The day was at its peak, but due to the snowy weather, it couldn’t thrive in its usual manner, as the droplets of snow fell upon the lively city. The final days of the ‘Talent Selection’ were closing in, and the atmosphere in Machen Town was vaguely undergoing invisible changes, as many powerful and unfamiliar faces slowly began to seep into this ordinary town. The once humble and straightforward town became a dwelling place for sleeping dragons and crouching tigers.

However, despite this change, the citizens of Machen continued to enjoy the merry and joyful mood. As recently, even the battle arenas that had only a limited amount of people began to swarm with unusual and renowned characters.

∞∞∞

A vast mansion stood proudly at the center of Machen town. It was about twice the size of the Feng Clan mansion. Hung atop its gates was an iconic symbol that carried a high amount of local prestige, this place was the Town Lord Mansion.

Standing in front of its gates were two town guards wearing standard armor, both giving off a cultivation level like that of a 9 Tier Body Training realm practitioner.

Inside of this mansion, within a decorated and luxurious room. A few individuals were seated around a pristine glass table, a middle-aged man who had a mature lady seated quietly by his side, while on the opposing side of the table, was a voluminous looking young woman and an arrogant looking young man.

The middle-aged man and mature woman were currently doing their best to offer their most hospitable service to these two individuals.

“Madam Xuan, Young Master Bei, this lord feels honored to have been given a chance to cater for such prominent individuals from the capital city,” The middle-aged man said as he bowed slightly.

Seeing this, the arrogant looking man nodded and replied, “Of course, usually we would not even place such an insignificant place in the eyes of my Bright Flame Kingdom. You should be honored. Now then, about that matter, my father inquired, have you gathered the necessary information?”

A solemn look appeared in the eyes of the middle-aged man as he heard those words. He then looked towards the mature woman by his side and nodded, as she saw his gesture, she promptly took out a piece of jade slip and passed it over to the arrogant young man.

After taking the jade slip, the arrogant young man quickly scanned the information concealed within it, “Oho! Interesting...” He said as he tapped his fingers on the table curiously.

Hearing the words of the individual beside her, Madam Xuan couldn’t help but gain an interest, she looked towards him and said in an unsatisfied manner.

“Bei child, aren’t you going to share the information with me?”

“Humph! We’re leaving,” Not bothering to reply to her, the arrogant young man quickly got himself up and made his way towards the entrance of the mansion.

Seeing this, Madam Xuan could only shake her head and follow him as she said dismissively to the two people behind her, “You’ve done well gathering what we asked for, as such, compensation will be sent to your abode within three weeks’ time. Now then, I will be excusing myself.”

Witnessing the scene before them, the Town Lord and his wife could only grit their teeth silently as they complained under their breaths.

“Sigh... this is the third one that has visited our mansion this passing month. Each of these influences has asked about the same kind of information. Darling, it looks like this Talent Selection won’t be a simple one,” The middle-aged man said with a weary look on his face.

“It doesn’t matter; it has nothing to do with us, as long as we stay out of these troubled waters we will be able to continue just fine,” The mature woman said as he looked at the direction the two characters left with a severe expression.

“Un. Indeed, we do not need to partake in this scheme,” The Town Lord replied.

∞∞∞

Inside of the Feng Clan mansion within an unoccupied courtyard.

A young man could be seen walking towards a structure nearby the frozen pond, where the fragrant scent of roses permeated the air. Around this building, a garden of flowers had been artfully arranged, giving the area a slightly colorful taste within the snowy monotones of winter’s change.

At the center of this garden was a small structure with a few neatly positioned seats inside. Seated on one of these seats was a beautiful looking young woman, who seemed free from the mundane constraints of the world as she quietly and peacefully read her book.

As Feng Yu approached, he couldn’t help but feel a slight sense of tranquility as his mood instantly became several times better. Vaguely, his overall abilities, including his martial comprehension and his cultivation, had small indications of breakthroughs.

However, this peaceful mood did not last forever, as upon seeing Feng Yu appear in the garden, the quiet aunty instantly became her usual self once more. She jumped from her position, reaching high into the air while she somersaulted before gracefully landing right in front of Feng Yu.

“So, Yu’er has finally decided to visit aunty! Come quickly, let aunty have a look at your strength!” As if she was waiting for an awfully long time and couldn’t hold back any longer, Feng Xingyu quickly started to unleash attacks towards Feng Yu.

As he was not expecting such a sudden change, Feng Yu became filled with shock. Quickly he tried to explain his purpose for coming here, “Aunty no! I came for a reaso---” Before he could finish, he was caught into a ‘clothesline’ that firmly wrapped around his neck.

He was violently pulled into the air as Feng Xingyu jumped to the sky. Soon, she revolved her body with him gripped firmly in her clutches, increasing her momentum before falling downwards at bolting speeds, smashing Feng Yu into the field of snowy roses creating a white cloud of dust.

“Araaaaghhh!” A mournful howl resounded throughout the Feng Clan as all the younger generation elders trembled, most of them revealing an expression of deep reminiscence.

Inside of the clan master’s hall, Feng Yunlong and Feng Junling sat as they discussed family matters. Suddenly they heard the scream, and Feng Junling couldn’t help but reveal a slightly mocking expression. Seeing this scene, Feng Yunlong couldn’t remain silent.

“Why didn’t you warn Yu’er about Xingyu’s behavioral patterns?” Feng Yunlong said as he looked towards Feng Junling.

“Isn’t it for the same reason you did,” Feng Junling replied as he sipped the tea from the cup in his hand.

An embarrassed expression appeared on Feng Yunlong’s face as he replied, “That’s, that’s because...” But soon, he quickly recovered and placed on a more serious expression as he continued.

“Humph! A Young Phoenix cannot grow unperturbed, it must learn to face all circumstances including the unexpected, “Feng Yunlong said with a deep and profound expression.

Seeing his brother like this, Feng Junling sneered in his heart as he thought back to the days of early childhood. The form of small Xingyu violently beating the slightly older Feng Yunlong with utter dominance as she flaunted her immense innate divine strength.

As he thought up the here, he suddenly sighed, “Such a pity, Xingyu’s circumstances are the most troublesome of us all, born with unlimited divine strength yet unable to use it due to the limitations of our family.”

A pensive look appeared on Feng Yunlong’s face as he also replied while looking out the window towards the garden covered with white clouds of dust in the distance, “A pity it is indeed...”

Within a few moments, the dust cloud that blanketed the garden had begun to fade away, as snow began to fill the cleared earth once again. The figure of Feng Yu was now in a sorry state. He picked himself up off the ground while rubbing his neck as he looked at the happy mood his aunt was in after a moment of triumph.

“Sigh, how could I forget to look up the memories I have on this aunty of mine? Eh? There’s nothing,” Feng said in surprise as he realized that there was no memory of his aunt behaving in such a violent manner before.

Seeing her nephew who held his head down while rubbing his neck, a gentler expression soon came on the battle crazed female face. She walked over and lifted him off the ground while offering to counsel.

“There nephew don’t go crying on me now; It’s only a process of initiation. Now that you are truly apart of the clan’s cultivators, you would have had to be given the ritual done to many,” Feng Xingyu said in a reasonable tone of voice.

Hearing this, Feng Yu instantly felt like vomiting blood, “A Ritual? You call beating the heck out me a ritual... sigh,” He thought inwardly. Soon, however, he forced himself to stay on track and inquire about his problem.

“Aunty Xingyu, it’s ok, I’m fine. I only came to ask today for your help regarding a matter,” Feng Yu asked as he quickly regained his composure and stood before Feng Xingyu.

Hearing Feng Yu’s statement, a severe look soon came of Feng Xingyu’s face as she replied, “You want auntie’s help, ok I will help you, but first Yu’er will have to make a promise to aunty.”

“A promise? What kind of promise?” Feng Yu asked curiously and cautiously.

“It’s nothing overly dramatic, aunty just wants Yu’er to do something for her,” Feng Xingyu said in a more reassuring tone.

“Ok, tell me what it is you need me to do,” Feng Yu responded after hearing her statement.

“Good! That’s my Yu’er. It’s like this ever since aunty was but a small child. I had always been blessed with an unusually powerful innate divine power. As such, when it comes down to physical combat, I had no equal. But this comes at the cost of having terminated inner aura cultivation veins, and as our Feng Clan does not have any types of body cultivation techniques that are suitable for our bloodline, my strength has always remained limited unable to advance the slightest. If Yu’er promises to create a suitable technique for aunty, aunty will do her best to aid Yu’er,” Feng Xingyu said as she looked towards Feng Yu with hints of expectation.

Hearing her circumstances, a look of understanding soon came across Feng Yu’s face, “It seems that aunty is suffering from a comparable situation to my lack of talent in my past life. Only, in her case, it’s having talent but not the means,” He then arranged his thoughts and firmly replied, “Aunty Xingyu, Yu’er promises to do his best and make to the most powerful body cultivation technique for your practice,”

“Good, good! Now, quickly tell aunty what you need help with,” Feng Xingyu said in a happy mood as she saw her nephew’s determination for her sake.

“Aunty Xingyu, it’s like this, I currently walk the path of a dual swordsman, but I am missing a second sword. I was wondering if aunty would know where I could get another sword, one that is similar to the quality of the one I have on my back,” As he said this, he quickly reached for Black-Lightning and unsheathed it in front of her.

Shing! Upon seeing the sword in front of her, a curious gleam appeared within Feng Xingyu’s eyes, she quickly reached her hand out and took the sword before gently stroking the surface of its blade.

“Oh, a top-tier mortal rank sword, this is a pretty good weapon... wait, something’s wrong the aura it emits is that of a mortal ranked sword, but it seems as if it is about to advance to the low-tier earth rank. Little Yu’er, what’s going on? Did you create a lifeblood weapon?” Aunty Xingyu curiously asked as she looked at the sword in surprise.

“Yes aunty, I had chosen this weapon to be my first primary life weapon, is there any weapon of a similar grade in Machen?” Feng Yu asked as he gently stroked the hilt of Black-Lightning.

“Hmm, well, while the materials used for this sword aren’t the best, it is still ranked at the finest class within its grade. If you want to find a sword like this in a small city like this, it would be the same as trying to find a needle in a haystack,” Feng Xingyu replied as she placed her finger on her lips while pondering.

Hearing this, Feng Yu became disappointed as he decided to leave and search elsewhere Feng Xingyu made an exclamation, “Hmmm, wait! I just remembered something; how could I forget something so important? Little Yu’er, you may be in luck if it was any other time you may not have been able to find such a weapon. But it just so happens that in two days, there will be a special event in Machen’s biggest merchant facility.”

“Oh? What’s that?” Feng Yu asked in a curious tone.

“The annual auction of the Mystery Pavilion!” Feng Xingyu responded with an excited expression on her face.