Spanning across a plain, surrounded by four mountains and embraced by the short grass around, a brown amass of structures. Beige walls topped with brown tiles, a brown tiled pagoda with pale walls.

Small houses and mansions, everything orderly within a square perimeter scratching the mountains on either side.

At the top of the pagoda, a middle aged man of a brown beard and chestnut hair put into a ponytail was reading with one hand. The other was behind his back as he mused over the book's content while pacing around slowly. A desk was to his side, a large window right behind the chair.

A sudden series of knocks coming along, the man cleared his throat before speaking. "Come in."

Two small doors opening, an old man of grey hair clearly balding was leisurely walking. He closed the doors before turning back around, cupping his fists. "Sect master, isn't next month the deadline?"

Closing the book still with one hand, the middle aged man smiled. "Yes, it is! I can't wait to see my daughter after all these years! I wonder how strong she has become since going out for the trial. Peak Mortal? Maybe a Warrior?! I can't wait!"

The old man chuckled as well, covering his mouth as he asked next. "But are you sure that she'll be alright? The trial was near that disgusting forest. I just hope that the young miss didn't decide to explore it! I trust our sect's two guardians, but still..." The middle aged man frowned at these words. Indeed, his daughter's exploration was near a very dangerous area. And knowing of her temperament, she might have gone inside. "It's fine. The guardians for this trial were chosen amongst our Outer Elders, right? She'll be fine! If not..." The atmosphere darkening, the middle aged man controlled himself, recovering the calm ambiance.

Faint pieces of earth crumbling down from his fists, the middle aged man took a deep breath to regain composure. "In case something did happen, then according to the trial, this will be fate. Though I won't forgive who or what might have caused it. But we're only speculating, let's not muddle our thoughts with pointless worries."

Nodding, the old man kept his fists cupped, bowing slightly. "By the way, has the sect master decided about this matter?" The middle aged man barely wasted a thought on this question, waving his hand dismissively. "Don't ask about this matter. The Tehma Portal's calling is not important. Who was this man? He dared to order the entire Land to come and serve him. I won't stand for this. I may not be comparable to those old monsters, but I still have recently stepped into the Divine Realm!"

Strolling into a small town of simple wooden houses a couple stories high and sparse vegetation was Wu Tian. His torn robe showed much of his body, already being looked down upon by all passersby for his apparent poverty. Dangling from his left hand was a pouch echoing with a clinging sound, a similar one emitted from the large sack carried over his left shoulder, strapped on to his left hand as well.

His messy blue beard and hair caught the attention, a faint glimmer of pink amidst his white eyes. The gaze he showed was both empty and lucid. A relaxed expression devoid of emotions decorated with eyes reflecting the faint light from the clouded sky. It was a dark yet still lit evening.

Walking calmly, covered in dirt and dried blood he did not bother washing off from his last hunt, he advanced at random. Left or right, he did not care. He only waited for something to grab his attention.

A few dozens of minutes later, when the sky turned a very dark blue, nearing on total darkness, he took notice of a familiar store. "Another?" The swing sign was that of a freshly painted green herb. A striking resemblance to the herbal store of the Flowery Vines Group of before, even with small differences. About to enter, he saw two browned robed middle aged men walk by and gaze at his waist.

Before he could ignore then further, about to take the couple wooden steps to his right, the duo froze in place, their heads fixated on his left side. Following their gaze, he frowned. What do they want?

One of them had his dark hair cut near bald with an angry face and brown moustache along a thin chin puff. He was the first to speak, shouting with a stern glare. "You! Where did you get that sword?!" Confused by the whole interaction, Wu Tian saw the second man with a babyface widen his eyes. "What's wrong brother? Is that sword special?" The stern man scoffed at the mention. "Special? Brother! Isn't this the young master's sword?!"

Seeing another confused look, this time from his friend, the man nearly blew his top, spittle raining on the other man's face as he shouted even louder while pointing his finger. "I'm talking about young master Kang Yazhu's sword! The young master of the Sky Sovereign Sect!! Can't you remember?!"

Showing a sudden look of understanding, the man frowned shortly after. "So what? We're from the Earthen Prism Sect, at least the last time I checked we were. Why should we care? If he gets his sword stolen, I honestly don't give a damn. And so should you. Let's go, I'm not going through the administrative hell just to report a stolen sword. We're not so poor brother..." Flashing a condescending look, the babyface middle aged man began to resume his walk before having his left arm tugged. "You moron! Have you not heard?!"

"Heard what?" His single raised brow and dismissive attitude were clear to see. But his friend did not mind the look. "Our young mistress was supposed to take the test with him! If his sword got stolen, then what about our young mistress?" The negative look dissipating like smoke, the babyface middle aged man showed some panic. "Then..." His strained face turning sour, he glared at Wu Tian, then focused on the longsword at his waist.

Unsheathing the short sword at his waist, the babyface man was the first to show pure hostility. "You..! Come here you thief!" Closing in with large strides, the man left his good friend in a daze.

Feeling the malicious intent from the furious expression, Wu Tian narrowed his eyes, slowly unsheathing his longsword as well. As it was pulled out fully, a gentle motion reversing the grip back to normal, a shout echoed across the flickering streetlights and scared passersby. "Stop here! What are you three doing in public?! You are all under arrest!" A sturdy middle aged man with azure robes and black shoulder pads was marching with hurry toward them. He also pulled out his weapon, an average sword filled with dents, some blood leftover onto it, causing it to degrade in durability further.

Between the two eighth layer Mortals from the so called Earthen Prism Sect and the peak Mortal from what most likely was the town's patrol, Wu Tian did not mind fighting either. He would easily be able to slaughter all three of them. But he was worried about their backing. He was in a town, right in the middle of a busy street filled with witnesses. It was not the cave full of fragmented Principles, nor the deserted forest where only wolves and bears could even come close to a reliable source of information. In this place, his figure would be easy to portray.

However, he still was torn. Should he even care? These old men were barely Mortals while in a sect. Was the sect even worth his worry? The same went for the town itself.

Thinking a bit more, he still decided to remain peaceful. He still needed to conduct business here. Therefore, he might need to stay in the town for at least a few days. The more trouble he had now, the more trouble he would face later.

About to sheath back his blade, Guizou whispered into his ear. "Why not just assassinate them? You could also just raze the whole area to the ground. No witnesses, no worries. Who's going to snitch on you then? The trees? Maybe the moon?"

His blade half-way through the scabbard, Wu Tian's eyes darkened. He eyed the dozen of passersby scattered everywhere. Most just turned a blind eye, not daring to look in their general direction.

If he was caught, he would end up confined most likely. He could not just run away before at least visiting the herbal shop.

The blade fully unsheathed once again, he did not raise a kind smile nor a set of bright eyes. His previous motion perfectly executed, the sword landed back into his palm with a regular grip. The peeking moonlight was reflecting onto the well kept blade, perfectly cleaned. Be it his care over the years or the exquisiteness of an artifact, he did not care.

The faint flames from the streetlights flickering even more from the sudden bouts of wind, Wu Tian slowly stepped down the two wooden steps and onto the grey pavement. The blue robed man was already close, talking to the two others.

Carefully planning his move, Wu Tian saw the three men give him a strange stare. But before long, a sword, short sword and dagger were within reach. Seeing the three move to arm themselves, Wu Tian's eyes flickered, his right knee already extended, his floating figure already within reach.

Bright red dripping onto the street, blessed under the dark sky, a sharp pain paralyzed the three opponents. Hardly able to look down and inspect the pain's strange origin, the middle target with a stern gaze and brown chin puff collapsed. His four parts giggled while blood gathered into a large puddle. Wu Tian's longsword was already in the midst of being pulled back from his right side, halting the method before using [Imperial Retreat]. Having begun with the [Imperial Step Burst], the rest was nothing but obvious. From the sheer length of his weapon to the dazed two men, he spared no more glances at the slumping four parts from two horizontally severed middle aged Mortals.

Their heavy fleshly vessels perishing and splattering the puddle, tainting his afterimage, did not bother his running shadow. He was backtracking his journey, currently chasing ordinary people. With the number of humans he killed, Wu Tian was not feeling anything in particular. Everything could be accustomed to.

Slaughtering innocent men and women like cattle ready to be served, he then ran back and some more, finishing the three sparse civilians still gawking at the sight struck with crippling fear.

It only took him a quarter of a minute to kill the civilians, and not even two seconds to butcher the three Mortals.

Using the rare clean parts from the corpses' brown robes of the Earthen Prism Sect to clean his blade, Wu Tian sighed once he saw the remaining stains on his skin.