《Exiled Clan》


 -1 Some Knowledge

    Prana- Sanskrit equivalent of Qi or Chi, the vital energy which exists in all things.


    Magical Beasts ¨C animals capable of cultivation. Some are innately magical and simply grow stronger over time, while others must actively practice a cultivation method. They tend to be much more intelligent than mundane animals, and some are capable of speaking in human languages. Magical Beasts that have reached a high stage of cultivation may even be able to take on a human form


    Demons¨C Born when an animal, plant, or even an inanimate object absorbs spiritual energy over a long period of time and then gains spiritual awareness. Or different Demon species like Vampires Ghouls etc. Not inherently evil, although many have antagonistic relationships with humans. but can be good too, consider them Chaotic Neutral


    Devils or Fiends-Evil spirits/creatures of remarkable power and cruelty, evil cultivators emulate them by practicing devilish cultivation methods and committing atrocities in their pursuit of power. Chaotic Evil.


    Ghosts- I don''t need to clarify this we all know what ghosts are


    Cultivator¨C a person who trains in martial \u0026 mystical arts, generally in order to become powerful and increase their longevity. Meditation and the cultivation of Qi/chi/prana are common practices among cultivators.


    Rogue Cultivators or "Loose Cultivators". Independent cultivators unaffiliated with any sect, clan, or other martial organizations.


    Devil Cultivators \\Demon Cultivators. Wicked cultivators who emulate Devils and seek power by any means necessary. They are often said to follow the Devil Path in opposition to the orthodox Immortal Cultivators.


    Sect ¨C an organization dedicated to the practice of cultivation and/or martial arts. Typically led by a Sect Leaderor Patriarch. With the help of Sect Elders, they instruct Disciples in the proper methods of cultivation or training in the martial arts styles of the Sect. The Disciples live in the Sect, which provides for their daily needs. There is practically always a strict hierarchy amongst members of a Sect, and respect for the elder generations is demanded.


    The common Disciples are divided into another hierarchy of Core Disciples, Inner Disciples, and Outer Disciples ¨C based on their level of talent and meritorious service to the Sect. Disciples higher on the hierarchy have greater status and receive more resources from the Sect.


    Religious Sect¨C a sect with a strong religious background. If the religion being practiced is evil, then this term is translated as a Cult.


    Clan¨C an extended family related by blood, sharing a surname. They often pass down heirlooms from generation to generation along with secret cultivation methods \u0026 martial arts styles which were developed by the clan''s ancestors. They tend to guard these jealously from outsiders.


    Association¨C also k/a Union, Gang, Clan, or Brotherhood. A loose organization of people. The members may have something in common, like sharing a particular way of life, or they may simply be working together towards a mutually beneficial goal. Not religious in nature.


    Society¨C a secret society. Similar to Associations for the most part, but cloaked in secrecy and deeply involved in rituals/traditions. Sometimes religious or cult-like in nature.


    Escort Agency¨C a protection agency for hire. Escorts typically work as bodyguards for travelers and merchant caravans.


    Cultivation¨C the process of improving health, increasing longevity and growing powerful. This is accomplished by cultivating Qi and training in immortal \u0026 mystical arts. In many of these novels, the ultimate goal of cultivation is to become an Immortal or attain godhood.


    Cultivation Method¨C a mystical art or collection of techniques that cultivators practice in order to cultivate.


    Cultivation Base¨C the amount or capacity of refined Qi possessed by a cultivator.


    Manual¨C a book containing detailed instructions on training in a cultivation method or martial arts style. Usually regarded as extremely valuable and thus kept secret (or at least, not made publicly available).


    Sutras \u0026 Scriptures ¨C sacred writing. they typically pertain to cultivation or immortal arts. Used more or less interchangeably with "Manual".


    Dantian- the region in the body where a person''s Qi/Prana is concentrated.


    Meridians¨C the network of vessels/channels in the body through which Qi/Prana flows. Like blood vessels, but for Qi instead of blood.


    Qi Circulation¨C the act of controlling Qi to flow from the dantian, through the meridians, and back into the dantian in a cycle usually, it helps replenish stamina, purify the Qi, or strengthen the meridians.


    Breathing Exercises- A special way of breathing which expels the turbid Qi within the body and draws in the Qi of the natural world. An essential part of cultivation.


    Meditation¨C a practice for training or calming the mind and spirit. Cultivators spend a great deal of time in meditation, as both the cultivation of Qi and contemplation of Insights generally require it.


    Closed Door Training¨C also called Closed Door Meditation or Closed-Door Cultivation. Training is done in seclusion, usually to focus on breaking through a bottleneck or to avoid becoming distracted at a crucial moment and suffering a backlash as a result.


    Insight¨C related to enlightenment. Cultivators usually gain insights by meditating, engaging in life-or-death battles, or going out into the world to experience new things. These insights are often needed in order to master techniques or advance to higher stages of cultivation.


    Internal Demons ¨C literally translates as "Heart Devils". Rather than standard demons or devils, these are a practitioner''s negative emotions and other mental barriers that hinder their training/cultivation. Internal Demons, in some cases, can even attack the practitioner from the inside, and failure to adequately resist them may result in Qi Deviation.


    Qi Deviation¨C A state wherein the cultivation base becomes dangerously unstable, causing internal damage to the body and symptoms of psychosis. People who succumb to their Internal Demons, who practice cultivation/martial arts incorrectly, or who rashly use forbidden arts are all at risk of falling into this state.


    Bottleneck¨C the term for when cultivators figuratively hit a wall in their training and it suddenly becomes incredibly difficult to proceed. When they reach a bottleneck, cultivators may require new Insights, the aid of medicinal pills, or even harsher training in order to make a Breakthrough and successfully bypass the bottleneck.


    Ranks / Levels / Layers¨C a common way to quantify martial power or the progress made in cultivation. In many cases (although not all) where these are used, there are 9 ranks/levels/layers to each stage of cultivation, with rank 1 being the start and rank 9 being the peak. After breaking through to the next stage, the practitioner starts at rank 1 of that new stage. The number 9 has a great deal of symbolism.


    Another set of commonly used terms are Early-stage, Middle-stage, Late-stage \u0026 Peak


    A half step to ¨C refers to someone who''s infinitely close to breaking through to the next stage of cultivation, but hasn''t achieved it yet.


    Qi Condensation¨C also known as Qi Refining or Qi Gathering. An initial stage of cultivation which involves absorbing Qi from the natural world and refining it inside the body.


    Foundation Establishment¨C also k/a Foundation Building. The stage after Qi Condensation. Once a cultivator''s Qi crosses a certain threshold (in the volume and/or density of the Qi, they''ll be able to break through to this stage.


    Core Formation- The stage after Foundation Establishment. It involves forming a Golden Core


    Nascent Soul¨CThe stage after Core Formation, The Nascent Soul resembles an infant or miniature person and resides in the Dantian, typically sitting in a meditative position. In some cases, the Nascent Soul can travel outside the body and is like a second life for cultivators ¨C if their main body dies, their consciousness can continue to exist in the Nascent Soul.


    Immortal Ascension¨C The stage wherein the cultivator becomes an Immortal and his lifespan extends indefinitely.


    Spiritual Sense¨C also known as "Consciousness" or Divine Sense. An ability possessed by cultivators to scan their surroundings (far beyond the limits of their ordinary 5 senses) with their spirit. The distance/total area they can scan corresponds to the strength of their spirit. Also used to remotely control magical items such as Flying Swords and spiritual weapons.


    Essence \\ Blood Essence- It''s basically "lifeblood" or "life force". Powerful techniques sometimes require cultivators to spend Essence, shortening their lifespan as a result.

 1 Transmigration gone wrong

    Rudra was dead,


    "So this is what becomes of a person after they die a ball of light"


    It was a strange feeling for him as he could see everything around him, it was the fabled 360 degrees eyesight and there were no blind spots in his vision, looking at the ground below him he could see his body that had frozen to death as well his somewhat cloud-like current appearance.


    "Dammit I can''t accept such an unjustly death", he roared in indignation.


    He had died on the mighty Himalayas when a fragile ice bridge broke, he fell in the fissures and froze to death.


    But what now? he asked himself, Will a reaper come to collect his soul or will a stairway descend from the sky.


    He started imagining his ball form jumping up the stairs to reach the heavens when he felt a strong suction force pull his soul.


    Ugh he felt a severe headache and queasiness it was like getting seasick, His ears were ringing and he felt sluggish as he finally came to settle his mental state.


    Rudra rubbed his glabella while slowly opening his eyes and he was greeted with green. He found himself leaning up against a big tree in an open field, a lot of grass around him with more trees after that as he was apparently in a clearing with no one around him.


    "God damn, what happened...?"


    "Wait what is this..."


    He looked at his hands, they looked rough and wrinkly. He then stood up and started feeling up his body only to realize that he had become an old man.


    He began coughing frantically until there was blood in his palms.


    "What the heck I transmigrated into a nearly dead coot"


    He started scanning around the place, not seeing anyone in the vicinity besides a few hopping bunnies, though they looked a bit strange with those horns sticking out from their temples.


    A herd of cows with golden metallic bodies grazing on the fields.


    "D-did I just get sucked away into another world? "


    "Argh...."


    A sudden jolt of pain attacked his brain and a lot of information entered his brain. He suddenly felt a sharp pain; his head started throbbing while he collapsed to his knees tightly grasping his head as he squirmed around the grassy ground. His legs started twitching around and kicking to the sides as he rolled side to side while holding his head with both his hands and screaming in pain. He could feel information being injected directly into his brain.


    The old man was called Rishi Giri he was the third elder of a back trodden clan. He had been robbed of his cultivation of Foundation realm by an evil cult. He had reached the end of his life-force and perished under the tree; at that moment Rudra''s soul had taken control of this body. But the body was very weak.


    "Don''t tell me I am going to die again after coming to this fantasy world"

 2 Grand Wizard

    "Okay, phew.... let''s calm down..."


    He felt the information insert itself into his brain, which was a lot of gibberish at first but after a while, he managed to piece it together as it was mostly information about the world he was in right now. He found out that the world he was currently in was very mystical.


    According to the old Rishi''s memory, the planet was similar to earth but a lot larger, the size of the sun was enormous. Quite a few moons were surrounding this planet, which he could even see now in daylight as they were quite close by, some looking green some gray and others red.


    This place was called the Profound Moon continent where there was no science or technology. There were endless waging wars and warriors raging everywhere!


    Many dwellers here showed mysterious abilities after their awakening ceremony which happened after a child reached 13 years of age. Some had the power of lightning, some could control plants, some could tunnel into the earth, some could use the chill of frost, and some were capable of communicating with demon beasts...


    People with these various abilities would all become warriors, and their abilities were referred to as Immortal Spirits.


    Immortal Spirits were nearly all possessed at their ceremony, and only very few could acquire a spirit afterward through some stroke of luck.


    Not every warrior could possess an "Immortal Spirit", in fact, the majority of warriors weren''t blessed with one. Ordinary people could train hard to become a warrior, but there was no way to obtain an Immortal Spirit through training. Immortal Spirits were so powerful that they could benefit a warrior''s training, increasing their combat potential significantly and granting them their own special abilities...


    As a result, among warriors of the same level, those who owned an Immortal Spirit tended to be much stronger and achieved significantly greater results. They did half the work with double the results.


    The "Immortal Spirit" can be inherited through blood, plus there was a higher probability where one inherited the Immortal Spirit.


    In general, if one of the parents possessed a spirit, there was a high possibility that their child would inherit the same spirit. If both of the parents had a spirit, their child would have an even greater chance to inherit one of their spirits, either from the father or the mother.


    There was only one in a hundred chance that a couple, who both possessed an immortal spirit, would give birth to an ordinary child.


    Even rarer was the situation where the kid inherited both spirits from his parents. This inherent type of Immortal Spirit was called "Twin Spirits", It only happened to one in ten thousand couples who possessed different Spirits.


    Rudra stood there and continued to put the fragmented memories in order.


    The original owner of this body came from the Giri Family. They possessed different Earth-type Immortal Spirit which could make the body as hard as a rock in battle, preventing damage to the body. As said fighter raised their cultivation, the Immortal Spirit would become much stronger, to the point where they were almost indestructible but no one in his family had cultivated to that stage.


    After skimming through his memories he couldn''t help but feel sorry for the old man; he was a righteous man who was a gallant and chivalrous; who had always walked on the path of light; this had caused him to be enemies with an evil cult, which then led to his cultivation and life-force being destroyed.


    A normal foundation realm cultivator has 150 years of life but due to him having lost his cultivation it was like being a mortal; he who was 100 years old now had already lived such a long life due to common life-prolonging pills that increased 1 or 2 years of life.


    But the next part caused him to choke on his saliva he was a 100-year-old grand wizard


    He even had 2 elder brothers who were both in the Foundation Building Stage of cultivation; his eldest brother had suffered a Qi deviation when attempting to enter the Core formation stage and had damaged his meridians.


    His clan was a clan of deadbeat failures which had been in decline for generations now and it seemed that he was going to be the last of the cultivators that his clan bore.


    The Earth that was his clans'' affinity with a minor bit of fire, lightning, water, wood, and metal mixed in but mostly earth. Which was a trash affinity in Rudra''s opinion, Wouldn''t all heroes and MCs have lightning or fire heck even wood and water were better than earth.


    But he couldn''t complain now; his clan had a total of 30 members from 3 branches of the clan; their clan had been in a decline for many generations.


    When all three of the elder generation failed to reach core formation they had believed that their descendants would outshine them and fulfill their wishes but none of them were able to even become foundation realm cultivators.


    Now the only hope was the younger generation of clan members; his nephew and their children but they didn''t have any better aptitude for cultivation either they weren''t able to attract the attention of any sect except for the eldest son of his second brother.


    Out of 30 clan members, only 3 have successfully awakened their Immortal Spirit.


    Rudra mulled over the situation of the Giri clan when one of the 3r gen skipped over to him."Third Grandpa lunch is ready, please come eat with us"


    After which the child skipped back humming a song; Rudra followed him while being in an internal struggle


    ''Fuck what do I do now? I am not even sure how to act as an elderly, do I act like Yoda''


    ''Listen to me, you must hmmm'', amusing himself with such jokes in his mind Rudra followed the youngling to the clan manor.

 3 Uneventful Life

    Rudra followed behind the child which he remembered was the grandchild of his second brother. His name was Darak.


    ''Well this is awkward how does one talk to his grandchild''


    As he was wondering if he should start a conversation they had already reached the front door of their manor. It was big as a luxurious villa in his previous world standards but in this world where immortals built castles for even their pet dogs, this mansion could only be considered a humble abode.


    He soon found the gathering room from his memories and sat on one of the empty chairs the whole dining table was filled with children ranging from 5 to 10 they were the third generation, the women of the household were serving food to these children, they randomly popped up fill his dishes with food and ask if he needed anything else, he just sat composedly eating food that he was served, He realized that the able men of the house have gone out into major towns to work this included his second brother and nephews, only he and his eldest brother were left in the manor with the women and the children. Suddenly the hall filled with children''s laughter and crying quietened down.


    He then saw his eldest brother enter from the adjacent room and sit in the central table surrounded by an oppressive aura around him, it was only natural that he was the leader of the clan he had been a signing star.


    The whole clan could have been living like kings if his brother had broken into Core formation stage he would have been accepted as a sect elder and all of their clan would have had their status elevated and gain opportunities to practice martial arts manual but it had all turned into a dream when his cultivation suffered deviation amidst a breakthrough.


    Rudra also quietly ate his food and then went to his bedroom and locked himself in and began thinking about his plans.


    ''I don''t have much time to live I might die just from a single cough''


    ''Think fast think of something''


    ''The clans a dud they can''t help me in any way''


    And he turned in his bed for the whole night racking his brain to come up with some solution but his current circumstance seemed impossible to escape.


    Then there was a knock on his door he jumped out of his bed to open the door,


    "Rishi come follow me", his eldest brother handed him a bottle and started moving,


    Rudra clenched the bottle in his hand and hurriedly followed his eldest brother they walked quietly for a while when they reached the bank of a lake, he seemed to remember that this lake was called DimPearl lake because about half a century ago there were many dull moon pearls found in this lake that slowly got depleted till there were no more left.


    They both sat down quietly then he and his brother started drinking; after a few taking a few sips of the drink he realized that he was drinking alcohol.


    ''Fuck alcohol this dumb brother if I drink in this condition I might as well drown myself in this lake'', Rudra cursed in his mind as he knew that the alcohol might finally do his body in.


    Suddenly his brother started talking,


    "Rishi we are burdens on our families, two extra mouths to feed we are worse than the children in our household who look after fields, we have no craft, no scholarly education we have nothing to teach to our kids."


    Perhaps due to alcohol the old man finally let loose crying about his circumstances,


    This was when Rudra realized that this what the pass-time that both these old men have developed, these two brothers would drink and cry themselves out in each others company by the lake


    Now was when old man Rishi would cry to accompany his older brother thinking about this


    Rudra wanted to cry ''Bro u are two grown old bastards crying to each other while acting all high and mighty to your grandchildren''


    Suddenly his elder brother said "At least Miller can take care of the family his talent in the martial field was worst of us three but he still preserved for the clan"


    Rudra agreed out of the three brothers the second brother Miller was the most fortunate one of the three of them still in one piece he still had 50 years of life ahead of him he may even be able to breakthrough to core formation stage but others had little confidence in his breakthrough because he had no interest in cultivation he was a business-minded person who was the one supporting the clan financially with the help of the second generation.


    Miller was his second brother while his eldest brother was called Roebuck they all were blood-related brothers.


    The next few days passed uneventfully for Rudra all he did was eat sleep and drink with Roebuck.


    The whole Giri clan should have been unfamiliar to Rudra but strangely he felt quite attached to them and his life sunk in without a hitch, he attributed it to the memories of Old Rishi that he had integrated into him causing such familiarity and attachment with the Giri clan.


    The chill life of an old man was stressing Rudra out who was thinking about how to change his fate.


    He could not just walk to a town even if he wanted to; he was just a mortal and the demonic and magical beasts living in the forests might just make him a snack. But even he couldn''t do anything he was just an old man with no power so he just spent his days with the Giri clan and even accepted his fate as Rishi Giri their third elder grandpa.


    Only 1 person from his family was accepted in a sect it was his 2nd brother''s son who was accepted as an outer disciple for some 3rd rate sect.


    Most of the clan members lived in the nearby town called Pine Leaf Town with his second brother and helped him run a merchant convoy in the town.


    Using his connections and money the second brother was able to get one of his sons into the sect and was able to afford education of some slightly scholarly members of the family hoping they may become clerks or assistants of a city official and support the clan financially in the future.


    The most feasible plan Rudra had come up with was to move in with his clan living in Pine Leaf town as a town may provide him with a better opportunity to break the shackles of fate than this poor clan manor which was in the middle of farming hills that his clan cultivated to grow food which was just about enough to feed its people and not enough to sell.

 4 The day it all changed

    Rudra was plowing the fields with his thin arms he was exhausted very quickly but in this world, with no internet or tv, this was what Rudra had picked up on as a hobby, farming it was not the best hobby but it kept him busy of his time 3 months have already passed since he had come to this world and since he had become Rishi Giri he had no prior experience as a farmer he had grown some potted flowers in his balcony garden but how can that be compared to real farming. Each day he would come here with some teen from the clan who would help him in the fields. He had been feeling very proud lately,


    ''I really know how to act like an elder hoho... look at these babies, I am mentally just like their age but haha it''s fun to just to act like an old gramps can''t deny the perks"


    As Rudra was amusing himself he felt he could go for a swim in the lake,


    ''Maybe I can try fishing''


    '' I have never fished before all I know is that any normal 21st-century guy would know but I really wanna eat fish the only meat I have eaten since coming to this world is the simple catch from the forest or our home reared chicken''


    He carried a net from his home and moved to the bank of Pearl Lake


    ''I don''t have a fishing rod, should I first try using a spear to fish first then I can try the nets at last''


    He started sharpening a branch from a nearby bush to make wooden spears with his knife,


    ''Hmm this will do''


    Then he started to catch fish in the bank of the lake but his aim was so poor he couldn''t even catch one of them.


    Soon he started swimming trying to catch fishes using nets he reached the middle of the lake


    he was enjoying swimming in the lake water he blamed himself for not trying this earlier he was an excellent swimmer.


    ''Looks like I carried my swimming talent over with me, the water here feels cold and nice unlike the ones in my previous world all of the polluted''


    While he was humming a calming melody and swimming without a care of the world he was astonished to find a spire in the lake.


    "What is this?"


    He quickly swam near the top of the sunken tower it was a jet black tower it appeared as if it was absorbing all the light around it he had never seen a tower so grandiose like this one in his life carved intricately to form various runes from what little information he had of the world it appeared to be a mage tower or was it a cultivation abode of an immortal cultivator?


    ''Why does it flicker in and out of sight?''


    "Will there be danger?"


    He hesitated a bit before diving downwards


    ''What am I afraid of maybe this is my breakthrough in hit s world maybe I can find a life elongating pellet that may just expand my dried out life by a few years the commons ones don''t work on me anymore.''


    He reassured himself, After diving down he came across the entrance to the tower and entered it swiftly there was a lathery layer on the entrance when he entered it the inside of the tower was void of the water.


    ''Damn I almost drowned there it was a long way down here who would build a sunken tower''


    he had confirmed his suspicion that it was an underwater tower due to the soapy film at the entrance


    ''People of this world were a bit too hmmm...''


    He was pondering over stuff when he heard loud footsteps coming towards him, he quickly hid near a pillar.


    Hoo a large Goat headed Monstrosity passed by the pillar he was headed behind towards the entrance it was about 8 meters tall and carried a massive ax in its hand.


    ''Fuck I almost screamed in horror I know I''m in a fantasy world but shouldn''t the beginner monster be goblins I can''t take this stress my luck would get me killed again''


    He quickly ran down the corridor in the opposite direction of the goat monster soon he reached the helical stairway part of the tower.


    ''Usually, the fun stuff is at top of the tower but as the cultivator who built it is retarded; let''s go down instead''


    Rudra ran down the stairs till his joints started hurting


    ''Damn this old body, huff huff'' but he kept on running till he reached the end of the stairway which was a large lobby empty except for a casket in the middle,


    ''Ha...ha.... this much effort just to bury a dead body, and u leave no treasure behind not even a candlestick''


    ''Lets first open the coffin maybe he buried with his treasure'', he was too tired to even move so he sat on the ground to catch his breath.


    "I hate stairs the most, my poor knees"


    After a good 15mins of rest, Rudra stood up and moved to the coffin removing the lid


    He saw a bald man with a lion tattoo on his bald head and his entire face. He was buried with a book and a mace.


    "Yoink, Maybe its cultivation manual haha it''s truly my lucky day"


    Rudra took a book moreover tried opening it but he couldn''t open it fuck don''t tell me my arms don''t have the muscle to open this book. But suddenly his hands froze because he saw the bald man staring at him with his one hand gripping the book.


    "Fuck, I''m dead", cried Rudra

 5 A lucky grave digger

    Han Zu was a late Core Formation demonic cultivator that was breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage, He had chanced upon a secret realm where he had found a mausoleum of a dead cub of a Heavenly Nether Lion, he wanted to refine his bloodline into heavenly Nether lion bloodline which would allow his chances of reaching the Nascent Soul realm to increase.


    He skimmed around the back trodden area of the continent only to find the invisible Moon tower submerged in the pearl lake.


    The Moon tower was one of the outposts of an ancient extinct sect they were known to be stingy towers as there were many of them scattered around the continent but all of them were fruitless.


    But this moon tower was unique cause it was still absorbing moonlight essence that helped it to remain invisible and the residual essence spread in lake water that produces moon pearls that were a bit dull thus the lake was called DimPearl Lake.


    He had occupied Moon tower and barred himself in the basement; he was trying to use the moon essence to suppress the chaotic nature of Heavenly Bloodline and use it to refine his body and break into the Nascent soul stage in one go.


    He had been cautious when planning his breakthrough he had even made two late foundation realm demonic puppets that could smell the living and had them patrol the tower in case an intruder disturbed his efforts.


    He carved out an array with a life jade coffin as the eye of formation, everything was ready and he entered the formation with his weapon that he planned to refine as his soul weapon once he broke through to the next stage along with his cultivation manual and his space ring and started cultivating inside the coffin.


    Soon 50 years passed and the lake that once produced the pearls had run out of pearls and the former obscure tower though still invisible from a distance was visible when one reached close enough.


    Han Zu was at a critical time of his refinement of the Heavenly Lion Bloodline; he had been greedy instead of just refining the blood from the dead body he had devised a plan to get his second heart which would be his demonic heart so he had transplanted the Lions heart as his second heart, this would allow him to have a second life he was very pleased with his decision at first but now he was regretting it. He had never thought that the Lionheart would start resisting his body and even started to make his cultivation go haywire he was having very much difficulty and was in a very weak state he still cultivated the Demonic Second Heart manual to try to tame the Lion Heart.


    It was one of his demonic techniques one of many such techniques that his precious manual held, Han Zu was an independent cultivator that had been lucky in his early days to join a Demonic Sect which was later destroyed during one of the righteous crusades by the Light Faction of Sects, He had snagged this manual and his spatial ring in the moment of chaos from a dead elder of this sect.


    This had given him a foundation for his cultivation he worked as a gravedigger digging around tombs and mausoleums to gain riches, in one of these runs he had encountered the dead cub of a Heavenly Nether Lion.


    At present, Han Zu was seething in rage at the fact that a mortal had actually wandered into the formation and had even disturbed his cultivation.

 6 Exiled Demon Sutra

    Rudra''s brain flashed with many ideas almost instantly he picked up the mace and bam bam bam


    he repeatedly bashed the mace on the face of Han Zu.


    The bashed head of Han Zu was crushed to a pulp and he let go of the book.


    Rudra slid down to the side of the coffin and sat on his knees,


    "That was easy",


    He flipped open the cultivation manual, it was a thick black manual with a Skull with four horns on its sides and top.


    Opening the book the first page read


    "Exiled Demon Sutra"


    "Demonic cultivation, is it the only way remaining for me to cultivate again?", Rudra thought to himself.


    "A Demonic Manual that was too demonic even for demons that they exiled it hmm what a bullshit"


    "Everything is yours to take, you like something, take it, snatch it, devour it, make it yours, ho ho why didn''t you name this manual Great Thief Manual"


    After reading the for a while he realized the gist of the Exiled Demon Sutra,


    "The Great Devouring Art" was the base technique in manual learning it would allow a person to devour various essence to build up one''s essence, body, and soul.


    "Devour blood, Devour the sun, the moon, the living the dead all of them make you stronger"


    ''Demon Body, Demon Spirit, Devil Soul techniques'', these were some of the techniques with their description in the manual.


    Various diagrams were showing how to cultivate Different Demonic Qi variants and the materials required to make certain pills which questionable effects, sketches and descriptions of species of beings of different Demonic World.


    ''A technique that allows me to grow wings and extra appendages also third eye heck ya''


    ''But what''s up with the requirements for these techniques, fly with wings of Verdant Eagle, the Blood, and Horns of a Hell Bull for horns''


    ''Why can''t I flip any more pages are these pages glued together or something'', after some pages the manual pages were stuck together and he was not able to flip the page no matter what force he utilized.


    ''Maybe you need some minimum cultivation to flip the page''


    "What is this locked content nonsense"


    "So do I practice this manual or not?"


    As Rudra was still in dilemma about whether to walk on the demonic path or not he felt a hand clamp his neck and trying to squeeze his life...


    "Argh...."


    He struggled to free himself from the choke but he could barely contend in strength being an old man and mortal one at that.


    Han Zu was super pissed right now he couldn''t believe he was bashed to till his teeth broke he was going to skin this old bastard alive he cursed he was choking him;


    He was a cultivator of Core Formation Stage he had barely recovered after the good bashing our mc had given him, He was about to pop the head of mc to exact his vengeance, when suddenly the Lionheart in his body started going berserk then he realized that the heart was still alive and it contained a powerful soul.


    ''Fuck it is a soul attack'' he thought as an intense pain raced through his soul.


    The lionheart contained a soul he had been duped he couldn''t help but curse himself for being so naive to think that it was so easy for him to get the body of Nether Lion, the cub was probably waiting for an unfortunate soul like him to sacrifice himself so that the Lion may take over his body.


    His suspicions were confirmed when a massive Black Lion with Red Fiery Mane entered into his Spiritual Expanse.


    "I''m gonna chop you up" Hua Zu roared as his soul charged at Lion soul, as both of them started the tussle for control of Hua Zu''s body.


    Rudra felt the choke on his neck lessen he quickly freed himself from the hands that were clamping him and sucked in a breath of air,


    "Huff Huff....."


    "I almost died there", the blood flowing into his brain calmed him a little but his heart was beating very fast he could hear his heart and his whole body was trembling.


    "Bastard I''m gonna make you pay"


    Rage made Rudra escape his dilemma, "Its a dog eat dog world and I''m gonna be the big dog of this yard"


    Blood was on his mind he flipped through the manual once more and memorized the Greater Devouring Technique.


    He stormed to the side of Hua Zu who was busy Fighting to preserve his soul.


    Rudra pressed his hand on Hua''s abdomen and activated the Great Devouring technique.

 7 A Demon Awakens

    Han Zu was fighting in his Spiritual Expanse when suddenly fear gripped his heart he could feel the Great Devouring techniques being used on him he felt his cultivation being sapped his gold core started shaking and several cracks started appearing on it.


    He became desperate and his fight with the Nether Lion became even more intense he was regretting his decision of not killing the old bastard when he had the chance too,


    .....


    ...


    ....


    "Huff Huff... fuck I can''t go on like this", Han Zu''s core was on verge of breaking but Hua Zu was caught between a rock and a hard place if he tried to stop the mortal he would be abandoning his Spiritual Expanse. If he didn''t stop the bastard outside his core might break and he may even die because of the Great Devour Technique.


    To a cultivator below the stage of Nascent Soul his soul has his most extreme flaw this allowed Nascent Soul cultivators to be an invincible foe for the Gold Core Cultivators as even the simplest Soul Attacks from a Nascent Soul cultivator might reap the life of an unfortunate Gold Core cultivator.


    Suddenly Han Zu started overpowering the Nether Lion fighting like a berserk beast using his teeth and arms to tear at the Lion like a beast he knew he was desperate as he was not willing to die like this by a puny lion cub soul and an old coot.


    He ripped apart two of the lion Limbs and lost an arm himself he was determined to devour this soul and then go and kill the old man he was just about to deal the final blow to the lion soul when he felt his core break.


    "Noooo...." Hua cried


    "My core, my core no-no no....I''m gonna burn your soul for all of eternity I''m gonna torture your soul....."


    Hua had not even finished his craze when he felt his life force leaving his body, His body suddenly started to age his hair started falling his energy in dantian was now leaking out in even more rapid ace his Spiritual Expanse started shaking,


    He suddenly felt a hand pierce through his chest his eyes opened only to see a middle-aged man with back hair that was partially greying at the sideburns and the end of his hair in commoner garbs but the cruel smile on his face reminded him on his days in the demonic sect.


    Hua suddenly felt fear he opened his mouth to speak and a mouthful of blood poured out,


    "Please spare me please", he begged but it was all for naught he felt his heart being plucked like an apple plucked from its tree.


    "No please no" he called in indignation, he was reminded of every evil deed he had done in his life, his every sin,


    "Is this karma, is this my punishment from the heavens"


    "No I can''t accept this" he tried to channel his energy trying to stop his demonic heart from being stolen.


    Hua roared in indignation but the suffering was yet to end as he felt the palm yet again pierce his chest but this time it went for the lionheart he had wanted to cultivate as his second heart.


    "NO I am a demon too, I won''t die here I will kill you I will devour you" Hua roared as his arm pierced through Rudra and started the Great Devouring Technique.

 8 The feeling of skipping levels is amazing

    When Rudra started the Greater Devouring technique he felt a sudden influx of energy entering his body hmm soon his body started swelling up with energy.


    He quickly referred to the Exiled Demon Manual, so many demonic Qi to choose from let''s go with Demonic Qi of Marauder, Marauder, as described in the manual, was primarily an Earth and berserker demon.


    As for his clan''s predisposed affinity to the trash element Earth, he chooses the Marauder Qi.


    The absorbed demonic Qi from Han Zu started to revolve around in Rudra''s body as per the circulation systemic of the MAual soon he felt a burning sensation in his previously drained dantian and Marauder Qi started accumulating in his dantian.


    The Qi was like a mass of gas that had accumulated,


    Qi Condensation stage 1


    "Haha I can finally cultivate again "


    but the feeling of elation kept on puffing in his heart as his cultivation raced like a supercar on a race track.


    Qi Condensation stage 2


    Qi Condensation stage 3


    Qi Condensation stage 4


    Qi Condensation stage 5


    Qi Condensation stage 6


    Qi Condensation stage 7


    Qi Condensation stage 8


    Qi Condensation stage 9


    at last, he reached the late-stage of Qi condensation but the energy he was absorbing seemed to have no end.


    In Foundation Building Stage the Qi condensed in form of gassy clouds changed into drops and soon accumulated into a liquid essence which was then solidified into a core during Core Formation.


    But that was for the normal path of cultivation. Demonic cultivation was very unorthodox and varied from


    "Duck what now do I break into Foundation Building Stage, how does one do that?"


    He flipped some more pages in Exiled Demon Manual, ''So now I have to turn my heart into a demonic heart hmm could I rather not, it looks ugly even in pictures''


    ''Fuck the energy is overflowing again''


    Suddenly his eyes were drawn to a demonic technique called the Severing Heart Technique it allowed for quick harvesting of others heart,


    "Truly a demonic technique",


    ''Hmmm but using this with this other demonic technique called Second Heart Technique might just work''


    Rudra with the cheeky smile from his joy of cultivating to late Qi condensation stage used the Severing Heart Technique.


    His palms dug deep into Han''s chest and he plucked the heart which was completely black from Han.


    "Hmm now let''s transplant it into my body" Rudra used the second heart technique to transplant the demonic heart using the extra essence that had accumulated in his body other than the Marauder Qi, it''s a Willow Demon Qi foundation base, a Wood element; guess it would compliment his Marauder Qi that was an Earth-based essence.


    He quickly tried channeling all his Marauder Qi from his dantian and accumulate it all into Willow Demon heart the Willow Demon heart started changing as it accumulated Marauder Qi,


    Rudra realized that he might just utilize the characteristic of this heart to cultivate some Wood-based demon Qi he skimmed through various Demon Qi to find a Wood attribute Demon Qi called Yaksha Demonic Qi.


    Yakshas were known from their Life-based magic they could sap the life out of a person or grant life, being one from the various Tre-Ent race, they were solitary Tre Ents, that was known to collect the souls of deceased and shelter them in their branches.


    He started cultivating Yaksha Demonic Qi into his Dantian converting the energy still being absorbed by the Great Devouring technique into the Yaksha Demonic Qi. This would help him to strengthen the heart to hold both the and the Marauder Foundation Base and Yaksha Foundation Base.


    He used essence to destroy the Willow Foundation Base constructed in the heart by Han.


    Soon his Yaksha Demonic Qi also reached Late stage of Qi Condensation,


    He started breaking through to Foundation realm building two different Foundations in two different halves of the Demonic Heart.


    Half of it forming Yaksha Demon side and the other half of the heart forming Marauder Demon Side.

 9 Lacking a regen ability

    Foundation building Stage was meant to create foundations for a vessel to store the liquid Qi that one accumulated and this vessel then condensed along with Qi to form the Core of a cultivator so the vessel created must be of a standard quality if one wanted to smoothly advance in his cultivation, breaking of foundation vessel during accumulation of liquid Qi caused many cultivators in foundation stage to never be able to reach core formation in their life or worse the poor quality of foundation may affect the core formed making it unstable or deformed many other precautions must be taken that is why foundation building stage was the most important stage in cultivation.


    Although foundation creation was a lengthy process comprising of a cultivator constantly using essence and Qi to improve and perfect his foundation to improve one''s prospects.


    Rudra was currently in the process of using a late-stage Core formation cultivators essence to make his dual Yaksha and Marauder foundation he formed both of the foundations easily as he had memories of Old Man Rishi building and improving his foundation vessels.


    The Marauder Foundation Base constructed by him looked like an Earthen pot while the Yaksha Foundation Base looked like a Wooden Bowl; he improved the quality of the bases by Reinforcing it with a massive amount of Qi and then he started converting the condensed Qi into the liquid form the Marauder Qi converted into a Brownish Grey liquid that started accumulating into the pot while The greenish liquid of Yaksha Qi in the wooden bowl.


    He had successfully entered Early Stage of Foundation Establishment in just one day his smile grew even bigger.


    The Elated Rudra became alerted when he heard a Lion Roar in his Head, he was pulled into a Whitish space where he saw a Black Lion with a Red Mane staring down at him the Lion was double his size.


    ''Don''t tell me heavens caught me this early and sent me a Divine Punishment to face''


    Rudra was frozen stiff in front of a massive Heavenly Nether Lion who said in a deep voice,


    "Puny Human consider yourself lucky that I have chosen you to carry out my bidding, I want you to rip apart the other heart in that vermin''s body before he dies"


    "Ummm Mr. Lion can I ask u where are we? and what makes u so sure that I will carry out your orders"


    "It is your Spiritual Expanse, here u are just a mere bug, a single swipe from me can extinguish your soul"


    "How did u enter my Spiritual Expanse..... and where are 2 of your legs?"


    "Of course I can enter into your Spiritual Expanse a normal Human cultivator can only be enlightened about his Spiritual Expanse when he reaches Core Formation Stage you have no way of guarding your spiritual expanse while being a hmm..... go back quick before he recovers his strength"


    "Quick take my heart back from that bastard before he dies you have sapped him all his Qi"


    Rudra felt as he had woken up from a dream he realized he had stood like a statue with a dumb facial expression plastered to his face all this time.


    ''The lion told me to take his heart; Did this man try to use a Lion''s heart as his second demonic heart''


    ''Well whatever that''s just extra heart for me''


    He once again used the Heart Severing technique and plucked the Lion Heart from the body of Han Zu.


    But before he could use the Second Heart Technique to place the heart inside his body, Han Zu roared and charged at him.


    The arm pierced Rudra through his abdomen and he felt his cultivation of foundation realm shaking, the earthen pot and the wooden bowl started producing cracking sounds he grabbed Han''s arm and tried to separate it from his body but he failed to remove it then he realized that he may have sucked out this man''s qi and a massive amount of lifeforce to strengthen his own.


    But he had forgotten about the Body of a Core Formation Cultivator coupled with the willow qi which was Wood elemental Qi had allowed him to quickly recover when he had bashed him with the mace.


    ''the mace right''


    Rudra reached out to the mace and gave it a massive swing directing it at the head of Han Zu.


    BAM


    Han Zu was thrown some distance away from.

 10 Become a Lion

    Rudra caught his breath and sucked hard he felt alive again; Today he had various clashes with the death, he felt like he might just die here if he was not careful.


    He quickly inserted the lionheart into his chest are after adjusting some organs. Which was pretty easy to do now cause there was a gaping hole in his abdomen.


    "Fuck"


    He cursed looking at the hole in his body that was not healing while he looked at his opponent whose injuries were disappearing at a visible rate.


    "Its the cursed body cultivation and his wood qi"


    He too tried to use his Yakshis qi to soothe his wounds but as he did not learn any healing techniques he could not heal any of his wounds.


    Hua Zu''s next action made Rudra almost quit and surrender; Han took out a sword and a pill bottle from his space ring.


    "Fuck I should have snagged it off his finger when I had the chance.", I can only blame my noobisness to make such an error in judgment.


    He raised his mace to defend against the sword strike delivered by Hua.


    "Argh...", the impact from the collision of the weapons caused Rudra to almost drop the mace.


    The momentum of the battle was in Hua''s side he slashed continuously with his sword and Rudra having no prior actual battle experience could only defend with all his life.


    But still, he was hit multiple times and numerous cuts started appearing on his body, he could only thank his luck that he had sucked Hua out of his qi due to which he was not able to easy any combat techniques.


    Rudra who was adjusting to the rhythm was suddenly flung across the hall when a kick landed on his chest.


    BANG


    "Ugh...", Rudra coughed up a mouthful of blood and the mace was thrown away from his hand due to the impact.


    He could feel that his back was broken He raised his head to see Han Zu walking towards him in a slow pace he knew that his fate was decided but he wasn''t willing to go down till there was no breath left in him.


    For a second he considered running away from this fight but he couldn''t he could feel that his tendons were severed he could hardly stand. He tried to crawl and stand up using the support of the wall.


    He was standing up with his body weight on the wall behind him his eyelids were barely open, he took out the knife he had used to sharpen the wooden spears.


    But could mortal weapons even harm a Core Formation Stage Cultivator he didn''t know?


    Slowly Han Zu reached in front of him, he took a swing with his knife only to be dodged by Han.


    This was his first time fighting a real death battle he was out of breath he could barely open his eyes he was wobbling.


    Han Zu took a swing and impaled his arm with the sword the pain caused him to drop his knife.


    SWISH


    Han took out the impaled sword only to impale his thigh this time,


    SWISH


    "Argh..."


    Rudra roared in pain all of his limbs were impaled this man in front of him wanted to toy with him till he died then he saw Han Zu grabbing at his head.


    "You owe me a favor remember that Kid", he heard a deep voice that he had heard somewhere before; but he couldn''t remember all the blood loss had caused him to become lightheaded.


    He suddenly heard a Lion roar but it was not in his head but from his body.


    The third heart in his body was burning hot, he felt like his whole body was on fire. It started pumping blood like crazy in his body he suddenly felt that his whole body was on fire.


    The muscles of his body started to expand and become white, white like snow clear snow white he felt himself becoming taller his thigh expanded his tattered garb exploded.


    "Did I just become the Hulk", he mused but why am I white.


    No, I am not a hulk he realized glimpsing at his hand and touching himself all over his body he had become a half lion and half man, with a face, legs, and paws of a lion but the torso and arms of a human, And the distinct red mane that looked like flames he was ruffling.


    ''Quite soft''


    "But why am I white in color did I become an albino Lion hut..."


    ''I wonder if my little brother transformed too'', while Rudra was thinking crap in his mind he was reminded that he had the battle to finish.


    BAM, the floor below his cracked as his Paw like Legs.

 11 Enemy Reinforcemen

    ROAR


    A sudden roar emerged from his mouth as Rudra charged at Han Zu


    BAM


    A single punch caused Han''s face to meet the floor,


    "Let''s go Punk", Rudra laughed as he picked up Han as a ragdoll and flung him away


    "It feels like throwing a pillow across the room"


    "I might just get addicted to this feeling of overpowering enemies with sheer muscle-power"


    "Here a suplex"


    BAM


    CRACK


    Han Zu was being tossed around in the room as Rudra tried various professional wrestling moves on his body multiple bones have cracked in his body but he was still able to hold on using his Body cultivation.


    He was suddenly reminded of the Demonic Puppets that he had refined, he quickly commanded them to run towards his location.


    While Rudra was enjoying bashing his opponent he felt heavy footsteps coming from the stairs and then two large monstrosities entered into the chamber, one of them was the Goat headed ax man he had dodged before while the other one had a Sheep head and was wearing a metal gauntlet.


    They both rushed towards him and attacked at the same time.


    BAM


    His claws collided with an ax and punch from both of these monsters,


    "Aiieeee"


    It hurts, his claws started bleeding, he realized that he couldn''t best these in muscle power


    He ran towards the mace while all three of his opponents attacked his back,


    "I''m gonna bass your heads in, you A**h*les"


    Rudra dodged multiple attacks on his back while rolling and jumping.


    Finally, he did a roll and flip and picked up the mace in his hand and sprinted towards Han Zu bashing him on the head once more, he realized that his bald head that once contained a lion tattoo had now disappeared


    ''Was it because I took the lionheart, guess I''ll ask Mr. Lion about it''


    BAM


    Rudra was trying to overpower his opponents but 3 on 1 was too much for him; he had realized fighting for so long that the two monsters were a bit stiff and were knuckleheads he only needed to dodge them around while focusing his attacks on Han Zu.


    He suddenly watched Han Zu trying to pick up the manual,


    "NO...."


    He made a mad dash towards Han Zu not caring about the gauntlet punch by the sheep that had just landed during the rush,


    BAM


    He quickly snatched the Manual and started flipping its pages while trying to defend himself from the attacks of Goat''s Ax.


    "Here it is, Demon Puppets; so this is what they are, puppets with only physical power, hmmm....."


    ''So they are immune to spiritual attacks as don''t have a soul in them''


    ''They are like dolls''


    ''They are being controlled by this bald bastard''


    ''Wait, Kill the bastard''s soul, yes, that''s what I will do that will stop these two maniacs from stopping me''


    Rudra quickly formulated a plan to counteract, he knew he couldn''t beat these guys in a test of strength.

 12 Devilish Technique of Soul

    He had found it the perfect combination of techniques to battle in the Spiritual Expanse


    So the Spiritual Expanse is the mental space of a cultivator and devils primarily cultivated their Mental Strength, they had many weird Mental Techniques.


    But in this Exiled Demon Manual he quickly memorized some,


    ''This will decide whether I can walk out of here alive or not''


    His thick claws grabbed hold of Han Zu


    "Spiritual Breach"


    He felt his soul enter into a Spiritual Expanse but this time it was Han Zu''s Spiritual Expanse,


    Han Zu was surprised to see Rudra enter into his Spiritual Expanse but before he could even make a sound


    BAM


    Rudra delivered a jab to the face and caught hold of an arm of Han


    BAM BAM BAM


    after various repeated punching with his fists, Rudra quickly activated the Soul Devouring technique of the Devils.


    Rudra ripped apart Han Zu''s arm and used the Soul Devouring technique the soul arm of Han Zu disappeared into his body and he left a sudden increase in his power.


    "ARGH....., I won''t let you have your way with me..."


    Han Zu also started the Soul Devouring technique, But Han Zu being a Gold Core Cultivator had a stronger soul so the battle of souls quickly tipped in the favor of Han Zu


    "Challenging me in my Spiritual Expanse was your biggest mistake and this place will be your grave", Han Zu laughed assured of his victory as Rudra''s soul body started to dull.


    Suddenly Han Zu''s soul was flung away from Rudra


    ROAR


    The Lion with only 2 of his lungs intact attacked Han Zu


    "I will kill you too" Han roared as he rushed towards the Nether Lion


    This allowed Rudra to catch his breath, ''I almost got myself killed there''


    ''The Lion and the Baldie are battling it out''


    "Don''t forget about me; you baldie"


    Rudra jumped onto the back of Han ZU and use Soul Devouring Technique.


    BAM


    Rudra was flung off


    But he rushed in again to attack Han and use Soul Devouring Technique on him continuously


    While Rudra was using Soul Devouring Technique on Han Zu, and Han Zu was also using the Soul Devouring Technique on Nether Lion.


    ....


    ...


    ....


    ....


    ...


    "Huff Huff....", Rudra was able to completely devour Han Zu''s.


    "I''m alive "


    Rudra laid down to rest for a moment when his soul was expelled from the Spiritual Expanse and returned to his body.


    He saw he was still holding onto the head of the now lifeless body of Han Zu and the two monsters were frozen stiff like statues.


    He looked at his hands as it returned to being human and his height started shrinking.


    ''Hoo looks like I won''t have to be a lion for the rest of my life.''


    Wait where the Lion he quickly used the Soul Gate technique to enter into his Spiritual Expanse.


    "Where''s the rest of your body, Mr. Lion?"


    "What do u mean where is it it''s in your soul, You absorbed the rest of my soul body with that bastard soul", spoke the Nether Lion who was just left with his head.

 13 Abomination of a soul

    "You, why do u have two heads", Lion opened his eyes and looked at Rudra''s soul body.


    "Two heads what are you talking about did the baldie make a hole in your brain"


    "NO look you are two different souls merged into one"


    "WHAT.....", Rudra was shocked to find that there was another head on his shoulder.


    At this moment he appeared to be like a twin-headed ogre if he could look at his only reflection now Rudra would have realized that the other head on his soul was the original owner of the body Rishi Giri.


    "That soul is asleep, how do you have two souls merged like that kiddo?, It wasn''t there when I last pulled you in here", the Nether Lion asked Rudra.


    Rudra was confused, now was it the soul of Han Zu, that he had just absorbed. But the Devilish Technique did not mention this side effect of using it or was it.... he was suddenly enlightened so that''s how it is.


    Rudra quickly passed his hands over the other heads finding its head filled with long straight black hair.


    ''At least it''s not the damn baldie.''


    ''Shouldn''t ol''man Rishi be in the afterlife''


    "You said it was absent the last time I came in here," Rudra asked Nether Lion.


    "Yes you were pretty normal the last time"


    "Wait", Rudra returned to his body and started searching the manual for some information on Souls and Spiritual Expanse.


    "So that''s how it is, I guess, I can make assumptions on what happened"


    He read about some beings that formed multiple souls in a single body, The ogre when evolved into its rare variant the twin-headed ogre it''s soul would become bifurcated....


    ''Hmmm, A technique to merge different souls to produce a Chimera soul'', the gears of Rudra''s brain turned as he hatched an insane idea.


    He quickly memorized the content of the Chimera soul producing technique and returned to his Spiritual Expanse to find the Black Lion head closing his eyes again.


    "Hey, Mr. Lion What plans do you have?"


    "That''s none of your business kid"


    "I have an interesting proposition for you, Mr. Lion"


    "....."


    Rudra took the silence as a yes and started telling Mr. Lion how the body belonged to the sleeping head with long hair on his shoulder and he was also a foreign soul in this body belonging to an old man.


    He spent about an hour convincing the Lion to merge his soul into the twin-headed soul of Rishi and Rudra.


    "Ok I agree but my heart would be in my control"


    "I agree to that" Rudra answered happily


    He picked up Lion''s head using his mane and placed it on his shoulder.


    "Chimera Soul Merge"


    He suddenly felt the pain he had experienced before during the time he mad probably merged with the soul of Rishi.


    His mind was flooded with memories of a Heavenly Nether Lion Cub who was ostracized from his tribe because of his black fur,


    Heavenly Nether Lion was a species of Lion that had betrayed the Demonic World to defect to the side of Gods which had allowed them to gain a Whitecoat of fur but being born with a black fur; Yali was seen as an ill omen for the tribe. Despite being the child of the Tribe Leader of the Heavenly Nether Lions he couldn''t stop the glares of his tribe men.


    Later he was killed while leading an Expeditionary team into a new world that they had discovered, his Father then built a life-preserving formation in the world, And he went to the underworld to fetch his son''s soul back so that he may revive him.


    But he didn''t know that Yali had already preserved his soul using a Mystical technique that allowed hid soul to leave his body when his body was killed. He stuck his soul close to his heart and fell in a stasis state that would allow him to absorb more essence to strengthen his soul and he may be able to reform a body after a century or two using the heart as the source, but his plan was derailed when Han Zu waltzed in his resting place and yoinked his body along with the heart.


    When Yali woke up his heart was being assimilated by Hua Zu.

 14 I hear voices in my head

    After assimilating with Yali Rudra quickly started phase two of his plan,


    "Chimera Soul Split", Rudra strained his Metal strength to split himself into three different personalities Rudra Rishi and Yali respectively.


    "Did I succeed?"


    The middle head of the soul which looked exactly like Rudra in his previous life spoke up,


    "HA HA HA It worked remember your promise kid, I will control my heart" the Black Lion head roared.


    "Hmmm, I thought I died how come I''m alive again?"


    "Cheer up old man your luck is not bad, you had the luck of meeting me ha ha ha....."


    Rudra returned into his body.


    "I''m a genius haha my plan worked"


    Suddenly Yali''s voice sounded inside his head [Kid learn this technique], the technique appeared inside his head,


    "Self Visualisation Technique"


    He used the Self Visualisation Technique he felt a tiny bit of Marauder Qi being consumed from his Demonic Heart.


    Suddenly he was surprised to see himself


    ''When did I become a middle-aged man'',


    [This body is very weak] Yali''s said


    [we need to reconstruct the body]


    "What reconstruct, the body", Rudra was surprised to hear the suggestion.


    [Yes we can reconstruct a mortal body it is very easy, This body has used up all its potential it might even burst Monday not being able to contain the cultivation of various energies in our body]


    Rishi who was skimming through the combined memories of the three was finally able to get a good understanding of what had happened till now, he was near dead when Rudra''s soul had merged with his own and after devouring Han Zu''s soul his soul was able to recover and become separate from Rudra''s which had then been merged with Yali''s soul using various Chimera techniques.


    At present, there was only 1 soul in the body but with three different personalities as all the memories of three had been shared as if they were a single being but using Chimera Soul Split technique three different identities have been created The old man Rishi, The kid from another world Rudra and Yali a Heavenly Nether Lion.


    As Rishi was mulling over things he heard something about reconstructing the body,


    [We need to create a new mortal body that can be cultivated this body cant be cultivated, its dantian is ruined its bones are aged and it has exhausted all its potential]


    "Do you have an idea?"


    [Yes you Great Devouring Art on the body of that bald bastard and its three puppets]


    "Ok Boss", Rudra rushed towards the now dead Han Zu and the lifeless statues,


    "Ho ho moving these things is quite hard"


    "Oh I almost forgot about this, Yoink", Rudra snagged the spatial ring from Han Zu''s finger


    Let''s see what''s inside, Rudra used a bit of his mental strength to peer inside the ring and a variety of stuff appeared in his vision but almost all of his vision was occupied by a body of a Black Nether Lion.


    [We will use that body too]


    [Every creation must first be followed by Destruction, we will first ground these old bones to dust and create new stronger bones]


    As Rishi and Yali were discussing the torturous regimen for body reconstruction,


    Rudra was zoning out humming the RKO title track,


    ''I hear voices in my head''


    ''they talk to me''


    ''they understand me..."


    Unaware of the dark time that would follow....

 15 Reconstructing the Body

    While Rudra was busy daydreaming Yali and Rishi finalized their plans for the body reconstruction,


    [Snap out of it kiddo]


    "Hup so how do we start"


    "On it",


    [Lay down in the coffin, it would help ease the process]


    Rudra took of the space ring on his finger and collected the Manual and Mace


    PLONK


    ''How did that guy sleep in here it so uncomfortable'', Rudra grumbled as he lay in the coffin.


    He dragged the three corpses near the coffin and used the Great Devouring Art on them,


    ''Feels like sucking a straw to drink juice''


    The bodies started deforming and cracking and converting into energy he felt Yali and Rishi cooperate to move these different essences into different parts of his body.


    [Keep Devouring it I will start the reconstructing the body]


    CRACK CRACK CRACK


    "Aa....", Rudra almost screamed his lungs out.


    He felt his bones being turned to dust he quickly activated the Self Visualisation Technique.


    Rudra clenched his teeth till they started clattering he dug his fingers in his palm till it started to bleed, the pain was too intense for him he was trying his hardest to hold on.


    ...


    ...


    Wake up


    ....


    up....


    "hmmm, what happened?", Rudra realized that he had lost consciousness


    [Wake up kiddo nows the time to absorb my real body]


    Rudra moved out of the coffin and used Great Devouring Art on the body of Yali.


    The Nether Lion body burst into a pool of blood almost forming a small puddle around Rudra.


    [Hold on its gonna be more painful than last time]


    As Rudra stood in the middle of the blood pool, the blood was already up to his waist, However, the blood in the pool started to move around as if it was alive, creeping up and down his body like vines. Seconds later, his whole body was tightly bound and covered with blood.


    The crimson blood in the pool was like vicious snakes, untiringly wrapping around him until it formed a bloody cocoon.


    A wave of intense pain spread throughout his body. Rudra felt as if his brain was being sliced into pieces. It felt even worse than death. It was as if tens of millions of tiny worms were drilling into his body and squirming around in his arms, legs, bones, and viscera; eating away his blood and flesh.


    Rudra couldn''t see anything. He wanted to scream, but couldn''t make a sound, and neither could his body move.


    A strange liquid started flowing slowly along his ribs like a small stream and tore open his veins wherever it passed. Then the liquid rapidly accelerated and separated into many strands, madly surging into his body.


    The pain in his head grew stronger, in his dazed state, Rudra felt some weird changes happening within his body,


    A completely different circulation system with golden-colored vessels connected with the lionheart was running side by side of his blood vessel. The Lion Heart started forming Heavenly Nether Lion blood which then started flowing in these vessels.


    As this thought flashed through his mind, he fainted.

 16 A Man of Many Operating Systems

    "Crack!"


    A big slit cracked open on the blood cocoon, and Rudra jumped out. Looking around, he found himself in that hallway. However, the blood pool and the corpses had all dried up!


    In the dried-up blood pool, only a few pieces of broken bones and some black sludges were left, the bright red thick pool of blood had disappeared without a trace.


    A huge glittering blood cocoon, as thin as a wafer, towered in the center of the empty hall. However, after Rudra only glanced at it, he ignited a small flame ignited at the bottom of the cocoon. The flame grew wildly and started to burn the bones. In a few minutes, the blood cocoon and the bones were all burned to nothingness.


    Producing simple spells such as a flame or a breeze was possible even for those, who didn''t have an affinity for these elements. Rudra knew some of these simple incantations. These techniques were known as Mystical Techniques, Mystical Techniques were different from Immortal techniques as one must have Qi corresponding to that Immortal Art to be able to practice the Immortal techniques, while one could use Mystical Arts with any form of Qi.


    The burning cocoon and bones left behind ashes which he blew away producing some wind.


    "HAHA, I can finally use simple incantations.", Rudra laughed in delight.


    He had healed his body and Dantian now he could start cultivation Immortal Qi Manuals and Mystical Arts.


    He used Self Visualization Technique to glance at his newly formed body, A smooth-skinned Young Master this is what came to the mind of Rudra this body checked every mark on the list of Young Master...


    Long black hair check, jade-like skin check,....


    "What the hell? Did u really had to make me look like a silk pant"


    Rishi angry voice sounded in his mind causing him to flinch


    "No....", he muttered realizing, it was normal for the body to have Rishi''s face when it had been reconstructed from old man Rishi''s body. But it couldn''t stop Rudra from grumbling dis-satisfyingly at the fact that they didn''t even try to add some muscle mass.


    Muscle Mass, yes he had become the hulk no Lion earlier that had some sick muscles, he quickly asked Yali.....


    "Hey Yali, how did you turn me into a White Lion earlier?"


    [It''s a secret art of my tribe, you can try to morph again]


    "Morph?"


    [Concentrate your attention on your Beast Heart and tried to envision yourself as a Lion]


    Rudra concentrated on his Lion Heart he felt the Lion Heartbeat faster and the golden-red blood inside his newly constructed vessels burn hot,


    ROAR


    He felt his body expand, muscle bulge. Rudra liked this feeling of being buff and overflowing with pure power.


    A white lion with red mane was flexing his muscles in an empty hall without realizing that he was naked.


    HAIYA HAYA


    "I will it, my beast mode hut hut, I can''t wait for some villains to shit their pants at the site of my grandiose form"


    "Self Visualization Technique"


    He quickly glanced at his current Lion form reveling in its glory he seriously considered if he could rather use this body that the Silk pants version.


    A tall figure of a being with a head of Lion but the remaining part of human


    "Wasnt I more Lion the last time how did my palms and feet become human too"


    [I remodeled it a little you can change any part of your body to that of the Nether lion that means you can become a complete Heavenly Nether Lion too]


    Soon Rudra willed himself becoming a Lion; after some time he realized that he was standing on his four paws.


    "I really did change into a Heavenly Nether Lion"


    Rudra was able to see himself changing into a 4 legged beast. He quickly turned back into a human as he remembered he had been stuck in this tower for who knows how long.


    "Having multiple-body forms sure is amazing, it''s like running Windows7 and Windows 10 on the same Pc"


    Rudra packed up all of the stuff and threw the manual and mace inside the spatial ring. He wore the spatial ring on his middle finger and started climbing up the tower.

 17 A secret child of third Grandpa

    Rudra moved up the stairs and reached the hallway that took him to the entrance of the tower, he debated with other residents of his brain whether or not to search the tower for some goodies.


    At last, they decided it was not worth the time.


    "If there was something in the tower I''m sure Han Zu would have already yoinked it", Rudra assured himself and walked out the soapy film and started swimming up towards the surface of the lake.


    "Yo, didn''t I come here originally to catch some fishes.", Rudra sped off towards a school of fishes.


    After an hour Rudra walked out on the bank of Dim Pearl lake. carrying a pair of big fishes in both of his hands. Both of these fishes were about half his size in length.


    "I wonder if the lake would start producing the pearls again", Rudra was pondering whether he could use his clan members to fish for Moon Pearls while glancing at the calm and peaceful Dim Pearl lake.


    He was certain that the lake would start producing the pearls again after all the problems Han Zu had been taken care of by him and with no source of outlet for the energy absorbed by the tower ie, the moon essence would naturally flow into the lake.


    As he was busy brainstorming he felt the wind on his crotch and he shuddered,


    "Wait why am I naked."


    He quickly searched through now his space ring to find some spare robes and quickly put it on.


    "The sun''s going down let''s go back home first", Rudra dashed towards the Giri Manor.


    Before the sky turned dark and the several moons of this planet came out Rudra reached the entrance of the manor. He entered into the building only to be greeted by one of the children


    "Who are you Mister, Do u want me to call someone for you?"


    "Ha Ha, kid don''t tell me you forgot your third elder...."


    "That jokes not funny mister, Third grandpa has been missing for months...", the child spat out


    "No, I... I...."Rudra stammered while he cursed himself inwardly for forgetting that he had his body remodeled, nobody would accept the fact that their grandpa suddenly reversed his age to become younger.


    He was racking his brain to think of a reply fast and how to get out of this quagmire of a conversation.


    Suddenly more people started coming from inside the manor to the entrance.


    "You look familiar.", he suddenly heard a loud voice coming from an old man which he recognized as the second elder in Giri clan Miller.


    Miller stood face to face with Rudra scrutinizing his face, when he suddenly started laughing


    "HA HA HA, Shin don''t be rude to your uncle."


    "....." Rudra turned stiff ''What is this idiot thinking'', but before he could intervene Miller continued


    "Ah the resemblance is uncanny you look just like the third brother we always knew he was hiding something from us. Let me take a closer look at you, my nephew."


    Miller''s word stunned everyone present there.


    Old Man Roebuck walked out of his room towards Rudra,


    "That bastard Rishi I knew he was up to no good, to sire a secret family and not even tell me about it, What''s your name kid?"


    Rudra who was thinking that this development was favorable for him in the long run quickly replied


    "Rudra I''m called Rudra."


    "How old are you kid?"


    [16 tell them you are 16 ]


    "16...."


    "Hmmm looks like you are quite young"


    "Are you his son or his grandson?"


    "He was my father", Rudra was grimacing within ''one has to tell more than a hundred lies to cover up a single lie'', but this was better than explaining to them that he had cultivated a Demon Sutra.


    "Shin settle your uncle in one of the empty rooms of the manor he must be tired from his journey"


    As he walked off with Shin, he could hear other clan members whispering to each other about their third Grandpa having a secret family away from the clan.

 18 A cracked Mountain

    "Uncle you can use this room, for now, If you need something please let me know.", Shin left Rudra to his own devices after escorting him to one of the rooms in the manor.


    As the Giri Manor was located in an isolated countryside where only members of Giri clan lived so all the chores were done by clan members'' they couldn''t hire a maid even if they wanted to. Giri manor was located very close to a village called Dim Pearl Village because of its proximity to the Dim Pearl Lake, most of the villagers were involved in either farming or fishing for pearls but when the Lake was exhausted of all of its pearls; the population of the village took a hit and the final nail in the coffin was the formation of Pine Leaf Town, which incentivized for the villagers to relocate to the town.


    Now the town was abandoned and the only people residing in the area were the people from Giri Clan.


    Rudra settled down on the bed and planned to cultivate Qi in his Dantian.


    He was going to cultivate the same Qi that the whole Giri clan cultivated the Verdant Mountain Qi.


    It had already been cultivated by Old Man Rishi so he knew all the ins and out of this Qi.


    He sat in the Lotus Posture and started cultivating his the Verdant Mountain Qi soon a cloud of brown qi with a tinge of green started gathering in his Dantian, Rudra was elated he started cultivating with even more concentration. Shin had come to call him over for dinner but seeing him cultivating decided it would be unwise to disturb Rudra so he left. The Night passed and with the first light of the dawn, Rudra broke into Qi condensation Early Stage.


    "Cultivating is a slow and gradual process but why has my Beast cultivation progressed so much in just one night."


    Rudra cursed at the unfairness of the World. He had realized that Magical Beasts being the darlings of heavens did not require one to cultivate even if they slept their body automatically cultivated.


    That was why most beasts only needed to eat and sleep. His Beast Cultivation which was being let''s say managed by Yali had advanced 2 steps in its cultivation while he had only entered Qi condensation 1 stage.


    He had been told by Yali that the Beast cultivation system differed from Humans.


    It involved refining every part of its body, which was why the various parts of Magical and Demonic Beasts were seen as treasure because they had accumulated different forms of Qi.


    He also came to know that Elemental affinities were even stricter for the beasts than a human.


    A human with fire-based Qi could use a water qi based technique albeit very poorly but the same could not be true for a beast.


    The Heavenly Nether Lion had affinities for Fire and Lightning. which were opposite to the affinities of his Demonic Heart Yakshis Wood Qi and the Marauder Earth Qi.


    The natural affinity of his clan was Earth. He too had a predisposed Earth-based immortal spirit.


    "Wait, the immortal spirit is back."


    "Yes it is there I can feel it in my Dantian.", He peered inside his Dantian to find a miniature mountain sitting in his dantian surrounded by Verdant Mountain Qi the mountain had a long fissure running through it.


    [It is called Immortal spirit for a reason it''s immortal they aren''t supposed to die they just travel in the bloodline of the family]


    [Yes'' only some selected beings have Immortal spirits; Spirits are lineage bound that is why only a single type of Immortal Spirits appear in a family or clan why do you think all Giri clan members have Affinity for Earth Element]


    [All the immortal spirit in your lineage must be Earth-based right?]


    [But this Mountain immortal spirit is damaged]


    "Do you know how we can fix it?", Rudra asked hopefully


    [I don''t know much about Immortal Spirits as we don''t have one](Here Yali is talking about Beasts as general)


    [I only know this much about Immortal Spirits]


    "Wait doesn''t every person get to awaken their Immortal Spirits during the Awakening ceremony."


    "Can we help me awaken one too?", Rudra''s asked excitedly.


    "Wait so let''s go try to awaken one now"


    Rudra was reminded of the fact that Rishi had joined a sect that had allowed him to awaken his immortal spirit.


    "Looks like I really must join a Sect", Rudra mulled over the idea while looking at the Cracked Mountain Immortal Spirit in his Dantian which was now allowing him to absorb Earth Qi faster.

 19 Busy elders

    Rudra spent the next few days with his clan members telling more lies about, where he lived till now, who was his mother, why had he come to the clan now...


    Rudra was now afraid to slip up the number of lies he had to tell these days had been more than the number of lies in his past life combined, He could only blame the curiosity of the younglings of the clan. Whenever he told a new lie, the righteous Rishi would grumble in his mind and tell him how bad it was to lie. He could only curse back at Old Rishi for not modifying the face a little.


    He had met up with Second Elder Miller who had accepted his request to tag along when they returned to Pine Leaf Town.


    Various Sects in the region held competitions for accepting disciples in their sect at different towns at regular intervals, and Pine Leaf Town was going to organize one of these Sect entrance events.


    "It is the first time such an event is happening in Pine Leaf Town the city lord was very enthusiastic about the whole matter.", Miller chimed in.


    "It could be a very good opportunity for our clan members.",Roebuck said.


    All the clan members between the age of 12 to 19, were going to follow Second Elder Miller to the Pine Leaf Town to attend this event.


    Rudra also planned to enter this event and use this chance to enter a sect.


    ''A sect would allow me to awaken my Immortal Spirit and I can learn different Immortal techniques than the ones from Giri clan or the Exiled Demon Sutra.''


    As Rudra was cultivating furiously for the awaited day he had reached the third stage of Qi Condensation and was a slimmer of Qi away from entering Middle of Qi Condensation stage.


    Soon the day for setting out came; 7 youths with second elder Miller and few second-generation members set off towards Pine Leaf Town which would take them about 11 days to reach.


    The journey was smooth as the tranquil forest was one of the most peaceful forests on the continent it might still be dangerous for mortals but it posed no harm to a bunch cultivators of Qi condensation stage with a Foundation realm Cultivator.


    Rudra cultivated furiously on the carriage on the way and on the 9th day of travel he finally broke through to the 4th stage of Qi condensation. He spent the rest of the journey consolidating his middle Qi condensation cultivation.


    The Next day a wooden wall appeared in their vision. When they reached the wooden town gate they were allowed to pass by the guards after some checks.


    Rudra was able to see that this town was small but a considerable crowd was present in the town that packed its roads,


    "The Sect Entrance Ceremony has caused many youths to travel to this town.", Miller said as if he could foretell the question the curious younglings where pondering.


    Rudra realized the overcrowding in the town was due to the awaited event, many people from nearby villages have traveled to the town of Pine Leaf.


    "Ahh, you guys have come at the right time the sect elders that have come oversee the event have decided to finish the event quickly.", one of the second generation clan members appeared when they entered into their residence.


    "What do you mean?", Miller questioned the man in front of him.


    "They ran into something important so they want to wrap up the event faster."


    Everyone became quiet the man continued with his explanation.


    "The competition rules have changed, the elders have asked the participants to gather at noon they will announce how they plan to take in new disciples.",


    "Let''s go now.", Miller ordered as the younglings followed behind to go to the designated area.

 20 Not Like This

    Soon all the participants of the Sect entrance event were gathered in an open field.


    At exactly noon an old man in red robes flew up in the air and declared, the entire field stopped it''s clamoring and became pin-drop quiet.


    "There has been a change in the events because we have something serious to attend to there will be no more Martial Competition."


    Soon whisperings started around the field


    "Quiet", red roared elder bellowed. The silence was again established over the crowd.


    "You will all enter into a tent where you will be judged by all the elders of different sects if one of the elders take an interest in you..."


    "You will then be able to join their sect, note that only a few of you will be selected so don''t be disheartened you can try again next time."


    "As we were not able to properly carry out this event we have discussed with the city lord and decided that we will hold another event next year so if you don''t get selected then you will have a chance next year."


    "Let''s begin, follow the orders of the city lord who will arrange you into groups that will enter our tent"


    Saying so the red-robed elder flew into the only tent on the entire field.


    Town Guards started guiding people to form groups of 10 who would enter the tent.


    Some people tried bribing the guards, which was rejected by the guards who were afraid of losing their life to Immortals.


    All the elders who had come here were Core Formation Stage Elders of their respective sects.


    Rudra realized that the identity of the City Lord of Pine Leaf was not so simple he was the 7th prince of Golden Sun Empire. Pine Leaf Town and the Dim Pearl Lake were at the western borders of the Empire.


    The Emperor was a wise ruler who had given a test for each of his children they were given territory at the border of the empire and the emperor would evaluate different achievements gained by his children to crown the heir to that throne.


    He had employed this tactic to make sure the best ruler was selected to rule the Empire after him.


    The 7th prince had been granted an area near the border of the tranquil forest he had then set up then taken over the Pine Leaf Town, this sect event could be organized due to 7th prince using his authority and connections.


    Rudra had gained a lot of respect for this prince to be able to develop a tiny town and employ such methods to bring about the development of manpower in this remote backwater area.


    While Rudra was gaining the general gist of the situation from listening in different conversations it was his turn to go in the tent for his ''examination''.


    He could only blame his bad luck for being in the last group. He had wanted to listen in more of the info which has caused him to be placed in the last group.


    Apparently Shin was following him around ended up in the same group as him.


    He entered the tent with 10 other youngsters, "Hmm skip the introductions, start by standing in that weighing scale."


    One by one they stood on the scale which helped to determine the age of their bones.


    Then the participants above the age of 19 were eliminated.


    ''Damn I thought I would get eliminated there, the pain of getting my bones crushed to dust wasn''t that bad now that I think about it.''


    Rudra passed through a number of tests on different instruments that helped Elders to determine various prospects of a candidate.


    After the fifth test, only 3 people were lest in the group Rudra, Shin, and some rando.


    the grey-robed elder handed them a scroll each, "If you can understand the contents of this scroll then you can move to the next round."


    The contents of the scroll were not too tough Rudra easily understood that it was a Mystic incantation to produce froth in water. Shin also solved his scroll apparently the other guy failed to complete the test was disqualified in this test. Now only Rudra and Shin were left in the group.


    "Now place your hand on this Elemental crystal" grey-robed elder willed them to pass their Qi through a crystal rod.


    Shin went first he passed his QI and it started dazzling in a Brown Grey color,


    "Earth-Metal affinity, kid you are coming to my Valley of Swords.",grey-robed elder laughed merrily while few other elders spat out in discontent.


    It was finally his turn Rudra was very excited, he moved to the side of Elemental Crystal rod and passed his Qi through it but instead of the brown color with a tinge of green representing his Verdant Mountain Qi, the rod glowed Blue with a tinge of green.


    ''What is this nonsense'', Rudra bellowed in his head.


    [The rod was broken by the kid before you], Yali quickly replied.


    "How?"


    "Good kid follow me", he heard a soft voice and then he felt himself rising in the air.


    "I''m going off first", the soft voice addressed the elders and flew off.


    The other elders could only look on as Rudra was being carried off while being propped at his collar.

 21 Poor skills

    "Umm, Elder which sect do we belong to?" Rudra asked with a beaming smile, gazing to the side of the Elder, confirming his suspicions of the Elder being a woman.


    The first thing that his eyes caught was her wavy deep blue hair that reminded him of the deep ocean. Her skin was fair, and her eyes were round with arching eyebrows.


    The next thing that attracted his attention was a blue colored trident mark between her brows.


    ''A trident mark?'', he thought to himself.


    "We are part of Spirit River Sect." the lady spoke with a monotonous voice.


    Rudra recollected information about ''Spirit River Sect'' it was a mortal grade sect that was under the umbrella of much larger Heaven grade ''Spirit Ocean Sect.''


    ''A water elemental sect, I''m fucked.'' Rudra felt like crying.


    ''I don''t even have a water-based qi how am I even going to cultivate any of their Manuals.''


    The sect selected Qi condensation cultivator based on their elemental affinity.


    Take Spirit River Sect, for example, it would only accept disciples, who can absorb Water-based QI from the Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth.


    ....


    Rudra was racking his brains and discussing with Rishi and Yali, on how to get out of this predicament.


    ''Why don''t I just try to absorb some Water Qi?''


    DING, an idea emerged in the head of Rudra.


    "Body Refinement, we have never refined this new body."


    [I like what you are thinking kid.] Yali roared in excitement as if he was agreeing with the idea of Rudra refining the new body.


    Rudra felt his feet touch the ground while three of them were holding a debate.


    The blue-robed Elder turned him, "What was your name again?"


    "Rudra."


    "We have traveled a quarter of our journey we will rest here for some time."


    Rudra seemed to guess that the elder must have run out of her Qi as it was very consuming for Core Formation Stage Cultivators to fly, unlike the Nascent Soul Cultivators who can naturally float their body in the air without using much of their Qi.


    She gracefully moved her hand in a circular motion and a clearing was created in the thinking of the forest. She took out a tent from out of nowhere and entered inside.


    Rudra guessed she must be carrying a spatial ring on her. As he was not invited inside he thought it would be better to stand guard outside, he sat cross-legged and started to cultivate his Verdant Earth Qi.


    After about 5 hours later the Elder walked out of her tent and with a flip of a hand stored it inside her aquamarine spatial ring. She walked up to him and unceremoniously grabbed him by his collar and flew off.


    After some time they flew out of the forest and reached the coast of an ocean. The Elder took a Blue Colored Boat out of her ring and threw it into the ocean.


    Rudra and the Elder then traveled by boat along the coast of the ocean.


    "Elder, how may I address you?" Rudra initiated a conversation with her one day after seeing her sitting equity and not cultivating.


    "You can call me Elder sister." blue-robed elder smiled cheekily as if she had pulled a great prank on him.


    While Rudra cursed her in his mind, thinking she was some old grandma having reached Gold Core Stage but trying to present herself....., he associated her with one of those ''Don''t call me Aunty I''m not that old, Women.''


    He spent the next few days bootlicking his new Elder Sister much to the amusement of Yali who would tease him after each bootlicking session.


    But because he had no prior bootlicking experiences he just messed up a lot of time, leaving the opposite of the desired effect on the Elder.


    One time the Elder got so pissed she threw him out of the boat, which he was barely able to get back on.


    "What do you want from me?" Kai asked angrily.


    Kai was an elder of the Spirit River Sect this was her last mission before she was accepted as a core disciple into Spirit Ocean Sect.


    Being able to reach Core formation at such a young age has caused her popularity to soar in her sect, she had been even awarded the position of Spirit River Sect which was just an honorary title, she would be moving to Spirit Ocean sect after the recruitment event was over.


    She knew that this event was organized by the 7th prince of the great sun empire; the elders of her sect had given her this customary mission to complete before she finally left for her time in Spirit Ocean Sect.


    Every one of the sect elders was there because of the underhand benefits provided by the 7th prince.


    She too was forced unwilling to judge such an event she was the only one that had not taken in any disciple, so when the last participant was barely passable on her standards and had an affinity for the water element, she decided to just accept one disciple to not seem conceited in front of the group of elders who all had admitted some disciples except for her.


    The journey started smoothly everything was going well for her till the day that bastard started his horrible bootlicking which made her want to drown him in the ocean.


    Rudra who was lamenting not putting some skill points in his bootlicking skills was alarmed at the sudden question and replied honestly,


    "I want a Water Body refining technique and a Water Qi Condensing Technique."


    "Why do you need those don''t you already have the cultivation of middle stage Qi condensation" Kai glared at him.


    "I do but I practice Earth Qi, not Water Qi," Rudra muttered in a low voice.


    "What...."

 22 Archipelago

    "Why didn''t you say something till now?" Kai was angry.


    "....." Rudra could just be silent as he didn''t want to anger her further.


    After giving a long lecture to Rudra on how irresponsible his actions were, she ended up giving him both the Water-based Body Refining Manual and the Water Qi Condensation Manual.


    Rudra sat done on the boat and flipped through both the manuals, Elementary stage water body refining manual, and the Raging River Qi manual.


    ''It''s a mediocre Qi.'' Rudra thought to himself but he had no other choice, he started the body refining stage of cultivation for the Water Qi. Still, he made no progress even after 4 days letting him aware of his lack of talent for Water Qi Arts.


    He could only thicken his skin and shamelessly ask elder Kia for help who surprisingly agreed to help him.


    He was quite happy until he realized her method of helping him.


    "Bleurgh... I almost drowned there." Rudra gritted his teeth at Kia.


    "Oops, I forgot about you." Kia laughed it off.


    Her way of helping him refine his body faster was drowning him headfirst in the ocean while she tied one of his feet to the boat and then pull him over at regular intervals.


    Rudra could only indignantly follow her suggested method as it had brought him benefits in his cultivation.


    He was now almost close to completing his body refinement and could start accumulating Water Qi in his Dantian.


    After about 10 days of such torture, he could now finally cultivate Raging River Qi but he realized there were not in a river but on an ocean so his rate of absorbing Raging River Qi was very minuscule but he could only cultivate headstrongly.


    One day as he was cultivating he was shocked to find more boats in the ocean colored in all of the different shades of blue.


    "We are at Spirit Ocean Sect," Kia told him, then she steered the boat to pass by many islands still they reached a central island which was comparatively very larger than all the other islands till now.


    Along the way, Kia told him that this whole Archipelago was apart of Sect territory thousands of disciples lived on thousands of varied size islands controlled the Sect the larger islands were used as a residence by the sect elders and core disciples, larger the size of the island higher the hierarchy in the Sect. The largest islands of the archipelago were used for Spirit fields and various Martial Halls.


    "Flying over the sect is forbidden so everyone must use our sect''s boats," Kia told him.


    He could see all the people were using boats to travel from one island to another.


    They passed by all the islands until they reached the mouth of a river then Kia made the boat enter into the river where it started moving with greater speed.


    Rudra felt a sudden urge to cultivate his Raging River Qi and he sat down in lotus position on the boat and started to absorb the Raging River Qi, he felt that though the rate of him absorbing Raging River Qi was faster than when they were in the ocean it was still very slow compared to when he cultivated his Verdant Mountain Qi.


    After two days of the journey, they reached the Spirit River Sect. In this time Rudra had broken through to the 1st stage of Qi Condensation in Raging River Qi.


    "Follow Me," Kia ordered him with authority making him doubt her as the same playful person when she had been on the boat.


    ''It seems Land makes her grumpy'' Rudra joked while following after Kia and taking a look around the Spirit River Sect.


    Different from the Spirit Ocean Sect which had its territory made of thousands of islands, Spirit River Sect was all concentrated on the bank of the Raging River and few Oxbow lakes surrounding the river. The Buildings were all White in color with wavy blue lines on them appearing as if waves were moving on the buildings.


    An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake that forms when a wide meander of a river is cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. He had learned about them in his geography classes but it was his first time seeing so many of them.


    Almost all of these lakes were populated by Kettuvallam style Houseboats or Float houses.


    Kia''s next words interrupted his train of thoughts.


    "Wait here, someone will come to take you to your quarters."


    "Ok" Rudra nodded slowly and then continued to soak in the beauty of the river banks

 23 TIMINGILA

    Rudra was following behind a man with long cyan curly hair and bulky build. He was showing Rudra around the sect and helping him familiarize him, with general the location of stuff.


    "This is the pill house, you can exchange your contribution points for pills here."


    "I would recommend stocking up on Fasting pills as they help you cultivate without disturbance for a long time." Rudra silently nodded along the way following behind the man


    "This is the Sect Library here you can find Books and Manuals but you must have enough contribution point to read certain books or even take a glance at Manuals."


    "This is the Clan Mess here you can eat spiritual food, I recommend you don''t eat here till you are well of as eating Food rich in Spiritual Energy is very expensive."


    "This is the Training hall you can train your weapon mastery here...."


    "Here is....."


    Soon he was finished with his tour of the sect, he was shown to a multi-story building.


    "This is your temporary residence, your Houseboat is being constructed along with the new members that have joined"


    "Why don''t they just live on land whats the need for the houseboats?" Rudra asked


    "Cultivating on the surface of the water body has a much better effect than cultivating on its banks." the man replied with a smile.


    "I am going to leave you be, someone will come to fetch you at dawn, be prepared," the Man walked off after saying these words.


    Rudra was settled in a room. He was currently reading the Exiled Demon Sutra; he had not gotten a chance to read the manual since his fight with Han Zu.


    "I really did need to use Demonic Qi to flip the pages," Rudra said as he read the Exiled Demon Sutra.


    ''Timingila''


    Something interesting caught his eye in the book full of description of different demons and their Qi and how to cultivate their techniques he found a single blue page.


    "Hmmm, all the pages of this manual were originally black while the text was written in crimson red."


    A blue page different from all the pages of Exiled Demonic Sutra just contained a chant and a title ''Timingila''


    Some words he didn''t know the meaning of Rudra read the chant before he knew it dawn was upon him.


    "Can''t believe it took me the entire night to read that thing, it felt like only 2 minutes have passed for me," Rudra complained as he closed the manual and stored it in his Spatial Ring.


    The next day a girl came to call on him, he wordlessly followed behind her as anything he asked her would be met with silence.


    Soon they reached a grandiose building which was completely blue in color which a sharp contrast to all the white buildings around the sect. He realized that this was his first time seeing this building.


    ''Looks like that bastard did a sloppy job of showing me around the sect'' Rudra was grumbling in dissatisfaction thinking if there was a rating system here he would have just reduced a star from...


    As he was immersed in his fantasy Rudra reached into a hallway where many of the other youths were gathered.


    An old Man a long Gandalf like beard and Blue hair walked over from inside the room adjacent to the hallway and pointed to a person,


    "You first."And returned into the room.


    One by one the old man would pick a person and then they would enter the room with the old man.


    "You next.", the old man pointed in his direction, and Rudra followed after him.


    He entered into the room to find a large well in the middle of the room its base and walls were all covered in deep blue intricate runes If one peered into the ocean one would feel like they were peering into the abyss of the ocean, dark deep blue horrifying like the deep ocean.


    "Sit right there kid and use this to drop your blood into the well."


    "Remember kid don''t be greedy don''t try to pull on a whale immortal spirit HA HA HA" the old man made some inside joke that Rudra didn''t get he quickly sat down in lotus position near the mouth of the well.


    He pierced the instrument for extracting blood into his and then allowed the blood to drip from the instrument into the well.


    Soon the blood dissolved into the well and it began to shine in light blue color the oppressive dark ocean feel of the well changed to a calmer soothing feel like one would feel at a vacation a tropical island resort warm and comfortable he saw a small turtle started moving towards him.


    "HA its a Jade Sea Turtle" not bad kid the old man commented from the side.


    [Use the Heavenly Nether Lion Blood] Yali suggested.


    Rudra quickly followed and pierced the instrument into one of his Golden vessels and then dripped the blood from it to drip into the well.


    The bellows of a whale sounded from the well and the feel of the well changed once again it once again became dark with the oppressive feeling but the oppressive feeling was at increased exponentially from the last time.


    "Oh, Kid looks like I underestimated you its gonna be a whale" Old Man looked very excited about Rudra getting a Whale Spirit.


    "Whatever you do kid don''t force it not all Whales are equal from the bellows it seems to be an Empyrean Whale, one of the best Water Immortal Spirit you can ask for."


    The old Man appeared quite knowledgable about Immortal spirits.


    Rudra suddenly saw a Ginormous Blue Whale like creature push the turtle aside and swim towards him.


    The Whale then jumped out of the well and entered into his Dantain.


    He quickly glanced at the well and felt a pair of red eyes staring back at him


    All of his three hearts started beating madly and one-word arose to his mind ''Timingila''


    His mouth started chanting the chant he had read yesterday and he felt as if he had been plunged deep into the abyss of the ocean he saw the creature know as Timingila.


    The well started shaking loud bellowings of whales sounded from the whale the Empyrean Whale fastened its pace as if it was afraid of something and dove right into his Dantian.


    But Rudra was not aware of these things happening as he could only see the most terrifying beast of ocean Timingila his mouth didn''t stop chanting only thing left in his mind was the chant everything blanked except for the deep crimson red eyes of the beast


    ...


    ...

 24 Slow and steady wins the Race

    BAM


    Rudra woke up from his stupor after a slap hit him across his face


    "Good Kid, I thought you had gone senile from joy." the Old Man laughed.


    "You can''t go on the cultivation path


    "The Immortal Spirit only shows your potential, not your future prospects remember that kid many a genius die each year despite having the strongest Immortal Spirit."


    Rudra quickly peered into his Dantian disregarding the lecture given by Old Man.


    What he saw inside his Dantian surprised him there was a small pool of water and there it was a smaller version of the most epic creature he had ever seen.


    Suddenly a scene flashed through his mind Timingila opened its mouth and devoured the Empyrean Whale whole.


    Rudra shuddered at the scene.'' Fuck not epic I take back my words.''


    Rudra also paid his respects to the innocent whale spirit that wanted to be his Immortal Spirit.


    Looking back inside his Dantian where now there were three different Immortal spirits present.


    "Wait, three?" Rudra looked inside his Dantian to see a cracked Mountain, a pool of water on the other side of his Dantian where a Timingila the size of the cracked mountain was swimming in the pool of water which was too small for him causing his tail to stick out of the water, and then his eyes fell on a tiny turtle that swam out of the pool of water and started to walk towards the mountain perhaps intimidated by the terrifying Timingila.


    "When did this pipsqueak come in here?" Rudra looked closely at the tiny thing crawling away.


    This was when Rudra realized that this little thing was neither a turtle or a tortoise it was instead a Terrapin.


    "Looks like I would need to research more about you little fella."


    It was a sharp contrast to his two massive Immortal Spirits being only a small terrapin.


    But somehow he felt most attached to the turtle he realized that the cracked mountain was the one belonging to Rishi, the Empyrean Whale had chosen to enter his Dantian after he put Yali''s blood in the well.


    The terrifying and overbearing Timingila was due to the chant from the Exiled Demon Sutra.


    Only this small terrapin had answered his call and accepted him.


    "Don''t worry little thing I will take care of you." he returned his attention to the old man who was no patting him on the back.


    "HAHA, brat don''t leave now; let me finish with the rest of the kids then I will have a chat with you."


    Rudra moved to an adjacent room and started cultivating Raving River Qi.


    "It''s awesome my rate of Water Qi absorption is now nearly double the rate of Earth Qi absorption." Rudra laughed merrily.


    By the time Old Man came to see him, he had broken through to the 2nd stage of Qi condensation.


    "Haha, it truly is a blessed day." Rudra woke up from his meditative state after hearing Old Man enter the room he was in.


    "Follow me you two." Old Man beckoned at them to follow him as he dashed towards the center of the sect to the largest boat in the area.


    "Let''s go meet with the Branch head of Spirit River Sect." Old Man entered into the boat before them.


    After two seconds he came back and carried them both into the boat.


    Feeling himself fly Rudra came to realize that the old man was a cultivator of the Nascent Soul stage.


    He reminded himself to be more respectful to, this old man in the future.

 25 Duped again

    Rudra followed after the Old Elder. Soon they reached into the chambers of the sect head of Spirit River Sect.


    "So these two have awakened a whale Immortal Spirit."


    Sect Head stood up from his seat and walked towards them. Rudra seemed to realize that all of the people he had met in this sect seem to have Blue color.


    "Show me your Immortal Spirits." the sect head said.


    The other youth quickly produced an apparition of his Immortal spirit.


    "Hmm, not bad an Elephant Whale."


    Rudra looked at the Whale that had a trunk sticking out from its front wondering if this one was better than the Empyrean Whale he had summoned earlier.


    ''That poor soul RIP'' Rudra realized that he had no Whale to so for; he couldn''t just show the Timingila he was determined to hide anything related to Exiled Demon Sutra.


    After a moment of consideration, he produced an image of the tiny terapin crawling.


    "What is this?" the confused Sect Leader looked at the Old Elder.


    "Kid, show us the Empyrean Whale." Old Man said to him seriously.


    Rudra could only lie through his teeth, "I didn''t get no Whale."


    The Old Man gave him a bewildered look, "What do you mean? I saw the whale enter your Dantian."


    Rudra could only bow his head in silence.


    "Let it be uncle Ren. Don''t think about it too much kid." the Sect head put his hand on the shoulders of Rudra while calming the Old Elder.


    "Huuu, I''m sorry kid I got emotional." Ren apologized.


    "Why don''t you wait outside for a moment."


    Rudra nodded his head and moved out of the room and stood near a railing of the houseboat peering down into the lake only to see some fishes swimming about.


    He felt a hand on his shoulder he turned around to see elder Ren beaming his teeth at him.


    "Don''t be sad, kid, you already have an Immortal spirit."


    "Treasure it."


    "Now brat show me your Immortal Spirit again."


    Rudra complied and once again produced the image of the terrapin.


    "It''s a terrapin mhm... hm... let me see a lot of spines on its shell and definite pattern... I remember now its an Ancient Metal terrapin."


    ''The fuck... another conflicting element....'' Rudra cursed in his mind.


    "It looks like we do have some affinity kid, I knew it since the moment I laid my eyes on you."


    Ren produced a flash of silver Qi representing the metal element, he continued


    "In this Spirit River Sect, only a few people have an affinity for metal."


    "I can teach you my craft and all my arts if you are willing to accept me as your master."


    Ren looked at him with a resolute gaze with a warmth in his eye.


    Rudra''s brain started to turn gears once again, "Yes Master I will follow you to learn the way of the Metal."


    "HAHA come follow me." Ren roared in laughter as he started to fly with Rudra.


    ...


    ...


    ...


    ...


    After two days, at a peak of a green mountain covered with various precious herbs used by the spirit Ocean Sect.


    "I got duped again, I can''t believe my luck urgh.... fuck you." Rudra gave a middle finger to the sky.


    "Who even considers farming their craft, but most importantly why the fuck is a metal Qi cultivator tending to plants."


    Rudra had been crying for two days straight. He would have thought that Old Man Ren duped him into becoming his disciple just so that he can gain an extra farmhand if not for Old Man Ren teaching him his Metal Qi Art.


    But that too had not sored the pain Rudra felt whenever he looked at the fields, '' What happened to, learning Arrays Pills or even Weapon crafting.


    Why did it have to been farming how was he gonna face slam a bunch of silk pants in the future with his farming skills?


    Rudra cried himself to sleep that night thinking of all the face slapping opportunities wasted.

 26 Voted off

    This was Rudra''s third day in the fields with Old Man Ren.


    He was now coming to terms with reality and accepting his fate as a farmer.


    ''At least I will eat homegrown food''


    "Brat, come quick, look at this." Old Man showed him a beetle that he was holding in his palm.


    "This is a Fan Horn Beetle it bores into the stem of Sunny lemon, Starry Mango, Blood Lily....."


    All of the teachings from Master Ren were heard with one ear removed from the other.


    Rudra was zoning out thinking of the time he could have concocted a superior grade pill, face slapped some silk pant to win over a beauties heart.


    Or the time when he would have crafted a better artifact...


    "This whole hill along with the surrounding fields will be yours."


    Rudra freaked out hearing this "My own field?"


    "Yes, the best way to learn something is by trying to do the thing by yourself."


    "Don''t be afraid of failure kid. I will be there to guide you."


    "I will leave you be for now and come check on you later." saying so Old Man Ren flew off.


    "Fuck, What do I do now?" Rudra wanted to cry. He had not learned a single thing for the past three. "How am I going to look after the field if I dont even know the basics of farming"


    Rudra grumbled to himself as he raised his head to take a good look at the now his hill.


    This was a small hill completely barren all around it was a sharp contrast to the residence of his master that lived on a green hill surrounded by green fields all around.


    "Where do I even start?" Rudra mulled over the question for a while before he started to use the hoe his master had gifted him.


    Thinking about the moment when his master had passed him a hoe and had revealed that his craft was farming.


    "It''s no use thinking about sad moments in life," Rudra said and continued tilling the land at the bottom of the hill.


    After 4 hours he was completely exhausted and he had barely gotten something done.


    "Hoo, Do you guys wanna talk about something."


    "Ha Ah ha, you were voted out....." Yali laughed.


    ".....?"


    He seemed to realize that his body was still was moving, but he was in his Spiritual Expanse, so how was it possible...


    "You guys kicked me of my body.." Rudra glared at Yali


    "Your body... Haha...." Yali laughed at his face.


    Rudra could just shut his mouth at the fact this was not his body but the body of all three of them combined.


    "Sit down and try to cultivate I''m refining the kidneys now."


    Rudra realized that he could cultivate various Qis in his body. He looked closely and seemed to realize that Yali was refining various organs as per the cultivation method of beast cultivation.


    Rudra had many questions that he wanted to ask but all he could do was silently cultivate Desolate Metal Qi that was taught by his master.


    It was a special type of metal Qi that did not require one to refine his body to be able to sense it.


    Rudra slowly rotated the Desolate Metal Qi in his dantian and a greyish-silver cloud of Desolate Metal Qi started accumulating around the tiny Ancient Metal Terrapin.


    "Hu Hu looks like you enjoy it tiny turtle," Rudra observed his Immortal Spirit and felt its joy transmitted over to him.


    He started cultivating the Desolate Metal Qi seriously planning to enter the Qi Condensation 1st stage. Forgoing the matter of him being outed the control of the body.


    While Rishi who had been trapped in the Spiritual EXpanse cultivating Verdant Mountain Qi all this time woke up in the body.


    "Mhmm, the hoe is the medium, use the Qi to turn the soil." Rishi looked at the hoe in his hand and recalled what Master ren had taught.


    Rishi was very interested in the teachings of master Ren, he had memorized it all to heart.


    While Rudra was swimming in his daydreams, Rishi in the Spiritual Expanse was listening very closely and soaking up all the knowledge.


    He started tilling the land with the hoe with the proper techniques taught by Master Ren.


    In 5 minutes he had tilled more land than Rudra had in 4 hours.


    Old Man Ren who was hiding nearby spying on Rudra all this time, thought to himself


    "Was I suspecting him wrong?"

 27 Dirt poor

    A small wooden house stood atop the hill surrounded by colorful flowers of different spiritual plants, and a stepping stone road that carved an S shape path around the green hill to reach the entrance of the wooden house.


    The fields of Spiritual Rice and different types of Spiritual fruits and herbs, growing at the bottom of the hill spreading around the whole 60-acre area that belonged to him.


    Rishi stood at the window of his wooden house taking a sip of a herbal tea, that he had prepared from the tea bushes grown around the hill, by him.


    He truly felt relaxed, fresh flowery fragrance spread across the whole area.


    A month had passed since Rishi had taken the wheels on the body.


    He sat down and started circulating Verdant Mountain Qi. Rishi had reached the 7th stage of Qi condensation in Verdant Mountain Qi and 4th stage in Desolate Metal Qi. Yali had finished refining the kidneys and the liver, now he was busy refining the lungs.


    The only thing that had not progressed was the Raging River Qi as there were no water bodies near the hillside, so it was put on hold. The Timingila with his eel-like tail sticking out looked terrifying as always. The Demonic heart was also left unattended.


    Rishi did use a bit of Yaksha Demon Qi here and there, to improve the yield of his crops as being a Wood Attribute Qi it helped the plants to feel more connected to Rishi.


    This was the current lesson being taught by Master Ren to him, trying to form a connection between him and his crops.


    Being able to master this Rishi would be able to more easily feel the shortcomings and the difficulties of the spiritual plant.


    Studying with Master had widened his understanding of the spiritual plants. Master had even told him about Immortal plants they were plants that had gained sentience and were just like a magical beast some of them even changed their form to sub humanoid or completely human just like some beasts.


    Rishi sat down his study table and started reading a book that he had borrowed from his Master Ren.


    "I still can''t access the library this farmer business is not bringing in any money." RIshi sighed


    Although Rishi was able to grow ample produce in his fields, it was still worthless as the various farming sects around the region were already flooding the markets with Spiritual Plants bringing down the price of common Spiritual plants so low that he couldn''t even get enough contribution points selling to enter into the Martial library or get a good read of any of the books inside.


    Heck, he couldn''t even afford a meal at the Sect Mess Hall that served spiritual energy reach food prepared by Spirit Chefs.


    "I told you being Spiritual Farmer is no moneymaker," Rudra said.


    "I will try growing rarer spiritual plants or the plants of a higher grade."Rishi declared.


    The Spiritual plants were divided into different ranks from Mortal to all the to High Heaven.


    All the plants on his property were mortal grade Spiritual plants.


    He had borrowed the book containing information about Earth and Heaven grade Spiritual plants to formulate his plans to grow the suitable Spiritual plants in the higher grade that would help him rake in money.


    "I say why dont we accept mission like the rest of sect disciples," Rudra suggested.


    "NO." Rishi adamantly declined.


    "We are going to make money dont you guys worry."


    Rishi prepared to get his hands on some Earth grade Spiritual plant seeds as soon as possible.


    "Maybe I can ask my Master for some."

 28 Sea Serpent Rice

    It was midnight and there was a clear moon.


    At the back of the hill, there was a crystal pathway. After a short walk through a shrub, the view ahead was a vast field with much flora and fauna.


    The rice grains here were large as a pearl and shone under the moonlight.


    There was also a fertile Emerald Guava fruit tree. The deeper the color, the stronger the medicinal effects of the Truth Clover, and the ones here were purplish-black. There was also the Dragon Apple Fruit Tree, Shark Grass, and many other rarer medicinal plants and food; it was as though the place had undergone a shocking transformation.


    Of course, if people found out about this place, they would definitely take advantage of it.


    Only in the legends would there be such a miraculous place!


    And this type of place belonged to the Spirit River Sect, or rather Rishi.


    It would be hard for a person to believe that this was not a farmer sect or even high ranked one at that.


    In the center of the fields, there was an extremely detailed haven that had tall hedges encircling it. In it grew some Sea Serpent Rice. Each grain of rice appeared full of vitality and was also easy on the eyes.


    This was his moneymaker, this was the bad boy that had filled his pockets to the brim.


    Rishi was clad in a long white robe, with a piercing look in his eyes and a sort of careless aura about him. One would find it hard to believe that such a scholarly looking man would be a farmer.


    Rishi went to a specific empty plot of land.


    The moon rose to the top and the moonlight was bright, making it rather visible.


    With the aid of the moonlight, Rishi used a hoe and carefully dug a hole and scattered the Sea Serpent Rice in it.


    "This Sea Serpent Rice needs to be planted at night, the water needs to be from the ocean, the serpentine head of the rice plant must be watered with ocean water...."


    Rishi had mastered farming under the guidance of Master Ren but lacked hands-on practice.


    Though it seemed effortless, his sweat trickled into the soil.


    The Heaven rank spiritual plants were far more delicate than other types of plants, and therefore planting them requires more effort.


    When Rishi planted the last of them, the sun''s brightness had already begun to shine through the horizon.


    "Phew¡­ Finally, it''s done¡­"


    Five months ago when he was skimming through the book he had borrowed from his master, he came across the Sea Serpent Rice it was an Earth-Heaven rank Spiritual plant that could only grow in the deep ocean floor.


    Sea Serpent Rice helped help with the cultivation of Water-based Qi, and in this Spirit River sect it was in high demand, he had expanded his operations so that he could even supply the Sea Serpent Rice to the Spirit Ocean Sect.


    Sea Serpent Rice was selling like hotcakes, all the Heaven rank Sea Serpent Rice was taken by the Sect Elders who paid him generously and the rest Earth rank Sea Serpent Rice was sold in markets.


    Disciples of the Spirit River Sect enjoyed the first harvest of Sea Serpent Rice all to themselves but when the word of Sea Serpent Rice spread out even the disciples of Spirit Ocean Sect and the other branches like Spirit Waterfall Sect, Spirit Lake Sect, and others were fighting for even a single grain of Sea Serpent Rice.


    All of this made Rishi''s pocket full of money and contribution points.


    But because of the constant demand for the Sea Serpent Rice, Rishi was hardly able to walk out of his farm to check out the Sect Library or the much-awaited Sect Mess Hall.


    Sea Serpent Rice''s demand was growing with each passing day. And now Rishi had been able to grow Spirit Shark Grass which was a feed of Shark type beasts. The Shark type beasts were the most common of the beast that was tamed in Spirit Ocean Sect.


    Spirit Shark Grass, grown by him in a shallow pond would also be a hot selling item if he had planned to sell them he was keeping it under wraps.


    Rishi was able to grow the Sea Serpent Rice them on his fields, defying the notion of Sea Serpent Rice growing only in the deep ocean which had allowed him to step into the ranks of Heaven Rank Farmer which was equal to his Master Ren.


    But growing the deep sea Sea Serpent Rice on land was no easy task-it was only possible after a very long arduous process. But the breakthrough came one day when he realized that it was the Sea Serpent Rice''s serpentine head that needed to be watered with ocean water and only ocean water and no other water and its roots were not needed to be watered.


    The next three months Rishi spent the money earned by selling Sea Serpent Rice to purchase other higher rank spiritual plants and planted them across his home and fields.


    He even purchased rare flower pollinating species of Jade bees and Empyrean butterflies to improve the productivity of his field.


    Even one looked at this area one would have a hard time believing it to be not a part of a Farming sect.

 29 Promotion

    Theses past months Rishi had increased his cultivation of Verdant Mountain Qi by leaps and bounds, he was now at the peak of the Qi condensation stage.


    Rudra had also been hard at work and had cultivated the Desolate Metal Qi to the late stage of Qi Condensation.


    Yali had finished the first step in the Beast cultivation schematic and had started to gather Fire Qi in the beast heart, gaining the envy of Rudra, who could only curse the heavens for being unfair.


    The cultivation of a Demonic heart was still on hold, along with the Raging River Qi.


    Rishi was pondering whether he should take in some employees to help with his farming activity which was growing in scale.


    "Hey, its time for you to give me the controls." Rishi nodded his head.


    "OOH, its good to be back, baby." Rudra stretched around a little.


    Rudra walked out of his house on the top of the hill and down the crystal walkway that he had created using his Verdant Earth Qi and the Desolate Metal Qi to flatten the rocks on the hill and smoothen it, giving it a shiny crystal-like look.


    He walked towards the hill where his Master originally lived, he soon reached a green hilltop just like his hill but this hill was filled with Spiritual herbs used by the sect to create pills. On the contrast, his hill was full of Spiritual plants and trees used as food.


    "You called me, Master."


    "Yes, Rudra come, sit here." Old Man Ren pointed towards a wooden chair.


    "Kid I was not wrong about you, you were made to be an excellent farmer."


    "You would surpass me in no time."


    Old Man Ren nodded approvingly at Rudra while showering him with praises.


    The corners of Rudra''s mouth twitched at the mention of him being destined to be a great farmer.


    The old man talked about various things from his experience in farming and cultivation to all ways to gossips in the sect. He sure was a talkative one.


    Finally, Rudra couldn''t take it anymore and blurted out, "Why have you called me today?"


    "Ah that, you see I was called by the Elders in Spirit Ocean Sect."


    Rudra''s ears perked up.


    "You see they are very pleased with your contributions to the sect as they cant directly ask a junior like you to cough out the secret method for growing the Sea Serpent Rice and the Spirit Shark Grass.


    "Spirit Shark Grass?" Rudra looked questingly at his Master.


    "I happen to brag that you could also grow Spirit Shark Grass....."


    "Hmmm, Now what?"


    "As you know that the demand for Sea Serpent Rice is very high and different branches have expressed their desire to get hold of it."


    "The elders at the main branch wanted you to give up the method for growing Sea Serpent Rice and the Spirit Shark Grass as a contribution."


    "For free hell no..." Rudra stood up from his seat.


    "They promised to would fulfill any of your requests as long as it was possible." Old Man Ren looked seriously as he continued.


    Rudra fell silent but he started a debate inside his mind.


    [Take the chance to look for some better Water Qi manual the Raging River Qi is too strict in its criteria to cultivate.] Yali suggested.


    ...


    ...


    .....


    Rudra''s brain turned its gears once again "I know what to do."


    Rudra looked at Master Ren and declared his demands.


    "Tell the Sect Head to promote us"


    Old Man Ren looked at him questingly, not understanding his motive.


    "Ask him to make a new Branch dedicated to growing Spiritual Plants and Herbs in the sect with its complete autonomy. You will be appointed its Sect Head and I want to be Sect Elder with all the benefits of being one."


    "We will also take an area in command, with cultivatable land and an ocean near it."


    "Also, I should be able to take some Manuals from the Spirit Ocean''s Manual Library, and all the basic materials required to set up a branch sect."


    "Are you sure about this." Old Man Ren stood up excitedly.


    "Yes, tell them this branch will not only grow Spiritual Plants and herbs it will also research to improve the life and cultivation of our fellow sect members."

 30 Indignan

    Rudra was currently rowing a boat down the Raging River.


    The clear water stream of the river and the cool wind in his hair made him remember his days of long drives on the highway.


    The light Blue boat represented his status as a disciple of Spirit River Sect.


    Rudra had never felt any attachment to this branch though he had only met the Branch Leader of Spirit River Sect once he seemed like a nice guy.


    He rarely had any interaction during his 9 months stay in the sect.


    The only person he interacted with during this time was his Master.


    Soon he reached the Spirit Ocean Sect''s archipelago area. He rowed his boat around trying to reach the central-most island.


    The boat touched the shore of a lonely island that glittered in sunlight due to all the buildings present on the island. He saw that the buildings were made by precious stones and marbles, he could identify some of these minerals.


    "Truly Extravagant" Rudra muttered as he passed the boat onto one of the keepers that arrived to welcome him on the island.


    He followed after the keeper to reach a gilded entrance of a massive white hall, the pristine azure marbles at his feet made him astonished at the riches of the Sect.


    He entered a room with precious gems studded into the wall but he couldn''t stop himself from thinking the room looked kinda girly...


    "Please, Respected guest." the keeper motioned him to take a seat. He then proceeded to make tea in front of him.


    "Umm, I don''t drink tea. You don''t have to trouble yourself."


    Rudra didn''t like beverages like tea or coffee. He would only drink alcoholic drinks it was one of his quirky perks.


    The keeper glared at him for a second, then proceeded to make the tea.


    Rudra could only grumble inwardly at such an awkward exchange.


    After some time a busty woman entered the room the keeper gave her a bow and moved out of the room.


    Rudra eyed her for a second, only to be mesmerized by her beauty and booty.


    ''Hot Dang'' he thought and he stood up and tried to move towards the lady with his swagger on, thinking the best pickup line he could try to compliment her wavy deep blue hair or her perfect face or her deep blue eyes beautiful like the ocean itself.


    "....?"


    "Fuck you guys, Don''t try to steal my girl."


    Rudra had once again been voted off the wheels.


    "HA HA HA HA" Yali laughed at the pitiful Rudra who was now wailing in sorrow and cursing at them for betraying him.


    Rishi not be seen as rude quickly bowed his head in a customary way towards the Sect Head of Spirit Ocean Sect.


    "Sit" The Sect head ordered.


    Rishi quickly sat down opposite to the Sect Head and quickly picked up the tea kettle to serve the tea to the lady.


    "You are only a Qi condensation disciple so it was hard to convince the elders to accept your request." the sect head continued after sipping the tea.


    Rishi also silently sipped his tea while listening to her.


    "But I was able to approve of your request, here." she handed him a scroll.


    Rishi quickly unfolded the scroll to find a will written on the scroll that stated him as the rightful owner of the Shattered Meadow Beach and allowed him to set up a branch sect in the name of Spirit Ocean Sect.


    "You can enter the Martial Library to pick some copies of manual you want the disciples of your branch to learn."


    Rishi nodded his head.


    "Good now that we have done our part, you must fulfill your part."


    Rishi looked at her serious face waiting for the next words to come out of her mouth.


    "You must produce enough Sea Serpent rice and Spirit Shark grass to fulfill all the Spirit Ocean Sect and its branches'' needs."


    "As I am also investing in your ''research branch'' Sect, we must see results."


    Rishi nodded his head silently not promising anything to her.


    "Here take this token and head out to the Martial hall and also go to Elder Guan to pick your required building materials that must be shipped to Shattered Meadow Beach."


    She stood up and started walking out of the room.

 31 Shattered Meadows

    "Ugh... where am I?" Rudra woke up feeling sore all over his body.


    His eyes fell on his Master Ren who was rowing the boat.


    He realized that currently, he was on a boat lying down on a wooden plank.


    "Looks like you woke up." Old Man Ren smiled at him gently.


    "Argh..." Rudra felt his neck hurt when he turned his head.


    "Where are we, Master?" Rudra questioned Master Ren.


    "We are on our way to Shattered Meadows."


    "What happened why can''t I remember anything" Rudra felt his head hurt trying to remember.


    "I can only guess what had happened, you did something that made Sect Head mad."


    "I was ordered by her to take you with me to the Shattered Meadow Beach."


    "It looks like your request angered the Sect Head."


    "She has ordered us to produce considerable results within a year."


    "If we fail we will be thrown in the Ocean Burial Prison."


    "What?" Rudra freaked out.


    "Did you pick up the resources required for building the branch? Where are the disciples that were supposed to follow us?" Rudra hurriedly asked Ren.


    "We were not given any supplies or any disciples either." Ren continued.


    "How did this happen wasn''t I suppose to get ample supplies and few disciples in Qi condensation stage who were willing to learn my farming techniques."


    "Did your head get damaged too?" Ren looked at him with concern.


    "I was told it was going to be only two of us who would be going to Shattered Meadow Beach."


    "How did I get hurt?"


    "You slipped and fell that is what I was told."


    "Slip and fell, why do I feel like I was mugged instead" Rudra sat on the planks of the boat trying to remember what had transpired that had made the perfectly good negotiation go south so fast.


    [Why don''t you come in here for a discussion] Yali''s voice sounded inside his head.


    Rudra quickly entered his Spiritual Expanse hoping to find the answer to the questions that boggled him.


    "HA HA HA kid, I never knew you were so brave HA HA HA." Yali''s laughter filled his ear.


    "So are you going to tell me what happened"


    "Yes, HAHA AH you were so brave confessing your eternal love for that human female HA HA AH."


    "Too bad she didn''t like your oath of being ''forever together'' and ''eternal love'' HA HA HA"


    "Rishi do you want to add something to that."


    "Its all your fault, Huuu" Rishi''s calmly replied as if he had already given up.


    Rudra was shaken by the chill attitude of Rishi, ''I guess he is still an old man mentally.''


    Rudra returned from his Spiritual Expanse now having a general idea of what had transpired.


    He, in the moment of heat, had seized back the control of the body from Rishi to throw some cheesy love confessions towards The Sect Head of Spirit Ocean Sect.


    "That explains the pain of the body, even a slap from her would kill me."


    "What was I thinking, How did I become so impulsive."


    "Looks like we have reached our destination." Ren looked at the horizon.


    Rudra turned his head to look at a shoreline filled with odd irregular rock fragments as big as hills scattered across the beach and in the following green plains that stretched to the horizon.


    "Why do the rocks look so unnatural?" Rudra asked looking at the giant rock formations on the stretch of grassy plains.


    "The rocks are the reason this place is called Shattered Meadow."


    Soon they reached the shore of the beach and alighted the boat to walk towards one of the rocks.


    Rudra caressed the surface of a rock, feeling its cold surface.


    He looked at the reach of the plain filled with large rocks that looked out of place,


    this was where they had to build a branch Sect.


    "I will make this place a beauty," Rudra vowed, looking back at the Ocean.

 32 Strange rocks

    A week had passed since Rudra had started his operations in the Shattered Meadows.


    Both the Heaven rank farmers had been able to convert a part of this plain into a Sea Serpent Rice farm.


    He had started digging a small artificial pond to grow some Spirit Shark grass.


    But with their current rate, they would only we able to achieve the same level as his hill farm back in the Spirit River Sect even after months.


    While Rishi was a genius in farming he alone wouldn''t be able to achieve the scale which was required to fulfill the demands set by the Spirit Ocean Sect.


    They needed more farmhands, Rudra was sure it was the most plausible solution.


    "Slaves, do I have to purchase slaves," Rudra muttered to himself.


    But as a modern man, his conscience wouldn''t allow him to use slaves.


    "Recruit disciples from random villages, it might work if the master''s the one doing recruitment."


    Rudra quickly formulated a plan to increase manpower in the fields.


    "Rishi its time to switch," Rudra said as he felt himself gaining control of the body.


    He ran towards Old Man Ren who was busy planting Emerald Guava saplings.


    "Master"


    "We need to recruit more disciples."


    Rudra then started to blabber on about his plan to his master who listened quietly nodding his head from time to time.


    "It would be best if you could start now."


    "Ok, But take these." Master Ren took out some saplings from his ring.


    Rudra took a good look at the Spatial Ring that was green in color and realized that it had to be a much superior ring than the one in his possession.


    A ring that can keep living saplings in it was extremely rare.


    Soon old man Ren flew away.


    Rishi switched back to being in control and started working on the pond.


    At night Rudra climbed on top of one of the rocks and started cultivating.


    He had reached the peak of both Desolate Metal Qi and Verdant Mountain Qi.


    He knew he had to step into the foundation building stage of both these Qis.


    But he was afraid that things would not turn right if two of his Qis were in the Foundation Building Realm while the Raging River Qi was only in the 1st stage of Qi condensation.


    He could not just give up on the Water Qi entirely as it would be a waste of the Timingila Immortal Spirit.


    Timingila wait Rudra stood up in horror unable to find the Timingila water spirit in his Dantian.


    "Where did it go?"


    "It had been with him all the week on this island though it appeared restless at times."


    Rudra didn''t know where to look for the Timingila.


    "How did the immortal Spirit disappear."


    "Wait I hear its roars" Rudra quickly tried to sense the direction of the roaring sound.


    He was astonished to find it coming from the rock he was sitting on.


    "Don''t tell me....."


    Rudra started breaking the rock using the Desolate Metal Qi covering his hoe, he started hacking at the rock.


    The morning sun rose on the horizon and Rudra had finally made a hole in the Rock revealing what was hidden within ''a pool of black water''.


    He saw the Timingila spirit poke its head out from the pool, looking at the tiny Timingila he decides to jump into the pool.


    SPLASH


    The water reached only to his knees.


    "Well, that''s a letdown."


    He dipped his hand into the water pool skimming it around to find something as the water being dark as ink didn''t allow the bottom of the pool to be seen by him.


    He something and yanked it out of the water only to realize that it was the Eel like the tail of the Timingila.


    "Oops, didn''t mean to."


    Rudra continued with his search only to find nothing in the end.


    Rudra then jumped out of the rock to look at other rocks scattered around the meadow.


    He quickly went to the next stone and started making a hole on it only for him to realize hours later that this rock was different from the previous one and completely solid with nothing inside it.


    "Looks like I have to use it."


    Rudra ranked the Timingila who was happily swimming in the pool of water to check on rocks.


    After passing by 5 rocks the Timingila started trying to jump towards the 6th rock, Rudra let it go and the Timingila drilled through the rock.


    "This is it." Rudra once again started making a hole in the Rock at the top which would allow him to enter into the rock.


    ......


    It became a daily activity, Rishi farmed in the day while Rudra dug into the rocks at night.


    After two weeks he had dug up all the rocks that the Timingila was attracted to all of them contained the similar Ink Black Water inside.

 33 Abyss Water

    It was night, the Moonlight shone on the fields of Sea Serpent Rice looking like a group of Snakes dancing to a rhythm of a snake charmer.


    Moonlight shone on the pitch-black rocks scattered around the whole meadow.


    Rudra was sitting on one of the strange rocks peering inside only to see his Immortal spirit swimming about.


    In his hand was a book with a leathery black cover with a Demon head with 4 horns drawn on it.


    Rudra was reading the book trying to find any more information about the ink-black water and the Timingila.


    "There has to be something more about the Timingila in here," Rudra said as he read through the headings on the black pages.


    Suddenly the Timingila jumped out of the pool and snatched the Exiled Demon Sutra from his hand and dove back into the pool of ink-black water.


    "Huh, you are quite a playful one." Rudra jumped into the pool and caught the book and started prying it out of the mouth of his immortal spirit who was biting hard on it.


    Suddenly it let go.


    PLOSH


    SPLASH


    Rudra fell on his hips causing the water to splash all over him.


    Before Rudra could even say a word. He realized that all the water in the pool started to converge at the book in his hand as if a dark hole was sucking them in soon all the pool inside the rock became devoid of all the ink-black water.


    Rudra quickly saw the face of the four-horned demon on the cover change as a skull of an unknown being appeared beside the demon head.


    He opened the Sutra to find extra pages in the Manual, that were not present before.


    The new pages had a greyish-White color to them as if they were made of bones.


    "Abyss, so this is where it''s from."


    The rocks in the area were from Abyss and the water inside some of them was the Abyssal Water.


    Just like the Black pages of the Demon Manual that contained information on creatures of Demonic Realms the grey pages had information about various creatures of Abyss.


    The Undead species and the horrifying monster that were recorded in these pages made Rudra sweat out in terror.


    "Abyss Water Qi" should I learn this, Rudra was in a dilemma whether or not to replace his Raging River Qi with the new Abyss Water Qi written on the greyish page of the Exiled Demon Sutra.


    Looking at the Timingila Immortal spirit inside his Dantian still lacking enough space to swim about freely with its tail sticking out.


    Rudra jumped over to another rock containing a pool of Abyss water and sat down in the pool of water and started cultivating the Abyss Water Qi.


    The water-pool flooded into his body from all of his pores and entered into his Dantian.


    The Timingila inside his Dantian opened its mouth and started sucking in the Abyssal Water, the clear water around it started turning black as if one had dropped a bottle of ink in a bucket of clear water.


    Soon the pool became completely black and started expanding.


    The pool of abyss water became exhausted when Rudra broke into the 1st stage of Qi condensation in Abyss Water Qi.


    He jumped out and made his way towards the next pool.

 34 Foundation Building

    Qi Condensation 9th stage finally.


    Rudra was delighted to find his Abyss Water Qi advance to the peak of Qi condensation.


    Rudra had absorbed two-third of all the pools of Abyss water in the rocks to reach his current cultivation stage.


    The Abyss Water pool in his Dantian has expanded to enough space for his Immortal Spirit to swim freely.


    "Its finally time for me to breakthrough to Foundation Building Stage."


    Rudra started circulating his Verdant Mountain Qi, Desolate Metal Qi, and the Abyss Water Qi to construct their respective foundations.


    He started building a massive lake about 10 times the size of the current pool of water a foundation for his Abyss Water Qi the condensed Qi started turning to liquid Qi accumulating inside the lake the Timingila also started swimming about in the ink-black waters of the Abyss Foundation which was now shaped like a lake.


    He then turned his attention towards the Desolate Metal Qi which was still in its the form of a silvery gas he started condensing a massive circular metallic disc with different kinds of weapons attached at their tips into the Disc. He formed a sword at one of the pedestals in the disc, a spear at another, a floating bow, an ax, a hammer..., The tiny Ancient Metal Terrapin trotted into the metal disc and occupied the central position on the disc.


    Finally, he looked at the cracked mountain in his Dantian he turned his Verdant Mountain Qi to enter into the mountain making it taller and a few blades of grass popped up at the base of the mountain.


    But the crack in the mountain was still not fixed.


    "Is it not possible to fill the crack...." Rudra


    After failing to fix the crack on the mountain Immortal Spirit Rudra gave up and decide to let it be.


    "Finally I reached Foundation Building Realm 1st stage." Rudra fist pumped in excitement.


    He jumped out of the rock he was inside.


    The green plains around him had been transformed slightly he had gotten some work done but it was still not enough to reach his goals.


    Now he was waiting for Master Ren to return with more manpower so that he could finally get on with the farming operations seriously.


    He walked towards the wooden shack he had built for himself near the fields.


    "Yali how is your cultivation going." he couldn''t help but ask Yali.


    His cultivation was always lower than his Beast cultivation as Yali was continuously cultivating he was a cultivation maniac.


    Last time he checked Yali had already completed the first step of the beast cultivation.


    "The first step of beast cultivation involves refining the body organs, the second step involves refining the bones, the third step involves refining the skin and outer parts of the beast''s body like horns and claws, the fourth stage involves refining the blood, and lastly the soul," Yali explained.


    "I am currently refining my blood ."


    "How does a blood refining beast compare to a human cultivator?" Rudra asked.


    "A refining blood beast can easily pummel any Foundation Stage Cultivator."


    "It can also fight on equal with a Core Formation Stage Cultivator."


    "So it means I can fight with a Core formation cultivator while in Beast Mode, Cool."


    "And I have started gathering Fire Qi in my heart."


    "Nice." Rudra complimented Yali feeling happy about the progress they had made on cultivation.


    He entered into his little shack and sat in the makeshift bed and started reading the Exiled Demon Sutra while laying down on the bed.


    He had learned quite a few Demonic and Devilish techniques these few days.


    But what had taken his interest these past days was the mystical Death Qi it was not one of the more orthodox Elements.


    This newly updated manual contained Mystical Arts and Spells and chants to make contacts with the Undead Worlds and bring about the summoning of the undead species onto the plane of the living.


    "Hmm, what is this chant...." Rudra felt his eyes flash as he lost consciousness.


    CLACK


    CLACK


    CLACK


    ''Ugh,''


    Rudra woke up feeling his mind hazy.


    Rudra looked at his arms they were bones. He quickly felt his face which was all just bones.


    ''Don''t tell me it makes me undead.'' Rudra stood up realizing he was bones all over with many of his bones yellowing and cracked.


    He looked around unlike the expected wooden shack, he was standing on a pile of bones.

 35 A Sea of Bones.

    CRACK!


    CRACK!


    "What the....!"


    Rudra fell face first and planted his skull into the pile of bones.


    He realized that his femur bones were cracked and mangled at strange angles.


    Rudra albeit still confused about his situation started to crawl to from the pile.


    Rudra was commando crawling through what appeared like a sea of bones.


    When suddenly,


    BAM


    "Fuck!" Rudra cursed.


    He freaked out when one of the skeletons tried to grab a hold of his hand and tried dragging him into the pile.


    Rudra punched with all his strength causing the skull of the enemy skeleton to get separated from its body.


    Rudra quickly crawled over to the next pile.


    After hours of crawling, he was still stuck in the sea of bones he felt mentally exhausted all he could see were bones and bones and bones...


    Except for some regular intrusions from the other undead skeletons.


    "Hmmph..." Rudra woke up with a jolt to realize that he was still looking at the book.


    "What happened guys." Rudra entered into his Spiritual Expanse to discuss with Yali and Rishi.


    "Did something happen to you?" Rishi asked him in a usual calm demeanor.


    "I became a skeleton and I was....." Rudra told them about his experience as an undead skeleton.


    "Hmmm, Kid, I can''t say something happened, we thought you were just reading the book, we didn''t discover anything wrong with you."


    "NO, it was not my soul that was summoned. If it was all three of us would have traveled to the sea of bones."


    "It was my consciousness." Rudra had a sudden epiphany.


    Rudra returned back and quickly started reading the Exiled Demon Sutra to gain more information, about the Sea of Bones and his consciousness being transferred into a skeleton.


    "I was right; This chant does let me use consciousness to control the soul of a low-level undead."


    Rudra spent the whole day reading through different techniques he could use as an undead being.


    "This is pretty much the same concept as a lich or a death knight."


    "Hmm, Warlock magic use curses and undead." Rishi''s voice was heard inside his head.


    "Oh, so there are already Necromancers in this world." Rudra dejectedly said. He was sure he was going to blow the minds of cultivators using the Spells to raise undead.


    "If what you say is correct kid, then you are not able to use undead magic but your Bone body may."


    "Yes."


    "But your undead body is in a different realm." Rishi


    "HAHA kid HA HA HA..." Yali started laughing.


    "Whatever, I will use the undead body to learn these techniques." Rudra was unaffected by Yali''s jeering.


    Rudra turned his attention towards the Exiled Demon Sutra and started to learn some techniques for the undead.


    "As the undead are already dead they have no Dantian so they cant cultivate Qi."


    "Hmmm," Rudra started pondering.


    He flipped through more pages on Undead Magic.


    "Can an Undead not learn spells? How am I suppose to use these spells without any Qi."


    "Wait, the Death Qi.." Rudra flipped back pages till he reached the part on Death Qi


    Rudra researched into the Death Qi and Undeads and Warlocks getting a general idea of things.


    "An undead can use spells too, but the other is no need for a Dantian instead he must pray to a higher level of Undead Being and offer his servitude in return for some kind of orb that stores Death Qi, used by the undead to cast spells and chants," Rudra muttered while reading along the lines of the page.


    Looks like I can only learn simple undead spells,


    "Bone Strengthening technique, hmmm, absorb a bone into your own undead body to raise improve it." Rudra learned the Bone Strengthening technique.


    "Looks like this is the way to go about it." Rudra was now more confident to enter the undead world.


    "But first this Devilish Technique to leave my imprint on that foreign undead soul to make it equal to my secondary soul."


    This Devilish Technique allowed the Devils to infest the souls of lesser beings with little or no self-consciousness like the lowest of undead or bugs, fish, or small animals.


    ''Secondary Soul Devilish Technique.''


    Rudra planned to make the soul of the undead his secondary technique to cement his position as the master of the undead body.


    Rudra fell asleep pondering about his undead adventures.

 36 Return

    Rishi was tending to the field of Jasper Flowers when suddenly he saw several boats reach the shore of Shattered Meadows.


    He put his stuff on the ground and made his way towards the beach.


    He confirmed his speculation that this was the batch of Farmhands. Looking at the familiar faces of his clan members at the front following after his Master Ren.


    Rishi quickened his pace and walked towards the group of people on the beach.


    "Welcome back master." Rishi did a customary bow towards his Master and then lead them towards the small barn he had built to store the harvest.


    "I see that You have gotten some work done." Master Ren commented while looking at the various fields around the Shattered Meadow.


    "Thank you, Master, for allowing my family to join the Sect." Rishi expressed his gratitude towards Master Ren.


    "Ah, I sometimes believe you are different person, thanking me all of a sudden"


    Old Man Ren patted the back of Rishi.


    Thinking to himself how his disciple was so different at times.


    Some times he appeared to be a sincere student always respecting him and behaving courteously while sometimes he changed into a complete boorish person behaving like an uncultured brute.


    "Rudra your father would be so proud of you if he knew that you are a sect elder in a Heaven Rank Sect." His brother Miller ran up to him and started shaking his hand.


    Rishi looked around at his clan members almost all of them were present here.


    He couldn''t help but feel happy inside for the fact that they had come to join him, leaving behind their home and business.


    He saw old Man Roebuck in the crowd looking stern as always.


    Rishi pledged that he would do anything to make his clan flourishing.


    He looked around to find about 100 people in the crowd, most of them young.


    Apart from the 28 members from his clan, the rest were probably the disciples accepted by Master Ren into the Branch Sect.


    Rishi with the help of his Master distributed areas to the new sect members after a sect joining ceremony which involved the 100 or so people pledging their loyalty to the newly formed branch of Spirit Ocean Sect, the Shattered Ocean Farming Sect.


    Master Ren and Rishi after much consideration decided to call this branch as Shattered Ocean Farming Sect


    After all of the new ''farmhands'' had been settled and assigned an area to live on.


    Most of them started making makeshift tents for their residence.


    Some others started building themselves a wooden shack.


    Rishi finally free of all the official duties made his way towards where his clan members were residing.


    Rishi feeling happy about his reunion with his clan members spent most of the day with his family members.


    Though feeling awkward at the fact that he was no longer their third grandpa but their uncle.


    It was awkward for him to interact with his brothers considering they were his uncles now in this guise of new identity of Rudra.


    The whole day passed and it was night time Rishi had given his shack to his brother Roebuck claiming it would be inappropriate for the Clan Head to live in a tent while he lived in a nice shack.


    Roebuck had protested claiming that Rudra was the Sect Elder of the Shattered Ocean Farming Sect. Thus it was appropriate for him to live in the wooden house. But, in the end, Rishi had won.


    Currently, Rishi was telling his master about the strange water in the rocks that he had discovered.


    "Master, this water is a rare spiritual medium that we can use to grow some High-rank spiritual plants that could only be grown in the darks of the ocean depth." Rishi was describing his findings to his master.


    Rishi had studied the use of the Abyss Water in farming he had been researching about its effects on various plants when Rudra was busy cultivating his Abyss Water Qi.


    "I will try to get my hands on some of the seeds from the darks for you." Master Ren assured him while being excited about the prospects of the strange ink-black water in farming.


    Rishi and Ren went roaming about the meadows making future plans for the entire area.


    What bothered them was the lack of Cultivation Manuals.


    Both of them combined only had 4 manuals but most of them could not be learned by the new sect members.


    The Desolate Metal Qi was out of the books.


    The Giri clan members could practice their Verdant Mountain Qi, but then they were left with the Raging River Qi but the lack of River in the vicinity was a problem.


    The Abyss Water Qi came from the Exiled Demon Sutra; he had resolved to hide everything related to the Sutra inside him and not letting it out.


    In case he was deemed as a demonic cultivator, the consequences would be unimaginable, his whole clan might get slaughtered No, he would have no harm befall on his clan due to him.


    Rishi calmly pondered about the lack of proper manual to be taught in the Shattered Ocean Farming Sect.


    At midnight Rudra was sitting alone inside one of the empty rocks,


    "Its finally time."

 37 Bone Strengthening Technique

    "Bone Strengthening Technique." Rudra picked up a femur bone from a nearby skeleton and started absorbing the bone.


    Bone turned to dust and he felt the cracks on his femur decrease.


    "It works, now the other thing."


    "Secondary Soul Devilish technique." Rudra started the incantations for the Devil Technique, he felt the original soul in the body try to resist but it was for no avail.


    "Huuu, It is done." Rudra glanced at his bony palms and started to grab the bones around him at random and use the Bone Strengthening Technique to strengthen various parts of his skeleton.


    If one was to see the sea of bones now one would realize that one of the massive piles in it had disappeared.


    "I can walk finally; Also, the cracks are healed," Rudra said excitedly.


    Rudra touched the black soil with his bony palms looking around him to realize that he had just converted the whole pile he was on earlier into a greyish pile of dust.


    "Next one," Rudra started to use Bone Strengthening Technique on the bone piles extinguishing them one by one he had already extinguished about 50 of these piles.


    He felt his build get taller than before all his bones had widened and had become stronger, a few bones had a spikey appearance now.


    He touched his skull only to realize that it did not appear to be a normal human skull anymore.


    But with the shape of his overall skeleton not changing and being more humanely he was not worried.


    He was still walking on his two long bony legs when a hand grabbed his ankle and tried to drag him, but unlike last time Rudra grabbed hold of the hand and yanked out an undead skeleton from the pile.


    "Hmmm, can I absorb this skeleton." As Rudra pondered whether absorbing an undead skeleton would have the same effect absorbing the scattered bones.


    "Wait I have a better idea." Rudra used Soul Devouring Technique that he had used to beat Han Zu.


    CRASH!


    The Skeleton in his hand became a rag doll and lifelessly fell.


    Rudra who had used the Soul Devouring Technique felt his secondary soul strengthen.


    "So the soul is the answer; stronger the soul greater the chances for it to gain sentience and even learn lich magic or cultivate the Death Qi." Rudra nodded his bony skull coming to an understanding.


    "Let''s continue to test my theory." Rudra started grabbing random bones.


    Bone Strengthening Technique


    Bone Strengthening Technique


    Bone Strengthening Technique


    Soul Devouring Technique


    Soul Devouring Technique


    Bone Strengthening Technique


    After who knows how long Rudra felt a pain in his soul, he had absorbed too many souls of undead skeletons.


    "AHHHH..." Rudra felt the pain subside after some time, he saw a hexagonal bipyramid crystal, having 12 isosceles triangles, 18 edges, and 8 vertices.


    Rudra saw the crystal had a skull shape drawn on it. He could channel the soul power in the crystal for his gain.


    After familiarizing himself with the power of the crystal he once again dived into the pile of bones absorbing the souls and bones of unfortunate undead skeletons.


    While Rudra was busy being a Skeleton.


    Rishi had taken control of the body seeing that Rudra had his consciousness busy.


    With the first light of the sun, Rishi started teaching the new disciples of the Shattered Ocean Farming Sect the way of cultivation and farming.


    He spent the whole day sharing his vast experience of being a Foundation Building Realm Cultivator with the younglings who were in the Qi condensation stage.


    He was more easily able to help out the members of the Giri clan who were practicing the Verdant Mountain Qi as he was more familiar with it.


    He spent the noon teaching them the basic characteristics of different spiritual plants and how to grow them.


    At night he once again met up with Master Ren to discuss their current track of progress and the need for manuals in Shattered Ocean Farming Sect.


    Finally, it was decided that Rishi would sneak back in the Spirit Ocean Sect without the Sect Head realizing and use the token she had given him to withdraw the promised manuals and get hold of some basic building resources like stones and wood.


    Rishi even considered apologizing to the Sect Head; to get back the promised benefits, but he decided against it.


    Rishi sat on top of one of the black rocks and cultivated the Verdant Mountain Qi to strengthen the foundation of his Earth Qi.

 38 Omniscient Eye

    The Immortal Arts Hall of Spirit Ocean Sect.


    Rishi rowed his boat on the ocean. The wind gently caressed his face, leaving him quite refreshed.


    Rishi with his well-built and relatively lean physique, dressed in an algae green gown that fluttered with the wind. His scholarly aura made him look cool. While standing on his boat, he gazed upon the surface of the ocean as if he was deep in thought.


    He was not sure if his sudden incursion into the Spirit Ocean Sect would attract the attention of the Sect Head.


    "Bam! Bam!" A muffled knocking distracted him from his thoughts. He directed his attention towards a shining ruby carp bouncing on his boat.


    He shook his head, bent his body down to pick the carp up in order to throw it back into the lake, and as he rose to stand again, a tall building entered his view.


    A tall building had a height of over a hundred meters, it glimmered in a bluish radiance. The building was thick and heavy, symbolizing its might and authority.


    The blue building was the Spirit Ocean Sect''s Immortal Arts Hall!


    The front of the Immortal Arts Hall was a wide marble pathway, the area around the building was awfully quiet.


    Rishi disembarked from his little boat and stepped up onto the island.


    He passed through the trees on the trail and walked into the Immortal Arts Hall.


    He took out his elder badge from his ring and handed it over to an elder stationed before the palace. The elder inspected it and signaled him to go inside.


    As he went in, multiple rows of book racks entered his sight. He walked in with confidence and stopped to pick out a book. He flipped through the book quickly and slotted it back, moving on to the next book. He repeated the process multiple times.


    By doing this, he managed to flip through twenty books in a span of two hours.


    This was the first time he was here.


    He continued to walk towards the second floor, then he suddenly turned around to ask the elder following behind him, "Which floor do I have access to?"


    "You can climb up to the 6th floor."


    "What''s on the 6th floor."


    Rishi knew beforehand that the first floor contained Qi Condensation stage Manuals and Arts, the second floor was for Foundation Building disciples,


    The third floor contained Core formation stage Manuals.


    The fourth floor \u0026 fifth-floor were for Forging Manuals, Herb\u0026Farming Manuals, Pill concoction, Exilir Making and Beast Taming side, and other crafts.


    "The sixth floor contained books for Nascent Soul cultivators." the elder said.


    Rishi nodded his head, As most of the elders in Spirit Ocean Sect were in Nascent Soul Stage they were allowed to enter the 6th floor of the tower.


    Rishi walked directly to the 6th floor, he began to flipbooks at random getting a good sense of the manuals present there most of these could not be practiced by him even if he wanted to.


    Rishi searched around for hours before getting up and starting to walk towards the lower floors when he suddenly fished out the golden badge given to him by the Sect Head.


    "Can I use this to access the floors above?" Rishi asked the elder who looked baffled at the sight of the golden badge.


    "Please Sir follow me." the elder nodded his head trying to hide his surprise.


    Rishi sprinted after the elder, the 7th floor it looked pretty empty compared to all the other floors.


    "What''s on this floor?" Rishi asked the elder.


    "Some Special techniques of Soul and Spirits and rare Mystical Arts but you can only pick one of them."


    "Only one of them, okay." Rishi moved towards the cabinets filled with different manuals searching for something that would suit him.


    "Hmmm," Rishi calm demeanor changed for a second before it was restored to his chill self.


    A mental strength building manual Rishi knew how rare mental strength building manuals were as most of the humans could only start to strengthen their minds after they reached the Nascent Soul stage.


    Most of the cultivators could not even know about their Spiritual Expanse before reaching Core Formation Stage but ''They'' were an anomaly.


    What surprised Rishi about this manual was the fact that this Mental Strength Manual could be cultivated by any cultivator, even if they were in the Qi condensation stage but the condition for cultivating it was quite hard; it required one to have a strong soul as a base to build his mental fortitude on.


    "I have a strong soul," Rishi murmured as he read through the general gist of the manual called Omniscient Eye,


    It could allow one to look through illusions and grant him the ability to look at the world with a clean and clear view.


    It would help gain photographic memory and Xray like vision to detect the various Qi in the air.


    Rishi picked up the Omniscient Eye Manual and walked towards the Elder and handed him the manual.


    Rishi walked down the stairs pondering which Manuals and Arts to select for the disciples of the Shattered Ocean Sect.

 39 The choice of Manuals

    Rishi moved down to the first floor and started to look for a suitable manual for his disciples,


    Sea Dragon Trident, Rishi looked at a manual that helped condense Qi into the shape of a trident that could be thrown at the enemy.


    Narwhal Lance, not this one.


    Lagoon Tiger palm, a melee type attack looks good.


    Whale Qi not very efficient to cultivate where would one find whales to help cultivate when one is busy farming.


    "Farming... Yes, I need some water manual related to Rain or aqueducts or Wells, canals might do too," Rishi gained a general understanding of the type of Manuals needed in his sect.


    "What kind of farmer would use swords or spears. I will modify these manuals to suit my disciples."


    He went around picking manuals and techniques...


    Rain harvesting Manual, this one as the base of Qi condensation along with the Well Water Sutra yes these two would be perfect.


    "Now for some techniques." Rishi once again searched for suitable techniques.


    "Curved Blade Art." This one.


    "Typhoon Ax Technique."


    "Dragonite Knife Manual."


    " Flood Blast, an expulsion type technique would work best for flooding the rice fields, Yes." Rishi picked a couple more Techniques and Arts.


    "Something defensive..."


    "Tortoise Shell, you will do"


    Now it''s all done, Rishi turned to the elder behind him and asked him, Are there any Earth Qi-based manuals.


    "No, Elder all the Earth-based manuals were taken by the branch head of Spirit Waterfall Sect."


    Rishi nodded his head all the manuals picked by him today in the Qi condensation section will belong to his branch of the sect.


    It was only natural for the Spirit Waterfall Sect to have the Manuals that intersected with Earth and Water Qi.


    Rishi moved up the stairs to reach the second floor containing the Foundation Realm Manuals.


    "Flood Qi Manual." Rishi picked this manual for the foundation building stage manual.


    "Flood Dragon Art, An art that would cause Dragonification for a few seconds or minutes on the mastery of the Art. and the cultivation base." This one is nice too.


    "Water Eagle Vision, look into the depths of the water body." Rishi picked this one as it looked helpful.


    "Tsunami Strike, another melee technique"


    "Rainstorm Blade, this will do."


    "That''s all for now," Rishi said while looking at the elder.


    "Would you not take a look at the other levels."


    "No, I will be back for them at a later date," Rishi said.


    All the members in his branch were only in Qi condensation or the Foundation Realm excluding his master who was in Nascent Soul Realm but he practices a Metal Qi thus did not need anything from the Immortal Sect Hall.


    Rishi remembering that he still needed to get some professional Manuals for Farming quickly moved up the floors.


    "You don''t need to follow me I will take a look at the Farming Manual on the 4th floor."


    The elder nodded his head and went to record the Manuals taken by him in the official documents as per his job.


    Rishi arrived at the farming section on the 4th floor, unlike the Immortal Arts manual he couldn''t take away these manuals, instead, he would be provided their handwritten copies from the elder.


    "Water Qi irrigation technique, using your water qi to irrigate the plants." this the simplest Farming Technique it was even sold on stalls in the market.


    "Next, Compendium of Spiritual Plants, this is an encyclopedia on Spirit Plants of Mortal and Earth Ranks."


    "Proper Use of Bees And Butterflies"


    "Using Spirit Birds to..."


    Rishi saw various books on farming, but it contained only 2 techniques.


    As this was not a farming sect only the more common books on farming were present in the Immortal Arts Hall.


    "The higher your expectations, the harder you''ll fall." Rishi moved his head side by side as if expressing his displeasure on the lack of Farming Arts in the Immortal Arts Hall.


    He picked up whatever he thought would be needed to be read by his disciples to broken their horizon and moved back down the stairs.


    He reached the courtyard to see the Elder recording the list of Manuals withdrawn by him.


    Rishi put all the farming books on him on the table the elder was sitting.


    "Oh you are done." the elder looked at the pile of books near his face and said.


    "Yes, this is all," Rishi replied.


    "Ok, you can take these with you." Saying so the Elder slid the various Immortal Arts and Manuals towards him.


    Rishi put the Manuals in his spatial ring, then took a glance at the Elder who was copying the Farming Manuals at a lightning speed.


    Rishi saw some sparks fly of the pen he was using, within minutes the whole pile of books was copied.


    "Here you go." The elder passed the copied text to him.


    Rishi nodded his head putting the texts into his spatial ring once again, he bowed to pay respects to the elder and turned around to leave the Immortal Arts Hall.


    Rishi rowed the boat leaving the Spirit Ocean Sect while he held the Omniscient Eye manual in one hand,


    "Form an Omniscient Eye by connecting your third eye..." Rishi read through the Sutra countless times as he leisurely worked his boat to arrive at the Shattered Ocean Sect.

 40 Rad Body

    Rudra stood on a black stretch of land with little piles of greyish dust accumulated at regular intervals this had what become of the sea of bones.


    Rudra looked above him seeing the black sky with no sun or moon it had been like this since he had alighted this plane of the undead.


    The current skeleton frame of Rudra looked menacing, with his bones as wide as a tree trunk, he stood twice times the size of an average human.


    A black orb floated at the center of his rib cage protected behind his sternum and ribs on all sides.


    The diamond soul crystal had already become many times its original size.


    Red flames were simmering in the orbits of his skull representing his eyes, which allowed him to see in this dark world where there was no sun or moon.


    Rudra knew that he had jumped quite a lot in terms of power, as his bones were no longer the original dull white like normal bones.


    After many transformations, they later turned to a blackened metallic luster bone which finally transformed into his current White color of the bone which looked a clean shiny metallic white.


    Now the sea of bones that filled the entire area was reduced to fine dust at his feet.


    "What now?" He said looking at the black soil below him stretching to the horizon.


    "Welp! This is the one." Rudra chose a direction and started walking.


    ....


    ....


    ....


    ....


    ....


    After who knows how long, a black water body came into his way.


    As if he had seen an oasis on a long arduous journey through a desert, Rudra sprinted with his long bony legs towards the pond.


    Rudra reached to the bank of the pond, dipping his hand into the water realizing it was just some murky water and not the Abyss Water as he had expected.


    "It''s awfully quiet here."


    The pond was perfectly still, Rudra picked up a stone from beside his feet and threw it into the water with great force.


    CRASH!


    The stone hit the bottom of the pond causing almost half of the water in the pond to fly out.


    Before Rudra could gloat about his immense power, his eyes or the red fire in his skull locked with a massive bone snake coiled in the pond staring directly at him with his green flames in its eye as if it would strike at any moment.


    As the water descended back, the snake and Rudra charged at the same time.


    BOOM!


    The water in the pond sprayed out the pond as Rudra punched at the nose of the bone snake cracking the bone, while the snake tried to use its massive fangs that were tougher than bone to strike at him.


    CRACK!


    Several cracks appeared on the fang, causing the snake to jerk its head back but it did not give up on offense as it coiled its massive bony frame around him.


    Rudra looked at the snake realizing at the beast wanted to crush his body by coiling him.


    He started to pummel at the body of the snake causing its bones to shatter.


    BOOM!


    After a short while, Rudra escaped out from the coiling of the snake and the process shattering multiple bones of the snake.


    He jumped at the snake which glared at him attentively and used the Soul Shock technique to disturb its soul causing it to sway then he grabbed its neck.


    "Soul Devouring Technique."


    The soul of the bone snake screeched out but for no avail as Rudra devoured it clean.


    "NOW! , Bone Strengthening Technique."


    The massive bony frame of the snake was reduced to dust.


    Rudra looked down realizing he was standing on a fang of the snake.


    "Looks like the fangs were left behind." Rudra looked at the other fang at a distance.


    He walked up to the other fang only to realize that it was cracked.


    "Hmm, guess it cracked while attacking my body."


    "Guess this will make a nice weapon," Rudra looked at the fang he was standing on.


    "Damn, this Bone Strengthening technique is rad..." Rudra appreciated his bony frame as he picked up the massive intact fang almost the size of his body and put it across his shoulders.

 41 Holding down

    Rudra picked a direction and started walking again hoping it would lead him to something again.


    After walking a long time he saw a trail of dirt running straight at him from the distance.


    He jumped up and stabbed with the snake fang.


    CRACK!


    Rudra held onto the fang as the creature below him did a flip in the air.


    Rudra applied some force of his body causing the creature to fall on its back.


    Rudra standing atop it glared at the creature that appeared part mole and part scorpion.


    BAM!


    Gone, Rudra did his usual devouring of soul and strengthening of bones and moved on...


    Rudra found many such beasts that looked as if two different skeletons had been combined but they did little to no damage to him he stormed his way through a vast area killing everything that popped in his way.


    ...


    .....


    .....


    ....


    BAM!


    A massive minotaur skeleton fell face first, "Bone Strengthening Technique"


    "I have collected to much junk." Rudra thought to himself looking at the horns left behind from the bull-headed minotaur skeleton.


    Looking at the stuff he was carrying Rudra thought he might just form a caravan a massive snake fang, a tail of a scorpion, a spider leg, anything that was not bones was left behind by the creatures he killed.


    "I gotta stop collecting these junks." Rudra''s skeleton face cackled as he picked up the horns as wide as his shoulders and placed it on his back.


    "It feels like grinding for stuff in a video game" Rudra felt pretty tired after being in this Undead World for so long all he could see was the black sky above his head and the black soil below his skeleton legs and the occasional fights with other undead.


    "Well, I would only get to cultivate on the other plane too, Rishi needs his time doing the farming work," Rudra assured himself with a false sense of purpose and once again started to wander.


    After many more fights later, Rudra finally reached what appeared to be a castle that was made of bone.


    It was completely made of bones, he could see the pillars which had skulls poking out at times, a massive gate that was closed had two skulls on its front.


    BAM!


    Rudra was excited to see the castle he stormed into the castle knocking down the massive gates made of bones with two skulls on it.


    He saw several human skeleton standings inside the hallway which had a throne at its end.


    Rudra felt a prickle in his soul crystal.


    "You are a strong one." A voice sounded in his head.


    He stared at the throne and saw a skeleton with a long cloak covering its face stood up and pointed his bony specter at him.


    He felt a stronger force trying to attack his soul but it still did not do him any harm.


    "It doesn''t matter you will become just like them." The Cloaked Skeleton cackled with confidence.


    Rudra charged at the mysterious cloaked skeleton throwing everything in his way the skeletons between him and the target were all flung far away.


    Rudra punched at the Cloaked Skeleton who was still in disbelief


    BOOM!


    The Cloaked Skeleton collided with his bony throne and fell upside down but he quickly made it on his feet.


    "I will make you pay!" the enraged voice of the Cloaked Skeleton entered into his head.


    Rudra grabbed hold of the arm of the Cloaked Skeleton and flung it across the room.


    As soon as Rudra did that he realized that he had made a mistake as the Cloaked Skeleton used his staff to order the skeletons in the hallway to swarm him.


    As they were numerous and trying to hold him down, Rudra was caught up in dealing with them as he repeatedly used Soul Devouring and Bone Strengthening Technique to get off the bone pile that the skeletons had formed on him.


    He felt a fire burning on his bone. He turned to see through a peek hole in the mess he was caught in to see the Cloaked Skeleton using the scepter to channel dark energy and bombarding him with the spells along with the dozen of skeletons holding him down.


    Whenever he turned one of the skeletons on him into dust, another one would take its place.


    What assured him was the fact that the spells used by the Cloaked Skeleton, did no damage to him whatsoever.


    Annoyed with the small fries Rudra flung the bull horn resting on his back to free himself from the entrapment.


    CRACK!


    Rudra cracked the skull of an undead skeleton by stepping on it.


    He started flinging the bull horn in 360 degrees area around him causing all the skeletons running towards him to be hit by the horn and eventually stopping them from coming near him.


    Rudra made a mad dash towards the Cloaked Skeleton but when he was just an inch away from grabbing its skull and pummeling it.


    BAM!


    Rudra was flung away as he turned to see his new adversary a saber tooth tiger skeleton.


    Before he could make a sound the tiger lunged at him with its two front teeth directed at him he used the snake fang to deflect the attack.


    A long battle with the Sabretooth Tiger ensued and the continuous barrage of spells and mob skeletons caused damage to accumulate on him causing several cracks to appear on his bones and his fang.


    But after some time he was able to cripple the legs of the tiger causing it to be immobile, he madly dashed at the Cloaked Skeleton who was caught unprepared.


    "I have finally got you.." Rudra cracked the neck of the Cloaked Skeleton then proceeded to break apart its limbs and absorbing it one by one to the horror of the Skeleton who had only his skull left.


    "NO, Leave me, I will be your slave please don''t kill me." the Skeleton voice pleaded Rudra who grabbed its head.


    "Soul Devouring Technique"


    "ARGH..." the voice screamed in terror.


    "You started it, bro" Rudra muttered after he finished absorbing the skull of the skeleton.

 42 A horde

    As an undead skeleton, Rudra never tired nor did he feel any pain.


    But the fire spell used by the Cloaked Skeleton had surprisingly made him feel the heat on his bones.


    "Maybe because it was the essence of the Spell hurting me not very much the substance," Rudra said, but all the sound produced by his skull was the grinding of jaws and clattering of bones.


    Rudra was laying down to calm his nerves after the intense battle.


    "That cat was the most annoying enemy here." Rudra turned his skull to peer at the immobile saber tooth tiger looking back at him.


    He then accessed his condition, with numerous cracks running through different bones of his body, Rudra sat up.


    He turned his head to see the saber tooth tiger dragging itself towards him, "Looks like you want to die fast, huh."


    The undead saber tooth tigers next action surprised him it coughed out the staff the Cloaked Skeleton was using at his feet and bowed its head.


    "It seems you have some of your brain cells left." Rudra took a detailed look at the skeletal Tiger.


    "You would make a good ride through this realm." Rudra once again failed to apprehend that all his speaking only produced the sound of the clattering of bones.


    Rudra picked up the scepter which had a human skull at its head.


    He tried channeling his soul power realizing he could easily divide his soul power into fine threads.


    Excited by his discovery he tried to stick one of these threads of soul power into one of the remaining undead who was like wandering about after the death of the Cloaked Skeleton.


    The undead eyes turned red from its original green flames after the soul thread injected into its skull.


    "HA HA HA I can have my minions." Rudra roared.


    "Good kitty, I will spare you," he said as he patted the bony head of the tiger


    Rudra channeled a massive amount of soul power and controlled every single uncontrolled undead in the castle.


    There were about 200 skeletons in the compound, with bare bodies and no weapons in their hands only the red flames shimmering in their eye sockets.


    He then walked towards the throne and conveyed a mental order through the scepter for every skeleton to gather in front of the throne.


    Rudra glanced at the rows of skeletons before his eyes, and a glimmer appeared on his red flames burning in his orbits.


    "Tear down the castle," he ordered.


    The skeleton horde started to claw at the bony pillars of the castle tearing them out, some started breaking down the walls.


    Rudra stood up from the throne and used the Bone Strengthening Technique to turn the throne into dust, he then looked at the tiger with all its leg bones cracked or missing.


    He ripped apart a pillar from the frame of the castle and used the Bone Strengthening Technique to heal the legs of the Sabertooth tiger.


    He ripped apart another pillar to heal the remaining cracks on his body.


    He ordered the skeletons to bring with them the parts of the bony castle they had gathered and used repeated Bone Strengthening Technique on them to increase the strength of his minions but due to a limited number of bones from the castle, the mob skeletons only had little.


    Rudra was expecting them to show signs of the bones ranking up but the number of bones was clearly less.


    Finally, Rudra threw one of the Devilish Techniques on each one of their souls making them his subordinate.


    It was an extra layer of protection so no other scepter carrying skeleton can override his authority over them.


    "I guess its time to go back and learn some more spells related to the undead," Rudra muttered to himself as he commanded his horde of about 200 skeletons to protect him.


    Rudra felt his consciousness returning to his body only to see Rishi rowing a boat while reading the manual.


    "Open the Demon Manual." Rudra seemed impatient, his sudden conquest of the horde of skeletons had increased his enthusiasm towards the desolate but interesting realm.


    Rishi nodded his head switching the Ominiscent Eye for the Exiled Demon Sutra.

 43 Hacks

    Rudra who had now taken control of the body was skimming through the spells of undead in the Exiled Demon Sutra.


    "Turn your soul threads into blades to cut the connection of enemy lich over their minions, or turn your soul threads into a shield to defend."


    "If I had known this before I could have finished that punk much easier," Rudra said while looking at the texts.


    "Bone Morphosis, change the shape of the bones to suit your needs but the shape once changed might not revert back. Primarily used for making bone weapons and armors."


    "Ohh, Nice, With this, I can equip my skelly army." Rudra was delighted.


    "Absorbing different Qi into the bones, creating chimeras, metal absorption to make bone armor stronger, creating liches, arch lich, death knights, taming mounts,....." Rudra read through various techniques and information present in the manual.


    Rudra closed the Manual and stored it inside his spatial ring, the Shattered Meadows was in his line of sight.


    He alighted from his boat onto the beach and was greeted by a disciple,


    "Welcome back elder."


    Rudra slowly nodded his head making his way directly towards the house Master Ren.


    He knocked on the door for some time after getting no reply, he turned back and returned to the fields.


    He saw all the sect members tending to their respecting fields, he also saw a circular mud pit where two disciples were wrestling.


    Curious he asked the nearest disciple what was going on.


    "Elder, we were feeling bored so we decided to build an arena to wrestle."


    Rudra nodded his head understanding that these guys were probably feeling bored with having to do farming every day so they created some pass time. He had no problem with them slacking off a little.


    "Have you seen Sect Head," Rudra asked the disciple once again.


    "Yes, Elder." the disciple started to walk towards the location of the Old Man Ren and Rudra followed after him.


    "What is your name kid."


    "I''m called Mark, Elder." the disciple answered.


    Along the way, Rudra made small talk with Mark asking about his family, his home...


    "Here we are, Elder."


    "You can return now." Rudra entered into the wooden building in front of him and was greeted by his master standing in front of a well similar to the one in the Spirit River Sect where he had gotten his Two Immortal Spirits.


    Rudra couldn''t help but remember the magnificent hall used by the Spirit River Sect.


    "Its finally complete, huh" Rudra moved next to his master Ren


    "Yes, it is ready to be used." Old Man Ren replied.


    "Let me call all the disciples to gather here," Rudra said as he raced out of the building to catch up to Mark who was just a few steps away from the Immortal Spirit Awakening Shack.


    Mark was surprised to see his Elder rush towards him politely inquired, "Do you need something Elder?"


    "Yes, Mark I want you to gather all the sect members in front of this building."


    "As you wish Elder." Mark turned around and ran towards the fields.


    "What a good disciple." Rudra couldn''t help but admire the young Mark for his demeanor.


    He then returned to the wooden shack with the well.


    "They will be here in a moment," Rudra said to Ren who just nodded his head.


    "Have you taken care of the Manual problem?" Ren asked.


    Rudra started taking out the manuals from his ring and handing them over to Ren to checkout,


    "I need your help modifying some of these manuals."


    "Modify?"


    Rudra then explained how he wanted some of the weapons manuals changed so they fit to be used by the farming hands of the sect.


    "So the Curved Blade Art must be usable with a sickle, Typhoon Ax with a hoe...."


    Old Man Ren was a Nascent Soul cultivator it would be possible for him to tweak some Qi Condensation and Foundation stage manuals.


    Ren and Rudra discussed the various changes they would make to the manuals. But their conversation stopped when the deacon of the sect entered in to inform them that all the disciples had gathered outside.


    "Looks like you are enjoying your job as a deacon, uncle Miller." Rudra teased his Uncle who had been appointed as the deacon fo the sect.


    "Come let''s go outside," Ren said to Miller.


    They both moved out of the shack while Rudra remained inside collecting the manuals he had been discussing with Ren into his ring.


    Soon Old Man Ren entered into the shack followed by a single disciple of the sect.


    Sit on the banks of the well and drop blood inside. Old Man Ren said as he channeled his Qi into the runes surrounding the well causing it to gleam in a bluish hue.


    The disciple nodded his head following the instructions.


    As the blood dropped into the well the water in the well churned but nothing happened after that.


    "All right you can go now." Old Ren said to the disciple.


    Rudra looked intently at the well, then realized that the kid had failed to awaken an Immortal Spirit.


    The disciple dejectedly left the room while another disciple entered who was ordered by Old MAn Ren to follow the steps.


    After a few disciples, no one had awakened any Immortal Spirits.


    Perhaps sensing his displeasure Old Man Ren consoled him, "Its Ok kid, It will be fortunate if we could even get 1 or 2 disciples who can awaken their Immortal Spirit."


    Rudra was reminded that even in Spirit River Sect only a handful of disciples had their Immortal Spirit.


    More disciples came and none of them produced any fruitful results.


    Rudra was now intently staring at the well and suddenly the gears in his brains turned an idea popped up in his head, the smile on his face expanded till it started looking creepy.


    The female member of Giri Clan who had just entered into the freaked out and screamed causing Rudra to return to reality.


    "Hey, Old Man I wanna try something outrageous."


    Old Man Ren''s mouth twitched remembering his disciple''s ever-changing way of treating him.


    Rudra pointed at the girl who had just screamed, "Sit down and drop your blood into the well."


    The girl complied and did what was asked of her.


    Ren looked at the well which was the same as always, he looked at Rudra,


    "What do you want to do now?"


    "It''s done Old Man, you are gonna thank me later." Rudra laughed in glee.


    Old Man Ren felt his Qi being absorbed quickly, he turned to look at the well and was surprised to see a Nine headed hydra fly out and enter into the Dantian of the female disciple.


    "How?" Old Man Ren stormed to the side of the well and peered inside only to see a pitch-black abyss with two shiny red eyes glaring back at him.


    He then turned to the girl, "Can you show me your Immortal Spirit"


    The female disciple who was thrilled to have her Immortal Spirit nodded her head and produced an apparition of a Nine headed Black Hydra slithering around in her Dantian.


    Old Man Ren looked at Rudra, "How did you do it?"


    "Hacks," Rudra laughed seeing the confused face of Old Man Ren.


    Rudra gave him a cheeky smile, "I will tell you after we have awakened an Immortal Spirit in all Sect members."


    Old Man Ren beamed a smile and went out to call the first disciple who had failed to awaken an Immortal Spirit back into the shack.

 44 Fang

    CLACK!


    CLACK!


    "Back again." Rudra clenched his bony fingers appreciating the power of his body.


    He had finally learned about the strength of bones.


    It was divided into 9 ranks each with 9 more grades. With 9th rank being the lowest and 1st rank being the best.


    A 9th rank bone was the same as the bones of mortal while the 8th rank was equal to the Qi condensation stage cultivator.....


    Currently, his skeleton physique was in the peak of 5th rank.


    Even mortal grade spiritual weapons could not make a scratch on his bones.


    He looked at the horde of skeletons in from of him they were all the lowest 9th rank bone body.


    Some of them were at the peak of 9th rank, some of them were in the late or middle.


    "Looks like the castle only did this much." Rudra thought he was lucky to have gotten the spawn at the bone sea pile.


    Gazing at the saber-tooth tiger he was currently sitting on Rudra was astonished.


    "How did you become the 6th rank body?" Rudra seemed to understand how this kitty had caused his bones to break.


    As the tiger was only rank below him it had been able to do minimal damage but most of the damage on his body was from the fire spell used by the Cloaked lich.


    "Hmm, but most importantly" Rudra looked at his minions and raised his scepter high in the air.


    All the skeletons turned and started to walk in a box formation with Rudra in the middle surrounded by the 200 skeletons.


    "Let''s go boys..." Rudra shouted in excitement.


    .....


    ....


    .....


    ....


    "Soul Fire!"


    The white fire burned an incoming skeletal half-man and scorpion the fire visually did not harm but the fragile soul of the undead was extinguished by the soul flames and its bony body collapsed on the black soil.


    "Bring it here." one of the undead dragged the body of the half scorpion man.


    "Bone Strengthening Technique!" the undead in front of Rudra started to have a tiny tinge of bronze hue on its bones.


    "You broke through to the 8th rank."


    Rudra was pleased to see one of his skeletal minions breakthrough.


    He once again commanded his horde to move on...


    While sitting on the back of the tiger he started to think about various undead Arts he had learned.


    "I would need to promote some of them into Knights while some into archers some into liches."


    "I would like some assassins too."


    "I need to increase their soul power for them to not be just dumb skeletons."


    Rudra mulled over the fate of his minions while glancing at the horizon.


    ...


    ....


    "Wait, I should refine bone weapons and armors," Rudra spoke to himself.


    Rudra pulled out the snake fang from his shoulders and fixed the bull horns on its broad end.


    "The bull horn will act as the Guard of the sword, while the snake fang will be the shaft."


    "It looks like a sword but it lacks a hilt."


    Rudra broke one of his ribs and fixed it at the end of the bull horns such that it worked like a hilt


    for the sword, he was refining.


    The rib bone in his hands melted and changed its shape to a cylindrical hilt of a sword.


    Rudra fixed the newly formed hilt on the bull-horn guards.


    He swung the sword into the air.


    SWISH


    SWISH


    "Good, I will name you Fang" Rudra caressed the shaft of his new sword with his bony hands.


    He then took out the broken fang of the snake, "I can change it into a dagger."


    Rudra fiddled with the dagger in his hand when he looked at the horizon to see another water pond with the same black water.


    "Onwards boys..." Rudra commanded as he threw the dagger at the newly promoted and the only 8th rank skeleton in the group.

 45 Deadra

    Rudra jumped down from his mount tiger and stared at the pond.


    "I have already experienced this before," Rudra muttered.


    He ordered all his minions to jump into the pond.


    SPLASH


    SPLASH


    SPLASH


    As the undead were jumping into the pond one of the undead was flung far away outside the pond.


    "I got you now.." Rudra roared as he jumped into the pond with the Fang in one hand while the scepter in the other.


    A massive bony head emerged on the surface of the pond revealing its rows of pointed teeth and a massive tail swung the nearest undead off it.


    "A crocodile!"


    Rudra raised his scepter and all the other undead charged at the bony crocodile.


    Suddenly the red flames in his eyes shimmered as he jumped up only to find a massive maw opening below him.


    "Another one..." Rudra slashed down at the opened maw with Fang.


    BANG!


    The crocodile below him dived deep down hiding after his assault.


    Rudra charged at the other crocodile being surrounded by his horde and pinned down by the Tiger at its back.


    He planned to finish them one at a time to not be caught in a battle where he would be ganged up by the two crocodiles at once.


    "Soul Shock!" Rudra roared as he landed on the skull of the writhing bony crocodile.


    The crocodile ganged up by about 100 skeletal undead was writhing at the pain in his soul.


    Rudra looked at the 8th rank undead with the dagger in its hand slashing at the tail of the crocodile.


    "I need to increase their intelligence fast." Rudra facepalmed at the stupidity of his minions.


    He spread a soul thread into the soul of the 8th rank skeleton he made it jump on the skull of the crocodile.


    "Soul Devouring Technique"


    Rudra pulled the soul out of the crocodile and absorbed it into the 8th rank skeleton minion who was dumbly standing in front of him.


    The crocodile stopped its flopping and the undead horde tore its body to pieces.


    Rudra congealed his soul thread into the 8th rank skeleton with a bronze hue on its bones and felt its soul expand.


    "Still no soul crystal.." Rudra muttered.


    Raising his scepter he once again ordered half of his minions to attack the other crocodile while half of them dragged the remaining bony form of the now-dead crocodile.


    The tiger charged at the other crocodile causing it to fight back at the saber-tooth tiger.


    Both of these massive beats fought creating waves in the black pond.


    But soon after repeated attacks by the Saber-tooth tiger and the horde of undead and with Rudra using a few Soul Shock technique; was defeated with its massive head detached from its body and all of its bony limbs separated.


    Rudra walked up to its skull and once again passed the soul into the bronze skeleton.


    "It formed a soul crystal..." Rudra looked at the red soul crystal in the skull of the bronze skeleton.


    "HA HA HA" Rudra roared in delight.


    "You are named Deadra," Rudra said pointing at the bronze skeleton.


    "Y...Yes, Ma... Ma...Master, Deadra is t..t...thankful fo...for your gift...."


    Rudra was astonished to hear the broken voice in his head.


    He patted the shoulder of Deadra.


    Rudra was delighted he once again proceeded to strengthen the body of every skeleton in the horde using the bones of one of the crocodiles...


    After a while, 200 skeletons with bronze tint were standing in rows in front of Rudra.


    "Damn, it took more bones than I estimated." Rudra cursed looking at the ash of the two complete crocodiles that had been used to strengthen the bones of this horde.


    "With only this much rib and tail bones left..." Rudra proceeded to make bone swords and shields from the remaining parts of the crocodiles.


    A total of 4 shields from the skull bones of the crocodiles and 20 swords and 5 daggers. These were all 8th rank bone weapons made from the crocodile bones. He used these to arm his horde.


    Now 4 massive shields, bearing skeletons with the shields in shape of a Crocodile skull.


    A total of 20 sword carrying skeletons and 6 dagger using skeletons including Deadra.


    He saw the Saber-tooth Tiger swimming in the black water of the pond, he remembered reading that the low-level undead didn''t know the bone-strengthening technique so they occupied areas like this pond that helped them improve the rank of their bone.


    Rudra nodded his head with a bony finger tapping his knee-caps.


    "I see, so absorbing the water in the pond might help improve the bone rank and soul."


    Rudra ordered all his horde to submerge themselves into the pond.


    "Being undead is convenient, one does not need any oxygen to breathe," Rudra said feeling his bony form at the bottom of the black pond.

 46 Classes are due

    Rishi was currently busy distributing manuals to the disciples of the sect.


    He and Old Man Ren had modified all the Manuals taken from the Immortal Arts Hall to be more suitable for the disciples.


    The curved blade Art was now the Sickle Art; it would allow a person to fight using the sickle as a weapon.


    The Typhoon Ax technique was now the Typhoon Hoe technique.


    But most of the Qi manuals were left unmodified, the Well water sutra and the Rain Harvesting Manual was distributed among all the disciples along with the Sickle Art and the Typhoon Hoe technique.


    As they only had a single manual on them so Old Man Ren created handwritten copies of these manuals to be distributed to the disciples.


    Rishi was sure they would improve by leaps and bounds in their cultivation as the time will pass, as all 200 or so disciples of the sect including the members of Giri clan had been granted Immortal Spirits related to water.


    Rishi was most elated in the fact that all of these Immortal Spirits were very powerful ones or so Old Man Ren said.


    "Here Mark," Rishi said while handing out one copy of each manual to him.


    Mark accepted the manuals while bowing his head.


    Rishi had great expectations from this Mark he had been able to awaken a Whale Immortal Spirit without the hacks, Rudra feeling delighted at Mark had decided to award him with another Immortal Spirit just in case.


    Now Mark had two Immortal Spirits one of them was a Jade Whale which he had originally awakened and another was the king of whales Leviathan.


    After some time all the copies had been distributed among the Qi Condensation stage disciples of the sect.


    "All of you would need to attend classes from me and the sect head starting from tomorrow."


    "There will be three classes daily, one on farming which requires you to study the numerous farming encyclopedias provided to you, I will be teaching you the craft of farming," Rishi said to the bewildered disciples.


    "The second class will be regarding the Immortal Arts and Techniques distributed to you, this will be taken by the Sect head himself so don''t forget to gather in the training field at the dawn tomorrow."


    "As a farming sect you all have been granted your own piece of land to farm but as the branch sect of Spirit Ocean Sect we have some conditions to fulfill so all of you would also need to tend to the Sea serpent Rice and the Spirit Shark Grass." Old Man Ren looked at the 200 disciples in front of him.


    "You will be given the freedom to grow whatever you want on your lands and you can even exchange your harvest for contribution points," Rishi explained to the disciples.


    Laying the basic rules and systems of the sect, and giving some instructions to the deacon Miller both Rishi and Old Ren returned to their quarters.


    Rishi had built himself a new wooden house and he was currently practicing the Omniscient Eye manual he could see tiny flashes in the air sometimes telling him that he was going in the right direction but he needed more training to use the Omniscient Eye properly.


    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    All the Techniques and Arts in the Shattered Ocean Sect.


    Qi condensation stage:-


    The base cultivation manuals----


    1\u003eRain Harvesting Manual: Cultivate the water Qi using the water from the Rain


    \u0026


    2\u003eWell Water Sutra: Cultivate the water Qi using the water from the Wells and Canals.


    The weapons manuals----


    1\u003eSickle Art: uses the sickle used for harvesting crops as a weapon


    \u0026


    2\u003eTyphoon Hoe: utilize the hoe used for tilling the soil as a weapon creating a small whirlwind of typhoon attack.


    \u0026


    3\u003eDragonite Knife: A simple knife technique that has the ferocity of a dragon''s fang.


    \u0026


    4\u003eFerocious Machete technique: A machete technique for the bigger knives used by the farmer to cut branches on the trees.


    \u0026


    5\u003eTide Shovel: The shovel blows a slash of Water Qi at the enemy.


    The Qi channeling offensive Art----


    1\u003eFlood Blast: yields a fast and powerful blast of water.


    \u0026


    2\u003eShark Rake: A rake made of water Qi with its points as sharp as the teeth of a shark.


    Defensive Manuals----


    1\u003eTortoise Shell: create a shell in the shape of a tortoiseshell made of water Qi.


    Foundation Building stage:-


    The base cultivation manuals----


    1\u003eFlood Qi Manual: practice water Qi from the flooded fields and terrains to train.


    The Qi channeling Art----


    1\u003eFlood DragonArt: An Art that allows temporary dragonification of the body of the cultivator


    \u0026


    2\u003eWater Eagle Vision: Allows the cultivator to get a sharper vision while underwater.


    \u0026


    3\u003e Tsunami strike: A palm strike containing the power of a massive tide from the ocean.


    \u0026


    4\u003eRainstrom blade: A blade strike from any blade-like weapons being sword or saber.


    Defensive Manuals----


    1\u003eWater Qi Dome: produces a protective dome around the cultivator.

 47 Horde grows

    "Guess, it only does this much." Rudra stood up from the pond which was almost empty of its black water.


    "Only one of them broke through."


    Now two hundred bronze shade skeletons were present in the horde which were all sitting cross-legged at the bottom of the dried pool.


    "Increasing the soul power is a pain in the back," Rudra said as he raised his scepter to inspect the souls of every undead under his command.


    Rudra pointed at the skeleton that had just luckily formed his soul crystal.


    "You are named Deadone." Rudra named it simply so that he didn''t have to come up with a new name after every one of his skeletons formed its soul crystal and became a bit smarter.


    Deadone with his massive crocodile skull shield bowed his head and thanked Rudra for giving him a name.


    "Move out boyz..." sitting on his mighty steed tiger he commanded.


    "I should name you too." Rudra stroked the skull with his bony fingers.


    "You are almost at the peak of your rank." he looked at the blackish skeleton of the tiger below him.


    "Let''s name you Blackie..." Rudra said to the saber tooth tiger.


    "I need to help you form your soul crystal too."


    "Hope we find more preys along the way."


    ...


    .....


    ...


    ...


    The horde of undead was standing in 4 groups each with its shield bearing skeleton at the front followed by 5 or so sword carrying skeletons and a single dagger carrying one and the then the dirt poor undead.


    All 4 of these groups were positioned in a box formation around the center where Rudra was atop Blackie guarded by Deadra and Deadone who had both broken through to the 7th bone rank and now had a silverish hue on their body.


    Rudra had attacked many roaming undead creatures but it had only allowed him to rank up 2 undead to 7th rank while the rest of his horde was still in 8th rank bone.


    Rudra didn''t make any new weapons, he just used all the bones and souls to nourish his skeleton hordes soul and bones.


    Blackie formed its soul crystal and was just a tinge away from a breakthrough in its bone strengthening.


    They were all gathered outside a bone castle similar to the one Rudra had encountered before, Rudra was very excited to raid this one he was sure he would gain more undead skeletons for his horde as well a scepter if this castle also contained a lich.


    Feeling excited Rudra ordered his horde to charge into the castle,


    The red flames skeleton horde with the shield beares in front charged into the castle clashing with the normal green flames skeletons that were all of the 9thrank.


    CRACK!


    BAM!


    One of the shield-bearer pushed the oncoming attackers with his shield causing them to be thrown at a considerable distance.


    SWISH!


    An enemy undead skeleton lost its head after a swipe from a swordsman from the horde.


    The enemies were not able to contend with an armed and superior skeleton horde.


    The enemies were easily decimated in a matter of minutes, a clear path between the gate and the throne was made revealing a lich with a scepter similar to the one in the hand of Rudra.


    Rudra just stood at the gates and watched the battle unfold waiting for the lich sitting on the throne to take action.


    Rudra decided not to destroy more of the skeletons in the castle used his soul thread as a blade to cut their connection with the lich in the middle of the hall.


    "How dare you..." an angry voice boomed in the hall.


    Rudra paid no heed to it as he transformed the enemy skeletons into his own minions.


    "You should worry about yourself, Mate," Rudra said as he raised his scepter to attack the soul of the lich.


    Before the lich could respond he was pincered from both sides by the assault from Deadra and Deadone.


    BAM!


    Deadone used his massive shield to knock the lich out of the throne and Deadra chased after the ich getting a few hits with his dagger from time to time.


    But the lich who was inferior in soul techniques compared to Rudra was defeated before he could do any harm and the castle was conquered.


    Rudra absorbed the soul of the lich into Deadtwo, 4th in the horde to form a soul crystal and handed him the scepter and taught him a few simple soul techniques like soul shock and soul blade.


    The castle was once again torn down and used to improve the rank of the newly acquired 200 skeletons who were all in the 9th stage of bone-strengthening.


    With the new additions, the horde now had Blackie who was at the 6th rank of bone-strengthening, Deadra at 7th rank of bone-strengthening along with Deadone. 8th rank Deadtwo and 200 more undead and the rest were in the peak or late stage of 9th rank of bone-strengthening.


    Looking at his horde, Rudra chuckled on as he ordered them to move out.


    "Onwards boyz"

 48 Kai

    Rishi was currently teaching the characteristics of Moon Dew Flower to a batch of students following behind him.


    Rishi had divided the disciples of the clan into 4 batches who would all take alternate classes from him and Ren with few days in between as their leave.


    Each batch had 50 students in them and Rishi had allotted a class head for them, this particular batch was headed by Julie.


    Julie was the one Rudra had used the hacks for the first time. She had awakened the powerful Nine headed Hydra as her Immortal Spirit.


    She was a member of the Giri clan and the change in her Qi manual had affected her along with all the younglings of the clan as they had to cultivate both Verdant Mountain Qi along with their new Sect Qi Manuals.


    Rishi didn''t want them to completely give up on the Mountain Qi as he believed it was their clan glory and they couldn''t give it up.


    Rudra was against the idea of the clan members cultivating the Verdant mountain Qi as it would hamper their cultivation.


    At last, Rudra could only give in to the old fashioned Rishi who was very much attached to his clan''s glory and honor.


    At this time, Rishi was standing under a shaded roof which was produced to keep the sunlight of the Moon Dew Flower, the shade was covered in the dark so no light could enter inside only at the night time were these shades were removed to let the Moon Dew Flowers absorb the Moonlight.


    Rishi was using the Light incantation a very simple Mystic Art for producing a bright orb of light in one''s hand.


    Under this white milky light, he lectured.


    "The Moon Dew Flower must be grown in the light of the moon, the sunlight is like a death ray to it and the flower will wilt within exposure to it..."


    "Its Dew is used for making beauty elixir and age reducing pills..."


    "Very popular among the females...."


    "Look here, at its thorns if you break it you could get the sap filled with a bit of Moon Qi which is used in many pills too....."


    Rishi was describing various things about today''s topic in Spiritual Farming the Moon Dew Flower.


    "That''s all for today''s class disciples," Rishi said facing the 50 or so children in front of him.


    The children bowed their heads and awaited his instructions.


    "Julie I would like you to take your class back," Rishi said to the class head.


    Rishi was very happy with the progress of the sect with the current pace they would be able to meet the demands set by the Sect Head of the Spirit Ocean Sect.


    He walked towards his humble wooden shack as he passed by large fields of Sea Serpent Rice and flower fields containing the different types of flower fields.


    A few ponds dug up at regular intervals, Spirit Shark Grass was waving inside these small ponds.


    He was enjoying the view of the massive fields spreading to the beach of the Shattered Meadows the only thing that seemed out of place on this whole meadow was the large black rocks some filled with Abyss Water while some not.


    Some walkways were made around these strange rocks, he was not able to think of a way to incorporate these rocks into the sect, they stuck out like a sore thumb in the whole view.


    These rocks were pretty heavy too he had asked his Master Ren if he could move them but he too was not able to move these rocks away or the ones'' he could require him to use a massive amount of his Qi which was not ideal.


    As Rishi was mulling over the strange rocks in the Shattered Meadows he was patted on his shoulder by the Old man Ren.


    Rishi bowed his head in respect which was dismissed by the Old Man who continued.


    "Oi brat, we got a problem.."


    Rishi looked at him questingly,


    "We have got a supervisor on the way."


    "A supervisor?" Rishi asked not understanding.


    "Yes its that brat Kai, she had been sent as a supervisor by the Spirit Ocean Sect."


    Rishi after a few minutes f conversation with Master Ren understood that all the branches had a supervisor appointed by the Spirit Ocean Sect whose duty was to report on the Sect Elders and Disciple of the branch.


    And the Core Formation stage elder who had dragged him into joining the Spirit River Sect had been appointed as the supervisor of the Shattered Ocean Sect.


    "So what''s the problem with her being a supervisor?" Rishi asked, feeling that Ren was annoyed at the fact that it was her as a supervisor.


    "Ah, I will tell you, kid, that brat has a cranky personality she is cheerful and merry like a little girl until she is on water but once she comes onto the land she becomes mean as an old witch."


    "Make sure to tell your uncle Miller to build her home at the beach or in the water if you had to, gah... this is going to be intolerable," Ren walked off.


    "Well, that explains something.." Rishi calmly gazed at the horizon.....

 49 Profound Moon Continen

    Profound Moon Continent was one of the many continents on the Spirit World which was surrounded by 5 different moons which varied in color...


    The Red Moon was called the Blood Moon which tended to make Demonic Beasts go berserk.


    The Green colored Moon called the Verdant Moon which symbolized the harvest increasing the fertility of plants on the Spirit World.


    The remaining 2 moons were almost similar they were just like the moons as seen back on earth, smooth whitish grey colored moons.


    But the last moon was the Broken Moon a moon that was supposed to be golden in color but was destroyed during a fight between two immortals or such the legend was spread among the masses.


    Profound Moon Continent was once ruled by the now extinct Profound Moon Sect.


    They had built many Moon Towers all around the Profound Moon Continent their cultivation was dependent on the various moons in the sky.


    This was what the signs from the murals in the towers depicted.


    No one knew how these towers were left desolate or how a sect of such a magnitude that it controlled a whole continent disappear.


    The red and green moons were rarely seen normally one would only see the two white moons,


    while the broken moon had not been seen for many years leading many to believe that it was just a legend.


    The current Profound Moon Continent was home to many sects from varying ranks and Empire and Kingdoms.


    The most notable of these Empires was the largest empire occupying the Western part of the continent the Golden Sun Empire, it expanded with each passing generation into the wilderness surrounding it.


    It was surrounded by the tranquil first on its western borders where the Giri clan manor was present, here the 7th prince of the Empire had set up the Pine Leaf Town.


    The eastern part of the Profound Moon Continent was filled with numerous smaller kingdoms who all fought internally but came together to drive off any assault in their territory from any of the empires.


    A massive mountain range separated the east of the continent from the rest of the continent, the eastern kingdoms also had access to the ocean.


    The Northern part of the continent was a frozen hellscape where only Ice Sects inhabited the area.


    The whole Northern part was lorded by the Spirit Ice Sect which had many branches in the north and a few subordinate kingdoms in the icy territory.


    There were numerous small deserts in the continents but the largest dessert almost the size of the Golden Sun Empire the largest on the continent was located at the center of the continent.


    The desert was called the Golden Dessert, the predecessor of the Golden Sun Empire where believed to have come from this dessert.


    The dessert had no kingdoms on its sandy boundaries, it was instead divided among the tribes that inhabited the area and the sects who were set up by these tribal people.


    The southern tip of the Profound Moon Continent was governed by the Spirit Ocean Sect which had numerous islands and the coastal areas under its control the South was separated from the other parts of the continent by a Dark and dangerous forest which ended at a Grasslands after which the Golden Desert were present.


    The Shattered meadows where Rudra had set up the Shattered Ocean Sect was located on a small strip of the land at the southern tip of the continent protruding in the ocean forming a peninsula.

 50 Zarya

    At the southern end of the Profound Moon Continent, In an opulent building adorned by valuable gems and marbles.


    "Sect Head, the 3rd prince of the Golen Sun Empire has requested us to send an elder to the Competiton he is organizing."


    "Get an Elder to go and attend this event."


    "After the 7th prince arranged his little town''s sect entrance event, all of his siblings are following in suit. Remember Elder Hawk we can''t be seen favoring one of them."


    The old man beside her nodded his head in understanding, if Rudra was here he would have recognized these two as the Sect Head of the Spirit Ocean Sect and the keeper who had guided him into the outrageously decorated building.


    The keeper was dismissed by the Sect Head who moved up the marbled stairs to the terrace of the building, seeing another person sitting in the cross-legged position beside a pool enjoying the company of the jade fishes swimming in the tiny pools which were present on the roof.


    The Sect Head moved next to the man and sat down on the Blue marbled floor on the terrace.


    "Ugh...., I hate this job of a Sect Head."


    "Zarya, it''s your duty to lead the sect. You will grow accustomed to it eventually." said the middle-aged man. His head was filled with deep blue hair and a short blue beard was present on his face which seemed to have started to age. He had a muscular build and the aura around him was as deep and oppressive as the ocean.


    "You could do have been the sect head too, you didn''t have to leave right away, why did you appoint me as the sect head you could have made uncle Hawk the leader."


    "You are my daughter, it is only right for the sect head''s position to be given to you."


    "But...Dad...."


    "No buts, Zarya you will need to lead the people of the sect our ancestors had built this sect from nothing."


    "I had the same feelings as you when I was appointed as the Sect Head but your Grandpa was adamant about me leading the sect."


    "But isn''t Grandpa still alive and kicking why is he not the Sect Head himself."


    "It''s for your good, don''t question it now."


    "And your grandpa thinks you are the best among the family to lead the Sect due to your Constitution."


    "The Constitution...." Zarya grumbled unhappily at the fact that her former leisurely life had been disturbed as she was appointed as the Sect Head by the old cronies who were Sect Ancestors.


    Zarya was the current sect leader of the Spirit Ocean Sect. She was born with a special constitution called the Clear Heart Constitution.


    Due to Clear Heart Constitution; anybody being in front of her was compelled to speak his heart, she was like a moving lie detector or truth extractor.


    She had done many meritorious deeds in the sect, like exposing a demonic Cultivator hiding as an Elder in the Spirit Ocean Sect which had allowed the Sect Ancestors and her Dad the Sect Head at the time to understand her constitution.


    Her Grandpa had considered her constitution and decided to groom her as the next sect head in place of her siblings.


    She was a heaven-defying talent as she stormed through the ranks of cultivations and reach the peak of the Nascent Soul Stage in her 20s after she broke through the next stage she was appointed as the Sect Head of the Spirit Ocean Sect replacing her Dad to lead the sect.


    She was raised like a princess by her Dad; which lead to her being annoyed at her current life of Sect Head managing the Sect affairs and meeting with the Set elders, leaving her to be bored to death.


    It was this Clear Heart Constitution that had caused the incident with Rudra, but Zarya was accustomed to such sudden outbursts from people spilling their minds in front of her.


    But what confused her about Rudra was the disparity in his outburst from other people,


    "He was calm during the whole conversation but suddenly..."


    "What...."


    Zarya came back to her senses realizing that she had gone on a tangent from her initial train of thought.


    "How''s everything in the secret realm?" Zarya asked her Dad changing the topic.


    Most of the Sect Ancestors lived in the Secret Realm of the sect which was an ocean world with no landmass then all lived at the bottom of the ocean in this Secret Realm.


    Her Dad who was one rank above her in cultivation had also moved to this Realm after he broke through and was cultivating in the Realm with the other Sect Ancestors.


    "Ohh, I almost forgot the reason for my visit."


    "Our allies in the north have discovered a Secret Realm."


    "The Spirit Ice Sect?" Zarya asked.


    "Yes, and they had invited a team from our sect to enter the Realm. The Realm only allows cultivators below the Nascent Soul Stage."


    Zarya started to think about the sect members whom she could send to this secret realm.


    "I have heard that you have accepted a disciple." the blue bearded man continued.


    "Yes, Grandpa asked me to train a disciple, I had to follow his orders so I accepted a disciple."


    "Oh here, take this for you and this one is for your first disciple." the Man handed two tortoise shells to her.


    "High-grade Spirit Artifacts." Zarya looked at her Dad and beamed a smile.


    "So when will you let me meet this disciple of yours?"


    "About that, I have already sent her on a mission."


    "You can meet her another time."


    The Middle-aged Man nodded his head before he stood up.


    "Its time for me to go, You must not forget to arrange a team that would go to the north."


    "Yes, I will arrange for that."


    "There will be guests from Spirit Ice Sect coming in a few months don''t forget to host them with courtesy."


    "I will, hmph you don''t need to state the obvious..." Zarya grumbled...

 51 Urgency

    Rishi was currently standing at the beach with Ren and Miller looking at a ship at the horizon approaching the Shattered Meadows beach.


    Rishi''s mind strayed as he zoned out looking at the blue colored ship that was exclusive to the Spirit Ocean Sect on the continent.


    Rishi had been on a mad spree furiously absorbing the Abyss Water from inside the black rocks on the Shattered Meadows.


    The purpose of doing so was to hide the fact that the Abyss Water was present in these rocks.


    While doing so, he was now in the middle of the Foundation building Realm for the Abyss Water Qi.


    But this had led him to be unsure of the fact on how to increase the Abyss Qi cultivation further.


    After much consideration, Rishi had decided to hide the matter of the Abyss Water from the Spirit Ocean Sect. As he was afraid it might lead to unnecessary troubles. He had cleaned it all now not a single drop of it remained in the whole area.


    Rishi''s attention was again diverted to the fact that the ship seemed to be filled with a large number of people.


    "Uncle Miller it seems your assumption was right we did need extra housing for the helpers that would follow the supervisor."


    Uncle Miller quietly nodded his head affirming the praise being awarded to him.


    The ship stopped at some distance from the coast as the people on the ship started bringing smaller rowboats into the ocean, few people flew towards them from the ship.


    Rishi was able to recognize the elder who had dragged him to join the Spirit River Sect.


    He saw his Master Ren flying towards them with his hands clasped, "Welcome Elder Kai, Elder Guan...."


    As Rishi and Miller were not at a stage that they could fly, they just stayed put.


    "Uncle, get some disciples to receive the people on the rowboats," Rishi said turning his had to look at the rowboats slowly making its way towards the beach.


    Soon the elders and Ren made it onto the land they followed after the Sect Head Ren, completely ignoring Rishi.


    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Rishi sighed thinking it was for the best, he didn''t even know what the other elders would think if they came to know that a Foundation Building Stage cultivator was an acting elder.


    Pushing these thoughts aside he made his way towards the training field where the disciples bored from their farming activity gathered to compete in comparing their Immortal Arts.


    These fights had to be under the vigilant eye of their class head.


    Rishi reasoned that due to lack of elders in the sect such tasks had to be given to the Class heads of the respective classes.


    He had selected the 4 best disciples and then given them a class to head.


    This has caused some friendly competition to arise in the sect where each class tried to outdo the others in terms of farming and cultivation.


    That perception allowed the classes to be more attached to their class heads and treat them like their leader.


    In the past few months that they had been in the sect, due to the relaxed and easy-going nature of the sect. It had allowed them to form their friend circles that liked to regularly duke it out with others in the training field.


    Rishi thinking till now was also worried about the time when these Qi condensation stage disciples started to break through to the Foundation Building Stage.


    Some of the best disciples were already in the late stage of Qi Condensation.


    Rishi was dawned with a new sense of urgency to increase his cultivation as he was not sure how would the command structure work if he was the same cultivation level as his disciples.


    Rishi being bothered by the double urgency of the disciples catching up and the elders being superior to him in cultivation changed his direction and started to walk towards his house.


    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    After a very long cultivation session, the night soon arrived, a clear white moon had appeared in the sky but if one looked carefully one could also see the second white moon just hiding behind the first one.


    Rishi was sitting cross-legged in the lotus position on his bed.


    A faint sound of a merry festivity was entering into his ear, but he wasn''t bothered by it.


    Rishi was delighted currently as he had finally made a breakthrough and reached the first layer of the Omniscient Eye.


    "The Omniscient Eye" Rishi muttered as he activated the technique by closing his eyes.


    Suddenly he could see a plethora of colors dancing about in the air, the wooden walls in front of him abruptly turned invisible and he could see the vast expanse of the Shattered Meadows every wooden house became invisible on front of him he could see the helpers that had come today attending to the feast arranged by Miller.


    Few disciples tending to the Moon Dew Flowers. Some of them frolicking together.


    He could see his master conversing with the other elders of the head sect, he could see a woman taking a shower in a house by the ocean.


    "Wait.." Rishi hastily deactivated the technique and opened his eyes with a jolt causing him to have a headache.


    "I have to use this technique with caution," Rishi said as he rubbed his temples.

 52 Legion

    A legion consisting of 6000 undead trekked after Rudra who was atop his mount Blackie.


    This was the result of raiding a dozen bone castles that were spread apart on these lands. The constant hunt for new prey had caused the army numbers to swell to its current size.


    Deadra followed behind Rudra, an exquisite bone armor protecting his bony frame.


    A group of undead that looked distinct from the rest of the legion was circling the tiger acting as bodyguard.


    The circle was formed by the Dead-series of skeletons who had formed their soul crystals and were more aware than the most fodder skeletons following behind them.


    These were all the undead that had broken through to the 7th rank of bone-strengthening and were able to form their soul crystals.


    Deadone was carrying a big crocodile skull shield walking in front of the whole legion.


    Deadtwo was raising his scepter commanding the legion behind him to keep up,


    As Rudra had swelled the number of undead in his command, the number of liches had also increased after every castle raid he would gain a scepter that he would use to delegate a lich and prioritized their soul crystal formation.


    Rudra had left all the command of mobs to the newly promoted liches who were supervised by the first lich of the legion, Deadtwo.


    These liches used their scepters to command the army of 6000 undead to follow every command conveyed by Rudra.


    After many raids of the numerous bone castles, Rudra had realized that not all the bone castles were similar, looking at Deadthree who was carrying a massive greatsword hanging on its back.


    Rudra was getting eager to find even more bone castles, but they were getting more infrequent as he went about in his course.


    Rudra was currently in the process of forming bone armor and weaponry for his legion.


    They had just raided a horde of goat-like undead who were roughly 1000 in number. This had allowed him to considerably increase the number of bones on him to create new armors and weapons in the legion.


    "Another one''s, done," Rudra said as he threw a bone armor at Deadtwo who then gave the armor to a lucky soul in the 6000 skeletons. But Rudra didn''t pay any attention as he quickly started working on another weapon.


    Almost all of the legion was already in the 8th rank of the bone-strengthening, the twenty members of the dead-series were in the 7th rank of the bone-strengthening, Blackie had also broken through to the 5th stage becoming the same as Rudra who was also in 5th rank.


    Deadra was in the peak of 7th rank and was just a tinge away from breakthrough to the 6th stage of the bone-strengthening.


    Looking at the various types of skeletons, Rudra felt what he missed the most in his army were the assassin units as there were only two of them in the whole legion and the archer skeletons as there were none.


    Rudra''s legion was slowly being equipped with armor and weapons. Rudra hummed a tune in his head as he slowly changed the shape of the bones in his hand and next attempted to create a small dagger.


    There were now twenty-two or something members in the horde of 6000 who have formed their soul crystals this had caused Rudra to grimace at the fact the number of souls he would need to form a soul crystal in all the 6000 undead under his command.


    Thinking about this, he planned to absorb another pond of black water that he would come across in this desolate and empty land.


    Suddenly Deadone in front of him stopped causing the whole legion to come to a halt, Rudra surprised by the abrupt change looked up to see an army of skeletons heading towards them.


    Rudra raised his scepter to command his whole legion to enter into formation while he rode Blackie to the front as the rows of undead behind him followed after their respective liches to enter onto ''combat mode''.

 53 Xersol

    A black armored skeleton carrying a lance in its hand riding atop an undead skeletal horse rode out from the army in front of Rudra.


    "Surrender in the name of the lich king Xersol." A booming voice sounded in the field.


    Rudra scoffed at the remark, "Surrender my ass, charge!"


    Rudra was sure this bunch was not here to talk stuff out with him or that''s what he presumed with the tone of the Black-armored knight.


    "URAA!" Rudra charged the front as his legion quickens its pace to charge at the army many times of their size.


    Rudra raised the Fang to collide with the sword of another knight type undead riding a skeletal horse,


    SREEK!


    the metallic sword in the hand of his opponent produced a screeching sound and sparks flew out of it.


    Blackie used its bony claws to dismember the legs of the skeletal horse causing its rider to be thrown on the ground, Rudra swooped his arm down the belly of the tiger and grabbed the skeletal rider with his bony claws and devoured its soul.


    "Let''s go, Blackie..." Rudra urged Blackie to charge at other riders.


    A dozen of skeletal riders were thrown out of their mounts as Blackie rampaged through the army like a hot knife through butter, the enemy units were scattered and were one by one picked off by the assassin units of his legion.


    Rudra turned his eye to look at the center of the enemy army seeing the Black Armored skeletal knight on a black armored skeletal horse.


    Deadra Deadone and Deadtwo were ganging up on him but he was still able to hold on the 3v1.


    Rudra decided to do more clean up before he got done with the boss.


    He raised his scepter commanding the legion shield beares along with swordsmen to flank the enemy units while he charged straight at them, leading to a pincer attack crushing the enemy numbers.


    CRACK!


    Rudra cracked a skull of an enemy assassin trying to plunge his dagger into his back.


    "HEHE, idiot this dagger hardly make a dent" Rudra roared as he jumped from Blackie entering into the fray grabbing the poor skeletons and then turning them into a cracked pile of bones.


    SWISH


    CRACK


    Rudra flung his Fang sword around everywhere it hit a bone-cracking sound would accompany it,


    The enemy leader had already noticed his army being overpowered he also knew that the 3 undead were holding him down so that he may not be able to command his units.


    But he was helpless, he was annoyed at the skeletal lich who was stacking his soul causing him to lose his momentum in the battle now the only thing on his mind was to return to his King and report the strength of the enemy.


    He quickly commanded his skeletal horse to turn tail and storm out of the battlefield, but before he had traveled halfway out he was tackled out of his mount.


    BAM!


    PLONG!


    Rudra rushed at the armored knight who was deflecting the attack from Blackie, his metallic sword was defending from the large protruding teeth of the saber-toothed tiger, Rudra grabbed the skeletal knight by his waist and delivered a back suplex causing it to drop its weapon.


    But the knight did an immediate roll and made it back to his feet and rushed to grab his weapon back but Rudra would not allow it he threw his massive Fang sword at the skeletal knight.


    BANG!


    A black soil was thrown in the air as the knight tried to crawl out of the hole he had just made before another swipe came at his neck, he defined with his arm causing numerous cracks to appear on it, Deadra had been on his tail and had used this moment to attack him.


    Before he could retaliate a piercing soul attack hit him,


    "Arghh..."


    BAM!


    Deadone used the crocodile shield to attack the immobile knight.


    Rudra looked at the skeletal knight lying pitifully at his feet with cracks running all over its bony body.


    "Well no so tough now, are you?" Rudra teased the knight grabbing it by its neck.


    "Clear the battlefield up I don''t want no extra minions right now" Rudra ordered as the enemy units were made immobile so that he could harvest their souls and bones to strengthen his legion more.


    "Also save those horse and the metal tools on these guys..." Rudra ordered Deadtwo as the knight in his hands turned to ashes.


    "King Xersol was it...., he...he...he..." Rudra laughed like a maniac, eager to face the so-called king

 54 City

    Right before Rudra at the far end of the horizon stood a giant palatial city. However, not of glamor and luxury. It was a towering city of death. Towers and walls made of bones and sinister-looking bricks. A giant tower rose right in the middle of the city. It looked like a rising cone.


    "All you will hide here," Rudra commanded his whole army to hide as he trekked towards the undead city with large bony walls Deadra followed after him, they both looked no different from the undead that had gathered in front of the city gates trying to enter inside.


    As they both followed after the queue and entered the city.


    Rudra felt like he was in a new and strange world. The skies still looked grim. The dirt he stood above was dark and eerie as usual. But the atmosphere here was different as a hint of civilization appeared in front of him.


    However, that was not what had surprised him. He could see undead skeletons city that was no different from any normal city, laborers, blacksmiths, guards, farmers he could see skeletons doing different works that he thought only the living did.


    Rudra could discern the life of the undead as he walked in the streets of the city realize that the undead had more to them as he had previously imagined.


    All these undead had soul crystals in them, which was what surprised Rudra.


    Deadra following behind him was also equally surprised, they both were like a country bumkin coming to a metropolitan city for the first time.


    Rudra had decided to infiltrate the city first trying to scope out the strength of this Xersol, but coming inside the walls had given him a great surprise. The guards of the city were all as strong as his best men, he was sure that the elites of Xersols army who be even stronger than his beast troop.


    But why do they all have a soul crystal, Rudra was most astonished at the fact that even the laborer carrying a strange black wood log on his bony shoulders had a soul crystal while Rudra had only been able to have 40 of his units form their soul crystals.


    Rudra did not know how these undead communicated or did trade. He slowly followed after another skeleton that looked as ragged as him he could see that normal undead of this city were all wearing clothes and the guards were armed with metal armor and weapons.


    Roaming in the streets for a while, Rudra finally made his way towards what appeared to be a grain store. Seeing inside and not spotting anyone attending at the counter of the store. Rudra looked at different looking grains filled in different bags some of them as if on display for customers.


    Rudra picked up a handful of white grain from inside of a black gunny bag. He looked carefully at a grain that looked like polished rice but was the shape of wheat grain.


    Before he could throw the grain into his mouth he was interrupted by the skeleton who popped up from behind the gunny bag.


    "Hey scum, you dare to steal my grains without any fear of the guards."


    Rudra looked intently at the skeleton in front of him, it''s tiny frame looked much like a skeleton of a monkey than a man, hmm was it his slumping posture that made Rudra think so...


    Rudra produced a soul thread from his soul crystal and replied to the monkey looking skeleton shopkeeper.


    "How much for these?" Rudra''s voice boomed at the shopkeeper.


    "AH, you don''t need to yell ah, you get this bag of Soul Wheat for 1 black coin."


    Rudra''s two questions were already answered, the grain was Soul Wheat while the currency used in the city was black coins.


    Rudra took out a medallion and flashed it before the flame-like eyes of the shopkeeper.


    "Ah, you indeed looked suspicious, I have already paid you guys thrice this month yet you still come to take more of my share, please my lord spare me I have children to feed at home, I have already paid the full taxes to both the king and the city guard captain....."


    Rudra was stunned to see such a reaction from the shopkeeper.


    ''It looks like there is extreme corruption in the city.'' Rudra quickly connected the dots from the points made by the shopkeeper but to be sure he decided to gather more information from this bubbling fool.


    "NO, I am not here to take taxes," Rudra said shutting the mouth of the rambling monkey.


    "Oh, then how may I help you my lord." the shopkeeper said as he rubbed his bony palms together.

 55 Plans

    There was but a single large clearing in the present scenery dotted with spiritual farms of various spiritual plants and flowers which painted the whole area as green mingling with assorted colors.


    Within the clearing where the sunlight projected through the branches and leaves, several hundred figures were quietly sitting cross-legged.


    It was a group of young men and women. At that time, all of them have a serious expression while they closed their eyes.


    They would let out their breaths periodically, showing a rhythmic beat.


    As they breathe in and out, subtle lights that are difficult to be seen with the naked eye would appear in their surroundings.


    The gentle breeze blew quietly and caused their clothes to flutter. It was quite a spectacular sight.


    In front of hundreds of students, there is a stone platform. On top of the stone platform, there, too, was a figure quietly sitting cross-legged. Her hands were attuned to each other; her fingers were overlapping as she closed her eyes. It was as if she had entered a certain state of cultivation.


    The figure also had a youthful appearance. She had a soft and slightly disheveled blue hair, yet her seemingly innocent face was a little thin. It gave off a very comfortable feeling when others looked at her.


    At this moment, many lights that could be seen with the naked eye were surrounding the girl. And from those lights, mysterious energy seemed to be rushing into her body.


    Below the stone, many youths suddenly opened their eyes. They looked at the lights surrounding the girl on the stone platform and could not resist blabbering their lips. A respectful expression appeared on their faces and whispers began to destroy the earlier silence.


    "Elder Kai really is amazing. All of us are still sensing the Qi within the Spiritual Qi of the world, but she has already successfully entered the Core formation stage."


    Rishi who was using his Omniscient Eye to watch the Qi''s flowing in the surrounding could only cough dryly causing all the disciples to return to their cultivation.


    Rishi was not jealous of all the respect Kai was getting with the disciples of the sect, from the day she had come to the sect, the sect had undergone major developments related directly or indirectly to her presence.


    While the former Shattered Ocean Sect looked more like the countryside, the current looked more like an established sect. Various essential buildings were already being constructed.


    The men accompanied by Elder Guan, currently building the Immortal Arts Hall, a mansion for Ren and stone quarters for the sect disciples and elders, and many other building projects were undergoing like canals from a nearby river to the sect numerous wells for the sect members to practice their Well Water Sutra. And more of them were being added to the list.


    In short, a lot of construction work was being carried out.


    All of this was possible as the Elder Guan wanted to make better connections with the only disciple of the Sect Head of the Spirit Ocean Sect, Kai.


    He was doing so by going overboard with all the materials and assistance provided in the area.


    Making Rishi increase the scope of development in the sect going on to plan out adding the southern mountain area and the eastern swamps as the part of the territory laying the roads connecting them and building quarters in these areas.


    The outline of a dock could already be seen on the beach, in which Rishi wanted to be able to house several large ships by the ocean.


    "If I gain control of the mountains it would be easier for the members of the Giri clan to cultivate the Verdant Mountain Qi."


    The expansion was planned by Rishi keeping the mountains in mind. He wanted to incorporate this terrain which would normally be not controlled by the Water Sects.


    Rishi was also very grateful to Kai for being helpful even if she did not mean for all the attention from the other Sect Elders who were looking to build good relations with her, it had allowed him to gain many benefits.


    And it wasn''t like, Kai was not helpful in the sect at all. Kai was surprisingly very attentive to the sect as she helped the disciples in the Qi condensation stage guiding them in cultivation.


    She had also arranged for spiritual weapons and tools to be delivered to the sect. And a customary robe to be tailored for every disciple and an exclusive boat-set to be prepared for the sect. All of her efforts caused the sect disciple to see her in a very respectful way.


    This was the current class being held by her, all the disciples were cultivating in silence as she sat on the stone platform.


    "All that left''s is accepting more disciples into the sect. And this mission presents the fitting chance for this."


    Rishi took a long look at all his students that he would not be able to see for the upcoming months finally, Rishi looked at the stone platform where Kai was cultivating before he stood up and returned to his wooden hut, he was planning to prepare for the mission that had been assigned to him.

 56 Setting ou

    Rishi was tending to his fields. The last few days after that were spent in the sect. He was either watering the soil, loosening the soil, or adding sacks of material into it. The light brown soil began to turn red, and it ended up as red as blood. The initial horrid smell turned into a relatively pleasant smell that reminded him of the smell of red roses.


    This meant that the construction of the blood farmland was successful! All the soil that was mixed together turned into the blood soil!


    Rishi then proceeded to plant seeds of Blood Orchids in this field. This was one of the new farming techniques he had learned from a book. Rishi was prepping this field to grow Blood orchids that were used to make Blood Pills a type of healing pill and blood nourishing pills that helped the mortals and cultivators to strengthen their bodies by enriching their blood.


    Rishi planned to let these flowers grew in this field as they will be ready to pluck when he returned from his mission.


    Rishi then moved to the top of a black rock where he sat cross-legged and cultivated the Black Qi coming out of it.


    "The Omniscient Eye is a great technique!" Rishi commented in delight as his Abyss Water Qi cultivation increased by a bit.


    Rishi peered into his Dantian looking at the three distinct Immortal Spirits, the cracked Mountain with little vegetation at its foot, the Ancient Metal Terrapin who was standing inside a circular disc filled with weapons plunged into it these weapons looked ethereal, and finally, a pool of water that covered the largest area in his dantian the Abyss Water Foundation in which the Timingila could be seen swimming.


    "It would have been easy to increase my cultivation of Metal Qi if I was a Spiritual Blacksmith." Rishi couldn''t help but lament at the scope of spiritual weapons he would need to complete the foundation of his Desolate Metal Qi.


    Both his Verdant Mountain Qi and Abyss Water Qi had reached the middle stage of Foundation building only his Desolate Metal Qi was still stuck in the early Foundation Building Stage.


    Rishi knew he would need to absorb a lot of spiritual weapons to cultivate the foundation of the Metal Qi.


    "Phew!, It''s already noon." Rishi looked at the burning sun in the middle of the sky.


    Rishi jumped down from the black rock which was now the replacement for the Abyss water for the cultivation of his Water Qi.


    "I have asked for this mission and I must make the best of it," Rishi said as he packed all the necessities he would need on his journey to the west of the continent.


    Rishi had taken the job given by the sect head to attend to the various Sect Entrance Events being arranged by the princes of the Golden Sun Empire in their respective territories.


    Rishi had formulated a route that would help him attend all these events as he planned to rack in as many best disciples as possible.


    "Ah, brat! You are leaving already." Rishi looked at Ren who was walking towards him.


    "Yes, I am going, master." Rishi bowed to his master who proceeded to take a ring out of his finger and handing it over to Rishi.


    "What''s this?" Rishi questioned taking the ring.


    "It contains a spiritual boat that could fly in the air, it is my personal boat so treat it well" Ren explained to him.


    "You want me to use this.." Rishi questioned.


    "Yes. and remember that it uses spiritual stones to work." Ren said as patted Rishi on his back.


    Looking at the measly fifty spiritual stones in the ring along with a sleek black boat that appeared more like a plane than a boat, Rishi grumbled at the economic situation of the farmer master and disciple.


    "This should be enough for a while," Rishi commented.


    "Just don''t make it go fast and it will work for a longer time," Ren added.


    After talking to Ren, Rishi finally set out towards the Western side of the continent. He planned to travel towards the Spirit Ocean Sect using the usual boat then take a sharp turn going through the forest he had traveled with Kai to reach the Pine Leaf Town first. Now he had a flying ride this was going to be easy he thought.

 57 Dark Fores

    Rishi had just left the territory of the Spirit Ocean Sect what laid ahead of him was a perilous Dark forest filled with beasts of strong cultivation.


    Rishi was in a dilemma whether he should brave through the forest or fly over the whole expanse of the dark forest using the precious spiritual stones in his possession.


    After a while, Rishi decided it would be best for him if he went through the dark forest cutting across the terrain diagonally to reach a town that was present inside the dark forest.


    "And from there I would take a merchant wagon or something," Rishi said to himself as he looked at the map in his hand.


    "I have practiced the sect manuals to initial stage I can use my Qi to fend for myself," Rishi said as he performed a Flood Dragon Transformation causing his body to be filled with black scales all over his face and body and a pair of black wings growing on his back.


    The black scaled wings flapped as he flew into the Dark forest.


    "The Abyss Water Qi causes my techniques to vary from all the techniques used by the sect members," Rishi said looking at his black dragonification. Normally the flood dragon would be blue in color.


    To confirm his theory Rishi used Shark Rake a black rake made of Abyss Water materialized itself as it went through a tree completely obliterating it.


    "Huu! looks like the power is increased as well" Rishi sucked a breath of air at the damage done by the Shark Rake, the water rake had left several trees in its path destroyed. But this had confirmed his suspicion that the Abyss Water Qi made his techniques look different and be more powerful than the normal Water Qi.


    The whole day passed and the sun was setting on the horizon as Rishi looked at the sky from the top of the tree canopy. His dragonification had ended a little while ago he had decided to stop using it to save his Qi.


    He was looking for someplace to spend the night, a cave or a tree burrow of sorts. Sleeping on the ground in the middle of the Dark forest would be suicidal.


    Suddenly he heard a roar in his head.


    "Its been a while Rishi." Yali''s deep and heavy voice sounded in his head.


    "Oh! did you complete the first stage of your cultivation, I thought you would need more time."


    "Ho ho I must thank you for that partner Rishi your mental cultivation really helped me tide through it, now I can cultivate the second stage of the cultivation."


    Rishi nodded his head understanding that his cultivation of Omniscient Eye had increased the mental strength helping Yali, who needed much concentration refining every organ, bone, nerve, and vessel in the body with his Heavenly Nether Lion blood. Now that he had completed the first stage of the best cultivation he could start the next step.


    "So what the next step of the Beast cultivation?" Rishi asked curiously as he was not sure what the next step would be.


    "HAHA! Of course, I have to form a beast core. As you humans have a core, beasts also have a core." Yali laughed in his heavy voice.


    If Rudra was present here, he would have cursed at the heavens again, both these humans were stuck in the Foundation Building Stage while this lion was already going to form its core.


    "It''s good that you are in the forest." Yali''s words confused Rishi.


    "Do you need something in the forest."


    "Yes, prey I need prey, its time for a hunt." Yali''s voice caused the calm Rishi to panic a little.


    "What do you mean to hunt?" Rishi asked concerned.


    "I need preys to form my core, a lot of preys, this forest looks perfect for my hunting spot," Yali said.


    "No, that is not possible now, I am on an urgent mission." Rishi disagreed.


    Rishi then proceeded to explain to him how he needed to reach certain towns before a deadline but he could only give in as Yali persisted that he would make it through the forest before the deadline after he had hunted enough prey.


    "Ok, but remember we are out on a mission," said Rishi as he relinquished the control of the body and handed it to the Heavenly Nether Lion.


    "Yes Yes..." Yali sounded uninterested.


    "Hmm, It feels weird walking on two legs," said Yali as he transformed the young noble looking body into a white lion with a glazing red mane.


    ROAR!


    "Feels right!" Yali laughed as he dashed into the forest floor in the middle of the night causing the animals around the vicinity to hide in fear.

 58 Land of Depravation

    Rudra was currently holding onto a cloth map depicting all the areas around the city of King Xersol.


    "So the area was in previously is Lands of Depravation."


    "Yes, and it is a land of death the undead who go there lose their soul power with time and turn into bones." the monkey-like skeleton replied struggling to get out of the ropes that tied him.


    "Oh you are still trying to get away, didn''t I tell you you are my prisoner now."


    "Please I have family sir please let me return I don''t wanna die in those deprived lands." the pitiful voice of the monkey skeleton sounded.


    "Peh liar," Rudra turned to look at the legion following behind him.


    The horses that were supposed to be used by knights were now being used to pull carriages full of grains of the skeletal monkey''s shop.


    Rudra planned to settle down near what appeared to be an area in Land of Depravation where the black water ponds were more common and a river nearby so that he could grow these grains that helped undead to form their soul crystals easily.


    "What are these massive piles of bones around the Land of Depravation?" Rudra asked the monkey pointing at the bones made on the map.


    "Ah! those are the bone piles that fall from the worlds above."


    "The worlds above?" Rudra asked in surprise.


    "Ah, you see we are not in a complete realm it is one of the sub realms captured by the Death God, the original world is a world of the living, this realm would act as a base for the army of the Death God to conquer that world.


    "This is not a world of death? but a sub realm that was conquered by the death god''s army."


    Rudra rubbed his chin with his bony fingers thinking over the fact that this enormous world which he had just gained information about from the Skeletal monkey was a sub realm that was conquered then converted.


    Looking at the map, Rudra saw that the borders of Land of Depravation touched other undead territories like the ghouls and zombies which he had only heard about from the monkey and had yet to see one with his own eyes.


    But what excited Rudra was the location of bone piles on this map with this information he could raid these bone piles that stretched for miles and strengthen the bone of his legion.


    "Do you know why I am bringing you with me Monkey?" Rudra said to the skeleton who was tied in a carriage.


    "I am not called a monkey, call me Vern." the skeletal monkey spat out.


    "Ok Vern, I plan to build a city a brand new city and you are going to help me build it." Rudra declared as he pointed at a location on the map that was surrounded by the black pons and was near the banks of a river shown on the map marked as the River of the Lost.


    "Near the River of the Lost are you out of your mind even the mighty Xersol didn''t dare venture near the territory of the undead beasts living that area."


    "Vern, was it don''t worry about some beasts my men can handle them."


    Rudra was not afraid of some beasts near the river banks what bothered him was whether or not he would be able to grow the grains that he was carrying along with him in the horse carriages.


    Rudra was considering whether he could bring Rishi in this undead realm so that he may help with the farms.


    "Pui, that was what the general Cai told King Xersol before turning to dust at the banks of the River of lost...." the monkey once again started his blabbering.


    "Eh! don''t worry about that, we will take a little detour before settling down." Rudra cheekily said as he looked at a massive bone sea appearing at the horizon.


    "We meet again!" Rudra laughed as he commanded his legion to enter the bone sea.


    As the legion moved through the sea of bones the bones that were piled up turned into ashes.


    The massive piles disappeared at a visible rate, the bone-strengthening technique was doing its job, the undead who were present in these piles were converted to join his side by the ''Devil Soul Imprint Technique.''


    By the time the legion crossed through the whole bone sea, it was all reduced to dust and the legion had 500 new undead.


    Rudra looked at the legion excited over the fact that most of them had broken through to the 7th stage of bone-strengthening.


    "Onto the next one, Boys..." Rudra laughed as he pointed his scepter towards the direction of the next bone pile.

 59 The perfect bai

    Yali had been on a rampage inside the Dark Forest hunting anything that he deemed as his prey.


    A long claw mark could be seen running over the trees around this area of the Dark forest.


    A carcass of a deer that Yali had hunted could be seen lying near the roots of a tear. the dear had ornate horns that glowed whenever sunlight fell on it, its fur was golden brown and it looked something out of a painting but the bloody gashes on its body made the scene gruesome and undid its beauty.


    "Say Rishi wasn''t this forest supposed to be full of beasts with higher cultivation?" Yali said in disdain.


    "There are indeed dangerous beasts in the Dark Forest, maybe they are deeper in the forest," Rishi argued.


    "Looks like we need to prepare a lure for them to bite," Yali said as he decided to drag the deer carcass.


    "Wait, I smell something." Yali''s nose twitched as he smelled powerful blood in the air.


    "Its the smell of a high-level beast, how come this lowly world has such a creature," Yali said as he ran towards in blood with his four legs making long paw marks on the soil below.


    Yali decreased his speed and moved slowly, not making a sound to not alert the enemy he peered in from the back of a bush looking at the scene in front of him.


    BANG!


    A tree fell shattering into pieces as it hit the found causing the snow accumulated on the ground to swirl in the air.


    Few men wearing white robes were attacking a girl and an old man in the same white robes.


    SWISH!


    The girl fended attacks coming towards her as she beheaded one of the attackers causing blood to splatter like a fountain out of the headless man.


    The old man fighting with three opponents at the same time roared, " Karib you are going to regret attacking us, even if you kill us here, you will be punished by Elder..."


    Before the old man could finish his words a sword slashed his throat causing blood to spill out, the old man grabbed his throat while he was stabbed in his chest from the back.


    The three men then charged at the girl who was busy fighting two other men.


    BAM!


    ZOOM!


    SWISH!


    The whole area seemed to be covered in ice as both these parties fought. A multitude of spells was thrown in the mix dazzling white and blue lights lit up the area.


    The girl who was alone soon found it hard to cope with the numbers of the other party.


    A sword drove into her abdomen and she was hoisted in the air with the sword stuck in her abdomen.


    "Eira, it seems its the end of the road for you." the young man who appeared the leader of the group laughed as he used his hands to caress the white disheveled hair of the girl hanging on his sword.


    "It would have not gone this way if only you weren''t blocking my way, such a waste of such beauty." the man named Karib sighed.


    The girl named Eira dug her teeth into the hand stroking her hair.


    "Owww, you bitch!" Karib cursed as he slapped her with the back of his bleeding hand.


    "I will not kill you so easily bitch I will first defile you then my men will have their turns with....."


    "Arghhh!" Karib screamed as he felt both his arms being torn apart from his body.


    Karib saw a lion-headed man with a red mane ripping his men to shreds with his bare hand, he broke the swords coming at him with his black shiny claws.


    ARGH!


    All the snow spells used on him were ineffective as he walked through them unhindered.


    ARGH!


    Glurg!


    Sploosh!


    Blood splattered all over the snowy ground painting it red. The dismembered corpses of his men twitched as they slowly died as the blood seeped out of their body.


    The man walked towards him again and dragged him up by his neck.


    "You will make a perfect bait, little, bird," said the menacing face in front of Karib causing him to pass out.

 60 Birdie

    SWOOSH!


    A calming wind blew in the air causing the snow to drift on the ground sprinkling it over the red hellscape that was left on the forest floor.


    "Ugh!" Eira clutched her stomach in pain as she woke up from her unconscious state.


    Her eyes opened to look at the old man who had his throat slit, groaning in pain.


    "Grandpa Gian" she tried to slide her body towards him, grabbing hold of his arm she felt the old man''s pulse.


    "Phew! What happened did elder sister come in time." Eira took a sigh of relief finding that the old man was still breathing. And doing so her eyes turned to look at the top of a tree where Karib was tied onto both of his arms missing from his body.


    The Tree trunk devoid of all its branches and leaves appeared like a large pillar.


    "What is elder sister trying to do, it seems we can''t kill Karib after all." Eira knew why her elder sister had spared his life; Probably because he was one of the only five people in the sect selected by the sect guardian to inherit the mantle as its sacred guardian.


    "Killing him would be the same as insulting her majesty, But he too tried to kill me shouldn''t he be punished."


    "Sister!" Eira called out sure that her sister would respond.


    Eira not hearing any reply for a while tried to make it to her feet.


    "Owww, it still hurts," Eira groaned before she stood up. And as she turned her head all the hairs on her body stood up as extreme fear gripped her heart.


    "Oh, you are awake little girl, just in time for a show." Yali finished his words following a deafening cry.


    SCREECH!


    "I would move if I were you, and take that old man with you," Yali said to the girl as he jumped in the air and propelled himself towards the sky.


    "A little help, Rishi," Yali said as he jumped.


    A pair of ethereal wings with black scales materialized behind him as he flew high into the sky,


    A massive grey colored eagle descended towards from the sky diving with its nose facing the tree trunk where the disarmed Karib was strapped on.


    "It looks like the prey took the bait," Yali said as he dived down catching up to the tail of the eagle who was still unaware of him.


    Eira who was still gripped in fear from seeing the half-lion with the white lion face and the red fiery mane was awoken from her stupor from the cry of the eagle, she quickly grabbed Elder Gian and ran into the forest.


    Karib woke up seeing a massive eagle claw heading his way,


    "Ahh!..." Karib yelled as he was yanked out from the tree trunk but before he could make sense of the situation he was falling from the sky to the ground.


    BANG!


    The pained cry of the eagle sounded in the forest, as the eagle stumbled to make it to its feet, one of its wings was ripped apart from its body.


    Feeling a foreboding of danger the eagle raised its claw to defend against an attack towards its neck.


    Angry at its current fate the eagle whooshed his other wing producing a whirlwind that blew the still immobile Karib along with the bloody snow into the air.


    "HA HA HA, it''s over for you, bird." Yali laughed as he jumped off the tree to once again attack the neck of the eagle who could only defend on the ground.


    The eagle cried continuously trying to fend off the attacks from the Heavenly Nether Lion who switched into a complete lion and half-lion form on will, causing eagle to miss its attacks.


    Yali held the eagle from behind as he delivered a suplex breaking many bones in its body.


    AWOo!


    "The party''s just getting started." Yali laughed as he charged at the incoming fox almost the same size as him.


    BAM!


    Both of them were thrown off their feet after a collision.


    The wolf rushed back at him before Yali made it back to his feet,


    "Come!" Yali roared as he grabbed the snout of the wolf who had almost bitten his neck.


    "AWOOO!" the wolf cried out in pain as Yali rained punched on its body grabbing its snout with one arm while punching with the other.


    SCREECH!


    The eagle produced another whirlwind attacking them both causing the wolf to escape from Yali''s grab.


    "What''s the hurry birdie you will get your turn soon." Yali roared as he charged back at the Wolf.


    The wolf once again charged straight at Yali only for this time to be caught by its jaw.


    Yali roared as he used both of his arms to rip the wolf in two, by splitting its jaws with his hands and all the way to its abdomen. The half ripped body of the bloody wolf increased the bloodiness of the whole area.


    The bloody smell wafted in the air as more and more sounds started advancing towards the clearing where Yali and the one-winged eagle were present.

 61 Three eyed Blood Crow

    The storm eagle was trying to slide itself away from Yali.


    "Not so fast," Yali rushed at the eagle breaking its claws.


    The painful cries of the eagle caused silence to arise in the forest but it was only momentary as more howls and cry started sounding in the air.


    BAM!


    BAM!


    A line of trees fell as a massive gorilla ran towards the unconscious man in the middle, but before his arms could reach his target he was intercepted by Yali.


    A furious exchange of punches started between Yali and the gorilla. The fight had just begun when another beast ran into them and started attacking both of them.


    More and more beasts jumped into the fray and Yali couldn''t even differentiate which one he was hitting and which one he was being hit by.


    Yali grabbed a tongue aiming for his with his arm and yanked it, causing a fat frog to be dragged to him.


    CROAK! the frog panicked but before it could do anything its tongue was ripped and a massive horn impaled its body.


    SPLATTER!


    The pieces of the frog were flung in the air.


    Yali watched the frog being impaled by a shining golden horn, the rhino who had just impaled the frog was being ganged up by a massive Bear and the gorilla.


    Not missing the chance Yali also attacked the rhino grabbing its horn and swinging his body causing the rhino to stumble and then fall to its side.


    The rhino soon was killed at the hands of the bear claws. The bear who had just killed the rhino switched his target to his partner gorilla as he cheapshot the gorilla in the face.


    Both the Bear and the Gorilla started a battle to the death. As more animals poured into the clearing.


    Yali turned to look at a crocodile making its way towards the bloody snowfield. The crocodile chomped at a badger in front of him crushing it to death.


    "Ho Ho, it keeps getting fun." Yali roared as he charged at the crocodile.


    At present, the white body of Yali had already turned crimson red various gashes of wounds were open on his body, golden blood flowed from his body mixing with the red blood of the beasts.


    Perhaps it was his blood that had attracted this wave of beasts or was it the blood of the man he had used as bait or both.


    Yali rushed at the crocodile who flung his tail hitting him on the chest.


    BAM!


    Yali was thrown towards a chicken-like monster that looked like a hybrid between chicken and snake.


    The snakehead attacked Yali but Yali caught the snakehead, after cleaving both the heads of chicken he rushed back at the crocodile.


    The crocodile was unbothered as he swung it tail once again at the incoming Yali, but Yali caught the tail.


    SWOOSH!


    He started swinging the crocodile around causing its head to hit other beasts who were attacking each other in the fray, the crocodile was finally was slammed down on an exposed tree trunk that pierced through its body making it die instantly.


    "Huff Huff," a bloodied Yali stood alone in a battlefield filled with blood and carcass of the beasts that had been slain here.


    Yali was holding onto a bear head, the last enemy he had killed, all of his body hurt as his heart was strained, he had lost a considerable amount of his own blood.


    Some of his bones were cracked a few major injuries ridden his body, not it was nothing for him he was sure he would be able to heal this body after a while of rest.


    "All of this is gonna be enough for me to form my core," Yali said as he looked at the storm eagle who was still alive albeit devoid of its wings and legs.


    "Huu, a wind element Storm Eagle you would be the best nutrition for my fire and lightening core," Yali spoke as he slowly walked towards the Eagle.


    CAW!


    Yali heard the caw of a crow from behind him, he quickly dodged to the side.


    Yali froze as he realized that a black crow with a red rune-like pattern all over it was standing in front of him with an arm in his hand.


    Yali looked at his shoulders realizing that the crow had ripped apart his arm without him realizing it.


    "Almost at the third stage." a mad rage burned inside Yali as he looked at the crow with three crimson eyes.


    Yali felt the disdain in the crow''s eye, causing his anger to increase further his heart started beating faster and faster.


    ROAR!


    Yali roared as he charged at the Three-eyed Blood Crow

 62 Rampage

    "When I am done with you, You are gonna regret being born!" Yali yelled as punched at the crow.


    BANG!


    Yali was flung back with a single claw strike, a long gash of claw mark ran through his chest exposing his golden heart out.


    The crow stared at the golden heart in envy and desire as its beak made its way towards the heart hoping to separate it from the body.


    BAM!


    A crack appeared on the beak of the claw of Yali as he tried to hit the crow''s beak.


    "Not strong enough, eh!" Yali said as the pain made his ears ring.


    CAW!


    The crow attacked again missing by a hair''s width.


    "Huff, Huff..." Yali panted, he was out of stamina his eyes deceived him the world looked groggy to him the colors were fading only a deep red remained in the world but he was not willing to give up extreme rage filled his heart as he rolled around doing the strikes from the crow.


    His red mane was already shredded apart by the numerous attacks that landed on him his white fur had gaps in them his blood sprayed on the ground.


    His body was failing him, the will to fight remain but the body couldn''t keep up. The rage was the fuel, his pride wouldn''t allow him to fall.


    ROAR!


    Yali roared as he made a last dash at the crow.


    CAW!


    The crow also jumped at him.


    Yali''s body fell down like a rag a gaping hole in the middle of his chest.


    "Ugh, It looks like letting rage take over is the only way." Yali thought as his consciousness slipped away.


    The crow who was holding onto a beating golden heart was sure he had won.


    ROAR!


    A sudden roar caused the crow to flinch, disbelievingly it turned its head towards where the body of the white lion laid.


    CAW!


    The crow laughed in delight thinking the roar was probably his misunderstanding.


    The white lion''s body started turning black as it made its way back on its feet, a pair of crimson eyes stared at the crow who was about to gobble up the golden heart.


    BAM!


    CAW!


    The crow cried out in horror as its beak shattered into pieces and the golden heart was snatched from inside his mouth.


    CA...CAW!


    The surprised sound of the crow hadn''t even finished when a paw slammed his head on the ground.


    A bite ripped apart his wings as he stared in horror at the black lion with the same red mane but the mane appeared to have deeper shade than before.


    The Three-Eyed Blood Crow sent a laser beam attack directed at the head of the Lion.


    But a swipe from the claws beheaded the Crow whose face was still in disbelief at the turn of events.


    The Black lion proceeded to rip the crow to threads after which it ran into the forest killing everything that came in its way clearing away all the beasts hiding in the shadows who were waiting just like the crow.


    As the sun rose on the horizon, a mountain of corpses was piled up and a black lion could be seen feasting on his prey.


    It had cleaned the whole of the Dark forest devoid of beasts, as the corpse pile increased the more it ate.


    It was a hungry predator whose hunger could not be satisfied. A black lion four times the size of a normal man.


    The pile became shorter and shorter as the Black Lion kept on eating and eating, the mountain of corpses disappeared the eagle was gone, the White robed man was gone, the crow was gone.


    The Black Lion closed its eyes satisfied with its meal as the ground below him was covered in bones of the beasts that he had devoured.


    The black color started receding as the white fur returned the detached arm of the lion had grown again, the bloody red mane turned back to the fiery red mane of the Heavenly Nether Lion.


    Eira stood at the edge of the clearing looking at the white lion intently she did not know why this ferocious beast had decided to spare her life along with her elder Gian, but the gruesome battles in its whole entirety had been seen by her.


    Eira looked in terror at the Lion that had eaten all the magical and demonic beasts in the Dark forest.


    She had been quick-witted to hide along with her Grandpa Gian who was still unconscious but healthy.


    She had known that something happened to the lion as it turned Black and started slaughtering every being in the forest dragging it to make a pile here.


    Sigh!


    She relaxed looking at the black lion turning back into its white form and going to sleep.


    These past few days had caused her to remain alert and had taken a mental toll on her body her wounds in the abdomen area were still not completely healed.


    Suddenly she felt movement coming from the lion, a radiant light started to seep from the body of the lion and it suddenly started leaking golden blood from all its pores.

 63 Iclyn

    Rudra returned into his body after a long time.


    "Oh! Rishi you are not the one behind the wheels." Rudra said looking at Rishi''s head on his soul body.


    "Take control of the body." the eager voice of Rishi sounded causing Rudra to be confused but he complied and took control of the body.


    "Oh I am a lion now, heh I missed this," Rudra said but as he tried to stand on his 4 legs.


    Blood splurted out of every pore of the body.


    "Feck! What''s this, what did you both do." Rudra said a massive amount of pain entered his brain causing him to yell out.


    ARGH!


    "Yali ate too much, the body can not maintain such energy in the body, the blue blood belonging to a different beast is rampaging inside the body along with the Qi tearing apart every vessel in the body," Rishi said as he used his mental power to prevent the body from outright exploding to bits.


    "Quick think of something to use all this energy, fast." Rishi urged Rudra.


    "What, what..." Rudra panicked as he felt the pain increase each passing second.


    "Wait this sense of fullness, When I have felt this before..." the memories of the time when his bones were turned to dust entered his head.


    "Yes, create a new body. There is only one way to spend all this energy quickly." Rudra laughed.


    The commotion inside his body stopped for a second as the lion body was slowly being morphed into a new form, the blue blood was separated and extracted from inside his golden vessels along with other elements that were rampaging inside his body.


    A rough outline of a human started appearing. A completely new channel of Qi was created along with new blood vessels. His Dantian started shaking as a stream of Qi entered inside it.


    A whirl of wind blew in the air as the pain caused due to the building process caused Rudra to pass out leaving Rishi to hold on using the mental power till the process was completed, Rishi too was spent out by the end of it.


    Eira walked out from her hiding spot looking at the young man in front of her she was unsure what to do.


    She had seen the black lion turn to white and then to its present human form.


    His face was sharp with a white hair covering him up to his chest, she parted his white hair that had some grey shades mixed in, to look at a cream-white face slightly tanned than a normal white.


    She used her hands to prop open his closed eyelids seeing an unfocused crimson red pupil.


    Before she could examine any further her eyes went towards his...


    "No..." Eira blushed as she covered her eyes and turned back after calming down a little she took out a cloth from her space ring and covered the naked body of Rudra with it.


    "Hmm, all done." Eira went back to get the unconscious old man Gian towards the center of the are where Rudra laid.


    "Do I make my way towards the Pine Leaf Town or should I wait for my sister." Eira considered her options after much consideration she decided to wait as she would not be able to leave these two people behind as she traveled.


    Feeling bored she started cultivating trying to recuperate the injuries caused to her by the people from the same sect.


    "Elder sister should be coming pretty soon now It looks like something is holding her back," Eira realized that Kirab should have taken her sister in consideration within his plot to kill her on this trip.


    "But I am sure Elder sister is going to be okay," Eira assured herself.


    "Yes, I am, but it looks like you already took care of them!" a soft voice sounded causing Eira to jump up and hug the person who had appeared in front of her.


    "Iclyn, thank go you are here." Eira buried her chest into the blossom of her elder sister and started to cry like a little girl her resolute self from the previous days had disappeared.


    "Hmm, it''s ok I''m here don''t worry no one will hurt you." Iclyn comforted her little sister.


    "Let''s go back to the sect first, we need to heal Elder Gian," Eira said pointing at the Old Man lying beside the new body of Rudra.


    "Ok,"


    SWISH!


    Iclyn took out a white flying ship from inside her space ring. As she used magic to raise two ice golems that looked like crude gorilla made of ice picking up Elder Gian and Rudra and moving towards a ramp leading inside the blue ship.


    "Who is this?" Iclyn asked as she patted the ice golem carrying Rudra causing the cloth that was covering the bottom part of his body to fall down.


    "Eiyya!" Eira exclaimed, "Sister what are you doing?"


    Iclyn was stunned into silence she quickly produced a freeze spell and increased the unconscious Rudra into ice.


    "Eiiee, sister you can''t kill him, he is the one who saved me and Elder Gian." Eira panicked.


    After Eira''s persuasion, Iclyn unfroze Rudra and covered him back with some clothes before they discussed the fate of the unknown man.


    Eira told a made-up story of Rudra helping them both out where she skipped the whole lion part.


    Eira and Iclyn talked for a while after which they decided to take poor Rudra along with them.


    The white flying ship zoomed towards the north of the continent. Rudra who was asleep snuggled into a comfy warm quilt. Unaware of the change that this would bring in his life.

 64 Spirit Ice Sec

    In an empty ice field, several entities could be seen practicing a sword dance guided by a middle-aged man with white hair and a clean face.


    In the field adjacent to it an old lady with a hand fan with beautiful ice mountains drawn on it was dancing, in front of her, a group of young girls and boys copied her movements, dancing with their fans.


    A row of tall mountain peaks covered in snow could be seen in the horizon as snow fell on the ground but every disciple of the sect was not even feeling any discomfort at the low temperature.


    Except for a certain young man with white hair and crimson red eyes who was rubbing his palms together trying to keep himself warm.


    Rudra looked blankly at the scene in front of him, still stunned at the turn of events that had led him here.


    "Oh! isn''t this the servant that Eira brought with her." Rudra turned to look at the source of the voice, a bunch of girls who were standing at some distance whispering amongst themselves.


    "Look he is looking at us, did he hear us." one of the girls in the group said.


    "No, how can that be possible, after all, he is just a mortal with no cultivation." the girls giggled.


    Rudra''s mouth twitched at the mention of the awful situation he was trapped in, a body with no Qi, the new body formed had disconnected from both the other body forms, the lion body of Yali and the original body of Rishi.


    He could feel his Dantian but could not ''access'' it, for a better word.


    Rudra turned his eyes away from the group pretending not to hear them.


    "I need to cultivate again, then somehow I will be able to change back into the original body. I can''t even get the Demonic Heart to work." Rudra grumbled as he felt his body feeling cold in this icy terrain.


    Currently, he was in the extreme north of the continent, the Spirit Ice Sect, he had been here for two days now.


    On the first day, he thought he was going to be a disciple but the reality hit him hard as he was not even accepted as a disciple, feeling pity for him the girl Eira had taken him as her follower.


    He could not blame the sect, for not accepting him. No sect would accept a disciple without a single streak of Qi in their body.


    The news of him being bought back by Eira had been spread across the whole sect like a forest fire.


    Her accepting him as a follower after he failed the test to become a disciple added more fuel to the rumors circulating that he was a gigolo mooching of Eira.


    "Fuckers wait till I can cultivate again I am going to break all of your mouths." Rudra cursed angrily as he stood up and returned to the residence of the girl named Eira who had dragged him into this whole mess.


    Rudra at first was not even sure why she had been so hellbent to help him, but after Rishi told him that Yali had saved her life and that she must be trying to repay her favor. Rudra could only sigh at his misfortune.


    "All that matters now is somehow making it to the west." Rudra was adamant about completing the mission as it was very important for the development of the Shattered Ocean Sect.


    Peering inside his body using his mental strength he saw that the golden heart of the Heavenly Nether Lion had already formed a core it was fiery red in color with blue markings like lightening.


    "HO!, that bastard Yali is the one to blame for all this if he had been a little bit more, tame in his actions, we would be...." Rudra cursed at Yali feeling jealous that the lion was already many steps ahead of them in cultivation.


    "Hey, Rishi!" Rudra called out inside his head.


    "Yes," a calm voice replied. making Rudra doubt whether this old man even cares for the situation they were stuck in.


    "I have run into some troubles in the Undead World, ...." Rudra proceeded to explain the soul plants that could increase the soul power of beings and his plans to grow them.


    "Oh! Plants that help the undead to form soul crystals, interesting!" Rishi was very amused by the sound of new plants he was sure and if he succeeded in growing these new types of spiritual plants he would advance in his Spiritual Farming profession.


    "Okay, I will enter, tell me the chant," Rishi said calmly.


    Rudra passed on the chant he used to make his consciousness travel back and forth.


    "You should attempt learning the Omniscient Eye," Rishi said to Rudra after he memorized the chant given to him.


    "Omniscient Eye...." Rudra muttered, "I will try it."


    "And don''t forget we have a mission to complete!" Rishi reminded him before his voice trailed off.


    "Rishi Rishi?" Rudra called out a few times confirming that his consciousness had indeed left.


    Rudra walked up ice stairs leading into a beautiful stone house which was decorated by ice murals all over it. This was the residence of the sisters that had brought him to the north of the continent.


    "Hmm, you are back early," Iclyn soft voice entered his ears, he turned to look at her wearing the customary white robes of the Spirit Ice Sect but her robes had embroidery of a bluebird done on it.


    "Iclyn don''t jump out of nowhere, you almost made me fall down the stairs," Rudra complained as he moved past her into the manor.


    Iclyn''s brows furrowed at his response, she was really at her last nerve with this man if not for him being the savior of her little sister she might have just swatted him to death.


    "Ehem, you should remember your position as a servant," Iclyn voice had none of the softness of before.


    "Don''t bother me, woman, I ain''t your servant," Rudra said as he slammed the door shut on her face.


    Iclyn was left stunned standing outside his room, she balled her fist swearing to pay him back as she stormed of annoyed into the field where Rudra was before.


    "You why are just standing there....you are sentenced to 1 day in punishment hall....you.."


    The unfortunate disciples who were just chilling about had to face the wrath of Elder Iclyn.

 65 Ice phoenix

    Celestial Frost Mountain was originally Cloud Mountain. Legend has it that during ancient times, a hail storm blew past this location, instantly transforming the mountain into a pristine snowy aspect.


    After this place was discovered by humans, they realized how beautiful the mountains looked behind the hazy blue clouds. Inspired by the majestic image, the humans decided to rename this place Celestial Frost Mountain.


    The Celestial Rainbow Mountain was the second largest mountain in the Northern area after the Eternal Ice Mountain. It was extremely spacious, spanning a radius of ten kilometers.


    The Celestial Frost Mountain was actually a mountain range consisting of ten mountain peaks, each of them, incredibly dangerous, and under the control of the various divisions of the Spirit Ice Sect.


    The main mountain peak of the Celestial Frost Mountain was named the "Ice Dragon Summit"; it was treacherous and dangerous beyond comparison and a Blue Ice Dragon was rumored to reside there.


    Not only was it extremely steep, but there was also only a single path between the peak and base of the mountain. After the Spirit Ice Sect built their roots in this area, they set up a total of thirteen checkpoints on the path up the mountain for the easier access and security.


    The Serene Snow Mountain peak was the safest in the Celestial Frost Mountain.


    A long track stretched to the bottom of this mountain symbolizing the path recently traveled on.


    Rudra was currently meditating inside a cave in the icy mountains, the cold wind blowing through the entrance of the cave made him shudder.


    Rudra had traveled up this mountain, following an ice road looking for a cave to cultivate on.


    Though he could not use his Qi his body was still several times more resilient than most of the Demonic Beasts.


    Looking at the beautiful scenery and listening to the birds chirping, Rudra felt that, for that moment, it was as if all that was troubling him had melted away.


    As if the calmness of the heart was what the key to all his dilemma as Rudra felt the colors in the sky change, the original world turned grey and the only colored that appeared in front of him were the various Qi floating in the air.


    "HAHA! calm and serene it looks like this trip was not a waste after all." Rudra laughed in delight as he examined the world around him with his Omniscient Eye.


    "Damn it, I was sure something was wrong the moment I woke up what is this garbage body." all the joy was drained from his face as Rudra looked at his body which attracted Wind and Ice Qi.


    "This is why I was not able to gather any Qi!" Rudra raged continued as he realized that he would need to cultivate Ice or WInd scriptures.


    "Huff Huff!" Rudra laid on the floor of the cave feeling the cold seep into his back.


    "I can ask help from that girl Eira, but that....." Rudra was opposed to the idea of asking Eira for more favors as she had already helped him by sheltering him in this sect.


    " I can''t even open my space ring without Qi, otherwise I would have found something in the Exiled Demon Sutra," Rudra thought as he relaxed and began to contemplate his options.


    "But how did my body become so Element centric I though I built a new body a body gets its elemental affinity from their ancestors."


    "Or did something else affect the body,....." Rudra''s brain once again started turning gears as he quickly crossed out different possibilities that popped up in his mind.


    He used Omniscient Eye to observe his body several times, finally finding some blue drops running in his veins they were so small that he had missed them till now.


    "What are these?" Rudra said as he looked at the half a dozen blue globules in his bloodstream.


    As Rudra concentrated the Omniscient Eye at the globules of blue blood, they started radiating a silverfish glow and suddenly a screech sounded inside his head as he saw massive bluebird flying,


    He recalled, he had seen this bird somewhere before, remembering the embroidery on the white robes of Iclyn, he was enlightened.


    SCREECH! the bird cried,


    Suddenly a chant appeared inside of his head causing him to realize that this bluebird was actually an ice phoenix.


    "So this is the guardian beast of the Spirit Ice Sect, the Ice Phoenix, also the blue globules are its blood that contains the blood inheritance of the phoenixes."


    "But, How did I get the blood inside me?" Rudra began pondering over the origin of the phoenix''s blood in his vessels.


    "Feck! I can''t figure it out, I have too little information regarding what happened. I should ask Rishi or Yali for details later." Rudra rubbed his temples as he made it back on his feet and prepared to move down the mountain track.

 66 New Master

    Rudra was back at the manor of the sisters, he had shut himself inside his room as he tried to cultivate Ice Phoenix Qi.


    The Omniscient Eye helped him speed up the process as he could see the bluish-white Qi entering his body and circulating around it.


    The blue phoenix blood globules would radiate whenever the Ice Qi passed through them.\\


    After a few hours, he finally broke through the first stage of Qi Condensation as he felt a bit of Ice Qi enter his Dantian.


    "Yes, finally!" Rudra laughed as he stood up from his meditative position.


    He was eager to quickly change his body when suddenly Iclyn bolted into the room causing him to freak out and chokehold her by her neck.


    "Oh, it''s you!" Rudra said as he released his grip, causing her to lay limp on the bed he was standing beside.


    Cough!


    Cough!


    Iclyn stared daggers at him as she coughed. Iclyn breathed in the air as she felt the pain in her neck subside never would she had thought that a boy who had no sign of Qi in his body would feel her afraid for her life.


    Rudra feeling bad could only rub the back of his head awkwardly, "Sorry about that, ahem! did you need something from me!"


    "I had come here hoping to bring you the news that you would be admitted into the Sect''s Body refining hall, despite you being already so old, but it seems you are not a mere mortal."


    "Oh!" Rudra realized that these sisters had wanted to admit him into the Body refining hall of the Spirit Ice sect where little kids were made to practice simple body strengthening techniques like punches and kicks and focused on familiarizing the kids to their elemental affinity.


    "Like a preschool" Rudra muttered.


    Cough!


    Rudra looked at Iclyn holding her neck where a clear palm mark could be seen.


    "Are you a body cultivator?" Iclyn asked rubbing her neck with her hands.


    "No, Didn''t Eira already tell you?" Rudra looked at her puzzlingly.


    "No, she said you were just a mortal who wanted to help, being swept in the frenzy. But you were able to brave your life to save my sister at the last moment saving both her and Elder Gian." Iclyn calmly said realizing that her sister had hidden some information from her.


    "Well, it doesn''t matter as I was able to cultivate the Ice Qi finally," Rudra said as a burst of Qi spread out from his palm.


    "Ice Phoenix Qi! How?" The surprised Iclyn jumped to her feet moving towards him until she came very close to him albeit she was still busy observing the Qi unaware of Rudra who was very close to her.


    Rudra smelled the flowery scent coming from her body as the wind carried her smell she suddenly looked up at his face.


    "Why do you have the Ice Phoenix Qi?" Iclyn asked with a serious voice causing the intoxicated look on his face to disappear as he answered with a shrug,


    "I don''t know, I don''t remember anything that happened there."


    "I don''t even remember saving your sister" Rudra continued as he stopped the Qi flowing from his palm.


    Iclyn fell in thought once again, after a while she looked at him seriously as she suggested,


    "You could get into a lot of trouble you must hide the fact that you have, Wait do you also have the blood of her majesty?"


    "If you mean the blue blood, then yes." Rudra was also aware of the potential trouble he could get in the Spirit Ice Sect if he strutted around the sect carrying their best inheritance all while not being a an actual sect member.


    "You must join the Spirit Ice Sect." Iclyn looked at him waiting for an answer.


    "I can''t join the Spirit Ice Sect, I have my own life."


    "But you carry the blood of her majesty and you must deliver the duty you owe her I will kill you personally if I have to stop the blood of her majesty to fall out..." Iclyn said as she waved her hand covering the whole room into snow and ice golems who surrounded Rudra.


    "Speak your next words very carefully!" Iclyn warned


    "Fuck" Rudra cursed at the sudden escalation


    "Wrong answer!"


    A blue light flashed and the whole building quaked.


    BANG!


    Rudra dodged to the side as an ice spear whizzed towards him.


    "Okay okay I don''t wanna fight you, But I will join the Spirit Ice Sect but I must have my freedom to roam around the land." Rudra hastily said as he saw the attacks coming at him from all the sides.


    "Good! Now Accept me as your master!"


    "Are you out of your mind!" Rudra cursed but as soon as these words left his mouth he knew he fucked up.


    BANG!


    After a few hours of beating the bruised up, Rudra finally caved in,


    "Yes Master, I will be under your guidance."

 67 Tempest Wolf

    A castle completely made out of opaque blue ice on a cliffside of a mountain, blue ice pillars carved with the murals of phoenixes and dragons, reindeer and wolves.


    Entering into the castle one would enter the hallway whose ceiling looked as if a mirror was fixed there, but it was just the perfectly carved ice.


    The hallway led to the middle of the ice castle where a transparent film of ice was atop a pool of water inside.


    A hand suddenly emerged from inside the pool and grabbed the edge of the ice layer.


    Rudra jumped out from the pool of pristine blue water inside the ice and clothed himself.


    "Ho, It really helped in cultivating the Ice Qi," Rudra said as he put on his outer robe which was white in color.


    "I need to get to the middle of Qi condensation of I want to be able to leave the sect," Rudra said.


    Rudra had promised to Iclyn that he would join the sect on the condition that she would allow him to leave the sect for some months.


    He planned to utilize these months finishing the recruitment drive Rishi had planned at the western part of the continent.


    But she planned to accompany him the whole time to make sure he would not run away.


    "At least, she would use her Spiritual Flying Ship to travel," Rudra said.


    Rudra sat on the edge of the pool on the ice sheet and circulated the Ice phoenix Qi which was now at the early Qi condensation stage.


    The Cracked mountain, the terrapin, and the Timingila were all present inside his Dantian surrounded by the foundations for the Verdant Mountain Qi, Abyss Water Qi, and the Desolate Metal Qi.


    His demon heart was once again accessible to him he could use both the Yaksha Wood Qi and the Marauder Earth Qi.


    His attention was attracted to the golden heart where two new Qi''s were present inside a red core the Heavenly Fire and the Nether Lightning Qi.


    Looking at his three Immortal Spirits Rudra suddenly had a brazen idea. Could he awaken another Immortal Spirit for this new body?


    Rudra considered suggesting the idea to his new master who had not returned to meet him since she had forced him to cultivate in this castle.


    Rudra calmed his emotions as he activated the Omniscient Eye technique, he had reached the peak of the first layer of this technique cultivating it made one''s mental energy stronger and purer cleansed one of their demons and negative thoughts.


    "Truly a fantastic technique," Rudra commented.


    When Rudra was engrossed in cultivating his mental strength when Iclyn floated inside the castle landing on the ice sheet just beside him. Rudra opened his eyes to look at her.


    "Here take this you are a wind Qi cultivator from now on, and make sure to hide the cultivation of your Ice Qi," Iclyn said as she handed him a manual.


    "Tempest Wolf Qi." Rudra read the cover of the Manual.


    "I had to get this from my friends from the Eastern continent, you should be thankful," Iclyn proudly said.


    "Umm, Thank you."


    "So you do have some ethics, now show me your cultivation state."


    Rudra complied as he showed the Qi condensation 3rd stage cultivation.


    "You are already at the door of the middle of Qi condensation, It looks like I would have to make that trip early," Iclyn said.


    "I want to try awakening an Immortal Spirit," Rudra said as he peered into the blue eyes of Iclyn.


    "Hmph, you should be thankful that you have me as your disciple," Iclyn said as she flew off.


    "Don''t forget your promise!" Rudra reminded her as she left.


    Rudra flipped through the Wind Manual in his hand and started cultivating it.


    The water-like moonlight shrouded over the ice castle where Rudra was cultivating bathing in the Qi which dazzled around him.


    "Finally the 1st stage of Tempest Wolf Qi," Rudra said as he exhaled out a breath of foul air.


    Rudra stood up and looked at Iclyn who was also cultivating opposite to him, his movements caused her to exit her trance.


    She nodded her head as she stood up as if approving of his progress. "Come let''s go!" She said as she grabbed him and flew towards the old manor.


    Rudra, Eira, and Iclyn sat beside the stone table, enjoying the fresh bloom of the flowers, and were leisurely talking to each other. The lights lit up the garden and gave it a dreamy and magical atmosphere.


    "I can''t believe it¡­" Eira softly shook her head still in disbelief at the fact that her sister had accepted Rudra as her disciple.


    "Will you teach him to sculpt golems too sister?" Eira asked her sister, piquing the interest of Rudra who was hushed till now in the conversation between the sisters.


    "Sculpting ice?" Rudra looked at them as if looking for an explanation.


    "Oh didn''t you know my sister is the best ice sculptor there is, she can carve such sculpture that the spirits of the earth choose to inhabit them turning them into ice golems."


    Rudra realized the golems that had ganged up on him and kicked his ass were the creation of this ''master'' of his.


    "Oh! I would love to learn that." Rudra hastily added while thinking inside. ''Finally, I can learn a profession that is effective.'' Rudra dreamed of a majestic ice golem army following behind him.

 68 Fenrir

    SQUEAK!


    SLING!


    "Ah! how does one even hold such a small knife." Rudra cried in indignation at the knife which was too small for his hand to comfortably hold, abruptly the knife moved a bit too much knocking the incomplete ice base to fall and shatter!


    BANG!


    The ice shattered like glass as its fragment spread across the floor.


    Rudra stood frozen on the ground staring blankly at the mess on the floor.


    "AH! Again" Rudra roared as he took out another ice pillar from inside his ring as started slicing at him with his knife.


    He was busy this whole week trying to make even a single one of them come outright, but he didn''t have the patience or the dexterity in the hands to carve out an ice sculptor.


    CRASH!


    "Fecking hell!.." Rudra raged as he took out another ice pillar...


    Rudra''s mad failed ice sculpting run only continued till Iclyn arrived.


    Rudra looked at the ground with eyes red with anger.


    "Why are you rushing it, you cannot learn to sculpt a golem in one-day. Didn''t I tell you before, you must first practice carving simple shapes like a circle or a smaller circle." Iclyn chided him as she held her carving knife and carved a small rabbit.


    Rudra stared intently at her every stroke as it changed the ice pillar into an intricate rabbit which appeared as if a rabbit was made of crystal.


    Rudra nodded his head gaining some insights from her demonstration.


    "Come let''s go the new disciples are going to awaken their Immortal Spirits."


    "I have asked for you to be granted a spot even though you cultivate a wind technique."


    "Did they not question that part?"


    "I told them that you have a minor affinity for ice," Iclyn said as she waved her arms causing all the sharp ice fragments on the floor to turn into snow particles.


    Rudra followed behind Iclyn as they moved around the base one mountain in the Celestial Frost Mountain, finally reaching their destination, a cavern cut into the base of the mountain.


    A small queue was visible at the entrance when they arrived,


    "You wait here I will go first." Iclyn pointed at him to join the queue while she moved inside the gate leading into the cavern.


    Rudra complied as he joined the queue which slowly moved, soon it was his turn as he entered into the icy cavern he was reminded of his time at Spirit River Sect.


    But instead of a well, it was a high rising ceiling in the sky one had to look at, the blood was to be used at a runic space the whole cavern was covered with mysterious blue-white runes.


    Rudra went up to the designated place as he stood there, he was signaled by Iclyn to drop his blood into a depression on the walls.


    Rudra, slit open one of his wrists as he rubbed it all over the wall, the blood-colored the area red but as if the runes had absorbed the blood the color soon disappeared.


    Rudra felt the cut heal as he passed the Yaksha Qi through it, but Rudra was staring at the dark ceiling of the cavern which looked like it went up and there was no end to its height.


    "Looks like it needs more juice..." Rudra remembered how Yali had suggested using his blood, and the whale spirit that had ultimately been swallowed by the Timingila.


    Rudra dripped a single drop of golden blood of the Lion Heart and one of the precious Ice phoenix blood.


    The whole mountain started to shake, as the runes flickered with light and then dimmed the next.


    "What did you do?" Iclyn rushed towards him the other elders who had heard the commotion also tried to enter the chamber.


    "Stop the!" Rudra yelled at Iclyn who quickly acted by blocking the door of the chamber from opening.


    AWOO!


    A howl sounded as the shaking of the mountain intensified. the elders outside started banging the door asking what was happening inside.


    A large white wolf with red hues at the end of its fur stared intently at both the people in the chamber before it jumped inside the cavern and as it fell down its size kept on decreasing until it became a normal side Wolf, then it rushed at Rudra and entered into his Dantian.


    Rudra looked inside his Dantian were a new Immortal Spirit was prowling around, the Fenrir a Wind Ice Immortal Spirit.


    Iclyn looked at him intently filled with question, but they were in a situation so she just stayed reserved as she undid her spells removing the blockade from the door to the chamber,


    "Hoo! that nearly scared me," Rudra said as he moved towards the door of the chamber leaving Iclyn to deal with the situation.

 69 Schemes

    The sun hung high up in the sky. Despite this time of this year being the beginning of summer, the heat from the sun was not at all hot in these mountains.


    Rudra was sitting in the courtyard, in front of him was a rabbit which was bound to a metal pole completely immobile as Rudra copied its feature onto an ice sculptor.


    Rudra hummed a tune and whistled every once in a while smoothly chipping at the ice pillar in front of him, abruptly the pillar cracked as his knife dug into it,


    "Hooo!" Rudra breathed a mouthful of air and just stared at the knife in his hand, the knife in his hand flew cutting the ropes binding the white rabbit to the pole and releasing it, The rabbit quickly escaped.


    Rudra sat down on the stairs of the courtyard as he mulled over his failure, he had spent the past week cultivating and sculpting, he had already broken through to the 4th stage of Qi condensation.


    "Its already been 4 days, how much longer do I have to wait.," Rudra complained as he thought about the delay in his plans as Iclyn took her sweet time preparing for the travels as she wrapped up her ''work in the sect''.


    "Wait till we reach there, hehe! " Rudra laughed like an evil maniac as he thought about the escape plan he had schemed, so perfect she would never see it coming.


    Rudra laughed to himself like a crazy person alone in the courtyard scaring away all the birds and rabbits that roamed about in the small garden built there.


    After some time Iclyn finally arrived with Eira in tow,


    "Come let''s depart," Iclyn said as she took out her White Flying ship in the courtyard.


    "Are you also coming with us?" Rudra looked at Eira as he asked,


    "No, Sister won''t let me, I must train....." Rudra only heard what he wanted to know and completely ignored her next words as if she were air.


    He jumped up the white ship and turned to see Eira waving her hand from below.


    "HEHE!" Rudra also waved his hand back as he wanted it to be their last encounter after he tricked them and made his escape.


    "Get inside the chamber if you don''t want to fall off the ship, this ship is going to go very fast," Iclyn said as the ship slowly rose in the air.


    Rudra scoffed as he sat down cross-legged planning to cultivate Wind Qi,


    ZOOM!


    Rudra felt his white hair blowback and his eyes water as the windswept past him at a very high velocity, he quickly rose to his feet seeing the clouds drift by the sided of the boat at a very fast pace the ground seemed to change terrain every so often.


    After so time Rudra got accustomed to the speed of the ship as he went back to his previous position of sitting cross-legged on the floor of the ship, as he cultivated the Tempest Wolf Qi.


    Day turned to night and the ship kept on going at a straight path, opposite to him, Iclyn was sitting cross-legged meditating.


    The whole night passed in silence and the sun could be seen rising at the horizon,


    "That was surprisingly calm shouldn''t be have been attacked by any beasts," Rudra asked Iclyn who was still meditating.


    "I have a formation installed on the ship where the beasts don''t see us also I have taken a detour around the dangerous parts," Iclyn opened her mouth to explain while she remained in her meditative pose eyes still shut.


    "Don''t worry we will reach the western part of the continent in 3 more days," Iclyn said.


    "What was the purpose of your visit again, you wanted to bring along your leftover family members?" Iclyn questioned Rudra as she did not buy into his bogus claims of the family on the western side of the continent after hearing the whole truth from her sister.


    But as she had promised him that she would fulfill his one condition as the part of the deal,


    "let''s see what schemes you are cooking..." Iclyn said as she looked inside the boat where an obscure shadow could be seen.


    Iclyn had prepared many things to not let him slip by, several runic spell formations.


    She had even collected his blood to act as a tracing material and finally, she had gotten herself some backup.


    As both Iclyn and Rudra tried to outdo one another, three days passed, they arrived at the edge of their destination, the western part of the continent.

 70 Back on track

    The white boat floated in the clouds as it entered the northern border of the Golden Sun Empire, suddenly a black colored flying ship started to float adjacent to their boat.


    "Is that an enemy?" Rudra asked looking the flying ship just some distance from their own.


    Iclyn looked puzzlingly at the boat too but before they could call at the other flying ship more and more ships appeared in their vision all of the different colors some red some pink some green.....


    "Oh, it looks like one of those Sect Entrance Events being organized by the princes of the Golden Sun Empire to promote their territory growth," Iclyn commented as she slowed the ship down as it started descending downwards.


    The black ship besides them also followed suit as it descended outside the city,


    "Do you mind if we stop here for a moment?" Iclyn said as she was obliged as an elder to meet the prince at least once as she had been spotted by the other elders of sects that were flying around.


    She didn''t want to seem as supporting any of the princes, or loathing others if she entered his territory during the event and didn''t even represent the Spirit Ice Sect in the event.


    She had taken over this mission from her sister and she planned to attend these events recruiting disciples who were decent enough to enter the sect.


    This would allow her to bring Rudra to the Dark Forest, as his condition.


    "Hmph, Do you think that you could overpower me in the forest becoming your true self and then walk away! In your dreams" Iclyn thought to herself.


    She turned to look at the shadow in the ship as she alighted from the white flying boat.


    Rudra jumped down following after her, his white robes stood out amongst the different colored robes in the field in this crowd.


    Rudra suddenly caught a glance of a familiar face ''Shin'', Rudra remembered this young guy who followed after him in the Giri Manor and was later selected into an Earth-based Sect.


    "He is doing fine it seems!"


    "And looks like he is following after the elder that was conducting the test," Rudra nodded his head approvingly at the sight of the grey-robed Shin following after the grey-robed elder that was conducting the exams back in the Pine Leaf Town.


    All the elders were being greeted by the servants of the prince in charge here, the town guards guided the elders forward.


    Suddenly Rudra seemed to look at the black colored ship that was parked beside their ship, no soul had exited from the ship causing the people in charge of receiving them to be confused as the time passed more and more people looked over towards the situation.


    "I am the representative for the Shattered Ocean Sect, of the Spirit Ocean Sect, you all can go before me I will take some time, Please!" a voice boomed from inside the ship.


    Rudra smiled looking at the ship as he turned his gaze away and followed after the white-robed Iclyn who was being escorted by town guards.


    "You are not even gonna know what hit you. hehe," Rudra thought as he gazed at the back of Iclyn


    The same night... In an isolated stone building, where Iclyn and Rudra were assigned to stay for the event. The chirping of incests could be heard around, as the moon hung above.


    "I lost him" the abrupt voice made the meditating Iclyn open her eyes abruptly.


    "When?" She hurriedly asked.


    "Just Now, He disappeared I can''t find his traces,"


    "Did he change into a lion. No, he can''t escape with that body easily. Eira told me that would make him many times larger than a normal man he can''t hide with that body." Iclyn muttered as she thought how she had selected the most central building in all of the sect accommodation given by the prince and how she had put various tracking spells on him.


    She took out a bottle containing his blood as she spilled a drop on her first finger, and spread it over a rune she had just whipped out of her space ring, the runes turned radiant as it absorbed the blood but dimmed after that.


    "No results!" Iclyn muttered, "Uncle, I would have to trouble you to keep an eye out. He shouldn''t have gotten far."


    Iclyn stood up as she wandered around her room blaming herself for being too careless and underestimating the bastard.


    While Rudra who was just in the building next to hers was laughing his ass off, "HAHA fool, you though I couldn''t see your backup just because he used a formation to cover himself up"


    Rudra had long seen the backup brought by Iclyn when he activated the Omniscient Eye technique.


    Rudra laughed as he took out a mirror to look at his face which had changed back into the long black hair and clean pointy face,


    "Hut Hoot, having multiple bodies sure is great. Way better than some lousy Disguise technique."


    "Using my mental energy to produce sound waves inside the ship of Master Ren was the best disguise, now they would never be associate the Elder from the Shattered Ocean Sect to a lowly disciple in the Spirit Ice Sect." Rudra rubbed his chin praising his genius of a plan that would get him out of any suspicion of being associated with the other identity.


    "With this, I will be able to carry out the original mission of recruiting disciples," Rudra said as he returned the mirror back into the ring.


    Rudra laid down on the bed in the room, as he slept the night in his sweet dreams.

 71 Event starts

    KNOCK KNOCK!


    Rudra woke up from his sweet sleep, hearing the knocking on the door.


    Rudra opened the door to gaze at a pockmarked youth who seemed a smile at him, "Elder the event is going to start in an hour."


    Rudra nodded his head pretending to hear, after a minute he closed the door as he went back to get ready for the event.


    He changed to the Blue robes of the Spirit Ocean Sect his long black hair dropped onto his back.


    Gazing out the window, the sun slowly rose overhead, and it seemed to be approaching noon.


    Rudra walked out into the busy streets of the town making while activating his Omniscient Eye, checking out every youth walking down the street.


    Rudra had determined that he would accept any disciple who had even a tinge of affinity for water into his sect. Rudra planned to use hacks to overpower most of them.


    "hehe! even if they have little affinity for water I will hack an Immortal Spirit into them causing their Water cultivation to go smoothly." Rudra thought to himself.


    DING! Rudra heard a large bell ringing produced by the organizers of the event signifying its start.


    Entering the area where a crowd was gathered to observe the event, and numerous competitors were queuing for their chance.


    Rudra made his way onto the platform where all the elders were sitting in a semicircular arrangement, there were various circles drawn on the ground where the competitors would fight.


    While the elders sitting above the platform would judge these participants and accept any of them into their sect. Rudra sat in a chair as guided by the same pockmarked man from before.


    "Elder if you find someone suitable to join the sect you shall let me know."


    "What happens if two different elders want the same person to join their sect?" Rudra asked the young man.


    "Then it would be the fortune of the man in question to choose from the sects that have invited him." the pockmarked man replied sincerely.


    "Mmmm!" Rudra slowly nodded his head as he turned his attention towards the fields below,


    "I would like to thank all the Exalted Elders who have graced us with their presence today." an old man stood in the middle of all the circles drawn as he used his amplified voice to address the crowd gathered.


    "Our young prince is very caring for his subjects..." the old man proceeded to boast about the efforts of the prince appointed here to the public gathered.


    After half an hour of blabbering Old Man finally declared the event as open,


    Numerous referees who would judge each match entered into their respective circles. They were in charge of declaring the matches and protecting the competitors from getting seriously harmed.


    "Intentional use of excessive force to deal a life-threatening injury to the opponent would be considered punishable, use of weapons is forbidden this includes the use of hidden weapons." the old man in the center continued to tell the rules to the competitors.


    Rudra felt a gaze burning at him as he turned to look around seeing every other elder staring at him after it was granted, he was a stranger to this motley group of elders. Most of whom he recognized as the same as the ones he saw at the event in Pine Leaf Town.


    "May I ask which sect Mister belongs to?" Finally one of the elders opened his mouth,


    "I am a newly appointed elder in the branch sect of the Spirit Ocean Sect." the other elders whispered amongst themselves pretending to not care about the matter but Rudra who had significant mental strength could easily hear them jeering at the mention of him being an elder.


    "Ah, then Mister must be the representative of your..?" the man from before continued.


    "Yes, I am representing my newly established branch to take part in this event," Rudra said as he flashed the token provided to him after he had taken up this mission.


    After some time the elders lost their interest in him and started to talk amongst themselves.


    Rudra sighed feeling all the attention divert from himself, but he still felt some figures looking at him, he turned his head to access those people realizing it was the familiar Shin, an unfamiliar woman who had her face hidden behind a veil and the person he didn''t want to attract any attention from, Iclyn.


    Rudra nodded his head, greeting all three of them one by one, causing both ladies to avert their eyes feeling it was rude to stare. Except for Shin who walked towards him presumably hoping to catch up with his Uncle Rudra.


    Rudra patted Shin who was about to greet him, "Not bad kid you have already reached the peak of Qi condensation."


    Shin felt embarrassed but he let Rudra who looked the same age as him, act like a member of the elder generation.


    "So, How goes the sect life for ya?" Rudra asked Shin standing beside him, as they both stared into the fields where the first round was about to start.


    "Omniscient Eye" Rudra activated the technique ready to cheat this event out

 72 Qin

    BANG!


    Qin was thrown out of the circle drawn by white chalk,


    "Participant Qin has been eliminated." the black-robed referee declares in a bombing voice.


    Qin tried to make it to his feet. But For Qin''s tired body after an intense battle, this is quite a challenge, but the energy circulating through him helps while he carries on with clenched teeth.


    Huff


    Huff


    With heavy breathing as if working the bellows, the youngster''s pale face is starting to show a hint of red. After a breath, Qin stops with heavy steps, his body swaying slightly and ears ringing.


    He struggles to stand straight, closes his eyes, and calms his breathing. After his heart calms a bit, he turns his body around and going back the way he came.


    He had accepted his fate, that he was not going to be selected by any sects, being eliminated in the first round. He walked towards the crowd where he could see his mother, covering her mouth probably stopping herself from bursting into tears.


    But before he could reach the end of the arena fields and cross the rope divided the spectators he was approached by a pockmarked man who beamed him a smile,


    "You are lucky kid, the sect elder of Shattered Ocean Sect has decided to take you in."


    "Huh?" Qin''s mouth opened wide enough that a chicken egg could be stuff in one go...


    "But why? Didn''t I lose in the very first round." Qin asked suspiciously.


    "It is my job to convey the elders wished if you want to reject Sir''s good intentions then you are welcome to do so." the pockmarked man said in a mocking tone as he turned around and started walking not caring whether Qin followed after him or not.


    "How may I address you, sir?" Qin asked politely as he jogged after the man.


    "You can call me, Yang," the pockmarked man said as he turned to look at the man following after him he couldn''t comprehend what the Elder had seen in this youth who was only in the stage for more than half a minute before getting knocked out.


    "Ah!, yes Mr. Yang which sect did you say the elder belonged to?" Qin asked again curiously as he was not sure he had heard about the sect before.


    "Shattered Ocean Sect it is a branch sect of the Spirit Ocean Sect," Yang replied nonchalantly.


    "The Spirit Ocean Sect!" Qin fell silent as he mulled that it appeared too good to be true, Qin was 8 this year, he was the only child of his single mother who had raised him with all her being, his family conditions had caused him to mature faster than the other children of his age.


    Being from a poor background he was not able to get the same foundation as the children of the larger families.


    He had trained since he was 6 years old, training his body and practicing the most common Qi cultivation manuals present out there, all in hope of improving the lives of him and his mother.


    He was determined to get a better life for his mother, once he got into a sect.


    Thus when he was eliminated by his opponent, he was heartbroken to the fact that he would not be able to enter into a sect, he was consoling himself, by reminding himself of his age and how he will have more chances in the future.


    As he was busy pondering he looked up to see the pockmarked man moving towards the back area of the stage that led to the area where the elders were present.


    "It seems this was not some scam." Qin rushed up the stairs closely following behind Yang.


    Qin soon reached before a man who appeared to be the same age as the pockmarked man but he was sitting on the seat of elders while another youth stood beside him.


    "Junior Qin greets elder." Qin bowed his head politely.


    "Are you willing to join my sect, Qin?" the man in front of him said while staring at Qin.


    "I wish to join the sect elder but.." Qin hesitated as he was unsure about leaving his mother alone while he moved to the Southern end of the continent.


    "Hmm, Do you have some difficulties?" the man asked as if he could guess his train of thoughts.


    "Yes, Elder I can''t leave my mother to leave fro the sect," Qin said determined to accept his rejection for his demands.


    "Then you can bring along your mother too." these words stunned Qin as he stared at the elder in front in bewilderment.


    "Really?"


    "HAHA, Yes kid, go bring your mother.." the man then turned to look at the pockmarked man in beside Qin,


    "Get the one in the brown robes,..." "Yes, the one that got his tooth broken from the punch, yes...."


    Qin looked dumbly at the elder in front of him not knowing what to make of the current situation.


    "You, Why are you still here? Get going, Don''t you need to pack your stuff or something!"


    "Yes!, yes..." Qin said as he rushed down the stairs jumping in delight as he made his way towards his mother.

 73 Crazy elder

    The competition was entering its final stage where the 30 remaining participants would have to fight, leading to one final victor of the competition who would have the privilege to enter any sect of his choice.


    But everyone was busy looking at the blue-robed elder who was accepting disciples as if his life depended on it,


    Almost half of the participating crowd had been accepted by him, none of the other elders had even made a move to accept a single disciple. They were waiting for the competition to enter its last stages before they would make their choices, most of them were not even paying attention to the competition going below till now.


    The Elders whispered amongst themselves, quite disturbed by the blue-robed elder who was of low cultivation and was accepting anyone that moved in their opinion, even the contenders who were eliminated in the first round were accepted by him.


    Now even the contestants were unsure of what to think of the current situation. The whispering of the crowd continued, they dare not stare at the elder so they stole glances while making up theories in their heads.


    Even the prince who held this event was confused about the situation he was expecting 10 or so people getting selected in some sects, But looking at the massive crowd of people participants along with their families standing in the back area. These people had been selected by the blue-robed elder. He couldn''t help but ask his steward.


    "What is happening Minister?"


    "Who is that young man?" the prince fired both the question not waiting for the old man occupying the position nearest to him to reply to the first one.


    "I think that sire, he belongs to the Spirit Ocean Sect."


    "Do you think it is some kind of Demonic Plot hatched by my siblings"


    "No my lord, It seems that he is a branch elder from a new sect, perhaps they require disciples to fill their number."


    "What nonsense!" the prince scoffed at the explanation provided by his steward.


    "Sire that''s what the other elders were suggesting. I''m merely forwarding the news!" the old steward said sheepishly standing next to a man adorned in golden robes with sun embroider on it.


    "Hmm, hmm whatever it is, it shall be beneficial for us if people get selected into sects, but if their families started leaving with them it will do us harm instead."


    "I shall make sure that it doesn''t come to that my lord." the old man bowed as he backed out from the viewing box from where the prince was observing the competition.


    Now only 10 competitors have left in the competition and all of the elders quit their slacking demeanor as they concentrated on the field sizing up each of the competitors nodding their heads from time to time.


    Rudra also looked at these disciples, but looking around he saw that various elders were also paying attention now.


    "It looks like I cant snag more people now, well there''s nothing wrong in trying," Rudra said as he grinned quite happy with today''s progress. He had accepted close to a hundred disciples and along with their family, they would inflate the number in the Shattered Ocean Sect by 500.


    Rudra was even planning on creating a town for the mortals that were related to the disciples of the sect to stay inside his territory.


    Rudra grin almost blinded other elders to took glances at him from the corners of their eyes,


    They were seriously wondering if this person was brain dead. But how could they understand that he was planning to hack the game, granting Immortal spirits to these disciples making up for their lack of talent in the water element.


    At present in the fields, Someone was walking towards the stage just as another character stepped in.


    "Chen!" the person standing inside the ring spat fire upon seeing his opponent enter the ring.


    "Nobu, it seems you want your ass beat again." the other man replied with contempt.


    His defeat at the hands of Chen''s singular punch in the Prince''s manor last time was the shame of his life for Nobu. Not only did he lose all face in front of his peers, but more importantly, he had been made a fool in front of Juxue. Even now, Juxue was rather stand-offish towards him.


    Nobu felt that it was all Chen''s fault. If it wasn''t for that bastard, Chen, how could he, Nobu, be relegated as a joke for the entire city.


    Nobu turned to look at a gorgeous girl who was dressed in black and stood out like a swan in a bunch of ducks.


    Seeing the girl turn her head in contempt, Nobu was reminded of the vile rumors spreading about him in the city. He was certain it was all a plot hatched by his enemy Chen. Except, his sudden epiphany was even more of an insult in Chen''s eyes.


    "Chen, how dare you treat me this way! If it wasn''t for your evil trick, do you think you could''ve beaten me!" Nobu yelled hoarsely as he paid no heed to what sort of occasion it was.


    "This means that you don''t accept your defeat?" Chen smiled faintly.


    "Accept? Who do you think you are for me to concede to you?" Nobu''s anger boiled as he argued with his opponent.


    "Then, what do you want to do?" Chen remained cool and collected.


    "I¡­ I want to fight you!" Nobu roared. He did not accept his defeat, he had not conceded! He was going to gain back his lost prestige and more!

 74 Addicted

    Rudra cocked his head at Yang, causing the corners of his mouth to twitch, realizing that it was his turn to explain the details of the contestants.


    "Elder, both Nobu, and Chen are from prominent local merchant families and both their fathers have a considerable influence in the town."


    Rudra nodded, "So it is a rivalry between two families."


    "Yes elder, but the animosity between the two of them can be attributed to their infatuation for a single girl and wanting to win over her heart."


    "Oh! who?" Rudra asked excitedly.


    Yang shouted inwardly ''shouldn''t you be having a carefree attitude elder why do you seem so invested in the gossip of the town'' but he continued to explain,


    "Sir they are both suitors of the single daughter to the prince Antonio."


    "Oh! a princess, even more interesting!"


    Cough! Yang coughed awkwardly explaining further.


    "Elder, she is also participating in the competition."


    "At a banquet held by the prince, Nobu was defeated miserably at the hands of Chen, also many vile rumors are spreading in the town lately smearing his name..."


    Rudra nodded his head appreciating the awareness of the guide provided to him as he looked intently at the fight that was about to start,


    Nobu swore he was going to gain back his lost prestige and more!


    And the most direct way was to defeat the culprit, Chen, humiliate him severely, tyrannize him and stomp him firmly into the ground!


    "Fight? I have no time and no interest in fighting you!" Chen smiled in confidence as he shook his head and walked towards Nobu like he was air.


    "Chen, you coward! You won by a fluke and no longer have the guts to fight me? Alright! I''ve long since known that your Jiang family is a clan of cowards. You don''t fight? Fine! I will let you go as long as you admit in front of everyone that you''re a coward!"


    Chen ignoring him was, in Nobu''s eyes, a guilty act. This bolstered Nobu''s confidence even more and made him firmly believe that Chen had won through luck.


    Suddenly, Chen''s steps froze. Perhaps it was his ego that was ruffled.


    "Three moves!" Chen glared at Nobu coldly. "You have no qualification to fight with me! I will concede if you aren''t flat on your back in three moves!"


    "Hahaha! You are very cocky indeed! I don''t want your three moves! I am the exalted heir of¡­" Nobu was about to continue his boasts and bluster when the words abruptly died in his throat.


    He dared not speak further and he could not speak further because, in front of him, Chen had become like a cocked arrow, emitting a strange kind of aura and locking onto Nobu.


    "The first move, watch carefully!"


    Chen had no flowery moves and merely took one step forward. His arm lifted slightly as he took one step.


    Except that when he raised his arm, it gave others a heart-pounding sensation.


    "Heavy punch!"


    An aura as sharp as a sword spread out, from his fingertip, and lanced through the air. It had an incredible path, it was as if it would cleave the air as it shot towards Nobu!


    Nobu only felt that his eardrums were going numb as noise roiled. The startling point was speeding towards his weaknesses like a loosed arrow.


    "Huh. Same old tricks. Trying to harm me with this cheap punch?"


    Although Nobu had been surprised by the suddenness of this attack, he was still confident that he could evade it.


    His body dashed away like the waving movements of grass in wind.


    "Grass Wind Wave!"


    Nobu''s body moved like dandelion soaring through the air. The rhythm of the movement was like water ripples caused by the wind, it had an indescribable elegance.


    Nobu was very confident. He firmly believed that that day''s defeat was a result of the stipulations set by the opponent. He was going to fully demonstrate his skills today and beat the shit out of Chen!


    However, his moment of pride didn''t last long. Chen took another step forward, but the movement of his arm had somewhat increased in speed.


    "Windburst!"


    Chen''s moves were simple, fast.


    Of course, a hint of a pleased smile found its way to Nobu''s face. "Chen, although your new technique is not bad, you''ve run out of tricks haven''t you? Do you want to hurt me? Keep dreaming!"


    But, it was as if he hadn''t spoken.


    Chen''s entire posture suddenly changed drastically. His finger moved slightly and the rhythm changed again.


    "Sonic Punch!"


    A shocking hit.


    Nobu only felt a sharp pain under his rib cage in the same position as last time, but he felt more than ten times that power. It ripped apart all his moves and defenses mercilessly like it was paper. Another hit!


    Nobu''s body fell heavily to the ground again, his status unknown!


    "Yang, get that man who just got broken," Rudra said turning to his guide.


    Yang nodded his head avoiding his gaze from staring at the elder who was happy like a child who has gotten a new toy.


    While Yang turned to complete his request Rudra pondered to himself, even though he is very prideful but that will change after he matures, hehe a gem no one will accept him after his pathetic run.


    I hope more of them act like him, repelling other elders from selecting them. Rudra rubbed his palms excited at his new catch.


    "He is the perfect candidate to learn to farm." grinned Rudra as he thought about the moves used by Nobu.


    "These competitions sure are fun, I might get addicted to these, they appear to be the best entertainment I have found in this world," Rudra said feeling sad for all things from his life on earth that he missed. Rudra was enjoying this event like it was an action movie in the theatres.


    "I am looking forward to the ones organized by the other princes," Rudra said as he rubbed his smooth chin with his fingers, not realizing the eyes staring at him from a distance.

 75 Be

    Rudra was looking at the fight uninterested, as the other elders had gotten involved, they started selecting competitors in the top 10 into their sect, and unlike Nobu, these competitors were more tamed.


    Having gotten no opportunity to claim more disciples Rudra became uninterested but he still enjoyed the fight put on by the competitors.


    BANG!


    "Chen wins, he will advance to the finals to face Jessie." the referee announced with an amplified voice.


    Rudra looked at Chen who had beaten another one of his opponents and had entered the final of the competition. Rudra turned his eye to his competitor the princess, daughter of Prince Antonio she had made it to the finals too.


    The sun was going down as the last bit of the competition was about to finish, Rudra looked at the red-dyed sky, and the trees swaying in the breeze, feeling relaxed.


    After the rest time was over both the finalists made it to the stage, the princess of the town Jessie dressed in black clothing and the orange-robed Chen who had been defeated all his opponents within 5 moves.


    The crowd cheered, but Rudra could certainly see more people supporting the girl, Rudra guessed the bias was predisposed as her father was the ruler of this whole area and would remain to be so, even if he didn''t become the emperor.


    Begin! the referee shouted as both Jessie and Chen rushed towards each other raining punches and kicks soon only blurry afterimages of their attacks could be seen from the looks of it it could be said that they were evenly matched but the elders could clearly see through the speed and determine that Chen was at a clear advantage as Jessie was being pushed after every punch and was forced to defend against the flurry of attacks coming at her.


    Shin couldn''t keep his curiosity in as he asked,


    "Uncle, who do you think would win?"


    "Of course the girl would win," Rudra commented nonchalantly.


    The elders who were fixated on the match turned to look at Rudra as he was a fool spouting nonsense.


    "Elder, you must be joking every one of us can clearly tell that Chen is determined to win."


    "Oh! Which fool thinks so?" Rudra said with contempt in his voice causing all elders to straighten up as they started to stare at him.


    "Elder, obviously you can''t distinguish the gap in cultivation between the two contestants because of your low cultivation base." one of the elders wearing a brown robe said mockingly.


    "Ah! It''s definitely some blind retard that can''t tell the difference between skills of the contestants." Rudra continued to rile up the elders.


    "How can you say so, Elder?" another elder chimed in.


    "What! Are you questioning my intellect?" Rudra retorted annoyed.


    "No....no... How could we do that, that would be rude, right elders!" the brown-robed elder said contemptuously.


    "Oh! You are so sure that the boy would win wanna play a bet?" Rudra said mockingly.


    "Surely there is no need for that." an old man in a grey robe said trying to calm the situation down.


    "Ho, We can bet, I am not afraid to play," the elder who had mocked Rudra before continued.


    The other elders also showed their wish to silence this stain of an elder and humiliate him wiping the arrogance of his face. The elders were pretty annoyed from the start at the fact that they had to share their seat with a foundation realm brat as if they were equal.


    "What do you wish to place as a bet, Elder?" the brown-robed man said mockingly hoping to leave Rudra embarrassed at the fact that he would be unable to produce any item that could even catch the eye of the elders present here.


    "Ho! you guys want to play."


    "Ok, If the boy wins I will give these 48 spiritual stones to you all" Rudra said as he produced a sack and took out a single spiritual spirit stone to show to the elders present on the semicircular table.


    The elders looked at each other before they too started to place 48 spiritual stones as the bet.


    "Elder if you win all of this spiritual stone would be given to you." the brown-robed elder said pointing at the pile of spiritual stone accumulated in the middle of the table.


    Rudra looked around seeing almost all the elders had taken part in the bet except for Iclyn, the grey-robed elder from the sect which Shin belonged to and the mysterious veiled woman who has not spoken a word till now.


    "Do you wanna increase the stakes of the bet?" Rudra asked provokingly, causing all the elders to pause and appreciate his overconfidence.


    "How about if I add a Spiritual flying ship in the bet?" Rudra said causing all the Elders to whisper amongst themselves, after all, spiritual flying ships were a very expensive spiritual tool.


    "Oh! It seems you guys don''t dare, then how about you guys bet over the disciples that you have selected till now." Rudra said pointing at the 8 or so disciples standing behind some elders surprised at the sudden turn of events.

 76 Fire

    "Why won''t we dare." the brown-robed elder was clearly the type to get riled up, as he shouted the other elders followed like sheep betting their disciples to be transferred over to him.


    Rudra was dying from laughter inside he had already used Omniscient Eye to observe both the finalists how can he not know that Jessie was superior to Chen.


    He had decided to capitalize on these idiots who have despised him inside their hearts and acted all righteous to his face fearing his backing of the Spirit Ocean Sect.


    "Then the bet is set, If I win I will win all these spiritual stones and the disciples bet." Rudra declared as he sat on his seat haughtily.


    Shin and Yang who had just watch the whole thing unfold, were as dumbfounded as anyone in the whole field.


    "Uncle surely you didn''t need to.."


    "Hush! Shin, you don''t kill the golden chicken before it lays the egg" Rudra quickly shut up the clamoring followers.


    Rudra looked at the field where the fight had intensified, Chen was clearly overpowering Jessie.


    This increased the confidence of the Elders who took sidelong glances at Rudra ask if wanting to see his distressed face but were disappointed to see him smiling cheekily.


    Some of them even thought that Rudra surely was a dumbnut being happy at his candidate for bet being pushed back.


    Half an hour passed and the fight still kept on going but it seemed like both the contestants were finally serious as they started using their hidden moves.


    "Heavy Palm"


    Chen''s palm attack stuck Jessie at her chest causing her to be stunned for a second.


    Chen not wasting the opportunity used another attack within an instant,


    "Wind burst" the punch connected to the abdomen of Jessie almost throwing her out of the ground.


    All the elders smiled more readily after each passing second as Chen recently attack Jessie throwing combos one after another.


    "What is the girl waiting for?" Rudra said as he activated the Omniscient Eye technique looking at the girl, who slowly became naked, he quickly peered deeply making him see inside her body into her Qi but her naked body kept returning into his mind.


    "Peh!, distracting thoughts, not now, I have money to win" Rudra scolded himself as he gave it one more shot looking intently at the Qi surrounding Jessie.


    "Fire Qi" Rudra muttered as he guessed it had something to do with the royal line of Golden Sun Empire.


    "Sonic Punch!"


    Chen fired a punch that produced a booming noise and distorted the air around it as it approached the pretty face of Jessie,


    BOOM!


    But unlike the expected outcome everyone was prepared for the punch did not land on the face of Jessie but was stopped in its track by the girl who was clamping down on the fist.


    "Flame Punch" a high pitched voice sounded.


    BAM!


    An explosion sounded as a fist-size gaping hole was burned of the orange robe of Chen who defended against the burning fists coming straight at his face.


    After a while, all the hair on his head had changed to an afro with the burning smell of hair wafting in the air. The robes around his body were filled with gaping holes and numerous burn marks appeared on his body as he tried to retaliate but failed to even land a hit.


    Rudra nodded his head the outcome of this match had already been decided, he looked around to see the black faces of all the elders who had bet. Rudra grinned in delight.


    All the elders had a face that appeared as if they had eaten shit, in indignation they roared inside their hearts cursing at Chen for being such a loser. The match came to an end soon after the exhausted Chen passed out in the ring.


    "Chen has been knocked out, Jessie is victorious!" the referee announced causing the spectators to cheer in joy while the elders cried in their heart for all their loss of the bet.


    Rudra stood and strolled towards the pile of spiritual stone lying in the middle and pocketed them into his spiritual ring much to the dismay of the other elders.


    "Now, all of you come behind me," Rudra said pointing at the disciples still standing behind their elders.


    "Respected Elder, you surely don''t intend to.." one of the disciples said in dismay.


    "What are you going to make your elders look like lying imbeciles for not reneging on the bet," Rudra said angrily shutting the youth that had wanted to speak up.


    Hearing his insult none of the elders said anything they all kept quiet trying to save face speaking now would only result in more loss of face.


    "Ahem!" the grey-robed elder who had not taken part in the bet tried to once again diffuse the situation by changing the topic.


    "Now, we shall ask the winner to choose the sect of their choice."


    These words caused all the elders to turn their attention towards the winner of the event Jessie, and also the loser Chen many of the elders wanted him despite him causing their loss, as they believed him to be a rare talent.


    "Speak, young princess, which sect do you wish to join?" the grey-robed old man said warmly.


    Everyone stared at the young girl awaiting her response.

 77 Packed

    "Before I declare my choice, Can I ask this elder something?" Jessie said while pointing her finger at Rudra.


    "Ask away little girl!" Rudra laughed allowing her to ask him a question.


    "How did you know I was going to win, elder?" Jessie asked seriously, hoping to get an explanation out from him, as far as she was concerned no one knew of her hidden preparations.


    "Of course, I know how you were going to win, who in this city doesn''t know that the boy competitor had hots for you."


    "What are you saying elder, are you implying that I only won because Chen liked me, so he let me win."


    Chen who had just recovered his head after the brutal beatdown was stunned into silence, of course, he thought that the princess was pretty but he wasn''t going to risk his whole future for something childish as love.


    Rudra shrugged causing Jessie to grumble in anger she stared daggers at him.


    "You must be mistaken I beat Chen fairly."


    "Oh! then how about you try to beat him again." Rudra said while laughing in his head praising himself for the ploys he came up with.


    "I have already beaten him once and I don''t need to again!" Jessie scoffed, as she turned to look at the grey-robed elder,


    "Elder, can I join any sect that I like?" Jessie inquired.


    "Yes, as the winners of the event you are privileged to join any sect of your liking but be sure to choose a sect that matches your affinity." The elder from the Valley of swords reminded her kindly.


    "Then I wish to join the Poison Valley." Jessie''s word caused every elder to look at the direction of a veiled woman who was in dark green attire.


    "Are you sure, after all, you have no affinity to poison!" a feminine voice sounded from behind the veil, causing all elders to agree as they started asking the winner Jessie to rethink her decision.


    "No, I am determined to enter the Poison Valley!" Jessie declared shutting everyone up.


    While Rudra lamented in his heart for his ploy was failed as the fish did not bite the bait and moved on to select her sect.


    Rudra turned to look at his ''nephew'' Shin, "What is up with this Poison Valley?"


    "Uncle, the poison valley is a very reserved sect, they have almost no contact with the outside world, they are believed to cultivate poison, an unorthodox type of cultivation and due to their fierce nature no sect wants to make them an enemy."


    "OH!" Rudra said looking at Jessie who made her way towards the elder from the Poison Valley the veiled woman.


    "Uncle, her excellency is the fiance of the current sect head of the Poison Valley."


    "Hmmm," Rudra was surprised as he was using the Omniscient Eye to peer at the woman in the veil but all he could see was a black gas surrounding around her restricting his mental vision.


    "Interesting" Rudra muttered as it was the first time for him that Omniscient Eye had failed.


    As Rudra was busy pondering, prince Antonio the organizer of the event, and the ruler of this territory moved on the stage greeting each elder and soon he was before Rudra who was busy pondering over stuff.


    Cough!


    The steward beside Antonio coughed causing Rudra to leave his stupor,


    "It is a pleasure to meet such an accomplished young man like you Elder." prince Antonio opened his mouth to spew pleasantries.


    "Ah, the pleasures all mine buddy!" Rudra said as he grabbed the hand of Antonio and started shaking it causing everyone looking at the scene to be stunned.


    "I must say Elder you have done a great deed for my people accepting such a large amount of disciples from my dominion." Antonio continued to speak not minding his hand being grasped by Rudra.


    "NA Na, don''t mention the fact, after all, I am just doing what I must," Rudra said with a cheeky smile still grasping onto the hand of Antonio.


    All the onlookers were stunned at the shamelessness of Rudra, cursing inside their hearts, who are you trying to fool clearly you are in desperate need of disciples selecting even the lamest in the bunch.


    Antonio moved on walking towards the next elder completely skipping the part where he was supposed to ask Rudra to leave the family members and only take the disciples but after his stunning interaction, he was forced to shut his mouth and overlook the fact that he was going to lose a considerable population from his town.


    The same night despite some formal requests from the Prince for the elders to stay the night and the elders politely declining the requests after making excuses, many flying ships started to fly in the air, the most of all them empty.


    While two ships were jam-packed with people, it was the ships of the Valley of Sword and the black flying ship of Rudra.


    "Fuck how am I going to get all the people from the events back to the sect." Rudra scratched his head as the question haunted him throughout the way.

 78 Final destination

    Rudra walked on the familiar stony road of the Pine Leaf Town, behind him were hundreds of the disciples he had accepted into the sect.


    Standing on the street of the town and looking at the continuous flow of people, Rudra sighed with emotion. It had been a long time since he saw such a scene. Although this town was not even as good as a small town in his past life, he at least felt that he was in a civilized world.


    Rudra was reminded of the events that led to him joining the Spirit River Sect, it had already been two years since then.


    "Elder it is time." a guide that was arranged for him reminded him his purpose for coming here today.


    There were a few clouds occasionally floating in the blue sky.


    More than 10 kilometers away from City, there was a manor with a large field. Different from an ordinary manor, this manor had several buildings. Moreover, the layout and design of the manor were similar to the parade''s drill ground, with several hundred stone slabs displayed in the vast open space.


    Indeed, there were several hundred stone slabs. Standing amid the thick crowds, Rudra saw the present situation through the cramped space, reminding him of the scene when he viewed the Olympics opening ceremony in modern society.


    Even though the multitude of stone slabs was numerous, they were composed into a square matrix, arranged in order. This was the arena of the Sect Selection Contest.


    At the north of the square matrix was a stone table, like the platform of the drill ground, on which was placed a row of 19 red chairs. Rudra knew that the 19 chairs had been prepared for the Elders and a remaining seat for the ruler of Pine Leaf Town.


    DONG! DONG! DONG!


    Two bass drums were played loudly in the surrounding arena. On the stage, a dozen Elders dressed in different robes with grandeur stepped up slowly and orderly and stood next to their chairs. Later on, a middle-aged man walked up the stage accompanied by a multitude of servants.


    "Please!" the prince bowed following which all the elders took their seats.


    Rudra took adjusted himself into the seat looking towards the crowd of youth participating in this event.


    Rudra was reminded of his 3-month-long journey across all the border regions of the Golden Sun Empire, attending events and selecting disciples. He had accepted a whopping 4000 disciples into the sect. It appeared much, But compared to the average sect size in this continent, it was still less.


    As Rudra could not bring every disciple and their family along, he had to shamelessly ask them to form a caravan that was 10000 people strong moving towards the territory of the Shattered Ocean Sect. Rudra had to contact his master Ren with a runic device provided by the friendly elder from the Valley of Swords.


    Later Master Ren appeared with disciples from the sect helping the newly accepted ones to move towards the Sect territory going through the Dark Forest.


    Rudra was thankful to the endeavors of Yali who had converted one of the most dangerous forests in the continent to be just like a garden in one''s backyard.


    Yali''s hunt had caused all the demonic and magic beasts in the Dark Forest to be either killed by him or escape to other forests.


    Rudra was sure that by the time he was done with this final event, the caravan would have already reached the sect.


    "I hope Uncle Miller can manage the influx of 10000 people."


    After the decision to form a caravan he had attended two more events, he was restrained, recruiting about 200 disciples only. Today he was at the last venue of this whole prince''s fiasco, the last sect entrance competition.

 79 Not soTranquil

    The first step of the Selection Contest was checking the strength.


    A total of 572 of the disciples, from various regions around the Pine Leaf Town, participated in the Selection Contest. In the arena, there were 900 stone slabs.


    Those who came for the Selection Contest included youth who were over 10 years old and seniors who were already 20 something. There were tall and short contestants. However, seniors formed the majority, those who were 17-18 years old had already grown up. There were only two people who looked like Juniors, both only 10 years old.


    Those two people should be the youngest in this year''s Selection Contest!


    On the platform, Wang pointed at the young contestant and said, "It''s so unexpected that such young disciples should attend the Selection Contest this year. I wonder how their abilities are!"


    "I''m afraid they''re just here to please the crowd!" The Elder beside Wang said sarcastically, "It''s difficult for a ten-year-old child to have greater strength than an adult, talented as they are. In regards to refining the body, talent alone is also unlikely to refine a decent body in such an age!"


    "Right, right, these guys are just eager for quick success and instant benefits!" other Elders echoed. They knew what Wang was thinking about.


    Rudra listened to the elders discussing the matter of age of the contestants, they had been too critical of the young competitors below 12 as they hardly produced any significant results in all of the events so far.


    Nevertheless. the competition started after the referees entered into the center of the field and started judging the strength produced by the contestants who would hit the stone slab with all their force.


    The multitude of cracks on the slab would give a general idea of the average strength of the group.


    As the slabs were continuously being hit, one of the younger competitors started striking the slab.


    As if he was wholeheartedly trying to show off himself, every time he smashes, the sound was much louder than others. The smashing sound occurred across the whole parade square, arousing the attention of people. Similarly, this also affected the state of mind of everyone else.


    On this parade square, everyone was hitting stone slab beneath them. One by one began to hit their slabs louder and louder. They were all tough men, how could they be satisfied that their limelight was stolen by a small kid? Hence, they all uncontrollably smashed their fists harder and harder. In a moment, there were loud noises from all across the parade square. It was so loud that the spectators, as well as those sitting on the platform, began furrowing their eyebrows.


    Rudra nodded his head in the appreciation of the kid who could contend with children far older than him in terms of strength.


    The first round was over only 100 people were selected rest were disqualified as the referee named the competitors who would progress to the next stage calling them one by one separating them into groups that would fight in the rings.


    Rudra activated his Omniscient Eye and started pointing at the disciples he wanted from the 400 or so disqualified competitors. His actions caused no reaction in other elders who were used to his behavior in these past months.


    Some of them had even formed a good relation with Rudra, after letting go of their prejudice.


    One of them was the elder Wang he was the most friendly of the elders present here, being from a blacksmith sect he had joined this group in the middle of their journey.


    When he had joined the group, Rudra had immediately remembered Wang as the red-robed elder who had flown up to declare the change in Sect competition, the previous time when he was a competitor which lead him to enter Spirit River Sect with Kai.


    As Wang was one of the renowned Spiritual Blacksmith he was highly regarded by other elders, who wanted to get hold of a spiritual weapon, after all, making spiritual artifacts and weapons, was no easy task.


    As Rudra was finished picking out the disciples, and the 100 disciples who had passed the first stage were divided into groups. The elders suddenly became restless as they started whispering amongst themselves, causing Rudra to pay attention to their conversation.


    Rudra was vexed to find all the elders being disturbed, something might have happened, he thought inside his head as he listened quietly to their conversation which looked more like them freaking out about something.


    "It can''t be true.." another elder screamed.


    "Is it true?" one elder his face scrunched in horror as his hands started to shake and his voice quivered.


    "I don''t know how could there be one in the Tranquil forest!" another elder commented equally terrified.


    Rudra saw the shadow elder following Iclyn, whispering something to her causing her to be shocked as her mouth dropped open. Rudra was now really intrigued by the sudden change in the mood of the field.


    Rudra turned to look at Elder Wang who was currently talking in low voice to the Prince.


    After a while, the prince had his brows raised as he whispered something to his steward and then proceeded to stand up.


    "Cancel the event," the prince said as he waved his fingers at his servants, as he stood up from his seat stunning the whole cheerful crowd into silence.


    Rudra was stunned at the current development hoping to get some answers he turned to the elder from the Valley of Swords.


    "Elder, What is happening?" Rudra asked, staring at the commotion going on below the stage as the town guards escorted the crowd out.


    The grey-robed old man with a white long beard stared at Rudra as he sighed and said the words slowly,


    "Demons, the whole tranquil forest has been covered in a Demonic Aura."


    "Demon?" Rudra asked perplexed, wasn''t tranquil forest the home of the Giri clan who had lived there for many years, the Dim Pearl Lake was also present inside the Tranquil forest.


    "Yes, it was always a puzzle, the calmness of the tranquil forest. Why no Magical beasts ever inhabited the forests. But now we know that it was the calm before the storm."


    "Let us pray it is not a gate to another Demonic Realm, the continent is not ready for another bloody war." the grey-robed elder said as if he was reminiscing of the past.

 80 Reluctant to leave

    Rudra was still not able to understand what was happening when the rune provided by his master the last time they met lit up, Rudra quickly brought it near his face.


    A voice familiar to Rudra sounded from inside the rune,


    "Brat, listen to me, you must get out of the west quickly return back to the sect."


    "No matter what the others tell you, you are to return you hear me."


    Rudra asked back, "What is happening"


    "There is a large blanket of Demonic Qi enclosing the whole Tranquil forest and it is increasing its span, no one knows what has happened inside there but anything related to Demonic Qi is not good."


    "You must stay back there return immediately if you are any slow you might know what may happen?"


    Rudra listened to the authoritative voice of his master Ren, reminding himself that his Master had never talked to him this seriously.


    "The situation may be more serious than I thought," Rudra muttered after his talk with Ren as he put the rune back in his pocket.


    "I might be better if I go back as he suggests, if it really is a gate to another realm possibly a Demonic Realm then the whole western side of the continent may be lost, but it could be a blessing for me though!" Rudra considered as he rose from his seat making his way towards the disciples who he had accepted hi the past 2 towns and the new 100 or so disciples in this town.


    "Let''s gather everyone," Rudra said as he proceeded to take out his flying ship hoping to use it to return to his sect.


    "Also Yang, go get as many of the disciples possible from the top 100 who are willing to join us."


    The pockmarked youth who had followed after Rudra from the first event, nodded his head as he fast-walked with some of his friends towards the competition field.


    Rudra planned to first ferry all these new disciples to the sect and then return after he had gained considerable info about the whole matter and had judged the situation.


    "What are you trying to leave Elder?" one of the elders yelled freakishly seeing Rudra boarding the flying ship.


    "Hmm, Is anything wrong?" Rudra asked back.


    "Are you seriously going to relinquish your duties as an elder and flee!" the brown-robed elder Rudra remembered as the cranky one in the group pointed his finger at his face.


    "Elder you can''t leave when the whole of the continent is going to face a crisis!" another elder criticized Rudra.


    Rudra realized that these buffoons wanted him to not leave and stay here like them, as they were ordered to do so.


    "It''s Ok, He can leave!" an authoritative voice shut the clamoring mouth of the elders jeering at Rudra.


    Rudra turned to look at the white-robed man with white hair and a short beard, "Isn''t this the shadow who followed after Iclyn" Rudra thought as he gazed at the man levitating in the air.


    "Exalted Senior, how may I address you?" Elder Wang bowed to greet the white-robed senior that had appeared.


    "I am Wu from the Spirit Ice Sect, fear not elders I shall help you guys in defending here till the reinforcements from our sects arrive."


    "Elder we are grateful for your help and your stand to fight the Demons but why should we allow him to run with his tail tucked in between his legs." the brown-robed elder seemed persistent in keeping Rudra in the town even going as far as to argue with a great senior of the superior realm in cultivation.


    "Hmm, this Elder is only in Foundation building having him stay would be the same as asking for his life," Wu said calmly.


    "It is alright Elder Wu I am thankful for your efforts to defend me. But I have decided to stay with all the other elders to confront this challenge!" Rudra righteously said while inwardly he was gloating at the fact that he could finally raise the demonic cultivation of his second heart.


    Rudra jumped off the ship''s bow and walked towards the platform sitting back on his seat,


    "You should leave, kid" hearing a coarse voice, Rudra turned to look at the elder from the Valley of swords.


    "They won''t let me leave so easily, you should know that!"


    "And if I run away anyway now, It will harm the righteous image of the Spirit Ocean Sect."


    "Sigh! Just Be safe!" the grey-robed elder stood up as he walked towards the group of elders who were discussing what to do.


    Rudra looked at the departing back of the elder as he muttered, "Leave, hehe! why would I leave the perfect cultivation ground created for me!"


    "Demons I hope you provide me with enough spiritual energy to cultivate my Demon Qis into core stage." A grin surfaced on the face of Rudra as he remembered the stagnant cultivation of his Demonic heart.


    The cover of Demonic Qi would intercept with other''s senses helping him easily hide the use of his Demonic techniques.


    "Elder we have gathered everyone that wanted to join the sect."


    "Good!, did you ask them to fetch their families along?" Rudra asked.


    "Yes, Elder!" Yang replied to the question pointing towards the crowd of mortals gathered below the platform.


    "Shin, you are to fly the ship and reach the Shattered Ocean Sect, your Father would love to see you again," Rudra said as he proceeded to take out the bag full of Spiritual Stones from inside of his ring.


    "Yes, Uncle," Shin said as he took the bag of spiritual stones from the hand of Rudra. Shin wanted to stay with him but after a good talking given to him, he was forced to comply and agree with Rudra.


    Gazing at the black flying ship leaving at the horizon, one by one more and more flying ships started making its way to the air, these were all the flying ships owned by the elders who were using them to evacuate the town and surrounding areas quickly, most of these were carrying the disciples selected by the elders during these months and the disciples that had originally followed after them.


    "Now let us see what the fuss is all about!" Rudra turned his head around looking at the red sky on the horizon opposite to the direction the flying ships had flown off to.

 81 En

    "Iclyn are you sure he is the one we are looking for?"


    "He can change his face but he can''t change his behavior, I am almost certain he is my disciple."


    "But that doesn''t make sense he entered into the event with us, and he was a solid background even some elders can vouch for his identity." Elder Wu tried to reason with his niece. Elder Wu had never approved of the new disciple accepted by her niece.


    "Hmm we just need to make sure he is safe, uncle did you contact the sect?" Iclyn inquired about the matter of reinforcements.


    "The matter concerning the Tranquil Forest is very serious all the sects are sending over a regiment of elders who will deal with the matter."


    "What happens till then?"


    "We are to hold the fort, I suppose" Elder Wu commented as he ran his hands through his beard.


    Far of in another tent elders who had gathered were clamoring,


    "How long until they send reinforcements, the red sky is almost above us."


    "Don''t freak out brother we are tasked with a very important task we are to defend this location till the ancestors of the sect arrive" the grey-robed elder from the Valley of Swords spoke authoritatively, his usual friendly demeanor was long gone.


    "Yes, we must not lose our heart, after all, we aren''t sure what has befallen on us, it might not really be a Demonic Gate." the blacksmith elder Wang said trying to diffuse the tense situation with his optimistic approach.


    While both these tents were full of elders discussing their plans to cope till the reinforcements arrived, another tent where Rudra was supposed to be flashed with a light,


    "Damn it has been long since I read this book!" Rudra commented as he used a flash mystic spell to provide himself with a light source while he read the texts written in crimson red ink on the pitch-black sheets of the Exiled Demon Sutra.


    Flipping through the section where different demonic techniques and arts were recorded, Rudra planned to increase his arsenal as he only knew how to cultivate the Demonic Qi but not many offensive or defensive Demonic Techniques.


    "Supreme Demon Flame Technique""Find a demonic flame to cultivate."


    "Nine Dog Bite "" Replace one''s head with a Cerberus head."


    "Wendingo Art""A shapeshifter demon requires the blood of an actual Wendigo."


    "Hmm, most of these don''t suit my elements, where are the ones related to the Wood and Earth Demonic Qi."


    The sound of pages being flipped was the only sound produced as the usual chirping of the incests in the night had long gone missing. Under the yellowish-white light of the spell, Rudra spent the whole night reading the Manual, some mystic techniques, and certain useful Demonic Techniques.


    "It seems I can only learn these techniques for now." Rudra looked at the list of Demonic Techniques that suited him and he was willing to learn as most of the techniques required one to transplant a part of the Demons body into one''s own or stuff like living sacrifices of infants that Rudra was not comfortable doing.


    Rudra read through the details written beside these arts.


    "Ent''s Body Art", A art that coverts your body into the Demonic Ent gaining, an Ent was a very special existence they as a species were like humans neutral as whole but demonic Ents were a vile branch of the race that instead of nurturing life preferred to take life instead.


    "Berserk Art"An Art that suited his Marauder Qi, it was best used with a heavy weapon.


    Cultivating these arts would help in progress the cultivation of both his Demonic Qis, the Ent''s body was an Art with a total of 5 stages and every jump in the stage meant a significant leap in power.


    "If the Demonic Qi converts the Tranquil Forest into the demonic forest then using this Art I can turn the whole forest into my Ent body''s extension. I would have eyes in every tree in the forest every branch would become my arm every root my spear." Rudra thought as he read through the text,


    "Ent''s Body Art"using his Yaksha Qi in his Demonic Heart he started circulating the Qi as demonstrated by the diagrams drawn on the black sheet of the Manual as he muttered the required chants.


    "Initiation is successful" Rudra muttered feeling the changes in his body as an apparition of a small Ent appeared inside the green side of his Demonic Heart.


    "Now onto the next one, hope I don''t go crazy cultivating it," Rudra said reading the warnings associated with the Art description alarming one to be careful while cultivating this technique.

 82 Into the jungle

    [Berserk Art] Rudra felt a boiling rage overcome his mind as he felt the urge to smash the stuff around him, his original black eyes turned to flaring-red and he felt his body heat up.


    Rudra clenched his fists trying to cultivate in his uniquely enraged state as the Marauder Qi accumulated to form another apparition that resembled an earth golem, Rudra felt more anger every passing second unsure how to cope with it, Rudra used his Mental strength to cope through the whole process of initiating the Berserk Art.


    Huff Huff, Rudra wiped the sweat that had accumulated on his forehead with his hand feeling the rage boiling inside him subside.


    "It is an extreme Art, I nearly lost control in rage. But now I know that greater the Mental strength more they can cope with this art and its side effects." Rudra examined the outside of the tent, the twilight was coming to an end, the purple sky was tinged with a demonic red that was almost at the doorstep of the tents they were staying at.


    Rudra closed the Manual putting it inside his space ring, as he moved out of the tent, the whole forest at the border of the town was already engulfed in a Red Demonic Qi, but the rest looked more like the red of rusted iron.


    Rudra looked around hoping to see if anyone else was present in the area, Rudra moved a bit confirming the noises coming from the central tent which was filled with elders.


    "They are still going on!" Rudra said as he activated the Omniscient Eye technique peering inside each tent trying to get a general grasp of the location of every one.


    Iclyn was still discussing with her elder but she was joined by the lady from the Poison Valley while the other elders were gathered in the central tent.


    "Looks like the coast is clear!" Rudra smiled as his steps rushed towards the forest in the distance made obscure by the film of Demonic Qi covering it.


    Rudra''s body poked through the mist entering into the Tranquil Forest.


    "As I thought, the plants here are either demonifying or dying," Rudra commented as he picked up a grass stalk that was now turning blackish-red from its original green.


    The scenery here was complete opposite to what he remembered from the days before, the air was filled with a smell of blood, the trees, the soil everything felt sinister and dark.


    "Demonic Realm, is this how they are?" Rudra jumped up a tree branch as he started climbing up the tree hoping to get a view from the top of the tree.


    "Being an Ent here in the forest would benefit me greatly," Rudra said looking around the scene in front of him that was covered by trees till the eyes could manage to see.


    "At least there won''t be any demonic Beasts here." Rudra sighed a relief as he realized that as the tranquil forest was devoid of hostile creatures and Magical beasts there should be no high-level beasts who could turn to Demonic creatures.


    Rudra''s eyes abruptly shifted as his gaze fixed at some blurry figures running on the forest floor.


    "Flood Dragonifiaction" Rudra grew a pair of dark scaly wings as his body turned into half draconic form. Flying in the air he tailed the group trying to listen in.


    But after tailing them for some time he realized that these bastards were quiet the whole time. Rudra used his Omniscient Eye technique to gauge their cultivation, feeling assured after he realized that the strongest of them was only at the Core formation stage.


    Suddenly the one that appeared as the leader of the group formed a sign using his hand, causing the group to split in two. Rudra quickly decided to tail the group with lesser strength the one in which the Core cultivator was not present.


    As soon as Rudra jumped towards the closest person to him, he realized that he had been duped, it was a trap.


    "Hmph! Dumbass!"


    The target jumped out of his range jeering at him as the whole group tried to surround him from all sides Rudra saw the Core formation cultivator walk out from the back.


    Indifferent to the situation, Rudra rushed towards the leader of the party surrounding him, the Core Formation cultivator. He planned to carry out the enemy general beheading tactic to stop the minions from ganging on him.


    Zhu looked at the idiotic action of the Foundation Building Stage elder who had taken part in the event, Zhu had remembered this weakling as one of the targets he was supposed to kidnap tonight.


    But looking at the prey that had walked itself to the mouth. His features twisted into a sneer as Rudra pounced towards him.


    How could a mere rat deal with someone like him who had already completed his Core formation, and had spiritual artifacts at his disposal?


    "Blood sword! Kill!"


    Zhu pointed at Rudra, and the red flying sword lying a scabbard shot towards Rudra at a ferocious speed, leaving a bloody-red trail of light in its wake. It had pierced through Rudra''s chest.


    "Poof!"


    A hole was punched into Rudra''s chest amidst a cloud of blood and flesh.


    But Rudra did not even crease his brows. He had full control of the senses and even felt pain. He went up to Zhu.


    "Great Devouring!" Rudra muttered grabbing the arm of his opponent. Zhu felt his body being sucked of life as his arm wrinkled up and turned immobile, as stared horror at the regenerating chest of his opponent.


    "Ping!"


    Zhu flew backward after receiving a blow from Rudra. Rudra paused a curious look on his face.


    "You...you devil!"


    Zhu climbed to his feet painfully and looked down at his shimmering robes. He was afraid.


    "What the hell are you?"


    Even the cultivators of the Core formation Stage would not have escaped unscathed if they had a hole punched into their chest.


    Zhu no longer saw Rudra as a mere weakling. To him, Rudra was now a terrible monster that would not die!


    "A defensive magical equipment?"


    Rudra looked at his right hand and muttered to himself.


    "To think that I would get free Spiritual Artifacts...it will help further my Metal Qi¡­"


    As Rudra sighed, he walked to Zhu''s side.


    "Ahh...stay away from me!"


    Zhu backed away quickly from the vile man who was immune to spiritual items and magic. He was, after all, more frightened to see a demonic aura emanate from Rudra''s hand.


    "Spiritual artifacts have limits too!"


    Rudra ignored the havoc that the blood flying sword was wrecking. It did not matter how many times the sword cut into him for he could recover instantaneously. He focused on the task at hand instead, landing continuous punches on Zhu''s magical robes.


    "Click!"


    Finally, Zhu''s metallic armor was torn apart as he looked on with absolute terror. The metallic armor scraps melted as they entered into the body of Rudra. Rudra immediately took the opportunity to break his neck.

 83 Vulture Wind

    Hooo hooo...


    There was only the sound of the gentle breeze in the dead silence.


    A few followers of Zhu looked on and stuttered in disbelief.


    "Senior Zhu?"


    "Ah! Senior is dead..."


    "How? Isn''t that Elder a useless bum?"


    "He is no longer the useless bum we knew. He is now an undefeatable demon! His existence only brings disaster. We have to report this to the elders immediately!"


    "You!...we will have our revenge!"


    ...


    "Idiots!"


    Rudra rushed forward and stepped onto the air. With just a thought, he easily seized the bloody sword that was levitating in the air, ownerless after the death of Zhu, Rudra quickly passed his Marauder Energy into its shaft, quickly seizing the right to use it.


    Looking around, Rudra saw that, there were still those wicked and demonic followers of the Foundation Realm. Rudra killed them without hesitation and took their valuable possessions before flying off on the Blood Sword.


    "Zhu''s reactions were too slow, and he doesn''t seem experienced enough in wielding the weapon..."


    Soaring high up in the sky with the weapon was an experience on a totally new level for Rudra.


    At this moment, Rudra gazed at the bright and shiny flying sword and the other artifacts he stripped off from Zhu''s dead body. He was silent in thought.


    Zhu''s magical power was, in fact, impressive, but he was not an experienced fighter. This was especially evident when he restricted himself when he concentrated on his magical power defending himself while also using the flying sword to cover himself. This proved to be too much for him to handle as he did not have enough energy left to flee in the end.


    Otherwise, if Zhu had taken the chance to attack Rudra when he held the advantage, Rudra would probably be unable to defeat him so easily.


    "This Spiritual weapon is indeed excellent... but what use does it have for me?"


    Rudra then experimented with controlling the flying sword, causing him to smile happily with childlike glee. After a while, he contentedly tossed it aside.


    "So, what is the use of giving me such a weapon now, after all a tree can not wield a sword!!"


    Rudra shattered the Blood Sword as it cracked it leaked blood from the inside of it, a demonic shriek escaped from inside the sword, but it quickly died out as the whole of the sword turned into liquid form before entering the Dantian and forming a similar-looking red sword at the pedestal in the disc that was the Foundation for the Desolate Metal Energy.


    Rudra then proceeded to do the same with all the Spiritual Artifacts he had robbed of the dead corpses of the group.


    "Not enough to even reach the Middle of Foundation Building!"


    "Looks like I have to find more weapons!" Rudra commented after absorbing the last weapon that resembled a saber.


    [Ent Body Art]


    Rudra muttered as his skin turned to resemble the bark of a tree, dark brown and creased. Tiny sprouts of branches started sprouting from his shoulder blades and elbows, a small canopy of green leaves appeared on the previous location of his black hair. His feet started outgrowing roots.


    Rudra was now double the size of a normal human, he could feel the life force being emanating from the trees and plants around him, he could hear some of them. The crazed wail of the demonized trees echoed in his ears.


    "The demonic Energy is corrupting them!" Rudra gained insight on the situation of the trees in the forest as he himself felt the same as the trees. His massive feet that had outgrowth like roots produces loud thudding voice whenever he walked.


    BANG!


    Just as, He was busy experiencing the feeling of Ent body a loud noise brought Rudra out of the appraisal, an explosion thundered out. Rudra felt there was someone or something burning with fiery rage hot on his heels. A voice shouted out, "Bastard, stop in your tracks!"


    A tremendous spiritual force that contained demonic wind energy crashed into the forest. This collision caused the surrounding trees to wobble unsteadily before they finally crashed to the ground.


    Sou!


    As the trees surrounding him crashed to the ground, Rudra rolled away landed below the canopy of an old tree by the side. Without looking at the collision, he turned his attention to the furious person charging towards him and thought, "A Core cultivator using the demonic wind energy?"


    The main focus of the world was to cultivate to become an immortal.


    After completing the Demonic Core, one could explore the world and seek out rarer demonic energy that was suitable and absorb it. From there, the cultivator would have unimaginable abilities for the preparations to develop the nascent soul in the future.


    The better the demonic energy, the more substantial and strong the Soul would be. This would make the higher grade Demonic Energy all the more worth looking forward to.


    If one''s core was able to reach the perfect stage, one was almost guaranteed to shatter his core to form an elemental infant, split and evolve his spiritual will, and eventually undergo heavenly tribulation.


    Roar! roar!


    At this moment, Rudra was chased by a great reddish-black ball of demonic wind energy. It took on the shapes of a vulture, creating a rancorous noise. This could thoroughly shake any cultivator to his core.


    "This is a Vulture Demonic Wind, which is the most inferior kind of demonic energy and it is extremely sparse. It looks like it is a cultivator that as no hope of forming a nascent soul in his lifetime..."


    With just a glance, Rudra figured out what that was. It looked like reading the Demonic Manual was of some value after all.


    Even then, as a Core cultivator, it was not to be underestimated. It caught up with Rudra in a blink of an eye and transformed into a ferocious and well-built middle-aged man. He looked similar to Zhu, except that his bloodshot eyes were filled with rage it looked as though he could not wait to swallow Rudra whole. He barked out, "You are the one who killed my nephew?"


    "Who would have thought one could fly around using the Demonic Wind Energy in human form? This is so convenient!"


    Looking at this man, Rudra remarked eagerly.


    In this short period of time, Rudra thought of the possibility of cultivating a Wind Based Demonic Energy but disapproved of the idea thinking of all the different bases in his body he still was not able to advance.


    "It will be just another burden to carry!"


    Although Rudra did not take this middle-aged man seriously, the middle-aged man could no longer contain his anger and shouted, "A demon from another world?! Or are you an ancient demon left from that Period?"


    Clearly the middle-aged man noticed Rudra in his Ent body appearing similarly sinister like the demonic trees he had seen in his travels with his brothers.


    "Your Executioner!"

 84 First stage

    Rudra waved his hand and the bunch of sharp leaf blade shot out. It charged towards the middle-aged man like a green leaf dragon.


    Upon seeing this, the middle-aged man exploded in anger. Without even using a weapon, he directly tapped his head and shouted, "Go!"


    "Roar roar!"


    With a thunderous roar, the demonic wind in the shape of the demonic vulture which was circling around him launched itself with lightning speed and trapped the Leaf Blades Dragon within.


    "I do not care what sort of demon you are! You killed my nephew, you will pay for it with your life!"


    Seeing that the Vulture Demonic Wind had already countered Rudra''s flying sword, the middle-aged man''s confidence was bolstered. He opened his mouth and shout out a small seal. The seal expanded rapidly in its path mid-air, turning into what looked like a small black hill.


    "Demonic Vulture Seal, slaughter!"


    Pointing at Rudra, the spiritual weapon which now looked like a small hill came crashing down instantly.


    BANG!


    It caused a tremendous tremor in the ground and lose shreds and debris flew up into the air. The trees toppled down one after another.


    In just one strike, anything that was in the location where Rudra once stood had sunk several meters deep into the ground. Nothing was spared.


    "What a great spiritual weapon with remarkable power! It seems to match your demonic wind energy quite well?"


    In a flash, Rudra reappeared. He began laughing and applauding.


    He deduced that this person''s demonic wind was in fact very weak. But because he had the magical weapon, it made him rather formidable. This explained why he was courageous enough to chase after Rudra.


    "Erm? He''s not dead?"


    The middle-aged man was shocked. He just witnessed the area where Rudra once stood got hit by his weapon on target. He had believed that there was no way Rudra could have avoided that.


    "You are no doubt extremely unpredictable, but your demonic wind abilities do not seem impressive, why should I fear you!"


    Gritting his teeth, he made a gesture with hand and the two vulture demonic winds abandoned the flying leaf blades and merged into the seal.


    Ow ow!


    Roar roar!


    With this reinforcement, the seal''s power increased tremendously. With the eyes of the two beasts shining menacingly, the seal headed straightforward Rudra''s head again.


    As Rudra contemplated his next move, he could already feel the sheer power of the force from the seal. It exerted a pulling force on him, restricting his movement.


    BANG!


    The black seal crashed on Rudra''s head, causing his body to be smashed into a green and grisly mess of wood pieces and sap spilling everywhere.


    Just as a smile appeared to take shape on the middle-aged man''s face, it quickly turned into a contorted look of shock and disbelief.


    In a flash, a small sapling appeared on the pile of shattered woody mess, and in seconds it increased in size, it appeared as if it had grown at a visible speed from a sapling to a tree. Rudra was again standing at his original location, looking as though nothing happened to him at all.


    "How is it possible?"


    The middle-aged man''s expression changed. With a wave of his hand, several shiny and eye-catching spiritual weapons appeared. Axes, daggers, and so on now charged towards Rudra.


    "Ha! Demonic Combination of Vultures and Bloody Bats! Activate!"


    With this incantation, all these spiritual weapons dropped from the sky, evolving into many unthinkable forces and landing on Rudra.


    BANG!


    BANG!


    By this point in time, the hill had already endured several lethal, destructive and disastrous attacks. Not only was it completely overturned by the Demon Vulture Seal and other magical weapons, but it was also devastated by the several spells shot out by the middle-aged man. There was almost no chance of survival for any orgasm living in it.


    However, one could not say there was definitely no chance of survival because Rudra stood perfectly unharmed in the center of it.


    "Enough?"


    Rudra yawned restlessly and looked at the middle-aged man.


    "No¡­...impossible! Even if you are an ancient demon, it is still impossible! This must be a trick! An illusion!"


    As the middle-aged man muttered, he forcefully executed a few moves on himself to confirm that he was not hallucinating. With this confirmation, the blood drained from his face, and with a shout of despair, he flew off without turning back.


    Even though he had yet to avenge his nephew, Rudra proved too formidable and intimidating for him.


    "It was so boring to be attacked the whole time!"


    Being on the receiving end of the middleman''s offensive moves and being smashed to pieces so many times, Rudra''s anger had built up steadily. How could he let this man off easily?


    "Now that he has escaped, how do I chase after him? Even though the Green Leaf Dragon seems great, it definitely cannot outrun the Demonic Vulture Wind!"


    Rudra shut his eyes as he thought of a solution.


    All of a sudden, the energy from the surrounding trees and the fallen trees, on his body began the breakthrough, even causing a large disturbance in the forest and the wind above. Small strings of demonic wood energy automatically appeared, and after he refined them, he entered the Ent Body Art''s first stage in that instant.


    "Let''s go!"


    When on the forest floor, Rudra was running in his Ent form. His speed increased tremendously and caught up in no time.


    "This is...? This creature has advanced?"


    The middle-aged man turned around. When he saw Rudra, he felt as though his soul was sucked out from him.


    "This creature is too terrifying, I cannot fight it!"


    He already had no intention to avenge his nephew, all he thought of was to escape and hide from this creature for the rest of his life.


    "Sou sou!"


    Two lines of demonic winds cut through the sky, moving extremely quickly.


    Suddenly, the sight of the buildings on the grounds came into sight. This caused a delightful smile to appear on the middle-aged man''s face. He shouted, "Help me!"


    "You think just because you are back here you are safe?"


    Rudra momentarily entered a mysterious realm.


    All that he had seen previously caused him to enter an advanced level of enlightenment. He suddenly widened his eyes and shouted, "Die!"


    As he shouted, the middle-aged man in front of him''s look of extreme delight changed drastically.


    He instantly felt that he lost all his abilities and he was falling from the sky like a bird without wings. The look of pure terror plastered his face.


    "Bang!"


    A pool of blood splattered on the pavement below. This expert from the Vulture demonic wind Core Formation Cultivation fell to his death.

 85 Vulture Wind Camp

    "That shout sounded like it was from Elder Lu!"


    "Who dares to go against us, Vulture Wind Camp?"


    "Sigh¡­..unfortunately Elder Zhu is dead. If not, he would be able to defeat the enemy!"


    ...¡­


    The long shout from the middle-aged man shook the entire Vulture Wind Camp. A few flashes of light then appeared and thoughts ran wild. What everyone saw next was unbelievable.


    "Oh my god! What have I seen?"


    "Brother Lu fell to his death!"


    "Are you kidding? How can a Core Cultivator with the Demonic Vulture Wind be able to fall to his death? There had been no such absurd accidents in the whole of the cultivation world!"


    "But that person is really Brother Lu and looks like he has felled to his death!"


    "Could it be that we are under some illusion spell?"


    A few other Demonic Core Cultivators rubbed their eyes and couldn''t believe what they had seen.


    "Which powerful person dares to intrude Vulture Wind Camp?"


    BANG!


    3 giant streaks of wind rose from within the Vulture Wind Camp, revealing a white-haired old man accompanied by two middle-aged men who were in the Core Formation Stage and Nascent Soul Stage respectively. The rest of the Demonic Cultivators bowed down to them and greeted them. " Leader!"


    "I am Yu, may I know your intention for intruding our place and killing our elder?"


    The white-haired Nascent Soul Master looked stern and stared at Rudra.


    The Camp Leader understood what he saw from his mental view. Lu was actually escaping but when Rudra made his move, Lu became a pile of bones as his body disintegrated instantly.


    Seeing what Rudra had done, the Camp Leader knew from his spiritual will that Rudra was a powerful enemy. The two Core Formation Stage deputy camp leaders beside him immediately summoned their spiritual weapons to defend themselves.


    Rudra stood with his hands behind his back. He squinted his eyes and laughed. "It doesn''t matter. In this world, I kill how I like, and you all shall not be spared?"


    "You''re an insane being!"


    "You''re a devil!"


    ...¡­..


    However, after seeing what Rudra could do, he was confused. "Could he be a demon from another world or is he an avatar of some ancient demon?"


    Yu, then said, "No matter what, if we let this devil escape today, there will be misery and suffering in the future. Everyone listen up, make a Great Demon Vulture Array!"


    "Yes, Leader"


    A few bright flashes were seen going into the building under the leadership of the two deputy leaders.


    BANG!


    Suddenly, a reddish-black fog then appeared in the Vulture Wind Camp and it formed an array that surrounded Rudra.


    "This is your array? Interesting!"


    Rudra stood firmly and saw the changes around him. An attack array was surrounding him, piquing his interest.


    Previously, he had made minor amendments to his body with just his thoughts. However, he still had to follow a sequence to improve and at this point was only at the Ent body first Stage.


    "Unfortunately¡­... My attacks are still limited! Nevermind, it might improve after I gain more power after advancing stages in Ent body!"


    Fallen trunks surrounded him as he was thinking.


    The Great Demon Vulture Array consisted of 3 files that alternated constantly. It would transform with time and as time passed, the power of the array would be increased, eventually forming an extreme wind array.


    "Fallen trunks¡­..I don''t want to get squashed to death¡­.."


    Fang Yuan looked at the incoming giant trunks and touched his chin. He thought of something and shrouded himself in his power.


    BANG!


    At that moment, many trunks and vines trapped him.


    "Kacha! Kacha!"


    Many cracks appeared before it explodes.


    Among the mess, Rudra came out unharmed.


    "Clang!"


    Suddenly, a giant golden blade formed right above Rudra, making a clanging sound as it landed on his neck.


    The golden blade stuck inside the bark-like skin as it landed.


    "Rumble! Rumble!"


    The Great Demon Vulture Array changed again and this time, there were wind vultures.


    Rudra took a deep breath and breathed out a stream of needle-like leaves piercing some of the demonic cultivators running the array.


    "This¡­.this¡­."


    Yu, who was hidden within the formation was surprised. "Unkillable body? How can we kill this demon?"


    Seeing Rudra charging straight into the formation with the intention to break it, Yu had to take action.


    "Let there be wind and lightning on my command. Activate!"


    Yu was, without a doubt, a practiced cultivator in the Art of Arrays. With just a command, the surrounding was suddenly filled with strong winds and lightning. A flash of red lightning descended and struck Rudra.


    PENG!


    Rudra was motionless. There was only a hint of burning smoke emitting from his woody shoulders and his overall body was still in good condition.


    "Oh lord, is his body made out of magical equipment?"


    Leader Yu was frightened. The Nascent Soul inside him suddenly appeared on his chest. He then shouted, "Vulture Wind Sword Cleave!"


    "Rumble!"


    The whole formation shook and the black cloud started to fade away. It then converged above Yu''s head to form a figure of a giant cloudy sword.


    "Execute!"


    Under Yu''s command, the giant sword fell straight towards Rudra like a collapsing mountain.


    Above the sword, red lightning flashed and the wind howled. The surrounding 5 series of light converged to become a remarkable spiritual technique and flowed along the blade of the giant sword!


    This sword was dominating and powerful!


    "Hooray Camp Leader will kill this ancient demon!"


    At that moment, everyone, be it the disciples or the Core Formation Stage deputies, were all cheering for the camp leader as though they had witnessed the devil being killed by the mighty sword.


    "Whoosh!"


    The sword then came crashing down.


    "Buzz! Buzz!"


    The ground shook and a giant crack appeared on the ground. A giant cloud of dust was formed from the crack.


    "Hoo, hoo....even though this looks fierce, the Great Demon Vulture Array will kill the enemy in one strike without any pain or suffering¡­..uh¡­."


    He exhaled a long breath.


    In the epicenter of the explosion, there were cracks everywhere, but one portion of land was perfectly preserved, untouched. This portion of land stood out among the destruction.


    On that perfect portion of land, a person stood firmly on the ground, unharmed.


    That person was holding a giant sword in his hand as well. A stream of green energy could be seen flowing into his body from the ground below him.


    "This¡­..this is impossible!"


    Yu exclaimed and retreated. "You how could you still be alive that strike could kill any Nascent Soul cultivator many times over.


    "Many times over?"


    Rudra smiled and went forward with the Giant Wind Sword in his hand. "To me, this sword can do nothing!"


    The sword was shattered as it melted into the body of Rudra, making his Desolate Metal Foundation Base break through to the third stage, reaching the peak of the early Foundation Realm.


    "You¡­..are a devil!"


    Yu was furious and shouted. "All the disciples in the Vulture Wind Camp, we shall work together to fight against our enemy!!!"


    While he was speaking, his Nascent Soul had become a small golden sword and it flew through the thin air. It was a clever way to call for help.


    "Leader!"


    Among the shouting, a few bright lights flashed to the front. "With our help, we shall defeat this devil!"


    "Idiots!"


    Rudra laughed and waved his hand lightly.


    "No!"


    As Yu gave a horrified look, Rudra struck his fists out striking the ground below causing numerous spikes to pop out, and released the demonic essence, increasing his fear factor.


    "Whoosh!"


    A single bright green energy accumulated in front of Rudra as everyone saw the trees pouring out their life force onto the ray of green light which took the form of a massive ethereal tree trunk, as it crashed down towards the main hall of the Vulture Wind Camp.


    BANG!


    Even though the range of his attack was not was as wide as before, the Demonic Wood Energy that Rudra possessed attacked at the main essence of the array, destroying the main hall.


    Leader Yu and the 2 deputies spat out mouthfuls of blood and were all seriously injured. There were a few unlucky cultivators who didn''t manage to survive.


    "Stop calling me a devil. Can''t you even recognize your fellow Demonic species?"


    Rudra came towards leader Yu and glanced at the group of people who considered themselves as demonic cultivators.


    "What should I do next? Kill all of them?"


    Rudra questioned his conscience.


    Rudra laughed and gave a serious look. He went near leader Yu and said, "Don''t worry you will all make good fertilizer for my garden!"


    "You..."


    "Great Devouring Technique!"


    Leader Yu was in shock as his body was being drained of life. His Nascent Soul appeared on his head as it wanted to escape.


    "Here!"


    "You are coming with me" Rudra laughed as he grabbed the fragile soul of Yu in his leaf-covered palms.


    "With all you willing to give up for lives, I will definitely advance to the next stage!"


    In his laughter, Rudra left the Vulture Wind Camp, which had tried to oppose him. His shadow disappeared and only silence was left behind.


    Not long after he left, the demonic wooden energy engulfed theentire Vulture Wind Camp and turned everything into ash, every living being was killed, and turned into fertilizers to feed the Ent.


    Ent Body the Second Stage, Rudra felt his wooden physique become stronger and more techniques related to Ents entered his mind. At this stage, it can form a demonic core of the Yaksha Wood Energy.


    Rudra sat down on the ground surrounded by trees as he cultivated the demonic wooden essence from the forest to form a demonic core.


    As he cultivated he didn''t forget about his prisoner trapped inside his palms.


    "It would have not been so easy if this old Man Yu was a true Nascent Soul cultivator."


    Rudra said looking at the Nascent Soul of the camp leader Yu. When he entered Vulture Wind Camp he had used the Omniscient Eye on the whole Vulture Wind Camp realizing that the head of this camp was a fake Nascent Soul cultivator who had formed a substitute body to tend to his injured Nascent soul.


    "But that means there are more Demonic groups in the tranquil forest, What are their motives?" Rudra planned to make the injured Nascent soul of Yu, to spit out the details on that.

 86 Extreme plans

    Not long after Rudra left, the spiritual fire engulfed the entire Vulture Wind Camp and turned everything into ash, a few lights were seen from the horizon, and almost instantaneously moved to the area above Vulture Wind Camp.


    A few high-leveled immortal cultivators were enraged after witnessing this scene.


    "A tree demon, still trying acting all high and mighty!"


    An old man with a child''s complexion chuckled. "You dare to oppose the Demonic Cultivators? Even though you might be an ancient demon, we will still destroy you!"


    "Fiery Rain, pour!"


    A pretty lady twitched her eyebrows, swung her willow branch, and formed a fire rain, which burnt the wooden outgrowth surrounding the whole camp clearing away the remnants of the attacks used by Rudra.


    "Based on brother Yu, although the ancient demon might seem to only have harnessed the Demon Wood Energy and has not formed its core, he cannot die and be destroyed as his body is extremely tough. You''d better invite a few more senior brothers proficient in seals and arrays to help out!" the pretty lady described the plea for help that Yu had passed on when he was in a perilous situation.


    "That is right! I, a Demonic cultivator, am the owner of all things, what have I not experienced? I have not dealt with and killed more than a hundred extraterrestrial and ancient demons, one more should be no problem!"


    If Rudra, was here, he would be able to sense the anger from these demonic cultivators!


    This was the confidence that they had gotten over many past victories!


    "What''s more... Brute force! Cannot be destroyed?"


    An old man with his eyebrows and beard as long as flames licked his lips and his eyes glittered with excitement. " "If this is true, this demon is a top-grade material for making spiritual equipment! It might even be able to fend off a few Tribulations!"


    At the mention of this, even the expressions of experts changed, revealing their greed on their faces.


    To enter the Tribulation Stage, going through the Tribulations was a must, and it was not just once, but once every step.


    It was fine if one barely scraped through it; if one failed, he would likely die, which was a fear among those in the world of both immortal and demonic cultivators!


    Even though they are high up in the hierarchy of the world, they still have a phobia of the life-threatening Tribulation; they would gather all the spiritual weapons they could, just to increase their chances of making it through the Tribulation.


    After hearing what the elder had to say, everyone started to think for themselves.


    "Everyone will punish this demon!"


    .....


    Amidst the shouting, a demonic cultivator of Nascent Soul Stage thrust his sword, An impressive atmosphere was produced as the sword''s afterimage and the sword-light fused together to become one.


    SWISH!


    This sword-light which had the ability to divide mountains and separate rivers landed on Rudra, but what came off was only a little spark.


    Without even a frown, Rudra struck his claw out. The colorful light on the body of the demonic cultivator was destroyed as if it was a bubble and a palm-sized nascent soul was dragged out.


    "Ah... My body... Demon!"


    A small nascent soul witnessed the destruction of its own body, and even the strength of the nascent soul seemed to disappear; it became a defenseless doll with fear in its eyes. "This is impossible... How did you capture my nascent soul?"


    A nascent was the fusion of one''s Essence, Spirit, and Soul at their peak after the Core was smashed. It had a visible shape but was actually not made of any substance. It could naturally possess supernatural powers, teleportation, possession of another body, etc.


    But to Rudra, who could use the Omniscient Eye normally could see the ethereal nascent souls of the cultivators. the nascent soul was like a real soul; it could not normally defend itself. This moment scared the hell out of this demonic cultivator.


    "Another one of these!!..."


    Rudra looked at the doll-like hollow body in front of him reminding him of the attacks by these maniacs who used dead bodies of as a puppet controlling them using their nascent souls like fools, only for their Nascent souls to die at his hands and perish.


    "I must quickly form my core I have been lucky as to not meet a real nascent Soul cultivator, otherwise I would be done for!" Rudra used his Omniscient Eye to sneak about in the forest along with the surveillance provided by his Ent form connecting with the surrounding plants.


    Rudra was sick of the regular attacks from the demonic cultivators attacking him. Rudra was disturbed many times, he was pissed to be not able to peacefully form his first Demonic core.


    Rudra held the nascent soul and had a tinge of annoyance in his eyes.


    After the Vulture Camp was burnt down, he immediately became the common enemy of the demonic cultivators that had occupied the Tranquil forest and was hated by everyone. Many others left their comfort zones and they were all after him.


    Rudra remembered the nascent soul of Yu that he had destroyed after questioning, that soul was pretty wimpy as it started spilling all the beans hoping to save his life, thus Rudra had gained considerable information about the present situation in the forest.


    "Resurrection of the Demonic Path on the continent. Moreover the complete dominance over the continent!!" Rudra muttered still astonished at the scale of the plan these demonic groups had hatched.


    These hidden demonic groups that had never shown their faces in the open, afraid of being exterminated by the righteous faction, were now all gathered here, carrying out a massive ritual, that would allow them to control an ancient demon''s corpse as a puppet granting them immense power.


    "These groups at the outskirts are mere cannon fodder that must gain more time delaying the assault that the Righteous sect might launch." Rudra gazed at the nascent soul in his palms as he commented; he crushed it effortlessly.


    "This time, I would solve the problem of the core!"


    They planned to gather all the elemental energies into massive collecting pools and then use an ancient array to funnel all these energies to refine the corpse of the Ancient Demonic being whose body rested inside the depths of the Tranquil forest.


    Rudra planned to derail the whole plan by stealing as much Wooden essence from these pools all across the Tranquil forest to cultivate his core. And his next target was precisely aimed at that motive.


    "The Green Boar Sect, was it?"

 87 Fatal Ride

    The camp containing one of the pools filled with refined wood essence was being guarded by Green Boar Sect that laid here.


    Rudra had come to know from his interrogation of the nascent soul of Yu, that Green Boar Sect pretended to be like any other normal immortal sect to deceive others, As they hid their demonic roots pretty well, and no one in the continent suspected that such a small sect would actually be a cover for a demonic sect.


    "Demon!"


    "The ancient demon is here!"


    After Rudra killed the nascent soul, he did not stop and continued to invade the lands of the Green Boar Sect. A large copper bell that had turned green due to erosion lay on the top of Green Boar Sect''s bell tower was struck many times, producing a booming noise.


    It was as if the entire Green Boar Sect was like an awoken demonic beast, roaring.


    "What audacity!"


    "A small demon, but you dare to oppose Green Boar Sect?"


    A few streaks of light shot out; a group of angry old cultivators came out, staring at Rudra, as though they wanted to smelt him on the spot.


    "Ah¡­ It''s the Elders that are here!"


    "And the core formation punishment hall elders too!"


    "With them around, the Green Boar Sect can eliminate this animal, and we might even be able to smelt him into a precious weapon!"


    ...


    Outside, many streaks of light were visible. They were the Foundation building, and Core formation elders, all brimming with confidence.


    "You want to smelt me?"


    Rudra felt rather amused after hearing them and looked at the elder. "The Green Boar Sect is too nonsensical, and you deserve to be destroyed..."


    "Destroyed?"


    The green-eyed elder with a garland on his head was confused, as though he had heard a huge joke, and started to laugh hysterically. "The Green Boar Sect had many hidden secrets. We not only have more than 10 masters who have passed the Soul Tribulation Stage, but we also have the protection of ancient elders in the Immortal World. You are just a small demon who knows a simple indestructible divine technique, and yet you dare to say such words?"


    As he laughed, his expression became fierce. "Even if you are indestructible, the Green Boar Sect can still suppress, or seal you away. Don''t you worry, I will then personally extract your soul and use your body to create demonic equipment!!!"


    "A bunch of idiots!"


    Rudra grinned from ear to ear. "You dare to boast in front of me? Come down!!!"


    Rumble!!!


    After sensing the entire forest around the clearing that the Green Boar Sect had settled on, He became increasingly familiar with plants around, he accumulated a dense wood Qi and turned them into a long whip that rushed at the elder grabbing him by his feet before slamming him at the feet of Rudra.


    Horrified, the elder lost all his strength, shrieked, and fell from mid-air. His flowery garland separated from his head.


    A few other elders were met with the same fate.


    BAM! BAM!


    Bloodstains were everywhere on the ground. Being flung around like rag dolls by the whips that appeared as the hanging roots of a banyan tree was no fun for these poor elders who had several broken bones and grotesque wounds all over their bodies.


    These few elders were not simple-minded; they prepared weapons and spiritual talismans to defend themselves, as such, they would still be able to use them immediately even if they were unable to focus their spiritual power.


    Notwithstanding that, the elder trained in secret techniques even smelted several pieces of hard magical weapons into his own body, making his body strong as steel. Even if he were to jump into a mountain of knives or a sea of flames, he would be able to survive. A fall from such a height would mean nothing to him!


    But it was still useless!


    Regardless of the body or weapons, everything became like glass and shattered as it touched the rocks.


    Even their souls lost their ability to leave their bodies. They could only witness themselves falling to death and were squashed with their physical bodies!


    Silence!


    There was dead silence at the gate of Green Boar Sect.


    The silence was so deafening that a large number of Green Boar Sect disciples witnessed the scene in shock.


    "What... What did I just see?"


    After a long moment, a female disciple clad in dark-green robes rubbed her eyes. "So many Core formation elders, and the Punishment hall elder, and they all just died with a technique?"


    That''s right! To all these disciples, they had just witnessed a demonic attack; the few elders who were all so proud before instantly fell from clash became pieces and died!!!


    "It seems that the effect is not too bad! And I have decisive control over it!"


    Rudra approached the shattered bodies and came close to the gates of Green Boar Sect.


    "Ah! He''s coming!"


    "Leave quickly!"


    "Save me!"


    ...


    Seeing a demon who was able to kill so many highly skilled cultivators approaching, the Green Boar Sect disciples fled like a flock of birds, extremely embarrassed; they had lost the pride of being the stronger Sect.


    BONG!


    After all of them had retreated, a high pitched bell rang, and the ground shook.


    Rudra leaped and looked down. The entire sacred mountains of the Green Boar Sect came alive and gathered at the Green Boar Sect gate to fuse... It fused into the shape of a large green boar with long tusks almost as wide as a tree trunk.


    "They could suck the demonic energy from a hundred miles of the entire Tranquil forest to form this large defensive array?"


    Rudra looked at the eyes of the boar, and felt that there was much hatred in it; it was as real as a human''s expression, which shocked Rudra a little.


    "To break through this array, one must destroy the formation core and the demonic energy around, protecting it...!"


    "Idiots you are defended from the sky but what about underground wait till I rob you of all your wood essence!!"


    Rudra took a few steps forward, planting his wooden legs into the ground as he controlled the root to grow down and then using the Omniscient Eye to quickly locate the wooden essence pool,


    "Found it," Rudra said as he controlled the roots to grow obliquely piercing at the bottom of the pool and started observing the wood essence drain into his roots and enter his Ent body.


    ...


    Within the Green Boar Sect, an old man in green stood in front of the gate and appeared serious; he was the Green Boar Sect, Sect Master!


    "This demon is too scheming, it is not even afraid of the Green Demonic Boar Array! It seems like I will have to set up a Demon Sealing Array!"


    He glanced at a middle-aged man who seemed to be of a high level of cultivation. "Also, I will need your help to deliver this letter to Demonic Grandmaster''s Hall!"


    After his words, he threw a piece of green jade that was emitting spiritual light.


    "Yes, Master!"


    Focused, the middle-aged man knew that the Sect Master had little confidence in the sect and had to use his final move; to get help from the Soul Tribulation Stage Grandmasters!

 88 Demonic Core

    "The first step for the cultivation of a demonic core is accumulating the wood demonic energy into the demonic heart!"


    "But I would also need to keep the Marauder energy from fusing into the Yaksha demonic core!"


    Rudra was in high spirits. Within him, the Ent apparition and the Yaksha demonic energy combined and produced a verdant green colored core with the apparition of an Ent on it.


    The Yaksha Demonic Core was round, bright, and shiny. At the same time, there was a sense of indestructibility in the core. When it formed, it created such an impact that shook even heaven and earth. The demonic energy from it formed a small funnel and the auspicious energy transformed into a giant Ent apparition in the sky above the Green Boar Sect. Several different other transformations of the Ent then rapidly and repeatedly appeared.


    "This is¡­."


    The Green Boar Sect Sect Master almost pulled his beard off when he saw what happened. "Forming the Demonic Core?"


    Every disciple in the Green Boar Sect was familiar with the process of forming the demonic core.


    But what they couldn''t understand was that this demon who had killed many elders was not even in the Core Formation Stage!


    Nearby, a white-beard old man saw this phenomenon and opened his mouth widely. "If this demon has formed the Core, doesn''t that mean that it is more powerful now, will it continue attacking us?"


    Many of the disciples had the same question as to the old man.


    They looked up and saw that the phenomenon was fading away. They could see a clear red sky but there was a feeling of dread.


    What was happening?


    A devil was forming a Demonic Core right in front of the Green Boar Sect.


    The Sect Head of Green Boar Sect witnessed the phenomenon coming to an end. He gave a serious expression and stared at, Rudra. "This devil has very powerful energy and is likely to be strongly related to the ancient tree demons..."


    "It''s just a Demonic Core, that''s all!"


    Rudra was in a trance. After being aware of what was happening, he approached the Green Demonic Boar Array.


    HOU!


    The Green Demonic Boar Array looked at Rudra and let out a long cry before sweeping its gigantic body across.


    It was huge like a mountainous ridge and the energy it dissipated seemed to have come from the earth. As it shook its tail, the entire physical Green Boar Sect came crashing towards Rudra.


    Even an expert in the Nascent Soul Stage had to focus and be cautious when in such an intense situation.


    However, Rudra yawned a few times and slowly stretched out his right hand.


    BANG!


    His right palm appeared normal and was similar to any other palms. When compared to the Green Demonic Boar Array, it was like an insect trying to stop an elephant.


    Astonishingly, the next moment surprised many disciples. His right palm could counter such a destructive move completely!


    Rudra was well aware that this array losing all the wooden essence supporting it was like a paper tiger to him, completely harmless. And it would only last for some minutes before getting destroyed.


    Rudra sighed and grabbed the green fog coming from the Green Demonic Boar Array with his right hand, pulling it forcefully.


    CRACK!


    There was a snapping sound as though a rope was under tension before giving way.


    The Green Demonic Boar let out a loud roar of displeasure and its body compressed towards Rudra. It was unable to control itself anymore.


    At the same time, the wooden energy in the Green Boat Sect was dissipating.


    "Is¡­.is he cultivating the array?"


    The Green Boar Sect, Sect Master was left in complete shock and could feel the impending destruction of the Green Boar Sect. His eyes became bloodshot. "We cannot allow him to destroy our sect''s foundations. Kill him!"


    A red long sword appeared and flew straight at Rudra.


    At that same moment, the elders, the deacons, and the disciples of the Green Boar Sect also executed their magical equipment, including flying blades, steel forks and axes, shields and flying ships¡­..these weapons were unique and filled the sky.


    Rudra did not flinch a single bit as he encountered all these spiritual equipment.


    The next moment, he was overwhelmed by these weapons like raindrops pelting on his leafy head.


    CRACK!


    The magical weapon of the Sect Head of Green Boar Sect was considered the most powerful among all. They were made by extreme forging a thigh bone of a powerful metal golem. The weapons formed were incredibly strong and could be used in several ways. It was a rare Earth grade Spiritual weapon.


    However, as it came in contact with Rudra, it broke into two pieces! the cracked pieces then melted into the wooden body of the Ent.


    With the weapon of his life broken, Sect Head of Green Boar Sect turned red and spat a mouthful of blood. "This is impossible¡­..has this demon''s body become indestructible to even to earth grade weapons?"


    Ding!


    Creak!


    As the Sect Head of Green Boar Sect spat out blood, the rest of the weapons came falling down and disintegrated into a pile of sand as they landed on Rudra.


    Even the sect head''s weapon was destroyed. How could the other equipment hold up? Some of the magical weapons were being recovered. Otherwise, they would follow in the Green Boar Sect, Sect Head''s footsteps, having their lifeline magical equipment destroyed, and all of them would cough up blood.


    "Ha ha ha!"


    Rudra laughed and blinked his eyes before breaking another two mortal grade swords.


    Even with the overwhelming spiritual equipment, he was not hindered at all!


    All these weapons served as proper fodder to feed the foundation disc below the Ancient Metal Terrapin which was almost filled with real weapons that were placed on pedestals on the disc. Rudra felt himself reach the middle stage of Foundation Building in the Desolate Metal energy cultivation.


    "Some more of these earth grade weapons and my Metallic core would be the first one to be formed!"


    .....


    Rumble!


    With Rudra constantly tugging at it, the Green Demonic Boar roared in anger. It slowly shrank in size and then dissipated into smokes!


    As the last straw broke, the entire Green Boar Sect lost its demonic energy, ending up without any protection.


    "Stop!"


    Suddenly, a loud roar shook the ground and it revealed shocking demonic energy. Many of the low-leveled cultivators could not withstand it and unknowingly knelt down.


    "I beg you to please spare my sect!" the Sect Head of the Green Boar Sect said kneeling in front of the Rudra was still in his Ent form.


    Though after forming the Demonic Core he had broken through to the third stage of the Ent body, thus making his body look more terrifying than before.


    "Weren''t you all keen on turning my body into demonic equipment!"


    "No! Please forgive the ignorant youngling of my sect, if I had known about this matter o great demon I would have surely stopped them from committing such an act!" the green-robed old man implored, making excuses.


    "You are fooling no one old man!" Rudra said as he observed the seal-like hidden spiritual weapon hidden in the cuffs of the sleeve, of the green robe worn by the old sect head.


    A pointed lance-like tree trunk pierced through his body, instantly destroying his heart.


    The Old Sect Head roared trying to use to move his nascent soul into the seal, but it was caught immediately after it left the head of the body. The poor man was not aware that Rudra could see the ethereal soul that was invisible to a normal pair of eyes.


    Rudra effortlessly crushed the escaping nascent soul.


    ....


    After a few days, shocking news spread across the whole demonic faction in the Tranquil forest.


    The Green Boar Sect had been destroyed by a hostile demon with many elders of the Nascent Soul Stage and the Core formation stage dead.


    The higher-ups ordered the demonic factions to not annoy the tree demon for now as their main enemies where the righteous sects that had already started sending men inside the Tranquil forest!


    While Rudra silently started moving towards the next wood essence pool planning to steal all of them without alerting the higher-ups of the Demonic faction. Not attracting any unnecessary attention, after all, he didn''t want to be hunted by the Elders in tribulation stage to come after him.


    "When the righteous faction strikes it would be the best time to raise both the Marauder and Yaksha Demonic energy." Rudra planned to make use of the chaos to gain benefits in his demonic and immortal cultivation.

 89 Ents feelings

    Rudra was currently sitting in an abandoned Manor that had once been the ancestral home of the Giri Clan.


    "Ah! It doesn''t even resemble its past lively self." Rudra muttered looking at the desolate courtyard of the manor, remembering the first months of his life that he had spent here after coming here. Also the lifetime memories of Rishi who had turned old here.


    "It is fortunate that all of us moved, If not, I wouldn''t even be sure what to do if a bunch of demon cultivators showed up at our doors!"


    Feeling bored by himself, Rudra fixated his wooden legs into the floor of the back courtyard of the manor. His roots started spreading out and all around the manor, he felt the trees and crops that the Giri clan had planted the year before they had moved out, though left unattended these crops and trees were still in great shape.


    "Hmmm, the demonic energy is taking a toll on them!"


    Rudra plonked his feet out of ground detaching from the roots left inside the ground.


    He felt the loneliness and the sorrow emitted by these trees, feelings of being abandoned, and the dread of their eminent death was what Rudra felt emanating from these plants.


    "You have been here a long time my friend, looking over my family!" Rudra caressed the trunk of an old almost ancient Oak Tree present in the back garden.


    The tree was surrounded by different flowers, as the Giri clan did not own an orchid they only had 20 or so trees under their lands most of them were for seasonal fruits like Mango or Guava, some of them were medicinal like the Neem and others, as they did not have a Spiritual farmer in the clan, they could only grow specific mortal crops and herbs.


    Rudra wandered around the whole plot touching every single tree, trying to explore its feelings, the odd Dragon Blood Tree, the slender Willow tree, the majestic banyan tree present the distance from the manor, near a small artificial pond which was made with the help of the villagers from the now-abandoned town near the Dim Pearl lake.


    Large fields of corn and potatoes some rose and lilies and the lotuses growing in the pond along with a tree in the middle of all the farms.


    A single beautiful purple Wisteria tree, Rudra remembered Roebuck''s lover had planted it before she passed away. Rudra seemed to feel a special connection with these trees in the area as if they were familiar with him, and were calling out to him.


    "All of these trees will die, unable to cope with the change in the environment." The demonic energy would eventually sap these trees and plants out of their life, killing them.


    Rudra suddenly felt sad at the realization, feeling depressed at the fate of the trees he returned back into the manor.


    "It appears being an Ent is getting to me! I am feeling sad for some trees!" Rudra muttered,


    A ruffling of leaves sounded as the wooded area near the chest of Rudra''s body started to unwind and opened up revealing a hollow cavity inside were two space rings lay.


    Rudra used his thick woody fingers to pick a ring out as he used his spiritual energy to take out a thick Manual with the cover of a demon head with four horns and an undead skull.


    "Exiled Demon Sutra!" Rudra said as his green almost ethereal eyes peaked from inside the brownish wooden cavity.


    Rudra flipped the page to the section where he had learned the Ent Body technique, reading the whole thing again.


    The Ent Body had 5 stages and after the fifth stage, the Ent will evolve into an Elder Ent which later evolved to Ancient Ent.


    "I am already a third stage Ent, let''s see some of the techniques that I can learn!"


    Reading through the common techniques he had been familiar with, these were the techniques he had used in the fights before,


    [Wood Lance] [Needle Blades] [Leaf Dragon] [Root whips] and the strongest technique [Overgrow] Rudra had used this to take down the Vulture Camp.


    And other passive abilities of the Ent body like being able to feel the trees and forest, and the ability to absorb life force from the trees.


    [Wood Dragon] is the new powerful technique that Rudra was currently reading, the whole night passed as Rudra read through a bunch of techniques usable of the Ents up to the 5th stage.


    [Chopping Wood Axe]


    [ Pitcher Trap]


    [Wood Serpent]


    [Swaying Flowers]


    [Wooden Armor]


    [Illusion forest]


    Rudra learning these techniques was baffled at the conditions of some techniques that required his Ent body to have some side specialization attributes like illusion or poison to learn certain techniques.


    "It looks like my ent body was the most general type with no special attributes. I can learn the most orthodox Ent techniques and not one of these any ones."


    Rudra said reading the [Poison Thorn] technique which required his Ent body to have an affinity for poison.


    Sitting on the ground he continued reading the manual for the next whole day or so,


    "An Elder Ent can help turn normal trees into spiritual trees, a demonic Elder Ent could similarly change trees and plants to the demonic variant, even growing consciousness is possible for an Elder Ent if he has enough Demonic Wood Energy!" Rudra commented closing the Sutra, as he quickly put it back into the ring which was then carefully placed inside the hollow cavity from before.


    "All the more reason to move out now, Eh!" Rudra said turning to look at the plants in the manor and around it.


    "Don''t worry I will help you all turn to Ent like me even if I have to fight for my life!" Rudra pledged still unsure if it was his true feelings or the Ent body that was making him think like that. But the idea of having Ent subordinates was making him all excited.


    "Hehe.... he.... don''t blame me, demonic friends, it''s just a minor wooden essence that I require to advance and help my fellows advance, I hope it won''t be too much!" Rudra laughed on the way as he moved his thick woody legs exiting the manor and entering the Tranquil forest once again.

 90 Posion

    Rudra moved towards the Monkey Maniac Cliff, another wood-based demonic sect that had a wood essence pool guarded by it.


    Hiding behind the cover of the trees that looked almost no different from his in the terms of color and texture.


    Rudra examined the surroundings and it was full of fire pits, silent tents, etc. His expression suddenly changed. "Something''s not right!"


    He went up and noticed cuts on the tents, flipped pots and bowls, and the bloodstains on the ground. He became interested. "Internal conflict?"


    At this point, he had no other doubts, and he opened the tent flaps.


    "Whoosh!"


    A pungent smell of rot filled the air and in the tent stood two people. They were the cultivators who were still standing on their feet, but both of them had no signs of life.


    "Dead... Poisoned?!"


    Rudra looked at the weird smile that both corpses had, and looked at the embers in the fire pit. He remained speechless.


    "Who would''ve known... Someone accomplished what I set out to do!"


    He scavenged the tent and found even more corpse within the tent. Accompanying the morning peace in the forest, this was a scene filled with fear.


    "Seeing how it is, it seems that most of them did not see it coming and died in their sleep, and the remaining ones who found out what was happening tried to retaliate..."


    Rudra came to the boundaries of the campsite and found even more cultivators corpses, and their cause of death, being stabbed by a weapon. There were slash marks on the neighboring trees as well, evidence of a fight.


    He closed his eyes, and it was as though he could witness the scene last night. "Only one person has the ability to poison so many on such a large scale, and that is... The elder from the Poison Valley!!!"


    Rudra only knew one person who would know of such colorless and odorless quick-acting poison. Rudra was reminded of the veiled woman from the Poison Valley.


    "It seems that the reinforcement from the sects was quick to arrive!" Rudra commented looking at the camp of one of the other demonic groups!


    "Well, this makes it easier for me, as long as I don''t get discovered by the Righteous faction who might just decide to exterminate me for being a demon!"


    Rudra used his omniscient eyes to check the location of the well-hidden wood essence pool, seeing two core formation elders still guarding the pool.


    "It seems that these demonic sects are already aware of the attack, Are they willing to give up so much life to just accomplish their goals!" Rudra was astonished at the fact that how the demonic groups were giving misleading directions to the righteous faction by hiding their true goals and protecting the main part of the rituals, the essence pools.


    "Hehe, he... don''t worry I will not tell them your plans for now!" Rudra said as he quickly bore his roots into the ground which then started sucking the wooden essence from the pool quickly emptying it.


    "Not enough for me to reach the fourth stage of the Ent body!" Rudra''s smile dropped as he stood up not minding the core stage demonic elders guarding the pool who were freaking out at the fate of the pool.


    Rudra moved towards the direction of the next Demonic faction, being extra careful to not run into any faction be it demonic or righteous on the way.


    "Hooo," Rudra breathed out, he was standing still waiting for the elders from the before to pass by.


    He had many close encounters these pasts days letting him know that many sects were attacking into the Tranquil forests and he could be spotted any of these days.


    This filled him with a sense of urgency at the fact that he was in no way strong enough to defend himself if he was besieged by all sides.


    Rudra then breathed a sigh of relief looking at the sect in front of him which was also destroyed.


    "It looks like raiding the pools at the periphery first is the way to go about this plan!" Rudra said, absorbing the wood essence in the pool once again which allowed him to break through into the 4th stage of the Ent body.


    Rudra continued on the path without any rest as he walked in the camouflage provided by the forest.

 91 Elder En

    "Is that¡­.an eagle?!"


    With the black dot getting closer, Rudra realized that the one who made a loud cry was a giant eagle. Its golden-black feathers reflected a metallic color under the sunlight.


    "Spiritual beast! A spiritual beast!"


    This black giant eagle was fast. Just as Rudra lifted his head, it already flew past the trees and up into the sky.


    "This is strange¡­.how have I not seen this eagle before?"


    Rudra saw the eagle and had a suspicion. "Is it because of coincidence or is it because of the ritual that spiritual beasts are coming from elsewhere?"


    "Chirp!"


    At that moment, an entire flock of the Red-eyed Green Birds flew into the air from the canopy of trees.


    "Demonic beasts!" Rudra was now sure that as time passed the increased spiritual energy in the Tranquil forest was attracting not only demonic beasts but also the spiritual beats from surrounding areas.


    Under the leadership of a few giant green birds, the flock circled in the air in a formation like an army troop.


    "Whoosh!"


    The giant eagle was not intimidated by the formation created but flew straight into the Green Birds.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Mournful bird chirpings could be heard and big green feathers came falling from the sky.


    The claws of the giant golden-black eagle were as sharp as a steel hook and the demonic birds were struggling to avoid the sharp edge of the claws. The golden eagle also used its beak to peck through the head of one of the Red-eyed Green Bird, causing the bird to die instantly, its body falling straight down.


    "It''s my first time watching two birds fight!"


    As Rudra observed the battle of the spiritual birds intently, he felt like he had gained a better understanding of the way the beasts fought.


    "Too brutal!" Rudra commented looking at the gory mess of the Green Birds that had been killed falling from the sky.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Finally, right after the giant eagle started to kill all of the other Green Birds, a very loud angry chirp was heard from the top of the cliff.


    A giant bird appeared; it was the Alpha Green Bird! but it was much larger compared to its brethren and looked more menacing.


    It flapped its wings and flew right up into the sky to fight against the giant eagle. The giant bird gained the upper hand very quickly.


    SWISH!


    The giant eagle fluttered its wings and dodged away from the Red-eyed Green Bird. It then used its sharp claws and broke through the defense of one of the Red-eyed Green Bird by ripping the bird''s body. The giant eagle showed defiance towards the Alpha Green Bird and flew out of the formation like an arrow. A few of its black feathers fell as it escaped.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Dead demonic birds were a rare sight even though Rudra had come here many times to steal wood essence from nearby demonic factions.


    Looking at the damage caused, the Alpha Green Bird gave a long chirp and lead the formation of Green Birds to chase after the giant eagle.


    "Eh?"


    Rudra gave a cold look and realized something was different.


    "The black giant eagle slowed down its speed on purpose. It wanted to give an illusion that the Alpha Green Bird could catch up¡­. What a cunning beast¡­."


    Seeing the Alpha Green Bird leading the rest of the Green Birds out of the nest, Rudra''s eyes suddenly glittered. "A chance for me!"


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The birds flew further and further away. Soon, they disappeared.


    Rudra followed the pathway and kept climbing up. "There should be something of great value here!"


    He was sure that these beasts would not collide if there was no benefit involved. Rudra used his omniscient eye technique to observe the place where the Green birds seemed to stand as gate guards.


    "Oh! A rare spiritual plant!" Rudra felt his heart race as he saw a small plant-filled with immense wood energy.


    "With this much essence, I can directly breakthrough to the 5th stage of the Ent body, and become an Elder Ent."


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    He appeared and the Green Birds suddenly realized there was an intruder. The birds let out mournful chirps.


    "Get out!"


    The Demonic Birds that were guarding the nest were weaker. Rudra executed his Root Whip Technique, a bunch of roots sprouted from below the ground strangling every bird to its death.


    Rudra jumped down a well-concealed tree trunk and there was a giant hole inside. The hole was where the Alpha Green Bird was guarding the plant.


    Seeing that an intruder had reached their nest, the Green demonic Birds got even crazier and went to fight against the intruder with no regard for their lives.


    "Get out of my way!"


    Rudra shouted angrily. He fought against the birds and retreated a few steps back, used Ent techniques butchering them all in the tunnel, and then got in deeper into the hole.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    At that moment, blood splashed everywhere! Rudra charged in despite the enraged voice of the bride trying to stop him that were killed as long as they entered in his range.


    The birds had no choice but to let Rudra enter the nest.


    "Oh!"


    The hole was not too deep and there was light shining through a gap in between the rocks. The spiritual energy here was surprisingly copious.


    At the end of the hole, there was a giant green rock and it had slight depressions in the middle. There were a few tree branches and feathers, which formed the shape of the giant pot.


    "So this is where the plant lies!"


    He went forward a few steps and looked carefully at the depression. His eyes were attracted by green bamboo shoot the size of a ruler.


    The bamboos were jade-green and as though the bamboos were carved with top quality crystal jade. The bamboos gave out spiritual energy and the polluted air was absorbed.


    "Looks like these bamboos cause the air in this cave to be so fresh¡­.."


    Rudra went forward to check out the spiritual bamboo.


    "Truly a marvelous plant!" Rudra looked at the shoot of bamboo sitting on his wooden palms as he contemplated to either leave the cave with it or cultivate here trying breakthrough to the next stage.


    "I shall become an Elder Ent here, the area in this cave is rich in wood energy." Rudra then proceeded to check the bamboo from all angles after a while he realized that this bamboo was not grown here but probably bought by the Green Birds when they migrated to the tranquil forest.


    "I must thank the Alpha Green when he returns for going through all these troubles to deliver me this gift."


    A green light pulsed in the bamboo shoot and a flashy green aura exited its body entering into the palms of Rudra, wh sat cross-legged with his green soul like eyes closed.


    After a while, the bamboo turned into a dried husk and withered as Rudra opened his eyes a blast of green energy swirled, and this shining energy surrounded the whole area around the cave, with him in the center, forming a funnel of energy rising to the sky.


    "Elder Ent!" Rudra laughed as he stared at his new physique that looked even more nefarious that before, the result of Demonic Ent body cultivation.


    His wooden physique increased in size almost double in size than before, his head was even touching the ceiling of the cave he was inside, he could feel an immense power coursing through his whole body. A multitude of new techniques that he could use and most importantly the feeling of being able to make more of his kind.


    Rudra felt the immense wood energy stored in his body the result of robbing a dozen wood essence pools these last days and the tiny bamboo shoot that provided the energy almost equivalent to that.


    "Now I have enough energy to even create an army of Ents, let''s return home first." Rudra punched at the ceiling of the cave causing it to crack open as he jumped out from inside the dirt, reaching the forest floor he was on before.


    Rudra who now stood as tall as the tallest trees in the forest was no different from a giant walking in the forest his every step caused the earth to quake his green leafy head was peeking through the canopy of the trees and the various branch like spikes where present all over his back and arms giving him a very large physique.

 92 A tiny settlemen

    "In a faraway plane, there was just an empty sky with no sun or moon, and the black soil stretched to the horizons, a clear stream of river flushed down the plains its whitish glow a sharp contrast to the black terrain surrounding it.


    A bunch of skeletons covered in crude bone armor and carrying simple tools made of bones. If one observed carefully one would realize that this group of skeletons was not the only one in the whole area surrounding the plains but there were many such smaller groups of skeletons.


    An outline of a village could be seen at the banks of a subsidiary lake that was connected to the river from before.


    All the buildings appeared nefarious and sinister as they were all made of bones a single tower in the middle of the settlement the size of a small village.


    But If any undead were to wander into this village he would be surprised to find such a settlement in the area that, normal undead considered as desolate and land of forgiveness, the land that ate away the souls of the undead.


    "Lord, I have brought the seeds you wanted to be delivered." a monkey-like skull spoke rubbing his palms like a greedy businessman explaining the details of the wares that he had shipped from the city of Xersol into this tiny settlement.


    The skeleton in front of him simply nodded his head turning his attention back to the black petals in from of him.


    "Did you find any seed of this flower?" he said plucking a single petal from the flower that appeared like a sunflower but was painted black.


    "How can such a precious thing be found in the markets, if they had such wares in the market the king would be the first one to buy it!" the monkey continued looking at the black flower in the bony hands of the undead in front of him.


    "Hmm, it seems I was expecting too much from you, Ok you can return to your quarters!"


    "Yes"


    Rishi looked at the departing skeleton, still thinking about the flower in his hand.


    Rishi had taken control of the undead body while Rudra was back on the Profound Moon Continent, Rishi had taken a bit before adjusting to being undead.


    He had led the army to raid other bone piles and complete their advancement in bone strengthening, unfortunately for him, his body had still not leveled up after they had exhausted every bone pile.


    The army then marched into the plains near the infamous river killing the undead beasts occupying the area making a clearing for themselves.


    But after all these, there were only 100 or so skeletons with soul crystals, Rishi then decided to settle the army near a lake a bit far away from the river banks.


    They had built a simple settlement here a few crude buildings for the legionaries with soul crystal while the weaker undead almost 6000 in number were left to roam in open around the town acting as patrols though still under the control of the liches.


    Rishi had then employed Vern to act as a merchant peddling necessary materials like stone and seeds into the settlement while Rishi studied these soul plants.


    After a while, he finally had a breakthrough as he was able to successfully grow the simplest Soul grain plant in the Land of Depravity. Much to the surprise of Vern who had very pessimistic of the idea of crops growing in the Land of Depravity.


    Rishi looked at the far-stretching fields of Soul Wheat, with a smile on his skull, if you can call that a smile that may look still sinister to a normal human.


    This was going to speed up the process of forming Soul crystal, improving his legions strength, after all, they were mere puppets now. And only after they had formed considerable intelligence could they truly be a force to be reckoned with.


    Looking back to the flower in his hand Rishi fell back in contemplation, this was a plant that they had stumbled upon after a long trek at the bank of the river, the journey was arduous, almost hellish for Rishi one by one skeleton beasts of greater strength appeared in their path acting as roadblocks on his path.


    If not for their superior number and Rishi helping out they would have long been decimated by the beasts and the hordes that attacked them.


    It was this scenario that prompted Rishi to settle at some distance from the river as growing the Soul Crops near the river would just like giving an invitation to the trouble.


    Rishi had found this flower at the bank of the river being protected by a bunch of undead beasts that were defeated after a long battle, causing the flower to fall in his hands.


    The flower though growing at the bank of the River was of the opposite in nature to it, while the river was defamed for being able to suck the soul of any undead breaking its crystal converting it back to an undead like any undead beast, while the flower did the opposite greatly increasing the soul power almost instantly forming a soul crystal in an undead.


    Rishi was then fixated on this tiny black flower that appeared like a miraculous herb to him, full of potential opportunities.

 93 Ent Army

    "Shuffle!... Shuffle!..." the trees with lush green leaves on them parted and out walked Rudra into the clearing. The scene in front of him revealed the former Giri Manor.


    The journey here had not been easy for him as the more he moved closer inside the more he had to be on alert, sneaking his way into the forest hiding from the Demonic and Righteous faction who were clashing all over the forest.


    "The Demonic Factions are still able to hold onto their defense the Lake is still safe."


    Rudra mused at the tactic that both the factions were using, He could clearly see that even though the Righteous faction had destroyed several Demonic groups but the overall goal of the Demonic side was still secured.


    "Even I have done more damage to the Demonic Side by absorbing the wood essence slowing down the process."


    And now with the beasts into the mix, the situation was going to be way more chaotic.


    Rudra moved his massive body almost a head taller than the whole Giri manor reaching the tallest trees in the area.


    Rudra entered the backyard of the manor and sat cross-legged on the dirt as numerous roots drilled into the soil trying to reach the various trees into the area.


    ....


    The wind fluttered the green leaves that were present on his head, swaying them rhythmically like the tree branches. The wind around the area seemed quite different from the whole forest.


    The whole of the Tranquil forest was filled with the constant flow of demonic wind that corrupted the normal Spiritual Energy damaging the life of all mortal beings including the trees in the forest.


    But currently, the area surrounding the Giri Manor had a different trend to the other parts of the forest, a strong greenish hue mixed wind blew around the ground could be seen pulsing in green fluorescent lights, the streaks of green light were the roots coming from the legs of Rudra trying to channel the Wooden essence into the other trees in the Manor.


    The fields in the manor had the same glow coursing through them as the Wood Energy flowed forming different apparitions on the trees that it coursed through.


    "Rustle!..."


    Loud cracking and rustling sounds could be heard all across, the trees and fields began to tremble.


    Suddenly Rudra''s eyes flashed open as he stared at the Ancient Oak Tree, crack open its barky layer and turn into an Ent. It was almost the same size as him despite being only an Ent and not an Elder Ent. It''s barky features formed a face that belonged to an old man as the green leaves formed him a long beard and a head full of hair.


    Rudra stared at him before he started the chants that he had remembered from the Sutra passing them onto the Oak Ent.


    The Oak nodded his head before it too sat down cross-legged and started reciting the chants that had the purpose of refining his consciousness.


    After awakening an Ent the job was not done after all the tree couldn''t suddenly start to have a humanoid character, it must be built into them, these chants helped the Ent refine his consciousness becoming able to practice speech and have a general intelligence like that of a mortal human.


    After the Ent it was the turn of the Illusive Willow tree, Rudra turned his attention towards it channeling the Wood energy while continuously chanting.


    The Illusive Willow after a while had a similar transformation like the Ancient Oak Tree, but it had formed more feminine features and the air around it seemed to bend and the light seemed to flicker. It was almost half the size of Elder Ent Rudra and the Ancient Oak Ent.


    "As I thought this one has an affinity for illusion, I will make it learn the Illusion type Arts from the Sutra," Rudra commented after he passed the same chants for consciousness to the Willow Ent.


    ....


    One by one the various trees in the manor turned to Ents, the Mango tree which was not yet fruiting turned to an Ent with features of a middle-aged man, turning into a Demonic Mango Ent.


    Similarly, the twenty or so fruiting tree around the manor that included the Guava and Apple trees turned to their Demonic Ent forms.


    Now only three trees remained the Dragon Blood Tree, the Banyan tree by the lake, and a single Banana tree.


    Rudra decided to complete the fruit series by transforming the banana tree which unlike all the other trees till now was without bark and even after its transformation its body was fully green with a banana hanging on his back and chests he too sat down with all the other Ents chanting.


    "Now the last two!"Rudra looked at the blood Dragon Tree and the Banyan tree both of these were closer to the artificial pond of the manor, Rudra once again channeled the Wood energy into his roots targeting the Blood Dragon Tree.


    .....


    Rudra stood up from his cross-legged position leaving the newly transformed Ents including both the new Blood Dragon Ent and Supreme Banyan Ent, the Alltrue Neem Ent, the Ancient Oak Ent, Illusive Willow Ent, and the 20 or so fruit type Ents that included Demonic variant Ents of Mago Guava Apple and more.


    All of these Ents were mostly short in size than Ancient Oak, but the Supreme Banyan Ent was the fattest covering the most area while sitting down.


    The shortest one was a Mushroom that Rudra had awakened by mistake, despite being short and different, almost the size of a rabbit, it too was accepted into the group of Ents as it chanted away int he unison fo the various Ents who were refining their minds.


    "Should I awaken you too or would you like being here?" Rudra asked trying to communicate with the Wisteria tree in front of him, this was the last tree left in the area, all the else had been turned to an Ent.


    "Hmm, I see" Rudra felt a strong feeling being emitted from the tree in front of him.


    Rudra removed his palms from the bark of the tree as he once again did the steps awakening the Wisteria tree in front of him, it slowly turned into an Ent, its purple leaves formed a long hair, this Ent was the fourth one among the group that had features that looked feminine.


    Rudra passed on the chants pointing her to join the other Ents.


    "All the trees are now done, now this should be way easier to do!" Rudra laughed as he plonked his feet burying them into the ground, a wave spread into fields surrounding him as if a stone had been dropped into a calm pond.


    Wherever the green wave passes a resonating light flashed as the potatoes and the corns planted in the fields started trembling in the resonance.


    The corn plants with their thin stems uprooted themselves from the soil one by one as they formed a neat line before Rudra followed by the potatoes who dug themselves out, the green leafy plant could still be seen on their heads as if it was some kind of hat.


    Rudra smiled contently after he had turned the last of the plants into Ent, passing the mind chant to it, he to sat down circulating the Wood energy into his body surrounded by his Ent minions who were in all shapes and sizes.


    Rudra was delighted as he felt himself reach the 3rd stage of the Elder Ent body.


    "More superior Ent''s are needed to be awakened and I will become an Ancient Ent."


    "As I raise more Ents and more of my subordinates advance to become Elder Ents."

 94 Totem

    After a long day, He arrived at the front of the main hall. Rudra slowly pushed the door of the room open and saw a few Potato Ents surrounding the bed as they tried to jump around it.


    Upon seeing Rudra entering in, the tiny ents instinctively became silent.


    Rudra smiled at the scene in front of him,


    "It seems I would have to tell Wis about you guys again?"


    "Owp!" the Ents rushed towards him in panic grabbing his legs as the bunch of them surrounded him making sounds at him trying to persuade him from telling on them.


    Rudra shut his eyes and a spiritual light glowed in his hand. A green thread flew out and circled the interior of the room.


    Calming the tiny bunch who then hopped out of the room.


    Rudra laughed at their childish behavior, he then proceeded to turn his Ent body back into the normal Human physique.


    His build suddenly started shrinking a cast of wooden bark fell off on the floor along with the green leaves on his head.


    Rudra came to the side of the bed climbing into it he laid inside, revisiting the past few days.


    Rudra smiled thinking back to the behavior of the potato ents which reminded of the Minions from his past world.


    Rudra then proceeded to think various thoughts related to his current situation and progress in cultivation.


    Rudra had already established his position amongst the Ents. He was their leader their ''creator'', according to what he had read all the ents he had raised became of the same lineage of him, that meant every one of these Ents was like family to him now.


    And they acted like that around him, every Ent now considered him as a family head. This included all the tree Ents and the Potato and Corn Ents. Except for Wisteria Ent who for some reason was quite different in her ways than the rest of the bunch. She had already taken up the name of her own Wis, Rudra had to name every other Ent so her naming herself quite surprised him.


    Nevertheless, all the other Ents were busy refining their mind and cultivating the multiple Ent techniques that he had imparted to them.


    "At the current rate of their progress, it would take hundreds of years for any of them to become an Elder Ent!" Rudra grumbled at the slow cultivation rate of the other Ents as he was reminded how he eased up the process by simply robbing purified Wooden essence which would take years to form for a normal Ent.


    "It seems to rob more of the wooden energy is the way to go, But I don''t want to set myself as a target for the Demonic Faction, causing them to hunt me to the end of the world." Rudra put his hands behind his head as he laid on his bed thinking.


    "Hmm, I still need to cultivate the Berserk Art" Rudra mulled peering into his Demonic Heart which looked quite uneven now with the Yaksha core already formed while the Marauder core was still nowhere to be seen.


    "With my current pace, I will form the Demonic Nascent Soul for my Yaksha Energy before even forming a Marauder Core." Rudra was also distraught about the restriction posed by the Demonic Energy which prevented him to cultivate any other essence into his Dantian from the Spiritual Energy of the world.


    Shuffle!


    Rudra took out the Exiled Sutra from inside his ring as he sat upon the bed laying the book on his legs he started to read more on the Ents and their techniques.


    .....


    After many hours Rudra who was concentrated on the book was brought back to focus after hearing noises of someone coming towards his room.


    "Owp...Owp!!" Rudra turned to look at the door where a single potato ent was jumping around calling at him.


    "Oh! A beast just intruded in our territory and was captured by Oak!" Rudra said understanding the cute sounds produced by the Ent in front of him.


    "Good, Tell them I will be there in a moment."


    Rudra nodded his head and turned himself back into his Ent form much to the surprise of the Ent who had begun to freak out a moment ago seeing a human in the room where his Elder was supposed to be in. And his action of not differentiating between the two.


    "Don''t worry little guy you would be able to do it too when you advance!" Rudra rubbed the round head of the Ent causing it to calm down.


    "Do I need to put it back! Nah, let''s just store it in my body!" Rudra placed the Sutra inside a cavity in his body instead of the ring


    ....


    A large golden-black bird intruded the manor, followed by the chaos which led to it being subjugated by the Ancient Oak Ent.


    While the crowd was unsettled, groups of soldiers went out to the streets and sealed the four doors. They enforced their patrolling as well.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Rudra walked in the fields to see a golden-black Eagle with broken bones and claws laying on the field bleeding, it was being held down by the Ancient Oak Ent while being surrounded by other Ents who were all focused at the bird.


    Rudra immediately recognized it as the Eagle from before.


    "Hmm, Why has it come to attack us!" Rudra moved closer to the scene,


    "Oak! what happened?" Rudra inquired with the Ent in front of him who was almost his size,


    Ancient Oak still not proficient in human tongue growled on...


    From the reply Rudra understood the gist of the situation, the Eagle was probably fleeing from a bunch of angry Greenbirds who were pissed at the eagle for the loss of their Spiritual bamboo plant.


    "It seems it doesn''t have much life left in it!" Rudra said grabbing hold of a broken wing of the eagle. It didn''t even respond as if it was on the last breath it just quietly accepted its fate.


    "It seems you are quite fortunate little Eagle cause you have some to the right place!" the green light in Rudra''s eyes glowed as he yanked the eagle up with his arms.


    The eagle was almost half his size that was almost the same size as any regular Ent, but it looked quite pathetic with its wings and claws broken and a bloody mess of its body and feathers missing from its back and neck.


    "Don''t try to resist little birdie its all gonna be fine!" Rudra said as branches started growing out of his body forming a round wooden cavity enclosing him and the Eagle inside.


    "Wait I almost forgot to learn the chants!" Rudra said as he pulled out the Exiled Sutra which could be seen in his arms as the cover of the wooden cavity enclosed both him and the Eagle inside.


    "Spirit Totem Art" a voice trailed off from inside the cocoon-like covering.

 95 A Berserker

    Opening his eyes, Rudra saw an unfamiliar ceiling. He blinks his eyes for second before trying to remember the dream he was having. However, despite searching into my memories he couldn''t find it.


    No matter how he tried diving deep inside my memories in my brain, He cannot find it. It made him frustrated for some reason.


    "All I remember are some of the snippets from my sleep!" Rudra saw a few blurry images surface in his mind after much concentration, a golden black giant eagle flying in the skies.


    "So that''s what it was about!" He released a sigh.


    Shaking his head, "There''s no point in thinking so deeply about it if I can''t find it."


    He closed his eyes as he examined his Ent body, using the Omniscient Eye technique Rudra looks at his figure almost similar to before but his left side of his body now has a totem of an eagle running all over it.


    The Eagle looked as if it had been intricately carved on his wooden frame looking almost alive.


    Rudra then proceeded to look inside his body. The black heart with part red and green veins, It is the second heart or to be accurate the Demonic Heart.


    The black heart would constantly release a terrifying yet domineering aura surrounding it.


    "Nothing seems to have changed." He calmed himself for a moment still unsure of how long he had been in the surreal dream.


    "Onto the final step now!" Rudra roared as the Wooden Energy rushed from inside his heart into his whole body lightening up the eagle totem carved on the left side of his Ent body.


    A green light flashed into the eyes of the now wooden eagle frame as it screeched separating itself from his body and flying into the air.


    A wooden eagle with the rune-like green light flashing all over its body was flying in the air, the commotion caused by his awakening caused the other Ents who were guarding around to heave a sigh of relief.


    Rudra stood up on his feet looking at the pile of broken wooden fragments that were previously covering him into a cocoon-like structure. Then turned to look at the Wooden Eagle with a green almost ethereal energy covering it all over.


    Rudra felt the Eagle was another extension of his body he could control its every moment see what its eye could see feel what it could feel, and it almost felt natural making it fly.


    "So the dream was not without a purpose!" Rudra felt a happy feeling being transmitted from inside the totem carving on his left shoulder.


    "Hmm, of course, you can!" Suddenly a soul almost invisible to everyone except Rudra flew off from inside the totem into the Eagle as Rudra stopped controlling it.


    A spirit guardian as some ancient trees have. This was what the Totem was a spirit that had decided to protect something for trees these totems usually tended to be made by some kind of beast that had made it it''s home. For some tribes, totems were a way to communicate with their ancestors the totems were a mysterious thing for even cultivators as they often included the matter of soul include din its origin.


    When Rudra had found the Eagle almost at its dying breath he had persuaded it to become a spirit guardian for him thus successfully acquiring himself a totem.


    Rudra turned his attention towards the two of the Ents who had made their way towards him,


    "Lord.." Oak bowed his head in respect while Wis just stood there staring at his face.


    "Ahem! What''s up did something happen while I was Ummm busy" Rudra disregard the awkward interaction with his new minions that he was still not used to and got to the point.


    "Almost all the members of our group have completed their mental refining to the mortal stage I have proceeded to teach them the common language of the continent," Wis reported in a plain tone.


    "That''s very good!" Rudra nodded delightedly at the result.


    "Lord Wis was suggesting for us to leave the manor to move into the deep of the forest." Oak who looked like an old man stated just as Rudra stopped speaking.


    "oh!"


    "Lord, the other Ents decided against it as leaving you alone and unguarded would be high treason!" Oak continued giving reports on the matter.


    After a while, Rudra got a general gist of the situation after all the Ents had completed their mental training they felt that cultivating in the Manor was far less beneficial than in the dense forest.


    So Wis had suggested for them to move to inside the forest for cultivation while some of them guarded him, but it was declined by the other Ents who were keen on guarding him.


    But the rate of cultivation was indeed an issue that even Rudra was worried about.


    "At the present stage, even a normal patrol group roaming in the forest could rip this Ent family of mine to shreds turning them into deadwood." Rudra mulled after he had asked both Oak and Wis to return back.


    "What should I do, Stealing more wooden essence would only make the Demonic side see me as a threat, they might even try to destroy me for meddling in their plans."


    "A single high-level elder from their faction could level up my faction many times over!" Rudra shuddered at this thought.


    The threat was real but Rudra felt his heart pound in excitement as he quickly made numerous plans that would give him the maximum benefit in this current skirmish going on in the Tranquil forest.


    "A double agent why didn''t I think of it before!" Rudra laughed deviously as one after another he formalized his evil plan that he would follow.


    "Oak!" Rudra yelled towards the giant Ent who rushed towards him.


    "I want all of you to move into the forest but you would always stay hidden in the canopy remember you must not get caught by any other group be it beasts or humans understand!"


    Rudra first planned to hide the whole of the Ents into the forest as they acted like real trees and cultivated quietly near the edge of the forest. While he would be disguising into a demonic cultivator or disguising as a righteous cultivator.


    It is time for me to make a new identity but this time it would be a berserker demon disciple. Rudra laughed along the way as he entered into the forest, turning his Ent physique back into a human form but this was his usual body but he had decided to modify the face.


    The new face had numerous scars running over it as it made him look fierce a brown beard covered his chin and a thick mustache over his lips, a crew cut hair. and simple brown eyes.


    This was the new identity that he had planned a berserker demonic disciple in the foundation stage. He was still unsure of a name that would suit his current form.


    "All I gotta do now is find an opportunity to mix in the demonic faction!" Rudra muttered as he moved quietly on the forest floor.

 96 Blood demon

    "Demon! A demon!"


    A company of soldiers from the Great Sun Empire cried out loud and were running in all directions.


    Behind them, there was a bright red light blinking and it formed a shape of a Blood Python. The python chose its target and started biting the target!


    In fact, it had already done that.


    "Ssss..."


    The huge python looked real and the scales on its body were very clear. It rolled its red tongue out and one of the soldiers who ran away the slowest was being swallowed. The blood of the soldier was absorbed and it spat back out a dry corpse.


    It seemed like it was playing with its prey. It didn''t kill the soldiers all at once and instead, it caused the soldiers to spread out and run away. Then, it would catch them one by one and drink their blood, like a legendary demon.


    "He hie¡­..The Lifeforce in the blood of the soldiers is just nice and the blood tastes good. This is benefitting me!"


    There was a person on top of the Blood Python. The person was wearing a blood-red colored robe and was demonic.


    "How dare you, demon!"


    A middle-aged man from among the troops the Empire shouted at the demon and jumped to attack the aggressor with his sword. He was also a Core stage cultivator evenly matched with the blood red-robed demonic cultivator.


    He then projected his voice to a distance away. "Go back and call for reinforcement!"


    "Hehe¡­..Do you think I would let you guys leave so easily?"


    The person gave a demonic smile.


    "Sssss!"


    The Blood Python roared and the next moment, the opponent didn''t have time to defend himself and was trapped by the tongue of the Blood Python.


    "How can you defeat me so easily!!, We are both at the same level in cultivation!"


    That knight roared crazily while feeling regretful.


    "Such an opportunity to obtain blood openly. Fortunately, all the masters are busy fighting the higher-ups of these annoying sects¡­.. Hehe, their blood contained the lifeforce equal to tens of thousands of people. If their blood was given to me, I''m afraid I would be able to reach the peak of the core formation Realm instantly and I could try for the Nascent Soul stage and myself a demonic soul¡­.."


    "Evil bastard!"


    That commander had no choice but could only see his own blood being taken away and he would soon become a dry corpse.


    "You will be punished¡­..for your sins! You demons would see face the wrath of the righteous sects"


    Before he died, his voice became hoarse and he cursed.


    "Hahaha¡­... I will be punished?"


    The red-robed man waved his hand and the dry corpse flew out. The corpse was split into a few portions as it landed on the ground. "I will still have to be fearful of punishments for my sins? Right now, who has the capability to punish me? Haha¡­..Haha¡­.."


    He laughed loudly and was full of arrogance.


    However, the laughter suddenly stopped, as if a duck had been grabbed by its neck.


    The remaining soldiers who had managed to survive looked up and saw a giant white shadow flying down quickly like a lightning. Within seconds, it was already at the head of the Blood Python.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    The white shadow moved and it revealed the Bird that was bluish-white as if it was made of ice. It revealed its claws and landed on the Blood Python with much force.


    "Sssss!"


    The Blood Python let out a sorrowful cry and was pushed away. A blood-red fog started to spread and there was a foul smell.


    "A Blood Demon, I haven''t seen one in a long time!"


    On the back of the bird, there was a young man, he had short white hair and a fan that he waved around while sitting on the back of the bird.


    "Are you¡­..?!"


    The Blood Demon could recognize that the person was definitely a core disciple from the Spirit Ice Sect from the robes and the haughty demeanor of the person in front of him.


    "I was given the task to patrol the skies but I didn''t expect to meet an enemy. Don''t even think of escaping today!"


    The young man looked at the dry corpses that were lying on the ground and sighed.


    "Humph! Stop bragging!"


    The Blood Demon''s face got serious.


    He had decided on the spot to retreat he knew clashing with such a man would seriously hurt him in the least even if he managed to win somehow.


    However, he was emboldened to face his opponent as he was only dealing with one person currently!


    The Blood Demon looked in all directions to make sure the opponent was really alone. Then, his eyes were filled with anger. "I will gladly accept your blood then!"


    ...


    "The sky shall drown in blood!"


    Facing one of the core disciples of a reputable sect, Blood Demon did not dare to hold back his abilities. His opening move was the highest level of the Blood Technique.


    SPLASH!


    Streaks of blood appeared in a shield surrounding him, making it look like he was engulfed in blood. It was quickly expanding as Blood Demon charged towards the young-man.


    Even though this technique looked not so dangerous it was fatal if one was engulfed into it. Once it contacts the skin, it would cause the flesh and bone to disintegrate instantly.


    "This is indeed the Demonic Blood Technique!"


    Looking at this, the young man became serious as he ordered his mount to dodge to the side.


    "Rains of Ice!"


    In response, the young man steadily made a hand gesture and a layer of rain and cloud appeared.


    "Haha...Did you think my technique was a normal blood technique?"


    Looking at this, Blood Demon broke into a mocking smirk. It was as though he was disdainful of the man for underestimating him. However, his smirk widened into a shocked look of disbelief.


    This was because, under young man''s manipulations, relentless drops of rain poured out of the clouds into the center of the blood-colored dome.


    Splash!


    After a few huge loud pops, the dome that could engulf the entire area was made immobile. What was left was the white frozen hill of blood-ice that was beginning to disperse, melting away into the soil beneath!

 97 Ticke

    "How is this possible?"


    Blood Demon was panic-stricken.


    Bead of cold sweat was beginning to form on his forehead.


    Based on what he felt, the drops of rain were incredibly compact and tough. Yet the rainfall was also as flexible and nimble as a fish. It went straight for the weak point of his spell and completely caused it to fall apart. It was like a hot knife cutting through butter.


    "This spell..."


    Huge beads of cold perspiration flowed from Blood Demon''s forehead. He felt as though the young man had seen through him already.


    "You demons have killed many innocents for no reason and committed several other heinous crimes. Today I will serve you the justice you deserve...Of course, these are not the main reasons. Who asked you to provoke me first!"


    The white-haired man smiled, and a wavering streak of blue light flew out from his palm.


    "Crap!"


    Blood Demon retreated instantly, and a dark red light appeared from his body, "Nefarious Blood Shield!"


    After setting up this defense, he turned on his heels and sped off without turning back.


    How could he fight against such an opponent? He would not dare to fight against this kind of opponent ever again in his life.


    After all, to fight against an opponent who could see through him was enough of a hellish experience.


    After experiencing it once, Blood Demon did not wish to go through it a second time.


    However, it was a pity as the young man was not going to let him off so easily.


    "Go!"


    With his command, the streak of white light became extremely vibrant and flexible. It skirted along the sides of the red shield and caused it to vibrate violently. Then, the light cut through the shield with ease.


    "Snap!"


    Blood Demon was taken aback. He saw his shield break open like an eggshell to reveal the white light. It looked like a weirdly shaped short sword.


    The short sword flew towards him from extremely tight angles.


    Amidst all these, Blood Demon turned and bent over his waist into a painful angle as he attempted to dodge the weapon.


    Even so, the short sword pierced through his shoulder and sent blood splattering into the air.


    He panted violently like a hopeless beast. He was trying desperately to find a way to survive and was at the same time extremely dumbfounded by the young man''s abilities.


    "You have already reached the peak of the Core Formation Stage?"


    Glaring at the white-haired man, these words came out of his mouth with great difficulty as he refused to acknowledge the facts.


    Without waiting for the other to reply, several wounds on his body opened up and blood flowed from them. It was almost as though he was dipped into the blood.


    "Hehe, I will remember you! Blood Escape Technique!"


    With this shout, Blood Demon transformed into a ray of red light and shot away with amazing speed.


    "Whitey! Chase!"


    At this point, it was evident that the Blood Demon might not be that lucky again.


    The bird cawed continuously. The tips of its feathers turned into a bright blue color. Its originally blistering speed increased by many times! With a flash of white light, it easily caught up with Blood Demon.


    "How is this possible?"


    Blood Demon was completely at a loss of what to do.


    This technique was his last resort. Whenever he executed it, it would take up a huge portion of demonic energy along with his vital blood. It even had negative side effects such as causing him to sustain serious injuries or decreasing his powers.


    Of course, with such risks involved, the results were outstanding. It enabled him to travel at a speed so fast that even a normal spiritual bird could not keep up with him.


    Ever since Blood Demon trained and mastered the Blood Magic Technique, he had always relied on this technique as a trump card and reassurance to do whatever he wanted.


    However, how was it possible that the spiritual bird his opponent was riding could keep up with him?


    Blood Demon was shocked to the core.


    ''Something is wrong, this spiritual bird. Its speed cannot be this fast!''


    Blood Demon tried to spur himself on "Even though this bird might be faster than me, but it shouldn''t be able to continue with such speed. As long as I can outlast it, I still might escape!"


    Thinking about this, he drummed up his courage and bit off the tip of his tongue. He then spat out a mouthful of vital blood.


    Splash!


    Riding atop the bird, The young man saw the traces of blood on the ground grew thicker with shades of purple. Blood Demon''s speed increased by 3 times.


    "Hehe...you are now gambling your life on this?"


    Calmly, he took a few blue fruits and fed them to the White Bird and ordered, "Continue to chase after him, let''s see how much more blood can he afford to spit!"


    "Kaw kaw!"


    The White Bird let out a loud shrill and the feathers on it became even shiny.


    After some time.


    "What the...what creature is that? Does it have endless energy? This is not normal!"


    The rays from the Blood Escaping Technique grew weaker. Blood Demon was ghostly pale, and the black-red color of his hair faded to resemble a sickly and withering tree. He was unsteadily falling to the ground.


    Hearing the caws from the bird behind him, he opened his mouth with much difficulty, but he no longer had enough vital blood to continue the technique.


    "Haha... it seems like my proud life will have to end in such a manner!"


    Blood Demon''s coarse vocal cords made his laughter sound as horrendous as a crow. His vision went black and he fell to the ground.


    "Hmm?"


    The White bird landed majestically as the young man leaped off. He was slightly suspicious as he wondered, "Where did he disappear?"


    ....


    "Don''t worry Mosquito man! I gotta ya!"


    "Afterall, you are gonna be my ticket in!!" A brown-haired man with a scarred face could be seen carrying a reb robed man who looked hurt and weak on his shoulders.

 98 Kane

    "Ugh!..." A groaning voice caused the rhythmic sound of footsteps to stop, the sudden pause in motion, yanked the man off the shoulder he was resting on, causing him to feel his chest contract as he cried at the top of his lungs, but instead of sounds a stream of blood to flow out from his mouth, falling below painting the ground red.


    "Bastard who dares to treat me this way..."


    "Pom!" The red-robed man landed heavily on the ground before spitting out another mouthful of blood.


    He painstakingly tried to sit up and looked at the man who had just dropped him, in utter disbelief.


    "I''m alive! I''m alive Ha ha ha ha!!" But instead of the anticipated cursing from the blood demon, only a slew of incoherent sentences and laughter was heard.


    Rudra looked at the man who was laughing like some super villain before he quickly tried to capitalize on the situation.


    "Yes! yes, you are alive you can thank me for saving for life now!" Rudra beamed his front teeth at the Blood demon who flinched at the face of his savior.


    "You who are you!" the previously fierce Blood demon was no more as he used his arms to push his body away from the scarred face in front of him, the blood demon was unsure of the identity of the man in front of him who claimed to have saved his life.


    The blood demon knew internally that at this moment he was the weakest in his life even a mere mortal could finish him off. The blood demon realizing his present situation quickly collected himself.


    "Ah! Yes, Thank you, my dear friend!" the blood demon tried to reveal his best smile back at his savior.


    Rudra looked at the bloodied teeth of the man who looked as if he had been trampled by a horde of bulls passing by.


    "No need to thank me, I had to help a fellow demon in such a dire situation."


    "You must also know how it is necessary for us Demonkin to stick together in this area right now that we are being targeted by the righteous sects!" Rudra tried to go on with his trust-building initiative.


    "Oh! You are a fellow demon I see!" The blood demon heaved a sigh of relief, but he was still on his guard as he knew very well that the demonic faction was not a very welcoming place. It was full of sick and twisted individuals most of them corrupted on power or on the unorthodox ways of cultivation.


    How could he not know of this after all he was one of these sick and vile demons that needed the blood of the others as a medium for his cultivation.


    "What are branch are you from?" The Blood robed man asked cautiously trying to pry deeper into the identity of the man who had saved him.


    "No no, I do not belong to any branch! I was trained by my master who had asked to come to the forest to do my part for the future of the Demonic Sects on this continent." Rudra spewed a bunch of lies making up his identity and backstory along the way as he supported the Blood demon walking in the forest.


    The blood demon suddenly spoke up cutting Rudra who was busy telling his made-up a backstory that he totally did not rip off from some character from the past world.


    "Where are we going towards?" Blood Demon asked looking around to see his vision covered by trees in all directions.


    "Umm, I don''t know I was hoping you could lead!" Rudra said trying to sound polite but his voice came out menacing making the blood demon flinch again.


    "Why don''t you know the way back to your camp?" the blood demon asked after a moment while cursing Rudra inwardly for scaring him.


    "Weren''t you listening Didn''t I already tell you that I am lost too!"


    "Yeah Yeah I was listening, let''s walk some more till we hit some distinct mark that I can identify to lead us back!" the blood demon tried to divert the conversation from the fact that he was not paying any attention the elaborate back story that Rudra was busy telling him so as to try to convince him.


    "Yes, Kane, What kind of Demonic practitioner are you?" the blood demon tired to make conversation along the way hoping to extract more information about the man he was reliant on currently for his survival.


    "Hmmm, I can''t understand what you are asking!" Rudra asked back.


    "Oh! Like the art you have earned Take me, for example, I have learned the way of the blood."


    "I practice Blood Arts!" the blood demon said puffed out his chest as his voice filled with pride declaring himself a blood arts practitioner.


    "Ah! I am just a beginner in berserk art!" Rudra replied flatly.


    "A berserker! They are a rare bunch." The blood demon rubbed his chin with his fingers staring at Rudra from top to bottom as if sizing him up.


    It was his first time seeing berserk, He had heard about them a long time ago. Raging maniac bunch that was treated differently even in demonic factions. The berserks were not known for their elegant arts or powerful spells instead it was their brutish nature and their crazy beast like rampages that had spread their name as the battle crazy maniacs.


    The fate of the berserker to slowly lose their mind and turn into mindless beasts that went on a killing spree was the most common tale regarding them in the continent.


    "Oh! you never told me your name." Rudra who had established his new alias of Kane the berserker asked while stopping in the place.


    "You can call me Ziwen" The blood demon replied unfocused at the conversation as his eyes wandered past the leaves on the tree searching for something.


    "Found it!" Ziwen exclaimed turning his head to face Rudra.


    "Kane Follow after me I think I have found a way back!" As if he had healed his wounds Ziwen was filled with energy as he walked towards a direction, Rudra nodded his head following after him.


    ...


    "Kyruu!...." a squeal escaped the mouth of a horned demonic rabbit that tried to charge at the bunch.


    Rudra who was clenching onto the neck of the rabbit was about to throw it away when the rabbit was snatched from his hand.


    "Don''t mind me Lets move on," Ziwen said as he turned to the rabbit corpse in his hand into a dried husk.


    Rudra nodded his head in understanding as he walked after the man who would kill some smaller beasts that they encountered to replenish his vital blood supplies.

 99 Blood Camel Inn

    Standing tall on the land of green was a demonic camp. Under the brilliance of the sunlight, the camp was coated in gold. Though right now it appeared more like a small town than a temporary camp.


    It was like a compassionate mother; with open arms, it was as though it was welcoming the tired traveler. At least that was the feeling of a certain blood demon right now.


    The buildings in this camp were mostly one story high. They were built of wood and the windows were small. Most of the people on the streets were disciples wearing their respective attire representing their demonic sect.


    Of course, there were also demonic bands from all around, and dancing ladies who were dressed beautifully.


    "Don''t even try, they are gonna suck your life force away, a bunch of...." Rudra turned his gaze away from the group after Ziwen spoke up.


    "Come let''s settle in first!" Ziwen staggered about entering into a building, his familiarity with the place made Rudra understand that it was not his first time here.


    "Welcome, Sir! This is the Bloody Camel Inn. Do you need me to set up your room!" The red robe-wearing man below the counter of the place was already acquainted with Ziwen.


    Rudra glanced to his side seeing Ziwen fish out a red badge before he silently nodded his head at the other man,


    "Take care of, our friend here!" Ziwen walked up the stairs leaving Rudra behind.


    The man stared at Rudra for a moment before he silently nodded his head.


    Rudra watched the man enter a back room while he waited at the counter.


    While he was standing there, A man ran into the building. Not long after, an old man with a coat in his hands slowly walked out under the escort of 8 servants.


    The man pointed his finger at Rudra before flaring up, "You! where is the employee of this inn?"


    Rudra raised his eyebrow at the attitude of the man in front of him, he had done nothing to anger this person but he still spoke to him in a haughty tone.


    But before Rudra could refute back, the back door opened and the man from before walked out.


    "Don''t worry, Sir!"


    "Hmph! Get me the most expensive room and all the rooms that are empty now!"


    "All the rooms you say, Sir?" the man clearly placed much importance on the new customer as he walked out from behind the counter personally escorting the man and the servants that had followed after him.


    Rudra waited patiently for the man to complete his task, After some time the man returned downstairs surprised to see Rudra still standing there.


    "Sorry Sir, I almost forgot the matter concerning you! If you will now!" the man signaled for Rudra to follow him as he guided him to a room.


    "You can call on me if you need anything." The man said as he closed the gate from outside leaving Rudra to his devices in the room.


    Rudra looked around in the room before he jumped on the bed laying there,


    "Now that I am in, how do I mingle in, should I wait for Zewin to return or actively visit pubs or restaurants to gather information." Rudra rubbed his chin with his fingers feeling the scar that was present on his chin.


    Knock! Knock!


    "Yes!" Rudra jumped out of the bed opening the door only to see the face of Ziwen blurting out,


    "Let''s go!"


    Both of these guys walked around the camp Rudra sticking to the tail of Ziwen who visited different shops and establishments and few of his friends and associates.


    Rudra simply followed after the man feeling thankful that this friend of his was doing the stuff that would easily help him mingle with the demonic faction.


    "Say, Kane What was the name of your master again?" Ziwen asked as he gulped a mouthful of wine that he was holding. The drink was almost crimson red in color one would have easily confused it with a glass of blood but it was not such in reality.


    "Ah! I don''t know man, Didn''t I tell you already I am just a beginner in demonic cultivation." Rudra tried to make stuff up whenever Ziwen asked him such questions.


    "Oh! You don''t belong to any sect right?"


    "No, I was told by my master that we were...."


    The whole evening passed at the bar before both of them returned to the Blood Camel Inn.


    "I will see you tomorrow Kane," Ziwen said as he walked towards his room leaving Rudra who entered into his room.


    "Hooo! At least I got an idea on how to rise in the ranks of the demonic faction!" Rudra muttered as he laid down on his bed after a long day.


    The demonic disciples can take up tasks varying from collecting rare herbs, killing spiritual beasts to taking part in an expeditionary force to repel the righteous sects.


    The more missions you complete the more merit you gain these merits could be exchanged for rewards ranging from demonic weapons or pills or even rare manuals to getting appointed as a captain of a squad or the ultimate reward getting the recognition of the grand elders.


    "I can ask any wish from the Grand elders and they would help me fulfill it, what are they some kind of genie!" Rudra laughed to himself at his joke rubbing his temples, trying to calm his headache.


    "The Demonic Wine sure packed a punch!"


    Rudra did not have any experience of consuming Spiritual Wines the only kind of wine he had drunk before were the mortal ones so the drink that was made from Demonic Blood Grapes was sure to give Rudra a kick.


    Rudra unknowingly fell asleep after a while.


    ....


    Three days later.


    In the Blood Camel Inn, within a luxurious room.


    The floor was covered in golden wool carpet. A woman was dancing on the carpet barefooted.


    Rudra leaned against the silk cloth lazily.


    In front of him was Ziwen who was surrounded by a few courtesans revealing their white arms. They were fighting for the chance to serve him wine and other delicacies.


    "Demonic Wine made from blood grapes served in a wine glass! This life... it''s not too bad!"


    Rudra gulped down a cup of red wine as his face began to flush.


    Within the grapes, there was a mixture of spiritual fruits. The taste was refreshing and most importantly, he could enjoy being a little tipsy.


    "Sir!"


    As the door opened, A young man walked in humbly. He presented a few documents to him. "This is the relevant information regarding..."


    "Mm. All of you, take your leave!" Ziwen spoke up causing all the people except Rudra and Ziwen to leave.


    Rudra waved his hands. The ladies and the performer bowed in respect as they took their leave.


    "Three Fall Range!" Ziwen spoke the words slowly, looking at the papers in his hand.


    Rudra knew what his priorities were.


    As his eyes glittered, he looked through the information.

 100 Alone

    Rudra was currently part of a group from Ziwen''s sect, they had formed an expeditionary group that would complete various feasible tasks from the demon merit board.


    It had been almost a week since they had set out from the Blood Camel Inn, yet Rudra was not able to form any type of connection with these guys. They seemed to have an indifferent attitude towards him, so he could only bother Ziwen to pass time. Their attitude towards him was probably affected by the fact that Kane, the current alias of Rudra was only in initial stages of demonic cultivation.


    As time progressed, they would sometimes bump into other teams, but everyone walked away unscathed since there were no conflicting interests.


    On this day, the team traveled south and walked in the opposite direction of the exit of the Tranquil forest.


    "The first phase of the merit will end in another few days. We should hurry to the appointed mission locations, what do all of you think?" Ziwen proposed.


    Rudra thought for a moment but didn''t say anything. He looked at Ziwen, obviously seeking his opinion.


    Rudra then said, "How about we split up for the search, We''ll meet up there before the time approaches."


    "Do you have something planned?" Ziwen was curious.


    Rudra smiled as his eyes looked into the distance towards the south. "I just feel that it would help increase our search efficiency."


    "Kane, I will wait for you." Ziwen clapped Rudra''s shoulder as he was concerned about leaving the member with the lowest cultivation alone.


    After exchanging greeting all the members of the team chose a direction and sprinted towards it.


    Rudra left the team, and then made swiftly to the south. Rudra paid no heed to Ziwen concealed blackmail.


    "Heh, We will see Mosquito man!"


    ...


    Ever since entering the hunt mission, all the spirit creatures that Rudra had encountered had headed in that direction. This made him curious; just what was happening there? What was it that was caused so many spirit creatures to continuously be congregated in that area?


    These spirit creatures all seemed to be in quite a hurry to the point that even those usually interested in the flesh and blood of humans didn''t bother to stop and attack when they passed by human camps.


    "Something more tempting must be happening in the south!"


    ¡­


    The area to the south was an enormous, deep abyss. There were boundless caverns at the bottom of the abyss that ran in all directions and their entrances were numerous.


    Rudra hid well outside the caverns.


    Suddenly, the ground beneath his feet trembled as the head of the Rat poked out.


    The rat stopped for a second before it madly rushed towards Rudra, its eyes glowing red its bite was an inch away from Rudra when,


    Bam!


    "Here we go!"


    The unmoving body of the rat lay on the ground below, its head turned to a pulp.


    Rudra used a simple water spell to clean his hand and to dispose of the rat carcass.


    Spirit creatures had incredibly high intelligence and an innate wariness of humans. If they discovered a human here, it would be attacked by a mob of furious beasts.


    "I would have to be careful, this rat could already sense my presence if a horde of them would attack me then it would be game over...." Rudra sneaked sticking close to cavern walls using his Omniscient Eye.


    Rudra didn''t come here to become a living target for these spirit creatures. He had come to take a look at just what the spirit creatures were fighting over.


    It was apparent that the item all these spirit creatures were fighting over wasn''t ordinary, given that there were so many of them here.


    "I''ve participated in the Demon Merit hunt because I wanted to put myself in better standing in the demon camp, through these missions and exchange for all sorts of good items. Since I''ve lucked into it this time, I naturally won''t let it go. Although it''ll be a bit dangerous, I should still make an effort for it!"


    Fortune came from risk. With high risk came high rewards.


    Rudra naturally understood this, and so he used Wood Energy to turn his arms into large shovels made of tree trunks and cleave a new passageway. He didn''t excavate it through to the end and stopped when they were about two to three meters away from the outside world.


    Along the way, he had used the Omniscient Eye to make sure he was at a safe distance from the spiritual and demonic beasts.


    This distance allowed him to observe the scene through the Omniscient Eye without any worry about being discovered by the spirit creatures in the outside world.


    Rudra''s Omniscient Eye could feed information to his five senses. He made use of this mental art to sense everything outside and fed it into his eyes, able to see things without seeing them at all.


    Rudra deployed the "Eye" to the maximum. He saw through the transference of imagery of an enormous chasm, with hundreds of spirit creatures surrounding all corners of the abyss.


    These spirit creatures were all staring fixedly at the depths of the deep chasm, with the fervent light of greed emanating from their eyes. It was as if there was something that would make them go crazy beneath the chasm.


    "It looks like there''s something nice below!"


    The perceptive abilities of the Omniscient Eye were exceedingly strong. He could even sense that there seemed to be two incredibly abundant spirit powers being contained below the chasm. One of them was the pure spirit power of ice and the other was the pure spirit power of fire.


    These two miraculous powers emanated faint blue and red light within the chasm. The two colors blended in one other and made the entire chasm look quite eerie.


    "Can it be that there are two different treasures within this chasm?" This eerie scene made it difficult for Rudra to get a grasp on things. Theoretically speaking, ice and fire were opposing elements. These two powers constrained and neutralized each other. Logically speaking, they wouldn''t be able to coexist!

 101 Saint plan

    Although Rudra was curious, he wasn''t impulsive. He wanted to charge out of the wall and make it to the side of the chasm to take a good look. But reason told him that unless he had the strength of Nascent Soul. And was able to subdue all the spirit creatures. He''d be torn to pieces by all the spirit creatures if he walked out like that.


    Although it was quite dreary, he could only wait patiently. After all, these hundreds of spirit creatures obviously hadn''t waited only a day or two.


    Although some spirit beasts would occasionally interact, most of them remained solitary. This, of course, did not include the social group of creatures like the birds from before. That had injured his eagle totem.


    It was apparent that the world of spirit creatures was different from the world of humans. They rarely formed groups and cliques.


    "A lotus?"


    Rudra wasn''t familiar with this plant. That had such opposing attributes morphed into one. But feeling its shape using the Omniscient Eye. He could infer easily that it was some kind of lotus plant.


    This Lotus of Fire and Ice was surely an item of incredible existence. This point could be proved by the congregation of beasts.


    "I wonder if Rishi could recognize it?"


    Rudra had even occasionally heard of plants evolving to the saint rank from the spirit rank.


    "Can this lotus be a plant in the saint stage?" Rudra began to speculate.


    "The most precious thing about the Lotus isn''t the plant body. The most precious thing about it is the spirit of its essence." Rudra tried to use his mental strength to probe the lotus plant. Feeling the pure ice and fire essence accumulated within it.


    As long as its essence wasn''t destroyed, it wouldn''t be harmed even if the body of the Lotus was destroyed. It''d reborn again after a while from its remaining parts.


    The Lotus was formed by the powers of ice and fire.


    "I wonder to what level has this Lotus evolved to? If it''s only a spirit rank, it won''t be able to handle all the spirit creatures looking at it covetously. Even with its strong attack power. If it''s at the saint rank, then even though there are a lot of spirit creatures, they may still fall in the end¡­ "


    Rudra mused. He seemed to remember that when a spirit plant ranked to saint status. It gained some sentience and could even use spells to defend itself.


    "It seems this isn''t going to as easy as I thought" Rudra rubbed his chin with his fingers.


    Therefore, as good as this item was, it wasn''t worth for Rudra to take such a risk. And attempt to steal the seed in front of all the spirit creatures. Regardless of whether or not he''d be able to avoid the attacks from the Lotus. The spirit creatures wouldn''t be able to stomach a human stealing food that was near their mouths.


    "Although this Lotus is nice, it''s not worth putting my life on the line." Rudra''s appetite and ambitions were much greater than these spirit beasts.


    "With all these spirit creatures hovering. If that Lotus gets distracted and spends all its energies on fending these beasts. There may be an opportunity for me!"


    Rudra had his advantages. His understanding of the Lotus was much greater than the spirit creatures. While he continuously probed the lotus. He became more and more sure of his conjecture. That this was no spirit plant but it was rather a more advanced saint plant.


    The spirit beasts were gunning for the seeds, yet Rudra''s goal was the spiritual essence of the Lotus.


    If he could refine the Saint lotus with dual attributes and meld it into his spirit ocean. Rudra would receive the kind of benefit. That countless numbers of Lotus seeds would be unable to match up to. The value of the seed of the Lotus was much inferior when compared to its essence.


    All he had to do now was wait patiently like a fisherman out to fish his catch.


    ....


    Rudra''s face had suddenly changed and turned extremely grave.


    His Omniscient Eye was deployed to the maximum when he suddenly felt an extreme tremor through the surface of the depths of the chasm.


    These tremors weren''t typical. It felt like countless numbers of large hands were reaching out of the depths of the chasm.


    "It''s the Lotus, it''s starting to emerge from the ground below!"


    This notion flashed through Rudra''s heart.


    Indeed, great changes occurred in the perimeter of the chasm after a while. It was occasionally bone piercingly cold, and at times incredibly hot.


    "It''s the two elemental powers of the Lotus converging and exerting themselves!"


    Rudra also knew that Lotus was born with two elemental attributes, one was cold and the other was extreme heat. These two usually conflicting powers coexisted in perfect harmony in the Lotus. It was specifically because of the combination of these two powers that the Lotus'' attacking abilities were going to be much deadlier.


    The growls and shrieks of the excited beasts sounded in the surrounding.


    At this moment ¡ª bam!


    An enormous bang rocked the chasm, making the earth tremble and walls shake.


    Hundreds of vines erupted out of the chasm in the next second. Each vine was as thick as the thighs of the spirit creatures.


    The leafy vines changed at a speed noticeable to the human eye. All sorts of embryonic lotuses began to form on the vines.


    The embryonic forms of the lotuses went through their life cycles and grew into fully bloomed lotuses.


    Enormous lotuses had formed on all of the vines after a few breaths. Each of these lotuses was as large as a bull.


    These lotuses were either a brilliant, flaming red or an icy, frosty blue.


    Each lotus was uncannily beautiful and they exuded a tempting presence.


    The lotuses slowly flowered and produced seeds above them.


    All of the spirit creatures were filled with greed at this point.


    All the spirit creatures made their move in that instant. Rushing to each of the flowering lotuses with the speed of a bullet. Their goal was only one, and that was the Lotus'' seed.


    More than a hundred Lotuses had suddenly appeared. These spirit creatures almost didn''t need to fight amongst each other. Almost everyone could obtain one seed.


    Rudra using the Omniscient Eye to observe the scene through the wall. He was secretly astonished. This scene was too bizarre.


    The Lotus had abruptly blossomed so many flowers. It was obvious to see how strong its essence was.


    Only a strong spiritual essence could give rise to such a strong life. Although this Lotus didn''t display power to the point of making one despair. Rudra still felt that something was wrong here. Following common sense, it shouldn''t allow its seeds to be so easily taken by the spirit creatures.


    "What''s going on here? There are around a hundred spirit creatures here and they can all obtain a seed? This scene is a bit too harmonious, isn''t it?"


    Rudra suddenly felt that this scene wasn''t as simple as it appeared.


    Indeed. A spirit creature abruptly cried out in pain as it was strangled to death.


    Another spirit creature had landed on top of the lotus as it was enveloped by the enormous lotus. The petals acted like lips, first opening and then closing, swallowing the spirit creature into it.


    Rudra was startled, "That''s it! This must be the case. The Lotus is tempting the spirit creatures to it. And then trapping them, absorbing their spirit power to catalyze its evolution!"


    When he understood this. Rudra suddenly felt waves of fear about the Lotus'' intelligence. This was no ordinary saint plant


    He was also quite glad that he hadn''t rushed out like these spirit creatures to fight over the seeds. His fate at this moment would most likely be like these spirit creatures. Already having become the plant''s fertilizer?

 102 Sudden change

    The picture within the cavern was total chaotic mayhem. After the first spirit creature was swallowed, it was quickly followed by a second and then a third.


    The devouring appetite of the Lotus was incredibly terrifying. Once a spirit creature was enclosed by it, it would be unable to break free at all and struggle until it died.


    Some stronger spirit creatures with faster reactions immediately understood what was happening. And fled when they saw the other spirit creatures being devoured by the petals of the Lotus.


    However, the hundreds of vines around the chasm were like hundreds of tentacles. As they formed a dense net surrounding everything.


    Add to that the enormous maw that was on the Lotus. The spirit creatures'' were unable to escape from the encasement of the sea of vines no matter where they fled.


    Rudra looked at the situation while scanning the whole scenery.


    "This is going to be tough."


    "I need to be quick," Rudra formed a long wooden trunk and started drilling towards the depths of the ground.


    In front of Rudra''s omniscient''s eye, any place was like bright daylight for him. And his vision wasn''t impaired at all. After searching with the Eye, he soon locked onto the right location.


    " Over there, that''s the place."


    The temperature was as warm as springtime beneath the chasm. Neither the bone piercing cold nor the blazing fire was present.


    Rudra knew that this was the balance formed by the Lotus. It was only under these conditions that the evolution of the plants would be the fastest.


    Rudra quickly threaded through the bottom of the chasm.


    He knew that he was in a race against time with the Lotus. And hoped that the spirit creatures would be able to contain it for a bit longer.


    Rudra would be safe as long as the Lotus hadn''t completely retreated.


    He''d have to face hundreds of Lotuses by himself if the Lotus finished its meal and withdrew!


    Every single one of those Lotuses was at least at the peak of the foundation realm.


    Once that happens, Rudra would be dead without a doubt.


    However, if Rudra was able to get to the Lotus and absorb it before the Lotus could do him any harm. Then all the smaller Lotuses would immediately wither. Without the support of its spiritual essence. They wouldn''t be able to threaten him then.


    Time was of the essence, and it was now a race against time.


    Rudra''s footsteps suddenly halted as fog billowed upwards in front of him. It gave one a mysterious feeling. Rudra was surprised to find an altar in the middle of the body of the giant lotus.


    "That must be the place!"


    Rudra''s heart pounded. Because he knew that this was an opportunity, but one that came with a lot of risks.


    He was about to rush over when he abruptly did a 180. And dived back into the rock caverns quickly drilling himself in and hiding.


    "Damnit!, This was supposed to happen now!" Rudra was depressed as hell. He could see the item in front of him, but now he had no way to get it.


    "KILL!"


    The chasm filled with fighting lotus and the beasts had a new guest arriving to join the ongoing party.


    "Kill them all" The human army that had entered roared as it charged at its opponents.


    Rudra carefully observed the army of humans. Ruthlessly massacring all the living things in the chasm.


    Each of the smaller Lotus was at the peak of the foundation realm. But to the army that had arrived, they were of a little resistance.


    Soon, the tragic screams of the beasts filled the chasm. After many long hours, the chasm was filled with the corpse of the various beasts.


    Rudra was now more clear about the identity of these men. They were from the Poison Valley, he had recognized their dark green robes. And bizarre techniques that were pretty unorthodox.


    Like the one beasts that became berserk and started attacking its comrades. Then there were ones that simply dropped to their death. The most horrifying spells caused the beasts to tear their own limbs in frenzy.


    Looking at the army now circling and attacking the lotus which was on its last foot.


    Rudra knew that there was nothing for him to gain now in this situation. However, he wasn''t willing to leave empty-handed.


    Rudra looked downwards and saw a spirit item shaped like an infant on the altar. It was half blue and half red, sparkling like a crystalline entity and exuding an astonishing presence.


    The dense vines around the spirit item were born from it and were extending from it.


    "That is the core!"


    Rudra''s mood soured when he saw the green-robed men pocket the core. Immediately after this, they arranged themselves into the rows. Before finally flying out of the chasm.


    "Wait! Where are they going?" Rudra quickly walked out of the hole he had previously carved. Looking at the direction the army was marching towards, Rudra was filled with distress.


    "Huu... It seems that I would have to find a new camp to form my base." Rudra was certain that this army was going to attack the demonic camp he was staying at till now.


    "The camp will be destroyed, that is certain." Rudra had analyzed the army just now. Except for their high ranking members that had not moved a muscle during the raid of the chasm. He was almost certain that the camp did not have enough power to defend against such an army.


    Rudra after much consideration decided to follow after the army.


    "I will need to be careful."


    "Hmm, what was that?" Rudra''s amplified senses caught a hint of energy. But as all the life within the chasm was already reaped by the army from the poison valley it should not be possible.


    "That''s right, the altar at the center of the flower."


    Rudra rushed at the destroyed remains of the lotus flower that had lost its core.


    "It''s still alive!" Rudra was astonished to find the traces of life being still present in the saint plant.


    "What are you?!"


    "A bunch of lowly human dares to?!"


    "Damn it, what are you doing?! Don''t touch me!" Rudra used his hands to probe into the Lotus''s spiritual field.


    The Lotus being a saint plant possessed inordinate intelligence. How else would it give birth to so many Lotuses to swallow the spirit creatures? Absorb their spirit power, and help itself evolve?


    But, Now the Lotus itself had no battle capabilities. It couldn''t resist at all with both of Rudra''s hands on it.


    "Human, are you planning on absorbing my spirit power?"


    "You don''t have enough essence to be absorbed."


    Rudra contemplated standing beside the remains of the lotus. Whose petals were as large as the wings of an airplane but now had all fallen to the ground.


    The Lotus was panicking by now.


    "It seems there''s only one use for you now....." Rudra said as his physique suddenly started changing. His frame grew, soon many branches sprouted from his back. His hair converted into leaves and his skin turned to bark.


    "An Ent... You are an Ent...Hahaha," the saint lotus voice slowly turned into contempt.


    "What is a lowly species like yours cane even do to..." the lotus voice suddenly stopped.


    "You are refining me...How could you.." Rudra paid to heed to the shrieks of the saint plant that was being transmitted to his mental expanse. And focused on refining the lotus plant as a weapon.


    Yes, he planned to convert this lotus with dual attributes into a suitable weapon for his Ent form. Initially, he just planned to absorb the core of the saint plant. As that would help further his ice energy cultivation. But the raid by the poison valley had devoid the lotus of its core.


    Rudra was also made to realize that the Ents and the plants, were not always harmonious. And this saint lotus looked down on Ents.


    As his rate increased, the Lotus''s defensive capabilities decreased. The amount of control over its body also continuously decreased. As its spirit essence was continuously siphoned away. The verbal attacks of the Lotuses also grew weaker and weaker.


    Finally, when Rudra retracted his hands after fifteen or so minutes. The Lotus voice had disappeared completely from the platform. As it''d been completely absorbed by Rudra


    The vines from all the Lotuses also swiftly withered at a noticeable pace.


    Rudra found a quiet area and started to dig a cave. He hid in it and started to properly refine the lotus now devoid of any foreign control but Rudra''s.


    He needed to cultivate behind closed doors for a moment to fully refine the lotus for his own use.


    Rudra also knew that he''d lucked out in the end. The Hunt had finally not been in vain.


    "Let''s hope, some of them!" Rudra in his Elder Ent form silently passed the hours in the cave refining the lotus into a suitable weapon.

 103 NOTICE

    Hello friends!


    I know your time is precious so I will keep it short and sweet...


    Fear not, it was not that I am dropping the book. But due to my pre-medical examination being just in a month. I have decided to focus all my attention on my studies.


    I hope my selfishness in this regard does not offend you in any way.....


    I will be back continuing the book when I have finished with the test...


    Once again, I apologize for being absent for many days...


    Reg out!!!!