Chapter 110: First Victory.

'Strange. I could have sworn that I saw somebody just there.' He thought for a minute before turning back to Jasper who was still looking at him but with a little bit of confusion on his face.

"Are you okay? You look…" Jasper began to ask.

"I'm fine. I just thought that somebody was watching me. It was probably nothing. I doubt I have to worry about it." Haru explained.

"Oh, By the way… Why are you wearing a mask? People usually come here to make a name for themselves it looks like you are trying to do the opposite." Jasper asked Haru.

"Well. If you don't have a name for yourself you are seen as week right? So if I end up killing someone who has a family with strong cultivators they will hunt me down because I will be seen as weak. I don't want to deal with the hassle of being chased back home by a strong old man." Haru laughed.

"So you plan on killing the people you match up against? Not many people have the confidence to say something like that. You must be pretty strong right? Or do you have a secret weapon?" Jasper asked. He seemed to be sizing Haru up but it also didn't seem like he had any ulterior motive. He was just interested.

"I wouldn't say I am strong. I would look pretty stupid if I claimed to be strong and then get my ass kicked the first time that I thought someone. And for secret weapons. I only came here to fight using a sword. I wanted to improve my swordsmanship so my teacher me to come here." Haru replied.

"Damn. You must be pretty strong for your cultivation level. Or your teacher is just an idiot. This place has been more like a war zone than a training area for the last couple hundred years.

The demon clan finally got a seat at the temple so they are feeling reckless and more of them come here to kill members of the other clans just for fun.

I hope you don't get hurt you seem like a good kid. At first, I thought you might be here to help fight against the demons. But It looks like you genuinely just want to train yourself." Jasper said.

The whole time they were talking they slowly shuffled closer to the front of the line and without realising it was already Jaspers turn to sign up for a fight.

"Wow, That didn't feel like it took too long. It was fun talking to you to pass the time." Jasper then turned to the tablet-like system made out of pure Qi and pressed a single button on the screen.

"Fight." The button said and as soon as he pressed it he vanished into thin air.

Haru took a step back when he saw it. 'Woah, It is just that simple? I thought there would be a small amount of time between pressing the button but that was instant.' He thought before stepping closer to it and then taking a second to look at the screen.

There was nothing to see. Just a small box of text that said fight. Haru didn't hesitate. He was more interested to see where it would lead so he pressed the button without a second thought.

Suddenly his body felt weightless as the ground vanished from beneath his feet and the air around him seemed to swirl. Then within a second of him adjusting to the feeling, he felt the ground beneath him once again.

He looked around at the new scenery. It was unlike anywhere he had been before. The ground seemed to be like dirt but was pure black in colour. It had a rotten stench as weird visible fumes began to rise from the dirt.

"Ah, It's good to see a fellow human clansman." A voice called out from behind Haru.

Haru turned to see a man who looked to be in his early twenties. He had long black hair and had no sign of ageing so he knew that they were similar in age. Although his clothes were fancy and similar to the clothes that they wore back in the black star sect. It seemed to be common that cultivators would wear long clothes and robes.

It was probably the reason why people gave him strange looks when he was signing up to fight. His soul had just copied the form of his body so he was wearing the same shorts and t-shirt that he had gone out wearing.

"I was hoping since we are both from the same clan you could do me a favour and admit defeat. I would rather not injure you." The man said bluntly.

Haru chuckled for a second before the man in front of him stomped his foot on the ground.

"Did I say something funny? I am trying to be respectful." The man exclaimed.

"Oh, Sorry no. I was laughing because you were being so blunt. But the answer is no. I am not going to admit defeat without knowing if I can beat you are not.

"Fine then. How's this?" The man said and then leapt toward Haru with a sword. He seemed slow. Well in comparison to Haru's speed it was nothing.

Haru pulled out his own sword and made a block using the simple technique that Lao had taught to him. The blade and the man both stopped immediately. The sword form Haru was using was more stable than his own and it showed with the single exchange of blows.

"Okay. I admit you are a bit stronger than you look. But if you want to win then you will have to gather more power than me!" The man shouted before retreating and running away into the distance to defeat soul entities.

'What a weird guy… I wonder what these soul entities are like anyway. Lao said they can come in many different forms. They seem interesting. But I should probably focus on cultivating the natural Qi from this place. Although it seems kind of evil.' Haru thought and then sat down on the floor.

"Wait. Don't." Kun said from the inside of Haru's soul. The voice reverberated through his head.

"Why what's up?" Haru asked It wasn't like Kun to warn Haru about things.

"The Qi here. It is a demonic Qi. If you want to absorb it then You will need to purify it. If you just absorb it now then you will die. You don't practice a demonic cultivation technique." Kun said matter of factly.

"Um… Then how do I purify the Qi?" Haru asked.

"That is easy. Just create a barrier around you using my fire. Phoenix flame can burn through anything so demonic Qi is nothing." Kun said proudly.

Haru then once again closed his eyes and then created a barrier of golden flames around his body before absorbing the natural Qi that the small world had to offer.

The Qi was flowing toward Haru much faster than the Qi on earth. In fact, it was much faster than the Qi inside the cave pool formation. Not to mention the purity of the Qi.

With every breath, it was like he had just eaten something containing mint. It was refreshing but kind of stung in a strange way as his body absorbed the pure Qi. He carried on absorbing the Qi for what seemed like hours until he felt the ground shake beneath his feet.

He then opened his eyes to see the man was now stood no more than a hundred metres away from him and had his sword drawn and hanging down next to his left leg.

"Are you an idiot or something? You waisted all the time you could have spent killing soul entities to sit here and play with fire? Don't be so confident in yourself I am much stronger than the last time we exchanged blows. There is no way you can stop me now." The man said before rushing Haru with his sword drawn.

The power Haru felt in his dantian was much more powerful than it was previously. 'It must be the effects of my flooded soul ocean. I feel like I can break through to the next realm at any second but I am not being forced to breakthrough.

My Qi just keeps going up and up with every second I cultivate. I don't even know what stage I would be at if I broke through right now…' Haru thought in the few moments he had to bring his sword up to his face to block the attack the man had launched.

With just a twist of his wrist, Haru broke past the man's defence by knocking the blade away and taking a step forward at the same time. The distances were now messed up. The man opposing Haru couldn't switch to a close-range fighting style before Haru's sword quickly slashed his neck.

The soul form of the man's body vanished much like Jasper did before it was Haru's turn to fight. 'Does that mean he is dead or he admitted defeat?' Haru thought before the sound of a bell rang out across the land.

"Congratulations on winning your first fight. Luo Yang, you are now ranked at number five hundred and sixty-three million in our whole tempering ground. Congratulations on moving up in rank.

You will now be forced to exit the small world." A woman's voice called out from the sky. She sounded tired like she had said the same thing over and over again for many years.

Suddenly the ground vanished beneath Haru's feet once again and the same feeling of spiralling air wrapped around his body before he was thrown into a blinding light.