《Dragon Breaks The Void》 -1 The Stages of sDragon Breaks the Voids The 10 Stages of Body Fortification: This stage is where the martial artist strengthens their body through physical procedures called "Martial Stances". ONLY IN THE KINGDOMS: Stages 1-4: Martial Artists are called "Martial Learner" Stages 5-8: Martial Artists are called "Martial Novice" Stages 9 and 10: Martial Artists are called "Martial Master" To Advance: Martial Artists must find their Outer Dantian. The 10 Stages of Dantian Formation: This stage is where the Martial Artists gather Qi from the surrounding area and consolidate their Outer Dantian. ONLY IN THE KINGDOMS: 1-3: "Elder Master" 4-6: "Great Lord" 7-10: "Conqueror" The 10 Stages of Inner Discovery: This is the stage where the Martial Artist finds their attribute and strengthens their insides and bones. Stage of "King": The Martial Artist has turned their Qi pond into a lake. Stage of "Emperor": The Martial Artist has turned their Qi lake into an ocean. Stage of "Saint": The Martial Artist finds the inner dantian and expands their Qi ocean to a bottomless ocean. Stages Beyond the Fire Rock Continent: The 7 Steps of Ascension: The steps that must be taken for ascension to becoming a god. 1-3: To Ascend Requirements: Comprehension of any law must achieve at leas 0.01%. The Realm of Divinity: This realm is the minimum stage for ascension to the Higher Realms. It is split into 5 stages: 1: Demigod - 0.01% 2: Quasi God - 0.05% 3: God - 0.1% 4: True God - 0.5% 5: True Divinity - 1% The 9 Realms of Dieties: This realm is the stage for elders in sects of the Higher Realms. Comprehension of the One of the Laws must exceed 5% 1-3: Quasi Diety - 5% 4-6: True Diety - 10% 7: High Diety - 30% 8: Asura Diety - 50% 9: Serf Sovereign - 100% To Ascend: Comprehend the Heavenly Dao to at least 1%. Imperial Sovereigns: They are divided into lower, middle, high, lord, and chief sovereigns. Lower: Weakest of All Sovereigns but can still kill a Quasi Sovereign with a breath. - 1% Middle: Stronger Sovereigns rule the divisions within a sector . - 10% High: Ruler of the Sectors. - 50% Lord: Ruler of one of the Continents of the Higher Realms. - 100% Chief: Ruler of one the Higher Realms - Chief Sovereign Spark from the Supreme Dao at the beginning of the Cosmos. Stages Beyond the Knowledge of the Higher Realms: How to achieve: ??? Overlord: Rumored to rule over all of the Higher Realms Grandmist Lord: Serves under the Creator(s) in the management of the cosmos. Grandmist Creator: ??? There is rumored to be another realm above Grandmist Creator, but is unknown. 1 The End of the Golden Era Prologue: The End of the Golden Era Xung Dinh could see the massive amount of martial artists flying above his village. "Mom! What are those men doing?" "Hush! Those are the Deities! Don''t let them hear you talk about them! If you want, you can quietly stare." Despite him being at the tender age of 12, he was already at the 10th stage of Dantian Formation. He continued to stare fervently at the Deities gathered not too far away. "Get ready! Gung Minh and his group have gone ahead to attract the Golden Divine dragon! Once it comes, we will slaughter it!" The group of Deities threw out roars that shook the hearts of the nearby locals. "Here it comes!" The Golden Divine dragon rushed at the Deities at the speed of light. "Divine Space Locking Formation!" The leader of the group shouted as all the Deities pulled out their array flags. Golden Blue Lights shimmered as Variant Force energy was inserted into the array forming a lattice pattern, like a mouse trap ready to be triggered at any time. The Golden Divine Dragon roared and struck out at it with all of its might. The array shook but otherwise it did not have any other effect. "Quickly! Surround it!" As the Dragon was surrounded, the Deities went red with greed as they imagined the wealth that this dragon could bring them once they killed it. As they were to busy fantasizing their victory and future wealth, the dragon pulled out a small 10 foot talisman (Keep in mind this thing is like 1 million feet long) and crushed it. The sky darkened in the sky almost immediately after. "Hm...?" One of the Deities looked up at the sky and noticed azure storm clouds gathering. "Heavenly Tribulation?!!! What bad luck!" "Quickly! Finish it off!" All of the deities took out their Supreme Grade Divine Artifacts and started to launch their fiercest attacks upon the helpless Dragon. The heavens shook and space collapsed from this battle of epic proportions. All of a sudden, a booming roar of anguish sounded out. In a few seconds, all the surrounding villagers had died. Blood was flowing through the streets as the result of the shock waves of the roar. The weaker Deities instantly died and the group of 500 had now been reduced to a mere 50. "We can''t hold the array formation anymore! We don''t have enough Variant Force!" "I curse the heavens!" Immediately after that exclamation, a roaring face of a dragon seemed to form out of the fabric of reality itself. The deities looked up and exclaimed with horror. "Chief Sovereign hav-!" A burst of Golden light came out of the dragon''s maw and hit the group of deities. Strangely, the light flowed around the Golden Divine dragon and seemed to form a protective membrane. The light impacted the ground and created a crater with a diameter of about 500 million feet. The deities had all perished. The Golden Divine Dragon roared triumphantly. It used all of its remaining power and painfully ripped a hole in the void. As it was about to run to safety, a bright violet beam flew into the Golden Divine dragon. Its eyes were filled with despair as it disappeared with a small 10 cm Golden Orb replacing it. The Golden Era of the Great Gan World had passed. 2 Van Nguyen Chapter 1: Van Nguyen A brown-eyed and well toned youth was practicing his martial arts in a plain looking courtyard under a sturdy tree about 40 feet tall. The sounds of hammering metal sounded throughout the afternoon as the youth pounded the ironwood tree with his fist. "Honored Guest, your time is up." Streams of sweat trickled down his face and sparkles in the afternoon sunlight as it fell on his body. The youth nodded his head in affirmation and slung his yellow leather pack over his shoulder. As he was leaving the Practice Yard, he looked back at the sign with the words, "Yellow Canary Martial House" and, while sighing, left. He was B R O K E. The last of his coins from the last job he had gotten fired from had been used up in that one practice session lasting about 4 hours. He laughed bitterly at his luck and walked through the bustling streets of Mulberry City to find the job board. Merchants had set up there stalls and the city was bustling with activity. "Well look who it is. It''s the loser Van himself!" Van sighed at his bad luck and looked behind him to find an arrogant young master, wearing a sneer as an elder wore his beard, with 5 lackeys at the 4th stage of body fortification. "Young master, I do not wish to make any trouble with you." The young master sneered and replied by sending out a punch. Van was sent flying by the blow and the lackeys went in. He tried his best to defend himself but failed miserably. After he was beaten black and blue, the lackeys finally left. Van winced and slowly stood up. "What trouble have you been getting into now?" A green eyed youth walked up with his hands on his hips. Van laughed genuinely and wiped the blood out of the corner of his mouth. "Bang! What type of friend are you?" "The type of friend who knows who not to offend!" 10 Days ago, Van had met Han, the young master, and had thrown a punch drawing blood. Little did he know, this young master was the son of the city lord. Being a senior at the 3rd Stage of Dantian Formation, he would not directly punish Van. Instead he gave his son bodyguards and allowed him to beat up Van whenever he saw him in the streets. The two friends embraced each other and Van slowly limped to the job board. It was now evening and most people were at home with their families. Van started to read through the jobs. There was mostly listings for herb picking. There were a few requests for a sparring partner but the lowest requirement was the 4th Body Formation Stage. Van sighed and turned to leave. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a flyer requesting for beast hunters with a minimum of 2nd Stage of Body Fortification. Van walked calmly toward the Job Registrator.The man at the desk had a pair of spectacles, was a bit obese witand a shrewd greasy personality. "Which job would you like? The smell of rotten fruit and decomposing sweat permeated the man and drifted towards Van. Van wrinkled his nose. "I would like to apply for the Fierce Beast Hunt." The registrator raised an eyebrow and scribbled some words down on a sheet of paper. "Name?" "Van Nguyen" "Age?" "12" "Place your hand here." As the registrator expressionlessly instructed Van, Van took a deep breath and placed his hand on the smooth black rock. After about 2 breaths, a dull glow came out. The registrator nodded and scribbled down "2nd Stage; Body Fortification" A piece of paper was shoved into the youth''a face. "Come back here tomorrow at 5." Van nodded his assent and walked away. Bang shook his head. "I know that you are reckless, but this is beyond what I would''ve imagined." "Bang, I need to get stronger quick so that I can defend myself. The only way is to go on this hunt. I''ll just hope my group doesn''t encounter a rank 2 beast." Bang sighed and waved goodbye. Van waved back and headed to the slums. The slums were full of human waste and diseased men. As Van passed along, he suddenly took a right turn into a surprisingly clean alleyway. When he reached the end of the alleyway, he knocked on a door thrice and waited. "Who is it?" "Roman''s candle flew out again." "Did it really?" Van stayed silent and the redwood door opened to reveal a heavy built man of short stature with brown eyes. "It''s good to see you back." 3 The Nguyen Loyalists Chapter 2: The Nguyen Loyalists The redwood door shut behind Van and the brown eyed man turned towards the youth. He had a worried expression on his face. "You shouldn''t be wandering around for too long! Who knows what kind of dangers you will encounter out there!" The man''s eyes widened as he noticed the bruises that had been previously hidden in the dim lighting. "Who attacked you?!" "It''s fine Ghan. I just fell on my way here." Ghan sent him a doubting look. Ghan was at the 1st Stage of Dantian Formation, but because he was a well known supporter of the Old Nguyen Dynasty, he had to hide his identity and couldn''t get revenge for his young master. Ever since he was little, Van did not have much talent, which resulted in his exclusion from the family. But now, he was the only one left of the royal family, besides his aunt who rejected the throne as if it were an undesirable disease. The usurpers had ignored him because of his status as the royal failure. He had hopes of getting revenge, but at the moment they had no chance. They just had to wait patiently for the right time. At this moment, a woman in a red dress, that accentuated all the curves on her body, decided to approach the two. "Van! You''re back!" Ghan grumbled something about a damned enchantress and moved to the kitchen. Van smiled at the woman in red and crossing his arms bowed. "Junior greets Aunty." "Don''t greet me like that! It makes me feel old." "Junior apologizes." Van''s aunt shook her head in mock indignation and sat down in the nearby couch. Her long pale legs crossed as she sighed. Suddenly, her expression turned serious. "Why did you sign up for the Fierce Beast Hunt?" Van turned his head sharply, staring at his aunt. "How do you know?!" His aunt sighed. "Do you never listen to anything I say? You forget that Bang reports to me. He genuinely feels friendly with you. It''s just some extra money to be made for him. Don''t think any different of him." Van groaned. What was he going to do with this overprotective aunt of his. "I need to pressure myself to improve. Aunty, you know this." His aunt had a sad defeated expression on her face and nodded slowly. "I''ll be in my room if you need me." He went to his room and carefully closed the door. His gaze swept across the room, searching for any hidden spying inscriptions his aunt may have hidden. Seeing nothing, his mind seemed to calm and he gently pushed aside his bookshelf. A circular door with a 5 foot diameter was revealed. The youth gripped the handle and pulled. A strange breeze flowed through the tunnel and one could see a lake, lush with plants. There were a few docile rank 1 beasts drinking from the lake. Van quietly closed the door behind him. The whir of cogs could be heard as the bookshelf reverted itself to its original position. Van walked to the end of the passageway and sat down cross legged in meditation. Once he was in the right state of mind, he stood up and pulled out a 3 foot bow from his extended space bag. It was a family heirloom meant for his elder brother when he was to be crowned as King, but now it was his. He pulled out an box made of green ivory from the horn of a rank 2 beast called the Towering Fire Rhino. He carefully opened the lid and pulled out 10 arrows. Every day, he would string an arrow and try to fire the bow, but it was too heavy for someone like him with a mere cultivation of the 2nd Stage of Body Fortification. He would continue to try over and over again until he collapsed from fatigue. He lay on the ground heaving. A shadow was moving through the bushes and the rank 1 Fierce Beasts ran in fright. Van Nguyen was too focused on controlling his breath that he didn''t notice a golden striped panther emerge from the tree line. By the time he had noticed the panther, it was only 5 feet away, a distance that could be covered in a split second. "A rank 2 magical beast!" Van exclaimed in horror as he finally saw it. He was just about to turn around and flee when the Panther rushed at him. "If you want a fight, I''ll give you one!" He quickly changed directions and narrowly dodged the panther''s swipe of the paw. He was just about to stab out with the arrow in his hand when the Panther rushed past him at a small fleeting shadow. When he looked closer, he saw that it was what seemed to be a rank 2 Whitecloud Mouse. Whitecloud Mice were very elusive and treated as a treasure among beasts even in the entirety of the Fire Rock Continent. It''s value was not only in its rarity but also its ability to eventually become an Emperor ranked existence! Van''s eyes flashed with excitement as he imagined having it as his contracted beast and marching to the peak of Martial Arts as a Saint. 4 A Deal With a Mouse Chapter 3: A Deal With a Mouse "Hey, you there! It looks like you need some help!" Being a rank 2 Fierce Beast, it had enough intelligence to understand the general gist of what the strange human wanted. Once it noticed the human''s cultivation though, it squeaked at the human with shock. A human with a mere cultivation of 2nd Body Fortification wanted to help it? It shook its head as it seemed to have lost all hope. "If you are willing to become my contract beast, I will help you!" The mouse squeaked mockingly and almost took a paw to its face. It seemed to be inviting him to try. Van took a deep breath and triggered his inner strength. This caused his strength to instantly rise from 40 to 300 pounds. His bones started cracking as he got ready to leap at the panther. The Mouse gaped as it saw this weak human suddenly transform and was rewarded with a scratch from the panther. Van jumped forward and threw a punch at the Panther crushing it into the ground and killing it instantly. Van stood up triumphantly before the fatigue from using his inner strength caused him to collapse. The Mouse strangely had a code of honor and decided to uphold the human''s request of a beast contract. Van smiled meekly and grasped for his bag. He took out a plain looking piece of parchment and laid it down next to him. The Mouse bit its paw and rubbed some of its blood upon the parchment. Van pulled out a sleek black knife and cut his finger doing likewise. The parchment lit up and disappeared into golden lights that floated towards both Mouse and Human. The Mouse and Van both peacefully accepted the lights, ending the ritual. With a contract beast, Van felt new strength flow into his veins as his inner strength was nourished by this strange power. "Strange, I''ve never heard of any effects like this when you contract a beast." Van picked himself up and slung his bag over his shoulder. He looked at his new contract beast. "I better get back before Ghan starts worrying again." He walked back, with a mouse on his shoulder, to the circular door and gently pushed it open. When he got to the bed, he set down his pack and laid down. "So that''s where you''ve been going!" Van jumped with surprise as Ghan and his aunty came out from closet. Van groaned for he had taken too long and had had his secret revealed. "Who''s that little friend of yours?" He had completely forgotten about the mouse in the face of his dilemma and noticed that it was now nibbling on the sausage that he had saved for later. "A rank 2 Fierce Beast?!" Ghan and his aunty jumped up in shock. "How did you get it to accept a beast contract?" Van sheepishly scratched his head. "I may have used by inner strength to help save it." Ghan shook his head. What was he going to do with this young master of his. Van''s stomach started to growl. He hadn''t had lunch in a few hours. The Mouse squeaked as well. Despite its small size, it had a large appetite. The small group headed downstairs and had a simple meal of rank 1 Fierce Beast meat grilled in low-grade spiritual herbs picked from the nearby mountainside. The mouse was given its own portion to the request of Van. This was answered with Ghan''s disapproving expression. The Mouse looked gloatingly at Ghan and wagged its tail in a taunting way. Ghan slammed a fist on the table directing the Qi impact at the mouse''s bowl, causing it to fly into its face. Bits and pieces of meat flew everywhere and left a furious mouse covered in grease. Ghan roared with laughter. "That''s what you get you ungrateful mouse!" Steam could be seen rising from the mouse. "Ghan, calm down. This is Van''s contract beast. We must treat him with respect." The Mouse squeaked in agreement and licked itself until every spot of grease was gone. It then proceeded to climb on its benefactor, Van''s aunt. As it made it to the shoulder, it proceeded to accidentally fall into the cleavage below. "Oh, my!" When Van has made the contract, he had established a mental connection with it. "You perverted mouse." Van shook his head. It replied with joyful squeaking. His aunt gently fished the mouse from her cleavage and placed it on the table. The mouse, having accomplished its objective, returned to its position on Van''s shoulder. "It''s getting late, I wish you both a good sleep." His aunt smiled and left while Ghan grumbled something profane about the mouse. "Tomorrow is going to be a long day." Van sighed and laid on the bed. The mouse laid on his forehead and let out a Beast''s equivalent of a yawn. 5 The Great Debate Chapter 4: The Great Debate Van woke to a pair of beady eyes staring at him. "Ah!" He jumped on to his feet and threw the mouse on to the bed. The mouse gracefully adjusted itself midair and landed on all 4 feet. It squeaked joyfully and rolled around on the bed. "Very Funny. I''m dying of laughter right now. Ha ha ha" The Mouse continued to squeak as a fuming youth tried to calm himself down. "Van! It''s time for you to head out!" Van headed downstairs and found his aunt ready to send him off. "I thought you disapproved of my going?" "Since I can''t change your mind, I might as well do my best to help you come back safely." Tears came to his eyes as those words seemed to have released some invisible chains from hm. "Take this box, your brother would''ve wanted you to have it." His aunt handed him a case carved from a strange azure metal. Van collected it with both hands and handled it as if it could break at any moment. He gaped at the box. It was made out of a material he had never seen before. "Your great grandfather found this in a meteorite crater. It seems to be made by some divine material." "Junior thanks aunty for her benevolence." Van carefully placed the box into his bag and waved goodbye. His aunt watched as the youth and the mouse walked down the alleyway back into the city. "Alia, do you think they''ll be alright?" A strange voice sounded out behind Van''s aunt. "You worry too much Bo. I trust that he will take care of himself. Besides, he has the Divine Jade Dragon saber with him." An old man appeared out from the shadows behind her. He had a cultivation at the Emperor Stage. He let out a sickly cough and teetered on his feet. Alia caught and steadied him. "My time is running short. Take care of my grand son for me." Alia softly whispered into his ear. "I will Bo. I will." Van walked to the address on the piece of paper that he had been given yesterday. He eventually ended up in front of an inn with the words, "Cat''s Luck" on it with a drawing of what was supposed to be a cat resting on a clover. Van made eye contact with the Mouse and it quickly dove into his pocket. Then, he walked inside and was hit with the smell of roasted meat. There was a jolly atmosphere and many people had collapsed, drunk, on the floor. He noticed that most of the people on the job were either nearing the end of their lives or young people like him eager for a lucky chance. "All right people! Settle down!" A voice booming voice carried across the room. Van found the source of the voice. It was a black haired man with, strangely, red eyes that seemed to hide a dangerous killing intent. He had a finely chiseled face and a fit body. He looked to be in his 30s. Everyone immediately quieted down except for the occasional drunk yelling out incomprehensible phrases. "Everyone come up here to find your group number. You will stay with your group throughout the entire hunt. Never abandon your comrades. Or else." He drew his finger across his throat in a dangerous manner. Van swallowed the saliva in his mouth and turned towards the paper posted on the wall. He skimmed through the words until he found the words "Van Nguyen" and the number "24" next to it. He found a few other names with the same number. Those names were: "Binh Gao" "Han Kim" "An Lin" "Xuan Gan" He looked around nervously and tried to listen for those names. After a while, everyone seemed to have found their spots except for him. "Hey, Van Nguyen! Over here!" Van looked at the girl that was waving at him with a large grin on her face. She was wearing green-colored travelling dress and was about the same height as Van. Surrounding her were 2 men and another women who seemed as if she was allergic to socializing. When Van came over, the two men were introduced as "Han Kim" and "Binh Gao". Han Kim was a middle-aged man with a burly mustache and brown eyes. Binh Gao was a rogue type and made Van stand on edge whenever he got close. The girl dressed in green introduced herself as "Xuan Gan". "The girl over there is An Lin. I''ve known her for a while, but she doesn''t like strangers." Van waved at her in greeting and was rewarded with a curt nod from the girl. She proceeded to pull out a knife and use it to get the gunk out of her fingernails. "Well Van, I will be your team captain. As the one with the highest cultivation, I deserve it! I''m at the 5th Stage of Body Fortification!" She beamed with pride as she showed off her aura. "You''re too dumb to be team captain. I think I would be more suited to this position." Binh Gao stood up as he declared his ambitions and flaunted his aura of the 4th Stage of Body Fortification. Xuan Gan started to pout and throw a tantrum. Han Kim stood up and revealed his aura at the 4th Stage of Body Fortification. "We should have a vote so that it will be fair." Van chuckled nervously as he tried to push off the pressure. 6 Dinner next to Monster-filled Woods Chapter 5: Dinner next to Monster-filled Woods An Lin continued to pick at her fingernails despite the increasing tension. Some of the members of other groups started to look over as they saw something to stave off their boredom. "Um, Guys?" The trio currently in conflict continued to argue without reservation and completely ignored Van. Van watched as the black haired red eyed man marched over with annoyance. "Shut up!" Xuan Gan turned and was about to retort when her face suddenly went pale. "Lord M-m-marshal!" She stammered as she threw a sloppy salute. This was the lord marshal? The expressions of the other two turned ugly. Van backed away towards the corner An Lin was sitting and sat down beside her. He watched as the Lord Marshal gave the trio a lecture. Suddenly, Van decided that he would try to get to know Lin An. "So... what do you usually like to do?" An Lin stared at him quizzically. "Um... What do you usually do in your free time?" The sounds of Xuan Gan getting punished could be heard as Van failed miserably to start a conversation with the introverted girl. As he was about to try once again, the Marshal decided to make an announcement. "Now that everyone has gotten friendly with their team. It''s time for us to move out!" Chairs creaked and the floor groaned as everyone stood up, eager for some hunting. Van stood up eyes blazing ready for battle. A lot of boring walking later, Van finally noticed his empty stomach. His face paled. "I think we forgot to eat breakfast." He looked at the mouse with a mournful gaze.The mouse rubbed its stomach showing that it had already eaten. "Why didn''t you remind me?" Van groaned as he rummaged through his pack for something to eat. After a few minutes, he finally found a sausage half eaten. "Hey! You ate my food!" The Mouse squeaked its innocence and hid in his pocket. Van sighed and was just about get his payback when the Marshal held up his hand to stop. It was evening and the sun seemed about ready to set. "It''s getting late, we will rest here for the night and continue on at dawn." The group of about 200 Martial Artists stopped and started setting up camp. After the confrontation with the Lord Martial, Han was placed as leader. The team, after about an hour or so, finally cluttered together 3 tents and a pot over a fire. An Lin was slowly stirring the pot of stew made from lard, rice, and a few leaves of basil. "I could eat anything right now." Van groaned as he held himself back from diving at the pot. After about 10 minutes, Van went in for the ladle and gave himself a full bowl. As he sat down, he made sure he didn''t spill a single drop. He proceeded to eat a spoonful. He was rewarded with a burnt tongue and laughsfrom the others. "Ah!" Van dashed to the nearby river and washed out his tongue. The mouse came out of the pocket and decided to itself to some of the water. "Time to go away now. I don''t want the others knowing of my trump card." The mouse squeaked unhappily but froze suddenly. Van followed the mouses stare and found An Lin, who had recently dropped the dirty dishes she was holding, standing there. "Oh, hello." An Lin was just about to walk away when Van put a hand on her shoulder. She instinctively slapped him. This resulted in him flying and rolling down into the river. "It''s okay. I deserved that." He grinned, embarrassed. An Lin came over and helped him get up. "Could you turn around? I need to change." An Lin''s face flushed a bright red as she turned around. Van quickly stripped off his clothes and put on new black clothing. "It''s fine now." She turned around and found a strange sort of charm coming from Van. 7 Love and Blood is in the Air Chapter 6: Love and Blood is in Air Van sat down on the grass and patted the spot next to him. An Lin looked at him suspiciously. "It''s just sitting on the grass. I''m not going to violate you or anything." Van gave a satisfied smirk. An Lin''s face became as red as a rose. "She''s strangely cute." Van mumbled to himself. "What was that?" "Nothing, just talking to myself." She gave him a strange look. "What? You don''t trust me?" "Well, we just met his morning and it''s not like we''ve talked much." "We''re talking right now." Van grinned at An Lin. She finally decided to sit down next to him. "So what do you usually like to do?" "Is that supposed to be a lame pickup line?" Van started to panic. "No, no! It''s just an honest question." "Well, I''ll take your word on that." She laughed at his embarrassment. Despite the fact that he was being laughed at, he felt happy,w for he had gotten her to laugh. "I''ve never heard you laugh before. It sounds nice." An Lin froze. "I shouldn''t be here." She whispered. "But why?" Van stood up, confused. "There''re reasons that you wouldn''t understand." An Lin turned towards the camp and started walking. "It''s just talking! There''s nothing personal. It''s not like I would ever want to kiss you or anything." "Oops!" Van quickly realized what he had just said. An Lin turned around and slapped Van extremely hard and walked towards the camp, fuming. "Real Smooth Van, Real Smooth." The Mouse came out with a sorrowful glance at its master. Van picked himself up and dusted of his clothing. "She''s probably going to tell the camp about my mouse. Oh, well. I deserve it." Van headed back to camp and met with Han Kim, Xuan Gan, and Binh Gao staring at him. "What did you do to An Lin?!!" Xuan Gan dove at him, gripped his shirt, and started shaking him. "I... I just tried to talk to her." Van stammered as he tried to shake off the dizziness. "What kind of talk was that? Did you try to violate her?" They gasped as they thought of the possibilities. "No! Why would you think that?!" Van stared at them alarmed. Xuan Gan continued to stare at him suspiciously but the other two seemed to calm down. "You can ask her yourself if you really want to know. Where is she by the way?" Van tried to look for any sign of An Lin, but she seemed to have evaporated into thin air. "Not any where near you! Creep!" "Why so aggressive?! You don''t even know what happened!" "All I need to know is that you hurt my An Lin!" Van looked down at this unreasonable girl, speechless. Seeing that anymore efforts would be futile, Van sighed and walked back to his tent. "Tomorrow is going to be a long day." He said to himself as he wrapped himself in the blanket. He woke up to the sounds of metal coming out of their sheaths and lots of shouting. He looked outside to find a morning sky. He yawned and noticed that there was blood all around him with martial artists fighting against, what seemed to be, a fierce beast horde. 8 A Lot of Blood Chapter 7: A Lot of Blood Van rubbed the sleep out of eyes. "I bet this is a nightmare. The Fierce Beasts never come out of the forests." "Hey, mouse. Bite me." The Mouse unsatisfied, with what Van was calling it, squeaked its complaints as it bit Van. "Ow!" "I guess this really isn''t a dream! Hey, you drew blood! That was unnecessary!" The Mouse squeaked with satisfaction. "I should probably stop calling you mouse, but what should I call you?" "Bill?" The Mouse looked at him with soul-rending eyes. "Hey, I''m just brainstorming!" "How about Han?" It looked at him and squeaked at him with disgust. It seemed to be saying, "I don''t want to be named after that proud jerk, Han Kim!" "Ok, maybe not that." "How about Sanji?" Van prepared himself for the attack that never came. Instead he was rewarded with a joyful squeak. Of course, once Sanji opened his mouth, blood splattered from the nearby battle and entered his mouth. Van started laughing but his expression turned serious when he saw the body of a 3rd Stage Body Fortification Martial Artist come flying over. A growl sounded throughout the battlefield. Van turned his head to find a Peak Rank 1 Beast looking straight at him. It was wolf-type beast and seemed quite dangerous. "Nice doggy?" Van looked at the Fierce Beast hopefully. The beast gave a growl instead and decided to charge at him. "Well, I can''t blame it. I do look quite tasty." He ran at the Fierce Beast and pulled out a pitch black knife from its sheath. As the Fierce Beast opened its jaw, he pushed its muzzle to the side and slit its underbelly spilling out all of its guts. The Fierce Beast looked at Van in shock before the light faded from its eyes. Van flicked off the blood from his knife and started to scan the battlefield for An Lin. He found her fending off a few Peak Rank 1 Fierce Beasts with the rest of the team. He quickly ran over. "An Lin, you need some help?" Van leaned on the nearby rock and casually watched the battle. "No, I don''t!" An Lin gritted her teeth and tried her best not to call out to Van. Van yawned and continued to watch the battle. When one of the other Martial Artists fell, An Lin finally gave in. "Van stop messing around and come help me!" Van casually stood up straight, yawned, and stretched. All the while, An Lin stared at him angrily. "All right, my turn." He dashed at the nearest wolf-like Fierce Beast and flung himself on his back. Before the beast could react, he stabbed it twice straight into its brain. He quickly dashed to the next one and shot off an arrow from a shabby looking bow, he took from his storage pack. He let An Lin and the others finish the last one off. An Lin came over to Van fuming. "What are you doing?! The hunt is a disaster! You could''ve at least tried your best!" An Lin slapped Van, leaving a red mark on his face. Van held his cheek. "I deserved that. I just wanted to get your attention." "Well, you''ve obviously done that! Congratulations!" "Could we talk later." "Only if you help out to the best of your ability." Van nodded and a fire seemed to reignite itself in Van''s eyes. An Lin, Van, and the surviving martial artists of the skirmish went to look for other groups to help out. Suddenly, a load screech sounded throughout the battlefield. "A peak rank 2 Fierce Beast!" A large bird shrouded in purple flames rose into the sky and flapped its wings. Flames flew out and decimated the Martial Artist hunting party. The survivors paled as they watched it advance. A man with red eyes jumped at the beast with a sword shrouded in Ice. "Lord Marshal!" Xuan Gan''s voice exclaimed somewhere in the battlefield. Van could only stand there and watch as man and beast fought it out. After the first exchange, the Purple Flame Bird had received a serious injury to its wing and the Lord Marshal had a large cut on his left arm. The men cheered on the Lord Marshal as he was their only hope of survival. Then came the second exchange, the purple flame bird could tell its end was near. Its eyes turned red and its body was shrouded with a blood red mist as it burned its blood essence. It shrieked it''s defiance as it launched its final blow. The Lord Marshal erupted with an azure gold aura and the roar of a dragon sounded throughout the battlefield. Van''s blood reacted violently and a transparent phantom of an ancient god sitting on a magnificent jeweled throne appeared behind him. The men near him were too distracted by the main event to notice the spectacle occurring beside them. The Purple Flame Bird felt its bloodline become suppressed and started to look around in a panic for the source. It finally saw Van, but was rewarded with a sword through the heart. 9 The Mysterious Golden Orb Chapter 8: The Mysterious Golden Orb The Purple Flame Bird pitifully shrieked. The flames seemed to have fled from its eyes as it fell to the Earth. Van''s bloodline retracted and he collapsed to the floor exhausted. An Lin blinked and wrenched her eyes from the battle to look at Van, starting to collapse on the floor. She quickly ran over, caught Van, and slowly laid him down in her lap. "What happened!" She exclaimed, but Van didn''t respond and seemed to have entered a dream-like state. Van was currently in a forest. The pressure was so strong that his body was starting to break down. He gritted his teeth and took a step. This caused him to crash into the ground and disintegrate. He saw a jade wolf in the corner of his eye before he completely disappeared from the Ancient Dream Realm. After about a breath''s time, Van woke up with a startled look and started patting his body. An Lin had a strange look on her face as she watched this strange sight. "What are you doing?" Van, finally noticing An Lin''s face, 10 cm to his left, jumped up and quickly responded. "Nothing, nothing." A sudden thought came to Van and he tracked his trajectory. His cheeks flushed a deep red as he realized where he had been laying. He could still see the indent of his head on her dress. "Thank you." He whispered. An Lin''s face turned a bright red and mumbled out a response. Van grinned and was about to give a teasing statement when he started to feel a bit woozy and collapsed. His body seemed to disappear out of thin air as some strange phenomenon teleported everyone to different parts of the forest. After a few hours, Van woke up in the middle of what seemed to be a large crater. There was a rich Qi energy that even he could feel it despite his low cultivation. He had risen to the 3rd Stage of Body Fortification, strangely enough, and his bloodline seemed to have awoken even further. He hadn''t reached Dantian Formation yet, but if one at that stage looked in his inactive Dantian, they would find a red and black crown floating there. He looked around to find many beasts around him. The weakest were at the peak of the 2nd rank, with the strongest reaching the early 4th rank. Van paled as he looked around him, but felt a strange calling to the center of the crater. "Might as well go for it. Right, Sanji?" Sanji came out and squeaked pridefully. "You probably could handle them." Van said chuckling. He headed out and avoided the beasts to the best of his ability. The ones who did notice him didn''t take the effort to kill an ant like him. When he got near the center, he found 2 Emperor rank beasts confronting each other. There was a Green Earthen Bear and a Great Golden Wyrm. The Wyrm had golden scales that were as hard as divine metal with retractable spikes on its body and the Green Earthen Bear had sharp claws that could easily dig up the earth below it. Van watched from a distance and had to rotate his bloodline to keep himself from getting injured from the shockwaves. The Wyrm gave out a loud roar and flew at the Bear. The Bear used its claws to grab onto the Wyrm and slammed it into the ground over and over again. The Wyrm twisted its body and got a spray of white flames onto the Bear, causing it to yelp in pain and let it go. The Wyrm unleashed its spikes and sliced one of the Bear''s arms off. The Bear got a lucky hit on the Wyrm and dug out one of its eyes. The Wyrm screeched in pain and burned its bloodline of a true divine golden dragon, causing it to have a thick reddish golden mist around it. The Bear let out what seemed to be a chuckle and burned its blood essence. There was a loud explosion and Van was pushed back into the stone face behind him. He fell on his knees, vomiting a mouthful of blood. The Bear had many detached spikes pinning it to the Mountain behind it. Many unsuspecting beasts lay dead in a ring around the two. The Wyrm was on the ground, having burnt all of its bloodline essence. Van wiped the blood out of the corner of his mouth and quietly moved forward. The Bear immediately noticed him. "Haha! Gerald looks like neither of us are getting that golden rock of yours." The Bear chuckled for a few minutes before the light left its eyes. The Wyrm tried to move, but couldn''t. "This Wyrm should be weak enough for me to kill. That is if my bloodline decides to cooperate with me." After he said those words, his blood seem to boil and his thoughts were filled with a strong killing intent. "I guess that settles it." Van activated his inner strength and roared as he flew at the gigantic Wyrm. The Wyrm was about to try to defend itself, when a dominating aura caused it to become pinned to the ground. It could see a phantom of what seemed to be a god sitting on his throne looking at it with azure jade eyes. It cried out in horror as it watched the puny human launch at him. As Van attacked the hole where the Wyrm''s eye used to be, the God phantom on the throne seemed to give a thumbs down, giving its decree of death. Van''s Body was flooded with a strange power and he temporarily had the strength of an emperor. He stabbed the black knife into the Wyrm. There was a loud explosion as a large hole appeared where the Wyrm''s head used to be and the black knife disintegrated from the pressure of the strike. All of the surviving surrounding beasts fled in terror. Van was covered in a strange energy and his unconscious body floated to the ground. After about 6 hours, Van woke up to a night sky and ran back in fright when he saw the body of the Wyrm. He quickly realized that it was dead and calmly came back. "I killed it! I actually killed it!" He had a triumphant look on his face as he gloated over the dead body. Sanji came out and started to squeak in excitement. "Hmm?! These beasts have cores?!! We''re rich!" Van looked greedily at the bodies of the 2 Emperor ranked beasts. He pulled out a spare knife and stabbed at the body. The blade broke off and hit the spot next to Sanji. He quickly protested and started to nip at Van in response. "Okay!! Cut it out!! It was an accident!! Ow!! Damned mouse!" Sanji had bitten Van and was flung off. Sanji gracefully jumped off and landed on all four feet. Van took one of the spikes that held down the Bear and proceeded to take out the cores of both beasts. He found a small golden pearl core in the Wyrm and a Purple cube from the Bear. Sanji grabbed the golden pearl and proceeded to consume it. "What are you doing?!!" Sanji fell on his side and started to squeak before his body started to grow and change. After an hour, he had golden fur and was now the length of half his arm. He was also now an Early Stage Rank 4 Beast. "Are beast cores like steroids for you?" Sanji gave a roar and spikes emerged from him. "I apologize. O, great one. I would never accuse you of doing steroids." Van gave a mock bow towards Sanji. Sanji held himself in a proud manner and received it as if it was due to him. Van shook his head at the proud mouse and inspected the cubical beast core. It had a purple flame inside of it and and was vibrant with life force. He placed it away in his sack and started to reflect on what the beasts were talking about. "They seemed to be fighting over something special." Van murmured. All of a sudden, the attraction to the center of the crater started to pick up again. Now that all the beasts were gone, Van casually walked to the center to find a golden dodecahedron. He walked towards it, hesitating for a bit, picked it up. He could feel a vibrant life force in it and could see a Divine Aura coming from the phantom golden dragon swimming in golden seas of true force. "I wonder what this is." Van pilled put a clean knife and pricked his finger preparing to drip blood on the dodecahedron. Sanji looked at it with suspicion and started toattack it. When his paw touched the dodecahedron, he suddenly stopped and bowed in reverence. Van looked at Sanji in a panic until Sanji gave a squeak to acknowledge that he was okay. Van sighed with relief and proceeded to drip his blood on it. It started to shine with a golden light and Van''s soul entered the dodecahedron. He found himself in front of a golden dragon in a space that seemed to warp its own shape every few seconds. "After 100,000 years, someone has finally found me." The golden dragon transformed into a handsome man with golden hair and piercing golden eyes. He was wearing a golden robe with dragons that seemed to be alive. "My name is Yu Lin. I am what you would call a Golden Divine Dragon. 100,000 Years ago, I was trapped in this orb." 10 Drugs Chapter 9: Drugs "Um... this is a dodecahedron not an orb." "I''m not too surprised, this orb seems to change shape every so often to keep me from finding out its weak points and escaping." Van scratched his head and shrugged his shoulders in acceptance. "So do you have any Martial Skills or cultivation techniques for me?" Van started to punch empty air for emphasis. "Do I look like a benevolent person to you?" Yu Lin spread his arms and looked at Van apprehensively. "Yes?" Van replied hopefully. Yu Lin facepalmed and let out a long sigh. "This is going to be a long day. You are lucky that you seem promising and I have chosen you so that you might help me escape and get revenge on those that have wronged me." Yu Lin gave a proud look. "First, you will allow my Divine sense to inspect your body." Van shrugged his shoulders. Why not? He had nothing to lose and a lot to gain. Yu Lin nodded in approval, a decisive assistant would be needed. He searched through Van''s body to find an extremely solidified foundation. "This is the most solid foundation I have ever seen! You could jump all the way to the 10th Stage of Dantian Formation and still be solid!" Van looked at him surprised. "I''ve been trying my best to break through to the next stages and I thought it was just my cultivation was slow! I have Grade 1 Meridians." At these words, Yu Lin searched through Van''s body again. He had a pleasantly surprised look. "What is it?!!" Van looked at Yu Lin, his face beaming with excitement and anticipation. "You have a Treasure Body! It means that you will need to consume treasures to level up. I''m surprised you made it to the 2nd Stage of Body Fortification!" "Isn''t that a bad thing?" Van asked quizzically. "Although it will take a lot of resources, your body will be a lot stronger than any others at your cultivation. You will be able to jump many stages than other geniuses!" Yu Lin looked ecstatic as he described the benefits of Van''s body to Van. "I have such an amazing body! See that Sanji?! There''s something I can beat you at! Sanji?" "I forgot to tell you. Your soul is in here. Your beast friend can''t see me right now because we are inside of the orb." "Oh... That was awkward." Van scratched his head, embarrassed. "Hmm?!" Yu Lin looked back inside of Van''s body. He found the strange crown floating inside Van''s incomplete Dantian. "What is that?!" Yu Lin reached out his divine sense but was suppressed and pushed away by the ancient dominating aura. "What kind of bloodline do you have?!! I''ve never seen it before!" "What are you talking about?" Van looked at Yu Lin, confused. "You have an ancient bloodline! How do you not know? There is a floating crown in your Dantian! Oh, wait. You can''t access that yet." Yu Lin started to ponder about how he would get this human to realize this bloodline that scared even him, an all powerful High Diety. "Listen, now that you look promising, I will give you some options." Van had a big smile on his face as if he had found a treasure. Yu Lin placed down a black jade slip and stepped back to watch Van''s reaction. Van hesitatingly reached for the slip and started to inspect it. There was a mysterious character engraved upon it. "There are 4 Martial Techniques in there. They are all very high ranked, none that you have access to right now." "How do I activate it?!!" Van eagerly looked for a button of some kind. "You can only do it by injecting your Qi into it. So you have to wait until you reach the Dantian Formation Stage." Van looked down sulkily and sat down on the ground. "Luckily, I have a way to speed things up. With your foundation so solid, I can give you a treasure that can instantly bring your cultivation all the way to the Peak of the Dantian formation! This will mean that you have to re-solidify your foundation. It also requires you to make a soul contract with me, agreeing that you will try your best to set me free from this orb." Yu Lin held out an ordinarily looking piece of parchment. Van looked at the parchment hesitatingly, before grabbing it and inserting his will into it. The parchment glowed with a silver light before quickly condensing it into a unique crown symbol at the bottom of the page. "Now that this is all settled. Time for your rise to glory!" Yu Lin pulled out a magnificent green pill with golden dragons that seemed to come alive on it. "What is that?!" "This is my clan''s ''Green Foundation Pill''. It is normally used on infants in my clan at birth. They aren''t worth too much, especially with the high level of cultivation that I have." Yu Lin was trying to regain his pride after many years of imprisonment. Van sighed as he watched the proud dragon in human form release all his anticipation on him. "Well? Get on with it." Yu Lin impatiently stared at Van as he slowly plopped the pill into his mouth. 11 9th Stage of Dantian Formation Chapter 10: 9th Stage of Dantian Formation Van felt the pill go down his throat and dissolve into his Dantian. A fiery energy flooded his meridians and widened them to the point of almost breaking. A few of the minor meridians were growing cracks unbeknownst to Van. A searing pain drove Van to his knees and Yu Lin helped guide the energy to the right places. After 3 hours, Van had reached the 6th Stage of Body Fortification. He gritted his teeth as his meridians continued to stretch, crack and widen. After a day, he was at the 10th Stage of Body Fortification and was ready to start the breakthrough. Yu Lin gathered the Qi next to his Dantian and compressed it until most of the remaining energy from the pill was used up. "Are you ready?" Van was covered in a pool, ten feet in diameter, full of black waste that his pores had excreted from the rapid refinement of his body. Van nodded his assent and Yu Lin directed the energy to attack the gate. The energy crashed into the gate relentlessly causing Van to cry out in pain each time. After about thirty minutes, the gate opened abit and green light shown through. He laughed in delight, but the Qi didn''t stop there. It continued to push against the gate with a little bit flowing through each time. Van convulsed and spat out a wad of black blood every few impact. After a few hours, the pain was to great and Van blacked out. Van woke up feeling reenergized and ready to try out his new abilities. He used his newly found spiritual sense to find his outer Dantian. He found a large puddle of Qi in his slightly transparent outer Dantian. "9th Stage of Dantian Formation..." Van muttered to himself. A year ago, this Stage would''ve been only a dream. "Great! Now you must control your energy so that you don''t reveal your true cultivation. You must also refine away the pill toxins and consolidate your foundation so it doesn''t hurt you in the future." Yu Lin reminded Van. Van sighed and withdrew his aura within himself. "Now, enough sitting around. You need to get out there into the world. I''m tired of getting fought over by low level Beasts." Yu Lin walked towards Van and placed a finger on Van''s forehead. Van felt a cold energy enter his body as he was transported outside of the dodecahedron. He woke up to the newly transformed Sanji staring straight into his eyes. He jolted up with a startled yelp but fell because of his body''s lack of use for the past year. "I guess I''m 13 now. I wonder how my aunt and Ghan are doing." Van took a deep breath and looked at Sanji. "Are you ready to go back?" Sanji nodded and got into a sprinting position. Van grinned. "On your marks! ... Get ready! ... Go!" Van dashed off with Sanji on his heels. The Fierce Beasts all ran off in terror as the duo made their mark on the forest surrounding the crater. Van''s figure left behind an afterimage, that faded away after a few seconds. Woosh! "Crap! I forgot to hide my foundation base!" He was already a short distance of 10 kilometers away from the city and was detected by the City Lord. Despite being detected, the city lord was currently bowing to a woman clothed in a modest blue robe with a lavish body and many well defined curves. "Sovereign Zhao Lan an expert has arrived within the bounds of the city." Author''s Note: Not the actual cultivation stage The woman continue to stare into the distance before standing up to leave. The City Lord was used to the sovereign''s strange and erratic behavior and continued to kneel watching the sovereign fly off into the distance. The sovereign has a cultivation base of Emperor and would be a greatly respected expert anywhere she went in the Fire Rock Continent, but, strangely, chose to stay in this city as if she were waiting for someone. "I finally found him." A whisper could be heard as the sovereign''s lips curved into a genuine loving smile. Meanwhile, Sanji and Van were flying at fast speeds towards the city. Van suddenly felt warm inside when he suddenly spotted a figure up ahead. It seemed to be a woman dressed in a dazzling blue robe that seemed to contain the stars. While he was mesmerized by the woman, Sanji delightedly squeaked and sped ahead of Van. Shaking himself out of the trance, Van angrily berated Sanji as he tried to catch up. The woman tailed after the two a warm smile, with a hint of humor, could be seen in her expression. They finally reached the wall where there were two guards at the 4th Stage of Body Fortification were posted. Van had already pulled out a sword to make it look like he was still in Qi Condensation. "Halt! State your name and provide your identification." The guard was a burly man with black hair and a goatee with a generous amount of facial hair. Van pulled out a jade shop and quickly handed it over to the guards. He couldn''t wait to show off his new cultivation base to his aunt and Ghan. The Mouse had already hidden away in his sack and was busy eating away at what was left of their supplies. At that moment, the Sovereign arrived landing on the ground, causing the dust to part from the gravel the road, making it shine. The Guard''s jaws dropped as they watched this goddess descend from the sky. The younger one was arrogant and new to his job. Swaggering, he took a step forward and stayed with confidence and without much honor. "Hey, Lady! If you want to get into town, I can get you in for free if you warm my bed." The older guard didn''t pay attention for only the Upper Echelons of the city would know of the Sovereign''s existence. The lady was about to say something when Van turned around and started to berate the man. "You shameless corrupt limp dick! All you can do is prey on vulnerable women. I bet even the god of reincarnation would refuse your soul if it was sent his way!" Both guards stood there stunned as they watched the youth''s outburst. The woman put a hand to her mouth as an enchanting laugh escaped her lips and a reminiscent look appeared on her face. Van then proceeded to beat up the two guards, forcing them to apologize. "Don''t worry! As long as I, the Noble Van Nguyen is here! No one would dare harass you!" He took a heroic pose, putting one foot on a rock and his arms on his hips. The Woman had a humored look in her eye as she replied. "Well, I guess I''ll take you up on that offer than." While Van continued tell stories of his past acts of "bravery" and "honor", the woman thought to herself. "I can''t tell him yet. It''s too early. I need to get close to him and bring his cultivation base up first." The guards stood up, wiping the dust off their clothes and rubbing their bruises. They cast looks of fury at Van and vowed to get their revenge by reporting him for assault to the Guard Lieutenant. Van walked inside the city and continued to talk about his exploits that he had done in the past. "I have waited 70 years for this. I have finally found him." She smiled as Van continued to sell himself to her. 12 Van The Charmer Chapter 11: Van The Charmer As Van paraded his new lady friend throughout the streets, many nearby cultivators noticed and gave out jealous stares, full of hate, as they watched a goddess walk through the streets with a 13-year-old youth only at the 4th Stage of Body Fortification. "We deserve her a lot more than him. "He''s only a boy, a man like me can show her what a real man is like." "A goddess like that isn''t one that anyone could touch!" Van walked on seemingly oblivious to the hateful stares and aggressive stances of the people around him. "I haven''t asked your name yet. Can I have the pleasure of knowing it?" Van kept a calm expression but was inwardly anxious. "Will she answer my question? I mean we barely know each other and just happened to see each other on the way into the city." A middle-aged man at the 10th Stage of Body Fortification sat in a well-cushioned chair. Two guards stood there with their heads bowed. "You let a 13-year-old kid beat you up?" The middle-aged man was the Guard Captain that the two guards had mentioned to Van after they got beat up. The Captain sighed at the uselessness of his guards and dismissed them. In the guards'' report, they had conveniently left out the detail of their motivation for the fight. Instead, they had made it sound like Van had an inclination to cause trouble. "Well, I can''t let this go unpunished. Bai Yun!" A middle-aged woman wearing scholarly robes entered. "I am at your command." The Captain nodded approvingly. "Call out the elite disciplinary corps. Tell them to search for a 13-year-old with green robes and a cultivation base of about the 6th Stage of Body Fortification. Have them bring him to me." She left uniformly and moments later a group of 10 men at the 8th Stage of Body Fortification left the guard forums, charging through the dusty streets. Meanwhile, Van was standing there with his hands behind his head waiting for the woman''s answer. The woman contemplated what to say for a few minutes before saying. "My name is Zhao Yunfei." "What a lovely name." The woman nodded her thanks and then proceeded onwards. "So, why are you following me? Not that I don''t want you to, but I''m just a 13-year-old kid with no reputation. With your beauty, I bet you could be treated well even by the city lord." "Hey, Brat!!!" Van froze and started to look around frantically. "It''s me, Yu Lin. You can''t have already forgotten me. I gave you that profound cultivation base!" Zhao Yunfei looked at him with a worried expression on her face. "Are you alright?" "I thought I saw one of the guards come back for revenge, but I guess I was just worried over nothing." Van laughed nervously. "What was that for? Yu Lin, you''re supposed to be my benefactor, not my enemy!" "That woman that is with you. She has a cultivation base of Emperor!!" "What?!!" Van was unable to keep an expression of shock from appearing on his face. Zhao Yunfei immediately felt worried for Van. She started to wonder if Van had garnered mental issues during his reincarnation process. "Oh, also there are a few men at the 8th Stage of Body Fortification following you." Van''s expression quickly turned into one of caution. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Zhao Yunfei followed Van''s gaze and she found 10 men in black cloaks hiding around the corner. She hadn''t noticed them because she was busy giving all of her attention towards Van. An expression of anger flickered across her face as she waved her hand causing the men to collapse and lose their memories of their encounter. Van''s eyes widened as he watched the cloaked figures collapse. "So what were you about to tell me?" Zhao Yunfei looked at him expectantly and gestured for him to continue on. Van nodded, dumbfounded, and proceeded to chat and walk towards his house, but this time addressing Zhao Yunfei in a more respectful tone. She sighed inwardly and wished they could go back to the casual conversation from before. After a few minutes, they reached the alleyway without any problems. Zhao Yunfei had lured all the lecherous hobos away from the street using a Qi clone and a bag of copper coins. Eventually, Van began to notice the lack of people in their path. "Usually the streets here aren''t this empty. I wonder where everyone went." They took a left turn and walked to the end of the alley before Van knocked on the door. He said the password and Ghan let him in. Ghan had a delightful expression on his face. He was about to give Van a big bear hug, but quickly stopped himself when he noticed a figure accompanying Van. "Who''s that beauty with you?!" Ghan was stunned to see this strange stunning woman following Van. "This is Zhao Yunfei. Zhao Yunfei - Ghan. Ghan - Zhao Yunfei." "Nice to meet you." Zhao Yunfei smiled and gave a Daoist''s bow before following after Van to the dining room. A red-robed figure ran up to Van and gave him a tight hug. Van tried to push his aunt away from him but failed to make her even move an inch. "Where have you been all this time?! We''ve been so worried for you." "I''m okay, Aunt...mmph." Van''s face was currently crushed between the two mountains on his aunt''s chest. After trying to pull away from her a few more times, he finally succeeded on his fourth try. "I would like to introduce to you my new friend, Zhao Yunfei." Van straightened out his hair as he gave Zhao Yunfei the spotlight. His aunt turned her attention to the newcomer and her expression turned grave. "Who are you? What do you want with my nephew?!" Van''s aunt looked at Zhao Yunfei, trying to find hints of insincerity or hostility from her expression. Zhao Yunfei continued to smile comfortingly and tried to diffuse the tension that had suddenly built up in the room. Van had started to sweat and was pulling on his robes. You could see stains on his robes on his armpits. "Whew! Is it hot in here or what?" Van smiled nervously as he positioned himself between the two women. This is the first time he had seen his aunty act like this. He knew she was overprotective, but couldn''t she see that Zhao Yunfei meant no harm? While Van was pondering this strange predicament he was in, Van''s aunt was having a discussion with her father or Van''s grandfather through her Qi sense. "You''re at the Emperor Stage." Zhao Yunfei nodded her head slowly and sent out her Qi sense, noticing an old aura at the Peak of the Emperor stage. Her eyes widened in surprise and bowed towards the aura. Van''s grandpa nodded in approval and withdrew his Qi sense. He then focused on healing his wounds. Van put on an expression of shock, but his rather bad impromptu acting lead to everyone realizing his false expression. "How did you know, Van?" Zhao Yunfei was surprised at his high perception. Van rubbed his head sheepishly. "I forgot to mention that I met a mysterious master who decided to train me. He''s busy at the moment, but decided to mention it to me so I wouldn''t be too surprised." "Is your master an Emperor ranked expert?!" Zhao Yunfei and his aunt looked at him, shocked. Emperor ranked experts didn''t grow on trees, especially in this continent. "I haven''t really asked, but all I know is that he has a very high cultivation base." This distracted the two women from their Mexican standoff and Van quickly invited Zhao Yunfei to sit down at the dinner table. His aunt recovered from her shock and unconsciously went to go prepare the table and serve the food. They had a scrumptious meal of roasted Spirit Duck and Jade Cabbage with a few custard buns for dessert. Van encouraged the two women to talk and make amends. By the end of the meal, you would have thought they were friends from birth. While the women continued to gossip and talk about their makeup, Van headed up to his room to release Sanji into the hidden forest. After releasing Sanji into the wild, the Mouse gave out a majestic roar and started to retrieve the loyalty of its subjects. Van watched for a while to humor himself and watched a few Rank 2 beasts resist only to be beaten into submission. "Hey! Brat! Get to your room, I think it''s time for you to start mastering some martial techniques." Van stood up and ran to his room excitedly. "Am I going to learn a Saint rank technique or maybe even a God ranked?!" "First of all, the Stage after Saint is not God nor is it the Demigod Stage. It is the 7 Steps of Ascension! Also, do you think you can handle those techniques?!! You''re only at the 9th Stage of Dantian Formation! The most you can handle at the moment are King ranked techniques." Van stared at the dodecahedron, now turned orb, embarrassed. "Here are some options, insert some Qi into this jade slip and you can choose two to start off with." A Blood Red jade slip popped out of the orb and floated into his hands as he placed the orb on his bedsheets. He inserted some Qi and his soul was sucked into the Jade slips dimension. He found himself in front of a Golden Jade gate with depicted golden dragons crawling up the gate doors. "Absorb this drop of blood and then open the gate." A drop of golden red blood appeared in front of him immediately. He grabbed it and the drop of blood started to fuse with his body. After a few minutes, his face was covered in sweat and he walked towards the gate, reaching his hand out. The moment he touched the gate, he felt a strong divine sense enter his body and death for something. A voice came from the door. "GOLDEN DRAGON BLOODLINE QUALITY 0.01%. QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE BOTTOM FLOOR HAVE BEEN MET. RANK: OUTER SECTMENIAL LABOR SERVANT." The doors opened and he found a large circular room with many floating Jade slips. "Did that automaton just call me an outer sect servant?!!" Yu Lin ignored Van''s outburst and proceeded to explain what Van needed to do. "Now that you have successfully entered, you can now go look for some King ranked slips. With your current authority, you can barely get a Jade slip for the 7th Stage of Inner Discovery." What kind of sect was this?! The servants could obtain martial techniques at the stages of inner discovery?!! Van''s jaw dropped. "If only you were in my sect currently, we could''ve gotten you some merit points and a few King ranked techniques easily." The treatment of this sect was so extravagant. Van thought to himself as he started to browse through the Jade slips. After some guidance from Yu Lin, Van found the highest ranked Jade slips he could access. There were 4 slips for the 7th Stage of Inner Discovery. He started to read each of their descriptions. METEORITE PUNCH - 7TH STAGE OF INNER DISCOVERY PEAK RANK TECHNIQUE There are 5 stages in this technique with the first stage allowing one to punch with the force of a small mountain and the last with the impact of a meteorite. A picture depicted a martial artist destroying a city with a single punch. LIFE RENDING BLAST - 7TH STAGE OF INNER DISCOVERY SUPERIOR RANK TECHNIQUE There are 7 stages in this technique with the first stage allowing one to send a Qi blast that would be able to kill another person one stage above them and the 7th stage allowing one to destroy the other''s soul. A picture depicted a martial artist delivering a palm strike and the soul of the victim disintegrating. HAMMER STRIKE - 7TH STAGE OF INNER DISCOVERY PEAK RANK TECHNIQUE There are 3 Stages with the first allowing one to deliver successive strikes and rendering one''s opponent immobile. The 3rd Stage allows one to collapse mountains and disintegrate large hills. A picture depicted a blacksmith casually disintegrating a large hill into a pile of dust. LIGHTNING STRIKE - 7TH STAGE OF INNER DISCOVERY SUPERIOR RANK TECHNIQUE Out of all the superior rank techniques for the 7th Stage of Inner Discovery, this one is the hardest to learn. One has to has a good grasp of the concepts of the element of Lightning to allow the strike to develop. Van stepped back and started to contemplate which martial technique he was going to go with. That was when he noticed an ancient looking book out of the corner of his eye. Van decided to check it out. "Hey! Where are you going? The good skills are right here!" Yu Lin watched from inside of the orb, astounded, as Van walked towards the Mysterious Ancient book. 13 Mysterious Ancient Book Chapter 12: Mysterious Ancient Book Van walked towards the Ancient Book that seemed to have been left untouched for many decades. He picked it up and wiped off the dust. Then, he opened the book and started to read through the description. "Dragon Breaks the Void is a martial technique that cannot be learned by just anyone. They must have a strong affinity towards the Void element paired with a firm and steady Martial heart. This Martial Technique allows one to rip a hole into the Void and travel to your heart''s content with only the strength being the limit." Van noticed a note saying that there were 3 more volumes that have been lost with only this one having been discovered in an abandoned ruin. With only one volume and its strict requirements, the Elders of the sect decided to allow this Martial Technique to be available to even the menial labor servants. "I''ll be taking this." THIS ITEM WILL NOT COUNT TOWARDS YOUR BORROWING LIMIT, YOU MAY PICK ANOTHER ITEM. "Sweet! I''ll take the Life Rending Blast!" ITEM REGISTERED AS BORROWED. HERE IS THE FULL MARTIAL TECHNIQUE. A golden orb of light descended into Van''s cupped hands and became a leather-bound book with its cover depicting souls rising up to the heavens, giving it an eerie feeling. Van stared at the book excitedly. With the power to destroy one''s opponent''s soul, who wouldn''t want to learn such a skill? He quickly put it into his sack and bowed towards the Librarian''s desk. "Thank you Senior for your help." "Hey! Brat! Over here! I was the one who got you here. I OWN this place!" The orb started to roll around as Yu Lin let out his fury. Van smiled wryly and sighed. "Thanks, Senior Yu Lin." "Oh, you didn''t have to." The orb stopped moving and Yu Lin seemed to be enjoying the gratitude. Van continued with his flattery as Yu Lin continued to be "humble", by denying all the flattering statements from Van''s mouth. After a few minutes of this tomfoolery, Van finally had enough and decided to shove the orb into his sack. "Wait! You forgot to tell me how brave I was for defending my sec¡­" "Finally, he was starting to annoy me." Van walked towards the Library doors and pushed on it. Immediately, his soul was transported back inside his body and he took a few minutes to become re-accustomed to his body. "Time to learn these new Martial Techniques!" Van was practically jumping up and down with joy as he ran through the hidden pathway to Sanji''s abode. He found a clearing with a small waterfall and lake before he sat down and started to read. "The first one to learn will be the Dragon Breaks the Void Martial Technique!" He started to read through the first section. After about an hour of contemplation, Van stood up, ready for his first try. "So the first move of this technique is the Void Fist." The Void Fist required one to manipulate space causing one to be able to hit with a lot more force than normally. Van took a few deep breaths before getting into a balanced stance. Hmph! Van let out an abrupt breath full of tension, before punching out with his right fist. As was expected, nothing happened to the fabric of space resulting in a miserable failure. Van grit his teeth in frustration and got back into his stance. After many tries, he felt a slight ripple in the fabric of space, indicating that he had finally reached the entry level of the Void Fist. Mastery of Martial Skills, which are within Martial Techniques, are separated into 6 Levels: Entry, Low Success, Medium Success, High Success, Perfection, and the Realm of Improvement, where the Martial Artist improves upon the Martial Skill allowing one to break the limits of the skill''s potential. Van continued to practice for a few hours before heading down to the dining room for quick snack. He found the two women, still speaking as if they were friends that hadn''t met in years, sitting in the living room in front of a fireplace. He was glad that they were finally getting along, but was secretly disappointed of losing their attention. After he finished munching on his snack, he wrote a quick note to his aunt to not disturb his cultivation and quickly snuck back into his room. He continued to practice for another hour before he stopped. "It would probably be better if I practiced with live opponents." He had reached the peak of the Entry level in Mastery for the Void Fist and had reached a bottleneck. "I''ll go find Sanji to see if there are any unruly beasts that I need to take care of." Van dashed off and spread out his Qi sense, spanning a total of 15 kilometers. After a few minutes of searching, he found Sanji having a not so friendly dispute with the previous king of the area who also happened to be at the 4th Rank. Supporters of both sides stood across from each other waiting for one side to make a move. Van calmly flew to the middle and started to walk up to the 4th Rank Beast. The previous king of the forest was a big black bear and wasn''t happy to find out that within a day another beast at the 4th Rank had turned half of the forest against him. The Bear started to growl at Van, when Van unleashed a Void Fist on its snout. After a flurry of Void Fists impacted on the Black Bear, it was on the ground pleading for mercy. The Bear''s supporters shrank away and submitted to Sanji. After Van obtained the Bear''s vow of submission, he started to shout. "Ok, guys! Party''s over, move along!" The Beasts stared at him for a moment before returning to their previous duties. Sanji was beaming with pride as he walked up to Van, squeaking of his achievements. "Well, now you have an entire forest to watch over. You better take care of it." Sanji ignored Van''s words and decided to go order around some of his new subjects. Van sighed and started to remember something before darting away, back to the clearing. 14 Low Success Chapter 13: Low Success Van''s sudden and erratic decision was because of his sudden enlightenment. He finally had a way to break through the bottlenecked! He sat down on the wet green grass and started to take a few deep breaths. After he finished, he stood up and got into a balanced stance. Hmph! Crreeaak! Van let out a strong punch with his right fist, causing noticeable spacial fluctuations that could be detected by weaker cultivators. Van was jumping up and down like a little kid with his new toy. He could feel the barrier to low success be on the verge of breaking. He continued to practice the Void Fist for another 2 hours before collapsing in exhaustion. He had a smile in his face as he lay on his back, watching the night sky as the rays of moonlight shone on the pond, creating a majestic glistening effect. "I finally did it! I reached low success!" The last punch he did had twisted the fabric of space, marking the stage of low success. Medium success would require him to bend space in a way that locked down his target. Right now, he lacked the skill to bend the space around his target''s body but could make his fist as domineering as an impenetrable fortress. He heard splashing down the river as he lay on the grass. His constant training had caused his senses to become more perceptive, allowing him to hear the splashing only now. Out of innocent curiosity, he followed the stream to the source of the noise. Alas, he found someone, with fox ears, bathing in the river, humming an entrancing tune. He was dumbstruck as he watched girl turn around and notice him, exposing the rest of her body. "Eeek! Elder Yi and Elder Zhao! Someone''s here!" "Wait! I can explain!" Without waiting for an explanation, as any person in a rational state of mind would, the girl jumped straight into self-defense mode and threw a five-colored flame at his feet. Before the flame could explode and give him third-degree burns, Van jumped back and pulled out the Divine Jade Dragon saber out. The flames burst on the ground and quickly burned his clothes off. Van jumped at the girl, quickly trying to subdue her so he could give an explanation. All of a sudden, a wind whipped up and blew Van into a nearby tree. The tree snapped in half and Van continued to fly through 3 more trees before making an indent in the fourth tree. Elder Yi was surprised to see this surprisingly strong youth in the middle of nowhere. Elder Yi had a cultivation base at the Early Emperor rank and his casual punch could wound even those in the Early Stages of Inner Discovery. Van stood up wincing as he analyzed his injuries. His face filled with despair as found 5 broken ribs and a displaced elbow on his left arms. Van took his right arm and snapped the elbow back into place before chewing on a few medicinal plants, his face grim. Elder Zhao appeared behind Elder Yi before launching to attack Van. Van grit his teeth preparing to attack with the last of his strength when a Golden net entangled Elder Zhao and threw him in the water. Before the girl could react, she found her breasts being grasped by the same elder that was supposed to be protecting her. Elder Yi''s expression turned grim as he watched a beautiful woman descend. The worrying factor was that he had not detected her until now. He prepared to fight when an even fiercer aura at the peak of the Emperor stage pushed him to his knees. The girl, having watched her two all-powerful Dao protectors get beat up in an instant, gawked at the woman. After a few moments, she finally recovered from her daze, put on some clothing, and jumped out of the pond, water spraying on the grass. The two sides had a silent standoff that lasted a few moments before Elder Yi gestured for retreat. The girl silently pouted as she walked towards a golden cloud which lifted them off into the distance. "Why did you provoke that boy? It wasn''t worth it for the sect to earn the ire of two Emperor rank experts. We are already experiencing pressure from the other sects! You should be ashamed of yourself, Jian Bao!" The girl named Jian Bao lowered her head with shame and stayed silent for the duration of the journey. Meanwhile, Van was standing there circulating his Qi to repair his body while inspecting the Old Man that had appeared. He had never seen him before, but the Old Man gave him a familiar feeling. "Wait... You look like my grandfather from the portrait in the Royal Palace!" Van''s jaw dropped as he realized who it was that had protected him with Zhao Yunfei. He stood there as his eyes filled with tears. After a few more moments, he couldn''t hold himself back and dashed into his grandfather''s arms. Years before when he was a little boy, his grandfather would take care of him and tell him tales of the battles he took part in. He would always love to play around his grandfather''s beard as he told the stories. Out of all his family members, his grandfather and mother were the closest ones. With the capital taken over by the usurpers, he had taken his grandfather to be dead. His grandfather was the power behind the scenes that had kept the Nguyen Dynasty as the ruler of the Kingdom. Anyone who sought the throne would have to dispose of his grandfather first. Yet, here he was standing right in front of him. Van and his grandfather stood there as Van cried his eyes out. After he finished, they both sat down and started to reminisce about the old days. They would have downcast looks but would smile and laugh at times. Zhao Yunfei stood there as she watched her reincarnated husband talk with his grandpa. She smiled warmly and wished she could enjoy this moment forever. But alas, she had to go, for he was not strong enough for her to sow too much Karma with. While the pair continued to converse with much enthusiasm, Zhao Yunfei flew off into the distance not to be seen in the Great Golden Kingdom for many years to come. After many hours of conversation, Van wrapped up their conversation and started to look around for Zhao Yunfei. "Zhao Yunfei? Where are you? Is this a joke? You know I don''t like jokes." Van looked around nervously as if she could appear from anywhere. Van''s grandpa sighed as he walked over and put a hand on Van''s shoulder. "She has left, but if Karma destines it for you. You shall meet her in the future. Now come home, we need to get you to become strong and healthy so that one day you might take her as a bride and give me some grandchildren." Van''s grandpa smiled at him with expectancy, laughing on the inside. Van''s face flushed a deep red as he heard his grandfather''s words. He started to stutter a bunch of incoherent words and allowed his grandfather to take him home. 15 Getting Stronger Chapter 14: Getting Stronger The grandfather-grandson duo laughed and joked as they flew home. Everything was fine until Van''s grandfather started to cough harshly. Van became extremely alarmed and told his grandfather to rest while he flew them the rest of the way. After a few bouts of protest, his grandfather finally gave up and laid in Van''s arms. Despite Van flying at high speeds, the wind was like a calm and gentle breeze that caressed Van''s long flowing hair. He watched his grandfather''s fitful rest with an expression full of worry. He sped up and finally made it to the city gates. "I need to get him to my aunt! She''ll know what to do! Let her overprotectiveness come to use for once!" When two guards at the entrance saw him, they barred his way with their tall imposing steel halberds. "By the order of the Captain of the Guard, you will come with us." At that moment, Van was like a volcano about to burst. "Can you not see that my grandfather is sick?! I need to get him to a Spirit Physician now!" Van was in no mood to deal with these blockheaded guards and was ready to barge in if he had to. The guards'' expressions softened but stayed firm to their orders. "You may take your grandfather to the stationed physician here, but you must follow us to the Guard Captain''s office." Van nodded his head and submitted to the guards'' demands. He needed to prioritize his grandfather''s recovery first. After having just met his grandfather, he would prefer not to lose him. The guards kept their word and sent for another guard that carried his grandfather gingerly away. Van sighed deeply and followed the guards through the long halls until they arrived at an imposing red door with strange jade designs etched upon it. The guard knocked on the door, that opened a few moments later. The guard gestured for Van to go in. Van took a deep breath and then proceeded to go towards the dark office. After a few dozen steps, Van entered a dimly lighted room. Two twin-tailed foxes wandered the office casually mewling every few steps. Despite the casual atmosphere, Van could feel another rather negative aura overpowering the casualness of his surroundings. Van''s pupils constricted as he regarded the rugged noble figure that sat in the large chair in front of him. The Guard Captain was a man with a scarred face, brown hair, and a well-toned body. "I heard from my guards that you have been recently stirring up trouble with them. You also knocked out the guards I sent to get you. I intended to have a civilized conversation and I continue to intend to do so now." The Guard Captain had his hands cupped on the desk as he sternly stared at Van. In defiance, Van calmly stared back. After a few moments, the Guard Captain let out a chuckle and stood up, towering over Van. "I like you, brat. You won''t back down from a fight no matter what. You remind me of when I was a kid." The Guard Captain was at the 1st Stage of Dantian Formation making him a powerful figure in the city, but in front of Van, he did not amount to much. But for his grandfather''s sake and his own, he had to suppress his cultivation base unless placed in a life-threatening situation. "I have a task for you. As a favor for your aunt, I will not kill you, but you must accomplish this one task for me." "What is it?" Van looked at the man suspiciously. He could imagine going out into fields full of "dangerous beasts" and beating them all black and blue. "You will join the Flowing Water Sect as an outer set disciple and move up the ranks." "Doesn''t sound too hard." They were currently in the lower reaches of the Fire Rock Continent and the lower reaches are dominated by many small kingdoms vying for power. One of the larger ones is the Great Golden Kingdom, which currently controls 3 other smaller kingdoms. The middle continent is dominated by the 5 Great Empires and was the place that all cultivators in the lower reaches strived to get to. Van started to drool a bit as he imagined the benefits. There were two ways for cultivators to get to the middle continent. One was to reach the First Stage of Dantian Formation before the age of 18. With the low density of Qi in the area, one would be extremely lucky to reach the 6th Stage of Body Fortification not to mention Dantian Formation before 18. If Van established himself in the 5 Great Empires, he could easily come back with a sizeable force and retake the Great Golden Kingdom. Van''s eyes sparkled with expectation and cupped his hands, giving a bow full of gratitude towards the Guard Captain. "Junior thanks, Senior!" The Guard Captain released a chuckle and picked up one of the twin-tailed foxes. "Don''t thank me, yet! Once you get to the sects, you will find that the competition there will be a lot tougher than you imagined!" "Since my aunt trusts you so much, may I call you uncle?" "That makes me sound old! Am I really that old?" The Guard Captain nodded and dismissed Van. "Wait, Uncle. Since you''re my uncle now, I need to let you in on a secret." The Guard Captain waited there expectantly. Van released suppression on his cultivation base, causing his new uncle''s eyes to become as wide as saucers. "9th Stage of Dantian Formation?! What kind of Martial Talent do you have?!!" "Please, Uncle. I don''t want anyone else to know for now." His uncle nodded, still in a daze. Van cupped his hands, bowed, and left to get ready for the big opportunity ahead. "No wonder he wasn''t worried. He has a higher cultivation then myself. I was worried for no reason." The Guard Captain whispered to himself. 16 Red River City Chapter 15: Red River City Van calmed himself down and got home as quickly as possible without attracting too much attention. He knocked on the door and practically shoved Ghan to the side as he dashed inside to tell his aunt and grandfather the good news. "Auntie! Grandfather! I''m going to the Flowing Water Sect!" His aunt and grandfather stood there for a second, stunned. Then, they started to beam with pride. "You''re going to the middle continent! Your father and mother would be so proud of you! None of the princes even had a chance, and you have a guaranteed spot!" "I''m proud of you, grandson." A few violent coughs broke the atmosphere that was previously brimming with positivity. His aunt assisted his grandfather into the nearby bed to lay down. Van helped his aunt set his grandfather down gently and stroked his grandfather''s forehead. He pulled out a spiritual pill, crushed it, and inserted it into his grandfather''s mouth. After a few moments, his grandfather''s breaths started to slow down and his expression became calm. Van''s eyes filled with determination. He needed to become as powerful in the middle continent as quickly as possible to heal his grandfather. Van gently rested his grandfather''s head on the cushions and walked up to his room to pack, leaving his aunt to comfort his grandfather. He shoved all of his belongings into his magical sack and looked around the room, reminiscing of times that seemed to have been long past. He could see himself back in his room in the royal palace, his eldest brother chasing him around the room to tackle him, with his two sisters watching him on the ground. He could see himself tripping and getting tackled by his brother. They rolled around on the ground and started laughing. "Eldest Brother! You''re too rough!" "You''re too weak! I will protect you and sisters against any bullies!" His eldest brother started flexing his developing muscles, causing Van and his two sisters to roll around on their backs laughing. In response, his eldest brother tackles Van again in mock anger. "I give up, Eldest Brother!" He laughed as he kept his hands above his head. A few years later, his eldest brother, Vincent Nguyen, was taken away to be separately prepared as the crown prince, causing Van to become a withdrawn scholar with no ambitions, eventually giving him a title of the "Royal Failure" when he shames the Nguyen Dynasty in an important royal meeting, when his compassion overpowered his self-control causing an outburst during a Royal execution. His second eldest brother, Justin Nguyen, would always tease him about the incident and beat him up in the halls. He would refrain only when Eldest Brother or any of the adults were around. "Now, they''re all gone." His expression of reminiscing quickly turned grim. His determination grew as he thought of what the traitors did to his family, causing him to flee, leaving them behind. "I will get my revenge." He finished packing his things and walked downstairs to meet his aunt for the last time in a while. He found his aunt spooning some Congee into his grandfather''s mouth while tilting his head down for digestive reasons. Sanji had shrunken himself and lay on a cushion on the floor. He went over to give his aunt a hug and kissed his grandfather''s forehead with care. He gestured for Sanji to follow "I''ll be home soon, and when I get back, all of our problems will be gone." Van smiled tenderly at his aunt before walking out the door with Sanji on his heels. His aunt watched his departing figure and continued to watch for a full half hour before turning and closing the door behind her. Sanji took out a piece of paper from his pocket and followed the instructions to the Phoenix Pavilion in Red River City. Despite the nefarious implications of the name, the city was relatively peaceful with a crime rate lower than other cities. The reason for its name was because of the founding patriarch of the Sect behind the city''s founding. The Patriarch of the Potent River Sect was nicknamed "Red River" for his tendencies to massacre the sects of the people who had opposed him. For some reason, the city was very busy, so there was a very long queue to get into the city. Van patiently waited, for he did not want to expose his high cultivation. He had suppressed his cultivation base to the 8th Stage of Body Fortification to not attract too much attention, but to cause others to avoid causing trouble with him at the same time. After a few minutes of waiting, he was second in the queue. In front of him was a family of 5, they were hoping to settle down in the city to make a living. The father had already purchased a shop that they were planning to sell their wares in. He had contacted a landowner giving them a place to stay. "Sir, could you let me through? I have to get my wares and my family into the city." He passed over the identification papers to the two guards at the post. The two guards at the post were at the 6th Stage of Body Fortification. If it were any other else in the lower reaches, many would most likely be shocked, but Red River City was one of the 3 largest cities within the lower reaches, that required even the King of the Great Golden Kingdom to be respectful and wary around the city lord. The guards looked to each other, nodding. They had found a good target this time. A vulnerable family with quite a bit of capital would be the best target to extort. "Yeah, I''ll let you guys in. The entrance fee is 10 silver." The man looked at the guard, aghast. 10 Silver?! That was all that they had at the moment. This was clearly daylight robbery. Van''s expression turned dark as he heard what the guard had said. The Guard Captain of Mulberry City had already told him the entrance fee, which was a meager 3 copper coins per person and 10 copper coins for a group, yet the guards demanded 100 times the price. The man was fuming. He clenched his teeth and hands as he prepared to fight. After a while, he sighed and prepared to pass over the money. After all, he was only at the 4th Stage of Body Fortification, just one casual punch would send him flying and severely injured. Van walked up to the guard who had talked. "Hey! You can''t do that! These people are honest citizens that have the proper identification. The entrance fee is only 3 copper coins!" The guard sneered as he watched the 13-year-old boy walk up to him. He quickly realized his mistake, and his expression turned to one of fear. From what he could detect, the boy was at the 8th Stage of Body Fortification. Despite the stage gap being the same between the Guard and the father of 3, the gap between later stages of cultivation would increase. With Van''s current cultivation, he could kill the guard with a finger. "Y..y..young master! I didn''t know someone of such high status would be here!" The Guard smiled wryly, he had truly dug a ditch for himself this time. Any boy that young that had reached such a high stage of cultivation was definitely part of some major power. He might even be part of the Potent River Sect. The Guards gave a respectful bow towards Van, before quickly ushering them into the city. After Van and the group disappeared from their sights, the Guards let out a breath and wiped the sweat off their foreheads. "We almost fell into a dangerous trap this time, Mo Li." "Good thing I turned things around before it was too late." The guards continued to process the citizens. This time with a lot more respect, just in case a high profile figure was mingling with the crowd. 17 Rainbow Rock Chapter 16: Rainbow Rock Van chatted with the family of five as he escorted them to acquire their shop and home. The couple had 2 girls at the ages of 10 and 15 with a boy at the age of 12. "Big Brother, how are you so strong?" The younger girl asked Van with eyes shining. The boy also looked at Van expectantly. Van chuckled a little before telling tales of his adventure. He told of the great hunt that he had joined back in Mulberry City and of the fortuitous experience from meeting Yu Lin, leaving out a few important details. The father listened into the stories, curious about how the 13-year-old had gotten so strong. He was also trying to see if he could get any hints on the young man''s background. During the storytelling session, hosted by yours truly, the girl and boy would gasp in shock every time Van would get to the fights that he had gotten into. Van was currently feeling very satisfied with himself as he watched the reactions of the two. He noticed the older girl sitting in the corner of the cart, arms crossed, watching his every move with suspicious eyes. Inwardly, he smiled wryly as he watched the girl turn hostile at his gaze. "You might have gained our family''s trust, but don''t think you can fool me!" The girl snapped at him and shuffled further away from him. The dad looked at Van apologetically, promising to scold the girl later. Van laughed lightly. "No need for all of that. I''ve just met, her suspicions aren''t unwarranted." He continued to try to soften up the older girl''s aggressive temperament, but she continued to act hostile towards him. After a few minutes, they finally reached the store, where the father handed over the land deed to the caretaker before he was handed the keys. The father started to unpack the boxes with Van''s help while the 12-year-old boy and 10-year-old girl raced each other around the room. The 15-year-old girl started to quietly sweep the shop floor. Van, determined to set things right, walked up to the girl and tried to start a conversation. "So what''s your name?" "Why do you want to know? Will you use it to threaten me later on?" The girl dropped the broom, put both arms on her chest in a defensive gesture, and took a few steps back. Van started to panic a bit. "No! That''s not why I want to know your name at all! I''m just trying to set things right. I didn''t want to leave without clearing up all the misunderstandings." She continued to look at him suspiciously but seemed to have finally opened up to a conversation. After a few tries, the girl finally opened up to Van and they started to have a proper conversation. She would talk of life back in the countryside and how much she missed her friends. "This is the city. You''ll have a chance to make new friends here." The girl smiled hopefully and thanked Van for his thoughtful words. "If you want to join a sect, you can use my name as a reference for joining the Flowing Water Sect in the future." After saying farewell to the family, he headed to the address on the note that had been given to him. On the way, he walked through the shopping district. It was relatively late in the afternoon, and traffic was relatively high for that time of day. Van would bump into a few people here and there, but it wasn''t overcrowded. He was calmly walking when he heard a mental transmission. "Hey! Brat! Come over here! It''s your chance to buy a treasure! I can''t believe that someone found one of those!" Van''s expression became shocked before it changed back to a calm mask in a blink of an eye. Yu Lin directed Van to an inconspicuous shop with very little traffic and a rather plain looking cultivator. The cultivator was selling some of the items that he had obtained over the course of his recent adventures and was hoping to sell them off for better weapons and Qi pills. He noticed Van come over. "Hi, how may I help you?" Despite Van''s young age, the man could tell that he had money because of his cultivation base and young age. Van nodded and started to browse through the items. What had caused Yu Lin to become so ecstatic? There was a collection of useless shiny trinkets with a distinct white rock that stuck out. It acted like a prism, when the beams from the sun touched on the rock, it would refract the colors of the rainbow, causing a mystical sight to behold. The plain looking cultivator''s name was Lin Ming. He had endured many hardships throughout his life and was looking for a new start. If he could win over the favor of this young master, he might be able to get to the new heights! The cultivator''s breathing started to quicken as he thought of all the potential benefits. "Young master! You have a good eye! I found that when I was out hunting monsters. I stumbled into an expert''s tomb. It seemed to be quite old. Everything else had eroded beyond recognition besides this stone that you can see here." The man tried to make a good impression on the rock with Van and might have exaggerated a bit. Van nodded as he studied the rock, turning it over in his hands. He inserted some Qi into it which was quickly absorbed, after a few more tries Van gave up and asked Yu Lin. "This rock as you have guessed isn''t just any rock! It''s a multicolored stone embryo! If you nurture it, you can either turn it into a clone of yourself or into a companion." "So, how is this useful to me?" "Once it matures, we can refine it into a body that I can use temporarily! I could finally mentor you properly!" 18 Red Eagle Pavilion Chapter 17: Red Eagle Pavilion Van considered Yu Lin''s words thoughtfully and turned to the man that was nervously watching his expression. "How much are you going to sell it at?" "I was thinking... about 20 gold." "20 Gold?!" Van''s jaw dropped as he heard the man''s price. The price for this rock was 10 times more than the worth of all the other items in his shop combined! Lin Ming started to sweat as he saw Van''s shocked expression. "But if the honored guest is willing, I would like to trade this rock for a favor." Lin Ming picked up the rock, with both hands and held it out in front of him towards Van. Van bit his lip as he thought of what to say. "THIS IS YOUR ONLY CHANCE! ACCEPT IT QUICKLY BRAT!" Van winced in pain and rubbed the blood from his nose. This dragon mentor of his was very aggressive with his mental transmission. Luckily, Lin Ming had his head bowed and was busy staring at his shoes. Van sighed, a little too dramatically for Yu Lin''s tastes, and picked up the rock. "I accept. I am not strong at the moment, and will fulfill your promise when I can." "Wait!" Van stopped in his tracks and turned around to face Lin Ming. Lin Ming took a long breath and stood up straight. "I would like to request to become your follower and follow you on your journeys." Van scanned to find the man at the 8th Stage of Body Fortification. "I would like to apologize, but where I am going, you wouldn''t be allowed in." The man looked confused. Where in the lower reaches would someone with his cultivation base not be accepted or at least tolerated? Unless... "You''re going to the Middle Continent?!" The man was exultant with joy. He had picked the right person. No one with the ability to advance to the middle continent would any ordinary person. He felt as if he had won the lottery. "No matter! I will do whatever young master says!" Van watched his new follower beam with joy and thought of what he was going to do. He was thinking of starting a business, maybe a Sect or Clan in the lower reaches to improve his power base, influence, and wealth. "Go find my aunt. Her description is going to be on this jade slip that I am about to give you. Give it to her and tell her, Van sent you." He tossed over a bag of holding containing a few gold coins, a jade slip, and provisions for the journey back to Mulberry City. Lin Ming stared at his hands for a while before bowing to his new young master. "I will follow you to the heights of the world and the ends of the earth! I acknowledge you as my young master!" "This kid, ain''t too bad. Hey Brat! Give him this pill. Tell him if he would like to try his fortune, consume it." A reddish green pill appeared in Van''s hands, which he then quickly tossed over and relayed the message. Lin Ming nodded and bowed one last time before heading off to Mulberry City. Van watched Lin Ming''s retreating figure before turning around and pulling out a note. He started walking down the road until he reached a large building. This building looked like an ornament. It was made from many precious materials and would''ve attracted the eyes of many thieves if not for the fact that it was owned by the revered Potent River Sect and its patriarch. There was a large sign on it that read, "Red Eagle Pavilion". There were 6 guards in front of a 10-foot tall entrance that included a pearl white jade arch that depicted rivers and mighty figures. Many people would pass by and look at the building with awe and adoration. The guards glared at Van as he made his way up the steps to the entrance. The guard captain stepped up and gave the other guards a look of "I''ll handle this one." The people at the foot of the steps looked at Van with mocking expressions. Many people that had just come into the city would try to get into the building without realizing the requirements and would get sent away shamefully. A small crowd formed to watch an anticipated spectacle. "Fellow Cultivator, I can tell that this is your first time here. This place is for only those with a command medallion from the Potent River Sect. I would like to request for you to show me your medallion." The guard captain had a dull expression. He was waiting for Van to reply with the anticipated "I don''t have one." "Would this work?" Van released a cultivation base at the 3rd Stage of Dantian Formation. The guards and the guard captain gasped, they were already above 30 years of age and was only at the 2nd Stage of Dantian Formation. Yet, this youth that was not even 20 years of age had reached the 3rd Stage! "Forgive me, young master. But I need to have proof of your authorization." Van remembered something that had been mailed to him by the Guard Captain of Mulberry City. It was a badge with the insignia of the Potent River Sect on it. He pulled it out and handed it to the guard captain. There was a loud gasp before the guard captain bowed to Van and his tone of voice changed to one of respect. The other guards looked at the guard captain quizzically as they watched his reaction. They were all sent a voice transmission. "He has a Red Level Command Medallion." The other guards stiffened and stood at attention after they heard the words from the guard captain. The Potent River Sect Command Medallions were divided up into 7 levels: Green, Blue, Yellow, Orange, Red, Purple, and Crimson. Green and Blue were the most common and were usually given to servants and other non-important characters. Yellow was given to outer sect disciples. Orange was given to important outer sect elders and inner sect disciples or the equivalent. Red was the equivalent of the authority of an important core disciple or conclave disciples. Purple was given to the Grand Elder and Patriarch. Finally, the Crimson badge was given to the old monsters that were the backing of the Potent River Sect or the equivalent. The requirement for entering the Red Eagle Pavilion was only a Blue Badge. People, with the authority above Orange, would usually use the Grand Crane Pavilion, but considering that this youth in front of him was obviously an outsider, it wasn''t too strange. "Follow me, Young Master." The guard captain of the 3rd Red Eagle Squadron gave Van a tour of the pavilion. The main area was a circular structure that branched off into other buildings. There was a trading center, transportation services, an auction house, etc. Every one of the buildings was extravagantly decorated as if there was no consideration for cost whatsoever. This building itself was a testament to the Potent River Sect''s power in the Kingdom and the entire Lower Reaches. Van started to admire this sect a little. It was extremely dominating and rather favorable toward Van''s tastes. But alas, the Lower Reaches wasn''t a place that could hold this dragon among men. Considering that his mentor is a dragon deity, even this world wouldn''t be able to hold him. After a few hours of going on a shopping spree, Van had finally gotten everything that he needed and a little bit more. He had bought a Ring of Space that froze the effects of time on the objects inside it to store his provisions. He also purchased many herbs, rather extravagant food, and a few empty jade slips to contemplate Dragon Breaks the Void with. With his command medallion, he also received an additional 20% off of all the items he had bought. His balance was now down to a meager 10 silver, which was still more than what he had a year before when he couldn''t even find one copper. Van felt extremely satisfied. The feeling of being rich and flaunting one''s wealth felt really good. At the same time, losing such an enormous amount of wealth that he had just obtained from selling the corpses of the dead Fierce Beasts in the crater gave him a little more than a slight sting. Van still had the corpses of the Emperor ranked beasts and the cubical purple core from the Green Earthen Bear. If he sold them, he would probably get a huge sum at 50,000 gold coins. He decided to ship the corpses to his aunt with a note saying that it was for starting a business. The two corpses had a worth of about 10,000 gold coins which was enough to start a rather large scale trading firm in Mulberry City. Finally remembering what he was supposed to do, he asked the guard captain to take him to the transportation services building. The building was quite a magical sight to behold, winged eagles carrying important personages and mail carriers flew throughout a large spherical area. "How would I get to the Flowing River Sect?" "Young Master, you would have to talk to the Transportation Services Manager." "Take me to him." The guard captain hailed one of the carriages carried by winged eagles and they flew to another section of the building. Van looked out the window and watched as cultivators rushed around delivering statistic papers and running errands for higher-ups. All of a sudden, the carriage lurched to a stop. "Move out of the way! Inner Sect Disciple Bai Lin is here!" A youth, around the age of 15, was clearing the way for an expensive carriage. The youth wore the robes of an outer sect disciple and seemed to be the lackey of the one sitting inside. "Haven''t you heard me? Move out of the way!" The youth had an expression of disdain on his face as he saw the ordinary looking carriage that was blocking the way to Manager Lu''s office. "Who dares to block my way." Another youth emerged from the carriage. He had straight black hair and a face that would turn the heads of many girls. The guard captain started to sweat and walked out, preparing to explain. "Young Master Bai Lin. I am sorry for the inconvenience. Could you wait a little bit longer for your meeting with Manager Lu? For my sake." The guard captain smiled nervously as he watched for Bai Lin''s reaction. Bai Lin is the grand nephew of the Grand Elder, so he wasn''t used to this kind of treatment. His grandfather was the Grand Elder''s senior brother but wasn''t as accomplished as the Grand Elder. "You dare block my way! You in the carriage! Get out here." Bai Lin stood there with an arrogant, domineering stance as he watched the carriage in front of him. Van calmly emerged and placed two hands behind his back. Bai Lin was only at the 8th Stage of Body Fortification, so Van didn''t take him too seriously. "When I tell people to get out of my way, they get out of my way! What give you the right to not?!" Bai Lin stood there with a sneer on his face. The people passing by had looks of pity as they watched the newcomer confront Bai Lin. Bai Lin was known for his arrogance and with his identity as the grand nephew of the Grand Elder of the Potent River Sect, even Inner Sect Disciples wouldn''t casually offend him. Van decided not to pull out his red command medallion. "Oh? And what give you the right to make me get out of your way?" Bai Lin started to fume and the air slightly distorted from the heat emitting from his anger. He was ready to teach this newcomer youth a lesson that they would never forget. 19 Manager Lu Chapter 18: Manager Lu Bai Lin turned towards his lackeys and pointed towards Van. "Teach him a lesson." The four lackeys hesitated for a bit before realizing the intensities of their leader''s anger. They shot forward and started throwing out their Martial Techniques. "Vortex Fist: 5th Form, Hurricane Torrent!" "Darkness Descends!" "Raging River!" "Volcanic Eruption!" Surprisingly, the four lackeys were quite strong. But if you considered the fact that they were the young elites of Potent River Sect, it wasn''t as surprising anymore. Van calmly stood in his spot with an amused expression. "I haven''t fought much and my body hasn''t really gotten used to this new power, yet. So let''s try this!" Van threw out a Void Fist with his full cultivation base, making sure to confuse the Qi fluctuations. He withheld a bit of his power to make sure that the Outer Sect disciples weren''t too heavily injured. Previously, the guard captain was sitting in the corner nervously watching the situation play out. The young elites were at the 10th Stage of Body Fortification. After all, they were chosen to be the guards of the silkpants, Bai Lin. The four lackeys were sent flying in different directions all of them eventually impacted something that stopped them from flying any further. The first two were in severe shape with many ribs cracked and their legs broken. The last two were in better shape with only an arm broken. That is if you didn''t consider the little bit of internal bleeding. Van smiled wryly as he heard the moans and groans of the four lackeys rolling on the ground. He should''ve withheld more power. He saw Bai Lin shaking in fear in front of him and the guard captain finally coming over to curry some favor with Van while he could. "I thought you were going to teach me a lesson?" Van stood there like a lonely hero with his head up and his hands behind his back. Bai Lin had a strange expression that quickly turned back to one of fear. Bai Lin was sweating quite intensively as he watched Van stand there with his piercing eyes. He gulped and started to make excuses. "Ww.w.w.what Lesson? That was my lackeys'' ideas! Senior! Don''t get the wrong ideas!" "Hey! You told us to..." The lackeys were suddenly silenced and Bai Lin made sure that they couldn''t talk for a while. "See! Problem solved! Senior, I apologize for the trouble these four might have caused." Bai Lin started to smile nervously. Van looked at this situation agape. This silkpants is really vicious. Even beating up his own men for his own personal benefit. Van sighed, it wasn''t like this was an irresolvable issue between two parties that required a fight to the death so Van decided to let the kid off. "Your apology sounds relatively sincere. Try not to trouble your betters next time." Van walked back into the carriage and was showered by praises from the guard captain every step of the way. Bai Lin let out a relieved breath as he watched Van''s carriage land on Manager Lu''s guest flying platform. He then turned back to the four lackeys. "Don''t cause trouble for me! You hear that! Next time you try to, I''m sending you to Potent River''s 1,000 Toxic Snake Valley!" The four lackeys shivered as they heard their young master''s words. 1,000 Toxic Snake Valley was a fate worse than death. As cultivators of the Potent River Sect, they understood the implications too well. Manager Lu was a man at the 5th Stage of Dantian Formation. He was not someone to be trifled with, especially in the lower reaches. He was an unparalleled genius in the lower reaches. He reached the 1st Stage of Dantian Formation when he had reached 20, missing the mark for entering the Middle Continent by 2 years. Now, he has the exalted position of Transportation Services Manager for the Red Eagle Pavilion. Manager Lu was currently talking to a youth clothed in white robes with red trimming. It was one of the Outer Sect Disciples of the Potent River Sect. In fact, it was the 6th ranking disciple on the Red Stream List. There were 3 lists in the Potent River Sect: The Red Stream for Outer Sect Disciples, The Red River for the Inner Sect Disciples and the Red Sea for the Core Disciples or disciples of important figures in the Sect. The youth was requesting a favor for going to Frigid Vale City, where one of the stronger branches of the Potent River Sect was. Many Outer Sect Disciples had it hard in the main branch with the fierce competition and instead tried to make a name for themselves in the outer branches. The problem was that the youth could not afford the fee and was currently trying to curry some favor. Basically, he was trying to get a "free lunch" from Manager Lu. After a few minutes of fierce discussion, the Manager had enough of the youth and sent him out. "Next!" Van with the guard captain of the 3rd Red Eagle Squadron entered the office. Manager Lu raised an eyebrow as he watched the odd pair come in. "I wouldn''t expect the guard captain of the 3rd Red Eagle Squadron to grace me with his presence." Manager Lu stood up and embraced the guard captain. After a few friendly exchanges, Manager Lu turned his attention to Van. "So, who have you brought here? Anyone that the guard captain would escort must be an important person. May I have the pleasure of knowing your name." Manager Lu extended a hand to Van, which Van quickly accepted. "Greetings, Senior. My name is Van Nguyen." "That''s a good name for a good person." Manager Lu gave a big smile and they all sat down in their respective chairs. "Let''s get down to business. What brings you to my humble office, Van?" "I would like to able to get to the Middle Continent. Also, I would like you to sell some transportation vehicles for my new business that will be started by my aunt." Manager Lu had a shocked expression on his face when he heard Van''s aspirations of starting a trading firm. "How shall I know it is yours?" "It shall be called the ''Hearth Trading Firm''." Manager Lu nodded his assent. "As long as you have the funds to buy it, I shall provide you with the carriages. I will even give a discount depending on the number of carriages bought." Van nodded approvingly and knew that he was going to owe Manager Lu a favor. "Pardon me for asking this, but may I have a look at your command medallion?" "Sure, it won''t hurt." Van pulled out the red command medallion and handed it over to Manager Lu. Manager Lu''s eyes widened as he examined the medallion. "I apologize, Van. I didn''t know that you had a Red Command Medallion. With this, you will get an immediate 15% off all the products purchased." 20 Travelling in Style Chapter 19: Travelling in Style After talking with Manager Lu, he finally got the authorization he needed to get to the Flowing River Sect. Manager Lu, the guard captain, and Van entered Manager Lu''s personal carriage. The carriage was engraved with gold flowing rivers and jade phoenixes. Two purebred Valiant Red Eagles flew the carriage to the spirit shuttle platforms. There were 5 large platforms for the spirit shuttles. The platforms were organized in a box-like shape with the biggest one in the middle. Only shuttles with important people would land on the middle one. They were usually decorated with glowing formations and precious materials. The expensive carriage landed with a "Woosh", from the air being displaced at high speeds. The designs on the carriage drew a lot of attention from the surrounding audience. There were a few gasps drawn. "Isn''t that Manager Lu''s carriage?!" "I wonder what Manager Lu is doing out here." One of such lofty status as Manager Lu would only come for vital matters, such as escorting important personages. He had assistants to manage to the day to day activities of the Transportation Services. "I wonder who the important person is. What if it''s Fairy Cloud Feather?!" Some in the crowd agreed with the person who spoke while others thought that it might be Fairy Soft Cloud or even a City Lord. They all looked at the carriage door expectantly. It slowly opened with Manager Lu and the guard captain exiting first. The guard captain held the door which an ordinary looking youth exited through a few moments later. "What?! Who''s that youth? An unknown youth gets such special treatment?" A good portion of the crowd was immediately incensed. They were ready to see a beautiful fairy or a handsome City Lord come out, but rather saw an ordinary looking youth that you could find anywhere on the streets. "If he''s with Manager Lu, it would probably be best not to provoke him." The crowd immediately started to quiet down and a few looks of fear appeared on the faces of some of the people as they realized the existence of the hole they had almost thrown themselves into. Everyone started to look at the youth to see if he had noticed what they said. Van was wryly smiling at the crowd. He had heard the entire conversation from start to end but felt that it wasn''t worth it to pick a fight with these gossiping cultivators. In the future, he would show them when he rose to power in the Middle Continent. Everyone would know his name and look at him with awe and reverence. "This way honored guest." Manager Lu gestured for Van to follow him. The trio and a few guards advance to the middle and the largest platform. There was a checkpoint managed by two guards at the 2nd Stage of Dantian Formation. Manager Lu flashed his identification and the group was quickly escorted to pick out the preferred spirit shuttle for transportation. They walked up to the desk and were handed a few spirit jade slips by a middle-aged woman in cultivator robes. There were 5 Jade Slips to choose from. With Van''s command medallion and the note from the Guard Captain in Mulberry City, he could use any shuttle at a heavily discounted price. Of course, Van picked the most expensive one. It was made out of Gold Spirit Jade and had many formations engraved by reputable formation masters and even a shield formation by a reputable formations grandmaster. The spirit shuttle had the shape of a dragons head at the front was rather large. Van was given the largest room on the shuttle. The trip to the middle continent would take about 3 months. He would be provided with cultivation resources all the way. Van had now spent all of his money and was back to the way he was in the beginning. He was once again B R O K E. Of course, his possessions were now worth many times more than his entire fortune a year before. Many stares, filled with envy and awe, were directed towards Van and the other passengers as they entered the spirit shuttle. Van was given a jade key for room access. There were about 50 other passengers on board all with major backgrounds. "What do you mean I can''t have the Presidential Suite?!" A young master was yelling at a spirit shuttle attendant. "I apologize Young Master, but the room is already occupied." "Than make sure it''s vacated!" The young master is Ye Shui of the Ye Clan. The Ye clan is one of the 3 massive clans that dominated the lower reaches, only the Potent River Sect and the Year Blossom Sect were above them in power. Ye Shui was infuriated as he heard from the attendant that he could only stay in a Major Suite, one of 3. As the young master of the Ye Clan, he was obliged the most prestigious rooms everywhere he went. "Looks like the Ye Clan''s young master is throwing another tantrum." A young woman approached from the crowd and is holding a fan to her face. This is Fairy Cloud Feather. Her real name is Liang Chun. She is the treasure of the Liang Clan and had very good looks. "Ho ho ho! The slut from the Liang Clan shows up and the pig from the Ye Clan..." A muscled youth came out from the crowd with a big confident grin on his face. This is the young master of the Yu Clan. His name is Yu Chao. He mostly cultivated his body and was the aim of many young girls. Van was slowly slinking away from the trio from the 3 Great Clans towards the door. The trio was too busy insulting each other and discussing how they deserved the Presidential Suite better, to notice Van slink into the room. Van wiped the sweat off his brow. He looked around his massive room. It was larger than his house back in Mulberry City. There was the main bedroom with a very large feather mattress. There was a large bathroom and most important of all, there was a cultivation chamber. Van set down his bag on the bed and opened the door of the cultivation chamber, full of expectancy. He found the cultivation chamber to be filled with a small space for meditation, a few training dummies, a Qi spring, and a menu for cultivation resources. All of the items on the menu were complimentary. Van swallowed a mouthful of saliva as he saw the names on the menu. There were pills that were useful up to the 9th Stage of Dantian Formation. In the lower reaches, it would be practically impossible to find these resources anywhere besides here. This Potent River Sect isn''t too bad. Van thought to himself as he wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth. There are still a few months until we make it to the middle continent, so might as well take advantage of it. Van sat down and started to rotate the Qi in his outer Dantian. This was going to a be very fruitful ride. 21 Confrontation Chapter 20: Confrontation After about a month, Van had broken through to the peak of the 10th Stage of Dantian Formation. He had taken advantage of the complimentary cultivation resources and had been constantly absorbing Qi. He would''ve broken through a week ago if he had wanted to, but decided to accumulate the Qi and solidify his foundation. Van hadn''t left the Presidential Suite in the past month, worried about the trio outside. He could already imagine their flaming eyes as they tried to rip him apart. Van shuddered at the thought and ordered a meal from room service. A maid quickly delivered the meal to Van. He had ordered a meal of steamed rice with a side of roast pork seasoned with soy sauce. After enjoying the meal, Van laid down on the bed to read. He pulled out the first volume of "Dragon Breaks the Void" and contemplated it while sipping some Green Jade Tea. Besides the breakthrough to the 10th Stage and the more recent one to the peak of the 10th stage, Van had also reached Medium Success in his Void Fist a week into the journey. Sadly, Van had been trying to grasp the basics of High Success for the past 3 weeks without any success. "What if my approach on this is wrong? Maybe I need to use it in combat more so I could better apply it to my combat style." Van started to find ways to find monsters to fight. Fighting against wooden puppets just didn''t feel quite the same. "Wait, I can just fight the trio outside! They only have cultivation bases at the 3rd Stage of Dantian Formation. If I get into any trouble, I could just raise my cultivation base by a small realm!" An evil grin surfaced on Van''s face. He was a respectable expert at the 10th Stage of Dantian Formation. If anyone of the Senior generation knew what he was thinking, they would have started condemning him for ages to come. After washing up, he decided to walk out and confront the inevitable. Sanji squeaked his regards and started to enjoy the comfort of the Suite while Van was gone. Van calmly marched outside to the nearby refreshments and grabbed a glass of juice from a 10-year-old Green Spirit Pear. The subordinates of the trio were watching him with every step and sent a transmission through their jade slips to their respective masters. A muscled youth stood up in his suite and started working out, in preparation for battle. A young fairy maiden got dressed into a stylish combat dress that was rather tight-fitting. Finally, an arrogant, but rather dashing, young master burst out of his suite dashing towards the refreshments in search of Van. "I finally found you! The bastard that dared to steal my suite." Ye Shui of the Ye Clan was ready to give this newcomer a lesson to never forget. He sneered as he watched the youth calmly enjoy his glass of fruit juice. Despite his arrogance and rather rude nature, he wasn''t dull enough to ruin his already negative reputation by attacking this youth out of nowhere. Ye Shui had gotten his subordinates to access the databases for any sign of this youth''s background. He found out that this youth was just some promising so-called genius from Mulberry City. Ye Shui smiled viciously as he thought of all the ways he would teach this youth a lesson. Van looked at the young master''s changing expression. Was this youth dropped on his head when he was little? He seemed to be in his own world at the moment and Van started to become worried. Van waved a hand across Ye Shui''s eyes just in case. Seeing no reaction, he was about to call a Light Attributed Martial Artist over when Yu Chao ran in throwing Ye Shui to the side. Ye Shui''s head bounced on the wall with a big crunch and his body crumpled on the floor. Van now knew the reason for his slow wit and wryly smiled watching the rather unnatural scene before him. Some nearby girls squealed with delight as they saw the freshly oiled muscles on Yu Chao''s body. "Yu Chao! You should stop abusing Ye Shui, you''ve already hit him in the head too many times when we were little." Ye Shui was quietly crying in the corner. He had endured the torment from Yu Chao for too long. His family had to spend much money on Spiritual Medicines to restore his mental health back. Of course, Yu Chao continued his abuse and Ye Shui''s mental condition hadn''t restored back to normal yet. Van looked at the pitiful young master that was about to teach him a lesson and felt sorry for him. "So, how are we going to settle this." Van stood there like a lone hero, drawing a few gazes from the girls nearby. "There''s a fighting chamber nearby for duels. Let''s go there." Yu Chao grinned maliciously, he was going to give this newcomer a piece of his mind. Fairy Cloud Feather was more thoughtful and attentive than the other two. She noticed a faint domineering aura coming from Van and was on guard. Yu Chao, Fairy Cloud Feather, and Van headed towards the fighting chambers. A few moments later, Ye Shui picked himself up and solemnly followed them. There were already a few dueling pairs in the chamber, but a few quickly vacated their arenas when they saw Fairy Cloud Feather and Yu Chao. Yu Chao grinned and got onto one side of the fighting arena, stretching his muscles, pretending not to notice the surrounding stares from the female audience. Van sighed and got ready to fight, circulating the Qi in his Outer Dantian. Fairy Cloud Feather circulated the Qi into her eyes and used the "Sharp Eagle Eyes" Martial Technique. She was going to analyze every part of this match. The formation started the countdown and the battle began. Van dashed at Yu Chao and unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks. The fight was very fast paced and would be practically unviewable to normal people. Yu Chao ignored the strikes and returned them with one of his own. "Flaming Meteor Descends: Fifth Form!" Yu Chao leaned back, compressed his tendons and kicked out with a terrifying force. Fairy Cloud Feather gasped, Yu Chao was going to take these extremely seriously. After all, his opponent is a small realm above him. Currently, Van''s cultivation was shown to the others as being at the peak of the 3rd Stage of Dantian Formation. Van quickly dodged to the side, unleashing a casual Void Fist. Yu Chao''s eyes widened as he felt the space around him compress, causing him to not be able to move. Yu Chao quickly let out his strongest fist. "Flowing Magma: Sixth Form!" A phantom of a large Volcano erupting appeared behind him. Van retreated and calmly inspected the strike. Fairy Cloud Feather tensed up and let out a small gasp. She could tell that Van wasn''t taking this fight seriously. Despite his slightly higher cultivation base, there was no other reason for Van to not take this fight seriously. Besides, he had to conserve Qi for the next two fights. There was something suspicious and possibly about Van''s actions. Did we offend someone of a higher cultivation base by more than one stage? Fairy Cloud Feather started to sweat nervously. A few fans quietly inspected her moist skin. When the sweat reached her clothing, the fans started to emit a strange energetic aura but were disappointed by waterproof clothing. Other fans were more positive and admired the sparkling effect from the refracted light rays on the beads of sweat. Back to the topic at hand, Van let out another Void Fist to counter Yu Chao''s all-out strike. Yu Chao could feel the space around him warp once again, this time it seemed a lot more intense. Yu Chao''s expression became graver and he let out a cry of defiance. The Void Fist consumed Yu Chao''s magma strike and started to head towards Yu Chao to end the battle. Van became slightly annoyed, knowing that Yu Chao wouldn''t be able to withstand this strike, and drew out some of the Qi from the Void Fist. The Fist hit Yu Chao knocking him back a foot. Before he could recover, Van started to try out new techniques and would throw out a Void Fist here and there. 22 Winning Respect and Awe Chapter 21: Winning Respect and Awe Yu Chao started to cry miserably as he curled up on the ground. Van had been testing techniques on him for the past hour non-stop. With Yu Chao''s body and Van''s careful control, Yu Chao didn''t need to worry about lasting injuries, but the constant pain had injured Yu Chao mentally. Ye Shui seemed to have finally healed from his mental retardation and was currently cheering every hit that landed on Yu Chao''s body. The surrounding audience was dumbstruck. They never would have guessed that some unknown youth, not even from the Middle Continent. Would beat one of the 3 geniuses into such a state. Fairy Cloud Feather looked with disgust and pity as Yu Chao was beaten black and blue. Disgust from the tears currently staining Yu Chao''s face, and pity for the pitiful situation he was currently in. A hint of fear appeared in her expression as she realized that she was going to be next. She subconsciously took a step back and started to sweat more profusely. After a couple of minutes, Van felt pity for the guy and threw Yu Chao out of the arena. He was transported by the management formation and quickly restored back to optimal condition. "You realize you could''ve given up anytime right? The formation would''ve just teleported you out." Yu Chao, being the muscle head that he was, stood there dumbfounded as he slowly took in the information. Tears started leaking out of his eyes as he realized the catastrophe that he could''ve avoided. Van turned towards Fairy Cloud Feather and started to speak. "It''s your turn now." Fairy Cloud Feather stood there the absolute embodiment of calmness and parted her lips to speak. "Seeing that you have bested Yu Chao so easily, I would say that I''m not your match. Besides, the Presidential Suite is worth getting so worked up." Van nodded, finding Fairy Cloud Feather''s reasoning quite logical. When Van turned towards Ye Shui, Fairy Cloud Feather let out the breath she was holding, in relief. She had just avoided a small catastrophe. With Van''s brutality, she would most likely be unable to keep her title as a fairy. Ye Shui''s was currently jumping with joy. He had just watched his childhood bully get beat up right in front of him. He joyfully surrendered and jumped to Van''s side, trying to win his favor. Van was slightly surprised, but then again, he did get revenge for Ye Shui. After a few minutes of conversation, Van decided to accept Ye Shui as a friend. Ye Shui gave Van his personal command medallion and they parted ways. Fairy Cloud Feather proudly marched away with her crowd of adoring fans. After half an hour of drooling, Yu Chao wiped his mouth and walked off to the infirmary. Seeing the others depart, Van decided to head back to his room. He was greeted by a very plump Sanji. While Van was busy fighting, Sanji had used the complimentary room service and had stuffed himself on rich spiritual meats and spiritual fruits. "Did you leave anything for me?" Van''s stomach started to growl. Sanji had an apologetic expression. He wasn''t one to waste food. Van sighed and ordered food. He went into the cultivation chamber and practiced the Void Fist while he was waiting. Half an hour later, there was a knock on the door. Van opened it to find a young maid. She became flustered and respectfully handed the tray to Van, before walking away. Van was confused, but he placed the tray on a desk and started to chow down. After eating many high-quality spirit foods, he was starting to get used to it and didn''t go into ecstasy every time he took a bite. Sanji used to take delight in watching the strange expressions that appeared on Van''s face as he ate. He would take delight it laughing at Van''s expense. Of course, Van wouldn''t notice so Sanji could laugh all he wanted while Van was in a subconscious state. 2 months later, the spirit shuttle ground to a halt and a mental transmission was sent to all onboard. "We have arrived at the Middle Continent''s Flowing River Sect." The aspiring cultivators on board packed up their items and got off the ship. They were met with a middle aged man in a clean white silk road. He stood there complacently watching the 50 cultivators crowd in front of him. He had a lazy air about him and stared at the group with little expectation. "Alright, you have been allowed to attempt to join our Flowing River Sect. Back in the lower reaches, you were the cream of the crop. Here in the Middle Continent, your talent would be in the lower average." Some of the cultivators had a defiant air about them in response. The others were more realistic and stayed expressionless, but were still confident in their chances. The bored cultivator was an outer sect elder of the Flowing River Sect. He was made in charge of the next batch of potential recruits as punishment for stealing a Spirit Chicken from another elder. He was a rather laid back elder which meant that punishments on his river weren''t strict. At the same time, that meant that he didn''t do too much for his disciples and apprentices. "Alright then. Let''s get going." The Flowing River Sect''s Outer Sect Elder escorted the 50 cultivators away from the landing pad to a gateway guarded by a large scale formation. The Outer Sect Elder pulled out his command medallion, causing the massive gate to open. Van and the others looked on with awe as they saw the majestic sight ahead of them. There were four rivers that flowed into a large pool. If one looked carefully at the water, they would notice that it was slightly blue. This certain water was rich in Qi and was fatally dangerous to anyone below the Stages of Inner Discovery. Of course, it was only dangerous if one submerged in it. 23 The Trials Chapter 22: The Trials While Van and the other cultivators from Red River City were admiring the scenery, an elder of the Flowing River Sect was currently reading a handwritten letter from the Guard Captain of Mulberry City. "I guess I''ll have to look out for this new cultivator friend of his. I can''t let my nephew down." The Guard Captain had used his connections with his uncle to allow Van a more smooth transition into the sect. Coupled with Van''s talent, Van would be able to integrate himself in no time. At least, that was the plan. Van and the others were currently admiring the scenery. Van inhaled a breath full of fresh air and enjoyed the pleasure from the dense Qi. Sanji squeaked with delight as he started to absorb the Qi outside. Van chuckled lightly before noticing the Outer Sect Elder''s rather scornful expression. The Outer Sect Elder felt rather proud of his sect and was scornful of the outsiders. Of course, if any of these outsiders managed to join the sect, he would treat them with their due respect. But with the sect''s standards, most of them would fail. Van was smiling inwardly, he would teach that elder to never look down on the cultivators of the Lower Reaches again. The great clans'' trio also noticed the Outer Sect Elder, but grit their teeth. They could only try their best to improve the reputation of the Lower Reaches through the entrance exam. "Enough wasting time, I don''t have all day." The Outer Sect Elder started to guide the cultivators to the riverboats. Despite his outwardly lazy personality, he was rather knowledgeable, especially when it came to matters relating to the sect. He would enthusiastically reply to any questions about the sect''s surrounding and may have embellished a few details here and there. Van and the others were in awe of the Sect. It felt as if they were transported into another world. There were cultivators bustling around on flying swords and Jade Fish leaped in the rivers. The sparkling river water was really a sight to behold. Many of the female cultivators were brimming with anticipation as they walked. They hadn''t even made it to the main sect yet and they were already extremely impressed. Van sighed, the Middle Continent really did live up to its reputation. The Lower Reaches had nothing that could compare even in the slightest. They boarded the rather large riverboats and had the outer disciples ferry them to the examination grounds. A few moments later, they arrived at a large blue pagoda with 7 floors. Since it was the only building in the area, the examinees could tell that the pagoda was nothing ordinary considering this was a cultivator sect of the Middle Continent. Van shook with anticipation as everyone turned their attention to the Outer Sect Elder. The Outer Sect Elder was rather exhausted. The only time he would get riled up was when he was showing off the Sect to the examinees. But, it also had its share of problems including causing the Elder to be rather tired. "Okay, we have arrived at the 7 River Pagoda. Before we enter the pagoda, I will test your latent talent with the "Talent River Stone" over there. The "Talent River Stone" was a large rather ordinary looking stone with the exception of a very unnatural smooth surface. It looked as if one had polished it many times a day. But if one looked closely, one would notice that it was formed that way through nature''s many processes. The examinees were once again in awe of the wonders the cultivation world had to offer. The Sects in the lower reaches had something similar, but it was very crude if compared to something like this "Talent River Stone". "Alright, form 5 rows with 10 each in front of me. I will call out your names one by one to try out your talent." The cultivators were rather nervous and brimming with expectation. What if they were an undiscovered genius of the century?! There was also the other extreme that would be considered, but who would think that they would ever get that rating? "I will explain the rules for the first part of the examination. To pass, one needs to get an Orange rating. The stone will shine with one of 7 colors: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple, or Gold. There are stages beyond that, but I am not qualified to know what they are. Now, any questions? None? Good. Let''s begin." The Outer Sect Elder picked up a clipboard that seemed to have come out of nowhere. The examinees were rather wide-eyed but decided not to ask when they saw the rather annoyed expression on the Elder''s face. "First, Bai Shui!" A scholarly youth stepped up. He was at the bare minimum for going to the Middle Continent. He was rather nervous, but also immensely excited to test out his talent. This particular youth had very humble beginnings and had to struggle daily to compete for supplies. He eventually became important enough for the clan to send him to the Middle Continent, causing him to jump with glee when he heard the news. Bai Shui took a deep breath and stepped up to the rock. He looked back at the Outer Sect Elder quizzically. "Right, so... You have to place your hand in the middle of that circle drawn on there. Then you have to insert your Qi... Wait! Make sure your feet are inside the formation circle on the ground!" Bai Shui was rather flustered. When he took the talent test from the Bai clan, he only had to place one hand on top of a rugged gemstone and wait for it to glow. At the time, he had obtained a remarkable ranking, allowing him to enter the sect immediately. After a few more wrong instructions from the Outer Sect Elder, Bai Shui got it right and inserted his Qi into the rock. The rock started to glow a Green color before quickly switching to a constant yellow. "Greenish-Yellow, Slightly Above Average Talent. Pretty good. NEXT!" The cultivators woke out of their sleep and congratulated Bai Shui on his passing. All of them were thinking the same thing. If Bai Shui passed it, I definitely will. "Nan Gongsheng!" "Bai Chao!" "Ye Ming!" All of the cultivators except for Van took their first exam already. Yu Chao, surprisingly, got a Greenish-Blue Talent, which was rather rare, causing the Elder to look at the batch of cultivators again with different eyes. I guess being a muscle head wasn''t too bad after all. Ye Shui got slightly better with a Blue Talent, causing a shocked gasp to come from the Elder. He never would''ve imagined accepting in 2 Rare Talents at once. But he wasn''t prepared for what came next. When Fairy Cloud Feather stepped up to take the exam, the rock emitted a faint Red light. The Outer Sect Elder was about to give his condolences when the color sharply changed to a Gold color. "Untouched By Destiny Talent! Legendary Rank!!" The Sect Elder was awestruck. He started to cry tears of joy. He had really struck gold with this batch of youngsters. The Sect had demanded that he would be recruiting new disciples until he found at least 3 Rare Talents. With this contribution, he might even be able to choose from the Sect treasury! The trio was immediately whisked away by another outer sect elder and was given command medallions. Fairy Cloud Feather would immediately become an Inner Sect Disciple while the other two would be given special benefits as Outer Sect Disciples. There was still one youth left to be tested. Out of the 50 cultivators, 14 had passed, including the trio. Most of the others left to find lodging for the night for tomorrow''s journey back while others decided to stay as servants, hoping to make their way through the ranks. An inner sect elder had told him to keep an eye on a certain youth and this youth was currently in front of him. Nothing about the youth particularly stood out from the others. He looked rather average if one didn''t consider his rather high cultivation base. The Elder was only at the 9th Stage of Dantian Formation, so he couldn''t see Van''s real cultivation base. He was told to evaluate Van last, but to accept Van in as an Outer Sect Disciple no matter what happened. The Elder sighed but called Van to step up. Van was rather nervous and did as everyone else had done before him. He stood before the stone and placed his hand on it. Please be above orange! Please be above orange! Van had worked rather hard and had encountered a few hardships to get to the Middle Continent. He hoped that all of that hard work would not be in vain. He took a deep breath and inserted the Qi into the rock. A few moments later, the rock still hadn''t changed color. "Maybe something went wrong with the rock?" Van smiled at the Elder hopefully. The Elder sighed and was about to tell Van that there was no hope when something stopped him. The stone started to tremble rather vigorously and the ground gently shook for a few minutes. Van was extremely surprised and turned his head around to find that the rock had disintegrated into a pile of dust! That''s right. Disintegrated. The Elder scratched his head. He thought that he had to pull some strings and use the Inner Sect Elder''s authority to accept Van, but this youth had disintegrated the Talent River Stone! The Elder scratched his head and was about to go ask an Inner Sect Elder about the circumstances when he felt a strange wind flow by him. He turned around to see who it was to find an old man dressed in blue robes. The old man had a shocked expression on his face and started studying Van. This old man was a previous patriarch of the Flowing River Sect. He had a cultivation base of "Saint" and was on the way to the 7 Steps of Ascension. He was currently at the peak of that level and was rarely aroused. He had felt the connection with the Talent River Stone break and cast his divine sense over to see what happened. He found a peculiar youth standing before the remains of the Talent River Stone. What kind of latent talent did this young man have to disintegrate the Talent River Stone? This had never happened in his entire lifetime. 24 The Old Patriarch Chapter 23: The Old Patriarch The retired patriarch continued to inspect Van with meticulous interest. After a few moments, the old patriarch ceased nodding and muttering and grabbed Van. Van squealed in surprise and was hoisted away by the patriarch to somewhere rather far away. The Outer Sect Elder couldn''t believe his eyes. He had just met the elusive retired patriarch of the Flowing River Sect. The current patriarch was the 5th Patriarch of the Flowing River Sect. He had a cultivation base of Emperor and had only recently broken through. He had never met the current patriarch. Yet while recruiting a bunch of new disciples, he had a met a Saint ranked expert. He felt as if his luck was on fire today and decided to go hit the casinos tonight. He also remembered to keep an eye on the rather ordinary looking youth. After all, a disciple that the old patriarch took an interest in would have a lot of influence. Wait, wasn''t the old patriarch the eccentric one that liked to dissect living beings? The Elder''s expression turned to one of relief. Good thing the patriarch was after Van and not him. He gave Van a respectful salute before heading off to report his findings. Van was currently wretching in the sky being dragged by the old Patriarch. Van had opened his mouth to ask the Old Patriarch what was happening when a variety of bugs flew into his mouth. The Old Patriarch was ignoring him and continued to fly at high speeds. Van stopped protesting after the first minute. He just stayed suspended limply, waiting for them to reach their destination. The Old Patriarch realized that his appearance wasn''t exactly presentable and used an Appearance Changing Technique to turn into a Dashing Middle-Aged Man with well-kept robes. A few minutes later, the flying sword started to descend and they entered a large chamber filled with many luxuries, but rather unkempt. Van found a nearby stream and washed out his mouth. The taste of bugs would be one he would never want to repeat. After washing out his mouth, he turned to the Old Patriarch, now looking like a middle-aged man and waited for him to say something. While he was waiting, Van looked around him to find a strange wooden door with a golden lock on it. When he reached out to touch the doorknob, he was stopped by the Old Patriarch. He said one word. "Don''t." A cold feeling crept down his spine and Van decided to listen to the Old Patriarch''s advice. The Old Patriarch guided Van to a nearby couch and had him sit down. Van carefully inspected the chamber while the Old Patriarch got some tea. There were a lot of items related to science strewn around the chamber floor. It wasn''t too strange for an eccentric cultivator to indulge in acts besides cultivation, but he had never heard of a science maniac. The Old Patriarch came back with some Spirit Jade Leaf Tea and served some to Van, watching his every move. Van awkwardly picked up the teacup and took a sip. He didn''t exactly feel comfortable doing anything, being watched by a strange old man. "So, why did you bring me here?" Van placed the teacup down and waited for the Old Man to answer. "You have a large amount of talent. I''ve never had someone break my River Talent Stone before. I would like to have you try something else out. Stay right here." The old man walked away and entered the wooden door. Van could hear the rustling of items being shuffled around and a few clanks from items being thrown. About 10 minutes later, the old patriarch came out with gemstone. Van couldn''t tell what it was. But from what Van could tell, this gemstone was a rare spirit stone. Why would he give me a spirit stone? Van thought to himself. Spirit Stones were valuable items that cultivators use to cultivate faster. The Qi inside the spirit stone could be absorbed at a faster rate than absorbing from one''s surroundings. "This isn''t a spirit stone. It is a stone that measures one''s talent. You could call it the improved version of the River Talent Stone. The ratings are a lot higher also. It has the same color scheme, but one who gets a Gold rating on the River Talent Stone might not even get a Red rating from this one." Van gasped. Wasn''t the standard for this talent stone a bit too high? But then again, his talent was strong enough to destroy the other talent stone. "If you happen to trigger the hidden event in this stone, I''ll make you a Core Disciple. If you somehow break it, you''ll become my personal disciple and I''ll give you cultivation materials. Gold means you''ll become an Inner Sect Disciple and I''ll tell you what you will get if you get any lower." Van was ecstatic. He really needed those cultivation resources. He had recently reached a bottleneck and needed some resources to make the attempt to break through to the Inner Discovery Realm. The old man looked at Van expectantly, holding out the new Talent Stone. Van took a deep breath and mentally prepared himself for all situations before placing his hand on the stone. Van inserted his Qi into the stone and eagerly awaited a result. A few moments later, the rock started to glow Red. The Old Patriarch was about to give his condolences to Van when the rock started to glow and Orange color. Then, it turned into a Purple Glow. Then, a Golden glow appeared on the rock. The Old Patriarch was flabberghasted. Even a heavenly constitution that allowed one''s talent to be untouched wouldn''t cause this effect on the rock. He had specifically made it so that it would measure talent at an extremely high standard. The hidden event started to appear. A flowing river that seemed to contain the entire age of existence appeared before the rock started to crack. Van looked at the rock, startled and was about to drop the rock when it exploded. Luckily, the Old Patriarch placed a shield around both of them, allowing the shrapnel to bump into Van without any damage. 25 Special Benefits Chapter 24: Special Benefits The room that was previously just rather unkempt now looked like a hurricane had run through it. Van was rather dazed, but besides some ruffled clothing and hair, he wasn''t injured. The Old Patriarch looked at Van, a bewildered expression on his face. This ordinary looking youth actually caused his personally crafted talent stone to explode! The Old Patriarch had reverted back to his original appearance by now. The Old Patriarch started to study Van once more, this time a lot more detailed. He noticed a strange bloodline that had condensed in his Dantian. "Interesting." The Old Patriarch started to stroke his beard as contemplated the workings of Van''s body. Van felt a cold feeling run down his spine as he saw the old man''s gaze. But when he considered the power level of this old man, he continued to let the old man stare, begrudgingly. About half an hour of awkward silence later, the Old Man sat down and asked Van a question. "Do you know who I am?" Van sat down at the Old Man''s gesture and contemplated the question. This old man was definitely at least an elder in the Flowing River Sect. Van remembers the Outer Sect Elder''s reaction. "Are you one of the previous patriarchs?" Van calmly asked the Old Patriarch. The Old Man''s brows raised in surprise. The youth had guessed his identity from the little amount of information available. The Old Man nodded in affirmation. Van was rather surprised. Although it was an educated guess, there was still a large chance that he would be wrong. The Old Man sighed. Since Van broke the stone, he would have to fulfill his promise. The Old Patriarch threw a spatial ring with a rather eye-catching gemstone at Van. Van deftly caught the ring and inserted his Qi into it. It was a high-quality spatial ring that could store items in the hundreds of thousands. Van found about 10,000 high-quality materials in the spatial ring. Van started to tear up with joy. He had never had so much wealth in his life. Van bowed to the Patriarch and thanked him. "Junior thanks the Protector!" The Old Man''s expression softened. This youth was rather respectful to his elders. "Here take this." Van grabbed the item that was tossed. It looked like a fruit encased in gold. "This is a spiritual fruit, it will help in your enlightenment in Martial Skills and Techniques. Even your cultivation will benefit from its consumption, use it wisely." Van smiled brightly. His favorability towards the old man had increased by a lot. Van bowed once again in thanks and waited for the Old Man to give him his command medallion and robes. "When you reach the Stages of Inner Discovery, I will then give you a Core Disciple command medallion and robes. For now, take these." The Old Man threw over a robe for Inner Sect Disciples and an Inner Sect Disciple command medallion. "Don''t disappoint me." Van''s expression turned to one of confidence and he once again bowed before heading off. After heading out of the Old Patriarch''s dwelling, the formation transported him before the registration office. A few of the Disciples managing the area jumped in fright. But when they saw the Inner Sect Disciple robes, they got back to their business. Van walked up to one of the Registration Disciples. "I need to be registered into the Sect." One of the elder''s brows raised in confusion. He hadn''t heard of any new disciples that would be accepted directly as an Inner Sect Disciple besides Fairy Cloud Feather. Van pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to the Registrations Disciple. The paper was rolled up in robes when the Old Patriarch had thrown them to Van. With a mental transmission from the Patriarch, Van understood what it was supposed to be used for instantly. The Registrations Disciple was flabbergasted he had never seen the signature at the bottom before. "I''m sorry but I don''t recognize the signature on this decree." Van was slightly surprised. They didn''t recognize the handwriting of the Old Patriarch? Then again, he is retired. One of the Elders passing by stopped and investigated the problem. "What''s the problem here? Feng Hao, what''s the piece of paper in your hand?" Feng Hao explained the situation and handed it over to the Elder. Feng Hao expressed his suspicions on the authenticity of the signature. This elder had an arrogant and domineering air about him. He was at the initial stages of Inner Discovery and could be considered a powerhouse in the Lower Reaches. The Elder read through the document before paling at the signature at the bottom. His expression turned to one of surprise then respect towards Van. This kid had the favor of the strongest living retired patriarch. "Register him and give him the best picks for an immortal''s cave." Feng Hao was surprised he had been at this post for a year and recognized practically all the signatures of the Elders and the current Patriarch. But he didn''t dare to question the Registrations Elder. Feng Hao recorded the information onto a jade slip and inserted it into the records. "Welcome Brother Van to the Flowing River Sect." Feng Hao respectfully bowed to Van. Van picked out the best cave available to new inner sect disciples and headed out to stake out his new territory. Feng Hao watched Van''s retreating figure. Who was this Inner Sect Disciple that earned the favor of someone who even shocked the Head Registrations Elder? Van didn''t realize it, but he had just met a rather illustrious figure in the Flowing River Sect. As Van walked along, he saw many cultivators indulging in all types of activities. Some male disciples were flirting with the pretty female disciples while others were dueling with Martial Techniques. He also spotted a few immortals'' caves that definitely had some cultivation maniacs in them. On the way to his immortal''s cave, he was respectfully greeted by most of the Outer Sect Disciples passing by. Others ignored him and hid their feelings of intense envy. They didn''t recognize this particular Inner Sect Disciple, but anyone with the position definitely deserved their spot. After about 15 minutes of walking, he finally arrived. He found it to be rather spacious and was surprisingly a lot better than the room he had on the spirit shuttle. There was a bedroom for the rare occasions when the disciples wanted a good rest or to indulge with other activities with the other sex. Besides the bedroom, there was a large area for meditation with a rather large stream in the corner. Van noticed the sparkling effect from the Qi infused in the water. It looked like the Qi in the four rivers outside, but this water was diluted to make it safe for the Disciples to utilize for their daily cultivation. Even absorbing one cup of the stuff from the main rivers would cause the Outer Dantian at the 6th Stage of Dantian Formation to explode from too much Qi. Van was about to sit down and start cultivating when he heard a large boom come from outside. He stepped out to find an arrogant looking youth at the 5th Stage of Dantian Formation and 3 others at the 4th Stage beside a hole in the previously unmarked ground. 26 Showing Off Chapter 25: Showing Off Van calmly watched the 4 young cultivators standing outside his door. A crowd had started to form from other disciples passing by. "It''s young master Feng Lin! Looks like he''s got his 3 lackeys also." "I wonder who had such bad luck that they picked the cave that he had been desiring ever since he heard of the Inner Sect Immortals'' Caves." Young Master Feng Lin is currently an Inner Sect Disciple. His 3 lackeys are outer sect disciples. But from exceptions by his identity, they were allowed to follow him into the Inner Sect Area without special permission. Young Master Feng Lin had just been promoted to his rank as Inner Sect Disciple when he headed over to select his immortal''s cave. He heard from the Registrations Disciple that someone had already picked the immortals cave that he wanted. He didn''t dare fight one of the top Inner Sect Disciples for one of the better already occupied caves so he decided to investigate the owner''s identity. Turns out it was just some fresh fish with no experience that had come in. Feng Lin stared at Van''s immortal''s cave licking his lips. This new disciple will have given him a new immortal''s cave. "I would like to thank you." Feng Lin looked surprised. Was this kid dull or something? Anyone could tell that he and his lackeys didn''t exactly have the best of intentions. "Why? Did we help you in some way?" "Oh, yes. You helped me very much. I was just in need of some exercise." Van smiled calmly. Of course, in the eyes of the 4 outside, Van was looking down on them. Feng Lin and his lackeys started to fume at Van''s words. How dare this new disciple look down on them? The crowd started whispering and backing up. They could tell that tensions were high and a fight could break out at any moment. "Time to teach you a lesson you''ll never forget. If you can survive my lackeys, you can have a taste of my fist." Feng Lin stood there while his three lackeys advanced. They found Van to only be at the 4th Stage of Dantian Formation. Of course, he was at a much higher level, but they didn''t know that. After all, there is the saying, "Ignorance is bliss." And in this case, it was very true. Until they find out for themselves that is. Van stood there calmly as he watched the 3 lackeys at the 4th Stage of Dantian Formation advance on him. I''ll give them the surprise of their lives. Van thought to himself and smiled. "Come on. I''m just one person at the 4th Stage of Dantian Formation. It won''t hurt." Van said to them, mockingly. One of them backed up a bit. What if he was hiding his real cultivation base? Sadly for him, the other two were infuriated and immediately threw themselves at Van. "Hurricane Fist!" "Arcane Totem!" An incarnation of the wind element appeared next to one of the two attacking Van while the other seemed to have created a small tornado on his fist. Van flicked one of his fingers and dispelled both moves instantly. The crowd gasped in shock. Those were all out attacks by two cultivators at the 4th Stage of Dantian Formation! Even a cultivator at the 5th Stage would have to take it seriously, not to mention one at the 4th Stage. Feng Lin started to sweat. He seemed to have offended someone that he shouldn''t have offended. But since he had already started it, he might as well finish it too. Now that Feng Lin reassessed Van, he found Van to be at the 5th Stage of Dantian Formation. Impossible! Feng Lin thought to himself. I swear I found him to be at the 4th Stage just a second ago! Could it be... that Van was at least at the 6th Stage?! Feng Lin smiled wryly. Even with his identity, others could easily beat him and the elders wouldn''t punish those more talented disciples just to satisfy his ego. But if he was seriously harmed or died, they would act immediately. Feng Lin got into a battle stance and let out a deep breath. His eyes started to glow a golden color as he started at Van. "Raging Torrents!" Feng Lin was cultivating a rather high ranked martial technique of the Flowing River Sect. His identity as an Inner Sect Elder''s son allowed him to practice the first volume. Alas, his identity wasn''t enough to allow him to practice the second volume. If he did, he would''ve at least aroused Van''s interest. Once again, the fist was dispersed and Van was still calmly standing there while 4 youths lay on the ground around him. Besides a rather ruffled robe, Van''s condition wasn''t any different than he was before the fight even started. Van''s expression turned fierce as he turned to Feng Lin. "Didn''t you say you would teach me a lesson that I will never forget? How about I teach you a lesson instead." Van started to smile rather maliciously. Feng Lin was horrified. With Van''s strength, he could easily kill Feng Lin. "I.. I''m the son of Feng Yu!" "Who? Never heard of him." Feng Lin''s jaw dropped. Who hadn''t heard of the most brutal elder of the inner sect?! But then again, Van had just joined the Sect. One of the cultivators in the crowd spoke up for Feng Lin. "Feng Yu is the most brutal elder in the Inner Sect! I''ve heard he''s thrown disciples that have deeply offended him into the river!" Some in the crowd shuddered. They had been around long enough to have seen that event. One of the Inner Sect Disciples were arrogant and had decided he would defeat Feng Yu and take his position as an Inner Sect Elder. At the time, Feng Yu was considered the weakest of the Inner Sect Elders. As a result, Feng Yu beat him in a match and threw the disciple in the river. They could still see the disciple shrieking as he melted away in the river water. Van contemplated the matter set before him. The Inner Sect Elders were only at the peak stages of Dantian Formation with the strongest being at the 1st Stage of Inner Discovery. With Van''s strength, he could become a Core Disciple in a few months at the most. Van hadn''t had a fight against someone with a similar cultivation base in a while. Fighting against this Inner Sect Elder would give him more combat experience for the struggles to come. Van gave a hand to Feng Lin and pulled him up, smiling. Feng Lin thought to himself. I''ll tell my father about this! He''ll throw you in the river like that other disciple! When Feng Lin and his lackeys were about to leave, Van threw out a fist for each and knocked them all flat on the ground. The crowd was dumbstruck, did Van not hear what they had just said? Or was he arrogant enough to offend the Inner Sect''s most brutal elder? Van continued to beat Feng Lin and his lackeys. Van ceased his beating after Feng Lin and his lackeys could barely walk anymore. "No one can insult me and vandalize my property without paying for it. Even a son of an Inner Sect Elder." Van pulled out Feng Lin''s spatial ring and wiped away the spiritual mark. Feng Lin coughed out his blood in anger and the injury from wiping away the spiritual mark. Van found the volume of the high ranked martial technique of the Flowing River Sect. It was called, "Calm Torrents". It was a rather strange name, but the technique itself was top notch. Van kept it for Ye Shui. As one of his first followers, he had to give them resources to help him get stronger. The crowd started to look at Van as if they had just seen a dead man. This new Inner Sect Disciple dared to offend an Inner Sect Elder and not just any Inner Sect Elder, but the 2nd strongest one too. Feng Yu was at the 9th Stage of Dantian Formation and could defeat those at the 10th Stage. He was considered a genius back in his day. Van picked up the four cultivators and threw them at the crowd. He then fixed the fence and walked back into his immortal''s cave. 27 The Missions Division Chapter 26: The Missions Division Van felt rather satisfied with his performance. With this show of power, he would rise to power and display his incredible talent, shaming all of the so-called geniuses of the Flowing River Sect. They were all just frogs in the well. The road of cultivation was infinite and there was always someone stronger than you. Van was extremely smart for his age. Many arrogant cultivators at the Saint level still hadn''t contemplated this thought despite their thousands of years of cultivation. "Besides talent and cultivation, I need more combat experience to fight against that Inner Sect Elder I just offended. I should probably find somewhere to cultivate, preferably with a lot of beasts. But where to go." Van decided to go outside and check the Missions Division for any beast related missions. Van strolled along the nicely paved roads of the Flowing River Sect. Being a sect for Immortal Cultivators, the streets were always strangely clean despite the fact that Van hadn''t seen any cleaners so far. The Flowing River Sect was divided into four sub-sects. This was decreed by the founding patriarch to encourage healthy competition among the disciples of the sect. He thought it would weed out the best from within the ranks of the masses. Alas, corruption and abuse of one''s identity led to some with monstrous talents to be never discovered. If the founding patriarch could see the Flowing River Sect as it was today, his tears would have formed the fifth river of the flowing river sect. On the four rivers, are four main river cities. They float directly above their respective rivers. The names of the four rivers are as so: Torrential Flow River, Jade Tranquility River, Heavenly Might River, and the Yellow River. Van was currently part of the sub-sect the ran the Jade Tranquility River. The Torrential Flow River contained those who pursued the aggressive arts of war. Those who would be great fighters and strategists, but not the best of leaders. The Jade Tranquility River contained those that mostly pursued the long and winding path of cultivation, detached from and high above the world. Through meditation and tranquility, they would cultivate to the heavens. The Heavenly Might River contained those that wanted to be great leaders. They were trained in the arts of leadership. The Yellow River contained those that followed the more "evil" arts. They would refine souls and create Soul Beasts. Soul Beasts were important companions that followed the cultivators until their dispersion or second death. They were formed through mysterious ways, but the main ingredient was the soul of their enemies. All of these sub-sects focused on cultivation even the Torrential Flow River. They all had their pros and cons and their exceptions. The Torrential Flow Rivers had those that aimed to be great leaders so they would take advantage of the muscle heads and lead them. The Jade Tranquility River had those that indulged in the pleasantries of the mortal world. The Heavenly Might River had those that were followers. The Yellow River had those few virtuous cultivators that wanted to temper themselves among an "evil" environment. Van considered which sub-sect he would devote himself to. Each had their own benefits and their own downsides to joining. Van immediately crossed out the Torrential Flow River floating city. He was not one to take orders; he wanted to be the one in charge. The Jade Tranquility River didn''t exactly match his temperament. He wanted to come back to the Lower Reaches and show them his power and might. The Yellow River didn''t fit him because he would consider himself rather innocent. He hadn''t exactly killed anyone before now so he wouldn''t be confident that it would fit him. "I guess I''ll stick with the reputable Heavenly Might River." Van nodded to himself, thinking that he made the appropriate decision. He didn''t know that there was a fifth option. Excluded to handpicked talented disciples by the patriarch, there was a hidden sub-sect. Its name was the Mighty Flood Dragon Sect. All the top disciples of the ordinary sub-sects know of its existence. Besides the aim of joining the Legacy Division of the Main Sect or the Protectorate division, the disciples aimed to join the Mighty Flood Dragon Sect. The Mighty Flood Dragon Sect exists inside of the body of a Flood Dragon. Strangely enough, a small world existed inside of the corpse and was discovered by the second patriarch. That''s when he decided to create this elite sub-sect. Back to the situation at hand, Van finally made it to the Missions Division Building. It was a large pagoda with 5 floors. The first floor is the floor with all the easy missions. The Missions were divided into 5 ranks: Wood, Bronze, Iron, Gold, and Platinum. There is also a rumored Black Jade rank, but no one had been seen getting such a specially designated mission. Inner Disciples were automatically given a Bronze Ranking. Outer Disciples had a wood ranking and Core Disciples had an Iron ranking. One could take the Missions Division test or accept and pass 100 ordinary missions, 10 peak rank missions of the same rank, or an ordinary mission of the next rank. Van walked up to the second floor where all the Bronze ranked missions were. There were about 40 inner disciples and Bronze ranked outer disciples inspecting the mission board. Van also started to inspect the mission board. Most of the missions were for herb picking. There were a few missions about investigations and possible danger, but Van didn''t have the necessary combat experience and wasn''t confident that he could come out unscratched. There were a few beast hunting missions, but they were for those at the 3rd Stage of Dantian Formation and below. "I guess I''ll have to take a trip upstairs." Van walked up to one of the bored Missions Division disciples. "How may I help you?" The Missions Division disciple was currently submerged in a pile of papers. He had procrastinated recently and had to fill out and submit the paperwork for all of the missions that he had registered recently. When he peeked his head out, he noticed the Inner Disciple robes. He was rather surprised. Most of the Inner Disciples had advanced to the Iron Rank or beyond. "How may I help you?" The Missions Division disciple put on a respectful smile and cleared his desk of all the paperwork. He was only an Outer Sect disciple and despite the fact that he had never seen this specific Inner Sect Disciple, the sect was full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers. Van''s eyes sparkled with approval. He liked this Outer Sect Disciple''s temperament. He would try to remember his name. "What''s your name?" The Missions Division disciple was pleasantly surprised. He had never been asked that by any of the Inner Sect Disciples. They usually acted arrogantly and disdained him. "My name is Peter Pham." Peter respectfully gave his name to Van. He had a good impression of this specific Inner Sect Disciple. "Peter, could you guide me to where to take the Promotion Test to Iron?" Peter wasn''t surprised. Most Inner Sect Disciples contacted disciples like him only for the promotion test. "Yes. Follow me if you would." Peter guided Van through a few hallways and doors and arrived before and reception desk. Peter told Van to talk to the receptionist and headed back to his station. "I wish you good luck!" Peter said as he walked away. 28 Illusory Nine-fold Palace Chapter 27: Illusory Nine-fold Palace Van walked towards the reception desk and asked the female attendant about the Promotions test. "You must have been brought here by Peter! Please insert your Qi here sir." The female attendant handed Van a sheet of paper with writing on it. Van quickly skimmed the text. It was a waiver that exempted the Missions Division from any responsibility for any severe injuries incurred from the test. They would still try to treat the injuries to the best of their ability of course. After reading it a few more times to ensure that there weren''t any faults with the contract, Van inserted his Qi into a spiritual mark at the bottom. The spiritual mark glowed for a second before turning back into normal. Van handed the paper back to the female attendant. She checked the Qi and compared it to the records before nodding. She smiled resplendently and placed down the paper before leading Van towards a door. After she left, the spiritual mark turned into a symbol of a crown emitting a domineering aura. The aura shocked many attendants before withdrawing itself and the mark turning back to normal. "Did you feel that aura?" The small fragment of the bloodline power in Van''s Qi had surprisingly caused the oppressive and domineering aura to leak out past the magical formations to the start of the testing area. About 6 others were there with Van, hoping for a promotion to the Iron rank. Everyone besides Van shuddered when the aura touched upon them. The closest ones to the door felt it very hard to breathe and fell to their knees. Van could feel the domineering aura, but it seemed to have ignored him. "I wonder which powerful expert decided to release their aura this time." The other participants smiled wryly. A few arrogant cultivators would show off their power every so often by releasing a fragment of their aura. Van was rather oblivious to everything for the aura hadn''t affected him much. I wonder why they were so worked up over that aura? Was it really that domineering? Van thought to himself. A few moments later, everything finally settled down. That was when a buff male cultivator walked in. He was on the rather older side of middle-aged and had a rather nice tan. His hair was combed and he looked like he had been preparing for a very important event. He was clearly trying to impress a girl or some girls. Van felt rather sick. Most of the girls here had more than a 30-year difference between the man and he was still interested in them. Despite the fact that cultivation would extend one''s life span. Those at the Stages of Dantian Formation would only live for up to 150 years. Those at the stages of Inner Discovery would live up to 300 years. Kings would live up to 1000 years. Emperors were rumored to live for tens of thousands and Saints were rumored to live for hundreds of thousands. Van had heard there might be a stage above Saint that allowed one to live forever as long as they weren''t killed by another cultivator. A light of excitement could be seen in Van''s eyes. He couldn''t wait to reach the peak of cultivation and show everyone his power. He would be able to create a safe place for all of his friends and family to live. They wouldn''t have to put their lives at risk daily. Instead, they would just rely on Van''s cultivation and influence to live their lives to the fullest. Van snapped out of his daydream and snapped to attention. He was not going to critique the examiner''s choice of uniform. That would just be seeking to fail. "Welcome to the Missions Division''s Promotion Test. Depending on the score you receive, you will acquire the corresponding rank. I am not your examiner. I am just announcing the rules for the test." "Where is our examiner then?" An insufferably arrogant voice cried out from a participant. The participant turned out to be a pretty young lady in a blue gown. She was extremely stunning and drew the eyes of all the participants in the room, male and female alike. The announcer''s expression turned from one of anger to one of respect. "I didn''t know that you were participating today." The young lady ignored what the announcer said and stood there, head high, waiting for an answer. "Your examiner shall be Inner Sect Elder Feng Hua." A voluptuous woman and two maids emerged from seemingly nowhere and stood behind the announcer. Van was used to his aunt''s presence so he awoke out of a stupor rather quickly. The others took a little longer. The female participants were extremely jealous of the woman''s body and were trying best to keep their feelings at bay. They could notice the stares of all the male cultivators. Van felt a little guilty. He thought that the announcer was trying to attract the young female participants. Instead, the announcer was obviously trying to attract the very appealing mature woman in front of him. "Auntie, what a pleasant surprise." The arrogant young woman had on a calm mask. "My dearest niece, I didn''t know that you had stooped so low. The Feng clan would be ashamed of you. Who knows what your mother would say." The atmosphere was so thick that Van could have cut it with a knife. The announcer stood in between the two women and tried to diffuse the situation. "It''s the Missions Division''s Promotion test right now. I think we can solve this problem afterward over a nice cup of tea." "As the mature elder and the examiner of this Promotion test, I don''t have time to squabble with such an immature child." The Inner Sect Elder walked off with her two maids and the announcer in tow. The arrogant young woman was fuming but calmed herself down. The Qi started to fluctuate, causing all the participants to panic. "What''s going on?!" "We''re all going to die!" Some were rather fearful. One of the participants started to cry in the corner and call for their mother. Was another sect invading? What could cause this sudden fluctuation. A mental transmission was sent to the minds of all the participants. "Calm down. It''s just the teleportation formation activating." They all breathed out a sigh of relief. A cultivator crying in the corner stood up and wiped away his tears, pretending that nothing had happened. Everyone looked at him disappointed. "Good luck examinees!" All of the cultivators vanished out of thin air. The only traces of them being a few dead skin cells that were shed during the few moments that they had stayed in the room. The participants all appeared in a large circular room. There were many doors that lead to many different rooms. One room contained a seemingly tranquil pond while another contained one that seemed to have a war occurring between two mortal armies. "So what are the rules?" Everyone had just realized that the argument had left them all clueless to what was supposed to happen. One of the participants was just about to say that there probably weren''t any when another mental transmission was sent to all of the participants. "Welcome to the Flowing River Sect Missions Division''s Illusory Nine-fold Palace. As it is an illusion, if you die in here, you will not die in real life. Each of you will pick a door, the farther you go the more points you will obtain. Fighting the dangers in each room and finding treasures will give you more points. If you find a treasure, you may keep it. You may not interfere with others'' rooms. There are enough doors for all of you. Watch out for the disguised treasures and good luck!" The brains of all the participants besides were ringing with the words that the voluptuous elder had just said. Their cultivation couldn''t handle the pressure from rather long mental transmission. Besides, the elder didn''t have much control and was purposefully getting some petty revenge on her niece. While everyone else was rolling on the floor clutching their heads in pain, Van stood there calmly, watching all of the doors. He was looking for the one that would train him the best. "What an interesting kid." The examiner and her two maids were currently in a nice room filled with extremely luxurious furniture, even for cultivators. The announcer was flattering the examiner and looking at her with lovestruck eyes. The examiner, of course, had no eyes for the announcer and was currently inspecting the Illusory Nine-fold Palace. She was currently watching Van inspect the doorway while his fellow participants rolled about on the ground. She made the mental transmission aggressive so that she would have a good laugh, watching her niece roll around in pain, but found something that was more interesting instead. "As a nice present, I''ll increase the difficulty on the doorway he chooses. He seems like a diligent cultivator." The announcer took the moment to strike. "Your eminence is very wise." The announcer''s eyes were filled with adoration for the Elder and her beauty. Van sat down and meditated, trying to clear his mind. 29 Commence the Trials Chapter 28: Commence the Trials While Van was busy analyzing the passages, the participants of the trial finally recovered from the aggressive mental transmission from the examiner. The arrogant young lady was fuming. Her aunt dared to treat her like that! She was an important member of her clan''s younger generation. Everyone started to analyze all of the possible paths. With every path one could expect a danger, some were obvious while others were hidden. Someone spotted a path with a tranquil pond and dove for it. Being at the 5th Stage of Dantian Formation and having an agility Martial Skill, he easily got onto the path. Others looked at him, their anger rising to new heights. That one path seemed to be the only tranquil one, the other ones were filled with beasts and natural disasters. "Haha! I got the best one." The others watched from behind a transparent Qi barrier that had appeared in the door frame when the cultivator had passed. A few minutes later, a beast similar to a Kraken emerged from the water and started to attack the cultivator. It had strength similar to that of a cultivator at the 6th Stage of Dantian Formation. The cultivator at the 5th Stage of Dantian Formation paled at the sight of such a large monster. Its body size alone had made him forget about trying to find any way to advance. Instead, he ran back and banged on the transparent Qi barrier. "Help me! Please, guys! We''re friends right?!" He looked at the faces of his associates, a hopeful expression on his face. How shameless! They thought as their faces scrunched up. The cultivators had thought he had found the safest route and immediately abandoned his friends. Now that he was in trouble, he turned back to them for help. The participants that had been pressing their faces to the Qi barrier previously, were now backing up as far as they could from the barrier. They watched as a tentacle wrapped around the cultivator''s leg and dragged down under the water. Luckily, it was an illusion or the cultivator could''ve actually died or gotten seriously injured. The participants smiled wryly before sitting down to carefully inspect each passageway. Van felt enlightened. If he picked the right passageway, it would improve his affinity with the associated element and temper his body. He would also gain combat experience from fighting from a beast, despite it being a simulated one. Van decided to ask Yu Lin for advice on this one. Despite Yu Lin''s arrogance and rather annoying attitude, he was still a High Diety and would be able to determine his affinity and which path he should pick. Some of the paths contained the extremes of more than two elements. There was one with a mighty mountain range that contained two giant stone golems while a thunderstorm raged above. Van hoped he might get an affinity with one of the more powerful elements, like Fire or Lightning. Van''s eyes started shining as he thought of the possibilities. He might even be one of those rare dual affinities or the legendary triple affinities. "Yu Lin, would you help me out with this?" The orb had entered his Outer Dantian and started to glow. "Eh? This is pretty interesting. Despite it being an illusion, it would benefit your affinities. If the examiner is nice enough, she could add a realistic element allowing you to temper your body at the same time." Van''s spirits dimmed down a bit, there was almost no chance that the examiner would give him such a good chance. He barely knew her and was just another Inner Sect Disciple among many others. Van still felt determined to pick the best path. It wasn''t every day that he got a chance to improve himself without risk of major injury or death. Or at least, that''s what he thought. "You should pick that one." Yu Lin sent a mental transmission of a picture of one of the passageways. It was the one with a desert and lightning above it. Van could also see a few rogue tornadoes in the distance. "Do I have a triple affinity?!" Van was shocked. He thought that his hopes were only false hopes that could never be realized, but it turned out that they were coming true right before his eyes. "Don''t you trust me? I''m a High Diety! Even though I am currently suppressed in this orb, no one on this current world could compare to my analytical skills." Yu Lin proudly declared. Van nodded silently. What Yu Lin had said made sense. With Yu Lin''s cultivation level, he would have capabilities beyond the imaginations of anyone in this world or any other like it. Van will have the greatest surprise of his life. Yu Lin thought to himself. The biome actually contained5 elements. Yu Lin was shocked himself when he checked. Out of all the passageways, there was only one with 5 elements and 3 with 4 elements. Yu Lin hadn''t actually checked Van''s body yet but decided to check it anyways. Yu Lin''s eyebrows started to twitch. After a while, his apparition left Van''s Outer Dantian and re-entered the orb. Van could hear sobs coming from the orb. "Yu Lin? Are you okay?" Van formed a hand out of Qi inside of his Outer Dantian and knocked on the orb. "Don''t bother with me. I just realized how cruel the heavens are. Go enjoy the rare chance that I havegiven you." Van looked inside of the orb to see a faint silhouette of a dragon in the corner of the little world. It would be a scene that he would never forget. Maybe he would use this as blackmail in the future. Van kept that picture firmly in his memory. If he ever got a chance to paint it, he would be able to use it as solid blackmail against Yu Lin. He needed those martial techniques, and the only way to guarantee it was to have some blackmail material to keep the arrogant Yu Lin in line. An evil grin appeared on Van''s face before quickly being replaced by a tranquil expression. Van headed towards the passageway Yu Lin had told him would fit him the best and braced himself for the difficulties ahead. 30 Favored by the Heavens Chapter 29: Favored by the Heavens When Van entered the passageway, the door closed behind him. Van was rather surprised. For all of the other ones, there would only be a Qi barrier in the way, allowing the others to spectate the challenger from a distance. I mean Yu Lin is a Great Golden Dragon. What did I expect? Van thought to himself as he walked along. He hadn''t reached the lands where the elements were extreme yet. At the moment, he felt tingly from the electricity. The heat didn''t affect him too much because of the rather comfortable breeze. As he proceeded onwards, the conditions became not as favorable. Lightning would strike places near him causing him to jump back in fright. Magma would flow up onto the surface of the Earth through cracks in the ground, burning Van''s feet. Sometimes, a few stray wind blades would pass by giving Van a cut or two. Despite all the struggles, Van was benefiting quite well from the harsh conditions. His body became a lot more durable than before and his cultivation was solidifying extremely quick. He had been focusing too much on his cultivation, causing his body and foundations to lag behind. Now that he had no time to cultivate, his body and cultivation had finally caught up. Van suddenly stopped and his mouth became slightly agape. He could see another biome ahead. It was a combination of two other elements. The biome was rather strange with a heavenly light coming from above in the sky while there was demon like creatures dwelling in a wasteland on the ground. He had never seen such a horrifying yet beautiful sight ever in his life. Van calmed himself down and confidently advanced. Besides, he had Yu Lin to protect himself and one couldn''t improve without a few dangerous situations. Van could feel the strong death Qi coming from the wastelands. At first, the undead near him were just wandering around aimlessly, but they charged when he got within a few meters. Van pulled out his treasured Saber and threw out slashes imbued with Qi. Recently he had been practicing his Void Fist and hadn''t been paying too much attention to his weapon skills. Despite that fact, his raw strength itself was sufficient for eliminating the undead. These trials were designed for those around the 6th Stage of Dantian Formation so it was rather simple for Van to pass. The examiner sat in her room and had a thoughtful expression on her face, she was at the 9th Stage of Dantian Formation and had the authority equal to an Inner Sect Elder. She had increased the difficulty of the passageway that Van was occupying but he was still treating it as a stroll through the park. Her eyes started to glisten. Van was most likely hiding his cultivation from her. Either he was extremely skilled in hiding his aura or he had a higher cultivation than her. She assumed he first for the possibility of the second scared her. Such a genius would be extremely horrifying. She could tell from his bone age that he was only 13 years of age. Even cultivating from birth wouldn''t allow normal geniuses of the Middle Continent to cultivate to such a high level. From the Sect records, she found out that he came from the Lower Reaches of the Continent, making this even more shocking. "This is going to be interesting. I''ve underestimated the abilities of this youth. With his talent, he''ll go to many places. I''ll give him some more benefits. Time to crank up the difficulty." The examiner was rather confident in Van''s abilities so she turned the passageway''s difficulty onto the max settings. "Are you sure that he can handle that?" The announcer started sweating nervously. If any of the examinees were killed, he would be the one thrown under the bus. No one of the Disciplinary Division would dare accuse the examiner of the crimes, her status in the Sect was too great to offend her. Of course, they didn''t know that the Old Patriarch was supporting Van and his talent. If he got seriously injured, they would get the surprise of their lives. Meanwhile, Van was currently destroying the undead like no tomorrow. He had obtained enlightenment of death energies by destroying the undead. From the dead bodies, he also obtained crystals filled with death qi. It wasn''t high-quality death qi but was very beneficial for Van who had a very basic understanding of death qi through the death of the majority of his family. "Hm?!" The undead had started to become a lot fiercer and Van could tell that their bodies seemed to become 10 times harder. Van was starting to panic. At the rate that the undead were improving, he wouldn''t be able to handle the horde. He felt a searing pain on his arm. An undead had cut his arm with its sharp fingernails. Van started to run through the undead where the horde was the thinnest. He kept cutting them down left and right, but the howls of the undead drew others nearby causing the horde to swell in size. After two hours of constant life or death situations, Van had a body full of scars and had a very adequate understanding of death qi. He would unconsciously emit an aura full of death at times, causing the weaker undead to ignore him, thinking that he was one of them. Of course, some of the smarter ones decided to follow the horde anyway, causing many more difficulties for Van. Since the realism and difficulty had been increased to the max level, Van had gained a lot of combat experience and was now a hardened killer. Despite these being undead, he had gotten used to carcasses and was now immune to the horrors of killing. Van spotted something shining ahead. Van''s eyes filled with hope. Finally, a path to salvation! Van thought to himself as he ran towards the mysterious place that was emitting such a bright light. As he got closer, he realized that it seemed to be a formation of some kind that emitted a Celestial Qi. Van''s eyes shone with excitement. He could take advantage of this to learn celestial qi! Since this formation has celestial qi and that if I rose into the sky past a certain point I would be in a world filled with celestial qi, wouldn''t that mean that the formation and the sky are connected? Van was rather confident that the formation would connect him to someplace in the sky that would allow him to escape this living hell that he had been experiencing for two hours straight. His saber skills had also become very well tuned. In fact, he obtained the most rudimentary form of saber intent. He could make a saber intent that fit the length of his current blade and would advance for about a meter before disappearing. But in his current situation, the saber intent wasn''t exactly useful. Saber intent strained him mentally. If he was in optimal condition, he would''ve been able to use it hundreds of times and instantly wipe out the horde. But he had wasted most of his mental facilities before comprehending saber intent. If he emitted more than 3 Saber Intents, he would collapse from the slight mental strain. He had been consuming pills practically non-stop and their effects were extremely low for Van, so that wasn''t a possible solution. His only path to salvation was the possible portal that lay straight ahead. Van took a deep breath and advanced forward at a brisk yet steady pace. He kept a distance of about 3 meters between the horde and him, making it not too close that he would get hurt, but not too far that he wouldn''t be too strained. After another 10 minutes of running, he had made it to the formation that emitted a majestic celestial qi. At the 1 meter mark, Van threw himself at the formation and dove inside. With so much celestial qi, the undead would be deterred from following him. His assumption, luckily, was correct. The undead hissed and screeched at him, but wouldn''t advance a step further. Van laid on the ground watching his previous torturers'' angry faces only about a meter away. Van started to laugh maniacally. He had done it! He escaped the living hell. After about another 10 minutes of laughing, Van finally recovered his mental facilities and started to cultivate. He realized that his foundation was extremely stabilized as before he took Yu Lin''s pill and that he was now at the peak of the 10th Stage of Dantian Formation. Van exclaimed gleefully. Those excruciating 2 and an (about) half hours were actually worth it. He had understood cultivation a lot more. He realized that only through a lot of life or death situations and with a lot of luck would one be able to advance quickly on the path of cultivation. One also needed to have an immovable determination that would be able to move the heavens to be able to reach the top. He would become the strongest cultivator and rule the heavens. He would be the dragon that breaks the void. Of course, he first had to get out of this promotion test. Now, where''s the on switch for this formation? 31 The Celestial Heavens Chapter 30: The Celestial Heavens Van started to carefully inspect every crook and cranny of the strange formation emitting Celestial Qi. It was extremely complex and wasn''t anything like the formations he had read about in his past times when he was younger. Van continued to stare at the strange patterns while recovering his Qi and physical health back to optimal condition. The undead stood outside the range of the celestial formation and continued to hiss, not daring to take one step forward. Many hours passed as he contemplated the formation. He had surprisingly received a lot of enlightenment from this formation. His special body allowed him to comprehend anything a lot faster than others. Coupled with his previous knowledge of formations, Van gained a new understanding of the application of formations. "So it could be used this way!" "Ah! This Qi strand feeds into this smaller inscription that gathers more Qi! It acts like the nervous system! You need some energy to get more energy!" "I wonder what this does. I can sense a lot of Space Qi. Maybe this is the inscription that initiates the teleportation process?" Van was starting to understand more of the mysteries of this world. The ancient formations were self-sustainable and could last for a lot longer than modern formations. Modern formations were rather self-sustainable too, but they weren''t exactly durable and would usually fall apart within a thousand years. Van sighed. If only he had been more attentive when listening to his lessons on formations. Since he was the royal failure, his father had exposed him to many fields of study including formation making. At the time, he wasn''t too interested in it and was more focused on Martial Arts, despite his constant failure to break through to the next stage. Well, it was too late for regrets. Holding those negative thoughts would just be putting an obstacle on his cultivation path. He engraved every part of the simulated ancient formation into his mind. He would study it later when he left the promotion test and improved his knowledge of formations. Maybe, I''ll be a formations master! Van thought to himself. Being a formations master would give him incredible status in the Sect, allowing him to rise in power faster. Van jumped up and down in glee before quickly calming himself down. He first needed to focus on the situation at hand. He turned towards the undead and dashed forward into the middle. He unsheathed his saber and threw out so many saber intents, that it formed a cocoon-like shape around him. A split second later, it dispersed into the horde, killing more than half. The undead, being undead, continued to amass and advance towards him. Van calmly looked at the hundreds of remaining undead before him. He looked like one of the heroes out of the legends. The examiner was sitting in a comfy chair, a rather panicked expression on her face. She had lost connection to Van''s passageway. A strange force seemed to be blocking her from spectating Van. She was currently trying to contact her higher-ups, but was replied with an "everything is alright". She trusted her higher-ups but was rather concerned for the safety of Van. Van was a rather talented cultivator and could go to new heights, befriending him wouldn''t be a bad idea. Van walked back to the Celestial Formation, a time path of corpses in his wake. He found the initiation inscription and took a deep breath. Was the risk worth it? Was the small chance of fortune worth risking his life for? These questions and those similar was what was running through Van''s mind. He shrugged to himself. Might as well try, there''s no reward without any risk. He inserted a few spirit stones in a circle into the Formation, triggering a large fluctuation of Celestial Qi. Undead from all around the illusion world howled in terror. Van stood in the middle of the Formation as blinding light rose up and enveloped him, transporting him to someplace far away. After Van vanished, the illusory world disappeared, leaving a shocked announcer. The examiner had told him to keep an eye on Van personally. He was enthusiastic to do her will and was trying to curry favor with her. What he didn''t expect was a real Celestial Teleportation Formation to be in the middle of the illusory world. Such formations were impossible for them to make, only those powerful from the Medium ranked Continents would be able to make such monstrosities. They were only in the Middle Section of an Unranked Continent, making this the sight of a lifetime for even the most powerful cultivator on the continent, not to mention an Outer Sect elder of the Flowing River Sect. Van found that his sight was currently extremely bleached. He shook his head and blinked a few times. His colorblindness finally left him. He looked around to find himself in what many would expect of heaven. The place itself radiated a sense of holiness. Van could feel Celestial, Holy, Radiant, Light, and some Gold Qi. There was a bustling city that lay in front of him. Winged peoples, normal humans, and Fae lived together in harmony. At least, that''s what lay on the outside. The city wasn''t on the clouds but the fields of golden wheat were quite the sight to behold. Unbeknownst to Van, this heaven was only on the outside, corrupt officials ruled the cities with the Sects being the real power behind the scenes. Van headed towards the gate where four radiant winged guards inspected the visitors. The guards were at the King Stage, shocking Van to the core. Those experts would be regarded as mighty conquerors on his continent but were only mere guards here. Van shuddered to think of who the most powerful expert was. When he got to the gate, flashing red numbers appeared in his vision, shocking him. The guards looked at him, a bit concerned, this youth at the 10th Stage of Dantian Formation was acting a bit abnormally. 10:00:00:00 was what had appeared in his vision. He guessed it to be about 10 days. What''s this for? Van thought to himself. In response, a few words replaced the number. YOU HAVE 10 DAYS UNTIL YOU ARE RETURNED TO YOUR PREVIOUS POSITION. ENJOY YOUR STAY IN THE CELESTIAL HEAVENS! 32 Paradise: 10 Day Trial Edition! Chapter 31: Paradise: 10 Day Trial Edition! Van willed the display away and turned his attention to the two imposing guards in front of him. They were looking at him with strange expressions. Van started to smile wryly, he could guess what they were thinking of him at the moment. "I apologize for that, Fellow Daoists! I just had a surprise mental transmission." The guards nodded slowly. Surprise mental transmissions were a rather valid excuse, the kid didn''t seem mentally impaired. The guards looked middle-aged but were actually about 70. Their high cultivation bases allowed them to stretch their youth for longer. "Please state your name and your reason for stay." "Van Nguyen. Reason for stay... I was teleported here through some strange ancient formation during a promotions test." The guards were shocked. They had heard that if anyone came through a certain ancient transmissions formation and had a certain spiritual imprint on them, that they were to be treated honorably for the 10 days that they stayed. The city lord of the Celestial Heavens City had owed a favor to one of the majestic cultivators that lived in the Red Rock Continent and decided to pay it back with the ancient formation, giving an opportunity for any of the cultivator''s disciples to have an opportunity to improve themselves in a Celestial Paradise. The guards scanned Van with his divine sense, and unsurprisingly, found a spiritual imprint. "Honored Guest, please follow me." The senior guard took the initiative to escort Van through the city. Van was in awe of the size and majesty of the city. Celestial Heavens City was about 20 times larger than Mulberry City and was extremely flashy. The road was made out of Spiritual Jade and every house was made out of valuable Spirit Materials. "How much is it for a house in the city?!" Van asked the guard, very interested. The guard had a strange look on his face. This kid at the 10th Stage of Dantian Formation wanted to live here? Even King ranked cultivators could barely live in the apartments here. The guard politely replied to Van''s inquiry despite the obvious absurdity of the question. "It would cost anywhere around 100 million low-grade spirit stones for private housing." Van''s heart lurched when he heard the cost. He was already rather poor in his cultivator world. But in this Celestial city, he wouldn''t even qualify to become a homeless person. Van smiled wryly as he thought of how long it would take for him to amass such wealth. But he didn''t let himself become discouraged for too long and continued following the guard through the streets of paradise. Van saw street vendors with trinkets strewn across their tablecloths. Golden carriages drove back and forth through the city. It seemed like a normal city besides the fact that everyone was much stronger and wealthier than the elites of the cities on the Red Rock Continent. The scene didn''t disappoint Van''s expectations. In fact, they had surprised his wildest dreams. He would never have dreamed he would come to a city where even Saint ranked experts were only uncommon. Van''s eyes started to shine. If he could find a strong master from this city, no one would dare offend him back in the Red Rock Continent! Van could already see the faces of his aunt and grandfather beaming with pride when he came back. He could get his master to save his grandfather! Van let out a toothy grin before waking up from his fantasies. He continued to follow the Senior Guard throughout the streets. Before long, they made it in front of a massive palace. The palace was very beautiful and massive jade statues depicting roaring lions and majestic kings of old towered over the viewers. Van''s mouth was agape. He was just in awe of everything around him. This world was so much more extraordinary than he was used to. A year and a half ago, he was just a cultivator at the 2nd Stage of Body Fortification. Now, he was in the palace of what seemed to be for the gods. The senior guard waited for Van to take in his surroundings before continuing to guide Van through the winding hallways. The massive size of the palace made it very time-consuming to walk through the palace. But as Van wasn''t at the Saint Stage, he wasn''t allowed to fly above the palace for any reason. The senior guard walked up to the gates and inserted a jade medallion into a slot before stepping back. A few moments later, the massive gates opened and the guard escorted Van through the hallway. This hallway was made out of materials that were a lot more valuable. Van could tell from the abundant amount of Qi in the hallway. It was almost 10 times stronger than the Qi outside. He could also sense a small hint of Divine Power from one of the marks on the wall. Further down the hallway, he found another source of Divine Power. This time it was coming from behind another set of large decorative doors. Van''s escort announced their arrival. "The honored guest from far away has arrived! Senior Guard Hao Li greets the God ranked expert!" Van started tensing up. The city lord was a God ranked expert?! Van had heard of demi-god ranked experts, there was one ruling over the Red Rock Continent. But, he had never heard of God ranked experts. He knew that the path of cultivation was infinitely vast, but he didn''t know how vast it was until now. He had become enlightened. He sat cross-legged on the ground and meditated upon the path. The Senior Guard was surprised, he was about to wake Van up. When an old man appeared behind the guard and stopped him. The Senior Guard was surprised. He immediately went on one knee and bowed his head while cupping his hands. "City Lord! Senior Guard Hao Li greets the city lord!" The old man had an amused expression on his face. This kid was so dedicated to cultivation that he decided to comprehend it while in the face of a god ranked expert. This kid will have a bright future in cultivation. The old man thought to himself. Might as well do him a favor or two to guide his way. The old man left a few strange marks that emitted a sense of boundlessness and profoundness. He also sent Van a mental transmission with a few profound words to guide Van''s thoughts. 33 The Path Chapter 32: The Path Van was in his own world at the moment. He was walking on what seemed to be extremely clear water. The surface would ripple with every step that he took. The space inside his mind was extremely vast. He could see stars and what seemed to be distant galaxies off in the distance of his soul. Flames of differing colors surrounded him: Red, Blue, Green, Brown, etc. All the elemental flames were there. Van was shocked. Is this what my affinities are? I wonder what the vast expanse here represents then. Van considered this thought as he observed the rather odd world around him. Is this my consciousness? Or maybe my Inner Dantian? But how did I get access to it so quickly? Van continued to explore the new world that he seemed to have been transported to. The last thing that he remembered was going to the Celestial Heavens City''s Palace with the senior guard to meet with the City Lord before blacking out. Strangely enough, the stars started to become brighter after Van emerged from his thoughts. Am I seeing things? Or is the world I''m currently in actually getting brighter? For a few moments, everything became extremely bright and Van lost his vision for slightly more than a few moments. When his vision came back, Van could feel his connection with this world become stronger. In fact, he could see a small transparent strand leading to one of the stars in the starry sky. He could see a slight outline of some transparent letters. It took him some squinting before he could barely make out what it said. The letters read: "Whenever one loses sight of their path, they must look to the stars." Van suddenly felt a rush of energy come through him. He had the sudden urge to look out at a particular star and reach out towards it. This particular star wasn''t too abnormal. It was a small red colored star. There were many of them in Van''s space. One of its strange features was its distance from Van''s current distance. It was one of the furthest stars from Van and was strangely bright. Van reached out his hand and grasped the transparent strand connecting him to the star. His body tensed. He could feel a strange rush of power flowing through his body. Van hadn''t realized it yet, but at that moment, he had broken through to the Initial Stages of Inner Discovery. Another strange verse flowed through his thoughts, they had an ancientness to it that the previous verse did not have. There was a domineering aura that came from being in a state of stable power. "The Celestials of Old have fallen. It is time for New Blood to take up the mantle of the Old." Without Van''s notice, the Ancient Crown in his Dantian had stirred and was the source of this verse. It quickly calmed down, but not before sending a strand of a strange red ancient Qi that flowed through Van''s body. Van could feel his body strengthening. His muscles grew at a noticeable rate. Before, he would be considered a scholarly youth. Now, he looked like one of those muscleheads that focused on building their muscles for grabbing female attention. Van started to smile wryly to himself. He would have to consolidate his foundation and body. Having a ridiculously muscled body wasn''t exactly Van''s idea of a perfect body. Van continued to strengthen his connection with the star. He started to inspect the star and contemplate the intricacies of the mysteries of the Universe. By doing this, he had unknowingly grasped understanding in the Great Dao. Despite it being an extremely minuscule portion, it was still a great accomplishment especially for Van who was only at the 1st Stage of Inner Discovery. Many of those that were in the Saint stage hadn''t even accomplished such feat. Van was, of course, oblivious to all these miraculous accomplishments that he had made. He kept contemplating the Great Dao, making breakthroughs in the Laws. In the future, he would be able to jump even more substages. This means that he would be able to fight those at a much higher substage than him and maybe even a full realm. The Heavens are infinite. There is a balance to everything. Dust forms Stars, but eventually, the Stars will also return to dust. It is like the cycle of reincarnation, everything eventually returns to its beginnings. Soothing mantras and verses flowed through Van''s head. Many of them, Van had never heard before. But a strange outside source continued to help Van on his journey through the harsh world of cultivation. The previously practically invisible strand was now visible. One could see that it wasn''t made of ordinary material. It refracted a silvery light. If Yu Lin wasn''t in his orb, he would''ve recognized it as being made out of Grandmist Energy. The primal energy that birthed everything. It is the energy from the beginning of the Universe. The Mist that envelops the Universe and all its creatures. There is also Chaotic Destruction energy. The reverse of Grandmist energy. Like Yin and Yang, the two intertwine and are interrelated. There cannot be one without the other. During this opportunity, Van had really stretched it out to the maximum. He had gained enlightenment of the Great Dao, albeit a negligible portion and he had gained enlightenment of Grandmist and Chaotic Destruction energies. Without this chance encounter, it would''ve been nearly impossible for Van to have grasped it before he reached the God stage not to mention the 1st Stage of Inner Discovery. Strands of Chaotic Destruction Qi and Grandmist Qi circled around Van as his consciousness projection meditated. A domineering aura of destruction and the comfort from the feeling of a mother''s embrace was emitted from Van causing a rather conflicting and strange feeling for any that would have been nearby. A few moments later, Van''s eyes opened. One of his pupils had turned black, embodying the energies of destruction. While the other eye was a whitish grey, embodying the Grandmist energies of Creation. 34 The City Lord Chapter 33: The City Lord The energies receded from Van''s eyes and Van''s eyes quickly reverted to their original condition. The extremely ripped version of Van had disappeared, most likely to be never seen in this world again. Through the cultivation that Van had just done, the muscle effect on his body had now disappeared. Van sighed contentedly. It felt good to have his old body back. He preferred himself in the image of a scholar instead of an extremely buff muscle head. Suddenly, his consciousness body started to slowly disintegrate into many star lights. Van was rather shocked but allowed nature to take its course. Van woke up to find a strange man next to him. The man was quite the enigma. Everything about him was normal except for the way he looked. He was extremely beautiful and one could easily mistake him for a girl if he was dressed in women''s clothing. Van cupped his hands and bowed towards the man. "Greetings, Senior. This junior would like to know if senior was the outside force helping me in my consciousness." The City Lord smiled and nodded. This youth was strangely polite and had due respect towards his elders. Van''s eyes shined. One had to be at least at the Saint rank to be able to access another''s consciousness world. This was probably the city lord. "Junior would like to ask. Is Senior the Celestial Heavens City Lord?" The City Lord''s eyes shined with appreciation and expectation. This youth had an extremely high intellect and a rather good talent. Reaching the 1st Stage of Inner Discovery at around the age of 14 was an achievement that even he, an expert at the God rank, had to grudgingly accept. Van was extremely excited. He had met the City Lord of the Celestial Heavens City! Even Saints usually wouldn''t get such an honor. He had heard rumors on his way here that the City Lord was a God ranked expert. Such an expert was at a stage so high that he couldn''t even imagine what it entailed. They exchanged pleasantries for a bit before the City Lord had an idea. "Would you like to become my disciple?" Van''s eyes started to shine. He felt as if this man was the right master for him. He could feel a faint aura of Grandmist energy coming from the City Lord and the fact that he was a god ranked expert made it all the better! "But Senior City Lord, I will have to return to my original position in about 8 days! How will you guide me?" "Worthless shameless brat!" Van looked up with a surprised expression to see the City Lord unmoved. Van smiles wryly he had forgotten about his "true" master. Yu Lin was furious. Van dared to find a master right in front of him! And one only at the God Stage at that. Yu Lin could eliminate such an ant at any time if he was free from the orb that is. He started to whimper once again when he was reminded of his dilemma, but he strengthened his determination. I''m a proud Divine Golden Dragon! I shall not be swayed by such insignificant emotions! Yu Lin puffed out his chest and continued to berate Van. The City Lord was flabberghasted. He didn''t expect Van to have a Divine Object. Divine Objects are objects that contained souls that were equivalent divine beings or those past the God level. These divine objects are organized into a few categories: Ordinary, Medium, High, Supreme, and Peerless qualities. These qualities corresponded to the God and True God Stages, True Divinity Stage, Quasi Deity, True Deity Stage, and High Deity Stage. Of course, this was a misunderstanding on the City Lord''s part. He had mistaken Yu Lin for a Divine Object when Yu Lin himself was only a High Deity that had gotten himself trapped in an orb or dodecahedron. Van had his head down and lost himself in contemplating the mysteries of the Dao and cultivation as Yu Lin berated him. Van had gotten rather used to Yu Lin''s temper tantrums. Surprisingly enough, by enduring through these tantrums, he had obtained the skill to multitask. He could now cultivate while contemplating the Dao or in this situation contemplate the Dao while enduring Yu Lin''s verbal smackdown. The Dao is a long and winding path. Not all make it to the end. There is much suffering on the way. The Dao is infinite, but we are not. So how must we obtain the Dao? Van thought to himself. He could faintly here Yu Lin in the background. He was complaining about the insolence of the younger generation. It went something like. "How dare you not listen to me?!! You dare contemplate the Dao while I''m lecturing you?!! I knew I shouldn''t have taken you in!! People of this generation are such brats!" A profound aura appeared around Van and his understanding of the Great Dao had once again increased. The City Lord smiled at Van approvingly. He had made the right choice in asking Van. He had received doubts when he saw Yu Lin in orb form emerge, but his decision was now confirmed when he saw Van experience sudden enlightenment. Maybe I''ll just take him in as a teacher. I wouldn''t want to offend that High ranking Divine Object. The City Lord could feel the vast amounts of power sealed within that Divine Object. Just the amount that was leaking out already surpassed the Divine Power of a God. It was better not to offend one of such a high stage. "Honored Senior. This humble junior would like to ask for your name." The City Lord bowed towards Yu Lin (orb form). The orb turned towards the City Lord, stunned for a second before it forgot about Van for a second. "Finally! Someone with taste and proper knowledge! My name is Yu Lin!" Yu Lin went over and started chatting with the City Lord. He encouraged the City Lord''s flattery and seemed to be able to converse forever. I seem to have gotten myself into an irreversible and regrettable situation. Van wake up quickly! The City Lord smiled outwardly and nodded along, offering words of flattery here and there. But alas, no one could endure the extreme joy that Yu Lin took in being flattered. Not even a God ranked expert, one who had cultivated for thousands of years to break through the chains of mortality could withstand such a powerful and destructive force of nature. While the City Lord continued to regret his decision to talk to Yu Lin more and more, Van continued to contemplate the Dao. His energies became a lot more rampant but would become more condensed. He could also feel his control over them improve over time. This time, he wasn''t transported into his consciousness but was instead propelled to his Dantian. His bloodline had reacted previously, but this time its reaction was more drastic. His blood was boiling as if the comprehensions of the Great Dao had triggered the Ancestor that his bloodline had come from. He could still remember that one line he had heard in his mind. "The Celestials of Old have fallen. It is time for New Blood to take up the mantle of the Old." The Celestials of Old? Who were the Celestials of the Old and how must I take up their mantle? The crown in his Dantian that was floating before him started doubling in size. In a few seconds, it filled half of his Dantian. What is happening?! Van''s embodied soul retreated to the far corner of the Dantian. That''s when something unexpected happened. That''s when the crown exploded into a red mist. Just like a balloon. Pop! 35 Retracing the Bloodline Chapter 34: Retracing the Bloodline Wait... What?! How did that just happen?! I couldn''t have lost my bloodline right? Van used his Qi sense to search his blood flow for the distinct Qi from his bloodline. Sure enough, it was still there. If my bloodline power is still with me, what happened to the crown? Wasn''t it supposed to represent my bloodline power? Or was it just there as a symbol for formality''s sake? Van was extremely confused at the moment. He decided to go back into his Outer Dantian. He found the red mist to be exactly where he left it. But this time, it seemed to have condensed into a vague shape. It would take some time to take form maybe a day at most. He left his Dantian to find Yu Lin and the City Lord conversing. But one couldn''t really call it conversing, it was more like an act in a play. The City Lord would flatter Yu Lin while Yu Lin would, in response, act humbly and deny such claims that were "too far above him". Van smiled wryly. Why did he find this seem so familiar? Oh, yes. He remembered now. It was similar to his extravaganza with Yu Lin after his escapade into the Blood Red Jade slip where he found the Dragon Breaks the Void Martial Technique. "Yu Lin! I''m back!... You can go back to my bag now!" Yu Lin finally broke out of the conversation with the City Lord and had his mental projection re-enter the orb, before letting Van place it in his bag. "I apologize for that Senior, something came up and I had to meditate for a second, I hope my master hasn''t done anything too rash." The City Lord had a smile plastered to his face. "Oh, no. He was quite the conversation companion. I had a good time." Yu Lin nodded approvingly to Van''s acknowledgment of him as his master and at the City Lord''s response. "I see a great future that lies ahead for both of you." Yu Lin sent out a mental projection of a wise elder stroking his long snowy white beard. Van put a hand over his mouth to suppress his laughter. Yu Lin had a large ego and his ways of propping it up weren''t exactly the norm. "My disciple, how have I raised you that you must be so disrespectful?" The projection now had a disappointed face as it looked towards Van. "I''m sorry Master. But it was too amusing for me to withhold my laughter." Van bowed mockingly towards the projection. At times, he considered Yu Lin as a proper teacher, but other times, he preferred to ignore Yu Lin for his iniquities. Van turned towards the City Lord and cupped his hands and bowed, saying. "As I already have a Master, I cannot take you as a Master. But I would still like to receive you as my teacher." "Then I shall accept you as my student." Van stood up straight and plastered a broad smiled to his face. "I will not disappoint you, teacher!" "I know you won''t. Here take this." The City Lord tossed over a Jade Slip. Van caught it deftly and started to inspect it. On it was the words: "Personal Disciple" "This is so you can travel freely in the Celestial Heavens City. You''ll even get a discount as a bonus." "Thank you, teacher!" Van was beaming with excitement, during the limited amount of time he had left, he would do his best to study and get stronger. 5 days of intense book reading and training passed, Van had endured many hours of lectures and training sessions with the City Lord. Finally, the Crown had recondensed in Van''s Dantian. This time it had turned into an empty throne. Van was slightly confused with its choice of shape for condensation but didn''t judge. He reached out with his spiritual sense and attached a string of Qi to it. Suddenly, he saw a scene appear before him. A few words also appeared in his vision. "Endure the battle and watch until the end. One must recall one''s origins." He had appeared in a world with a red sky. The earth below him was brownish yellow dirt. There were mountain ranges on either side that reached far into the distance and seemed to reach the heavens with their summits. That''s when Van noticed the two armies on either side of him. There were 7 Mighty gods dressed in Divine Armor. These were existences that even Yu Lin had to bow down to. There were three gods on either side of the world. But one of the gods sat in the middle of the two armies, upon his head was a black Imperial crown. He had the smallest army, but they seemed to be the strongest force of the three. His physical size was also noticeably larger than the other 6 gods. That must be my ancestor. Van thought to himself. "Senior! I have a question!" Van yelled into the distance, hoping that his ancestor would hear him. As expected, there was no reaction. The three armies continued to face each other in silence, except for the sound of rustling armor. This is a memory, I don''t really know what I expected from this too be honest. I need to find a place to hide so that my "body" in this world doesn''t get destroyed. After a few minutes of diligent searching, Van found a deep crater nearby. Van jumped inside and started to make himself cozy before turning his attention back to the three armies. About an hour later, the largest opposing god raised his weapon and let out a battle cry. The rest of the combatants followed and the battlefield descended into chaos. In such a battle of epic proportions, strategy was thrown to the wind and the only thing on the minds of the combatants was the thought to kill. Van watched in shock as the three armies collided. The middle army held on well despite being pincered by two armies. Van''s ancestor fought all 6 gods at once. He wielded a sleek black saber with a streak of violet upon its edge. The Qi fluctuations caused Van''s hair to stand on end and he had to swallow a mouthful of blood. Van stared in awe at the scene. What was his Ancestor''s cultivation before he died, that the way he died was by a battle of such a scale? 36 The Ancient Battle Van continued to watch diligently, increasingly tempering his soul as the Qi fluctuations continued to bombard him. If he hadn''t hidden in the crater, causing most of the Qi fluctuations to be dispelled, his "body" in this world would''ve instantly disintegrated the moment the battle had started. The crater had a friendly Qi that fought against the fluctuations from the battle. For some reason, it didn''t harm Van in any way. That was a good choice on my part. Van thought to himself. He continued to watch the battle, trying to find any chance of enlightenment. The battle continued to rage on with heavy losses occurring on either side. A no mans land had occurred around where the 7 gods battled. Van''s ancestor was fending off 3 gods with each hand. When Van opened his Qi sense to try to get a closer look, he immediately withdrew it and coughed out a mouthful of blood, severely injured. The fluctuations were too strong for him and even with all of his endurance, he would only last a moment longer, while inspecting the fluctuations with his Qi sense, before he would perish. The battle raged on for what seemed to be hours before the six gods realized that it wasn''t going to end anytime soon. The leader of the six pulled back and his face started scrunching up as he concentrated his Spatial Divine Force in front of him. A moment later, a rift appeared and out of it the shaft of a sword could be seen as the weapon slowly emerged. An expression of surprise had appeared on the face of Van''s Ancestor, quickly replaced by a grim one. He could fend off the six gods but with an unknown factor joining in, he wouldn''t be able to control the fluctuations. Van''s ancestor clenched one of his hands and threw a fist at the lead god. A surprised grunt filled with pain, could be heard coming from the leader of the six gods. The rift disappeared and the handle fell off, cut off from the rest of the whole. The eyes of the three gods glistened as they found their opportunity, they launched a full scale attack. A Water Dragon, Vortex of Fire, and Blade of Lightning descended upon Van''s ancestor. Expressions of glee could be seen on the faces of the 5 ruffled but uninjured gods. When the attacks landed, a sickening crack could be heard as it reached the torso. One of the ribs had barely cracked from the impact of the full powered attacks from the three gods. This time the grunt of surprise came from Van''s ancestor. By this time, many of the combatants nearby had perished from the fluctuations. Van''s ancestor had lost control of them, inflicting severe losses to both sides. Van watched diligently as a studious student would when he found the perfect professor. The gods were applying Qi in ways that he would never have imagined was possible. This ancient battle was really an eye opener for Van. Once again, he was reminded of how vast the path of cultivation really was. The large amount of death Qi allowed his enlightenment of the Death Dao to reach new heights. In fact, his understanding had made a breakthrough. His control of the Death Dao was more refined and if faced with the same undead horde from before, it would only be a casual endeavor for the present him. There was even a chance that he could turn them into his slaves. The death Qi that already permeated the undead would make it easier for him to force them to submit. Of course, if the undead were as strong as him, he wouldn''t be able to control them under ordinary circumstances. Going back to the situation at hand, Van''s ancestor had finished off the leader of the six gods. Wrapped in divine force, a finger had pierced through the heart of the leader. Since it was a soul attack as well as a physical attack, the attack had killed the leader in body and soul. To Van''s dismay, the other five gods stayed calm and continued their relentless assault. Divine force attacks filled the air with their domineering fluctuations. There was even a ringing of the Supreme Dao that would occur every so often when Van''s ancestor imbued his attacks with it. Van''s understanding of his own Daos deepened. He understood more of each of the elements. Now, all of his Daos has reached the same level. Before, he was more inclined towards the Death Dao, giving those near him the impression of a necromancer but now, he gave a feeling of a deity, one aloof and above worldly matters. Of course, with his current cultivation base and worries, he couldn''t afford to do such things. He needed to get stronger faster. With his motivation resolidified, he continued to watch the battle diligently. He already knew his Ancestor would fall, but he still had a small part of him that wanted to shout out encouraging words. The battle raged on as the gods fell one by one. Finally, Van''s ancestor stood their heaving heavily. Despite Van''s ancestor being heavily injured, none of the combatants nearby dared to test their fates by attacking him. "What?! I thought my Ancestor died? Or maybe he was injured and is recovering. Van was about to step out of the crater to get a better look, but a bad feeling in his gut made him rethink his decision. Immediately after, a rift opened and a youthful looking Flood Dragon in human form stepped out of the Void. He seemed to be at the same unfathomable cultivation as Van''s ancestor. "So it was you. I should''ve known. Ye Bao." The cultivator called Ye Bao continued staring down at Van''s ancestor. "You took the woman I loved from me. Minh Nguyen, your day of reckoning has come!" Ye Bao threw himself down at Minh, gathering all of his divine power for the finishing blow. Minh started burning his blood essence and put his remaining power in this final blow. As expected, Minh was slammed into the Red Earth. Blood sprayed everywhere as all the combatants became a bloody mist. Minh''s eyes turned red with fury. "Agh!!! You killed my son! You dare claim I stole your woman!!! She chose me over you! You and your proud Flood Dragon ass would never have loved her as much as I and she knew!" Ye Bao''s face turned ugly. He weaved his arms in a mesmerizing pattern, causing streaks of Golden Divine Force to stream behind his fingers. The forces than gathered at his fingertips and he pointed it towards Minh. A golden ray streaked towards the severely injured opponent. In a final act of defiance, Minh punched out weakly. The golden ray pierced through his fist and straight through his heart. Before his soul could disperse it looked at Van. "My descendant! Avenge me! Restore our clan to its previous glory!" The soul dispersed and Van was left in the crater, aghast. The world around him warped and he was thrown back into his body. 37 Refreshing As his soul re-entered his body, Van woke up with a panicked start. "Wait, how much time do I have left?!" Those were the first words that came out of Van''s mouth as he sat up. When he sat up, he realized that he was in a soft feather bed. He was also wearing fresh clothing made of airy silk. It glimmered in the sunlight, not too bright and not too dim, giving him the impression that it wasn''t any ordinary silk. It felt cool to the touch and had a very soft texture. Van enjoyed the feeling and sat on the bed, feeling the fabric. His mind blanked as his mind started to drift. He was entranced in the feeling of the fabric. The only thought on his mind was on how much pleasure it gave him as it wrapped his body, as soft and delicate as a mother''s touch. Van heard the sound of a well-oiled door opening. He looked to find a girl dressed in maid''s clothing. Van''s eyes started to shine. He seemed to teleport as he instantly appeared at her side. He started inspecting every piece of the clothing. I like this kind of fashion! Van nodded approvingly as he felt the fabric between his two fingers. The maid stood there with a dark expression on her face. Suddenly, she spoke up. "Master, may I ask what you are doing?" "Eep!" Van squeaked in fear as he noticed the expression the maid''s face. An angry dark aura started to invade the area. "I apologize!" Van prostrated himself to the ground and made sure that his forehead touched the ground. The malicious aura receded from the room. "As long as you realize your mistake master." Van slowly lifted his head up to find that the maid had a smile upon her face. She was currently curtseying to him. "P..p..p..lllease stand!" Van said nervously. In just one moment, the maid had gone from murderous psychopath to a regular maid that one would see. "Master, would you like something to drink or eat?" Van nodded. "Could I have a glass of Spirit Passion Fruit Juice and a plate of those fancy crackers?" The maid silently left to go fulfill his orders. Van wiped his forehead, his hand coming away full of sweat. He had thought that he was going to die at that moment. He had even prayed to a god, if there was any, to deliver his condolences to his aunt, Ghan, and grandfather. Van sat on the bed and cultivated. He broke through to the mid stages of the 1st Stage of Inner Discovery and continued on to stabilize his cultivation. When he had finished, the maid came in as if on a queue. She set down the silver platter and Van happily dug into the meal. He licked his fingers afterward and chewed on one of the ice cubes. "Could you draw me a bath? After all the fainting over the past few days I think I''m starting to stink." Van smiled, trying to make further amends for his mistake. The maid smiled back, this time more genuine. She then left abruptly to go prepare his bath for him. Van sat there in silence and reflected on what he had experienced in the memory world of his ancestor. It seemed as if tragedy had befallen his ancestor and that he needed to get stronger, quicker to get his revenge. He couldn''t stand anyone that threatened his family. Even one that had killed his ancestor in ancient times. Van gritted his teeth and clenched his hands into fists. He would definitely encounter pressure from that god. He had to get powerful quick to protect his family from any possible harm. At that moment, the maid came back in and declared that the bath was ready. "The bath is ready Master." "Thank you. I really appreciate it." He let the maid guide him to the bath. He found himself in what seemed to be a roman style open-air bath. There were many spiritual herbs that were placed in the bath to give it medicinal qualities. Van sighed with pleasure as he felt the hot water against his skin. He could see the water around him slowly fill with grime from the constant cultivating and dust from the times that he had fallen. He picked up a brush from nearby and commenced his cleaning. After about half an hour, Van got out of the bath and put on the clothing that the maid had laid out for him before she left. They were of better quality than his old clothing. I forgot to ask her where I am and what her name was. I should probably do that. Van decided to go on a search for her. Not much later, Van found her bringing in his lunch. He decided to bring up the subject. "May I inquire to what your name is?" Van smiled, trying to establish a connection with the maid. She looked at him weirdly but decided to answer anyways. "My name is Maria." She answered curtly and went back to dusting a few trinkets in the corner of the room. Van tried to continue the conversation without making it awkward. "So... Maria. Where am I exactly?" "You''re in the City Lord''s Palace in one of his VIP guest rooms." Van froze in shock. He didn''t think that his new teacher would treat him so well. Van''s favorability towards the City Lord instantly rose up by 100 points. "Look, Maria. Could we put things past us and try to have a fresh start with our relationship?" "As I told you, Master, as long as you realize your mistake." Van smiled. He didn''t want to be on bad terms with the maid that was serving him. He wasn''t a bad guy and he didn''t want people to get a bad impression of him either. Despite his efforts, he still took pride in hearing praises from others. He knew it was a childish thing, but some habits stick. 38 Sorrow Van carried on with his day. He continued to converse with his maid, trying to improve their relationship after their rough start. She was cooperative, but she didn''t seem up for much conversation. Van walked into an open courtyard. There were green grass and healthy robust trees swaying in the wind. Van walked to the middle and plopped himself down. He sat there lazing about, enjoying the sounds of nature. Just when he was about to stand up again and leave, he started to hear the sounds of a zither coming from the other side of the trees. It was calm and soothing and seemed perfect. Van could feel his Qi stirring from the delicate notes that seemed to dance on the wind. He started to hum the tune before he remembered something. He pulled out a hand-carved wooden flute from his sleeves. When Van was little, he had loved to play the flute for his two sisters. They would also love to listen to his music. But alas, the many troubles in his life lead to him dropping the art of music. The flute he was currently holding was carved by the elder of his two sisters. They loved to hear him play his music. So, on his 7th Birthday, she had gifted him a flute carved from the tree in the middle of their garden. He could still remember her cute little angelic face as she ran up to him. She had thrust it into his hands and gave him a radiant smile. He could still remember her innocent words. "Happy 7th Birthday Van!" Sadly, it wasn''t too long after that the rule of the Nguyen Dynasty fell. But, putting the past in its place, Van decided to keep a positive attitude and continue on. He continued to play his flute. A mournful tune filled the air. It was equal to the embodiment of all his sorrows. As the beautiful calm melody mixed with the mournful tune, it formed a strangely beautiful symphony. The sunlight reflected itself off of Van''s tears as they slowly dripped down his face. "Its been a while since I''ve reopened myself up to those feelings." He placed down his flute and let the tears flow. He lifted his face to the skies and continued to reflect upon days long past. Van listened to the rustling of the trees in the wind and the swaying of the grass. They reminded him of the times that they would play in the royal courtyard. He could still see his elder brother tackling him and rolling around in the grass with his sisters as an audience. Suddenly, Van could hear soft steps that came from the other side of the tree he had leaned against. He broke from his trance and turned towards the source of the disturbance. A girl wearing a pure white dress had walked in on him and was holding a zither. She held herself as if she were a fairy maiden that had just descended from the heavens. Van was temporarily mesmerized by her sudden appearance. Van''s trance broke as she continued to advance towards him. She eventually halted before him and sat next to him down on the grass. Van watched her silently, looking for any signs of her intentions. When he saw that they weren''t ill, he followed her gaze and stared off into the distance. He watched as the clouds drifted by. If only I were a cloud, I would have no worries... I wouldn''t have to bear all this pain. Streams of tears continued to pour from him as he recollected all of his past. Before, he would take it on one moment at a time, but now he decided to let go of all his mental suppression. Van felt a soft cloth as it was pressed into his hand. He turned his head slightly and found that the girl next to him had passed him her handkerchief. He gratefully took it and wiped his eyes. "Thank you." The girl stared at him blankly before replying sincerely. "It''s only natural. We as human beings rely on each other to keep going." "It might seem natural to you, but in this world, it''s harder to find one such as this than to find a phoenix feather or reverse scale." Van smiled. He wanted to become friends with this girl. He felt that he could trust her. Besides, if she could casually wander in the City Lord Palace''s Garden, he knew that she was trusted by his teacher. She stared at him blankly before standing up. "Hey! Where''re you going?" Van stood up after her, getting ready to chase after her and return the napkin if she took off. Instead, she started to climb the tree. She hopped from branch to branch until she made it to a nice large one with a spot that was perfect for sitting on. She picked the fruits from above her and started to munch on them casually. Van walked to the trunk of the tree and started to climb up also. He bumped his head on a branch and looked up in response. His face turned a deep shade of red as he got an eyeful. He immediately put his head down and tried to get the rest of the way up without looking up. When he made it up, she had already started on her 3rd spiritual fruit. They were shaped like pears but had a sweet tangy taste to them. Van sat down next to her and grabbed fruit from above, before taking a large bite. The two just sat there and watched the trees and the grass sway in the wind. Then, the girl suddenly turned towards Van and started to speak up once more. "You saw it didn''t you." Van''s face had just turned back to its previous color, but it once again flushed. "I didn''t see anything." He said as he looked to the side. "Don''t do it again. I will kill you." "I swear it was just an accident!" "I know and that''s why you aren''t dead." Van smiled wryly. They continued to sit there and stare off into the distance until Van started to think about what she had just said. Wait. She said that she could kill me. Could she really kill me though? I''m at the 1st Stage of Inner Discovery. Van had an idea pop into his head and released his divine sense to check her cultivation. His eyebrows raised in shock. He couldn''t even detect a hint of an aura from her, but she was obviously a cultivator or she wouldn''t be able to casually munch on these rare spiritual fruits. There was only one explanation. She was at least at the 5th Stage of Inner Discovery. 39 Bonding The girl clothed in white stared back at Van. "You checked me with your Qi Sense, didn''t you? Did you like what you found?" Van started to sweat nervously. He didn''t want her to get the wrong idea. He started to become flustered. "It''s... it''s not what you think! I wasn''t checking your body!" As cultivators, they were more mature than the average 13-year-old and had already understood adult matters at an early age, especially Van who was a royal prince. He had met with many nobles and had many so-called friends among them. He was introduced to lecherous matters when he and his friends had accidentally walked into the adults'' room. They had planned to play a prank on the noble of the castle, courtesy of that noble''s son. Instead, they found themselves scarred by a scene they would never forget. They had opened the door as silently as possible, thinking that they were alone, they had walked around the corner to find the noble engaging in sexual intercourse with a strange woman. Van woke up from his trance to find the girl with her brow slightly wrinkled in worry. He jumped back when he found her face slightly too close to his face. Oh, crap. Van had realized that he was still in the tree and that when he jumped back, there wasn''t a branch to catch his feet. As a result, he started to fall towards the ground. He watched as the girl stared down at him blankly. She had gotten over her worry for Van and knew that Van wouldn''t be injured, at least seriously, from such a height. Those at the Stages of Inner Discovery were strong cultivators that could powderize large hills with their fists not to mention falling a short distance from a tree. Van fell on the ground head first. "Ow!" Van sat himself up against the tree and started rubbing his forehead. He could feel already see the bruise on his face already. Van sighed to himself. "Why didn''t you catch me?" The girl dressed in white looked at him as if looking at someone with a lower intellect than hers. "Because I knew you wouldn''t affect you much." She replied nonchalantly. "You could''ve at least tried." Van said with a slight whimper in his voice. "You don''t meet the requirements for me to save you." Van fell back on the ground. For some reason, the fact that that statement had come from this girl''s mouth caused it to cut straight to the heart. Van made a dramatic fall and then pretended to grip his heart. The sound of laughter, as clear as the morning dew, cut through the silence. Van lay there on the ground listening, shocked. He hadn''t imagined that such a beautiful sound could come from such an uncaring creature. As a result, he stood there and stared at the girl dressed in white, like an idiot. "Pervert." She stated succinctly. Van was becoming immune to her eccentric, honest, down to earth personality and decided not to take her words to mind. "Could I have the pleasure of knowing your name?" Van asked meekly. He was worried that the girl would suddenly leave and he wouldn''t be able to make a friend in this strange new world he found himself him. Even though it was temporary, he wanted to be able to adjust to it. Besides, when he got strong enough, he would definitely come back to greet his teacher. Van silently swore in his heart to do exactly that. The girl thought to herself, thinking if she should reply to the closet pervert next to her. "You may call me ''Hao Daiyu''" Van thought it was an interesting choice for a name, but made no comment upon it. "Nice to meet you, Daiyu! I''m called Van. My full name is Van Nguyen." Van smiled brightly and extended a hand towards Hao Daiyu. She took his hand and shook it, watching his expression during every second of contact. How did I give her such a bad impression of myself? Van became slightly fidgety under her intensive gaze. Her pupils were a cold ice blue that matched with her cold and aloof personality, that might have driven most away. But Van found that it was a nice match, and felt strangely comfortable around her. She gave him a familiar, yet not familiar, feeling like Zhao Yunfei did. Speaking of Zhao Yunfei, I wonder where she headed off to. Van''s expression turned contemplative as he gazed off into space for a full minute. He woke up to find Hao Daiyu, covering her chest area with a slightly sterner expression. He couldn''t really tell because she always seemed to have some sort of negative expression, at least around him. She moved her body and started to leave. She let out a huff and was about to hop down the tree when it finally clicked in Van''s head. I must have accidentally stared at her chest when I was thinking of Zhao Yunfei! Van inwardly facepalmed and threw himself forward to hold her back and try to explain himself. He caught on to her just as she hopped down. "Hey, let go of me!" Her face contorted in anger as Van latched onto her. He weighed her down and when they hit the next branch, it couldn''t support them. When he looked up, he was surprised to find her with such an expression on her face. It was most likely the most amount of emotion that he had found her show to date. "Ahh!!!" They both screamed as they fell down together. As a result, Van held on even tighter. "I''m sorry for staring at your chest area! It was just an accident!" Van was trying to get his first apology in before he had to apologize once again for latching onto her. They bumped into another branch, which shifted their positions. They both hit their heads onto the branch and passed out. When Van came to, he opened his eyes to a pair of icy blue eyes staring right at him. He yelped in surprise and retreated back to the tree. He had never really been on a close basis with anyone except for his aunt, mother, and sisters. He looked at her, to see if she was still angry at him. Instead, she seemed to be shy and looked away from him whenever she noticed that he was looking back. Van sat there looking confused and lost. What had happened to cause her to act the way she was currently acting? Van thought back to what he had experienced just now. They had fallen and hit the branch, but that wasn''t anything to fuss over. What else was there? Van''s hands went to his lips and chest and his face turned a bright shade of red. Now, he could understand why the girl was acting the way she was. "I''m sorry about that! I didn''t mean to do it!" He ran over to the girl and tried to explain himself. She looked back and him and opened her mouth to speak. "That was my first time. Did you enjoy it?" Van started to wave his hands frantically as he tried to find the appropriate response. "No!" That was what Van came up with, sadly, it wasn''t what she had expected. She started to run off, silent tears sparkling as they fell down her petite face. "That''s not what I meant! I mean... that I did enjoy it!" She stopped and turned around. "You did?" Her expression had a hint of disgust on it. "I knew it! You were a pervert. I should''ve run when I saw you." She turned to leave but found that Van had put a hand on her shoulder. "I''m sorry! I didn''t mean to steal your first kiss. It was just that the fall made us end up like that. I''m not a pervert, could you please understand that?" "Oh? So you didn''t want to steal my first kiss. Does that mean you wanted to steal a different kiss from a different girl?" Van couldn''t tell what she was thinking because her face was turned away from him. He decided to get on his knees and beg her for forgiveness. "Please! I really didn''t mean to! Believe me." Silence reigned in the garden. All was still except for the rustling of the tree branches. All of a sudden, Van could hear a snickering sound come from in front of him. He lifted his head to find that the girl had fallen on the grass and had started to laugh. Van stood there, confused at her actions. Wasn''t she mad at him? Why wasn''t she punishing him? She sat up and wiped the tears from her eyes. "I know it was an accident you dimwit. I''m not the type of girl that will use that as an excuse to attack you." "But what about that time that I accidentally stared at your chest?" Her expression turned fierce again. Van started to speak up to defend himself but was cut off by her. "I could tell you were thinking about something. Anyone could tell with that obvious dazed expression of yours, or were you so attracted by my body?" She added a seductive tone that she had heard used by her mother once. She started to laugh even harder as she watched Van''s face flush an even deeper shade of red. 41 A Ferocious Maid "I see you have met my daughter." The City Lord stated. Van found it rather strange. After all, she was right in front of him and that such a statement would usually be the start of a conversation. But of course, Van, being the high intellectual child at the age of 13 he was, could see the fury that laced the words that had come forth. "Yes... I have! And she is a nice, well-cultured young lady that I can see will become a beautiful mature woman in the near future." Hao Daiyu blushed in response to Van''s compliment. Hearing that come from her first friend, besides her father and servants, made her feel all tingly inside. The City Lord''s eyebrow started to twitch. Making a move on my daughter right in front of me, are we?! I''ll show you what for! Suddenly, a lightbulb seemed to materialize inside of him as an ingenious idea spewed forth from the fountains of wisdom. "Van, as your teacher, I must take the responsibility and time to teach you. I think this may be the perfect time for me to execute my duties as your newfound mentor." A malicious smile could be seen plastered to the City Lord''s face as he approached Van slowly. "No! I mean... I''m fine, thank you!" Van screamed as he scooted away from the City Lord. Seeing that his pace wasn''t nearly fast enough, he picked himself up and ran away screaming, City Lord on his tail. Tears started to drip out of the corners of Van''s eyes as he thought of the unspeakable horrors to come. I don''t want to die! Were the thoughts that ran through his head as he dashed off into the distance. Hao Daiyu watched in shock as the Van and the City Lord commenced their chase that would lead to Van''s demise, at least mentally. A few moments later, she collapsed to the ground, full of laughter. It was a beautiful melodious sound that attracted the attention of the many critters that had previously gone into hiding. They all emerged and surrounded Hao Daiyu creating a picturesque scene that seemed to have come straight out of a page in a fairy tale. Meanwhile, our main character was currently being chased by a demon. One that was very persistent and strangely of the human species, yet it was of the worse kind, an overprotective father kind. What should I do?! How am I ever going to escape from this tragedy?! I was just trying to make friends here! Why did I have to make friends with someone with an overprotective father and not just any father! It''s my own mentor! Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Van looked around frantically, looking for a way out. The duo rushed past innocent palace servants that were just walking along the palace halls, doing their honest work. Van continued to look behind him to check if the City Lord was still there. Sure enough, the City Lord was hot on his tail, eyes blazing with unconcealed fury. Van squeaked in fear and picked up his pace, infusing a bit more Qi into his feet, allowing him to take more strides in a second. All of a sudden, he found himself suspended in the air. He squeaked in fear, thinking that the City Lord had finally caught him. This is the end! He thought to himself as he was pulled up by the scruff of his neck. He was turned around so that his face was turned toward the face of the culprit. Van''s expression turned to one of shock and then one of joy. "Maria!" Van exclaimed in joy as he recognized the face of the one who had taken care of him in the Celestial Heavens Palace as he was unconscious. He reached out his arms to hug Maria, thankful for her saving of him. Maria had a stern expression on her face as her eyes shifted from the City Lord to Van and back again. "Maria, I can explain." The City Lord was sweating nervously as he tried his best to carefully compose an appropriate response to the angered servant. "What are you two doing?! You''ve ruined the organization of the entire palace and thrown it into chaos!" She started shaking in anger. As a result, Van also started to shake. "Mmmmmmaarrrriiaaaa... Iiii ttthhhiinnkkk yyyyooouuu sshhoouuulllddd ppputtt mmmeee dddowwnn." Maria withdrew her anger for a second to place Van down in a nearby chair. After she set Van down, the air immediately turned hot and stuffy as her rage had turned into heat causing the air around her to heat up. "Hao Li! I think its time I reminded you of the responsibilities that your position enquires!" The City Lord turned a few shades paler and he started to unconsciously retreat. Maria''s stature immediately became like that of a demon. She seemed to grow claws and fangs as she slowly advanced on the City Lord. Of course, this was all a figment of the City Lord''s and Van''s imagination that adapted to their perception of their realities. Surprisingly, Van heard a sound of whimpering that emerged from the City Lord. His jaw dropped in shock; he never thought in his wildest dreams that he would see such a high and mighty figure humbled by one of his own servants. Suddenly, Maria''s demonic aura withdrew into herself and she turned towards Van, a smile plastered on her face. She started to speak up, causing Van to jump up in fear. "Van, sweetie. Would you go back to your room? I need to have a talk with this numbskull and then I''ll get to you. Got it?" Her eyes took a menacing glare to clarify to Van her intentions. "Yyyyeeesss, Ma''am!" Van saluted her, making sure to straighten his back and puff out his chest, for fear of inciting her anger any further and causing it to be reflected upon him instead of the pitiful City Lord. "Good." She nodded approvingly before turning back to the City Lord and seemed to teleport in front of him. Her demonic aura was once again let loose as she grabbed onto the City Lord''s shoulders and hauled him away. Before she got out of sight, she looked back at Van and waved sweetly. Van waved back, listening to the screams of terror that came out of the City Lord without end. He heard the shutting of a door and the screams were cut off. Van started sweating nervously. He would''ve never imagined that the calm and collected Maria would ever be able to turn into such an evil being. He wasn''t sure if he should be relieved or worried about the silence. Van shrugged it off and headed back to his room, ready to await the long lecture to come. At least it won''t be as bad as what the City Lord is receiving at the moment. Right? Van thought to himself as he opened the door to his room absentmindedly. He ordered for a meal to be brought up to his room before laying down on the bed, looking at the ceiling. He could hear the singing of birds as it drifted in on the breeze through the open window. That''s when the calming sounds of nature were interrupted by the talking of servants. Van was about to go out to rebuke them when he started to hear some information on an interesting subject. He pressed his ear to the keyhole and strained his Qi so that it would amplify the sound. "- the poor city lord, the demon maid, Maria, has got to him again. He is our employer, I don''t think that anywhere else has such a creature as her. I wonder how she is going to punish the new guest." Maid 1 said, with a worried tone to her voice. "Maybe she won''t punish him as bad? I mean, he is a guest." Maid 2 asked innocently in reply to Maid 1''s statement. Maid 1 started to chuckle before she spoke up once more. "You don''t know Maria. Anyone who violates the natural order of things around here gets equal punishment - including the guests. I don''t really know what she does in there, but it gets the City Lord to become like a sheep, brainwashed and willing to listen to anything she will say. I''ve even heard from one of my friends, who serves the City Lord''s meals, that she''s found what seems to be tear-stained documents after every session." Van''s face turned a few shades paler and he started to unconsciously slide onto the ground. All of a sudden, there could be heard the sounds of one of the butlers approaching. "Hey! What are you two maids doing loitering around?! We still have a lot more work to do! Get on it!" A few apologies were mumbled and the three servants ran off to do their work. Van crawled to the bedside, his legs shaking as if there was an earthquake with a 10 on the Richter Scale. He limply threw his arms on the bed and dragged the rest of his body up. He flipped himself over and looked at the ceiling. Then, he started to mumble to himself. "Is it the end for me?" 42 A Promise Unspoken Just as the negative thoughts were starting to get to him, he heard a knock on the door. Van squeaked in surprise. Sanji jumped out of his bag of holding and let out a good humorous squeak. He had enjoyed watching Van cope with his dilemma and had finally decided to show himself. Van stared at Sanji with mock fury. Sanji continued to squeak joyfully and rolled around on the ground. Van rolled his eyes and slowly approached the door as if there was a dangerous creature behind it, which in Van''s opinion, there likely was. Van put his hand on the handle and took a deep breath before twisting it and pulling it towards him. He put on his best smile and waited to confront Maria. Instead, he found himself face to face with an unknown maid. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "Here''s your meal that you ordered, Honored Guest. I hope you can finish it before Maria gets to you." She awkwardly shoved the tray into Van''s hands and shut the door. Van stood there, stunned. Tears of joy started to drip from his eyes. He could survive for a few moments longer! He thanked whatever god there was out there before he dug into his meal as if it was his last. Van threw over two sausages for Sanji. Man and mouse sat on the bed enjoying a scrumptious meal in silence. Sanji let out a loud burp, causing Van to start laughing. Sanji started to squeak in mock offense and the two started to wrestle each other. The sounds of vases crashing and furniture collapsing could be heard as the two completely destroyed the room. After about half an hour, the duo calmed down, leaving a room that looked like a hurricane had run through it. They lay there in the middle of the carpet, heaving heavy breaths while giggling like two little girls. The creak of the door opening could be heard and footsteps as someone entered the room. Sanji and Van both inclined their heads to find the creature of their nightmares. Maria stood there, an expression of shock on her face. It quickly turned to one that was a lot uglier. A malevolent smile spread across her face as she thought of creative ways to torture the boy and mouse. "Have you boys enjoyed yourselves?" The demonic aura once again filled the room. Van and Sanji hugged each other for a moment of comfort before the pain began. Screams filled the halls of the Palace as Maria got to work on the re-education of Van and Sanji. About an hour or two later, she emerged from the room. She proceeded to dust herself off before heading off to attend to whatever matters required her attention. If one peeked inside, one could see that Van and Sanji laid on the bed, tears leaking out of the corners of their eyes. They looked like corpses, husks of their former selves, as they lay on the bed, trying to recover from the traumatizing punishment that they had just endured. The servants, as if on queue, popped out of seemingly nowhere and started to take care of the duo diligently. They were probably used to cleaning up and helping the victims of Maria''s antics because they were experienced and seemed to know everything that Van and Sanji needed. Before long, Van and Sanji were up on their feet, albeit shaky and disorientated. Sanji had crawled his way back into Van''s bag and had vowed not to come out until they had left the Celestial Heavens. Van felt as if he had aged a hundred years. The unspeakable horrors that he had experienced would be a lesson that he would never forget. Van started to wonder how the City Lord had endured such unspeakable tortures time and time again. Was it that he had gotten immune to its negative mental effects and had gotten stronger through constant exposure? Or was it just because he had become rather dull in the head after suffering permanent mental repercussions? Van assumed it was the second. Van shivered to himself as he thought of the implications of the first. A man with such a will would be unparalleled in willpower in the entirety of the universe. But then again, having such a master would help him to temper his own will, without the risk of losing his mental capabilities of course. One time was enough for him. He had a little under 4 days left in the Celestial Heavens. Van sighed to himself. He felt that he hadn''t made the most of his time in the Celestial Heavens. The unexpected events were starting to take a toll on his cultivation time. He walked through the hallways and pulled over one of the servants to lead the way to the cultivating grounds. Van followed the servant through the winding hallways of the palace and finally made it after many twists and turns. He was led to the best cultivation grounds, for he is the student of the City Lord after all. Van sat down and could feel the difference in Qi density from the other rooms of the palace. Van calmly breathed in out to settle himself before he started cultivating. He would continue to cultivate for the few days that were left, going out for a few times to have a chat with Hao Daiyu, as her father was still in recovery so he didn''t need to fear his wrath. Van looked at the timer in the corner of his vision, in a minute he would be transported back to the Red Rock Continent, not able to visit the Celestial Heavens for a long time. Van sat down next to Hao Daiyu and continued to converse. During the 4 days that he had spent cultivating and conversing with her, they had developed a more intimate relationship. Van turned his head to look at the beautiful girl dressed in white next to him. She was still in the same dress as she had worn when they had first met in the garden. She looked at him and a mischevious glint flashed through her eyes. She decided to speak up. "You shouldn''t have much longer now." A hint of sadness could be seen in her expression. Van rushed over and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Don''t worry. I''ll come back as soon as I can." Van promised her, trying his best to console her. "Tell your father, I said goodbye." He had noticed the timer reach 10 seconds in the corner of his eye. He sighed to himself. He had enjoyed the time that he had here, encountering the Celestial Heavens City Lord, his daughter, and Maria. The scenes of the past 10 days seem to pass through his thoughts at that moment. Van closed his eyes, engraving the memories into his heart. He felt something soft touch his lips. Van slowly opened his eyes and they immediately widened in shock. He found that Hao Daiyu''s face was straight in front of him. He was about to pull back, but the look in her eyes held him back. A few seconds later, she withdrew from him and smiled radiantly, stunning him. "Here''s something for you to remember me by." He watched her as he started dissolve motes of light. Her smile seemed to reach into the depths of his heart and shatter the chains of ice that had bound his heart for many years. His expression softened and he smiled back at her. She imprinted his look into her mind and heart and turned around. "I know you''ve been looking." "Ah, my daughter has grown up so fast." The City Lord emerged from the green shrubbery and had his hand on the back of his head, rubbing it in embarrassment. Hao Daiyu''s face changed back to her usual expression of blankness. "You can stop with the act now, Martial Uncle." The City Lord sighed; he had wanted to keep up the act longer. He looked off into the distance, wondering where his real daughter was in the universe. Was she still stuck in the river of reincarnation or was she somewhere far off? 43 Continuing the Trials Van reappeared inside of the trial. He pulled out a contraption inside of his sack and inserted a little bit of Qi into it. The time appeared inside of his mind, and an expression of shock appeared on his face. A mere hour had passed during the time that he had spent in the Celestial Heavens. A look of contemplation appeared on his face as he thought of all the possible explanations for the unusual passage of time. He shrugged inwardly and stood up, determined to get the trial over with as fast as possible. Meanwhile, outside of the Illusory Pagoda, all of the contestants had gathered. About a quarter of the contestants had haggard, but satisfied looks upon their faces. They had barely passed the promotion test and were now qualified for the 3rd Floor with their new Iron ranked status. The contestants waited in anticipation for the Examiner from before to appear. The Announcer stood in front of them, nervous as he stood in front of the many agitated cultivators. His status wasn''t anything major and the sect wouldn''t care much for his mistreatment. In this crowd, there were some with rather acknowledgeable identities that would cause the sect to look the other way even in the situation of his death. He tried his best to appease the crowd, but they had had enough. "Come on! We''ve been waiting for almost an hour now! Just let us go!" One of the contestants that had failed her test was annoyed. She had thought that they would only wait for a short time before the ones that had passed were given their glory in front of all. She had yielded to the rules of the sect, but when she realized that it would take much longer, she decided to speak up. The Announcer looked towards the Examiner that was in the hidden room for help. She sighed and nodded her head. The Announcer breathed in relief and motioned for those who had failed to pass to leave. Now, they were left with the few that had passed. They stood impatiently as they waited for the Announcer to announce the wrapping up of the trials and the bestowing of the Iron ranked medallions. "Come on! Practically everyone is done, who cares about one contestant that will barely be able to pass it!" One of the rich cultivators with a good background spoke up. With someone taking the lead, the others spoke their agreement. The Announcer started to sweat profusely. He seemed to have been taken out of the pan and tossed into the fire (solved one difficult situation only to be put into an even worse one). He tried to assuage the crowd, but that just seemed to rouse their anger even more. As the cultivators seemed ready to burn the Announcer to ashes with their gazes and soon to be their actions, the Examiner emerged from her domain. Her provocative body once again drew the gazes of many of both genders with only one that was hostile. She drifted down onto the stage and spoke to the crowd. "Could the honorable patient disciples wait another few minutes for the last contestant? He is on the last hurdle of the test and will pass it any minute now." With the Examiner herself now speaking up, the crowd withdrew their fury and grudgingly continued to wait. Van was assaulted by the 5 elements that were contained in his trial. They were embodied in the form of a Cyclone Flood Dragon, a Scarlet Flaming Tiger, a Deathly Black Phoenix, a Heavenly Angel-like Figure, and an Earth Tortoise. Van had circled them and with a little bit of pressure, caused the Angel to fight with the Phoenix and the Scarlet Flaming Tiger to confront the Earth Tortoise. Van himself took on the Cyclone Flood Dragon. The Cyclone Flood Dragon roared in defiance as Van got another hit on it. It dove forward at Van''s ant-like figure, trying to get a bite out of Van. Van dodged to the right and swung his Divine Jade Dragon saber at the Cyclone Flood Dragon. Luckily, with the saber''s unusual sharpness and Van''s barely acceptable strength, the blade could barely make it past the scales and caused a superficial wound to appear on the side of its body. The Cyclone Flood Dragon roared in pain and circled around to try to get at Van once more. Van tried to maintain a close distance so that he could avoid the Cyclone Flood Dragon''s tornado breath. This cycle of dodge continued on as the other four beasts continued to beat each other up. Eventually, the FLood Dragon got out of range and prepared its tornado breath. Van started to panic inwardly but kept a calm expression. He dashed forward at the Cyclone Flood Dragon in hopes that he would be able to close the distance in time. To his dismay, the Flood Dragon opened its mouth and a large Cyclone swallowed Van up. Van created a wall of his now Small Perfection Saber Intent (I am going to add a section about the stages for sword intent and those of the like in auxiliary chapters for the ones that want to know the details). The Cyclone hit the wall of Saber intent not too long after. Van gritted his teeth and held his saber. With is unbreakable will, he pushed forward and broke the cyclone. He let out a loud roar of defiance and started to dash at the Flood Dragon once again. He needed to temper himself so he limited his cultivation to what it was registered at in the beginning. Otherwise, he would have passed this test with much ease. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Van held his saber in front of himself and extended his saber intent into a larger blade of about 10 times larger than he had attempted before he entered the Small Perfection realm. Sweat could be seen clearly forming on his forehead as Van used all of his available mental capacity to hold it. With a shout, he let the saber intent out and directed it towards the neck of the flood dragon. In the time it would take for a spark to fly, the saber intent landed on the Cyclone Flood Dragon and separated the head from the rest of its body. Blood squirted out of the stump and Van fell on one knee, breathing heavily. The other beasts stopped their fighting, staring at the green-robed Van, shocked. 44 Iron Rank Promotion Van quickly recovered and stood up, he pulled his saber out of the ground and stared at the four remaining beasts defiantly. The Four Beasts stared at him and roared oppressively, unleashing their auras in hope that they would be able to win the battle before it could even start. Instead, this allowed Van to release his bloodline aura. The aura of a sovereign erupted in the battlefield and the beasts unconsciously fell to one knee. Van released a bit of the seal that he had placed on his cultivation, raising it up by a few sub-stages. An instant later, the heads of all the beasts had separated from the rest of the body and Van sheathed his saber. The wind rustled his clothing and Van stood there staring off into the distance, looking like a lone hero. Somewhere in a hidden room, the Examiner could feel her heart pick up as she witnessed this scene. She put her hand over her heart and her expression turned tender. She shook her head and her expression turned back to her normal blank slate expression. She wouldn''t let this 13-year-old boy cause disturbance in her heart. Thoughts raced through her head as she replayed what she had just seen. She was only at the late stages of Dantian Formation and couldn''t see through Van''s true cultivation at the Peak of the 2nd Layer of Inner Discovery. She had noticed that Van had tempered his organs slightly but she assumed that it was his cultivation technique''s special properties. She was inclined to ask him about it but did not have any evil designs upon it. She was satisfied with her current cultivation technique. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. All the while, Van watched as his illusory body that his soul occupied slowly disintegrated along with the trial world around him. "Congratulations! You''ve passed." Said a female voice that seemed to come from the darkness. Van slowly opened his eyelids to find himself on a straw bed. He laid there, unmoving for a few minutes so that he could get used to his body once again after a few hours of not using it. Authors Note: His real body was transported to the Celestial Heavens but he spent more time to clear the trial, which is why he isn''t used to being in his real body. Van sat up and rubbed his eyes and forehead, trying to get the temporary aching, tired feeling in his body. Then he felt a tingling feeling as a mental transmission came from the Examiner, urging him to quickly go outside. Feeling no reason to not follow the directions, Van through his legs over the side of the bed and headed out to the gathering point. He was met with a crowd of impatient annoyed faces from the contestants. Van was extremely confused. What have a done to offend them? Not too long ago we were just fellow contestants without any impressions of each other. Yet, now they seemed to already have made a negative judgment on him. Van smiled awkwardly and waved at them, trying to look friendly, before entering the rest of the crowd. The Announcer coughed into his fist to bring attention to himself before speaking up. "Alright, now that the last contestant has finished. The Examiner will now give her congratulations and distribute the new Iron rank command medallions for the Missions Division." After making his announcement, the Announcer walked off to the side of the stage, giving way for the Examiner to give her speech. She walked up to the middle of the stage, her hips swaying, drawing the eyes of all. "Congratulations, Children on getting past the trials and entering the ranks of the elites of the Inner Sect." She said this casually before waving her hand, gesturing for the medallions to be distributed. A few servants with low cultivations, around the early stages of Body Fortification, walked over with trays with Iron Medallions arranged in neat rows on a cloth. When they reached Van, he reached out to take it, but the servant suddenly withdrew the tray and leaned into Van''s ear passing a message. "The Examiner would like to meet with you later." After saying this, the servant moved down the row, distributing the other medallions. After everyone had gotten their medallions, they all left one by one. Van waited, leaning against the wall. When everyone had left, the Examiner gestured for Van to follow and they walked to the hidden room that the Examiner had used previously. They sat down in opposite well-cushioned chairs. Servants came in with drinks and snacks. Van was famished and started to munch on the food, showing his childish side. He smiled childishly as he indulged in the crumbly texture of the salted crackers paired with a slice of ham and cheese. The Examiner smiled, watching Van maternally. After sating his hunger, Van shed his innocent side and turned to the Examiner, ready for business. The Examiner sighed inwardly, secretly hoping that the moment could have continued on for a bit longer. Then she decided to speak up. "I''m sorry, I haven''t introduced myself. My name is Ngan Dinh. As you know, I am the examiner for the Missions Division Iron Rank Promotions test. I am also the examiner for the Gold and Platinum promotions test. Nice to meet you, Van Nguyen." She did a flourished curtsy before gesturing for Van to speak. Van considered her words and nodded slightly before standing up to respond. "I am Van Nguyen, a lowly Inner Sect Disciple. It is an honor to meet you, Ms. Dinh." Van gave a low respectful bow in response and waited for Ms. Dinh to continue. She gestured for him to sat down before sitting down herself. "Out of all the contestants that succeeded, only you chose a trial with more than 2 elements. As a result, you are the highest achieving contestant." She paused for a moment, for suspense, before continuing. "As a result, I would like to give you a Platinum ranked medallion instead." 45 Vans First Mission Van''s eyebrows raised in surprise. He hadn''t expected such a pleasant turn of events. He gladly accepted the medallion from a servant with a tray nearby and gave thanks to Ms. Dinh. She invited him to join the Missions Division, but he politely declined. Van preferred to be free and able to move around unhindered. Ms. Dinh just shook her head helplessly and watched as he left the room. Her maidservants turned towards her and asked her a question. "Why did you give him your real name? The announcer had already announced you as Feng Hua. Don''t forget that we need to keep her disappearance under covers." She sighed and turned away from the empty doorway to continue on with her duties. Van left the side building and walk outside to take a big stretch as he felt the sun bathed him in warm rays of sunlight. Then, he started to walk towards the main building of the Missions Divison once more. He immediately went up to the floor for Gold and inspected the missions board. There were many more missions on this floor listed for hunting than the one on the Wood ranked floor. There were even a few high difficulty missions that required one to hunt notorious loose cultivators causing trouble in the Middle Continent. Van also caught a few pieces of information on Feng Hua. Now that he knew the Examiner''s true name, he wanted to find out more information on who she was replacing. It turned out that Feng Hua was an inner sect elder with a very erratic personality, which resulted in information on her, and her character, to be very vague and inconclusive. Van''s eyes continued to roam between three that interested him. One of them was for picking a spirit herb guarded by a high ranking beast. Another was for hunting a group of Loose Cultivators. While the last was for hunting beasts in the nearby Nine Cloud Mountain Range. After some careful consideration - and a small game of Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe - he decided to go with the Nine Cloud Mountain Range. After all, he needed to develop his combat skills first against just raw strength. After nodding his head with satisfaction, Van touched his command medallion to the sheet of paper. The red stamp on the paper slowly disappeared as a red stream of Qi flowed into his jade medallion, causing it to illuminate a fragile red glow. After a few moments, the Jade medallion returned to normal and Van headed to the mission request registration to finalize the mission approval. As he approached the counter, a youth stepped in his way. Van looked up to find that this youth looked to be about 15, a full 2 years older than him. A sneer seemed to be permanently plastered to the youth''s face as if his arrogance was the source of his identity. Van stared at the youth, an impassive expression upon his face. As if Van had insulted his mother, the youth''s expression contorted into one of deep rage. "That''s my mission! How dare you take this young master''s mission?!" After a small tirade, the youth, seeing that Van was still calmly gesturing for the youth to move aside, drew his hand back to slap Van. As the fast-moving hand was about to catch the side of Van''s face, it seemed to pass through his head. "Huh?!" The youth was surprised to find that Van had suddenly stepped back a few meters away from him. The youth tried again and again, but eventually exhausted himself and found that Van had gently knocked him over onto the cold hardwood floor. Just a moment before, Van had gently hit the youth''s pressure points and caused his body to collapse, and had gently placed the youth down in that one instant. After regaining the use of his limbs, the youth shuddered as he remembered what Van had said to him. "I try my best to be kind, but I will kill all who insist that they stand in my way." Van continued on the counter, handing over his Jade medallion. The shocked Missions Division disciple quickly recovered and handed to Van a piece of paper. Van pressed his thumb on the indicated space and the Qi sensitive ink reformed itself into his own exclusive Qi signature. Van returned the paper to the disciple before heading back to his humble abode, to prepare for the long journey ahead. For some reason, Van had a sudden urge to whistle, and whistle he did. By unconsciously imbuing his whistle with Qi, it placed a beneficial pressure on those nearby. Feeling the pressure, some disciples passing by Van started to raise their voices in protest but stopped when they noticed that their Qi was starting to refine itself under the pressure. Instead, the calmly moved on, trying to find the source of the opportunity. Van, unbeknownst to him, was now being followed by a rather large crowd of disciples. When he made it to the Inner Disciples'' living quarters, he had a lost a big chunk but there were still a few that continued to follow him. Van opened the gate and turned to close the gate behind him to find the crowd that awaited him. His jaw dropped as he just realized the commotion he had caused. He scrambled his brain for any reason for the crowd. After realizing that some of his Qi had left his body, he started to piece the situation together. After a few awkward explanations, the crowd dispersed and Van was left to his packing. Van decided to grab some necessities, such as food, drink, and cultivation resources. He locked his Immortal''s Cave down with a short burst of Qi from his fingertip. After that, he headed to the Alchemists'' Division and purchased a few pills for combat recovery, a berserk pill, and a few other pills that would be useful for the journey ahead. And just like that, Van was prepared to start the journey that lay ahead of him. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. 46 Bonding Antics With a spring in his step, the youth traveled along the well-trodden dirt roads. He had recently left the Flowing River Sect''s vicinity and had entered into more rural territory. With his cultivation restricted to Dantian Formation (by choice), he could not fly to speed up his travels, forced to endure the strenuous journey on his two legs. As he was traveling on one of the main roads, he would be often met with trading caravans as well as the rare lone wanderer here and there. Before long, the sun had fallen beneath the horizon and the darkness had started to engulf the still and quiet world. The youth still had a ways until he made it to the nearest city, so he decided to set up camp. For his first order of business, he would have to obtain wood. Standing in front of a massive tree, he took a deep breath, circulated his Qi, took a deep forward stance, and punched. With a few more hits, he had felled the towering tree in front of him. Pulling out his sabre, he neatly chopped the wood into appropriately sized pieces. Using this wood, he set up the fire. As the flames burned brightly in the campfire, he pulled out some fruits that sparkled from the Qi imbued in them from his sack. He laid them down on a white table cloth and sat next to the fire. Readying himself for a session of cultivation, he sat down crossing his legs and closing his eyes. Directing his gaze to his Dantian, he observed his Qi as it circulated. In the eyes of an amateur, it would be declared that he was crippled as his flow of Qi was rather irregular, erratic. The Qi flow would at times seem to stop and then start again at random intervals. But to an expert, it would be extremely astonishing. Even in the entire Middle Continent¡ªnot to mention the mere Golden Gan Country¡ª cultivation experts had never heard of such an unusual cultivation method. For if one looked closely and observed for a long enough time, they would be able to notice that the Qi flow was controlled, stopping and starting at controlled intervals. This was the true marvel of the Dragon Breaks the Void cultivation manual. Through meticulous control of the Qi flow by the user, one would be able to obtain the ability to burst with power for the time it takes to brew a cup of tea. To eventually have the power to break through the fabric of space into the void, the Dragon Breaks the Void cultivation manual prepared its practitioner by conditioning the body to get used to bursts of power. As such, the cultivation method was extremely harsh on the body, eventually losing the attention of cultivators despite being a ridiculously powerful ancient cultivation technique. After cultivating for 3 hours, the fire had started to die out. Covered in sweat and black grime, Van grabbed a log from a small pile and placed it into the fire to keep it going. Before beginning his slumber, Van had a quick dip into the nearby stream, scrubbing his skin until it turned a scarlet red. Startled awake by Van''s commotion from his bathing, Sanji scurried out of Van''s sack. His golden fur glinted in the moonlight as he carefully crawled to the edge of the stream, a mischievous look in his eye. A neatly folded stack of clothes, as well as a pile of grimy rags, sat in the grass, just out of the reach of the stream''s current. Having found his target, Sanji grabbed the clothing, as fast and quietly as he could, and ran off back to camp before dropping it in the dying fire. As the flames met the dry clothing, they immediately flared up before being suppressed by the dampness from the grimy sweaty rags. Having scrubbed himself thoroughly, Van waded through the stream to the grass where he had left his change of clothing. As he approached it, he noticed no sign of any clothing except for the indent that it had left in the grass. Astonished by this occurrence, he immediately sent out his Qi sense sweeping the area in a 1km radius. Having detected no sign to hint of the fate of his clothing, Van decided to head back to camp fully exposed. "If only I was at the King Stage, then I would be able to create a robe out of thin air from the forces of nature." Van grumbled, rather annoyed and confident in the identity of the culprit. He sighed and continued his trek back to the camp through the thick forest. Besides a few rays of moonlight, the tree canopy blocked out any form of light. In the darkness with only the sound of crickets chirping, Van slowly trekked through the mossy forest floor, in only a pair of plain cloth shoes. Before long, he made it back to the campsite; where he was met with a smoldering campfire. The only thing left was the remains of his dirty rags covered in the ashes of burnt freshly laundered clothing. Without speaking a single word, Van slowly advanced towards the campfire before stretching out his hand in front of himself. Releasing a breath as well as some built-up Qi, he turned the remains of his clothing into a fine dust. Despite his constant practice in perfecting his control of Qi, many beads of sweat started forming on his forehead after his overexertion of Qi control. He immediately sat down, his legs crossed, and started absorbing the world energy converting it into Qi in his Dantian, refilling up the small pond that had been emptied just moments before. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Opening the flap of his tent, he found Sanji curled up under a warm pile of cotton tunics. A look of pure innocence adorned the mouse''s face during its slumber. Van''s eyebrows started twitching as he witnessed his deceitful contracted beast peacefully slumbering. Reaching his two hands out, full of malintent, he quickly grabbed Sanji''s flabby neck. Two beady eyes flashed opened staring straight into Van''s purple irises. A look of surprise had replaced the fa?ade of innocence. Quickly adapting to the situation, Sanji put on his best puppy eyes trying to guilt Van into letting him off. Instead, this caused Van to clench his hands with even more force making Sanji''s face puff out into exaggerated proportions. Although his intention was to choke the life out of the tiny mouse (Sanji had himself shrunk down into a more reasonable size for a mouse to avoid attention), Sanji was still a high ranking Fierce Beast so despite the stretching of his face and seemingly dangerous situation, he was not in any fatal danger. A garbled squeak came from the bloated face that lay in between the grip of Van''s hands. Van''s face scrunched in concentration, he continued this grip for 2 hours before finally giving up. With a puff of dust, the mouse lay on the ground its tiny arms gripping at its next in a dramatic manner. Coughing pathetically, Sanji moved to his side and took the first breath of air that he had taken in the recent two hours. The purple color that had dominated his face had finally started to fade away. Squeaking in protest, albeit weakly, Sanji curled up into a ball and continued his rest as if nothing had happened. Van was currently sitting on his sleeping bag massaging his hands. Calluses had developed further as Sanji''s tough skin had ground onto Van''s hands during the last two hours. 47 Jade Bamboo City After massaging his hands for about 15 minutes, Van finally laid down and snuggled into his sleeping bag. After staring blankly into the sky, Van turned on his side and watched the small ball of fur that lay on the opposite side. He listened to Sanji''s slow breath as he drifted off to sleep. The next morning Van awoke to the first rays of sunlight coming in through the tent flap. He could still hear the soft breathing that originated from the ball of fur. As quietly as he could, Van slipped out of his sleeping bag and out into the rays of the morning sun. The fire had died a few hours ago and it was time to restart it. A few minutes later, a crackling fire had been made in place of the ashes of the old one. Van had skinned a few rabbits and skillfully separated the edible meats from the guts. Pulling a metal pot out of his magical sack, Van hung it over the fire. Filling it with rabbit meat, spices, vegetables, and an appropriate amount of water, Van left the rabbit stew to cook while he got rid of the guts for any forest predators to feast on. As the rabbit stew finished cooking, Van could hear the excited squeaks and the rumbling of his and his furry little friend''s stomachs. Pulling out two small wooden bowls as well as a spoon for him, he ladled out a large helping for each of them. After placing one of the bowls on the floor for Sanji, the odd pair of man and mouse ravenously dug into the hearty meal that nature had provided them. As they ate, Van reflected upon the past year. So much had changed in his life-style because of his decision to go on that Beast Hunting trip. He had reached a stage that he could''ve never even dreamed of having in this life in a few months. As those thoughts flitted through his brain, Yu Lin decided that it was his moment to shine. His ego had bloated to epic proportions and he was ready to deflate it with a "quick" rant to Van. "Ah, it really is nice to see that kids these days appreciate their elders¡­" Van winced and tried to shut it out of his head with his Qi, but to no avail. Sitting in front of the dying fire, Van stared blankly into the distance as he listened to Yu Lin''s speech on Yu Lin''s "heart of a saint" and how "caring he was as an elder". A few hours later, the sun had moved quite a ways into the sky and Yu Lin had finally ended his rant, withdrawing into the recesses of his luxury orb. Having been stuck in one position for such an extended period of time under an enormous amount of mental pressure, Van had tempered his willpower pushing it to the next bottleneck. Trying to stand up, Van tried to prop his body up with his arm but stumbled as he tried to walk. His legs had fallen asleep on him and were refusing to wake up as quickly as he demanded of their services. Joyful and amused squeaks could be heard mocking Van''s unfortunate circumstances as he stumbled around for a full minute. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. After recovering, Van packed up his tent as well as utensils, after washing them in the river. Slinging his magical sack over his shoulder, Van set out once more with his furry friend on his right shoulder. Jogging across the dirt roads, Van headed towards his first checkpoint, Jade Bamboo City. A bustling line stood before the massive iron gates that led into the city. Guards at the 1st Stage of Dantian Formation processed the travelers as they requested entry into the city at the larger entrance on the left. Some, with a special jade pass signifying their special status, were allowed immediate entry in a smaller entrance on the right. Amidst the bustling line, there was a youth garbed in green robes. He seemed to blend in with the crowd and drew no attention despite how his outfit stood out amongst the crowd. Van was practicing using his concealment techniques. Being at the level he was, even the City Lord of Jade Bamboo City wouldn''t notice anything amiss not to mention these regular civilians and the gate guards. Slowly but surely, the line moved along and Van waited patiently, observing his surroundings with an apathetic glance. Children wailed as they felt the discomfort of the crowding and the adults discussed with each other in low hushed voices. An hour later, Van had finally reached the front of the line. He was met with the image of two bored guards standing on either side of the open gate holding spears while 4 of their compatriots were processing the line. With a quick glance at the identification papers, the guards would let them pass after a short inspection, sometimes resulting in the retrieval of some "contraband". But for those that passed over a wad of banknotes, the guards let them past with an ingratiating smile on their faces. To Van''s disgust, the guards would take extra "care" in the physical inspections of any females requesting entry. Although they were uncomfortable, they had to endure it with gritted teeth. After inspecting the woman that was in front of Van, the guard waved for Van to come up with disinterested eyes. After a few quick pats and a quick look at the inspection papers, the guard held his palm out discreetly and expectantly. Ignoring the guard, infuriated, Van grabbed his papers and started to continue towards the gate. "Hey! I''m not done with you yet you dirty immigrant! We have suspicions that you''re a spy!" With a wicked smile on his face, the guard stood in front of Van, stopping him in his tracks. "To prove your innocence, you''re going to have to follow me." Although he wasn''t in a rush, he hadn''t wanted to take part in this and display his power. But now that this guard had stopped him, he was going to be forced to give this guard a piece of his mind. Pulling out an ordinary saber, he angled it towards the ground. The guard stared at the youth in front with a mocking look. Since he did not sense a single fluctuation from this youth, he had immediately assumed that it was some country bumpkin hoping to embark upon the path of cultivation at Jade Bamboo City. Pulling out the sword from his scabbard at his side, he held with two hands in front of him. It was a standard-issue, but still shined with the appropriate look of a cultivator''s weapon. Laughingly, he said to the youth. "I, your dad, will show you the power of a true cultivator today! Pay attention closely." As he said that, he dashed towards the green-robed youth striking at Van from the left. Casually, Van lifted his saber moving it into position. Overconfident! The guard thought to himself as he continued with his plan, confident in his ability to break the ordinary saber. He could already see the youth split in two with a surprised expression plastered to his face permanently. Then, the sword and saber clashed. 48 Strength Revealed As the crowd heard the ringing sound of metal on metal, they looked with pity on the young man robed in green. In their eyes, the youth stood no chance against the guard at the 1st Stage of Dantian Formation in their eyes. But against the crowd''s expectations, the guard was instead the one who was sent flying. His sword had snapped in two and went flying, embedding itself into the wall with so much force that it caused a sizeable crack. The crowd stared at the green-robed youth as if they had seen a ghost. One of the guards that they feared so much had been defeated in one strike by this seemingly ordinary youth. The eyes of the children in the crowd sparkled with excitement. Subconsciously, they had already set Van to be their goal. The defeated guard lifted his head to stare at the green-robed youth in front of him, dumbstruck. He had taken Van to be a mere country bumpkin, beneath his attention, and had thought that he was going to give the youth a good dose of reality. Yet, it was him instead who had been taught the lesson. Coming to his senses, he got on knees and begged Van for forgiveness, shamelessly. "I apologize Senior! I am the one who has been disrespectful, please spare me! I''ll make it up for you!" Van stared at the kowtowing guard emotionlessly before parting his lips to respond. "How old are you, 30? Yet, you shamelessly refer to me as Senior. Stand up." The guard, embarrassed, stood up facing Van who seemed to be devoid of all emotion. Sweating nervously, the guard rubbed his palms together waiting for Van to declare his punishment. Grabbing a seat from one of the other guards nearby, Van casually sat down drumming his fingers on the chair''s wooden arms. Putting on an act of being a wise senior, Van stared with a seemingly aged look as he thought through how he would punish the guard. After rummaging through the many options, one of them stuck out. As such, Van decided he would go with that method of punishment. Clearing his throat, he announced the guard''s punishment. "Your punishment is... to do community service for a year and reflect on your mistakes. You will sign the contract in front of me and everyone else here to prove that you will commit." Pulling out a quill, a bottle of ink, and a binding contract, Van placed it on the cloth table that one of the other guards had just conveniently provided. Quickly writing the details of the contract, Van then put a line for the guard to sign his name and imprint his Qi. After a second glance at the contract, Van nodded to himself before handing it over to the guard. Everyone watched as the guard signed the contract with shaking hands. After signing it, the guard hastily dropped the pen and imprinted his Qi on the contract, pressing his thumb onto the designated area and directing a strand of his Qi. Instantly, the guard could feel the restriction of the contract taking effect. For a split second, his dantian had constricted reducing him to a mere mortal before restoring his cultivation base once more. The contract was like an axe forever looming over his head as long as it was in effect. If he violated the contract, a surge of Qi would flood his body and extinguish his cultivation, making him weaker than even the average mortal. Feeling relieved that he had gotten away with his life, the guard instantly started to kowtow to Van with a river of tears flowing down his face. Embarrassed, Van brought the guard back to his feet and reminded him to not relapse into his bad ways. After quickly rebuking the other guards, Van entered the city and disappeared into the bustling masses. Using his cultivation base, he was able to walk through the city without bumping into anyone else. He admired the massive city with eyes full of wonder and excitement. "So this is what a city in the Middle Continent looks like." Van thought to himself. Before long, he found himself in front of a rather nice establishment. A grand sign carved from inferior grade spirit stones with the words, "Jade Dragon Tea Pavilion" adorned the entrance of the 7-story pagoda. The youth found the place to be quite interesting and decided to pay a visit; his throat also happened to be rather parched from the journey. The first three floors of the pavilion were open to all as long as they had the money to purchase drinks and consisted of ordinary teas - not affecting cultivation. The next three floors of the pavilion required a VIP membership and comprised of spiritual teas that were extremely beneficial for cultivation. Finally, the top floor was only reserved for the most important guests - only guests personally invited by the Pavilion Master herself. The Pavilion Master was known to be Fairy Yu Lian. She was toted to be "as beautiful as a cherry blossom in the autumn" and her zither skills were said to be "as refreshing as drinking from a clear stream". That being said, the youth walked into this majestic pavilion unknowing of its reputation as well as its customs. First, he used a few banknotes that he had in his bag to try out the teas on the first three floors. But, none could satisfy his thirst. As such, he attempted to go up to the fourth floor but was stopped by two guards telling him that he had to own a VIP membership before he could go up. So, he inquired for information on how to obtain a VIP membership from the front desk. The attendant replied in a nonchalant tone. "Addressing the honored guest. To become a VIP member, you''d have to be a patron here for at least a year." Van''s eye started to twitch. He didn''t have a year to spend here. Having only cultivated for 13 years so far, a year was an extremely long amount of time for him. During that time, he could most likely raise himself by a major cultivation stage. And so, he inquired for another way. After some hesitation, the attendant replied once more. "Honored Guest... well... there is another way." Van could see the conflicted look on her face. Desperate for a decent drink, he slapped a banknote on the table. Seeing the banknote, the attendant immediately put aside her grievances and enthusiastically answered. "You could befriend a Manager or someone of higher status in the Pavilion and they could obtain for you a VIP membership." Afraid that Van would be dissatisfied with the information and take back his banknote, she deftly slipped it away in her pockets. His mind full of thoughts on how to obtain the VIP membership, Van thanked the attendant and walked back up to the third floor, purchasing a private room. Sipping the Purple Bamboo Tea, the finest tea of the Jade Dragon Tea Pavilion''s Third Floor, Van racked his brain to find out a way to get into the 4th, 5th, and 6th floors. "Should I just bribe a manager with my spirit stones?" Van thought to himself. But, if he did, he''d definitely be labeled as a fat sheep and taken advantage of. He wanted to stay low, his outburst at the gate previously was not something that he wanted to be repeated. The Flowing River Sect did not like its Sect Disciples revealing their affiliation and abusing their authority. As such, any sect disciple that wasn''t a core disciple and was caught flaunting their sect robes in the outer world would be punished severely. Being an Inner Sect Disciple, Van wasn''t excluded from this rule along with the fact that he had an Inner Sect Elder as his lifelong enemy who would definitely kick him while he was down, so he couldn''t afford to break any rules not that he planned to or anything. As he drummed on the table and sipped his tea lost in his thoughts, Van heard a loud disturbance. Opening the door to his private room, he peaked out to see an arrogant young man dressed in yellow robes with two guards at the First Stage of Dantian Formation flanking him. Everyone else had also peaked out to see what all the fuss was about. A malicious grin grew across the young man''s face. At once, he started to proudly declare his decree to the clients of the Jade Dragon Tea Pavilion''s Third Floor. "I am claiming this floor for my own, now please quickly evacuate!" At first, many clients started to sneer and some brave ones even told him to go screw off. But, this instead made the young man even more amused. "Do you not know who this young master is? Allow my lowly self to enlighten you. This young master''s name is Yu Chang!" 49 Rightful Place "Do you not know who this young master is? Allow my lowly self to enlighten you. This young master''s name is Yu Chang!" With those words, the many clients of the Dragon Tea Pavilion''s Third Floor displayed either looks of shock, regret, or a combination of both. Although they were rather wealthy and reputable, their power and backing could never match up to Young Master Yu Chang''s. With an ingratiating smile, the many clients started to shuffle out of the 3rd floor one by one until all that was left of the previously bustling 3rd floor was Van and another private room which housed an uncaring young master and his attendants. Cupping his hands in mock respect, Young Master Yu Chang "humbly" asked for Van and the other Young Master to leave. "To those still staying in their private rooms, could you give this Young Master some face and leave the 3rd floor?" Van ignored the man and continued to sip his tea, trying to figure out a quick way to make it to the upper floors. But, the other Young Master in the room next to him wasn''t as calm. One of the attendants parted the curtain to confront Master Yu Chang. Revealing his cultivation as at the 6th Stage of Dantian Formation, the attendant pointed at Young Master Yu Chang, telling him to be quiet for the sake of his young master. Beads of sweat formed on Master Yu Chang''s forehead as he bowed, profusely apologizing. Even the hidden expert protecting him was only at the 5th Stage of Dantian Formation. If he offended someone with an attendant at the 6th Stage of Dantian Formation, he would just be spitting in the face of death. Wanting to know the identity of the powerful Young Master, he decided to inquire of their identity. "May this humble one know of the venerated Young Master''s name?" In a respectful position, holding his hands cupped and his head bowed down, he awaited an answer. After a bit of whispering, Yu Chang heard the curtains part as the same attendant walked out. Expecting an answer, Yu Chang lifted his head and waited for the attendant to respond. The attendant stared at Young Master Yu Chang with disdain and responded to him. "The Young Master does not believe that you are worthy of knowing his name." Having said his part, the attendant sat back down in the private room. Twitching in anger, Yu Chang moved on to Van''s private room, prepared to let out his pent up anger. With unconcealed rage in his tone, he demanded for Van to move out. "THIS YOUNG MASTER DEMANDS THAT YOU COME OUT!" Thinking that Van had been scared out of his mind, Yu Chang laughed haughtily and continued his tirade. "You, a mere lowly country bumpkin, dares to take time in front of this Young Master? If I wasn''t such a gracious and forgiving Young Master, I would''ve ordered you to be executed. But, for the sake of giving the Dragon Tea Pavilion''s face as well as my nobility, I am willing to allow you to leave right now unscathed, but I will never forget this matter so be sure that I don''t find you." Despite Yu Chang''s shamelessness, putting himself as the noble one - when he was kicking out all the patrons of the 3rd floor - the audience was forced to clap as they were worried of offending the Young Master and his backing. They looked at the private room with pity. If the young man had just left earlier, he wouldn''t have to suffer such a shameless monologue, offended the Young Master, and spilled his tea. All of a sudden, an imposing aura, like that of an ancient Magical Beast, was emitted from Van''s private room. Everyone held their breath as they waited for the source of the imposing aura to reveal itself. Yu Chang almost peed his pants, not having expected such a formidable opponent to be behind that curtain. "I-I...I am Young Master Yu Chang! I am the 3rd Young Master of the Yu Family of the 5 great families of Jade Bamboo City! You can''t do anything to me!" Van had released a bit of his concealment technique, showing his cultivation to be at the 7th Layer of Dantian Formation. Slowly parting the curtains of his private room, he slowly lifted his head with a murderous glint in his eye. Placing one foot outside his room, his eyes scanned the room before landing on Young Master Yu Chang. His face darkened having found the source of the unprovoked aggravation directed towards him. "You...! IT WAS YOU! YOU WERE THE ONE THAT SPILLED MY TEA!" Shaking in anger, Van lifted his finger and pointed at Yu Chang. Looking as if he had seen the ghost of his ancestor, Yu Chang looked at his two attendants behind him for assistance. Glancing in the dark corner of the Dragon Tea Pavilion''s Third Floor, he implored the help of his Yu Family''s hidden expert. The hidden expert, noticing Van''s superior cultivation, had cowardly left. He was only an external elder in the family and had no loyalty beyond that of obtaining benefits for himself. Finding himself in a hopeless situation, Yu Chang fell to his knees and wet himself, pleading Van for mercy. "Please...! I''ll do anything! My Yu Family is one of the 5 great families of Jade Bamboo City! Even if I''m on the 3rd young master, they can provide you with anything you want! Wealth, riches, women, anything! Please... spare me..." Van stared at the pitiful Young Master Yu Chang in disgust, he hated those who feared the strong and bullied the weak. Although he was tempted to ransom the young master to extort the Yu Family out of a big chunk of their resources, his disgust, and the importance that he put in abiding by his ideals triumphed over his greed. Infusing a strand of Qi into his palm, he made a horizontal cutting motion in front of him. Yu Chang stared at Van, flabbergasted. He tried to speak but found that not a sound had come out. Grabbing his throat, Yu Chang lifted his head. His gaze was full of shock and unwillingness as the light left his eyes. A line of crimson had formed on his neck and grew until his head had separated from his body. Blood started squirting everywhere, but Van surrounded his body with Qi to protect his green robes from being dirtied. His eyes full of disgust, Van wiped the blood on his fingertips on the robes of the deceased Young Master Yu Chang. 50 A Cup Of Tea Giving a warning look to the two attendants of the recently deceased Young Master Yu Chang and the hidden expert in the shadows, Van walked towards the stairs, intending to leave. The crowd parted before him. But, before he could take a step down the stairs, a feminine voice spoke up in a respectful tone. "This Young Master would like to inquire of the talented youth''s esteemed name." Turning around in surprise, he was met with a stunning young woman with three attendants. The attendant that had confronted Young Master Yu Chang before, with the cultivation base at the 6th Stage of Dantian Formation, stood next to her with his arms crossed. Scanning his eyes across Van''s body for any threats, the attendant seemed ready to spring and lay down his life for his mistress if Van showed even the slightest sign of hostility. Admiring the attendant''s fearlessness and taking notice of the Young Mistress'' formidable aura, he fully turned around and decided that they were worth having a conversation with. Having done so, he spoke up in reply. "My name is Van Nguyen. I am just a lone cultivator passing by." Displaying a warm smile on his face, he was prepared to leave the Dragon Tea Pavilion and continue on to explore the rest of the city. But just as he was about to leave, he was stopped by a soft hand on his shoulder. He turned around in shock to find that the Young Mistress had personally stopped him. The male attendant and her other two female attendants stared at their young lady in shock. They had never seen her initiate physical contact with any male until today. They immediately exclaimed their shock. "Y-y-young Mistress! It is inappropriate for you to personally approach a male outside of your family!" Ignoring their protests, the Young Mistress instead spoke up once again in invitation. "Would you like to join me in drinking some tea?" The attendants once more spoke up in protest. "Young Mistress! You must not drink alone with a male stranger, especially those of unknown origin! Who knows what intentions he has?!" Once more, the Young Mistress disregarded her attendants'' advice and instead stretched her hand out to Van In invitation. Her instincts had told her that she was connected to this young man through fate and the feeling this time was so strong that she just couldn''t ignore it. Besides, she currently had a need for talented young geniuses. As Van was contemplating whether or not to accept her invitation, he overheard a few statements from the crowd. "Such a lucky genius, getting invited by the Young Mistress of the Dragon Tea Pavilion herself for a cup of tea. I''m jealous." "Maybe, I should''ve killed that Young Master Yu Chang. Although I would''ve offended the Yu Family, I would obtain the approval of the Dragon Tea Pavilion''s Young Mistress. Aiya, so jealous!" "How can I dare to decline an invitation from the noble and fair young lady? Besides, my throat happens to be parched from overworking myself recently." With a shameless smile adorning his face, he accepted her invitation, shaking her hand. Dragon Tea Pavilion''s Young Mistress quickly withdrew her hand before waving for Van and her attendants to follow her. They walked past the guards on each floor, who quickly withdrew to the sides after seeing the Young Mistress. Finally, they made it to the 7th floor. The 7th floor was split into 4 different rooms with only one of them being currently occupied. The Mistress walked into one of the empty rooms and sat down at the large circular table, gesturing for Van to sit as well. Admiring the luxurious interior design, he chose the chair opposite to her. The male attendant stood outside guarding the entrance while the two female attendants stood on either side of the Young Mistress. Initiating the conversation, the Young Mistress invited Van to have some tea. "Shall we have some tea, Young Master Van?" Trying not to seem too eager, Van nodded slowly. To pass the time while waiting, Van decided to see if he could find out more about her identity and true motives. With these intentions in mind, he started to ask her some questions. "So, first off. I would like to know your name. Although I know of your identity as the Dragon Tea Pavilion''s Young Mistress, it would be easier to talk if we knew each other''s names." Looking back in hindsight, Van realized that he probably should''ve waited for the Young Mistress to reveal her name before revealing his name. Although his name was not known to the public yet, as he was a new Inner Disciple, it wasn''t something to be carelessly thrown around either, especially if he became reputable in the future. Luckily for Van, the Young Mistress was willing to give Van her name. Covering her small red lips with her sleeve, she giggled before responding. "Responding to Young Master Van''s question, this one''s name is Liu Meirong." Replying to Liu Meirong, Van responded with utmost courtesy. "So, it is Fairy Meirong''s presence that I am graced with. I am honored." Saying so, Van cupped his hands and gave a short bow in polite greeting. Van was about to open his mouth and ask Liu Meirong what her intentions were directly, when they were interrupted by a server parting the curtain and bringing in the tea. A pleasantly fragrant smell floated across the room, giving a mind calming effect to all that could smell it. It even brought a small reaction from his treasure body. The server placed the two tea cups in front of Liu Meirong and Van, in that order, and picked up the porcelain pot, ready to pour the tea. After pouring the cup for Liu Meirong, the server was waved away by Liu Meirong. Placing the pot down on the table, he bowed before leaving. Liu Meirong then picked up the pot and personally poured the tea for Van despite the female attendants beside her insisting that they could do it. After that was said and done, Fairy Meirong and Van started to sip the tea. Although both sipped the tea, both of them had different secondary actions. Van had become completely engrossed in the flavor of the tea, savoring every sip and eventually drinking the entire cup. The coolness as it slipped down his throat, as well as the mellow Qi that flowed from the liquid into his meridians, had brought the youth into a trance. Being a scholar, he had taken up the habit of drinking tea and enjoyed the taste of tea many times, but none of the tea in the past could compare to even a single drop of the tea that he currently enjoyed. On the contrary, Fairy Meirong had only taken a single sip and observed Van with a studying gaze.