《Tales Of Demons And Gods - The Rise Of Chen Long》 Chapter 1 - CHAPTER 1: TRANSMIGRATION "The Rosetta stone, made in granodiorite stele stone was found in 1779. This is a decree issued by King Ptolemy the 5th during the ptolemaic Dynasty in 196 B.C. It has 3 writing languages. They are Ancient egyptian hieroglyphic scripts, Demotic scripts and the last one on the bottom is Ancient greek." The person speaking is our mc, who works at the british museum as a tour guide. "Professor Sanders, Can the rosetta stone decipher alien languages from space?" said a person from the group of tourist. I sigh and in my thoughts i said, "Another weird one came, today." "Well, we haven''t come across writings from other worlds. But like the rosetta stone, as long as we find the key we can decode it. It can be a letters or a symbols that keeps repeating until it forms simple words, then sentences." i answered. "Okay, this concludes our tour! If you have any questions, you have my email on the pamphlet given to you at the beginning of our tour. If you don''t have one, we have more copies at the reception table at the entrance. On behalf of the British Museum, I thank you for giving me the opportunity and the p???sur? on our journey back in time as your guide." CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! A sound of applause from tourist for a job well done. After a few handshakes, I walked back to my office. As i arrive at my office, i sat down tired at my chair. As I look at the bookshelf filled with research books on ancient egypt, inscription codes and other theories. I began to think if this is the life i really want. I contemplated a bit. Then grabbed the remote and turn on the news. "Breaking news today, a suicide bomber just detonated himself at famous landmark - Big Ben Clock Tower. All citizen is warned to stay in your homes since it is not known if there are any other attacks coming." -news reporter. I made a deep sigh and said, " Another terrorist attack, the world is getting crazier and crazier each day. It''s not safe to go out anymore." I look at the clock and saw i have half an hour before i clock out off of work. I turned the tv off and pick up my tablet and continued reading a novel i got hooked up on. The tittle is . I was watching the anime a bit but got turned off, so i started to read the light novel and found it more interesting. The more i read it, the more i got hooked. Time came for me to go home. I punch out on my time card and headed out towards the entrance. I take the train home, so i headed to the subway. It was very crowded at the subway since everyone is heading home. While waiting for my train, i picked up my tablet and started reading again to pass time. "Train heading to ...arriving ..please clear..." I heard the announcement and turned off my tablet. KABOOOOOM! Out of nowhere, an explosion so loud that it stopped my heart for a second. Everything happened so fast. I open my eyes and i was in bed looking at the ceiling. But the ceiling i''m looking at is not my room or a hospital ceiling because it is too luxurious. It has a Crystal chandelier and the walls are overly decorated, too much for my taste. I tried to get up, but unable to do so. My whole body is just in too much pain. I looked around and don''t recognize a portrait of a kid hanging on the wall. AAAAAAHHHHHH! I screamed in pain as i grabbed my head, when a massive amount of memories invade my mind. Memories of a person named Chen Long. The door opened quickly, and 2 person barged in. I looked into the memories that came in my mind, and recognized the two people. The old guy is the dad named Chen Zhenlong, and the kid is the older brother named Chen Linjian. They jumped and hugged gave me a bear hug. AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGHHHHH! The pain was so bad. Are they trying to kill me! I''m a freaking patient you freaking bastards!!! I yelled in my head. "Long! The doctor said you have died! I knew he was a quack doctor! Huhhuhhu! Thank you for being alive! - Linjian said while tears pouring out his eyes. "Guys, please stop hugging me! I hurts so bad! If I''m not dead, then I''m dying right now!" They both let go and apologized. I breath in releif and looked at them. "Who''s this person Long? And why are you calling me Long?" They look at each other and then looked at me. They both yelled at a servant, "Call the doctor quick, he has amnesia!" Chapter 2 - CHAPTER 2: INFORMATION GATHERING A few days later... The doctor just left from my daily check up. And i am left alone in my room. It took along time for them to convince me to accept that I am Chen Long. I decided to accept it since they we''re really getting annoying. Since i cannot move my body, I asked one of the servants for a mirror. I looked at the reflection, and saw a stranger. The person in the mirror is the same as the portrait on the wall. I am covered neck down with bandages. It looks like most of my bones are broken, and it is going to be awhile until i can move around. I ask my (A...AHEM!) maidservant what had happened to me to be so messed up. Her story stated that I was waiting in the campsite with the a couple bodyguards, while my dad went out teaching my brother how to hunt for demon beast. Suddenly, a stampede came out of nowhere. Trampling and killing everyone, excluding myself. When my dad and brother came back, they were horrified at my condition and rushed me home. The doctor was amazed when i came back to life. He was sure that my breathing stopped and all signs of life is gone. I thanked her for the info and ask her that i want to be alone for now. I began to look through the memories of my body''s previous host. NAME: Chen Long (9 yrs old) FATHER: Chen Zhenlong - *Divine Family Patriarch* MOTHER: < Deceased > UNCLE: Chen Fei PLACE: Glory City I also found out that I am in the novel that i recently got addicted to. I do not remember my character''s name, because in my belief that this character died before the story started. The start of the story is when my brother is 15 yrs old. So i have 4 yrs before the start of the story. I do not know any cultivation techniques at this moment. My brother is the future successor, so most cultivation techniques and materials are spent on him. He is one of the rising genius of the city. He hasn''t started school yet, but he is already a 2-star bronze rank. I have to gather information of cultivation techniques from the family library and get supplies to concuct a pill from my memories of the novel. But i can''t do anything until i am healed. A year later... I have just finished my physical therapy and able to walk again. When the bandages came off 3 months ago, i found no strength in my legs and have to move around in a wheel chair. Now i walk with crutches and can move around the family grounds. I found out that my father was really adventurous back in the days, and did treasure hunting a lot. He have a personal collection of treasures under lock and key. I now know where my brother got his drive to go out and do exploration. But due to him being the successor, he is under constant watch. "Father, do you have any books with ancient writing on it?" I asked "I''m very interested on it! Can I have some of it? Maybe one day, i can translate it." - me "Hahaha! Tell you what, I will have the transcribers make a copy for you. But the originals, stays with me. I cannot trust a child in handling delicate books." - dad "Im not a child! I am 10 and a half years old!" He had transcribers make copies of his precious books. And a few months later, I have a bookshelf full of untranslated ancient books. Since my family is rich, I have the servants buy materials for the purple haze bath solution. the solution consist of purple haze grass, dictamni, mulberry and fractus. Since it is gonna take awhile before i get the ancient writing translated or even worst learn the language, it might take me at most a year. I have a fair confidencein this, since i remember how they decode the rosetta stone in my past life. That night. I took a bath with the purple haze solution, while doing the mantra my brother thought me. The solution worked pretty good. It started to heal and strengthen my body. "Not bad. I now have the strength to move around without the use of the crutches." I did some light stretches to see anything out of the ordinary in my body. I am now at normal health. So this will be my starting point then. I did yoga exercise since i just got healthy. After the exercise, i lay on my bed and fall asleep. Chapter 3 - CHAPTER 3: MEETING THE CITY LORD 1 year and 6 months later... I finally decoded the key to translate the ancient language. I almost become a neet that stayed in his room doing nothing but trying hundreds if not thousands of combination to get the key to translate the language. Learning the language is a lot easier believe it or not, due to the language is actually close to the english language. Just the alphabet are all symbols. Chen Linjian came to my room and was appalled at the mess accumulated from my research to decode the language. "My god little bro! This place looks and smells like a pig sty!" he said this while pinching his nose with his fingers. "Mom would have killed you if she is alive today! I have to get you out of your room pronto! There''s a whole world out there, and you should start to make friends." said Linjian. "Wha-! I have friends!" I yelled. "Really? Name one! he said. "Aaaa~ Uncle Fei!" i told him with an unsure voice. "A-and aaa~ elizabeth! Ya elizabeth is my friend!" "That doesn''t count! First of all Uncle Fei is a relative and Elizabeth is your maidservant! She is the one who will be cleaning this place. Don''t you feel sorry for her." he replied. "Get change, I''m taking you with us. Better yet, take a bath first. Dad and I will not want to be embarassed if you smell in front of the city lord." he said "Do i have to~~!" i said whiningly. "Most of the nobles are so stuck up, that they think they are king of kings. I really can''t stand them! "Not all nobles are like that! Dad trust the city lord and very loyal. You know that dad has a good judge of character. Besides, you might find your future wife there." he said "I doubt it. I haven''t hit puberty yet." i answered. "Alrighty then. Give me an hour and I''ll be ready by then." We arrived at the city lords mansion. My father introduce me Ye Zong the patriarch of the Snow wind family and also the city lord. "Chen Long greets the city lord" I said with a respectful bow. "Oh! So this is your other son who is ancient books huh!" he said as my dad nodded in agreement. "Hahaha! Well, everyone has to have a hobby. Listen Long my boy, if you can decipher the ancient language~~then you will be the smartest if the whole glory city. But i do suggest you to focus on your cultivation. You will start school soon." he said this while ruffling my hair. Then start greeting other people that just entered for the gathering. I silently murmured to myself, "You have no idea that i already know how to read it. But I''m gonna keep to myself right now." If people can read it, they will seal books with ancient languages. I gotta get my hands on those books before school starts. In 6 months, the story starts. Like i had expected, i met the people from the Sacred family. They are all jack ?sses but they suck up to my older brother, because he is a genius. He is almost ready to breakthrough the gold rank. I haven''t even brokethrough the bronze rank yet due to all my focus is in language reaearch. I met Ye Ziyun. She is pretty cute, but i just don''t see what''s the fuzz about. I have my fair share of women in my past life, so i just dont see myself in relationship with kids. No attraction at all, but ones got to keep their appearances. "It''s a p???sur? to meet you sir Chen Long. Welcome to our home." she replied. We started talking to each other about likes and dislikes. And actually got comdortable with each other. The ice breaker was that her brother were friends with my brother. We talked about being overshadowed by genius brother, so we kinda kick it off. She introduce me to Xiao Ning''er, and also hit it off. The 2 of them are the only nobles my age that is not stuck up rich kids. They were also surprised about my attitude. Most just try to hit on them with wicked eyes, but they feel safe with me. Suddenly, i was cut off by Shen Yue. "Hi! My name is Shen Yue of the Sacred family and also Ziyun''s fiance!" He said while shaking my hand. I can feel his jealousy a mile a way. "Hey there! Name''s Chen Yue. Congratulations on the engagement. You are a lucky man." i said "Listen, i have to be leaving anyways. I guess i will see you all when school starts." i said "Oh, don''t leave just because this jerk showed up!" Xiao Ning''er said irritatedly. "Naw, it''s okay. I don''t wanna make a scene. It was nice meeting you both. And you too mr. fiance guy." i leterally didn''t care to remember his name to piss him off. "Father! Is there any chance you can ask the city lord for permission to look at their library. I promise, i will only look at books that have ancient languages. I won''t steal their secret cultivation." i asked my dad. While i was asking, i did not notice the city lord behind me. "I see this gathering is boring you! Do not worry, i understand. But i have to have a guard with you at all times." - Ye Zong He called one of his guards and explained to them the situation. Then I was escorted to the Snow Wind Family Library. Chapter 4 - CHAPTER 4: 1-STAR BRONZE RANK I was escorted by 2 guards to the family library. I estimate them to be gold rank, due to the fact the aura they are giving out is only a little higher than my older brother Chen Linjian. They made me sit on the table and they ask the servant to get the books only with ancient languages. I guess they really don''t trust me. A little while later, 3 books was brought to me. "This is it? Just 3 books?" i asked. They just nodded. "You guys don''t talk much do you." i waited for a response while i look at them. "hm, Tough crowd." then I turn my sights on the books. Since i don''t have all day. I started scanning through the pages for important words. The first book is mostly about history. The second book is a cookbook of ancient food recipes. At this moment, started to think this is a waste of time. Then I saw the title of the 3rd book. My eyes almost gone out their sockets. Non-attribute Cultivation Techniques. This is the treasure i was looking for. I tried to control my excitement, because the 2 guards are looking at every move i make. I know the city lord ask them to spy on me if i can read the scriptures. I tried to act dumb by randomely making mistakes. Going up and down the pages, then flipping backwards while reading each page catefully. Then, I found it. --------------------------- < The Heavenly God Tactics > - Slow/hard cultivation - Able to absorb up to 7 demon spirits. - Able to absorb 100% cultivation pills. - Train soul force/ physical body at same time - Able to use all attributes ------------------------ I hit the jackpot! This is the same as Nie Lie''s cultivation. Now, i can finally start cultivating. I read the mantra. ------------------------- The heavenly Doa shines. Heaven shrouds but cannot contain. The great Doa envelopes but cannot dispute, know all, perhaps, perhaps not The body of the formless comes from formless. ----------------------- After memorizing the technique. I closed the book and told the guards I''m done. The guards escorted me back to the gathering where i rejoined my family. I have to keep a low profile. I can''t get help from Nie Li in the future because i don''t exist in his past. He will surely not trust me. I''m on my own. Awhile later, we said our goodbyes and return home. I asked my dad for a soul crystal some straightening pills before returning to my room. in my room, I inject my soul force to the crystal. Yellow sea soul, and a soul force of 52. Not bad. I have fire and lightning attributes. I took a strengthening pill and started to to meditate the heavenly god tactics. It was slow but building the foundation takes time. Time to do what i hate most, ...exercise. I have the servants make a makeshift basket backpack and fill it with rocks. They just look at me funny, but they still did it anyways. I ran like there''s no tomorrow every morning. Every other day i added more rocks to keep my body improving. In the afternoon, I train with my dad and older brother in sword techniques. And at night, i bath in the. purple haze grass solution. After a month, all impurities gushed out while i was in the bath of purple haze. It stinks alot so i took another bath and made sure all impurities are washed away. This signals that my body is in bronze rank. I then again meditated the heavenly god tactics. I didn''t stop til i breakthrough. WHOOOOOOSHHHH! I brokethrough. I checked the soul crystal and reaffirm that i have broken to the 1-star bronze rank. I inspected my body, and notice my muscle are more define and my skin lighter but extra tough. I think I''m gonna start being a narcissist if i keep staring at the mirror. I got faster and stronger. My dad and brother started to notice while sparing with me. But i keep controlling my strength. They test the soul crystal, but nothing changed. I keep it below the bronze rank. I almost finished my translation of the books my father gave me, and notice some books is about alchemy. I found the pill recipe that i''m looking for. The soul ?ssembling pill and the spiritual enhancing pill. I immidiately asked the servants to get me an alchemy cauldron and paid them to keep it a secret. Once i got the cauldron, i hid it in my personal interspacial ring. I need a place to practice alchemy. And i was thinking the best place might be at the hunting grounds where Nie Li hunted the horned sheep. They should be bronze rank. I can also hunt them for training. It''s like killing both with one stone. Oh! And also to obtain materials for alchemy leaving little paper trail. I am so glad that i''m not a successor. I feel sorry for my older brother for being constantly watched by the clan. There''s no freedom at all. Chapter 5 - CHAPTER 5: ALCHEMY I was eating with my family for breakfast, when i broke the news. "Dad, uncle and elder bro! I have a request, I would like to camp by myself for maybe 4 months in the hunting grounds ro get stronger." I asked. The whole dining hall turned silent and looked at me. "Okay, but you have to make sure you make reports every week to give us some piece of mind." my dad replied. "Make sure you wear an armor that can withstand silver rank attacks. The hunting grounds you are going through should not have demon beast higher than a silver rank. And enough provisions of food and water to your interspacial ring." my elder brother said. "Okay elder brother Linjian." i replied. "I hope by the time i come back here, you would have broken through the gold rank." He smiled and said. "I know you have already reached 1-star bronze rank. We all felt it when you broke through. I don''t know why you want to hide it, but our family respects your privacy." he said while smiling. I looked around and everyone was smiling in agreement. I sigh. " Maan~....I guess i cannot keep anything from you guys!" I did not say anythin else after that. I just shrugged and walked back to my room to pack. I packed some clothes and the books on alchemy from the copies of ancient books and also the one we have on our library that explains the basics of alchemy. All went to the spacial ring. I went to the family warehouse and gathered food provisions, cooking materials, herbs for alchemy and a couple of weapons and armors. I headed to the hunting grounds and entered the humongous gates. I saw traffics of people commin and going. So i made a schedule to optomise my time as good as pissible. ------------------- 6am to 7am - Wake up/ Breakfast 11am to 12pm - Bath w/purple haze 12pm to 1pm - Lunch 1pm to 6pm - Hunting/ Training 6pm to 7pm - Dinner 7pm to 10pm - Alchemy Training 10pm - Bath/ Sleep ---------------------- I will do alchemy training when there are less people. "Well (i sigh). First things first, need to find a campsite." I found a ideal place near the river. I put an array formation around my campsite to prevent animals/ demon beast to tresspass. The river is like a hub where all beast gather to drink water. It will help my training by fighting the beast, and improve my senses. The defensive array will only activate at night, so i don''t have to worry about sleep. While exploring, i saw someone in a clearing training. I started to make my way closer. The person training was none other that Xiao Ning''er. "Whose there!" she said with a knife on her hands. "It''s me, Chen Long!" i answered while stepping out of the shadows with both my hands up in the air. "Oh, It''s you. What are you doing here so late at night?" she asked "I would say the same to you. My campsite is near the area, and i''m here for training before school starts". "I am also here to get stronger to escape my fate." she spoke in anger in her eyes while looking at her fist. I know about the engagement from the story so i did not ask her about it. I bent down on one knee and pointed at the bruise on her feet and said. "That bruise looks familiar from a description from a book." She had a shock expression and her eyes started to tear up. She nodded in agreeing to what i said. "As i thought. You are suffering from a disease known as Artic disease. Once you reach bronze rank, you''ll be bedridded and crippling your cultivation down. Worse comes to worse is death by explosion." She started crying hard. All the hard work she did was for nothing. "Don''t lose hope! Your friend here knows the cure....but you better follow the treatment very strictly." i said to her with confidence. She stopped crying and looked at me. "Really?" "Yes! It is called the Daiyan Technique. I just have to massage it to the affected area. But you will need multiple treatment and for a no soul force training for a month. Especially no more soul force training at night. You should also combine golden strped grass and imperial sky grass to make medicine taken daily for a month. You should be okay after a month." She smiled and nodded but tears still flow out her eyes. I started to use the technique to the affected areas. It was a little funny when she shyly reveal some flesh, because some areas are near her br??st area. "Okay, treatment done! Make sure to take your daily meds and not train your soul force for awhile. I am going to be at my campsite here at the hunting grounds when you need the massage treatment." The next night is my first time to actually perform alchemy. I failed a lot before successfully craft a basic pill. I kept on making basic pills until i can 100% success rate. For a whole month, I have successfully concuct all basic low level pills with 100% success rate. Also during this month, Xiao Ning''er has been getting treatments from me and finally fully healed. "Hey Ning''er, here is a soul crystal. Please insert your soul force in it." i said She put her soul force. It shined and I saw a siluet of a winnged creature. "You have an attribute of wind and lightning. I have a cultivation technique from my family library called Lightning Dragon tactics. It should be better than what you are training." I took out a book i wrote about the technique and gave it to her. She was shocked and wanted to refuse it but i convince her otherwise. She finally gave in and accepted it. She read the mantra and her eyes went wide. She did not expect the cultivation technique to be so high. "I Xiao Ning''er will never forget this for the rest of my life. I promise i will return this favor with my life." she bowed in respect. "Don''t be like that. We are friends right? It is only right to help one another." I finally mastered intermideate pills. Before i start training for advance pills, I need to register in the alchemy guild. I also need rare herbs that can only be found in the guild. Chapter 6 - CHAPTER 6: YOUNG ALCHEMIST I finished my training in the hunting ground and on my way to the Alchemy ?ssociation. On the way, i stopped by the market to exchange all my hunted demin beast parts for demon coins/crystals. It all amounted to 2 million demon coins. "Not a bad haul! I should be able to afford materials for 50 of each soul ?ssembling and spiritual enhancing pill. But I need more income for the future. I don''t want to depend on my family fortune too much. With my plans, i might bankrupt my family." I arrived to the alchemy ?ssociation building and went straight to the receptionist. "My name is Chen Long of the divine family, may i know when the next exams for the alchemy apprentice test?" "Are you a little too young to take the test? How old are you 10? 11?" she looked at me weirdly. "You don''t have to answer that, there are no age restriction for the test anyway. But i have to warn you, the test is pretty hard and alot of people taken the test multiple times and still haven''t pass it yet." she said. "I have been studying a year now and had pointers from my private tutors. They said that i am ready!" i said lyingly. "Oh! That changes things then. Let me introduce myself, my name is Xiao Lan achemy apprentice. The test is actually today about an hour from now. If you need some study materials that''s extra fee added to the exam fee." she said. I paid the exam fee and thanked her. She then escorted me where the exams are going to be held. The hallway is full of exam takers. They were about to make fun of me but stopped themselves when they found out about my background as being a part of the divine family. The exam soon started. There were so many exam monitors that makes sure nobody cheats in the test. As the test finished, we were ordered to wait at the hallway while they check the test. The waiting feels like years to other test takers. They were walking back and forth tnat the hallway sounds like a never-ending stampede. I''m not worried though, the test was so easy. After awhile, the door finally opens. The examine called out the names. who passed the test. "The people who passed the test are...Huyan Shou!...Mu Lan!...and Chen Long! That is all!" The examiner shouted. The hall was full of diappointed people. Some was crying hard as they were exiting the building. The examiner walked towards me and said. "Chen Long, please follow me! The elders of the ?ssociation wants to see you!" I nodded and followed the examiner. We entered the Room and was greeted by 2 elders. They are Master Gu Yan and Master Huyan Ming. "President Gu Yan, isn''t he to young to take the test? argued Huyang Ming. "Quiet! I''m exercising my authority and letting him take the test. I think this is too easy for him. I was observing him during the test and he didn''t even stop and think. He flawlessly answered and finished the test while everyone was not even past half the test papers." he said He sat me down and gave my the test. I started answering the questions quickly. They were shocked on how fast i answered the questions. In few minutes i finished the test. "F-finished already! It''s not even half an hour, this is a 3-hour test you know!" Gu Yan said. I just smiled and handed him the test. He checked the papers. " Hmmm.. You jave a few wrong answers but you passed nevertheless! Congratulations Master Alchemist Chen Long! You are now the youngest master class alchemist in glory city!" Gu Yan said while clapping. He handed me a white robe which symbolises my rank in the alchemist ?ssociation. Others in the room also congratulated me. I thought to myself. "I guess iam not as good as Nie Lie. He aced the grandmaster exam." "President Gu, Is there a chance to keep the news of me being a genius alchemist. I am preparing to go to the Holy Orchid fighter apprentice. And want to keep this secret from my family for now" I said "I see, okay i can agree to that. Family issues i supposed." he said Their eyes bugged out in surprise and agreed immidiately. This will help cultivators survive outside glory city while fighting demon beast. They started to concuct pills so fast that it was put on sale within an hour after we made tge deal. So profits started coming in before i even head to the front lobby. "Yo! Xiao Lan can you point me to the directions where i can buy rare herbs." She looked up and she was surprised im wearing a master alchemist robe. "Oh my god! What the hell?!... You came for an apprentice exam and came out a master! Someone in heaven is playing a joke on me! Do you know how many times I tried do you!" she said crying like in the anime. She then escorted me to the Alchemy ?ssociation store which is only exclusive for members. I bought all my materials and headed home. I made sure to keep a low profile, trying ro avoid director Yang Xin. I will let Nie Lie have that glory. I''m only gonna profit from that one pill only. I will not submit anymore. I have my family fortune anyway. Nie Li need the profits from other pill formulas to give his family and friends anyway. I have a month to prepare for school and the time Nie Lie get transmigrate from the future. These past few months, my cultivation is already 5-star bronze rank. Im gonna concuct the pills and see if i can breakthrough the silver rank. Chapter 7 - CHAPTER 7: SHOCKING FAMILY I concucted the two pills immidiately as soon as i got home. once i taken the pill, i feel my soul realm and soul force increasing rapidly. WHOOOOOSSSHHH! Energy flowed out as i brokethrough the 1-star silver rank. These pills are amazing! I examine my body and found that i excreted more black liquid impurities. It made the whole room smell. So i quickly opened the windows to let it air out. It smells like poop, so its like pooping out your skin. I then ran off and taken a bath to clean myself off. Afterwards, I trained at the heavenly god tactics until dinner. At dinner, my family asked me about my 4 month training. I told them about specific events but left out the alchemy stuff secret. "So, you helped out the daughter of the wing dragon family patriarch. I also hope she can escape her fate in forced marriage, but I do not meddle on other family ways for i am also a patriarch. I do what i must to protect the family clan." - Chen Zhenlong/ father. "The wing dragon family lost almost 80% of their property to the sacred family due to financial problems, so they are using her to get them back. The only way she can get out of it if she can be strong enough to be deemed a genius and be protected by the city lord." "Hey Long! Congrats on breaking to the silver rank! I felt it the aura earlier, i guess my little brother is a genius too. You might even surpass me not too far from now!" - Linjian "Hehehe! You also big bro, i felt you also broken through gold rank and I''m shocked to say that it is a 2-star gold rank already. How is this possible?" i asked "Oh that! I integrated a demon spirit and boosted my cultivation by 2 ranks. But (he sigh) i feel like it slowed down. I cannot seem to increase it more. I need to find some other ways to increase my cultivation. Ye Han was a 1-star gold rank when he left with elder Ye Ming for training, so he should be the same as me in cultivation or even higher!" -Linjian I thought for a moment and remembered his character from his memories. In the alternate future, he died as a 5-star gold rank defwnding the city. So i think I am Going to change the atory a bit. My father is a 2-star black gold, I''m also gonna make him a Legend rank. But all materials are all outside of Glory city. I need to be stronger to venture out. "Elder Brother, Father, Uncle Fei! I have something to tell you, but I need complete secrecy and only us 4 and not the branch family and servants need to know!" i said. They looked at me with a serious face. And nodded as we headed to my father''s study room. He set up an array, so there would be no prying eyes and ears. "Okay son! What is this secret you are talking about." father said. "As you all know, i have been studying the ancient language for some time now." everyone nodded. " The thing is, I already can read them and found a whole bunch of information in history and cultivation techniques." They were surprised and at a state of shock be my revelation. I continued. "I have found out more ranks above legend rank. So I know there more survivors of the age of darkness outside the city." Then i put a little lie as i said. "While i was training, i came across some information. The dark guild have spies on every family including ours, so we have to be careful not to get information on our current strength." They gasped at the information i just gave. "No not yet! We don''t know who is in league with the dark guild! It can be family members, servants or even the city lord''s personal bodyguard." "That is true." he started thinking."I have some people that I trust that can investigate and find spies." Uncle Fei said "Make it so!" commanded by my father. "Long my son, what other ranks are there that you say are even above the Legend rank." I grabbed a pen and paper and wrote it down. I hand him the paper and he looked at the information. ---------------------- CULTIVATION RANKS: BRONZE RANK >>>>> (5 STARS) SILVER RANK >>>>>> (5 STARS) GOLD RANK >>>>>>> (5 STARS) LEGEND RANK >>>>> ( 5 STARS) HEAVENLY FATE >>> ( 9 FATES) HEAVENLY STAR >>> (9 STAGES) HEAVENLY AXIS >>> (9 STAGES) DAO OF DRAGON >>> (9 STAGES) MORTAL ANCESTOR > (9 STAGES) DIETY RANK EMPEROR SUPREME EMPEROR They were shocked and asked me if i translated it wrong. I told them otherwise. "I am going to give you guys a 3 cultivation technique." I took out 3 of each books to each of them. " These are the War god tactics, Void god tactics and the last one Heavenly scarlet lightning. Since we all have lightning attributes." "Each contain the information and uses of the technique. With these, you will breakthrough." I kept the fact i''m a master class alchemist from the them though. And also the heavenly god tactics though cause they are already have a different foundations. These non-attribute techniques will only enhance their soul attributes. "Guys! Make sure to train in secret! We don''t know whi the spies are." they nodded altogether. We all got out the study and all of them hurriedly went to their rooms and started cultivating. Well, school starts in 20 days. So i will be training my physical strength. I don''t have to go to the alchemy ?ssociation daily for work. As long as i keep my qouta of 1000 pills a week, i am free to do whatever i want. It also a form of training my alchemy on how fast i can concuct pills. My soul force is higher than my physical strength so i am imbalanced. I need to be balanced out to easily breakthrough ranks without hitting a wall in cultivation. I need a demon spirit, but i want a god rank or it will be a waste. I need to get the shadow demon before Nie Li. I know where the exact location of the treasure from the description of the novel and manga. I just don''t know the location of the ruins. 20 days came and go. Soon he entered the Holy Orchid for apprentice fighter schol. Chapter 8 - CHAPTER 8: NIE LI I made my way to the classroom. I saw the teacher and recognized her as Shen Xiu. "Name and famiy?" she asked. "Chen Long of the Divine family!" "You are seated at the 3rd row at the end of that row, on the main noble section!" she said while looking at her chart. "Huh? We have seating arrangement? Can I be seated here by the door?" i asked "No! Those seats are for commoners and minor nobles. You have a higher standing than those of commoner trashes!" she commandedly said. The children on the commoners side stared at the teacher while gritting their teeth. "Whatever!" i said without a care in the world. I walked over to the noble side and come across a familiar face. "Hey there Ziyun! Long time no see!" i said and smiled. "Hello to you too sir Chen Long! It is truly been awhile!" she replied while bowimg a little and sitting right back. " Hello Chen Long! As you already know my name is Shen Yue, her fiance!" he said while glaring at me with jealousy. "Hmph! I never agreed to be your fiance! So it doesn''t count! I choose who I want to be with!" said Ye Ziyun. "Relax ?ssjerk! I''m only saying hi to a friend. If you want, we can take it outside." i said threatening him. "Grrrrr! hmph! Your lucky your family is one of the major clan if not, i would wipe the floor with your face!" he said angrily and sat down next to Ziyun. As I walked towards the second row, i saw another familiar face. It was none other than Xiao Ning''er. "Hey Ning''er! How is everything?" i asked. I nodded. Can''t help it. Shen Yue keeps staring at me, there''s no privacy. Found my seat and started to look around the room.There''s still a couple of empty seats but I saw Nie Li and his friends on the other side. It looks like he is asleep. It will soon start. The class started and it was only meet and greet, since it is the first day of class. Shen Xiu was telling the class "The commoner will stay a commoner. It is impossible to become a noble." "Then how about Lord Ye Mo! He is of a commoner birth. Now he is the strongest of Glory City." Nie Li told the teacher Xiu. She looked at a paper which detailed each stidents strength. "Hahaha! How can you say that when you soul force is the lowest in the class. Your strength is just plain trash! she said "Oh~! How about we make a bet. In 2 months, I will be bronze rank in the exams. If I lose, I Nie Li will quit going to school. But if i win! You quit being a teacher in this school." He made his way to the back of the class. The next thing you knew, another person stand up and walking back to the room together with Nie Li. It was Du Ze. Then Lu Piao, Xiao Yu, Gu Bei, Long Yuyin and Li Xingyun. "AHAHAHA!" I loudly laugh getting the attention of everyone. I stand up. And walked towards Nie Li and his friends and lean on the wall at the back. "Chen Long! What are you doing at the back. Go back to your seat. Don''t ?ssociate yourself with these commoners." - teacher Xiu "Nah~! I like it here! Spoiled nobles ain''t my style! I would like to include me quitting school if Nie Li lose." I declared. Teacher Shen Xiu greeted her teeth and said, "Do as you like!". And she then started teaching class. Nie Li confusely looked at me and introduce himself. "Hi! My name is Nie Li of heavenly marks family! - Nie Li said followed by introduction while raising their hand "Du Ze!" "Xiao Yu!" "Gu Bei!" "Long Yuyin" "Li Xingyun" I greeted them altogether, "Yoh~! Chen Long of the Divine family." with a smile. "What are you doing back here? Your family is one of the strongest noble family of glory city! We are just lowly commoners. Most nobles just shunned us." - Du Ze "You guys should not judge that all nobles are like that. I''m my own person, I don''t see people the way nobles do. Without you guys, there will be no nobles." i said "Hahaha!Your right! Without us you guys won''t exist!" - Lu Piao "Well since I want Nie Li to win, you guys can depend on me!" i said "Sir Chen Long! If you are offering, I have a request then. I need soul crystals, i was thinking about the hunting grounds for income. But with your help, maybe we can advance faster." - Nie Li I agreed, and taken a soul crystal to each of them. I said "Here! And please call me by my name, don''t put sir or lord." I then grabbed 7 bottles of strengthening pills from my spacial ring and gave it to them. After class ended... "If you need anything, anything at all just come find me." i told them. They headed to the library, while i waited for Ning''er. She walked towards me with her head down. "I ..aah.. Do y-you have a girl you like? I mean...you know!" - Xiao Ning''er I sigh "No nothing like that. I''m too young right now. I have too much stuff on plate that i have no time to have a proper relationship. Maybe when we are older and more m?tur?. If you still feel that way, then we will see!" - i answered. She blushed and ran off smiling. I guess this will be the start of my love life in the story. Well, i do feel sorry for her getting the short end of the stick. First was the arrange marriage, then being a cripple, then becoming a mistress of Nie Li in the future. Atleast I prevented that. Chapter 9 - CHAPTER 9: BREAKING I got home and everyone cultivating in their rooms. I can feel Dad has broken through 3-star black gold. Uncle just broken through 1-star black gold. And my big brother 4-star gold rank. "Hmmm, pretty good!" i told myself. "I better train harder. I should skip school for a week and focus on getting stronger." I locked myself in my room to cultivate. My room is pretty big about 700 square meters with it''s own bathroom. Its like a small house. I finished concucting a bone reforming pill. I am so scared to take this. This pill will continue to break and mend the bones making it stronger than steel. The pain will be indescribable. The downpart of the pill is you have you have to remain conscious or you die. I started to concuct some pain killers. I strengthen my resolve. I took the pills with shaking hands. I waited for almost an hour. I started to think the pill was a dud. CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! The pain surged throughout my body. From my skull to down my toes, everything was breaking. AAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH! The bones started to mend and my pain started to subside. All bones are healing so fast. All bones healed and then... CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! "AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH! The pain came back harder, the headache, migraine. It feels like getting shot in the head. It feels like every bone in my body was being pounded by a sledgehammer. Then it started to mend again. This cycle of pain throughout the whole night. In the morning, i was still consius. It has been an hour since the las cycle. It seems like it is over. I have no more strength to move even a bit. I started to loose consciousness. Then everything just turned dark. I woke up and found myself in bed, cleaned too. I looked around and saw that it''s still morning. My older brother came in... "Hey bro! Your awake. That was some nasty pill you''ve taken! Father was pissed when the doctor finished diagnosing you." "How long was i out?" i asked "About 3 days, and you have a few visitors. That girl named Xiao Ning''er visit you everyday. And a person named Nie Li and his group was asking about you too!" he said "Shit! I forgot about that. I gotta get to school!" I said hurriedly while getting up from bed. "Woah there buddy! You are already excused for the week! Dad will see you after lunch so prepare for the worst bro. Dad''s not happy!" After he left i pulled out an interspacial ring from a secret compartment by the bed. I learned to hide things like a ninja. I have so many interspacial rings hidden within the room. I close my eyes and pulled out a detoxifying spirit pill, soul ?ssembling pill and spiritual enhancing pill. I started to meditate and use Heavenly God tactics, then War god tactics, then Void god tactics and finally Heavenly scarlet Lightning tactics. Now my body is more that my soul force, it became imbalanced. By the time I finished, it was lunch time. "Time to face #the man!" I said to myself I had one of the servant to deliver an envelope for me every week to the alchemy ?ssociation so i keep my quota up to date. I also have them buying all the purple haze grass once a week and filled a couple of interspacial ring. During my absence from school, I heard that Nie Li defamed the sacred family when they found one of the sacred family inscription was fraudulent copy of another. I also found out that Nie Li still did the horned sheep hunting to make money. A month later... I was in my room with Nie Li and friends. Xiao Ning''er is there too. "Here Nie Li, this is a gift for defeating Shen Yue a couple of days ago!" I threw him a silver rank armor from my interspacial ring. "This armor will protect you from silver rank and below!" i said "Hey no fair! How come he gets one!" -Lu Piao "You have to accomplish something in order to be rewarded!" i said I looked at Ning''er. She looked bummed out and jealous of Nie Li. She thanked me and was blushing alot. "Wha-?! Soul ?ssembling Pill. Where did you get that!" Nie Li asked "I made it. I found the recipe from the ancient books behind you. I also learned alchemy from those books" i said while everyone was wide eyed from shock. "So, Nie Li wasn''t the only one who can read ancient languages" - Du Ze Nie Li went towards me. "Chen Long! You said that I can ask you if i need anything right? i nodded and he continued. "I know it asking alot, but i need some financial backing. I need 20 million worth of demon crystals and bottles of your soul ?ssembling pills!" "Nie Li! You are going to far! That is something you~!" -Ning''er. I stopped Ning''er from continuing by raising my hand which sybolize to stop. "Nie Li..may i know to what you are going to do with the money?" i asked He nodded. "Just buying herbs. Think about it as an investment. I will pay you back in the future." he said I act as a troubled man. I probably win best actor. I stand up and taken a ring from one of my secret compartments. Everyone had their jaw dropped. There are rare pills that they haven''t even heard of. "Chen Long! What is your level in alchemy?" Nie Li asked. I showed him my liscence token. He was shocked that i was already a master class. "People in the divine family is full of geniuses!" Nie Li said "No! There are no geniuses, just plain old hard work and the sources available to you. The expectation of people is the drive to push us thru breakthrough in cultivation." i said "So, how high is your strength?" - Lu Piao "I will tell you mine if you tell me yours. Don''t worry, i have a seal array around my room. This room is sound proof." - said Everyone agreed. Xiao Ning''er >>>> 1-star silver rank Nie Li >>>>>>> 2-star bronze rank Du Ze >>>>>>> 5-star bronze rank Chen Long >>> 3-star silver rank Nie Li''s group have their jaw dropped. "Y-you and her are already silver rank!" God is not fair! I thought I was a genius but a frog in the well.!" - Lu Piao "Hahaha! Don''t worry so much. You never know, you probably surpass me soon!" I said. I kept my real strength hidden. I am actually really a 5-star silver rank. I will breakthrough the gold rank soon. "I thought I finally caught up to you! But i guess i have to train more!" - Ning''er "When are you going to break off your engagement?" i asked Ning"er She blushed. "Aah~...a month from now on the exams. Shen Fei is getting annoying and very possesive lately cause I am hanging out with Nie Li." "That''s Right! I''m getting the anger of Shen Fei cause he thinks i was making moves on her! I have to charge you!" he said to me. "Hahaha! Take it out of the excess!" as i laugh "Well, i already an enemy of the sacred family. I might as well earn some while im at it!" Nie Li joked. "Oh! Everyone, make sure you keep your cultivation hidden, there are spies from the dark guild in every family. Some commoners are also spies, so be careful of release of information." Everyone was shocked excluding Nie Li. He ia confused to how I know things. He is loosing his confidence and think this is an alternate world, because i don''t exist on his past. Awhile later, we all said our goodbyes. And they all left for home. I was planning on reading some books in the family library, when i saw him with his friend on the table reading a map. I sneakily went behind them to get a better look at the map. After memorizing, I yelled out. BOO! EEEEEEEEE! "Hey bro! how''s it going?" as i smiled He quickly folded the map and hide it in his pocket. "Long! Why would you do that! I almost ripped the map!" "It was a joke! Oh yeah, you guys acreamed loudly i don''t know who is the one ho screamed like a girl! hehehe!" "Jackass! Oh I forgot to introduce you!" "Lanruo! This obnoxious person here is my brother Chen Long!" he said. "Hiya!" i greeted her "Hey little bro! This here is my childhood friend, Huyan Lanruo!" "Oh! He look just like you only shorter. It''s a minnie me version of you!" - Lanruo She was on her way towards me to give me a hug, when she was stopped by my big bro ny pulling her ponytail. Linjian continued dragging her out the door. "See you later little bro!" he said while waving and dragging Lanruo out. Lanruo was struggling while being dragged. Since i now know where the treasure is. It is time to prepare. I have to be back here when the expedition starts. I went to the armor room and swipped a gold level armor, swords, crossbows and arrows. At dinner, I asked my dad that i''m gonna be going to the hunting grounds for 3 days starting tomorrow. It''s an off day of school anyways. They agreed. The next morning, I started my journey to hunt down the Shadow Devil to be my first demon spirit. Chapter 10 - CHAPTER 10: SHADOW DEVIL As i started my journey to the ruins, i saw from a sistance Nie Li and the gang running with backpacks filled with stones. "Ahh~! I remember those! Yup, those were the days!" i found myself reminiscing. "Okay! The ruins are a 2-day trip, but that was with a group waiting on each other. I''m just gonna run this and treat it like training!" i said as i a preparing to run. WHOOOSH! I ran at a good pace while killing some demon beast on the way for materials. WHOOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOOOSH! I even ran zig-zag patterns. I tested out my crossbow for adjustments. I need to get ready for those gorilla looking demon beast. After a whole day of running, I arrived not so far from the ruins. It was far enough not to disturbed the gorilla looking beast. I set my personal tent up on the trees and highly camouflage it. It''s hard to sleep peacefully up there, cause i can feel so many gold rank demon beast and a few black gold. I told myself, "What was i thinking?" I set up trap in the inner perimeter just as a last line of defence. I also set up a defence array to hold out beast up to gold rank. RRRAAAAAAAWWW! "Another one~! This guys won''t let me sleep!" Throughout the night, many demo. beast got electrocuted from the defense array that it started to smell like roast, in which more demon beast come and get roasted. When morning came, the area was like a big giant barrio fiesta. "It''s a good thing that the gorilla beast are fruit eaters. If not i won''t be able to sneak in the Ruins." i said to myself. I picked the spot near the entrance of the tomb. I saw a few guard gorillas doing some gorilla ~~things. I''m not gonna go on details. I looked around the perimeter to see any other gorilla beast around to alert the others. I took aim on both left and right hand crossbows and fire. "Bullseye! Right between the eyes!" i yelled in my mind. The whole ordeal was unnoticably quiet. I came near the 2 corpses and put them in the spacial ring. Im gonna dispose of them inside the tomb. I looked for a push mechanized lever to open the tomb. I almost pressed all the odd looking rocks. PSSST! CCLICK! "Found it!" I pushed the wall and enter the tomb. Once i entered i closed it to prevent demon beast from entering and also taken out the 2 corpses. I took out an oil lamp from my ring and lighted it. The darkness was a little eerie. The wind echoes thru the passageways. After sometime, I came across a room with a coffin and some skeleton of women and children. I just found the tomb of the fake emperor. I''m gonna leave that for Nie li. I don''t need the demon temporal book or whatnot. He can have that as a consolation for I''m gonna take the shadow devil demon spirit I searched some more and accidentally triggered a trap, but it was a dud. It was made of wood. After centuries, the wood will decompose. I took the lamp containing the shadow devil and put it in the ring. I looked at the gold... "Who am i kidding? Sometimes, one has to be greedy! hehehe!" I took about a quarter of the gold. i almost filled my ring. When i looked at the place where the gold used to be, I notice something on the ground. It looks like a handle. I pulled the handle and opened the secret compartment... "What the..?! How lucky can i be!" i asked myself in shock of what I''m seeing in front of me. "Someone up there is looking up for me. I can''t believe i found the nightmare demon pot. I guess it''s not rare as i thought." I put the pot into my ring and started to look around some more. I found scrolls which are not useful. They are like inventory list and recepts with signature in ancient text. After I''m done, headed back to the entrance. Before i open the door, i have to prepare. I made sure my armor is tight. Sword on my right an crossbow on my left. I took a few breaths and open the tomb entrance. "AWWW, SHIIIT!" I shouted Once i opened the door, there was a large gathering of gorilla demon beast. Most are silver rank and gold rank. They all looked at me for a second and then rushed towards me. RRRROOOOOAAAAARRRRR! "Come get some bitches!!!" I started fashing towards the crowd. I slashed my sword but it broke. "Fuck! Guarateed not to break! My ?ss!Damn merchant I want my money back!" BOOM! I got hit on the ?h?st sending me flying a few meters. The armor absorbed the force so I''m okay. I took another crossbow from my ring. I looked at the group. charging to me and started shooting both crossbows. In just moment the amount of gorilla was halved. But i know there are reinforcements coming. A couple of gorillas was on my escape route. They were cautious on the crossbow now. I stared at them and yelled... "Do you feel lucky punk! Do you!" (clint eastwood) i joked around. I started charging ... KA-ME-HA-ME.....! I aimed between the eyes. "HAAA!" I squeezed the trigger and the arrow flew to it''s target. TWAAACK! "Bullseye!" the 2 went down hard. I continue to run fast. I have close to 50 gorillas on my tail. I just kept running and running homebound. While running, i got punched in the back and sent flying by the ones that caught up. But as soon as my feet hit the ground, i madly dash and continued running. I noticed a group that looks familiar so i ran in circle while this gorilla was chasing me. I recognised him as a dark guild from the manga but i forgot his name. As I was running, i took a facemask from my ring and some smoke pellets. I started dropping smoke pellets which smoke out the view. I then ran towards the group and making sure gorilla buddy is behind me. I jumped and landed in the middle of the group and released a bunch of smoke pellets. "Wha- the?!"- dark guild member I then made a dash towards Glory City. While Mr. Gorilla landed where i just left and saw all the humans. "RRRRROOOAAAARRR!" - the beast roared "Oh shit~!" - the dark guild members The dark guild was caught by surprise. So it was a one-way massacre. Mr. Gorilla there cannot differentiate humans from one another so it thought it killed me, so it headed back to the ruins. I was nearing the gate, so i took my mask off and entered the city. Once i got home, i said my greetings to my family and went to my room and take a bath. I already know that he is going treasure hunting. I have also heard the news that the purple grass price went up but no one seem to have any. I figured Nie Li bought all the purple haze grass. It is a matter of time until he joined the Alchemist Association as a grandmaster. I headed to my room to integrate the shadow devil demon spirit. I took out the lamp at let soul force in. WHOOOSH! "KRAAAAAAAHH!" - the shadow devil cried It tried to escape, but i caught it. I integrated the demon spirit to my soul realm. My soul realm expaned continuously, my skin became tougher. WHOOOSH! "Brokethrough 1-star Gold rank. Wait the energy still coming!" WHOOOSH! "2-star Gold rank. Wow, I will catch up to big brother soon!" I said happily. "Okay! Time to test my powers!" "Void Form!", my body began to be transparent and disappeared. "Not bad!, I should call it stealth is much better. Alright then - Disengage" , my stealth form turned off. I looked in the mirror and saw I have long hair and dead eyes. It seems to be gothic style. "Bone Sickles!", blades form from my hands and it seems i can control the shape. "Not too shabby! But the name sounds weird so i will call it blades. simpke right?!" "I''m gonna hold on the nightmare demon pot for now. I need to get used to my demon spirit." I went out and accidentally bumped to Nie Li. He asked me if i have any crossbow and arrows. So, I just gave it to him. I don''t need it anymore. Then I went to the hunting grounds where i will trained and adapted to the shadow devil to perfection. A week later... My brother left for his adventure, which I know that Nie Li will be with him. I on the other hand, will buy every single darkness/nightmare demon spirit in glory city for one whole day. So by the time Nie Li need demon spirits, it should be eeplenished. I started to exchange the gold and crystals for demon crystal/ coins. I then bought out all darkness/ nightmare demon spirit. I also bought other demon beast spirit. I told the merchants to keep my name hidden. But it was the talk of the town, that someone is buying demon spirit at an incredible rate. In 2 weeks, is the bet of Nie Li and teacher Xiu. So now i need to get a god rank demon beast. But I don''t want a panda. Chapter 11 - CHAPTER 11: NIGHTMARE DEMON POT I headed to the Alchemist Association to submit my quota. I was surprised to see Nie Li''s name on the registrar. Grandmaster huh. Can''t beat that one. And it seems he copyrighted some pills, including the some i gave him. I guess he was panicking when he found out i know how to make them. Oh well, Atleast I copyrighted the flame-type cold resistance pill. The most profitable pill on the list. "hehehe" i giggled in my thoughts. "Okay! Time to go home and become Dr.Frankenstein!" I headed home but was stopped half-way thru. "Hi Chen Long! Mind if i tag along?!" - Ning''er Wow this girl gets bolder and bolder. "Sure! I''m headed home though. If you want, you can have dinner with us! My brother''s out treasure hunting and father is doing the patriarch thing with uncle so it''s a little lonely in the house." She started blushing. We went back to my place. Unbeknownst to me, our conversation was witnessed by Shen Fei. He has jealousy written on his forehead (figure of speech). But he can''t do anything since my family is one of the strongest main family in Glory City and also the wealthiest. So far, he is taking his anger out on Nie Li since were friends. I got home with Ning''er and asked the cook to cook something for us. While waiting I asked her about her cultivation. "I now am a 2-star silver rank! And could now soul form my aura into wings." She answered. "Are you going to break you engagement soon? With just this, i think they don''t have a choice but to agree to your terms!" i asked "No not yet! I need a strong demon spirit to shut them up, but our financial situation is still down!" she answered. "Don''t worry about the demon spirit! I got it covered. And it will be a god level growth! Just give me until tomorrow!" I said My father and Uncle arrived and joined us at dinner. "Hey nephew! Is this your new girlfriend! Isn''t she engage to that kid from the sacred family? - Chen Fei said "Well, you can say that! But she never agreed to the marriage, infact is against it!" i said "What he say is true respected elder Chen Fei! I never agreed to it and will cancel the engagement as soon as pissible!" - Ning''er "You don''t have to bother brother! I already know the circumstances of them for awhile now. Lets leave it to them" - Chen Zhenlong "Thank you father! It''s not final yet, but I will let her decide if she wants to be engaged to me or not. Then i will do whatever I can to help her." - i said. "Dad did you do what I asked you to do for me about the properties?" He smiled. "You were right, the sacred family is facing some financial problems and quietly selling properties to keep it quiet." He then pulled out a bunch of title deeds from his ring and handed it to me. Ning''er was beside me so she recognized the deeds. "Yup! They are underhanded alright. These were sold at the black market. It was luck that we found it. But we are still looking for the rest. I will keep this for now. I can''t trust your elders, they are too greedy." i said "I agree with you! Let me know tomorrow about the demon beast spirit. I need to let father know. With this, he will certainly fight the council members with these evidence as proof. My father the patriarch might visit you tomorrow, so I''m warning you right now." - Ning''er. "I know, now that the title deed is under my name. I can make a deal qith your family." - i said. I called one of the bodyguards escort her home after dinner and have a little talk with my father. "Hahaha! Son! I will have to give it to you! She is one beautiful future daughter in law!" "Thanks dad! Its not a done deal yet so don''t hold your breath!" i answered smilingly. "Give me some time to acquire the properties. The sacred family sold them all as soon as they got a hold of the properties. It''s hard to track down the titles. Most are in the black market!" he said I already know where they are, but need time to get it. They are in the dark guild safe. I need to destroy them first and in order to do that, i need to destroy the sacred family. "Hey dad, I see you broken through. I felt you aura fluctuate a second." I asked "Well! Your a 5-star black gold rank right now. I think you need to master the control before you breakthrough the Legend rank. The enrgies if the breakthrough might damage you mind or your body!" i said He nodded and we talked about life and stuff. It''s a father/ son bonding time. Afterwards, I headed to my room to get started on the nightmare demon pot. ------------------- There are 6 growth rate for demon beast. 1) Poor 2) Ordinary 3) Good 4) Excellent 5) Extraordinary ------------------ The shadow devil demon spirit has a god growth rate. So I want all 7 demon spirit to be god level growth. First, I practiced with poor growth cores and combine it together. The energy surged from the pot. When the energy subsided, and was shocked when i opened the lid of the pot. "Wha-! It''s a freaking Chuhauhau!" i look again " An ugly one at that! But it is of good growth" - said I kept on experimenting on poor growth cores. It resulted in featherless chicken, hairless monkey, a gorilla with a big bu?? exposed, a fish with legs and other failures. Then I started with ordinary growth cores. It was a little better. Then good cores, then excellent cores. "Alright! I had enough practice! Time to turn these extraordinary growth rate into god growth rate demon spirits!" i said I have 600 extra ordinary growth rate, so I get 60 tries on this. I then concentrated 10 cores and merged them in the pot, but the energy was so great that it failed. Then the same thing happened again. Failure after failure after failure. I kept increasing the soul force and inject them to the pot. Then finally, one success. A silver wing dragon (wind type) with a god growth. I think I''m gonna give that to Ning''er. Then the success rate went up. I ended up with 11 god growth demon spirit. I seperated Ning''er demon spirit. Then put my whole soul forced to the pot. It was very straining. I feel my life force is being drained from me. My whole body started to hurt. "AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!" The pain was pretty bad but still bearable. I focus my all into the Nightmare demon pot. After awhile the energy subsided but i was so weak to stay conscious. I fainted due to soul force over exertion. (I was empty) I woke up and checked around. It was morning already, and i was still laying on the floor , meaning the maidservants haven''t came in yet. So that tells me it hasn''t pass 24 hours since i fainted. I hurriedly checked on the Nightmare demon pot and saw the demonspirit as an abyss winged tiger. "Score!" I yelled in celebration. "That hurt quite a bit! I am not going to do that for awhile! Shhheet~!" I yelled as i put my nightmare demon pot back to my ring. I checked the abyss winged tiger again. I was looking at it''s eyes and it looked alive. RROOOAAAAARRR! "HOLY SHIT! WHA-! "YES!" i shouted. I can''t lie, I was excited. I immidiately integrated the abyss winged tiger into my soul realm. My soul realm started to expand, even faster than the shadow devil. WHOOOSH! - brokethrough 3-star gold rank. WHOOOSH! - brokethrough 4-star gold rank. WHOOOSH! - brokethrough 5-star gold rank. The energy still increased until it finally stopped just at the edge to almost break through the black gold rank. I exhaled black smoke impurities and hurriedly went to the bathroom due to diarrhea. I was expelling impurities from my ?ss. All my insides got an upgrade. My organs is like steel now. "I will train my new dwmon spirit later tonight. Ning''er and her father should be coming soon. Better clean myself up and look presentable." Chapter 12 - CHAPTER 12: WINGED ABYSS TIGER I waited by the courtyard of our family estate for the Patiarch of the Wing Dragon Family Xiao Yunfeng and Xiao Ning''er. When they arrived, my father greeted them and sent the servants to fetch me from the courtyard. We all went to my father''s study. It was a private meeting. Can''t have rumours going around. We also made the room soundproof. "Okay! Now we can get started!" - Zhenlong "Alright! I will go first! My daughter came across some information that your family purchase some deeds formerly belonging to our family. May I inspect these deeds to confirm they are real!" - Yunfeng I taken out the deeds from my interapacial ring. And hand it to him. As he saw the deeds, he was shocked that they were indeed real. He sigh. "It does seem to be real. But only half of the total property deeds are here. The other half is still with them! It is indeed proven there is a breach on the contract. But as long as the other half is still with them, the agreement still stands. It is going to be hard to convince the elders." - Yunfeng "You don''t have to worry about the deeds I have. As soon as I know the engagement is off and your family agree to let Ning''er decide her future. I will gladly donate the deeds to you with no strings attach." i said. "I am her friend. And as a friend, I got her back!" Ning''er eyes started to tear up. "Even if you say that. It is still hard to convince the council." - Yunfeng "Lord Yunfeng, I don''t think you know your daughter yet. Did you even know that your daughter is a genius. And like any geniuses, they are protected by the city lord. The exams will prove it!" i said "Wha-what do you mean? Did she broke bronze rank yet?" - Yunfeng She let out her soul force and her soul force was forming into wings. WHOOOSH! "S-soul Forming!" he said in shock. "And that pressure. Y-your a 2-star silver rank! ...My god, my daughter is a genius!" "Yes! Now I see! Yes~! I believe we can convince the council. They probably give you a good demon spirit to nurture your talents!" - Yunfeng. I cut him off. "Ah! About that!" I took a demon spirit core from my ring. "Catch!" I said while throwing the core to Ning''er. "Go ahead and integrate it. That is the silver wing dragon, it has a god growth spirit." Their jaw dropped, including my father. "Son, have you integrated a demon spirit yet?" - Zhenlong "Yeah dad! it''s called the winged abyss tiger. It also have a god growth spirit. But i haven''t trained with it yet. I need a place where i can do some damage." i said "Go ahead Ning''er! Integrate with it!" i said She did as i said. While her father is watching over her. After a few minutes... WHOOOSH! "I just brokethrough to 3-star silver rank in a matter in minutes" she said shockingly. "Yup! Like me, you need to find a large area to train your beast form. God level growth demon spirits can cause some massive damage. Please keep it a secret. There are a lot of spies from the dark guild. Do not trust servants or even family members. Try to only show 1-star silver rank aura. You will become a target if your not careful." i warned them. They were shocked what I just revealed. And agreed to my arrangement. We talked some more boring stuff. My father did some business deals and afterward had lunch. BOOOOM! "Whoa! Now that''s some power!" I said while flyin in my demon beast form. The explosion came from the beam blast that came from my mouth. It''s power is like the panda''s yin yang blast from Nie Li. I also have gravity power from my wings. My strength is multiplied and my horns, forms lightning. ---------------- Winged Abyss Tiger Form 1) Lightning Strike 2) Gravity Field 3) Void Blast 4) Titanium Claws --------------------- I continued training until the 3rd day, when i mastered enough control to prevent dangerous situations. At the same time i finish training, my brother''s group was coming back from the treasure adventure. I saw Nie Li a little bummed out because he cannot find the shadow devil demon beast. The news spread all over glory city about the successful treasure hunt. I went towards my brother. "Hey big brother! Congratulations on a job well done! The problem is, that you lied to dad! Hope you a prepare your ?ss to be grounded.! " i teased my brother. "You jackass! Can you even let you big brother a chance to bask in glory for a bit!" - Linjian We laugh and joked around. He told me about his adventures. Afterwards, we head back to our house. I grabbed some snacks and watched dad sermoned my brother. "Do you have anything better to do!" - Linjian "Nope! I am enjoying the view!" i answered with a smile while snacking on some peanuts. There were no tv or radios. This is my only entertainment. "Haa~...Family drama. Can''t beat the excitement. What punishment will he get. hahaha" "In the end, he only got a week of grounding. He gave the family some pride and glory for discovering the treasure that can jumpstart and stimulate the economy. While i was on my way to my room, the servants stooped me and told me i have a guest at the courtyard. I thanked them and headed towards the courtyard. I recognized the person. It was none other than Nie Li. "Hey Nie Li! How''s everything?" "O, hi the Chen Long!...I came here to return the money you lent me!" - Nie Li He threw a interspacial ring to me. I checked inside on it and found 200 million worth of demon crystals. "I think you gave me too much! There''s over 200 million demon crystal in here!" i said "O that, dont worry about that! I got the money from a person from the dark guild. They attacked us, so its only right to fight back." he smiled and continued. "Actually, those are not even half the fortune he got on. The other ring he had has 900 million. So I''m pretty rich right now, hahaha!" - Nie Li We talk some more, joking around. I also asked him if he was ready for the test cause he is taking me down with him. He told me to not worry myself with the small stuff. I invited him for dinner, but he said he wanted to train and need to submit his quota to the Alchemist Association. So we said our goodbyes. On my way to my room, I got stopped again. But this time it was my dad. "Thanks dad! But the decision cannot be me alone. I want to hear it from her personally before making my own decision." - me "Fair enough! Remember if you need help, my office is always 24/7." - dad We went our seperate ways. I headed straight to my room and crashed into the bed and went to sleep. Chapter 13 - CHAPTER 13: THE BLACK MARKET The next day, I went to my dad''s office as soon as I woke up. "Hey dad! I need permission to go somewhere." "I have a bad feeling about this..(sigh..) Where may i ask you need permission to go?" - dad "Umm~...the black market (whistle whistle)." Zhenlong put his hand on his forehead. "I think i have a headache! You do know what your asking right? And you also know that it is controlled mostly by the dark guild right? And also do you know as damn hell would allow my son to go anywhere near there right?" - Zhenlong. "So~.. is that a yes?" i said He look at me in the eye. "Do you really need me to answer that!" he paused "It''s a Noooooooo~!" - Zhenlong I left his office. "Well, atleast I tried". I''m still going. I need to find more books with ancient writings. Need to find more cultivation or elixer formulas to gain more strength. I can''t ask Nie Li for help. He will find out my strength. I grabbed a robe covering my face. I activated my stealth mode and sneaked out the estate. I headed to the edge of Glory City where the slums are located. I am still in my syealth mode, while looking thru the items. The black market has everything, they even have slaves and human body parts. I came across a building with so many guards. I says demon beast spirit. I bought all nightmare and darkness type demon beast cores. As i left i felt i was being followed. I turned to a corner and activate stealth and got away. I looked around some more. I came across some ancient books, alchemy books, rare herbs and alchemy materials. I bought them all. I notice more and more people following me. I was in stealth mode but an expert showed up that can sense changes in the air. "Fuck!" I led them out in the open and undid my stealth. I still have a hood covering my face. "Ha! A kid! I knew it! You have to be a rich noble to be spending much! Just to let you know I am already a 5-star gold rank kid. So better give up! My crew are also gold rank. Everyone here are kilers mind you that!"- Boss bad guy "We hit the jackpot boss! Even if we don''t get the ransom. Those interspacial rings are filled with demon cryatals/ coins!" bad guy #1 I was surrounded by 30 bad guys. This is the best place to train my winged abyss tiger form. I transformed, my face look like a tiger but the fur is black with white lightning stripes. I have wings liken eagle, but the feathers are razor shart and tough as steel. I have horns like a deer that branches out with lightning forming surrounding it. My claws are razor sharp like sabertooth on x-men. The bandits all transformed to their beast forms. Some are dragons, eagles, bears and tigers. "VOID BLAST!!!" i shouted KABOOM! They were shocked and surprised at how powerful the blast is. I taken 10 bandits out. They got very angry. The bandits with wings rushed me in the sky. I got slashed, stabbed, punched and kicked. I was grappling with one of the bandits while falling from the sky. THUMP! "OW!" That hurt. My wings got injured, so i can''t fly for now. This is what I''m missing from my training...It''s experience and fighting without rules. Fighting life and death might make me breakthrough to black fold rank. The bandits on the ground jumped towards me. I heard all their attack. "RAZOR CLAWS!" - Boss bandit "FERAL PUNCH!" - Bandit #12 "LIGHTNING KICK!" - Bandit #7 "BLADE KICK!" - Bandit #15 .....(and so on...) When i saw them nearing within 10 meters. "GRAVITY FIELD" "INCREASE 50X" BBBOOOOOOOMMM! Everyone got squashed to the ground. I have just taken out 15 bandits. Which means The boss and the other 4 bandits are 5-star gold rank. We exchange fist after fist. Once i thought i was getting the upper hand, the boss bandit comes in and i get my ?ss handed to me. I was loosing. But my fighting sense is getting better and fiercer. It''s better that sparing with my family. I have no choice but to take a gamble. I will try to combine both demon spirit form. The backslash will hurt so bad after this. AAAAARRRRRRRGGGGHHHH! My bosy expanded. I felt some bones breaking. I was changing while deffending. It was so hard to keep focus. Once the change is complete. The pain stayed, so it was really painful while i was fighting. "STEALTH" "TITANIUM CLAWS""SHADOW BLADE" - I combined my attack. "GRAVITY FIELD" "VOID BLAST" KAAABBOOOOOMMM! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! Everything went through a single flash. One by one they fell. I turned off my transformation. AAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGHHHH! I checked all the bodies and took all of their interspacial rings and ran as fast as I can back home. I was wearing my hooded robe so no one recognized me and scanned while taking differen routes until i reached my house. I sneaked out so sneaking back in without using stealth was a challenge. Once i got into my room, I turned on a defensive array and sound proof the room. I checked the rings i got from the bandits. There were swords, martial arts manuals, demon spirit cores, demon crystals/coins, armors and personal items. Nothing out tne ordinary. Then the last ring. This was the Boss bandit ring. I took out everything out. I saw a token which symbolizes the dark guild, some documents. Demon crystals/coins, ancient artifacts, ancient books and something heavily covered with cloth. I''m keeping most of it. I have to review these documents, so i set it aside. I then focus my attention to the cloth covered item. It''s covered for a reason. It might be covered with poison or it might be explosive. I grabbed some gloves and set up a barrier array arround the cloth item. I slowly taken the cloth out layer by layer carefully. My eyes were in awe and cannot believe if this is true or not. It is just to much of a coincidence that there are 2 of the same items in one place. The item i am looking at is a lamp and it look like there is a shadow devil inside. It is a little weaker than mine though. I asked one of the messager to get in contact with Nie Li that i need to see him. After lunch, Nie Li arrived. "Hey Nie Li! How''s it going! ..Lunch?" i said "No thank you, i just ate. What do you need to call me via messenger?" - Nie Li "Let''s change the venue! My room is safe!" as i said this, i have a serious face. Nie Li felt somethings up! So he hurriedly followed me. Once we enter the room, I started putting so many defensive arrays, barriers and sound proofing. The atmosphere became serious. "What''s going on?" - Nie Li I sigh~. "I killed some bandits belonging to the dark guild. They have spies everywhere so we have to be cautious." i said I took out some documents and the token of the dark guild. "I don''t want my family to get involved, because it might make us a target. I cannot act right now. I need to be steong enough before making a move. The document here list some information of trading and information exchange between the dark guild and a certain major family." "Which family are the traitors?" - Nie Li "The Sacred Family" - i said. "It''s the patriarch himself is the traitor!" "And this is the proof! Why are you not handing it over to the City Lord?!" - Nie Li I turned the page exerting the information of the communication between the patriarch. "Because, the patriarch of the dark guild is at the peak of legend rank. Even Ye Mo is no match for him. It is up to us to get even stronger, but we have to lay low fow awhile. I''m also telling you to be careful, because the sacred family got you under their radar!" He agreed to my suggestion. "Oh yeah, i nearly forgot! I also found a demon spirit from the bandits." I took out the lamp containing the shadow devil demon spirit. Nie Li eyes showed shock and surprise. "Chen Long! Please sell this to me! I will pay any amount" -Nie Li "What are you talking about? Aren''t we friends? I''m giving it to you. I already got a demon spirit beast. I have the winged abyss tiger." - i said "Really?!" Said Nie Li as he grabbed the lamp and deposited it in his ring. "I am really grateful for this! Just call me if you need anything and i will drop everything to help." - Nie Li "Then I would do the same. Okay now that all the seriousness is over. Let me hear how everyone is doing? Any good stuff happening? We talked and told stories for a bit. I invited him for dinner with my family where i heard Nie Li and my older brother stories during the adventure. After dinner, he went home. The exams are coming up. So i need to practice control, by making my strength of that of a silver rank. Chapter 14 - CHAPTER 14: YEARLY EXAMS A few days later was a family gathering! It was my 13th birthday. Our first guest was from the branch family. We have a council of 6 elders. One of the elders is my Uncle Chen Fei, The other 5 elders are my dad''s cousins which are the branch family members. The elders are all Black Gold Ranks, but my Uncle Fei has along with Uncle Yong was the strongest in the council which was 3-star black gold. The family, thanks to grandfather were very loyal to the Snow wind family. No one is conceited or spoiled. I feel like I''m in a commoner family were everybody gets along. Maybe because our grandpa was friends with Lord Ye Mo which used to be a commoner before he was married to the major family which was the snow wind family. The next visitors was Lord Ye Mo and Granpa Chen Hong. They did a meet and greet. Granpa Chen Hong, like Lord Ye Mo do not meddle with their family. They leave everything to their successors to deal with everything, so its kinda like retirement. They only focus on their cultivations. And like father, grandpa is a 5-star black gold rank. The next guest was the rest if the Sniw Wind Family. Then the Wing Dragon Family, then the branch Heavenly Marks Family and so on... To keep this short, almost all family came except the one from sacred family. They didn''t like the fact we invited commoners and minor nobles. But the did send messengers to greet me a heppy bday and dropped of some gifts. Nie Li and friends was there as well and we all hanged around. I introduced them to me cousins and Du Ze fell in love with one of my cousins but feel he is not worthy for him being a poor commoner. I wanted to help him out and his family, but he said that his pride would not allow it. Later that day, almost all the guest went home except the Snow Wind Family and Wing Dragon Family. I was hanging out with Ye Ziyun and Xiao Ning''er. "So Ziyun! How is your stalker fiance doing these days? Hahaha!" - i sad to Ye Ziyun "Please don''t remind me! I will talk with father again to cancel the marriage. Those damn council elders is hard to crack!" she said. "How about you! when are you going to meet some girl to ma-! Ouch!" - Ziyun was pinched by Ning''er. Ye Ziyun was rubbing her sides where Ning''er pinched. She then wide eyed shocked when i donned to her that me and Ning''er was an item. "When! Where! How?!" she said to the both of us. "Ning''er! I thought we told everything! I''m not talking to you anymore!" - Ye Ziyun "Well, it isn''t finalized! They want her to focus on cultivating first before she can get engaged again. Getting engage too soon will dishonor the sacred family since she just break off the engagement with them. So we are keeping it quiet for now. We can''t have turmoil within the major families, it will risk the safety if Glory City." i said Awhile later, it was night time and all guest have gone home. The servants was cleaning up and the gifts was stored within my ring to open later. I was ordered to the secret training grounds in the basement if the main house for a family meeting. It was only my father Chen Zhenlong, my elder brother Chen Linjian and my uncle Chen Fei. "Now that your all full from the feast, we will now do some sparring to burn the calories away." - Chen Zhenlong So the spar will be Dad vs Uncle and me vs elder brother. So the spar started, dad overwhelms uncle so the spar did not last long. While me and elder brother was going toe to toe on our beast form. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! We stopped due to the defensive array could not last anymore bombardment. "This was supposed to be a light spar for me. I thought i was at an advantage being a 1-star black gold rank! Did you breakthrough gold rank little bro?" - Linjian "Never heard of an abyss tiger having wings before, is it a mutated one?" - Linjian "Hmmm~, you can say that i guess. I found it by chance. hehehe!" i said My father walked towards me and said... "Son! Those moves you did are not moves you can do just by training. Those moves are from people who went through life and death battles. There was no wasted movements." he continued. "Long! Tell me the truth! If my conclusion is right, you got an altercation with some bandits or people from the dark guild to experience a life and death battle. And the only place you can get that experience is eaither outside Glory city or in the slums of the black market. And I specifically remember you asking about the black market a few days ago, is that right?!" he commanded "Crap!" i sigh "Sorry dad! You got me. But I do not regret it. It made me stronger! I also need to find the rest of the title deeds of the Wing Dragon family. She is my future wife after all!" i said. Then told a very lame lie "I did it for love!" (I was chocking myself in my mind for saying the lamest catchphrase) "Hahaha! I guess the apple doesn''t fall too far from the tree! Hahaha!" - Chen Fei "Fei Don''t! You promised~!!" - Zhenlong "Why worry! We are all family here!" "Hahaha! Nephews! Your father said those exact words to father a long time ago. I also remember elder brother Zhenlong got whooped up pretty good by father. But look, everything worked out for the better!" - Chen Fro He sigh. "Long! I am going to let this go due to the fact it is your birthday today. But next time you want to go to the black market, I want your Uncle Fei here to accompany you since I can''t stop you anyways! Same goes to you to Linjian! Dont think i have forgotten about your treasure exploration!" Me and my brother nodded back. Then the sermon continued. Uncle Fei left when my father begin his sermon. Just like my brother, it was in one ear out the other. We just continue nodding until the sermon was over. "Long! Remember to control your strength tomorrow. Make it so that it won''t excite jealousy from other major families." - dad I agreed and head to my room went to bed for the night. The next day due to excitement, woke up too early. So I began to meditate and taken some spirit recovery pills to help fix my soul realm. I was so focused in my soul realm that i lost track of time. I rushed to school and into the classroom. No one was there and then saw a notice on the blackboard stating the exams will be held at the auditorium behind the school building. So i raced towards the building. The auditorium is an open air auditorium that is built like a coliseum with a stage in the middle. The grounds was filled with 1st years and 2nd year students while the seats was filled by upper grades and genius students. Today was the test for 1st and 2nd years while others are just here to watch for hidden talents within us. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! As i entered the auditorium, the sounds of the test already began. I was so late. I went to find Shen Xiu to mark my attendance. "No, I''m here for your early retirement when Nie Li wins! Best of luck teach" i said "Hmph! Keep dreaming kid!" she said and left heading to the other teachers. I started to look for Nie Li and the group since I know I will be the last one to be called since i was late. So it''s going to be awhile. Then i saw Shen Fei walking away from Nie Li and Ning''er furiously with his lackeys. "Yo! Nie Li! Ning''er! What''s up?!" - i said "Your late!" both of them yelled. "Hey, better late than sorry!" i said " By the way, what''s going on with Shen Fei?" Ning''er narrated on what transpired during my absence. Then I looked at Nie Li. "Dude! Are you sure you know what you are getting in to? Pretending to be in love Ning''er will make you an enemy to Shen Fei! Not only that Ye Ziyun will kill you ?ss!" I told Nie Li "Let me worry about that! Were were you when your girlfriend was being bullied by the ex. I couldn''t stand still so that was all i could think of!" - Nie Li said "I''ll hold you to that! Besides, I still owe you for that shadow devil! hehehe!" he said The rest of the group came, while Ning''er find Ye Ziyun. We all greeted each other, tbhen joked around for awhile. "I can''t wait to show my talents and show those damn nobles a thing or two! Aaa~ no offense Chen Long, your different!" - Lu Piao "You should be careful with your statements Piao! Someone might hear you! - Du Ze "Ouu~. Lighten up Du Ze! You sound just like my father! Live a little will ya!" - Lu Piao "Why amI even talking to you..." - Du Ze. STUDENT SHEN YUE! PLEASE REPORT TO THE EXAM STAGE! "Want to watch and see how he do?" i asked everyone. Everyone nodded and we all make our way to the stage. BOOM! The crowd was in awe at the amount of strength. Shen Fei was feeling so proud of himself. DING! "Soul Force 115! Final result 1-star bronze rank!" - examinee The crowd was in awe again. Shen Yue was walking proud with his head held high. Shen Xiu felt proud of her nephew. Meanwhile, me and my friends were giggling trying to keep from laughing out loud. STUDENT LU PIAO! PLEASE REPORT TO THE EXAM STAGE! "Let the show begins!" said Lu Piao while winking one eye to us as he make way to the stage. BOOM! - (1st try) BOOM! - (2nd try) BOOM! - (3rd try) "S-strength 325!" - examiner Everone in the crowd was silent while me and the guys were clapping. I can see Shen Yue looking like his world just went upside down. He could not believe he got outshined by a commoner. Shen Xiu started to get nervous and is losing her confidence on the bet. DING! "Soul Force 365! Final result 3-star bronze rank!" - examiner The crowd was in awe and started clapping. The principal told the teachers to put him to the genius class. STUDENT WEI NAN! PLEASE REPORT TO THE EXAM STAGE! BOOM! "Strength 299!" - examiner DING! "Soul Force 288! Final result 2-star bronze rank!" - examiner STUDENT ZHANG MING! PLEASE REPORT TO THE EXAM STAGE! BOOM! "Strength 325!" - examiner DING! "Soul Force 275! Final result 2-star bronze rank!" - examiner Everyone in the crowd was in awe after one after another our group has made it to the genius class. They speculate that it was because of me having vast amount of resource. So they are not too surprised. But i know it wasn''t. STUDENT DU ZE! PLEASE REPORT TO THE EXAM STAGE! BOOOOM! "S-strength 500!" - examiner Everyone was now thinking that they are in front of a true genius. The principal stood from sitting in his chair and anounce that Du Ze will be his disciple. "Silver rank at age 13. Truly a genius much like Lord Ye Mo. I must have him!" - principal "That was low Principal! Announcing first, i wanted him as a disciple!" - Vice Principal Du Ze made his way to a gigantic soul crystal to measure his soul force. He put his hand on the crystal and started to inject soul force to it! CRACK! CRACK! PISHING! The giant soul crystal exploded to several tiny soul crystals. "Aaaa~...How do you measure this?" the examiner told another examiner. Then the principal yelled out. "1-star silver rank! Continue with the examinations. Someone fetch another giant crystal!" - Principal STUDENT ZHU XIANG! PLEASE REPORT TO THE EXAM STAGE! BOOM! "Stength 330!" - examiner Then the examiner picked up one of the shards of the giant crystal. "What the heck is this." - Zhu Xiang "It''s gonna take some time before another giant soul crystal arrive. This one is good enough. Just go ahead and inject your soul force!" - examiner DING! "Soul Force 300! Final result 3-star bronze rank!" - examiner STUDENT NIE LI! PLEASE REPORT TO THE EXAM STAGE! Tbe principal and Vice principal started to make way towards the stage. They know about the bet made by Shen Xiu and Nie Li. Shen Xiu also came to the stage. "Ready to loose the bet! If you let you back out if you publicly apologize to me!" - Nie Li "I will not back out! I will uphold to the terms if you win!" - Shen Xiu. She cannot back down due to her pride and to prevent further humiliation. Nie Li just smiled and headed to the punching machine. BOOM! "Strength 100!" - examiner Everyone in our group was laughing due to the fact that Nie Li is controling his punch perfectly. The principal and vice principal notice us laughing and figured out he is hiding his true strength and just doing it to further insult teacher Shen Xiu. DING! "Soul Force 100! Final results 1-star bronze rank!" - examiner Shen Xiu left humiliated. And the Vice Principal announced that Nie Li will be his disciple. Later on, another giant crystal was brought to the stage. Only to be broken again by Xiao Ning''er. Once another replacement came, it exploded again. This time by Ye Ziyun. Then it was normal. They all thought all genius was chosen. Then the last examiner was called. STUDENT CHEN LONG! PLEASE REPORT TO THE EXAM STAGE! I came to the stage and looked to the punching machine. The guage only go up to 1000 which is a 1-star gold rank. I thought to myself "I better control my strength!". Since punching will show my true strength, i used a finger flick to the punching machine. KABOOOOOM! "EEEEEH!" i said. I just destroyed the punching machine with a flick of a finger. "This machine is way too fragile" i thought to myself. I then looked around me. Everyone was silent with their jaws hanged down. Even Nie Li and the guys were shocked as well. "OOPS!" i said "No need to test the crystal. I know you will only destroy it." - the principal said "So many geniuses this rear appear. The future is looking good, especially the commoner families." Afterwards, the principal announce the end of the examination and for all students to return to their perspective classrooms. We didn''t see teacher Shen Xiu. We found out later when the vice principal taken over our class and announced teacher Shen Xiu resigned. Shen Yue was greeting his teeth at Nie Li for what he did to his aunt. The rest of the class, excluding Shen Yue requeated Nie Li to help them with their cultivation. A couple of weeks past and everyones cultivation drastically increased except for Shen Yue. All thanks to Nie Li, they were hesitant to come to me because of my status. The 3 month summer vacation starts next week. Nie Li will go home to the main branch of the heavenly marks family. It was a whole day journey by horse carriage. He has been staying in the student dormitory during school days. As for me, Im planning to go back to the black market and train this whole vacation. Chapter 15 - CHAPTER 15: HOBBY The vacation started. Nie Li and the rest of the guys went back to their families. Most of them lived in the dormitories provided to them by the Orchid Institute, they all lived far away. Only major noble families lived near the school, so commoners is like a city away but still a part of Glory city. Xiao Ning''er and I unofficially agreed to started to see each other. Only a few people know of our relationship. She also now knows that I am a master class alchemist, bit i made sure her family doesn''t know. So I made her to keep the promise of secrecy. I gave a week supply of every cultivation pills I know, since we only see each other weekly from now on. We need to get stronger due to the dangers of the outside world. I told her about it, she was shocked when she found out there are cultivation higher than that of a legend rank cultivators. And that I was planning to go to the outside in the future. She wanted to go with me, so she diligently increased her training. So~, we only meet once a week. My father finally brokethrough the legend rank. So he got addicted to the energy of the legend rank, so he started a close-door training. We probably won''t see him for awhile. My uncle fei don''t want to be undone and went to a semi-closed door training. He was left in charge by father. Elder brother is helping my uncle since he will be the next successor. So I''m alone most of the time, which means i can do whatever I want. I went to a lot of demon spirit merchants and bought all demon beast spirit with a dragon bloodline. I was ready to breakthrough the black gold rank which will expand my soul realm to accommodate another demon spirit. I want a dragon this time. I want it to be stronger than the winged abyss tiger. So i will need a lot this time. I bought every demon spirits with dragon bloodline in the city. So my next stop is the black market merchants. I stopby the Alchemy ?ssociation to drop off my weekly contribution and got demon coins from my account in the alchemy bank. I ran out of money last time I went to the black market, so i am preparing myself this time around. My soul realm is still repairing, so i cannot transform into my beast form or use stealth. So Uncle Chen Yong volunteered to go with me. There is only one reason someone would volunteer to go to the black market. It was the brothel. That is the highest volume of income in the black market. I see alot of hooded nobles there. When we got there. We agreed to meet back in an hour at the entrance of the black market. So I started to go shopping. I bought all the demon spirit with dragon bloodline, then went to eat at a fancy restaurant with ingredients from endangered species which was illegal. It was so good, so Ieven packed some take home boxes to bring back. The archeologist in me cannot hold myself when i see an artifact ancient or not, so i bought them all. I went into a book merchant and asked for cultivation books both legal and forbidden books. I also bought all that has ancient manuscripts. I was so focused on shopping that i did not notice the time. I only noticed when Uncle Yong bumped his fist on my head. "Hey knucklehead! Its been 3 hours! Do you want me to get in trouble with my wife!" - Chen Yong. "Sorry Uncle Yong! I forgot about your curfew! hahaha!" - i said. My uncle Yong has a scary wife, I saw aunty beat him up in front of the family when he was caught flirting with the maids. She is a jealous type. And my uncle is the pervert type, he never learns his lesson. And so we headed back. No one dared to follow us since my uncle is releasing his aura, so everything went pretty smooth. As soon as i came home, I jetted to my room and took out my spoils. Some artifacts are sealed with writings i dont know. I taken a look at the books and manuscripts but also surprise that the ancient writings is different from what I know. It looks like I need to go decode this language again. This is going to take some time. I might need to visit some ancient ruins to find a key code like the rosetta stone. I then put them away back to the ring. I took out my nightmare demon pot and started practicing with poor growth rate dragon blood demon spirits. It lasted the whole day. The dragon bloodline spirits are very powerful and hard to combine. It feels like a dragon battle going on. Dragons hate loosing so the energies wont stop resisting each other. And this is only the poor growth rate. I decided to fix my soul realm first. So i can better utilize my soul force. So my closed door training started. "Yo little bro! Pack up! Were heading to Hong Yue Auction House. I received an invitation to attend! Well~actually it''s for father but i can''t disturb him and Uncle Fei is acting patriarch so that leaves only me and you! - Chen Linjian. "Can you get someone else! I am in the middle of my close-door training!" I said whiningly "Come on little bro! Live a little! Here check out the list they are auctioning! The last one is a mystery item with a starting bid of 8 million demon coins, it got to be good!" - Linjian I looked at the items. I saw a lot of artifacts, so I became interested. It''s the damn archeologist in me. So I agreed to go with him. It''s quite a distance away. We went with Huyan Lanruo his childhood friend and a couple of his personal bodyguards. Since he is the successor so he have his own personal body guards while i don''t. We arrived at night time so we stayed at the guest inn. Huyan was trying to hug elder brother the whole time, but elder brother keep resisting which made her mire interested. Huyan Lanruo have this power to make guys fall in love with her. She has her own fan club doing whatever she told them to do. Since elder brother and her are childhood friends, he developed a resistance to her power. Unfortunately, I am not immune. I sometimes blackout when I''m with her and wake up doing something i don''t know and remembering stuff i don''t want to mention doing. So i stay away from her as much as possible. The next day, we arrived at Hong Yue auction house. We were escorted to a VIP booth and sat down. The other booth next to us was noisy fighting the booth next to them. They were only minor nobles and aristocrats of the area. Then I heard one remark that i recognized, "heavenly marks family". So i took a peak on the other booth and saw a familiar face. "NIE LI!" -i shouted. He looked at my direction and was equally surprised. Chapter 16 - CHAPTER 16: HONG YUE AUCTION In the VIP both of Hong Yue auction house. I was surprised to see Nie Li. Huyan Lanruo immidiately disappeared from our both and appeared next to Nie Li hugging him. Making a lot of people in jealous of Nie Li. "A-aren''t you from the divine family!" said Nie Hai. "Yes! My name is Chen Long 2nd son of Chen Zhenlong! And this is my Older brother Chen Linjiang! It is a p???sur? to meet you!" i said "Ah yes! Lord Chen Long, I am Count Nie Hai Patriarch of the heavenly marks family! And this is Nie En the enforcer elder of the family! It is an honor my lord!" - Nie Hai "Please omit the lord part elder Nie Hai! Me and Nie Li are friends. As long as your good to him, then everything is all good!" i said "Same here! Nie Li is very useful in the tomb exploration i did! And since he is a friend of my brother, then he is a. friend of mine!" - elder bro Chen Linjian. "Oh yeah, that annoying octopus that has her tentacles around Nie Li is my chilhood friend Huyan Lanruo!" Nie Hai and Nie En was very shocked that Nie Li have major family big shots as friends. They are lost for words. The other aristocrat family from other booths suddenly came to our side of the VIP booth and tried to introduce themselves to us but I said I wasnt interested. "I don''t talk to people who are rude to my friend!" - I declared. Nie Li smiled. And tried to convince Huyan Lanruo that he already have someone that he loved. "Hey elder brother Linjian! Are you not jealous that your girlfriend is hugging someone else!" - i joked loudly to my elder brother. "You!" He got mad at me and hope Huyan Lanruo did not hear me. Huyan Lanruo suddenly appeared next to elder brother and hugged him while he resisted. "Uuuh~! You love me! Girlfriend am i you girlfriend now!" - Huyan Lanroa Elder Brother looked at me angrily. I just looked away while whistling. I went to Nie Li''s booth and sat next to Nie Li. We just talked about how life was and what has been happening. Nie Hai and Nie En was very stiff, afraid of offending a major family. I kept telling them to relax, my family don''t discriminate any household. I found out that 2 of the guest helped the Heavenly marks family during the time they were suppressed by the sacred family. I met with the 2 patriarch. They are Chi Feng the patriarch of the Tian Kui family and Li Yuan patriarch of the Li Yuan family. I gave them my family seal token, stating that if they are in any trouble then come find me. I will do whatever i can. They were very grateful to me but especially to Nie Li for introducing them. After it is known that Nie Li has big connections. The other aristocrat families started to apologize to Nie Hai for their rudeness. Some of them even left before the auction starts. So Nie Li doesn''t have to overbid ridiculous amount for trash items just to show he has money. Leaving my elder brother a chance to bid on stuff on a fair price. The auction starts.... "350...400...500..650...900! going once! twice!" "SOLD! For 900 demon coins to #31 Chen Linjian!" - auctioneer "2nd item...3rd item...4th item...!" - auctioneer "SOLD to #32 Nie Li!" - auctioneer "SOLD to #31 Chen Linjian!" - auctioneer "SOLD to #32 Nie Li!" - auctioneer "SOLD to #31 Chen Linjian - auctioneer These 2 won every bid. Its like a contest. Other bidders were getting restless. Then the auctioneer brang out cultivation pills to auction. Both of them did not bid at all. Everyone in the crowd saw that they were not bidding and started to take the chance to bid in their price range. Nie Li smiled and pass them an interspacial ring and told them a ridiculous amount of different cultivation pills. Nie En was shaking while holding the ring, the value of the stuff inside was phenomenal. "That is nothing! I have the same amount one of my rings!" i said, and toss it to them. "Consider it for looking after my friend here!" i said. Both was shaking now. The value in their hands can make some major family cry. "24th item is a gold rank suit from the snow wind era. In the suit, is a scarlet flame tiger demon spirit. The demon beast are all extinct. So this item is one of a kind item. The starting bid will be 60,000 demon coins!" - auctioneer "70,000!" - Chen Linjian "80,000!" - Nie Li 90,000....100,000...200,000...300,000... "grrrrrr!" - Nie Li "SOLD! For 1 million demon coins to #31 Chen Linjian!" - auctioneer "Hahaha! Eat that Nie Li! Hahaha!" - Linjian "I wanted that! But you told me the last item starts at 8 million. I have to have enough money for it!" - Nie Li "That''s right! And I can''t help you this time because elder brother Linjian might borrow money from me for that item! So,Sorry Nie Li!" i said "It''s okay! I''ll figure something out!" - Nie Li "25th item...26th item...!" - auctioneer All major families started pouring in. Including the Alchemy ?ssociation director Yang Xin. "Why is director Yang Xin here! Isn''t she supposed to be busy handling the alchemy ?ssociation?" - i said I whispered to him. "Can you trust her?" He nodded. So I arrange for Nie Li to introduce us later. "Our last item today is a mysterious pot that has a strange aura. Do not be fooled be it''s appearance. This pot strengthen demon spirits. It is said that anyone training their demon spirit near the pot, get a sudden boost of strength of demon spirit." - auctioneer Everyone gasp at the importance of the last item. Some started borrowing money aleeady. "Nightmare demon pot..." Nie Li whispered "The bidding will start at 8 million demon coins. We will now take a 30 minute break to allow people the time to acquire monetary amounts for the last item. Thank you!" - auctioneer. Nie Li got up and head to director Yang Xiu. My brother barged in. "Brother Long! How much demon coins you have with you!" - Linjian "I only brang 50 million demon coins!" i said I bid farewell for now to Nie Hai and Nie En. And went back to my brother''s VIP booth. Nie Li came back smiling. I already know he made a deal with directir Yang to get the item. The bidding started "20 million!" - stranger with heavy disguise "30 million!" - director Yang "35 million!" - Linjian And the 3 kept on bidding trying to outbid each other. "Hey Nie Li! That guy with the hat and disguise. I think he''s from the dark guild!" i said to Nie Li in the small opening between booths. "I think so too! We cant let them win the bid! Let us combine our reasources if my brother or director Yang cannot afford it!" i said We both agreed, watch the show of the bidding war. "100 million demon coins" - Chen Linjian It was silent for awhile, then "110 million demon coins" - stranger with disguise My brother sigh as he sat down giving up on the item. "125 million demon coins" - director Yang Everyone was silent, waiting for the next bid that seems like eternity "125 million going once...going twice..."- said th auctioneer, while looking for further bidders. "SOLD! For 125 million demon coins to bidder #75 Yang Xiu!" - auctioneer "This concludes today''s auction. On behalf of the Hong Yue auction house, We thank you for attending. Please have a safe trip home!" -auctioneer. "Uugh! I cant believe I lost!" yelled Linjian. "Hey Long you didn''t bid on anything?" " Yeah! Nothing really catched my eyes! I was just curious of the last item, but it didn''t impress me much!" i said. "Hey big brother! Nie Lie''s family is inviting us to their home! Wanna check it out!" i said "Uu! Uu! I''m in! I''m in!" - Huyan Lanruo He sigh."Well, you heard her! Once she put her mind on something, she wont stop till she gets it. And i am always dragged along for some ride most of the time!" - Chen Linjian Chapter 17 - CHAPTER 17: HEAVENLY MARKS Our group came down to pay and recieve the the bidded items. I also introduced myself to director Yang Xiu. "Greetings senior sister Yang Xiu, my name is Chen Long a master alchemist of the same organization!" i said while bowing respectfully. "Ah~! Now I remember you. You are the youngest master alchemist at 12 years old. You beat Nie Li by one year!" - she said "I cannot compare to Nie Li in knowledge, since he does have a master. Mine is all self taught!" i said "What?!" she said in surprise. "You came up with that flame-type cold resistance pill by yourself?!" "No,no! I saw that recipe through ancient scriptures. I have other ones, but I want to keep it a family secret!" - i said "Ooohh~! More pill recipe. This sister is getting interested." she said while moving her humongous br??st near my ?h?st. "Ummm! Look at the time. My brother is waiting for me! It was nice to meet you!" i said while running away from the situation. My group met up with Nie Li''s group outside the auction house. We all then headed to the Nothern border of Glory city where the Heavenly Marks Family is located. When arriving, we noticed the outer wall was badly damaged. "Do you need help in fixing the outer wall. Our family can finance the work needed to fix the outer wall. It is for the defense of Glory City." - Chen Linjian "No, no we cannot ask you to trouble yourself lord Chen Linjian! We already have work underway. Nie Li is financing the wall building!" - Nie Hai "More respect to you bro! Helping out the family is a really noble thing!" i said "Well, someone''s got to do it. Might as well be me!" - Nie Li. We were given lodgings at the main house of the heavenly marks family. I on the other hand requested to stay at Nie Li''s branch family house. I do not want to be near Huyan Lanruo when going to sleep. She did a prank on me before. She used her power and i ended up wearing a dress with female und?rw??r on. I introduce myself to Nie Li''s family. "Hi! My name is Chen Long of the devine family. It is an honor to meet all of you! I apologies for the inconvenience!" i said "Oh! I forgot to congratulate you for being appointed as elder for the public hall." i said "Hahaha! It was nothing. It was all thanks to Nie Li here. I''m very proud of him!" he said "Oh! where are my manners. Please sit and eat as much as you want. Make youself at home." he said nervously "Please! Just treat me normally, i am Nie Li''s friend afterall. To me, you guys are family!" They smiled and the nervousness gradually go away. Nie Yu asked me a bunch of stuff about school and told me stories of her adventures. The next day, me and Nie Li''s family headed to the main family house. It was a family brunch before leaving back home. Once we got there,we were just shocked and awe at what we are seeing. Almost all the teenagers are wearing dresses. I already know the culprit. She did it again. "Hahahaha!" - Huyan Lanruo Then he knocked Lanruo''s head "You Idiot!" "It is okay! But can you please snap them out of it!" - Nie hai She released them. And all of them screamed and ran back to their rooms to change. Okay, It was funny. Especially when some of them screamed like a girl. Must be the effect of the clothes i guess. During brunch, we were informed about Nie Li being invited by the Sacred Family for an event competition they are sponsoring. "I would love to go! I haven''t gambled for awhile!" - Huyan Lanruo "We can provide the lodging this time! Please let us handle anything you need during the event!" - Chen Linjian We said our goodbyes and agreed to meet the following week at our home in the capital. Once we got home, i went straight to my room and started cultivating. My soul realm is now repaired, so i start focusing in increasing my soul realm. I also practiced the ordinary growth dragon bloodline demon spirits in the nightmare demon pot. The next day, it was 100% success rate in fusing good growth dragon bloodline demon spirits. Then the next day again, it was success in the excellent growth rate. Then finally the extraordinary growth rate. I have 60 god growth dragon bloodline demon spirits. I cannot fuse these yet. I don''t have enough soul force to keep the fusing enegy together. I nees to breakthrough the black gold rank. I talked to my elder brother about heavenly energies. And he did say that he cultivated in a place full of it, but if you stay too long you will go insane. It was called heavenly sacred border. It is located in a subspace in the tower by the auditorium. "Only genius students 15 yrs and below are allowed to enter. I am planning to go over as soon as vacation ends!" - Chen Linjian "I am planning to go there after Nie Li''s competition. You wanna come with me!" i said "I''m game! Sure, i need to get away from Uncle Fei anyway. I hate doing paperworks." he said. A week later, we welcomed the heavenly marks family and lodge them within the family estate. The competition will be held the next day. Chapter 18 - CHAPTER 18: YOUTH COMPETITION Later that night, my father Chen Zhenlong came out of his close-door training dissapointed. The gap of a 1-star to a 2-star legend rank is so large. "I have overe 250,000 soul Force, but it seems that I feel like I''m still in the bottom of the barrel. I need to find another source to gather more energy. The surrounding energies arw too small" he said Uncle Fei and elder brother Linjian was shocked at the amount of power he has. "Well, according to the ancient text. You have to have a soul force of 1 million to breakthrough 5-star legend rank and 2 million to breakthrough Heavenly Fate Realm. So it might take you many years to breakthrough!" i said "I''m not surprised anymore since I can feel that I am still at the bottom. We might have to venture away from the city to find those energies. But my priority is the safetiness of the city, so I will hold out the training for now until Linjian can take over!" - Zhenlong We all talked for awhile and told him about things that had happen while he was cultivating. My dad was not too happy, when Uncle Fei talked about mountains of paperwork needed to be done and things related to the family business. While Uncle Fei was so happy to be rid of the acting patriarch job. He is not the type to be stuck in an office. "Oh Father! There is a youth competition tomorrow that Nie Li is competing. His family are at the main house!" - i said We went back to the dining hall and My father did a meet and greet. Nie Hai was a nervous wreck, but Nie Li''s family got along well with my father. The Next day came, and we all travelled to the Youth Competition Venue. We met up with Huyan Lanruo and her family. Her and her family was so ready to gamble that makes everyone feels that there are a bunch of Huyan Lanruos. We found our seats behind Nie Li''s family. Director Yang Xin is seated in front in a special chair. I saw Shen Ming with Shen Fei arriving. Nie Li stand up to get Shen Fei''s attention. "YOU!!!" Shen Fei shouted in anger. Nie Li Jumped and landing in front of Shen Fei "Hahaha! Little Shen Fei. Long time no see!" said Nie Li Shen Fei tried to avoid Nie Li by turning his back. Then Nie Li continued. "Ning''er talked a lot about you being so generous and honorable. I even help her by massag-!" he said when Shen Fei turned around and readied a punch in anger. "I''ll kill you!" he yelled while punching. Shen Ming apologized and calmed down Shen Fei. He brang out the subject of making a bet between Nie Li and Shen Fei. After some verbal argumemts, 50 million demon coins was agreed upon the bet. "Shen Fei! This is a sure win for you. Before crippling him, make sure he last 20 moves!" - Shen Ming said to Shen Fei. Everyone started to bet. Since the host bank is sacred family, we were not lenient. There was a 10:1 odds, so we make 10X the money we bet. I only bet 1 million and my brother bet 1 million also. My Uncle got greedy and bet 5 million demon coins. The Huyan Family only bet 2,000 demon coins each because they are unsure of Nie Li. The match started. Shen Fei rushed to Nie Li without transforming to his beast form. Nie Li quickly transformed in his panda form. Nie Li immediately appeared behind Shen Fei and knocked him out with a shop. Shen Fei is completely knocked out with a face indentation on the ground. Everyone in the crowd was dumbfounded. Everyone started to think the whole fight is rigged. Then someone in the crowd shout out. "Isn''t that a panda! Isn''t a panda a trash spirit!" guest A One by one the crowd started ridiculing the genius and the sacred family. "RAAAAAAAOORRRRR!" Shen Fei has starred to transform to his scarlet black tiger form. BOOM! Shen Fei was again knocked out. Everyone was just wondering what just happened. "He was taking to long to transform so i just gave a light chop in the neck!" - Nie Li Everyone started laughing around me. My brother is already have tears laughing. "We surrender, we will givw this fight to Nie Li!" - Shen Ming said Shen Fei heard the announcement and was enraged and started to transform again. "Nie Li! We already gave up! Stop this instance!" - Shen Ming yelled when Nie Li knocked Shen Fei to the ground. Nie Li transformed back to normal and made his way back to the stands. I made 10 million so I''m happy. I told the rest to get the money before the next bet. They might run out of money. Uncle Fei quickly disappeared and reappeared smiling with a ring containing 50 million demon coins. They were about to start the next fight. Nie Long was supposed to fight the next round but Shen Ming stopped him. "The wager/invitation is with Nie Li alone against the sacred family fighters. If you all want to give up might as well do it now!" - Shen Ming said "Isn''t that a little unfair to Nie Li! It is a bit underhanded in your part Shen Ming!" - director Yang Xin "He brang it upon himself for insulting our family. Besides we are the host of this years competition so we make the rules. If you don''t want to, you guys are free to go!" - said Shen Ming Nie Li volunteered to go on to the next fight. The betting started again. But due to the huge lost if demon coins, they rated the bets against Nie Li 2:1 ratio. The Huyan family got bummed out, they should have bet a big amount on the first betting. Me and My brother place 5 million each. The bank won''t accept Uncle Fei''s bet of 50 million, so he only betted 10 million demon coins. The Huyans also bet 5 million demon coins each. The second round was about to start. Nie Li and Shen Ming made a wager of 100 million demon coins. SECOND ROUND "NIE LI" VS "SHEN NING"! "ROARING FLAME STRIKE!" - Shen Ning BOOM! It missed Nie Li. You could see Nie Li was running around the arena in his panda form without attacking. Shen Ning got angry and again jumped into the air and fired multiple beams of fire covering the whole arena. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Tons of smoke covered the area. Most people think it was over then a figure appeared running through the field. Shen Ming became frustrated. He now jumped even higher. He prepares his final attack. He charged down like a comet. "FLAMING METEOR!" - Shen Ming "Gravity Field" - Nie Lie whispered Smoke filled the arena. Shen Ming was smiling at knowing he won the wager. The smoke dissipated and in the shock of everyone, it was Shen Ning on the ground unconscious while Nie Li is back to normal form standing next to him. Everyone in the crowd got angry because they lost so much money. They started to think the whole thing is rigged by the sacred family. Nie Li came back to the stands looking worn out, but I know better that this is an act of his. We all once again collected our winnings. We all made money today. The bank clerk went towards Shen Ming and reported about the finance. "What! We lost 350 million demon clubs!" He was in deep tought for awhile. "Sell some of my properties that i don''t need to cover the expenses. I need to win the next round to break even or I''m a goner." - Shen Ming "I''m too tired now to go on! Can we continue the comoetition tomorrow!" - Nie Li "No! The bet is only for today! If you back out now, then return the 150 million and we can forget about everything." - Shen Ming "Alright! But you have to make it worthwhile. How about 300 million demon coins" - Nie Li "No-no! It is too little! How about 450 million demon coins. I am betting everthing I have. How about it. Are you brave enough to accept it!" - Shen Ming "I''ll fork out the amount if needed for Nie Li" - director Yang Xin " I guess that says it! 450 million demon coins!" - Nie Li Then the bank clerk came towards Shen Ming. "Lord Ming! Please be reasonable. With that amount, all your property will be auctioned! And to cover the side bets, We might have to sell some sacred family properties." - bank clerk. "I authorize it! Don''t accept anything over 1 million demon coins. It''s do or die for me now, so I''m betting everything!" - Shen Ming We all heard the conversation so we headed to the betting booth with 1 million demon coins. Chapter 19 - CHAPTER 19: 600 MILLION The third round was about to start. Everyone placed the bet on Nie Li. The odds is now 1:1 so it will only double up. The bank clerk announced the limit bet is 1 million. So everyone put a million down on Nie Li. When Shen Xiao was about to head to the stage, Shen Ming handed him 2 pills of srrengthening pills. He was against it at first, but was promised rare resources if he wins. On the arena, Shen Xiao immidiately taken the the pills. His aura increased greatly, then went into a charge towards Nie Li without changing in his beast form. Nie Li immediately changed into his panda form and also charged towards Shen Xiao. BOOM! The match came out even. Both were shocked at each other strength. Shen Xiao immidiately changed int his scarlet dragon eagle form. He went into the air and brang out long range energy attacks. Shen Xiao Charged up for a big attack. And firedit towards Nie Li. Nie Li on the other hand also charge and fired. "Yin Yang Bomb!" - Nie Lie BOOOOOM! Nie Li was pushed by several steps, while Shen Xiao was thrown into the sky. Shen Xiao couldn''t accept what happened and again fired an energy beam towards Nie Li. PACK! Nie Li, using 1 hand slapped the energy back to Shen Xiao hitting his forehead. Since Long range attacks don''t work, he decided to go close range. He charged down to Nie Li. Once close enough, Nie Li made his move. "Gravity Field!" - Nie Li BOOM! Shen Fei immidiately got up and punched multiple times, but was all guarded and countered by Nie Li. He was loosing his patience. Every move got countered and returned with even double the amount of force. He lost it and flew up a few feet, and started to charged all his power. Nie Li on the other hand will not wait for the attack. He immidiately appeared behind him and karate chopped behind his neck with his full power. BOOOOM! The crater looked much more if a hole rathan than a crater. Shen Xiao was knocked unconcious. "THE WINNER, NIE LI!" - judge The crowd cheered for Nie Li. While Shen Ming was at the end of his leash. He can''t back out of the bet since there are too many witnesses. Nie Li asked the elder of his family to collect the winnings. Nie Li noticed Ye Ziyun about to leave the stands. He stopped her quickly. "Thanks! It was nothing. I just got lucky! Oh! I almost forgot!"- Nie Li. "Here!" He took a demon spirit core and handed it to Ziyun. "This one is called a demon spirit. It''s perfect for you attributes. Integrate it as soon as you get home!" They exchange more pleasantries that made it too cheezy so I shouted. "Get a room!" I yelled out Ziyun blushed and ran away. Nie Li was laughing and looked at me. "Thanks! I actually ran out things to say. But I was about to close it down!" - Nie Li After we got all our winnings. Most of the sacred family left, even Shen Ming. "I thought the sacred family is the host!" I said. The matches still went on. When it waa finished, everyone just went home. The closing ceremony got canceled. They couldn''t afford it. Nie Li of course, accepted it without care. We got back home and narrated to father what had happened. The sacred family is now in financial trouble. They have no choice but to sell some of their lands. So we planned on buying those deeds. Nie Hai thanked us for our hospitality and moved to the new residence bought to them by director Yang Xin. The next day, me and my older brother made plans to go train in the heavenly sacred border. We got the okay from dad to be gone for a week. We took a little detour to Xiao Ning''er House. We were told she went to the heavenly sacred border the day before yesterday. So we continued to head to the Holy Orchid Institute to get permission from the principal to enter the subspace. Chapter 20 - CHAPTER 20: PEAK BLACK GOLD RANK We reached the Holy orchid institute and got the permission to enter the tower. The principal explained to us that we are going to be seperated once entering the subspace. He also warned us that staying too long can damage your soul realm and might cripple your cultivation. Me and my elder brother nodded to the principal and headed to the tower. We entered the tower when suddenly, both of us got warp into a forest. I saw Ning''er meditating, but the space warped again. I was now alone in an empty white space. The energy was so amazing, that within a few minutes. WHOOSH! "Broken through the 1-star black gold rank." I sat down and meditated some more. The enegy is just plain amazing! I just soak it up like a sponge. I kinda feel sorry to my brother because he can only absorb the energy 30% at a time while i abosorb 100% through the heavenly god tactics. By the end of the day, I nearly brokethrough 2-star black gold. I took out my nightmare demon pot to start to fuse my dragon bloodline demon spirits. I concentrated extremely hard. While pouring my soul force to the pot, im also absorbing the energies outside. It was much easier to use the pot in this realm. I really need to get a realm like this one. The pot started shaking. KAPPUTT! I then tried again. The pot started shaking again. KAPPPUTT! "Dammit! What the hell am I doing wrong?!" I started thinking. I thought that i am focusing too much on the cores that i forgot to observe the energies and the pot itself. I again started the process. I started to notice that some energies are not going to the cores but the pot itself. I pour in some more energy into the pot. It started shaking. WHOOSH! ...KAAPPPUTTT! "Crap! It already merged but broke it the end! I need a way to stabilize the energy. I then think of an idea. Since the pot like to absorb energy. I might as well fill it up with as much energy as possible. So without the dwmon spirit cores. I meditated. I put 40% of absoption to the pot and 60% to my cultivation. The next day... "The pot started to repair itself. All the cracks started melding back together. The nightmare demon pot changed color. From black to dark green. "So unlike Nie Li''s Nightmare demon pot, mine levels up! Cool!." I said to myself I feel the change of aura. My brother brokethrough the 2-star black gold rank. He will almost catch up to uncle. And Ning''er brokethrough the gold rank. In the novel she was 5-star silver when she left the tower, but this time its better. I started to fuse the demon spirits again. KAAPPPUUTTT! - (failed) KAAPPPUUTTT! - (failed again) "Okay this is the last chance!" i said exitedly KAPPUTTT! - (failed) "Noooooo! What the hell! I all stories, the last try always succeeded." i yelled I just sat back up again and continued my cultivation, when i suddenly heard. "Your one funny kid young lad! I see your cultivation is not bad! Actually, all you kids have a good cultivation rank. I''m actually jealous." - Ye Yan I looked around and saw a ghostly figure in front of me. I then greeted me. "This one''s name is Chen Long of the divine family. It is an honor to meet you lord Ye Yan, the founder of the snow wind family and glory city!" i said "Oh! It''s good to meet yo-! W-wait a minute! You can see me! And you know who I am!" - Ye Yan ask. "Yes lord Ye Yan. I have studied the history of Glory City!" - i said "Hmm! I like you kid! Yes, my name is Ye Yan the founder. It seems the outside world got stronger. You might get to the pinnacle of legend rank like me!" - Ye Yan said "Ah yes! In due time. I will not only reach it, but surpass it." - i said. "There''s a cultivation past legend rank?" he asked "What!? Legend rank is only the beginning!? How come i never saw any!?" - Ye Yan "My guess is that you live in a remote village during the age of darkness. I read from ancient scriptures that there are sects on the outside world. Where the leaders are demigods. And the highest cultivation are that of the supreme beings. And one of the proof is the nightmare demon pot artifact i was holding earlier." - said "Tell me,what cultivation method are you using to get your cultivation go up so fast?" - Ye Yan I know in the novel, Nie Li gave him a hard time. I am not gonna do that to him. Being stuck here for a long time is enough punishement. "Well, to tell you the truth it is the heavenly god tactics technique. But i cannot teach you this cultivation, since you have a different foundation. The cultivation depends on ones attribute." i said. " Since you are frow the snow wind family, i think the heavenly lightning tactics is good for you. Ning''er is using it right now!" "Oh you mean that girl is using it?" he said. " So can you do me a favor and teach me this technique. In return I will give you these cultivation manuals!" I nodded and taught him the mantra. He was surprised of hiw powerful the technique was. He also gave me the books which I put to the ring. Even if it is useless to me, i can modify it to make it more powerful. "Hey kid! I know it is only a matter of time before you breakthrough legend rank! If you like, you can be my disciple!. But you have to come here for the lessons, im bound in this space!" he said "Sorry lord Ye Yan but I can''t! And I know about the thunder God''s meteorite sword that your bound to." "You can say that! I know a person who can help you take out the sword. He should be here any day now. He will also help you get a new body. I have no idea how, but I know there is a method in the higher cultivations." "Really?! That''s great! So i just have to wait for that fellow huh!" he said. "Lord Ye Yan! I have a favor! I would like you to take me to the thunder God''s meteorite sword. I would like to take the lightning tribulations to breakthrough in my cultivation. "Hmmm! It is very dangerous young man! Are you completely sure! There is no going back once you start until it ends!" - Ye Yan "Yes I am sure! I need to get stronger. There is a danger coming to glory city soon."- i said. He agreed and took me to a hill where the sword is located. There were thunder and lightning everywhere. "Okay! Here i go!" I activated stealth and raced through the pathway dodging a lot of lightnings. Once I was close enough, i sat down and meditated. I fought the spirits in the swords and was struck by lightning multiple times. I absorbed the lightning and heavenly energy holding the sword. I actually almost subdue the sword.But I''m gonna leave that to Nie Li. WHOOOOSH! (brokethrough 3-star) WHOOOOSH! ( brokethough 4-star) I almost brokethrough again but the lightning stopped. Everything was quite. I started to leave the hill. When I was far enough from the hill, the thunder and lightning started again. So i tried to go near again, then it stopped. I now know it was because I passed the tribulation. "You could have taken the sword kid!" -Ye Yan "It was to bulky! I want a katana!" - i said We went back to the place near Ning''er and my elder brother. My brother is about to breakthrough the 3-star black gold rank. I kinda feel sorry for surpassing my brother but well I want to be a supreme being. I just can''t wait for everyone. I sat down and cultivated again. Days go by, then I heard the sounds of argument and saw Nie Li arguing with Ye Yan. Nie Li can''t see me, since his mind is still in Ye Yan''s realm. Then Nie Li talked about the Thunder God''s Meteorite Sword. And everyone snap out from the imagination realm of Ye Yan. "Chen Long! Your here!" - Nie Li and Ning''er "You pass me little bro! I guess I need to train harder!" - Chen Long "Your guys aura! Your both black gold rank!" Nie Li shouted in alarm. "Shhhh! Keep it down. Don''t tell anyone okay! We want to keep a low profile!" - i said "I didn''t think ancient cultivation is this fast?" - Nie Li "I don''t want to answer that! So! your here for the sword huh! i said "H-how do you know?!" Nie Li "Well, we all have our secrets! I already saw it but wasnt interested in it. Go ahead and have it if you want. Most of the spirits are gone so it should be easier for you to get near it." i said "You may be my friend, but you know too much about me! I will find secrets about you soon enough Long!" - Nie Li I just smiled and started to cultivate again. Ning''er sat next to me and stared at me for awhile, then began to cultivate again. Chen Linjian decided to cultivate farther, to stay away from the 2 love birds. WHOOOSH! I finally brokethough the 5-star black gold rank. The energy is not high enough to breakthough the legend rank. The gap is to wide. So i decided to stop. Then i looked at Xiao Ning''er. WHOOSH! She brokethrough 2-star gold rank. I told her I''m leaving and if she wanted to go with me. She said she wanted to atleast be black gold rank. So she decided to stay a bit inside the sacred border. I gave her pills to last for 2 weeks and food and provisions. I then ask my brother if he will go too, but said he wants to breakthrough 5-star also before going out. This is his last chance, since he is already 15 years old. Nie Li came back with Ye Yan and the sword. We warped outside the tower and saw Du Ze and Lu Piao waiting outside. I greeted them, but seperated from the group. My goal is to buy all the dragon bloodline demon spirits. And also I missed the weekly contributions, so i need give double the amount. Nie Li and the group went to the blacksmith to make Ye Yan a soul puppet.