The Beast Tamer spell is complete. The creature is my magical beast now. It was captured as a cub and is only at the seventh layer of condensation. However, its bloodline was so powerful that I needed the help of the ring to make it my spirit beast. Its cultivation should grow if I let it roam in the river below. I should have passed the ring''s test and the spirit hiding within should now replace the beast in the cage," Wei nodded, seeing a human ghost appear in the cage as the savage beast celebrated its freedom and descended into the river under Wei''s mental command.


    "Someone actually tamed that savage beast? What a surprise," the ghost exclaimed and looked at Wei. "Middle Foundation Establishment stage with two elemental essences and three attribute spirit root. You actually made a Spirit Crown with all five. I half suspected a weakling to acquire the ring, but I didn''t expect it to be someone whose spirit energy is so pure and contains traces of an undying property."


    "Well, it was supposed to be Lu Mang. I couldn''t let the MC rise to power so early and defeat me. I am the antagonist," Wei thought and appeared to be waiting for the spirit to speak further.


    "I am Raymond, a former celestial who once traveled the stars and took resources from countless planets. Your planet believes those who rose up in the sky actually ascended into the Immortal Realm. It is proof that your planet is a mere fledgling that benefited from the scar in the sky many millennia ago. Help me attain a physical body and I will help you rise in cultivation to travel the stars," the ghost spirit said, slightly nervous as Wei was different than the past owners of the ring.


    "What happened to cause the ring to imprison you?" Wei asked first.


    "The ring only allows the living to bind it and roam its small world. Besides being commanded to imprison a living creature into the ring, the dead are also imprisoned. I did not know this when I found the ring on this planet countless years ago. I was betrayed and sought refuge in the ring as I lay dying in my safe house. How could I have known it was a ring from the scar in the sky, a rip between the Mortal Realm and Immortal Realm? I could not foresee the ring''s effect and it imprisoned my spirit when I sought refuge within," the ghost sighed. "There is another spirit inside the ring. Do not trust it."


    "You''re right. There is another spirit, but I can''t trust you," Wei said as his sword appeared in his hand. The ghost cried out in terror as the cage changed into a platform while the chains shackled his wrists and ankles. It felt fear as a familiar black mask appeared on Wei''s face, a strange neon symbol on the forehead neon green in color.


    "What are you?" the ghost cried as it felt its body shift forward to expose the neck as Wei walked to its side. "How could you bring a mask and sword into this place?"


    "I did not use some simple method to tame the sabertooth tiger. I used the Beast Tamer spell, a rare spell originating from the Immortal Realm itself. I received it from an immortal I beheaded as I represented the Black Sea. I could not receive the technique without the Soul Scour ability even if it was gifted to me as the condemned were souls, not the living. The mask and sword are indestructible and a part of my soul itself," Wei answered as radiant golden armor appeared on his body. "It is unfortunate, for me, that I cannot use the mask in the outside world just yet. However, I can clearly use it here."


    "Did you not think that I could obtain some memories from the savage beast? I could gain skills, spells, and other information from the condemned through the divine ability the mask granted me when I first killed a condemned prisoner: Soul Scour. You killed the beast''s family while it was a cub and sealed it in the ring. The part of you finding the ring on this planet is a lie, but the bit about you dying was not," Wei continued.


    "Perhaps me killing you changed the fate of Lu Mang. Maybe he might have been deceived. No. He''s protected by plot armor. He would have found a way to escape your reach and become monstrously strong through the teachings of the other spirit. Who knows?" Wei shrugged as he drew his sword, the sword radiating a familiar golden flame.


    "Release me! RELEASE ME! I''ll tell you all the spells and battle skills I know. I could lead you down the path to greatness!" the ghost begged.


    "Maybe you could," Wei said, hope in the ghost''s eyes before Wei continued. "But you didn''t. You can blame me. I didn''t want to be the antagonist either, but your memories and existence could have helped Lu Mang destroy me. I''ve already seen the jealousy and envy in his eyes."


    "D, don''t. Please don''t," the spirit begged as Wei''s sword rose into the sky.


    "Your time has come. We had no enmities, but your fate was decided the moment I tamed my spirit beast," Wei said before slashing his sword toward the ghost''s neck.


    "NOOOO!" the ghost screamed before its very soul was beheaded and destroyed like many others. The spirit beast below shivered, but knew its master would not harm it.


    It let its hatred go as Wei took the beast''s revenge in its stead. The beast felt like a cub again and played in the water, its body shrinking to the size it was before it was imprisoned. All harm on its body and soul were recovered. The pain would remain, but it was no longer consumed with hate.


    Han Cong Wei watched as a third being appeared before him. The spirit was so damaged, it would take time before the ring could fully restore the spirit. Still, Wei gained some pieces of memories and a spirit beast. He could just expose the cub when he returned from the Space Gate to avoid suspicion.


    He fantasized about all the memories of the Space Gate''s dimensions he obtained from the ghost. The ghost actually did venture through the stars and entered three different Space Gates. The savage beast was indeed from one of them, and the dimensions of the Space Gates were never the same and had their own restrictions.


    "I have to go through a Space Gate tomorrow. Who knows when I would enter another one. I have to obtain whatever I can," Wei sighed as his consciousness exited the Blood Vein Ring. He stored it back in his hidden body space and put on his Cosmos Ring. He cleaned the black sand from the floor and decided to make final preparations in the morning. He also made a mental note to transfer the cub into his Cosmos Ring before he returned from the Space Gate.

 Chapter 8: Entering the Space Gate

    Writer Eternal: Here''s another two chapters.


    Chapter 8: Entering the Space Gate


    "Got everything?" Director Ji asked as he entered the third floor of the pagoda.


    "Yeah," Wei nodded as he had his sword strapped to his left side. He stared at his spatial ring and left all the food, clothes, and money in the ring.


    He took the spirit crystals and stored them in his hidden body space. Intuition told him that he might not be able to see the spatial ring again as the MC had unpredictable events happen to him. Lu Mang was an anomaly, and Wei had to be prepared.


    "I''m ready," Wei repeated as the director was unable to determine what he did. As he joined the other one hundred representatives of the Slumbering Beast Academy, he received a mountain backpack containing many pockets. He sighed with relief as he discovered that Lu Mang did not receive a Cosmos Ring.


    Guards donning gold or red armor littered the walls of the underground cavern. Participants of the other academies and the sects with twenty representatives each were all waiting for the prime minster to arrive. They stared at a corroded, gargantuan metal ring at the heart of the cavern.


    "Good morning everyone. I am the prime minister of our great empire," a muscular man with gray hair smiled as he wore a simple white robe with golden dragons at the hem of the robe. "The Space Gate behind me will now open. You have seven days to find the Space Gate as you will be teleported to random locations in its dimension. The treasures and magical beasts you find there are unlike any other. Do remember this: entering the wrong Space Gate will result in you not returning."


    As the representatives cried out in alarm, the prime minister held out his hand and said, "Be at ease. Your Cosmos Ring will shine should you approach the wrong Space Gate. You, or your group, can find methods to determine which Space Gate to enter as there are always clues and methods provided. Should you return to a different world, the 2x2x2 meter space in your Cosmos Ring will become 15x15x15. Should you return to us, those stuck in the Spirit Condensation Realm will receive a Spirit Pearl. Those already at Foundation Establishment, or already found a Spirit Pearl, will be awarded one thousand spirit crystals and allowed one or two items from the imperial vault based on loot obtained."


    "So generous. The prizes weren''t this great last time."


    "Fool. It was because too many people died last time. It is to motivate us to stay alive."


    "As expected of the empire, of course they would hundreds of Spirit Pearls."


    "Those at the Foundation Establishment are so lucky. Hopefully I find a Spirit Pearl there."


    "Now, now. Everyone, it is possible to enter in groups. One member must possess a Cosmos Ring and only seven people per group. However, two of the seven people must represent another sect or academy. It is allowed for up to five members per group to possess a Cosmos Ring, but the risk of death for your fellow representatives rises even higher. Do not feel pressured by your sect or academy. This decision rests entirely on you. I, the prime minister, guarantee it," the prime minister smiled. "The Space Gate will remain open for one hour. Good luck and I pray for at least twenty percent of you to return alive. Alive and not on the verge of death."


    All eyes turned to see several sect members just run into the Space Gate. None of the academy students did as they were more united. Everyone in the Slumbering Beast Academy wondered which member to take in their group and discussed with each other their options and what they registered. Seeing how long it was taking, Han Cong Wei decided to walk to the Space Gate.


    "Cong Wei, you''re heading to the Space Gate alone? You might not survive alone and might never encounter another group. Also, a group you happen to encounter might try to kill you," Shen Ling warned, all the academy students staring at Han Cong Wei.


    "I''m not being arrogant about this. I am impatient. This is taking too long. The more group members, the less likely I''ll obtain the resources I want. The resources I need to prevent someone from possibly killing me," Cong Wei answered.


    "Someone wants to kill you?" Shen Ling asked.


    "Everyone wants to kill me just like how everyone wants to kill you. The reason is greed. I barely met any of you. Trust? Not with my life. Sorry," Wei said with a wave before turning to the Space Gate.


    "Wei, my boy, why don''t you just group with them," Director Ji said as he appeared next to Wei in a flash.


    Many people were startled. From academy faculty and sect elders to the palace guards and prime minister, no one had even sensed his presence or movement. Those who frequented the capital realized who the director was and sighed. The director was certainly one of the top celestials in the entire empire, and the reason the Slumbering Beast Academy was not pressured by the current dynasty.


    Wei''s eyes narrowed as Shen Ling came up to the Space Gate with her cousin and Lu Mang. In Lu Mang''s eyes, Cong Wei seemed to look at him with disproval and Mang clenched his fists. Mang then heard Shen Qing say that Cong Wei''s cultivation reached middle Foundation Establishment.


    "It is dangerous to travel with them," Wei said.


    "You mean that boy at the late ninth layer of Spirit Condensation? True. He''ll only slow you all down in case your group needs to escape from danger," the director agreed. "However, the two girls of the Shen Clan are imperials with very high cultivation talents. If that boy can''t keep up, they can hold his hand."


    Everyone else in the cavern laughed as they heard the director''s words. It was true. Already three people at the Foundation Establishment in a group of possibly seven, that Lu Mang would be a liability unless the other members were also stuck at the Spirit Condensation Realm.


    "We''d like to join your group. We have three people already," a young man grinned as another boy and girl appeared behind him. "Name is Benkei of the Hamada Clan. Behind me is Sakura and Hiro. They''re at the late ninth layer of Spirit Condensation and I''m at the peak, only in need of a Spirit Pearl to breakthrough to Foundation Establishment. I also possess a Cosmos Ring."


    "Oh! These kids are from the Thousand Sword Grave Sect. Quite powerful and a righteous sect that sends its disciples to assist the army on the border of demon territory to the south. You seven are a good group. While inferior in terms of cultivation, that boy with you is the weakest because sect disciples generally have more experience in life and death battles," the director laughed.


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    "Lord Oscar Ji, you honor my sect to allow them to join those four," a sect elder smiled, pleased to hear the assessment of such a supreme expert.


    "Traveling with the MC is dangerous. He''ll drag us into all kinds of danger," Wei thought but nodded due to peer pressure. He had never interacted with so many people back on the island. It was unfamiliar territory for him.


    "No matter how talented you are, you are all just good seeds. New recruits. Green horns. Fresh meat," the director said to the group and everyone else. "Whether you come back or not implicates no one. Not even the emperor. The prime minster was being kind in saying at least twenty percent will return. In truth, only ten percent will return. Some are killed by others, some choose to enter a different Space Gate, and some are eaten. You have until you enter the Space Gate to quit. Do not feel ashamed. You only have one life unless you are lucky. Don''t squander it for ''what ifs'' or ''what could have been'' inside the Space Gate. Even those that return usually come back with something missing."


    Shen Ling nodded and said, "We''ll enter as a group."


    The group of seven walked through the shimmering mirror surface within the Space Gate. They felt as if they were free falling from a building, the rush causing their hearts to beat rapidly. They cried out in alarm as they appeared fifty meters in the air above a giant lake about fifty yards from shore.


    Han Cong Wei inhaled strongly as his head broke the water of the surface after plunging seven feet deep. Shortly, the other six members also breathed fresh air and they swam to shore. Han Cong Wei controlled his flame spirit energy to expel the water from his clothes while others did the same after seeing him.


    "Where are we?" Lu Mang asked as he helped Shen Qing.


    "I saw mountains in the distance as I fell. We''re in some kind of valley," Shen Ling answered as the three sect members regrouped with them.


    "Why did we fall from the sky?" Sakura asked.


    "The Space Gate takes us to random locations. Some might appear in an underground cave. Others might appear above water or atop a mountain. Common knowledge is that there are no treasures in the area you drop or appear in. That means no treasure in the lake. There might be one on shore. The truly bizarre aspect of the Space Gate''s dimensions are that some magical beasts or other species contain items either on their person or in their body. My older brother told me this," Princess Qing explained.


    "First things first: we must familiarize ourselves with each other. That means elemental attributes and preference of combat," Benkei said. "My name is Benkei and my elemental affinities are thunder, wind, and metal. I prefer close range combat with my katana."


    "Sakura. I prefer long range with my longbow. My elemental affinity is wind," the female sect member with long black hair smiled.


    "Hiro. I prefer close range with my two short swords. My main elemental affinity is ice," the last sect member nodded.


    "I''m Shen Ling. It is nice to meet you all. I prefer close combat with my spear and I use fire and metal," Shen Ling greeted.


    "Lu Mang. My main attributes are water and wind. I use dual swords," Lu Mang answered. Hiro and Sakura were surprised to hear Lu Mang''s dual attributes, but wondered about his combat experience.


    "My name is Shen Qing. My main weapon is the zither and I attack using sound waves created by my spirit energy. They can also be manipulated to create beings or weapons made of my affinities. My main elements are wind, ice, water, fire, and I have light essence," Qing said, stunning everyone. Just how talented could one be to create corporeal images using elemental energy? She could even make them tangible? Lu Mang could only sigh at the difference between them.


    "I suppose I''m last. I am Cong Wei of the Han Clan. I use my sword and my body. My elemental affinities are fire, earth, and thunder. I also have light and wood essence," Cong Wei concluded, causing everyone to turn their heads to him. Even the sect members had heard rumors of the former Duke Nevermore. The two cousins were from the prestigious imperial family, but he was from a minor clan that rose to glory after gaining a dukedom.


    "You three are more than worthy to be at the Foundation Establishment so soon," Benkei laughed as he shook his head in defeat. He stared dumbly at Cong Wei as the latter felt something beneath his feet and picked up a black box about two inches in diameter with a symbol of a rock at the surface.


    "No way! Don''t tell me you already found something," Shen Ling cried in shock. They watched as Wei frowned and touched the rock symbol. The box shattered and revealed a brown ring while  ball of light entered Wei''s body.


    "What did you get?" Benkei asked.


    "I...learned a new spell: Earth Spike. The ring is also enchanted to use the spell twice every twenty four hours. Unlike me, it does not require energy and can be cast instantaneously," Wei answered as he put the ring on his left middle finger, next to the black and starry Cosmos Ring on his left index finger.


    "Nice. Another spell means more manpower in future battles," Qing congratulated, Lu Mang gritting his teeth in envy.


    "We should move. Who knows what dangers lay in the area," Hiro interrupted, the others nodding as Shen Ling took the lead.


    "Luckily, I saw the glint as Lu Mang reached the shore before me and revealed it after stepping onto the wet sand. The MC sure has divine luck," Wei thought and sighed before looking in the direction where he fell. "I shouldn''t worry about him for now. If he does decide to make a move on me, I''ll take action then."


    "You coming?" Benkei asked as they were the only ones still on the sands.


    "Yeah. Just needed to let go of some thoughts," Wei nodded and followed Benkei into the trees. The group found several weird fruits but encountered no other signs of life. As they exited the valley, Wei''s heart shook as he saw a city with buildings and skyscrapers covered with thick vines and moss.


    "We left the safe area. Somewhere in that city is a small Space Gate about three meters in diameter. We have nearly seven days and six nights to find the Space Gate home or we''re stranded and have to enter a different Space Gate," Qing began.


    "This is where it begins. Shall we?" Ling smiled nervously and followed the path toward the city.

 Chapter 9: City of Monsters

    Chapter 9: City of Monsters


    "We approach the city. Never seen one like it," Hiro noted as he drew his two short swords.


    "Stay alert. Wei and Benkei should take the front. I''ll take right flank, Lu Mang the left. Qing will assist whichever side is in most danger and Sakura will focus only on aerial or long range enemies," Ling ordered as Wei and Benkei walked to the front.


    "We shouldn''t be traveling in the streets, or entering the skyscrapers. The most danger lays there," Wei said.


    "You recognize this kind of city?" Qing asked.


    "This technology originates from Earth. I''ve seen a few relics obtained in my dukedom," Wei lied as he surveyed the streets.


    "Are you certain there are monsters and magical beasts here?" Lu Mang asked, looking around.


    "They''re here alright. We''re surrounded," Sakura said, nocking an arrow.


    "How do you know?" Ling asked.


    "She''s always been sensitive to spirit energy. She can access her spirit sense despite her low cultivation," Hiro answered, brandishing his short swords.


    "She''s right. They''re here," Wei said, drawing his sword. "I can sense them."


    "You can sense spirit energy in other people too?" Qing asked.


    "No. Not their spirit energy. Their bloodlust," Wei said and stared at the ground. "They''re in the sewers! Dozens of them."


    Wei put his left hand on the ground. He closed his eyes and a brown pulse radiated from the brown ring on his hand. The others felt the ground quake softly beneath their feet.


    "They''re dead," Sakura said. "I sense some spirit energy signatures ahead. We need to get out of here."


    "Do we split up momentarily?" Benkei asked. On the straps of their backpacks were communication badges. Only the original owner could use them and they were activated to those part of a party. To those who entered the Space gate alone, the badge would disintegrate.


    "I''m going underground," Wei said and three fireballs broke through the road to the sewers. Of course, the water was long gone.


    "Sakura will go with you guys. She can sense spirit energy and her ability is most useful. You royals are at Foundation Establishment. You can keep her safe. I''ll go with Cong Wei," Benkei said and followed Wei below the street.


    "I''ll attract the attention of the monsters and draw them away," Hiro said.


    "You can''t," Sakura said as Hiro put a hand on her shoulder.


    "The Mukata Clan is tasked with protecting your esteemed clan. One guardian per descendant until the cultivation rises and deserves more hands," Hiro said. "Go."


    Sakura nodded, gritting her teeth with anger and worry as she led the other three party members away from the main streets. Benkei followed Wei through the sewers, staring at the many corpses skewered by spears of rocks from the beneath the concrete.


    "What are those things?" Benkei asked as he stared at the grey-skinned humans with withered skins and scales on their bodies.


    "Corpse Eaters," Wei answered, a memory belonging to the ghost flashing through his mind. "They''re a species of undead tainted by dark magic. A pale imitation of power meant to contest the flames of a dragon. Fire can kill them, but only by burning the flesh not covered by their scales. The more they feed, the more powerful they become. Mindless undead that travel in hordes. They eat anything of the living, attacking on plain sight. There should be no more in the city."


    "Where are we going?" Benkei asked.


    "Where they used to be. There must be signs of life in the city. Other humans. Also, there must be treasures and the source of their creation. I originally came down here to escape what was coming to us," Wei said, creating a small flame in his hand to ignite a nearby plank on the ground. "We''ll regroup with the others later. The more of us, the less we take."


    "I''m game. My katana hasn''t tasted blood since I got it," Benkei agreed as Wei observed the tracks and turned left into another sewer tunnel. They followed three tunnels before exiting out a manhole. Wei killed a few two foot tall rats with his fireballs while Benkei laughed as he slashed with his katana.


    They cringed as they passed a few mangled corpses. However, they continued on as they knew they were going the right direction. They paused before a giant chamber that had several sewer tunnels along the walls. With the water long gone, Wei and Benkei could see a tunnel at the bottom of the chamber.


    They nodded and slowly made their way below due to Benkei''s ability to create and manipulate metal. It took Benkei half an hour to create metal bars in the wall to descend downward with. The two rested from exhausting their spirit energy before pressing on. They learned that Hiro regrouped with the others and that Lu Mang reached the peak ninth layer after slaying five meter tall wolves.


    "He''s growing," Wei sighed and ate a fruit he took from the valley.


    "That Lu Mang?" Benkei asked.


    "Lets just say, he sees me as a love rival and I have no interest in her," Wei shrugged and paused. "We''re getting close. The smell of blood is stronger and my light spirit essence is reacting to something."


    "That would be dark essence. What spell and battle skill do you know? Item?" Benkei asked. "I know the Metal Raiment spell and Thunder Beast Slash battle skill. My magical item is a bracelet that creates an energy shield as strong as the spirit energy supplied and my cultivation."


    "I know the Fireball spell and possess a flying sword talisman. My battle skill unleashes a sword beam, but I haven''t reached initial mastery with it yet," Wei answered.


    "If we find a catalyst for obtaining steel essence, I''d like it. Essence is the next level up after all," Benkei grinned. "Besides another katana, I don''t really care what we split unless its a Spirit Pearl."


    "Take it," Wei said, tossing a Spirit Pearl. "Breakthrough before we head inside. It''ll take a while to stabilize your new cultivation so we''ll go in after two hours."


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    "You found some good stuff. Where?" Benkei asked.


    "The corpses. I did search them you know," Wei answered.


    "Thanks man. Really. Truly," Benkei bowed his head and went back up the chamber to breakthrough there as it was safer. Wei also went up and onto the surface through another tunnel.


    He returned with some non-perishable food and water bottles from the convenience stores he visited. He also returned with chips and other snacks, realizing that not much time passed as they still tasted good and didn''t go moldy or rotten when he opened a few.


    He had also found a turtle shell pot. It was an extremely valuable item. Upon binding it, he learned it could be used to refine magical items and treasures. It could even upgrade them with the right materials. It also seemed to invigorate his wood essence within his spirit energy. He also found nine throwing knives. He put them in the pot and dumped some spirit crystals within.


    Before Benkei returned to the bottom of the chamber, the throwing knives had been refined to three flying daggers with cyan crystal blades. Thinking of the long term, Wei dumped his flying sword talisman in the pot with many other miscellaneous items and magical metal he obtained from his executions and left the pot in the Blood Vein Ring so the process wouldn''t be halted if he stored it in his hidden body space or Cosmos Ring. Time still moved within the Blood Vein Ring even if it was inside the hidden body space because they were not connected.


    "I''ve finally consolidated my spirit energy at the early Foundation Establishment. I''m finally a quasi-celestial. Once I break through the peak stage, I''m a true celestial," Benkei laughed and saw Wei. "Thanks man. You''re a true friend. You could have kept the Spirit Pearl and sold it, but you gave it to me."


    "Don''t mention it," Wei nodded and held out two katanas. "Found these outside. It makes me suspicious. There are some really rare magical treasures and many more junk treasures, but no human bodies. Not even decayed ones. I would find it hard to believe if someone told me they were all killed and eaten by the Corpse Eaters."


    "These katanas are old. Nice craftsmanship, but the quality pales to my sword," Benkei noted as he appraised the swords. "What you also said sounds bad. We came with many others. Even if they were teleported to other areas in this dimension, we should have encountered a group or individual. Heard signs of battle. What is your cultivation now?"


    "Still at the middle Foundation Establishment stage. I''m not only purifying my spirit energy to make me more powerful in the future, I''m also refining the flesh, bones, and organs in my body," Cong Wei answered. "I discovered I can continue practicing my Indestructible Golden Body technique. Do you know why?"


    "Ah, you know that body refinement technique? Wow. You''ll be tough to kill. The gold element contains the power of the stars, closely tied to the earth element. There are some skills and spells not restricted by the Space Gate. In your case, it can''t be used to harm people or defend yourself as it improves your defenses permanently as you progress. I''ve heard similar cases," Benkei answered and paused, his hand on the badge. "Bad news."


    "What is it?" Wei asked.


    "DAMMIT!" Benkei roared, standing to his feet. "Are you sure? Hiro, you better be lying!"


    "What happened?" Wei said as Benkei fell on his knees in despair.


    "Fucking Lu Mang. He found a Space Gate but saw that Qing''s Cosmos Ring shines near it. That means it is not the Space Gate home. So, he destroyed it as the Space Gates here are not indestructible. However, there are always defense mechanisms and a drake came out the Space Gate. While a wingless lizard of a dragon, it still possess dragon blood and it nearly killed them. A few of them have burns and the dragon spirit energy caused their spirit energy to be erratic," Benkei cursed. "They''ll be unable to harness their spirit energy until it stabilizes. Meanwhile, the drake is on a rampage and killed two groups of people. Hiro saw it from the window as the Drake jumped out and traveled rooftop to rooftop. Its in its juvenile state, but its growing fast."


    "Damn. We might not have seven days to go home. That dragon might destroy our Space Gate," Wei muttered but Benkei shook his head.


    "It already did. Hiro found it and he regrouped with them to show them the location as the others took refuge in the skyscraper. We''re fucking stranded and need to take another Space Gate to leave this cursed place," Benkei sighed. "Who knows if we can find another area with our Space Gate in time. Unless we had a flying sword, its impossible to travel and search so far from here."


    "I can''t go back to my family?" Wei said before the original Han Cong Wei''s memories flashed. "No. I have to go back. I''m the duke. I''m still here."


    "Listen to me! We''re stuck. I want to cut off the head of that bastard, but his actions saved their lives. He''s a hero to them. They can accept his actions," Benkei yelled, trying to keep Wei from going into shock.


    "And I''m supposed to accept that he''s a hero? What a load of crap!" Wei roared. "Looks like I have to take a chance and follow the script. I''ll be the villain and skewer him."


    "You can''t!" Benkei said, putting a hand on Wei''s shoulder. "You''re right. We can''t go back. He fucked up our lives and our families will believe we''re dead. I want to cut off Lu Mang''s head too, but do you think the others will let us?"


    "No. The masses always see the hero as a savior no matter the method," Wei muttered and breathed deeply. "I don''t care about him anymore. I knew he''d make trouble for me.....Lets go find the source of those Corpse Eaters."


    "Yeah. Lets wreck havoc first and give Lu Mang a nice punch to the face when we regroup," Benkei agreed as he followed Wei into the tunnel at the bottom of the sewer chamber.

 Chapter 10: The Corpse Field

    Writer Eternal: A little early for this week''s chapters, but I got extra time. By the end of this triple chapter release, the introduction and events leading to the main setting are done. To be good or to be bad; Wei walks his own path to avoid the tragic end fate wants of him.


    Chapter 10: The Corpse Field


    Wei and Benkei drew their swords and tread carefully as they exited the sewer tunnel. Before them was a giant underground plain littered with corpses. Black clouds floated in the air, causing the grass to wither where they passed. A mist of blood lingered around the corpses, the bodies long dead and no longer juicy.


    "A corpse field! With so many dead, no wonder a Corpse Eater could be born. There are so many bodies to use for such dark magic," Wei gasped.


    "What about those black clouds? The blood mist?" Benkei asked.


    "Leave the blood mist to me. Director Ji mentioned once that my wood essence could absorb vitality. Absorbing the blood mist should enlarge my foundations and make me more powerful later on," Wei said as green energy coiled around his arms and body. He sat in lotus position, the blood mist surging toward him as if he were a black hole. Before the blood mist could touch his body, the green wood essence would absorb the blood mist.


    Benkei stepped back and was stunned at the sight. It was as if Han Cong Wei was in the center of a whirlpool of blood, fear and awe in his eyes as he watched Cong Wei drain and clear the plains of the blood mist. Wei''s body started to glow gold as he simultaneously practiced the Golden Indestructible Body technique. He also gained fragmented memories of those who died. Compared to finding magical treasures, the memories of the celestials he gained was more than worth it.


    Black liquid impurities spilled out from his pores, burned away by his spirit energy. Wei had reached the late Foundation Establishment stage. No, the peak! Foundation Establishment was the most simple cultivation realm and less difficult than Spirit Condensation. All it required was enlarging and opening the meridians in ones body to increase spirit energy reserves. Once it reached a certain level, the quasi-celestial would break the peak Foundation Establishment and be considered a true celestial of the Mortal Realm.


    As the hidden body space expanded due to another cultivation increase, the Blood Vein Ring was also refined by the blood mist. Wei opened his eyes and stood up, feeling a lot of power inside his body. He materialized his Spirit Crown, ecstatic to see nine round ruby stones atop the crown. His Spirit Crown was complete and he really did reach the peak stage.


    "Congratulations. Wish we could spend time to consolidate your spirit energy, but we got trouble," Benkei said, pointing to the black clouds that fell from the sky and converged on a single point.


    "You need to escape. I''ll hold it off," Wei said, gripping his sword tightly as the clouds began to fuse.


    "How strong is it?" Benkei asked.


    "Stronger than me and my spirit energy is still erratic from advancing. Go," Wei said as a howl blasted from within the clouds. His eyes stared silently at an old man in a black robe with long white hair and a white beard falling below his shoulders. The skin on the left half of his face was grey and a strange horn protruded on his forehead a few inches above the eye.


    "Well, well. A human brat from beyond the Space Gate. Are you another offering for my collection? Are you the one who killed my little toys near the surface?" the old man asked.


    "What are you?" Wei asked as two of his flying daggers circulated in the air around him.


    "I am a demon descended from a demon emperor of the Immortal Plane. I''m stuck here, my cultivation sinking in this dreadful place. My Corpse Eaters kill the magical beasts and bring me their flesh, but it is human flesh that benefits me most. You''re an inferior species, but the most compatible with spirit energy. Absolutely peerless potential," the old man began as he held out a crystal ball with black energy flowing within.


    "Know what this is? This is death energy, a forbidden power using the souls of the dead. The living wither before it. You will die and there is no one here who can stop me," the old man said. "Die."


    Wei roared, his killing intent of a million souls radiating from his body. A stream of black clouds collided with his killing intent. Screams and moans cried out from the cloud before the cloud broke apart. The demon rubbed his eyes, disbelief on his face as the demon''s cultivation fell to peak Foundation Establishment with the lost death energy.


    He appeared next to Wei in a flash, slapping him into the ground. Wei nearly lost consciousness, blood dripping from his head as the demon lifted him by the ankle and threw him at the wall. The walls cracked on impact and Wei''s back burned with pain before falling to the ground.


    "A little human shit wants to defy me? You''ve wasted years of soul collecting!" the demon roared as it grabbed Wei by the throat. Wei''s legs dangled in the air as the demon lifted him above the ground. Wei clenched his fist, two flying daggers, cutting the tendons on the demon''s arm. It howled in pain, releasing him as Wei took out a red ring from his hidden body space.


    "Blood! Blood! I''ll kill you. Rip you limb from limb as you beg for mercy!" the demon roared, clutching its arm as Wei''s left hand touched the ground. He activated the brown ring''s spell, dozens of rock spikes spearing the demon from below. He absorbed some of the liquid spirit energy within the Blood Vein Ring and put it on before he charged.


    The demon screamed as Wei picked up his sword and used the momentum to skewer through the demon''s body. The pain drove it mad, the demon flailing and breaking free of the rock spikes as a back hand landed on Wei''s left shoulder. A fracture appeared and Wei tumbled four times as he was knocked to the ground.


    "Why? Why won''t it break! No Mortal Realm weapon can kill me!" the demon screamed, trying to destroy the sword in its body. However, its efforts were futile. The sword was one bathed in the golden flames of immortal executioners. Such a weapon could not be destroyed by a weakened demon at the same cultivation level as the owner.


    "The sword can''t hold it forever," Wei cursed as he released his spirit beast, his eyes widening as the cub was the size of an husky with the cultivation of the late Foundation Establishment level. As he ordered it to charge, a voice spoke to him from the ring.


    "Your sword won''t last. The demon''s cultivation might be lost, but the strength of its soul is far too powerful. You also cannot use the golden flames of immortal executioners in the real world yet," the voice spoke in his head.


    "Who are you? The damaged ghost?" Wei asked.


    "Yes. I cannot pass on all my knowledge to you as your mind might break. However, I can pass on my knowledge of how to refine artifacts, my medical knowledge, and a sealing method to vanquish this demon. Your sword will be destroyed, but you can forge a new immortal executioner blade once your cultivation rises high enough to use the mask with your real body. Your sword should have originally been a non-magical sword. Most of all, I can absorb the life force of the demon inside the Blood Vein Ring and fully restore my soul," the ghost replied.


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    "Do it!" Wei screamed as the demon lost its mind and went on a rampage, throwing two meter chunks of ground and dirt in random directions. Wei''s mind blurred as several powerful methods and knowledge was branded into his memory. In a daze, Wei muttered a memory that left as soon as he chanted its words.


    The sword embedded in the demon''s chest shook as rainbow colored flames burst from the sword. The demon writhed in pain as the sword broke apart. The flames solidified and became a rainbow crystal, all the death energy in the crystal orb released into the air by the flames. A large suction force absorbed the imprisoned demon into the Blood Vein Ring as Han Cong Wei collapsed onto the floor.


    "Tough bones this boy has. Was able to endure the mental strain, and keep his life," the ghost approved before the ring entered Wei''s hidden body space. Wei''s injuries slowly healed as the dispersed death energy entered his body.


    Meanwhile, Benkei was running through the sewers as fast as he could. Han Cong Wei proved a true friend by giving him the opportunity to reach Foundation Establishment and stay behind to let him escape. It was tantamount to suicide as the difference between cultivation realms were far greater than the differences in stages.


    He quickly contacted Hiro through the badge as he reached the surface from where he and Wei first entered the sewers. As he followed Hiro''s directions, Benkei slashed his way through several magical beasts at the Spirit Condensation level with ease. Doing so only made him feel more guilt towards his benefactor.


    He called Lu Mang a hero and himself the villain? Bullshit. Lu Mang was a hero to the others but destroyed their way home. Han Cong Wei was a hero to stay behind and fight the creature. Benkei panted and ignored the burning in his leg muscles as he entered a convenience store and found the others.


    "Benkei, what happened? Wait, you''re at the early Foundation Establishment?" Hiro gasped as he saw him. The three girls cried out in alarm as Benkei punched Lu Mang once, knocking the latter off his feet. Benkei grabbed the collar of Lu Mang''s shirt and punched again.


    "You bastard! You destroyed our way home!"  Benkei roared as he lifted his fist a third time.


    "I know you''re angry and that you don''t know us, but what he did saved us," Sakura said, she and Hiro grabbing Benkei and pulling him away.


    "He let a damn drake out! A drake! We''re cannon fodder. No, even less than trash before it. A single puff of its breath could blast away our organs, and you stopped me from clocking him again?" Benkei roared.


    "Where''s Cong Wei?" Shen Ling asked, noticing Benkei came alone.


    "He''s at the heart of the sewers holding back an existence beyond the Foundation Establishment. That''s a hero!" Benkei spat after coming to his senses. As his arms were held, Benkei kicked out, sending Lu Mang flying into the wall. "Get off of me."


    "I don''t sense any such presence below us. I only sense someone with a cultivation at peak Foundation Establishment. The spirit energy signature is faint and not moving. I think he''s unconscious," Sakura said as she let go of Benkei and focused her spirit sense underground.


    "He beat it?" Hiro frowned as Benkei looked at the street and saw a manhole.


    "Once that guy gets his wits back, we''re going down there!" Benkei growled, relief in his eyes as Cong Wei was safe. He trusted Sakura''s spirit sense ability.


    -----------------------------------------


    "What happened? Ugh, my head," Wei groaned as he regained consciousness.


    "You''re up," the ghost said. "I''m fully recovered too. My spirit anyway. I''ll regain some control over spirit energy overtime. That demon wasn''t lying. Its vitality was just too deep. Luckily this is a Space Gate''s dimension or its ancestor could detect the demon''s death and possibly seek revenge."


    "You''re not speaking in my head," Wei noticed as he stood up.


    "No, but I still can''t be seen in the real world. I''m a poltergeist now, able to move things without touching them. Your little spirit beast guarded your body while you were unconscious. I retrieved some items from the demon''s lair while the sabertooth cub was feasting on some of the more recent dead bodies. Using the liquid spirit energy really revitalized us. As a resident of the Blood Vein Ring, I serve you and was able to send the ring in your hidden body space. Such a divine ability, I envy you," the ghost laughed.


    "Found an egg the size of a watermelon in there. The demon most certainly planned to eat it before you showed up. Who knows when it will hatch," the ghost continued as the spirit beast returned and shrunk into the size of a kitten. It rubbed its head against Wei''s legs and fell asleep against his leg.


    "Cute little guy," Wei nodded before putting the spirit beast in his Cosmos Ring. He couldn''t take out the Blood Vein Ring out and only did so because no one was around. His eyes darted to the Blood Vein Ring as he took out the turtle shell pot. The pot was filled with exotic fruits and herbs, but no talisman.


    "Where did it go?" Wei said as he stored the rest in his Cosmos Ring. As the pot was emptied, he noticed the turtle shell pot now had glowing white inscriptions within.


    "Seems like the pot used the talisman to upgrade itself. This is a result of you not controlling the pot during refinement. Still, you do have three flying daggers. Not a total loss as the talisman wasn''t  real flying sword," the ghost soothed. "I would go into the demon''s lair if I were you. Loot the items before your companions arrive. However, I already did. Besides the egg was this gourd. Inside the gourd is some immortal milk beverage. It is perfect for you to increase your physical strength and other benefits. There''s also a flute with a rather interesting use. I already put a few hundred spirit crystals in your hidden body space as well."


    "Nothing more? The demon was that poor?" Wei asked and stared at the flute before putting the two items in his hidden body space


    "This is the Space Gate dimension. The demon might have devoured the magical energies of the several magical items its Corpse Eater minions found to stay alive. You''re lucky to have the egg, gourd, flute, and spirit crystals at all. Well, I did find you a mana stone. No, it is not like the stories. I''ll go into detail later," the ghost sighed. "I also put several Spirit Pearls at your feet, but they''re useless to you. You going to give a few of them to your friends?"


    "Yeah. I''m not a villain. I forge my own path," Wei said as he put them in his Cosmos Ring. "But I''m still going to punch Lu Mang just once."


    "Just remember there''re a drake on the loose. I found a Space Gate in another tunnel back there. I''d use it. You can hear the rampage by now," the ghost suggested as Benkei appeared.


    "You''re okay!" Benkei grinned as he saw Wei.


    "Are those Spirit Pearls?" Hiro gasped as three appeared in Cong Wei''s hands.


    "Take them," Wei nodded and Sakura and Hiro beamed with delight.


    "Thanks," Lu Mang muttered as he reached for it.


    "Don''t mention it. Not interested in your girl, but I am going to punch you," Wei whispered, Lu Mang looking at Wei just in time for a left hook to hit his jaw.


    "That felt good to you too?" Benkei asked as Lu Mang was knocked out before hitting the ground.


    "A bit. Wanted to do more, but we got a drake on a rampage topside," Wei shrugged as the Shen cousins shook their heads helplessly.

 Chapter 11: Leaving the Space Gate

    W.R. Eternal: Due to numerous requests, I suppose it was much of a stretch to transition into a new world. Past chapters are deleted from half of chapter 11 onward. I''m not a professional writer, and I suppose my new idea wasn''t as well received as I''d hoped. Still, I appreciate the feedback and this story will continue as if Han Cong Wei never went to Area 51.


    Chapter 11: Leaving the Space Gate


    "Find anything while you were down here?" Benkei asked and noticed the look on Hiro and Sakura''s faces. "You guys should condense your Spirit Crowns by the entrance. There is less disturbance with the spirit energy in the air there."


    "A few dozen spirit crystals," Wei said and tossed the sheath of his sword on the ground. "Lost my sword to destroy the demon. Gonna need a new one."


    "Take one of the katana you gave me," Benkei said, giving Wei a katana.


    "I''ll use my three flying daggers for now," Wei refused as he held two of the daggers while keeping the third in the pouch he placed where his sheath used to be. The ground rumbled above shortly after Sakura, Hiro, and Lu Mang (after waking up) created their Spirit Crowns and reached early Foundation Establishment.


    "There''s a Space Gate up ahead. We should use it to get out. Would like to get the drake''s dragon pearl, but its too dangerous," Benkei sighed.


    "No time. We got no time," Wei said as the ground shook above them.


    "Get back! It spirit energy is rising and strong enough to burn the whole building above us to these plains!" Sakura shouted, her spirit sense magnified with her cultivation increase.


    "Holy shit!" Benkei cried as they jumped away from the area Sakura pointed to.


    "Quick! Use this time to absorb the drake''s flame essence!" the ghost yelled, causing Wei to close his eyes and will the fire into his body as a river of flames broke the limestone and cement above their heads. Wei fell to his feet, letting the light essence and wood essence surge through his body to control the drake''s flame essence now in his body.


    "RUN!" Benkei yelled as another river of flames broke through the ceiling. Wei panted heavily as he led the others toward the Space Gate under the ghost''s direction.


    "I think you made it angry. Its trying to claw and burn its way to the plain," Sakura said as they watched the Space Gate create a portal as they got within three meters.


    "My god. The prime minster lied to us?" Shen Ling said as she paused a foot before the Space Gate, staring at her Cosmos Ring.


    "You''re right. This Space Gate leads--" Qing began.


    "We need to go in!" Lu Mang said, grabbing Shen Qing''s hand as he ran through the portal. Ling saw her cousin go in and rushed after them.


    "Go, my lady. Quickly," Hiro said, urging Sakura to go in as a loud thump boomed behind them. Wei cried out in pain as a massive bear appeared behind them and bit his between his left shoulder and neck. Wei stabbed backwards with his left arm and at the head with the right.


    The bear yelled with pain, releasing him as Hiro jumped forward. The back of the bear''s paw knocked Hiro into the portal as the bear flailed with pain. Benkei saw that Sakura still did not enter and picked her up. He ran into the portal, the duo disappearing as a river of fire burned through the sewer tunnel.


    The bear screamed in pain as fire burned it. Its anguish cry abruptly halted as two flying daggers pierced its throat. Wei quickly thrust his hand up and through the top of the inside of the bear''s mouth, wrenching a small crystal orb with energy swirling within. He released his magical beast, the sabertooth biting the meat off the bear happily.


    He rolled his head with relief as he used his wood essence to drain the last of the bear''s life force still flowing within its veins. His wounds healed and he stashed the monster core into his hidden body space. He quickly drained the drake flames burning the bear before depositing the corpse and his magical beast into the Blood Vein Ring. He looked around for more danger before rushing to the portal with the flying daggers in his pouch.


    He lost his footing as the ground quaked behind him. The walls seemed to break apart as he felt a rush of wind behind him. He paused as a large black claw slashed his empty backpack, the force driving him onto his back. Wei immediately took off his backpack and stashed the badge in his pocket.


    He leaped backwards as he turned his head to see the claw reach for him again. He frowned as he saw a sword embedded in the claw. He rushed onto the claw as it scraped the stone floor like sand and pulled the sword out with all his might. He lost his balance and fell backwards and saw the blade was broken as he fell back. He quickly scrambled through the individual claws of the dragon as he scooped up the scales and stored them and the broken sword in his hidden body space.


    He looked back once more as the claw finally drew back into the sewer tunnel. Wei felt his body stiffen as he saw a magnificent, powerful reptilian eye staring at him from the other end of the burning sewer tunnel. He was temporarily paralyzed as some sort of dragon magic affected his body movement. As the dragon moved its head to spew another river of fire, Wei gained control of his body and jumped through the portal.


    "Oof," Wei grunted as he landed on the ground hard. He looked up and frowned, his eyes widening as he saw a familiar face. "You! You''re not supposed to be here."


    "Well, that''s not at all rude to say to someone older than you," Director Oscar Ji chuckled as he helped Wei to his feet. "Had a rough time with a drake Mr. Han Cong Wei? You certainly were busy. You made your companions all enter the Foundation Establishment tier. I must say, I am impressed. A stupid thing to do, but impressed."


    "How are we back?" Wei asked.


    "Please. Why would the ring shine if you would head to a different world? I''m sure one of you figured it out," Director Ji smiled, looking at Hiro.


    "Yes, sir," Hiro nodded.


    "Hmm. As expected of the Kage Clan. Never underestimate those damn ninjas. Well, their ancestors could have been samurai vassals too. No one really can prove the origins of ancestors from another world. We can only assume and move on with our lives," the director laughed. "You pack all the Spirit Pearls into your 2x2x2 Cosmos Ring?"


    "Yes," Wei nodded.


    "Wonderful. As you helped all those people reach the Foundation Establishment, they will get the price everyone else does. You, Ling, and Qing will get the thousand spirit crystals and items from the imperial vault. Congratulations. Truly. You''re no the first group to immediately come back, but you are the only group to come with each member still possessing their limbs and their lives. Some,....most, lost a teeny bit."


    "A life is a teeny bit?"


    "The mortality rate is high enough as it is. To come back on the verge of death and die right where we stand is already too lucky. At least your family gets to bury you and move on," the director sighed sadly. "You helped them survive. You did good."


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    "Cong Wei, no words can describe how grateful we three are," Benkei said as he shook hands and gave Wei a quick hug. "Should you ever pass by Thousand Sword Grave Sect, I''ll treat you to loads of food in the most expensive restaurant nearest to the sect."


    "The Miura Clan will definitely repay your kindness to your Han Clan. You have the word of Lady Sakura," Hiro smiled and the trio walked to a beaming sect elder to wait for other people to come back before the deadline.


    "Fire, earth, thunder, light, and wood. You''ve also reached the late Foundation Establishment, found a magic ring, slain a demon, found a horde of Spirit Pearls, and you''ll soon get your rewards. Your gains from the Space Gate are phenomenal. I envy you a little," the director laughed and gave the prime minister Wei''s Cosmos Ring with all the Spirit Pearls inside. "Let''s go. This place is too crowded and you look stir-fried. Smell like burnt clothes too. Who is that little guy?"


    "Oh. This is my spirit beast, my contracted magical beast. I found it in the demon''s lair unconscious," Wei lied as he pointed to the two foot tall sabertooth cub.


    "You really like attention," Director Ji noted as all eyes stared at the magical beast with mixed expressions. "You lot better look away before I pry your eyes out!"


    No one dared anger the powerful director whose cultivation scared even the numerous sect elders and prime minister. They could only watch the cub walk beside Wei as the director led him away. As people discovered his origins, many couldn''t believe the heavenly luck that former cultivation cripple had.


    Several dozen minutes later, Wei sat in lotus position on the third floor of the pagoda while his mind ventured into the Blood Vein Ring. There, he and the ghost began to discuss what happened.


    "What do you think this sword is?" Wei asked as the ghost stared at the broken sword.


    "It is bizarre. I can''t say what world that drake came from, but that sword isn''t even absorbing the spirit energy from the river," the ghost frowned as Wei stabbed the broken sword in the river bank of the canyon. "I can only say that you shouldn''t think about using it at your level. It would only be stolen to benefit others."


    "Will you be able to regain a flesh body again?" Wei asked.


    "Even if you could perform such a miracle now, the power of my spirit is too frail. The moment my ghost form leaves too far a distance from this Blood Vein Ring''s rich spirit energy dimension, my body would disintegrate almost instantly. At most, I can appear five feet away from you. If I didn''t care that others would see me, I could get up to fifteen feet away from you," the ghost sighed. "I believe it is because my cultivation was so high that it requires my soul to possess an equally great spiritual power to survive the process to regain a flesh body. I never suspected such a fate, so I cannot say for sure if I''m right."


    Wei nodded silently and drank some of the liquid spirit energy to enrich his soul before his mind returned to his body. He closed his eyes and began to assimilate the drake flame essence. Due to the power of the drake flame essence, Wei''s body became unaffected by cold or hot temperature. His flames became the same purplish red as the drake scales he collected.


    Director Ji was shocked to discover the change as he gave Wei''s reward of a thousand spirit crystals. Ling and Qing joined the Oscar Ji and Wei for breakfast before the two imperial cousins told Wei that they came because of the other reward.


    "I''m sure those two have been there before, but you might never get another chance. Based on the sheer number of Spirit Pearls, you can pick up to four items from the imperial vault. Should you pick a magical weapon, only choose one. Most celestials live their entire lives using one magical weapon and evolving it to suite them personally," the director advised.


    "I understand," Wei smiled as he felt slightly nervous. He had never been to any sort of palace before. He had only read stories about them in books back on the island.


    "One more thing: do not involve yourself with the internal strife of imperial politics. You are a duke and answer only to the emperor and empress dowager," the director warned. "The empress dowager is the emperor''s mother and one old crone even I would hesitate to anger. Hesitate to anger, not fear mind you. This dynasty is not as powerful as the ones I''ve seen in the past. They''ve only seized that dynasty''s assets, but not their true legacies. Don''t trust those princesses either."


    "Are you talking about the hidden dangers of beauties?" Wei asked, once again reminded of the many concubines and royal women he beheaded.


    "Exactly. Men, you see coming. Very rarely is there such a male schemer to truly fear. Jealousy and envy are easy to predict, but a woman isn''t. Even if you could control a woman''s soul for her entire life, you still wouldn''t be able to understand her. The princes, their intent towards you would be easy. You can tell if they wish to have you assassinated or use you as a tool, but not a princess unless she is a spoiled brat," the director whispered as the girls beckoned to Wei.


    "They are terrifying, the schemes of concubines," Wei agreed as his mind remembered bits and pieces.


    "Best to not keep an imperial waiting. Heed my advise, little duke. The less you stay at the palace, the better. Just smile, nod, say a word or two, and get the hell out of there," Oscar smiled and sighed as Cong Wei rushed to catch up to the cousins.


    "Did you do what I asked?" Oscar said as a boy appeared from the shadows.


    "Of course, sir. Here is the report of what I''ve seen him do," Hiro nodded as he gave Oscar a small folder.


    "That''s why I hate ninjas. Even though those imperials had powerful magical treasures, almost nothing can see through the illusion of the Kage Clan. Your Lady Sakura must also be an incredible actress," Oscar beamed as he read the papers. "It doesn''t say how he killed the demon."


    "I don''t know how he cast that sealing formation. It is as if he just learned it on the fly and took a chance," Hiro shook his head.


    "Give these twenty Spirit Pearls to your sect elder as agreed, and one million gold to Sakura''s Miura clan. As you''re reward, you can keep the spatial ring once you give the items to them," Oscar said as he tossed an orange spatial ring.


    "Always a pleasure to serve such an esteemed supreme expert as yourself. My master also said to remind you that we discovered another ruin. We''ll have to trouble you for translations at a later time. She said she''ll pay the usual," Hiro bowed and disappeared into the shadows.


    "Dual light essence and even having the ability to steal a drake''s flame essence. You really are interesting. I do hope you meet my expectations and grow more powerful. Perhaps your mother....," the director said softly, unable to finish the words as he headed back inside the pagoda.

 Chapter 12: The Emperors Palace

    W.R. Eternal: Hello. Here is this week''s chapters. Two again. As Wei will receive his rewards, the next few chapters will involve more politics than mystical cultivation. I wracked my head for my imagination of how I would portray the dangers of a palace. Enjoy the read.


    Chapter 12: The Emperor''s Palace


    "Wait here for a moment," Qing said as the trio arrived before the palace gates.


    "Fifth Princess," the imperial guards bowed their heads and knelt on one knee.


    "On behalf of the prime minister, Duke Han Cong Wei is given permission to enter the imperial vault for his rewards and service in the Space Gate Trials," Qing stated.


    "Yes," the imperial guards bowed their heads and one approached Wei.


    "If the duke would follow me. As per imperial conduct, you will be washed by the maids and ordered to wear a pure white martial uniform. To prevent theft, you will be followed at all times by five palace guards. Do you comply?" one of the gold and red armored guards asked.


    "Of course," Wei nodded. He followed the guard into the palace and felt uncomfortable as beautiful palace maids came in and undressed him.


    "What are you doing?" Wei cried as one of the women entered the giant bath completely naked.


    "I am here to help the duke clean up," the maid smiled and rolled her shoulders back to reveal her bountiful chest.


    "I can clean myself," Wei said as a woman began scrubbing his back with something similar to a broom and brush combined. "Stop that!"


    "Just try to relax. This is our job. We practice absolute secrecy and quality service," the maid smiled as she reached below. Wei''s mind stirred as he remembered the warnings of the imperials and concubines he beheaded.


    "Do not get involved with imperial politics. Don''t let anyone get an advantage over you."


    "The palace maids are all beautiful for a reason."


    "They are meant to test the lust and desires of guests to easily manipulate them."


    "Succumbing to temptation means weakness. Some of them might even try sleeping with you to become your concubine when they get pregnant."


    "Beauties destroy nations. Don''t give in boy!"


    "My life as a concubine started after I was taken to bed while performing my duties as a maid."


    "ENOUGH!" Wei roared, his spirit energy bursting outward. The two maids were blown out of the bath and slammed into the wall. "Get out of my head!"


    "Lord duke?" the naked maid began.


    "You two get out. Don''t think I am like your other guests. Even if you could get a woman into heat with your words, my will cannot be swayed. Who ordered you to do this? Who?" Wei roared as he rushed toward her and lifted her into the neck by her throat. Her legs dangled in the air before he let her go.


    "Mercy. Mercy," the maid begged. "It was Princess Ling. It was her. She meant to test you because of the dangerous seductions of the Royal Harem. It was meant to prepare you. Nothing more. Please."


    "Get out and bring her here," Wei snapped and sent her flying out the door with a kick. The other maid quickly scrambled afterwards as Wei glared at her. After Wei finished bathing and wore the given martial uniform, he appeared out the bathhouse with Ling and Qing already dressed in lavish dresses.


    "That was some sick joke you pulled," Wei growled.


    "There is nothing more dangerous than the schemes of the Royal Harem. You needed to be prepared. You weren''t tempted. Are you a virgin?" Ling asked. She screamed in pain as Wei held his hand out toward her. Wei''s constant devouring of souls had given him the power to drain them from the living. As the guards moved to stop him, Qing held out a hand.


    "She learned her lesson, Cong Wei. Please let her go. She was preparing you for tonight. You and your Uncle Han Xin will be joining our imperial family for dinner. The emperor insists," Qing asked, Wei scowling as he released her.


    "My uncle will be there?" Wei frowned.


    "Yes. You represent your dukedom while your uncle represents the Han Clan and your esteemed grandfather," Qing nodded as Ling slowly recovered her wits.


    "Your soul attacks are too terrifying," Ling rasped as the pain went away. "How did you do that?"


    "You may be royalty, but only a niece of the emperor. My rank surpasses yours. Do not test me again. On behalf of the princess, I let you go. Know your place," Wei said coldly and turned to the guards. "We can''t keep the prime minister waiting. Lead the way."


    "Yes, lord duke," the five guards said and went on ahead. Two guards walked on either side of Wei with two guards behind him as the last guard led the way.


    "You shouldn''t have done that," Qing said to Ling as she helped her up. "Someone previously known as Duke Nevermore all his life suddenly becoming so powerful in a matter of days is not to be trifled with. The Han Clan also has one of the four largest and most powerful private armies."


    "I only meant to warn him. To show an example of how dangerous the harem could be," Ling reasoned.


    "By taking advantage of him in bed? If he was a woman, I''m pretty sure he would kill you even if it meant torture and execution. You were always the friendly and social one. Why do something so stupid?" Qing frowned and decided to leave her cousin alone. The two had already been to the vault last night.


    "Wait, cousin. Don''t you want to hear more about Lu Mang?" Ling asked.


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    "His actions disappointed me in the Space Gate. And now, you did too," Qing said coldly and walked away without so much as a glance backwards.


    "Qi~ng. Don''t be like that. Forgive me, okay?" Ling begged and quickly rushed after the princess.


    "Most people fear the emperor and princes outside the palace, but many people fail to realize that the empress and harem rule the palace," Wei thought silently as he appeared before a fifteen foot high black door.


    "This is the entrance to the imperial vault. Many hidden experts and the prime minister are already inside with others receiving their reward. When you''ve made your selection report it to the prime minister and we will meet you out here," the guards stated and vanished without a trace. Wei''s eyes widened as he touched the cold black door, some magical force pulling him through the door before he could shout in alarm.


    "Hello Duke Han. You are permitted four items. Should you wish one of them to be gold, you will obtain ten million gold coins for only one of your four options," the prime minister smiled as Wei appeared.


    "As a mage, I know Earth Spike, Fireball, Thorn Blade, and Lightning Arrows. Is there some kind of spell equivalent for warriors?" Wei asked.


    "Yes and no. Spells are something that can be easily cast, only requiring control and more spirit energy for improvement. For warriors, they take the harder route and use what we call martial scriptures. They consist of a martial arts form with many stages of mastery. As soon as you master one stage, will your martial art gain a magical effect. In simple terms, a high kick cannot have fire explode from the feet unless the first stage is completed," the prime minister answered.


    "Then, what about my Woeful Poison Blade skill from the immortal ruins?" Wei thought and simply nodded to indicate he listened.


    Wei walked around the gigantic vault. Mountains and plains of gold coins stretched all over what looked to be an underground, hallowed mountain. There were also book shelves and weapons laying about. Wei noticed men and women in black, hooded cloaks appear from time to time like ghosts. No doubt, these individuals were the overseers of the vault.


    Deciding to risk it, Wei put his hand on the gold coin hill he stood upon and closed his eyes. Thousands of gold coins stealthily entered his hidden body space as he stopped from time to time on other coin hills. Meanwhile, he was also using his powerful soul to sense magical energy.


    Wei paused as he dug through some gold coins to find a purple metal sword. He dropped the sword in fear as he heard a dragon''s yell inside the sword. Suddenly, a purple dragon sword spirit rose up from the sword and howled, alarming the other guests in the vault while the vault guards pressed on.


    "So you found a sword with a spirit inside," the prime minister noted as he appeared next to Wei. "You''re pretty lucky. Magical weapons with spirits inside are able to evolve even further. I''ll assume it is your first choice. You may bind it with your spirit energy and put it away.


    "It felt so real. It really is a great find," Wei smiled as he bound the sword and placed it in his black spatial ring. As Wei walked north, he appeared before the stone walls of the vault with rows and rows of books. Each book was a scripture and it was actually organized. He also noticed that the security was heavier in the area.


    Wei studied the Indestructible Golden Body to the second stage, so he didn''t need a defensive martial scripture. Wei stops browsing as he picks up the first volume of a martial scripture known as the Dancing Dragon. It was a fire attribute martial arts that was both elegant and ruthless. In later stages, Wei could incorporate the light attribute to make the technique more lethal.


    "The Dancing Dragon?" the prime minister noted curiously as Wei took the nine volumes. "That is a pretty old martial scripture. Really old. Well, I suppose it would be powerful if you had a decent flame essence. You have two choices remaining."


    "Is there something like a magical artifact that can allow you to store spirit energy inside. Once activated, it would use that spirit energy to protect you?" Wei asked.


    "No. However, there is one magical bracelet I would recommend. It is suitable for sneak attacks. It creates a needle of poisonous green energy. For those with the lightning attribute, they can use their magical energy to make the needle soar as fast as lightning," the prime minister suggested.


    "Let''s do that. Oh, and the last item will be the ten million gold. I humbly request that part of it is used as advanced payment for the tax to the empire. The remainder is to be sent to my grandfather," Wei said after a moment.


    "Smart boy. Using the reward option to pay the tax so as to not use the ones you earned already. Very well. Now that you are done, I must remind you that there will be a dinner with the emperor. I suggest you wear your best clothes for the occasion," the prime minister said and Wei vanished from the vault after being given the bracelet.


    "The Han Clan is certainly on the rise. Their dukedom is prosperous and their army is mighty. Now that their duke is a great genius, I''m sure the emperor invited Han Xin and Han Cong Wei to remind them that they are vassals of the empire. The princes might also make their moves to have Wei and the Han Clan under their wing. What really worries me is that Oscar Ji cares for this boy," the prime minister sighed and moved on to the next guest.

 Chapter 13: Dinner with Royalty

    Chapter 13: Dinner with Royalty


    "Congratulations. I heard about your survival during the Space Gate trial," Han Xin grinned as Wei appeared in the palace''s guest wing.


    "Uncle, I heard we''re having dinner with the emperor and his family. I''m afraid we can no longer avoid the dangers of royal politics," Wei frowned.


    "Don''t worry about them. We own the most powerful dukedom in the southern dukedoms as well as two of the empire''s largest trading cities. The late duke, your own father, founded the new Silk Road while he was still a general. Many traders and merchants from other nations pass through our dukedom to go to the capital. They won''t dare threaten us," Xin dismissed.


    "Our clan and army is not as powerful," Wei frowned.


    "But we have many friends and they have to come to our turf. Furthermore, other dukes would feel that they might be next if they refuse to take a side. That could lead to a revolt. Only an idiot cannot foresee that," Xin said. "The Crown Prince is said idiot, but the empress is one dangerous snake. The first born child was from a concubine, but her schemes allowed the Second Prince to become the Crown Prince. Her and Concubine Yu are the ones we must fear. Their factions destroyed all others on the surface, and even still those other concubines dare not enact their schemes."


    "If Concubine Yu is a threat, does that mean she is the current favorite of the emperor?" Wei asked.


    "Precisely. The empress is very upset and many maids and eunuchs have mysteriously passed the past few months. You are not one of the Four Great Dukes, so their main interest in you is control of the trade route in your dukedom. There are many talented youths, so your cultivation does not stand out much," Xin explained.


    Cong Wei wore a simple black hakama and white silk trousers with the bright, two-headed green dragon family insignia on his back and a smaller version above his heart. Members of the imperial family stared at him in shock as he wore the ancestral formal wear of the Japanese.


    "Why did you wear that?" Qing whispered as he passed by her.


    Wei didn''t know what to say as he sat behind the closest personal table along the aisle of the emperor''s throne room. His uncles sat on a personal table behind his nephew before everyone stood up as Head Eunuch Gao arrived.


    "Now presenting His Imperial Majesty Shen Tian, third emperor of the Southern Flame Dynasty. Accompanying His Imperial Majesty is Prime Minister Cao Feng," Eunuch Gao announced in a loud clear voice.


    "First bow!" the eunuch cried.


    "Long live His Imperial Majesty," everyone cried as they bowed on both knees and placed their palms on the ground, their heads touching the back of their hands. The minsters, generals, and other important guests inside the throne room and outside it did the same.


    "Second bow!" the eunuch cried.


    "Long live His Imperial Majesty!"


    "Final bow!"


    "All hail the Southern Flame Dynasty!"


    "You may be seated," Eunuch Gao smiled and everyone finally sat down after the emperor. After an hour of singing and dancing, the emperor, dressed in his golden and red robe, turned towards Wei.


    "Duke Han Cong Wei, its has been too long. When was the last I''ve seen you?" the emperor asked.


    "When I was....ten. Nearly seven years ago, Esteemed Emperor," Wei answered, flashbacks of meeting the emperor running through his mind.


    "Hmmm. I see. How did you recover your...condition?" the emperor asked.


    "Your Majesty, I do not know. It just....happened," Wei lied, sighing helplessly. "All those resources my grandfather utilized had no effect. My soul wasn''t just injured, I was born with my soul missing some pieces. Perhaps an expert felt pity for my based on the mockery of me. Duke Nevermore, the people once called me."


    "I heard you had them all expelled from you dukedom, taking possession of their money and property while you were at it," the prime minister noted.


    "A small revenge on my part. I no longer had to hold back my rage. My hate," Wei said, slightly disturbed by the dark thoughts and memories of his body''s past owner.


    "You have done your duty as duke well. You maintained the borders, assisted the empire''s army with legions from your own, and maintained good relations for the trading cities and Silk Road. It is a name from Earth put to good use by your late father. Tell me, honestly, what do you know of the factions in the palace?" the emperor asked, all eight children of the emperor pausing as they turned their attention to Cong Wei. Even Concubine Yu and the empress looked at him. Xin''s back started to sweat as the important ministers and generals in the throne room also turned to Wei.


    "I know that the Second Prince became crown prince because of your favor to.... Consort Yu. I know that the empress, the mother of the First Prince, is not happy and is the one in control of the royal harem. Your Majesty''s court is divided between the two factions, other concubines with their own agendas and schemes hidden in the shadows," Wei began. "I believe you allow the two factions to have equal power in order to control them. Neither prince has the advantage over the other."


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    "Your intuition is startling," the emperor mused. "No one has understood my actions, but this duke who has only been in my palace once did so. Do you have experience leading an army?"


    Memories of the beheaded flashed through his mind. Wei''s eyes closed as these memories became more vivid and he slowly opened his eyes, saying, "No, Your Majesty. I only have some knowledge."


    "I see. Pity. Still, you have saved my dearest daughter. One of my only two daughters in fact. A little cold, but her talent is exceptional. You are a duke and a minister of the third class. I promote you to a minister of the second class with exemption of tax for five years. You will be given an estate in the capital and control of one of the market streets. It is currently under siege by minor gangs and small time criminals. I trust you do not need assistance killing such rabble. I do not need such trash in my prisons. They would just be beheaded after a few days," the emperor said, motioning to Head Eunuch Gao.


    After receiving a written decree by the emperor, Eunuch Gao retrieved the black dragon decorated scroll and said to Wei, "Duke Han Cong Wei. Receive the emperor''s decree."


    "Long live the emperor!" Cong Wei said, bowing on both knees as he accepted the scroll with two open palms with his head facing the ground. Wei''s eyes read the decree and his mind numbed as he read some sentences not publicly announced.


    "Good. Very good. I have other business with my Great Generals, Great Dukes, and my cabinet of ministers. I will leave you all now," the emperor said, everyone standing with a bow to their waist until the emperor left with the head eunuch walking behind him at a constant five feet distance.


    "A brat like you should not be here," a minister said, the silence continuing as one of the ministers stood up. "You are not the emperor. You had no right to seize the money and property of others."


    "Oh. You must be one of the ass-kissers in court. You say what the powerful what you to say, hoping that you kissing boot and ass would get you money and their political backing," Wei said coldly. "Could it be that you were one of those wishing to possess the estate and street? That your merits were higher than mine?"


    "What give you the right to say that? Shut your tongue!" one of the minister''s friends roared.


    "I am not a minister of the court. However, I am a duke. I do not have to heed your words or your commands. Only to the Esteemed Emperor, do I willingly bend the knee. Are you claiming that His Majesty''s intent in giving me the reward is a mistake?" Cong Wei smiled.


    The two ministers paled and immediately denied before sitting down with their faces extremely focused on their meals. Wei looked around and saw other like-minded individuals suddenly feel some enlightenment toward their meal.


    "You have a talent for the court. Some of these vipers have already been bested by you," Qing said, her voice loud in the quiet throne room. "So you only bend the knee to the emperor. Is that right?"


    "And his decree," Wei shrugged. "It represents the emperor''s words. Most of the other dukes think like me. We''d rather avoid the nest of vipers than succumb to poison and borrowed daggers waiting in the shadows of the night. At least in our dukedoms, we can learn who our enemy is and silence him with little consequence."


    "And if I were to become emperor, you would bend the knee for me?" the crown prince asked.


    "It is imperial law," Wei inclined his head. "Some dukes obey the commands of those below the emperor, but imperial law states that the emperor is the law of the land."


    "Indeed," Han Xin agreed, sweating a little as he unintentionally drew attention to himself. "Ahem....the Han Clan is deeply loyal to the emperor as well as the one who would succeed His Majesty."


    "Crap," Wei muttered under his breath as the crown prince frowned.


    "You think there is a possibility that I will not? Is that the view of the Han Clan?" the Crown Prince Shen Xun frowned.


    "Brother, you know the duke''s uncle doesn''t mean that?" a man in his mid-twenties smiled, a noble aura radiating around him. Upon comparing the fatter and arrogant crown prince to the First Prince was the same as comparing a raisin to a bottle of a hundred year old wine.


    "Elder Brother Tusu, you surely jest. I was just making fun," Xun smiled and turned to Cong Wei. "What are your thoughts?"


    "I follow what the emperor decrees. If His Majesty wishes me to support someone from the shadows, I dare not reveal who it is," Wei said, his mind still numbed by the scroll.


    "The decree," many of the more experienced ministers and the children of the emperor realized as they saw Xin unable to contain a look of surprise and scrutiny towards the black dragon scroll Wei just received.


    "I heard you have much experience in holding executions based on the sheer power of your baleful killing aura," Concubine Yu interrupted. "Perhaps you may enjoy the sword dance of this troupe from the eastern dukedoms."


    "What is she planning?" Wei thought as men and women walked inside the throne room and bowed to the guests as they stood in the aisle before bowing to the empty throne.

 Chapter 14: Blade Dancers

    W.R. Eternal: Here is this week''s chapters.


    Chapter 14: Blade Dancers


    "What are you doing?" the empress asked Consort Yu.


    "My Empress, these are Blade Dancers. They are masters of the saber and scimitar and are here to demonstrate the martial arts of their respective dukedoms. They are also wanted criminals, but their spirit energy cultivation is sealed to Foundation Establishment. Such weakness cannot pose a threat to even one of the palace guards," the concubine smiled.


    "On behalf of the eastern dukedoms, we thank you for the opportunity," the lead blade dancer wearing gold bangles bowed before all of the blade dancers wore gold masks.


    "Begin," the empress said, snapping her fingers. The musicians in the throne room began playing their zithers and lutes after receiving the command. The blade dancers saluted the empress and Consort Yu by holding their swords and blades horizontally before them and made them vertical before performing their exhibition.


    "What is in the scroll?" Xin whispered as every watched the swords slash and stab the skies in harmony.


    "Now is not the time nor place to discuss this," Wei muttered. "Right now, the two factions are engaging in a silent war. They are trying to showcase their position to the imperial court ministers and generals while also trying to discover the stances of the dukes."


    "Is it the blade dancers?" Xin asked.


    "Yes uncle. The empress did not invite them, and she did not send them away. This is Consort Yu displaying her power and proving she currently has the emperor''s favor. However, her son does not seem like an ideal emperor," Wei answered softly.


    "So we support the First Prince?" Xin asked as the empress snapped her fingers and invited blade dancers of her own. Now, the two groups sent half of their own to demonstrate their dominance in the way of the blade. Axes, swords, short spears, and sabers clashed as the blade dancers fought. Only the generals and cultivators knew it was no simple mock duel for an exhibition.


    "We''ll talk when there are less ears to overhear us," Wei finished as he watched the blade dancers. His eyes widened as he recognized the spirit energy of one of the new blade dancers. His intuition was proven as his eyes met the eyes of one of the short blade dancers.


    "Lu Mang. Why is he here?" Wei muttered.


    "Someone you know?" Xin asked.


    "That one is friends with Shen Qing," Wei answered.


    "The princess is the daughter of the empress. The empress has many minor noble families serving her own family. This boy must be one of them. Probably infatuated with the princess too," Xin grinned.


    Han Cong Wei said nothing as the two blade dancer groups bowed and made an opening. The empress, sitting at the end of the throne room with her children, laughed as all tables were now ordered to position themselves to face the end of the hall instead of the aisle.


    Wei noticed none of the ministers or generals were eating their food now. It could only mean that the real fight was about to begin. The empress clapped her hands twice, silence now filling the gigantic throne room over two hundred meters in diameter.


    "Duke Han, you were promoted to Minister of the Second Class. That means your table is moved closer to the throne from eighty meters to fifty. You and your uncle will now move closer," the empress ordered, the palace eunuchs and maids swiftly arriving by Wei''s side to move his cushion and table.


    "Thank you, Your Highness," Wei and his uncle bowed in unison before assuming their new places.


    "It is a rare honor to even have a seat in the throne room. I''m sure we would all like him to show us the results of his miraculous recovery," Consort Yu agreed. "How about him facing one of your blade dancers? One of them seems to be of Foundation Establishment. Shall we let them fight, Your Highness."


    "Then he will fight one of yours as well. It will be a duel between the representatives of the two blade dancer groups and the Han Clan," the empress said as she faked a smile and grit her teeth.


    "Good! Very good!" the concubine laughed merrily and snapped her fingers. One of the blade dancers stepped forward and stood in the center of the clearing. He removed his mask and bowed to the empty throne, to the empress, to the concubine, and then to the rest of the hall.


    The empress turned to Shen Ling, the girl nodding before sending a telepathic command with her spiritual senses. Wei was surprised such communication were possible as he saw Lu Mang nod and appear in the clearing as the other blade dancer had.


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    Finally, it was his turn and he bowed as the previous two did before he noticed the two blade dancers with their upper bodies completely naked. They wore the pants of their martial robes with a black sash to secure the pants in place as Wei cocked his head to one side before taking off his martial robes and secured his pants with his sash.


    "Did you come to fight me, Lu Mang?" Wei asked him as Mang looked him in the eye.


    "I did not know it would come to this," Lu Mang answered.


    "And you, I don''t even know you," Wei said to the blade dancer who looked to be in his early twenties with a cultivation at the late Foundation Establishment.


    "I am sorry to offend the duke, but I received an order. It must be obeyed," the blade dancer said as he brandished his two short spears. "I am named Fu. Duke Han, prepare yourself."


    Wei grit his teeth and drew a Chinese jian that he had enchanted through the turtle-shell cauldron. Mang and Fu yelled as they charged at Wei together. Wei was the anomaly as he was under neither faction. He couldn''t be trusted, so he had to be eliminated first.


    Facing two short spears and Mang''s long sword, Wei was at a disadvantage in range. Wei narrowed his eyes as he was forced to step back continuously as he blocked or deflected spear head and sword alike. Annoyed, Wei cast three fireballs in succession. Fu was taken by surprised and was blasted onto the ground by two fireballs while Mang cut the third in half.


    "You cheated," Mang growled.


    "I use spells, mate. I use spells far better than I do swords," Wei laughed as he launched five lightning arrows at Mang.


    "Fire energy shield!" Mang roared, holding a palm toward Wei as a half-sphere of flames blocked two arrows and gave Mang enough time to dodge the rest.


    "Don''t get cocky. I gave you the Spirit Pearl," Wei growled as he stomped his left foot. Mang cried out in pain as a rock spike scratched the back of his right thigh and pierced below the right shoulder.


    As Wei was about to laugh, he got blasted by a sphere of water and crashed against one of the throne room pillars. Fragments of rock chipped off and fell as Wei fell onto the ground.


    "Duke Han shouldn''t be cocky as well," Fu said, causing some of the ministers to stifle laughs as the generals looked on.


    Wei rolled his shoulders as he stood up and grabbed his sword. He put a finger onto his forehead and muttered. As Lu Mang also rose to his feet, Wei''s magical beast appeared in the palace with a roar. The palace guards were about to move, but realized it was Wei''s magical beast as the tiger-sized magical beast stood beside Wei.


    "It was good to give you my spirit crystals. Who knew I''d need your help so soon," Wei said calmly as he stroked the back of its head.


    "Can he do this, Your Highness?" Fu asked the empress.


    "Mages are allowed to duel with their magical beasts. This is a warrior''s duel, but he knows spells besides martial arts," the empress nodded and approved its addition.


    "Gratitude, Your Highness," Wei dipped his head to her and pointed at Fu. "Fight that one. Just don''t kill him."


    The magical beast roared with pleasure and charged. It had also reached Foundation Establishment due to consuming the liquid spirit energy and the energy crystals Wei got as his reward. It was eager to learn its true strength and smacked its lips as it lunged at Fu.


    "I always wanted to fight you, Cong Wei," Mang smiled as he brandished his sword. Wei wrinkled his nose and tossed his sword aside, wielding two of his flying daggers in his hands.


    "Why me? You think I''m in your way? Is it because I am in the advanced class, and you''re not?" Wei asked.


    "Because I trained my whole life, and you became stronger than me in a matter of days. You made my effort look like nothing," Mang said and pointed his sword at him. "This duel means status is disregarded. I will beat you, Cong Wei."


    "Cripple this. Cripple that. Honestly, these memories make me sick. It makes my own efforts look like a miracle. You don''t know anything about ME!" Wei roared, his spirit energy rising high enough to crack the floor beneath his feet. "You want a battle of steel? Fine. I''ll cut you up. Don''t blame me if you die bleeding all over the floor."


    "Argh!" Fu screamed as the sabertooth magical beast bit his arm. Wei and Mang used Fu''s scream as a gong signal and rushed at each other simultaneously.

 Chapter 15: Secret Body

    Chapter 15: Secret Body


    Steel struck steel as Mang and Wei fought. Wei took advantage of his superior strength to block and deflect with one dagger while trying to stab with the other. Wei constantly moved his body like a river, one dagger slashing after the other as he turned his body.


    Mang''s sword became wreathed in fire as he lunged at Wei. Wei crossed his daggers to block the slash, not feeling any damage from burst of flames as it scorched the air toward his chest. Mang''s eyes bulged with surprise before crying out as Wei performed a side kick to his ribs. As Mang''s body contorted to the pain, Wei slashed upwards in the opposite direction to slice a centimeter into Mang''s chest.


    Mang cried out in pain as Wei did a back kick with his other leg to send Mang flying onto his back a few feet away. Wei flicked his wrist, throwing one of his flying daggers to pierce Fu''s chest while simultaneously breaking a few ribs. The magical beast''s roots-like tail end grabbed Fu and slammed the young man into the ground. The magical beast slammed its paw onto Fu''s chest, causing the latter to cough blood and lose consciousness.


    "Make sure he stays out of the way. If he doesn''t bite something off and knock him out," Wei ordered darkly before facing Mang.


    "You seem to hate me too," Mang commented as Wei glared at him.


    "Do you know what it''s like to be slashed by a drake on your back? Your recklessness almost screwed us over. Knocking you out that day was just my price for giving you the Spirit Pearl. You chose to come here, to fight me," Wei roared and ran toward him.


    Lightning crackled around his daggers as Wei''s speed increased. Mang tried to block Wei, but his speed was too quick. Wei''s dagger slashed his arm before a high kick connected with his chin. Mang felt his knees wobble before Wei spun around and slashed his legs with both daggers.


    Mang fell onto the ground hard and coughed violently as Wei stomped his chest. Mang''s vision started to blur and he saw Shen Qing look impressed as she stared above him. Mang''s rage boiled as he knew she was staring at Wei. It was never him Qing looked at. Never him!


    "I won''t lose," Mang grunted as he kicked out wildly, forcing Wei to jump back to make some space. Wei frowned as Mang made a horse stance upon rising to his feet, preparing to surge his spirit energy.


    "That manual! He''s increased his body''s hardness, but to think he actually learned the temporary enhancing skill. I underestimated him," Wei growled lowly as fire and water spirit energy surged from Mang''s body.


    Mang had fire and water among his elements upon reaching Foundation Establishment. Everyone watched with interest as Mang''s spirit energy soared and wasn''t harmed despite the opposite elements colliding.


    "What kind of technique is that?" Xin wondered aloud as Mang''s wounds began to heal. Mang grew two inches and his muscles enlarged as he grabbed his sword.


    "That boy..." the empress muttered. She held no interest in Mang as he was infatuated with her daughter as so many other boys of her clan''s servant clans did. Now, she had to admit that Mang was worthy of a glance.


    "See, he got even stronger," Ling smiled.


    "Not enough to beat Cong Wei. Look. He''s not as worried as one would expect. It is as if he knew Mang could do a technique like that," Qing whispered as she pointed at Wei. Wei looked more angry than surprised. His eyes darted up and down as he saw Mang''s wounds finish healing.


    "You''re not surprised?" Mang frowned as Wei stared at him coldly.


    "You are not the only one with such a skill," Wei said silently and came up with a lie. "I''ve seen it before. Still, you can''t maintain that state forever. You probably have to rest in bed for days after this."


    "As if you know anything!" Mang roared as he rushed forward, as his sword arm raised, everyone watched a giant sword of water and fire rise above and slash down toward Wei. Wei only smiled as he gazed at the brown ring on his left middle finger and touched it with his thumb as he tapped the ground.


    Generals stood up as a rock formation appeared like a wave, destroying the giant sword of fire and water as it crashed toward Lu Mang. Lu Mang cried out in pain as the Earth Spike spell of the ring slammed into him. The points of the rock spikes were dull and bruised him in several places across his body. Lu Mang spun in the air like a rag doll before crashing onto the ground.


    "Rule Number 1 on a battlefield: There are no rules. Only the victor and the defeated. Rule Number 2: Never rush a mage head on. Rule Number 3: Too much of a strategy focused on offense leaves holes in your defense. One example is an opening made in the opponent''s defense as they charge while raising their arm. This is why you lost, Lu Mang. Power isn''t everything," Cong Wei said as the rock spikes vanished with a wave.


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    "I admit, my superior cultivation allowed me to contend with you in close combat. However, do not assume to be my equal. You''ve marked me as your enemy. I will play the villain today and make you look bad in front of the Imperial Court. Like a hero, you might garner pity and support from others. I''ll be waiting for your.....retaliation. Not that you''re worthy to be my opponent. You are not even in the advanced class. You are stuck in the basic class from day one no matter the advancement. Maybe next year, you can get close to her," Wei said coldly as his magical beast shrunk to the size of a kitten and purred as it sat behind his table.


    "The victor: Duke Han Cong Wei," the empress declared, everyone in the throne room clapping and congratulating Cong Wei.


    "For the once Crippled Duke to become this strong, you are like a phoenix rising from the ashes," Consort Yu smiled.


    "You insult the boy, Consort Yu. You''ve had your fun and lost this round. Your man was beaten first. As the ruler of the harem, my eyes picked better talents than one that is just muscular. Heh. You''ve been quite entertaining. I thank both Blade Dancer groups. Duke Han, what did you think of the Blade Dancers?" the empress asked, the concubine balling her fists in anger.


    "They are strong, My Lady. One of them, I admit I underestimated. I am even the cause of his growth," Wei admitted.


    "Yes. You have made a great contribution to the empire to bring so many Spirit Pearls. Now that the men have finished their dance of sword, the women will begin their dance and song," the empress said and clapped her hands. The men bowed their heads and carried the bleeding Fu and Mang away while women in beautiful gowns began to dance to zithers and lutes.


    "Qing..." Mang said weakly as he saw her from the corner of his eyes. She wasn''t even looking at him. Again, he failed to impress her because of a noble. He clenched his fists with rage and pain, his nails biting into his flesh.


    "Another day, Mang. Even that duke is a tool in political warfare. Just train that technique and surpass him," his group leader soothed as Mang was carried away.


    "You look upset despite the beautiful women dancing," Xin commented as Wei emptied his wine cup and refilled it.


    "Who made the initial mistake and had me dragged into it? I didn''t want to stand out more than I already had. If I let one side win, I would look as if I supported the winner. I had to beat both fighters to maintain neutrality, but I also made both factions lose face," Wei snapped, causing his uncle to lean back and focus a bit too much on the veiled women dancing.


    As the dinner concluded, Wei and Xin were invited to stay the night in the guest wing by the emperor. Wei could not refuse and followed a maid to their chambers for the night. Wei and Xin sat around a small table with a candlewick lit in the center of the table. Xin gulped nervously and stared at the scroll.


    "So, who is it? Who did the emperor ask us to support?" Xin asked, his palms growing sweaty as he stared at the black scroll.


    "It didn''t say," Wei said, stunning Xin.


    "What? But, but you looked at the scroll that time. I saw it," Xin said.


    "And they saw you. Once again, we maintain a neutral position," Wei smiled. "A man I beheaded was wronged by a concubine. He said that women of the palace are the greatest of dangers. I agree wholeheartedly. That is why I acted shocked because you had no prior experience in imperial politics. You wouldn''t be able to hide it as it was always grandfather who came to the capital."


    "Why I feel like you are the uncle speaking?" Xin frowned.


    "Just because he---I was crippled, it didn''t mean I didn''t know politics. I did my duty as duke, touring the dukedom and ensuring the paperwork and taxes were correct and adequate. You were in charge of the clan, always in the position of power. You only ever answered to grandfather. Naturally, you didn''t know the importance of masking your emotions and thoughts. No doubt the two women are wary of me," Wei sighed.


    "Why should they be?" Xin asked.


    "They wanted to see my power and they succeeded in forcing my hand. I revealed my magical beast and the power of my ring," Wei said silently. "They are suspicious of my recovery and revealed it by using my ill-begotten nickname."


    "Argh. I hate this kind of thing. I''d rather fight with my fist than my words," Xin roared as he tousled his hair in frustration.


    "Tonight, we must be on guard. We''ll have to see what kind of visitor we''ll receive, and how many," Wei warned.


    "It better be an assassin. I really felt shitty in that palace. All those damn ministers looking down at us. Being toyed with...." Xin growled as his knuckles cracked. "Let them come. Hurry up. I want to kill something. Anything."

 Chapter 16: The Long Night

    W.R. Eternal: Wow. Going to find a job soon and enter the working world. Big interview next week. Yikes. Been busy traveling with friends also. Anyway, here is this week''s chapter. Barely finished it. Once the arc finishes, probably a good time for a time skip. Right? Going out of town the whole week too. So I might post the chapter early if I learn I have no internet access there. Someone commented saying I won''t have much readers. That''s cool. I write for the love of writing. If it pleases enough readers, that is fine with me. Summer is ending and life just ain''t stopping.


    Chapter 16: The Long Night


    "Finally..." Xin muttered as he could hear steps approach the door. Wei walked over to the bed and stroked his sabertooth''s head, the prehistoric tiger purring as it awoke. The door slowly opened to reveal Eunuch Gao holding a lantern. The old man smiled at them and closed the door softly behind himself.


    "Eunuch Gao," the two Hans bowed their heads respectfully.


    "You truly are a mystery, young duke. His Imperial Majesty was pleasantly surprised," the eunuch smile.


    "I apologize to His Imperial Majesty if my uncle''s glance to the Black Dragon Scroll made others suspect an act His Majesty did not do," Wei bowed low, Xin rushing to do the same.


    "His Majesty does not mind. He is well pleased. With the two factions fighting each other, he does not need to look that frequently behind his back," Gao smiled. "He expected a young man to act heroic, but did not expect a calculative general. You knew exactly what to do to maintain a neutral state."


    "Thank you for the compliment, Eunuch Gao," Wei said.


    "You are not normal. A duke who actually wants to avoid getting close to the imperial family, attempting to avoid imperial politics altogether. The emperor understands this and wants you to continue the fa?ade of pretending to back the person the emperor claimed to support. That, the emperor hopes, will keep them off their toes. Of course, avoiding the imperial court means you cannot be promoted to Great Duke, but there are other positions," the eunuch began.


    "The emperor also hopes for you to kill someone tonight. He is a minister who has been acting too actively in the night. We believe him to be a spy, but the court is meddlesome. The emperor hopes for your assistance in slaying him. He is at the ninth layer of Qi Condensation. The true aim is to kill the people he reports to. The minster sneaks outside the palace so it is definitely not one of his troublesome heirs," the eunuch asked. "In return, future profits your clan makes from the mines of the mountain will be yours and not counted as part of the tax. We''ve found three more similar resources in the western dukedoms. It is no loss to us."


    "We accept," Xin blurted. "Eunuch Gao, what do I do?"


    "I may be a eunuch, but I am also a master in divine sense. I could detect your bloodlust very easily. Know that the two factions are sure to sent people here to steal the scroll. Killing them, you may have your fun until the morn," the eunuch smiled ominously and gave Wei an amulet. "This is a rare magical treasure used by adepts of the emperor''s spy organization. It can disguise your spirit energy and even your very life force. Unless the person sees you, they could not possibly discover that someone living was actually following them. Naturally, His Majesty''s elite spies and spymasters use more advanced methods. When the deed is done, you need not return it. What you find, you may keep. When you discover the identity of whoever is backing the spy, simply write a report and leave it with your uncle. He will stay for breakfast and covertly pass it to me while you return to the academy."


    "I understand. Which minister is it?" Wei asked.


    "You may find this to be quite interesting. It is the same minister whom you called an ass-kisser," Eunuch Gao smiled. "His identity is Yang Suo. It is preferable if he does not report to His Majesty''s daily bi-weekly morning court tomorrow morning."


    "Where is he now?" Wei asked as he took out a longbow.


    He had it made into a weak magical weapon thanks to the turtle-shell cauldron and hadn''t used a bow since he left Black Sea Island. His heart ached when he thought of Grandma Lin and the others. They felt more like family than his Han Clan. Those memories were more intimate and real.


    "He is still in a meeting with a few minor ministers. The palace guards have been notified of your future actions. The minister usually uses a palanquin after leaving the palace, but our spies discovered the palanquin is usually a cover when he needs to go to a meeting. One carrier always seems to change the night of those meetings. As one changed this time, the palace guards will follow him and notify you of where he headed once the minster is out of sight," Eunuch Gao smiled as he opened the door, revealing a man shrouded in black robes and a mask.


    "Wear this. No one should know what you look like should you be seen," the guard said and gave Wei black leather armor and a silver mask smooth to the touch with no revealing features accept for eye slits. As Wei put on the black hood attached to the armor, he found out it was enchanted to not fall off. Wei instinctively wondered if any of the emperor''s spies were among the Han Clan''s workers and staff. He shook the thought away and said goodbye to Uncle Xin.


    Wei waited with the palace guard inside the guard tower built atop the palace walls until another notified him of the minister''s directions. Wei was startled as he activated the talisman. Even Wei could not detect the spirit energy in his own body. He nearly shouted in alarm as he was lifted like a potato sack and appeared behind a stall along the main road just twenty meters from a man walking in a hooded black cloak.


    "That is your target. Good luck," the palace guard whispered and vanished faster than Wei could blink. Wei sighed helplessly and kept his movements at a minimum. The minister didn''t even notice someone was following him in the shadows.


    As the minster walked ten blocks, he always looked back every sixteen steps. He noticed the minister sigh with relief as he entered a large estate in the district where the minor noble clans lived. Wei didn''t immediately scale the wall, placing a palm on the ground. He attuned to his wood essence and let it spread deep underground.


    Wood was the element closest to life. Wood was life and empowered by earth, light, and water. Wei closed his eyes and sensed multiple life signatures in the estate. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary in the main building, so he searched the smaller buildings. Finally, one caught his attention with six people sitting around.


    Wei scaled the walls silently and walked swiftly toward the building. He shot one guard in the neck while letting one of his flying daggers pierce the other straight on the forehead. Both died without screaming or making a noise.


    He realized his cultivation was higher than the six people in the room. In fact, no one was at Foundation Establishment in the minor noble estate. He put his boy away in his spatial ring and held flying daggers with both hands as he entered the building from an open window on the second floor. Thanks to memories of those he executed, he only spent effort trying to copy their stealth techniques.


    As he reached the room above the minister, he placed a palm on the wooden floor. Using his spiritual energy, he made the wood thinner where his hand was so as to hear the conversation below. As no one else was in the building, Wei could divert his whole attention to listening to the people below without risking being discovered.


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    Thanks to Wei''s unique undead soul, he had an unnaturally high connection to life and death. He could tell the people below had killed lots of people, able to sense the hidden killing aura their bodies could generate. Still, their kill count could not match the million plus he killed. Not to mention the cultivations of some of those people akin to gods.


    "The empress and Consort Yu are still going at it. It seems that the Crippled Duke wishes to refrain from imperial politics," Minister Yang Suo said to the people around the table. "He won''t be a problem."


    "He is already a problem. We didn''t expect Shen Qing and Shen Ling to finish the Space Gate Trial so quickly. Not only that, the Crippled Duke brought back a Cosmos Ring full of Spirit Pearls. The empire and academy will be even more powerful," one man snapped.


    "From what our spies said, you failed to instigate trouble with the Han Clan and the royal factions," another agreed. "You know how powerful an influence control over the trading routes in the southern dukedoms is. Even the Great Dukes have less influence over trade. With the duke''s minister promotion, he is entitled additional battalions for his personal army. He has become a threat."


    "What makes matters worse, Director Ji has taken a liking to the brat. We can''t assassinate him in the school either. He won''t even leave the capital for a long period of time," another spat. Wei frowned but secretly wrote down every word on a scroll.


    "One of my spies reported that the empress killed another five members of the harem allegiant to Consort Yu. The balance of power in the harem is broken. Almost no concubine serves Consort Yu both in the open and the shadows," the only woman among them said through her teeth. Wei believed her to be one of the emperor''s wives.


    "Consort Yu''s faction is weakening. Since Wei defeated her champion first, the generals believe the empress''s forces to also be superior. The bitch still has most of the ministers under her wing, but a coup de tat is now impossible," the minister sighed. "We need the two factions balanced to act behind the scenes. What do we tell Great Duke Cao now?"


    "Silence. Do not speak the benefactor''s name so abhorrently," the woman hissed.


    "You''re just bitching that he''s not in you right now," a fat man smirked, the woman slamming the table in rage.


    "The benefactor hasn''t sent us any new orders. The people backing him are definitely biding their time. In the meantime, we need to find a way to halt and regress the empress''s control. The First Prince cannot replace the Crown Prince. We must also continue to observe the rest of the emperor''s children. He bedded many maids in his prime. Finding his bastard children and obtaining proof of their lineage is a must," the leader, a man in a black cloak growled.


    The skinny man wearing a green noble robe said, "I''ve managed to met a few likeminded individuals among the noble clans. As soon as we decide to destroy both factions, they''ll accept to join the coup to slay the emperor and enthrone our puppet heir. So far, it seems only I''m doing my job besides the leader who hands out the benefactor''s commands."


    "I think I''ve heard enough," a cold voice said, causing the floor above them to shatter. The eyes of the black-armored intruder seemed to smile under the light of the blazer in the room.


    "Who the---" the woman began before a dagger impaled her throat. Wei smiled beneath his mask and flicked his wrist, the dagger returning to his left hand. He didn''t know it, but the more he utilized the memories of the dead, the more it influenced him.


    "I must thank you, Minister Yang Suo. You led me straight to them," the intruder smiled, the minister panting heavily as he stared into those cold blue eyes. They all paled with fear as they saw Wei grab a screaming grey fireball that levitated from the corpse.


    "That''s a soul! A soul! You know those forbidden techniques?" the fat man screeched, so scared he caused his chair to fall backwards. The fat man screamed with pain and rolled on the ground as he held the back of his head.


    "Technique? This is no technique. It is just me eating a soul. You''ve never seen someone devour a soul before?" Wei asked, smacking his lips. The remaining five conspirators blanched as the grey flames broke up and phased through the mask of the assassin.


    "Who are you? Who do you work for? We can pay you. Pay you enough to for you and ten generations to live a comfortable life with riches and power," the leader cried.


    "Money? Power? Both mean nothing to me. My aim is higher than this puny nation. I have set my eyes on the horizon of the world since I was young. For now, I am too weak. I can only record my findings in a book. I don''t want to be here. I never asked to be here. Earlier today, and even now, I have no choice but to play the role I''m destined," Wei said coldly.


    "What role is that? You---" the noble began before Wei threw a dagger into his thigh. The man yelped with pain and fell to the ground. He couldn''t even scream as Wei lifted him by the throat with one hand.


    "The role of an antagonist. I don''t want to be evil, but heroes are blind. They never know what truly happens behind the scenes. They only ever see the girl, thinking their rival is the person who is more likely to get her. I tried to reason with him, but he''s blinded by jealousy," Wei continued, forgetting the other people in the room.


    "What do you want from us? You could have killed us," the leader asked.


    "Who is backing you?" Wei asked, tightening his hold on the noble''s throat as no one spoke. "Nothing? Not  a word?"


    "How much did you hear?" the leader asked, suspicious.


    "Who is the benefactor?" Wei asked coldly. "If you don''t tell me now, this noble dies."


    The leader stared at the three men beside him and slammed a smoke bomb on the ground. Wei narrowed his eyes and released a fireball. However, one of the men threw himself in its way and burst into ash. Wei released the flying dagger in his left hand and the one in the noble''s thigh.


    Seeing the approaching daggers, the man beside the leader pounded his chest and jumped backwards. One arm went flying into the other as the other dagger pierced into the back up to the hilt. Wei''s eyes narrowed as guards began running to the building. The flying dagger that cut off the man''s arm managed to scrap the leg of the leader.


    "Hmm. He got away. Pity," Wei said as he threw the noble at the wall like trash. The noble lost consciousness due to the pain and slumped to the floor. Wei turned toward the minister and frowned as the minister revealed the teeth in the right side of his mouth. Wei realized what the minister meant to do as a false tooth was pushed out.


    "Cyanide," Wei snarled as the minister laughed.


    "You won''t know what happened here. The leader is long gone," Minister Yang mocked before foam began to appear in his mouth.


    "Don''t worry. I''m sure the emperor will send his regards to Great Duke Cao," Wei smiled, the minister''s eyes widening in despair. They didn''t close after his body underwent three spasms.


    "I''m sure the spies can track using blood. It contains a person''s spirit energy after all. I read it once in a novel back on the island," Wei shrugged as he stored both the noble and the bloody dagger in his hidden body space. He burned the woman''s corpse with a fireball before fleeing the building in a flash.