《The Song of Swords by InsaneMoonCake》


 Prologue+Chapter 1

    PROLOGUE


    On the outskirts of Fire Hill Village, two young boys were


    sparring with wooden swords. The two almost appeared to be dancing together,


    weaving their swords through the air.


    This was a rather common sight at Fire Hill Village, as the


    two boys sparred every day. At times, some passing villagers or travelers


    would pause their daily routines and watch. However, they would always leave


    before long, sighing to themselves. For unfortunately, although the two boys


    seemed to have a reasonable amount of skill, it was apparent that they were both slaves, and were


    unlikely to obtain access to any pills or techniques to properly train in the way


    of the Song. In fact, the boys were fortunate to even have wooden swords to


    train with. Many young slaves were only able to play with wooden sticks they


    found on the ground.


    After another ten minutes of sparring, the two boys abruptly


    stopped. One boy¡¯s sword was in the middle of a swing, while the sword of the


    older looking boy was at the first boy¡¯s neck. This signified that the older


    boy had won, as well as the end of the sparring match.


    ¡°Jia Yuan, you¡¯re almost getting to the point where you can


    beat me!¡±


    ¡°Dou Di big brother, it is only because you do your best to


    teach me and push me to improve every day. Or perhaps, you¡¯re just getting


    worse. Hahaha.¡±


    ¡°Oh, shut up you idiot. As for teaching you, it is all I can


    do. Unfortunately, as slaves, the only chance we have to move up in the world


    is to become soldiers. Even without pills or techniques, with enough practice,


    we can progress to the first level of Absorption. I think, at that point, our


    master would be willing to sell us to the Army for sizable sum of money. Hell,


    if we¡¯re lucky, maybe the Army will even provide us with a Song to train with.¡±


    ¡°Dou Di big brother is right! One day we¡¯ll leave this world


    behind!¡±


    Currently, Jia Yuan was 8 years old, and Dou Di was 10. When


    they were first purchased two years ago, they quickly became allies of a sort.


    After a few months, they began sparring together and called each other


    brothers. Over time, the bond between the two was not any less than that of blood


    brothers.


    The two brothers continued practicing into the night.


    However, they made sure to not overexert themselves, as they knew that their


    master would have work for them in the morning. As Dou Di predicted, the only


    reason the master let them practice in the night, was so that he could sell the


    two boys to the Army in the future.


    As one of the four nations on the Continent of the Five


    Elements, the Fire Kingdom desperately needed a constant influx of soldiers defend against invasions and man invasions of their own. After all, every nation wants to be


    able to expand its borders, and the Fire Kingdom was no exception.


    As such, every year the Army would send some low ranking


    officers through the kingdom in search for young martial talent. Many of these


    recruits would be former slaves. In fact, some slave owners would purchase slaves


    for the sole purpose of training them to sell them to the Army for a large sum of


    money. A typical child at the age of 4-6 cost about 50 small fire shards, while


    a 12 year old with reasonable martial skill could be sold to the Army for over


    500 small fire shards. If the slaves were made to work in a way that did not lose their master money, then


    the owner would receive a straight profit of 450 small fire shards. To put this


    into perspective, a family could live off of a single small fire shard for a


    month. With just 6 to 8 years of effort, a talented slave owner could virtually


    set themselves for life.


    12 years of age was the requirement for the national army.


    Furthermore, the recruit had to have passable talent with a weapon as well as


    good body strength. However, the extremely talented who had reached the Absorption


    level by the age of 12 could bypass the life of a simple infantryman, and become a


    knight or a candidate for the Burning Legion, the prized fighting force of the Fire Kingdom.


    For slaves who had reached this level, the Army would be willing to pay 5


    thousand small fire shards, or its higher equivalent, 500 medium fire shards.


    This shows just how highly the Kingdom valued these talents.


    And such was the dream of Jia Yuan and Dou Di, to become one


    of these highly respected Burning Legion soldiers.


    Jia Yuan and Dou Di both returned to the small shack at the edge


    of Fire Hill Village, where they noticed that their master had already gone to


    sleep, but had left two bowls of congee on the table in the middle of the room.


    Jia Yuan and Dou Di were both rather fortunate. Their master


    was rather kind hearted, and treated the two rather well. At the very least, he


    was willing to provide them with basic necessities, such as clothes and food.


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.(Although the food was only ever congee or vegetable congee)


    They quickly ate, and slept on the floor. They would continue


    training in this manner until the fateful day in 2 years, when Dou Di would be recruited


    by the Army...


    Chapter 1: A Song


    -2 years after the prologue-


    ¡°Big Brother, I will soon follow you. Wait for me!¡±


    Earlier that day, a 100 man commander stopped by Fire


    Hill Village, and had purchased Dou Di from the master for the hefty price of 4


    thousand small fire shards. After all, despite not being able to enter the


    first level of Absorption due to his lack of a Song to train with, Dou Di had


    reached the threshold required to do so. All he required was a Song, which the


    Army would provide him with. In short, the Army had basically gained themselves


    a candidate for the Burning Legion.


    For a slave like Dou Di, this was an outcome that he had


    dreamed about for many years. Which brings us to the current moment, where Jia


    Yuan and Dou Di were exchanging their goodbyes in preparation for Dou Di¡¯s


    departure.


    ¡°You idiot Jia Yuan, who would wait for you? You better keep


    training hard or you might not be able to surpass me! Ha!¡± Dou Di offered some


    brave words of encouragement, but in his heart he was also slightly sad that he


    would have to leave this brother of his behind.


    After the goodbyes were said and Dou Di left, Jia Yuan


    headed back to the location where he and his brother frequently sparred, and gazed at the field with sad eyes. I¡¯ll see you in two years, brother. He


    then headed out west, opposite the direction of the main village. He headed into the


    nearby forest and started sprinting. He and Dou Di had both reached the peak of


    martial training without Songs, at which point the Master knew that he could


    sell them for four thousand small fire shards. At this point, the Master was


    very happy, and allowed the two of them to explore the surroundings. The place


    where Jia Yuan liked to explore the most was the forest.


    The day before, he had discovered a cave, but given that it


    was nearing nighttime when he found it, he had decided to come back the day


    after.


    I should be getting


    close to the cave by now.


    After another 5 minutes, Jia Yuan found the cave, and cautiously


    walked in. It was very dark, so Jia Yuan quickly used a fire ember (a commonly


    found, cheap item in the Fire Kingdom used for starting fires) on a stick to


    create a torch. He then continued on.


    It seemed to be a rather deep cave, and Jia Yuan walked for


    about a full minute before he stopped. In front of him was a rather large bear,


    standing slightly taller than Jia Yuan himself, body rippling with muscle.


    Jia Yuan smiled to himself. It seems that this will be good practice. He quickly drew his


    wooden sword, placed his torch on the ground, and took a stance. Then he


    waited.


    The bear quickly lumbered toward Jia Yuan, and tried to tackle


    Jia Yuan with a swiping motion.


    Jia Yuan saw this, and jumped to the right, dodging the


    swipe. At the same time, he swung the wooden sword at the bear¡¯s eyes.


    Jia Yuan had sparred for so many years with Dou


    Di. As such, the speed of the bear, while frightening to a commoner, was easily


    below his own. As such, his sword hit true and slashed through the eyes of the


    bear, effectively blinding it.


    WIth that, the bear had already lost.


    Jia Yuan quickly dashed around the bear while slashing again


    and again with his sword. Despite never learning a Song, he was still fairly


    adept at performing a Dance with his sword. After performing about 10 slashes over the


    course of 4 seconds, he stopped. The bear¡¯s body was crisscrossed with bloody


    scars, a testament to Jia Yuan¡¯s skill. Although others may have had trouble


    with the bear even with a metal sword, he was able to swiftly take down the


    bear with a wooden sword.


    Well, I guess it wasn¡¯t


    that good of practice. Maybe I¡¯ll meet a stronger creature later¡­


    Jia Yuan picked up his torch and continued further down the


    cave. After another minute, there was a hole in the floor of the cave,


    leading deeper into the ground. I wonder


    what could be down there¡­ guess I¡¯ll take a look.


    He jumped down into the hole and started descending. After a short descent, he arrived at a room in the cave.


    For some reason, there was a pillar in the middle of the


    cave. Strangely enough, the pillar and the area around it was illuminated, even though


    there was no light entering this room.


    Jia Yuan felt drawn towards the pillar, and walked toward it


    with large strides. Can this be? Can this


    really be??


    Jia Yuan felt rather incredulous, for on the pillar was a


    scroll covered in symbols.


    It was a Song.

 Chapter 2

    Chapter 2: Four Stances


    Jia Yuan could hardly believe his luck. To actually find a


    Song in a random cave, it was as if pies were falling from heaven. He was


    ecstatic as he started dancing around the cave with joy.


    To help put this into perspective, all Martial Cultivation


    past the most fundamental of levels, relied on developing one¡¯s proficiency in


    a Song. The power of the Song one trained in, as well as the depth of


    understanding of the Song, defined a martial cultivator¡¯s strength.


    For a slave like Jia Yuan, the most he could hope for was to


    receive a low level Song from the Army after he was purchased. After all, as a


    child who was half a foot into the Absorption realm, only needing a Song to


    progress into said realm, he was a valuable candidate for the Burning Legion.


    But even for a prized candidate, the Army was hardly rich enough to provide them


    with medium or high level Songs. As such, most of the candidates, such as Dou Di, received low


    level Songs. Only a select few candidates that were particularly promising or


    had special talent would receive those rare medium or high level Songs-when the Army could afford them.


    As the Fire Kingdom, the Kingdom was in possession of a


    large number of Songs of Fire. The attributes associated with these Songs was that


    they possessed explosive melodies and rhythms, which brought out strong bursts


    of power from the practitioner, like the raging flames of a fire. Likewise, the


    other elements of the Songs provided attributes similar to the associated


    element. The other properties of a Song are hard to predict before being


    acquired. As such, usually the only differentiators when it comes to choosing a


    Song are the element and the level.


    This was why Jia Yuan was so happy. Although he did not know


    what level of Song he had just found, at the very least this was a low level


    Song, and could potentially be a much higher level Song, maybe a medium or high


    level Song, or even a Heavenly Song! As for the attribute of the Song, Jia Yuan


    was fairly confident that a Song found in the Fire Kingdom should have the


    attribute of Fire. After all, Fire Hill Village was pretty far from the borders of the Fire


    Kingdom. It was unlikely that this territory had been ever taken over by any of


    the other nations.


    Jia Yuan walked back to the center of the room and prepared


    to receive the blessing of the Song.


    He then paused.


    How the hell do I


    receive the Song? I¡¯ve only heard about them in stories and nobody ever


    actually said how to receive it¡­ I guess I¡¯ll just grab it?


    Jia Yuan reached for the Song, but he couldn¡¯t touch it.


    However, the scroll opened up a bit, and a voice sounded in Jia


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.Yuan¡¯s head.


    ¡°Hello, stranger. To receive this Song, you only need to be


    able to learn the first stage. As long as you are able to


    understand even a smidgen of it, I will allow you to receive the Song. As well,


    I will provide you with some things to help you cultivate.


    Jia Yuan was even happier now! Not only did he have a chance to learn a Song, but he could even receive items that could boost his cultivation speed, which were without fail, extremely expensive. He truly felt as if he


    had won a lottery.


    He carefully pored over the scroll. On it, he could see four


    stances, marked with some symbols overhead. If Jia Yuan had a better upbringing,


    he would have recognized these as musical notes. However, these musical notes


    were inscribed into the scroll with magic. Upon receiving the Song, the notes would


    be imprinted into the receiver¡¯s mind, where it would boost the receiver¡¯s martial cultivation. In fact, for proficient cultivators, the main way to fight would involve using the stances of the Song to performance a Dance.


    Jia Yuan gazed at the symbols on the scroll for a long


    while, but he was still unable to understand anything.


    I guess I¡¯ll just


    ignore them for now and I¡¯ll just follow the stances.


    He carefully settled into the first stance, but then abruptly stood straight again. Wait, the first stance seems to involve an


    axe, but in the second stance the drawn figure is holding a sword, while in the


    third the figure is holding a staff, while the last, a Warhammer.


    Was I supposed to


    bring four weapons to train with?


    I guess I¡¯ll just


    perform all of the stances with my wooden sword for now¡­ If worst comes to


    worst I can ask Master for some money to buy some more wooden weapons.


    Hopefully he is happy enough from selling Dou Di to allow me this.


    Jia Yuan shifted back into the first stance, then checked


    the scroll to make sure that he was doing it right.


    Alright, I think I¡¯ve


    got this one down, let¡¯s move to the next one.


    Jia Yuan continued to practice the four stances until he was


    able to properly perform all four stances.


    I guess now I have to


    connect the stances huh. Maybe that¡¯s where the symbols come in.


    Despite being a slave and never having received an education, Jia Yuan had a rather creative mind (although not necessarily practical). This would greatly help him to receive the song..


    Over the course of the next two hours, Jia Yuan trained to


    receive the Song. Soon, he was able to flow from one stance to the next.


    But, he was still missing the essence of the Song. He had


    learned the ¡°Dance¡± to a degree, but had not absorbed even a bit of the essence of the Song itself.

 Chapter 3

    Chapter 3: The First Dance


    After a few more hours of practicing, Jia Yuan finally gave


    up and exited the cave and headed back home to try again tomorrow. After


    all, he was getting hungry, and the sun was about to set. Soon, it would be too


    dangerous for him to run back home, or even to stay in the cave.


    After exiting the room at the back of the cave, he paused. He looked


    back, and decided to cover up the entrance with a large rock, in case anyone


    else happened to come across the cave.


    After doing the deed, he quickly ran out of the cave into the


    forest in the direction of Fire Hill Village.


    After three minutes or so of running, Jia Yuan stopped abruptly, with chills running down his spine.


    In front of him stood a fire lizard. Fire lizards are amongst


    the most dangerous creatures living in the forest. In fact, they are so


    dangerous that usually a single fire lizard spotting outside the village would


    prompt three adults to pursue it together, for the lizard was too


    risky to take on alone.


    The common fire lizard is 3 meters long and is rises to


    about 4 feet off of the ground. In addition, the fire lizard has a myriad of


    other skills. Not only does the fire lizard possess quick speed, but mature


    fire lizards possess their innate Song which grants them the ability to use


    fire attacks with their claws, and grants particularly explosive speed to their


    tail, which could brain an adult human with a single swing.


    Guess I shouldn¡¯t of


    wished for a stronger creature to practice against, huh. I guess I¡¯ll have to


    see how strong I¡¯ve gotten.


    Jia Yuan quickly took the first stance of the Song. Maybe during this fight, I¡¯ll gain an


    insight into the Song.


    The fire lizard charged forward.


    Jia Yuan quickly shifted from the first stance into the


    second stance with two movements.


    With the first movement, he smashed his sword toward the


    fire lizard, as one would with an axe.


    With the second movement, he dodged by ducking under the lizard¡¯s


    attack and shifted the trajectory of his sword, sending it towards


    the fire lizard¡¯s stomach.


    Shheeek~. The blade cut through the soft belly of the


    lizard, but did not go deep enough to cause a fatal wound.


    However, it WAS enough to anger the creature, who had only wanted to kill


    Jia Yuan for sustenance earlier. However, now it wanted to kill Jia Yuan to


    vent its anger.


    It turned back towards Jia Yuan, but in the half a second


    the fire lizard took to turn around, Jia Yuan had already switched to the third


    stance, heavily smashing his sword towards the lizard¡¯s head.


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    The sword hit, and the lizard stumbled back, stunned.


    Jia Yuan finally switched to the last stance and his sword


    sliced through the air at an absurd speed and sliced through the head of the


    lizard, braining it effectively.


    Jia Yuan stepped back and panted. Why do I feel so tired? I hardly moved, but my mental and physical


    strength are both depleted.


    Jia Yuan did not know, but at that time, the scroll of the


    Song in the cave brightened. A ghostly image of an elderly man appeared and sighed. ¡°It appears that a worthy candidate has finally arrived. I hope he will


    take this chance and bring our Element back to the forefront of the world.


    However, it seems that while he understands the ¡°Dance,¡± he does not understand


    the Song. It has been far too long, and I cannot wait any longer. Even if he is unable to understand it, I will make


    him the right candidate.¡±


    And with that, the ghostly elder disappeared.


    Meanwhile, Jia Yuan had quickly carved out some choice parts of the


    lizard, since he could bring them to his master to sell for money. He then sat


    down and quickly meditated for 5 minutes to replenish his strength, and then continued on his way.


    A few minutes after sunset, he reached the small house on


    the edge of the village. He saw his master sleeping and placed the bag of


    lizard parts at the foot of the bed. His master would be happy to see it when


    he woke up.


    He then shifted his eyes toward the table at the center of the shack,


    and was very surprised. Not only was there a bowl of vegetable congee, but


    there was also some bread, and¡­ MEAT.


    This was the first time since his master had purchased him that Jia Yuan had seen meat in the house, and it seemed that the meat was for Jia Yuan to eat.


    Jia Yuan looked emotionally at the old man. ¡°He may be my


    owner and I may be his slave, but at least he treated big brother and me as


    more than merchandise. If I look at it another way, by purchasing me, he saved me from a crueler master. If one day I succeed, I will come back and repay his


    kindness.¡±


    Jia Yuan quickly devoured his congee and bread, but made


    sure to savor the meat. After all, he was fairly sure that he wouldn¡¯t be able


    to enjoy proper meat for a while. At the very most, he could get some wild meat


    from killing bears and other creatures in the forest, but that simply couldn¡¯t


    compare to proper meat.


    He then prepared to sleep on the floor.


    After he drifted into a deep sleep, he began to dream. In front of


    his eyes, stood an elderly man.

 Chapter 4

    Chapter 4: The Dream of Songs


    Jia Yuan was confused. He had never had a dream as vivid as


    this before. In fact, the dream was so vivid that he almost felt that he was


    awake. Only a quick pinch of his cheek confirmed that he was asleep. Also, he was


    sure that he had never seen this elderly man before.


    ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°I am the Song of Swords.¡±


    Jia Yuan was confused. The


    Song of Swords? Is he a scroll?...Ah! Is he the Song that I saw in the cave


    earlier today?


    ¡°Indeed, I am the Song you saw earlier today. Fret not, I am


    in your mind, so I can hear your thoughts. I have decided that you are a worthy


    candidate.¡±


    Jia Yuan was ecstatic.


    ¡°However¡­ you lack an understanding of the way of the Song.


    Your speed of comprehension when it came to the Dance can be said to be above


    average, even close to that of a genius, but your comprehension of the way of


    the Song¡­ is nonexistent.¡±


    ¡°As such, I am here to give you my creator¡¯s ability to


    understand of the way of the Song. With this, you will have a comprehension far


    above the common martial practitioner. With it, you should be able to learn


    this Song at a rate comparable to how fast other people learn their songs.


    However, as for the strength of this Song¡­ you will have to see for yourself.¡±


    ¡°Now I will show you the truth of the Song.¡±


    At this moment, in Jia Yuan¡¯s head, the dream changed, and


    the image of the Elder faded away. In his place were four identical replicas of


    Jia Yuan. The first image brandished a golden axe and was surrounded by a


    raging inferno. Every time this image moved, it brandished the axe in a violent


    manner, and each movement seemed to possess the power to destroy the world. The image might as well have been the embodiment of a raging


    volcano.


    The second image held an azure sword, and flowed from one


    stance from the next, portraying a scene of endless fluidity. Despite its seemingly tranquil nature, each slash of the sword was accompanied by a violent


    outburst of water. Although Jia Yuan did not know it yet, this was the


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.embodiment of the saying ¡®a raging river may conquer even the largest boulder.¡¯


    The third image held a long bamboo staff and moved even more


    swiftly and smoothly than the previous image. In fact, the image moved in such a way that


    Jia Yuan felt that this image was almost carried by the air itself. The swift movements of the bamboo staff, accented by outbursts of wind, enhanced this feeling. Each swing of the staff seemed to hold the power


    to challenge thousands of soldiers, yet still held elegance of royal


    performer.


    The fourth image carried a two handed hammer. It did not move.


    After a few seconds, the image seemed to come alive and delivered a hammer


    strike in a swinging fashion. It then controlled the backswing of the hammer,


    and used the accompanying force to deliver a stronger forward hammer strike. Soon after,


    each swing of the hammer created outbursts of rocks. After a


    minute of swinging, the area was soon filled with enough flying boulders to


    level a city.


    At this point, the voice of the Elder sounded for the last


    time in Jia Yuan¡¯s head.


    ¡°This is the Truth of the Song, but not the complete Truth.


    I have shown you but the tip of the iceberg. As for the rest, you will have to


    understand on your own. Now go back to the cave in which you found me. I am


    willing to accept you¡­do not fail me.¡±


    Jia Yuan woke up with a start. He looked at his


    surroundings. He felt as if the world around him was surreal. After seeing evidence


    of such strong power in his dreams, he possessed an unquenchable thirst to become


    stronger. Before, his goal had only been to surpass Dou Di, his older


    brother.


    But now.


    Now, Jia Yuan understood just how weak he and Dou Di had


    been. Dou Di may have been able to become a candidate for the Burning Legion,


    but at the end of the day, he was simply a specialized foot


    soldier.


    No.


    Jia Yuan felt a burning desire in his heart..


    I will understand the


    way of the Song.


    I will become the


    strongest in the Continent of the Five Elements.

 Chapter 5

    Chapter 5: Pills on Pills


    Unfortunately, Jia Yuan had chores to do before he


    could leave the village.


    Fortunately, the master only had a few chores for him


    to do, and Jia Yuan performed them at his quickest speed. After finishing, he


    sprinted toward the cave.


    He pushed the large boulder blocking the entrance aside and entered..


    He looked at the Song.


    As part of the dream the previous night, the Elder had showed


    him how to acquire the song.


    Jia Yuan walked toward the pillar holding the scroll,


    and picked the scroll up, then sent a part of his soul into the scroll.


    A flurry of information entered Jia Yuan¡¯s brain.


    Images, words, and most distinctly, a solemn melody flowed through his mind. However, the melody quickly faded away, and Jia Yuan could only hear some faint drum beats.


    Jia Yuan had acquired his Song. In a person¡¯s entire


    life, they may only acquire one Song. Even if one grew up an extravagantly rich


    household and had endless resources, they would only be able to acquire a single Song, no different from


    a commoner. As such, the only way a rich family could ensure success for their child was to provide them with a higher level scroll. As such, medium and high level Songs were in high demand and sold for absurd amounts of fire shards, while the vast majority of the population was left with low level Songs, where were much cheaper. In fact, a typical medium level Song was worth 100x that of a low level Song, while a high level Song was worth about 100x a medium level Song!


    Jia Yuan was a slave who had worked his entire life


    with only the goal of becoming a foot soldier in the Burning Legion.


    Yet he had acquired the Song of Swords.


    THe information overwhelmed Jia Yuan''s brain, and he sat down to meditate. After about 2 hours, Jia Yuan moved again. The information


    that had been coursing through his mind had stopped about an hour ago, but he


    had spent yet another hour entranced by his newly found knowledge.


    While he did not understand the vast majority of the


    information that he had received from the scroll, he was sure of one thing. He


    had definitely struck gold.


    This is definitely not


    a low level scroll. It is definitely at least a medium or high level scroll.


    Otherwise, there definitely should not have been such a level of information¡­


    But what element is


    this Song?


    I thought for sure


    that this would be a Song of fire, but it doesn¡¯t seem so.


    ¡­


    I guess I should just keep training and see how things go.


    Jia Yuan was very puzzled, but even this feeling of


    puzzlement could not dampen his happiness of receiving a Song.


    ¡°Now I should be considered to be in the first level of


    Absorption! That means that in two years, I¡¯ll be worth a thousand more


    small fire shards than big bro! Haha, I¡¯ll have to tease him when I meet him in


    the Burning Legion!¡±


    At that moment, he surveyed his surroundings.


    Huh? Where did the pillar go?


    The pillar had disappeared, and in its place, was an


    ordinary black box.


    Jia Yuan reached down and opened the box.


    The box was filled with little circular orbs and seemed to


    be divided by type. In total, there were eight types of these little orbs, and


    there seemed to be over 200 orbs of each type.


    Another ghostly image floated out of the box.


    ¡±Hello, receiver of the Song of Swords. I am the creator of


    these pills, as well as a close friend of the creator of the Song of Swords. At


    the time of the creation of this message, the creator of the Song of Swords has


    already died. Betrayed by his family, betrayed by his nation, he was a victim


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.of slaughter. As his last close friend, I felt it my duty to pass on his


    greatest success, this Song of Swords.¡±


    ¡°I hope that these pills will help you on your path. Use


    them well and bring the Song of Swords to the forefront of the world! Please,


    for the sake of this old man and the betrayed creator of your Song,


    give us this last shout of defiance.¡±


    ¡°The top four types of pills in the box are used to train the soul,


    so that your understanding of the Song may improve by leaps and bounds.¡± ¡°The


    first can be used in the absorption stage, the second can be used during the


    manipulation stage, and the third can be used during the True stage, while the


    fourth will help you establish the Truth.¡±


    ¡°The bottom four types of pills in the box are used to train the


    body. These pills are very precious, and it was only by sacrificing the lives


    of thousands of people that these pills were made. As you may or may not know,


    the average body can only handle one element of a Song.¡±


    ¡°For example, most people in the Fire Kingdom can only train


    in a Song of Fire, because they were only born with the capability to accept


    this element. The same applies to the Water Kingdom, Air Kingdom, and Earth


    Kingdom.¡±


    ¡°However, there existed a small nation comprised of people with


    the element of the Sword, the Sword Kingdom. Alas, my friend was among the royalty of this Kingdom. Unfortunately, his family and friends were tricked by the other


    nations, and my friend was betrayed. Soon thereafter, the Sword Nation


    collapsed, and the vast majority of the citizens were killed. The land of the


    Sword Kingdom was divided amongst the other four nations, and its name has


    slowly faded from history.¡±


    ¡°The Sword Kingdom had an important secret. With the


    consumption of certain pills, a descendant of the Sword element is able to


    train in more than one element. However, training in more than one element puts


    great strain on the body. As such, it is almost mandatory to consume a massive amount of pills.¡±


    ¡°I have prepared the required pills for you. There are 200


    Fire Pills, 200 Water Pills, 200 Air Pills, and 200 Earth Pills. If you choose


    this path, you should train your body while consuming the Pills. Even if you


    choose to only train in one element, these pills will help you train in that


    element. But since you received the Song of Swords, it means that you are a


    descendant of the Sword element, so you are able to train in more than one. It


    is my wish, and probably my old friend¡¯s wish as well, that you train in multiple


    elements to bring his Song to the pinnacle of the world, but it is


    understandable if you are not willing to do so.¡±


    ¡°I would recommend only consuming one type of elemental pill


    at a time, as consuming multiple types at the same time could bring about


    adverse effects or even death. Also, you will receive a small power boost in


    the associated element after consuming a pill. If you are in a situation of


    life or death, you can use a pill to boost your fighting prowess during the battle. Just keep in mind that the pills are precious, and using too many in such a matter will mean that you will have less pills to use while properly training.¡±


    ¡°Finally, look at the center of the box. In that small


    compartment is a ring. It may look like a bland wooden ring, but it is in fact


    a priceless treasure, capable of storing any item. The inside of the ring has a


    space of 729 cubic feet. To become the owner and to use it in the future,


    simply send a strand of your soul into the ring. If you are the first to do


    this, it will recognize you as its only owner, and not allow anyone else to


    access the items within.¡±


    ¡°This is all I can do to help you, oh descendant of the


    Sword element.¡±


    And with that, the ghostly image faded into the air.

 Chapter 6

    Chapter 6: The Way of the World


    Jia Yuan flopped backwards onto the ground.


    ¡°HA.HAHAHA. HAHAHAHAHA.¡±


    ¡°This can¡¯t be true can it? I¡¯m a member of the Fire


    Kingdom, there is no way some Sword Kingdom ever existed, and there is even less


    of a chance that I am a descendant.¡±


    ¡°Even if this is true, at present I am merely a slave.


    I don¡¯t even have my own freedom, how am I supposed to find revenge for these two old men from god knows when in the past, and even if someday I have the strength to do so, should I?¡±


    ¡°After all, I haven¡¯t even heard of a Sword Nation. By


    this judgement, this extermination of the Sword Nation should have happened a long time ago in the past. Does it even matter anymore if this nation was exterminated? After all, wars happen all the time, and there will always be winners and losers¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, I guess it doesn¡¯t matter for now. The old man


    sure was kind to provide me with all these pills and even to give me a safe way to keep them by my side.¡±


    Jia Yuan faced the box and bowed. After all, even


    though the old man had his own personal reasons for helping Jia Yuan, the fact was still that he had done Jia Yuan a great service.


    Jia Yuan then took out the wooden ring from the box.


    As the old man had said, it looked overly ordinary, so ordinary that Jia Yuan


    even suspected the old man¡¯s words. I


    guess I¡¯ll just have to try what he said


    Jia Yuan sent a strand of his soul into the ring and


    gasped.


    Inside there was truly a space that looked like a


    box, 9 feet by 9 feet as the old man had said, with a ceiling that looked about 9 feet high as well.


    ¡°What a treasure! Seems like I¡¯ve really profited this


    time¡±


    Jia Yuan quickly deposited the box of pills into the


    ring, and looked around the cave once more. After verifying that there was


    nothing in the room, he promptly left.


    For now, I will


    spend my time training. All of those grandiose things the old man mentioned,


    there is no point worrying about them now. I¡¯ll have enough time to worry about


    those when I¡¯m strong.


    Jia Yuan ran out of the cave and sprinted towards Fire Hill Village. After all, he had spent a rather long time in the


    cave, and it was almost nighttime again.


    ¡°Tomorrow, I¡¯ll start training while taking the pills.


    Since the old man said that eating the pills will improve my soul and body, as


    well as my control over the elements, they should quicken my significantly. Normally, in a year I would probably be able to rise to the 2nd


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.level of Absorption, but maybe with these I will be able to climb to the 3rd


    level of Absorption before I am sold to the Army.¡±


    ¡°Ha, how happy would master be if that happened?¡±


    Jia Yuan arrived at the old hut, but what he saw


    inside horrified him.


    His kind master was lying on the floor of the hut,


    covered in cuts and bruises. He had clearly been attacked.


    ¡°Master, what¡¯s wrong? Who attacked you?¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ Jia Yuan¡­I¡¯ve lost everything¡­¡±


    ¡°Master? What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°The Zhao family¡­ they saw that I had sold your older


    brother to the Army yesterday, so they sent their slaves to come rob me of the


    small fire shards¡­ I tried to stop them, and so they attacked me.¡±


    ¡°What?? The village won¡¯t stand for it!¡±


    ¡°That may be true, but the Zhao family is far too strong. Right now the Zhao family¡¯s status


    is even higher than that of the village elder. Ah, whatever. The wounds aren¡¯t


    life threatening¡­ We¡¯ll just have to make do.¡±


    Jia Yuan was angry about the incident, and rightfully


    so. Even though he did not know, many of the village residents had seen the


    Zhao family¡¯s slaves march into his master¡¯s house and bring out a large bag of


    fire shards.


    There are two reasons why the village was not willing or


    able to respond. First off, the Zhao family, when compared to others in the village, was comparatively large. The Zhao family itself had about 20 members, and they owned about 50 slaves. Second, their family head was overly


    strong. In fact, their family head had recently achieved the 7th


    level of Absorption. Even the village head was only at the 6th level


    of Absorption, so there was truly no way for the village to respond.


    ¡°It is okay, Jia Yuan.¡± Said the master. ¡°This sort of


    injustice exists throughout the world. If I wasn¡¯t so weak, they Zhao family


    may not have decided to steal from me. But alas, I am unable to cultivate


    farther than the third level of Absorption¡­ my body and soul are both truly too


    weak.¡±


    Jia Yuan nodded. ¡°I understand master. In this world,


    the strong control the weak. However, over time, the weak may become the strong¡­


    Master, you have been kind to both me and big brother. One day, after I have


    joined the Burning Legion, I will make sure the Zhao family understands this


    concept.¡±


    The Burning


    Legion was the pride of the Fire Nation, so how could a common household even compare


    in reputation?

 Chapter 7

    Chapter 7: A Situation


    Jia Yuan helped his master dress his wounds as best he could


    and placed his master on the bed.


    He then walked towards the pot that his master always cooked


    congee in, and looked inside. Sure enough, there was congee, but it was cold.


    Jia Yuan sighed and took out a flame ember to light a fire for the pot. After all, hot congee is much tastier and more comforting than


    cold congee.


    However, the entire while, his heart was burning with rage.


    After all, the money that was stolen from his master was no small amount. It


    was several thousand small fire shards, more than enough for his master to live


    in comfort for the rest of his life. Not only that, but the fire shards were


    also acquired from selling Dou Di to the Army! It in a way represented Dou Di!


    In his heart, Jia Yuan made a vow.


    I will be strong!


    -2 Months later-


    Jia Yuan and his master were able to scrape by, despite


    being robbed by the Zhao family multiple times. The Zhao family was truly


    becoming more and more daring, and the rest of the village yearned for a chance


    to retaliate.


    Alas, they were too weak.


    Furthermore, every time the Zhao family robbed a villager,


    they increased their own power by purchasing slaves as well as pills.


    The villagers of Fire Hill Village were truly trapped. They


    did not have the strength to fight against the Zhao family, but if they did not


    fight against the Zhao family, they would only fall behind and suffer even


    more.


    At this time, Jia Yuan was practicing his swordplay about 50


    meters from the old shack.


    Despite having practiced for two months while consuming the soul


    cultivation pills provided the Elder, Jia Yuan was unable to progress to the 2nd


    level of Absorption. While advancing to the 2nd level of Absorption


    would usually take at least a year even for a cultivator of high talent, Jia


    Yuan had the help of a large supply of soul and body cultivation pills.


    ¡°How can this be? I can feel myself stuck at the peak of the


    1st level of Absorption, but I can¡¯t reach the 2nd level!


    I¡¯m sure that my soul is strong enough, and after so much training, my body should


    be comparable to the peak of the 3rd level!¡±


    Jia Yuan desperately wanted to become stronger, so that he


    could defend his master from the Zhao family. After all, the two of them did


    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.not have many fire shards left, and if they could put up enough retaliation,


    the Zhao family would turn their heads to easier prey.


    Sighing in frustration, Jia Yuan returned to the shack.


    His master was sitting at the table inside the shack, gazing


    wistfully at a congee pot with a hole in the bottom. He noticed Jia Yuan


    entering, and called out to him. ¡°Ah, Jia Yuan, I have an errand for you to


    run!¡±


    ¡°I need you to visit RockFire City and purchase a pot! I


    hoped to be able to fix this pot, but those bastards from the Zhao family


    really did a good job of breaking it¡­¡± ¨Cgrumble-


    ¡°Here is five fire shards to buy the pot with¡­ we won¡¯t have


    many left.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll probably take you a week to get there and back so I¡¯ll


    just have to make do in the meantime. And Jia Yuan, I know you are strong, but


    do your best to keep safe and don¡¯t antagonize anyone okay?¡±


    ¡°Yes master, I¡¯ll go get the pot and come back as fast as I


    can and I¡¯ll do my best to keep safe, don¡¯t worry. Should I go now or in the


    morning?¡±


    ¡°If you leave now, you should be able to get to the other


    side of the forest, where it¡¯ll be safe. If you wait until morning, it¡¯ll be


    another night without hot congee. Go now.¡±


    ¡°Ok¡±


    As such, Jia Yuan promptly ran outside the shack, grabbed


    his wooden sword, and ran in the direction of the forest. What his master said


    was true, if Jia Yuan ran at a quick speed, he should be able to exit the


    forest before nighttime. As for if he was caught in the forest during nighttime¡­


    well, Jia Yuan didn¡¯t want to think about it.


    After about three hours of running, the sun was about to


    set, and Jia Yuan panted as he exited the other side of the forest.


    If I remember


    correctly, I¡¯ll see another village in another ten minutes or so¡­


    As Jia Yuan surmised, after 9 minutes of running, he did see


    another village.


    However, there were sounds of weapons clashing and it


    appeared that some of the buildings were on fire. At the same time, some


    children and women were running towards Jia Yuan, towards the forest.


    ¡°This situation¡­ The village must be under attack!¡±


    ¡°A fight!¡±


    Jia Yuan¡¯s blood boiled as he charged toward the village!

 Chapter 8

    Chapter 8: The Prelude


    As he neared the village, Jia Yuan¡¯s nostrils filled with


    the smell of smoke and blood. Clearly, the fighting had resulted in quite some bloodshed already.


    Jia Yuan reached the edge of the village, and saw about ten


    bandits brandishing steel scimitars while chasing a group of children who looked to be less than 8 years old.


    ¡°You bastards!¡± Screamed Jia Yuan as he charged at the


    bandits.


    When he came within a meter of the bandits, he


    dug his back foot in the ground and sent out an explosion of force to dash


    through the bandits, while drawing his wooden sword at the same time!


    This was the sword unsheathing method, which Jia Yuan had


    developed as an efficient way to begin his Dance. As such, Jia Yuan¡¯s first


    real fight after acquiring a Song had begun.


    The dash propelled Jia Yuan through the ten bandits, and he


    sliced through all ten with a single strike of his sword.


    A bystander would have noticed that not only was Jia Yuan¡¯s dash


    fast, but when he had propelled himself using his back foot, a fiery blaze


    exploded out from under said foot, adding to the force of the dash. In addition,


    his sword strike was not only fast and forceful, but his sword was surrounded


    by a thick fiery aura.


    As such was the power of a Song. Not only could Jia Yuan use


    the power of fire, but he would not be harmed his own fire, and this


    self-protection was even applied to his clothes and weapons.


    After slaying the ten bandits, Jia Yuan felt a surge of


    power course through his body.


    The 2nd level of Absorption!


    I guess I just needed


    some external stimulus huh.


    However, there seemed to be over a hundred bandits fighting


    about 50 men of the village. As for their strength, the ones that


    had been dispatched by Jia Yuan were the weakest. (which was why they were


    chasing children)


    It looks like this


    will be a fun battle.


    For the first time in his life, Jia Yuan was fighting to the


    death against other humans.


    For the first time in his life, he was fighting more than


    one opponent at once.


    For the first time in his life, he felt the joy of a battle.


    Although the above took a while to explain, it all happened


    within the span of about three seconds. In less than three seconds, a child at


    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.the age of 11, had slain 10 grown men, who despite being weak, were used to


    being bandits and had somewhat gotten used to using their scimitars.


    Unfortunately for them, none of them had acquired a Song,


    and thus had not reached even the 1st level of Absorption. As such,


    these grown men could not even compare to the child they had just been slain


    by.


    Jia Yuan finished surveying the surroundings and began


    sprinting to the villagers. After all, he had to do his best to keep them


    alive, or he himself may die from being surrounded bandits. In this battle, he


    and the villagers were makeshift allies.


    However, how could all of the bandits be so weak?


    In fact, the leader of the bandits was at the 5th


    level of Absorption, and his Song was currently suppressing the villagers.


    But alas, this is where Jia Yuan¡¯s inexperience came in to


    play.


    Jia Yuan foolishly assumed that all of the bandits were at


    the strength of the bandits he had met previously, and charged into the midst


    of the fighting, trading blows with several bandits at once.


    Fortunately, Jia Yuan immediately realized his mistake when


    the first few bandits he encountered easily parried his blows.


    Shit! I made a


    mistake! I have to get out of here!


    Jia Yuan looked around him. He had unwittingly ran into an


    earlier conflict, and now he and 3 other villagers were surrounded by 5


    bandits.


    ¡­


    It looks like I will


    have to use my Song.


    Jia Yuan immediately calmed his soul, and prepared his Song.


    The villagers beside him noticed the change in this child¡¯s


    demeanor and were shocked, questions emerging in their minds.


    ¡°What? Such a young kid has acquired a Song?¡±


    ¡°Is he a noble? But that can¡¯t be, his clothes are tattered


    and faded! Even if he is a free man, he looks like a beggar!¡±


    ¡°How strong is this kid? Is it enough to save us?¡±


    The 5 bandits surrounding Jia Yuan had not noticed the


    change within Jia Yuan, as they didn¡¯t think much of this kid with a wooden


    sword who had joined the fray. After all, they didn''t have time to, as they had three villagers standing in front of them with real weapons as well.


    For the first time in history, the Song of Swords was about to show its domineering ability.

 Chapter 9

    Chapter 9: The Sea of Souls (1)


    At this moment, in


    the deepest reaches of Jia Yuan¡¯s soul, the Song started with the sound of a drum.


    Jia Yuan¡¯s eyes


    shut themselves, and he gave his soul to the Song.


    Two more drum hits


    sounded.


    And then, in an


    instant, a full Song sounded out!


    At that instant, in


    the outside world, Jia Yuan performed the sword unsheathing method.


    Not only was there


    a thick fiery aura around the wooden sword, but this time, the sword was


    engulfed in a raging inferno. This awe-inspiring scene caused the


    entire battlefield to turn their eyes to Jia Yuan.


    Everybody present


    said the same thing in their mind.


    ¡°What???¡±


    Of course, Jia Yuan


    was currently in the midst of his Song, and he didn¡¯t know what had


    just occurred on the battlefield. All he knew was that his Song was still


    playing, and he felt as if he was falling in a sea of darkness.


    In the outside


    world, Jia Yuan resembled a fire god as he tore through the ranks of the


    bandits, swinging his sword in a violent yet almost elegant manner. Jia Yuan was performing a Dance in accordance with the Song of Swords. Walls of fire were erected around him, and quite frankly, he was


    starting to do as much damage to the village as the bandits had.


    To the villagers and the bandits, it didn¡¯t matter


    that it was a child with a wooden sword. What did matter, was that this child


    had killed nearly half of the bandits attacking the village! Not only that, but


    the simple wooden sword in his hand that was worth not a single small fire


    shard lit ablaze in the shape of an axe! This truly gave Jia Yuan


    the look of a god.


    ¡°Retreat! Retreat!¡±


    ¡°Get out of here,


    he¡¯s a freaking demon!¡±


    Panicked shouts scattered


    through the bandits¡¯ ranks, and they promptly began to run away. The bandit


    leader himself glared across the village at Jia Yuan before running away


    himself.


    As the leader of several hundred bandits, he was a strong


    warrior at the 5th level of Absorption. This was more than strong enough to be a 400 or 500 man commander in the Army! But even he was not strong enough to cause


    the destruction that he had just witnessed. This sent a pang of jealousy and


    anger into his heart.


    He could not accept


    it! How could a common-looking child be so strong? How could a child possess so


    much destructive power? But so many of his followers, his comrades, had fallen


    to this child.


    It was truly hard


    for him to swallow.


    Back at the village, Jia Yuan¡¯s body abruptly stopped


    attacking the retreating bandits, and his body shuddered.


    Then, it stopped moving. Jia Yuan¡¯s body erupted into flame,


    but he did not move. In fact, at this moment, he was achieving yet another


    breakthrough!


    Before he had entered the battle, his body was already


    strong enough to support the 3rd level of Absorption. With the help


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.of the pills which he consumed almost daily, his soul was also strong enough to


    support the 3rd level of Absorption. In fact, Jia Yuan originally


    had a strong soul anyway, so with the help of the pills, his soul was almost


    strong enough to support the 4th level of Absorption! Such a speed of


    development could only be attributed to a genius of a noble family! For while a


    commoner could rely on their own speed, the prized geniuses of a noble family


    would have their development supplemented by a surplus of pills!


    Of course, how would anyone else know that Jia Yuan had


    previously acquired 1600 extremely high quality pills? As Jia Yuan exhibited the aura of the 3rd level of Absorption, the villagers


    could only attribute the combination of his strength and age to a freakishly


    high level of natural ability.


    As for why Jia Yuan broke through to the 3rd


    level of Absorption so quickly after being gated at the 1st level of Absorption, can be attributed to how he fought during


    the battle.


    What Jia Yuan had done by handing over control of his body


    over to the Song was extremely dangerous, which was why nobody else in the


    battle hand done it. However, Jia Yuan did not know about the dangers


    associated with this method.


    When Jia Yuan handed over control of his body to the Song,


    he was able to achieve a strength far higher than he would have if he had


    performed his Dance in accordance with the Song of Swords himself. After all,


    he was still absorbing the power of the Song, and while he trained well, he was


    only at the early stage of the Absorption level. How could his control of the


    Dance compare to the control of the Song itself? While the Song of Swords was


    not yet able to exhibit its true strength, it was able to fight to the


    utmost limits of Jia Yuan¡¯s body.


    However, in return, he put his soul in jeopardy. When he


    handed control of his body to the Song, his own soul was swapped into where the


    soul of the Song usually resided, hence why he felt as if he was falling in a


    sea of darkness. How could his fledgling soul compare to that of the Song?


    The soul of the Song was made to live in this environment, whereas Jia Yuan¡¯s


    soul was nowhere near close enough to being able to survive in this environment


    for long.


    To cultivate a strong understanding of the Song, one needed not only a strong soul, but one with depth. As such, doing what Jia Yuan had


    done, inadvertently moving his own soul to the sea of his Song, was the fastest


    way to train the depth of a soul. After all, what better place to understand


    one¡¯s Song than the place their Song resides? However, it was also the most


    dangerous.


    The feeling of drowning that Jia Yuan experienced was real.


    In fact, his own soul was drowning. This was the risk involved with this


    method. The ¡°dark sea¡± that he was in was in fact a sea of souls.

 Chapter 10

    Chapter 10: Sea of Souls (2)


    Yes, the place where the souls of Songs lived in, was a sea


    of souls. It was a sea of two types of souls. The first type of souls were


    those that had used this method, and had fallen victim to the waves and had


    actually drowned. These souls could be found dispersed throughout the massive


    sea. The second type of souls, were the souls of those that had been slain by


    the owner of the Song and would be found in the part of the sea his Song


    resides. In this case, the souls of the beasts and bandits that had been slain


    by Jia Yuan were in his Song¡¯s area of the sea. Over time, they would succumb


    to the Song, and would also drown. After the souls drowned, they would become


    part of the sea, and over time, the souls of the Songs would consume them.


    So how does one escape this sea? The only way is to keep


    part of one¡¯s soul connected to the body, and then the appropriate time comes,


    whether one simply wants control of their body back, or they are about to


    drown, use this part of the soul to guide the rest of their soul back to the


    safe recesses of their body. In the process, the soul of the Song would also be


    returned to the sea of souls. Of course, this requires not only great control


    of one¡¯s soul, but also requires a strong willpower that is able to convince


    the Song to leave their body.


    By some miracle, without knowing any of this Jia Yuan was


    able to pull his soul back into his body.


    At this moment, the fire blazing around his body began to


    shrink in size, and Jia Yuan opened his eyes and looked around.


    Everything around him, the ground, the houses, the grass.


    Everything was burnt, and some things were still on fire. Plumes of smoke rose


    into the air, and the smoke burned his nostrils.


    He looked to the side, and saw that some of the villagers


    that he had noticed fighting earlier were staring at him with unusual


    expression on their faces.


    ¡°Um, why are you staring at me?¡±


    The villagers glanced at each other and collectively heaved


    a huge sigh. This kid didn¡¯t even know what he had done!


    From their midst, a tall, middle-aged man stepped out.


    ¡°Hello young sire, may we know your name? I am the eldest


    son of the village elder, and I will speak for him. My apologies that he is not


    here right now, but he should be coming back soon, as he evacuated the village


    along with the women and children when we first saw the bandits attacking.¡±


    Jia Yuan felt rather content at the words of this man. For


    his entire life, the only titles he had possessed were ¡°child¡± and ¡°slave.¡±


    Being called a young sire was far more respectful and heartwarming.


    ¡°Greetings elder, my name is Jia Yuan. I just happened to be


    passing through here when I noticed the bandits attacking, so I decided to


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.help.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for helping Jia Yuan. If it weren¡¯t for your


    interruption, the village may have been overrun by the bandits and more people


    would¡¯ve died. As nightfall is only about half an hour away, you are welcome to


    spend the night at the village. Much of our food was burned by the bandits and


    uh¡­ um.. well don¡¯t worry about it we still have enough I think.¡±


    ¡°In the meantime, you can rest. Here, Wan Shi, your house


    should be on the unharmed part of the village, right? Could you be so kind to


    bring this young hero to rest at your house?¡±


    ¡°Yes sir, I will do so.¡±


    ¡°Come, young one. My wife was cooking some food for dinner


    when the bandits attacked. If you like, we can eat some of what she finished


    before they come back, or we can wait about an hour for the villagers to get


    them back and for her to finish cooking¡­ I don¡¯t know how to cook myself.¡±


    And so, Jia Yuan followed this man to his house. Along the


    way, he secretly sent a bit of his soul into his ring, and took out an


    Absorption level soul pill and a Fire based body pill. He then glanced at the


    man, and when the man looked away, he popped the two pills into his mouth and


    swallowed them.


    He let out a sigh inside his heart, for he instantly felt


    much better. After all, even though he was not conscious during the battle, the


    Song had exerted his body to the utmost, and after spending just two minutes in


    the darkness, his mentality was also exhausted. The pills helped greatly in the


    regard.


    While this was happening, they had arrived in front of Wan


    Shi¡¯s house, and Jia Yuan took a look at the exterior before he walked in.


    It was decidedly nicer than his master¡¯s old shack, and


    despite the strong smell of smoke outside, the house was insulated enough that


    the smell of smoke wasn¡¯t too much, and it still smelled of the delicious food


    had been cooking just twenty minutes prior.


    Jia Yuan noticed two smaller mattresses on the ground and


    asked, ¡°Do you have kids?¡± while motioning toward the smaller mattresses.


    ¡°Mm. They look to be around your age¡­ speaking of which,


    just how old are you, if you don¡¯t mind me asking?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to be turning 12 within the year.¡±


    The man didn¡¯t seem to be too surprised, as he was expecting


    such an answer, but he still less loose a long sigh.


    ¡°Whoo¡­ sorry to ask further, but what kind of status do you


    have?¡±


    Jia Yuan was puzzled. There was a sort of waver in the man¡¯s


    voice that conveyed some sort of emotion.


    Jia Yuan realized! The man was afraid of him! But why? His


    mind went back to the scene he saw when he was awoken from the Sea of Souls.

 Chapter 11

    Chapter 11: A Test Meal


    Could it be, that the obvious signs of destruction he had


    seen were caused by himself? Impossible! He was only at the 2nd


    lev..


    What?? When did I


    progress to the 3rd level of Absorption? How did I progress so fast? But, there''s still no way I could cause such a scene!


    Jia Yuan only just realized that he had progressed, which


    was rather normal. When he had progressed to the 3rd level of


    Absorption, his soul was still in the process of returning to his body and he


    was not yet aware of any changes in his body.


    But still, this speed was simply too frightening! Wan Shi


    didn¡¯t know, but Jia Yuan understood that he had progressed from the 1st


    level of Absorption to the 3rd level of Absorption in mere minutes!


    Usually, progressing required hours upon hours of training


    in both the body and the soul. In addition, although Jia Yuan did not know, the


    Song of Swords had the rather dangerous requirement of only being able to


    progress when the owner¡¯s life was in sufficient danger. For example, a battle


    or a fight to the death.


    Jia Yuan realized that his body and mind must have been put


    through an even higher level of exertion than he had imagined, and at the same


    time realized that he had been the cause of the destruction. Come to think of


    it, when he came to, the ground around himself had been covered by scorch marks


    and the bodies of dead bandits.


    Quick, I need an


    answer!


    Wan Shi was still standing in front of Jia Yuan, puzzled at


    his silence. He was starting to feel as if he had asked too much.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, young one. If you do not wish to answer, it is


    fine. I was just curious and I shouldn¡¯t of asked so much.¡±


    ¡°Nono, mister. It is just that I only just realized that I


    had caused the destruction I saw earlier. I am very deeply sorry.¡±


    ¡°It is fine young sir, it is just as the Elder¡¯s son said.


    If you hadn¡¯t intervened, we definitely would¡¯ve suffered many more losses and


    may even have been wiped out. If that had happened, it truly would have been


    tragic. At least with your help, we should be able to survive.¡±


    Jia Yuan calmed down, and he and Wan Shi swapped some small


    talk until the women and children of the village returned.


    A woman burst through the door of the house, followed by a boy and a girl, both looking to be around Jia Yuan¡¯s age.


    ¡°Honey, are you alright?¡±


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°I¡¯m alright, I¡¯m alright. Look at you, worrying so much.


    Hey, calm yourself, we have a guest!¡±


    ¡°Oh! Sorry! How are you?¡±


    She turned to look at Jia Yuan. What she saw puzzled her. Why


    was child who was obviously not from the village in her house? Why were his


    clothes so tattered?


    ¡°Honey, meet Jia Yuan, Jia Yuan, meet my wife Guo Yi. Dear,


    if it wasn¡¯t for this child, the village may have been overrun.¡±


    ¡°Truly?¡± Guo Yi faced Jia Yuan and bowed ¡°Thank you for


    saving the village! Here, we¡¯ll treat you to a feast!¡±


    Wan Shi was actually a rather successful farmer, and so


    while his family was not able to be wasteful, they could acquire some extra


    food for occasions such as these. Thankfully, their farm was on the far side of


    the village, and had not been harmed by the bandits.


    Guo Yi was still confused, but she went to prepare the feast


    for Jia Yuan. She decided that she would ask her husband about it later.


    After about half an hour of preparation, she had finally


    prepared all of the dishes.


    Jia Yuan had been watching the entire time, and at this


    point, the dishes he saw on the table combined with the aromas floating through


    the air had caused him to salivate tremendously.


    Guo Yi saw, and laughed. ¡°Alright everyone, dinner is ready!


    Enjoy!¡±


    Everyone crowded around the table of dishes and started


    eating. As for Jia Yuan, he started wolfing down the world as his he had six stomachs.


    How can you blame him? He was a slave, and only ever ate


    congee. His meal with piece of unseasoned meat was probably the best meal he


    had ever had as a slave. Now, in front of him, he had vegetable congee, eggs,


    and various meats, along with some fermented cabbage: kimchi.


    The eggs and meats were beautifully seasoned, and the smell


    was mouth-watering. The kimchi looked beautiful as well.


    However, this in part was a trap laid by Guo Yi and Wan Shi.


    They were very curious as to what kind of background Jia Yuan had, and


    tableside manners are a great indication.


    If he was a noble or even an evicted son of a noble family,


    he should have great table manners. With the strength he had shown earlier, Wan


    Shi was almost completely convinced that Jia Yuan was in some way connected to


    a noble.


    However¡­ the way this child ate was simply too unrefined!

 Chapter 12

    Chapter 12: To the City


    Wan Shi and Guo Yi, as well as their children, were


    gobsmacked. This Jia Yuan¡­ had no manners at all! They actually stopped eating


    and watched as Jia Yuan systematically devoured the food on the table.


    ¡°Wahhh, this food is so good! Heh? Why aren¡¯t any of you


    eating?¡±


    Wan Shi awkwardly responded. ¡°Ah¡­that¡­ *ahem* you seem to have


    quite an appetite, young man.¡±


    ¡°Oh, normally I don¡¯t have much to eat and earlier today I


    had expended a very large amount of energy¡­ah, I¡¯ll do my best to hold back,


    sorry.¡±


    ¡°Ah, don¡¯t worry about it! Continue eating to your heart¡¯s


    content! It is just that I was surprised is all.¡±


    Guo Yi and Wan Shi glanced at each other. What Jia Yuan had


    just said had confirmed their suspicions. This child was most likely a commoner


    from a poor household. At the very least, Jia Yuan¡¯s family was definitely


    poorer than theirs.


    Wan Shi cast an eye back towards Jia Yuan and thought to himself, ¡°This


    boy should come from a poor family¡­ So how is his training speed so fast? How


    is he so strong? Could it be¡­that he is a genius that comes along only once in


    a thousand years?¡±


    Of course, Wan Shi didn¡¯t know that the domineering strength


    he had seen Jia Yuan exhibit earlier was due to Jia Yuan handing his body over


    to his Song. After all, this was a technique that was rarely ever used, due to


    the dangers associated with it. Why would someone put themselves in such danger


    for some strangers?


    Wan Shi shuddered at the thought of Jia Yuan¡¯s future development,


    and decided in his heart to make an effort to find out where Jia Yuan was from


    and to help him in the future.


    After dinner, Jia Yuan played around with the two children


    at around midnight they all settled in for a peaceful night.


    Jia Yuan woke early the next morning and did his best to


    sneak his way out of the house without waking the Wan Shi and his family up.


    After all, they had quite an exhausting day yesterday, with the bandit attack


    and all.


    When Wan Shi''s family woke up, their parents understood Jia Yuan''s actions, but they felt a little peeved. Late that night while their children and Jia Yuan had been sleeping, they had decided that they would try and help Jia Yuan with whatever he needed to do. It could be considered an investment for the future! Unfortunately, Jia Yuan had already left and they didn''t know if they would ever meet the young man again.


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    After a day of


    walking, Jia Yuan saw the walls of the city, embellished with gigantic Fire Kingdom


    Banners. Although RockFire City wasn¡¯t one of the premier cities of the Fire


    Kingdom, to Jia Yuan, it was a gigantic city of opportunities. After all, he


    grew up in the tiny Fire Hill Village.


    After another hour of walking, he neared the city gates, and


    his eyes grew to the size of dinner plates.


    Jia Yuan loved cities. Well, he didn¡¯t like everything about


    cities. For example, he didn¡¯t like seeing the destitute milling about the


    slums on the outer regions of the city, but he loved seeing the magnificent


    walls, the guards in shiny armor patrolling the streets, and he loved gazing


    towards the inner reaches of the city, where the mere roof tiles spoke of an


    extravagance that Jia Yuan lacked in his life. Sometimes in his dreams, he would imagine himself walking through the streets wearing a fiery robe embedded with countless jewels...


    Jia Yuan was caught in a daze staring at his surroundings.


    Ah, right. I was here


    to buy a pot and uh¡­ well, we¡¯ll see.


    Jia Yuan roamed through the streets until he found a street


    selling various goods. He then found a store selling pots and walked in.


    ¡°Hello sir, I¡¯ve come to buy a pot!¡±


    The store owner looked Jia Yuan up and down and sighed. It


    was just another poor person¡­


    ¡°What kind of pot do you need?¡±


    ¡°Not a great one, just one that is able to cook congee and


    maybe from time to time some meat. Although, it¡¯d be nice if it is rather sturdy.¡±


    The store owner heaved another sigh in his mind, and lead Jia


    Yuan to a simple steel pot.


    ¡°10 small fire shards.¡±


    Jia Yuan was caught in a rather awkward situation. After


    all, his master had only given him 5 small fire shards.


    ¡°5 small fire shards is my offer.¡±


    ¡°Scram kid, that pot cost me 5 small fire shards of material


    to make. The Army¡¯s been buying up all the steel around the Kingdom, it¡¯s hard


    to come by these days.¡±


    And so, Jia Yuan was rather ungracefully forced out of the shop.

 Chapter 13

    Chapter 13: Plan B


    Outside the shop, he pondered to himself. ¡°If what the shop


    owner said was true, how am I going to be able to buy a pot?¡±


    Well, guess I¡¯ll go ahead with¡­ Plan B!


    Jia Yuan had thought about many things on the way to


    RockFire City. After all, running by oneself was rather boring. As such, he had


    come up with an idea. Jia Yuan wanted a real weapon to use in life or death


    battles. After all, running at a bunch of well-equipped opponents with a wooden


    sword wasn¡¯t exactly advantageous.


    So then came another problem. How was he going to get money


    to buy a sword? The only thing Jia Yuan had a surplus of, was pills. Also, he


    had only consumed about 30 of the Absorption level soul pills, and about 25 of


    the Fire based body pills. With his current training speed, he felt that it was


    okay if he sold some of those pills.


    However, there was a problem that came with this. With his


    current appearance he was clearly either a slave or a child from a poor family. As


    such, if he went to one of the upscale pill stores to sell pills, the store may


    assumed that he had stolen said pills. In this case, they might jail him for robbery or even kill him!


    With this in mind, Jia Yuan had come up with the first part of his


    plan.


    First, he headed toward a store selling clothing. The store


    owner looked at him curiously but didn¡¯t intervene. Even though this ¡°customer¡±


    of his was a child in faded and tattered clothing, he couldn¡¯t risk turning


    away a potential customer¡­ after all, he only ran a small store, and no matter what profits he made, he had to pay regular taxes to the city.


    Jia Yuan picked out a dark blue robe and a straw hat and


    brought them to the store owner. The robe was long enough to cover his entire body and hide the majority of his features.


    ¡°Hello sir, how much for these?¡±


    ¡°Hm¡­ 1 small fire shard for the hat, and 3 small fire shards


    for the robe.¡±


    ¡°Okay!¡±


    Jia Yuan handed over the 4 small fire shards, and went into


    a side room in the store to change into the robe. As for his usual clothes, he


    stored them into his ring.


    Now, aside from his face, he could easily pass as a member


    of the middle class. As for his face, that was why he had purchased the straw


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.hat. He would use the straw hat to cover his face.


    He left the store, and proceeded to walk toward the inner


    parts of the city. This was the first test for his plan. The inner parts of the


    city were filled with the wealthy and were not accessible to poor people. As


    such, there was a secondary gate lined with guards to prevent intruders.


    After a few minutes of walking, Jia Yuan reached the


    secondary city gate and walked past the guards without trouble.


    Jia Yuan¡¯s heart was filled with glee. So his disguise


    really did work!


    Now, to find a pill store.


    Jia Yuan wandered the streets with a discerning eye, judging


    items with a look of a buyer. Of course, the other passerby on the street who could see him couldn¡¯t tell


    that he was a slave living a destitute lifestyle.


    But for Jia Yuan, it was rather fun for him to gaze into


    stores and be invited to the stores by these wealthy merchants who probably saw


    more money come into their store each day than Jia Yuan had seen in his entire


    life.


    After spending some time fooling around in this manner, Jia


    Yuan moved on to his initial goal. Along the way, he had asked some of the


    store owners about pill shops and their locations.


    From his investigation, he found that there were three


    reputable pill shops in the city. The first was backed by the city¡¯s governing


    family, while the other two were controlled by the Army and the continent-wide Black Wing


    Merchant Guild. He also found that the shop owned by the governor¡¯s family offered


    the best prices, but the Black Wing Merchant guild would offer benefits if one


    were to continually do business with them.


    As for the Army, they would usually offer a medium price as


    well as some benefits for purchasing weapons and armor from the Army.


    Jia Yuan thought about which pill shop to sell


    his pills to. ¡°Being able to sell for more fire shards is a good thing, but it


    sounds like the benefits offered by the Black Wing Merchant guild are unmatched.


    Furthermore, in the future I will likely be training in other elements. As


    such, it would make sense to participate with the only entity of the three that


    has stores all over the continent.

 Chapter 14

    Chapter 14: Money in the Bank


    Jia Yuan headed toward towards the part of the city where


    the store owners had said the BlackWing Merchant Guild was located. This was in


    fact not a pill shop, but a general trading location that also traded in pills,


    as was the same with the other two locations. After all, pills were usually


    very quickly bought by customers, and pills were relatively rare. As such, it


    was easy to implement a pill shop in a store that sold other things.


    He saw a gigantic building with a pair of black wings


    sprouting from either side of the entrance.


    I guess this is it... but what the hell is the size of this building??


    He strode into the building and was greeted by an attractive


    female receptionist.


    ¡°Hello sir, my name is Shi Guo. What brings you to our prestigious


    Black Wing Merchant Guild Hall?¡±


    Jia Yuan glanced at the receptionist from under the brim of


    his straw hat and said in as low of a voice as he could, ¡°Pills.¡±


    The receptionist blinked her eyes in surprise, but promptly


    recovered. ¡°Of course, sir. I will lead you to our pill specialist on the 4th


    floor.¡±


    As the receptionist lead Jia Yuan through the Hall, he saw


    many interesting things, amongst them some shiny weapons and armor, as well as


    some extremely well crafted clothing studded with diamonds and other jewels. He


    even saw a sign that said ¡°Warning: Poison Exhibit.¡±


    After a bit of this, they arrived at the Pill Shop on the 4th


    floor. A single elderly man was sitting at a desk.


    Shi Guo said to the man, ¡°Hello, esteemed elder. This guest


    is here to trade in pills.¡±


    ¡°Thank you Shi Guo.¡± The elder turned to Jia Yuan. ¡°Hello


    guest, are you buying or selling?¡±


    In the same deep voice he had used earlier with the


    receptionist, Jia Yuan said ¡°I am here to sell a few pills.¡±


    The elder¡¯s eyes twinkled. Most people who came would only be able to sell one or two pills, but this young man had said he wanted to sell "a few." ¡°Would you be willing to show the


    wares?¡±


    Jia Yuan nodded, and from inside the long sleeve of the blue


    robe, he extracted an Absorption level soul pill and a Fire pill. After doing


    so, he raised his arm, and placed the two pills on the desk.


    The elder carefully picked up the pills and began examining


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.them.


    In his mind, he was rather shocked. The quality of these


    pills were simply too high! In fact, despite working for the Black Wing


    Merchant Guild for more than 30 years, he had never seen pills of such high


    quality. If he could buy these pills for a good price, the Guild could easily


    flip the pills for a huge profit!


    ¡°The soul pill, we can buy for 20 thousand small fire shards


    or 2 thousand medium fire shards¡­ as for the Fire pill¡­30 thousand small fire


    shards or 3 thousand medium fire shards. Will that do?¡±


    Jia Yuan didn¡¯t respond. He didn¡¯t even move.


    After about half a minute of silence, the elder sighed in


    his mind.


    ¡°Very well, we can offer 400 large fire shards for the soul


    pill and 700 large fire shards for the body pill. I trust that this should be


    enough?¡±


    The elder had seen that Jia Yuan didn¡¯t react at all to his


    earlier offer, which he took as an absolute refusal to the prices he had set.


    As such, he actually raised the offer by more than threefold. One has to know,


    that although 10 small fire shards equates to a medium fire shards, large fire


    shards are hard to mine, and as such are sold at a rate of about 15 medium fire


    shards to a single large fire shard.


    This was also because the elder had decided that if he


    couldn¡¯t make a huge profit instantly by low balling the customer, he would


    give a generous offer to lay the grounds for a future partnership. After all,


    the quality of the pills was truly too high, and it was possible that this


    guest was part of a noble household, or even better, related to an alchemist.


    How could he have known that the reason Jia Yuan had no


    reaction at all, was because his mind had simply exploded from the initial


    offer. As soon as he heard the offer, his mind had quite simply shut down. 50


    thousand small fire shards! That was more than 10 times the amount his brother


    Dou Di had been sold to the army for. It was enough for an entire family to


    live in comfort for hundreds of years.


    For only 2 pills!


    And apparently, this price was only a low ball offer, as the


    elder had quickly raised the offer! Jia Yuan struggled to come to his senses


    and managed to utter a single word. ¡°Deal.¡±

 Chapter 15

    Chapter 15: Currency Cards


    Oh wait.


    Jia Yuan finally came to his senses and said ¡°Actually, I


    would be willing to sell more of the same pills.¡±


    The pill merchant''s eyes grew wider.


    ¡°I would like to sell, in total, 5 soul pills and 10 fire


    pills.¡±


    The merchant responded quickly ¡°If they are the same quality as


    the pills you showed me just now, then we would be willing to offer the same


    price for each of them. That should be¡­ 2000 large fire shards for the soul


    pill and 7000 large fire shards for the body¡­*ahem* fire pills.¡±


    Jia Yuan didn¡¯t trust himself to speak and further and only


    nodded. He again dropped his arm as to be able to draw the pills from his ring


    without drawing suspicion. After a few seconds, he raised his arm again and


    placed the promised pills on the table.


    ¡°Now, the fire shards?¡±


    ¡°Ah, about that. Esteemed customer, would you like the fire


    shards to be inserted into your Currency Card?


    Jia Yuan was confused. Currency Card? What was that?


    Of course Jia Yuan, a slave, wouldn¡¯t know. He had no choice


    but to ask.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t know what a Currency Card is.¡±


    The merchant was rather astonished. Someone who had access to


    multiple high quality pills didn¡¯t know what a Currency Card was??


    In his mind, he was currently equating Jia Yuan to a


    disciple of an alchemist who had spent the early parts of his life in solitary


    training.


    This combination not only made sense in relation to the


    pills, but also explained why Jia Yuan didn¡¯t know about Currency Cards.


    ¡°I can explain, esteemed customer. A Currency Card is a card


    that has been imbued by magic, and is capable of storing certain items. In the


    Fire Kingdom, most currency cards are only capable of holding Fire Shards. As


    for the volume, there are low class Currency Cards all the way up to high class


    Currency Cards. Low class Currency Cards could hold up to 500 large fire


    shards, while high class Currency Cards could hold millions.


    This, in a way, showed the disparity in wealth in the Fire


    Kingdom, which was matched in the other Kingdoms.


    A normal family had to scrape together small fire shards,


    while the richest families in the Kingdom had millions upon millions of large


    fire shards.


    ¡°How much will a Currency Card cost?¡±


    ¡°Well sir, for your needs, I would recommend a Currency Card


    that is able to hold at least 10 thousand large fire shards, to cover your


    current needs. As for the price¡­I¡¯ll cut to the chase. As someone who is able


    to provide us with high quality pills, we¡¯d be willing to ignore the costs of


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.the Currency Card as long as you agree to continue providing us with any


    extraneous pills that you may want to sell in the future.¡±


    Jia Yuan was rather surprised, but readily agreed.


    ¡°Then please wait a moment sir.¡±


    He motioned to the receptionist, who came over to the merchant¡¯s


    side. The elderly merchant whispered some words into the receptionists¡¯ ear, and she


    quickly left.


    ¡°I¡¯ve told her to retrieve a currency card with the promised


    currency within. In fact, I¡¯ve also told her to put the fire shards in our special


    Black and Gold Currency Card. With it, you can purchase anything in


    any of the Guild Halls on the continent for 10% off.¡±


    ¡°Thank you very much, sir.¡±


    This was the first time in Jia Yuan¡¯s life that he had been


    so pampered. As such, he felt very positively inclined toward the Black Wing


    Merchant Guild.


    After a while, the receptionist returned with a Currency Card that was black with extremely detailed gold decorations on it.


    ¡°Here you go, sir. If you use your spirit sense, you should


    be able to see the large fire shards within. Using said spirit sense, you can


    also withdraw the fire shards from within. Furthermore, after using your spirit


    sense with it, it will only recognize you as its owner unless you die.¡±


    Jia Yuan accepted the Currency Card and quickly placed it


    within his ring. He trusted that the Black Wing Merchant Guild which seemed to


    want to rope him in wouldn¡¯t try to cheat him with such petty methods.


    The esteemed elder stood up and moved to shake Jia Yuan¡¯s


    hand. ¡°Thank you for doing business with us. If there is anything else you wish


    to buy or sell today, feel free to let the receptionist know.¡±


    Jia Yuan stood up and while walking toward the stairs, told


    Shi Guo that he wanted to buy some weapons.


    ¡°What kind of weapons, sir?¡±


    ¡°I want to purchase a sword of the highest quality. Price is


    of no object.¡±


    With the 9 thousand large fire shards in his Currency Card,


    Jia Yuan felt as if he could buy anything!


    ¡°Of course sir, we will head towards the 3rd


    floor then. This is the weapons floor, which is divided into multiple sections,


    depending on the quality. Assuming that you don¡¯t wish to spend more than the 9


    thousand large fire shards you just gained, your best bet would probably be the


    4th section.¡±


    ¡°And¡­ here we are sir. You are allowed to look at


    everything, but if you want to test one of the weapons, you must tell me. We


    will invite one of our weapons specialists and bring you to the field testing


    area.¡±

 Chapter 16

    Chapter 16: Finding a Sword


    Jia Yuan looked around the room he was in. His eyes truly


    sparkled, but the receptionist couldn¡¯t tell because of the straw hat.


    If she could see Jia Yuan¡¯s face, she could see that he was


    quite literally drooling at the site of the weapons.


    Unfortunately for Jia Yuan, a good half of the room was


    filled with axes. After all, axes paired well with the fire element, as both


    provided for strong and explosive attacks. As such, for many in the Fire Kingdom,


    either the one-handed or two-handed axe was the weapon of choice. In this


    regard, sword practitioners like Jia Yuan were still plentiful, but part of the


    minority.


    However, the swords he saw were more than enough to sate his


    eyes. It took him a while to remember his goal: to find a sword that he could


    go through life and death battles with.


    He began to look at the swords more discerningly.


    He looked back at the receptionist.


    ¡°If I just want to check the balance of a weapon, do I have


    to go to the field testing area?¡±


    After all, he was on the third floor of the building, and


    the field testing area had to be outside. It would be quite troublesome to have


    to repeatedly go from place to place.


    ¡°No, but I will have to invite one of our weapon specialists


    over. Would you like me to do so?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    Jia Yuan understood that the two main things he needed in a


    sword was for it to be made of good materials so that it wouldn¡¯t be damaged or


    break during the heat of battle, and that it needed to have a balance that he


    liked. As such, he needed a sword that had similar balance to the wooden sword


    that he had been using all of these years.


    The receptionist led Jia Yuan to the first room, where he


    had noticed some people lounging about earlier. Apparently, these were the


    weapon specialists.


    The receptionist led Jia Yuan to one and said, ¡°Hello sir,


    this esteemed customer would like to check the balance of some weapons.¡±


    ¡°Hmm? Alright, alright¡­ let¡¯s go.¡±


    They walked back to the 4th room, and the weapon


    specialist turned to ask Jia Yuan ¡°So, what sort of weapon are you looking for?¡±


    ¡°I am looking for a straight hand and a half sword with


    the balance slightly ahead of the guard.¡±


    Jia Yuan had been practicing with a straight sword, after


    all. As for the change to the hand and a half sword, at points he wanted to


    be able to grip the sword with two hands so that he could swing with more


    power. Furthermore, since Jia Yuan only ever wielded a sword and had never


    practiced with a shield, he used his blade to defend against attacks. As such,


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.it was easier to block attacks if one had two hands gripping the


    sword.


    However, he didn''t want a two-handed sword, as the sword would likely be too big compared to the sword he had practiced with. Furthermore, many of the stances he practiced were one-handed. Combining all of these factors meant that the hand and a half sword would be the best choice.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ would you mind if I recommended some swords to you,


    sir?¡±


    ¡°That would definitely help.¡±


    Seeing that the two got along fine, the receptionist


    followed them calmly at a moderate distance.


    ¡°Alright, lad. Er, uh, esteemed customer. We only have about


    ten swords fitting the description of what you just said. Unfortunately,


    RockFire City isn¡¯t exactly the largest city around, so when it comes to the


    lesser used swords, such as the hand and a half swords we don¡¯t carry many.¡±


    ¡°However, we still have some high quality ones. Usually


    people only buy the cheaper swords, so most of the better swords haven¡¯t been


    purchased. As such, we¡¯ll probably still be able to find a fit for you.¡±


    ¡°Here. This is a one and a half hand sword specially designed


    to maximize one¡¯s fiery aura. It¡¯s made from extremely rare fire stones which


    are not only beneficial to those who train in a Song of fire, but are also very hard. The sword was also forged in a way to maximize flexibility, so the


    sword is also not likely to break from stress in battle.¡±


    Jia Yuan looked at the sword. He then grabbed it and swung


    it around a bit to test the balance.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, but it¡¯s also not exactly what I was looking


    for. Do you have any swords that are compatible with all elements?¡±


    This startled the weapon master, who quickly gave Jia Yuan another glance.


    ¡°No, but you could probably get one custom made at a larger


    city. Although, it¡¯ll probably cost you an arm and a leg. For someone to be


    able to forge stones of all four elements together would mean that they would


    be a master blacksmith, and their services are high in demand.¡±


    ¡°Furthermore, the creations of those master blacksmiths


    would probably be great enough to be considered a prized item in any household.


    As such, you¡¯d probably be looking at somewhere in the neighborhood of a few


    million large fire shards¡­quite a sum even for the royal family.¡±


    Jia Yuan suddenly had a bitter feeling in his heart. He had


    felt just minutes prior that he was at the top of the world with his 9 thousand


    large fire shards, but now he had just found out that this fortune of his wasn¡¯t


    even enough to cover even a single percentage of the costs needed to buy type


    of sword he wanted.

 Chapter 17

    Chapter 17: An Honorable Duel


    Jia Yuan snapped out of his bitterness and said, ¡°Fine, I


    guess I¡¯ll have to make do with these swords. I still didn¡¯t really like the


    weight of the last one though, so lets keep looking.¡±


    ¡°Alright then. Did you feel that the last sword was too


    light or too heavy?¡±


    ¡°Hmm, I¡¯ve only ever used a wooden sword, so it was a little


    heavy for me.¡±


    ¡°Alright, so I guess you¡¯re looking at something that has


    some wind stones along with some fire stones¡­¡±


    ¡°Aha, you¡¯re in luck. This right here is a hand and a half sword


    made out of 70% rare fire tones and 20% rare wind stones. The last 10% is some


    other metals to increase flexibility, just like the sword we tried out earlier.¡±


    ¡°The wind stones are lighter and also improve the speed of


    the sword. However, you¡¯ll lose a bit of the fiery aura. Also, as a fire


    practitioner, the wind aura gained from the wind stones will go to waste. As


    such, swords like this one aren¡¯t really popular¡­ but if you want a light sword


    without sacrificing the structure of the sword, this will probably be your best


    bet.¡±


    Jia Yuan took a moment to think about the situation. In all


    honesty, this sword was probably the best for Jia Yuan. What the weapon


    specialist said was true. For any other martial cultivator, training in more


    than one element was out of the question. After all, Jia Yuan was the only one


    in possession of a Song of the sword element.


    However, Jia Yuan could just train in the wind element in


    the future, at which point this sword be of better use to him than any sword


    that only contained stones of a single element.


    ¡°Can I test the balance of it?¡±


    ¡°Go right ahead.¡±


    Jia Yuan reached out with his right hand and gripped the


    sword tightly. He then unsheathed the sword and swung it with some rigid,


    jagged cuts. He then relaxed his grip a bit and performed some wide slashes as


    well as some more intricate maneuvers.


    He was rather delighted this new sword. The balance was


    exquisite, and he was able to wield the sword as he wished. Furthermore, it


    wasn¡¯t too heavy for him.


    Finally, he settled into the first stance he had seen on the


    scroll housing the Song of Swords. He then performed the four stances without


    fault, and then sheathed the sword.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take it.¡±


    ¡°Alright, then. Hey, Guo Shi, come over here. This guy..er,


    this esteemed customer wants to buy this sword.¡±


    ¡°Thank you sir, I will bring sir Jia Yuan to the boss.¡±


    Guo Shi led Jia Yuan to the top floor of the building. They


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.soon arrived in front of a giant set of double doors, over ten feet tall and


    teen feet wide. The most marvelous thing about the doors, is that they seemed


    to be made from solid gold.


    Guo Shi knocked on the door and said, ¡°Sir, this is Guo Shi,


    with an esteemed customer who wishes to buy a sword from the 4th


    room.


    An aged voice sounded from within the room. ¡°Come in.¡±


    The doors opened, and Guo Shi motioned for Jia Yuan to


    enter.


    After entering the room, Jia Yuan saw that despite the


    absurdly ornate doors leading to the room, the inside of the room was rather


    bare. The only redeeming quality of the room was that it was big. Inside, a man


    stood over a table with an axe on it. He walked around the table, gazing at the


    axe.


    As the man saw Jia Yuan enter, he looked up and saw the


    sword in Jia Yuan¡¯s hands. Then he saw the mysterious getup Jia Yuan was


    wearing, and his eyes showed a sharp curiousity.


    ¡°Ah, quite the interesting sword. Come in, come in. Now,


    would you be up for a spar?¡±


    ¡°Ah, sorry?¡± Jia Yuan was quite surprised. After all, why would this old man in charge of this prestigious Guild Hall want to spar someone like him?


    ¡°I like to have a spar with the people who buy weapons from


    our guild. If the customer wins, they can receive an additional 20% off of the


    purchase. That sword in your hand costs 7 thousand large fire shards. With the


    10% off from receiving the black and gold Currency Card, it will cost 6700


    large fire shards. If you spar against me and win, it will be a total of 30%


    off, so it will only cost you 4900 large fire shards.¡±


    ¡°Of course, I¡¯ll lower myself to the level of cultivation


    that you are currently at. If I go over that, I will admit defeat. Oh, and


    obviously, I will make sure to not harm you in any way. The duel will end once


    someone¡¯s weapon is sufficiently close to someone¡¯s fatal point.¡±


    Jia Yuan was slightly skeptical, but didn¡¯t see what the


    catch was. As such, he readily agreed. ¡°Sure. Should we go outside?¡±


    ¡°No need. This room should be able to handle any fighting we


    do. Now, what level of cultivation are you?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Jia Yuan was rather unwilling to reveal his level of


    cultivation, but the lure of an additional 20% discount was just too juicy for


    him to ignore.


    ¡°I¡¯m at the 3rd level of Absorption.¡±


    ¡°Not bad, not bad. Hmm¡­ Okay, I have lowered my cultivation


    to that of the 3rd level of Absorption as well. Now, come at me!¡±

 Chapter 18

    Chapter 18: The Honorable Duel (2)


    Jia Yuan took a deep breath and readied himself. He


    unsheathed the sword he had brought from the 3rd floor, and settled the


    first stance on the scroll housing the Song of Swords. In fact, this stance was


    the starting point for the Fire Dance.


    The Song of Swords was truly a magnificent Song. Not only


    did the Song of Swords allow the cultivator to train in all four elements, but


    even provided four starting points for the Dance of each element.


    Not only could you switch readily from one starting point to


    another, but the stances were made so that you could even switch to one easily


    from the middle of the dance of another element.


    Even though Jia Yuan couldn¡¯t use this specialty of the Song


    of Swords now, it would be an important part of his future battles.


    The man opened a door on the side of the table, and pulled


    out an axe. After swinging the axe around a few times, he settled into his own


    stance, then charged towards Jia Yuan, while thrusting his axe back in


    preparation for a strong forward slice.


    This was the way the stronger members of the Fire Kingdom


    usually fought. They were very forthright and fought with power.


    An inexperienced fighter would make the mistake of trying to


    meet them head-on, and would simply be overpowered. However, Jia Yuan¡¯s Dance


    of Fire not only embodied this explosive power, but was also encouraged the


    fighter to be mobile. As such, it was very easy for Jia Yuan to dodge the


    forward slice of the old man. At the same time, his Song began to start in


    earnest.


    Jia Yuan had dashed past the old man to dodge the forward


    strike of the axe, and was unharmed. He shut his eyes, and let the Song subconsciously


    guide his dance.


    Jia Yuan gripped the sword with two hands, and dashed back


    toward. To add to his speed and power, he sent raging flames behind him to push


    himself forward. At this time, he raised his sword, and was clearly preparing


    for an overhead strike. This move is an overly forward move that gave the defender


    no questions about the motive of the attacker.


    It would be a contest of power.


    Of course the Song of Swords would choose to put Jia Yuan in


    a battle of power. After all, the cultivation of the old man was currently suppressed


    to also be at the 3rd level of Absorption. Given that the two


    cultivation bases were the same, there were only three factors that could


    decide the outcome of this duel.


    The First: Strength and speed of the body.


    The Second: Proficiency with weapon.


    The Third: The quality of each cultivator¡¯s Song.


    The man was very old. As such, even though his body may be


    strong from the result of his cultivation, it was only so much stronger than


    that of Jia Yuan¡¯s when his cultivation was being so heavily suppressed.


    This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.A forward and direct clash between the two weapons, meant


    that proficiency with one¡¯s weapon was minimized. Which only left the third


    factor. The quality of each cultivator¡¯s Song.


    In fact, the old man knew that it would be possible for a


    challenger to try to negate the first two factors.


    The reason why he still issued the challenge, was because he


    was confident in the quality of his Song. After all, he was an important figure


    in one of the biggest Merchant Guilds on the continent, and had cultivated in a


    high level Song.


    But what kind of Song was the Song of Swords? It was simply


    unmatched.


    As Jia Yuan¡¯s sword came crashing down, a long streak of flame


    followed it. The full strength of this blow came crashing down towards the old


    man¡¯s head.


    The old man sighed and said rather wistfully ¡°Some of these


    new kids are truly frightening. It looks like the old guard will have to


    prepare for the new era, haha¡­¡±


    The old man, upon seeing the power behind this attack from


    Jia Yuan, knew that it would be impossible for him to defend against it using


    the power he had at the 3rd level of Absorption. ¡°I really wonder


    what level Song this kid is cultivating¡­¡±


    He stopped suppressing his own power and raised his axe


    toward Jia Yuan¡¯s sword, and easily blocked the blow.


    Jia Yuan was knocked back, but was unharmed.


    ¡°Ha! You had to raise your cultivation in order to block


    that blow! I win!¡±


    ¡°Indeed, young one, you win. Now, can you let this old man


    see your black and gold Currency Card?¡±


    Jia Yuan dropped his sleeves to his side to be able to


    secretly withdraw the card from his ring. After doing so, he raised his arm


    back up and handed the card over to the old man.


    The old man took the card and walked back to the lone table


    in the room. He opened the side of it again, and took out another Currency


    Card. However, this card was entirely made of gold, and the engravings on it were even more detailed than the black and gold counterpart.


    With the black and gold card in his left hand and the gold


    card in his right, the old man closed his eyes for a few seconds. He then


    opened them, and handed the gold Currency Card to Jia Yuan.


    ¡°Here, young one. Your 9 thousand large fire shards are


    still in it. I¡¯ve decided to not charge you for the sword. Furthermore, I will


    give this gold Currency Card to you. With it, you can buy any item from any


    Black Wing Merchant Guild Hall for 30% off.¡±


    ¡°Now scram, kid. I need to continue to examine the make of this axe¡­¡± said the old man as he walked back towards the table with the axe


    on it, when he suddenly stopped and turned around.


    ¡°Oh right, young one, what is your name?¡±


    ¡°Jia Yuan.¡±


    ¡°Good name, good name. Remember my name, Jia Yuan. My name


    is Guo Huo.¡±

 Chapter 19

    Chapter 19: Like a Boss


    After exchanging names, Jia Yuan left the Black Wing Merchant


    Guild Hall and walked back toward the secondary city gate. After walking out of


    said gates, he look around and found a desolate alleyway.


    He walked into the alleyway and quickly changed into his


    usual slave attire. After doing so, he left the alleyway and made his way back


    to the pot shop that he had been more or less kicked out of earlier in the day.


    The owner of the pot store sat in front of his shop with a


    rather wistful face. It was nearing nighttime, and he was about to close shop.


    ¡°Ahh, how am I going to be able to keep feeding my family? I


    haven¡¯t been able to sell a pot in days¡­ what will we do?¡±


    At this time, he saw the destitute looking boy he had kicked


    out of his store earlier in the day.


    ¡°What do you want, kid?¡±


    Jia Yuan ignored him and asked, ¡°How much is the combined


    worth of all of the pots in your store?¡±


    The store owner glanced at him with a dry expression and


    responded, ¡°A little less than three hundred small fire shards, why?¡±


    Jia Yuan looked around the street. Seeing that all of the


    other store owners were busy closing up their own stores and weren¡¯t paying


    attention to what happened at the pot store, he said, ¡°I¡¯ll take everything.¡±


    Without further explanation, he raised his hand and absorbed


    all of the pots in the store into his ring.


    He then took out two large fire shards from his ring, and


    threw them at the pot store owner.


    ¡°That should be more than enough, yeah?¡±


    And with that, Jia Yuan continued walking down the street in


    search for a place to stay the night.


    The pot store owner quickly ran off and bought what steel he could. After a week, he sold the steel for a profit of over 100 small fire shards. He and his family then moved to the countryside and lived the easy life with their small fortune. From time to time, he would think back to the young child who had given him such an opportunity...


    After roaming the streets of the city for a few minutes, Jia Yuan found a tavern and walked in. Inside, there was a counter with a man standing


    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.behind it.


    Jia Yuan walked up to the counter and asked, ¡°Hello sir, how


    much for a bed for one night?¡±


    ¡°1 small fire shard will do.¡±


    ¡°Right-o.¡± Jia Yuan confidently took his last small fire shard


    out of his pocket and flipped it toward the man behind the counter, who


    snatched it out of the air.¡±


    The man examined the shard, and after a few seconds, nodded. ¡°Go


    up the stairs, third door on the right.¡±


    Jia Yuan went up the stairs and opened the third door on the


    right as instructed. As promised, there was a small bed in the room.


    He walked toward the bed and collapsed onto it. Even though


    it was quite a poor bed, it would still be the first bed that Jia Yuan had ever


    slept it for an entire night.


    As Jia Yuan laid on the bed, he recounted everything that


    had happened that day.


    ¡°Today, I came to the city, bought new clothes, received a


    priceless weapon for free, and even received some special card that can hold


    currency and even will give me large discounts. I even managed to show up that


    pot store owner hahaha¡­ Although he must be happy he finally sold his wares.¡±


    It had truly been a dreamlike day for him.


    Immersed in this state of happiness, he drifted off into a


    night full of happy dreams.


    Back at the merchant guild, Guo Huo was laying down the room


    next to the one Jia Yuan had fought him in. This room yet again had massive


    golden double doors leading into it. But instead of a single table in the


    middle of the room, it had a small bed crammed into the corner of the room.


    Guo Huo was currently thinking about the interesting young man who


    he had fought earlier in the day. When they had fought, Guo Huo had clearly


    felt the power of Jia Yuan¡¯s Song. It even surpassed the strength of his high


    level Song, which to Guo Huo, meant that the Song Jia Yuan practiced in was


    either at the peak of the high level, or was at the heavenly level.


    Guo Huo was a fairly meticulous fellow. As such, everything


    he had done during his meeting was done with purpose.

 Chapter 20

    Chapter 20: A Night of Dreams


    First off, proposing the duel. A person from an


    extravagantly rich family would probably not care too much about getting 20%


    off for a sword in exchange for winning a duel. A smart person would have


    realized that they were probably being played by Guo Huo. However, Jia Yuan had


    been immediately enticed by the discount. Furthermore, he didn¡¯t appear to even


    consider what level of Song Guo Huo cultivated in.


    At the time, Guo Huo had decided that Jia Yuan was likely


    from a moderately wealthy family, maybe the son of a successful merchant.


    He went into the fight expecting to win, but was quickly


    surprised by Jia Yuan¡¯s speed, and even more so by the strength of Jia Yuan¡¯s Song.


    The most important part was that during the fight, when Jia Yuan had gone for


    the overhead strike, Guo Huo had been able to get see his face.


    He saw the unwashed face of a common looking boy. He saw the


    wall of flame created in the wake of the sword¡¯s path.


    He felt the power of the strike, felt the raging inferno of


    an aura that surrounded Jia Yuan.


    In that moment, he made an assumption of Jia Yuan¡¯s


    background and paired it with the strength in front of him. At the same time,


    he had released his cultivation and raised his axe to defend against Jia Yuan¡¯s


    blow.


    The conclusion he had drawn from the duel with Jia Yuan was


    that he was a kid who had grown up in a poor setting. He most likely found a


    Song somewhere and began cultivating it. By the kids luck, it turned out to be


    a very high quality Song. However, even though the kid has a solid cultivation


    base, he¡¯s not the brightest kid in the world.


    Guo Huo quickly made up his mind and decided to try and rope


    Jia Yuan further into the Black Wing Merchant Guild. After all, a Merchant Guild


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.needed strong warriors. They often had trade caravans travel through Kingdoms


    and sometimes even cross borders. They needed to maintain their own private


    army to keep these caravans and the Guild Halls themselves as safe and


    reputable as possible.


    Of course, it would be very expensive to maintain a small


    army of highly talented and powerful individuals. As such, it was a common


    practice for a Merchant Guild to try to befriend and rope in strong


    cultivators.


    However, Guo Huo had another motive. He was one of the


    strongest cultivators in the Fire Kingdom, but over the last few years, he had


    realized that even he could not withstand the passage of time. When he realized


    this, he had begun looking for a disciple. This was why Guo Huo had given Jia


    Yuan the gold Currency Card. Not only was it an attempt to further rope Jia


    Yuan to the Black Wing Merchant Guild, but the golden Currency Card also had a


    type of tracking magic engraved on it. This was a secret among the Black Wing


    Merchant Guild. With the golden cards, they could track their most influential


    customers, and if any of the cards were stolen, they could track down the


    killer/thief by using said tracking magic.


    Using it, Guo Huo could easily go and track down Jia Yuan at any time.


    At this moment, Guo Huo had made up his mind. In the


    morning, he would set out and observe the young Jia Yuan he had met earlier. If


    he saw that the temperament and strength of this young man was adequate, he


    would ask the young man to be his disciple.


    So the night passed on, with a young man basking in the


    warmth of his dreams, and an old man fretting over the legacy he would leave¡­

 Chapter 21

    Chapter 21: Leaving the City


    As dawn approached, the streets of RockFire City quickly


    filled with the hustle and bustle of city life as the city¡¯s residents start


    going about their daily business and the streets filled with the shouts of


    merchants trying to hawk their wares.


    At the Black Wing Merchant Guild, Guo Huo had already woken


    up. He had gone back to the room he had met Jia Yuan in, and was staring at a


    talisman. This was the talisman connected with the magical locator on Jia


    Yuan¡¯s gold Currency Card. He then looked around the room. For the last 20


    years, this sparsely decorated room had served as his office.


    He took one last look, and headed out. Earlier that morning,


    he had already told his granddaughter, Guo Shi, of his plans. Truth be told,


    Guo Huo actually didn¡¯t handle too much of the business side for the Guild. He


    was only serving as head of the RockFire branch because of his strength. As for


    the actual business, he let other people handle that.


    As he exited the Guild Hall, Guo Huo was truly a sight to


    behold. He was a two meter tall old man, with flowing white hair held back in a


    ponytail. He even had a long white beard to match. As for his clothes, He was


    wearing a long red robe that was embroidered with fiery patterns outlined with


    gold. To put it simply, he looked like a fiery god of war.


    Finally, on his back, was a giant axe more than 1.5 meters


    long and proportionally wide.


    He walked down the steps of the Guild Hall, and took out the


    talisman once again, verifying the direction he needed to go.


    He quickly walked toward the secondary city gate and


    promptly exited to the outer parts of the city. Using the talisman, he quickly


    arrived at the tavern Jia Yuan was in. Entering the tavern, he demanded a room.


    Unfortunately, the host told Guo Huo that all of the rooms


    were taken.


    Upon hearing this, Guo Huo turned to the side and frowned.


    After a few seconds of this, the host was growing very nervous. After all, he


    could see that this person in front of him was very rich and probably had


    powerful backing. Even more than that, the man himself had an overpowering demeanor.


    The host felt that this really was a man he did not want to irritate. Just as


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report itthe host was about to try to kick one of the guests from their room to make


    space for this new customer, Guo Huo turned back to him.


    ¡°That¡¯s alright, kid. Do you have a place where I can change


    clothes in private?¡±


    ¡°Uh.. of course! Right this way!¡±


    The tavern had a backroom where they kept food and liquor.


    But for now, this backroom would serve as a place for Guo Huo to disguise


    himself.


    In past times, when Jia Yuan¡¯s ring was being made, it truly


    was a priceless treasure. However, in recent times, some highly skilled


    craftsmen were able to create similar items. However, they only had very small


    spaces, usually no more than 125 cubic feet of space.


    The necklace that Guo Huo wore was exactly one of these


    items. He tapped the necklace and withdrew some tattered and dirty clothes. He changed


    out his outfit into these clothes, transferring his fiery outfit as well as the


    giant axe into the necklace in the process. Afterwards, he took a box out of


    the necklace, and put it on the floor.


    Opening it, it was a box of dirt. With the dirt in the box,


    he dirtied his face, hair, beard, and the rest of his body.


    Now he truly looked like a decrepit old man.


    After finishing his disguise, he transferred the box back


    into the necklace, and took off the necklace.


    He then tied the necklace around his wrist, covered by his


    shirt.


    He walked out of the room and saw that the host was staring


    at him with his mouth wide open.


    The host had seen a fiery god walk into the backroom, and


    saw an old beggar walk out.


    Huo Guo tapped his wrist and drew a medium fire shard and


    handed it to the host. ¡°Don¡¯t tell anyone what you saw here, and give me a


    barrel of beer. I¡¯ll be sitting in the corner.¡±


    Huo Guo had decided to pass the time waiting for Jia Yuan to


    leave by drinking in the tavern.


    After a few hours of drinking, Guo Huo finally saw Jia Yuan


    descend the stairs of the tavern and exit. Seeing this, Guo Huo finished his


    last barrel of beer, put a small fire shard on the table, and left.

 Chapter 22

    Chapter 22: Ambushed


    Guo Huo walked very slowly with a hunched back, as if he


    were actually an old beggar. He didn¡¯t really care about following Jia Yuan


    closely. After all, he had the talisman to keep track of Jia Yuan¡¯s location.


    Oblivious to all this, Jia Yuan made his merry way along the


    streets of RockFire city, heading to the city gate.


    After a few minutes of walking, Jia Yuan reached the city


    gates and passed through without harm.


    However, he wasn¡¯t aware that by the city gate a person had


    been looking for him.


    This mysterious man, upon seeing Jia Yuan exit the city, ran


    to a nearby alley where a bird had been tied down. He wrote a quick message,


    and then tied it to the bird¡¯s leg. Upon doing so, he released the bird and the


    bird flew away.


    As for Guo Huo, he saw this and smiled. Apparently this


    young man he was interested in would have a test in front of him. For Guo Huo, this


    was perfect. Not only would he be able to see the actual combat strength of Jia


    Yuan, but he would be able to see just how the young man¡¯s brain worked.


    After Jia Yuan had walked on the road for about 7 hours, he


    became rather dreary and very tired, and started walking while staring at the


    ground. After all, most he had been doing the last few days was walk and walk


    and walk.


    He didn¡¯t even realize that he had almost walked to the


    village he had saved a few days prior. In fact, he was about a 5 minute walk


    away from said village.


    Usually, he would have been able to see the village. This


    time though, when he raised his head, he was in for a shock.


    For in front of him was about a hundred bandits, dressed in


    the same garb of the ones he had chased out of the village two days prior. Just


    as he registered this, he saw that he had been completely surrounded by what


    seemed to be 500 bandits in total.


    Guo Huo was an astute fellow, so naturally, he had his


    instincts tingling for quite some time before this. As such, he was in position


    to watch Jia Yuan deal with the bandits. When he saw that Jia Yuan hadn¡¯t even


    noticed the hundred bandits quite literally standing in front of his face, Guo


    Huo had a strong urge to just walk back to RockFire City. However, he stayed,


    because he was shocked at just how many bandits had been sent to deal with Jia


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.Yuan.


    500 bandits! As the head of the Black Wing Merchant Guild¡¯s


    RockFire City Branch, he knew about the bandits surrounding the city. According


    to his intel, this particular bandit group should only have about 500 to 600


    people! This meant that they had sent basically everyone to deal with Jia Yuan!


    Unfortunately, Guo Huo hadn¡¯t heard about Jia Yuan routing


    the bandits two days prior, or he probably would¡¯ve said it was to be expected.


    After all, even bandits couldn¡¯t stand the shame of having over 50 brothers


    killed by a single child.


    However, his interest was piqued by the scene in front of


    him. How would Jia Yuan respond to his predicament?


    At this time, Guo Huo thought about what he would do in the


    situation.


    ¡°Hmm, let¡¯s see. At the third level of Absorption with at


    least a high level Song, I wouldn¡¯t worry too much about getting instantly


    killed by a hit from one of these bandits. I guess I would have to act as fast


    as possible to test either side of the encirclement where there is no road. I


    would quickly establish which side is weaker and break through that side with


    force. That way, I can escape into the wilderness and it will be hard for the


    bandits to chase me en masse. Of course, I would have to act before the bandits


    close the encirclement too much. If that happens, then I would be dead meat. Unless


    that kid can fly, that should be the best way to approach the situation and


    perhaps the only way to make it out.¡±


    However, what he saw Jia Yuan do instead¡­was almost enough


    to make Guo Huo puke.


    Instead of doing any of what Guo Huo had thought of, Jia


    Yuan had instantly drawn his sword from his ring, and had dashed directly


    toward the hundred or so bandits blocking the road in front of him.


    Guo Huo exploded. ¡°You idiot!! That¡¯s the front, and the


    place most likely to have the strongest warriors! What¡¯s more, if you escape


    down the road all of the bandits can just chase you easily! You¡¯ll even lead


    them to the village and you¡¯ll kill them all!¡±


    It took extremely strong willpower for Guo Huo to actually


    explode with rage.


    However, he kept his calm and crept towards the battle,


    unseen by the bandits or Jia Yuan.

 Chapter 23

    Chapter 23: A True Disciple


    Jia Yuan dashed toward the bandits, activating his Song


    along the way. In all honesty, he had been itching for a chance to try out his new


    sword. He didn¡¯t really care about how many bandits were surrounding him. All he


    thought was that it would be a fun way for him to get used to his new sword.


    What he didn¡¯t realize, however, was that the bandits were


    well prepared for him.


    They had brought every single bandit in their brotherhood


    out, including the leader, who was at the 7th level of Absorption.


    So when Jia Yuan collided with the bandits at the front end


    of the formation, he came into direct contact with said leader. Even though the


    leader was at the 7th level of Absorption, he had only a low level


    Song, so he only had a slight edge over Jia Yuan. However, that was him alone.


    The bandits at his side began to surround Jia Yuan, and the hundreds of bandits


    surrounding them quickly began to close the encirclement. Not only did this


    quickly force him into a dangerous position, but it effectively stopped Jia


    Yuan from being able to escape.


    Guo Huo saw the situation and sighed deeply. ¡°It looks like


    I will have many things to teach this child¡­ brainless as he is.¡±


    Guo Huo disappeared in a fiery blaze and appeared next to


    Jia Yuan in the center of the 500 bandits.


    He looked at Jia Yuan and said, ¡°Jia Yuan, it is good that


    you are young, because you still have time to learn.¡±


    ¡°Watch.¡±


    Guo Huo tapped his wrist and the giant axe appeared in the


    air. Guo Huo grabbed it in his right hand, and with the same motion, grabbed


    Jia Yuan in his left.


    With his left hand, he threw Jia Yuan high into the air, and


    with his right hand, he swung the giant axe in a circle. From this axe,


    exploded a giant circular wave of fire, followed by a powerful wave of heat.


    Instantly, all 500 or so bandits were burnt into a crisp.


    From when Guo Huo arrived next to Jia Yuan to the


    incineration of all of the bandits, only 4 seconds passed.


    Still in the air, Jia Yuan had quite an interesting face.


    First off, he had been thrown about 20 feet into the air, but the way Guo Huo


    had thrown him had let Jia Yuan see everything that had transpired on the


    ground.


    As such, he saw the destructive power exhibited from by Guo


    Huo from a birds eye view.


    Quite simply, he was in awe.


    After killing all of the bandits, Guo Huo jumped into the


    air after Jia Yuan, and used his Song of Fire to create a blaze beneath his


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.feet, propelling him further into the air.


    In this manner, he flew into the air, caught Jia Yuan, and


    returned to the ground safely.


    He looked at Jia Yuan and said, ¡°Hey kid, where do you


    live?¡±


    Jia Yuan pointed in the direction of Fire Hill Village and


    said, ¡°In the village beyond the forest.¡±


    ¡°Perfect.¡±


    Guo Huo grabbed Jia Yuan¡¯s wrist, and began sprinting. With


    each step, he sent a wave of fire from beneath the sole of his foot, propelling


    himself even faster. In this manner, the two, young and old, quickly ran past


    the village Jia Yuan had saved and into the forest towards Fire Hill Village.


    (p.s. yes, the villagers and travelers frequenting the road


    were rather shocked when they saw the bodies of bandits, and they were very


    confused at the scorch marks on the ground leading to the forest)


    After a mere 20 minutes, they had arrived at the edge of the


    forest close to Fire Hill Village.


    Guo Huo wanted to change back into his usual attire. As


    such, he told Jia Yuan to wait and quickly jumped through the trees about 50


    meters away to change.


    After he took off his ¡°beggar clothes¡± and put them back


    into the necklace, he took a pill out of his ring and popped it in his mouth.


    This was a rather ordinary but useful pill, called the


    Cleansing Pill. After eating the pill, one would have all ordinary illnesses


    and poisons removed. Basically, anything that was bad for the body that was in


    or on the body, would be removed. However, when it came to illnesses and


    poisons, it could only treat simple ones.


    In this case, Guo Huo simply used the Cleansing Pill to


    clean himself of the dirt and sweat that he had accumulated on his body throughout


    the day.


    After consuming the pill, he quickly drew the same outfit he


    had worn while exiting the Black Wing Merchant Guild Hall out of the necklace


    and dressed himself. Finally, he unwove the necklace that was around his wrist


    and wore it around his neck again. Finally, he drew the axe out of the necklace


    and strapped it to his back. Yet again, he look like a fiery war god.


    Having finished his business, Guo Huo traveled back to where


    he had left Jia Yuan.


    Jia Yuan, upon seeing this magnificently dressed Guo Huo, felt


    a very strong sense of reverence and admiration toward the old man.


    ¡°Come, child. Let¡¯s finish this journey.¡±


    After a few more minutes, the two made it to the old shack


    that Jia Yuan had lived in for the majority of his life.

 Chapter 24

    Chapter 24: A Free Boy


    However, it was very apparently even from the outside, that


    this shack had been attacked.


    Jia Yuan¡¯s face went pale, and he ran into the shack, while


    Guo Huo quickly followed.


    Jia Yuan¡¯s master was lying on the ground, his skin black


    and blue. Fortunately, it seemed that he had not received any unhealable


    injuries. However, he was still rather badly beaten up.


    Jia Yuan instantly knew who had attacked his master. After


    all, only the Zhao family would have the audacity to freely attack others in


    the village.


    Guo Huo, upon walking in, saw the man on the ground, with


    Jia Yuan kneeling by the man¡¯s side.


    He tapped his necklace and drew out yet another pill, a


    Heart Pill. This was a medium tier healing pill, that was able to quickly heal


    a person¡¯s injuries.


    He gave Jia Yuan the pill and motioned him to give the old


    man the pill. Jia Yuan hesitated slightly, but he trusted Guo Huo, who had


    saved him from the bandits earlier.


    Upon ingesting the pill, the master¡¯s face became less pale,


    and the black and blue bruises on his skin began to fade.


    After a bit, the master was strong enough to stand again,


    which he did.


    He bowed and cupped his hands toward Guo Huo and said, ¡°Thank


    you Sir. You have saved me from a great deal of pain. How may I help you?¡±


    Guo Huo didn¡¯t mince his words and cut to the chase. ¡°What


    is your relation to Jia Yuan? I would like to bring him with me.¡±


    Jia Yuan looked at Guo Huo and pouted. ¡°No! I want to stay


    here until the end of the year when the Army recruits come around. I want to


    join the Burning Legion! That way, I can meet my brother again, and my master


    can be rich again!¡±


    Guo Huo gave Jia Yuan a very dry look. After all, he knew


    that behind Jia Yuan¡¯s earnest gaze, he was holding onto a small fortune. If he


    really wanted his master to be rich, he could just give his master part of said


    fortune.


    However, he quickly realized the important part of what Jia


    Yuan had said. This man who had been beaten up in the shack was Jia Yuan¡¯s


    master, which meant that Jia Yuan was a slave! A slave with a Song that was at


    least at the peak of the high level! This was simply unheard of.


    Guo Huo turned back to Jia Yuan¡¯s master and said, ¡°How much


    will it cost to set Jia Yuan free?¡±


    Jia Yuan¡¯s master was shrewd. Even though he cares for Jia


    Yuan, at the end of the day, Jia Yuan was still just his slave.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°10 thousand small fire shards.¡±


    ¡°Deal.¡±


    Guo Huo readily agreed. After all, to someone of his status,


    what was 10 thousand small fire shards? He didn¡¯t even really care for the 9


    thousand large fire shards that Jia Yuan had.


    He tapped his necklace and withdrew 67 large fire shards


    from within and had the shards fall onto the table in the middle of the shack.


    ¡°Here is 67 large fire shards. A little more than your


    requested amount.¡±


    With that, Guo Huo turned and faced Jia Yuan. ¡°Now, kid, are


    you willing to be my disciple? I am one of the strongest people in the Fire


    Kingdom, and I have years of experience behind me that I am willing to impart


    to you.¡±


    Jia Yuan had a simple response. ¡°Nope.¡±


    Guo Huo had quite the reaction to this simple answer. His


    eyes shot open, and his entire body retreated back from Jia Yuan, as if he was


    looking at a monstrosity.


    ¡°B-b-ut. What??? Why not?¡±


    ¡°Because I want to join the Burning Legion so that I can be


    with my brother again.¡±


    Guo Huo¡¯s face turned incredulous. After a long while, he finally


    seemed to calm down and dropped to a sitting position on the floor, looking


    worn out.


    ¡°Son, how are old are you?¡±


    ¡°11.¡±


    ¡°So you still have two years until you Burning Legion


    Tournament begins. Listen, kid. The only reason the Army recruits commoners who


    have strong talent for martial cultivation at age 12 is because it gives them a


    year to get used to the song the Army gives them.¡±


    ¡°For someone like you who already has a Song, you can simply


    join the annual tournament to join the Burning Legion when you are 13.¡±


    At this point, Jia Yuan¡¯s ex-master interjected. ¡°Wait what?


    Jia Yuan has acquired a Song?¡±


    Jia Yuan looked rather uncomfortable and said, ¡°Well, a few


    months ago I was exploring in the forest and um¡­ sort of found one.¡±


    The ex-master began fuming in silence. If he had known, he


    would have sold Jia Yuan to Guo Huo for a much higher price.


    At this point, Guo Huo motioned that he wished to lead Jia


    Yuan to another location, at which point Jia Yuan raised a point.


    ¡°Guo Huo sir, there is a family here called the Zhao family


    who bullies everyone else in the village. If


    we leave my ma..er, my ex-master here, he¡¯ll just be robbed and beaten again.¡±

 Chapter 25

    Chapter 25: HiRyu


    ¡°Oh? Why doesn¡¯t the village head deal with that?¡±


    ¡°Well, you see, the Zhao family is simply too big and strong


    for even the village head to deal with. You see, the village head is at the 6th


    level of Absorption, while the head of the Zhao family is at the 7th


    level of Absorption. Furthermore, the Zhao family owns a very large amount of


    slaves who are all fairly strong.¡±


    ¡°I see, I see¡­¡±


    A grin started to form on Guo Huo¡¯s face.


    ¡°Alright, Jia Yuan. I¡¯ll make a deal with you. If you can


    pave the way for me to the Zhao head, I¡¯ll take care of him. However, you¡¯ll


    have to deal with the rest of them. If you fail to do so, then I won¡¯t help.¡±


    Jia Yuan¡¯s ex-master started panicking. ¡°Sir, you can¡¯t! Jia


    Yuan is much weaker than the Zhao family even if their family head isn¡¯t


    involved!¡±


    ¡°Hmm? But he¡¯s at the 3rd level of Absorption


    with an extremely powerful Song. He should be able to fight evenly with those at the 6th


    level of Absorption.


    The ex-master¡¯s face really turned green this time. He


    thought that he had gotten a good deal selling Jia Yuan for 10 thousand small


    fire shards earlier, but it turned out that Jia Yuan would actually have been


    worth far more than he had asked for. If only he had known earlier just how


    valuable Jia Yuan was¡­


    Unfortunately, the deal had already gone through, and Guo


    Huo was clearly not a man to be be annoyed.


    As such, Jia Yuan¡¯s ex-master could only grind his teeth in


    regret.


    As for Guo Huo¡¯s proposal to Jia Yuan, Jia Yuan readily


    agreed.


    After all, this was simply too great an opportunity! Ever


    since the Zhao family had robbed his ex-master of the fire shards gained from


    selling Dou Di to the Army, he had wanted to exact revenge.


    But his strength had been too low! Before leaving the


    village, he had only been at the 1st level of Absorption! If he


    tried to go against the Zhao family before, he would easily have been


    overwhelmed and probably beaten to the brink of death.


    However, now he was at the 3rd level of Absorption,


    and according to Guo Huo he could fight others at the 6th level of Absorption!


    Furthermore, he had a powerful figure in Guo Huo backing him up!


    If I were to get overwhelmed,


    he¡¯d surely intervene right? After all, he seems rather interested in me.


    This will also be a worthy


    test in my path of cultivation. How ¡®bout we call it ¡°The Fiery Hero Jia Yuan


    saves Fire Hill Village from the ugly Zhao overlords!¡±


    Jia Yuan readily agreed to the deal proposed by Guo Huo. ¡°Sure,


    but when will we do it?¡±


    ¡°That depends¡­ if you were to suddenly attack the Zhao


    family, would the rest of the village side with you or against you?¡±


    Jia Yuan immediately replied, ¡°The Zhao family has been


    bullying all of the villagers who are not able to easily defend themselves. I


    believe that the village would be glad if the Zhao family were to be removed.¡±


    ¡°In that case, we¡¯ll rest for the night. In the morning, you¡¯ll


    go to the village center and provoke the Zhao family. From there, it¡¯ll depend


    on your performance. In the meantime, I¡¯ll treat the two of you to a meal.¡±


    With that, Guo Huo tapped his necklace and drew out a small


    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.bag. He plopped the bag onto the table, and opened it. Jia Yuan and his


    ex-master could both smell the meat within, and began salivating.


    Guo Huo turned to the stove, and then paused.


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t happen to have a pot, would you?¡¯


    Jia Yuan awkwardly glanced at his ex-master, then with a


    thought, withdrew a pot from his ring and threw it over to Guo Huo.


    ¡°Ah, excellent.¡±


    Guo Huo quickly lit a fire by waving his hand at the bottom


    of the pot. Interestingly enough, even though there wasn¡¯t any wood there to


    burn, the fire did not go out. Jia Yuan noticed this phenomenon, but did not


    ask, as he didn¡¯t want to distract Guo Huo from cooking this¡­*ahem* deliciously


    smelling meat.


    After a few minutes, Guo Huo finished cooking, and the three


    of them ate the wonderfully tasty meet, and then went to sleep in preparation


    for the battle tomorrow.


    -8 hours later-


    Jia Yuan and Guo Huo had both woken up about half an hour


    ago. Jia Yuan was stretching and calming himself before the battle, and Guo Huo


    was watching him do this and making his judgements.


    At this time, Guo Huo spoke up. ¡°If you can defeat everyone


    but the Zhao family head, I will fulfill my promise, but I will give you an


    additional challenge. You must learn to control the destructive capability of


    your Song. I noticed during your fight with the bandits that the flames


    exhibited from your sword while performing your Dance were very wild and


    unbridled. This shows that you have a complete lack of control your Song.¡±


    ¡°It is the same concept that applies to actual singers. The


    same song, sung by two different people, can sound very different and give off


    a different feeling, depending on how they sing it. It is the same way with our


    Songs. Unfortunately, right now you do not have any control over the Song and


    are like a fledgling. Of course, you are at the lower of Absorption, so you


    haven¡¯t had too much experience with your Song, but it will be good to begin


    practicing control over your Song.¡±


    ¡°As such, I give you a challenge. You will be fighting


    around the village. As such, your challenge will be to not let a single scorch


    mark be left on any of the villager¡¯s houses. If you don¡¯t succeed, you¡¯ll be


    punished.¡±


    Jia Yuan understood the reasoning behind Guo Huo¡¯s


    challenge. If he defeated the Zhao family but destroyed the village in the


    process, the villagers wouldn¡¯t exactly be happy about it. In fact, they might


    even view Jia Yuan in a worse light than they did the Zhao family.


    Furthermore, it was true what Guo Huo had said about


    control. Jia Yuan hadn¡¯t even thought about controlling the Song at all, and


    had only been working to increase his destructive power. Even when he had used


    the flames under his feet to propel himself farther, the flames had been very


    wild and unbridled.


    ¡°I accept your challenge.¡± With that, Jia Yuan headed out


    the door of the shack toward the center of the village.


    Upon arriving, Jia Yuan drew his new sword out of the ring,


    and drew the sword out of the scabbard.


    ¡°A good sword should always be named. As of now, I will call


    you HiRyu!


    (Writer¡¯s note: That means fire dragon.)

 Chapter 26

    Chapter 26: Fight for the Village


    In the middle of the village, there was an open area, where


    village events would be held. It was in this village center that Jia Yuan stood


    with HiRyu in his hand.


    Meanwhile, Guo Huo had made his way over to the center by


    hopping from one roof to the next. In this manner, he made his way over to the


    roof of a house by the village center and sat on it. He tapped his necklace and


    drew out a bag of apples and began to munch on one while observing Jia Yuan. ¡°This


    should be a good show¡­¡±


    In the village center, Jia Yuan lifted up his sword and


    shouted, ¡°Zhao family! Today, your evil deeds come to an end! If you have the


    guts to do so, come fight me to the death! I will take you all on!¡±


    Even though the village center had many other people walking


    through it, and had bene pretty loud, when Jia Yuan started shouting, everyone


    became quiet.


    After Jia Yuan finished, the center continued to be silent.


    Then everyone else in the village center began to run away. After all, they


    didn¡¯t want to get caught up in what was about to happen.


    After everyone had run into a house near the village center,


    they began to whisper.


    ¡°What the hell is Jia Yuan doing?? He¡¯s just a mere slave but he


    wants to challenge the Zhao family?¡±


    ¡°Ahh, what a waste. He was such a good boy too, if a little


    simple.¡±


    ¡°I wonder what the Zhao family will do to him¡­¡±


    Meanwhile, a middle-aged man ran into the Zhao family


    quarters. Inside sat an elderly man.


    The elderly man spoke. ¡°What is it, my son?¡±


    ¡°The slave boy, Jia Yuan, has issued a verbal challenge to


    our family!¡±


    ¡°Oh? Interesting¡­ It seems we will be able to use him to


    teach the rest of the villagers a lesson. Gather all of the family members and slaves. Equip them all with weapons, and lead them toward the village


    center. Today, the Zhao family will formally take control of the village!¡±


    The middle-aged man was Zhao Hai, the only son of the


    Patriach, Zhao Yue. Zhao Hai was at the 5th level of Absorption,


    while Zhao Yue was the village-famed family head at the 7th level of


    Absorption.


    They had wanted to take control of the village for a while,


    but they needed a reason to be able to do so. After all, if they had simply


    begun to take over the village, one of the Neighboring cities could hear about


    it and send some troops out to deal with the Zhao family.


    However, if the Zhao family were provoked in any way, they


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.could spin a story to make them seem like the rightful leaders of the village.


    This, along with robbing the villagers of their goods, was the main reason why


    they had been so daring in aggravating the villagers.


    In fact, they had even discussed the possibility of bribing


    one of the villagers to pretend to provoke the Zhao family.


    But now, that stupid slave boy had come out and issued a


    challenge! It was perfect!


    After about 5 minutes, everyone in the Zhao family had been


    informed of the challenge and was making their way toward the village center. Slowly,


    the members of the Zhao family began to flood the village center, forming a


    circle around Jia Yuan, who stood in the middle.


    This was a situation most similar to when Jia Yuan had been


    surrounded by the bandits. However, there were only about 70 members of the


    Zhao family, including the slaves, and overall, they were weaker than the


    bandits.


    Jia Yuan had full confidence.


    Of course, the other villagers didn¡¯t have such confidence.


    ¡°Ahh, the Zhao family is really looking to make an example of


    him. He¡¯s finished.¡±


    ¡°Why would the Zhao family bring out such a strong force??


    For a mere kid?¡±


    At this moment, all of the villagers quieted down, because


    the patriarch of the Zhao family had arrived at the village center.


    Burning around him, was the aura of the 7th level


    of Absorption. He looked around the village center, noting the villagers who


    were watching from inside the nearby houses. Seeing this, he smirked and spoke


    to Jia Yuan. ¡°You, slave. You are the one who dares challenge my Zhao family?¡±


    ¡°I am no longer a slave, but yes, I am the one who issued


    the challenge. Today, your Zhao family will be wiped off of the Continent of


    the Five Elements!¡±


    ¡°BWHAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA. Son, you¡¯ve got guts! Very well.


    Everyone, take him down!¡±


    Zhao Yue gave the order and leisurely jumped onto the


    rooftop of a neighboring house to watch the upcoming scene. Coincidentally, it was the house next to the


    one Guo Huo was sitting on. Of course, after arriving at the rooftop of the


    house, Zhao Yue saw Guo Huo, and his eyes narrowed.


    Of course, Zhao Yue saw Guo Huo¡¯s fiery outfit and the giant


    axe on his back. He had a bad feeling about this old man¡­ But he didn¡¯t have


    any time to dwell on it, for the fight in the village center had started.

 Chapter 27

    Chapter 27: Fight For the Village (2)


    Jia Yuan saw the mass of people charging towards him from


    every side. At the same time, those with a Song began their Songs.


    Perfect.


    Jia Yuan started his own Song, as usual, with the beat of a


    drum, and he settled into the first stance. However, he didn¡¯t move into the


    second stance he usually took. Instead, he moved in the same way Guo Huo had to


    decimate the bandits.


    Seeing this, Guo Huo¡¯s eyes twinkled. ¡°Oh? Is he already


    able to manipulate his Song to such a degree?¡±


    However, what happened was quite a letdown. Instead of


    releasing a ring of fire, Jia Yuan instead released a  flickering blade of flame less than


    a foot wide. It hit a single slave of the Zhao family, who quickly dropped to


    the ground and began rolling to stop the flames.


    Guo Huo grimaced, face full of pain. ¡°This kid¡­¡±


    On the other house, Zhao Yue started laughing. ¡°Bwhahahaha.


    Such a weak kid dares to challenge my Zhao family? Bwhahahaha!¡±


    As of right now, Jia Yuan was in grave danger. After all,


    being surrounded by 70 armed people who want to kill you is not exactly the


    greatest place to be.


    Crap.


    At that moment, the members of the Zhao family who owned


    Songs released violent bursts of fire toward Jia Yuan in an attempt to burn Jia


    Yuan before they even reached him.


    And so Jia Yuan¡¯s first conquest would begin.


    The night before, Jia Yuan had been thinking about the task in


    front of him. He had expected the Zhao family to retaliate to his challenge heavily, and had therefore spent the night thinking about what he would do against human wave


    tactics.


    As such, he came up with a rather preposterous idea.


    As the bursts of flame were about to reach him, Jia Yuan


    sent a strand of his soul into his ring and drew out all of the pots from within. He drew these pots so that they would form a sphere


    around him.


    Rather bizarrely, Jia Yuan was able to time


    the release of the pots so that the pots were able to block the flames before


    falling to the ground due to gravity.


    As the wave of fire subsided, Jia Yuan once again drew the


    pots back into his ring.


    At the same time, his Song began yet again in earnest as he quickly shifted back into his starting stance.


    The reason why the Absorption level is named so is because


    of what happens to the cultivator during this phase. During his battle at the


    neighboring village against the bandits, Jia Yuan had been at the 1st


    level of cultivation. Although he had managed to let his song play, it was only


    filled with drumbeats.


    However, as a cultivator progresses through the Absorption level,


    they "absorb" more of the Song into


    their minds, allowing them to ¡°hear¡± more of the Song. This, in turn, meant


    that their Song would provide greater assistance during a fight.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    At this point, while the start point was still that of a


    drum, Jia Yuan also heard some tones that provided him with a sense


    of grandeur and pride.


    With his Song playing in full force, Jia Yuan was able to


    establish a zone of control with about a 5 meter radius. He did his best to


    control the flames coming from his body to establish this zone of control.


    Jia Yuan used the flames surrounding him to fight. With slashes


    of HiRyu, he cut the flames surrounding him into blades of fire which flew


    out and hit those surrounding him. To those watching, it looked as if Jia Yuan


    was surrounded by a giant wall of fire, and was cutting out sections of this


    wall of fire into blades that he then directed at the Zhao family.


    To be fair, this was fairly close to what happened. What Jia


    Yuan actually did was quite interesting. First off, the flames around him, as


    usual, were unbridled and wild. Knowing this, he coated his sword in a thicker


    fiery aura than the flames around him. This way, every time he slashed his


    sword toward the wall of flame surrounding him, the thick fiery aura coating


    HiRyu violent pushed away the section of the wall that was cut.


    In this manner, blades of fire flew out from the wall of


    fire.


    With each slash of HiRyu, a fire blade of about 2 feet in


    length flew out. With each slash, 2 or 3 of those closest to Jia Yuan fell,


    never to move again.


    However, most of these were the slaves of the Zhao family. The


    actual members of the Zhao family were careful, and didn¡¯t want to die. To keep


    themselves safer, they had rather despicably forced the slaves to approach Jia Yuan


    first.


    This also meant that they were the weakest.


    After only five seconds of this, Jia Yuan had made about 20


    of these cuts, and all of the slaves around him had died.


    High above, Guo Huo smiled. ¡°Looks like that brat has


    finally begun to understand the art of manipulation his Song.¡±


    As for Zhao Yue, he was rather irate. The 50 slaves that had


    just died weren¡¯t as important to him as his family members, but they had still


    cost his family a great deal of fire shards.


    Furthermore, he saw that Jia Yuan¡¯s strength was not that


    simple after all. Even he didn''t have such control over his Song. After all, cultivators were generally unable to manipulate their Song much until the Manipulation Stage.


    With these observations, he grabbed his axe from the rooftop


    and jumped down, preparing to end the battle once and for all.


    His family had already lost enough face, letting all of


    their slaves die to a mere child. Furthermore, Jia Yuan seemed to be abnormally skillful. Only by quickly defeating Jia Yuan could they


    keep what was left of their pride and negate any risks involved.


    Guo Huo saw the head of the Zhao family jump down, but still


    didn¡¯t move.

 Chapter 28

    Chapter 28: Fight For the Village (3)


    In actuality, Guo Huo hadn¡¯t planned on stopping the Zhao


    family head from the beginning. He saw this entire situation as a test for Jia


    Yuan. Was Jia Yuan truly as strong as he had seemed at Guo Huo¡¯s office? Did he


    have the proper determination and resolve required to reach the peak of martial


    cultivation?


    Back at the village center, the combatants noticed the


    arrival of Zhao Yue. The Zhao family stopped fighting and made way for their


    patriarch to approach Jia Yuan.


    Seeing that the Zhao family had backed down, Jia Yuan also


    lowered his wall of flame. After all, fighting with one¡¯s Song for an extended


    amount of time greatly exhausted both the body and the mind.


    After a few seconds, the two stood at a distance of about 10


    feet facing each other.


    Zhao Yue looked Jia Yuan up and down. ¡°You slave brat, I


    never would have though you would grow so strong¡­ but it is unfortunate that


    you decided to anger my Zhao family. Today, I will show you that you are


    overreaching!¡±


    At this moment, Jia Yuan was panicking a little. Why the hell isn¡¯t that old geezer


    intervening? He said I just needed to deal with the other people!


    But what he said did not reflect his true feelings. ¡°HA! You


    disgusting Zhao family Patriarch, this is the day where everyone in your family


    dies!


    ¡°Ha. Killed by who? You? Let¡¯s see if you have the power!¡±


    Despite his strong words, Zhao Yue was rather nervous. After


    all, the technique exhibited by Jia Yuan earlier had been quite exquisite.


    Zhao Yue knew that if he, as the patriarch of the strongest


    family in the village, could not win over this 11 year old child, it would


    likely mean the extermination of his family¡­ Just to be forced to this point


    already meant that his family had lost face.


    With the overbearing aura of the 7th level of Absorption


    surrounding him, Zhao Yue gripped his axe tightly in his right hand, and walked


    within 6 feet of Jia Yuan, just beyond Jia Yuan¡¯s zone of control. Along the


    way, he let his full song play out, the axe in his hand began to burn.


    After reaching the distance of 6 feet, he stopped, and diagonally


    swung his axe toward Jia Yuan. The flame that had been burning around his axe condensed


    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.during the slash and flew towards Jia Yuan as a dense ball of fire.


    This was no more than an initial probing attack. After all,


    Zhao Yue had felt Jia Yuan exhibiting the aura of the 3rd level of Absorption,


    but he power Jia Yuan had shown previously had been closer to that of the 5th


    or 6th level of Absorption.


    As such, he sent out the ball of fire to see what level of


    power Jia Yuan would respond with.


    Jia Yuan had already been prepared for this. Just as


    ridiculously as he had done earlier, he withdrew a pot from his ring, which effectively


    ate the ball of fire. After being hit by the ball of fire, the pot quickly


    heated up and was propelled toward Jia Yuan, but Jia Yuan again returned the


    pot back into his ring.


    However, Zhao Yue was no novice to fighting. He had already


    seen Jia Yuan pull this trick before, so when he saw the pot appear, he


    immediately dashed toward Jia Yuan and raised in axe in preparation for a blow.


    From what he had seen earlier, the using the trick with the pot meant that Jia


    Yuan temporarily blocked his own field of vision.


    And Zhao Yue was correct. Although, Jia Yuan had been able


    to defend himself from the ball of fire with minimal effort, he didn¡¯t even see


    Zhao Yue dashing toward him until he had drawn the pot back into the ring.


    At this point, ZhaoYue was less than a foot from Jia Yuan.


    With a start, Jia Yuan quickly shifted to the second basic


    stance of the Song of Swords. This was the stance that provided the most


    fluidity for movement, and as such, was the most suited for dodging.


    However, even though Jia Yuan reacted to Zhao Yue¡¯s


    advancement, he was unable to dodge completely. After all, not only was Zhao Yue¡¯s


    body strong, but he was also supported by the 7th level of Absorption.


    As such, despite his old age, he was just as fast as Jia Yuan. Furthermore, the


    speed at which one can attack with weapons is far faster than that of one


    moving their entire body.


    As Zhao Yue finished his attack and his dash propelled him


    past Jia Yuan, Jia Yuan was left with a large gash on his left shoulder. Even


    though he had been able to dodge the majority of the blow, he had been by the


    side of the axe, and had even been burned by the fiery aura surrounding Zhao Yue¡¯s


    axe.

 Chapter 29

    Chapter 29: Fight for the Village Turns Messy


    Shit!


    Jia Yuan had never actually been injured in such a manner


    before. While sparring with Dou Di, they had always stopped before any blows


    hit, and the few times they messed up, they were only left with some bruises.


    After all, they only sparred with wooden swords.


    Even when Jia Yuan fought creatures he met in the forest, he


    had been strong enough in comparison to the creatures that he had always been


    able to get away unscathed.


    But now, he had suffered a fairly deep wound to his left


    shoulder, which meant that he would not be able to grip his sword with two


    hands. This, in turn, meant that he wouldn¡¯t be able to display his full


    strength. Given that he was already at a disadvantage when fighting someone at


    the 7th level of Absorption, he was now truly in dire straits.


    At this time, he glanced up at Guo Huo, clearly signaling to


    the old man that he needed help.


    But Guo Huo simply stared back at him, munching on yet


    another apple from his bag.


    Does this old man want


    me to die?


    Jia Yuan, who had always fought with an air of confidence


    even while sparring against his brother, against whom he had never won, was


    currently beginning to panic.


    Why isn¡¯t the older


    geezer helping me??


    Jia Yuan made up his mind. He knew that he couldn¡¯t fight


    against the Zhao family patriarch, so he turned and began to run the other way.


    Zhao Yue saw this and shouted, ¡°Block him! Don¡¯t let him


    escape!¡±


    The members of the Zhao family in the direction Jia Yuan was


    running to closed their ranks, effectively creating a human barrier.


    However, Jia Yuan was truly in a berserk state. Feeling


    betrayed by Guo Huo, feeling fear from being pursued by Zhao Yue, his eyes were


    becoming bloodshot and his heart was full of anger. Even the Song of Swords was


    affected by this, and the Song playing in Jia Yuan¡¯s soul became violent with a


    jagged melody.


    In Jia Yuan¡¯s hand, his sword burned violently, the flames


    forming into the shape of a giant axe!


    Up on the roof, Guo Huo who was eating his apples nonchalantly


    suddenly stopped mid-bite. With a surprised face, he exclaimed, ¡°What? He is


    already able to manipulate his flames?¡±


    He then noticed the frenzied state Jia Yuan was in, and his


    eyes narrowed. However, he still did not move.


    Back at the village center, Jia Yuan had reached the human


    barrier, with Zhao Yue in hot pursuit.


    ¡°HRAWWWRR!!!¡± Shouted Jia Yuan as he swung the giant flaming


    axe toward the human barrier. Those making up the barrier were 4 members of the


    Zhao family with levels of cultivation ranging from the 2nd level of


    Absorption to the 3rd level of Absorption.


    But with the Song of Swords and his frenzied state, Jia Yuan¡¯s


    strength, was comparable to the peak of the 6th level of Absorption.


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.If he hadn¡¯t been injured, his strength may have been comparable to one at the


    7th level of Absorption.


    When the fiery aura of the giant axe collided with the human


    barrier, the members of the Zhao family were instantly killed! To ensure their


    deaths, Jia Yuan even made sure to slice their bodies in half with his sword.


    When he saw his family members killed in such a brutal


    manner, Zhao Yue grew red-eyed, and his anger rose to the skies.


    ¡°Jia Yuan you brat! I¡¯ll make you wish you were never born!¡±


    Zhao Yue reached into his pocket and took out a small pill.


    This was a rather simple pill, but it had cost the Zhao family almost 25% of


    their total assets. Zhao Yue felt pain at having to use it to deal with a


    child, but he had already felt too much grief seeing the family members he had


    nurtured for so long and the slaves that he had spent so much money and effort


    on meet their deaths at the hands of said child.


    He truly felt that if he did not use the pill, he may be the


    patriarch of a nonexistent family tomorrow.


    As such, he quickly threw the pill into his mouth and


    swallowed it.


    Instantly, the aura surrounding his body changed from the


    aura of the 7th level of Absorption to the 8th level of Absorption.


    With this increase in power, his speed also increased,


    allowing him to catch up to Jia Yuan.


    In the time it took for him to consume the pill, however,


    Jia Yuan had already reached another batch of Zhao family members and had


    dismembered them as well.


    The only ones who were left were his son and well as some


    from the most recent generation of the family. After all, Zhao Yue had ordered


    the entire family to surround Jia Yuan at the village center! He had thought


    that Jia Yuan¡¯s provocation would be a chance for the Zhao family to display


    their full power and even take over the village!


    But instead of taking over the village, his Zhao family was


    reduced to less than 15 members!


    How could things have gone so wrong??


    As Zhao Yue sped toward Jia Yuan with the power of the 8th


    level of Absorption, Jia Yuan turned around with his bloodshot eyes and dashed


    towards Zhao Yue as well.


    On the roof top, Guo Huo jumped up, startled. Although he


    had a great view of the fight overall from his high location, he had not been


    able to see Jia Yuan¡¯s bloodshot eyes. He had merely thought that Jia Yuan had


    chosen to switch to an aggressive mode of fighting.


    However, when Jia Yuan turned to face Zhao Yue, Guo Huo had


    seen the bloodshot eyes.


    This, in addition to Zhao Yue¡¯s consumption of the pill,


    prompted Guo Huo to take action. After all, although he wanted to test Jia


    Yuan, he didn¡¯t want Jia Yuan to become a crazed monster or even potentially


    die to Zhao Yue.

 Chapter 30

    Chapter 30: Becoming a Disciple


    Guo Huo reached for the axe strapped to his back and held it


    out toward his right side.


    He then jumped down and by using his flames, flew down to


    the battle, landing between Zhao Yue and the berserk Jia Yuan.


    He then let his domineering aura float over the village


    center, encompassing all those participating in the fight.


    Whether it was Jia Yuan or the Zhao family, or even the Zhao


    family patriarch, nobody was able to move under the domineering force.


    Guo Huo looked at Jia Yuan and felt a pang of guilt. After


    all, it was because of his choice to thoroughly test Jia Yuan that had driven


    the child to such a state.


    He tapped his necklace and took out a pill. He then used


    solidified part of his aura and used it to open Jia Yuan¡¯s mouth and placed the


    pill in the child¡¯s mouth. He then lightly hit the underside of Jia Yuan¡¯s jaw,


    making him swallow.


    A few seconds after consuming the pill, Jia Yuan¡¯s eyes


    slowly became less bloodshot, and his thoughts and demeanor returned to normal.


    After a few more seconds, Jia Yuan started as if waking from


    a dream.


    Hmm? What was I doing?


    Why does my left shoulder hurt so much?


    He then saw Guo Huo standing in front of him. He blinked, then


    looked around the village center and saw the destruction and dead bodies


    surrounding him. He looked up at Guo Huo and gazed at the old man with a look


    of distrust.


    ¡°You promised you¡¯d help with the Zhao family head.¡±


    ¡°No, I promised to deal with him if you dealt with everyone


    else first.¡±


    Jia Yuan shut his mouth, but still stared at Guo Huo with a


    look of distrust.


    Guo Huo gave Jia Yuan a wry smile with a bit of guilt in his


    eyes. ¡°Alright, alright. I made a mistake okay? I just wanted to test your


    fighting prowess. Was that your first time getting injured in a fight?¡±


    Jia Yuan nodded.


    ¡°Whoo¡­ that explains a bit. However, it appears that you don¡¯t


    have much self- control, or you wouldn¡¯t have gone berserk. That will be


    something we have to fix in the future.¡±


    While the two were chatting, the members of the Zhao family


    were held in place by Guo Huo¡¯s aura. They stared at Guo Huo with eyes of fear.


    How strong was this person, to be render them unable to move with just his


    aura?


    It also seemed that this old man who had jumped down was


    well acquainted with Jia Yuan. It was fortunate that the Zhao family couldn¡¯t


    move at all, or they would have been shaking with fear. In fact, Zhao Hai, the


    patriarch¡¯s son, had taken the liberty to wet his pants.


    Seeing this scene, the surrounding villagers began to sound


    some voices of hope.


    For the last few months, they had been continually suppressed


    and mistreated by the Zhao family. Seeing that there was a mighty power dealing


    with the Zhao family, it felt to the villagers as if justice was being dealt.


    ¡°Wow, that man is so strong!¡±


    ¡°I wonder who he is! That kind of strength should be rare


    even within the entire Kingdom!¡±


    ¡°Why does he know Jia Yuan? Is it because of that child that


    this man came here?¡±


    ¡°Screw that, didn¡¯t you see Jia Yuan fight earlier? He¡¯s


    only 11 but he was able to decimate most of the Zhao family himself!¡±


    Previously, the villagers had all been either too enthralled


    or frightened by the fighting going on to make any exclamations. But now, since


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.none of the fighters were able to move, they had a sudden lull. As such, phrases


    such as these began to flood the houses surrounding the village center.


    Having finished speaking to Jia Yuan, Guo Huo turned back to


    Zhao Yue.


    ¡°Your family has continually broken the laws of the Fire


    Kingdom. As such, today, I deliver justice.¡±


    With that said, he waved his arm. Instantly, every remaining


    Zhao family felt a burst of flame coming from their abdomen. Seconds later,


    they all died as their insides quickly burned from the deadly fires.


    Guo Huo turned back to Jia Yuan. ¡°Child, I am sorry for


    testing your limits today. However, it is important that you get a true taste


    of battle when you are young. Otherwise, you will be too brazen when you fight,


    like when you tried to fight the bandits at the neighboring village. If you


    keep fighting like that, you will die young.¡±


    Jia Yuan was still full of bitterness, but even he had to


    admit that the old man¡¯s words were true.


    ¡°Fine, fine. I forgive you, but only because you dealt with


    the Zhao family.¡±


    ¡°I have another request.¡±


    ¡°What is it, old man?¡±


    ¡°I freed you from your master for the purpose of you


    becoming my disciple. I¡¯ve spent the last few days observing you, and I¡¯ve come


    to the conclusion that you possess a very high level Song and have some


    fighting experience. However, you lack an education and as such you lack


    self-control and deductive reasoning.¡±


    ¡°If you wish to become a truly strong individual, you will


    have to learn these things. I am one of the strongest people in the Fire


    Kingdom, and I am an experienced fighter. Furthermore, I have friends who are


    extremely adept at teaching the things you do not have.¡±


    ¡°So, what do you say?¡±


    Jia Yuan looked at the old man. Everything Guo Huo had just


    said seemed very sincere, which suggested that he really wanted to help Jia


    Yuan. Seeing this sincerity, the bitterness in Jia Yuan¡¯s heart began to fade


    away. After considering Guo Huo¡¯s proposal for a bit longer, Jia Yuan


    responded.


    ¡°Fine, but I have a condition. You have to explain to me why you wish to have me as a disciple.¡±


    "Hmph. Very well, you have the right to know..."


    "Long ago, I was like you, at the bottom side of the Absorption realm. I dreamt of power. I dreamt of being so strong, that I would be worshiped by the massive as a god. In this, for the most part, I succeeded..."


    "But the stronger I became, the weaker I realized I was. Over time, I eventually realized just how vast the world is... I am no longer young, and I will be unable to conquer this vast world. But someone like you, who has such a high level Song, and is like a blank sheet of paper, yet to be hit by the cruelties of the world, may be able to do so."


    "So that is my answer. I wish for you to be my disciple, because I wish to leave behind a legacy. If I cannot achieve the peak of martial cultivation myself, I would at least like to be remembered as the teacher of one who did."


    With that clarified, Jia Yuan had no reason Guo Huo¡¯s offer. Jia Yuan was a rather foolish kid, but when it came to moments like these, he was still sincere and knew what to do. He abruptly dropped to his knees and kowtowed to Guo


    Huo three times. He then stood up, cupped his hands toward Guo Huo, and said, ¡°Teacher.¡±

 Chapter 31

    Chapter 31: The Two Sons


    Guo Huo was rather surprised that Jia Yuan had the mindset


    to kowtow and pay respects to him. After all, it was in complete contrast with Jia Yuan¡¯s normal behavior.


    He felt rather gratified, and smiled at Jia Yuan like a father would smile at their son.


    At this time, the village elder carefully made his way over


    to Guo Huo and Jia Yuan, who were standing at the center of the village.


    After stepping over the corpses of the Zhao family, he stood


    in front of Guo Huo and Jia Yuan.


    The village elder said to the both of them, ¡°Thank you for


    ridding the village of the Zhao family. The last few months, they have truly


    been too audacious. Last month, we were even unable to pay the Kingdom¡¯s taxes


    and were punished with an even higher tax rate this month.¡±


    ¡°Now, we can finally all live in peace again. For that, I


    thank the two of you.¡±


    Guo Huo quickly retracted his domineering and adopted the


    pose of a respectable nobleman.


    ¡°No problem at all, village elder. It was Jia Yuan here who


    notified me of the wrongdoings of the Zhao family. I was simply acting for the


    good of the Fire Kingdom. We cannot have such lawbreaking families in the


    Kingdom if we want to stay as strong as the other Kingdoms.¡±


    ¡°As for the possessions of the Zhao family, I would like to


    return them to the village, as you were probably the rightful owners of them in


    the first place.¡±


    Jia Yuan glanced at Guo Huo with appreciation in his


    eyes.


    The village elder bowed towards Guo Huo. Acquiring the


    possessions of the Zhao family had been his true goal all along, which was why


    he had mentioned the higher tax rate issued by the Fire Kingdom.


    And of course, Guo Huo saw through the ruse instantly. But


    what was a few thousand small fire shards to a man like Guo Huo?


    He knew that Jia Yuan very much liked Fire Hill Village, so


    he felt that it would be a good show of faith to help the villagers out. After


    all, he still felt a little guilty about forcing Jia Yuan to such a state


    earlier.


    After seeing Guo Huo''s sincere gesture, Jia Yuan ran over to the village elder.


    ¡°Hey, elder? Guess what? Guo Huo here set me free! I¡¯m a


    free man now, how about that? I¡¯m even going to be his disciple!¡±


    ¡°Oh, really? Congratulations, Jia Yuan!¡±


    At this time, Jia Yuan¡¯s old master appeared at the village


    center. He had been sitting in his shack, worrying about Jia Yuan.


    He could hear the noises of battle, the violent clangs of


    metal and loud ominous screams that signified many gruesome deaths.


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    But all the while, he didn¡¯t come out of the shack. During the last few years, he had cared for the two boys he purchased, but he had distanced himself from


    them. After all, they were just slaves that he had been raising to sell to the


    Army.


    But every time he saw them sparring, every time he saw them


    doing chores together, every time they ate congee together¡­he felt a great pain


    inside his heart.


    After he had heard that the noises of fighting had stopped,


    Jia Yuan¡¯s old master stood up in the shack, and looked in the direction of the


    village center with a wistful face.


    He had slowly walked his way over to the village center he


    had arrived just now. He slowly walked up to Guo Huo and Jia Yuan. Upon


    reaching them, he gazed at Jia Yuan with a gaze that was half guilty, half


    pleading.


    ¡°Jia Yuan, it¡¯s time for you to go and experience the world.


    However, as someone who had lived with you for the last few years, I would like


    to ask you for a favor. Of course, you have no obligation to me, as our


    relationship was that of master and slave¡­ But I would still like to ask this


    of you.¡±


    ¡°A long while ago, long before I bought you and Dou Di, I


    was a nobleman of the Fire Kingdom. I had two sons who were highly adept at


    Martial Cultivation. Although I am not a cultivator myself, I hired the best


    teachers I could afford for them, I bought the best pills I could afford for


    them. I spared nothing for my two sons.¡±


    ¡°But alas, about 20 years ago, they went to the front lines


    as captains of the Burning Legion in the war against the Water Kingdom. Neither


    of them made it back, as both of them were killed by a Water Kingdom General.¡±


    ¡°For this man, Guo Huo, to want you as his disciple, I


    imagine that in the future you will become extremely powerful, more so than my


    two sons. If possible, could you at that point take revenge for my two sons?¡±


    Jia Yuan was heartbroken by this story. After all, he had


    never known his parents, and the only one he truly viewed as family, his


    brother, was still alive. However his feelings soon turned to an understanding


    of why his master had been so listless as long as Jia Yuan had known him. The


    old master didn¡¯t do much at all besides cooking congee every day, only telling


    Jia Yuan and Dou Di to do their chores. In fact, the only time he ever left the


    vicinity of the shack was to buy rice from the village market.


    Just how hard does one have to be hit with grief for them to


    fall so heavily from nobility to a point where they could only afford congee


    for sustenance?

 Chapter 32

    Chapter 32: Training Grounds


    With these feelings of sadness and understanding, swiftly came


    a desire to help his Master gain revenge.


    Jia Yuan spoke with conviction. ¡°Tell me who killed your


    sons, and I swear I will avenge your sons as soon as I can.¡±


    With that, a load of regret was taken off of the old master¡¯s


    chest, and was replaced by hope towards Jia Yuan.


    ¡°His name is Huang Ying. Last I heard, he was one of the top


    generals of the Water Kingdom, and should be a True Disciple of Water.¡±


    ¡°I promise I will do everything I can in the future to


    avenge your songs.¡±


    Standing next to Jia


    Yuan, Guo Huo secretly nodded his head. In fact, Guo Huo had previously fought


    against this Huang Ying before. He would be a good test for Jia Yuan in the


    future.


    ¡°Alright, well if everyone is okay with it, I¡¯d like to


    bring Jia Yuan somewhere else to begin his training. Jia Yuan, say your


    goodbyes to everyone and we¡¯ll be on our way¡±


    For the next five minutes or so, Jia Yuan said some hurried


    goodbyes to the villagers of Fire Hill Village, and followed Guo Huo back


    towards the forest.


    ¡°So Teacher, where are we going?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re heading to a location that is perfect for cultivating


    a Song of Fire. You¡¯ll train there under my guidance for a while, until you hit


    the 5th level of Absorption. As for when that is¡­ will depend on


    your talent and efforts.¡±


    And so the two, one elderly man and one young boy, travelled


    across the Fire Kingdom over the course of a month.


    The two swapped many stories along the way! Jia Yuan recounted wondrous stories


    that Dou DI had told him before, while Guo Huo told stories of his military


    exploits and of the powerful people he had explored the world with long ago.


    Over the time, the bond between the two grew immensely. Guo


    Huo came to understand Jia Yuan''s simple nature, while Jia Yuan became more and


    more in awe of Guo Huo.


    One morning, they reached their location. They were currently


    at the border between the Fire Kingdom and the Water Kingdom.


    In front of Guo Huo and Jia Yuan was quite a wondrous sight.


    They were in front of a crater more than 50 meters wide, and was filled with


    mist. As such, they couldn¡¯t even see how deep the crater was.


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.¡°Grab onto me and we¡¯ll descend. We¡¯ll be staying here for a


    while, so I¡¯ve already packed enough food to last us a month. In a bit you¡¯ll


    be able to see the place you¡¯ll be training at.¡±


    Jia Yuan jumped onto Guo Huo¡¯s back and gripped tightly.


    Although Jia Yuan had been in life or death battles before, the fact that he couldn¡¯t


    see the bottom of the crater made him a bit queasy. However, he trusted Guo Huo


    and didn¡¯t complain.


    When Jia Yuan jumped onto Guo Huo¡¯s back, he began preparing


    for the descent.


    Guo Huo began taking some very deep breaths, gathering


    strength for what he was about to do.


    After a few of these deep breaths, he jumped off the edge of


    the crater.


    Jia Yuan¡¯s stomached lurched, and he couldn¡¯t help but force


    his eyes shut in fear.


    However, soon they descent slowed greatly. Guo Huo was


    actually using the power of his Song to shoot fire underneath his feet in a


    practiced manner, which acted as a propelling force working against the gravity


    which was pulling them down.


    In this manner, he and Jia Yuan made a controlled descent


    down in the crater, about 40 meters below the level Guo Huo had jumped from.


    Upon reaching the bottom of the crater, the mist continued to swirl around them,


    but there wasn¡¯t any directly around them.


    The reason for this, was because they had arrived at the


    source of the mist.


    Directly in front of the two was a rather unique pool,


    separated into four sections.


    This was not a pool of water, but a sectioned pool of fire. Each section was filled with fire of a different temperature than the others, and with that


    also meant that the fires were of different colors, creating a rather beautiful sight. In the center of sectioned pool of


    fire, was a 2 meter wide pillar with a hole at the center, which emitted large quantities of


    mist.


    Guo Huo was fine in this environment, but Jia Yuan promptly


    began sweating. How could he not? After all, there the heat from the fire


    combined with the heated mist made this crater a gigantic sauna. In fact, after


    only a few seconds of standing at the bottom of the crater, Jia Yuan was


    already starting to feel very uncomfortable from the heat.


    ¡°Here is where you will train until you are at the 5th


    level of Absorption.¡±

 Chapter 33

    Chapter 33: Jia Yuan''s Goal


    ¡°To start, it may be a little difficult for you to resist


    the environment here. As such, I will protect you from the surrounding heat.


    However, unless you are sleeping or recovering from your training, I will continually


    adjust my protection to best aid your training.¡±


    As Guo Huo said this, Jia Yuan felt a decrease in the


    temperature around him. It was still rather uncomfortable, but at least it was


    bearable.


    ¡°Now, stand on top of the pillar, and begin training in the


    stances of your Dance. Use the power of your Song as you wish. In an


    environment such as this, you will be able to train your Song of Fire longer


    for the same amount of mental exertion.¡±


    With that, Guo Huo sat down at the edge of the pool, drew a bag out of his necklace, and began munching on an apple.


    Following the Teacher¡¯s instructions, Jia Yuan hopped on top


    of the pillar.


    ¡°AHHHHHH!¡± Jia Yuan screamed with pain as soon as he landed


    on the pillar. After all, the pillar was being heated by the pools of fire. How


    could it not be burning hot?


    However, Guo Huo was unperturbed.


    ¡°Use your Song¡¯s aura to protect your feet from the heat!¡±


    Jia Yuan quickly circulated his Song, and the heat burning


    his feet quickly decreased. However, he still glanced rather ruefully at Guo


    Huo. The old man obviously knew that he was going to burn his feet, why couldn¡¯t


    he have given Jia Yuan a warning?


    ¡°You can¡¯t always rely on others warnings. To be able to


    survive in the world of Martial Cultivation, you must be able to maintain


    vigilance at all times. You should have seen the pillar and expected it to be


    extremely hot.¡±


    To this, Jia Yuan opened his mouth to retort, but had no


    rebuke. He instead followed Guo Huo¡¯s initial instructions and drew HiRyu out


    of his ring to begin practicing his stances. Although it was rather hard for


    Jia Yuan to move as quickly and smoothly as he did when he was practicing in a


    normal environment, he was still able to fluidly complete the stances.


    Jia Yuan began to play his Song while performing the


    stances, and began to practice in a quicker, more aggressive manner as his body was enveloped in a thin fiery aura. He was


    just about to go through the stances for a third time when he decided to practice with the full strength of his Song.


    With that, his entire body became engulfed in fire, and


    HiRyu was no exception. The sword was again ablaze with flames in the shape of a giant


    axe. For a split second after releasing his Song, Jia Yuan felt like he was extremely powerful. After


    all, he was in an environment that was extremely favorable to the fire element.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    However, as soon as he felt this power, the flames around


    his body were quickly sucked away. Jia Yuan was very surprised. What had caused


    his flames to disappear so quickly?


    Guo Huo had been watching Jia Yuan train all this while,


    while munching on his favorite apples.


    As he saw the flames around Jia Yuan¡¯s body be sucked away,


    a small smirk appeared on his face. Long ago, he had gone through the same


    training here.


    Meanwhile, on the pillar, Jia Yuan started his Song again,


    only to have the fire be sucked away again. This time though, he was able to


    see the pool of fire below him sucking his fire away.


    ¡°Teacher, how do I keep my flames from being sucked away?¡±


    ¡°You have to exercise control over your flames. To start,


    you must focus on keeping the fire from being sucked away from the pool by any


    means necessary. Afterwards, you¡¯ll train by keeping your fire in place while


    combating the suction force of the pool.¡±


    ¡°But for now, come down. I just wanted you to get used to


    the pillar. It¡¯s almost nighttime, so we should eat dinner and sleep.¡±


    Guo Huo used the flames from the pool of fire to cook some


    meat, which he distributed between Jia Yuan and himself.


    While eating, Guo Huo suddenly spoke up.


    ¡°Jia Yuan, why do you train?¡±


    ¡°To become strong, of course.¡±


    ¡°Why do you want to be strong?¡±


    ¡°Because I want to join the Burning Legion with big brother.¡±


    ¡°Then what about after you join the Burning Legion? Will you


    continue to train?¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡±


    ¡°Then, why?¡±


    ¡°So that I can avenge the master¡¯s sons!¡±


    ¡°So your path is one of vengeance?¡±


    Jia Yuan was silent for a bit. Of course he wanted to help


    his ex-master by killing the Water Kingdom general, but that wasn¡¯t the main


    reason he wanted to grow stronger.


    But what about the old man that appeared with the Song of


    Swords?


    Jia Yuan realized that he didn¡¯t care too much about that


    either. If he could help the old man, sure, if he couldn¡¯t the old man was long


    dead anyway. It didn¡¯t really matter much to him.


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Then why do you wish to be strong?¡±


    This continued throughout their dinner, until Jia Yuan¡¯s


    head was filled with mush. Sensing this, Guo Huo stopped and prepared a special


    tent for the two to sleep in, protected from the blistering heat.


    Inside, Guo Huo said one last sentence to Jia Yuan for the


    day.


    ¡°We¡¯ll sleep for now, but I expect an answer tomorrow. ¡°

 Chapter 34

    Chapter 34: Training the Soul


    Jia Yuan lay in the tent on a comfortable mattress designed


    to help alleviate weariness. However, Jia Yuan was unable to savor the


    refreshing feeling of lying on something so comfortable, because he was


    fighting a battle in his mind.


    He was very conflicted as to why he wanted to train and be


    strong.


    He really wanted to be able to say that he had some noble


    mission, such as he wished to defend the innocent and erase evil in the world.


    (Such superhero)


    But he knew in his heart that saying so would be a lie. He


    simply didn¡¯t care about who he didn¡¯t know. And why should he?


    What about a more selfish reason then? The strong are


    revered on the Continent of the Five Elements. If he were to be stronger than


    all, then he would be respected (and feared) by all!


    But Jia Yuan understood that respect was a shallow reason to


    train for.


    After tossing and turning for the majority of the night, Jia


    Yuan finally gave up and went to sleep.


    A few hours later, he woke to the smell of delicious meat


    and some assorted vegetables.


    Not only had Guo Huo prepared food for the time he and Jia


    Yuan would be staying in the crater, but he had prepared very high quality,


    nutritious food to boost Jia Yuan¡¯s training.


    Still in the tent, Jia Yuan quickly drew a Fire Pill and an


    Absorption Level Soul Pill from the box in his ring, and popped them into his


    mouth.


    Feeling a burst of energy, Jia Yuan quickly left the tent


    and saw the wondrous meal in front of him.


    Truly, one of the best things about being with Guo Huo was


    because of the meals. Not only were the ingredients of high quality, but Guo


    Huo was also a very adept chef. Each chunk of meat was mouthwateringly


    succulent, and the vegetables were unvaryingly crisp and delicious.


    As Jia Yuan tore his way through the meal, Guo Huo asked, ¡°Did


    you figure out why you want to be strong?¡±


    Jia Yuan sighed, for he had expected the question to come,


    and proceeded to answer. ¡°Teacher, the only reason that I can think of that is


    definitively true in any situation, is that the only way to be able to do


    anything I want, is to be the strongest person in the world.¡±


    ¡°But if I am strong to the point where there is not another


    soul in the world who can challenge me, then I will have obtained true freedom.¡±


    ¡°I will be able to eat what I want, have what I want. I will


    be able to depraved as I want, or as kind as I want.¡±


    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    With that, Jia Yuan awkwardly ended. What he had finally


    said, was truly a selfish answer. He wanted to be strong so that nobody else


    could tell him what to do!


    Guo Huo stared at Jia Yuan. The child¡¯s answer was different


    than what he had expected¡­ but he could tell that it was not a lie.


    ¡°If that is your true reason for desiring strength, then so


    be it. I accept this answer of yours.¡±


    ¡°Now, let¡¯s talk about what you will be doing today. You will


    be meditating today to train your soul. Furthermore, we will train your depth


    of soul. For now, just finish eating. When you are done, I¡¯ll give you


    instructions for the training."


    Guo Huo stared at Jia Yuan. The child¡¯s answer was different


    than what he had expected¡­ but he could tell that it was not a lie.


    ¡°If that is your true reason for desiring strength, then so


    be it. I accept this answer of yours.¡±


    ¡°Now, let¡¯s talk about what you will be doing today. You will


    be meditating today to train your soul. Furthermore, we will train your depth


    of soul. For now, just finish eating. When you are done, I¡¯ll give you


    instructions on how to get the most out of this meditation training.¡±


    After Jia Yuan finished eating, Guo Huo brought him away


    from the pool of fire. After walking around aimlessly for about a minute, he


    abruptly stopped.


    Jia Yuan was completely confused. Since there was dense mist


    throughout the crater, he had no idea where he had been brought to.


    ¡°Alright, meditate here until you can sense the pool of


    fire. Then, use that to make your way back to camp.¡±


    With that, Guo Huo disappeared into the mist.


    Faced with this task, Jia Yuan grumbled. ¡°How the hell am I


    supposed to be able to sense stuff like that?¡±


    ¡°Hey, old man! At least tell me how to sense the pool!¡±


    But Guo Huo didn¡¯t respond.


    Gah.


    Jia Yuan sat down and began meditating as he usually did.


    However, he did his best to try and broaden his mind in hopes of finding the


    pool of fire.


    Just about 10 meters away, Guo sat by the pool of fire, suppressing


    his laughter. He had led Jia Yuan around the mist in circles. Of course he


    wouldn¡¯t give Jia Yuan such a huge task as to use his soul to detect the waves


    of energy emitted from the pool of fire from so far away.


    He had started with a fairly reasonable distance ¨C but Jia


    Yuan didn¡¯t know that.

 Chapter 35

    Chapter 35: True or False


    Jia Yuan continued to meditate, but found it very hard to


    concentrate on meditating due to the heat and humidity.


    Although he was annoyed by the environment, he understood


    why Guo Huo had said that this place was a perfect place to train.


    Not only was the environment harsh and unyielding, but the


    pool of fire forced Jia Yuan to concentrate on controlling the flames emitted


    by the power of his Song. Relax for a single second, and the pool would suck


    the flames away.


    The same was true for his meditation practice. The


    environment made it almost impossible for him to meditate peacefully. Whenever


    he tried to immerse himself In meditation, he would feel his skin burning or be


    annoyed by his clothes which stuck to his back, soaked in sweat.


    After a few hours of trying to meditate, however, Jia Yuan


    was finally able to enter the dreamlike state associated with meditation.


    After a few more minutes of meditating, he noticed a slight ¡°pulse¡±


    emanating from a location about 5 meters to the left of him.


    Is that the pool of


    fire?


    Jia Yuan opened his eyes and headed towards the pulse he had


    felt during his meditation.


    Upon reaching the location of the pulse, he groaned. He saw


    that the source of the pulse was just a pile of lit fire embers.


    THAT STUPID OLD MAN.


    Fuming, Jia Yuan turned around to prepare to go back to his


    previous location. However, he quickly realized that he wasn¡¯t quite sure


    exactly which direction he came from.


    After all, 5 meters was still a fairly large distance when


    everything was covered in mist.


    Jia Yuan decided to not take the risk of accidently walking


    even further away from the pool of fire.


    As such, he began to sit down and meditate again.


    After about another 20 minutes of meditation, Jia Yuan


    opened his eyes again and let out long breath.


    Teacher really


    prepared a lot¡­


    Through his meditation, he had found several pulses similar


    to the one he had sensed earlier. As such, he assumed these pulses were also


    from piles of fire embers.


    Every time he found a new pulse, he was quickly filled and


    depleted of hope as he realized that he was only detecting fire embers.


    Jia Yuan had quickly become frustrated, which made it even harder


    for him to immerse himself in the meditative state. However, he had persevered.


    He had just noticed a pulse about 12 meters away that was


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.far more violent in nature, which should be the pool of fire.


    Jia Yuan stood up again and headed in the direction of the


    violent pulse, and quickly arrived in front of Guo Huo, who had been waiting


    for him.


    Guo Huo grinned and said, ¡°Bout time you came back. I was


    starting to think that you¡¯d fallen asleep.¡±


    ¡°Oh haha. That trick with the fire embers was rather cruel.


    How did you even get so many?¡±


    ¡°I simply refined the fire from the pool here.¡±


    Jia Yuan was rather surprised. Although he knew that fire


    embers were common and cheap, he hadn¡¯t known how they were made. Naturally, he


    was rather curious about the process.


    However, Guo Huo didn¡¯t directly answer, only saying that ¡°You¡¯ll


    learn at some point.¡±


    Guo Huo was interested in Jia Yuan¡¯s meditation process,


    however. ¡°How did your meditation go?¡±


    Jia Yuan thought back a bit. ¡°It was very hard for me to


    adjust to the environment, but once I was able to cope with the heat and


    humidity, it only took me about 10 minutes to find the first pile of fire


    embers, and then about another 20 to find the pool of fire.¡±


    ¡°You spent 6 hours today to find the pool. You told me that


    you had only acquired your Song 3 months prior, but you were already at the 3rd


    level of Absorption a month ago. I thought that you were a peerless genius when


    it came to cultivation, but it seems that your rate of progress, when it comes


    to the soul at least, is rather slow.¡±


    At this juncture, Jia Yuan felt rather conflicted. This was


    actually a matter he had been thinking about ever since he had become Guo Huo¡¯s


    disciple.


    Should he tell Guo Huo about the Song of Swords and the


    pills he had acquired with it?


    On one hand, Guo Huo had proven to be an honorable teacher


    who wholeheartedly wanted Jia Yuan to reach the pinnacle of strength.


    However, this was under the assumption that Jia Yuan trained


    in a Song of Fire. Jia Yuan wasn¡¯t sure how Guo Huo would react if he was told that


    the Song Jia Yuan trained in was actually one that was capable of using all of


    the elements.


    ¡°When he spoke about why he wanted me as a disciple, it


    seemed that he wished to have someone from the Continent of the Five Elements


    to be strong enough to compete against the strongest from around the world.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps it will be fine to tell him the truth.¡±

 Chapter 36

    Chapter 36: Sparring Partner


    However, Jia Yuan was still wary of telling Guo Huo


    everything. As such, all he told Guo Huo was that he had found some pills in a


    random cave while he had been exploring.


    ¡°Ah¡­So your actual training speed is lower than I had


    thought. No matter, no matter. Your training speed is still adequate, and the


    quality of your Song is impressively high.¡±


    ¡°Given my status and wealth, it is possible for me to


    continue to provide you with pills. In the future, if you are strong enough,


    you will also be able to collaborate directly with the alchemists themselves.¡±


    Jia Yuan was rather delighted that Guo Huo would provide so


    much for him, and his trust in Guo Huo rose even higher. ¡°No need¡­ I found


    enough pills that they should last me for quite a while.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Can I see these pills?¡±


    Jia Yuan paused momentarily, but quickly assented. He drew


    the case of pills out of his ring and opened it.


    Guo Huo was speechless!


    He saw the hundreds of pills within the case and with his


    experience, he could tell at a glance that the quality of the pills was


    top-notch.


    ¡°How?! What kind of luck do you have to find this just


    laying around??¡±


    Guo Huo was simply unprepared to see what was in front of


    him! Even with his wealth of experience that came from traversing the world, he


    had never seen something so awe-inspiring.


    This case of pills was enough to cause the entire continent


    to go to war for! There were even pills emanating the aura of the True Disciple


    level! There were even pills which had auras that even Guo Huo could not


    understand!


    Truly, this case was¡­single-handedly able to create an unparalleled


    power.


    ¡°HA. HAHAHA.¡± Guo Huo started laughing boisterously. He


    suddenly reached over the case and hugged Jia Yuan in a tight embrace.


    ¡°My disciple truly has some godly luck haha! It seems that I


    will be able to achieve my goal!¡±


    Guo Huo let Jia Yuan out of his grasp and then started


    running around the camp like a fool.


    From Jia Yuan¡¯s point of view, it was as if Guo Huo had gone


    mad.


    A martial genius, strong enough to be considered among the


    top ten strongest cultivators in the Fire Kingdom, was behaving in such manner!


    After this outburst of happiness, Guo Huo suddenly stopped,


    because he saw Jia Yuan¡¯s confused and bewildered expression.


    ¡°Ahem.¡± Guo Huo hastily sobered up.


    ¡°Jia Yuan, just remember that even though you have the help


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.of these pills, you may be able to cheat your way to the pinnacle of the


    Continent of the Five Elements, but in order to be able to compete overseas,


    you will still need to put in an exorbitant amount of effort.¡±


    ¡°Enough of this. Now, we¡¯ll be moving on to the 3rd


    part of your training. Your training atop the pillar will be take up the first


    day of a two day training regime that we will repeat until you are at the 5th


    level of Absorption. ¡°


    ¡°For the second day, you¡¯ve already done half of it. I will


    place you at locations from where you should only require a few hours of


    meditation training to find the pool of fire. As for the second half¡­ we will


    spar.¡±


    Jia Yuan was extremely happy when he heard this. After all,


    he hadn¡¯t had a regular sparring partner ever since Dou Di had left for the


    Burning Legion.


    And so, Jia Yuan and Guo Huo spent the rest of the day


    sparring. Of course, given the domineering strength of the Song of Swords, Guo


    Huo fought while keeping his level of cultivation at the 5th level


    of Absorption.


    With this, Jia Yuan started out with a clear disadvantage.


    After all, when comparing Jia Yuan to Guo Huo, Guo Huo clearly had better


    technique, more battle experience, and with the 5th level of Absorption,


    slightly stronger attacks.


    And so, Jia Yuan continued to train in this manner for the


    next 2 months while consuming pills almost every day.


    Jia Yuan liked his training routine very much. Over time, he


    had been able to consistently keep the pool of fire from sucking away his own


    flames. His meditation had improved to the point where he could be sat about 20


    meters away. In spars, he was getting to the point where he had techniques only


    slightly inferior to those of Guo Huo.


    However, right now Jia Yuan and Guo Huo were huddled in the


    tent with rather dispirited faces. This is because despite Jia Yuan¡¯s rather


    impressive improvements¡­ for some reason he had not made any breakthroughs and


    was stuck at the 3rd level of Absorption.


    The two had largely ignored this issue. Guo Huo had just


    assumed that Jia Yuan¡¯s Song had extremely stringent requirements to achieve


    breakthroughs in. This made sense, since it was a very high quality Song.


    However, after two months of training, Jia Yuan was clearly more than ready to


    break into the 4th level of Absorption. In fact, he was strong


    enough in both body and soul to be at the 5th level of Absorption.

 Chapter 37

    Chapter 37: The Requirement


    ¡°How did you progress before? Tell me more about the battle


    you progressed twice in.¡± Guo Huo asked.


    Jia Yuan had already told Guo Huo that he had progressed


    very quickly in the midst of a battle before. As such, Guo Huo wanted to delve


    deeper to see exactly what had occurred during the battle for Jia Yuan to


    progress so quickly.


    ¡°Well, I first progressed when I cut down the first batch of


    bandits with my sword.¡± Jia Yuan looked over at Guo Huo to see if he had any


    response.


    Unfortunately, this wasn¡¯t enough for Guo Huo to make


    assumptions off of. ¡°Continue.¡±


    ¡°Then, I ran into the main fight and after fighting for a


    bit I realized that the bandits were stronger than I thought, so I tried to


    activate more of my Song¡­ and then I don¡¯t remember much after that except that


    I had the sensation that I was drowning in a dark sea.¡±


    Hearing this, Guo Huo¡¯s entire body tensed and he


    involuntarily let out some of his aura, which badly surprised Jia Yuan. After


    all, Guo Huo¡¯s main strength was his ability to manipulate the power of his Song,


    which included his aura. For him to actually lose control of his aura upon


    hearing what Jia Yuan had said¡­ what exactly was the reason?


    Jia Yuan continued to speak, although he was rather unnerved


    by Guo Huo¡¯s reaction. ¡°And, um¡­ well after a bit I woke up and I found out


    that I had actually progressed to the 3rd level of Absorption. So


    uh, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Guo Huo let loose a long sigh and then looked toward Jia


    Yuan with a dry gaze. ¡°Seems like your luck is really something out of the


    ordinary. At the very least, you are incredibly fortunate to still be alive.¡±


    ¡°Whatever you did before you felt like you were drowning in


    the dark sea, never do it again unless you have to. What you did was enter the ¡®Sea


    of Souls¡¯ which is an incredibly dangerous place for humans. At the same time


    that you entered the sea, the soul of your Song occupied your body. This


    probably granted you great strength, but at great risk to your own soul. At


    worst, your Song could have gone on a frenzy and went on a rampage, killing


    everything in its path.¡±


    ¡°However, it seems that you were fortunate enough to be able


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.to find your way back to your body. Just don¡¯t ever do it again. When you¡¯re


    ready to explore that world further, I¡¯ll teach you about it, but for now, don¡¯t


    even think about it.¡±


    ¡°As for your Song¡­ it seems that you need to experience real


    combat in order for you to progress. Sparring with me might not work because


    you hold trust in me. Hm¡­ I guess it¡¯s time for us to leave this crater. You


    haven¡¯t reached the 5th level of Absorption, but I think the only


    thing left for you to advance is to experience some real combat.¡±


    ¡°Coincidentally, the next place I was going to have you


    train at will provide you with quite a bit of authentic combat. Hmm, let me


    see. We¡¯ve been here for about two months, so¡­ alright. We¡¯ll have you train


    here for another two days and then we¡¯ll leave.¡±


    And so came the last day of training in the crater.


    Jia Yuan was atop the pillar, surrounding by ribbons of fire.


    For the last week, Guo Huo had instructed Jia Yuan to keep the flames emitted


    from his song circling around him in a continuous line of fire. As such, Jia


    Yuan decided to manipulate the flames into the shape of a ribbon. This flame


    ribbon followed the tip of his sword and provided for quite an interesting


    spectacle.


    Jia Yuan had long ago been able control his flames well


    enough to resist the pull of the pool of fire, but being able to keep close


    control of his flames while resisting the pull of the pool of fire was far


    harder. In fact, this was the first time he had been able to do it to such an


    extent.


    For someone in the Absorption level, this sort of control


    was basically unheard of. It was only because of this special location that Jia


    Yuan had been able to practice his control to such a degree. Although he wasn¡¯t


    on Guo Huo¡¯s level, it could be said that the disciple mimics the teacher.


    Guo Huo stood by, watching. He didn¡¯t show anything on his


    face, but in his heart he nodded rather enthusiastically. ¡°He¡¯s able to do what


    I was able to do at the 9th level of Absorption while still only at


    the 3rd level of Absorption¡­ He may not be the fastest cultivator,


    but his foundation¡­ should be unparalleled on this continent."

 Chapter 38

    Chapter 38: Leaving the Crater


    After Jia Yuan finished his training for the day, the two


    had a final dinner. To celebrate their leaving the crater, Guo Huo had slow


    roasted some Blazing Pig meat. The meat of the Blazing Pig is extremely


    expensive in the Fire Kingdom, as it not only had an exquisite taste, but could


    boost cultivation speed.


    In addition to the pig meat, Guo Huo had prepared some bok


    choy and some beef and apple stew.


    Jia Yuan tore through the meal with his regular abandon, and


    Guo Huo gave him a rather dry look. As someone who had spent most of his life


    among the high nobility of the Fire Kingdom and had learned proper etiquette,


    it was almost hard for him to eat meals with Jia Yuan. In fact, he had


    developed a habit of finishing his cooking early and eating before Jia Yuan


    finished training.


    However tonight, he wanted to make the dinner as special as


    possible, so he had not done so¡­ although he was starting to regret it.


    Guo Huo grumbled to himself. ¡°I¡¯m going to have to get


    someone to teach him proper manners.¡±


    After the meal, Jia Yuan sat outside of the tent, while Guo


    Huo had turned in for an early nap inside the tent.


    Jia Yuan could already resist most of the heat and humidity


    in the crater, so he comfortably laid on the ground and stared at the swirling


    mist above him.


    It¡¯s been two months


    since I came here. I wonder how master is doing¡­ I wonder how Dou Di brother is


    doing.


    I wonder how strong he


    is. Has he found friends in the Burning Legion?


    Jia Yuan had led a fairly lonely life. For as long as he


    could remember, he didn¡¯t really have any friends. For a few years, he had the


    companionship of Dou Di, but after Dou Di was sold to the Burning Legion, the


    only people he had spent time with on a daily basis were his old master and Guo


    Huo.


    Jia Yuan had been able to play with kids around his age when


    he had stayed at Wan Shi¡¯s house, but that had only been for a few hours.


    I wonder how the


    Burning Legion will be like.


    After spending some more time resting next to the pool of


    fire, he went back into the tent and rested for the night.


    The next morning, teacher and disciple flew out of the


    crater. Jia Yuan actually didn¡¯t need Guo Huo to carry him, but they stayed


    very close together in case Jia Yuan¡¯s concentration snapped during the flight


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.up for some reason.


    ¡®Ahhhhhh now that¡¯s the air I love!¡± A soon as they left the


    crater, Jia Yuan was able to breath in some fresh air! For the past two months,


    they had been breathing in the very humid and heated air in the crater.


    ¡°Ah, right. Teacher, where are we going?¡± Jia Yuan was rather


    curious as to what location they would be training at next.


    ¡°Do you know about the geography of our continent?¡±


    ¡°Hmm. We have four main kingdoms, corresponding to each


    element. Each kingdom controls about a fourth of the continent. The borders


    shouldn¡¯t have changed much in the last 50 or so years, so small cities have


    popped up on the borders between the kingdoms.¡±


    ¡°Oh? You actually know quite a bit! Where did you learn it


    from?¡±


    ¡°Oh, Dou Di used to tell me a lot of stores. I ended up


    learning some stuff from him. He¡¯s also the reason why I want to join the


    Burning Legion.¡±


    ¡°I see, I see. It seems that your brother was quite the


    interesting person. Actually, the place we are heading to is precisely one of


    these border cities.¡±


    ¡°Since we¡¯re close to the Water Kingdom, we¡¯ll be heading to


    a city between the Fire and Water Kingdoms. If my memory serves me well, I


    believe they have an Arena of sorts there where people of any age and strength


    can compete. You can even compete in battles to the death. This should be good


    for progressing your Song, and will also prepare you for life in the Army. Although


    the continent has been peaceful for the last 50 years, all of the Kingdoms have


    been stocking up weapons and soldiers at an abnormal pace for the last few


    years. We may see a large-scale war in a few more years.¡±


    ¡°As for your uh¡­manners¡­ I will also likely be hiring a


    private tutor for you. They will teach you proper etiquette when you are not


    competing in the Arena.¡±


    ¡°Do I really need to learn all of that boring stuff?¡±


    ¡°If you want to be a respected human being, then you¡¯ll have


    to at least learn some basic manners. Furthermore, with your potential, you¡¯ll


    likely be one of model soldiers of the Fire Kingdom. As such, they¡¯ll probably


    have you learn manners so that you can represent the Fire Kingdom in


    Continent-wide tournaments.¡±


    ¡°Military teachers will definitely be far stricter than


    anyone I can find for you in the city. If you think about it this way, I am


    actually saving you a lot pain."

 Chapter 39

    Chapter 39: The Arena


    The two only walked for a few days before they reached


    BlueFire City. This was a recently made city that was technically in the Fire


    Kingdom and paid taxes to the Fire Kingdom, but the population was actually


    about 60% Fire Kingdom and 40% immigrants from the Water Kingdom. This city was


    one of the several ¡°border cities¡± that had popped up in recent years.


    ¡°Stay close to me.¡± Said Guo Huo. ¡°These border cities are


    rather dangerous, especially when you¡¯re by the outer walls. There is little to


    no regulation here. Although we will probably be fine, given my strength, I¡¯d


    still rather not have to show my strength or take any risks.¡±


    Jia Yuan nodded. This BlueFire City may have only recently


    been built, but it was already bigger than the RockFire City he grew up near!


    This is because of the massive influx of trade that came with being a border


    city. The Fire Kingdom would have some wares that were uncommon in the Water


    Kingdom, and vice versa. For example, the Fire Kingdom¡¯s pottery was renowned


    throughout the continent. As such, merchants would often come to these border


    cities to stock up on goods. And as they say, where the money goes, people


    follow.


    So although he looked at the high city walls and the bustle


    and hustle of the area surrounding the city with gleaming eyes, he made sure to


    keep close to Guo Huo.


    The two made their way through the outer city gate and


    quickly made their way to the inner city. They walked around for a bit until


    Guo Huo found the Arena Building.


    It was a giant colosseum style building, but it was divided


    up into many smaller arenas. On the outer ring, there were various arenas for


    weaker competitors, and in the center of the building there was a giant arena


    for the experts who had either won many rounds at the Arena or had high levels


    of cultivation.


    Guo Huo strode into the building housing the arena and walked


    up to the front desk.


    ¡°How can I sign this boy up for the arena?¡±


    ¡°Fill out this form and take this badge. You¡¯ll be assigned


    to an arena based on the level of your Song. You can collect your winnings from


    here at any point as long as you bring your badge. Your winnings will include a


    base rate depending on the arena you fight in, along with all winnings that


    your opponent has not cashed out. ¡°


    ¡°There are some other bonuses that come with winning in the


    Arena. If you win in your group 10 times, you¡¯ll be provided a free ¡®meal of


    champions¡¯ where a huge feast will be hosted in your honor. If you win 50


    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.times, you get your own extravagant room in our associated hotel for as long as


    you remain active in the arena. ¡°


    ¡°At 100 wins, you¡¯ll be given your own extravagant suite in


    our associated hotel that comes with twenty servants to aide you. Your meals


    will also be free and you may have them delivered to your suite.¡±


    ¡°Thank you very much for the information.¡± Guo Huo said.


    He turned to Jia Yuan and said ¡°Get 100 wins and treat your


    Teacher to some luxury eh? Pay me back for all of that meat I¡¯ve cooked for


    you.¡±


    ¡°EHHH?¡±


    ¡°Just kidding, just kidding. But I think that you should be


    able to get 100 wins. Come, lets fill this stuff out.¡±


    Guo Huo and Jia Yuan filled out the forms and then a guide


    showed them to Arena D, where the fighters were between the 3rd and


    4th levels of Absorption.


    Guo Huo glanced at


    the stage, where two twenty-something year olds were fighting. He quickly


    discerned that the skill level was too low for Jia Yuan to even feel slightly


    pressured.


    Sighing, he turned to the guide. ¡°Is there any way we can


    move to an arena with stronger competitors?¡±


    The guide nodded. ¡°Yes, but you still have to win a bout in


    this arena first. We have this policy so that someone who is weak but arrogant won¡¯t


    lose face for the Arena Building by providing a poor show.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Mused Guo Huo. ¡°That¡¯s alright.¡±


    He turned to Jia Yuan and said, ¡°Let your flames rage violently


    before you attack, but suppress it before the attack hits. We want to impress,


    but we don¡¯t want to have a competitor die just because his luck was poor in


    having to fight you.¡±


    After waiting for about twenty minutes, Jia Yuan¡¯s badge


    finally began to burn. He gave Guo Huo a glance and walked toward the stage.


    The announcer began to discuss the next match!


    ¡°Alright ladies and gents, right now we have quite an


    interesting battle! We have Chi Yun in this corner. Age 24, 4th


    level of Absorption! Pretty strong for his age! However in the other corner we


    seem to have quite a young genius in the making! We have Jia Yuan! Age 11, 3rd


    level of Absorption! That¡¯s right people, 3rd level of Absorption at


    such a young age! But will it all end for naught?¡±


    Seeing that both of the competitors had walked to their


    respective corners on the stage, the referee walked onto the stage as well.


    He glanced at Chi Yun. ¡°Ready?¡±


    He looked towards Jia Yuan. ¡°Ready?¡±


    ¡°Fight!¡±

 Chapter 40

    Chapter 40: Water vs Fire


    Chi Yun walked to the center of the stage wielding a one-handed


    axe with an air of confidence. As for why he was confident, of course it was


    because he had just heard that his opponent was of a lower level of cultivation


    than he.


    ¡°Ha! They actually paired me up with a kid half my age!


    Come, little kid. I¡¯ll show you the way out.¡±


    Jia Yuan did not appreciate being looked down in such a


    manner.


    Jia Yuan drew HiRyu out of his ring and gripped the sword in


    his right hand. He then raised HiRyu over his head, and then thrust downwards!


    A wall of flame over 20 feet long followed the path of his


    thrust! However, Jia Yuan¡¯s sword thrust stopped at just the right angle so


    that the wall of flame did not reach Chi Yun¡¯s head.


    Chi Yun, as well as the audience, was completely shocked!


    This was simply not the level of power associated with the 3rd level


    of Absorption!


    Murmurs began to spread through crowd.


    ¡°Are you sure the announcer didn¡¯t misspeak?¡±


    ¡°How is that little kid so strong? A monster! He will be a monster


    when he is our age!¡±


    Although Jia Yuan wasn¡¯t short for his age, he was still


    only about 5 feet tall and had yet to reach his growth spurt. As such, he was


    still a kid amongst men at the Arena.


    However, the difference in height between him and Chi Yun


    only served to accentuate just how strong Jia Yuan was for his age.


    Meanwhile, Chi Yun was stunned! He was at a higher level of


    Absorption, but his power was not even half of what this little kid had just


    unleashed!


    Having demonstrated his power, Jia Yuan quickly sheathed his


    sword.


    ¡°Your loss.¡±


    Jia Yuan threw out a punch towards Chi Yun with a fist


    surrounded by the aura of his Song, which knocked the latter off of the stage.


    The crowd cheered boisterously! After all, at the beginning


    of the match they had perceived it as almost a David and Goliath matchup, given


    how Jia Yuan was smaller and had a lower level of cultivation than his


    opponent.


    However, the speed at which Jia Yuan had proved everyone


    wrong¡­ frightening!


    After the referee officially declared Jia Yuan¡¯s win, he


    stepped off the stage and walked over to Guo Huo.


    ¡°Did I make an impression?¡±


    ¡°You rascal. You didn¡¯t have to humiliate him like that.¡±


    Guo Huo gave Jia Yuan a wry smile. ¡°But I guess it was also his fault for


    provoking you. Let¡¯s go, I want to have you join an Arena with people closer to


    you in strength.¡±


    The two walked with their guide back to the front desk of


    the Arena, where they handed Jia Yuan¡¯s badge over.


    The manager looked to the guide. ¡°How strong?¡±


    ¡°Arena C-1 should be right for him.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± The manager looked toward Jia Yuan.


    ¡°Hmm, quite a little monster eh?¡± He thought to himself.


    Guo Huo took this chance to ask, ¡°How strong are the


    fighters at the C-1 arena?¡±


    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    ¡°They are typically around the 6th or 7th


    level of Absorption.¡±


    ¡°Good, good.¡± Guo Huo was rather pleased. Fighters at that


    level of cultivation should be able to challenge Jia Yuan.


    ¡°However, due to the high numbers of challengers at the


    Arena, you are only allowed to fight twice a day.¡±


    After learning some of the other details associated with the


    Arena that the first manager had been too lazy to explain, Guo Huo led Jia Yuan


    to the C-1 arena.


    At this point, Jia Yuan was still feeling the thrill of


    fighting in front of a crowd. The cheers! The intensity of the atmosphere! It


    was all a wondrous feeling for Jia Yuan.


    Upon reaching the C-1 arena, they waited while watching the


    bouts. The fighters were all around the level of the Zhao Yue, the Zhao family¡¯s


    patriarch who Guo Huo had killed a few months ago.


    A few months ago, Jia Yuan was at the same level of


    Absorption, but could not even compare to the strength of the 7th


    level of Absorption.


    But how about now? Jia Yuan was rather eager to test his skills


    out, as Chi Yun hadn¡¯t even offered the slightest bit of resistance.


    After watching four fights, Jia Yuan was starting to get


    bored. Thankfully, his badge began to burn, prompting him to walk up to the


    stage. Along the way, he drew Hiryu out of the ring.


    And so the announcer began to hype up the match.


    ¡°For this match, we have a battle between two of the same


    House name! In the left corner, we have Jia Rou, 30 years old, a veteran


    fighter from the Water Kingdom who is at the 7th level of Absorption!


    In the right corner, we have Jia Yuan, 11 years old, a prodigy from the Fire


    Kingdom who is only at the 3rd level of Absorption! But be warned,


    his Song is overwhelmingly powerful!¡±


    ¡°A clash between the two kingdoms! A clash between two sword


    users! As we all know, the sword is the best weapon to be paired with the water


    element! Everything points toward yet another win for Jia Rou! But can this


    young genius impress again?¡±


    With all this, the referee had walked onto the stage.


    He looked at Jia Yuan, who nodded. He then looked at Jia


    Rou, who nodded.


    ¡°Fight!¡±


    The referee quickly ran off of the platform.


    Jia Rou had quite a reputation for being extremely


    aggressive in fights. Although fighters of the water Kingdom generally weren¡¯t


    too aggressive in their fighting style, Jia Rou was clearly not one of those


    fighters.


    As soon as the referee had shouted the word ¡°fight,¡± Jia Rou


    had swung his sword diagonally, and a blade of water shot out from his sword towards


    Jia Yuan.


    The entire audience was expecting Jia Yuan to be


    overwhelmed. After all, there was a difference of 4 levels of cultivation


    between the two fighters!


    However, Jia Yuan responded with his own diagonal slash and


    a thickly condensed blade of fire erupted from his sword.

 Chapter 41

    Chapter 41: Second Element


    The two slashes collided, but Jia Yuan¡¯s was overpowered!


    Jia Yuan moved to move, but the water moved too fast!


    The blade of water sliced into Jia Yuan¡¯s body, and he


    groaned in pain.


    Jia Yuan felt that the wound wasn¡¯t too deep, but it would


    start to hinder him if he lost too much blood.


    Gritting his teeth, Jia Yuan charged towards Jia Rou, who


    did the same. After an initial clash, the two exchanged a flurry of blows, flames


    flying out from Jia Yuan¡¯s side, and spouts of water erupting from Jia Rou¡¯s.


    ¡°Fire Blade!¡± Jia Yuan dashed back and leaped back forward,


    raising his sword overhead in a two-handed grip. This was the same move he had


    used to ¡°defeat¡± Guo Huo back at the Black Wing Merchant Guild Hall.


    However, as Jia Yuan swung his sword down, the fiery aura


    was condensed in the blade and not only a little fire leaked out.


    ¡°BOOM!¡±


    The entire stage shook as Jia Rou blocked the blow. However,


    both contestants were pushed back several meters, with Jia Yuan actually being


    blown back slightly farther.


    However, at this moment, Jia Yuan felt a change in his body.


    He was breaking through to the 4th level of Absorption!


    Ripples of his aura spread across the stage, surprising Jia


    Rou, as well as the announcer!


    ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, this is quite an event! It seems that


    Jia Yuan actually just progressed to the 4th level of Absorption!¡±


    Exclaims of surprise spread through the audience!


    An eleven year old at the 4th level of


    Absorption!


    However, Jia Yuan had no time to celebrate, as Jia Rou continued


    his barrage of unrelenting attacks.


    The two swords clashed together, and the fight was actually


    completely even! Although Jia Yuan had progressed to the 4th level


    of Absorption, he wasn¡¯t completely used to it and so wasn¡¯t using the power at


    its full potential.


    Over time though, Jia Yuan began to push Jia Rou back, until


    Jia Rou was at the edge of the stage.


    In a last ditch effort, Jia Rou thrust his sword towards Jia


    Yuan, and a bead of water shot out. This single bead of water contained immense


    power!


    Jia Yuan quickly move to block with his sword, and was able


    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.to cut the bead of water in half. However, one of the halves shot into Jia Yuan¡¯s


    chest, deepening part of the wound that was already there.


    At this moment, however, an unusual change was happening in


    Jia Yuan¡¯s body and soul.


    The Song of Swords was capable of all four elements found on


    the Continent of the Five elements. By hitting the 4th level of Absorption,


    his body and soul had reached the requirement for using a second element!


    Jia Yuan was capable of using the water element! The water


    element of his Song had awoken! Now, in Jia Yuan¡¯s soul, stood two unmoving figures.


    The first was Jia Yuan in a fiery robe wielding an axe, the second was Jia Yuan


    standing in a blue robe, wielding a sword.


    Suddenly, the aura around his body exploded in a burst of


    both fire and water, shooting Jia Rou out of the arena, as well as destroying


    most of the stage around Jia Yuan, who fainted.


    ¡°What?!¡± Guo Huo was extremely shocked and fearful as to what


    just happened. After all, he didn¡¯t know about the Song of Swords.


    When he saw Jia Yuan collapse, he thought that perhaps Jia


    Yuan had taken too much damage from the fight! After all, he couldn¡¯t see how


    deep Jia Yuan¡¯s wounds were, and that explosion at the end¡­


    Guo Huo ran to Jia Yuan and examined Jia Yuan¡¯s body.


    ¡°Ahhhh whew.¡± Guo Huo heaved a sigh of relief. ¡°He only


    tired himself out. Still, I have to get him to the doctors to treat these


    wounds.¡±


    For all of the things Guo Huo was talented in, detailed


    medical work was not one of them. Although the cut on Jia Yuan¡¯s chest wasn¡¯t


    too bad, it would still need stitches. As for the hole where the bullet of


    water had punctured¡­ It would take some time to heal.


    Jia Rou was similarly stunned, and some people who seemed to


    be his friends came over from the sidelines. Although they couldn¡¯t really


    fault Jia Yuan for hurting Jia Rou as the arena was a palce of bloodshed, they


    all looked at Jia Yuan with looks full of killing intent.


    Guo Huo naturally saw this, and shook his head. Looks like


    he would have to keep a tight watch on Jia Yuan¡¯s security.


    He picked Jia Yuan off the ground and had the guide lead Jia


    Yuan to the arena¡¯s medical area.

 Chapter 42

    Chapter 42: Old Demon Lady


    Writer''s Note: This chapter isn''t completely serious and its one of the first times in the novel I''ve put in a scene that is there for not only plot but also for humor... I understand that it''s a risk and some of you might not like it, but it''s what I''ve been wanting to do for a while and I never really had the balls to write more humor into the novel because I was worried people wouldn''t like it, but today I decided that I''m just going to write what I want and if people like it then yay.


    -At the infirmary-


    The doctor was currently giving Guo Huo a rundown of Jia


    Yuan¡¯s circumstances. ¡°The kid¡¯s injuries aren¡¯t too bad, I¡¯ve already patched


    them up. However, he seemed to have exhausted himself during the fight, so he


    hasn¡¯t woken up yet. Furthermore, his Song seems to be suppressed. It shouldn¡¯t


    pose a problem, but it¡¯s rather unusual¡­¡±


    After a week of laying on a bed in the infirmary, Jia Yuan¡¯s


    eyes finally opened.


    ¡°Sir! He woke up!¡±


    One of the nurses quickly notified the doctor who quickly rushed


    to Jia Yuan¡¯s bed.


    As for Jia Yuan, he was extremely confused. The last thing


    he remembered was breaking through to be able to use two elements¡­ and an


    explosion.


    Urghhh¡­ I¡¯m so hungry¡­


    As he stared up at the ceiling of the infirmary, Jia Yuan


    slowly began to recover from being unconscious for so long.


    He sat up and looked around. He saw the doctor, as well as


    Guo Huo who was rushing to the bed.


    What¡­happened?


    Seeing that Jia Yuan was safe, Guo Huo his worry fade away.


    The past few days, he had been extremely worried about Jia Yuan. Not only had


    Jia Yuan been unconscious, but Guo Huo couldn¡¯t even sense any of Jia Yuan¡¯s


    aura.


    After a few checkups to make sure that there were no lingering


    problems with Jia Yuan, the teacher and student left the infirmary and walked


    back to a hotel that Guo Huo had been staying at.


    Along the way, Jia Yuan kept glancing at Guo Huo.


    How could Guo Huo misinterpret his disciple?? ¡°Alright,


    alright. I¡¯ll order a big meal for you when we get to the hotel, okay? We¡¯ll


    consider it your prize for achieving the 4th level of Absorption.


    But in return, you have to tell me about what happened on the stage.¡±


    Jia Yuan actually stopped walking upon hearing this.


    It had been a constant struggle in his mind for the past few


    months. Should he tell Guo Huo about the Song of Swords?


    Jia Yuan began to walk again. ¡°Teacher, let¡¯s talk about it


    after the meal.¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine¡± Guo Huo knew not to push too hard. After all,


    Jia Yuan had his secrets, and Guo Huo had his own.


    The two made their way to the hotel, and Guo Huo spared no


    expense on the meal. He ordered for many of hotel¡¯s best dishes to be brought


    up to the room.


    After eating the                sumptuous


    meal, Jia Yuan looked over to Guo Huo.


    ¡°Teacher, the reason I fainted after the battle is because


    of my Song. It is capable of supporting all four elements. After reaching the 4th level of Absorption, the power of the water element I gained from the Song activated, which put a toll on my body and mind.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, I see¡­ WAIT WHAT??¡±


    Jia Yuan had said the phrase so nonchalantly, Guo Huo had


    responded without even realized what Jia Yuan had said.


    ¡°HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE? Not even a heavenly Song is


    capable of anything like that!¡±


    Guo Huo instantly thought for Jia Yuan¡¯s safety. ¡°Does


    anyone else know about this?¡±


    ¡°There shouldn¡¯t be anyone else who knows¡­ although I think


    that during the duel. The explosion was caused from my water aura colliding


    with my fire aura. Jia Rou may have sensed both auras on my body, which would


    cause him to have suspicions.¡±


    ¡°Ah, that guy.¡± Guo Huo cleared his throat rather loudly. ¡°Well


    um, the the explosion seemed to have impacted the other guy very much¡­ his body


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.was fine but apparently he now has amnesia¡­ which means that he probably isn¡¯t


    a problem.¡±


    ¡°However, his friends are more or less out to kill you. They


    couldn¡¯t do anything while you were in the infirmary, or they would¡¯ve been


    killed by the arena guards. However, when you are outside of the arena, you


    will need to be very careful.¡±


    ¡°As for your Song¡­ thank you for telling me.¡± Guo Huo


    understood just how important this knowledge about Jia Yuan¡¯s Song was, and


    that Jia Yuan was willing to tell him was a show of Jia Yuan¡¯s trust.


    ¡°You mentioned that the explosion was caused from your water


    aura? So your second element is that of water?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°I see, I see. Haha, you rascal!¡± Guo Huo patted Jia Yuan


    strongly on the back, causing the latter


    to sway in his chair. ¡°Your luck is far greater than what you¡¯ve let on!


    This changes my plans, however. We¡¯ll need to find a teacher to train you in


    the water element. It would also be nice for you to get some combat experience


    with the water element¡­¡±


    ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll get you another badge from the Arena. When


    you fight with the fire element, you¡¯ll fight with your own name. However, when


    you fight with the water element, you¡¯ll wear a disguise with a mask. You¡¯ll


    also use an alias. I don¡¯t think anyone would expect someone to have two


    elements, so there shouldn¡¯t be anyone who realizes the truth.¡±


    For now, rest up. You need about a week¡¯s worth of rest


    before you¡¯re back to full strength. In the meantime, I¡¯ve found someone to


    teach you proper manners and etiquette.¡±


    ¡°Whaaaat??¡± Jia Yuan was not looking forward to these


    lessons.


    ¡°This is an order from your teacher. Like I said when we


    arrived at the city, this is something that you¡¯ll have to learn eventually


    anyway.¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay¡­¡± Jia Yuan turned to the side and began to


    grumble.


    -knock knock- Some knocks sounded on the door.


    ¡°Ah, that should be her!¡± Guo Huo had a bit of an evil smile


    on his face as he headed toward the door.


    Seeing said smile, Jia Yuan¡¯s face blanched.


    Oh god, what kind of


    demon did he find?


    Guo Huo opened the door and an old woman with an extremely


    strict face walked in.


    I¡¯m done for. I¡¯d like


    to give thanks for the foo..


    ¡°IS THIS THE KID YOU WERE TALKING TO ME ABOUT?¡± Shouted the


    old lady.


    ¡°Ah, yes. I hope you¡¯ll teach him well.¡±


    ¡°WHAT?¡±


    ¡°YES. I HOPE YOU¡¯LL TEACH HIM WELL.¡±


    ¡°CAN I START NOW?¡±


    ¡°Yes, please go ahead.¡±


    The next few hours were torture for Jia Yuan, as the old lady


    mercilessly drilled manners and etiquette  into him.


    Sit straighter! Hands more angled! When you walk, keep your


    back straight! Say please!


    With each command came the rap of a ruler. While Jia Yuan


    was at the 4th level of Absorption and wouldn¡¯t really get hurt by a


    ruler wielded by an old lady, it still stung every time he was hit.


    By nighttime, Jia Yuan¡¯s mind was on its last strands.


    Seeing this, Guo Huo thanked the teacher, paid her, and told her to come back


    in the morning for Jia Yuan¡¯s next lesson.


    Jia Yuan sprawled on the ground, his mind and body unable to


    suffer anymore.


    ¡°Hey champ, how are you doing?¡± Said Guo Huo while smirking.


    ¡°Urghh¡­¡± Replied Jia Yuan.


    ¡°Alright ,alright. Just get to bed. Your lessons will


    continue in the morning. She said that at the current pace, you¡¯ll be done in 5


    days. Before we leave the city, I¡¯m going to have her visit once more to make


    sure that you remembered everything, so no being lazy.¡±


    ¡°Blurghhh¡­¡± groaned Jia Yuan, as he crawled into his bed. He


    instantly fell asleep, but was haunted by nightmares of an old lady with horns


    on her head and a giant ruler as a weapon.

 Chapter 43

    Chapter 43: Challenging Himself


    For the next five days, Jia Yuan was continuously ¡°tortured¡±


    by the lessons of the old lady. However, despite the torment, Jia Yuan¡¯s


    demeanor and bearing were starting to resemble less of that of a poor slave


    boy, and more of a young sire from a noble household.


    At the end of the fifth day, Jia Yuan stood tall as he


    escorted the old lady out of the hotel room. The two exchanged some


    pleasantries, and then Jia Yuan let the two old folk converse.


    Guo Huo handed the old lady her payment, and then the old


    lady left.


    As soon as the old lady left, Jia Yuan ran to his bed and


    belly-flopped onto it.


    He hated having to constrict himself to such strict


    mannerisms, but he had to put up with it, since the scary old witch¡­ Jia Yuan


    shuddered just thinking about it.


    Guo Huo glanced over at Jia Yuan, and had a sad smile on his


    face. When he was a kid, he had also gone through such training¡­ although it


    wasn¡¯t as severe as what Jia Yuan had gone through in the last few days. Of course,


    the teachings of several years of repetition had been pounded into Jia Yuan in


    only a few days, which was a big part of why it had been so hard on Jia Yuan.


    Jia Yuan had only made it through the last few days because


    of the exquisite food that Guo Huo ordered every day from the hotel. Every time


    he was ordered to do something, he did it to the best of his ability, but his


    mind was filled with thoughts of the dishes he had tasted the night before.


    Back straight! Delicious chicken!


    However, that ordeal was finally over.


    After a night of resting, Jia Yuan and Guo Huo again walked


    toward the arena.


    ¡°Teacher, I wonder how strong I will be after my Song


    evolved to sustain two elements.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t get overconfident. You¡¯re still just a tadpole


    compared to someone who is truly strong. You never know, although you have a


    rather unique Song, another genius could appear at the arena.¡±


    Upon reaching the C-1 arena, they waited for about twenty


    minutes until Jia Yuan was called up to fight.


    ¡°Hey, that¡¯s the kid who created the explosion a week ago


    right? He¡¯s supposed to be freaking strong!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I saw him fight the other day.It actually looked like


    he made a breakthrough partway throughout the fight! What speed of cultivation!¡±


    Some of the audience members recognized Jia Yuan, while


    others had heard rumors about the kid who had basically destroyed one of the


    arena¡¯s stages.


    Jia Yuan¡¯s opponent for the match was another 30 year old at


    the 7th level of Absorption, a citizen of the Fire Kingdom.


    As soon as the match began, there was no doubt about who was


    stronger. After all, after breaking through to the 4th level of


    Absorption, Jia Yuan was stronger than those at the 6th or 7th


    level of Absorption, assuming that the opponent had only acquired a low level


    Song.


    As soon as the fight started, Jia Yuan unsheathed his sword


    as the start of his Song, and in the same motion slashed the air in front of


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.him.


    A large blade of fire flew across the stage, which on


    contact, simultaneously cut his opponent¡¯s chest open, pushed his opponent out


    of the ring, and set the opponent on fire.


    The fight had only lasted a few seconds! Some of the


    audience members who had wanted to see more fighting from the child prodigy


    they had heard about were rather disappointed, but what they saw still awed


    them.


    A fight between the 4th and 7th level


    of Absorption! Usually, that would be a complete destruction of the fighter at


    the 4th level of Absorption. However, this young man in front of


    them had completely flipped the script!


    At this time, Jia Yuan and Guo Huo were walking toward the


    front desk.


    ¡°You again? Are you here to withdraw your winnings?¡±


    ¡°No, but we¡¯d like to advance to a higher level arena again.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    The manager looked at Jia Yuan with quite a bit of interest.


    After all, less than a week ago Jia Yuan had already moved to the C-1 arena.


    Could it be that the C-1 arena was already beneath this kid?


    ¡°Alright, you¡¯ve logged two wins in the C-1 arena, so you


    are eligible to go up if you¡¯d like. What level of competitors would you like?¡±


    Guo Huo was about to speak when Jia Yuan suddenly spoke up. ¡°The


    9th level of Absorption.¡±


    Both the manager and Guo Huo turned to Jia Yuan with looks


    of incredulity on their faces. ¡°What!?¡±


    Guo Huo was quick to the point. ¡°Jia Yuan, you¡¯re only at


    the 4th level of Absorption! Against those of the 9th


    level of Absorption you¡¯ll be at a disadvantage! Remember, you can die here!¡±


    The manager nodded in agreement. He could see from Guo Huo¡¯s


    bearing that he was nobility, which meant that the kid with him was probably


    the disciple of a famous school or the son of a rich family. Even though the


    arena had a large number of guards and was well protected by both said guards


    and the fighters who enjoyed competing there, they didn¡¯t want to cause trouble


    for no reason.


    Jia Yuan didn¡¯t face either of the adults, but said in a


    calm voice, ¡°Trust me teacher. I know what I¡¯m doing.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Guo Huo wasn¡¯t exactly buying it. However, after some


    deliberation, he shook his head, but agreed. ¡°Fine. The path to the peak of the


    mountain is never easy. Perhaps it will do you good to learn how to fight from


    a disadvantaged position while you are still young.¡±


    In truth, the reason Guo Huo accepted, was because of how


    strong he was.


    Even if he was sitting in the stands during one of Jia Yuan¡¯s


    fights, it would be a simple matter for him to forcefully stop the fight if Jia


    Yuan were truly in grave danger.


    As for the arena¡¯s guards¡­ even if they had 5 times the


    amount of guards they did, even they wouldn¡¯t be able to stop Guo Huo from


    doing whatever he wanted. Such the strength was one of the top cultivators in


    the Fire Kingdom.

 Chapter 44

    Chapter 44: Yang Ji


    Jia Yuan and Guo Huo headed to their newly assigned Arena,


    the B-2 Arena. The fighters at this arena were generally about the 9th


    level of Absorption with a low level Song.


    Upon seeing a kid enter with an old man, many of the


    fighters began to have rather tasteless expressions on their faces.


    No matter if they were fighting against someone so old or


    someone so young, many of these fighters, in terms of physical fitness, were


    just about their prime.


    However, some of the more tempered fighters looked at the


    two with an air of interest. After all, the mere fact that the two were at this


    arena as fighters meant that the Arena had deemed them as qualified.


    After all, one¡¯s strength couldn¡¯t be seen from just their


    outside appearance. A tall and strong man could have a weak cultivation base,


    while someone old and decrepit could have a high cultivation base, which would


    more than make up for the difference in physical strength.


    Jia Yuan and Guo Huo sat on the side of the arena to watch


    the matches. Some of the fighters were rather truly strong. In fact, there was


    a hundred man captain of the Burning Legion who was fighting in the B-2 arena.


    After watching a few matches, Jia Yuan finally felt a


    burning sensation in his pocket. His badge was burning, and it was time for him


    to fight yet again.


    Jia Yuan walked onto the stage, and the usual commentary


    from the announcer followed.


    ¡°In this corner, we have an 11 year old fighter at the 4th


    level of Absorption!¡±


    As soon as the announcer said this line, the spectators


    began to react in shock!


    ¡°What? An eleven year old at the 4th level of Absorption


    is fighting here? Against that fighter of the 9th level of Absorption?


    He¡¯s just asking to die!¡±


    That was the general consensus amongst the audience.


    Even Guo Huo could not say that he had confidence in Jia Yuan.


    However, in Jia Yuan¡¯s mind, he was thinking about something


    else.


    If I keep fighting


    against people who are only as strong as me, I¡¯ll never improve as fast as


    someone who has truly been fighting for their life every day. Only by taking


    risks such as this will I be able to stand at the peak of the world.


    The torment he had suffered the last few days from the old


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.lady had not only taught him mannerisms and etiquette, but had also opened his


    mind to just how far he could push himself, and the wards that were associated


    with being pushed so far.


    As long as he didn¡¯t die, it would be worth it, right?


    After all, the arena fights weren¡¯t necessarily life or


    death duels. Killing someone was possible and sometimes happened at the arena,


    but deaths were rather rare, as all one needed to do to win the round was to


    either make the other admit defeat or knock the other off of the stage.


    Jia Yuan drew his sword and waited for the referee to


    announce the start of the match.


    ¡°Start!¡±


    Jia Yuan prepared to defend against his opponent, but the


    opponent actually didn¡¯t move, and in fact, began to speak.


    ¡°It seems that my luck is pretty good. I¡¯ll actually be able


    to pay you back for hurting Jia Rou.¡± The opponent said. ¡°Just remember, when


    Death asks you who sent you, tell them that I, Yang Ji, sent you.¡±


    With that, Yang Ji started his Song, and settled into an


    offensive stance, letting his aura of the 9th level of Absorption


    spread around the stage in an attempt to stifle Jia Yuan.


    As soon as Jia Yuan saw Yang Ji do this, he started his own


    Song, but he still felt a bit suppressed by Yang Ji.


    Yang Ji then charged forward with a flaming axe, and began


    to ruthlessly exchange blows with Jia Yuan.


    Seeing that Yang Ji was going all out with a brute force


    attack, Jia Yuan began to do something that no other cultivator could.


    Jia Yuan was the ability of the Song of Swords to fight with


    the aura of the fire element, but was moving and dodging by using the Dance and


    stances associated with the water element, which were far more suited for


    defense than those of the fire element.


    After all, fire was the element of aggression, and water was


    the element of fluidity.


    However, this meant that Jia Yuan had basically no offensive


    capabilities, since attacking with the fire element while dancing with the


    water element meant that his movements were poorly suited to attacking with


    fire.


    But it didn¡¯t matter, as Yang Ji couldn¡¯t hit him either!


    The fight more or less stagnated as Yang Ji kept swinging at Jia Yuan, who kept


    dodging and blocking.

 Chapter 45

    Chapter 45: Leaving BlueFire City


    After a few minutes of this, Yang Ji was drenched in sweat, his limbs heavy and his speed decreasing with every second that passed.


    After all, moving with such force and aggression also meant that the fighter would quickly become tired.


    However, Jia Yuan was slightly better off. Although he had a weaker cultivation base and body and using the Song of Swords depleted his energy at a quick rate, he had managed to conserve more of his energy than Yang Ji had. After all, he had only focused on dodging and blocking.


    Now is the time for the counterattack.


    Jia Yuan had long ago become accustomed to fighting those stronger than him. After all, he had continuously sparred with Guo Huo while in the crater. He knew that to beat Yang Ji, he first needed to make it so that Yang Ji would waste his energy. After that, Jia Yuan could seize his chance to win. If he couldn¡¯t win in that time frame, then he would have to concede the fight.


    Now that the time had finally come, Jia Yuan switched his stances from those of the water dance to those of the fire dance.


    He coalesced his fiery aura in his sword, and cut down with all of his strength!


    The Yang Ji who could barely move his limbs was unable to defend himself, and Jia Yuan¡¯s sword heavily cut into his body.


    ¡°I CONCEDE.¡±


    Yang Ji managed to spit out these words, his face full of humiliation. He had been so confident going into the fight¡­ but he had been played! Who with a Song of Fire would dodge like that anyway?


    Instead of teaching the brat a lesson, he had suffered a large injury! He couldn¡¯t stand to bear it. In fact, he couldn¡¯t stand at all, as the wound was bleeding too much and he was devoid of energy.


    Some medics quickly lifted Yang Ji onto a bamboo slab and transported him to infirmary.


    On the stage, Jia Yuan stood with Hiryu facing toward the ground by his side. ¡°Whoo¡­¡±


    The last cut had cost Jia Yuan all of his strength. Even though the Song of Swords was such a domineering Song, this also meant that Jia Yuan exerted more energy whenever he fought with it.


    Guo Huo understood this principle, that a higher level Song meant that more energy would be used. In fact, this was one of the reasons why he had had Jia Yuan practice control over his Song so extensively while in the crater.


    However, in this fight, Jia Yuan could not exercise such control. If he did, he likely would have been unable to harm Yang Ji.


    On stage, Jia Yuan breathed another sigh, and then fainted.


    Guo Huo stepped onto the stage and picked Jia Yuan up. He looked down at the child in his arms, and had a guilty look on his face.


    ¡°Perhaps I was too greedy to try and get him to progress so fast¡­ It looks like his Song is truly too strong. We¡¯ll have to slow down his cultivation speed and focus more on developing the endurance of his body and mind.¡±


    -A year and some months later-


    Jia Yuan and Guo Huo sat in the biggest suite the Arena¡¯s affiliated hotel had to offer. Long ago, Jia Yuan had already surpassed 100 wins in the arena, and his name was one of the most frequently discussed in BlueFire City. As for those he had beaten along the way, such as Jia Rou and Yang Ji, they had long ago left the city due to their names being frequently brought up as Jia Yuan¡¯s first stepping stones.


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


    But the Arena, along with the rest of the city, had learned a few days ago that Jia Yuan was leaving the city to pursue a career with the Burning Legion.


    Their youngest champion was leaving!


    ¡°Jia Yuan, it¡¯s time to leave.¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡± Jia Yuan now truly had the bearing of a noble, and acted as one as well. After reaching 100 wins, Jia Yuan had been invited to many a feast in his honor. Clearly, the nobles of BlueFire City wanted to foster good relations with this child genius.


    After all, Jia Yuan was at the 5th level of Absorption, but could already easily defeat those of the 9th level of Absorption. Many even hypothesized that he would be able to give those at the 1st level of Manipulation a run for their money.


    In actuality, Jia Yuan¡¯s body and mind were more than sufficient to support a low level Song at the 2nd level of Manipulation. It was only because of the Song of Swords that he was still at the 5th level of Absorption. As Jia Yuan progressed, the level of energy consumed by the Song of Swords was simply astonishing.


    Even though Jia Yuan was revered by nobles and had to maintain an air of nobility around him at most times, Jia Yuan still had his moments where he reverted to his past self, when he would spend his time playing with the other kids in the streets.


    Children who were nobles, commoners, or even slaves. It didn¡¯t matter what kind of background they had, Jia Yuan would be willing to play with them all! As a champion of the Arena, many of these kids looked up to him, and as a former slave, who was he to discriminate?


    But today, Jia Yuan and Guo Huo were leaving BlueFire City. Jia Yuan was to head to the capitol of the Fire Kingdom, HuoShen City, while Guo Huo was returning to RockFire City. In all honesty, he had nothing more to teach Jia Yuan for the time being, and was therefore returning to his old post. Although he had more stuff to teach Jia Yuan after Jia Yuan had reached the Manipulation and True Disciple stages, there was nothing more he could teach in the Absorption level.


    Even Jia Yuan¡¯s swordplay was as exquisite has Guo Huo¡¯s axe handling. His control of his Fire Dance was also wondrous, and his Water Dance wasn¡¯t too far behind.


    The two left the hotel and walked to the city gates of BlueFire City, surrounded by Jia Yuan¡¯s fans and the friends he had made during his time there. Even most of the nobles had come to send him off.


    Teacher and student looked at each other while standing outside of the city gates. They embraced each other, word not needing to be spoken.


    Jia Yuan was thankful for Guo Huo, while Guo Huo was glad that he had picked such an adept disciple.


    The two patted each other on the back and let go. Then, they walked their different paths.


    Jia Yuan had arrived at BlueFire City in awe of everything in it, and was now leaving with the good will of everybody* in it


    Dou Di big brother! I wonder how you¡¯ve been!


    *Except for Jia Rou and Yang Ji¡¯s friends.

 Chapter 46

    Chapter 46: Where are you, brother?


    On a wide and long road, there was a heavily guarded caravan of merchants heading toward HuoShen City. On one of the carriages sat several merchants, who were chatting merrily with a young man.


    The young man, of course, was Jia Yuan. As for why the merchants were so friendly with him was because Jia Yuan had saved them from a group of bandits a few days ago.


    The caravan only had about 50 guards, but the bandit group had almost 100 bandits! However, Jia Yuan had seen this battle break out by chance, and had quickly come to the caravan¡¯s aid.


    Truthfully, the merchants had invited Jia Yuan to stay with the caravan for a few reasons. The first was as payment for Jia Yuan saving them. The second reason was that Jia Yuan looked like and acted like a nobleman. This, coupled with the strength they had witnessed earlier, made them want to form good relations with this young man.


    ¡°Young sire, we¡¯ll be arriving at HuoShen City in a few hours. Ah, that¡¯s right! What are heading to HuoShen City for? Do you have family there?¡± The merchant asked this, hoping for some information on Jia Yuan¡¯s family. After all, it must be a wealthy family to have such a prodigal son. If he used his newfound ¡°friendship¡± with Jia Yuan to secure some trade agreements, then he could quickly acquire wealth so that he wouldn¡¯t even have to risk his own life traveling on these caravans!


    ¡°Oh, no family. I¡¯m just attending the tournament to join the Burning Legion. My brother should be there as well.¡±


    ¡°Ahh, I see. Helping defend the country eh? A noble cause!¡±


    After reaching the city, Jia Yuan bid farewell to the merchants and headed toward the center of the city, asking for information about the Burning Legion Tournament on the way.


    After asking around a bit, he found an Army recruitment center, from where  he learned that the Burning Legion tournament would actually be happening outside the city, and that the tournaments were open to the public. After all, it was a good way to boost the citizen''s morale and a good way to keep the current soldiers motivated towards their training.


    Upon finding the tournament grounds, Jia Yuan prepared to register for tournament. However, he quickly found himself at the end of a line more than a thousand feet long. It seemed that there were truly many people who wished to join the Burning Legion. Unfortunately, most of them would never be able to obtain this goal.


    After waiting for a few hours, Jia Yuan was finally at the front of the line and was able to sign up.


    An obviously bored soldier was in charge of registering Jia Yuan for the tournament.


    "Name, age, and family?"


    "Jia Yuan, age 12, no family."


    The soldier rolled his eyes upon hearing that Jia Yuan had no family. After all, these independent cultivators were not likely to have any chance of becoming a soldier of the Burning Legion. They lacked powerful Songs, lacked resources, and overall just could not compare to the sons of noble families.


    "Alright, here''s your badge. Don''t lose it or you''ll be automatically disqualified. You''ll be given your own living quarters until the tournament ends. If you have money, you can purchase better living quarters. Don''t cause any trouble or you''ll be disqualified."


    Jia Yuan nodded and walked off.


    The tournament grounds were truly huge. There was a gigantic stadium with hundreds of thousands of seats, and it seemed that there were thousands upon thousands of competitors. Jia Yuan took all of this in with a casual survey of his surroundings.


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    It was all very interesting, but he was more interested in finding Dou Di.


    However, even after hours of searching, Jia Yuan was unable to find his older brother. Given that the day was getting late, Jia Yuan decided to find some food and see if he could upgrade his living quarters. After all, he''d gotten used to a life of luxury at BlueFire City, and if he could avoid sleeping while cramped among other smelly people, he gladly would.


    He made his way to the "rich" part of the tournament grounds. Some makeshift restaurants and inns could be found here. While they weren''t nearly as luxurious as standing buildings in a city, they were a far cry from the destitute food lines and packed tents that served the common applicants.


    Jia Yuan ordered some meat skewers from one of the restaurants along with some rice and vegetables, and ate them grumbling about the price. "This measly bit of food cost me an entire large fire shard! Those bastards are committing robbery in broad daylight...but it does taste pretty good."


    After eating, he headed towards one of the makeshift inns to rent a room, when he walked past a group of patrolling guards. There was a lot of testosterone at the tournament grounds, and fights frequently broke out. As such, the Army had many guards patrolling throughout.


    Jia Yuan paused, then turned back toward the patrolling guards. "Dou Di!"


    "Eh?" The last guard in the patrolling line turned around.


    "Dou Di! It''s me, Jia Yuan!"


    Dou Di actually almost didn''t recognize Jia Yuan! After all, the two had only known each other as slaves, and now, Jia Yuan was dressed akin to a nobleman. How could Dou Di equate the little slave boy to the figure in front of him?


    But who else would know his name and know his little brothers name?


    "Little bro!" Dou Di finally responded joyfully.


    "Hey, you. No socializing during patrol." The leading patrol guard glared at the two brothers.


    Jia Yuan already knew how to deal with the situation. "Here, sir. Please let us brothers celebrate our reunion. Surely it''ll be fine, right? How many fire shards will it take."


    The patrol guard licked his lips. It didn''t really matter to him too much if Dou Di was let off of patrol for a bit. He was already strong enough to deal with most fights that broke out. The rest of the patrol was just there for visual intimidation.


    "A large fire shard, and I''ll let you two reunite for the day."


    Jia Yuan drew three large fire shards out of his currency card and flicked them at the guard. "Make it three, and you excuse Dou Di from his guard duties until the tournament ends."


    "Ha. Make it five and I''ll do it."


    Jia Yuan withdrew two more large fire shards out of his card. After all, he had thousands upon thousands of large fire shards. Not only had he sold pills to the Black Wing Merchant Guild, but he had also garnered a large amount of money from his winning at the Arena in BlueFire City.


    Turning back towards the restaurant, Jia Yuan gleefully walked over with Dou Di trailing closely behind. "Alright, big brother, let me know how you''ve been doing!"

 Chapter 47

    Chapter 47: Before the Tournament


    The two brothers chatted long into the night while eating


    the restaurant¡¯s food. Every time Jia Yuan ordered a new dish, however, Dou Di¡¯s


    eyes grew bigger. After all, the food was extremely expensive, thousands of


    times more expensive than the congee that the two had grown up on.


    Watching Jia Yuan pull large fire shards one after another


    out of his sleeve made Dou Di feel extremely curious. What exactly had Jia Yuan


    done in the last two years to be so rich? Even the vibe Jia Yuan was giving off


    was far different from what he remembered of his little brother.


    ¡°Hey, little bro. Tell me what went on with you these two


    years. How come you¡¯re so rich?¡±


    ¡°Ah...¡± Jia Yuan hesitated, then said, ¡°A wealthy noble came


    by the village and decided to take me as his disciple!¡±


    ¡°Wahhh, so lucky! How strong are you now?¡±


    Jia Yuan leaned close to Dou Di. ¡°If I said I was at the 5th


    level of Absorption, would you believe me?¡±


    Dou Di snickered and responded. ¡°If you had such a rich guy


    as your teacher, I would¡¯ve been disappointed if you didn¡¯t progress that much.


    As for me, I¡¯ve reached the 4th level of Absorption. Hehe, it looks


    like us two brothers are rather talented. We both have a fairly good chance to


    qualify for the Burning Legion.¡±


    They continued to chat and eat through the evening, only


    making their way to an inn at midnight. Dou Di had been prepared to  head back to the barracks, which were jam


    packed with ¡°Burning Legion Candidates¡± who like him had been slaves bought by


    the Army for the Burning Legion. However, with Jia Yuan¡¯s fortune, renting a


    room at the inn for the two brothers was very simple and much more comfortable.


    The two of them would spend the days before the tournament


    in a leisurely manner, playing around. On the last day before the tournament,


    Dou Di suddenly suggested that the two of them spar like they had back at Fire


    Hill Village.


    ¡°How? I don¡¯t want to show others any of our skills before


    the tournament.¡± Said Jia Yuan. He didn¡¯t really care, as he was completely


    confident in being accepted by the Burning Legion, but while Dou Di¡¯s strength


    should be good enough to make it into the Burning Legion, it was still not a


    guarantee.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Dou Di thought of a solution. ¡°You¡¯re rich, right? We


    can rent a private sparring arena. They have some here so that people can practice


    in secret until the tournament starts.¡±


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.¡°Sure, let¡¯s head over to where they are, and we can see if


    we can rent one for an hour or so.¡±


    The two headed over to the area Dou Di had remembered the


    private sparring arenas to be, and quickly rented one out. It seemed that most


    people were planning to rest in preparation for the start of the tournament tomorrow.


    The two brothers each picked up a wooden sword provided in


    the arena and rushed toward each other. The two began a complicated dance with


    their swords and bodies, flames flying all around the arena. Fortunately, the


    walls of the arena were protected by some special means, so they remained


    undamaged.


    Although Dou Di was fighting with all of his ability, Jia


    Yuan actually had to hold himself back a great deal, to the 2nd


    level of Absorption.


    However, Jia Yuan quickly realized that his calculations of


    Dou Di¡¯s strengths were incorrect!


    ¡°Big brother, you actually don¡¯t have a low level Song!¡± Jia


    Yuan was happily surprised.


    ¡°Haha, that¡¯s right! They said that my talent was rather


    superb so they actually granted me one of the five medium level scrolls they


    had.¡± Dou Di proudly bragged.


    ¡°Hmph, so what?¡± Jia Yuan felt his competitiveness grow and


    increased his strength to the 3rd level of Absorption, and for the


    first time since the two boys had begun sparring, Jia Yuan had a clear


    advantage.


    ¡°What???¡± Dou Di was extremely surprised. ¡°How are you


    overpowering me so easily? Do you have a medium or high level Song?¡±


    ¡°Hehe. Your little brother is more impressive than you


    thought, hm?¡± Jia Yuan avoided telling Dou Di about his Song, choosing to gloat


    instead. Since this was in line with how Jia Yuan used to behave, Dou Di didn¡¯t


    feel any suspicions toward it.


    Soon after, Jia Yuan easily overpowered Dou Di and took the


    victory in the match.


    ¡°Ahhh¡­ looks like after these two years of being apart, you


    really have surpassed me. Time sure flies huh.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡±


    ¡°Alright, we should rest in preparation for the tournament


    tomorrow. Let¡¯s head back to that inn.¡±


    The two brothers headed back toward the inn and rested. Dou


    Di slept on the bed, while Jia Yuan spent his time meditating.


    After meditating for a few hours, Jia Yuan¡¯s mind and body


    were in harmony. He opened his eyes, and his gaze was filled with


    determination.


    The next step to


    becoming the strongest in the world starts tomorrow!

 Chapter 48

    Chapter 48: The Tournament (1)


    The two boys woke up at the crack of dawn and headed towards the tournament stadium, which was already nearly filled to the brim with spectators.


    The first few rounds of the tournament, as they learned, would be thousand-man brawls in the stadium arena, designed to weed out the weak. It was also a quick way of lowering the number of competitors. After all, only about a thousand or so would be accepted into the Burning Legion, and there were easily more than 50 thousand competitors.


    Only 1 in 50 would be able to join the Burning Legion!


    Jia Yuan wasn¡¯t nervous at all, but many of the competitors around him were. After all, few of the candidates had ever actually experienced a battle they could die in. Those who were from noble families naturally would be pampered. They might have some sparring experience with a gifted teacher, but they would never be allowed to fight a fair match with someone with the ability to kill them. After all, what kind of child would willingly throw their prized child¡¯s life away?


    As for some of the competitors who had come from destitute backgrounds or were even slaves before coming, they were also clearly nervous. For all of them, the tournament was their big chance to escape from poverty, but it could also be the event that led them to their deaths.


    While the tournament didn¡¯t encourage killing among candidates, they didn¡¯t ban it either, as long as it happened in the stadium. After all, what kind of army wants a soldier who can¡¯t handle some bloodshed?


    Jia Yuan glanced over at Dou Di, who didn¡¯t seem nervous, but had a gaze of determination on his face instead.


    That¡¯s my big bro.


    The competitors were split into 8 different groups for the first round, and the rounds would end after there were only 1000 competitors left. Competitors would be disqualified if they fainted, surrendered by running out of the edges of the stadium grounds, or died.


    In just a single round, 50 thousand  competitors would become 8 thousand!


    Jia Yuan and Dou Di both went to find out what groups they were in. Jia Yuan found that he would be in the 8th group, while Dou Di would be in the 3rd group.


    The two brothers exchanged some last words of confidence, and then separated to their respective groups.


    Upon arriving at the location where the competitors in the 8th group were supposed to gather at, Jia Yuan examined the people around him.


    Most of the competitors seemed to be between the 2nd to 4th level of Absorption, which was fairly impressive, considering that the majority of the applicants were between the ages of 12 and 15. In this regard, Jia Yuan was one of the youngest, and given that he was suppressing his aura, which most people at the Absorption level couldn¡¯t do, he didn¡¯t stand out at all.


    In fact, the only people who were standing out was a group of finely dressed youths who were chatting loudly while standing in a circle.


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    ¡°Ah, Da Rong, you¡¯re already at the 5th level of Absorption? But you¡¯re only 14! How are you so powerful? Wahh, please take care of me well!¡± One of the few female competitors was currently praising one of the finely dressed youths. Although she was at the 4th level of Absorption, she wanted to get some security. If she could get someone to fight her battles for her, why not?


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Yan Dan. Who in this filthy group of competitors is a match for me? Advancing from this round will be a walk in the park, I guarantee it.¡±


    Similar conversations floated around the circle of youths. All of them were supremely confident, even if some of them were only confident for show. After all, showing nervousness at this stage could be considered shameful, not to just themselves, but to their families who had invested so much into them!


    Jia Yuan didn¡¯t care about these youths. If they wanted to draw attention to themselves, that was fine. Even if they were strong, if they were grouped up on, they would be quickly overwhelmed, even if they were individually stronger than the other competitors.


    They¡¯re just trying to dig their own graves¡­


    Jia Yuan turned around and walked to the edge of the gathering area. Over the next few hours, the first seven groups each entered the stadium grounds, after which the stadium would erupt with cheers and shouts.


    I wonder if Dou Di made it out okay.


    Jia Yuan was worried for Dou Di, but there wasn¡¯t anything he could do about it until the round was over. Then, he would be able to search for his brother.


    Finally, the 8th group was ushered into the stadium.


    Upon arriving at the stadium, Jia Yuan wrinkled his nose. Thousands of competitors had already died in the stadium, and the metallic smell of blood permeated the air. Some of the competitors with weaker stomachs even started to retch just at the smell.


    Once all of the competitors in group 8 were inside the stadium, the announcer introduced the King of the Fire Kingdom, who addressed the audience and fighters.


    ¡°Citizens of the Fire Kingdom, brave candidates of the Burning Legion. This will be the last event of the first day of the Burning Legion Tournament. Citizens, I hope you continue to enjoy the show. Competitors, bring honor to your Kingdom, your families, and most importantly, yourself.¡±


    ¡± As I said for each of the last 7 rounds, the one who impresses me the most during the battle, will be given access to the royal armory and be able to take a weapon of their choice! Now, Begin!¡±


    With that, explosions sounded throughout the perimeter of the stadium, signaling the beginning of the fight.


    Jia Yuan gave a wry smile. He hadn¡¯t planned on showing off his abilities so early in the tournament, but now, it looked like there was quite an alluring prize.

 Chapter 49

    Chapter 49: The Jia Yuan Show


    As soon as the start of the fight started, the thousands of


    contestants formed groups, which then fought against nearby groups. Clearly,


    the majority of the fighters had spent the last few hours developing alliances.


    Like Jia Yuan, there were still many individual fighters. For


    the most part, these individual fighters were quickly wiped out by the groups


    as easy prey.


    However, that was not the case for Jia Yuan. Most of the


    contestants were at or below the 4th level of Absorption, and Jia


    Yuan was strong enough to contest with those at the Manipulation level.


    Jia Yuan could walk through the stadium field as he pleased,


    and that is exactly what he did. Jia Yuan surrounded himself with a thick fiery


    aura that protected him from any attacks heading his way, and walked toward the


    center of the field.


    Some competitors would try to attack Jia Yuan, but upon


    encountering the aura around Jia Yuan, would quickly realize that he was far


    stronger than they, and would promptly retreat.


    While Jia Yuan was making his way toward the center of the


    field, the audience roared as they watched the spectacle below.


    As for the King, he and his ministers were pointing out


    various fighters and discussing their strengths.


    At this time, the King actually noticed Da Rong, who along


    with the rest of the ¡°rich group,¡± was making quick work of several enemies


    surrounding him.


    ¡°That kid over there, who is he?¡± The King asked.


    One of the ministers beside him quickly replied. ¡°That there


    is Da Rong, the youngest son of Da Xiu, the governor of BlackSteel City.¡±


    ¡°Impressive, Impressive. That rascal must be happy he was


    able to have such an outstanding son.¡±


    The King and his ministers continued to look for strong


    fighters, and frequently pointed out a noble¡¯s son or daughter. After all, this


    was a good chance for some of the ministers to help out their less powerful


    friends by introducing their friend¡¯s lower generation to the King.


    After a few minutes of this, the number of contestants still


    in contention was reaching about three thousand. The field wasn¡¯t as crowded,


    and most of those who were left were strong in their own right.


    It was at this time, that the King emphatically pointed


    toward the middle of the field. ¡°That kid right there, who is he?¡±


    None of the ministers could respond.


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    ¡°Is he not a noble¡¯s son? How is he so strong?¡±


    Previously, Jia Yuan had walked toward the center of the


    field, and instead of attacking those around him directly, he had simply


    expanded the area his aura occupied, which forced those around him to retreat,


    else they would succumb to the pressure.


    Doing this had singled him out in the middle of the field,


    making it very easy for the audience, including the King, to notice him.


    Once Jia Yuan knew that he had garnered the attention of the


    audience, he began to dance in the center of the stadium. To start, a bit of


    fire trailed behind his blade, but with every movement, the size of the fire


    trailing HiRyu grew, until Jia Yuan was surrounded by a continuous ribbon of


    flame, surrounding him like an inferno. While the fighters couldn¡¯t see the


    true length of the ribbon of flame, the King, from his vantage point, could.


    It was over 50 meters long!


    At this point, Jia Yuan closed his eyes and used his mental


    energy to explode the flame outwards, effectively forcing the majority of the


    competitors to retreat to the edges of the stadium, instantly ousting several


    hundred.


    As for those who remained, they looked at Jia Yuan in


    horror.


    What kind of strength was that? He was clearly so young, but


    that strength was far beyond any of their capabilities.


    Even Da Rong and Yan Dan, who were among the strongest of


    the competitors, were completely flabbergasted. That kind of power rivaled the


    kind of power their parents had. In fact, Yan Dan wasn¡¯t even sure her father


    was capable of unleashing such power.


    After a momentary pause, fighting resumed in the stadium,


    but everyone made sure to steer clear of Jia Yuan, who drew his aura back into


    his body and simply sat down in the middle of the field, waiting for those


    around him to finish their business.


    In fact, he was so comfortable that he took an apple out of


    his ring and began gnawing on it just like Guo Huo had in the past. While doing


    so, he looked up toward the King.


    The King, having witnessed the power of the youth, as well


    as the audacity of said youth to simply sit down in the middle of all of the


    fighting, was actually rather delighted.


    ¡°I¡¯ve made my decision. After the round, bring that kid up


    here. I want to know what kind of a person he is.¡±

 Chapter 50

    Chapter 50: The King!


    ¡°It will be done, your majesty.¡± Said one of the ministers, who turned around to address some nearby guards.


    ¡°After the match ends, escort the competitor that the King just pointed out up here. Oh, and be sure to be polite, he will be an honored guest. I won¡¯t have you losing face for the King.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir.¡± The two guards nodded and began to descend to the stadium field. The two of them were personal guards of the minister, and they understood what would happen if they didn¡¯t follow the minister¡¯s orders. Someone like Jia Yuan would probably stand at the forefront of the Fire Kingdom in years to come. Youths like him weren¡¯t exactly indispensable, but were definitely hard to come by.


    But some guards? The two guards were both at the peak of the Absorption level, but from the attack they had witnessed earlier, they already knew that Jia Yuan was likely stronger than them. Compared to Jia Yuan, they were dispensable. If they caused bad will between Jia Yuan and the minister, the minister wouldn¡¯t hesitate to use the two guards to placate someone like Jia Yuan.


    The reason why the minister was careful to the point of reminding the two guards, was because an incident had happened at the last tournament, where a minister had grown interested in a competitor, and had sent for his men to greet the competitor. However, the competitor had not wanted to go with the guards, at which point the guards began to use force. After doing so, the guards had actually been killed, and the competitor, who shortly became a soldier of the Burning Legion, was actually the son of a fellow minister.


    One can imagine the trouble that came from the bad will caused by such an event.


    So, to be safe, the minister who sent the guards to retrieve Jia Yuan sent them off with an extra warning.


    After about another 10 minutes of fighting, there were only 100 competitors left alive on the field, and the round was over. As the remaining fighters filed out of the stadium, their names were recorded by some soldiers by the exit.


    After Jia Yuan¡¯s name was recorded, two guards walked up to him.


    ¡°Hello, what can I do for you?¡±


    The two guards politely responded. ¡°Hello sir, our lord would like to invite you, on behalf of the King, to the royal box. The King very much desires to meet you.¡±


    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Jia Yuan actually hadn¡¯t counted on the King wanting to meet him immediately. To be honest, he didn¡¯t really want to meet with the King. If it weren¡¯t for the promised weapon, he wouldn¡¯t even have bothered with showing off previously.


    It was just a pain to deal with nobility. You had to keep a straight back and speak eloquently¡­ it was tiring.


    But how could he refuse the King? Jia Yuan understood that if he angered the King, even Guo Huo wouldn¡¯t be able to help him if he was there.


    And Jia Yuan was alone.


    ¡°Fine fine, I¡¯ll come. Is there food up there?¡±


    ¡°Ah, thank you sir. There is indeed some food in the royal box, I believe that I saw some servants bringing up some roast pork when the two of us were coming down to receive you.¡±


    ¡°Ahh, perfect. Lead the way, lead the way.¡±


    Maybe if I just focus on the food, it¡¯ll be worth it to deal with those damn nobles.


    After walking up to the royal box, where the King and his ministers had been viewing the tournament from, Jia Yuan was able to detect some wonderful aromas.


    Ahhhh, looks like I might be able to profit from this meeting after all. I can smell some roast pork, some sweet beef¡­ ah¡­


    Then, Jia Yuan noticed the people around him. They were all looking at him with eyes of admiration. Although Jia Yuan wasn¡¯t truly strong, he was extremely gifted to have such strength at his age.


    The most noticeable was the King, who was wearing a fiery red robe with royal gold decorations, as well as a tall golden crown.


    However, the most distinguishing feature of this man, was the noble aura that surrounded him. Although he wasn¡¯t released the aura of his Song, the King still had a suffocating and fearsome aura around him.


    Upon encountering the aura, Jia Yuan found it hard to think, or even to breathe. After a momentary daze, Jia Yuan subtly released the aura of the Song of Swords, which protected Jia Yuan from the King¡¯s aura.


    What was that domineering aura?

 Chapter 51

    Chapter 51: Story Time


    More chapters will be coming today.


    Much more wary of the situation, Jia Yuan slowly walked in


    front of the King. Upon reaching a distance of about 5 meters, he knelt on one


    knee.


    ¡°Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°Rise! Haha, It¡¯s rare to find someone so talented. I was


    interested by your demonstration during the tournament battle. It seems that


    you have quite good control over the flames of your Song.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty.¡±


    The King had been praising Jia Yuan in hopes of learning who


    this boy was supported by. Clearly, given Jia Yuan¡¯s expertise, he had to have


    some power helping him. However, Jia Yuan had replied very nonchalantly, not


    revealing any information. This slightly irritated the King, who was rather


    used to getting his way. However, he kept a clear mind.


    ¡°Hm, given your strength, I think you are the strongest


    amongst the 8 picked from the last round of the tournament. How about this,


    then? I¡¯ll let you have first pick among the royal weapons.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, your majesty.¡±


    ¡°Haha, no need to thank me. It is in the Fire Kingdom¡¯s


    interests to reward the talented. Now, why don¡¯t you tell me about yourself? I¡¯m


    quite interested, since none of my ministers seem to know anything about you.¡±


    Ahh, so that¡¯s what he


    was aiming for. I guess he wants to see if I belong to some faction that may


    bring harm to the throne¡­He has to plan for everything, after all.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine, but uh, Your Majesty, I exhausted a bit of


    strength earlier, so do you mind if I tell you while we eat?¡±


    The King was rather surprised at the boy¡¯s audacity, but


    after the initial feeling of shock, he was rather amused. It seemed that this


    boy was rather straightforward, which made it easier for the King. It was far


    easier to deal with someone who was open and straightforward than someone who


    spent their time scheming. It was also much safer.


    ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty.¡±


    And so, Jia Yuan told the King about his background, how he


    was a slave in a small village, how he had by some stroke of fortune, found a


    powerful Song in a cave. He didn¡¯t go to details about the Song of Swords, as


    Jia Yuan knew that the Sword Kingdom had been demolished by the other Kingdoms.


    This meant that if the King found out that Jia Yuan possessed such a Song, he


    could view Jia Yuan as a threat.


    For simplicity¡¯s sake, Jia Yuan only told the King that his


    Song was likely a high level Song. This would somewhat explain the power they


    had seen before, and would also maintain the King¡¯s view about him being a


    premier talent that should be invested in.


    Jia Yuan even told the King that Guo Huo was his teacher, at


    which point the King raised his eyebrows. Of course, Jia Yuan didn¡¯t tell the


    King about the training in the crater, skipping that to talk about his training


    at BlueFire City instead.


    At the end of his narrative, Jia Yuan had eaten five full


    dishes of food that had been brought to the royal box for the King and his


    ministers to enjoy. However, none of them minded much, as Jia Yuan¡¯s story had


    impressed all of them to no end.


    A 12 year old at the 5th level of Absorption! As


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.if that wasn¡¯t enough to shock them, Jia Yuan had even stated that he had won


    more than 100 life or death battles at a the BlueFire City Arena, and many of


    those wins were even against those at the 9th level of Absorption!


    When they thought about Jia Yuan¡¯s future¡­ it could signal


    the rise of the Fire Kingdom!


    For a 12 year old to reach the 5th level of Absorption


    was extremely rare to begin with, 1 in a million! Someone who was able to easily


    defeat those at the 9th level of Absorption while at the 5th


    level of Absorption, was simply unheard of.


    The King and his ministers all had the same train of


    thought. They had stumbled onto a gem! This boy needed to be roped in for the


    sake of the Fire Kingdom. How fortunate that this gem was already trying to


    join the Burning Legion!


    However, the King clearly wouldn¡¯t take something so


    outrageous at face value.


    ¡°Jia Yuan, what you are saying is quite impressive. Ha, it


    seems that I have another request to make of you. You say that you are able to


    easily defeat those at the 9th level of Absorption, if they have a


    low level Song. Is there any chance you could demonstrate this?¡±


    ¡°Sure. I assume there aren¡¯t any with low level Songs among


    your guards, though¡­¡± Jia Yuan cast an eye at the guards surrounding the


    perimeter of the royal box.¡±


    Jia Yuan was used to fighting in such a manner, and


    naturally wouldn¡¯t refuse the King¡¯s request.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± The King turned to the guard at his right and


    motioned toward Jia Yuan. The guard understood and walked toward Jia Yuan,


    while the ministers and other guards pushed themselves to the far edges of the


    royal box. While the royal box was fairly large, they knew that the destructive


    power of the 9th level of Absorption was, while not overbearing, was


    still deadly. Some of the ministers weren¡¯t even cultivators, and therefore had


    no personal abilities to defend themselves. Although they had guards to protect


    them, they still wouldn¡¯t feel as safe as they would if they themselves were


    cultivators.


    ¡°This is my most trusted guard, Chen Xuan. He is at the 7th


    level of Manipulation and possesses a high level Song. That, combined with his


    extensive combat experience, makes him a very fearsome fighter. If he


    suppresses his cultivation to the 6th level of Absorption, the power


    should be similar to that of the 9th level of Absorption for a low


    level Song. However, he¡¯ll still have some advantages compared to the average


    peak Absorption level cultivator.¡±


    Jia Yuan nodded, and faced Chen Xuan. ¡°It is an honor to


    trade blows with someone as impressive as you. Please instruct me well.¡±


    Chen Xuan nodded with an honest smile on his face. He had


    seen Jia Yuan¡¯s power earlier, and after hearing Jia Yuan¡¯s story, he was


    convinced that Jia Yuan was even more impressive than he was in his youth.


    With that conclusion, he greatly admired Jia Yuan.


    The two drew their weapons and their respective songs began


    to play in the depths of their mind and soul. Their auras began to flow out of


    their bodies, clashing against each other in the air between the two.

 Chapter 52

    Chapter 52: Chen Xuan vs. Jia Yuan


    Chen Xuan was a very experienced fighter who had even


    practiced against some True Disciples before. After all, if the other Kingdoms


    were to send assassins, they would likely send cultivators at the top of the


    Manipulation level or even a True Disciple.


    Chen Xuan, as a King¡¯s guard, needed to be able to fight


    against those of such high level to a proficient degree. He needed to be able


    to defeat those at the Manipulation Level, and he needed to be able to delay


    True Disciples as long as he could.


    As such, he had grown used to combating those with thicker


    and stronger auras than he. However, he had never encountered an aura quite


    like the one he was facing now.


    The two auras continued to clash, but at every point of contact,


    Chen Xuan¡¯s aura retreated as soon it felt Jia Yuan¡¯s.


    Chen Xuan was very confused as to what was going on. This had


    never happened before!


    This was actually a side effect of the training Jia Yuan had


    gone through in the crater. Because of the intense heat and humidity inside the


    crater, Jia Yuan had to develop a strong aura to serve as a protective barrier.


    Over time, Jia Yuan was so accustomed to keeping himself comfortable with this


    aura, that he had subconsciously developed a habit of keeping a thin aura


    around him, with a very aggressive and dense outer shell, sort of like a


    bubble.


    This was what Chen Xuan was encountering.


    Although this all took a long time to explain, the


    interaction between the two auras only happened for about two seconds.


    Afterwards, the two charged towards each other with their


    weapons drawn!


    Jia Yuan charged forward with his sword by his side,


    adopting a defensive stance to start. As for Chen Xuan, he took the initiative


    to attack with a gigantic two-handed axe.


    Being at the 7th level of Manipulation, even with


    his cultivation suppressed, he was still able to control and condense his aura


    very effectively into his axe. This was one of the ¡°small advantages¡± that the


    King had spoken of.


    However, as the two weapons clashed together, Chen Xuan was


    very surprised that his axe was actually unable to move Jia Yuan¡¯s sword!


    Jia Yuan was actually just toying with Chen Xuan. On the


    walk over from BlueFire City, he had continued to practice his cultivation, and


    last night, he had actually broken through to the 6th level of


    Absorption, and was now able to contend with those at the 2nd or 3rd


    level of Manipulation with ease. Even if the opponent had a high level Song, he


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.could content with them if they are at the 1st level of


    Manipulation.


    However, he didn¡¯t want to let the King know. Jia Yuan felt


    that he had flaunted more than enough power for the King to provide him with


    whatever aid he wanted. Jia Yuan didn¡¯t really feel loyalty to his country, even


    though he was intent on joining the Burning Legion. He just wanted to be able


    to fight on the battlefield alongside his older brother.


    As for him being at the 6th level of Absorption


    at the meager age of 12, that would be his secret. After trading blows for


    about a minute, Jia Yuan was still on the defensive, easily blocking Chen Xuan¡¯s


    strikes. However, the guards on the perimeter protecting the ministers, were


    starting to feel a little strain from protecting the ministers from the


    residual energy exploding out as each blow met.


    After another thirty seconds, Jia Yuan finally decided to


    end the bout, seeing that the guards surrounding him were showing obvious signs


    of exhaustion. He twirled his sword past Chen Xuan¡¯s axe and lodged his sword


    between the axe-head and the handle, then thrust his sword upwards, effectively


    disarming Chen Xuan, who understood that this signified his defeat in the duel.


    At this point, all of the ministers, as well as the King,


    stood up and applauded.


    ¡°Ahh, wonderful, wonderful! That was quite a fight! Both of


    you have exquisite technique, and it is obvious that both of you are well


    acquainted with your weapon and Song.¡±


    The two combatants turned toward the King, clasped their


    hands together, and bowed.


    Chen Xuan then turned to Jia Yuan. ¡°How is your sword so


    fast and steady at the same time? When you were first able to block my blows, I


    thought that I would have to outmaneuver you, but not only were you fast, but


    your sword effectively created an area of protection around you. I¡¯ve never


    seen such fast swordsmanship from anyone in the Fire Kingdom!¡±


    ¡°Ahh, it¡¯s nothing special. My sword is very light, is all.


    It¡¯s not made purely out of fire stones, but it has some stones of the wind


    attribute as well. As such, it is very easy for me to wield it in such a


    manner. Rather, I was surprised at how adept you were with the axe! You were


    able to wield it in such a manner that I was hard pressed to defend, even with


    my weapon¡¯s speed being so high!¡±


    The two continued to trade praises, obviously finding some camaraderie


    from the duel.

 Chapter 53

    Chapter 53: Carriage


    The King sat back, looking at Jia Yuan and Chen Xuan. He


    then motioned to Chen Xuan, who returned to his side.


    The King gave Chen Xuan a questioning look, and Chen Xuan


    responded with a nod.


    ¡°Congratulations, Jia Yuan. It truly seems that you¡¯re


    stronger than those at the 9th level of Absorption. Chen Xuan things


    that you would even be able to combat those at the 1st level of


    Manipulation!¡±


    ¡°It was great to hear your story and the fight was even more


    spectacular, but we have some tasks to take care of before the feast tomorrow


    in the city. Don¡¯t worry about getting there, as we will send a carriage for


    you in the morning.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty, lords.¡± Jia Yuan clasped his hands


    toward the King, and then toward the various nobles surrounding him. He then


    toward the stairs, grabbing a turkey leg on the way. As he descended, he


    devoured said leg, and then made his way to the inn he and Dou Di were staying


    at.


    As soon as he walked into their room, Dou Di rushed toward


    him.


    ¡°Hey, little bro! You were keeping your strength secret from


    me! You rascal!¡± Dou Di started playfully punching Jia Yuan. Despite his words,


    he wasn¡¯t actually mad at all.


    He was actually beside himself with happiness that his


    little brother was so strong. After all, he was the one who had initially


    steered Jia Yuan toward the path of martial cultivation by training with him to


    join the Burning Legion.


    ¡°Woah, woah. Don¡¯t say that big bro, I just wanted it to be


    a surprise!¡±


    ¡°Hmph, I don¡¯t believe it for a second. How about this? Make


    it up to me by treating me to dinner again.¡±


    ¡°Sure, although, not right now¡­ I¡¯m kind of full.¡±


    ¡°YOU ATE WITHOUT ME? YOU REALLY ARE A TRAITOR.¡±


    ¡°Ahhhhh!!!¡± Jia Yuan screamed as he ran around the room


    being chased by Dou Di.


    The two boys continued to have fun as they later ate another


    pricey dinner.


    The hours went by, and soon it was morning again.


    Jia Yuan was still sleeping when a carriage with the royal


    emblem, a red and golden fire symbol, pulled up in front of the inn, causing a


    commotion. Although most of the competitors had either been killed or had


    already left due to being disqualified, there were still 8 thousand competitors


    remaining.


    Out of the 8 thousand remaining, there were only 8 who


    impressed enough to be invited to the feast. However, that wasn¡¯t even


    significant compared to the real prize. A weapon from the royal weaponry! These


    weapons were all treasures that had been saved up by the royal family over the


    course of thousands of years, and those invited to the feast were able to


    choose any weapon of their liking!


    To put it into perspective, a single weapon from the royal


    armory could be valued between a million to a hundred million large fire


    shards.


    Simply frightening!


    Hundreds crowded around the carriage, waiting to see who had


    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.acquired this unique privilege. However, the carriage was surrounded by more


    than 20 impressively garbed guards, so they didn¡¯t dare to get too close to the


    carriage. Meanwhile, one of the guards walked into the inn, up to Jia Yuan¡¯s


    room. He knocked on the door.


    ¡°Jia Yuan sir, your carriage is here.¡±


    Inside the room, the two youths were still sleeping. Hearing


    the knocks on the door as well as the shout of the guard, Jia Yuan groggily


    woke up. Wearing his wrinkled robe, he stumbled his way to the door and opened


    it.


    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Jia Yuan.¡± Jia Yuan¡¯s hair was currently


    scruffy, which combined with his wrinkled robe, gave him a rather unkempt


    appearance.


    The guard was surprised. In past tournaments, all of the


    ¡°winners¡± of the first round who were chosen to attend the celebratory feast


    were all of noble birth, so they were very well groomed. Basically, the


    complete opposite of what he saw in front of him.


    ¡°You are Jia Yuan?¡± The guard looked Jia Yuan over. ¡°Show me


    your aura.¡±


    Jia Yuan released his aura, suppressed to the 5th


    level of Absorption. Upon feeling the strong aura, the guard was convinced that


    Jia Yuan was telling the truth.


    ¡°Alright. Come with me.¡±


    ¡°Can I bring my brother?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m bringing my brother. I know the King, I¡¯m sure it will


    be fine.¡± Jia Yuan really wanted to bring his brother along, and with the


    amount of interest the King had shown in him, Jia Yuan was sure that the King


    wouldn¡¯t mind if Jia Yuan brought his brother along.


    The guard gave Jia Yuan a shocked look. This kid knew the


    King?


    In terms of risk, the risk of angering someone who knew the


    King was a lot higher than the risk associated with letting Jia Yuan bring his


    brother along.


    ¡°Fine. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Jia Yuan grabbed Dou Di who had woken up at the same time he


    did, and followed the guard to the carriage, ignoring the masses that surrounded


    said carriage. Entering the carriage, he began searching for food and drinks.


    As for Dou Di, he was just grateful that Jia Yuan was


    bringing him along.


    The masses, however, were rather confused. After all, Jia


    Yuan had an average stature, and didn¡¯t look too strong. That, in addition to


    his disheveled appearance, meant that he looked like any other commoner.


    ¡°That¡¯s the kid who was in the 8th group


    yesterday! He¡¯s freaking strong! I saw him create 50 meter long ribbon of fire!¡±


    ¡°What?! Him??¡±


    Those who were in the 8th group and had seen Jia


    Yuan¡¯s strength quickly spread news of his strength, while the others were


    rather skeptic of their ramblings.


    Who was willing to believe that one of their fellow


    competitors had such power? If those who were in the 8th group hadn¡¯t


    seen Jia Yuan¡¯s abilities for themselves, they may not have believed it either.


    If only they had known that Jia Yuan hadn¡¯t even been using


    his full power¡­

 Chapter 54

    Chapter 54: The Royal Armory


    After riding in the carriage for a while, they passed the


    HuoShen City gates, and eventually entered HuoShen Palace, the living quarters


    of the King and his closest ministers. The palace grounds spanned 50 acres and the


    palace itself was build out of a mysterious material that was so strong that


    even a True Disciple wouldn¡¯t be able to affect it.


    The carriage arrived in front of the banquet hall, and Jia


    Yuan stepped out along with Dou Di.


    There had been a change of clothes in the carriage, which


    was obviously meant for Jia Yuan. There was a small royal emblem in the chest


    area of the robe, and it looked simple but impressive at the same time.


    As for Dou Di, Jia Yuan had pestered the guards until they


    had provided Dou Di with another robe, although of different design.


    Walking toward the banquet all, it looked like Dou Di was


    Jia Yuan¡¯s personal guard or assistant.


    Inside the banquet hall, was a table more than 100 feet long


    with 24 ornate chairs on each side, with a considerably larger chair at the far


    end. For the chairs on the sides, some ministers as well as the other


    Despite the other 7 invitees having arrived already, most of


    the seats were empty.


    Jia Yuan boldly walked toward the far end of the table,


    where the King sat, with Chen Xuan standing behind.


    Jia Yuan half-knelt and cupped his hands. ¡°Your Majesty, it


    is good to see you again. I have brought my brother along, I hope you don¡¯t


    mind.¡±


    As Jia Yuan had predicted, the King didn¡¯t mind at all. ¡°Haha,


    that¡¯s no problem at all. As you can see, we have more than enough food for


    everyone, even with your voracious appetite taken into account.¡±


    ¡°Haha, thank you very much, Your Majesty.¡±


    Jia Yuan was lead to the seat at the very right of the King,


    the most honored position, while Dou Di was sat right next to him.


    Just from this, it was obvious how much importance the King


    placed on Jia Yuan. However, this seating arrangement caused the other invitees


    to stare at Jia Yuan with gazes ranging from awe to jealousy and hatred.


    The feast went on for several hours, as everybody present


    swapped stories and information. Those who were aiming to join the Burning


    Legion spoke about their training regimens, their families, and their goals for


    the future. They spoke of these with pride. In their eyes, they were all


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.geniuses of the Fire Kingdom, strong enough to be considered in the top 0.1% of


    cultivators their age.


    As for the ministers, they spoke about power struggles


    between the four Kingdoms and like matters.


    However, the atmosphere was slightly off, for two reasons.


    The first, was that Jia Yuan was unwilling to talk to


    anyone, only focusing on the food. Dou Di, instead, was relegated to chatting


    with the others in Jia Yuan¡¯s stead.


    The second, was that the tournament participants weren¡¯t


    really all that interested in the feast. What they wanted to do instead, was to


    go to the royal armory and pick out a weapon for themselves.


    As the feast went on, they were clearly getting more and


    more impatient, until the King finally clapped his hands, signaling for


    silence. Everyone instantly stopped what they were doing to look at the King,


    even Jia Yuan, who had been wolfing his way through a delicious Hot Pepper


    Chicken Leg.


    ¡°I can see that you¡¯re all getting impatient, and it seems


    obvious that all of you¡­er, most of you have eaten your share.¡±


    ¡°Now, we¡¯ll be making our way to the royal armory. The trip


    will take about ten minutes, and you eight will have to be blindfolded on the


    way there. This is for your own protection. If you know how to get to the royal


    armory, other Kingdoms could try to kidnap you and torture you for information.¡±


    And so, the surrounding guards blindfolded Jia Yuan and the


    others, while leaving Dou DI in the banquet hall, since he wasn¡¯t one of the


    actual invitees.


    While blindfolded, the eight were led into a carriage, which


    quickly began to move.


    Hmm, it seems like we¡¯re


    descending¡­ are we going down a hill? But there are no hills here. Is the


    armory underground? Interesting¡­ if the armory is underground, it truly would


    be pretty hard for most of the other Kingdoms to find it.


    After another few minutes of traveling, the carriage finally


    stopped, and everyone was let out of the carriage, and the blindfolds were


    taken off.


    In front of their eyes was a small square door. The King


    walked up to the door and pressed his hand against it. A large wave of heat


    assaulted those standing behind him, but none of them cared, for the door disappeared


    in a puff of flame.


    Even from outside, Jia Yuan could see rows upon rows of


    weapons. It was heaven on earth!

 Chapter 55

    Chapter 55: The Black Sword


    The King walked in, motioning for everyone else to follow.


    ¡°Here you are. You all have 10 minutes to choose a weapon.


    If several of you want the same weapon, whoever touches it first will be the


    rightful owner. Don¡¯t cause trouble in the royal armory, or you¡¯ll be


    disqualified from the tournament, and you will not be allowed to bring any


    weapon out of the armory.¡±


    ¡°Besides, there¡¯s no real point for you guys to fight over


    weapons. All of the weapons here are unique treasures, and there are so many of


    them. Now go.¡±


    Jia Yuan and the others rushed into the armory, looking for


    weapons that fit their needs. About five instantly ran toward the axes, while


    Jia Yuan and another ran toward the swords.


    One, strangely enough, headed over to the section of the


    armory that was full of staffs. There weren¡¯t many staff users in the Fire


    Kingdom. It could only be used with mellower Songs of Fire.


    However, Jia Yuan didn¡¯t think much of it. Instead, he


    focused on finding a sword that fit his needs.


    However, almost all of the swords were either too heavy or


    had the wrong balance. However, he kept trying new swords.


    The number of swords in the royal armory was not to be


    scoffed at. Although the number was less than half of the amount of axes, there


    were still easily more than a thousand swords, even over a hundred swords of


    the hand and a half variety.


    It was these swords that Jia Yuan was testing. After briefly


    testing out each of the hand and a half swords, Jia Yuan was rather disappointed.


    The weapons were all of wondrous quality¡­ but none of them really fit his


    requirements. They were all either too heavy or too light, or the balance was


    wrong.


    Just as he was about to give up, he noticed a pitch black


    sword. He reached over and picked it up. Instantly, his Song reacted to the


    sword, inadvertently releasing its full aura for a split second.


    ~Clang, clang~


    Various sounds of clanging metal sounded through the royal


    armory as all of the other invitees collapsed. Even some of the guards


    collapse, and the King himself felt a hint of danger.


    Jia Yuan was both incredibly happy and panicked at the same


    time. He had actually found a sword that suited his needs! However, if he chose


    this sword, it would instantly be a red flag for the King and his ministers.


    After all, why would anyone who only cultivated a Song of Fire be so interested


    in such a sword? Furthermore, the aura that had been involuntarily let out had


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.caused a scene in the royal armory, and the guards were beginning to spread out


    through the armory.


    If they saw Jia Yuan with the sword, they may be able to put


    the two together and guess that Jia Yuan had some sort of special connection to


    the sword!


    Jia Yuan couldn¡¯t afford that!


    He was panicking, but his mind worked very quickly despite


    that.


    He instantly dropped to the floor, grabbing another sword on


    the way down, letting it fall to the floor with a clang. As for the black


    sword, Jia Yuan drew it into his ring, hoping that the others wouldn¡¯t realize


    that he had effectively stolen a weapon from the armory.


    When the guards arrived at the swords section, they saw Jia


    Yuan and the other youth sprawled on the ground. One of the ministers quickly


    followed the guards and saw the same.


    ¡°Urrrghh¡­¡± Jia Yuan made a show of massaging his head as he


    slowly crawled up from the ground, blatantly using the sword in his hand as a


    support. ¡°What happened?¡±


    At this time, the other youth also began to lift himself off


    of the ground.


    ¡°Jia Yuan, Chen Ying. Come with me, it may not be safe in


    the royal armory. The King says that a powerful enemy spy may have used their


    aura to scout the area. While it is impossible for anyone other than the King


    to open the door to the armory, this could mean trouble for the Fire Kingdom.¡±


    ¡°Can we still choose a weapon to bring out?¡± Jia Yuan asked.


    ¡°Of course, of course. But you will have to make the


    decision right now. We cannot tarry any longer.¡±


    Chen Ying, the other boy, held on to the sword in his hand,


    while Jia Yuan did the same with his. At this point, he didn¡¯t really care what


    sword he brought out, since he already had the black sword in his ring.


    While Jia Yuan maintained a slightly worried and anxious


    look on his face, on the inside, he was gloating. He obviously didn¡¯t feel any


    real danger because he understood that the aura had come from himself-there was


    no actual danger.


    Haha, I¡¯ve really


    found a treasure this time. If they don¡¯t find out, then I¡¯ll really have made


    a killing. Even if they do find out¡­


    Nobody other than Guo Huo knew about Jia Yuan¡¯s ring. To


    keep suspicions from appearing, he had kept HiRyu by his side the entire time,


    in plain sight. There were so many weapons in the royal armory, they shouldn¡¯t


    miss one¡­ right?

 Chapter 56

    Chapter 56: An Expensive Gift


    After being rushed outside of the armory, they were ushered


    into the carriages with blindfolds again. After about 10 minutes, they found themselves


    back at the banquet hall, where the King and his ministers quickly bade


    farewell, stating that they needed to prepare against a potential enemy attack.


    Jia Yuan and Dou Di also called for a carriage back to the


    tournament grounds.


    Inside the carriage, Jia Yuan sat in a daze, as he had sent


    his soul into his ring to examine the black sword. From the outside, it looked


    as if he was sleeping.


    However, inside the ring, his soul quivered with excitement.


    The more he examined this sword, the more pleased with it he was.


    Not only was it compatible with the four elements, but it was


    considerably more durable than HiRyu. In fact, Jia Yuan was convinced that a


    single stroke of this sword would be able to chop HiRyu in half!


    A treasure!


    A long while after, Jia Yuan finally drew his soul out of


    ring and back into his body. He then turned to face his brother.


    ¡°Hey, Dou Di, your weapon isn¡¯t that great, right?¡±


    ¡°Hm? Yeah, it¡¯s just the standard one that they give all of


    the army soldiers.¡±


    Jia Yuan picked up the sword he had brought out of the royal


    armory and placed it in front of Dou Di. ¡°Here, big brother. This is my gift to


    you.¡±


    ¡°EHHHH???¡± Dou Di¡¯s face was one of pure shock. He knew that


    JIa Yuan was rich¡­ but willing to give such a treasure away?


    ¡°Just take it. I already have a great sword in Hiryu, so


    there¡¯s no sense in me having two great swords while you¡¯re stuck with such a


    bad one.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll take it then.¡± Dou Di couldn¡¯t get any words of


    thanks out of his mouth, but Jia Yuan understood his older brother¡¯s feelings


    anyway.


    As for Dou Di, he had the feeling that his younger brother


    was growing faster and faster in comparison¡­which made him both happy and sad


    at the same time.


    Happy for his brother, but sad because he was being


    outclassed so heavily¡­ it is hard to be self-confident in such a scenario.


    Seeing this, Jia Yuan quickly understood what Dou Di was


    feeling.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, big brother. I may be stronger than you now, but


    you will forever be smarter than me. With your mind, you could rule a Kingdom.


    I am only fit to be a soldier, but you are capable of far more!¡±


    Hearing Jia Yuan¡¯s words, Dou Di smiled ruefully. ¡°Ha, who


    needs such words from someone like you? I was just thinking about how to thank you


    for the sword and you get sentimental on me. Hmph, don¡¯t get cocky. You might


    be stronger than me for now but don¡¯t underestimate your big bro!¡±


    Jia Yuan smiled and the two brother swapped jokes until they


    arrived back at the tournament grounds.


    They went back into the hotel room, and slept for the night.


    The next day came, and along with it, came the next round of


    the tournament.


    From now on, the stadium would have 100 small stages in the


    center, with 1 vs 1 combat on each one. A combatant was allowed to lose twice


    before being kicked out of the competition. The last 1000 remaining would be


    accepted into the Burning Legion!


    Given that there were only 8 thousand competitors left, 1 in


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.8 would be able to join the Fire Kingdom¡¯s special force. All of the


    competitors felt so close to their goal that they could nearly taste success¡­


    but the truth was that over 70% of them would fail to see this goal come to


    fruition.


    Jia Yuan and Dou DI were walking toward the stadium along


    with the rest of the fighters. However, as the two young brothers walked, they


    found themselves being surrounded by more and more people.


    Many of the competitors had found out by now, that Jia Yuan


    had been one of the 8 invited to HouShen Palace. Once another competitor


    recognized him, more and more began to cluster around the two brothers.


    They wanted to see two things. They wanted to see, with


    their own eyes, someone worthy of being invited to the royal palace. The second


    thing they wanted to see, was the weapon from the royal armory.


    However, when they looked to the sword by Jia Yuan¡¯s side,


    they saw a sword that was clearly of high quality, but didn¡¯t exactly wow any


    of the competitors there.


    That was when they noticed the sword that hung by Dou Di¡¯s


    side.


    ¡°Hey, wait. That other guy¡¯s sword looks so deadly! Could it


    be¡­¡±


    ¡°Wait, could that Jia Yuan kid have given the weapon he got


    from the royal armory to the person beside him?! What is their connection??¡±


    None of them guessed that the two were brothers. Jia Yuan


    and Dou DI weren¡¯t blood brothers after all, and didn¡¯t look too alike.


    Many of the surrounding competitors began to have greedy


    thoughts. Perhaps in single combat, they wouldn¡¯t be able to beat Jia Yuan¡­ but


    this person beside him clearly wasn¡¯t one of those who had been invited to


    HouShen Palace. He didn¡¯t even look that strong, and was even dressed in a


    guard¡¯s uniform.


    A guard? A Burning Legion candidate from the Army? Some of


    the stronger participants in the tournament began to hope that they would be


    matched up against this person who had been gifted royal weapon.


    If they could kill him, they could loot his weapon! In one


    fell swoop, they would be one step closer to being accepted to the Burning


    Legion and they would also gain a peerless weapon! It would be perfect!


    But how could Jia Yuan and Dou Di be so oblivious? They


    quickly noticed the change in the gazes directed at them.


    Jia Yuan whispered to his brother. ¡°Dou Di, you should be


    careful today¡­ don¡¯t burden me with the job of finding vengeance for you.¡±


    ¡°Hmph. Do you really think your big bro is that weak? With this


    weapon, even you might not be a match for me.¡±


    What Dou Di said was true for most of the competitors


    present. Not only did a weapon provide a cutting edge and increased lethal


    range, but weapons made out of elemental stones, such as HiRyu as well as Dou


    Di¡¯s new royal weapon, were also able to aid a martial cultivator with their


    fighting aura and strength!


    For example, Jia Yuan was more than capable of releasing


    large and deadly flames on his own, but with HiRyu, his flames could extend an


    additional 20 meters, and it was also easier for him to control said flames.


    The importance of the quality of a cultivator¡¯s weapon, was


    inferior only to the importance of their cultivation!

 Chapter 57

    Chapter 57: Feeling a little heat?


    Dou Di would probably be fine unless he encountered someone


    of the 5th level of Absorption of higher. As for the amount of


    competitors who had reached that level, was probably less than 5.


    Even against these competitors, Dou Di would be able to


    forfeit before taking any fatal hits. As such, Jia Yuan and Dou Di were both


    confident that he would be fine while participating in the tournament.


    As for when he was outside the stadium, he would be with Jia


    Yuan. With Jia Yuan¡¯s strength, there wasn¡¯t any need for the two to be


    worried.


    As such, they felt relaxed, even seeing the greedy eyes


    staring at them.


    Inside the stadium, the two brothers chatted while they


    waited to be summoned into the stadium to fight.


    Finally, Dou Di was called, and after a while, Jia Yuan was


    as well.


    Alright. Show time!


    Remember what Guo Huo said, I can¡¯t be too harsh on these people¡­ I¡¯ll just


    knock them out of the ring, heh.


    Jia Yuan walked through some tunnels and found himself next


    to one of the 100 arenas in the stadium. He walked up the steps, and saw his


    first opponent.


    Jia Yuan was very relaxed throughout. However, his opponent


    seemed to have gotten a stroke.


    ¡°You! Why did I have to face you in the first round???


    Aiishhhh¡­.¡±


    He had been part of the Jia Yuan¡¯s group in the first round


    and naturally had seen just how strong Jia Yuan was.


    As soon as the fight started, he surrendered. And then next


    fighter surrendered. And the next.


    A few hours later, Jia Yuan was one of the last 100 who hadn¡¯t


    lost a single match. Not only did he not lose a single match, but he hadn¡¯t


    even been allowed to fight.


    Goddammit, this was


    funny at first, but now I just want to be able to play around a little. All


    this time-wasting is getting so boring!


    As Jia Yuan looked toward the rankings, he saw that Dou Di


    was actually undefeated as well. This didn¡¯t really surprise him at all. After


    all, his older brother had a medium level Song and had a peerless weapon.


    Furthermore, he was extremely skilled in single combat. Before Dou Di had been


    sold to the army, Jia Yuan hadn¡¯t been able to beat him a single time.


    It was only because of Jia Yuan¡¯s unique circumstances that


    he was stronger than Dou Di.


    A day passed, and it was now the third round of the


    tournament. The thousand that had qualified for the Burning Legion had already


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.been selected. The two brothers had both made it, but they were still fighting.


    The top 100 were all to perform 1 on 1 combat to determine


    their initial ranking in the Burning Legion. The 900 that had qualified but


    were no longer competing would be the foot soldiers of the Burning Legion.


    As for the remaining 100, they were competing to see who


    would be a 10 man commander, 100 man commander, and so forth. The champion of


    the tournament would be groomed into a 1000 man commander. As such, a new battalion


    with its own officers would be born.


    For many of the stronger competitors, this would be where


    the real test began.


    In the first round, Jia Yuan was actually matched up against


    Lin Xuan, who was the staff user invited to HuoShen Palace.


    In Lin Xuan¡¯s hands was a red staff, carved out of


    fire-attribute jade, engraved with some magical symbols to enhance the strength


    of one¡¯s Song.


    ¡°Jia Yuan, it is an honor to be able to fight against you. I


    heard that you were personally invited to the royal box after the first


    tournament round was over!¡±


    ¡°Thank you very much! I am looking forward to seeing your


    skill with the staff. May the best man win.¡±


    ¡°May the best man win.¡±


    The two clasped their hands toward each other, and then took


    their stances.


    This was actually the first time Jia Yuan had fought against


    a staff user. At BlueFire City, he had fought against axe and sword wielders,


    but since there were only Fire Kingdom and Water Kingdom citizens there, he had


    only fought against axe and sword wielders.


    In front of him, Lin Xuan waved his staff in a circular


    pattern, and a wheel of fire erupted towards Jia Yuan, completely filling his


    field of vision!


    Shit!


    Jia Yuan couldn¡¯t see an escape route from the wheel of fire


    heading towards him. He had to charge through!


    This was always a possible, but dangerous maneuver for any


    martial cultivator.


    Jia Yuan gripped his sword tightly and then cut a star-like


    pattern into the wheel of fire, dashing through in the following instance.


    Shit! I got burned!


    While most of Jia Yuan¡¯s body was able to make it through


    the wheel of fire unscathed, the back of his left hand had been burned, and he


    could smell some burned hair.


    Alright then. You want


    to play serious, huh.

 Chapter 58

    Chapter 58: Making Friends?


    Jia Yuan¡¯s competitive spirit was finally ignited.


    For the entire tournament, he had looked over everything with a lazy, uninterested eye. Although he had been briefly intrigued by the prospect of picking up a royal weapon, he hadn¡¯t even needed to try to achieve that goal.


    The tournament, for Jia Yuan, had been a walk in the park. However now, finally, he had an opponent that had given him some trouble.


    After jumping through the wheel of fire, Jia Yuan landed on the stage and sheathed HiRyu, throwing it aside after.


    Jia Yuan wanted to be able to fight to his heart¡¯s content, but he also didn¡¯t want to harm the opponent. As such, he threw away his sword to be able to fight without the fear of killing Lin Xuan.


    As for Lin Xuan, he was completely bamboozled as to why Jia Yuan had thrown his weapon away.


    However, he didn¡¯t think about it much as he prepared his next attack while rushing at Jia Yuan.


    Lin Xuan had a rather crazed look on his face! He knew that if he were to beat Jia Yuan, he would have to do it before the fight dragged long, or Jia Yuan¡¯s superior cultivation base would overwhelm him.


    However, he didn¡¯t anticipate that Jia Yuan would be rushing toward him as well.


    Jia Yuan unleashed his cultivation to the tip of the 5th level of Absorption, and stomped on the ground, planting both feet shoulder-width apart. He raised his left arm in front of himself, while his right arm tensed up, ready to strike.


    Just before Lin Xuan was in striking range with his staff, Jia Yuan punched the air in front of him, backed by the power of the 5th level of Absorption.


    The physical punch ended about a foot in front of Jia Yuan, but a mass of tightly condensed aura continued along the trajectory of the punch, and crashed into Lin Xuan.


    Lin Xuan had been caught off guard by Jia Yuan¡¯s moves! One second, Jia Yuan had been charging at him with full speed, while the next, Jia Yuan had already established a stable stance and attacked him.


    Lin Xuan was knocked back by the force of the punch, to the point that he was about to fall out of the stage!


    At the last millisecond possible, he reached down with his staff and thrust it into the stage, providing him with a pole to hang on to so that he wouldn¡¯t fly off the stage.


    However, Jia Yuan had already expected this: it was the only course of action that would have saved Lin Xuan from elimination. With Jia Yuan¡¯s current competitive mindset, how could he let Lin Xuan off easily?


    As such, he had already sliced his leg through the air in a diagonal arc, releasing a large blade of flame comparable in power to the punch he had thrown earlier.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    The blade of flame soared through the air and cut through most of Lin Xuan¡¯s defensive aura, knocking him away from his staff, and off of the stage.


    He had lost!


    The crowd went wild as they saw this. Not only had they been able to see a clash between two candidates who had both been invited to HuoShen Palace, but they had been able to see one completely dominate the other, even without a weapon!


    A weaponless contender had beaten a fighter wielding a royal weapon! Although Lin Xuan was at the 5th level of Absorption, with the royal weapon he should be able to easily compete with those at the 7th or 8th level of Absorption!


    In fact, Lin Xuan was even stronger than the audience thought. Not only was he at the 5th level of Absorption, but he actually had a high level Song! Aside from Jia Yuan, he probably had the strongest cultivation in the tournament!


    Thankfully, Lin Xuan hadn¡¯t lost a bout before, so he could still compete in the tournament for a higher ranking.


    However, nobody really cared much about that. Instead, they were all discussing Jia Yuan¡¯s strength.


    Up in the royal box, the King was not present, but some of the ministers were there. They hadn¡¯t been at the tournament on the first day, and hadn¡¯t seen Jia Yuan fight before. However, they had heard stories from the other ministers.


    ¡°It seems that that monster Guo Huo really did bring the Kingdom another genius¡­ was even Guo Huo this strong when he was 12?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think there is anyone alive who was this strong when they were 12. It seems that the Gods have gifted our Kingdom... A pity though. If only he was a few years older, he¡¯d probably be a great asset to us in the upcoming war.¡±


    ¡°Hm¡­ it¡¯s unlikely for the war to start for another few years. By that time, who knows how strong this kid will be? He should only have trained for 2 years or so, but he can already supposedly beat those at the 9th level of Absorption? If he is able to reach the Manipulation level, he¡¯ll still be of great use, I think.


    ¡°I hope you¡¯re right¡­¡±


    The two ministers left the royal box and began walking down the stairs, continuing the conversation.


    At this time, Jia Yuan had approached Lin Xuan.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I went a little overboard at the end there. It was just that you were so strong that my competitive spirit took over. My deepest apologies.¡±


    Lin Xuan laughed. ¡°Haha, no worries! I was surprised by how strong you were too! Hmph, you¡¯re younger than me but already so strong¡­ It looks like I will have to train harder in the future!¡±


    The two laughed and began to chat while walking out of the stadium.

 Chapter 59

    Chapter 59: Incensed


    At the resting area, Jia Yuan bade farewell to Lin Xuan and


    looked for Dou Di. After asking around, he found out that Dou Di¡¯s match was


    actually right after his, and had already went to the stage.


    Well, I might as well


    go and watch.


    Jia Yuan walked into the stands and prepared to watch the


    bout.


    After 5 minutes, Dou Di and his competitor walked into the


    stadium. Dou Di¡¯s competitor was actually one of the axe users invited to the


    HuoShen Palace.


    He appeared to be stronger than Dou Di! As such, Jia Yuan


    was worried for his older brother.


    The match started, and it was clear that Dou Di was being pushed


    back. He was struggling heavily under the brutal assault of his opponent.


    A fighter at the 4th level of Absorption with an


    axe from the royal armory. For him to be shoving back Dou Di so heavily, who


    was at the 4th level of Absorption with a medium level Song, mean


    that the axe-user likely had a high level Song!


    A high level Song was extremely rare, to the point that there


    was probably less than a thousand cultivators with high level Songs on the


    Continent of the Five Elements.


    For there to be multiple rookies in the Burning Legion with


    high level Songs, was truly a blessing to the Fire Kingdom.


    However, it was currently a problem for Dou Di. He was


    constantly being forced back, and he was currently teetering on the edge of the


    stage.


    With a final blow, the other fighter chopped downward, his


    axe flying past Dou Di¡¯s sword, drawing a huge gash down Dou Di¡¯s body.


    ¡°BROTHER!¡± Jia Yuan screamed as he headed toward the stage.


    He watched as Dou Di¡¯s body toppled down from the stage. He


    watched as he saw his brother spit out blood as he hit the ground.


    In a flash, Jia Yuan was by Dou Di¡¯s side.


    ¡°Brother, are you alright?¡± Jia Yuan could see that while


    the gash looked fearsome from the outside because it was long and bloody, the


    wound didn¡¯t actually go too far deep.


    However, it appeared that Dou Di had fainted.


    ¡°Medic! Doctor! Someone!¡± Jia Yuan shouted, and after a few


    more seconds, he saw some soldiers in medic gear carry a bench towards Dou Di.


    They placed Dou Di on the bench and hurried away.


    Jia Yuan glared at Dou Di¡¯s opponent. ¡°What is your name?!¡±


    ¡°My name is Jie En. What are you so mad about? It¡¯s not like


    Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.he¡¯s going to die.¡±


    ¡°Hmph. We both know what I¡¯m mad about. At that last


    instance you could have won through a variety of means. However, you went for the


    most violent ending.¡±


    ¡°So? It¡¯s his fault that he¡¯s not strong enough to defend


    himself. Besides, what are you going to do about it? Your cultivation may be


    stronger than mine, but you gave your royal weapon to this weakling. If we


    fought, we¡¯d probably be more or less evenly matched.¡±


    Jia Yuan snorted. ¡°Is that a challenge you¡¯re issuing to me?¡±


    Jie En laughed. ¡°Yes it is, you idiot. Do you dare to come


    up here? Hmph, maybe you¡¯re too much of a coward. I should have killed your


    brother there. Commoners like you don¡¯t deserve to be officers in the Burning


    Legion.¡±


    Jia Yuan jumped onto the stage and drew HiRyu out its sheath.


    ¡°If you had killed my brother, you would not still be alive¡­¡±


    At this point, a referee was about to stop the proceedings,


    but a minister in the royal box waved his hand toward the referee, signaling


    him to stand back. Clearly, the minister was interested in watching this


    showdown between two future officers of the Burning Legion.


    Jia Yuan and Jie En charged toward each other. Jia Yuan


    fought with this cultivation suppressed slightly to the tip of the 5th


    level of Absorption. Although he held back in this aspect, he didn¡¯t hold back


    in any others.


    Jia Yuan dug his foot into the stage and propelled himself


    forward, flying through the air towards Jie En. He released flames from the


    soles of his feet, adding to the propelling force. As for the rest of his aura,


    he used it all in his arms and sword.


    As he was about to reach Jie En, he stomped his foot down


    into the stage, sending cracks through the surface.


    He spun a full circle and swung his circle from right to


    left with a streak of flame following his blade.


    Jie En¡¯s axe collided with Jia Yuan¡¯s blade, causing an


    explosion of aura and force, forcing both fighters back several paces.


    The crowd cheered loudly! After all, this was the first time


    that they had seen a fight of such force. Jia Yuan and Lin Xuan had fought


    earlier, but neither of them had been fighting to harm the other. It was a


    rather harmless contest of skill.


    However, it was obvious that Jia Yuan and Jie En were


    fighting to bring injury to one another.

 Chapter 60

    Chapter 60: Jie En


    The two weapons continued to clash together, but it was


    clear that the battle was taking its toll on the combatants¡¯ bodies, as well as


    the stage. The stage, designed to be impervious to those at the Absorption


    level, was starting to break down as well.


    Chunks of stone flew off of the stage, some pieces even


    began to fly into the lower levels of the stands.


    Actually, the audience couldn¡¯t even see the finer details


    of the fight anymore. At the center of the stage, all they could see was a


    tornado of fire in which some blurred images were knocking into each other in


    time to the sound of clashing weapons.


    However, although they couldn¡¯t really see the fight, they


    knew just how incredible the fight was.


    It was two fighters under 15 years of age who were causing


    such a scene!


    Up in the royal box, the ministers watched, flabbergasted.


    ¡°Have we seen a fight like this¡­ ever?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s been many years¡­ if this is anything to go


    by, it really seems that this will be the best rookie battalion the Burning


    Legion has had in a while.¡±


    ¡°Mm. It¡¯s a pity, however, that Jie En had to provoke Jia


    Yuan to such an extent¡­While Jie En¡¯s strength is very good, he¡¯s two years


    older than Jia Yuan. His potential is much lower. Furthermore, if he has that


    kind of condescending attitude¡­¡±


    ¡°Are you saying what I think you are?¡±


    ¡°Mm. We sacrifice Jie En if it comes to it. Someone with his


    temperament isn¡¯t going to be a good officer. Besides, the Jie family has been


    on the downfall for quite a while now. It won¡¯t hurt us much. Jia Yuan has Guo


    Huo backing him. You know what that means.¡±


    ¡°I see. You¡¯re right. His majesty seems intent on helping


    this Jia Yuan kid¡­¡±


    As the ministers discussed the fighters below, Jia Yuan was


    starting to become impatient. After all, he had the strength to easily dispose


    of Jie En, but he didn¡¯t want to show his true power.


    And so, he kept fighting with his cultivation suppressed. Jie


    En was at a constant disadvantage, even with Jia Yuan suppressing his aura.


    However, his axe was far superior to HiRyu. If HiRyu could be valued at a few


    thousand large fire shards, Jie En¡¯s axe could be valued at a few million! The


    difference between the two weapons was that of heaven and earth!


    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    After another few minutes of fighting, Jie En finally began


    to lose steam. He had a high level Song, and it cost him a great deal of mental


    endurance to keep fighting with the aid of his Song. However, if he didn¡¯t


    fight with his Song, he would be no more than a talented foot soldier. He would


    be instantly trampled by Jia Yuan¡¯s power!


    He grit his teeth and did his best to disregard his mental


    exhaustion. However, he soon began to feel sharp jabs of pain in his head.


    Furthermore, he began to see a dark sea¡­


    He looked at Jia Yuan, who wasn¡¯t even breathing hard, and


    felt regret in his heart. Why did he have to be so boastful in front of this


    monster? Aish¡­


    Jia Yuan relentlessly forced Jie En back. He knew that Jie


    En couldn¡¯t possibly hold on for much longer.


    A few blows later, and Jie En fell to his knees, unable to


    fight any longer. Not only did he not have any mental strength left, but he had


    exerted all of his physical energy as well.


    All he was now was a breathing punching bag.


    ¡°I¡­ forfeit¡­¡± Jie En managed to force out these words.


    ¡°I won¡¯t accept your forfeit unless you promise to apologize


    to apologize to all of the commoners of the Burning Legion for looking down on


    them.¡±


    Jie En shut his eyes and grimaced. He could promise this,


    but he would be unable to recover any face!


    His body shuddered as he thought about it. Finally, he


    replied. ¡°Fine.¡± After saying this, he continued to lie on the stage, unable to


    move.


    Jia Yuan walked off of the stage and asked a guard for the


    directions to the medical center. Upon receiving directions, he headed to the


    medical center.


    Looking around, he saw thousands of wounded combatants.


    There were simply too many people, and the conditions in the medical center


    were shady at best.


    Jia Yuan felt a pit forming in his stomach. Even if Dou Di


    was fine when he arrived at the medical center, Jia Yuan wouldn¡¯t be surprised


    if his brother¡¯s condition had worsened by being here.


    He quickly pulled over a nurse and explained who he was


    looking for. The nurse offered to lead Jia Yuan to his brother, and he


    accepted.


    Walking through the rows of the injured, Jia Yuan spotted


    his older brother.

 Chapter 61

    Chapter 61: Despair


    There was a foot long gash on Dou Di¡¯s chest all the way


    from his clavicle to his stomach. Jia Yuan probed Dou Di¡¯s aura with his own,


    and found that Dou Di¡¯s aura was very weak, to the point of almost being nonexistent.


    It seems that that Jie


    En¡¯s strike actually affected Dou Di¡¯s Song! But how is that possible? It was a


    shallow cut! Unless¡­


    When a cultivator was progressing from one level to the


    next, for a split second, their very cultivation was at risk. If the cultivator


    received a shock during this progression, it was possible for them to lose the


    ability of their Song.


    Thinking of this, Jia Yuan¡¯s eyes burned with fury. However,


    he knew that he couldn¡¯t blame Jie En for it. How was he supposed to know that


    his opponent was in the midst of a progression?


    But how was he supposed to vent this fury in his heart? It was


    Dou Di who had steered his toward the path of cultivation! It was because of


    Dou Di that he had been so intent on joining the Burning Legion!


    Dou Di was the only person he truly considered family in the


    whole wide world. And here he was, unlikely to be able to continue the path of


    cultivation. Jia Yuan could imagine Dou Di¡¯s pain at realizing he wouldn¡¯t be


    able to continue to cultivate.


    There has to be


    something I can do!


    But no matter how long or hard Jia Yuan thought of a solution,


    he was unable to come up with anything.


    First things first.


    Jia Yuan walked out of the stadium and arranged for a


    messenger to travel to HuoShen City. He told the messenger to look for


    reputable doctors who were used to dealing with harmed cultivators. The more


    the better. He also told the messenger that for each doctor he was able to


    bring, he would be heavily rewarded, and that the doctors would be heavily


    rewarded as well.


    He then went back inside, and began to bargain with the


    doctors there to have Dou Di moved to a more sanitary location. After paying 20


    large fire shards, Dou Di was transferred to a private room.


    Finally, Jia Yuan went back to the stadium and walked up to


    the royal box. The guards knew who he was, and let him pass.


    Walking into the royal box, he addressed the two ministers


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.with clasped hands.


    ¡°Hello ministers, I was wondering if either of you could do


    me a favor.¡±


    The two ministers glanced at each other. Truly, if they were


    able to help Jia Yuan, then it would be useful to be in the good will of


    someone with so much potential.


    ¡°If we are able to help, we will definitely do so. What is


    it you need help with?¡±


    ¡°My brother has suffered a shock while he was making a


    breakthrough.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ and you want to see if we know of a way to help you, or


    if we know someone who can help you.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    The two ministers glanced at each other, then faced Jia


    Yuan. One of them spoke. ¡°There is one way, but it is incredibly expensive and


    dangerous. You will have to find the scroll of a Song that is stronger than the


    one currently lying dormant in your brother¡¯s body. You will then have you


    force the new Song into your brother¡¯s body. At that point, the new Song will


    hopefully devour the old Song, and become your brother¡¯s new Song.


    Jia Yuan¡¯s brow wrinkled as he thought about this


    information. It wasn¡¯t impossible for


    him to obtain a stronger Song, but like the ministers said, it would be


    extremely expensive. But even if he somehow managed to find one¡­ ¡°You said this


    was a very dangerous process. Why?¡±


    ¡°Hmm. The danger comes from the new Song devouring the old


    Song. As you should know, the when one acquires a Song, the Song more or less


    cohabitates with the Soul. It is because of this, that a cultivator is able to


    use their Song to fight. When the new Song devours the old Song, there is


    always a chance that it may devour part of the soul. Even if that doesn¡¯t


    happen, the old Song may try to devour the cultivator¡¯s soul to stay alive. In


    all, this form of treatment has about a 20% success rate¡±


    Jia Yuan felt his head spinning. Even if he somehow managed


    to find a high level Song for his brother, there was still an 80% chance his


    brother would die. At least in his current state, Dou Di was still alive. He


    could still be useful to the Burning Legion in other ways, such as being a


    strategist.


    What do I do?


    Jia Yuan decided that it was time to ask his teacher for


    help.

 Chapter 62

    Chapter 62: The Doctor(s)


    Jia Yuan decided to wait for the doctors from HuoShen City


    first. While he trusted the two ministers, they definitely weren¡¯t too well


    versed in medicine. Jia Yuan still held hope that there would be a surefire way


    for Dou Di to recover.


    A day after, Dou Di had been released from the medical


    center. He was still unconscious, but physical health was good enough that Jia


    Yuan felt it safer for him to be out of that medical center.


    As such, Jia Yuan had laid Dou Di down on his bed in the


    inn, and had been taking care of him ever since.


    Just an hour or two before sunset, some carriages arrived at


    the inn. It was the doctors from HuoShen City!


    The messenger brought the doctors into the inn to Jia Yuan¡¯s


    room and knocked.


    ¡°Hello sir, I¡¯ve brought the doctors.¡±


    Jia Yuan had some hope in his heart. Maybe the doctors would


    be able to save his brother!


    ¡°Come in, come in.¡±


    The doctors all walked in. Jia Yuan counted them. The messenger


    had brought 12 doctors. A few of them were viewed in reverence by the other


    doctors. It seemed that somehow, the messenger had been able to attract some


    big names.


    ¡°You¡¯ve done well. You brought 12 doctors over, so I¡¯ll give


    you 120 large fire shards.¡±


    The messenger was ecstatic! He had spent the previous day


    running around HuoShen City trying to persuade doctors to come.


    But the payout was worth it! 120 large fire shards would be


    able to last him a lifetime. Or at least a few weeks if you wanted to live in


    absolute luxury.


    Jia Yuan turned and faced the doctors. ¡°The boy there on


    that bed is my brother. He was in the middle of progressing his cultivation


    when he was dealt a shocking blow. As such, he¡¯s currently unconscious and he


    will be unable to utilize his Song when he wakes up. As medical experts, I¡¯m


    sure you all know what I mean.¡±


    ¡°Whoever is able to fix the issue at hand will be rewarded


    heavily. I can pay 50,000 large fire shards at the time of success and I can


    promise another 100,000 large fire shards from the Black Wing Merchant Guild.


    The doctors glanced at each other, then approached the bed.


    One by one, they began to examine Dou Di with a variety of techniques. This ranged


    from feeling his heart rate, to probing his body with their respective auras.


    After a while, most of the doctors had withdrawn to the


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.corner of the room. They knew that they didn¡¯t have the knowledge nor skills to


    treat the patient. However, they wanted to see if any of the other doctors


    could.


    After a while, only the two doctors who the others had been


    looking at with eyes of reverence remained. One of them had taken some


    instruments out and was using them to examine Dou Di¡¯s body, while the other


    had placed his hand over Dou Di¡¯s chest and had been muttering to himself for


    the past while.


    They examined Dou Di¡¯s body for several hours. They would


    take small breaks, during which they would sit down with their arms crossed or


    scratching their head.


    Finally, the two doctors stepped back as well.


    ¡°Young sir, there truly is nothing we can do. There is


    probably not a single medical expert on this continent that is capable of


    treating your brother through normal means. Of course, there is the matter of


    providing him with a higher level Song¡­ although this method is rather


    dangerous.¡±


    Jia Yuan nodded, but there was a frown on his face. He had


    already known of this method due to the two ministers.


    It seems that there is


    truly no surefire way to save my brother.


    He waved at the doctors, who took the cue and left the room.


    Jia Yuan sat on his bed, looking at Dou Di in despair. Dou


    Di had progressed very far in the tournament, enough to grant him a position as


    a 10 or 100 man commander in the Burning Legion. But that was with his old


    strength!


    Now that he was crippled¡­ If he stayed a soldier, he would


    only be able to be a common fighter in the Army.


    Jia Yuan only had one hope left! He found a pen and some


    paper, and began to write a message.


    Upon finishing, he left the inn, and called the same


    messenger back.


    ¡°I have another message for you to send. You will be


    rewarded well for this. Go to the Black Wing Merchant Guild Hall and tell them


    that Jia Yuan has a personal message for Guo Huo. Let them know that I am a


    gold card owner. If they do not believe you, tell them to check their records.


    This must be done with the greatest amount of speed.¡±


    The messenger nodded and ran towards HuoShen City with all


    the speed he could muster.


    Jia Yuan returned to the room. There wasn¡¯t anything he


    could immediately do for his brother, but there was something he could do for


    himself.


    Win the tournament!

 Chapter 63

    Chapter 63: Lin Pei


    The next day, Jia Yuan sat in the stands along with the rest


    of those who had qualified Burning Legion. It was the last day of the


    tournament.


    The last day of the Burning Legion tournament is closed off


    to commoners. Only nobility and members of the Burning Legion are allowed to


    watch.


    Even so, there were easily more than 50 thousand viewers in


    the stands. After all, the Burning Legion, with the new recruits, numbered over


    31 thousand. The rest of the viewers were from noble families, of which there were


    many in the Fire Kingdom.


    Virtually all of the noble families in the Fire Kingdom had


    sent representatives to watch the tournament. Noble families would try to


    garner favor with those who compete on the last day. These would all be


    fighters with great strength and potential.


    For some of these noble families, it was a chance for them


    to revel in the successes of their younger generation. As such, some of the


    families in the stands loudly boasted of how their family genius had made it so


    far in the tournament, how strong and smart they were, and so on.


    Jia Yuan sat next to the stage, which had long ago been


    repaired from his fight with Jie En. He had a rather sad but determined look on


    his face. He was sad because of his brother, but determined for his own future.


    In pairs, the last 50 contenders went to fight on the stage.


    One by one, they left the stage in either victory or defeat.


    Finally, it was Jia Yuan¡¯s turn to grace the stage again.


    So far, all of the competitors had been either the son or


    daughter of a noble family. Each time, their family would cheer loudly as they


    walked onto the stage.


    However, while there was a group in the stands that cheered


    for Jia Yuan¡¯s opponent, when he walked onto the stage, there was but absolute


    silence.


    After a bit, some murmurs began to spread through the


    stands.


    ¡°Heh? Did that boy¡¯s family not come?¡±


    ¡°What family is he from? Does anyone know?¡±


    How could they imagine that Jia Yuan had no family? The


    accepted train of thought was that a noble family meant money. Money meant


    pills and higher level Songs, which meant improved cultivation. How can someone


    who was not a noble cultivate to such a degree? What kind of talent would that


    take?


    Jia Yuan walked onto the stage with his chin held high, with


    the demeanor a god looking at mortals.


    He looked at his opponent.


    Same height and build


    as me. Stance is slightly unbalanced. Right arm seems to be stronger. Double


    axe wielder.


    The two started their Songs, generating their respective


    auras.


    5th level


    of Absorption. Medium level Song.


    Jia Yuan wouldn¡¯t even put this sort of cultivation level in


    Stolen novel; please report.his eyes.


    The Jia Yuan of today was not the generous, dryly amused Jia


    Yuan of the last few weeks. He had only one goal, and everyone who stood in his


    way would have to be taken care of.


    The main reason behind this change was obviously the state


    his brother was in. How could he be in the good mood when his brother lay unconscious,


    perhaps unable to walk the road of martial cultivation ever again?


    As soon as the round started, Jia Yuan lifted HiRyu over his


    head and condensed the power of his Song into the sword and his arms. A giant


    sword of fire grew from HiRyu¡¯s tip, growing to be over 20 feet long.


    Seeing this, Jia Yuan¡¯s opponent¡¯s face paled. What sort of


    monster was he fighting?


    He immediately surrendered and jumped off of the stage.


    After extinguishing the sword of fire, Jia Yuan walked off


    of the stage as well.


    After about half an hour of watching others fight, it was


    Jia Yuan¡¯s turn to fight again. However, having seen Jia Yuan¡¯s strength


    earlier, his opponent directly surrendered.


    Funnily enough, this happened until Jia Yuan was in the


    semifinals. No one was willing to risk themselves fighting against such a


    monster.


    However, given that it was the semifinals, there was finally


    who felt strong enough to give Jia Yuan a shot.


    It was Lin Pei, who was actually the brother of Lin Xuan,


    the staff fighter who Jia Yuan had previously fought. He, like his brother,


    used an unusual weapon, the nunchaku.


    As soon as the round began, the two rushed at each other.


    Lin Pei had the same cultivation as his brother, and despite having a weaker


    cultivation than Jia Yuan, he was able to gain the advantage due to his weapon.


    Jia Yuan had never fought against a nunchaku expert before


    and was quickly overwhelmed by the flurry of attacks.


    Right! Left! Down! Up! Soon it felt like his entire field of


    vision was covered with nunchucks. Jia Yuan had only fought against axe and


    sword users, and only in the tournament did he fight against a staff user for


    the first time.


    None of them prepared him for this! With axes and swords,


    whether single handed, two-handed, or dual-wielded, Jia Yuan knew the possible


    ranges and attack patterns. After all, a static, unchanging weapon is fairly


    easy to keep track of.


    However, the nunchaku techniques employed Lin Pei were the


    exact opposite. The nunchaku techniques Lin Pei used were not only extremely fast,


    but confusing and unexpected in Jia Yuan¡¯s eyes.


    Since Jia Yuan¡¯s cultivation and aura were both higher than


    that of Lin Pei¡¯s getting hit didn¡¯t do too much damage, but over time Jia Yuan


    began to feel the impact of the bruises.


    It was truly annoying to fight against a nunchaku user!

 Chapter 64

    Chapter 64: Battalion Commander


    Jia Yuan continued to suffer the onslaught of attacks from


    Lin Pei.


    However, Lin Pei was secretly starting to panic. He had been


    fighting at a speed and ferocity that he could not sustain for a long period of


    time. Even with the benefits of his Song, he could fight like he had been for


    about 2-3 minutes. For just about most cultivators, the onslaught would


    overwhelm them in a matter of seconds, never mind minutes.


    However, he was starting to feel drained of energy, stabs of


    pain affecting his mind. His movements began to slow, and his aura began to


    flicker and weaken.


    How could someone who had fought so many rounds at the arena


    fail to recognize this? Jia Yuan¡¯s hopes sparked as he saw his opponent begin


    to struggle. He had been contemplating whether or not he had to show his 6th


    level of Absorption. As it turns out, he didn¡¯t need to!


    This took a load off of Jia Yuan¡¯s chest. Without the stress


    of this looming decision, he relaxed.


    When the body relaxes, the muscles are less strained, and


    the body is therefore able to move faster, more fluid, and basically better


    overall.


    As Lin Pei¡¯s attacks began to lose strength and slow down,


    Jia Yuan began to take the offensive, overwhelming Lin Pei with attacks. With


    the freeing of his mind, Jia Yuan also began to fight in a more dynamic matter,


    dashing around Lin Pei between attacks, overloading Lin Pei¡¯s sense of danger,


    as Lin Pei had done to him previously.


    Slash! Jia Yuan dashed to the right and cut towards Lin Pei¡¯s


    right side!


    Dash! Jia Yuan was now at Line Pei¡¯s left, and he slashed


    toward the left side!


    Jump! Now Jia Yuan was hovering over Lin Pei. He sent his


    flaming sword downwards.


    Lin Pei tried to block, but he simply had no more strength


    left! His arms crumbled and he collapsed on the stage.


    Jia Yuan had won yet again! As the referee announced it, everyone


    in the stands applauded and were quite impressed with the bout.


    But Jia Yuan wasn¡¯t happy at all! The match had shown that


    he still had some severe flaws in his fighting ability. He still had limited


    experience, and still sometimes tensed up too much when he was being


    overwhelmed.


    The final round came just a few minutes later.


    Jia Yuan¡¯s final opponent was yet again one of the 8 who had


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.been invited to HuoShen Palace. He wielded a uniquely shaped axe. The main


    portion of the weapon was a metal pole and at each end was an axe head.


    Yes, it was a two-headed axe.


    The weapon looked very dangerous, but also very heavy. Jia


    Yuan was rather surprised! There were even unusual weapons such as this in the


    royal armory!


    However, Jia Yuan wasn¡¯t worried at all. In essence, he was


    just fighting another axe user. This round¡­ should end quickly.


    The two clasped their hands toward each other, prepared


    their stances, and the fight began!


    After the last round, Jia Yuan was somewhat frustrated and


    wanted to vent a little, as well as show off a little. After all, he¡¯s still a


    human, and was a little vain. As such¡­ as soon as the fight started, he


    prepared his strongest attack!


    His strongest attack was the same move he had first used


    against the bandits he had met back when all he had was a wooden sword.


    Sword Unsheathing!


    Back then, he had only been able to cause a bit of flame to


    surround the sword, making it enough to attack with and be dangerous, but it


    was still a rather weak attack.


    Now, however, even in the sheath, HiRyu hummed with all the


    power of a raging dragon, ready to burst out and devour its foes.


    His opponent rushed toward him, his double-headed axe


    imposing as he closed the gap between him and Jia Yuan.


    At the same time, Jia Yuan dashed past his opponent,


    slashing outwards with HiRyu at the same time!


    All the viewers in the stands saw was a brief glimpse of Jia


    Yuan tilting his body forward, clearly preparing to dash¡­ and then his body disappeared.


    They saw a streak of red/white flame streak past Zeng Bao, the opponent, and


    then they saw Jia Yuan ¡°reappear¡± about two or feet behind Zeng Bao.


    For a few seconds, the air was still, and not a sound was


    heard.


    Then Zeng Bao collapsed, a few dying embers could be seen


    surrounding his body.


    The viewers in the stands were in an uproar! The final round


    had actually ended so quickly! They had seen Jia Yuan struggle with his last


    opponent, so did it just mean that this opponent was weak?


    But one thing was clear! Jia Yuan was the victor of the


    Burning Legion Tournament, and he was the newest battalion leader of the


    Burning Legion!

 Chapter 65

    Chapter 65: The General


    As Jia Yuan stood on the stage, Zeng Bao and the rest of the


    new battalion stood below the stage and knelt.


    ¡°Battalion Commander!¡±


    The General of the Burning Legion


    And like this, the new battalion was born, with Jia Yuan as


    its head.


    The general of the Burning Legion stepped down from the


    royal box where he had been sitting with the King and his ministers.


    Along the way several members of the audience stood up as


    well, following the general to the stage. Evidently, these people were the various


    battalion commanders of the Burning Legion.


    The general looked Jia Yuan up and down, and then patted him


    on the shoulder. ¡°You¡¯re quite a fine young man! You¡¯ll make quite a battalion commander.


    Hmph, you should already be stronger than the commander of the 30th


    Battalion. Aren¡¯t I right?¡±


    He glanced at a youngster standing behind him.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah. The kid¡¯s a freaking genius. No need to pour it


    on me.¡± The person waved back in an mildly annoyed manner.


    However, his words and mannerisms were clearly contradicted


    by a beaming smile on his face. A new power had arrived at the Burning Legion!


    As a loyal soldier of the Fire Kingdom, how could he not be happy?


    On the battlefield, he would take a stronger ally over a


    weaker one at any time. What did he care if another battalion commander was


    stronger than he?


    The General looked back at Jia Yuan. You¡¯ll be the commander


    of your battalion, but the officers and their ranks will be determined by the


    results of the tournament. You are allowed, as battalion commander, to change


    them after, but all changes need to be run through a battalion commander higher


    in seniority. For you, this means basically everyone behind me.¡±


    ¡°This is to prevent a battalion commander from putting his


    friends into all of the high level officer positions.¡±


    ¡°However, there is a spot in the battalion that you are


    allowed to fill for yourself. This is the position of strategist. Usually, some


    noble families will their train their younger generation to be a warrior of the


    mind as well as brawn.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be up to you to decide who to pick as strategist.


    Just remember that the strategist will serve as your vice commander, and that


    the lives of your battalion will be held, for the most part, in your and your


    strategist¡¯s hands.¡±


    He paused at stared deep into Jia Yuan¡¯s eyes, his gaze


    stern. ¡°Make the right choice.¡±


    He then abruptly smiled again, and laughed. ¡°Haha, we¡¯ll be


    leaving now. Tomorrow I¡¯ll send a guide to lead your battalion to the place you¡¯ll


    be posted. Every month you will be delivered a bunch of pills and weapons and


    armors. It¡¯ll be your job to either delegate the distribution of these


    resources or to do it yourself.¡±


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡°Good luck.¡±


    And with that, the General turned around and led his group


    of battalion commanders away. The stands began to empty of people, and soon


    enough, the only people in the stadium were Jia Yuan and his battalion.


    Jia Yuan groaned in his mind.


    So many


    responsibilities! I¡¯m not even going to have time for myself anymore. Hmph. Who


    the hell do I even make a strategist?? AHhhhhhhh, I don¡¯t even know how to


    distinguish between a good strategy and a bad one. What¡¯s wrong with just


    charging at the enemy? Blah.


    Despite the feelings in his heart, he faced his battalion


    with a smile.


    ¡°Hello everyone. My name is Jia Yuan, and from today onward,


    I will be your Commander. Please treat me well.¡± Jia Yuan clasped hands toward


    the crowd.


    ¡°Battalion Commander!¡± The crowd shouted, as they clasped


    their hands back toward him.


    Alright, might as well


    get this out of the way.


    Jia Yuan shouted, ¡°JIe En! Come here!¡±


    In the midst of the crowd, Jie En had a rather blanched


    face. He knew exactly why Jia Yuan had called him up¡­


    He made his way out of the crowd and slowly walked to the


    stage, looking as if every step was one to his death.


    When he finally made his way onto the stage and was standing


    next to Jia Yuan, Jia Yuan finally spoke again.


    ¡°Now, apologize.¡±


    Jie En groaned internally, but what could he do? ¡°Umm¡­ So a


    few days ago during the tournament I spoke some rather condescending words


    about commoners¡­um¡­ trying to join the Burning Legion. For that, I apologize to


    all of the commoners who made it into the Burning Legion.¡±


    Jia Yuan nodded, pleased that Jie En was able to make it


    through the situation. It was hard for a noble to bend their ego to apologize


    to the common folk!


    However, Jia Yuan was still a little mad at Jie En for


    causing Dou Di¡¯s current predicament. He knew that he couldn¡¯t blame Jie En too


    much... but he still felt bitter.


    The soldiers in the 31st Battalion felt rather


    surprised. It seemed that their new Commander was an interesting fellow! Not


    only did he possess remarkable talent and strength, but apparently he was even


    a champion of the common people! The nobles in the battalion felt respect for


    Jia Yuan both for his strength and acceptance of the common folk, while the


    commoners were in awe and felt gratitude towards Jia Yuan. Not only did Jia


    Yuan achieve his current strength despite not being born into a noble family,


    but he had even made a noble apologize for disparaging commoners!


    But Jia Yuan didn¡¯t care about this. Why would he care who


    was a noble and who was a commoner? To him, they were all the same thing. They


    were soldiers of the Burning Legion, the special and proud unit of the Fire


    Kingdom.

 Chapter 66

    Chapter 66: The Strategist


    ~2 Months Later~


    The 31st Battalion had been posted at the border


    between the Fire Kingdom and the Earth Kingdom for the last two months.


    Dou Di had woken over a month ago, and had been completely


    distraught at his lack of power. He would have bursts of strength in times when


    his Song randomly activated, but for the most part he was unable to fight or


    cultivate.


    However, today was the day Jia Yuan would try to restore his


    older brother¡¯s cultivation. Guo Huo had provided him, at great cost to the


    funds of the Black Wing Merchant Guild, a high level Song. Along with the high


    level Song, Guo Huo had sent a person who he said was a genius, worthy of being


    a strategist for the 31st Battalion.


    In the commander¡¯s tent, Dou Di was sitting at a table. In


    front of him was the high level Song. He knew that once he began to try to


    absorb the Song, he would be in a situation of life or death¡­ with the odds


    against him.


    But the last month had been a world of despair for him. Only


    by thinking about the small chance of being able to restore his ability to


    cultivate was he able to keep on going.


    The moment had come! Dou Di reached out his hand to absorb


    the Song, and the information coursed through his head.


    At the same time, a third soul approached the conjoined form


    of Dou Di¡¯s soul and his first Song.


    The third soul seemed to ponder the form in front of him.


    Then, it rushed toward said form and began to devour the first Song. Upon


    seeing this, Dou Di¡¯s soul shuddered.


    In the physical world, Jia Yuan looked at Dou Di, who was


    sprawled unconscious over the table. He was very, very worried for his older


    brother. There was only a 20% chance of surviving! He paced around the tent while


    waiting for any type of response from Dou Di¡¯s body.


    In the meantime, Dou Di¡¯s first Song had already been


    completely devoured by the high level Song. This Song then turned towards Dou


    Di¡¯s Soul.


    At this point, Dou Di¡¯s soul was perfectly fine. The high


    level Song approached Dou Di¡¯s soul, and attached itself to it.


    It was a success!


    In the physical world, Dou Di opened his eyes and sat up.


    Jia Yuan saw, and ran over to the table.


    ¡°Is it over? Did you succeed?¡±


    Dou Di¡¯s eyes glazed over with happiness. ¡°Yes! I can


    cultivate again! I can feel the energy of the Song¡­ I can cultivate again!¡±


    He turned around and embraced Jia Yuan. He knew that his


    little brother had gone through quite some difficulty to secure him a high


    level Song. After all, a high level Song costs a fortune!


    At this time, the ¡°genius¡± Guo Huo had sent along with the


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.high level Song stepped into the tent. ¡°I sensed that your brother¡¯s


    cultivation had come back. Congratulations.¡±


    The genius¡¯ name was Fan Meng. He had a weak cultivation,


    only at the 3rd level of Absorption with a low level Song, but according


    to Guo Huo, he had an unmatched mind. Not only has he memorized various


    strategies used by the four Kingdoms, but he has also created his own


    counterstrategies to these strategies. The only thing he needs now, is to prove


    his worth on the battlefield.


    It is easy for one to come up with ideas when they are


    resting in their cozy study, but it is much harder to execute the strategies


    and come up with new ones on the fly under the pressure of thousands of lives!


    ¡°It¡¯s good that his strength is back. He can keep his post


    as a squad leader (squad= 10 people) without being looked at with condescending


    gazes. It is strength that speaks in this world¡­¡± Fan Meng looked wistfully at


    Jia Yuan.


    Fan Meng was slightly older than most of the members of the


    31st Battalion at 18 years of age, but his cultivation was far


    lower. Initially when he had first acquired his Song, he had tried to


    cultivate, but his speed was simply too slow! As such, he changed his focus and


    studied to become a strategist instead.


    However, he still had some regrets. Seeing someone such as


    Jia Yuan, who was still so young be so strong as to become a battalion commander


    for the Burning Legion, he couldn¡¯t help but be a little jealous.


    Of course, he also viewed Jia Yuan with respect. By now, Jia


    Yuan¡¯s story had been embellished and passed through the entire Fire Kingdom.


    A slave boy, bought by an executive of the Black Wing


    Merchant Guild, achieved his freedom and went to BlueFire City, where he


    promptly became a champion of the arena, squashing opponents far above his


    cultivation level.


    A prodigy! A story that gave slaves and commoners throughout


    the land hope for the future. Maybe, if they were lucky and worked hard, they


    could have an illustrious future like Jia Yuan!


    After the congratulations, Fan Meng left the tent while the


    two brothers celebrated Dou Di¡¯s recovery. Dou Di was truly lucky to have


    succeeded.


    Over the next few days, Jia Yuan worked to integrate this


    strategist into the 31st Battalion. They ran drills based on


    formations and tactics.


    Furthermore, this strategist helped the commoners among the


    31st Battalion to improve their methods of cultivation. After all,


    many of them, while talented, didn¡¯t have a teacher or guide to learn from.


    In this manner the months passed and the 31st Battalion¡¯s


    strength grew as they trained and learned.

 Chapter 67

    Chapter 67: War!


    Just a few months after Dou Di recovered his ability to


    cultivate, Jia Yuan and Fan Meng were chatting with each other in Jia Yuan¡¯s


    commander tent while eating some food together.


    The two had grown closer together, one a genius of cultivation,


    the other a genius of strategy.


    At this time, a soldier of the 31st Battalion


    rushed into the tent.


    ¡°Commander! Big news!¡±


    Jia Yuan looked toward the soldier. It was actually a member


    of Dou Di¡¯s squad.


    ¡°Speak up.¡±


    The soldier sputtered out the news. ¡°Our Kingdom has entered


    an alliance with the Air Kingdom in a war against the Water and Earth Kingdoms!


    A messenger had just arrived with this scroll bearing the royal seal.¡±


    Jia Yuan, upon hearing these words, accidentally spat out


    his food, losing a bit of the ¡°reliable commander¡± persona he had been working


    to maintain.


    The royal seal was created by manipulating one¡¯s fire aura


    into a specific formation and then imprinting the formation onto an object,


    creating a seal at the point of contact. The method was very secretive and was


    only used in extremely important cases.


    Jia Yuan opened the scroll by tapping it releasing the seal.


    He then handed it over to Fan Meng who read it out loud.


    ¡°As of today, the 182th day of the 7203th year of the


    Ancient Calendar, our Kingdom¡¯s BlueFire City has been sieged by the combined


    forces of the Water and Earth Kingdoms.


    It is in light of this event that I, the King of the Fire


    Kingdom, declare our Kingdom to be in a state of war against the Water and


    Earth Kingdoms.


    The esteemed Air Kingdom has generously offered their


    assistance in this endeavor, and as such, we will be working with them to


    destroy the Water and Earth Kingdoms.


    We will show them that the Fire Kingdom is not to be trifled


    with!¡±


    Fan Meng paused. ¡°Ah¡­ it appears that there are some other things written below.¡± He glanced at the soldier.


    The soldier understood. He clasped his hands towards the


    Commander and Strategist, and left the tent.


    Fan Meng glanced at Jia Yuan. ¡°It appears that we¡¯ve been


    summoned to join the 2nd Army near the border with the Water


    Kingdom¡­ it appears that they wish to retake BlueFire City and turn it into a


    vantage point for the war. We¡¯re to help with the siege and work with the 2nd


    Army however they need.¡±


    Jia Yuan thought for a bit. ¡°Isn¡¯t the 2nd Army


    actually the strongest standard army of the Burning Legion? I heard the 1st


    Army is full of pampered nobles and the like. Why are we matched with them?


    Does it say what other Burning Legion Battalions will be going?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the strange part. We¡¯re the only Burning Legion


    Battalion grouped with the 2nd Army. The rest are with the 1st


    and 4th Armies.¡±


    Jia Yuan understood immediately. ¡°So either they decided our


    Battalion needs a quick dose of battle experience, or they decided that they


    would only throw us into the main fray because I¡¯m the only battalion commander


    who¡¯s not directly from a noble family¡­¡±


    Fan Meng replied in a rather wistful manner. ¡°We have an


    unproven commander with an unproven strategist, with an unproven battalion. You


    not being a noble is probably just the tip of the iceberg. It also doesn¡¯t help


    that you¡¯re associated with the Black Wing Merchant Guild¡­ they may believe


    that your allegiance is closer to the guild than your country. Perhaps they want


    to see if you¡¯ll fight for your country¡­¡±


    Jia Yuan mused to himself.


    It¡¯s not like I feel


    allegiance to country or to the merchant guild¡­ I just want to do well for my


    friends¡­ and for my teacher.


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    His eyes sharpened. ¡°Fine, if they want to see how we¡¯ll do,


    then we¡¯ll give them a show, right? I trust you¡¯ll come up with something


    that¡¯ll show how special our battalion is.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go prepare the troops. We¡¯re moving out!¡±


    A few hours later, the 31st Battalion of the


    Burning Legion left their encampment for the eastern border to join up with the


    2nd Army.


    After about a week¡¯s worth of grueling travel, the entire 31st


    Battalion had made it, in haphazard fashion, to the staging grounds for the 2nd


    Army.


    They had made it, but they were exhausted.


    Jia Yuan turned toward his troops. ¡°Wait here! I¡¯ll talk to


    the General of the 2nd Army and I¡¯ll find out where we can make


    camp. Don¡¯t cause any trouble!¡±


    Jia Yuan walked toward the center of the camp, where an


    ostentatious tent had been set up, clearly the headquarters.


    Along the way, he walked past many troops, most of whom


    looked at him with reverent gazes. They could tell from Jia Yuan¡¯s armor that


    he was a commander of the Burning Legion. The most special force of the Fire


    Kingdom! However, some of the veteran troops looked at Jia Yuan with jaded


    eyes. They had fought with those from the Burning Legion before¡­ the troops of


    the Burning Legion tended to be arrogant and demeaning and couldn¡¯t be bothered


    to help the normal troops when the going got tough.


    He pushed aside the cloth in the doorway of the tent and


    walked in. Inside stood 11 burly men in clean but not overly decorative armor,


    surrounding a table with markers and other pieces on it.


    Jia Yuan clasped his hands toward those in the tent. ¡°Greetings.


    Commander Jia Yuan of the 31st Battalion reporting.¡±


    The man standing at the head of the table walked over with a


    big smile on his face. ¡°Ahh, Commander Yuan! Good, good. I am General Lin


    Zheng. We¡¯ve been waiting for you! How was the travel?¡±


    Jia Yuan smiled and responded. ¡°No need for the


    pleasantries, General. I¡¯m not one of those stuffy nobles.¡±


    The General cackled. ¡°Ahhh, you¡¯re just like my sons said.


    You¡¯re the easygoing type, huh? Good, good. Come over here, here¡¯s the


    situation.¡±


    Jia Yuan instantly thought of the two brothers who wielded


    unusual weapons, Lin Pei and Lin Xuan.


    So that¡¯s why they


    were so adept with those unusual weapons. Their father turned out to be the


    most hardened general of the Kingdom¡­


    ¡°As you can see, this is where we stand. Over here, is


    BlueFire City. We¡¯re planning to siege it for about a month until its resources


    dry out¡­ doesn¡¯t make sense to lose too much manpower here in a forceful sack


    of the city, especially so early in the war.¡±


    Jia Yuan racked his brains for a response, but couldn¡¯t come


    up with any. He wanted to take BlueFire City quickly so that the Fire Kingdom


    could seize the city for supply and defense purposes, but he also couldn¡¯t


    argue against the General¡¯s point about losing troops.


    Jia Yuan finally turned toward the General. ¡°I agree, but I


    want to see if my strategist agrees. In the meantime, I¡¯d like to allow my


    battalion to rest, as we rushed over here at top speed.¡±


    ¡°Ahh, yes. Of course, you can invite the strategist over! As


    for your troops, they can set up camp on the right flank. We left a space open


    for you there.¡±


    Jia Yuan left the tent and distributed the orders to the 31st


    Battalion, then returned to the tent with Fan Meng, who looked over the table.


    After a while, he turned toward the General. ¡°There¡¯s no


    need to wait a month to take over BlueFire City. With our 31st


    Battalion, we can do it in a single day.¡±

 Chapter 68

    Chapter 68: Win-win


    General Lin Zheng stared at Fan Meng, shocked. ¡°What? How?


    We looked at the walls and structure of the city. It is possible to overrun the


    walls, but it¡¯d probably take a few days at least to be able to do so.¡±


    Fan Meng looked at the General. ¡°That¡¯s true for your army,


    but to a battalion of the Burning Legion, the wall doesn¡¯t really mean much at


    all. As long as they don¡¯t have a battalion of Water Cultivators, we should be


    fine.¡±


    This is what I am thinking. At nightfall, you¡¯ll send the


    army to attack BlueFire City from the western side of the city. After a few


    minutes of fighting, we¡¯ll send a task group of about 20 people from our 31st


    Battalion, who will use the cover of the night to approach the city walls from


    the northern side. They¡¯ll use the power of their Songs to fly over the walls


    into the city and find their way to the enemy commander. Jia Yuan here knows


    the layout of the city well, shouldn¡¯t be hard for him to find the enemy HQ.


    They¡¯ll kill the commander and open the back gates, where the rest of the Burning


    Legion will be waiting. Then, they¡¯ll slaughter their way toward the western


    gate of the city and meet up with your 2nd Army.¡±


    ¡°But there are more than 10 thousand troops in that city! I


    get that you guys are supposed to be the elite troops but¡­ that¡¯s a 10:1 ratio!


    Those guys aren¡¯t slouches either, they¡¯re strong front line soldiers!¡±


    Fan Meng looked at the General with a wry smile. ¡°General,


    what¡¯s your cultivation base?¡±


    ¡°Ahh¡­ I¡¯m the 7th level of Manipulation.¡±


    ¡°Right. What about your troops?¡±


    ¡°Most of the officers have some sort of cultivation level,


    mostly in the Absorption realm¡­ but the vast majority of the foot soldiers are


    just simple fighters.¡±


    ¡°Exactly. With your surname Lin, you should be related to


    Lin Pei and Lin Xuan. Are you familiar with the strength they had when they


    participated in the Burning Legion Tournament?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. They¡¯re actually my sons. They were around the middle


    of the Absorption realm with high level Songs. I spent a lot of effort to


    secure those for them.¡±


    ¡°Right. Now imagine you have a few hundred of them running


    around wreaking havoc in a city, along with some officers who are even


    stronger. Is 10 thousand troops, even if they are seasoned fighters, enough to


    deal with that? Would even 10 thousand of your best soldiers be able to deal


    with that?¡±


    Stolen story; please report.Lin Zheng gazed at Fan Meng, rather incredulous. ¡°You mean


    that your 31st Battalion is so strong already? It hasn¡¯t even been a


    year since it formed!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve been working hard. Our commander here is even capable


    of defeating those in the middle of the Manipulation realm. Even if you were to


    fight him, maybe it wouldn¡¯t be an easy victory for you.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Just how strong are you, Commander Jia Yuan?¡± The


    General was rather surprised.


    ¡°I¡¯m at the 7th level of Absorption. I could


    probably advance to the 8th level of Absorption, but I¡¯ve been


    having trouble stabilizing my cultivation.¡±


    ¡°Oh? 7th level of Absorption and already able to


    contend with those in the middle of the Manipulation realm? That¡¯s a rather


    impressive Song!¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡± Jia Yuan responded simply, not revealing any


    information. After all, he couldn¡¯t very well tell everyone that he had an


    unfathomably special Song, especially with the secrets that came with it.


    Lin Zheng stood and thought for a bit. It was true that it


    would be extremely beneficial to his army and the Fire Kingdom if BlueFire City


    were to be taken so fast. It would likely catch the Water Kingdom off guard,


    giving the Fire Kingdom a distinct advantage in the early stage of the war.


    The enemy¡¯s commander shouldn¡¯t be stronger than the middle


    of the Manipulation realm¡­


    After all, the commander only had a command of about 10,000


    soldiers. General Lin Zheng could be considered one of the stronger Generals of


    the Fire Kingdom, commanding over 100,000 troops, but even he was only at the 7th


    level of Manipulation.


    10,000 troops¡­ the commander was likely only at the 1st


    or 2nd level of Manipulation. And if the 31st Battalion


    really was as strong as Fan Meng had said¡­ it would likely be a quick battle


    with few losses for the Fire Kingdom.


    A win-win!


    ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll do it your way.¡± Lin Zheng finally relented


    and decided to trust these youngsters.


    Fan Meng replied quickly. ¡°I boasted that we could take


    BlueFire City in one day, but we should wait until tomorrow night to execute


    the plan. Our soldiers are rather tired right now, and need a day of rest to


    return to peak fighting condition.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s no issue.¡± Lin Zheng had been willing to wait 2


    months! What was another day to him?


    Over the next few hours, Fan Meng and Lin Zheng hammered out


    the details of the attack.

 Chapter 69

    Chapter 69: Governor''s Manor


    The next night, the Water Kingdom troops in BlueFire City


    were resting with a few guardsmen keeping an eye on the perimeter. They


    expected the Fire Kingdom¡¯s army to continue to wait for a slow siege.


    Overall, they knew that they were in a state of war, but


    they weren¡¯t too worried for the time being.


    All of a sudden, a guard on the western wall shouted. ¡°Attack!


    We¡¯re under attack!¡± Some troops rushed towards the western wall and saw a


    massive army heading towards them.


    ¡°Man the walls! Inform the commander! Quick!¡±


    Although they were taken by surprise, the soldiers were


    quick to respond and quickly set themselves up to defend the walls.


    Just a minute after, a hail of arrows began to assault the


    attacking Fire Kingdom soldiers. A proper defense had been set up.


    At the same time, the entire Burning Legion in hiding about


    half a mile away from the eastern wall of BlueFire City.


    At the northern wall, a single figure clad in some


    tight-fitting black clothing crept along the walls.


    After he heard the fighting begin at the western wall, he


    looked toward the top of the walls.


    There were only a few guards who were keeping a lookout in


    case the Fire Kingdom had sent troops to surround the city. The rest of the


    troops were concentrated along the western wall.


    Seeing this, Jia Yuan continued along the wall until he saw


    a section where there was only a single guard.


    Jia Yuan briefly closed his eyes and began activated his Song


    with his soul.


    He forced a thick and powerful flame to blow out from under


    his feet, and flew toward the top of the wall in this manner.


    The soldier was looking out in the distance, and so didn¡¯t


    see Jia Yuan until Jia Yuan had already reached the top of the wall.


    ¡°IN-¡° The guard was about to shout the word ¡®intruders¡¯ but


    was rudely cut off by Jia Yuan.


    During the day, Fan Meng and Lin Zheng had told Jia Yuan of


    the finalized plan. They were worried that 20-30 members of the Burning Legion,


    even under the cover of night, would be discovered by the guards patrolling the


    walls of BlueFire City. As such, they had lowered the amount to 10. In their


    eyes, 10 people was enough to find the HQ and assassinate the enemy commander.


    Upon hearing this, Jia Yuan simply refused. He would go


    himself.


    Which brings us to the present. Jia Yuan stood alone on his


    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.section of the northern wall. From his vantage point, he could see the hustle


    and bustle occurring in the city.


    He knew the layout of the city quite well. The most


    fortified place in the city was the Governor¡¯s Manor, which sported very


    defensible walls and a single entrance.


    Might as well head


    over there first¡­


    Jia Yuan jumped down from the wall, shooting bursts of water


    out of his hands instead of fire to slow his descent. He could use fire to get


    the same effect, but now that he was inside the walls, the brightness of the


    fire would undoubtedly bring too much attention. Water would splash to the


    ground, creating noise, but fire was undeniably bright and easy to spot.


    He had only risked using fire to climb the wall because he


    had confirmed there was only a single guard in the area he had made his ascent


    at.


    After landing comfortably on the ground, Jia Yuan began to stealthily


    make his way toward the Governor¡¯s Manor.


    After about 20 minutes of making his way through the city by


    jumping from rooftop to rooftop, he had arrived in front of the Governor¡¯s


    Manor.


    Jia Yuan nonchalantly walked up to the guards at the


    entrance to the Manor.


    They saw Jia Yuan and immediately raised their weapons.


    After all, Jia Yuan was wearing a rather suspicious outfit.


    ¡°Hey, brat! Who are you and what are you doing here?¡±


    Jia Yuan smiled. ¡°My name is Jia Yuan and I¡¯m here to take


    the city.¡±


    He drew the black sword out of his ring and sliced the two


    guards up before they had time to react.


    Jia Yuan was comfortable using all of his hidden cards in


    BlueFire City. After all, there was nobody from the Fire Kingdom there, and


    these Water Kingdom soldiers didn¡¯t know him.


    After the battle, he could even say that he picked the sword


    up from some random officer or something of the sort, and nobody would be any


    the wiser.


    Jia Yuan walked into the Governor¡¯s Manor and looked around.


    There¡¯s nobody here!


    Why were the guards there then?


    Jia Yuan was rather confused.


    Hmm. I still think


    this was the HQ¡­ but it appears that everyone has left. Did they all leave to


    the western wall? Or did they escape?


    ¡­


    One way or another, my


    first priority now should be to signal my troops to swarm over the eastern wall.

 Chapter 70

    Chapter 70: Captured!


    Author note: Fan Meng stands for Annoying Dream


    Jia Yuan ran towards the east side of the city by again


    hopping from roof to roof. After a short time, he made it to the east wall of


    the city.


    He surveyed the surroundings. There were still guards posted


    on this side, but it appeared that there were even fewer guards than there had


    been at the northern wall. The fighting at the western wall had already gone on


    for about 20 minutes at this point, so most of the troops were probably there


    except for the few they could spare to make sure the other walls under siege.


    However, no matter how few guards they were, they would


    surely notice if a signal were to be given from inside the city. Moreover, Jia


    Yuan needed a signal that could be clearly seen from outside the city.


    Well, guess there¡¯s


    nothing for it.


    Jia Yuan reached his hand toward the heavens and began to


    feel the power of his Song.


    From his outreached hand erupted a giant pillar of fire.


    Outside of the city, the 31st Battalion saw this signal.


    ¡°Look, it¡¯s the signal!¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it too early?¡±


    Fang Mu looked toward the pillar of fire. He then spoke to


    those around him. ¡°There¡¯s no need to worry if it is early. We carry out the


    plan. CHARGE!¡±


    With a collective roar, the 31st battalion surged


    toward the eastern wall. When they were about 50 meters away from the wall,


    they activated their Songs and flew towards the top of the eastern wall.


    At the same time, the guards on the eastern one sounded the


    gongs and horns, warning of an attack from the eastern side. At Jia Yuan¡¯s


    location, a swarm of Water Kingdom soldiers approached him with their weapons


    drawn.


    Alas, a cultivator fighting against those without


    cultivation? Simply a slaughter. With a single wave of Jia Yuan¡¯s sword, 50


    soldiers toppled over, smoke still smoldering in the air around them.


    A few seconds later, the entire 31st Battalion of


    the Burning Legion had made it over the walls. Even Fan Meng was carried over


    by one of the officers. Upon landing on the wall, Fan Meng quickly surveyed the


    surroundings. The Water Kingdom commander had clearly learned of the attack occurring


    Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!at the eastern wall; Fan Meng could see about 3 thousand Water Kingdom soldiers


    heading towards the 31st Battalion. It appeared that the rest of the


    Water Kingdom troops were effectively tied up at the west wall.


    Fan Meng began to distribute orders. 1st Company,


    2nd Company, 3rd company! Do a slow sweep along the left


    side of the city. Leave no soldiers behind. If they surrender, assault them


    with your aura so that they wont be able to wake for a few days. We¡¯ll take


    prisoners.¡±


    ¡°4th Company, 5th Company, 6th


    Company! You guys do the same on the right!¡±


    ¡°Everyone else, we¡¯re charging down the center of the city!


    We have to provide the flank for the 2nd Army!¡±


    With that, the three groups split up, Despite having a


    thousand troops, BlueFire City was quite massive! They could only slowly


    progress through the city while killing any Water Kingdom troops they met.


    Fortunately, working with a group of cultivators simplified


    things. After about two hours of sweeping the city and fighting Water Kingdom


    soldiers, the Burning Legion had effectively secured the city.


    As for the division that had gone with Fan Meng, they had


    reached the western wall about 20 minutes after Fan Meng had issued orders.


    Along the way, they had met up with Jia Yuan, who subsequently led the group.


    Pressed in by the 2nd Fire Kingdom Army from the


    front and the 31st Battalion from the back, the Water Kingdom


    commander was in dire straits, and quickly surrendered.


    In all, the Fire Kingdom had casualties of about 500 2nd


    Army soldiers with 1400 injured, mostly from arrow wounds. The Burning Legion


    had no casualties, but 17 soldiers were injured. The Water Kingdom had 700


    dead, 1 thousand injured, and the rest, including the commander, had


    surrendered and were captured.


    It was a decisive victory!


    However, such an easy was only possible at the beginning of


    a war, where one side was not ready for the opposing side¡¯s strategies.


    As a war goes on, both sides gain experience. Armies become


    rugged, soldiers develop killing intent, and strategies become more and more


    ruthless as strategists adapt their methods to counter previous methods.

 Chapter 71

    Chapter 71: Earth Kingdom


    The day after the battle, Jia Yuan sat in the Governor¡¯s


    Manor.


    ¡°Everyone is gone?¡± asked Jia Yuan. He had many friends and acquaintances


    from his time in BlueFire City, and was worried about them.


    ¡°Not a single citizen was seen in the city. Since this was a


    city with a large Water Kingdom population despite being in the Fire Kingdom borders,


    it¡¯s possible they all retreated back into Water Kingdom land after the


    takeover.¡± Lin Zheng replied.


    Jia Yuan pondered this. ¡°What about the Fire Kingdom


    citizens then?¡±


    Lin Zheng¡¯s face turned grave. ¡°I doubt they Water Kingdom


    would just let them go¡­ if they¡¯re the right age and are healthy, they could be


    turned into soldiers. Why would they let us have more soldiers? Depending on


    how merciful the Water Kingdom is feeling¡­ the Fire Kingdom citizens were


    probably either captured or killed, unless they all escaped before the city was


    taken. In fairness, the nearby cities did see an increase in travelers


    recently.¡±


    Jia Yuan pondered this. ¡°Do the numbers match?¡±


    ¡°Not really. But that¡¯s normal in these times.¡±


    Jia Yuan suddenly turned in Lin Zheng¡¯s direction. ¡°I just


    thought of something. Say that my 31st battalion was to take heavy


    losses. How would I regrow my battalion? There¡¯s no tournaments or anything to


    choose recruits for older units of the Burning Legion.¡±


    ¡°Hm¡­ this draws into why a war hadn¡¯t been fought for such a


    long time. In times of war, the best Army soldiers are sent to replace those in


    the Burning Legion who can¡¯t fight anymore, whether because they died or were


    injured.¡±


    ¡°But if all of these prized soldiers are moved to the


    Burning Legion, then the Army itself takes a hit! After all, most soldiers don¡¯t


    even cultivate, and if they do, they are unable to progress past the first half


    of the Absorption level. As such, the Kingdom will begin providing more


    commoners and non-cultivating soldiers with Songs, hoping that some talents


    will quickly develop.¡±


    ¡°You can imagine how long it takes for a Kingdom to stock up


    on so many Songs¡­ they¡¯ll need hundreds of thousands of Songs, if not more. As


    such, after the last war, the various Kingdoms spent huge efforts on obtaining


    the greatest amount of Songs possible. But there are only so many people who


    are capable of Composing.¡±


    But now, the Water and Earth Kingdoms clearly feel that they


    have stored enough resources to fight a prolonged war. Jia Yuan knew that with


    so many resources being stocked up, there was no way this war was going to be a


    short one. This was a war that would likely end in the complete and utter


    destruction of yet another Kingdom¡­ just as the Sword Kingdom had been


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.destroyed so many years ago.


    The next day, the 2nd Army and the 31st


    Battalion set out. BlueFire City was currently being occupied and run as a


    military base by the 4th Army.


    Lin Zheng grumbled. ¡°Every time we conquer a place, some


    other Army is there to take advantage of it, and my 2nd Army is


    whipped into fighting yet again.¡±


    Jia Yuan nodded. Even in wartime, certain armies were given


    easier assignments than others. As for being assigned to aid the 2nd


    Army, which was regularly assigned to the most aggressive and dangerous


    assignments, he didn¡¯t care. He wanted to one day stand at the top of the


    world, free to do whatever he wished! If he shirked from a simple war on one of


    the smallest and weakest continents in the world, how would he be able to make


    his dream come true?


    But of course, few of those who lived on the Continent of


    the Five Elements even knew about the outside world.


    After traveling for a bit, Lin Zheng had the entire 2nd


    Army set up camp. In the meantime, a new messenger had arrived from the Fire


    Kingdom.


    Lin Zheng read it, then spoke to Jia Yuan, Fan Meng, as well


    as his own commanders. ¡°We¡¯ve been congratulated for retaking BlueFire City


    ahead of schedule. We¡¯ll be sent extra equipment and supplies. However, the war


    isn¡¯t going as well in other places. The Air Kingdom has been rather heavily


    invaded by the Earth Kingdom, and the Fire Kingdom is also under siege from


    many places. It can almost be said that our acquisition of a sieging base is


    the sole bright point so far for our side this war.¡±


    Jia Yuan and Fan Meng glanced at each other. They didn¡¯t


    really feel too much allegiance to the Fire Kingdom. Fan Meng was loyal only to


    the Black Wing Merchant Guild, which had looked over him when others had


    shunned him due to his poor cultivating talent. As for Jia Yuan, he had


    previously been a slave of the Fire Kingdom. It was Guo Huo who had found and


    freed him. Furthermore, the greatest benefit Jia Yuan had earned in his life,


    was from a previous leader of the Sword Kingdom, which he knew had been jointly


    destroyed by the other Kingdoms.


    If any of the Kingdoms sustained large losses, neither of


    them would really care, but¡­


    The two of them were very competitive! How could they let


    the side they were fighting for lose?


    Lin Zheng continued. ¡°We are to head south to provide aid to


    the Air Kingdom and fight alongside their 1st Army.¡±


    And so, the 2nd Army and 31st Burning


    Legion Battalion headed south, where they would spend the next few years


    fighting against the forces of the Earth Kingdom.

 Chapter 72

    Chapter 72: The Shining Plains


    After a month of travel, the 2nd Army and 31st


    Battalion had finally met up with the Air Kingdom¡¯s 1st Army.


    Lin Zheng, his strategist, Jia Yuan, and Fan Meng met with


    the Air Kingdom¡¯s General Tian Can. Just as Jia Yuan was alongside Lin Zheng,


    the Air Kingdom¡¯s Special Forces, the Spectres of Wind, also had their


    commander, Quan Zen in attendance.


    The two sides chatted about the current state of the war. In


    the month the 2nd Army had used to travel south, the Water and Earth


    Kingdoms had been able to conquer small pockets of land from both the Fire and


    Air Kingdoms. While the situation wasn¡¯t dire for the Fire and Air Kingdoms,


    morale was clearly on the other side.


    All those present agreed. The Fire and Air Kingdoms needed a


    large victory to bring back the strength of morale to their side.


    At this point, Tian Can spoke up. ¡°Tomorrow we will be


    heading toward the border to fight against the combined forces of the Earth and


    Water Kingdoms. They currently have their armies set up at the Shining Plains.


    We will be going there to engage them in battle.¡±


    A light of determination appeared in each of their eyes. As


    for Jia Yuan, he responded with a wry smile. The retaking of BlueFire City had


    been a small endeavor. Jia Yuan thirsted for a true battle, where thousands


    upon thousands of troops made battle on a battlefield where the situation


    changed as fluidly as a river!


    After some discussions, both armies began their trek towards


    the Shining Plains. A week later, they found themselves at the western side of


    the Shining Plains. On the other side, they saw hundreds of thousands of troops.


    On the left side of this encampment, flew the flags of the Water Kingdom. On


    the right side, flew the flags of the Earth Kingdom. However, there was


    something on the side of the Earth Kingdom¡¯s encampment that caught the eyes of


    all of those who had just arrived.


    The Shining Plains had a slight incline toward the eastern


    side. As such, Jia Yuan and the other could see that the Earth Kingdom¡¯s


    encampment was surrounded by a formation of walls and other earthly defenses.


    The encampment looked like an impregnable fortress!


    Next to Jia Yuan, Lin Zheng whistled. ¡°The Earth Kingdom¡¯s


    defensive capabilities are truly spectacular...¡±


    Jia Yuan harrumphed. ¡°Our Fire Kingdom¡¯s offensive


    capabilities are nothing to scoff at either. When the time comes, it will be


    strength against strength.¡±


    Next to Jia Yuan, Fan Meng stared at the Earth Kingdom¡¯s


    formation, his eyes taking in every detail. ¡°Interesting¡­interesting¡­¡± he


    muttered.


    The two armies began to set up their own encampment and


    defenses. After a few hours, the leaders of the combined armies met in a


    special headquarters tent.


    The tent was very big, big enough for a large strategy table


    as well as 50 or so officers. However, there were only 6 people in the tent at


    the moment. On the strategy table was a board with the surrounding geography


    and pieces representing the various friendly and enemy units on it.


    ¡°We¡¯ll take to the field 2 days from now. The plains are


    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.very large, and we will divide the battlefield into three main portions. The


    center of the plain will be taken by our 2nd Army, while the right


    side will be taken by your 1st Army. As for the left side, we will


    hand to the combined special forces of our two Kingdoms.¡±


    Tian Can nodded. ¡°During the first day, the various armies will


    probably restrain themselves to merely feeling each other out. What are our


    plans?¡±


    Lin Zheng looked towards his strategist, then responded. ¡°We¡­


    believe that it would be advantageous for us to take care of the Water Kingdom¡¯s


    troops first. After that, we can tackle that fortress of the Earth Kingdom¡¯s


    Army. As such, we¡¯re going to be spending the day to look for weaknesses in the


    Water Kingdom¡¯s Army.¡±


    Tian Can looked toward Lin Zheng. ¡°And what if they expect


    this plan? After all, it¡¯s the obvious one.¡±


    The two generals began to debate the possibilities of what


    would happen on the plain, while the rest listened.


    As for Jia Yuan, he simply stared at the table. He wasn¡¯t as


    dumb as he used to be, but he didn¡¯t really have a mind for strategies, still.


    Once the talk began to grow convoluted, he zoned out and began to think about


    his cultivation.


    He was currently at the 7th level of Absorption,


    and had virtually mastered the basics behind the control of his Song¡¯s fire


    element. As for his adequacy with the water element¡­ it was a little less


    adequate. After all, Jia Yuan¡¯s control over fire was a product of his training


    in the crater. When it came to the water element, not only hadn¡¯t Jia Yuan done


    such specialized training, but he didn¡¯t even have a teacher. While Jia Yuan


    could somewhat perform the basics, his skills when fighting with water were


    only average.


    After a few hours of deliberation, those in the tent finally


    finished their discussions. Just as Jia Yuan was about to leave, Quan Zen


    walked up.


    Quan Zen looked to be about 24 years old, and was at the 2nd


    level of Manipulation. Naturally, he looked down a bit of Jia Yuan and the 31st


    Battalion in general. After all, his own Battalion had already been formed for


    7 years, while Jia Yuan¡¯s Battalion was only a few months old.


    ¡°Hey kid, we¡¯re going to be working together when the


    fighting starts. Thought we might as well talk things out. From what I see,


    most of those in your Battalion are still at the middle of the Absorption


    level. From this, I think that you guys should let my Battalion be the main


    force, while you guys provide support.¡±


    Hearing this, Fan Meng actually


    stepped up and responded. ¡°Forgive me, but I disagree. I think we can use the


    synergies between our elements to gain a distinct advantage over the enemy that


    we otherwise wouldn¡¯t have¡­¡±


    Current Situation-


    Fire Kingdom 2nd Army Troop count: 105,000~


    soldiers


    Fire Kingdom 31st Burning Legion Battalion: 1,000 soldiers


    Air Kingdom 1st Army Troop count: 110,000


    soldiers


    Air Kingdom 17th Spectres of Wind Battalion:


    1,700 soldiers.

 Chapter 73

    Chapter 73: Two Armies Meet


    Quan Zen looked at Fan Meng. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°What you said is true. The overall strength of your


    Battalion is far stronger than ours. However, I believe it would still be more


    efficient to have your Battalion be the support. After all, if wind strokes a


    flame¡­¡±


    Quan Zen snorted in response. ¡°No matter how well our Songs


    of Air can support your Songs of Fire, if your fire is of lesser quality than


    the ice and water attacks of the Water Kingdom, won¡¯t it be useless?¡±


    Jia Yuan interjected at this point. ¡°None of this matters


    until we know exactly who we¡¯re fighting against. If we¡¯re fighting against


    fellow cultivators, what Quan Zen says is true. However, if we¡¯re against their


    normal troops, what Fan Meng said should stand. Right?¡±


    Quan Zen had to relent in the face of reasoning. ¡°Fine. If


    we¡¯re against normal soldiers, my battalion will work as the support. However, If


    we¡¯re against the Iron Guard or the Storm Sentinels, your battalion will work


    as support. Deal?¡±


    Jia Yuan nodded. This worked out fairly well. Quan Zen clearly


    wanted to show off the strength of his battalion. His clearly aggressive and


    condescending behavior clearly demonstrated that he believed that his battalion


    was far superior to that of Jia Yuan¡¯s. Not only that, but he seemed to view


    himself as superior to Jia Yuan. After all, he¡¯d heard that this Burning Legion


    Commander was only at the 7th level of Absorption. That was pretty


    good for a child that was only 13, but Quan Zen himself was already at the


    Manipulation realm. Wars don¡¯t factor in the ages of the combatants. Why should


    he?


    But Jia Yuan simply didn¡¯t care about this.


    2 days after, the two armies mobilized on their respective


    sides of the plain. Over 200 thousand troops stood on each side, divided up in


    rows and columns, looking proud with numerous flags and banners raised


    throughout each army¡¯s ranks.


    The Water and Earth Kingdom troops were divided into two


    sections, while the Air and Fire Kingdom¡¯s troops were split into three, with


    the small 3 thousand or so special force troops on the side.


    The four leaders of the two battalions stood at the front.


    Jia Yuan looked back toward Dou Di. Unfortunately, his brother wasn¡¯t strong


    enough to be up here¡­ but Jia Yuan felt that it was better for Dou Di to be at


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.the back. After all, Jia Yuan was much stronger than his brother but he wouldn¡¯t


    be able to protect Dou Di in the midst of battle.


    Take care of yourself,


    brother.


    Jia Yuan glanced at Quan Zen. ¡°Hey, they seemed to have


    hidden their cultivators in the midst of the normal soldiers. How should we


    approach this?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not ¡®hey¡¯ but ¡®Commander.¡¯ As for what we¡¯ll do, we¡¯ll


    first wait for orders from headquarters. If they don¡¯t send anything, we¡¯ll


    wrap around the enemy¡¯s left flank and see how they respond. IF they mixed


    their cultivators in with the normal troops, we¡¯ll just have to find out where


    they are and how they were distributed throughout the ranks.¡±


    Jia Yuan look toward Fan Meng.


    Fan Meng nodded. ¡°The commander is right. We¡¯re not looking


    to do anything crazy today.¡±


    At this time, the two main armies began to charge toward


    each other. Roars of ¡°charge!!¡± filled the air.


    About 100 yards before the armies were about to collide, the


    majority of the Fire and Air Kingdom troops abruptly changed their direction of


    attack from charging directly at the enemy forces, to attacking them at a 45


    degree angle.


    At the same time, the troops at the rightmost part of the battlefield


    turned 90 degrees and began charging away from the battle.


    In response, the troops behind the first few lines for the


    combined Earth and Water Kingdoms began to flood toward the right side of the


    plains, effectively causing the entire battle to proceed at a 45 degree angle.


    This made it so that with the Burning Legion and Specters of


    Wind¡¯s positions at the left side of the plains, they had a perfect way to


    carve up the Earth and Water Kingdom¡¯s army starting from one side to the


    other.


    Quen Zen nodded at Jia Yuan. ¡°We¡¯re going to be against


    normal troops for the most part. You take command. If we encounter a large


    group of cultivators, I take command.¡±


    Jia Yuan nodded. He took his black sword and lifted it far


    above it head.


    How wonderful this is¡­


    Just years ago I was a slave. Now, even the noble children of a different


    Kingdom listen to my command. One day¡­ I will reach the pinnacle of this world!


    ¡°Burning Legion! Specters of the Wind! Charge!¡±


    The two Battalions, numbering


    2,700 in number, charged toward the main field of battle.

 Chapter 74

    Chapter 74: Surprise Attack!


    The two battalions charged at their


    fastest speed toward the main battle by supplementing their running speed with bursts


    of power from their Songs.


    But suddenly, they felt tremors


    coming from the ground. A second later, rocks flew up from underneath them,


    along with giant spouts of water and blades of ice!


    Jia Yuan instantly realized


    what was going on. The special forces of the Earth and Water Kingdoms hadn¡¯t hidden


    themselves amongst the other soldiers. They had actually hidden themselves in


    the earth!


    Jia Yuan immediately released


    his Song and flew up into the air, and the troops behind him reacted in a


    similar way as well.


    Unfortunately, there were still


    some troops who were caught unawares by the surprise attack and instantly


    perished.


    Jia Yuan shouted. ¡°Quan Zen,


    your command!¡±


    Quan relayed his commands to


    the troops behind him. ¡°Keep in the air and they¡¯ll have to show themselves!


    They were probably sensing tremors from the earth to determine our location. If


    they show, we¡¯ll fight! If they don¡¯t show, we¡¯ll massacre their soldiers!¡±


    The two battalions sounded


    their acknowledgement of this through a variety of shouts. Upon hearing this


    command, Jia Yuan and Fan Meng glanced at each other. Wasn¡¯t this too straightforward?


    If the enemy cared enough to set up such a trap¡­ there should be more waiting!


    Just as they thought this, a


    flurry of arrows came flying in from the back end of the main battlefield! The


    arrows were accurately heading towards the soldiers flying through the air.


    Jia Yuan cursed. It was


    possible to fly and fight at the same time, but how many people have the


    control needed to do that? Even Guo Huo found it hard to concentrate on other


    tasks while flying.


    Jia Yuan quickly flew toward


    the arrows, shouting to Quan Zen along the way. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of the arrows!


    Keep moving!¡±


    When he reached the front of the


    troops, Jia Yuan briefly diverted his attention away from flying and tapped his


    ring, drawing out the pots he had bought years ago from that shop in RockFire


    City.


    Seconds later, Jia Yuan heard


    hundreds of clangs as the arrows flew into the pots that had suddenly appeared


    in the air.


    Clearly, it wasn¡¯t possible for


    such a haphazard technique to block all of the arrows, but given that Jia Yuan


    was able to cover most of the immediate area of sky with pots, the arrows that


    made it past were easily dodged. After all, only a few thousand arrows were shot.


    Most of the focus was still on the main battlefield, which at this point was


    starting to resemble a slightly organized mosh pit.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    All the while, the two


    battalions moved forward. However, after a few more seconds, they abruptly


    stopped, because the ground in front of them began to shake and crack, and


    eventually a hole formed in the ground, from which thousands of soldiers jumped


    out.


    Quan Zen raised his voice. ¡°Hmph,


    so you finally show yourselves. What were you doing, hiding like cowards? A man


    should be free, a man should be able to see the sky in all its glory. But it


    appears the Water and Earth Kingdom¡¯s cultivators were too afraid, haha.¡±


    The Earth and Water Kingdom


    special forces soldiers were rather incensed. ¡°Hmph, haven¡¯t you ever heard of


    tactics? Tactics. Of course, I wouldn¡¯t expect much from a measly Air Kingdom


    Commander.¡± The seeing that the immediate danger of being assaulted from below


    the ground was over, and that a fight was about to erupt, the Fire and Air


    Kingdom troops descended to the ground and drew their weapons.


    Quan Zen stated his orders. ¡°Air


    Kingdom troops in front. Fire Kingdom soldiers will flank around from the left.


    Jia Yuan, given your unusual aura, they don¡¯t seem to realize you¡¯re a


    commander, so see if you can surprise one of them. You can sense theirs right?


    Those two at the 2nd level of Manipulation should be the commanders.¡±


    Jia Yuan nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll take


    care of them. Grab their attention for me.¡±


    The two sides stared at each


    other, waiting for the other side to make a move first.


    After neither side had moved


    for about 20 seconds, Quan Zen whispered to Jia Yuan. ¡°If this continues, just


    lead your troops to attack their main army¡¯s flank. We¡¯ll be able to hold them


    off.¡±


    Twenty seconds after, Jia Yuan


    and the Burning Legion soldiers began to sprint towards the main battlefield,


    and the Water Kingdom¡¯s troops attempted to follow, but were cut off by the


    Spectres of Wind.


    Quan Zen had a crazed look of


    determination in his eyes. ¡°Those who want to make it past us will have to kill


    us first!¡±


    And so, the 1,700 Spectres of


    Wind stood proudly in front of 2,500 combined Earth and Water Kingdom


    cultivators.


    Seeing this, Jia Yuan ordered


    his soldiers. ¡°All of you continue toward the main battlefield. Slaughter all!


    But do not dare to perish yourselves, or I¡¯ll find you in hell.¡±


    Upon saying this, Jia Yuan


    headed back toward the Spectres of Wind. His troops would be more than enough


    to change the course of the main battle. Now it was his chance to change the course


    of this numerically smaller but just as strategically important spat between


    each Kingdom¡¯s special forces.

 Chapter 75

    Chapter 75: Assassinations


    As Jia Yuan looped back around to rejoin the Spectres of


    Wind, the fight between the special forces erupted in a giant explosion Songs.


    In just a matter of seconds, over 100 Spectres of Wind had fallen, never to


    stand up again, and a similar number of Storm Sentinels had fallen. However,


    only a few of the Iron Guard had fallen.


    Earth was just simply too strong of a defensive element. One


    can try to batter a rock with wind, but unless sharp wind blades were formed,


    how would one be able to penetrate such a solid defense?


    In terms of raw form, water is clearly less of a defensive


    element than earth, which is why so many of the Storm Sentinels were killed.


    This was just the first exchange, however. Both sides


    collided with each other, and soon the immediate vicinity soon resembled the


    main battlefield. However, this scene was much more lively, albeit much smaller


    in size.


    In the midst of the fighting, Jia Yuan dashed in and out of


    individual battles, casually killing those from the Water and Earth Kingdoms


    easily. For those of the Earth Kingdom, Jia Yuan could blast apart their rocks.


    For those of the Water Kingdom, he subtly used a bit of his own Song of Water


    to cancel out the enemy fighter¡¯s attacks or defenses, and then he would


    swiftly use his Song of Fire to attack.


    This sort of balancing two Songs playing in his soul was


    very hard. If he let the two Songs merge together, his soul would likely


    collapse. If Jia Yuan didn¡¯t concentrate on keeping his Songs released, hje


    could accidentally use the wrong Song while attacking or defending.


    Meanwhile, some of the fighters from each side had handed


    their bodies over to their Songs. In battlefields such as this, this wasn¡¯t an


    uncommon occurrence. If someone was being overpowered or saw their side being


    overpowered, they would sometimes be willing to give their body to their Song


    at the risk of their Soul being lost forever.


    Jia Yuan had done the same before, although by accident.


    However, he understood the process pretty well. Although those few were


    wreaking havoc now, they would be severely drained after a few minutes.


    But Jia Yuan still made his way through the field of battle.


    He was looking for the two commanders he had scoped out earlier. If he could


    kill the commanders, it would be fairly simple for the Spectres of Wind to keep


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.the fight even or even to massacre the Earth and Water Kingdom forces.


    There! There he is!


    Jia Yuan spotted the commander of the Iron Guard, who was


    singlehandedly fighting 3 Spectres of Wind.


    Jia Yuan quickly popped a two pills in his mouth and quickly


    felt the pills giving him additional energy. Although the fighting hadn¡¯t gone


    on for too long, Jia Yuan had exhausted a substantial amount of his strength.


    After all, the Song of Swords used a great deal of energy to use.


    Jia Yuan dashed in towards the Earth Kingdom commander.


    However, one of the commander¡¯s officers had noticed Jia Yuan!


    As Jia Yuan neared the commander, this officer stepped in


    Jia Yuan¡¯s way.


    Jia Yuan lifted up his black sword and chopped downward, not


    even bothering to supplement his blade with the power of his Song.


    The raw power of the blow itself crushed the officer into


    the ground. He wasn¡¯t dead, but he wouldn¡¯t be able to obstruct Jia Yuan


    anymore.


    Rushing past the officer, Jia Yuan gathered up the energy in


    his body and directed it into his sword.


    At this point, the commander felt a twinge of fear in his


    heart, a feeling of death¡­


    He immediately retreated from the Spectres of Wind he had


    been fighting against and looked back. The only thing he had time to see before


    he died, was a giant flame in the shape of a sword descend upon him with all of


    the pressure of a falling mountain.


    Jia Yuan released a heavy shout as he thrust his sword down


    with all his might. Even if he was a prodigy, if we wanted to kill someone in


    the Manipulation realm in one strike, he would have to fiercely pour his energy


    into the attack without holding anything back.


    The resulting attack completely incinerated the commander¡¯s


    defense and disintegrated the commander¡¯s body. Such was the world of


    cultivation. Even a minute difference of strength could result in one side


    being completely dominated and destroyed.


    Everyone in the area looked at him in shock.


    This¡­this runt of a soldier had actually instantly killed


    the Iron Guard commander!


    However, at the same time, a shout of pain sounded from the


    side of the Spectres of Wind! Jia Yuan ate two more pills and flew into the


    air.


    Quan Zen was lying on the ground, with the Water Kingdom¡¯s


    commander standing in front of his body!

 Chapter 76

    Chapter 76: Two Songs?


    Jia Yuan truly protested in his heart. It¡¯s not that he liked


    Quan Zen, but at least Quan Zen was an earnest, if arrogant soldier, who was


    undoubtedly the strongest of his battalion. Without him to lead, the Spectres


    of Wind here¡­ would fall into shambles. The blow to the allied army¡¯s morale


    would be devastating!


    Unless.


    From his vantage point in the air, Jia Yuan shouted. ¡°Avenge


    Quan Zen! Avenge the commander! Death to the enemy!¡±


    He rushed down towards the Water Kingdom commander, seemingly


    brimming with a desire for revenge.


    In truth, he just wanted to keep the Spectres of Wind


    motivated in the fight. Although Jia Yuan felt drained due to the power he had


    exerted to Earth Kingdom commander, the pills he had consumed afterwards gave


    him enough strength to continue fighting for now.


    The Water Kingdom commander used an unusual set of weapons,


    called Kukri. Jia Yuan hadn¡¯t fought against a Kukri user before, and didn¡¯t


    know the attack patterns and styles associated with the weapon. This, combined


    with Jia Yuan¡¯s superficial level of remaining strength due to the pills, meant


    that he would have to fight on the defensive.


    But that was the entire point! For every second he and the


    Spectres of Wind could delay the special forces of the other Kingdoms, the


    longer his Burning Legion could change the flow of the main battle!


    Jia Yuan exchanged blows with the Water Kingdom commander,


    but he was continually pushed back.


    Seeing this, the Water Kingdom commander began to taunt his


    opponent.


    ¡°Hah. I¡¯ve already killed that weakling of a commander, but


    you¡¯re even weaker! Is this all the Air and Fire Kingdoms have to offer?¡±


    ¡°Sending such a runt to the battlefield, aren¡¯t they getting


    too desperate this early in the war?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a nice weapon you¡¯ve got there. Maybe after I kill


    you, I¡¯ll give it to my grandma to chop vegetables with!¡±


    A continuous flurry of insults came from the Water Kingdom


    commander¡¯s mouth, hardly befitting someone with the exalted status of a


    special forces commander.


    However, Jia Yuan didn¡¯t respond and continued to defend.


    However, he was starting to grow irritated.


    Who could blame him? He was only 13 years of age and hadn¡¯t


    been able to fully adopt a steady demeanor. Hell, even those who were 80 years


    old may not be able to adopt so steady of a manner as to be able to stay calm


    under such a torrent of insults.


    After a particularly intense flurry of blows, Jia Yuan


    jumped back and flew into the air at the fastest speed possible. He was running


    out of strength! He chomped down on two pills again. His heart burned at this


    wasteful usage of these precious, unmatched pills, but what choice did he have?


    Pills aren¡¯t useful to the dead.


    After his failing senses and strength had been bolstered by


    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.the pills, he flew back down toward the ground, borrowing the force of gravity


    to lend aid to his attack.


    Soaring down, he surrounded his blade with flames, but he


    filled his blade with the power of his Song of Water.


    As his sword fell upon one of the commander¡¯s kukri, the


    flames were extinguished by the water from the commander¡¯s Song of Water.


    However, the brute strength that came behind the strike caused the ground


    beneath the enemy commander to crack and crumble.


    It was at this point that Jia Yuan¡¯s blade imbued with the


    power of his Song of Water truly made physical contact with the commander¡¯s


    kukri.


    The kukri began to crack!


    The Water Kingdom¡¯s commander, who had been exhibiting a


    rather arrogant demeanor as if he was the king of the battlefield, instantly


    backed off, his eyes wide.


    His opponent had clearly cultivated in a Song of Fire! He


    had been using fire the entire time! Even during that last clash, his opponent¡¯s


    weapon had been wreathed in flames.


    But the last bit of the attack, when his kukri had taken


    damage, had clearly been performed with a Song of Water!


    The Water Kingdom¡¯s commander began to put the pieces


    together.


    Jia Yuan had wreathed his sword in flames. When the flames


    came in contact with the water surrounding his own blade, they had been


    extinguished. However, the power inside Jia Yuan¡¯s blade wasn¡¯t the power of a


    Song of Fire¡­ but instead a Song of Water! The flames surrounding the blade had


    simply been a feint!


    The Water Kingdom¡¯s commander reeled at this seemingly


    impossible information.


    Was it possible one person to cultivate a Song of two


    different elements?


    If that was so, no wonder this brat in the Absorption realm


    could pose such a threat to those in the Manipulation realm!


    This was groundbreaking! Not only would a combination of two


    Songs provide a qualitative increase in strength, but it would provide the user


    with two different elements!


    It has to be known that each element has its strength and


    weaknesses.


    For example, the fire element is peerless in attacks, but


    when ti comes to defending, fire is clearly one of the weaker elements.


    Earth is a wonderful defensive element, as one is able to


    construct entire walls and shields with a Song of Earth.


    However, Earth is not necessarily a strong attacking


    element. Ranged attacks with a Song of Earth are much slower than those of


    other elements, and while a Song of Earth provided more than enough attacking


    power when dealing with non-cultivators, cultivators bodies were substantially


    stronger.


    If one could supplement one element¡¯s weakness with another


    element¡¯s strength¡­ you would have a uniquely powerful individual!

 Chapter 77

    Chapter 77: After the First Day


    While the Water Kingdom¡¯s commander was reeling from this


    possibility, Jai Yuan¡¯s eyes glinted.


    He had fought too many duels to not know when the enemy had


    realized something wrong.


    However, just as he began to worry, the Water Kingdom¡¯s


    commander spoke up.


    ¡°Hmph, so you¡¯ve actually trained in two Songs. Quite an


    interesting fellow.¡±


    Upon hearing this, Jia Yuan almost laughed out loud. It was


    true that Jia Yuan would one day have access to the four elements and even be


    able to access the sword element, but these were only variations of his one


    original Song, the Song of Swords.


    As for what this Water Kingdom commander was thinking about,


    it was simply impossible!


    As such, Jia Yuan decided to play along.


    Jia Yuan began to ramble and boast. ¡°Hmph, so what if I have


    cultivated two Songs? Some of my older brothers have trained in three! If they


    were here, they¡¯d stomp you into the ground.¡±


    ¡°Hmph, you¡¯re lucky I only have a Song of Fire and a Song of


    Water. If I was able to cultivate a third, just my physical attacks would be


    able to pound you into the ground, hmph!¡±


    Jia Yuan boasted these ¡°facts¡± with all of his heart, trying


    to sound as arrogant and proud as he could.


    This information sent the Water Kingdom commander¡¯s mind


    into a daze. Could this be true? Could this brat¡¯s words be true? How come they


    hadn¡¯t seen any other fighters with two or more Songs at their disposal?


    Was¡­ was the Fire Kingdom keeping them as a secret weapon???


    The more the Water Kingdom commander thought, the more


    panicked he became. He had never heard of something like this before!


    At this time, a horn sounded from the Water Kingdom and Earth


    Kingdom¡¯s camp.


    The Water Kingdom commander cursed. It was the signal to


    retreat for the day!


    ¡°Alright guys, we¡¯re getting out of here!¡±


    The cultivators of the Water Kingdom turned tail and quickly


    dashed away.


    Jia Yuan shouted. ¡°Spectres of the Wind, don¡¯t chase!¡±


    He knew that the Spectres of Wind were still thirsting for


    blood to avenge Quan Zen, but if they chased, it would just result in more


    deaths.


    The armies fighting in the main battlefield were backing off


    as well.


    The first day of fighting had ended!


    As the sun set, Jia Yuan, Fan Meng, Lin Zheng, and some


    other officers sat in the tent that served as their headquarters.


    One of the officers was currently reporting the casualties


    their side had sustained.


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.¡°Of the Air Kingdom¡¯s 1st Army, we sustained an estimated


    18 thousand casualties and another 2 thousand injured. Of the Fire Kingdom¡¯s 2nd


    Army, they sustained 16 thousand casualties and another 3 thousand injured.¡±


    ¡°Of the Spectres of Wind, we lost our commander Quan Zen,


    and another 700 were killed, while 100 were injured. Of the Burning Legion,


    they sustained an estimated 60 casualties, with 5 injured.¡±


    Lin Zheng and the Air Kingdom¡¯s General glanced at each


    other.


    The Air Kingdom¡¯s General Tian Can looked at Jia Yuan. ¡°How


    come our Spectres of Wind sustained so many casualties, yet your Burning Legion


    came away mostly unscathed?¡±


    Jia Yuan nodded toward Tian Can. ¡°This can be attributed to


    what each battalion did during the battle. Quan Zen saw that we had a favorable


    position to join the main battle, so he volunteered his Spectres of Wind to


    delay the combined Earth and Water forces while my battalion focused on


    wreaking havoc on the main battlefield.¡±


    Tian Can sighed. ¡°So it was this way¡­ it¡¯s just like Quan


    Zen to do such a thing. Ugh, how am I supposed to report this to my superiors?


    Our own special forces took so many casualties on the first day¡­ we even lost a


    commander¡­¡±


    Jia Yuan shrugged. ¡°That¡¯s your problem, not mine. Didn¡¯t we


    do well overall on the day? They were even forced to retreat.¡±


    Tian Can looked towards another officer. ¡°You, do you have


    the estimates for the enemy¡¯s casualties?¡±


    The officer stepped forward and announced with a strict,


    staccato voice. ¡°We estimate that the Earth Kingdom¡¯s army sustained about 25


    thousand casualties, while the Water Kingdom should have sustained about 23


    thousand casualties. From reports from our Spectres of Wind, the Earth Kingdom¡¯s


    Iron Guard lost their commander, along with 200 of their Iron Guard soldiers.


    As for the Storm Sentinels, they sustained casualties of about 600.¡±


    Tian Can and Lin Zheng looked at Jia Yuan. ¡°Oh? The Iron


    Guard¡¯s commander died? How did this happen?¡±


    Jia Yuan shrugged. ¡°I snuck up on him as he was fighting


    some Spectres of Wind and got lucky.¡±


    Tian Can laughed, although there was a hint of bitterness in


    it. ¡°Alright, alright. It looks like I won¡¯t have to hang my head in front of


    my peers after all. All in all, the first day can be said to have been a


    success.¡±


    ¡°What pieces of information did we pick up from the battle?¡±


    And so the talk turned to strategies for the second day.


    Meanwhile, across the Shining Plains, some officers were arguing


    inside a formation of rocks.