As soon as Jack stepped foot inside the realm, contrary to his expectations, he found that he was not in a land of flames. What greeted him instead was a gentle warm current of wind that patted against his face.

The Azure Fiery Realm was indeed a different world he remarked as he surveyed his surroundings.

Faraway over the horizon, he noticed a burning azure flame, seemingly acting as the only sun of the realm. High up in the sky were several moons of different colours and sizes, too many for him to bother counting. As for the lands, it made him feel like he had just entered a tropical forest, although there were several open planes and the vegetation wasn’t as dense as one would expect from such a temperate climate.

However, what impressed Jack the most were large isolated trees that looked similar to mushrooms, and were so tall that it seemed one could reach the moons if one had to climb them. From their tops several glowing multi-coloured strings descended for several metres, giving the entire atmosphere of the realm a touch of ethereal beauty.

With every step he made, Jack could hear the sounds of crunching leaves under his feet. The air was humid to the point of suffocation, making it difficult for him to breathe. He casually removed the beads of sweat that had formed on his forehead, then he undressed his robe and tied it around his waist.

Even though the atmosphere in this place was unbearable, it didn’t seem like he was going to end up exhausted anytime soon. Like the outside, he could feel some sort of energy circulating and invigorating his body. However, in this instance, it was several magnitudes stronger.

BOOM. BOOM.

Rumbling sounds echoing from the eastern forest alerted Jack’s ears. When he inspected, he saw all sorts of strange beasts scattering in random directions.

Few moments of breaths later, another loud explosion was heard as two beams of azure lights emerged from within the forest. The azure lights began dimming as they orbited around the forest with decreasing speed. Shortly after, the outline of two large falcons appeared in Jack’s line of sight.

The falcons were large, probably ten times larger than an ordinary human, and their eyes flashed with an ancient, primordial aura. They had menacing beaks and their colourful feathers burned with beautiful azure flames.

Like two heavenly kings, they scanned the forest with threatening eyes, occasionally letting out intimidating roars in synchronisation.

What followed was another heavenly defying roar that arose from the depth of the forest, which wasn’t any weaker than the combined cries of the falcons. The roar stirred up a powerful elemental storm made up of rising winds and debris.

Shortly after, another creature emerged from the cloud of dust; it was a strange yellow beast with the head of a dragon, the body of a lion and a split tail that hanged low and downward. It had a set of protruding eyes and sharp teeth, together with four feet that had large paws and steel looking claws. On its head, it had a single antler, complemented by a pair of wings on its back.

If the other inner sect disciples were here witnessing this scene, they would instantly recognise this beast. It was the strongest demonic beast of the Azure Fiery Realm, the invincible guardian that from generation to generation no other creature was able to topple! The Golden Pixiu!

Bright light radiated out from the Pixiu’s body as it hovered in the sky like an impenetrable fortress. The atmosphere was one of tension as the three beasts stared at each other for a long time.

The stillness was eventually broken when the Pixiu dashed like a lightning bolt, almost ripping the air apart as it took aim for one of the falcons. Even though the attack seemed like it could tear mountains down, it was no match for the falcon’s speed, which had turned into a prismatic beam and easily dodged.

The falcons then flapped their wings in unison, sending multiple burning feathers hurling towards the Golden Pixiu. Some of the feathers managed to land on target, but all they could do was producing small cuts on its skin.

The remaining feathers descended, slicing through everything that stood in their path and sending towering plumes of dust wherever they hit. Even thick trees that seemed to have been there since the beginning of time couldn’t resist the power of the feathers, and one by one began falling, creating localised quakes.

The Pixiu was still chasing after the falcons as it began amassing golden rays of light in its mouth, before unleashing a powerful golden beam.

When the falcons detected the incoming beam, azure flames sprung out from their bodies, releasing two beams of spiralling flames. The two columns of fire fused with each other as they slammed into the golden ray.

A bloodcurdling explosion occurred, rocking the entire realm with an ever expanding shockwave.

Even though Jack was some kilometres away from the battle zone, he was forced to cover his face from the incoming dust and debris.

He remained stupefied as he observed the ensuing battle. Whenever he thought that nothing could shock him anymore, he was proven wrong and wrong again. Right now he felt like an insignificant bug, a bug that could be crushed at any moment.

The current situation was a double-edged sword, he thought. The battle had cleared a path for him through the forest and scattered the other beasts. However, if he ends up caught in the ongoing battle, then it would be his end.

He sighed as he recovered his courage and ran towards the forest. His only hope was reaching the monastery indicated by Junior Elder Shui Baozhai. If he failed to achieve this objective, he knew that what awaited him was a gruesome death.

Although Jack was a fast runner, once inside the forest, he was hindered by its rough surface. In a short period, he had already lost balance quite a few times, and his legs were already bleeding.

Meanwhile, the battle between Pixiu and the Falcons raged on.

The Pixiu was now in a precarious state. Its entire body was covered with wounds as streams of blood descended against its legs, before dropping off like heavenly tears. However, its eyes were yet to show any signs of surrendering.

When it appeared like it was in a disadvantage, it suddenly charged, increasing its speed and catching one of the falcons by surprise.

All the falcon could do was to release a miserable shriek as its body was ripped apart. The dead falcon’s eyes were still wide open as blood and gore rained down.

With just one bite, one of the falcons had fallen.

Not only the Pixiu was a powerful beast, it also had a high level of intellect when compared to other beasts. It had quickly noted that although the falcon’s feather technique was a frightening technique, it had one glaring flaw – only a limited number of feathers could be used! Moreover, with every feather used, the falcon’s speed would decrease by a notch.

Thus, the Pixiu had purposely reduced its speed, fooling the falcons into overusing the technique. Once the falcon’s speed decreased below a certain limit, the Pixiu revealed its true speed, giving it no chance for escape.

After experiencing the gruesome death of its companion, the other Falcon let out a soul-piercing cry as it wildly charged towards the Pixiu.

This sudden change of tactics took the Pixiu by surprise as it prepared to defend. However, the falcon had already buried its claws inside the pixiu’s back, then deeply dug the beak inside its neck.

Blood sprayed out. The Pixiu cried with pain as it emitted a brilliant golden light from its body, blinding the falcon and forcing it to retreat away.

The two demonic beasts roared madly as they repeatedly dashed and slammed into each other, generating powerful tremors and ripples that spread throughout the entire region. As of now, all tactics had been abandoned and it was just a showdown of brute force.

Taking advantage of the long battle, Jack pressed ahead and after some time he had already reached the end of the forest. From that position, he saw a small building towards his north. A hint of hope appeared in his eyes as he changed direction and sprinted ahead.

He could now feel his throat burning and his heart beating with force, seemingly wanting to come out of his body. He kept running, splashing away water as he struggled to pass through small ponds of mud.

It was then that Jack suddenly heard an anguished cry from afar, and the trembles of the region quieted down.

He quickly deduced that the battle had finally concluded.

A sense of sudden crisis enveloped him. The Monastery wasn’t that far away, but for Jack, it still looked like it was miles away.

He ran and ran with all force he could gather. He knew that every second counted, and even a slight delay could result in unwanted consequences.

From the corners of his vision, he could already see the returning demonic beasts, which eyed him with desirable eyes. Most had strange and intimidating forms, enough to cause his soul a deep sense of dread.

As soon as one of those beasts charged, the rest followed.

Jack let out a rallying cry as he sprinted the final distance, without bothering to look back at his chasers. His eyes flashed with hope when he was only a couple of metres away from the shield.

PAH!

Jack suddenly felt the head of a beast slamming onto his back, forcing him to lose balance as he rolled on the rough ground like a bag of meat.

BOOM!

Not only one breath of time had passed before a powerful impact occurred, hurling massive junks of rocks in all directions.

Some of these rocks were also propelled in Jack direction. However, just when he thought that he was going to get crushed to death, a transparent shield activated and repelled all incoming projectiles.

The terrified Jack struggled to regain his vision as he got a glimpse of a large shadow.

Outside the shield appeared a towering one-eyed creature covered with several wounds. In its mouth, there was the severed head of a majestic falcon, which it then let off to fall gracefully.

Its appearance caused the remaining demonic beasts, the very few that survived the previous blast, to flee away.

The horrified Jack swallowed a gulp of saliva as he watched the creature walk away shortly after. His entire body couldn’t stop trembling, both from fear and exhaustion.

He rested for a long while recovering his strength and senses. Only when he was sure that he was at least able to walk straight again is when he finally decided to enter the wooden Monastery.

Once inside, the fragrance of burning incense welcomed him. The interior was more unadorned than he had predicted, with only a few decorations which had lost their colours with time.

“Quite an impressive battle, don’t you think so?” A white phantom suddenly materialised out of nowhere in front of Jack.

The spectre appeared half opaque, his snowy body illuminated by dim rays of light. His appearance was that of an old man with a decent amount of beard. A mysterious smile was draped on its face as it slowly levitated itself.

Jack instantly understood the identity of the spectre and kowtowed.

“Greetings Lord 3rd Patriarch. Young junior is extremely fortunate to be graced by your presence and humbly ask for your most valuable guidance.”

The spectre locked his gaze on Jack for a couple of breaths, then nodded approvingly. “I must commend your bravery for entering this realm and making it to this place in one piece.”

“But alas, you’re still not qualified to appear before this magnificent one. Are you willing to leave this place out of your initiative, or will you force this old one’s hand to kick you out personally?”

These words confused Jack.

“My Lord, my name is Jack. I am an inner sect disciple of the Sky Water Sect. I came seeking your guidance as instructed by the elders of the sect.”

“An inner sect disciple?” The Spectre seemed surprised for a moment before bursting out with laughter.

“Hehehe… if you said that I was a little fairy, it would have been more believable than you saying that you are an inner sect disciple.”

The Spectre smiled coldly as he pointed his finger towards Jack.

A towering force descended, forcing Jack to float in a backwards direction. He rotated several times before landing several metres away from the spectre, coughing out blood while trying to regain control of his body.

“The medallion! Cough…Cough… I have the medallion!”

The spectre appeared surprised for a moment as he clasped his hand behind its back, then glanced over the medallion hanging around Jack’s neck. “Oh… the Medallion…?”

“Yes is the medallion given to me by—

A sizeable crushing force suddenly slammed into Jack, cutting his speech and sending flying out of the monastery like a piece of paper.

“So what if you have that medallion?! Do you even comprehend what sort of existence I am? I am the spectral clone of the 3rd Patriarch! An insuperable cultivator that has ascended and shaken the very heavens! I’ve got nothing to teach to the likes of you!”

“Your simple presence here is an offence to my eyes!”

These loud words left Jack dumbfounded as he laid half defeated on the ground.

If this was the way the ‘helpful patriarchs’ greeted their disciples, he didn’t even want to imagine the behaviour of the ‘less helpful Patriarchs’.

However, his trail of thoughts was interrupted as wave after wave of powerful blasts descended on him, little by little forcing him to retreat towards the protective shield.

The anxious Jack was already imagining himself being shredded to pieces by the monstrosity that was waiting for him outside.

“My Lord! This useless junior admits that he doesn’t deserve any pointers from such a supreme being as yourself! But please, I implore you! Let this useless junior train inside the protective shield! Junior swears upon the heavens that he will not disturb!”

Even though these words made Jack’s heart cringe with shame, he was willing to allow himself to mentally suffer like this, at least until he unlocked the secret powers of this realm. Some humiliation was still better than throwing his life away and wasting this unique opportunity. Besides, as a former slave, he was used to this type of treatment.

“Hmm…” The spectre played with his beard apparently touched by Jack’s sudden humility.

“Wise words…wise words… not only did you convince this magnificent one to allow you practising inside the protective barrier, but I am also going to impart a part of my wisdom.” The Spectre coolly answered with honest eyes.

Upon hearing these words, Jack sighed a hint of relief.

“Always remember this young mortal! The cultivating world is surely not a bed of roses! You know, terrible things can happen all the time! So many cultivators throw away their lives stupidly because they underestimate the lingering shadows of the cultivation world! Ah, such an immoral world… certainly not for the weak hearted!”

As soon as he finished speaking, he forcefully pushed Jack outside of the barrier.

Not that far from Jack, resting on a large boulder was the injured Pixiu. When it noticed Jack, it stood up and slowly marched towards him.