In the depths of the Xiao Clan Mansion was a certain room. It was a hall that bore the design of white trees and black dragons coiling around them.

No natural light came in from any window as there weren't any, instead, on the more than fifty feet tall ceiling, like a god looking down on the world, was a purple moon that shone down purple light on its surroundings.

This hall had been used by the Clan Master for generations and it was referred to as the 'Inner Master Hall'.

Right now, in that hall with no windows and lit up only by the purple moon on the ceiling, a figure ran towards the throne at the back of the room, his face pale and his eyes trembling.

He wore purple robes decorated with golden threads, signifying the man was none other than a Purple Hall Elder. The Clan had three major Halls: the Black Hall, the White Hall and the Purple Hall.

The Halls, of course, were named after the two main scriptures of the Clan: Black Dragon and White Tree scripture and the Purple Moon scripture.

It had to be noted though that while the Black Dragon and White Tree scripture was one, single scripture to begin with, it had two different attributes, attack and defense.

How to differentiate a cultivator cultivating the dual-attribute Black Dragon and White Tree scripture, focusing on enhancing their attacking power from one that instead decided to put their efforts on boosting their endurance?

This problem was solved by dividing the previous 'Soldier' Hall into the 'Black' and 'White' Halls.

Also, while the two other Halls specialized in attack and defense only, the Purple Moon Hall had many hidden bonuses that it could grant to the cultivators practicing the homonymous scripture.

The Purple Moon was also the rarest of three kinds of Sensed Qi that a Clan member of the Xiao Clan could sense on their breakthrough from a simple mortal to the Inferior stage. The Xiao Clan members having the Purple Moon as their sensed Qi were not even a hundredth of the total forces of the Clan.

This was also the reason why the Purple Hall was also the most prestigious. For an esteemed Elder of the Purple Hall to be wearing such an anxious face meant something major had happened.

"Clan Master!" The figure fell on his feet kowtowing and spoke frantically "This humble junior just received the news of a conflict in the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect! This junior is afraid... Wu'Er got involved!"

There was a throne made out of purple crystals on the back of the room: it was more than forty-five feet tall, almost touching the ceiling. It had the shape of a tree with a purple dragon coiled around it: on top of the head of the crystal dragon, more than ten feet in the air was where a figure sat in meditation.

The figure wore long, purple and black robes that fell on the ground, had long, blue hair that fell down his back like a waterfall, while his stern face exuded powerful pressure.

His eyelids slowly lifted and two green eyes calmly examined their surroundings. The pair of orbs seemed to hold deep knowledge as well as looking extremely sharp, like an unsheathed blade.

If one was to look within the eyelids and past the pupils, one would be able to see a sea of stars holding within a titanic black blade, sharp enough to cut through any and all metals and a purple moon whose purple light gave off an eerie feeling...

The man breathed out once and a dense purple mist came out of his mouth, coiling around him like a Dragon while at the same time exuding the powerful pressure of the Purple Moon.

The man then breathed in, the dragon seemed to be alive as it flew right into the man's mouth and nostrils.

The Purple Hall Elder looked up with admiration: those without knowledge would be unable to tell, but he recognized the technique as being none other than Black Dragon Becoming The Purple Moon, one of the most powerful cultivation techniques of the Xiao Clan.

In the end, a single scripture might be powerful, but only when put together with the other would it truly bring out the power of the two symbiontic Sensed Qi. To be able to cultivate two aspects out of three of the two scriptures meant one was a genius, to be able to mix two of these aspects however, indicated a true monster!

The man sitting on top of the crystal dragon's head finally stood up and the long robes fluttered in a nonexistent wind as he began to emit a pressure that seemed capable of tearing the Earth apart and challenge the Heavens.

"Speak" A single word caused countless changes: the Black Dragons in the decorations cried with delight and roared with all their might. At the same time, the White Trees bowed their branches in submission to their lord. The only thing that remained unchanged was the Purple Moon on the ceiling.

The Dragons cry to welcome the lord of the Mortals. The Trees bow to the paragon amongst the Ageless. The Moon shall shine into the sky to accompany the rise of the majestic Immortal.

This man had the cultivation at the peak of the Ageless Realm!

This Hall had been a gift from the Jade Emperor, the one, True Lord of the Heavens before Tian usurped the throne:

Ninety-nine-thousands-nine-hundred-ninety-nine Black Dragons had been trapped into the paintings.

Ninety-nine-thousand-nine-hundred-ninety-nine White Oaks more than one hundred thousand years old had been also been refined and had their souls sewn into the paintings

A single star had been plucked from the sky by the Jade Emperor himself and had been refined and cut into the Purple Moon.

These guardians of the Xiao Clan shall accompany the Clan Master to war, protect the Xiao Clan during peace and only sleep once the Xiao Clan falls.

The Purple Hall elder gulped and then spoke "Young Mistress went to the lowly Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect as per Master's order, but who could have thought not one, but two beings of the Ageless Realm would suddenly appear!"

"One of them even had a true cultivation of the Immortal Realm! Our guards stationed outside the Plane weren't allowed access to the Plane and thus were unable to do anything..." the Elder panicked as he began to speak in a hurry "If we don't hurry up-"

"What?" The man interrupted, his expression calm "Are you saying that Wu'Er might have died in the clash?"

The man lowered his head "No, Clan Master... But we are unable to check the situation inside..."

The blue haired man's mouth curved upwards "Do you know why our Clan was exiled from the Nine Heavens? Do you know why we were forced into this Second-Rate Plane?"

The Purple Hall Elder nodded "Of course this junior knows! It was because of Lord Xu Ling! Our Ancestor, Xiao Lan followed Lord Ling into battle and, when the rebels lost, he was punished by Tian... Ancestor is deep into meditation right now, healing from the wounds he was inflicted at that time..."

The Clan Master smirked and then chuckled: his laughter soon filled the entire place. Looking at the confused expression on the other's face, the man smiled "Who sent Wu'Er to the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect?"

The Elder frowned and pondered "This junior remembers that it was under Clan Master, your exellency, Sir Xiao Fang's order... Was it not so?"

Xiao Fang smiled and his green eyes brightened "While I did indeed pass the order, it was not me that decided this..."

The man's eyes widened as he finally understood "Ancestor... Clan Master! Is Ancestor..."

Xiao Fang's smiled widened and he nodded "Ancestor Xiao Lan will come out of meditation soon. Three months ago, I heard Ancestor's voice as I meditated on top of the Xiao Throne..."

The man smiled "I sensed a presence... A presence that I never thought I would sense again after what happened a thousand years ago..." Xiao Fang recited "No teacher from this Clan would Xiao Wu learn more from. No Elder would be able to protect her as much as Him... Little Fang, go ahead and send her there! It is time... For brothers to reunite!"

The Purple Hall Elder gaped "Who... Who might this person possibly be, for Ancestor to speak about him like that!"

Xiao Fang closed his green eyes and then bathed in the purple light as he spoke excitedly "At first I was also puzzled, but then I realized! Such respect... Such admiration! For Ancestor to feel like that towards someone, that person could only be him"

Opening his eyes and noticing the man's confusion, Xiao Fang smiled once again and spoke, his voice trembling from the excitement and happiness "Who would've thought he would actually come back? For him to be Reborn, he really is the one the prophecy told of! The Destined One! The Fifth Divine Beast! The Evil Saint! That is right, Lord Xu Ling is alive!"

...

Up in the Heavens there was a lonely mountain. On that mountain was a cage made out of the hardest crystals and the sturdiest ores.

Two guards stood guard on that single cage: each of them had unfathomable strength and cultivation and wore armor made out of Heavenly materials.

Within the cage that was so big it could house a whole town, was a single grass house. It was small and modest. All in all, it was something that you wouldn't really expect to find within a huge cage on top of a tall mountain.

Suddenly, the two guards woke up: their shoulders and they felt a shiver of fear go down their spines as they immediately entered a fighting stance.

"Ahaha, relax. I am just going out for a walk, nothing serious. I might even come back who knows?" The voice of an old man came from within the house.

As soon as the words were spoken, a noise of what seemed to be an old bed creaking could be heard and footsteps reached the guards' ears.

They couldn't help but tighten their fists as their stance wavered slightly from the terror they felt.

The door of the grass house creaked and slowly slid open: the house was dark and what was inside couldn't be seen clearly. Only the faint figure of a person, slightly darker than his surroundings, could be made out.

"You never learn, do you? After all those years that I told you, you still dare to hold a stance in front of my eyes? An old 'friend' of mine, you would probably know him as the Glacier Old Man, understood this best..." from within the darkness, a hint of movement could be made out.

"He based his whole technique on reading the opponent through the changes in their stances. Oh well, he is dead right now. Killed by a pupil of mine. The little brat almost got his heart ripped out that time though..." an old man only wearing a few rags, pieces of cloth that could barely be called garments, barefoot even, stepped out the grass house.

Even though he appeared ancient, his skin didn't have a single wrinkle, his back was as straight as a spear and his expression was mild and serene.

However, no matter how much he acted, his red eyes would always emanate killing intent seemingly capable of annihilating whole nations with but a glimpse.

Danger!

Everything about this old man screamed danger: the way he moved without creating disturbances in the wind, his scary crimson orbs, the always present amiable smile on his face, the fact that his two eyes seemed to be able to read your thoughts... This old man wasn't simple!

His hair was white, the left side of the man's head was devoid of any strand of hair while long braids fell from the right and his two sword-shaped eyebrows seemed sharp enough to cut through concrete.

The man didn't emit any pressure, however his manner and presence were suffocating, a single look at his figure and you wouldn't be able to stand straight.

It made people even wonder why they would create a cage to hold this being within: it simply seemed impossible! Not to mention the guards, they were even more useless! A single look and they would topple over, powerlessly.

The pair of guards both gulped and then grabbed the empty air: soon, what looked like two cubic crystals appeared in their hands and began to shine a mysterious blue light.

"Stop right there!" The tallest of the two guards yelled bravely as he wielded the shining crystal "I command you to fall back and go back into the sealing formation!"

The old man flinched as if he had been hit by an invisible whip and then rolled his eyes "Damn, you are no fun..." he turned around and headed back to the grass house. He opened the door and spoke "Oh well, guess we will see each other again in a few decades when I wake up..."

The two guards let out a sigh of relief when suddenly, the crystal in the taller guard's hands burst open and shattered into countless specks of light. The two guards paled and their eyes widened in terror.

"...NOT!" The old man smiled as he turned around and headed back to the walls of the cage, completely disregarding the broken crystals in the hands of the tall guard. He ignored the two as he examined the surface made out of divine materials and began to ponder.

The guard that had dared to speak to the old man with such an overbearing tone gulped and then opened his mouth to speak "S-Sir..."

"What is it?" The old man didn't look away from the cage and instead begun to smile as if he had just found a nice puzzle to pass his time. He touched the surface of the prison and stared in amazement as his fingers couldn't even approach it.

"Y-You cannot leave the grass house... Please, go back in!" The first guard requested as he bowed slightly, the illusion of a majestic bird with lightning crackling on its wings appeared behind him: Heavenly Beast, Thunder Eagle!

"It looks like the binding crystals have no more power on you, but it is impossible to destroy the cage! Please, obey us and go back, Lord-"

"Wrong" the old man pointed out as his smile grew wider and wider with each passing second "That 'binding thingy'... Never had any effect on me. I was just too bored to go out and play that I just went back to the house after a little while... I don't understand why you would expect such useless pieces of junk to work in the first place... Heavenly Beasts are such idiots at times..."

The second guard's face grew red as he was angered. Behind him, the illusion of a fiery bull with fire burning in the beast's empty eye sockets could be seen gritting its teeth: Heavenly Beast, Hellfire Demonbull!

"However... You are right! I cannot seem to be able to destroy this cage! You guys really did a good job, I would probably need to spend a few hours on it if I wished to break it all apart... It is too much of a bother though, I probably won't!" the old man turned to look at the two armored cultivators and smiled.

The two Heavenly Beasts in human form first paled at the man's words: a few hours? This cage had been built out of heavenly treasures! It was hard to the extreme, few objects would be as durable as this cage!

Still, when they heard the man say that he would not make any attempts at breaking the Heavenly Prison, they couldn't help but smile smugly.

"Then, why don't you go back in the house?" The Bull asked as it trembled inwardly and cursed the Heavens: why did he have to be the one guarding this monster?

"Uh? Why should I?" The old man tilted his head childishly, showing an expression of confusion. The Hellfire DemonBull and the Thunder Eagle wanted to spit out blood at the old man's attitude. However, his next words shocked them deeply:

"I said I wouldn't destroy it, so I won't. But why shouldn't I go out then?" And just like that, space seemed to bend as the old man suddenly reappeared outside the cage, in his hands was a single crystal object that somehow resembled a key...

The two Heavenly Beast felt their eyes bulge out their sockets and their jaws touched the ground as they gaped. They fell to their knees: they had guarded this place for more than a thousand years and then suddenly discover the prisoner had the key to his cell all along!

The old man inhaled and exhaled. He then nodded satisfied "I guess this is what freedom is like... Not a bad feeling, but I was more comfortable sleeping in the grass hut..."

He seemed torn between the two possibilities and finally sighed "I will miss you, fresh air..." he smiled, then stepped back into the cage and walked into the grass house, closing the door as he stepped in.

The two guards only regained their senses at that time: what had just happened? They didn't know but they fell on their knees crying and yelling their injustice to the wind: why, why did they have to go through this suffering?

...

Within the grass hut, the old man sighed and then laid down on an extremely complicated formation: it was even more powerful and complex than the one set by Lao Jianghu back at the Sect.

Such a powerful formation... should have the power to make any and all beings under the Heaven fall into a deep slumber for eons to come!

And yet, this old man, in complete disregard to any and all logic, just laid there, staring at the ceiling, counting to himself "One-hundred-twenty-three Tasty Lambs... One-hundred-twenty-four Yummy Lambs..."

He closed his eyes and then sighed "Can't fall asleep..."

If the two poor guards outside could hear him, they would probably commit suicide on the spot.

He then narrowed his eyes, now glittering with a bright red light, and seemed to concentrate, as if he could see and hear more just by doing those two actions.

"Let's see... What is happening that I am not knowing abou-" The old man's eyes then brightened up as he seemed to overhear something interesting "Mm? This is..."

He opened his mouth in both stupor and excitement "True Immortal Destiny? How can this be? Jin FengHuang! She is actually alive!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Soul of the Mountain! Is this true?"

"Pff... Pwahahaha!" He chuckled, the sound of his laughter echoing in the lone grass hut.

He grinned "So interesting! To think something like this actually existed..." a reminiscing expression appeared on his otherwise always calm and collected face.

"Good luck, my apprentice. Master for a day, Father for a life, I am and will forever be your Father and your Master as long as I live. Good luck, my aaprentice and son! Make it, and maybe you will be able to accomplish your destiny and rise to the stars!"

The old man's laughter roared once again, scaring the two already traumatized Heavenly Beasts even more. The old man's hair fluttered as his laughter rose in intensity even more, soon the whole mountain seemed to be laughing.

As the long hair on the man's right half of the scalp wavered, a certain symbol was revealed... On the old man's right temple was a red mark: a circle with seven triangles standing out from the circumference...

The Ancient grinned as his red eyes filled with amusement "My disciple... don't worry, this time I will be sure you are going to finish my training! I will wait for you, even if it means waiting forever, Xu Líng!"

END OF BOOK 1 - REBORN!