The violet glowing bamboo forest spread out as far as the eye could see. Looking from the ground, one could not see the end of the forests’s height, it was as if the mighty heaven was supported by the forest. Everything was engulfed into a dark void giving one a sense of loss, however, the darkness was not eerie as the void itself was engulfed in numerous ethereal violet rays of light.

A land of immortals! This was the first thought that would flash through one’s heart when met with such a sight.

A sudden roar like laughter suddenly broke the deathly silence that permeated the forest. In one particular spot inside the bamboo forest, an old man with white hair flowing down his shoulders, had his head thrown back as he laughed heartily.

The natural energies condensed into a screen floating in front of the old man. A young figure could be seen inside the screen as it stood in front of a stone seat with numerous ancient looking symbols engraved on it.

“First, the Primordial God Physique, now trying to form a Demonic Soul! Hahaha, truly worthy of being the possessor of the Sky Symbol!”

“Who would have thought that one of the three ancestral symbols, that caused a great war even in the ancient times, would end up in an ordinary human’s possession… It’s been five million years already,” The old man laughed as his eyes seemed to shot through the heavens. Despite his merry appearance, there was a melancholic expression flashing through his eyes, “What exactly have you two done? For such a monster to be born between mortals, one time is already enough, but now another one appeared!”

“Even that lass’s appearance is too similar to be just a coincidence.” At this point the old man stopped laughing and looked at the screen again. “I don’t feel their bloodline on him, he’s just an ordinary mortal. However, he possess the Sky Symbol that was thought to have been destroyed back then.”

“Sigh, this is no mere coincidence! Old friend, what exactly are you planning? Do you intend to let such a heavy burden fall on the shoulders of a mortal again?” A gentle look flashed through the old man’s eyes as he looked at the silhouette inside the screen.

He shook his head slightly, “When the time comes, he would make his own decision. Us old fellows don’t have the power to intervene anymore… Mn, I wonder if the other two felt his presence yet?

……

Inside the room, Qing Yun looked outside the window at the sun that just barely showed itself on the horizon. There were no people outside as it was still to early.

After glancing at the stone seat one more time, he walked out with light steps. If an expert were to see this sight, they would certainly be awestruck, even with the eyes of an ordinary person it would still look out of ordinary. Although it was hard to notice, there was a certain profoundness in every step Qing Yun took. He walked with small light steps, however every time he took a step it seemed as if he took two.

A calm smile on his face, Qing Yun made his way to a secluded corner of the courtyard as if his profound steps were a given. After a slight pause his hands began to form several seals. The Primordial Qi flowed from the crystalline core towards his hands as the last seal was completed.

“Sky Splitting Palm!” Qing Yun shot his palm forward after he gave a low cry. An invisible ripple could be vaguely felt as it shot out of Qing Yun palm, however, there was no other reaction.

A wry smile appeared on his face, before he shook his head helplessly, “I’m starting to get a grasp of this Sky Splitting Palm, however I’m still far from initial mastery.”

Qing Yun sighed dejectedly, however one could see the excited expression surging inside his eyes.

In the past days, aside from his cultivation and preparing the Soul Awakaening Formation, Qing Yun choose from the Gate of Knowledge.

In the way of martial dao there are three kinds of techniques. Qi Refining Techniques, Profound Arts and Martial Arts. Albeit important, the first two would just help one shape their cultivation base, however, one would not be able to show their true power without martial arts.

The Qi Refining Technique would help one absorb and refine the most basic form of natural Qi while the Profound Art would further shape and change the Qi’s nature inside one’s body. A martial art would then take the Qi and give it form outside their body.

Qing Yun choose and started practicing them. The Sky Splitting Palm, the Nine Lighting Shadow Steps and the Golden Demonic Eyes. Among those, he had the most expectation for the later.

The Sky Spitting Palm was just an ordinary attack technique, albeit, being taken from Qing Yun’s Gate of Knowledge it was obvious far from being an ordinary martial art. The Nine Lighting Shadow Steps, just as the name suggests, it was a movement martial art, again, this to was far from ordinary. Although Qing Yun still didn't mastered the first step, just by gaining some understanding towards this art, his speed increased greatly.

The Golden Demonic Eyes was the most peculiar martial art out of the three. While it was generally a technique which enhanced one’s eyesight, it was by no means so simple. This martial art was composed of sixteen ranks, with every rank gaining more power. Qing Yun didn’t had to much progress in this art, however it didn’t lessen his expectation. The more he learned about this art the more excited he became. Although he was far from truly understanding the profoundness of this art, he knew it was extraordinary. Judging by his understanding till now, this martial art should be capable of mental attacks.

Out of the , Qing Yun progressed the most with the Nine Lighting Shadow Steps, though still far from reaching the first step.

He practiced the martial arts for some time until it was time for others to come out. When other people started showing inside the courtyard, Qing Yun let a silver glow envelop him as he disappeared without anyone noticing.

……

A certain building stood tall among others in the center of Tianlong City. Numerous silhouettes could be seen going in and out of the building.

A certain room inside the building.

“Xinyi, why are you so cold to me? I even kept secret from senior brother that you are here! Do you know what he’ll do to me if he finds out?” A slightly wronged voice sounded.

A long nosed young man stood across the table. There were two other middle age men besides him. On the other side of the table the graceful figure of Jia Xinyi was seated with a slightly annoyed expression in her eyes.

Her face however showed otherwise as she smiled and said, “Luo Kun, as I said previously, our Jia Auction House is neutral, we don’t have any intention of favouring any part.” Her smooth voice caused the young man’s small eyes to tremble slightly. He didn’t try to hide the act of licking his lips as he shot a heated gaze at Jia Xinyi.

“Don’t say that, you just have to stop providing resources to others but Qing Clan and Xiao Clan. It’s not that hard and we will compensate you greatly!” The young man’s tone was full of confidence as he continued, “I was really surprised when I found out you were in this backwater place. Have you come here to hide from senior brother? It doesn’t matter now, however, you should know what risks I took to hide this from him. Why don’t you show me some face and agree to this little deal?”

Jia Xiny frowned. She was already used to this guy pestering. As much as she wanted to trow him out, she knew she couldn’t do that. His background was just that powerful.

……

In another room inside the building.

An old man stood across the table with an awkward expression of his face. Cold sweet poured down his forehead as he glanced at the black robed man across of him.

The black robed man was leisurely drinking the tea that was poured by two young girls. Two jade bottles, each containing three pills, were placed in front of him.

The old man couldn’t help but feel awkward as he stood in front of this mysterious man for two hours now. He was experienced and knew the pills in those two bottles were extraordinary. He lacked the authority to decide what to do with them. There were only two people who could appraise those pills, but to his dismay, both of them were caught with another customer.

He sent someone to notify them, however, even after two hours they were still caught with that person. The black clothed man had half of his face covered so he couldn’t see his expression, but after waiting for two hours, anyone would be offended.

The old man knew that someone who could take out this kind of pill won’t be ordinary. If they miss out on this deal they might regret it later, so his nervousness grew with every second.

“Sir..” Before the old man could finish, an elderly sigh was heard from the black robed man.

The later moved his head slightly as he murmured, “That girl is really troublesome…” He waved his hand and kept the jade bottles as he got up and prepared to leave.

The old man was confused at first, but seeing that this distinguished guest prepared to leave, he started as he rose to his feet.

At this moment no one noticed the slightly colder air that permeated the entire building.