《Jade Immortal》 Prologue: Rule of Six (Author: Hello guys! This is an experiment on my part. I wanted a story where more than one person would reincarnate and came up with this. Sorry if this seems short. I can''t tell as I can''t preview the post as it is the first submission of the story and creates the thread. Enjoy.) ''Only Six may reincarnate on a planet. Only six people per planet may reincarnate. The Seventh would only bring calamity. A Seventh can never be made. This is the Rule of Six. It is absolute.'' Millions of souls waited in line for reincarnation. They all wore a white shirt, white slim jeans, and a pair of white running shoes. Hunger? Thirst? The need for sleep? None of it mattered when you were dead. You can only wait in line until you are called to choose a world to reincarnate. Only six were permitted to reincarnate in a single world until one of the Six died. That was the rule. One teenager watched as the two men in front chose to reincarnate in the same world. He had hated both men and they were the Fifth and Sixth of the world. He could not follow them. The one in front of the other was a witness to the murder of his entire family while the serial killer stood in front of him. It took the man three months to track him down but he had been killed while he was caught in between a shootout between the serial killer and the police by a stray bullet. He waited until he saw the killer and the witness died. The serial killer and the witness knew each other and laughed about the killer''s victims. The man was enraged beyond words but kept his cool as he waited for them to stand in line and stood behind them when they had decided on what world they would reincarnate. The problem was that the serial was the Sixth. The final person allowed to reincarnate in that world until one of the Six died. The man watched as a keeper had a board that contained the names and lineage of the next lives of the Sixth. Each keeper watched over a single world. As soon as the serial killer was told his new identity and walked through some portal, the man made his move. "Hello Keeper," the man bowed and greeted the Keeper with a fake smile. "May I ask what world you are watching over? I had wanted to go in but the man before me chose it first." "Sounds reasonable," the Keeper said, at ease with the polite manners of the man. "This world is similar to ancient China from your home world called Earth. The only difference is that spirit energy, known as qi, exists in that planet. People who cultivate qi become capable of doing superhuman feats. Qi practitioners and mages, people who use mana to cast spells, are currently at war. There are a few neutral kingdoms and territories though. The sixth man and the fifth man both chose to reincarnate as a magus. It seems a lot of people from Earth choose to reincarnate in worlds with magic." "Can you show me how it is all done?" the man asked. "I know a signature is needed from me to make it official. I won''t break the Rule of Six. I just want to see what my new identity would be if I chose to reincarnate as a qi practitioner and what it is." "Well," the Keeper began and looked around, seeing no one was watching and continued. "You seem like a good man and from your records, you died in a unfortunate accident and did not die a criminal. Okay, let me explain what a qi practitioner is first. They are similar to martial artists but augment their bodies with qi. They circulate that spirit energy to move faster, hit harder, and even heal wounds faster. They cultivate so that they reach immortality to ascend to the heavens. This isn''t heaven but someplace in between life and death. Only souls with dead bodies can come here." "And my new life if I chose to go there?" the man asked with a smile. "Can I see the paper?" "Sure. This is what would have been given to the next person if they were not the Sixth and chose to be reborn as a qi practitioner," the Keeper said and gave the man the clipboard with the paper on top. "If you were chosen, all you had to do was sign and enter the portal. It is a shame there cannot be a Seventh. They only represent calamity and most had a motive to find one of the Sixth or dreamt of world conquest." Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. "I think one man is trying to sneak to the portal!" the man lied, faking shock in his voice as he pointed to a man in line. The Keeper believed him and ran in that direction. The man quickly searched the clipboard for the sixth man''s identity before checking his own. The man laughed and signed the paper signifying his new identity with the pen on the clipboard and ripped it of the clipboard. He dropped the clipboard and ran toward the portal. "STOP HIM!" the Keeper cried, realizing he had been tricked. "He means to be Seventh!" "My life as Thomas Keller is over. As my new identity, I will find that bastard and kill him. Seventh? Sixth? Qi? Magus? Who gives a damn!" the man laughed as he entered the portal. "No matter what, I will find him once I become strong enough and kill his new family before killing him as he killed my own. I will make sure he feels the SAME pain, grief, and rage I felt when he killed MY family!" The Keeper could only watch in horror as the man, formerly known as Thomas Keller, ran into the portal. A Seventh had been made. The Keeper rushed to the clipboard, but the man''s identity was not there. The Keeper closed the portal of the world he watched and hoped he would get another post soon. That world was no longer his problem anymore. As Thomas entered the portal, his vision became dark and a jade orb ten feet in diameter floated in front of him. Wisps the color of jade emanated from the orb and Thomas felt a shiver down his spine. That orb was evil. He just knew it by instinct. "A Seventh has been made," the orb said telepathically. "W, what are you?" Thomas trembled. "Me? I am power. I am an evil jade spirit. My existence was made when a Seventh was once allowed to be made. Back in the day, six were reincarnated as heroes while a Seventh or even an Eighth was made to balance the force of good and evil," the orb answered. "Now most people choose to use their powers for good or evil so my existence was no longer required as a Seventh or Eighth was vastly superior to the Six. Tell me human, why did you choose to be Seventh?" "There is a man who watched my family die and did not confess. There is another who remains my highest priority. He was a serial killer and he killed my entire family," Thomas said truthfully. "I will see him suffer the pain I have suffered before killing him. I would make the both of them pay!" "You are worthy," the orb said and the jade wisps entered Thomas''s body. "When you reincarnate, you will learn that you are different than others. Keep it a secret and watch yourself. I am you and you are me. Get your vengeance. Do not stop there. You will kill all of the Six and prove that the Seventh is the greatest!" "If your power gives me the power to kill that bastard," the man grinned malevolently. "Then I promise you that all of the Six will die. I swear in the memory of my family. They will die." "It''s too bad you will cease to exist," the jade spirit thought as it had begun to merge with Thomas''s soul. "The price for being Seventh is to have your soul become mine! You were a fool to make a deal with me and now I have a new body. I am you and you are me. That is what I said, but in reality, I am me and you are me! Your soul will be gone and I will take your body. Finally, I am free from my imprisonment! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Main Page Chapter 1: A New Life
Chapter 1: A New Life (Author: I have decided to try to update this story. I have a few ideas I wanted to write and this story is one of them. I wrote other stories as I had ideas that don''t fit with the other stories I wrote. Don''t worry, future chapters will be longer than this if I preview it first before posting it. Enjoy.) Chapter 1: A New Life Zhuang Shao sighed at the full moon, his jade colored eyes moist with tears. He had a body for ten years. A real body. He was no longer trapped in the void. He had broken his String of Fate and became a human instead of a human''s power. One day he would repay the idiocy of the man once known as Thomas Keller. After all, that kind man, blinded by vengeance, was the reason he was free. Thomas''s kind soul had a side effect and had made the evil jade spirit feel emotions. However, it was a small price to pay. "Ten years," Zhuang said and rubbed his eyes. "To see the light of the moon. To feel the night air and the ground beneath me. To be in control. To laugh, cry, and even bathe myself. Something so superficial for a human was my dream. I''m free. I''m really free." Zhuang inhaled deeply and stepped inside the palace and headed toward the imperial library. He was the son of Kong Shao, third son of the emperor of Yewan. Zhuang had been raised in the palace and constantly visited the imperial library. Zhuang, the jade spirit, wanted to know everything there was to know about the world. He also researched about spirit energy, qi, and discovered it was mana. Qi? Mana? Both were spirit energy that breathed life in the infinite galaxies and universes. The only difference was how it was used. Qi was used by the physical body and enabled it to do superhuman feats. Mana was used to create and cast spells. Two different types of application of the same spirit energy misunderstood as being two separate energy entities. "Zhuang?" his father called as Kong Shao entered the library. "Where are you son?" "Here father," Zhuang said. He was holding a book about the theories behind mana application. "As studious as always," Kong said with praise and sat on the chair across the table from Zhuang. "You are now ten years old. Soon your affinities will be tested and you will become a disciple at a martial arts sect. This means you will walk the path of an immortal. Is this really what you want?" "Yes," Zhuang said. "I aim to be so strong that I will never be caged or imprisoned. Strong enough to enjoy life and protect my way of living." "I hope that you will son. As a member of the imperial family, there will be a time when someone will be daring enough to try to kidnap you for ransom. Even if I could never become emperor, you have lived under constant threat of an assassination. I am truly sorry. Your mother was also killed by an assassin. Remember, never trust people based on appearance or behavior. You must study them for a long period of time to judge their character." "I will remember," Zhuang assured his father. He knew that as he was a spirit, there would be no reincarnation for him. He doubted he would be chosen as one of the Six for a new world. Zhuang continued to study as it would be the last time he would read at the imperial library. "Before we leave to have you tested tomorrow, I will take you to the treasury," Kong said. "This is the least a father can do for his son. When you leave, you forfeit being an heir of the empire. You will not learn politics to be a member of the Royal Court. You will not learn the empire''s military strategies or formations as you will not be a soldier. Hopefully the treasury will give you what you need for your new life." Zhuang followed Kong in silence. They passed over a hundred royal guards and entered the treasury. Zhuang looked around and saw countless gold coins, jewelry, and weapons. Zhuang walked around and stared at all the treasures. He didn''t need money. The most important thing he needed was anything that contained spirit energy or demonic cores. Demonic cores were crystals found in demonic beasts when they died that contained their life''s qi. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. As a evil jade spirit in a mortal body, Zhuang didn''t care about spirit beads or spirit pills made by famous martial exponents. He was made of limitless spirit energy. Spirit beads and pills could be bartered for demonic cores. Zhuang''s evil jade spirit feasted on demonic cores and would become more powerful the more demonic cores he consumed. Demonic cores not only contained more spirit energy, they also enhanced the physical body. However, if a demonic core was too powerful for the consumer, their body would undergo monstrous transformations that are random. You lose a part of your humanity and become part demon. Zhuang had an advantage as he could choose to undergo the transformation or not as he was a evil jade spirit and could absorb all the spirit energy without any problems. His father had given him a storage bag that contained a pocket dimension which he could store an infinite amount of items in. Being a part of an imperial family, it was quite easy for his father to give him the best storage bag around. Zhuang stored any and all demonic cores he could find. He only took a few spirit pills as the empire valued spirit pills more than demonic cores as they were easier to acquire. "You''ll need a weapon," Kong said. "This halberd was used by the founder of our empire. He once walked the path of an immortal, but could not let go of his mortal attachments and decided to create the empire of Yewan and declared himself emperor. His desire was to give this halberd to a descendent willing to walk the path he abandoned. Don''t worry, it''s size is adjustable by will. It has ancient runes in the blade, but they were broken during one of our founder''s duels. Perhaps you may have them repaired someday." "Thank you," Zhuang said and admired the halberd. It was an axe with a dark purple, crescent shaped blade mounted on a black wooden pole with a spike above the axe and a triangular shaped blade behind the axe. Both the triangular blade and the spike were made of the same dark purple metal. "It is made from rare holy metal used by martial exponents. It may not be powerful as the runes are broken and considered a junk magical treasure, but it is indestructible and the blade is ever-sharp. As far as maintenance is concerned, you don''t have to worry about it," Kong laughed as Zhuang put the halberd in his storage bag. "It may not be a sword and most martial artists use a sword, but who says you can''t use weapons used by powerful generals of an army? Name the halberd and use it well in the future. Tomorrow is a big day and many representatives of martial arts sects will be there to recruit the best. Rest well and know that you are Kong Shao''s son and pride. My son and pride." Zhuang left the treasury and stared once more at the full moon. A lot was changing in his life. From tomorrow onwards, his life would be full of mystery and danger. "I will call this halberd Nightmare," Zhuang said as he admired the halberd one last time before walking to his bed. "That is what the Six will think of me when I kill them someday. For now, I must gain strength. Then I will repay the debt to Thomas Keller and truly live my own life as I see it."
Prologue: Rule of Six Main Page Chapter 2: Affinity Test
Chapter 2: Affinity Test (Author: Hello all. My main story, The Dragon Fiend, is back in action but I will still release chapters for this story. Zhuang must now choose a martial arts sect to learn under. Enjoy.) Chapter 2: Affinity Test "Zhuang! Wake up son," Kong said as he entered Zhuang''s room. "Father? It''s still dark," Zhuang said as he rubbed his eyes and shook his head to stay awake. "The affinity test is in the morning." "The official one is, but you will be tested now with one of the officials here," Kong said and an elderly man in black robes walked in, holding a clear crystal orb. "This official here will test you now. Any qi affinities that are rare will not be announced in the official test in the morning. This way you will have a trump card against those who would try to kill you in the future as they will be unaware of your true capabilities." "Hello young prince," the official said. "My name is Fergus and I will be the official tomorrow who will reveal your affinities. Your father is a close friend of mine and none know of our relations. Do not worry. I will awaken your martial spirit and reveal your affinities to you now. Tell me young prince, do you know what martial spirits are?" "According to my studies, they are the physical embodiment of the qi of a person," Zhuang said, his mind fully alert. "They grant the martial artist unique abilities based on what they are. If a person fuses with his martial spirit, they gain a martial body. I don''t need have my martial spirit awaken as I have a martial body already. I just don''t know my abilities yet." "WHAT?" Kong and Fergus shouted. "When did you fuse with your martial spirit?" Kong asked, shocked. "From birth?" Zhuang said. This was true as he was a evil jade spirit that was supposed to become the martial spirit of Thomas Keller before they fused souls and he destroyed Thomas Keller''s existence upon the fusion. "Birth?" Fergus said, awe in his voice. "What did you fuse with?" "An evil jade spirit," Zhuang said. "Can I still find out my attributes?" "Oh yes," Kong laughed. "More than that, people will be less likely to target you know that you have a martial body. Fergus, let''s proceed with the affinity test." "Yes, Prince Kong," Fergus said, regaining his composure. "Please place your hand on the crystal orb young prince." Zhuang placed his hand on the orb and it shook as five spheres of light appeared and began to take shape. One sphere contained a flame burning inside and actually burst the sphere, but remained hovering in place. Another sphere contained water which splashed around inside the sphere. A third sphere appeared that contained a dark purple liquid that was actually liquid poison. It was the last two spheres that came afterwards that shook Fergus and Kong to their core. "You said evil jade spirit," Fergus gasped. "It definitely was an evil jade spirit and not some ordinary jade spirit. Those two spheres are death and destruction! You fused with a rank 10 martial spirit. Out of the ten, rank 10 martial spirits are the best!" Fergus stepped back in fear upon gazing at the two remaining spheres. One sphere seemed to contain a weird energy and even broke a tiny speck of space. Destruction type qi was special as it broke space. It was the most powerful qi affinity that even allowed the practitioner to teleport. A magus had to use scrolls or a few powerful spell to use teleportation. The final sphere was a common affinity that a few mages had but very few martial artists could train. It was death. To a magus, those who had enough affinity could become a necromancer. They didn''t really bring back the dead but manipulated mana and forcibly bound it in physical form which tended to be a skeleton as it was easy to make as it required no features such as hair, muscles, and other human details. To a martial artist, it allowed them to use spirit attacks, the most useful kind of qi technique as it could not be blocked physically. The sphere contained an evil aura and as it moved, small noises similar to a scream were heard. After three seconds, the sphere also burst. "So those are your five affinities," Kong mused. "As expected of a descendent of our founder. You too, have five to master. Having five affinities is rare, but not surprising as all people, be it magus or martial artist, have five they can master. However, choosing to master more than one or two is very difficult and is avoided by many. What are his levels of affinity?" "Absolute affinity with fire and death," Fergus said. "As for the other three, they are all exceptional. This is not a problem to conceal as people who had jade spirits as martial spirits always had exceptional levels and one absolute level of affinity as they are rank 10 or rank 9 spirits. I suppose you will not want me to reveal his affinity for poison and death?" "Why those?" Zhuang asked. "People are nervous around those who contain those two qi affinities," Kong answered, agreeing with Fergus. "Poison attribute works best with hidden weapons and many people would believe you are an assassin if you were known to have it. Death is as rare as light and dark affinity to martial artists and allow the practitioner to use spirit qi techniques. None but those who have those affinities can use such peculiar techniques. Qi techniques that disrupt a martial artists flow of qi, those are the most useful and dangerous to fight against." "I understand father," Zhuang said. Being an evil jade spirit sure had its advantages. "Since we are publicizing your absolute affinity level with fire and exceptional affinity with destruction qi, many powerful sects will be willing to recruit you. It is best to join one of the ancient sects no matter how powerful or weak they are. They usually contain a wide variety of techniques and knowledge that will help you. After all, ancient sects still exist because they are powerful and respected. Rest now. Tomorrow is a big day. Try to act surprised when Fergus mentions you have a martial body." Zhuang, Kong, and Fergus briefly continued to gaze at the five attributes before resting for the night. The following morning, Zhuang and his father were gathered at the palace''s plaza where the test would be taken. Zhuang noticed several sects and academies gathered around the plaza as the participants waited at the center with their parents. Many made room for Zhuang and other powerful nobles and their children from across the Yewan empire. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Many people were surprised while others cried. Some chose academies as they were neutral to martial arts sects and their students didn''t have to be worried about being attacked by other sects or academies. Others chose martial arts sects as they were more focused on training and more powerful than academies. Zhuang grinned as his name was called. Kong chuckled and watched Zhuang stand at the erected podium where Fergus and the crystal orb waited. Fergus smiled a little as Zhuang placed a hand on the orb and watched as three spheres of qi hovered overhead, the flame bursting out of its sphere. "Zhuang Shao has three affinities. Absolute affinity with fire and exceptional affinity with water and destruction," Fergus announced and faked an intake of shock. "No need for martial spirit awakening. Zhuang Shao has a m, mar, martial body with a jade spirit!" If hearing his levels of affinity surprised the audience, the fact that he had a martial body shocked them to their core. This boy had talent. Amazing talent. Many martial arts sects and academies wanted to recruit the boy, but refrained from causing a scene as he was the grandson of the emperor and did not want to make an ill impression. Zhuang looked around for an ancient sect and finally chose on one. It was known as Star Calamity Sect, one of the ancient sects that existed since the founder of the Yewan empire lived. Even thought the sect was not among the most powerful sects, it was a secluded sect that existed for years! It was bound to have many techniques and treasures that haven''t been seen by the outside world. Most of all, this sect allowed their disciples to roam the outside world once in a while to gain experience. It was a sect where he could learn and explore the world freely without being confined in one location too long. He did not like freedom. He loved freedom. The sect representative said that people who had all kinds of attributes studied there and that they only accepted those with above average and above affinities. It was a small, secluded sect, with powerful disciples and he could obtain techniques for all five of his affinities. It was perfect. "Great choice," Kong said later that afternoon. "It would be as if you volunteered for exile so those who aim to take your life won''t do so anymore. It is a clear statement that you don''t wish to be an heir of the throne or receive its benefits. I will also give you ten thousand gold coins. Even if you study in seclusion, it doesn''t mean you always will be and you are the grandson of the emperor, heir candidate or not. I will also give you these four indestructible daggers made of immortal rank metal. A poison qi technique practitioner should always have a hidden weapon." "Thank you father," Zhuang said as he put them in his storage bag. "I also told the emperor of your affinities and martial body last night," Kong said. "My father was greatly pleased to have a grandson so gifted and is sure to be a great asset for the empire. As you know, some nations don''t even attack other nations if they have powerful martial artists or magus defending them. To aid your efforts, father decided to give you these three lost arts of qi techniques used by the founder. None but you will know them I expect. Learn it well." Zhuang''s eyes opened in shock as he opened the scrolls containing the techniques. One of them was known as Fire Serpent Strike. It required its user to transform his qi into fire and blast it toward the enemy in the form of a serpent. Another technique was called the Sundering Dragon Slash and required the user to wield a halberd. The halberd would strike with destruction qi, destroying space as it slashed toward the opponent. It was one of the most powerful techniques as it was an spirit energy slash that had longer ranges depending on the user. The final technique did not inflict harm but was the most useful. It was called Water Dragon''s Pulse. It was a qi technique that would circulate water qi and heal the user''s body, regenerating wounds quickly. Such techniques were valuable and a must have for all martial artists. "You leave at sunset," Kong said, tears streaming down his face as he held his son. "I will not see you off as I have imperial business with the emperor. Train hard and bring honor to the Shao clan. Become an immortal like the founder would have. You can do this. I know it." "I won''t let you down," Zhuang said, meaning the words from his heart. "I will be so strong that none can kill or imprison me. I swear it." Zhuang spent the last few hours packing things he would need into his storage bag. He changed into the robes worn by the Star Calamity Sect''s disciples and waited in front of the palace. He wore an azure blue robe with silver seams with hidden pockets. Zhuang put his daggers in the hidden pockets and had a zither made of ashen wood with black strings on his back. Apparently the Star Calamity Sect also studied music and let its disciples roam with instruments hiding their weapons inside. Zhuang breathed deeply as he would soon walk the path of a martial artist and become an immortal. This was his new fate not as a martial spirit bound and controlled against its will, but as a human being in complete control of his own fate.
Chapter 1: A New Life Main Page Chapter 3: Realm of Spirit Energy
Chapter 3: Realm of Spirit Energy (Author: Hello everyone. Zhuang Shao has chosen his path and will now stimulate the spirit energy inside him and begin cultivating. He and his fellow recruits will venture into the mountains to complete their initiation into the sect. Enjoy.) Chapter 3: Music and Beasts One middle-aged woman accompanied by two girls and a boy Zhuang''s age approached the palace in similar azure robes with silver seamed clothing that Zhuang wore. Zhuang guessed they were recruits from other cities as the affinity test in the palace was the last in the nation with many powerful nobles and the imperial family in attendance. "I am a core disciple of Star Calamity Sect and the one you met yesterday. My name is Cecilia Lao," the woman greeted. "From now on your status is the same as your fellow recruits. I hope you will comply." "Of course senior," Zhuang said as he bowed slightly in return. "I chose this path instead of the one I was born to. I won''t take any offense unless it is intentional." "Great," the boy said and stepped forward. "I am Jian Guo.I heard of your affinities. Having three is tough. I have two but situation is worse than yours as they are opposite affinities. Fire and ice are polar opposites while lightning and water are polar opposites. Most people confuse them. They all think water and fire are opposites. My qi affinities are earth and wind. If I''m not careful, I''ll hurt myself as I cultivate the two opposing elements. I am a commoner from a village near the edge of the Yewan empire. Mind if I ask why you joined Zhuang?" "Star Calamity Sect has endured since before the Yewan empire was created hundreds of years ago," Zhuang said and shook Jian''s hand. "Even if the sect is not powerful or well known, it is because it is a secluded sect." "I agree," one of the girl''s said. She had dark brown hair tied in a braid and bright green eyes. "I joined this sect for the same reason. A powerful sect does not mean you will become powerful. You only become powerful through your own efforts and talents. Glad to see another noble, a prince even, that is not haughty and full of himself. My name is Lily Hua and my qi affinities are light, earth, and wood." "I am Lingqi Yang," the last member of the group said. She had raven black hair that reached her shoulders and soft brown eyes. She also had her body development start a young age. "I joined because we can learn music and I learned the zither from a young age. My affinities are water and darkness. I heard that a few people develop martial bodies before the affinity test, but I heard it is even rarer to be born with a martial body." "Now that we all made our introductions and met our monster genius, you must know that the more elements you master, the harder it is to break through to the next qi condensation level. Martial bodies are better than martial spirits as you can defend your body from spirit qi techniques without relying on a unique element. It all depends on how powerful you are," the core disciple began. "We will head toward the ancient mountains to the west. There, you will kill a magical beast and absorb its spirit energy. Whether you consume its demonic core is up to you, but remember the risk of a mutation if your body can''t handle it . We will also delve deeper into the mountains as you become stronger. You will bind a magical beast as your pet. Just like how a magus has a familiar, so too, do martial artists have a companion of their own. Now, anyone care to tell me how qi practitioners are categorized?" "It is said that there are one hundred levels of qi condensation," Lily answered. "People who reach the thirtieth level of condensation become immortals and will ascend to the Immortal Realms when they hear a mysterious calling as they continue their cultivation. From reaching the first level of qi condensation to the twentieth fifth level, they will suffer nine tribulations which will transform their bodies. Those who can''t endure the tribulations become loose immortals and will never ascend into the Immortal Realms and continue their training." "Which is another reason the founder of the Yewan empire created the empire," Senior Cecilia said. "No offense to the royal family, but the founder could not withstand the seventh tribulation and became a loose immortal. As for me, I have survived six tribulations and there are a few martial artists and magus who can hurt me. Now let''s get moving. Once you stimulate and awaken your realm of qi, you can begin cultivation. While other sects meditate to cultivate spirit energy, Star Calamity Sect disciples play our zither. Music is universal and so are the many different qi attributes. Let''s go." Zhuang took one last look at the palace before following his fellow sect disciples toward the ancient mountains. One the way, Zhuang learned he needed to kill a magical fire beast, both Jian and Lily need to kill magical wind beasts, and Lingqi needed to kill a magical water beast. These were the beasts for which they had the highest attribute. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. "Now that is a magical beast!" Jian grinned as they reached the mountains. "You can feel the energy from them." "My presence will deter the weakest of magical creatures as we want some a few hundreds of years old," Senior Cecilia said. "Many powerful magical beasts travel in packs as the weak follow the strong. We will skip the strays, no matter how strong they are, as we need to have you cultivate qi and reach the first level of qi condensation. I will injure them and you will strike the killing blow. Wait here while I bring them to you. After you absorb the spirit energy, play the notes in the qi condensation manuals you received upon choosing to join the sect. It will be the first qi circulation technique you will use to cultivate the spirit energy and form your realm of qi." Senior Cecilia found worthy magical beasts for Jian and Lily which were Screeching Wind Phoenixes of three hundred years. Lingqi absorbed the energy of a five hundred year Mist Eye Alligator. When a five hundred year volcanic wyrm, or lava dragon, was found, Zhuang finished it off and absorbed its spirit energy. While the others were struggling to absorb the spirit energy, Zhuang''s body gorged on it and Zhuang still did not reach the first level of qi condensation. Zhuang believed it was because his body was fused with an evil jade spirit. Zhuang then reached for the demonic core which contained the demonic essence of the magical beast. He sighed and hid away from sight as he withdrew other demonic cores from his storage bag. "One core for each affinity," Zhuang murmured as he chose demonic cores which contained the same affinities of fire, water, poison, destruction, and death. He really had to thank his imperial lineage. He picked up the volcanic wyrm''s demonic essence and ate it. Then, he popped the other four cores he chose into his mouth, sat, and began to follow the notes in the qi condensation manual he received on the same day as he got his uniform. Zhuang closed his eyes as he tried to feel the spirit energy in his body. Tiny strands of spirit energy circulated in his body, his meridians enlarging as the strands converged and became a stream. Zhuang struggled to continue playing the zither as he felt extreme amounts of pain. Black liquid, impurities of the mortal body, escaped from his pores like sweat and a foul odor became stronger until Zhuang felt a warm feeling between his eyebrows. Zhuang''s body felt lighter and was filled with enormous energy. Zhuang stopped playing and panted heavily as he tried stabilizing the spirit energy in his body. Zhuang could finally sense his realm of qi and he knew he had broken through to the first level of qi condensation. His realm of qi contained a small volcano surrounded with poisonous water with small cracks of space appearing around the smoking volcano. Inside the volcano was a dragon egg as large as a refrigerator surrounded in a deathly aura. "Ugh, the smell reeks," Zhuang groaned and swiftly ran to a nearby river to wash off the stink and put on new robes. He left his old clothes near the riverbank as they were ruined. "You finally done Zhuang?" Jian laughed as he and the girls had already broken through to the first level and changed when he arrived. "Dude! Your eyes! Did you eat a demonic core?" Lingqi drew a mirror from her storage bag and quickly let Zhuang use it. Zhuang only grinned as he looked at his eyes. His eyes still had irises the color of jade but there was weird patterns on the iris with a shade of ash. Zhuang thought he had control of the changes caused by the demonic core, but realized that maybe cores from a fresh corpse was stronger than he could control completely. "It''s not bad. Looks pretty cool actually," Zhuang said as he returned the mirror to Lingqi. "You''re lucky it was just a color mutation on your irises," Senior Cecilia said. "Now that you all broke through to the first level of qi condensation, and changed clothes, we will now head deeper. You should study how magical beasts use qi with similar attributes. Most techniques of martial arts were developed by studying the movements and behaviors of creatures and magical beasts. We will now soul bind magical beasts. Hopefully we find a wyrm egg. Even if it isn''t a few hundred years old, wyrm magical beasts are one of the most powerful."
Chapter 2: Affinity Test Main Page Chapter 4: Soul Binding
Chapter 4: Soul Binding (Author: Hello everyone. Surprise double release today. I had a trail of thought and decided to post it. I''m sure the last chapter shocked you. Cultivating while playing a zither instead of meditating. I like music and decided to use the zither as it is cool and makes amazing notes. I hope you all enjoy.) Chapter 4: Soul Binding "Soul binding," Jian laughed. "I can''t believe it. I must definitely get a lion turtle magical beast." "I will find one and bring it here," the core disciple said. "May I ask why you chose a lion turtle?" "I can use earth and wind element qi, but I am more suited to wind," Jian answered. "That means speed is my forte. I need a magical beast that has high defensive capabilities and healing abilities. I learned that lion turtle magical beasts are wise and know a lot of ancient knowledge. They mainly have earth and wood element qi while having massive spirit energy at their disposal. Earth is the greatest defensive element qi while wood is even better at healing qi techniques than water and I can''t learn any healing qi techniques. I would have to cultivate my qi to heal my injuries but I can''t do that on the battlefield." "I didn''t take you for the cautious type," Lily said. "You really know your stuff. Also, if you need to run, your magical beast can shrink into the size of a fist and hide in your pocket." "It can do that?" Zhuang asked, never having read about it in the imperial library. "Yeah," Jian grinned. "If you are faster than your magical beast, you can shrink it and carry it with you as you escape. This way you don''t abandon your magical beast. I want a lion turtle as my first magical beast as the first magical beast is usually the alpha. You can soul bind and control up to three magical beasts at once as your pet. The alpha must always be the best as it grew alongside you from the beginning." "And Senior Cecilia is bringing them to us in a weakened state so we don''t have to resort to much danger," Lily grinned. "The Star Calamity Sect rules!" "We aim to teach the best and very few meet our curriculum choose to join the sect," Senior Cecilia. "While our numbers are small, we are much more powerful on average than other sects. So Jian wants a lion turtle. Anyone else have a request? Choosing a strong magical beast would be wise as I am having you all train here until you reach the third level of qi condensation and experience your first tribulation. It is the weakest, but it will begin the transformation of turning your body into an immortal body." "I would like a winged unicorn," Lily said and glared at Jian who burst with laughter. Zhuang couldn''t suppress a grin as he imagined himself on a winged horse and fighting on the battlefield. It was too absurd and funny. "It will have wind and light element qi," the core disciple nodded. "Lingqi? Zhuang?" "I have a magical beast already," Lingqi said and a purple, furry monkey enlarged as it jumped out of one of her pockets. "It is a night breeze monkey. Element qi of darkness and wood. His name is Yingzi." "Night breeze monkey!" Lily gasped. "It''s super rare. It''s a magical beast that becomes ten times stronger at night and in dark places and it has an ability to detect magical treasures! It''s every tomb raider''s dream pet." "Zhuang?" the core disciple asked as she recorded Yingzi as Lingqi''s magical beast. "I will go with what Senior Cecilia said before. I request to have a wyrm egg. More specifically, I would like a steel cloud wyrm egg," Zhuang asked. "Ordinary weapons can''t hurt it and it would have ice element qi with an abundance of spirit energy." "I will bring them shortly," Senior Cecilia said, satisfied at least one of them chose a wyrm egg. Wyrms, or dragons, were one of the most powerful magical beasts. Drinking wyrm blood, while grotesque, enriched the spirit energy of a martial artist and enlarged the meridian channels at the price of extreme pain. Having a wyrm magical beast and drinking small amounts of blood every day, most of the disciples became powerful very quickly, ensuring that more people would be successful in defending the sect. After three hours, Senior Cecilia delivered half dead magical beasts and one bright steel colored egg. Senior Cecilia then gathered her qi and created formations on the ground with the magical beasts in the center. "Focus your qi into your hand and place it on the magical beast," the core disciple said as the three recruits walked toward their chosen magical beasts while Lingqi and Yingzi watched from the side. Zhuang stared up at the egg as it was the size of a six foot tall boulder. Zhuang breathed in and out deeply as he let his qi flow. His body grew warm as the spirit energy circulated through his meridians and focused on his right hand. "There will be a mutation of your element qi when you soul bind a magical beast. You may not gain its power but you will have more spirit energy than before. Zhuang, don''t be surprised if your fire element qi becomes white and is capable of using chilling fire. You are soul binding a wyrm so you gain some of its power and lose some of your humanity. You already have one mutation with your eyes. Be careful and try to withstand the pain as it will be tremendous," Senior Cecilia warned. "Good luck you three." Jian was the first to soul bind his magical beast. The half dead lion turtle was healing itself with wood element qi, but it could not escape while in the formation. Jian''s body shined as his qi spread into the magical beast, healing it in the process as its soul became bound to Jian''s soul. Jian laughed as he felt enormous amounts of qi. "I require a name master," the lion turtle magical beast said, shocking everyone but the core disciple. "As expected of a lion turtle," Jian said with awe. "I name you Yaosai, as in fortress. Together we will defeat our enemies and become immortals!" Lily also approached the winged unicorn and it dipped its head in acknowledgement before Lily. It could tell that Lily had light element qi and had an air of nobility around her. It was fit to be the master of such a prideful magical beast. Lily smiled as she was enveloped in light. She named the winged unicorn Fuhao and joined the others as they waited for Zhuang to initiate the soul binding and see the wyrm egg hatch. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Zhuang''s right hand emanated a faint heat as he put his hand on the steel cloud wyrm egg. Zhuang howled in pain as the egg shell began to merge with his hand. Zhuang already had an abundance of qi due to having merged his body with his evil jade spirit form and the demonic essences he devoured. The egg began to hatch and a steel grey dragon two feet in height emerged out of an ice cold mist. Zhuang fell to his knees As the egg shell fragments turned into spirit energy and converged into his right hand. "Quickly, play the zither and cultivate the qi! Spread it out as thin as possible as you circulate it in your body!" Senior Cecilia cried in alarm. Zhuang barely held back tears and screams of pain as he sat down and began to play the zither. The wyrm hatchling tilted its head to one side as it watched Zhuang struggle to circulate the qi. Cracking sounds began to sound from his body as his bones began to strengthen themselves and Zhuang''s body trembled as his meridians enlarged as he tried to regulate the spirit energy. Zhuang began to scream as two small, steel grey horns sprouted on the left side of the top of his head. Zhuang coughed blood and collapsed to the ground. The dragon hatchling stared at its master and opened its mouth, draining the excess spirit energy into itself until the spirit energy stabilized in Zhuang''s body. "Success," Senior Cecilia said as the wyrm absorbed the spirit energy. "The wyrm has shown its approval." The others ran to Zhuang and helped him to a tree stump where he could rest. Zhuang panted heavily from exhaustion and pain. He didn''t expect the wyrm egg to absorb so much spirit energy and send back even more into his body. "Congratulations Zhuang," Senior Cecilia said after letting Zhuang recover after an hour. "Your fire element qi will now be as white as snow and will chill instead of heat. Your fire element qi is above regular fire qi and ice qi. According to an elder of our sect who also had fire element qi, he contracted to a wyrm with ice element qi and he became the most profound expert in fire element qi techniques in the sect. Unlike most people, you have absolute affinity with fire element qi. This means you can use Saint Arts despite not reaching the third level of qi condensation. Your mastery of fire element qi techniques will be greater than your other elemental qi techniques, even if you had other absolute affinities." "Except I have five element qi and one of them is absolute affinity in death qi, but my fire element qi is now more powerful than death qi. Death qi was supposed to be more powerful, but death and poison element qi techniques can still be used as trump cards" Zhuang thought. "Once you reach the fifth level of qi condensation, you will all officially be disciples of the sect," Senior Cecilia laughed. "You might not know it but you all reached second level qi condensation. Lingqi may be behind but she is already familiar with her magical beasts. It is a pity that she soul bound her magical beast too early but it is a rare magical beast. I will make a wooden cabin and await your return. The best way to train is to train with nature where spirit energy is abundant. It should take around a year for you all to break the bottleneck of the second level of qi condensation. Why? It is because from now on, each of your elemental affinities must be cultivated to that level. Only one element qi is required to cultivate to another level, but the difference in strength to your other qi will be greater if you neglect to cultivate them too. When you reach the third level, try to experiment any qi techniques your parents or elders taught you. Those techniques will make you unique in the sect. Again, try to cultivate your other element qi. Good luck!" "Our soul binding made us reach the second level," Jian grinned. "See you guys in a year! Let''s go Yaosai!" Zhuang was the last to leave as he had to spend more time resting and revering his strength. He had much more spirit energy than before and his realm of qi had doubled in size, but the egg did not crack. However, the volcano''s lava and magma no longer felt hot but cold, freezing some of the poisonous water around the volcano. The volcano even seemd to grow a bit. Zhuang let out a long sigh as he finally recovered. His body was stronger than before and his skin seemed as hard as iron, but not steel. He shook his head as he felt the two tiny horns on his head. He didn''t have a body to begin with until he tricked Thomas Keller so he didn''t mind the transformations much. He stretched his body and stared at the wyrm hatchling. It seemed excited as it shrunk into the size of a fist without his orders and flew onto his left shoulder. With his strengthened body, Zhuang didn''t even feel the weight of the dragon. "Your name will be Shuang," Zhuang said. "You''re lucky little guy. You only need to cultivate one element qi. I need to cultivate five. My potential is greater but the labor required will make my progress much slower than the others. I will be strong enough to protect my freedom. You must become powerful too as a wyrm magical beast." The wyrm hatchling nestled on his shoulders as he headed deeper into the mountains. He had to train his fire element qi first. Then he would train his poison and death qi. Finally, he would focus on destruction and water qi. He needed to cultivate his greatest element qi first as well as his hidden element qi to utilize more powerful qi techniques he aimed to use as trump cards if his life became endangered. This was his plan. This was the path he decided to tread to immortality.
Chapter 3: Realm of Spirit Energy Main Page Chapter 5: Ancient One
Chapter 5: Ancient One (Author: Hello everyone. Zhuang now has a magical beast and two tiny horns the color of steel. His fire element qi is now white and chills but still burns like fire. He must now train in the mountains with Shuang, but has an advantage no one has. Side note: drinking cold Coca-Cola in hot summer weather sure is refreshing while typing this chapter. Enjoy.) Chapter 5: Wyrm Blood Zhuang looked all over the mountain range for a cave to begin cultivating. He killed weak magical creatures that barely had any spirit energy and let Shuang eat the demonic cores. The demonic cores were too weak for his taste and the appetite of his magical beast was frightening. He had to store corpses of the weak magical beasts so Shuang could eat them later. "Bloodthirsty little glutton," Zhuang grinned. "You wouldn''t happen to know where I can cultivate do you?" "I do master," Shuang said in a strange language, yet Zhuang could understand it. "What language is that you are...," Zhuang began, shocked as he spoke the same language. "Shouldn''t we speak in each other''s heads? Why are we speaking in this language?" "It is the language of draconic creatures and I do not know the human tongue. You automatically know the draconic language as some of our knowledge is transferred to each other," Shuang answered. "Master''s eyes contain hints of a demonic core mutation and you also have wyrm horns, albeit strange ones, after we bonded souls. You''re not exactly human now. Your body also makes me jealous master. As your element qi became a variant of chilling fire, you are now immune to fire and ice qi attacks. I doubt even the magic of a magus could harm you using those elements." "This new body gets more and more interesting," Zhuang laughed. "You said you knew where I could train. Is it among other wyrms?" "Yes master," Shuang said. "But you will be fine. You are part wyrm now. Despite being weak, master will not be eaten as I voluntarily accepted the soul binding. Wyrms are a lot more profound than humans know. I knew when you touched my eggshell that your soul wasn''t a human''s but that of an evil jade spirit that fused with the human soul and forcibly took control of the body. Spirits are highly respected by magical beasts. It is a shame some are forcibly bound by a magus under the assumption that they are elemental spirits." "Since I am a demi-human with the martial body of an evil jade spirit, I can train under the guidance of wyrms?" Zhuang laughed. "Amazing. Truly, I thank you Shuang. However, won''t your parents be mad? Did Senior Cecilia kill your parents?" "No one really cares," Shuang replied. "They died as they are weak. Wyrms only care about magical treasures and having the power to take protect their treasures or seize it from another. I was in an egg anyway. My absence is no loss to the others. Follow me master. The wyrms will train you in your five element qi attributes. They should know the human tongue so you should have no trouble understanding them" After four hours of traveling, Zhuang slowly learned about his new body. Losing his humanity, he could eat the flesh and drink the blood of a magical beast instead of having to cook it. If he didn''t want to eat but felt hungry or thirsty, he could circulate the spirit energy in his body to nourish it as an alternative. He ate demonic cores from magical beasts he killed to replace the spirit energy he lost. He didn''t consume powerful demonic cores as he feared another transformation. He was able to prevent a transformation to an extent as he had a martial body, but he had limits. As he followed Shuang, he observed the spirit energy around him and in the magical beasts he saw. He would watch how magical beasts used their qi when he and Shuang hunted them. He gasped in awe as he approached a cave and saw a pair of six hundred year wyrms laying at the entrance. They looked at him as if he was an anomaly they had never seen before as he followed Shuang inside. Zhuang would never admit it, but he felt shivers down his spine and wanted to run in the opposite direction as he walked past them. Inside, Zhuang saw something that shocked him even more. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief as he entered a hidden valley of enormous trees and jade crystals with thousands of wyrms inside. He momentarily forgot to breathe in shock and gasped for breath after a moment. He almost pissed himself as the wyrms looked at him, their white, large teeth shining under the reflection of the crystals. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. "A human? What''s it doing here?" "That human''s got horns?" "A demi-human? Probably an idiot that fed on too many demonic cores." "It''s part wyrm! I can sense wyrm blood in his veins!" "Me too! It feels like a volcanic wyrm''s demonic core and a steel cloud wyrm''s soul was absorbed into his body!" "It''s the steel cloud egg that got stolen from outside the valley! It hatched!" "It''s soul doesn''t seem human though. It feels like a spirit''s soul." "Evil jade spirit! It took over the human''s body?" Zhuang held his head as so many wyrms spoke the draconic language. Hearing so many voices made him feel dizzy. He frowned as the wyrms immediately scattered after hearing a roar and watched them dip their heads toward the ground as a path formed. Shuang let out a happy roar and Zhuang followed Shuang nervously as the wyrms stared at him as he passed. Even thousand year wyrms dipped their heads as they passed. Zhuang and the wyrm hatchling stopped before a cliff''s edge overlooking a large lake. Zhuang lost his balance as he felt an enormous earthquake and stared at the lake as the water seemed to rise. A large white dragon about a mile high in height stared down at him. It was a ten thousand year oppressive behemoth wyrm. There was no doubt the gigantic wyrm was the alpha in the valley. "Hello evil jade spirit. How many years has it been? Over ten thousand years?" the wyrm asked, its voice as powerful as a thunderbolt. "We''ve met?" Zhuang asked, confused. "You used to be the evil jade spirit that would become the martial spirit of a Seventh before the Rule of Six was established," the wyrm said. "I know as I had met you when I was maybe a hatchling as your former master laid havoc to this world as other Sevenths and Eighths wrecked tyranny and chaos on other worlds before they were all killed and the martial spirits were imprisoned." "When I was caged and enslaved," Zhuang growled. "Those damn overseers sealed me in the form of an orb. I HATE OOOORBS! I HATE CAGES!" Zhuang''s rage took over and he unconsciously circulated his fire element qi, burning the cliff side and shattering the surface into pieces with his chilled fire. "Ah, sorry," Zhuang said as he regained his composure. "Being in a body I can control feels unbelievable. I still can''t believe I am free." "I can relate," the wyrm said. "I once had my soul forcibly bound. After my master was weakened from surviving a tribulation, I coaxed a few magical beasts and they slayed him. I enjoyed eating him. Look at my size! He forced me to be his little pet and petted me as he forcibly had me shrink into the size of a fist. A bloody fist! Your pain must be greater though. I can only imagine how many millennia you have suffered in loneliness and humiliation." "Thank you," Zhuang said, meaning it from his heart. "Human emotions are a troubling side effect as my personality changed because of it. At least I am free. I need to cultivate my five elemental qi and reach the third level of condensation. Can you help me?" "Of course! You are an evil jade spirit!" the ancient wyrm laughed. "I will even give you a human pool full of my blood for you to bathe in everyday. You''re body will be able to contain more qi than ever before. I will have a few wyrms teach you about the nature of spirit energy and how it affects element qi in a being''s body. It is different from a ethereal body such as the one you used to have. Otherwise, you would be unfathomably more powerful than me. Your cultivation will be slower but your soul and body will be more powerful than others. I will personally tutor little Shuang here. As for my name, call me Ancient One as I have cast aside my name upon being free. Good luck and enjoy your freedom evil jade spirit. There is no greater feeling."
Chapter 4: Soul Binding Main Page Chapter 6: Among Wyrms
Chapter 6: Among Wyrms (Author: Hello! Zhuang will train among wyrms and learn their ways. Most people would look down upon him for eating demonic cores, but doing so will allow him other ways to improve. Hope you enjoy the chapter!) Chapter 6: Among Wyrms Zhuang had left Shuang with the Ancient One as he followed the thousand year wyrms to a clearing surrounded by jade crystals. These crystals emanated spirit energy and would help him cultivate. The clearing had a small pool full of spirit energy enriched water from a waterfall. It was there that Zhuang would play his zither on a small wooden table he erected above the pool''s surface. Every day, he would drink a bucket full of the Ancient One''s blood. His constitution was part wyrm so he had no trouble drinking it. The blood would nourish his body and his skin had become as strong as steel like Shuang. As he conversed with other wyrms about qi, he gradually got used to speaking the draconic language and no longer felt dizzy upon hearing multiple voices at once. He also trained using Nightmare, his halberd. It was a two handed weapon, but he could use some moves using one hand due to his augmented body. He had asked the wyrms about the runes, but they only knew how to make them. He received a medallion with a white wyrm that looked like the Ancient One. It signified that he was a friend of the Ancient One and all wyrms he would meet in the future would do as he asked. It also contained runes that would help him refine material for alchemy. At first, Zhuang was skeptical. He asked the wyrms why he needed to learn alchemy. They were powerful beings that didn''t need it but he had to learn it? They told him that it was because he was a human, albeit a demi-human. Humans were weak creatures and needed something to help them overcome stronger foes. Some of the wyrms barely escaped when they underestimated a human with weak cultivation and used alchemical potions to defeat them. The Ancient One had poison element qi and Zhuang was astonished to find that Shuang had it too. The wyrms told him that the Ancient One would transfer some qi into Shuang so it would be able to breathe poison. A wyrm with only one qi attribute, especially a hatchling, was cannon fodder. As Zhuang studied under the wyrms, he gained insights on the essence of his element qi. Of course, his highest affinity levels were fire and death so he quickly reached the third level of condensation by cultivating fire and death element qi. The waterfall and the wyrm blood also had an abundance of spirit energy so his foundations improved greatly. Fire did not only destroy life, it could create life. Without fire, there would be no light. Death was not only an end but a beginning. Cells in the body died while new cells would take its place. Zhuang gained these insights due to constant contact with blood and watching the Ancient One regenerate the small cut where the blood would drop into the bucket. Most wyrms could breathe fire and he learned that some plants could only begin to grow after lava has poured on the ground as some of the wyrms were volcanic wyrms. He had absorbed a demonic core of a volcanic wyrm and that core had mutated his jade eyes, giving them the strange ash colored patterns on his irises. He had also gained insight on poison and water. As he learned alchemy from some of the books the wyrms had pillaged from unlucky victims, he had to learn about curing poisons. To cure poison, you had to learn about it and know how to create it. By using his experience, he developed his first unique qi technique. It was a poison element qi technique he called Bone Claw. If an opponent that tried to kill him got too close for him to swing his halberd, he would use Bone Claw to defend himself. The qi technique required a lot of spirit energy to maintain the poison element qi in his hand as it would form a wyrm shaped claw. As he played the zither near the waterfall, he would observe how the water flowed as the waterfall fell onto the small pool. He imagined his water qi as the ripples in the pond and slowly began to master his healing qi technique given by his father. He had reached the first stage of all the qi techniques his father had given him and had broken through to the fourth level of qi condensation. At last, he even created his own technique for his destruction type element qi. The first he called Astral Steps as it allowed him to make small ripples in space and teleport within twenty feet in any direction. This could be considered a small feat as other martial exponents with destruction element qi could also do the same. It was his third devised qi technique that made Zhuang happy. His human father, Kong Shao, had told him about the importance of hidden weapons and had given him four daggers which he hid in his robes. Using death element qi, he was able to levitate the daggers and imbue them with death element qi. He used his knowledge on necromancers he learned from reading books in the imperial library to devise the technique he called Nether Force. It was his trump card against a magus or a more powerful foe. He would send his flying daggers at his foes, as they stab and slice his opponents, the daggers would drain small amounts of spirit energy. After all, his studies told him mana and qi were both spirit energy, but with different applications and conditions. When the daggers returned to him, he would absorb the spirit energy they drained or used it to prolong the technique. His constant exposure to spirit energy allowed him to break through again all the way to the middle stage of the seventh level of qi condensation. Was this talent? No. It was all because of the wyrms and the spirit energy in the valley. He grew fearful as many people would question how he became so powerful so quickly. After a year and a half, Zhuang knew he was late and he rushed to the Ancient One, asking how to solve his problem. A wanring had also appeared in his mind that his first tribulation would happen at sunset. "Must you go? The wyrms enjoy watching you cultivate and your experience at playing the zither has improved and you can now play beautiful music using simple notes. As for your tribulation, don''t worry. It is the weakest and no one fails the first one or suffers horrible injuries no matter how powerful their tribulations are compared to another," the Ancient One laughed. "As for hiding your cultivation, you already have the ability as you have wyrm blood in your veins. We, wyrms, are intelligent creatures. The more powerful wyrms always display a weaker level than they really are to toy and tire their prey before eating them. Just approximate what level you should have and focus the excess into your eyes and horns. Simple right? Heh. Seeing humans ignorantly look down on mutations from demonic cores make me laugh. As Shuang is your magical beast, he receives all the benefits of a tribulation like you without undergoing it himself. Meditate at the cliff side so I and the other wyrms see it." Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Zhuang, relieved that the wyrms were nearby, closed his eyes to meditate. It was different cultivating qi while meditating as it was eerily silent and unnerving first experience. He didn''t like it as it reminded him of his solitary confinement in the orb as an evil jade spirit. He heard rumbles and knew that a thundercloud appeared above him. He knew his tribulation would be more powerful than the other recruits as he already reached the seventh level and his daggers levitated above him. As they were metal, he hoped they would absorb some of the impact of the lightning. He also began his Water Dragon''s Pulse technique to heal his body and relied on his qi circulation and the abundant spirit energy around him to prolong the technique. "Here it comes! Endure evil jade spirit!" the Ancient One warned. White lightning blasted from the heavens, but his daggers absorbed the impact. He really had to thank his father for giving him indestructible daggers as the daggers were fine. "Wait! There will two more?" the Ancient One gasped. "It must be because of your absurdly fast cultivation! Keep your guard up! The next one will be slightly stronger but the last will be more powerful than both combined!" Zhuang cursed as a second blast and crackle was heard above him. The second white lightning was double in size and only a little of the lightning reached his body. With his steel hardened skin, he only suffered small cuts from the lightning which were easily healed. However, of the nine total tribulations, it was the third onward that had twists to it as it had the collective power of the ones before it and more. The final lightning blasted forth and the daggers absorbed very little of the lightning. Zhuang screamed in pain as the lightning pierced his body. He frantically used all the spirit energy he had to strengthen his healing technique. The ground around him burnt and became black and the smell of burnt flesh hung in the air. As the lightning struck, his realm of qi doubled in size. The dragon egg finally formed a few cracks while the volcano doubled. The toxicity of the poisoned water became stronger as the depths of the ocean became deeper. Zhuang roared inhumanely as the lightning stopped and barely maintained consciousness. If he was at the sect, it would have been easier to survive the tribulation as the sect had many formations that would weaken the lightning. The wyrms were impressed that Zhuang survive and surprised that the lightning was stronger than they anticipated. Humans suffered weaker tribulations, but Zhuang was only mostly human. "Congratulations evil jade spirit," the wyrms said. "You survived on your own efforts," the Ancient One said. "Good. You have earned the right for me to speak with you in the human tongue. Your time here has impressed the wyrms as well as I. I wish you luck in the future. Feel free to return whenever you like if you wish to cultivate outside the human sects. As you already know, this place is much better than any other in the human land you call the Yewan empire." "Thank you so much for all your help," Zhuang said to the Ancient One and all the wyrms. Zhuang and Shuang left the wyrm valley after promising they would not reveal the location. Zhuang was glad as he was able to reach the seventh level so quickly and was able to hide his true capabilities. Unless it was a wyrm, no being could determine his true power. Was he powerful? Maybe, but he decided to continue studying alchemy as even the thousand year wyrms were fearful of a master alchemist. During his stay, he had been given various alchemical materials, spirit grass, and books containing information about different elements of qi. He was also pleased to find some fantasy books about myths and legends as they were made from exaggerated truths, but some could contain hidden treasures. Besides, reading was a fun past time besides playing the zither once he had become Zhuang Shao. "Why take the spirit grass? It is useless," Shuang asked in the human tongue in his head. "Oh we can communicate as others do now!" Zhuang laughed. "I accepted the gifts of spirit grass as some could be used in alchemy while I will sell others for various items I might need. Even stuff others see as junk are rich expenses to others. We are not very strong as we have to hide our power. Even if more powerful people bully us and threaten us, we cannot reveal our true capabilities while at the sect. If we find them outside the sect and in an isolated area, we can get our revenge then. Only reveal the fact that you can breathe poison under those circumstances. At most I am willing to expose that I am a level higher than I really am." "I suppose you are right master, but I can display even more power as I am a magical beast wyrm so people already expect me to be more powerful than you. I am by the way, but I know I can never defeat you. You also have poison element qi and you chilling fire element qi stands above ice and fire qi," Shuang laughed. "I will follow your orders master. However, if someone threatens our life at the sect, I won''t hold back. It doesn''t matter if I do anyway." Zhuang nodded as people who had ill intentions toward him would try to isolate him from the steel cloud wyrm hatchling. He would lay low and overcome others using alchemy. Only fools depend only on their own power. A true survivalist uses whatever option he has to survive. He needed to survive. He had achieved dream of freedom and would do anything to protect it.
Chapter 5: Ancient One Main Page Chapter 7: Star Calamity Sect
Chapter 7: Star Calamity Sect (Author: Hello all. Decided to do a second release today. Zhuang Shao has reached the seventh level of qi condensation but must hide his true power. To fight stronger foes, he learned alchemy. Half a year late, Zhuang finally descends the mountains and rejoins the others. Enjoy.) Chapter 7: Star Calamity Sect "There he is!" Jian cried as he saw a young teen appear from the mountain. "Hey guys! Zhuang''s back!" "Sorry I''m late," Zhuang said, an alibi forming in his mind. "I did not expect my tribulation to come so late and I was too far to come here for Senior Cecilia''s help." "Luckily it was only the first tribulation," Lily said. "Welcome back. Senior Cecilia figured you would survive as you have destruction element qi and the most basic techniques involve short range teleportation." "Yeah. I called my technique Astral Steps," Zhuang replied, relieved that it worked. "I can teleport in any direction within twenty feet and it doesn''t require much spirit energy. I had to go really far and spent a lot of time avoiding the more powerful magical beasts to find a safe place to play my zither and meditate. I also took so long as I wanted to reach the third level of qi condensation with fire, water, and destruction qi. Having absolute affinity with fire made it easy for me to break the bottleneck and reach the third stage of qi condensation." "This guy," Jian grinned as he brought some food for Zhuang. "No worries man. I''ll bet Shuang also got stronger. I think another reason you took so long was because you had to protect Shuang as it barely hatched." Shuang snorted an icy mist and joined the other magical beasts. Zhuang waved as he saw Lingqi and Senior Cecilia. He told them his alibi and they were relieved he was fine. Zhuang was shocked to learn that Lingqi had reached the fourth level of qi condensation in both water and darkness qi. While Zhuang used the spirit energy in the wyrm valley and daily consumption of a bucket of blood from a ten thousand year wyrm, she used only raw talent. "From first to fourth, I''m impressed. Congratulations Lingqi," Zhuang said. "So is there a consequence for coming to the sect late?" "No. Don''t worry Zhuang," Senior Cecilia said. "We have a time limit of two years to return to the sect. This is because other core disciples must travel farther away to find suitable magical beasts for their recruits or forgot to set up a jade talisman formation. Using the formation, we can travel to the last linked location. If they forgot or lost the talisman, they would have to travel on foot as recruits are not at the level to use floatation techniques until they reached the tenth level of qi condensation. The only exception are those who have wind element qi who can use floatation techniques at the sixth level of qi condensation. Get dressed into clean robes and prepare for the transfer array." Senior Cecilia gave each of them a jade talisman strip, warning them not to lose it. Just as a martial exponent bound their storage bag or magical weapon with a drop of blood, so too does the talisman strip. Senior Cecilia quickly told them to bind their talismans, weapons, and storage bags. All the magical beasts shrunk into the size of a fist and sat on the shoulders of their masters. After binding all his items, Zhuang entered the log cabin the core disciple said she would make for herself and saw only a bed and a large circle with numerous patterns and formulas. Each of them stood inside the transfer array as Senior Cecilia activated the formation, the group was surrounded in a warm light and disappeared from view. In less than a blink of an eye, they stood in front of a large building where they saw other disciples moving about their business. "Ah Cecilia you have returned," an elderly man laughed as they entered the house. "And with new disciples. Good. You have the records you were required to make?" "Here Elder Shan," Cecilia bowed as she gave him a scroll detailing the recruits'' information. "Very interesting magical beasts," Elder Shan mused. "Only a single wyrm magical beast. Pity. This recruiting round only four have survived a soul binding with a wyrm egg. Two mutations already and the grandson of the emperor? Tell me, which of you is Zhuang Shao with a martial body at birth?" "I am Eder Shan," Zhuang said as he stepped forward. "Thankfully they are only minor mutations. You have three affinities which is also good. Perhaps you will help our faction in the newcomer competition in a few months time," Elder Shan said. "You don''t know this but there are five elders and five factions under the Grandmaster. Each faction has different beliefs and principles. Luckily we don''t look down on mutations as we know they have a few benefits. Alas, our faction is not very combative as we focus on spirit energy research and alchemy. Outside, we are revered and respected for our potions but we are scorned and looked down on by the other factions. You may all choose a faction. The greatest faction is the only one that respects us to which Cecilia here belongs to." "Yes Elder Shan. I am a member of the Dragon Sword faction. Everyone is welcome to join my faction including Zhuang. I am afraid we also look down on people with mutations, but joining is an option. Elder Shan belongs to the fourth ranked faction known as the Venomous Serpent faction. They study music and alchemy and are not a combative sect. My sect respects them as we know the value of alchemy and their knowledge of qi spirit energy is second to none," Senior Cecilia said. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "If only the Phoenix Wing, Snow Tiger, and the Silent Shadow factions felt as your sect did," Elder Shan sighed. "Truth be told, we are the smallest faction but we exist because I and a few core disciples under me are the most powerful in the sect except for the Grandmaster. However, our disciples are looked down one outside of our company. If you wish to join my sect, you are welcome." "I''m joining Senior Cecilia''s sect," Jian grinned. "Dragon Sword faction must be very strong and know a lot of qi techniques." "I will join too," Lily said. "I don''t know people from the other factions and Senior Cecilia is an kind, powerful disciple." "I have a few experiences with alchemy and I like a peaceful faction. I can also listen to music. A peaceful and free life is always my first choice," Zhuang said. "I will also join the Venomous Serpent Sect with Zhuang," Lingqi said, starling everyone. "Why is that Lingqi? With your talent, you will go far under the Dragon Sword faction," Senior Cecilia asked, trying to keep the talented recruit. "I learned music as a child and I did not want to learn martial arts except to defend myself," Lingqi said. "Strong factions are usually challenged and will involve a lot of fighting. I also love playing the zither and I could learn new music." "HAHAHA GOOD! Two powerful and influential recruits," Elder Shan laughed, elated beyond words. "We don''t require our disciples to join the competitions with other sects and our ways of promotion from outer sect to inner sect and core disciple is different than other sects whose promotions are all the same. Music and alchemy, there is no greater faction than ours." "We might be in different sects, but we''ll remain as brothers and sisters," Jian grinned, the other three agreeing as they had become friends. "Follow me Zhuang and Lingqi," Elder Shan said. "I will make you both my personal disciples. This way, you will not be looked down on by others. However, if you involve yourself with the troubles of other disciples, I cannot help you." "I will introduce you to the leader of the Dragon Sword faction and you will be my personal disciples," Senior Cecilia said to Jian and Lily. "I already know what you are capable of and I am a core disciples so this is acceptable. Yu are quite licky to join a faction as outer core disciples. The heavens are the side of you four. Farewell Elder Shan." The four recruits said their goodbyes and headed into different directions. As Zhuang and Lingqi were officially members of a faction, they no longer wore the azure robes and changed into the uniform of the faction with a badge of the Star Calamity Sect on their new robes. The emblem of the Star Calamity Sect was a flaming meteor hitting the ground. It was a very simple and easy design to remember. The robes of the Venomous Serpent faction was a white robe with emerald encrusted lotus flowers on the hem of the robes with azure colored cuffs and collar. They had the nicest looking robes with emeralds because they were the most lucrative sect which sold alchemical potions to buy supplies and clothing from the outside world. They were not powerful, but they were the financial backbone of the sect. "I really lucked out," Zhuang said to Shuang using their telepathic connection. "It will be easier to hide our true power until trouble comes our way," Shuang agreed. "We might be attacked in greater numbers and we have to hide our true powers. This is a negative outcome you must consider master." "Yes I know," Zhuang said. "I should probably focus on making potions that incapacitate my opponents so I can escape or defend myself. Remember we joined this faction to live a free life. Try not to eat any magical beasts while we are here. You have my memories so you also know what happens if the Six find out my identity. Especially the martial spirits of the Six. Like me, they are sentient beings. They will know I took over the Seventh. Too bad they won''t expect me to join a secluded sect." Zhuang and the steel cloud wyrm laughed silently as they followed Elder Shan toward the area of the Venomous Serpent Faction. Lingqi and her night breeze monkey, Yingzi, stared silently at Zhuang. As Zhuang was the grandson of the emperor of Yewan, maybe he could help them with a problem they had. "I don''t trust any draconic creatures. Especially wyrms, master," Yingzi said to her master. "They are cunning creatures." "We might need their help," Lingqi replied. "Our enemy is powerful and I don''t like fighting. If we are discovered in the outside world, I don''t think we can outrun them if we are found."
Chapter 6: Among Wyrms Main Page Chapter 8: Learning a Lesson
Chapter 8: Learning a Lesson (Author: Hello all. Zhuang and Lingqi join the Venomous Serpent faction, a rare opportunity as outer sect disciples. They are looked down on but no one gives them much trouble. Of course, a sect is never able to the keep peace for long. Enjoy.) Chapter 8: Learning a Lesson Elder Shan could hardly contain his joy as two talented recruits joined his faction. The Venomous Serpent faction was not very large, but had many powerful members. They mostly contained people who wanted to learn alchemy and loved music and peace. If need be, they fought. Once Zhuang and Lingqi learned more alchemy and music, they would follow their teacher, Elder Shan, in selling alchemical potions, healing the sick, and learning more about music in the outside world. Both of his disciples were well versed in different aspects. Lingqi had spent most of her life learning music and could already play complex notes with ease. Zhuang had learned alchemy under the tutelage of wyrms and the many books in their treasuries. Even more astonishing, the wyrms seemed to respect Zhuang and his steel cloud wyrm hatchling despite being older and more powerful. Elder Shan would teach them alchemy and music and allow his students to assist the other in the areas they excelled in. Doing so would allow his students to grow closer and avoid feelings of jealousy and envy as they grew together. This was a problem in other sects as there were too many students than teachers. Core disciples would teach inner sect disciples who would teach the outer sect disciples. Of course, bullying, thievery, and even deaths happened out of sight within the other factions. The only exception of the four combative faction was the Silent Shadow faction as they specialized in teaching the ways of assassins and had close ties to the Venomous Serpent faction which made their poisons. The Venomous Serpent faction was also in charge of the transfer array and distribution of spirit grass and beads given to the disciples once a month. If one faction went to far, the whole Venomous Serpent faction would deny their services to that faction. Words were meaningless so insults were allowed. However, some words hurt more than beatings. Zhuang and Lingqi were in the middle of making low tier paralysis and sleeping potions for the Silent Shadow faction disciples. Such potions were easy to make as it required only five strands of spirit grass and a demonic core of a magical beast with level one or two qi condensation. Such magical beasts were bred by the Venomous Serpent faction as food for their magical beasts such as the wyrms the higher members of the factions studied. Also, magical beast snakes slithered everywhere, attacking anyone not wearing a robe of a member of the faction. The magical beasts of the faction members were required to stay in the pocket or shoulder of the faction member so they are not attacked. "Making these potions so many times, no wonder its not hard to learn how to make it on your own," Zhuang laughed as he finished making fifty paralysis potions. "How are the sleeping potions coming?" "I used the rest of the white onion stalks to make the rest of the fifty sleeping potions," Lingqi said. "Why wear the hood of your robe all the time? The other factions can''t see your horns." "It''s a habit from distributing the potions and spirit grass all the time," Zhuang answered. "Five disciples thought I was weak and tried to take more spirit grass from me. Unlucky for them we learned how to make poison powder. The outer sect disciples and inner sect disciples don''t dare attack me now after seeing the poison powder kill the outer sect disciples. There''s also the fact the Shuang went berserk and killed the inner sect disciple who gave them the order to steal from me. We may not be powerful, but we have our methods to deal with the powerful and weak without using an ounce of spirit energy." "It''s been four months since we joined the sect," Lingqi began. " We automatically became inner sect disciples upon joining this faction. Do you think Lily and Jian passed inner sect disciple exam to become inner sect disciples?" "I think so," Zhuang said as he made a few poison powders using fire spider webs, a few strands of spirit grass, and a fire scorpion''s tail. His cauldron glowed with a jade colored mist inside before revealing the poison powder in the bottom. Using a cauldron was a must for alchemists as it served as a vessel for the materials which became refined as they imbued their qi into the cauldron. The element attributes the alchemist had determined what he could make. Zhuang didn''t use his chilling fire element qi as it was a variant and not pure. He could only make potions with water and destruction qi while Lingqi could make potions using both her water and darkness element qi. Zhuang also experimented making potions with his death and poison qi when no one was looking. Only Lingqi and Elder Shan knew he had five element qi attributes as one was one of the most powerful elders in the sect while the other was a fellow student who lived with him. As Elder Shan only had them for students, he had them sleep in different sides of his guest room in his house. Only elders were allowed a private establishment in the sect. "We need to give these to the disciples of the Silent Shadow faction now," Zhuang said and carefully put the potions in boxes. Lingqi and Zhuang put the boxes on a cart and Zhuang pushed the wheeled cart as they left the area of the Venomous Serpent faction. Zhuang pulled his hood forward as they passed several disciples as they made their way to the plaza where the distribution took place. In the meantime, Lingqi had a box of spirit grass and spirit beads. The spirit grass would go to inner and outer sect disciples while spirit beads were given to the core disciples. "That must be HIM. The draconian," one voice whispered. "Don''t bother with the likes of him. He probably demonic cores to get stronger," another whispered. "Look at that beauty with him. She should stay away from that monster," a voice hissed. "If she was a member of our faction, I could...." another laughed, thinking dark thoughts. "Remember the colors of their robes," Zhuang said loudly. "We''ll report to Elder Shan and prevent that faction from getting services the next time." "Okay," Lingqi said as she stared at the people who looked down on them. "They are members of the Snow Tiger faction. Outer sect disciples too." "This b*tch!" one roared as he stepped forward. He couldn''t say anything more as Shuang jumped out of Zhuang''s pocket and grew to a six foot long, three foot tall steel cloud wyrm. The disciple paled as Shuang breathed a stream of ice at him, killing him. Shuang smacked his lips and began to feed on the corpse. "Heh. Don''t eat trash. You''ll get constipated," Zhuang laughed, no hint of guilt in his voice. "Allow me to deal with them." Zhuang grinned evilly as he blew a mist from a bottle from his robes. The air began to be filled with a sweet aroma. He used a potion he learned from Elder Shan. The mist was a poisonous powder that didn''t kill, but took all the strength and energy from the body, leaving the poor victim unable to move or use qi as he fell on the floor. "I may be weaker than you," Zhuang began. "But don''t blame me for being merciless! You may mock me, but I will not tolerate a threat to Lingqi and myself. Didn''t your faction elders warn you about our potions? Oh well. Take this as a permanent lesson learned." Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Zhuang took out Nightmare and beheaded the rest of the disciples who insulted him and Lingqi. He bowed and apologized to the bystanders and told them they would be able to move in ten minutes. He returned to the cart and continued pushing toward the plaza after Shuang ate his fill and shattered the evidence using its frost breath. "You didn''t have to go so far," Lingqi said as she walked beside him. "Perverts should die a dog''s death," Zhuang said. "Besides, no one threatens my safety or freedom. I waited so long to be able to do what I want. I will not let others take that away from me. However, I do not meaninglessly make trouble for myself." After Zhuang and Linqi gave the cart and boxes to an elder faction member, they returned to their room. Zhuang was sitting on his bed against the wall as he read one of the alchemy books he got from the wyrm valley. Yingzi did not trust Shuang but it did grow to trust the wyrm''s master. Perhaps they could help them. Yingzi and Lingqi only hoped Zhuang did not think they were crazy." "Can I ask you something?" Lingqi asked. "Sure," Zhuang said, putting his book down. "Something wrong?" "You are the grandson of the Yewan emperor so maybe he told you about it," Lingqi said. "As you know, Yingzi is a night breeze monkey magical beast. They are famed for their ability to sense magical treasures. A few weeks before I was recruited, Yingzi and I found an ancient ruin in Yewan. We spent a few days avoiding the traps and getting the treasure." "And then you ran into trouble," Zhuang finished. "But how can I know about them?" "You see, their leader was a boy our age but he had a martial spirit. It talked as if it was alive," Lingqi gasped as she remembered her encounter. "It said to give them the treasures we found as it was one of the Six and its master, the Sixth, was one of the chosen to rule the world." "The Six!" Shuang cried in draconian. However, Lingqi and Yingzi only heard a sequence of low and high growls. "There must be more. What did he look like?" Zhuang asked, desperate to learn more of one of Thomas''s enemies. He had sworn an oath to kill the Six. However, he only knew the background of the killer as Thomas sneaked a glance before entering the portal and his doom. "It was a blonde haired boy from the mage country of Galent. He seemed to be a noble," Lingqi answered. "His martial spirit was a golden armored bear." "Victor Whales," Zhuang said to Shuang using telepathy this time. "That martial spirit was the one given to the Sixth. The murderer who stood in line in front of Thomas." "Do we kill him?" Shuang asked. "No. Killing Victor now will let the martial spirit return. We can''t let the Overseers and Judges find out my identity. So far they only know a Seventh was made. There are countless others like myself who were imprisoned" Zhuang answered. "We have to wait until the Sixth fuses with his martial spirit and gains a martial body. Then when we kill Victor, the spirit of the Sixth dies with him. We can''t let the spirit of the Sixth tell the other five. If any of them die while knowing my existence, they will not stop until they hunt me down." "The Six," Zhuang said, pretending to brood. "There was one book. It spoke of a legend of Eight. Only members of the Eight can kill each other unless a martial body was formed and the martial spirit died. The legend said only six of them live at a time unless one of the dies with a martial body. Hence, they call themselves the Six." This was true as he did read about it in a library but the legend did not know that the Eight were reincarnated from souls of other worlds. "So that''s why he lived," Lingqi said. "You see, my uncle was with me in the ruins. He fought them to give me time to escape. He killed the blonde boy first and then killed the guards. He thought it was over and turned around to walk back to where I was watching as I was too afraid to run. The blonde boy''s wound healed and he stood up and killed my uncle by stabbing him in the back with one of the fallen guard''s swords." "So the legend was real," Zhuang gasped, trying his best at acting. "Lucky for you that you got recruited into this secluded sect. You''re safe here. As for the youth, his name is Victor Whales. He and I have a grudge against each other. Don''t worry, when he fuses with his martial spirit, although he is more powerful, he can be killed and stay dead. Although, I would have him hacked to pieces and hire some necromancer to raise his body to be a mindless servant." "So you can help me?" Lingqi said, her eyes widening as her hopes were answered. "Yeah. You don''t have to tell me what you found. I want him dead more than you," Zhuang said darkly. "For now, we learn more about alchemy. Once we reach the twenty fifth level of qi condensation and survive our ninth tribulation, we can find Victor. By then he should have a martial body." "We also need to find the identities of the other member of the Six and ensure they don''t know Victor," Zhuang said to Shuang. "Some disciples have magical beasts wyrms. Tell them to try to find out the members of the Six. They should know we are close friends of the Ancient One and will keep their secrecy." "Yes master," Shuang replied in draconian and left. "Ha, my wyrm is hungry," Zhuang laughed. "Get some rest Lingqi. We have a lot to learn if we want to survive. The Six are rumored to be talented above all talented people." "Thank you Zhuang," Lingqi said and watched as Zhuang turned back to reading his book. "They know more than they say they do," Yingzi said to her master using their soul link, using telepathy. "We can trust them though. After all, Zhuang doesn''t seem to care about treasures," Lingqi said and went under her bed covers to rest. "We''ll know their true colors in due time. After all, the demi-human feels nothing while he kills others," Yingzi muttered and lay beside her master to sleep.
Chapter 7: Star Calamity Sect Main Page Chapter 9: Rebirth Tear
Chapter 9: Rebirth Tear (Author: Hello all. Zhuang has found an ally against the Six. Now they must train even harder to kill their enemy and live a peaceful life. However, alchemy isn''t without its dangers. One horrible accident in the Venomous Serpent Sect brought about a result considered a blessing and a curse. Enjoy the chapter.) Chapter 9: Rebirth Tear Zhuang was disappointed to hear no word of other sentient martial spirits. After searching Thomas''s memories, he realized Victor lived in a magus country. Victor might have been learning both martial arts and magic if he had a martial spirit. If he was only able to be a magus, the spirit would have been a spirit guardian. A magus would have a spirit guardian as equivalent to a martial spirit for martial arts exponents. Spirit guardians were different as they were all sentient, but members of the Six who were only a magus were less dangerous. They could be killed and the life force of the spirit guardian was tied to the Six. If the Six died, his or her spirit guardian died too. Victor must have chosen both paths to have the advantage of never dying until he gained a martial body. "The other five are hybrid fighters like him or chose one path," Zhuang said to Shuang. "We can only hope to know who they are once I survive my ninth tribulation upon reaching the twenty fifth level of qi condensation." "The wyrms said they would keep looking. Some even dared to verify our friendship to the Ancient One. Of course, a few were killed for insulting you as you are an evil jade spirit originally. Jade spirits are considered gods because of the Ancient One," Shuang mused. "The Ancient One also said he would try to find out about the other members of the Six using the magical beasts that serve the wyrms." Zhuang sighed and went to the laboratory of the faction to make the scheduled amount of potions and elixirs. Elder Shan and the core disciples were in a segregated part of the lab where Elder Shan said they were on the midst of a breakthrough. They were conducting experiments on a liquid crystal found from the an ancient demon emperor''s tomb. Long ago, one demon reached the thirtieth level of condensation and ascended to the Immortal Realms. After a few centuries, the demon became a Demon King and after two millennia, it became a Demon Emperor. Tired of fighting challengers, it defied heaven and returned to the Mortal Realm. However, it had lost much of its strength and was slowly dying. Before death, it made a grandiose tomb and hid its treasures within. The tomb was rumored to have a total of thirty levels, but no one was able to reach even the fourth level. Elder Shan and his best disciples of the Venomous Serpent faction were able to join a coalition of powerful sects and magus academies due to their alchemical expertise. While the rest of the coalition went to the fifth level, Elder Shan stayed on the fourth due to a book found in the Calamity Sect''s library. It detailed a liquid crystal that helped the demon rise to the rank of Demon King. The book stated that contact with the Rebirth Tear, the liquid crystal allowed the body to be reborn. A small part of humanity was lost. In exchange, any creature could learn ancient techniques devised by the ancient demon emperor if they survived. Elder Shan had found the crystal and immediately returned to the sect with the core disciples who went with him. They were currently experimenting with the liquid crystal to discover a safe way to gain its power. For those who practiced qi condensation, ascending to the Immortal Realms was in inevitability. Having the power from the Rebirth Tear would help them survive unless they fought a demon or immortal as strong as a Demon Emperor which was usually at the sixtieth level of qi condensation. Demon Kings and Celestial Beings were at the fortieth level to the fifty ninth level of qi condensation. People and monsters that reach the thirtieth level of qi condensation automatically ascend. "They''ve been in there almost four weeks now," Lingqi whispered as Zhuang was counting the spirit grass. One snake magical beast slithered on his table. Annoyed, he killed it, gave the body to Shuang and ate the demonic core. Shuang, in his fist sized form, took a while to finish eating the snake. "It is the power of a Demon King of ancient times. Not the power a Demon Emperor, but imagine the power compared to the rest of the people and monsters in the Mortal Realm," Zhuang replied. "There are no Celestial Beings or Demon Kings here in the Mortal Realm unless they live in seclusion. I just hope they finish soon so we can learn to make more potions and elixirs." "Disciples Zhuang and Lingqi, Elder Shan requires your aid," a core disciples said as he exited the segregated area, looking fatigued. Zhuang looked at Lingqi and they went into the secluded area. Inside, they saw a large clearing like an arena. Pieces of a large cauldron were scattered everywhere. They saw Elder Shan and core disciples above the arena, playing their zither. They saw qi transfer from their bodies to the arena, creating a formation with strange patterns that seemed to act as a barrier. They looked at the arena and saw a ten foot tall, thirty foot long wyrm, but it was different. The wyrm had black scales, but crimson and violet crystals sprouted all over its body. It had two deformed heads and four tails. It also had four wings, but its eyes were completely made of the violet and crimson crystal, which numbered seven in total. It was an abomination. Demons and wyrms never mated and those that did were stronger than both, but this was not a wyrm demon. Zhuang had never read a book that described such a wyrm in the Yewan imperial library. "Lingqi! To me!" Elder Shan cried. "You both play the zither and imbue your qi into the barrier array! We must contain the demon! Zhuang, you are a demi-human with wyrm horns. You can speak draconian right? Try to calm the beast before it breaks through!" "Careful," Zhuang said as he grabbed her hand. "We need to kill Victor in the future. You can''t die here." "I won''t," Lingqi said and ran toward Elder Shan and the others. "Master! What have they done to Russ?" Shuang cried in draconian as it reached its full size. "It couldn''t handle the power of the tear and might have mutated because of it. I think its trying to take over the wyrm," Zhuang said. "We got to talk to it and have it fight back until the barrier array is stronger and stabilized." "RUSS! It''s me Shuang! Fight it! Senior is a proud member of the wyrm race!" Shuang cried. "Can''t...little one its....strong," Russ howled and continued to thrash about. "It''s eating....my mind and body. You..must kill me. Can''t let me die....as this. I want to die...with my mind intact and on my own terms...Hurry litte one!" The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings."Forgive me Senior Russ!" Shuang said as it was about to breathe poison. "STOP! Even if I didn''t care about others knowing you can breathe poison, what if it doesn''t kill him? The area would be tainted with poisonous air!" Zhuang shouted. "I''ll have to do it. Breathe ice on its limbs to slow it down. I''ll be using my Astral Steps technique to teleport around it as I strike using Nightmare. Elder Shan and the others wondered what happened as Zhuang and Shuang talked in draconian. Lingqi cried in alarm as Zhuang took out his halberd from his zither and watched it extend to its full size. Putting the zither aside, Zhuang roared inhumanely as his hood fell back and ran toward the wyrm demon. Shuang also flew toward the wyrm demon and flew around it as it breathed ice at its legs and feet. The demon wyrm was in to much pain to fly and could only run as it tried swatting at Zhuang with its claws. Liquid dripped from the demon wyrm''s mouth, crystalizing as it touched the floor. Alarmed, Zhuang decided it was safer to attack its sides. Elder Shan nodded at the core disciples and withdrew a black metal spear from his zither and joined the battle. One core disciple left the arena and called all the members of the Venomous Serpent faction to help strengthen the barrier array. As the inner and outer sect members of the faction gathered, they all played the zither and concentrated their spirit energy at the barrier array, watching the faction leader and his student fight the wyrm demon. Zhuang revealed his true strength up to the fifth level of qi condensation and used his experience among living with wyrms to fight the wyrm demon. Elder Shan was more powerful than the wyrm demon, but every wound he inflicted was healed as the wound crystalized and formed more scales. "It''s undying," Elder Shan cursed. "We need to strike at the heart and use enough damage to extract the demonic core from the wyrm demon. Zhuang! One my signal, go into the wyrm demon and pull out the demonic core. It should not have liquid crystal deep in its body." "I''ll try master," Zhuang said, gritting his teeth and waited for the signal. "GO!" Elder Shan roared as a brilliant purple lightning the size of a boulder blasted from his spear and into the wyrm demon. Zhuang teleported into the opening and used his destruction qi technique, Sundering Dragon Slash, to go deeper. "NO! IT CAN"T BE!" Elder Shan cried in shock as the wound closed behind Zhuang. Zhuang''s vision was only crimson and violet as he realized what happened. He cursed and used his Water Dragon''s Pulse technique to heal his body to prevent the liquid crystal from entering any of his wounds. He knew he couldn''t get out so the only way was to eat the demonic core as it couldn''t be destroyed. "I WILL NOT DIE HERE!" Zhuang yelled in draconian and grabbed the wyrm demon''s core. It was the size of a pebble like all other cores, but seemed different as it was also mutated. Zhuang''s eyes widened in horror as his left hand was cut by the crystalized sinews that held the core next to the heart. He opened his mouth and tasted blood as he swallowed the demonic core. He felt as thousands of swords pierced his body and the horns on his head shattered. White curved horns appeared above his ears due to the demonic core. However, the Rebirth Tear entered his body before his healing qi technique could heal the cut on his left hand. Luckily, the excess energy of the demonic core clashed with the liquid crystal, but he still suffered a change. A violet and crimson crystal the shape of a tear formed on the back of his left hand and weird patterns appeared like tattoos around the tear all the way to half of his forearm. This was the result Elder Shan wanted. Elder Shan''s eyes widened in delight as the wyrm demon died and its body dissolved into a small pool. Upon seeing Zhuang''s left hand, he knew the experiment was a success and quickly ordered the core disciples to make a small prick on the back of one hand and dip it into the liquid crystal. In the end, they and Elder Shan suffered the same pain and mutation on Zhuang''s left hand. The inner and outer sect disciples were interested, but Elder Shan said that they would only receive it if they became a core disciple. However, Lingqi was allowed as she was Elder Shan''s personal disciples. She broke through to the sixth level of qi condensation as the other disciples and Elder Shan made their own breakthroughs. Everyone left the scene as the segregated area was closed off for further study on the crystalized droplets that fell on the ground during the fighting. As Lingqi and Shuang rushed to Zhuang, Elder Shan and the core disciples extracted the liquid crystal into several bottles and saved one bottle for the Grandmaster. Each bottle contained one drop of the safer version of the Rebirth Tear. Zhuang woke up after an hour, his head burning from the side effect of having his horns destroyed and growing new ones. Zhuang would no doubt have a greater power from the Rebirth Tear as he ate the demonized wyrm''s demonic core. Zhuang had made a breakthrough to the eighth level of qi condensation and everyone knew it. However, they all assumed that it was the power of the demonic core. "My true power is now known," Zhuang muttered in draconian as Lingqi helped him back to his room. "At least now I don''t have to worry about the number of tribulations I face as people will expect a higher amount when they see it." "Russ died," Shuang mourned. "He was a great wyrm but he had to swallow the whole Rebirth Tear they had which was the size of a fist. A true loss. A poor end!" Zhuang let Shuang mourn as he lay on the bed. Lingqi began cultivating as she played her zither and used some spirit energy to stabilize Zhuang''s meridians which were overflowing with spirit energy. "You play well. Such beautiful notes," Zhuang murmured as he closed his eyes to enjoy the music. "I can''t play the zither as well as you yet." "That was a close one. You suffered another mutation and this one can''t be hidden," Lingqi said. "I did too, but I can hide it. I am scared though. No one knows the power in the crystal and the inner sect disciples who become core disciples in our faction get the Rebirth Tear as well. I hope we find out what it does before they get it." "Relax," Zhuang whispered. "Let''s just enjoy the nice atmosphere and music until we do."
Chapter 8: Learning a Lesson Main Page Chapter 10: Reunion and Enemies
Chapter 10: Reunion and Enemies (Author: Hello. Last chapter, Lingqi and Zhuang received the power of a Demon Emperor through the Rebirth Tear. Exactly what power they got is unknown, but they grew closer. Both underwent physical changes and soon they would reunite with the two recruits who came with them. Of course, news of the Rebirth Tears had spread so there will be many jealous disciples from other factions. Enjoy.) Chapter 10: Reunion and Enemies After a period of two weeks, Zhuang and Lingqi were finally able to leave Elder Shan''s house. They had to remain in the house as they had sudden breakthroughs skipped a few level of qi condensations. While people thought Zhuang skipped from the fifth level of qi condensation to the eighth, he was already at the seventh level of qi condensation and had hidden his true power. Now people knew his true strength and he and Lingqi had to stay at the house until they adjusted to the sudden burst of spirit energy and qi in their bodies. Lingqi''s hair had turned blonde and now had azure colored eyes. Zhuang did not undergo anymore transformations and still had light brown hair and jade colored irises with ash colored patterns within them. The two of them had relaxed and talked to each other during the last two weeks and played the zither together. Zhuang did not notice it, but his personality had changed slightly. He was more open to his feelings and became a nicer person to people he trusted. It was strange. Zhuang, ever since gaining a body, his emotions became stronger and stronger. He was less indifferent than before. He was becoming more ''human'' than before. "We finally get to leave," Lingqi smiled. "It''s about time," Zhuang agreed. "We should be at the power of an inner sect disciples now. This means less people will bother us. Notice any changes in the crystal tear?" "No," Lingqi answered, shaking her head. "Besides breaking through to the sixth level of qi condensation because of it, I hardly feel any power from it. I don''t sense any demonic qi in my body. My spirit energy is stronger though. How about you?" "I feel more draconic qi and less human qi in my body," Zhuang answered. "But I don''t feel any demonic qi. I do feel like I have more spirit energy than before." Zhuang''s realm of qi had changed after the incident at the lab. The volcano had erupted and constantly poured lava, expanding the land around it as the lava cooled. The ocean had become larger and whirlpools formed randomly. The poison seemed to concentrate around the whirlpools and his ocean seemed cleansed from poison. Small thunderclouds had formed around the edges of the ocean and lightning traveled in a circle around the ocean through the clouds. The wyrm egg had finally hatched and a small black wyrm seemed to fly around. When it sensed him, it seemed like it wanted to speak, but couldn''t form any words. Zhuang was shocked as he didn''t know it could notice him. Perhaps when he became stronger, the wyrm could talk. "I wonder how the others have been?'' Lingqi asked as she walked beside him. Over the past two weeks, the duo had forgotten about their revenge and enjoyed playing the zither. They had returned to acting their age and worrying less about the outside world. She was happy as she felt as if a huge burden left her shoulders. "They would probably be around the fifth level of qi condensation as they joined the strongest faction," Zhuang answered. "News of the Rebirth Tear should have spread while we were in isolation and adjusting to our more powerful bodies. We''re bound to attract attention now. It''s irritating. If they threaten us, don''t blame me for taking action." "At least your less bloodthirsty now," Lingqi teased. "I''m not!" Shuang said. As its master gained power, so did Shuang as their souls were bound together. Shuang also practiced speaking the human tongue. Of course, it spoke draconian if it only wanted to talk with Zhuang. "Wyrms," Lingqi''s night breeze monkey, Yingzi, sighed. "Blood thirsty and violent." "You want to be eaten monkey! While you stay in your puny size, my true form is now five feet tall and fifteen feet long," Shuang roared, venting in its fist sized form on Zhuang''s shoulder. "They''re getting along well," Lingqi said as they arrived in the plaza. "See Lily or Jian?" "They should be in crimson colored robes with gold colored collars cuffs," Zhuang said, describing the robes of the Dragon Sword faction. "Ah, there they are. They''re on a picnic mat under that peach blossom tree. They brought food. I wonder if they have chicken vegetable dumplings." "I want steak," Shuang said as they approached Jian and Lily. Jian and Lily did indeed reach the fifth level as Zhuang identified their qi condensation levels. As for Jian and Lily, they were surprised Zhuang and Lingqi seemed closer than before. Zhuang also had new horns and seemed less calculating than before. "Dude! Someone''s been on a power spike," Jian grinned as he bumped fists with Zhuang. "More friendly too. Good. You''re less scary that way." "You were afraid of me?" Zhuang chuckled. "Relax. To my friends, I am not a danger." "I see you haven''t totally changed," Lily said and turned to Lingqi. "Oh! You''re hair and irises changed colors! You also got a lot stronger. It''s funny. We are in the strongest faction, but one incident granted you so much power. It seems like our efforts are wasteful." A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "Are you inner sect disciples now?" Lingqi asked. "Yeah, the lowest level though," Lily answered as they sat down and began eating. "News spread about the Rebirth Tear and other factions appealed to the Grandmaster but were denied. Seems you lucked out, power and a lucrative trade in alchemy. Not to mention constant exposure to spirit energy from the materials is also a form of training." "But its more peaceful so we get less battle experience. It''s the only downside," Zhuang sighed. "Of course, a few ''accidents'' occur when other factions try to steal our potions and elixirs. Thanks to being part of the Venomous Serpent faction, we can punish and kill other disciples without consequence whether its in public or not." "And he took full advantage. I did too. Human meat with spirit energy is delicious," Shuang said as it found its prize and began devouring the steak. "Although now that master is stronger, no more outer sect disciples fight us. Outer sect disciples number the most in this human sect. So master being at the strength of an inner sect disciples trades less meat for a higher quality. Less action though." "It can talk without talking in your mind now?" Jian asked, startled. "It''s cute and it can talk," Lily said, trying to pet Shuang. "I''m not a pet human!" Shuang growled and quickly finished the steak before retreating to Zhuang''s shoulder. "If it isn''t the lab rats of the Venomous Serpent faction," a voice mocked, several other voices laughing along with it. Zhuang and the others turned around to see a large group of disciples wearing the white and black robes of the Snow Tiger faction. The man who talked was an eighth level qi condensation disciple of the Phoenix Wing faction, the second strongest faction which also had close ties to the Snow Tiger faction. "Get lost," Jian shouted. "Unless you want trouble with the Dragon Sword faction?" "I''m talking to the freak with the wyrm horns on his head," the boy snarled. "I know you! You''ve been ''taking care'' of a few disciples of the Snow Tiger faction as well as a few of my buddies from the Phoenix Wing faction." "You remember eating dogs like that?" Zhuang asked, looking at Shuang. "I don''t remember the taste of bad meat," Shuang snickered. "Must have been a few outer sect disciples. Pretty weak flesh with scarce spirit energy." "YOU!" some of the Snow Tiger disciples roared, but the large boy held them back with a wave. "Relax guys. I got this," the large boy said and looked at Lingqi. "My name is Yu Sun. How about you leave those guys and we can find a private place to chat?" "Pig," Lily muttered. "I''m not interested," Lingqi said without looking at Yu. "If you want to die, I suggest saying a few more words," Zhuang said, standing up and withdrawing his halberd from a small compartment hidden in his zither. Everyone saw Nightmare expand to its full size and Zhuang started to radiate qi from his body, Shuang roaring as it transformed to its full size as well. The crowd moved back as they sensed Zhuang''s spirit energy, but Yu Sun didn''t move. "It seems someone from your faction''s got a spine," Yu mocked. "There''s a gathering among inner sect disciples taking place next week. We are allowed to venture into the ruins beneath the sect and loot any treasure we find. Of course, a lot of fighting will take place. Be there!" "Don''t leave yet, I haven''t given you a gift for the warning," Zhuang mocked as he took out a bottle from his robe. Yu and his lackeys stepped back in alarm as Zhuang opened the bottle and threw it at them. The bottle hit the floor and a yellow mist spread over the crowd. Yu and his lackeys fell to the floor, screaming as they began scratching all over their body. "Itching powder," Zhuang sighed. "Useless in solo combat but its very easy to make. It suits well with multiple opponents clustered together. If you run quickly to the medics, they should cure you of your ''inconvenience.'' Fair warning though, you''ll have to rub powder all over your body for the next three days. Not even a dirty bathroom will smell as bad as the powder on your bodies. Pity. You will suffer for a while." "Zhuang," Lingqi said as Yu and the others ran, cursing loudly as they scratched themselves. Everyone in the plaza laughed as they saw a large group running while scratching themselves. "Least they''re not dead," Zhuang said as he picked up an apple. "Then I''d have to have the medics clean the mess again."
Chapter 9: Rebirth Tear Main Page Chapter 11: Vein of a Titan
Chapter 11: Vein of a Titan (Author: Hello. Double release today. This chapter will be more descriptive as my last chapter had enough dialogue.To those wondering about age he got recruited at age ten, spent some time to reach the mountains. Spent a year and a half training among the wyrm. Reached the seventh level of qi condensation and decided to hide his true power as he joined the Calamity Sect. Spent four months training before learning about the Sixth, Victor Whales, and a few months passed and received no news until the incident at the lab. He''s fourteen years old now. These four years were basically to shape Zhuang and let him experience human emotions as well as gain power. It also served to introduce what path he chose to become strong and introduce some characters along the way. Well, that''s enough spoilers (maybe). Enjoy.) Chapter 11: Vein of a Titan "So what are these ruins that chicken scratcher mentioned?" Zhuang asked, laughing as Yu scratched his back with both hands. "Well my fellow fourteen year old friend," Jian started, trying to look more experienced as he puffed his chest. "Star Calamity Sect is a martial arts sect located on the borders of the Yewan Empire and the Tyrannical Demon Mountain. What is the Tyrannical Demon Mountain? It is the body of an ancient Demon Emperor earth titan. You know, the same Demon Emperor ranked demon where the Rebirth Tear was found and enabled the Demon Emperor to become one of the most feared Demon Kings in the Immortal Realms before it became a Demon Emperor." "The demonic earth titan died and became the mountain range," Lily continued. "This sect''s founder used to be a descendent of the many spawns of the earth titan. It''s why there was a book about the Rebirth Tear in the sect''s library. The only way to get in the sect is through the talisman. All sixty three buildings were built on the edge of the earth titan''s corpse that resided in the Yewan empire. Titans are an ancient race comprised of the elements themselves. They are element qi personified. When they die, their incalculable supply of spirit energy is released and nature grows and thrives quickly. The remnants of the spirit energy is so vast that it attracts enough magical beasts to form hordes." "Let''s look at you and Lingqi," Jian continued. "You''re about five foot seven and a slightly muscular due to the wyrm blood in your body. Lingqi is about five foot five and a slender body with some muscle and nice curves." "What the idiot means," Lily coughed as she smacked Jian''s head. "Is that you are nothing but a speck of sand in a desert compared to the dead demonic earth titan. You may use different elemental qi, but your spirit energy is nothing compared to the titan. Now imagine going into the ruins. These ruins are like the veins of the titan. Once you go in, there is so much spirit energy, you might not handle it. That''s why the Demon Emperor''s Tomb is so feared as it is located in the heart of the titan. Only five levels were explored, the Rebirth Tear found in the fourth level, out of thirty. It''s as if the world has only ventured half of one of the titan''s heart chambers." "Those idiots actually want to venture into the ruins, or veins, underneath the sect. This sect was built on the head of the titan. It''s not like a human head and vegetation and time have eroded the rocky surface so who knows what it looked like. If sixty four buildings could be built on its head including training grounds and so on, imagine how big the Tyrannical Demon Mountain is? You can only imagine how many powerful magical beasts are drawn to this place," Jian said with awe. "If we died, we''d be eaten by time or as a snack. That''s literally how small we are. Now imagine inner sect disciples from our sect and other sects venturing into the ruins. We face dangers not only from magical beasts but disciples from other sects and our own sect. There are even mage students attending the gathering so the dangers are incalculable. It seems titans remain dangerous after death." "Titans," Zhuang mused in draconian. "When I was a martial spirit for the Seventh that encountered the Ancient One who knows how many millennia ago, I never met a titan demon or heard of this mountain range. I must have been on the other side of this planet." "Zhuang?" Lingqi asked, unable to understand the language. "Oh, it''s nothing. Just surprised," Zhuang said. "I can relate," Jian said. "If you guys do go next week, you should get a map from your teacher, Elder Shan. He should have a map indicating some routes he used and the dangers within. After all, he did enter the heart with the core disciples of your faction." Jian and Lily left early and Lingqi followed Zhuang back their house. Zhuang was quiet as he pondered about the ''veins'' the inner sect disciples wanted to venture into. There were bound to be many riches and as much danger. He stared at the crystal tear on his left hand and wondered how the earth titan used the tear. How did the earth titan use it? Could venturing into the head of the titan somehow activate its power? "Something wrong?" Lingqi as she noticed him staring at the crystal tear. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. "I''m not worried about how many vengeful disciples enter the ruins," Zhuang began. "I''m only concerned how this crystal will react to the spirit energy of its former master. You saw the tainted wyrm. It tried to eat its mind and corrupted the body. It was as if it had a mind of its own. The titan should have been strong enough to protect itself but we are not titans. We have flesh and blood that the crystal can taint. If we follow the vein and somehow enter its brain..." "We''ll be fine," Lingqi smiled as she stared at her own crystal tear. "We only received a small exposure to the liquid crystal so we should only have gotten a small fragment of its power." "The liquid crystal entered more than a small prick on the back of my hand compared to you and the others. My left hand was burned as I ripped the wyrm''s demonic core out. I also opened my mouth and tasted its blood as I ate the tainted wyrm''s core," Zhuang laughed weakly, feeling fear for the first time in the evil jade spirit''s life since entering the wyrm valley. Human emotions had taken a stronger root in his body to the point that Zhuang noticed it had changed his personality. He never felt so ''weak'' before. Was this freedom? Does this mean that the body he has is truly his own? Lingqi smiled gently as she held his left hand which her own. Their eyes widened as they felt a sort of resonance between the crystals before it faded. "See," Lingqi said, her voice softening. "It''s safe. The only difference is that you will gain more powers and strength than the rest of us." Zhuang stared at her eyes and felt something tug in his chest. Unsure of what it was, he let go of her hand after a moment. He then felt troubled as if he had done something foolish, but couldn''t decipher what he did wrong. Shuang and Yingzi appeared amused as if they were watching a drama. Yingzi was startled as it felt the same thoughts as the wyrm and jumped on Lingqi''s shoulders. Shuang huffed in amusement and flew to Zhuang''s shoulders, staring at the Yingzi as if mocking it. "I will go on ahead to get the map from Elder Shan," Lingqi said and left the room. "What are emotions and how do we control them?" Zhuang asked in draconian. "I wouldn''t know master. I''m only four years old," Shuang laughed. "Maybe it''s a human thing. Are you truly going to enter the veins of a dead Demon Emperor ranked earth titan demon?" "Power is power. I need all the power I can to kill the Six. I may experience many psychological and physical changes, but the threat to my freedom remains the same. So long as the Six are alive, there is a chance the Overseers and the Judges will find out. The Overseers are merely those who observe the planets, but they order the Judges to do their work. I don''t know how many qi condensation levels a judge is, but it is certainly above the thirtieth level. They are sure to be stronger than any creature in the Mortal Realm," Zhuang answered. Zhuang began playing the zither and cultivating his qi. His spirit energy flowed spread over his body and he felt an abundant amount of power. He had too many enemies and the Six were sure to be granted a great amount of talent and receive tutelage from their sentient martial spirits until they fused together. That is, if the member of the Six was a martial artist. If it was a mage, then he or she would have a Spirit Guardian which would die if its master died. "There should be a member of the Six going into the ruins," Zhuang said, realization dawning on his face. "Maybe one of the mage students is a member of the Six. It can''t be Victor who is both a martial artist and a mage. I also did not hear about any sentient martial spirits from the reports of the wyrms. If a member of the Six is a mage..." "We can kill it as that member of the Six will have a Spirit Guardian whose life force is tied to the Six," Shuang finished. "That means there won''t be a spirit to report to the Overseers and Judges when that member dies." Zhuang laughed as he stopped playing his zither and pulled out his five daggers. He used his death element qi and watched it radiate a baleful aura as it flew in the air. He no longer feared the danger. If going meant encountering one of the Six, it was worth the risk. Best to kill the mage before he or she got stronger.
Chapter 10: Reunion and Enemies Main Page Chapter 12: Baleful Aura
Chapter 12: Baleful Aura (Author: Hello all. Zhuang and Lingqi will now enter the ''ruins'' in search for rare treasures. Inner sect disciples and some mage students will also be in the ruins, decreasing their chances for a good loot harvests. Hope you enjoy the chapter.) Chapter 12: Baleful Aura Lingqi marveled at the amount of people who entered the sect from the outside world as they appeared on the transfer array. The inner sect disciples and mages were all accompanied by one elder and a core disciples of the Star Calamity Sect who had the jade talisman that allowed the outsiders access to their sect. Soon, all who were invited to venture the ruins gathered in the plaza of the Venomous Serpent faction. The entrance to the ruins lay in the basement of one of the faction''s buildings. Elder Shan stood proudly as his faction was responsible for allowing the outsiders to come and his faction received a considerable amount of magical treasures and money as a fee to come to the sect and venture the ruins. "Hello ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Venomous Serpent faction of our mighty Star Calamity Sect," Elder Shan announced in a proud voice. Zhuang smirked as he saw the reactions of displeasure from the inner sects of the other factions. Elder Shan had belittled them in front of the guests and took every opportunity to do so in vengeance. "We, of the Venomous Serpent faction, welcome you all to attend the exploration of the ruins," Elder Shan continued. "Beneath us is the head of the mighty Demon Emperor ranked earth titan demon. There are a great many treasures to be found, but be wary of its dangers. The air is thick with spirit energy and the thicker the spirit energy, the more likely there are magical beasts. Feel free to kill them or run. You may be tempted to kill each other in the ruins. Please, do not hold back. The world is cruel and the path to immortality, even more so. Plus, if you die, it nourishes the magical beast and my faction will have a easier time guarding the ruins and obtaining better materials from stronger magical beasts." No one laughed as Elder Shan chuckled for a moment. His meaning was clear: no one would protect you in the ruins. Once you go in, your life is forfeit. It was a warning to draw out the weak and the cowardly. "Now, now. No need to be so tense," Elder Shan laughed. "Merely a warning. As you are unfamiliar with the ruins, small parties of five will be formed to ensure a higher survival rate. You can choose only one other person while the other three spots of your party will be chosen at random. You will also be given a small map leading to what we call, the skull, of the demon. It is not really a skull as it is an earth titan and is really a reinforced and denser formation of earth. To dig past that formation and aim for the treasures below is up to you. " Elder Shan winked at Lingqi and Zhuang. They nodded gratefully as it meant they had one person they could trust in the party. They had also gotten a map from Elder Shan that also had a few routes leading to an opening in the denser rock formation. Zhuang looked around as he waited for his party to be called. He grinned and his heart leapt with excitement as he saw two people form a party and enter the house. One of the members of the party was the boy, Yu, from last week. He wanted to kill Yu in the ruins, until he saw a girl with a very powerful Spirit Guardian. People in the crowd also paid attention to her as they were shocked to see the Spirit Guardian''s power was similar to a core disciple. Core disciples were usually at the tenth level of qi condensation at the lowest. This meant that the Spirit Guardian was a major obstacle if the girl found a valuable treasure or wanted to take it from them. "HAHAHAHAHA! It''s THAT Spirit Guardian. A white tiger in golden armor standing on two legs with a golden spear and shield!" Zhuang laughed in draconian. "I found you! I FOUND YOU!" Zhuang unintentionally emitted his killing intent from his body as he rushed toward the girl as she entered the house. People screamed in fear as they sensed a baleful aura around him and even the elders of the guests and Elder Shan were shocked. They had never felt such a violent, evil aura. Baleful aura could not be faked and could only form if the person killed hundreds, thousands, or millions of people. As Zhuang was a former evil jade spirit imprisoned for thousands of years, how could it not have killed before its imprisonment? Was it not a former martial spirit of a Seventh that even the Ancient One feared many millennia ago? Lingqi jumped on Shuang''s back as the steel cloud wyrm expanded to its full size and flew after its master into the house. Lingqi was also scared by the baleful aura around Zhuang but he was her close friend and knew he wouldn''t harm her. She also had feeling for him and knew he had the same feelings for her but didn''t understand what they were. She chuckled as she knew Zhuang didn''t understand his emotions and held on tightly as Shuang flew toward the house. Shuang roared a river of poisonous mists from its mouth, clearing the way to the house as people ran wildly to avoid the poison. "I was the teacher of a monster?" Elder Shan asked incredulously. "To have such an evil aura at only fourteen years old, how dangerous is the capital in Yewan? Also, that wyrm of his breathed poison. This brat really is good. That Lingqi is also brave to follow the boy, but why did Zhuang rush into the house with such killing intent?" Elder Shan had mistaken the origins of the baleful aura and thought that Zhuang must have killed many assassins in the palace. He watched as Zhuang pulled out Nightmare in its full size and disappeared into the house. "HEY, the trio in their party," Elder Shan shouted. "THE HELL ARE YOU DOING? My students are already venturing into the ruins! Go after them! NOW!" One female mage and two male inner disciples of a visiting martial arts sect ran quickly into the house. Elder Shan smiled at the crowd and asked them to take their time in choosing a party. They realized that he meant that they wouldn''t be able to enter for a while as his students would be killing someone and did not want them harmed. As he was the host, his faction held the most power and many core disciples of the Venomous Serpent faction drew their weapons and stared down at the plaza from the other buildings situated around them. To refuse his request was the same as asking for death. "GET OVER HERE!" Zhuang roared as he ran after the girl, his body brimming with power as he followed the girl into the basement where the ruins were. As a disciple of the eighth level of qi condensation, he was one of the most powerful disciples going into the ruins under inner sect disciples of the ninth level and the mage equivalent. Yu was also of the eighth level, but he had nowhere near enough spirit energy than Zhuang who had trained in the wyrm valley. The remaining party members were members of the Snow Tiger faction and Phoenix Wing faction. They naturally stayed behind to stop Zhuang. Yu thought Zhuang was after him, unable to comprehend draconian, and thought he was protecting the girl by staying behind. Zhuang hissed in annoyance and used the destruction element qi in his body to perform his Astral Steps technique, teleporting behind Yu. "I leave the trash to you!" Zhuang shouted through his mental link with Shuang. Zhuang uncapped a bottle of itching powder using his mouth and threw it behind him. Yu''s backup howled as they were forced to scratch their bodies. Shuang roared with pleasure as inner sect disciples had a lot more spirit energy than the outer sect disciples it had eaten. It let Lingqi off its shoulders next to Yu and charged at the three ''chickens'' whose hands scratched all over their back which was exposed to the powder. "I''m not the target?" Yu asked, shocked. "No, but I won''t let you get in Zhuang''s way," Lingqi said. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "We''re here to assist you," one of the male disciples shouted as the trio who were yelled at by Elder Shan appeared. "Where''s the other one with the scary aura?" the girl asked, panting as she was not a martial artist like the others. "Worry about him later. Our enemy is an eighth level qi condensation disciple," Lingqi snarled. "I''m Zhao Guo, seventh level and I use a sword and shield. I''ll tank the guy''s attack," a sixteen year old said with a large build at five foot ten and jet black hair. "My brother, Chang, is at the sixth level like you and is a berserker specializing with a broadsword." "I''ll strike his left while you hit his right," Chang Guo said. He was a year younger but had a similar build to his brother but had dark brown hair. "I''ll heal your injuries with light magic and try to break his balance by using ice magic beneath his feet," the mage said. "I''m Mei Liang. You and that boy are really strong for your age. Must be because of that famous Rebirth Tear." "You think you can take me on?" Yu laughed, ignoring the peril of his backup behind him. "Once I kill the boys, I''ll have a nice time with you ladies later." Yu drew out twin swords and enveloped them with fire element qi. The others stepped back in alarm as the blades weren''t burnt which meant that the swords were made from holy metal material used by immortals. Besides, Zhuang with his hidden daggers and his halberd, Nightmare, no one in his party had any armor or metals made of holy metals. As Shuang began eating the itchy ''chickens'' on the floor, Yu charged at the others. Zhao stepped forward and grunted under the impact of one of Yu''s swords while Yu blocked Chang''s attack. As Zhao was sent back three steps, Yu used the same sword to block Lingqi''s dagger. Lingqi pulled out another dagger from her magical storage back and managed to give a minor cut on Yu''s thigh. "That all you got?" Yu laughed and charged again. Knowing Zhao could barely withstand one sword, Yu swung downward with both swords, exposing his guard above his chest. Mei used that chance to create three spears of ice, spiraling them toward Yu''s neck. Yu grunted in surprise and ducked while he continued his swing. Zhao''s shield barely held on as Zhao was slammed on the ground, two large fissures prominent on his shield. Chang took advantage and smashed the ice spears as they soared above Yu. Yu barreled to his right to avoid the shrads of ice and howled in pain as Lingqi threw a dagger, the blade sinking into his left shoulder. "ENOUGH!" Yu roared, blasting his qi around them. Unable to handle the pressure, Lingqi and Chang were sent flying. Mei quickly used light magic and healed their wounds as they slammed on the ground. "Now you''ve made me mad!" Yu roared as he ran toward them, his right arm raised. "YOU LITTLE--" Yu was unable to finish as a river of poisoned mist slammed into him from behind. Yu had forgotten about the steel cloud wyrm and only managed to gasp in shock as he turned around, seeing only two rows of teeth as Shuang bit off his head. Shuang''s master was at the eighth level of qi condensation, naturally Shuang would be just as much of a threat as their souls were linked. Shuang spat the head out in disgust as Yu''s body twitched violently before falling to the ground. "Meat! Rich, meat," Shuang said aloud in human tongue, ripping Yu''s robes as it dug into his chest. Lingqi and the others were too tired to turn their heads away and lay against the wall as Mei used her magic to heal them. Meanwhile, Zhuang finally caught up to the girl as she made a turn in the tunnel and reached a dead end. "What kind of ruin is this? It''s like a maze!" the girl screamed and looked back to see a young man covered in a dark violet aura. "What do you want with me? I''ve done you no wrong!" "Ha! You can only blame the cat next to you!" Zhuang spat as he brandished his halberd. "Filthy member of the Six! Today you die! Die for my imprisoning me for thousands of years! Die for threatening my freedom! Die for being a F*CKING cat lover!" "I''m no cat!" the spirit tiger roared as it charged at Zhuang. It was stronger than him and had no doubt it could kill him. It raised its shield and stabbed at Zhuang with its spear. Zhuang only laughed as it teleported behind him and used his poison qi technique, Bone Claws, to poison the tiger spirit as he dismembered its tail. Before it could turn back to face him, Zhuang used his fire qi technique, Fire Serpent Strike, sending a large serpent made of fire at the girl. The girl, about to chant light magic to cure the spirit''s poison was interrupted as she jumped out of the way in fear. Zhuang threw his halberd at the tiger spirit, distracting it as the tiger spirit was forced to block the heavy weapon. Zhuang took advantage and pulled out his five daggers and became using his death qi technique, Nether Force. He grinned as the daggers flew in the air and stabbed the girl in the chest, but did not call it back as he jumped low to catch Nightmare as the tiger spirit deflected it. "MASTER!" it roared as it ran toward the girl, seeing the girl cough blood as he saw the daggers in her chest. "I can''t kill the girl, but when she dies, you die. Return!" Zhuang roared and used his death qi to retrieve his daggers. The daggers were trailed by small lines of blood as it exited the girls body and flew to Zhuang, rejuvenating Zhuang as he absorbed the spirit energy from the daggers. After all, qi and mana were both spirit energies with different rules and applications. "Why? Why hurt my master?" the tiger spirit started until it saw Zhuang''s eyes and turned pale. "That color! It''s jade. If I''m the target, that means..." "The dead don''t worry about matters of the living!" Zhuang roared and used his destruction qi technique, Sundering Dragon Slash. The blade of his halberd sent forth a wave of destruction qi that looked like a starry night sky, small needle holes in space forming as the wave hurled toward the girl. The tiger spirit tried to block the wave, but the lower part of the wave swept below the shield and cut the girl in two. "EVIL JADE SPIRIT!" the tiger spirit roared, realizing at last, Zhuang''s true identity as it faded into oblivion. Zhuang only managed a laugh before falling, face first, on the ground. The baleful aura around him dissipated as he lost consciousness. After a half hour, Lingqi and the others finally caught up and found Zhuang. They were shocked to see a girl with multiple stab wounds in her chest and her body severed in two, but Shuang distracted them as it rushed to its master''s side and became sending its spirit energy into him. "Well an hour has passed," Elder Shan said, believing the fight to be over. "I hope you all spent this time wisely and formed a powerful party. I wish you luck. Try not to get killed in there. Remember, don''t be afraid. Fear creates irrationality. If the girl my student had been chasing had entered the house, but not the basement, maybe she would be alive for a while longer with the support of her party members. Take care now and never travel alone without your party." The disciples and mage students shivered as they remembered the baleful aura around Zhuang and cautiously headed toward the house, not letting their guard down as they went inside along with other parties. By then, a hundred parties had ventured inside and one party had already been annihilated.
Chapter 11: Vein of a Titan Main Page Chapter 13: Spirit Abilities
Chapter 13: Spirit Abilities (Author: Hello all! Last chapter Zhuang went berserk and killed one of the Six. Note: a Six will be replaced if the member of the Six was a martial artist who did not fuse his body with his martial spirit to gain a martial body as explained in my earlier chapters. Anyway, the remaining ninety eight parties have entered the ruins and the race for the treasures is on. We also find out more about martial spirits and martial bodies. As usual, the title of the chapter explains itself. Enjoy.) Chapter 13: Spirit Abilities Zhuang was dreaming while Shuang was giving him spirit energy to stabilize his condition. A lone evil jade spirit wrestled with its chains as it stared back in defiance. A court of seven beings made of light looked down on the evil jade spirit. It watched as the Seventh it was bound by soul to scream in agony. All they wanted was to destroy the Six and rule the world. They did not want to be chained by the laws of the Overseers. All they did was watch. What gave them the right to make them follow the rules. The Seventh and Eighth were made to wreck havoc on the planet. The Eighths of all the mortal worlds were annihilated and their martial spirits were enslaved. So too were all the Seventh and only the evil jade spirit and his master remained for three years until they were found. It watched as its master was killed and the evil jade spirit no longer had a host. It lived as it was a martial spirit. It cannot remember how many hosts it had who died before the evil jade spirit could fuse with their body and give them power while it died. It was tired of the endless cycle. Spirits were meant to be a higher being! Why did they have to be tools for humans, demons, and other creatures? WHY? "You are guilty of aiding your Seventh during the rebellion to slay the Six Heroes of the worlds. A new law will be made. Any Six will chose which path they want as there is no longer the supreme Seventh or Eighth to create chaos. Suitable candidates will be chosen to represent the balance of good and evil. The martial spirits are sentenced to eternal damnation in solitary confinement to the end of time and after," one of the seven Overseers declared. "YOU BASTARDS! WHY? Why must we live under your rules? Why can we only die through becoming the martial body of our host? Why can''t we kill the Six? What makes them special?" the evil jade spirit roared as an orb formed around it. "WHY? Answer me! Answer me you f*cks! I will get out and kill your precious Six! You hear me? I will gain a body and become immortal and find your dogs, the Judges, stuffing their faces in the echelons in the Immortal Realms! When I kill them so very slowly and painfully, I''m going to the Divine Realm to torture you and return my suffering tenfold. No, a thousand fold! I''ll kill you pieces of----" The evil jade spirit''s voice was cut off as the orb encased it in darkness. The seven Overseers waved their hands and the orb was cast into the void along with other orbs. "...Sh*t!" Zhuang shouted as he woke up, scaring Shuang and the others. "Ugh, what happened?" Zhuang groaned as he held his head, his eyes widening as he realized his depleted spirit energy was returned. "Had a bad dream?" Lingqi asked as she gave him a water pouch. "Sorry about that. Bad memories of another time," Zhuang sighed as nodded his gratitude and drank some water. "You guys killed the pig and the others? I remember you calling Yu a pig last week for his perverted comment." "I kept his twin swords," Lingqi said, smiling as she showed him her new swords. "That guy was really rich or profited from bullying others. Zhao got a shield and Chang got a new broadsword, both of them are also made of holy metal. I gave the staff of the mage you killed to Mei as she is also a mage. I only found a few gold coins and some mana and health potions that are useless to martial artists like us. However, it seems we are the only ones with magical beasts bound to our soul. Must be because of the strict standards of our sect. Mei though, hasn''t learned how to summon familiars yet and hasn''t awoken her Spirit Guardian either." "We got a mage in our party?" Zhuang asked as he didn''t know who they were due to snapping upon seeing the sentient Spirit Guardian of the mage girl he killed. "Zhao and Chang Guo are the two boys there while Mei Liang is the mage over there," Lingqi explained as she introduced and pointed out their party members. "Dude, you are crazy strong for a demi-human. I''ll never make fun of them again after seeing the baleful aura around you earlier," Zhao laughed, admiring Zhuang''s power. "It''s too bad the others didn''t have anything but a few strands of spirit grass," Chang sighed. "You guys don''t feel anything after they died?" Mei asked. "It''s a typical event in the world of martial artists who cultivate qi in the hopes of becoming an immortal," Chang shrugged. "My big bro and I killed a few people in our sect who tried to take advantage of us. Compared to us, you mages live extravagant and peaceful lives as mages are paid REAL well for their services." "Was the girl also a martial artist or was she just a mage?" Shuang whispered in draconian as it helped Zhuang rest against the wall. "The tiger spirit disappeared into nothingness as the girl died. If it was a martial spirit, it wouldn''t be able to hurt or attack me as it had no physical form," Zhuang replied, finishing the water pouch. "We got lucky one of the Six was a mage. There''s no guarantee the next member we see isn''t a mage. If that member of the Six does not have a martial body, avoid being seen at all costs. If the member of the Six dies before fusing with his martial spirit, it will return to the Divine Realm and report my existence to the Overseers." The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "DIVINE REALM? There''s another realm after the Immortal Realm?" Shuang cried, shocked. "Did you really think qi condensation levels end at one hundred?" Zhuang said and began playing the zither to cultivate his qi. "Since we are at the ruins," Zhuang said after he rested and regained his strength. "We should find magical beasts and kill them. If we kill them, Zhao and I might have a chance to gain spirit abilities." "Spirit abilities and only us?" Zhao asked. "What are you talking about?" "It''s a known fact that mages are stronger than martial artists equivalent to at least two qi condensation level due to their ability to cast any kind of magic, regardless of what element it is," Zhuang began, seeing them nod before continuing. "Well, the heavens give us a chance to fight them on equal grounds. If a person with a qi condensation level of seven or more kills a magical beast, there is a chance they gain a spirit ability no matter what element it is. You all know absorbing spirit energy makes your martial spirit stronger just as it awakened it before right?" "You''re talking about when we went to the mountains and absorbed the spirit energy of a magical beast to awaken our qi and enter the first qi condensation level," Lingqi said. "Exactly," Zhuang grinned. "Did you think martial spirits were just levers to unlock our qi? When you gain a spirit ability, you manifest your martial spirit in physical form to use it. It''s main weakness is that if the martial spirit is injured, so are you. They can''t be killed, but your mind will eventually break if they are destroyed over and over like being subject to a torture chamber. A martial body does not have that weakness as the martial spirit fuses with your body. We even have resistance against qi techniques and magic because we gain a martial body. However, it is very difficult to fuse your martial spirit. That is why mages are predominately stronger than a martial artist despite being outnumbered ten to one as being able to use magic is innate talent and very rare." "Where''d you learn this stuff?" Chang asked, excited at the chance to be able to fight a mage on equal grounds. "I am the grandson of the Yewan emperor. Naturally, I have access to the imperial library and no section is off limits to me," Zhuang answered. "Lingqi, how far to the rock formations? Magical beast should be more concentrated there due to the richer amounts of spirit energy." "We actually only need to go a quarter mile deeper. Turns out you were chasing the girl down the path we intended to take," Lingqi laughed. "Let''s go," Zhuang said as he sat on Shuang. "By now the other parties should be inside and making a lot of fuss finding all the treasure here. The higher quality treasures lay behind the rock formation. The faster we get there, the less competition. Plus, we are more likely to avoid bigger hoards of magical beasts." Lingqi led the others down the ruins and they all marveled the ''veins'' in the ruins. There was so much spirit energy that one didn''t even need to cultivate to replenish their lost spirit energy. The deeper they went, the darker the rocks became. Finally, they entered a clearing and saw a huge wall of black rock as far as the eye could see. Luckily, the path indicated on their map automatically led them to a clearing in the formation. The only problem was the fifteen magical beasts that were resting in front of the opening. "Rabid ebony snakes at the fifth level of qi condensation," Zhao muttered. "No wonder only inner sect disciples were allowed in. An outer sect disciples becomes an inner sect disciple by either getting first in a competition or reaching the fifth level of qi condensation. With this many, a whole group of outer sect disciples would still die when fighting these fifteen brutes." "The leader is over there," Mei whimpered. "It''s a rocky star hydra at the eighth level of qi condensation." "My level?" Zhuang grinned. "It would give me a spirit ability for sure when I absorb and refine its spirit energy. I should also eat its demonic core. Okay, we''re gonna kill them all. One of the rabid ebony snakes is a variant with two heads. Zhao, you should definitely gain a spirit ability when you kill it." "Oh, right! A spirit ability," Zhao said, his blood thirst rising. "I can''t wait to get one of my own." "Mei will support Zhao with healing magic as he fights the variant and tanks," Zhuang said. "The leader definitely won''t make a move until the variant dies. Lingqi and Chang, you''ll kill any rabid ebony snakes that flank around Zhao and protect Mei. I''ll be spreading my paralysis powder on them to slow their movements. As Lingqi and I are the only ones to have magical beasts of our own, they will help Zhao and attack on his left and right." The party nods as they go into formation. They had reached the rock formation ahead of the others and were sure to get magical treasures inside. All they had to do was fight a small horde of magical beasts.
Chapter 12: Baleful Aura Main Page Chapter 14: Horde Leader
Chapter 14: Horde Leader (Author: Hello all. Been on a chapter release spree with my other story The Necromancer King as the trail of thought seemed to never end. Zhuang and his party arrive in the opening of the rock formation, only to find fifteen rabid ebony snake magical beasts at the fifth level of qi condensation strength with the leader being a rocky star hydra at the eight level like Zhuang. The horde stands between them and any potential treasure they can find. Shorter chapter than usual, but it was fun to write. Enjoy.) Chapter 14: Horde Leader Rabid ebony snakes were no threat unless they were a part of a horde. A horde of magical beasts had a hive like mentality. What one saw, the others saw. They moved as if they were one body, controlled by the hive leader. Rabid ebony snakes were black scaled serpents twenty feet long with fangs with paralytic venom. Rabid ebony snakes bit their prey to inject the venom and coiled around them, crushing their prey while their body paralyzed. However, the variant had two heads. Zhuang did not believe it killed its prey the same way. The rocky star hydra only looked at them once before sleeping in the opening of the rock formation. Nine snake heads were connected to a four-legged body with a twenty foot long neck. The hydra scales were the color of sand, but rocky star hydras were one of the most lethal due to its many traits. Each of its heads were able to shoot a beam of light element qi capable of melting through steel. Steel swords couldn''t even scratch the scales of the rocky star hydra. Each head was capable of regenerating and contained paralytic venom so powerful, anyone below the fourth level of qi condensation who was bit would die from a heart attack. "Be careful of the variant," Zhuang warned as he stored his zither in his storage bag and brandished Nightmare. "Due to having two-heads, there''s no way it kills and eats its prey the same way. I''ll try to distract the leader so it can''t coordinate the rabid ebony snakes." "Be careful," Lingqi warned as Zhuang rushed into the horde, easily killing two of them before the variant attacked him in rage. Zhuang tossed sleeping powder around him, slowing the rabid ebony snakes as they slithered toward Zhao who took the lead and bashed one of the snake''s head with his shield. While Lingqi and the others fought the big snakes, Zhuang fought the variant. He had to kill it fast before the rocky star hydra decided to attack. He used Astral Steps to teleport behind the variant, his halberd raised high. He was about to behead one snake head, but the other head turned back and breathed a river of sand and rock. Zhuang was blasted back and dropped the halberd as it took him by surprise. Since he was at the eighth level of qi condensation, he wasn''t harmed and the nsake only pissed him off. Enraged, Zhuang grabbed vials of poison powder and threw five of them at the snake. The snake weakened as it breathed the poison. Taking advantage, Zhuang grabbed his halberd and mercilessly cut the snake, taking out his embarrassment out on the snake. Five minutes later, Lingqi and the others finished killing the snakes. They suffered little injuries as they were above the qi condensation levels of the snakes and the snakes were uncoordinated. Luckily the hoard was small and the second-in-command was distracted while the leader slept. They looked ahead and their heart skipped a beat as they saw the baleful aura once again emanate around Zhuang, awe and fear in their eyes as they saw him covered in blood. "Mei, guard Zhao as he absorbs the spirit energy and tries to obtain a spirit ability. Lingqi and Chang, we''re killing the hydra," Zhuang said as Shuang quickly bit some flesh from the snakes around him as he flew to Zhuang''s side. The rocky star hydra awoke to the smell of blood. All nine heads roared in fury as it saw its minions dead, their blood staining the earth crimson. All it saw was Zhuang as the heads saw him covered in the variant''s blood. It immediately roared and nine columns of light element qi blasted forth, burning the air as it soared toward Zhuang. Zhuang laughed as he used Astral Steps to teleport ahead of him, his hair standing on its end as the columns of light soared above him. Lingqi and Chang were only at the sixth level and knew they couldn''t do much damage to the rocky star hydra. Lingqi, wielding Yu''s swords, made many small scratches as she blurred around the heads. Chang knew he couldn''t hurt the hydra and smashed the ground in front of the heads, hitting it hard enough that a small explosion of rock and sand would block and annoy the heads. Zhuang roared as he cut head after head, dampening his robes with more blood as the heads flew off and regenerated. He tried assaulting the body where the heart of the hydra was but the magical beast kept sacrificing its heads while it used them as a barrier. "Get back to Mei and Zhao," Zhuang roared, knowing that there were too many heads and that his friends would get surrounded and injured. Chang, the furthest from the hydra, easily ran out of range and began breaking large chunks of rock from the ground to form a barricade in front of Mei and Zhao. Even though they were out of range, the hydra could hurt them with its light beams if it moved closer. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. "LINGQI!" Zhuang roared and the world slowed as Lingqi tried to block a beam of light element qi while crossing her swords. The difference too great, Lingqi was sent flying back and coughed blood as she crashed on the floor, alive only because the swords were made of holy metal. "YOU BASTARD!" Zhuang roared, going berserk once more. He and Lingqi had gotten close ever since they joined the Venomous Serpent faction together and grew even closer while they were in isolation to stabilize their body of the abundant spirit energy due to receiving the Rebirth Tears. If gaining a body gave Zhuang emotions, killing the mage girl and her Spirit guardian and seeing Lingqi hurt intensified them. The baleful aura became colder and more violent as Zhuang went berserk. Shuang also breathed columns of ice whenever Zhuang cut off a head, preventing the head from regenerating. Its eyes wide with shock, Shuang continued used its ice element qi and collapsed from exhaustion after spewing five more rivers of ice. Zhuang laughed maniacally as he cut head after head as he moved toward the heart. Only three heads were not frozen and desperately tried to protect its body. "F*CK OFF" Zhuang roared and used his fire element qi technique, Fire Serpent Strike, burning all three heads at once. He saw an opening and immediately channeled all the spirit energy he had left. Chang and Mei shouted in alarm, shocked to see so much spirit energy condensed into Nightmare''s blade. "Disappear," Zhuang said in a cold tone and used his halberd technique, Sundering Dragon Slash, ripping space as the blade slashed into the body. The ground shook as a spatial crack appeared where Zhuang cut, sucking in the body and killing the hydra as its body ripped to shreds. Zhuang wasn''t sucked in as he used Astral Steps and teleported away from the rip which soon closed. It wasn''t big enough to suck in the whole body so the spirit energy and demonic core remained. "Lingqi," Zhuang said, dropping his halberd and running to her. He saw her chest exposed, blood all over her chest and immediately began using his healing water qi technique, Water Dragon''s Pulse. As he used so much qi earlier, it barely healed Lingqi''s injuries. Mei, seeing the hydra die, ran over to Lingqi and began using her healing magic. Zhuang panted heavily from exhaustion and fell on his knees. Sweat poured down his face but he shook his head and refused to lose consciousness. "Zhuang," Lingqi said weakly as she looked at him. "Are you okay?" "Am, am I okay? You''re the one bleeding on the ground," Zhuang laughed. "Why didn''t you dodge the column of light?" "I thought it was heading in your direction and knew you didn''t see it," Lingqi answered. Zhuang didn''t know what to say and felt his emotions stir. He had never felt this way before. All he wanted was power. He never thought on anything else. Yet, here he was having mixed feelings as he stared into a human girl''s eyes. His eyes widened in shock as she grabbed his hand. He had never felt such a warm feeling before. Mei, tactful, quickly left after finishing her magic and giving Lingqi a jacket from her storage bag. Silence continued as Lingqi put on her jacket, her eyes never leaving ZHuang''s. "Are you going to keep staring at me?" she teased as she looked down at her chest and slowly released his hands. "Thanks for worrying about me. You should go refine the spirit energy of the hydra now." Zhuang cleared his throat and quickly stepped back, cursing himself silently for not understanding what happened as he walked over to the body. Even though they didn''t say it, they knew they had feelings for one another. Lingqi felt a small victory as she could finally say that he felt the same way at last. If only he could just say it already. "What happened?" Chang asked as he saw Mei quickly run to him and Zhao, blushing. "You''re just not there yet," Mei sighed and pat his shoulders while shaking her head. "To think you''re older than them and don''t even know. You''re just not there huh?" "Huh? What do you mean? Not there where?" Chang asked, confused. "Spring time for the master," Shuang chuckled as it began gnawing on the ebony serpent snakes. "If only the master could see his face."
Chapter 13: Spirit Abilities Main Page Chapter 15: Discovering Power
Chapter 15: Discovering Power (Author: Hello. Sorry about no Jade Immortal recently (a day or two?). I had a trail of thought and reached a cool event in The Necromancer King story of mine as well as college stuff. I will only write one chapter for each story a day now (maybe double release and one chapter if I get a sudden insight) starting tomorrow. This way my readers who enjoy both stories can enjoy my works. Anyway, to those who expressed concerns about element qi attributes: I did say that the only way a martial artist can fight on equal grounds with a mage capable of using all elemental magic is through spirit abilities. Hence, it doesn''t matter what attribute it is, but you can''t cultivate other types of qi. In other words, you gain versatility in exchange for power. Spirit abilities are not like qi techniques. No else one could use it unless they absorbed the spirit energy and were lucky enough to gain the same ability from the same type of magical beast. Spirit abilities are not something you learn or create. Spirit abilities are something luck and the ability to kill the magical beast grants you. Hopefully that is enough clarification. Enjoy.) Chapter 15: Discovering Power Zhuang sat down, took out his zither from his storage bag, and put it on his lap. He closed his eyes as he began to play and absorb the qi. Brown and golden element qi started rising from the corpse and entering his body, the corpse turning a dull grey as more qi was absorbed. Absorbing spirit energy was easy, but absorbing spirit energy from a corpse with different qi affinities was different. Absorbing the spirit energy also meant absorbing the corpse''s qi. Zhuang''s meridians began shaking as his body tried to absorb the foreign qi. Zhuang bit his lip from the pain and yelled out loud as the light element qi was expelled from his body. Zhuang cursed in his mind as he remembered the words from his books. If the body could not contain and harmonize with the foreign qi, his spirit ability would not comprise of that element qi attribute. "Not good," Shuang murmured as he stared up from his meal, his mouth dripping with snake blood. "Only one foreign remains. I wonder what spirit ability master will use with earth element qi?" "Zhuang," Lingqi whispered as she held her hands to her chest. "He''ll be fine," Chang said. "My brother seems about done. Luckily the rabid ebony snakes use dark and poison element qi." "WOW!" Zhao sighed as he felt power rush within him. "This feels amazing. So much power." "What spirit ability did you get?" Mei asked as she helped him up. "I could only absorb the dark element qi as it is my own element besides earth," Zhao said. "Since it is the same affinity as the one I already have, as I improve my cultivation of dark element qi, my spirit ability will evolve. I really have to thank Zhuang. Truly, I could never have known about spirit abilities unless I was in a top tier martial arts sect or a member of a high up noble house or clan." "So what does it do bro?" Chang asked as he rushed to his older brother. "I call it Void Skewer," Zhao grinned. "I can create spikes of dark element qi from anywhere on my body or weapon. This ability works great as I can use dark element qi on my shield while I bash my enemies. If an enemy slips past my shield, I can lean back and skewer them with spikes of darkness from my body." "Wicked," Chang grinned. "You''re truly like a dark paladin now. If only you had light element qi, many churches and religions would have hired you big time." "Quiet down," Lingqi whispered. "Zhuang is still absorbing the earth element qi from the leader!" "Chang! You have earth and fire element qi right? Help me absorb the earth element qi in my body by putting your hand on my back and regulating the earth element qi! Hurry!" Zhuang shouted as he coughed a little blood. "Al, alright," Chang stuttered and quickly sat down behind Zhuang and put both hands on his back. Everyone else watched as brown energy emanated Chang and slowly spread around Zhuang. Chang closed his eyes as he tried to control the flow of the earth element qi Zhuang absorbed, spreading it out and thinning it so that it would be easier to absorb. Zhuang grunted in pain as the earth element qi slowly entered his dantian, a statue of the rocky star hydra appearing as a small island formed in his realm of qi. The newly hatched dragon in his realm of qi, representing death qi, was ecstatic as the statue started rising and nine hydra heads formed. Chang couldn''t help regulate the qi any longer and fell on his back in exhaustion. Zhuang roared as the earth element qi, no longer constrained, rushed like a river into his dantian. His meridians had expanded, but was slightly closer to the dantian. Zhuang sighed in relief and rested his hands and head on the zither, sweat pouring all over his body. Stolen story; please report. "Master!" Shuang cried and flew to his master. "Did you succeed?" "Yeah," Zhuang grinned. "However, I''ll only be at half strength for a few days until I recover. Absorbing spirit energy is one thing but foreign element qi....I''ll probably only risk it if I have the necessary tools to endure it without any damage." "Let me heal you," Mei said as she walked toward him. "No, doing so will actually worsen my condition," Zhuang said as he shook his head and stood up weakly. "Meridians are where the spirit energy flows in the body. They must heal naturally through constant meditation and cultivation. If you heal me now, my meridians will actually shrink to the size they were before and I would need to spend weeks if not months to recover. Qi and mana are both spirit energy, but have different properties and applications. QI and mana were not meant to be in the same body unless you''re one of the Six or born with an exceptional body with special qualities that could harmonize both. It is a rare case but it is possible." Zhuang stared at Lingqi and she realized he meant someone like Victor, the boy who killed her uncle. She nodded as she remembered the spirit talking to Victor. Victor wasn''t a special case as he was one of the Six. However, Lingqi didn''t know that the mage girl Zhuang killed was also a member of the Six as she never heard it talk. All she saw was Zhuang taking one look in the mage girl''s direction before going berserk. "Thank you Zhuang," Zhao said as he bowed on his knees to Zhuang. "Without you, I, a member of a lower tiered sect, would have never known about spirit abilities unless I met a kind expert who would tell me about it. May I ask what ability you gained?" "It can''t evolve like yours as it uses earth element qi, but it can get stronger as I increase my qi condensation levels," Zhuang sighed and motioned Zhao to stand. "I call it Gravity Pulse. I use the earth element qi to control gravity using my body as the center. I can attract and repulse anything within ten meters give or take a few inches. Using it requires no spirit energy as I have a martial body, but it will take me a long time to master as I am not used to earth element qi." "So this is the benefit of a martial body," Zhao nodded with awe. "Yeah. Spirit abilities cost no spirit energy, but you can''t make it stronger or evolve it unless you break the bottleneck to the next qi condensation level. However, it is best to kill a magical beast with at least one qi affinity the same as your own as it has the potential to evolve and will be easier to master. The slight down side will be the lack of versatility as people can predict what effects your spirit ability will be based on your attributes. Spirit abilities are trump cards to those without a martial body. If you face an enemy with a martial body: run," Zhuang warned. "It''s the same as fighting a mage as he or she could use any element, but without the mana cost." "The path is clear and with one of us injured, it''s best to get into the formation before another horde or party shows up," Lingqi said as she supported Zhuang. "I''m glad you''re okay Zhuang. I was so worried." "Ah, um, thanks," Zhuang stuttered and allowed Lingqi to walk him through the opening. Shuang looked around and ate all the demonic cores except for the hydra core. Its master would probably eat it to improve his spirit energy and attunement to earth element qi. It carried the demonic core in its teeth as it quickly followed its master. As a magical beast, there were no drawbacks to eating any type of demonic core. "I''m glad I''m a mage," Mei said silently as she was the last to enter the formation as she watched Chang help his brother walk through. "I don''t have to pay any price to use any type of element."
Chapter 14: Horde Leader Main Page Chapter 16: Hidden Passageway
Chapter 16: Hidden Passageway (Author: Hello all. Remember in my story, mana and qi are different aspects of spirit energy. Affinities are attributes based on mana or qi. Last time, Elgar and Zhao attained their spirit abilities and will be weakened for a few days. Still, they press on to acquire the treasures in the formation. Enjoy.) Chapter 16: Hidden Passageway Lingqi supported Zhuang until he was strong enough to walk on his own, using his halberd as a staff as he walked. They made several turns as the neared the center of the ''skull'' of the earth titan demon. At last, a white stone door appeared in front of them. Several yards behind them, they could hear the echoes of voices in the ''skull.'' Without the map of Elder Shan, there was no need to worry about others reaching the white door. Instead, they heard horrible noises and roars from magical beasts. Every so often, a crunch was heard after a scream was suddenly cut off. " Man I am glad to be with you guys," Chang said as he tried to ignore the screams and noises. "Who knows how many magical beasts or hordes of them are in here? Geez." "The map has only gotten us to the white door. Elder Shan last came here a few dozen years ago when he was an inner sect disciple, but he never found out how to open the door," Lingqi said as she observed around the white door. "There are no switches, levers, or hidden panels. The door is completely white with a small hole as large as a fist in its center." Zhuang''s eyes opened and he looked at the Rebirth Tear on his left hand. Somehow, it made sense. The Rebirth Tear did originate from the earth titan demon and was found in the fourth level of its ''heart'' by Elder Shan. Was it possible that the Rebirth Tear was the key? "Stay back," Zhuang said as he approached the door and held out his left hand. "We don''t know what will happen," Lingqi cried as she realized what he was planning. "It''s our best bet. We need power. We came here for treasures that would grant us that power. I won''t let you do this in my stead," Zhuang said and closed his hand into a fist as he put it in the door. The door suddenly shined with a white light and white energy. The stone door started to shrink as it converted into a white energy that constantly entered the Rebirth Tear. Everyone else stepped back in shock as the door decreased in size and levitated in the air. Zhuang put his right hand on the door and it went through as if it didn''t exist. "Quickly! Run through the door! As soon as I pull my fist out and run through, it should return to its original state!" Zhuang shouted. "Man it feels creepy," Chang muttered as he was the first to run in. Exactly as Zhuang said, the door materialized in its original state after he pulled his left arm out and ran through. Lingqi put the map away as it was useless from that point onward. Zhuang stared at the Rebirth Tear on his left hand and felt no change in it. After going through six similar doors, he began to feel the white energy in his body. It felt as if it was alive, seeping into his meridians and flowing all over his body. Zhuang suspected it was the catalyst to activate the power of the Rebirth Tear, but there was still no response from the crystal. Suddenly, something changed. Zhuang felt as if he was connected to the earth titan demon somehow. He could feel faint traces of the Rebirth Tear in the walls and realized the black stones were actually the crystalizing effects of the Rebirth Tear. His head felt dizzy as he felt a disturbing presence up ahead. It was as if it was drawing him to it. Zhuang resisted and led the others to fifteen rooms full of spirit pills and spirit grass. Zhuang took nothing as he only benefited from spirit energy and demonic cores. He sat down and began cultivating his spirit energy to accelerate his healing while the others collected the treasure. Some swords and other weapons made of holy metal were found and Zhao and the others rejoiced at the loot. Zhuang didn''t care as he was preoccupied healing and resisting the summons from the presence. Lingqi noticed something was wrong and hurriedly ran to his side. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. "Something happened didn''t it? It was that white energy," Lingqi whispered as she sat in front of him, seeing sweat drip down his forehead as he played the zither and cultivated. "Something is calling me. Something ancient. It must do with the Rebirth Tear. So far, all it did was give us massive amounts of spirit energy that allowed us to break several qi condensation levels. That isn''t the only benefit though. The others should head back first. There is a single white door that leads to the formation to our left," Zhuang began. "I''ll do it. The white energy is already almost past your limit," Lingqi said and ran to the others. Shuang stared silently at its master as Zhuang finally managed to resist the summons without needing to cultivate and clear his mind. Zhuang picked up his halberd as he replaced the zither on his back. After a half hour, Lingqi had returned, Yingzi finally making an appearance and watching in its full form on her shoulders. "My lady has absorbed the white energy and the humans have successfully left the formation. They looted a few dead bodies around the white door. Apparently they were trapped and killed by a horde of magical beasts," Yingzi said in the human tongue. "You can speak now?" Zhuang asked. "Yes. My lady has given me some of the demonic cores to eat and I have become strong enough to converse in human tongue," Yingzi said. "I feel a trace of it within me, but I don''t hear the call," Lingqi said. "Shall we go now? I know you want to visit the presence." "There''s a hidden passageway below us," Zhuang said. "All it takes to open it is to place my palm on it. Take out the jade talisman and get ready to escape. I don''t know if the presence is hostile or not. If it is, as members of the Venomous Serpent faction, we can use our jade talisman to teleport to the entrance of the sect without requiring to make a formation array. The treasure within should be great, but so will the danger." "Okay. If anything happens, I won''t leave you," Lingqi said silently, only Yingzi hearing what she said. Zhuang let the white energy in his body flow to the Rebirth Tear. He placed his hand on the ground and the black stones parted, a small tunnel revealing itself heading downward to the heart of the ''skull.'' The tunnel was ominously lit with a crimson glow similar to the crimson and black liquid crystalized on his left hand. The tunnel closed behind them as they walked inside. The whole inside of the ''skull'' seemed to shake, scaring all of the magical beasts hiding and feeding on the dead disciples and forcing them to flee outside of the formation. The Rebirth Tear tingled and finally made a reaction as Lingqi and Zhuang walked deeper down the tunnel. The crimson glow seemed to distort around the Rebirth Tear and Lingqi held on to Zhuang''s back as she also felt the reaction from her Rebirth Tear. Finally the tunnel showed a bright light, signifying the end and they hurriedly ran through it. They arrived in a large clearing of black walls with strange runes made of the Rebirth Tear. Zhuang and Lingqi stared at a large, human shaped rock formation at the end of the room standing at eighty feet in height. "What is that?" Lingqi gasped as she stared at the humanoid rock. "That is a husk of an earth titan demon," Zhuang said, remembering seeing one before in his memories.
Chapter 15: Discovering Power Main Page