《Upon Blazing Wings》 Chapter 1 Chapter 1 The Celestial Jade Continent, an enormous land that stretched for millions of kilometers; a land where magical beasts lived amongst martial arts practitioners called cultivators who searched for their own truth of the Heavens, known as a Dao; a land where the strong crushing the weak was but a natural conclusion. In ancient times, the Immortal Tiger Empire once dominated nearly half of the entire continent through its military prowess and mighty cultivators, but after many millennia of corruption, incompetent leadership, and constant war, other empires pushed it back to its core territories in the northern part of the continent. Presently, many would barely consider it to be a second-rate empire, yet it was within this nation that the legend of Li Jie began. In one of the many bustling markets in the Huo City, one of the largest cities of the Immortal Tiger Empire, a chaotic scene was taking place. ¡°Brat! Get back here so I can cut off your hand! You dare steal my herbs!?¡± An old man yelled as he hobbled as fast as he could through the busy streets. ¡°Stupid geezer! Why would I willingly let my hand be chopped off?¡± A young teenager replied as he turned his head around and stuck out his tongue at the old man. The boy, carrying the small package of herbs within his arms, had fiery red hair with piercing sky blue eyes. He looked to be around 14 years old, but his eyes contained none of the youthful naivety one would expect in a child that age. Instead, one might see cynicism and a tinge of wisdom, most likely brought about by his harsh life. His clothes were rather plain but evidence of many patches and skillful repairs could be seen on his shirt and pants upon closer examination. His surprisingly muscular legs bounded down the crowded road, weaving through the many citizens doing their daily shopping. If any person was unfortunate enough to get in his way, they would not feel the light weight of a child bumping into them but rather a body that seemed to be forged out of steel blasting them away. After running for another minute and quickly ducking into a side alley, the boy peered out into the main road to check for any pursuers. ¡®Looks like I lost the old man,¡¯ the boy thought as he turned around and promptly walked straight into an iron wall. He was slightly stunned but managed to keep hold of his package. As he regained his senses, he focused on the iron wall that seemingly appeared out of nowhere and found that to his dismay, it was a person. The boy himself was already quite tall with a height of nearly 1.8 meters, but the giant in front of him was over two full heads taller than him. Seeing the magical greatsword sheathed in a scabbard that emitted a dull red glow and feeling the unnatural, crushing pressure of the giant bearing down on him, the boy cursed, ¡®Dammit, it just had to be a cultivator!¡¯ The giant stood like an impassable mountain with his arms crossed and bellowed, ¡°Boy, where do you think you¡¯re going?¡± ¡°Sir please, that old man was trying to cheat me and my mother. I gathered these herbs just this morning and was trying to sell them, but tried to take advantage of me and take the herbs for free!¡± replied the boy, guessing the giant¡¯s purpose and switching to a respectful tone. From the giant¡¯s belly came a laugh that almost sounded more like a roar; the boy could feel his bones being shaken to their core as the sound passed him. After laughing a bit more, the man, with one eyebrow raised, said, ¡°You know kid, I was watching you from the very beginning. You¡¯re quite the shameless one, aren¡¯t you?¡± When he heard this, the boy¡¯s eyes widened and he quickly tried to flee, but was immediately stopped after the giant grabbed onto the scruff of his shirt. The boy reacted quickly and prepared his ultimate trump card--the dirt in his pocket. With one arm, he accurately threw the dirt right into the giant¡¯s eyes. ¡°ARGH--¡± the giant yelled and, letting go of the shirt, withdrew his hands to his face in apparent pain. The boy once again fled and was not stopped this time. Soon after the boy disappeared from the alley, the giant stopped his fake act and started chuckling as he mused to himself, ¡°The boy never fails to amuse me in his daily antics. At least it makes this arduous task just a little more bearable.¡± He stood there with his eyes closed for some time while he tracked the boy running through the city with his spiritual sense. After making sure he arrived safely at his home, the air around the giant suddenly shimmered as he mysteriously vanished. The alley once again returned to quietness, the only difference being a tiny pile of ash where the giant once stood. ----- Around a 15 minute walk from the market district, the boy entered one of the many slums surrounding the city. He carefully tread through the trash lining the narrow and winding streets to reach his house--a rickety wooden shack measuring about 8 meters by 10 meters. Noticing the dirty, tattered boots next to the front door and hearing the moans coming from inside, the boy frowned and went through the back entrance that led directly to his room. While he waited for his mother¡¯s client to finish, he began meditating and conducting a simple breathing technique that was commonly practiced by the poor. The boy felt the qi of the world gathering around him and slowly being absorbed through the pores in his skin, coalescing into his own sea of qi, called the dantian, near his heart. The newly added colorless qi circulated continuously within his dantian before being gradually being refined into a pale red qi that was unique to the boy himself. Some of the qi dispersed through his qi pathways known as meridians and was absorbed by his bones and muscle, constantly reforging them to make them stronger. Most of the qi remained within his dantian where it was condensed in the center of his dantian. This process formed the basis of cultivation. In the Celestial Jade Continent, anyone can be a cultivator, whether it be a slave or the son of a king, yet the Heavens are not that accomodating. The rich have an advantage in resources to speed up their cultivation and supreme martial techniques, as well as having the connections to get their children sent to a good sect where they could learn from master cultivators. Bloodline also played an important factor in determining innate talent which is why the strongest cultivators generally came from the strongest clans. Stolen story; please report. Cultivators absorbed the world¡¯s qi from their surroundings or through the consumption of cultivation resources and refined it into their own personal qi. This personal qi strengthened their bodies to far beyond what any normal human could imagine, and after accumulating enough within their dantian, the cultivator could break through and reach a new level of power. Specifically, cultivators were ranked by realm, with each realm being divided into 9 levels. Each level within the same realm had a moderate difference in power, but the difference between realms was like the sky and the earth. Currently the boy was attempting to breakthrough to the 3rd level of the Nascent Realm, the very first realm on the path to cultivation. The boy suddenly felt a change occurring within his dantian as his qi suddenly underwent a transformation. The pale red qi slowly became a tinge more red, and an explosion of energy came from his dantian that rushed forward and cleansed his meridians. He felt all the accumulated fatigue and stress suddenly evaporate away as new power flooded his body. A smile crept across his face as he opened his eyes, ¡°Finally, I¡¯ve reached the 3rd level.¡± Very few people in the entire continent understood the complete nature of qi, the destitute boy certainly not being one of them. But all cultivators instinctively understood they could wield their qi in all sorts of wild ways to enhance their strength, the most common being through explosive bursts of power called martial skills. When he stood up, he looked outside and noted the time, ¡®It must already be around dinner time, looks like I¡¯ve been meditating for most of the day.¡± He put his head to the wall that separated his room from the rest of the shack and listened carefully. When he heard no sounds coming from the other side, he opened his door and walked into the other room which doubled as the kitchen and his mother¡¯s room. He wrinkled his nose in disgust at the musty smell permeating the air before striding over to the other side of the room and opening a window. He then glanced at the naked female figure sleeping on the bed. At one point, she very well may have been the kind of beauty kings would fight over, but now the woman was a shadow of her former self. Jet black hair straight, streaked with gray, ran down her body and reached her lower back; her black eyes, if they were open, would seem like one was staring into an abyss. Her pale white face was gaunt from either malnutrition or illness and her ribs could be seen jutting through her skin. Even then, she still possessed enough beauty to cause men to desire her, a trait she took advantage of in her work. The boy walked over to her and gently shook her awake, having a slightly worried expression on his face the whole time. She stirred a bit, opened her eyes, and gave a few coughs before weakly saying, ¡°Ahh, Li Jie, you¡¯ve returned. How was work?¡± Li Jie was about to reprimand his mother angrily for working while in her condition but thought better of it and said, ¡°Fine mother, my boss was kind enough to give me some herbs for your illness. Let me make some medicine for you. Also what would you like for dinner? We still have some dried meat that I stol--got from our neighbors.¡± A momentary flash of sadness appeared in his mother¡¯s eyes but quickly returned to normal, ¡°Anything¡¯s fine dear... and thanks.¡± Li Jie nodded before getting to work on preparing some medicine and dinner, thankfully he had gotten the old man to teach him how to mix the herbs before shamelessly stealing them. He knew that he had to get strong as soon as possible so that he could take care of his sick mother and pay for a doctor. Working hard every day and stealing what he could not afford--all of these actions were done for the sake of his beloved mother. He often hopped from job to job since as soon as his employers found out his identity, they would often begin paying him less, saying absurd things like ¡°it would be shameless to pay a prostitute¡¯s son, be happy that you¡¯re receiving any money at all!¡± Sometimes they would not even bother to find an excuse but just withhold his pay since he was a 14 year old who couldn¡¯t do anything about it. Such behaviors were normal in this world where the strong ruled and the weak suffered. Li Jie never gave up even when faced with unfairness. As long as he could live together with his mother, he was happy. But in recent weeks, his mother¡¯s condition had been getting steadily worse, leading to him take more risky actions like stealing medicinal herbs today. He cursed at himself, thinking about how if he actually had been caught, how much would his mother suffer? A hacking cough suddenly brought Li Jie out of his thoughts. He quickly looked over to his mother to see her eyes wide open and her hand covered in her own blood. ----- That night, Li Jie sat in meditation, attempting to calm his heart. His mother¡¯s condition deteriorated far faster than he had originally thought; thankfully he had the medicinal herbs to treat her symptoms. She was currently sleeping peacefully after taking the medicine. ¡®Dammit, at this rate I won¡¯t be able to afford a good doctor to cure my mother,¡¯ Li Jie thought in frustration, ¡®I need to work even harder than before; I need to become a strong cultivator and hunt down magical beasts for money!¡¯ All magical beasts possessed a monster core which was a primary ingredient for many valuable pills and equipment. Magical beasts were ranked using the same realm system as cultivators but were generally stronger than similarly ranked cultivators due to their nature-blessed bodies. To Li Jie, even the cores of the weakest monsters would fetch astronomical prices. Li Jie sighed, ¡®If someone like me were just to go outside and hunt down magical beasts, the only thing I could give to my mother would be my corpse.¡¯ He continued to meditate throughout the night and renewed his resolve to work even harder to support his mother. Chapter 2 Chapter 2 In the morning, Li Jie opened his eyes before wincing as the blinding sun assaulted him. As his eyes gradually adjusted to the brightness, he slowly got up to prepare breakfast and check on his mother¡¯s condition. Cultivators could meditate instead of sleeping and required less food and water the higher their cultivation, a benefit Li Jie greatly appreciated. The medicine seemed to have some effect as she was still sleeping calmly, her chest rising up and down steadily with each breath. Li Jie prepared some steaming porridge and set it near the bed. He bent down and kissed his mother on the forehead and whispered, ¡°Mother, I¡¯m off.¡± He silently exited the shack, making sure the dilapidated door was locked, and set off for his job at the auction house. As soon as he left, Li Jie¡¯s mother opened her eyes and managed to rise out of her bed and walk to the window, her body feeling better than normal thanks to the medicine. Her face, however, showed no signs of being pleased at her improved condition, but rather a deep sadness mixed with guilt had sunk into her face as she watched her son walk away from the house. A single tear sparkled iridescently as the sunlight hit her cheek. Quickly wiping it away, she ate breakfast and got dressed, then set out to do the daily shopping while her body was still feeling fine. ----- The Huo City¡¯s auction house was a glorious three story building constantly surrounding by a bustling crowd curious to see what wares would be sold today. While the markets were good for picking up daily necessities and smaller items, the auction house often obtained rare and precious materials: things like monster cores, profound treasures, and cultivator weapons. In the front, beautiful women called out seductively to people walking by, enticing them to check out the auction house. The exterior of the grand auction house resembled a castle fit for a king, with the entrance being huge iron double doors gilded in gold. Any man would feel suddenly smaller as they passed through the entrance, then they would promptly be blown away by the glittering wonderland that was the interior. Multi-colored crystal chandeliers, powered by magical formations, hung from the ceiling, shimmering like stars compared the sea of people below. Luxuriously dressed fat men surrounded by various retinues of gorgeous women and imposing bodyguards strolled around within the building, many of them greeting each other as if they were all old friends. It was truly the epitome of opulence. In the back of the auction house, Li Jie worked alongside other teenage boys to transport the goods being sold and bought by the auction house to various merchants. They were only allowed to handle the goods being sold in the small side auctions that constantly went on in the auction house. Of course they were managed by an overseer by the name of Fang De. A middle-aged pudgy man who constantly was sweating, he had only earned this position through his dad¡¯s connections. ¡°You fucking dumbasses, hurry it up! We need to clear this stuff out before the next grand auction begins!¡± He spat out at the workers before hitting a random worker across the back with his sword¡¯s scabbard. ¡°This job pays well, but we gotta deal with that fatass over there. It seems he even beat a worker to death the other day.¡± Zhu Hao muttered as he quietly sighed. ¡°I heard he¡¯s just a loser who lacks any cultivation talent so his father forced him to work here so his family wouldn¡¯t have to be reminded every day of the disgrace they have.¡± Li Jie snickered back in reply. Zhu Hao was a teenage boy a few years older than Li Jie. They were neighbors so they often searched for jobs together. It was a lot safer for them if they covered each other in case anything happened. To Li Jie, the older Zhu Hao would be the only one he might consider a friend. ¡°You seem different today, a bit stronger maybe?¡± Zhu Hao said when he saw Li Jie lift 3 crates compared to Zhu Hao¡¯s 2. Li Jie grinned, ¡°I managed to break through the 3rd level yesterday.¡± ¡°Hahaha congrats, let¡¯s spar sometime. I want to see just how strong the 3rd level is.¡± ¡°Sure thing, let¡¯s do it after this job. Same place as usual?¡± ¡°Okay! You may be more talented than me, but I have to beat you to show you who¡¯s the older brother in this relationship.¡± Both of the boys immediately stopped talking as they heard the crack of a whip behind them, ¡°Stop screwing around and get back to work!¡± yelled Fang De. As they continued working, Li Jie¡¯s mind drifted to the contents of the crates. ¡®How nice would it be if I could steal one of these... there must be a fortune inside them.¡¯ He felt greed swell in his mind before quickly squashing those thoughts. ¡®It¡¯d be way too dangerous to steal from the auction house.¡¯ Li Jie refocused on the task at hand when he saw Fang De approaching his area. Li Jie quickly looked down when Fang De came up to him. He could almost feel the arrogant gaze of the fat man bearing down upon him. These kinds of arrogant types never sat well with Li Jie; he was the kind of person that would never bow down to another. The only thing stopping him from glaring straight back was the desire to earn money for his mother. ¡°You there, with the ugly patched up shirt,¡± Fang De said to Li Jie, ¡°Why were you looking so closely at the crates? Are you thinking of stealing them? Someone of your lowly stature shouldn¡¯t even dare consider the possibility of owning these goods!¡± Fang De¡¯s left hand shot out and grabbed Li Jie¡¯s chin like a vise. He forced Li Jie to raise his head and then promptly slapped him across the cheek with his other hand leaving a burning red mark on Li Jie¡¯s cheek. ¡°You scum, you could never afford these items in a thousand years! Just look at your ugly appearance, can¡¯t even afford decent clothes.¡± Fang De said as he released his grip on Li Jie. Zhu Hao, standing near Li Jie, saw a flame ignite in Li Jie¡¯s eyes. Not only that, but Li Jie began to curl up his fist as if getting ready to punch the overseer. ¡°You can insult me and hit me all you like, but I will not tolerate those who insult my mother¡¯s work...¡± Li Jie began muttering under his breath, but luckily Fang De could not hear him. Panicking, Zhu Hao quickly stepped between the two before Fang De could continue speaking and kowtowed to Fang De while pleading, ¡°Overseer, a thousand apologies! This idiot hit himself on the head a while back and has never been the same since then. He¡¯s always daydreaming about stupid things. Please find it in your heart to forgive his poor soul!¡± Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Fang De observed the kowtowing Zhu Hao while stroking his goatee and said, ¡°Hmm very well, let it be known that I, the great Fang De, am merciful in dealing with you scum! You! If I catch you slacking off again, you¡¯ll taste my blade. And you! Stand up right now.¡± Zhu Hao exhaled with relief and quickly stood up, ¡°Many thanks overs--¡± and quickly fell back to the ground clutching a gaping wound on his chest which began spurting blood. ¡°Oh that¡¯s right. I have a rule: Interrupting me naturally results in death,¡± Fang De nonchalantly explained as he beckoned over a servant to bring over a cloth for his now bloodstained sword. But before the servant could approach, Fang De felt a tyrannical aura erupt in front of him and barely perceived a blur as it rammed into his chest. Fang De flew backwards and barreled into a wall, causing a spiderweb of cracks to propagate through the wall, before falling down to the ground. Fang De, who was more surprised than injured, quickly reoriented himself and scrambled to get up while yelling, ¡°WHO DARES--¡± That¡¯s when he noticed Li Jie standing where he used to be emitting a pale red aura, his eyes, burning with fury, locked on to Fang De. A faint red glow that seemed to outline a tattoo could be barely seen through his shirt. Li Jie let out a roar that was more beast than man and charged straight at Fang De. Fang De, prepared this time, circulated his cultivation of the 9th level of the Nascent Realm and dashed forward to meet the rampaging Li Jie. The distance between the two was crossed in an instant; as they met, Li Jie threw a wild punch with his right hand at Fang De¡¯s head. Fang De¡¯s eyes narrowed as he easily ducked under the savage but sloppy punch and slashed upwards, leaving a deep gash across Li Jie¡¯s chest. He sheathed his sword before turning around thinking, ¡®That should have killed him,¡¯ only to be blown across the room by another punch that was even stronger than the previous one. Fang De managed to upright himself in the air and skidded across the floor. ¡°How the fuck are you still alive?¡± He exclaimed after seeing Li Jie standing again where had just been, breathing heavily. The bleeding had completely stopped and the wound was seen healing at a visible rate. The surprised expression on Fang De¡¯s face slowly twisted in a snarl. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what body technique you¡¯re using, if I kill you instantly it won¡¯t matter!¡± Fang De once again charged towards Li Jie who also began running towards Fang De. ¡°This time, I¡¯ll make sure to kill you. Be grateful peasant, you get to die by the Fang family¡¯s rank 3 martial skill--Sky Dragon Thrust!¡± Sky Dragon Thrust, a rank 3 martial skill, materializes a small dragon around the user¡¯s sword as he thrusts towards the opponent. Fang De, being at the 9th level of the Nascent Realm, could not yet materialize his qi, so instead the faint aura of the mighty dragon appeared around his sword. All of the bystanders felt dread in their hearts as the roar of a majestic dragon drowned out all other noises. The might of that sword was far beyond them as they were only 2nd level of the Nascent Realm at best, some of them not even cultivators. Li Jie, charging towards Fang De, also felt the same dread in his heart from the sword, amplified many times over as he was the sword¡¯s target. It managed to snap him out of his blind rage, but it was far too late as the sword was moving far too fast. ¡®This can¡¯t be where it all ends... I¡¯ve barely started on the path to cultivation... I need to take care of my mother...¡¯ These thoughts flew through his mind as he felt and heard the roaring of the dragon coming closer. Suddenly, an oppressive force descended upon Li Jie, completely locking him in place. Likewise, Fang De was immobilized and his attack negated, and it seemed as if the force was suppressing him was even stronger since he fell to his knees with a crash. Out of nowhere, the air shimmered and a giant man appeared between the two. ¡°It¡¯s that one giant from before...¡± Li Jie barely managed to say these words. ¡°What do we have here? Looks like the older generation is picking on the young. Truly shameless!¡± The giant chuckled as he slowly began to cover the short distance to Fang De. To any of the onlookers, each of the giant¡¯s steps looked normal, but to Fang De, every step seemed to shake the very earth. The steps reverberated inside his body, knocking around his internal organs and forcing him to spit out a mouthful of blood. For the first time in his life, Fang De began to feel fear, fear of losing his life. To him, this giant man was the devil incarnate. ¡°My lord, I apologize if I have offended you in any way, please spare me!¡± ¡°Oh? Not really, I just don¡¯t feel like letting a pathetic man like you live.¡± Another step. Another mouthful of blood. ¡°S-s-stay away! There¡¯s no need for us to fight!¡± ¡°Reason? Why do I need a reason? The strong make the rules in this wor--¡± ¡°My father is Fang Zhou, cultivator of the 7th level of the Flowering Realm; do you dare come closer?!¡± Fang De interrupted, his voice straining with desperation. The giant quickly stopped. Seeing this, Fang De smirked, ¡°Hahaha that¡¯s right, you don¡¯t want to piss off the mighty Fang family do you?¡± ¡°Well it looks like I can¡¯t do anything now,¡± the giant said, releasing the oppressive force from Fang De as he began walking away much to Li Jie¡¯s dismay, ¡°You¡¯re free to go now.¡± Fang De carefully rose, glaring at Li Jie and vowing in his heart to kill the kid another time. But before he could leave, the giant stopped with his back to Fang De and lifted his head, as if pondering something. ¡°That¡¯s right, I forgot! I also have a bit of a rule you see. That is, how should I say this? Basically, it goes like this: anyone who interrupts me...¡± the giant lifted his right hand and snapped his fingers, ¡°dies.¡± Fang De immediately burst into purple flames. These flames surprisingly weren¡¯t hot at all to the bystanders but in less than a second nothing but ash remained of Fang De. A sudden wind then dispersed the ash pile into nothingness. Li Jie, seeing this, exhaled in relief before finally collapsing. The giant walked over to unconscious Li Jie and scooped him up into his massive arms, along with picking up the dying Zhu Hao before vanishing into thin air with the two boys in tow. The fight finally over, all the spectators looked at each other in amazement wondering, ¡®Just what the hell happened?¡¯ Chapter 3 Chapter 3 The giant blazed through the city, leaping from rooftop to rooftop. Despite his apparent weight and speed, each step was light as a feather, leaving nothing behind but the lightest footprint of ash. He was so fast that none could see him pass by, not even the other cultivators within the city. As he began making his way back to Li Jie¡¯s home, he thought to himself, ¡®What was that crest I saw on the boy¡¯s chest centered around his dantian? I¡¯ve heard that some of the stronger bloodlines have hereditary tattoos as a manifestation of their power, but those are supposed to be far smaller and located somewhere far away from the dantian, like on the wrist or ankle.¡¯ The giant landed and took another leap, ¡®And that healing ability, that¡¯s impossible unless he¡¯s one of...¡¯ He once again landed and paused, a smile creeping onto his face. ¡®This kid ain¡¯t normal. It only makes sense given what that mysterious man paid me to keep him and his mother alive. I also detected a fire attribute qi coming from him during that fight, maybe I should recruit the kid into the sect? It¡¯d be easier to keep an eye on him. Kid¡¯s got talent, I¡¯ve never seen a 14 year old at the 3rd level of the Nascent Realm. His friend here isn¡¯t too bad either.¡¯ He continued thinking his future course of action as he continued onwards. Li Jie never thought he was talented but that was because he never had a reference point to compare himself. Zhu Hao, his friend, would actually be considered decently talented since he managed to reach the 2nd level of the Nascent Realm at 16. Li Jie, achieving this feat at the age of 14, was nothing short of a genius. Even more outstanding is the fact that the early years of cultivation are the most important since they become the foundation for all future cultivation. A majority of the population could eventually reach the 1st level of the Nascent Realm to become a cultivator, however a significant portion of people would never achieve this first step their whole lives--Li Jie¡¯s mother being one of them. The reason most people cannot reach the 1st level of the Nascent Realm before turning 16 is because they lack the mental discipline and fortitude that comes with age. On top of that, younger bodies cannot properly absorb or refine the qi of the world, resulting in extreme waste during cultivation. Unbeknownst to Li Jie, he seemed to have overcome the problem of wasteful cultivation by possessing an abnormal body. The giant reached Li Jie¡¯s house and entered after detecting no life inside with his spiritual sense. He laid Li Jie on his bed before turning his attention to the deathly pale Zhu Hao; the sword stab had narrowly missed his heart and dantian but his wound was still bleeding profusely. Two thin strands of purple flame appeared from the giant¡¯s fingertips and snaked their way onto Zhu Hao, one on his back, one on his front. Once they reached the wound, they coiled around the hole, sealing it and stopping the bleeding. Even so, Zhu Hao¡¯s internal organs were damaged, and he would die very soon. It was exceptionally difficult to repair internal organs with qi as they were far too complex and the target¡¯s own personal qi would interfere with the process. The giant frowned slightly as he waved his hand and a medicinal pill materialized in his hand. A pungent smell that reeked of burnt flesh quickly filled the room along with an aura that seemed partially divine in nature. He forced the pill down Zhu Hao¡¯s throat and released the two strands of purple flame. Surprisingly, the bleeding did not continue, and skin began to grow rapidly covering the wound; Zhu Hao¡¯s previously ghostly pale face changed for the better as his complexion grew healthier. Soon his shallow breathing returned to normal, and now it looked like he was simply sleeping, disregarding the torn and bloodied clothes. ¡°Damn this kid, making me use a Phoenix Feather Pill. I¡¯ll definitely make him join the sect and work his ass off to pay me back for it...¡± muttered the giant with some dissatisfaction as he quietly disappeared once again. The Phoenix was a divine beast of legends that could supposedly wipe out an entire empire with a simple flap of its celestial wings. It possessed legendary vitality that allowed it to live no matter what kind of a wound was inflicted upon it. The pill, of course, was not made from an actual Phoenix feather as no one even knows if they exist, but rather from a mixture of higher level fire-attribute magical beasts attempting to capture even a sliver of the Phoenix¡¯s radiance. Since healing martial skills were nearly non-existent, many cultivators relied on medicinal pills for healing. Furthermore, pills could possess many other effects, most notably accelerating cultivation by providing a burst of qi for the body to refine. The demand for pills made alchemists, the cultivators who crafted these pills, high in demand. But the requirements to become a fully fledged alchemist were strict because it required both an surgically precise control over qi as well as a compatible attribute type of qi. Most cultivators did not possess attributes to their qi, but it was common enough to not warrant surprise when someone saw an attributed qi. For a typical cultivator, it did not matter whether his qi was attributed or not. Generally speaking, the most obvious benefit and demerit of attributed qi was slightly faster cultivation in certain techniques, for example, water-attributed qi cultivators generally could learn water-based techniques slightly faster. Even when it came to becoming an alchemist, the sheer precision required in qi manipulation automatically disqualified an immense number of cultivators, so the correct qi attribute became a moot point. To elite cultivators, however, qi attributes became extremely relevant. Every different kind of qi attribute, including non-attributed qi, had different supreme martial skills--that is, the stronger a martial skill is, the more likely it will require the practitioner to have a specific qi attribute. Qi attribute types were as numerous as the stars in the night sky, but basic elements such as water and fire were the most common. The giant, already kilometers away from the still unconscious Li Jie, had an amusing thought, ¡®Maybe this kid also has the aptitude to become the city¡¯s next alchemist? Hah, then even I would have to bend down to kiss his feet if he demanded!¡¯ ----- Li Jie found himself standing in absolute darkness, no wind, no movement--a true abyss. Not matter how hard he tried, he wasn¡¯t able to move his body at all except for his eyes and mouth. Within this abyss, he could feel something gazing at him, observing him, as if it was watching his every move. He waited and waited just to see if it would do anything, but nothing happened. Li Jie remained standing around in the darkness, trying to get a bearing on what happened to him. He finally decided to take action after seeing that doing nothing wouldn''t get him anywhere. So he gathered his courage and spoke as eloquently as he could, ¡°May I have the honor of knowing who you are?¡± A long pause. Silence. Just when Li Jie was going to try again, an archaic voice rang out from all directions, ¡°Struck down by the tribulations, my Dao was deemed wrong by the Heavens!¡± Li Jie felt the voice penetrate his very soul and mind, giving him no time to gather his thoughts. It continued, ¡°But I know my Dao was correct, my profound truths transcended the laws crafted by the Heavens, and the Heavens deemed my existence as far too dangerous. They could not bear to see, nay, it would be more correct to say they feared another divine entity with the power to match them. ¡°I fled, across empires, continents, worlds... I fled and fled until I reached this far away land. But the tribulations followed, they came down without end, seeking to purge my heaven-defying existence from this very universe. I persevered long enough to split my soul into a fragment which I passed down through my descendants. I have lain dormant in your body all for a single reason, so that I may ask a single question to you: Will you take up my Dao and defy the Heavens?¡± This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. The final question posed to Li Jie rang out and lingered within him. He thought of how nearly died to Fang De; he thought of how his friend was slaughtered like a pig; he thought of how his mother suffered from her lifestyle and illness. He wanted strength. He wanted it at any cost. And now the perfect opportunity was within arm¡¯s reach. ¡°Ancestor, I will accept your offer and follow the path you have laid down for me.¡± Li Jie answered without hesitation, attempting to bow to show his respect but failing. Li Jie couldn¡¯t see where the voice was coming from, but he could feel it smiling slightly as it said, ¡°Good, good. To have two generations in a row with this much density of my blood. This old bird is happy. Not to mention you were able forcibly awaken me at 14 years of age; you remind me of myself when I was just a kid your age. Then let us activate the bond!¡± Numerous questions sprung to Li Jie¡¯s mind when he heard what the voice said, but before he could ask any question, his chest began glowing and a tremendous burning pain assailed his entire body. He completely disregarded his curiosity in front of the overwhelming pain. ¡°ARGHH--¡± Li Jie screamed out in pain. He felt something crawling all over his skin, as if every single square inch of his body was ignited in flames. Despite the immense pain, he did not pass out--this was not due to his tolerance of the pain, but rather the fact that he physically could not pass out in this dark world. After what seemed like an eternity, the pain finally began to subside, leaving Li Jie hanging limply in the air like a rag doll. The fiery crest on his chest faded away and when it finally disappeared, a massive boom echoed throughout the abyss. The entire world to the right of Li Jie exploded into a fiery brilliance temporarily blinding him. When he opened his eyes again, he saw that half of this entire world was now engulfed in red flames that reached as high as he could see. The awe-inspiring flames did not burn Li Jie at all, in fact they felt almost nostalgic to him, reinvigorating him. His right arm and right leg were no longer flesh, but made up of flame essence. Oddly enough, his entire left side of his body remained shrouded in the penetrating darkness. A miasma-like wall of black vapors prevented the flames from crossing over to the left side. ¡°Hmm, this certainly is a surprise. I never expected this darkness to be so profoundly powerful. Kid, what¡¯s your name?¡± The voice asked, speaking more casually. ¡°Li Jie, ancestor.¡± ¡°Li Jie huh? It looks like I wasn¡¯t the only soul remnant dwelling within you. But even I can¡¯t see through this darkness after binding our souls.¡± The voice went quiet a few seconds before continuing, ¡°Li Jie, make sure you find out what this darkness is and from where it came.¡± ¡°Ancestor, surely you would be more qualified for this task?¡± ¡°Sorry, I¡¯ve been doing this for a long, long time. I only separated enough of my soul to infuse 1,000 generations with my power,¡± the voice said as it got quieter, ¡°and you were the lucky 1,000th generation! How about that? I¡¯ve got no prize for you though, haha.¡± Despite getting quieter, the voice seemed to look forward to its release from its long, arduous task. ¡°Wait ancestor, I have some ques-¡± ¡°Li Jie,¡± the ancient voice boomed, putting most of its fading power into its voice, ¡°You will find all that you need to know within that crest of yours. Right now you aren¡¯t strong enough to fight the Heavens so much of it will be sealed away, ready for you to learn once you are strong enough. Nor are you strong enough to learn the answers to the questions undoubtedly floating in your heart.¡± The voice became tinged with a bit of warmth and sympathy, ¡°Your path won¡¯t be an easy one; after all, in all these generations I¡¯ve yet to see one of my descendants complete my Dao. They were all brutally struck down by the Heavens, some destroyed so badly not even dust remains of their bodies, some before they could even reach the Immortal Realm.¡± At this statement, Li Jie¡¯s eyes opened wide in surprise as he thought, ¡®Immortal Realm? I¡¯ve never even heard of that before! How could I have had such a powerful ancestor residing within me the whole time?¡¯ The ancestor¡¯s voice now barely above a whisper said, ¡°Li Jie, go forth. Succeed where your father failed. Complete my Dao. And lastly your most important task... avenge my old soul... you must gain power!¡± The ancestor mustered all his remaining power into his final words, ¡°Finally, declare war against the Heavens! Raze it all, burn it all down! Burn the Heavens to the ground upon your blazing wings!¡± With this, the voice completely faded away and the entire world filled with a blinding white light. Li Jie abruptly felt himself being pulled out of the world and back into his material world. ----- Li Jie bolted upright, as if he was waking from a horrendous nightmare. His body, soaked in his own sweat, faintly emitted an aura of a king--no, of an emperor for a few seconds before returning to normal. He felt something wet on his cheeks and raised his hands to his face, only to find himself shedding tears. His heart throbbed with a piercing pain as if he had lost the one he loved most in the world. Zhu Hao, who had woken up earlier and was watching over Li Jie, fell flat on his butt in surprise. ¡°Hey Li Jie, you okay?¡± He asked in concern, wondering what that heavenly aura was and why his friend was crying. Li Jie looked around slowly, attempting to gain his bearings. After confirming that he was in his room, his eyes locked on Zhu Hao who looked even healthier than before he was stabbed. He quickly wiped his face on his sleeve and stared even harder at Zhu Hao as if to make sure he wasn¡¯t a ghost. ¡°Zhu Hao! You¡¯re alive? I thought you were stabbed by Fang De?¡± Li Jie, after confirming it was indeed not a dream, leaped off the bed and pulled Zhu Hao up, embracing his friend warmly. ¡°Hahaha so it seems! Someone like me would never die to a fat pig, how disgraceful would that be? Anyway what happened? The last thing I saw before I passed out was you attacking Fang De!¡± Said Zhu Hao as he returned the hug. ¡°Some strong cultivator came and killed him. I think he was also the one who brought us back here and saved you.¡± Li Jie said, looking through the hole in Zhu Hao¡¯s clothes. He saw neither a sword wound nor a scar. Zhu Hao sat back down, deep in thought, ¡°Why would he save us? This just doesn¡¯t make any sense... Arghh, screw it all!¡± He held his head as if he was in pain, ¡°Thinking doesn¡¯t suit me at all.¡± Zhu Hao energetically sprung up and assumed a boxing position, throwing a few quick jabs in the air. He pointed at Li Jie and beckoned with a grin, ¡°Let¡¯s fight Li Jie. For some reason I feel reinvigorated! I checked earlier while you were still unconscious, and it looks like I broke through to the 3rd level!¡± Li Jie, already used to how quickly his friend switched tracks, simply closed his eyes and let his mind wander to his dantian. There he saw the fiery crest floating in the center. Examining the crest closely, he was able to make out a single circular magical formation covered in numerous profound runes of a language he was sure no longer existed in this world. There appeared to be three other blobs connected with the magical formation to make square formation with an even larger blob in the center of the square. When he tried to focus on one of these blobs, they seemed to obfuscate themselves from his spiritual sense, phasing in and out of existence, as if they weren¡¯t even real. He quickly became nauseated and stopped, instead focusing on the circular magical formation. As soon as he sent his spiritual sense to probe the magical formation, a flood of information entered his mind. Processing this information, Li Jie broke into a wide grin and thought, ¡®Many thanks ancestor for passing down your ultimate abilities to someone like me.¡¯ Zhu Hao didn¡¯t miss the grin on his friend¡¯s face. ¡°Looks like you weren¡¯t the only who made a breakthrough, eh?¡± Smiling, Li Jie simply nodded at Zhu Hao and said, ¡°Very well, I accept your challenge.¡± Chapter 4 Chapter 4 Huo City, Burning Sun Sect training grounds. Overgrown grasses stretched across the enormous field which clearly had not been used for decades, if not centuries. In a previous era, thousands of disciples would spar and practice all in the name of pursuing their cultivation under the watchful eye of masterful cultivators. But as the Immortal Tiger empire declined, so did the quality and quantity of its cultivators. Huo City, once famous for legendary fire-attribute cultivators capable of burning entire cities to the ground with a simple wave of their arm, now had these kinds of abandoned sect grounds all over the city. Standing in one corner of the field were two boys, Zhu Hao and Li Jie. Zhu Hao¡¯s short silver hair waving slightly in the wind, he stared down at his friend roughly 3 meters in front of him. Li Jie, despite being smaller, in no way lost to the pressure of Zhu Hao. ¡°Ready?¡± Zhu Hao asked. ¡°Anytime,¡± Li Jie said, beckoning for Zhu Hao to start the fight, but before either of them could rush forward, they both jumped back in surprise. The source of their mutual surprise came from the familiar giant man who appeared out of nowhere directly into the space between them. He, of course, was the same giant man who had saved their lives. ¡°Hahaha why so scared?¡± The giant laughed, sitting down and drinking wine out of a bottle as if all of this was simply a picnic, ¡°Don¡¯t keep an old man waiting, that would just be shameless!¡± Both Li Jie and Zhu Hao quickly glanced at each other, turned to face the giant man, clasped their hands together, and gave a deep bow. ¡°We thank senior for saving our lives!¡± Both of the boys said with respect in their voices, although Li Jie was nervous after thinking how he threw dirt into his savior¡¯s eyes not too long ago. ¡°Hahaha no problem at all,¡± He paused, taking another swig of wine, ¡°I see you boys were about to spar, but do you think you can get strong that way? Playing around in this field, in my eyes you two will amount to nothing!¡± Li Jie felt indignant at the giant¡¯s claims but quickly suppressed his anger. ¡°Then senior, how would you propose we become strong?¡± Zhu Hao asked. ¡°Why of course, I¡¯ll train you two brats!¡± The giant answered, finally gulping down the rest of the wine and tossing the bottle aside. Before either Zhu Hao or Li Jie could fully comprehend what the giant had just said, he had already extended both of his arms, each one facing one of the boys. A small Vermilion bird materialized from both of his hands and immediately shot towards them at a blinding speed. Before either of them knew what was happening, they were already sailing through the air after feeling a force slamming into their chests. They both crashed into the ground and quickly got back up. Oddly enough, neither of them took heavy damage from that qi attack. The giant let out one of his trademark half-roar laughs, ¡°Hahaha why don¡¯t you two entertain this old man for a bit? If either one of you land a solid hit on my body, I¡¯ll let you call me grandpa! ¡± Li Jie felt his blood pumping. He took a look at Zhu Hao where he was met with his friend looking right back at him with determination in his eyes. They nodded to each other and soon kicked off the ground in sync, charging in a curved line towards the giant. Zhu Hao¡¯s path took him around to the front of the giant while Li Jie¡¯s would make him end up at the giant¡¯s back. Zhu Hao acted as a decoy to let Li Jie deal the decisive blow. ¡®Judging by the fact he could materialize his qi, he must at least be in the Flowering Realm. But he feels far stronger than that; he must be in the realm beyond the Flowering Realm, whatever that realm is. The shameless one is him, picking on us!¡¯ Li Jie thought as he sped up after seeing Zhu Hao about to engage the giant. ¡®Either way, there¡¯s no way Nascent Realm cultivators like us could defeat him, but maybe there¡¯s a chance to strike him once... especially with that new ability I learned from the crest...¡¯ But before they had a chance to enact their plan, the giant took a single step filled with qi causing him to advance all the way up to Zhu Hao, then quickly ducked past Zhu Hao faster than either of the two boys could perceive. To Zhu Hao, it looked as if the giant had suddenly disappeared, leaving nothing behind but smouldering grass in his path. He didn¡¯t even have time to consider the burning grass as he felt killing intent surge from behind him. Throwing all unnecessary thoughts away, Zhu Hao flipped around bringing his two arms up in a cross block as fast as he could--just in time to receive a brutal kick which once again caused him to fly through the air towards Li Jie. Reacting quickly, Li Jie caught his slightly dazed friend and set him down, surprised at the speed of the giant¡¯s movement technique. ¡°Hahaha scared yet, brats?¡± The giant bellowed. Li Jie responded to his taunts by continuing his charge. The giant stood in place choosing to adopt a defensive stance in order to receive Li Jie¡¯s attacks. ¡®Let¡¯s see just how good this child is in combat.¡¯ He thought. Seeing the enemy¡¯s stance, Li Jie accepted his challenge by throwing a feint with his right hand and bringing his left hand forward for a palm strike. Interestingly, Li Jie¡¯s left palm suddenly glistened as if it were made of pure jade. ¡°Jade Palm Strike!¡± Li Jie shouted aiming at the giant¡¯s lower abdomen. Jade Palm Strike, a simple rank 1 martial skill that worked by manipulating one¡¯s own qi to reinforce one¡¯s palm, giving it the appearance of jade. Many cultivators, especially those of the lower calibre, treated rank 1 martial skills as if they were sky-shattering treasures because to them, these skills seemed as if they were nothing short of pure magic. But in reality they were exceptionally easy to obtain as they had no real value and could be trained to a proficient level in less than a day. Both Li Jie and Zhu Hao had learned the Jade Palm Strike from a fellow worker at one of their jobs. Of course, nearly all martial skills could be mastered to increase their effectiveness, but this took time or talent. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Li Jie¡¯s strike had approached complete mastery of Jade Palm Strike. His entire hand had transformed into a dark green jade, interspersed with dull red qi veins that glowed beneath his skin. The giant raised his eyebrows and thought, ¡®Not bad, his usage of Jade Palm Strike infinitely nears a rank 2 martial ability. However a skill is useless if it cannot hit your enemy!¡¯ *Swosh* The strike hit nothing but air, the giant dodging effortlessly with a quick backstep. His movement was natural as if he were taking a breath. Li Jie narrowed his eyes and brought his left hand back, readying for another strike. But this time he stepped forward and began a palm strike with his right hand. ¡®Trying the same move? You¡¯ll have to do better than that,¡¯ the giant thought and once again stepped back to avoid the strike, when suddenly Li Jie¡¯s hand twisted in the air and slashed down diagonally towards the giant¡¯s chest and manipulated his qi for another rank 1 skill. ¡°Wind Blade!¡± A small but sharp blade of wind rushed from his open hand and flew toward the giant, whistling through the air. With one of his eyebrows raised, the giant quickly slashed through the air just like Li Jie, sending out his own equally strong Wind Blade that dispersed Li Jie¡¯s Wind Blade. ¡°Not bad kid. If I had taken that head on, I might have gotten a tear in my favorite shirt! Hahahaha,¡± the giant laughed, ¡°Come on, show me what else you¡¯ve got!¡± Somewhat frustrated, Li Jie leapt back to gain some distance and decided to risk it all on his new trump card. But before that, he again bitterly complained in his heart, ¡®What kind of man picks on kids in the Nascent Realm?¡¯ He threw away those thoughts and concentrated on both the target and his new technique, ¡°Phantom Blazing Step¡±. Seeing the slight change in Li Jie¡¯s eyes, the giant reassumed his defensive stance, ready to intercept whatever Li Jie threw at him. To his astonishment, Li Jie began walking nonchalantly towards the him like he intended to surrender, but the boy¡¯s eyes indicated nothing of the sort. As soon as Li Jie entered his range, the giant led with a left jab that whizzed through the air towards the boy¡¯s head. There was no way that Li Jie could move fast enough to dodge the strike... but there never was a need to dodge it. Before the ultra-fast punch could land, the giant suddenly detected a second aura in the air behind him. The odd thing though was that the aura was exactly the same as Li Jie, who was in front of him. As the left jab landed, the Li Jie in front of him exploded into a burst of flame and the aura of that Li Jie vanished. The giant, completely puzzled, had no time to think as he detected the other Li Jie¡¯s roundhouse kick about to hit the back of his head. ¡®Silly kid, I don¡¯t know what ability you just used, but aiming at a small target like my head?¡¯ He chided in his heart as he rapidly ducked to avoid the kick. But right after he ducked, once again, another Li Jie instantaneously appeared close to the giant¡¯s left side. The giant at this point was slightly panicked from Li Jie¡¯s unique and odd martial skill. He saw a palm strike coming from the third Li Jie which would be impossible to block since his left hand was still extended from his jab. He couldn¡¯t dodge a strike to his abdomen that fast either because most of his weight wasn¡¯t distributed properly due to him ducking. ¡®So that was your plan, huh?¡¯ The giant, slightly alarmed, put all of his focus on Li Jie and used all of his brainpower to think of a solution. ¡®I guess I¡¯ll have to use that.¡¯ He quickly concluded. He sent out his qi to the left side and exploded it, causing Li Jie to cartwheel backwards through the air. Exploding one¡¯s qi was highly impractical and wasteful, but worked perfectly in this case where the giant held an absolute advantage in terms of raw power. ¡°Whew, you gave me scare there, not ba-¡± Before he could finish his sentence, he felt what seemed like a light tap on his right side. There he saw it--Zhu Hao¡¯s glistening jade palm had clearly struck the giant. The boy himself stood there with his palm still in the giant¡¯s right side, smiling broadly. ¡°It looks like our decoy plan still worked, but our roles ended up being reversed, haha.¡± Li Jie chuckled after seeing that they had won. He was clutching his injured arm that took the brunt of the explosion. From his pale face, one could see that he was clearly exhausted. A shocked expression covered the giant¡¯s face before quickly erupting into booming laughter, ¡°Hahaha, you shameless brats... no, you young cultivators never fail to surprise me!¡± Sitting down and materializing another bottle of wine out of nowhere, he took a massive swig before saying, ¡°My name is Zhu Que, but you can call me master! After all, from now on you two are my personal disciples of the Soaring Flame Sect!¡± Both Li Jie¡¯s and Zhu Hao¡¯s eyes widened in surprise. Not only were they now a part of one of the major sects in Huo City, the Soaring Flame Sect, but also they also had found strong master who would personally teach them. It should be known that all disciples of a major sect held a status similar to nobles in society! Furthermore, the teachers and elders of various sects rarely took personal disciples, and when they did it was normally only 1 person. The two young cultivators immediately dropped to their knees and kowtowed to show their respect for their new master. ¡°Li Jie pays his respects to master!¡± ¡°Zhu Hao pays his respects to master!¡± The two voices rang out through the abandoned practice field. It was this, the image of the two students, one red-haired the other silver-haired, kowtowing to their new master, that closed the curtains on the opening act of Li Jie¡¯s Legend, and signaled the beginning of a new era. Author Introduction Hey everyone! Now that the introductory arc is over, I thought I¡¯d take some time to introduce myself, talk about what the expect from his book, and discuss the next arc. But first, I¡¯d like to thank you, the readers, for all the support you¡¯ve given me so far! Chapter 5 will be posted shortly after this. It¡¯s a bit wordy and slow in order to properly set up the next arc. Hopefully I can get chapter 6 out by today and possibly chapter 7 as well. Who am I? I¡¯m currently a student at the University of Notre Dame. I¡¯m pretty new the the web novel/light novel scene having started reading back in August of this year. I¡¯ve actually never written fiction in my life before, so this will be a new experience. Why did I choose to write a novel? It was partially because I wanted to test myself and partially because I was bored. Plus it¡¯s always fun to engage in a hobby you like. I have many reasons as to why I chose xianxia as my genre. The most important reason is simply due to the fact that it¡¯s my favorite type of novel so far. In addition, I always really enjoyed the society and culture that was unique to xianxia novels. The tropes are completely different than say American or Japanese media. Not to mention it seemed easier to write than a high fantasy story or a modern-day story. What should the readers expect from this novel? Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Currently as it stands, it takes me around 4 hours to write 2,000 words--a pace that I hopefully can speed up as I practice more. I generally take another 30 minutes to edit the entire thing. Based on this duration, I plan on releasing roughly a single chapter a day until mid-January when the spring semester begins for college. After that we¡¯ll just have to see how it goes. I don¡¯t plan on taking events from other xianxia novels and just rewriting them in my own way. Like most authors, I¡¯d like to make my novel unique. There are many ideas I¡¯ve considered implementing, but either way I need to build up the foundation of my story first. What¡¯s the next arc going to be like? So the first real arc will be the sect arc. There are many tasks I¡¯d like to accomplish in this arc including: None of this is set in stone though. Anyway once again, thank you all for reading my story. I¡¯ll continue to try my best to write high quality chapters. Chapter 5 Chapter 5 Lying down in his bed, Li Jie threw a bag of gold coins in the air before catching it on the way down. He kept repeating this process like clockwork while reflecting upon the events that occurred recently, flashing back mentally to the scene back in the training field. ----- ¡°Rise Li Jie, Zhu Hao. From now on I am indeed your master,¡± Zhu Que said with a rare serious expression on his face, ¡°Your kowtows just now have signified to the Heavens our relationship as student and master. If you honor our bond, I shall too until the very day my soul departs this plane.¡± Zhu Que walked up to the two young men and placed a hand on each of their shoulders. In that moment, both of them felt a connection being forged with their master on the deepest level of their soul. Overcome with emotion, Li Jie and Zhu Hao clasped their hands and gave a deep, deep bow. Zhu Que, smiling slightly, strolled past the two before turning around and giving them a huge slap on the butt, sending them tumbling into the ground. ¡°I have decided to accept you as my student, and you have decided to accept me as your master! I will not accept any more bowing nor kowtowing! Now return to your homes and prepare to move yourself and your families into the sect!¡± As Li Jie and Zhu Hao prepared to depart, Zhu Que stopped Li Jie and said cryptically, ¡°Li Jie, let me go with you, there¡¯s something we need to discuss.¡± They both bade farewell to Zhu Hao and embarked on the road back to Li Jie¡¯s house. ----- By now the sun was beginning to set, casting long shadows of both Li Jie and Zhu Que onto the ground. Li Jie walked up to the front door of house and noticing it was unlocked, opened it. ¡°I¡¯m hom--¡± before he could finish his sentences, he was lightly tackled by his mother with tear-stained cheeks. The tears began to flow again as she hugged her son as tightly as she could with her bony arms. ¡°My precious son, are you okay?¡± His mother barely managed choke out these words between her tears. She wanted to ask so much more: Where had he been? Did something happen? ¡°Mother,¡± said Li Jie, returning the embrace, ¡°I¡¯m fine. Sorry something came up today, but I have some great news! I got accepted into the Soaring Flame Sect!¡± At this news, his mother finally let go of her son and looked at him, planning on congratulating him for his success. But her eyes noticed the large tear with dried blood on his shirt caused by Fang De¡¯s sword and the various bruises caused by the first ¡°training session¡± between him and his master. Her face slowly became more filled with terror as her imagination filled populated her mind with images of her son being beaten up and stabbed. Li Jie, noticing the expression on his mother¡¯s face, quickly explained, ¡°Mother these wounds are from practicing with my new master! He used a medicinal pill to completely heal me so I feel perfectly fine!¡± Li Jie flexed his biceps as if to show how healthy he was. His mother, who was about to burst out again, slowly calmed back down but some of the terror still remained deeply etched onto her face. ¡°Ahh but I did end up ruining the shirt you made for me,¡± said Li Jie, sheepishly looking away from his mother¡¯s eyes, ¡°Sorry about that...¡± By now, her previously terrified expression had been replaced with one of relief. She reached up and laid a gently laid a hand on her son¡¯s cheek thinking, ¡®When did my son grow up and become such a reliable man?¡¯ As she was thinking this, a rare smile appeared on her face. Seeing her absolutely divine smile, Zhu Que who was watching silently from behind, temporarily lost his composure and immediately thought, ¡®This woman, she must be a goddess.¡¯ ¡°Don¡¯t worry about something as silly as that, let me buy you a new shirt. Let¡¯s get rid of this tattered thing.¡± His mother suggested, pointing to his torn shirt. A small look of shock appeared in Li Jie¡¯s. ¡°But... this is my most important possession in the entire world. How can I just throw away something you lovingly made for me?¡± He protested, since to him that shirt was truly valuable. His mother¡¯s eyes twinkled as if she were about to start crying again, but she took a deep breath and gave another rare smile at her beloved son, Li Jie. At this point Zhu Que coughed awkwardly finding it incredibly difficult to intrude on the precious moment between mother and son. Li Jie noticed the cough and mortified that he forgot about his master, hurriedly apologized almost bowing once again but remembering his master¡¯s words, ¡°Master! A thousand apologies, this disciple is unworthy!¡± He politely gestured to Zhu Que and said, ¡°Mother, this is my new master from the Soaring Flame Sect.¡± ¡°It is an honor to meet the mother of my disciple. My name is Zhu Que, Patriarch of the Soaring Flame Sect.¡± His eloquent words contrasted greatly with the sight of the giant man bowing to the skinny woman. ¡®Patriarch?! Did he just say Patriarch?! As in the highest ranking member of the entire sect who makes all the decisions?!¡¯ Li Jie¡¯s face filled with shock, much to Zhu Que¡¯s amusement. ¡°Oh my, thank you much for accepting my son as your disciple,¡± The sobbing now fully out of her system, she spoke in a lyrical voice which sounded as delicate as a crystal glass. She clearly did not fully understand the meaning of ¡°Soaring Flame Sect¡±, ¡°Patriarch¡±, or ¡°disciple¡±, much to Li Jie¡¯s embarrassment. Zhu Que was only further amused by this odd family. She introduced herself, ¡°My name is Li Ruo Lan.¡± Unable to hold himself back anymore, Li Jie excitedly explained, ¡°Because I joined the sect, we can move into our own mansion on the sect grounds. Also my master has gifted me a hundred gold coins to pay for any medicines and doctors!¡± Li Jie lifted up a small velvet sack that jingled as he passed it over to his mother. Hearing his words, Ruo Lan should have been incredibly happy, but only a sad expression briefly appeared on her face before she forced a slight smile. ¡°Li Jie, you hold on to the money. Forgive me but I am tired, allow me to retire to my bed.¡± She said, giving a slight bow to Zhu Que who simply nodded in return. Li Jie, quite confused, went after his mother only to be stopped by his master who pulled him outside and shut the door behind them. A pained expression flitted across his face before become serious for the second time today. ¡°Li Jie, there¡¯s something you should know,¡± he began slowly, ¡°14 years a man approached me with his wife and newly born son. He paid an immense price and only requested one thing before disappearing: ¡®You must protect the lives of my wife and son but go no further than that.¡¯ ¡°I accepted partially because of the reward and partially to get away from those old farts who were always nagging at me in the sect. Just because I like to drink with the students... Ahem, anyway I digress. As you might have figured out, that baby was you and the woman was your mother. The reason I¡¯m telling you this now is because you became my disciple. ¡°My spiritual sense immediately detected the irregularity in your mother¡¯s body. I daresay that the number of people in this empire who can detect the rot in your mother¡¯s body can be counted on one hand. Anyway what I¡¯m trying to say is that her disease is not a simple illness, but rather something far more deadly. I can¡¯t tell exactly what¡¯s wrong but one thing is for sure: She is completely cut off from nature as if the Heavens have cursed her. ¡°I don¡¯t mean that she can¡¯t absorb qi, no, it¡¯s far worse. The very lifeblood of nature that sustains and nourishes our soul rejects your mother as if she were a foreign substance.¡± Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Li Jie felt the dread rising in his heart with every word his master said. His fears surged out of control, threatening to consume him. It only got worse when his master¡¯s expression changed to one he had never seen before. Zhu Que took a deep breath before saying, ¡°At this rate your mother will die in less than two years, and there¡¯s not a single treasure or medicine I know of that can possibly heal her. All we can do is relieve her symptoms.¡± His master¡¯s words hit him like sledgehammer. Li Jie, however, managed to regain his senses after a few seconds. He would not simply give up that easily on his mother¡¯s life. ¡°Master, thank you for telling me this and for everything you¡¯ve done so far, but I, Li Jie, will not forfeit my mother¡¯s life without struggling to the bitter end. The Heavens have cut my mother off? So be it, I will climb up there and drag them down here. I will force them to save my mother. The Heavens, legendary magical beasts, or even gods themselves. I don¡¯t care about any of that, if I have to destroy them all to save my mother, then there¡¯s only one path for me to take.¡± Seeing his disciple¡¯s desperate struggle, Zhu Que felt nothing but compassion and a bit of pity for the young man. ----- Li Jie caught the sack of coins for the last time before it suddenly disappeared, sucked into Li Jie¡¯s new spatial ring. The other gift from his master was a spatial ring that allowed its user to store non-living items into a separate pocket dimension, ready to be accessed any time. It had a volume limit but that was only a concern for merchants. For any cultivator serious about cultivation, a spatial ring was standard equipment. In a single day his life had been turned upside down. Fang De stabbing Zhu Hao, his master killing Fang De, the fight with his master, and finally the revelation about his mother, all of these events floated endlessly within his mind. ¡°Argh, there¡¯s nothing I can do just yet. I should prepare myself to enter the sect.¡± He said with frustration in his voice. Li Jie calmed his heart and began his nightly routine of meditation. ----- The morning sun assaulted Li Jie again as he struggled to wake himself. But this time, the sunlight didn¡¯t come from dirtied windows surrounded by ramshackle wooden walls, but rather a perfectly flat clear pane of glass crafted by a cultivator. Through the window a small courtyard with various colored blossoming flowers could be seen. Li Jie hopped out of his bed which was at least triple the size of his old one. A week had already passed since becoming a disciple in the sect. His master helped Zhu Hao and his family along with Li Jie and his mother move into the sect¡¯s housing located at the edge of sect territory. Today, he would head out with Zhu Hao and his master to formally enter the sect. Li Jie looked forward to beginning a new chapter in his life. As soon as Li Jie stepped out of his mansion, he saw Zhu Hao waiting outside whistling a tune. Right after the two friends greeted each other, the air shimmered and Zhu Que appeared right next to them as if it were the most natural thing in the world for him to be standing there. Li Jie and Zhu Hao, somewhat used to their master¡¯s weird antics, simply sighed inwardly. ¡°Master, do you really have to keep appearing out of nowhere like that?¡± Zhu Hao complained. ¡°Boy, do you not understand the value of an awesome entrance?¡± He replied with a grin on his face. ¡°Master is the last thing I think of when someone says ¡®awesome¡± Li Jie muttered. *Whap* Out of nowhere, a lightning fast finger flick left a red mark on Li Jie¡¯s forehead. ¡°Now that our morning banter is over, shall we get a move on my disciples?¡± ----- On their way to the main sect grounds, the two young men were reminded once again of the sheer size of the sect. The Soaring Flame Sect was surely worthy of being called a major sect. Within its territory, half a million people lived, roughly 20% of them being disciples of the sect, the rest being their families and other auxiliary support. Shops, restaurants, blacksmiths, all of these services could be found scattered throughout the sect. It truly was a city within a city. Located in the direct middle of the sect territory, the main sect grounds held the housing for disciples as well as anything related to cultivation and combat. It could be split into three primary zones: outer court, inner court, and core zone. Each zone represented the type of disciple who inhabited the area. Outer court disciples ,in essence, were only nominally a part of the sect. Everyone starts in the outer court for the with a few exceptions, and those with little talent stagnate here. They received access to a few cultivation resources and lower level martial skills, which to most people was already an incredible treasure in of itself. Around 90,000, or 90%, of the disciples were located in the outer court. Inner court disciples could be considered true members of the sect. They enjoyed access to significant cultivation resources like free cultivation pills and had access to nearly all of the martial skills the sect had to offer. These disciples could also receive personal instruction from one of the many elders and instructors of the sect. Of course, one had to prove his talent through an examination in order to get into the inner court. Around 9900, or 9.9%, of the disciples were located in the inner court. The core disciples, being above the inner court disciples, were the most important asset to the sect. The sect groomed these disciples with the intention of them becoming the next supporting pillars of the sect. They naturally received the best when it came to cultivation resources and martial skills. There were only 100 core disciples at any given time and in order to become one, an inner court disciple had to defeat one of the 100 in an all-out fight. Deaths were common in these struggles. In a few minutes of light running, the master and disciples reached the massive 20 meter tall gate that served as the primary entrance to the main sect grounds. An equally tall wall extended on both sides as far as the eye could see, inscribed with numerous runes along its entire length. They observed a flood of young cultivators entering through the gates. ¡°Oh I forgot to mention,¡± Zhu Que suddenly stated as if he just thought of something, ¡°Today is the outer court disciple examination. As the disciples of the esteemed Zhu Que... uhh.... I cannot allow you to... uhh.... take shortcuts due to my position. Thus you two will take the exam!¡± Zhu Que smiled broadly as lied through his teeth. He couldn¡¯t just say that he had forgotten to fill out the proper paperwork. ¡®What kind of master would they think I am if I told them I forgot?¡¯ He thought. Li Jie and Zhu Hao could tell from his expression that the real reason for making them take the test was something stupid. They both sighed inwardly--a habit they picked up after meeting their master. ¡°Everyone please hurry, the cultivation level exam will begin soon,¡± a qi-enhanced voice rang out, ¡°Shortly after the cultivation level exam, we will begin the combat exam.¡± The two young cultivators found themselves suddenly thrusted into the surging crowd due to a certain giant pushing them; they managed to turn their heads around just to see their master with a silly grin plastered on his face and waving his hands as if he were a father sending off his kids. Chapter 6 Chapter 6 Nearly 100,000 young cultivators crammed themselves onto one of the many expansive training fields located in the sect. There some of them near the front saw 1,000 dark green orbs floating in the air, lined up 100 wide and 10 deep. Behind each one of these orbs, a disciple stood at attention, their snow white robes emblazoned with a scarlet flame dragon. Li Jie gasped, ¡°Inner court disciples!¡± ¡°Not only that, look at all those floating orbs!¡± Zhu Hao said, equally amazed. ¡°Fu fu fu~, oh my, you two don¡¯t even know what those orbs are?¡± Hearing a pompous voice that sounded like it could have come from the royal princess herself, the two young men turned around and were met with a sight that completely betrayed their expectations. Instead of a blond-haired elegant lady wearing an expensive dress, what they found was a orange haired girl who was just as tall as they were. Her vibrant hair was swept back into a short ponytail, and her freckled face gave off the same youthful vigor as Li Jie. She wore a plain shirt and long shorts that showed off her bulging muscles, with a large broadsword that was clearly too big for her strapped to her back. However, she had the back of her hand covering her mouth with another hand on her hip while she continued to laugh, ¡°O ho ho ho ho~¡± Li Jie and Zhu Hao looked at each other and mutually decided to ignore the weird girl. ¡°Hey don¡¯t ignore me!¡± Li Jie chuckled as the she suddenly dropped the princess tone and started pouting. ¡®Well at least she seems like a funny person, it couldn¡¯t hurt to talk a bit.¡¯ He thought while turning back around. ¡°Haha sorry miss, I saw such a weird sight just now that I turned away in surprise. My name is Li Jie, nice to meet you.¡± He said, giving the typical cultivator sign of respect--a bow with his hands clasped together. ¡°Fu fu fu, that¡¯s quite alrigh--hey! That weird sight wouldn¡¯t be referring to me would it?¡± She said angrily. ¡°No of course not! It¡¯s just I thought I saw the emperor himself observing the exam!¡± ¡°Nonsense, that stupid old man would never bother to come see this exam.¡± Her reply threw Li Jie off, ¡®She actually knows the emperor? Who is this girl?¡¯ By now Zhu Hao had also joined the conversation by placing his elbow on Li Jie¡¯s shoulder and leaning on it, ¡°The name¡¯s Zhu Hao, who¡¯re you?¡± He asked bluntly. ¡°This one is called Yao Lu Li but all my friends call me Lily! I shall also grant you two permission to call me so!¡± ¡°Lily huh? That¡¯s a nice name. Anyway, what were you saying about the orbs?¡± Li Jie said, causing Lily to blush slightly but that went away quickly as she began to answer the question. ¡°Those orbs are highly sensitive to qi from the Nascent Realm. They are made of the beast cores of a peak Flowering Realm wind-type magical beast! In addition, they can tell the exact age of a cultivator by his qi! Of course, they were provided to the sect by my clan!¡± She boasted. Before either of the young cultivators could ask the many questions that suddenly appeared in their minds, an inner court disciple shouted, ¡°All applicants, form 100 lines in front of each of the 100 rows!¡± Li Jie and Zhu Hao scrambled to get in line with Lily following right behind them. Once they were in line, everyone became silent, listening to the proceedings happening in front of them. The first test, the cultivation test, had two requirements: The applicant had to be at least the 1st level of the Nascent Realm, and they had to be younger than 20. The orbs would test the applicants for both of these requirements. Although the sect publicly announced both requirements, many of these young applicants and their families hoped that the orbs would fail or tried to cheat the system with home-made talismans. Talented cultivators could expect to reach the Nascent Realm at 16 and the Flowering Realm at 20. Clearly, cultivators advanced rapidly from 16 to 20 years of age, thus the various cultivation levels that the inner court disciples called out varied greatly. ¡°Age, 17 and 4 months... Cultivation level, 3nd level¡± ¡°Age, 19 and 7 months... Cultivation level, 7th level¡± ¡°Age, 16 and 2 months... Cultivation level, 2nd level¡± The last one sent murmurs throughout the crowd, filling the golden-haired boy who achieved this feat with pride. Applicants who had passed the exam were lead into another area where they prepared to take the combat exam. Finally it was Zhu Hao¡¯s turn. The young man strolled up to the orb with a grin on his face and placed his hand on the orb, sending out some of his qi. The orb pulsed with a deep green color noticeably brighter than the golden-haired boy¡¯s orb. Also touching the orb in order the read the results, the inner court disciple showed an expression of surprise as he announced, ¡°Age, 16 and 5 months... Cultivation level... 4th level!¡± The murmurs in the crowd turned into a low roar as people expressed their surprise. To the side of the exam location, an old wizened man with scars crisscrossing his worn face sat in meditation. Wearing the robes of an outer court elder, one could see that he was the elder overseeing the entire exam. When he heard the inner court disciple announce the results, he opened one of his eyes and looked towards Zhu Hao. Smiling only briefly, he once again closed his eyes and returned to his meditation. Before the crowd could calm down after hearing Zhu Hao¡¯s result, another voice rang out, ¡°Age... 14 and 6 months?! Cultivation level... 4th level!¡± The low roar suddenly turned into shouts of surprise as people strained their necks to get a glance of the earth-shaking genius who reached the 4th level at only 14 years of age. Most people only managed to get a glance of his fiery red hair. Li Jie, who broke through to the 4th level with Zhu Hao due to their master¡¯s assistance, began to feel uncomfortable after he noticed thousands of stares directed at him. He tried to leave the testing area as soon as possible, but not before the meditating elder locked on to him, this time with both of his eyes. Seeing no arrogance from Li Jie even after the result was announced, he stroked his beard and thought, ¡®Perhaps this child can do it...¡¯ Over the roar of the crowd, another inner court disciple announced more results with a qi-filled shout, ¡°Age, 14 and 11 months... Cultivation level, 4th level!¡± Though not as shocking as Li Jie, this assessment caused the everyone¡¯s eyes to switch to Lily, standing there with her hand on the brightly glowing orb. But instead of the smug expression one might expect from her result, she simply stared blankly at Li Jie who was walking away from the testing site. After a few seconds, she snapped out of her reverie and hurried after Li Jie who had joined up with Zhu Hao at this point. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°My god who are these monsters?¡± ¡°All three of them in the 4th level, the youngest only 14 and a half years old...¡± ¡°I have to get on their good side!¡± Thousands of cultivators watched the three adolescents walking away, branding the image into their minds. The most distinct trait of the three were their odd hair colors: red, orange, silver, all of these colors were quite uncommon in Huo City. Later on, people would remember this moment as the formation of the Three Annihilating Stars of the Soaring Flame Sect. ----- Li Jie and Zhu Hao walked on towards the combat testing area with Lily trailing right behind them. Lily timidly cleared her throat and said, ¡°In terms of talent, I¡¯d say you two aren¡¯t bad! In fact, I will allow... I mean I¡¯m willing to let you two become my slaves.... err rather servants maybe?...¡± Her voice began trailing off, as if she wasn¡¯t even certain about what she was saying. By this point, the young men had guessed that Lily wasn¡¯t really that arrogant, but rather she was a bit lonely and didn¡¯t know how to express herself. They sighed and decided to indulge her. ¡°It would be my honor, boss!¡± Li Jie saluted, though he lacked enthusiasm. ¡°No problems here, boss!¡± An equally unenthusiastic reply came from Zhu Hao. Lily heard only the words and seemed to completely ignore their tone; she broke out into a brilliant smile while blushing at the same time. With an unexpectedly shy voice she barely managed to squeak out, ¡°Please take care of me.¡± The smile, the blush, the shy voice, all of it caused Li Jie¡¯s heart to skip a beat. Who would have ever thought that this pompous princess had such a bashful side to her? Seeing both of her new subordinates staring at her as if they had seen an alien, she angrily smacked them both on the head hard enough to leave a bump. ¡°What do you think you¡¯re looking at ?! Let¡¯s go. We still need to pass the last part of the exam!¡± Li Jie and Zhu Hao performed one of their habitual inward sighs, thinking about how despite the fact they already had an unreliable master, they now had a violent boss. ----- An hour passed and 40,000 applicants sat in an adjacent field, some meditating, some talking, some silently observing the others. 1,000 small dirt stages had been prepared, clearly designed for combat. The 1,000 inner court disciples who had administered the first part of the exam now each stood in one of the arenas. *BOOM* An immense sound wave propagated throughout the field, immediately shocking everyone into silence. The applicants soon focused on the source of the sound which was a dozen meters off the ground in the air. It was the the scarred outer court elder who had just clapped his hands while hovering in mid-air. Some of the cultivators whispered excitedly, ¡°He¡¯s floating! That means he must at least be in the Forging Realm!¡± The elder opened his and mouth and an deep, ancient voice came forth, ¡°In order to be accepted as an outer court disciple, you must defeat two opponents in combat. It will be considered your victory if your opponent steps outside of the area, forfeits, or is unable to stand up for 10 seconds. Killing your opponent will naturally result in disqualification.¡± He waved his arm and 40,000 strands of qi shot out in a beautiful array of red toward the applicants, landing accurately on the back of everyone¡¯s right hand. The qi turned into tattoo in the shape of a simple circle with a star inside. ¡°The magical formation I have applied to your hands will tell you which arena to go to. As for how your opponents are decided, age is the main factor. But of course, luck plays also plays a huge part. In the path of cultivation, one will not go far without luck!¡± His gaze swept over the crowd and landed on Li Jie for a second before disappearing as suddenly as he appeared. Li Jie, who didn¡¯t notice the elder¡¯s gaze, felt his right hand telling him to north. He waved to Lily and Zhu Hao and proceeded to his arena. Li Jie found his arena and stepped inside, where his opponent was already waiting. He looked to be around 16 years old and a look of fear appeared in his eyes when he recognized Li Jie¡¯s red hair. The fear, however, quickly turned into anger as he pointed at Li Jie and said, ¡°I know you. They say you¡¯re at the 4th level and only 14 years old! Impossible, you¡¯re just a dirty cheater who paid off the sect to get in! I, Mu Cheng, will put you in your rightful place!¡± Having lived peacefully for the past week, Li Jie almost forgot about his disgust of his society. Subconsciously having picked up on his master¡¯s habit, he thought to himself, ¡®This guy is truly shameless. Nevermind that, he has eyes so I¡¯ll let him see for himself if I¡¯m lying.¡¯ Li Jie bitterly kept his mouth shut and instead gave a customary bow while saying, ¡°Please go easy on me.¡± The other boy simply snorted at his bow and assumed a fighting stance. The inner court disciple, acting as a referee, raised one of his hands, ¡°Prepare to fight.¡± Seeing Li Jie also assume a fighting stance, he brought his hand down, ¡°Begin!¡± Before Mu Cheng could take a single step, a massive force struck him from the side blasting him through the air. ¡®How?¡¯ He barely managed to think, before he barreled through an adjacent arena, tumbling across the ground. His now unconscious body had enough momentum to cause him to skid into the arena past the adjacent one. Bleeding from numerous wounds and suffering from a multitude of broken bones, he was quite the sorry sight. The inner court disciple serving as referee rushed over to deliver the seriously injured cultivator to the medical team. Meanwhile the two Li Jies on stage returned to one as Li Jie dispersed his clone. He bent his neck to casually crack it before walking off the stage towards his next arena. All of the adjacent fights had stopped temporarily in shock. Part of the shock was due to his power, but this test even had 8th level cultivators who far outclassed Li Jie in power. Most of the shock was from his blinding speed; the elder overseeing the exam couldn¡¯t even see how he had moved to his opponent¡¯s side, much less the inner court disciples. Furthermore, why were there two Li Jies? But by this time, the person in question had already left the area to go to his second fight. The scarred elder, concealing his presence and watching from above, let out a rare, throaty laugh. ¡®The Heavens have gifted me today!¡¯ He thought as he focused his attention on Li Jie¡¯s next fight. Chapter 7 Chapter 7 Li Jie followed the pull of the magical formation inscribed on his hand, making his way over to the arena where his second fight would take place. He took his time, stopping to view some of the other fights; to a cultivator, watching other cultivators fight could allow them to gain important insights and new ways to use new techniques. Among the fights between applicants, many possessed techniques unique to their families, leading to an array of magnificent martial skills being fired back and forth all over the field. ¡°Thousand Illusory Fists!¡± A shout reached his ears. Li Jie turned towards the yell just in time to witness a 7th level Nascent Realm cultivator throw a simple punch. However, along with the punch, dozens of fist illusions accompanied it, all of them feeling just as dangerous as the real fist. ¡®Why call it Thousand Illusory Fists if you can only make a few dozen? It looks like he still hasn¡¯t mastered the skill yet.¡¯ Li Jie thought as he wondered how the other cultivator would respond to the deadly illusions. In the face of the Thousand Illusory Fists, the other cultivator¡¯s expression had not changed one bit. He actually took a step forward with one behind his back in order to meet his opponent. Speaking in a soft, gentle voice, he informed his opponent of the name of his technique, ¡°Forsaken Strike.¡± One of his hands forward moved with an open palm in an illusory fashion--as if it were in slow motion, but at the same time it was even faster than his opponent¡¯s punch. Li Jie found himself drawn to that palm strike as he had been wandering a colorless wasteland for decades and suddenly discovered a single blooming red rose. Any of the fist illusions that came close to the palm strike immediately dispersed into nothingness, helpless to stop the onslaught of the enthralling palm strike. It stopped centimeters before his enemy¡¯s chest, causing his opponent to sigh in relief. A temporary respite that didn¡¯t even last as second as he was blown backwards by a force emitted from the palm. He wasn¡¯t knocked out of the arena but began coughing up blood even before he landed. ¡°I concede.¡± He said as soon as he could stand up again. ¡®Hmm it seems that both of the techniques were actually similar in power but in this case the cultivator who used Forsaken Strike had far more mastery over his technique. How interesting...¡¯ With the fight over, Li Jie continued on his way to his next fight. When he got to the arena the first thing he noticed was the excessively large broadsword strapped to the back of a young girl who was impatiently waiting with her arms crossed. Her orange hair held by a short pony tail stuck out in a sea of cultivators. She glanced over at Li Jie after feeling his stare and began smiling while waving, ¡°Li Jie, over here!¡± ¡®Has she completely given up on trying to be a princess? Anyway this will be a troublesome fight, but it might be fun.¡¯ Li Jie sighed and walked forward. Lily, suddenly understanding that her new friend was actually her next opponent, stopped smiling and began glaring intensely at Li Jie like she was a predator about to consume her prey. ¡°Woah there. I know you¡¯re hungry but you can¡¯t eat me, okay Lily?¡± Li Jie, mistaking the look in Lily¡¯s eye as one of extreme hunger, began backing away slowly. Now the glare turned into a pouty face as Lily picked up a pebble from the ground and threw it lightly at Li Jie. ¡°Lightly¡± being a relative term of course since the pebble flew through the air loud enough to create a piercing whistling noise. Li Jie adeptly dodged it and turned around just in time to see the pebble smack another cultivator in the head hard enough to knock him out. Both Li Jie¡¯s and Lily¡¯s faces immediately went completely white, and panicking, she leapt up on the stage while pointing to Li jie, ¡°Ahh.. uhh... Let¡¯s fight!!¡± Li Jie was happy to oblige since he didn¡¯t want anything to do with cleaning up the mess Lily had just caused. ¡®Damn this woman is violent. I want to try defeating her without using any of the arts my ancestor gifted me though since we¡¯re so close in age and cultivation levels.¡¯ Li Jie thought and stepped onto the stage. The inner court disciple who just witnessed everything was struggling to keep a straight face as he raised his hand and then brought it back down, signalling the start of the fight. Weapons were uncommon in the outer court disciple examination because they took generally took years to learn effectively, and many of the applicants were teenagers who were still growing. They would outgrow any weapon they used in a short amount of time. Thus applicants like Lily, who carried a weapon, were quite odd. Furthermore, Lily¡¯s weapon was an extremely large sword sheathed in a odd black scabbard that made the sword appear even bigger. Most cultivators preferred lighter weapons to give them more mobility and options. Li Jie wasn¡¯t too concerned about the sword since he thought that there was no way for Lily to effectively wield that sword. However what Lily did next completely shattered all of his expectations. She reached for her sword, drawing it with the black ¡°scabbard¡± still on, and then began wielding the sword with both of her hands. She gave it a quick test swing. This single casual swing created a huge wall of wind that collided into Li Jie, forcing him to take a step backwards. ¡°That black scabbard wasn¡¯t a scabbard after all, but rather the blade itself? And the sword was actually a greatsword?¡± Li Jie asked incredulously. Lily simply responded by squinting her eyes, jutting her head out forward, and sticking her tongue out. She shifted her weight to her lower body and dashed forward, the greatsword following behind her at waist level. Li Jie, still unsure of the greatsword¡¯s power, cautiously advanced with the intention of trading blows to gauge Lily¡¯s prowess. But before he could enter the proper range to use his fists, Lily slashed upwards with her greatsword, causing the air to swirl and spin chaotically. Strangely, the faint shape of a dagger emerged from the chaotic air, screaming through the air as it went straight towards Li Jie¡¯s head. He barely managed to shift his head in time to feel the ethereal dagger cut a shallow gash across his cheek. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. In the air still watching Li Jie, the elder nodded in appreciation of Lily¡¯s attack, ¡®Such impressive control over sword qi at her age. In the future surely her name will shake the very foundations of our world. Perhaps I¡¯ll allow her to become his wife! Heh...¡¯ Li Jie had no time to look up in the sky and see the elder¡¯s perverted expression. He had to focus on Lily or risk losing his life. Crouching slightly and sending qi to his feet, he quietly muttered, ¡°Detonate Accel.¡± Lily heard a small boom as Li Jie suddenly accelerated forward like a shooting star, leaving behind a cloud of ash. This, of course, was the same ability that his master often used, just used with less skill and power. Surprised at Li Jie¡¯s speed, Lily gathered her strength and slashed horizontally with a speed that one wouldn¡¯t expect from a greatsword. This time a huge wall wind of spread out in front of her, filling the entire arena. Narrowing his eyes, Li Jie focused on the wind wall directly in front of him. He quickly slashed both of his hands through the air in a cross, sending out two Wind Blades to collide with the wall. It created a narrow opening which he slipped through. Using Detonate Accel again, Li Jie approached Lily even faster than before. Her lack of battle experience apparent, Lily cursed at her mistake. She wielded her giant sword horizontally as a type of shield in order to receive Li Jie¡¯s attack. Li Jie threw a Jade Palm Strike but oddly aimed directly at the sword, rather than trying to hit Lily, who tried to push Li Jie¡¯s palm back with her strength. Expecting a contest of strength, she suddenly felt Li Jie¡¯s force disappear. She watched as he borrowed the counter-force from the exchange to fly up and backwards at a 45 degree angle. At the apex of his path, Li Jie suddenly reversed directions using Detonate Accel and flew back towards Lily like an eagle diving for the kill. Faint red qi gathered ominously on Li Jie¡¯s fist as he prepared to learn the other ability his master taught him, ¡°Shattering Flame Lotus¡±. Seeing how Li Jie held the advantage in the air with his Detonate Accel, Lily decided to use an overhand smash to bring him to the ground permanently. She judged that her sword would reach before his fist. Profound energy burst from her body as she hefted the enormous sword and brought it crashing down towards Li Jie. Li Jie, however, once again surprised Lily by using Detonate Accel right outside of her greatsword¡¯s range. He crashed straight down into the ground, his fist smashing into the dirt floor shaking the entire arena and throwing up enough dirt to obscure vision temporarily. At her current level of training, Lily could not change her sword mid-swing, especially with how much power she put into her overhead strike. She felt Li Jie¡¯s presence pass by her left side as he prepared to deliver the decisive strike to her back. Making a quick decision, she flipped her body forward, using the forward momentum of the greatsword, barely evading the palm strike. But in order to gain as much distance as possible, she was forced to let go of her blade. As soon as she landed from her flip, she quickly turned around to find Li Jie already less than a meter away from her. His entire body was covered with soot, and sweat dripped from nearly every pore of his body. Nonetheless, the fire burning in his eyes was brighter than ever. Li Jie put all of his remaining power into the next strike since his enemy had lost her sword. Using Detonate Accel to close the gap, an enormous amount of qi gathered on his right fist again as he swung it at the weaponless Lily. ¡°Shattering Flame Lotus!¡± He yelled. Lily, seeing the determination in his eyes, decided to give it her all in fighting Li Jie. She performed some mysterious hand incantations at lightning speed and then kneeled to the ground with both hands pressed into the arena. Quietly under her breath she whispered, ¡°Yao Sword Art: Fields of Eradication.¡± Like a dolphin leaping out of water, a single milky green jade pillar erupted from the ground at a blazing fast speed, crashing into Li Jie¡¯s chest. He felt like he had just run into a warhorse galloping at max speed. Li Jie¡¯s body flew backwards through the air and landed with a thud outside of the arena. Although he had probably broken a few ribs, he hadn¡¯t suffered any other serious wounds; in fact, he was standing up shakily after lying on the ground for a few breaths. Instead the most painful feeling came from his overuse of qi and the crushing disappointment of defeat. Would he truly not be able to enter the sect because of this fight? On stage, Lily, after confirming Li Jie was okay, gave a small grin and promptly collapsed from overusing her qi. The referee and any other surrounding cultivators lucky enough to witness the fight stood there in shock for a while. Suddenly the scarred elder descended from the sky. He wrapped the unconscious Lily in his qi, allowing her body to fly alongside him. He then went over to Li Jie and did the same to him before glancing at the referee, ¡°You¡¯re dismissed, I¡¯ll take care of these two,¡± he commanded. Clasping his hands and bowing, the inner court disciple replied, ¡°I understand, elder.¡± But the elder had already taken the two and flown off towards his own residence. Li Jie, too tired to protest or even care about what was happening, simply allowed himself to drift off sleep as they flew across the sect. Chapter 8 Chapter 8 ¡°Little Jie! Little Jie! Hey, are you ignoring me? Heyyyy...¡± A female voice called out from a few meters away. Li Jie found himself staring at a clear, slow-moving river. But staring back at him was an unfamiliar face. The same fiery red hair. The same piercing sky blue eyes. But his face was now a few years older. His rough, sun-tanned skin had been replaced with pristine, milky white skin. He was utterly confused. He felt like he had just woken up from a long dream where he was a 14 year old kid taking an exam for some sect. In the dream, his name also had been "Li Jie". The memories from that long dream mixed with his current ones, causing his brain to become muddled. "Don''t ignore me!" The female voice now directly behind him. A heavy boot abruptly landed on his rear, pushing him into the river. *Splash* The panic of sinking into the water shocked him awake. The memories of the dream began fading away like melting snowflakes on his skin. He immediately stood up in the shallow river and looked around angrily for the owner of the boot. Glaring at him with a familiar pouty face was a rather muscular girl about the same age as him. She had her raven colored hair tied back in a short ponytail and strapped to her back was a two meter tall greatsword that emitted a dreadful icy aura. When Li Jie saw her, for some reason he felt like her hair should have been orange. ¡®What was her name?¡¯ Li Jie thought, the memories almost entirely gone, ¡®Was it... Lily? No. Her name was Song Xia, but everyone just called her Sasha. She likes to call me Little Jie just because she¡¯s a half year older than me.¡¯ ¡°You crazy violent girl, take this!¡± He shouted as he splashed water towards Sasha. It seemed his mind was still stuck at the Nascent Realm as he surprised himself with how much strength he had. The water cut through the air with enough power to rip iron shields to shreds. But Sasha didn¡¯t even blink as the deadly projectiles harmlessly slammed into her body. To her, it felt like a baby playing in the bathtub had splashed some water onto her. Now soaked in water from head to toe, one of Sasha¡¯s eyebrows twitched. Li Jie, the deepest parts of his soul now filled with fear, knew very well what it meant when Sasha¡¯s eyebrows twitched. He immediately tried to activate a movement martial skill to get out of harm¡¯s way but Sasha was faster... much, much faster. Her greatsword had already smashed into the riverbank in front of Li Jie. He could only watch in horror as the dreadful ice aura expanded faster than the eye could follow, freezing absolutely everything in its path, including Li Jie. For kilometers both ways, the idyllic river had been completely frozen in an instant. ¡°Hmph! Serves you right!¡± Sasha said, sticking out her tongue at the popsicle Li Jie. To her, it wasn¡¯t the fact that he had splashed water on her, but rather the fact that he called her violent that pissed her off. A violent girl who became even more violent when you called her violent--that was the Sasha that Li Jie knew and loved. Li Jie, who would be shivering if he could actually move, circulated his cultivation of the peak of the third realm, the Forging Realm. With Li Jie as the source, a tyrannical flame dragon exploded towards the sky, expanding to become 100 meters long and sublimating all of the ice surrounding him. A dragon¡¯s mighty roar could be heard for kilometers, startling many of the commoners going about their daily lives. The two young cultivators suddenly heard a voice directly in their minds yelling at them, ¡°Hey you two! Did you just cause that ruckus? Dammit, will you two devils at least try to keep it down while the emperor¡¯s visiting the headquarters? I¡¯ve got enough to deal with as it is!¡± ¡°Haha your dad¡¯s angry at us again. Anyway let¡¯s head back to town, if that old geezer is here, then ¡®he¡¯ must be here as well.¡± Li Jie said, unable to contain his anticipation. Sasha, already back to normal, nodded with excitement and took off into air after dispersing her ice qi. Li Jie quickly followed her. ----- Cultivators filled the airways leading towards the royal capital¡¯s gates before landing in front of them as they neared the city. The city¡¯s grand walls soared over 50 meters into the air with an Immortal Realm cultivator standing at attention every few meters, their pure white robes emblazoned with a mighty flame dragon fluttering lightly in the breeze. Only strong, influential, or well-connected cultivators could directly fly over the city walls. Sasha, as the heiress to the most wealthy clan in the city, naturally fell into this group of cultivators. Anyone who was with her, of course, would receive the same privilege, but Li Jie didn¡¯t need to take advantage of her position. After all, the #2 person on everyone¡¯s do-not-piss-off list was Li Jie¡¯s father, the #1 obviously being the emperor himself. Passing over the wall and through the translucent protective shield that surrounded the city, Li Jie sent out his spiritual sense, scanning for a person. Within a minute, he locked onto his target and accelerated in its direction. Sasha followed right behind him. Below them, millions of people filled the wide, paved streets of the royal capital, every single adult at least in the Flowering Realm, with many Forging Realm and Refining Realm cultivators among them. Squads of soldiers in polished silver armor each led by an Immortal Realm cultivator captain patrolled the streets. This awe inspiring display of power by the royal capital of the Immortal Tiger Empire led to the city being known as the ¡°Jewel of the Continent¡±. Artificial lakes and rivers along with soaring cultivator towers that seemed to touch the clouds dotted the city¡¯s landscape. The city was bustling with activity in preparation for the celebration of the successful campaign against neighboring Azure Dragon Empire. The emperor¡¯s only son had commanded one of the Immortal Tiger Empire¡¯s legions to completely annihilate an army 5 times its size. Immensely happy at his son¡¯s victory, the emperor declared today to be an imperial holiday and sent out an imperial decree calling all persons of any caliber to attend the celebration. Right now the emperor was visiting the Song Clan¡¯s headquarters in order to pick out a gift for his son. Numerous precious treasures had been laid out on golden tables in the clan¡¯s great hall, each one of these treasures possessed enough value for normal empires to fight wars just to obtain one. Picking up a curved silver sword engraved with numerous golden runes that seemed to twist the air around them, Sasha¡¯s father explained, ¡°Your majesty, that sword is forged from the core of a star that fell from the Heavens. The runes were engraved by Grandmaster Jiang Zhao Hui who was reported to have consumed over half of his life force creating the runes because they were so profound. It was used by a Immortal Realm cultivator a few hundred years ago to single-handedly slaughter 100 other Immortal Realm cultivators!¡± Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. The emperor showed no amazement in his eyes; he simply stared at the sword for a few seconds before muttering, ¡°It might make a good toothpick.¡± He nonchalantly tossed the sky-shattering sword back onto the table and continued searching for a present. Sasha¡¯s father, used to the emperor¡¯s overbearing demeanor, simply continued to follow behind him. They kept looking through the treasures. ¡°Your majesty, that is an egg from the peak Immortal Realm beast, the Ba Snake. One of my Exalted Realm cultivators confirmed that there is a soul within the egg and it will hatc-¡± ¡°Might make a good omelette I guess?¡± And kept looking... ¡°Your majesty, these gauntlets were forged inside an undersea volcano using the titanic core of a fire giant...¡± ¡°Goodness, look at how ugly those are!¡± And looking... ¡°Your majesty, this robe is made from the leather of a Divine Tri-horned Bull slain during the height of a solar eclipse while...¡± ¡°It could be suited as pajamas maybe?¡± Right when the Song Clan Patriarch was at his limit, the doors to the hall burst open. Sasha¡¯s father spun around, furious at the one who would dare interrupt him and the emperor. His face expression relaxed when he saw it was just Li Jie and his daughter. ¡°Hey old man stop being so nit-picky. My brother doesn¡¯t need any of that fancy stuff.¡± ¡°Yeah, can¡¯t you see you¡¯re annoying father, stupid geezer!¡± The father in question suddenly adopted an absolutely tranquil expression on his face, ready to accept the fact that his entire clan was about to be wiped out due to his daughter¡¯s careless words. The emperor of the strongest empire in the entire continent, with numerous Exalted Realm cultivators and millions of Immortal Realm cultivators ready to die for any of his commands, slowly turned around to look at the two young adults. All was silent in the hall except Sasha¡¯s father mumbling some death prayers to prepare his soul for the afterlife. Unexpectedly, the emperor began smiling brightly, walking past Sasha¡¯s father whose soul had pretty much already left his body, and opened his arms wide. He embraced both Li Jie and Sasha quickly and then rubbed their heads with affection. ¡°Hahaha, it¡¯s just as you two say. I think I¡¯ll try making something myself! I¡¯m sure my son would love that.¡± He turned back to the shocked father, ¡°Song Cheng, you have raised a fine daughter! I shall take my leave for now, sorry to have bothered you with my silly requests. Li Jie, thank you for always keeping my son company. You should be able to find him in the main gardens.¡± With that, the emperor departed, his luxurious robe waving grandly with each step despite the lack of any apparent wind. Song Cheng, disregarding his status as a peak Immortal Realm cultivator, sank weakly to the ground with relief. He suddenly realized something, ¡°My daughter, don¡¯t tell me the ¡®old geezer¡¯ you¡¯re always talking about was the emperor?¡± Sasha, distracted by something else, absent-mindedly replied, ¡°Huh? Oh. Yeah I guess so...¡± Li Jie, distracted by the same thing as Sasha, gave a bow to Song Cheng, ¡°Please excuse us Patriarch, there¡¯s something important we need to attend to.¡± He grabbed Sasha¡¯s hand and rushed over to the main gardens, leaving the dazed Song Cheng behind. ----- In the middle of the largest pond of the main gardens, a young man was lying down in a beautifully crafted gazebo, completely isolated from the world. A jade slip covered with dense political text covered his face and blocked the sun from getting into his eyes. Distinctive silver hair could be seen poking out from above the jade slip. Suddenly one of his ears twitched as he heard familiar footsteps crossing the bridge to the gazebo. Of course, he had detected them with his spiritual sense far before they even reached the bridge. Deciding to feign sleep, he heard the footsteps get louder and louder, until they stopped right next to him. ¡°Is he sleeping?¡± ¡°No way! He¡¯s just messing with us again. I¡¯ll wake him up!¡± He heard a familiar female voice say. Immediately he panicked, instinctively knowing what was about to happen. But as always when dealing with Sasha, everyone reacted a step too slow. Sasha¡¯s fist descended from the heavens like a falling meteor on its way to destroy the earth. ¡°Sasha punchhhhhhh!!!!¡± She yelled as the strike made contact with the silver-haired man¡¯s stomach. ¡°No wait!¡± He managed to say before the unstoppable force came crashing down. He found himself in a meter deep hole after he opened his eyes, a massive dust cloud expanding into the air. Looking up, he saw Li Jie trying to hold back his laughter and failing badly. Sasha was standing with her arms crossed, frowning at him as if to say, ¡°This is all your fault for pretending to be sleeping!¡± Her eyes betrayed her though, since anyone could see she was truly happy to see him. Finally after getting his laughing under control, Li Jie reached out his hand which the man accepted. He leaped out of the hole and pulled Li Jie into an embrace. ¡°Little bro! Good to see you again!¡± ¡°Hahaha big bro, you too. Congrats on your successful campaign!¡± They released their embrace and turned to the still frowning Sasha. ¡°Zhu Lei, still acting like a kid even after becoming a the youngest general in the empire¡¯s history and defeating the enemy in a heroic battle?¡± ¡®That¡¯s the last thing we want to hear from you!¡¯ both Li Jie and Zhu Lei thought. ¡°I see you¡¯re as beautiful as ever, Sasha. You and Li Jie kiss yet?¡± He replied with a wide grin on his face. He swiftly dodged the ferocious fist aimed directly at his head and took to the air, laughing wildly as he performed all sorts of aerial maneuvers to shake the furiously blushing Sasha off his tail. Li Jie simply sighed and followed after his two best friends. The three friends shot through the air over the city, shooting stars that would burn brighter than anything else in the sky. Chapter 9 Chapter 9 Back at the Soaring Flame Sect, in a certain scarred elder¡¯s residence, both Lily and Zhu Hao sat on the floor with their backs leaning on wall. Fatigue and worry were etched into their faces. The owner of the house was a few meters away sitting in a chair, his old wizened face betraying no expression as he sat deep in thought. The most odd thing about this scene, however, was the fact that all the furniture had been cleared from the center of the room. The only thing left was a large ball of rapidly spinning red qi hovering less than a meter off the ground. ----- Flashing back to a few hours ago, the elder was returning to his residence with two unconscious cultivators in tow. Li Jie¡¯s body had suddenly began spewing forth vast amounts of bright red qi, surprising the elder. ¡®This boy still had this much qi in him? No wait, his was more pale red... what is this qi?¡¯ He wondered, slightly worried. It became apparent that the flood of qi wouldn¡¯t stop and was actually coalescing into some sort of spherical shape around Li Jie¡¯s body. The elder wasn¡¯t sure what the qi was, but he had a feeling that something would happen if the qi was allowed to completely gather. Using his own qi, he began attempting to suppress Li Jie¡¯s qi, but it was like using a twig to stop a tsunami. Scowling at his failure, he snorted and suddenly increased his flying speed by over 10 times. The three transformed into prismatic beams of light that shot across the sky before landing in the courtyard of the elder¡¯s mansion. Quickly laying Li Jie on the floor as well as setting Lily down to the side, he used both of his hands to create a sealing formation. His hands waved intricate signs in the air and a massive profound energy came forth from his body. The unconscious Li Jie by now was surrounded in a cocoon of the bright red qi, however, it was still thin enough to see his body. He began to rise off the ground, hovering in the air. Sweat soaked his body as it spasmed slightly every few seconds. Various emotions displayed themselves on Li Jie¡¯s face: happiness, anger, pain. ¡®Is he dreaming?¡¯ The elder thought, taking a quick look at him. He hurriedly returned back to creating a seal since he was running out of time. The red qi kept growing thicker and thicker around Li Jie. He had already produced enough profound energy around him to attempt to seal and halt Li Jie¡¯s deluge of qi. Even a small strand of the elder¡¯s sealing profound energy felt like it had enough power to restrain even a charging rhinoceros. But as soon as the profound energy tried to seal Li Jie... *BOOM* It was repelled violently by the bright red qi, causing a massive backlash. The elder heard a screech coming from the cocoon at the same time. It was almost as if the qi was alive and saying to him, ¡°You dare attempt to touch me? Very well, then you shall die for your transgression!¡± The explosion of qi managed to injure the elder who gave up on the idea of sealing Li Jie. ----- Lily had regained consciousness shortly after and was utterly confused. In a few short sentences, the elder vaguely explained what happened. Less than half an hour later, Zhu Hao, as an official outer court disciple, knocked on the door to the mansion. He had heard that something went wrong during the final fight, and his two friends were brought to this residence. He was let in by a Lily who had been crying non-stop, believing that the entire situation was her fault. Back to the present, Lily and Zhu Hao had resigned themselves to watching Li Jie and hoping he would be fine. As for the elder, he seemed to be meditating with his eyes closed, and no one could tell what he was thinking. ¡°Elder, can¡¯t we go seek some help? My master is strong, he might be able to help...¡± Zhu Hao said, somewhat meekly since the crisscross of scars on his face made the elder quite the fearsome figure. In response, the old man just opened a single eye and glanced sharply at Zhu Hao before returning to his meditation. To the young cultivator, that single glance felt like it had seen into the depths of his soul. In that moment, Zhu Hao instinctively understood that this man in front of him was a supreme existence in the cultivator world. Probably far stronger than his master. He stopped talking and returned to staring at the red cocoon of qi, deciding to trust the elder. A few more hours had passed. The sun had already passed its highest point in the sky long ago and was steadily sinking in the horizon. The elder suddenly made a movement with his hand, producing some bread and water from his spatial ring. A single command was uttered, ¡°Eat.¡± Although they had no desire to eat, they couldn¡¯t deny the hunger they felt. Against the backdrop of the setting sun, the two ate silently, pinning all their hopes on either the elder performing a miracle or Li Jie waking up himself. Li Jie did not disappoint. After a sudden brilliant burst of light, a maelstrom formed in the air with Li Jie at the center. He began absorbing the qi cocoon at a rapid rate, his dantian circulating the qi madly in an attempt to receive the deluge of qi. In just a few seconds, all of the qi disappeared and all that remained was Li Jie, standing gracefully with his hands behind his back. His hair seemed like it turned a shade redder and his physique become even more muscular, pushing the limits for what one would normally consider a 14 year old to be. ¡°Li Jie, you okay?¡± Zhu Hao worriedly asked. Li Jie paused for a few seconds before displaying the most serene smile and his face and nodding lightly, ¡°Zhu Hao.¡± Lily ran up to Li Jie and began apologizing, ¡°Li Jie I¡¯m so sorry about the... you with the sword... and hurting...¡± Her voice began to drift off when she saw Li Jie looking at her with weird eyes, like he was looking at an alien. ¡°Who might you be, young lady?¡± The question came out of his mouth. Silence once again filled the room before it was broken by Lily¡¯s worried, pleading voice. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Zhu Hao, what do we do? He started acting like a prince and he doesn¡¯t even remember me anymore!¡± Her voice started to crack as the tears began welling up in her eyes. Before he could answer, Li Jie, who was startled by Lily¡¯s tears, quickly dropped his prince act and explained, ¡°Sorry, I was faking it! It¡¯s just that you two had such a serious look on your faces I couldn¡¯t help but to mess with you...¡± He started chuckling nervously when, without any warning, Lily¡¯s fist slammed into his gut, causing him to clutch his stomach in pain. He weakly looked up to see Lily with her back to him, crossing her arms in an angry pose. What he didn¡¯t notice, however, was the smile of relief stretched across her face. Looking to Zhu Hao he said, ¡°I deserved that didn¡¯t I?¡± His friend looked at him for a few seconds and then began laughing crazily, tears forming in his eyes. All the stress that had accumulated throughout the day disappeared as if it had never been there in the first place. Once he was able to finally stop laughing, he wiped the tears away from his eyes and said, ¡°You know, sometimes I¡¯m scared at how mature you are for your age. But it¡¯s times like these when I realize you¡¯re still just a kid.¡± Though Li Jie and Zhu Hao had just met Lily today, through this ordeal, they all felt their bonds of camaraderie had become just a bit stronger. ----- That night, Li Jie was meditating in his new outer court disciple robes. He wasn¡¯t back at the mansion where his mother lived, but rather was living in a small single room apartment allotted to all outer court disciples. Earlier today, after Li Jie thanked the scarred elder for trying to save him, the elder informed him that both Lily and Li Jie had passed the exam. He then procured the disciple robes and secured housing for both of them, finally sending them off with a wave of his hand. In meditation, Li Jie sent his spiritual sense to the core of his dantian. When he had woken up from his short coma, he had no recollection of what happened in his mind. The only thing he felt was that something in his dantian had shifted. The first thing his sense noticed was a small scarlet pearl floating near his core. Detecting qi coming from the peal, he attempted to refine it. Over an hour later, he had refined enough qi to reach a 1/10th of the way to level 5 of the Nascent Realm--a pace almost a thousand times faster than normal. ¡®What the hell is this qi?! It¡¯s hundreds of times more pure than the qi of the world!¡¯ He paused in his thoughts, reexamining the pearl, ¡®Not to mention that even after refining that much qi, the pearl doesn¡¯t look like it¡¯s even changed in size at all!¡¯ After pondering it a bit more, Li Jie understood that the pearl was formed from the red cocoon that his friends told him about. But why did it appear in the first place? How was the qi so profound? He decided to set aside his questions and stop cultivating for the night. Raising his cultivation too fast would create an unstable foundation for future cultivation. Li Jie wasn¡¯t sure if that rule applied to him as well, but he didn¡¯t want to take the risk. However, he still felt as if there was something still inside his dantian, waiting to be discovered. His spiritual sense sank deeper and deeper, until it approached the fiery crest that his ancestor had granted him. To his surprise, he saw that of the four small magical formations and one big formation that made up the crest, another one of the small ones had been revealed. Now he could see two of the small formations. Li Jie could hardly contain his excitement. After all behind the first magical formation, he had discovered the supreme martial technique, ¡°Phantom Blazing Step¡±. Li Jie felt that the first formation hid even more secrets, but he wasn¡¯t strong enough to unseal them yet. But as soon as his spiritual sense touched the second formation, vivid, lifelike images filled his mind. It wasn¡¯t just a few images, but hundreds of thousands of complete images. In addition, a plethora of noises, smells, feels, and emotions flooded his brain. They forcibly dragged Li Jie out of his meditative state, causing him to take some damage to his dantian. He spat out a mouthful of blood and sank to the floor, his overprocessed mind trying to sort out all the new information without frying itself. A full minute passed before he managed to sit back upright with difficulty. ¡®What was that? I saw another world... Another cultivator named Li Jie who looked like me... and Zhu Lei... he could pass for Zhu Hao¡¯s older brother...¡¯ His fatigued mind barely managed to think. Li Jie had remembered everything from that day; from playing with Sasha in the river to meeting Zhu Lei--he recalled it all. But he didn¡¯t have enough pieces of the puzzle to fully understand what was going on. All he knew was that his dream had something to do with the fiery crest bestowed by his ancestor. Setting aside the matters of the dream, he focused on one last piece of enlightenment he had gained from the second formation. He waited for a few more minutes to recover his mind and body. Then he circulated his cultivation base, concentrating qi near his upper back. He suddenly felt a burning sensation along his entire back, the pain threatening to render him unconscious. Li Jie gritted his teeth and sent even more qi to his upper back. After a few more seconds, he suddenly shouted, ¡°Go forth!¡± Two blobs of fire appeared on the left and right side of Li Jie¡¯s upper back, each one roughly the size of a fist. The pain abruptly faded away after the two blobs materialized. Li Jie, using a bronze mirror, examined the two blobs, ¡®That¡¯s rather disappointing, I didn¡¯t think they would be so small. I suppose my cultivation just isn¡¯t high enough yet...¡¯ Although he wasn¡¯t satisfied with the results, he shrugged, knowing that eventually he will be able to do it properly. Finally done checking his body, he took off his sweat-soaked robes and fell onto his bed, his tired body gratefully welcoming the sweet embrace of sleep. Chapter 10 Chapter 10 A week flew by in a flash. Li Jie briefly went back to the mansion where his mother lived to check on her health. Her condition had improved immensely with the help of some medicinal pills that his master had procured for her. Nevertheless, his master¡¯s hopeless prognosis stood: She would likely die in less than two years. All they could do now was soothe her pain. Li Jie, however, hadn¡¯t given up hope. He had already thought of a few ideas to pursue in order to find a cure. Speaking of his master, Zhu Que visited both Li Jie and Zhu Hao a few days ago to congratulate them on entering the sect, which was pretty much a given considering that they were disciples of the sect¡¯s Patriarch. The entire sect was abuzz with the news that their Patriarch had returned after a 14 year journey. Numerous rumors spread like wildfire throughout the sect that the Patriarch had been hunting down a Heavenly Thunder Dragon, or that he had gone off to wipe out a rival sect. Only the highest-ranking sect elders knew that their mighty Patriarch had been on babysitting duty for the past decade and a half. He told his disciples to keep their identity as the Patriarch¡¯s disciples a secret; they were already infamous enough after the exam anyway. In addition, he asked some questions regarding the path of cultivation each one of them wanted to take. ¡°Alright brats, tell your master what kind of cultivation path you want to take! Hahaha!¡± ¡°What exactly do you mean by that, master?¡± Li Jie asked. Their master adopted a serious expression for the third time since they had met him. ¡°Well let¡¯s see. The goal of all cultivators is to find their own Dao and achieve it. Now what this exactly means, I haven¡¯t got the faintest clue. But it seems to point to finding a way to interpret how the world works and then using that knowledge to control nature itself. However there is not a ¡®true Dao¡¯, the Dao that is right for you is engraved on your very soul from birth. One could say your Dao is your fate. You can already utilize a primitive version of Dao through your martial skills, and later on when you become a Flowering Realm cultivator, through materializing your qi.¡± He paused for a bit, gathering his thoughts. ¡°For cultivators like us, who haven¡¯t stepped into the the Immortal Realm and beyond, we don¡¯t have the profound ability within us to actually find our own Dao. Instead, we embark on cultivation paths that can be easily defined with words. The idea is that these paths will create a foundation for forming our Dao.¡± Li Jie and Zhu Hao were fascined with their master¡¯s words. Realms beyond the Immortal Realm? Finding one¡¯s Dao? All of it seemed like the stuff of myths and legends to the young cultivators. ¡°Some of those paths are simple, focusing on a single attribute like ¡®speed¡¯ or ¡®power¡¯. Others may be complex such as ¡®Refining the moonlight into endless agony¡¯ and so on. Just like the number of Daos under the Heavens are limitless, so are the cultivation paths. Not many young cultivators know this but training in martial skills that align with your cultivation path will increase your cultivation speed.¡± He paused again, this time making sure he had his disciples¡¯ attention. ¡°The big question is, how do you know what the right cultivation path is? The answer is to feel. Feel your heart, your mind, and your soul. What do they tell you? Many cultivators are never able to perceive their cultivation path in their entire lives, leading to a suboptimal cultivation. But as my disciples I have faith that you two have the soul perception!¡± Astonishment filled their minds, the world of cultivation was far more profound than they could have ever imagined. ¡°I¡¯ll give you the length of 10 breaths to tell me your cultivation path. Trying to search for it any longer won¡¯t make a difference. It¡¯s not something that you can find just through effort.¡± Both of the cultivators immediately sat down and began meditating. Even before meditating, Li Jie had a pretty good idea of what his cultivation path would be. He thought back to his ancestor¡¯s request to burn the Heavens to the ground. At that time, the words resonated within him like no other words ever had before. Now he knew why. After 10 breaths passed, Li Jie stood back up, facing his master with determination. ¡°Oh ho? Looks like you found your path. Tell me my disciple, what is your cultivation path?¡± A small fire ignited in Li Jie¡¯s heart as he said, ¡°Master, my cultivation path is ¡®Upon blazing wings, burn the entire Heavens to the ground!¡¯¡± His heated words carried a profound might that shook Zhu Que¡¯s heart. He stared at his disciple for a few seconds before giving a deep nod, an unreadable expression in his eyes. He then turned to his other disciple who had slowly stood up after Li Jie. ¡°Well Zhu Hao? Have you found your path?¡± ----- A demon lingered in Zhu Hao¡¯s heart. It had planted its nasty claws into him during the outer court exam when he heard about the fight between Li Jie and Lily. It only worsened after seeing how brightly those two shined wherever they went. The demon¡¯s name was doubt. He doubted that he could keep up with his friends. He doubted that they would want to bother to associate with a weakling like him in the future. He doubted his own talent and the hard work he had put in so far. Over the past week, he deliberated on how to get rid of his demon, but never found any solution. After all, the gap between their talent and their ability to influence the world compared to his was simply overwhelming. But when he reached into the depths of his body, searching for his cultivation path, he found something. A blurry, white speck. He got closer to it. He could vaguely make out the small body of some white animal. Continuing onwards, he brought his spiritual sense right next to it. To his surprise, it was a cute white tiger cub, its eyes a meteoric silver. When he looked into those eyes, the small tiger cub roared ferociously. The roar that a tiger cub should not be able to make echoed endlessly throughout his body. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. The roar was mighty but that was not why it was unique. The true power of the roar was in its supremacy, as if the tiger knew he was the sovereign of the entire universe. Its tyranny would never lose to any other creature, even to the mighty dragon. Zhu Hao felt his mind being cleared of doubts. In just a short span of time, he understood many things. He understood that his friends would never leave him behind. He understood that he had to try his best to bridge the gap with pure effort. And most importantly, he understood his path. His eyes shot open and he slowly stood up. ----- ¡°Well Zhu Hao? Have you found your path?¡± ¡°I have, master. My cultivation path is... ¡®Domination¡¯.¡± His voice was the opposite of Li Jie¡¯s passionate declaration. It was cold and carried an enormous oppressive force. A slightly puzzled expression appeared on their master¡¯s face. When he looked at Zhu Hao¡¯s silver hair again, suddenly his eyes flickered, as if he had just realized something important. He expression changed into a smile and he nodded, then patting both his disciples on the shoulder. ¡°Good, good! I knew my disciples wouldn¡¯t fail me. I will be back in a few days with some techniques to study. Don¡¯t bother with that Crescent Moon Treasure Pavilion. It¡¯s full of trash skills anyway.¡± He vanished through the air like always, leaving the two friends behind. Both of them laid out their cultivation path for the other to see. One might even say that they now knew each other better than parents knew their child. Understanding this, they simply looked at each and gave a single nod. A nod which held profound feelings that were impossible to describe. ----- Despite the three friends only being outer court disciples, they still had access to some of the sect¡¯s facilities and resources. One of the major buildings was the Crescent Moon Treasure Pavilion. It housed thousands of martial skills for the disciples to learn. In addition, it was the location of the armory where every single inner court disciple was allowed to choose a single weapon to keep. In regards to the martial skills, the first floor of the Pavilion was open to outer court disciples and held up to rank 3 skills. The second floor required a cultivator to be an inner court disciple and held up to rank 4 skills. The Pavilion seemed to have a third floor as well, but it was only open to core disciples and elders. None of the outer or inner disciples knew exactly what was up there. Just because a martial skill was readily available, however, didn¡¯t mean that a disciple could learn it. Rank 1 martial skills could be used proficiently after a day of practice and rank 2 martial skills would take a week at most. But the difficulty kept increasing exponentially as the rank increased, not to mention that some martial abilities, regardless of rank, were inherently difficult to learn. Other than the Pavilion, disciples could access one of the many cultivator towers and training fields throughout the sect. The towers increased the density of world qi, increasing cultivation speed. The inner and core disciples, of course, received the best towers. Likewise, the training fields, which could simulate various fights with magical formation-powered dummies, increased in quality the higher the disciple¡¯s ranking. Li Jie, Lily, and Zhu Hao had spent the past week relaxing and touring their new home. They were now seated at one of the many restaurants, paid for by the sect, eating lunch. ¡°Say Lily, I never got to ask you about your family.¡± Said Li Jie, after swallowing a bite of his pork bun. ¡°Oh yeah, that¡¯s right. You two idiots probably already forgot but my family¡¯s name is Yao. I¡¯m the heiress to the Yao Clan.¡± Lily boasted, putting an emphasis on ¡°the¡± while puffing out her chest with pride. ¡°As in, the richest clan in the entire empire? That Yao Clan?¡± Zhu Hao managed to sputter out, almost choking on the water he was drinking. She grinned, ¡°Yup that¡¯s right! Praise me!¡± ¡°Wait, then why are you at the Soaring Flame Sect?¡± ¡°Well you know, Huo City is arguably the most important city in the empire. Ever since the original royal capital was lost a long time ago, all the emperors have refused to declare a new capital as symbolic gesture that one day they will reclaim the capital. Thus Huo City eventually became the de facto capital of the empire. I mean, the imperial family even lives here.¡± She took a gulp of water and continued, ¡°And this sect is one of the major sects in the city. Doesn¡¯t that make it actually a top-tier choice for anyone?¡± Li Jie thought that her words held merit. Both him and Zhu Hao knew only a little about the politics and geography of the world since they were both of the poor class. But the incredible wealth of the Yao Clan was part of that knowledge. ¡°What about you two? As the boss, it¡¯s my responsibility to know about my underlings.¡± Li Jie gave an empty smile, ¡°Nothing special here, just a poor kid who grew up with my mother.¡± But Zhu Hao, who now radiated confidence after discovering his path, dropped a bomb on them by saying, ¡°I¡¯m actually an orphan. My current family were the ones who found me in the wreckage of a raided caravan. From what I heard, it seems that my original parents were killed by bandits.¡± ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry to hear that...¡± Lily said, her heart full of regret for bringing the topic up. ¡°No need for that! I¡¯m happy with my life as it is and my family has never treated me wrong. Plus we all get to live in the sect now so everyone¡¯s happy!¡± The three wrapped up their meal and prepared to go to class. Lectures were completely optional and most cultivators chose to take advantage of this rule. The vast majority of them had come from noble or merchant backgrounds, thus they already had the education the sect provided. They preferred to spend their time relaxing or cultivating. Li Jie wondered why Lily, who had obviously received an elite education, was following them as well, but decided not to ask her in case she turned violent to cover up her embarrassment. He could swear that her punches got stronger each day. Chapter 11 Chapter 11 Ideally, Li Jie and Zhu Hao would have asked their master to teach them the basic knowledge about their world, but he was busy catching up on the backlog of tasks that had piled up in his long absence. Thus the two found themselves sitting in the back row of a regular classroom along with Lily. Although classes were completely optional, quite a few cultivators chose to attend. Except a certain heiress to a rich clan, all of them were lower class cultivators who had been lucky enough to be born with enough talent to join the sect. Ever since the three entered the classroom, people started whispering and glancing back at them. ¡°Red hair and blue eyes! Do you think that¡¯s him?¡± ¡°I think so, and there¡¯s also that silver haired guy with him.¡± ¡°Who¡¯s that girl next to them? She¡¯s actually kinda cute.¡± ¡°I heard she¡¯s the heiress to the Yao Clan. I can¡¯t believe those two are friends with her. She¡¯s got a lot of muscle for a girl though.¡± Lily, who clearly heard this last statement, felt a vein popping in her head out of anger but refrained from beating the living crap out of the guy who said it. Li Jie saw that she restrained herself and bitterly asked her, ¡°How come you don¡¯t beat up others when they make you angry? Why is it just me?!¡± His foot was promptly smashed by Lily¡¯s foot that descended with the weight of a sledgehammer. Li Jie fell out of his chair clutching his throbbing foot causing the entire class to stare at the three of them. Zhu Hao was just leaning back in his chair, whistling as if he nothing to do with it. Despite being the least talented among the three, he already had his own fanclub in the outer court. His silver hair and long bangs, along with his tall, lean build and messy hair gave him the ultimate bad boy look. His popularity with females in the outer court could be ranked in the top 10 among the tens of thousands of cultivators. Lily had a slightly regretful look on her face, as if she thought she went too far. Noticing all the stares directed towards her, her face turned slightly red as she looked down into her desk. She wasn¡¯t bad looking by any means, her soft, short orange hair gave her a distinct look. Her facial features fit the standard of beautiful. Thin arching eyebrows with a perfectly proportioned oval face, she was the kind of girl who didn¡¯t dazzle at first but became gorgeous the more you looked at her. Not to mention she was still hadn¡¯t displayed her full beauty since she was still maturing. She amazed the entire sect with her talent and her use of the Yao Clan Sword Arts. Techniques that could allow a Nascent Realm cultivator to materialize qi into something like a sword were few and rare under the Heavens. Li Jie, still rolling around on the floor on his back in pain, truthfully looked like the stupidest among the three. His fiery red hair and sky blue eyes stuck out like a sore thumb anywhere he went, and he often was seen getting beaten up by Lily for saying silly things. Many knew of his talent, but since he had lost to Lily, they assumed Lily was the boss of the gang. He finally climbed back into his chair muttering to himself, ¡°I didn¡¯t even insult you that time and you still hit me...¡±¡¯ All this time, Zhu Hao was trying his best not to laugh. But it was all for naught since one cultivator broke out into laughter and then another, followed by another. They had heard what Li Jie said to Lily and saw Lily pulverizing Li Jie¡¯s foot. To them, that simple interaction made them realize that the three were just normal teenagers like themselves. The mood immediately lightened up as everyone began introducing themselves to each other and chatting a bit. Excluding Lily, since they were all lower class cultivators, they already subconsciously felt at ease with each other. As the middle-aged female teacher walked into the room, everyone returned to their seats and quieted down. ----- Less than five minutes into the class, Lily had her face flat on her desk, drool coming out of the side of her mouth. Even Li Jie didn¡¯t expect her to fall asleep that fast. The teacher noticed Lily sleeping but ignored her and continued with the lecture. ¡°There are currently six known cultivation realms. Going from lowest to highest is: Nascent, Flowering, Forging, Refining, Immortal, and Exalted.¡± She paused for a second to adjust her glasses, ¡°There are no special traits of the Nascent Realm, it is simply the beginning of one¡¯s cultivation. Ding Bai, can you tell me what the special trait of the Flowering Realm is?¡± A bald young man who looked like a monk responded, ¡°With a few rare exceptions, the Flowering Realm is the first realm where cultivators can materialize their qi at will.¡± ¡°Correct. This is why we call it the ¡®Flowering¡¯ Realm. Just like how a flower blossoms and unveils itself to the world, your qi will be able to materialize into a myriad of forms. The vast majority of cultivators get stuck in this realm, but for talented ones like yourselves, it is but a stepping stone. ¡°Next is the Forging Realm. In order to enter this realm, one must forge their soul in a way such that they can directly tap into the natural energy of the Heavens. This Heavenly Soul will hopefully one day become an Immortal Soul. Once you forge your Heavenly Soul and enter the Forging Realm, you gain the ability to fly in the air without the use of any special martial skills. ¡°After forging the soul, one must refine it. This is the Refining Realm. Your understanding of nature and of the Heavens¡¯ ¡®way¡¯ must be immense otherwise you will be unable to refine your soul. However quite a few people who make it into the Forging Realm also make it into the Refining Realm. The biggest problem is entering the Immortal Realm.¡± She stopped to let her gaze sweep over all her students. They stared back at her, listening with rapt attention. The words ¡°Immortal Realm¡± had been enough to light a fire in their hearts. ¡°Li Jie, can you take a guess as to how many Immortal Realm cultivators there are in the city--no, in the entire empire?¡± Li Jie, taking a completely random guess, said, ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe 100?¡± ¡°Zero. There has not been a single Immortal Realm cultivator for the past few centuries. Of course there¡¯s always the possibility of some hidden cultivators who are unimaginably strong, but it¡¯s highly unlikely. The reason why the Immortal Realm is so difficult to reach is because of the Immortal Soul. At the peak of the Refining Realm, a cultivator has a completely refined Heavenly Soul. However he must turn this into an Immortal Soul, an utterly different existence. ¡°What does it mean to be immortal? All cultivators in our era can only dream of it. Perhaps it is because our inevitable deaths have been so strongly imprinted on our souls that we can no longer figure out how to transcend death itself.¡± She seemed to be thinking about something before shaking her head and concluding the lecture. ¡°The realm above that is only mentioned in ancient records. The Exalted Realm. Not much else is stated about it other than the fact that it had something to with Dao, a concept that will not be taught in the outer court. Many have attempted to research further into the matter but there simply was not enough information. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Ahh one last thing before I dismiss class. Let me quickly explain martial skills. Martial skills are ranked from 1 through 6, 6 being the strongest. The ranks are determined by the overall strength of the skill if used at an average level. There are, however, exceptions. Rank 5 and 6 skills are so rare and difficult to utilize, thus those ranks, especially rank 6, are not absolute measures of power. Also there are skills that can jump ranks depending on how they are used, such as our sect¡¯s rank 2 Detonate Accel which can approach a rank 5 skill if mastered. Okay that¡¯s all for today, dismissed!¡± ----- The three friends walked out of class, Lily still half-asleep dragging her feet along the ground. ¡°Hey, want to check out the arena?¡± Zhu Hao suddenly suggested, ¡°I want to try out some of the new skills master gave me.¡± ¡°You already learned them? Master only gave them to us yesterday! I¡¯ve only managed to learn one of them!¡± ¡°Yeah I don¡¯t really know why? It¡¯s just that... It felt like the abilities kinda belonged to me in the first place, y¡¯know what I mean? It¡¯s hard to explain... But it was crazy. All the scrolls of the skills had this qi that felt like it belonged to me the whole time...¡± Li Jie who had some experience with innate skills like his Phantom Blazing Step, nodded in understanding. He still, however, wondered just what kinds of skills master gave Zhu Hao. He grabbed the sleepy Lily¡¯s hand and pulled her along, following Zhu Hao to the arena. The arena actually comprised many different stages. The main and largest one situated itself in the side of a hill, thousands of stone seats carved from the hill itself oversaw the grand amphitheatre-like stage. Only during important functions like major tournaments did the sect use this stage. Off to the side, many similar stone arenas jutted from the ground, each labeled by one of three different colored banners. The majority of the arenas were sparring stages where the first one to get hit lost. There were some combat stages where everything was allowed except permanently injuring or killing your opponent. And finally, marked by an ominous black banner, a single stage where death duels took place. It was designed for cultivators who had a blood feud with another or simply crazy cultivators who wished to gain strength by straddling the line between life and death. Of course, it was empty at the moment. From one of the combat stages, they heard a beastial roar and saw a bloodied body fly through the air and crash into the ground outside the arena. Medical staff, who were always on standby in the arena, went over and carried the unconscious cultivator toward the medical ward. ¡°DOES ANYONE DARE CHALLENGE THE GREAT JIAN NIU?¡± A young man with a body resembling an ox threw out a challenge to all that could hear him. His eyes were bloodshot and his clothes covered in blood, none of it his own. ¡°That¡¯s Jian Niu! I¡¯ve heard that every opponent that faces him ends up in the medical ward!¡± ¡°Yeah I heard that he tries to injure them as much as he can without breaking the rules. And he¡¯s at the 6th level of the Nascent Realm!¡± People whispered excitedly each other, looking to see if anyone would take up the challenge. But they didn¡¯t have to wait long. Zhu Hao leapt onto the stage. He lowered his body into a fighting stance and beckoned with his palm, uttering only one word, ¡°Come.¡± Jian Niu stared hungrily at his new prey, but a brief look of surprise appeared on his face. ¡°Ehh?¡± He said, probing Zhu Hao¡¯s cultivation base with his spiritual sense, ¡°A brat of the 4th level wants to challenge me?¡± It should be known that defeating cultivators at a higher cultivation level was rare in this world, much less cultivators two levels higher. After all, each level represented a noticeable difference in power, speed, and amount of qi. The difference was not as pronounced in the Nascent Realm as it was in other realms, but it still should be an impossible fight for Zhu Hao to win. A relatively large audience had formed by now, looking at Zhu Hao with pity in their eyes. For them, it looked like he was just a new disciple who didn¡¯t understand how the world worked. Some recognized his identity and thought that it was a shame that someone with his talent was about to be beaten down brutally. Seeing that Zhu Hao hadn¡¯t responded and was only staring back at him, Jian Niu bellowed, ¡°Fine! Don¡¯t blame me if you lose a limb or two!¡± He pushed off the ground and dashed forward to crush Zhu Hao. The silver haired cultivator responded by closing his eyes. After less than a second, he reopened them and to everyone¡¯s surprise, his pale yellow eyes had turned into a resplendent pair of yellow suns. He roared, ¡°Heaven¡¯s Edict: Eternal Throne!¡± Parallel to his imposing roar, the onlookers heard the roar of a tiger intertwining with Zhu Hao¡¯s powerful words. Tens of meters above him, the faint shape of an intricate throne began to take shape. It was massive, nearly 10 meters wide and dozens of meters tall. Some of the more observant cultivators could make out ferocious patterns of tigers engraved all over the illusory throne. From the throne, a white light shined onto Zhu Hao, gathering into milky white qi that surrounded Zhu Hao¡¯s entire body, sticking to him like a second skin. Fear initially filled Jian Niu¡¯s eyes, but he convinced himself that all of this was an illusion. Normally he would have been right, but he had the misfortune of facing Zhu Hao as his opponent. By now, the two were in range to fight. Jian Niu brought both of his arms down to perform a tyrannical overhand smash, forcing Zhu Hao to block. *BAM* The attack sent a shockwave throughout the arena, leaving deep gashes into in the stone arena. Amazingly Jian Niu was forced to take three steps backwards. But Zhu Hao had been forced to take 10 steps backwards and had blood leaking from his mouth. ¡®Dammit, is this still not enough to beat him?¡¯ He thought, spitting out some blood. His opponent grinned at seeing Zhu Hao¡¯s condition. It was already surprising that a 4th level cultivator could take a single full power blow from a 6th level cultivator. He decided to end the fight quickly; his instincts told him that Zhu Hao was dangerous. Despite possessing the strength of a mouse compared to Jian Niu, the wounded cultivator¡¯s domineering aura was more reminiscent of a tiger. Jian Niu gathered fists in his qi for the killing blow while Zhu Hao silently watched. ¡°You probably won¡¯t die from this, but you sure as hell won¡¯t be getting out of bed for the next few weeks! Have a taste of my Thunder God¡¯s Clap!¡± He brought his hands together and created a deafening boom. Multiple layers of shock waves propagated from his fists directly toward Zhu Hao. Each one of the waves felt powerful enough to pulverize a man-sized boulder into dust. Li Jie remained sitting down throughout the entire fight. It wasn¡¯t because he was calm due to his confidence in Zhu Hao. He was quite worried about his friend. Rather, it was because of the orange haired girl using his lap as a pillow, drooling all over his robes. A smile occasionally appeared on her face, as if she were having a nice dream. ¡®At least this idiot¡¯s enjoying the fight.¡¯ He sighed, returning his attention to the fight where the decisive exchange was about to take place. Chapter 12 Chapter 12 The entire crowd collectively held their breaths, awaiting Zhu Hao¡¯s demise. But the man himself defied everyone¡¯s expectations. Before the mighty shockwaves could demolish him, he lifted his arm and pointed toward Jian Niu with a single finger. When he opened his mouth to speak, the space around the arena seemed to warp in a perplexing way. The best way to describe it would be that the air inexplicably was awaiting a command from a ruler. ¡°Heaven¡¯s Edict: Precepts of the Sovereign!¡± Shivers ran down everyone¡¯s spine. It felt as if those words could stop time itself. An elaborate tiger mask carved from ebony appeared floating above the throne¡¯s seat. It had no holes for eyes or a mouth, instead the eyes were painted a vibrant yellow that made the mask look as if it were alive. A savage set of white teeth took the place of a mouth hole. The mask abruptly turned downwards to face the Thunder God¡¯s Clap that Jian Niu launched. Once its gaze firmly locked onto the approaching attack, Zhu Hao proclaimed, ¡°Precept of Subjugation... Scatter.¡± With a wave of his arm, an overbearing force descended from the Heavens and compelled the shock waves to disperse. A stunned silence filled the arena, not only because no one knew what to say, but also because Zhu Hao¡¯s oppressive aura had grown to unimaginable levels. His face immediately turned pale from exhaustion and his body almost fell to the ground, but refocusing on his opponent, Zhu Hao began slowly staggering over to the confused Jian Niu. After a couple of seconds, Jian Niu regained his senses and tried to attack again with Thunder God¡¯s Clap. But Zhu Hao was ready this time. ¡°Trying that again?¡± He scoffed, ¡°Precept of Subjugation... Kneel.¡± The same tyrannical force descended from the Heavens directly onto Jian Niu. He found himself unable to stand and was forced to kneel with both knees to the ground. Some of the weaker audience members also uncontrollably fell to the ground, kneeling, even though they weren¡¯t the targets of Zhu Hao¡¯s ability. It was truly a peerless martial skill. However, Zhu Hao looked even paler than before after using Precept of Subjugation. He felt blood filling his throat, but forced it down, continuing to slowly walk up to Jian Niu. Again everyone held their breaths in anticipation, but this time they were awaiting Jian Niu¡¯s inevitable loss rather than Zhu Hao¡¯s. Once Zhu Hao arrived within arm¡¯s length of Jian Niu, he looked at the ox-like man like he would a puny bug. Jian Niu stared back at him, but all that his eyes displayed was fear. He had already emptied his bladder in terror. He wanted to beg for mercy, but to his horror, he found that he could not even muster up the courage to move his mouth. Zhu Hao¡¯s right arm pulled back, along with his right leg to give him balance. Milky white qi condensed onto his fist, forming into the head of a tiger. Its shape was hazy, but one could make out the ferocious fangs bared at Jian Niu. ¡°Jian Niu, I heard you really like to hurt your opponents? What a coincidence. So do I.¡± He put all of his power into a final brutal punch that smashed soundly into Jian Niu¡¯s face. It immediately shattered his nose and propelled his body through the air at an incredibly high velocity. With a trail of his own blood following him through the air, he looked just like the cultivator that he had beaten up a few minutes ago. Jian Niu¡¯s body landed with a thud outside of the arena. Even the medical staff took a few seconds to stare in amazement at Zhu Hao¡¯s use of profound martial skills. Regaining their senses, they then dutifully performed their job and brought the injured Jian Niu away. The colossal, illusory throne and the tiger mask faded into nothingness as Zhu Hao stumbled off the stage and slowly made his way over to Li Jie. The crowd parted in front of him, partially out of respect and partially out of fear. A big smile was plastered on his face. He weakly struck a victory pose much to Li Jie¡¯s astonishment and embarrassment. ¡°Pretty cool, huh?¡± He said, plopping his tired body down right next to Li Jie. ¡°Wow, the skills master gave you were far better than mine... What rank were they?¡± Zhu Hao scratched his head and said with some hesitation, ¡°Well they weren¡¯t really labeled with any rank at all. And the scroll was written in mysterious runes that I couldn¡¯t even read. As soon as I read the scrolls, they just disappeared into my body, and I felt like I understood the contents as if I had written them myself.¡± ¡°So what other skills did you receive? Don¡¯t tell me you can go back in time or something?¡± ¡°Haha, no nothing like that... probably... Anyway let¡¯s head back befor--¡± Cutting him off was another man, similar to an ox, that had leapt onto the stage. He bore a significant resemblance to the defeated Jian Niu. His angry voice bellowed, ¡°Who dared to harm my brother? I, Jian Kang, shall show you the true meaning of pain!¡± He had rushed over to this arena from a nearby one after hearing the news that his little brother had been heavily injured. Everyone present, some consciously and others unconsciously, turned their heads to look at the three infamous friends sitting near the edge of the crowd. Jian Kang, noticing the direction in which they were looking, boldly jumped from the stage and landed with a heavy thud right in front of Li Jie. He immediately circulated his cultivation and used it to emit an oppressive aura. ¡®Ugh, he¡¯s at the 7th level,¡¯ Li Jie thought after sensing the aura, ¡®I really don¡¯t want to bother with this guy.¡¯ He racked his brain, searching for a way to get out of this situation. Ultimately, he decided to play his master¡¯s favored ¡°Shameless¡± card. ¡°Shameless! A 7th level cultivator picking on a little boy like me?¡± He asked with indignance. Lily, who had been woken up by Jian Kang landing right in front of them, groggily shot up from Li Jie¡¯s lap and mimicked him while yawning, ¡°Yeah, shameless!¡± She had absolutely no idea as to what was going on, but it didn¡¯t look good to her. A wounded Zhu Hao and an angry looking cultivator of the 7th level--she sorely wished she could get back to her nice dreams of chasing yummy meat buns around an idyllic green pasture. But for Lily, if her friends were in trouble, she would not hesitate to fight for them, no matter who the opponents were. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Jian Kang looked at the girl who had literally been drooling in Li Jie¡¯s lap dreaming about chasing meat buns. He had no clue if she was being serious or not. But either way, after he found out that the people he wanted to get revenge upon for injuring his brother were only 4th level cultivators, he began to hesitate. If he were to challenge a cultivator a whole three levels below him and win, no one would give him any credit. Rather, people would consider him to be a pathetic bully who picked on those even weaker. And if in the small chance that he lost, his name would become the joke of the entire sect. Murmurs spread throughout the crowd, many of them agreeing with what Li Jie had said. Zhu Hao had defeated Jian Niu fairly in a fight, and now this 7th level brother of his wanted to take revenge? They could only describe it as disgraceful. Seeing the crowd quickly turn against him, Jian Kang spit to the side with contempt and said, ¡°I¡¯ll let you go today, consider yourselves lucky.¡± They didn¡¯t need to be told twice. Although Li Jie himself wasn¡¯t exactly scared, he knew that even if he used all of his trump cards, it would still be a difficult fight for him. Jian Kang stood still with hatred burning in his eyes, regretfully watching his targets walked away. ----- As soon they got back to Li Jie¡¯s room, they all slumped down to the floor, breathing a huge sigh of relief. Zhu Hao suddenly broke into unrestrained laughter. ¡°Hahaha, no matter where we go, we always cause some sort of trouble, don¡¯t we?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Lily replied, giving a ¡°V¡± sign with her fingers and grinning. Li Jie just looked at them incredulously and shook his head at Lily, ¡®Why are you doing a victory pose? You were sleeping the whole time!¡¯ He thought that Jian Kang would have definitely attacked them on the way back if there hadn¡¯t been so many witnesses around. The threat of a 7th level cultivator filled his mind, keeping him tense. ¡°Lily, can you tell your family to hire some bodyguards or something to take of that guy? I get the feeling that this incident won''t just end like that.¡± ¡°Umm well, the sect has a policy against any outside interference from the disciple¡¯s families. My clan is one of the few in this city strong enough to violate that rule, but I don¡¯t think my mama would be very happy with that.¡± She shuddered when she mentioned ¡°mama¡±, as if she had been talking about a malevolent demon. ¡°I see. And we can¡¯t contact master since he seems to be really busy recently... I guess our only option is to get stronger as quick as possible.¡± Li Jie was already more than halfway to breaking through to the 5th level due to the red pearl of qi in his dantian. Lily had her own secret clan cultivation method that seemed to involve shaping the dantian into a sword itself. It was extremely profound and by far the fastest cultivation method Li Jie had ever seen before. Furthermore, among the unique martial arts that Zhu Hao received, there had also been a technique that forced the world¡¯s qi to assimilate into his body at a rapid pace, accelerating his cultivation. Just like every other skill that his master gave him, it gave the feeling of belonging to him from the very beginning. Thus he was able to master it instantly. Being good friends now, all three of them shared most of the information on their special traits and abilities with each other. Li Jie, however, held back on mentioning the existence of his crest and ancestor¡¯s soul fragment. ¡°You know,¡± Lily said, pulling out a still-warm pork bun from her spatial ring and munching on it, ¡°I feeff ash if weef--¡± Zhu Hao lightly chopped her head, ¡°Finish your food before you speak dammit!¡± ¡°Thawee,¡± She said, gulping down her food, ¡°Anyway what I was trying to say was that it kinda feels like we¡¯re tied together by fate y¡¯know? I mean, all three of us are pretty strong, actually like super strong. You guys may not know this, but I¡¯m already considered to be a once in a decade talent!¡± ¡°Fate? What kind of silly idea is that?¡± Zhu Hao replied offhandedly and was about to continue criticizing the idea when he saw Li Jie, pondering something. ¡°Li Jie? Don¡¯t tell me you believe her?¡± ¡°Well maybe? I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s just that I feel like there¡¯s some real truth to what Lily said... It¡¯s not something rational but rather something coming from deeper within me...¡± By now, Lily had returned to contentedly eating her pork bun, ignoring the other two completely. Getting close to Li Jie, Zhu Hao quickly glanced at her before lowering his voice. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re going to take that,¡± pointing to a certain girl munching happily as if she didn¡¯t have a care in the world, ¡°seriously?¡± Li Jie didn¡¯t answer his question, instead a mischievous grin appeared on his face. He waved at Lily to get her attention. ¡°Hey Lily, guess what this guy just said?¡± But before he could finish, a panicked Zhu Hao tackled Li Jie to the ground and tried to stop him from saying anything more. Lily tilted her head at the two in confusion, before ignoring them again and going back to her nibbling. Seeing her actions, both Li Jie and Zhu Hao had similar thoughts pop up in their heads: ¡®Is she a rabbit?¡¯ ¡®When did we get a rabbit as a pet...¡¯ ----- After resting for a bit longer, the three separated to take advantage of the sect¡¯s resources. Zhu Hao and Lily went to the towers to cultivate while Li Jie decided to take a look at the library. Like an ominous specter, his mother¡¯s hopeless condition hovered in the back of his mind at all times. He wanted to study alchemy in the hopes of procuring some sort of cure, or at least finding some medicine that could stall for time. But on his way to the library, a streak of light descended from the sky like a meteor, abruptly decelerating right in front of Li Jie. He saw outer court elder robes fluttering wildly in the burst of the wind the ¡°meteor¡± had generated. A familiar scarred face gazed at Li Jie with a slight look of interest. ¡°The library, is it?¡± The elder asked as he wrapped his aura around Li Jie. Li Jie didn¡¯t even have time to respond or ask why the elder knew as he suddenly felt the ground disappear before him. Last time he thankfully passed out from over exhaustion, but now all he could do was pray that the elder didn¡¯t drop him as they sped toward the library. Chapter 13 Chapter 13 After flying for a few scant minutes, the elder released the nauseated Li Jie who gratefully fell to the ground. ¡°Get up boy. You¡¯ll have to get used to flying, after all someone like you will be doing it in no time.¡± Li Jie took a few deep breaths and regained some color in his complexion. He stood up and asked the elder, ¡°Elder, may I ask why you carried me to the library?¡± ¡°Weren¡¯t you on the way to the library?¡± He asked as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Li Jie was stunned. Sure he was on the way to the library, but this old man had basically abducted him and took him on a wild ride. He wasn¡¯t sure how the elder even knew that he was going to the library in the first place. ¡°Li Jie thanks elder,¡± giving a cultivator¡¯s bow, ¡°then I shall be on my way...¡± ¡°Not so fast kid, you want to learn alchemy don¡¯t you?¡± Hearing this, Li Jie¡¯s attention focused back onto the elder. That¡¯s when he noticed that they weren¡¯t at the library, but rather standing in front of the entrance to a decently sized cave. Li Jie had been so disoriented from flying that he didn¡¯t even realize it until now. The elder saw Li Jie¡¯s look of confusion and explained, ¡°This is a cave specially designed for use by alchemists. The surroundings are protected by a strong illusion formation that even Refining Realm cultivators would have a difficult time breaking. Numerous medicinal plants can be found growing within the cave. Of course, the cave itself is special, a large natural vein of world qi runs through it, nourishing the plants and making them grow faster. This is truly a heavenly treasure!¡± His eyes turned slightly gentle as he fondly gazed at the cave, ¡°I spent quite the number of years here trying to perfect my skills.¡± ¡°Elder is an alchemist?!¡± Li Jie asked in surprise. From his preliminary research, he had discovered that no more than 100 alchemists lived within the Immortal Tiger Empire. Thus meeting one was both rare and a great honor. ¡°It was just a hobby,¡± he said, trying to brush it off, ¡°Anyway, stop it with the ¡®elder¡¯. You can just call me... hmm... how about grandpa?¡± Li Jie had hesitation written all over his face, but this elder clearly would not accept ¡°no¡± as an answer. In any case, this grandpa of his was actually one of the legendary alchemists. He could wish for no greater assistance in finding a cure for his mother. ¡°Okay... grandpa...¡± Grandpa let out a rare chuckle, ¡°Haha, good! Well then, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve already figured it out but I brought you to this location to teach you alchemy!¡± He waved his hand and a bronze cauldron engraved in intricate golden runes appeared. He briskly strode into the cave while carrying the cauldron with Li Jie following behind. The elder began explaining the basics of alchemy while they walked. ¡°Alchemy is just as sophisticated as the world of cultivation. For the most part, there are only three requirements: strong control over qi, an attribute of qi that is suitable for refining, and a high enough cultivation level depending on what you are trying to create.¡± He stopped a few hundred meters away from the cave entrance and placed the cauldron on the floor. ¡°This is a pill furnace. You must channel your qi through it and refine the ingredients placed inside. Then you must synthesize the refined ingredients into some form, normally a pill.¡± He motioned for Li Jie to step closer. ¡°Okay place your hands on the furnace. There¡¯s no substitute for hands on experience so let¡¯s try crafting a low level pill. Let¡¯s see... how about an Ascending Dragon Pill?¡± ¡°Wow that sounds awesome. Will I actually be able to craft that pill? What does it do?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve watched you for a while now boy, you¡¯ve definitely got the qi attribute and cultivation level for this task. I¡¯m quite sure you have the control as well. As for what the pill does... well let¡¯s just say it''s for men who can¡¯t please their lady friends and old decrepit men like me, heh...¡± Li Jie had wasn¡¯t quite sure as to what he meant but put it aside for now. ¡°What do I do now grandpa?¡± ¡°First let¡¯s test your control over qi. Place your hands on the furnace and imagine creating a fire within. Try manipulating the fire in various ways: make it bigger, make it smaller, rapidly change the heat, slowly change the heat, and so on.¡± Li Jie followed the grandpa¡¯s instructions, placing his hands on the cauldron. As soon as he imagined creating a fire inside the cauldron, a crimson red flame appeared in the pill furnace. He did exactly as the grandpa said, manipulating the fire in all sorts of ways, letting it mesmerizingly dance across the cauldron. The elder opened his eyes wide in amazement. ¡®My god, I¡¯ve never seen talent in qi manipulation like this! It already far surpasses my level. This level of alchemy could change our entire country¡¯s fortunes. Perhaps with his help we¡¯ll be able to create dozens of Immortal Realm cultivators through cultivation pills! Furthermore, what¡¯s with that flame color? I¡¯ve never seen it before.¡¯ His breath grew more and more ragged thinking about the divine treasure sitting right in front of him. He shook his head to get rid of those thoughts and continue with the actual alchemy practice. His face returned to normal. ¡°How did I do grandpa?¡± ¡°Hmm? Well, I guess you could say not bad... Anyway, let¡¯s move onto the actual creation of pills. There are millions of plants out there that can be combined in an infinite number of ways. However, the vast majority of those will result in nothing but waste. Alchemists, of course, know the common formulas for many pills. In this case, I shall provide the plants, but you must remember them in the future!¡± From his spatial ring, he pulled out some Brown-spotted Lotus petals, decade-old Mugwort, and the core of a Nascent Realm earth-type magic beast. All of them were placed into the pill furnace. ¡°Figuring out the right temperature and intensity to use in order to refine these ingredients takes practice and skill. I¡¯ve prepared many sets of ingredients for you to use. Also as an extra challenge, I want you to try refining all three at the same time. It¡¯ll require an exponentially larger amount of focus and control from you.¡± Li Jie gladly accepted the challenge, excited to begin a new stage of his life as an alchemist. The elder also eagerly awaited Li Jie¡¯s attempt at crafting a pill. He wished to see what incredible talent this youngster possessed. Mentally preparing himself, Li Jie channeled his qi into the pill furnace. This was the beginning of it all. Centuries later, alchemists would talk about Li Jie¡¯s unbelievable achievements in advancing the world of alchemy. He would shake the world with his alchemical prowess. Here¡¯s where the story all began... or so the elder thought. As soon as Li Jie¡¯s flames touched the ingredients, he suddenly felt another entity take over his own flames. They went berserk, burning all the ingredients into nothingness in the blink of an eye, before abruptly returning back to normal. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. A mixture of feelings bubbled up in the elder¡¯s heart, but shock was the main one. ¡®His flame just incinerated a monster core into nothing! There¡¯s no way that¡¯s even possible, no alchemist can produce flames profound enough to even scratch the core. All we can do is refine its essence...¡¯ Li Jie only felt disappointment in himself, not understanding what he had just done. He looked at grandpa, expecting another set of ingredients to appear. But in return, all he received was horrible news. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I was wrong. Boy, give up alchemy. Your flame is completely incompatible with the way of alchemy.¡± ¡°Grandpa, please let me try again!¡± Li Jie pleaded desperately, ¡°I just didn¡¯t control the temperature right!¡± ¡°No, you don¡¯t understand. It¡¯s not a matter of heat or intensity. Your flames operate on a wholly different level! It didn¡¯t look like they affected physical objects, but rather, your fires incinerated the existence of the objects themselves!¡± Li Jie sat down, completely shocked and angry at himself. He had pinned so much of his hopes on becoming an alchemist and now he was being told that his innate flames were utterly incompatible with alchemy. ¡°Don¡¯t be so down boy,¡± the elder said while stroking his beard, ¡°You may not be able to do alchemy, but I have a feeling this flame can be put to even better use.¡± ¡°What do you mean, grandpa?¡± ¡°Who knows? That¡¯s something you¡¯ll have to find out yourself. But you are truly one interesting kid...¡± His voice trailed off as he suddenly remembered something important. ¡°That¡¯s right! I¡¯ve got something for you, I guess you could call it a present. Think of it as my gift to you for becoming my disciple.¡± Although Li Jie was interested in the present and becoming his disciple, he had to decline since he already had a master. ¡°My apologies grandpa, but I already have a master...¡± ¡°Bah! It¡¯s probably some third-rate cultivator who thinks he¡¯s so strong. I¡¯d wager my right arm that I can beat him with my pinky finger!¡± Li Jie awkwardly remained silent, unsure of what to say. ¡°Whatever, in any case, I will still bring the gift to you. We can settle this silly issue of masters later on!¡± With that, he waved his arm, once again wrapping Li Jie in his aura. He took off at high speed back towards the main sect grounds. In a few minutes, they reached the area where Li Jie had originally been abducted. The elder dropped him off and told him one last thing, ¡°Don¡¯t tell anyone about what happened today. I¡¯ll be coming by in the next few days. Farewell my disciple!¡± Li Jie just sighed as he watched the beam of light fly away from him. He wasn¡¯t sure how to tell his real master what just happened. Thinking about today¡¯s events, he wondered about the elder¡¯s true identity. It should be known that outer court elders are not held in high esteem within the sect. Nearly all of them were older cultivators who lacked talent, most of them stuck in the Flowering Realm for their entire lives. One could even say their standing was below that of inner court disciples. Yet this outer court elder clearly displayed a power of at least the Forging Realm, and considering his flying speed, likely even higher. In addition, he is an alchemist and possessed tremendous knowledge. Why was such a strong cultivator hanging out in the outer court? Lacking the information necessary to answer his questions, Li Jie set them aside and began walking to a cultivator tower. Despite all the events that had happened today, there was still quite a bit of time left before nightfall came. The main reason he wanted to cultivate was because the quick alchemy lesson had taught him something, and he wished to test out a theory involving the red qi pearl. He also simply wished to meditate to purge the frustration threatening to take over his mind. ----- Inside a private room on one of the many floors of the tower, Li Jie sat in meditation. His spiritual sense had already locked onto the pearl made up of ultra dense qi. Li Jie had utilized the dense qi to enhance his cultivation at a rapid pace, but instinctively he understood the pearl¡¯s true use was something entirely different. From the alchemy practice, he realized that his flame and the pearl had a similar nature to them, as if they came from the same source. Pursuing this connection, Li Jie wanted to try creating a refining flame within his dantian and using it on the pearl. He successfully managed to replicate the flame in his dantian following the same idea behind alchemy. Slowly manipulating the flame, he brought it closer to the pearl. The wisps of the crimson flames danced around the pearl. Suddenly, they surged toward the pearl, engulfing it in a storm of fire. In a short few seconds, the entire pearl had been consumed by the flames. Normally Li Jie would have panicked from losing the pearl at this point, however, a change was occurring within him. If was as if he had been blind his whole life, and all of a sudden he had gained the gift of vision. To those who have not experienced what Li Jie was experiencing now, it could only be described as an absolutely transcendental feeling. Li jie felt like he had a sixth sense that now could detect the natural laws of the world and how they affected reality. Of course, his untrained mind could not comprehend the data he obtained from his new sense, but he could still watch the laws at work. Unbeknownst to Li Jie, however, as soon as his dantian flames began consuming the pearl, a profound wave of energy propagated throughout the entire continent, originating from Li Jie himself. The enigmatic energy could not be detected by anyone, even those in the Immortal Realm. ----- Far away, a single man sat meditating atop a small hill, wild forests creating a lush green expanse that stretched endlessly below him. There was a small clearing near the hill that looked like any other normal forest clearing. But he knew a village of cultivators had hid themselves behind a magical formation in the clearing. This man was the chieftain of the hidden village. Suddenly, he felt a unique wave of energy coming from the north. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up straight as he recalled the last time felt this sensation. ¡°It¡¯s been nearly over 20,000 years since the last Dao Awakening,¡± he said, looking at the sky with a profound gaze, ¡°And he can¡¯t be over 20 years of age, what incredible talent.¡± He stood up, lightly brushing off his white robes. Emblazoned across his robe was a familiar flame dragon. ¡°We¡¯ve been waiting for so long yet we have received no word from the Patriarch''s descendent... perhaps it is time to lift the seal on the sect... This Awakening could be a sign of some sorts...¡± He began to stroll down the hill, returning to the hidden village. In the Celestial Jade Continent, a mighty sleeping dragon was about to wake from its slumber and thrust the world into conflict once again. Chapter 14 Chapter 14 Back at the Soaring Flame Sect, sweat poured down Li Jie¡¯s back in terror. This was because after spending a few minutes acclimating himself to the changes in his body from refining the pearl, he noticed that the world¡¯s qi was no longer accumulating in his body. Even worse, it seemed that all of the pearl had been used to awaken something in his body and none of it went to his actual cultivation. In other words, Li Jie could no longer cultivate to a higher level anymore. Uncertain as to what he should do, he took out a small jade talisman and sent some of his qi into it. Immediately it cracked in half and slowly began to turn into dust. In a secret location in the sect, Zhu Que sat meditating inside a magical formation, pouring energy from himself into the formation. Surrounding him, numerous aged cultivators wearing core elder robes stood in a mysterious arrangement, their qi enveloping Zhu Que who redirected it into the formation. With each passing minute, the magical formation became more luminous, until one of the elders collapsed from exhaustion. Taking this as a sign, everyone stopped the process and sat down to recover their strength. ¡°Hahaha, not bad. This time we managed to maintain the Burning Sky Invocation for over 10 minutes.¡± Zhu Que laughed, then looking at the elder who had collapsed, ¡°Little brother Ao, you¡¯ve been slacking off while I was gone, haven¡¯t you? Hahaha.¡± ¡°A thousand apologies Patriarch,¡± the elder said while bowing, ¡°It won¡¯t happen next time!¡± ¡°Well whatever. With this session, the defensive formations around the sect should last another 25 years or so. Anyway, this old man is off to attend to some important business.¡± Abruptly, Zhu Que disappeared, leaving the tired elders behind. ¡°He¡¯s always off doing as he pleases, that Patriarch...¡± One of them sighed. ¡°I wonder what he¡¯s so busy with these days? He seems a lot livelier than he was 14 years ago.¡± ¡°Probably uncovered some ancient stash of fine wine to make love to every night...¡± ----- Zhu Que, now speeding towards Li Jie¡¯s room at lightning speed, wondered why his disciple had contacted him. ¡®I gave him that communication jade to use only in emergencies, what could have happened?¡¯ He easily slipped through the window into the room and saw a meditating Li Jie. Noticing the anguish on his disciple¡¯s face, he began to worry. ¡°Oi, Li Jie, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Li Jie stopped meditating and looked at his master, tears almost beginning to form in his eyes. ¡°Master! I can¡¯t absorb it anymore...¡± ¡°What? What¡¯s ¡®it¡¯? Explain clearly!¡± ¡°The qi of the world, I can¡¯t absorb it at all!¡± This news hit Zhu Que with the force of a 10-ton boulder. If his disciple couldn¡¯t absorb qi anymore, that would essentially make him a cripple in the world of cultivation. ¡°What happened boy?! Tell me from the beginning!¡± ¡°Well it all began back when I discovered a dense pearl of qi inside my dantian a week ago...¡± Zhu Que nodded, he remembered how Li Jie offhandedly mentioned that he fell unconscious and absorbed some mysterious qi during the incident. ¡°I discovered that if I refined the qi from it using normal methods, I could cultivate at a speed nearly a thousand times faster than normal! But recently, an elder tried to teach me alchemy and in the process, I discovered that I had a unique flame. The flame was extremely similar in nature to the pearl so I thought I would try materializing the flame within my dantian to refine the pearl...¡± At this point, Li Jie stopped to let his master absorb everything he had just said. Astonishment clearly showed itself on Zhu Que¡¯s face along with a bit of anger. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me this earlier? Actually, nevermind. We¡¯ll deal with that later, for now continue your story.¡± ¡°Sorry master. Anyway, once I used the flames on the pearl, it rapidly consumed the pearl. I felt some sort of indescribable feeling, but it was kind of like I gained a new sense that could see how the world worked. It was right after this that I found out I could no longer absorb qi.¡± Zhu Que was absolutely stumped as he thought, ¡®Gained a new sense on how the world worked? What the hell does that mean and how does it relate to being cut off from the world¡¯s qi? In the first place, who the hell was this elder who taught my disciple something so irresponsible?¡¯ Anger quickly boiled up in him as he proclaimed, ¡°First things first, I¡¯m going to find this stupid elder and beat the crap out of him! Where is he, Li Jie? What did he look like?¡± Before Li Jie could answer, another presence unexpectedly appeared in the room, presumably using the window to get in as well. It was, of course, the old scarred elder that Zhu Que was just talking about. Many alarms were going off in Li Jie¡¯s head. ¡®Why did my stupid master have to say that just right now?! Grandpa definitely heard him and I know grandpa said he would beat up my master as well. Don¡¯t tell me those two are going to fight right now?¡¯ He gulped nervously as he accepted the fact that his room would probably be completely annihilated in the inevitable fight. As long as he could escape unscathed, he would consider it a success. ¡°Oh? Did you say you were going to beat me up?¡± The elder nonchalantly said, but his next two words completely defied Li Jie¡¯s expectations, ¡°Little Bird?¡± The anger on Zhu Que¡¯s face quickly turned to half respect and half fear. One of his knees dropped to the ground; with his head facing downwards, he clasped his hands together and held them up in a sign of respect. ¡°Zhu Que greets master!¡± Li Jie¡¯s jaw nearly dropped to the floor. ----- A minute later, the three were all seated on the floor, and the two adults were sharing a bottle of wine. Li Jie sat nervously, listening to the chat between master and disciple. ¡°Little Bird, it¡¯s been 14 years since we last saw each other... how could you not greet your master when you returned to the sect?¡± The elder said with a slight smile on his face. ¡°Hahaha, I thought you¡¯d be dead by now, master!¡± Zhu Que said, taking a swig of wine, ¡°You look the same as you did when I first became your disciple! How many decades ago was that...?¡± He began counting with his fingers, managing to reach 8, before his master interrupted him. ¡°Ahh nevermind that. I don¡¯t want to hear how old I am. I¡¯ll excuse the matter of you threatening to beat me up for now since we have a much bigger problem on our hands.¡± He looked over to the tense Li Jie. ¡°Well how about that boy? Turns out your master was my disciple, I guess that makes you my grand-disciple! Anyway I overheard what you said and while I don¡¯t know for sure what happened, I have an idea.¡± He took a sip of wine in order to gather his thoughts before continuing. ¡°Simply put, I believe you¡¯ve done something to offend the Heavens. And as a result, they have cut you off from the qi of the world.¡± Li Jie furrowed his brow in consternation. ¡°Grandpa, I can¡¯t imagine anything that I¡¯ve done would offend the Heavens... Unless it was refining that pearl?¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Hmm, I don¡¯t believe refining the pearl itself defied the Heavens. But rather the benefit, or perhaps curse, you received from the pearl violated the laws laid down by the Heavens.¡± Zhu Que interjected, ¡°What do you mean by that, master?¡± ¡°The new sense that Li Jie was talking about, I believe it may have to do something with a Dao.¡± As soon as he said ¡°Dao¡±, a mixture of feelings, primarily confusion and stupefaction, filled both Li Jie¡¯s and Zhu Que¡¯s faces. ¡°Dao? How could Li Jie possibly create a Dao? Isn¡¯t that only possible for peak level Immortal Realm cultivators?¡± Li Jie recalled the lecture that his master had given him a few days ago regarding Dao. The ultimate goal of cultivators was to achieve their own Dao that could explain how the natural laws of the world worked. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that his new sense seemed to align with the idea of a Dao. The elder looked at Li Jie and said, ¡°Li Jie, what I¡¯m about to tell you is only known by a few people in the entire country. It¡¯s regarding the sixth realm of cultivation, the Exalted Realm. ¡°You may have been taught in class that not much is known about the Exalted Realm, but the truth is we know quite a bit about it. The most relevant piece of knowledge is the fact that in order to enter the Exalted Realm, one must find their Dao.¡± ¡°Wait, does that mean I¡¯m an Exalted Realm cultivator now? I still feel the same as before though...¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s the thing, we aren¡¯t sure. Honestly everything about this situation is backwards. If it is true that you now have a Dao, then it would seem as if a Dao does not automatically make you an Exalted Realm cultivator, but rather allows you to become one. Since Exalted Realm cultivators disappeared from the continent nearly 20,000 years ago, we do not know for sure.¡± A brief moment of silence descended upon them, as they all thought about the implications of Li Jie having a Dao. Zhu Que broke the silence by saying, ¡°Well, we don¡¯t know for sure he has a Dao. And this whole situation seems odd. Why would the Heavens cut him off? From what I understand, Exalted Realm cultivators still absorb world qi to cultivate further. In any case, I want to try something.¡± He waved his hand and a bottle of pills came out of his spatial ring. He gave them to Li Jie and motioned for him to take the pills. ¡°These are Qi Nourishment Pills. They provide raw qi to refine when consumed but only work on Nascent Realm cultivators. We distribute a couple of these pills each month to all outer court disciples. Try taking one to see if you can refine it.¡± Li Jie popped one of the pills into his mouth and entered a meditative state, refining the pill. Less than 5 seconds later, he opened his eyes again and smiled. ¡°It worked master!¡± But for some reason, shock filled both the elder and Zhu Que¡¯s face. ¡°Li Jie, you took only 5 seconds to refine that pill?¡± ¡°Yes grandpa, why do you ask?¡± The elder didn¡¯t respond, instead pondering deeply on something. Zhu Que answered instead. ¡°Li Jie, most people would take an entire night to refine that pill, even longer for 4th level cultivators...¡± His voice drifted off as another question entered his mind, ¡°How much qi did you manage to refine from that pill?¡± ¡°Umm let¡¯s see... Before, I was well over halfway to the 5th level, now I¡¯d say I¡¯m about the same actually.¡± A frown appeared on Zhu Que¡¯s face. ¡°Those pills were not normal Qi Nourishment Pills. They were higher quality ones intended for use by talented cultivators. Normally one should have pushed you all the way into the 5th level and then some.¡± Li Jie¡¯s smile diminished but only slightly. Thinking about it, it did feel like the pill was just a snack to him. All of a sudden, the elder took out a sphere from his spatial ring and gave it to Li Jie. ¡°Here, try refining this.¡± ¡°Master are you crazy?! That¡¯s a monster core! It he tried to take it into his body, the magical beast soul still inside it would clash with Li Jie¡¯s dantian, causing irreversible damage! Not to mention the fact that there¡¯s simply too much energy inside a core. Even alchemists are only able take advantage of a small part of the core¡¯s essence!¡± ¡°Trust me, this should... *Ahem* will work.¡± Hesitatingly slightly, Li Jie decided to trust the elder and swallowed the monster core in its entirety. Inside his dantian, the monster core roared mightily and clashed against the core of Li Jie¡¯s cultivation. Quickly conjuring the flames, Li Jie allowed them to consume the monster core. However, as soon as the monster core detected the flames, it became stable, as if in fear of the flames. Just like with the pearl, the flames consumed the core hungrily, refining its essence and soul. Li Jie opened his eyes a minute later to see an expectant Zhu Que. He smiled once again, ¡°It worked grandpa. This time I definitely felt a noticeable increase in my cultivation. I should be almost 3/4ths to the 5th level.¡± Zhu Que breathed a huge sigh of relief and the elder nodded with a slight smile. ¡°What an interesting grand-disciple. He has possibly already found his Dao and he can actually refine a monster core. Little Bird, have the sect bring out some Nascent Realm monster cores and a few Flowering Realm ones as well.¡± ¡°If it¡¯s just some Nascent Realm ones and a few Flowering Realm ones then we should be okay... I just hope Li Jie doesn¡¯t have to start consuming them like candy. What a shame it would be if a single boy managed to wipe out the entire finances of a great sect.¡± While Nascent cores and Flowering cores could be obtained by a major sect like the Soaring Flame Sect with relative ease, Forging Realm cores were considerably harder to obtain in large amounts. Hunting magical beasts posed incredible danger to cultivators and higher realm beasts were more rare and good at avoiding impossible fights. Refining Realm cores could create entire conflicts between sects or countries in order to obtain them. Li Jie felt his stress and tension evaporate like water in a desert. Bowing to the two adults, he said, ¡°I thank master and grandpa for saving me!¡± To him, his cultivation was one of the most important assets in the world. Whether it be to save his mother, to protect his friends, or to earn respect from others, power remained the single most critical factor. ¡°Hahaha, no problem. By the way master, why did you come here in the first place?¡± ¡°Oh that¡¯s right, I almost forgot.¡± The elder said while taking out a small egg the size of his palm from a small pouch. It pulsed with a reddish energy and emitted heat that Li Jie could feel from a meter away. Its rugged surface seemed to suggest that it was an ancient artifact, possibly existing even before the Immortal Tiger Empire was formed. The elder handed it over to Li Jie while saying, ¡°This was the gift I was talking about earlier.¡± Li Jie cast his spiritual sense into the egg and found that, to his surprise, something living existed inside of it. But before he could investigate it further, the egg suddenly moved in his hand, and on the timeworn eggshell, a small crack appeared. Chapter 15 Chapter 15 On a small hill outside the Soaring Flame Sect, a young robust man was lying down watching the infinite stars above. Under the dim illumination of the moonlight, his fiery red hair could be seen. He held a small egg in his hands while holding it up to the sky. A single minor crack ran through the egg¡¯s shell, but other than that, it was mostly intact. ¡°It¡¯s almost been a year and a half and you still haven¡¯t hatched, little one.¡± Li Jie let out a deep long sigh. Not much had changed since he entered the sect. He reached the 9th level of the Nascent Realm with help from the sect and a generous 15th birthday gift of a few dozen Forging Realm monster cores from Lily, or rather from her clan. After his quasi-Dao Awakening, Li Jie came to realize the incredible power and profoundness of the martial skills that his ancestor had bestowed upon him, so he gave up all other skills to practice master those. He spent the rest of his time searching for various ways to cure his mother. But even with the full-time assistance of his grandmaster and master, they were unable to make any progress. Tomorrow would be his 16th birthday, yet Li Jie felt no joy in his heart. To him, it was only a reminder of the fate that would await his mother if he could not change it. An abnormally loud swish of the wind reached his ears and soon afterwards two young adults appeared on the top the hill next to Li Jie. ¡°You really like this spot don¡¯t you little Jie?¡± ¡°Well, I did like it... before you got here.¡± The one who had first spoken was a beautiful female cultivator with an elegant orange ponytail. She wore the robes of an outer court disciple that failed to hide her well-toned body. She simply smiled and stuck at her tongue at Li Jie, who smiled back at her. ¡®If that had been the Lily from the past, she would have beat me until I fell unconscious. I like her better this way, it really shows off her cuteness. Well I still don¡¯t like how she calls me little Jie just because I¡¯m younger...¡¯ A slight cough interrupted their moment as both of their eyes turned toward the other person present. A tall, lean cultivator with long silver bangs, he exuded tempered grace yet at the same time, a subtle fierceness dominated those around him. A commoner would mistake this man for being a part of the imperial family, which often happened whenever he left the sect. ¡°Could you two stop your flirting? Anyway I managed to get master to hand over a fine bottle of wine for your birthday tomorrow, Li Jie.¡± He said, pulling out some wine and cups from his spatial ring, ¡°Why don¡¯t we share it now?¡± Zhu Hao¡¯s delicate voice bore little resemblance to the impulsive boy who entered the sect a year and a half ago. That being said, he was no pushover--in fact, those who knew him would say he had a savage side to him that was rarely seen. Li Jie and Lily just laughed at him since this scene was all too common for them. They gratefully accepted the wine along with the cups. The three best friends spent the entire night merrily drinking and gossiping about the sects current events. Li Jie truly enjoyed these moments, since they were the only time he could take his mind off the problems plaguing him. ----- The next day, Li Jie sat meditating inside of a cultivator tower, contemplating the problem that had arisen in his cultivation. Although he couldn¡¯t absorb the world¡¯s qi anymore, he liked the quiet environment that the tower had so he often meditated here. ¡®I had originally thought that being able to consume monster cores was a blessing since it was so easy to cultivate... but for some reason the number of cores required to advance is growing exponentially larger!¡¯ He rubbed his spatial ring that had once held thousands of monster cores, but now was completely devoid of any of them. A few years ago he never could have imagined the wealth that a single monster core would bring, but in just a year and a half, he had already consumed nearly 10,000 Nascent cores along with many Flowering and Forging ones as well. With a frown, he recalled the words that his master had told him a week ago: ¡°Li Jie, quite frankly we cannot sustain your cultivation anymore. The elders are already mad at me for giving so many cores to you that could have been used in alchemy or for making weapons. You¡¯re going to have to search for another way to continue.¡± He continued thinking of a solution when suddenly a massive burst of energy echoed throughout the entire sect. Many of the cultivators who were deep in meditation stumbled out of their rooms, coughing up blood due to the backlash of being yanked out of their meditation. Angry, the disciples stormed outside to see who dared to cause problems in the sect. Numerous disciples from other towers also exited the building to see what was going on. However, they were met with an unexpected sight. A young man who couldn¡¯t have been older than 18 hovered dozens of meters above the sect with his arms crossed. He wore a splendid black robe embroidered with lavish gold designs that seemed alive; any upper class cultivator could immediately tell that his robe was not something obtainable within the entire empire, if not the entire continent. His long raven black hair was like a hungry abyss, swallowing the light around him. He opened his mouth and once again an explosive burst of energy rang forth, ¡°Where is the boy who awakened his Dao? He should have red hair and blue eyes.¡± Although none of the cultivators present understood what ¡°Dao¡± meant, they only knew of one person who matched that description. Many of those near Li Jie immediately turned their heads to look at him. Noticing their looks, the raven haired man immediately materialized a qi rope that shot towards Li Jie with the intention to bind him. Suddenly, a surge of qi crashed into the rope, forcibly disbanding it. Out of nowhere, Zhu Que and the scarred elder appeared, along with a group of a dozen or so core elders. Zhu Que stepped forward and gave a quick bow, ¡°My name is Zhu Que, Patriarch of this humble Soaring Flame Sect. May I have the honor of knowing your name?¡± The young man sneered with contempt, obviously angry that someone had dared to block his attack, but still gave an answer, ¡°Tai Huang.¡± Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. He gestured at Li Jie and commanded, ¡°Hand over that boy and I¡¯ll let you all live. A generous offer, no?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I cannot simply hand over a disciple of the sect,¡± Replied Zhu Que with a deep frown, ¡°I¡¯ll have you ask to you leave immediately.¡± Horrified expressions appeared on the core elders¡¯ faces. Clearly Tai Huang was abnormal. His robes were so magnificent that one would find it hard to believe that it was created by a man. He could fly despite being no older than 18 which meant he was already at the Forging Realm. But not even the core elders with their cultivations of the Refining Realm could detect the young man¡¯s cultivation. The worse possible scenario ran through their minds: Tai Huang is probably at the Immortal Realm, yet he¡¯s so young. Any force capable of raising such a monster must be so mighty that they could crush the entire sect with but a single thought. And their Patriarch had openly defied Tai Huang¡¯s order! Tai Huang grew visibly angry and pointed a single finger at Zhu Que. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll just kill you all and then take the boy. It¡¯s already stupid enough that I was forced to go on this pointless mission just because the Grand Seer felt something weird coming from that boy. But now you pathetic insects want to resist me as well?¡± Pure black energy gathered onto his fingertip. A large crowd had gathered by now and every single one of them felt crippled by fear, as if that black energy was an abyss that swallowed everything and they would be next. The scarred elder quickly yelled, ¡°Elders! Evacuate the students now!¡± Regaining their senses, the elders began lifting large amounts of disciples with their qi and sending them away from the area. However it was far too late for many. Tai Huang simply laughed at the sight below him and said, ¡°Void Extermination: Convergence 10%.¡± The deadly black energy instantly condensed into a single point and from it a single thin ray of black light shot out at blinding speed toward Zhu Que. ¡°Move Little Bird!¡± Zhu Que heard as he felt himself being pulled backwards. He saw his master take his former place, trying to stop the beam of qi that would undoubtedly annihilate all the disciples present if it hit. ¡°Soaring Dragon Burning Sky!¡± A domineering dragon¡¯s roar filled the sky as a dragon made of blazing white flames emerged from the elder¡¯s hands to meet the black beam. The sky lit up brightly, temporarily blinding anyone under the Refining Realm just from the illumination. The two earth-shaking martial skills met in the sky, sending out an enormous explosion of wild profound energy into the surroundings. Hundreds of disciples died instantly on the spot, their bodies vaporized into dust. But after a second of clashing in the air, the black beam won and pierced through the flame dragon. It, however, was noticeably lighter and slower after emerging from the dragon. The elder coated his arms in white flames and received the attack by blocking. It caused another burst of energy that killed a few dozen more cultivators. Nothing could be heard but the moans of the wounded. The spectators were all far too shocked to move or even scream in terror. Only the elders of the Refining Realm maintained their composure and continued to move disciples away before the next attack started. Tai Huang raised an eyebrow at the elder, ¡°Immortal Realm? And at the peak of it as well. I never expected that this backwater country would actually have someone like you. Too bad you¡¯ll have to die here today. I shall kill you first and then your entire sect.¡± The elder roared back at Tai Huang, ¡°I dare you to try, brat! I swear upon my name as Bai Qiang that this sect shall never fall until I am long dead!¡± His bravado brought hope back to the sect. With a peak level Immortal Realm cultivator, they believed they were invincible no matter who the enemy was. Bai Qiang, however, knew better. Soaring Dragon Burning Sky was his absolute strongest attack, yet it was unable to stop Tai Huang¡¯s attack completely. This would be a difficult fight to win... or so he thought. ¡°Hah, you mongrel. You don¡¯t know true power when you see it. Allow me to demonstrate just how worthless you are!¡± Tai Huang circulated his cultivation and emitted it for Bai Qiang to see. Immediately Bai Qiang¡¯s face turned ghostly pale, ¡°Y-y-you¡¯re at the Exalted Realm? How is that possible? Just who are you?¡± ¡°Allow me to reintroduce myself,¡± Tai Huang said while doing a fake, insincere bow in the air, ¡°I am Tai Huang, 3rd son of the main branch of the Tai Clan. 8th level of the Exalted Realm. 18 years of age, at your service. And you, you are about to die!¡± He lifted his hand once more, this time using his entire palm. ¡°Void Vortex!¡± Space itself abruptly began twisting in a spiral with Bai Qiang¡¯s body as the origin. Nothing but horror showed on his face as he felt himself being wrung like a towel from the inside and sucked into the center of the vortex. He knew that this was the end, Tai Huang was simply a monster. With deep sadness in his eyes, he looked over to his disciple for the last time and muttered, ¡°I¡¯m sorry Little Bird... I wasn¡¯t able to protect the sect...¡± With that, Bai Qiang¡¯s entire body twisted in a spiral into a single point and completely disappeared from existence, consumed by the void. Li Jie, who had been protected by Zhu Que the entire time, felt anger, despair, frustration, all sorts of feelings. Grandpa had died for him and now the entire sect would perish as well. He regretted not becoming stronger so that something like this could never happen. Tai Huang turned his attention to Li Jie and the rest of the sect. ¡°Trying to evacuate the disciples huh? It won¡¯t make a difference, I¡¯ll just wipe this entire city out. And you, the boy with the red hair, I was told to bring you back alive, but I think I¡¯ll just kill you instead.¡± He gave a savage smile and lifted his finger for the last time. Black qi began gathering around him, many times denser than before. ¡°Void Extermination: Convergence 100%!¡±