"Xiao Wu, what's wrong?" Fan Lai asked. He yawned and looked at the young girl in front of him. It was way past three in the morning, still, she was wearing the sect robes and looked like she was about to sneak out.

He had come down from his room to drink some water and read some books and she found her sneaking around.

"W-Well... T-That's!" She stuttered. Fan Lai tilted his head in confusion when suddenly he heard noise coming from upstairs.

"Damn girl, going ahead without waiting for me!" A boy with pale blue skin stepped into the room, he also wore sect clothes and his Dimensional Pouch was hanging from his belt. When he saw Fan Lai, his expression froze.

"W-Well, hello Alliance Master, what a beautiful night, isn't it?" Fu Yin smiled and looked around.

Fan Lai sighed "Could someone please explain what is going on here? You know full well you cannot go out after midnight, it is one of the Alliance's rules".

Fu Yin and Xiao Wu exchanged a glance and then smiled "Sorry leader, you will have to go to sleep for a while!"

Fan Lai blinked once "What do you-"

His questioning was interrupted when Fu Yin and Xiao Wu kicked off the ground and each of them landed a solid kick on the older male's temples.

An unconscious Fan Lai fell to the ground, his eyes showing white.

Xiao Wu exhaled and nodded "This should keep him out of the picture for a few hours..."

Fu Yin tilted his head "I think that might have been enough for a few days actual-"

"Let's just hurry!" The girl snapped.

Xiao Wu sighed and then smiled. She kicked off the ground and flew out the window.

When she was about to fall back down, she summoned her Aura Sword and stepped on it.

After that, she pointed in front of her and the blade sped up. By doing so, she flew at high speeds towards the Great Walls separating the fourth ring from the third ring.

Fu Yin's eyes glinted "This girl... She never ceases to amaze me! She can actually go so fast!"

He grinned "But she is not the only one knowing that trick..." Fu Yin summoned the two Aura Spears and comfortably sat on them as he sped up, following Xiao Wu.

After a few minutes, they finally reached the Wall. Xiao Wu and Fu Yin stopped. The boy inhaled and gulped to calm down and then asked "Sis, are you still sure about doing it? I have a bad feeling about this... After all, would those old fools truly let their disciples fight it off? I think there might be something hiding beneath the surface..."

The girl laughed "What are you saying! The Nine Protectors' disciples are about to duel for the rights for their masters to become the new Sect Head, how could we possibly miss it!"

Fu Yin looked at her and sighed "I still don't even know how you got hold of this news, I was sure I had tapped all information from coming in... If you get hurt, big brother will skin me alive! Oh well, the dice has been cast, no need to worry about what mistakes we may have done, let's keep going!"

The girl nodded "Great! What's more..." She clenched her fists "Brother might be there!"

The girl turned "Brother, it has been two months, I can't wait to see you again and show you my newfound strength!"

Her black sect robes fluttered, on it were three, white stripes going from the right shoulder to her left ankle... Not one, not two, but three! She was an Inner Disciple!

...

The Falling Moon Tavern. The biggest Inn in the whole Mysterious Light Shadow Sect. Over ten stories tall and a quarter of a mile wide, it was absolutely gigantic.

This Inn had a total of three major rules that all customers had to abide to.

First, no fighting allowed within the Tavern unless the two people fighting pay for the damage plus an additional fee.

Second, no Elders are allowed in the Inn unless they remove the Sect clothing and act as disciples, forfeiting their rights as Elders during this time. This rule may be changed by the owner based on the circumstances;

Last but not least, offending the Inn or anyone working for it in any way also meant offending the expert backing the Inn.

It was unknown which power it was, but to be able to support such a grand building and carry out justice for many years it would most likely be a really powerful expert.

Some claim it was an old man, some a youth others a really beautiful female, others a kid... Sure, there were many rumors going on about it.

But what few people knew was that there was indeed an expert backing up the whole thing, but that person changed overtime.

Every six months, a tournament would be held, only the most secretive and powerful experts would be invited and the winner would receive as a prize the control over the whole inn...

It has been two months ever since the two heaven-shaking geniuses, Xiao Wu and Fu Yin appeared. They had since long caused quite the uproar in the sect after going from Vacant Disciple to Inner disciple in less than three months.

Now there were countless Elders, seeking them out to be their master, but all were rejected. It was said that they had also been asked out by a Sect Protector, but his request also got denied.

Still, it has now been two months ever since that commotion in between the now famous All But In Blood Alliance and the mysterious youth that had attempted to strip them of their cultivation.

Now, in a dark corner of a large room on the first floor of the Inn, a figure wearing a black cloak covering his or her features sat down at a table alone.

He sat still leaning back on a rocking chair, not doing anything, seemingly listening to the scattered pieces of information coming from all around him.

He had been sitting there for a while now and didn't order anything to eat or drink he just shifted and turned, his face covered by the black hood.

It was bound to happen that a few people would grow suspicious, even annoyed of such actions. It was pretty obvious that he was only here to eavesdrop on other people's conversations.

Hearing the discontent coming from the people around him, a young man grinned 'What a chance! This is the perfect occasion to let the whole world know of my strength!': he wore tight leather clothes, had two sword shaped earrings, each at least as large as his hand and bound by chains, and had spiky green hair.

He punched the table really hard smashing it into splinters and the noise around him died down until the whole floor grew silent.

Hearing that, the man lifted his head and glared at the robed man. He stood up and walked towards the figure dressed in black.

He spat on the ground and then asked "Who the hell are you? Why aren't you ordering anything? I know, you are eavesdropping aren't you? Well you see..."

The man gritted his teeth as he faked anger and acted like the good guy "I don't like that!"

He took out a gold coin and tossed it at the closest attendant "The additional fee. Now, let me crush you so that you will think about it twice before you eavesdrop ever gain!"

He rotated his cultivation base and an Aura of the mid level Advanced stage emanated outwards.

"Wow, an Advanced stage at such an age! Isn't he like, barely in his twenties? That boy is a genius, who is he?" Some people in the crowd thought out aloud.

Hearing the words of praise from the crowd, the man grinned 'My time to shine!'.

He pointed at the black robed man's face and yelled "My name is Shu Chen, give me your name, you scum!"

After doing that, Shu Chen smiled in his mind: he had long since waited for an opportunity like that to appear!

The black robed person ignored him and kept staring in front of him. Seeing that, a vein popped on top of Shu Chen's forehead.

"You dare ignore me!" The man snapped "Well then, don't blame me for being impolite!" He removed his earrings, breaking off the chains tied around them: as soon as they were freed from their restraints, the blades enlarged until they became two large greatswords.

They were about two meters long and half a meter wide, each of them would be more than enough to cleave a man in two with a single strike.

They had a supernatural glow that dyed the surroundings in green: it was obviously a magical weapon of some sort. Some speculated that it might be a legendary Flying Sword!

The man grinned and picked up one of the blades with both of his hands.

He then threw the other up with his foot and kicked it, sending it flying towards the robed person.

During this time, the man in question, the figure wearing black clothing, didn't even shift a bit and he looked like he didn't even notice that he was being attacked.

'He's not moving a muscle! He must be scared stiff! Ahah, such a great first kill, it will sure make me popular!' Shu Chen licked his lips and his green hairs fluttered in the wind as he dashed toward his target.

The greatsword cut down towards the figure's neck and it slowly got closer and closer... "Dieee!!!" Shu Chen screamed.

*Clack* the weapon stopped in its tracks as if it had hit an impenetrable wall.

"What!" Everybody who had seen the scene couldn't help but be shocked, because... the black robed figure had just blocked the blow with his index finger alone!

Shu Chen's eyes widened as the tip of his sword cracked and the blade fragmented in shards. The weapon that he had kicked before had also been stopped with the same method and was now nothing more than fine powder on the ground.

The man trembled in fear as he took a step back, his previous happy expression twisted into horror "How... How is this possible! Those were blades capable of slaying the superior stage!"

The Inn grew loud again

"Who is he?"

"What kind of cultivation does he have to stop such a blow?"

"Is he an Elder?"

"Sure he might be, but then, why would such a powerful expert eavesdrop on such bland conversations?"

The black robed figure finally stretched and stood up. The voice of a young male sounded out "Oh, gosh, I was sleeping so soundly back there, why did you wake me up?"

"What! He was just sleeping!" The crowd's eyes widened and their mouth gaped as they couldn't help but shout "Wait, how could he be sleeping? He blocked those powerful blows... In his sleep!?!"

"Boy, who are you?" Shu Chen asked as he trembled: the voice indicated that the robed man was actually really young.

The person wearing black lifted his head and smiled "Oh? Who am I..." The boy looked down at his clothes "Well, I am the owner of this Inn. Nice to meet you!"

"""Ahahahahah!""" even though they had seen his strength, the people who heard this couldn't help but burst out laughing. A middle aged man stood up and shouted, indignant "What are you spouting! This Inn is over a few centuries old, how could a young boy like you be its master! You sound like a brat in his teens!"

"That's right" A young woman intervened as she charmingly winked and gulped down a glass of wine. She pointed at the cloaked figure with the glass in her hand and yelled "That's a blatant lie! What will you do when the real master comes out and punish you for tarnishing his name!"

The boy shook his head and yawned "I don't care about what you guys think of me, just letting you know what you asked. As long as you keep bringing in money, that's fine..."

Shu Chen and the crowd were about to retort when the door swung open. Three figures walked in, they all wore the clothing of the Sect Elders and the four black stripes running from the left shoulder to the right ankle showed their statues as Core Elders.

What's more, the pressure they gave off was that of incredible might, it far surpassed the strength a usual Core Elder should have.

"What is this, they shouldn't be able to come in! They are still wearing their clothing! What is happening, Al?" Somebody shouted at a nearby attendant.

The person called Al turned and looked at the three people "Oh, they are exceptions. Master has said that they can come in whenever they like... However they like." he pointed at the boy wearing black robes. Seeing that, the crowd was dumbfounded.

In the meanwhile, the three men stepped forward and knelt on the ground.

"Master, preparations have been completed. According to our information, the conflict will start in a few hours at most!"

The boy walked forward and laughed "Oh, you have finally arrived! Bi Liang, Tai Fu, Tai Zu!" He ignored the stunned crowd and leaped towards the three men.

"Let's go then" the boy grinned "This will be quite the show! Oh!" He hit his palm "First, though, I should probably do something... I probably won't be coming back here anytime soon, so I'll give them a gift!"

He turned towards the closest attendant and tossed him a sack full of coins "Hei, Al' please offer everyone a drink. It's on the house! Whatever is left, you can keep it, thanks for your hard work!" Having said that, Cheng Hao walked out and the three Elders followed.

The crowd went silent as they were all stunned. "He-He was the real deal, wasn't he?" The middle aged man asked. The young woman trembled and nodded "Yes. Let's just grab that drink and forget about this, hoping he won't seek revenge for disrespecting him..."

The green haired youth trembled as his knees felt weak. He fell on the floor, his back drenched with sweat "I... I have just attacked such an expert... What have I done?!?"

...

Outside the inn, the moon up in the sky and the countless stars brightened up the beautiful night. There was not a single cloud to be seen and the air held only a slight chill.

The group of four walked forward and soon reached an isolated building, an abandoned warehouse. When they walked inside, hundreds of people looked at them as they emitted bloodlust and their eyes burned with the will to fight.

Bi Liang turned to look at the boy wearing a black cloak and chuckled "Little Brother, shouldn't you take that off?"

"Oh?" The youth exclaimed "That's right, I forgot!" He pulled down the hood and removed the black robe: he was a young child. He looked eight, maybe nine years old, had long black hair, golden eyes, a small mouth and a straight nose. There was a hint of courage in between his eyebrows and it made him look even handsomer than he already was.

Cheng Hao smiled and spoke at the crowd "We have waited, endured and trained a long time for this moment..." He turned and he grinned fiercely "Let's go, everyone! The duel that should decide matters peacefully will begin soon, but both us and our enemies won't stand still and let everything go as planned, would we? Let's go!"

The boy turned and opened the door. The light of dawn shone in and turned the warehouse bright and colorful. The light fell on the child and seemed to wrap around him like a cloak, he looked like some kind of deity descending on this world... A deity of victory!

The boy smiled as he looked towards the rising sun and his eyes shine with bright light, his eyes also glinting with a burning will and his pupils holding inside many emotions.

His eyebrows fell as his smile turned into a fiendish grin and his whole atmosphere turned brighter as his will to fight rose. He lifted his arm "For our Sect and for ourselves...

"WE SHALL WIN THIS WAR!"