“Listen closely and answer to my question… I have no qualms about hurting people, and I am sure I would be able to take some of you down with me if I so wish. Where are we, and why am I here? Be sure to answer that truthfully, otherwise…”

“... this shall turn into our tomb. Mine, and that of the unlucky members of this group whom I will bring down with me!”

Domineering! The small, chubby youth had shouted those words, emanating such confidence that nobody dared doubt him. The members of the young generation present couldn’t help but frown when they noticed the absurd power Fang Lu had access to.

During the tournament, five words had shaken them deeply. Nobody would easily forget that tsunami that carried such force it had shaken the earth! Apparently, the youth had not used all his cards back then. That time, he had been about to shout a sixth, heaven-shaking phrase, only to be stopped by his master.

However, they had never considered even in their wildest imagination that not only six was not his limit, but he had actually achieved such mastery that seven pictograms on each of the nine rows of characters had lit up!

Sixty-three symbols!

A single symbol of metal, despite being the most basic, had been enough to force Xiao Wu to such a dire condition. Even if the power was only additive and the strength of so many characters did not vary, sixty-three times the strength of a single metallic blades would have been enough to blow into smithereens every and all contestants of the tournament, maybe with Fu Yin and Xiao Wu being the only exceptions.

After all, the strength of the White Tree Shield of the young girl and the mysterious abilities of the pale, white haired teen, was not something to be scoffed at. However, despite the shield not having as much as a scratch, a single attack had sent Xiao Wu flying back a few paces, let alone sixty-three times the strength!

One such hit and, boom!

It’s a bird!

It’s a plane!

It’s a green eyed, flying brat!

As for Fu Yin…

“Cool! So many of those glowing thingies!”

The youth was all over the hovering scroll, rubbing his cheeks on the surface as his eyes reflected the multicolored light.

“…”

Fang Lu simply waved his hand and the scroll suddenly shook, attempting to throw the white haired youth off. However, Fu Yin did not budge as he commented:

“So this scroll allows you to directly channel the power of the nine elements without needing to chant? Peculiar, very peculiar! A good Martial Way! However, it looks like it requires a higher consumption of spiritual power compared to the other one… I guess even though one is a heavenly treasure, the requirements can’t be cast off entirely, can they?“

Everyone in the room was silent, any words they would have said stuck in their throats. Even the Heavenly Beast, the Hellish Nightmare Dragon, was speechless.

What the hell was the young one doing? What was rubbing salt on one’s wound? What was poking the sleeping tiger? This was it and that! Was Fu Yin trying to enrage Fang Lu even more? They were already on the verge of fallout, what benefits would it bring if the youth suddenly attacked them?

Black lines on his forehead, the chubby youth smiled weakly, the fake smile trembling as veins popped out and twitched all over his face.

“Fu Yin… fellow disciple of mine, would you mind getting off my Martial Way?”

The boy poked one of the words in the lightning section of the scroll’s nine rows of characters. He chuckled as sparks ran through his body, making his hair stand on their ends as his finger passed through the first pictogram.

“Uh? I wasn’t planning to? This is quite fun!”

“…”

“So interesting! Studying those old books is nothing compared to the real thing!” Fu Yin examined the pictograms on top of the floating scroll like a renowned scholar, staring upon lost records of ancient times… or an alcoholic staring at an enormous amount of bottles of the finest wine.

It depended on one’s point of view.

This made everyone’s expression turn sour: what the hell are you doing, Fu Yin!

Fang Lu also couldn’t take it anymore. Without a word, of the nine rows, eight all stopped glowing at once. Suddenly, in the remaining one, the one for water, an eight pictogram slowly lit up!

Whoosh!

Suddenly, like a ghost, a figure had appeared out of nowhere! A powerful presence spread in the underground room. Everyone felt their very life force flicker as the figure flashed by and stepped in front of the glowing scroll…

Fang Lu’s expression changed greatly as a golden dragon, its body roughly the size of an adult man’s arm but expanding with each passing moment, suddenly opened his mouth, revealing sharp, golden teeth within…

Without a moment of hesitation, the youth began to pour all his cultivation base in the scroll, only to be met with a firm resistance!

What?

The golden dragon’s mouth was like a black hole, sucking in all the spiritual energy in its surroundings, the pair of golden jaws devouring the youth’s energy without leaving behind a single drop. Fang Lu’s face fell as he found out that in his whole body, not a speck of spiritual energy could be found!

“Burp!”

The golden dragon sighed with satisfaction:

“Been a while since I had the chance to eat such a fine amount of spiritual energy… thank you, youth! Oh, and thanks for provoking him, Fu Yin!”

“Eheh, there was nothing to it. He’s also much more docile now, isn’t he?” The white haired youth responded with a wide grin on his face.

He looked at the big scroll: without its supply of spiritual energy, the object lost the ability to hover and fell down. Fu Yin bent down and picked up the Martial Way. He then turned around and threw the scroll at the middle aged, black haired man:

“Blacky, store it somewhere! Can’t be too sure with this guy! He has quite a few tricks up his sleeve! What’s more, I also wanted to take a look at it, so I’ll be looking for you later! Don’t wander off! That is fine, isn’t it Blindlight?”

Goldy was picking his teeth for leftovers, but found none. He turned and nodded:

“Sure, just be sure not to cause trouble. Remember what happened last time when you tried to use Xiao Wu’s sword? I won’t be saving you next time you are impaled…”

“Roger!”

The Hellish Nightmare Dragon turned human smiled bitterly as he witnessed the exchange between the youth and the golden beast:

You little brat, so this was your goal all along? Bribing Blindlight to take possession of Fang Lu’s Martial Way?

Aster was also chuckling as, in his mind, he put Fu Yin on the same level as Cheng Hao when it came to the matters of the mind:

This one’s schemes sure run deep…

Iris also had her opinion, although it differed quite a bit from that of her two other companions…

Seriously? All this planning for that scroll? Couldn’t you just have asked nicely?

Meanwhile, Fang Lu’s expression had long since turned into despair. After all, it had only taken a few words for him to be robed of his greatest weapon and for said weapon to be handed to the person he considered the greatest opponent in his generation.

Seeing that, Aster sighed and spoke:

“Fu Yin, stop teasing him. Fang Lu, wasn’t it? Don’t worry, we will not only give that scroll back to you soon, we will also give you the information you were looking for… as long as you promise not to cause trouble in the future.”

Fang Lu’s eyes lit up. He didn’t speak and simply nodded, communicating his intent. Seeing that, Blacky stepped forward:

“Let me handle the explanation. Everyone, feel free to go ahead and rest. The rooms are over there, the beds should be enough for everyone. If you wish to go, I won’t stop you. However, if you wish to hear what I have to say-“

“I’m off, see you!”

“God, I am starving! Is there anything to eat?”

“… I wouldn’t mind having a bath…”

“Sister Te Rin, that is such a good idea! Old Fang, is there a bath here?”

“Uh? A bath? Sure, it’s right down this way!”

“Mm? A bath? I’m in!”

“In your dreams, brother!”

“Aw, come on! Ehy! I know! Sis Te Rin, could you use your crystals as a mirror to let me see what is happening in the bath while I’m in another room?”

“… such a brilliant mind… wasted.”

“What did you say, old Fang?”

“I said, just go bottle yourself up somewhere and read some books or cultivate! For goodness’ sake, just do something and leave me alone!”

“Ugh, whatever. Ehy, Lu! Once you have finished over here, I would like to speak with you! If you do, I will give your scroll back! You will find me at my room! … Old Fang, where is my room?”

“…”

…

Everyone, feel free to go ahead and rest. If you wish to go, I won’t stop you. Of course, those two phrases had been simple courtesy. After all, this was incredibly important! And yet…

“… for real?”

To Blacky’s surprise, a few moments after those words had been spoken, the only two people remaining in the room were none other than him and Fang Lu. Taking Blacky up on his offer, everyone had gone off in different directions, leaving the two of them behind.

Those bastards… do they not know the meaning of sarcasm? Even you, Aster, Iris?

Fang Lu asked:

“Well, what are you waiting for? Speak. I am also tired, if you have failed to notice.”

“…”

These guys… do they even take a notice of who I am! Even amongst the fiercest beasts in the Heavens, they would tremble after hearing my name alone! Ugh, whatever, let’s just get this over with!

“Little Lu, do you have any knowledge on the conflict between the Heavenly Emperor and the Evil Saint?”

Hearing those words, Fang Lu’s eyes widened. Of course he knew. Who didn’t? The human who dared to challenge the heavens, such a story was not uncommon even amongst the mortals, let alone a cultivator like him! Of course, he didn’t know about the details. After all, most information had been cut off after the end of the war, as to avoid any other rebellion by those who shared the same views of the Evil Saint.

The only thing he knew was that, in the short span of a few hundred years, a man had risen to the peak of mortality and had challenged the Heavenly Emperor, resulting in a war, a full scale rebellion against the True Heavens!

After pondering for a while, he spoke:

“I do. What does that have to do with me?”

“Well, to put it bluntly, me and the golden dragon over there kind of have fought in that war on the Evil Saint’s side… we witnessed first hand the battles of Xu Ling, the Evil Saint, against the armies of Tian, you should know of him as the Heavenly Emperor. To be more accurate, I am the Hellish Nightmare Dragon. They called me Blacky, I guess you did not hear about me…”

“Nope, never heard of you.”

Did you have to be so blunt about it though?

“I was the Evil Saint’s… well, to be blunt, I was his mount. As for goldy, the golden dragon from before, I doubt you have not heard of him…”

Fang Lu frowned:

“Uh? Why should I know who that little snake is?”

“Because…” Blacky smiled:

“He is the Heaven Devouring Dragon, Blindlight, the Primordial Beast with the highest potential amongst them all, the Dragon King...”

Fang Lu gaped, his eyes becoming as wide as his fists as his jaw opened so wide it looked about to be dislocated. What was being shocked? Well, apparently, Fang Lu had found the answer to that.

“As for why you are here… is because Cheng Hao kind of is Xu Ling, the Evil Saint, so Tian kind of is trying to hunt us down.”

“Oh, okay.”

“…”

“…”

“Too much to take in, isn’t it?”

“You bet. I’m still processing that last phrase, give me a while…”

“Oh, ok. Meanwhile, want to go eat with the others?”

“… Yeah, let’s. I’m pretty hungry…”

Step.

Step.

Step…

Slam.

“Well... HOLY FUCKING SHIT!”

The door closed behind the figures of the chubby youth and the middle aged robed man.