Writer's Note:

Chapter 18: The Adventurer's Guild

"Now you three behave yourselves," Ji Ting cried as she hugged her children. "Try not to kill another human, if you can help it. Even bandits are human."

"Are you crazy? You think I'll let live anyone who tried to kill me? I would not have massacred all those people a few months ago if I had such foolish thoughts," Yang scorned in his thoughts.

"I'll try to keep under control," Mei said.

"Yang?" Guo Feng asked.

"If they die, their defense wasn't adequate. Their deaths were their own fault," Yang shook his head. "Bandits are scum. They deserve to die, slowly and painfully."

"Don't be like him, Guo Lin," Ji Ting said. "You are still an innocent child. You stay that way."

"I'll try mom," Lin nodded.

"I'll need to slowly break in the habit," Yang thought. "That way his mind doesn't break later on in life."

"You will not make him like us," Mei whispered as they left the house before Lin.

"I had no intention. His upbringing is too fragile compared to ours. I know my own mind broke and I was filled with rage and hate. A part of me still is. Bandits is the start for a stable foundation. He'll know and learn to kill if the situation demands it. He's not a child. He is a teen too," Yang said.

"The love struck idiot," Mei muttered in agreement. "What's the use of love if you lack the cultivation. Just get strong and take a wife then."

"You already have such thoughts? Humans truly are weak to their own feelings," Yang said.

"You're human now too," Mei retorted.

"If only you knew just how wrong you are," Yang thought as they waited at the front gate of the school.

"Seems some of you had a rough goodbye," Guan Hai said as he saw Sun Yi, Lu Jing, and Guo Lin with red eyes.

"I was up late reading. I don't know if I packed enough books," Sun Yi said as he adjusted his glasses.

"I...I didn't cry," Lu Jing said, his sniffing betraying his words.

"When are we leaving?" Yang said. "I packed my essentials already."

"We are making a quick stop. It's time you got exposed to the world outside your city. You all probably never left in your whole lives," Guan Hai said. "We're going to the Adventurer's Guild. You will be more exposed to the world. You'll also meet mages there."

"Mages...." Yang scowled. "I hate those bastards."

"You've met one?" Shen Dong asked. "They've only been coming to our continent since the Day of the Eye and the Snake. They usually live in other continents were magic is not frowned upon. In our empire, we recognize them but it is an absolute truth that a practitioner is superior to a mage."

"What exactly is a mage?" Mei asked.

"Allow me," Sun Yi said. "Mages are humans born with no meridians suitable for cultivation. They are classified by nine ranks and the top rank, or tenth, rank called the Saint level. Rank One to Rank 8 mages are all inferior to practitioners of the same overall strength. The true mage threats are the Rank 9 and Saint Mages."

"They're fragile, their bodies as weak as a non-cultivator. Once you get in close range, they're nothing," Yang said. "You should all know a basic movement skill. Master those and those scum are easy executions just lined up for your slaughter," Yang said coldly. "Be it a practitioner or mage, they all look the same with their heads cut off. Just remember to not underestimate them. Their methods of fighting are not martial arts. One thing you should remember, being a mage is expensive. Thus, killing a mage is a profit."

"Cold words aside, he is correct," Shen Hua agreed. "Why are we going to the Adventurer's Guild?"

"We will get information of where the bandits are along the route to the capital. I did say you will hunt bandits for combat experience. You will also get connections to other continents as well as information about them. The Adventurer's Guild is an independent organization from the nations of the world. If you wish to travel the world, it is the best asset to have," Guan Hai said. "The best training is one in which you journey and experience the horrors and dangers of the world."

"Doesn't the Adventurer's Guild have a test?" Sun Yi asked.

"The receptionists there will explain it all. Let's get moving," Guan Hai said and led them away from the academy. After twenty minutes, they arrive before a two-story building in the outskirts of the city near the west gate. They noticed many people going in and out of the building. Some wore robes, some wore lavish armor, and some just wore strange, foreign clothes. It was quite a bizarre sight.

"Hello. Are you here to turn in a quest?" a female receptionist asked, looking at Guan Hai.

"Oh no. I am an A rank adventurer," Guan Hai said as he showed her a gold card.

"You were an adventurer?" Shen Hua asked.

"Let's just say I had a life before I entered the palace and was invited to the palace guards after a certain quest that saved the empire's important....luggage," Guan Hai said and turned to the receptionist. "I am here to register these eight kids. I'll pay the fee."

"Very well. You eight, please enter the door to your right. You will be tested there soon after," the receptionist smiled and gestured to the door by the counter. "You will be tested one by one."

"I'll go last," Yang said as he went to a desk and sat down.

"Hey kid. You ain't a member yet. Get off the desk," a man said as he and three others appeared.

Yang grinned and lunged at them. One gist broke the mouth of one man as he kicked the solar plexus of another, causing the man to throw up his breakfast. The last man's eyes widened in surprise as he saw a spear point between his eyes, Yang rolling his head.

"You people are only at the Spirit Forming Stage. You think you're my superior?" Yang said as he smashed the man's face with his spear, hitting the back of the ankle with the butt of the spear to make the man back flip onto his face. He bent down and grabbed the man's head by his hair. "I have more combat and killed more people than you can ever achieve in your pathetic lifetime."

"Ugh," the man groaned as Yang slammed his head on the floor.

"Yeah, I'll go last," Yang grinned as he leaned back on the chair where he sat last. No one did anything to him as strength was the law of the land. They were shocked to discover someone so young already at the Elemental Adept stage. After an hour, it was finally Yang's turn. No one ever returned, so Yang assumed they were waiting for everyone inside so as to not reveal what the test was.

As he walked through the door, he appeared in a long hall. Past the door was a giant room with the others seated on the right. Three people stood at the left side of the room with a long, rectangular desk before them. He walked to the center of the room and faced them.

"First name and clan name?" one asked.

"Yang of the Guo Clan," he answered.

"Fighting style?" another asked.

"I use a spear as my main weapon," he answered.

"If you saw a village under attack by bandits, what would you do?" they asked.

"Kill all but one of the bandits. Then, I would follow the bandit to their headquarters and wipe them out," Yang answered.

"Have you ever killed someone?" a man asked.

"Yes," Yang sighed. "What kind of test is this? Let's justfight and get it over with. I know only one of you is at the Element Adept Stage. If I beat him, I want his guild rank."

"Cheeky brat!" the middle man said and rushed toward Yang. Yang simply stood there and then a red blur came from his right sleeve and landed on the man's neck. It was a bright red snake. The man's eyes widened as he reached for his neck, feeling the poison spread. Yang grinned and took out his spear, smashing the man in the face. He used his Moon Slicer Art to cut several wounds, deep enough to leave scars, on the man's chest.

"Ah, initial Element Adept. Another man who assumes I am at the Spirit Forming Stage because of my age. Do you not have spirit sensitivity? Can you not sense the depths of the power of my cultivation. Do you really have no eyes?" Yang mocked as he grabbed the man by the throat and lifted him in the air. "I am fourteen years old and a late stage Element Adept. You look around thirty. You should be ashamed."

"Henry!" the man on the far left of the desk cried and looked at Yang with fury. Yang recognized that look and smirked as the man lunged at him. However, the man did not see Red Death extend to its full size of an eighty feet long and seven feet thick snake. The man was bitten from the center of his chest.

"Oh, he's not food. Put the Spirit Forming man down. I'll find you lunch later," Yang ordered, the snake spitting him at the previously poisoned man, Yang healing them soon after. "You attacked me, my snake and I retaliated. You can only blame yourself for your humiliation."

"You won't challenge me?" the final man asked.

"Unlike them, I have eyes. You are someone at the late Meteor Vessel Stage. You are probably the top practitioner here. I'm no idiot and I did not do anything wrong. All I asked was for a challenge and he attacked me without address," Yang grinned.

"He's acting evil again," Shen Hua sighed.

"Not evil, but devious," Mei said. "He means to use their defeats to reach the C rank. He wanted to prove that he had the necessary strength to be at that rank, avoiding the trouble of doing missions to get the rank altogether. Not only that, people will find out he did this and those of the C rank will challenge him. He will either beat them up or kill them, taking their items as a reward. This is my youngest brother. This is how he operates."

"Yang has always been devious. He never really showed it until that day in the cafeteria," Guo Lin nodded. "His power and skill is not his most dangerous aspect. Not even his poison is the true danger. The true danger is his intelligence. He is beyond cunning. He has the people around him wrapped around his fingers, even if they don't know it."

"That's our future," Shen Dong, Shen Hua, and Sima Qing (Shen Qing) thought in unison as they glanced at one another.

"You have proven yourself at the C rank, maybe even B rank. However, that is just based on your cultivation. I will give you a D rank, not an F or E rank," the man said, giving Yang a gold card with his name, cultivation, rank, and other information on it. "It seems your performance two and a half months ago was no fluke."

"I suppose it will do. I can always do a C rank promotion mission, is that right?" Yang asked.

"Indeed. The ranks, from lowest to highest, are F, E, D, C, B, A, and S. There are many different kinds of missions. Not all people at the C rank are necessarily at the Element Adept Stage or mage equivalent. Now, I and Guan Hai will discuss the matter of the bandit hideouts and recent raid locations on the way to the capital. You may all leave now."

"This little card does so much?" Yang sighed as the eight of them left to buy some armor and weapons while Guan Hai was at the Adventurer's Guild. Everyone went in different directions, save for Sun Yi.

"Did you get what I asked?" Yang asked.

"Of course. Naturally, no one knows of my connection to you," Sun Yi grinned as he adjusted his glasses. "No one ever sees the man in the background."

"So this is the book you spoke of?" Yang asked as he skimmed through it. "Hmph. So this is the book on the history of the creation of the Song Dynasty. A clue to the location of some Fragments of the Elemental Sovereign of Lightning should be in here. You did good."

"Of course. It is with your assistance that I even became an initial Spirit Forming stage practitioner before the tournament. You recognized my intellect from the day we met and we planned from the shadows," Sun Yi smirked.

"Strength does conquer all, but blind strength fails in the end. Not even my sister knows of our affiliation. Did you find where the Blue Heart String Phoenix of our old teacher is kept?" Yang asked.

"Of course. Here is its magical core," Sun Yi said. "I thank you for giving my clan poisons. So far, the Book Keepers has been getting good business. Who would expect librarians to be assassins? We have gained much treasures from our targets and many spirit coins from our clients. Here is the crystal card. Within is this month's cut."

"Ah, it's good to be rich. I suppose this is one thing magical beasts and humans have. Are you certain one of the bandit hideouts has the snake magical beast I am searching for?" Yang said as he pocketed a five inch magical core and a diamond card into his storage ring.

"Yes. I also inquired about Lu Jing's personality, as you requested. I'm positive my acting fooled everyone," Sun Yi nodded.

"Good. I was once the sovereign of this world. I was once at the peak and looked down at my enemies and laughed. I was the World Serpent, but I was not ready to embrace immortality in the Mortal Realm. I was afraid of the unknown. I was too attached to this world," Yang began as he stared at the sky while they walked through the street.. "This time, I am not. This time, I will make the world kneel before me as I once did a thousand years ago. Until then, collect new poisons for my cultivation and more snake magical beasts."

"Is the war going to begin?" Sun Yi asked.

"Not yet. Only the search. The eldest of dragons and magical beasts should know what the two words, World Serpent, truly means. Humans who excel in research should also know. They will come with their personnel to the Pangu Continent. Some already have. My numbers are too few. Now, the prince finally believed himself to be successful of my help. With him on the throne, I will have more forces under my control," Yang laughed.

"Yes. I hope you will not remember the last term of our agreement?" Sun Yi asked.

"Of course not. I will leave the crown prince for you to kill. As you said many weeks before, he is a pervert. He must have raped many maids with his lust. Your words about the second prince was also correct. That man has also pocketed cultivation resources which were supposed to be given to the army. Both are plagues in this world and you will have their heads. In this matter, what I do won't arouse the suspicions of Shen Dong. It is Shen Wukong, the emperor, who is the problem. Your spies are within the palace, no?"

"They are. The roots of the Book Keepers goes deep. The Sun Clan was once one of the many imperial clans that used to rule a kingdom in the Pangu Continent. The Shen Clan destroyed many kingdoms, like my own clan's, and united the continent under one ruler. We also want our vengeance," Sun Yi said, his knuckles turning white as he clenched them so hard.

"Our first mission is to pull the fourth prince forward and make him noticed by those two idiot princes. Shen Dong will slowly rise and no will care what happens to the two eldest princes when they fall from grace. I trust all their information will be available when we arrive in the capital?" Yang asked.

"Of course. You should also visit some of the palace maids. Only the most beautiful are chosen and are also ready to attend your bedside, if they were to be told of your power and influence," Sun Yi nodded his head.

"Nothing wrong with mating for pleasure. During our visit to the capital, we must be sure to break the influence of many of their supporters as possible. You also got accepted to the Royal Academy. I also got accepted but have not given my answer. It is probably yes as the academy is near the palace. No one will notice me helping Shen Dong from the shadows. When our arrangements are being made, ensure that we are roommates and to have a secret passage made to connect us to the palace and another entrance within to connect to Shen Dong's room. Only the latter passage should be known to him. Go now and tell your father," Yang ordered.

"Yes, My Lord," Sun Yi said and left. They were currently in front of an alley in the area and three people had heard their conversation, paling as Yang grinned at them.

"Red Death, I do believe I found you your lunch I promised," Yang said and screams soon sounded deep within the alley. So far, he would only have to worry about contingencies to the plan and eliminate those incompetents in his way. He smiled as Red Death was swallowing the men in its body and stored the other two corpses to feed to the snake later.

"They are a little weak master," Red Death said as a huge bulge appeared in its body. "Not enough spirit energy in their flesh. It won't take long to digest."

"Don't worry, Red Death. We will be hunting bandits outside the city soon. My only worry is that you will get fat," Yang said and laugh maniacally as he headed to the west gate, people staring at them with horrified expressions as they could only imagine the bulge in Red Death.