Jack’s frosty voice asked, “It shouldn’t be a problem for a Minor World’s Clan to produce Empyrean Immortals, right? Even Empyrean Emperor’s shouldn’t be unheard of, so why is it so peculiar?”

The old man answered seriously, “It truly isn’t peculiar in itself. Even the Old Ancestor of our Phoenix Empire is a Late Stage Empyrean Emperor. That is also the reason that our Xing Clan remains as the absolute ruler of this World.”

Hearing the word “Phoenix”, Jack’s eyes showed confusion as he asked, “Wait, explain the relations you have.” The old man thought back to what he had said and smiled awkwardly as he let out an awkward cough and explained, “Me and Helen belong to the Xing Clan, the Imperial Clan that rules this Minor World. Our Clan is an off shoot branch of the Ascended Realms Divine Phoenix Qing Clan.” Jack showed an understanding face as he said, “Ohh….”

These kinds of situations were not unusual at all. Nearly every Clan in the Ascended or Upper Realm had branch Clans in Minor Worlds or in the Ascended Realm Clans case, also in the Upper Realm. Every Clan had different rules for Branch Clans, some saw it as banishment, some saw the Branch Clans as outside support. The difference between the two stances was as vast as the Heavens.

The Clans that saw the Branch Clans as banishment tended to not care about their Branches at all. The Branches were required to pay some sort of tribute in a set interval and they sometimes got some assistance from the Main Clan if their contributions and tributes were good enough. However, the Clans that saw Branches as an extension of the Clan were very different.

They helped the Branches with their problems if they had no way of handling them any more and always supported them with Pills and Arts when needed. Also, the relationship between the two was also many times better as the Main Clan would some times recruit outstanding people from their Branches and after they have developed to their maximum potential, they could go back to their Branches to live a leisurely life or stay in the Main Clan.

The Branches that developed an outstanding seedling would also be rewarded and more looked after. Jack mused to himself, “So that is how a person from a backwater world like this could get engaged to a genius from the Ascended Realm.” So it turned out that Helen was a person that was from a Branch and the Main Clan discovered her Bodily Constitution and engaged her to Arthur, their most shining star.

From this, you could also deduce that her Bodily Constitution was nothing simple. However, since it was not Jack’s business, he did not care about it. He asked the old man, “So, how is Sheng Clans situation so peculiar?”

The old man straightened his back as he explained, “Until a year ago, the Sheng Clan was a mediocre Clan that only had an Empyrean Immortal as their Old Ancestor. As for the rest of the Clan, they were all under the Empyrean Level. However, suddenly they spiked in power and produced nearly thirty Empyrean Immortals in less that half a year and following that, they started slowly expanding their influence and they started tapping into many different businesses that they had not even as much as shown interest in before.”

From the old man’s explanation Jack understood why the old man thought that the Sheng Clan had obtained some miraculous pills or Arts. However, this was also in line with his mission. Jack just turned to Helen and said, “I suggest you to think about my offer to join Dragon Cross. Although you have to deal with that play boy, the merits Dragon Cross can offer you make up for that defect. I don’t mean to be rude but our Arts, Pills, Cultivation Areas, Artefacts are far superior to the ones that you currently have. So think about it, I’ll find you in about a month to hear your answer.”

As he said that, he turned his back to them and walked towards the “Young Master” that had pissed himself by now. The murderous aura pressuring him had made him nearly insane from fright. Jack squatted to the same eye line as him and said, “Now then, I have some questions for your soul. Relax, as long as you don’t struggle, it will be painless.”

As he said that, he extended his right hand and grabbed the young man’s forehead. “Memory Leak!” As he slowly murmured that, he closed his eyes and as a white light shone from his hand, the young man started struggling and screaming. Jacks iron grip however did not loosen and soon the young man stopped moving as white foam started coming from his mouth. His eyes glazed over and Jack opened his eyes when he stopped struggling.

He murmured, “So the Sheng Clan truly is behind all of this. Well, this was surprisingly very fast.” As he stood up, he collected the young man’s Spacial Ring and said, “Vabalt!” As he said that, the two Devils banged their right hand on their left side of their chest and roared in salute as a giant pentagram appeared on the ground that seemed to suck them in. After the two had disappeared, Jack let out a breath as he removed the mask from his face and put it on the side of his head again.

He then looked towards the two from the Xing Clan again and suddenly disappeared from his spot. After he had disappeared, the two from the Xing Clan looked at the spot the two had disappeared from and then at the now dead young man. The old man let out a breath as he said, “Decisive, ruthless, unafraid. The big three qualities of a Battle Cultivator, he has all of them and they are also rock solid.”

The old man had a peculiar gaze in his eyes as he thought back to Jacks every move. Every move had a definite purpose and he was not fazed by anything. In the beginning, when he had arrived, he stood face to face with a person that was far above his level in terms of cultivation but he didn’t even seem fazed by it. He did not care for justice or righteousness either, so he understood the basic principle of cultivation: The kind won’t progress far.

It wasn’t exactly a hundred per cent thing that those that had a kind heart did not progress far but usually, they got themselves killed quite fast. So, in order to continue cultivating for the top, you had to be ruthless enough to not let every thing cloud your judgement.

He gave the spot Jack disappeared from one last glance before he turned to Helen and said, “Lets go Princess, as for the Sheng Clan, it seems like we do not have to do much about it.” Helen came out of her daze and nodded towards the old man and the two of them left towards their Clan.

***

At the entrance of a forest, a figure suddenly appeared. He raised his head and his gaze seemed to pierce through the world as he looked at the direction where the two from the Xing Clan were standing at. His eyes were sharp as he thought to himself, “Seems like someone is truly determined to destroy Dragon Cross.”

He then raised his hand in front of him and said, “Rivvi!” As he said that, three pentagrams appeared on the ground again. This time, they weren’t as big as the ones that the two Devils came from. The diameter of the circle was one meter and the three that appeared from the pentagrams were three female demons. On their heads were curving horns, their skin was grey.

They did not have any hair but instead their skin seemed to be covered by scales. Instead of their feet they had hooves and their arms seemed as though they were large claws. When the three appeared, they gave the same salute as the Devils did and said respectfully, “Isand!”

Jack nodded and pointed towards the two from the Xing Clan and said, “Teie töö on neid kaitsta! Midagi ei tohi nendega juhtuda.” After giving his order in the ancient language, the three immediately answered, “Selge!” before they changed their appearance to that of humans and disappeared from their spots.

After seeing that the three had left to carry out their missions, Jack let out a breath as a paper seal appeared in his hand. He looked at the Seal with sophisticated formations on it and suddenly started pouring Qi into the Seal. When he poured his Qi into the Seal, the Seal suddenly started burning and Jack threw it to the ground in front of him. The burning Seal suddenly started changing shapes and turned into a projection of an old man.

The old man’s head was full of grey long hair and his wrinkled skin made him look quite harmless. He was currently wearing long black robes with a red Dragon Cross emblem on it’s back. The old man looked and Jack and said, “Report!” Jack took a breath and said, “The situation here is identical to the previous cases. A group of disciples that came to temper themselves in a Minor World go missing mysteriously and always a Clan or Sect suddenly pops up that rises to the top.”

After saying that, he took a breath and continued, “This time, as I appeared, I actually ran into the mysterious fiancee of our Artefact Halls shining star. However, there is something very fishy going on here, the sudden spike in power of the Clan here is actually very abrupt.” Hearing this, the old man nodded his head and asked, “Abrupt?”

Jack nodded his head and said, “From what I gathered from the memories of a Clan member and information from the Fiancee’s Elder, the Clan in question actually wasn’t anything much a year ago. They were a mediocre local Clan with an Empyrean Immortal acting as the Old Ancestor.” Jack’s face turned serious as he finished his report, “However, in less than half a year, they produces 28 Empyrean Immortals, 6 Empyrean Kings and the Old Ancestor advanced from the Empyrean Immortal to the Emperor level.”

After Jack concluded his report, the old man stood there thoughtfully for a moment before he asked coldly, “Are the Empyrean Level people from the Clan?” Jack nodded his head seriously as he answered, “Yes, that is why this is actually very peculiar. All of the Empyrean Level people are actually the ones that the Clan did not put any emphasis on cultivating because their Talent was very crappy. However, now suddenly they became Empyrean Immortals that easily.”

The old man nodded to Jack’s analysis and then said, “Okay, you can go around doing your own thing. I will send a Squad from the Second Generation to deal with this situation. All you have to do is brief them when they arrive and they will take care of the rest.”

Jack seemed to be used to this kind of arrangement. The old man’s stern eyes turned soft as he asked, “Have you found any clues in your travels?” Hearing this Jack also loosened up his cold and serious disposition as he fished out a little banged up pendant from under his shirt. He looked at it with a sad expression as he answered, “No, I haven’t found out anything. It seems like my family has disappeared from the face of the Cosmos.”

The old man tried to console him by saying, “Don’t worry about it, all you have to go on is the Emblem on the little pendant. Finding your family is like finding a needle from a haystack.” Jack also bitterly nodded to his words.

All he remembered from before the time he was separated from his Mother was that his name was Jack. No family name, no idea about his origins, no idea of his “crime”.