《Douluo Dalu: Legend Of Xiao Yan》 Chapter -1 - Shrek Devils Info(Spoilers) A/N: This will be after the Star Dou Forest chapters and then after the training with grandmaster. Team: Shrek''s 10 Devils(I wasn''t creative enough ????) From oldest to youngest Males: Name: Dai Mubai(Image) Alias: White Tiger Spirit: White Tiger Spirit Rank: 40 Spirit Rings Color Configuration: Yellow-Yellow-Purple Name: Oscar(Image) Alias: Food God Spirit: Sausage Spirit Rank: 33 Spirit Rings Color Configuration: Yellow-Yellow-Purple Name: Tang San(Image) Spirit/s: Blue Silver Grass & Clear Sky Hammer Spirit Rank: 34 Spirit Rings Color Configuration: Yellow-Yellow-Purple Name: Xiao Yan(Image) Alias: Gemini Fire Devils, Flame Emperor Spirit/s: Heavy Xuan Ruler/Ry¨±jin Jakka & Fire Dragon King Spirit Rank: 36 Spirit Rings Color Configuration: Black-Purple-Black Name: Ma Hongjun Spirit Evil Fire Phoenix Spirit Rank: 30 Spirit Rings Color Configuration: Yellow-Yellow Females: Name: Ma Xiaotao Alias: Demonic Fire Phoenix Spirit: Evil Fire Dragonian Phoenix Spirit Rank: 38 Spirit Rings Color Configuration: Purple-Purple-Black Alias: Golden Sun Empress Spirit: Vast Sun/Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame Spirit Rank: 42 Spirit Rings Color Configuration: Purple-Purple-Black-Black Name: Xiao Wu Alias: Soft Boned Rabbit Spirit: Soft Boned Rabbit Spirit Rank: 34 Spirit Rings Color Configuration: Yellow-Yellow-Purple Spirit: Seven Treasured Pagoda Spirit: Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Spirit Rank: 30 Spirit Rings Color Configuration: Yellow-Yellow Name: Zhu Zhuqing Alias: Hell Civet Spirit: Hell Civet Spirit Rank: 30 Spirit Rings Color Configuration: Yellow-Yellow Chapter -2 - [Status](Spoiler) Name: Xiao Yan Title: [Descendant Killer] [King of Monsters] [Third Young Master] Age: 13 Race: Human Spirit Rank: 34 Spiritual Power: 6th Tier Spirits: Heavy Xuan Ruler(First Awakening) Heavenly Perpetual Flame Sword(Second Awakening), Fire Dragon King ?Heavenly Perpetual Flame Sword - A black katana with the edge of the blade being a light green. When it''s name is invoked, cracks would start to form on the blade, signifying the uncontrollable power that''s slowly building up inside of it. ?Fire Dragon King(Spirit Transformation) - Xiao Yan''s body would undergo a quarter dragon transformation. His smooth skin turned into blackish-red scales that covered his entire two arms, his two legs, his back, the two sides of his torso and the sides of his face. His once perfect human teeth turned jagged and sharp, his eyes now an emerald color with his pupils becoming slits. Bloodline: Xiao Family, Fire Dragon King Elemental Attribute: Fire, Lightning Spirit Rings: 1 ten-thousand year old spirit ring, 1 thousand year old spirit ring Bloodline Spirit Rings: 3 million years old spirit rings. *1st Spirit Ring Ability(10,000 years old)(A/N: This spirit ring came from a heavenly flame, a flame that gets stronger the same time as it''s user. This spirit ring of Xiao Yan would continue to age whenever he gets stronger): Flame Splitting Tsunami ¨C This spirit skill has the ability to produce a instant tsunami like flame attack at his enemies. Just think of the Getsuga Tenshou. *2nd Spirit Ring Ability(9,000+ years old): Thousand Lotus Petals ¨C Breaking down into tiny little green lotus flames that would be as sharp, durable and hot as when he normally uses his sword. He can freely manipulate the petals around him within 10 meter range. The petals could also turned back into the blade part of the sword. *3rd Spirit Ring Ability(45,000 years old): Lightning Beast ¨C Summoning a lion-like familiar who has bright red eyes and has a lightning-like mane. This familiar is capable of producing and manipulating electromagnetic energy. Xiao Yan can manipulate the beam to create a force field around him. Bloodline Spirit Ring Abilities: *1st Blood Ring(1,000,000 years old): Wrath of the King ¨C Xiao Yan''s emotions related to his anger would boost his overall power, spirit power and spiritual power for a limited time. Has a side effect of making the user weak and experience a lot of pain for a whole month or maybe even more depending in how much power boost he gets. (Spoiler)The side effects would lessen the more Xiao Yan could further his cultivation or break the seals. *2nd Blood Ring(1,000,000 years old): Fire Dragon King''s Might ¨C Oppressing those with beast related spirits, and spirit beasts as well, and giving them debuffs of 50% decreased in strength, defense, speed, spirit power, fire resistance and lightning resistance. While amplifying Xiao Yan with 100% increased in strength, defense, speed and spirit power. Skills: [Master Ruler User] [Adept Swordsman] [4th Rank Alchemist] [Mysterious Heaven Skill(3rd Tier)] [Purple Demon Eye(Detailed)] [Mysterious Jade Hands] [Controlling Crane Catching Dragon] [Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track] [Lightness Skill] Self-Made Spirit Abilities & Spiritual Power Based Abilities: [Instant Movement Technique]: Is a movement technique that allows the user to move faster than the eye can follow. This is used by concentrating spirit power into the feet to get from point A to point B in the least amount of steps. The user must hold to the ground with the inside of their feet or they will simply trip. [Three Thousand Lightning Movement]: After one learns it, one''s body would transform into a flash of lightning, being so quick that it would be terrifying. Three Thousand Lightning Movement is divided into three levels: Lightning Flash: is stage one of this technique, users can start creating after images. Instant Lightning(Xiao Yan currently is): is stage two of this technique, users create clearer after images and travel at faster rate. Three Thousand Lightning: is final stage allowing users to create multiple after images to trick opponents. When one practices until the final level, the realm of the ''Three Thousand Lightning,'' one will be completely silent while one crosses a certain space. It is basically no different than teleporting. [Mind Over Reality](Spiritual Power Based, Mind and Senses, Attack) :An illusion spiritual power based ability that manipulates all five senses of someone that is either close or lower than in spiritual power than Xiao Yan. Otherwise known as the perfect hypnosis. It''s target ranges to dozen or more people, normal or spirit master. / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / Affiliation: *Nouding City (Former) *Nouding Academy (Former) *(Spoiler)Shrek Devils / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / Spirit Bones: Head - None Torso - None Left Arm - None Right Arm - None Left Leg - None Right Leg - None External Spirit Bone - Golden King''s Aegis: A golden armor covering Xiao Yan''s torso, when worn, would increased his defense, strength and speed by 150%. Any physical attacks from the same spirit rank of his would have no effect on him and even an entire realm would have trouble penetrating through this piece of armor. Only those with elemental attributed attacks would have any affects on his armor but even then, it would still be hard on penetrating though it''s defense. It would also activate itself when Xiao Yan life is in peril, thus making it his emergency life protection. / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / Heavenly Flames: *Green Lotus Core Flame ¨C ''Green Lotus Core Flame'' is eighteen on the ''Heavenly Flame'' ranking. It is formed deep underground and has experienced the polishing, fusion, pressure, and carving from the planet''s flame¡­ It forms a spirit in ten years, takes shape in a hundred years and turns into a lotus in a thousand years. When it is completely formed, its color would slant toward the greenish side and the lotus core would form a cl.u.s.ter of green flame, named as ''Green Lotus Flame'' or ''Green Lotus Core Flame''. The strength of this flame is unpredictable. When it is near volcanoes, it can cause volcanoes to erupt, forming a mayira; destructive strength. *Nine Dragon Lightning Flame ¨C Nine Dragon Lightning Flame is eleventh on the ''Heavenly Flame'' Ranking. An ancient dragon''s might is gathered in the Heavenly Flame. Hence, it possesses the miraculous effect of shocking one''s soul. It can also make some spirit beasts and spirit masters who has a dragon''s bloodline submit to it. It has a second attribute other than fire; lightning. Which makes it even more dangerous. This was a heavenly flame that was both nurtured and once used in battle by the Fire Dragon King during the great war of the Gods. Chapter -3 - READ THIS BEFORE READING!! V2 A warning to those new in this fic. You might noticed that chapters 1-15ish isn''t great, well, that''s because I wrote this when I wasn''t re-reading the original Douluo Dalu at the time and a bit ignorant to a lot of things but now that''s different! I''m writing this fic while reading the original novel so I don''t really f.u.c.k.e.d the whole thing up. My writing is now improving in the later chapters so I hope that you all be patient with me. I''ll edit the early chapters when I either go a long hiatus or already completed the story. So, enjoy the story! Chapter -4 - Douluo Dalu Info Spirit Ranks: Rank 1 ¨C 10: Spirit Scholar (Trainee) Rank 11 ¨C 20: Spirit Master (Rank 1 Spirit Master) Rank 21 ¨C 30: Spirit Grandmaster (Rank 2 Spirit Master) Rank 31 ¨C 40: Spirit Elder (Rank 3 Spirit Master) Rank 41 ¨C 50: Spirit Ancestor (Rank 4 Spirit Master) Rank 51 ¨C 60: Spirit King (Rank 5 Spirit Master) Rank 61 ¨C 70: Spirit Emperor (Rank 6 Spirit Master) Rank 71 ¨C 80: Spirit Sage [Saint] (Rank 7 Spirit Master) Rank 81 ¨C 90: Spirit Douluo (Rank 8 Spirit Master) Titled Douluo (Rank 9 Spirit Master) Rank 91 ¨C 94: Average Titled Douluo Rank 99: Limit Douluo God Officer(1 Divine Ring) 3rd Class God(3 Divine Rings) 2nd Class God(5 Divine Rings) 1st Class God(7 Divine Rings) God King(9 Divine Rings) Supreme God King(Fused with a God Realm''s Source Core) God Star(???) .... Spirit Rings are usually divided into categories based on their age. White: 10 Year Spirit Ring Yellow: 100 Year Spirit Ring Purple: 1,000 Year Spirit Ring Black: 10,000 Year Spirit Ring Red: 100,000 Year Spirit Ring Gold: 1,000,000 Year Spirit Ring However, in the case of million-year-old spirit rings, it may appear in different colours depending on the attribute. Optimal Spirit Rings: 2nd Spirit Ring: Less than 764 years old Spirit Beast 3rd Spirit Ring: Between 1,300 ~ 1,800 years old Spirit Beast 4th Spirit Ring: Between 3,000 ~ 5,000 years old Spirit Beast 5th Spirit Ring: Around 12,000 years old Spirit Beast 6th Spirit Ring: Less than 20,000 years old Spirit Beast 7th Spirit Ring: Between 30,000 ~ 50,000 years old Spirit Beast 8th Spirit Ring: Between 50,000 ~ 100,000 years old Spirit Beast 9th Spirit Ring: More than 100,000 years old Spirit Beast .... During the Spirit Awakening Ceremony, those who have two Spirit Essences are known as having Twin Spirits. .... Innate Full Spirit Power: During the Spirit Awakening Ceremony, those who have already reached Rank 10 or even higher in Spirit Power are known as having Innate Full Spirit Power. Can be used as a gauge of how talented a spirit master is for combat cultivation. .... Spirit Bones: Spirit Bones are the bones which are left following the death of a Spirit Beast. The chances of a Spirit Beast dropping a Spirit Bone is extremely rare. But the possibility of dropping a Spirit Bone does increase if the Spirit Beast feels huge amounts of resentment before getting killed, dies willingly or if the Spirit Beast are grateful for their death. Spirit Bones are considered as extremely important, as much as Spirit Rings, as they provide new abilities to the wielder. A person can use 6 Spirit Bones on 6 parts of the body, which cannot be overlapped. According to their importance they are: ?C.h.e.s.t Bone ?Left Arm Bone ?Right Arm Bone ?Left Leg Bone ?Right Leg Bone A Spirit Bone cannot be removed from a person unless they are killed or amputated. .... Pill Tiers, from lowest to highest: 1st Tier Spirit Pill 2nd Tier Spirit Pill 4th Tier Spirit Pill 5th Tier Spirit Pill 6th Tier Spirit Pill 7th Tier Spirit Pill 8th Tier Spirit Pill 9th Tier Spirit Pill Non one has ever concocted a 10th Level Spirit Pill .... Heavenly Flames are incredibly powerful, much stronger than flames created with Spirit Power, and when used by alchemists, can help to increase the effect of the pills created. However, these Heavenly Flames are extremely wild and explosive, not to mention extremely rare, so even if one encounters an Heavenly Flame, it is still extremely difficult to absorb and control it. When a Heavenly Flame is present, all other flames fear and follow it because they are the kings of flames and all other flames naturally serve it. Heavenly Flames are formed through the slow acc.u.mulation of the world''s Heavenly Will and tend to have their own unique shapes. What''s rarer is that a few Heavenly Flames will possess emotions and intelligence! The flame that possesses wisdom is known as a Flame Spirit! Its intelligence is comparable to a hundred thousand year old spirit beast that can either shape-shift or reincarnate into a human! In the Douluo Dalu Continent''s alchemist society, the known Heavenly Flames are ranked in the "Heavenly Flames Ranking". There are a total of 22 types: 1. Nihility Devouring Flame: This flame also known as the Nihility Devouring Flame was born in nothingness, and has no appearance to be seen and no form to be grasped. This Nihility Devouring Flame is highly mysterious, and is said to be able to devour the heavens and the skies, and possess the ability to swallow all things. There are only a few things in existence that can resist its ravenous devouring. It''s location and user, unknown. 2. Purifying Lotus Demon Flame: It''s capabilities are unknown as it was said that a great expert had taken control of it three thousand years ago and no one has seen it since. 3. Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame: Though not as mysterious as the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame, the Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame is able to even incinerate spirit power. Legends say that the first user of this flame, when unleashing its power, was able to instantly burn down an entire continent in a mere flick of his/her wrist. It''s current location and user unknown. 4. Life Spirit Flame: This flame is highly strange, for most Heavenly Flames are pervaded with the power of destruction, but the Living Spirits Flame, instead of displaying destructiveness, is instead famous for its power of life. The steam produced by this flame helps to accelerate the growth of magical herbs, and it is said that if one tosses some seeds into this flame, those seeds would quickly germinate and grow. In other words, with this flame, one would no longer need to search for any herbs, and would be able to get boundless amounts of ingredients with just seeds. This Living Spirits Flame is also known as the Flame of Longevity, for any person who obtains this flame would get a lifespan comparable to that of those spirit beasts which are famous for their long lifespan. The only flaw of this flame is that this flame is not very suitable for combat, thus it does little to increment one''s battle strength. Location and user, unknown. 5. Eight Waste Destruction Flame: Strongest flame possessed by the Yan Clan, a family of alchemists and expert spirit masters, they are a independent clan neutral to all fractions in the Douluo Dalu continent. Can transform into wings with a wingspan of over 300 metres, and is extremely domineering. 6. Nine Eerie Golden Ancestor Flame: Current location and user are with the Yan Clan. 7. Red Lotus Flame: Not much is known about its ability, just that this flame is pretty enchanting and that a red lotus forms within its flames. Current location and user, unknown. 8. Three Thousand Star Burning Flame: The Three Thousand Star Burning Flame is born within the stars, and is able to absorb starlight to grow stronger. When this flame is formed, silver fire descends from the sky, and the land within thousands of miles would be just like a desert, with no differentiation between day and night, for the stars won''t show, and the sun won''t rise. As this flame lives within the stars, and is difficult to be found, thus this flame would normally exist for longer periods of time as compared to other Heavenly Flames. This is also why most Three Thousand Star Burning Flames found would have its own emotions and intelligence, and is highly difficult to capture. This flame also possesses the ability of "Three Thousand Star Physique", granting its owners immense recovery powers, allowing them to have what is widely known as "undying bodies". The effect of self-healing will only activate if the user is conscious. It''s current location and user, unknown. 9. Nine Serene Wind Flame: This flame gives off a strange sound which can affect people''s mentalities and emotions, causing them to feel irritated. It''s location and user is within the Yao Clan, a clan of alchemists and expert spirit masters, they are under the authority of the Spirit Hall. 10. Bone Chilling Flame: It has cold attributes along with extreme heat making it more dangerous. It''s current location and user, unknown. 11. Nine Dragon Lightning Flame: A dragon''s might gathered in the Heavenly Flame. Hence, it possesses the miraculous effect of shocking one''s soul. It also has a lightning attribute. 12. Turtle Spirit Earthly Flame: It''s capabilities are unknown. Current location and user is within the Yao Clan. 13. Fallen Heart Flame: Refines soul and accelerates spirit power training. On a higher level, this Heavenly flame is a good way to wipe out weaker opponents with little or no effort, also anti-soul forms. It also has the ability to make the spirit power denser. However after the spirit power is refined by the Fallen Heart Flame, the spirit power will carry Flame Poison which will make the person who absorbs the spirit power incredibly sick. Only a person that has a Heavenly flame can protect the person from Flame Poison. Current location and user, unknown. 14. Sea Heart Flame: Unknown, ability was not stated by anyone but it is assumed that it can overpower lower ranked Heavenly flames. Current location and user, unknown. 15. Flaming Cloud Water Flame: Capabilities unknown. It''s current location and user is within the Yan Clan. 16. Volcanic Stone Flame: Capabilities unknown. It''s current location and user is within the Yan Clan. 17. Wind and Thunder Fury Flame: Capabilities unknown. It''s current location and user, unknown. 18. Green Lotus Core Flame: It is formed deep underground and has experienced the polishing, fusion, pressure, and carving from the planet''s flame¡­ It forms a spirit in ten years, takes shape in a hundred years and turns into a lotus in a thousand years. When it is completely formed, its color would slant toward the greenish side and the lotus core would form a cl.u.s.ter of green flame, named as "Green Lotus Flame'' or ''Green Lotus Core Flame''. The strength of this flame is unpredictable. When it is near volcanoes, it can cause volcanoes to erupt, forming a mayira; destructive strength. It''s current location and user, unknown. 19. Dragon Phoenix Flame: It''s capabilities unknown. It''s current location and user, unknown as well. 20. Six Path Reincarnation Flame: It''s capabilities unknown. It''s current location and user, unknown as well. 21. Ten Thousand Beast Flame: It''s capabilities unknown. It''s current location and user, unknown as well. 22. Mysterious Yellow Flame: It''s capabilities unknown. It''s current location and user, unknown as well. .... Spirit Domain: A domain is a large-area ability centred on the Spirit Master using it. It provides effects based on what type of domain it is, mainly increasing the strength of the user and decreasing the strength of any opponents within range. Domains are extremely rare amongst Spirit Masters, Even among Titled Douluo. 100,000 Year Spirit Beasts all seem to have innate domains. ... Divine Tools Rank: -Pseudo Divine Tool -Divine Tool -Pseudo Ultra Divine Tool -Ultra Divine Tool Chapter 1 - 1: The Beginning After The End "Nine years, huh? For me to be stuck in this world. Sigh..." A boy with short unkempt and messy hair said as he sighed deeply in desperation. Despite his great exhaustion and pain he was feeling in his body, he continued to bring down the half meter long obsidian Xuan Ruler for the 99th time in a heavy swing. Beads of sweat continuously slipped down his face and body. It was early daybreak. The boy was centered in one of the Nouding Academy''s many courtyards training his a.s.s off with the ruler. After the 100th swing he flopped down to the ground with his back, sweat and tears covered his face, completely exhausted. Panting hard, he thought back to the time when he wasn''t this determined and hard working. The time of when he sat his a.s.s down on a chair, with snacks and mountain dew by the side, and a powered computer in front of him. The time when he was chubby. Watching movies, animes, music videos, etc.. Anything interesting in YouTube but if there wasn''t, he would go and type fanfiction.net or on his Google Chrome so he would find anything interesting to read. Just like any kid his age, wasting life away. FYI, his 17 at this point of time. Anyway, the young man was just reading the 4th generation of the Douluo Dalu book(personally rate 1st and the 3rd gen as the best but 2nd and 4th as meh) on his computer when a add survey suddenly appeared when he was just at the 100th chapter. [Would you want to live the life of any otakus and weebs dream?] ''Huh?'' The young man thought in confusion before realization hit him. "Yeah no, I have read a lot of fanfics and light novels to understand where this shit ends." The young man muttered to himself as he stared in slight fear and irritation at the survey in front of him. ''Also, I ain''t answering something so vague that could have me transported in some weird h.e.n.t.a.i world, if this was real.'' He snorted. "...." He stared at the screen with a deadpanned look and typed. [.....] The young man waited for it for a comeback or something but after waiting for ten minutes and nothing happening. He looked it over for any close caption but he was surprised to find that there was none. "What the...?" He asked in surprise and confusion, as he continue to stare at the computer screen in front of me. When it suddenly flashed in blood red color. [Initiating Protocol "A otaku/weeb with common sense"!] [Requesting help from the admin.... request sent!] The chubby young man with black hair and eyes stared dumbfounded at his computer for a few seconds before his brain started to reboot. "NOO!" He yelled out loud. Acting like his pants were on fire, he immediately went and pushed for the power down button for his computer but after ten seconds of it not doing what it was supposed to, he immediately went to go for the plug. "W-What the f.u.c.k?!" He said with a terrified expression. Frozen like a statue just as he was a meter away from the plug. Like any normal person, the boy screamed like a little bitch and he wasn''t ashamed of it because he has a beautiful voice that his online ''friends'' and waifus praised. And also, all the doubts of this being a scam immediately went to the drain. [Ding! A reply has been received.] The computer screen that should have been set behind him, has suddenly appeared right in front of the young man''s eyes. [The admin has said, "Go with Plan C."] The words that was typed right in front of him caused great chills to crawl up in his spine, making him feel even more terrified than before. Although it can''t be clearly seen as his entire face was frozen in a hurried expression. "...What''s Plan C?" Though for some strange reason the young man could still talk normally albeit with the same frozen expression. Although fear covered his entire being like a cloak of darkness but the young man was like his peers, he was goddamn curious. [Replying to victim¨CI mean, Host Xiao Yan, "When in doubt, use C4. Lots and lots of C4...."] "...." ''Goodbye world.'' Xiao Yan thought with reluctant acceptance. For some reason, he was already accepting his death so easily. Xiao Yan, the young man who would normally scream and scurry away like a little bitch in a life and death situation, was as calm as a lake. He was an orphan. There would be no one to missed him if he were to die. His caretakers had only taken care of him because he had done half the chores of the entire house where he lived together with them and had given them half of the inheritance he received upon the death of his parents. To think, he would die like this. Without making his dead parents proud. ''Mom, dad I''m so sorry... I couldn''t make you two proud. My only regret is not being able to find someone to love and protect for the rest of my life like what you two promise to each other and me later on...'' A tears slid down his frozen face. Opening his eyes Xiao Yan stare at a pair of red eyes, shining in mischief and joy, the owner of the pair of eyes then spoke out. "Xiao Yan-gege, are you done? Classes are about to start!" Xiao Yan let out a small smile. He admits, this life of his might not what he had wanted but in his past life he had no siblings nor close relatives, not since his parents died, but in this current life, he has a younger sister and brother. And he will do everything in his power to protect them. Even if he has to burn everything in existence to ash. "Ah, just give me a moment, Wu-er..." Chapter 2 - 2: Tang San, Xiao Wu and Xiao Yan(1) Standing up, he stretched his aching and sore muscles and let out a sigh. Truly, a big change from a lazy fat nobody to a training maniac. "Xiao Yan-gege, here!" Turning his head, Xiao Yan''s face met towel. Grumbling, he tear it off of his face and stare in annoyance at the culprit who threw it at him. "Wu-er, what the heck?" He asked in slight annoyance. "Hehe. That was for not assisting me and Tang San-gege yesterday!" The culprit, a nine year old girl with jet-black scorpion styled hair wearing a simple pink shirt and white short shorts, giggling in amus.e.m.e.nt and mischief. This girl is Xiao Wu, his little sister. No their not related, although they have the same surname, their sworn siblings. How that happened you might ask? Well, when you proclaim yourself in a room with a girl as an advocate of gender equality, stuff happens. Anyways, long story short. Xiao Yan got his a.s.s handed to him but became good friends with her and a certain black haired reincarnated polite boy. "Well, you guys handled it well." Xiao Yan simply replied back. Yup, they truly did. Having to beat up all the street gangs in the city while having fun was just a one sided massacre. Especially since the only strongest person in the gangs that they beat up were a spirit grandmaster with two white rings. Despite this city having a spirit hall, it didn''t mean that the crimes and injustice going around the city wasn''t happening, especially since the spirit hall of the city was lowly ranked one that only had a tool spirit spirit ancestor which almost had zero combat skills when he last checked on the guy. Shaking his head, Xiao Yan enviously stare at Xiao Wu before releasing a long and resigned sigh. Despite being almost the same age, with Xiao Wu being a couple of months younger than him, the difference between them was like heaven and earth. At nine years old, Xiao Wu was a powerful beast spirit master with a spirit power cultivation of 22, which effectively made her one of the most powerful spirit master of her peers in the entire Nouding Academy school body. Now for him, Xiao Yan, however was pathetic to speak off. At nine years old, his a tool spirit master with a lowly ranked spirit, a recent checked spirit power of 10 and his only defining feature was his great physical strength. ''Yup, I suck.'' Xiao Yan thought to himself, dejected, at his pathetic description of himself. Although he was supposed to be a main character, he sucks at cultivation. ''I mean, what the hell could I do? I don''t have hack techniques from another world, unlike a certain reincarnated main protagonist, I was a normal guy with a normal life until I got into this world.'' Xiao Yan was also an orphan in this world, raised by an old man from a pharmacy store in the Nouding City which was close to the academy, he was able to get into this school was because he had awakened with a spirit power of 6. He was happy and had immediately chose to attend the academy. The old man who had taken care of him was also happy and had celebrated by teaching Xiao Yan on how to create pills. Things would have been great for him if his awakened spirit essence wasn''t giving him trouble! He would have been a true spirit master if it weren''t for it. His spirit essence seems to slow the speed of his cultivation. Like, imagine a normal cultivator with the same spirit power as Xiao Yan when they awakened their spirit essence. They would advance a rank every once in a couple of months. With him though? He was only able to advance a rank every once in several months. But that talk would be for another day as the first bell rang, causing Xiao Yan''s skin to pale like a vampire. "AHHH! GRANDMASTER WILL KILL ME!" He yelled out, quickly wiping every last bit of sweat off his body away. Xiao Yan immediately left the courtyard and went back into the dorm to change. Xiao Wu, his little sister and a hundred thousand year old loli, merely giggled and waved at her sworn brother. Many would wonder why would she, and her other sworn brother, accompany such a weak person like Xiao Yan. Well, that was because of he was interesting like San-gege. Where others that was as weak as Xiao Yan-gege would s.u.c.k.e.d up to others like a parasite or just accept the fate that had shackled them. Xiao Yan-gege, would just grit his teeth and let out a big smile like he didn''t care. When others would just play around if they cultivate or just didn''t give their all, Xiao Yan-gege would do the opposite. He was like San-gege but without the gifts the heavens given to him. And also, he had something that San-gege did not have... Staring at the back of the quickly fading figure of her sworn brother, Xiao Wu let out a small smile and a glint of greater intelligence fitting for someone of her real age flash momentarily in her eyes. A fiery bright will and future that can even melt the heavens. "I hope you surprise me, Xiao Yan-gege..." Chapter 3 - 3: Tang San, Xiao Wu and Xiao Yan(2) "You''re late." Xiao Yan flinched for a moment and let out a guilty smile while rubbing the back of his head. Xiao Wu was behind the figure who was reprimanding him as well as a boy at his age with black hair and eyes with a calm and cool expression. Both of them stayed as still as statues, not reacting to him being reprimanded. But Xiao Yan swore he saw a grin appear on both of their faces for a split second looking like they were about to burst out laughing before it mysteriously disappeared from their faces like it was an illusion. ''Oh I know it wasn''t an illusion. I swear I''m gonna get you both later.'' He said telepathically with his eyes as he glare at them. ''Especially you Xiao Wu, leaving me behind... Damn your rabbit legs!'' The figure, he has an average figure and is somewhat thin looking. He is somewhere around forty years old, with short black hair. His body possesses a somewhat lazed manner with both eyes half open. Currently he had his hands behind his back, staring at Xiao Yan with a strict and solemn expression. He looked like the teachers in his past life. He sighed softly and shook his head in disappoinment. Xiao Yan stared at his teacher with deadpanned eyes as knew that he was f.u.c.k.i.n.g with him. But because the fear of being lectured for two straight hours with blank and fake disappoinment he swallowed the words he was about to say to his teacher. Gulping, he raised both of his hands and said, "W-Well, it wasn''t intentional teacher. I just got lost track of time and by the time I realized it, the bell had already rung." "Hmm... Is that so?" His teacher also known as grandmaster, real name Yu Xiaogang, merely lifted an eyebrow and gave an unimpressed tone of reply. Xiao Yan tensed. ''T-This is bad! When he does this...'' Grandmaster would always give this kind of reply when he gives punishments/prank to his students. Case in point, him and his two sworn siblings. "By the way, when are you getting your spirit ring?" Yu Xiaogang lightly asked. "...Huh?" Xiao Yan said. ''W-What? You aren''t punishing me?! Motherf.u.c.ker, your f.u.c.k.i.n.g around again! What the hell grandmaster! You scared the shit out of me.'' He thought in anger and irritation but also in relief for he won''t be punished for being late to his lecture, again. Yu Xiaogang''s other eyebrow raised and simply stated, "Oh don''t get me wrong. There is still your punishment for being late, and... that''s getting your spirit ring on your own." "..." "..." "What...?" Xiao Yan''s jaws dropped to ground level including Xiao Wu and the boy besides her. T-This, what the f.u.c.k is this?! Grandmaster must have gone insane. Everyone knew that going in a spirit beast infested forest is suicide. Especially for a kid who didn''t have a single spirit tied to his spirit essence. "Grandmaster... Did you hit your head? Or did someone cast some kind of hypnosis?" Xiao Yan asked in concern for the teacher in front of him. It must be the former. There''s no one that skilled or stupid enough that would cast some kind of genjutsu on a frail and weak man like grandmaster. Xiao Wu and the boy besides her nodded. Yu Xiaogang''s eyebrows and lips twitched in annoyance as he stare at his disciple. Yu Xiaogang was grateful in his trash life that he finally found some worthy disciples to teach and guide but it is so infuriating dealing with their personalities. Tang San, his first disciple was of no concern as he was more responsible and m.a.t.u.r.e than his peers. Making him not worry. The two however, are a nightmare. Xiao Wu, his second disciple(well more like pseudo-disciple) is mischievous and more prone to causing trouble then the three. Just a couple of days ago she caused the first war against drugs and crimes in the city, and she also made Tang San tagged along, making him handle all the paperwork of property damage and complaints from the guards and corrupt nobles that wanted to arrest the kids responsible for shutting down their ''business''. But one day, mysteriously, they suddenly stopped at what they were going with great fear and despair seen in their eyes the last time Yu Xiaogang as they grovel at him for an apology. ''I still wonder who helped me...'' He thought with a small frown on his face. But then turned indignant. Lastly, his third disciple Xiao Yan, with no relation with Xiao Wu, but they might have been related as he had a mouth of speaking what comes from his mind like his sworn sister. Causing anyone he talked to being offended and made them his enemies. Which always leads to a fight and surprisingly with Xiao Yan the winner. Even if his opponent had a spirit ring he would still won. Though he would use dirty tactics to win. Yu Xiaogang shuddered at the memory of Xiao Yan standing atop a pile of whimpering bodies with a feral grin, blood dripping down the victims mouths and between their legs. A xuan ruler being wielded with both of his hands, the black block dripping in blood and flesh. That incident had been made a great legend in the entire city. Forever itched in it''s history and other close cities. A scandal that had reached other organizations and factions. Mountains of paperwork and use of his connections had caused Yu Xiaogang a headache that would take years tp subside. The legend of a monster being born. With his huge black xuan ruler Xiao Yan ''massacred'' the noble assholes and gangs who wanted to mess with his sworn siblings. The moment that Xiao Yan earned the title, "Descendant Killer". Yu Xiaogang shook his head before turning Xiao Yan with a serious and somber expression. "Of course I''m not going to send you all alone. But when you reached the Spirit Hunting Forest just four hundred li from the city, there would be a spirit elder waiting for you there. Don''t worry, his a friend of mine that I trust that can protect you." Xiao Yan turned silent and grandmaster continued. "But that will be all that he will do for you. He will guard you against spirit beasts that you can''t handle but not partake in hunting one with you. Understood?" Yu Xiaogang stared at Xiao Yan with a sharp expression. He will be protected but not completely. The spirit beast Xiao Yan would hunt will be by his own hands, what he requested to his friend, and he knew he would follow it to the letter. Meaning; the beast he would hunt himself may or may not kill him if it had the ability. He wanted his disciple to understand. That if you want to rise to greatness, you have to take matters in your own hands and not to others. Xiao Yan was silent, as well as Xiao Wu and Tang San, as being with each for so long they understand the underlying meaning of Yu Xiaogang. Especially Xiao Yan. He closed his eyes and thought. ''Thank you teacher. And I''m sorry...'' He opened them and with a grin he said. "Yeah, loud and clear." Chapter 4 - 4: Copyrights?! Xiao Yan sighed as he packed all that he needed to survive in the wild forest filled with bloodthirsty spirit beasts. By his side were Xiao Wu and the boy by her side yesterday, Tang San. A day has passed since his teacher administered his ''punishment'' on him. Going to a spirit beast infested forest with someone who wasn''t going to protect him from the beast he chose to hunt? Well, he can handle that. ''Perfect timing I guess. I already stabilised my cultivation so all I need to do is get my own spirit ring.'' Xiao Yan thought. Truly grateful for the chance. Now that might cause people to misunderstand him to be resigned to his fate as food to the spirit beasts or secretly a m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t. But that wasn''t the case. Although not a lot of people know, but when he turned seven years old he unexpectedly awakened a strange physique. A year after he awakened my spirit essence I started to really trained his body. Not just some light physical activities but real sweat, blood and death inducing exercise. Now some people wouldn''t find that weird, as everyone in this world and era know that tool spirit masters have a slightly weaker physique than beast spirit masters and they would try their best to train their bodies to the limits to just slightly catch up to them. But Xiao Yan physique is a slightly weird case. Every time he would be near death and exhausted his entire body''s spirit power, qi and stamina, he would suddenly become stronger than before with twice, or even thrice on rare occasions, of his overall power. Whether it be his physical strength or agility, it would all be twice or thrice more powerful than before although after getting a great beat down and having to be completely healed to feel the power up. But it had a side effect of not working the same as it did before. Meaning, whatever way he did to get the effect of upgrading his body won''t work for the second time. Now I know what you''re all thinking, is this really a f.u.c.k.i.n.g Zenkai boost? Or some kind of Saiyan bs power that the author of this story took without permission from the DBZ world? No, Xiao Yan does not know. But since it works like the Zenkai boost from DBZ he decided to name this kind of power of his; Zenkai boost to commemorate his past life''s childhood. Anyways, back to the present. "Hey Xiao Yan, you sure you won''t want us to accompany you?" Tang San asked in worry. He was a reincarnated Outer Tang Sect member from another world, one who had not felt the love of friends and family before in his past life before reincarnating in this new life. On the day we celebrated their two year(that was just last year)Tang San gave Xiao Wu and Xiao Yan both hidden sleeve darts for self defense. Xiao Yan was both surprised and grateful so much that he gave Tang San a bro hug and advise on how to handle a woman. Xiao Wu was also so moved that she hugged him and immediately sworn to be by his side and have his back when he needs it. Though Xiao Yan became a little greedy and asked for another hidden sleeve dart for his other wrist and had wanted to add two hidden switch blades. Yeah, anyone who played that game knows where his going with this. Patting the bag of necessities for his survival, Xiao Yan brought out his right fist and there fitted around his middle finger is a obsidian black ring with a weird design on it. ''A storage ring the old man gifted to me on my seventh birthday. Looks I''m finally bringing this bad boy out of the city. Though for some reason it looks like a black lantern ring, I mean, it''s not like the DC universe influence extends to even here right? And this isn''t a real black power ring right?'' Xiao Yan snorted as he sorted out all the things he needed in the storage ring. "..." ''I didn''t jinxed myself did I?'' Xiao Yan steps halted before he shook his head in denial. Shaking his head to get rid of the thought of the black rings being real. Xiao Yan turned to face his sworn siblings who stood at the door of their shared dormitory. Tang San and Xiao Wu walked towards him with worried expressions. And they looked as if they would follow up with him. Especially Xiao Wu, she had a very panicked and worried expression as she continued to shook her head at Xiao Yan for him to not do what he was about to do. Xiao Yan lightly smiled and shaked his head to stopped them at their actions. Making their worried expressions more clear and expressive. He appreciated and felt moved by their actions but this his ''punishment'', and path to getting stronger. ''Even if I have my first spirit ring and trained like hell, they would be several spirit ranks and abilities above me. I would be left behind.'' Call it his pride or ego, but Xiao Yan can''t let that. He wanted to protect his family. He wanted to help shoulder their burdens and trials in the future. And to do that, he would go beyond his limits and surpass everyone''s expectations. Plus Ultra. Walking towards his friends, he put both of his hands on each of their shoulders and shook his head once more to stop them and let him go. Tang San and Xiao Wu showed reluctant faces as they clenched their hands hard before tilting their heads down to the ground in resignation. Xiao Yan smiled in gratitude and walked around his friends. He stepped in front of a black cabinet that had huge metal lock on it and let out a wide grin. ''Well, since I want my survivability to increased then I won''t hold back.'' He opened it to reveal... Chapter 5 - 5: Fiery Bright Forest On the outskirts of Nouding City was the Fiery Bright Forest, housing 15-20 thousand spirit beasts. With most of the spirit beast''s attribute: fire. Hence the name of the forest. Well, one of the two reasons for it''s name anyway. The forest isn''t as infamous as the Star Dou Forest but is still known to many. With a confirmed hundred thousand year old spirit beast ruling the forest. No one knows what the spirit beast is but it was proven a 100 years ago that there was a hundred thousand year old in the forest when a cult, with two hundred members, decided that it was a good idea to sacrifice the entire forest for their god, named Jashin or something, and started a massacre of spirit beasts. They slaughtered every spirit beasts at first sight in the forest without any hesitation. Although the spirit beasts fought back their oppressors but the cultists were too strong. Their strongest member, the cult leader, was a rank 93 Titled Douluo known as the Blood Scythe Douluo. With his scythe, he killed all the spirit beasts that were a huge threat to his weak members and alongside his nine high priests, all Spirit Douluo from rank 81 to 89, led all of the members of the cult in a mindless bloodbath of the spirit beasts. The whole forest was engulfed in a miasma of blood and death. And just as everyone thought that all the spirit beasts in the forest would be annihilated, a sudden pressure unlike anyone has ever felt before had come crushing down upon the cultists and the surrounding spectators.(what? You think no one would have noticed a ''cleansing'' of this scale? Oh they noticed. But like any human with a brain they didn''t move to help. After all, who would want to go against a Titled Douluo?) The sudden pressure had made all who felt it to instantly fall to their knees, their heads bowed and every part of their body had run cold. Due to the spectators having their heads facing the ground, they weren''t able to see the event of what came next but one thing had stood out to them. Something they saw after hearing hundreds of horrified human screams coming from the forest. Something that had made a powerful rank 93 Titled Douluo to scream in pain and beg for mercy. Something, bright. Bright Golden Flames. Spreading around the forest like a sea of flames, no, it was a sea of flames. A sea of immortal flames. Bathing the entire forest in it''s brilliance. And what was more strange about it was that it didn''t burn the forest at all. From that day on, no one would dare to go there and start something foolish. Though after more than half a century someone did dare to go back inside and hunt some spirit beast for their spirit essence. But they would never hunt for any spirit beast other than for their spirit essence. Even after a hundred years has passed, no one would be brave or dumb enough to go inside and kill two or more spirit beasts. Now, like any story, a certain hero would arrive here and let it be it''s stepping stone. His entrance would be legendary and mythical. He would start a bloodbath again in the forest, making him confront the rumored beast lord of the forest. "..." Xiao Yan stood at the entrance of the forest wearing a black hooded cloak covering his entire body with it''s hood up covering his face in it''s darkness while having his spirit essence out on his back. It''s been three days since he arrived and decided to rebel against the wishes of his teacher. Well, not entirely. He said he wanted him to get stronger by his own hands right? Well his doing that right now. By rushing into one of the most dangerous forest in the two empires. His expression was flat as he stared at the numerous warning signs around him. Telling him to turned back and leave. "..." He ignored the warning signs and walked inside the forest while also ignoring the surrounding spirit beasts that were just doing what they normally do in their lives. But he stopped near a hamster looking spirit beast with red fur. Crouching down, Xiao Yan patted it''s tiny little fat head and with a smile on his face he said. "Cute." Chapter 6 - 6: Fruits of the devil(1) Within the Fiery Bright Forest, Xiao Yan walked around the forest with ease and looked around like a tourist. Some might questioned him about not caring for his life in a spirit beast infested forest for being careless and unguarded but they would say otherwise when they see him in action. Xiao Yan in his past life was a normal one. So in order to survive in this second life of his, that was filled with untold horrors and beings that can kill him with a flick of their finger/paw/claw, he would improvise and be prepared. When the day came that his body could handle training, he trained his body to it''s limits and when he discovered his hidden physique? He made used of it. When he wanted resources for the future, he used his knowledge from another world and became the youngest entrepreneur in the city. Selling innovative technologies like toys, common tools of the modern world, and cultures like; stories, songs, fashion, etc.. When he awoken his spirit essence, and finding out that its chaining him down, he gritted his teeth and regardless of what others tell him, he trained his spirit essence Heavy Xuan Ruler until he dropped in a pool of his sweat and blood. The day when he became sworn brothers with the main character Tang San, he trained with some of the Tang Techniques that was compatible to him, until he reached his limits of going further with the skills. He will survive, strive and live in this world with his friends and family. He will use anything that he can to reach his goal. Even if he has to.... Shaking his head, Xiao Yan continued to walked around and trying to find a suitable spirit beast for his spirit essence. His spirit essence is a Heavy Xuan Ruler. It isn''t anything special. It could only smacked around and flattened anything he aim to strike it at. Which is always kinda hard to do when his opponents are taller than him, with him being a child and all that. "Sigh~ Alright, I chose being a battle spirit master so I need a spirit skill that can either strengthen the power of my spirit essence or a powerful spirit skill that can one shot my opponent with minimal spirit power use. With the latter being impossible to find and somewhat useless if my opponent can block it and there''s no way that there''s a spirit skill that has minimal spirit power use, only with a certain worm comes to mind and he isn''t compatible with my spirit essence, but with the former auxiliary to strengthen either the power or attack speed for my spirit essence or myself entirely. With the help of the Tang Secret Techniques, I would be a force to be reckoned with." It was obvious of what kind of spirit skill I want. But on the what spirit beast that would have it would be a question needed to be answered. "This is gonna be hard, with how the spirit beasts around are with the fire attribute and can only give out fire related spirit skills. Sigh, I didn''t want to come to this forest but it is the nearest to academy anyway that didn''t have any spirit hall''s lackeys and I don''t want to walked to the second nearest forest free of the control of the Spirit Hall for a whole three weeks." Xiao Yan sighed once more. For some reason he wanted to say "How troublesome" but wanting to get home and relax in an actual bed than the hard ground, he shut up and quickly assessed his surrounding for suitable spirit beasts. No matter how long it takes. Xiao Yan sat down with a deadpanned expression on top of a tree branch. His eyebrows twitching as the tree shook heavily. Looking down he cursed under his breath as a brown furred Moose like spirit beast took several paces back before ramming straight at the tree he was sitting on one of it''s branches. ''How did it come to this?'' He thought in irritation as the tree once more shook. Oh don''t get him wrong. He wasn''t sitting on top of a tree branch because he was afraid of a mere 325 years old brown Moose spirit beast. No. He was afraid of the big Moose sitting quietly at the back staring at the smaller Moose with warm eyes while looking sharply with clear killing intent at him. ''I can defeat a 325 year old spirit beast with some simple planning and traps but dealing with a thousand year old one? Nope.'' Xiao Yan instantly decided. He would have already been gone and elsewhere in the forest continuing to search for a suitable spirit beast but there was something he wanted to get before he could do so. See, two hours ago he was just wandering around looking and searching when he stumbled upon these duo of mother/father and son/daughter spirit beasts cuddling under a giant tree asleep and he was about to just leave them be when he noticed something peculiar about the tree. Strange red swirl like fruits were on it. The instant he saw them, Xiao Yan''s eyes widened like plates and his jaw dropped. "DEVIL FRUITS?!" Chapter 7 - 7: Fruits of the devil(2) Xiao Yan continued to stare at the fruits attached to the tree with clear shock and surprise expressions. Five minutes later, he calmed down and moved closer to the tree while muttering. "Devil fruit... Devil fruit... Devil fruit..." He said like a man who was possessed. But when he came closer and able to see the fruits more clearly, he stood stone still. ''No. Those aren''t bloody devil fruits.'' They clearly wasn''t now that he was close to look at them but not too close that he would cause the sleeping spirit beasts to wake up. They weren''t swirl like fruits but red fruits with yellow tribal markings. They don''t seem to release any kind of fragrance, that might be because he was several feet away from them, but now that he was near the tree Xiao Yan felt the surrounding spirit energy around him to converge towards the tree more specifically, the fruits. ''I think I heard this type of fruit before from Tang San once or twice in his teachings to me about all kinds of medical and poisonous herbs. He said that those fruits are the so called, Purification Fruit. A rare type of fruit that makes anyone who ate one to have their meridians purified and strengthen the condition of their body to a peak state, depending on their age. Especially if their 10,000 years in age. They would have the person who ate the fruit to shed their old skin and create anew. Their blood, bone marrow and meridians will also evolved. Making them experience a sorta pseudo rebirth. But it can only work once and only for spirit masters that haven''t gotten their spirit ring.'' Xiao Yan thought as he surveyed his surroundings and the two sleeping spirit beasts. It was supposed to be a rare type of fruit that all the famous clans and families in the entire Douluo Continent would instantly buy for 140,000 spirit gold coins just for a hundred year old one. The effects aren''t the same as a 10,000 year old one but it can still help strengthen the eater''s body condition. For a whole tree of it just standing right in front of him, isn''t this lucky! Xiao Yan''s mouth turned into a huge blooming smile as he stared at the tree in greed. He was just a few seconds away to run up to the tree and grabbed all the fruits on it. Some of them he would give for his close friends and whatever remained of the fruits he would either sell or make it be a bribe for someone when he needed it. But no. He didn''t act on his impulse of being a human. Even if the greed of wanting the fruits was great, the need to survive was far more greater. Especially... ''This is suspicious as f.u.c.k!'' He thought with a calculating expression. A single tree fully bloomed of Purification Fruits? If this ain''t a bloody trap then I''m either clearly reckless or retarded. ''I know that the Purification Fruits are beneficial for spirit masters/humans but what about spirit beasts? What I recall about those spirit beasts, the Brown Furred Moose, are just common spirit beasts that aren''t just too far away from being normal animals except for having spirit energy and great physical power.'' Xiao Yan tried to remember anything noteworthy about the Moose spirit beast from all the lectures he asked for from grandmaster. ''The only thing that stood out about this spirit beast is about a legend of them being descended from the Golden Dragon King due to their immense physical power and bloodl.u.s.t for anyone when they get ''triggered'' in battle. But many scholars and even grandmaster disregard the legend due to the Brown Furred Moose having no physical similarities to the great dragon like golden skin, fur, scale, red eyes, etc.. Even the spirit beast''s strength could only be within the middle ranks of brute strength type spirit beasts.'' ''So why? Why are they guarding the tree and why hasn''t no one discovered this?'' Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes at his unanswered questions. He stood still just dozens of feet away from the tree and spirit beasts. Continuing to stare at the fruits in concentration. He stood there like a black stone statue for a whole ten minutes before he blinked his eyes and widened. ''I just got the most brilliant and ingenious plan that could definitely, 100%, work out!'' ''That was the most stupidest idea that I have ever cooked up and I never shouldn''t have done it!'' Xiao Yan thought in regret as he looked deadpanned at the current situation. It was just a simple plan. Go behind the spirit beasts, climb up the tree and get the fruits. Quick and easy. But what messed up was his underestimation of a thousand year old spirit beast. Cause as soon he took a single step, the thousand year old Moose opened one of it''s eyes and glared at Xiao Yan with so much intensity and killing intent that he almost shit his pants. So, what was a Xiao Yan to do when a great beast with big f.u.c.k.i.n.g antlers stares at you with the intent to kill and maim? Do what the movies tell you to do. Don''t move and it will go away. Which clearly didn''t work as the beast slowly rose up from it''s spot. It''s big f.u.c.k.i.n.g body, five times the size and weight of an a.d.u.l.t man, seem to limber up. It''s hooves and head doing like what a f.u.c.k.i.n.g bull would do to matadors when they see something red in their hands. It was at that moment. Xiao Yan knew, he f.u.c.k.e.d up. Chapter 8 - 8: Fruits of the devil(3) Heyo! I just got back. The trip was moved to today and basically after enjoying myself I wrote these two chapters under two hours while being drunk and exhausted. The reason why I didn''t write and update yesterday was because I was playing Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Rank and I got pissed because the random teammates I got during match up was both idiots and prideful assholes who thinks that they would bring the win for the team when instead they''re feeders and noobs. ... I''m rambling too much. Enjoy the chapters! ¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C Unfortunately or fortunately. The little Moose spirit beast woke up groggily in a somewhat cute manner. The parent Moose noticed it''s offspring and in that split moment of distraction, Xiao Yan, willing all of his remaining bravery and courage to turn around and run like hell. But just as he took three steps to retreat, he felt a great deal of pain coming from his back and blasted off crashing towards a tree. Whatever had attacked him made him coughed blood and if he could x-ray his body he would see that he had a broken rib and his spine had cracked a little. Thankfully underneath his cloak was a green body armor made out of a hundred year old Deep Black Turtle spirit beast that he bought with what money he had when he was looking around for defensive clothing. Which negated most of the unexpected attack and had saved his life. ''Ugh, if I live I won''t ever eat turtle meat in my entire life and even the next.'' Xiao Yan thought as pain unlike any other he had ever felt in his lives was coursing throughout his nerves. ''Another remainder, buy the most expensive and state of the art defensive equipment.'' "Oh dear Mama Mary!! That hurt!" Xiao Yan forced himself to rise up, even if his body screamed for him to lie down, he turned to look at... well, f.u.c.k. Standing just several feet away from him was the hundred year old Moose looking like an angry bull ready to crashed into him once more, which it really is. And behind the bloody thing was it''s parent looking both amused and proud at the state of the human and it''s offspring''s action respectively. The youngling seem to want another round as it reared its hooves and ready it''s antlers pointed at Xiao Yan. Xiao Yan has two options. One, go and kill the young Moose and the a.d.u.l.t Moose in an epic battle of the century or, second option, self-preservation. "Nope." He instantly attached himself at the tree he crashed at and climbed eagerly to the top like a monkey. The young noticed his actions and immediately rammed it''s antlers to the tree making shake like crazy. Xiao Yan plopped down on the highest tree branch as he watched the young Moose shake it''s head around in a daze which makes sense with how it rammed itself at a big tree at the size of a pillar similar to the pillars made from Greece in his old world and dear gods is this world brimming in life. He turned towards the older Moose which it stayed still but continued to looked at him with sharp and intense gaze. Xiao Yan''s eyes narrowed, blood dripping down his lips, he wiped it away and crossed his legs. ''Well, f.u.c.k.'' Xiao Yan had stayed in a crossed legged position for an entire hour, continuing to think of plans on how to get away though he already did but he had a small setback. *Drip* *Drip* *Drip* Half an hour ago, he took off his cloak, upper body clothes and equipment to find out that the injury on his back was a bit much than he had expected. Cuts and severe bruises covered his entire back staining in a dark red color. ''If I don''t covered this up it''ll get infected.'' Opening his right hand palm Xiao Yan focused his spirit power and send some to the black storage(lantern) ring and a roll of bandage appeared on his palm. He unrolled it and wrapped himself up like a f.u.c.k.i.n.g video game character around his back for about five minutes. ''You best be f.u.c.k.i.n.g grateful beasts. If I weren''t afraid that the hundred thousand year old spirit beast would go after my a.s.s, I would have already bomb this entire land like it was f.u.c.k.i.n.g pearl harbor.'' He thought in anger as he finished wrapping the bandage around his body. Xiao Yan panted several breaths as he concentrated on himself to circulate the Mysterious Heaven Skill to recover from his injuries. Night came and the young spirit beast finally gave up and turned back to it''s resting place. The older spirit beast had already rested down when it''s offspring came besides it but had kept it''s senses, mostly it''s hearing, up and look out in guard for the human that had gone still on top of the tree. Xiao Yan had been using his internal Qi to recover from his back injuries for the last several hours and even then, it only healed most of the injuries on his back. ''Huh, I almost feel like a certain wolverine but with 0.01% of his regeneration ability.'' ''Shit this hurts and having my muscles, bones and tendons stitching themselves up is not pleasant. Whoever said regenerative healing isn''t painful is a m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t!'' Xiao Yan thought with gritted teeth. Letting out a breath, small black and red blobs seem to come out, Xiao Yan opened his eyes that seemed to shine in the dark. ''This pain... You''ll regret messing with me. I can''t kill you, but that doesn''t mean I can''t make you cry till you beg.'' A cruel smile appeared on his mouth. Chapter 9 - 9: Revenge is spicy~ Opening his right palm a single round pill appeared from his storage ring. It was a simple blue pill without any significance except for spirit masters. It was one of the very first of his creations. The soldier pill. ''I''m gonna thank you for all the lessons you taught me when I get back home old man.'' Xiao Yan popped the pill in his mouth and swallowed it. White energy seemed to come out of the pill and course throughout his body. Xiao Yan breathed in a deep breath, feeling some of his spirit power returning, then he breathed out. The soldier pill, named after watching a certain anime, is an alchemist pill he himself brew when under a certain white haired old man. It can help him naturally recover his spirit power five times than normal. Sounds great and easily popular for every spirit masters to sell right? Well the effects of the pill doesn''t much affect of those with Soul Elders cultivation or higher and when Spirit Masters of the 20th rank digest them the effects are of twice. Enough of pills and time for action. Xiao Yan recovered all his spirit power a couple of hours later. Opening his eyes, he gaze at the Moose spirit beasts and made his face turn emotionless. He wore his equipment and clothing and using two of the Tang Sect''s Secret Techniques, Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track and Purple Demon Eye, he jumped back off the tree and vanished within the darkness of the forest. The thousand year old Moose immediately realised the human''s disappearance as it quickly roused itself back up with it''s guard up and using it''s senses it tried to find the human. It might not have awakened it''s intelligence as it was only a thousand year old spirit beast but it had something to protect. It''s offspring. The giant Brown Furred Moose looked down to watch it''s youngling waking up from it''s sleep when it lost the warmth of it''s parent. It might not understand much but the need to protect it''s young is greater than it''s own survival. The maternal instincts granted to every parental beings in the Omniverse. The need to protect the little one(s) they gave birth to the world. The giant Brown Furred Moose gave off a big huff and it''s giant antlers glowed in a darkish red color. Having been born and lived in the Fiery Bright Forest a small mutation had surfaced within itself and probably it''s child as well. It had the small ability to gave off intense heat coming from it''s antlers even to the point of melting iron when near it. It stood a little higher than before, even if the little human that hidden itself was weak the giant Moose wanted to protect it''s child with everything it had. Well, unfortunately for the giant Moose and also the little Moose, they are against someone who would use any dirty trick in the book in a fight. "Surprise motherf.u.c.kers!" The last thing the two spirit beasts saw was red smoke and everything had turned red and wet. "RAAAAAAAAGGGHHH!!!" "RAAAAAAAAGGGHHH!!!" Cried of pain and agony spread throughout the forest as two spirit beasts sprinted forward in a crazed frenzy. Their eyes red and watery as they continue to roar in pain and bulldozed the around the trees. Back at the tree of Purification Fruits, Xiao Yan hummed as he harvested the last remaining fruits. "Hmmm... Revenge is spicy~! Oh! A hundred year old Purification Fruit! Lucky~ This is the third time now. Things are really¨C" Xiao Yan froze. "Who are you?" A calm soft and yet cold voice sounded out behind him. Xiao Yan slowly turned as he readied a bolt under his right sleeve''s hidden crossbow. He turned to see¨C Fate is truly a weird concept. Something that can predetermined someone''s future. In a certain country''s culture. A red string of fate can bring together two people and intertwined together for all eternity. Even in death and in the next life.(I half made this shit up) And in that moment, the strings of fate seemed to work once more. The shadows in the sky cleared making the moonlight shine on the land. "I asked you..." A girl at his age with long raven black hair and bright golden eyes that seemed to hold great power and knowledge that no mere mortal would have, especially a girl at her age, her pretty little calm face and pale smooth baby like skin made her seem like a porcelain doll but when her face expressed cold una.d.u.l.terated fury, it was terrifying. "Who, are you?" Any normal kid his age would have been scared to shit in his/her pants and would have ran for his/her life at the incredible display of flames but Xiao Yan wasn''t focused in that. Even if the temperature around him made breathing hard and caused his cheeks to turned pink, no, what he was more concerned about is¨C "Why the hell are you n.a.k.e.d?!" ¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C I know it''s anticlimactic but it is a reasonable outcome. The Xiao Yan in my story is cunning, smart, shrew and would use anything to quickly finish battles. He would not take the long road to victory when there is a short way to do so without any casualties to himself or others. And it is not because I was lazy or anything. Oh the hot springs are amazing! Warm water(very, very, very hot water), free snacks and drinks(I did not know they had them for free), the greatest place to be when wanting to relax. I highly recommend it to people who wants a place to go to when wanting to relax. ?????????????????????????????? For those who voted for hamburgers, congratulations! You guys won! I''ve just eaten three minute bacon and cheese burgers and they were delicious~ Tbh, I wanted to get pizzas as well but the shop was closed for a whole day due to a chef being arrested for having brought along a rat to cook with him. Peace ???? Chapter 10 - 10: Predicament There came in every boy''s life, that he would witness paradise. A garden of Eden and forbidden fruits that a boy would someday touch and eat and finally evolved into their final form, a man. But Xiao Yan? This was not his time. "F.U.C.K!! F.U.C.K! F.U.C.K! Oww¨CFUUUCCCK!!!" Xiao Yan ran like hell as golden basketball size flames passed by and sometimes even almost hitting him. The surrounding greenery and trees instantly turned to ashes when the flames made contact. Xiao Yan''s already pale and exhausted face fell even more as he witnessed the power of those flames. Using Mysterious Heaven Skill and sending more spirit power to strengthen his legs, he quickly execute the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track once more for the 50th time since he started escaping. Using his Purple Demon Eyes, he navigated his route subconsciously and blitzed through the forest like a ghostly panther passing through spirit beasts and animals, not caring where his legs take him. This would have dumbfounded Xiao Yan if he took a second to witness his great improvement of his Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track as he disappeared and reappeared all around the forest like a true ghost. As this could only mean he had broken through another tier of his movement technique. But this was not the time for him congratulate himself as, "GET BACK HERE YOU PERVERT!!" A high pitched roar, that should have belong to a wild and powerful animal, sounded out behind Xiao Yan. Slightly turning his head back Xiao Yan witnessed a sight that could make any boy/man to quiver and cry before running away in fear. Just several feet away behind him was the pretty little girl he had slightly acquainted with at the purification fruit tree, who was previously nude now had a black cloak covering her body. Now, you might be wondering how this all happened right? Well... [FLASHBACK] The girl who was asking/threatening him for his name, blink after he asked his questions before looking down at herself. She stared down at herself for a several seconds before her whole face turned red and if this were an anime, Xiao Yan could have sworn he saw steam coming out of her ears. Her eyes then turned to him, freezing him further in the spot out of fear, her two hands clenched and the golden flames around her had suddenly intensified in both heat and pressure. Xiao Yan, who had watched a lot of animes and read numerous mangas and novels, knew what the girl in front of him was going to do. Especially when her eyes was no longer looking at his, they were looking at his ''sword''. And if you put the fact the girl in front of him looked like nine years old, this meant that she wasn''t meaning to look at it in a very weird way but in a dangerous one. So, what was any boy/man in his position to do when they encounter this kind of situation? You throw your cloak at the girl for distraction and instantly bolt the f.u.c.k away from there. Sadly the girl was distracted for several seconds, by wrapping herself with the cloak around her body, before she started to chase after Xiao Yan. [FLASHBACK END] As Xiao Yan jumped tree by tree, he couldn''t help but wonder about the identity of the girl. Having keep up with him after a whole hour and even continuing to use her spirit essence this entire time without rest is just stupidly unfair. In fact, he would have already dropped dead half an hour ago in exhaustion of both stamina and spirit power if it weren''t for the soldier pills he kept digesting. He knew that if he keep on eating those pills he would slowly build resistance against it''s effects until it would no longer affect him. For now, eating his fourth soldier pill, he would have grit his teeth and run. Run unlike he has ever done before. Stomping his right feet on the ground he build momentum and sprinted forward. Golden flames flickered past him before it disappeared. Xiao Yan had dodged another attack by the girl. "COME BACK HERE AND RECEIVE YOUR PUNISHMENT AS A MAN!" The girl practically roared as she chased after Xiao Yan. Golden flames coming out of her two palms compressing into two basketball sized fireballs. Unhesitatingly, she jumped forward and with the grace and elegance of a berserker, she threw them towards Xiao Yan''s back. Xiao Yan, who was unknowingly running towards the center part of the forest, heard the roar of the little girl and immediately poured every spirit power he had in store into his legs. Building momentum, he burst again in a sprint forward like a rocket, dodging the incoming golden fireballs. However, the blast caused Xiao Yan to be blown away several meters away from his location. He was just a moment away of crashing into a tree before he came to his senses and quickly maneuvered his body mid-air and calling out his spirit essence, he had his spirit take the hit. "Oww, damn it!" Xiao Yan''s body immediately hit the ground, groaning in pain. The blow from the tree and the fireball explosions was not a great experience. Not only that but his two small legs having had to bear the pressure of added strength for the last couple of hours couldn''t handle it anymore and had fractured themselves the moment Xiao Yan had dropped to the ground. Causing Xiao Yan to feel immense pain and cursed out loud. "F.U.C.K!! OH HOLY SHIT MOTHER OF JESUS! THIS HURTS!!!" Xiao Yan stumbled forward onto the ground face first as he cradled his two broken legs. Tears streaming down his face as he cried. But he gritted his teeth once more. Looking back he found a golden meteor coming towards him just a couple meters away from him. Except it wasn''t a meteor. But a demonic being set out to kill him. "Seriously why do I always get to meet the easily most pissed off, strong and crazy girls in my life?!" Xiao Yan mumbled. Suddenly his vision turned dark for a moment and the next thing he saw is a giant bloomed and beautiful green lotus. "...." Chapter 11 - 11: This is clearly plot armor... Author: This is mostly info dump. Skip it if you want. ¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C Xiao Yan stared blankly at the thing in front of him. A bloomed green lotus suddenly appeared in front of him glowing in a jade like l.u.s.ter. It gave a feeling of both peace and tranquility. Yet he feel the surrounding area a bit hot than normal. Turning his head to look all around he was shocked to see green like energy scattered around. It was like the whole area was bathed in a green glow. ''I-Is this... Is this spirit power?!'' Xiao Yan, with a dumbfounded expression, moved his hand around the green energy and quickly found out that the unknown energy is spirit power. ''It... has heat?'' Xiao Yan turned his head and eyed the big green lotus in front of him. It had the size of a small car with twelve petals around it. At the center of that is a brightly glowing object. Although he was shocked and dumbfounded at the current situation he landed on. He quickly calmed down several seconds later as he muttered. "Definitely a plot armor..." Xiao Yan had already figured at what''s going on. Back on his past life, he had watched animes and read countless mangas and novels, to know that the current situation of his is the protagonist finding his plot armor. How did he come to that conclusion? Well, a protagonist undergoes a life and death situation and unexpectedly find himself being save by either powerful experts or finding a heavenly treasure that would change him into a once a million genius unlike the cultivation world has ever seen, and my situation is the latter. Probably. Nonetheless. Looking around Xiao Yan found out that he was in a dome like cave totally cut off by the surface world with the green lotus his only light source. But the fact he could still breath meant that there was way out for the air to get inside or a engraved formation was set around him, generating oxygen for him to breath. Seeing that the dome was probably three-meters in width and five-meters length in height with no way out in sight meant that there was a hidden formation around to help him breath. Xiao Yan wanted to find out of where he was and how he gotten here. He also wanted to investigate that green lotus sitting serenely in front of him and find a way out, lest that devilish girl would somehow find a way inside here and kill him. But that could wait for now. "OH MOTHER OF GOD! THIS STILL F.U.C.K.I.N.G HURTS!!" [Four Hours Later] Taking a deep breath through his mouth, air exhaled out of his nose, Xiao Yan circulates the Mysterious Heaven Skill for the final time to recover from his injuries. He had also digested two soldier pills to further help his recovery. Alas, two broken legs aren''t easy to to heal and the continuous amount of pain coursing throughout his body from his legs didn''t help. Exhaling through his mouth this time Xiao Yan stopped urging his Mysterious Heaven Skill and open his eyes. Staring at the big green lotus in front of him he decided that it was time to figure out what the hell is this supposed to be plot armor of his. Standing up, albeit shakingly, he forced himself to stand up properly and walked towards the green lotus. ''This is a bad idea.'' Xiao Yan knows as things from animes, mangas and novels sometimes won''t happen in the real world. The current situation of his might be but not knowing for certain what the green lotus really is just doesn''t relieve and calm him. Taking a slow but deep breath Xiao Yan activated his Purple Demon Eyes and gazed upon the big green lotus and try to find out what it was. But the second he took a look at it, Xiao Yan''s expression turned shock and awe. So much so that he took a step back. "He-HEAVENLY FLAME?!!" When he got here he tried to research anything of the world that had somehow changed due to his arrival or there was something in the Douluo Dalu universe that wasn''t said in the novels. And what he found, was the Heavenly Flames. These Heavenly Flames are incredibly powerful, much stronger than flames created with Spirit Power, and when used by alchemists, can help to increase the effect of the pills created. However, these Heavenly Flames are extremely wild and explosive, not to mention extremely rare, so even if one encounters an Heavenly Flame, it is still extremely difficult to absorb and control it. When a Heavenly Flame is present, all other flames fear and follow it because they are the kings of flames and all other flames naturally serve it. Heavenly Flames are formed through the slow acc.u.mulation of the world''s Heavenly and tend to have their own unique shapes. What''s rarer is that a few Heavenly Flames will possess emotions and intelligence! The flame that possesses wisdom is known as a Flame Spirit! Its intelligence is comparable to a hundred thousand year old spirit beast that can either shape-shift or reincarnate into a human! In the Douluo Dalu Continent''s alchemist society, the known Heavenly Flames are ranked in the "Heavenly Flames Ranking". There are a total of 22 types: 1. Nihility Devouring Flame: This flame also known as the Nihility Devouring Flame was born in nothingness, and has no appearance to be seen and no form to be grasped. This Nihility Devouring Flame is highly mysterious, and is said to be able to devour the heavens and the skies, and possess the ability to swallow all things. There are only a few things in existence that can resist its ravenous devouring. It''s location and user, unknown. 2. Purifying Lotus Demon Flame: It''s capabilities are unknown as it was said that a great expert had taken control of it three thousand years ago and no one has seen it since. 3. Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame: Though not as mysterious as the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame, the Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame is able to even incinerate spirit power. Legends say that the first user of this flame, when unleashing its power, was able to instantly burn down an entire continent in a mere flick of his/her wrist. It''s current location and user unknown. 4. Life Spirit Flame: This flame is highly strange, for most Heavenly Flames are pervaded with the power of destruction, but the Living Spirits Flame, instead of displaying destructiveness, is instead famous for its power of life. The steam produced by this flame helps to accelerate the growth of magical herbs, and it is said that if one tosses some seeds into this flame, those seeds would quickly germinate and grow. In other words, with this flame, one would no longer need to search for any herbs, and would be able to get boundless amounts of ingredients with just seeds. This Living Spirits Flame is also known as the Flame of Longevity, for any person who obtains this flame would get a lifespan comparable to that of those spirit beasts which are famous for their long lifespan. The only flaw of this flame is that this flame is not very suitable for combat, thus it does little to increment one''s battle strength. Location and user, unknown. 6. Nine Eerie Golden Ancestor Flame: Current location and user are with the Yan Clan. 7. Red Lotus Flame: Not much is known about its ability, just that this flame is pretty enchanting and that a red lotus forms within its flames. Current location and user, unknown. 8. Three Thousand Star Burning Flame: The Three Thousand Star Burning Flame is born within the stars, and is able to absorb starlight to grow stronger. When this flame is formed, silver fire descends from the sky, and the land within thousands of miles would be just like a desert, with no differentiation between day and night, for the stars won''t show, and the sun won''t rise. As this flame lives within the stars, and is difficult to be found, thus this flame would normally exist for longer periods of time as compared to other Heavenly Flames. This is also why most Three Thousand Star Burning Flames found would have its own emotions and intelligence, and is highly difficult to capture. This flame also possesses the ability of "Three Thousand Star Physique", granting its owners immense recovery powers, allowing them to have what is widely known as "undying bodies". The effect of self-healing will only activate if the user is conscious. It''s current location and user, unknown. 9. Nine Serene Wind Flame: This flame gives off a strange sound which can affect people''s mentalities and emotions, causing them to feel irritated. It''s location and user is within the Yao Clan, a clan of alchemists and expert spirit masters, they are under the authority of the Spirit Hall. 10. Bone Chilling Flame: It has cold attributes along with extreme heat making it more dangerous. It''s current location and user, unknown. 11. Nine Dragon Lightning Flame: A dragon''s might gathered in the Heavenly Flame. Hence, it possesses the miraculous effect of shocking one''s soul. It also has a lightning attribute. 12. Turtle Spirit Earthly Flame: It''s capabilities are unknown. Current location and user is within the Yao Clan. 14. Sea Heart Flame: Unknown, ability was not stated by anyone but it is assumed that it can overpower lower ranked Heavenly flames. Current location and user, unknown. 15. Flaming Cloud Water Flame: Capabilities unknown. It''s current location and user is within the Yan Clan. 16. Volcanic Stone Flame: Capabilities unknown. It''s current location and user is within the Yan Clan. 17. Wind and Thunder Fury Flame: Capabilities unknown. It''s current location and user, unknown. 18. Green Lotus Core Flame: It is formed deep underground and has experienced the polishing, fusion, pressure, and carving from the planet''s flame¡­ It forms a spirit in ten years, takes shape in a hundred years and turns into a lotus in a thousand years. When it is completely formed, its color would slant toward the greenish side and the lotus core would form a cl.u.s.ter of green flame, named as "Green Lotus Flame'' or ''Green Lotus Core Flame''. The strength of this flame is unpredictable. When it is near volcanoes, it can cause volcanoes to erupt, forming a mayira; destructive strength. It''s current location and user, unknown. 19. Dragon Phoenix Flame: It''s capabilities unknown. It''s current location and user, unknown as well. 20. Six Path Reincarnation Flame: It''s capabilities unknown. It''s current location and user, unknown as well. 21. Ten Thousand Beast Flame: It''s capabilities unknown. It''s current location and user, unknown as well. 22. Mysterious Yellow Flame: It''s capabilities unknown. It''s current location and user, unknown as well. ''Judging the appearance and aura of the flame, there''s no doubt...'' Xiao Yan swallowed a mouthful of saliva as he stared dumbfounded at the green lotus quietly sitting on top of the ground. "Rank 18 of the heavenly flame ranking: Green Lotus Core Flame..." Chapter 12 - 12: A Trial by Fire(1) Merry Christmas Everybody! Sorry for the late chapter as I just had a Christmas Party at my town''s church and dang was it great and exhausting. Anyways, enjoy the chapter! ¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C Green spirit power wisps of flames swim around the entirety of the dome. Xiao Yan stood still staring blankly, slacked jawed, at the supposed plot armor of his. "Rank 18 of the Heavenly Flame Ranking, Green Lotus Core Flame..." He muttered. This is impossible! A dream! An illusion! There''s no way he would just stumble into a heavenly flame at the start of his journey to greatness! The chance of stumbling into one is 0.0000023%!! But... plot I guess? ''Yeah... I''m just gonna blame it in my luck, plot or destined God of the universe or whatever.'' Shrugging it off Xiao Yan relaxed and calm himself down. This is one time opportunity to witness and come in contact with a heavenly flame. Something that was rare to the point of only prominent Titled Douluos has the authority to be even in the vicinity of one. Xiao Yan thought of absorbing and make the heavenly flame submit to him before he abolish such thought out of his mind. Heavenly flames are flames that can even burn a Titled Douluo to ashes with just a mere wisp from it, what Xiao Yan had read from the books that contain the information and theories of Heavenly Flames. But even if it were false it wasn''t something a spirit scholar like himself, with no spirit ring, could handle with such terrifying product of nature and heaven. They are flames unrivaled by others. Ultimate fire users might have the potential to surpass some of the Heavenly Flames but it was only that ''some'' not most or all of the Heavenly Flames. Heavenly flames are flames that continuously evolve beyond if it even it didn''t get nurtured or had the right environment as they are flames made by heaven''s will. If the alchemist scholars are talking about the God Realm or something else entirely Xiao Yan doesn''t know. Point is, he isn''t brave nor stupid enough to attempt something such as controlling a heavenly flame, much less a flame within the top 20. Sighing deeply Xiao Yan flopped down in a cross legged position. Thinking of what he should do now. Even if this heavenly flame is his plot armor, he wasn''t strong enough to handle such a thing. All he could do was to try and find a way out of here, and probably when he''s strong enough he would go back here and claim his plot armor. "Damn it! Just as when I thought my luck was going great, it just gave me the middle finger! Hah... " Sighing for like the hundredth time since he entered the damn forest Xiao Yan felt like he should have been a true alchemist than a battle spirit master. For an entire hour Xiao Yan wandered around the entire dome to try and figure it if there was a way out but sadly, there wasn''t. "Fuuuuuccckkkk...." Groaning in disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e and frustration Xiao Yan lied down on the ground with his back. His eyes becoming blank and mouth continuously twitching. "I''m never getting out, am I?" Xiao Yan said. His thoughts then wondered back of how he got here then a fierce scowl appeared on his face. "I swear if I ever getting out of here, I will spank that girl''s a.s.s until it turns into two apple like buns!" Xiao Yan closed his eyes after saying that before summoning his Heavy Xuan Ruler. The black obsidian like ruler stood erect like a small building which was stabbed in the ground just inches away from the right side of Xiao Yan''s face. Staring at the black monstrosity of a weapon called his spirit essence Xiao Yan had a passing thought of using it to smash his way out of here before tossing it away. If he were to do so then he might just doom himself by getting buried alive if this dome was underground or it might opened up his way to a spirit beast nest which is something he wasn''t interested in getting into one. "Looks like I''m just gonna die here... As a nine year old... And if I were to be reincarnated again, I wish to be reincarnated in a slice of life and harem anime as a male protagonist." Xiao Yan remarked with a dry smile. "As awesome as that sounds but that''s just not me." Xiao Yan let out a huff as he sat cross legged and closed his eyes. He slowly inhaled with his mouth, exhaling it to his nose, he circulated his spirit power to his Mysterious Heaven Skill and mediated. ''I''ll find a way out. After all I, Xiao Yan, still has to protect his family and close friends!'' And so, he closed all his senses and focused on mediating to help his patience and pass the time. Unknown time passed and to Xiao Yan''s unnoticed senses, wisps of green spirit power started to gather around him, slowly sipping through his body''s cells, flesh, blood, bone, meridians and organs. Integrating itself to his body... Not only hsi body but also his spirit essence, the Heavy Xuan Ruler. Parts of it melted and some held on, like it''s handle, bits of the black material suddenly had a tinge of green color around. But point is, it''s melting. And this is the spirit essence of Xiao Yan so... Several moments later, Xiao Yan let out a scream of pain and agony that echoed around the dome and would have reached the heavens. Chapter 13 - 13: Trial by Fire(2) What I wrote here is what I''m currently feeling. I don''t feel well so don''t expect any chapters for two days. Peace and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Everybody! ¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C Pain. Extreme unimaginable pain and agony was all Xiao Yan felt as his body slowly burned and roasted till it looked as if it were charcoal. His entire clothes and equipment had turned to ashes, which had showed his b.a.r.e blackened and crisped red skin, all of his hair was gone and the only thing that was left on Xiao Yan that hadn''t melted or burned into ashes was his slowly cracking storage ring. The feeling of being burned alive was something a nine year old, even with the mind of a seventeen year old, could not handle. The smell of his flesh being burned and the pain from his body was too much for him causing him to screamed, no, shriek like a banshee. Fortunately or unfortunately, his screams had turned mute moments ago which made Xiao Yan closed his mouth and concentrated. He shouldn''t even lasted this long and would have already died if it weren''t for his Mysterious Heaven Skill unexpectedly breaking through and reaching second tier, when he was using it to heal himself the moment he was being roasted, something that was impossible until he would have his first spirit ring. Tang San was clear that for anyone, without a spirit ring, reaching the second tier would be impossible except if they have great experience and continuous usage in using the skill for years. For Xiao Yan to breakthough to the second tier of the Mysterious Heaven Skill was either a miracle or lady luck is finally noticing him. Either way, using the Mysterious Heaven Skill, Xiao Yan circulated his spirit power with it to heal his most vital burns. The reason on why he didn''t urge the Mysterious Heaven Skill to heal everything from skin to hair was simple, he didn''t want to waste too much spirit power. It''s been several hours since he was been like this and it wasn''t showing any signs. With the Mysterious Heaven Skill reached tier 2, it''s abilities in increasing the natural regeneration of his body doubled and the required spirit power for it lessened. This is what''s keeping him alive. That was why he couldn''t afford to move. For the slightest loss of focus would lead to him stopping the circulation of the Mysterious Heaven Skill and would immediately stopped healing his injuries. And so, he sat there. Alone and being burned alive for hours. Constantly feeling pain. Xiao Yan thought: ''W-Why am I doing this? Keeping myself alive I mean. I-I can''t handle this... I don''t want to experience this... I just want to feel safe and happy... I wasn''t prepared for this...'' ''I-I can just end it here and now... Even if I were to survive this, stuff like this would continue to happen to me.... The road to being strong and survival is filled with thorns and tribulations that are great pain in the a.s.s.... It''s too troublesome and painful to imagine.... I can just...'' Xiao Yan opened his eyes showing completely charred blackened empty eyes. ''Rest....'' "Brother Yan." "Xiao Yan-gege!" "Xiao Yan." "Idiot disciple." Tang San, Xiao Wu, Grandmaster and pain in the a.s.s old teacher. His two completely destroyed eyes narrowed and brightened in a unnatural greenish hue, the same colour green that have been gathering and assimilating themselves inside Xiao Yan. The green flame wisps of spirit power that had been passively swimming around in a lazy manner started to act violent. They converge around like a storm and in the center of that storm was Xiao Yan. The green flames started rotating around crazily like a tornado. It''s already hot temperature seem to raise once more that had caused the surrounding area to started melting like wax. And at the center of that tornado was Xiao Yan who''s charred blackened body started to glow. The pain and agony of being burned had magnified by ten times and even then, Xiao Yan was unexpectedly calm with his eyes glowing in a unnatural green color like his body. Strangely his Heavy Xuan Ruler by his side, also had been bathed in the green flames as long as him with only it''s handle and a thin part of it was left, suddenly glowed and was then incased in a cocoon like manner with it''s structure made out of the green flames a few moments later. Using everything he could control in his body, he forced his mouth to mouth and urged his Mysterious Heaven Skill to heal his vocal chords. Slowly, and though quiet enough to be a whisper, he said with a dry and rough voice: "H-Hehe... Y-You bastards... Even when I''m dying you won''t leave me be... D-Don''t worry, I ain''t gonna die today... Cause I ain''t dying again as a goddamn v.i.r.g.i.n!" Xiao Yan''s mouth then closed and what lips he had turned into a small smile. ''Wait for me...'' He then closed his eyes and the moment he did, the green flaming tornado surrounding him started to act violent once more and seconds later, he was incased in a ball cocoon of green flames. Unknown to Xiao Yan, the Green Lotus Core Flame that was once where he last saw it had mysteriously disappeared the moment him and his spirit essence was incased in a ball of green flames. Chapter 14 - 14: Curse of the Fiery Bright Forest Author''s Note: 2 chapters in one Enjoy and have a Happy New Year! FYI: I still don''t feel so good, so don''t expect a chapter tomorrow. ¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C Three Months Later... The sun shine brightly in the hot environmental forest called the Fiery Bright Forest. A young girl with long black hair, white jade-like skin and a cute face pouted. She wore a really worn out black hoodie cloak, the hood drawn back, and was b.a.r.e footed. She opened her little mouth and said: "Where is that pervert? It''s been months and I still haven''t spotted him. I know for a fact that he''s still within the forest, due to the fact I have left a spirit flame mark, but for the life me I can''t seem to pinpoint his location!?" The little girl continued to pout in frustration as she kicked a tiny pebble towards a tree. Which jaw droppingly destroyed it to smithereens, along with three more in it''s path, with the pebble stopping at the fourth deeply embedded on it''s balk. If anyone below the Spirit Elder cultivation or people who had no talent in being spirit masters were to witnessed such a scene, they would have immediately bowed down towards her in respect, administration and fear. The little girl gave a short huff before turning around and decided to return to her ''home'' to relax and try to find the pervert once more tomorrow. "I still didn''t return this to you yet..." The girl muttered. Holding tightly on the black cloak, her face cheeks turned a shade pink as she unconsciously let out a small pretty little smile, her thoughts returning to the first per¨Chuman she has ever interacted with since... ''Only this time I met a sane one.'' Her once childish expression pout turned cold as her black eyes turned a shade bright gold. The girl could still remember that insane human and his followers she met years ago. Worshipping a supposed bloodthirsty god, if it ever were real, to the point of wanting to sacrifice this forest and it''s inhabitants to show their fate and belief for the god. It was horrible. The girl could still remember the blood and corpses of the spirit beasts scattered all around the forest, staining all the blue silver grasses and trees color into red, not only that, but the malicious and evil energy of those evil spirit masters that had died was so powerful that even after a hundred years had passed that it had made their blood and the spirit beast''s blood that had died were ''mark'' in the forest. A curse. They had somehow put a curse upon the forest. They had made all the normal plants and trees and spirit beasts plant types to b.a.r.e the color of the blood that was spilled in the forest. To the present civilization of humanity, the color red being theme all throughout the forest was normal, they probably didn''t notice it or just thought of it as a mutation caused by the ''mysterious'' hundred thousand year old spirit, but to her and some others like other hundred thousand years old beasts and old monsters of the human race? This was not natural. The curse might not affect any of the normal animals, vegetation and spirit beasts now but someday it will. And it will lead to unnatural catastrophes. This forest is a blight from the natural order of the world. And the girl knew that if she does not get rid of this curse of the forest, the world laws might do something to it to get rid of the stain of the world. The girl gritted her teeth. She... She had tried her best. Her everything. Even sacrificing her ''true'' form to have the curse upon the forest to be ceased but to no avail, it had only delay the inevitable. That was the reason she had reincarnated into a human. In fact, it was just mere months ago that she became mortal. Though thankfully, her bloodline of her once spirit beast physiology had remained and the spirit essence she awakened was something she knew of prior with experience of usage. She can''t lose this forest. Not out of obligation or responsibility as the ''lord'' of the forest, but for it was her and her late parents'' home. This is where she and her parents grew up in and lived for thousands of years. They were the first inhabitants of this land and it wasn''t until she was fifty-thousand years old that other spirit beasts started to live in their land. This where she lived and this where her parents had died and lay. And there is nothing that will stop her in relieving the pain of the forest. The girl shook her head and momentarily put those thoughts at the back of her mind and concentrate at the present issue while walking towards her territory. The first sane human she has encountered. And the first perverted human she has ever come across. One day she was going around doing her own business, just taking a stroll in the forest n.a.k.e.d after taking a deep in a lake cause what human would be bold enough to wander in the Fiery Bright Forest at night and the spirit beasts around her doesn''t care about some human female b.a.r.e body, when she came across two brown furred moose that was going crazy. Anger filled her eyes for a moment as she thought back to the humans that dare came in her forest to create a mindless slaughter and thought that they came back. So, without any hesitation, she instantly summoned her spirit essence: Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame. One of the most rare and powerful flames in all existence which once belonged to her late father. Now passed down to her. With a burst of golden flames, she arrived at the two brown furred moose territory and was face to back with a black haired boy at the same age as her(physically) happily humming to himself while harvesting the first that she sworn were the property of the brown furred moose. ''Thief!'' She thought of the time. Although angered at the audacity of a human messing with one of her subjects? subordinates? she doesn''t what they are to her but even then, when they live in her forest they were under her protection(albeit a loosely based title). She quickly calmed herself and controlling her face to be a cold and emotionless expression. Completely forgetting the fact that she was n.a.k.e.d. She opened her mouth and asked, "Who are you?" "Why are you n.a.k.e.d?!" The girl sighed for the tenth time as she plopped down on the floor exhausted and bored. She was on the human''s tail when he mysteriously disappeared from her sight. She didn''t know what happen but a flash of light suddenly blinded her for a moment before the human had vanished. ''Should I just give up?'' The girl thought in frustration. Before once again shrugging it off. After all, if she wanted to get rid of the curse of the forest, why would she give up so easily? "Stupid human... Stupid perverted human... Stupid human... Stupid perverted human..." With nothing else to do, the girl decided to just summoned her spirit essence and shaped it into a golden sunflower. Blowing one of the flame petals at a time. "I''m soooo boooooreeeedddd...." The girl grumbled as she blow another flame petal out. "I wish something would¨C" Before she could say anything else, a giant pilar of green suddenly bursed out of the ground several meters away from her location, which had blown her away. "WHAT THE¨C?!" The girl hurriedly tried to find her ground but had trouble doing so as continues waved of wind¨Cno, steam blow at her. ''Huh, what is this?!'' The girl thought before covering herself with the heavenly flame. As soon as she covered herself she immediately went for cover at the top of a tree. As she sat top at a tree branch, she stared agape at the scene in front of her. A towering green light pillar of flames with a width of 10 meters appeared, continuing to bursed out of the ground till it reached the sky. Extreme waves of steam bellowed all around the light pillar. Causing everything around it to be hit by highly heated winds that had cooked an entire tree to charcoal in less than a single breath. Thankfully there wasn''t any spirit beasts around as this was her and late parents'' territory and as the lord of the forest, she specifically warned all of the spirit beasts in the forest to back off of her favorite spot. Suddenly, the pillar started to go down in size and lessened in it''s firepower. The waves of wind steams gradually calming down. However, the green flames just converged together in a vortex and compacted into a giant flaming ball. Several moments later, the green flaming ball, burst and out came a green jaded statue of a n.a.k.e.d human boy sitting cross-legged looking calm and yet also in pain. The girl gasped in surprise, as she knew the green jade-like statue, straining her head she gazed down and had asked quietly in surprisebut sadly it was said out loud. "Perverted human...?" Both of the hands of the statue suddenly shattered and clenched into fists, showing two smooth jade like skin, surprising the girl by the act. So much so that she had took a step back, that she unknowingly, hit the back of her head at the tree behind her. Holding the back of her head in pain. The girl stared back at where the green statue was and moments later witnessed further movement by the sudden turned statue of the human. Cracks formed further; from his arms, to his c.h.e.s.t area, the ends of his toes, and the scalp of his head. When those cracks appeared all around his body the temperature around him seem to rise and the surrounding vegetation seem to quickly turned to ashes. The girl further strained her neck and narrowed her eyes, completely unfazed by the sudden rise of heat around her as she had felt much more hotter heat than this, she gazed curiously at the appearance of the boy and his sudden rise of fire-power and wanted to observe. Suddenly, two green glowing eyes stared back at her causing her to momentarily flinched in surprise. A sound akin to glass breaking was heard and before the girl could look back she heard a ear piercing scream. Causing her to shield her ears than her eyes. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The girl stared, jaw dropping, in disbelief and embarrassment, not at herself, but for the boy''s b.a.r.e n.a.k.e.d and well developed body. As he continued to roar madly at the heavens, like they owed him something, while he spread his legs apart showing his ''sword'' with his clenched fists by his waist, making the girl consider shielding her eyes instead. His shoulder length long black hair with green tips seem to float in the air, somehow defying gravity, and the green flames around him to explode in strength. The girl blinked and thought to herself, ''What the hell am I seeing?'' Chapter 15 - 15: Metamorphosis, Second Awakening! Author''s Note: It''s short, I know, but I did this while my body is still not fully healed. I just did this because I had inspiration at the moment and if I do this by the time I''m alright, I believe I might forget all about it. So, enjoy the chapter and have a happy new year and please be safe y''all! Xiao Yan continued to madly roar at the heavens for seven minutes before stopping. He panted hardly, exhaustion clear on his face, but the wide bright smile on his face couldn''t be ignored. He... He did it! He survived! After so long of being isolated in a dark dome of earth and hot flames, along with constantly experiencing pain and agony of being roasted alive, he ,Xiao Yan, has survived and overcome this tribulation of being bathed flames. Xiao Yan felt tears acting up in his eyes before the heat of the green flames around him evaporated it. The torment of being alone for so long, with only the concentration of circulating his Mysterious Heaven Skill to keep him alive, had caused a variety of expressions to appear on his face. ''Finally, I am free...'' He thought with intense emotions. He then stared down at himself in wonder. He was amazed at the changes of his body, and his not talking about puberty, his muscles are more defined and hardened, especially his six packs! He didn''t notice it but... "How the hell am I¨CAH?!" Xiao Yan, who was floating on the air being supported by the Green Lotus Core Flame, suddenly dropped down to the ground face first. He didn''t know but when he had finally tamed the heavenly flame he subconsciously, by instinct, controlled it to let him up on the air by creating two fireballs under his feet that can make him rise from the ground up to the air. Now that he had gotten his mind and thoughts back to the real world he had unknowingly taken back control of his heavenly flame. His face on the ground, Xiao Yan mumbled as he tilted his head back. "Such misfortune..." He said with small tears appearing on his eyes, unknowingly repeating the same line of a certain black haired hedgehog would say when he encounters ''misfortune''. "Pfft¨C!!" Xiao Yan''s eyes widened, and without thinking, he summoned his spirit essence on his right hand and pointed it to where he heard the noise. The Green Lotus Core Flame appeared, swimming around him nonchalantly, but he knew that if he so much as think of danger to his life the flames would immediately protect him. He suddenly noticed something, different. He felt that his spirit essence was a weighed, less? The once black obsidian heavy xuan ruler was nowhere in sight of his hand. Instead, a badass four feet tall and a width of two fingers wide katana with green blade edge, 7 inched long metal handle with golden accents on the pommel that goes to where the edge would be. Lastly, a red silk ribbon tied around in the pommel with a key like object at the end. Green flames would sometimes flicker around the blade. Image. ''WHAT. THE. F.U.C.K?!!'' Xiao Yan thought with a variety of expressions flashing on his face. Mostly shock, confusion and awe. His spirit essence... HOLY SHIT!! From a piece of huge black crap that need a huge a.s.s of an effort and time to kill someone or something, had turned into a beautiful piece of badass weaponry that can actually slice and dice someone, or something, that can also make him look cool. Xiao Yan decided, that this was THE BEST. DAY. OF. HIS. LIFE! Even if a thousand or even a ten thousand years old spirit beast were to show up, it wouldn''t down his mood. Yup, the day is going to be great! "Uh, perverted human...?" A soft and delicate voice interrupted Xiao Yan from his thoughts. Causing him to look back at where he pointed his sword''s tip and was immediately shocked to see, "AH! YOUR THAT PSYCHO BITCH!!" Xiao Yan lowered his sword and used his other hand to point at the appearance of a girl, his age wearing his black hoodie cloak and was b.a.r.e footed, looking at him like a deer would by a headlight. Anger and fear could be seen on Xiao Yan''s face. He could still remember how he was being chased all over the forest like how wolf would to a scared little rabbit. He should be more scared as he was helpless the last time he met her. However, the anger he felt towards her overpowered that. The girl, meanwhile, had a confused and shocked at first before changing into a furious scowl. "HUH?! WHO ARE YOU CALLING CRAZY!? AND I''M NOT A DOG!!" Chapter 16 - 16: Ready, FIGHT! Author''s Note: Holy shit. Even with a slight fever and weakened body. I still have the energy to update as I noticed that the story collection had hit the 1k mark! Yay! So, to celebrate such a great occasion, I decided to write another one! Especially a long one. So, comment, review and tell me if you spot any misspellings, grammar mistakes or a missing word. Without further adieu, enjoy the chapter! ¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C ¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C A nine year old boy and girl stared at each other in anger at one another. The boy, n.a.k.e.d like the day he was born, had green flames swimming all over him in a protective manner. A long green blade edge katana was on his hand, he tightly hold onto it''s handle, all the while controlling the green lotus core flame around him to surge it''s heat. One thing that came good out of his months of torment was getting flame immunity. Well, flames that are under the heavenly flames but with how rare it is, it could be said that his totally immune by fire attacks. (A/N: Welp, good luck!) The girl, who was clothed completely with ''his'' black hoodie cloak, had her black shining eyes instantly turned to the color of gold. Wait, when was her eyes colored black? Xiao Yan shook his head before staring back at her, clenching his right hand that wielded the handle of his new spirit essence even more, he had not noticed the spirit mark at the back of his right hand glowing very vibrant green. The temperature around the girl also seem to rise at the same level as his, which caused Xiao Yan''s eyes to widened in surprise, ''her'' cloak seem to flutter around as if there were some wild wind blowing around her. She took out her arms under the black cloak, showing two delicate and jade like skin, clenching and unclenching both of her fists two golden basketball sized fireballs appeared on top of her palms. Xiao Yan''s eyes seem to almost popped out of it''s sockets as he felt the heat coming from her had affected him. ''N-No shitting way! Her flames shouldn''t be this hot! There''s no other flames that can surpass mine unless...'' The conclusion of what he thought had to come to a pause. As the little girl in front of him started to walk towards him. Staring at her angered cute little face, despite the feeling of dread and helplessness coming back to bite him in the a.s.s, Xiao Yan couldn''t help but open his mouth to further dig deeper into the hole he had unknowingly dug. ''I should really listen to Tang San. Learn of your enemies before provoking them. This situation really was the perfect advice for it. But, it''s strange...'' Staring at those golden fiery eyes of hers seem to tug something deep inside of Xiao Yan. It wasn''t his heart, that''s for sure. He might be shameless, an asshole, schemer and whole lot crap but he ain''t a lolicon. He can appreciate the beauty of girls and l.u.s.t after some of the women who are at the right age of eighteen and more but he won''t go after lolis. For the reason was, they just can''t make him have his heart beat faster nor have l.e.w.d thoughts. He might be a man of culture but he ain''t someone who like little girls, simple as that. Also, he''s nine years old. His hormones didn''t get to both of his head at this point of time and having the mind of a seventeen year old had made him more m.a.t.u.r.e than to get fl.u.s.tered by little girls. Anyways, back to the topic. The tugging inside Xiao Yan''s heart wasn''t something he had ever felt before. This hadn''t happened back when he first met her. So, why? Why was it that he keeps getting more emotional the more he interact with the girl? It was like, he knew this girl. He knew her before coming into this world. Heck, it was like... Shaking his head to get his mind out of the gutter, Xiao Yan readied his katana by the side and narrowed his eyes. Even though he felt his back was entirely covered in sweat. His eyes focused on the girl walking towards him. ''15-20 feet? Shit. She''s not in my range. Looks like I''m just gonna wait for her.'' There it was again. The sudden tugging inside of him seem to hasten at the thought of him hurting her. Xiao Yan''s sharpen as he thought. ''Who are you...?'' Unknown to Xiao Yan however, the girl felt somewhat troubled as well. ''What is this? What is this feeling in my c.h.e.s.t? As if it were a fragile glass that would break the moment I seriously hurt this perverted human...'' The girl felt the uncomfortable feeling in her c.h.e.s.t seem grow. She hadn''t felt this feeling before when she first confronted the perverted human back at brown furred moose''s territory. No. It started the moment he left that cocoon of a green flames. And no it wasn''t because that he was n.a.k.e.d or anything, it did however caused a massive blush to momentarily appear on her face before her statement at the human being perverted was more firm than ever in her mind, but when he suddenly appeared out of the ground with that happy smile of his, a sudden feeling of fondness seem to washed over her. In her all her years of living in this world, this was the first time that she felt this way. ''Who are you really...?'' She narrowed her at Xiao Yan and vowed to find out. Xiao Yan returned the look back at her before a confident smile appeared on his face, even though he was sweating but that wasn''t technically true as the heavenly flame would just vaporized it. He slightly tilted his head up and he arrogantly said: "Oh? You''re approaching me? Instead of running away, you''re coming right to me?" The girl halted for a moment as tick appeared on top of one her eyebrows and before Xiao Yan could say anything else, two purple shining circles appeared surrounding her. Xiao Yan''s mouth opened and he stared at the girl in front of him with disbelief and fear. He was going to apologize before he was suddenly cut off by the girl, who now continued walking towards him, saying with a heavy voice. "Why not? I can''t beat the shit out of you without getting closer." The moment the little girl said that Xiao Yan felt like he was hit by lightning. ''O-Oh, OH MY GOD!'' Xiao Yan''s eyes brighten in excitement as the smile on his face seem to be more natural than before. He raised his head a bit more higher and acting as arrogant as he ever could in this life and the previous, he stared at the girl with disdain and contempt which had gained him another tick mark from her. The heat coming from her seem to raised even more. Xiao Yan let out a smirk and said. "Oh ho! Then come as close as you like." Xiao Yan surged his spirit power towards his spirit essence and green flames suddenly burst to life from the blade, causing his smirk widened even more. The spirit mark at the back of his right hand glowed even more as it revealed the mark of a flame with a sword in the center of it. Suddenly a purple glow glowed around Xiao Yan, causing him to be momentarily surprise and shock before adrenaline rush to his head. ''I have said this once and I''m a gonna say it again, today is THE BEST. DAY. OF. MY. LIFE!'' Xiao Yan stepped forward as his flaming green sword had made the surrounding temperature to raise once more to the point of matching itself with the girl. She stopped just 10 feet away from Xiao Yan, now glaring at him as she look at his arrogant demeanor, and with a sigh she said. "Xun Er." "Huh?" Xiao Yan looked at the girl, Xun Er, confused. Xun Er rolled her eyes and merely stated. "My name." Xiao Yan eyes lit up in understanding and replied. "Xiao Yan." Xun Er nodded and without any hesitation, she urged the spirit power within her to strengthen her lower body and a moment later, she dashed towards him. The golden tendril flames behind her followed in succession. Now moving to drill itself at Xiao Yan. Xiao Yan chuckled as he also urged his spirit power towards his lower body to strengthen it and also circulated the Mysterious Heaven Skill to strengthen the rest of his body. The moment that they clashed, a great sound wave echoed from their attacks. Xiao Yan met her golden flames with his green flames. Xun Er with her golden flaming fists to his sword. His b.a.r.e n.a.k.e.d body against her cloaked covered body. Their battle, has officially began. Chapter 17 - 17: Xiao Yan vs Xun Er Author''s Note: I''m finally cured!! Yay! So, this is my first time writing a fight scene, I hope you all like it, and please take it easy on this author when you criticize it. Xiao Yan wielded his new spirit essence with both hands as he pressed it further down to the golden flaming fists of Xun Er. Her fists meeting his blade without fear as it punched every time he parry and thrust at her. He tsked, before leaping backwards to escape a golden flaming tendril that was aiming for his other ''sword''. Xiao Yan blushed in embarrassment and irritation. Embarrassment at himself for showing his birthday suit at a strange girl before, one that was nine years old for god''s sakes, and irritation at the continued attacks of golden flaming tendrils aiming for either his limbs or his ''sword''. As Xun Er was ready to pummel him with her fists and control her flames to attack him once more, Xiao Yan took out a white flag from his storage ring that unexpectedly is still intact. "TIME OUT!" Staring at Xun Er who was sending him a questioning look Xiao Yan merely spread his arm and raised both his eyebrows. Hoping that she got the message. She did not apparently as she continued on her assault at him. Her right hand fist turned into a palm and out came a seven feet tall golden flame palm hurdling itself towards where Xiao Yan stood. "Shit!" Xiao Yan cursed before using the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to take several steps back to dodged the attack. The flaming palm missed it''s target as it smashed itself into the ground, burning everything around it as it left a palm mark. Just as Xiao Yan felt relieve he suddenly felt an ominous vibe coming both his sides, and turning to his left he saw a golden flaming tendril coming straight towards him and without even turning towards the other he knew there was another tendril coming towards him. Without even thinking, Xiao Yan used Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track once more to dodged the coming flame attack from his left while he used his sword to block the other. He was able to dissipate the attack coming from his right, the other tendril however, managed to injure his left arm just as he dodged it. Leaving behind a small gash that spilled blood. Gritting his teeth Xiao Yan''s turned cold and sharp as he finally decided. ''Fine. You wanna play? Then let''s play.'' He stared as a wall made of golden flames appeared in front of him. Using his Purple Demon Eyes however, Xiao Yan was able to react in time to see Xun Er coming down towards him with her left leg completely covered in flames. Dropping an axe kick on him. Unfortunately for her, Xiao Yan block the kick by using his sword with one of his hands on the blade''s surface and the other on the handle. Bang! However, the force of the attack was unexpectedly powerful as it made a crater below Xiao Yan''s buckled legs. He could have sworn he heard something cracked. And it wasn''t his spirit essence. He gritted his teeth, the Green Lotus Core Flame was taken back inside his body so he could conserve his spirit power. Using the power of a heavenly flame isn''t free and easy after all. He lowered his sword towards himself, causing Xun Er to feel surprise for a moment and made her unbalanced, and that moment was used as Xiao Yan quickly used one of his secret moves. "AHHHH!! MY EYES!!!!" Xun Er whimpered as she covered her eyes in pain. Red dust could be seen around her eyes as she moved back in retreat. Red Hot Chili Pepper Powder. One of THE most effective solutions when fighting a strong enemy. Whenever you have the chance to throw this at them, you bloody throw it without any hesitation. Though some might ask about the rage like state the enemy might enter after you throw it at them, what would be your next move? Well, easier said than done as Xun Er had erected a protection circle of 10 feet tall walls of golden flames surrounding her. ''So much for that idea.'' Xiao Yan thought with a deadpanned expression but soon after realization hit his head. ''Yes! I can finally change!'' Sending a little spirit power towards his storage ring, he dish out a couple of clothes. And this aren''t just any regular clothes. These are something that took half the earnings that he got when he, ahem, borrowed some ideas from his old world and sold them here. ''I should have used them when I first arrived here but I guess I was being overconfident of myself of my survival skills.'' I thought dryly at my stupidity as these clothes of his could have save him the trouble of being hunted by a psycho loli. The reason why these clothes could have helped him was because these were made of thousands of years old materials from spirit beasts and metal. With most of the materials are of above seven thousand years old. Even a ten thousand years old spirit beast needs to at least attack three times at the same spot if it wanted the clothes to be damaged. He quickly wore the clothes which consists of a long-sleeved black coat with light green details including the shoulder epaulettes which has a brown Sam Browne belt passing diagonally over his right shoulder and two rows of gold buttons on the front. Along with that, he wears a pair of white gloves and a white web belt with a gold waist-plate. He also wears black uniform trousers and black boots which go over the trouser''s leggings. Overall, he looked badass. He swipe his sword and a purple spirit ring appeared around him. He stood still as he waited for Xun Er. He didn''t understand really. Of why is he doing this? What''s the point of fighting a girl the same age as him? Why can''t he just turned and walked away? Why can''t he just used the more deadly dirty skills and ''treasures'' that he has? Because he was curious. The tugging in his c.h.e.s.t. The deep pain he felt everytime he remotely hurt her or even think of hurting her, had made Xiao Yan curious beyond the thought of his self preservation. Because for the first time in this life and before, he felt a semblance of true... excitement. And Xun Er isn''t any different. As she wiped away the tears from her bloodshot golden eyes, which kind of made it look more intimidating, she let out a wide excited smile. She felt the blood inside her pumping hard, crying out loud for the battle in her to continue and shed more blood, she shook her head to try and calm her head. ''Damn it. My blood is causing me to lost myself in the battle.'' This was one of the reasons why she deliberately use more of her flames, even if the toll of spirit power exhaustion is catching up to her, her bloodline inside of her is making her lose more of her sanity. She wanted to quickly end their battle so she doesn''t end up killing him. When she lost her true form to try and relieve the forest''s agony, she had acquired her spirit beast''s bloodline. Which was fortunate and unfortunate. Though if she was honest, it was more of the latter. Even if her bloodline had granted her enhanced strength, speed, regenerative healing, and spirit power reserves than normal humans when she first didn''t have her spirit rings. The side affects of being lost in battle for blood for the opponent just overwhelmed those. The more she attacks and defend against someone makes her sanity go down the drain and all that left was the thought of blood. If Xun Er didn''t actively resist this urge, Xiao Yan would have already died by her hands. Though, that wasn''t all. *Heartbeat sound* *Heartbeat sound cause I forget it''s sfx words* Her right hand went towards her left c.h.e.s.t, clenching her hand into a fist and hovered it over where her heart lays. ''The other urge within me is also assisting me. As if, it was repulsed at the thought of hurting the perverted human, no, Xiao Yan in front of me.'' Xun Er tilted her head up to look where she thought Xiao Yan stood. Her eyes full of confusion, curiosity and mostly determination. Determination to find out the secret of the boy in front of her. Of what he means to her. "I will find out." Xun Er whispered as she let the hoodie of the cloak cover her head. Two purple spirit rings appeared and one of them shine brightly. The golden flames around her brighten as the temperature around her rose once more and this time, it was able to melt the ground around her to create lava. Xun Er''s shadowed face gave out a pair of crimson-gold eyes as she stared at the newly clothed Xiao Yan. In any ''normal'' circ.u.mstances she would have been surprise and asked how did he changed into new clothes so fast but she wanted to convey something to him. Something that can end this stupid battle of theirs. Xiao Yan gazed dumbfounded at the converging golden flames like a tornado like the one he made before but this time, it much bigger and more hot than his. He gulped in slight fear before looking at the center of the flame to find a cloaked figure. He stared at those intimidating fiery eyes of death for a couple of seconds before letting out a chuckle. ''Yeah, I understand.'' Xiao Yan took a stance wielding his katana with both hands he gathered almost every spirit power in his body to send it towards his sword. A purple spirit ring appeared and it shined brightly. [First Spirit Ring Ability: Flame Splitting Tsunami] "LET''S END THIS, XUN ER!" Although he didn''t get a vocal reply from her, he looked to see that the golden flames started to move wildly. Circulating the Mysterious Heaven Skill to his legs and used Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, Xiao Yan jumped three steps and immediately he appeared just a meter and half away from Xun Er. He jumped up to the air and brought down his sword towards Xun Er and she responded by raising both of her hands towards him, a golden wave of pure destruction coming his way. Xiao Yan yelled. "GETSUGA TENSHOU!!" And a equal wave of green flames was brought down towards the golden flames. The two heavenly flames met and a bright light consumed everything. ¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C Did you enjoy the chapter? Was it good? Bad? Please tell this author where he got wrong and help me improve on it. Next chapter is where he returns to Nouding Academy to meet his sworn siblings and teacher. Chapter 18 - 18: Im back bitches Author''s Note: I would soon re-edit some of my previous chapters so there wouldn''t be any confusion. Enjoy the chapter! Also, can anyone tell me on how to make the words go glitchy? I''ll forever be thankful! "San-gege, you think Xiao Yan-gege is alright?" Xiao Wu asked in worry as she nibble at a carrot she held on her hand. She and Tang San walked down the halls of Nouding Academy after their morning classes. Xiao Wu''s little delicate face had black bags under her eyes. Her face cheeks were swollen and eyes a little puffy and red. She was worried sick about her sworn brother. ''Its been three months already Xiao Yan, where the hell are you?!!'' Xiao Wu thought in frustration and pain for not finding a certain older brother figure. A boy with black hair and eyes, an average face and lean body shook his head with a smile but soon after had a small frown. He, the same as Xiao Wu, had bags and sunken expression of worry. "Honestly Xiao Wu? I don''t know. You and I both know that Xiao Yan can handle almost every hurdle tossed to him by the world around him. With the skills I taught him, and the knowledge of spirit beasts and herbs taught to him by grandmaster and his grandfather, I have full confidence of him surviving a forest all on his own. But hunting a spirit beast? Especially one governed by a legendary confirmed hundred thousand year old spirit beast? I... don''t know." Tang San admitted with difficulty. As confident as he was about his sworn brother''s self preservation skills, and his dirty tricks, even he would think twice to go to a spirit beast infested forest that not even the Spirit Hall would take control of. The Spirit Hall that had numerous hidden experts and would be the first to take any resources that they could, could and would not go near the Fiery Bright Forest. 50 years ago, after a decade of the news of a hundred thousand year old spirit beast living in the Fiery Bright Forest was confirmed, the Spirit Hall had immediately send out 3 Titled Douluos, 5 Spirit Douluos and 10 Spirit Sages to hunt the beast governing the forest. The party of experts didn''t even get a hundred feet near the forest when a huge black dragon appeared and decimated the entire party within several breaths. It was dangerous and was stupid of Tang San and Xiao Wu to let Xiao Yan go into the forbidden forest when they learned of such a thing. Especially Xiao Wu, she was more vocal and physical of her disapproval of him going. They had only let him go because he swore that if they didn''t, he would just sneak off Xiao Yan style. And being sworn siblings with Xiao Yan, they knew he meant using the secret booby traps and every dirty tricks in his hands. They had finally budged at the time because they threatened Xiao Yan as well that if he didn''t return alive, they will find a way to go to hell to dragged his sorry a.s.s back, and he knew what the two mean. That they would do everything in their power to dragged him back to them. Even as to go to hell for it. They knew that if he ever died he would go to hell for all the worry and grief he had given them. As well as all the crazy crap he did. They put too much confidence and faith on him, and it costed them a brother. The only reason they couldn''t go to the forest themselves to find him was because grandmaster had forbidden them before they could do so. Would they listen? Nope. Will the grandmaster stop them? Yes definitely. He might have lost one disciple, he wasn''t going to lose two more. Heck, he assigned two spirit ancestor mercenaries to keep them in the school, while he himself and a couple other mercenaries that he hired went to the forest once every week after a week of Xiao Yan''s disappearance. ''Teacher is as worried as us, or even more so, I hope they find him'' Xiao Wu sighed deeply before grabbing her head in frustration and yell out. "DAMN IT XIAO YAN-GEGE! IF YOU DON''T COME BACK, I''LL F.U.C.K.I.N.G SKIN YOU ALIVE!!" Xiao Wu stomped her right foot down on the ground, which caused web-like cracks, before storming off to the dining hall. Tang San sweatdropped before shaking his head in amus.e.m.e.nt and followed in suit. "Hais, I hope your alive Xiao Yan. Cause I''m not dealing with the berserker bunny." They both arrived in the dining hall first floor and ordered their meals and sat down on their table with the rest of their classmates. They asked if they need anything before shaking their heads for a no. Xiao Wu and Tang San was about to eat their meals before a large noise interrupted them. They turned towards the door of the dining hall to see it broken to pieces by a person''s leg. Xiao Wu and Tang San''s eyes widened and mouths agape as they see the person they were talking about. The person they had cried and worried for over three whole months. "I''M BACK BITCHEEES!" The douchebag, Xiao Yan, wearing some weird black military uniform, shouted out with a huge bright smile on his face. By his side was a beautiful girl wearing simple blue and white girl clothes yet instead of lowering her beauty, it instead intensified it. Which had resulted into mesmerizing all the boys, except Tang San, and some girls because of how cute and pretty she looked. But Tang San and Xiao Wu wasn''t focused on her as they set their eyes on the asshole who had a bright smile on his face and had both of his hand on his h.i.p.s. Before he could say anything else however, a brown haired missile had crushed onto him, causing him to stumble back to the ground worrying the girl by his who was about to use her spirit essence before Xiao Yan waved at her that he was alright. He looked down and ignored the pain of his bones breaking as he feel the pain of his heart breaking more than his bones as he gazed down to see a sleeping tear stricken face of Xiao Wu holding him tightly. As of she were to let go, he would disappear. "You''re alive... You''re alive... I''m sorry... I''m sorry..." For three whole months she was worried about her sworn older brother and had blamed herself for not stopping him. Months of nightmares of seeing him dead because of her had stressed her so much that she almost doesn''t sleep at all. And all that stress had finally caught up to her and had instantly slept the moment she hugged the person she cared for like a older brother. Xiao Yan hugged her back and didn''t say anything else. Suddenly, unknown force hit his shoulder, almost breaking the bone, and Xiao Yan turned to looked on who hit him with gritted teeth. He held back the pained scream that he felt from his almost broken shoulder, not wanting to wake Xiao Wu, he turned to see on which asshole had done that and promised to bring the pain on them. He turned and had choked the words he was about to say and immediately retract the thoughts he would say. He saw a crying Tang San sitting cross-legged by his side with his shaking fist still on his shoulder. "Welcome home, brother..." Tang San said. Xiao Yan returned Tang San''s smile with a calm and relieved one. A single tear slid down one of his eyes and he replied in a whisper. "Yeah, I''m back, brother..." Xun Er stood awkwardly by the side and thought. She had, for the first time, felt being a fourthwheel. "Umm, so should I even say anything at this moment?" Chapter 19 - 19: Questioning~ "WHAT?!" Tang San, Xiao Wu and Yu Xiaogang yelled out in shock as they stared Xiao Yan who was leisurely drinking tea. By his side was Xun Er who was currently reading on the ''History and Common Knowledge of Humanity to Today'' who also sipped tea. An entire day passed after a series of crying and punching Xiao Yan in either his two shoulders and face. Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang had came back half a day ago the instant news came to him that Xiao Yan had returned safe, though after he met Xiao Yan he immediately punched him in the face and hugged him afterwards and kept saying ''Stupid Disciple'' and ''I''m glad you''re back safe''. The party of five are currently inside the office of Yu Xiaogang. Each one sitting on top of a wooden chair with one wooden table between the trio and Xiao Yan and Xun Er. A set of five white porcelain tea cups and one black kettle was positioned on the table. Two of the cups were taken by the duo while the other three cups tea had been spilled by the sudden shake of force caused by three pair of hands that was brought down on the table. Hot tea were spilled and thankfully for the trio they had immediately utilised their spirit power to protect themselves from tea. But that still didn''t shake them off of their great shock at Xiao Yan. Yu Xiaogang especially, as he licked his lips and shakingly asked. "Y-You... What did you say disciple Xiao Yan? I didn''t quite catch it." Xiao Yan sipped his tea and afterwards put it down to the table. With a shit eating grin that caused Tang San, Xiao Wu and Yu Xiaogang to twitched their eyebrows in irritation. Xiao Yan opened his mouth and he said. "Everyone, I got my first spirit ring which is a 7,000 years old Green Lotus Core Flame. I also have dozens of refined ten year old Purification Fruits and three refined hundred year old Purification Fruits. Oh, and my spirit essence evolved as well." They stared. And he took the cup back the cup back and took a really slow slip of it. ''Hmm, this is some good tea.'' Yu Xiaogang practically flew towards Xiao Yan as he leaned his body to grabbed hard of his disciple''s two shoulders which had caused the tea he had drunk to spill and was about to complain but Yu Xiaogang beat him to it. "HOW?!" He shouted with fervor. The dim light that was always in his eyes had brighten once more. This was what Yu Xiaogang, no, grandmaster was. A unparalleled spirit researcher who wandered through villagers, spirit beasts infested forests and libraries all across the land to know and understand all things spirit related. Spirit rings as well. About their limits and advantages on which specific spirit master systems to choose. And he just stumbled upon the surprise his third disciple has given him, a whole new world view for him to learn. "You have a Heavenly Flame as a spirit ring? How?! Wait. All spirit beasts is capable of giving a spirit master a spirit ring as well as plant types, so is it really possible for a heavenly flame to do so as well? They are flames created by the acc.u.mulation of spirit power given by the world and a piece of the heavenly will for hundreds, thousands, ten-thousand even for hundreds of thousands of years!" "It was said that with enough time, heavenly flames would a kind of flame body, which possesses intelligence that belongs to itself, is what we call a ''Fire Spirit.'' Its intelligence should be comparable with only the most powerful hundred thousand year old spirit beast that has the ability to freely transformed into a human form. Of course it was a myth created by some ancient alchemists thousands of years ago but we can''t completely rule out the possibility." Yu Xiaogang then let go Xiao Yan, who was now staring at grandmaster with a fascinated expression, he then started to rub his chin in deep thought. "Does your heavenly flame have the potential to create a fire spirit? Will it grow stronger as well with you? So many questions..." He muttered, ignoring the four pairs of eyes from Tang San, Xiao Wu, Xiao Yan and Xun Er, who put down her book to stare at grandmaster in wonder. Yu Xiaogang turned to Xiao Yan and asked. "Also, can you show your spirit essence? I want to see it for myself of what happened to it." Yu Xiaogang''s eyes brighten once more, like a made scientist, he rubbed his chin and stared in focused at the green edged katana. "Amazing! Your spirit essence had undergo a second awakening!" Xiao Yan merely blinked and nodded. He already had his suspicion and his teacher had just confirmed it. Someone who had read the Douluo Dalu series had already understand what second awakening was. But the others showed a confused expression. Xun Er lightly raised her right hand and asked. "Second awakening?" Yu Xiaogang nodded and replied with much more vigor and excitement that he ever showed before. "Yes. Second awakening is something unique to a Body Spirit. It refers to an evolution in the Spirit. It also means that a Body Spirit can evolve one level higher than others. But that doesn''t solely mean that only body related spirits can have a second awakening, as you can see from Xiao Yan." "Body spirits?" The three asked but Yu Xiaogang quickly explained it to them on what it was and they soon nodded in understanding.(Author''s Note: This is Douluo Dalu 1. I ain''t about to dive this fanfic into part 2) "Xiao Yan, your spirit essence probably undergo a second awakening when you were assimilated with the heavenly flame am I correct?" It still amazed Xiao Yan that Yu Xiaogang could deduct on things spirit related so quickly that he had already known on how and when his spirit essence was undergoing second awakening. Yu Xiaogang hummed in return and continued. "Can you tell me it''s spirit ability?" Xiao Yan trusted everyone in the room and nodded in confirmation. "Sure. My first spirit ring ability is; Flame Splitting Tsunami. It''s ability is to gather a certain amount of spirit power and heavenly flame in the blade for an indefinite amount of time before releasing a instant tsunami wave of flame attack at where I attack." Yu Xiaogang nodded and with small smile he said. "Hm! Although not a lot of people would say that it''s a very versatile skill, with a drawback of constantly using it can quickly exhaust your spirit power reserves, but it can be very powerful and with your fighting style? Distract your enemies and use that moment to take them out in a single devastating attack? It fits you perfectly." Xiao Yan replied with a predatory grin as he brought his spirit essence high and sending a small amount of spirit power, he turned to the group and said. "It''s not only that teach, watch." A green light blinded them for a moment before the once long katana turned bulky and black. It''s height had increased twice and its width five times more wide and bulky. Everyone, except Xun Er, dropped their jaws in astonishment and shock. Tang San was the first one to raise the question on everyone''s mind. "Xiao Yan, is that still your first spirit essence?" Xiao Yan nodded smugly in return. "...How?" Xiao Yan smirked and said. "I don''t know." Tang San, Xiao Wu and Yu Xiaogang practically face faulted at the response while Xun Er sighed in sympathy, as she too had received the same response when she asked him when they ended their battle three days ago at her forest. Yu Xiaogang quickly shook his head and with a serious expression he asked Xuao Yan. "Are you sure?" Xiao Yan replied with a serious expression. "Yeah, I''m pretty sure." Grandmaster sighed before putting the matter at the back of his mind and asked the last thing that Xiao Yan surprised them with. "Okay, then, what were you talking about some refined purification fruits?" Xiao Yan unsummoned his spirit essence and using his storage ring he took out three pellets on top of the table. Causing everyone to show a confused expression. Xiao Yan waved his hand towards the pellets and asked. "Everyone. You know what are purification fruits are right?" Everyone nodded in confirmation. "Well this three pellets here are refined purification fruits that was refined and purified, pun intended, by a heavenly flame to maxed out it''s potential effects on the ones who eats them." Everyone''s eyes widened and feel that today was truly a day full of shock and surprises and that they should get used to it because it was Xiao Yan causing them but it was hard to do so. Xiao Wu then perked up a question that should have been asked a little while ago. "Okay I get that you went in a really great adventure and got great benefits from it but what I really want to is..." She turned to faced a blinking Xun Er who was under the gazes of three pairs of eyes. "Who the hell is she?" Xiao Yan blinked and turned towards Xun Er who also turned to faced him and simultaneously, the two blinked and turned to the trio and replied. "She''s Xun Er/I''m Xun Er." Xiao Wu''s eyebrow twitched and asked once more. "No, what I mean is, what is she to you?" Xiao Yan blinked and paused for a moment before replying. "She''s a... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... friend." ¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C Chapter 20 - 20: Old Man Lao "...She''s a friend of mine." Xiao Yan said with slight hesitation. Honestly speaking, he didn''t know what she is to him. Xun Er, after their battle that ended in a draw with some small burns and cuts, decided to follow him because she was curious of the outside world, though mostly at him but Xiao Yan didn''t know that. Although she didn''t said it out loud, Xiao Yan knew that she was a hundred thousand year old spirit beast reincarnated into a human, cause, what kind of parents or any sane person leaves a genius nine year old with two purple rings and a heavenly flame spirit essence in a spirit beast infested forest? Or better yet, how did she survive and communicate with him properly at the moment? If she lived in this forest for all her life then doesn''t that mean she hadn''t received any knowledge of the world? Which includes language and communication. Xiao Yan wanted to refuse her as it''s obvious that she would be trouble in the future when Xun Er opened her mouth and said. "Decide later, first, we need to go now. Ten thousand year old spirit beasts are coming here." Xiao Yan froze at that moment and silently cursed. Of course spirit beasts would notice their battle of flames. Even if he didn''t trusted her, it was just obvious that there would be someone or something to investigate a battle that had involved large amount of spirit power and powerful flames gathered in one area. Staring at Xun Er, he knew that they had only came at this moment because they were being vigilant and fearful at the lord of the forest territory at the start. They didn''t dare to take a step until one of them decided to be smart and took a sniff. Which they immediately smelled was not one spirit beast against a human in their lord''s territory. But TWO humans in a now vacant territory. Even an idiot would know that staying still would result in them being slaughtered by dozens of ten thousand year old spirit beasts. His only hope of escape was Xun Er, someone who was very knowledgeable about the forest''s routes for escape. And so, after eating what remaining pills he had and given some of the rest to Xun Er to recover their strength, the two of them escape the forest unscratched and Xiao Yan couldn''t deny the request of having her tag along with him cause she did help him escape. ''Also...'' Taking a small glance at Xun Er, who was sipping tea once more, he thought to himself, ''... I''m also quite curious about you Xun Er. Your one of the many anomalies that I have found in this world since I was reborn. I wonder, will you be an ally of mine in the future, perhaps even more? or an enemy?'' Xiao Yan then took a sip of tea as well. "This is really nice tea." "By the way Xiao Yan-gege." Xiao Wu turned towards him as she mysteriously took out a carrot out of nowhere and took a bite out of its tip. "Hmm?" Xiao Yan arched an eyebrow towards Xiao Wu as he continued to sip on his tea. "Have you already tell your grandpa that your alive¨C" "PFFT---!!" Xiao Wu didn''t even get to finish asking as she, Tang San and Yu Xiaogang who were just inspecting the refined purification fruits, were completely doused in warm tea. The trio with deadpanned and bemused expressions blinked their eyes as they stare at roughly coughing of Xiao Yan who was getting back pats from a rather concerned Xun Er who immediately put down her tea cup to the wooden table. "Xiao Yan are you alright?" Xun Er asked with a slight frown. "Cough! T-Thank you Xun Er¨CCough! Y-Yeah¨CCough! I-I think I''m fine now..." Xiao Yan thanked Xun Er for her concern and help for him before waving her that he was now fine. Turning towards his two sworn siblings and teacher, with a grim expression set on his face and the light in his eyes turned a little dim, he took a deep breath and with serious voice he said. "No." Tang San wiped the tea from his face with an irritated expression and said. "Well, you''re dead. May you rest in peace." "Yeah! You''ve seen the state we were in when we thought that you were missing. Although we looked better than yesterday, except for teacher as he still looks like an undead, think about the state of your grandpa would be in right now? Fortunately for us that we know and see that your alive and well. But for him? Think about it Xiao Yan-gege." Yu Xiaogang nodded to everything Xiao Wu had said as he wiped the tea out of his face, including looking like an undead part as he truly did looked like one and besides he had heard worse before, and turned towards Xiao Yan with a sharp and serious expression. Making Xiao Yan guilty and ashamed. He opened his mouth and only said one word. "Go." Xiao Yan nodded. Finishing his tea he stood up and turned towards the door to walked out before noticing a set of footsteps behind him. Looking behind him, he stare at a very curious and concerned Xun Er. He first thought of asking her to stay but thought otherwise as he would be leaving her in the company of three strangers to her. Even though he trusts them, Xiao Yan doesn''t have the heart to leave a, maybe, socially inept girl in the company of others. Without saying he continued walking towards the door alongside Xun Er. "I hope the old man''s okay..." Walking down the halls of the academy Xiao Yan couldn''t help but mutter in concern. "I''m sure he is fine Xiao Yan. Let''s just visit him and find out shall we?" Xun Er replied to him, hoping to calm him down. He turned to her and with a small smile he said. "Yeah. I bet his just relaxing in his store and doing absolutely nothing." "ACHOO! Ah, is someone talking about me?" A late twenty or early thirties aged man with long white hair suddenly sneezed out of nowhere and looked around in confusion as if searching for the one who was talking about him. He wore white robes the same color as his hair, with purple accents, he had a pair of red eyes that seemed to hold numerous secrets and knowledge but buried them deep. (AN: It''s been a while since I read the novel of BTTH and since I like the art from the manhwa I decided to go with it.) He sat down on the floor of the second floor of his store and house. A pharmacy store that only had two floors with no bas.e.m.e.nt. On the first floor was a front room where he sells medicine, herbs, pills and treats patients. And a back door where he concocts medicine and pills. On the second floor was where he lived and his... grandson. He turned to the side as an incense and a picture of a nine year old was set up on the floor front door of it''s owner''s room. With tears forming on his eyes he dabbed a tissue to his eyes and sneezed into it. "Oh, my disciple! Oh how I have failed you! How can this teacher of yours face you when I also meet my end? Should I be happy at the reunion? Sad? Angered? Or ashamed as I have used some of your savings to buy ingredients for my pills? Nah. I didn''t regret doing it. Oh why did you leave me so soon?!" The white haired man tried to keep it together with himself but alas he couldn''t. Tears streaming down his face he wailed out in sadness. Unknown to the white haired man. Two small figures appeared behind him with differing expressions. Xun Er stared in disbelief and great amount of amus.e.m.e.nt as she tried to withheld the coming blown out laughter at the man who was supposed to be worried sick and concerned for his grandson and not already written him off dead and ''borrowed'' some of his savings. Which by the way was standing besides her with a deadpanned and disdainful expression looking at his grandpa. Xiao Yan slowly walked towards his grandpa''s back. He clenched and unclenched his fist as if he were deciding on something but was having doubts. "Old man..." The white haired man froze and slowly he turned to see a sight he never thought he would get to see once more. "YAN-ER!!" His gloomy and pathetic face instantly turned a one-eighty as it became bright and sunny. He spread his arms wide and stood up to meet his alive grandson. "Come and hug your grandpa Lao!" Xiao Yan didn''t comply to his request as his shadowed eyes turned to stare at his grandfather''s brightly red eyes and asked with a somewhat deep and serious tone. "How much?" "Hm? Spend what?" "How. Much. Did. You. Spend?" "..." "..." "... All of it?" Xiao Yan cracked his knuckles and started a brawl with his grandpa. Xun Er couldn''t hold it and laughed hard at the antics of this grandson and grandpa duo. ¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C Author''s Note: I''m not gonna post any chapters this weekend, probably. Cause I need to refresh myself with the Douluo Dalu part 1 series as I only have manhwa level knowledge about it now. Also: HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!!! WOOO!!! Chapter 21 - 21: Men of Action "Ow, damn brat. You got stronger again didn''t you?" Grandpa Lao asked in indignation. Biting his lips in pain as Xun Er help patch him up with his medical ointment, that he made, on his face. "And you didn''t have to target my face Yan-er." "I so do. That''s revenge for spending my money without my permission." Xiao Yan turned towards his grandpa with a twitching eyebrow. "As well for the past injustice you did to me and the wounds you inflicted me just now old man¨COWW! Xun Er? Why?!" He then turned towards his friend who also helped patch him up. The girl in question had a small angry pout on her face as she bandage the b.a.r.e upper body of Xiao Yan. Funnily enough after seeing him in his birthday suit once has made her kinda immune at seeing his b.a.r.e n.a.k.e.d skin. Though that doesn''t mean she didn''t get fl.u.s.tered. Showing the slight pink on her cheeks. She''s a growing girl after all, they start being curious at this age. "Don''t fight. You two are family so no fighting." Xun Er simply said. Slapping medical ointment on his back. Xiao Yan''s body jerked for a moment and tears started to formed in his eyes. He gritted his teeth to bite back the hiss that was about to come out of his mouth. The brawl between the old and young was both funny and pathetic. They punched and kicked each other''s bodies for an entire half an hour and what would have at first been the young one that would come out with small injuries, the old one was one who prevailed. In short, old grandpa Lao had come out in top with almost to no injuries and Xiao Yan was beaten to black and blue. Xiao Yan and grandpa Lao looked at each other in the corner of their eye and had immediately burst out laughing. So much so that Xiao Yan was rolling around in the floor and grandpa Lao was now roughly coughing and laughing. Xun Er''s expression turned red in embarrassment as well as utter confusion as she stared agape at the duo. "Your wrong Xun Er." Xiao Yan stopped still on the floor and turned his head to Xun Er with a rueful smile. "W-What?" She stuttered. Confusion still plastered on her lightly embarrassed face. She still couldn''t understand of what was going on. And the tugging inside her c.h.e.s.t didn''t help her case when she looked at the smiling Xiao Yan. "Your wrong little girl." Grandpa Lao stopped coughing/laughing and also turned to stare at Xun Er, momentarily glancing at Xiao Yan and back at her, a soft gentle smile was set on his face. An air of wisdom and old age seem to give off his body, making Xun Er slightly understand why he was Xiao Yan''s grandfather. Truly, don''t judge a book by it''s cover... "For other families in our situation, or people in general who had lost their loved ones and found out that their alive, they expressed their relief and joy in words and a whole lot of drama. For us, however, we expressed our emotions through actions." Grandpa Lao''s back straighten, and with that same smile on his face, despite looking as a forty year old man, he looked as if a wise old man giving out life advice. The respect and awe Xun Er has for him has elevated to that of true elders. Grandpa Lao stared at Xun Er for a moment before going at Xiao Yan, who smiled back at him and nodded, and went back to Xun Er. "That is how I have lived my entire life, and how I raised Xiao Yan. We may have great minds, bravery, way of words, great amounts of talent¨C" ''....Oh god, so that''s how he got his shamelessness from...'' Xun Er''s eyes turned blank as she stared at the smiling, somewhat young, old man and the nodding boy who now sat at her side. All the respect and awe she had for him had immediately faded away. Xiao Yan continued on where his grandpa left out. "But we are men of action. When the enemy is talking about their great plans, we immediately go for the kill. Of course when there''s a way for peace we go for that option but if that doesn''t work? Well, better go run and hide, cause we''re coming." His eyes and smile turned a little to Xun Er''s eyes. Causing her body to tensed. ''W-What''s going on? His eyes.... Their not normal! It''s almost as if they hunger...'' Suddenly, she felt a small shiver down her spine. Turning to his grandpa Xun Er almost let out an ''epp!'' at the similar sight of grandpa Lao''s expression. ''T-That''s... I-I think I finally understand why Xiao Yan wanted to fight against me that time at the forest. It was because he was raised by this psycho!'' Realization was on Xun Er''s eyes. She couldn''t help but feel pity for Xiao Yan. Poor guy. Being raised by someone like that... And at such a young age to be corrupted... Suddenly, though, Xun Er felt that this situation was kinda familiar to her for some reason. "Achoo!" A black dragon suddenly sneezed. Waking itself up from it supposed long and deep sleep. Looking around him in vigilance he was confused for a moment before, to what seems to be, shrugging it''s shoulders and fell back to the cool and rejuvenating lake. Shrugging, she took a quick glance at Xiao Yan before looking away. A tick mark appeared on top of Xiao Yan''s right eyebrow as he stared blankly at the now frowning Xun Er, pity in her eyes, as she stared at him for a moment before turning away. He felt his other eyebrow producing another tick mark. Just as was about opened his mouth, a sudden noise of door opening was sounded from their side. The trio was inside the room of grandpa Lao, said grandpa was now holding onto a tea cup and was just moments away from drinking from it, when the door of the room suddenly opened forward with great force, almost breaking itself apart. There, at the front of the now opened door, was a little girl with light purple hair colour and green eyes, she''s also the same age as Xiao Yan. The girl was wearing a pale white dress. She was not extremely beautiful but could be called an uncommon beauty. Her lightly smiling face emitted a fresh aura that was unique and greatly increased her charm. But the puffy and bloodshot eyes and weakly looking appearance seemed to show a weakly sick person. Xiao Yan however ignored all this, and with his right arm raised, he called out to the unknown girl. "Xiao Xi Yian! Hey how you been?" Xiao Yan asked with a smile. Xiao Xi Yian. Xiao Yan''s childhood friend and also first friend when they were six years old. Although their surname may look and sound alike, truthfully, they are not. For the Xiao in Xiao Xi Yian is the meaning of "little", the Xiao in Xiao Yan however, is "within". They had met during the awakening ceremony in the only Spirit Hall in the city. Because the both of them were adopted by two sole pharmacists in the city, this small common thing about themselves, had caused the spark of curiosity to appear in them. When they had both awakened uncommon, but definitely not powerful, spirit essences and small amount of spirit power, the sparkle of curiosity continued until, before they knew it, they became friends. While Xiao Yan had awakened the Heavy Xuan Ruler, Xiao Xi Yian had awakened an unknown spirit essence capable of controlling poison. Because of how crude and fearsome his spirit essence is, Xiao Yan wasn''t able to make friends, but it was mostly because he didn''t want to make friends with side characters and arrogant young masters. Xiao Xi Yian was the same boat as him. Which quickly firmed their friendship into best friends. Even though they both choose different professions in the future, Xiao Yan wanted to be a tool spirit master and Xiao Xi Yian wanted to be a doctor, their relationship stayed the same. They supported each other with everything that they can do without asking the other for compensation. They were as close as siblings at this point or perhaps... Which makes the following the scene understandable. Xiao Xi Yian''s raised left arm slowly lowered as her eyes landed on the person that had called her name. "Oh, sorry for not dropping by at the moment. I was just meeting up with my old man here and¨C" He didn''t get to finish saying what he wanted to say as a pair of small and thin arms wrapped themselves around his waist. A fragrance of numerous unknown medical herbs assaulted his sense of smell. Xiao Yan froze at the sudden intimate act before blinking his eyes and narrowed his face in confusion. Looking down he saw the trembling figure of Xiao Xi Yian hugging his waist and almost called out "Huh, d¨¦j¨¤ vu?" but stopped himself. As he felt the clothing on his c.h.e.s.t area being damped. "Y-Yan... *sniff and sobbing sound* Yan... *sniff and sobbing sound* I''m so... glad that your back... *sniff and sobbing sound* Please... don''t leave Xi Yian again..." Whispered muffled words traveled across the room as everyone in the room is a spirit master, and although they weren''t near her like Xiao Yan was, they still clearly heard her. Xun Er closed her eyes and took a sip in the tea cup she was offered with by grandpa Lao. Both ignoring the scene near them. Xiao Yan''s expression turned soft and pained at the same time. As his eyes watered and were on the verge of letting out a dam. Slowly, he pulled the girl to him, further in a tight but comforting embrace, and with a slightly hoarse voice he softly whispered to her ears. "I''m back..." Chapter 22 - 22: Plans for the future Xiao Yan retold the events and changes that had happened to him to his grandpa and his friend Xiao Xi Yian, after being unconscious for two whole hours. Which to be expected, shocked them silly, especially his grandfather when he heard he had a heavenly flame as a spirit ring. ''Wait until you find out about a heavenly flame being a spirit essence of someone.'' Xiao Yan thought amused as glanced at Xun Er. During those couple of hours Xiao Yan, Xun Er and grandpa Lao had some small talk. With grandpa Lao reintroduce his real name to Xun Er being; Yao Lao. Xiao Yan then explained the current situation of the girl besides him, Xun Er who was staring confused aback at the sudden glaring of Xiao Xi Yan, that she was an orphan who was left in the forest for an unknown amount of time and she was one of the reasons she was even still alive, although she was the main reason why he disappeared for an entire three months. Well, what Xiao Yan have known about his grandfather, he shouldn''t have been surprised. He accepted her as his other disciple. After that, Xiao Yan asked Xiao Xi Yian''s well being, cause it was clear that she was showing the same condition as his sworn siblings, teacher and if he didn''t lived and been raised by his grandfather he would have said he wasn''t worried him but Xiao Yan noticed the small details of make up and scent of medical pills. Having been around and concocting medical pill, when he was able to manipulate his spirit power, his sense of smell is more powerful than most spirit masters as it''s one of the needed skills to concoct pills. If it weren''t for the two extra inhabitants in the room; Xun Er and Xiao Xi Yian, he would have already knelt down to his grandfather and cry out a river and apologize for being a unfilial grandson. Shaking his head to push it to the back of his mind, Xiao Yan looked at Xiao Xi Yian pouting and said that it was mostly because of him that she currently looked like this. Xiao Yan showed a pained and guilty expression and quickly apologize for being an idiot for worrying her. Xiao Xi Yian accepted the apology, only if he came to her house to play, and Xiao Yan complied with a nod. Yao Lao and Xun Er stared at the amusing scene with an equally amusing smiles on their faces. Yao Lao then shook his head and asked his grandson. "So, what are you going to do now?" This question immediately garnered Xiao Yan''s attention as he stopped in his track of having a conversation with Xiao Xi Yian. Yes, what is he going to do now? Xiao Yan kept asking himself that question since the day he was reborn. Creating a business that can give him a net worth of 5,000 gold spirit coins every week, and is still steadily growing, so for when the time came when he and his friends needed some equipment, well, he can just buy some or buy materials for Tang San so they can build their own custom equipment. ''Hmm... Should I try to recreate some battle armor? Tempting but even if I can create those, do I even have the time? The intelligence and materials to do so? Hmm... yeah out of the picture.'' Xiao Yan thought to himself. Yao Lao, Xiao Xi Yian and Xun Er sat in silence as they stared at him contemplating about his next plans for the future. Being a alchemist, well, apprentice alchemist since he was only able to create half-step 1st tier pills by using spirit tools to help him concoct such pills. He first he wanted to be a blacksmith like what every main characters in the entirety of the four gen Douluo Dalu series. But he quickly found out that he didn''t have any affinity with it. It wasn''t because he didn''t have any talent for it but it was just that feeling that a hammer and being in a forge? Didn''t sit right to him. It was like something inside of him was repulsed at the idea of being a blacksmith. Which garnered the attention of his grandfather and soon after that? He became his apprentice/disciple or whatever it was.(AN: Seriously though, what''s the difference between those two?) Also, with him being an alchemist he would be able to provide his friends pills that can help them replenished their spirit power, increased their natural regenerative healing, increased in their abilities of attack and defense and most importantly helping them when they need a breakthrough in their cultivation. ''Seriously. Why didn''t any of those reincarnated or transmigrated people, from some fanfics that I read before dying, that decided to come here didn''t chose the profession of being an alchemist? Didn''t they read any Wuxia or Xianxia novels before? How a single pill could have help them overcome their enemies by getting a boost? Or when they hit a bottleneck in their cultivation they can use such pills to breakthough? They must''ve thought that being reincarnated or transmigrated here in Douluo Dalu they would have hit a bottleneck in the near future unless they wished for something from an omnipotent being? Or were they so arrogant to think that just because they were chosen to be reincarnated or transmigrated into another world that they would have no trouble in their cultivation?'' Xiao Yan scoffed in his mind at those idiots before shaking his head. ''Hmph, well its fanfic anyway, it''s where stories that only has one rule: anything goes unless you shamelessly stole a story and say that it''s yours or stealing other characters and their backstories from other stories with their own respective authors.'' Truly, they are shameless people. ''Wait, I''m getting off track.'' Xiao Yan continued to think of any moves he needed to do before realization hit him. "I''ll just continue what I''ve been doing." With a casual smile on his face. Xiao Yan turned towards his grandpa Lao who was sporting a small smile before giving a nod to his grandson. While the other two in the room looked at each with confusion clear in their eyes. Xiao Yan didn''t missed the confusion in their eyed and clarified what he said. "I''ll just continue getting stronger the same way as I have always been. With gritted teeth, blood and sweat covering my whole body, until I passed out." Both of the girls widened their eyes before a resigned expression set on their face. They expected it. Though Xun Er was a little confused as to why she should have expected it. They had met in no more than a week''s time and perhaps befriended each other for only a day or two. So it should stand to reason that she shouldn''t be this familiar with him. Not knowing the inner turmoil of Xun Er, Xiao Yan thought about the future once more and turned towards the window of the room, cold light flashing in his eyes. ''Spirit hall, Qian Daoliu, for all the things that you have done to an innocent pair of mother and daughter and the once mutual beautiful love between teacher and Bibi Dong, and the things that you will do in the future to kill my friends and their families, you will die.'' Suddenly, grandpa Lao''s voice sounded out the entire room. "Yan-er, would you please help escort Xiao Xi Yian to her home? It''s getting quite late I''m afraid." "Sure." Xiao Yan replied lazily. Turning to Xun Er he asked her if she wanted to come with him and she looked surprised for a moment while her cheeks turned pink. Shaking her head she replied a mild "okay", and together the trio left. Staring at the back of the three children, conversing with each other excitedly, Yao Lao couldn''t stop the widening of his soft and pleasant smile. "Yao Chen, you know that it''s time." Suddenly, a mysterious unknown aged voice rung out behind Yao Lao''s figure. The once pleasant and calm smile on his lips disappeared, as his gentle eyes turned somber and serious, he slowly turned his neck to stare towards the mysterious person that called out to him. Standing behind him was an old man wearing a green robe. His long hair spread over his shoulders, giving him a sort of free and easy appearance. That face of his could not be considered ordinary. Even though he was already very old, one could still vaguely see a handsomeness. It was likely that his appearance was definitely breathtaking when he was young. Looking at his outer appearance his demeanor appeared ethereal, giving others an unfathomable feeling. "You know that you have to go back." "Old Feng, I know. But three years. Just give three years and I¨C..." Yao Lao closed his eyes to calmed the raging emotions inside him to quiet down. He took a deep breath and slowly letting it out, he opened his eyes and continue staring at the now resigned expression of his old friend. "Three years old friend.... Then, I''ll come back to continue what we started." Then, Yao Lao turned back staring at the outside of the window. Old Feng opened his mouth and closed before letting out a long sigh. Shaking his head he turned his back to Yao Lao and stepped into the darkness. With a small gust of wind that shortly appeared, his figure mysteriously disappeared but before his voice travelled to the ears of Yao Lao. "Ice Fire Saint Douluo Yao Chen, please, hurry and return." "To finally end the war." ===================================================================================================================== Author''s Note: Due to the coming back of Modules, I will have to slow down my updates. I''ll updates randomly but I will say this, I won''t update on Sunday for the sole reason of it being my me time. Also, for those who will ask why Xiao Yan didn''t want to start an organization, well... He doesn''t have the qualities nor will to do such a thing. Especially since he watched Naruto. But if he is being forced to accept to lead one, well, he''ll just try his best to fill the bill until he unceremoniously drop the responsibility to someone else more qualified. Next chapter is about a timeskip! Time, to go to Shrek! And I''m not talking about a green a.s.s ogre! Chapter 23 - 23: Timeskip and Meeting Some Bad Luck? Three Years Quickly Passed By... Location: Suotuo City Suotuo City was a large city, this bit could be seen from Spirit Hall''s allocated as the third ranked Lord Spirit Hall. Currently just past noon, the blazing sun shining fiercely, at Suotuo City''s west gate entered four youths. By looks, they both only appear to be ten-some years old, not carrying any luggage, two boys and two girls. "YES! We finally reached this Suotuo City! I really don''t understand how Grandmaster thought, obviously there''s quite a few intermediate spirit master academies expressed they would unconditionally recruit us, yet he asked us to come take the examination here that not even worn down academies would." Silky smooth black long hair combed out into a neat scorpion braid, hung down to her lower back, wearing small pink clothes, tightly covering a figure already begun developing, if speaking of c.h.e.s.t still said to be inadequately developed, but her slender small waist could cause countless women envy. Tall and slender taut legs wrapped up in trousers, her face was still childish, but a perfectly round little b.u.t.t.o.c.k.s were already somewhat hinted at.(A/N: Image) "Complaining? I seemed to forget someone saying she wanted to enjoy the journey to Suotuo City?" A boy by the girl''s side opened his mouth to reply to the girl. The boy''s clothing was simple, looking like twelve or thirteen years old, about one metre seventy tall, wearing a pale blue fresh attire, very neat. Around his waist a belt inset with twenty four pieces of jade, black hair hanging halfway down to his shoulders, facial features although not considered handsome, gave people a kind of very easy to get along with feeling. At the corners of his mouth he continuously wore a slight smile.(A/N: Image) The girl pouted as the boy''s smile turned teasingly before his mouth turned into a coughing fit as the girl, quick as the wind, struck his stomach with the back of her elbow, seeing the pained expression on the boy, the girl didn''t hold back. "True to that but, I wouldn''t complain anyway Wu-er. Suotuo City... heh, can''t wait to look around and see what''s the difference between Nouding City and this one." Said with an excited smile by a twelve year old boy as he looked around, giving a quick sly wink at the scorpion braid girl, he turned to give a quick glance at bakery store before storing it''s location and name at the back of his mind. With black hair and eyes, a handsome face that made some of the girls he passed by turned their heads twice and even more to look at him with hearts in their eyes, he wore a mixed pf red and black clothes, black boots and some copper like ornaments to compliment it. He had a bigger build than the boy besides him, but was still lean, he seemed to be at the same height of girl or even taller, while the boy gave off a calming and easy going feeling, he seemed to give off a comfortable and confident feeling around himself. (A/N: Image)(A/N: It''s just the cover image if you can''t see it) "Well I also think that it was a enjoyable experience for everyone, right Xiao Wu? Suotuo City... It''s bigger and livelier than I expected?" Giving a side hug to the scorpion braid girl and sly wink as well, she hummed in a interested voice as she went to the youth''s side. She was a girl with long silky soft black hair that reached her waist, black pretty eyes with sometimes golden light flashing, which gave others a feeling of mystery and unknown beauty, it also made any boy that stare into them to fall for her, in fact, the surrounding boys that she passed would just continue to stare at her until they either hit someone else or a building wall. Wearing simple mixed of white and blue clothes, and deep blue colored boots just below her knees which off them legs, she walked close by the boy as she put a casual, yet, enchanting smile on her face. With a c.h.e.s.t that should belong to someone older by a couple or more years, as well as her curves and b.u.t.t, she walked with her hands behind her back by the side of the boy, unknowingly causing her peaks to rise higher.(A/N: Image) Yes. These four people are Xiao Wu, Tang San, Xiao Yan and Xun Er respectively. Although a mere three years has passed, they looked far from their nine year old selves. A lot of surprises had happened during the past three years. For instance their teacher Yu Xiaogang had finally brokethrough his 29th spirit rank after 2 decades! It had happened when he had digested that refined hundred year old purification fruit. Just like what the description of it said, it had completely cleansed all of the impurities inside his body, that had blocked the pathways of his meridians, and everything else to bring the body''s state to peak condition. Including changing the state of his appearance.(A/N: Image) Yup. At the age of 40-50, he looks like one of those long haired bad boys that Xiao Yan saw in his past life. Yu Xiaogang''s new look caused him to gain a jealous and envious look from grandpa Lao and Xiao Yan, two swoon pair of eyes, before they pale and turned green, from Xiao Wu and Xun, one blank look from Tang San. Truth be told, the effects of the purification fruit wasn''t supposed to affect Yu Xiaogang''s body that much, but when grandpa Lao visited him to help diagnose his situation he explained that it was due to Xiao Yan''s heavenly flame refining it. When Xiao Yan was just almost done undergoing the trial by fire of his heavenly flame, he had unknowingly let the fruits out of the storage and the flame had done something unexpected, it had refined them to perfection and was about to get incinerated if it weren''t for Xiao Yan''s timely completion of the trial. When the heavenly flame refined the fruits, it not only helped condensed and converged all of the fruit''s beneficial effects into a smaller size to bring out most of, it also left a part of it''s spirit power to further increase the effects of the fruits. Which resulted in Yu Xiaogang''s condition. Of course, it didn''t just stop there. No no no. Luo San Pao, his spirit had also evolved! It''s once small and chubby figure, and pale purple fur, had took a radical change. It''s height increased into 10 feet tall, the unknown bulging and spherical, something on top of it''s head grew into a two meter in length and three finger wide pointed horn. It''s once pale purple fur was shed to show hardened golden scales that was both fearsome and yet beautiful. Two 13 feet wide exquisite and dangerous pale golden wings appeared on it''s back.(A/N: Image) Luo San Pao, had evolved into a Sacred Golden Dragon! Is what Xiao Yan had thought at the time, strangely feeling nostalgic all of the sudden, as well as getting a feeling of holding a white and red colored ball to throw it at the evolved Luo San Pao, while yelling out loud that he was the best. Later on after his spirit had evolved, Yu Xiaogang tried calming down all the spirit power inside of him, the spirit power that he had kept on gathering inside of him for several years, and quickly tried to find out his current spirit power rank. Which shocked everyone in the room. Two purple spirit rings appeared behind Yu Xiaogang as his trembled and face plastered in complete utter disbelief. "Spirit power rank... 49..." Soon after he dropped the bombshell he directly fainted face first to the ground. Not only his spirit power has skyrocketed into 2 entire realms of cultivation but his spirit rings as well had undergo an evolution. After being woken up and several hours of sessions of crying and Yu Xiaogang being grateful. Xiao Yan, Xiao Wu and Tang San then ate the remaining refined fruits and undergo a transformation. ... They didn''t really have any changes on the outside but in the inside however; they have a more denser bone structure, meridians pathways, strengthen bone marrows and more vitality than before. So it wasn''t really a bust, despite Xiao Wu''s protests, their bodies had gotten stronger so it really matter. Especially Xiao Yan, with a already stronger body than his own spirit power, with his strange physique Zenkai boost during the whole fire forest fiasco, he felt the overall power and strength of his body risen. Having only testing his body on some ''willing'' volunteers he was able to see and feel that his body was at the peak spirit spirit elder level of toughness, endurance and strength. But he wasn''t truly clear about it due to the fact that there weren''t any powerful spirit ancestors for him to willingly spar with to make him understand his true limits. Xiao Yan did numerous training and spars with his friends, especially Xun Er, everytime they spar he would always end up defeated or make a draw between them. That had greatly surprised him at first when he was swiftly defeated by her, before thinking on it for a while, he decided that it was to be expected. When they fought at each other back in the Fiery Bright Forest, Xun Er was inexperienced in her human form fighting against humanoid beings. Combined with being unfamiliar in moving her body, heavenly flame and using her spirit skills but with more spirit power and strength than him, Xiao Yan could only bring their fight into a draw at that time as he himself was unfamiliar of the newly gained abilities of his as well as with the help of immense leftover spirit power of the heavenly flame that his body couldn''t fully absorbed. And that was three years ago. With no one except his peers/friends to spar with to gain insight of his true abilities and strength Xiao Yan could only do with what he had. Anyways, much later on Tang San and Xiao Wu brokethrough to the 30th spirit rank much early on and got their own thousand years old spirit rings, only this time, it was far more older than what the optimal spirit ring condition for spirit elders, thankfully their bodies and minds, though Xiao Yan knew that Xiao Wu didn''t get her spirit ring from a spirit beast cause, well, she got it from her own body? So Tang San was the only one who''s body and mind were more than ready to take on the spirit power of the thousand year old spirit ring. What was most ironic was the fact that his third spirit ring was the same as what he had in the original. Only this time, it was older and the ability much more stronger. He also got the external spirit bone despite the fact he got it from a different spirit beast than the original, though Xiao Yan reasoned the heavenly laws, aka plot, was helping him. Especially Xiao Yan, as he had invented one of the most best selling 2nd tier pill in all the Douluo Continent, the Biggra Pill. One of the best choices Xiao Yan had made when he chose to become an alchemist. All hail the motherf.u.c.k.i.n.g human king! Yeah Xiao Yan had brokethrough to the grandmaster spirit rank a two and a half years ago and which had had transition to him rising to the 2nd tier Alchemist after concocting some 2nd tier pills. The requirements for someone to rise to the ranks of being an alchemists was simple, you concoct three pills of the tiers that basically says which tier alchemist you are. Also you need to show off to your teacher, or any branch of the alchemist association, the required spiritual power and fire ability control when making the pills to officially grant your title of which alchemist tier you are. When Xiao Yan heard the term spiritual power he was initially shock, and thought that Huo Yuhao was born sooner and was an alchemist, until he found out that it was a different ranking system and it was created by someone with the surname Gu. Xiao Yan had released a relieved sigh at that. Here''s the spiritual power ranking; 1st Tier Spirit, 2nd Tier Spirit, 3rd Tier Spirit, 4th Tier Spirit, 5th Tier Spirit, 6th Tier Spirit, 7th Tier Spirit, 8th Tier Spirit and 9th Tier Spirit. Xiao Yan and Xun Er had asked if someone had reached the 9th Tier Spirit level of spiritual power to his grandpa and he replied after a long pause saying: "Only those of the Titled Douluo can hope to achieve that level of spiritual power. Even then when alchemists like us reached Titled Douluo they would only have a slim chance of getting their spiritual power to that level. But don''t worry about that for now as it''s still far for you to understand that level of comprehension." "Only those of the Titled Douluo can hope to achieve that level of spiritual power huh...." Xiao Yan muttered as he walked besides the group, exploring the streets of Suotuo City, he shook his head to put that information at the back of his head as he listens to Xiao Wu that they needed a place to rest he quickly interjected that he and Xun Er had already booked in an inn a couple days prior. Xiao Wu asks if he had also reserved them a room but Xiao Yan quickly, but not suspiciously, cut her off saying that he had booked in the last room in the Inn that they have. Xiao Wu pouted in frustration and was about to dragged him off in shopping spree when Tang San saved him, truly a brother, by taking her by the hand and took off to a certain inn where they''ll meet a certain run away white tiger. Xiao Yan let out a relieved sigh as he gave Tang San a thumbs up. It was all just a lie about the inn being full. In truth is that he just wanted those two to finally have their alone time, as well as getting away from Xiao Wu and don''t get him wrong, he loves her as a little sister and would like to keep her company but like all little sisters they can just get you under your skin. ''Haiz, being this exhausted is making me remember about Yi Xian. I''ll missed spending time with her.'' A sad expression appeared on Xiao Yan''s face. Two years ago, Xiao Xi Yian''s adopted father, Xiao Yao, had passed away. The caused of death of Xiao Yao was of old age and the old injuries that he got when he was young. Xiao Xi Yian was devastated and had cried an entire night on Xiao Yan''s c.h.e.s.t. A few days later, Xiao Xi Yian had left Nouding City and leaving a note to tell him that; she was going to bring the remains of Xiao Yao to his hometown for his resting place and swore that she would later return. ''That was two years ago...'' Xiao Yan clenched his hands into fists. Wisps of green fiery ambers started lighted up his fists. Deeply worried and concerned for his best friend. Unknown to Xiao Yan, due to being deep in his thoughts and negative emotions, he didn''t notice the small shy smile on Xun Er''s blushing face as she returned the thumbs that she got from Tang San. ''Uwu, I''m finally alone with Yan... What should I do? Should I make the first move? But Xiao Wu said that the guy should be the first to make the move. And if Yan would make the first, what should do next? Be cool and friendly? Be cold and yet cute?'' At this point Xun Er felt like her head had exploded from blushing too hard and steam was coming out of her ears. ''Haiz, this wouldn''t have happened if it weren''t for old man Lao giving me that book/novel about romance. Now I can''t look at Yan without thinking about all those dramas and love scenes in my head as I read that book. I hate you old man! I hate you so much!'' "Achoo! Eh? Who''s talking about me?" Xun Er let out a long sigh. But then blinked her eyes as she stared at a chicken drumstick right in front of her. Following the hand that held the banana, Xun Er came face to face with a smirking Xiao Yan. ''Huh? Did I really continue to walk without thinking of my actions?'' She immediately blushed in embarrassment at their closeness. Xiao Yan asked. "Hey Xun Er, want one?" She took a moment to respond a nod for a yes. Xiao Yan gave the chicken to Xun Er and then turned to the barbeque vendor to asked for another one for himself. Just as the vendor respond for a nod another voice calls out besides him in a soft and feminine voice. "I want barbequed fish please, also, can you make it extra crispy and saucy?" Only it wasn''t Xun Er as she was nibbling on a chicken drumstick. Turning to the other side Xiao Yan went wide eyes as he take in the appearance of another girl besides him. Black long hair scattered over her shoulders, face slightly lowered, height not much different from Xun Er, skin also similarly fair. But, this girl gave people a kind of feeling of standing out from the masses. She had an extremely well developed figure that was actually somewhat inconsistent with her age, if not seeing her face, very likely one would believe she was an a.d.u.l.t young lady, especially that imposing bosom, it could attract all men''s attention, though not at the same level as the other girl besides him. In contrast with her fiery figure, the young lady''s facial expression was very indifferent, it was a kind of chill rising from the heart, ice cold, a pair of black eyes that did not hold even a trace of vitality. Somewhat clashing with her originally extremely beautiful face. All four limbs well proportioned and slender, Both hands hanging naturally to either side, body releasing a deathly still ice chill other people around them very uncomfortable. She was like an emo version of Xun Er!! But Xiao Yan knew better. ''Zhu Zhuqing?!'' Chapter 24 - 24: Zhu Zhuqing Author''s Note: Not my best chapter and I am not proud of it. I wrote this in a bad day, which is today, within an hour and a half and I just can''t think clearly of what to write correctly so I apologize if you don''t like it. I''ll edit this when I have the time and brain cells to think of what to edit. ============================================================================================================================================ Xiao Yan stared blankly at Zhu Zhuqing who also stared back at him with cold and indifferent eyes. ''Why is she here? I mean, yeah, Zhu Zhuqing''s going to enroll at shrek academy, which meeting her would be inevitable, but that event should have been tomorrow! What''s going on?'' "... Zhu Zhuqing?" Unconsciously, Xiao Yan had muttered the girl''s name into a whisper. Fortunately, no one seem to pick up his words, except, unfortunately two did. Xun Er''s face froze and Zhu Zhuqing''s body went incredibly still. Xun Er had picked up the words due to her former spirit beast form bloodline coursing through her veins. It had enhanced her entire body''s capabilities and that included her senses. Which means she has enhanced hearing. As for Zhu Zhuqing? She''s a beast spirit master with a feline spirit. Every beast spirit master would have certain benefits they would get from their spirit that they can even used when being in their base form. And with a feline spirit? She has enhanced sight, hearing and speed. So it''s obvious why she could hear what Xiao Yan had said. Xun Er turned to the other side of Xiao Yan to finally realized that there was another girl by his side. Without thinking, she sent the black haired girl a glare, which the said black haired girl ignored. Zhu Zhuqing''s eyes went wide for a moment before they turned more cold than ever, though different than before that only had indifference in them, this time, they were filled with hostility. "...Who are you?" The nails of both her hands slowly grew longer and sharper. Spirit power slowly leaked out of her body. Xun Er noticed the act, humphed, and released her own spirit power to counteract Zhu Zhuqing''s. The cat girl quickly noticed this and pushed on releasing her spirit power at the two. This was it. The battle of the century. A battle so legendary, that it would forever go down in history, would begin. "Here you go, freshly cooked chicken drumstick. Enjoy!" But before the cat fight could begin, the voice of the vendor woke Xiao Yan up and had also stopped the fight of the century. Xiao Yan subconsciously took the cooked chicken drumstick by hand, paid for it and turned to a blank looking Xun Er. Xiao Yan froze, despite his body physiology that always keeps his body warm to the point only ultimate ice or snow could affect him, the blank shadowed face of Xun Er and unamused expression of hers caused him to stood still frozen. Xiao Yan''s mind went into overdrive into thinking on what stupidity of his had caused him to land into this kind of situation. After all, this wasn''t the first time he was introduced to the scary and ice cold fury face of Xun Er, he was introduced to it when they became officially friends and he did something massively stupid. Being a kid again could do that to you, despite having a teen mind, his mindset and intelligence had caused him to sometimes act his age. "X-Xun Er, what''s wrong?" Xiao Yan asked in a stutter. Xun Er and, unknown to Xiao Yan, Zhu Zhuqing as well, rolled their eyes as they glance at each other''s eyes and used what every women innately have to communicate with each other without using any words, eye telepathy. ''Did he seriously not notice?'' Zhu Zhuqing asked. ''Yeah, sorry, Xiao Yan has a habit of staring at someone for some amount of time until someone f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y ''wake'' him up.'' Xun Er replied. ''Eh? Then how come he didn''t get affected by two powerful different spirit powers, clashing at each other, with him being the middle of it?'' Zhu Zhuqing asked in surprise, a single eyebrow raised to show it. Was this boy in front of her the same level of cultivation as her? Or, perhaps even more? Xun Er merely shook her head and set a mysterious smile on her mouth. Zhu Zhuqing nodded her head in understanding. Women, or girls in this case, are truly strange creatures. One moment they were hostile at each other and then next they were chatting with each other like sisters. Xiao Yan scratched the back of his head as he looked between the two girls staring blankly at each other''s eyes. No emotions could be seen in their eyes except pure indifference. ''Are they being hostile to each other? Or did they suddenly become friends? Man, even in a another life and a another world I still can''t understand women/girls.'' Xiao Yan thought in bemus.e.m.e.nt. Biting into the freshly cooked chicken drumstick, he continued watching the two girls by the side, who was now ignoring him. Several moments later, Zhu Zhuqing''s order came and which ''woke'' both of the young ladies up from their communication. Zhu Zhuqing took the fish, paid for it, giving a small wary nod towards Xun Er and glance at Xiao Yan, she swiftly turned to walked away. Although she seemed as if she was walking, but actually, it was like watching a cat walking away in fear.(A/N: Get it?) Zhu Zhuqing wanted to talk to boy who knew her name, but her instincts, her cat side, practically screamed at her to quickly get away from the boy. It was like he was a powerful wolf in sheep''s clothing, that if provoked, he would unleash a bloodbath upon the land. ''Or a very thirsty beast protecting it''s prey...'' She had thought in amus.e.m.e.nt, though she felt a small shiver down her spine, as she remembered those two dangerous eyes that held many untold secrets, she continued nibbling happily on her sauce covered barbequed fish. But then her mood turned a bit down. The fish she was eating had made her remembered a certain blonde haired boy she had shared a lot of memories with. ''Why did he come here? Is he alright? Wait! No no no no no no no.... Get it together girl! He left you and ran to another empire, leaving a letter of excuses, without telling you himself. While he run away and having the time of his life, you had the worst time of your life!'' Memories of her time back at the clan came crashing back in her mind. She clomped on her fish, and in one bite, had finished it all. Zhu Zhuqing''s eyes widened as she looked down at the stick, that once had a crispy barbequed fish, was gone and immediately she felt dejected and sad. Letting out a long tired sigh, she continued her walk, but more slowly than before, to the way of the hotel she had reserved a room at. All the while not noticing a certain pair, consisted of one boy and one girl, walking leisurely by each of her side. Arriving at Great Night Hotel(A/N: I suck at naming things) Zhu Zhuqing halted as her ears picked up something... or to be specific, someone chewing on something just besides her. Xiao Yan casually bit on his chicken drumstick as he stared in mild amus.e.m.e.nt at Zhu Zhuqing. Before Zhu Zhuqing could ask the question in her mind, Xiao Yan, swallowing the meat of the chicken, opened his mouth and said. "Huh. Well looks like we stay at the same hotel." "Huh?" Zhu Zhuqing spoke in shock confusion. Sharply turning to her right, she sees Xun Er standing by her side, still nibbling on her chicken, with a resigned and happy expression. "A-Are you...?" Swallowing a piece of the chicken meat on her hand, Zhu Zhuqing swore she saw the grease of the chicken somehow disappeared from Xun Er''s hand and around her lips. "Yup. We reserved a room here in the hotel a couple of days ago with the help of some friends." Xun Er replied. Zhu Zhuqing blinked her eyes and just let out a sigh. Turning to Xiao Yan, who now finished his chicken, Zhu Zhuqing wouldn''t admit it but she was slightly amused and shocked at someone eating an entire bone of chicken leg, she opened her mouth to asked about the main question in her mind. "Hey, how do you¨C" "Xiao Yan." "Eh?" Zhu Zhuqing asked in confusion at being cut off. "My name''s Xiao Yan." "And I''m Xun Er." Xun Er followed after she finished her chicken. Zhu Zhuqing just stared. Xiao Yan shook his head and asked. "So, you gonna introduce yourself or not?" Zhu Zhuqing raised an eyebrow. "Don''t you already know that?" "Know about what?" Xiao Yan played being dumb. Staring at her in confusion. He was filled in on what happened and he cursed himself for being an idiot. Zhu Zhuqing''s eyebrow twitched before releasing a slow and long breath. ''He''s clearly playing dumb. Sigh, I don''t know what they''re doing or what their goals are, they might even be agents from the clan, and I don''t have the confidence to fight them as my instincts keep screaming at me to abandoned such ideas. I might as well go along with it.'' "Zhu Zhuqing." Chapter 25 - 25: Shrek Examination(1) "So... You guys just met?" Xiao Wu, riding on Tang San''s back, asked in confusion as she looked at her two companions, Xiao Yan and Xun Er, and theirs named Zhu Zhuqing. A couple of days passed and Xiao Yan, Xun Er, Tang San, Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing are currently heading their way to finding where the so-called Shrek Academy is. And Zhu Zhuqing had tag along with Xiao Yan and Xun Er when they told her that they were going to enroll in the same academy that she was going to as well. "Yup. Just ran into her, not literally, when Xun Er and I was just having chicken drumsticks. I kinda thought that she was interesting so I, uh, talked to her." Xiao Yan replied with a casual wave of his hand. Due to looking at the road in front of him Xiao Yan wasn''t able to see Xun Er and Zhu Zhuqing raising one of their eyebrows at the same time. They were walking besides him, with Xun Er at his left and Zhu Zhuqing at his right, but Xun Er was more closer in proximity with him, they were a bit amused at the bs Xiao Yan was spewing. Instead of talking to her, Xiao Yan had basically stood frozen and stared at her in shock like he had fallen in love at her at first sight, which he rebuked loudly at, they looked at each other and shook their heads. For the past couple of days they had acquainted with each other, Xun Er and Zhu Zhuqing could be said as frie-nemies, as they would throw insults at each other once in a while as well as start some small competitions, Xiao Yan strangely had felt some pride and joy when he saw Xun Er making a friend. Xiao Wu''s eyes blinked and a teasing smile appeared on her face. "Hmm... So Xiao Yan-gege''s spring has finally arrived! Ah, to think that I, your one and only cutest sister, Xiao Wu, would finally get to see you in love. Sniff, ah, to think that he would grow up so fast..." Somehow, Xiao Wu got a tissue and was wiping tears of joy from her eyes. While Tang San chuckled, Xun Er looking a little strange and Zhu Zhuqing stone faced as always but her face cheeks turned a little pink. Xiao Wu continued ''crying'' and being all dramatic. Xiao Yan continued staring at Xiao Wu for several minutes until she just released a long sigh and put away the tissue. The tears from her eyes disappeared as if it weren''t there. "Xiao Yan-gege, why do you always ruin my fun?" Xiao Wu said with a monotonous voice. "Cause it''s both fun and amusing." Xiao Yan replied with a grin. Tang San, Xun Er and Zhu Zhuqing shook their heads in amus.e.m.e.nt as they watched the sworn siblings ''argue'' with each other. Turning his head away from watching his sworn siblings drama, Tang San blinked his eyes as he saw a small village, smaller than Holy Spirit Village, just several meters away from them. What was most peculiar about said village is, using his Purple Demon Eyes, he saw a small queue of people lining in front of the entrance of the village. Now this wouldn''t have garnered his attention, as it was pretty common to see a group of people lining up just to go into villages, towns and cities; due to security and all, but this was pretty strange as he saw some other people than the ones lining up walking into the village. With a raised eyebrow, Tang San called out to the group as he pointed where the village is. "Guys. I see a village just several meters away from here, and I think something''s going on." Within a couple of minutes they arrive at the entrance of the village where the line of the examination for Shrek Academy. Xiao Yan watched as the scene of what he had read on the novel happened in front of his very eyes; a father letting his son take the first examination, only to be rejected, Dai Mubai revealing himself like a thug as he released his White Tiger spirit and his three spirit rings, Xiao Yan glanced at Zhu Zhuqing to momentarily see her form trembling before she composed herself, another family tried their luck, rejected as well and now the old man at the desk showed off his six spirit rings. Showcasing that he was a spirit emperor that you don''t mess with. Then a slight view of Ning Rongrong, Dai Mubai being a wolf instead a cat for a moment, that moment had caused the atmosphere around Zhu Zhuqing to instantly fell cold, Xiao Yan strangely felt an urge to slug the bastard Dai Mubai, and now it was their group''s turn. Dai Mubai''s cold eyes and grim expression turned a bit soft as he cast his gaze on Tang San and Xiao Wu, respect and awe clearly seen in his eyes, Xiao Yan mused that Tang San had probably won against their fight yesterday. He turned his head to looked at Xiao Yan and Xun Er with a confused expression and slowly his head turned to see Zhu Zhuqing''s cold stone face. His expression turned complex, various feelings flashed through his eyes, but then shook his head as he turned back towards Tang San, his emotions fixed into a resigned one, and smirked. He tilted his head towards the teacher as if saying; ''come on, don''t be shy, it''s your turn''. Tang San sighed as he stepped forward. The old man, the examiner, raised one of his eyebrows, impatient expression clearly plastered on his face. "All five of us are applying together." The old man nodded and started to inspect all five of their bodies by their hands. Xiao Wu, Xun Er and Zhu Zhuqing easily passed through. While Tang San and Xiao Yan took a bit longer as they both cultivated the Mysterious Jade Hands. The old man nodded at the group of five youths and said. "Good, now release your spirits." Tang San, Xiao Wu, Xiao Yan, Xun Er and Zhu Zhuqing looked at each other, simultaneously urging the spirit power within their bodies. Blue, red, green, gold and black light simultaneously leapt out, differing spirit rings simultaneously spiraling up. Rabbit ears standing up, white fluffy fur growing on the backs of Xiao Wu''s hands, body subsequently also becoming even more slender. Spirit jade rabbit body enhancement. Two yellow and one purple spirit rings appeared underneath her feet. 2 hundred year old spirit rings and an impressive 1 one thousand year spirit ring! It caused everyone around her, except Dai Mubai who had a twitching lip, to dropped their jaws and their eyes almost popping out. In Tang San''s palm grew a most ordinary blue silver grass, along with spirit ring effect infusion lightning quick transforming into that grass vine like that day he fought Dai Mubai. Though the surface of his blue silver grass seemed to have a web like structures. It''s toughness and poison more powerful than ever. Two yellow and one purple spirit rings appeared underneath his feet. Same as Xiao Wu, Tang San had 2 hundred year old spirit rings and 1 thousand year old spirit ring. Which caused the expressions around the crowd to be more comical than before. Cat ears standing up, adorable and eye catching, Zhu Zhuqing''s both eyes simultaneously change with the left eye becoming dark green and right eye clear blue. The long hair naturally remained docile on her back. Her fingers changed into sharp claws. Two yellow spirit rings appeared that signified she had 2 hundred year old spirit rings. This caused the crowd, including the examiner and Dai Mubai, to momentarily sighed in relief before shaking their heads. Though that wouldn''t last for long as Xiao Yan released his spirit. The temperature around them suddenly rised five folds, causing the muggles(A/N: You know what this mean) around to sweat like buckets, they almost looked as if they were doused by rainfall, and they slowly started to pant. The ground shook for a moment that caused a few people to stumble and almost lost their footing. The participants, examiner, Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing turned to look at the caused and soon after they found it, they stared dumbfounded. There standing incredibly fearsome and awesome was a two and five meters in length, twelve inches wide, black obsidian, with green vein like structures going down from the handle to the tip, dull ruler. A fearsome heat energy rolled around it in green wisps. A sudden pressure seem to press down everyone, although those that are spirit masters are fine, the normal people wasn''t so lucky and had go down their knees. Cold sweat dripped down their foreheads like a water faucet. The examiner noticed their trouble and had immediately erected a spirit power barriers around those that couldn''t handle the sudden release of pressure from the black/green ruler. After seeing that they were now okay, the old man turned to looked at the black ruler''s owner, which was Xiao Yan. He was about to say to him to unsummon his spirit until the words he was about to say got stuck in his throat. Gripping the massively huge Heavy Xuan Ruler, that easily toppled him in both height and mass, in his right hand to bring it up high like it was nothing and then with a smug grin he put it at the crook of his neck. Two purple light shine brightly beneath his feet 2 thousand year old spirit rings. It caused everyone, except Tang San, Xiao Wu and Xun Er, to once again dropped their jaws to the ground and eyes almost popping out of their sockets. Shock, awe and disbelief clearly plastered on all of their faces. 2... 2 purple spirit rings! 2 thousand year old spirit rings! And it appeared on a twelve year old. Due to the fact that this was the first timeline of the Douluo Dalu series, it was no wonder that they would be shock silly until to the point of being brain dead. The examiner, Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing, thanks to their experience and discipline, had already shook off their disbelief. Looking at each other, except Zhu Zhuqing looked down to stare at the ground, a single thought flashed through their eyes. ''A genius, no, a true monster!'' This was a once in a hundred years monster that would have great accomplishments in the future, if he was nurtured properly, and would shake the entire continent. It was already guaranteed that, in their eyes, Xiao Yan would be a very powerful Titled Douluo. In everyone''s eyes, Xiao Yan was a legend. But Tang San, Xiao Wu and Xiao Yan shook their heads as if they knew what was on everyone''s minds. Tang San merely had a casual smile on his face and Xiao Wu giggled as a mischievous expression appeared on her face. Suddenly, the already hot atmosphere around everyone started to rise once more. In fact, it was like a piece of the sun itself had dropped down on them. Everyone, including those that shielded, felt the every increasing heat around them. They felt like being bathed in the flames of a furnace. As one, everyone turned to the source of the heat, and as one, most of the surrounding people fainted in either due to shock, fear or disbelief. Heck, Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing was even among those that had fainted. While the old examiner set his shock and disbelief filled eyes at the last member of the group. On Xun Er''s right hand open palm was a small golf sized golden flame, the heat coming off it was the source of the sudden rise of the surrounding temperature, as well as wisps of golden flames flickering all around her body. But that wasn''t what set the eyes of the conscious crowd around her, no, it was the three spirit rings beneath her feet. Purple, purple and black spirit rings. 2 thousand year old spirit rings and 1 ten-thousand year old spirit ring. ''Forget monster... This, this girl is...'' What the old man thought. Cold sweat dripping down his forehead. The heat seemed to even affect him. Which further shocked him. ''She''s above all monsters... The one above all... The Queen of Monsters...'' Turning his head towards a certain boy, an amusing thought entered his mind for a moment. ''...Heh, looks like I''m witnessing the first King and Queen of Monsters. I wonder if I could get a raise for this from that money grubber?'' Chapter 26 - 26: Shrek Examination(2) Author''s Note: Sorry for the late update a blackout had occurred here for whole 24 hours! Goddamn it! So anyways everyone voted for Mao XiaoTao and I have plans for her to appear. And it has something to do with the help of a certain reader. Don''t regret it everyone. And I will promptly say it that if anyone complains about it, I will say that it was entirely all your fault for voting. Btw, I''ve been getting votes for Gu Yuena to appear and I have to say something for those who voted for her to appear in this story, I''m sorry. As I have said before, this story will strictly be with the first series/timeline/DouluoDalu1 only. So don''t expect some of the DD2-4 characters or some information of that era to appear here, except for when Xiao Yan becomes a god or if you readers can help me incorporate any DD2-4 series characters into the story. The votes for potential ''harem'' members will continue to wage until the story gets to or after the five year timeskip. Well with that said, enjoy the chapter! ============================================================================================================================================ After everyone calmed down, the old examiner nodded and turned to Dai Mubai to guide them towards the next exams. Though before that, he turned to both Xiao Yan and Xun Er, asking them with a curious expression. "Hey you two, if it isn''t any trouble, can you tell me what both of your spirits are?" Xiao Yan and Xun Er turned to looked at each other, contemplating for a moment, before looking back at the old man and nodded in confirmation. "No, it isn''t any trouble mister. My spirit is the Heavy Xuan Ruler." Xun Er then followed, saying. "And my spirit is called the Vast Sun." The old man''s, Dai Mubai, Zhu Zhuqing and everyone around them had their eyes shining in wonder and awe. Although a big ruler spirit is uncommon for one to have but the name of the spirit that Xun Er had uttered had sent ripples within their hearts. ''Vast Sun... Truly, it is a very appropriate name for it.'' Everyone thought, besides Xiao Yan and co, at the name with an inwardly sigh. As for the spirit rings being fake? Only an idiot would suggest such a thing when the pressure and spirit power the rings gave off was much higher than any ten or hundred year old spirit rings! Though the old man couldn''t help but narrow his eyes as, for a moment, he felt as if those spirit rings were more stronger than any ordinary spirit rings. Complex feelings flashed through Zhu Zhuqing''s eyes for a moment before shaking her head. Looking back at the cheery yet sometimes cold Xun Er''s eyes. Despite the variety of emotions running rampant inside of her, about the fact that she was going on about fighting this monster above monsters, she couldn''t help but let out a wry smile. Although she had only accompanied her for a mere two days, she felt like she already understood her on some level of understanding. ''A monster of monsters she might be, but, I just can''t picture the pouting and cold girl like that.'' Even though her face fixed back into her cold, indifferent and detached persona, a slight smile appeared on her face. After that, Xiao Yan and co followed Dai Mubai to their next exams as he informs them of the current situation of the academy. Though sometimes his gaze would cast on Zhu Zhuqing, which made her promptly hide behind Xiao Yan, much to his confusion, they continued on until they were about to reach the area for the second exam. A soft voice suddenlyresounded. "Selling sausages, selling sausages. Have a look, have a look, passing by or passing through you must not miss it. Oscar brand of sausage, tastes beautifully fragrant and sweet. Price convenient, quantity yet ample. Only five copper coins for one. Eat Oscar brand sausage, guarantee you will even easier pass the entrance exam." Dai Mubai''s face darkened incredibly, while Xiao Yan and co inclined their heads to see, only saw alongside not far away, a man pushing a wagon where he peddled. A burst of meat scent disseminating from the wagon, already already some of the lined up students had bought. The man standing behind the cart wore simple grey clothes, neat short hair, across his entire face a full beard, but having a pair of peach blossom eyes, gaze roaming between, especially towards the girls in the exam student ranks. The three femme fatales naturally also difficult to escape his scanning gaze. Though they were quickly shielded from the lecherous eyes of the man by Xiao Yan''s body. It''s hard to believe, that such a soft feminine voice would issue from a like this straightforward perverted a.d.u.l.t. A mischievous, amusing and slightly dangerous light appeared in Xiao Yan''s eyes. Turning to everyone behind him, he said. "There are still several people ahead of us, you guys didn''t eat much for breakfast, do you want to eat a sausage?" Tang San and co inclined their heads towards the cart, with a few sniff from their noses, they all nodded and said. "Hmm, sure why not?" "It smells pretty good. Let''s try that." "I''m with Xiao Wu." "Sure." Xiao Yan nodded, letting Tang San and co stand by the side of the queue, he walked in the direction of the cart on his own. But not before giving a slight shake of his head towards Dai Mubai, who was about to warn him, with a scheming smirk. Coming close, he was able to see that sausage salesman''s height was not much different from his own, on the cart was also nailed a board, on which was carved two words, ''Sausage Monopoly''. The salesman seeing a person approach, immediately enthusiastically said: "Come for sausage? Oscar fresh sausages, offering sincere treatment to all. Flavour guaranteed." Xiao Yan rubbed his chin for a moment, looking like he was thinking about the said products of sausages, but in reality was thinking of ways on how to messed with him. Inclining his head, Xiao Yan, with a slight normal smile on his face, without giving out the real emotions that he was feeling, said to the sausage guy. "Uncle, I''ll trouble you to give me two." That sausage guy''s expression suddenly became rigid, as his face slowly turned red. "You-, what did you call me?" Xiao Yan, acting stunned, said. "I called you uncle, ah, is there a problem uncle? Should I not call you uncle? Ah! Is it because your more older than I thought? Sorry. Should I call you grandpa instead?" The sausage guy''s face turned brightly red like a tomato. His expression greatly resembling of the buttcheeks of a baboon. Veins appeared and started to throb on his forehead. "Y-YOU¨C!!" "Or should it be ancestor?" Xiao Yan''s expression looked respectful and gentle, as if he was a child greeting a great elder. Inwardly though, he was smiling wide and showed an evil expression. ''Hehe, you bastard was once one of my idol when I first read the novel, working hard despite all the disadvantages you have because of being a food system, until you became all simp and shit in the DD2.5. This isn''t punishment bro, this is karma and retribution.'' He evilly thought. The sausage guy''s face, Xiao Yan knew it was Oscar, was literally looking like a boiling pot, grinding his teeth in anger, he looked as if he was mere seconds away from maiming Xiao Yan and ripping him apart. Xiao Yan knew when to retreat, especially since he didn''t want to beat up and possibly create some sort of inner demon for Oscar when he mentally scar him, so slightly giving a low bow to him, not too deeply of a bow to the point of being subservient, but one of out seeing the other as an equal. "I''m sorry for my rudeness senior. I hope you forgive my actions as this is my first day." Oscar''s once crimson wrathful face slowly turned back to normal. Inclining his head down to his cart, taking deep slow breaths and release it out with a sigh, he tilted his head back to glare at Xiao Yan. Giving a ''hmph'' he waved his hand at Xiao Yan saying. "Bah! I''ll forgive you but only this time! I''m just fourteen years old. One of the very few students of the academy and if you get enrolled here then that means I''m your senior." Raising his head, Xiao Yan give Oscar a slight smile and shook his head. "Ah to think that you were truly my senior! I am truly sorry for the misunderstanding." A tick mark appeared on Oscar''s forehead, his right fist raised towards Xiao Yan and trembling, not from fear, but from sheer frustration and anger. With grinding teeth he snapped at Xiao Yan, who might or might not have let out a big smug grin before fixing his expression into a confused one staring at Oscar. "Are you going to buy a sausage or not?!" Tilting his head, Xiao Yan looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding. Messing with him was one of the reasons why Xiao Yan wanted to come to Oscar''s sausage cart, the second reason, however, was that he wanted personally try out the effects of his sausage. "Nine please." Though now he also wanted to messed with the others as well and use it as preparation for the final examination. Dishing out nine sausages into bamboo skewers, after paying for it, Xiao Yan nodded at Oscar and turned back to walked towards his group. Though not before sending four of the sausages to his storage ring. Standing near the queue, Tang San and co waited patiently as Xiao Yan came near them with the sausages. Dai Mubai though, was giving him an odd and was about to open his mouth to say something, but Xiao Yan shot him a look. Dai Mubai looked confused for a moment before realization flashed in his eyes. Although he didn''t know whether Xiao Yan knew about Oscar''s "big sausage" but he didn''t want to miss an opportunity like this. "Yo! I''m back with the weiners." Xiao Yan said with a smile Distributing each of the sausages to Tang San, Xiao Wu, Xun Er and Zhu Zhuqing. With the last sausage on his hand, he ignored the widened shock eyes of Dai Mubai, and without any hesitation, ate the entire sausage in a single swallow. ''Hmm? It''s texture of taste is just like a normal sausage but the flavor is more delicious than a normal one! And...'' A warm and comforting energy seem to washed Xiao Yan''s entire body. By the looks of everyone''s surprised and shocked expressions then they felt the same as well. ''Dang. Oscar''s first spirit ring ability; Big Recovery Sausage, capable of recovering both physical injuries and health. If you ignore how this was made then it would have been more enjoyable and satisfying.'' After devouring the entire thing, Xiao Yan turned to the others looking at one another with surprise expressions. "This..." Xiao Wu started, as she examined her body by twisting around. "...is so strange." Xun Er finished, blinking, she stared at her palms. "Hmm." Zhu Zhuqing nodded. Tang San, however, turned towards Xiao Yan with a questioning raised eyebrow. Although surprising, but this wasn''t the first time that he had experienced of getting a buff, especially since his sworn brother''s an alchemist, who will find ways to make him test out his products. Xiao Yan didn''t dare make Xiao Wu, Xun Er and Xiao Xi Yian taste any of them, afraid of getting the so called women''s/girl''s scorn. But what he really was confused of, was what''s the catch? After all, this is Xiao Yan. Xiao Yan merely sent him a big bright smile before turning towards Dai Mubai who stood stone still. "Will you do the honors, or shall I?" That woke Dai Mubai up who''s face turned pale and green as he turned to the others and explained how the sausage was made. Suffice to say, the others shared the same expression as him while Xiao Yan was on the ground laughing. Chapter 27 - 27: Shrek Examination(3) "Oh come on, it was really, hehe, funny." Xiao Yan said chuckling casually as he faced the angry mob of femme fatales. Xiao Wu, Xun Er and Zhu Zhuqing stared at him with angry expressions. They all released their spirits as they try and intimidate Xiao Yan to let them beat him up until they were satisfied. But Tang San and Dai Mubai quickly try to calmed them down, saying that there was an examination and they can''t just waste time. With Xiao Yan now behind them to support the two. Though it didn''t calmed the girls anger, but they did cool it down, they looked at each other with flames burning in their as they telepathically decided. ''Exam first, punish the boy later.'' After the group calmed down, Dai Mubai shook his head in amus.e.m.e.nt, clapped both each one of Tang San and Xiao Yan''s shoulders, saying. "Come one, enough of antics, I''ll bring you all over to pass the test. No need to line up." Tang San turned towards him with shock while Xiao Yan nodded, they simultaneously said. "That is no good." "Sure. Let''s go." Dai Mubai, laughing boisterously as he watched Tang San sending Xiao Yan scolding punch to the shoulder, said: "Be at ease, I am not playing favorites, this is your deserved treatment." Responsible for the second exam also was a senior teacher, because of having to buy those sausages, Xiao Yan did not have the time to see what the contents of this exam were. Dai Mubai straightforwardlywalked up to that teacher''s side, muttering several lines next to his ear, also indicating Xiao Yan and co. The teacher''s face turned shocked for a moment, before he nodded, saying. "All right, bring them directly to the fourth exam. They passed this test." Dai Mubai returned to Xiao Yan and the others side, he was about to bring the group to go inside the academy. But the lined up examinees were not satisfied. One male exam candidate said. "Teacher, what''s going on? Why can those group of five able to avoid the second test and directly enter the fourth exam?" The senior teacher casually crossed his arms around his c.h.e.s.t and calmly replied. "If your spirit power over twenty fifth rank then you can also directly enter the fourth exam, you do not need to waste time here with me. But, when I''m testing your spirit power and only have twenty first rank, then, you have to undergo more testing with me." "Their spirit power is over twenty fifth rank? That''s impossible. We''re all just twelve years old, how can someone have such high spirit power appear." Being able to stand here means they all had spirit power over twenty first rank, and their age was higher than thirteen year''s old youngsters. When at a junior academy, youths like them, undoubtedly are considered genius beyond any normal youth spirit masters. But since arriving in Shrek Academy, even though repeatedly hitting walls, their frame of mind could still not be easily changed. Dai Mubai''s eyes turned cold, turning towards the male student he snorted, "You just won''t do, but don''t think other people also aren''t qualified. When I entered the Academy, my spirit power was twenty fifth rank. Tang San, give them a look at your spirit power." While speaking, he turned towards the teacher and nodded as if asking for permission. The teacher nodded and grabbed a more quality looking white crystal than the one from the desk and tossed it to Dai Mubai who tossed it towards Tang San. This testing crystal was different based on it''s quality, this kind of white crystal tested only the fortieth rank or lower, if the spirit power exceeded fortieth rank, then the crystal would immediately burst. It also had the ability to show what number of spirit rank the holder has. Every student queuing up perked up their heads as their eyes widened in shock. They saw that type of crystal before in one of the many tournament events hosted by either the Spirit Hall or those advanced academies so they knew what they were about to see would be something. (A/N: I changed the use of the crystal cause let''s face it, and excuse me, but how the f.u.c.k do you measure a blinding light coming out of the crystal into 29, 27 and 26?!) Tang San at this moment understood why Dai Mubai persuaded him that this test was below their status, of course, this test was to measure the candidate''s precise spirit power. At that moment, he also did not speak, holding the white crystal and directly infusing it with his Mysterious Heaven skill internal strength. In a split second, everyone saw a brilliant white light released in Tang San''s hand, the white crystal became as resplendent as a diamond, the intense brilliance filling every corner of the crystal, two number of lines show in the middle; 31. The teacher in charge of the test showed a shocked eyes and a large beaming smile, "See, our Shrek Academy this year again will receive a pretty good little monster. But, although I was prepared, to think that were monsters like you." Tang San wore a slight smile, handing the crystal in his hands to Xiao Yan, he could not wish for other people to complain about Xiao Yan and the others, regarding Xiao Yan, Xiao Wu and Xun Er, he had absolute confidence for them. Equal white light once again shone, the number showing the same; 30. Thoroughly shutting up the other exam candidates'' mouths, looking at Tang San and Xiao Yan in their eyes also immediately became monsters. Thirtieth first and thirtieth rank, twelve years old attaining such high level spirit power, was this a level humans were capable of reaching? However, the show didn''t stop just yet. The ball then was passed to Xiao Wu; showing the number 31, then Zhu Zhuqing; showing the number 27. This had truly shocked every student queuing in line. Yet it didn''t end there. "Teacher, I think, I should also be excused from the second and third tests." Xiao Yan and co turned to see a girl that has extremely fair delicate skin, her figure unusually harmonious, her entire being looking to give people a kind of earthy feeling. The unknown girl has long flowing, pink hair and also has a pair of beautifully delicate light amethyst colored eyes. She gave off the impression of a highly educated noble young lady. Her gentle and beautiful smiling expression can affect everyone in her surroundings. Shrugging her shoulders, she casually tossed the crystal towards the girl, who easily catches it, and sending spirit power into it. A blinding light shone and the number of 26 appeared in the middle of the crystal. Smiling lightly, the girl returned the crystal to the teacher. The teacher nodded before turning his head towards the only person who didn''t showed off their spirit power. "What about you little missy?" Xun Er blinked for being the center of attention before shrugging her little shoulders. "Sure." Grasping the crystal that was tossed to her Xun Er sent her spirit power into it. A bright light, brighter than Tang San and Xiao Wu, shone with great light. The number in the middle of the crystal showed 39. Spirit Rank 39! Just one step away from being rank 40 spirit ancestor! And, if she''s standing right here means that she''s not much older than they all are. "So, we done here teach?" Xiao Yan asked. The old man, still looking pretty shock, subconsciously nodded and turned towards Dai Mubai. "Yeah, yeah... Monsters one after another, this year unexpectedly has so many. Five monsters and one monster of monsters. Good, good, apparently, I have to ask that money grubbing dean of ours for a raise. Mubai, you bring these four together to the fourth test." "Yes." Dai Mubai respectfully answered, his two pupil pair of eyes, with a complex expression, looked at everyone besides Tang San and Xiao Wu, then turning around and walking towards the inside of the academy. This time, no students again raised an issue. Their strength was more than evidence to shut up any oppressors. As they walked towards the fourth exam, Dai Mubai was explaining about the contents of all the exams and the situation of the academy. When he reached the area for the fourth exam, he also finished his explanation which made everyone, except Xiao Yan, silent from shock. It was Xiao Wu who first opened her mouth and said. "Excuse me but, what the hell is wrong with this school? These kind of requirements for picking up students is like finding a perfect wife. It''s too strict! It''s no wonder that teacher at the entrance said only monsters are accepted here. People that are able to pass these four exams, are maybe only are monsters, which is us by the way. I very much want to ask just this once, how many students does Shrek Academy currently have? Every year recruits how many students?" This time it was Dai Mubai''s turn to show a wry smiled. "Our Shrek Academy from founding until now, in twenty years, has altogether enrolled forty two students. An average year has a little more than two students. This year all six of you, if you all might be recruited, will be considered setting a record. Before this, the Academy already had went two years without accepting any students. Currently, in the academy in the process of studying students, counting me, altogether are four." "Four?!" Apart from the Zhu Zhuqing, Tang San, Xiao Wu, Xiao Yan, Xun Er and that beautiful young lady practically cried out simultaneously. Tang San and co continued talking to Dai Mubai but Xiao Yan no longer listened. As his brain practically went autopilot from sheer confusion. ''Four students what dose that mean? I mean, sure the story is practically not cannon anymore, but all things went accordingly to the story until I was involved and f.u.c.k.e.d it up! I didn''t even come near the Shrek Academy during my entire time here, until now, so how did I screw the story even more?'' A frowned was set on Xiao Yan''s face as he rubbed the bridge between his eyes. Zhu Zhuqing noticed him frowning and with a raised eyebrow, asked. "What is it?" Turning towards her Xiao Yan gave a slight smile and shook his head. "No, it''s nothing..." Zhu Zhuqing merely hummed and unexpectedly, she asked again but with a different question. "Hey, why is it that your at spirit rank 30 yet you only have two spirit rings?" Xiao Yan replied, his previous worried thoughts was put at the back of his mind. "Yeah... I had just brokethrough during the trip to Suotuo City and because I didn''t want to delay our trip to get here, I didn''t get the chance to get my third spirit ring." Zhu Zhuqing just shrugged and turned back to the others. Smiling wryly, Xiao Yan, turned towards the group and noticed that they had reached another open space. This compared to that previous second exam location was much smaller, only two hundred square metres or so. A middle aged man looking like he was over fifty years sat napping on a chair. "Teacher Zhao, I''m bring six people to take the fourth exam." "Ho? Six people heh? Now that just set the record for Shrek Academy''s recruitment process." The middle aged man opened his hazy sleepy eyes, somewhat surprised looking at the two male and four female youths before him, as if coming across some manner of inconceivable affair. Dai Mubai said. "Not only are there six people for the fourth exam, but they were also all excused from the second and third tests." Teacher Zhao''s eyes shone, standing up from the chair, his stature was not tall, and appearance very ordinary. But looking extremely rugged. Compared to the twelve years old Xiao Yan he was unexpectedly somewhat shorter in height but strangely gave people a majestic feeling. Wide shoulders resembling city walls, wearing sleek black jacket, basically unable to cover his whole body that was like cast from steel full of powerful muscles, although the expression on his face was amiable, the sturdy stature virtually gave people a kind of intense pressure. "Six students surpassing twenty fifth rank, not bad, not bad, apparently this year there''s more than a few monsters we usually get. Mine is the last hurdle, passing my test, you will be able to formally become students of Shrek Academy. However, my test cannot be so simple to pass. Real combat experience is necessary for every spirit master to possess. What I examine, is your combat capability in this aspect." Smiling his gaze swept from Xiao Yan and across the others, mildly looking at them, he said. "I''m called Zhao Wuji, since you six are all excused from the second and third exams, I will personally accompany you to play. Right now I''ll give you one stick of incense of time to come to a mutual understanding and discuss. After one stick of incense, the test begins. The test contents, are for the six of you teaming up to withstand my attack for one stick of incense of time. Even if only one person is able to persevere to the end, it counts as you all passing. I hope you understand, don''t try cheap tricks, there are no people capable of using speed to escape this range. At the same time, I can also advise you, relying on one person''s power to obstruct my attack is also impossible. Mutually coordinating together is your only chance of success." "Teacher Zhao, this is not so good¨C!" But before Dai Mubai could finish, Xiao Yan cut him off as he raised his hand asked. "Teacher, are there any rules on how to combat against you?" Zhao Wuji raised one of his eyebrows, his right hand rubbing his chin for a moment before replying. "Hmm... You can use every countermeasure that you can think that go against me, with the exception of doing a suicide bomb as this isn''t some death battle." "So... anything goes?" Zhao Wuji nodded. Xiao Yan smiled innocently and nodded back, thanking the teacher, he turned towards his group, along with a really confused Dai Mubai, and the innocent smile on his face was quickly replaced into something.... cold and cruel. Zhu Zhuqing and the beautiful girl flinched and took a step back, Dai Mubai feeling a shiver go down his spine, while Tang San and Xun Er was sighing, Xiao Wu, however, had also the same expression as Xiao Yan. "Well, you heard the man! Anything goes so let''s..." Whispered words came out of his mouth. Because his back was towards Zhao Wuji and the group were huddled together in a circle, the teacher was confused at the various expressions flashing through their faces before it stops into creepy evil smiles. ''Even little Bai?!'' Zhao Wuji widened his eyes in shocked. As this was the first time that he had seen his student looking like that. "Alright, times up everyone!" Zhao Wuji called out after one stick of incense time passed. Xiao Yan and co turned back to face the teacher with unexpectedly calm faces. This confuses Zhao Wuji as he thought. ''What the? Are they really that confident? Or, is it some false bravado?'' Dai Mubai took several steps back, as he wasn''t supposed to help them, due to being a member of the academy and also wanting to spectate, but not before giving a thumbs up and bright smile to the group of youths. While looking at Zhao Wuji with a pitying expression. ''Huh?'' This confused Zhao Wuji for a moment before he looked towards Xiao Yan''s group with a narrowed look. ''For little Bai to give me that kind of expression... What are they planning?'' Suddenly, green hot flames ignited in both Xiao Yan''s now clenched hands. Smiling widely, he raised both of his hands, opened his left palm, and with his only clenched fist he punched it towards his opened hand. With his mouth set in a wide and bright smile, he opened his mouth and shouted. "Yeah, we''re ready! Now let''s do this cause I''m all fired up!" Chapter 28 - 28: Vs Zhao Wuji(1) Let''s go back several minutes ago... "Okay team, first, introduce yourselves, your spirits, your spirit''s abilities and what other capabilities that you can do so we can start planning our moves against that beast." Xiao Yan said with a straight face in his newly created team of monsters. "Beast?" The beautiful lady asked what was on everyone''s confused minds, except Dai Mubai who looked surprised for a moment before a serious expression appeared on his face as he nodded in confirmation, causing everyone to share the same serious expression as him. Xiao Yan nodded, a grim expression on his face, as he explained. "Well the word beast would a wrong nickname for teacher Zhao, but the unpenetrable fortress would be the perfect one, after all, he''s the Motionless Bright King." The pink haired girl once more grasped as she knew that name. It was one of the many infamous names in the entire Douluo Continent, one of the MIA in the continent, he was also someone on the Spirit Hall''s hit or kill list. "Zhao Wuji, the Motionless Bright King, was someone who was famous for his really hard defense, that even until now, spirit masters can not find any weakness to exploit. 10 years ago, he and the Spirit Hall had some kind of disagreement, sixteen bishops, sent by the Spirit Hall, was ordered to go and capture Zhao Wuji." " However, the unexpected happened. Despite he was outnumbered, Zhao Wuji had somehow passed through the siege of all sixteen bishops, who were all spirit emperors and below. What was even more impressive was that he was the same spirit rank as them!" The moment girl finished everyone except Dai Mubai, Xiao Yan and Xun Er gulped in concerned. "I''m surprised that his teaching here though. But, what I was more surprised was how you recognize him." As she said this, the girl turned towards Xiao Yan with a questioning gaze along with everyone else. "... As for how I knew, well, I just knew some friends that told me." A mysterious smile appeared on his face for a moment, much to the confusion of his team and Dai Mubai, before he continued. "Anyway, that man''s spirit is the Vigorous Vajra Bear, it''s a powerful beast spirit. His whole body, as the girl said, does not have any known weaknesses, which means his defensive power is extremely terrifying, even if it was a spirit master of the same level, it would still be very difficult to cut open his defense to cause him harm. Even though I don''t know about his speed, but even then, his spirit power and ours is too big of a gap. So safe to say, his speed probably rivals a peak spirit king at the least and normal spirit sage at the most. Teacher Zhao''s most noticible abilities, however, is centered in physical attack power and defense." Xiao Yan looked around the group to see if they understand. Seeing everyone nodding he continued. "Now I''ve got a plan, well part of a plan, but first, let''s introduce ourselves shall we?" Zhu Zhuqing raised an eyebrow. "Part of a plan?" "Ehhh... 80% percent of a plan but it''s still a plan! Now can we go on with the introductions?" He snapped as he saw the disbelieving expressions on everyone''s faces. "Xiao Yan-gege, are you sure about this, uh, part of a plan of yours?" Xiao Yan rolled his eyes. "Wu-er, have I ever lead you guys astray?" Tang San, Xiao Wu and Xun Er thought back to the times they spent with him and with no hesitation they replied simultaneously. "Yes." "You didn''t have to answer it so quickly!" The pink haired girl and Zhu Zhuqing looked at each and shook their heads while Dai Mubai chuckled in amus.e.m.e.nt. Xiao Yan shook his head and straightforwardly said. "I''m Xiao Yan, tool spirit Heavy Xuan Ruler, thirtieth ranked assault system spirit master." Tang San with a slight smile, then followed. "I''m Tang San, tool spirit Blue Silver Grass, thirtieth first ranked control system spirit master." Xiao Wu then followed next with a cheery expression. "Xiao Wu, beast spirit Rabbit, thirtieth first ranked assault system spirit master." Xun Er next. "Xun Er, tool spirit Vast Sun, thirtieth ninth ranked assault system spirit master." The pink haired girl hesitated for a moment before she shook her head. "Ning Rongrong, tool spirit seven treasure glazed tile pagoda, twenty sixth ranked auxiliary system spirit master." And finally, Zhu Zhuqing. "Zhu Zhuqing, beast spirit hell civet, twenty seventh ranked agility attack system spirit master." Everyone''s eyes turned towards Ning Rongrong as they were shocked to find out what kind of identity she has with her spirit being revealed. ''Though not all of it.'' Xiao Yan thought. Shaking his head he turned towards Ning Rongrong and asked. "What kind of buffs can you give? How much can you give? And how long is the time limit?" Ning Rongrong replied. "Strength and speed, both about 30%, as for the time limit? Burning of an incense of time is nothing." Xiao Yan nodded, turning his head to face each one of them, he said. "Alright. I got a 100% plan now. Tang San and Ning Rongrong, you both are at the rear. Tang San will try and restrain teacher Zhao as best as you can, while protecting Ning Rongrong, who will be stacking us with buffs." "Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing, you both cover the flank and try to confuse the teacher, while at the same time when you have the chance, attack him, but also retreat the moment you get a hit or miss." "Xun Er and I are going on the offensive. Remember everyone, this guy is a spirit sage so don''t hold back and attack him with everything you have, but keep your spirit power in mind. This isn''t a battle to the death after all. This is a battle of endurance." Looking at each and everyone one of them, seeing them nodding at him with understanding and seriousness, Xiao Yan continued, only this time, he let out an evil smile. "Now comes the second part. Here, take them." Xiao Yan''s storage ring flashed and out came five jade bottles. Tang San, Xiao Wu and Xun Er''s eyes brightened realization hit them. While Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing and Dai Mubai looked confused. "Seeing some of you are confused, let me remind something very important in this exam of ours. I asked teacher Zhao if there are any rules, and you know what he said? There''s none, with the exception of doing a suicide attempt." Now Ning Rongrong and co''s eyes brightened as well. "Now you got~ it! Anyways, here." Xiao Yan popped the lid of the bottle with ''pop!'' and a great fragrance came out of it. Tilting it to the palm of his hand, dozens of four different colored pills slid down from the bottle. Green, orange, white and red pills. Lifting the green pill, Xiao Yan explained to the uncultured about the greatness that he had created. "This here, my friends, is a 3rd tier strength power, also known as the Steroid pill, my personal creation. Only spirit grandmaster and spirit elders can eat this to get the most benefits. When a spirit scholar digest this, the sudden explosive strength he/she would gained will be too much for the spirit scholar body. Spirit grandmasters would gained 20% increased of strength power and spirit elders would only gained 15% increased while spirit ancestors would only have a meager 5% increased. It lasts for more than burning an incense of time so no need to worry except for the side effects which makes you feel extremely exhausted." He immediately handed one each for everyone, who was initially concerned about the side effects before sighing in relief that it was really excessive. Except for Dai Mubai who looked confused at not being handled with one, before realizing that he wasn''t to supposed to be teaming up with them. Faking a cough to hide his embarrassment, Dai Mubai looked straight face, as Xiao Yan then continued to the next pill. "Now this here, this orange pill, like the same one before is a personal creation of mine at the 3rd tier. It is called the Naruto pill that can help increased your speed and endurance, just like the same conditions as the last one." Handing them he continued to the white pill. "Same like the last two, personal creation and at 3rd tier, it is called the Supes pill. It increases your defense just like the last two." And finally, the red pill. "This here though, it isn''t a pill for you to eat but to throw." At the confused expressions of his friends, he continued explaining. "This is called the Red Hot Chili Smoke Pellet Bombs. The moment of great force it contacts, it immediately explodes and releases a red smoke of really, really, really red hot chili smoke that can make spirit sages, only if they didn''t deploy their spirit body enhancement, to dropped to their knees and cry." This practically made everyone''s, but Tang San and co, eyes to widened in shock. "Xiao Yan, what the f.u.c.k?!" Dai Mubai cursed as he took several steps away in fear. After all, it was just too terrifying. For some simple red hot chili powder to deal great damage a spirit sage, holy shit, Dai Mubai thought he saw the face of god on Xiao Yan''s face. While fear was on Dai Mubai''s face, on Ning Rongrong, however, was a mischievous and scheming expression. Zhu Zhuqing also had a strange glint in her eyes. "Hey, Xiao Yan, you wouldn''t happen to have, more? Right?" An innocent smile appeared on her face, which was mirrored by Xiao Yan. "As a matter of fact, I do. But we''ll talk about it later. Right now let''s finish this test shall we?" Everyone nodded in confirmation. Xiao Yan handed three pellets to Xun Er, Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing and Tang San. Ning Rongrong looked confused and a bit angry however, before Xiao Yan explained that she was mostly at the rear anyway and that she wouldn''t have the chance to throw them at Zhao Wuji. This calmed her down but she had slight pout on her lips. "Aren''t you going to stop us?" Dai Mubai shook his head. "No. As you said before, there were no rules, so that means that this isn''t cheating. Teacher Zhao practically dig his own grave and also, I wanted to see him cry." An evil smile appeared on his face that mirrored with everyone. "Alright, times up everyone! Are you ready?" Suddenly Zhao Wuji''s voice sounded out, causing to wake everyone up from their dazed state. But before they turned around, Xiao Yan gave them one last advice. "Remember, don''t hold back. You either bet big, or go home. You gotta risk it to get the biscuit!" "Now, eat." Xiao Yan said with a deep voice and a serious somber expression. The three pills; green, orange and white were immediately digested into his mouth. The others also followed soon after in unison. Everyone gasped at the sudden increase of their strength, speed, endurance and defense. Especially Ning Rongrong. As an auxiliary system spirit master, she was the weakest in everything an average spirit master''s attributes have. Though now, thanks to the 20% buff of strength, speed, endurance and defense.She could take an average assault system spirit master at the same spirit rank as her without any trouble. Turning around Xiao Yan faced the teacher with a calm expression just like the rest. Surging his heavenly flame to his fists, Xiao Yan''s eyes seemed to flicker green wisps, the will to fight and adrenaline course throughout his entire body. Raising both his hands high at c.h.e.s.t level, he opened his left hand, and immediately, he punched it with his other, but clenched, hand. "Yeah, we''re all set! Now come on and let''s do this, cause I''m all fired up!" Teacher Zhao grinned and spreading his arms, he opened his mouth and said. "Come!" Chapter 29 - 29: Vs Zhao Wuji(2) Author''s Note: This is one of the few fight scenario that I have ever written so I''m sorry if it''s not up to standards. ======================================================================================================================== "Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda." Ning Rongrong immediately summoned her spirit. Raising both of her opened hands up into a offering, a beautiful multi seven colored and seven layered pagoda appeared on top of said opened hands. The treasured pagoda lights flicked, a sudden noble aura appeared surrounding her and the pagoda, Ning Rongrong wore a slight smile, her entire visage looking like an immortal who floats indefinitely in the sky. Two yellow spirit rings rose up from underneath her body, quietly hovering around her. She opened her mouth and said. "Seven treasure words, first word: Strength!" The first spirit ring rose up, enveloping the seven colored pagoda, at Ning Rong Rong''s left hand''s directions, five streams of bright light simultaneously shot out, separately enveloping the bodies of Xiao Yan and the others. Immediately, a warm energy bubbled up from their four limbs and other bones in their body, all five of them suddenly felt like their whole bodies were brimming with great strength, spirit power continuously coursing more than before within them, like it was boiling. Zhao Wuji looked shocked, staring at Ning Rongrong and said. "Holy mother of... To think that this year''s examinees that there''s an unexpectedly surprise! A member of the seven treasures glazed tile clan. Hahahaha! Good! Good! That old ghost Flender would be quite ecstatic this time." While speaking, he effortlessly threw.... an ignited incense in his hand, that he got out of nowhere, to sticking in the ground. "Seven treasure words, second word: Speed." Again five streams of bright light shot out, Ning Rongrong''s second spirit ring also displayed its effect. ''Reading it and feeling it in real life is truly different. Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, sure enough, it''s reputation isn''t just mere air. Speed and strength simultaneously increasing thirty percent, along with the increased 15% from the pills, makes me feel invincible!'' An excited grin appeared on his face before shaking his head, Xiao Yan feel like his spirit power had greatly increased as well. With the help of the pills; Xiao Yan, Xun Er, Tang San and Xiao Wu has 45% increased in both strength and speed, 15% in endurance and defense. While Zhu Zhuqing received 50% increased in both strength and speed, 15% in endurance and defense. Xiao Yan and Xun Er, without saying anything, launched themselves towards Zhao Wuji, with the help of their heavenly flame on their feet, propelling them towards him like a pair of rockets. With Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing, they undergo their two different beast spirits transformation. Two rabbit ears and bushy small tail grew on Xiao Wu''s body, who suddenly became more taller, slender and her eyes becoming red. Two yellow and one purple spirit rings rose underneath her before rising to surround around her mid section. While Zhu Zhuqing''s both eyes simultaneously change with the left eye becoming dark green and right eye clear blue. The long hair naturally remained docile on her back. Her fingers changed into sharp claws. Two yellow spirit rings rose underneath her body. The two of them separated the moment Xiao Yan and Xun Er moved to attack. Xiao Wu went to the left while Zhu Zhuqing went to the right. Lastly, Tang San summoned out his spirit blue silver grass. Twenty five long blue silver grass appeared behind him, well, they look more like thick vines. He waved his hand and the long vine blue silver grasses surged, his first spirit yellow ring shone, and tried to bind Zhao Wuji. All of these happened within several seconds. A beaming smile appeared on Zhao Wuji''s face. Despite being sieged by the group of youths he was letting out a big smile. "Hahahahahaha!! Good! Come! Come and receive my fists!" The moment he finished saying that, Zhao Wuji raised both of his arms high, crouched down, and brought down his arms to the ground. The moments later, where he struck, fissures appeared on the surface causing the incoming blue silver grasses, that was surrounding him to try and bind him, to shed into tiny little pieces. Not only that, his attack was so great that it spread and reached to Xiao Yan, Xun Er, Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing. It caused their footing to go unbalanced for a moment but in that single moment, Zhao Wuji struck. Like a f.u.c.k.i.n.g shotgun, his right fist, his entire arm c.o.c.ked back, tiny amount of spirit power gathered in his arm, and in a speed that Xiao Yan almost didn''t saw coming, a bronze skinned fist appeared right in front of him. Xiao Yan''s eyes widened in fear as he felt the powerful force from the incoming fist just inches away from his face. Relying in his instincts, Xiao Yan activated his Purple Demon Eyes, making him able to see the incoming fist moving slow towards him. In that moment, he summoned his spirit, moving his right hand to his mid section, and there he had his spirit appear before him. Blocking the attack of Zhao Wuji. *BANG!* A small shock wave was created the moment Zhao Wuji''s fist met the obsidian green Heavy Xuan Ruler of Xiao Yan. ""Xiao Yan/gege!!"" Tang San and co yelled out in concerned. Xiao Yan gritted his teeth, his feet inserted firmly into the ground the moment Zhao Wuji''s fist struck his spirit. ''What the f.u.c.k?! He hits like a f.u.c.k.i.n.g tank!'' He thought as he glared at the grinning Zhao Wuji. Thankfully Xiao Yan''s feet inserted into the ground, if he weren''t, well, he would have been blown away with a few broken bones due to the great tyrannical strength force of Zhao Wuji. ''Is he using his spirit power? Now? Goddamn it! Why? He shouldn''t have used it this early on and would have just gone with merely using his physical strength to test the waters. Also, why am I being targeted?!'' Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes, two purple spirit rings appeared underneath him, causing Zhao Wuji''s eyes to widened in surprise. Using that moment of distraction, Xiao Yan gathered his spirit power and heavenly flame, and sent them towards his spirit. One of the purple spirit rings around him lit up. [First Spirit Ring Ability: Flame Splitting Tsunami] The entire black dull blade of the Heavy Xuan Ruler was engulfed in green flames, the heat coming out of it caused the surrounding vegetation to quickly turned into ashes. It was so hot that Zhao Wuji himself had to retreat. ''Now!'' "Eat this! Getsuga Tenshou!" Xiao Yan cried out loud. Bringing down his spirit towards Zhao Wuji. The green flames around the Heavy Xuan Ruler surged out like a tidal wave, no, a tsunami! Because Zhao Wuji was at point blank range, he wasn''t able to escape the attack. "ARRGGGHHH!" He howled in pain. Zhao Wuji''s entire body was bathed in green fiery flames. ''F.U.C.K!!'' Zhao Wuji widened his eyes, once again, surprise and shock, gritting his teeth, as he felt the great burning heat coming out of the green flames of Xiao Yan. He felt his skin turning to a crisp and his blood inside evaporating into steam. Despite being a spirit sage, someone that shouldn''t easily received harm, especially with his spirit, he was being cooked! He may be using just 20% of his spirit power to reinforced his strength, defense, endurance and speed but even then that was more than enough to take care and defend himself against a spirit grandmaster!(A/N: Zhao Wuji wasn''t informed of what their spirit ranks at this time so he just assumed that Xiao Yan was just a spirit grandmaster. Due to the fact he only saw two purple spirit rings.) ''Looks like I''ve underestimated the kid. I targeted him first instead of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda kid cause I wanted to test the waters. Who knew that he could tank my attack and struck back with a great deal of firepower, literally, with a spirit ability that uses a strange flame attack that can cause damage to my spirit sage body. Isn''t he using some big a.s.s dull sword? Then how the hell can he use some flame attack spirit ability without the spirit rejecting the spirit ring at the first place? Or does his sword have an affinity with the fire attribute?'' He had never encountered this sort of situation before from a twelve year old kid. But he once did by a different person, from a very talented young man 10 years ago. He was one of the many who was after his a.s.s after the scandal he did with the Spirit Hall. That young man looked younger than Zhao Wuji at that time by a decade and yet he possessed the same strength as him, a spirit emperor at the time, evenly. It was due to the mysterious flame that he used. ''Wait, is this kid...?'' Zhao Wuji''s eyes began to narrow once more. Using more of his spirit power and undergoing his beast spirit transformation to resist against the flanes. ''If I remember correctly, that young man''s family was under the...'' Turning to his left he saw his examinee, Xun Er, three spirit rings underneath her, his eyes widened once more and mouth slightly at the color scheme of the rings. Xun Er, just a couple feet away from Zhao Wuji, her once pair of black became orbs of gold, one of her two purple spirit rings lit up. [First Spirit Ring Ability: Thousand Golden Trigram Palms] A golden Yin-Yang symbol appeared behind her back with multiple golden symbols surrounding it. She twirled her body and two arms, her two jade hands turned to palms, her two golden eyes seemed to light up into fiery ambers. ''What the?!'' Zhao Wuji cried out inwardly as he felt the burning power coming out of Xun Er''s palms. Suddenly, thousands of golden fiery palms at the size of a small child appeared behind Xun Er. Zhao Wuji''s eyes widened even further as he felt the same burning power from Xun Er''s at the golden palm projections. ''I''m going to get roasted!'' Zhao Wuji thought. "HAA!" With a war cry, Xun Er simultaneously brought down the thousand golden palms onto the still green inflamed Zhao Wuji. ''This crazy brat!'' Seven spirit rings suddenly appeared underneath Zhao Wuji, and without any hesitation, one of the spirit rings, a hundred year old spirit ring, lit up. [First Spirit Ring Ability: Motionless Bright King Body] Zhao Wuji''s body suddenly emitted a golden light wave, as a figure of a bear appeared behind him. The golden light, his spirit ring ability, gave him an increased of body defense which helped him take on the thousands of golden palms attacking his body. Zhao Wuji growled as he prepared to use his second spirit ring ability to counter Xun Er''s when he suddenly felt his instincts screaming at him. Blue silver grass vines suddenly appeared out of the ground and had quickly tied itself around both of his legs and was going further to wrapped itself around his entire body. ''What?!'' Zhao Wuji thought in shock. Suddenly Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Yan appeared surrounding him. With Xiao Wu at his left, who appeared as if she teleported, her yellow and purple spirit rings shone. Zhu Zhuqing, with her two claws out, at Zhao Wuji''s back, her two yellow spirit rings simultaneously lit up. While Xiao Yan, who after secretly digesting a 3rd tier soldier pill to help replenished his spirit power, used the Mysterious Heaven Skill to help reinforced both of his arms strength and his spirit enough to shatter a small building. He once again activated his first spirit ring and used the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, he looked like a ghost barbarian who suddenly appeared out of thin air from Zhao Wuji''s right with his Heavy Xuan Ruler raised up in the air, once again engulfed in green flames, prepared to be brought down to bring pain. It didn''t end there as hundreds of small but deadly hidden weapons were being shot out of nowhere towards Zhao Wuji. Xiao Yan would have gave a thumbs up to Tang San for the support if he wasn''t focused on hacking down his spirit to his unofficial teacher. "...Bloody hell, you brats aren''t only monsters. Your also f.u.c.k.i.n.g crazy!" Zhao Wuji cried out loud as he let out a huge beaming smile. "And I love it!" Contrary of feeling despair like any normal person, he felt excitement. For these kids are beyond monsters. Despite working together for the first time, they looked as if they worked alongside each other for years! They they didn''t give him an inch to recover and used any chance to attack him and while supporting the other. This wasn''t what Zhao Wuji had expected for a group of monsters since he started teaching in this academy years ago but now? He finally felt true excitement of teaching these generation of monsterous spirit masters. "But, don''t get ahead of yourselves!" Zhao Wuji shouted as his first purple and second yellow spirit rings simultaneously lit up. [Third Spirit Ring Ability: Gravity Increase] Suddenly, Xiao Yan and everyone else felt their bodies getting heavier and slower. Xiao Yan widened his eyes as he cancelled his spirit ring ability and turned Xun Er, Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing and yelled. "NO! DON''T GO IN! RETREAT!" Xun Er and the other two girls suddenly felt a shiver in their spines as they all cancelled and tried to back away from the teacher. Keyword: "Tried." [Second Spirit Ring Ability: Vigorous Vajra Palm] ''SHIT!'' Xiao Yan moved and hugged the waist of Zhu Zhuqing who was the nearest person to him, when she turned to retreat, it was at the direction of Xiao Yan so she was near him. He moved her in a position that he would protect her as he used his spirit Heavy Xuan Ruler to protect them. *Bang!* "AAAHHHH!" Numerous screams of pain and agony sounded through the entire area. Three bodies going down was also heard. Xiao Yan and Zhu Zhuqing hit the ground, hard. Thankfully the Heavy Xuan Ruler negated most of the attack of Zhao Wuji. Zhu Zhuqing was mostly uninjured, thanks to being shielded, while Xiao Yan had a couple of cuts and broken bones in his body. While Xun Er had used her heavenly flame to cover her whole body in a golden light barrier like skin to help protect her. Unfortunately she used most of her spirit power against Zhao Wuji and because of that, she wasn''t able to defend herself against the hard ground. And due to great impact caused by Zhao Wuji, it caused some of her bones to fracture. Xiao Wu was fast enough to use her third spirit ring and was able to escape in time to teleport at the back with Tang San and Ning Rongrong. Tang San, Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong stared in horror at the sight. Ning Rongrong turned her head, feeling anxious, and said. "No wait! We''re nearly done! The stick only has one-third of it left..." That caused everyone to perked up their ears with both of Tang San and Xiao Wu''s eyes to brightened. This caused Tang San''s eyes to turned purple and Xiao Wu to get a soldier pill out from the former''s storage device. They both didn''t speak but they were already determined to endure further to pass! Zhao Wuji let a smirk appear on his face as he looked at what remains of the team of monsters. He knew in his heart that they had already passed but for the sake of appearances, he would also continue with the exam. Just as he crouched down and was about to launched himself to subdue the group, a sudden green wall made out of flames suddenly appeared right in front of him. "What?!" Zhao Wuji yelled as he sharply turned towards Xiao Yan. Who was now standing up straight, his spirit in his right hand and was pointed to the ground, he was looking at him with a deadly serious expression. His eyes seemed to glow in a ethereal demonic green light. "Oh? So you want some more boy?" Zhao Wuji said with a frowning expression. But Xiao Yan didn''t reply. Instead, using an unknown burst of flash like speed, he arrived crouched down at where Xun Er had landed. Slowly and caringly, he cradled her broken body with his arms. Xun Er looked pale and red on the face, she opened her mouth to speak but Xiao Yan silence her mouth with a pill to the mouth. Patting her silky long black hair, Xiao Yan moved his head to her ear and said. "Don''t worry. I''ll end this now. So just wait for me okay?" Then Xiao Yan pulled back his head and showed a soft and gentle smile at Xun Er. Looking up at Xiao Yan, Xun Er couldn''t help but feel that same nostalgic feeling swelling deep inside her c.h.e.s.t. Shaking her head, Xun Er returned the smile and said. "Hm, Xun Er will wait." Xiao Yan smiled and in that same burst of speed, he arrived at the area where he and Zhu Zhuqing had landed. He slowly dropped Xun Er in a situation position by Zhu Zhuqing and flashing them a smile he was gone. He reappeared once more at the now silent and patient Zhao Wuji. Zhao Wuji stared at the boy who suddenly appeared, more like he teleported, in front of him. He opened his mouth to speak but Xiao Yan cut him off. "Let''s end this." Xiao Yan raised his Heavy Xuan Ruler c.h.e.s.t length horizontally. His left hand was touching on the guard of the dull huge blade. Suddenly, the whole blade lit up in green. The surrounding temperature rose and instantly the grass around 5 meters spherically around Xiao Yan had immediately turned to ashes and the ground quickly becoming dry. Slowly, he moved his left hand from the guard towards the tip, the green light glowed even brighter and the heat coming out of Xiao Yan increased to the point that the ground around him turned to magma. Everyone''s eyes was on Xiao Yan. Shock and disbelief filled their eyes as their heart questioned how was he doing this. ''When did Xiao Yan/gege able to do this?'' Tang San, Xiao Wu and Xun Er thought. As even they haven''t saw Xiao Yan doing something like that before. Suddenly, when his hand reached the tip of the Heavy Xuan Ruler, his hair shadowed his eyes, he opened his mouth and said out loud, with a blank emotionless voice. It caused everyone that heard him to suddenly feel like their body was set on on fire, even Zhao Wuji! "I, Xiao Yan, successor of the *#*#$#$&#!?#, now release you from your restraints." "Let my anger, wrath and flames befell on you, creations in this world, to turned to ashes..." "Come, Ryuujin Jakka!(Longsword of the Remnant Flame!)" Suddenly, everyone saw a green sun. Chapter 30 - 30: Flames of the King Author''s Note: Sorry for not updating yesterday and a little late today. I was up for an entire two days trying to finish my modules, especially Science, Math and Filipino. Damn you modules!! Glad I finished them. I was only able to write and finish this between every break, meal and bathroom time I got. And I gotta say, I''m tired. Dead tired. I haven''t re-read this so expect some mistakes. I''ll answer your questions in Monday, cause for now? I''ll sleep. ============================================================================================================== Xiao Yan and Zhu Zhuqing''s bodies hit the ground hard. They felt like their bones being rattled and cracked. "Ow, hey Zhu Zhuqing you alright?" Xiao Yan asked as he g.r.o.a.n.e.d in pain. "Yeah..." Zhu Zhuqing replied with the same feeling as him while slowly getting up to a sitting position. Xiao Yan lowered his Heavy Xuan Ruler and slowly sit up straight besides Zhu Zhuqing. He turned his head and cursed as he saw that Zhao Wuji had almost to no scratch, much less an injury, on his body. ''Shit, spirit sage spirit masters are just too OP for me and the others to take on right now. Thank god that this is just an exam and not a fight to the death or we would have died within a minute.'' Xiao Yan scratched his head hard as a frustrated expression was set on his face. ''I have to get stronger...'' Shaking his head around and put the thought on the back of his head. He turned to looked at the burning stick of incense and felt some relief washing down his body. ''Looks like we''re going to get enrolled. Knowing those two, Tang San and Xiao Wu, teacher Zhao would have a pretty hard time trying to get them. This would have already been over if teacher Zhao didn''t blasted us away moments ago.'' ''I was so close into throwing these Red Hot Pepper Chilli Pellets at his face!'' Xiao Yan let out a long sigh. ''Ah forget it. Me, Zhu Zhuqing and Xun Er are just going sit back and recuperate while¨C'' Xiao Yan''s eyes wandered around only to stop and widened in shock, his heart stopped and body trembling. He stared at the broken body of Xun Er, blood dripping down from her mouth, her face looking in pain, pale and weak. ''No...'' Suddenly, Xiao Yan opened and closed his trembling mouth as he stared at the broken body of Xun Er. Memories started to appear in his mind. Memories, that he certainly did not remember having. Her eyes was only half-opened, showing two dark golden eyes that held only gentleness and love. The woman was beautiful, more beautiful than any woman that Xiao Yan had ever seen in his two lives but he didn''t feel any l.u.s.t nor any d.e.s.i.r.e to rip apart her clothes. No. What he felt, was great anger and pain. Anger not at the woman but for those who made her like this. Pain that he saw her like that, broken and possibly dead. ''No...'' Xiao Yan''s black colored eyes started fluctuate between green and black. His left hand balled into a tight fist, so tight that his fingernails had dug into his palm, causing blood to start dripping out. While his other tightly gripped the handle of his spirit, however, strange green lines started to appear on the surface of the handle where his hand gripped and was starting to spread throughout the entire Heavy Xuan Ruler. Suddenly the woman opened her mouth to speak, blood dripped down lips, causing Xiao Yan to panic for a moment, unfortunately, he could only mildly understand what she was saying. ''Xia* ***gege *** ** *i** al*** *ov* you...'' She let a small bloodied, yet, enchanting smile towards him before the image disappeared. "Wait!" Xiao Yan widened his eyes and raised his left arm, panic and confusion seen on his face, causing Zhu Zhuqing to look at him in confusion before looking away to watch at Zhao Wuji and the rest. Suddenly, a deep and scratching voice sounded inside of Xiao Yan''s head. "I? ??????p?????r??????o??????m??????i??s????e???d??????? ??????y???????o????u??????..." The voice, it sounded cold, indifferent and detached, like it was aloof to everything of all creations. However, Xiao Yan could somehow tell that he, yes the voice inside of his head is a male, he could tell because he was speaking in his head which is still freaking him out! Ahem, anyways, Xiao Yan could tell that it held warmth, gentleness, kindness and love. Just as he was about to open his mouth and say something. His mind suddenly started tearing itself up. ''AHHHH!'' Xiao Yan almost let out a scream, but held it back by biting his lip, he held his head as he frowned. The voice in his head held some sort of weight, as Xiao Yan felt like his head was being pounded by a hammer! ''Who are you?!'' Xiao Yan cried out inwardly. Panic and wariness in his eyes. "T????????????h???????????a????t??????????? ???????????I??? ?????w?????????i?????l??????????l?..." However, the voice ignored him and continued to speak. His head continued being split apart! "P??????r????o???????t????e???????c???t?????? ?????y?o???u????????..." The voice in Xiao Yan''s head seemed to intensify with it''s pressure. He momentarily let go of his spirit, recalling back in his body, causing it to turn into mots of green light. ''AAGGHHH! WHO ARE YOU!?!'' Just as Xiao Yan was about to open his mouth and gain the attention of everyone around him, the pain in his head suddenly vanished. ''Huh?'' Xiao Yan blinked his eyes and gasped, slightly panting out of breath. ''What was that?'' Just as he felt relieved, the voice came back. Only this time, it carried no pain nor weight of agony. No, it gave some kind of warm yet powerful pulse, that his heart seemed to strangely resonate along wit it. "In the last, the present, and the next..." Xiao Yan gasped as he felt something inside of him explode, no, it was more like something... broke? Like... ''A chain...?'' Xiao Yan thought. Suddenly, a mysterious strange knowledge surged inside his head. An information of a power that was sealed inside of him ever since he was born. Warm yet raging energy filled Xiao Yan''s body. The heavenly flame inside of him started to go crazy and rushed all around his body. He felt bloated but didn''t feel uncomfortable. Although he felt like the inside of his body was feeling more hot than usual, he felt fine. ''What was that?! Hm? What is... Xiao family blood¨C!? Wait, is this?!'' But before Xiao Yan could question the sudden power that was unlocked inside of him, the voice inside his head started to speak. Only this time, the voice spoke with clear emotion and it wasn''t the warmth, gentleness, kindness and love that Xiao Yan was expecting. No. It was something that caused him to flinched. Pure. Bloodthirsty. Rage. "I?.?????? W???????I??????L?????L?????.??????? ?????P???R????O??????T????E?????C????T???? ???????Y????O??????U??.? ????EV???E??N???????? ??I??F???? ??????I??????T????? ???M????E???AN??S??? ????T????E?????A??R????I???????N???G???? ????????A????P??????A??R???????T??????? ???????T????H???E?? ?????H??E??????A???????V????E?????N???????S?? ???????A??N??D??? ????T???H???E???? ????E????A????????R????T???H??,?? ?????T???????U???R????N???? ?????T?H????E??? ????G??????R???????E???A???????T???? ?????S???????E??AS? ??????T????????O?? A??????S?????H?????ES?????,??? T?????U??R???N?????? ??????A??????L???L???? C???RE????????A?????T????I??O??N?????S???? ?????T??????O??? ???D?????U????S????T?????,??? ????E?????V???E????N????? ?K???I????????L???L???? ???A????L???L??????? ????T??????H??E???? ?G???O????D??????S??????,???? B????U??????D???D???H??????A??S?????? ?????A????N???D??? ???D???????E???M????O???N??????S???.??????? ???I????.?? ????W?I????L?????L???.??????? ????D????O?????.??? ???S???O???.?????" Suddenly, Xiao Yan widened his teal green eyes as a memory started to rushed inside his mind. A memory of a different time, place and reality. A memory that was sealed inside his soul. A memory of a simple conversation. And a promise. Everyone would consider this memory garbage, but to Xiao Yan? It was a treasure beyond everything that he had ever held. ..... "You''ll protect me?" "Hm! **** ***gege, I''m now strong after all!" *Flick!* "Ow! **** ***gege, why did you do that?!" "Idiot girl. You protecting me? That''s supposed to be my job!" "Eh?! B-But **** ***gege!" "I promised you didn''t I?" "..." "I would protect you. Even if I''m trash, I''ll do everything in my power to protect you." "Ge...*sniff* *sniff*" "Ahh! *** ** why is it?! Did I say something wrong? Do something stupid? Or¨C!?" "*Shaking her head* No, it''s just, I''m happy. Super ubber happy!" "Well okay then..." They were walking side by side as the sun was setting down. The two youths disappeared just as the sun was replaced by the shining cold moon lighting everything up until nothing. .... ''I, remembered...'' Xiao Yan slowly opened his eyes, green lightning seemed to flashed for a moment, his head turned towards Xun Er and turned towards Zhao Wuji and the rest. He watched as Tang San and Xiao Wu prepared themselves to withstand the incoming Zhao Wuji. Not if he stepped in himself. Xiao Yan controlled the heavenly flame within himself to materialize into something to stop Zhao Wuji. Not a moment passed that a blazing green flaming wall appeared that stretched and surround Tang San, Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong. "What?!" Immediately everyone''s gazes turned towards Xiao Yan with surprise. But Xiao Yan''s eyes were towards Zhao Wuji, burning in intense anger, before swallowing it inside himself as he turned towards Xun Er''s figure. With a single step, he vanished. Causing everyone to be shocked for a moment before they turned towards where Xun Er is, and quickly, they saw Xiao Yan crouched down. ''T-That wasn''t the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track! What kind of movement was that?!'' Tang San thought in shock and surprise. The way Xiao Yan had moved had completely blown him away with shock. As someone who was an expert in the use of the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, Tang San was certain of what he witnessed of Xiao Yan''s movement was not the movement technique he was familiar with. Yes. This wasn''t the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track that Xiao Yan had used, but another technique that used the former movement technique as a foundation to create the one that he used. Instant Movement Technique also known as Shund¨­. A movement technique from the UQ Holder franchise that Xiao Yan had watched and read in his previous life. This technique is used by concentrating ki into the feet to get from point A to point B in the least amount of steps. The user must hold to the ground with the inside of their feet or they will simply trip. Xiao Yan had tried this numerous times, thinking that it was pretty easy, only to end up failing for a couple of years until he met Tang San and gained the Tang Sect Techniques. Using the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track as foundation and the inner Qi from the Mysterious Heaven Skill to substitute as the ki, he found out that spirit power wasn''t able to properly substitute as ki, to put into his feet. He only just finished creating this technique a couple months ago and gained expert use of the technique just a couple days ago. Xiao Yan wanted to saved this as a surprise against Zhao Wuji but his mind was elsewhere at the moment. Slowly and caringly, he cradled her broken body with his arms. Xun Er looked pale and red on the face, she opened her mouth to speak but Xiao Yan silence her mouth with a pill to the mouth. Patting her silky long black hair, Xiao Yan moved his head to her ear and with a gentle tone of voice, said. "Don''t worry. I''ll end this now. So just wait for me okay?" Then Xiao Yan pulled back his head and showed a soft and gentle smile at Xun Er. Looking up at Xiao Yan, Xun Er couldn''t help but feel that same nostalgic feeling swelling deep inside her c.h.e.s.t. Shaking her head, Xun Er returned the smile and said. "Hm, Xun Er will wait." Xiao Yan smiled and in that same burst of speed, he arrived at the area where he and Zhu Zhuqing had landed. He slowly dropped Xun Er in a situation position by Zhu Zhuqing and flashing them a smile and with a snapped of his fingers, he created a small dome of green flames around the two. Nodding, he ''vanished''. He reappeared once more at the now silent and serious looking Zhao Wuji. Zhao Wuji stared at the boy who suddenly appeared, more like he teleported, in front of him. He opened his mouth to speak but Xiao Yan cut him off. "Let''s end this." Xiao Yan raised his Heavy Xuan Ruler c.h.e.s.t length horizontally. His left hand was touching on the guard of the dull huge blade. He closed his eyes as he remembered the feeling, the great rush of brimming power, deep inside of him. He searched for it and then, suddenly, the whole blade lit up in green. The surrounding temperature rose and instantly the grass around 5 meters spherically around Xiao Yan had immediately turned to ashes and the ground quickly becoming dry. Slowly, he moved his left hand from the guard towards the tip, energy inside of him started to act as the green light glowed even brighter and the heat coming out of Xiao Yan increased to the point that the ground around him turned to magma. Everyone''s eyes was on Xiao Yan. Shock and disbelief filled their eyes as their heart questioned how was he doing this. ''When did Xiao Yan/gege able to do this?'' Tang San, Xiao Wu and Xun Er thought. As even they haven''t saw Xiao Yan doing something like that before. Suddenly, when his hand reached the tip of the Heavy Xuan Ruler, his hair shadowed his eyes, he opened his mouth and said out loud, with a blank emotionless voice. It caused everyone that heard him to suddenly feel like their body was set on on fire, even Zhao Wuji! ''In this life, and the other, I will protect you. Even if it means turning the whole world against me...'' Xiao Yan''s eyes glowed. "You know, normally I would be much calmer and indifferent to everything while fighting but," Emerald flames swirled and erupted all around me. "My anger right now, could equal to that of the heavens." Xiao Yan raised his sword, poised to point towards Zhao Wuji, Green Lotus Core Flame covered his entire sword and arm. Cracks of green light appearing on the blade of the sword and on his arm as well. "This sword, the Heavenly Perpetual Flame Sword, will be you''re judgement." Suddenly, everyone saw a green sun. No. It WAS A SUN! Xiao Yan''s entire figure had been engulfed into a green ball made out of his heavenly flame. The temperature of the area rose, to the point that everyone beneath a spirit king couldn''t handle the heat. Dai Mubai, despite in his beast spirit transformation, could no longer handle it and quickly jumped away to a safe area. Tang San, Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing and Xun Er, however, remained. Even though they could feel blazing heat coming out of Xiao Yan, they also didn''t feel any sort of burning effect affecting them. Instead, they only feel warm. ''Is it because of these flames?'' They thought in confusion as they observed the flames surrounding them before turning towards where Xiao Yan is. Despite being covered by green flames, they could still clearly see the outside world. The green sun continued giving off it''s intense heat for a couple of moments before it suddenly went up high in the air and disappeared. Everyone''s eyes widened. Xiao Yan, with a completely different look, stood in a crater filled with green magma surrounding him, swarm with green tidal flame waves. His entire upper clothes disappeared with only his black trousers remained. His smooth skin turned into blackish-red scales that covered his entire two arms, his back, the two sides of his torso and the sides of his face. His once perfect human teeth turned jagged and sharp, his eyes now an emerald color with his pupils becoming slits. His entire aura and demeanor was that of absolute confidence and pride. He was like a prince, no, a warrior king that should be given respect and fear. Everyone was shocked at this transformation of his. But what really grabbed their attention was his spirit. The once bulky and dull blade had completely turned into the blade that Tang San, Xiao Wu and Xun Er remembered. But it too took a sudden new change. The length of the blade became longer, however, the entire blade had cracks and it''s edge became jagged. To any normal person, they would say it was a broken blade. But to spirit masters? It was a weapon unlike any other. "So-So much power, heat and rage..." Xiao Wu gasped as tears started to formed in her eyes. Xiao Yan-gege, her older(in physical appearance) sworn brother, looked like the devil. Everyone nodded in agreement as they all have grim and gloomy expressions. Xun Er was balling her fists as she watched Xiao Yan''s transformed body. Especially his eyes. She, Xiao Wu and Tang San could tell, they changed. ''Yan...'' "You... Kid, tell me." Zhao Wuji''s entire face went through a variety of emotions until it settled into a somber and serious expression. His entire body shifted into a battle stance, completely taking Xiao Yan in front of him seriously. "That form. That intense heat and rage coming out of your body. Are you truly affiliated with¨C" But before Zhao Wuji could finished, Xiao Yan, raised his right hand that held his spirit, the newly named Ry¨±jin Jakka, vertically high in the air. Without saying anything, he casually swiped the sword downwards, just stopping inches away from the ground. However, in that moment that Xiao Yan stopped the descent of his sword, everything and everyone turned silent. As they watched the green heavenly flame surrounding his entire body instantly vanished. All the heat around them quickly returned to it''s original temperature. However, the wall and domes of green flames surrounding Xiao Yan''s teammates, remained. They all sent Xiao Yan with a confused and questioning look. But Xiao Yan ignored them. He stared his bright emerald eyes at Zhao Wuji, who now activated his spirit beast transformation and showed his spirit rings, and opened his mouth. "Hey, old man!" Zhao Wuji stared with narrowed eyes. Xiao Yan rose his head high up and grinned arrogantly. "Don''t die..." Suddenly, a crimson golden ring appeared behind his back, that immediately shocked everyone silly, including Zhao Wuji, before Xiao Yan disappeared. Zhao Wuji widened his eyes, his instincts hone from the hundreds of battles he had went through most of his life, screamed at him like banshee. Quickly crossing his arms, his first spirit ring lit up, in time too, as a great force, equal to that of a spirit sage, hacked down on both his arms. *BANG!* Steel met flesh. Zhao Wuji''s body slowly slid back, just a couple of inches back, with his feet dragged along the ground. He g.r.o.a.n.e.d. "Oof! Well damn, you packed a really good punch there kid." His eyes met Xiao Yan''s narrowed eyes, who''s blade was on the two arms of Zhao Wuji. He could tell that it took a lot of energy and control of Xiao Yan to deal that great amount of power on him. Glancing at the trembling green jagged blade that was on his two arms, which didn''t dug through his flesh and had only hit the golden light that was protecting his body. However, Zhao Wuji could tell that in that one attack of Xiao Yan, it had almost broken through. This greatly shocked him. As it was commonly known that, the higher spirit rank you are, the more enhanced your body and spirit power is. And not only that, but with the further enhancement of his Vigorous Vajra Bear, use of spirit power and spirit ability, he was certain that only a peak spirit sage could make him take a step back. But to think, Xiao Yan, who''s just a spirit grandmaster, not only made him moved back but also caused him to feel a moment of fear. After all... ''AND WHAT THE F.U.C.K IS THAT?!'' Zhao Wuji loudly cursed inwardly at the red golden ring behind Xiao Yan''s back. ''Is that truly a hundred thousand year old spirit ring?! Shit. How the f.u.c.k did he get that sort of thing?!'' After all, it isn''t any normal day he would get to see a red spirit ring from a 12 year old kid. However, Zhao Wuji''s eyes narrowed. ''Hold on. Why, am I not feeling a lot of great spirit power coming out of that ring? Is, is it really not a¨C'' But before Zhao Wuji could continue in his thoughts, Xiao Yan, had finally made a move. Two purple spirit rings rose up from underneath, however, they weren''t normal purple spirit rings as they had red and gold markings. Xiao Yan jumped back several meters away and stared at Zhao Wuji with a neutral expression. ''Huh?'' Zhao Wuji blinked and frowned his face. He stared at Xiao Yan with a curious and suspicious look. He slowly lowered his arms and put his guard up. *Puchi!* "Ack!" Zhao Wuji vomited blood! "H-How...?!" He said in confusion before widening his eyes in shock and disbelief as he stared at where ''Xiao Yan'' is. ''Xiao Yans'' body slowly disintegrated into ashes. Suddenly, as if the world around him had broke, the situation in front of him changed. Everything remained the same except the part that he skidded back! He could feel the ground beneath him untouched and not dug through. He looked down to see, though his c.h.e.s.t, was a long blade with a green edge. It dripped and dropped red liquid, his blood. It was releasing a powerful heat wave inside his body, causing him to feel tremendous amount of pain before gritting his teeth and use his spirit power. He could feel the heat subsided, but the pain in his c.h.e.s.t reminded him that the steel weapon was still poking through him. He sharply turned around with bloodshot angry eyes and promised himself that he would beat the kid that only made him lose face, but to also injure him to this extent. But, he was shocked once more to find out there was no one there. "What?!" Zhao Wuji yelled. He looked around in every direction to try and find out where Xiao Yan had went and immediately, he found him. He at the location where he transformed. Standing tall with a neutral expression and confident posture. Acting like he didn''t care about anything at all. Even if the whole world would be set ablaze. But Zhao Wuji didn''t care about that. His pair of eyes wandered to Xiao Yan''s spirit to try and find out what why was there a blade in his c.h.e.s.t. He quickly found out, as there, in Xiao Yan''s right hand, was only his spirit''s handle. Green petals danced around the handle of his spirit. The last Zhao Wuji saw, was a flurry of green flaming petals and a whole lot of red powder. The blade in his c.h.e.s.t also broke down into lotus petals. The burning stick of incense burned it''s remaining piece of the stick. And soon after, Xiao Yan fainted. "XIAO YAN!?" Everyone cried out in great worry, concern and fear, except Zhao Wuji. "MY EEEYYYEEES!!!" [First Bloodline Spirit Ring Ability: Wrath of the King]: Xiao Yan''s emotions related to his anger would boost his overall power and energy for a limited time. Has a side effect of making the user weak and experience a lot of pain for a whole month or maybe even more depending in how much power boost he gets. [Self Made Spiritual Power Ability: Mind Over Reality]: An illusion spiritual power based ability that manipulates all five senses of someone that is either close or lower than in spiritual power than Xiao Yan. Due to being boosted by bloodline, it had, temporarily, reached the necessary tier to able to cast such ability on Zhao Wuji subtly. [Second Spirit Ring Ability: Thousand Lotus Petals]: Xiao Yan gained this spirit ring after hunting down a 9,000 year old Multiple Petals Lotus, a plant types spirit beast capable of separating itself into a thousand and more depending on it''s age. It was due to it''s ability to separate was how it gained it''s name. And Xiao Yan was lucky to get the same ability it was famous for. His sword, or more specifically, his blade, would separate into tiny little green lotus flames that would be as sharp, durable and hot as when he normally uses his sword. He can freely manipulate the petals around him within 10 meter range. The petals could also turned back into the blade part of the sword. Chapter 31 - 31: Paradox ''Pain.'' All Xiao Yan could feel was pain. From his nerves to his very cells, he felt unimaginable pain. He felt his skin slowly being peeled off. His muscles and bones tearing themselves apart and melded afterwards and moments later, they would start tearing themselves apart once more, and repeat. His meridians and blood vessels being popped and regenerated over and over again. Thankfully, his only saving grace from this hell of his was that his mind would received the most mild punishment ever, headaches. However, that was overdraft by the whole body pain experience. He wanted to scream. Thrash around, as he curled himself into a ball, and try to hold out his sanity for the pain inflicting his entire body was too much for his mind to handle. But alas. Xiao Yan couldn''t move. Nor see, hear and feel anything except for the coursing throughout his entire body. ''Shit. Now isn''t this some strange d¨¦j¨¤ vu?'' His mind couldn''t help but wonder about the time of his body assimilating with the Green Lotus Core Flame. Then the after events, of which, lead to him finding Xun Er. Battling her and befriending her, after months of sticking up with each other, then later on with his teacher, sworn siblings, childhood friend and grandfather. A small gentle smile appeared on Xiao Yan''s face. Reminiscing about the past, despite being in great pain, always brought him a smile on his face. ''Especially you...'' The image of Xun Er smiling at him, brought a strange feeling in his heart. Remembering all the moments he spent with them, the memories he created with them. Xiao Yan felt that everything that he had done, was worth it. The pain and torment he gone through, all worth it. The days, weeks, and years he spent with them was all worth. However... "This isn''t the goddamn end me for me yet bitch." Xiao Yan said. The pain that was inflicting his entire body seemed to disappear as he opened his eyes. He widened his eyes in shock. As the sight in front of him was the very vast and great outer space. Countless stars and planets, as far as his two eyes could see, all silent in their places of the universe. ''The galaxy, no, the universe? What the hell is going on here? D-Did I die again?!'' Xiao Yan held his head, finally noticing that he could move, and panicked. "NOOO! What the hell?! This is the second time I died young and as a freaking v.i.r.g.i.n!! This is not funny!" Xiao Yan complained at the vast universe. Stomping his feet on the empty space, somehow, and held his head again. "My life and afterlife, sucks." He muttered as his eyes turned blank and started muttering incomprehensibly. He let down his arms by his side and let out a long sigh. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "So, when are you going to talk?" Suddenly, as soon Xiao Yan asked that question, space started to distort in front of him. A huge flash of light appeared, no, a large pillar made out of white flames at where the area of the space distorted. It was a terrifying sight. Worlds and stars turned into ashes, all existence of a part of the universe, gone. Quickly being swallowed up in the white flames that can burn everything. Suddenly, the raging ocean of white flames soon vanished. And in the middle of where those terrifying flames came from, in front of Xiao Yan who strangely looked normal and without any harm on his body, and there, a being, by his body structure, Xiao Yan just guessed that it was a guy, wearing all black that covered his whole figure, stood silently. The figure, wearing a cloak, with a hoodie covering his entire face, obscuring it, made out of pure darkness, didn''t give off any sort of pressure. Not anything oppressive nor overbearing. It was like he was a normal person. Yeah, no. There wasn''t anything normal about a guy who could easily decimate a galaxy to cinders. A wry smile appeared on Xiao Yan''s face. "Oya? Are you done? Well that was fast." The being''s voice, strangely soft and normal like a middle aged man''s voice, travelled through the empty space and reached Xiao Yan''s ears. Xiao Yan rolled his eyes and said. "Yeah, yeah, I had successfully came back from that hell, that would have made me lose my sanity, if it weren''t for gaining the enlightenment of reminiscing my life." "Ho? Really?" The being in black asked. Xiao Yan nodded. "Yup. So, really? Did you have to be so dramatic and create that kind of godlike scene in front of me to act cool?" The man in black kinda looked sheepish as he rubbed the back of his head and replied. "Sorry~ I just wanted to let loose is all, you know? This place is kinda boring and I decided that I wanted to welcome my first ever guest, in this vast empty space of mine, in a spectacular and grand way!" The being spread his arms, that looked as black as the darkness cloak that shrouded the being, around him. Looking proud and asking for the praise for the work that he done. Xiao Yan''s mouth twitched. "God, was I really that dramatic?" "..." Suddenly, the being in black went eerily still. As if he was frozen in ice before his arms slowly went down to his side and was covered by his cloak. "... I shouldn''t be surprised but I want to know, how?" The being asked with mild confusion and amus.e.m.e.nt. Xiao Yan smiled. "It wasn''t really that hard to piece together." "I think that it started when I used my spirit, my original spirit that is. Despite being a normal seventeen year old guy in my past life, I was good at using the heavy thing. So good, in fact, that when I first used it for combat against a student, I was able to maneuver my body naturally and defeated the student into submission. Something that boggled me until now." "Then the next came when I started my training of creating pills. Despite a f.u.c.k.i.n.g noob of it, I was able to place the ingredients, mixed them and burned them all into a pill like a expert. Even though some might just take that as me being a genius but the feeling of when I controlled my flames, spirit power flame when I first started, and the way how I managed to create pills like they were just candy was just suspicious as f.u.c.k. I just dubbed my talent of alchemy as a gift by a higher being that sent me here until the next part." "The tugging feeling when I met Xun Er. It wasn''t my heart that''s for sure, despite how I was an otaku in my past life, I wasn''t into little girls." "The feeling that she gave me wasn''t that of a boy falling in love, but a man who had found his lost love." "Then finally, that last bit before I arrived here. The sudden rush of unknown memories coming into my head. A life different from this and my past that I know." "And so, from someone who had read and watched countless plots in his past life, I know what kind of f.u.c.k.i.n.g situation I''m in. "This isn''t my first reincarnation is it? But my second." Xiao Yan stared at the being, no, at his past before him. Being able wield a great dull sword like a expert? It could either be explained that he was extremely gifted, or, he had already trained in this sort of weaponry before in his life. Expertly controlling flames and easily creating pills like they were mere candy? Like his previous statement, either he was extremely gifted in that area, or, he had great experience of it that it could be said that such control and expertise was melded deep inside his soul. And then after that, he met this strange person? Yup. Following the countless plots that he had read and watched in his past life, he was sure that the being in front of him was either closely connected to him, or, practically him himself. "... Well, shit. I was f.u.c.k.i.n.g awesome in my life but in this? Shit. It''s like what I''m seeing in front of me, isn''t me, but a certain playboy billionaire." He shook his head in disbelief. "The Batman? Really?" "Hey! His a great superhero, if you didn''t include his stupidity of not killing the really unredeemable criminals, to compare yourself to."(A/N: No one can change my mind on this. The whole Dark Knight: Dark Metal and some other reality of what if Bruce Wayne would finally crosses the line is kinda stupid. Especially if his reason to not kill the Joker was because he felt that if he did, then he would be like them criminals or the Joker would win or something. Seriously. Just for his pride, ego or dignity he doesn''t want to kill the Joker? For a guy who wants to rid his city of evil, he sure as hell sucks at it if it took years and numerous underage sidekicks by his side.) Xiao Yan nodded as he also felt the same way. The figure shook his head. "We''re getting off track. Since you already know then I might as well reveal my face." This made Xiao Yan''s eyebrow to rise. "Your not denying it?" "What''s there to deny? We''re the same person, remember? Your taste in stories are the same as me. Guarding secrets from the Mc because they aren''t ready, ha! What a load of bs. 30% of those stories had great excuses and the remaining 70%? Was just total bullshit." The figure, with his two hand on his hoodie, pulled it back and revealed what was the inside. It shocked Xiao Yan to his very core and short circuited his entire mind frame. After all... "You expected yourself, but it was me, DIO!" The face of Dio was revealed. Jk! This is what really happened. The hoodie made out of pure darkness pulled down, revealing a very familiar face. It was Xiao Yan himself but he looked more m.a.t.u.r.e, older and... tired looking. "Hi. My name is Xiao Yan. I was one of the former three Great Rulers, or, to compare my stage of level with this world laws, God Kings of the great thousand world. I am known as the Flame God King or more commonly known as, the Flame Emperor." Chapter 32 - 32: Infinite Crisis?! A/N: Sorry for the delay, had a blackout, again, and the WIFI was out of load. =================================================================================================== "So, is this like back to the future or endgame from the movies kind of thing?" Xiao Yan asked. After several minutes of staying silent in shock and disbelief. Although he was correct in his assumption, didn''t mean that he was alright with it! This is another version of himself! Well, his past self to be exact, but still! He is another version of himself standing right in front of him. Having watched and read a lot of entertainment that contain about the protagonist meeting any version of himself/herself, tend to cause trouble for the said protagonist or just plain wanting to kill them. He was suspicious and cautious against himself right now. Truly, it was a weird thing to think about. "Neither. It''s f.u.c.k.i.n.g reincarnation thing that has nothing to do with time. I died, you reincarnated into another life and world, and died again, and reincarnated into another life and world. This has nothing to do with time but with life, death and soul laws, which I won''t discuss this with you further as it will break your mind and soul trying to understand the concept of life, death and soul." Flame Emperor replied rolling his eyes towards Xiao Yan. Clearly understanding what the latter is thinking about.(A/N: I''m calling the past Xiao Yan as Flame Emperor) "Riiight..." Xiao Yan drone out. Still looking a bit doubtful and cautious. He then looked around him, staring at the vast and truly empty space. "By the way, what is this place? It''s so..." "Spacy?" Flame Emperor said jokingly, causing Xiao Yan to give him a look. "Seriously? A dad joke? I meant to say, real. Everything around me, looks and feels real, but the fact that I''m breathing sort of contradicts that this is real." Flame Emperor nodded as he crosses his arms by his c.h.e.s.t. "Yeah, you''re right, this isn''t real. This here is just mental projection of the scene that I last saw in my past life before I croaked." Xiao Yan''s eyes widened and asked. "The last scene...?" Flame Emperor''s eyes narrowed and expression turned serious. "Yes. The last scene, the final battlefield that I last walked to." "It was a battle of the ages, a great war to be exact. It involved countless worlds, numbering almost an infinite amount of them, trying to fight back against a threat that can wiped out all worlds. It was, a crisis." The Flame Emperor turned his head to the side, looking away in deep thought, several variety of emotions flashed through his eyes. As if the topic about the war was something so... emotionally traumatizing. He looked like a man who had lost everything. A man who had gone through untold amount of trials and burdens, only to end up in failure. To any normal person, they would turned their heads down in sorrow and guilt, as they were the ones who asked him. But to Xiao Yan? He just looked at his past self with a deadpanned expression. "Will you stop being so dramatic?! You can fool anyone with that kind of acting, but it can''t f.u.c.k.i.n.g fool me! We''re the same person goddamnit! So stop with the bullshit!" Indeed. As someone who has attained a level of bullshitery, he can tell that this motherf.u.c.ker was just screwing around with him! Especially doing that dramatic cliche, "turning your head to look away, looking all cool and badass"! And just like what Xiao Yan had thought, the Flame Emperor turned towards him with a grinning smile. "Heh, to quickly find the truth of my bullshit, truly. The law of bullshit is strong in you my friend." "Okay. Will you stop with all the references and explained everything now?!" Xiao Yan snapped at his past self. Looking at him with a glare. The Flame Emperor gave a resigned expression and shook his head. "Sigh~ Young people these days... Alright. Hmm, where should I start? I can''t tell you about how I lived my life, as those memories and experiences would slowly returned to you now as you have met me. So how about how I died, the current situation of myself, what this place is, and what''s currently going on with your real body. Will that do?" Xiao Yan hesitated. The Flame Emperor sighed and understood what was on Xiao Yan''s mind. "Yes, the entire plot of this world has changed, and it was due to my actions." Xiao Yan''s eyes widened and was about to ask but then the Flame Emperor continued. "However, I won''t reveal to you of what changes has occurred upon this world/universe. It''s not because it''s for the greater good or anything bs, but honest to myself; I don''t know. I remembered everything of my life, from being reborn into that world and ascending into one of the peak powerhouses of the universe until the later parts of my life." Flame Emperor raised an eyebrow, staring blankly at Xiao Yan, whose lips started twitching. "You don''t remember¨C! Hold the fudge, what the f.u.c.k was that bit about reincarnating? I-Is this not my second but third reincarnation?!" Xiao Yan''s expression was that of a WTF. "Yeeeaaah... For some odd reason, we, I mean me, can''t really die that easily." Flame Emperor replied nonchalantly. "H-How are you not freaked out or curious about this?" Xiao Yan asked. "Dude, I was once a very powerful god, you stop questioning strange things when you can literally incinerate an entire galaxy with a flick of your finger." "O-Okay... But, what about not remembering why you changed this world?" "...You already guessed it, didn''t you?" "..." Xiao Yan''s widened his eyes and shook his head. "Heh, so I''m I right? Your just a fragment of my original past self?" The Flame Emperor nodded. While Xiao Yan frowned. "Well shit. How much can you recall?" "As I said, from my previous life and new life until the great war." "...You weren''t joking?" Xiao Yan said with a dumbfounded expression. "Yeah, well, except for the infinite worlds part. It was just a great war in a one or two universes. But the whole threat destroying worlds? Well, that''s real." "They were called the Yimo. A clan entirely populated with powerful demons. Heck, a low level demon could easily kill a Titled Douluo at this current era. While the highest and lord of all Yimo? Heh, he was a f.u.c.k.i.n.g God Star level." The Flame Emperor''s had a solemn look on his face while Xiao Yan''s body froze and eyes widened in terror. After all, a God Star could easily wiped out dozens of God Kings in an instant. And those God Kings are capable of easily destroying a galaxy, then what kind of existence is God Star that can wiped out dozens of God Kings so easily? "W-Wait, if that lord of the Yimos is so powerful, then, did the war...?" "End in their victory? Don''t know. From the start and end of the war, I can''t recall anything much. Well, I''m pretty much sure I died by it''s hands so, yeah, that''s how I pretty much had died. Anticlimactic right?" "Shit..." "Ah but don''t worry yourself about that. Anyways, you want to know where we are now?" Changing the subject, Flame Emperor smirked towards Xiao Yan. Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow and asked. "Well, where is here?" The smirk on the Flame Emperor widened. "This, here? Is a reality marble." "Bullshit." Xiao Yan instantly retorted with an incredulous expression. While the Flame Emperor burst out laughing. "Hahahahahaha!! You should have seen your face. Yeah, sorry about that. But you need to relax, me. Anyways, this place here is your mindscape." "My mindscape?" "Yeah. I shouldn''t explained what it is as you already know through those novels and fanfictions you''ve already read right?" Xiao Yan nodded and the Flame Emperor continued. "Don''t be fooled by how large it is, as I said, this is only a projection. The real size of it will be revealed when you access it yourself in the real world when you wake up." "Huh? Why can''t I access, or more specifically, control it right now? I''ve been trying to access this mindscape of mine for years so I don''t understand why?" "We''re the same person remember? Although I don''t know how I got here and speaking to you, and how I''m not fused with your soul, I had woken up in here and was messing around. The reason why you weren''t able to open up your mindscape was probably because of that as I was the one in control of it at the time, remember, I''m a God King once in the past. Despite losing all of my cultivation, my spiritual power still remains, albeit only at peak Official Class God, so you, a mere mortal, wouldn''t be able to retain control of it." "Ah, what does, "we''re the same person", got anything to do with this?" The Flame Emperor rolled his eyes. "Ah, because we''re the same person that the control of your mindscape was easy for me to take it? It wouldn''t be easy for anyone, especially a fragmented piece of a God, to take control of someone''s mindscape. I mean, sure you can easily mind control someone but taking control their mindscape and messing around with it? That would just make the one who''s trying to do so, brain dead. Understand?" Xiao Yan nodded. "So, why didn''t you give me control of it before? Or even make contact with me?" Xiao Yan pointed it out. As it was pretty strange for his past self to not contact him before. Flame Emperor shook his head and replied. "I tried to come and contact with you, but my words wouldn''t reached out. It''s probably because you''re too weak to understand my words or possibly because that it needs you and me to start some kind of connection." "A connection? What kind-oh..." Realization seen in Xiao Yan''s eyes as he clutched his left pec. The face of Xun Er appeared in his mind. Flame Emperor nodded as a far away look appeared on his face. "Yeah, her. She''s the connection, the stimuli, for me to be able to create a line for me to talk to you." Xiao Yan pursed his lips, a certain image from the fight with Zhao Wuji resurfaced, and hesitatingly asked. "Xun Er, did she...?" Flame Emperor quickly shook his head and said. "Unfortunately, that wasn''t erased from me. However, I won''t tell you for you will regained them later on when your mental and emotional state could take it." "My mental and emotional state? I-!" An angry look appeared on Xiao Yan''s face. "Xun Er... What is she to you?" Flame Emperor cut him off with a question, as he stared at Xiao Yan''s eyes. "-?!" Xiao Yan froze and his eyes widened. "I''ll ask again, what is Xun Er to you Xiao Yan? A friend? Family? Or, something more? I won''t answer your questions nor give you my memories of her until you answer that question yourself." Flame Emperor looked away and silence dominated around them. Xiao Yan looked down as the image of the bloodied woman, no, Xun Er came to his mind once again. Causing him to tightly clenched his fist once more. ''Do I...? Did I really fell in love with Xun Er? Is it my own feelings that I fell in love with her or from the connection we had in our past lives?'' Complex emotions rioted inside of himself as well a complicated look appeared on his face. ''What do I really feel with Xun Er?'' Flame Emperor glanced back at Xiao Yan and sighed. "Alright, enough with the drama. Anyways now that I''ve come and contact with you, I can finally hand over this reality marble to you." "It''s not a reality marble." Xiao Yan instantly retorted. "Now the question of your body. Right now it''s being healed by that other reincarnated guy and a guy with a really vulgar spirit." A disgusted look appeared on the Flame Emperor''s face. "Tang San and Oscar?" Xiao Yan questioned. "Yeah. Although the backlash of that power you used should have caused you to go into a year or two of coma, but thanks to Tang San and Oscar''s help, you should be waking up in about three days." A terrified look appeared on Xiao Yan''s face when he heard about the backlash. ''If it weren''t for Tang San and Oscar, I...'' "Wait, I have another question! What was that power? Although my mind became a little hazy when I saw what happened to Xun Er, I could still somewhat recall saying about the Fire Dragon King?" Xiao Yan asked, recalling the sudden rush of power and strength coursing throughout his body. It was wonderful! Addicting even! But recalling the backlash of that power cooled Xiao Yan''s head. "Oh that? It came from your current family''s bloodline. Though I don''t know how. It was strange, as it had 10 crimson chain seals surrounding your spiritual power and body. Those chains couldn''t be sense by anyone other than 2nd Class Gods. Because of your emotional at the time, and a little from me, you had broken one of it''s seals." Flame Emperor casually replied. Xiao Yan blinked. As his face turned into a surprise pikachu face. "What?" The Flame Emperor shrugged his shoulders. "Like I said man, I don''t know. I don''t know any of the details of that bloodline of yours. My advice? Ask around if they heard about a fallen Xiao Family, I think that''ll help you out." "B-But I researched most of this world''s history. How did..." Xiao Yan widened his eyes as he cursed. ''Spirit Hall...'' Xiao Yan guessed that they had something to do with that. Suddenly, Xiao Yan''s body started turning transparent. Causing him to freaked out for a moment before realization appeared in his eyes. "I''m waking up?" "Yup. Now don''t do anything reckless and just relax for a few days. Your body and spiritual isn''t completely healed yet so... Oh who am I kidding? This is me I''m talking about! Just, stay somewhere safe." Flame Emperor sighed. Moments later, Xiao Yan disappeared. Leaving Flame Emperor in the empty dark space. "Was that truly wise?" Suddenly, a deep and ancient voice sounded all around the entire space. It caused the space to momentarily vibrate before settling down. "What was?" Flame Emperor didn''t sound surprise as he turned around and casually replied to the voice. There, red hot burning ocean of flames appeared, and out came a gigantic red scaled western dragon.(A/N: Image) "About not telling him everything that you currently know of the threat of your previous world? That the possibility of the Yimos might come here as well?" Confusion and surprise appeared on the dragon''s face. The Flame Emperor sighed and shook his head. "If I were to tell him, it might caused him to quickly burned out. The responsibility of fighting back God level demons, which is totally ironic, would be a bit too much for his shoulders to handle right now to think about." The red scaled gigantic dragon rose an eyebrow, questioning the Flame Emperor once more. "You speak as if he were to handle it alone?" A resigned expression appeared on Flame Emperor''s face. "I know myself. He would rather take on the responsibility of protecting the world himself if his friends cpuld. Though I wouldn''t really be that worried about him, if it weren''t for the confusion clouding his mind. Seriously, teenage hormones are truly a pain to deal with. Although I lost most of my powers, I was able to sense a bit of his fate and oh boy. This future self of mine is more of a casanova than I initially had thought. Eight women? Hahahahahaha!!" The Flame Emperor burst out laughing. The dragon itself also couldn''t help but let out a chuckle. "Ah yes. With your Flame God King level of position and my First Class position to have him inherit them, we wouldn''t need to worry." A small smile appeared on the Flame Emperor''s face. "Fire Dragon King, do you really think he would stop at that?" "Huh?" The Fire Dragon King asked surprised. A sharp light appeared in the Flame Emperor''s eyes as he said. "Knowing my future self, he would want to go further than being a God King. Especially since he heard about a God Star level threat in my past that ''killed'' me." Hearing the Flame Emperor saying that caused the Fire Dragon King to widened his eyes disbelief. "You! Are you saying that my descendant will want to achieve God Star?! That would mean he has to form a connection with a God Star realm or make one! Which is both impossible! And even then, becoming a God Star isn''t that easy. Even my Father, the Dragon God, wasn''t able to become one! What makes you think you''re future self has the ability to become one?" A mysterious smile appeared on the Flame Emperor''s face as he stared at the angry looking Fire Dragon King before he turned to looked away. "Who knows? The future isn''t always set in stone, especially someone as him. How about let''s just wait and watch as he grows?" "Fire Dragon King, Igneel." Igneel scoffed but begrudgingly nodded. "I still don''t understand why you call me that...." A sudden thought appeared in his head and asked the Flame Emperor. "Hey, why didn''t you tell him about the matter of ''that'' in his body?" "...." "...." "...." "You forgot, didn''t you?" "...No comment." Chapter 33 - 33: Awakening and Aftermath A/N: Okay guys, it''s official, I f.u.c.k.i.n.g hate this app. Everytime I updated a chapter, it always has misspellings and grammatical error! F.U.C.K!! Despite the fact I double and triple checked it before posting it! I found this out when re-reading some of the chapters in the story. Now I can''t edit it because it would erased all the paragraph comments in it, which I just found out, as I just set up the images for the appearances of the characters. Haiz, my day is not going great. Also, I just got news that my region here would be experiencing more power outages, that will lasts for hours, than before for a untold amount of time. So expect that I might not be able to update on time. I hope this chapter won''t have any problems. Peace! ========================================================================================== "Hmm... Huh?" Black eyes, with a tint of green, slowly opened up. Xiao Yan stared with a hazy eyesight at the wooden ceiling. "This is...?" With a confused expression on his face, Xiao Yan slowly turned his head to the side and quickly found out that he was alone. This was a small wooden room with two worn but neat beds. One was occupied by Xiao Yan while the other was not. There was nothing in the room, except for the beds and a couple of wooden furniture like chairs and tables, that suggested someone had also shared a room with him. It had only four window, one by Xiao Yan''s bedside, two by the other walls of the room and the last one on the bedside of the other empty bed. ''Why am I...? Oh right! Shrek examination, Zhao Wuji, Xun Er, my past self and some other stuff.'' Xiao Yan thought while he blinked his eyes repeatedly to get rid of the hazy sight he has. He tried moving any of his fingers, toes and limbs but he felt too weak and sluggish to move them. He could only feel, and move, his face and neck. ''Ack! It''s like the time when I got hangover in the pass. I promised myself I wouldn''t do that anymore, as the pain after the p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e is not worth it.'' Xiao Yan finally recovered his entire vision and when he tried to move again, only to end up feeling nothing, he just gave up and lie down. ''Looks like my other self was right. I need to relax for a while. My body is clearly too exhausted for me to move.'' Xiao Yan decided. His eyes staring deadpanned at the ceiling on top of him. ''Uh, how do I--zzzzz'' Soon after, Xiao Yan feel asleep once more. His small snores and breathing was the only sound heard in the lonesome room of his. *Knock* *Knock* However, knocking sounds could be heard from the wooden wooden. Several moments of silence later, the door opened up, and walking inside was Xun Er. She appeared through the door with a deathly pale worried expression. Her face complexion slightly ugly and weak. As though she hasn''t eaten for the last several days. "Good morning Yan, Xun Er is here to visit again." But she still had the energy to smile, albeit a small one. With her two hands, she clutched onto the handles of a silver tray that had a bowl of chicken soup on it. Closing the door, Xun Er slowly walked over towards the bed of Xiao Yan, her stride small and graceful. Reaching to her destination, Xun Er placed the silver tray on a near wooden small table near her, and reached her hand for a chair to sit on. After sitting down, Xun Er cast her gaze on the still and breathing figure of Xiao Yan. A sad and guilty look appeared in her eyes as she looked down at the face of Xiao Yan. Despite the quilt shielding Xiao Yan''s body from view, Xun Er knew that his entire body except his neck and head; were littered with scars, bruises, stitched wounds and numerous bandages covering those injuries of his. Xun Er had knew this because she was there when Tang San had treated Xiao Yan, while Oscar kept him alive also by feeding him with his spirit abilities. [FLASHBACK] Xiao Yan''s entire body at the time, was truly in the sense of broken. All four of his limbs and a couple of his rib bones were fractured and broken, almost to the point of breaking apart to pieces! It was only thanks to Tang San and Oscar that Xiao Yan was still alive. Tang San, for his incredible knowledge and use of medical treatment from using the unknown herbs, medicine and pills stored inside of Xiao Yan''s storage ring to determine which were the ones needed for Xiao Yan''s body. Because Tang San had rummage through Xiao Yan''s storage ring, he had unexpectedly stumbled into the disgusting sausages that he, unknowingly, eaten once. At that moment, Tang San had recalled the strange effects the sausages and had quickly stuffed all four of them into the mouth of Xiao Yan. Of course, this caused him to gained the devil''s glare of Xun Er and Xiao Wu. Tang San quickly explained why he was doing this, and breathed out a sigh of relief for barely escaping his execution from the two. Especially Xun Er, she was just an inch away from going through her threat of driving a hand, coated with her heavenly flame, through his c.h.e.s.t! After that Dai Mubai had called for Oscar and they started trying to revive Xiao Yan''s broken body. It had took an hour, everyone was holding in their breaths anxiously waiting, but finally, Tang San and Oscar had did it! While this was happening, Zhao Wuji, who was face planted on the ground, was cursing. "Oh, you guys are done? Well in that case, help me out here dammit!" The damage of Zhao Wuji''s body could only be called as bruises and cuts. His entire upper body clothing was no more, revealing his newly sword scar in the middle of his c.h.e.s.t. Although at a third party''s point of view, it might have been a severe wound but the fact was farther from the truth. Except for his pair of bloodshot eyes. Zhao Wuji could still feel the burn and itch of it on his two eyes. ''Gah! What is wrong with my eyes?!!'' Zhao Wuji desperately wanted to scratched his eyes but refrained, as he knew it would only worsen the moment he started scratching them. He was a spirit sage! Someone that could be measured up as one of the most powerful powerhouse in the entire continent! But, to think he was defeated by some chili powder. Zhao Wuji didn''t know whether to laugh or cry at his own situation. Everyone, who was a spirit master, knows that the higher your cultivation ranking is the higher your body''s natural strength, defense, speed, and natural healing factor. Of course, it wouldn''t be so absurd that he could regrow a limb or a small finger, but superficial wounds and such can be easily healed. Also add using his spirit power to help slightly enhanced it, with how much of spirit power he has as a spirit sage, it could be said that even a punctured lung could be healed easily but it would take hours to do so. With his spirit, Vigorous Vajra Bear, granting him an additional boost in defense and attack, also adding the fact that he used his first spirit ring ability to further enhanced his natural defense. Zhao Wuji could tank on a spirit emperor fully powered attack! So, although a sword had went through his c.h.e.s.t, it wasn''t anything fatal. The natural and enhancement of his defense of his body had repelled most of the blade''s and the petals had done to his body. And with his body''s natural healing factor and spirit power, thankfully he didn''t go all out and had about seventy-eighty percent of his spirit power left, helping to enhance it, Zhao Wuji could say that he had only taken a small beating. He really also couldn''t understand how some measly chili powder could affect him this much. But unknown to Zhao Wuji, there was a loop in that little defense of his and others that Xiao Yan had noticed and utilize such little loophole. Though it would be a story for another day. Back to Zhao Wuji, he noticed something strange going on. As for the last past hour, he still wasn''t able to move his body! ''Dammit! What''s going on? I didn''t received that much damage and exhaust all of my spirit power reserves and stamina. So what''s going on?'' Zhao Wuji''s thoughts went back to the battle with Xiao Yan and noticed a anomaly. ''Wait, how the hell did that kid''s blade easily bypassed my defense? Although his sudden leap of strength to the spirit sage level, probably due to that strange crimson-gold spirit ring, might have been enough to actually hurt me in my spirit enhancement while using my first spirit ability, but it wasn''t that enough to actually pierced through my skin and bones!'' Zhao Wuji continued to think about it for several minutes, while giving a nasty glare at Dai Mubai and Tang San, a sudden thought entered his mind. ''Hold on a second...'' He closed his eyes, ignoring the itchiness in them, and focused his mind to send his spirit power towards the injury in his c.h.e.s.t. Yellow almost golden energy surged and flowed around Zhao Wuji''s body. Like tendrils, the energy moved towards the center of his body. ''...That kid is crazy as f.u.c.k!!'' There, at the center of Zhao Wuji''s c.h.e.s.t, at the bridge of his ribcage, a small green flame at the size of a pin could be seen hovering around in his rib bone. This was the same flame that Xiao Yan had used! The Green Lotus Core Flame! ''That kid is really a tyrant. To leave such an overbearing gift inside my body, truly, I am grateful.'' Zhao Wuji scoffed as he sarcastically thought. Gathering most of his spirit power, guiding it throughout his entire body, letting course through like a river, he started from his hair, skin, vital parts like the eyes, muscles, etc.. Then, after he cleansed his body, he gathered some of his spirit power to his c.h.e.s.t of where his injury had and took a deep breath in for several seconds, pausing it, and let it out in spirit powered roar that sent the student skidding back. Zhao Wuji turned around and ignored the cries and curses of his students, as he secretly wiped some black blood from his lips. The inside of his mouth was dry and hot. He watched as small fiery embers left his mouth and disappeared into the air. ''That kid is really viscous!'' Shaking his head he turned back to the group of youths, specifically towards a bearded one, and asked loudly. "Little Ao! Give me your---" [END OF FLASHBACK] Xun Er let out a chuckle as she recalled the angry, bloodshot eyes, of teacher Zhao. That time as well had caused most of them to let out a chuckle at the sight Zhao Wuji. The scene of Xun Er laughing was like a work of art, full of life, uniqueness and near perfection. Her once weak complexion slightly improved. ''Hehe...'' However, it didn''t last long. Her small giggles and joyful expression, began slipping away. ''Sigh~ That, was something you definitely would have enjoyed if you were awake Yan.'' Her eyes lingered on him, memories of the time she spent with Xiao Yan began to resurfaced in her mind. The strange tugging feeling inside of her c.h.e.s.t started to slightly feel suffocating. Xun Er''s eyes started to glaze and without knowing, she slowly and hesitatingly, drew closer to Xiao Yan, just dozens of inches away from where his head had laid. She had a look of determination but also looked as if a single noise of disturbance would make her quickly run away in embarrassment. She was like a small naughty kitten, afraid of getting caught by a big bad sleeping wolf. She further drew closer, her lips pursed, and her eyes closed. Slowly, she lowered her head, and push her lips forward. However, suddenly, her long black gorgeous silky hair started flowing around wildly, as a sudden breeze of wind entered through the window, the hair covered the faces of both Xun Er and Xiao Yan. Causing the act of Xun Er and Xiao Yan to be hidden away from an outsider''s point of view. Chapter 34 - 34: The Ancestor of the Xiao Family Xun Er smiled, her face completely flushed in embarrassment, as she carried the silver tray with the now empty chicken soup. "W-Well then, Xun Er would be going now Yan." Giving a small bow of her head, Xun Er swiftly turned around and quickly rushed out of the house like it was on fire. Even though if it were on fire she wouldn''t be affected by it. The wooden door closed and Xun Er was gone. Several minutes later, Xiao Yan''s eyes blinked opened and his face cheeks were a little red. ''That, was surprisingly good.'' He thought. ''Her lips...'' If he could move his hands, he would have touched the place where Xun Er left her sweet lips on him. Xiao Yan let out a long sigh and closed his eyes. Memories of the time he spent Xun Er made his heart beat erratically. The days he spent with her in the academy, in the city, at his house with grandfather teaching them of alchemy, at times they spent with Tang San and co. He and Xun Er, are basically inseparable before he knew it. Xiao Yan''s feelings for her is still something he hasn''t fully understand. His memories of his past life with Xun Er was clashing with his own. Was his feelings for her that from himself or something from his past life''s connection with her? Xiao Yan sighed deeply, out of confusion and concerned. ''Shit, this is not what I had expected for my reincarnation to go...'' He was expecting being all badass and having a good adventure with his friends! Not having his hormones getting in the way and starting some drama. When he was first aware of his surroundings, he had initially thought of getting stronger and getting to some strange journey to godhood with the shrek seven devils. He hadn''t thought about the opposite gender until puberty came, again. This reincarnated life of his, is gonna be more troublesome than he first thought. Just as Xiao Yan calmed down his teenage heart and was getting comfortable enough to take a nap, a annoying and familiar voice was heard. "So, basically, you two are friends with benefits?" The Flame Emperor suddenly appeared by Xiao Yan''s side, his dark cloak still worn on by him, he gave his past self a teasing smile and unceremoniously sat down at the chair where Xun Er had once where. "Oh shut it me." Xiao Yan angrily snapped at his past self. "Ma ma, don''t be so pissy. I''m here to accompany your lone self so you won''t be lonely, so don''t be like that." The Flame Emperor casually replied as he continued smiling teasingly. Xiao Yan''s eyebrows twitched and let out a long irritated sigh. He turned his head around and asked. "So? What is it?" Flame Emperor''s eyebrow rose with his expression turned to that of ''I expected this''. "Why am I not surprised that you''re not surprised at me being out here?" Xiao Yan rolled his eyes and replied. "Read countless of novels and fanfictions, and trust me, you''ll expect everything a cultivation world throws at you." Flame Emperor scoffed and retorted. "Oh really? Did you expect that you have a past self from those? Or that this isn''t your first, but third reincarnation? Huh?" "..." Flame Emperor snorted. "Thought so." Xiao Yan rolled his eyes and said. "Alright, alright. What do you want?" Suddenly, Flame Emperor''s face turned sheepish and his eyes looked away from his, causing Xiao Yan''s eyes to narrow. Finally, Flame Emperor said. "I came here cause, well, I might have forgotten to tell you something..." Eyebrow raised, Xiao Yan prompted Flame Emperor with a nod to say ''continue''. ".... It might be better if he tells you." "He?" "That would be me, my descendant." Suddenly, another voice was heard in the room. Xiao Yan''s eyes swiftly turned towards the foot of his bed, his eyes widened in shock to find out someone else in the room. The young man''s indifferent and aloof face, might have thrown Xiao Yan off, but there was no mistake, that face... "Why the f.u.c.k is Natsu Dragneel doing here? Heck, why is he even in this world?!" Xiao Yan quickly turned to his other self, questions immediately fired. The Natsu look-alike twitched his eyes when he saw Flame Emperor looking away and holding his mouth back from laughing. He let out a long sigh and walked towards Xiao Yan. "No, I am not this Natsu Dragneel that you speak off. Although I am confused why you recognize this form that I took, courtesy of a certain Emperor of Flames, but let me assure you, I am not what you think I am." As he said that, he took standing near where Flame Emperor is, not before sending a quick at the latter, who responded with a chuckle. Xiao Yan who was witnessing this scene, raised an eyebrow, and asked. "Then, who are you?" The man turned towards Xiao Yan, revealing a toothy big grin, he replied. "I am one of the nine dragon sons, of the one known as the divine beast king of all spirit beasts, the Dragon God. I am the one who governs fire and lightning, the one who brings destruction and death. I am¨C" But before the self proclaimed dragon son, the Flame Emperor used this moment to intervene. "Destroyer of worlds, Fire Dragon King Igneel." Then he burst out laughing as ''Igneel'' turned towards him with an angry glare. "Really?! I mean, you got the Fire Dragon King right, but I am not Igneel nor a destroyer of worlds, despite the latter sounding pretty awesome." He said with a low sounding voice at the end before shaking his head. "And really, why do you insist on calling me Igneel, Flame Emperor? Do I really look and act someone named like that? Is he also a Fire Dragon King in your world?" "Eh... More or less. Anyways, let''s get to explaining why we''re here now or the kid''s going to bore himself to sleep." Flame Emperor indicated with his head towards Xiao Yan who was staring at them with a deadpanned expression. True, after being shock for a moment at the identity of the young man, eh, dragon. Xiao Yan was now getting bored. Flame Emperor rolled his, being the person on bed was him, knew what he was thinking. "Yeah, yeah, we''ll talk about why we''re here. Igneel, if you please?" The Fire Dragon King sighed, resigned at being called that, and said. "As he said, I''m the Fire Dragon King, one of the nine sons of the Dragon God. The reason why I''m here is to explain to you about that power that you have subconsciously awakened, due to your emotional state and the help of Flame Emperor." As Igneel finished, Xiao Yan''s eyes twinkle and his eyes perked up to listen carefully.(A/N: I''m officially calling him Igneel.) "I''m listening..." "Well, to properly understand it all, let''s start at the beginning." Igneel closed his eyes and suddenly, his body suddenly started to spout crimson-dark flames. Surrounding him and slowly spread around him, though strangely, the flames didn''t affect the wood around them, nor did it gave any sort of heat that Xiao Yan could feel. "First, it all started millions of years ago when an ancestor of yours helped me, when I suffered great injuries in a war between gods." Suddenly, images started to appear in the flames. Images of a wounded great dragon and a human man, who instead of running away or killing the big lizard, he took care of it. ''So it''s a projection?'' Xiao Yan thought before attention went back to the fire projection. "He took care of me for months, despite me being acting rude and angry at him all the time, he took care of me without a care for my attitude." "Later on, we became friends. Even until now I''m still in disbelief that a human became friends with me. I, who was known for his destructive nature and uncaring attitude to anything that wasn''t related to his kin, was friends with a human." "So, after I had recovered from my injuries and long thinking of the matter, I had given that ancestor of yours my blessings and bloodline as my gratitude. The procedure might have traumatized him for all his life but hey, he got some pretty awesome powers, am I right?" Igneel shrugged at the looks he was getting before continuing. "I had decided to give that human my bloodline not only for the sake of my gratitude for your ancestor but also my first faith in humanity. And he didn''t disappoint me." "With the power he received from me, he rallied his family to protect the normal spirit beasts that was being abused and slaughtered by other humans who was instructed by their... gods." Igneel spat at the word gods. His anger against those divine beings that preyed on the weak was something he didn''t like. Not. At. All. "Not only that, but your ancestor''s use of my bloodline was so great that he had actually unlocked a portion of divinity that was sealed in my blood." That caused Xiao Yan''s eyes to widened in shock. "He unlocked a portion of your divinity?!" "Yeah. I knew when I gave your ancestor my bloodline and blessings, he would also get some of my powers, eventually gaining a portion of my, a divine beast, strength, and even my divinity, my immortal Qi, giving his body to able to use such energy. Something that no normal mortals could have handled. At the time I thought that he wouldn''t be able to unlocked what was hidden inside the bloodline that I gave him, but just to be safe, I put up 10 chain seals inside of that bloodline and hope that he wouldn''t be able to unlock them. But, imagine my shock and disbelief that not only did he unlocked one chain, he unlocked eight of them." "With those eight chains shattered, he had gotten and earned his true dragon bloodline, the powers of and right to be called a True Dragon. If he had unlocked the remaining two seals, he would have all of my powers and basically become me." "But, obviously, because I didn''t put my god tablet, or otherwise known as my divine inheritance in his dragon bloodline, he wouldn''t be able to truly become me. Just think of him as a clone with his own will that only has about eighty to eighty five percent of the original''s entire powers." "Though, as I have seen and observed of his actions, I had felt that I wouldn''t really care if he unlocked all the seals and become a mini-me. He would have become a great ally with the battle that I and my kin had wage for many years." "Sadly, his mindset was still that of a mortal. He didn''t want to live forever and see his family die while he himself is left. Nor did he want to steal all of my powers and take on my position, as that would mean he would fight against me, as at the time I was still alive so I didn''t want to give away my God Position." Xiao Yan was completely immersed with the story and asked. "So, what happened to him?" Igneel showed sorrow filled expression and replied. "He went to find me. At that time I was surrounded by God Officers, Third Class Gods/Goddesses, Second Class Gods/Goddesses, and First Class Gods/Goddesses. I was outnumbered and overwhelmed. My brother, the water dragon king, had already fallen. I was just a breath away from death, when I heard him. Your ancestor, Xiao Xuan, let out a war cry as he charged towards the crowd of Gods and Goddesses." Xiao Yan, and Flame Emperor as well, were silent. The tone in Igneel''s voice was clear of what happens next. "That death seeking, foolish, but brave, man had given his all to try and save me. To the point of using all of his blood essence and life energy to temporarily shatter all of the chains, which had gave him my strength and power as a First Class God. He was a very capable, and most worthy, person to temporarily inherit my position. He had killed all the Good Officers, fatally wounding 2nd Class Gods and tank on the attacks of First Class Gods." The projection showed how Xiao Yan''s ancestor fought, the power of both fire and lightning strike all the gods, killing them, and fell. Xiao Yan''s eyes twinkled in disbelief, shock, respect and awe. Flame Emperor, with the same various of expressions flashing in Xiao Yan''s eyes, as well as some strange nostalgia, tilting his head down for a small bow of respect. After all, this person, that Igneel was talking about? Was someone he had respected greatly in the past and present. A sad smile appeared on Igneel''s face. "It''s ironic, you know? He came to find me, to try and find a way die, and he did die. Not by my hands but by others that wanted to kill me." Igneel clenched his fists and looked away. "It was at that moment, that I finally felt true respect and administration towards someone, other than my brothers and father, and he wasn''t a dragon. But a mere mortal human that defied all logic set by the races of our time. He was the first legend among humankind in that era." "Just as when the remaining gods wanted to continue to kill me and absorbed my energy, because of the actions of your ancestor, I decided something that would make any of my fellow divine beasts to look at me in shock and disdain." "What did you do?" A slight evil smirk appeared on Igneel''s face. "What was the idiom you humans used? Ah yes, as a final "F.u.c.k You" to those gods and goddesses, I used every bit of my divine consciousness to tie my entire bloodline god core to the Xiao Family bloodline. That''s also the reason why I''m calling you my descendant." Xiao Yan''s jaws dropped at the revelation. Not at the latter, he didn''t really care about that. But the fact that the Flame Dragon King basically gave up his entire powers, his entire bloodline, to the Xiao Family, HIS FAMILY, just so he could pissed off those gods. Suddenly Xiao Yan became worried. "Then, wouldn''t those gods would''ve had hunted my family down?" Igneel snorted and replied. "Who do you think your talking to? I''m an old and wise dragon, of course I did it secretly from those idiots." Xiao Yan sighed out of relief. "So, does my family has the same powers as me?" "No. When I gave my bloodline to your family, I did it with the same restrictions as when I gave your ancestor." "Up until now, there has been no one who was able to unlock one chain, well, that was until you my descendant." Xiao Yan and Flame Emperor''s eyes turned deadpanned and thought. ''F.u.c.k.i.n.g plot armor.'' ================================================================================================================================ A/N: I apologise readers for not posting anything on Friday and Saturday as I was busy with modules. Now I''m back with a long 2.5k word chapter and it''s a filler chapter explaining the power of Xiao Yan''s bloodline. If anyone has any questions, just ask and I will try to answer you with the best that I can. Vote your power stones, comment, review and share it with your friends! Chapter 35 - 35: Fire Dragon King Bloodline "So, I''m the only Xiao that has done what none of my other ancestors has done what Xiao Xuan did?" Xiao Yan said with a face of ''wtf''. Igneel nodded with a curved smile, his face looking proud and happy. "Yes. You, my descendant Xiao Yan, has done what your ancestors before you has failed to do. Unlocking my bloodline and truly grasping the first step to my power as the Fire Dragon King." As much as Xiao Yan wants to share the same expression as his so-called ancestor, his face is completely exaggerated and dumbfounded. "So you mean to tell me, for hundreds of thousands of years, even millions, not one of my ancestors has been able to unlock or shatter a single chain?" Igneel froze, a twitching expression appeared on his face, he turned to looked away from Xiao Yan and Flame Emperor''s eyes. "W-Well, it''s not that there wasn''t anyone close to shattering one it''s just¨C" "They just suck and when they were just a single step away in unlocking them, they either died to natural causes or outside forces, is that right?" Flame Emperor intervene with the same twitching face of disbelief. Igneel didn''t reply, he just continued to looked away in silence. ''A-Are you f.u.c.k.i.n.g kidding me?! Just how incompetent is the Xiao Family?!'' Xiao Yan and Flame Emperor both thought with a dumbfounded expression. Especially Flame Emperor, if this world was a mixed with his own, courtesy of his own doing, then where was the other competent people in the Xiao family that he was familiar with in his other life? Were they talentless in this world? Or did they die early? ''Well shit, this world isn''t as simple than I first thought.'' Flame Emperor thought with a frown. Igneel let out a fake cough and continued while not looking at the two same person in the room. "Well anyways, Xiao Yan, the fact that you awakened my bloodline is certain. As the history lesson is over, so I''ll explain what you can do with my bloodline." "As you have only shattered the first chain, you have unlocked two abilities. One is a passive quarter dragon transformation when you use my bloodline. You will have the aura and air of a dragon king, all spirit beasts and spirit masters related to beast transformations that has a weaker bloodline and cultivation will submit to you, when using this form. This form is called dragon force." Xiao Yan''s eyes twitched and Flame Emperor''s lips twitched, both from utter amus.e.m.e.nt. "In this form you gain heightened five senses, sixth sense of danger, immense fire resistance, immense lightning resistance, great fire control, great lightning control, and scale skin. That last bit is like a pseudo real dragon scale, your skin would gained the appearance but the natural durability is downplayed by a lot. It could only protect you from spirit ancestors attacks with just your body." Xiao Yan''s jaws slightly dropped from shock when he heard the abilities that he got when under dragon force. Especially the second to last ability. "Wait, I get to control lightning?! Why wasn''t I able to used that when fighting teacher Zhao?" Igneel rolled his eyes and replied. "Duh, you were under the influence of your second ability. The one from your bloodline spirit ring, Rage of the King. My very first ability that was granted to me by father, other than my elemental attributes, and one that I was very great to use. It''s like a berserker ability but retains your consciousness and ability to think, only when you fully control it though." Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow and asked. "When you say like a berserker ability, but retaining my consciousness and ability to think, do you mean that it enhances my physical strength and durability greatly?" Igneel, with a smirk on his face, shook his head and said. "Not only that but everything else. Your speed, mind, spirit power and spiritual power. The limit of enhancing your overall prowess is what your body and mind could take. Though we don''t have to worry about your body, strangely, it also inherited the ability of my physiology..." Xiao Yan was shocked once again. Frankly, he should have gotten used to it by now. "My overall power in both mind and body would be enhanced... with the limit being what my mind and body could handle? Also, the strange passive ability of my body was because of your physiology? Did it come from your bloodline?" "All yes." Flame Emperor casually replied. Igneel nodded. Xiao Yan blinked and said. "Considering I could make Zhao Wuji''s body slid back...my body is at the level it could handle being enhanced to sage level? My mind as well? And your part saiyan?" Flame Emperor let out a chuckle and Igneel choked. The former looking to almost burst out laughing uncontrollably and the latter looking irritated. Igneel shook his head. "Yeah, yeah, it''s one hell of a great ability but use this ability sparsely, though it should be for the best if it''s used for only extreme emergencies, as like any great abilities there''s a side effect." "Side effect? Wait, you mean this shit?!" Xiao Yan moved around his head to empathize his entire body being entirely broken and exhausted. "Yup. If it wasn''t for your friends it would have been much, much worse." ''Gulp.'' Xiao Yan loudly swallowed a mouthful of saliva. His eyes filled with fear. ''Tang San, Oscar, I promise I''ll treat you guys later. I''ll even give you two some baggra for free, I swear!'' At that moment, Tang San and Oscar suddenly felt a chill coming from their spines. "So, is that it?" After several minutes of small questions, like his ability to use lightning, and then followed by silence, Xiao Yan asked. Igneel opened and closed his mouth, hesitation clear on his face, "Well, there''s¨C" But then Flame Emperor''s voice cut him off. "No, that would have to wait. You need your body to properly move once more to able to use this ability to test it out anyway. So rest and gather your strength, we''ll be in touch." With a slight smile on his face, Flame Emperor came close, did a Itachi to Xiao Yan, and disappeared into a torrent of white lotus of flames. Igneel sighed, nodded at Xiao Yan, and disappeared into torrent of red pillar of flames with a mix of yellow lightning surrounding it. Xiao Yan stare at the place where they had both disappeared into flames, black ash marks was clearly seem on the wooden floor, letting out a sigh of irritation he muttered. "You two could have at least cleaned up after yourselves." ''How am I supposed to explain this?'' Chapter 36 - 36: A Red Hot Phoenix A couple of days passed and Xiao Yan has recovered. Within this couple of days he was visited by, in order, after Xun Er visited, was Xiao Wu, Tang San, Dai Mubai and Oscar, Ning Rongrong and Zhuqing. They had been very worried and concerned about him, which showed as they all took turns in feeding and caring for him when he was pretending to be asleep. Yeah, turns out those black ash marks were illusions left by Flame Emperor to mess around with Xiao Yan, so he wasn''t caught to be fake sleeping. Maybe except Tang San, that guy was a former assassin in his past life so he had probably figured out that I was faking it. Thankfully he had feigned ignorance of it all. Xiao Yan swore he would treat Tang San to something when his fully recovered. Especially since he destroyed his hidden weapons and equipment, again. ''Should I just go with the ruler/sword only?'' Not only them, but he also gotten visits from Zhao Wuji, who was looking quiet beat up, and a certain money grubbing dean named Flender. They had just checked up on him and Zhao Wuji leaving a basket of chocolates, which he would gladly partake in. Though before they left, Xiao Yan had heard a very interesting information. "To think, a member of that family is enrolled in this school. This year''s going to get interesting, wouldn''t you agree old friend?" Rubbing his chin, Flender turned to Zhao Wuji with a curved smile of his lips. Zhao Wuji''s eyes darkened and expression somber. "Flender please don''t joke around. If this kid is really a member of the seven ancient clans, then this spells trouble for the academy. Considering that he has a hundred thousand year old spirit ring..." After that Xiao Yan didn''t hear anything further as they had already left, far from his ears to hear. He felt a slight jolt of shock traveling his body. ''What was that?'' He asked in confusion. He tried contacting Flame Emperor and Igneel about it but the former was strangely quiet while latter was also just as confused. Within Xiao Yan''s mindscape, Flame Emperor''s eyes narrowed. "So, they also exist in this world huh? But... why are they missing one clan? Though knowing the background of Xun Er in this world, the Gu clan probably doesn''t exist here..." "But my main concern is the Hun clan. What are those bastards planning to do in this world?" Back Xiao Yan. He sat on his bed in a cross-legged position, his eyes closed and face face expressionless. He wore a white robe tied by a white sash and black shoes.(A/N: Just think what martial artists wears with black ballerina shoes.) He took quick and rhythmic breaths for several minutes, his muscles tensed, his c.h.e.s.t didn''t moved for a moment. Xiao Yan''s eyes opened fiercely, and soon after, he spat out a mouthful of black blood. His face looked completely exhausted, sweat dripping down his face and his mouth was giving out hard pants. Wiping out the small traces of blood coming out his mouth, Xiao Yan, despite looking clearly exhausted and drained, had a face of relief. "Looks like I finally removed all traces of injuries acc.u.mulated within my body. I should be able to train once more in a couple of hours." Suddenly, the ghostly appearance of Flame Emperor appeared besides Xiao Yan. His face filled with amus.e.m.e.nt. "Really? Are you sure you want to? It''s just a great day to relax and¨C" "No." Xiao Yan''s immediately cut him off. Patting his clothes for any dirt or grime, he turned his head to Flame Emperor with a glare of determination. "Now that I know my past self f.u.c.k.e.d up this world, there''s no telling what other dangers would befall upon me or my friends. My goals haven''t changed, I have to get stronger and survive, but looks like I have to speed it up even more." Xiao Yan looked away and walked towards the door of the house. A curved smile appeared on Flame Emperor''s face. Memories of the past came rushing back in his spiritual mind. ''No matter what world or life; even if his mind, soul, body, personality and everything else changed, he is still Xiao Yan. He would work harder than anyone when society pressure him, he would go beyond anyone''s expectations, and he would do it without any hesitation.'' With that, Flame Emperor disappeared back into Xiao Yan''s mindscape. ''Now then, how about let''s get back on changing my old techniques and abilities to suit this world''s laws?'' Just as Xiao Yan''s hand was about to grabbed the knob of the wooden door, it suddenly opened. Thanks to his Fire Dragon King''s bloodline, all five of his senses are more enhanced than a average spirit master has. So before the door could fully opened, a familiar scent invaded his nose. ''Roses?'' Xiao Yan though in confusion. ''Is it Ning Rongrong?'' Was his first thought before his entire expression turned to complete shock. A young girl, a year or two older than him, dressed in red clothes, her face covered by a red veil, which did little to hide her extremely beautiful appearance. She has very long scarlet-red hair and a beautiful pair of crimson eyes representing a ruby. Red purple embers flickered around her body, although her face is covered by a red veil, her pair of eyes had a fierce glare. Though her eyes widened in surprise and confusion the moment she met Xiao Yan''s. While Xiao Yan was staring at her in utter disbelief and shock. ''WHAT THE F.U.C.K?!'' Xiao Yan shouted in his heart, his eyes turned into tiny black beads and smile into a straight line. ''Oi, past me! How much did you f.u.c.k.e.d up that you made some kind of paradox or some time shit?!'' Xiao Yan''s shouting caused Flame Emperor blinked several times in confusion. ''Huh? What do you¨Coh...'' That was when he turned to see the person standing in front of him/Xiao Yan. Moments later of silence, the red head narrowed her eyes. The flickering embers around her intensified. Just as she was about to open her mouth and say something, what any s.e.x.u.a.l frustrated 2D or 3D girls likely would say, Xiao Yan, without any hesitation, swiftly closed the door on her face. Silence... "W-Was that really a good idea?" Flame Emperor questioned in worry. As someone who have really lived a life with a relationship of women, he knew that shutting a door to their faces is something that should not be advisable for any man to do. It was just common sense. ''Well, what the hell do you want me to do?! Having a character from another timeline in this series has completely freaked me out! Not only do I have a past self here and a fire dragon king with me, but I also have to deal with someone of the future?! Can''t I have a f.u.c.k.i.n.g breakdown at this?!'' Flame Emperor, and Igneel who now appeared, sweat dropped simultaneously at Xiao Yan. Though Flame Emperor has to admit, this future self of him has got a lot on his plate than his previous one. Seriously, who gets to have both his past self and ancestor in his head as well as meeting someone from the future? ''Thank myself that I''m already dead. I''m too old for this shit.'' Flame Emperor thought with a wry expression. "Well first calm down and then think of what you have to do next." Igneel said. Xiao Yan closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and calm down. ''Alright. This isn''t my first rodeo with an anomaly of this world, case in point; alchemy, Xun Er, stronger characters, etc cetera.'' Shaking his head he turned back to the wooden door and, taking another calming breath in, he opened it once more to face the red head. Only this time, the said red head was bathed in a torrent of red purple flames and her pair of crimson beautiful eyes was burning in red hot anger. The former being literal and the latter, maybe as well. Now that he calmed down, Xiao Yan faced the red head with a apologetic expression and calm smile. Standing straight in front of her, completely ignoring the heat coming out of her, he apologized. "Hey, sorry about that, I was just kinda jumpy and was surprised to find you behind the door. I hope you could forgive me?" The red head blinked her eyes, surprise clearly seen in them. The flames around died down and soon after she faked a cough into her fist. Her pair of beautiful crimson eyes met Xiao Yan''s pair of black with a tint of green eyes. "W-Well, I have to apologize too. As I was the one who had frightened you and I was almost quick to be triggered, again, so, shall we call it even?" Xiao Yan nodded. With a smile, he extended his right hand and said. "I''m Xiao Yan, a new student to this Shrek Academy. I hope to get along with you senior." The red head returned the smile with her own. She grabbed the hand of Xiao Yan for a handshake. ''Soft.'' Xiao Yan noticed that the red head''s exposed skin from her hand was extremely soft and warm. With a beautiful smile that could melt any man, the girl said. "My name is Ma Xiaotao, one of the very few old students of this academy. The courtesy is all mine, Xiao Yan." Chapter 37 - 37: Ma Xiaotao A/N: I was supposed to update this much earlier, but my town had a power outage so wasn''t able to until now. ================================================================================ "So, you''ve been here for six years? Along with your little brother?" Xiao Yan asked Ma Xiaotao. The two are walking down the road to the village near the academy. The two''s destination, the cafeteria. Ma Xiaotao was walking in front of Xiao Yan, guiding him, as she was familiar with the area. Ma Xiaotao nodded and said. "Yes. My brother and I have been in this academy for six years, ever since the dean took us in from that village of chickens, hehe, yes, I''m not joking. That''s the name of the village, since the villagers only produce people with chicken related spirits." "The dean was scouting for a disciple and coincidentally, he found us and decided to make us his first and last disciples." With her two arms behind her back, she turned around, with a raised eyebrow, Ma Xiaotao asked Xiao Yan. "What about you? What brings you into this little academy of ours?" Xiao Yan, with small smile set on his face, replied. "Well, I was asked to, though ordered, to come here by my teacher." Ma Xiaotao raised both of her eyebrows. "Your teacher?" "Though truth be told, he''s like a pseudo teacher of mine. His real disciple is Tang San, my friend." Ma Xiaotao blinked her eyes. "Pseudo teacher? How does that work?" "Well it''s like this..." Xiao Yan and Ma Xiaotao continued making small talk. Despite meeting with each other for the first time, the two of them seem comfortable with each other. It was probably because they were students in the same academy or something else. Ma Xiaotao haven''t felt like this before in her life. Ever since she awakened her spirit, her body had developed in ways that can make any girl and women drool out of jealously and envy, and men would continuously l.u.s.t over her body. The only exception of that last bit were her brother, her teacher, the seniors in the academy, and her two kinda friends Dai Mubai and Oscar, after she beaten the shit out of them, even then, there would be some awkwardness between them. With Xiao Yan however? There wasn''t any awkwardness nor any discomfort in the air when they talked. It was, all natural. Like talking with her brother and teacher but without the familiality with the former and formality from the latter. ''Is this what''s like having a real friend?'' Unknown to Ma Xiaotao, her lips curved into a small smile, which was unseen by the covered red veil. Xiao Yan also had a smile on his face. After calming down and talking with Ma Xiaotao, he can firmly say that she''s a really nice girl to talk to. "I can''t believe I''m saying this... But I envy you, and despise you." Flame Emperor''s emotionless voice sounded inside Xiao Yan''s head, causing him to glance at the side to see his past self''s blank face. ''Why?'' Xiao Yan asked mentally in confusion. "... Oh yeah, you were a v.i.r.g.i.n in your past life on earth. Wait till you get my memories, you''ll understand it then." This caused to further confused, embarrassed and angered Xiao Yan. Just as he was about to cursed at his past self, he noticed some floating red purple embers surrounding Ma Xiaotao that appeared for a moment then disappeared. Ma Xiaotao''s expression suddenly turned pale and pained for a moment before she turned to looked away from Xiao Yan. Xiao Yan, who has enhanced senses, heard deep breaths in and long breaths out coming out of Ma Xiaotao''s lips. Concerned, Xiao Yan was about to ask what was wrong with her until he remembered her story in the 2nd timeline of the series. ''Just like her ancestor, eh, her brother, she''s experiencing the madness of her spirit; the Evil Fire Phoenix.'' Xiao Yan''s face turned grim and solemn. ''From what I remembered, Ma Hongjun, and his descendants''s, spirit of Phoenix comes with a variation of Evil Fire, causing him to have a huge s.e.x drive and gluttonous appetite which had to be satisfied, which otherwise would have caused his body to combust and/or can cause extreme temper, oblivious of one''s surroundings, even warping one''s personality in the process which can only be dealt with by either cooling the body using Ultimate ice or pure water elemental spirits, although less effective, or forcefully suppressing the evil part of the spirit in Ma Xiaotao''s case in the series.'' Xiao Yan clenched his fists. ''Ma Xiaotao, is one of my most favorite character in the series. Not because of her beauty, and s.e.xy art design, but her personality. Her determination and loyalty for her friends is what made me loved her character in the second timeline series.'' ''I don''t know of any spirit masters that has a really powerful ice related spirit in this era. Looking at her condition, I could only hope that she could last to the Dugu Bo Arc, cause if this condition of hers continues...'' Xiao Yan bit down his lower lip, almost drawing out blood. ''She would most likely follow her original path in the series.'' In any normal situation, Xiao Yan wouldn''t have cared if a stranger would have ended in the same fate, but this was Ma Xiaotao. She was someone important in the story as a future powerhouse Titled Douluo but most importantly, she''s just an innocent girl that was being affected by her spirit. "Then why don''t you use your heavenly flame?" Igneel''s voice entered his mind and suggested. ''Why and how?'' Xiao Yan asked in confusion. "Did you forget? Heavenly flames are kings of flames. All flames would submit to a heavenly flame and you have one." Xiao Yan widened his eyes and glance towards Flame Emperor. Hope and desperation in his eyes. ''Will it work?'' Flame Emperor was silent, clearly in deep thought of it, taking a look at Ma Xiaotao, he nodded. "Yeah, it would work. But even then it would only be a temporary solution." ''As long as she lasts till we get the herbs from Dugu Bo''s stash, any means is necessary.'' He walked towards her, with a concerned expression, Xiao Yan opened his mouth to asked but then... "OI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MY SISTER YOU MOTHERF.U.C.KER?!!" A sudden angry voice interrupted him. Xiao Yan and Ma Xiaotao, having slightly controlled her madness, turned to see a... "An angry fat chicken boy?" Xiao Yan''s said out loud instantly. Chapter 38 - 38: Ma Hongjun "An angry fat chicken boy?" Xiao Yan instantly said out loud as he stared at the chubby feathered boy, the same age as him, his face now completely red at sentence he said. Standing in front of Xiao Yan is a short and chubby boy around his age, giving off a kind of sturdy feeling. He has short reddish-brown hair and emerald eyes. He also has a round face, although he is healthy and has plump looking appearance which gives off a cute feeling. On top of his lips are two small mustache. He also looks like a big fat angry chicken, with his two arms covered in feathers, his hands was claws and his mohawk style hair. "Pfft-!" By his side, Ma Xiaotao covered her mouth with her hand and turned to looked away. Her shoulders trembling and other arm holding on her stomach. "Y-YOU BASTARD!!" The angry chicken shouted indignantly, as he saw his sister looking like she was about to burst out laughing at the comment from the boy in front of him. Without any warning, the boy burst off in a great force of speed that seem as if he were flying, travelling across from several meters within seconds. Clenching his right claw, the boy went for Xiao Yan''s face. That made Ma Xiaotao stopped and quickly turned with a look of horror as she saw her little brother about to skewer her, maybe, new friend. "Hongjun, no! Stop!" Sadly, the attack was just mere inches away to it''s intended target, and even the attacker, Ma Hongjun, wouldn''t even be able to stop it on time. It seem as if a bloody accident would occur here today folks, that''s if, the one being attack wasn''t Xiao Yan. Despite having a claw nearing to tear his face apart, Xiao Yan calmly smiled and uttered. "Slow." Suddenly, as if a huge booming sound appeared, both Ma Xiaotao and her little brother widened their eyes as they saw the figure of Xiao Yan, disappeared into thin air. ''Where did he go?'' Was the two siblings thought. The two looked confused as they stared at the empty space where Xiao Yan had once stood. ''What?!'' Ma Xiaotao questioned in her mind in shock. ''How did he do that? Wasn''t his spirit something of a sword that can manipulate fire? So how¨C'' But before she could continue with her thoughts, she watched in complete utter shock, disbelief and horror, as Xiao Yan ''killed'' off her little brother. "Omae wa mou shindeiru." Xiao Yan''s eyes seemed to glow red for a moment as he spoke with a unknown language, completely foreign in this world, at the back of the fatty chicken. "What?!" Was the instant reply of the completely shocked fatty, before his eyes widened and rolled back. His face turned pale, blue and pained. As if he were struck with a incredible stomach ache. "AHHHHH!!" But that description is completely wrong. As the fatty''s two hands went to his crotch area, he let out a strange sound like a pig being butchered, then quickly followed up with his knees kneeling down for a moment before he quickly fell face flat onto the ground unconscious, his spirit enhancement now deactivated. Silence reigned, as Xiao Yan stand straight with a completely calm and innocent expression with his two arms behind his back while Ma Xiaotao just stared at him with a dumbfounded expression with her jaw lowered in shock. ''What the f.u.c.k was that?!'' Ma Xiaotao isn''t the type of a person to curse, even thinking about it, but the situation in front of her was just too weird for her to process. Her little brother had just had his, eh, ''little brother'' destroyed, maybe, by her new friend Xiao Yan. Now as a spirit master she wasn''t so surprised at the sudden disappearance and reappearance of Xiao Yan, that could be explained either by a extreme burst of speed that he cultivated by using some kind of technique or he just plain used his spirit. Nonetheless, what she was really shocked and dumbfounded about was how Xiao Yan unhesitatingly drew first blood by doing a dirty trick that only most females would do. "Sorry senior Ma Xiaotao but he deserved it as he attacked me first." Seeing the look that Ma Xiaotao keep sending him, Xiao Yan could no longer act as if nothing was wrong and just admitted what he felt. Shamelessly stating that it was her little brother''s fault and deserved it. After all, his crime of almost mutilating his face was a crime that any man would not take. Xiao Yan expected that his senior would be angry at him for instant koing her little brother, or even hate him for it, but he almost face faulted when he heard her reply. "Yeah I''m not really angry. In fact, he deserved it and more with all the things he pulled in the past." Ma Xiaotao''s said coldly as she stared at the ''corpse'' on the ground. That didn''t mean that she didn''t care for her little brother, but even big sisters have limits. With all the bullshit her brother pulled, she was surprised that she didn''t have white hair by now. "I-I see..." Xiao Yan twitched his lips at the reply before shaking his head. Looking down at the down fatty, he felt pity for the boy for a moment before he remembered that in the future he f.u.c.k.e.d up and became a emo due to being lazy. ''Its for your own good man. Suck it up and grow stronger than your previous cannon self, or what remains of cannon at this point.'' Xiao Yan thought. Walking over the fallen body, Xiao Yan stood besides Ma Xiaotao, who now calmed down, and with a small smile on his face he asked. "So, where''s the cafeteria?" With that said, the two left, ignored the twitching body on the ground, and continued on their way. ============================================================================================================================== Chapter 39 - 39: A pervert? In the academy''s cafeteria, a celebration party was going on. Eight youths gathered around, four girls and four boys, with one of the boys being the center of attention as he was being hugged back and front by two girls. A boy with a slightly above average face, black hair and eyes, though had bags under them now, with a twelve jeweled belt around his waist, this was Tang San. He looked a bit pale and weak but had a joyful expression on his face. He raised a cup of juice towards the boy being hugged and shouted. "To Xiao Yan''s recovery!" "Oh!" Dai Mubai and Ma Xiaotao excitedly said as they also raised cups filled with juice. "Hn." Zhu Zhuqing nodded simply. "Pfft, whatever¨CI mean, oh!" Ma Hongjun mumbled snidely, before changing his tone of voice when he saw the fierce glare he received from his sister. "T-Thanks for the concern guys, I-I really appreciate it." Xiao Yan replied, sincerity and gratitude clear in his voice, though stuttering as he was being crushed in death grip hugs by both Xiao Wu and Xun, by his front and back respectively. It wasn''t really a surprise that the two hugged him, along with Tang San, they were the most worried and concerned for Xiao Yan. For Xiao Wu and Tang San, Xiao Yan is their brother in all but blood. They would do anything to help and protect him, and vice versa as well. For Xun Er, Xiao Yan is her first and most important friend that she made when she left the forest. He was her pillar of support in this world that she herself was thrown into. Both girls didn''t say anything, they just continued to hold onto Xiao Yan''s body silently. Xiao Yan could feel his c.h.e.s.t and back soaked, the trembling of the girls bodies, and despite the pain he was feeling in his heart at the sight of the two, he warmly smiled at them even though they couldn''t see it. He hugged the form of Xiao Wu with one arm, who slightly flinched before relaxing into his embrace, and his other hand went to hold the hand of Xun Er, who didn''t hesitate to respond back with a strong grip. "Shh, shh, It''s alright I''m right here, I''m okay and alive. I''m right here..." Xiao Yan comforted the two girls with soft and warm words. Several minutes later, Xiao Wu''s hand went to Xun Er to signal her for something. A moment later Xun Er left the back of Xiao Yan and wiped the tears from her puffy redden eyes with a wry smile on her face. "Xun Er? Xiao Wu?" Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow in confusion at the actions of the two, and as he saw Xiao Wu staring at his eyes silently, he felt his instincts, honed through countless battlefields he had with a certain rabbit, telling him that something was wrong. A moment later, his instincts had turned out to be right. "Secret technique: Two Fingers of Death!" "AHHHHHH!!" Xiao Yan cried out loud in pain. Covering his eyes with both of his hands, he landed on the ground, and rolled around in pain. "My eyes! MY EYES!! OH HOLY MOTHER OF¨CWHY?!!" Xiao Yan yelled out loud towards Xiao Wu, her eyes red and puffy, she pulled out her tongue out for a raspberry. "Neh! Xiao Yan-gege, you deserve it! You idiot! Jerk! Pervert! Degenerate!" "OI! WHAT WERE THAT LAST TWO ABOUT?!" "Well you are, aren''t you?! You created those biggra pills and other stuff that only degenerate perverts like you would!" Xiao Yan felt like multiple arrows shooting through his heart and body when he heard her, heck, it felt even worse especially since he can feel certain glares and awed looks behind his back. Wiping his teary, hazy and redden eyes, Xiao Yan stared blankly as he saw Ma Hongjun prostrating to him with respect and worship clearly seen in his eyes. "My idol! No, my god! Please, I wholeheartedly apologise for my sorry behavior earlier! I didn''t know that the great Yan Xiao, the great renowned alchemist by all men, would be here and be you. Ah! I-It''s not like it can''t be you, who would it be? Anyway, please¨C" "Piss off!" Ma Hongjun wasn''t able to finish what he was about to say as he was sent flying away by Xiao Yan''s foot. Xiao Yan panted in anger, he finally understood what it means to lose face and he wasn''t any bit happy about it. "Ho? A degenerate pervert huh..." Xiao Yan''s body froze before ever so slowly turning his head around to look back to find Ma Xiaotao and Zhu Zhuqing at him with cold eyes filled with despise. Dai Mubai, Tang San and Xun Er looked at him with pity and sympathy before shaking their heads to looked away. Clearly making it clear that he wouldn''t received help from them. ''Traitors!'' Xiao Wu was staring at him with a mischievous grin. ''Oh you little-!'' Xiao Yan felt a vein had popped before calming down. Turning to face them, his expression straight, he said. "Ladies, please, I am no degenerate." "You won''t deny being a pervert?" Ma Xiaotao asked in confusion. Xiao Yan shook his head and said with a completely serious face. "All men are perverts, I won''t deny it, denying so means I deny my existence as a man. I am a pervert, a gentleman pervert to be exact. It is true that I created such pills and other related stuff, but that is purely for business and nothing else. So please, don''t confuse my actions of selling them as acts of degeneration." Ma Xiaotao, Zhu Zhuqing, Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun, who now recovered back, looked at him with a completely baffled expression. The words that flew out of Xiao Yan''s mouth felt so righteous and reasonable that it short circuited their brains. "W-What?" All the while Tang San, Xun Er and Xiao Wu stared at him with a twitching face. Having known Xiao Yan for years, they knew that what he was talking about was full on bullshit. They knew that if there ever was a Spirit Douluo or worse a Titled Douluo around, he could lie to their faces with a straight expression and fool the powerhouses into thinking that the moon was made out of cheese. ''Xiao Yan/gege, if there ever was someone who would be better than you of spouting bullshit in this world then, I fear that the whole world would be thrown into pure utter chaos.'' ==================================================================================== A/N: Another chapter for today, I''m going to say this is if there was anyone going to complain about it, I made a tag on the story, this is a slow pace one that could have some slice of life and drama. After all life isn''t about training, fighting, cultivating, and getting girls like it''s pokemon. Btw, can anyone tell me of how I can download Strike the Blood S2 episode 2? Without logging in with a credit card. For some reason I can''t download it on Chia-anime, KissAnime, and Kickassanime. Chapter 40 - 40: Questioning "So Oscar and Ning Rongrong are currently running around the village? And we won''t report to the dean until when the sun sets?" Xiao Yan asked Tang San as he sips his juice. Tang San nodded, sipping some juice as well, and said. "Yeah, also don''t worry about the intuition fee, I already paid for us four." Xiao Yan rose an eyebrow. "... Okay it was your money that I used to pay but Xiao Wu was the one who, ahem, borrowed your storage ring and said to use it." Tang San sagged his shoulders and told the truth with a wry smile. ''No wonder when I inspected my storage ring there was a less amount of spirit gold than usual, so she was the reason.'' Xiao Yan turned towards Xiao Wu with a glare, who looked away while whistling innocently. Sighing, Xiao Yan let it go as this wasn''t the first time that his surrogate little sister borrowed money from him and Tang San, though it was more stole and demanded. Sometimes, he wondered the reason why she or girls her age are so demanding. Especially since its getting worse the more she ages. ''Is it because of puberty?'' Xiao Yan thought with blank eyes. Yeah, that was probably it. "I don''t know why, but I have the strangest urge to sucker punch your face and little dong dong." Xiao Wu said with a twitching face and shaking fist at his direction. "It''s your imagination." Xiao Yan immediately replied with a straight face. Staring at Xiao Wu with clear and innocent eyes. "I''m watching you Xiao Yan-gege..." Xiao Wu did the ''I''m watching you'' gesture at Xiao Yan. "Yeah yeah..." Xiao Yan and the others continued partying until Xun Er, who was been silently by Xiao Wu''s side, opened her mouth to asked the question that has been plaguing her and the others mind several days ago. "Yan, can I ask you a question?" "Hmm? Sure." Xiao Yan shrugged. Xun Er took a deep breath and asked. "How.... What was that power you used against teacher Zhao that day of the examination?" That question cause everyone to be silent, everyone, Tang San, Xiao Wu, Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing all stared Xiao Yan with curious and concerned expressions. While the Ma siblings stared at their friends with questioning looks. Xiao Yan paused, hesitation on his face, before he closed his eyes and took a large douse of the juice on hand. Wiping his mouth, he opened his eyes and stared at his old and new friends. ''Gulp.'' When they all saw his expression, they involuntarily swallowed a mouthful of saliva. "I..." All of them got closer. Their eyes clearly filled with anxiety and excitement to know but had concerned within as well. Everyone, except the Ma siblings, remembered that strange power Xiao Yan had used as he pushed teacher Zhao back with just his mere physical strength. Also, they remembered that great aura and pressure he released as he transformed. It was like they saw a king. A great warrior king that can annihilate anything in his path. It was like Xiao Yan had become a different person. Not to mention, that crimson gold spirit ring... ''Yan/Xiao Yan-gege...'' A complicated expression appeared on both Xun Er and Xiao Wu''s faces. They both saw that strange spirit ring that appeared around Xiao Yan''s body and they didn''t want to assume what that was. They just don''t want to. As they all leaned in closer, Xiao Yan, with a serious expression and pursed lips, opened his mouth and said. "I don''t know." Everyone face faulted. Xiao Yan caught the fist that was coming towards his face with his left hand. Xiao Wu, with a ugly expression, tsked and glared at Xiao Yan. Twisting her body, she unhesitatingly launched a roundhouse kick towards her big brother''s right rib. Which Xiao Yan, using his Purple Demon Eyes, easily caught the leg attack. His lips twitched as he felt his right hand, that caught Xiao Wu''s leg, although it was a millisecond, was slightly trembling, which shows how great the strength she used to attack him. ''HOLY SHIT! Wu-er didn''t hesitate and used spirit enhancement to full strength! Oh gods I really pissed her off this time.'' If it weren''t for his tyrannical body, he was sure the bone in his hand would have been broken or worse, shattered into pieces. Shaking his head, Xiao Yan quickly clarified what he was talking about as he saw the others now glaring at him. "Gee, you think?" Flame Emperor sarcastically remarked with Igneel nodding his head. Xiao Yan ignored them. ''I wonder how your going to bluff you''re way out of this...'' Flame Emperor thought intriguingly with Igneel sharing the same line of thought as him. "Okay there missy, are you done? Cause if you are, I want to start explaining." Xiao Yan stared at Xiao Wu. She pouted for a moment in defiance but yielded with a sigh. "Okay... But you better start explaining properly okay!" Xiao Yan nodded. "Yeah. As I''ve said before, I really don''t know what it was. I only have guesses at this moment, like, it was probably my second spirit had finally awakened or something. Like I was probably a late bloomer. Or it''s related to my original spirit and that transformation of mine was like another transformation for it you know." Everyone nodded in understanding, except Dai Mubai, Zhu Zhuqing and the Ma siblings at the latter, about ''another transformation for it''. ''Does this means that Xiao Yan''s original spirit had once undergo a transformation prior to this?'' They all thought in surprise. Tang San and co saw this and quickly explained. "So is it really your second spirit or another transformation of your original spirit?" Xun Er was the one who raised that question, like a student in class. ''Although we''re in a school, its currently not in session.'' Xiao Yan inwardly thought out loud. "No. I wasn''t really certain of my transformation, that it was either my new second spirit or a part of my original spirit as a new power up, until I noticed something strange about it." "Something strange?" "Well first, the sudden appearance of a spirit ring, that shouldn''t be possible due to me having no memories hunting a spirit beast for it as this was the first time that I have ever used such a transformation." Xun Er and Xiao Wu let out sighs of relief. "Secondly the consumption needed to use the transformation wasn''t spirit power but something else, something that I call vigor." At the surprise and confused looks from everyone, Xiao Yan continued with his explanation. He told them everything what his current transformation and spirit ring ability could do, except he didn''t told them the true origins of it all. ''Sorry guys, but you all aren''t m.a.t.u.r.e and strong enough to understand everything yet.'' Xiao Yan inwardly apologize to everyone. "Hm? Looks like we only have a couple of hours left till the dean gathers us." Dai Mubai noted as he stared at the mechanical clock on the wall. "Should we just continue partying?" Ma Hongjun asked as he stuffed a chicken drumstick in his mouth. "No." Xiao Yan casually said, causing everyone to stare at him once more, downing all of his juice, with a big grin on his face he said. "Aren''t you all curious of my new spirit here? How about let''s test it out." ============================================================ A/N: Okay I''m not going to explain what''s vigor is, as you all know about that if you''ve read DD3 but if you don''t, here''s the info of it. *Vigor comes from one''s body and uses the nutrients within his/her blood as a power source. Yup, that''s all. That''s what vigor is. XD I''ll try if I can make another chapter today, also did u guys play Hitman 3? Man the graphics in that game was cool. Anyways, peace! Chapter 41 - 41: Showing Off A/N: This might felt rushed as I wrote this while answering my modules, so I apologise for that. Next chapter would have them fighting in the Great Spirit Arena. If you have any questions, just ask. ======================================================================================== "I-Is this the place?" Xun Er softly asked as she and the others looked around the area they had arrived. It was a completely barren land with not a single blade of grass or vegetation in sight. The trees around them were rotten and old. Not a single life of vegetation in sight. This was just a couple kilometers away from the academy. "This, is horrible." Xiao Wu said as her little face turned saddened. Dai Mubai let out a sad sigh and said. "Yeah, this is called the barren land, quiet simple and easy to understand as you can see. This land had became like this was because a very violent thousand year old fire forest lion had gone berserker when it''s whole pack was hunted done by some spirit masters. It was said that when it was cornered, it became a ten-thousand year old spirit beast and proceeded to slaughter the spirit masters and burned down this land to cinders. The dean was one who killed it and this was one of the reasons why he was able to negotiate with the village chief to let him create a academy on the village." Everyone nodded at the story before looking back around them. While a sad look appeared on both Xiao Wu and Xun Er''s eyes for a moment before disappearing. They were here because Xiao Yan wanted to test out his spirit around and cause some little level of destruction but was forbidden, apparently if he destroyed anything in the village the fee for the repairs would come out of his pocket money and not the academy. Speaking of Xiao Yan... The moment he arrived here he immediately sat down on the ground cross-legged and meditated, though truthfully he was talking with his ancestor Igneel. ''So, uh, how do I transformed?'' Xiao Yan asked. "It''s easy. Its like summoning your sword spirit but instead of using your spirit power, you use the vigor within you." Igneel casually replied as he lazily relaxed on a red couch. Xiao Yan nodded and didn''t questioned the couch, as he too knew the power of the great couch. Opening his eyes Xiao Yan stood up, gathering the attention of everyone, and without saying anything he spread his arms and legs apart. A focused and serious expression was on his face as everyone intently watched him in anticipation. "..." "..." "..." "Uh... Xiao Yan-gege are you trying to take a¨C" Before Xiao Wu could finish her teasing on Xiao Yan, a great heat wave hit them and thunderous roars could be heard. "HAAAAAAA!" Xiao Yan shouted as his skin turned into dark red scales, his pupils into slits and his teeth jagged. While a red aura, no, heat waves surrounded his body and white lightning flashed around. Everyone stared in shock and confusion, the Ma siblings especially as this was the first time that they had saw Xiao Yan in such a sight. But for Tang San and the rest? They were confused as hell. They knew that Xiao Yan''s flames were green almost emerald in color but he had red hot crimson flames surrounding his body, and last they recall, he didn''t have the power to use lightning. ''Was this the power of his second spirit?'' They all thought with awe in their eyes. They wanted to ask him to do something to test his spirit but they held back as they saw him looking down at his hands in shock. ''Oi ancestor! What is this?!'' Xiao Yan asked yelled out loud inwardly. He was shock. No scratch that, he was in utter disbelief and shock. The flames and lightning surrounding him, he wouldn''t really have been shock at the sudden color change and use of the lightning, as he was informed of the latter and the former he would guess as being something that came along with the transformation. But this feeling... this was the same feeling he felt when he use his heavenly flame the Green Lotus Core Flame! ''What the f.u.c.k is going on?!'' "Alright alright me, calm down." Flame Emperor casually stated. Turning towards Igneel, he ask. "So, are you the one who''s going to explain?" Igneel sighed and nodded. "Yeah I''ll do it." Turning towards silent Xiao Yan, Igneel proceeded to explain. "Yes. What your currently thinking of what that is, it''s correct. That surrounding your body is a heavenly flame, specifically 11th rank of the heavenly flame ranking: the Nine Dragon Lightning Flame." ''What?!'' Xiao Yan yelled out in shock. "Don''t interrupt me! Ahem, anyways it''s a heavenly flame that I personally nurtured and used back in my peak. So take care of it. Though currently most of its power is sealed until you grow more stronger. The reason is mostly because it contains some of my divine conscious." ''Wait wait wait. Why didn''t you informed me beforehand?! Shit, I can''t handle the power of two heavenly flames! My body would burst and I''ll die!'' Xiao Yan yelled. That was right, though the course of alchemy history it was impossible for anyone to have two or more heavenly flames in their body. For the violent energy of the two or more heavenly flames was too much for their body and even if their body could handle the energy, it wouldn''t handle the two heavenly flames fighting at each other for dominance. "So, are you done drama queen?" Flame Emperor asked with irritated scowl. ''Almost. AHHHHHHHHhhhhh... Okay I''m done.'' Xiao Yan nodded. Turning to the spirits haunting his mind, he asked. ''So, how am I alive right now?'' At first he was truly worried but then he noticed the calm looks of the two and figured out that they did something. A small and nostalgic smile appeared on Flame Emperor''s face. "Flame Mantra." The moment Xiao Yan heard that, his eyes practically bulged out of shock. ''How?!'' The Flame Mantra, Xiao Yan could remember it in his/Flame Emperor''s life that it was cultivation method he used that needed a heavenly flame as a raw material to cultivate. It can help one swallow another type of heavenly flame in one''s body but it only had 20% success rate. But if successful and if one has two heavenly flames could one truly show the true power of such cultivation method. A smug smile appeared on the Flame Emperor''s face. "Did you forget? I''m God. Changing the structure and requirements of the technique to fit this world is as easy as snapping my fingers. Also, if your asking how are you able to use the technique when you didn''t remember cultivating it, again, I''m god and you. When you were still resting your body, I controlled your body, yes I can control your body though temporarily, when you were asleep and let your body adjust and let it subconsciously cultivate the Flame Mantra technique." Xiao Yan dropped his jaws. Cause if this was true, Flame Emperor had basically hijacked his body to cultivate a technique that he made it so his body could subconsciously cultivate it, and he didn''t notice anything wrong as that bastard''s memories and experiences had caused him to feel cultivating the flame mantra was a natural thing. "Motherf.u.c.ker..." Xiao Yan muttered as he shook his head around. Causing Tang San and co to look at him with worried looks. ''So, nothing''s wrong with my body?'' "Well, you are growing and¨C" ''I''m talking about if the heavenly flames are affecting my body you bastard!'' "Well yeah you''re alright. With my memories and experiences that you received, as well as some tinkering here and there, there wouldn''t be any problems. Though I advise you to not absorb another heavenly flame until your a spirit king." Xiao Yan nodded but he had another question to ask. ''When did you assimilate the flame and why didn''t I feel anything wrong before?'' "I had already started assimilating the flame days ago in your body, though that was a slow process due to your weak body but as a divine conscious who''s godly position governed flames, it was easy for me to control the flame to assimilate your body undetected. Also, the reason why you didn''t feel any discomfort was probably because as the heavenly flame that was both nurtured and used by the Fire Dragon King, and you who has his spirit and bloodline can use it without any trouble." Flame Emperor finished his explanation with a shrug. While Xiao Yan stared at his past self with blank and unreadable face before shaking his head. ''I gotta go, they''re calling me.'' With that Xiao Yan logged out. "..." Flame Emperor was silent. Igneel shook his head and simply said. "He doesn''t trust you." A wry smile appeared on Flame Emperor''s face. "Well yeah, a piece of his last life''s divine conscious is in his head and could control his body. If it were me, even I wouldn''t easily trust myself. As I would be afraid that he would completely hijacked my body and steal his life" Igneel glanced at Flame Emperor with a raised eyebrow and asked. "Then why wouldn''t you?" Flame Emperor sighed and said. "Because they''re waiting. After I''m done, I''m going." "Yan?" Xun Er asked as she watched the still and silent figure of Xiao Yan. Everyone carefully stared at him, slowly backing away to distance themselves so they could be prepared if he suddenly gone berserk or something. They were tense, it''s been some minutes passed since then and Xiao Yan had gone completely silent. Although it was rare, but there are some cases when people''s spirit would cause them to go berserk and bloodthirsty. So they waited and prepared themselves, Tang San summoned his blue silver grass at the ready to restrain Xiao Yan if he starts acting funny. Suddenly, the flames and lightning surrounding Xiao Yan''s body vanished, causing everyone to tense even more. Xiao Yan opened his eyes, revealing black tinted green eyes, looking around he asked them in a strangely deep voice. Like he was growling. "So, can you guys move back a bit? I want to test something out." Everyone let out sighs of relief and nodded, they moved back some meters away Xiao Yan and gave him thumbs up. Xiao Yan nodded and turned back from them, he concentrated on the new heavenly flame inside his body. Despite feeling gratitude for Flame Emperor, he still didn''t trust him. He felt that he was still hiding something from him, and this thing with the heavenly flame wasn''t helping his case. He was frustrated and angry, and he wanted to let it loose at this moment. Fire and lightning circulated within his body, clenching his fists, lightning flashing around his hair, Xiao Yan took a deep breath reeled back his head. He controlled the heavenly flame to travel through his windpipe. He opened his mouth towards the sky and yelled. "Lightning Fire Dragon''s Roar!" A magnificent and yet destructive force of nature came out of Xiao Yan''s mouth, a mixture of white lightning and red flames, shot through the sky like it was a true lightning flame breath from a real dragon. Everyone stared Xiao Yan in fear and awe as they watched the power of both fire and lightning tore through the sky. It was a beautiful yet horrifying sight to see, a beam of white and red that tore through the sky above them. They could watched this all day but sadly it was gone moments later. Although he was shocked and afraid at the great display of literal firepower, Ma Hongjun couldn''t help but comment. "Okay, when he said he wanted to test out his spirit, I didn''t think he would show off like this." Everyone nodded. Suddenly stared in worry as they saw Xiao Yan staggered and literally falling back on the ground. "XIAO YAN/GEGE!" They shouted in worry. Xun Er was the first to get to him. She stared in worry and concerned at his body before sighing in relief and told the others that he was okay and just exhausted. Well that was to be expected really, Xiao Yan had used every bit of his spirit power to use that flame breath that he released and he used a bit of his vigor to force out more power of the Nine Dragon Lightning Flame so he was more exhausted than ever. Oh well, he could just recover with some of his pills and food that he would force Ma Hongjun to buy for him. Though he has more pressing matters to deal with now, the scolding of both his, possible, crush Xun Er and little sister Xiao Wu. Chapter 42 - 42: Onwards To The Great Spirit Arena! "So, which one of you idiots did it?!" A man said sharply with a cold and commanding voice. He is a middle aged person. His face is very characteristic, chin somewhat prominent, cheek bones very wide, in addition a bit aquiline nose. He gives off a somewhat devious feeling. On his face is a set of black framed crystal glasses, frames with a kind of rigid squares. He has an average figure, but a little chubby. He''s the current dean of Shrek Academy, also known as the flying corner of the golden iron to, the money grubbing Flender. Right now he was standing tall on the barren land, staring at his old and new students with a serious expression. The sun had just set and every students in the academy were gathered around. Oscar and Ning Rongrong had joined some time ago asking what that beam of light was. Which Tang San explained. Everyone flinched and they turned to looked at each other. A moment later they pointed at Xiao Yan. ''YOU TRAITORS!'' Xiao Yan inwardly yelled. Taking a deep breath, he took a step forward. "It was me dean." Flender raised an eyebrow, staring at the calm and indifferent face of Xiao Yan. "So it was you huh...? Then let me ask you, why did you do it?" Without any hesitation, Xiao Yan replied with a straight face. "Because it felt good." Everyone except Flender face faulted. They all stared at Xiao Yan with their jaws down and eyes widened from shock. ''It felt good?! What is that? An innuendo or something?'' "I see..." Flender calmly stated as he pinched the bridge of his glasses. A strange light seem to obscure the man''s eyes. "Can you tell me, how it felt good?" Everyone except Xiao Yan turned towards their dean with shock and dumbfounded filled eyes. ''Dean what the f.u.c.k?!'' Xiao Yan nodded and said. "Of course dean. It''s like **** and **** it was not only that, it also ****" Everyone''s faces, except Flender, instantly turned red as a tomato. If this were a anime, there would have been steam coming out of their ears. Heck, Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun and Oscar are also affected. Whatever Xiao Yan had spewed out of his mouth must have been something so indecent that it made these very experience men red as a v.i.r.g.i.n. While the girls and Tang San looked as if they were about to faint. Their nightmare, however, didn''t end there. "I see. So it''s like ***** and *****? Hm, is it also ****?" Flender calmly said. Xiao Yan nodded eagerly and they both continued on their conversation of, ahem, things. While the others looked on like they were about to die. ''Please, stop...'' "Alright Xiao Yan, I think that''s enough. The children looks like they''re about to explode and die from blood loss." They nodded like chickens and their eyes was desperate and begging. Xiao Yan curved a smile and let out a sigh. "Alright. To be honest that earlier performance was me testing out my second spirit." Flender raised an eyebrow. "Oh? A second spirit you say? You have Twin Spirits?" Xiao Yan shook his head and said. "It''s sorta like that but sorta not. This second spirit of mine was awakened just recently, a late bloomer I think, and there is something different about it than any normal spirits." Xiao Yan explained his second spirit like what he explained to his friends. Flender looked shocked for a moment before looking down in deep thought, rubbing his chin, and turned to look at Xiao Yan and said. "I think it would be good if you check your spirit with grandmaster. I don''t know anyone more knowledgeable about spirits than him." Xiao Yan nodded in understanding, though he doesn''t have to go to him as he was certain that grandmaster would come here in the academy himself later on, if the story still continues as it was in canon. Nodding, Flender turned to the others who had twitching expressions like they wanted to punch someone but couldn''t. Flender set his eyes on a certain pair of auxiliary system spirit masters. "Oscar, Ning Rongrong, have you both finished the task I gave you?" In that moment, Xiao Yan moved to Xun Er''s side with a sigh of relief, ignoring the glares that was digging through him. That earlier conversation with Flender was something he didn''t expect. He just wanted to messed around to buy enough time to recover both his spirit power and vigor, he didn''t expect that the dean would play along as well. Why would he want to recover his spirit power and vigor you might ask? Well that''s because tonight, Flender would have sent his students in the Great Spirit Arena! It is a place where you spar, fight to the death, and gamble! Aka, Rome! Though instead of lions and gladiators, you would fight a mix of them and more! It is the perfect place where Xiao Yan would temper himself and gather combat experiences. Although he would slowly have the experiences and memories of his past life, it was slow and useless with his current self. After all, Flame Emperor had said that in his entire lifetime he only used a heavy ruler to smash and flattened his enemies to death. Although he had some small experiences with a sword, but even then it was just noob level where you slash and thrust. So Xiao Yan''s goal right now was to go to the great spirit arena to gather some experience in real combat with only his sword and later on find someone to further help him in the way of the sword. ''I would probably also try to find out if I can dish out Sword Qi, Sword Will, Sword Intent, and Sword Domain that I have read in novels and fanfictions.'' Xiao Yan thought with a excited grin. He couldn''t wait to test his hands in the great spirit arena. As there was another reason he wanted to go there. Money. Right now, with the pills and other stuff he sold all these years had net him 350,000 spirit gold coins worth currently. And right now that''s slowly vanishing. He purchased some materials that he needed for his alchemy and other stuff for himself. And those things were expensive as hell! So he would go and bet everything that he currently have in his storage ring, 40k spirit gold coins, which was once 50k but some stuff came up, he would have added more but that would attract the wrong type of people. Watching as Ning Rongrong ran out to her dormitory in tears, although Xiao Yan felt pity for the girl but this is essential for her growth, from a bitch to one of the best girls in the series, so he ignored her and turned towards the dean. "Follow me." Flender shook his head and simply said. Before turning around and jumper away in a burst of speed. Turning to the others, who looked at each other as well, Xiao Yan smiled and used his instant movement technique to follow the dean. The others nodded and followed after to catch up. Several kilometers away from the students, a boisterous laugh permeated throughout the night sky. "Hahahahaha!" Two cloaked persons stood besides each other, one was cloaked black and laughing while the other cloaked white was sighing in resignation. "That stupid grandson of mine..." The one white cloaked in white clicked his teeth before letting out a long sigh. "Hahahahahaha!! Who would thought that he would be that indecent and shameless! Truly, he is related to you Ice Fire Saint Douluo Yao Lao." The one cloaked in black continued to laugh as he turned towards the one cloaked in white. Yao Lao snorted and shook his head. Pulling back the hood of his cloak to reveal his face. "Hmph! He still has a long way to go to the art of shamelessness, Clear Sky Douluo Tang Hao." The other cloaked person pulled down his hood to reveal the face of a amused Tang Hao. He shook his head, before he and Yao Lao turned back to watched as they saw the children following Flender towards Suotuo City. Tang Hao opened his mouth and asked. "So, why are you here? I thought you were supposed to be taking care of the war between the Falling Star Pavilion and the triangle alliance of the Wind Lightning Pavilion, Profound Sky Sect, and the Hall of Souls? Aren''t you worried your sect would fall?" "Don''t worry, due to the help of my friend, my sect has made some alliance with others as well. So the war has been put into a hold. Also, I was just helping out a friend to get his 6th spirit ring and since I''m already here, I thought to stop by and checked on my grandson why I''m at it." Tang Hao hummed in understanding and asked. "May I ask who''s your friend that you''re helping to get his 6th spirit ring?" A mysterious smile appeared on his face. "Well, that would ruin the surprise now wouldn''t it? Though I could tell you about his new spirit ring, its quite surprising actually." Tang Hao raised an eyebrow in question, curiosity in his eyes. "Surprising? How so?" A wide beaming smile appeared on Yao Lao''s face. "His 6th spirit ring, is the color of blood." ==================================================================================== A/N: Damnit. I thought I could have fit the whole fighting in the great spirit arena in this chapter but I was sadly mistaken. So best wait for it tomorrow! Chapter 43 - 43: FIGHT! END! A/N: I want to be certain of something, is Controlling Crane Catching Dragon basically telekinesis? ===================================================================================== "So this is the Great Spirit Arena huh?" Tang San asked as he stared in amazement at the great colossal structure exceeding 100 meters in height. It''s been a couple of hours since they arrived here and was instructed by the dean to enter and register. Right now the new students of shrek; Tang San, Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, Xiao Yan and Xun Er are currently waiting for their turn. While the older students; Dai Mubai, Ma Xiaotao and Ma Hongjun were at the spirit arena seats waiting for their matches. Tang San couldn''t help but turned to looked at where the older students are. The three of them sat together, Ma Hongjun was eating a chicken drumstick, while his older sister Ma Xiaotao was calmly sitting besides him as she ignores some guys who wanted to court her. As for Dai Mubai? He was just silently sitting there, meditating to recover his spirit power that he lost when he went to have a battle some time ago to let the new students properly understand how the fights in the arena goes. Though there wasn''t much to learn, Dai Mubai had basically one punch the guy out of the ring. Tonight every new students of shrek academy would have one match. As well as some two-team fights. The teams are as follows; Xiao Wu and Tang San, the Three-Five combination team, Xiao Yan and Zhu Zhuqing, the Civet-Sword combination team, and finally, Xun Er and Ma Xiaotao, the Sun-Phoenix combination team. Xiao Wu was very vocal when she learned about the cool names of the others, hell, even he was slightly jealous. Though who would have thought that Ma Xiaotao, Ma Hongjun''s elder sister, would also be a genius? A thirteen year old spirit elder, spirit rank 35 Evil Fire Phoenix, Ma Xiaotao. She''s just a couple of spirit ranks below Dai Mubai! Moreover, she''s more younger than him by two years! ''Though...'' Tang San glanced at Xun Er who was sitting besides Xiao Yan, conversing excitedly with Zhu Zhuqing. ''She still wouldn''t compare to Xun Er.'' Sometimes Tang San wonders, that something is wrong with this world, as all the women that he met till now are monsters. Tang San shook his head and thought. ''Heh, then that''s better. As it would be a great motivation for me.'' As he heard the announcer calling the match of Xiao Wu over, and now calling for his, a small calm smile appeared on his face. ''As long as I can keep my family safe, I won''t care about anything else.'' As soon as Tang San left to fight, but not before receiving Xiao Wu and Xun Er high-fives, Xiao Yan''s eyes popped opened. For an entire half an hour, he''s been recuperating both his spirit power and vigor. Not only did he recover to his peak state, but he also found out about something good. Now that knew he could now cultivate the Flame Mantra, a cultivation technique he used in his previous life, that his past self had basically integrated with his body and mind, he found out that it had merged with the Mysterious Heaven Skill. Both cultivation techniques had merged into one brand new technique! The new technique basically functions the same as the Mysterious Heaven Skill but with the added effects of the Flame Mantra. Circulating his heavenly flames around throughout his body and have perfect control over them. Not only that, but with the flame mantra it helped purify his meridians, blood and bones! It also help speed up the process of the Mysterious Heaven Skill. He can basically recover his spirit power and internal strength much more faster than ever. By his estimation, by at least three times! With this, it can help him regenerate faster from any future injuries and wounds. Shaking his head Xiao Yan got rid of the distractions inside his head and focused on the spirit fight he would soon participate. Because he didn''t have his third spirit ring he was sent to fight on the grandmasters level category fights. Which would be as boring as f.u.c.k! Although easy money, especially since he put 10k on his name, but still! Also he couldn''t pair up with either Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Xun Er in the two-team match because he still didn''t have his third spirit ring. Thankfully he would be paired up with a certain neko girl. But even then... Xiao Yan knew that his fighting strength are all above the spirit masters at his level, so it means he needs to fight someone stronger to truly bring out what he can do and see what he needs to improve on, especially his sword skills which is absolutely shit. In a unexpected action made by Xun Er, that surprised Zhu Zhuqing, she unhesitatingly held the hand of Xiao Yan. "Yan, are you alright?" Xiao Yan blinked his eyes as he stared at the eyes of Xun Er and Zhu Zhuqing, who shook off her surprise and stared at him in concern as well. Xiao Yan chuckled, shook his head, and replied. "Yeah I''m alright. I''m just contemplating about life and stuff is all." The two ladies giggled. "Yan that was lame." Xun Er said. "Yeah." Zhu Zhuqing simply followed. "Hehe, yeah I know..." Then the trio started to converse with one another of anything to take off their minds of things. ''Hmm, how should I make the match interesting?'' Xiao Yan thought, contemplating until idea popped in his head. ''Oh wait, if I recall, my second heavenly flame has the ability to...'' Just minutes later, Tang San returned with a grin and a victory/peace hand sign. Xiao Yan nodded with a grin and the others also gave Tang San congratulations with gestures and/or vocally. "Xiao Yan, please come to the arena. Xiao Yan..." Xiao Yan perked up and nodded. Turning to his friends he gave them a thumbs up and said. "Well, I''m going!" In large strides, he walked into the arena, though not before whispering something into Tang San''s ears and handed him a bag full of spirit gold coins. "Bet 10k on my name." Tang San''s eyes widened before he nodded in understanding. "Good luck." Tang San whispered back. Xiao Yan halted. Putting one of his hand into one of his pockets, he didn''t looked back, and waved his other arm around, saying, "I don''t need luck!" Within the huge and oval shaped colosseum, one-third of the seats are filled with clearly eager and excited spirit masters. The announcer, wearing a black coat tail, small tush of mustache on his upper lips, he used his spirit power to amplify his voice and said in a excited tone. "Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to another night of one-on-one spirit fights, a fight of spirit grandmasters against spirit grandmasters!" It caused everyone to be riled up. "Now in the left corner. We have the great, the energetic, and one of the best beast type spirit masters in the great spirit arena! Dai Shu!" The pointed his finger at the left side of the arena. There on the arena, standing with his back straight and a average face completely filled with confidence. He had a body figure of a body builder, long pitch black unkempt hair and deep blue eyes that couldn''t hide his will to fight. Dai Shu, assault system spirit master, Spirit: Bull, Spirit Rank: 29. Matches: 30, 15 wins and 15 losses. Points: 15(A/N: I made up the points, I just wrote my math module and I''m too tired to deal with this shit) He raised his right arm up high and shouted. "OHHHHH!!" The audience were also riled up and followed. "OHHHHH!!" The announcer then pointed to the other side, with the same excitable smile on his face, he said. "And in the other corner, we have here a newcomer! He''s a mystery, a stranger, and most importantly his a new blood to the arena! Why don''t we give a rounding applause to, XIAO YAN!!" "OHHHHHH!!" The audience followed and gave Xiao Yan claps and cheers. While on the seating section of the arena Ma Hongjun snorted at the announcer. "That guy can really rile up the audience." His elder sister nodded. With Xiao Yan, he just stood there calmly and smiled smoothly at the audience around him. ''Its like those wrestling tournaments that I once watched back at home.'' He commented with a concealed sweat drop. Shaking his head he turned to face his opponent Dai Shu, who also turned to look at him. He didn''t say anything, except giving him a nod. Xiao Yan also returned the nod with his but also apologize to him in his heart. ''Sorry man, but...'' A ring of a bell was then heard. Dai Shu had immediately went with his bull beast spirit enhancement, his figure bulge and expanded three times his size. Two fourteen inches long white horns grew out from his head and his feet turned into hooves. One white ten and yellow hundred year old spirit rings surrounded his body. Dai Shu, his yellow spirit ring lighting up, unhesitatingly shot out from his location and headed towards Xiao Yan. His second spirit ring ability, Great Bull Slam, gives him 100% increased of his defense and attack power. Making him a literal tank, that can take all sort of damages and while bulldozing his enemies. Dai Shu wanted to finish the match as possible. Even it means making his enemy fly out like a bug, and that would most likely happen... However, his opponent is Xiao Yan. Xiao Yan, with a calm and unalarming smile on his face, despite the incoming bull towards him, didn''t give a f.u.c.k and just stood there without activating his spirit. Although, his eyes had a tint of purple around them. Everyone was tensed, except for the Shrek students as they all know that this level of fighting is just mere child''s play to the person called Xiao Yan. Then, just as Dai Shu was mere inches away from Xiao Yan, the latter had muttered out a single but ominous words that sent chills down the former''s spine. "Godspeed." Xiao Yan''s entire body lit up in a bright blinding light, causing Dai Shu to halt, he cursed, and shielded his eyes with his arms. He wasn''t the only one, as everyone in their seats had also shielded their eyes from view. Suddenly, as the light died down, aounds akin to that of a thousand or more birds crying was heard all around the arena. Dai Shu''s instincts screamed at him to run but it was too late. "Chidori." That was the last thing Dai Shu had heard before he succ.u.mbed to darkness. Chapter 44 - 44: Civet-Sword(1) A/N: So there wouldn''t be any confusion, Xiao Wu and Xiao Yan both consider themselves as real siblings. They both love each other like siblings so don''t expect they would be together. Tang San and Xiao Wu are official pairings in this story. As well Yu Xiaogang with ****(I shall not spoil you on this one.) ========================================================================================== Silence. Everyone in the arena was dead silent as they watched Dai Shu, someone whose bull beast spirit enhancement transformation deactivated, fell back on the ground with a large thud that echoed the entire arena. Dai Shu''s eyes are completely white and large amount of saliva leaked out of his mouth. His body kept on spamming and twitching like he was having a seizure. His c.h.e.s.t had a large slash wound, blood was spilling out. He looked as if he died. Though thankfully that wasn''t it as his body soon calmed down and everyone, who were spirit masters, leaned and squinted their eyes to stare and saw that his c.h.e.s.t rising up and down. Everyone let out a long sigh of relief then cheered excitedly, causing the normal people around them to follow. The announcer quickly shook off his surprise, taking a deep breath, he said. "W-Winner without using his spirit, XIAO YAN! Matches 1 and 1 win, please come to the reception to register your acc.u.mulated points. Also, get that man healed! Quick!" With that the announcer turned towards the still rallying people and said his piece of what he thought about the fight. "Oh thank the foods above Xiao Yan didn''t kill him." Ma Hongjun said as he slumped down on his seat while releasing a sigh. Ma Xiaotao and Dai Mubai, who now had both his double pupil eyes opened, nodded in agreement. "Yeah, there would have been serious consequences if he did." Dai Mubai commented. While nodding, Ma Xiaotao leaned her face to further study Xiao Yan if he was alright, although his body was producing arcs of white blinding lightning, she was already certain and just shook her head in relief. "Looks like we didn''t have to worry, his body language dosen''t show any signs of exhaustion nor being in pain. So it means he wasn''t going all out on that technique of his, which explains why his opponent didn''t die." Indeed, Ma Xiaotao''s analysis was correct as Xiao Yan didn''t really go all out with his technique, heck, he didn''t even use the complete version of it! Xiao Yan, with his legs spread apart, had his right hand out where he had struck Dai Shu. Instead of positioning his hand out to pierced his opponent, like what the name of technique is supposed to, instead, it was a open palm strike. His whole figure was glowing in a bright blinding light, sparks of lightning dancing around his body, his hair went up high being spiky like a certain monkey alien race. Xiao Yan let out a sigh of relief and deactivated his so-called godspeed but really, it was one of his techniques, the techniques he had once used as being the Flame Emperor, the Three Thousand Lightning Movement. He used the first stage of the technique; Lightning Flash to move almost instantly in front of Dai Shu. As for his body being completely covered by white lightning and caused everyone to be momentarily blindness? Well that was just for show. How was he able use the technique? Flame Emperor just basically uploaded how to execute and use the technique in his brain, as well as his experiences in using it. That was why he had almost perfect control of using the technique, to the point of flawlessly executing the first stage of the technique, despite it being his first time of it. He had gathered a dense amount of lightning and manipulated it to gather in his right hand and expelled it out the moment his palm touched the c.h.e.s.t of Dai Shu. Shocking his enemy with a whole a.s.s of lightning till he went unconscious. Sounds easy and simple right? Well no, far from it. Xiao Yan had to really concentrate and calculate the enough voltage that he should be able to knock Dai Shu down than kill him. As well as not frying himself to death with his own lightning. After all, despite the memories and experiences from his Flame Emperor''s life, he was still a normal teenage boy in his earth past as Xiao Yan. He has never stain his hands blood, well, except from the time when he killed a chicken and other small animals for barbeque. He knew that it was a disadvantage, a weakness for him. When the moment that he needs to necessary kill a person and then hesitates? That would cost him dearly. But he would cross that bridge sooner or later. Shaking his head he turned away and went back to where Tang San and the others were while thinking, ''Well, that was pretty boring.'' ..... "Well that was pretty boring." Xiao Wu said as Xiao Yan got near them. A wry smile appeared on Xiao Yan and Tang San''s faces. "What? Do you think I''m like you? A she-devil who plays with her food?" Xiao Yan retorted with a smirk. A "tic" mark appeared on Xiao Wu''s forehead. Her fist raising, she was about to smack the smirking Xiao Yan but before she could, she was the first to get smack and at the back of head by none other than Tang San who looked amused. "Enough Xiao Wu. Weren''t you supposed to congratulate him? Aren''t you the great big sister Xiao Wu who would pat her little brother? Or are you the spoiled little sister who doesn''t gets her way?" Tang San said teasingly. A pink hue appeared on both Xiao Wu''s face as she pouted and argue with Tang San. Xiao Yan, Xun Er and Zhu Zhuqing watched their antics while looking at each other and shaking their heads with amus.e.m.e.nt. "Xun Er, please come into the arena. Xun Er, please..." Xun Er perked up and turned to Xiao Yan with a small smile. "Well looks like it''s my turn, wish me luck Yan." With a smile of his own, Xiao Yan nodded and patted her head. "Although you don''t need it, as someone who spars with you through the years, I know what you''re really capable of, but since you ask for it... good luck Xun Er." Her face fl.u.s.tered, she looks down on the ground for a moment looking slightly meek before raising her head, Xun Er looked at Xiao Yan''s eyes and nodded. "Un!" With that she left to the arena while also getting encouragement from Tang San, Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing. Turning to Zhu Zhuqing, Xiao Yan looked confused as he saw her exhausted and a bit drained. "Are you alright Zhu Zhuqing?" Xiao Yan asked worryingly. Zhu Zhuqing merely nodded and replied. "Yeah. After you were called, I was also called into another arena for my match." A grin appeared on Xiao Yan''s face as he noticed that she didn''t looked distraught or saddened. "Looks like you clearly won?" Zhu Zhuqing smiled and nodded. Without saying anything, Xiao Yan gave her a soldier pill and a rejuvenating pill, the latter is a 2nd tier pill that makes whomever eats it have their stamina slowly returned to them. Zhu Zhuqing only looked slightly confused but then shrugged, and without even asking him, she ate them. Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow at her display, asking. "You aren''t going to ask about what they do?" Zhu Zhuqing, looking at Xiao Yan intently for a moment before shaking her head, replying. "Although we''ve known each other for several days, before you got yourself into a coma, some hours and minutes just now, but..." Looking at Xiao Yan, Zhu Zhuqing allowed a small smile appear on her face. "I think I''m a pretty good judge of someone''s character, so I can confidently say that if I trust anyone most in the academy, that would be you." Xiao Yan looked slightly dazed. The smile on Zhu Zhuqing face and her expression had surprised him so much, that he didn''t notice Tang San and a pouting Xiao Wu besides him, arrived next to him. Tang San, raising his eyebrow in confusion, asked the still and dazed Xiao Yan. "Yan? Oi, you alright?" Tang San''s question and Xiao Wu nudging his rib had woken up Xiao Yan from his state. Slightly glaring at the cheekily smiling Xiao Wu, Xiao Yan glanced over to Zhu Zhuqing who had returned to her cold and indifferent face. Soon after that Tang San, Xiao Wu and Xiao Yan engaged themselves into a conversation while Zhu Zhuqing meditated to recuperate. Later on Xun Er returned with a calm and collected face. Xiao Yan turned towards her with a grin and said. "Congratulations Xun Er! Looks like the match had gone well?" Tang San, Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing, who had finally recovered, turned towards her and said their own congratulations for her. Slightly fl.u.s.tered at the attention she was getting, Xun Er nodded and replied while taking a seat. "Yeah, though it wasn''t like I didn''t ran into trouble, my opponent was a speed attack system spirit master who kept on running away while waiting for a chance to attack me." "Wait, why was he running away and how did you win?" Xiao Wu asked curiously. Xun Er smiled. "I have two thousand year old spirit rings and a ten-thousand year old one, I''m probably sure he was going to forfeit before a look of determination appeared on his face and maybe decided to take a chance. Also, I pretty much had won the moment he had came close and attack me. You know how my second spirit ability works." A dawn of understanding appeared on Xiao Yan, Tang San and Xiao Wu while Zhu Zhuqing looks confused. Then Xiao Yan asked Xun Er with a mischievous expression. "By the way, when you released your spirit rings how did everyone react to it?" The same expression appeared on Xun Er''s face and replied. "They had turned completely silent and was in constant disbelief." "Nice!" Xiao Yan and Xiao Wu said as they fist bumped with each other and Xun Er. "Three-Five combination team, please come into the arena. I repeat, Three-Five combination team..." "Civet-Sword combination team, please come into the arena. I repeat, Civet-Sword combination team..." Xiao Yan, Zhu Zhuqing, Xiao Wu and Tang San had all perked up and looked at each other. Nodding and saying words of encouragement at each other, with Xun Er saying her own piece, they all walked separately into their own assigned arena. Arriving at their assigned arena, Xiao Yan and Zhu Zhuqing took a moment to observe their surrounding before taking a look at their opponents. Unexpectedly, standing side by side were a pair of brothers! Although they weren''t twins, as one looked clearly older than the other, both in their middle or early twenties. They were lean but had muscle filled bronze bodies, wearing brown trousers and sleeveless white shirts with their hair covered by a bandana, they both stood taller than Xiao Yan and Zhu Zhuqing by a head. They were called the Sword-Spear, clearly it meant that their spirits is related with their combination name. So one of them has a sword spirit and the other a spear spirit. ''Two tool type spirit masters huh? Especially one has a sword spirit! Who would have thought that my luck would be this great today?'' A excited smile appeared on Xiao Yan''s face. Turning to Zhu Zhuqing he said. "Zhu Zhuqing, I''ll go for the one who has a sword spirit while you go deal with the other one but before careful. Get as close as you can with him, his spirit is great to use in close combat as a spear user, so he''s more dangerous, but as long as you don''t give him any chance to distance himself from you to gain ground, you can win, but only if it goes well. Looking at them they clearly has more experience than us in fighting. So I''ll assist you as best as I can, but if it gets dangerous you retreat back without any hesitation, alright?" Zhu Zhuqing pause, staring at Xiao Yan who had a serious expression on his face, and nodded. "Yeah." They both exchange small smiles with each and turned back to face their opponents. *Ding!* [FIGHT!] Chapter 45 - 45: Civet-Sword (2) A/N: I was busy yesterday with my studies. Also, btw, I''m still inexperienced of writing fighting scenes so please don''t be too hard on me on this. ============================================================================================================ As the bell rang, all four combatants activated their spirits. The older looking brother had a simple 1.5 meter long double edged sword on hand while the other, the younger one, has a three meter long spear, though halberd would be a better term for it. One white and yellow spirit rings appeared underneath them. They were called the Wang brothers. The older one was Wang Chu while the younger one is Wang Li. Spirit rank 28 and 26 respectively. Xiao Yan and Zhu Zhuqing followed after. Two yellow spirit rings appeared underneath the latter while the former hadn''t released his, causing some confusion from the audience and their opponents. Xiao Yan had decided he wanted to further his combat experiences with a blade, especially with a badass katana, so he won''t use any spirit abilities but he would use his spirit power and the Tang Sect''s Techniques. As Zhu Zhuqing glanced at Xiao Yan questioningly, the latter merely shook his head and set his katana casually on his right shoulder. "Don''t worry, my body and spirit power is more than enough to handle them. Now go, I''ll support you whenever I could." Zhu Zhuqing nodded and later on dashed towards the younger brother. The older one wanted to intercept but sadly, a green-edged blade had suddenly appeared within his vision. ''So fast!?'' The Wang Chu thought in shock, but as someone who was a lot of combat experiences, he quickly shook off his surprise and immediately brought his own sword up to defend himself. Two swords clashed at each other, one with a green edge while the other an ordinary iron, their blades producing some scratching sounds as the two wielders try to overpower the other. Wang Chu thought that he could overpower Xiao Yan with his own strength, so he tried to move his sword to further leaned on to quickly overpower the latter. But he was shock once more to find out that he couldn''t budge Xiao Yan''s sword even for an inch! It was like a indestructible steel that wouldn''t move nor bend by anything! ''How?!'' The older brother thought in confusion. Though how was he supposed to know that Xiao Yan''s tyrannical body could temporarily handle the power of a Spirit Saint? That is something so impossible that no one would ever believe it being true. Xiao Yan, with a body that could temporarily handle the power of a Spirit Saint, and his opponent, who''s only a spirit grandmaster be able to overpower him? The answer is no, his opponent would not be able to. As his hands gripped the handle of his katana, and slowly he budged Wang Chu''s sword back, a smirk appeared on Xiao Yan''s face. "Looks like you got some skills there." A wry smile appeared on Wang Chu''s face. "Right back at you, just what''s up with that grip of yours? It''s like I''m trying to overpower a mountain!" Xiao Yan chuckled and shook his head, purple light glowed in his eyes, he glanced at where his partner Zhu Zhuqing was at. He saw her moving around and maneuvering her body so she wouldn''t be hit by the halberd of Wang Li. Zhu Zhuqing was like a phantom cat, untouchable by any mortal means. She would also used both her spirit ring abilities on her opponent when she had a chance, targeting the opponent''s limbs and other parts of his body. Though that didn''t mean she didn''t get some cuts and injuries but it wasn''t so severe that Xiao Yan had to give her a hand. Although it''s terrible for him to not give her a hand but it was necessary for her growth. She has to handle some problems of her own and grow in both character and strength. ''Though...'' Xiao Yan suddenly let go one of his hands on his sword''s handle, causing Wang Chu to glance in shock at his hand and thought to use the opportunity to quickly defeat him but it was useless. Even with only one hand, Xiao Yan''s strength is more than Wang Chu could handle. That hand Xiao Yan had let go had three small knives appeared between his fingers, sending his spirit power to empower the knives, he swung his hand towards Wang Li. With great eyesight and precision, one of the knives had hit Wang Li''s halberd, that almost pierced Zhu Zhuqing shoulder, causing it to divert it''s course. While the two knives went through Wang Li''s left shoulder and right t.h.i.g.h, causing him to scream in pain and kneel down. Those three knives had come from the storage ring in Xiao Yan''s hand. After all, he had practiced the Tang Sect''s Techniques and to further his practice with them was that one of the needed requirements was for him to be able to use hidden weapons, aka, knives and daggers. Xiao Yan''s mastery over throwing hidden weapons could be said just below Tang San. He practiced both his hidden weapons and Heavy Xuan Ruler for years before he acquired his sweet badass sword. Though sadly when he acquired the said sword, he had barely used it for the reasons that he was busy with his alchemy, cultivation and there wasn''t anyone he could compare notes with. Tang San was busy with his blacksmithing, hidden weapons and cultivation so Xiao Yan wasn''t able to ask for his help. While Yu Xiaogang, Xiao Wu and Xun Er dosen''t really use swords or any kind of weaponry. Zhu Zhuqing turned to look at Xiao Yan in surprise but then shook it off and nodded in thanks for him. Smiling at her, Xiao Yan turned back to looked at the now ugly expression of Wang Chu, glaring at him with killing intent. Sadly for the guy, Xiao Yan just taunted him with a chuckle. "Thanks for the compliment, since my partner is busy trashing your little brother, how about let''s finish this dance." Xiao Yan''s eyes, lit with a purple glow, narrowed and like a blur he moved his sword back, causing his opponent to momentarily stagger, and swung his sword for a horizontal slash at Wang Chu''s right torso side. Wang Chu, however, block that and with a roar of anger, parried back at Xiao Yan which the latter blocked. "You bastard!" The two then went on with their swords clashing. They slash, thrust, parried, block and dodged at each other. But Wang Chu did most of the latter two. Cuts and injuries appeared all around his body. His eyes became bloodshot from both anger and frustration. Xiao Yan on the other hand, didn''t looked injured nor tired. In fact, he looks satisfied. He felt that he had gotten enough experience of using his sword. Jumping back away from Wang Chu, Xiao Yan, with a small smile on his face, let down his sword facing the ground. He turned to glance to the side to see that Wang Li was down and Zhu Zhuqing was standing by, ready to give him support if he needed it. Xiao Yan shook his head to say that it was not needed. Turning towards Wang Chu, who''s breathing heavily and not noticing that his little brother was out. His eyes was set on him, murder clear on his eyes. At that sight, Xiao Yan softly sigh and casually said. "I think that''s enough. I''ve already gotten what I wanted, so I''m going to end this." "Y-You! Are you making fun of me you bastard?!" Wang Chu''s bloodshot eyes became even more frenzy at the casualness of Xiao Yan''s words. ''Is he belittling me? Me?! This little bastard who dared injured my little brother?!'' Without thinking any further, Wang Chu stomped on the ground and launched towards Xiao Yan for a slash of his sword with his white and yellow spirit rings respectively lit up. His sword seem to be covered by a white aura. First spirit ring ability: Twice Critical; the slashing power of the sword would be doubled. Second spirit ring ability: Sword Aura; the sword would be covered by a white aura that would increase the speed and flexibility of it. Wang Chu''s spirit abilities are the reasons why he''s almost achieved silver rank badge and why he and his brother are one of the best two-teams in the arena fights. Along with his numerous combat experiences, he would have typically won, if he wasn''t in a berserk state and even then, if his opponent wasn''t Xiao Yan. Seeing Wang Chu''s sword vertically coming down to his head while being covered with some kind of aura, Xiao Yan didn''t panic. He remained calm and confident, with his Purple Demon Eyes, it was like seeing the sword coming towards him in a snail''s pace. Taking a small breathe in, Xiao Yan spread his legs apart and positioned his sword, held with his two hands, in front of his body. His eyes trailed Wang Chu''s sword then to his angered expression. A soft sigh left Xiao Yan''s lips, "I wanted to end this peacefully but judging from your expression, looks like it must end in pain." Gripping the handle of the sword, Xiao Yan muttered. "Godspeed." Lightning sparkled and covered Xiao Yan''s entire body. Then, like the world fast forwarded itself, Xiao Yan arrived behind Wang Chu''s back in a flash with his sword in the same position as before, only difference is, blood covered the edge. Causing the audience and Zhu Zhuqing to hold their breaths as they turned to stare at the stilled figure of Wang Chu. *Puchi* "Gah!" Wang Chu suddenly vomited blood! A small gash appeared on his c.h.e.s.t, causing blood to slowly seep down. Moments later, he collapsed face first on the ground. Silence. The announcer, with a uncertain expression, turned towards Xiao Yan and asked. "I-Is he dead?" Xiao Yan shook his head. Swinging his sword to the side, the blood that covered the edged flew to the ground, he deactivated his spirit and turned towards the announcer saying casually. "Nah, that''s just a flesh wound. I didn''t slash my sword deep into his flesh after all. My guess is that he fainted from blood loss and exhaustion." With that said, Xiao Yan went to Zhu Zhuqing side, leaving the audience and announcer to release sighs of relief. Taking a deep breath, the announcer opened his mouth and said. "Winner of the match, Civet-Sword combination team! Matches 1 and wins 1! Please go to the reception area to register your acc.u.mulated points." Then the audience''s cheers soon followed after. At Xiao Yan and Zhu Zhuqing, who ate both walking out of the arena, the former turned to the latter. "You okay?" Xiao Yan asked worriedly. Zhu Zhuqing halted in her steps, causing Xiao Yan to follow her, she glanced at him for a moment before nodding. "Un." It was true, although she had some cuts here and there but it weren''t that deep and severe. "Okay, but just in case, here." Xiao Yan tossed two pills towards Zhu Zhuqing who quickly caught them. Looking down at the two pills on her hand, a warm feeling appeared within Zhu Zhuqing, causing her to pause for a moment and turning to Xiao Yan, she asked. "What about you?" Xiao Yan blinked his eyes at Zhu Zhuqing''s worried face and thought, ''Cute.'' He shook his head and chuckled, and unknowingly, his hand went to Zhu Zhuqing head patting her, causing her to froze. "Ah don''t worry about it, I''m fine. Look, I have no injuries whatsoever so¨Cack!" Suddenly, Zhu Zhuqing drove a fist into Xiao Yan''s stomach, now normally this wouldn''t have hurt him but her hand was still in her beast spirit enhancement transformation, causing his body to bend backwards. Holding his stomach, he coughed and g.r.o.a.n.e.d in pain. "W-Why?" Xiao Yan asked to the quickly walking Zhu Zhuqing. Unknown to Xiao Yan, Zhu Zhuqing''s two cat ears constantly twitched and her pale face was slowly turning red almost rivalling the hair of Ma Xiaotao. As a small shy smile appeared on her face, a mutter left her lips. "Idiot." Omake 1 Xiao Yan blinked his eyes at Zhu Zhuqing''s worried face and thought, ''Cute.'' He shook his head and chuckled, and unknowingly, his hand went to Zhu Zhuqing head patting her, causing her to froze. "Ah don''t worry about it, I''m fine. Look, I have no injuries whatsoever so¨C" " Nyaa~" Xiao Yan froze in place. Slowly, he looked down to stare at Zhu Zhuqing and thought to himself that he might have misheard it but unfortunately, or fortunately, he heard it once more. "Nyaaa~" Zhu Zhuqing, the cold and indifferent girl that Xiao Yan got to know for the past several days, was purring at him with a blissful expression and her two cat ears twitching uncontrollably. ''W-What?!'' Xiao Yan thought in shock. Despite his body being frozen from shock, his hand on Zhu Zhuqing''s head continued to move. In a situation like this, a normal person would have stopped his hand and froze up, but this person, Xiao Yan, was no normal person. "Nyaaa~" Then, something unimaginable happened. A long cat tail appeared behind Zhu Zhuqing! "..." *Rub Rub* "Nyaaa~" It was that moment on, something had awakened in Xiao Yan. Chapter 46 - 46: Star Dou Great Forest(1) Shrek academy, early morning. Xiao Yan took a deep breath and, at the same time, absorbed purple qi into his eyes. An entire night had passed since he and the new shrek students participated in a one and two-team matches. After Xiao Yan and Zhu Zhuqing finished their match, Xun Er and Ma Xiaotao had started theirs next. It was a one sided massacre. Xiao Yan had felt chills running down his spine when he remembered that scene. He witnessed the two young ladies of shrek, pissed off, burning their opponents asses and family jewels because said opponents were being both degenerate pervert'' lolicons, they were f.u.c.k.i.n.g twenty plus years old men and they were openly flirting with twelve and thirteen year old girls! As well as being s.e.xiest. Xiao Yan could firmly say, that he saw a picture of hell at that moment. No matter if your all powerful or even a god, nothing can save you from women''s scorn, especially ones that can burn your ''little brother'' to ashes. He was determined to never pissed off those girls too much. He wasn''t the only one, Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, Tang San and all the men in the audience and those wanting to participate decided to as well. Since the rules only state that you cannot kill or cutting one''s limb off in a sparring match, Xun Er and Ma Xiaotao were safe from being punished from the great spirit arena''s management. After that whole debacle, everyone returned back to the academy. Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing went back first, both looking serious, Ma Hongjun soon followed after them as he wanted to ask Dai Mubai about something. While Tang San, Xiao Wu and Xun Er trailed after them after Xiao Yan said he would return later on. Why? Well, because he went to received the 100k spirit gold coins from the two matches he won tonight. Oh yeah! From a mere 20k to a 100k! Though sadly, Xiao Yan had to spend more than half of his earnings on some alchemy ingredients and other materials. "Hoo..." Xiao Yan let out a breath out of his lips as he circulated his newly fused cultivation method within his body. The numbing feeling, a side effect of using the Three Thousand Lightning Movement when his body wasn''t more accustomed to the usage of such dangerous technique, was slowly fading away. In Flame Emperor''s life, he didn''t have this sort of problem. In that life, despite practising the technique for the first time, he didn''t have this kind of affect on his body. It might have something to do with the fact Xiao Yan uses a different kind of energy to cultivate compared to Flame Emperor, or how he used the lightning attribute of a heavenly flame to execute the movement technique. Nonetheless, Xiao Yan''s body is feeling a bit stiff and rigid. He was sure that if he didn''t have a tyrannical body, he would have been in bed once more, unable to move a single muscle. "Yeah, next time, try to do a couple practices with the techniques I give you before using them first hand in a battle." Flame Emperor casually said. Sitting, cross-legged, in front of Xiao Yan. His chin on his right palm and his right arm''s elbow on his right t.h.i.g.h. Xiao Yan let out a soft sigh. Opening his eyes to give a small glare at his other self, after an entire night of good night sleep, thanks to some sleeping pills he had in his storage ring to ignore the prickling feeling in his body. Although he had gotten his memories, experiences, and help from his past self called the Flame Emperor, that doesn''t mean he trusts him yet. There''s just something in Xiao Yan''s gut that tells him that there''s more than meets the eye about his past, something that has got to do when the Great Thousand World and Yimo war. Xiao Yan asked, "Why did I received the Three Thousand Lightning Movement technique first than the others like; Octane Blast, Eagle Wings, Exploding Steps, Lion Tiger Gold Shattering Roar, and Angry Buddha Lotus Flame?" He was both curious and filled with doubt as he stare at Flame Emperor''s eyes.(1) "Well you wanted to train in your sword skills right? Then Octane Blast was out, as this is a close quarter martial arts technique. Eagle wings, we need a soul of a winged spirit beast so you can use it. Exploding steps? The Three Thousand Lightning Movement is much more versatile and faster than such a thing." "Lion Tiger Gold Shattering Roar, pfft, trust me, if I gave you this and you tried it out in the arena, you would be humiliated for life. As for the Angry Buddha Lotus Flame? You don''t need a technique to use it. I have used Angry Buddha Lotus Flame for years and that experience of me using it will just naturally come to you some day, probably a week later on. But even then, did you really want to destroy the entire colosseum?" Flame Emperor said as he continued to stare deadpanned at Xiao Yan, who now looked down scratching the back of his head, looking slightly embarrassed. "Well, when you put it that way..." Xiao Yan muttered and then turned silent. Flame Emperor shook his head and let out a soft sigh. "That was why the Three Thousand Lightning Movement technique was what I had chose for you to use. Even though I don''t use a sharp sword in the past, the Heavy Xuan Ruler was a dull greatsword, but I know speed is very important for any swordsman to have and use. Every swing and thrust with your blade towards your enemies would be useless if said enemies would just dodge, block or counter your attacks." Xiao Yan nodded in understanding and gave Flame Emperor a thumbs up. "I understand." Flame Emperor curved a smile, a nostalgic feeling rose within him, glancing to the side, his smile slightly trembled. ''Even in another life, you would always watch over me teacher...'' He thought, various emotions raise within his soul, with both joy and sadness the most prominent. Flame Emperor turned towards Xiao Yan and simply said. "Alright then, I''ll be going back in the mindscape. Igneel wanted to play some games and annoyed the heck of me to play with him." Shaking his head, he disappeared. He gotten up, went to the cafeteria, encountered Tang San, Xiao Wu, Xun Er, the Ma siblings, Zhu Zhuqing, Dai Mubai, and a very exhausted and teary eyes Ning Rongrong. Breakfast was tense and silent. Though it wasn''t long until Ma Hongjun asked where Oscar was at that the atmosphere changed, though it was still kinda awkward. Especially with Zhu Zhuqing, Dai Mubai and Ning Rongrong. Although Xiao Yan wasn''t there to see it, but he knew that Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing got into a fight, which the former got taunted by Ning Rongrong and lashed out to. With the said girl showing more of her true colors by ordering Tang San to kill Dai Mubai. Though, Xiao Yan found it kinda strange that Zhu Zhuqing was glancing at himself from time to time with a contemplating expression but he just shrugged it off. After breakfast, they all gathered, standing straight, in front of Flender. Although he noticed he noticed the strange atmosphere between the students, he didn''t say anything about it, instead, he asked about a certain missing student. "Where''s Oscar?" In short summary; Tang San told the dean that Oscar was still cultivating but was then interrupted by the person they were talking about, who was dancing around like an idiot. Then they all found out that he had brokethrough to the thirtieth rank, then the students were forced to eat his spirit sausages, with Ning Rongrong taking the initiative, which then Xiao Yan followed suit and then the others. Zhu Zhuqing was hesitant at first but when she glanced at Xiao Yan, she no longer hesitated. Which caused the latter to be a bit confused as he remembered that she had to be encouraged by Flender to eat the sausage. ''Oh well. That just means she has more will and grit than her original.'' Xiao Yan shrugged as he chewed on a another sausage. Moments later... The students were then informed by Flender that they would all go to the Great Star Dou Forest for a third spirit ring to both Oscar and Xiao Yan. ============================================================================================================== A/N: Busy as heck with modules so no extra chapter. If you spot any misspellings and grammatical errors, just comment. (1) A/N: At this point, he still doesn''t clearly remember it all. He can only currently recall the fights he had in the past, use of his techniques and alchemy but never really important characters yet. He remembers the Xiao Family, Xun Er, Yao Lao, and Nalan Yanran. But the faces of anyone else is still a blur to him. Chapter 47 - 47: Spirit Harmonization? A/N: Wrote this with a major headache, cause by a lack of sleep that I didn''t get for the last couple of days, so I decided that I would write a long 3k+ word chapter so I won''t update tomorrow. ======================================================================== Star Dou Great Forest is an extremely dangerous place. It''s known as the number one spirit beast forest, for it is the most favourite place of powerful spirit masters. Of course, it''s also a place where spirit masters gets injuries. Now you might be asking, what''s the difference of this spirit beast forest compared to the rest? Let''s take those hunting spirit beast forests as examples. Those forests are under the jurisdiction of the Spirit Hall which makes the spirit beasts inhabiting in it more docile and also limited in cultivation, as even thousand year spirit beasts very difficult to encounter. Not only that but it''s area is very small. Only Spirit Scholars and Spirit Masters kinds of levels would go there. Star Dou Great Forest, however, is one of the Douluo Continent''s most famous four great spirit beast habitats. The area is huge, practically equal to Balak Kingdom''s territory, spanning the border of Heaven Dou Empire and Star Luo Empire, within it, two fifth''s of the area are in the Heaven Dou Empire, the other three fifths are in Star Luo Empire. It''s an immense primeval forest, the forest''s interior terrain is complicated, with wetlands, swamps and so on. The spirit beasts there are also extremely terrifying, the closer to the center of the forest, the more powerful the spirit beasts. It is said, inside there are even hundred thousand year spirit beasts. Any Spirit Master, as long as he is powerful enough, with good luck, can find a most suitable spirit ring inside. Star Dou Great Forest was located southeast of Balak Kingdom, sharing a very short border with Balak Kingdom, but Suotuo City itself was also in the southeast of the Kingdom, not far from Star Dou Great Forest, less than five hundred kilometres. Right now currently, Xiao Yan and every student of shrek, alongside Zhao Wuji, was running towards the said great spirit beast forest. Tang San was at the front, Oscar and Ning Rongrong in the center, protected by Dai Mubai and Xiao Wu, Ma Xiaotao and Ma Hongjun by the two auxiliary system spirit masters left and right sides respectively. Lastly, Xiao Yan and Zhu Zhuqing was at the back. While Zhao Wuji was dozens of meters away from them, observing them and their surroundings with sharp and cautious eyes, while also rubbing his very bruised face. ''That esteemed senior really didn''t hold back...'' Zhao Wuji was sure that if his students wasn''t with him right now, he was sure that he would both cry and laugh bitterly. After all, it wasn''t like he could received a painful punishment from a Titled Douluo and afterwards receiving a small reward of making a certain student of his stronger. ''Ah, I wouldn''t want to meet that crazy lunatic ever again.'' Zhao Wuji could still feel shivers running down his spine when he recalled that white robed Titled Douluo smiling evilly at him. It was also embarrassing that Flender and another esteemed Titled Douluo, who was wearing a black robe, was watching them by the side when he got beaten up by the white robed Titled Douluo. What''s worse, that senior had continued beating him up every other day with the two watching them! That psycho had practically left Zhao Wuji near death''s door after he was finished beating him up as well! He wouldn''t have been moving around and be in mint condition, if it weren''t for the psycho, ah, white robe senior leaving him a pill to both heal and rejuvenate his body. Not only that, he also got another pill that can slightly benefit both his cultivation and body. If it weren''t for that pill, he was sure he would have cried, manly he might add, to sleep everyday. Zhao Wuji didn''t really blame the senior for beating him up, especially after seeing the condition of one his students, if the senior didn''t beat him he would have done it to himself. Zhao Wuji let out a soft sigh, he glanced towards a couple of certain students of his, thinking, ''Who would have thought, that those two would be related to two infamous Titled Douluos in the entire Douluo Continent? Especially that lunatic! I thought he was spearheading the war between the Falling Star Pavilion and the Three Alliance?'' It was no brainer on who those robed men were, they were both Yao Lao and Tang Hao! After seeing the condition of his grandson, Yao Lao had immediately went to beat up Zhao Wuji and afterwards went towards Xiao Yan to check him for any further injuries. Thankfully, his grandson was stable. Every other day, Yao Lao would go check up on Xiao Yan''s and beat up Zhao Wuji afterwards. Xiao Yan''s his grandson and disciple after all, what kind of a grandfather and teacher is he if he can''t avenge him? Zhao Wuji let out a sigh once more. ''So how am I going to help alleviate Ma Xiaotao''s Evil Fire? I know I have to use the heavenly flame but exactly how?'' Xiao Yan asked inwardly as he continued on running on the road along with Xiao Wu and the rest of the students. ''Well you got two options. One, dual cultivation, but judging from your embarrassed and ugly expression, I guess that''s out.'' Flame Emperor casually said. He was currently in Xiao Yan''s mindscape along with Igneel, who was in his human form, both relaxing. Why? Well the mindscape has drastically changed since the last time. What was once a empty space of the universe, had completely changed into a tropical island filled with clear serene ocean body of water, a beach full of sands, shells, coconut trees and stuff. The both spiritual bodies was relaxing in different hammocks with coconuts in their hands Flame Emperor and Igneel are gods that governed fire related laws, and lightning as well with the latter, but even they want to feel the chill summer breeze of a beach. Flame Emperor hummed as he sipped on a straw of his coconut. "Second is the same, dual cultivation but no s.e.x.u.a.l stuff. But to do this, we need to see if you two have some spirit harmonization." Xiao Yan''s eyes widened in shock. ''Spirit harmonization? You mean the thing which tells us spirit masters if we have the probability to use a spirit fusion ability?'' Xiao Yan asked in confusion. Spirit Fusion is the ability of two or more Spirit Masters with similar properties to fuse together and become one entity bringing out explosive power for a short period of time depending on the strength of the Spirit Masters. This ability is extremely rare and requires Spirit Harmonization. It is also said that it is one in a thousand, or even one in a hundred thousand, that can be found between two, or much more rarer, three spirit masters. Like the very famous spirit fusion trip called Golden Iron Triangle. Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang as the directing corner, Flender as the flying corner, and Liu Erlong as the slaughtering corner of the Golden Iron Triangle. Which will fuse all of their spirits into one big bad a.s.s golden dragon. ''Wait, now that grandmaster''s spirit has evolved, what will happen to their spirit fusion?'' Xiao Yan worriedly thought. "Beats me." Flame Emperor shrugged. As without having the trio together in the same place, even he wouldn''t know what would happen to their spirit fusion, now that grandmaster has evolved his spirit. "But anyways, the reason why we need to confirm if you and Ma Xiaotao have a certain degree of spirit harmonization, is so that it''ll be smoother it is for you and her to dual cultivate, non s.e.x.u.a.lly of course." Flame Emperor, tossed his now empty coconut aside, and turned his head to regard Xiao Yan with a serious expression. "Everyone, whether they be humans, demons and even spirit beasts, cannot easily take in foreign energies inside their bodies without having to suffer some kind of consequences. Ma Xiaotao, even if she''s mentally prepared and subconsciously alright to absorb your energy, cannot take it inside her body without feeling some kind of discomfort." Flame Emperor pointed his finger towards Xiao Yan''s spiritual sense and said, "If you and her have about 30% and more of spirit harmonization, then there shouldn''t be any problems for the both of you. But if you don''t, well, you just have to pray that you get some kind of heavenly encounter or that Ma Xiaotao can still hold back the darkness slowly rising within her. Or we''re all going to face a rip-off version of the Dark Phoenix." Xiao Yan''s nodded, glancing at the redhead running along with the entire group, determination flashed within his eyes. A couple of hours later, as the sun set and night came, the entire group had stopped in a town, just a hundred or more kilometers away from their destination, to book in a hotel for an entire night and get some dinner. Seeing that they would be unable to reach the destination today, Zhao Wuji issued orders to rest. Since they had just reached a small town, if they continued further, whether there would be supply was hard to say. Entering the small town, it was much more bustling than Xiao Yan and the new students had imagined, the little town''s size was roughly three times that of the village where Shrek Academy was, apart from not having any walls, this unexpectedly seemed like a small market town, streets with a great number of shops, various stores with everything one could think of. Xiao Yan intently looked around, the main business of the shops in this place unexpectedly seemed related to Spirit Masters, for example some shops specialized in selling weapons, selling armor, selling detoxifying or restorative pills, even the clothes being sold all had a dozen pockets where it was possible to fit all sorts of junk, clothes suitable for use in Spirit Masters'' adventures. Oscar, after dehydrating himself with a refreshing bottle of water, turned towards Xiao Yan and the new students. Sighing he said, "What is called ''the mountain dweller lives off the mountain, the shore dweller lives off the sea''(2), I''m afraid it''s for this reason. From the way how this little town looks, it clearly relies on the Star Dou Great Forest to survive. Around Star Dou Forest, towns like this probably aren''t few." Xiao Yan nodded as he now remembered this information from the story, except for Tang San, who somewhat astonished said, "But, the distance from here to Star Dou Great Forest is still more than a hundred kilometres, isn''t it a bit far?" Oscar, with a curved smile he said, "You''re certainly used to going to the national hunting spirit beast forest. Those captive spirit beasts are comparatively mild, not too eager to attack humanity. The kind of wild spirit beasts inhabiting Star Dou Great Forest are different. The spirit beasts are not only more ferocious, but some spirit beasts also go out of the forest into the surrounding area, if a town was too close to Star Dou Great Forest, it might be in trouble." Tang San smiled and the others nodded in understanding. After the group of students and a single teacher registered for their rooms, Zhao Wuji went to his single room, while the students had decided to go down to the dining hall to eat. Because Dai Mubai decided he would pay for their meals, as a welcoming party for Xiao Yan and the others, Ma Hongjun didn''t hesitate to call out for the menu. He just knew that this has got something to do with his now awakened Fire Dragon King bloodline. As they waited for their orders, the shrek students started to converse with one another. The students had all sat together in a circular table. Tang San had sat between Xiao Wu and Dai Mubai, next to the latter was Ma Hongjun and next to him was his sister Ma Xiaotao. Next to Ma Xiaotao was Zhu Zhuqing, then Xiao Yan, Xun Er, Ning Rongrong, and lastly Oscar which sits next to Xiao Wu. Just as the atmosphere between the students and the hotel was getting good, a party of eight suddenly walked in from outside, somewhat similar to Xiao Yan''s group. The leader was a looking like more than forty years old middle aged man. In appearance he was also considered handsome, with combed hair exceedingly bright, all over wearing a moon white spirit master gown even more exceptionally exquisite, embroidered with a silver colored design, twinkling radiantly as he moved. Following behind the middle aged man were six male and one female youth, seemingly about twenty years old. Similarly clothed in moon white Spirit Master gowns, only without the preceding middle aged man''s silver thread embroidery. But whether it was the middle aged man or the youths following behind, on the left shoulder was a blue-green circular symbol, within the circle was embroidered similarly colored characters, Blue Sunshine. From their attire one could clearly see that these people were spirit masters, Xiao Yan''s party all wore what they wanted, looking no different from ordinary people, while these people showed off much more. Especially Xiao Yan, he wore the copy of the clothes that he had before taking the exam of shrek. As the dining hall''s proprietor saw them enter, he hurriedly went to welcome them, nodding and bowing unable to be courteous enough, just as what Oscar had said, this little town relied on Star Dou Great Forest to make a living, or to put it briefly, relied on Spirit Masters to make a living. Spirit Master was not only a noble vocation, it was also a wealthy vocation, the proprietor naturally dared not be careless. "Whistle~ Dang that girl looks nice, ain''t she boss Dai? Hm? Hold up, judging from their insignia, aren''t those guys from Blue Sunshine Academy?" Ma Hongjun said. "Only a minor Blue Sunshine Academy, nothing more. They''re just no more than empty air." "True, just look at their faces. Don''t they just have very, very, very punchable faces?" Xiao Yan added with a smirk. He also wanted to have some fun and blow off some steam, hours of continuesly running around just sort of does that to someone. Whether it was Fatty, Dai Mubai, or Xiao Yan, neither three deliberately lowered their voice. A spirit master''s hearing power naturally was a bit better than ordinary peoples, and even though within the dining hall was somewhat noisy, among those eight the middle aged man still cast his gaze their way, brows wrinkling minutely. As he saw at the Shrek Academy table merely was a group of children, his expression immediately became even more unsightly. Oscar sitting next to Xiao Wu, and Tang San who has a really good hearing, with a low laugh said, "There''s a good show to see." Xiao Wu and Tang San somewhat puzzled gave him a look, "What good show?" Oscar whispered, "This is also part of our cultivation. Dean Flender said, spirit masters who dare not cause trouble are not good Spirit Masters." Tang San couldn''t help but smile, "Our Dean''s quoats added together can form a monstrous saying. Looking at their age, this Blue Sunshine Academy should be an advanced Spirit Master academy." A devilish grin appeared on Xiao Wu''s face as she turned towards where the Blue Sunshine Academy students are. By now the Blue Sunshine eight over there had already sat down, separated from the Shrek by two tables, from the corner of his eye Tang San saw that clearly a Spirit Master middle aged man muttered by the ear of a youth, very quickly, that youth rose from his seat, and facing Tang San''s group walked towards their table, according to his walking route, precisely coming towards Xiao Yan. Xiao Yan''s raised an eyebrow as his eyes expressed a trace of disdain. Those that clearly saw his eyes knew, that the fate of that youth would be terrible. By now, the waiter just happened to serve their table''s first dish. The Blue Sunshine Academy youth suddenly sped up his steps, amidst the waiter''s cry of alarm, just enough to bump into that waiter''s body, in a moment that dish came down towards Xiao Yan from overhead. "Here Zhu Zhuqing." However, using the energy of the Controlling Crane Catching Dragon to pull in the plate and it''s contents perfectly back onto the plate, Xiao Yan had completely and perfectly caught it with a smiling expression. He gave the plate to a slightly amused and fl.u.s.tered Zhu Zhuqing. The Blue Sunshine Academy youth stared blankly a moment, because of the waiter obstructing his view he did not clearly see Xiao Yan''s movements, however, his face very quickly exposed a cunning smile, "I am truly embarrassed." Saying so, he still walked forward, looking like he must pass Xiao Yan''s side, but one foot quietly swept across, directly kicking at a leg of Xiao Yan''s chair. That was only a common wooden chair, that''s all, when kicked the chair leg would break, and Dai Mubai naturally could not sit steady. But the youth''s foot motion was also extremely covert, his upper body motionless, if not specially paying attention, one basically would be unable to see his movement. At the same time as the youth kicked, but instead of Xiao Yan retaliating, it was Xun Er. "AAAAAAAAAAA---!" A shrill scream, like a banshee, permeated throughout the dining hall, the youth who was about to cause more chaos was kneeling on the floor. His face kissing the said floor as he screamed in pain while holding his genitals. Xun Er, with a somewhat dented wooden bottle on her hand, turns towards a paling waiter and said with a completely innocent expression, "Ah, I think you mistook us for someone else. We didn''t order this bottle of juice, you see, the bottle we ordered was something that shouldn''t have screamed like a whiny little piggy." A dangerous light appeared within Xun Er''s eyes. Causing every men in the vicinity, even the ones who knew her, crossed their legs together and shut their mouths. ''Xun Er... what a terrifying girl!'' Ma Hongjun, Dai Mubai, and Oscar thought with horrified and pale faces. ''Trust me guys, she''s not the only one...'' A wry smile appeared on Tang San''s face as he watched his fellow student men staring at Xun Er with horror in their eyes. While he glanced at the girl besides him, Xiao Wu, nodding with a joyful grin at the sight of Xun Er destroying the family jewels of the youth. Xiao Yan shook his head at the scene, as someone who''s live with the girl for many years, he wasn''t affected by it. As he knew, he and Xiao Wu had corrupted the once innocent girl into what she is now. Oh well, there''s nothing he can do about it except pitying the fools who would pissed her off. Though he wonders, what DID pissed her off enough to do this? Anyways, Xiao Yan just took a sip of his cup of water, with a confident smile on his face he patted the head of Xun Er and said good work, which made her cool and confident face instantly turned meek and fl.u.s.tered of embarrassment. He stood up and turned towards the fuming faces of the Blue Sunshine Academy students and teacher. Without any hesitation, he put his right foot on the back of the still whimpering youth, his right arm rested on his right t.h.i.g.h, and with a arrogant and haughty face that only young masters would have. He declared with a loud voice, "So, are you going to stand there looking like little bitches all night, or, are we going to fight?" The students of Blue Sunshine Academy snapped, and with a war cry, they charged at a grinning Xiao Yan. ================================================================================ (1)Make the best of local resources. A/N: Didn''t have the time nor state to edit it, so comment if you find any mistakes that I have made. Peace! Chapter 48 - 48: Beat down A/N: I wasn''t able to update yesterday as my headache became a fever, so please forgive me if this chapter isn''t to your liking ???? P.S. I surprised myself when I was able to wrote this 3k words chapter ===================================================================================== Just as Xiao Yan was about start to beat down the students of Blue Sunshine Academy, a soft voice cried out. "Wait!" Everyone, even the customers that had remained in the dining hall to watched the show, turned their heads towards a girl with a scorpion braid smiling. "Xiao Yan-gege, how could you?! Are you really just leaving your poor little sister to play around with those boys?" Xiao Wu said with huff. ''Oi! Don''t make it sound so gay!'' Xiao Yan and the male students of Blue Sunshine Academy all thought at the same time with twitching expressions. While everyone else, especially the females, snickered and let out small laughs at what they from Xiao Wu''s little mouth. Xiao Yan, with a twitching right eyebrow, said. "Wu-er, why are you really doing this right now?" ''Your ruining my epic showdown here!'' Xiao Yan signaled with his eyes towards Xiao Wu, telling her what he really wanted to say. After spending time together as close as blood related siblings, Xiao Yan and Xiao Wu can practically understand each other with gestures and movement of their eyes. "Well, because I wanted to be the one to deal with them." ''You and I, probably ge as well(A/N: She''s talking about Tang San), know that those students are too easy for you to deal with. Just let me and Tang San handle the students, while you go after the teacher. Also, you''re not the only one who wants to let loose you know.'' Xiao Wu honestly replied, and signaled to both herself and the other shrek students looking ready to maim at the Blue Sunshine Academy students. Why? Well they''re too f.u.c.k.i.n.g weak! Except for the youth still whimpering under Xiao Yan''s foot and the female student behind the teacher, all the male students spirit ranks are below twenty five! How did he know? Well it''s because of the Purple Demon Eye. It is divided into four stages; surveying, detailed, mustard seed and boundless stages, in the surveying realm one was able to substantially improve vision power, and furthermore clearly grasp every existing detail. After Xiao Yan''s Purple Demon Eyes entered the detailed realm a year ago, according to what Tang San had told him, Purple Demon Eye''s effect should be seeing even more clearly, and grasping even richer detail, but detail realm Purple Demon Eye could further grant a mental state where everything slowed down, allowing them both, practioners of the eye technique, to react in the shortest possible time. Not only that, besides its original capabilities, Xiao Yan is also able to see Spirit Masters'' amount of spirit power. But there was a condition, he could only see spirit power of spirit masters with spirit power lower than his. When he/he is stronger than his, his Purple Demon Eye saw nothing.. Xiao Yan sigh and nodded at Xiao Wu''s suggestion. The fighting spirit within him slowly receded. Although Xiao Yan''s no stranger to the idiom; "The strong bully''s the weak", but even he has limits to much he can bully people. Especially since he now remembered that these students and teacher are just side characters from the story who didn''t get their names known. Or he just forget about it. Xiao Yan shook his head, his eyes full of pity as he stared at them. Pity because he would let Xiao Wu let loose at them, and because they were just forgettable side characters used for the main characters as stepping stones. "Alright, they''re all yours." Xiao Yan sigh resignedly, as he put his hands up, and took a step back. "Thanks Xiao Yan-gege. Ge, let''s go!" Tang San let out a resigned sigh and stood up from his chair. Whenever and wherever Xiao Wu acted, he would follow as well. It was because it''s his duty as her other and more responsible older brother. ''Well to be honest, I also want to blow off some steam as well.'' Tang San thought as he stood besides Xiao Wu. A tic mark appeared on the Blue Sunshine Academy''s teacher. He wave his wrist and ordered, "Well? What are you waiting for! Use your spirits and deal with these foolish youths, as well as retrieve our fallen student." At that, all kinds of light flashed. The five youths spirit rings color were the same, all had one white and one yellow, representing one ten year spirit ring and one hundred year spirit ring. The five were naturally without exception Battle Spirit Masters, comprised of two Tool Spirit Battle Spirit Masters and three Beast Spirit Battle Spirit Masters. The two Tool Spirits respectively were Pike and Trident, the three Beast Spirits following were Deer, Sheep and Horse. Judging by the spirits themselves, all could be considered powerful. Seeing their opponents release their spirits and their spirit rings, Xiao Wu snorted and looked at them in disdain. "I''ve prepared myself for a fight, yet, all I see are mere children wanting to play around. Haiz, this is what I get for having a bleeding heart for my older brother." Xiao Wu let a long resigned sigh of disappoinment. Although he didn''t show it, Tang San was also feeling disappointed. He might have seen and gauge their opponents spirit ranks with his Purple Demon Eyes, but that didn''t include their spirit rings, so he thought as students from a advanced spirit master academy they would be powerful or at the least have two yellow spirit rings. Alas, sometimes reality just slap you back to it. While the other shrek students snickered, chuckled and let out giggles as they watched the scene. Oscar, who unexpectedly had a grown beard now on his face, laugh out loud and said. "F.u.c.k me! Hahahahaha! Who would have thought that Xiao Wu would have a sharp tongue? Also, seriously? Ten year old spirit rings? Brothers and sisters, how about let''s bet on how long they would last against Xiao Wu and Tang San?" Even though Oscar hadn''t still saw them fight, he did know that the two of them are spirit elders that have incredible combat experience from what he had heard from Dai Mubai. "Alright! I bet ten spirit gold coins that it would end in five seconds." Ma Hongjun said boisterously. "Same." His older sister Ma Xiaotao followed with a giggle hidden due to her red veil. "Four seconds, five spirit gold coins." Zhu Zhuqing simply said. "Same with fatty." Dai Mubai said with grin. "Ditto with boss Dai." Oscar said. "...Same with Zhu Zhuqing." Ning Rongrong said with a small smile. "Hm? Boss Xiao Yan and Xun Er, aren''t you going to take a bet?" Ma Hongjun curiously asked towards Xiao Yan and Xun Er. Xiao Yan''s right eyebrow twitched as he heard Ma Hongjun''s nickname for him. He shook his head. Turning his head, Xiao Yan caught Xun Er staring at him with a amused expression. Xiao Yan mirrored that with a grin. Turning back towards Ma Hongjun, he propped two fingers up and said. "Xun Er and I are betting ten spirit gold coins, from us both, that Xiao Wu and Tang San will win within two seconds." Those boasted words coming out of Xiao Yan''s mouth made everyone''s eyebrows rise. "Seriously?" Oscar asked out of curiosity and shock. Although they''ve all known each for a little while, they knew that they could trust each other, but even then. The words that Xiao Yan had said, made them doubt him. After all, two seconds? That''s just too fast for two spirit elders to deal with five spirit grandmasters within that short of a time! Xiao Yan could already read what the others are thinking of and so, without saying anything, he merely took out 20 spirit gold coins from his storage ring and put them down on the shared table of the shrek students. Causing the said students, except Zhu Zhuqing, to drop their jaws. Xiao Yan and Xun Er, sitting on their respective chairs, with the former having his feet set on the back of the student that came to find trouble with them, the both of them flashed their classmates mysterious smiles. "Turn your heads." Everyone''s eyebrows raised, they turned their heads and various expressions like shock, disbelief and confusion appeared on their faces. "Hmph! That was too easy." Xiao Wu, her right hand on her right hip, arrogantly said. She stood tall as five bodies still beneath her feet. Blue Silver Grass tangled and binded those said bodies. Tang San casually walked by her side, three spirit rings surrounding him, he has a calm smile on his face. Everyone; the remaining customers, the Shrek students, the teacher and sole female student of Blue Sunshine Academy are completely silent as they take in the scene in front of them. A single question was all on their minds, ''How?'' Well it was pretty short and easy. The moment that Xiao Yan had uttered his bet, Tang San had immediately activated his spirit Blue Silver Grass to quickly bind the other academy students and used his paralyzing poison. Tang San has achieved the thirtieth first rank and his third spirit ring. It meant that the paralyzing poison on his Blue Silver Grass has improved through leaps and bounds. Especially since his third spirit ring is from a three thousand year old Man Faced Demon Spider. Granting Tang San''s Blue Silver Grass a extra corrosive poison, as well as making it more durable and flexible. Hence, using the Blue Silver Grass, Tang San had corroded the five youths of their spirit power defense and use his second spirit ability, parasite, to spread his Blue Silver Grass and it''s paralyzing poison in their body systems. He didn''t want to kill them out here in the open after all. It''s just a small fight between teenagers. What''s more impressive, is that it all happened within half a second. After Tang San had stopped their movements, Xiao Wu, without using her spirit, had moved towards the paralyzed group and started beating them down with her Soft Skill or also known as her Jiujitsu. The fight, or though it could be said as a one-sided slaughter, had only taken within two seconds or less. The teacher and the only female student of the Blue Sunshine Academy both had their jaws dropped and eyes widened. The teacher gritted his teeth in anger, his face slightly flushed and muttered. "You youngsters are really unbearable! Bullying my students? From your age, you all must be students. I am Blue Sunshine Academy''s external affairs department director Ye Zhi-Qiu. What academy are you all from? More importantly, where''s your teacher?! I need to speak to the person who has been teaching you youngsters being so barbaric." Xiao Yan snorted as he turned his head back towards the teacher, his hand outstretched to received his share of spirit gold coins. "Hmph! We''re from Shrek Academy! You want to meet with our teacher? You don''t have the qualifications to do so!" While also thinking, ''Huh? So the teacher had a name. That''s good to know.'' Ye Zhi-Qiu''s face twitched as the flames of anger within him seem to grow. But he held it in. Even if he was angry at them, they are still youngsters compared to him. It might come as the old bullying the young from another person''s perspective. It would damage his reputation if people were to know about it! Though that''s not the only thing that''s holding him back. The three dazzling spirit rings floating around Tang San''s body had caused him to hesitate. From the young age of the boy''s appearance, Ye Zhi-Qiu was certain that he is a monster compared to those of his academy. Ye Zhi-Qiu had only seen and be certain of Tang San talents, the girl Xiao Wu didn''t show her spirit but he''s also cautious of her from the display of strength she showed. So he''s now wary of the other students that''s staying in their seats watching the scene. Especially the youngster with green tinted eyes. He gave off a very fiery and destructive feeling. He''s afraid that they might be from some very powerful and connected academy to be able to produce monsters such as them. ''Shrek academy? I haven''t heard such a academy before...'' Ye Zhi-Qiu thought with a frown. "I have not heard of such an academy..." Ye Zhi-Qiu said slowly. Xiao Yan chuckled and shook his head while pocketing the spirit gold coins in his storage ring. "Oh really? Then that just means that your ignorant and inexperienced." Hearing the other party not at all being children of some prominent school, Ye Zhi-Qiu in his heart loosed a breath, but at the same time also couldn''t help but feel somewhat powerless. He always believed that Blue Sunshine Academy''s students were already very outstanding. This time''s plan to leave for Star Dou Great Forest was to assist one student having reached thirtieth rank to advance the third spirit ring. Also that was the female student who all along had not come out. But before him these several youngsters provoked him greatly. Ye Zhi-Qiu understood that these youngsters indeed were entitled to disdain Blue Sunshine Academy. Of course, although in his heart he had been shaken the other side''s actual strength, if he cowered back so in front of this many diners, Blue Sunshine Academy would at once lose face again. The students were out of the question, he himself had to earn back Blue Sunshine Academy''s lost face. ''Even if their teacher would be here, they must at least give our academy some face right?'' Thinking of this, Ye Zhi-Qiu no longer hesitated, a light flickering within his eyes, in his heart, he promised he would just give them a light punishment so he released his spirit, "Since your teacher isn''t here, I''ll have to teach you myself. Black Tortoise, Beast Spirit Enhancement." Beast Spirit, Black Tortoise. A black ripple released from within Ye Zhi-Qiu''s body, Tang San, Xiao Wu and Xiao Yan felt a slight push to their body. His four limbs simultaneously contracted by one third, his back swelling, unexpectedly bearing a huge shell. Black light twinkled over his whole body, a full five spirit rings rising from below, spiralling above his body. The five spirit rings were one white, two yellow, two purple. This Blue Sunshine Academy external affairs department head unexpectedly was an over fiftieth ranked Spirit King level expert. Even though Ye Zhi-Qiu''s spirit ring levels were not at all considered very strong, the more than fiftieth ranked spirit power exhibited there instantaneously suppressed the Shrek side. Everyone in the entire dining hall cried out in surprise, after all, on the Continent a Spirit King was already a rare Spirit Master, their actual strength considerably formidable. In some kingdoms one could already possess viscount or even earl titles. ''Spirit King?'' Oscar, Ning Rongrong, Dai Mubai, Zhu Zhuqing, the Ma Siblings, and Xun Er all thought at the same time with narrowed expressions. It''s not because they''re afraid or nervous, especially since they have a Spirit Sage as a teacher behind them, no, it''s because they were wondering if they should join in together in a fight with Ye Zhi-Qiu. Tang San and Xiao Wu''s eyes narrowed, the former moving his hands to his Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges, aka, his storage belt. While the latter was preparing to undergo her beast spirit enhancement. But the actions of the two was broken by two hands patting their shoulders. Turning their heads, Tang San and Xiao Wu blinked their eyes to see a totally calm and excited Xiao Yan. "Get back and don''t interfere unless necessary. It''s my turn now." Tang San and Xiao Wu looked at each other, contemplating for a moment, and nodded. They both took a step back as Xiao Yan''s hands left their shoulders, though they bumped their shoulders on the latter and whispered. "Be careful." With that said, Tang San and Xiao Wu went back to their seats. Xiao Yan smiled as the words of his sworn siblings rang once more in his ears. A warm feeling in his c.h.e.s.t growing. ''Heh, don''t worry, I heard you two loud and clear...'' Xiao Yan''s eyes glowed green. He stretched his right hand out to summoned his spirit out. A meter wide, and two and half long, bladeless black ruler appeared in Xiao Yan''s hands. The ruler was set blazing in fiery green flames that then surrounded his body in a torrent of flames that slowly transformed into a giant green lotus, with him in the middle of it. The heat of green flames was so powerful that everyone sweated buckets and melted some of the metal furnitures around the hall, causing the owner of the establishment to openly cry. Two spirit rings appeared underneath Xiao Yan''s feet. Spirit rings that completely and further shocked everyone in the entire hall. One purple, thousand year old, spirit ring and one black, ten-thousand year old, spirit ring! The two incomprehensible spirit rings surrounded the body of Xiao Yan. It completely shocked everyone silly! Ye Zhi-Qiu''s face unconsciously gulped in shock and disbelief. As a slight fear grasped his fast beating heart. ''What kind of monster did I encounter?'' "Well?" Xiao Yan''s voice woke everyone up from their frozen shock state. Xiao Yan rose his giant black ruler towards Ye Zhi-Qiu face, and said. "Come." Chapter 49 - 49: Weight A/N: I have recovered from my health issues, sadly, my emotional issues has taken it''s place. Why? Well f.u.c.k it was Valentine''s day yesterday and I was alone the entire day while watching my friends having fun with their other half???? I''m sad and depressed, with the modules included, I almost didn''t have the strength to write this. But hell, since I didn''t have anything to do, I have to. Also, I decided that my maybe schedule would be Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday for me to update chapters. Why maybe? Cause I would sometimes feel I don''t want to write and update. Like if I feel like it, I would maybe add an extra chapter. With that said, enjoy the chapter! P.S. I''m posting this on the WN website cause my WN app isn''t responding, again. ==================================================================================== ''T-Ten thousand year old spirit ring?!'' Everyone thought in shock and disbelief. Ye Zhi-Qiu''s jaw dropped and eyes widened. He rubbed his eyes to try and see of what he is seeing is real. Still not believing, he pinched his t.h.i.g.h so hard that he cried out in pain. "Ow!" Feeling the stinging pain coming from his t.h.i.g.h, Ye Zhi-Qiu has no choice but to believe the impossible in front of him. A twelve or thirteen year old boy, with the mere cultivation of a spirit grandmaster, has a thousand and ten thousand year old spirit rings! It''s impossible! Truly and incomprehensible matter! Everyone, whose a spirit master, knew that there is an optimal age of Spirit Ring for every bottleneck that identifies the oldest possible Spirit Ring that can be absorbed without significant risks. Spirit Master can naturally absorb younger Spirit Ring, but the absorption of an older Spirit Ring can result in heavy injuries or even in death upon rejection. The boy in front of Ye Zhi-Qiu, who has a cultivation of a spirit grandmaster, has one thousand year old spirit ring and ten thousand year old spirit ring! Completely defying everything what common sense of spirit masters have. Not only that. Ye Zhi-Qiu, although he himself hadn''t hunted down and absorbed a ten-thousand year old spirit ring, knew about the affects it had on spirit masters who absorbs one. Soul shock. It is a special ability that arises when a spirit beast older than 10,000 years is dead, but its soul is yet to be dissipated. If your mind is not m.a.t.u.r.ed and cannot decrease the soul shock from the ring, you will become mentally retarded and have the mental capacity of a 2 year old if you attempt to absorb the spirit ring. So you can''t blame Ye Zhi-Qiu''s completely shocked and dumbfounded expression on his face as he stare at Xiao Yan. Ye Zhi-Qiu hesitated even more now! For a academy to be able to nurture such a monster, they might not be ordinary at all! Age twelve or thirteen, with a cultivation of a spirit grandmaster, he has a thousand and ten thousand year old spirit rings. Originally he only thought to frighten these youngsters before him once then let it be, after all, he could not want to shoulder the accusation of the old taking unfair advantage of the young, to say nothing of about the mysterious background of the Academy behind these children. Though jealousy and envy started go sprout within Ye Zhi-Qiu''s c.h.e.s.t. He''s a spirit king, someone with a high enough cultivation to be known in the Douluo continent, yet he has not been able to get himself a ten thousand year old spirit ring. Instead, a boy fresh out of his mama''s milk was able to get one?! Ye Zhi-Qiu''s hands clenched hard, his head raised high and said. "Fine. I was going to slap your wrists for wrongly beating my students, now, it''s¨C" Ye Zhi-Qiu wasn''t able to finish what he was going to say as his instincts screamed at him. Telling him to block the jade colored fist coming to his face! His eyes widened, the fist coming towards his face, Ye Zhu-Qiu''s whole body flourished with black light. His ten year old spirit ring lit up, called the Tortoise Protective Form, his body then rapidly rotating half a turn, revealing the tortoise shell on his back, completely blocking the fist coming at him. ''Fast! What the hell¨C'' Before Ye Zhi-Qiu could think further, the force of fist was so great that it had unexpectedly thrown his entire body back and out of the hall through the window! *Bang!* The glass shattered and a man with a black shell on his back was thrown out. Causing the surrounding the people to stare in shock. "Ack!" Ye Zhi-Qiu grunted in slight pain as his back hit the ground hard. The people around where he landed had immediately retreated, afraid that they might get into trouble. But most didn''t entirely left. Some just took some great distance away because they wanted to see some good show going on. "Y-You bastard! What was that for?!" Ye Zhi-Qiu, with some difficulty stood up from the ground, which made some of the surrounding spectators snicker making him more angry than before, and yelled out towards the slowly walking Xiao Yan. Xiao Yan, completely engulfed by green flames that was shaped like a green fiery lotus, swaggered towards Ye Zhi-Qiu and stopped just several feet away from him. The spectators around them looked at the former with awe as they saw him being bathed in green lotus flower flame. Xiao Yan shook his head and said. "Well we we''re troubling the owner. I didn''t want that so I just thought that we would fight outside, which, coincidentally had you standing by the entrance window." As Xiao Yan said that, the other shrek students and customers came up behind him at the entrance. Tang San and the others didn''t look concern or worried for their friend, but are instead anticipated and excited! After all, Xiao Yan had just thrown a spirit king out of the window with just his fist! In their first bout, a spirit grandmaster vs a spirit king, Xiao Yan had won in strength with his fist! Xiao Yan smirked, angling his Heavy Xuan Ruler vertically, he dropped it down to the ground hard, causing it to be embedded into it. Xiao Yan cupped his hands and said. "Well let''s officially get this started. My name is Xiao Yan, spirit Heavy Xuan Ruler and spirit rank thirty. Also student of Shrek Academy. I hope you can enlightened me senior." Ye Zhi-Qiu glared at Xiao Yan and soon followed, this was one of the traditional customs of the Douluo continent after all. Introducing yourself, your spirit, and spirit rank when your sparing against an opponent. Not complying to do so would make others scrutinized and look down on you.(A/N: I just read the DD1 and it''s legit. Unless it''s a serious battle, like fight to the death and stuff, the combatants must do this tradition before starting their fight) "My name is Ye Zhi-Qiu, spirit Black Tortoise, and spirit rank fifty three." ''I will beat you and your classmates a.s.s.'' Ye Zhi-Qiu, cupping his hands, swore inwardly. A moment later, Ye Zhi-Qiu''s second spirit ring lit up, Black Water Freezing. He let out a small roar as black chilly stream of water, like a river, streamed out towards Xiao Yan''s body in great speeds. Although the Xiao Yan''s spirit power was out of the ordinary, he is after all still young, his spirit power also had a very large gap with his. Ye Zhi-Qiu believed that relying on releasing his fifty third ranked spirit power''s Black Water Freezing, he would be able to directly freeze his entire body to a halt. But who was Xiao Yan? He is someone who has a heavenly flame! A flame that could not be affected by any of the other basic elements, and only elements that had reached the ultimate attribute could. The Green Lotus Core Flame moved like it was alive. It had immediately burned the black freezing water into air. Ye Zhi-Qiu, and some of the spectators, including the only female and male students of Blue Sunshine Academy who now recovered, stared with wide eyes and jaw lowered at that scene. The man and the others didn''t understand how Xiao Yan had burned his water to air! It didn''t turned into steam, like any normal collision between fire and water, but air! ''How?!'' Ye Zhi-Qiu thought in shock as he stared at Xiao Yan''s narrowed eyes. "Was that it?" Xiao Yan''s voice sounded in Ye Zhi-Qiu''s ears. "Then, it''s my turn." Purple light flashed in Xiao Yan''s black tinted green eyes, Purple Demon Eyes activated, he gripped his Heavy Xuan Ruler with two hands, taking it out of the ground, and jumped towards Ye Zhi-Qiu with great speed. Rotating his body, Xiao Yan, with the Heavy Xuan Ruler in hand, slam his weapon towards Ye Zhi-Qiu horizontally. Ye Zhi-Qiu''s eyes dilated and quickly, he used his first and third spirit ring abilities simultaneously. Tortoise Protective Form, his body then rapidly rotating half a turn, revealing the tortoise shell on his back, and mouth wide, a black cold stream spit directly towards Xiao Yan''s Heavy Xuan Ruler, his third spirit ring ability, Black Water Surge. Because of the adrenaline and panic he was having, Ye Zhi-Qiu forgot that his water couldn''t affect Xiao Yan''s body due to his green flames. And so, Ye Zhi-Qiu''s black water was extinguished by Xiao Yan''s flames, with the latter''s Heavy Xuan Ruler smashing into the former''s shell with great vigor. "Ack!" Ye Zhi-Qiu''s closed his eyes and his lips dripped blood. He felt his entire body being jumbled by the force of the Heavy Xuan Ruler. "Impossible!" Ye Zhi-Qiu and his students yelled out in shock and disbelief. While the students of Shrek let out sounds of being impressed and awe. Oscar turned towards Tang San and asked. "Hey Tang San, is it really that impressive for Xiao Yan to crack that teacher''s shell?" Tang San nodded and said. "Yes. That''s teacher''s spirit is the black tortoise right? It could be said that it is just below the potential power as senior Dai Mubai''s white tiger spirit. You must have heard about the four sacred beasts right?" Oscar''s eyes lit up in realization, he nodded, and said. "A legend long past. The four divine beasts, said that guards the four corners of the world. They are the Azure Dragon of the East, the Vermilion Bird of the South, the White Tiger of the West, and the Black Tortoise of the North. It said that they rule over the animals related to their species. Isn''t it just a myth? Also, isn''t that teacher''s spirit quiet different to the one related to that story?" Tang San nodded and explained even further. "Yeah. That''s why I said his spirit is below senior Dai Mubai''s. It could be said that it is also the closest to what the real Black Tortoise is like. So you can easily imagine other people''s as Xiao Yan''s spirit can crack something that has the closest relation to the divine beast Black Tortoise, which said to have a indestructible defense." Oscar turned back towards Xiao Yan and Ye Zhi-Qiu''s fight, muttering. "Well shit." Tang San nodded, feeling the same way. Gritting his teeth, Ye Zhi-Qiu tried to gain back his equilibrium. His eyes staring at Xiao Yan''s excited eyes, he shouted. "How?!" Hearing Ye Zhi-Qiu''s voice filled with confusion and disbelief, had put a grin on Xiao Yan''s face. "How? You ask? Well..." Xiao Yan paused, he put more strength in his spirit, which caused the shell of Ye Zhi-Qiu to create more cracks, he continued. "Well, that would be telling ain''t it?" The truth is, Xiao Yan''s Heavy Xuan Ruler is more heavy than anyone realizes. When Xiao Yan''s spirit power had reached 10, his Heavy Xuan Ruler had only weighed 10kg. But when his spirit power had reached 20? Instead of adding a extra 10, it multiplied into 10! Xiao Yan had to deactivated his spirit the second he called for it. It had weighed 100kg! Something only those of Spirit Ancestor or higher could carry! It was only thanks to grandmaster''s help, telling Xiao Yan that it was his spirit and he would be the one to always control it. Hence, Xiao Yan could only feel a fraction of it while the others feel it''s true weight of 100kg. That was when he had a spirit rank of 20, now that he has achieved thirtieth rank, what does the others feel? 100kg multiplied by ten, what''s the result? 1,000kg of weight. That was what Ye Zhi-Qiu is currently under. More cracks appeared on Ye Zhi-Qiu''s shell as Xiao Yan''s Heavy Xuan Ruler continued to bring it down. Though the latter also used his heavenly flame to form a single small green lotus. The lotus was then sent underneath Ye Zhi-Qiu''s feet, which he felt and had quickly looked down in confusion. Probably because he was still feeling the backlash of his shell having cracked, Ye Zhi-Qiu hadn''t felt the amount of spirit power hidden inside that small green lotus. Ye Zhi-Qiu was even further confused as Xiao Yan had jumped back off. Suddenly, a bad feeling started to surface in his mind. But Ye Zhi-Qiu was too late as Xiao Yan snapped his fingers and said. "Explode." *BOOM!* A small volcanic eruption, which gushed green molten flames, below Ye Zhi-Qiu''s feet. Causing the man to be sent up high into the sky. "FUUUUUCCCKKKK!!!" Ye Zhi-Qiu''s angry voice was heard up high as he cursed. This was one of the abilities of the Green Lotus Core Flame, volcanic eruption. As it was born beneath the earth, it of course have the ability to cause volcanic eruption. "Teacher!" The students of Blue Sunshine Academy shouted in concern as they all stared at their teacher being flown up high into the sky. They further watched in horror as Xiao Yan jumped high, and like it was a game of baseball, he then smacked their teacher away like a fly! "TEACHER!!" As they shouted, the students then ran towards the direction to where their teacher had gone. Xiao Yan then got back down, of course in a superhero landing, and faced his friends. "Well? Who won the bet?" Xiao Yan asked with a raised eyebrow. He just knew that they would bet on how long he would beat the shit of out the teacher. Ma Hongjun, Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Xun Er all shown victorious smiles and gave Xiao Yan a thumbs up. While the others had gloomy expressions. Xiao Yan smiled and shook his head. He immediately deactivated his spirit and head back inside along with his friends. While also hiding his two trembling and numb hands, Xiao Yan thought with a grimace. ''As I thought, it really isn''t easy to disregard twenty spirit power of gap between us. His defense had almost broken my hands from how hard it was.'' Glancing at his friends, Xiao Yan let out a sigh. He circulated his spirit power and inner strength to stop and heal his hands. Unknown to Xiao Yan, Zhao Wuji, who was watching the entire thing, had let a snort and shook his head. Returning to eat his meal while thinking. ''Looks like I didn''t have to intervene, that boy''s as monstrous as ever.'' Zhao Wuji''s eyes narrowed. ''You as well don''t have to intervene as well.'' Atop the hotel the Shrek students and Zhao Wuji are currently staying at, strangely, the entire roof was completely covered in ice and frost. A person wearing completely black stood in the middle of that frozen roof tiles and let out a snort. "The young master is just like his father and surrogate grandfather, troublesome bastards." The person''s voice was that of a male with a cold tone. A moment later, he disappeared in a flurry of snow. Chapter 50 - 50: Star Dou Great Forest(2) A/N: Finally got this written. Enjoy the chapter! ======================================================================== The sun slowly rose from the East, gradually bringing that marble white color of the dawn, the sky gradually brightening. Everyone packed up and left towards their destination, the Star Dou Great Forest. Situated on the south edge of Heaven Dou Empire, the forest spanning the two great empires. Since the spirit beasts here were numerous, this was also the region where the border between the two nations was least clear. From looking at a map, the larger part of Star Dou Great Forest''s area was within Star Luo Empire, but of course, Heaven Dou Empire had never recognized this point. As one of the four big wild spirit beast habitats, this naturally was the place Spirit Masters most wished to be able to hunt, because every time coming here, meant they would advance. Nobody could say clearly for just how many years Star Dou Great Forest had existed on Douluo Continent, but after entering the forest, that hiding the sky and covering the earth lushness was sufficient to tell people it was an ancient existence. Distantly, Xiao Yan vaguely sensed bursts of clear air c.a.r.e.s.sing from ahead, that brought the scent of plants penetrating deeply in his heart, unspeakably comforting. With deep breaths of fresh and clean air, his entire body''s thirty six thousand pores seemed to completely stretch open, that kind of feeling was so relaxing it was hard to put into words. Using Purple Demon Eyes to focus in the far distance, what Xiao Yan saw, was a green ocean, vibrant green as far as the eye could see ahead, that kind of comforting clear air came from there. Eventually, they came before Star Dou Great Forest, tall trees exceeding at least twenty metres, and this was still only the outermost parts. The dense forest was basically without paths, shadowed heavily by trees, unable to see the true scene within. Arriving before the forest, the air became even more relaxing, seemingly like the temperature dropped a bit. The fresh and cool feeling continuously bringing a moist earth fragrance to stimulate everyone''s sense of smell. Xiao Yan''s started glancing at everyone and stopped at Ma Xiaotao, and decided to talk to the latter. It was better to let her know early on than later, besides, who knows if he ever gets the time to talk to her alone. "Teacher Zhao, can senior Ma Xiaotao and I remain here for a moment. I have something important to talk to her about." Zhao Wuji blinked his eyes looking at Xiao Yan questioningly, the others as well looked at each other then at the latter. While Ma Xiaotao was confused for several seconds realization struck her. ''No way! I-Is Xiao Yan... going to confess to me?!'' Ma Xiaotao thought as her face was quickly turning into the color of her hair, and she was thankful for the veil still covering her face. If it weren''t for that, she was sure that others would have clearly seen her flushed face. ''This kind of situation of a boy wanting to have some privacy with a girl... This is just like chapter 30 of that romance novel that I had bought!'' Ma Xiaotao squealed in her mind. Unknown to Ma Xiaotao, that book that she had bought was written by Xiao Yan. The latter had thought about writing some novels when he found out that the entertainment in this world is mediocre, heck even just absolute garbage. Xiao Yan, without any hint of shame, plagiarized some of the stories from his past life. Every genre, except anything relating to modern and sci-fi ones, were sold to every bookstore he has ever visited. Which means in both Nouding and Suotuo Cities. Knowing how the entertainment of book literature in this world is, it wasn''t a surprise that Xiao Yan had basically become the king of all books within just a couple of years. He had got a whole lot of money from that, but that''s just the tip of the iceberg. There''s a whole lot more stuff he invented *cough* plagiarized *cough*. An example would be a certain drink cool. They are within the Star Dou Great Forest. A place known for savage spirit beasts who has blood blood against humans. Even if they''re in the outer part of the forest, it is still dangerous! Here''s the study known to all spirit masters when they are within the territory of the Star Dou Great Forest. The outer area of the forest, surrounded by an ocean of green trees and other vegetation, even plant type spirits. This is an area where there is a lot of ten to thousand year old spirit beasts, which no national hunting spirit beast forest could have. A national hunting spirit beast forest is governed by either some sect or the Spirit Hall. The ones who were to take care of such places would nurture and control the spirit beasts within the forests. This would lead to the spirit beasts to be docile and weak compared to the wild spirit beast forest out there. Also, thousand year old spirit beasts are rare, even non-existent, in the national hunting spirit beast forests. Which is why all wild spirit beast forests are dangerous, especially something of four infamous wild spirit beast forest, the Star Dou Great Forest. Now next is the inner area, which houses only the most of the powerful thousand and ten thousand years old spirit beasts would occupy. Now for the core area? Well that''s something only Titled Douluos would know. As even Spirit Douluos wouldn''t come out of that area of the forest once they step into it. Now it doesn''t take a genius to understand that hundred thousand year old spirit beasts lives in the core area of the forest. So normally Zhao Wuji wouldn''t hesitate to smack the person who would want to play around in this forest, Xiao Yan, but the memories of that senior in white came back haunting his mind once more. Zhao Wuji was about to refused Xiao Yan until a shadow peeked out behind the students, on top of the trees above them, then it disappeared. It was only a for a moment, but Zhao Wuji had recognize that shadowed figure''s aura matched that of the person from last night. He let out a long sigh, thinking; ''Oh gods, I''m too old for this shit.'' "Alright." Everyone, including Xiao Yan, stared at Zhao Wuji in surprise and shock. They also knew about the danger this forest has, so they had thought that Zhao Wuji would have refused Xiao Yan''s request! ''Has he gone crazy?'' Thought some of the students, as Xiao Yan let out a sigh of relief while Ma Xiaotao was now looking down on the ground. Xiao Yan turned towards Tang San, Xiao Wu and Xun Er. He told them to give out their open hands, which confused them for a moment before complying with nods. Xiao Yan''s storage ring lit up for a moment and three silver bracelets appeared on his, Tang San, Xiao Wu and Xun Er''s palms. The silver bracelets confused everyone around him. So Xiao Yan explained the capabilities of the bracelets. "Secondly, it can help the wearer sensed the health of the other wearers. So if you think anyone is in critical danger, just sense their life energy from those bracelets. Got it?" The trio nodded. You might be wondering on how Xiao Yan had gotten these kind of powerful spirit tools, he bought duh. After the events of the Fiery Bright Forest, he learned to be more careful than ever. Ma Hongjun rubbed his chin, looking deep in thought, before his eyes widened in realization and he snapped his fingers. "Ah! Parental bracelets, I get it now. They''re called like that because, like parents, they want to know and understand how your doing and where you are. Right?" Xiao Yan simply nodded while Ma Hongjun grinned and fist bumped with Oscar. Zhao Wuji, seeing that Xiao Yan was well prepared than he previously had thought, decided to let the others and himself go on. "Everyone, time to move!" Zhao Wuji, ordering the students, quickly, the students dived first into the forest while also looking back at Xiao Yan and Ma Xiaotao in concern and worry. "If you can''t catched up with us, just wait for us here, alright? You two, stay together. Help each other, survive and make sure you both don''t do anything stupid while we''re gone." Then Zhao Wuji disappeared into the forest, following the students. Then everything went silent, with both Xiao Yan and Ma Xiaotao staying behind. "So senior¨C" Just as Xiao Yan started, Ma Xiaotao had quickly interrupted with her entire face fl.u.s.tered. Xiao Yan froze, his face blank and eyes still. His brain seem to have short circuited. But he quickly restarted. His brain rebooted, quickly analyzed the situation, and use what thousands of years the human brain had evolved into to respond. "Huh?" Ma Xiaotao paused, stared at Xiao Yan''s utterly confused face for several moments, and said. "Huh?" Chapter 51 - 51: The Cry of a Phoenix Outer area of the Star Dou Great Forest. Surrounded by only tall and thick trees, vegetation as well. Two figures could be seen in a small clearing. The said figures were two teens, they were standing in front of each other, one was standing still like a brick while the other was having a mental breakdown. "*Sniff*I''m sorry. I''m so, so sorry..." Ma Xiaotao apologize for like the hundredth time. Her face was buried in her two hands, hiding her very fl.u.s.tered face that rivals her hair. ''I had misunderstood it. I misunderstood it all from the start! Ahhhhh!!'' Ma Xiaotao thought as she cried out inwardly. The embarrassment of it all to have her junior, Xiao Yan, find out that she was being a narcissistic girl who thought that he was confessing to her. Oh how much Ma Xiaotao would give if she can just find a hole to bury herself into. Meanwhile Xiao Yan was just standing in front of Ma Xiaotao, awfully being quiet. His face was blank and his eyes didn''t reveal the emotions Dee inside him. Though a tic mark would appear on his forehead and his right eyebrow would suddenly start to twitch uncontrollably. The reason for that? Well... "Bwawawawawa!!" Igneel''s obnoxious laughter echoed within Xiao Yan''s mindscape. In his human form, he was laughing on the sandy beach, rolling around. "Hahahahahaha!!" Followed by his past self Flame Emperor who did the same sa Igneel, rolling around on the sand in laughter. "S-She rejected him! Hahaha!!" Flame Emperor said as he pounded on the sand, unknowingly creating a crater everytime he did so. "Oh my father! That wasn''t even what he wanted to talk about! Hahahahaha!!" The two looked at each other and laughed out loud once more. While also leaving devastation around them. Which leaves watching the life of a twelve year old, as he journeys his way from being a young adolescent to a a.d.u.l.t, the only option. And they didn''t regret choosing so. While the two godly beings was bursting out laughing, Xiao Yan''s astral projection stood floating above them with a deadpanned expression. With a twitching eyebrow, he asked. "Are you two done?" "NOPE! HAHAHAHAHA!!" Xiao Yan let out a long sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose. [Dozens of minutes later...] The two old ghosts within Xiao Yan''s mind finally stopped, which at the same time, Ma Xiaotao also finally calmed down. "You have a way to help subdue my Evil Fire with the help of your heavenly flame...?" Ma Xiaotao slowly said as her widened eyes stared at Xiao Yan in disbelief. Xiao Yan nodded. Ma Xiaotao was dumbfounded. Ignoring the fact that a twelve year old, who not only has a ten thousand year spirit ring, has not one but two heavenly flames. But to use said flames to help subdue and alleviate the pain she had to undergo for the last couple of years, how could she not be shocked? This Evil Fire of her and her brother, that the only knowledge to help alleviate their pain of being overly bloated by the flame''s overbearing spirit power within their body is by eating like a literal pig and have s.e.x.u.a.l i.n.t.e.r.c.o.u.r.s.e with someone of the opposite s.e.x, can have the same or even a better effect by using Xiao Yan''s heavenly flame? A single tear unknowingly fell down Ma Xiaotao''s left eye. ''F-For so long... I-!'' Ma Xiaotao opened and closed her mouth as she stared at her junior, no, friend Xiao Yan. For the last couple of years, she had been stricken with the backlash of the Evil Fire of her spirit. She could only subdue it if she had followed her brother''s way of subduing his Evil Fire. But as a girl of her early teen, does she want to be a fat and loose girl? The answer is no. She would rather die. But instead of dying, Ma Xiaotao had gritted her teeth and walked forward. Only with her force of will, she was able to subdue the overbearingness of her Evil Fire. Ma Xiaotao had been depressed for a while when she realized this fact, in fact, she shouldn''t have even gone along with group trip towards the Star Dou Great Forest. She should have been at the academy, once more subduing the Evil Fire within her and loosen her pain. Once more, delaying the inevitable. But... She really didn''t regret her decision on going here. As she finally found some form of salvation, with the help of a monstrous boy a year younger than her. "Huh? Tears-! S-Senior Ma Xiaotao?! Are you alri-!?" Xiao Yan was just talking to Flame Emperor about the other steps of helping Ma Xiaotao, when he noticed the said girl in front of him letting out tears. He had stepped forward and voiced out his concern for her, only to stopped frozen as a red blur speed towards him. A red veil fell to the ground as Ma Xiaotao clutched the c.h.e.s.t clothes of Xiao Yan, who stood blankly with his arms spread apart in disbelief. Though Xiao Yan woke up, as he felt his c.h.e.s.t soaked and heard the quiet whimpers of a certain senior. Without even thinking, Xiao Yan closed his arms around the sobbing redhead and rubbed her hair. Xiao Yan didn''t said anything, Ma Xiaotao as well, they just stayed in that position. With the former giving soft comforting words and action to the latter, while the latter was giving out the couple years of frustration that had build up within her to the former. Xiao Yan, confused on why she wasn''t letting go, looked down with a raised eyebrow. "Don''t tell anyone..." Ma Xiaotao mumbled, her face obscured by planting it deep into Xiao Yan''s c.h.e.s.t. "Uh, sure. Yeah." Xiao Yan nodded, while also sweat dropping as there were two other beings who had witnessed this. Xiao Yan could have sworn he saw Flame Emperor and Igneel fist bumping with grins on their faces. Ma Xiaotao stayed silent but her form became more relaxed as she snuggled more into Xiao Yan''s embrace. ''Is this what a hug from a male, other than my brother and teacher, feels like?'' Ma Xiaotao wondered. ''It feels... warm.'' A smile, that can easily charm hundreds of male or female, appeared on Ma Xiaotao''s now b.a.r.e face. Her red veil was at the ground. Showcasing a face that no could resist. Her beauty easily stood on equal or surpassing with the other girls of Shrek. Sadly, it was hidden within the embrace of a young lad named Xiao Yan. Unknown to the both of them, a hooded figure in black, hidden on top of a tree was monitoring them. Although his face couldn''t be seen, obscured by the darkness of his hood or by plot, anyone can tell by his body language that he was feeling awkward. Chapter 52 - 52: Spirit Fusion(1) A/N: Sorry for the late update. Had to write weeks of module and projects within a couple of hours. Why? Cause I have to passed it by Monday afternoon. P.S. This chapter is a bit rushed as I still had to write my modules and more, so expect some mistakes. I also didn''t expect to finish this. I really did a great job on following my schedule, albeit later into the evening. Enjoy the chapter! ========================================================================================== You know, some people say that women are beautiful when their crying....whoever said that is a dumbass. Is what Xiao Yan thought as he used his heavenly flame to evaporate his soaked clothes filled with tears and snot. While Ma Xiaotao was cleaning herself up. Xiao Yan and Ma Xiaotao had finally separated after ten minutes of hugging and cleaning themselves up. The two looked away from each while sporting fl.u.s.tered faces. Xiao Yan scratched his right face cheek as the situation a while ago finally hit him. ''I hugged senior Ma Xiaotao... Holy. Shit. I just hugged a girl that I admire in the middle of a forest.'' A dumb smile appeared on Xiao Yan''s face. Unknown to him, however, Flame Emperor''s spirit form appeared behind him. Like a ghost, Flame Emperor watched him with a dark look. ''Shit. He''s now officially going through puberty once more. One of the least favorite things that I, and this Xiao Yan, had once gone through. Though the latter seem to have not noticed. Haiz, emotions are going to fly around. Drama and action all around. With Xiao Yan in the middle of it all.'' Flame Emperor paused. Before a shit eating grin appeared on his face. ''Which me and flame brain will enjoy with every fiber of our being. Hehehehe...'' Chuckling evilly, Flame Emperor spirited back within Xiao Yan''s mindscape. The former enjoying the future to come for the latter. Xiao Yan shivered as he suddenly felt chills running down his spine. He looked around warily for the sudden cold feeling. "So, how do we do this?" Ma Xiaotao''s shy voice sounded in Xiao Yan''s ears. "Before that though, let''s go someplace more secure." Ma Xiaotao nodded. Xiao Yan offered Ma Xiaotao his hand, saying, "We can go there much faster with my movement technique. Or-", which the latter unhesitatingly accepted with a small smile. Which dazed the former from the latter''s beauty. Especially since she wasn''t wearing her veil anymore. Her face, cleaned from all the tears and snot, was spotless and polished, looking as beautiful as a peerless white jade. Her red hair and eyes was like the embers of a phoenix, which is kinda true. "At this point, do I even need to hesitate?" Xiao Yan let out a resigned sigh, thinking, ''Yes senior Ma Xiaotao. You shouldn''t easily trust someone.'' As Xiao Yan stared at the beautiful redhead that was Ma Xiaotao, a girl that would make any guy''s heart skip a beat. But he was not like any of those guys. Xiao Yan''s heart remained slow and calm, although it would sometimes run erratic, but it wasn''t like the times he thought of a certain someone. Memories of a girl with long silky hair, walking besides him with that ever calm and beautiful smile flashed within his mind. Shaking his head, Xiao Yan held Ma Xiaotao''s hand tight and made her body come more closer to his. Which made the latter blushed once more but didn''t complained at the sudden intimacy. Without saying anything, Xiao Yan controlled his spirit power and internal strength to use his instant movement technique. The hidden expert that was monitoring *cough* stalking *cough* them, was shocked to find the two vanished and moved as fast as two speed type spirit sages with high tier spirits. ''What the f.u.c.k...? Where did those lovebirds go?'' Despite losing sight of them, the hidden figure didn''t panicked. Using his spirit power to enhanced his senses that covered hundreds of kilometers in diameter around him. The stalker-I mean expert was able to pinpoint their location. But he frowned under his hood. He kept sensing them moving, in that same speed that surprised him, to a more secluded and secure location. "What are they doing..." The man hidden in a dark cloak muttered with narrowed eyes. His thoughts going through countless possibilities and scenarios. What would a couple of young teens would do when they-!? "No..." He said with a completely shocked tone. He shook his head and let out a long sigh. "Haiz, the young master truly is his son and that person''s grandson. To do this kind of debauchery in broad daylight..." The man turned towards the sun with blank empty eyes. ... Within the outer area of Star Dou Great Forest, Xiao Yan and Ma Xiaotao could be seen appearing and disappearing all around the said forest. They''d been like this for an entire minute before stopping in front of a small rock cave. It was as tall and wide to fit three a.d.u.l.ts. By the surrounding vegetation growing around it, it meant that it was naturally made and had been around for quite some time. Xiao Yan, using his spiritual power, scanned the insides of the cave. Due to Xiao Yan''s years of training in alchemy, memories and experiences of Flame Emperor, his control of his spiritual power could be said on par with tier 5 alchemists. Which is said that they are able to use their spiritual power to perceived the area in diameter around them, like seeing it from a bird''s view but with X-ray. However, they are limited by how much spiritual power they have to sensed and perceived the area around. Currently Xiao Yan could only do so within a 10km area in diameter, which is astonishing at his current reserves, but only if he uses all of his spiritual power. Right now Xiao Yan limited it to see what was inside the cave. Which wasn''t much really. Just rocks and even more rocks. But to be safe, Xiao Yan doubled and tripled checked the cave. Just to be sure that he didn''t missed any random heavenly treasure lying around. "I just checked the cave with my spiritual power, it''s unoccupied and empty. I think this would be a safe place for us to be, to see if we have spirit harmonization." Ma Xiaotao nodded. Knowing that this place was the Star Dou Great Forest that has numerous dangers and spirit beasts lurking around to pounced on them. Walking inside the cave, which is a totally normal one made with rocks by the way. Xiao Yan summoned ten fist sized green lotus flames to light the inside of the said cave. Lighting it up in a strange green glow, with the small lotus floating all around the cave, making it looked mystical and beautiful. It made Ma Xiaotao gasp and loudly complimented the light show that Xiao Yan had made. Xiao Yan, a smug expression, turned to looked at Ma Xiaotao, who was looking around like a child in a candy or toy store, and said. "You like it?" Ma Xiaotao turned towards me with a huge smile and said. "Like it? I love it!" Xiao Yan smiled. Turning towards back to the inside of the cave, Xiao Yan looked around and had his eyes landed on a giant rock. Letting go of Ma Xiaotao''s hand, Xiao Yan, who didn''t say anything, summoned his spirit Heavy Xuan Ruler and changed it to its second form; Ry¨±jin Jakka. Nothing happen for a moment, before the rock in front of the teens had gained a thin, almost unnoticeable, horizontal line just dozens of inches away from the ground. Suddenly, the upper part of the rock was set ablaze in green and red flames. Engulfing and turning the entire upper part of the rock into ashes. Xiao Yan, swiping his katana to blow the ashes away, turned towards a slowly clapping Ma Xiaotao and asked. "So?" Ma Xiaotao raised an eyebrow and replied. "I''d give it a 9 out of 10. It would have been great if there weren''t any ashes." Xiao Yan chuckled. He turned to regard of what remained of the now sliced rock. It was a 3 meter wide in diameter oblong shaped, spotless and unnaturally cleaned sliced rock. Nodding in satisfaction, Xiao Yan went to sit cross-legged at the said sliced rock with Ma Xiaotao following him. Taking a deep breath, Xiao Yan asked. Ma Xiaotao nodded. Nodding back, Xiao Yan raised both of his arms up and open his hands into palms. With Ma Xiaotao following him and relaxed her palms into his. Slowly, with sweat dripping their foreheads, Xiao Yan and Ma Xiaotao sent their spirit power out to meet the other. They had to do this carefully and slowly, after all, this isn''t about having the other send their spirit power to either empower or recover their own. No, this is about mixing entirely two different energies from two clearly different people. Imagine two person having two different beers of their own, mixing the said drinks contents with the other, and they simultaneously drunk the mixed drinks. Now normally nothing would happen right? Well, what if those said mixed drinks would unknowingly caused severe negative effects on the drunks. The single smallest mistake they make on connecting their spirit power with each other, the higher risk of having their spirit power deviate from order. Causing untold consequences to their bodies, or worse... This was one of the many reasons why there a small number of people having a spirit fusion ability, much less have spirit harmonization. Xiao Yan and Ma Xiaotao, despite both completely knowing this knowledge, wanted to continue. Especially the latter, as she had been waiting help for the last couple of years for her condition. Thankfully Ma Xiaotao had some experience in sending her spirit power to someone else. Because almost unknown to everyone else, Ma Xiaotao and her little brother has a spirit fusion ability, with a 90% spirit harmonization, that fuses both of their spirits into one gigantic demonic phoenix made of blazing evil fire. They were siblings after all, even having almost the same spirit as the other, so it shouldn''t really surprised anyone if they do have a spirit fusion ability. With Ma Xiaotao having the more spirit power than her brother, while Ma Hongjun having the more potent flames than her big sister. Xiao Yan and Ma Xiaotao simultaneously took deep breaths, they quickly calmed down their racing hearts. The spirit power of the former was colored green with tints of red and silver. While the latter was colored in a darkish-red color. Their spirit power had simultaneously pushed from their wrists, then to their palms. Slowly, a small dose of their spirit powers were expelled and quickly enter into the other person''s palm. Unexpectedly and fortunately, there weren''t any complications. Which made the two released sighs of relief. But they didn''t let down their guards. Ever so slowly, they would at first send wisps of their spirit power and then into threads into each other. Unknown to Xiao Yan and Ma Xiaotao, however, a small lit up flame symbol had appeared on the former''s forehead and a tear in the middle between a pair of golden wings appeared on the latter''s forehead as well. Though the two strange symbols only appeared for a moment before disappearing. While Flame Emperor, in spirit form, watched behind Xiao Yan with serious narrowed eyes. ''So her blessing is helping you... Heh, even in another life that troublemaker would find some way to help me out.'' ''Also, I really hope to myself, that the comment about the dark phoenix was just a mere joke.'' Chapter 53 - 53: Spirit Fusion(2) Warm and tender, but no heat, of spirit energy travelled through in and out of Xiao Yan and Ma Xiaotao''s bodies via their hand palms. The two teen''s bodies seem to released some kind of majestic and ancient auras. Their spirit power circulated around each other, seemingly making a change of their said spirit energies. Xiao Yan''s spirit power, that had colors green with tints of red and silver, is circulating around in his body and smoothly travelled towards Ma Xiaotao''s, mixing his spirit power with the latter. Vice versa, Ma Xiaotao''s darkish-purple red colored spirit power had moved to meet with Xiao Yan''s and mixed along with it. Their spirit powers seemed to moved from one to the other smoothly and easily. Like there wasn''t any kind of blocks to stopped the flowing of spirit energies. The two teens, who both only wanted to make a small investigation of their spirit harmonization, had unknowingly started to dual cultivate, not the s.e.x.u.a.l kind of course. Flame Emperor''s spirit form was stationed behind Xiao Yan, floating cross-legged with his right elbow on his right t.h.i.g.h. His right on his face as he blankly stared at the duo cultivating with one another. Suddenly a small wisp of red started to appear out of Xiao Yan''s body and that wisp turned into a big fog of red. That then transformation into the humanoid Igneel, who was staring at the latter and Ma Xiaotao with a lowered jaw and expression of disbelief. "You''ve got to be bullshitting me." Flame Emperor merely glanced at Igneel and said. "Story of my life." Igneel''s face twitched as he looked at Flame Emperor before looking back towards Xiao Yan. "I know my descendant is your newest reincarnation and is slowly assimilating with your memories, experiences and fate as a God King but isn''t this just bull? I can get someone being a monstrous genius if he/she had the previous life of a God King but said genius has a hundred percent of spirit harmonization with another totally opposing spirit? What the f.u.c.k kind of logic is this?!" Igneel walked around Xiao Yan and Ma Xiaotao in circles, trying to figure out reason behind the two''s impossibility. "There might be some miracle that some people with dragon and phoenix spirits would be able to have a spirit fusion and a small chance with a high level of spirit harmonization, but a hundred percent and perfect fusion ability? If someone were to tell me that, I would have smacked their faces and call them crazy!" Igneel''s face scrutinized his face as he really couldn''t figure out what was going on between the cultivating duo. Giving up, the humanoid dragon turned towards Flame Emperor and asked. "I suppose you know what''s going on?" Flame Emperor stayed quiet as he watched over Xiao Yan and Ma Xiaotao. His eyes showing hidden sadness, pain and nostalgia. Sighing, Flame Emperor said. "Do you know what is a blessing?" Igneel raised an eyebrow. "Uh, is it about a guy asking his mate''s hand in marriage from the latter''s parents?" "No." Flame Emperor''s deadpanned expression already told the dragon king that it was really not. "Alright, so is it about someone with great power giving someone else a portion of their power?" Flame Emperor nodded and said. "Yes, that kind of a blessing. A transfer ability that transfers the user''s portion of power, skill, bloodline, or just about anything related to their power, to someone else." "It''s just like any of those simple and basic transfer abilities but a blessing is something else, the power that you are blessed with will be imprinted to their soul." Igneel widened his eyes as he realized what Flame Emperor is talking about, and said. "You have received a blessing in your life, so the blessings you received in the past is still with you. Despite being a remnant of the original, you still hold partial of the powers and blessings the original has." "Xiao Yan is assimilating with your soul, he didn''t only received your memories and experiences, so that means..." "Xiao Yan has one of the many blessings that I have, yes." Flame Emperor nodded. Igneel widened his eyes in shock, as that means Flame Emperor had been blessed with ability to make a Dragon and Phoenix cooperate with one another? He thought in disbelief before shaking his head, as he accounted it as one of the many perks of a powerful God King. A small smile appeared on Flame Emperor''s face, saying. "Beloved by Dragons and Phoenixes... a blessing from a certain friend of mine." Minutes and hours passed as Xiao Yan and Ma Xiaotao continued to unknowingly cultivate with one another. During this moment of cultivation, Ma Xiaotao had unexpectedly brokethrough to the 36 spirit rank! While Xiao Yan''s spirit power, although he couldn''t brokethrough due to the handicap of being at the 30th rank, was getting denser and sturdier. Sometime later, Xiao Yan''s eyes slowly opened, showing confusion. Before his eyes widened in shock as he stared at Ma Xiaotao and himself, sending and revolving spirit power to each other. Calming himself, Xiao Yan focused his spirit power and concentrated in continuing to circulate his energy with Ma Xiaotao. While he separated a small conscious thought of his to create a astral projection to speak to a certain someone who might know of what was going on. "Yo Flame Emperor!" Xiao Yan''s astral projection yelled out within his mindscape, a replica of what a tropical island looks and feels like. Right now, Xiao Yan was standing on the shores of the island. The ocean waves could be heard coming to hit his feet and back to the ocean. Two flame teleportations, white and red differently, which out came Flame Emperor and Igneel respectively. Taking a sit on the offered chair, Xiao Yan asked. "What''s going on?" Flame Emperor and Igneel, who both also took a seat, looked at each other. Their eyes debating on who would be the one to explain. Flame Emperor sighed, as he decided he would do it. And so, Flame Emperor told Xiao Yan of what was going on with his body. Suffice to say, Xiao Yan was twitching his eyebrows and mouth. "So basically, it was due to the will of the heavens?" ''Plot armor?'' Xiao Yan said to Flame Emperor, communicating the hidden message with his eyes. "Yes." Flame Emperor nodded, completely understanding the hidden message, and agreed. "What...?" While Igneel looked at Xiao Yan and Flame Emperor in confusion. "My luck is just complete bullshit." "Yup." The two former godly beings simultaneously agreed. Flame Emperor''s expression suddenly turned serious and said. "Xiao Yan, go back to your physical body. The evil fire within Ma Xiaotao is starting to act up, and it''s not the way it was supposed to. Ready to use both of your heavenly flames." Xiao Yan grimaced and nodded in agreement. Disappearing into a mist, Xiao Yan''s astral projection went back towards his physical body. Back to the real world. Xiao Yan and Ma Xiaotao are still silently circulating their spirit power with each other. All looked calm but Ma Xiaotao suddenly turned pale and her body temperature started to rise abnormally! The heat coming out of her was so great, that the walls and some of the rocks around them started to melt. "AHHHHH!!" The moment she yelled however, was the moment dark and purple flames started to appear around her. It suddenly started to morphed and taken the form of a gigantic demonic phoenix, it''s height reaching the ceiling and a wingspan that covered the entire cave, it''s feathers are of dark-purple color and its eyes are that of blood. It narrowed it''s eyes and opened it''s gigantic beak, letting out a terrifying screech that shook the entire cave. It''s screech could be heard outside, causing the surrounding spirit beasts and animals outside to passed out from the spirit power and mind attributed the shriek it carried. The hidden expert was shocked at what he had heard. His eyes narrowed and facial expression turned serious, although you couldn''t see it due to the hoodie hiding his features. ''What the f.u.c.k was that?! That screech had the power to even make a spirit king passed out!'' He thought. He activated his spirit, Ice Dragon, showing his spirit rings. Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black and black. Eight optimal spirit rings! The hidden expert is a Spirit Douluo! The man, with the speed unseen by a mortal''s n.a.k.e.d eyes, jumped tree by tree. His feet had momentarily touched the tree before jumping to the other, though, the place where his feet touched the tree ice completely covered it. Arriving the entrance of the cave, the mysterious man was just about to enter when his mind suddenly turned blank and his eyesight blackened. "Tsk, tsk. Nope. Sorry old friend, but you can''t bother my future self there." Behind the unconscious man was Flame Emperor, who was wagging his finger like a parent being disappointed at a child. Despite being a remnant soul of his original, he still had the spiritual power equaling a God Officer. Knocking a Spirit Douluo down is just too easy. ''This is, after all, his moment.'' Flame Emperor thought. Within the cave, the demonic phoenix continued to screeched crazily. It was the Evil Fire! It had finally shown itself and started to rampage within Ma Xiaotao''s body, trying to take over her body and mind! In another time and place, the demonic flame would have succeeded and took over Ma Xiaotao. She would have became a very powerful but broken evil spirit master, that would cause death and destruction everywhere she goes. But, unfortunately for the Evil Fire, that would be in another time and place. Because... Hundreds of bloomed green lotus flames at the size of a human a.d.u.l.t head started to appear, filling the entire cave in a green bright light, completely surrounding the demonic being. The Evil Fire Phoenix noticed the sudden emergence of the lotuses. It''s eyes lit up in a bloodthirsty and crazy manner. Like a predator that found it''s prey. It is commonly know that heavenly flames are made out of large amounts of spirit energy, making it food and a chance of getting stronger to a being such as the Evil Fire. Sadly for it, it didn''t have the intelligence nor wisdom like a real phoenix. Otherwise, it would have already flown away in fear. Why? Because heavenly flames, are kings of all flames. "ROOOAAARRRR!!" Suddenly, appearing behind Xiao Yan, a dragon, equaling the size if not bigger than the demonic phoenix, constructed out of red flames and lightning let out a powerful roar. Although surprised, it just made the demonic phoenix construct to screeched in defiance. As the two legendary beasts continue to roar and shriek at each other, the surrounding rocks started to shake uncontrollably. If this goes on, there would be a caved in. Burying Xiao Yan and Ma Xiaotao alive. As the surrounding structures started to formed cracks, Xiao Yan''s voice was heard. "Shut up you overgrown rip-off." Xiao Yan''s eyes opened, showing black eyes that lit up in a green and red flames. Dozens of the green bloomed lotuses started to explode, and out came were green flaming chain constructs. Wrapping themselves at the demonic phoenix tightly. The demonic bird rip-off obviously didn''t liked that. It opened it''s beak and once more to let out a terrifying screech, but Xiao Yan controlled two green chain constructs to bind its beak as well. "Causing trouble for me and my senior, well, let me remind you why a dragon is something you don''t wanna messed with." Suddenly, two green construct arms appeared behind Xiao Yan''s shoulders. The two constructs raised their hands up and bended their elbows for a praying hands position. The hundreds of green lotuses moved and converged beneath the dragon construct behind Xiao Yan. The hundreds of green lotuses had formed a single green gigantic bloomed lotus, with a gigantic dragon made out of red flames and white lightning. Xiao Yan''s sclera turned emerald and his pupils turned into red slits, his pair of eyes crackled with the power of lightning. His teeth turned jagged and his skin turned into darkish-red scales. Xiao Yan''s eyes met the fear and angered filled eyes of the demonic Evil Fire Phoenix. Xiao Yan said, "Variant version, Dragonic Purifying Flame Lotus." "ROOOAAARRRR!" After he said that, the dragon with a green lotus beneath it, leapt from behind Xiao Yan with a roar and attacked the Evil Fire construct. The demonic phoenix screeched as the dragon construct bit into its neck, devouring the flames and evil qi from it. The green lotus beneath the dragon, was acting as a storage for the devoured evil qi, purifying it within. The phoenix would have retaliated, if it weren''t for chains restricting it! Because of that, it wasn''t long until the dragon had completely devoured the phoenix. Xiao Yan let out a sigh of relief. This situation was something he did not expect! ''To think that evil fire had grown a limited amount of conscious. Thankfully it hadn''t grown it''s instincts, or it would have retreated back inside senior Ma Xiaotao''s body. It would have made the situation worse if it did.'' Xiao Yan thought as he held the body of the unconscious Ma Xiaotao within his arms. Some time ago when that demonic phoenix, constructed out of the Evil Fire, appeared. Ma Xiaotao had fallen unconscious and fell forward. Xiao Yan had thankfully caught Ma Xiaotao, while also maintaining his connection with her. That was the reason why he had to create the pair of arms constructs. Xiao Yan needed a medium so he can control those dragon and lotus constructs. Hence the constructed arms. Normally he would have used his own two hands but those were sorta busy, and no it had nothing to do with doing anything l.e.w.d. Nope. Deactivating his dragonification, Xiao Yan took a deep breath to calm himself. His spirit power and spiritual power are both almost empty from flame constructs he pulled. Xiao Yan would have used the devoured and now purified evil fire, but he knew that fire wasn''t for his own. Looking down at the unconscious face of Ma Xiaotao, Xiao Yan bit down his lips. Xiao Yan could still feel the evil fire plaguing Ma Xiaotao''s body. The evil fire that he purified was just the most malevolent and dense parts of it that wanted to rampage. But what remained are of the most powerful and unpurified evil fire assimilated within her spirit power, spiritual power and body. Acting just like a parasite. If Xiao Yan we''re to f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y purify it, it would immediately act to kill its host Ma Xiaotao. Until Xiao Yan could either reached Spirit Saint, have another heavenly flame with the attribute of ice, concocting a tier 7-8 pill or have a immortal herb, the Evil Fire would remained within Ma Xiaotao. All he could do now, was just delay the process. ========================================================================================== A/N: I''M BAAAAAACCCCCKKKKK!!! I''ve finally finished my modules! Oh hell yeah! ???????? So I returned with a 2.5k chapter, sorry, would have written a lot more but I''m totally spent and tired with my brain cells completely fried. So, I''ll continue with my schedule. Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday are the days that I''ll update. Though sometimes I wouldn''t be able to because of IRL but I''ll try to keep up with my schedule. Vote your power stones, comment, review and share it with your friends! Peace! P.S. I didn''t checked the chapter and directly uploaded it. So if you find any mistakes, just comment it and tell me. Chapter 54 - 54: Ulterior Motives? A/N: A smaller chapter than I thought I would upload, this is a 1.8k word chapter. But my brain wouldn''t allow me to write any further.???? Vote your power stones, comment, review, and share this story with your friends! Find any mistakes and comment on it. Enjoy the chapter! =============================================================================================== The sky darkened and came the night for everyone in the Douluo continent. In one of the four wild beast forests, specifically the Star Dou Great Forest, within a cave from the outer area, were two teens. One of the teens, Ma Xiaotao, was unconscious, while the other was Xiao Yan, looking both uncomfortable and extremely tired as he hugged the former in a more, comfortable position, as he maintain their connection. ''Well, this is awkward.'' Xiao Yan thought as he held a nation level beauty within his arms, Ma Xiaotao would have been a world class beauty if she were older. Xiao Yan felt his eyes closing but he persisted on. Biting down his lower lip, he continued on what he had been doing for the last couple of hours. Xiao Yan sighed as he send more of the purified Evil Fire within Ma Xiaotao''s body, to both help her recuperate from the feedback of having the unpurified Evil Fire going out of control and help replenished her spirit power. To prevent the unpurified Evil Fire to corrupt the purified, Xiao Yan had to mixed the latter with tiny amounts of his Heavenly Flames and Dragon Qi so the unpurified Evil Fire would leave it alone. Thus, Ma Xiaotao would be able to control her now purified Evil Fire that had a small amount of Heavenly Flames and Dragon Qi. Which the freeloaders within his mind advised him to do so. Honestly... Xiao Yan didn''t even know he had Dragon Qi! Sure he can quasi transform into a dragon but he only knew that it would cost him his vigor to use. He didn''t know anything about Dragon Qi until Igneel told him just now. Igneel said that Dragon Qi is a precious and powerful energy that only True Dragons can use and generate within their body. Dragon Qi can not only strengthen the overall defenses of a dragon, but also empower everything what a dragon''s power has. An example is that; if a True Fire Dragon were to use Dragon Qi, its overall defenses and firepower would be twice, if not, thrice it would normally have. Of course, the output of what the Dragon Qi can help the said dragon would be the amount of how much the dragon''s Dragon Qi would have. Although Xiao Yan still isn''t a True Dragon, but his bloodline spirit is that of one. He already got the requirements to use the said energy, now Xiao Yan all has to do is to generate Dragon Qi. Which is, in technicality, is quite simple. In practical? Not so much. For now, he needs about a one fist size amount of spirit power and two fist size amount of vigor just to make a few drops of Dragon Qi. During combat use, Xiao Yan definitely wouldn''t use Dragon Qi if he could only get a measly few drops of it that requires a buttload of spirit power and vigor, it would cause him both spirit power and stamina exhaustion. The smart move is to gather up the Dragon Qi everyday, to store it, and use it when it is needed. Thankfully Xiao Yan would only used a drop or two of Dragon Qi every dozens of minutes, enough for his spirit power and vigor to regenerate, otherwise he would be s.u.c.k.e.d dry. ...Somehow that sounded wrong. Currently Xiao Yan is using the Dragon Qi and Heavenly Flames as, guardians of some sort, to protect the purified Evil Fire within Ma Xiaotao''s body. The great thing about the purified Evil Fire, is that Ma Xiaotao can use it without any worry, not like the unpurified one. When she uses the former, Ma Xiaotao would be more comfortable and more in control with her flames. Not like the latter that would slowly corrupt her psyche, body and spirit power. Xiao Yan can''t touch the unpurified Evil Fire yet, as that would unhesitatingly kill Ma Xiaotao, but he can make it that its movements would be restricted. With Xiao Yan''s Heavenly Flames and Dragon Qi mixed with Ma Xiaotao''s purified Evil Fire, the unpurified wouldn''t be able to touch it less it wanted to kill itself. Though now comes another problem... "I''m 100% sure that she would live." Igneel said in confidence. "And I''m 100% sure that something would have effects on her spirit." Flame Emperor confident as well. "Oh for sure." Igneel nodded in agreement. Xiao Yan felt a tic mark had appeared on his forehead. ''These pricks...'' "We heard that!" The two former godly beings simultaneously said. ''Well you were supposed to!'' Xiao Yan snapped. The couple of hours of converting his Spirit Power and Vigor into Dragon Qi, while digesting Soldier Pills and eating some supply food to replenish his vigor, and doing all those while keeping his connection with Ma Xiaotao had really peaked Xiao Yan''s stress levels. The spiritual power he used to control the two heavenly flames during the one sided massacre of the Evil Fire Phoenix construct, while also taking care of Ma Xiaotao, had really taken a toll on Xiao Yan''s mind. Though truth be told, Xiao Yan should have fallen unconscious due to the great exhaustion of his mind. But, unsurprisingly, he persisted. He wanted to give every cinder of the purified Evil Fire to Ma Xiaotao. Now normally, a spirit master wouldn''t bat an eye to take such an opportunity of assimilating a purified Evil Fire within. Not only granting them a half-step Ultimate level Flame, but also a chance to get the dark attribute of the Evil Fire, probably even getting it to Ultimate level. But Xiao Yan wasn''t like those normies. Well he would do something like that if it were someone else. After all, this is Ma Xiaotao. A spirit master who has the potential to reach Titled Douluo and probably godhood if she followed the true path of hers. Xiao Yan would be a complete fool if he wanted to disregard such a talent for some weak a.s.s flame. Also, his body is already at it''s limits of being the host of two heavenly flames. If Xiao Yan had assimilated with the purified Evil Fire, then without a doubt his body would explode from all chaotic inside. ''Though the real reason why, is probably because I can''t do it.'' Xiao Yan thought. His right hand went and c.a.r.e.s.sed the side of Ma Xiaotao''s face with care. ''I just can''t bear the thought, of taking something that can help you. Something that can ease the pain of not only your body and mind, but also your heart.'' ''If I went and did that, not only would you and everyone else would be angry and despise me for it, but my previous life''s parents would be so pissed at me that thy wouldn''t hesitate to disown me.'' Xiao Yan chuckled as he moved his right hand away from Ma Xiaotao''s face, and went towards her long beautiful red hair. ''I would think of this as love, but it can''t...'' Images of a smiling Xun Er appeared in Xiao Yan''s mind once more. ''I''m sorry... senior Ma...'' "Xiaotao..." He uttered. Xiao Yan closed his eyes, not knowing a certain pair of ghosts eating popcorn behind him, and let his head slowly fall down towards Ma Xiaotao''s. At that moment, Xiao Yan had finally succ.u.mbed to the great realm of dreams. The stress his mind had taken, was quickly overwritten by sleep. Unknown to Xiao Yan however, he had missed Ma Xiaotao''s face turning as red as her hair. She opened her eyes, revealing her emotions of shock and confusion. In any normal situation, if a man was touching Ma Xiaotao so intimately, she would have burn that man''s balls and cut off his hands that had the audacity of touching her. ''But...'' Ma Xiaotao closed her eyes as a warm feeling crept into her c.h.e.s.t. As she felt the arm of the boy hold her tightly in a protective manner, a feeling of satisfaction and joy enveloped her body. Ma Xiaotao leaned her body deeper into Xiao Yan''s embrace, she moved the latter''s head to the crook of her neck, and vice versa as well with her. A warm smile was set on her mouth. The two forgotten former godly beings continued watching the two teens, a paper bucket of popcorn on each of their hands. "Truly, he is beloved by all dragons and phoenixes. But more on the latter than the former." Igneel uttered as he grabbed a mouthful of popcorn and swallowed. "Oh the affection effects is equal. If a guy who has either a dragon or phoenix related spirit, unless he swings that way, he would be friendly with Xiao Yan at first meeting. The same could be said for females, however, the longer Xiao Yan is spent together with said female, her affection with him would grow into something beyond friendly." Flame Emperor stated as he also ate some popcorn. "Huh, well that explains some stuff. Though I gotta ask, where did you get these?" Igneel asked, emphasizing the paper bucket of popcorn on his hand. "Xiao Yan''s storage ring. That guy is really prepared for a lot of things, even food when some entertainment occurs in front of him." Flame Emperor replied with a shrug. Igneel hummed and ate another piece of popcorn. "Should we do something about them? Maybe wake them up?" Igneel asked. Flame Emperor ate the last piece of popcorn and replied. Igneel glanced at him and shrugged. "Alright." The two ignored the bellowing roar of a ten thousand year old spirit beast coming near their location. Chapter 55 - 55: 45,000-Year Old Golden Lion King A/N: Well holy damn! 4.5k word count chapter! Didn''t think I would wrote this much honestly. So I didn''t edited this so expect some mistakes, comment on the mistakes to tell me, and I will probably won''t be able to update tomorrow due to me and my family going to the beach???? Oh yeah! So enjoy this long a.s.s chapter, vote your power stones, comment, review and share it with your friends! P.S. If you can guess the inspiration for the spirit beast, then, congrats! Your a genius ???? ================================================================================ "ROOOAAARRRR!!!" A great roar was heard throughout the outer area of the Star Dou Great Forest, specifically near a certain cave that was occupied by two teens and two ghosts. The roar had immediately woke up Xiao Yan and Ma Xiaotao, both quickly stood up in a combat stance. "What was that?" They simultaneously said in worry and fear. That roar had caused the hairs on their skin to stand straight, the instincts they hone through countless combat, had signified the danger coming from that roar. Xiao Yan, decided he wanted to check it out for a moment, had suddenly started to coughed harshly. Making him stagger his steps before kneeling with a single knee to the ground. "Xiao Yan!" Ma Xiaotao shouted in worry. She quickly moved towards Xiao Yan, grabbing a hold of him protectively. "*Cough* D-Don''t worry... *cough* *cough* I''m just a bit tired." Xiao Yan said, waving off Ma Xiaotao''s concern. It was true, but that''s just putting it mildly. Xiao Yan has dark bags under his eyes, showing his exhaustion and how low he is in spiritual power. Xiao Yan had already eaten some of Oscar''s Recovery Sausage, that he stored a while ago when he separated from the group, sadly he had only three in store as it had a time limit of twelve hours. Hence he had recovered most of his spirit power, health, and Vigor but spiritual power is an energy not easy to recover. He could easily recover such energy if he either devour spiritual power from another being or eat a herb. But those two options are currently not available for him. So it could only be recovered in the most basic and natural way; rest, let his mind and spirit recuperate from the stress it acc.u.mulated. But Xiao Yan dosen''t have the time to do that. He coughed once more into his hand, he felt his body getting weaker, no, more like his brain is slowly failing to get a hold of his body. "*Cough* Damn it..." Xiao Yan said. Coughing once more into his hand. She felt every bone in her body to run away from where she stood. But her heart, for the first time, turned stone cold as her eyes set on Xiao Yan. Ma Xiaotao dosen''t want to abandoned the boy who helped her. She doesn''t want to run away and leave someone she knows and in debt, to a fate of being devoured by a spirit beast. She especially wouldn''t abandoned someone she feels something more than friendship. Ma Xiaotao turned to stare at Xiao Yan gritting his teeth with a grim expression. She paused for a moment. Staring at Xiao Yan intently, as if remembering every finer details of his face. Xiao Yan, gritting his teeth in frustration at the situation he had gotten himself into, he widened his eyes as an idea flashed through his mind. He immediately use what remained of his spiritual power and contacted his past self, telling him, ''.... The spirit tools I gave to Tang San and the others tells me that they''re too far for them to come here to help. Looks like I don''t have any choice. Flame Emperor, take over my body and¨C'' but Xiao Yan was interrupted by Ma Xiaotao, who had unexpectedly hugged his body tightly. Xiao Yan widened his eyes in surprise. He felt Ma Xiaotao trembling as she hugged him. He opened his mouth to ask what was wrong but the words that left Ma Xiaotao''s mouth froze him in shock. "Xiao Yan, stay here and wait for me. I''ll go deal with the spirit beast." Ma Xiaotao murmured in determination. "H-Huh?! Oi, oi senior this isn''t the time for jo-" Xiao Yan tried to deny her request and stop her but he stopped, his eyes rolled back and his body fell like a puppet cut off from his strings. "I''m not sorry for what I am doing Xiao Yan. Because between the two of us, I have the higher cultivation and combat experience, also, I''m your senior. What kind of a senior am I if I let you go and kill yourself?" Ma Xiaotao stated with a small, and sad, smile on her face. Her arms circled around Xiao Yan''s torso and embraced him once more. Ma Xiaotao leaned her forehead on Xiao Yan''s own, and whispered, "If I, or us, don''t survive this. I just hope that we''ll meet once more in our second life." As soon as she finishes. She lay Xiao Yan''s body somewhere more hidden within the cave and walked out towards the entrance of the cave. "I hope we''ll be more than friends in the next life..." Ma Xiaotao muttered before leaving the cave. "That idiot..." Xiao Yan said, frustration clear in his tone, in his astral projection form. Besides Xiao Yan was Flame Emperor and Igneel. Both looking at former with unreadable expressions. "So, what are you going to do?" Igneel asked with a raised eyebrow. Xiao Yan stayed silent as he bit on his thumb for several moments before taking a deep breath. Turning towards Flame Emperor, with a determined expression, Xiao Yan said, no, pleaded. Flame Emperor stared into Xiao Yan''s eyes for a moment, seemingly staring deep into the latter''s soul. ... The fact that Flame Emperor is Xiao Yan''s past self may have something to do with that but that''s not important. Flame Emperor continued staring before a grin appeared on his face. "I thought you didn''t trust me?" "I don''t." Xiao Yan unhesitatingly replied. "So what''s the sudden change?" Flame Emperor asked. Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes and said. "Don''t get me wrong. I really don''t trust you, nor ever, but I do believe that you would want to save my a.s.s from dying. Tell me if I''m wrong?" Flame Emperor smiled and shook his head. With that said, Flame Emperor moved his spiritual body towards Xiao Yan''s physical body and possessed it. A moment later, the unconscious ''Xiao Yan'' opened his eyes that seemed to hold great experiences and age, a smirk set on his mouth before it froze and said. "Ohhhh, yeah. I forgot how weak your body currently is compared to my own in the past, oh well, beggars can''t be choosers. Now then..." ''Xiao Yan'' stood up, he moved his neck and body around earning him pops, and walked towards where Ma Xiaotao had gone to. His left eye lit up in a green and red color while lightning crackled in his right eye. As he stopped at the entrance of the cave, his entire body seemed to let out an ancient and powerful aura. ''Xiao Yan'' smiled and exclaimed. "It''s time for the original to take the stage!" .... Ma Xiaotao, using her spirit power, jumped dozens of kilometers away from the cave''s location and arrived in a clear grass land. Looking around in vigilance, she took a deep breath and steeled her heart. ''Live Xiao Yan.'' A moment later Ma Xiaotao activated her spirit. Showing a pair of beautiful 5 meter long wingspan of fiery purple red feathered wings on her back. An image of a phoenix appeared behind her for a moment before disappearing. Though it was slightly different than before. Because red scales started to appear on Ma Xiaotao''s skin. Along with her pupils turning into slits, teeth slightly jagged and both of her hands turned into a dragonic claws. With a phoenix wings on her back and characteristics of a dragon, Ma Xiaotao looked as if she were a demon. However, even with the new changes on her body, Ma Xiaotao still looked as beautiful, if not, more than ever. Especially since it caused her body to m.a.t.u.r.e a couple of years, making her taller and all of her curves a bit more filled. Not only that but the dragonian characteristics seem to have given her a sorta of unique and sought after feeling, as well as an aura of dominance and royalty. Ma Xiaotao was shocked and confused at the new changes of her body. Staring down at her two newly changed claws, she felt some of sort of unknown energy flowing within her, making her feel more powerful than before! Not only that, but, due to having gone here without thinking, she wasn''t able to check the situation within her body. Hence, she didn''t noticed the once dominating Evil Fire, that had been suppressing her mind and body within, had greatly lessen to the point of not feeling it within her body! No, she could still feel the Evil Fire swimming around her body. It''s just that, it felt docile and pure? Like it had been purified... Suddenly two purple and one black spirit rings appeared over Ma Xiaotao''s body, shocking her at the new color configuration. "How did this happen?" Ma Xiaotao mumbled in both wonder and awe at the brimming power of the purified Evil Fire revolving within her. Purple-red flame balls, at the size of a a.d.u.l.t human head, appeared on both of her palm claws. ''Xiao Yan...'' Her eyes widened in realization and mist, tears started to fall from her eyes; like a pearl necklace that had its strings cut off. She doesn''t know how her spirit had changed, nor how her spirit ring colors as well, but Ma Xiaotao would now have Xiao Yan a special place in her heart for what he has given her. ''If, if I survive this. I promise to repay you these gifts you have given me.'' Ma Xiaotao swore as she put her two hands, turned claws, to where her heart is. "ROOOAAARRRR!!" Suddenly a roar interrupted Ma Xiaotao''s train of thought. Turning around with cold and with the intent to kill eyes, Ma Xiaotao stared with narrowed eyes as a 50 meter tall spirit beast, with shoulders as wide as a great wall, its fur shone like gold, no, more like the sun! Its huge head looked as if it''s capable of eating an entire two human a.d.u.l.ts, it''s teeth is as sharp as iron swords, it appeared before her slowly with saliva drooled from its jaws as it looked at her. Cold sweat dropped from her forehead as Ma Xiaotao identified what kind of spirit beast in front of her. ''To think my luck would be so bad. It''s a Golden Lion! Known as kings of all feline type spirit beasts. They are known for their almost invulnerable defense, incredible speed, powerful physical power and spirit power.'' ''They are also known to have an intelligence equal to that of a teenager when they are at the age of a hundred years old, making it one of the very few known intelligent spirit beasts. Thus making them highly dangerous confront, as they are also very ruthless and bloodthirsty, regardless if they are human or spirit beast. An intelligent bloodthirsty spirit beast, something all spirit masters are afraid to face. Especially since even it is at a thousand years of age in cultivation, it can suppress and dominate ten thousand year old spirit beasts.'' Ma Xiaotao clicked her tongue in frustration and slight fear at her situation. ''Golden Lions age could be estimated on how bright the color of their fur is. As this one''s fur is as bright as real gold, then that must mean-'' Ma Xiaotao''s train of thoughts were interrupted by a male rough and loud voice. "Human, so you are the reason of that sudden rise of spirit power." The Golden Lion spoke somewhat fluently with its mouth slightly open. Ma Xiaotao''s slit pupils turned into pins, despair and hopelessness appeared on her face and in her heart. ''I-It talks! If a hundred years old Golden Lion has the intelligence of a teenager, a thousand year old has the intelligence of a human a.d.u.l.t, then a t-ten thousand year old Golden Lion has the ability to speak human tongue.'' "Y-You''re a Golden Lion King..." Ma Xiaotao said with a stutter, fear clearly seen on her face. It was reasonable for her to be afraid, after all, a thousand year old Golden Lion can kill an average ten thousand year old spirit beast. While a ten thousand year old Golden Lion, who will be granted a title of a king of it reaches that level of age, in theory, will be able to kill a average hundred thousand year old spirit beast. "Indeed I am." The Golden Lion King nodded in agreement, it''s golden eyes watching the slightly trembling body of Ma Xiaotao intently. It let out it''s large tongue and lick around its lips, saying, "Now, although you are young, you might have already understand why I am here right?" It started to walked slowly towards Ma Xiaotao, whom the latter took several steps back. The Golden Lion King stopped for a moment, before starting to walk left and around Ma Xiaotao, circling around her. It opened it''s mouth once more and said, "I had sensed a huge amount of spirit power coming from this area a while ago, something that can help me jumped towards the fifty thousand year old stage. Although you let out a lot of spirit power, much more than the one I had sensed, but I can feel that yours cannot help me. Something about that former spirit power outburst, made my blood boil in excitement. So, if you can be so kind as to tell me where that thing or person is, then I might let you off with a painless death." It stopped, just several feet away in front of Ma Xiaotao once more. Ma Xiaotao widened her eyes as she woke up from her fearful state. Hearing what it said about the sudden outburst of spirit, she knew what it was talking about. She bit down on her lower lip, drawing blood, and raised her head to glare angrily at the spirit beast in front of her. She thought, with her slit eyes glowing in a dark purple glow, ''If I don''t stop the Golden Lion King, he would go after Xiao Yan!'' She used her pair of wings to fly up into the sky, making it so she would have the advantage against the Golden Lion King, who was just staring at, looking bored. Without saying anything, she narrowed her eyes and her third black spirit ring lit up. Ma Xiaotao''s two feathered wings on her back was set ablaze in a more prominent purple red colored flame, making it looked as if her wings were made out of flames instead and she also gained a pair of five fingered claws on each top end of her wings.(A/N: If you played DMC5 then just imagine it like the wings on Nero''s back.) Not only that, but she also grown a meter long flaming phoenix tail. Though the feathers on her tail seem to be different than a normal phoenix tail, as its feathers seem to looked harder and yet smooth, as if it were made out of scales. This was Ma Xiaotao''s third spirit ring ability, Phoenix Wing Ascension. Due to her spirit rings evolution, her phoenix flames is now increased by 250% and her range of attacks is increased by 150%. Staring down at the Golden Lion King with cold and anger filled eyes, Ma Xiaotao lit up her second spirit rings; Phoenix Baptism. Making her entire body engulfed in purple red, with some tints of green, flames. Her phoenix flames are now increased with an added 50%, making it a total 300% percent, and her flight speed is increased greatly as well. The Golden Lion King''s eyes narrowed as he felt the power of those flames quadruple in power. Instead of getting wary or afraid, it just made the Golden Lion King let out a bloodthirsty grin. "Interesting..." The spirit beast muttered. Back at Ma Xiaotao, she concentrated the power of her flames at the ready and quickly started to make a plan. ''I just can''t attack head on, it''s hide(A/N: Meaning it''s fur or skin of an animal) is known to be perverse. I can only either kill it by letting eat a fireball or lead it away to another, possible, powerful spirit beast so I can grabbed Xiao Yan and get out of here.'' Ma Xiaotao clenched her hands. ''Problem for the latter is that, I don''t know any place that holds a powerful spirit beast can possibly kill this Golden Lion King, excluding the inner and core area of the forest. Even I do find one, how can I be guaranteed that the other spirit beast won''t kill me? And there''s the other problem for that plan, is if the Golden Lion King would follow me.'' ''What should I-'' "How long will you make me wait?" The Golden Lion King''s voice sounded out, moreover, it was quite near... Ma Xiaotao''s eyes widened in shock and her face paled as she turned around to see the Golden Lion King in the air behind her, it''s pair of golden eyes stared at hers in amus.e.m.e.nt. Its four limbs were in a jumping position, though it looked as if he did it lazily. Ma Xiaotao glanced at where the Golden Lion King had once where, finding patches of the grass missing, and had quickly figured out on what he did. Her first spirit ring lit up, Phoenix Fireline, emitting a straight line of purple-red flame from Ma Xiaotao''s mouth towards the bored looking Golden Lion King. Using that slight chance of distraction, Ma Xiaotao flapped her pair of phoenix dragonian wings and fly several kilometers away from the Golden Lion King. Ma Xiaotao silently cursed to herself, she can''t believe that she forgot that Golden Lion Kings have incredible speed second only to its almost invincible defense. At that moment of distraction in thinking of a plan, the Golden Lion King had silently used its hind legs and in great speed appeared right behind her. Cats are known to be silent and sneaky, that principal should apply to other felines as well, especially a freaking lion! ''Okay that just sounds farfetched, even for me.'' Ma Xiaotao quickly shook off those thoughts out of her head. She had to think of a plan to deal with that monstrous spirit beast, fast! ''But how? Its defense, speed and attack are all top tier. I can only think of attacking it with my flames, covering him with them and drain all of the air around so it couldn''t breath, but seeing how fast it moved? I doubt I could follow with my plans before it ignores the flames with it''s defense, moved towards me with great strides and ends with me getting eaten.'' Ma Xiaotao thought, tears suddenly started to fall from her eyes, though it turned to steam as the flames the engulfed her body burn those wet stains of her face. ''Is this it? Will this really be the end? I thought I could either kill the beast or lead it away from Xiao Yan, but knowing the Golden Lion King can sensed my and Xiao Yan''s spirit power, I don''t doubt that it would linger around trying to find latter''s location.'' Ma Xiaotao felt her heart ache, even though she wanted to repay Xiao Yan for what he has done, she wasn''t able to do so. For all her abilities and strength, Ma Xiaotao couldn''t even do a simple thing such as protect the person she treasures. Ma Xiaotao could feel it. A cold and suppressing feeling swept her entire body, causing her to freeze in place. Her flames that covered her entire body had unexpectedly extinguished. Her spirit then soon deactivated, causing her to fall like a meteor down onto the ground of the forest hard. Trees around her bend and broke as she fell, as her body passed through trees as thick as two human a.d.u.l.ts in a circle, it had also caused the bones of her body to break and dislocate. Due to being a couple kilometers up in the air, Ma Xiaotao''s fall into the ground had also caused a small crater. "Oww..." Ma Xiaotao g.r.o.a.n.e.d as she felt the bones within her body were out of order and probably had punctured an organ or two. ''Well that was quite a fall.'' She thought. "Looks like you chose death..." The Golden Lion King''s voice was heard behind her. Turning her head rigidly, as she felt hundreds of needles had stabbed her as she moved her body, Ma Xiaotao''s eyes widened in horror and hopelessness as a familiar golden spirit beast appeared. The Golden Lion King didn''t look any different, despite the fact he took a fully quadrupled power phoenix with dragonian characteristics flame breath point blank, something that not even spirit emperors would leave unscratched! Though, if anyone were to looked closely they would noticed a few strands of fur missing. With a large bloodthirsty grin on his face, the Golden Lion King said, "Though I have to admit little human. Despite your low cultivation, your flames was able to burn a few old hair of mine. For that you have my respect." A single slid down Ma Xiaotao''s right eye, not because of the pain attacking her entire body, no, it was because of the regrets she had. She''s a young lady, not even at the prime of her life, and she''s going to die. She was just given a second chance to really enjoy life and yet, she was going to die. ''Xiao Yan, Ma Hongjun, master, teacher Zhao, everyone... I''m sorry...'' Ma Xiaotao closed her eyes as the Golden Lion King approached her, his right claw up in the air b.a.r.e and ready. "Goodbye, little bird." However, just as the claw, or is it paw?, was about to decapitate Ma Xiaotao''s body, a incomprehensible noise was heard that caused the Golden Lion King to pause. "What is that?" The Golden Lion King muttered as he strained one of his ears to listen in¨C "Surprise motherf.u.c.ker!" [Secret Ability Heavy Black Rule Whirlwind!] A spiralling black ruler appeared in the air, spinning in a wild manner but it held a great amount of strength. It was going straight down towards the Golden Lion King. The said spirit beast widened his eyes as he felt a dangerous chill that made his hairs standing up. His instincts screamed at him to move! Without any hesitation, the Golden Lion King followed his instincts and used his speed to disappear from where he stood. Fortunately he followed his instincts, because a moment later... *BANG!* A gigantic crater, that was 30 meters of diameter and 20 feet deep, was formed from where Golden Lion King had stood. The force that made such a crater was so great, that it made some small and weaker trees around to be blown away! As for Ma Xiaotao that was close to the blast radius? She was safe and unconscious, though not before taking a final look at her savior. "Xiao... Yan...?" Ma Xiaotao said with difficulty. ''Xiao Yan'' smiled gently at Ma Xiaotao that was held in his left arm while his right arm was busy holding onto the handle of his spirit, the Heavy Xuan Ruler. Before ''Xiao Yan'' had slammed the big a.s.s dull sword to the ground, he had used the Controlling Crane to pull her towards himself. "Rest now young phoenix. I''ll handle everything from here." ''Xiao Yan'' said lightly, subtly using the Mind Over Reality to let her sleep with a great dream. Now that Ma Xiaotao''s asleep, ''Xiao Yan'' turned towards the now wary Golden Lion King with blank cold eyes. "Now, you must be the little kitty that was trying to kill my friend here huh? Well I can''t possibly let you go for that now would I?" As soon as he finished saying that, ''Xiao Yan'' let go of the handle of his Heavy Xuan Ruler and let his right palm up in the air. The Golden Lion King''s instincts once more screamed at him, and this time, it was telling him to run. To run, run, run, run, run...!! ''Ack, w-what is this?!'' The Golden Lion King thought in disbelief, as he felt his entire unmoving and restricted. As if his body wasn''t his own anymore. [Space Lock] A space manipulation ability that the Flame Emperor had gotten in his previous life. Because the current of Xiao Yan''s spirit power was too weak, the former wasn''t able to use most of his space related abilities. But controlling the space around someone to restrict his or her movement? Now that, Flame Emperor could do easily. Back to ''Xiao Yan'', two flame essence energies appeared. The Green Lotus Core Flame and the Nine Dragon Lightning Flame, the appearance of the two heavenly flames had caused the surrounding vegetation to turned to ashes. It was something unprecedented in the history of the Douluo continent. Two heavenly flames appeared within the hold of a single person, much less appearing in the same location, it was something that is known to be impossible! If anyone, especially Titled Douluos and alchemists, they would be green in envy and turned pale at the sight of the person holding two heavenly flames, merging them. On ''Xiao Yan''s'' right hand palm, a small green-red lotus with lightning flickering within appeared. The Golden Lion King''s eyes widened in terror as he could sense, no, taste the destructive power the small lotus held. ''Xiao Yan'' opened his mouth and muttered, "Mini Buddha''s Fury Flame Lotus..." As soon as he said that, he let the small lotus fly towards the frozen Golden Lion King while he disappeared in a flash of lightning. ''Xiao Yan'' appeared a kilometer away from his previous location, already unsummoned his Heavy Xuan Ruler, while carrying a unconscious Ma Xiaotao in a princess carry. A moment later, a gigantic explosion was seen from where the Golden Lion King was left. A huge lotus flame image appeared for a moment before disappearing and waves of spirit power flames could be felt, an after effect of the Mini Buddha''s Fury Flame Lotus. Flashing back to where he left the Golden Lion King to die, ''Xiao Yan'' could only see a barren wasteland of death with only a black spirit ring floating and a golden armor lying around near it remained in the devastation he caused. At the sight of destruction in front of him, ''Xiao Yan'' could only say, "Well, I overdid it again..." Chapter 56 - 56: Absorbing a Forty Thousand Year Old Spirit Ring "You''ve really outdone yourself Flame Emperor." Xiao Yan said, in astral projection, with a deadpanned expression. "I couldn''t help it okay! It''s been awhile since I used any of my skills in the physical world, so yeah, I might have gone a bit overboard..." Flame Emperor said with a nervous chuckle as Xiao Yan and Igneel, who was also in a astral projection form, stared at him with not so amused eyes. Currently Flame Emperor sat down cross-legged where the ten thousand year old spirit ring was floating, in the middle of the big a.s.s crater he was responsible in doing, though he used his spirit power to swept away all the dust in the area so his clothes wouldn''t get dirtied, alongside Ma Xiaotao, who had her head peacefully sleeping in his l.a.p. The injuries on Ma Xiaotao''s body were all healing at the moment, due to feeding her a tier 4 Beneficial Nine Suns Pill, which heals wounds, externally and internally, and temporarily cures all kinds of pain that would last for a couple of hours. Igneel sighed and said, "Flame Emperor, that power you used, Mini Buddha''s Fury Flame Lotus, was enough to kill a group of five Spirit Emperors or could severely injure a Spirit Sage. Which, from the spars we usually do, a low powered Buddha''s Fury Flame Lotus could easily replicate that. Not only that, you''ve practically exhausted Xiao Yan''s spirit power reservoir, which means any spirit beast would easily kill him right now, thankfully the latter has enough Soldier Pills for him to last till now to recover his lost spirit power. So yeah, you''ve really gone a bit overboard." Flame Emperor twitched his lips and scratched his cheek, saying, "Sorry. As I said before, it''s been a while since I have a real body so I''ve been getting a bit rusty in judging the output of firepower I needed to kill someone or something. Though you couldn''t blame me for that, after all, that was a Golden Lion King, evolved from a thousand year old Golden Lion. Their almost invulnerable defense is something that this body''s current skills and abilities couldn''t hope to put a scratch. So I had to use the skills I had, that Xiao Yan had not been able to get the knowledge, to deal with it." Xiao Yan nodded in understanding but frowned, asking, "Yeah but that begs the question, how come you can use space manipulation and the Mini Buddha''s Fury Flame Lotus? I remember you saying that, using the latter would strained my body and sapped every bit of spirit power I have, and use my life force as well, thus killing me." Flame Emperor shook his head and said, "To answer your first confusion... In my life, when someone reaches a certain level of cultivation; anyone would have a innate sense of controlling the space elements around them. It was to the point of creating, pocket dimensions, wormholes and their very own realm with life inside, ecology and such but not human life. Though their self created realm or dimension couldn''t possibly contend with the original realm they reside in." "So me, someone who had attained the peak of cultivation of my world and becoming a God, manipulating the space elements is as easy as controlling the flame elements around. As our souls is in the process of being assimilated, however slowly it is going, I''d assume that the knowledge to be able to control the space elements would now come to you now." Flame Emperor''s expression turned serious and said, "Though I have to advise you, don''t show off your space control until you can create a wormhole as a means of escape from people who wants the knowledge of how you can do so, especially with a spirit and any of your spirit rings that has no relation to space manipulation." Xiao Yan nodded and Flame Emperor continued with his explanation. "As for your second confusion? Because it''s the small version of the real Buddha''s Fury Flame Lotus I''ve warn you about. With my teacher''s help, I had created that technique to help reduce the stress and other strains the real Buddha''s Fury Flame Lotus had on my body, though it also reduced the firepower of it." "The real Buddha''s Fury Flame Lotus takes too long to make, due to the need in concentration and energy consumption, it would have taken me several minutes to make at the current moment with your cultivation. While the mini version of it is something that I can make easily with a flip of my hand. You would also have the same limit as I currently have, when you get the knowledge of using this ability." Xiao Yan nodded in clear excitement and awe, while Flame Emperor turned towards Igneel, saying, Xiao Yan and Igneel blinked their eyes, twice, tilting their heads in confusion until realization shone in the latter''s eyes, who face palmed. "I forgot about the Spirit Douluo with the Ice Dragon spirit that you knocked out. Where the heck did you put him?" "Just a couple of meters away from the cave, hidden between a bunch of branches and nature." Flame Emperor nonchalantly replied. Xiao Yan looked between the two, confusion clear on his face, asking, "Uh, what are you guys talking about?" Flame Emperor and Igneel looked towards him for a moment and the former looked away, mumbling, "... knocked out..." Flame Emperor''s voice was so low that Xiao Yan could only make out those couple of words. "Knocked out? Knocked out who?" Xiao Yan questioned with a raised eyebrow. Rubbing the back of his head, Flame Emperor turned towards Xiao Yan and said. Xiao Yan stared at Flame Emperor with an expression of ''what the f.u.c.k''. "So I have a hidden expert bodyguard, which is a Spirit Douluo, and you knocked him out?" Flame Emperor nodded to which, in turned, had Xiao Yan holding his head with both hands yelling. "We could have avoided this whole mess if you didn''t knocked him out?! What the f.u.c.k Flame Emperor?!" "Hey! I knocked him out, cause he was just a ten steps away from discovering your secrets. I didn''t realize there was a incoming forty thousand year old spirit beast until it was roaring around." Flame Emperor replied with a indignant expression. To which Xiao Yan and Igneel stared at him once more in silence. "Alright, alright. Fine. This situation has gotten out of control, so what should we do now?" Xiao Yan gave up first and asked. Flame Emperor said, "Well that Spirit Douluo would be awake in about ten minutes, so it would be alright to absorb this spirit ring now." Xiao Yan stared at Flame Emperor with a incredulous expression, saying, "What the f.u.c.k are you saying?" "I mean, absorbing this spirit ring? Are you serious? This came from a ten thousand plus years old Golden Lion King. Which I''m pretty sure wouldn''t be compatible to me as this spirit beast does not have a fire attribute for my spirit. So, why would I absorb this?" Flame Emperor rolled his eyes and turned towards Igneel, who let out a sigh, and said. "You''re correct, this spirit beast does not have a fire attribute to be compatible with your spirit, but its attribute as lightning is." Xiao Yan widened his eyes in understanding and Igneel continued. "Now that you devoured the Nine Dragon Lightning Flame, your spirit has acquired the attribute of lightning. Although it didn''t used its lightning abilities, this spirit beast is without a doubt has an attribute to lightning elements. I could sense it from this spirit ring. So it''ll be alright for you to absorb this spirit ring. It could also explain why it was so fast and how high its defense is, if its related to that certain traitorous divine beast I had countered in the past." "That certain traitorous divine beast?" Xiao Yan asked, noticing the clear anger and disgust look on the Fire Dragon King''s face. Igneel nodded with a cold gaze and said, "During the war of Gods and Divine Beasts, our race would have won if it weren''t for 12 Divine Beasts that had suddenly sided with the Gods. Those traitorous bastards, not only did they turned on us, but they were also the ones who had the most kill count on divine beasts. Especially since they weren''t any ordinary divine beasts, they were peak 1st Class God level cultivation and some of them have the strength equalling a low ranked God King!" "My kind were quickly being killed off that my father, the Dragon God, had no choice but to appear on the battlefield, earlier than expected. To which he was sliced into two, the Golden Dragon King and Silver Dragon King, by the Asura God." "Now, that certain divine beast I''m talking about is the Golden Lion God. His defense and strength were just second to the Golden Dragon King and his lightning could be equal to the Thunder God. He is the leader of those other traitorous divine beast." Igneel had his hands clenched into tight fists that ignited into flames and crackling in lightning. Xiao Yan and Flame Emperor were both silent. The former didn''t know what to say while the latter was sympathetic, after all, he also felt the same against a certain demonic being. Several breaths of time later, Igneel calmed down and closed his eyes. His flames and the aura of vengeance were slowly being snuffed out. Igneel, with his eyes now opened, let out a long sigh and said. "Sorry... I-I lost control for a moment there." Flame Emperor smiled and shook his head, saying, "It''s alright. Anyone who feels the same as you would have reacted the same, so don''t feel ashamed. Though, are you okay now?" Igneel nodded with a small smile. "Yeah, I''m alright now." Flame Emperor nodded and turned towards Xiao Yan, asking, Xiao Yan hesitated for a moment, and asked. "Are you sure I would be able to absorb this spirit ring? What about the soul shock of it?" Flame Emperor waved off Xiao Yan''s worries, stating, "Bah! That guy''s remaining soul in the spirit ring wouldn''t dare cause trouble for you, not after having his physical body burned into a crisped, even if he did he wouldn''t be a matched for you in terms of spiritual power, cause I restored all your spiritual power and probably had it reached the peak of tier 5. So be thankful for my greatness brat!" Xiao Yan''s worries disappeared and finally nodded with a smile. "Thank you Flame Emperor." Flame Emperor smiled and closed his eyes, letting go of his possession on Xiao Yan''s body, which the the latter now occupied once more. Xiao Yan, opening his eyes, let out a sigh of relief and smiled as he tilted his head to looked down on the sleeping figure Ma Xiaotao. C.a.r.e.s.sing the most beautiful red long hair that he ever seen, Xiao Yan''s eyes turned soft and muttered, Cold sweat dropped on Xiao Yan''s forehead and back as he tried to calmed down the frantic beating of his heart, and slowly rising of his dragon. ''Down my son! It is not your time!'' Xiao Yan took several deep breaths and slowly moved the head of Ma Xiaotao out of his *ahem* dragon *ahem* area. Moving Ma Xiaotao''s body several of meters away from his body, for her safety in some certain dangers, Xiao Yan let out a long sigh of relief as he also tuned out the loud laughing of a certain pair of ghosts behind his back. Rising his head up, Xiao Yan stared at the ominous looking black spirit ring floating in the air, determination and will appeared in his eyes. Without saying anything, Xiao Yan released his spirit out. The Heavy Xuan Ruler appeared, embedded in the ground, in front of him. Two spirit rings rose over his body, revealing one purple spirit ring and the a black spirit ring. Taking a deep breath, Xiao Yan used his spirit to let the spirit ring come towards it and let the absorption process begin. As wisps of the spirit power within the black spirit ring come towards Xiao Yan''s spirit, silence reigned upon the barren wasteland. Dozens of breaths of time later, a shadow appeared behind Xiao Yan. It was the hidden expert that Flame Emperor had knocked out! He was currently looking around in vigilance. His hood was down, revealing a tall old man with a long light blue hair and beard, and dark blue eyes. After looking around the area, the man finally sagged his shoulders in relief. Turning his eyes towards Xiao Yan''s back and the unconscious form of Ma Xiaotao, the old man walked towards the latter, standing in guard, as he knew that absorbing a ten thousand year old spirit ring would release some waves of spirit power, that had remained in the spirit ring, around the area around the one absorbing it. Any normal person would have their eyes widened in shock and disbelief; as someone so young, and just absorbing a spirit ring to be at Spirit Elder level, would dare to absorb a ten thousand year old spirit ring. But the old man had witnessed a lot of things in his life, so although a bit shocked and surprised, he just shrugged it off as he saw the boy already having ten thousand year old spirit ring with him and now absorbing another one. Impossible? Something that shouldn''t be possible? Where''s the common sense of seeing someone absorbing a ten thousand year old spirit ring, despite not being thirteen and is just on the way to become a Spirit Elder? Honestly, the old man could only say that this was the work of a monster that was his young master. Sighing, the old man combed his long hair have and muttered, "Sigh, the old generation are really being overtaken by the new and the one leading is this monster of a young master I''m watching over. Old friend, I hope you know that your son is someone that will certainly destroy the common sense of the Douluo continent. This old Hao is both scared and excited to see what the young master would soon become in the near future..." Old Hao closed his eyes and smiled as he spread his senses all over for surveillance. ''But until then, I''ll protect you with everything I can do. I promised your father, my cousin, that much after all...'' ======================================================================== (A/N: I was going to add an omake in the end, but... I decided not to. Though, should I add one in the next? Let me hear your opinions.) Chapter 57 - 57: Holy Sacred Dragon A/N:Vote your power stones, comment, review, and share this story with your friends! Enjoy the chapter! ================================================================================ As Xiao Yan was busy absorbing his first real ten thousand year old spirit ring, the other Shrek students and teacher were currently busy with something else really important. *Boom!* As the moonlight''s light shine upon the land from sky; flocks of birds and flight type spirit beast scattered into the air, scurrying away from the destruction in the Star Dou Great Forest. As trees, vegetation and craters are formed in the ground; caused by a really big mountain like size ape creature. Standing upright in fifteen meters, black fur all over its body faintly twinkling with l.u.s.tre under the weak illumination of the moon and stars, even though it was four limbed, the height of its shoulders already at least outstripped seven metres. On the surface, it''s facial characteristics are both like monkeys and a black orangutan, apart from a pair of lantern sized eyes with a yellow crystal like l.u.s.tre its whole body was pitch black. At night if it didn''t move, its body would look indistinct. This big animal''s body was too majestic, its condition unimaginably awesome and powerful, not only was its body enormous, but all over its entire body it was covered with muscles even tougher than granite, protruding like little hills. "Star Dou Great Forest; Forest King, Great Titan Ape..." Tang San, his face slowly drained of color, muttered in shock and slight fear. He wasn''t the only one, as each and everyone in his group, except Xun Er and Xiao Wu, was staring up at the with the same expressions as him. A Titan Giant Ape appeared in any spirit beast forest, and all were absolute existences like overlords. There were no spirit beasts that dared offend it, because the result would inevitably be death. Even if it was only a hundred year Titan Giant Ape, it could still measure up against other ten thousand year level spirit beasts. They possessed incomparable physical strength and speed. Attack and defense were practically without any flaws. But most terrifying, they could even use skills similar to spirit abilities. No one knew what the Titan Giant Ape''s true ability was, because on seeing these skills humans were already dead before they knew what was coming. Similarly for all ten thousand year spirit beasts their actual strength was decided differently, this was in itself a question of properties. But Titan Giant Ape, among all spirit beasts, clearly stood among a small number of types of spirit beasts at the summit of the pyramid. The terror it could produce was the nightmare of practically all Spirit Masters. Previously an unknown number of Spirit Masters had coveted the power of the Titan Giant Ape, hoping to be able to kill it for their spirit ring. But the people with this kind of notion also strived hard in vain, completely vanishing from this world. Among known Spirit Masters, apparently only one person had ever killed a Titan Giant Ape, and furthermore alone, that''s all. Titan Giant Ape did not only have formidable strength, but they even possessed intelligence no less than humans. Within the forest, it was an absolute king. "Respected forest king, we did not mean to offend you or anything, if this is your territory, we will immediately withdraw." Zhao Wuji said in a low voice. He knew that Titan Giant Apes were capable of understanding human speech. Especially such a powerful Titan Giant Ape as this, which clearly already outstripped ten thousand years of cultivation. He really could not imagine a spirit beast more formidable than this one. It''s been several hours since they''ve been searching for a suitable spirit beast for Oscar, and Xiao Yan and Ma Xiaotao have not regrouped with them still. Everyone were worried about the two but the spirit tools that Xiao Yan gave Tang San, Xiao Wu and Xun Er told them that he was okay and was a bit far from their location. So Zhao Wuji placate the group, saying that they had probably found a suitable spirit beast for Xiao Yan and wanted to hunt it so they might have been late because of that. Knowing Xiao Yan and Ma Xiaotao''s abilities, everyone soon calmed down and started making camp for the night. Zhao Wuji wasn''t really worried for the two, a hidden expert that was clearly more powerful than him was guarding the two in the shadows after all. As everyone finished making camp, eating some marshmallows as well, the Great Titan Ape came. The Titan Giant Ape did not take any notice of Zhao Wuji''s words, it only did one simple thing that made everyone''s hearts leap into their throats. Because it took one step forward. Even though it was only one step, with its majestic body, this step already pulled close the distance to everyone from Shrek Academy. Yes, right now what could be done? Although Zhao Wuji was confident in his strength, he was very clear on, the terror of this Titan Giant Ape was above any of the spirit beasts that they had encountered. He would prefer to confront a Title Douluo, but absolutely did not wish to confront a spirit beast king like this. Just like what Tang San and Xiao Yan said before, Spirit Masters massacring spirit beasts made all spirit beasts regard humans with hatred. This spirit beast king clearly was no exception. Facing it, Zhao Wuji knew that even defending himself was an issue, let alone speaking of protecting the others. But, at this moment, how could he still cower back? Zhao Wuji, all his seven spirit rings over his body, turned his head towards his students and shouted with a pale complexion. "All of you brats, get the hell out of here! Dai Mubai, Xun Er, as the senior and most powerful respectively of group, you two will be the leaders of the group. Whatever you do, you must all escape, preferably to where Xiao Yan and Ma Xiaotao are!" As he finishes, Zhao Wuji turned back towards the Great Titan Ape, determination in his eyes, and continued. "I''ll try to buy you all some time! Don''t worry about me and go!" "B-But teacher Zhao..." Ma Hongjun muttered, hesitation and concerned in his eyes. Zhao Wuji, with his back towards the group of youths, paused in his steps and said. "Despite who I am and my past deeds, regardless, I am a Shrek teacher. Someone who places his students above himself. You all have monstrous talents beyond my own. People who would stand at the peak of this world, probably even beyond this world." As he finishes, Zhao Wuji advances with big strides towards the still and waiting form of the Great Titan Ape. The seventh spirit ring over his body abruptly erupted in deep black. Intense black light in a flash enveloped Zhao Wuji, immediately after, huge changes began to take place in his body. As his body completely changed into a bear shape, the light brown fur discolored in a flash, sparkling with bright golden light. Incarnated as a bear Zhao Wuji without hesitation pounced as a Vigorous Vajra Bear at the Great Titan Ape''s face. The seventh spirit ring of all Spirit Masters with spirit beasts after reaching seventieth rank was similar, that was Spirit Avatar. Same as the thirtieth ranked Spirit Master bottleneck, seventieth ranked was also the same, for Spirit Masters with Spirit Avatar''s Beast Spirit, strength would substantially upgrade, at the same time, this ability could only be especially effective for them when their life depended on it. What Zhao Wuji used right now, was his seventh spirit ring ability, it was also the most powerful spirit ring ability Spirit Avatar with the most potent side effect. What he revealed, was equivalent to the spirit Vigorous Vajra Bear itself. Under the use of Spirit Avatar, he could limitlessly employ apart from Spirit Avatar the seven rings or lower for thirty minutes, at one hundred fifty percent of the original might. An additional terrifying property of Vigorous Vajra Bear''s Spirit Avatar was also to increase defense by two hundred percent. This was already Zhao Wuji''s last redoubt. Of course, after each time using Spirit Avatar, the Spirit Master''s own attributes would weaken by fifty percent, requiring seven days to recover. Therefore, unless absolutely essential, Spirit Masters over seventieth rank would never easily use their Spirit Avatar. "So, LIVE!" With a loud roar akin to a real bear, Zhao Wuji activated all his spirit ring abilities, aside from his already active seventh spirit ring, at the Great Titan Ape''s face. Zhao Wuji, using his third and fifth spirit ring abilities, gravity increased and gravity crush respectively, to restrained the movement of the Great Titan Ape. He then opened up his right hand and used his second spirit ability, Vigorous Vajra Palm, at the Great Titan Ape''s eyes. The Great Titan Ape tilted its head to meet Zhao Wuji''s attack with it''s forehead. A loud boom was heard and the resulting confrontation, was that the former was pushed back several meters away while the latter only took a single step back. The Great Titan Ape narrowed it''s eyes and stood up upright, and suddenly started to beat it''s c.h.e.s.t with two of it''s hands as he gave out a roar of a certain king. Every students retreated several meters away and watched as the Great Titan Ape stare at Zhao Wuji in the eyes, the same look it had when it first confronted them. "Tang San, Xun Er, you two cover everyone''s departure, I will assist teacher Zhao!" Having seen the battle result of the two powerhouses, Dai Mubai immediately ordered, dashing forward with a loud tiger howl to the sky. He naturally also knew that the Titan Giant Ape was formidable, therefore, he directly used not only his White Tiger Spirit, but simultaneously also in a flash started his most powerful third spirit ability, White Tiger Vajra Transformation. Dai Mubai''s body which had originally become full of power from White Tiger Body Enhancement swelled once again, the muscles themselves swelling exaggeratedly, the clothes over his body completely bursting, exposing a frightfully muscled silhouette, most strange was, on his skin appeared black horizontal stripes, and if it wasn''t hairless it would be no different from tiger skin. A pair of hands again larger, the sharp blades ejected on the surface all became bright silver, most peculiar was, all over his body he was shrouded in an intense golden light, as if he was gilded. Blood red eyes shining with bloodthirst, all over the whole body wearing that kind of king among beasts aggressiveness. Attack and defense abruptly upgraded, Dai Mubai at once sending out that tiger roar sprinted with full power. Zhao Wuji''s goal was the top of the Titan Giant Ape''s head, but Dai Mubai''s goal were the forelimbs supporting the Titan Giant Ape''s body. "You guys go. I have to help them and can''t leave." A warm and soft yet resolute voice rose, a dazzlingly beautiful Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda rotated out from the center of Ning Rongrong''s palm. Who couldn''t acknowledge that the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda indeed had its original position, being known as the foremost Auxiliary Spirit absolutely wasn''t false. "Seven Treasure Words, first spoken: Strength." "Seven Treasure Words, second spoken: Speed." Following Ning Rongrong''s brief and clear voice, four lines of light simultaneously shot out, two of them falling on Zhao Wuji''s body just as he was about to attack the top of the Titan Giant Ape''s head. The Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda Spirit''s most powerful trait was how its amplification disregards the difference of spirit power ranks. Ning Rongrong''s amplification effect was currently thirty percent, in other words, no matter how strong the subject was in itself, they would all have an amplification range of thirty percent. Thirty seventh ranked Dai Mubai had his strength and speed amplified by thirty percent, and seventy sixth ranked Zhao Wuji as well. Indeed, under Ning Rongrong''s Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda amplification, Zhao Wuji''s speed suddenly increased, the spirit power over his two bear paws also strengthened somewhat, in a flash already having risen up over eightieth ranked spirit power attack power. Of the altogether eight students, two already decided to stay behind, could the others truly leave? Over several days of cooperation, they had long ago already formed a good bond with each other. Tang San and Xun Er did not even say anything, only clapped Fatty''s shoulders and dashed out, their meaning very clear, ''the mission boss Dai handed over is up to you to complete''. Tang San''s spirit, Blue Silver Grass, completely covered twenty diameter of the area and immediately lashed out towards the Great Titan Ape''s four limbs. His forehead then revealed a black purple crown like tattoo, the tips of his hair turned purple and shockingly, eight spider like legs that was three meters long appeared behind his back. Four of the lower spider legs pierced the ground, Tang San''s body was lifted up into the air and like a certain wall crawling hero, he raised both of his hands and two Blue Silver Grass vines shot out from his wrists towards the forearms of the Great Titan Ape. Without saying anything further, he launched himself at the Forest King, under the influence of Ning Rongrong''s boosts of strength and speed by 30%, with hundreds of his hidden weapons deployed, Tang San accurately attacked its weak points as he moved around the Great Titan Ape''s body. Xun Er wasn''t far behind him, golden flames appeared surrounding her entire body, three powerful spirit rings, two purple and one black, rose underneath her and covered her entire body. Her second spirit ring lit up, Golden Flames of Devastation, her entire body would be covered entirely in golden flames that both act as a defense and attack. Her flames increased 150% and her first and third spirit abilities strength and firepower would increased by 100%. Then, her black third spirit ring blackened and everything suddenly seemed to distort and then froze in a golden like world. Everyone and everything around them, the skies and trees, turned into golden. This is Xun Er''s third spirit ring ability, Golden Distortion World. A very rare time related spirit ability. It would froze everyone in time within the range of 5 kilometers in diameter. With the user having full reigned of the ability on who to be affected. Not only that, but only those that had reached Spirit Douluo or Titled Douluo would have the power to resist this ability. Currently, Xun Er''s third spirit ring ability''s limit of how long she could use it was just five minutes, seven with her second spirit ring ability boost. Any more than that, her spirit power and spiritual power would be rapidly drained dry. But that limit was enough of what she''s about to do. "So Xiao Wu, care to explain of why we''re being confronted by a Great Titan Ape?" Xun Er''s head turned towards a completely normal Xiao Wu, who flinched at the sight of the former''s wickedly sweet, sweet smile. "Well, it''s a long story..." Xiao Wu muttered nervously. "Make it twenty words or less. This ability of mine won''t last for long you know that." Xun Er said as she tapped her right foot on the ground. *Growl...* A deep growl was heard behind Xun Er, in which in turn, made her looked towards the growling Great Titan Ape who was unaffected by her third spirit ring ability. Well that didn''t surprise Xun Er at all, after all, she knew that this is a hundred thousand year old spirit beast. Equaling an average Title Douluo(91-94) or probably even a Super Douluo(95-98). There''s just no way her ability would affect the beast even for a blink of an eye. But that didn''t worry Xun Er. Letting out a irritated sigh, Xun Er released the aura of her cultivation when she was still a spirit beast. A heavy pressure was pressed down upon the Great Titan Ape, it''s pair of eyes widened in shock and fear as it felt it''s entire body being engulfed in a world of terrifying golden flames. Xiao Wu, despite not being the focus of Xun Er''s wrath, was also scared to death as she saw an image that was thought to have died in the great war hundreds of thousands of years ago. Xiao Wu had heard this story from her mother, the most powerful dragon king of the other eight dragon kings in the dragon clan. He was known as the dragon clan''s executioner. A western dragon that was ten times the height of the Great Titan Ape, it''s scales were a mix of white and gold in color, eyes that was completely white and two ten metre long dragon horns on it''s head. Its dragon wings, although rested, could easily engulfed the Great Titan Ape''s body. This was a dragon that was descended from the most powerful dragon king in it''s time. This dragon behind Xun Er, is the Holy Sacred Dragon. Descended from the Holy/Light Dragon King. Xun Er is the descendant, of the Holy/Light Dragon King. Chapter 58 - 58: Third Spirit Ring Ability Listening to Xiao Wu''s story of how this is her fault and that the Great Titan Ape, Er Ming, was her brother and he had arrived here because she had unknowingly forgot to conceal her aura. To which Er Ming had felt and wanted to meet with her. "So, oops?" Xiao Wu said nervously as she let out her tongue and closed one of her eyes while rubbing the back of her head. The Great Titan Ape, Er Ming, had his head down with his slightly teary eyes staring at the two ladies, looking like a sad and kicked puppy. Which was weird as hell, because Er Ming is several metres bigger than them and is a freaking ape than being compared to a puppy. As well as having three golden spirit masters'' statues all around the said Great Titan Ape. Xun Er pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a long sigh of irritation. "Xiao Wu, as sisters in all but blood, I have to say that you are a magnet of trouble like your sworn brothers, Yan and Tang San." Er Ming perked up at the words of sworn brothers while Xiao Wu winced at the accusation. She wasn''t as bad as them! Sure she might have become the top boss in her previous school, Nouding Academy, in Nouding City and made all the students, and some teachers, there her little bitches. Stopping some criminal activities in the said city and playing around while acting all innocent... Xun Er sighed and shot a look at Er Ming, who flinched for a moment, and said with a gentle smile, "Er Ming, I apologise for scaring you, but to keep this all short, I had to do it. If it were me several years ago, this encounter would have gone differently, in a very bad way, but due to some influence, I changed. So, sorry about it big guy." To which Xun Er came near the arm of the Great Titan Ape and patted it gently. "Huu..." Er Ming paused for a moment before nodding in understanding. As a Great Titan Ape with a cultivation of more than 100,000 years old his intelligence equaled, if not, surpassed of that of a normal human a.d.u.l.t. So Er Ming understood that Xun Er being forceful, was because they only had a small amount of time to lift the misunderstanding between the situation of himself and the Shrek students and Zhao Wuji. Though Xun Er and Xiao Wu are the only ones who truly knows of what was going on. "So, can you go now big guy? I''m sure Xiao Wu will come visit you and your other friend, or is he your brother as well Xiao Wu?" Xun Er asked towards a shocked Xiao Wu. "H-How?" Xiao Wu stuttered in confusion. She knew who Xun Er was talking about and she didn''t think that she would have been able to sense the aura of her other brother. With a raised eyebrow, Xun Er explained, "Did you forget? I apprenticed under grandpa Lao in alchemy for a bit, remember? I might not be as good at alchemy and using my spiritual power like Yan but that doesn''t mean I totally s.u.c.k.e.d at it." Xiao Wu giggled as Xun Er gave her a raspberry. Xiao Wu, with a smile on her face, turned towards Er Ming with a sad look in her eyes and said, Er Ming looked downcast and conflicted but nodded nonetheless in understanding. He knew, despite the dangerous of the outside world, that Xiao Wu needed to grow to be person she wants to be. Even it means going to the side of humanity. "Xiao... Wu... take care..." Er Ming said in a gruff and rough voice that shocked Xiao Wu. Her hands covering her mouth, Xiao Wu said. "Er Ming, y-you can finally talk human speech?!" Er Ming nodded with a wide grin. "Oh I''m so happy!" Xiao Wu exclaim with both if her arms raised in the air. "Ahem!" Xun Er interrupted the two siblings with a fake cough, to which they sheepishly rubbed the back of their heads. "Sorry." They both said. Xun Er sighed, thinking, ''Their siblings alright,'' and said. Xiao Wu nodded and turned towards Er Ming and said goodbye. After that, Xun Er and Xiao Wu went back to their previous position. Xun Er took a deep breath, and deactivated her third spirit ring ability. The golden world twisted and distorted before time resume and the natural color of the world returned. Zhao Wuji, Tang San, and Dai Mubai continued attacking the Great Titan Ape like nothing happened while Ning Rongrong and Oscar were supporting them with their spirits. At this moment, Ma Hongjun had joined in with the other three vanguards with his spirit active, two yellow spirit rings appeared around him as he attacked the Great Titan Ape at the crotch area. While the said Great Titan Ape looked down in boredom but also feeling a bit weird as he felt his ''little brother'' getting warm. *Cough!* *Cough!* "Xun Er!" Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing voices echoed through the battle. Xun Er''s third spirit ring ability, Golden Distortion World, is a time based ability. Something that can affect the time area around her, which she can choose on who to freeze or not to in time. Titled Douluos and Spirit Douluos are the only ones not affected by her ability, which she is sure as she tested with the help of a certain narcissistic a.s.s of an alchemist. [Unknown Location] "Achoo! Huh? Who is talking about me? Is it my grandson again?" A man in white robes nonchalantly said as he wiped his nose. [Back to Xun Er] But that didn''t mean Spirit Sages, Spirit Emperors, and Spirit Kings are easy to disregard and freeze them in her ability. Xun Er''s body would be in constant strained when she uses her ability on spirit masters who''s spirit ranks top hers by a lot. Xun Er had froze Zhao Wuji, a Spirit Sage, with her third spirit ring ability, which was why her body is now being stricken with pain. Xun Er knows, that the moment the time hit seven minutes, Zhao Wuji would have been able to escape and noticed how she and Xiao Wu were talking civilly with the Great Titan Ape. That would give them suspicion from the Spirit Sage and interrogate them, which is something Xun Er and Xiao Wu both don''t want. Thankfully that situation didn''t happened, as Xun Er looked to see Er Ming back handing Zhao Wuji, Tang San, Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun, who now all vomit out blood, to some trees and had slowly walked back into the darkness of the forest. "..." That made Xiao Wu and Xun Er as they stared into the back of the retreating Great Titan Ape speechlessly, who just singlehandedly, and childishly, bitch slapped a Spirit Sage, two Spirit Elders and one Spirit Grandmaster away. ''Er Ming did that out of frustration, didn''t he?'' Xiao Wu and Xun Er both thought with deadpanned expressions. While Zhu Zhuqing, Ning Rongrong and Oscar, the other three spirit masters weren''t slapped aside by the Great Titan Ape, were staring with wide shocked eyes and gaping mouths. "Uh, Oscar, can you give us some of your recovery sausages?" Xun Er asked with a twitching expression. .... To a different part of the Star Dou Great Forest location. "Hoooly shit." A old man with blue long hair, tied into a ponytail, that reached his c.h.e.s.t area with a blue haired goatee and blue eyes stared in slight shock at what was in front of him. "X-Xiao Yan...?" A fully recovered Ma Xiaotao asked in surprised, standing besides the old man who placed a blue barrier in front of her, she stared at Xiao Yan. Changes had happened to Xiao Yan. For instance, Xiao Yan''s spirit rank not only officially entered the Spirit Elder realm, but also, it had jumped a couple more spirit ranks, landing in the spirit rank 34. Not only that, but his first spirit ring had jumped in age as well! It had gained two thousand in age, making it a twelve thousand year old spirit ring. Xiao Yan''s appearance also took a mild amount of change. He was taller, by an inch or two, his muscles are now more compact and outline, and some tips of his hair had turned golden. Xiao Yan opened up his eyes, golden and silver lightning crackled within the pair, as he stared at the old man and Ma Xiaotao. Unknown to the untrained eye, a golden layer would sometimes flashed all around on Xiao Yan''s body, like a second skin barrier that would protect him. A cheeky smile appeared on Xiao Yan''s face, and said, "Well who did you think I was senior?" Ma Xiaotao let out a sigh of relief before staring back at Xiao Yan with a pouting expression. "Hmph! Well excuse me for thinking that you got possessed by the Golden Lion King or something, I was passed out for who knows how long, and woke up to find you surrounded in all with golden lightning! Also..." Ma Xiaotao jerked her thumb towards the old man besides her, saying, "Who the hell is this creepy old man?" The said old man had a twitching expression as he glanced at Ma Xiaotao. "... Yeah, with that beard and facial expression, he is kinda creepy." Xiao Yan said. The old man felt like spitting blood as heard the two teens bullying him. ''What is wrong with the youths of today?! Why are they so disrespectful and mean? Thank god my surrogate granddaughter isn''t like that.'' The old man thought. Faking a cough into his hand, the old man nodded at the two and said, "As you both are safe, I will now take my leave." His body then turned into a flurry of ice and snow. Xiao Yan and Ma Xiaotao stared at each other for a moment before smiles appeared on their faces. Xiao Yan, unsummoning his spirit to make his spirit rings and the lightning surrounding him disappear, make his way towards Ma Xiaotao. Stretching out his right hand, he says, "I know you have a lot of questions for me, but, can it wait till we''re both out of this forest?" Ma Xiaotao giggled and nodded her head, her smile still on, and said. "Yeah, you better explain yourself mister, cause I''m not going to take silence for an answer." As she finishes, Ma Xiaotao took a grabbed on Xiao Yan''s hand. The both of them smiled at each other, their spirit power intertwining and supporting each other. Ma Xiaotao came close and hugged Xiao Yan by his right side, to which the latter reciprocated with circling his right arm to her shoulder. Staring down at the pair of red beautiful eyes of Ma Xiaotao, Xiao Yan asked, "Are you ready?" Ma Xiaotao nodded. With that said, Xiao Yan used instant movement technique to moved through the forest and arrived several minutes later to where he felt the spirit tools he gave to his friends. Everyone were just chilling in their now newly built camp with the others nursing their injuries with the help of Oscar''s Recovery Sausage and some pills of Xiao Yan''s that Tang San had in his storage belt. They had moved towards a near location of where Xiao Yan and Ma Xiaotao''s location were said to be and took up camp. Tang San and Zhu Zhuqing, the two fastest spirit masters in the group, were to go and find Xiao Yan and Ma Xiaotao until... "Yo, what up?" A familiar voice was heard and everyone in the camp turned their heads to find Xiao Yan, with a slightly different appearance, and Ma Xiaotao in his right arm. "Xiao Yan/gege/Ma Xiaotao/jie!" Everyone said out loud before walking towards the pair and surrounding them, expressing their worries as well as interrogating them.(A/N: Jie stands for sister, right?) "Where were you guys?!" "Are you two alright?" "Why didn''t you guys meet up with us earlier?" "Did you get your third spirit ring Xiao Yan?" Xiao Yan and Ma Xiaotao separated as they tried to answer their friends and teacher''s questions. "Yan..." Xiao Yan heard Xun Er''s voice and he turned to asked towards her, only to take a step back as the latter had jumped and embraced him. Xun Er buried her head in the surprised Xiao Yan''s c.h.e.s.t, her arms circling and crossing behind the latter''s back. Xiao Yan looked at her in confusion, but nonetheless, he reciprocated by hugging her back. He closed his eyes and embraced the girl in his arms tight. Everyone quiet down as the pair stood, their arms with one another. Several moments later, they both separated and smiled gently at each other. "Welcome back." Xun Er said with a smile. "Hm. I''m back." Xiao Yan nodded in returned. They both continued on staring at each other''s eyes until they were interrupted. "Ahem." Ma Xiaotao coughed, ending the moment between the two. They both blushed and looked away from each other as they felt the teasing eyes of the others on them. Xiao Yan turned towards Tang San and asked, "Hey bro, what the heck happened to you-" However, he stopped as he suddenly heard a soundtrack sounding inside his head, or rather, in his mindscape. ''Flame Emperor, what the hell are you doing?'' Xiao Yan asked. Flame Emperor turned towards Xiao Yan, a boom box in his hand, and said. "Oh I''m just playing the music for the battle." Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow in confusion. Battle? He opened his mouth to asked but then Tang San had interrupted him by shaking his shoulder, asking, "Hey bro, you alright? You just stopped mid sentence." Tang San asked worriedly. Xiao Yan shook his head and replied. "Yeah sorry about that, I just remembered something important." Tang San nodded in understanding. Xiao Yan opened his mouth to asked again but then his attention was suddenly taken to something, or rather, to someone else. "Hi, I''m Ma Xiaotao. You must be Xun Er, right?" Ma Xiaotao introduced herself with a sweet smile, as she outstretched her hand. Xun Er smiled and grabbed the offered hand to shake, and responded, "Yeah, Xun Er. Childhood best friend of Xiao Wu, Tang San and Xiao Yan." "Heh~ Really?" "Yes." The two females had their eyes closed while they shook each other''s hands with sweet smiles on their faces. Suddenly, images of a dragon and a phoenix appeared behind Xun Er and Ma Xiaotao respectively that are staring with one another balefully with flames surrounding each other. "I-Is it just me, or does my sister and Xun Er have hostile feelings to one another?" Ma Hongjun asked to the others who nodded to confirmed that he wasn''t the only one. "Hehe..." The two females giggled as their respective flames manifested. "..." Everyone looked at each other and instantly decided to back away and go back to camp. ==================================================== Omake 2: I hate you, I love you by Xiao Yan & Ma Xiaotao (A/N: I do not own this song! This is own and sang by Gnash ft. Olivia O''brien) Xiao Yan and Ma Xiaotao stood in front of each other, sad expressions were set on their faces with mics on each of their hands. Ma Xiaotao raised her mic, near her mouth, and sang, ????Feeling used but I''m still missing you???? ????And I can''t, see the end of this???? ????Just wanna feel your kiss against my lips???? ????And now all this time, is passing by???? ????But I still can''t seem to tell you why???? ????It hurts me every time I see you???? ????Realize how much I need you...???? ????I hate you, I love you???? ????I hate that I love you???? ????Don''t want to but I can''t put???? ????Nobody else above you???? ????I hate you, I love you???? ????I hate that I want you???? ????You want her, you need her???? ????And I''ll never be her...???? Xiao Yan now raised his own mic and sang, ????I miss you when I can''t sleep???? ????Or right after coffee???? ????Or right when I can''t eat???? ????I miss you in my front seat???? ????Still got sand in my sweaters???? ????From nights we don''t remember???? ????Do you miss me like I miss you????? ????F.u.c.k.e.d around and got attached to you???? ????Friends can break your heart too???? ????And I''m always tired but never of you???? ????If I pulled a you on you, you wouldn''t like that shit???? ????I put this reel out, but you wouldn''t bite that shit???? ????I type a text but then I ''nevermind'' that shit???? ????I got these feelings but you never mind that shit???? ????Oh oh, keep it on the low???? ????You''re still in love with me but your friends don''t know???? ????If you wanted me you would just say so???? ????And if I were you, I would never let me go???? ????I don''t mean no harm???? ????I just miss you on my arm???? ????Wedding bells were just alarms???? ????Caution tape around my heart???? ????You ever wonder what we could have been????? ????You said you wouldn''t and you f.u.c.k.i.n.g did???? ????Lie to me, lie with me, get your f.u.c.k.i.n.g fix???? ????Now all my drinks and all my feelings are all f.u.c.k.i.n.g mixed???? ????Always missing people that I shouldn''t be missing???? ????Sometimes you gotta burn some bridges just to create some distance???? ????I know that I control my thoughts and I should stop reminiscing???? ????But I learned from my dad that it''s good to have feelings???? ????When love and trust are gone???? ????I guess this is moving on???? ????Everyone I do right does me wrong???? ????So every lonely night, I sing this song???? Xiao Yan and Ma Xiaotao simultaneously sang with each other, though the latter was the one more in the lead, ????I hate you, I love you???? ????I hate that I love you???? ????Don''t want to, but I can''t put???? ????Nobody else above you???? ????I hate you, I love you???? ????I hate that I want you???? ????You want her, you need her???? ????And I''ll never be her???? ????All alone I watch you watch her???? ????Like she''s the only girl you''ve ever seen???? ????You don''t care you never did???? ????You don''t give a damn about me???? ????Yeah all alone I watch you watch her???? ????She''s the only thing you''ve ever seen???? ????How is it you never notice???? ????That you are slowly killing me???? ????I hate you, I love you???? ????I hate that I love you???? ????Don''t want to but I can''t put???? ????Nobody else above you???? ????I hate you, I love you???? ????I hate that I want you???? ????You want her, you need her???? ????And I''ll never be her???? The song ends as Xiao Yan sadly stared and c.a.r.e.s.sed the tear stricken face of Ma Xiaotao. Chapter 59 - 59: Changes(1) A/N: A small chapter today, sorry, but my family''s WIFI is out of load and I''m using a store pay WIFI to write and upload this, and I''m running out of money. Read the Author''s Note below. ================================================================================ "Yan, do you want a ham sandwich? I made it just this morning." Xun Er asked with a smile towards Xiao Yan. An image of a dragon appeared behind her. "Xiao Yan, do you want a piece of this steak? It''s delicious." Ma Xiaotao said with a smile, cutting a piece of her meat steak with a small knife, and pierced the said piece of meat with a fork, and hovered it near Xiao Yan''s mouth. An image of a phoenix appeared behind her. Xiao Yan felt cold sweat dropped from his back as he was sandwiched between Xun Er and Ma Xiaotao, to his left and right respectively, while ignoring the strange looks of his friends from behind. Several hours has passed and morning came for the students and Zhao Wuji. Slight works were given to the students, with the males having to do with sweeping around the area for spirit beasts while the females were to either cook for breakfast or dismantle their camping tents. Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong were given the work to dismantle the tents as two of the ladies had never cooked before, as being rich young ladies of their house, and one of them relied on either her brothers to cook for her or ordering food from restaurants. So the work to cook were given to Xun Er and Ma Xiaotao, the two has experience in cooking for a certain pair of grandfather and grandson and little brother respectively. The male group had finished sweeping the area for spirit beasts, just in time for Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong to dismantle the tents, and for Xun Er and Ma Xiaotao to finished cooking. They were currently sitting down on wooden logs, that had them positioned all circularly to face each other in eating. Xiao Yan gulped as he faced the two ladies giving him food with sweet smiles on their faces that looked like it didn''t reached their eyes. ''What should I do? If I choose the ham sandwich, I would face the consequence of angering a phoenix, and if I choose the steak, I would face the consequence of angering a dragon. What the hell should I do?!'' Xiao Yan was in a pinch. His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy and it looks like he would face the wrath of a legendary beast or two. Eyes were on his back, judging him. ''Ah f.u.c.k it!'' "Just give them to me." As Xiao Yan said that, he raised both of his hands and took the two offered foods and ate them. ''Hm? Wow, these are good.'' Unknown to Xiao Yan, he missed the lightning bolt exchange between Xun Er and Ma Xiaotao, as he was preoccupied of eating a meaty meal. "How envious brother Xiao Yan. Having to eat my sister''s special steak and Xun Er''s ham sandwich, oh how I envy you!" Ma Hongjun said with tears streaming down his face. Everyone gave the fatty deadpanned looks. Tang San shook his head and turned towards Ma Xiaotao, asking with a curious expression, "Hey, senior Ma Xiaotao, is it really truly that you and Xiao Yan have a spirit fusion ability?" Everyone''s ears perked up, as they too were curious about hearing the story they heard from Xiao Yan and Ma Xiaotao of what they were doing when they separated from the group. Cause it''s not everyday you found out that someone near you have a spirit fusion ability that is known to be rare between spirit masters. Ma Xiaotao nodded with a smile and said, "Yes. Xiao Yan and I have spirit fusion ability, not only that, but we are also 100% compatible of spirit harmonization." Although this explanation of hers was already heard last night, everyone, except Xiao Yan, couldn''t help but s.u.c.k.e.d in a deep breath of disbelief. Spirit Fusion is an ability that could only be found in one in a thousand population of spirit masters. Although rare, but that doesn''t mean they wouldn''t witnessed such a thing one day in the future, but to also have a 100% compatibility? Now that''s something you don''t see everytime in any spirit masters who has a spirit fusion ability. While everyone else were asking questions towards Ma Xiaotao, Xiao Yan, who was eating, was going to communicate with a pair of ghosts that was living inside his mindscape. In the island that was actually Xiao Yan''s mindscape, Flame Emperor and Igneel were busy sipping coconut water and relaxing on hammocks by the beach. Flame Emperor, as he sipped on his coconut water, turned towards Igneel and asked. "Igneel, since Xiao Yan''s spiritual power increased a bit, should we changed this mindscape into something new?" "Like what?" Igneel asked curiously. "I don''t know, uh, how about a jungle?" Igneel paused for a moment before shaking his head, stating, "Nah, too much green. I think I prefer this relaxing atmosphere to that." "Alright." Igneel shrugged and continued sipping on his coconut water. "Ahem." It was at that moment Xiao Yan interrupted their conversation. "Hm? What up kid?" Flame Emperor asked with a raised eyebrow. A serious expression appeared on Xiao Yan''s face, he said. "What the f.u.c.k happened to Ma Xiaotao''s spirit?" Flame Emperor didn''t answer, rather, he glanced at Igneel. ''Why the hell are they drinking those? Their already dead and whatever related to food they conjure here are just nothing but their own spiritual power used. Eh, whatever floats their boat. It''s their own afterlife.'' "Ma Xiaotao and her little brother''s spirit is a variant of a normal flaming Phoenix, the Evil Fire Phoenix. It is a spirit that gives the siblings the power to use the Evil Fire, a flame corrupted by unknown means that can only be temporarily countered if it is ''released'' s.e.x.u.a.lly, satiate it with food or make it submissive to a much more powerful ice related spirit." "Ma Hongjun is dealing his Evil Fire with two of those means, while Ma Xiaotao had only suppressed it with her own willpower that even I am impressed." "No further means of countering this corrupted flames of their spirit has been found, until you. Using the power of a higher level of flames, you have successfully purified 80% of the Evil Fire that had acc.u.mulated within Ma Xiaotao''s body." Xiao Yan nodded at that, fully knowing all that. Igneel continued. "Now normally, that would have been just that. Purifying the Evil Fire from her spirit that had been infecting her body. But the retaliation of the Evil Fire was worse than I, and Flame Emperor, had expected. To the point that the remaining unpurified Evil Fire had clung deep into Ma Xiaotao''s meridians, spirit power, cells, and spiritual power. All of the energy and functions of her body needed to live, has been invaded by a pseudo conscious parasite." Xiao Yan clenched his hands into fists, anger flashing through his eyes. Green lotuses started to unknowingly appear behind him. Flame Emperor''s eyes furrowed his brows as he watched several green construct lotus flames appear behind Xiao Yan. A flame spirit is a fully formed consciousness and intelligence of any type of flame. Igneel waited for Xiao Yan to calmed down to continue. Xiao Yan took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and calmed down. The green lotus'' flames behind him disappeared. Xiao Yan opened his eyes and nodded for Igneel to continue. Igneel let out a sigh and did so. "Thankfully though you were able to save her with your heavenly flames and Dragon Qi. Now, the sudden change of her spirit is due to the Dragon Qi you channeled into her body." "So it did changed her huh..." Xiao Yan muttered. Igneel nodded. "Yup. You already know that Dragon Qi could only be used by True Dragons, and sometimes anomalies like you. Due to the high compatibility of spirits between you two, it had made some sort of a loophole that made it so we were able to channeled the Dragon Qi within her body to save her." Xiao Yan nodded, now finally understanding the change of Ma Xiaotao''s spirit, but he also had another question. "My Dragon Qi was the reason her spirit changed, yes I get that, but why would all three of her spirit rings raised in age?" Igneel instantly replied. "Oh that''s because of me." "..." Xiao Yan stared at Igneel in shock and disbelief for a moment before yelling. "What?!" Chapter 60 - 60: Revelation(2) A/N: Sorry for the late update guys. A series of blackouts struck upon our area for a couple of days, and my phone died, so I wasn''t able upload chaps until now so here! Double release chapters! Enjoy the chapter and read the Author''s Note! =============================================================================== Igneel smirked at Xiao Yan and continued to explain. "Flame Emperor and I might have lost our physical bodies and our powers, but our spiritual power still retains to that of a God. How did you think Flame Emperor was able to control space?" "To become a God, one of the needed requirements is to be able to control Time and Space. Now, controlling Time and Space would typically need some form of energy to control the two but it has other ways than to do that." "To be able to control those two high tier elemental power of the universe, is to have a high level amount of comprehension and understanding of those fundamental laws of the universe. After all, even if you have the power and energy needed, that doesn''t mean you would be able to control Time and Space without understanding it." Xiao Yan nodded in understanding. "Currently, me and Flame Emperor could only control time in the physical world to either pause, go back several days, or forward said time by several days as well if we exert most of our spiritual power. But to manipulate the age of a human or a spirit beast? Now that''s just easy for us to progressed, or revert, their ages by a few thousands of years." Xiao Yan''s jaws dropped. Manipulating someone''s age to either go forward or back by a few thousands of years? Dosen''t that mean they could just easily kill someone by aging or de-aging them to death?! Also, dosen''t that mean he could do a certain snap as they aged someone to ashes? Like Igneel could read Xiao Yan''s thoughts, he said. "But of course, in doing so, would garner the attention of several old monsters and pesky gods in this world. Leading to torture and death for us." Xiao Yan deflated, thinking, ''Well it was worth a try.'' "Though aging someone''s spirit rings... is not that much for attention from those beings. Especially since there are a lot of other ways for people to age said spirit rings other than time manipulation." Xiao Yan then asked. "Even then, why did you do it? Increasing the age of Ma Xiaotao''s spirit rings?" A mysterious smile appeared on, not only on Igneel, but Flame Emperor as well. "Well, the main reason isn''t important but Ma Xiaotao''s spirit evolution had, with unknown reasons, made it so her spirit rings were needed to undergo their own upgrade as well or they would all destroy themselves, permanently." Xiao Yan''s face turned into horror at the implication of Ma Xiaotao''s spirit rings would self destruct themselves. Xiao Yan had only known about one ability that lets spirit ring be destroyed, and that''s spirit ring self-destruction that was only known to the high members of the Clear Sky Clan and was used by Tang San in the novel when he fought against the newly ascended Angel God, Qian Renxue. Spirit Ring self-destruction, as the name suggests, destroys a person''s spirit ring but it also gives them a temporary boost of power from said destroyed rings. In the novel, Tang San had destroyed all of his spirit rings to momentarily gained the power to escape against the ascended Qian Renxue. But even then, it was temporary for his spirit rings to be gone and would have been gained back later on in the story. But in Ma Xiaotao''s case, hers was to be permanent. Forever destroyed and probably have her cultivation be started from scratch once more, but, it would have been more difficult for her as she would start from spirit rank 1 than with what spirit rank she had when she first awakened her spirit. Xiao Yan muttered, "So that''s why you had aged her spirit rings..." Igneel nodded. Xiao Yan finally got all of his answers and was about to go back to his physical body when Flame Emperor''s voice chimed in. "Oh you had also put a "seed" within her as well." Xiao Yan stopped in his tracks, frozen still like a statue. His eyes are blank as he stared at Flame Emperor and Igneel. Everyone was silent for a moment before Xiao Yan''s voice snapped. "WHAT?!" Xiao Yan yelled with wide disbelieving eyes at Flame Emperor and Igneel, hoping, that what he heard was false. But alas, from the straight and nonchalant expressions of the two, it had mean that what Xiao Yan heard was entirely true. He fell to knees, his shoulders trembling and eyes dead. Muttering, "No... I''m too young to be a father..." He said with a monotonous voice. "I also¨Chold the f.u.c.k up." Xiao Yan froze, as realization hit him. He hadn''t stick his D on any hole yet. So how...? Raising his head, Xiao Yan watched as Flame Emperor and Igneel were both trembling and had their mouths looked as if it were about to burst. And burst they did. "PFFFFTTT----!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!" They laughed out. Tears on their eyes as they hold on each other''s shoulders for support. "Your face! The expression! I-It''s too priceless, HAHAHAHAHA!!" Flame Emperor said with Igneel opening his mouth to say something as well, but that ended up with him laughing more. They laughed till they fell to the ground, rolling around, continuing to laughed out till their spiritual lungs bursts out. All the while Xiao Yan stared at them with cold yet unusually calm gaze. ''I swear, by my grandfather''s long a.s.s beard, you will someday receive humiliation a hundred, no, a thousand times fold.'' "Ahem, sorry about that. Enough with the humour and let me explain further." Flame Emperor said seriously, though amus.e.m.e.nt was still clear in his voice. "Xiao Yan, I''m going to give it to you straight. When you pumped Ma Xiaotao with your heavenly flames and Dragon Qi to restrained the unpurified Evil Fire within her, you did so along with her purified Evil Fire, right?" Xiao Yan nodded, though his right eye twitched at the pumped part. "Now normally, nothing would have happened and her purified Evil Fire would have been protected by both your heavenly flames and Dragon Qi from her unpurified Evil Fire. Well, something abnormal happened." "Abnormal?" Xiao Yan asked in concerned. Flame Emperor paused for a moment and let out a sigh. "Xiao Yan, I want to ask you something. What are the known heavenly flames within this world?" Although confused at the sudden question, Xiao Yan didn''t beat around the bush and answered immediately. "The known heavenly flames are numbered in 22: the Nihility Devouring Flame, Purifying Lotus Demon Flame, Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame... Green Lotus Core Flame, Dragon Phoenix Flame, Six Path Reincarnation Flame, Ten Thousand Beast Flame, and Mysterious Yellow Flame."(1) Flame Emperor nodded and asked a question once more. "Then, do you know how a Dragon Phoenix Flame is born into this world?" Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow and shook his head, saying, "No. Strangely, all the records containing the knowledge about the 19th and below lower heavenly flames are all missing." Flame Emperor let a sigh. ''Thought so.'' That didn''t surprise Flame Emperor, after all, even in his previous world the knowledge of those particular heavenly flames were all strangely missing. But that was for the better, because only the Flame Emperor, and a select few, know about the true powers those flames possess and he doesn''t want anyone with malicious intents to have those heavenly flames land on their hands. Cause if they do, all hell will break loose upon the land. ''Its better that no one would know, even Xiao Yan. This would have happened if he completely assimilates me, but, sigh... damn my luck.'' Flame Emperor inwardly cursed. Flame Emperor, with a serious expression, said. "Xiao Yan, what I''m about to say is something that only I, and a select few, knows. So listen up closely." Xiao Yan unconsciously gulped and nodded. "The seed that is within Ma Xiaotao I was talking about wasn''t what you were thinking about, no, it''s something dangerous that would one day grow into a heavenly treasure of which alchemists and spirit masters with fire attribute spirits dream to get, and that''s something you have as well." Xiao Yan waited for Flame Emperor to continue but sadly, he had his lips tight. At first Xiao Yan was confused and angry that Flame Emperor left him with such a bullshit answer until he catched on a certain word, or more likely, pun. ''Heavenly... something I have that all alchemists and spirit masters with fire attribute spirits dream to get... I can only think of¨C'' "Heavenly flame," Xiao Yan said in disbelief as he stared at Flame Emperor and Igneel, asking, no, demanding to know. "Are you serious? How is that even possible?!" Flame Emperor and Igneel stayed silent for a moment, before the former let out a resigned sigh and said. "Because the requirements for a certain heavenly flame was met, hence it is slowly condescending itself to be born and become a true heavenly flame." Xiao Yan''s eyes widened and he asked. "Requirements? Of which heavenly flame?" Flame Emperor instantly replied while looking at Xiao Yan''s eyes. "The flame that could only be brought into this world by either having a fire attribute related dragon and phoenix dying at the same time and place with their life force condensed into a fire seed, or," "Someone, or something, carrying the spirits of a fire attribute related dragon and phoenix. To which a special empty fire vessel would be created in the carrier to let the spirits of the two beasts refine it into a fire seed to grow into a heavenly flame." "Although the procedure is different, the results is the same." "Placed nineteenth of the heavenly flames ranking, the flame that carries the firepower and might of two legendary beasts. The fire seed, that would someday grow into a heavenly flame, within the body of Ma Xiaotao is the heavenly flame; known as the Dragon Phoenix Flame." ================================================================================ (1)I skipped it caused it''s just too long... Chapter 61 - 61: Phantasmal Black Panther Within the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest, a fight between a beast and several youths was going on. *Rawr!* "Nice kitty... Don''t you f.u.c.k.i.n.g scratch my face again you hear me!" Dai Mubai quickly said as he evaded a black giant claw passing by his terrified face. "What the f.u.c.k did I just say damn it?!" Dai Mubai angrily said as his first yellow spirit ring lit up and a layer of white light covered his body, increasing both his defense and strength. *Growl!* A beast, least 1.8 meters tall, stood in front of Dai Mubai. Its body is as big as a panther. As its skin and fur looked as if it were made from darkness itself. While the limbs are as thin as human a.d.u.l.t t.h.i.g.hs, with all four of it''s claws was so sharp that it could easily cut through iron. This spirit beast is a two thousand year old Phantasmal Black Panther. A spirit beast known for it''s great speed, evasion and having one of the rare elemental attributes in the world, darkness. It''s small beady yellow eyes was locked on Dai Mubai''s form for a moment, letting out a beastly growl, before looking around to find itself surrounded. Every students of Shrek had it cornered in every direction, with all of their spirits and spirit rings out as they watched the movements of the Phantasmal Black Panther. Excessive? Yes. Though in doing so, their guards are up and ready to retaliate any attacks from the Phantasmal Black Panther or any other spirit beasts in that given matter in the area, if they decided to sneak attacked them. Though that wouldn''t be really needed as a certain bear sage was standing back behind the students, acting as their guardian for any attack from spirit beasts beyond their level. This was strange though. Now normally after that life scarring event of meeting the terrifying spirit beast king of Star Dou Great Forest, anyone would have already been gone now. Sadly, one of the two tasks the Shrek members has in this forest wasn''t completed yet. "Boss Dai! Remember, don''t kill the spirit beast, that''s for Oscar!" Xiao Yan, with his Heavy Xuan Ruler on hand, said towards Dai Mubai, quickly reminding him again of their mission so they could go home. "I know! Don''t keep reminding me dammit!" Dai Mubai replied, irritated as he slowly moved his body towards the spirit beast, intending to grapple it in his arms. Though how are they to be blame? Just several hours within the forest and they found themselves confronted by the freaking forest king, the Great Titan Ape! Finding spirit beasts is easy within a wild spirit beast forest, but finding a suitable spirit beast for a food system spirit master? It takes more than several hours just to find one, they got to be lucky to find one under a day. Needless to say, Xiao Yan was shocked. But considering the changes already done in this world, his shock lessened. ''Did me and Ma Xiaotao''s slight stop with the group caused the meet up with the Dragon Duke and Serpent Grandmother, otherwise known as the Unrivaled Dragon Serpent, to not happened? The two are a married couple and are known to have a Spirit Fusion ability called the Serpent Dragon Joint Assault, that even Titled Douluos would be careful in confronting the pair.'' Xiao Yan thoughts wandered as he think about the implications of the divergence of the story once more. ''Flame Emperor didn''t f.u.c.k.e.d with canon, I did as well when I lit the determination up of both Tang San and Xiao Wu and helped them with their cultivation pace. It''s totally official, I can''t count on most of the information that I have anymore. Whatever, I''ll just make my own path along with my friends.'' Xiao Yan shook his head and focused at the task in hand. Capturing the spirit beast in front of him. Now, anyone might be wondering why they chose this particular spirit beast for Oscar''s third spirit ring, despite it going over the optimal spirit ring configuration, well, it was Xiao Yan''s idea. He had chose this particular spirit beast for Oscar''s third spirit ring because for it''s speed. The Phantasmal Black Panther is infamous for both it''s monstrous speed and ferocity, but mostly it''s speed. Even at a thousand years of age, it can outrun a speed system spirit king! The reason why it was cornered by the Shrek students is because Tang San''s poison and toxin paralysis from his spirit, Blue Silver Grass, had already invaded the Phantasmal Black Panther''s system. They''d been chasing this spirit beast for an entire hour and the affects of Tang San''s paralysis had already taken its effects. As for the issue of Oscar''s body and mind not being able to take it, well big bro Xiao Yan got his back. To be frank, Xiao Yan''s glad that Oscar didn''t get the Phoenix Tail Crest Serpent from canon. Why? Well it''s only use was for anyone to eat Oscar''s third spirit ring ability, the mushroom sausage, to fly for only 1 minute with the speed of a Phoenix Tail Crest Serpent. That spirit ring ability is amazing without a doubt. As food system spirit masters would have that kind of spirit ring ability when they get their sixth spirit ring but even then, it wouldn''t be as fast as Oscar''s. But here''s the problem, Xiao Yan got a technique, and few others, that he would soon share with the others that can make them fly indefinitely as long as they have spirit power. What Xiao Yan''s talking about was a special energy control and manipulatipn that makes the user grow wings on their back''s and let them fly, it was a special ability for certain people when they reached a certain level of power in Flame Emperor''s old life. (1) So really, that canon''s Oscar third spirit ring ability is practically useless for them as Xiao Yan already has flight technique for them. When they get this spirit beast for Oscar''s third spirit ring, Xiao Yan is sure that it would be an increased in speed and a small probability of getting a darkness like attribute bonus skill set. Combined that spirit ability with the flight technique Xiao Yan would give them, it''s practically a more awesome version than the canon Oscar''s third spirit ring ability. ''Truthfully I wanted a pink panther for Oscar''s third spirit ring ability but oh well. I guess we''ll go for the king, may he rest in peace.'' After giving a silent prayer for a certain king, Xiao Yan unsummoned his Heavy Xuan Ruler and activated his second spirit, the Fire Dragon King. Darkish-red scales replaced most of Xiao Yan''s human skin, he grew taller by about several inches and his body seemed to be a bit more bulkier. His teeth jagged, pupils turned into slits, and his nails turned into claws. Strangely, two red golden rings appeared behind Xiao Yan''s back. Surprising the others around him at the sudden new addition of a spirit ring to his second spirit. Ma Xiaotao was more surprised than the others, after all, she''s been with Xiao Yan most of the time since they''ve gotten here and she''s never seen him hunt another spirit beast for his second spirit. ''Did that strange second spirit ring come from his second spirit?'' Ma Xiaotao theorized but then shook her head and decided to think about it later. As another thought entered her mind, and it''s about the strange glances she''s been getting from Xiao Yan. As someone who''s used to people giving her some certain looks due to her figure, Ma Xiaotao knew that those glances that she''s been getting from Xiao Yan was different. It was like he wanted to talked to her about something very important but was undecided to do so. ''Hm. I''ll talk to him later on about it.'' Ma Xiaotao decided. Unknown to Xiao Yan, a woman''s intuition to things about a man was so terrifying, that he didn''t have to come and talk to her. Because she would be the one to do so. *Growl!* The Phantasmal Black Panther growled more widely than ever as it sensed the sudden spiked of danger coming from the dragonian human. Xiao Yan decided to use his newly unlocked second bloodline spirit ring at the Phantasmal Black Panther to test out his new bloodline spirit ring''s ability. He would have like to used his Heavy Xuan Ruler''s third spirit ring ability to test it out as well, but, the resulting aftermath of using it was too devasting and awesome for him to use it anywhere near his friends. Xiao Yan''s second red golden spirit ring shone in a crimson light and a sudden oppressive pressure was brought down upon the shocked Phantasmal Black Panther, who now struggled to stand. [Second Bloodline Spirit Ring Ability: Fire Dragon King''s Might]: Oppressing those with beast related spirits, and spirit beasts as well, and giving them debuffs of 50% decreased in strength, defense, speed, spirit power, fire resistance and lightning resistance. While amplifying Xiao Yan with 100% increased in strength, defense, speed and spirit power. The Phantasmal Black Panther had been chased after, and tired out, by the Shrek members for an entire hour that it was far from it''s prime state. Now with the suppression of bloodline and given debuffs by Xiao Yan, still surrounded by spirit masters, the Phantasmal Black Panther didn''t have any choice but surrender it''s fate. Seeing this chance, Dai Mubai didn''t hesitate to grapple the spirit beast with his two big arms around its neck. Feeling that the Phantasmal Black Panther was no longer moving, DainMubai looked towards Oscar and shouted. "Little O, now!" Oscar nodded his head like a pecking chicken and quickly he rushed towards the Phantasmal Black Panther neck with a dagger, courtesy of Tang San, and killed it. The Phantasmal Black Panther struggled wildly for a few moments, the life on its eyes quickly vanishing, until finally, it completely stopped moving. Purple energy came out of the spirit beast''s body and condensed on top of it''s carcass, a two thousand year old spirit ring appeared. Everyone let out sighs of relief and celebrated with each other. Hunting that spirit beast was tedious after all. Letting a deep breath out of his mouth, Oscar smiled for a moment before turning towards Xiao Yan with a worried expression. Oscar asked. "Xiao Yan, are you sure I would be able to absorbed this spirit ring?" Xiao Yan, deactivating his FDK(Fire Dragon King) spirit, smiled confidently and gave a double thumbs up at Oscar. "Don''t worry Oscar, leave it all to big bro Xiao Yan." ''I''m older than you by a year though!'' Oscar inwardly complained. Xiao Yan''s storage ring lit up and two pills appeared on his hand. One is pure milky white in color while the other is a glossy pink. "This here is a tier 3 Mental Strength Pill. It would temporarily raised your spiritual power by an entire tier above, hence making your mind capable of handling the burst of spirit power from the spirit ring." Then he raised the second, and explained. "Then this here, is also tier pill called the Physical Strength Pill. It would temporarily empowered you body to handle the strain from the spirit ring''s amount of spirit power." "When you completely absorbed the spirit ring, the after effects of the two pills would helped condensed the remnants of spirit power within the spirit ring to refined and changed your external and internal body to fit its usage." "This, Oscar, is how you absorbed a spirit ring above the optimal configuration set." Everyone, except Zhao Wuji, Tang San, Xiao Wu and Xun Er, turned silent but their eyes was set on the two pills on Xiao Yan''s hands. ''If we eat this pills, then does that mean we would be able to absorb ten thousand year spirit rings without any repercussions...'' A certain light entered their eyes. As if knowing what were their thinking, Tang San shook his head and said. "I suggest you all only eat one of each pills every once in a while as it would damage your foundations and destroy your futures." Hearing Tang San''s words, everyone''s heads cooled down. Xiao Yan nodded and further explained. "Tang San''s right. You can only take these two pills every once in a while and I would strongly suggest to not eat these again when absorbing a spirit ring above your own limits after already doing so once. Got it?" Seeing them nod in understanding, Xiao Yan continued. " Good, after all, these pills are merely external factors and not something to be reliant about. What true strength and power truly is, comes from oneself. Sure you can depend on someone or something every once in a while, but in the end, you will always depend upon either yourself or your comrades. For that is how you survive and rise towards the peak of this world!" Everyone was silent. They stared at Xiao Yan in silence before Xiao Wu started clapping with a completely gobsmacked face, saying. *Clap* *Clap* *Clap* "Holy shit bro, since when did you become so deep and teacher like?" "Since 10 seconds ago. Now Oscar, eat these pills and let''s go home. Cause I''m craving for some pies right about now." .... "Hmm... The students should be back in a day or two." Flender muttered with a chuckle as he arranged a few scattered papers around him. He was in his office, stamping some taxes and debts silently when he was interrupted. *Knock* *Knock* "Hm?" Flender raised an eyebrow as he looked towards his door, wondering on who could it be. It was late afternoon and he was certain that he said that he wanted to be alone to his colleagues. ''I hope this is important.'' "Come in!" Flender said out loud. As soon as he said that, the door opened and a unfamiliar man; wearing red a robe tied with a black sash, a necklace around his neck with a golden dragon ornament on it, walked in revealing a very handsome face in his early thirties. Long black over shoulders hair, black eyes that seemed familiar to Flender, he had a small smile on his face.(2) Confused, Flender had both of his eyebrows raised and asked. "You are...?" The strange man tilted his head to the side and his smile turned into a grin that was strangely nostalgic to Flender. He opened his mouth, and a voice that can only remind Flender of a certain friend of his, said. "What? Flender, are you not going to welcome your old brother in all but blood?" Flender stood up from his seat in shock "X-Xiaogang?!" ===================================================================================================================== (1) In Flame Emperor''s original world, or otherwise known as the Dou Qi Continent and BTTH, people whose cultivation reached Dou Wang or Dou King, will be able to form Dou Qi wings to fly in the sky and even draw Dou Qi from around themselves. (2) Image but without the red umbrella and his eyes are black. Chapter 62 - 62: You better-?! The sky over the Shrek village/academy was filled in darkness and stars. Everything was quite and well. All the villagers and teachers were just a couple breaths away to dreamland. But that was all ruined by obnoxious laughters of several youths. "We''re back bitches!" Oscar, Ma Hongjun, Dai Mubai, Xiao Wu and Xiao Yan all said out loud with smiles on their faces towards the sky, as they all stepped into the entrance of the village. "Shut up you crazy kids!" An elderly said, throwing a iron pan towards and hitting the head of Ma Hongjun. "Ow! Screw you old man! Also, sorry for the loud noise!" Ma Hongjun cursed and apologize at the same time. The entire group, even including Zhao Wuji, laughed at the act. Dai Mubai and Oscar circled one of their arms around Ma Hongjun with big grins on their faces. Finally, after days in the forest dealing with spirit beasts and eating Oscar''s sausages only, the entire group was overjoyed that they had finally returned. It had been two days since Oscar absorbed his third spirit ring, getting complimentary congratulations from the others, then, they all rested and partied for a couple of days in the small town near the forest. They had just left in the late afternoon, with the sun slowly falling into darkness. It had taken merely an hour or two to returned to the Shrek village/academy. Though the reason why it was possible for them to do so was because of Oscar''s third spirit ring ability! [Third Spirit Ring Ability: Phantom Speed Peppered Sausage ¨C Covers the eater a veil of shadows that gives them a slight intangible ability and couple with it the running speed of the Phantasmal Black Panther. Incantation: I, you father, have a quick black sausage!] With the speed of a Phantasmal Black Panther and it''s slight intangible ability to passed though objects, it wouldn''t be unexpected for the group to return so quickly. Oscar, due to absorbing a two thousand year old spirit ring than a optimal one thousand three to eight hundred years old spirit ring, had enough residual spirit power for him to breakthrough spirit rank 32! Truly, with this, Oscar''s talent as a food system spirit master could be said unrivaled at the same rank of other food or auxiliary system spirit masters. He might have taken external help to help him absorbed his third spirit ring, but does any self-respecting spirit master not gotten external help every once in while in his or her life profession? Xiao Yan and the group walked back towards their dorms, while Zhao Wuji left them to report back to the dean of their trip. They were talking animatedly towards each other, although they have only known each other for a few days, their bonds had reached that of great friends. Even Ning Rongrong, who have been so distant with the group due to her bad personality and mannerisms, have bonded with the others greatly now with the good actions she showed towards the group. Though her haughtiness and ego would act up every once in a while, but Xiao Yan and the others could clearly see that it was lessening the more they interact with her. "No way! So you mean to tell me you wrote that novel "Even Beast Could Fall in Love?" Xun Er? Girl, you have got to give me an autograph." Ma Xiaotao excitedly said as she circled an arm around an amused smiling Xun Er. "Sure! But you''re going to accompany me and Xiao Yan in a day off of the academy with shopping, and you''re paying for the expenses." Xun Er playfully said with Ma Xiaotao stuck her tongue out in reply. Xiao Yan watched the two ladies with a "what the f.u.c.k" expression on his face, thinking. ''Women truly are strange creatures...'' One moment they were mortal enemies, the next? They''re talking to each other affectionately like sisters. He can never figure them out in this life, in his previous life, and what memories he saw in Flame Emperor''s two lives as well. Everyone went there separate ways, Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun and Xiao Wu were the first three to quickly returned to their respective dorm rooms. The second were Xun Er and Ma Xiaotao, apparently they bunked in the same dorm room with each other. They also had a bad first impression with each other when they first met in their room, that might have explained their hostility towards each other. Tang San and Ning Rongrong walked away to talked about something important. While Xiao Yan, Zhu Zhuqing and Oscar was left standing in the near entrance of the village. Oscar had a slight pained and longing expression on his face, as he watched Tang San and Ning Rongrong walked away with each other. Knowing what was on Oscar''s mind, Xiao Yan decided to help the poor fool. "Hey Oscar, you alright pal?" "Huh? Uh, yeah, yeah I''m alright..." Oscar replied with a forced smile. Xiao Yan shook his head and said. "I know that look. Oscar, don''t worry. Those two aren''t going to be all intimate and affectionate with one another. I know because Tang San and Xiao Wu are dating." ''Not yet at least.'' Xiao Yan added in his mind, but Oscar didn''t need to know about that. Oscar''s eyes lit up. Excitement and hope appeared in his eyes. Although the feelings he had for Ning Rongrong had died before, but the time he and Ning Rongrong spent in the Star Dou Great Forest had slowly rekindled those feelings. But doubt and hesitation flickered within his pair of eyes. Seeing as Oscar looking doubtful of himself, Xiao Yan decided to give him a sagely advice. "Look, Oscar," Oscar turned towards Xiao Yan with wide eyes as he had a serious expression on his face. "If you had, one shot or one opportunity. To seize everything you ever wanted in one moment. Would you capture it, or just let it slip?" Oscar had a confused look on his face, trying to comprehend on what he was hearing. With a mysterious smile on his face, Xiao Yan slapped the back of Oscar with enough strength to make his back sting, and walked back towards Zhu Zhuqing. He asked her out if she wanted to come along with him to the city for some barbeque in the night streets. It''s a great few days for him after all. Not only did he finally surpassed Tang San and Xiao Wu in spirit rank, but he also got a third spirit ring and his first external spirit bone. Treating himself and someone else to some barbeque is the least he could do for his good mood. Zhu Zhuqing accepted with a nod, and without saying anything, she turned her back and had taken the lead towards Suotuo City with Xiao Yan following her with a smile on his face. "What the hell was that about?" Oscar muttered as watched the two walked away towards the city. He shrugged and turned towards his dorm room to sleep, but, his mind couldn''t help but wander back to what Xiao Yan was talking about. ''...In one moment, would I capture it, or just let it slip?'' The images of Ning Rongrong accompanied Oscar''s sleep. As the words of Xiao Yan keep on reverberating in his dreams. ''Would I take the chance? A commoner such as myself, asked the hand of a noble lady such as Ning Rongrong?'' ... Within Flender''s office. Zhao Wuji had just finished filling in Flender of his report of how his and the students trip went, while he prepared cheap tea for himself and the latter to drink. ''This four eyed cheap bastard! Can''t even buy some good tea...'' Zhao Wuji silently cursed as he poured himself a drink. If Flender knew what he was thinking, he would have laughed it off and asked him for a spar. "So, let me get this straight. Within just a few hours at the first day, you let a couple of students parted ways with the main group, to which they had encountered a ten thousand year old spirit beast, killed it, got it''s spirit ring and found out those couple of students had a spirit fusion ability? Moreover, you guys encountered a very powerful ten thousand year old Great Titan Ape?"(1) Even though he was there and experienced it all, Zhao Wuji had also felt both speechless at both of his actions and the encounters his group went through. "I-I''m sorry for the actions I took of letting Xiao Yan and Ma Xiaotao separate from the group. But I didn''t worry about it at first because they had a hidden expert on guarding them. Though now knowing they came across a f.u.c.k.i.n.g Golden Lion King, I have regretted in letting them go now." Zhao Wuji dropped his head down in regret for the action he took. Flender shook his head and sighed. "Nah, don''t beat yourself up for it Wuji. If it were me, I would have also done it as well if what you said is true that the hidden expert bodyguard for Xiao Yan and Ma Xiaotao is more stronger than you." Flender''s eyes then narrowed. "What I''m more worried about, is the fact that the forest king of Star Dou Great Forest had came out of the core area of the forest and confronted your group. Why and how did that happen? Was it only a whim of the Great Titan Ape? You did say that it left as soon you and the students started going all out at the spirit beast." Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #!_52642183202794697 for visiting. Zhao Wuji nodded in confirmation, making Flender pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration as he became more confused at the situation. ''Then is it really a whim? Or was there another objective for the Great Titan Ape in coming out of the core area of the forest? Whatever the hell it is, I bet it ain''t something good.'' "To think you all would encounter a lot of things in your trip in the Star Dou Great Forest... Though it''s a good thing the students came back safe and more battle tempered than before." Yu Xiaogang, or otherwise known as Grandmaster, stepped inside the room from the door with a serious and relieved expression on his face. "Who?!" Zhao Wuji turned his head around with a wary expression on his face. He hadn''t felt anyone coming near them, which was impossible. As a Spirit Sage, his five senses could be said superhuman. If he really focused his sense of hearing, he could hear the tiniest sound within 2-3 kilometers of diameter in range around him. To have someone sneaked up behind him, without making a sound? How is that possible? Seeing Yu Xiaogang appearance, Zhao Wuji blinked several times and immediately blurted out what he is thinking. "Who is this pretty boy? Wait, he came exactly here so, Flender, have you gone to the dark side? Is this your boy toy?" Black lines appeared on both Yu Xiaogang and Flender''s temples. Without saying anything, they both quickly moved their fists and legs and immediately beat the hell out of Zhao Wuji. ============================================================================== (1) At the beginning of the story, they didn''t found out that Er Ming was hundred thousand year old spirit beast and just thought he was a very powerful ten thousand year old spirit beast. Chapter 63 - 63: A Barbeque of Secrets and Feelings In Suotuo City, the sky is dark and filled with flickering lights of the stars. At this moment, a certain pair of youths walked towards a barbeque stand. The smell of grease, smoke and sauce lingered upon the spot causing Xiao Yan to take a few sniffs. Raising a hand, Xiao Yan asked the cook. "Boss, can I get one stick of pork barbeque?" The cook, a middle aged hairy fat man that you''d find in a certain genre of culture, but he had an aura of honesty and kindness shown as he smiled towards Xiao Yan. "Sure thing kiddo! Will your girlfriend want one as well?" Zhu Zhuqing blushed and looked away, but not before sending a small glare at the cook, while Xiao Yan chuckled wryly and shook his head. "She''s not my girlfriend boss..." The man rolled his eyes, putting Xiao Yan''s order of skewered raw pork on the grill, cooking it, and said. "Bah, you youngsters being all shy and shit. When I was your age, I had already met my wife and asked her to be my girlfriend at the time. Though she had refused for the first several times, until I had finally won her over with my manly charms!" The man further told of the stories of him and his wife while Xiao Yan and Zhu Zhuqing listened quietly. Normal people would normally not noticed it, but as spirit masters, Xiao Yan and Zhu Zhuqing could noticed a slight wetness on the man''s eyes and some stiffness of his body as he spoke about his wife. Although it was far too quick to assumed, but... Taking a step forward, Zhu Zhuqing said with a small voice that was devoid of her usual coldness. "One fish barbeque as well boss..." "Okay little lady! One fish barbeque for the girlfriend!" "I said, she isn''t¨C"Xiao Yan complained with a small blush on his face before getting interrupted by Zhu Zhuqing, who held his hand tightly. Xiao Yan, surprised, turned to look towards her to find sadness and patience within her eyes. Telling him, ''It''s alright.'' At first he was confused but then looking back at the man, Xiao Yan''s face softened and understood. The man had a bright and joyous smile on his face as he tended to theirs and others barbeques. He looked down at their orders, his eyes reminiscing about something. "It''s just like what we ordered on our first date..." The man muttered as quietly as a mosquito but Xiao Yan and Zhu Zhuqing heard it loud and clear with their superhuman senses. "Hey boss. Can you tell us more about you and your wife?" Xiao Yan asked with a smile along with Zhu Zhuqing, albeit hers was a small one. The man was taken back for a moment, a swirl of various emotions flashing in his eyes, before a gentle smile appeared on his face. "Sure! Do you know..." ... Xiao Yan and Zhu Zhuqing sat upon a wooden bench. Their selective barbeque sticks on hand as they ate in silence. The story of that man and his possible deceased wife kept ringing in Xiao Yan''s head. Memories that were both familiar and unfamiliar surfaced in his mind. About a time long ago, standing tall with a broad and happy smile. He had finally reached the peak of power in not only in his home world, but as well as in another. His smile then turned gentle as he looked back behind him and saw the figure of a m.a.t.u.r.e Xun Er and¨C His heart stopped. Xiao Yan''s eyes widened. ''Who?'' Then beat, then another. Until it started going erratic. A figure of woman next to Xun Er was completely blurred, but a smile of care and pride could be clearly seen on her face. ''Who are you?'' Xiao Yan''s could feel his heart ache and his soul threatening to break out of his mortal body every time he looked at the blurred figure. ''WHO ARE YOU?!'' The figure''s head tilted into a playful manner, her mouth still ever curved into that always prideful one of hers. She opened her mouth and said. "Ya?????????n?..." "¨CYan... Xiao Yan!" Xiao Yan gasped as he heard someone''s voice calling out to him. Raising his head, he stared to see the concerned look of Zhu Zhuqing. He also felt a hand on his shoulder, and guessed that it was Zhu Zhuqing and she had probably been calling out to him for a while. Since calling out to him wasn''t working, she might have shook him to get his attention. Xiao Yan took deep breaths and slowly relaxed his mind and emotions. He tried to soften his facial expression but his smile towards her was forced. "What''s up Zhu Zhuqing? Is something wrong?" He said with a clearly forced smile. Zhu Zhuqing bit down on her lower lip and said. "I should be the one to say that." Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow, playing dumb, and asked. "Oh, and why?" "Because you have this haunted look in your face." Zhu Zhuqing said with a serious and concerned face. Xiao Yan smiled a wry smile. Eating the last pork on his barbeque stick, he burned the stick into cinders, closed his eyes and nonchalantly replied. "Oh it''s nothing. It was something from the past." Zhu Zhuqing frowned, and looked like she didn''t believe what he said, and asked. "If I may ask, was it unpleasant?" Xiao Yan was silent for a few moments before opening his eyes and said with an uncertain voice, that Zhu Zhuqing for once hadn''t heard from the normally confident and carefree Xiao Yan. "I don''t know... It was a past that I had long forgotten but it was certainly a precious memory." Xiao Yan didn''t noticed, but his voice cracked at the end. Then he turned silent and just sat on the bench with a lost look on his face. After all, looking at Xiao Yan, Zhu Zhuqing knew he had a lot of secrets that not even his sworn siblings knows. And this moment is one of them. She doesn''t want to push him. Everyone have their secrets, she as well, and most of the time they don''t want to share it with anyone else until they are either ready or dead to tell it. Turning towards the sky, Zhu Zhuqing tossed her now empty barbeque stick towards the sky, her nails elongated into claws, and she shred the wooden stick into splinters. Xiao Yan brushed off some splinters on his nose, snorted, and said, "Show off." Zhu Zhuqing rolled her eyes and retorted, "Oh like burning that stick to cinders isn''t?" "Touch¨¦." Zhu Zhuqing let out a small giggle and continued looking up the night sky. The atmosphere between the two turned silent. But instead of an awkward silence, it was comfortable as it was what the two wanted. A certain quietness that the two connected with each other. Suddenly, Zhu Zhuqing opened her mouth and said something that made Xiao Yan''s eyes widened. "Hey Xiao Yan, have you ever fallen in love?" Xiao Yan turned to looked at Zhu Zhuqing, and found out her eyes was covered by her hair bangs so he wasn''t able to be clear on her current emotions. But she had a certain melancholic aura surrounding her. Xiao Yan let out a sigh. Turning towards the sky, he replied. "Yes." His voice was certain and no fluctuations could be detected that it surprised Zhu Zhuqing at the sincerity in his voice. "I see..." Somehow, a feeling of both hope and fear swelled up within her heart before shaking her head to get rid of such thoughts. Zhu Zhuqing took a deep breath and said. "W-What would you do if that said loved one went far away? And the only way to go after them would be by becoming stronger. So strong that not only would you forced them to stay with you, but to also protect them." A certain realization flashed in Xiao Yan''s eyes as he listened in further. "In doing so, would have you work very, very hard till your bones break, your body bleeding, and everything further that you know would only be pain." A certain memory flashed through Xiao Yan''s mind. ''...I promise you Xun Er, I will find you! I will grow strong, so strong, that you would never leave my side!'' (A/N: The memory when Xun Er was forced to return back to her clan.) "... Yeah, I know that feeling very well Zhu Zhuqing." Xiao Yan said with a low voice. Zhu Zhuqing didn''t even turned to him and said. "Then, have you felt the pain that everything that you''ve done, all the hard work you''ve made, was all for nothing?" "What?" Xiao Yan asked in confusion. Zhu Zhuqing didn''t answer. Her eyes watered as a certain memory of several days ago flashed through her eyes. .... "I''m sorry!" Zhu Zhuqing stared with blank confused eyes. "Huh?" "I''m sorry Zhu Zhuqing!" Dai Mubai, in a kowtowing position, said. His voice filled with guilt. "I know why you''re here. But I''m sorry! I''m already in love with someone else. Someone that no matter what you, or any other girls, will do to change my mind and heart for her. She had gotten me through tough times and I just... I''m sorry Zhu Zhuqing." Zhu Zhuqing''s eyes widened, she felt something inside of her shatter into pieces, and her eyes turned watery. She, she couldn''t comprehend of what she was hearing. Various emotions appeared in her mind and heart. Confusion, sadness, anger, pain, betrayal... Zhu Zhuqing felt like losing consciousness but she managed to stood her ground, but she wasn''t feeling well. So she stood there, rooted to the ground, in a daze. Dai Mubai didn''t speak further but he stood up. He walked forward and passed by Zhu Zhuqing, not before whispering. "I know I''m asking a lot, but, I hope we can still be friends. Or good acquaintances if we we''re to stay at the same academy, goodbye Zhu Zhuqing..." Then he left, not noticing the tears falling down Zhu Zhuqing''s face. .... Xiao Yan and Zhu Zhuqing were silent once more, with the former staring at the latter with a serious expression. Zhu Zhuqing then unexpectedly smiled, but not one of happiness nor joy, but of self pity. "Truly, I''m an idiot for continuing to think that he was same person that I fell and loved for. I thought that our feelings were mutual, even if years passed and the problems with our families are still there, but... I thought we could have handled them together but, no. I am such an idiot!" Slowly, tears started to appear from her eyes and fall to her cheeks. Xiao Yan remained silent. He just continued staring at Zhu Zhuqing with a expressionless face. A few moments passed, and Zhu Zhuqing opened her mouth to asked with a shaken voice. "...What should I do Xiao Yan?" Xiao Yan paused for a moment and let out a long sigh. He wasn''t really the person for this. He''s still twelve years old for Flame Emperor''s sakes! He shouldn''t be giving out advices of the matters of the heart, especially since he himself had only fallen in love recently. ''But...'' Looking at the teary eyed, uncertain and distressed Zhu Zhuqing, showing a side of weakness that she would typically not let anyone see to him. How could Xiao Yan be an a.s.s and abandon someone like her? ''Sometimes, I really am too soft for my own good.'' Being a consultant for a twelve year old in the matters of the heart, now that wasn''t on Xiao Yan''s mind when he reincarnated into this world, who knew? Xiao Yan moved closer towards Zhu Zhuqing, his eyes always on her, and said. "Zhu Zhuqing, look at me." Zhu Zhuqing flinched but turned her head towards Xiao Yan. Her once cold black pair of eyes had crumbled into a weeping mess. Black and black tinted green eyes met. A gentle smile appeared on Xiao Yan''s face as he slowly raised his hand to c.a.r.e.s.s the side of Zhu Zhuqing''s face and wiped away her tears. Strangely, she didn''t back away from his touch nor repulsed at it. Instead, a small bubble of warm feelings crept its way into her heart. Xiao Yan then said. "I''m going to be honest with you Zhu Zhuqing. I''m not that too wise nor much experienced in the matters of the heart. What I''m about to say, is going to be an honest and sincere answer for your trouble and question from the bottom of my heart, got it?" Zhu Zhuqing nodded, leaning further into Xiao Yan''s touch. "Well I''m going to be blunt, Zhu Zhuqing, just move on." Zhu Zhuqing blinked her eyes, her mouth agape, and the feelings of shock and anger appeared. "Xiao Yan you ins.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e¨Cow!" Her shout of anger was interrupted by a flick of a finger, courtesy of Xiao Yan. "Let me finish will you." Xiao Yan said. Holding her temple in pain, Zhu Zhuqing pouted and angrily muttered. "... Fine." Brushing off his nose, Xiao Yan then continued. "I know you still felt betrayed and hurt by the person you loved, I get that, and I get that what I said about moving on isn''t really a s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e thing to do and easy to follow, as the feelings you held for him still lingers. But what do you want me to say? Fight for his love? Wait for him? He would dump his new love and come back to you? Be a rebound girl for him? You and I both know, that all of what I said are options you will not go through. Zhu Zhuqing, you''re a girl with both pride and dignity. Someone who had gone through a lot of things to chased after the man she loves and still remained composed after several days of being rejected. You would rather walked away with your head held high, as you swept your hair towards the face of the man who both rejected and abandoned you than received him with welcome arms when he''s missing you." Xiao Yan said with a gentle and firm smile on his face. Zhu Zhuqing sniffed and leaned her head towards Xiao Yan''s c.h.e.s.t, she whispered. "You really think so? Be the girl you described?" Xiao Yan nodded and held her carefully while c.a.r.e.s.sing her smooth black hair, for some reason though, he had the sudden thought that there were a pair of cat ears on top of her head and had a sudden urge to pet them. ... Thoughts for later on. "C-Can I really moved on? These feelings and memories of mine? Will they some day disappear?" Zhu Zhuqing asked, her arms now circled around Xiao Yan''s torso hugging him. Xiao Yan closed his eyes, the memories of Flame Emperor''s life transmitting in his head, and nodded. "I know so. You would one day moved on, find another person to love, and this time, hopefully stay with that person until the day you both die." Zhu Zhuqing''s eyes opened, a glint appeared in her eyes as she held on Xiao Yan tighter, and nodded. ''...Until these feelings of mine die down, I won''t love another. But, it can''t help to fall right?'' She inwardly thought with a smile. ===================================================================================== Omake 3: Why are all handsome guys¨C?! "I''m sorry!" Zhu Zhuqing stared with blank confused eyes. "Huh?" "I''m sorry Zhu Zhuqing!" Dai Mubai, in a kowtowing position, said. His voice filled with guilt. "I know why you''re here. But I''m sorry! I''m already in love with someone else... but more than that, I''m gay!" Zhu Zhuqing''s eyes widened, she felt something inside of her shatter into pieces, and her eyes turned watery. She, she couldn''t comprehend of what she was hearing. Various emotions appeared in her mind and heart. Confusion, sadness, anger, pain, betrayal... Zhu Zhuqing felt like losing consciousness but she managed to stood her ground, but she wasn''t feeling well. So she stood there, rooted to the ground, in a daze. "Y-You''re gay?!" Dai Mubai didn''t speak but he stood up. He walked forward and passed by Zhu Zhuqing, not before whispering. "I know I''m asking a lot, but, I hope we can still be friends. Or better yet, be girlfriends. I hope to see you soon..." Then he walked away with swagger. Zhu Zhuqing stared with disbelieving eyes at Dai Mubai''s back. "... Why are all the handsome guys gays?" Chapter 64 - 64: Wut? Time passed as the night sky slowly losses it''s darkness as the sun of the day slowly comes to replace it. In a certain area of the Shrek academy, a certain future Flame Emperor was training with only white sweatpants and black shoes. "Ninety-eight... ninety-nine... one hundred!" Xiao Yan let out a gasp as he swung Ry¨±jin Jakka down to the ground, cutting the air, suddenly releasing gusts of wind around him. *Swish!* The sudden gusts of wind that appeared, blown some dirt and grass away in the empty grassfield that Xiao Yan had found and decided to use it as a training area for his sword training. Letting out a sigh, Xiao Yan took a slow and steady breath in. He drawn his katana back towards him in a sheathing position, his right hand on his sword''s handle and his left hand as an imaginary sheath. He slowly let his sword get into his left hand, holding as a imaginary sheath, that as soon as the tip of the blade, and soon the entirety of it, went into the whole, it slowly disappeared into mots of green light. After he unsummoned his spirit Xiao Yan closed his eyes and turned towards the sky where the sun soon rises. Purple Qi appeared in air, unseen to the untrained eye, and it seeped into Xiao Yan''s eyelids. He took slow and steady breaths, circulating his Mysterious Heaven Skill, and opened his eyelids to show a pair of glowing purple with green tinted eyes. Xiao Yan''s eyes stayed like that for a moment before returning into it''s normal color of black tinted-green eyes. He then sat in a cross-legged lotus position and started to circulate the hybrid techniques of Mysterious Heaven Skill and Flame Mantra. Gathering both the heavenly flames stored within his body, he revolved around and let it coursed throughout his entire body. His skin, muscles, bones, blood, meridians and bone marrow. His entire was set aflame in both green and red flames with lightning crackling around and within him. His two heavenly flames destroyed both his external and internal body systems. He felt his nerves screaming in pain as it was being fried into crisps. But then a moment later, he felt a rejuvenating feeling akin to resurrection. He felt his entire body being reconstructed once more but making it more denser, durable, strong and flexible. A cultivation technique that destroys, heals and refines his entire body all at the same time. Destruction, creation and rebirth. Xiao Yan let out a pained hiss as he gone over the fourth cycle of the hybrid technique. Reading all those Mcs in other novels getting a cultivation technique like his own, and using it willy nilly, Xiao Yan would be the first to say that those protagonists are either m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.ts, from how much pain he''s getting, or they have a really high pain tolerance. At first he''s in hell, then the next, he''s in heaven. This cultivation technique is just pure masochism. ''... But the benefit of getting a more stronger body tops the overall pain. I could feel that without using any of my spirits, nor any Tang Sect techniques and my own, I could easily punched that low leveled Spirit King what''s his name to the ground without trouble.'' Xiao Yan smiled as he felt his overall combat prowess had once more improved, now that he had finally entered Spirit Elder. Xiao Yan remained cultivating both his body and spirit power for half an hour before he finally called it quits. ''Sigh, if I don''t finish this soon classes would start and grandmaster is supposed to arrive today to teach us the matters of teamwork. Thankfully my roommate is fatty, I could just blame him for being such a pig for snoring so loudly in his sleep if I''m late.'' Right, Xiao Yan found out that he wasn''t living alone in his own room. It was now occupied with Ma Hongjun when he returned. Confused, he woke him up for questions and found out that it was a late decision made by the dean for him to live with him. He said that the dean had a special guest, so that guest had to take Zhao Wuji''s room, to which teacher Zhao took the place of Ma Hongjun with Dai Mubai. Letting out a sigh, his mind wondered back into his body to find a storage of a small amount of Dragon Qi that could fill a two inched tall and half an inch wide in diameter cup. ''...Fire Dragon King wasn''t kidding. Even after days of continuesly converting my vigor and spirit power into Dragon Qi, it had only amounted into this much. I''m afraid it would take years till it would be like a lake, much less an ocean!'' Xiao Yan thought in frustration at the amount of spirit power and vigor he would need just to achieve that kind of amount of Dragon Qi. "Heh, keep dreaming kid. By that amount of Dragon Qi, I would say that you''re a genius at the same level of us Dragon Kings when we were mere young to convert this much within a few days." Igneel''s voice chimed in by his side. Standing tall with a big smile on his face. Xiao Yan would be lying if he did jumped and almost screamed like a girl at the sudden intrusion of someone''s voice near him. So no, he did not jumped and almost scream like a girl. Nope. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar and would be introduced to his fists of flames and his sharp sword. "Gah! Dude! Don''t just popped up and surprised me like that!" Xiao Yan exclaimed as he shot Igneel a glare, which the latter responded with rolling his eyes. Igneel''s face turned serious as he said. "Kid, converting Dragon Qi at the size of an ocean is impossible for you, not because of the amount of spirit power and vigor you need to expend, but the strained it would put your body in." Xiao Yan''s brows furrowed. "What do you mean?" "You might not feel it right now, but, the further you expand your Dragon Qi repertoire the more it''s destructive and overwhelming energy would grow and destroy your body, not by breaking your bones and peeling your skin, but by destroying your body''s cellular structures." Igneel said. Xiao Yan''s jaws dropped. "Shit. When you basically said that this op energy is a double edged sword, I didn''t think it was that bad. Okay, lay it out to me, what''s the current limits of the amount of Dragon Qi I would currently store in my body." "Well, you better stop right now." Igneel said immediately said. Xiao Yan''s face froze and crumbled as he hurriedly dispersed the conversion of his spirit power and vigor. Letting out a sigh, he eyed Igneel if he was kidding but seeing as he didn''t dropped his stoic and serious expression, it was real. ''Holy shit, so I was this close on killing myself, again?! Fu~'' Xiao Yan sweat dropped and wiped his forehead in relief. Looking inside himself at the amount of Dragon Qi stored, he felt both disappoinment and irritation at the amount he currently has. But his life is more important than some power boost, that wouldn''t be helpful for him if he''s dead. So he quickly shook those feelings off. "Alright since I can''t convert anymore Dragon Qi, I guess its time to test out that construct wings." Xiao Yan currently has no problem with his physical body strength and durability, his vigor could be increased either with the help of his hybrid cultivation technique or being a Saiyan and eat a ton of food. His spirit power is also now firm and stable from an entire night of meditation after he returned with his walk out for barbeque with Zhu Zhuqing. His alchemy... he''ll get to it later on when he gets his own room to use, for him to concoct pills safely. As some of the pills he''d create would sometimes fail and more than 50% of the time blow up the room, with it''s effects scattered in the air, and he does not want a repeat of what happened last time. That last time happened when he first recreated the Biggra Pill with his grandpa standing guard and the pill combusted with the effects scattered in the room... Xiao Yan practically had to exhaust almost all his spirit gold coins to bring in all the whores in the city to satisfy his surrogate grandfather''s risen sword, or his a.s.s would have been the one to do it. Xiao Yan''s body shivered uncontrollably, his face immediately paled and drained of all colors, as he remembered one of the memories of nightmares he had gone through in this new life. Shaking his head, his current proficiency of the Tang Sect''s Techniques could be said below Tang San himself and the instant movement technique of his, well, he actually mastered it now, with the help of the memories and experiences Flame Emperor had gone through when using the Three Thousand Lightning Movement Technique. In fact, he felt like he could recreate the two other variant versions of the Instant Movement Technique. But that would be for later on. What he needed to do now, was to familiar himself with the skills he had when he was Flame Emperor. Because Xiao Yan already had a stable foundation of his body, heck, Flame Emperor even commented that it was even to the point of perfection, though the former couldn''t tell if it was either the truth or plain narcissism. Nonetheless. Because of his body already physically handled, the normally strains and pain inflicting effects that his body would be under when using the techniques from the memories of Flame Emperor was no more. The only issue is familiarizing himself with it. Currently, Xiao Yan was certain that he could now perform the second stage of the Three Thousand Lightning Movement Technique, now that he has better grasp at it than before. The other techniques are remained unused, thus, the performance of his use on them remains unknown. Except, the Angry Buddha Lotus Flame. Xiao Yan couldn''t understand why but, he could feel he could use the skill with a masterful proficiency, even though he never used it, except for the time when Flame Emperor occupied his body that one time in the forest. But, due to that feeling of proficiency, Xiao Yan was able to create a variant version of it, the Dragonic Purifying Flame Lotus, two heavenly flames constructed into a tall eastern dragon with a lotus below it. It is capable of devouring the spirit power, spiritual power and the Evil Qi within someone''s body. It was due to it, that he was able to helped Ma Xiaotao with her Evil Fire problem. With all that said, Xiao Yan situation is akin that he''s a Jack Of All Trades but a master of almost none, he mastered one after all. So, he''s currently trying to overcome that to become a Jack Of All Trades and master of all. To do that, he''s going to start being familiar with all the skills. With the constructed spirit wings on his current list to do. Breathing in steady, revolving the Mysterious Heaven Skill in his body and letting it guide the spirit power in him to his back, Xiao Yan concentrated and followed the steps on how to create wings on his back based on Flame Emperor''s memories, which was strangely modified to fit with this world''s laws to be used¨C ''He rewrote his own memories so I can used the skills properly? Thanks Flame Emperor.'' Xiao Yan inwardly said with a smile on him. In his mindscape, Flame Emperor could be seen sitting cross-legged and looked to be in deep meditation. His eyes was closed and his body was still as a rock. Suddenly, his mouth curved into a smile and said. "Heh, no problem kiddo." Then he remained silent once more. .... Green colored spirit power coursed through Xiao Yan''s meridians and gathered gradually towards his back. Sweat dropped on his brows as he continued concentrating on using the Mysterious Heaven Skill Technique to flow his spirit power through his body and in his back to expel it outwardly. Several minutes passed, and the sun was now fully revealed with all it''s glory. Ma Hongjun yawned as he stepped out of the door of his, and Xiao Yan''s, dorm room. He wondered around aimlessly, saying. "I hate mornings, but breakfast isn''t something I want to miss." Ma Hongjun rubbed his eyes, sleep still affecting him. "Now where is Xiao Yan? I can''t leave him here or my big sis would nag on me for not bringing him with me. But, he wasn''t on his bed. So where is he?" *Swish!* *Swish!* "AHHH!" Ma Hongjun said out loud in surprise as he felt a sudden gust of wind blowing towards him, so strong that it made him slide back a few inches back, dust now covering his whole body. "Blah, blah! Ugh, I got dirt in my mouth dammit! Who''s the f.u.c.ker that did that?!" Ma Hongjun complained loudly and looked towards the clouds of dust in front of him to look for the culprit. As the dust settles, a figure could be seen. "So there you are you bastard. Just wait right there! I''m going to punch you in the face so hard, not even your mother would recognize you! You clothes dirtying motherf.u.c.ker." Ma Hongjun was now walking towards the figure in large stride, folding the sleeves of his shirt back to his elbow, his hands bawled into tight fists while saying threats to the figure. "This great fatty is going to administer retribution¨C!?" He was about to say more but his mouth froze in shock. The clouds of dusts was now fully dispersed and it showed the figure of the half n.a.k.e.d Xiao Yan, showcasing his leaned muscled figure. He had ripped muscles like his eight defining and compacted bronze abs, it looked as if it were as strong as steel and could grate cheese on them. His leaned, but clearly muscled, arms twitched and Ma Hongjun could swore that he felt that every moment it let out a twitch, a small shockwave seem to ripple out. A testament of the great power of strength hidden within those pair of arms. But what was the sudden state of shock for Ma Hongjun, was the pair of angelic like wings on Xiao Yan''s back that made him float from the air. Two realistic green feathered wings was on Xiao Yan''s back, it had wingspan of nine meters and the green like color of it gave Ma Hongjun a feeling of regality and purity. Making him think that they were a pair of angel wings. Ma Hongjun stood on the ground still in a daze, awestruck. Xiao Yan seem to not seen Ma Hongjun as his attention was on the pair of wings on his back. The said pair of wings gave a small couple of flaps in the air as he controlled it do so like a limb. Although weird, as it worked like appendages that he always used with, but what was considered weird anymore in this world and current life? Xiao Yan grinned as he continued to marvel at his wings, until it disappeared into a frown as he was interrupted by a scream of a pig being butchered. ''No wait, that''s just fatty.'' He inwardly said with a deadpanned expression as he turned to see a kneeling and screaming Ma Hongjun, now kowtowing at him in reverence, while saying out loud, "The lord! The savior! My father in heaven, an angel has descended to give your son advice." Xiao Yan''s deadpanned expression turned into a completely dumbfounded one. ''Wut?'' It soon garnered the attention of everyone else in the academy. The students, being close to the location, started to arrive one by one with each having a shocked and dumbfounded expressions. The teachers of the academy and grandmaster came next, each mirroring the students expressions. Everyone was silent except Ma Hongjun shouting out his prayers towards Xiao Yan. Just as Flender was about to act up in anger and stop Ma Hongjun, an unexpected person stepped forward that caused everyone further dumbfoundment and shock, causing them to question reality. That person was Oscar and he had just joined Ma Hongjun. "Hail the almighty! For he has given me advice and a chance to paradise! Hail!" Oscar loudly said with a completely straight face as he bowed with his arms raised up and down. Xiao Yan just stared at the two fanatics in front of him with completely blank eyes. ''Wut. Da. F.u.c.k?'' Chapter 65 - 65: You are the reason Time passed and Xiao Yan, wearing the same clothes he wore in his examination and trip to the forest, could be seen eating a more bountiful, balanced and healthy meal; eggs, waffles and a sausage. Which is strange, considering he always ate only congee meals in the dining hall of Shrek Academy, together with his other classmates, as the academy is having financial problems. Said classmates, eating the same bountiful, balanced and healthy meals, were staring at him like he was an exotic animal. Well most of them that is. Oscar and Ma Hongjun sat together with huge bumps on their heads low staring at their meals in shame and embarrassment. They were both got caught in the moment of hailing Xiao Yan as an angel sent from the high heavens, a bit too much they admit. Ma Hongjun had done it because he thought he was still dreaming and an angel from the Chicken God had descended to give him salvation. While Oscar had done it just for some humourous act to get a few laughs, but instead of laughs, the action was returned with dumbfounded looks and silence. The two bumps on their heads was given by Xiao Yan, which was a instinctive reaction after not knowing what to do in that situation of being worshipped. Oh sure, in any other day he would have welcomed it with open arms and be a certain golden king to his worshippers. But the fact that his half n.a.k.e.d and he''s being watched by his teachers and classmates while being worship, his face is not that thick yet. He felt like finding a hole and bury his entire body in it. As the silence continues, their meals being half finished, Xiao Wu couldn''t handle it anymore as she stood up and pointed her finger Xiao Yan, asking, more like demanded, him of a certain question that the others shared in their thoughts. "Okay, enough stalling! Xiao Yan-gege, just tell us already about those wings you had! We''re curious! Were those your third spirit ring ability? But didn''t you and Ma Xiaotao killed a Golden Lion King, which does not have any wings on it''s back last I checked." He let out a sigh and explained what those wings on his back were. Hearing his explanation, safe to say, everyone had their jaws dropped to the ground with expressions of shock and disbelief on their faces. "Wait, wait, wait, wait! So what your saying, that those wings are basically advance use of spirit power control?!" Ma Xiaotao exclaimed indignantly along with everyone else. Was it really that simple? Xiao Yan simply nodded and replied. "Yup. Controlling the spirit power flow within your body and have it expel outwardly from your back while molding it into a pair of wings, and yes, design is of your own choosing." Ma Xiaotao and the others just continued staring at him while Tang San was rubbing his chin and looked to be deep in thought. As if knowing what was in Tang San''s mind, and an idea popped in his head, Xiao Yan finished eating and turned towards a future Emperor with an innocent smile. "Which I know Tang San could easily do so as well, cause I''m pretty sure I thought that technique to him myself once before." Xiao Yan lied with a straight face. Now everyone''s eyes turned towards Tang San with a certain glint flashing through their eyes, while the former''s forehead is soaked in cold sweat. ''Xiao Yan, you lying bastard!'' He inwardly cursed as he watched the culprit of his current situation silently walking away while the others interrogate him. Xun Er though, noticed the quickly departing Xiao Yan, and quickly finished eating her meal to chase after him. "Yan!" Xiao Yan turned his head to the side to star at a smiling Xun Er walking besides him. Xiao Yan returned the smile with his own, he closed on of his eyes and crossed both his arms behind his neck. The two didn''t say anything towards each other, smiles accompanying their faces as they walked towards the area where it''s their supposed classroom. Just as they were half-way towards their destination, Xiao Yan stopped on his steps and turned towards Xun Er with a serious expression. Xun Er halted as she stared at him in confusion. "Yan?" "...Xun Er, do you ever regret coming with me?" Xiao Yan said hesitatingly. "Hm?" Xun Er raised an eyebrow and said. "About leaving the Fiery Bright Forest?" Xiao Yan nodded with a nervous expression. Xun Er turned silent, her expression completely blank and unreadable. A few moments passed and Xiao Yan started to become nervous from the silence, before Xun Er said. "No. Well, probably at first because it was a foreign experience for me, being outside of the forest for the first time and interact with all kinds of unknown people, I thought I would have just gone back to the forest and give up on my dream of interacting with the world beyond the forest as it was too much for me." "Well what changed?" Xiao Yan asked. Xun Er''s smile broaden into a beautiful smile that made Xiao Yan''s heart race. "You." Xun Er''s face flushed. "You intrigued me Yan. Your great personalities of both being fun and adventurous made me changed my mind. Your drive to become stronger to protect the ones that you hold dear in your heart and overcome the challenges that come your way, made me changed my mind once more. The situations and trials you go through, had me decided that I wanted to see where you go further in this path called a Spirit Master." Not only Xun Er was the only one blushing, but Xiao Yan as well from hearing the former''s confession of the reason why she continued tagging along was because of him. ''D-Does this mean...?'' Anticipation and excitement swell within Xiao Yan''s heart as he stared at Xun Er''s eyes. His two arms fell by his sides and his mouth was having trouble speaking. "I-I... Xun Er, are you¨C" But before he could finish what he was saying, Xun Er moved passed him and had her back against his. "Though the others also play a role of being intriguing; Xiao Wu, Tang San, Grandpa Lao, and Grandmaster. The fear of traversing this new world alone, was erased from my mind as I realized the bonds I made. I wasn''t alone anymore. That includes the bonds I created as well." As she finishes, Xun Er left Xiao Yan''s back. "Xun Er, I¨C!" Xiao Yan immediately turned back, only to meet with a teasing smile and stuck out tongue from Xun Er. "Bleh!" Then she hurriedly skipped away. Xiao Yan stood there, rooted to the ground, in a daze. His head tingled once more as memories of a younger Xun Er, from a different place and time, made present once more in his mind. His mind replayed the memories of another life, a different beginning, and a different story. ''Xiao Yan-gege!'' Xun Er''s mischievous smile flashed in his memories as they walked through the halls of the Xiao Family estate. Memories continued pouring inside his mind... "Even in a different life, you hadn''t changed a bit." As Xiao Yan walked behind her, unknown to him, Xun Er was sending him flushed glances. Her shaking right hand went to her c.h.e.s.t, a beat and two, as her eyes trailed towards the boy who made her feel this way. ''...There goes my heart beating, my mind racing, my hands shaking and you are the reason. My heart keeps bleeding, I need you now, but I know this feeling can''t be allowed...'' Her eyes began to water before she blinked it away. ''Until you decide whether to continue being a human or accept the inheritance of the Fire Dragon King, these feelings I have for you will be hidden...'' Her mind then replayed a scene of Xiao Yan and Ma Xiaotao talking to each other affectionately. ''...Even if it means having my heart cracked at the thought of you being with someone else than me, I will continue hiding what I feel.'' She inwardly said with gritted teeth. She couldn''t show what she truly felt for Xiao Yan openly, she couldn''t yet. For the day when their relationship become official, Xun Er knows that ''he'' would arrive and stop it, probably even take her back to the forest forever and kill Xiao Yan at the process. Until Xiao Yan becomes truly strong, she wouldn''t act on her feelings. Lest they invite the wrath of one of the most powerful beings within this world. The Golden-Eyed Black Dragon, Di Tian, also known to Xun Er as her surrogate uncle. Chapter 66 - 66: Spirit Emperor Yu Xiaogang! A/N: Read author''s note ======================================================================== After breakfast, the bell sounded punctually, all the students gathered on the academy grounds. Today seemed a bit special, not only did two heads like Flender and Zhao Wuji come, Grandmaster and the academy''s other several teachers also had arrived on the grounds. Besides the two heads, the academy originally still had three teachers, the three in charge of the three entrance exams. Xiao Yan was familiar with one of them, the old man who at that time had used a staff spirit to scare away a lot of people. "Good. Looks like everyone''s present. Everyone! I have important news to tell you all." Flender walked over before the ten students, his gaze solemnly sweeping across the students. "First. I will give you newly arrived six students an introduction to the Academy teachers." While speaking, Flender indicated the one Xiao Yan and co had already met, the old man with a Long Staff Spirit. "This is teacher Li Yu-Song, spirit Dragon Pattern Stick. He is a sixty-third ranked, Spirit Emperor." Moving on to the second teacher, looking even older than Li Yu-Song, seemingly over seventy years old man, saying: "This is Lu Ji-Bin, spirit Star Luo Chess, sixty-sixth ranked Spirit Emperor." The last teacher''s was a bit younger than the previous two, seemingly about the same as Flender. "This is Shao Xinshao. Spirit, Sweet Pea. Seventy first ranked Spirit Sage, food system Spirit Master. Teacher Shao is among the Food System Spirit Masters I know of, ranked within the top five of the most powerful Food System Spirit Masters." If the first two teachers weren''t astonishing enough, then, a seventy first ranked food system Spirit Sage appearing made the newly arrived students, except Xiao Yan, simultaneously shocked. That teacher Shao didn''t look tall, only roughly the same as the twelve year old Xiao Wu, even a bit shorter. Small eyes, large nose, unprepossessing, but who could have expected, he unexpectedly was such a highly ranked food system Spirit Master? Seventy first ranked food system Spirit Sage. Whether it was at Spirit Hall or any one Spirit Master clan, it would be a venerated rank anywhere. The three teachers after Flender''s introduction nodded towards the students. Respectively, the first teacher Li''s face was wooden, the second teacher Lu following wore a smile. Finally that teacher Shao, the expression on his face was somewhat strange. His gaze all along fell on Oscar, the gaze even somewhat obsessive. Finally, Flender walked over next to the good looking, but stiff face, Grandmaster, grasping Grandmaster''s shoulders, he said. "And lastly this guy, I must carefully introduce to everyone. He, precisely relying on his research, arriving at the Ten Great Spirit Competences, regarded as the best in spirit theory, the wisest Spirit Master, at the same time also Tang San, Xiao Wu, Xiao Yan and Xun Er''s teacher, Mister Yu Xiao Gang. Of course, he also is my old brother. We''ve already known each other for several decades. Perhaps you won''t understand too clearly by hearing his name, but I think you should all have heard his title. Hereafter, you can call him Grandmaster." Hearing the word ''Grandmaster'', everyone couldn''t help but be shaken, gazes one after another turning to the four, even if they didn''t know of Grandmaster, but to have the ability to instruct such outstanding students as them, how could he not be an excellent teacher? The four glanced at each with a smile on each of their faces, before turning back towards everyone else with faces of respect and nodded in confirmation of the claims of Flender. Grandmaster however shook his head and said. "True, I am their teacher, but Tang San is my sole and only disciple." Xiao Yan, Xun Er and Xiao Wu nodded in confirmation, as this was true. The trio and Grandmaster had made a comprise that the former would only get the surface of his knowledge, while Tang San would inherit all his knowledge. The three really didn''t care about it. Xiao Yan had only came to Grandmaster the knowledge of powerful and rare spirits, dangers of spirit beasts, and the knowledge of the high and powerful organizations in the continent. While Xiao Wu had only gone along with it because her two brothers were in it as well. For Xun Er, she wanted to know about the current matters in the human world and it''s culture, and the knowledge related to spirit beasts she might not know about. The four of them though, was a bit surprised at the knowledge of grandmaster''s real name, Yu Xiaogang. Though Xiao Yan only acted surprise, cause in this life of his he didn''t heard of grandmaster''s real name yet so to avoid suspicion, he acted as though really hadn''t. Flender opened his mouth to speak but Ma Hongjun raised an arm, interrupting him, his facial expression completely serious as he stared at the dean. "Hongjun? What is it? Is your Evil Fire problem acting up again?" Fatty lowered his arm, his eyes continuing to stare at Flender, saying. "I''ve got a question sir, and please answer it very seriously." Flender, though confused, nodded in agreement. "Alright, as long as it is serious as well." "Then let me be blunt, are you currently high? Are you currently smoking that "stash" me and my sister found in your office?" Everyone, except Ma Xiaotao who was looking at Flender with the same expression as Fatty, was staring at Ma Hongjun with dumbfounded eyes. "Yeah, answer the question dean. Are you really high right now?" Ma Xiaotao asked. Now everyone turned towards a red and black faced Flender, anger and embarrassment on his face, raising a trembling finger to point at the siblings he said. "Y-You, what the hell are you two talking about?! Why in the heavens would you suggest that I, your great and good natured dean, would have such things on me and using it?! I will not stand to those accusations!" Flender huffed and stood straight with his c.h.e.s.t puffed up and looking all legit, honest and proper. Everyone, however, was not buying that bullshit and looked towards the two siblings, who both stared at their dean/master with looks of incredulity and disdain. Grandmaster, with a raised eyebrow of curiosity and hidden amus.e.m.e.nt, turned towards the siblings and asked. "Well kids, why would you both suggest that your dean is highly intoxicated?" "Because, the breakfast was normal and I feel full. Something I haven''t felt in the dinner hall of this academy since I arrived here. The dean is as cheap as a poor man and spend as one as well. So the reason why, is probably because his intoxicated, got lucky with a jackpot money, or had reached enlightenment" Ma Hongjun replied with a nervous expression, but still retained his seriousness as he spoke. His eldest sister Ma Xiaotao also nodded in agreement. Zhao Wuji and the other three teachers, let out chuckles and huge laughs as they heard what Fatty said and the twitching face of Flender who heard his student''s explanation. Grandmaster lessen his stiff face and as he chuckled at what fatty said as well. He then said. "Sorry to burst your bubble kiddos but, none of those reasons are why you guys have a great breakfast compared to before." "Then, what''s the reason?" Ma Xiaotao asked. Grandmaster replied. "That''s because I was the one who authorized the chefs, and myself, to make those for you all. You all growing children right now is an important time. The body is the capital of the spirit. Without a good body, how can you persevere with intense cultivation, your previous meals are sufficient to people at my and Flender''s age, but to you children it''s still far from enough. So, as of now, I have decided to take the reign of your training in my hands." "Of course, I already gave him permission to do so. Not only that, but starting from today, Grandmaster has full authority over you teachers and students, we will all coordinate with Grandmaster. So, are there any more questions, problems and accusations some here might suggest? Hm?" Flender said, though his eyes were now glaring at the Ma siblings. Said siblings are nervously sweating in fear. Ma Xiaotao decided at that moment to take refuge behind Xiao Yan''s body, while also sticking out her tongue out towards Flender. While Ma Hongjun did the same, except with Dai Mubai. Everyone shook their heads at the exaggerated acts of the master and disciples before the students eyes went back towards their current teacher in training. "This time in Star Dou Great Forest, we had two students that had officially reached the Spirit Elder realm. Still not broken through the thirtieth rank are Ning Rongrong, Ma Hongjun and Zhu Zhuqing, you three must also work hard, strive to overtake the others'' pace. Grandmaster, what do you have to say?" The last inquiry was directed at Grandmaster. Grandmaster nodded, his face turned stiff once more, looking at the seven students gathered, he indifferently said. "The Academy only has you ten students. In my opinion, you are also one entity. I have already seen your records. Later I will draw up some focused education methods. Apart from coordination, I do not wish to hear any different voices. Whoever it is, I will treat everyone equally. Since you are the students of Monster Academy, you must be more monstrous than common Spirit Masters, hereafter making everyone when speaking of you only think of the word ''Monster''. Starting from now, you ten will not like before be split into initial and high rank sections, but undergo a completely unified education. I will rank you according to age. First, Dai Mubai. Second, Oscar. Third, Tang San. Fourth, Xiao Yan. Fifth, Ma Hongjun. Sixth, Ma Xiaotao. Seventh, Xun Er. Eight, Xiao Wu. Ninth, Ning Rongrong. Tenth, Zhu Zhuqing." Grandmaster''s gaze swept across everyone, "Good. Now, about your meals. For tomorrow''s breakfast, I hope to see you all show up even earlier at the dining hall. Eating food requires a period for digestion afterwards, one can''t immediately conduct strict exercise. I will prepare a good breakfast at dawn, if you haven''t come to eat in one hour, you needn''t eat at all." Grandmaster''s sharp gaze swept over all the students. He naturally saw some had not listened, but he still didn''t repeat himself. "I have already understood each of your spirits and capabilities. Starting from today, I will start your strengthening training. Xiao Yan, step forward." Albeit a little confused, Xiao Yan still took one step forward, his black tinted-green eyes seem to glow under the sun. He might be eccentric, whether it be in public or in private, but was naturally quiet and attentive during a class lesson, especially from grandmaster and his grandfather. They were great teachers, with the latter being a great role model. To him, a teacher''s words were law. Grandmaster looked at the second tallest student in the academy Xiao Yan, with Dai Mubai being the tallest which is reasonable as the former was younger than the latter. Without any emotion clear on his face, Grandmaster then said. "I will give you one task. Starting from now, without causing any severe injuries, you will knock down those nine one by one." "Huh?!" It wasn''t Xiao Yan the only who exclaimed in surprised, but the other students as well. Knocking them down? Each one of them? Fighting them one by one till they''re knocked down to the floor or called it quits? While the others were still surprised, Xiao Yan''s expression receded as a thoughtful expression appeared on his face. ''Facing them all? If it was me against all of them at the same time, I have no doubt that I would lose within a couple of minutes into the time of the fight, if without using either my Angry Buddha Lotus Flame or using my first bloodline ring ability. The most troublesome isn''t Xun Er, Ma Xiaotao and her little brother''s apparent spirit fusion ability, Dai Mubai but Tang San. With his tactical mind, intelligence and experience as a f.u.c.k.i.n.g assassin, if he leads the team against me, there is no doubt I''ll lose despite the almost non-existent coordination teamwork between them all.'' ''Oh well, this is just fighting them all one by one anyways. It''s not like I''ll be nerfed or some shit.'' "And Xiao Yan, you have to fight them without using your second spirit, any strange techniques, all kinds of hidden weapons like your chilli powder and bombs, any sort of augmented pills. All the while not getting a break between your fights. Got it?" Grandmaster indifferently said with no visible emotions on his face except a strange glint in his eyes. Of course, the conditions set by Grandmaster set the students, except Xiao Yan, into a uproar. "Wait a minute there, teach! What''s with those limits you set on Xiao Yan?!" Ma Xiaotao voiced out of shock and mild anger. "That''s right! That ain''t fair!" Ma Hongjun followed up. "Those are just not excessive, but straight up bullying!" Ning Rongrong and Oscar simultaneously said. "Hm!" Zhu Zhuqing followed with narrowed eyes. "I will not stand for this Grandmaster!" Dai Mubai growled. "Although he might be stronger than half of us students here, but that dosen''t mean he can take us all without any rests! He isn''t a machine! You said that we are united, a team, no, a family, so that means Xiao Yan is now my little brother. Then as a big brother, how can I not be angered when my brother is being bullied?!" "Grandmaster..." Xiao Wu and Xun Er silently both glared at their teacher. "Even I would be angry as well teacher, you''re limiting my brother most of his combat prowess, I hope you can explain?" Although Tang San looked calm and collected, but inwardly he was also feeling slightly angered at the injustice given to his sworn brother by his master. Tang San questioning Grandmaster was something that no one would have thought he would do. The man was akin to a father figure to Tang San and he wouldn''t be so untrusted and rebel against his master like right now, as well as it were in canon. But the factor of Xiao Yan existence and him being his brother in all but blood had changed that. Tang San is a person who would do anything for the ones he considers family. Even rebelling against his master! That''s how much he cares for family, even fighting other God Kings at the same time in the future. The teachers looked at the students with awe and respect at the camaraderie they all showed towards Xiao Yan, especially at Tang San, the true student and sole disciple of Grandmaster! "You guys..." Xiao Yan whispered, he felt grateful and touched at the support his friends are giving him. Although Grandmaster''s expression remained the same but inwardly he was pleased and touched at the camaraderie of the ten students. Truthfully, he had just stated those conditions to test the bond of the students of their connection between each other. It''s safe to say that they had passed with flying colors. But he also had another reason why he is doing this. The main reason of it all. A test of what the current limits of the third young master of the Xiao Family, one of the seven ancient families of the Douluo continent, can handle. It''s not only him, Yu Xiaogang, who wanted to see but his grandfather, Yao Lao, and the ice emperor, Hao Po Dong, who was designated to protect Xiao Yan by his family in the dark. So, letting out a sigh, Grandmaster decided he would need to be a little forceful. "If you don''t want to follow these conditions and fight those nine, then I guess I can give you another option." Grandmaster coldly said. "Xiaogang?" Flender worriedly asked. As this wasn''t his character to easily bend to the wishes of children. "Second option...?" Xiao Yan muttered with narrowed eyes. Somehow, those words sent shivers down his spine. Tang San, Xiao Wu and Xun Er as well. As the first students under Grandmaster, they very know their teacher''s personality and actions first-hand. His tone, and the way his eyes narrowed dangerously... ''This is bad...'' Tang San thought in dread. ''Grandmaster''s going to...'' Xiao Wu bit her lip. ''Fight Xiao Yan?!'' Xun Er finishes with wide eyes. Xiao Yan now also realizes what Grandmaster is planning and he could only silently cursed to himself. ''F.u.c.k! Last I remember, before leaving for the Shrek Examination, Grandmaster was at rank 60 and only needed a spirit ring to officially become a Spirit Emperor. Which I think he already is...'' Everyone stared back and forth between Grandmaster and his original students in a tense atmosphere. Flender and the teachers, with a lot of experiences under their belt, noticed that the students were in a combat stance and are ready to fight against Grandmaster. Which is both odd and unrealistic to Flender as he knew that the students were an entire realm above of Grandmaster, who is at spirit rank 29, so why are they so serious? Flender didn''t know that his long time friend and old brother had finally brokethrough his lifelong misery barrier of the peak spirit grandmaster stage, and had already reached Spirit Emperor within a few years. Which Grandmaster had voluntarily kept a secret as he wanted to surprise and show off to his brother when he gathered every teachers and students around. Everyone wants to show off once in a while, even Grandmaster, who was treated as trash and useless by most people in the world. Grandmaster snorted and said. "Your second option, no limits except without any petty tricks like those chili powder and bombs, is to fight me." Xiao Yan and co''s concern had come true, showing their scowls at Grandmaster. While the others stared at the latter in disbelief and shock at what he had declared. As everyone somewhat knew Grandmaster''s reputation. Flender especially was dumbstruck at his brother''s exclamation, his hands shook and he raised a trembling finger towards Grandmaster and stuttered. "Y-You, what the hell¨C" He was interrupted however, by a sudden spike of rising spirit power coming off Yu Xiaogang. Flender''s eyes widened as he sensed the amount of spirit power Grandmaster was releasing, and realized that was more what a Spirit Grandmaster could have! ''Xiaogang, you...'' Grandmaster''s robes fluttered, as if a sudden great gust of wind had passed by him, his expression remained the same except his black colored eyes had turned completely golden in color. A massive golden scaled dragon head appeared on top of Grandmaster, menacingly staring down at the students below it. It was Luo San Pao, or otherwise known as the Sacred Golden Dragon! A true dragon spirit beast that held both the diluted bloodlines of the Golden Dragon King and the Holy/Light Dragon King! If it were a real spirit beast, it would have the potential to reached the levels of a dragon king. Everyone stared at the golden dragon head in awe and fear as it stared down upon them. Then their eyes went towards Yu Xiaogang, only to bulge their eyes and their bodies shaking uncontrollably. Various emotions flashed on their faces and eyes, mostly of shock and disbelief, at what they are seeing. Xiao Wu and Xun Er especially, their mouths gaped as they stared at Grandmaster. Their eyes filled with dread and fear. Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #!_52746467139449261 for visiting. Purple, purple, black, black, black, and red spirit rings appeared and circled around Grandmaster''s body rhythmically. "Yu Xiaogang, sixty-third rank; Spirit Emperor. Spirit, Sacred Golden Dragon. Xiao Yan, do you accept to have a spare with me?" Grandmaster said. Chapter 67 - 67: I promise... Red, hundred thousand year old spirit ring. The number one sought after treasure in the entire continent that even all Titled Douluos in the world dreamed of having. And right now, it appeared in the yard of the Shrek Academy surrounding the body of Grandmaster. It''s oppressive and bloodthirsty like aura leaked all around, causing even Spirit Sages like Flender and Zhao Wuji to nervously swallowed a mouthful of saliva. While most of the students was completely being overwhelmed. They had stopped moving, fear and despair grasped their beings as the aura let out by the hundred thousand year old spirit ring pressured down on them. Xiao Yan, Xun Er, Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Ma Xiaotao are the only students that weren''t much affected by the passive spiritual attack by the red spirit ring. Grandmaster raised an eyebrow, impressed at the five students that were able to withstand his hundred thousand year old spirit ring. A couple weeks prior to this day before the day of the Shrek Examination, he was in a secluded place so he would brokethrough to the sixtieth rank. After he did, he had asked Yao Lao to take him here to the academy, as the latter was planning to go said academy to take a look at his surrogate grandson, to both continue the unfinished lessons for his students and needed help from his old brother to go find a suitable spirit ring for him. What Grandmaster didn''t know, he would be accompanying Yao Lao in a spirit beast hunt of a hundred thousand year old spirit beast. Worse of all, Yao Lao had decided that he had to fight to fight it one on one after the former fought it easily. Grandmaster shivered as he remembered that evil grin on the alchemist as his figure was bathed in the flames of both hot and cold, while nine imposing spirit rings rose underneath him. Oh sure it was severely injured and all, lacerations and gaping holes on it''s body, but Grandmaster knew that even at that state it could easily kill a peak Spirit King like him. As a logical and normally calm Grandmaster that he is, he would have never gone along with the alchemist, despite the enticement of having a hundred thousand year old spirit ring. In fact, he was just about to walked away if he weren''t so easily triggered by what Yao Lao had said. "So you''re just going to be the old useless Grandmaster? Even with the changes that you undergo, your just going to return to be the old useless piece of shit that left his wife? The person that easily gave up on his first love?" Grandmaster gritted his teeth, those words had easily severely stung his already cold and broken heart, but he stubbornly stood his ground and took a step away¨C "Ha... Poor old Bibi Dong and Liu Erlong, both silently being tortured of the harsh world while still waiting for the person they loved, while said loved is frivolously enjoying a carefree life¨C" Grandmaster didn''t remember much when he heard those words coming of Yao Lao''s mouth, except red had completely blurred his vision. The next thing he knew, he was missing his right arm, his entire figure was disheveled and completely bathed in blood of both his and the spirit beast, and a red spirit ring appeared right in front of him. That spirit beast was the Overlord Earth Dragon, a hundred thousand year old spirit beast that normally resided in the core area of any wild forest. It''s a rare land dragon, a dragon with no wings, that specializes on both all physical abilities and earth attributed attacks. It is also ruthless spirit beast that dosen''t discriminate on what race he hunts and eats, whether they be humans or his fellow spirit beast kin. Yao Lao had easily encountered this spirit beast on the Star Dou Great Forest when it was hunting for it''s prey. Safe to say, it was the last hunt the dragon could have. Back to Grandmaster. It was a fortunate blessing for him that every hundred thousand year old spirit beast would dropped a spirit bone, this one was not a exception as well, and coincidentally it was a right arm bone. What he knew next, Yao Lao decided that he were to absorbed the spirit bone first to regrow his arm, to which the alchemist would give him a strange pill to regenerate his lost muscles, tendons, ligaments and skin as it uses the spirit bone as a catalyst to regenerate the said lost limb. To which then the spirit bone insures that he would have a easier time of absorbing the hundred thousand year old spirit ring. It did not make it any easier, Grandmaster pained screams and agonizing yells could attest to that. Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #..._52799943794016559 for visiting. But he could say that the pain was worth it, now that he fully analyze his spirit ring set. Purple, purple, black, black, black, and red. A set of spirit rings that he never thought he would have. But compared to that monster of a alchemist, Grandmaster wouldn''t dare be arrogant. The moment Yao Lao had showed his spirit rings out to the world, the entire sky was bathed in the color of red, as if the sky was ripped apart and turned into a sea of blood. Grandmaster could only estimate that Yao Lao''s spirit power, was over the ninety-six rank. A spirit rank that was thought to be impossible by the masses. How could such a monster be created into this world? He shook his head and snapped back to reality as he heard an angry and pained yell from Flender. "YU XIAOGANG!! YOU BASTARD!" Grandmaster''s body was then blown back away as Flender tackled him forward with his body, his spirit transformation activated as his seven spirit rings was shown. The two flown and rammed into dozens of large trees in the area they went through. *BOOOM!* The trees broke and blown away towards the shocked group. Trees went towards the teachers, but Zhao Wuji easily blocked them all. As the trees was about to hit students, a yellow lightning barrier appeared, flashed, and destroyed all the incoming trees. All of them turned towards Xiao Yan, his body completely covered in yellow arcs of lightning. His eyes seem to flicker with silver and golden lightning. Three spirit rings shown, his third was blackened for a moment before his spirit rings all disappeared back into his being. He let out a breath of relief and a bit of exhaustion, as this was the first time he was carefully using a portion of his third spirit ring ability while controlling it to be a barrier around him. "What the hell is Flender thinking?" Zhao Wuji muttered as he and everyone else stared at the carnage their dean and Grandmaster made. He was about to stepped in and stop the fight, but a arm appeared before him, causing him to halt. Zhao Wuji turned to see Xiao Yan, shaking his head saying. "No teacher Zhao, you can''t b.u.t.t in into this fight." "And why the hell not?" Zhao Wuji impatiently asked. Tang San was the one to reply to his demand. "Because it is not our place to. This is a fight between best friends, brothers in all but blood. Something tells me that this is important for them to do, a conversation long passed." At that, Zhao Wuji, the other teachers and the students quieted down as they glanced at each other then went to watched the quarrel of two brothers. *Boom!* All the while ignoring the collateral damages thrown towards them. .... "You f.u.c.ker!" Flender yelled, his entire body is covered by a layer of feathers, his eyes had turned orange yellow, his pair of feet had turned into claws and he sported two black wings on his back. He clenched his hands into fists as he let out a barrage of punches towards the unflinching and very bruised face of Grandmaster. Yu Xiaogang''s once jade white face skin turned black and blue, his perfect nose bended, one of his eyes turned swollen and a tooth was missing from his once perfect teeth. Ruining his pretty boy face. Despite all that, he didn''t moved nor retaliated. He let Flender continue on his attacks. ''But goddamn does Flender have a mean punch.'' He inwardly thought, as he now felt the pain of his punches. Flender continued on his crusade while cursing Grandmaster until his fists turn slackened, until slowly his attacks ceased. Flender was sitting on Grandmaster''s c.h.e.s.t, his pair of arms now on his sides as he stared at the eyes of the latter, who''s entire face was now deformed and completely covered in blood. "...When were you going to tell me?" Flender muttered. "Today actually, wanted to show off a bit to my brother and his friends after all." Grandmaster replied, chuckling. "..." Flender was silent but he did undid his spirit transformation and moved away from Grandmaster''s body and sat besides the latter on the ground. Silence reigned between the two for a few moments before it was interrupted by Flender, saying with a expressionless voice. "...Well congratulations jackass, you finally brokethrough your lifelong pain and also now on the way of catching up to me." "Heh, yeah. Never thought I would actually caught up to you..." Grandmaster let out a chuckle as he now sat up as well, his face was still deformed but a strange glow of white light seemed to be covering his face, unexpectedly, his face was now slowly reforming and healing itself as the glow covered his face. Dragon''s Light Body, a ten thousand year old spirit ring that came from a reptilian type spirit beast that had a bloodline from a dragon. This spirit ring ability gives Yu Xiaogang a passive high-speed regeneration and Luo San Pao a increased of 75% defense and speed. As Grandmaster''s face finally recovered to it''s previous state, Flender, looking towards the bright blue sky, said. "When did you brokethrough? And how?" Grandmaster let out a sigh and explained that he brokethrough a few years ago with the help of Xiao Yan and his hundred year old refined purification fruit. Flender frowned and scowled as he turned towards Grandmaster, saying. "Xiaogang, let me ask you something. When you finally brokethrough, what did you first think about? Was it returning to your clan? Was it getting revenge on those that belittle you? Or, have you thought about going back to her? Xiaogang you¨C" As Flender''s voice rose, Grandmaster interrupted with a shake of his head and said. "No. I didn''t think any of those. What I had thought, felt, was sheer utter relief and joy. Finally achieving the dream that I once thought to be impossible to be breached, I just only thought pure happiness." Then his eyes then turned hazy as he continued. "It was only when I watched a pair of elderly couple holding hands that I remembered, that I had someone. Someone to hold, to care, to love, to cry, to share my everything with. She was the one that made me realize, that there was another reason for my existence. She was the one that gave me strength and courage to continue walking the path of a spirit master." Flender watched with startled amazement, as tears started to streamed down Grandmaster''s face. Something that was near impossible for him to ever see his old brother in this sort of state. The only time he remembered him crying, was the day he left...Liu Erlong. "She was the one, that made my once hopeless and broken heart to beat crazy. She was the one, who made me once more fall in love. She''s the first reason, why I still continue this life. For without her, how could I still walk? Talk? Heck, even eating was worthless if she''s not here." "... Then why don''t you go to her, right now?" Flender asked with narrowed eyes. "Because I''m currently too weak." Grandmaster retorted. "Flender, you know the reason why I left her. Due to my inferiority complex, I had left her to the notion of not wanting her to be a laughing stock by everyone we walked by. I don''t want the woman I love to be ashamed and saddened. But alas, being the idiot that I am, I was too late to realize that she was a stubborn, loyal, faithful, headstrong and thick skinned woman that can''t be easily kicked by the masses." Flender''s eyes narrowed, he had already known about all this, so why is Yu Xiaogang narrating his stupidity? He then said. "I don''t hear the reason why you''re not going back to her side right now Xiaogang..." "...The clan, Flender." Grandmaster let out a sigh. "Do you think that my clan would let the union of Erlong and I, be? Don''t you remember how my uncle came at the right moment of our wedding and revealed Erlong''s real identity? Don''t you think that''s suspicious?" Flender''s eyes widened in startled realization. "Wait! You mean, that was a intentional move from your clan to separate you two?!" Grandmaster nodded his head and explained. "I''m once the number one known trash of the clan, even in the entire continent, and Erlong is someone with a great amount of talent that if she wasn''t feeling grief within her heart, I wouldn''t be surprised that she would have already brokethrough towards the Titled Douluo realm long ago. Moreover, we''re both from the same clan with blood ties. Do you really think the clan would accept that kind of embarrassment of having one of their most talented be wed to the most useless? Worst of all, blood relatives.?" Flender nodded then said. "But you''ve changed. Your already at Spirit Emperor realm with a hundred thousand year old spirit ring and spirit bone to boot! I''m sure no one would talk shit anymore about the two of you, well, besides behind your backs that is." Grandmaster nodded in agreement but then shook his head. "True, with my newfound spirit rank, the pressure of both Erlong and I will be tremendously lessen. But there are still old foggies within the clan that still hold on to the rules and would do anything to reinforce said rules. Regardless of how much of a powerhouse I may be now." "In the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon clan, the clan master, my brother, is not the most influential and powerful within the clan but the five elder seat, two guardians and grand elder. But even then, they would still need the permission of the clan master to do anything of seriousness. I think less than half of those seats of power are still remained to be dissatisfied with the union of Erlong and I, don''t be mistaken with that low percentage Flender." Grandmaster said with narrowed eyes. "Despite having less than half, those seats of power are both very powerful and influential than most. Those elders are very powerful Spirit Sages or Spirit Douluos and probably one Titled Douluo. I''m sure that even by now, they are still monitoring Liu Erlong to see if she would ever divorced our marriage and find another, probably someone who''s more talented and powerful than me as I''m confident that they hadn''t known about my current situation." "Then, what are you going to do?" Flender asked. "... I''ll continue increasing my spirit rank until it reaches the Spirit Sage rank, hopefully even Spirit Douluo, while at the same time training the students to become real monsters that would shake the entire continent. With that much leverage, I hope to believe that the clan would finally let us off and..." Grandmaster stopped as a feeling of reminiscent hit him. A beautiful young lady that once strung his heart strings, one whose talents were beyond him but still they were able to meet and talk to each other to the point of falling in love with one another. But that time has long passed, she''s already married and had child from what he had last heard of her. Besides, he''s already a married man as well. There''s no way she would still care about him and be petty. "Xiaogang? What''s wrong?" Noticing his sudden silence, Flender asked in concern. Grandmaster snapped out of his senses and shook his head. "I''m fine. Just, recalling the past." Flender rubbed his beard and nodded. "Alright Xiaogang, promise me as your friend and brother. That you will no longer run." "I promise Flender. As your friend and brother, I promise, I will no longer run from her. I will stay by her side till the end of our days. Till our breaths, the beats of our heart and the essence of our lives finally dispersed from this world. I promise, for I owe you, and most of all Liu Erlong the most, in this world. Just, give me more time..." Flender stared at the determined, unflinching hard eyes of Yu Xiaogang. The man that once stood alongside him and Liu Erlong against stronger opponents in their journey across the continent. The man who''s entire life was full of misery and despair. The man who had his entire life went from heaven to hell everywhere he goes. This is a man, who''s eyes were that of true conviction and determination to finish what he left behind. Flender smiled, thinking. ''So, you''ve really changed Xiaogang? If it were the former you, you would have still remained a coward and brushed off Erlong, but now? Now you have the eyes of a true man. I hope this path of yours won''t break you once more.'' "Okay enough with the drama." Flender said, standing up from the ground and brushing of any dirt and grime on him. Turning towards Grandmaster, with a raised eyebrow, he asked. "Well? Are you going to get up? Didn''t you say you were going to trained those little brats into monsters or was that all bark?" Flender then turned and walked away. Grandmaster blinked at his friend for a moment before smiling and followed after him. As they returned back, the duo noticed that they have questions for them but before they got interrogated, Grandmaster opened his mouth and said with a cold commanding tone that made everyone straightened up. "Xiao Yan, what the hell are you doing there being all dumb?! Didn''t I say choose between beat the shit out of your classmates or sparing against me? Well?! Choose!" As he said that, his six spirit rings flared up and the gigantic golden dragon head of Luo San Pao appeared on top of Grandmaster. Safe to say, Xiao Yan chose the former than the latter today. Though he would get to spar against Grandmaster, along with his friends, once in a while in the coming couple of months. Xiao Yan would go beat up the students, which was said easier than done, then the entirety of students would run from the Shrek Academy then towards Suotuo City without using spirit power while being both monitored and crushed by teacher Zhao''s gravity control spirit ability, because some of the students had f.u.c.k.e.d up during training. Once in a while, Xiao Yan and Tang San would teach the other students some of their techniques that are well suited for them as well. This was the entire routine of the students, getting beat up, learning techniques, given some lessons from the teachers, refining their skills and abilities for the entirety of three months. Chapter 68 - 68: Changes *Boom!* 5x Several explosion like sounds sounded out to the yard of the Shrek Academy. In the yard showed clouds of dust while a certain group of youths were all grasping in all exhaustion, all except for one. "What''s the matter? Is that it?" Xiao Yan smugly said as he stepped out of the most clouded area, revealing only in his long black training pants and shoes, spreading his arms to show he was unarmed. "Huu... Fourth brother, we''ve all been attacking you for the last half an hour and I''m just going to say that, that body of yours is just too bullshit!" Ma Hongjun complained, standing besides his elder sister, the pair of siblings were panting hard as they were both extremely exhausted in using their spirit fusion ability against Xiao Yan. Which was extremely taxing as it was harder to perform now that Ma Xiaotao''s spirit had evolved. Before Ma Xiaotao''s spirit evolution, she and her brother''s spirit fusion ability would not normally leave them this exhausted. But now her spirit did evolved, it had dropped their spirit harmonization percentage from the hundred percent rate to sixty percent. Enough to perform the spirit fusion without any worries except using more spirit power than their previous performance. Everyone nodded in agreement with Ma Hongjun as they all stood straight once more in a ready position. Even Oscar and Ning Rongrong, after giving the team boosts with their respective spirits, the pair had their fists turn hard as black iron before turning into gauntlets, they were all ready to attack him. Spirit power condensation armor. A revamped technique Xiao Yan got from Flame Emperor''s memories life in his world. It was a state to be in where a person''s energy will solidify on their body, like a secondary skin, to the point of becoming armor and it becomes possible to apply it to other objects. Honestly, it was like an upgraded Armament Haki from a certain anime from Xiao Yan''s past life. Three months passed of the entire shrek students being trained till they collapsed, as they all had to go beyond their limits everyday by being crushed to near death with Zhao Wuji''s gravity control while running from Shrek to Suotuo City without using their spirit power. Which was hell for every single one of them, though except for Xiao Yan who trained his body every single day by carrying his Heavy Xuan Ruler, with only his physical body strength, controlling it''s weight to the limits of what his body could handle and increased it when he''s being accustomed at the previous weight. His first spirit, the Heavy Xuan Ruler, is a strange and mysterious spirit that would constantly be absorbing his spirit power, hence slowing down his speed of cultivation. Though Grandmaster had a theory of why it was doing that; is that Xiao Yan''s Heavy Xuan Ruler''s passive trait of absorbing his spirit power was so it would acc.u.mulate the gathered up spirit power enough for it to have a final awakening. It may be, a final/third awakening of Xiao Yan''s spirit. Grandmaster had came up with the theory as Xiao Yan''s second awakening had came during the time when his spirit was too weak and had nothing great about it enough to actually have it''s own second awakening. In fact, it should had been impossible for it to happened. As it was just a big and edgeless sword. But for it to undergo a second awakening, it should have been but here it is. It had shocked Xiao Yan of what he had heard. Anyways, back to the battle! The group of students faced against one student, the formers'' had looks of determination and courage while the latter was nonchalant. Being support class type spirit masters, it was abnormal for Oscar and Ning Rongrong to participate in a fight but it was on the orders of Grandmaster. As monsters, they need to defy the common sense. Strengthening their bodies with physical training was just the beginning for the two, augmenting their bodies to fight spirit masters on the same rank as them regardless of their opponents type systems was the second. With the help of Xiao Yan and Tang San''s secret heaven defying techniques, hidden weapons and pills the two weakest of the students can fight those of the Spirit Elder realm and win easily, unless their opponents had some abnormal power that made them stronger than their own rank. The two support type spirit masters was also able to get combat lessons from the most skilled fighters; Tang San and Dai Mubai. The two of them are the most skilled and suited in CQC(Close Quarter Combat) of students respectively. Xiao Yan, Xun Er, Ma Xiaotao, Ma Hongjun, Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing are all could be said as experts in CQC in their own rights as well but Xiao Yan, Xun Er and the Ma siblings incorporates their fighting styles with flame based attacks while Xiao Wu''s fighting style was mostly on her lower body and Zhu Zhuqing was about speed and assassination like style. All which, are not compatible with Oscar and Ning Rongrong''s fighting capabilities. With Tang San and Dai Mubai however, being the only two that uses unarmed and physical skills of fighting, they were greatly compatible to teach the two support type spirit masters. Tang San narrowed his eyes, countless plans and strategies flashed through his eyes as he observed Xiao Yan merely standing carefreely in front of them, as if he wasn''t putting them in his eyes. But Tang San knew, that was just a facade to draw them in. Making them lose their cool, which then would have them create mistakes and openings. The whole team had already tasted that kind of strategy from Xiao Yan several times and they weren''t about to fall to it once more. ''But seriously, the guy is f.u.c.k.i.n.g annoying!'' Tang San and everyone inwardly thought with scowls on their faces. Xiao Yan''s act of being an a.s.s is so overbearing, that even though they had already been deceived by it they just can''t help losing themselves to anger. Heck, even Xun Er, who everyone knew that would always be on Xiao Yan''s side, was also annoyed and irritated at the guy to the point of giving him the finger. Tang San, calmly taking a short deep breath in, revolved his Mysterious Heaven Skill to send his spirit power to his back. This match of nine versus one was ordered by Grandmaster, after he and the teachers spar against Xiao Yan, only to find out that his tyrannical body could now tank attacks of Spirit Sages after he took severe beatings from them. So, all the teachers decided that Xiao Yan would be able to handle all the other students. And they were right. As this marks as the 49th battle they have to date, with 49 - 0 of Xiao Yan''s favor. The group was determined that they would not lose today, no, they will rise and defeat the tyrannical emperor that had been plaguing their nightmares with his gloating and boasts. ''No more!'' They all thought, their eyes burning in determination. "Xun Er, this time, don''t hesitate to use your third spirit ability! When she does, Ma Xiaotao and Ma Hongjun, prepare to use your spirit fusion ability once more. While the rest of us; me, Xiao Wu, Dai Mubai, Zhu Zhuqing, Oscar, Ning Rongrong and Xun Er once more would hit him with everything that we got!" Tang San immediately gave out his plan, as he used spirit power condensation armor on his torso, legs and eight spider lances. Taking a darker purple blue shade, becoming a slick, cool and powerful looking armor. The others followed his lead, each condensing their spirit power to armor on their bodies. Oscar and Ning Rongrong armored their two pairs of legs with grieves, with silver and pink color on them respectively. Ma Hongjun and Dai Mubai had their torso and arms condensed into armor. Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing and Ma Xiaotao however had armor on their torso and legs. While Xun Er however, had her torso and four entire limbs become a golden shin slick beautiful almost complete set of armor. Xiao Yan merely watched as he saw his friends ready to try and beat him up. He knew that they were both frustrated and annoyed at him for being now unbeatable, body wise, for the last dozens of spars they had. Though he knew as much as durable his body was, it wasn''t able to defend much against spirit powered base attacks. His body was still mortal after all. It was just thanks to his spirit power and heavenly flames, cancelling and burning their attacks that he was virtually unbeatable and unkillable. Right now, Xiao Yan was about 60% of his total spirit power repertoire, his vigor 100% as he still hasn''t used his second spirit or any skills that uses the vigor within his body, his spiritual power was about 70-80% as it took a toll on defending against Tang San''s spiritual attacks using his Purple Demon Eyes, that he somehow managed to recreate a f.u.c.k.i.n.g Tsukyumi! Thankfully his spiritual power was above his so Xiao Yan was able to escape in time before he was sieged by them, again. While the Dragon Qi within his body remained untouched until he really needed to us it. It was a hidden ace of his after all. Currently, Xiao Yan wanted to test out how much his body could handle and do. At the first couple of spars, he had used his first spirit and it''s two spirit ring abilities. By this time, he would have already had them down on the ground in defeat. So for the last dozens and now spars, Xiao Yan decided to see how much his limits lay with his peers. Now that he calculated his energy reserves and finished his line of thinking, there''s only one thing Xiao Yan could do now. Smirk arrogantly and taunt the hell out of them. "Oho, so you wanna beat me huh? Well? I''m here! Come on! Beat me! I''m right here!" Xiao Yan loudly exclaimed as he spread his arms high up and almost quoted the line of his favorite actor in his previous life. Throbbing veins appeared on all the group''s foreheads. A malicious like aura started to leaked out of the bodies of the group. Their mouths turned into crooked smile and evilly chuckled as their eyes were locked on the standing Xiao Yan. As the nine students were preparing to try and beat up one student, the teachers were just standing on top of the roofs of the academy. Grandmaster and the teachers watched in both fascination and twitching expressions. The former especially was feeling like he should get angry that one of his students is currently being arrogant and stupid during combat, but knowing that it was just that student''s one of many annoying strategies that would ultimately lead him to victory most of his battled had made him let it go. "What have we done..." Zhao Wuji muttered in horror along with the three teachers nodding. "We, we created a monster! A unstoppable, unkillable, undefeated monster! Xiao Yan truly deserves the title, King of Monsters." "Get it together man!" Flender yelled, slapping Zhao Wuji''s face then grabbing his collar, he continued. "Be proud! This monster we''re all seeing, this, King of Monsters, is our greatest creation that will make us all proud as he shake this entire continent!" He then let go of Zhao Wuji and turned to looked back. Zhao Wuji and the three teachers looked at each other, realization on their eyes, they all nodded and turned back towards the one-sided massacre. Grandmaster remained silent as he continued surveying the battle but inwardly, he was extremely satisfied and terrified at the growth of the students. The students with the lowest ranks; Ma Hongjun, Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing that were all at the Spirit Grandmaster rank had just brokethrough to the thirtieth rank, which makes them unofficial Spirit Elders. Within just three months, they had reached the Spirit Elder realm from spirit ranks 26 - 27. Three to four ranks of rise. Which is terrifying to have the three reached such spirit rank within three months, while doing physical training and practicing their techniques at the same time. It should have been impossible for the trio to brokethrough a lot of spirit ranks. But with the help of Xiao Yan alchemy, concocting two separate pills, which are called tier 3 Increased Spirit Power Absorption Pill and tier 3 Increased Mentality and Comprehension Pill. The names are pretty explanatory, the former pill lets the user have an increased of absorbing spirit power and the latter increases their mentality and comprehension to have a faster speed in concreting their minds to easily achieved a breakthrough. The other seven students had one or two increased of spirit ranks within the three months, but that was because they all were more focused in developing their bodies, and also they didn''t take the Increased Spirit Power Absorption Pill and only took the Increased Mentality and Comprehension Pill so they have a faster time to understand the new techniques that was given to them. Though Dai Mubai had asked for a Increased Spirit Power Absorption Pill after his skills on his techniques were satisfactory for him, which enabled him to be the second to unofficially reached the Spirit Ancestor just a week ago. Yup. Second. Xun Er had finally brokethrough to the Spirit Ancestor Realm a couple months ago. Making her the first and youngest Spirit Ancestor in the history of Shrek Academy. Weirdly enough, Xun Er had gotten herself a fourth spirit ring two days after her breakthough towards the Spirit Ancestor Realm and it was also a ten thousand year old spirit ring! Though everyone was confused, as they don''t know who his grandfather and how powerful he is, especially Tang San and Xiao Wu, they met the old guy before and they hadn''t known he was a powerful expert and just knew he was a great alchemist. It was just thanks to Grandmaster waving off their worries and gave a small explanation of who Xiao Yan''s grandfather really is. Mostly saying that Yao Lao is a powerful spirit master and is mostly infamous as an alchemist. This further confused most of them with only Flender, Zhao Wuji and Ning Rongrong paling and kept their mouths shut. As the former two was more active in the past matters in the continent, of course they knew who Yao Lao was. While Ning Rongrong knew, as she had heard of him from her father. Back to the pills, it was especially great for Xiao Yan. As there was a few techniques that was downloaded to his brain, memories from Flame Emperor, that it took a bit of a toll for him to digest them all. So he took one or a few pills of Increased Mentality and Comprehension Pill so he could easily digest and understand the techniques in his head. The pills had really surprised Grandmaster and the teachers. It was the first time they heard such a pill and the latter were further shocked that Xiao Yan was the one who created it, especially as the originator. But Grandmaster wasn''t surprised, as he already knew that the kid was the surrogate grandson at the frankly number one alchemist in the entire continent. So it wasn''t a stretch to say that he would be shocked that Xiao Yan wasn''t a genius alchemist. Grandmaster looked down at the scroll on his hands. On it was the current written spirit ranks of the students. Dai Mubai ¨C Spirit Rank: 40 Unofficial Spirit Ancestor Ma Xiaotao ¨C Spirit Rank: 38 Spirit Elder Tang San ¨C Spirit Rank: 34 Spirit Elder Xiao Yan ¨C Spirit Rank: 36 Spirit Elder Ma Hongjun ¨C Spirit Rank: 30 Unofficial Spirit Elder Xun Er ¨C Spirit Rank: 42 Spirit Ancestor Xiao Wu ¨C Spirit Rank: 34 Spirit Elder Ning Rongrong ¨C Spirit Rank: 30 Unofficial Spirit Elder Zhu Zhuqing ¨C Spirit Rank: 30 Unofficial Spirit Elder A smirk appeared on Grandmaster''s face, muttering. "The golden era... This is the time where geniuses rise and set changes upon the world. And those kids, no, monsters would be the ones to go beyond and above to change this world." Back to the group. Xun Er''s eyes blaze in golden flames, four spirit rings appeared underneath her feet surrounding her body. Golden flames surrounded her body and her third spirit ring lit up in blackened color. The world slowed down to a crawl ominously, all the colors of the surrounding slowly turned gold. The grass, trees, skies, houses, the teachers and Xiao Yan distorted between their natural colors until everything stopped and turned completely golden. This is Xun Er''s third spirit ring ability, Golden Distortion World. Stopping time in a certain range around her while turning everything around her golden. She can also control who to freeze and not in time within her ability. Xun Er let out a breath out, her spirit power reserves now being drained, she turned towards her friends and nodded. Without any hesitation, the Ma siblings hugged each other with their spirits activated. Their spirits projected themselves behind them, a fiery Phoenix appeared behind Ma Hongjun while a Phoenix with dragon like features appeared behind Ma Xiaotao, then the two spirits merged with each other. Everyone jumped back as a vortex of torrential flames appeared where the Ma siblings were and a moment later, a gigantic 15m flaming bird with scales for feathers and a pair of horns on it''s head appeared towering over a frozen smirking Xiao Yan with it''s dark purple eyes looking down on him. This is the spirit fusion ability, the Evil Dragonian Phoenix. With Ma Xiaotao mostly in control as she''s the one with the higher spirit rank between the two. In this form, the Ma siblings have the combat prowess of a Spirit Emperor and they could only handle this form within under a minute. And with the boosts of 30 increased% in both power and speed, it could be said that their current combat prowess could now equal a Spirit Sage! It was enough more than enough for them to unleash hell upon a completely frozen and defenseless opponent. In any normal situation, they and the others would have never condone this kind of act. As it was both dishonorable and brutal. But the frustration of their numerious defeats and knowing first hand that Xiao Yan''s body is powerful enough that they couldn''t even put a scratch on him normally, had made them decide that they don''t care anymore. Because, they were all fresh out of mercy. Without any hesitation, the Dragonian Phoenix opened it''s beak and let out torrents of crimson purple flames on Xiao Yan''s flames while also stomping on his body with their clawed feet. After an entire minute of spewing flames and stomping, the spirit fusion ability of the siblings came undone as they dropped to the ground, both unconscious. But Tang San noticed something before Ma Xiaotao had succ.u.mbed to darkness. Realization and resignation had momentarily flashed through her eyes and a small mutter that he was able to caught, albeit barely. "Fak.." Was what Tang San had heard. That rang alarms within his mind and heart as he turned back towards Xiao Yan. He now felt suspicion and doubt at the current situation. He used his Purple Demon Eyes but noticed nothing strange. But he still felt the same uncomfortable feeling in his instincts. Normally he would thought this further through, but they''re in a tight schedule of dealing with Xiao Yan so he doesn''t have the time to deal with this issue. As Tang San was momentarily distracted, the others helped the two up while they stare back towards where Xiao Yan is. The entire body of Xiao Yan continued to be ablaze in crimson purple flames, burning and melting the remaining clothes on himself until he was fully b.a.r.e n.a.k.e.d. But even when he was bathed in the flames, he remained unharmed and uninjured. Everyone clicked their tongue and Tang San said. "The flames was useless, that wasn''t a surprise, but I had hoped that stomping Xiao Yan that could equal a Spirit Sage power could have at least give some damage on him but, shit! Looks like plan B, everyone, beat up Xiao Yan with everything you got!" Then beat up Xiao Yan they did with everything they got. Oscar gave everyone his first spirit ability sausages while Ning Rongrong boosted them while sending punches and kicks at Xiao Yan''s, more specifically, his pressure points. Tang San also followed after in attacking Xiao Yan''s body''s pressure points and used his spider legs to absorbed his energies till he couldn''t anymore, his poison was useless on the guy after all as his heavenly flames would burn it, to further weakened his overall defenses. After which Xiao Wu grabbed Xiao Yan''s body and tossed him to the air, her third and first spirit rings lit up, she teleported around while viscously crushing her brother''s body and tossing him all around as she teleported around till she got tired. Then, as Xiao Wu sent Xiao Yan''s still frozen body flying down, both Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing appeared in their spirit transformations their spirit rings lit up with white and black condensed spirit power wing on their backs as they struck Xiao Yan with their claws, with the former using his third spirit ability transformation and second spirit ability light attacks that send the body crashing down the ground. *Boom!* It created a giant crater with Xiao Yan, some light injuries on his body, in the center of it all. "Six minutes and thirty seconds... Half a second left but I think this will be enough." Xun Er muttered as she walked and stood at the top corner of the crater. Golden spirit power surrounded her body and she raised her right hand. Her eyes narrowed, inwardly counting. ''20...'' "Forgive me Yan, but this is all your fault you know? Being a douche and all. So, I''m going to, borrow, this skill you''ve been secretly working on for the last couple of months to use it on you. Don''t worry, I know that you''ll survive this, I know you do." ''9, 8, 7...'' A golden flame ball appeared on her palm at the size of a basketball. Slowly, her spirit power spiraled and surged towards her golden flame letting it grow in size. From a small ball, it had grown a hundred times it''s size, easily filling the crater. It''s golden molten flames of heat was so great, that it had melted her surroundings. It made the others to immediately jumped back as well. Dai Mubai stared in shock at Xun Er, saying in a scared tone of voice. "What the hell is she thinking?! Has she gone insane!? Xun Er''s using too much of her spirit power! Shit, I think even a Spirit Sage wouldn''t survive that." Everyone, except the unconscious siblings that was carried by Tang San and Xiao Wu, nodded in agreement. "What the hell did Xiao Yan do, that made her so pissed off?!" Zhu Zhuqing wondered out loud, her eyes clearly afraid as she stared. Back at Xun Er, with a big golden ball of flames on her palm, she closed her eyes, tilted her head, and smiled sweetly. ''5, 4, 3...'' "Yan, next time, don''t be such a douche, especially to me." She then unhesitatingly tossed the gigantic nuke like golden flame ball at Xiao Yan''s still frozen body, with the same smirk plastered on his face. While the others panicked and tried to stopped her, Tang San finally notices something strange. Using his Purple Demon Eyes that enhances his vision, Tang San caught a miniscule, glitch?, on Xiao Yan''s face, specifically the small twitched of his smirk. ''No...'' Realization dawn upon Tang San''s daze expression and he immediately used his entire spiritual power reservoir to further enhanced his Purple Demon Eyes and... "Cruel Sun." ''2, 1...'' Then, the whole world burned and the reality around had finally been destroyed. ======================================================================================== Omake 4: Defenders of Soul Land? Xiao Yan, Tang San and Yu Xiaogang fiercely glared at the purple smirking Titan before him, who had a golden gauntlet with six powerful stones embedded on the piece of armor. The purple being, holding up high his arm that held the golden gauntlet on, evilly said towards Xiao Yan. "Ah, Flame Emperor, no matter what you do. You can''t stopped me. For I," The stones in his gauntlet shone in their respective lights. "am the inevitable!" A shadow cast upon the trio, with Xiao Yan raising his right hand up in the air. The smirk on the being widened, as he thought the three had submitted to him, but it slowly fell as he heard a sudden booming sound. Now he felt a sudden fierce gust of wind coming behind, causing him to looked behind to see a big black object coming towards him, with the speed that broke the speed barrier, it was only thanks to his battle experience and instincts that he was able to dodged in time as the object passed through him. He then turned back in anger to the trio, only to crossed his arms in front of him as he felt a searing heat force of torrential flames and lightning rammed towards him. The purple being gasped then tilted his head to see Tang San in lean sleek fully suited armor with his armored eight spider legs out of his back and Yu Xiaogang was also in a fully suited golden complete body armor with the hundred meter tall Luo San Pap standing behind him snarling at the Titan. But the Titan''s focus was on Xiao Yan, who was wielding a long and thick black edgeless giant sword on hand and his entire body was completely bathed in multicolored flames and other elemental laws of the universe. Xiao Yan''s eyes crackled with his power as he stared defiantly at the purple being. Then he raised his weapon high straight, and smiled. Alarm bells rang in the being''s head, as he quickly communicated with his subordinates to order his army to attack, but it was too late. As behind the trio, portals made out of golden flames appeared that held a large amount of people with Xun Er leading them, wearing golden and red beautiful robe, floating in the air with both of her hands covered with golden flames. Dai Mubai, Oscar, Ma Xiaotao, Ma Hongjun, Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, Flender, Zhao Wuji, Liu Erlong, a fat green-skinned guy with weird ears, etc etcetera followed behind Xun Er, all of them doning on their battle clothes and had their spirits activated. Xiao Yan smirked as he lowered his weapon to point it to the ground and embedded it there, while continuing to stare at the purple Titan, and loudly proclaimed. "Shrek, assemble!" Chapter 69 - Im beaten but Ill get back up So sorry guys for not updating for an entire week. It''s just been a hell of week for me so I didn''t have the time, nor enthusiasm, to write a chapter until Sunday. Sorry bout that but everyone has a shitty week once in a while, am I right? The newly uploaded chapter is what I wrote yesterday, Sunday, and finished today. It''s 4k tops words, I seriously don''t know how I did this... Anyways, I want to talk about something. Names. I want you readers to help me name a few things cause I really suck at naming things. Like really. So here are the things that I want you readers to help me decide. *Xiao Yan''s second sword(katana) form name ¨C something original or anything that''s not cringy like what I had named it. Ugh, hate my marathon of animes. *The ten Shrek students team name ¨C someone recommended Ten Commandments, I also really wanted it too at first, but I want y''all''s opinions. *Pills and ingredients that Xiao Yan would concoct ¨C I have to admit, I would forget the ingredients used for some OP pills in cultivation novels, that are really good to used and thought of using them in the story but they aren''t shown in wiki! That''s some BS. *(Spoiler) What will be the names of the children of Xiao Yan? ¨C I ain''t saying nothin till we get the full cast of the harem members, who I also would not tell nor admit who they are. *What the hell does a certain dress of girls in China wore? It starts with a q... Chapter 70 - 69: Mind Over Reality – Rematch!? A/N: Be advised, there is some info dump for readers who hasn''t read or watched the original Douluo Dalu down below. * Tang San slowly opened his eyes, slight fear creeping in his heart as the image of the ball of death and destruction on Xun Er''s palm replayed in his mind. When he fully opened his eyes, he opened them wide with twitching lips as he stared down at the now adorned golden armored figure Xiao Yan standing in the middle of a giant crater, with everything within it burning and melting except the young man standing with golden armor and his arms crossed in front of him. Xiao Yan wore a golden sleeveless armor that only covered his torso, white bleached wild fur was on the lower end of his armor and two more on both sides. His black green-tinted hair was disheveled, his smirk was replaced with a excited grin, and some burns appeared on his skin that was now patching itself up. Tang San looked around, surveying his surroundings for the damages caused by them earlier on, only to find out that there was only the crater. He was shocked though, not at some of the undamaged environment, but at the act of what his spider lancers are currently doing. "F.u.c.k!" Tang San cursed out loud as he saw his eight spider lances had been embedded themselves into the flesh of his unconscious teammates, all of which are standing in place except for the Ma siblings that were prone on the ground. All sharp appendages are all sticking into different parts of the their bodies, their spirit power and stamina slowly being drained and be absorbed into Tang San''s own body as his own. He was draining all of them dry of their energies, well, almost everyone. "Cursing, Xiao San? That''s not like you at all..." Xun Er giggled as she melted the spider lance that had been sticking into her right arm, trying to absorbed her spirit power and stamina but it was futile as the heavenly flame within her body had acted as some sort of barrier to prevent the spider lance from absorbing any energy from her. Tang San let out a sigh of relief that he at least wasn''t able to absorbed one of his teammates energies, though his lips twitched as he saw and felt one of his spider lances being melted. "It''s a relief that you''re okay Xun Er, but really? Did you seriously have to melt it? You know it''ll take a while, a few days at least, for it to regenerate back right?!" Xun Er shrugged as she stepped towards the cliffside of the crater, staring down at Xiao Yan. Her body covered with her golden flames and eyes turned golden, and she nonchalantly replied. "Not my fault that you and the others were easily caught in Yan''s spiritual attack, making me the target of our teammates attacks while dealing the one we''re supposed to attack..." Tang San then noticed that Xun Er had some severe bruises on her body, that was slowly being healed, and several cuts on her dress, that he promptly looked away from. He felt apologetic and regretful as what she said was true from what he has seen. Tang San knew about Xiao Yan''s one of the most powerful trump card in his hand, Mind Over Reality, a powerful spiritual attack that puts anyone into a perfect hypnosis. Tricking a person''s five senses into whatever the caster let them see as reality. It wasn''t really a threat before as he and others knew that Xiao Yan''s spiritual ability, Mind Over Reality, had only a single target range use. But that all changed when a week into their hell training, Xiao Yan''s spiritual power had brokethrough into the 6th tier! A spiritual power might equaling to that of a Spirit Emperor, that even some Spirit Emperors wouldn''t even have. At that moment of breakthrough, it had evolved Mind Over Reality range of targets into a dozen or even more! That was the day, Tang San and everyone else experienced hell when Xiao Yan uses the ability. Tang San had tried to recreate the skill to counter it with Xiao Yan or even get back at him but it fell short. Tang San''s spiritual ability, Temporal Chaos, was to have the same effect of Xiao Yan''s ability but even beyond it to effect the target''s sense of time and nervous systems. But alas, it also followed the same principal of not being able to affect people who are beyond his spiritual power. Back to the Mind Over Reality, the only weaknesses of Xiao Yan''s spiritual ability, is that it cannot be cast upon people who has a stronger spiritual power than him, which Tang San and co are not, people who made a connection with him like Ma Xiaotao, and making Xiao Yan lose concentration. Tang San now understood why Ma Xiaotao acted strange for a moment before she went unconscious. She and Ma Hongjun needed to reconnect for them to have their spirits fused, but that would also make hers and Xiao Yan''s connection severed temporarily. The moment she and her brother''s spirit fusion was undone, she had probably subconsciously reconnected with Xiao Yan then finally found out the truth. ''And the reason why I''m able to break free from Xiao Yan''s control is probably due to Xun Er, enough so for me to escape the moment I use the Purple Demon Eyes full output. A moment of luck to brought me back to the real world. That answers those question, but...'' The seven spider lances retracted back into Tang San''s back, making his teammates fall into the ground. Making a silent apology to them and he would make it up to them later on, he stepped besides Xun Er and asked. "How were you not affected?" Xun Er lightly glanced at him for a moment before turning back towards Xiao Yan with her hands clenched into fists, and answered. "After the spirit fusion ability attack on him, then I was suddenly besieged by you all." Tang San gasped in surprise. "I don''t know how, but Xiao Yan was able to use his spiritual ability on me when I used my third spirit ring ability. I unknowingly got dropped into his palm to be played with, until I pieced what was going on it at the time when Oscar and Rongrong was attacking me." Xun Er lightly slid her right foot back fluidly, her hands coming up high into opened palms, golden searing flames bathed her body that converted into her beautiful slender golden armor set. The golden flames vanished for a moment before they reappeared on her hands and pair of feet with her four spirit rings circling around her body. "...Okay, how was he able to bypass your ability to control time and controlled us at the same time?" Tang San asked, blue spirit power covered his entire torso for a moment before it slowly condensed into a familiar dark-purple piece of armor that now covers his entire neck and his lower part of his face, covering his nose and entire jaw into a dark blue breathing mask that strangely looked similar to a certain ice ninja of a death match universe. Tang San lowered his pair of arms to his waist area, spreading his hands opened, two 20cm long and 5cm wide finely sharp iron hidden blades popped out of his wrists, which is under his long blue jacket. He let his spirit power cover the pair of hidden blades, darkening into a eerie darkish-blue, making it looked as if it were blades made out of the total dark night sky. Although it wouldn''t penetrate through Xiao Yan''s defenses but he''ll improvised with what he has. "My guess? He either simply wasn''t effected by my spirit ability, which is impossible, or he is able to somehow control time as well." Tang San''s eyes widened in shock. Controlling time? It''s impossible for someone to do so, if they don''t have the spirit to have such a passive ability or a spirit ring ability like Xun Er''s. Which in Xiao Yan''s case, who dosen''t have both of those, is truly impossible! "You, Xiao Wu and I, and probably everyone else around us, know that Xiao Yan is someone who doesn''t follow common sense and capable of creating miracles like those techniques and pills he gave us. He is someone, that given enough, I wouldn''t be surprised he would become a god." Tang San nodded in agreement on some of what she said. As he himself, someone whose had a previous life from another world that trains in assassination arts like poison, hidden weapons, martial skills, etc. Couldn''t help but be awed at the abilities and techniques Xiao Yan has. Especially since Xiao Yan had somehow changed the Mysterious Heaven Skill, the greatest treasure of the Tang Sect of his world, inner structures and workings to fit the former''s body of hosting heavenly flames. As someone whose also a practioner of the Mysterious Heaven Skill, Tang San was curious if he could use the newly remodeled version of Xiao Yan''s. But sadly, the latter stated that it could be used if someone had a heavenly flame in their body. Tang San''s impression of Xiao Yan, is someone that is destined for greatness, if he was able to change the Mysterious Heaven Skill, a powerful and mysterious skill that was held within the inner circle of the sect that not even the current sect master of his previous life was able to unlock most of it''s secrets, much less make any changes to it, Tang San''s certain that within just a decade or less Xiao Yan would become a Titled Douluo! Sometimes he thought that Xiao Yan is also a reincarnated person, just like him. But it can''t be that convenient, right? ''Also, a god? Yeah no'' Tang San snorted. ''Gods aren''t real, or from what I know of, even if they were its not like mortals like us can easily become one. Portrayals of Gods, Demons and Immortals from my past are just too far fetched for me or anyone to think that someone can become one. Close to one I''ll believe, considering what I heard about Titled Douluos.'' "So, I''m going to guess you fought against all of us? Even Xiao Yan?" Tang San curiously asked. "Yes on the former and no on the latter. For the past five minutes I''ve been fighting against you all except for Yan," Xun Er''s eyes narrowed and her body tensed as she looked to see Xiao Yan taking a single step towards them. "Although I''ve been fighting against everyone, I was still keeping my guard up for any surprise attacks but there was nothing. It wasn''t until I was just going to crashed into the ground from Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing''s double team attack that I was able to sensed where Xiao Yan is, that I quickly used my fourth spirit ring ability to change our positions and immediately used that huge flame attack on him." Tang San nodded in awe and respect at Xun Er, for her to defend against all their constant attacks, keeping up her guard at the same time and immediately go for a retaliation against Xiao Yan, such multitasking ability is something some control system spirit masters at her spirit rank wouldn''t be able to do! He always knew that when comparing in skills, intellect and overall control abilities of the surrounding and against most stronger spirit masters against her, he would easily come on top, but on battle instincts, environmental analysis and quick thinking? She would beat him by a mile away. He still can''t believe and understand how a girl her age would have a better understanding in battle than him, who has a couple of decades of experience in battle due to his past life. But how could Tang San know; that Xun Er is a hundred thousand year old spirit beast dragon, who are all known for their instincts, and have more than eons of battle against spirit beasts and humans? Snapping out of his senses, Tang San then asked. "I still so confused. What about our battle against him, I mean, you? What really happened?" "...After Oscar and Ning Rongrong boosted all of you." The two turned their attention back towards Xiao Yan, who had been silently standing in front of them with a passive and grinning face. "I manipulated your senses to have you guys think that Xun Er was me and vice versa. The Xun Er by your side fighting, or well, passively waiting by the side? That was me. You guys can see me but Xun Er wasn''t able to." Cruel and brutal. And so much more when Xiao Yan revealed of what he had done but Tang San and the others are already accustomed to this kind of treatment as by the orders of Grandmaster, they needed to be tempered in both body and mind when they come across opponents who doesn''t give a shit about their well beings. They needed this, but that dosen''t mean they like it. For some reason though, Xiao Yan was more calm and the first to got used to it. The battle trainings he went under the teachers and students were proof. It was like, he already understood the way of being cruel and efficient. But how could they know that Xiao Yan had been assimilating more of the Flame Emperor''s life? The memories and experiences of another life have been changing his personalities and mannerisms. He''s still the same but at the same time not. He''s still the same cunning, carefree, protective and determined Xiao Yan but much more cunning, scheming and m.a.t.u.r.e than before. Whether this change is good or not, is something the others are yet to decide. "Just as what happened, when Xun Er was besieged by Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing''s attacks, she was sent crashing into the ground and, before anyone complains, I know that she''s more durable than even Spirit Kings, so I knew she would be fine and had let her be." Xiao Yan stopped as he placed his right hand on the sternum area of his armor. "I needed her out of the game first cause she was the biggest threat in your group, what with her time ability and her flame is the only one that can actually do damage to me. So when Xun Er was just moments away from being out of the game, I unknowingly let down my guard for a moment, relaxing my mind, then she used that moment to change the whole game." Xiao Yan looked up back towards the bright golden eyes of Xun Er, saying. "How did you do it? Changing our positions and stopping my entire movements in here? If it weren''t for my External Spirit Bone, I would have been injured enough that my regeneration wouldn''t be able to caught up, making it so my hold on the others would be cut off and hence being flanked by all of you and it''ll be my loss." Tang San and Xun Er both frowned as they heard what Xiao Yan said. External Spirit Bone. The most sought after and d.e.s.i.r.ed upon the categories of spirit bones. Spirit bones are a kind of extremely unusual thing. One might say, they are something Spirit Masters most hope of obtaining in their dreams. To put it simply, spirit rings and spirit bones both come from spirit beasts. But they also possess enormous differences from spirit rings. First, the probability of spirit bones appearing are only one in a thousand, or even less, generally speaking, only when the circ.u.mstances of killing the spirit beast has some special circ.u.mstances is it possible for spirit bones to appear after killing it, not at all like how a spirit ring will appear from every spirit beast. Consequently, spirit bones have become extremely uncommon, and extremely precious. Another difference between spirit bones and spirit rings is that it doesn''t require like spirit rings for whoever kills the spirit beast to use it. After obtaining spirit bones they can even be traded. Spirit rings add spirit abilities. Although also somewhat improving the Spirit Master''s own capabilities, their main purpose is after all to add spirit abilities. But spirit bones happen to be the opposite. Spirit bones might not add abilities, but the improvement to the Spirit Masters themselves is tremendous. Even more importantly, the growth capability spirit bones possess make them even more valuable than spirit rings. The abilities spirit rings add will all improve along with the growth of spirit power, this you are familiar with. But it should also be known, the spirit rings'' age limit will restrict their growth. Even if it''s a ninetieth ranked or higher Title Douluo, his first spirit ring ability still won''t grow to a sufficiently formidable level, this principle, but spirit bones are different. Spirit bones will not be restricted by the age of their spirit beast, and will only evolve along with the Spirit Master''s own strength. In other words, the earlier spirit bones are obtained, the more time it will have to evolve. Although there are many bones in a person''s body, they are subdivided into a few larger sections. Therefore, generally speaking, one is also only able to absorb a few types of spirit bones: four limbs, head and torso. In other words, an ordinary person would be able to absorb six spirit bones, just like a Spirit Master is able to absorb nine spirit rings, the quality of spirit bones as well as effect on the Spirit Master, mainly depends on how early they''re absorbed and whether their properties are compatible. Right now, among the Shrek students there are only two students currently in possession and of use. They are undoubtedly Tang San and Xiao Yan, and most importantly, they both have External Spirit Bones. The former has a eight spider lances on attached to his back while the latter has a piece of golden armor that covers only his torso area but also covers his entire body in a golden protective layer when being attacked. External spirit bones are a kind of miraculous existence, a special existence apart from the six main classes of spirit bones. If speaking of the probability of common spirit bones appearing from spirit beasts as one in a thousand, then, the probability of external spirit bones appearing isn''t even one in ten thousand. Moreover the prerequisites for absorbing the external spirit bone, is that you must first absorb the spirit ring of the spirit beast this spirit bone came from. In the Spirit Master world, to Spirit Masters, the most well-known treasures have a ranking like heavenly flames, called a Spirit Master''s dream ranking. Within it, external spirit bones have always occupied the Spirit Master''s dream ranking''s second place. Second only to the first rank, the almost impossible existence of the hundred thousand year spirit ring. And right now, Xiao Yan is displaying that said External Spirit Bone which called the Golden King''s Aegis he had unknowingly gotten from the Golden Lion King. It is a torso piece golden armor that not only it protects the user''s entire body in a golden protective layer of lightning spirit power energy but it also increases the user''s strength, defense and speed by 150% and it''s layer of protection is so powerful that not even an entire realm of rank can one penetrate through it. Tang San, who also has a External Spirit Bone as Xiao Yan, somewhat feel cheated that his wasn''t so OP. Before, Tang San and the others had a chance of defeating Xiao Yan if they could trapped him and attacked him all at the same time. But that plan fell apart and now their target is starting to get a little serious. Xun Er cracked a sweet smile towards and said. "Hm? Yan, are your ears not working from constantly talking to yourself that you didn''t hear how I did it?" Xiao Yan right eye twitched and replied. "Before you start talking crap about me, at least make your own skill, you skill stealing copycat!" Xun Er blushed a deep red on her face at what she heard and started retorting incoherently while Tang San snickered at her, which earned him a pair of golden eyes glare. Xun Er''s fourth spirit ring ability is currently a mystery to everyone except herself. She herself said it was one of her greatest trump card that she wouldn''t easily tell to anyone, even to Xiao Yan. The times she used it during her spar with Xiao Yan had divulge it''s information of increasing all her attributes by 40%! It had immediately shocked everyone who heard her, as increasing an entire attributes of someone is something in the realm of support type system Spirit Douluos and Titled Douluos can only do! To which those types of support type spirit masters are as rare as hundred year old spirit beasts! Now, she said she just used her fourth spirit ring ability that changed the positions of others like it were teleportation! Was she lying about the increased of attributes? ''No wait.'' Xiao Yan''s eyes narrowed in doubt. ''In previous spars, I myself been fighting her during the times she used her fourth spirit ring ability and I know for a fact it increases her overall attributes by 40%. So, how? A spirit ring cannot have two abilities, unless it''s hundred thousand years old and more, so how Xun Er did it?'' Xiao Yan was troubled at the mysterious ability of Xun Er that he thought he would sought the answer from his two ghosts but decided against it. He had made a deal with the two former godly beings that unless it''s a life and death situation, he wouldn''t sought for their help. He wanted to grow for himself after all. He can''t be overly reliant on them all the time. Unknown to Xiao Yan, the said two former godly beings smiled proudly in the mindscape of the former. Then one of the beings stretched his hand towards the other, mouthing: "pay up". "Okay fine, don''t tell me." Xiao Yan let out a sigh and with a another step forward he jumped into a series of blurs into the sky that made Tang San and Xun Er immediately tensed up. The technique that he had used was something the two had seen before and currently practising to use it as well. The second stage of the Instant Movement Technique, Void Instant Movement Technique. Void Instant Movement Technique is a movement technique that allows the user to move faster than the eye can follow. The second stage or a variation of the original Instant Movement Technique. Used by concentrating the internal strength or vigor into the feet to get from point A to point B in the least amount of steps, but allowing the user, in this case, to "kick" on empty air, instead of the ground. Xiao Yan had finally found a way to use his vigor by using it in techniques that dosen''t work on spirit power. To which only a couple of the students could practiced it as well. Continuesly stepping in zig zags up in the air, Xiao Yan stopped 10 meters high above where Tang San and Xun Er stood, with his arms crossed between his c.h.e.s.t as a flashed of gleam light appeared in his eyes. Xun Er and Tang San''s eyes narrowed before they widened as their ears picked up the sounds of air being slashed towards them. Without thinking, they immediately used their own set of movement technique to moved away from their current position. Tang San moved to the left while Xun Er moved to the right, the two successfully dodging a series of attacks on where they were. They both looked back to see Dai Mubai, Oscar, Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu standing just behind where they were and with their spirits activated. They all looked extremely exhausted and was on the verge of falling down but they stared at Tang San and Xun Er with looks of determination. "You can''t get away..." Dai Mubai growled. "Hah, hah... We will have our vengeance!" Xiao Wu declared as she went into her battle stance. Tang San and Xun Er both looked confused and shocked at what their friends had done, attacking them, but then they noticed that their friends'' eyes seemed hazy and glowing green as well as what they were saying. They had been hypnotized by Xiao Yan into thinking that Tang San and Xun Er are him, making them attack the duo. Tang San gritted his teeth and glared towards Xiao Yan, his pair of hidden blades made cl.i.c.k.i.n.g sound and the blades fell out of his sleeves and into his hands. He wielded the blades skillfully in a reverse grip. He revolved the Mysterious Heaven Skill within his body to channel his spirit power to his back, seven spider lances burst out of his back. He was just about to jumped and fight Xiao Yan head when he was abruptly stopped by a slender arm. "Xun Er?" Tang San muttered as he stared back towards a serious looking Xun Er. "Xiao San, please step back and let me handle Yan." Xun Er said, her body now completely healed except for her ruined clothes. "... Although your body is healed, your spirit power and stamina is nearing depletion." Tang San said. "Xun Er, stand back and handle the rest while¨C" "Xiao San, let''s be real here." Xun Er interrupted him. "There''s a snowball chance in hell that you''ll ever win against Xiao Yan. Your spirit''s plant type cannot stand against his, a high level type of flame. Even your martial skills and hidden weapons are of no use against Xiao Yan as he could counter them with his own and even then, it could not penetrate through his External Spirit Bone. Even if you use your second spirit, it still would be of no use as he could use ''that'' to easily overwhelmed and defeat you." Tang San paused for a moment cl.i.c.k.i.n.g his tongue to realize that Xun Er is right on all accounts. There''s a reason why Xiao Yan is crowned as the King of Monsters in the academy. "So what the hell are we going to do now?" Tang San asked. "It''s easy." Xun Er turned towards Xiao Yan''s figure on the air with the help of his movement technique, she then declared. "You inject me with all the spirit power and energy you got from the others so I''ll have the ability to fight against Yan, while you deal with the others." Tang San''s eyes widened in surprise and paused to think about it for a moment as he himself hadn''t thought about injecting someone with his spider lance as it also contained the venom of the Man Faced Demon Spider and other poisonous herbs he had it devoured with the help of Xiao Yan. As he, Xiao Yan and Grandmaster only know, the poison in the External Spirit Bone could potentially kill even a Spirit King easily! From the previous experiments he done, using his spirit bone to absorbed life energy, spirit power, stamina, etc. from spirit master or a spirit beast has no adverse effects of being poison. But injection? If the poison wasn''t so overbearing, he would have a hundred percent certainty to control his spirit bone to not inject said poison into someone while giving said someone his spirit power or any kind of energy. Tang San hesitated for a couple of moments before nodding towards Xun Er in agreement. If there were anyone within his peers that he had confidence that his poison wouldn''t be affect, that''ll be Xiao Yan, Ma Xiaotao and Xun Er. The trio had such powerful flames that before his poison could even reach their systems, it will all be burned to nothing. Without saying anything further, Tang San moved behind Xun Er with a grim expression and let his seven long spider lances spread up high in a terrifying position and had them stabbed down towards Xun Er''s back. Xun Er didn''t let out a tiny pained voice nor even flinched. She only continued to stare towards Xiao Yan''s eyes, her own glowing in fiery gold of determination and will. An untold amount of spirit power channeled and coursed from the spider lances into Xun Er''s body, causing an abrupt eruption of her golden flames, bathing her body with it. The sudden burst of her flames was so hot that it had immediately burned Tang San''s skin, who was behind her, into almost a crisp. Letting out a pained yelp, he quickly separated from Xun Er after he injected the last amount of spirit power. It had only taken five seconds, but Tang San had felt like he was being burned for hours! Then his instincts screamed at him, quickly ducking to dodged a leg swipe from Xiao Wu, Tang San jumped away to make some ground as the rest of the shrek students went after him. Xiao Yan didn''t glance at them, his entire focus was on the girl he loved in front of him. Her spirit power had taken a shot up rise that if she wasn''t displaying four spirit rings, he would have thought she was a Spirit Emperor! Xun Er''s body fully engulfed her for several moments before dying down, revealing her being covered in a golden cheongsam with white linings. Her once silky smooth black hair turned into a mixed of golden and white rising high up in the air. Her eyes is completely golden in color, there was no white or black, just gold. Xiao Yan''s jaws dropped and he slightly blushed, thinking. ''Don''t popped a boner. Don''t popped a boner. Don''t popped a boner. Don''t popped a boner. Don''t popped a boner. Don''t popped a boner...'' Coughing into his fist, Xiao Yan quickly calmed down and started to get serious. His eyes stared directly at Xun Er, saying. "Nice power up, but will it be enough?" He raised his right hand in the air, a sudden burst of green spirit power surrounded his body as three spirit rings; Black, Purple, and Black, appeared underneath him. The green spirit power then converged and spiraled up his raised hand, slowly forming and showing the second form of his first spirit. It''s green edge gleamed as it was reflected by the morning light. Green constructed angel like wings appeared behind Xiao Yan as he slowly brought his sword down to point towards Xun Er. "Well?" Xun Er didn''t say anything, actions speak better in battle after all. With a burst of speed, her figure blurred and appeared in front of Xiao Yan with her fist completely engulfed in golden flames. Xun Er narrowed her eyes as her fist was stopped by the back side of the latter''s sword. "Is that all you''ve got?" Xiao Yan arrogantly said as he stared into the golden eyes of Xun Er. Chapter 71 - 70: Nine Seconds *Swish!* *Swish!* Up in the sky of the Shrek Academy perimeters, two spirit masters could be seen battling against each other flying around in the air. A young lad with green constructed bird like wings and green-edged sharp sword that was parrying against the golden flames fists of a young lady with white mixed with gold constructed bird like wings. The fight between them was like a battle between angels of war. Metal met flesh in their countless collisions of battle. Xiao Yan''s first spirit ring darkened as his katana sliced apart a giant, truck-sized, golden fireball hurdling towards him while at the same time sending his own wave of attack. Xun Er''s eyes widened as a gigantic fifty meter long and wide tsunami, entirely made out of green flames, that easily dwarfed her body appeared coming straight towards her within mere seconds to engulfed her. In a quick burst of speed, aided with her second spirit ability, Golden Flames of Devastation, and her unknown fourth spirit ability to quickly dodged by appearing high above where she once where. Effectively the tsunami missed her and had came crashing down towards the ground area. The tsunami, made completely out of heavenly flame, was just about dozens of feet away to burn and melt the ground to magma when it was suddenly stopped by a light of black and gold protective layer of spirit power that immediately surrounded the flame wave into a gigantic ball. "Woah! Those kids are really going all out." Zhao Wuji humphed, his seven spirit rings out with some lighting up and surrounding his body, as he focused on his control of gravity on the flame wave. "... This isn''t even a fight those monsters should have with their current spirit ranks respectively." Flender muttered as he, with his spirit transformation and seven spirit rings around him, watched the battle between a Spirit Elder and Spirit Ancestor while controlling his spirit power to cover the area around to protect the academy. To which his spirit power is currently compressing the flame wave into a ball and slowly shrink it further until it disappears. What Flender currently witnessing and his experience in battles, he thought that the ''spar'' in front of him and the other teachers is like a battle between Spirit Kings or Spirit Emperors combat prowess wise. "True." Grandmaster lightly agreed as he petted a small golden plushy like dragon in his arms while spreading his own spirit power to protect Tang San and the other students who wouldn''t be able to handle the heat of heavenly flames. Tang San quickly and efficiently taken the hypnotized teammates down after a couple of minutes. They''re currently unconscious, after the former defeated them and grabbed them, and the Ma siblings, to where the teachers where spectating the fight so they would be taken care of by the said teachers. He also wanted to join in the fight but fighting his hypnotized team was more tedious and draining than he thought. "Shouldn''t we stop this? This isn''t a spar anymore Xiaogang." Flender asked towards Grandmaster after he extinguished the heavenly flame. While also moving his right hand to pet the small cuddly golden dragon in the latter''s arms, to which the dragon cutely lean into. ''Cute.'' Everyone thought. "I still can''t believe this is Luo San Pao. I heard the term ''fish becoming a dragon'' but a dog becoming a majestic golden dragon? Damn." Grandmaster smiled in amus.e.m.e.nt and shook his head. "You aren''t the only one wondering about Luo San Pao. I''ve once read records of my clan''s ancestry of their spirit, being descended from two powerful dragons that could easily destroy mountains and turn the sea itself into a sea of lightning. It''s been a long time since I''ve read the records so my memories of those is a bit jaded." Flender nodded in understanding as he continued petting the small dragon before towards the still fighting duo. "Then, what about them?" "... Yeah this just went beyond being a spar between students. But let''s just leave them be for a while. They probably have some frustrations to let out towards each other. Until they either went overboard and unknowingly go for a killing blow, we won''t intervene. Do you all accept?" Every teacher nodded in agreement while Tang San looked as if he wanted to say something but decided not to. Instead, he focused in tending to his friends while revolving the Mysterious Heaven Skill to replenish his spirit power. Back to the fight, Xiao Yan slid back with his arms crossed between his c.h.e.s.t while holding onto his sword. Letting a breath out, blood dropping from his mouth, exhaustion on his face, he looked down to see his torso armor cracked and losing some pieces. His external spirit bone, Golden King''s Aegis, is a very powerful defense type spirit bone above most other types of defense spirit bones. But even then, it is only as strong as it is, if it had spirit power powering it up. And right now, Xiao Yan is at a dangerous low of it. But instead of feeling fear or any form of panic, he instead smirked towards a frowning Xun Er flying up still in the air with the help of her wings with her hands clenched, ready for both offensive and defense against any attacks that would come from Xiao Yan. Despite her figure disheveled and having numerous cuts around her body, with blood dripping out of, she didn''t looked exhausted as Xiao Yan. Which is expected, she was supercharged with the spirit power of a Spirit Elders and a Spirit Ancestor. She had a more substantial amount of spirit power than Xiao Yan, who despite having the combat prowess of a Spirit King or Spirit Emperor, still only has a spirit power repertoire of a Rank 36 Spirit Elder. "What are you smirking about?" Xun Er asked with furrowed eyebrows. Xiao Yan floated up high to level with Xun Er. He let down his arms by his sides, along with his sword, seemingly letting down his guard as he continues to smirk and said. "Your fourth spirit ring ability, I finally figured it out. It''s a domain that let''s you increases all your attributes by 40%, the ability to distort space and lets you control the light element to amplify your speed and flame damage." "What?" Xun Er gasped in shock, her once balled fists dissipated the flames, as she covered her mouth with said hands as she continued. "It took you this long to figure it out? Yan, I''m honestly disappointed." Xiao Yan didn''t react to her taunt, except for a miniscule twitched of an eyebrow that even a Spirit Sage wouldn''t notice, as he took on a more serious expression and got into a combat stance. He knew he''s getting low in spirit power, Xun Er probably also knew as well, so he either has to used vigor, Dragon Qi, or spiritual power if he''s going to fight. Vigor is mostly reserved when he uses his second spirit, Fire Dragon King Mode, and Dragon Qi is a dangerous energy to use that would certainly kill Xun Er. ''And we have a winner...'' Xiao Yan inwardly joked. Silently and quickly, his eyes glowed green as he used Mind Over Reality to influence Xun Er''s senses on how she perceives the next several minutes. Mind Over Reality is a spiritual attack ability that manipulates a person''s five senses to make them perceived what Xiao Yan would have them. Just as what he did to the others before and how he manipulated Tang San into absorbing his friends'' energies with his spider lances by changing his perception of reality that he was absorbing Xiao Yan''s while revolving his Mysterious Heaven Skill to quickly recover at the same time, but the true reality was that he was absorbing from the others during the times they finished their attacks on Xun Er. And right now, Xiao Yan would do the same to Xun Er, making her perceived a different reality. A reality where he and she would continue to fight as he explained what her mysterious fourth spirit ability is while the truth is that he would be recovering his lost spirit power reserves as he waits till Xun Er becomes exhausted. A cowardly move but a flawless victory nonetheless, a easy win for anyone... if the person in front of him wasn''t Xun Er. Letting out a long sigh and shaking his head, he muttered, "I''m such a softie for her..." the glow in Xiao Yan''s eyes disappeared as he looked to see Xun Er frowning at him. "Softie? Yan, you''ve punched me in the face, harshly kicked my stomach, unhesitatingly put cuts and lacerations on any part of my body with your sword, and blasting me with your fireballs. How in the hell are you a softie?" "I didn''t humiliate you unlike most others." Xiao Yan answered with a raised eyebrow. "...Okay you got me there." Xun Er sighed. Her second spirit ring lit up, then fourth and lastly first. "So as revenge, I''m going to finish this once and for all." Second Spirit Ring Ability: Golden Flames of Devastation Fourth Spirit Ring Ability: Holy Dragon''s Domain First Spirit Ring Ability: Thousand Golden Trigram Palms A domain is a large-area ability centred on the Spirit Master using it. It provides effects based on what type of domain it is, mainly increasing the strength of the user and decreasing the strength of any opponents within range. Domains are extremely rare amongst Spirit Masters, Even among Titled Douluo. 100,000 Year Spirit Beasts all seem to have innate domains. Right now and before, Xun Er has been using this rare ability to fight against Xiao Yan''s many powerful techniques. The reason why the latter and others who witnessed her using this ability numerous times and still haven''t realized what it truly, is because it''s as rare as hundred thousand year old spirit beasts/rings. Even in the memories of Flame Emperor, domain type abilities are very rare, so even Xiao Yan wasn''t able to realize it until now. He''s been going through dozens of hypotheses in his mind of her once mysterious fourth spirit ability. Before, he had only knew that she would have an increased of 40% of all attributes, but now that he knew about her ability to distort space at the same time? A range AOE type ability that has the ability to increased her attributes and distorting space? Now that sort of info shortened the list. It wasn''t until he felt the strikes he received from her was more powerful than before, and feeling a foreign energy mixed with her flame attacks, that he decided to gamble by trying to have Xun Er actively admit it. And his gamble paid off. However, Xiao Yan was wrong on the assumption of Xun Er''s domain ability. Holy Dragon''s Domain is a domain that only has two capabilities. One, increases all of Xun Er''s attributes by 40%, it increases with an additional 10% every time she advances an entire spirit rank realm, and lastly, absolute control of the light elements. When Xun Er changed the position of Xiao Yan, it wasn''t a space attribute ability. Instead, it was her third spirit ring ability that caused such phenomenon. Her third spirit ring ability, Golden Distortion World, is a pseudo domain of controlling time but also made it so that uses of it is limited by two times a day, as anymore than that would cause her to undergo spirit power exhaustion. The first was used to trapped Xiao Yan in time, which didn''t worked at first that confused Xun Er to no end, the second was used in a double layer of her pseudo time domain to stopped everything once more in a attempt to change the flow of the battle. Now why didn''t she just used that moment to unfreeze everyone, except Xiao Yan, to free them from the latter''s control? It''s because she didn''t have the time. Using her third spirit ring ability twice at the same time dosen''t mean it would stacked the time, no, in fact it significantly shortened it by three seconds. She only had three seconds, in another layer of time, to make a move. And that move was pinning Xiao Yan to where she was about to be crushed into and limit his movement by striking the pressure points in his body so he wouldn''t be able to move. That split second of time Xiao Yan had mistakenly thought he was distorted by space with Xun Er and why he couldn''t moved was because he was sluggish due to it. She knew that using that method of restriction wouldn''t be enough to stop him. His body''s unnatural physiology is so abnormal, that even by striking his pressure points would only inconvenience him for a few moments. But that was enough for her to used her fourth and second spirit ring abilities to increase her overall attributes, more so with her light and fire elements, to injure Xiao Yan to free her friends. Well, at least one of them. Who would have thought he would have Tang San s.u.c.k.e.d the others, and herself, spirit power so that he would only fight the former after he was free? As Xun Er''s domain covered Xiao Yan''s body, the latter felt like the entire world brightened by ten times! As he continuesly stared at her, he thought. ''Should I be scared? Or be aroused¨C'' His line of thought was stopped as he used his Instant Movement Technique to connect at a certain point in the air to dodged three giant sized golden palms that was about to turned him to meat paste. Xiao Yan didn''t have the time to either think or say anything, as he followed his instincts to continuesly moved around in lightning speed to dodged hundreds of giant sized palms coming at him. He moved like a break dancer, dodging giant palms left and right, h.i.p.s, arms and legs moving rhythmely in the sky with his sword cutting apart the golden palms at the same time. He was like an angel of war, that was being punished by the heavens for his greatness of being a dancer. He wasn''t the only one as well, Xun Er, who was moving in a strange but enamored set of movements with her palms towards Xiao Yan was like the female version of Buddha with wings, but more beautiful and s.e.xy. Minutes passed and Xiao Yan has already started to get slower, his breathing hard, and he''s starting to get hit by Xun Er''s golden palms. His spirit power is at 5% while Xun Er, who was burning through in the use of her spirit abilities, was still at more than 50%. "Yan, surrender. There''s no more hope for you to win, unless you get serious" Xun Er stated as she levitated in the air with her golden wings, as her hands set into a prayer, now counting to nine thousand of giant golden palms appeared behind her back and surrounding a exhausted Xiao Yan in the ground who now couldn''t keep his spirit power wings due to his low reserves. Xiao Yan panted slowly as he set his katana in the ground, his eyes still calm and steady, he remained quiet though. Staring up at Xun Er with his hand on top of his sword''s b.u.t.t. Although a bit disheveled, he didn''t show any hint of injuries on his body. "Will Xiao Yan admit defeat?" Zhao Wuji wondered, along with the other teachers, as they watched the two students. Tang San and Flender however shook their heads in denial. "I know Xiao Yan, he wouldn''t easily admit defeat. Especially to Xun Er." Tang San said. "Although I have known him for a short amount of time, but I do know he is a young man who is both so stubborn and determined to win upon impossible odds that he couldn''t possibly just do the opposite." Flender added. Grandmaster hummed as he stroked his non-existent beard, muttering loud enough that everyone else near could hear. "Looks like he''s going to get a bit serious." Tang San nodded as he added. "Yeah, he''s going to use more of his strength now." Xiao Yan stare down at his right hand, clenching and unclenching it, as he inwardly thought. ''Looks like my body can really handle any attacks below Spirit Sages. I''ve been pummeled with Xun Er''s giant palms for a while, and except for some internal injuries that were quickly healed, not a single wound is on my body.'' Turning towards Xun Er, a grin formed on his face. ''I guess I have to get a little bit more serious.'' Xiao Yan''s katana disappeared into mots of green light that caused Xun Er''s eyes to narrow and body to tensed up, thinking. ''So he''s going to use it?'' Despite repeatedly using her spirit abilities, Xun Er is still confident that her repertoire of spirit power can help her fight against Xiao Yan in his Fire Dragon King transformation. Among the abilities that Xiao Yan has, his second spirit, the Fire Dragon King, is something that she and anyone who has a beast type spirit, or blood of a spirit beast, in their bodies is terrified of. His bloodline suppression and debuffs are terrifying as they are things that only true dragon kings could only resist against. Despite having the one of the most closest bloodline of the Holy/Light Dragon King, Xun Er could never hope to resist against the bloodline suppression of Xiao Yan''s. How could a descendant go against the real thing? ''But I can''t be careless, his Fire Dragon King spirit might be troublesome but he still has more tricks on his sleeve than that.'' Xun Er''s palms glowed golden once more, ''Though first, I''ll make some trouble for him before he could transformed.'' she prepared to used her first spirit ring ability once more to try and delay or possibly stopped Xiao Yan''s transformation. Dishonorable and shameless in a battle between spirit masters, but being trained in the art of not giving any shits to opponents that would also do the same to you, from both Grandmaster and Xiao Yan for months, has Xun Er and the others having that given mentality. "Hah!" Giving a battle cry, Xun Er twisted her body 180 degrees and push both her arms out into a pushing position towards Xiao Yan. Nine thousand of golden palms behind her and surrounding Xiao Yan, followed after her. The domain she had activated increased and amplified the firepower of her attacks once more. The giant golden palms were like meteors, coming down from the heavens and give damnation to the people of world. Any Spirit Elders, heck, even Spirit Kings would become paste meat at the heavenly damnation. Any normal person would have escaped or begged mercy. But this is Xiao Yan. A young man who go beyond normalcy and create miracles. He is a person, who make the impossible possible. Xiao Yan closed his eyes, the outside noise seemed to disappear from his mind and senses, he clenched both of his fists, sliding his right foot back in half circular pattern, he took a deep breathe in and c.o.c.ked his right arm back. He opened his eyes to reveal that he activated Purple Demon Eyes. He watched as thousands of giant golden palms at the size of trucks flying straight towards him, all moving at the speed of a snail within his line of sight. His breathing became slow, his heartbeat almost to the point of stopping, his muscles tensed and blood almost froze. It was like he was killing himself. However the truth is far from that. Xiao Yan''s Purple Demon Eyes took a more shade of green, that seemed to give off the feeling of both dread and terror to anyone who dared looked. His figure seemed to be covered in a crimson veil energy cloak, that exuded the aura of fitting for someone of high authority and power. He channeled the energies of both internal Qi/strength(1) and Vigor by one-tenth of each of his overall reserves throughout his entire body, via pathways, and circulated one of his opened Eight Extraordinary Meridians, the Penetrating Meridian(2), to help compliment both his energies to merged. As both of his energies merged, he concentrated on using one of his movement techniques to help amplify his thought process and speed. Silver lightning bolts started to appear all around his body as he activated the Three Thousand Lightning Movement Technique. His thought process significantly improved as he calculated and predicted the movements and courses of where the probability giant golden palms would go. Channeling the merged energies into his right fist, glowing in a crimson and white color, a solemn and somber expression formed on his face. All emotions were drained from his face. ''Imperial Emperor''s Decree...'' Then, his right fist made contact to one of the giant golden palms. ''One Punch to rupture the heavens!'' The giant golden palm popped like a balloon! Golden dust fell with only the glowing right fist of Xiao Yan stretching out remained. It hadn''t end there. His fist moved like a flash of lightning, ruthlessly striking fast on all the giant golden palms with a single punch and destroying them all! Millisecond after millisecond, a punch would be sent out and strike the palms through, destroying them, and golden dusts scattered around. ''One second...'' A thousand golden palms turned to dusts. ''Two seconds...'' Two thousand golden palms turned to dusts. ''Three seconds...'' Three thousand golden palms turned to dusts. ''Four seconds...'' Four thousand golden palms turned to dusts. ''Five seconds...'' Five thousand golden palms turned to dusts. ''Six seconds...'' Six thousand golden palms turned to dusts. ''Seven seconds...'' Seven thousand golden palms turned to dusts. ''Eight seconds...'' Eight thousand golden palms turned to dusts. ''Nine seconds...'' All nine thousand golden palms turned to dusts and Xiao Yan was covered in a shower of golden spirit power dusts. Letting out a sigh, he took back his right arm and straighten his back. Everyone, even Xun Er, was silent. Shock and disbelief on their faces as they try to comprehend what just happened. To the untrained eyes, Xiao Yan had only sent out a single slow punch that destroyed every giant golden palms to a shower of golden dusts! Tang San, Grandmaster, Flender, Zhao Wuji and Xun Er were the only ones who truly witnessed what happened. Tang San, due to his Purple Demon Eyes. Grandmaster, Flender and Zhao Wuji were able to witnessed it due to their high spirit ranks. Xun Er, due to closely watching his every movements. They were all awed and terrified at prowess Xiao Yan displayed. To anyone who hadn''t really seen what happened, they would feel the same as one punch decimating nine thousand giant palms. But to strike thousands of punches within seconds? That was something no mere mortal could achieve. Xiao Yan smiled, looking nonchalant at the display he shown a while ago, he tried to hide his uncontrollable trembling right arm. A slight backlash of punching nine thousand times with the power of a Spirit Sage within nine seconds. But it was all worth it for seeing their reaction. "So, surrender?" He cheekily asked towards Xun Er, who was slowly flying down towards him. Xun Er landed in front of Xiao Yan, a cute pout on her face before letting out a sigh. Wearily smiling, she said. "Yes, I surrender Yan." Xiao Yan smiled and turned towards where Grandmaster and the other teachers stood, loudly asking. "Are you going to announce it, or shall I?" They immediately snapped out of their senses. Grandmaster sighed but a wide smile could be seen on his face. "Winner of this spar, Xiao Yan!" =================== (1)Should I use internal Qi or internal strength? (2)From Canon: Explicitly stated in Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record was that if the eight extraordinary meridians connected into one path, Mysterious Heaven Skill would benefit greatly, and one of Mysterious Heaven Skill''s great criteria for completion, besides reaching the eighth tier, was to break open all eight extraordinary meridians. Described in Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record was that, a person who had connected the eight extraordinary meridians, whether in heaven or hell, would be omnipotent. Although these were just simple words, it amply proved just how enormous the effect might be from completely breaking open the eight extraordinary meridians. Tang San''s understanding of the eight extraordinary meridians came from the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record, where it was described extremely detailed. The four limbs had the eight acupuncture points Broken Sequence, Back Ravine, Inner Pass, Outer Pass, Shining Sea, Extending Vessel, Yellow Emperor and Foot Overlooking Tears separately leading to the eight Conception, Governing, Yin linking, Yang linking, Yin Heel, Yang Heel, Penetrating and Girdle meridians. Meaning these acupuncture points separately could connect the head, face and torso to the eight extraordinary meridians. Yellow Emperor Penetrating Meridian of stomach, heart and c.h.e.s.t, Inner Pass Yin Link alike below the head; Overlooking Tears gall passes Girdling Meridian, Yang Link vision meeting Outer Pass; Back Ravine Governing Meridian of inner eye and neck, Extending Vessel Yang Heel also connects the channels; Broken Sequence Conception Meridian relates to lungs, Yin Heel Shining Sea of diaphragm and throat. Each meridian corresponded to some significant place on the human body. Although the eight extraordinary meridians were innately connected, this connection was very minute, unable to channel internal strength. But in Tang San''s previous world, practically all internal strength experts broke open the eight extraordinary meridians to increase their capacity. Among the eight extraordinary meridians, the most important were the Conception meridian, Governing meridian, Penetrating meridian and Girdling meridian channels. The Penetrating meridian also known the heart meridian, although its effect wasn''t as obvious as the Conception and Governing meridians, the benefits it gave to Xiao Yan is difficult to put into words. Like how younger Spirit Masters cultivated more easily, breaking through these eight extraordinary meridians was also easier the younger one was, as one aged, the body would be influenced by the outside world, and the energy channels within the body would also become more and more rigid, and the difficulty of connecting them would naturally grow. Chapter 72 - 71: Red Hot Dragons Store "Haa... Finally a vacation!" Xiao Yan yawned and excitedly exclaimed at the same time. He walked down the commercial streets of Suotuo City, walking passed the newly opening for the day street vendors and shops, he crossed both his arms behind his head. Two days passed since the spar between him and the others and Xiao Yan could say that it was both satisfying and enjoyable, even though it was a one sided feelings between him and the others. Which was expected, having to be defeated for the fiftieth time and had realized the true gap between them, after waking up and given explanation from the ones who were awake, made them frustrated and disappointed beyond belief. But those feelings changed into motivation to try their best to either catch up or stand besides him. The burning determination of both Ma Xiaotao and Zhu Zhuqing really impressed Xiao Yan, declaring their ambition to stand besides him really put a smile on his face. Speaking of the others... Just a couple of hours ago, the ones who needed a new spirit ring: Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing were sent towards the Star Dou Great Forest with Grandmaster and Flender tagging along to help them when they run into any unnecessary trouble. While the others like Xiao Yan, Xun Er, Ma Xiaotao, Tang San, Xiao Wu and Oscar all had given a vacation, till the others returned. So far, they were doing their own things for the moment. Xun Er and Ma Xiaotao were both sparring against each other in the training ground, while Tang San is simp¨Caccompanying Xiao Wu in shopping, and Oscar is refining his skills in close combat and hidden weapons. As for Xiao Yan? Well... He walked passed a couple of shops and stopped in front of a specific one he was looking for. It wasn''t anything special, just a two stories tall wooden building painted in red and black. Two wide see through windows, with the mahogany double doors in the middle and some minor ornaments like golden cats and red, with the symbols of "luck" etched on, lanterns could be seen put up in front of the shop around. Atop of the building had a wooden colored red plack, that said: "Red Hot Dragon''s Store" ''Ah... Everytime I see that name, it always reminds me that I suck at naming things.'' Xiao Yan inwardly winced as he stared blankly at the frankly misleading name of the store. It sounded like a fast restaurant than what it really is, a store that sells alchemy pills. More specifically, his pills. A couple months ago, after the Star Dou Great Forest fiasco, Xiao Yan decided to explore a bit to find a alchemist store. Not only did he find one, he actually own it! It was actually pretty cheap, the previous owner sold it to him for just 1,000 spirit gold coins. A whole lot cheaper compared to other shops that costs around 3-5,000 spirit gold coins. But since the previous owner was really desperate to sold his shop, it was decided to be at 1,000 spirit gold coins. Letting out a sigh, Xiao Yan stepped into his shop. Showcasing shelves full of pills in different variety that were all incased in see-through green-tinted glass boxes, all made out of jade, and price tags could be seen under the glass boxes. Since it was still in the early morning, there were no customers at the moment. Though there was one certain employee of his, sleep sitting, behind the cashier desk with a slight silver drool sliding down her mouth. It was a young girl in white clothes who was level to Xiao Yan''s shoulders if she stood in front of him. The little girl appeared to be twelve to thirteen years old, a year younger than him. Her pale-purple hair was let out to her waist and her face was very soft. The girl''s appearance was beautiful, white, and clear, and her pair of black watery eyes hidden behind her sleeping eyelids could tell anyone that she was a playful little devil, probably surpassing Xiao Wu. A wry smile appeared on Xiao Yan''s face as he stared at the girl, leaning her back on the chair, sleeping in a unladylike manner. Her name is Zi Yan. A little orphan girl, the same as him, except she once walked the streets in rags and begging for anything to eat. She was a beggar. He had meet her when he was looking for employees to be employed in his new store, actually, she was just sitting in front of his store with her knees on her c.h.e.s.t wrapped and her arms around them. While she stare into the empty space with a blank expression. It had pained Xiao Yan''s heart. As the assimilating of Flame Emperor''s memories at the time had reached the point where he had once studied at Jia Nan Academy, and where he had met the ever cheerful and hard to please little aunt. So, without any hesitation he asked Zi Yan if she wanted to be employed and adopted by him. Though expecting for her to decline, after all, who would easily trust a stranger? And unexpectedly, she actually accepted!? What Xiao Yan didn''t know at the time. Zi Yan was actually about to do what he thought she would do, declining and even running away from the rather handsome stranger. But a unknown feeling of warmth and familiarity that suddenly crept inside her heart stopped her. Since then, Zi Yan, though her full name in paper from adoption is Xiao Zi Yan, life had changed for the better. She can eat any food she wanted, any clothes to wear, play around carefreely and a job to do that she still grumbles about once in a while. Xiao Yan shook his head, amused and slightly concerned, as he made it so that in the second floor of the store was Zi Yan''s own home. A room with a double bed, a kitchen, a living room, bathroom, etc etcetera. But Zi Yan would sometimes just sleep in the cashier chair, which Xiao Yan knows that she would subconsciously do that when her guts tells her that he would be coming into the shop and she wanted to be there to wait for him. Going behind the desk, Xiao Yan left arm went under Zi Yan''s legs while his right arm circled around her shoulders. Without any trouble, he lifted her and carried her up to the second floor of her room. ''... Everytime I do this, I feel like the FBI would suddenly burst in and started busting everything till they arrest me.'' Xiao Yan sweat dropped as he opened the door to the second floor. "Hm..." Zi Yan''s eyelids suddenly trembled and slowly opened, showing misty black eyes that still looked half-asleep. Looking around and to find Xiao Yan carrying her, she just closed her eyes and leaned back into his c.h.e.s.t. "Good morning ge..." Zi Yan muttered. "Un, good morning to you too Zi Yan. Now just go back to sleep okay? It still early for you to work, okay?" Xiao Yan muttered back as he stepped in front of the Zi Yan''s bedroom door. He opened it to reveal a room that looked like a tornado had swept the entire room. "...Though you have to clean this up when you wake up." Xiao Yan said with a chuckle as he maneuvered around the clothes, candy packs and blanket on the floor. Putting Zi Yan in her bed, he got the blanket on the floor, brushing off some dust to make it clean, he put it on Zi Yan''s body. She snuggled tightly into the blanket with a smile on her face, she then muttered. "Ge, your the best..." Xiao Yan just smiled gently at the now comfy and asleep girl before standing up and walked out of the room, not before closing the door, and went back to the first floor. He then looked at the wall clock behind the cashier desk, that had the numbers of 6:25 am. ''Looks like I''ve got time to concoct a few pills to restock the store.'' Xiao Yan inwardly decided as he went and gone to a back door that could only be accessed by him and Zi Yan. The back room had herbal ingredients from medicinal to poisonous, which each had their own jade containers, that would help preserved them more, and separated so the herbs won''t contaminate with one another. As well as other extra pills if the shelves outside is of need of restocking. ''Hm... Looks like I need to restock most of the tier 1-3 pills here and a few tier four pills. Business is booming as ever.'' Xiao Yan inwardly cheered as he checked each pill jade bottles and herb bottles. Which is expected. He is the only alchemist in the district, probably even the city, that can make tier 4, and tier 5 pills if specially requested, that can reach a purity of 100%. Which are most sought after by all spirit masters. The worth of a pill is define by both their use and purity, but mostly the latter. After all, even if the pill has heaven defying powers given when digested, if the purity of the pill is of shitty grade the power the pill has, it wouldn''t be able to brought out even by it''s full potential. If it were a 100% purity, the effects of the pill will be completely brought out. But creating a 100% perfect pill is easier said than done. Only those of a higher tier, with a lot of experience and control of their flames could hope to achieve such a thing. Example, if someone is a very experienced and at tier 7 alchemist. They would possibly be able to bring the purity of their tier 1 to tier 5 pills to 100% due to their experience of concocting numerous amounts of the same pills and great flame control. But if a alchemist is at tier 7 but with a small experience and control of their flames on concocting pills won''t have the same result as the former. It could already be said that for someone to be at tier 7, mean they are at Spirit Sage rank. Even if they aren''t as rare as Titled Douluos, they just ranked third. What''s worst, Spirit Sage alchemist are much more rarer by ten times. Meaning they are as rare as Titled Douluos. Only those from sects or nobles that can hire their services can they have a privilege like that. So pills that have 100% purity being sold ordinarily in this city, is something that anyone would do to buy them. Xiao Yan especially know about this, and unlike some ignorant and naive protagonists that would be easily exploited, he would be used this opportunity to devour those desperate users¨Ccustomers. He would rise the prices of the pills from five to ten times of their original prices to nobles or anyone that looked as if they were rich and fan afford them. As for those with ordinary background, he would just sell them at the original prices. And of course, he had already this move to Zi Yan. There were problems at first. Arrogant young masters kind. Showing off and flaunting their status to his store and ordered him to be their supplier and below the original prices he would sell them to them. And of course, like a protagonist Xiao Yan just face slapped or kicked them off of his place. Then came retaliation, which were all ended easily. All of the families of those young masters didn''t have a Spirit Sage or Spirit Emperor, the only level of spirit masters that can make Xiao Yan get a little serious. Of course he didn''t kill them, those kinds were reserved for those who really pissed him off. No, he humiliated them and acted as a message to send to all those who had malicious intent to his store. He wasn''t like those hypocrite protagonists who all wanted to kill people for justice and shit. No. He is someone who has the memories and experiences of the Flame Emperor and a man of culture. If he were to kill someone, he would do it if they are bastards that would dare go after the ones he loves. For those who just pissed him, he would humiliate them. For those who touches his reverse scales? They deserve death. No one, not even the gods and devils themselves, would touch the ones he loves. Chapter 73 - 72: Pills! "Okay let''s do this." Xiao Yan muttered as he sat down on a red comfy pillow that can support his body in the middle of a room. Surrounded by numerous herbs that emitted some powerful, strange but also fragrant scent that filled the entire room. He had finished checking the storage of his herbs and pills, and noticed he was now lacking of the latter. More specifically tier 1-2 pills, as there''s not a lot of Spirit Elders and Spirit Ancestors that would used tier 3-4 such pills in this city. Anyone can use any kind of tier pills, regardless if their spirit masters or ordinary people. But specialized pills; like breakthough pills or increased strength pills for the specific tier of pills on spirit masters are either dangerous or useless for those who could not used them. Right now, he needs to restock and meaning he has to use his storage as well. Well he can either just get his herbs in the criminal underworld with some contacts he made, or get them himself in the wilderness. The latter is too much of work so Xiao Yan decided to go with the former. But enough of that. Xiao Yan took a slow and calming breathe in, his green with tinted red-silver spirit power started to cover his entire body like a cloak so he could easily defend himself from any sudden messed up from concocting his pills and his five senses would enhanced to help him refine the ingredients better as well. His line of sight, smell, taste, hearing and touch had been enhanced by five times. A moment later, he closed his eyes and channeled his spiritual power to make a few specific herb ingredients levitate in the air, to which he used the Controlling Crane on his left hand to pull the ingredients together in front of him. The ingredients being: a five hundred year old Jaded Vine, five hundred year old Spirit Heart Flower, five hundred year old Dragon Orange Fruit, five hundred years old Ruby Ginseng, and others more that were at five hundred years of age. Now, normally, this is where the ingredients would be put into a cauldron one at a time, be purified and refined till all the ingredients turned into their liquid like form containing their purest spirit power or any other energy, and then let the said liquids be mashed and merged together to formed into a pill. That has been the tradition for what every alchemist in this world had done, for thousands of years. Theoretically, alchemists of the highest tier could use their spiritual power to mould their fire into containers to create pills but it could only be used with lower tier pills. Hence, no alchemist had bothered using this sort of technique as it uses more spiritual power and control. No one has ever used such a technique until; Yao Lao and Xiao Yan. "Huuu..." Xiao Yan let out a breath as he summoned his heavenly flame; Green Lotus Core Flame, with the size of a basketball, on his right palm. He let float and surrounded the ingredients in front of him, letting it circle around them all and he then start to mould his fire into a pot while the ingredients was engulfed within. As the ingredients were engulfed in his green flames, being burned and melted, Xiao Yan focused his spiritual power control to quickly and carefully refined the ingredients and purified them to their purest form; a liquid form made out of their own respective spirit power energies. Ordinarily, it would take hours if not days for the ingredients to be refined and purified then moulded into pills. But don''t compare the Flame Emperor''s incarnation, who is slowly regaining his previous life''s memories and experiences, a God King of Flames that has the qualifications to be a God of Alchemy, to a bunch of mortal losers. Just a few minutes later, the herb ingredients had finally shed their respective skins, turning into husks, before burning into nothing with small amounts of differing colored liquids remained floating in the fire pot. The refinement and purification of the herbs are completed, then the next part is merging and forming the liquids into a piece of pill. This is the hardest part of all, for alchemists, this requires their extreme concentration of spiritual power to mould the liquids into a pill. But to Xiao Yan; who had the memories and experiences of his past self in concocting thousands, if not millions, of pills, was moulding the liquids into structural forms of four glowing and pristine white pills. Signifying that they were 100% in purity. All of it took, was a single breath. A smile formed for a moment on Xiao Yan''s face before it turned into a frown. His right arm was wincing and trembling, he used his other arm to make it stopped, that it broke his concentration on levitating his pills, all falling to the ground. ''No, no, no, no, no!'' Thankfully, he managed to used his left arm to catch the pills. Sighing in relief, he hissed as he looked down to see his right arm slightly red. "Looks like I needed more rest than I thought..." Xiao Yan said out loud as he put away the pills into a jade bottle from his storage ring. He then put back the herbs from their original containers and stood up to walked back into the counter. His right arm''s current situation is due to the remnants of damages done by overexerting his physical strength. Imperial Emperor''s Decree: One Punch to Rupture the Heavens, is a move that is fueled by merging one-third of both his Vigor and Internal Qi; to not only amplify the burst of strength and speed of his arm, like lightning striking, but also makes it so it could handle exerting such power. Vigor and Internal Qi has the ability to help enhanced one''s regeneration and durability. Xiao Yan had designed this move of his, for it to be a insta-kill for those stronger than him. But he didn''t designed it to act as a f.u.c.k.i.n.g machine gun! So his arm is strained so much, that his own regenerative abilities are not enough for it to heal in a couple of days. It really dosen''t have any issues of further damaging his right arm that it''ll become crippled. But the pain of it would broke his concentration, which would bring him loads of other pain and trouble if he continues to concoct pills, deeming it unsafe for him by Tang San and the rest. "Hmm... I wonder how the others are doing in their quest of getting their own respective spirit ring?" Xiao Yan wondered out loud as he opened the door and walked towards the counter area. "Augh, can''t believe we''re back here again!" Ma Hongjun complained. "Yeah, though I wanted to get my fourth spirit ring, I just wanted to relax more after that hellish three months training." Dai Mubai agreed as he swiped his claws to clear a path in the forest. "...I can''t believe we had to wake up early for this." Ning Rongrong complained differently, some bags under her eyes concealed with make up, as she traversed behind the guys alongside Zhu Zhuqing, who silently nodded in agreement. Grandmaster and Zhao Wuji remained silent as they watched the group from behind, their eyes were as vigilant as hawks. Suddenly, the group came across a open patch field of grass. Which is as long as 2 kilometers and 1 kilometers wide. Fruits and all kinds of little or big spirit beasts could be seen lying around the field. Though a certain creature grabbed their attention, specifically a pair of girls whose eyes were sparkling like the stars. Their eyes were focused on a small spirit beast, a hybrid between a fat cat and mouse, fur was of yellow and stripes of black, a pair of red circles on it''s two face cheeks and it had a thunder like symbol for a tail. It was just minding its own business in front of the Shrek group, munching on a red fruit while muttering "pika, pika" several times. Grandmaster''s eyes widened, as he recognized such creature and it''s infamous ability of lightning. It''s lightning and thunder abilities were said to even rival gods! ''This is bad!'' He thought. As he was about to warn the others, it was too late. "OH YOU ARE SO ADORABLE!" Ning Rongrong squealed as she practically teleported in front of the small creature and capturing it in her arms. Dai Mubai face palmed, muttering. "What the heck is that rich young lady doing?" Regardless of the other spirit beasts around the area, they moved towards Ning Rongrong to protect, unknown to the rapidly paling face of Grandmaster. "Hey guys!" She turned towards the group, with the now confused and disoriented yellow creature on her arms, she pointed her finger to it and asked. "Can we keep it?! It''s so freaking adorable! Oh please! Please, please, please, please, please, please!" Grandmaster ignored her begging and immediately ordered her, "Student Ning Rongrong, immediately let that creature down, and everyone else quickly back away from it." "...Huh?" Everyone, including Zhao Wuji, muttered in confusion but it was too late. The yellow creature''s face started to distort into a angry frown, electricity madly flickering on its two red cheeks, it then started muttering and releasing it''s power. "PIKACHUUUUU!" "AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" "Meh, I''m sure they''ll be fine." Xiao Yan shrugged. Back to the issue of his arm, he thought that a couple of days would be enough for it to heal, but nope! Shit was still acting up. He''d probably give it another day or two for it to completely heal. ''Or I could just eat the new batch of pills, which I may or may not specifically created to help speed up the healing progress...'' Xiao Yan chuckled as he sat down on the chair behind of the cashier desk. He put the jade bottle containing the four pills he recently concocted, all called the same: Tier 3 Speed Up Health Pill. He pulled the cork out of the bottle, a fragrant scent started to appear out of the bottle; that smelled like fresh lilies. "Ge, is the store open? Are¨Cwhat is that?! Mine!" At first sounded monotonous voice turned cheerful and playful, as a smooth and slender hand moved like a python and gotten the bottle out of Xiao Yan''s left hand. Before Xiao Yan could respond or anything, Zi Yan unhesitatingly chugged the pills into her mouth. Purple like spirit power surged and covered her entire body, signifying she brokethrough a spirit rank. "Yummy!" She put the bottle on top of the desk and rubbed her little tummy. "Do you have any more, ge?" "..." Xiao Yan didn''t respond. His shadowed covered pair of eyes was blankly staring at the now empty jade bottle of pills, HIS pills! "Zi Yan..." He muttered. "Yes?" Zi Yan responded with a cutely tilt of her head to him. Xiao Yan raised his head towards her, immediately terrifying her a moment later as she saw his eyes glowing red. "WHAT THE HELL DID I TELL WHEN YOU TAKE STUFF FROM OTHERS?!" "EHHH?!! FIRST ASK FOR THEIR PERMISSION!!! I''M SO SORRY!!!!" Chapter 74 - 73: Zi Yan; Ive found my purpose Loneliness and disappoinment. It was all she had ever known and felt all her life. A little girl of twelve years old thought as she clutched the ragged torn cloak, the only clothing on her body, tighter for slight comfort it could bring. That was all she ever was, until, he walked up besides her and talked to her. That was when her entire life had changed. Six years ago, when she was ironically six years old, she first ''woke'' up in this world confused and afraid and completely alone in a forest. She didn''t have those other kids her age called parents nor siblings or any kind of family. She walked down around this world alone. She had first ''woke'' up in a forest near a city called Heaven Duo, where she walked into said city the next day with the same cloak she''s currently wearing when she turned twelve. She had found it just laying around next to a tree that had a lot of delicious fruits with a symbol etched under the cloaked called: "Shi". The reason why she had gone inside that city had deluded her, probably because it was interesting? Or was it something else? All she knew, was that she wanted to go in the city. The couple of days wandering in the city was good. A few nice people had sometimes given her food or money to buy the former. She wandered around the city till she found some unwanted materials needed for her to make a makeshift home on top of someone'' else''s home! Those days was really great. Until some strange and shady looking people started to trail behind her, although they promised they would give her candy if she willingly follow them but she doesn''t know why but she just had the sudden feeling of immediate distrust and weariness for those people. So without any hesitation, she had moved fast like the wind and strike like lightning. Her feet moved in a strange rhythm, like she was dancing, around those strange people and one of her legs aimed and had unconsciously raised itself, whenever she comes near between their legs, and destroy the small things that made those people shriek like they were pigs beings butchered. After that, no more baddies came to bother her for a couple of years, a couple years of peace and quiet, until when she was ten years old she had met against a powerful nasty person who could follow her every moves and match her monstrous strength that can destroy a small house! She had thought she was a goner, until she found out she had the ability to control and bend space to her every whim. She had immediately used such power to kill the bastard holding her! People she come across on the streets or alleys had sometimes talked about killing people; saying it is bad and if you do it would be hard to stomach such act, even though she doesn''t know what that last thing meant. Even until now, when she had first killed that nasty person and numerous others like him she hadn''t felt any remorse, regret or any negative emotions about the people she killed. In fact, she just didn''t put them in her mind. She just thought of them as insects needed to be splat. All while this happened through the years, it had caused those who witnessed such a sight had immediately run away from her. Saying how a monster like her wasn''t welcome in the city. It, hurt. She didn''t know why, but just those words had immediately pained her twisted innocent heart. This was how she lived, moving around the great known city of Heaven Duo with no purpose but to survive. She didn''t knew why she was still trying to stay alive, there was no meaning for her to do so. But she held on, gritted her teeth and determined to someday find a way for her to finally have a purpose. And that was when, it happened. The sudden instinctive warmth and comfort creeping up in her heart, the sudden want of movement, the sudden need to come and see... She drew a blank, but all she knew was that she had a urge to go somewhere and needed to immediately go after that said urge. So, she closed her eyes and channeled her spirit power all around her body to her back. Underneath her rose four spirit rings; one purple and three black spirit rings surrounded her body, signifying her as a Spirit Ancestor. At the same time, two purple scaly pair of dragon wings, with the wingspan of ten meters wide, popped out behind her back. She flapped her wings several times, ignoring the startled and disbelieving gazes of the masses below her, she flew off. It took her a couple of weeks, due to some sudden changes of which direction of her urge to go and the need to take a break, but she finally arrived where her urge wanted her to go. ...And what was that exactly? She wondered as she looked around in confusion and anxiety. She''s here, the place where her urge wanted her to go. Now, where''s is her purpose? ''What, AM I supposed to do here?'' She wondered once more in trepidation. She stood in a dark alley, devoid of anyone. She waited for several hours before she let out a disappointed sigh and walked towards the street. ''I knew it. I knew I shouldn''t have trusted that urge of mine. This is a waste of my time! This is, this is just! Augh!'' She g.r.o.a.n.e.d as she stopped besides a shop and sat with her back down below the big mirror window. ''...I should probably just rule the world.'' She blankly wondered at the empty air after several moments of silence. She finally gave in, she no longer dosen''t care of what hell she wants to do. Even if it means destroying the world, so be it! "Oi." She narrowed her eyes, hearing a voice of a unknown boy near her and is talking to her. She merely g.r.o.a.n.e.d once more thinking, ''Here we go again...'' She turned her eyes towards the boy, wanting to say f.u.c.k off or something, but the words were clogged in her throat. Standing besides her, leaning on the wall with his arms crossed, was a boy a year older than her. Messy but sorta smooth black hair with green tinted bangs, eyes as black as the night with green pupils, a really handsome face and wearing casual clothes of a blue hoody and jeans. In any normal situation that she found herself being asked by guys, like the guy besides her, she would have either leave or tell the guy to f.u.c.k off. "Do you want a job and a brother?" He straightforwardly said without any strange expression on his face. She was dumbfounded and shocked, as anyone would in her place, at the straightforwardness and thick skin of the boy. ''A job and a brother? I heard a whole lot of nonsense from people wanting to exploit or kidnapped me, but this is the first time I''ve ever heard someone offering those words.'' But nonetheless, she accepted it. As she decided to follow these urged of hers for one last time. Though not before doing a wait and see strategy of her new brother. As the days and weeks she spent with the boy name Xiao Yan, who now gave her the full name of Xiao Zi Yan, though she preferred to be called only Zi Yan, she realized; through the time she spent with her new brother, her mentality and personality slowly changes, as the void of loneliness and despair disappearing from her heart, she had finally found a purpose. Protecting her big brother Xiao Yan and be the greatest perfect little sister in history! As she kneels on the floor with her head down, while Xiao Yan scolds her and forgiving her at the same time as he brought out a tub of her new favorite sweet called ice cream, a smile unknowingly appeared on her face. ''I hope our days continue like this.'' Unknown to her, the symbol of a small purple dragon appeared on her forehead for a moment before disappearing. AN: The next couple of chapters will have different character development with the characters of the story. Now I won''t spoil who they are, but I can just surprisingly say it''s somehow much easier to write. Huh, weird. Anyways, I am currently stacking on some chapters of a different story, yes, I''m writing another story but I won''t upload them till this story either reaches 150 chapters or has reach over 400 voted power stones with no time limit, except when the story hits 150 chapters. Chapter 75 - 74: Love is War! AN: I''m in a good mood right now and had great enthusiasm, so here! Double chapter release! Enjoy! Golden flames and dark purple flames smashed into each other as well as physical blows of kicks and punches were exchange between two beauties. Xun Er gave a spirit powered right hook towards Ma Xiaotao''s face, to which the latter swiftly grabbed into the former''s wrist with her left hand and ignored the pain of her teeth being rattled and nose bleeding as they were quickly being healed with her spirit''s innate regenerative ability, and returned the favor with her own right hook towards her opponent''s cheek. Xun Er''s head slightly whipped towards the right though, she immediately recovered and pulled Ma Xiaotao towards her, her left hand curled into a fist, and punch towards the latter''s stomach. Ma Xiaotao coughed out saliva, bending forward from the momentum and pain of her abdomen, but quickly she recovered and immediately retaliated by headbutting Xun Er, who leaned back to dodged the attack. But Ma Xiaotao used that moment to surround herself with her flames and jumped back to escape by several meters. The two eyed each other, their arms raised in their respective combat stances, their feet apart and ready to use their preferred movement technique. The two of them wore tight pair of T-shirts that held a nice pair of peaks that girls their age shouldn''t have and comfy shorts for easy mobility in their combat. All the while their flames danced and clashed at each other. If any male, or female that were lesbians, were to see such a sight it wouldn''t be a surprise that they would immediately be aroused. Sadly, this area was restricted for those not affiliated with Shrek personal. This was the norm of spars between the two. They would fight each other with their martial skills without restraints, except for decisive killing blows, and they forbid each other the use of spirit abilities or any of those techniques or self created abilities of Xiao Yan. Just a simple physical enhancement using spirit power is okay though. Though considering that their fists are powerful enough to smash an entire boulder three times their size to nothing when they enhanced their already monstrous physical strength, they should probably reconsider their last rule of their once in a while spar. For them to be still alive and looking unhurt, their physical bodies durability and regenerative ability are also off the charts to monstrous. Ma Xiaotao glanced at a wooden clock near them and said towards Xun Er. "Hey Xun Er, it''s almost time for breakfast. How about we stop for now and eat?" Xun Er paused and thought about it for a few moments before nodding in agreement. "Sure! But how about we finished this in one last strike at each other, then we call it quits? What do you think?" "Un, I agree! How about after eating, let''s go visit Yan?" Ma Xiaotao excitedly said. A smile appeared on Xun Er''s face and she nodded. The two smiled at each other for a moment, before their expressions turned serious. Feet slightly moving, hands tingling, their eyes continuing to watched each other and their respective flames surged around them. Moments later, they both lay on the ground with one black eye on each other, panting hard as they stare into the sky. The pair of black eyes on the two beautiful ladies could make any mortal men and women cry out in injustice and anguish. Though thankfully, their injuries were already starting to heal. The black eye of Ma Xiaotao flickered of dark purple light, before igniting in a small flame of dark purple that covered her entire injured that soon vanished to reveal a completely new and healed eye. While Xun Er''s just followed a second after with a mots of light covering her injured and soon disappeared to reveal a healed and healthy one. Ma Xiaotao let out a breath and chuckled. Xun Er glanced at her, smiled, and chuckled alongside her. Then the both started to stand up and walked towards the dining hall of the Academy to get their meal. "... You know I''m never going to give up, right?" Ma Xiaotao suddenly said out loud, as she and Xun Er walked towards their destination. "Un. I know, and I won''t stop nor sabotage you." Xun Er replied simply with a unreadable face. Ma Xiaotao''s face frowned, as she stopped and turned towards her and said. "Xun Er, we''ve been having this conversation, alongside Zhu Zhuqing, for a while so tell me. Why won''t you say it to him straight? Believe me; as someone who is triple connected to him via spirit power, spiritual power and emotions by a hundred percent, the feelings of Yan to you is mutual and I think he has it more than you." Xun Er pauses, turned away from Ma Xiaotao to hide the pained and hurt expressions that appeared on her face for a couple of moments, before replying. "I-It''s more complicated than you think it is¨C" "Girl, how the hell does telling a guy you love you love him complicated?" Ma Xiaotao interrupted with raised an eyebrow at her, crossing her arms. Xun Er turned towards her with narrowed eyes and a small glare. "Like you have room to talk you hypocrite!" Ma Xiaotao didn''t show a response to that, instead she puffed out her c.h.e.s.t and said. "Oh? So you think I still haven''t told him that I like him? Don''t be so naive Xun Er." "I''ve already told him I love him, after the end of the first month of hellish training, when I asked him for our non-s.e.x.u.a.l dual cultivation. Though expectedly, or unexpectedly, he rejected me. Said he already had someone in his heart and mind." Xun Er''s eyes widened and jaw lowered at the sudden bombshell that was dropped. But Ma Xiaotao wasn''t finished, as she looked down and held her right fist over her left c.h.e.s.t where her heart lay. "But I wasn''t disheartened nor have I lost my motivation to continue my pursuit for him. Because we were already deeply connected at that point of time, I already knew his heart belong to someone that was not me, before I confessed. You might be thinking why I still confessed despite knowing he already has his heart for someone." She then turned her head up towards a quiet and serious looking Xun Er. Her eyes was hard and determined, her mind and body was confident, her soul and emotions was of complete calmness and certainty. "Simply because I''m in love." Ma Xiaotao said as she locked eyes with Xun Er. "Despite his deep love for someone other than me, I still love him. Despite being rejected, I still love him. Even if you''re the one he''s in love with, my best friend, I still won''t give up because I love him. That''s just how it is. I just love him so much, that I don''t care if I''m selfishly stealing my best friend''s love or that said love would continue rejecting me. I just love him too much to give up." She then walked closer towards Xun Er, standing just inches apart with their faces close as if they were going to kiss. They stared at each other in silence, their gazes on each other. Various emotions flashed through their eyes. Xun Er''s eyes showed of disbelief, uncertainty, anger and sadness while Ma Xiaotao''s eyes showed of determination, certainty and anger as well. "Well?" Ma Xiaotao snapped. "What are you going to do? Will you just stand by and suck on your thumb as other girls like me conquer the love of your life? Or will you finally have the courage to stand by his side with a true and happy smile?" She didn''t wait for a response, she walked by Xun Er and went towards the dining hall. Xun Er lowered her head, her teeth biting down on her lower lip, clear hesitation and complicated emotions on her face. She clenched her fists so hard she bled and had subconsciously summoned her heavenly flame, surrounding her body in a blinding golden light and a brilliance of black and purple lights of her spirit rings. A transparent golden dome appeared, that couldn''t be seen by the n.a.k.e.d eyes, lighting up her entire surrounding in a bright golden light. She suddenly lifted her head up and let out a roar, unbefitting of a human, of frustration and anger at the sky. *ROOOAAARRRR!!* Tears streamed down her face as her golden pair of eyes turned hazy and misty. "It isn''t that easy Xiaotao, because, my uncle will immediately kill Yan the moment he find out about us. If Yan doesn''t fully inherit the power of the Fire Dragon King, he will be killed." She muttered. "I''m scared, is love supposed to be this hard?" She wiped her tears moments later and turned to walked towards the dining hall. Her domain remaining active unknown to her, causing any onlookers to looked on in wonder and amazement at her. Chapter 76 - 75: Blackest day, with the brightest heart Zhu Zhuqing let out a sigh as she finally finished absorbing her third spirit ring. Her eyes shone in a darkish-red color as she opens them. Three spirit rings rose underneath her body, surrounding her with them, showing their splendid color. Yellow, yellow and purple with tints of black spirit rings surrounded her, causing a rare happy smile to appear on her face. ''One step closer...'' Her smiling expression then fell into a frown. ''But I''m ten steps behind...'' She let out a long depressing sigh out and decided to looked around her to see that her friends and teachers were several meters nearby to check if the absorption process was going alright, or there was any surprise attacks like that previous yellow lightning spirit beast. Zhu Zhuqing trembled at the thought, a slight trauma was created in her mind when that yellow adorable but highly dangerous spirit beast had struck them with a powerful thunder and lightning ability. She and her friends would sometimes unconsciously twitched their bodies as if they were being relived of that moment. She just put that in the darkest parts of her memories and move on. Though talking about moving on... "Here." Dai Mubai said as he handed Zhu Zhuqing a gourd full of clean water. "You must be thirsty, you''ve been in the absorption process for about three hours after all." "Un, thank you." Zhu Zhuqing nodded in agreement and gratitude for the gourd, she then drank water from it. They remained silent for a few moments, while Zhu Zhuqing drunk water, Dai Mubai suddenly said. "So, how''s the progress with Xiao Yan? Did you guys manage to at least take it to first base?" A teasing smile and a mischievous glint appeared in his eyes as he witnessed Zhu Zhuqing do a spit take. She then coughed roughly, while trying to regain her senses, the sounds of her sudden outburst of surprise gained the attention of the others but Dai Mubai waved them off that it was alright. "W-What, h-how?!" Zhu Zhuqing stuttered with a completely red tomato face and widened eyes. Dai Mubai''s eyes turned deadpanned. "Practically everyone, maybe except the guy himself Xiao Yan, knows that you, Ma Xiaotao and Xun Er has a major crush on him." "... Everyone?" At his nod, Zhu Zhuqing''s jaw dropped in disbelief and lowered her head moments later in her hands out of embarrassment. "... I thought we were hiding it well, how did you guys find out so easily?!" She asked out of curiosity and trying to hide her embarrassment further. Dai Mubai made a ''are you serious'' face and let out a sigh. "Me, fatty and the teachers are experienced men so we pretty much deducted it just from the love sick glances you girls sent him most of the time. While Tang San, Xiao Wu, Oscar and Ning Rongrong just realized it when you girls have your ''cat'' fight over him, that you girls disguised it as spars." Zhu Zhuqing g.r.o.a.n.e.d through her hands, moving her knees to rest against her c.h.e.s.t and arms to rest on top of her knees, she then hide face in her arms and said. "The pun was unnecessary..." Dai Mubai shrugged. "Meh, thought it was a good joke." Zhu Zhuqing turned silent; as her thoughts now processed with the knowledge that all her friends now knows she is in love with Xiao Yan and that two of her friends does too. In a normal situation she would have started freaking out more and shut down but she had something to talk about, something that not Xiao Yan nor the other two girls would have to know. "... Do you think I still have a chance?" She muttered with a low voice of a mosquito but Dai Mubai had heard clearly with his great sense of hearing, benefits of being a beast spirit type spirit master. Enhanced six senses, the last being instincts. Although he isn''t certain, Dai Mubai could guess that Zhu Zhuqing is talking about having the chance of getting the heart of Xiao Yan, when there''s two other girls after his own heart; whose talents greatly outstrips hers by a long mile. He scratched the back of his head, clearly troubled, as he being the guy giving out advices to others isn''t really his thing. ''But f.u.c.k it, she''s my childhood friend and all that, I owed her a lot from the trouble I caused her in the past, so time to repay some of that debt off.'' he thought He then sat down on the grass besides Zhu Zhuqing, staring at the afternoon sky, and said. "Well, you want the honest truth or white comforting lie?" Zhu Zhuqing remained silent, prompting a sigh out of his mouth. "Honest truth it is then." Putting his chin on his left palm, his left elbow resting on his left t.h.i.g.h, he said. "Honestly, you have a snowball chance in hell with those two around. They''re both hot, both figuratively and literally, an entire spirit realm above you, much more closer to Xiao Yan and, most importantly, they''re both more sociable than you despite being highly adverse to strangers, by acting cold, more specifically to males." "I knew it!" Zhu Zhuqing cried out in despair, digging deeper into her arms. The term, "the truth hurts", is true as she is experiencing it. Silent sobbing could be heard from her. Dai Mubai remained silent however, for several moments before asking. "So, are you just going to give up?" Silence was the reply he got for a few moments, until Zhu Zhuqing''s head rose up and simply said two words that surprised him. "F.u.c.k. No." Dai Mubai''s eyebrows raised out of surprise and shock for a moment and asked. "Oh, and why not?" Zhu Zhuqing wiped away her tears, took a deep breath in and out, and stood up with her right clenched hand raised at her c.h.e.s.t level. "I''m come this far and gone too deep into my emotions for him that I refuse to give up. He''s the reason why I''m pushing myself further than most of my peers do, which is bringing myself at near death''s door every goddamn time in training, and I do not regret it." She then turned towards Dai Mubai and said. "He gave me a chance to love again. What I''ll likely regret in my entire life is not continuing to pursue him. If I just stop, just because of those obstacles called Xun Er and Ma Xiaotao, I just know that I''ll regret it for the rest of my life." Dai Mubai stared at her in utter shock and awe, for this was the first he ever saw and heard Zhu Zhuqing saying so much words and with so much passion than she has ever done in her life. ''You really are a person of greatness Xiao Yan, for you to have Zhu Zhuqing feel these much emotions, I just know that I''ll be entirely relieved to have you both hooking up.'' He, and everyone who knew Zhu Zhuqing, knows that she was a cold woman of a few words. For her to speak this much and with such emotions, it could be said that it was a miracle. ''Though the repercussions of the Zhu Clan, and by extension my own clan as well, of ever hearing that you guys had hooked up would be completely disastrous. So, I''ll help you guys out." With that thought done, he stood up and clasp his hand on Zhu Zhuqing''s right shoulder and whispered. "Good. My only good advice; do not waver, do not lose that only brightness of your lonely heart, and most importantly; DO. NOT. Let him go." He then walked her past and met up with the others. "Hey boss Dai, what were you two talking about?" Ma Hongjun curiously asked as he held a chicken drumstick in his right hand. Oscar and Ning Rongrong nodded in agreement. Dai Mubai shook his head, grabbed the chicken drumstick from fatty''s hand, and said. "It''s nothing important. Though even I tell you I''m sure only you fatty wouldn''t understand." He then proceeded to eat the chicken leg while ignoring the indignant cries of Ma Hongjun. Zhu Zhuqing blinked for a couple of seconds, as she stared at her friends, before she had a small smile appear on her face. "Thank you, Mubai." Chapter 76 - Heyo! So I''m back, a really shitty couple of weeks for me as the studies and projects that I had painstakingly did were set to not return to school until further notice due to a sudden quarantine. Yeah. All that f.u.c.k.i.n.g hard work, late nights and more, just, ugh... Good news is that I was able to write two chapters and will release it all in a couple hours. Bad news is that I think I might not continue on writing a DD2 fanfic, though I probably will someday but not until this fic will someday be completed. Don''t get me wrong, I really do want to write a fanfic of it as I really love DD2, it was actually this story that made me read 1, 2.5, 3 and 3.5(not gonna read 4 yet, still debating if I want to read it while I''m writing a DD1 fanfic here). DD2 is amazing but the later choices in the story just made me frustrated beyond belief. One, forgiving his father and not destroy the clan? Bro, what the f.u.c.k were you even gathering your strength for? What was the sole purpose, the reason, Huo Yuhao wanted to rise in strength and power? Revenge. And that was all butchered by saying the Duke didn''t know he and his mother was abused and the duchess died offscreen. -_- How does a Duke/Soul Douluo, a freaking Duke of his own territory, not have a single trustworthy bodyguard to keep an eye on his people? Specifically, his son and supposed beloved maid? I almost smashed my phone from the part Huo Yuhao decided to spare his father and his half-brother who was part of the reason his mother died. Secondly, what the f.u.c.k happened to the child with Juzi? I get that he''s angry, having your s.e.m.e.n stolen so that Juzi can have her own child and keeping it a secret can do that to anyone but to not bother with said child? Like, checking up on him or look after him? I¨C I love kids guys because I got baby cousins, nephews and nieces that I sometimes babysit. They might be troublesome, but that''s how kids are and I love them. Thinking how someone dosen''t bother with their kid just makes me mad. Children shouldn''t be caught in the chaos of their parents lives. They should be taken care of and be spoiled by their parents. I don''t f.u.c.k.i.n.g care the excuse Huo Yuhao had, that child was his whether he liked it or not. When he didn''t choose to help care for the kid, who only had Juzi as a parent for his entire lifetime till he died and wasn''t really mentioned later on, Huo Yuhao unknowingly remind me of his father; the Duke, at that moment. But don''t worry, the story overall is great until the end. It was all perfect until the author decided he didn''t want a harem for Huo Yuhao, made him a simp, a deadbeat dad, and some more that I forgot. Those are least of the reasons why I can''t really write a fanfic of it but mostly because the world building is a bit hard to write; which is reason the entire story of it is great. This would have my job easier if someone wrote a geography and some background of the characters of Douluo Dalu 2 in fandom wiki. Though anyways, I might write a different fanfic when this story gets to 150 chapters. Something different than Douluo Dalu. Something... something? Meh, anyways before I go I wanted to tell you all; 1. The second form of Xiao Yan''s sword will officially be Heavenly Perpetual Flame Sword, got half the name from Shifuuuuuud(dude u got a lot of u''s). 2. Screw the schedule or any deadlines cause my life is distracting me so much that I might not commit to it. One week is 3-4 or probably even 5 chapters in random days is my final decision. 3. Have any of guys read Heavenly Jewel Change? It''s written by the same author who wrote Douluo Dalu. It''s a great story and I highly recommend it you guys read it and it''s manwha. You guys might be wondering why I''m recommending this right? Well I just recently found out it had a manwha out and it made me read the novel once more. Though shame they cut off some of the really good bits from the novel tho. 4. Lastly, should it be Shrek Ten Commandments or Shrek Ten Devils? What should be the team name really? I''m still so conflicted and the arena arc is just so close now. Chapter 77 - Sorry But Something Important Came Up As the title says, something very important came up so I won''t be able to upload in a while. I don''t how long but it''ll probably take till by Tuesday(Philippines time). Chapter 77 - 76: Reunion; Meeting the in-laws?(Part 1) "Uwaah! Ge, look, look!" Xiao Wu pointed towards a beautiful white sundress worn by a mannequin behind a glass window. "It looks so beautiful! Buy it for me would you?" "Ha... Fine." Tang San let out a resigned sigh and conceded to the whims of the devilish girl. Counting this as the twenty-second dress she had ''asked'' him to buy for her. He moved his right hand to c.a.r.e.s.sed his Twenty Four Moonlight Bridges around his lower waist, and thought with imaginary tears in his mind. ''Guh, Xiao Wu isn''t really holding back on her shopping spree no more. Looks like I''ll have to go to Yan to either beg him for money or asked him for a job. I still need the money for resources for that new variant of the Godly Zhuge Crossbow I''ll have to construct; that Xiao Yan help in remaking it''s blueprints. He called it a, shotgun?'' As his mind wondered, he wasn''t able to catch on Xiao Wu buying another dress for herself, hence making it a double expense that he did not want for this shopping spree of theirs. What''s worse, whenever his mind was preoccupied his body would go in some sort of autopilot, hence he didn''t notice the extra clothing that was thrown to him, which went directly to his storage spirit tool, and the extra loss of gold spirit coins from his wallet. After they walked out of the shop did Tang San regained his sense of reality once more, but it was too late for him to realize the loss of his money. To make things even more worse, they had only just began on their shopping journey. The duo walked from shop to shop, buying materials and other miscellaneous stuff, while also enjoying their time together. Xiao Wu hugged the left arm of Tang San, rubbing her two budding peaks into his limb, causing him to blush red, she then dragged him further into the streets as the day rises and slowly drops. As Tang San hold on a stick of muton on his right hand, he couldn''t help but lament at this development. Although he got some of the materials needed for the weapon he was going to make, he couldn''t help but let out streams of tears in his mind as the budget he had initially had was now almost at zero. "Hey ge!" Xiao Wu said loudly that immediately gained his attention. "There''s a great place for us to observe the sunset!" She said whilst pointing towards a certain bench that had a lone tree besides it, compared to the other benches that had none within the park they just wandered in, it looked special. Before Tang San could think any further, he was quickly pulled by Xiao Wu towards the bench and the two immediately sat down together. "..." "..." They both remained silent as the orange yellow sun slowly sets down and darkness rises with numerous stars highlighting the planet. Tang San closes his eyes, contentment and relaxed expressions clear on his face. The years of hidden pain, frustration, loneliness and other negative emotions he had felt in his last life seemed worth it if it means he could lived this life with the new love ones he had made bonds with. Xiao Yan; his sworn brother known as the mysterious, ruthless, cunning, and charismatic person he has ever met in both his lives. Xun Er; a close friend, who he considers as his sworn sister as well, is equally known as mysterious, ruthless, more charismatic than the man she loves, kind and generous to people she acknowledges as a friend, cold and indifferent to strangers, specially men, and the best friend of the girl sitting besides him. Tang San opened his eyes to turned towards Xiao Wu, her head still sleeping by his shoulder in comfort. With the use of his nimbleness and skills, he moved her head away for a moment without disturbing her and let her head fall back to his shoulder once more, only this time, he had wrapped around his arm, whose shoulder is being used as a pillow, to pull Xiao Wu into a one sided hug. Xiao Wu didn''t react to the sudden change, except further burying her face into Tang San''s right shoulder. "... Hey ge." Xiao Wu quietly muttered. "Yeah?" Tang San replied, glancing at her head. Xiao Wu hummed to herself for a moment, raised her head to stare at Tang San, determination and resolve clear on her slowly blushing face. "Listen, I have something to tell you. Something I''ve been feeling for a while and it''s driving me crazy if I don''t let it out, so," She moved her hand to snake towards Tang San''s left cheek. Her eyes staring at the shocked and confused pair of eyes of Tang San. "Will you listen to me? Every word, sound and breath that comes out of my mouth? Will you take anything that I will say to heart, mind and soul?" Tang San''s face turned serious and nodded. "Of course." Xiao Wu smiled gratefully and she then took a deep breath. "Ge, for the last past year and several months I''ve been¨C" She stopped, her face turned stiff; as all the colors from her face was quickly drained, her body shook and tensed up uncontrollably. "Xiao Wu?" His spiritual senses and instincts had screamed at him, that an extremely powerful being has taken interest of him and is quite near him; as he soon felt the space around him and Xiao Wu seemed to be more suffocating and heavy! "Xiao Wu!" Tang San didn''t hesitate, or said anything further, his eyes turned into a shade of dark purple; activating his Purple Demon Eyes for a more greater reaction time, eye coordination and etcetera. He grabbed Xiao Wu into a princess carry, stood up, and quickly turned towards the opposite to where the more ''heavy'' space is he had felt. Blue lightning spark and lit up all around him while his body turned somewhat transparent. A mix of the Three Thousand Lightning Movement Technique and Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track. His calves and feet tensed, his eyes burning in desperation to get Xiao Wu and himself¨C "Oi." Tang San suddenly felt a hand on his right shoulder, without even thinking, he let go of Xiao Wu''s legs from his right hand, he then used his right leg to hold her legs, and turned around to use that said hand to swiped at the stranger. A hidden blade suddenly popped out of under his right wrist and was about to pierced the smirking man''s windpipe, who looked remarkably like¨C "Dad?!" Tang San said out loud in surprise and shock, his hidden blade stopped quickly, inches away from taking away his dad''s life. "Hey kiddo." Tang Hao simply replied, nonchalantly ignoring the blade that was about to pierced his neck. "Dad? Wait, ge is he you''re father?!" Xiao Wu''s senses returned back to reality as her widened in proportion out of shock and disbelief. Tang San couldn''t fault her for the disbelief in her voice, as he himself couldn''t believe that the man in front of him was really his dad. "... Who are you and what you done to my father?" Tang San questioned Tang Hao suspiciously, through the six years he spent with his father; he never saw him act so happy. Although Tang Hao expected the reaction of his son as much, a twitch on his lips could still be seen. "Little san, is that how you greet your father?" Tang Hao said with a tone of coldness and indifference. "Ah," Tang San gasped. "It is you father! Geez, since when did you become so handsome and happy? I mean I don''t mind the sudden change of personality and emotions, god knows how many people die out of desperation and loneliness. Don''t tell me, did you get a girlfriend?" Tang Hao''s jaws dropped, while Xiao Wu let out a giggle but then closed her mouth shortly after; as she didn''t want to disrespect her love interest''s father. ''Xiao Yan-gege is really a bad influence on San-gege.'' She then had let Tang San let her down so she could stand up properly, her eyes glancing at him. ''Though it''s not really a bad thing.'' Unknown to both, they had completely forgotten the sudden threat around them. "Y-YOU!" Tang Hao pointed his finger at his son, irritation clear on his face. "What about you? I know my son and he wouldn''t be acting so disrespectful to his father. Who are you and what have you done to my son, you imposter?!" "Ha?!" Tang San cried indignantly as he gritted his teeth and retorted. "I take back my word. There''s no way you''re my father! He disappeared for six years now, saying he had something to do, so there''s just now way he''ll just appear in front of me after all this time, you''re the one acting sus here!" "Why you-!?" Then the father and son duo continued on their argument at each other as time went on. ''Its been half an hour now. When the hell are they going to stop?'' "Ara, ara." Suddenly, a melodious and strange voice sounded out besides Xiao Wu; causing her turned around to gasped as she saw the most beautiful woman she has ever seen, excluding her mother that is in her opinion. A pale, beautiful woman with long silver-blue hair that looked as if it made from nature. Her features are lovely, with cool blue eyes, perfect skin, and rosy lips. Despite wearing a simple white and blue sundress, her voluptuous figure and beauty seem to stand out even more. Especially the c.h.e.s.t area. Her eyes were closed, tilting her head down to rest on her left hand, she smiled in amus.e.m.e.nt. Though, feeling as if someone was was staring at her, she opened her eyes and turned towards Xiao Wu. "Ara? What is it dear? Although I don''t mind much of the staring... but it is kinda rude when not saying anything to the person you''re staring at." Xiao Wu blushed red in embarrassment, shaking her head, she then bowed. "I''m so sorry for staring miss! I shouldn''t have done that; as I am a stranger and so are you, I should have started introducing myself in the first place." The woman giggled and shook her head in return. "Oh it''s quite alright, though looks like we got off the wrong foot. How about this; my name is Ah Yin, what about you? What''s your name?" "Xiao Wu ma''am." Xiao Wu politely replied with a smile. A smile appeared on Ah Yin''s face. A certain memory of two individuals appeared in her mind as she observed Xiao Wu. ''To think, she would looked like a combination of two of her parents. Xiao Wu and Xiao Lin, I hope you could see your daughter all grown up into a young lady right now.'' "Oh please Wu''er, just call me auntie." Ah Yin said while patting Xiao Wu''s head. "Eh?" Xiao Wu muttered in confusion and surprise. "Or better yet!" Ah Yin''s face turned into realization; as her right fist popped on her left palm. "You can call me mother." Xiao Wu''s eyes widened and jaw practically dropped to the ground. Her mind trying to comprehend what she just heard while her emotions tensed up. She couldn''t understand why a unknown woman she just met; like for five minutes, would quickly decide to let her call her mother! That word brought a variety of emotions running in her heart, mostly sadness and anger, the past replying inside her mind, "Y-YOU!" Before she could snapped at the woman, Ah Yin however made the first move. "There, there. Shh, shh, it''s okay." Ah Yin took Xiao Wu into her embrace. Patting down her hair in a soothing and comforting manner. "I''m sorry if it brought up some unpleasant memories for you, I was ins.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e, I''m sorry Wu''er." She then moved her hand to wiped the tears from Xiao Wu''s eyes. ''Tears...?'' Xiao Wu thought for a moment, before she shook it off as she let herself be completely enveloped into Ah Yin''s comfortable embrace, calming down her once rising emotions. Several moments passed in silence before Xiao Wu raised her head from the sizable c.h.e.s.t of Ah Yin. "Sorry..." She muttered but Ah Yin shook her head and said. "No, it''s my fault for taking it too far as to let you call me mother. We should have started to getting know each other first, like as my son himself introduces you to me." Xiao Wu nodded for a moment at the first half of the sentence before her body stiffened into a statue at the last half. "S-Son?" Ah Yin nodded, joy and happiness clear on her face, as she then turned and said. "Yes, my son Tang San. I heard from a certain shameless alchemist and owl how you two are so close; that you both sworn to become siblings! Oh, who would have thought I would get myself another child. Oh happy day!" Unknowingly, Ah Yin hugged Xiao Wu into a death grip and started spinning her around in the air with a joyous expression. Xiao Wu however, didn''t react to the sudden bone crushing experience of her ribs or the nauseousness of being twirled around. No, her body just froze in place in Ah Yin''s embrace. Her mind though, raced at the speed of light as she kept on hearing what Ah Yin said. ''Son, Tang San. Siblings. Another child. Son, Tang San. Siblings. Siblings. Siblings. Siblings. Siblings. Siblings. Siblings. Siblings. Siblings. Siblings....'' Her face then turned to horror as her thoughts repeated the word ''sibling'' in her mind. ''No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO!!!!'' Xiao Wu''s mind crashed. While the mother and daughter/in-law? were having their moment, the father and son duo were having theirs by standing by the side with blank looks. "Hey dad..." Tang San started. "Yeah son?" Tang Hao replied. "Is she my mother?" Tang Hao simply nodded. "... Okay cut the crap whoever put me in a illusion. I suggest you give up now before I beat the crap out of you." Tang San angrily stated into empty air. "Little San, what are you talking about?" Tang Hao asked in confusion. Thinking his son had gone crazy or something. Tang San turned towards his father and simply said. "There''s no way my father would somehow be able to bag the woman embracing Xiao Wu. The last I''ve seen of him, he was exactly like a deadbeat dad looking deprived and poor. There''s just no way, in any situation or logic, can someone like my father marry a woman like her." "..." Tang Hao opened and closed his mouth several times; wanting to deny it but for some reason, he didn''t have the confidence to say it. * [Pic of Tang Hao] [Pic of Ah Yin] Chapter 78 - 77: Meeting the in-laws(Part 2) "M-Mother..." Tang San, the young man who was always composed and calm, sobbed like the child his age should normally be into the group hug of both his father and mother, after a dozen or so minutes of convincing, he finally realized that they are truly are his parents. Tang Hao and Ah Yin both smiled, tears also streaming down their faces, as they hugged the child they had missed for so long. Emotions of gratitude, happiness, joy, and many more swirled in their hearts. Especially for Ah Yin. She had thought; after sacrificing herself to save both her husband and son, she wouldn''t be able to see them ever again. But it looks like the heavens were fair and just, for she was given a second chance. Yao Lao; otherwise known as the Ice Fire Douluo and supposed Alchemist God in the entire continent had hastened her recovery speed by giving her a legendary tier 9 liquid pill called Heaven''s Milky Way. It was a two inched tall and wide bottle filled with a white and translucent unknown liquid. It contains several immortal herbs that, even by scent alone, can cause someone''s spirit power to rise exponentially. An example is that someone of the Spirit Scholar Realm could quickly advance to Spirit Grandmaster Realm, when they have a spirit ring prepared, as long as remained close to the Heaven''s Milky Way. Now imagine to drink a single drop or the entire As the nature of those tier 9 pills, creating phenomenons that go against the nature and laws set upon the world. Now you might be wondering how she is alive, well, sacrifice is an act spirit beasts can take to bestow a spirit master, someone they had acknowledge or are close to, with their spirit bone and spirit ring. Even f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y raising their spirit ranks to rank 91 Titled Douluo. If they choose to do so, all their years of cultivation will be used up, and they will revert to an infant. Only 100,000 year old spirit beasts can use sacrifice. Meaning, not only she and other spirit beast that uses such a ability doesn''t die but they also reverts back into their infancy. At the point of time after her sacrifice, she was still a blue silver grass and didn''t have a consciousness nor intelligence. But with the help of Yao Lao; by pouring a single drop of Heaven''s Milky Way on where she was planted. She had subconsciously absorbed the great amount of energy in that single drop and was able to established her consciousness and intelligence enough to communicate with the alchemist. It took a while, but Ah Yin was able to recover back to her hundred thousand year old state and regained her human form within just a couple of years; which was a few months ago. To which she had to re-cultivate her spirit power once more, one of the reasons why it took a little longer for both her and Tang Hao to go to their son Tang San. The waiting pained her so much that she almost had to fight against Yao Lao to see her son. But as she hugged her family, she felt that it was worth it. The family of three then released each other''s arms, well, for a moment before Ah Yin went and continued hugging her son. "M-Mom!" Tang San cried out in surprise and embarrassment. "Oh my dear son, I missed you so much! Waa!" Ah Yin''s eyes produced a river of tears as she hugged her precious and beloved son in a death grip. Tang San''s face quickly turned pale, then blue and purple; as air slowly squeezed out of his lungs. His eyes turned to side, staring at his father and Xiao Wu; pleading them with his eyes for help. Sadly, he was only met with eyes of pity and sympathy. The both of them didn''t have the guts to intervened a mother''s reunion with her son. Especially Xiao Wu, she didn''t want to be crushed to death by snu snu. Tang San could no longer hold on and desperately tapped his mother''s arm however, that too was ignored by his mother''s overwhelmed sense of relief and joy. Tang Hao shook his head at the display and finally decided to step in. "Alright dear." He said as he separated Ah Yin from Tang San, who immediately started heaving in deep breaths; with Xiao Wu helping him calm down, Tang Hao then turned towards his wife and said. "How about let''s properly talk to Xiao San now, shall we?" Ah Yin pouted, crossing her arms underneath her b.r.e.a.s.ts, and turned away in disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e. "Hmph! Fine, but you could have at least let me hug our son for much longer." ''If I did, you wouldn''t even have a son right now.'' He inwardly thought with a deadpanned expression. Before he shook his head and turned towards a now fully recovered Tang San. Tang Hao''s expression turned serious as he said. "Little San, Xiao Wu." Tang San and Xiao Wu'' heads perked in attention. "What we''re about to tell you, are reasons why I left and why I''m here now with my wife. This also includes the secrets of your bloodlines as well son." Tang San unconsciously gulped while Xiao Wu fidgeted in place out of nervousness, the latter raising a hand up asking. "Um, should I really be here for this? I mean, this looks like a important meeting between family and¨Couch!" Xiao Wu however, was interrupted by Ah Yin who flicked her forehead. The older woman let out a gentle yet irritated sigh, as she patted Xiao Wu''s head and said. "I''m sorry Wu''er, but forgive me as I say you deserve that." Hearing that made Xiao Wu stare at her indignantly. "After all, what did I say? We''re family; you, me, hubby and little San. You''re right that this matter should only be known to family, and that includes you as well." "Un, I understand auntie." She nodded in agreement, but there''s no way in hell she''s going call her mother until she finally bags Tang San. She thought in her mind. Ah Yin continued to smile while patting Xiao Wu''s head. Although she''s saddened at the fact she didn''t call her mother but knowing that they had just met she''ll just let go, for now. "Little San, please listen closely." Ah Yin turned towards her son, who nodded in reply, then to her husband and said. "Tell him dear." Tang Hao nodded, telling them to take a seat down, and soon after told a story: about two brothers who belonged to one of the most prominent clans in the continent. They are also one of the most talented and powerful spirit masters in the known two kingdoms at the time, members of the ten generation of geniuses. Later on in their teens, as they''re strength and talent seemed to hit a limit, they were ordered to be sent out to the outside world to broaden their horizon for three years. And in that time of their adventure, they had met a beautiful, and unknown to them at the time; a spirit beast turned human woman. The three became great friends as they travelled the continent for three years; exploring, cultivating, fighting, etc. Until one day the older brother decided to returned to the clan after a tearful farewell to his brother and friend, shortly afterwards the woman decided to tell the other remaining brother her secret. Surprising to say, although the man was shocked he accepted her despite who she is and the two soon married later on and the woman became pregnant. Everything was going well at first, the man, now husband, had reached peak Spirit Douluo, just a rank away of being a Titled Douluo, when a Titled Douluo from Spirit Hall spotted and discovered the woman''s secret of being a spirit beast. The husband, fully knowing of what will come next pf the situation, decided to immediately kill the Titled Douluo, who was off guard, and ran away together with his wife beyond anyone''s hands. It was supposed to be a great day, for a new life was to be brought to the world however, that was all ruined by the sudden group attack of Spirit Hall. The man fought desperately against them in his lonesome, trying to defend his weakened wife and soon to be born child, but sadly they were too powerful. Just as the leader of the group was about to deal the finishing blow, the woman, who finished giving birth to her child, had appeared. For she, made the ultimate sacrifice. For her husband and child; her family. She used ''sacrifice'' to give her husband a boost in spirit power, spirit ring and spirit bone. After sacrificing herself, the man had received the power he needed to kill the people responsible for his wife''s death. When he finally achieved his revenge, he retreated elsewhere with his newborn child; a son, with a heavy broken heart. For the next six years, he remained quiet to watch over his son as he drown himself in nightmares and alcohol. His life would have continued being like that, a once powerful spirit master that fell into deadbeat looking dad, if it weren''t for the spirit awakening ceremony of his son. Revealing that his son had carried the two spirits of his parents. Tang San sat opposite to his parents, his mouth slightly open, as his eyes stared wide at his father. Shock, sadness surprise and disbelief in his heart. Xiao Wu also felt the same as she heard the story, her right hand had unknowingly held on to Tang San''s left hand. ''T-That story. Is he talking about himself and...'' Her eyes unknowingly went towards Ah Yin, who was patiently looking at them with a calm and kind smile. ''N-No way!? She''s a spirit beast like me!'' Excitement and happiness surged within her heart at the thought another ''kin'' of hers would be here with her! Especially since Ah Yin is the mother of Tang San, the boy her heart belongs to, her happiness almost exploded outwards. Though there is a slight problem currently for Xiao Wu though, and that is trying to change Ah Yin''s mind that the former''s relationship with Tang San is more than siblings! While Xiao Wu was preoccupied with herself, Tang San was slowly processing and digesting the story he heard from his father. "That story..." He said with quiet and calm voice as he stared at his parents, causing to snapped Xiao Wu out of her mind, "Was the husband and wife in the story, you two?" "Yes." Tang Hao and Ah Yin both unhesitatingly said at the same time towards their son. They''re faces serious and calm. "Those brothers was me, Tang Hao, and Tang Xiao, your uncle. My wife, spirit beast turned human, Ah Yin." Tang San blinked once and nodded. "I see. Now I understand why I and Xiao Wu felt such unbelievable sense of danger, it came from you. It also explains the sudden change of personality no doubt." To that, Tang Hao sheepishly rubbed the back of his head uttering apologies to his son and Xiao Wu while Ah Yin glanced at her husband with a deadpanned expression. "But I have three questions I''d like to be answered." "Okay, sure, I''ll answer them as best as I could." Tang Hao replied with a shrug. "One, what was the clan you, and the uncle I haven''t met, called?" "...The clear sky clan." He answered after a moment of hesitation. Tang San''s eyes widened and jaw dropped while Xiao Wu gasped in shock. Anyone would have the same expressions the both of the have. Although they are currently missing in public, the clear sky clan is still a clan that is known as one of the great three of the seven school clans in the Heaven Dou Empire. They are known to be as the number one tool spirit type spirit masters in all across the land. "Well shit, I expected a well known clan but to be the clear sky clan..." Tang San muttered as he rubbed his chin. "I''ll digest that later on, second question; why didn''t the clan helped you when you and mom was at such dire state? Now that I know that they''re the clear sky clan." Tang Hao smiled bitterly while Ah Yin frowned. "They did helped at the start but, when the battle ended my father, the clan head at the time, was both angry and devastated at the loss of both the resources and men the clan had from spirit hall. The damage done was so much; that he decided for the entire clan to go into hiding until one day the clan could fully recover." Ah Yin put a hand on her husband''s arm, letting out a long sigh, she said. "... And as punishment for your father, being as he was the main reason, or more specifically me, that the clan had suffered such losses... Your grandfather had decided to exile your father indefinitely, cutting ties on both sides for good that not even the latter dies." "They can''t just do that!" Xiao Wu said out loud."To be so unreasonable and cowardly, just because uncle did was to protect auntie and ge, instead of punishing you they should''ve taken their anger on spirit hall!" Tang San and Ah Yin, though surprised at the sudden burst of Xiao Wu, both nodded in agreement while Tang Hao let out a long depressing sigh. If it were him a few years ago, he would have defended his clan and be angry that someone was talking shit about them. But as he held his wife and son once more, he couldn''t help but have his views on the clan shaken. He was now bitter and angry, though not specifically at his clan, but at his father who decided to run away with their tails tucked between their legs. ''I wonder what would grandfather do?'' He wondered, the image of his powerful grandfather now missing appeared in his head, before shaking his head. "Okay, with that out of the way, what''s you''re third question?" Tang San pauses as he stared at his parents. "Sigh, father, what''s the trouble this time?" Tang Hao and Ah Yin blinked simultaneously then glanced at each other. "How''d you know son?" Tang Hao straightforwardly asked. Ah Yin staring at her son in surprise as well. "You guys love me, there''s no doubt about that, father, you said that you and mom weren''t able to come earlier cause you had something important to do right? I''m just gonna guess that you guys withheld the reunion until now because mom needed to quickly re-established and stable her previous spirit rank, though hopefully she could surpass her previous rank; possibly a Titled Douluo. So that she can better protect herself and us. So why, why are you guys here now? You said that a few months ago that mom had just recently returned to her 100 thousand year old form. In just a few months isn''t enough for her, even in her previous spirit rank, to achieve Titled Douluo. So what''s going on? What''s the trouble?" "..." Smiles of pride appeared on both the parents at the wit and intelligence their child showed. ''My son really got his intelligence from me didn''t he?'' Ah Yin said with her eyes glancing towards Tang Hao, who indignantly stared at her. ''What? Nah, nah, he got both of his brawns and brains from me.'' He got a slap to the arm by a rolling eyed Ah Yin. As the couple seemed to delve into their intimacy, both Tang San and Xiao Wu fidgeted awkwardly in place. Tang San''s face was especially red in embarrassment. [2 hours later(meme)] Finally not having enough patience, Tang San interrupted his parents with a fake cough. "Ahem, mom and dad can we get on with it?" "Alright, there two reasons for it. One, I judged it enough for you to finally awakened you''re plant spirit beast bloodline by your mother." At that, both Tang San and Xiao Wu was once again astonished. But Tang Hao wasn''t finished. "Secondly, a clan under the authority of spirit hall has been sent in this city to temporarily occupy it and basically take control of it." "B,But why?!" Tang San asked with a raised tone while Xiao Wu looking terrified. "Why would a clan under spirit hall go here? Even though spirit hall is renowned throughout the two empires, and can possibly rival an empire as well, they still can''t possibly have that much power to easily slapped the Emperor''s face to assigned their own stronghold here!?" "That, little San, the answer to that is by one word." Ah Yin interrupted and paused dramatically. "Politics." Tang San and Xiao Wu'' faces blanched. "Wut?" "Trust me, it''s too complicated as f.u.c.k for me to explain but basically spirit hall said that the in-law of the head master of the clan; that they''re currently sending here, was humiliated so brutally by someone and needed assistance. The empire reluctantly agreed for the clan to set up space here in the city momentarily and thankfully, spirit hall will not help the clan in any given situation regardless." Tang Hao said. "Still, it''s a really BIG assistance if they needed to send the entire clan here." Tang San muttered in clear hostility and suspicion. Now that he heard the tragedy of his parents life, he is truly hostile against anything to do with spirit hall. Hm, his father did say that the in-law of the clan head was humiliated... hold up. ''If my memory serves right, didn''t Yan humiliated a couple of clans that was causing him trouble some time ago? Shit. Please, just please, just once in this lifetime let this not be connected to Xiao Yan.'' Tang San deeply pleaded inside his head. Hoping to any beings in the world that this has nothing to do with his sworn brother. But alas... A giant explosion with green, red and silver colors of destruction momentarily covered the sky by 1km in diameter. It was like fireworks exploding in the sky while blackened humanoid figures could be seen falling down as the explosion disappeared. Tang Hao and Ah Yin''s head immediately snapped towards the sudden ensuing chaos with shocked faces while Tang San and Xiao Wu stared at the colored night sky with deadpanned expressions. A middle finger made out of trails of blazing green and red flames with silver lighting crackling all around it in more prominent display for all to see. "Goddamit..." Chapter 79 - 78: Jia Lie Clan(Part 1) [A few hours ago...] Within the commercial district road, a luxuriously dressed young man could be seen along with three average looking uniformed guards. The young man was only 20+ years old and was quite handsome. His face was slightly pale and his eyes were a rare amethyst color that had a sort of heat within as he surveyed of the nearby young ladies and women. The l.u.s.t is strong with this one. "Hmm, so this is Suotuo City huh? I admit, although it''s a bit small and the architecture of the buildings here cannot be compared to the greatness of spirit city but I must admit that the goods here are to my taste. I guess father relocating the Jia Lie Clan here wasn''t really a bad idea." Jia Lie Ao said with a confident smirk on his face as he strolled down the road while his bodyguards remained silent and continued following him. Jia Lie Ao and his entourage of bodyguards wandered all around the district, sightseeing numerous different stores and flirting around with the city girls for a few hours, until they came across a certain shop. "Oh, ''Red Hot Dragon''s Store''?" Jia Lie Ao said unimpressed while two girls, dangling from each of his arms who he flirted and swayed, widened their eyes, their faces turning pale and started shaking their heads slightly. While the bodyguards remained silent as ever behind him. "Well, well, judging by the name this must be a restaurant of some sort. Very well! I''m famished from all that walking around, I might as well eat here. What about you ladies?" "I-I, uh, I think my mom just called and wanted me home. Sorry young master but I have to go." "Me as well my Lord, I see my parents calling out to me. Bye!" Just as they were about to escape, Jia Lie Ao tightened his hold upon the two girls. As a Spirit Elder Spirit Rank 32, he''s strength was beyond any normal person, much less two normal girls. He stared at them with a cold face, saying. "Oh nonsense. I don''t hear anyone calling out for you two. Judging from you''re expressions, this store isn''t a restaurant huh? Since I''m new here, how about you tell me why are you both so scared while we enter¨C" "Oh hell no! I ain''t going to that store with you asshole!" One of the girls said with a scared and angry face. "Piss off limp d.i.c.k! You''re not worth enough for us to mess with the owner of that store!" The other girl said with same expressions as the former. Jia Lie Ao is a person known in the Spirit City who is ruthless, arrogant and mostly thinks with his d.i.c.k. He is a spoiled young master, an elitist and s.e.xiest basically. So when the two girls interrupted him with insults, well, his red contorted face said it all. "Y-You bitches-!" "Oh screw off already!" Girl A interrupted him with a pissed off look. "We ain''t stupid enough to go and cause trouble for the B¨´ g¨¦ m¨¤n." "The boogeyman?" Jia Lie Ao narrowed his eyes and scoff at such childish name, while holding back the urge to slap the two bitches to death as he was curious on why such a person was so feared. "Oh he''s not the boogeyman, that''s a misinterpretation, he''s the one who kills and eats the boogieman." Girl B said. "Yeah, especially since what I''ve seen him do before." Girl A nodded with a fearful expression. "I''ve seen him kill three guys that were two Spirit Grandmasters and one Spirit Elder in a bar." Jia Lie Ao scoff, as someone who was a elite Spirit Elder; killing three people; two Spirit Grandmaster and one Spirit Elder, is as easy as killing chickens. He was about to write off this ''boogieman'' as some average Spirit Ancestor or even a Spirit Elder that had some strength until he heard what Girl B said next. "With a pencil. He didn''t use any spirit power and there was no spirit rings surrounding his body, meaning he didn''t use his spirit. With just a simple small wooden pencil, he killed them all within just under a single breath of time." Jia Lie Ao, as well as his bodyguards, widened their eyes in shock and disbelief. Didn''t use his spirit and spirit power? With just a pencil, the probable normal person was able to kill two Spirit Grandmasters and a Spirit Elder?! "Terrifying..." Jia Lie Ao muttered with a frowned expression as he stared at the building in front of him. Should he tell his father of this sudden discover? A normal person with the capability of killing three spirit masters, shall he recruit this person into the clan? "That''s just the least of you''re concerns." Girl A wrapped her arms around herself, her figure trembling, an expression of fear on her face clear. "He was the person who had singlehandedly humiliated all four clans here, especially the Ao Ba Clan. That person had been so cruel and cold to those members of that clan, so much so, that those who were tortured... humiliated by him were so afraid to even set foot out of their rooms!" Jia Lie Ao, along with his three bodyguards, froze in place. Their eyes widened and expressions of shock appeared on their faces. ''We found him!'' They simultaneously all thought. The Jia Lie Clan was sent to this city due to two reasons. One, someone of high standing from Spirit Hall wanted watch on the city due to some peculiar rumours they''ve been hearing that clearly needed their attention. Secondly, the clan wanted to swallow the Ao Ba Clan into their own fold under the pretence of helping them. Especially not after hearing they''ve been humiliated by a single person! Jia Lie Ao sneered and thought of them lowly at the thought that the Ao Ba Clan had been stupid enough to offend someone powerful. But... Hearing that just a normal person had been the one to do it, Jia Lie Ao was considering to tell his father that they should just kill the Ao Ba Clan members for their uselessness! They couldn''t even kill a normal person! Jia Lie Ao could understand that the mysterious ''boogieman'' was able to kill those three man, probably due to some luck or high level skill, but to humiliate an entire clan that had a Spirit Emperor? That''s just bullshit! While Jia Lie Ao and the bodyguards'' minds were preoccupied, the two girls quietly sneaked away. Moments later, the guards and Jia Lie Ao snapped back to reality with their faces turning into anger. "Young master, how should we deal with such a person? Report to the master? Or shall we do it, personally?" One of the guards asked. "Isn''t it obvious?" Jia Lie Ao snorted in irritation, looking at the idiot who asked, three optimal spirit rings; two yellow and one purple spirit rings appeared underneath and surrounded him. "This, ''boogeyman'', is the person responsible for humiliating our allies. We must enact justice for them! As for him singlehandedly took on the clan, bah, that must have been a exasperated rumor created by this person''s accomplices who really took on the Ao Ba Clan." "But, if this person''s accomplices are powerful enough take on a Spirit Emperor, what hope could we, three Spirit Ancestors and one Spirit Elder, to take them on young master? Also, isn''t this person''s skill unpredictable and great?" The second guard asked in doubt the other two nodding in agreement. "Hmph, you idiots, everyone has they''re own things to do. Do you think probable Spirit Kings or Spirit Emperor would give their own damn time with a measly mortal? No!" Jia Lie Ao massaged his fists, a cruel and bloodthirsty grin appeared on his face as he stood staring at the store. "As for this person''s mysterious skills, we''ll just overwhelmed him with our numbers and immediate use of our spirit skills. No matter how proficient he is in his mysterious ways, he is still a normal person." "As for my father... if anything goes wrong we''ll just use that flare we got from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan to get reinforcements." The guards looked on in awe and realization at the genius of their young master. They once more swore within their hearts to follow him till they die protecting him. "Young master, you are wise!" "As expected of young master, you are truly a genius!" "I shall continue follow by your side young master!" The three bodyguards bowed in reverence towards Jia Lie Ao, who was looking smug with his head held up high as his ego from his bodyguards praises went to his head. "Good, good, now, let''s go get this bastard!" "Ohh!" ... A shiver went down Xiao Yan''s spine as he sat on his chair behind the cashier desk. "Oh no, not again..." Xiao Yan muttered irritation. Zi Yan''s shift was over a while ago and the shop was supposed to be closed for the day; he operated from six in the morning till six at night, but he decided he wanted to manned the shop for a hour or two till he called it quits as he had nothing to do. But now he was having second thoughts, as he suddenly felt a bad feeling of troubles coming his way soon. On a side note though, why does he suddenly have an urge to adopt a dog? Chapter 80 - 79: Insert Meme Xiao Yan has went through many surprises in his life. Reincarnation, befriending the main characters of the fictional world he reincarnated into, rising up into a genius like a badass main character, finding out that this wasn''t his first rodeo of reincarnation, some secrets of the changed world, finding love, etc.. With all that had happened, nothing would surprise him anymore. So really, the situation going on in front of him didn''t surprise him one bit. "Alright, my name is Jia Lie Ao. The one and only young master of my clan! I''m here on the behalf of my clan, the Jia Lie Clan, to find and capture this supposedly boogeyman!" A presumptuous prick declared as he and his entourage trio of stooges walked into the store, kicking the door, like he owned the damn place. Three optimal spirit rings surrounded him while the bodyguards hadn''t released theirs. ''Of all the bastards that I would see once more in this life, why did it have to be him.'' Xiao Yan mentally g.r.o.a.n.e.d in irritation which he didn''t openly showed on his face as really, he didn''t want to play with this son of bitch while his arm was itching like crazy! Jia Lie Ao, a big a.s.s pain in the a.s.s for him in the early days during his fall from grace of a genius in his first reincarnation. He was known as a l.u.s.tful, shameless and degenerate person that prey on young women and bully the weak while kissing the asses of top dogs like his father, Jia Lie Bi. Basically; typical young master that has a stick up his a.s.s. From what Xiao Yan could remember, Jia Lie Ao wasn''t really a big deal of a pain. Just a headache really. The problem however, lay on his background. In his first reincarnation, and before his three year training-journey, the Xiao, Jia Lie and Ao Ba clans were the top most clans in the entire city. Xiao Yan wasn''t really afraid of them, the Jia Lie clan and Ao Ba clan, except for the consequences of having his clan go to war that is, and they did though. A one sided slaughter, with his clan being slaughtered and was about to be completely destroyed, if he hadn''t arrived with Cai Lin... His hands slowly clenched, his heart beating erratically, memories and emotions flashed for a moment in his mind before he f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y calmed down. ''She isn''t here. I know she''s somewhere around this world. I just haven''t found her yet. So stay calm and don''t let your heart beat while guys are in front of me, that''s just gay.'' Suddenly, he felt the curiosity of Flame Emperor surfaced at the back of his mind, wondering what his past life had encountered to feel such irritation, and other intense emotions, and decided to manifest to take a look. Xiao Yan didn''t need to looked behind him to see his past self manifesting behind him in a spectral form, with a couple moments later his face turned into a look of pure disgust. "Oh, it''s him..." Xiao Yan heard Flame Emperor muttered before feeling the latter''s entrance back into his mindscape while not before saying. ''I don''t know why you suddenly felt emotions like you were looking at your wife while staring at some guys, but I don''t care. I just don''t wanna deal with the bastard once more. I''ve had enough of him in one lifetime thank you very much.'' Xiao Yan twitched his face at the misunderstanding but decided to let it go. As he felt the same, sadly, he has to deal with the young master and his bodyguards instead of going back to relax and mess around with pills. ''Oh well, if the guy doesn''t bother me too much I''ll just give him a slap on the wrist; via Mind Over Reality controlling him slap himself and his bodyguards.'' Mind Over Reality is so OP; as the perfect hypnosis it also has the ability to control a person he hypnotized. Depending on the mind of the victim, he could control them for as long as they have the will to resist and break free but that''s only if they realize they were being controlled. Subtlety is key on hypnosis and mind control after all. Letting out a sigh, a polite and clearly faked smile appeared on Xiao Yan as he went on professional business mode. "Hello dear customers, what can I help you with?" Jia Lie Ao and the bodyguards didn''t noticed the momentarily shift of Xiao Yan as they were also busy looking around the store. A few moments of looking around, Jia Lie Ao decided to finally noticed Xiao Yan as he walked forward and stood in front of the latter''s desk, his three spirit rings around him glowed a bit for intimidation, which didn''t work, with a serious and determined expression, in a commanding and condescending tone, he said. "Hello there, uh, I don''t really care who you are, I''m just looking for the owner of this store and I''m sure you can point me and my pals here to where he is. Better hurry as well, I don''t have much patience and time." A tic mark appeared on Xiao Yan''s forehead, his hands clenched under the desk wanting to punch the bastard to seven ways to subday, but he maintained his calm face and fake smile. ''You''re dead, you motherf.u.c.ker!'' "Oh I''m sorry, but you just missed the boss. The store is about to close you see, and he always leave before closing time." A frown marred on Jia Lie Ao and his bodyguards faces as heard they Xiao Yan explained. "I see... Say, what''s your name?" Brow arched, Xiao Yan replied with a completely straight and honest face. "You can call me Mister X dear customers." Not wanting for further trouble and headaches later on, Xiao Yan decided for a alias that wasn''t much for imagination, and copyright. "Mister X? Strange name, but whatever. So the owner isn''t here huh? Well then I supposed..." Jia Lie Ao nodded simply then wind started to moved strangely, like the beginning of a tornado, it rattled the furniture around. Xiao Yan quickly noticed the sudden change of the wind, especially since the wind itself seemed to visibly gather around Jia Lie Ao. Not only him, his other bodyguards had finally showed off their spirits. Unremarkably, they were all ordinary weapons of one thirty-seven inched long sword, one two-meter long spear and one one-meter long and a.d.u.l.t torso sized battle axe. They all have the same spirit ring configuration: one white, one yellow and two purple spirit rings. "Since he''s not here, we''ll just send him a message. By ''redecorating'' this store of his, you won''t mind will you? Or better yet, we can have you ''help'' in sending the owner a message." While cold and viscous grins appeared on the oppressors face, Xiao Yan slowly bowed his head slightly for his bangs to shadowed his face. Insert: soon to erupt in anger badass MC meme. Chapter 81 - 80: Ah, its good to be alive! ''Typical but what did I expect?'' Xiao Yan inwardly let out a sigh. His two heavenly flames surged and lit up within him, awaiting for him to use them. Though not before hitting Jia Lie Ao and his bodyguards'' minds, messing their memories of his face subtly and his store''s location. But even then, he knew that it wouldn''t be enough as he knew investigation of his store and himself would come soon later on. His luck as a protagonist would make certain of that. ''I honestly don''t want any trouble coming to me, but they''re a more pain if I don''t settle this now.'' All the storylines from Xiao Yan had read in his past could attest to that. ''I have to cut the roots of the problem before it grows. Which means I''ll have to go and pay a visit to the Jia Lie Clan, though after...'' His head rose up, showing his eyes glowing in a blazing emerald and red light while silver lightning crackled around his body. Freaking out Jia Lie Ao and his bodyguards in place. "What the f.u.c.k¨C!" One of the bodyguards started to curse but stopped immediately afterwards as Xiao Yan''s fist connected to his face, breaking the guy''s teeth while silver lightning trailed behind him. The bodyguard took several steps back, his hands had unconsciously dropped his spirit tool, the battle axe, to the ground while he covered his face out of pain. But before he could have a semblance of recovery, and use his spirit power to cover his body for defense, Xiao Yan''s attacks didn''t let up. He continued on by sucker punching him to the gut, enough that the guy bended back and spilled out saliva. Stepping to the side, he controlled the amount of his strength to exert; he then ended the one sided beat down, by karate chopping the guy''s neck. The bodyguard''s eyes rolled up till white remained and he went face flat to the ground, unconscious. All which had occurred within half a breath of time. "What the-?!" Jia Lie Ao eyes completely went wide in shock and disbelief as he stared to find the young man behind the desk had vanished and reappeared behind him, then started beating down his bodyguard to unconsciousness. All which, had happened within him seeing Xiao Yan''s movements! His other two bodyguards also had the same expressions, alongside fear, as they stood still, but they reacted afterwards; as their experiences as veteran combatants and instincts screamed at them to move! They both dropped their spirits and immediately moved to tackle their young master to the ground quickly, earning them an ''oof'', as Xiao Yan''s right leg, covered in a fiery red flames, just went passed them by a hair! "Oh?" Xiao Yan muttered in amus.e.m.e.nt. "You two move, not to escape, but to protect your young master? Well, color me impressed." As the trio lay on the ground, chills run down their spines, they blinked their eyes to noticed something red on each other''s bodies. "Eh?" Jia Lie Ao uttered in confusion as he felt a burning sensation coming from his forehead, like it was momentarily exposed to fire, a small cut of line from the left to right slowly appeared on his forehead, blood then appeared spurting out of it. "AHHHHHH!!" He screamed out loud as his left hand went and covered the sudden appearance of injury on his forehead While his two bodyguards on top of him stared in confusion and shock. "M-My head! It hurts! It burns! H-Help! Help me!" Jia Lie Ao cried out begging in pain for the first time in his life. "Don''t worry, it''s just a shallow wound." Xiao Yan nonchalantly said. "H-How?!" One of the bodyguards stuttered while the other immediately pushed themselves out of Jia Lie Ao to help him of his wound. "How were you able to inflict damage on him! We were certain we we''re able to save him!" He then turned to looked at Xiao Yan''s shoes. "Most importantly is how though! You are only wearing shoes!" "Watch." Xiao Yan said with a smirk. As he lightly tapped the upper part of his right shoe, a ching was heard, and then out came a small two-inched long and one-centimeter wide pointed blade from the tip of the shoe. The two bodyguards and Jia Lie Ao widened their eyes at the trick then the latter''s eyes turned bloodshot. He pointed a finger towards Xiao Yan and said. "Y-You bastard, using such shameless tricks! Don''t you know who I am! I am Jia Lie Ao! The one and only son of Jia Lie Bi! I''m the young master of the Jia Lie Clan! The branch family of one of the seven ancient families; the Shi Clan!" As Jia Lie Ao rumbled out more threats about his background and get treated at the same time by his bodyguards, a frown crept up on Xiao Yan''s face. ''The Shi Clan? One of the seven ancient families? What the heck? Why is the Jia Lie Clan affiliated with the Shi Clan? I know for a certain fact that they weren''t in my past life. Whatever. I just wanna know if the Xiao Family is one of those seven. But I won''t get it from Jia Lie Ao, he''ll just blab that I wanted information and Jia Lie Bi would likely guessed that I have some sort of connection with the Xiao Family. Which would either be a good or bad thing. What should I do?'' Xiao Yan rubbed his chin in contemplation. Numerous plans going in and out of his head. "¨CAnd Spirit Hall wouldn''t let this matter go either! So you better give up now!" Jia Lie Ao glared hard at Xiao Yan; who just now snapped out of his mind. "I''m sorry what?" Xiao Yan said, completely ignoring what Jia Lie Ao been saying for the last couple of minutes. "Y-YOU!" Jia Lie Ao''s face completely turned red from anger along with his bodyguards. Not only did this bastard humiliated him, but he also destroyed his dignity! "What? You''re complaining?" Xiao Yan''s face turned cold, his legs now moving to stand closer to Jia Lie Ao and his two bodyguards. "You come into my establishment, disrespect me and started to threaten my store. What the f.u.c.k did I do to you? Nothing. Now you''re saying, you''re complaining from the clear need of punishment I gave you; that was due to your own arrogance and bloated ego? Know you''re damn place mongrel!" The trio''s faces that were red turned into a darker shade of red. Humiliation, anger and fury swirled inside of them. All of them promised to themselves, they will get revenge! ''Opps, I gotta dial down on my inner Gilgamesh. I don''t wanna be killed by my own arrogance after all.'' Xiao Yan inwardly winced. All the power and confidence he had gotten, after the numerous hellish training he had gone through to arrive being such a powerhouse, he had sorta let the power gone to his head. Especially since he has a shiny golden armor to display to taunt his enemies. "Wait, your establishment?" One of the muttered, realization on his face, staring gaping at the Xiao Yan. The other bodyguard and Jia Lie Ao soon followed on his realization. The boogeyman, was the young man standing in front of them... Although he used some sort of self-made spirit ability that lets him use the elemental properties of fire and lightning to coat his attacks, Xiao Yan had not used his spirit and hence haven''t released his spirit rings. The trio faces rapidly turned into sheets of pale white as the one they were searching for, was in front of them this entire time! What''s more, they had even threatened to ''redecorate'' his store straight to he''s face! ''We''re screwed!'' They all thought in fear as Xiao Yan looked down on them with a cold and unreadable face. His eyes blazing in a fiery emerald and red light it sent deep fear and dread in their hearts and minds, causing them to freeze in place once more, and even almost pissing themselves! ''T-Those two were right. This man, no, this boogeyman isn''t someone to easily mess with!'' Jia Lie Ao realized too late. "W-Wait! We can talk this out-!" "Tell the Jia Lie Clan, that I''m coming..." Xiao Yan muttered in a deep and ominous tone, completely ignoring the pleas of Jia Lie Ao. He then brought his right hand up, emerald and red flames started to swirled around on his open palm. The two differing flames swirled around like little snakes before converging into a small compacted ball of flame, silver lightning bolt then appeared crackling around the small ball of emerald and red flames. Xiao Yan then flexed his fingers and the ball of flames convulsed for a moment before it changed into the shape of a lotus. Spirit power around Xiao Yan seemed to took a physical manifestation, shaking the surrounding like an earthquake was going on. Jia Lie Ao and his bodyguards shook their bodies, their eyes diluted and jaws gaping, the colors on their faces turning into a deathly shade of white. ''S-Such dense and heavy spirit power... we''re dead!'' Jia Lie Ao''s life flashed before his eyes. Even with spirit power layering their bodies to protect themselves but they felt like it would be useless, they would be killed by the lotus of death in front of them. Several moments later, Jia Lie Ao and his trio of bodyguards were kicked out of the store and straight towards the sky; with a small emerald red lotus flame, with silver lightning dancing around it, following behind them. What followed; was a fireworks display of a huge fist erecting only its middle finger openly with burnt bodies raining down from the sky. They were alive though, thanks to the spirit power that covered their bodies and was just at death''s door. The people near the area stared in both awe and fear, the latter to those with impressive perception, at such a cruel and humiliating punishment given to those poor bastards that turned into burnt charcoal. "Haa, it''s good to be alive." Xiao Yan said with a huge smile on his face as he stood on the ground entrance of his store. ''S-Scary!'' While Xiao Yan was enjoying upon the torture he gave Xiao Zi Yan stared, dumbfounded at the situation in front of her, while shivering in terror behind her brother. She had just woken up from her refreshing nap, only to find out her brother had been torturing insects. ''I-I shouldn''t really pissed off Xiao Yan-gege much later on in the future.'' That evening, Zi Yan swore to herself to be a bad girl too much; which saved her from numerous spankings. "Zi Yan!" Xiao Yan''s sudden call freeze Zi Yan in place. Especially since she could smell the bloodl.u.s.t coming out of his body. "Tonight, you and me are heading out to have some fun!" Chapter 82 - 81: Jia Lie Clan(Part 2); Hidden Ones Later that night... Jia Lie Clan Residence Jia Lie Ao and his three bodyguards were found by the passing Jia Lie Clan members. They were all found burnt like charcoal but are all still relatively alive, a step away from death to be precise. It had caused an uproar within the clan, especially to those close to the victims and especially Jia Lie Ao''s parents. Their cries of pain and angry, infused by their spirit power, was heard throughout the entire city. Now, practically everyone within the entire city knew that there would be blood to be spilled. "Have you not found the culprit yet!? Useless!" Jia Lie Bi yelled at his guards, a man in his late forties and looked to be handsome even when he is at an old age. His yellowish spirit power surged around his body, unconsciously releasing his seven spirit rings! His monocle on he''s right eye seemed to cracked from the pressure of his spirit power. Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black and black spirit rings surrounded his body. Remarkably, he was a Spirit Sage! Though not as rare as a Spirit Douluo or Titled Douluo, they are still one of the most rarest and powerful spirit master powerhouse in the continent. If a Spirit King were to be recruited into the kingdom, they would be guaranteed the rank of a viscount. While a Spirit Sage would easily be guaranteed the rank of a duke! An aura of anger and frustration radiated off his figure. Winds ruptured and run wild around his surroundings, deep cuts and scratches appeared on the buildings and some of the guards bodies, which was caused by his pressurized wind blades, causing the guards to feel death was a mere step away if they did or said something further to upset their clan head. Currently, Jia Lie Bi and his wife was sitting on their throne like chairs, both garbed luxurious clothes, in the clan''s meeting room with all six elders of the clan sitting besides them of their own perspective seats. He and his wife, oh so wanted to find the bastard that caused his son to be burnt to charcoal but they had no leads. So they stayed within their clan residence for a now while his clan''s guards go and try to find out who their mysterious culprit was. But they were all useless! Jia Lie Bi and Ao Ba Ling both thought in frustration and anger. In front of them were dozens of people garbed in black robes and their faces was obscured by a black veil and black bandanna, they are the most powerful, loyal and efficient guards of the Jia Lie clan. They are called the Black Hounds of the Clan. They''re all spirit master, which the least powerful of the guards was of Spirit Elder Rank while the most powerful and only spirit master of such a rank was a Spirit King! Though currently, these powerful spirit masters were kowtowing in fear of the wrath of their clan head. "We apologize master, we have failed." Jia Lie Mo said submissively with a emotionless tone. He''s the son of one of six elders of the clan and the only Spirit King of the guards. He could be said as a distant cousin of Jia Lie Bi, and due to his higher cultivation talent than the latter, he could possibly be next in line to be the clan head if Jia Lie Bi, Ao Ba Ling and Jia Lie Ao were to disappear. But he is extremely loyal and faithful to the clan, thus why he decided he entered the black hounds to sworn fidelity to the clan and the person ruling it. "We checked and interrogated the surrounding civilians around the area where the young master was found, but alas, even with extreme pressure they had nothing to tell except that young master and his men had fallen down from that recent show of vulgar fireworks display. We continued our search for information further for several hours but it was all pointless, we came up empty..." Spirit power surged once more and wind blades scattered and randomly sliced apart the surrounding architecture and bodies of the black hounds. The guards couldn''t do anything except b.a.r.e the unfair temper of their master. Jia Lie Bi''s face turned into a ugly wrathful demon, a silver ring with a yellow gem embedded on top of it on his right hand middle finger glowed as the wind around him started to turned into a tornado. But before that happened, a soft yet cold voice stopped Jia Lie Bi in his wrathful temper. "Dear, will you please stop for a moment?" Six spirit rings appeared underneath; yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black and black surrounded the madam of the clan, Ao Ba Ling. A dark leather whip with brown bandages wrapped around the handle she held on her left hand, red thorns protruding the meter long arm wide leather rope which she c.a.r.e.s.sed with a cold and dark grin on her face. She''s a Spirit Emperor with the spirit rank of sixty-seven and a tool spirit battle master. "I''m trying to think of how to find the bastard and teach him a lesson... Don''t let me teach you a lesson again as well." She glanced at her husband as she said that last line. She was a beautiful woman in her late thirties. Raven black long hair that reached her waist, similar colored eyes that held certain dark fantasies within, black lipstick on her seductive lips, b.r.e.a.s.ts at the size of a a.d.u.l.t''s fists, slender waist and supple bottom. Combined with her luxurious clothing, she was your typical presumptuous, seductive and sadistic MILF. Everyone shivered from her tone of voice and movement, though some of the elders and Jia Lie Mo were glancing at Jia Lie Bi strangely. As he shivered, he had sported a massive blush of red on his face for a moment, gulping, he let out heavy breaths of pants. Coughing on his palm Jia Lie Bi calmed down, though specks of pink was still clear on his face, and turned to face the elders. "Elders, what should we do? The black hounds are useless and there isn''t any leads. Can one of you use you''re connections to help me?" "Hmm, I''m sorry clan head but my connections were all centered around huge and famous cities like Heaven Dou City. I''m afraid I can''t help you." One of the elders said regretfully as he shook his head. "Same." "Same." "This old man only had connection with spirit hall, although there''s a branch of them here, you know that we were forbidden to contact them as we moved here. So I''m sorry, I can''t help you." Another elder shook his head. "Sorry, mine were on Spirit City, I apologise deeply." Five of six elders regretfully shook their heads as their connections either aren''t stretched enough to reach here or were simply unavailable by certain requirements. "F.u.c.k!" Jia Lie Bi cursed out loud. Then he turned towards the last elder who had not spoken, merely stroking his long white chin hair that reached his c.h.e.s.t. His name is Jia Lie Bu, Jia Lie Bi''s grand-uncle and is in his late eighties with a hunchback figure, wrinkled face, eyebrows that look as thick and shaped as a paint brush, and a bald head with a long white chin hair. Though don''t let his demeanor deceive you. He might not look like it but he is someone of spirit rank seventy nine Spirit Sage and a tool spirit battle master with his spirit being the wind staff. Basically, he looks like your typical senile old man that''s trying to copy Gandalf. "Hmm... I think I might have a way to find this culprit but it may take some time. After all, I still have contact them to see if they could really accomplish this task." Jia Lie Bi and his wife Ao Ba Ling both pair of eyes lit up in hope and cruelty, finally they had a chance of finding the culprit of their son''s situation. Without any moment of hesitation, Jia Lie Bi nodded in understanding and said. "It''s fine but I hope grand-uncle can ''persuade'' them more to help us. The one who did this to my son was clearly an expert as he did this without leaving any sort of evidence, except for that vulgar display, and had walked away freely. This person cannot be underestimated." Jia Lie Bi looked around to see everyone nodding in agreement with grimace expressions. "So for precaution, everyone of Spirit Elder Spirit Ranks and above will remain here to guard the clansmen while those of Spirit Grandmaster and below will investigate further and gather information. Which none of you are, so recruit the other clan members. I''m only asking those spirit masters with agility type spirits with experience in the field of espionage, combat and information gathering as they have average and normal demeanors compared to those of higher spirit ranks; the person behind this would not take mind of their existence. Now, rally the clan members! Do you all understand?!" "Yes master!" The black hounds loudly exclaimed with a deep bow, to the point that their heads seemed to sunk further into the ground, to the elders, Jia Lie Bi and Ao Ba Ling. After that, they left to rally the clan members. Jia Lie Bi then said a few trivial things to the elders about the other state of the clan then he dispersed them, and he and his wife, to retire to their rooms. Unknown to everyone in the entire Jia Lie Clan residence, two individuals dressed in all black leather clothing with hoods that covered their heads and their mouths weren''t even discernable due to the metal-like mouth mask on them; sat perched atop the rooftop of Jia Lie Bi and his wife. One of the hooded figure turned to the other and the two both shared a nod towards each other. "Remember, only the high ranking members of the clan. Also sparsely use our spirits." The other hooded figure said mentally towards the other in their spiritual link, to which the other hooded figure nodded in understanding. With a flick of their right wrist, a pair of sharp iron bladed protruded out under their wrist. It was ten inches long and four centimeters wide blade made out of ordinary iron but due to being coated in the numerous substances of spirit plants; the blade could easily cut through some of the toughest metals in the world and the spirit power defense of a Spirit King. "Let''s go." "Un, Nothing is real..." The hooded figure moved like the wind and disappeared like a ghost. "... Everything is permitted." The other hooded figure continued as he disappeared into a flash.